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[
"Alan Kulwicki",
"Early racing career"
] | C_e76a6b8f2cde4e32a09b6dbbc7579c29_1 | when did Alan start racing? | 1 | When did Alan Kulwicki start a career in racing? | Alan Kulwicki | Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'" Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973, he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners Speedway in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, and the next year started racing late models - the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level - at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh. Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships. In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions. CANNOTANSWER | Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. | Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series. Kulwicki arrived at NASCAR, the highest and most expensive level of stock car racing in the United States, with no sponsor, a limited budget and only a racecar and a borrowed pickup truck. Despite starting with meager equipment and finances, he earned the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award over drivers racing for well-funded teams.
After Kulwicki won his first race at Phoenix International Raceway, he debuted what would become his trademark "Polish victory lap". Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by what was then the closest margin in NASCAR history. He died early in 1993 in a light aircraft accident and therefore never defended his championship. He has been inducted into numerous racing halls of fame and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers.
Kulwicki was known for being a perfectionist and doing things his own way. An engineer by trade, his scientific approach to NASCAR racing inspired the way teams are now run. Despite lucrative offers from top car owners, he insisted on driving for his own race team, AK Racing, during most of his NASCAR career. Described by his publicist as "a real hard type of person to get to know", he remained a bachelor throughout his life.
Early life
Kulwicki grew up in Greenfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee known for its Polish-American neighborhoods, near the Milwaukee Mile racetrack. After his mother died, his family moved in with his grandmother, who died when Kulwicki was in seventh grade. A year later, his only brother died of a hemophilia-related illness. Kulwicki attended Pius XI High School, a Roman Catholic high school in Milwaukee and received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1977. His knowledge of engineering has been cited as a contributing factor to his success as a driver, as it helped him better understand the physics of a racecar. He first raced on local tracks as an amateur while in college before becoming a full-time professional racer in 1980. A devout Roman Catholic, Kulwicki always competed with a Saint Christopher (the patron saint of travelers) devotional medal in his car.
Racing career
Early racing career
Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'"
Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973 he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners and the next year started racing late models – the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level – at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh.
Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships.
In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions.
NASCAR career
1980s
Kulwicki raced in four NASCAR Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series) races in 1984. At the time, the Busch Grand National Series was considered NASCAR's feeder circuit, a proving ground for drivers who wished to step up to the organization's premiere circuit, the Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series). Kulwicki qualified second fastest and finished in second place at his first career NASCAR race, which took place at the Milwaukee Mile, several city blocks from where he grew up. Later that year, he finished seventh at Charlotte and fifth at Bristol. The following year, Kulwicki placed sixteenth in the season-opening Busch Series race at Daytona. Although he won the pole position at that year's event in Milwaukee, he finished fourteenth because of engine problems. Kulwicki's Busch Series successes caught car owner Bill Terry's eye and he offered Kulwicki a chance to race for him in several Winston Cup events.
In 1985, Kulwicki sold most of his belongings, including his short track racing equipment, to move approximately to the Charlotte area in North Carolina. He kept only a few things; his pickup truck was loaded to tow a trailer full of furniture and tools. An electrical fire two days before he left destroyed his truck, so Kulwicki had to borrow one to pull the trailer. After arriving in the Charlotte area, he showed up unannounced at Terry's shop ready to race. Veteran NASCAR drivers were initially amused by Kulwicki's arrival on the national tour: He was a driver from the northern United States when the series was primarily a southern regional series, he had a mechanical engineering degree when few other drivers had completed college and, with only six starts, had limited driving experience in the junior Busch Series. Kulwicki was described as very studious, hard working, no-nonsense and something of a loner. He frequently walked the garage area in his racing uniform carrying a briefcase. Kulwicki made his first career Winston Cup start at Richmond on September 8, 1985, for Bill Terry's No. 32 Hardee's Ford team. That season he competed in five races for Terry, with his highest finish being 13th.
Kulwicki started his rookie season in 1986 with Terry. After Terry decided to end support for his racing team mid-season, he sold the team to his driver. Kulwicki as an owner started out as essentially a one-man team, as he had to serve as driver, team administrator, crew chief and chief mechanic. Kulwicki had difficulty acquiring and keeping crew members because he found it difficult to trust them to do the job with the excellence that he demanded and because he was hands-on in the maintenance of racecars to the point of being a "control freak". He sought out crew members who had owned their own racecars, believing they would understand what he was going through: working long hours and performing his own car maintenance with a very limited budget. Notable crew members include his crew chief, Paul Andrews and future Cup crew chiefs, Tony Gibson and Brian Whitesell. Future crew chief and owner, Ray Evernham, lasted six weeks with Kulwicki in 1992. Evernham later said, "The man was a genius. There's no question. It's not a matter of people just feeling like he was a genius. That man was a genius. But his personality paid for that. He was very impatient, very straightforward, very cut-to-the-bone." With one car, two engines, and two full-time crew members, Kulwicki won the 1986 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. He had competed in 23 of 29 events, with four top 10 finishes, three races not completed (Did Not Finish – DNF), an average finish of 15.4, and had only one result below 30th place. Kulwicki finished 21st in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
For the 1987 season Kulwicki secured primary sponsorship from Zerex Antifreeze and changed his car number to seven. He picked up his first career pole position in the season's third race, at Richmond. Later that season, he again qualified fastest at Richmond and Dover. Kulwicki came close to winning his first Winston Cup race at Pocono, finishing second after winner Dale Earnhardt passed him on the last lap. With nine top 10 finishes, eleven DNFs and an average finish of 18.2 in 29 events; Kulwicki finished 15th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
In 1988 Kulwicki hired Paul Andrews as his crew chief after Andrews was recommended by Rusty Wallace at the 1987 NASCAR Awards banquet. That year Kulwicki won his first NASCAR Winston Cup race in the season's second-to-last race at Phoenix International Raceway after race leader Ricky Rudd's car had motor problems late in the race. Kulwicki led 41 laps and won by 18.5 seconds. After the race finished, he turned his car around and made, what he called, a "Polish victory lap" by driving the opposite way (clockwise) on the track, with the driver's side of the car facing the fans. "This gave me the opportunity to wave to the crowd from the driver's side", Kulwicki explained. Andrews recalled, "He had wanted to do something special and something different for his first win and only his first." He finished the 1988 season with four pole positions in 29 events, nine top 10 finishes including two second-place finishes, twelve DNFs, and an average finish of 19.2. Kulwicki finished 14th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
Kulwicki started his own engine-building program for the 1989 season. He had four second place finishes that season and held the points lead after the fifth race of the season. The team dropped from fourth to fifteenth in points by suffering nine engine failures during a sixteen-race stretch in the middle of the season. In 29 races, he had six pole positions, nine top 10 finishes, and finished 14th in season points. The team had a new workshop built during the season.
1990s
Junior Johnson, owner of one of the top NASCAR teams, approached Kulwicki at the beginning of the 1990 season to try to get him to replace Terry Labonte in the No. 11 Budweiser Ford. Kulwicki declined, stating that he was more interested in running his own team. He won his second Cup race at Rockingham on October 21, 1990, and finished eighth in points that year, his first finish in the top 10 points in a season. In 29 races, he had thirteen top 10 finishes and one pole position.
Before the 1991 season, Zerex ended their sponsorship of Kulwicki's team. Junior Johnson came calling again, looking for a driver for his revived second team that had last seen Neil Bonnett behind the wheel in 1986. Kulwicki turned down Johnson's $1 million offer thinking that he had secured a sponsorship deal with Maxwell House Coffee. Johnson then went to Maxwell House himself and obtained the sponsorship for his new car, which Sterling Marlin was hired to drive instead. Kulwicki was forced to begin the season without a sponsor, paying all of the team's expenses out of his own pocket. At the opening race of the season, the 1991 Daytona 500, five cars raced with paint schemes representing different branches of the United States military to show support for the American forces involved in the Gulf War. It was the first use of special paint schemes in NASCAR history. Kulwicki's car was sponsored by the United States Army in a one-race deal. After running the second and third races of the season in a plain white unsponsored car, Kulwicki's luck finding a sponsor changed for the better at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
At the time, Hooters was sponsoring a car driven by Mark Stahl, another owner-driver in the Cup series. Unlike Kulwicki, Stahl was a part-time participant who had trouble making races. The Hooters car failed to make the field for the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 and the Atlanta-based chain, desiring a spot in the race, approached the sponsorless Kulwicki to gauge his interest. The principals agreed to at least a one-race deal, which became a much longer term deal when Kulwicki recorded an eighth-place finish in the race. Later in the season, Kulwicki won the Bristol night race for his third career win. In 29 races, he had eleven top 10 finishes, four poles, and finished 13th in the points.
1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki started out the year by having to take one of two provisional starting positions at the Daytona 500; he ended up finishing fourth. He passed Dale Jarrett with 27 laps left at the Food City 500 race on April 5 at Bristol to take a narrow victory. It was his fourth Winston Cup victory. After that race, he never left the top five in season points. Andrews attributed Kulwicki's consistently strong finishes to the steady performance of newly adopted radial tires throughout their lifespan. He said, "It was hard to control them, and the driver's ability to work with that car during practice in order to get the car set up meant so much more than it ever did." Kulwicki's second victory in the season was at the first race at Pocono. Discounted as a contender for the season championship during the year, Kulwicki was expected to fade from contention as Bill Elliott and Davey Allison, both of whom had won more races than Kulwicki and who had traded the points lead between them, were both having strong seasons and looked to be the favorites for the Winston Cup. He did not, however, and remained in the top 5 in the series standings.
He qualified on the pole position for the Peak AntiFreeze 500 race on September 20 at Dover, but crashed early in the race and finished 34th. At the conclusion of the race, Kulwicki trailed points leader Elliott by 278 points. He seemed to resign himself to another season without a championship, saying to reporters, "This probably finishes us off in the championship deal."
However, Kulwicki was able to benefit from bad fortune that would befall Elliott in the weeks ahead. The next week at Martinsville, Elliott crashed out of the race while Kulwicki finished fifth. Kulwicki followed that up with a twelfth-place run at North Wilkesboro, a second place at Charlotte, and another twelfth-place finish at Rockingham. While Elliott managed a fourth place finish at Rockingham, he ran twenty-sixth at North Wilkesboro and thirtieth at Charlotte. Then, at Phoenix, Kulwicki ran fourth while Elliott suffered overheating problems and a cracked cylinder head and once again finished outside of the top 30. Allison won the race, retaking the points lead, but Kulwicki’s performance left him within striking distance of the points lead. When the points standings were tabulated after the race, Kulwicki had surpassed Elliott in the standings and stood thirty points behind Allison.
Thus, the stage was set for the final race of the season, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta. Before the race, Kulwicki received approval from NASCAR and Ford to change the "Thunderbird" lettering on his bumper for the race to "underbird" because he felt like the underdog in the contention for the championship.
Kulwicki qualified for the race in fourteenth position, three spots behind Elliott and three spots ahead of Allison. Allison simply needed to finish fifth or better to clinch the Cup, regardless of what his cohorts did. Atlanta, however, was not one of his better tracks, as he had a string of inconsistent finishes there. He had, however, finished fourth in the spring race won by Elliott. Kulwicki needed to outpace both Elliott and Allison and put as much distance as he could between the two drivers because he not only had to make up the thirty points on points leader Allison, but also needed to put distance between himself and Elliott, who trailed him by only ten points.
Kulwicki narrowly avoided an incident on the second lap of the race as front row starters Rick Mast and Brett Bodine spun out. However, trouble would eventually find him on the first round of pit stops. As Kulwicki was getting ready to leave his pit box after service, he shifted into first gear and his car stalled. He got a push start from his crew and upshifted into fourth gear, which enabled him to refire the car and head back out. Andrews later said, "We had to leave pit road in fourth gear, because we had broken metal parts in there, and only by leaving it in fourth are you not going to move metal around as much. We could only hope that the loose piece of metal didn't get in there and break the gears in half. We had three or four pit stops after it broke. I held my breath all day long." While Kulwicki had no choice but to keep his car in top gear, which caused his pit stop times to be much slower than usual, he was one of the faster drivers on track that day and he quickly gained positions once back up to speed. He eventually caught up to Elliott, who was also running well, and the two began jockeying back and forth for positions; eventually,
Kulwicki found his way to the front of the field and held onto the lead despite the best efforts of the #11 team. Then, on lap 255, Kulwicki got a break he desperately needed. Allison was running in sixth place at the time, and since he had led a lap during the course of the event was still leading the championship. As he was coming off of turn four, Ernie Irvan spun out in front of the field on the frontstretch. Irvan, who had been running three laps down at the time, came down in front of Allison, who was unable to avoid him and the two made contact and crashed into the inside wall near the start/finish line. Allison’s car was badly damaged in the incident, and although the damage would be able to be repaired in the garage his chances of winning the Winston Cup were over.
Under the ensuing caution, Kulwicki and Andrews went to work on discussing strategy for the remainder of the race. With Allison now out of the championship picture, maximizing track position and points became Kulwicki’s focus. He and Elliott had each gained five bonus points for leading a lap, and five additional bonus points were available for the driver who led the most laps during the race. However, despite the possibility for more caution periods, Kulwicki would have to pit at some point to get enough fuel in the car to make it to the advertised distance. Therefore, Kulwicki and Andrews decided to stay out as long as they could and lead as many laps as possible. Once the race resumed, Kulwicki was able to maintain his lead on Elliott despite the best efforts of the latter.
On lap 310, after leading 101 consecutive laps and 103 overall, Kulwicki came down pit road for a fuel-only stop. Since the team did not need a full twenty-two gallon load of fuel to make it to the end and they needed to save as much time as they could, Andrews made the determination to put approximately half a can of gasoline into Kulwicki’s tank; this could be done in a little over three seconds and with only two crew members. Fuel man Tony Gibson and catch can man Peter Jellen waited as Kulwicki pulled in. There was a problem with the fuel relay, however, and Gibson was not certain of the amount of gasoline that made it into the tank. Kulwicki came back onto the track in third place, behind front runner Elliott and second place Terry Labonte. He had not fully secured the five bonus points for leading the most laps, since Elliott had an opportunity to tie Kulwicki’s total. In that case, both drivers would receive the points. Elliott also had to come down to top off his fuel tank.
But as he had done with the adjustment following the broken gearbox and the accident that took Allison out of the race, Kulwicki once again caught a break that affected his chances in a significant way. Tim Brewer, Elliott’s crew chief, had lost track of Labonte and waited an additional lap to bring Elliott in. Labonte was able to pass Elliott while he pitted, then pitted himself. Elliott reassumed the point with twelve laps remaining, which when added to the ninety he had already led would only add up to 102.
Kulwicki was told that he had clinched the five extra points several laps later. Andrews warned him of the fuel relay issue, however, and told Kulwicki to conserve whatever fuel he could as no one knew for certain whether or not Gibson had done the job. Kulwicki was running in second, far enough ahead of third place Geoff Bodine that he was not a factor, and thus all he had to do was hold position in order to win the championship. Elliott won the race and Kulwicki stretched his fuel to finish second. Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by maintaining his 10-point lead over Elliott. He celebrated the championship with his second Polish victory lap. Always conscious of his appearance for potential sponsors, Kulwicki combed his hair, making a national television audience wait for him to emerge from his car.
Kulwicki had overcome the 278-point deficit in the final six races of the season by ending with a fifth, a fourth, and two second-place finishes. Kulwicki won the championship because of his consistent high finishes. It was the closest title win in NASCAR Cup Series history until the implementation of the Chase for the Cup format in 2004. Kulwicki was the last owner-driver to win the title for nearly two decades, the first Cup champion with a college degree, and the first Cup champion born in a northern state. He started from the pole position six times during the season, which was the most for any driver. The song that played during a short salute to Kulwicki at the year-end awards banquet was Frank Sinatra's "My Way".
Championship honors
Kulwicki returned to his hometown, Greenfield, for Alan Kulwicki Day in January 1993. The gymnasium at Greenfield High School was filled and surrounded by four to five thousand people. Local television crews filmed the event. Kulwicki signed autographs for six hours.
In celebration of his championship, sponsor Hooters made a special "Alan Tribute Card" that was used at all of the autograph sessions during the 1993 season.
1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki did not significantly change his spending habits after winning the 1992 championship. "The only thing I really wanted to buy was a plane", he said, "but it turns out Hooters has a couple I can use." Kulwicki negotiated a lease agreement with Hooters Chairman Robert Brooks for the use of one of his aircraft. The Swearingen Merlin III twin turboprop Kulwicki leased was painted with Hooters livery, and its FAA registry changed from N300EF (for Eastern Foods, another of Brooks's companies) to N300AK.
After the first five races of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series had been completed, Kulwicki was 9th in overall points. Kulwicki had concerns about how often he was being allowed to use the airplane he had leased, and other financial concerns he wanted to bring up with his sponsor, Hooters. The PR representative for both Hooters and Kulwicki, Tom Roberts, suggested that Kulwicki bring up his concerns to Hooters leadership while in flight from Knoxville to Bristol on the evening of April 1, 1993, en route to the 1993 Food City 500. Roberts himself, in an attempt to avoid a conflict of interest between the two sides, did not board the chartered flight, and took a commercial flight to Bristol instead.
Death
Kulwicki died in an airplane crash on Thursday April 1, 1993. He was returning from an appearance at the Knoxville Hooters on the Kingston Pike, in a Hooters corporate plane on a short flight across Tennessee before the Sunday spring race at Bristol. The plane slowed and crashed just before final approach at Tri-Cities Regional Airport in a field off of Interstate 81 near Blountville. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to the pilot's failure to use the airplane's anti-ice system to clear ice from the engine inlet system.
Kulwicki was buried at St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee; the funeral was attended by NASCAR President Bill France, Jr. and numerous drivers. Kulwicki's racecar transporter was driven from the rainy track later that Friday morning while other teams and the media watched it travel slowly around the track with a black wreath on its grille. As the transporter passed the start / finish line, the flagman waved a checkered flag. In 2008, Kyle Petty described the slow laps as "the saddest thing I've ever seen at a racetrack... We just sat and cried." Kulwicki had competed in five NASCAR races that season with two Top 5 finishes, and was ranked ninth in points at his death. In his career, he had won five NASCAR Winston Cup races, 24 pole positions, 75 Top 10 finishes, and one championship in 207 races.
His car was driven by road course specialist Tommy Kendall on road courses and by Jimmy Hensley at the other tracks. It was raced for most of the 1993 season until the team was sold to Geoff Bodine, who operated it as Geoff Bodine Racing.
Kulwicki had been selected to compete in the 1993 International Race of Champions (IROC) series as the reigning Winston Cup champion. He competed in two IROC races before his death, finishing ninth at Daytona and eleventh at Darlington. Dale Earnhardt raced for Kulwicki in the final two IROC races, and the prize money for those races and their fifth place combined points finish was given to the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary, Brenner Children's Hospital and St. Thomas Aquinas Church charities.
Legacy
Three days after Kulwicki's death, Bristol race winner Rusty Wallace honored his former short track rival by performing Kulwicki's trademark Polish victory lap. Davey Allison died on July 13, 1993; competitors who had been carrying a No. 7 sticker in memory of Kulwicki added a No. 28 sticker for Allison. After the final race of the season, series champion Dale Earnhardt and race winner Wallace drove a side-by-side Polish victory lap carrying flags for Kulwicki and Allison. Kulwicki finished 41st in the final points standings despite competing in only five races. Racing Champions issued a die-cast version of Alan Kulwicki's No. 7 car that was a tribute to Kulwicki's 1992 title.
The USAR Hooters Pro Cup championship (now CARS Tour) held the "Four Champions Challenge" in memory of the four victims of the plane crash. Established in 1997, the challenge was a four-race series, with each race named after one of the four who died in the crash: Kulwicki, Mark Brooks (son of Hooters owner Bob Brooks), Dan Duncan, and pilot Charles Campbell.
Milwaukee County honored Kulwicki in 1996 by creating Alan Kulwicki Memorial Park, located near the corner of Highway 100 and Cold Spring Road in Greenfield (Area Map). Hooters chairman Robert Brooks donated $250,000 to build the park, which features a Kulwicki museum inside the Brooks Pavilion.
Since 1994, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has awarded the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Scholarship to one incoming student each year. Scholarship winners are outstanding high school seniors who plan to major in mechanical engineering. By 1998, UNC Charlotte created an automotive and motorsports engineering program.
In October 2009, the Kulwicki family donated nearly $1.9 million to benefit motorsports engineering education at UNC Charlotte. In honor of the gift, the university's Board of Trustees renamed the existing motorsports research facility the Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Laboratory. The donation funded the construction of a second motorsports engineering building, which opened in January 2012.
Bristol Motor Speedway named its grandstand in turns one and two in honor of Kulwicki, as well as a terrace above the grandstand. The 2004 Busch Series race at the Milwaukee Mile was named the "Alan Kulwicki 250" in honor of Kulwicki. Wisconsinite Paul Menard turned his car around after winning the 2006 Busch Series event and performed a Polish victory lap to honor Kulwicki. Slinger Super Speedway has held an annual Alan Kulwicki Memorial race since 1994.
Kulwicki was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted in the Lowe's Motor Speedway Court of Legends in 1993, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993, Talladega-Texaco Hall of Fame in 1996, Bristol Motor Speedway Heroes of Bristol Hall of Fame in 1997, the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2010. Kulwicki was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019.
Kulwicki's success as an owner-driver sparked a small trend among NASCAR veterans. Geoff Bodine, his younger brother Brett, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, and Joe Nemechek all began racing teams shortly after Kulwicki's death. However, none were as successful as Kulwicki's. Robby Gordon frequently mentions Alan as an inspiration for him as an owner-driver, and selected car No. 7 as a tribute to Kulwicki.
Slinger Super Speedway began an Alan Kulwicki Memorial night in 1993; it has continued the annual memorial as of 2016. In 2010, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee created the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Student Center in their Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Building. The center, along with a scholarship for engineering students, was made possible in part by a donation from Thelma H. Kulwicki, the late racer's stepmother, who also donated numerous items of memorabilia located in the center.
In May 2012, the Milwaukee County Historical Society announced plans for a special exhibit celebrating the life and career of Kulwicki to open in early 2013. The exhibit is called "Alan Kulwicki: A Champion's Story".
Alan Kulwicki Driver Development Program
In 2015, Kulwicki's friends began the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development program to "help worthy drivers along the way in reaching their dream...while at the same time keep Alan Kulwicki's memory and legacy alive." The field is narrowed to 15 applicants and the program gives $7777 to support seven drivers' career advancement. Drivers are judged based on their on-track performance as well as off-track activities, social media presence, and community involvement. The winner receives seven times $7777 ($54,439) and a trophy. It was cancelled for the 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns. The program winners were:
2020 cancelled due to COVID-19
2019 Jeremy Doss
2018 Brett Yackey
2017 Cody Haskins
2016 Alex Prunty
2015 Ty Majeski.
Other Participants in Each Class:
2021 Wyatt Alexander, Luke Fenhaus, Max Kahler, Ryan Kuhn, Kole Raz, Brooke Storer, Dylan Zamba
2019 Danny Benedict, Justin Carroll, Luke Fenhaus, Derek Griffith, Carson Kvapil, Paul Shafer, Jr.
2018 Cole Butcher, Justin Carroll, Derek Griffith, Molly Helmuth, Justin Mondeik, Brittney Zamora
2017 Braison Bennett, Cole Butcher, Justin Mondeik, Michael Ostdiek, John Peters, Brett Yackey
2016 Jeremy Doss, Dave Farrington, Jr., Cody Haskins, Quin Houff, Michael Ostdiek (replaced Natalie Decker after she tried to qualify for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway), Brandon Setzer
2015 Steve Apel, Justin Crider, Dave Farrington, Jr., Reagan May, Bryce Napier, Cole Williams
Media
Father Dale Grubba, the priest who had presided over Kulwicki's funeral, released a biography of his friend entitled Alan Kulwicki: NASCAR champion Against All Odds in 2009. The book was the basis for a low-budget feature film, Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story, released on April 1, 2005. The film chronicles Kulwicki's life from racing late models at Slinger Super Speedway, through his rise to NASCAR champion, and ends with his death. The movie was created by Kulwicki's Wisconsin fans for less than $100,000. The star of the film, Brad Weber, was a Kulwicki fan and credits the late driver with being his inspiration to become an actor.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
Daytona 500
Busch Series
International Race of Champions
(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
References
External links
Movie review of Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story by Speed Channel
1954 births
1993 deaths
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American people of Polish descent
American Speed Association drivers
Burials in Wisconsin
Catholics from Wisconsin
Hooters people
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
International Race of Champions drivers
NASCAR Cup Series champions
NASCAR drivers
NASCAR team owners
People from Greenfield, Wisconsin
Racing drivers from Wisconsin
Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1993
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States | true | [
"Lawless Alan (born February 2, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports. He previously competed part-time in the ARCA Menards Series West for Bill McAnally Racing in 2019 and 2020.\n\nRacing career\n\nIn 2018, Alan competed in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series for his family team, Dasher Lawless Racing.\n\nAfter joining Bill McAnally Racing part-time in 2019, Alan returned to the team for what was to be a full season in the 2020 ARCA Menards Series West. After the first four races of the season, he and his No. 12 car stopped attempting races for unknown reasons. He did not run any more NASCAR or ARCA races for another team for the remainder of the season until the 12w was run by British driver Alex Sedgwick.\n\nAlan joined Reaume Brothers Racing to make his Truck Series debut in their No. 34 truck at the Daytona Road Course in 2021. Reaume Brothers Racing signed Alan for an additional five races at Nashville, Pocono, Watkins Glen, Bristol, and Talladega during the 2021 Truck schedule. He also joined Niece Motorsports for two races.\n\nIn 2022, he committed to the full Truck Series schedule in the No. 45 for Niece.\n\nMotorsports career results\n\nNASCAR\n(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)\n\nCamping World Truck Series\n\n Season in progress \n Ineligible for series points\n\nK&N Pro Series East\n\nARCA Menards Series\n(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)\n\nARCA Menards Series West\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\nLiving people\n2000 births\nRacing drivers from California\nNASCAR drivers\nARCA Menards Series drivers",
"Kenny Hendrick (born September 10, 1969) is an American stock car racing driver. He is a former competitor in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and Craftsman Truck Series. He is the twin brother of former USAC midget car driver Kara Hendrick, who lost her life in a racing accident in October 1991.\n\nBusch Series\nHendrick made his Busch Series debut in 2003, when he ran a hodgepodge of entries. He made his debut at Gateway, where he started 30th for the Stanton Barrett Racing operation. He ran a solid race and came home 21st. He did a start and park race for GIC-Mixon Motorsports at Nazareth, before doing another start and park at Dover for Rick Allen. Hendrick would return then to the Stanton Barrett Racing for two more 2003 races. He was 35th at Nashville and 27th at Kentucky.\n\nHendrick was tapped to drive the first Keller Racing vehicles in 2004, a team that ran a ten-race schedule. The new team struggled. Hendrick only qualified for six races and his best finish was an 18th at Kentucky. The Kentucky race was the only one that Hendrick finished. He was released, and he would only compete in one more series race. It, too, came in 2004, when he drove the Ware Racing Enterprises Dodge to a 42nd-place finish in the fall Dover race.\n\nHe returned in 2008 at Mexico driving a second Stanton Barrett Motorsports car in place of Stan Barrett who was originally meant to race for the team. He qualified and finished 38th after pulling in with handling issues. He then drove at Richmond replacing the injured Larry Gunselman at MSRP Motorsports qualifying 40th and finishing 43rd after parking the car on lap 6. He made a second start for Stanton Barrett at Darlington starting 34th and finishing 36th after parking on lap 30.\n\nIn 2009, Hendrick drove for Smith-Ganassi Racing, a team that had bought the assets of the shut-down No. 40 team.\n\nCraftsman Truck Series\nHendrick ran four Craftsman Truck Series races in 1996 to start his career off. He started his career with a top-10 start: a 9th in his debut at Phoenix. He finished 28th in that race. His best run of the year was a modest 23rd-place finish at Las Vegas.\n\nFour more races were in store for Hendrick. He had one top-20 finish. That was a 19th at Texas, racing for Rob Rizzo. He had started the year off with the team, but after finishes of 29th and 24th, they let him go.\n\nHendrick would not race in this series until 2003, when he did a start and park effort in a second Billy Ballew Motorsports No. 9 entry. Because of the nature of the effort, Hendrick did not complete any of the dozen starts he did and his best finish was a 31st at IRP, where he also recorded his second career top-10 start of 10th.\n\nHendrick returned to the Trucks when he ran at Kansas Speedway in the No. 16 Xpress Motorsports truck on April 28, 2007.\n\nMotorsports career results\n\nSCCA National Championship Runoffs\n\nNASCAR\n(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)\n\nNextel Cup Series\n\nBusch Series\n\nCraftsman Truck Series\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nLiving people\n1969 births\nPeople from Chino, California\nRacing drivers from California\nNASCAR drivers\nTrans-Am Series drivers\nSCCA National Championship Runoffs winners"
] |
[
"Alan Kulwicki",
"Early racing career",
"when did Alan start racing?",
"Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer."
] | C_e76a6b8f2cde4e32a09b6dbbc7579c29_1 | who made the karts for him? | 2 | Who made the karts for Alan Kulwicki? | Alan Kulwicki | Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'" Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973, he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners Speedway in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, and the next year started racing late models - the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level - at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh. Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships. In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions. CANNOTANSWER | Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. | Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series. Kulwicki arrived at NASCAR, the highest and most expensive level of stock car racing in the United States, with no sponsor, a limited budget and only a racecar and a borrowed pickup truck. Despite starting with meager equipment and finances, he earned the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award over drivers racing for well-funded teams.
After Kulwicki won his first race at Phoenix International Raceway, he debuted what would become his trademark "Polish victory lap". Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by what was then the closest margin in NASCAR history. He died early in 1993 in a light aircraft accident and therefore never defended his championship. He has been inducted into numerous racing halls of fame and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers.
Kulwicki was known for being a perfectionist and doing things his own way. An engineer by trade, his scientific approach to NASCAR racing inspired the way teams are now run. Despite lucrative offers from top car owners, he insisted on driving for his own race team, AK Racing, during most of his NASCAR career. Described by his publicist as "a real hard type of person to get to know", he remained a bachelor throughout his life.
Early life
Kulwicki grew up in Greenfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee known for its Polish-American neighborhoods, near the Milwaukee Mile racetrack. After his mother died, his family moved in with his grandmother, who died when Kulwicki was in seventh grade. A year later, his only brother died of a hemophilia-related illness. Kulwicki attended Pius XI High School, a Roman Catholic high school in Milwaukee and received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1977. His knowledge of engineering has been cited as a contributing factor to his success as a driver, as it helped him better understand the physics of a racecar. He first raced on local tracks as an amateur while in college before becoming a full-time professional racer in 1980. A devout Roman Catholic, Kulwicki always competed with a Saint Christopher (the patron saint of travelers) devotional medal in his car.
Racing career
Early racing career
Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'"
Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973 he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners and the next year started racing late models – the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level – at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh.
Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships.
In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions.
NASCAR career
1980s
Kulwicki raced in four NASCAR Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series) races in 1984. At the time, the Busch Grand National Series was considered NASCAR's feeder circuit, a proving ground for drivers who wished to step up to the organization's premiere circuit, the Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series). Kulwicki qualified second fastest and finished in second place at his first career NASCAR race, which took place at the Milwaukee Mile, several city blocks from where he grew up. Later that year, he finished seventh at Charlotte and fifth at Bristol. The following year, Kulwicki placed sixteenth in the season-opening Busch Series race at Daytona. Although he won the pole position at that year's event in Milwaukee, he finished fourteenth because of engine problems. Kulwicki's Busch Series successes caught car owner Bill Terry's eye and he offered Kulwicki a chance to race for him in several Winston Cup events.
In 1985, Kulwicki sold most of his belongings, including his short track racing equipment, to move approximately to the Charlotte area in North Carolina. He kept only a few things; his pickup truck was loaded to tow a trailer full of furniture and tools. An electrical fire two days before he left destroyed his truck, so Kulwicki had to borrow one to pull the trailer. After arriving in the Charlotte area, he showed up unannounced at Terry's shop ready to race. Veteran NASCAR drivers were initially amused by Kulwicki's arrival on the national tour: He was a driver from the northern United States when the series was primarily a southern regional series, he had a mechanical engineering degree when few other drivers had completed college and, with only six starts, had limited driving experience in the junior Busch Series. Kulwicki was described as very studious, hard working, no-nonsense and something of a loner. He frequently walked the garage area in his racing uniform carrying a briefcase. Kulwicki made his first career Winston Cup start at Richmond on September 8, 1985, for Bill Terry's No. 32 Hardee's Ford team. That season he competed in five races for Terry, with his highest finish being 13th.
Kulwicki started his rookie season in 1986 with Terry. After Terry decided to end support for his racing team mid-season, he sold the team to his driver. Kulwicki as an owner started out as essentially a one-man team, as he had to serve as driver, team administrator, crew chief and chief mechanic. Kulwicki had difficulty acquiring and keeping crew members because he found it difficult to trust them to do the job with the excellence that he demanded and because he was hands-on in the maintenance of racecars to the point of being a "control freak". He sought out crew members who had owned their own racecars, believing they would understand what he was going through: working long hours and performing his own car maintenance with a very limited budget. Notable crew members include his crew chief, Paul Andrews and future Cup crew chiefs, Tony Gibson and Brian Whitesell. Future crew chief and owner, Ray Evernham, lasted six weeks with Kulwicki in 1992. Evernham later said, "The man was a genius. There's no question. It's not a matter of people just feeling like he was a genius. That man was a genius. But his personality paid for that. He was very impatient, very straightforward, very cut-to-the-bone." With one car, two engines, and two full-time crew members, Kulwicki won the 1986 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. He had competed in 23 of 29 events, with four top 10 finishes, three races not completed (Did Not Finish – DNF), an average finish of 15.4, and had only one result below 30th place. Kulwicki finished 21st in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
For the 1987 season Kulwicki secured primary sponsorship from Zerex Antifreeze and changed his car number to seven. He picked up his first career pole position in the season's third race, at Richmond. Later that season, he again qualified fastest at Richmond and Dover. Kulwicki came close to winning his first Winston Cup race at Pocono, finishing second after winner Dale Earnhardt passed him on the last lap. With nine top 10 finishes, eleven DNFs and an average finish of 18.2 in 29 events; Kulwicki finished 15th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
In 1988 Kulwicki hired Paul Andrews as his crew chief after Andrews was recommended by Rusty Wallace at the 1987 NASCAR Awards banquet. That year Kulwicki won his first NASCAR Winston Cup race in the season's second-to-last race at Phoenix International Raceway after race leader Ricky Rudd's car had motor problems late in the race. Kulwicki led 41 laps and won by 18.5 seconds. After the race finished, he turned his car around and made, what he called, a "Polish victory lap" by driving the opposite way (clockwise) on the track, with the driver's side of the car facing the fans. "This gave me the opportunity to wave to the crowd from the driver's side", Kulwicki explained. Andrews recalled, "He had wanted to do something special and something different for his first win and only his first." He finished the 1988 season with four pole positions in 29 events, nine top 10 finishes including two second-place finishes, twelve DNFs, and an average finish of 19.2. Kulwicki finished 14th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
Kulwicki started his own engine-building program for the 1989 season. He had four second place finishes that season and held the points lead after the fifth race of the season. The team dropped from fourth to fifteenth in points by suffering nine engine failures during a sixteen-race stretch in the middle of the season. In 29 races, he had six pole positions, nine top 10 finishes, and finished 14th in season points. The team had a new workshop built during the season.
1990s
Junior Johnson, owner of one of the top NASCAR teams, approached Kulwicki at the beginning of the 1990 season to try to get him to replace Terry Labonte in the No. 11 Budweiser Ford. Kulwicki declined, stating that he was more interested in running his own team. He won his second Cup race at Rockingham on October 21, 1990, and finished eighth in points that year, his first finish in the top 10 points in a season. In 29 races, he had thirteen top 10 finishes and one pole position.
Before the 1991 season, Zerex ended their sponsorship of Kulwicki's team. Junior Johnson came calling again, looking for a driver for his revived second team that had last seen Neil Bonnett behind the wheel in 1986. Kulwicki turned down Johnson's $1 million offer thinking that he had secured a sponsorship deal with Maxwell House Coffee. Johnson then went to Maxwell House himself and obtained the sponsorship for his new car, which Sterling Marlin was hired to drive instead. Kulwicki was forced to begin the season without a sponsor, paying all of the team's expenses out of his own pocket. At the opening race of the season, the 1991 Daytona 500, five cars raced with paint schemes representing different branches of the United States military to show support for the American forces involved in the Gulf War. It was the first use of special paint schemes in NASCAR history. Kulwicki's car was sponsored by the United States Army in a one-race deal. After running the second and third races of the season in a plain white unsponsored car, Kulwicki's luck finding a sponsor changed for the better at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
At the time, Hooters was sponsoring a car driven by Mark Stahl, another owner-driver in the Cup series. Unlike Kulwicki, Stahl was a part-time participant who had trouble making races. The Hooters car failed to make the field for the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 and the Atlanta-based chain, desiring a spot in the race, approached the sponsorless Kulwicki to gauge his interest. The principals agreed to at least a one-race deal, which became a much longer term deal when Kulwicki recorded an eighth-place finish in the race. Later in the season, Kulwicki won the Bristol night race for his third career win. In 29 races, he had eleven top 10 finishes, four poles, and finished 13th in the points.
1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki started out the year by having to take one of two provisional starting positions at the Daytona 500; he ended up finishing fourth. He passed Dale Jarrett with 27 laps left at the Food City 500 race on April 5 at Bristol to take a narrow victory. It was his fourth Winston Cup victory. After that race, he never left the top five in season points. Andrews attributed Kulwicki's consistently strong finishes to the steady performance of newly adopted radial tires throughout their lifespan. He said, "It was hard to control them, and the driver's ability to work with that car during practice in order to get the car set up meant so much more than it ever did." Kulwicki's second victory in the season was at the first race at Pocono. Discounted as a contender for the season championship during the year, Kulwicki was expected to fade from contention as Bill Elliott and Davey Allison, both of whom had won more races than Kulwicki and who had traded the points lead between them, were both having strong seasons and looked to be the favorites for the Winston Cup. He did not, however, and remained in the top 5 in the series standings.
He qualified on the pole position for the Peak AntiFreeze 500 race on September 20 at Dover, but crashed early in the race and finished 34th. At the conclusion of the race, Kulwicki trailed points leader Elliott by 278 points. He seemed to resign himself to another season without a championship, saying to reporters, "This probably finishes us off in the championship deal."
However, Kulwicki was able to benefit from bad fortune that would befall Elliott in the weeks ahead. The next week at Martinsville, Elliott crashed out of the race while Kulwicki finished fifth. Kulwicki followed that up with a twelfth-place run at North Wilkesboro, a second place at Charlotte, and another twelfth-place finish at Rockingham. While Elliott managed a fourth place finish at Rockingham, he ran twenty-sixth at North Wilkesboro and thirtieth at Charlotte. Then, at Phoenix, Kulwicki ran fourth while Elliott suffered overheating problems and a cracked cylinder head and once again finished outside of the top 30. Allison won the race, retaking the points lead, but Kulwicki’s performance left him within striking distance of the points lead. When the points standings were tabulated after the race, Kulwicki had surpassed Elliott in the standings and stood thirty points behind Allison.
Thus, the stage was set for the final race of the season, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta. Before the race, Kulwicki received approval from NASCAR and Ford to change the "Thunderbird" lettering on his bumper for the race to "underbird" because he felt like the underdog in the contention for the championship.
Kulwicki qualified for the race in fourteenth position, three spots behind Elliott and three spots ahead of Allison. Allison simply needed to finish fifth or better to clinch the Cup, regardless of what his cohorts did. Atlanta, however, was not one of his better tracks, as he had a string of inconsistent finishes there. He had, however, finished fourth in the spring race won by Elliott. Kulwicki needed to outpace both Elliott and Allison and put as much distance as he could between the two drivers because he not only had to make up the thirty points on points leader Allison, but also needed to put distance between himself and Elliott, who trailed him by only ten points.
Kulwicki narrowly avoided an incident on the second lap of the race as front row starters Rick Mast and Brett Bodine spun out. However, trouble would eventually find him on the first round of pit stops. As Kulwicki was getting ready to leave his pit box after service, he shifted into first gear and his car stalled. He got a push start from his crew and upshifted into fourth gear, which enabled him to refire the car and head back out. Andrews later said, "We had to leave pit road in fourth gear, because we had broken metal parts in there, and only by leaving it in fourth are you not going to move metal around as much. We could only hope that the loose piece of metal didn't get in there and break the gears in half. We had three or four pit stops after it broke. I held my breath all day long." While Kulwicki had no choice but to keep his car in top gear, which caused his pit stop times to be much slower than usual, he was one of the faster drivers on track that day and he quickly gained positions once back up to speed. He eventually caught up to Elliott, who was also running well, and the two began jockeying back and forth for positions; eventually,
Kulwicki found his way to the front of the field and held onto the lead despite the best efforts of the #11 team. Then, on lap 255, Kulwicki got a break he desperately needed. Allison was running in sixth place at the time, and since he had led a lap during the course of the event was still leading the championship. As he was coming off of turn four, Ernie Irvan spun out in front of the field on the frontstretch. Irvan, who had been running three laps down at the time, came down in front of Allison, who was unable to avoid him and the two made contact and crashed into the inside wall near the start/finish line. Allison’s car was badly damaged in the incident, and although the damage would be able to be repaired in the garage his chances of winning the Winston Cup were over.
Under the ensuing caution, Kulwicki and Andrews went to work on discussing strategy for the remainder of the race. With Allison now out of the championship picture, maximizing track position and points became Kulwicki’s focus. He and Elliott had each gained five bonus points for leading a lap, and five additional bonus points were available for the driver who led the most laps during the race. However, despite the possibility for more caution periods, Kulwicki would have to pit at some point to get enough fuel in the car to make it to the advertised distance. Therefore, Kulwicki and Andrews decided to stay out as long as they could and lead as many laps as possible. Once the race resumed, Kulwicki was able to maintain his lead on Elliott despite the best efforts of the latter.
On lap 310, after leading 101 consecutive laps and 103 overall, Kulwicki came down pit road for a fuel-only stop. Since the team did not need a full twenty-two gallon load of fuel to make it to the end and they needed to save as much time as they could, Andrews made the determination to put approximately half a can of gasoline into Kulwicki’s tank; this could be done in a little over three seconds and with only two crew members. Fuel man Tony Gibson and catch can man Peter Jellen waited as Kulwicki pulled in. There was a problem with the fuel relay, however, and Gibson was not certain of the amount of gasoline that made it into the tank. Kulwicki came back onto the track in third place, behind front runner Elliott and second place Terry Labonte. He had not fully secured the five bonus points for leading the most laps, since Elliott had an opportunity to tie Kulwicki’s total. In that case, both drivers would receive the points. Elliott also had to come down to top off his fuel tank.
But as he had done with the adjustment following the broken gearbox and the accident that took Allison out of the race, Kulwicki once again caught a break that affected his chances in a significant way. Tim Brewer, Elliott’s crew chief, had lost track of Labonte and waited an additional lap to bring Elliott in. Labonte was able to pass Elliott while he pitted, then pitted himself. Elliott reassumed the point with twelve laps remaining, which when added to the ninety he had already led would only add up to 102.
Kulwicki was told that he had clinched the five extra points several laps later. Andrews warned him of the fuel relay issue, however, and told Kulwicki to conserve whatever fuel he could as no one knew for certain whether or not Gibson had done the job. Kulwicki was running in second, far enough ahead of third place Geoff Bodine that he was not a factor, and thus all he had to do was hold position in order to win the championship. Elliott won the race and Kulwicki stretched his fuel to finish second. Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by maintaining his 10-point lead over Elliott. He celebrated the championship with his second Polish victory lap. Always conscious of his appearance for potential sponsors, Kulwicki combed his hair, making a national television audience wait for him to emerge from his car.
Kulwicki had overcome the 278-point deficit in the final six races of the season by ending with a fifth, a fourth, and two second-place finishes. Kulwicki won the championship because of his consistent high finishes. It was the closest title win in NASCAR Cup Series history until the implementation of the Chase for the Cup format in 2004. Kulwicki was the last owner-driver to win the title for nearly two decades, the first Cup champion with a college degree, and the first Cup champion born in a northern state. He started from the pole position six times during the season, which was the most for any driver. The song that played during a short salute to Kulwicki at the year-end awards banquet was Frank Sinatra's "My Way".
Championship honors
Kulwicki returned to his hometown, Greenfield, for Alan Kulwicki Day in January 1993. The gymnasium at Greenfield High School was filled and surrounded by four to five thousand people. Local television crews filmed the event. Kulwicki signed autographs for six hours.
In celebration of his championship, sponsor Hooters made a special "Alan Tribute Card" that was used at all of the autograph sessions during the 1993 season.
1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki did not significantly change his spending habits after winning the 1992 championship. "The only thing I really wanted to buy was a plane", he said, "but it turns out Hooters has a couple I can use." Kulwicki negotiated a lease agreement with Hooters Chairman Robert Brooks for the use of one of his aircraft. The Swearingen Merlin III twin turboprop Kulwicki leased was painted with Hooters livery, and its FAA registry changed from N300EF (for Eastern Foods, another of Brooks's companies) to N300AK.
After the first five races of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series had been completed, Kulwicki was 9th in overall points. Kulwicki had concerns about how often he was being allowed to use the airplane he had leased, and other financial concerns he wanted to bring up with his sponsor, Hooters. The PR representative for both Hooters and Kulwicki, Tom Roberts, suggested that Kulwicki bring up his concerns to Hooters leadership while in flight from Knoxville to Bristol on the evening of April 1, 1993, en route to the 1993 Food City 500. Roberts himself, in an attempt to avoid a conflict of interest between the two sides, did not board the chartered flight, and took a commercial flight to Bristol instead.
Death
Kulwicki died in an airplane crash on Thursday April 1, 1993. He was returning from an appearance at the Knoxville Hooters on the Kingston Pike, in a Hooters corporate plane on a short flight across Tennessee before the Sunday spring race at Bristol. The plane slowed and crashed just before final approach at Tri-Cities Regional Airport in a field off of Interstate 81 near Blountville. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to the pilot's failure to use the airplane's anti-ice system to clear ice from the engine inlet system.
Kulwicki was buried at St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee; the funeral was attended by NASCAR President Bill France, Jr. and numerous drivers. Kulwicki's racecar transporter was driven from the rainy track later that Friday morning while other teams and the media watched it travel slowly around the track with a black wreath on its grille. As the transporter passed the start / finish line, the flagman waved a checkered flag. In 2008, Kyle Petty described the slow laps as "the saddest thing I've ever seen at a racetrack... We just sat and cried." Kulwicki had competed in five NASCAR races that season with two Top 5 finishes, and was ranked ninth in points at his death. In his career, he had won five NASCAR Winston Cup races, 24 pole positions, 75 Top 10 finishes, and one championship in 207 races.
His car was driven by road course specialist Tommy Kendall on road courses and by Jimmy Hensley at the other tracks. It was raced for most of the 1993 season until the team was sold to Geoff Bodine, who operated it as Geoff Bodine Racing.
Kulwicki had been selected to compete in the 1993 International Race of Champions (IROC) series as the reigning Winston Cup champion. He competed in two IROC races before his death, finishing ninth at Daytona and eleventh at Darlington. Dale Earnhardt raced for Kulwicki in the final two IROC races, and the prize money for those races and their fifth place combined points finish was given to the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary, Brenner Children's Hospital and St. Thomas Aquinas Church charities.
Legacy
Three days after Kulwicki's death, Bristol race winner Rusty Wallace honored his former short track rival by performing Kulwicki's trademark Polish victory lap. Davey Allison died on July 13, 1993; competitors who had been carrying a No. 7 sticker in memory of Kulwicki added a No. 28 sticker for Allison. After the final race of the season, series champion Dale Earnhardt and race winner Wallace drove a side-by-side Polish victory lap carrying flags for Kulwicki and Allison. Kulwicki finished 41st in the final points standings despite competing in only five races. Racing Champions issued a die-cast version of Alan Kulwicki's No. 7 car that was a tribute to Kulwicki's 1992 title.
The USAR Hooters Pro Cup championship (now CARS Tour) held the "Four Champions Challenge" in memory of the four victims of the plane crash. Established in 1997, the challenge was a four-race series, with each race named after one of the four who died in the crash: Kulwicki, Mark Brooks (son of Hooters owner Bob Brooks), Dan Duncan, and pilot Charles Campbell.
Milwaukee County honored Kulwicki in 1996 by creating Alan Kulwicki Memorial Park, located near the corner of Highway 100 and Cold Spring Road in Greenfield (Area Map). Hooters chairman Robert Brooks donated $250,000 to build the park, which features a Kulwicki museum inside the Brooks Pavilion.
Since 1994, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has awarded the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Scholarship to one incoming student each year. Scholarship winners are outstanding high school seniors who plan to major in mechanical engineering. By 1998, UNC Charlotte created an automotive and motorsports engineering program.
In October 2009, the Kulwicki family donated nearly $1.9 million to benefit motorsports engineering education at UNC Charlotte. In honor of the gift, the university's Board of Trustees renamed the existing motorsports research facility the Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Laboratory. The donation funded the construction of a second motorsports engineering building, which opened in January 2012.
Bristol Motor Speedway named its grandstand in turns one and two in honor of Kulwicki, as well as a terrace above the grandstand. The 2004 Busch Series race at the Milwaukee Mile was named the "Alan Kulwicki 250" in honor of Kulwicki. Wisconsinite Paul Menard turned his car around after winning the 2006 Busch Series event and performed a Polish victory lap to honor Kulwicki. Slinger Super Speedway has held an annual Alan Kulwicki Memorial race since 1994.
Kulwicki was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted in the Lowe's Motor Speedway Court of Legends in 1993, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993, Talladega-Texaco Hall of Fame in 1996, Bristol Motor Speedway Heroes of Bristol Hall of Fame in 1997, the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2010. Kulwicki was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019.
Kulwicki's success as an owner-driver sparked a small trend among NASCAR veterans. Geoff Bodine, his younger brother Brett, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, and Joe Nemechek all began racing teams shortly after Kulwicki's death. However, none were as successful as Kulwicki's. Robby Gordon frequently mentions Alan as an inspiration for him as an owner-driver, and selected car No. 7 as a tribute to Kulwicki.
Slinger Super Speedway began an Alan Kulwicki Memorial night in 1993; it has continued the annual memorial as of 2016. In 2010, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee created the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Student Center in their Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Building. The center, along with a scholarship for engineering students, was made possible in part by a donation from Thelma H. Kulwicki, the late racer's stepmother, who also donated numerous items of memorabilia located in the center.
In May 2012, the Milwaukee County Historical Society announced plans for a special exhibit celebrating the life and career of Kulwicki to open in early 2013. The exhibit is called "Alan Kulwicki: A Champion's Story".
Alan Kulwicki Driver Development Program
In 2015, Kulwicki's friends began the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development program to "help worthy drivers along the way in reaching their dream...while at the same time keep Alan Kulwicki's memory and legacy alive." The field is narrowed to 15 applicants and the program gives $7777 to support seven drivers' career advancement. Drivers are judged based on their on-track performance as well as off-track activities, social media presence, and community involvement. The winner receives seven times $7777 ($54,439) and a trophy. It was cancelled for the 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns. The program winners were:
2020 cancelled due to COVID-19
2019 Jeremy Doss
2018 Brett Yackey
2017 Cody Haskins
2016 Alex Prunty
2015 Ty Majeski.
Other Participants in Each Class:
2021 Wyatt Alexander, Luke Fenhaus, Max Kahler, Ryan Kuhn, Kole Raz, Brooke Storer, Dylan Zamba
2019 Danny Benedict, Justin Carroll, Luke Fenhaus, Derek Griffith, Carson Kvapil, Paul Shafer, Jr.
2018 Cole Butcher, Justin Carroll, Derek Griffith, Molly Helmuth, Justin Mondeik, Brittney Zamora
2017 Braison Bennett, Cole Butcher, Justin Mondeik, Michael Ostdiek, John Peters, Brett Yackey
2016 Jeremy Doss, Dave Farrington, Jr., Cody Haskins, Quin Houff, Michael Ostdiek (replaced Natalie Decker after she tried to qualify for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway), Brandon Setzer
2015 Steve Apel, Justin Crider, Dave Farrington, Jr., Reagan May, Bryce Napier, Cole Williams
Media
Father Dale Grubba, the priest who had presided over Kulwicki's funeral, released a biography of his friend entitled Alan Kulwicki: NASCAR champion Against All Odds in 2009. The book was the basis for a low-budget feature film, Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story, released on April 1, 2005. The film chronicles Kulwicki's life from racing late models at Slinger Super Speedway, through his rise to NASCAR champion, and ends with his death. The movie was created by Kulwicki's Wisconsin fans for less than $100,000. The star of the film, Brad Weber, was a Kulwicki fan and credits the late driver with being his inspiration to become an actor.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
Daytona 500
Busch Series
International Race of Champions
(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
References
External links
Movie review of Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story by Speed Channel
1954 births
1993 deaths
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American people of Polish descent
American Speed Association drivers
Burials in Wisconsin
Catholics from Wisconsin
Hooters people
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
International Race of Champions drivers
NASCAR Cup Series champions
NASCAR drivers
NASCAR team owners
People from Greenfield, Wisconsin
Racing drivers from Wisconsin
Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1993
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States | true | [
"Capital Karts is an indoor go karting track based in Barking, East London. It is the largest indoor track in the UK at over 1,050m long and has won multiple awards. Established in 2013 by co-founders Matthew Holyfield and Alastair Flynn in a derelict warehouse near Barking, the Capital Karts track was seeing over 500 visitors each weekend and had an annual turnover of £2m within 2 years.\n\nCapital Karts offers go-karting for adults, children, and disabled drivers.\n\nTrack \nThe Capital Karts track on Rippleside in East London is 1,050m long and underwent refurbishment in 2016 to increase average track speed, improve overtaking opportunities, and further enhance the safety barrier system. The karts reach top speeds of 45 mph and a lap takes approximately 70 seconds to complete. There are 20 corners and the track has an average width of eight metres.\n\nThe Johnny Herbert Karting Challenge has been held at the Capital Karts track since 2013. More than 100 drivers compete in a 3-hour endurance race with charitable donations being raised by teams, and additional donations raised during the trackside sale of racing memorabilia. The event raised more than £10,000 in its first year. In April 2014, bookmakers Ladbrokes filmed their betting advert at the Capital Karts track.\n\nThe Karts \nRiMO Alpha karts used at Capital Karts feature a 200cc Honda LPG tuned engine. The same karts are used in karting tracks around Europe\n\nThe karts are suitable for adults, children and disabled visitors, and there are karts that are equipped for use by two people.\n\nAwards \nSince its inception in 2013, Capital Karts has won a number of awards.\n\n 2014 Barking and Dagenham New Business Of The Year\n 2015 East London New Business Of The Year\n 2015 Karting Magazine Indoor Track Of The Year\n 2015 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence\n 2016 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Capital Karts website\n\nMotorsport venues in England\nSports venues in London",
"A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car,open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance racing karts.\n\nEtymology\n\nThe exact origin of the term is unclear. One of the first appearances of the term is an 1885 painting by the Scottish artist Hugh Cameron RSA: \"The Go-Cart\". It is also unclear why the \"C\" was later changed to a \"K\".\n\nNon-motorised\n\nGravity racers, in North America usually referred to as Soap Box Derby carts, are the simplest type of go-karts. They are propelled by gravity. Go-karts without motors (quadracycles) may also be propelled by bicycle pedals.\n\nMotorised\n\nEngines \n\nTraditionally, small two-stroke and four-stroke internal combustion engines are used in motorised go-kart racing. Power is transmitted from the engine to the rear axle by way of a chain (some rentals use a belt).\n\nFour-stroke engines can be standard air-cooled industrial based engines, sometimes with small modifications, developing from about . Briggs & Stratton, Tecumseh (company closed in 2008), Kohler, Robin, and Honda are manufacturers of such engines. They are adequate for racing and fun kart applications. There are also more powerful two-stroke engines available from manufacturers like Yamaha, KTM, Biland, or Aixro (Wankel engine) offering from . They run at up to 11,000 rpm, and are manufactured specifically for karting. PRD makes the PRD Fireball, a two-stroke engine delivering at 15,580 rpm.\n\nElectric go-karts are available, requiring only that the batteries of the karts be plugged into an array of chargers after each tun. Since they are pollution-free and emit no smoke, the racetracks can be indoors in controlled environments. Electric karts powered by lead-acid batteries can run a maximum of 20–30 minutes before the performance is affected, while those powered by lithium batteries may last up to 2 hours on a single charge. Some karts have been fitted with hydrogen fuel cells. High-performance electric go-karts for amusement parks and indoor tracks may have external electronic controls in the event of an accident or other hazards, in which the track attendant or the race referee can remotely slow down or stop all vehicles on the track via radio control. This external control can also be used to limit young riders to a slow operating speed, while a race consisting only of adults is permitted a higher speed. These controls can be applied to both electric and combustion-engine karts.\n\nIn some countries, go-karts can be licensed for use on public roads often referred to as street tracks. Typically there are some restrictions; in the European Union, a go-kart modified for use on the road must be outfitted with headlights (high/low beam), tail lights, a horn, indicators, and an engine not exceeding with child by now for\n\nRecreational, concession and indoor karts \nBesides traditional kart racing, many commercial enterprises offer karts for rent, often called \"recreational\" or \"concession\" karts. The tracks can be indoor or outdoor. Karts are rented by sessions (usually from 10 to 30 minutes) or on a day basis. They use sturdy chassis complete with dedicated bodywork, providing driver safety. Most of these enterprises use an \"Arrive and Drive\" format which provides customers with all the safety gear (helmets, gloves and driver outfits) necessary, and allow them to show up anytime to race at a reasonable price, without the problem of having to own their own equipment and gear.\n\nOutdoor tracks can offer low-speed karts strictly for amusement (dedicated chassis equipped with low powered four-stroke engines or electric motors), or faster, more powerful karts, similar to a racing kart, powered by four-stroke engines up to and, more rarely, by 2-stroke engines, but designed to be more robust for rental use. Typically, outdoor tracks are also used for traditional kart races.\n\nIndoor kart tracks can be found in many large cities in different parts of the world. These tracks are often located in refurbished factories or warehouses, and are typically shorter than traditional outdoor tracks. Indoor karts are usually powered by a four-stroke gasoline engine producing anywhere from , or sometimes by an electric motor. Many tracks offer competitive races and leagues. At the top level, an Indoor Karting World Championship (IKWC) exists.\n\nSee also\nModel car\n\nReferences \n\nSports cars\nConvertibles"
] |
[
"Alan Kulwicki",
"Early racing career",
"when did Alan start racing?",
"Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer.",
"who made the karts for him?",
"Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. \"I showed him how\", Gerry Kulwicki said."
] | C_e76a6b8f2cde4e32a09b6dbbc7579c29_1 | when did Alan start racing cars? | 3 | When did Alan Kulwicki start racing cars? | Alan Kulwicki | Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'" Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973, he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners Speedway in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, and the next year started racing late models - the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level - at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh. Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships. In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions. CANNOTANSWER | Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. | Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series. Kulwicki arrived at NASCAR, the highest and most expensive level of stock car racing in the United States, with no sponsor, a limited budget and only a racecar and a borrowed pickup truck. Despite starting with meager equipment and finances, he earned the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award over drivers racing for well-funded teams.
After Kulwicki won his first race at Phoenix International Raceway, he debuted what would become his trademark "Polish victory lap". Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by what was then the closest margin in NASCAR history. He died early in 1993 in a light aircraft accident and therefore never defended his championship. He has been inducted into numerous racing halls of fame and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers.
Kulwicki was known for being a perfectionist and doing things his own way. An engineer by trade, his scientific approach to NASCAR racing inspired the way teams are now run. Despite lucrative offers from top car owners, he insisted on driving for his own race team, AK Racing, during most of his NASCAR career. Described by his publicist as "a real hard type of person to get to know", he remained a bachelor throughout his life.
Early life
Kulwicki grew up in Greenfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee known for its Polish-American neighborhoods, near the Milwaukee Mile racetrack. After his mother died, his family moved in with his grandmother, who died when Kulwicki was in seventh grade. A year later, his only brother died of a hemophilia-related illness. Kulwicki attended Pius XI High School, a Roman Catholic high school in Milwaukee and received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1977. His knowledge of engineering has been cited as a contributing factor to his success as a driver, as it helped him better understand the physics of a racecar. He first raced on local tracks as an amateur while in college before becoming a full-time professional racer in 1980. A devout Roman Catholic, Kulwicki always competed with a Saint Christopher (the patron saint of travelers) devotional medal in his car.
Racing career
Early racing career
Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'"
Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973 he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners and the next year started racing late models – the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level – at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh.
Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships.
In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions.
NASCAR career
1980s
Kulwicki raced in four NASCAR Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series) races in 1984. At the time, the Busch Grand National Series was considered NASCAR's feeder circuit, a proving ground for drivers who wished to step up to the organization's premiere circuit, the Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series). Kulwicki qualified second fastest and finished in second place at his first career NASCAR race, which took place at the Milwaukee Mile, several city blocks from where he grew up. Later that year, he finished seventh at Charlotte and fifth at Bristol. The following year, Kulwicki placed sixteenth in the season-opening Busch Series race at Daytona. Although he won the pole position at that year's event in Milwaukee, he finished fourteenth because of engine problems. Kulwicki's Busch Series successes caught car owner Bill Terry's eye and he offered Kulwicki a chance to race for him in several Winston Cup events.
In 1985, Kulwicki sold most of his belongings, including his short track racing equipment, to move approximately to the Charlotte area in North Carolina. He kept only a few things; his pickup truck was loaded to tow a trailer full of furniture and tools. An electrical fire two days before he left destroyed his truck, so Kulwicki had to borrow one to pull the trailer. After arriving in the Charlotte area, he showed up unannounced at Terry's shop ready to race. Veteran NASCAR drivers were initially amused by Kulwicki's arrival on the national tour: He was a driver from the northern United States when the series was primarily a southern regional series, he had a mechanical engineering degree when few other drivers had completed college and, with only six starts, had limited driving experience in the junior Busch Series. Kulwicki was described as very studious, hard working, no-nonsense and something of a loner. He frequently walked the garage area in his racing uniform carrying a briefcase. Kulwicki made his first career Winston Cup start at Richmond on September 8, 1985, for Bill Terry's No. 32 Hardee's Ford team. That season he competed in five races for Terry, with his highest finish being 13th.
Kulwicki started his rookie season in 1986 with Terry. After Terry decided to end support for his racing team mid-season, he sold the team to his driver. Kulwicki as an owner started out as essentially a one-man team, as he had to serve as driver, team administrator, crew chief and chief mechanic. Kulwicki had difficulty acquiring and keeping crew members because he found it difficult to trust them to do the job with the excellence that he demanded and because he was hands-on in the maintenance of racecars to the point of being a "control freak". He sought out crew members who had owned their own racecars, believing they would understand what he was going through: working long hours and performing his own car maintenance with a very limited budget. Notable crew members include his crew chief, Paul Andrews and future Cup crew chiefs, Tony Gibson and Brian Whitesell. Future crew chief and owner, Ray Evernham, lasted six weeks with Kulwicki in 1992. Evernham later said, "The man was a genius. There's no question. It's not a matter of people just feeling like he was a genius. That man was a genius. But his personality paid for that. He was very impatient, very straightforward, very cut-to-the-bone." With one car, two engines, and two full-time crew members, Kulwicki won the 1986 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. He had competed in 23 of 29 events, with four top 10 finishes, three races not completed (Did Not Finish – DNF), an average finish of 15.4, and had only one result below 30th place. Kulwicki finished 21st in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
For the 1987 season Kulwicki secured primary sponsorship from Zerex Antifreeze and changed his car number to seven. He picked up his first career pole position in the season's third race, at Richmond. Later that season, he again qualified fastest at Richmond and Dover. Kulwicki came close to winning his first Winston Cup race at Pocono, finishing second after winner Dale Earnhardt passed him on the last lap. With nine top 10 finishes, eleven DNFs and an average finish of 18.2 in 29 events; Kulwicki finished 15th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
In 1988 Kulwicki hired Paul Andrews as his crew chief after Andrews was recommended by Rusty Wallace at the 1987 NASCAR Awards banquet. That year Kulwicki won his first NASCAR Winston Cup race in the season's second-to-last race at Phoenix International Raceway after race leader Ricky Rudd's car had motor problems late in the race. Kulwicki led 41 laps and won by 18.5 seconds. After the race finished, he turned his car around and made, what he called, a "Polish victory lap" by driving the opposite way (clockwise) on the track, with the driver's side of the car facing the fans. "This gave me the opportunity to wave to the crowd from the driver's side", Kulwicki explained. Andrews recalled, "He had wanted to do something special and something different for his first win and only his first." He finished the 1988 season with four pole positions in 29 events, nine top 10 finishes including two second-place finishes, twelve DNFs, and an average finish of 19.2. Kulwicki finished 14th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
Kulwicki started his own engine-building program for the 1989 season. He had four second place finishes that season and held the points lead after the fifth race of the season. The team dropped from fourth to fifteenth in points by suffering nine engine failures during a sixteen-race stretch in the middle of the season. In 29 races, he had six pole positions, nine top 10 finishes, and finished 14th in season points. The team had a new workshop built during the season.
1990s
Junior Johnson, owner of one of the top NASCAR teams, approached Kulwicki at the beginning of the 1990 season to try to get him to replace Terry Labonte in the No. 11 Budweiser Ford. Kulwicki declined, stating that he was more interested in running his own team. He won his second Cup race at Rockingham on October 21, 1990, and finished eighth in points that year, his first finish in the top 10 points in a season. In 29 races, he had thirteen top 10 finishes and one pole position.
Before the 1991 season, Zerex ended their sponsorship of Kulwicki's team. Junior Johnson came calling again, looking for a driver for his revived second team that had last seen Neil Bonnett behind the wheel in 1986. Kulwicki turned down Johnson's $1 million offer thinking that he had secured a sponsorship deal with Maxwell House Coffee. Johnson then went to Maxwell House himself and obtained the sponsorship for his new car, which Sterling Marlin was hired to drive instead. Kulwicki was forced to begin the season without a sponsor, paying all of the team's expenses out of his own pocket. At the opening race of the season, the 1991 Daytona 500, five cars raced with paint schemes representing different branches of the United States military to show support for the American forces involved in the Gulf War. It was the first use of special paint schemes in NASCAR history. Kulwicki's car was sponsored by the United States Army in a one-race deal. After running the second and third races of the season in a plain white unsponsored car, Kulwicki's luck finding a sponsor changed for the better at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
At the time, Hooters was sponsoring a car driven by Mark Stahl, another owner-driver in the Cup series. Unlike Kulwicki, Stahl was a part-time participant who had trouble making races. The Hooters car failed to make the field for the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 and the Atlanta-based chain, desiring a spot in the race, approached the sponsorless Kulwicki to gauge his interest. The principals agreed to at least a one-race deal, which became a much longer term deal when Kulwicki recorded an eighth-place finish in the race. Later in the season, Kulwicki won the Bristol night race for his third career win. In 29 races, he had eleven top 10 finishes, four poles, and finished 13th in the points.
1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki started out the year by having to take one of two provisional starting positions at the Daytona 500; he ended up finishing fourth. He passed Dale Jarrett with 27 laps left at the Food City 500 race on April 5 at Bristol to take a narrow victory. It was his fourth Winston Cup victory. After that race, he never left the top five in season points. Andrews attributed Kulwicki's consistently strong finishes to the steady performance of newly adopted radial tires throughout their lifespan. He said, "It was hard to control them, and the driver's ability to work with that car during practice in order to get the car set up meant so much more than it ever did." Kulwicki's second victory in the season was at the first race at Pocono. Discounted as a contender for the season championship during the year, Kulwicki was expected to fade from contention as Bill Elliott and Davey Allison, both of whom had won more races than Kulwicki and who had traded the points lead between them, were both having strong seasons and looked to be the favorites for the Winston Cup. He did not, however, and remained in the top 5 in the series standings.
He qualified on the pole position for the Peak AntiFreeze 500 race on September 20 at Dover, but crashed early in the race and finished 34th. At the conclusion of the race, Kulwicki trailed points leader Elliott by 278 points. He seemed to resign himself to another season without a championship, saying to reporters, "This probably finishes us off in the championship deal."
However, Kulwicki was able to benefit from bad fortune that would befall Elliott in the weeks ahead. The next week at Martinsville, Elliott crashed out of the race while Kulwicki finished fifth. Kulwicki followed that up with a twelfth-place run at North Wilkesboro, a second place at Charlotte, and another twelfth-place finish at Rockingham. While Elliott managed a fourth place finish at Rockingham, he ran twenty-sixth at North Wilkesboro and thirtieth at Charlotte. Then, at Phoenix, Kulwicki ran fourth while Elliott suffered overheating problems and a cracked cylinder head and once again finished outside of the top 30. Allison won the race, retaking the points lead, but Kulwicki’s performance left him within striking distance of the points lead. When the points standings were tabulated after the race, Kulwicki had surpassed Elliott in the standings and stood thirty points behind Allison.
Thus, the stage was set for the final race of the season, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta. Before the race, Kulwicki received approval from NASCAR and Ford to change the "Thunderbird" lettering on his bumper for the race to "underbird" because he felt like the underdog in the contention for the championship.
Kulwicki qualified for the race in fourteenth position, three spots behind Elliott and three spots ahead of Allison. Allison simply needed to finish fifth or better to clinch the Cup, regardless of what his cohorts did. Atlanta, however, was not one of his better tracks, as he had a string of inconsistent finishes there. He had, however, finished fourth in the spring race won by Elliott. Kulwicki needed to outpace both Elliott and Allison and put as much distance as he could between the two drivers because he not only had to make up the thirty points on points leader Allison, but also needed to put distance between himself and Elliott, who trailed him by only ten points.
Kulwicki narrowly avoided an incident on the second lap of the race as front row starters Rick Mast and Brett Bodine spun out. However, trouble would eventually find him on the first round of pit stops. As Kulwicki was getting ready to leave his pit box after service, he shifted into first gear and his car stalled. He got a push start from his crew and upshifted into fourth gear, which enabled him to refire the car and head back out. Andrews later said, "We had to leave pit road in fourth gear, because we had broken metal parts in there, and only by leaving it in fourth are you not going to move metal around as much. We could only hope that the loose piece of metal didn't get in there and break the gears in half. We had three or four pit stops after it broke. I held my breath all day long." While Kulwicki had no choice but to keep his car in top gear, which caused his pit stop times to be much slower than usual, he was one of the faster drivers on track that day and he quickly gained positions once back up to speed. He eventually caught up to Elliott, who was also running well, and the two began jockeying back and forth for positions; eventually,
Kulwicki found his way to the front of the field and held onto the lead despite the best efforts of the #11 team. Then, on lap 255, Kulwicki got a break he desperately needed. Allison was running in sixth place at the time, and since he had led a lap during the course of the event was still leading the championship. As he was coming off of turn four, Ernie Irvan spun out in front of the field on the frontstretch. Irvan, who had been running three laps down at the time, came down in front of Allison, who was unable to avoid him and the two made contact and crashed into the inside wall near the start/finish line. Allison’s car was badly damaged in the incident, and although the damage would be able to be repaired in the garage his chances of winning the Winston Cup were over.
Under the ensuing caution, Kulwicki and Andrews went to work on discussing strategy for the remainder of the race. With Allison now out of the championship picture, maximizing track position and points became Kulwicki’s focus. He and Elliott had each gained five bonus points for leading a lap, and five additional bonus points were available for the driver who led the most laps during the race. However, despite the possibility for more caution periods, Kulwicki would have to pit at some point to get enough fuel in the car to make it to the advertised distance. Therefore, Kulwicki and Andrews decided to stay out as long as they could and lead as many laps as possible. Once the race resumed, Kulwicki was able to maintain his lead on Elliott despite the best efforts of the latter.
On lap 310, after leading 101 consecutive laps and 103 overall, Kulwicki came down pit road for a fuel-only stop. Since the team did not need a full twenty-two gallon load of fuel to make it to the end and they needed to save as much time as they could, Andrews made the determination to put approximately half a can of gasoline into Kulwicki’s tank; this could be done in a little over three seconds and with only two crew members. Fuel man Tony Gibson and catch can man Peter Jellen waited as Kulwicki pulled in. There was a problem with the fuel relay, however, and Gibson was not certain of the amount of gasoline that made it into the tank. Kulwicki came back onto the track in third place, behind front runner Elliott and second place Terry Labonte. He had not fully secured the five bonus points for leading the most laps, since Elliott had an opportunity to tie Kulwicki’s total. In that case, both drivers would receive the points. Elliott also had to come down to top off his fuel tank.
But as he had done with the adjustment following the broken gearbox and the accident that took Allison out of the race, Kulwicki once again caught a break that affected his chances in a significant way. Tim Brewer, Elliott’s crew chief, had lost track of Labonte and waited an additional lap to bring Elliott in. Labonte was able to pass Elliott while he pitted, then pitted himself. Elliott reassumed the point with twelve laps remaining, which when added to the ninety he had already led would only add up to 102.
Kulwicki was told that he had clinched the five extra points several laps later. Andrews warned him of the fuel relay issue, however, and told Kulwicki to conserve whatever fuel he could as no one knew for certain whether or not Gibson had done the job. Kulwicki was running in second, far enough ahead of third place Geoff Bodine that he was not a factor, and thus all he had to do was hold position in order to win the championship. Elliott won the race and Kulwicki stretched his fuel to finish second. Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by maintaining his 10-point lead over Elliott. He celebrated the championship with his second Polish victory lap. Always conscious of his appearance for potential sponsors, Kulwicki combed his hair, making a national television audience wait for him to emerge from his car.
Kulwicki had overcome the 278-point deficit in the final six races of the season by ending with a fifth, a fourth, and two second-place finishes. Kulwicki won the championship because of his consistent high finishes. It was the closest title win in NASCAR Cup Series history until the implementation of the Chase for the Cup format in 2004. Kulwicki was the last owner-driver to win the title for nearly two decades, the first Cup champion with a college degree, and the first Cup champion born in a northern state. He started from the pole position six times during the season, which was the most for any driver. The song that played during a short salute to Kulwicki at the year-end awards banquet was Frank Sinatra's "My Way".
Championship honors
Kulwicki returned to his hometown, Greenfield, for Alan Kulwicki Day in January 1993. The gymnasium at Greenfield High School was filled and surrounded by four to five thousand people. Local television crews filmed the event. Kulwicki signed autographs for six hours.
In celebration of his championship, sponsor Hooters made a special "Alan Tribute Card" that was used at all of the autograph sessions during the 1993 season.
1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki did not significantly change his spending habits after winning the 1992 championship. "The only thing I really wanted to buy was a plane", he said, "but it turns out Hooters has a couple I can use." Kulwicki negotiated a lease agreement with Hooters Chairman Robert Brooks for the use of one of his aircraft. The Swearingen Merlin III twin turboprop Kulwicki leased was painted with Hooters livery, and its FAA registry changed from N300EF (for Eastern Foods, another of Brooks's companies) to N300AK.
After the first five races of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series had been completed, Kulwicki was 9th in overall points. Kulwicki had concerns about how often he was being allowed to use the airplane he had leased, and other financial concerns he wanted to bring up with his sponsor, Hooters. The PR representative for both Hooters and Kulwicki, Tom Roberts, suggested that Kulwicki bring up his concerns to Hooters leadership while in flight from Knoxville to Bristol on the evening of April 1, 1993, en route to the 1993 Food City 500. Roberts himself, in an attempt to avoid a conflict of interest between the two sides, did not board the chartered flight, and took a commercial flight to Bristol instead.
Death
Kulwicki died in an airplane crash on Thursday April 1, 1993. He was returning from an appearance at the Knoxville Hooters on the Kingston Pike, in a Hooters corporate plane on a short flight across Tennessee before the Sunday spring race at Bristol. The plane slowed and crashed just before final approach at Tri-Cities Regional Airport in a field off of Interstate 81 near Blountville. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to the pilot's failure to use the airplane's anti-ice system to clear ice from the engine inlet system.
Kulwicki was buried at St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee; the funeral was attended by NASCAR President Bill France, Jr. and numerous drivers. Kulwicki's racecar transporter was driven from the rainy track later that Friday morning while other teams and the media watched it travel slowly around the track with a black wreath on its grille. As the transporter passed the start / finish line, the flagman waved a checkered flag. In 2008, Kyle Petty described the slow laps as "the saddest thing I've ever seen at a racetrack... We just sat and cried." Kulwicki had competed in five NASCAR races that season with two Top 5 finishes, and was ranked ninth in points at his death. In his career, he had won five NASCAR Winston Cup races, 24 pole positions, 75 Top 10 finishes, and one championship in 207 races.
His car was driven by road course specialist Tommy Kendall on road courses and by Jimmy Hensley at the other tracks. It was raced for most of the 1993 season until the team was sold to Geoff Bodine, who operated it as Geoff Bodine Racing.
Kulwicki had been selected to compete in the 1993 International Race of Champions (IROC) series as the reigning Winston Cup champion. He competed in two IROC races before his death, finishing ninth at Daytona and eleventh at Darlington. Dale Earnhardt raced for Kulwicki in the final two IROC races, and the prize money for those races and their fifth place combined points finish was given to the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary, Brenner Children's Hospital and St. Thomas Aquinas Church charities.
Legacy
Three days after Kulwicki's death, Bristol race winner Rusty Wallace honored his former short track rival by performing Kulwicki's trademark Polish victory lap. Davey Allison died on July 13, 1993; competitors who had been carrying a No. 7 sticker in memory of Kulwicki added a No. 28 sticker for Allison. After the final race of the season, series champion Dale Earnhardt and race winner Wallace drove a side-by-side Polish victory lap carrying flags for Kulwicki and Allison. Kulwicki finished 41st in the final points standings despite competing in only five races. Racing Champions issued a die-cast version of Alan Kulwicki's No. 7 car that was a tribute to Kulwicki's 1992 title.
The USAR Hooters Pro Cup championship (now CARS Tour) held the "Four Champions Challenge" in memory of the four victims of the plane crash. Established in 1997, the challenge was a four-race series, with each race named after one of the four who died in the crash: Kulwicki, Mark Brooks (son of Hooters owner Bob Brooks), Dan Duncan, and pilot Charles Campbell.
Milwaukee County honored Kulwicki in 1996 by creating Alan Kulwicki Memorial Park, located near the corner of Highway 100 and Cold Spring Road in Greenfield (Area Map). Hooters chairman Robert Brooks donated $250,000 to build the park, which features a Kulwicki museum inside the Brooks Pavilion.
Since 1994, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has awarded the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Scholarship to one incoming student each year. Scholarship winners are outstanding high school seniors who plan to major in mechanical engineering. By 1998, UNC Charlotte created an automotive and motorsports engineering program.
In October 2009, the Kulwicki family donated nearly $1.9 million to benefit motorsports engineering education at UNC Charlotte. In honor of the gift, the university's Board of Trustees renamed the existing motorsports research facility the Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Laboratory. The donation funded the construction of a second motorsports engineering building, which opened in January 2012.
Bristol Motor Speedway named its grandstand in turns one and two in honor of Kulwicki, as well as a terrace above the grandstand. The 2004 Busch Series race at the Milwaukee Mile was named the "Alan Kulwicki 250" in honor of Kulwicki. Wisconsinite Paul Menard turned his car around after winning the 2006 Busch Series event and performed a Polish victory lap to honor Kulwicki. Slinger Super Speedway has held an annual Alan Kulwicki Memorial race since 1994.
Kulwicki was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted in the Lowe's Motor Speedway Court of Legends in 1993, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993, Talladega-Texaco Hall of Fame in 1996, Bristol Motor Speedway Heroes of Bristol Hall of Fame in 1997, the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2010. Kulwicki was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019.
Kulwicki's success as an owner-driver sparked a small trend among NASCAR veterans. Geoff Bodine, his younger brother Brett, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, and Joe Nemechek all began racing teams shortly after Kulwicki's death. However, none were as successful as Kulwicki's. Robby Gordon frequently mentions Alan as an inspiration for him as an owner-driver, and selected car No. 7 as a tribute to Kulwicki.
Slinger Super Speedway began an Alan Kulwicki Memorial night in 1993; it has continued the annual memorial as of 2016. In 2010, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee created the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Student Center in their Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Building. The center, along with a scholarship for engineering students, was made possible in part by a donation from Thelma H. Kulwicki, the late racer's stepmother, who also donated numerous items of memorabilia located in the center.
In May 2012, the Milwaukee County Historical Society announced plans for a special exhibit celebrating the life and career of Kulwicki to open in early 2013. The exhibit is called "Alan Kulwicki: A Champion's Story".
Alan Kulwicki Driver Development Program
In 2015, Kulwicki's friends began the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development program to "help worthy drivers along the way in reaching their dream...while at the same time keep Alan Kulwicki's memory and legacy alive." The field is narrowed to 15 applicants and the program gives $7777 to support seven drivers' career advancement. Drivers are judged based on their on-track performance as well as off-track activities, social media presence, and community involvement. The winner receives seven times $7777 ($54,439) and a trophy. It was cancelled for the 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns. The program winners were:
2020 cancelled due to COVID-19
2019 Jeremy Doss
2018 Brett Yackey
2017 Cody Haskins
2016 Alex Prunty
2015 Ty Majeski.
Other Participants in Each Class:
2021 Wyatt Alexander, Luke Fenhaus, Max Kahler, Ryan Kuhn, Kole Raz, Brooke Storer, Dylan Zamba
2019 Danny Benedict, Justin Carroll, Luke Fenhaus, Derek Griffith, Carson Kvapil, Paul Shafer, Jr.
2018 Cole Butcher, Justin Carroll, Derek Griffith, Molly Helmuth, Justin Mondeik, Brittney Zamora
2017 Braison Bennett, Cole Butcher, Justin Mondeik, Michael Ostdiek, John Peters, Brett Yackey
2016 Jeremy Doss, Dave Farrington, Jr., Cody Haskins, Quin Houff, Michael Ostdiek (replaced Natalie Decker after she tried to qualify for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway), Brandon Setzer
2015 Steve Apel, Justin Crider, Dave Farrington, Jr., Reagan May, Bryce Napier, Cole Williams
Media
Father Dale Grubba, the priest who had presided over Kulwicki's funeral, released a biography of his friend entitled Alan Kulwicki: NASCAR champion Against All Odds in 2009. The book was the basis for a low-budget feature film, Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story, released on April 1, 2005. The film chronicles Kulwicki's life from racing late models at Slinger Super Speedway, through his rise to NASCAR champion, and ends with his death. The movie was created by Kulwicki's Wisconsin fans for less than $100,000. The star of the film, Brad Weber, was a Kulwicki fan and credits the late driver with being his inspiration to become an actor.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
Daytona 500
Busch Series
International Race of Champions
(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
References
External links
Movie review of Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story by Speed Channel
1954 births
1993 deaths
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American people of Polish descent
American Speed Association drivers
Burials in Wisconsin
Catholics from Wisconsin
Hooters people
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
International Race of Champions drivers
NASCAR Cup Series champions
NASCAR drivers
NASCAR team owners
People from Greenfield, Wisconsin
Racing drivers from Wisconsin
Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1993
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States | true | [
"Alan Mann Racing was a British motor racing team organised by Alan Mann (22 August 1936 – 21 March 2012), who was a part-time racing driver and team manager. The team ran a substantial part of the Ford works racing effort in Europe from 1964 to 1969, when it ceased operations. It was based in Byfleet, Surrey, near the Brooklands race circuit.\n\nHistory\n\nAlan Mann ran Ford Zephyrs and Anglias in 1962 under the entrant of Andrews Garage in British saloon car races. In 1963 he prepared a Ford Cortina GT under Alan Andrews Racing for Henry Taylor in racing and rallying in a quasi-Ford Team.\n\nHis team was included to run a Ford Cortina GT in the 3rd running of the Marlboro 12-hour, at Marlboro Motor Raceway, US, in August 1963 with the express purpose of winning its class, as Volvo was reaping publicity from a string of victories. His Cortina, driven by Henry Taylor and Jimmy Blumer, came second to another Cortina of John Willment Automobiles driven by Jack Sears and Bob Olthoff, which won the race overall. This made an impression on John Holman of Holman & Moody, Ford's top racing team in the US, who had already sold Willment a Ford Galaxie and this subsequently attracted more of Ford's attention.\n\nFor 1964 Alan Mann Racing became a Ford factory team. The team ran cars in events as diverse as the Monte Carlo Rally and the Tour de France Automobile to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Shelby won the Over 2000cc Division of the 1965 International Championship for GT Manufacturers with Cobra Daytona and Cobra roadster models entered by various teams, including Alan Mann Racing. For the big Ford effort to win Le Mans in 1966, Alan Mann Racing developed a lightweight version of the GT40 with a light alloy body and other modifications. Five cars were ordered, but only two were built as the project was abandoned by Ford in favour of the MKII GT40. Alan Mann Racing entered two 7-litre MKII cars for Le Mans in 1966, but despite one of them leading early on in the race, both cars retired.\n\nThe team's red and gold livery graced various Ford models including GT40, Cortina, Falcon, and Escort. The Ford F3L prototype was built and raced by Alan Mann Racing. Some of the best drivers of the period from Graham Hill and Sir Jackie Stewart to Sir John Whitmore and Frank Gardner raced for the team, which achieved substantial successes in many different forms of the sport.\n\nFilm work \nAMR also was involved in film and TV work. The company built the original Chitty Chitty Bang Bangs for the film of the same name, the most famous example being the one registered as Gen 11. Work was also done for the James Bond film Goldfinger, work for the aborted Steve McQueen F1 film 'Day of the Champion', as well as pre-production work for McQueen's film Le Mans.\n\nThey also built three cars with 'futuristic' appearance, based on Ford Zephyr running gear and aluminium gullwing door bodyshells, for Gerry Anderson and the 1969 film 'Doppelgänger'. These were re-painted and re-used for the much better known UFO TV series of 1970. The cars were infamously unfinished, underpowered and unreliable. Ed Straker's car was later owned by DJ Dave Lee Travis, who hated it. Little survives of these cars, except for enough remains to build a modern replica.\n\nMajor victories\n 1964 Tour de France Automobile, Touring Division – won by Peter Procter and Andrew Cowan in a Ford Mustang entered by AMR\n 1965 International Championship for GT Manufacturers, Over 2000cc Division – won by Shelby, with cars entered by various teams including AMR\n 1965 European Touring Car Challenge – won by Sir John Whitmore in a Ford Cortina Lotus entered by AMR\n 1967 British Saloon Car Championship – won by Frank Gardner in a Ford Falcon Sprint entered by AMR\n 1968 British Saloon Car Championship – won by Frank Gardner in a Ford Cortina Lotus and a Ford Escort Twin Cam entered by AMR\n\nThe team was resurrected in 2004 by Alan Mann, and is active in historic racing - featuring in such events as the Silverstone Classic, the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Goodwood Revival and regular appearances on the Masters Historic Pre-1966 Touring Cars competition.\n\nSee also\n Roy Pierpoint\n\nReferences\n\nGentleman Jack: The Official Biography of Jack Sears, Graham Gauld, \n Denis Jenkinson, Motor Sport, March 1968, p. 170.\n\nExternal links\nhttps://web.archive.org/web/20100204204940/http://homepage.mac.com/frank_de_jong/Races/1963%20Marlboro.html\nhttp://www.pixelmatic.com.au/cortina/articles/whitmore.htm\n\nBritish auto racing teams",
"The 1955 South Pacific Championship for racing cars was a motor race staged at the Gnoo Blas Motor Racing Circuit at Orange in New South Wales, Australia on 31 January 1955. The race, which was a Formula Libre event open to racing cars and stripped sports cars, was contested as a scratch race which also incorporated a handicap award. It was held over 27 laps of the 3¾ mile circuit for a total distance of 100 miles. The race, which was the first South Pacific Championship for racing cars, was won by Englishman Peter Whitehead driving a 3 litre Ferrari.\n\nThe championship meeting, which was conducted by the Australian Sporting Car Club, was the first FIA sanctioned international race meeting to be staged in Australia.\n\nRace results\n\nHandicap results\n\nNotes:\n Attendance: 30,000\n Number of starters: unknown\n Number of finishers: unknown\n Winner's race time: 65 minutes 1 second\n Winner's average speed: 95 mph\n Fastest lap: Peter Whitehead, Ferrari 500, 2 minutes 21 seconds\n Prince Bira did not start after his Maserati suffered an engine failure during practice.\n\nReferences\n\nSouth Pacific Championship for racing cars\nMotorsport at Gnoo Blas"
] |
[
"Alan Kulwicki",
"Early racing career",
"when did Alan start racing?",
"Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer.",
"who made the karts for him?",
"Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. \"I showed him how\", Gerry Kulwicki said.",
"when did Alan start racing cars?",
"Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977."
] | C_e76a6b8f2cde4e32a09b6dbbc7579c29_1 | did he have any sponsors? | 4 | Did Alan Kulwicki have any sponsors? | Alan Kulwicki | Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'" Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973, he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners Speedway in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, and the next year started racing late models - the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level - at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh. Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships. In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series. Kulwicki arrived at NASCAR, the highest and most expensive level of stock car racing in the United States, with no sponsor, a limited budget and only a racecar and a borrowed pickup truck. Despite starting with meager equipment and finances, he earned the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award over drivers racing for well-funded teams.
After Kulwicki won his first race at Phoenix International Raceway, he debuted what would become his trademark "Polish victory lap". Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by what was then the closest margin in NASCAR history. He died early in 1993 in a light aircraft accident and therefore never defended his championship. He has been inducted into numerous racing halls of fame and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers.
Kulwicki was known for being a perfectionist and doing things his own way. An engineer by trade, his scientific approach to NASCAR racing inspired the way teams are now run. Despite lucrative offers from top car owners, he insisted on driving for his own race team, AK Racing, during most of his NASCAR career. Described by his publicist as "a real hard type of person to get to know", he remained a bachelor throughout his life.
Early life
Kulwicki grew up in Greenfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee known for its Polish-American neighborhoods, near the Milwaukee Mile racetrack. After his mother died, his family moved in with his grandmother, who died when Kulwicki was in seventh grade. A year later, his only brother died of a hemophilia-related illness. Kulwicki attended Pius XI High School, a Roman Catholic high school in Milwaukee and received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1977. His knowledge of engineering has been cited as a contributing factor to his success as a driver, as it helped him better understand the physics of a racecar. He first raced on local tracks as an amateur while in college before becoming a full-time professional racer in 1980. A devout Roman Catholic, Kulwicki always competed with a Saint Christopher (the patron saint of travelers) devotional medal in his car.
Racing career
Early racing career
Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'"
Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973 he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners and the next year started racing late models – the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level – at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh.
Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships.
In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions.
NASCAR career
1980s
Kulwicki raced in four NASCAR Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series) races in 1984. At the time, the Busch Grand National Series was considered NASCAR's feeder circuit, a proving ground for drivers who wished to step up to the organization's premiere circuit, the Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series). Kulwicki qualified second fastest and finished in second place at his first career NASCAR race, which took place at the Milwaukee Mile, several city blocks from where he grew up. Later that year, he finished seventh at Charlotte and fifth at Bristol. The following year, Kulwicki placed sixteenth in the season-opening Busch Series race at Daytona. Although he won the pole position at that year's event in Milwaukee, he finished fourteenth because of engine problems. Kulwicki's Busch Series successes caught car owner Bill Terry's eye and he offered Kulwicki a chance to race for him in several Winston Cup events.
In 1985, Kulwicki sold most of his belongings, including his short track racing equipment, to move approximately to the Charlotte area in North Carolina. He kept only a few things; his pickup truck was loaded to tow a trailer full of furniture and tools. An electrical fire two days before he left destroyed his truck, so Kulwicki had to borrow one to pull the trailer. After arriving in the Charlotte area, he showed up unannounced at Terry's shop ready to race. Veteran NASCAR drivers were initially amused by Kulwicki's arrival on the national tour: He was a driver from the northern United States when the series was primarily a southern regional series, he had a mechanical engineering degree when few other drivers had completed college and, with only six starts, had limited driving experience in the junior Busch Series. Kulwicki was described as very studious, hard working, no-nonsense and something of a loner. He frequently walked the garage area in his racing uniform carrying a briefcase. Kulwicki made his first career Winston Cup start at Richmond on September 8, 1985, for Bill Terry's No. 32 Hardee's Ford team. That season he competed in five races for Terry, with his highest finish being 13th.
Kulwicki started his rookie season in 1986 with Terry. After Terry decided to end support for his racing team mid-season, he sold the team to his driver. Kulwicki as an owner started out as essentially a one-man team, as he had to serve as driver, team administrator, crew chief and chief mechanic. Kulwicki had difficulty acquiring and keeping crew members because he found it difficult to trust them to do the job with the excellence that he demanded and because he was hands-on in the maintenance of racecars to the point of being a "control freak". He sought out crew members who had owned their own racecars, believing they would understand what he was going through: working long hours and performing his own car maintenance with a very limited budget. Notable crew members include his crew chief, Paul Andrews and future Cup crew chiefs, Tony Gibson and Brian Whitesell. Future crew chief and owner, Ray Evernham, lasted six weeks with Kulwicki in 1992. Evernham later said, "The man was a genius. There's no question. It's not a matter of people just feeling like he was a genius. That man was a genius. But his personality paid for that. He was very impatient, very straightforward, very cut-to-the-bone." With one car, two engines, and two full-time crew members, Kulwicki won the 1986 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. He had competed in 23 of 29 events, with four top 10 finishes, three races not completed (Did Not Finish – DNF), an average finish of 15.4, and had only one result below 30th place. Kulwicki finished 21st in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
For the 1987 season Kulwicki secured primary sponsorship from Zerex Antifreeze and changed his car number to seven. He picked up his first career pole position in the season's third race, at Richmond. Later that season, he again qualified fastest at Richmond and Dover. Kulwicki came close to winning his first Winston Cup race at Pocono, finishing second after winner Dale Earnhardt passed him on the last lap. With nine top 10 finishes, eleven DNFs and an average finish of 18.2 in 29 events; Kulwicki finished 15th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
In 1988 Kulwicki hired Paul Andrews as his crew chief after Andrews was recommended by Rusty Wallace at the 1987 NASCAR Awards banquet. That year Kulwicki won his first NASCAR Winston Cup race in the season's second-to-last race at Phoenix International Raceway after race leader Ricky Rudd's car had motor problems late in the race. Kulwicki led 41 laps and won by 18.5 seconds. After the race finished, he turned his car around and made, what he called, a "Polish victory lap" by driving the opposite way (clockwise) on the track, with the driver's side of the car facing the fans. "This gave me the opportunity to wave to the crowd from the driver's side", Kulwicki explained. Andrews recalled, "He had wanted to do something special and something different for his first win and only his first." He finished the 1988 season with four pole positions in 29 events, nine top 10 finishes including two second-place finishes, twelve DNFs, and an average finish of 19.2. Kulwicki finished 14th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
Kulwicki started his own engine-building program for the 1989 season. He had four second place finishes that season and held the points lead after the fifth race of the season. The team dropped from fourth to fifteenth in points by suffering nine engine failures during a sixteen-race stretch in the middle of the season. In 29 races, he had six pole positions, nine top 10 finishes, and finished 14th in season points. The team had a new workshop built during the season.
1990s
Junior Johnson, owner of one of the top NASCAR teams, approached Kulwicki at the beginning of the 1990 season to try to get him to replace Terry Labonte in the No. 11 Budweiser Ford. Kulwicki declined, stating that he was more interested in running his own team. He won his second Cup race at Rockingham on October 21, 1990, and finished eighth in points that year, his first finish in the top 10 points in a season. In 29 races, he had thirteen top 10 finishes and one pole position.
Before the 1991 season, Zerex ended their sponsorship of Kulwicki's team. Junior Johnson came calling again, looking for a driver for his revived second team that had last seen Neil Bonnett behind the wheel in 1986. Kulwicki turned down Johnson's $1 million offer thinking that he had secured a sponsorship deal with Maxwell House Coffee. Johnson then went to Maxwell House himself and obtained the sponsorship for his new car, which Sterling Marlin was hired to drive instead. Kulwicki was forced to begin the season without a sponsor, paying all of the team's expenses out of his own pocket. At the opening race of the season, the 1991 Daytona 500, five cars raced with paint schemes representing different branches of the United States military to show support for the American forces involved in the Gulf War. It was the first use of special paint schemes in NASCAR history. Kulwicki's car was sponsored by the United States Army in a one-race deal. After running the second and third races of the season in a plain white unsponsored car, Kulwicki's luck finding a sponsor changed for the better at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
At the time, Hooters was sponsoring a car driven by Mark Stahl, another owner-driver in the Cup series. Unlike Kulwicki, Stahl was a part-time participant who had trouble making races. The Hooters car failed to make the field for the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 and the Atlanta-based chain, desiring a spot in the race, approached the sponsorless Kulwicki to gauge his interest. The principals agreed to at least a one-race deal, which became a much longer term deal when Kulwicki recorded an eighth-place finish in the race. Later in the season, Kulwicki won the Bristol night race for his third career win. In 29 races, he had eleven top 10 finishes, four poles, and finished 13th in the points.
1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki started out the year by having to take one of two provisional starting positions at the Daytona 500; he ended up finishing fourth. He passed Dale Jarrett with 27 laps left at the Food City 500 race on April 5 at Bristol to take a narrow victory. It was his fourth Winston Cup victory. After that race, he never left the top five in season points. Andrews attributed Kulwicki's consistently strong finishes to the steady performance of newly adopted radial tires throughout their lifespan. He said, "It was hard to control them, and the driver's ability to work with that car during practice in order to get the car set up meant so much more than it ever did." Kulwicki's second victory in the season was at the first race at Pocono. Discounted as a contender for the season championship during the year, Kulwicki was expected to fade from contention as Bill Elliott and Davey Allison, both of whom had won more races than Kulwicki and who had traded the points lead between them, were both having strong seasons and looked to be the favorites for the Winston Cup. He did not, however, and remained in the top 5 in the series standings.
He qualified on the pole position for the Peak AntiFreeze 500 race on September 20 at Dover, but crashed early in the race and finished 34th. At the conclusion of the race, Kulwicki trailed points leader Elliott by 278 points. He seemed to resign himself to another season without a championship, saying to reporters, "This probably finishes us off in the championship deal."
However, Kulwicki was able to benefit from bad fortune that would befall Elliott in the weeks ahead. The next week at Martinsville, Elliott crashed out of the race while Kulwicki finished fifth. Kulwicki followed that up with a twelfth-place run at North Wilkesboro, a second place at Charlotte, and another twelfth-place finish at Rockingham. While Elliott managed a fourth place finish at Rockingham, he ran twenty-sixth at North Wilkesboro and thirtieth at Charlotte. Then, at Phoenix, Kulwicki ran fourth while Elliott suffered overheating problems and a cracked cylinder head and once again finished outside of the top 30. Allison won the race, retaking the points lead, but Kulwicki’s performance left him within striking distance of the points lead. When the points standings were tabulated after the race, Kulwicki had surpassed Elliott in the standings and stood thirty points behind Allison.
Thus, the stage was set for the final race of the season, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta. Before the race, Kulwicki received approval from NASCAR and Ford to change the "Thunderbird" lettering on his bumper for the race to "underbird" because he felt like the underdog in the contention for the championship.
Kulwicki qualified for the race in fourteenth position, three spots behind Elliott and three spots ahead of Allison. Allison simply needed to finish fifth or better to clinch the Cup, regardless of what his cohorts did. Atlanta, however, was not one of his better tracks, as he had a string of inconsistent finishes there. He had, however, finished fourth in the spring race won by Elliott. Kulwicki needed to outpace both Elliott and Allison and put as much distance as he could between the two drivers because he not only had to make up the thirty points on points leader Allison, but also needed to put distance between himself and Elliott, who trailed him by only ten points.
Kulwicki narrowly avoided an incident on the second lap of the race as front row starters Rick Mast and Brett Bodine spun out. However, trouble would eventually find him on the first round of pit stops. As Kulwicki was getting ready to leave his pit box after service, he shifted into first gear and his car stalled. He got a push start from his crew and upshifted into fourth gear, which enabled him to refire the car and head back out. Andrews later said, "We had to leave pit road in fourth gear, because we had broken metal parts in there, and only by leaving it in fourth are you not going to move metal around as much. We could only hope that the loose piece of metal didn't get in there and break the gears in half. We had three or four pit stops after it broke. I held my breath all day long." While Kulwicki had no choice but to keep his car in top gear, which caused his pit stop times to be much slower than usual, he was one of the faster drivers on track that day and he quickly gained positions once back up to speed. He eventually caught up to Elliott, who was also running well, and the two began jockeying back and forth for positions; eventually,
Kulwicki found his way to the front of the field and held onto the lead despite the best efforts of the #11 team. Then, on lap 255, Kulwicki got a break he desperately needed. Allison was running in sixth place at the time, and since he had led a lap during the course of the event was still leading the championship. As he was coming off of turn four, Ernie Irvan spun out in front of the field on the frontstretch. Irvan, who had been running three laps down at the time, came down in front of Allison, who was unable to avoid him and the two made contact and crashed into the inside wall near the start/finish line. Allison’s car was badly damaged in the incident, and although the damage would be able to be repaired in the garage his chances of winning the Winston Cup were over.
Under the ensuing caution, Kulwicki and Andrews went to work on discussing strategy for the remainder of the race. With Allison now out of the championship picture, maximizing track position and points became Kulwicki’s focus. He and Elliott had each gained five bonus points for leading a lap, and five additional bonus points were available for the driver who led the most laps during the race. However, despite the possibility for more caution periods, Kulwicki would have to pit at some point to get enough fuel in the car to make it to the advertised distance. Therefore, Kulwicki and Andrews decided to stay out as long as they could and lead as many laps as possible. Once the race resumed, Kulwicki was able to maintain his lead on Elliott despite the best efforts of the latter.
On lap 310, after leading 101 consecutive laps and 103 overall, Kulwicki came down pit road for a fuel-only stop. Since the team did not need a full twenty-two gallon load of fuel to make it to the end and they needed to save as much time as they could, Andrews made the determination to put approximately half a can of gasoline into Kulwicki’s tank; this could be done in a little over three seconds and with only two crew members. Fuel man Tony Gibson and catch can man Peter Jellen waited as Kulwicki pulled in. There was a problem with the fuel relay, however, and Gibson was not certain of the amount of gasoline that made it into the tank. Kulwicki came back onto the track in third place, behind front runner Elliott and second place Terry Labonte. He had not fully secured the five bonus points for leading the most laps, since Elliott had an opportunity to tie Kulwicki’s total. In that case, both drivers would receive the points. Elliott also had to come down to top off his fuel tank.
But as he had done with the adjustment following the broken gearbox and the accident that took Allison out of the race, Kulwicki once again caught a break that affected his chances in a significant way. Tim Brewer, Elliott’s crew chief, had lost track of Labonte and waited an additional lap to bring Elliott in. Labonte was able to pass Elliott while he pitted, then pitted himself. Elliott reassumed the point with twelve laps remaining, which when added to the ninety he had already led would only add up to 102.
Kulwicki was told that he had clinched the five extra points several laps later. Andrews warned him of the fuel relay issue, however, and told Kulwicki to conserve whatever fuel he could as no one knew for certain whether or not Gibson had done the job. Kulwicki was running in second, far enough ahead of third place Geoff Bodine that he was not a factor, and thus all he had to do was hold position in order to win the championship. Elliott won the race and Kulwicki stretched his fuel to finish second. Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by maintaining his 10-point lead over Elliott. He celebrated the championship with his second Polish victory lap. Always conscious of his appearance for potential sponsors, Kulwicki combed his hair, making a national television audience wait for him to emerge from his car.
Kulwicki had overcome the 278-point deficit in the final six races of the season by ending with a fifth, a fourth, and two second-place finishes. Kulwicki won the championship because of his consistent high finishes. It was the closest title win in NASCAR Cup Series history until the implementation of the Chase for the Cup format in 2004. Kulwicki was the last owner-driver to win the title for nearly two decades, the first Cup champion with a college degree, and the first Cup champion born in a northern state. He started from the pole position six times during the season, which was the most for any driver. The song that played during a short salute to Kulwicki at the year-end awards banquet was Frank Sinatra's "My Way".
Championship honors
Kulwicki returned to his hometown, Greenfield, for Alan Kulwicki Day in January 1993. The gymnasium at Greenfield High School was filled and surrounded by four to five thousand people. Local television crews filmed the event. Kulwicki signed autographs for six hours.
In celebration of his championship, sponsor Hooters made a special "Alan Tribute Card" that was used at all of the autograph sessions during the 1993 season.
1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki did not significantly change his spending habits after winning the 1992 championship. "The only thing I really wanted to buy was a plane", he said, "but it turns out Hooters has a couple I can use." Kulwicki negotiated a lease agreement with Hooters Chairman Robert Brooks for the use of one of his aircraft. The Swearingen Merlin III twin turboprop Kulwicki leased was painted with Hooters livery, and its FAA registry changed from N300EF (for Eastern Foods, another of Brooks's companies) to N300AK.
After the first five races of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series had been completed, Kulwicki was 9th in overall points. Kulwicki had concerns about how often he was being allowed to use the airplane he had leased, and other financial concerns he wanted to bring up with his sponsor, Hooters. The PR representative for both Hooters and Kulwicki, Tom Roberts, suggested that Kulwicki bring up his concerns to Hooters leadership while in flight from Knoxville to Bristol on the evening of April 1, 1993, en route to the 1993 Food City 500. Roberts himself, in an attempt to avoid a conflict of interest between the two sides, did not board the chartered flight, and took a commercial flight to Bristol instead.
Death
Kulwicki died in an airplane crash on Thursday April 1, 1993. He was returning from an appearance at the Knoxville Hooters on the Kingston Pike, in a Hooters corporate plane on a short flight across Tennessee before the Sunday spring race at Bristol. The plane slowed and crashed just before final approach at Tri-Cities Regional Airport in a field off of Interstate 81 near Blountville. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to the pilot's failure to use the airplane's anti-ice system to clear ice from the engine inlet system.
Kulwicki was buried at St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee; the funeral was attended by NASCAR President Bill France, Jr. and numerous drivers. Kulwicki's racecar transporter was driven from the rainy track later that Friday morning while other teams and the media watched it travel slowly around the track with a black wreath on its grille. As the transporter passed the start / finish line, the flagman waved a checkered flag. In 2008, Kyle Petty described the slow laps as "the saddest thing I've ever seen at a racetrack... We just sat and cried." Kulwicki had competed in five NASCAR races that season with two Top 5 finishes, and was ranked ninth in points at his death. In his career, he had won five NASCAR Winston Cup races, 24 pole positions, 75 Top 10 finishes, and one championship in 207 races.
His car was driven by road course specialist Tommy Kendall on road courses and by Jimmy Hensley at the other tracks. It was raced for most of the 1993 season until the team was sold to Geoff Bodine, who operated it as Geoff Bodine Racing.
Kulwicki had been selected to compete in the 1993 International Race of Champions (IROC) series as the reigning Winston Cup champion. He competed in two IROC races before his death, finishing ninth at Daytona and eleventh at Darlington. Dale Earnhardt raced for Kulwicki in the final two IROC races, and the prize money for those races and their fifth place combined points finish was given to the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary, Brenner Children's Hospital and St. Thomas Aquinas Church charities.
Legacy
Three days after Kulwicki's death, Bristol race winner Rusty Wallace honored his former short track rival by performing Kulwicki's trademark Polish victory lap. Davey Allison died on July 13, 1993; competitors who had been carrying a No. 7 sticker in memory of Kulwicki added a No. 28 sticker for Allison. After the final race of the season, series champion Dale Earnhardt and race winner Wallace drove a side-by-side Polish victory lap carrying flags for Kulwicki and Allison. Kulwicki finished 41st in the final points standings despite competing in only five races. Racing Champions issued a die-cast version of Alan Kulwicki's No. 7 car that was a tribute to Kulwicki's 1992 title.
The USAR Hooters Pro Cup championship (now CARS Tour) held the "Four Champions Challenge" in memory of the four victims of the plane crash. Established in 1997, the challenge was a four-race series, with each race named after one of the four who died in the crash: Kulwicki, Mark Brooks (son of Hooters owner Bob Brooks), Dan Duncan, and pilot Charles Campbell.
Milwaukee County honored Kulwicki in 1996 by creating Alan Kulwicki Memorial Park, located near the corner of Highway 100 and Cold Spring Road in Greenfield (Area Map). Hooters chairman Robert Brooks donated $250,000 to build the park, which features a Kulwicki museum inside the Brooks Pavilion.
Since 1994, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has awarded the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Scholarship to one incoming student each year. Scholarship winners are outstanding high school seniors who plan to major in mechanical engineering. By 1998, UNC Charlotte created an automotive and motorsports engineering program.
In October 2009, the Kulwicki family donated nearly $1.9 million to benefit motorsports engineering education at UNC Charlotte. In honor of the gift, the university's Board of Trustees renamed the existing motorsports research facility the Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Laboratory. The donation funded the construction of a second motorsports engineering building, which opened in January 2012.
Bristol Motor Speedway named its grandstand in turns one and two in honor of Kulwicki, as well as a terrace above the grandstand. The 2004 Busch Series race at the Milwaukee Mile was named the "Alan Kulwicki 250" in honor of Kulwicki. Wisconsinite Paul Menard turned his car around after winning the 2006 Busch Series event and performed a Polish victory lap to honor Kulwicki. Slinger Super Speedway has held an annual Alan Kulwicki Memorial race since 1994.
Kulwicki was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted in the Lowe's Motor Speedway Court of Legends in 1993, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993, Talladega-Texaco Hall of Fame in 1996, Bristol Motor Speedway Heroes of Bristol Hall of Fame in 1997, the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2010. Kulwicki was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019.
Kulwicki's success as an owner-driver sparked a small trend among NASCAR veterans. Geoff Bodine, his younger brother Brett, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, and Joe Nemechek all began racing teams shortly after Kulwicki's death. However, none were as successful as Kulwicki's. Robby Gordon frequently mentions Alan as an inspiration for him as an owner-driver, and selected car No. 7 as a tribute to Kulwicki.
Slinger Super Speedway began an Alan Kulwicki Memorial night in 1993; it has continued the annual memorial as of 2016. In 2010, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee created the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Student Center in their Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Building. The center, along with a scholarship for engineering students, was made possible in part by a donation from Thelma H. Kulwicki, the late racer's stepmother, who also donated numerous items of memorabilia located in the center.
In May 2012, the Milwaukee County Historical Society announced plans for a special exhibit celebrating the life and career of Kulwicki to open in early 2013. The exhibit is called "Alan Kulwicki: A Champion's Story".
Alan Kulwicki Driver Development Program
In 2015, Kulwicki's friends began the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development program to "help worthy drivers along the way in reaching their dream...while at the same time keep Alan Kulwicki's memory and legacy alive." The field is narrowed to 15 applicants and the program gives $7777 to support seven drivers' career advancement. Drivers are judged based on their on-track performance as well as off-track activities, social media presence, and community involvement. The winner receives seven times $7777 ($54,439) and a trophy. It was cancelled for the 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns. The program winners were:
2020 cancelled due to COVID-19
2019 Jeremy Doss
2018 Brett Yackey
2017 Cody Haskins
2016 Alex Prunty
2015 Ty Majeski.
Other Participants in Each Class:
2021 Wyatt Alexander, Luke Fenhaus, Max Kahler, Ryan Kuhn, Kole Raz, Brooke Storer, Dylan Zamba
2019 Danny Benedict, Justin Carroll, Luke Fenhaus, Derek Griffith, Carson Kvapil, Paul Shafer, Jr.
2018 Cole Butcher, Justin Carroll, Derek Griffith, Molly Helmuth, Justin Mondeik, Brittney Zamora
2017 Braison Bennett, Cole Butcher, Justin Mondeik, Michael Ostdiek, John Peters, Brett Yackey
2016 Jeremy Doss, Dave Farrington, Jr., Cody Haskins, Quin Houff, Michael Ostdiek (replaced Natalie Decker after she tried to qualify for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway), Brandon Setzer
2015 Steve Apel, Justin Crider, Dave Farrington, Jr., Reagan May, Bryce Napier, Cole Williams
Media
Father Dale Grubba, the priest who had presided over Kulwicki's funeral, released a biography of his friend entitled Alan Kulwicki: NASCAR champion Against All Odds in 2009. The book was the basis for a low-budget feature film, Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story, released on April 1, 2005. The film chronicles Kulwicki's life from racing late models at Slinger Super Speedway, through his rise to NASCAR champion, and ends with his death. The movie was created by Kulwicki's Wisconsin fans for less than $100,000. The star of the film, Brad Weber, was a Kulwicki fan and credits the late driver with being his inspiration to become an actor.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
Daytona 500
Busch Series
International Race of Champions
(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
References
External links
Movie review of Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story by Speed Channel
1954 births
1993 deaths
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American people of Polish descent
American Speed Association drivers
Burials in Wisconsin
Catholics from Wisconsin
Hooters people
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
International Race of Champions drivers
NASCAR Cup Series champions
NASCAR drivers
NASCAR team owners
People from Greenfield, Wisconsin
Racing drivers from Wisconsin
Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1993
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States | false | [
"Rule 40 is a by-law in the Olympic Charter stating that only approved sponsors may reference \"Olympic-related terms\". It was introduced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to prevent so-called ambush marketing by companies who are not official sponsors and to sanction links between athletes and unofficial sponsors during a blackout period starting nine days before the opening of the Olympic Games and continuing until three days after the closing ceremony.\n\nControversy sparked in the days before the 2016 Summer Olympics as Rule 40 was upheld in an effort to prevent companies from retweeting anything from the official Olympic Twitter account, or use official hashtags such as #Rio2016.\n\nThe rules were loosened for American athletes for the 2016 Rio Olympics. United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) chief marketing officer, Lisa Baird said the decision was made to \"address the dissatisfaction of athletes but also protect the rights of the Olympic rights holders.” Companies not sponsoring the Olympics could make advertisements with Olympic athletes, but were not permitted to involve anything about the Olympics.\n\nThe German Cartel Office in 2019 declared that all German participants in the Olympics no longer had to abide by the IOC's ruling. The Cartel Office officials, agreed that many of their countries athletes rely on their sponsors to create a larger name and revenues for themselves. Since no athlete receives the money made by the IOC's sponsor advertising, Cartel president decided that \"self marketing during the games plays a very important role,\" and he permitted the decision.\n\nThe IOC added new updates to Rule 40 and created \"Key Principles.\" The principles focus on how athletes can engage in monetary advertising practices with their sponsors, if they have any. The IOC manages the rules of the Olympic Charter, but they have stated that National Olympic Committees will be the main overseers of their respective countries.\n\nThe USOPC has updated their protocols for Rule 40 for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Sponsors and their athletes alike, will be permitted to thank and congratulate one another during the Olympic events. Restrictions on what they can say will still be present. Athletes are limited to seven statements or social media posts gratifying their sponsors and sponsors will still not be permitted to include pictures or words regarding the Olympics.\n\nReferences \n\n2016 Summer Olympics\n2016 controversies\nOlympic Games controversies\nTrademark law\nTwitter controversies\nSports rules and regulations",
"The DCBank Pro Cycling Team was a Canadian UCI Continental cycling team established in 2012. Their stated goals are to specialize in U23 riders and develop talent. Norco, Axiom, and GS-6 are sponsors of the team. The team was not registered with the UCI in 2020. The five years the team was at the continental level, they did not achieve any UCI category victories.\n\n2019 roster\nAges at 31 December 2019\n\nReferences\n\nUCI Continental Teams (America)\nCycling teams established in 2012\nCycling teams based in Canada"
] |
[
"Alan Kulwicki",
"Early racing career",
"when did Alan start racing?",
"Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer.",
"who made the karts for him?",
"Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. \"I showed him how\", Gerry Kulwicki said.",
"when did Alan start racing cars?",
"Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977.",
"did he have any sponsors?",
"I don't know."
] | C_e76a6b8f2cde4e32a09b6dbbc7579c29_1 | what make of cars did he drive? | 5 | What make of cars did Alan Kulwicki drive? | Alan Kulwicki | Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'" Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973, he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners Speedway in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, and the next year started racing late models - the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level - at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh. Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships. In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions. CANNOTANSWER | He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. | Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series. Kulwicki arrived at NASCAR, the highest and most expensive level of stock car racing in the United States, with no sponsor, a limited budget and only a racecar and a borrowed pickup truck. Despite starting with meager equipment and finances, he earned the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award over drivers racing for well-funded teams.
After Kulwicki won his first race at Phoenix International Raceway, he debuted what would become his trademark "Polish victory lap". Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by what was then the closest margin in NASCAR history. He died early in 1993 in a light aircraft accident and therefore never defended his championship. He has been inducted into numerous racing halls of fame and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers.
Kulwicki was known for being a perfectionist and doing things his own way. An engineer by trade, his scientific approach to NASCAR racing inspired the way teams are now run. Despite lucrative offers from top car owners, he insisted on driving for his own race team, AK Racing, during most of his NASCAR career. Described by his publicist as "a real hard type of person to get to know", he remained a bachelor throughout his life.
Early life
Kulwicki grew up in Greenfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee known for its Polish-American neighborhoods, near the Milwaukee Mile racetrack. After his mother died, his family moved in with his grandmother, who died when Kulwicki was in seventh grade. A year later, his only brother died of a hemophilia-related illness. Kulwicki attended Pius XI High School, a Roman Catholic high school in Milwaukee and received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1977. His knowledge of engineering has been cited as a contributing factor to his success as a driver, as it helped him better understand the physics of a racecar. He first raced on local tracks as an amateur while in college before becoming a full-time professional racer in 1980. A devout Roman Catholic, Kulwicki always competed with a Saint Christopher (the patron saint of travelers) devotional medal in his car.
Racing career
Early racing career
Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'"
Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973 he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners and the next year started racing late models – the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level – at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh.
Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships.
In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions.
NASCAR career
1980s
Kulwicki raced in four NASCAR Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series) races in 1984. At the time, the Busch Grand National Series was considered NASCAR's feeder circuit, a proving ground for drivers who wished to step up to the organization's premiere circuit, the Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series). Kulwicki qualified second fastest and finished in second place at his first career NASCAR race, which took place at the Milwaukee Mile, several city blocks from where he grew up. Later that year, he finished seventh at Charlotte and fifth at Bristol. The following year, Kulwicki placed sixteenth in the season-opening Busch Series race at Daytona. Although he won the pole position at that year's event in Milwaukee, he finished fourteenth because of engine problems. Kulwicki's Busch Series successes caught car owner Bill Terry's eye and he offered Kulwicki a chance to race for him in several Winston Cup events.
In 1985, Kulwicki sold most of his belongings, including his short track racing equipment, to move approximately to the Charlotte area in North Carolina. He kept only a few things; his pickup truck was loaded to tow a trailer full of furniture and tools. An electrical fire two days before he left destroyed his truck, so Kulwicki had to borrow one to pull the trailer. After arriving in the Charlotte area, he showed up unannounced at Terry's shop ready to race. Veteran NASCAR drivers were initially amused by Kulwicki's arrival on the national tour: He was a driver from the northern United States when the series was primarily a southern regional series, he had a mechanical engineering degree when few other drivers had completed college and, with only six starts, had limited driving experience in the junior Busch Series. Kulwicki was described as very studious, hard working, no-nonsense and something of a loner. He frequently walked the garage area in his racing uniform carrying a briefcase. Kulwicki made his first career Winston Cup start at Richmond on September 8, 1985, for Bill Terry's No. 32 Hardee's Ford team. That season he competed in five races for Terry, with his highest finish being 13th.
Kulwicki started his rookie season in 1986 with Terry. After Terry decided to end support for his racing team mid-season, he sold the team to his driver. Kulwicki as an owner started out as essentially a one-man team, as he had to serve as driver, team administrator, crew chief and chief mechanic. Kulwicki had difficulty acquiring and keeping crew members because he found it difficult to trust them to do the job with the excellence that he demanded and because he was hands-on in the maintenance of racecars to the point of being a "control freak". He sought out crew members who had owned their own racecars, believing they would understand what he was going through: working long hours and performing his own car maintenance with a very limited budget. Notable crew members include his crew chief, Paul Andrews and future Cup crew chiefs, Tony Gibson and Brian Whitesell. Future crew chief and owner, Ray Evernham, lasted six weeks with Kulwicki in 1992. Evernham later said, "The man was a genius. There's no question. It's not a matter of people just feeling like he was a genius. That man was a genius. But his personality paid for that. He was very impatient, very straightforward, very cut-to-the-bone." With one car, two engines, and two full-time crew members, Kulwicki won the 1986 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. He had competed in 23 of 29 events, with four top 10 finishes, three races not completed (Did Not Finish – DNF), an average finish of 15.4, and had only one result below 30th place. Kulwicki finished 21st in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
For the 1987 season Kulwicki secured primary sponsorship from Zerex Antifreeze and changed his car number to seven. He picked up his first career pole position in the season's third race, at Richmond. Later that season, he again qualified fastest at Richmond and Dover. Kulwicki came close to winning his first Winston Cup race at Pocono, finishing second after winner Dale Earnhardt passed him on the last lap. With nine top 10 finishes, eleven DNFs and an average finish of 18.2 in 29 events; Kulwicki finished 15th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
In 1988 Kulwicki hired Paul Andrews as his crew chief after Andrews was recommended by Rusty Wallace at the 1987 NASCAR Awards banquet. That year Kulwicki won his first NASCAR Winston Cup race in the season's second-to-last race at Phoenix International Raceway after race leader Ricky Rudd's car had motor problems late in the race. Kulwicki led 41 laps and won by 18.5 seconds. After the race finished, he turned his car around and made, what he called, a "Polish victory lap" by driving the opposite way (clockwise) on the track, with the driver's side of the car facing the fans. "This gave me the opportunity to wave to the crowd from the driver's side", Kulwicki explained. Andrews recalled, "He had wanted to do something special and something different for his first win and only his first." He finished the 1988 season with four pole positions in 29 events, nine top 10 finishes including two second-place finishes, twelve DNFs, and an average finish of 19.2. Kulwicki finished 14th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
Kulwicki started his own engine-building program for the 1989 season. He had four second place finishes that season and held the points lead after the fifth race of the season. The team dropped from fourth to fifteenth in points by suffering nine engine failures during a sixteen-race stretch in the middle of the season. In 29 races, he had six pole positions, nine top 10 finishes, and finished 14th in season points. The team had a new workshop built during the season.
1990s
Junior Johnson, owner of one of the top NASCAR teams, approached Kulwicki at the beginning of the 1990 season to try to get him to replace Terry Labonte in the No. 11 Budweiser Ford. Kulwicki declined, stating that he was more interested in running his own team. He won his second Cup race at Rockingham on October 21, 1990, and finished eighth in points that year, his first finish in the top 10 points in a season. In 29 races, he had thirteen top 10 finishes and one pole position.
Before the 1991 season, Zerex ended their sponsorship of Kulwicki's team. Junior Johnson came calling again, looking for a driver for his revived second team that had last seen Neil Bonnett behind the wheel in 1986. Kulwicki turned down Johnson's $1 million offer thinking that he had secured a sponsorship deal with Maxwell House Coffee. Johnson then went to Maxwell House himself and obtained the sponsorship for his new car, which Sterling Marlin was hired to drive instead. Kulwicki was forced to begin the season without a sponsor, paying all of the team's expenses out of his own pocket. At the opening race of the season, the 1991 Daytona 500, five cars raced with paint schemes representing different branches of the United States military to show support for the American forces involved in the Gulf War. It was the first use of special paint schemes in NASCAR history. Kulwicki's car was sponsored by the United States Army in a one-race deal. After running the second and third races of the season in a plain white unsponsored car, Kulwicki's luck finding a sponsor changed for the better at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
At the time, Hooters was sponsoring a car driven by Mark Stahl, another owner-driver in the Cup series. Unlike Kulwicki, Stahl was a part-time participant who had trouble making races. The Hooters car failed to make the field for the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 and the Atlanta-based chain, desiring a spot in the race, approached the sponsorless Kulwicki to gauge his interest. The principals agreed to at least a one-race deal, which became a much longer term deal when Kulwicki recorded an eighth-place finish in the race. Later in the season, Kulwicki won the Bristol night race for his third career win. In 29 races, he had eleven top 10 finishes, four poles, and finished 13th in the points.
1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki started out the year by having to take one of two provisional starting positions at the Daytona 500; he ended up finishing fourth. He passed Dale Jarrett with 27 laps left at the Food City 500 race on April 5 at Bristol to take a narrow victory. It was his fourth Winston Cup victory. After that race, he never left the top five in season points. Andrews attributed Kulwicki's consistently strong finishes to the steady performance of newly adopted radial tires throughout their lifespan. He said, "It was hard to control them, and the driver's ability to work with that car during practice in order to get the car set up meant so much more than it ever did." Kulwicki's second victory in the season was at the first race at Pocono. Discounted as a contender for the season championship during the year, Kulwicki was expected to fade from contention as Bill Elliott and Davey Allison, both of whom had won more races than Kulwicki and who had traded the points lead between them, were both having strong seasons and looked to be the favorites for the Winston Cup. He did not, however, and remained in the top 5 in the series standings.
He qualified on the pole position for the Peak AntiFreeze 500 race on September 20 at Dover, but crashed early in the race and finished 34th. At the conclusion of the race, Kulwicki trailed points leader Elliott by 278 points. He seemed to resign himself to another season without a championship, saying to reporters, "This probably finishes us off in the championship deal."
However, Kulwicki was able to benefit from bad fortune that would befall Elliott in the weeks ahead. The next week at Martinsville, Elliott crashed out of the race while Kulwicki finished fifth. Kulwicki followed that up with a twelfth-place run at North Wilkesboro, a second place at Charlotte, and another twelfth-place finish at Rockingham. While Elliott managed a fourth place finish at Rockingham, he ran twenty-sixth at North Wilkesboro and thirtieth at Charlotte. Then, at Phoenix, Kulwicki ran fourth while Elliott suffered overheating problems and a cracked cylinder head and once again finished outside of the top 30. Allison won the race, retaking the points lead, but Kulwicki’s performance left him within striking distance of the points lead. When the points standings were tabulated after the race, Kulwicki had surpassed Elliott in the standings and stood thirty points behind Allison.
Thus, the stage was set for the final race of the season, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta. Before the race, Kulwicki received approval from NASCAR and Ford to change the "Thunderbird" lettering on his bumper for the race to "underbird" because he felt like the underdog in the contention for the championship.
Kulwicki qualified for the race in fourteenth position, three spots behind Elliott and three spots ahead of Allison. Allison simply needed to finish fifth or better to clinch the Cup, regardless of what his cohorts did. Atlanta, however, was not one of his better tracks, as he had a string of inconsistent finishes there. He had, however, finished fourth in the spring race won by Elliott. Kulwicki needed to outpace both Elliott and Allison and put as much distance as he could between the two drivers because he not only had to make up the thirty points on points leader Allison, but also needed to put distance between himself and Elliott, who trailed him by only ten points.
Kulwicki narrowly avoided an incident on the second lap of the race as front row starters Rick Mast and Brett Bodine spun out. However, trouble would eventually find him on the first round of pit stops. As Kulwicki was getting ready to leave his pit box after service, he shifted into first gear and his car stalled. He got a push start from his crew and upshifted into fourth gear, which enabled him to refire the car and head back out. Andrews later said, "We had to leave pit road in fourth gear, because we had broken metal parts in there, and only by leaving it in fourth are you not going to move metal around as much. We could only hope that the loose piece of metal didn't get in there and break the gears in half. We had three or four pit stops after it broke. I held my breath all day long." While Kulwicki had no choice but to keep his car in top gear, which caused his pit stop times to be much slower than usual, he was one of the faster drivers on track that day and he quickly gained positions once back up to speed. He eventually caught up to Elliott, who was also running well, and the two began jockeying back and forth for positions; eventually,
Kulwicki found his way to the front of the field and held onto the lead despite the best efforts of the #11 team. Then, on lap 255, Kulwicki got a break he desperately needed. Allison was running in sixth place at the time, and since he had led a lap during the course of the event was still leading the championship. As he was coming off of turn four, Ernie Irvan spun out in front of the field on the frontstretch. Irvan, who had been running three laps down at the time, came down in front of Allison, who was unable to avoid him and the two made contact and crashed into the inside wall near the start/finish line. Allison’s car was badly damaged in the incident, and although the damage would be able to be repaired in the garage his chances of winning the Winston Cup were over.
Under the ensuing caution, Kulwicki and Andrews went to work on discussing strategy for the remainder of the race. With Allison now out of the championship picture, maximizing track position and points became Kulwicki’s focus. He and Elliott had each gained five bonus points for leading a lap, and five additional bonus points were available for the driver who led the most laps during the race. However, despite the possibility for more caution periods, Kulwicki would have to pit at some point to get enough fuel in the car to make it to the advertised distance. Therefore, Kulwicki and Andrews decided to stay out as long as they could and lead as many laps as possible. Once the race resumed, Kulwicki was able to maintain his lead on Elliott despite the best efforts of the latter.
On lap 310, after leading 101 consecutive laps and 103 overall, Kulwicki came down pit road for a fuel-only stop. Since the team did not need a full twenty-two gallon load of fuel to make it to the end and they needed to save as much time as they could, Andrews made the determination to put approximately half a can of gasoline into Kulwicki’s tank; this could be done in a little over three seconds and with only two crew members. Fuel man Tony Gibson and catch can man Peter Jellen waited as Kulwicki pulled in. There was a problem with the fuel relay, however, and Gibson was not certain of the amount of gasoline that made it into the tank. Kulwicki came back onto the track in third place, behind front runner Elliott and second place Terry Labonte. He had not fully secured the five bonus points for leading the most laps, since Elliott had an opportunity to tie Kulwicki’s total. In that case, both drivers would receive the points. Elliott also had to come down to top off his fuel tank.
But as he had done with the adjustment following the broken gearbox and the accident that took Allison out of the race, Kulwicki once again caught a break that affected his chances in a significant way. Tim Brewer, Elliott’s crew chief, had lost track of Labonte and waited an additional lap to bring Elliott in. Labonte was able to pass Elliott while he pitted, then pitted himself. Elliott reassumed the point with twelve laps remaining, which when added to the ninety he had already led would only add up to 102.
Kulwicki was told that he had clinched the five extra points several laps later. Andrews warned him of the fuel relay issue, however, and told Kulwicki to conserve whatever fuel he could as no one knew for certain whether or not Gibson had done the job. Kulwicki was running in second, far enough ahead of third place Geoff Bodine that he was not a factor, and thus all he had to do was hold position in order to win the championship. Elliott won the race and Kulwicki stretched his fuel to finish second. Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by maintaining his 10-point lead over Elliott. He celebrated the championship with his second Polish victory lap. Always conscious of his appearance for potential sponsors, Kulwicki combed his hair, making a national television audience wait for him to emerge from his car.
Kulwicki had overcome the 278-point deficit in the final six races of the season by ending with a fifth, a fourth, and two second-place finishes. Kulwicki won the championship because of his consistent high finishes. It was the closest title win in NASCAR Cup Series history until the implementation of the Chase for the Cup format in 2004. Kulwicki was the last owner-driver to win the title for nearly two decades, the first Cup champion with a college degree, and the first Cup champion born in a northern state. He started from the pole position six times during the season, which was the most for any driver. The song that played during a short salute to Kulwicki at the year-end awards banquet was Frank Sinatra's "My Way".
Championship honors
Kulwicki returned to his hometown, Greenfield, for Alan Kulwicki Day in January 1993. The gymnasium at Greenfield High School was filled and surrounded by four to five thousand people. Local television crews filmed the event. Kulwicki signed autographs for six hours.
In celebration of his championship, sponsor Hooters made a special "Alan Tribute Card" that was used at all of the autograph sessions during the 1993 season.
1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki did not significantly change his spending habits after winning the 1992 championship. "The only thing I really wanted to buy was a plane", he said, "but it turns out Hooters has a couple I can use." Kulwicki negotiated a lease agreement with Hooters Chairman Robert Brooks for the use of one of his aircraft. The Swearingen Merlin III twin turboprop Kulwicki leased was painted with Hooters livery, and its FAA registry changed from N300EF (for Eastern Foods, another of Brooks's companies) to N300AK.
After the first five races of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series had been completed, Kulwicki was 9th in overall points. Kulwicki had concerns about how often he was being allowed to use the airplane he had leased, and other financial concerns he wanted to bring up with his sponsor, Hooters. The PR representative for both Hooters and Kulwicki, Tom Roberts, suggested that Kulwicki bring up his concerns to Hooters leadership while in flight from Knoxville to Bristol on the evening of April 1, 1993, en route to the 1993 Food City 500. Roberts himself, in an attempt to avoid a conflict of interest between the two sides, did not board the chartered flight, and took a commercial flight to Bristol instead.
Death
Kulwicki died in an airplane crash on Thursday April 1, 1993. He was returning from an appearance at the Knoxville Hooters on the Kingston Pike, in a Hooters corporate plane on a short flight across Tennessee before the Sunday spring race at Bristol. The plane slowed and crashed just before final approach at Tri-Cities Regional Airport in a field off of Interstate 81 near Blountville. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to the pilot's failure to use the airplane's anti-ice system to clear ice from the engine inlet system.
Kulwicki was buried at St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee; the funeral was attended by NASCAR President Bill France, Jr. and numerous drivers. Kulwicki's racecar transporter was driven from the rainy track later that Friday morning while other teams and the media watched it travel slowly around the track with a black wreath on its grille. As the transporter passed the start / finish line, the flagman waved a checkered flag. In 2008, Kyle Petty described the slow laps as "the saddest thing I've ever seen at a racetrack... We just sat and cried." Kulwicki had competed in five NASCAR races that season with two Top 5 finishes, and was ranked ninth in points at his death. In his career, he had won five NASCAR Winston Cup races, 24 pole positions, 75 Top 10 finishes, and one championship in 207 races.
His car was driven by road course specialist Tommy Kendall on road courses and by Jimmy Hensley at the other tracks. It was raced for most of the 1993 season until the team was sold to Geoff Bodine, who operated it as Geoff Bodine Racing.
Kulwicki had been selected to compete in the 1993 International Race of Champions (IROC) series as the reigning Winston Cup champion. He competed in two IROC races before his death, finishing ninth at Daytona and eleventh at Darlington. Dale Earnhardt raced for Kulwicki in the final two IROC races, and the prize money for those races and their fifth place combined points finish was given to the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary, Brenner Children's Hospital and St. Thomas Aquinas Church charities.
Legacy
Three days after Kulwicki's death, Bristol race winner Rusty Wallace honored his former short track rival by performing Kulwicki's trademark Polish victory lap. Davey Allison died on July 13, 1993; competitors who had been carrying a No. 7 sticker in memory of Kulwicki added a No. 28 sticker for Allison. After the final race of the season, series champion Dale Earnhardt and race winner Wallace drove a side-by-side Polish victory lap carrying flags for Kulwicki and Allison. Kulwicki finished 41st in the final points standings despite competing in only five races. Racing Champions issued a die-cast version of Alan Kulwicki's No. 7 car that was a tribute to Kulwicki's 1992 title.
The USAR Hooters Pro Cup championship (now CARS Tour) held the "Four Champions Challenge" in memory of the four victims of the plane crash. Established in 1997, the challenge was a four-race series, with each race named after one of the four who died in the crash: Kulwicki, Mark Brooks (son of Hooters owner Bob Brooks), Dan Duncan, and pilot Charles Campbell.
Milwaukee County honored Kulwicki in 1996 by creating Alan Kulwicki Memorial Park, located near the corner of Highway 100 and Cold Spring Road in Greenfield (Area Map). Hooters chairman Robert Brooks donated $250,000 to build the park, which features a Kulwicki museum inside the Brooks Pavilion.
Since 1994, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has awarded the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Scholarship to one incoming student each year. Scholarship winners are outstanding high school seniors who plan to major in mechanical engineering. By 1998, UNC Charlotte created an automotive and motorsports engineering program.
In October 2009, the Kulwicki family donated nearly $1.9 million to benefit motorsports engineering education at UNC Charlotte. In honor of the gift, the university's Board of Trustees renamed the existing motorsports research facility the Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Laboratory. The donation funded the construction of a second motorsports engineering building, which opened in January 2012.
Bristol Motor Speedway named its grandstand in turns one and two in honor of Kulwicki, as well as a terrace above the grandstand. The 2004 Busch Series race at the Milwaukee Mile was named the "Alan Kulwicki 250" in honor of Kulwicki. Wisconsinite Paul Menard turned his car around after winning the 2006 Busch Series event and performed a Polish victory lap to honor Kulwicki. Slinger Super Speedway has held an annual Alan Kulwicki Memorial race since 1994.
Kulwicki was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted in the Lowe's Motor Speedway Court of Legends in 1993, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993, Talladega-Texaco Hall of Fame in 1996, Bristol Motor Speedway Heroes of Bristol Hall of Fame in 1997, the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2010. Kulwicki was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019.
Kulwicki's success as an owner-driver sparked a small trend among NASCAR veterans. Geoff Bodine, his younger brother Brett, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, and Joe Nemechek all began racing teams shortly after Kulwicki's death. However, none were as successful as Kulwicki's. Robby Gordon frequently mentions Alan as an inspiration for him as an owner-driver, and selected car No. 7 as a tribute to Kulwicki.
Slinger Super Speedway began an Alan Kulwicki Memorial night in 1993; it has continued the annual memorial as of 2016. In 2010, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee created the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Student Center in their Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Building. The center, along with a scholarship for engineering students, was made possible in part by a donation from Thelma H. Kulwicki, the late racer's stepmother, who also donated numerous items of memorabilia located in the center.
In May 2012, the Milwaukee County Historical Society announced plans for a special exhibit celebrating the life and career of Kulwicki to open in early 2013. The exhibit is called "Alan Kulwicki: A Champion's Story".
Alan Kulwicki Driver Development Program
In 2015, Kulwicki's friends began the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development program to "help worthy drivers along the way in reaching their dream...while at the same time keep Alan Kulwicki's memory and legacy alive." The field is narrowed to 15 applicants and the program gives $7777 to support seven drivers' career advancement. Drivers are judged based on their on-track performance as well as off-track activities, social media presence, and community involvement. The winner receives seven times $7777 ($54,439) and a trophy. It was cancelled for the 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns. The program winners were:
2020 cancelled due to COVID-19
2019 Jeremy Doss
2018 Brett Yackey
2017 Cody Haskins
2016 Alex Prunty
2015 Ty Majeski.
Other Participants in Each Class:
2021 Wyatt Alexander, Luke Fenhaus, Max Kahler, Ryan Kuhn, Kole Raz, Brooke Storer, Dylan Zamba
2019 Danny Benedict, Justin Carroll, Luke Fenhaus, Derek Griffith, Carson Kvapil, Paul Shafer, Jr.
2018 Cole Butcher, Justin Carroll, Derek Griffith, Molly Helmuth, Justin Mondeik, Brittney Zamora
2017 Braison Bennett, Cole Butcher, Justin Mondeik, Michael Ostdiek, John Peters, Brett Yackey
2016 Jeremy Doss, Dave Farrington, Jr., Cody Haskins, Quin Houff, Michael Ostdiek (replaced Natalie Decker after she tried to qualify for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway), Brandon Setzer
2015 Steve Apel, Justin Crider, Dave Farrington, Jr., Reagan May, Bryce Napier, Cole Williams
Media
Father Dale Grubba, the priest who had presided over Kulwicki's funeral, released a biography of his friend entitled Alan Kulwicki: NASCAR champion Against All Odds in 2009. The book was the basis for a low-budget feature film, Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story, released on April 1, 2005. The film chronicles Kulwicki's life from racing late models at Slinger Super Speedway, through his rise to NASCAR champion, and ends with his death. The movie was created by Kulwicki's Wisconsin fans for less than $100,000. The star of the film, Brad Weber, was a Kulwicki fan and credits the late driver with being his inspiration to become an actor.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
Daytona 500
Busch Series
International Race of Champions
(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
References
External links
Movie review of Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story by Speed Channel
1954 births
1993 deaths
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American people of Polish descent
American Speed Association drivers
Burials in Wisconsin
Catholics from Wisconsin
Hooters people
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
International Race of Champions drivers
NASCAR Cup Series champions
NASCAR drivers
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People from Greenfield, Wisconsin
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Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States | false | [
"101 Cars you Must Drive was a Speed TV program hosted by actor and comedian Alonzo Bodden. The premise of the program is that there will be (at least) 101 cars, and that all 5 cars within a particular episode can be linked to one another in some fashion.\n\nDescription\nThe first season consisted of 10 half-hour-long episodes. Bodden drove each of the five described vehicles, with the exceptions of the Chevrolet Nova, 1951 Aerocar, Chrysler K-Car, Ford Bronco, Chevrolet Corvette Mk IV prototype, and the 1955 Chevrolet Bel-Air. Although he did not drive one, Bodden did ride in a Renault R5. 50 vehicles were reviewed by Bodden.\n\nCancellation\nAlonzo Bodden has stated the show has been cancelled by Speed.\n\nEpisode list\n\nReferences\n\nSpeed (TV network) original programming\nDocumentary films about automobiles\n2008 American television series debuts\n2008 American television series endings",
"Vivinus cars were made by Ateliers Vivinus S.A., a company founded in 1899 in Schaerbeek, Brussels. The company was renamed Automobiles Vivinus S.A. in 1908.\n\nThe owner, Alexis Vivinus (1860-1929), had made bicycles in the 1890s and become an importer of Benz. From 1895 he started to make his own range of cars. These were belt-driven voiturette models with a 785 cc single-cylinder engine and 2-speed transmission by belt drive. Licences to make his designs were sold to firms such as New Orleans of England, Georges Richard of France and De Dietrich in Germany.\n\nFrom 1907 a range of more conventional 4-cylinder cars were made with shaft drive along with motorcycles and aero engines.\n\nThe company went into liquidation in 1912. The workshop was taken over by Fabrique Automobile Belge. Vivinus himself later joined Minerva.\n\nReferences\n George Nick Georgano: The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Volume 3: P–Z. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, .\n\nDefunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Belgium\nCar manufacturers of Belgium\nVintage vehicles\nBelgian brands\nVehicle manufacturing companies established in 1899\nSchaerbeek\nVehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1912\n1912 disestablishments in Belgium\nBelgian companies established in 1899"
] |
[
"Alan Kulwicki",
"Early racing career",
"when did Alan start racing?",
"Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer.",
"who made the karts for him?",
"Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. \"I showed him how\", Gerry Kulwicki said.",
"when did Alan start racing cars?",
"Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977.",
"did he have any sponsors?",
"I don't know.",
"what make of cars did he drive?",
"He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models."
] | C_e76a6b8f2cde4e32a09b6dbbc7579c29_1 | did the stiffness help? | 6 | Did constucting an innovative car with more torsional stiffness help Alan Kulwicki race better? | Alan Kulwicki | Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'" Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973, he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners Speedway in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, and the next year started racing late models - the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level - at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh. Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships. In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions. CANNOTANSWER | The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. | Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series. Kulwicki arrived at NASCAR, the highest and most expensive level of stock car racing in the United States, with no sponsor, a limited budget and only a racecar and a borrowed pickup truck. Despite starting with meager equipment and finances, he earned the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award over drivers racing for well-funded teams.
After Kulwicki won his first race at Phoenix International Raceway, he debuted what would become his trademark "Polish victory lap". Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by what was then the closest margin in NASCAR history. He died early in 1993 in a light aircraft accident and therefore never defended his championship. He has been inducted into numerous racing halls of fame and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers.
Kulwicki was known for being a perfectionist and doing things his own way. An engineer by trade, his scientific approach to NASCAR racing inspired the way teams are now run. Despite lucrative offers from top car owners, he insisted on driving for his own race team, AK Racing, during most of his NASCAR career. Described by his publicist as "a real hard type of person to get to know", he remained a bachelor throughout his life.
Early life
Kulwicki grew up in Greenfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee known for its Polish-American neighborhoods, near the Milwaukee Mile racetrack. After his mother died, his family moved in with his grandmother, who died when Kulwicki was in seventh grade. A year later, his only brother died of a hemophilia-related illness. Kulwicki attended Pius XI High School, a Roman Catholic high school in Milwaukee and received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1977. His knowledge of engineering has been cited as a contributing factor to his success as a driver, as it helped him better understand the physics of a racecar. He first raced on local tracks as an amateur while in college before becoming a full-time professional racer in 1980. A devout Roman Catholic, Kulwicki always competed with a Saint Christopher (the patron saint of travelers) devotional medal in his car.
Racing career
Early racing career
Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'"
Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973 he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners and the next year started racing late models – the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level – at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh.
Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships.
In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions.
NASCAR career
1980s
Kulwicki raced in four NASCAR Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series) races in 1984. At the time, the Busch Grand National Series was considered NASCAR's feeder circuit, a proving ground for drivers who wished to step up to the organization's premiere circuit, the Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series). Kulwicki qualified second fastest and finished in second place at his first career NASCAR race, which took place at the Milwaukee Mile, several city blocks from where he grew up. Later that year, he finished seventh at Charlotte and fifth at Bristol. The following year, Kulwicki placed sixteenth in the season-opening Busch Series race at Daytona. Although he won the pole position at that year's event in Milwaukee, he finished fourteenth because of engine problems. Kulwicki's Busch Series successes caught car owner Bill Terry's eye and he offered Kulwicki a chance to race for him in several Winston Cup events.
In 1985, Kulwicki sold most of his belongings, including his short track racing equipment, to move approximately to the Charlotte area in North Carolina. He kept only a few things; his pickup truck was loaded to tow a trailer full of furniture and tools. An electrical fire two days before he left destroyed his truck, so Kulwicki had to borrow one to pull the trailer. After arriving in the Charlotte area, he showed up unannounced at Terry's shop ready to race. Veteran NASCAR drivers were initially amused by Kulwicki's arrival on the national tour: He was a driver from the northern United States when the series was primarily a southern regional series, he had a mechanical engineering degree when few other drivers had completed college and, with only six starts, had limited driving experience in the junior Busch Series. Kulwicki was described as very studious, hard working, no-nonsense and something of a loner. He frequently walked the garage area in his racing uniform carrying a briefcase. Kulwicki made his first career Winston Cup start at Richmond on September 8, 1985, for Bill Terry's No. 32 Hardee's Ford team. That season he competed in five races for Terry, with his highest finish being 13th.
Kulwicki started his rookie season in 1986 with Terry. After Terry decided to end support for his racing team mid-season, he sold the team to his driver. Kulwicki as an owner started out as essentially a one-man team, as he had to serve as driver, team administrator, crew chief and chief mechanic. Kulwicki had difficulty acquiring and keeping crew members because he found it difficult to trust them to do the job with the excellence that he demanded and because he was hands-on in the maintenance of racecars to the point of being a "control freak". He sought out crew members who had owned their own racecars, believing they would understand what he was going through: working long hours and performing his own car maintenance with a very limited budget. Notable crew members include his crew chief, Paul Andrews and future Cup crew chiefs, Tony Gibson and Brian Whitesell. Future crew chief and owner, Ray Evernham, lasted six weeks with Kulwicki in 1992. Evernham later said, "The man was a genius. There's no question. It's not a matter of people just feeling like he was a genius. That man was a genius. But his personality paid for that. He was very impatient, very straightforward, very cut-to-the-bone." With one car, two engines, and two full-time crew members, Kulwicki won the 1986 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. He had competed in 23 of 29 events, with four top 10 finishes, three races not completed (Did Not Finish – DNF), an average finish of 15.4, and had only one result below 30th place. Kulwicki finished 21st in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
For the 1987 season Kulwicki secured primary sponsorship from Zerex Antifreeze and changed his car number to seven. He picked up his first career pole position in the season's third race, at Richmond. Later that season, he again qualified fastest at Richmond and Dover. Kulwicki came close to winning his first Winston Cup race at Pocono, finishing second after winner Dale Earnhardt passed him on the last lap. With nine top 10 finishes, eleven DNFs and an average finish of 18.2 in 29 events; Kulwicki finished 15th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
In 1988 Kulwicki hired Paul Andrews as his crew chief after Andrews was recommended by Rusty Wallace at the 1987 NASCAR Awards banquet. That year Kulwicki won his first NASCAR Winston Cup race in the season's second-to-last race at Phoenix International Raceway after race leader Ricky Rudd's car had motor problems late in the race. Kulwicki led 41 laps and won by 18.5 seconds. After the race finished, he turned his car around and made, what he called, a "Polish victory lap" by driving the opposite way (clockwise) on the track, with the driver's side of the car facing the fans. "This gave me the opportunity to wave to the crowd from the driver's side", Kulwicki explained. Andrews recalled, "He had wanted to do something special and something different for his first win and only his first." He finished the 1988 season with four pole positions in 29 events, nine top 10 finishes including two second-place finishes, twelve DNFs, and an average finish of 19.2. Kulwicki finished 14th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
Kulwicki started his own engine-building program for the 1989 season. He had four second place finishes that season and held the points lead after the fifth race of the season. The team dropped from fourth to fifteenth in points by suffering nine engine failures during a sixteen-race stretch in the middle of the season. In 29 races, he had six pole positions, nine top 10 finishes, and finished 14th in season points. The team had a new workshop built during the season.
1990s
Junior Johnson, owner of one of the top NASCAR teams, approached Kulwicki at the beginning of the 1990 season to try to get him to replace Terry Labonte in the No. 11 Budweiser Ford. Kulwicki declined, stating that he was more interested in running his own team. He won his second Cup race at Rockingham on October 21, 1990, and finished eighth in points that year, his first finish in the top 10 points in a season. In 29 races, he had thirteen top 10 finishes and one pole position.
Before the 1991 season, Zerex ended their sponsorship of Kulwicki's team. Junior Johnson came calling again, looking for a driver for his revived second team that had last seen Neil Bonnett behind the wheel in 1986. Kulwicki turned down Johnson's $1 million offer thinking that he had secured a sponsorship deal with Maxwell House Coffee. Johnson then went to Maxwell House himself and obtained the sponsorship for his new car, which Sterling Marlin was hired to drive instead. Kulwicki was forced to begin the season without a sponsor, paying all of the team's expenses out of his own pocket. At the opening race of the season, the 1991 Daytona 500, five cars raced with paint schemes representing different branches of the United States military to show support for the American forces involved in the Gulf War. It was the first use of special paint schemes in NASCAR history. Kulwicki's car was sponsored by the United States Army in a one-race deal. After running the second and third races of the season in a plain white unsponsored car, Kulwicki's luck finding a sponsor changed for the better at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
At the time, Hooters was sponsoring a car driven by Mark Stahl, another owner-driver in the Cup series. Unlike Kulwicki, Stahl was a part-time participant who had trouble making races. The Hooters car failed to make the field for the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 and the Atlanta-based chain, desiring a spot in the race, approached the sponsorless Kulwicki to gauge his interest. The principals agreed to at least a one-race deal, which became a much longer term deal when Kulwicki recorded an eighth-place finish in the race. Later in the season, Kulwicki won the Bristol night race for his third career win. In 29 races, he had eleven top 10 finishes, four poles, and finished 13th in the points.
1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki started out the year by having to take one of two provisional starting positions at the Daytona 500; he ended up finishing fourth. He passed Dale Jarrett with 27 laps left at the Food City 500 race on April 5 at Bristol to take a narrow victory. It was his fourth Winston Cup victory. After that race, he never left the top five in season points. Andrews attributed Kulwicki's consistently strong finishes to the steady performance of newly adopted radial tires throughout their lifespan. He said, "It was hard to control them, and the driver's ability to work with that car during practice in order to get the car set up meant so much more than it ever did." Kulwicki's second victory in the season was at the first race at Pocono. Discounted as a contender for the season championship during the year, Kulwicki was expected to fade from contention as Bill Elliott and Davey Allison, both of whom had won more races than Kulwicki and who had traded the points lead between them, were both having strong seasons and looked to be the favorites for the Winston Cup. He did not, however, and remained in the top 5 in the series standings.
He qualified on the pole position for the Peak AntiFreeze 500 race on September 20 at Dover, but crashed early in the race and finished 34th. At the conclusion of the race, Kulwicki trailed points leader Elliott by 278 points. He seemed to resign himself to another season without a championship, saying to reporters, "This probably finishes us off in the championship deal."
However, Kulwicki was able to benefit from bad fortune that would befall Elliott in the weeks ahead. The next week at Martinsville, Elliott crashed out of the race while Kulwicki finished fifth. Kulwicki followed that up with a twelfth-place run at North Wilkesboro, a second place at Charlotte, and another twelfth-place finish at Rockingham. While Elliott managed a fourth place finish at Rockingham, he ran twenty-sixth at North Wilkesboro and thirtieth at Charlotte. Then, at Phoenix, Kulwicki ran fourth while Elliott suffered overheating problems and a cracked cylinder head and once again finished outside of the top 30. Allison won the race, retaking the points lead, but Kulwicki’s performance left him within striking distance of the points lead. When the points standings were tabulated after the race, Kulwicki had surpassed Elliott in the standings and stood thirty points behind Allison.
Thus, the stage was set for the final race of the season, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta. Before the race, Kulwicki received approval from NASCAR and Ford to change the "Thunderbird" lettering on his bumper for the race to "underbird" because he felt like the underdog in the contention for the championship.
Kulwicki qualified for the race in fourteenth position, three spots behind Elliott and three spots ahead of Allison. Allison simply needed to finish fifth or better to clinch the Cup, regardless of what his cohorts did. Atlanta, however, was not one of his better tracks, as he had a string of inconsistent finishes there. He had, however, finished fourth in the spring race won by Elliott. Kulwicki needed to outpace both Elliott and Allison and put as much distance as he could between the two drivers because he not only had to make up the thirty points on points leader Allison, but also needed to put distance between himself and Elliott, who trailed him by only ten points.
Kulwicki narrowly avoided an incident on the second lap of the race as front row starters Rick Mast and Brett Bodine spun out. However, trouble would eventually find him on the first round of pit stops. As Kulwicki was getting ready to leave his pit box after service, he shifted into first gear and his car stalled. He got a push start from his crew and upshifted into fourth gear, which enabled him to refire the car and head back out. Andrews later said, "We had to leave pit road in fourth gear, because we had broken metal parts in there, and only by leaving it in fourth are you not going to move metal around as much. We could only hope that the loose piece of metal didn't get in there and break the gears in half. We had three or four pit stops after it broke. I held my breath all day long." While Kulwicki had no choice but to keep his car in top gear, which caused his pit stop times to be much slower than usual, he was one of the faster drivers on track that day and he quickly gained positions once back up to speed. He eventually caught up to Elliott, who was also running well, and the two began jockeying back and forth for positions; eventually,
Kulwicki found his way to the front of the field and held onto the lead despite the best efforts of the #11 team. Then, on lap 255, Kulwicki got a break he desperately needed. Allison was running in sixth place at the time, and since he had led a lap during the course of the event was still leading the championship. As he was coming off of turn four, Ernie Irvan spun out in front of the field on the frontstretch. Irvan, who had been running three laps down at the time, came down in front of Allison, who was unable to avoid him and the two made contact and crashed into the inside wall near the start/finish line. Allison’s car was badly damaged in the incident, and although the damage would be able to be repaired in the garage his chances of winning the Winston Cup were over.
Under the ensuing caution, Kulwicki and Andrews went to work on discussing strategy for the remainder of the race. With Allison now out of the championship picture, maximizing track position and points became Kulwicki’s focus. He and Elliott had each gained five bonus points for leading a lap, and five additional bonus points were available for the driver who led the most laps during the race. However, despite the possibility for more caution periods, Kulwicki would have to pit at some point to get enough fuel in the car to make it to the advertised distance. Therefore, Kulwicki and Andrews decided to stay out as long as they could and lead as many laps as possible. Once the race resumed, Kulwicki was able to maintain his lead on Elliott despite the best efforts of the latter.
On lap 310, after leading 101 consecutive laps and 103 overall, Kulwicki came down pit road for a fuel-only stop. Since the team did not need a full twenty-two gallon load of fuel to make it to the end and they needed to save as much time as they could, Andrews made the determination to put approximately half a can of gasoline into Kulwicki’s tank; this could be done in a little over three seconds and with only two crew members. Fuel man Tony Gibson and catch can man Peter Jellen waited as Kulwicki pulled in. There was a problem with the fuel relay, however, and Gibson was not certain of the amount of gasoline that made it into the tank. Kulwicki came back onto the track in third place, behind front runner Elliott and second place Terry Labonte. He had not fully secured the five bonus points for leading the most laps, since Elliott had an opportunity to tie Kulwicki’s total. In that case, both drivers would receive the points. Elliott also had to come down to top off his fuel tank.
But as he had done with the adjustment following the broken gearbox and the accident that took Allison out of the race, Kulwicki once again caught a break that affected his chances in a significant way. Tim Brewer, Elliott’s crew chief, had lost track of Labonte and waited an additional lap to bring Elliott in. Labonte was able to pass Elliott while he pitted, then pitted himself. Elliott reassumed the point with twelve laps remaining, which when added to the ninety he had already led would only add up to 102.
Kulwicki was told that he had clinched the five extra points several laps later. Andrews warned him of the fuel relay issue, however, and told Kulwicki to conserve whatever fuel he could as no one knew for certain whether or not Gibson had done the job. Kulwicki was running in second, far enough ahead of third place Geoff Bodine that he was not a factor, and thus all he had to do was hold position in order to win the championship. Elliott won the race and Kulwicki stretched his fuel to finish second. Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by maintaining his 10-point lead over Elliott. He celebrated the championship with his second Polish victory lap. Always conscious of his appearance for potential sponsors, Kulwicki combed his hair, making a national television audience wait for him to emerge from his car.
Kulwicki had overcome the 278-point deficit in the final six races of the season by ending with a fifth, a fourth, and two second-place finishes. Kulwicki won the championship because of his consistent high finishes. It was the closest title win in NASCAR Cup Series history until the implementation of the Chase for the Cup format in 2004. Kulwicki was the last owner-driver to win the title for nearly two decades, the first Cup champion with a college degree, and the first Cup champion born in a northern state. He started from the pole position six times during the season, which was the most for any driver. The song that played during a short salute to Kulwicki at the year-end awards banquet was Frank Sinatra's "My Way".
Championship honors
Kulwicki returned to his hometown, Greenfield, for Alan Kulwicki Day in January 1993. The gymnasium at Greenfield High School was filled and surrounded by four to five thousand people. Local television crews filmed the event. Kulwicki signed autographs for six hours.
In celebration of his championship, sponsor Hooters made a special "Alan Tribute Card" that was used at all of the autograph sessions during the 1993 season.
1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki did not significantly change his spending habits after winning the 1992 championship. "The only thing I really wanted to buy was a plane", he said, "but it turns out Hooters has a couple I can use." Kulwicki negotiated a lease agreement with Hooters Chairman Robert Brooks for the use of one of his aircraft. The Swearingen Merlin III twin turboprop Kulwicki leased was painted with Hooters livery, and its FAA registry changed from N300EF (for Eastern Foods, another of Brooks's companies) to N300AK.
After the first five races of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series had been completed, Kulwicki was 9th in overall points. Kulwicki had concerns about how often he was being allowed to use the airplane he had leased, and other financial concerns he wanted to bring up with his sponsor, Hooters. The PR representative for both Hooters and Kulwicki, Tom Roberts, suggested that Kulwicki bring up his concerns to Hooters leadership while in flight from Knoxville to Bristol on the evening of April 1, 1993, en route to the 1993 Food City 500. Roberts himself, in an attempt to avoid a conflict of interest between the two sides, did not board the chartered flight, and took a commercial flight to Bristol instead.
Death
Kulwicki died in an airplane crash on Thursday April 1, 1993. He was returning from an appearance at the Knoxville Hooters on the Kingston Pike, in a Hooters corporate plane on a short flight across Tennessee before the Sunday spring race at Bristol. The plane slowed and crashed just before final approach at Tri-Cities Regional Airport in a field off of Interstate 81 near Blountville. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to the pilot's failure to use the airplane's anti-ice system to clear ice from the engine inlet system.
Kulwicki was buried at St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee; the funeral was attended by NASCAR President Bill France, Jr. and numerous drivers. Kulwicki's racecar transporter was driven from the rainy track later that Friday morning while other teams and the media watched it travel slowly around the track with a black wreath on its grille. As the transporter passed the start / finish line, the flagman waved a checkered flag. In 2008, Kyle Petty described the slow laps as "the saddest thing I've ever seen at a racetrack... We just sat and cried." Kulwicki had competed in five NASCAR races that season with two Top 5 finishes, and was ranked ninth in points at his death. In his career, he had won five NASCAR Winston Cup races, 24 pole positions, 75 Top 10 finishes, and one championship in 207 races.
His car was driven by road course specialist Tommy Kendall on road courses and by Jimmy Hensley at the other tracks. It was raced for most of the 1993 season until the team was sold to Geoff Bodine, who operated it as Geoff Bodine Racing.
Kulwicki had been selected to compete in the 1993 International Race of Champions (IROC) series as the reigning Winston Cup champion. He competed in two IROC races before his death, finishing ninth at Daytona and eleventh at Darlington. Dale Earnhardt raced for Kulwicki in the final two IROC races, and the prize money for those races and their fifth place combined points finish was given to the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary, Brenner Children's Hospital and St. Thomas Aquinas Church charities.
Legacy
Three days after Kulwicki's death, Bristol race winner Rusty Wallace honored his former short track rival by performing Kulwicki's trademark Polish victory lap. Davey Allison died on July 13, 1993; competitors who had been carrying a No. 7 sticker in memory of Kulwicki added a No. 28 sticker for Allison. After the final race of the season, series champion Dale Earnhardt and race winner Wallace drove a side-by-side Polish victory lap carrying flags for Kulwicki and Allison. Kulwicki finished 41st in the final points standings despite competing in only five races. Racing Champions issued a die-cast version of Alan Kulwicki's No. 7 car that was a tribute to Kulwicki's 1992 title.
The USAR Hooters Pro Cup championship (now CARS Tour) held the "Four Champions Challenge" in memory of the four victims of the plane crash. Established in 1997, the challenge was a four-race series, with each race named after one of the four who died in the crash: Kulwicki, Mark Brooks (son of Hooters owner Bob Brooks), Dan Duncan, and pilot Charles Campbell.
Milwaukee County honored Kulwicki in 1996 by creating Alan Kulwicki Memorial Park, located near the corner of Highway 100 and Cold Spring Road in Greenfield (Area Map). Hooters chairman Robert Brooks donated $250,000 to build the park, which features a Kulwicki museum inside the Brooks Pavilion.
Since 1994, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has awarded the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Scholarship to one incoming student each year. Scholarship winners are outstanding high school seniors who plan to major in mechanical engineering. By 1998, UNC Charlotte created an automotive and motorsports engineering program.
In October 2009, the Kulwicki family donated nearly $1.9 million to benefit motorsports engineering education at UNC Charlotte. In honor of the gift, the university's Board of Trustees renamed the existing motorsports research facility the Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Laboratory. The donation funded the construction of a second motorsports engineering building, which opened in January 2012.
Bristol Motor Speedway named its grandstand in turns one and two in honor of Kulwicki, as well as a terrace above the grandstand. The 2004 Busch Series race at the Milwaukee Mile was named the "Alan Kulwicki 250" in honor of Kulwicki. Wisconsinite Paul Menard turned his car around after winning the 2006 Busch Series event and performed a Polish victory lap to honor Kulwicki. Slinger Super Speedway has held an annual Alan Kulwicki Memorial race since 1994.
Kulwicki was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted in the Lowe's Motor Speedway Court of Legends in 1993, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993, Talladega-Texaco Hall of Fame in 1996, Bristol Motor Speedway Heroes of Bristol Hall of Fame in 1997, the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2010. Kulwicki was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019.
Kulwicki's success as an owner-driver sparked a small trend among NASCAR veterans. Geoff Bodine, his younger brother Brett, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, and Joe Nemechek all began racing teams shortly after Kulwicki's death. However, none were as successful as Kulwicki's. Robby Gordon frequently mentions Alan as an inspiration for him as an owner-driver, and selected car No. 7 as a tribute to Kulwicki.
Slinger Super Speedway began an Alan Kulwicki Memorial night in 1993; it has continued the annual memorial as of 2016. In 2010, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee created the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Student Center in their Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Building. The center, along with a scholarship for engineering students, was made possible in part by a donation from Thelma H. Kulwicki, the late racer's stepmother, who also donated numerous items of memorabilia located in the center.
In May 2012, the Milwaukee County Historical Society announced plans for a special exhibit celebrating the life and career of Kulwicki to open in early 2013. The exhibit is called "Alan Kulwicki: A Champion's Story".
Alan Kulwicki Driver Development Program
In 2015, Kulwicki's friends began the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development program to "help worthy drivers along the way in reaching their dream...while at the same time keep Alan Kulwicki's memory and legacy alive." The field is narrowed to 15 applicants and the program gives $7777 to support seven drivers' career advancement. Drivers are judged based on their on-track performance as well as off-track activities, social media presence, and community involvement. The winner receives seven times $7777 ($54,439) and a trophy. It was cancelled for the 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns. The program winners were:
2020 cancelled due to COVID-19
2019 Jeremy Doss
2018 Brett Yackey
2017 Cody Haskins
2016 Alex Prunty
2015 Ty Majeski.
Other Participants in Each Class:
2021 Wyatt Alexander, Luke Fenhaus, Max Kahler, Ryan Kuhn, Kole Raz, Brooke Storer, Dylan Zamba
2019 Danny Benedict, Justin Carroll, Luke Fenhaus, Derek Griffith, Carson Kvapil, Paul Shafer, Jr.
2018 Cole Butcher, Justin Carroll, Derek Griffith, Molly Helmuth, Justin Mondeik, Brittney Zamora
2017 Braison Bennett, Cole Butcher, Justin Mondeik, Michael Ostdiek, John Peters, Brett Yackey
2016 Jeremy Doss, Dave Farrington, Jr., Cody Haskins, Quin Houff, Michael Ostdiek (replaced Natalie Decker after she tried to qualify for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway), Brandon Setzer
2015 Steve Apel, Justin Crider, Dave Farrington, Jr., Reagan May, Bryce Napier, Cole Williams
Media
Father Dale Grubba, the priest who had presided over Kulwicki's funeral, released a biography of his friend entitled Alan Kulwicki: NASCAR champion Against All Odds in 2009. The book was the basis for a low-budget feature film, Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story, released on April 1, 2005. The film chronicles Kulwicki's life from racing late models at Slinger Super Speedway, through his rise to NASCAR champion, and ends with his death. The movie was created by Kulwicki's Wisconsin fans for less than $100,000. The star of the film, Brad Weber, was a Kulwicki fan and credits the late driver with being his inspiration to become an actor.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
Daytona 500
Busch Series
International Race of Champions
(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
References
External links
Movie review of Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story by Speed Channel
1954 births
1993 deaths
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American people of Polish descent
American Speed Association drivers
Burials in Wisconsin
Catholics from Wisconsin
Hooters people
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
International Race of Champions drivers
NASCAR Cup Series champions
NASCAR drivers
NASCAR team owners
People from Greenfield, Wisconsin
Racing drivers from Wisconsin
Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1993
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States | true | [
"As humans move through their environment, they must change the stiffness of their joints in order to effectively interact with their surroundings. Stiffness is the degree to a which an object resists deformation when subjected to a known force. This idea is also referred to as impedance, however, sometimes the idea of deformation under a given load is discussed under the term \"compliance\" which is the opposite of stiffness (defined as the amount an object deforms under a certain known load).\nIn order to effectively interact with their environment, humans must adjust the stiffness of their limbs. This is accomplished via the co-contraction of antagonistic muscle groups.\n\nHumans use neural control along with the mechanical constraints of the body to adjust this stiffness as the body performs various tasks. It has been shown that humans change the stiffness of their limbs as they perform tasks such as hopping, performing accurate reaching tasks, or running on different surfaces.\n\nWhile the exact method by which this neural-modulation of limb stiffness occurs is unknown, many different hypotheses have been proposed. A thorough understanding of how and why the brain controls limb stiffness could lead to improvements in many robotic technologies that attempt to mimic human movement.\n\nStiffness \n\n\tStiffness is typically viewed as a material property describing the amount a material deforms under a given force as described by Hooke's law. This means that objects with higher stiffness are more difficult to bend or deform than objects with lower stiffnesses. This concept can be extended to the limbs and joints of biological organisms in which stiffness describes the degree to which a limb or joint deflects (or bends) under a given load. Limb stiffness can also be described as the static component of impedance. Humans change the stiffness of their limbs and joints to adapt to their environment. Limb and joint stiffness has been previously studied and can be quantified in various ways. The basic principle for calculating stiffness is dividing the deformation of a limb by the force applied to the limb, however, there are multiple methods of quantifying limb and joint stiffness with various pros and cons. When quantifying limb stiffness, one cannot simply sum the individual joint stiffnesses due to the nonlinearities of the multi-joint system.\n\nA few of the specific methods for calculating limb stiffness can be seen below:\n\nVertical Stiffness (k vert) is a quantitative measure of leg stiffness that can be defined by the equations below:\n\n \n\nWhere F max is the maximum vertical force and delta y is the maximum vertical displacement of the center of mass \n \n\nWhere m is the body mass and P is the period of vertical vibration \n \n\nWhere m is the mass of the body mass and ω 0 is the natural frequency of oscillation\n\nLimb Stiffness (K_limb) is the stiffness of the entire limb and can be defined by the equations below:\n\n \n\nWhere F max is the maximum applied force and ΔL is the change in length of the limb\n\nTorsional Stiffness (K_joint) is the rotational stiffness of the joint and can be defined by the equations below:\n\n \n\nWhere ΔM is the change in joint moment and Δθ is the change in joint angle\n \n\nWhere W is the negative mechanical work at the joint and Δθ is the change in joint angle\n\nThese different mathematical definitions of limb stiffness help to describe limb stiffness and show the methods by which such a limb characteristic can be quantified.\n\nStiffness modulation \nThe human body is able to modulate its limb stiffnesses through various mechanisms with the goal of more effectively interacting with its environment. The body varies the stiffness of its limbs by three primary mechanisms: muscle cocontraction, posture selection, and through stretch reflexes.\n\nMuscle cocontraction (similar to muscle tone) is able to vary the stiffness of a joint by the action of antagonistic muscles acting on the joint. The stronger the forces of the antagonistic muscles on the joint are, the stiffer the joint becomes. The selection of body posture also affects the stiffness of the limb. By adjusting the orientation of the limb, the inherent stiffness of the limb can be manipulated. Additionally, the stretch reflexes within a limb can affect the stiffness of the limb, however these commands are not sent from the brain.\n\nLocomotion and hopping \nAs humans walk or run across different surfaces, they adjust the stiffness of their limbs to maintain similar locomotor mechanics independent of the surface. As the stiffness of a surface changes, humans adapt by changing their limb stiffness. This stiffness modulation allows for running and walking with similar mechanics regardless of the surface, therefore allowing humans to better interact and adapt with their environment. The modulation of stiffness therefore, has applications in the areas of motor control and other areas pertaining to the neural control of movement.\n\nStudies also show that the variation of limb stiffness is important when hopping, and that different people may control this stiffness variation in different ways. One study showed that adults had more feedforward neural control, muscle reflexes, and higher relative leg stiffness than their juvenile counterparts when performing a hopping task. This indicates that the control of stiffness may vary from person to person.\n\nMovement accuracy \nThe nervous system also controls limb stiffness to modulate the degree of accuracy that is required for a given task. For example, the accuracy required to grab a cup off of a table is very different from that of a surgeon performing a precise task with a scalpel. To accomplish these tasks with varying degrees of required accuracy, the nervous system adjusts limb stiffness. To accomplish very accurate tasks higher stiffness is required, however, when performing tasks where accuracy is not as imperative, lower limb stiffness is needed. In the case of accurate movements, the central nervous system is able to precisely control limb stiffness to limit movement variability. The cerebellum also plays a large role in controlling for the accuracy of movements.\n\nThis is an important concept for everyday tasks such as tool use. For example, when using a screwdriver, if limb stiffness is too low, the user will not have enough control over the screwdriver to drive a screw. Because of this, the central nervous system increases limb stiffness to allow the user to accurately maneuver the tool and perform a task.\n\nNeural control \nThe exact mechanism for the neural control of stiffness is unknown, but progress has been made in the field with multiple proposed models of how stiffness modulation may be accomplished by the nervous system. Limb stiffness has multiple components that must be controlled to produce the appropriate limb stiffness.\n\nCombination of mechanics and neural control \n\nBoth the neural control and the mechanics of the limb contribute to its overall stiffness. The cocontraction of antagonistic muscles, posture of the limb, and stretch reflexes within the limb all contribute to stiffness and are affected by the nervous system.\n\nThe stiffness of a limb is dependent on its configuration or joint arrangement. For example, an arm that is slightly bent, it will deform more easily under a force directed from the hand to the shoulder than an arm that is straight. In this way, the stiffness of a limb is partially dictated by the limb's posture. This component of limb stiffness is due to the mechanics of the limb and is controlled voluntarily.\n\nVoluntary vs. involuntary stiffness modulation \n\nSome components of limb stiffness are under voluntary control while others are involuntary. The determining factor as to whether a component of stiffness is controlled voluntarily or involuntarily is the timescale of that particular component's method of action. For example, stiffness corrections that happen very quickly (80-100 milliseconds) are involuntary while slower stiffness corrections and adjustments are under voluntary control. Many of the voluntary stiffness adjustments are controlled by the motor cortex while involuntary adjustments can be controlled by reflex loops in the spinal cord or other parts of the brain.\n\nStiffness adjustments due to reflexes are involuntary and are controlled by the spinal cord while posture selection is controlled voluntarily. However, not each component of stiffness is strictly voluntary or involuntary. For example, Antagonistic muscle cocontraction can be either voluntary or involuntary. Additionally, because much of the legs' movements are controlled by the spinal cord and because of the larger neural delay associated with sending signals to the leg muscles, leg stiffness is more involuntarily controlled than arm stiffness.\n\nPossible neural control models \n\nResearchers have begun implementing controllers in into robots to control for stiffness. One such model adjusts for stiffness during robotic locomotion by virtually cocontracting antagonistic muscles about the robot's joints to modulate stiffness while a central pattern generator (CPG) controls the robot's locomotion.\n\nOther models of the neural modulation of stiffness include a feedforward model of stiffness adjustment. These models of neural control support the idea that humans use a feedforward mechanism of stiffness selection in anticipation of the required stiffness needed to accomplish a given task.\n\nMost models of the neural control of stiffness promote the idea that humans choose an optimal limb stiffness based on their environment or the task at hand. Studies postulate the humans do this in order to stabilize unstable dynamics of the environment and also to maximize the energy efficiency of a given movement. The exact method by which humans accomplish this is unknown, but impedance control has been used to give insight into how humans may choose an appropriate stiffness in different environments and as they perform different tasks. Impedance control has served as the basis for much of the work done in the area of determining how humans interact with their environment. The work of Neville Hogan has been particularly useful in this area as much of the work being done today in this area is based on his previous work.\n\nApplications in robotics\n\nNeuroprosthetics and exoskeletons \n\n\tKnowledge of human stiffness variation and stiffness selection has influenced robotic designs as researchers attempt to design robots that act more like biological systems. In order for robots to act more like biological systems, work is being done to attempt to implement stiffness modulation in robots so that they may interact more effectively with their environment.\n\n\tState of the art neuroprosthetics have attempted to implements stiffness control in their robotic devices. The goal of these devices is to replace the limbs of amputees and allow the new limbs to adjust their stiffness in order to effectively interact with the environment.\n\n\tAdditionally, robotic exoskeletons have attempted to implement similar adjustable stiffness in their devices. These robots implement stiffness control for multiple reasons. The robots must be able to interact efficiently with the external environment but they must also be able to interact safely with their human user. Stiffness modulation and impedance control can be leveraged to accomplish both of these goals.\n\n\tThese devices achieve variable stiffness in various ways. Some devices use controllers and rigid servomotors to simulate variable stiffness. Other devices utilize specific flexible actuators to achieve a various levels of limb stiffness.\n\nActuation Techniques \n\n\tThese robotic devices are able to achieve variable stiffness through various mechanisms such as simulating stiffness variation through control of stiff actuators or by utilizing variable stiffness actuators. Variable stiffness actuators mimic biological organisms by changing their inherent stiffness. These variable stiffness actuators are able to control their inherent stiffness in multiple ways. Some vary their stiffness much like humans do, by varying the force contribution of antagonistic mechanical muscles. Other actuators are able to adjust their stiffness by taking advantage of the properties of deformable elements housed within the actuators.\n\n\tBy utilizing these variable stiffness actuation technologies, new robots have been able to more accurately replicate the motions of biological organisms and mimic their energetic efficiencies.\n\nSee also \nPowered exoskeleton\nNeuroprosthetics\nRobotics\nStiffness\nMotor control\nNeuroscience\nMotor coordination\n\nReferences \n\nNeurophysiology\nLimbs (anatomy)",
"As one of the methods of structural analysis, the direct stiffness method, also known as the matrix stiffness method, is particularly suited for computer-automated analysis of complex structures including the statically indeterminate type. It is a matrix method that makes use of the members' stiffness relations for computing member forces and displacements in structures. The direct stiffness method is the most common implementation of the finite element method (FEM). In applying the method, the system must be modeled as a set of simpler, idealized elements interconnected at the nodes. The material stiffness properties of these elements are then, through matrix mathematics, compiled into a single matrix equation which governs the behaviour of the entire idealized structure. The structure’s unknown displacements and forces can then be determined by solving this equation. The direct stiffness method forms the basis for most commercial and free source finite element software.\n\nThe direct stiffness method originated in the field of aerospace. Researchers looked at various approaches for analysis of complex airplane frames. These included elasticity theory, energy principles in structural mechanics, flexibility method and matrix stiffness method. It was through analysis of these methods that the direct stiffness method emerged as an efficient method ideally suited for computer implementation.\n\nHistory\nBetween 1934 and 1938 A. R. Collar and W. J. Duncan published the first papers with the representation and terminology for matrix systems that are used today. Aeroelastic research continued through World War II but publication restrictions from 1938 to 1947 make this work difficult to trace. The second major breakthrough in matrix structural analysis occurred through 1954 and 1955 when professor John H. Argyris systemized the concept of assembling elemental components of a structure into a system of equations. Finally, on Nov. 6 1959, M. J. Turner, head of Boeing’s Structural Dynamics Unit, published a paper outlining the direct stiffness method as an efficient model for computer implementation .\n\nMember stiffness relations\n\nA typical member stiffness relation has the following general form:\n\nwhere\nm = member number m.\n = vector of member's characteristic forces, which are unknown internal forces.\n = member stiffness matrix which characterizes the member's resistance against deformations.\n = vector of member's characteristic displacements or deformations.\n = vector of member's characteristic forces caused by external effects (such as known forces and temperature changes) applied to the member while .\n\nIf are member deformations rather than absolute displacements, then are independent member forces, and in such case (1) can be inverted to yield the so-called member flexibility matrix, which is used in the flexibility method.\n\nSystem stiffness relation\n\nFor a system with many members interconnected at points called nodes, the members' stiffness relations such as Eq.(1) can be integrated by making use of the following observations:\n The member deformations can be expressed in terms of system nodal displacements r in order to ensure compatibility between members. This implies that r will be the primary unknowns.\n The member forces help to the keep the nodes in equilibrium under the nodal forces R. This implies that the right-hand-side of (1) will be integrated into the right-hand-side of the following nodal equilibrium equations for the entire system:\n\nwhere\n = vector of nodal forces, representing external forces applied to the system's nodes.\n = system stiffness matrix, which is established by assembling the members' stiffness matrices .\n = vector of system's nodal displacements that can define all possible deformed configurations of the system subject to arbitrary nodal forces R.\n = vector of equivalent nodal forces, representing all external effects other than the nodal forces which are already included in the preceding nodal force vector R. This vector is established by assembling the members' .\n\nSolution\n\nThe system stiffness matrix K is square since the vectors R and r have the same size. In addition, it is symmetric because is symmetric. Once the supports' constraints are accounted for in (2), the nodal displacements are found by solving the system of linear equations (2), symbolically:\n\nSubsequently, the members' characteristic forces may be found from Eq.(1) where can be found from r by compatibility consideration.\n\nThe direct stiffness method\nIt is common to have Eq.(1) in a form where and are, respectively, the member-end displacements and forces matching in direction with r and R. In such case, and can be obtained by direct summation of the members' matrices and . The method is then known as the direct stiffness method.\n\nThe advantages and disadvantages of the matrix stiffness method are compared and discussed in the flexibility method article.\n\nExample\n\nBreakdown\nThe first step when using the direct stiffness method is to identify the individual elements which make up the structure.\n\nOnce the elements are identified, the structure is disconnected at the nodes, the points which connect the different elements together.\n\nEach element is then analyzed individually to develop member stiffness equations. The forces and displacements are related through the element stiffness matrix which depends on the geometry and properties of the element.\n\nA truss element can only transmit forces in compression or tension. This means that in two dimensions, each node has two degrees of freedom (DOF): horizontal and vertical displacement. The resulting equation contains a four by four stiffness matrix.\n\nA frame element is able to withstand bending moments in addition to compression and tension. This results in three degrees of freedom: horizontal displacement, vertical displacement and in-plane rotation. The stiffness matrix in this case is six by six.\n\nOther elements such as plates and shells can also be incorporated into the direct stiffness method and similar equations must be developed.\n\nAssembly\nOnce the individual element stiffness relations have been developed they must be assembled into the original structure. The first step in this process is to convert the stiffness relations for the individual elements into a global system for the entire structure. In the case of a truss element, the global form of the stiffness method depends on the angle of the element with respect to the global coordinate system (This system is usually the traditional Cartesian coordinate system).\n\n (for a truss element at angle β)\nEquivalently,\n\nwhere and are the direction cosines of the truss element (i.e., they are components of a unit vector aligned with the member). This form reveals how to generalize the element stiffness to 3-D space trusses by simply extending the pattern that is evident in this formulation.\n\nAfter developing the element stiffness matrix in the global coordinate system, they must be merged into a single “master” or “global” stiffness matrix. When merging these matrices together there are two rules that must be followed: compatibility of displacements and force equilibrium at each node. These rules are upheld by relating the element nodal displacements to the global nodal displacements.\n\nThe global displacement and force vectors each contain one entry for each degree of freedom in the structure. The element stiffness matrices are merged by augmenting or expanding each matrix in conformation to the global displacement and load vectors.\n\n(for element (1) of the above structure)\n\nFinally, the global stiffness matrix is constructed by adding the individual expanded element matrices together.\n\nSolution\nOnce the global stiffness matrix, displacement vector, and force vector have been constructed, the system can be expressed as a single matrix equation.\n\nFor each degree of freedom in the structure, either the displacement or the force is known.\n\nAfter inserting the known value for each degree of freedom, the master stiffness equation is complete and ready to be evaluated. There are several different methods available for evaluating a matrix equation including but not limited to Cholesky decomposition and the brute force evaluation of systems of equations. If a structure isn’t properly restrained, the application of a force will cause it to move rigidly and additional support conditions must be added.\n\nThe method described in this section is meant as an overview of the direct stiffness method. Additional sources should be consulted for more details on the process as well as the assumptions about material properties inherent in the process.\n\nApplications\nThe direct stiffness method was developed specifically to effectively and easily implement into computer software to evaluate complicated structures that contain a large number of elements. Today, nearly every finite element solver available is based on the direct stiffness method. While each program utilizes the same process, many have been streamlined to reduce computation time and reduce the required memory. In order to achieve this, shortcuts have been developed.\n\nOne of the largest areas to utilize the direct stiffness method is the field of structural analysis where this method has been incorporated into modeling software. The software allows users to model a structure and, after the user defines the material properties of the elements, the program automatically generates element and global stiffness relationships. When various loading conditions are applied the software evaluates the structure and generates the deflections for the user.\n\nSee also\nFinite element method\nFinite element method in structural mechanics\nStructural analysis\nFlexibility method\nList of finite element software packages\n\nExternal links\n Application of direct stiffness method to a 1-D Spring System\n Matrix Structural Analysis\n Animations of Stiffness Analysis Simulations\n\nReferences\n \n Felippa, Carlos A. Introduction to Finite Element Method. Fall 2001. University of Colorado. 18 Sept. 2005\n Robinson, John. Structural Matrix Analysis for the Engineer. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1966\n Rubinstein, Moshe F. Matrix Computer Analysis of Structures. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1966\n McGuire, W., Gallagher, R. H., and Ziemian, R. D. Matrix Structural Analysis, 2nd Ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2000.\n\nStructural analysis\nNumerical differential equations"
] |
[
"Alan Kulwicki",
"Early racing career",
"when did Alan start racing?",
"Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer.",
"who made the karts for him?",
"Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. \"I showed him how\", Gerry Kulwicki said.",
"when did Alan start racing cars?",
"Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977.",
"did he have any sponsors?",
"I don't know.",
"what make of cars did he drive?",
"He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models.",
"did the stiffness help?",
"The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed."
] | C_e76a6b8f2cde4e32a09b6dbbc7579c29_1 | did he win any races? | 7 | Did Alan Kulwicki win any races? | Alan Kulwicki | Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'" Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973, he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners Speedway in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, and the next year started racing late models - the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level - at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh. Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships. In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions. CANNOTANSWER | Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. | Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series. Kulwicki arrived at NASCAR, the highest and most expensive level of stock car racing in the United States, with no sponsor, a limited budget and only a racecar and a borrowed pickup truck. Despite starting with meager equipment and finances, he earned the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award over drivers racing for well-funded teams.
After Kulwicki won his first race at Phoenix International Raceway, he debuted what would become his trademark "Polish victory lap". Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by what was then the closest margin in NASCAR history. He died early in 1993 in a light aircraft accident and therefore never defended his championship. He has been inducted into numerous racing halls of fame and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers.
Kulwicki was known for being a perfectionist and doing things his own way. An engineer by trade, his scientific approach to NASCAR racing inspired the way teams are now run. Despite lucrative offers from top car owners, he insisted on driving for his own race team, AK Racing, during most of his NASCAR career. Described by his publicist as "a real hard type of person to get to know", he remained a bachelor throughout his life.
Early life
Kulwicki grew up in Greenfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee known for its Polish-American neighborhoods, near the Milwaukee Mile racetrack. After his mother died, his family moved in with his grandmother, who died when Kulwicki was in seventh grade. A year later, his only brother died of a hemophilia-related illness. Kulwicki attended Pius XI High School, a Roman Catholic high school in Milwaukee and received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1977. His knowledge of engineering has been cited as a contributing factor to his success as a driver, as it helped him better understand the physics of a racecar. He first raced on local tracks as an amateur while in college before becoming a full-time professional racer in 1980. A devout Roman Catholic, Kulwicki always competed with a Saint Christopher (the patron saint of travelers) devotional medal in his car.
Racing career
Early racing career
Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'"
Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973 he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners and the next year started racing late models – the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level – at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh.
Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships.
In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions.
NASCAR career
1980s
Kulwicki raced in four NASCAR Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series) races in 1984. At the time, the Busch Grand National Series was considered NASCAR's feeder circuit, a proving ground for drivers who wished to step up to the organization's premiere circuit, the Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series). Kulwicki qualified second fastest and finished in second place at his first career NASCAR race, which took place at the Milwaukee Mile, several city blocks from where he grew up. Later that year, he finished seventh at Charlotte and fifth at Bristol. The following year, Kulwicki placed sixteenth in the season-opening Busch Series race at Daytona. Although he won the pole position at that year's event in Milwaukee, he finished fourteenth because of engine problems. Kulwicki's Busch Series successes caught car owner Bill Terry's eye and he offered Kulwicki a chance to race for him in several Winston Cup events.
In 1985, Kulwicki sold most of his belongings, including his short track racing equipment, to move approximately to the Charlotte area in North Carolina. He kept only a few things; his pickup truck was loaded to tow a trailer full of furniture and tools. An electrical fire two days before he left destroyed his truck, so Kulwicki had to borrow one to pull the trailer. After arriving in the Charlotte area, he showed up unannounced at Terry's shop ready to race. Veteran NASCAR drivers were initially amused by Kulwicki's arrival on the national tour: He was a driver from the northern United States when the series was primarily a southern regional series, he had a mechanical engineering degree when few other drivers had completed college and, with only six starts, had limited driving experience in the junior Busch Series. Kulwicki was described as very studious, hard working, no-nonsense and something of a loner. He frequently walked the garage area in his racing uniform carrying a briefcase. Kulwicki made his first career Winston Cup start at Richmond on September 8, 1985, for Bill Terry's No. 32 Hardee's Ford team. That season he competed in five races for Terry, with his highest finish being 13th.
Kulwicki started his rookie season in 1986 with Terry. After Terry decided to end support for his racing team mid-season, he sold the team to his driver. Kulwicki as an owner started out as essentially a one-man team, as he had to serve as driver, team administrator, crew chief and chief mechanic. Kulwicki had difficulty acquiring and keeping crew members because he found it difficult to trust them to do the job with the excellence that he demanded and because he was hands-on in the maintenance of racecars to the point of being a "control freak". He sought out crew members who had owned their own racecars, believing they would understand what he was going through: working long hours and performing his own car maintenance with a very limited budget. Notable crew members include his crew chief, Paul Andrews and future Cup crew chiefs, Tony Gibson and Brian Whitesell. Future crew chief and owner, Ray Evernham, lasted six weeks with Kulwicki in 1992. Evernham later said, "The man was a genius. There's no question. It's not a matter of people just feeling like he was a genius. That man was a genius. But his personality paid for that. He was very impatient, very straightforward, very cut-to-the-bone." With one car, two engines, and two full-time crew members, Kulwicki won the 1986 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. He had competed in 23 of 29 events, with four top 10 finishes, three races not completed (Did Not Finish – DNF), an average finish of 15.4, and had only one result below 30th place. Kulwicki finished 21st in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
For the 1987 season Kulwicki secured primary sponsorship from Zerex Antifreeze and changed his car number to seven. He picked up his first career pole position in the season's third race, at Richmond. Later that season, he again qualified fastest at Richmond and Dover. Kulwicki came close to winning his first Winston Cup race at Pocono, finishing second after winner Dale Earnhardt passed him on the last lap. With nine top 10 finishes, eleven DNFs and an average finish of 18.2 in 29 events; Kulwicki finished 15th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
In 1988 Kulwicki hired Paul Andrews as his crew chief after Andrews was recommended by Rusty Wallace at the 1987 NASCAR Awards banquet. That year Kulwicki won his first NASCAR Winston Cup race in the season's second-to-last race at Phoenix International Raceway after race leader Ricky Rudd's car had motor problems late in the race. Kulwicki led 41 laps and won by 18.5 seconds. After the race finished, he turned his car around and made, what he called, a "Polish victory lap" by driving the opposite way (clockwise) on the track, with the driver's side of the car facing the fans. "This gave me the opportunity to wave to the crowd from the driver's side", Kulwicki explained. Andrews recalled, "He had wanted to do something special and something different for his first win and only his first." He finished the 1988 season with four pole positions in 29 events, nine top 10 finishes including two second-place finishes, twelve DNFs, and an average finish of 19.2. Kulwicki finished 14th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
Kulwicki started his own engine-building program for the 1989 season. He had four second place finishes that season and held the points lead after the fifth race of the season. The team dropped from fourth to fifteenth in points by suffering nine engine failures during a sixteen-race stretch in the middle of the season. In 29 races, he had six pole positions, nine top 10 finishes, and finished 14th in season points. The team had a new workshop built during the season.
1990s
Junior Johnson, owner of one of the top NASCAR teams, approached Kulwicki at the beginning of the 1990 season to try to get him to replace Terry Labonte in the No. 11 Budweiser Ford. Kulwicki declined, stating that he was more interested in running his own team. He won his second Cup race at Rockingham on October 21, 1990, and finished eighth in points that year, his first finish in the top 10 points in a season. In 29 races, he had thirteen top 10 finishes and one pole position.
Before the 1991 season, Zerex ended their sponsorship of Kulwicki's team. Junior Johnson came calling again, looking for a driver for his revived second team that had last seen Neil Bonnett behind the wheel in 1986. Kulwicki turned down Johnson's $1 million offer thinking that he had secured a sponsorship deal with Maxwell House Coffee. Johnson then went to Maxwell House himself and obtained the sponsorship for his new car, which Sterling Marlin was hired to drive instead. Kulwicki was forced to begin the season without a sponsor, paying all of the team's expenses out of his own pocket. At the opening race of the season, the 1991 Daytona 500, five cars raced with paint schemes representing different branches of the United States military to show support for the American forces involved in the Gulf War. It was the first use of special paint schemes in NASCAR history. Kulwicki's car was sponsored by the United States Army in a one-race deal. After running the second and third races of the season in a plain white unsponsored car, Kulwicki's luck finding a sponsor changed for the better at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
At the time, Hooters was sponsoring a car driven by Mark Stahl, another owner-driver in the Cup series. Unlike Kulwicki, Stahl was a part-time participant who had trouble making races. The Hooters car failed to make the field for the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 and the Atlanta-based chain, desiring a spot in the race, approached the sponsorless Kulwicki to gauge his interest. The principals agreed to at least a one-race deal, which became a much longer term deal when Kulwicki recorded an eighth-place finish in the race. Later in the season, Kulwicki won the Bristol night race for his third career win. In 29 races, he had eleven top 10 finishes, four poles, and finished 13th in the points.
1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki started out the year by having to take one of two provisional starting positions at the Daytona 500; he ended up finishing fourth. He passed Dale Jarrett with 27 laps left at the Food City 500 race on April 5 at Bristol to take a narrow victory. It was his fourth Winston Cup victory. After that race, he never left the top five in season points. Andrews attributed Kulwicki's consistently strong finishes to the steady performance of newly adopted radial tires throughout their lifespan. He said, "It was hard to control them, and the driver's ability to work with that car during practice in order to get the car set up meant so much more than it ever did." Kulwicki's second victory in the season was at the first race at Pocono. Discounted as a contender for the season championship during the year, Kulwicki was expected to fade from contention as Bill Elliott and Davey Allison, both of whom had won more races than Kulwicki and who had traded the points lead between them, were both having strong seasons and looked to be the favorites for the Winston Cup. He did not, however, and remained in the top 5 in the series standings.
He qualified on the pole position for the Peak AntiFreeze 500 race on September 20 at Dover, but crashed early in the race and finished 34th. At the conclusion of the race, Kulwicki trailed points leader Elliott by 278 points. He seemed to resign himself to another season without a championship, saying to reporters, "This probably finishes us off in the championship deal."
However, Kulwicki was able to benefit from bad fortune that would befall Elliott in the weeks ahead. The next week at Martinsville, Elliott crashed out of the race while Kulwicki finished fifth. Kulwicki followed that up with a twelfth-place run at North Wilkesboro, a second place at Charlotte, and another twelfth-place finish at Rockingham. While Elliott managed a fourth place finish at Rockingham, he ran twenty-sixth at North Wilkesboro and thirtieth at Charlotte. Then, at Phoenix, Kulwicki ran fourth while Elliott suffered overheating problems and a cracked cylinder head and once again finished outside of the top 30. Allison won the race, retaking the points lead, but Kulwicki’s performance left him within striking distance of the points lead. When the points standings were tabulated after the race, Kulwicki had surpassed Elliott in the standings and stood thirty points behind Allison.
Thus, the stage was set for the final race of the season, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta. Before the race, Kulwicki received approval from NASCAR and Ford to change the "Thunderbird" lettering on his bumper for the race to "underbird" because he felt like the underdog in the contention for the championship.
Kulwicki qualified for the race in fourteenth position, three spots behind Elliott and three spots ahead of Allison. Allison simply needed to finish fifth or better to clinch the Cup, regardless of what his cohorts did. Atlanta, however, was not one of his better tracks, as he had a string of inconsistent finishes there. He had, however, finished fourth in the spring race won by Elliott. Kulwicki needed to outpace both Elliott and Allison and put as much distance as he could between the two drivers because he not only had to make up the thirty points on points leader Allison, but also needed to put distance between himself and Elliott, who trailed him by only ten points.
Kulwicki narrowly avoided an incident on the second lap of the race as front row starters Rick Mast and Brett Bodine spun out. However, trouble would eventually find him on the first round of pit stops. As Kulwicki was getting ready to leave his pit box after service, he shifted into first gear and his car stalled. He got a push start from his crew and upshifted into fourth gear, which enabled him to refire the car and head back out. Andrews later said, "We had to leave pit road in fourth gear, because we had broken metal parts in there, and only by leaving it in fourth are you not going to move metal around as much. We could only hope that the loose piece of metal didn't get in there and break the gears in half. We had three or four pit stops after it broke. I held my breath all day long." While Kulwicki had no choice but to keep his car in top gear, which caused his pit stop times to be much slower than usual, he was one of the faster drivers on track that day and he quickly gained positions once back up to speed. He eventually caught up to Elliott, who was also running well, and the two began jockeying back and forth for positions; eventually,
Kulwicki found his way to the front of the field and held onto the lead despite the best efforts of the #11 team. Then, on lap 255, Kulwicki got a break he desperately needed. Allison was running in sixth place at the time, and since he had led a lap during the course of the event was still leading the championship. As he was coming off of turn four, Ernie Irvan spun out in front of the field on the frontstretch. Irvan, who had been running three laps down at the time, came down in front of Allison, who was unable to avoid him and the two made contact and crashed into the inside wall near the start/finish line. Allison’s car was badly damaged in the incident, and although the damage would be able to be repaired in the garage his chances of winning the Winston Cup were over.
Under the ensuing caution, Kulwicki and Andrews went to work on discussing strategy for the remainder of the race. With Allison now out of the championship picture, maximizing track position and points became Kulwicki’s focus. He and Elliott had each gained five bonus points for leading a lap, and five additional bonus points were available for the driver who led the most laps during the race. However, despite the possibility for more caution periods, Kulwicki would have to pit at some point to get enough fuel in the car to make it to the advertised distance. Therefore, Kulwicki and Andrews decided to stay out as long as they could and lead as many laps as possible. Once the race resumed, Kulwicki was able to maintain his lead on Elliott despite the best efforts of the latter.
On lap 310, after leading 101 consecutive laps and 103 overall, Kulwicki came down pit road for a fuel-only stop. Since the team did not need a full twenty-two gallon load of fuel to make it to the end and they needed to save as much time as they could, Andrews made the determination to put approximately half a can of gasoline into Kulwicki’s tank; this could be done in a little over three seconds and with only two crew members. Fuel man Tony Gibson and catch can man Peter Jellen waited as Kulwicki pulled in. There was a problem with the fuel relay, however, and Gibson was not certain of the amount of gasoline that made it into the tank. Kulwicki came back onto the track in third place, behind front runner Elliott and second place Terry Labonte. He had not fully secured the five bonus points for leading the most laps, since Elliott had an opportunity to tie Kulwicki’s total. In that case, both drivers would receive the points. Elliott also had to come down to top off his fuel tank.
But as he had done with the adjustment following the broken gearbox and the accident that took Allison out of the race, Kulwicki once again caught a break that affected his chances in a significant way. Tim Brewer, Elliott’s crew chief, had lost track of Labonte and waited an additional lap to bring Elliott in. Labonte was able to pass Elliott while he pitted, then pitted himself. Elliott reassumed the point with twelve laps remaining, which when added to the ninety he had already led would only add up to 102.
Kulwicki was told that he had clinched the five extra points several laps later. Andrews warned him of the fuel relay issue, however, and told Kulwicki to conserve whatever fuel he could as no one knew for certain whether or not Gibson had done the job. Kulwicki was running in second, far enough ahead of third place Geoff Bodine that he was not a factor, and thus all he had to do was hold position in order to win the championship. Elliott won the race and Kulwicki stretched his fuel to finish second. Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by maintaining his 10-point lead over Elliott. He celebrated the championship with his second Polish victory lap. Always conscious of his appearance for potential sponsors, Kulwicki combed his hair, making a national television audience wait for him to emerge from his car.
Kulwicki had overcome the 278-point deficit in the final six races of the season by ending with a fifth, a fourth, and two second-place finishes. Kulwicki won the championship because of his consistent high finishes. It was the closest title win in NASCAR Cup Series history until the implementation of the Chase for the Cup format in 2004. Kulwicki was the last owner-driver to win the title for nearly two decades, the first Cup champion with a college degree, and the first Cup champion born in a northern state. He started from the pole position six times during the season, which was the most for any driver. The song that played during a short salute to Kulwicki at the year-end awards banquet was Frank Sinatra's "My Way".
Championship honors
Kulwicki returned to his hometown, Greenfield, for Alan Kulwicki Day in January 1993. The gymnasium at Greenfield High School was filled and surrounded by four to five thousand people. Local television crews filmed the event. Kulwicki signed autographs for six hours.
In celebration of his championship, sponsor Hooters made a special "Alan Tribute Card" that was used at all of the autograph sessions during the 1993 season.
1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki did not significantly change his spending habits after winning the 1992 championship. "The only thing I really wanted to buy was a plane", he said, "but it turns out Hooters has a couple I can use." Kulwicki negotiated a lease agreement with Hooters Chairman Robert Brooks for the use of one of his aircraft. The Swearingen Merlin III twin turboprop Kulwicki leased was painted with Hooters livery, and its FAA registry changed from N300EF (for Eastern Foods, another of Brooks's companies) to N300AK.
After the first five races of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series had been completed, Kulwicki was 9th in overall points. Kulwicki had concerns about how often he was being allowed to use the airplane he had leased, and other financial concerns he wanted to bring up with his sponsor, Hooters. The PR representative for both Hooters and Kulwicki, Tom Roberts, suggested that Kulwicki bring up his concerns to Hooters leadership while in flight from Knoxville to Bristol on the evening of April 1, 1993, en route to the 1993 Food City 500. Roberts himself, in an attempt to avoid a conflict of interest between the two sides, did not board the chartered flight, and took a commercial flight to Bristol instead.
Death
Kulwicki died in an airplane crash on Thursday April 1, 1993. He was returning from an appearance at the Knoxville Hooters on the Kingston Pike, in a Hooters corporate plane on a short flight across Tennessee before the Sunday spring race at Bristol. The plane slowed and crashed just before final approach at Tri-Cities Regional Airport in a field off of Interstate 81 near Blountville. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to the pilot's failure to use the airplane's anti-ice system to clear ice from the engine inlet system.
Kulwicki was buried at St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee; the funeral was attended by NASCAR President Bill France, Jr. and numerous drivers. Kulwicki's racecar transporter was driven from the rainy track later that Friday morning while other teams and the media watched it travel slowly around the track with a black wreath on its grille. As the transporter passed the start / finish line, the flagman waved a checkered flag. In 2008, Kyle Petty described the slow laps as "the saddest thing I've ever seen at a racetrack... We just sat and cried." Kulwicki had competed in five NASCAR races that season with two Top 5 finishes, and was ranked ninth in points at his death. In his career, he had won five NASCAR Winston Cup races, 24 pole positions, 75 Top 10 finishes, and one championship in 207 races.
His car was driven by road course specialist Tommy Kendall on road courses and by Jimmy Hensley at the other tracks. It was raced for most of the 1993 season until the team was sold to Geoff Bodine, who operated it as Geoff Bodine Racing.
Kulwicki had been selected to compete in the 1993 International Race of Champions (IROC) series as the reigning Winston Cup champion. He competed in two IROC races before his death, finishing ninth at Daytona and eleventh at Darlington. Dale Earnhardt raced for Kulwicki in the final two IROC races, and the prize money for those races and their fifth place combined points finish was given to the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary, Brenner Children's Hospital and St. Thomas Aquinas Church charities.
Legacy
Three days after Kulwicki's death, Bristol race winner Rusty Wallace honored his former short track rival by performing Kulwicki's trademark Polish victory lap. Davey Allison died on July 13, 1993; competitors who had been carrying a No. 7 sticker in memory of Kulwicki added a No. 28 sticker for Allison. After the final race of the season, series champion Dale Earnhardt and race winner Wallace drove a side-by-side Polish victory lap carrying flags for Kulwicki and Allison. Kulwicki finished 41st in the final points standings despite competing in only five races. Racing Champions issued a die-cast version of Alan Kulwicki's No. 7 car that was a tribute to Kulwicki's 1992 title.
The USAR Hooters Pro Cup championship (now CARS Tour) held the "Four Champions Challenge" in memory of the four victims of the plane crash. Established in 1997, the challenge was a four-race series, with each race named after one of the four who died in the crash: Kulwicki, Mark Brooks (son of Hooters owner Bob Brooks), Dan Duncan, and pilot Charles Campbell.
Milwaukee County honored Kulwicki in 1996 by creating Alan Kulwicki Memorial Park, located near the corner of Highway 100 and Cold Spring Road in Greenfield (Area Map). Hooters chairman Robert Brooks donated $250,000 to build the park, which features a Kulwicki museum inside the Brooks Pavilion.
Since 1994, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has awarded the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Scholarship to one incoming student each year. Scholarship winners are outstanding high school seniors who plan to major in mechanical engineering. By 1998, UNC Charlotte created an automotive and motorsports engineering program.
In October 2009, the Kulwicki family donated nearly $1.9 million to benefit motorsports engineering education at UNC Charlotte. In honor of the gift, the university's Board of Trustees renamed the existing motorsports research facility the Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Laboratory. The donation funded the construction of a second motorsports engineering building, which opened in January 2012.
Bristol Motor Speedway named its grandstand in turns one and two in honor of Kulwicki, as well as a terrace above the grandstand. The 2004 Busch Series race at the Milwaukee Mile was named the "Alan Kulwicki 250" in honor of Kulwicki. Wisconsinite Paul Menard turned his car around after winning the 2006 Busch Series event and performed a Polish victory lap to honor Kulwicki. Slinger Super Speedway has held an annual Alan Kulwicki Memorial race since 1994.
Kulwicki was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted in the Lowe's Motor Speedway Court of Legends in 1993, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993, Talladega-Texaco Hall of Fame in 1996, Bristol Motor Speedway Heroes of Bristol Hall of Fame in 1997, the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2010. Kulwicki was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019.
Kulwicki's success as an owner-driver sparked a small trend among NASCAR veterans. Geoff Bodine, his younger brother Brett, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, and Joe Nemechek all began racing teams shortly after Kulwicki's death. However, none were as successful as Kulwicki's. Robby Gordon frequently mentions Alan as an inspiration for him as an owner-driver, and selected car No. 7 as a tribute to Kulwicki.
Slinger Super Speedway began an Alan Kulwicki Memorial night in 1993; it has continued the annual memorial as of 2016. In 2010, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee created the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Student Center in their Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Building. The center, along with a scholarship for engineering students, was made possible in part by a donation from Thelma H. Kulwicki, the late racer's stepmother, who also donated numerous items of memorabilia located in the center.
In May 2012, the Milwaukee County Historical Society announced plans for a special exhibit celebrating the life and career of Kulwicki to open in early 2013. The exhibit is called "Alan Kulwicki: A Champion's Story".
Alan Kulwicki Driver Development Program
In 2015, Kulwicki's friends began the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development program to "help worthy drivers along the way in reaching their dream...while at the same time keep Alan Kulwicki's memory and legacy alive." The field is narrowed to 15 applicants and the program gives $7777 to support seven drivers' career advancement. Drivers are judged based on their on-track performance as well as off-track activities, social media presence, and community involvement. The winner receives seven times $7777 ($54,439) and a trophy. It was cancelled for the 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns. The program winners were:
2020 cancelled due to COVID-19
2019 Jeremy Doss
2018 Brett Yackey
2017 Cody Haskins
2016 Alex Prunty
2015 Ty Majeski.
Other Participants in Each Class:
2021 Wyatt Alexander, Luke Fenhaus, Max Kahler, Ryan Kuhn, Kole Raz, Brooke Storer, Dylan Zamba
2019 Danny Benedict, Justin Carroll, Luke Fenhaus, Derek Griffith, Carson Kvapil, Paul Shafer, Jr.
2018 Cole Butcher, Justin Carroll, Derek Griffith, Molly Helmuth, Justin Mondeik, Brittney Zamora
2017 Braison Bennett, Cole Butcher, Justin Mondeik, Michael Ostdiek, John Peters, Brett Yackey
2016 Jeremy Doss, Dave Farrington, Jr., Cody Haskins, Quin Houff, Michael Ostdiek (replaced Natalie Decker after she tried to qualify for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway), Brandon Setzer
2015 Steve Apel, Justin Crider, Dave Farrington, Jr., Reagan May, Bryce Napier, Cole Williams
Media
Father Dale Grubba, the priest who had presided over Kulwicki's funeral, released a biography of his friend entitled Alan Kulwicki: NASCAR champion Against All Odds in 2009. The book was the basis for a low-budget feature film, Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story, released on April 1, 2005. The film chronicles Kulwicki's life from racing late models at Slinger Super Speedway, through his rise to NASCAR champion, and ends with his death. The movie was created by Kulwicki's Wisconsin fans for less than $100,000. The star of the film, Brad Weber, was a Kulwicki fan and credits the late driver with being his inspiration to become an actor.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
Daytona 500
Busch Series
International Race of Champions
(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
References
External links
Movie review of Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story by Speed Channel
1954 births
1993 deaths
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American people of Polish descent
American Speed Association drivers
Burials in Wisconsin
Catholics from Wisconsin
Hooters people
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
International Race of Champions drivers
NASCAR Cup Series champions
NASCAR drivers
NASCAR team owners
People from Greenfield, Wisconsin
Racing drivers from Wisconsin
Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1993
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States | true | [
"The 1954 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was the seventh edition of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo. It included eleven races: all the races form the 1953 edition were retained with no additions. Ferdinand Kübler won his third individual championship (although he did not win any of the races) while Belgium won the nations championship.\n\nRaces\n\nFinal standings\n\nRiders\n\nNations\n\nReferences\n\n \nChallenge Desgrange-Colombo\nChallenge Desgrange-Colombo",
"Bret Holmes Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that fields the No. 23 Chevrolet SS part-time in the ARCA Menards Series and the No. 32 Chevrolet Silverado full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.\n\nHistory\n\nARCA Menards Series\nAfter GMS Racing closed down their ARCA team after the 2015 season to focus on expanding their Truck Series team in 2016, driver Bret Holmes, who was going to start the season with Empire Racing, and his father Stacy Holmes purchased the team's assets and ran part-time in the series in 2016. Their debut came in the race at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. The GMS No. 23 had won the 2015 championship with Grant Enfinger driving. Enfinger had moved up to the Truck Series with GMS in 2016, driving part-time for the team in their No. 24 and No. 33 trucks. Enfinger would become a driver coach and crew chief for Holmes' ARCA team and would also drive the car in one race, which was at Pocono and he would win that race, giving the team a win in its first season. \n\nBHR would field the No. 23 full-time in 2017 with Holmes driving, and although he did not win any races, he finished sixth in the standings. In 2018, Holmes and his team intended on running full-time again. However, halfway through the season, the team did not run any races except for the second Pocono race due to lack of sponsorship, although Wayne Peterson Racing used the team's car number in two races to keep collecting owner points for the No. 23 in case sponsorship was found and the team could compete again. Holmes would drive Ken Schrader Racing's No. 52 car in three of the final ten races of the season. BHR returned full-time in 2019, and Holmes finished third in the standings although he did not win any races. \n\nIn 2020, Holmes won his first race in the series at Kansas in July. He went on to win the championship despite his team having older equipment and struggling to find sponsorship, narrowly beating Michael Self, who drove a fully sponsored car for the powerhouse Venturini Motorsports team.\n\nIn 2021, the No. 23 car only ran part-time with Holmes driving it in four races and JR Motorsports Xfinity Series driver Sam Mayer (also a former GMS ARCA and Truck Series driver) driving it in five races.\n\nNASCAR Camping World Truck Series\nOn July 31, 2020, Holmes told reporter Chris Knight that he was looking at debuting his team in the Truck Series for select races in 2021. On January 14, 2021, Holmes announced that he and Sam Mayer would run part-time schedules for his own team in the Truck Series, which would field the No. 32 truck. (The team chose the No. 32 as it is the No. 23 backwards, and the No. 23 was being used by GMS Racing in the Truck Series.) On March 6, 2021, it was revealed that the team had purchased the owner points of the No. 28 FDNY Racing truck, which attempted the season-opener at Daytona, in order to be more likely to qualify for races without qualifying if an entry list had over 40 trucks. Ty Dillon would drive the truck in the season-finale at Phoenix.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\nNASCAR teams\nARCA Menards Series teams"
] |
[
"Alan Kulwicki",
"Early racing career",
"when did Alan start racing?",
"Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer.",
"who made the karts for him?",
"Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. \"I showed him how\", Gerry Kulwicki said.",
"when did Alan start racing cars?",
"Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977.",
"did he have any sponsors?",
"I don't know.",
"what make of cars did he drive?",
"He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models.",
"did the stiffness help?",
"The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed.",
"did he win any races?",
"Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977."
] | C_e76a6b8f2cde4e32a09b6dbbc7579c29_1 | were there other kinds of races that he participated in? | 8 | Besides kart racing on dirt tracks and car racing on paved tracks, were there other kinds of races that Alan Kulwicki participated in? | Alan Kulwicki | Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'" Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973, he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners Speedway in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, and the next year started racing late models - the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level - at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh. Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships. In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions. CANNOTANSWER | In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series | Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series. Kulwicki arrived at NASCAR, the highest and most expensive level of stock car racing in the United States, with no sponsor, a limited budget and only a racecar and a borrowed pickup truck. Despite starting with meager equipment and finances, he earned the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award over drivers racing for well-funded teams.
After Kulwicki won his first race at Phoenix International Raceway, he debuted what would become his trademark "Polish victory lap". Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by what was then the closest margin in NASCAR history. He died early in 1993 in a light aircraft accident and therefore never defended his championship. He has been inducted into numerous racing halls of fame and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers.
Kulwicki was known for being a perfectionist and doing things his own way. An engineer by trade, his scientific approach to NASCAR racing inspired the way teams are now run. Despite lucrative offers from top car owners, he insisted on driving for his own race team, AK Racing, during most of his NASCAR career. Described by his publicist as "a real hard type of person to get to know", he remained a bachelor throughout his life.
Early life
Kulwicki grew up in Greenfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee known for its Polish-American neighborhoods, near the Milwaukee Mile racetrack. After his mother died, his family moved in with his grandmother, who died when Kulwicki was in seventh grade. A year later, his only brother died of a hemophilia-related illness. Kulwicki attended Pius XI High School, a Roman Catholic high school in Milwaukee and received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1977. His knowledge of engineering has been cited as a contributing factor to his success as a driver, as it helped him better understand the physics of a racecar. He first raced on local tracks as an amateur while in college before becoming a full-time professional racer in 1980. A devout Roman Catholic, Kulwicki always competed with a Saint Christopher (the patron saint of travelers) devotional medal in his car.
Racing career
Early racing career
Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'"
Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973 he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners and the next year started racing late models – the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level – at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh.
Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships.
In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions.
NASCAR career
1980s
Kulwicki raced in four NASCAR Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series) races in 1984. At the time, the Busch Grand National Series was considered NASCAR's feeder circuit, a proving ground for drivers who wished to step up to the organization's premiere circuit, the Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series). Kulwicki qualified second fastest and finished in second place at his first career NASCAR race, which took place at the Milwaukee Mile, several city blocks from where he grew up. Later that year, he finished seventh at Charlotte and fifth at Bristol. The following year, Kulwicki placed sixteenth in the season-opening Busch Series race at Daytona. Although he won the pole position at that year's event in Milwaukee, he finished fourteenth because of engine problems. Kulwicki's Busch Series successes caught car owner Bill Terry's eye and he offered Kulwicki a chance to race for him in several Winston Cup events.
In 1985, Kulwicki sold most of his belongings, including his short track racing equipment, to move approximately to the Charlotte area in North Carolina. He kept only a few things; his pickup truck was loaded to tow a trailer full of furniture and tools. An electrical fire two days before he left destroyed his truck, so Kulwicki had to borrow one to pull the trailer. After arriving in the Charlotte area, he showed up unannounced at Terry's shop ready to race. Veteran NASCAR drivers were initially amused by Kulwicki's arrival on the national tour: He was a driver from the northern United States when the series was primarily a southern regional series, he had a mechanical engineering degree when few other drivers had completed college and, with only six starts, had limited driving experience in the junior Busch Series. Kulwicki was described as very studious, hard working, no-nonsense and something of a loner. He frequently walked the garage area in his racing uniform carrying a briefcase. Kulwicki made his first career Winston Cup start at Richmond on September 8, 1985, for Bill Terry's No. 32 Hardee's Ford team. That season he competed in five races for Terry, with his highest finish being 13th.
Kulwicki started his rookie season in 1986 with Terry. After Terry decided to end support for his racing team mid-season, he sold the team to his driver. Kulwicki as an owner started out as essentially a one-man team, as he had to serve as driver, team administrator, crew chief and chief mechanic. Kulwicki had difficulty acquiring and keeping crew members because he found it difficult to trust them to do the job with the excellence that he demanded and because he was hands-on in the maintenance of racecars to the point of being a "control freak". He sought out crew members who had owned their own racecars, believing they would understand what he was going through: working long hours and performing his own car maintenance with a very limited budget. Notable crew members include his crew chief, Paul Andrews and future Cup crew chiefs, Tony Gibson and Brian Whitesell. Future crew chief and owner, Ray Evernham, lasted six weeks with Kulwicki in 1992. Evernham later said, "The man was a genius. There's no question. It's not a matter of people just feeling like he was a genius. That man was a genius. But his personality paid for that. He was very impatient, very straightforward, very cut-to-the-bone." With one car, two engines, and two full-time crew members, Kulwicki won the 1986 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. He had competed in 23 of 29 events, with four top 10 finishes, three races not completed (Did Not Finish – DNF), an average finish of 15.4, and had only one result below 30th place. Kulwicki finished 21st in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
For the 1987 season Kulwicki secured primary sponsorship from Zerex Antifreeze and changed his car number to seven. He picked up his first career pole position in the season's third race, at Richmond. Later that season, he again qualified fastest at Richmond and Dover. Kulwicki came close to winning his first Winston Cup race at Pocono, finishing second after winner Dale Earnhardt passed him on the last lap. With nine top 10 finishes, eleven DNFs and an average finish of 18.2 in 29 events; Kulwicki finished 15th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
In 1988 Kulwicki hired Paul Andrews as his crew chief after Andrews was recommended by Rusty Wallace at the 1987 NASCAR Awards banquet. That year Kulwicki won his first NASCAR Winston Cup race in the season's second-to-last race at Phoenix International Raceway after race leader Ricky Rudd's car had motor problems late in the race. Kulwicki led 41 laps and won by 18.5 seconds. After the race finished, he turned his car around and made, what he called, a "Polish victory lap" by driving the opposite way (clockwise) on the track, with the driver's side of the car facing the fans. "This gave me the opportunity to wave to the crowd from the driver's side", Kulwicki explained. Andrews recalled, "He had wanted to do something special and something different for his first win and only his first." He finished the 1988 season with four pole positions in 29 events, nine top 10 finishes including two second-place finishes, twelve DNFs, and an average finish of 19.2. Kulwicki finished 14th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
Kulwicki started his own engine-building program for the 1989 season. He had four second place finishes that season and held the points lead after the fifth race of the season. The team dropped from fourth to fifteenth in points by suffering nine engine failures during a sixteen-race stretch in the middle of the season. In 29 races, he had six pole positions, nine top 10 finishes, and finished 14th in season points. The team had a new workshop built during the season.
1990s
Junior Johnson, owner of one of the top NASCAR teams, approached Kulwicki at the beginning of the 1990 season to try to get him to replace Terry Labonte in the No. 11 Budweiser Ford. Kulwicki declined, stating that he was more interested in running his own team. He won his second Cup race at Rockingham on October 21, 1990, and finished eighth in points that year, his first finish in the top 10 points in a season. In 29 races, he had thirteen top 10 finishes and one pole position.
Before the 1991 season, Zerex ended their sponsorship of Kulwicki's team. Junior Johnson came calling again, looking for a driver for his revived second team that had last seen Neil Bonnett behind the wheel in 1986. Kulwicki turned down Johnson's $1 million offer thinking that he had secured a sponsorship deal with Maxwell House Coffee. Johnson then went to Maxwell House himself and obtained the sponsorship for his new car, which Sterling Marlin was hired to drive instead. Kulwicki was forced to begin the season without a sponsor, paying all of the team's expenses out of his own pocket. At the opening race of the season, the 1991 Daytona 500, five cars raced with paint schemes representing different branches of the United States military to show support for the American forces involved in the Gulf War. It was the first use of special paint schemes in NASCAR history. Kulwicki's car was sponsored by the United States Army in a one-race deal. After running the second and third races of the season in a plain white unsponsored car, Kulwicki's luck finding a sponsor changed for the better at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
At the time, Hooters was sponsoring a car driven by Mark Stahl, another owner-driver in the Cup series. Unlike Kulwicki, Stahl was a part-time participant who had trouble making races. The Hooters car failed to make the field for the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 and the Atlanta-based chain, desiring a spot in the race, approached the sponsorless Kulwicki to gauge his interest. The principals agreed to at least a one-race deal, which became a much longer term deal when Kulwicki recorded an eighth-place finish in the race. Later in the season, Kulwicki won the Bristol night race for his third career win. In 29 races, he had eleven top 10 finishes, four poles, and finished 13th in the points.
1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki started out the year by having to take one of two provisional starting positions at the Daytona 500; he ended up finishing fourth. He passed Dale Jarrett with 27 laps left at the Food City 500 race on April 5 at Bristol to take a narrow victory. It was his fourth Winston Cup victory. After that race, he never left the top five in season points. Andrews attributed Kulwicki's consistently strong finishes to the steady performance of newly adopted radial tires throughout their lifespan. He said, "It was hard to control them, and the driver's ability to work with that car during practice in order to get the car set up meant so much more than it ever did." Kulwicki's second victory in the season was at the first race at Pocono. Discounted as a contender for the season championship during the year, Kulwicki was expected to fade from contention as Bill Elliott and Davey Allison, both of whom had won more races than Kulwicki and who had traded the points lead between them, were both having strong seasons and looked to be the favorites for the Winston Cup. He did not, however, and remained in the top 5 in the series standings.
He qualified on the pole position for the Peak AntiFreeze 500 race on September 20 at Dover, but crashed early in the race and finished 34th. At the conclusion of the race, Kulwicki trailed points leader Elliott by 278 points. He seemed to resign himself to another season without a championship, saying to reporters, "This probably finishes us off in the championship deal."
However, Kulwicki was able to benefit from bad fortune that would befall Elliott in the weeks ahead. The next week at Martinsville, Elliott crashed out of the race while Kulwicki finished fifth. Kulwicki followed that up with a twelfth-place run at North Wilkesboro, a second place at Charlotte, and another twelfth-place finish at Rockingham. While Elliott managed a fourth place finish at Rockingham, he ran twenty-sixth at North Wilkesboro and thirtieth at Charlotte. Then, at Phoenix, Kulwicki ran fourth while Elliott suffered overheating problems and a cracked cylinder head and once again finished outside of the top 30. Allison won the race, retaking the points lead, but Kulwicki’s performance left him within striking distance of the points lead. When the points standings were tabulated after the race, Kulwicki had surpassed Elliott in the standings and stood thirty points behind Allison.
Thus, the stage was set for the final race of the season, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta. Before the race, Kulwicki received approval from NASCAR and Ford to change the "Thunderbird" lettering on his bumper for the race to "underbird" because he felt like the underdog in the contention for the championship.
Kulwicki qualified for the race in fourteenth position, three spots behind Elliott and three spots ahead of Allison. Allison simply needed to finish fifth or better to clinch the Cup, regardless of what his cohorts did. Atlanta, however, was not one of his better tracks, as he had a string of inconsistent finishes there. He had, however, finished fourth in the spring race won by Elliott. Kulwicki needed to outpace both Elliott and Allison and put as much distance as he could between the two drivers because he not only had to make up the thirty points on points leader Allison, but also needed to put distance between himself and Elliott, who trailed him by only ten points.
Kulwicki narrowly avoided an incident on the second lap of the race as front row starters Rick Mast and Brett Bodine spun out. However, trouble would eventually find him on the first round of pit stops. As Kulwicki was getting ready to leave his pit box after service, he shifted into first gear and his car stalled. He got a push start from his crew and upshifted into fourth gear, which enabled him to refire the car and head back out. Andrews later said, "We had to leave pit road in fourth gear, because we had broken metal parts in there, and only by leaving it in fourth are you not going to move metal around as much. We could only hope that the loose piece of metal didn't get in there and break the gears in half. We had three or four pit stops after it broke. I held my breath all day long." While Kulwicki had no choice but to keep his car in top gear, which caused his pit stop times to be much slower than usual, he was one of the faster drivers on track that day and he quickly gained positions once back up to speed. He eventually caught up to Elliott, who was also running well, and the two began jockeying back and forth for positions; eventually,
Kulwicki found his way to the front of the field and held onto the lead despite the best efforts of the #11 team. Then, on lap 255, Kulwicki got a break he desperately needed. Allison was running in sixth place at the time, and since he had led a lap during the course of the event was still leading the championship. As he was coming off of turn four, Ernie Irvan spun out in front of the field on the frontstretch. Irvan, who had been running three laps down at the time, came down in front of Allison, who was unable to avoid him and the two made contact and crashed into the inside wall near the start/finish line. Allison’s car was badly damaged in the incident, and although the damage would be able to be repaired in the garage his chances of winning the Winston Cup were over.
Under the ensuing caution, Kulwicki and Andrews went to work on discussing strategy for the remainder of the race. With Allison now out of the championship picture, maximizing track position and points became Kulwicki’s focus. He and Elliott had each gained five bonus points for leading a lap, and five additional bonus points were available for the driver who led the most laps during the race. However, despite the possibility for more caution periods, Kulwicki would have to pit at some point to get enough fuel in the car to make it to the advertised distance. Therefore, Kulwicki and Andrews decided to stay out as long as they could and lead as many laps as possible. Once the race resumed, Kulwicki was able to maintain his lead on Elliott despite the best efforts of the latter.
On lap 310, after leading 101 consecutive laps and 103 overall, Kulwicki came down pit road for a fuel-only stop. Since the team did not need a full twenty-two gallon load of fuel to make it to the end and they needed to save as much time as they could, Andrews made the determination to put approximately half a can of gasoline into Kulwicki’s tank; this could be done in a little over three seconds and with only two crew members. Fuel man Tony Gibson and catch can man Peter Jellen waited as Kulwicki pulled in. There was a problem with the fuel relay, however, and Gibson was not certain of the amount of gasoline that made it into the tank. Kulwicki came back onto the track in third place, behind front runner Elliott and second place Terry Labonte. He had not fully secured the five bonus points for leading the most laps, since Elliott had an opportunity to tie Kulwicki’s total. In that case, both drivers would receive the points. Elliott also had to come down to top off his fuel tank.
But as he had done with the adjustment following the broken gearbox and the accident that took Allison out of the race, Kulwicki once again caught a break that affected his chances in a significant way. Tim Brewer, Elliott’s crew chief, had lost track of Labonte and waited an additional lap to bring Elliott in. Labonte was able to pass Elliott while he pitted, then pitted himself. Elliott reassumed the point with twelve laps remaining, which when added to the ninety he had already led would only add up to 102.
Kulwicki was told that he had clinched the five extra points several laps later. Andrews warned him of the fuel relay issue, however, and told Kulwicki to conserve whatever fuel he could as no one knew for certain whether or not Gibson had done the job. Kulwicki was running in second, far enough ahead of third place Geoff Bodine that he was not a factor, and thus all he had to do was hold position in order to win the championship. Elliott won the race and Kulwicki stretched his fuel to finish second. Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by maintaining his 10-point lead over Elliott. He celebrated the championship with his second Polish victory lap. Always conscious of his appearance for potential sponsors, Kulwicki combed his hair, making a national television audience wait for him to emerge from his car.
Kulwicki had overcome the 278-point deficit in the final six races of the season by ending with a fifth, a fourth, and two second-place finishes. Kulwicki won the championship because of his consistent high finishes. It was the closest title win in NASCAR Cup Series history until the implementation of the Chase for the Cup format in 2004. Kulwicki was the last owner-driver to win the title for nearly two decades, the first Cup champion with a college degree, and the first Cup champion born in a northern state. He started from the pole position six times during the season, which was the most for any driver. The song that played during a short salute to Kulwicki at the year-end awards banquet was Frank Sinatra's "My Way".
Championship honors
Kulwicki returned to his hometown, Greenfield, for Alan Kulwicki Day in January 1993. The gymnasium at Greenfield High School was filled and surrounded by four to five thousand people. Local television crews filmed the event. Kulwicki signed autographs for six hours.
In celebration of his championship, sponsor Hooters made a special "Alan Tribute Card" that was used at all of the autograph sessions during the 1993 season.
1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki did not significantly change his spending habits after winning the 1992 championship. "The only thing I really wanted to buy was a plane", he said, "but it turns out Hooters has a couple I can use." Kulwicki negotiated a lease agreement with Hooters Chairman Robert Brooks for the use of one of his aircraft. The Swearingen Merlin III twin turboprop Kulwicki leased was painted with Hooters livery, and its FAA registry changed from N300EF (for Eastern Foods, another of Brooks's companies) to N300AK.
After the first five races of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series had been completed, Kulwicki was 9th in overall points. Kulwicki had concerns about how often he was being allowed to use the airplane he had leased, and other financial concerns he wanted to bring up with his sponsor, Hooters. The PR representative for both Hooters and Kulwicki, Tom Roberts, suggested that Kulwicki bring up his concerns to Hooters leadership while in flight from Knoxville to Bristol on the evening of April 1, 1993, en route to the 1993 Food City 500. Roberts himself, in an attempt to avoid a conflict of interest between the two sides, did not board the chartered flight, and took a commercial flight to Bristol instead.
Death
Kulwicki died in an airplane crash on Thursday April 1, 1993. He was returning from an appearance at the Knoxville Hooters on the Kingston Pike, in a Hooters corporate plane on a short flight across Tennessee before the Sunday spring race at Bristol. The plane slowed and crashed just before final approach at Tri-Cities Regional Airport in a field off of Interstate 81 near Blountville. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to the pilot's failure to use the airplane's anti-ice system to clear ice from the engine inlet system.
Kulwicki was buried at St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee; the funeral was attended by NASCAR President Bill France, Jr. and numerous drivers. Kulwicki's racecar transporter was driven from the rainy track later that Friday morning while other teams and the media watched it travel slowly around the track with a black wreath on its grille. As the transporter passed the start / finish line, the flagman waved a checkered flag. In 2008, Kyle Petty described the slow laps as "the saddest thing I've ever seen at a racetrack... We just sat and cried." Kulwicki had competed in five NASCAR races that season with two Top 5 finishes, and was ranked ninth in points at his death. In his career, he had won five NASCAR Winston Cup races, 24 pole positions, 75 Top 10 finishes, and one championship in 207 races.
His car was driven by road course specialist Tommy Kendall on road courses and by Jimmy Hensley at the other tracks. It was raced for most of the 1993 season until the team was sold to Geoff Bodine, who operated it as Geoff Bodine Racing.
Kulwicki had been selected to compete in the 1993 International Race of Champions (IROC) series as the reigning Winston Cup champion. He competed in two IROC races before his death, finishing ninth at Daytona and eleventh at Darlington. Dale Earnhardt raced for Kulwicki in the final two IROC races, and the prize money for those races and their fifth place combined points finish was given to the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary, Brenner Children's Hospital and St. Thomas Aquinas Church charities.
Legacy
Three days after Kulwicki's death, Bristol race winner Rusty Wallace honored his former short track rival by performing Kulwicki's trademark Polish victory lap. Davey Allison died on July 13, 1993; competitors who had been carrying a No. 7 sticker in memory of Kulwicki added a No. 28 sticker for Allison. After the final race of the season, series champion Dale Earnhardt and race winner Wallace drove a side-by-side Polish victory lap carrying flags for Kulwicki and Allison. Kulwicki finished 41st in the final points standings despite competing in only five races. Racing Champions issued a die-cast version of Alan Kulwicki's No. 7 car that was a tribute to Kulwicki's 1992 title.
The USAR Hooters Pro Cup championship (now CARS Tour) held the "Four Champions Challenge" in memory of the four victims of the plane crash. Established in 1997, the challenge was a four-race series, with each race named after one of the four who died in the crash: Kulwicki, Mark Brooks (son of Hooters owner Bob Brooks), Dan Duncan, and pilot Charles Campbell.
Milwaukee County honored Kulwicki in 1996 by creating Alan Kulwicki Memorial Park, located near the corner of Highway 100 and Cold Spring Road in Greenfield (Area Map). Hooters chairman Robert Brooks donated $250,000 to build the park, which features a Kulwicki museum inside the Brooks Pavilion.
Since 1994, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has awarded the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Scholarship to one incoming student each year. Scholarship winners are outstanding high school seniors who plan to major in mechanical engineering. By 1998, UNC Charlotte created an automotive and motorsports engineering program.
In October 2009, the Kulwicki family donated nearly $1.9 million to benefit motorsports engineering education at UNC Charlotte. In honor of the gift, the university's Board of Trustees renamed the existing motorsports research facility the Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Laboratory. The donation funded the construction of a second motorsports engineering building, which opened in January 2012.
Bristol Motor Speedway named its grandstand in turns one and two in honor of Kulwicki, as well as a terrace above the grandstand. The 2004 Busch Series race at the Milwaukee Mile was named the "Alan Kulwicki 250" in honor of Kulwicki. Wisconsinite Paul Menard turned his car around after winning the 2006 Busch Series event and performed a Polish victory lap to honor Kulwicki. Slinger Super Speedway has held an annual Alan Kulwicki Memorial race since 1994.
Kulwicki was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted in the Lowe's Motor Speedway Court of Legends in 1993, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993, Talladega-Texaco Hall of Fame in 1996, Bristol Motor Speedway Heroes of Bristol Hall of Fame in 1997, the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2010. Kulwicki was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019.
Kulwicki's success as an owner-driver sparked a small trend among NASCAR veterans. Geoff Bodine, his younger brother Brett, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, and Joe Nemechek all began racing teams shortly after Kulwicki's death. However, none were as successful as Kulwicki's. Robby Gordon frequently mentions Alan as an inspiration for him as an owner-driver, and selected car No. 7 as a tribute to Kulwicki.
Slinger Super Speedway began an Alan Kulwicki Memorial night in 1993; it has continued the annual memorial as of 2016. In 2010, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee created the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Student Center in their Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Building. The center, along with a scholarship for engineering students, was made possible in part by a donation from Thelma H. Kulwicki, the late racer's stepmother, who also donated numerous items of memorabilia located in the center.
In May 2012, the Milwaukee County Historical Society announced plans for a special exhibit celebrating the life and career of Kulwicki to open in early 2013. The exhibit is called "Alan Kulwicki: A Champion's Story".
Alan Kulwicki Driver Development Program
In 2015, Kulwicki's friends began the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development program to "help worthy drivers along the way in reaching their dream...while at the same time keep Alan Kulwicki's memory and legacy alive." The field is narrowed to 15 applicants and the program gives $7777 to support seven drivers' career advancement. Drivers are judged based on their on-track performance as well as off-track activities, social media presence, and community involvement. The winner receives seven times $7777 ($54,439) and a trophy. It was cancelled for the 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns. The program winners were:
2020 cancelled due to COVID-19
2019 Jeremy Doss
2018 Brett Yackey
2017 Cody Haskins
2016 Alex Prunty
2015 Ty Majeski.
Other Participants in Each Class:
2021 Wyatt Alexander, Luke Fenhaus, Max Kahler, Ryan Kuhn, Kole Raz, Brooke Storer, Dylan Zamba
2019 Danny Benedict, Justin Carroll, Luke Fenhaus, Derek Griffith, Carson Kvapil, Paul Shafer, Jr.
2018 Cole Butcher, Justin Carroll, Derek Griffith, Molly Helmuth, Justin Mondeik, Brittney Zamora
2017 Braison Bennett, Cole Butcher, Justin Mondeik, Michael Ostdiek, John Peters, Brett Yackey
2016 Jeremy Doss, Dave Farrington, Jr., Cody Haskins, Quin Houff, Michael Ostdiek (replaced Natalie Decker after she tried to qualify for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway), Brandon Setzer
2015 Steve Apel, Justin Crider, Dave Farrington, Jr., Reagan May, Bryce Napier, Cole Williams
Media
Father Dale Grubba, the priest who had presided over Kulwicki's funeral, released a biography of his friend entitled Alan Kulwicki: NASCAR champion Against All Odds in 2009. The book was the basis for a low-budget feature film, Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story, released on April 1, 2005. The film chronicles Kulwicki's life from racing late models at Slinger Super Speedway, through his rise to NASCAR champion, and ends with his death. The movie was created by Kulwicki's Wisconsin fans for less than $100,000. The star of the film, Brad Weber, was a Kulwicki fan and credits the late driver with being his inspiration to become an actor.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
Daytona 500
Busch Series
International Race of Champions
(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
References
External links
Movie review of Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story by Speed Channel
1954 births
1993 deaths
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American people of Polish descent
American Speed Association drivers
Burials in Wisconsin
Catholics from Wisconsin
Hooters people
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
International Race of Champions drivers
NASCAR Cup Series champions
NASCAR drivers
NASCAR team owners
People from Greenfield, Wisconsin
Racing drivers from Wisconsin
Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1993
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States | true | [
"Ines Fujin (Japanese : アイネスフウジン, 10 April 1987 - 5 April 2004) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He participated in 8 races between 1989 and 1990, participating in G1 races as a two-year-old colt, and climbing from G1 races as a three-year-old colt, placing first in 4 of them.\n\nHe became a breeding stallion in 1992, spawning multiple successors.\n\nInes Fujin died on April 5, 2004.\n\nAppearance \nInes Fujin was a dark brown horse with a small white irregular star on his forehead. He often raced in a light colored blinker hood.\n\nBackground \nInes Fujin was bred in Japan by breeder Kozo Nakamura, and sired by Sea Hawk, who was a thoroughbred racehorse that raced in G2 and G3 races. He was owned by Masaaki Kobayashi, trained by Shuho Kato, and jockeyed by Eiji Nakano.\n\nInes Fujin won the JRA Awards for Best Two-Year-Old Colt in 1989 and Best Three-Year-Old Colt in 1990.\n\nRacing career\n\n1989: two-year-old season \nInes Fujin participated in four races as two-year-old colt. The first two were 1600 meter newcomer races, where he placed second in both. The third was a maiden race, also 1600 meters, where he placed first of 8. The fourth and final race of his two-year-old season was the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes 1600 meter event, where he placed first of 15.\n\n1990: three-year-old season \nInes Fujin began his three-year-old colt series in the 1800 meter Kyodo Tsushin Hai G3 event, where he placed first of 8 horses. He was promoted to Grade II and participated in the Yayoi Sho 2000 meter event, placing fourth of 14. This race promoted him to Grade I, where he participated in the G1 Satsuki Sho and Japan Derby, coming first and second of 18 and 22 respectively. Ines Fujin retired as a sire after this.\n\nPedigree\n\nReferences \n\nRacehorses bred in Japan\nRacehorses trained in Japan\n1987 racehorse births\n2004 racehorse deaths",
"The Amazon rainforest is a species-rich biome in which thousands of species live, including animals found nowhere else in the world. To date, there is at least 40,000 different kinds of plants, 427 kinds of mammals, 1,300 kinds of birds, 378 kinds of reptiles, more than 400 kinds of amphibians, and around 3,000 freshwater fish are living in Amazon.\n\nThe Amazon rainforest covers 6.7 million square kilometre, accounting for over 40% of the planet’s remaining tropical forests. Since 2000, rainfall has declined across 69% of the Amazon. The WWF estimates that 27% Amazon will be without trees if deforestation continues at its current rate.\n\nBirds\nThere are more than 1,500 kinds of birds living in the Amazon. Like hummingbirds, Channel-billed toucan, hoatzin and macaws. In one sites of Peruvian Amazon, there are around 575 kinds of birds are found in only a 5,500 hectare section.\n\nIn November to March, some birds will migrate from Central American to South American topics. Other are exactly found in Amazon.\n\nMost of the birds are living in undercover dense of Amazon forest because of they are looking for insects from rainforest floor to the canopy. Some prefer flying insects, or fruits and flowers, like harpy eagle will capture other mammals and reptiles and birds.\n\nMammals\n\nThere are about 427 different kinds of mammals living in Amazon, with most of them being bats and rodents, including the largest rodent in the world, the capybara, which can weigh up to 200 pounds (91 kg).\n\nIn Amazon forest mammals are on both ground , trees and the air , the jungle are fill with a diversity of different species. When people arrive Amazon forest , they can look at the tallest trees and they can find sloths. Sloths are one of the Amazon most common mammals\n\nReferences\n\nAmazon rainforest\nFauna of Brazil\nFauna of Peru\nFauna of Colombia\nFauna of Ecuador\nFauna of Venezuela\nFauna of Bolivia\nFauna of French Guiana\nFauna of Guyana\nFauna of Suriname"
] |
[
"Alan Kulwicki",
"Early racing career",
"when did Alan start racing?",
"Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer.",
"who made the karts for him?",
"Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. \"I showed him how\", Gerry Kulwicki said.",
"when did Alan start racing cars?",
"Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977.",
"did he have any sponsors?",
"I don't know.",
"what make of cars did he drive?",
"He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models.",
"did the stiffness help?",
"The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed.",
"did he win any races?",
"Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977.",
"were there other kinds of races that he participated in?",
"In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series"
] | C_e76a6b8f2cde4e32a09b6dbbc7579c29_1 | did he win any championships? | 9 | Did Alan Kulwicki win any championships? | Alan Kulwicki | Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'" Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973, he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners Speedway in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, and the next year started racing late models - the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level - at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh. Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships. In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions. CANNOTANSWER | Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, | Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series. Kulwicki arrived at NASCAR, the highest and most expensive level of stock car racing in the United States, with no sponsor, a limited budget and only a racecar and a borrowed pickup truck. Despite starting with meager equipment and finances, he earned the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award over drivers racing for well-funded teams.
After Kulwicki won his first race at Phoenix International Raceway, he debuted what would become his trademark "Polish victory lap". Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by what was then the closest margin in NASCAR history. He died early in 1993 in a light aircraft accident and therefore never defended his championship. He has been inducted into numerous racing halls of fame and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers.
Kulwicki was known for being a perfectionist and doing things his own way. An engineer by trade, his scientific approach to NASCAR racing inspired the way teams are now run. Despite lucrative offers from top car owners, he insisted on driving for his own race team, AK Racing, during most of his NASCAR career. Described by his publicist as "a real hard type of person to get to know", he remained a bachelor throughout his life.
Early life
Kulwicki grew up in Greenfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee known for its Polish-American neighborhoods, near the Milwaukee Mile racetrack. After his mother died, his family moved in with his grandmother, who died when Kulwicki was in seventh grade. A year later, his only brother died of a hemophilia-related illness. Kulwicki attended Pius XI High School, a Roman Catholic high school in Milwaukee and received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1977. His knowledge of engineering has been cited as a contributing factor to his success as a driver, as it helped him better understand the physics of a racecar. He first raced on local tracks as an amateur while in college before becoming a full-time professional racer in 1980. A devout Roman Catholic, Kulwicki always competed with a Saint Christopher (the patron saint of travelers) devotional medal in his car.
Racing career
Early racing career
Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'"
Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973 he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners and the next year started racing late models – the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level – at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh.
Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships.
In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions.
NASCAR career
1980s
Kulwicki raced in four NASCAR Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series) races in 1984. At the time, the Busch Grand National Series was considered NASCAR's feeder circuit, a proving ground for drivers who wished to step up to the organization's premiere circuit, the Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series). Kulwicki qualified second fastest and finished in second place at his first career NASCAR race, which took place at the Milwaukee Mile, several city blocks from where he grew up. Later that year, he finished seventh at Charlotte and fifth at Bristol. The following year, Kulwicki placed sixteenth in the season-opening Busch Series race at Daytona. Although he won the pole position at that year's event in Milwaukee, he finished fourteenth because of engine problems. Kulwicki's Busch Series successes caught car owner Bill Terry's eye and he offered Kulwicki a chance to race for him in several Winston Cup events.
In 1985, Kulwicki sold most of his belongings, including his short track racing equipment, to move approximately to the Charlotte area in North Carolina. He kept only a few things; his pickup truck was loaded to tow a trailer full of furniture and tools. An electrical fire two days before he left destroyed his truck, so Kulwicki had to borrow one to pull the trailer. After arriving in the Charlotte area, he showed up unannounced at Terry's shop ready to race. Veteran NASCAR drivers were initially amused by Kulwicki's arrival on the national tour: He was a driver from the northern United States when the series was primarily a southern regional series, he had a mechanical engineering degree when few other drivers had completed college and, with only six starts, had limited driving experience in the junior Busch Series. Kulwicki was described as very studious, hard working, no-nonsense and something of a loner. He frequently walked the garage area in his racing uniform carrying a briefcase. Kulwicki made his first career Winston Cup start at Richmond on September 8, 1985, for Bill Terry's No. 32 Hardee's Ford team. That season he competed in five races for Terry, with his highest finish being 13th.
Kulwicki started his rookie season in 1986 with Terry. After Terry decided to end support for his racing team mid-season, he sold the team to his driver. Kulwicki as an owner started out as essentially a one-man team, as he had to serve as driver, team administrator, crew chief and chief mechanic. Kulwicki had difficulty acquiring and keeping crew members because he found it difficult to trust them to do the job with the excellence that he demanded and because he was hands-on in the maintenance of racecars to the point of being a "control freak". He sought out crew members who had owned their own racecars, believing they would understand what he was going through: working long hours and performing his own car maintenance with a very limited budget. Notable crew members include his crew chief, Paul Andrews and future Cup crew chiefs, Tony Gibson and Brian Whitesell. Future crew chief and owner, Ray Evernham, lasted six weeks with Kulwicki in 1992. Evernham later said, "The man was a genius. There's no question. It's not a matter of people just feeling like he was a genius. That man was a genius. But his personality paid for that. He was very impatient, very straightforward, very cut-to-the-bone." With one car, two engines, and two full-time crew members, Kulwicki won the 1986 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. He had competed in 23 of 29 events, with four top 10 finishes, three races not completed (Did Not Finish – DNF), an average finish of 15.4, and had only one result below 30th place. Kulwicki finished 21st in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
For the 1987 season Kulwicki secured primary sponsorship from Zerex Antifreeze and changed his car number to seven. He picked up his first career pole position in the season's third race, at Richmond. Later that season, he again qualified fastest at Richmond and Dover. Kulwicki came close to winning his first Winston Cup race at Pocono, finishing second after winner Dale Earnhardt passed him on the last lap. With nine top 10 finishes, eleven DNFs and an average finish of 18.2 in 29 events; Kulwicki finished 15th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
In 1988 Kulwicki hired Paul Andrews as his crew chief after Andrews was recommended by Rusty Wallace at the 1987 NASCAR Awards banquet. That year Kulwicki won his first NASCAR Winston Cup race in the season's second-to-last race at Phoenix International Raceway after race leader Ricky Rudd's car had motor problems late in the race. Kulwicki led 41 laps and won by 18.5 seconds. After the race finished, he turned his car around and made, what he called, a "Polish victory lap" by driving the opposite way (clockwise) on the track, with the driver's side of the car facing the fans. "This gave me the opportunity to wave to the crowd from the driver's side", Kulwicki explained. Andrews recalled, "He had wanted to do something special and something different for his first win and only his first." He finished the 1988 season with four pole positions in 29 events, nine top 10 finishes including two second-place finishes, twelve DNFs, and an average finish of 19.2. Kulwicki finished 14th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
Kulwicki started his own engine-building program for the 1989 season. He had four second place finishes that season and held the points lead after the fifth race of the season. The team dropped from fourth to fifteenth in points by suffering nine engine failures during a sixteen-race stretch in the middle of the season. In 29 races, he had six pole positions, nine top 10 finishes, and finished 14th in season points. The team had a new workshop built during the season.
1990s
Junior Johnson, owner of one of the top NASCAR teams, approached Kulwicki at the beginning of the 1990 season to try to get him to replace Terry Labonte in the No. 11 Budweiser Ford. Kulwicki declined, stating that he was more interested in running his own team. He won his second Cup race at Rockingham on October 21, 1990, and finished eighth in points that year, his first finish in the top 10 points in a season. In 29 races, he had thirteen top 10 finishes and one pole position.
Before the 1991 season, Zerex ended their sponsorship of Kulwicki's team. Junior Johnson came calling again, looking for a driver for his revived second team that had last seen Neil Bonnett behind the wheel in 1986. Kulwicki turned down Johnson's $1 million offer thinking that he had secured a sponsorship deal with Maxwell House Coffee. Johnson then went to Maxwell House himself and obtained the sponsorship for his new car, which Sterling Marlin was hired to drive instead. Kulwicki was forced to begin the season without a sponsor, paying all of the team's expenses out of his own pocket. At the opening race of the season, the 1991 Daytona 500, five cars raced with paint schemes representing different branches of the United States military to show support for the American forces involved in the Gulf War. It was the first use of special paint schemes in NASCAR history. Kulwicki's car was sponsored by the United States Army in a one-race deal. After running the second and third races of the season in a plain white unsponsored car, Kulwicki's luck finding a sponsor changed for the better at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
At the time, Hooters was sponsoring a car driven by Mark Stahl, another owner-driver in the Cup series. Unlike Kulwicki, Stahl was a part-time participant who had trouble making races. The Hooters car failed to make the field for the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 and the Atlanta-based chain, desiring a spot in the race, approached the sponsorless Kulwicki to gauge his interest. The principals agreed to at least a one-race deal, which became a much longer term deal when Kulwicki recorded an eighth-place finish in the race. Later in the season, Kulwicki won the Bristol night race for his third career win. In 29 races, he had eleven top 10 finishes, four poles, and finished 13th in the points.
1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki started out the year by having to take one of two provisional starting positions at the Daytona 500; he ended up finishing fourth. He passed Dale Jarrett with 27 laps left at the Food City 500 race on April 5 at Bristol to take a narrow victory. It was his fourth Winston Cup victory. After that race, he never left the top five in season points. Andrews attributed Kulwicki's consistently strong finishes to the steady performance of newly adopted radial tires throughout their lifespan. He said, "It was hard to control them, and the driver's ability to work with that car during practice in order to get the car set up meant so much more than it ever did." Kulwicki's second victory in the season was at the first race at Pocono. Discounted as a contender for the season championship during the year, Kulwicki was expected to fade from contention as Bill Elliott and Davey Allison, both of whom had won more races than Kulwicki and who had traded the points lead between them, were both having strong seasons and looked to be the favorites for the Winston Cup. He did not, however, and remained in the top 5 in the series standings.
He qualified on the pole position for the Peak AntiFreeze 500 race on September 20 at Dover, but crashed early in the race and finished 34th. At the conclusion of the race, Kulwicki trailed points leader Elliott by 278 points. He seemed to resign himself to another season without a championship, saying to reporters, "This probably finishes us off in the championship deal."
However, Kulwicki was able to benefit from bad fortune that would befall Elliott in the weeks ahead. The next week at Martinsville, Elliott crashed out of the race while Kulwicki finished fifth. Kulwicki followed that up with a twelfth-place run at North Wilkesboro, a second place at Charlotte, and another twelfth-place finish at Rockingham. While Elliott managed a fourth place finish at Rockingham, he ran twenty-sixth at North Wilkesboro and thirtieth at Charlotte. Then, at Phoenix, Kulwicki ran fourth while Elliott suffered overheating problems and a cracked cylinder head and once again finished outside of the top 30. Allison won the race, retaking the points lead, but Kulwicki’s performance left him within striking distance of the points lead. When the points standings were tabulated after the race, Kulwicki had surpassed Elliott in the standings and stood thirty points behind Allison.
Thus, the stage was set for the final race of the season, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta. Before the race, Kulwicki received approval from NASCAR and Ford to change the "Thunderbird" lettering on his bumper for the race to "underbird" because he felt like the underdog in the contention for the championship.
Kulwicki qualified for the race in fourteenth position, three spots behind Elliott and three spots ahead of Allison. Allison simply needed to finish fifth or better to clinch the Cup, regardless of what his cohorts did. Atlanta, however, was not one of his better tracks, as he had a string of inconsistent finishes there. He had, however, finished fourth in the spring race won by Elliott. Kulwicki needed to outpace both Elliott and Allison and put as much distance as he could between the two drivers because he not only had to make up the thirty points on points leader Allison, but also needed to put distance between himself and Elliott, who trailed him by only ten points.
Kulwicki narrowly avoided an incident on the second lap of the race as front row starters Rick Mast and Brett Bodine spun out. However, trouble would eventually find him on the first round of pit stops. As Kulwicki was getting ready to leave his pit box after service, he shifted into first gear and his car stalled. He got a push start from his crew and upshifted into fourth gear, which enabled him to refire the car and head back out. Andrews later said, "We had to leave pit road in fourth gear, because we had broken metal parts in there, and only by leaving it in fourth are you not going to move metal around as much. We could only hope that the loose piece of metal didn't get in there and break the gears in half. We had three or four pit stops after it broke. I held my breath all day long." While Kulwicki had no choice but to keep his car in top gear, which caused his pit stop times to be much slower than usual, he was one of the faster drivers on track that day and he quickly gained positions once back up to speed. He eventually caught up to Elliott, who was also running well, and the two began jockeying back and forth for positions; eventually,
Kulwicki found his way to the front of the field and held onto the lead despite the best efforts of the #11 team. Then, on lap 255, Kulwicki got a break he desperately needed. Allison was running in sixth place at the time, and since he had led a lap during the course of the event was still leading the championship. As he was coming off of turn four, Ernie Irvan spun out in front of the field on the frontstretch. Irvan, who had been running three laps down at the time, came down in front of Allison, who was unable to avoid him and the two made contact and crashed into the inside wall near the start/finish line. Allison’s car was badly damaged in the incident, and although the damage would be able to be repaired in the garage his chances of winning the Winston Cup were over.
Under the ensuing caution, Kulwicki and Andrews went to work on discussing strategy for the remainder of the race. With Allison now out of the championship picture, maximizing track position and points became Kulwicki’s focus. He and Elliott had each gained five bonus points for leading a lap, and five additional bonus points were available for the driver who led the most laps during the race. However, despite the possibility for more caution periods, Kulwicki would have to pit at some point to get enough fuel in the car to make it to the advertised distance. Therefore, Kulwicki and Andrews decided to stay out as long as they could and lead as many laps as possible. Once the race resumed, Kulwicki was able to maintain his lead on Elliott despite the best efforts of the latter.
On lap 310, after leading 101 consecutive laps and 103 overall, Kulwicki came down pit road for a fuel-only stop. Since the team did not need a full twenty-two gallon load of fuel to make it to the end and they needed to save as much time as they could, Andrews made the determination to put approximately half a can of gasoline into Kulwicki’s tank; this could be done in a little over three seconds and with only two crew members. Fuel man Tony Gibson and catch can man Peter Jellen waited as Kulwicki pulled in. There was a problem with the fuel relay, however, and Gibson was not certain of the amount of gasoline that made it into the tank. Kulwicki came back onto the track in third place, behind front runner Elliott and second place Terry Labonte. He had not fully secured the five bonus points for leading the most laps, since Elliott had an opportunity to tie Kulwicki’s total. In that case, both drivers would receive the points. Elliott also had to come down to top off his fuel tank.
But as he had done with the adjustment following the broken gearbox and the accident that took Allison out of the race, Kulwicki once again caught a break that affected his chances in a significant way. Tim Brewer, Elliott’s crew chief, had lost track of Labonte and waited an additional lap to bring Elliott in. Labonte was able to pass Elliott while he pitted, then pitted himself. Elliott reassumed the point with twelve laps remaining, which when added to the ninety he had already led would only add up to 102.
Kulwicki was told that he had clinched the five extra points several laps later. Andrews warned him of the fuel relay issue, however, and told Kulwicki to conserve whatever fuel he could as no one knew for certain whether or not Gibson had done the job. Kulwicki was running in second, far enough ahead of third place Geoff Bodine that he was not a factor, and thus all he had to do was hold position in order to win the championship. Elliott won the race and Kulwicki stretched his fuel to finish second. Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by maintaining his 10-point lead over Elliott. He celebrated the championship with his second Polish victory lap. Always conscious of his appearance for potential sponsors, Kulwicki combed his hair, making a national television audience wait for him to emerge from his car.
Kulwicki had overcome the 278-point deficit in the final six races of the season by ending with a fifth, a fourth, and two second-place finishes. Kulwicki won the championship because of his consistent high finishes. It was the closest title win in NASCAR Cup Series history until the implementation of the Chase for the Cup format in 2004. Kulwicki was the last owner-driver to win the title for nearly two decades, the first Cup champion with a college degree, and the first Cup champion born in a northern state. He started from the pole position six times during the season, which was the most for any driver. The song that played during a short salute to Kulwicki at the year-end awards banquet was Frank Sinatra's "My Way".
Championship honors
Kulwicki returned to his hometown, Greenfield, for Alan Kulwicki Day in January 1993. The gymnasium at Greenfield High School was filled and surrounded by four to five thousand people. Local television crews filmed the event. Kulwicki signed autographs for six hours.
In celebration of his championship, sponsor Hooters made a special "Alan Tribute Card" that was used at all of the autograph sessions during the 1993 season.
1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki did not significantly change his spending habits after winning the 1992 championship. "The only thing I really wanted to buy was a plane", he said, "but it turns out Hooters has a couple I can use." Kulwicki negotiated a lease agreement with Hooters Chairman Robert Brooks for the use of one of his aircraft. The Swearingen Merlin III twin turboprop Kulwicki leased was painted with Hooters livery, and its FAA registry changed from N300EF (for Eastern Foods, another of Brooks's companies) to N300AK.
After the first five races of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series had been completed, Kulwicki was 9th in overall points. Kulwicki had concerns about how often he was being allowed to use the airplane he had leased, and other financial concerns he wanted to bring up with his sponsor, Hooters. The PR representative for both Hooters and Kulwicki, Tom Roberts, suggested that Kulwicki bring up his concerns to Hooters leadership while in flight from Knoxville to Bristol on the evening of April 1, 1993, en route to the 1993 Food City 500. Roberts himself, in an attempt to avoid a conflict of interest between the two sides, did not board the chartered flight, and took a commercial flight to Bristol instead.
Death
Kulwicki died in an airplane crash on Thursday April 1, 1993. He was returning from an appearance at the Knoxville Hooters on the Kingston Pike, in a Hooters corporate plane on a short flight across Tennessee before the Sunday spring race at Bristol. The plane slowed and crashed just before final approach at Tri-Cities Regional Airport in a field off of Interstate 81 near Blountville. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to the pilot's failure to use the airplane's anti-ice system to clear ice from the engine inlet system.
Kulwicki was buried at St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee; the funeral was attended by NASCAR President Bill France, Jr. and numerous drivers. Kulwicki's racecar transporter was driven from the rainy track later that Friday morning while other teams and the media watched it travel slowly around the track with a black wreath on its grille. As the transporter passed the start / finish line, the flagman waved a checkered flag. In 2008, Kyle Petty described the slow laps as "the saddest thing I've ever seen at a racetrack... We just sat and cried." Kulwicki had competed in five NASCAR races that season with two Top 5 finishes, and was ranked ninth in points at his death. In his career, he had won five NASCAR Winston Cup races, 24 pole positions, 75 Top 10 finishes, and one championship in 207 races.
His car was driven by road course specialist Tommy Kendall on road courses and by Jimmy Hensley at the other tracks. It was raced for most of the 1993 season until the team was sold to Geoff Bodine, who operated it as Geoff Bodine Racing.
Kulwicki had been selected to compete in the 1993 International Race of Champions (IROC) series as the reigning Winston Cup champion. He competed in two IROC races before his death, finishing ninth at Daytona and eleventh at Darlington. Dale Earnhardt raced for Kulwicki in the final two IROC races, and the prize money for those races and their fifth place combined points finish was given to the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary, Brenner Children's Hospital and St. Thomas Aquinas Church charities.
Legacy
Three days after Kulwicki's death, Bristol race winner Rusty Wallace honored his former short track rival by performing Kulwicki's trademark Polish victory lap. Davey Allison died on July 13, 1993; competitors who had been carrying a No. 7 sticker in memory of Kulwicki added a No. 28 sticker for Allison. After the final race of the season, series champion Dale Earnhardt and race winner Wallace drove a side-by-side Polish victory lap carrying flags for Kulwicki and Allison. Kulwicki finished 41st in the final points standings despite competing in only five races. Racing Champions issued a die-cast version of Alan Kulwicki's No. 7 car that was a tribute to Kulwicki's 1992 title.
The USAR Hooters Pro Cup championship (now CARS Tour) held the "Four Champions Challenge" in memory of the four victims of the plane crash. Established in 1997, the challenge was a four-race series, with each race named after one of the four who died in the crash: Kulwicki, Mark Brooks (son of Hooters owner Bob Brooks), Dan Duncan, and pilot Charles Campbell.
Milwaukee County honored Kulwicki in 1996 by creating Alan Kulwicki Memorial Park, located near the corner of Highway 100 and Cold Spring Road in Greenfield (Area Map). Hooters chairman Robert Brooks donated $250,000 to build the park, which features a Kulwicki museum inside the Brooks Pavilion.
Since 1994, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has awarded the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Scholarship to one incoming student each year. Scholarship winners are outstanding high school seniors who plan to major in mechanical engineering. By 1998, UNC Charlotte created an automotive and motorsports engineering program.
In October 2009, the Kulwicki family donated nearly $1.9 million to benefit motorsports engineering education at UNC Charlotte. In honor of the gift, the university's Board of Trustees renamed the existing motorsports research facility the Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Laboratory. The donation funded the construction of a second motorsports engineering building, which opened in January 2012.
Bristol Motor Speedway named its grandstand in turns one and two in honor of Kulwicki, as well as a terrace above the grandstand. The 2004 Busch Series race at the Milwaukee Mile was named the "Alan Kulwicki 250" in honor of Kulwicki. Wisconsinite Paul Menard turned his car around after winning the 2006 Busch Series event and performed a Polish victory lap to honor Kulwicki. Slinger Super Speedway has held an annual Alan Kulwicki Memorial race since 1994.
Kulwicki was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted in the Lowe's Motor Speedway Court of Legends in 1993, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993, Talladega-Texaco Hall of Fame in 1996, Bristol Motor Speedway Heroes of Bristol Hall of Fame in 1997, the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2010. Kulwicki was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019.
Kulwicki's success as an owner-driver sparked a small trend among NASCAR veterans. Geoff Bodine, his younger brother Brett, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, and Joe Nemechek all began racing teams shortly after Kulwicki's death. However, none were as successful as Kulwicki's. Robby Gordon frequently mentions Alan as an inspiration for him as an owner-driver, and selected car No. 7 as a tribute to Kulwicki.
Slinger Super Speedway began an Alan Kulwicki Memorial night in 1993; it has continued the annual memorial as of 2016. In 2010, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee created the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Student Center in their Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Building. The center, along with a scholarship for engineering students, was made possible in part by a donation from Thelma H. Kulwicki, the late racer's stepmother, who also donated numerous items of memorabilia located in the center.
In May 2012, the Milwaukee County Historical Society announced plans for a special exhibit celebrating the life and career of Kulwicki to open in early 2013. The exhibit is called "Alan Kulwicki: A Champion's Story".
Alan Kulwicki Driver Development Program
In 2015, Kulwicki's friends began the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development program to "help worthy drivers along the way in reaching their dream...while at the same time keep Alan Kulwicki's memory and legacy alive." The field is narrowed to 15 applicants and the program gives $7777 to support seven drivers' career advancement. Drivers are judged based on their on-track performance as well as off-track activities, social media presence, and community involvement. The winner receives seven times $7777 ($54,439) and a trophy. It was cancelled for the 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns. The program winners were:
2020 cancelled due to COVID-19
2019 Jeremy Doss
2018 Brett Yackey
2017 Cody Haskins
2016 Alex Prunty
2015 Ty Majeski.
Other Participants in Each Class:
2021 Wyatt Alexander, Luke Fenhaus, Max Kahler, Ryan Kuhn, Kole Raz, Brooke Storer, Dylan Zamba
2019 Danny Benedict, Justin Carroll, Luke Fenhaus, Derek Griffith, Carson Kvapil, Paul Shafer, Jr.
2018 Cole Butcher, Justin Carroll, Derek Griffith, Molly Helmuth, Justin Mondeik, Brittney Zamora
2017 Braison Bennett, Cole Butcher, Justin Mondeik, Michael Ostdiek, John Peters, Brett Yackey
2016 Jeremy Doss, Dave Farrington, Jr., Cody Haskins, Quin Houff, Michael Ostdiek (replaced Natalie Decker after she tried to qualify for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway), Brandon Setzer
2015 Steve Apel, Justin Crider, Dave Farrington, Jr., Reagan May, Bryce Napier, Cole Williams
Media
Father Dale Grubba, the priest who had presided over Kulwicki's funeral, released a biography of his friend entitled Alan Kulwicki: NASCAR champion Against All Odds in 2009. The book was the basis for a low-budget feature film, Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story, released on April 1, 2005. The film chronicles Kulwicki's life from racing late models at Slinger Super Speedway, through his rise to NASCAR champion, and ends with his death. The movie was created by Kulwicki's Wisconsin fans for less than $100,000. The star of the film, Brad Weber, was a Kulwicki fan and credits the late driver with being his inspiration to become an actor.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
Daytona 500
Busch Series
International Race of Champions
(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
References
External links
Movie review of Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story by Speed Channel
1954 births
1993 deaths
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American people of Polish descent
American Speed Association drivers
Burials in Wisconsin
Catholics from Wisconsin
Hooters people
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
International Race of Champions drivers
NASCAR Cup Series champions
NASCAR drivers
NASCAR team owners
People from Greenfield, Wisconsin
Racing drivers from Wisconsin
Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1993
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States | true | [
"South Africa competed at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, but did not win any medals.\n\nCompetitors\n\nReferences\n\nNations at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics\nWorld Championships in Athletics\nSouth Africa at the World Championships in Athletics",
"Romania competed at the 2012 European Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Finland, from 27 June to 1 July 2012. It did not win any medals.\n\nResults\n\nMen\n\nTrack\n\nField\n\nWomen\n\nTrack\n\nField\n\nSources\n\nNations at the 2012 European Athletics Championships\nRomania at the European Athletics Championships\nEuropean Athletics Championships"
] |
[
"Alan Kulwicki",
"Early racing career",
"when did Alan start racing?",
"Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer.",
"who made the karts for him?",
"Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. \"I showed him how\", Gerry Kulwicki said.",
"when did Alan start racing cars?",
"Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977.",
"did he have any sponsors?",
"I don't know.",
"what make of cars did he drive?",
"He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models.",
"did the stiffness help?",
"The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed.",
"did he win any races?",
"Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977.",
"were there other kinds of races that he participated in?",
"In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series",
"did he win any championships?",
"Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985,"
] | C_e76a6b8f2cde4e32a09b6dbbc7579c29_1 | what was his highest pole position? | 10 | What was Alan Kulwicki’s highest pole position? | Alan Kulwicki | Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'" Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973, he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners Speedway in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, and the next year started racing late models - the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level - at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh. Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships. In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions. CANNOTANSWER | twelve pole positions. | Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series. Kulwicki arrived at NASCAR, the highest and most expensive level of stock car racing in the United States, with no sponsor, a limited budget and only a racecar and a borrowed pickup truck. Despite starting with meager equipment and finances, he earned the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award over drivers racing for well-funded teams.
After Kulwicki won his first race at Phoenix International Raceway, he debuted what would become his trademark "Polish victory lap". Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by what was then the closest margin in NASCAR history. He died early in 1993 in a light aircraft accident and therefore never defended his championship. He has been inducted into numerous racing halls of fame and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers.
Kulwicki was known for being a perfectionist and doing things his own way. An engineer by trade, his scientific approach to NASCAR racing inspired the way teams are now run. Despite lucrative offers from top car owners, he insisted on driving for his own race team, AK Racing, during most of his NASCAR career. Described by his publicist as "a real hard type of person to get to know", he remained a bachelor throughout his life.
Early life
Kulwicki grew up in Greenfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee known for its Polish-American neighborhoods, near the Milwaukee Mile racetrack. After his mother died, his family moved in with his grandmother, who died when Kulwicki was in seventh grade. A year later, his only brother died of a hemophilia-related illness. Kulwicki attended Pius XI High School, a Roman Catholic high school in Milwaukee and received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1977. His knowledge of engineering has been cited as a contributing factor to his success as a driver, as it helped him better understand the physics of a racecar. He first raced on local tracks as an amateur while in college before becoming a full-time professional racer in 1980. A devout Roman Catholic, Kulwicki always competed with a Saint Christopher (the patron saint of travelers) devotional medal in his car.
Racing career
Early racing career
Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'"
Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973 he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners and the next year started racing late models – the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level – at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh.
Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships.
In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions.
NASCAR career
1980s
Kulwicki raced in four NASCAR Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series) races in 1984. At the time, the Busch Grand National Series was considered NASCAR's feeder circuit, a proving ground for drivers who wished to step up to the organization's premiere circuit, the Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series). Kulwicki qualified second fastest and finished in second place at his first career NASCAR race, which took place at the Milwaukee Mile, several city blocks from where he grew up. Later that year, he finished seventh at Charlotte and fifth at Bristol. The following year, Kulwicki placed sixteenth in the season-opening Busch Series race at Daytona. Although he won the pole position at that year's event in Milwaukee, he finished fourteenth because of engine problems. Kulwicki's Busch Series successes caught car owner Bill Terry's eye and he offered Kulwicki a chance to race for him in several Winston Cup events.
In 1985, Kulwicki sold most of his belongings, including his short track racing equipment, to move approximately to the Charlotte area in North Carolina. He kept only a few things; his pickup truck was loaded to tow a trailer full of furniture and tools. An electrical fire two days before he left destroyed his truck, so Kulwicki had to borrow one to pull the trailer. After arriving in the Charlotte area, he showed up unannounced at Terry's shop ready to race. Veteran NASCAR drivers were initially amused by Kulwicki's arrival on the national tour: He was a driver from the northern United States when the series was primarily a southern regional series, he had a mechanical engineering degree when few other drivers had completed college and, with only six starts, had limited driving experience in the junior Busch Series. Kulwicki was described as very studious, hard working, no-nonsense and something of a loner. He frequently walked the garage area in his racing uniform carrying a briefcase. Kulwicki made his first career Winston Cup start at Richmond on September 8, 1985, for Bill Terry's No. 32 Hardee's Ford team. That season he competed in five races for Terry, with his highest finish being 13th.
Kulwicki started his rookie season in 1986 with Terry. After Terry decided to end support for his racing team mid-season, he sold the team to his driver. Kulwicki as an owner started out as essentially a one-man team, as he had to serve as driver, team administrator, crew chief and chief mechanic. Kulwicki had difficulty acquiring and keeping crew members because he found it difficult to trust them to do the job with the excellence that he demanded and because he was hands-on in the maintenance of racecars to the point of being a "control freak". He sought out crew members who had owned their own racecars, believing they would understand what he was going through: working long hours and performing his own car maintenance with a very limited budget. Notable crew members include his crew chief, Paul Andrews and future Cup crew chiefs, Tony Gibson and Brian Whitesell. Future crew chief and owner, Ray Evernham, lasted six weeks with Kulwicki in 1992. Evernham later said, "The man was a genius. There's no question. It's not a matter of people just feeling like he was a genius. That man was a genius. But his personality paid for that. He was very impatient, very straightforward, very cut-to-the-bone." With one car, two engines, and two full-time crew members, Kulwicki won the 1986 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. He had competed in 23 of 29 events, with four top 10 finishes, three races not completed (Did Not Finish – DNF), an average finish of 15.4, and had only one result below 30th place. Kulwicki finished 21st in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
For the 1987 season Kulwicki secured primary sponsorship from Zerex Antifreeze and changed his car number to seven. He picked up his first career pole position in the season's third race, at Richmond. Later that season, he again qualified fastest at Richmond and Dover. Kulwicki came close to winning his first Winston Cup race at Pocono, finishing second after winner Dale Earnhardt passed him on the last lap. With nine top 10 finishes, eleven DNFs and an average finish of 18.2 in 29 events; Kulwicki finished 15th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
In 1988 Kulwicki hired Paul Andrews as his crew chief after Andrews was recommended by Rusty Wallace at the 1987 NASCAR Awards banquet. That year Kulwicki won his first NASCAR Winston Cup race in the season's second-to-last race at Phoenix International Raceway after race leader Ricky Rudd's car had motor problems late in the race. Kulwicki led 41 laps and won by 18.5 seconds. After the race finished, he turned his car around and made, what he called, a "Polish victory lap" by driving the opposite way (clockwise) on the track, with the driver's side of the car facing the fans. "This gave me the opportunity to wave to the crowd from the driver's side", Kulwicki explained. Andrews recalled, "He had wanted to do something special and something different for his first win and only his first." He finished the 1988 season with four pole positions in 29 events, nine top 10 finishes including two second-place finishes, twelve DNFs, and an average finish of 19.2. Kulwicki finished 14th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
Kulwicki started his own engine-building program for the 1989 season. He had four second place finishes that season and held the points lead after the fifth race of the season. The team dropped from fourth to fifteenth in points by suffering nine engine failures during a sixteen-race stretch in the middle of the season. In 29 races, he had six pole positions, nine top 10 finishes, and finished 14th in season points. The team had a new workshop built during the season.
1990s
Junior Johnson, owner of one of the top NASCAR teams, approached Kulwicki at the beginning of the 1990 season to try to get him to replace Terry Labonte in the No. 11 Budweiser Ford. Kulwicki declined, stating that he was more interested in running his own team. He won his second Cup race at Rockingham on October 21, 1990, and finished eighth in points that year, his first finish in the top 10 points in a season. In 29 races, he had thirteen top 10 finishes and one pole position.
Before the 1991 season, Zerex ended their sponsorship of Kulwicki's team. Junior Johnson came calling again, looking for a driver for his revived second team that had last seen Neil Bonnett behind the wheel in 1986. Kulwicki turned down Johnson's $1 million offer thinking that he had secured a sponsorship deal with Maxwell House Coffee. Johnson then went to Maxwell House himself and obtained the sponsorship for his new car, which Sterling Marlin was hired to drive instead. Kulwicki was forced to begin the season without a sponsor, paying all of the team's expenses out of his own pocket. At the opening race of the season, the 1991 Daytona 500, five cars raced with paint schemes representing different branches of the United States military to show support for the American forces involved in the Gulf War. It was the first use of special paint schemes in NASCAR history. Kulwicki's car was sponsored by the United States Army in a one-race deal. After running the second and third races of the season in a plain white unsponsored car, Kulwicki's luck finding a sponsor changed for the better at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
At the time, Hooters was sponsoring a car driven by Mark Stahl, another owner-driver in the Cup series. Unlike Kulwicki, Stahl was a part-time participant who had trouble making races. The Hooters car failed to make the field for the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 and the Atlanta-based chain, desiring a spot in the race, approached the sponsorless Kulwicki to gauge his interest. The principals agreed to at least a one-race deal, which became a much longer term deal when Kulwicki recorded an eighth-place finish in the race. Later in the season, Kulwicki won the Bristol night race for his third career win. In 29 races, he had eleven top 10 finishes, four poles, and finished 13th in the points.
1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki started out the year by having to take one of two provisional starting positions at the Daytona 500; he ended up finishing fourth. He passed Dale Jarrett with 27 laps left at the Food City 500 race on April 5 at Bristol to take a narrow victory. It was his fourth Winston Cup victory. After that race, he never left the top five in season points. Andrews attributed Kulwicki's consistently strong finishes to the steady performance of newly adopted radial tires throughout their lifespan. He said, "It was hard to control them, and the driver's ability to work with that car during practice in order to get the car set up meant so much more than it ever did." Kulwicki's second victory in the season was at the first race at Pocono. Discounted as a contender for the season championship during the year, Kulwicki was expected to fade from contention as Bill Elliott and Davey Allison, both of whom had won more races than Kulwicki and who had traded the points lead between them, were both having strong seasons and looked to be the favorites for the Winston Cup. He did not, however, and remained in the top 5 in the series standings.
He qualified on the pole position for the Peak AntiFreeze 500 race on September 20 at Dover, but crashed early in the race and finished 34th. At the conclusion of the race, Kulwicki trailed points leader Elliott by 278 points. He seemed to resign himself to another season without a championship, saying to reporters, "This probably finishes us off in the championship deal."
However, Kulwicki was able to benefit from bad fortune that would befall Elliott in the weeks ahead. The next week at Martinsville, Elliott crashed out of the race while Kulwicki finished fifth. Kulwicki followed that up with a twelfth-place run at North Wilkesboro, a second place at Charlotte, and another twelfth-place finish at Rockingham. While Elliott managed a fourth place finish at Rockingham, he ran twenty-sixth at North Wilkesboro and thirtieth at Charlotte. Then, at Phoenix, Kulwicki ran fourth while Elliott suffered overheating problems and a cracked cylinder head and once again finished outside of the top 30. Allison won the race, retaking the points lead, but Kulwicki’s performance left him within striking distance of the points lead. When the points standings were tabulated after the race, Kulwicki had surpassed Elliott in the standings and stood thirty points behind Allison.
Thus, the stage was set for the final race of the season, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta. Before the race, Kulwicki received approval from NASCAR and Ford to change the "Thunderbird" lettering on his bumper for the race to "underbird" because he felt like the underdog in the contention for the championship.
Kulwicki qualified for the race in fourteenth position, three spots behind Elliott and three spots ahead of Allison. Allison simply needed to finish fifth or better to clinch the Cup, regardless of what his cohorts did. Atlanta, however, was not one of his better tracks, as he had a string of inconsistent finishes there. He had, however, finished fourth in the spring race won by Elliott. Kulwicki needed to outpace both Elliott and Allison and put as much distance as he could between the two drivers because he not only had to make up the thirty points on points leader Allison, but also needed to put distance between himself and Elliott, who trailed him by only ten points.
Kulwicki narrowly avoided an incident on the second lap of the race as front row starters Rick Mast and Brett Bodine spun out. However, trouble would eventually find him on the first round of pit stops. As Kulwicki was getting ready to leave his pit box after service, he shifted into first gear and his car stalled. He got a push start from his crew and upshifted into fourth gear, which enabled him to refire the car and head back out. Andrews later said, "We had to leave pit road in fourth gear, because we had broken metal parts in there, and only by leaving it in fourth are you not going to move metal around as much. We could only hope that the loose piece of metal didn't get in there and break the gears in half. We had three or four pit stops after it broke. I held my breath all day long." While Kulwicki had no choice but to keep his car in top gear, which caused his pit stop times to be much slower than usual, he was one of the faster drivers on track that day and he quickly gained positions once back up to speed. He eventually caught up to Elliott, who was also running well, and the two began jockeying back and forth for positions; eventually,
Kulwicki found his way to the front of the field and held onto the lead despite the best efforts of the #11 team. Then, on lap 255, Kulwicki got a break he desperately needed. Allison was running in sixth place at the time, and since he had led a lap during the course of the event was still leading the championship. As he was coming off of turn four, Ernie Irvan spun out in front of the field on the frontstretch. Irvan, who had been running three laps down at the time, came down in front of Allison, who was unable to avoid him and the two made contact and crashed into the inside wall near the start/finish line. Allison’s car was badly damaged in the incident, and although the damage would be able to be repaired in the garage his chances of winning the Winston Cup were over.
Under the ensuing caution, Kulwicki and Andrews went to work on discussing strategy for the remainder of the race. With Allison now out of the championship picture, maximizing track position and points became Kulwicki’s focus. He and Elliott had each gained five bonus points for leading a lap, and five additional bonus points were available for the driver who led the most laps during the race. However, despite the possibility for more caution periods, Kulwicki would have to pit at some point to get enough fuel in the car to make it to the advertised distance. Therefore, Kulwicki and Andrews decided to stay out as long as they could and lead as many laps as possible. Once the race resumed, Kulwicki was able to maintain his lead on Elliott despite the best efforts of the latter.
On lap 310, after leading 101 consecutive laps and 103 overall, Kulwicki came down pit road for a fuel-only stop. Since the team did not need a full twenty-two gallon load of fuel to make it to the end and they needed to save as much time as they could, Andrews made the determination to put approximately half a can of gasoline into Kulwicki’s tank; this could be done in a little over three seconds and with only two crew members. Fuel man Tony Gibson and catch can man Peter Jellen waited as Kulwicki pulled in. There was a problem with the fuel relay, however, and Gibson was not certain of the amount of gasoline that made it into the tank. Kulwicki came back onto the track in third place, behind front runner Elliott and second place Terry Labonte. He had not fully secured the five bonus points for leading the most laps, since Elliott had an opportunity to tie Kulwicki’s total. In that case, both drivers would receive the points. Elliott also had to come down to top off his fuel tank.
But as he had done with the adjustment following the broken gearbox and the accident that took Allison out of the race, Kulwicki once again caught a break that affected his chances in a significant way. Tim Brewer, Elliott’s crew chief, had lost track of Labonte and waited an additional lap to bring Elliott in. Labonte was able to pass Elliott while he pitted, then pitted himself. Elliott reassumed the point with twelve laps remaining, which when added to the ninety he had already led would only add up to 102.
Kulwicki was told that he had clinched the five extra points several laps later. Andrews warned him of the fuel relay issue, however, and told Kulwicki to conserve whatever fuel he could as no one knew for certain whether or not Gibson had done the job. Kulwicki was running in second, far enough ahead of third place Geoff Bodine that he was not a factor, and thus all he had to do was hold position in order to win the championship. Elliott won the race and Kulwicki stretched his fuel to finish second. Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by maintaining his 10-point lead over Elliott. He celebrated the championship with his second Polish victory lap. Always conscious of his appearance for potential sponsors, Kulwicki combed his hair, making a national television audience wait for him to emerge from his car.
Kulwicki had overcome the 278-point deficit in the final six races of the season by ending with a fifth, a fourth, and two second-place finishes. Kulwicki won the championship because of his consistent high finishes. It was the closest title win in NASCAR Cup Series history until the implementation of the Chase for the Cup format in 2004. Kulwicki was the last owner-driver to win the title for nearly two decades, the first Cup champion with a college degree, and the first Cup champion born in a northern state. He started from the pole position six times during the season, which was the most for any driver. The song that played during a short salute to Kulwicki at the year-end awards banquet was Frank Sinatra's "My Way".
Championship honors
Kulwicki returned to his hometown, Greenfield, for Alan Kulwicki Day in January 1993. The gymnasium at Greenfield High School was filled and surrounded by four to five thousand people. Local television crews filmed the event. Kulwicki signed autographs for six hours.
In celebration of his championship, sponsor Hooters made a special "Alan Tribute Card" that was used at all of the autograph sessions during the 1993 season.
1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki did not significantly change his spending habits after winning the 1992 championship. "The only thing I really wanted to buy was a plane", he said, "but it turns out Hooters has a couple I can use." Kulwicki negotiated a lease agreement with Hooters Chairman Robert Brooks for the use of one of his aircraft. The Swearingen Merlin III twin turboprop Kulwicki leased was painted with Hooters livery, and its FAA registry changed from N300EF (for Eastern Foods, another of Brooks's companies) to N300AK.
After the first five races of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series had been completed, Kulwicki was 9th in overall points. Kulwicki had concerns about how often he was being allowed to use the airplane he had leased, and other financial concerns he wanted to bring up with his sponsor, Hooters. The PR representative for both Hooters and Kulwicki, Tom Roberts, suggested that Kulwicki bring up his concerns to Hooters leadership while in flight from Knoxville to Bristol on the evening of April 1, 1993, en route to the 1993 Food City 500. Roberts himself, in an attempt to avoid a conflict of interest between the two sides, did not board the chartered flight, and took a commercial flight to Bristol instead.
Death
Kulwicki died in an airplane crash on Thursday April 1, 1993. He was returning from an appearance at the Knoxville Hooters on the Kingston Pike, in a Hooters corporate plane on a short flight across Tennessee before the Sunday spring race at Bristol. The plane slowed and crashed just before final approach at Tri-Cities Regional Airport in a field off of Interstate 81 near Blountville. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to the pilot's failure to use the airplane's anti-ice system to clear ice from the engine inlet system.
Kulwicki was buried at St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee; the funeral was attended by NASCAR President Bill France, Jr. and numerous drivers. Kulwicki's racecar transporter was driven from the rainy track later that Friday morning while other teams and the media watched it travel slowly around the track with a black wreath on its grille. As the transporter passed the start / finish line, the flagman waved a checkered flag. In 2008, Kyle Petty described the slow laps as "the saddest thing I've ever seen at a racetrack... We just sat and cried." Kulwicki had competed in five NASCAR races that season with two Top 5 finishes, and was ranked ninth in points at his death. In his career, he had won five NASCAR Winston Cup races, 24 pole positions, 75 Top 10 finishes, and one championship in 207 races.
His car was driven by road course specialist Tommy Kendall on road courses and by Jimmy Hensley at the other tracks. It was raced for most of the 1993 season until the team was sold to Geoff Bodine, who operated it as Geoff Bodine Racing.
Kulwicki had been selected to compete in the 1993 International Race of Champions (IROC) series as the reigning Winston Cup champion. He competed in two IROC races before his death, finishing ninth at Daytona and eleventh at Darlington. Dale Earnhardt raced for Kulwicki in the final two IROC races, and the prize money for those races and their fifth place combined points finish was given to the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary, Brenner Children's Hospital and St. Thomas Aquinas Church charities.
Legacy
Three days after Kulwicki's death, Bristol race winner Rusty Wallace honored his former short track rival by performing Kulwicki's trademark Polish victory lap. Davey Allison died on July 13, 1993; competitors who had been carrying a No. 7 sticker in memory of Kulwicki added a No. 28 sticker for Allison. After the final race of the season, series champion Dale Earnhardt and race winner Wallace drove a side-by-side Polish victory lap carrying flags for Kulwicki and Allison. Kulwicki finished 41st in the final points standings despite competing in only five races. Racing Champions issued a die-cast version of Alan Kulwicki's No. 7 car that was a tribute to Kulwicki's 1992 title.
The USAR Hooters Pro Cup championship (now CARS Tour) held the "Four Champions Challenge" in memory of the four victims of the plane crash. Established in 1997, the challenge was a four-race series, with each race named after one of the four who died in the crash: Kulwicki, Mark Brooks (son of Hooters owner Bob Brooks), Dan Duncan, and pilot Charles Campbell.
Milwaukee County honored Kulwicki in 1996 by creating Alan Kulwicki Memorial Park, located near the corner of Highway 100 and Cold Spring Road in Greenfield (Area Map). Hooters chairman Robert Brooks donated $250,000 to build the park, which features a Kulwicki museum inside the Brooks Pavilion.
Since 1994, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has awarded the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Scholarship to one incoming student each year. Scholarship winners are outstanding high school seniors who plan to major in mechanical engineering. By 1998, UNC Charlotte created an automotive and motorsports engineering program.
In October 2009, the Kulwicki family donated nearly $1.9 million to benefit motorsports engineering education at UNC Charlotte. In honor of the gift, the university's Board of Trustees renamed the existing motorsports research facility the Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Laboratory. The donation funded the construction of a second motorsports engineering building, which opened in January 2012.
Bristol Motor Speedway named its grandstand in turns one and two in honor of Kulwicki, as well as a terrace above the grandstand. The 2004 Busch Series race at the Milwaukee Mile was named the "Alan Kulwicki 250" in honor of Kulwicki. Wisconsinite Paul Menard turned his car around after winning the 2006 Busch Series event and performed a Polish victory lap to honor Kulwicki. Slinger Super Speedway has held an annual Alan Kulwicki Memorial race since 1994.
Kulwicki was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted in the Lowe's Motor Speedway Court of Legends in 1993, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993, Talladega-Texaco Hall of Fame in 1996, Bristol Motor Speedway Heroes of Bristol Hall of Fame in 1997, the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2010. Kulwicki was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019.
Kulwicki's success as an owner-driver sparked a small trend among NASCAR veterans. Geoff Bodine, his younger brother Brett, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, and Joe Nemechek all began racing teams shortly after Kulwicki's death. However, none were as successful as Kulwicki's. Robby Gordon frequently mentions Alan as an inspiration for him as an owner-driver, and selected car No. 7 as a tribute to Kulwicki.
Slinger Super Speedway began an Alan Kulwicki Memorial night in 1993; it has continued the annual memorial as of 2016. In 2010, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee created the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Student Center in their Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Building. The center, along with a scholarship for engineering students, was made possible in part by a donation from Thelma H. Kulwicki, the late racer's stepmother, who also donated numerous items of memorabilia located in the center.
In May 2012, the Milwaukee County Historical Society announced plans for a special exhibit celebrating the life and career of Kulwicki to open in early 2013. The exhibit is called "Alan Kulwicki: A Champion's Story".
Alan Kulwicki Driver Development Program
In 2015, Kulwicki's friends began the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development program to "help worthy drivers along the way in reaching their dream...while at the same time keep Alan Kulwicki's memory and legacy alive." The field is narrowed to 15 applicants and the program gives $7777 to support seven drivers' career advancement. Drivers are judged based on their on-track performance as well as off-track activities, social media presence, and community involvement. The winner receives seven times $7777 ($54,439) and a trophy. It was cancelled for the 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns. The program winners were:
2020 cancelled due to COVID-19
2019 Jeremy Doss
2018 Brett Yackey
2017 Cody Haskins
2016 Alex Prunty
2015 Ty Majeski.
Other Participants in Each Class:
2021 Wyatt Alexander, Luke Fenhaus, Max Kahler, Ryan Kuhn, Kole Raz, Brooke Storer, Dylan Zamba
2019 Danny Benedict, Justin Carroll, Luke Fenhaus, Derek Griffith, Carson Kvapil, Paul Shafer, Jr.
2018 Cole Butcher, Justin Carroll, Derek Griffith, Molly Helmuth, Justin Mondeik, Brittney Zamora
2017 Braison Bennett, Cole Butcher, Justin Mondeik, Michael Ostdiek, John Peters, Brett Yackey
2016 Jeremy Doss, Dave Farrington, Jr., Cody Haskins, Quin Houff, Michael Ostdiek (replaced Natalie Decker after she tried to qualify for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway), Brandon Setzer
2015 Steve Apel, Justin Crider, Dave Farrington, Jr., Reagan May, Bryce Napier, Cole Williams
Media
Father Dale Grubba, the priest who had presided over Kulwicki's funeral, released a biography of his friend entitled Alan Kulwicki: NASCAR champion Against All Odds in 2009. The book was the basis for a low-budget feature film, Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story, released on April 1, 2005. The film chronicles Kulwicki's life from racing late models at Slinger Super Speedway, through his rise to NASCAR champion, and ends with his death. The movie was created by Kulwicki's Wisconsin fans for less than $100,000. The star of the film, Brad Weber, was a Kulwicki fan and credits the late driver with being his inspiration to become an actor.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
Daytona 500
Busch Series
International Race of Champions
(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
References
External links
Movie review of Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story by Speed Channel
1954 births
1993 deaths
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American people of Polish descent
American Speed Association drivers
Burials in Wisconsin
Catholics from Wisconsin
Hooters people
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
International Race of Champions drivers
NASCAR Cup Series champions
NASCAR drivers
NASCAR team owners
People from Greenfield, Wisconsin
Racing drivers from Wisconsin
Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1993
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States | true | [
"is the sequel to racing simulation game Pole Position, released by Namco for arcades in 1983. As with its predecessor, Namco licensed this game to Atari, Inc. for US manufacture and distribution, who also released a port of it as the pack-in game for their Atari 7800 ProSystem console. Pole Position arcade machines can be converted to Pole Position II by swapping several chips.\n \nThe gameplay is the same as in the original Pole Position with three additional tracks to choose from: Test (resembling Indianapolis Motor Speedway), Seaside (resembling the 1982 United States Grand Prix West circuit in Long Beach), and Suzuka. Like its predecessor, Pole Position II was a major commercial success in arcades, becoming the highest-grossing arcade game of 1984 in the United States, and remaining among the annual highest-grossing arcade games in Japan and the United States through 1987.\n\nMinor differences from the original\n\nThe cars have a different color scheme, the explosions now show debris, there are several new billboards, and there is a new opening theme song. The timer is displayed as \"TIME\" in the Japanese version (as it was in the original game), and it is displayed as \"UNIT\" in the American release.\n\nReception \nIn Japan, Game Machine listed Pole Position II on their November 15, 1983 issue as being the second most successful upright/cockpit arcade cabinet of the month, before topping the charts in December 1983. It was later Japan's third highest-grossing upright/cockpit arcade game of 1986 (below Sega's Hang-On and Space Harrier), and fifth highest-grossing upright/cockpit arcade game of 1987.\n\nIn the United States, Pole Position II topped the RePlay arcade chart for software conversion kits in December 1983, with the original Pole Position topping the upright cabinet chart the same month. It topped the RePlay software conversion kit charts for six months into 1984, through January, February, March and April up until May. It also topped the Play Meter conversion kit charts for street locations during July–August 1984. Pole Position II became the highest-grossing arcade game of 1984 in the United States, just above the original Pole Position, which was previously the highest-grossing arcade game of 1983. Pole Position II was later one of the top five highest-grossing arcade games of 1985, and the sixth highest-grossing arcade game of 1986.\n\nGene Lewin of Play Meter magazine reviewed the arcade game, scoring it 9 out of 10. Computer and Video Games reviewed the Atari 7800 version, giving it an 84% score.\n\nPole Position II featured advertising promotion art by veteran gaming illustrator Marc Ericksen.\n\nLegacy\nPole Position II has been re-released as part of various Namco Museum compilations, but the two active permanent circuits were removed (because of licensing issues with both Toyota, which owns Fuji Speedway, and Honda, which owns Suzuka Circuit, but no licensing issues with the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach) and similar looking circuits, Namco Circuit and Wonder Circuit (after Namco's Wonder series of Japanese theme parks) were added respectively. In Namco Museum Virtual Arcade, they were renamed to Blue and Orange respectively, even though neither track features the colors, although the layouts were similar.\n\nIn 2006, Namco Networks released Pole Position II for mobile phones.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n Pole Position II at the Arcade History database\n\n1983 video games\nArcade video games\nDOS games\nAtari arcade games\nAtari 7800 games\nCommodore 64 games\nMobile games\nNamco arcade games\nPack-in video games\nRacing video games\nVideo game sequels\nVideo games developed in Japan\nFormula One video games\nSingle-player video games",
"Toy Bolton (November 22, 1926 – June 8, 2001) was a NASCAR Grand National Series driver and team owner from Gastonia, North Carolina, US.\n\nCareer\nHe competed in just four races in his two-year NASCAR career. Bolton's career accomplishments were two finishes in the top-ten position, 503 laps raced, $880 in total earnings ($ when adjusted for inflation), and of racing experience. His first race was the 1964 Textile 250 while his last race was the 1966 Columbia 200. While Bolton never cracked the top ten in championship points, his best season was the 1966 season where he finished 81st in season points.\n\nBolton's sponsor was himself; stating that he was a driver/owner during his entire career. His highest earnings for a race were $530 ($ when adjusted for inflation). This amount of money was gained at the March 13, 1966 race at Rockingham Speedway.\n\nMotorsports career results\n\nNASCAR\n(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)\n\nGrand National Series\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\nNASCAR drivers\nNASCAR team owners\nPeople from Gastonia, North Carolina\nRacing drivers from North Carolina\n1926 births\n2001 deaths"
] |
[
"Alan Kulwicki",
"Early racing career",
"when did Alan start racing?",
"Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer.",
"who made the karts for him?",
"Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. \"I showed him how\", Gerry Kulwicki said.",
"when did Alan start racing cars?",
"Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977.",
"did he have any sponsors?",
"I don't know.",
"what make of cars did he drive?",
"He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models.",
"did the stiffness help?",
"The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed.",
"did he win any races?",
"Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977.",
"were there other kinds of races that he participated in?",
"In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series",
"did he win any championships?",
"Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985,",
"what was his highest pole position?",
"twelve pole positions."
] | C_e76a6b8f2cde4e32a09b6dbbc7579c29_1 | did he race any other models of cars? | 11 | Besides racing in cars built by Greg Krieger, Alan Kulwicki race any other models of cars? | Alan Kulwicki | Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'" Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973, he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners Speedway in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, and the next year started racing late models - the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level - at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh. Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer, and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships. In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series. Kulwicki arrived at NASCAR, the highest and most expensive level of stock car racing in the United States, with no sponsor, a limited budget and only a racecar and a borrowed pickup truck. Despite starting with meager equipment and finances, he earned the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award over drivers racing for well-funded teams.
After Kulwicki won his first race at Phoenix International Raceway, he debuted what would become his trademark "Polish victory lap". Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by what was then the closest margin in NASCAR history. He died early in 1993 in a light aircraft accident and therefore never defended his championship. He has been inducted into numerous racing halls of fame and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers.
Kulwicki was known for being a perfectionist and doing things his own way. An engineer by trade, his scientific approach to NASCAR racing inspired the way teams are now run. Despite lucrative offers from top car owners, he insisted on driving for his own race team, AK Racing, during most of his NASCAR career. Described by his publicist as "a real hard type of person to get to know", he remained a bachelor throughout his life.
Early life
Kulwicki grew up in Greenfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee known for its Polish-American neighborhoods, near the Milwaukee Mile racetrack. After his mother died, his family moved in with his grandmother, who died when Kulwicki was in seventh grade. A year later, his only brother died of a hemophilia-related illness. Kulwicki attended Pius XI High School, a Roman Catholic high school in Milwaukee and received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1977. His knowledge of engineering has been cited as a contributing factor to his success as a driver, as it helped him better understand the physics of a racecar. He first raced on local tracks as an amateur while in college before becoming a full-time professional racer in 1980. A devout Roman Catholic, Kulwicki always competed with a Saint Christopher (the patron saint of travelers) devotional medal in his car.
Racing career
Early racing career
Kulwicki began his racing career as a 13-year-old kart racer. His father built engines as the crew chief for Norm Nelson and Roger McCluskey's United States Automobile Club (USAC) racecars. Because his work involved travel, Kulwicki's father was unable to help his son at most kart races, so Kulwicki's resourcefulness was often tested trying to find someone to transport his kart to the track. Even when Kulwicki asked his father for advice, he typically ended up doing most of the work himself. "I showed him how", Gerry Kulwicki said. "And he said: 'Why don't you do it? You can do it better.' And I said, 'Well, if you do it for a while, you can do it better.'"
Many local-level American racetracks host their own season championships. In Wisconsin, numerous locations held dirt and asphalt short track racing. Kulwicki started driving stock cars at the local level at the Hales Corners Speedway and Cedarburg Speedway dirt oval tracks. In 1973 he won the rookie of the year award at Hales Corners and the next year started racing late models – the fastest and most complicated type of stock cars raced at the local level – at the same track. That season, he won his first feature race, at Leo's Speedway in Oshkosh.
Kulwicki moved from dirt tracks to paved tracks in 1977. He also teamed up with racecar builder Greg Krieger to research, model, engineer and construct an innovative car with far more torsional stiffness than other late models. The increased stiffness allowed the car to handle better in the corners, which increased its speed. Racing at Slinger Super Speedway, he won the track championship in 1977. In 1978, Kulwicki returned to Slinger; that same year he started racing a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), finishing third in points in his rookie season at the track. In 1979 and 1980, he won the WIR late model track championships.
In 1979, Kulwicki began competing in regional to national level events sanctioned by the USAC Stock Car series and the American Speed Association (ASA), while remaining an amateur racer through 1980. When Kulwicki raced against future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace in the ASA series, the two became friends. Kulwicki's highest finish in the ASA season points championship was third place, which he accomplished in both 1982 and 1985, with five career victories and twelve pole positions.
NASCAR career
1980s
Kulwicki raced in four NASCAR Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series) races in 1984. At the time, the Busch Grand National Series was considered NASCAR's feeder circuit, a proving ground for drivers who wished to step up to the organization's premiere circuit, the Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series). Kulwicki qualified second fastest and finished in second place at his first career NASCAR race, which took place at the Milwaukee Mile, several city blocks from where he grew up. Later that year, he finished seventh at Charlotte and fifth at Bristol. The following year, Kulwicki placed sixteenth in the season-opening Busch Series race at Daytona. Although he won the pole position at that year's event in Milwaukee, he finished fourteenth because of engine problems. Kulwicki's Busch Series successes caught car owner Bill Terry's eye and he offered Kulwicki a chance to race for him in several Winston Cup events.
In 1985, Kulwicki sold most of his belongings, including his short track racing equipment, to move approximately to the Charlotte area in North Carolina. He kept only a few things; his pickup truck was loaded to tow a trailer full of furniture and tools. An electrical fire two days before he left destroyed his truck, so Kulwicki had to borrow one to pull the trailer. After arriving in the Charlotte area, he showed up unannounced at Terry's shop ready to race. Veteran NASCAR drivers were initially amused by Kulwicki's arrival on the national tour: He was a driver from the northern United States when the series was primarily a southern regional series, he had a mechanical engineering degree when few other drivers had completed college and, with only six starts, had limited driving experience in the junior Busch Series. Kulwicki was described as very studious, hard working, no-nonsense and something of a loner. He frequently walked the garage area in his racing uniform carrying a briefcase. Kulwicki made his first career Winston Cup start at Richmond on September 8, 1985, for Bill Terry's No. 32 Hardee's Ford team. That season he competed in five races for Terry, with his highest finish being 13th.
Kulwicki started his rookie season in 1986 with Terry. After Terry decided to end support for his racing team mid-season, he sold the team to his driver. Kulwicki as an owner started out as essentially a one-man team, as he had to serve as driver, team administrator, crew chief and chief mechanic. Kulwicki had difficulty acquiring and keeping crew members because he found it difficult to trust them to do the job with the excellence that he demanded and because he was hands-on in the maintenance of racecars to the point of being a "control freak". He sought out crew members who had owned their own racecars, believing they would understand what he was going through: working long hours and performing his own car maintenance with a very limited budget. Notable crew members include his crew chief, Paul Andrews and future Cup crew chiefs, Tony Gibson and Brian Whitesell. Future crew chief and owner, Ray Evernham, lasted six weeks with Kulwicki in 1992. Evernham later said, "The man was a genius. There's no question. It's not a matter of people just feeling like he was a genius. That man was a genius. But his personality paid for that. He was very impatient, very straightforward, very cut-to-the-bone." With one car, two engines, and two full-time crew members, Kulwicki won the 1986 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. He had competed in 23 of 29 events, with four top 10 finishes, three races not completed (Did Not Finish – DNF), an average finish of 15.4, and had only one result below 30th place. Kulwicki finished 21st in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
For the 1987 season Kulwicki secured primary sponsorship from Zerex Antifreeze and changed his car number to seven. He picked up his first career pole position in the season's third race, at Richmond. Later that season, he again qualified fastest at Richmond and Dover. Kulwicki came close to winning his first Winston Cup race at Pocono, finishing second after winner Dale Earnhardt passed him on the last lap. With nine top 10 finishes, eleven DNFs and an average finish of 18.2 in 29 events; Kulwicki finished 15th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
In 1988 Kulwicki hired Paul Andrews as his crew chief after Andrews was recommended by Rusty Wallace at the 1987 NASCAR Awards banquet. That year Kulwicki won his first NASCAR Winston Cup race in the season's second-to-last race at Phoenix International Raceway after race leader Ricky Rudd's car had motor problems late in the race. Kulwicki led 41 laps and won by 18.5 seconds. After the race finished, he turned his car around and made, what he called, a "Polish victory lap" by driving the opposite way (clockwise) on the track, with the driver's side of the car facing the fans. "This gave me the opportunity to wave to the crowd from the driver's side", Kulwicki explained. Andrews recalled, "He had wanted to do something special and something different for his first win and only his first." He finished the 1988 season with four pole positions in 29 events, nine top 10 finishes including two second-place finishes, twelve DNFs, and an average finish of 19.2. Kulwicki finished 14th in the Winston Cup points standings for the season.
Kulwicki started his own engine-building program for the 1989 season. He had four second place finishes that season and held the points lead after the fifth race of the season. The team dropped from fourth to fifteenth in points by suffering nine engine failures during a sixteen-race stretch in the middle of the season. In 29 races, he had six pole positions, nine top 10 finishes, and finished 14th in season points. The team had a new workshop built during the season.
1990s
Junior Johnson, owner of one of the top NASCAR teams, approached Kulwicki at the beginning of the 1990 season to try to get him to replace Terry Labonte in the No. 11 Budweiser Ford. Kulwicki declined, stating that he was more interested in running his own team. He won his second Cup race at Rockingham on October 21, 1990, and finished eighth in points that year, his first finish in the top 10 points in a season. In 29 races, he had thirteen top 10 finishes and one pole position.
Before the 1991 season, Zerex ended their sponsorship of Kulwicki's team. Junior Johnson came calling again, looking for a driver for his revived second team that had last seen Neil Bonnett behind the wheel in 1986. Kulwicki turned down Johnson's $1 million offer thinking that he had secured a sponsorship deal with Maxwell House Coffee. Johnson then went to Maxwell House himself and obtained the sponsorship for his new car, which Sterling Marlin was hired to drive instead. Kulwicki was forced to begin the season without a sponsor, paying all of the team's expenses out of his own pocket. At the opening race of the season, the 1991 Daytona 500, five cars raced with paint schemes representing different branches of the United States military to show support for the American forces involved in the Gulf War. It was the first use of special paint schemes in NASCAR history. Kulwicki's car was sponsored by the United States Army in a one-race deal. After running the second and third races of the season in a plain white unsponsored car, Kulwicki's luck finding a sponsor changed for the better at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
At the time, Hooters was sponsoring a car driven by Mark Stahl, another owner-driver in the Cup series. Unlike Kulwicki, Stahl was a part-time participant who had trouble making races. The Hooters car failed to make the field for the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 and the Atlanta-based chain, desiring a spot in the race, approached the sponsorless Kulwicki to gauge his interest. The principals agreed to at least a one-race deal, which became a much longer term deal when Kulwicki recorded an eighth-place finish in the race. Later in the season, Kulwicki won the Bristol night race for his third career win. In 29 races, he had eleven top 10 finishes, four poles, and finished 13th in the points.
1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki started out the year by having to take one of two provisional starting positions at the Daytona 500; he ended up finishing fourth. He passed Dale Jarrett with 27 laps left at the Food City 500 race on April 5 at Bristol to take a narrow victory. It was his fourth Winston Cup victory. After that race, he never left the top five in season points. Andrews attributed Kulwicki's consistently strong finishes to the steady performance of newly adopted radial tires throughout their lifespan. He said, "It was hard to control them, and the driver's ability to work with that car during practice in order to get the car set up meant so much more than it ever did." Kulwicki's second victory in the season was at the first race at Pocono. Discounted as a contender for the season championship during the year, Kulwicki was expected to fade from contention as Bill Elliott and Davey Allison, both of whom had won more races than Kulwicki and who had traded the points lead between them, were both having strong seasons and looked to be the favorites for the Winston Cup. He did not, however, and remained in the top 5 in the series standings.
He qualified on the pole position for the Peak AntiFreeze 500 race on September 20 at Dover, but crashed early in the race and finished 34th. At the conclusion of the race, Kulwicki trailed points leader Elliott by 278 points. He seemed to resign himself to another season without a championship, saying to reporters, "This probably finishes us off in the championship deal."
However, Kulwicki was able to benefit from bad fortune that would befall Elliott in the weeks ahead. The next week at Martinsville, Elliott crashed out of the race while Kulwicki finished fifth. Kulwicki followed that up with a twelfth-place run at North Wilkesboro, a second place at Charlotte, and another twelfth-place finish at Rockingham. While Elliott managed a fourth place finish at Rockingham, he ran twenty-sixth at North Wilkesboro and thirtieth at Charlotte. Then, at Phoenix, Kulwicki ran fourth while Elliott suffered overheating problems and a cracked cylinder head and once again finished outside of the top 30. Allison won the race, retaking the points lead, but Kulwicki’s performance left him within striking distance of the points lead. When the points standings were tabulated after the race, Kulwicki had surpassed Elliott in the standings and stood thirty points behind Allison.
Thus, the stage was set for the final race of the season, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta. Before the race, Kulwicki received approval from NASCAR and Ford to change the "Thunderbird" lettering on his bumper for the race to "underbird" because he felt like the underdog in the contention for the championship.
Kulwicki qualified for the race in fourteenth position, three spots behind Elliott and three spots ahead of Allison. Allison simply needed to finish fifth or better to clinch the Cup, regardless of what his cohorts did. Atlanta, however, was not one of his better tracks, as he had a string of inconsistent finishes there. He had, however, finished fourth in the spring race won by Elliott. Kulwicki needed to outpace both Elliott and Allison and put as much distance as he could between the two drivers because he not only had to make up the thirty points on points leader Allison, but also needed to put distance between himself and Elliott, who trailed him by only ten points.
Kulwicki narrowly avoided an incident on the second lap of the race as front row starters Rick Mast and Brett Bodine spun out. However, trouble would eventually find him on the first round of pit stops. As Kulwicki was getting ready to leave his pit box after service, he shifted into first gear and his car stalled. He got a push start from his crew and upshifted into fourth gear, which enabled him to refire the car and head back out. Andrews later said, "We had to leave pit road in fourth gear, because we had broken metal parts in there, and only by leaving it in fourth are you not going to move metal around as much. We could only hope that the loose piece of metal didn't get in there and break the gears in half. We had three or four pit stops after it broke. I held my breath all day long." While Kulwicki had no choice but to keep his car in top gear, which caused his pit stop times to be much slower than usual, he was one of the faster drivers on track that day and he quickly gained positions once back up to speed. He eventually caught up to Elliott, who was also running well, and the two began jockeying back and forth for positions; eventually,
Kulwicki found his way to the front of the field and held onto the lead despite the best efforts of the #11 team. Then, on lap 255, Kulwicki got a break he desperately needed. Allison was running in sixth place at the time, and since he had led a lap during the course of the event was still leading the championship. As he was coming off of turn four, Ernie Irvan spun out in front of the field on the frontstretch. Irvan, who had been running three laps down at the time, came down in front of Allison, who was unable to avoid him and the two made contact and crashed into the inside wall near the start/finish line. Allison’s car was badly damaged in the incident, and although the damage would be able to be repaired in the garage his chances of winning the Winston Cup were over.
Under the ensuing caution, Kulwicki and Andrews went to work on discussing strategy for the remainder of the race. With Allison now out of the championship picture, maximizing track position and points became Kulwicki’s focus. He and Elliott had each gained five bonus points for leading a lap, and five additional bonus points were available for the driver who led the most laps during the race. However, despite the possibility for more caution periods, Kulwicki would have to pit at some point to get enough fuel in the car to make it to the advertised distance. Therefore, Kulwicki and Andrews decided to stay out as long as they could and lead as many laps as possible. Once the race resumed, Kulwicki was able to maintain his lead on Elliott despite the best efforts of the latter.
On lap 310, after leading 101 consecutive laps and 103 overall, Kulwicki came down pit road for a fuel-only stop. Since the team did not need a full twenty-two gallon load of fuel to make it to the end and they needed to save as much time as they could, Andrews made the determination to put approximately half a can of gasoline into Kulwicki’s tank; this could be done in a little over three seconds and with only two crew members. Fuel man Tony Gibson and catch can man Peter Jellen waited as Kulwicki pulled in. There was a problem with the fuel relay, however, and Gibson was not certain of the amount of gasoline that made it into the tank. Kulwicki came back onto the track in third place, behind front runner Elliott and second place Terry Labonte. He had not fully secured the five bonus points for leading the most laps, since Elliott had an opportunity to tie Kulwicki’s total. In that case, both drivers would receive the points. Elliott also had to come down to top off his fuel tank.
But as he had done with the adjustment following the broken gearbox and the accident that took Allison out of the race, Kulwicki once again caught a break that affected his chances in a significant way. Tim Brewer, Elliott’s crew chief, had lost track of Labonte and waited an additional lap to bring Elliott in. Labonte was able to pass Elliott while he pitted, then pitted himself. Elliott reassumed the point with twelve laps remaining, which when added to the ninety he had already led would only add up to 102.
Kulwicki was told that he had clinched the five extra points several laps later. Andrews warned him of the fuel relay issue, however, and told Kulwicki to conserve whatever fuel he could as no one knew for certain whether or not Gibson had done the job. Kulwicki was running in second, far enough ahead of third place Geoff Bodine that he was not a factor, and thus all he had to do was hold position in order to win the championship. Elliott won the race and Kulwicki stretched his fuel to finish second. Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by maintaining his 10-point lead over Elliott. He celebrated the championship with his second Polish victory lap. Always conscious of his appearance for potential sponsors, Kulwicki combed his hair, making a national television audience wait for him to emerge from his car.
Kulwicki had overcome the 278-point deficit in the final six races of the season by ending with a fifth, a fourth, and two second-place finishes. Kulwicki won the championship because of his consistent high finishes. It was the closest title win in NASCAR Cup Series history until the implementation of the Chase for the Cup format in 2004. Kulwicki was the last owner-driver to win the title for nearly two decades, the first Cup champion with a college degree, and the first Cup champion born in a northern state. He started from the pole position six times during the season, which was the most for any driver. The song that played during a short salute to Kulwicki at the year-end awards banquet was Frank Sinatra's "My Way".
Championship honors
Kulwicki returned to his hometown, Greenfield, for Alan Kulwicki Day in January 1993. The gymnasium at Greenfield High School was filled and surrounded by four to five thousand people. Local television crews filmed the event. Kulwicki signed autographs for six hours.
In celebration of his championship, sponsor Hooters made a special "Alan Tribute Card" that was used at all of the autograph sessions during the 1993 season.
1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
Kulwicki did not significantly change his spending habits after winning the 1992 championship. "The only thing I really wanted to buy was a plane", he said, "but it turns out Hooters has a couple I can use." Kulwicki negotiated a lease agreement with Hooters Chairman Robert Brooks for the use of one of his aircraft. The Swearingen Merlin III twin turboprop Kulwicki leased was painted with Hooters livery, and its FAA registry changed from N300EF (for Eastern Foods, another of Brooks's companies) to N300AK.
After the first five races of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series had been completed, Kulwicki was 9th in overall points. Kulwicki had concerns about how often he was being allowed to use the airplane he had leased, and other financial concerns he wanted to bring up with his sponsor, Hooters. The PR representative for both Hooters and Kulwicki, Tom Roberts, suggested that Kulwicki bring up his concerns to Hooters leadership while in flight from Knoxville to Bristol on the evening of April 1, 1993, en route to the 1993 Food City 500. Roberts himself, in an attempt to avoid a conflict of interest between the two sides, did not board the chartered flight, and took a commercial flight to Bristol instead.
Death
Kulwicki died in an airplane crash on Thursday April 1, 1993. He was returning from an appearance at the Knoxville Hooters on the Kingston Pike, in a Hooters corporate plane on a short flight across Tennessee before the Sunday spring race at Bristol. The plane slowed and crashed just before final approach at Tri-Cities Regional Airport in a field off of Interstate 81 near Blountville. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to the pilot's failure to use the airplane's anti-ice system to clear ice from the engine inlet system.
Kulwicki was buried at St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee; the funeral was attended by NASCAR President Bill France, Jr. and numerous drivers. Kulwicki's racecar transporter was driven from the rainy track later that Friday morning while other teams and the media watched it travel slowly around the track with a black wreath on its grille. As the transporter passed the start / finish line, the flagman waved a checkered flag. In 2008, Kyle Petty described the slow laps as "the saddest thing I've ever seen at a racetrack... We just sat and cried." Kulwicki had competed in five NASCAR races that season with two Top 5 finishes, and was ranked ninth in points at his death. In his career, he had won five NASCAR Winston Cup races, 24 pole positions, 75 Top 10 finishes, and one championship in 207 races.
His car was driven by road course specialist Tommy Kendall on road courses and by Jimmy Hensley at the other tracks. It was raced for most of the 1993 season until the team was sold to Geoff Bodine, who operated it as Geoff Bodine Racing.
Kulwicki had been selected to compete in the 1993 International Race of Champions (IROC) series as the reigning Winston Cup champion. He competed in two IROC races before his death, finishing ninth at Daytona and eleventh at Darlington. Dale Earnhardt raced for Kulwicki in the final two IROC races, and the prize money for those races and their fifth place combined points finish was given to the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary, Brenner Children's Hospital and St. Thomas Aquinas Church charities.
Legacy
Three days after Kulwicki's death, Bristol race winner Rusty Wallace honored his former short track rival by performing Kulwicki's trademark Polish victory lap. Davey Allison died on July 13, 1993; competitors who had been carrying a No. 7 sticker in memory of Kulwicki added a No. 28 sticker for Allison. After the final race of the season, series champion Dale Earnhardt and race winner Wallace drove a side-by-side Polish victory lap carrying flags for Kulwicki and Allison. Kulwicki finished 41st in the final points standings despite competing in only five races. Racing Champions issued a die-cast version of Alan Kulwicki's No. 7 car that was a tribute to Kulwicki's 1992 title.
The USAR Hooters Pro Cup championship (now CARS Tour) held the "Four Champions Challenge" in memory of the four victims of the plane crash. Established in 1997, the challenge was a four-race series, with each race named after one of the four who died in the crash: Kulwicki, Mark Brooks (son of Hooters owner Bob Brooks), Dan Duncan, and pilot Charles Campbell.
Milwaukee County honored Kulwicki in 1996 by creating Alan Kulwicki Memorial Park, located near the corner of Highway 100 and Cold Spring Road in Greenfield (Area Map). Hooters chairman Robert Brooks donated $250,000 to build the park, which features a Kulwicki museum inside the Brooks Pavilion.
Since 1994, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has awarded the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Scholarship to one incoming student each year. Scholarship winners are outstanding high school seniors who plan to major in mechanical engineering. By 1998, UNC Charlotte created an automotive and motorsports engineering program.
In October 2009, the Kulwicki family donated nearly $1.9 million to benefit motorsports engineering education at UNC Charlotte. In honor of the gift, the university's Board of Trustees renamed the existing motorsports research facility the Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Laboratory. The donation funded the construction of a second motorsports engineering building, which opened in January 2012.
Bristol Motor Speedway named its grandstand in turns one and two in honor of Kulwicki, as well as a terrace above the grandstand. The 2004 Busch Series race at the Milwaukee Mile was named the "Alan Kulwicki 250" in honor of Kulwicki. Wisconsinite Paul Menard turned his car around after winning the 2006 Busch Series event and performed a Polish victory lap to honor Kulwicki. Slinger Super Speedway has held an annual Alan Kulwicki Memorial race since 1994.
Kulwicki was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted in the Lowe's Motor Speedway Court of Legends in 1993, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993, Talladega-Texaco Hall of Fame in 1996, Bristol Motor Speedway Heroes of Bristol Hall of Fame in 1997, the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2010. Kulwicki was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019.
Kulwicki's success as an owner-driver sparked a small trend among NASCAR veterans. Geoff Bodine, his younger brother Brett, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, and Joe Nemechek all began racing teams shortly after Kulwicki's death. However, none were as successful as Kulwicki's. Robby Gordon frequently mentions Alan as an inspiration for him as an owner-driver, and selected car No. 7 as a tribute to Kulwicki.
Slinger Super Speedway began an Alan Kulwicki Memorial night in 1993; it has continued the annual memorial as of 2016. In 2010, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee created the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Student Center in their Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Building. The center, along with a scholarship for engineering students, was made possible in part by a donation from Thelma H. Kulwicki, the late racer's stepmother, who also donated numerous items of memorabilia located in the center.
In May 2012, the Milwaukee County Historical Society announced plans for a special exhibit celebrating the life and career of Kulwicki to open in early 2013. The exhibit is called "Alan Kulwicki: A Champion's Story".
Alan Kulwicki Driver Development Program
In 2015, Kulwicki's friends began the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development program to "help worthy drivers along the way in reaching their dream...while at the same time keep Alan Kulwicki's memory and legacy alive." The field is narrowed to 15 applicants and the program gives $7777 to support seven drivers' career advancement. Drivers are judged based on their on-track performance as well as off-track activities, social media presence, and community involvement. The winner receives seven times $7777 ($54,439) and a trophy. It was cancelled for the 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns. The program winners were:
2020 cancelled due to COVID-19
2019 Jeremy Doss
2018 Brett Yackey
2017 Cody Haskins
2016 Alex Prunty
2015 Ty Majeski.
Other Participants in Each Class:
2021 Wyatt Alexander, Luke Fenhaus, Max Kahler, Ryan Kuhn, Kole Raz, Brooke Storer, Dylan Zamba
2019 Danny Benedict, Justin Carroll, Luke Fenhaus, Derek Griffith, Carson Kvapil, Paul Shafer, Jr.
2018 Cole Butcher, Justin Carroll, Derek Griffith, Molly Helmuth, Justin Mondeik, Brittney Zamora
2017 Braison Bennett, Cole Butcher, Justin Mondeik, Michael Ostdiek, John Peters, Brett Yackey
2016 Jeremy Doss, Dave Farrington, Jr., Cody Haskins, Quin Houff, Michael Ostdiek (replaced Natalie Decker after she tried to qualify for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway), Brandon Setzer
2015 Steve Apel, Justin Crider, Dave Farrington, Jr., Reagan May, Bryce Napier, Cole Williams
Media
Father Dale Grubba, the priest who had presided over Kulwicki's funeral, released a biography of his friend entitled Alan Kulwicki: NASCAR champion Against All Odds in 2009. The book was the basis for a low-budget feature film, Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story, released on April 1, 2005. The film chronicles Kulwicki's life from racing late models at Slinger Super Speedway, through his rise to NASCAR champion, and ends with his death. The movie was created by Kulwicki's Wisconsin fans for less than $100,000. The star of the film, Brad Weber, was a Kulwicki fan and credits the late driver with being his inspiration to become an actor.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
Daytona 500
Busch Series
International Race of Champions
(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
References
External links
Movie review of Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story by Speed Channel
1954 births
1993 deaths
Accidental deaths in Tennessee
American people of Polish descent
American Speed Association drivers
Burials in Wisconsin
Catholics from Wisconsin
Hooters people
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
International Race of Champions drivers
NASCAR Cup Series champions
NASCAR drivers
NASCAR team owners
People from Greenfield, Wisconsin
Racing drivers from Wisconsin
Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1993
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States | false | [
"The British automobile manufacturer Lotus Cars, currently a subsidiary of Geely, has produced a number of race and production cars since its inception in 1948.\n\nCurrent production vehicles\n\nFormer production vehicles\n\nConcept cars\n\nOther vehicles with Lotus development\n\nSee also \n\n Lotus Cars, the manufacturer of these models\n Lotus F1 and Team Lotus, motorsport ventures of the company\n\nLotus vehicles",
"The 1969 World Sportscar Championship season was the 17th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1969 International Championship for Makes, which was a series for FIA Group 6 Prototype Sports Cars, Group 4 Sports Cars and Group 3 Grand Touring Cars and the 1969 International Cup for GT Cars, which was restricted to Group 3 Grand Touring Cars. The season ran from 1 February 1969 to 10 August 1969 and comprised 10 races.\n\nPorsche won both the International Championship for Makes and the International Cup for GT Cars.\n\nSchedule\n\n† - Sportscars & Sports Prototypes only, GT category did not participate.\n\nRace results\n\nPoints system\nPoints were awarded to the top six finishers in each race on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis. Manufacturers were only given points for their highest finishing car in each race with no points awarded for positions gained by any other cars from that manufacturer.\n\nSports, Sports Prototype and GT cars were eligible to score points for their manufacturer in the overall championship and the GT category also had its own separate award.\n\nCars that were not included in the Sports, Sports Prototype or GT categories in a race were not eligible to score points for the overall championship.\n\nOnly the best five points finishes counted towards a manufacturer's total, with any other points earned being discarded. Discarded points are shown within brackets in the tables below.\n\nChampionship Standings\n\nInternational Championship for Makes\n\nInternational Cup for GT Cars\nThe GT class did not participate in Round 3.\n\nThe cars\nThe following models contributed to the nett points totals of their respective manufacturers:\n\nInternational Championship for Makes\n Porsche 908/2 & 908L\n Ford GT40 \n Lola T70 Mk.3B & T70 Mk.3 Chevrolet\n Ferrari 312P \n Matra MS650 \n Chevron B8 BMW \n Alfa Romeo T33/2 \n Alpine-Renault A220\n\nInternational Cup for GT Cars\n Porsche 911T \n Chevrolet Corvette & Camaro\n Ferrrari 275GTB/C\n Lancia Fulvia HF Zagato\n MGB\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n World Sportscar Championship at www.classicscars.com \n World Sportscar Championship at www.racingsportscars.com\n\nWorld Sportscar Championship seasons\nWorld Sportscar Championship"
] |
[
"Andrew Jackson",
"Battle of New Orleans"
] | C_d066211bb235410c9c7b763df9a0ddfd_1 | When did the battle start? | 1 | When did Andrew Jackson's, Battle of New Orleans battle start? | Andrew Jackson | Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from present day Northern Ireland two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, in current-day Northern Ireland, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal family line originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England. When they immigrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. They brought two children from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). Jackson's father died in a logging accident while clearing land in February 1767 at the age of 29, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests. Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824 Jackson wrote a letter saying that he was born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian country. Most of the transactions involved grants made under the 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819. After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. Jackson soon became associated with the more radical, pro-French and anti-British wing. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. Senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests. After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of conflict with Europeans or Indians, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane, and continued to serve as governor until 1809. After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson only had about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained. The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." CANNOTANSWER | December 1, 1814, | Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. An expansionist president, Jackson sought to advance the rights of the "common man" against a "corrupt aristocracy" and to preserve the Union.
Born in the colonial Carolinas in the decade before the American Revolutionary War, Jackson became a frontier lawyer and married Rachel Donelson Robards. He served briefly in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, representing Tennessee. After resigning, he served as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1798 until 1804. Jackson purchased a property later known as The Hermitage, and became a wealthy, slaveowning planter. In 1801, he was appointed colonel of the Tennessee militia and was elected its commander the following year. He led troops during the Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The subsequent Treaty of Fort Jackson required the Creek surrender of vast lands in present-day Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent war against the British, Jackson's victory in 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans made him a national hero. Jackson then led U.S. forces in the First Seminole War, which led to the annexation of Florida from Spain. Jackson briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824, winning a plurality of the popular and electoral vote. As no candidate won an electoral majority, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams in a contingent election. In reaction to the alleged "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Henry Clay and the ambitious agenda of President Adams, Jackson's supporters founded the Democratic Party.
Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide. Jackson faced the threat of secession by South Carolina over what opponents called the "Tariff of Abominations". The crisis was defused when the tariff was amended, and Jackson threatened the use of military force if South Carolina attempted to secede. In Congress, Henry Clay led the effort to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States. Jackson, regarding the Bank as a corrupt institution that benefited the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Americans, vetoed the renewal of its charter. After a lengthy struggle, Jackson and his allies thoroughly dismantled the Bank. In 1835, Jackson became the only president to completely pay off the national debt, fulfilling a longtime goal. While Jackson pursued numerous reforms designed to eliminate waste and corruption, his presidency marked the beginning of the ascendancy of the party "spoils system" in American politics. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibly removed most members of the major tribes of the Southeast to Indian Territory; these removals were subsequently known as the Trail of Tears. The relocation process dispossessed these nations of their land and resulted in widespread death and disease. Jackson opposed the abolitionist movement, which grew stronger in his second term. In foreign affairs, Jackson's administration concluded a "most favored nation" treaty with the United Kingdom, settled claims of damages against France from the Napoleonic Wars, and recognized the Republic of Texas. In January 1835, he survived the first assassination attempt on a sitting president.
In his retirement, Jackson remained active in Democratic Party politics, supporting the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk. Though fearful of its effects on the slavery debate, Jackson advocated the annexation of Texas, which was accomplished shortly before his death. Jackson has been widely revered in the United States as an advocate for democracy and the common man. Many of his actions proved divisive, garnering both fervent support and strong opposition from many in the country. His reputation has suffered since the 1970s, largely due to his anti-abolitionist views and policy of the forcible removal of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands. However, surveys of historians and scholars have ranked Jackson favorably among U.S. presidents.
Early life and education
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew Jackson and his wife Elizabeth Hutchinson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ulster, Ireland, two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal ancestors originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England.
When they migrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents brought two children with them from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). The family probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. Jackson's father died in February 1767 at the age of 29, in a logging accident while clearing land, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests.
Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824, Jackson wrote a letter saying he had been born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. As a young boy, Jackson was easily offended and was considered something of a bully. He was, however, also said to have taken a group of younger and weaker boys under his wing and been kind to them.
Revolutionary War service
During the Revolutionary War, Jackson's eldest brother, Hugh, died from heat exhaustion after the Battle of Stono Ferry on June 20, 1779. Anti-British sentiment intensified following the Waxhaws Massacre on May 29, 1780. Jackson's mother encouraged him and his elder brother Robert to attend the local militia drills. Soon, they began to help the militia as couriers. They served under Colonel William Richardson Davie at the Battle of Hanging Rock on August 6. Andrew and Robert were captured by the British in April 1781 while staying at the home of the Crawford family. When Andrew refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the officer slashed at the youth with a sword, leaving him with scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British. Robert also refused to do as commanded and was struck with the sword. The two brothers were held as prisoners, contracted smallpox, and nearly starved to death in captivity.
Later that year, their mother Elizabeth secured the brothers' release. She then began to walk both boys back to their home in the Waxhaws, a distance of some 40 miles (64 km). Both were in very poor health. Robert, who was far worse, rode on the only horse they had, while Andrew walked behind them. In the final two hours of the journey, a torrential downpour began which worsened the effects of the smallpox. Within two days of arriving back home, Robert was dead and Andrew in mortal danger. After nursing Andrew back to health, Elizabeth volunteered to nurse American prisoners of war on board two British ships in the Charleston harbor, where there had been an outbreak of cholera. In November, she died from the disease and was buried in an unmarked grave. Andrew became an orphan at age 14. He blamed the British personally for the loss of his brothers and mother.
Early career
Legal career and marriage
After the Revolutionary War, Jackson received a sporadic education in a local Waxhaw school. On bad terms with much of his extended family, he boarded with several different people. In 1781, he worked for a time as a saddle-maker, and eventually taught school. He apparently prospered in neither profession. In 1784, he left the Waxhaws region for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he studied law under attorney Spruce Macay. With the help of various lawyers, he was able to learn enough to qualify for the bar. In September 1787, Jackson was admitted to the North Carolina bar. Shortly thereafter, his friend John McNairy helped him get appointed to a vacant prosecutor position in the Western District of North Carolina, which would later become the state of Tennessee. During his travel west, Jackson bought his first slave, a woman who was older than him. In 1788, having been offended by fellow lawyer Waightstill Avery, Jackson fought his first duel. The duel ended with both men firing into the air, having made a secret agreement to do so before the engagement.
Jackson moved to the small frontier town of Nashville in 1788, where he lived as a boarder with Rachel Stockly Donelson, the widow of John Donelson. Here Jackson became acquainted with their daughter, Rachel Donelson Robards. The younger Rachel was in an unhappy marriage with Captain Lewis Robards; he was subject to fits of jealous rage. The two were separated in 1790. According to Jackson, he married Rachel after hearing that Robards had obtained a divorce. Her divorce had not been made final, making Rachel's marriage to Jackson bigamous and therefore invalid. After the divorce was officially completed, Rachel and Jackson remarried in 1794. To complicate matters further, evidence shows that Rachel had been living with Jackson and referred to herself as Mrs. Jackson before the petition for divorce was ever made. It was not uncommon on the frontier for relationships to be formed and dissolved unofficially, as long as they were recognized by the community.
Land speculation and early public career
In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian territory. Most of the transactions involved grants made under a 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819.
After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. As a representative, Jackson staunchly advocated for the rights of Tennesseans against Native American tribal interests. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Democratic-Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Democratic-Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision-making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests.
After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of armed conflicts, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Jackson then published a newspaper article accusing Sevier of fraud and bribery. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane and continued to serve as governor until 1809.
Planting career and controversy
In addition to his legal and political career, Jackson prospered as a planter and merchant. He built a home and the first general store in Gallatin, Tennessee, in 1803. The next year, he acquired The Hermitage, a plantation in Davidson County, near Nashville. He later added to the plantation, which eventually totaled . The primary crop was cotton. Like most successful American planters at the time, Jackson's plantation depended on slave labor. The cotton cultivated at the Hermitage was planted and picked by slaves. The Hermitage was quite profitable; Jackson began with nine slaves, owned as many as 44 by 1820, and later up to 150, placing him among the planter elite. Jackson also co-owned with his son Andrew Jackson Jr. the Halcyon plantation in Coahoma County, Mississippi, which housed 51 slaves at the time of his death. Throughout his lifetime, Jackson may have owned as many as 500 slaves.
Men, women, and child slaves were owned by Jackson on three sections of the Hermitage plantation. Slaves lived in extended family units of between five and ten persons and were quartered in cabins made either of brick or logs. The size and quality of the Hermitage slave quarters exceeded the standards of the time. To help slaves acquire food, Jackson supplied them with guns, knives, and fishing equipment. At times he paid his slaves with money and coins to trade in local markets. Jackson permitted slaves to be whipped to increase productivity or if he believed his slaves' offenses were severe enough. At various times he posted advertisements for fugitive slaves who had escaped from his plantation. In one advertisement placed in the Tennessee Gazette in October 1804, Jackson offered "ten dollars extra, for every hundred lashes any person will give him, to the amount of three hundred."
The controversy surrounding his marriage to Rachel remained a sore point for Jackson, who deeply resented attacks on his wife's honor. By May 1806, Charles Dickinson, who, like Jackson, raced horses, had published an attack on Jackson in the local newspaper, and it resulted in a written challenge from Jackson to a duel. Since Dickinson was considered an expert shot, Jackson determined it would be best to let Dickinson turn and fire first, hoping that his aim might be spoiled in his quickness; Jackson would wait and take careful aim at Dickinson. Dickinson did fire first, hitting Jackson in the chest. The bullet that struck Jackson was so close to his heart that it could not be removed. Under the rules of dueling, Dickinson had to remain still as Jackson took aim and shot and killed him. Jackson's behavior in the duel outraged many in Tennessee, who called it a brutal, cold-blooded killing and saddled Jackson with a reputation as a violent, vengeful man. He became a social outcast.
After the Sevier affair and the duel, Jackson was looking for a way to salvage his reputation. He chose to align himself with former vice president Aaron Burr. Burr's political career ended after the killing of Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804; in 1805 he set out on a tour of what was then the western United States. Burr was extremely well received by the people of Tennessee, and stayed for five days at the Hermitage. Burr's true intentions are not known with certainty. He seems to have been planning a military operation to conquer Spanish Florida and drive the Spanish from Texas. To many westerners like Jackson, the promise seemed enticing. Western American settlers had long held bitter feelings towards Spain due to territorial disputes and their persistent failure to stop Indians living in Spanish territory from raiding American settlements. On October 4, 1806, Jackson addressed the Tennessee militia, declaring that the men should be "at a moment's warning ready to march." On the same day, he wrote to James Winchester, proclaiming that the United States "can conquer not only the Floridas [at that time there was an East Florida and a West Florida.], but all Spanish North America." He continued:
Jackson agreed to provide boats and other provisions for the expedition. However, on November 10, he learned from a military captain that Burr's plans apparently included seizure of New Orleans, then part of the Louisiana Territory of the United States, and incorporating it, along with lands won from the Spanish, into a new empire. He was further outraged when he learned from the same man of the involvement of Brigadier General James Wilkinson, whom he deeply disliked, in the plan. Jackson acted cautiously at first, but wrote letters to public officials, including President Thomas Jefferson, vaguely warning them about the scheme. In December, Jefferson, a political opponent of Burr, issued a proclamation declaring that a treasonous plot was underway in the West and calling for the arrest of the perpetrators. Jackson, safe from arrest because of his extensive paper trail, organized the militia. Burr was soon captured, and the men were sent home. Jackson traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to testify on Burr's behalf in trial. The defense team decided against placing him on the witness stand, fearing his remarks were too provocative. Burr was acquitted of treason, despite Jefferson's efforts to have him convicted. Jackson endorsed James Monroe for president in 1808 against James Madison. The latter was part of the Jeffersonian wing of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson lived relatively quietly at the Hermitage in the years after the Burr trial, eventually accumulating 640 acres of land.
Military career
War of 1812
Creek campaign and treaty
Leading up to 1812, the United States found itself increasingly drawn into international conflict. Formal hostilities with Spain or France never materialized, but tensions with Britain increased for a number of reasons. Among these was the desire of many Americans for more land, particularly British Canada and Florida, the latter still controlled by Spain, Britain's European ally. On June 18, 1812, Congress officially declared war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, beginning the War of 1812. Jackson responded enthusiastically, sending a letter to Washington offering 2,500 volunteers. However, the men were not called up for many months. Biographer Robert V. Remini claims that Jackson saw the apparent slight as payback by the Madison administration for his support of Burr and Monroe. Meanwhile, the United States military repeatedly suffered devastating defeats on the battlefield.
On January 10, 1813, Jackson led an army of 2,071 volunteers to New Orleans to defend the region against British and Native American attacks. He had been instructed to serve under General Wilkinson, who commanded Federal forces in New Orleans. Lacking adequate provisions, Wilkinson ordered Jackson to halt in Natchez, then part of the Mississippi Territory, and await further orders. Jackson reluctantly obeyed. The newly appointed Secretary of War, John Armstrong Jr., sent a letter to Jackson dated February 6 ordering him to dismiss his forces and to turn over his supplies to Wilkinson. In reply to Armstrong on March 15, Jackson defended the character and readiness of his men, and promised to turn over his supplies. He also promised, instead of dismissing the troops without provisions in Natchez, to march them back to Nashville. The march was filled with agony. Many of the men had fallen ill. Jackson and his officers turned over their horses to the sick. He paid for provisions for the men out of his own pocket. The soldiers began referring to their commander as "Hickory," after a hickory nut, because of his toughness, and Jackson became known as "Old Hickory". After about a month long march, the army finally arrived in Nashville. His actions earned him respect and praise from the people of Tennessee. Jackson faced financial ruin, until his former aide-de-camp Thomas Benton persuaded Armstrong to order the army to pay the expenses Jackson had incurred. On June 14, Jackson served as a second in a duel on behalf of his junior officer William Carroll against Jesse Benton, the brother of Thomas. On September 3, Jackson and his top cavalry officer, Brigadier General John Coffee, were involved in a street brawl with the Benton brothers. Jackson was severely wounded by Jesse with a gunshot to the shoulder.
On August 30, 1813, a group of Muscogee (or Creek) called the Red Sticks, so named for the color of their war paint, perpetrated the Fort Mims massacre in which hundreds of white American settlers and non-Red Stick Creeks were slaughtered. The Red Sticks, led by William Weatherford (also called Red Eagle) and Peter McQueen, had broken away from the rest of the Creek Confederacy, which wanted peace with the United States. They were allied with Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief who had launched Tecumseh's War against the United States, and who was fighting alongside the British. The resulting conflict became known as the Creek War.
Jackson, with 2,500 American soldiers, was ordered to crush the Red Sticks. On October 10, he set out on the expedition, his arm still in a sling from fighting the Bentons. Jackson established Fort Strother as a supply base. On November 3, Coffee defeated a band of Red Sticks at the Battle of Tallushatchee. Coming to the relief of friendly Creeks besieged by Red Sticks, Jackson won another decisive victory at the Battle of Talladega. In the winter, Jackson, encamped at Fort Strother, faced a severe shortage of troops due to the expiration of enlistments and chronic desertions. He sent Coffee with the cavalry (which abandoned him) back to Tennessee to secure more enlistments. Jackson decided to combine his force with that of the Georgia militia, and marched to meet the Georgia troops. From January 22–24, 1814, while on their way, the Tennessee militia and allied Muscogee were attacked by the Red Sticks at the Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek. Jackson's troops repelled the attackers, but outnumbered, were forced to withdraw to Fort Strother. Jackson, now with over 2,000 troops, marched most of his army south to confront the Red Sticks at a fortress they had constructed at a bend in the Tallapoosa River. Jackson, together with Lower Creek and Cherokee allies and enjoying an advantage of more than 2 to 1, engaged them on March 27 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. An initial artillery barrage did little damage to the well-constructed fort. A subsequent Infantry charge, in addition to an assault by Coffee's cavalry and diversions caused by the allied Creeks, overwhelmed the Red Sticks.
The campaign ended three weeks later with Red Eagle's surrender, although some Red Sticks such as McQueen fled to East Florida. On June 8, Jackson accepted a commission as brigadier general in the United States Army, and 10 days later became a major general, in command of the Seventh Military Division. Subsequently, Jackson, with Madison's approval, imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson. The treaty required the Muscogee, including those who had not joined the Red Sticks, to surrender 23 million acres (8,093,713 ha) of land to the United States. Most of the Creeks bitterly acquiesced. Though in ill-health from dysentery, Jackson then turned his attention to defeating Spanish and British forces. Jackson accused the Spanish of arming the Red Sticks and of violating the terms of their neutrality by allowing British soldiers into the Floridas. The first charge was true, while the second ignored the fact that it was Jackson's threats to invade Florida which had caused them to seek British protection. In the November 7 Battle of Pensacola, Jackson defeated the relatively small British and Spanish forces in a short skirmish. Shortly thereafter, the Spanish surrendered and the remaining British wthdrew. Weeks later, Jackson learned that the British were planning an attack on New Orleans, which sat on the mouth of the Mississippi River and held immense strategic and commercial value. Jackson abandoned Pensacola to the Spanish, placed a force in Mobile, Alabama, to guard against a possible invasion there, and rushed the rest of his forces west to defend New Orleans.
The Creeks coined their own name for Jackson, Jacksa Chula Harjo or "Jackson, old and fierce."
Battle of New Orleans
After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson had only about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained.
The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.
Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." Some have claimed that, because the war was already ended by the preliminary signing of the Treaty of Ghent, Jackson's victory at New Orleans was without importance aside from making him a celebrated figure. However, the Spanish, who had sold the Louisiana Territory to France, disputed France's right to sell it to the United States through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In April 1815, Spain, assuming that the British had won at New Orleans, asked for the return of the Louisiana Territory. Spanish representatives claimed to have been assured that they would receive the land back. Furthermore, Article IX of the Treaty of Ghent stipulated that the United States must return land taken from the Creeks to their original owners, essentially undoing the Treaty of Fort Jackson. Thanks to Jackson's victory at New Orleans, the American government felt that it could safely ignore that provision and it kept the lands that Jackson had acquired.
Enforced martial law in New Orleans
Jackson, still not knowing for certain of the treaty's signing, refused to lift martial law in the city. Citizens, local politicians, and some of Jackson's troops expressed growing displeasure. When some of the Creoles under Jackson's service, registering as French citizens with the French consul Louis de Toussard, asked to be discharged based on their foreign nationality, Jackson ordered all Frenchmen, including Toussard, to depart to no less than 120 miles from the limits of New Orleans. State senator Louis Louaillier wrote an anonymous piece in the New Orleans newspaper challenging Jackson's refusal to release the militia after the British ceded the field of battle. Jackson attempted to find the author and, after Louiallier admitted to having written the piece, he imprisoned him. In March, after U.S. District Court Judge Dominic A. Hall signed a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Louaillier, Jackson ordered Hall's arrest. A military court ordered Louiallier's release, but Jackson kept him in prison. He released Hall four miles from the city, which marked the limits of his jurisdiction. Jackson also ordered the execution of six members of the militia who had attempted to leave. Their deaths were not well publicized until the Coffin Handbills were circulated during his 1828 presidential campaign. On March 13, news officially reached the city that the peace treaty had been signed and ratified. Jackson immediately lifted martial law, released Louaillier from prison, and allowed the return of those he had exiled. Hall subsequently brought Jackson to trial on charges of contempt of court, and fined him $1,000.
First Seminole War
Following the war, Jackson remained in command of troops on the southern border of the U.S. He conducted business from the Hermitage. He signed treaties with the Cherokee and Chickasaw which gained for the United States large parts of Tennessee and Kentucky. The treaty with the Chickasaw, finally agreed to later in the year, is commonly known as the Jackson Purchase.
Jackson would soon find himself embroiled in another conflict in the Floridas. Several Native American tribes, collectively known as the Seminole, straddled the border between the U.S. and Florida. The Seminole, in alliance with escaped slaves, frequently raided Georgia settlements before retreating back into Florida. These skirmishes continually escalated into the conflict now known as the First Seminole War. In 1816, Jackson led a detachment into Florida and at the Battle of Negro Fort destroyed the fort, killing most of the fugitive slaves defending it and a smaller number of allied Choctaw. Jackson was then ordered by President Monroe in December 1817 to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Seminole and Creek. Jackson was again charged with preventing Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves, after Spain promised freedom to fugitive slaves. Critics later alleged that Jackson exceeded orders in his Florida actions. His orders from President Monroe were to "terminate the conflict." Jackson believed the best way to do this was to seize Florida from Spain once and for all. Before departing, Jackson wrote to Monroe, "Let it be signified to me through any channel ... that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished."
Jackson invaded Florida on March 15, 1818, capturing Pensacola. He crushed Seminole and Spanish resistance in the region and captured two British agents, Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, who had been working with the Seminole. After a brief trial, Jackson executed both of them, causing a diplomatic incident with the British. Jackson's actions polarized Monroe's cabinet, some of whom argued that Jackson had gone against Monroe's orders and violated the Constitution, since the United States had not declared war upon Spain. He was defended by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. Adams thought that Jackson's conquest of Florida would force Spain to finally sell the province, and Spain did indeed sell Florida to the United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. A congressional investigation exonerated Jackson, but he was deeply angered by the criticism he received, particularly from Speaker of the House Henry Clay. After the ratification of the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1821, Jackson resigned from the army and briefly served as the territorial Governor of Florida before returning to Tennessee.
Presidential aspirations
Election of 1824
In the spring of 1822, Jackson suffered a physical breakdown. His body had two bullets lodged in it, and he had grown exhausted from years of hard military campaigning. He regularly coughed up blood, and his entire body shook. Jackson feared that he was on the brink of death. After several months of rest, he recovered. During his convalescence, Jackson's thoughts increasingly turned to national affairs. He obsessed over rampant corruption in the Monroe administration and grew to detest the Second Bank of the United States, blaming it for causing the Panic of 1819 by contracting credit.
Jackson turned down an offer to run for governor of his home state, but accepted John Overton's plan to have the legislature nominate him for president. On July 22, 1822, he was officially nominated by the Tennessee legislature. Jackson had come to dislike Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford, who had been the most vocal critic of Jackson in Monroe's cabinet, and he hoped to prevent Tennessee's electoral votes from going to Crawford. Yet Jackson's nomination garnered a welcoming response even outside of Tennessee, as many Americans appreciated his attacks on banks. The Panic of 1819 had devastated the fortunes of many, and banks and politicians seen as supportive of banks were unpopular. With his growing political viability, Jackson emerged as one of the five major presidential candidates, along with Crawford, Adams, Clay, and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun. During the Era of Good Feelings, the Federalist Party had faded away, and all five presidential contenders were members of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson's campaign promoted him as a defender of the common people, as well as the one candidate who could rise above sectional divisions. On the major issues of the day, most prominently the tariff, Jackson expressed centrist beliefs, and opponents accused him of obfuscating his positions. At the forefront of Jackson's campaign was combatting corruption. Jackson vowed to restore honesty in government and to scale back its excesses. As a war hero, Jackson was popular with ordinary people, and he benefited from the expansion of suffrage among white males that followed the conclusion of the War of 1812.
In 1823, Jackson reluctantly allowed his name to be placed in contention for one of Tennessee's U.S. Senate seats. The move was independently orchestrated by his advisors William Berkeley Lewis and U.S. senator John Eaton in order to defeat incumbent John Williams, who openly opposed his presidential candidacy. The legislature narrowly elected him. His return, after 24 years, 11 months, 3 days out of office, marks the second longest gap in service to the chamber in history. Although Jackson was reluctant to serve once more in the Senate, he was appointed chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. Eaton wrote to Rachel that Jackson as a senator was "in harmony and good understanding with every body," including Thomas Hart Benton, now a senator from Missouri, with whom Jackson had fought in 1813. Meanwhile, Jackson himself did little active campaigning for the presidency, as was customary. Eaton updated an already-written biography of him in preparation for the campaign and, along with others, wrote letters to newspapers praising Jackson's record and past conduct.
Democratic-Republican presidential nominees had historically been chosen by informal Congressional nominating caucuses, but this method had become unpopular. In 1824, most of the Democratic-Republicans in Congress boycotted the caucus. Those who attended backed Crawford for president and Albert Gallatin for vice president. A Pennsylvania convention nominated Jackson for president a month later, stating that the irregular caucus ignored the "voice of the people" in the "vain hope that the American people might be thus deceived into a belief that he [Crawford] was the regular democratic candidate." Gallatin criticized Jackson as "an honest man and the idol of the worshipers of military glory, but from incapacity, military habits, and habitual disregard of laws and constitutional provisions, altogether unfit for the office." After Jackson won the Pennsylvania nomination, Calhoun dropped out of the presidential race and successfully sought the vice presidency instead.
In the presidential election, Jackson won a plurality of the electoral vote, taking states in the South, West, and Mid-Atlantic. He was the only candidate to win states outside of his regional base, as Adams dominated New England, Clay took three western states, and Crawford won Virginia and Georgia. Jackson won a plurality of the popular vote, taking 42 percent, although not all states held a popular vote for the presidency. He won 99 electoral votes, more than any other candidate, but still short of 131, which he needed for a true majority. With no candidate having won a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives held a contingent election under the terms of the Twelfth Amendment. The amendment specifies that only the top three electoral vote-winners are eligible to be elected by the House, so Clay was eliminated from contention. Jackson believed that he was likely to win this contingent election, as Crawford and Adams lacked Jackson's national appeal, and Crawford had suffered a debilitating stroke that made many doubt his physical fitness for the presidency. Clay, who as Speaker of the House presided over the election, saw Jackson as a dangerous demagogue who might topple the republic in favor of his own leadership. He threw his support behind Adams, who shared Clay's support for federally funded internal improvements such as roads and canals. With Clay's backing, Adams won the contingent election on the first ballot. Furious supporters of Jackson accused Clay and Adams of having reached a "corrupt bargain" after Adams appointed Clay as his Secretary of State. "So you see," Jackson growled, "the Judas of the West has closed the contract and receive the thirty pieces of silver. [H]is end will be the same." After the Congressional session concluded, Jackson resigned his Senate seat and returned to Tennessee.
Election of 1828 and death of Rachel Jackson
Almost immediately, opposition arose to the Adams presidency. Jackson opposed Adams's plan to involve the U.S. in Panama's quest for independence, writing, "The moment we engage in confederations, or alliances with any nation, we may from that time date the down fall of our republic." Adams damaged his standing in his first annual message to Congress, when he argued that Congress must not give the world the impression "that we are palsied by the will of our constituents."
Jackson was nominated for president by the Tennessee legislature in October 1825, more than three years before the 1828 election. It was the earliest such nomination in presidential history, and it attested to the fact that Jackson's supporters began the 1828 campaign almost as soon as the 1824 campaign ended. Adams's presidency foundered, as his ambitious agenda faced defeat in a new era of mass politics. Critics led by Jackson attacked Adams's policies as a dangerous expansion of Federal power. New York Senator Martin Van Buren, who had been a prominent supporter of Crawford in 1824, emerged as one of the strongest opponents of Adams's policies, and he settled on Jackson as his preferred candidate in 1828. Van Buren was joined by Vice President Calhoun, who opposed much of Adams's agenda on states' rights grounds. Van Buren and other Jackson allies established numerous pro-Jackson newspapers and clubs around the country, while Jackson avoided campaigning but made himself available to visitors at his Hermitage plantation. In the election, Jackson won a commanding 56 percent of the popular vote and 68 percent of the electoral vote. The election marked the definitive end of the one-party Era of Good Feelings, as Jackson's supporters coalesced into the Democratic Party and Adams's followers became known as the National Republicans. In the large Scots-Irish community that was especially numerous in the rural South and Southwest, Jackson was a favorite.
The campaign was heavily personal. As was the custom at the time, neither candidate personally campaigned, but their political followers organized campaign events. Both candidates were rhetorically attacked in the press. Jackson was labelled a slave trader who bought and sold slaves and moved them about in defiance of higher standards of slaveholder behavior. A series of pamphlets known as the Coffin Handbills were published to attack Jackson, one of which revealed his order to execute soldiers at New Orleans. Another accused him of engaging in cannibalism by eating the bodies of American Indians killed in battle, while still another labeled his mother a "common prostitute" and stated that Jackson's father was a "mulatto man."
Rachel Jackson was also a frequent target of attacks, and was widely accused of bigamy, a reference to the controversial situation of her marriage with Jackson. Jackson's campaigners fired back by claiming that while serving as Minister to Russia, Adams had procured a young girl to serve as a prostitute for Emperor Alexander I. They also stated that Adams had a billiard table in the White House and that he had charged the government for it.
Rachel had been under extreme stress during the election, and often struggled while Jackson was away. She began experiencing significant physical stress during the election season. Jackson described her symptoms as "excruciating pain in the left shoulder, arm, and breast." After struggling for three days, Rachel finally died of a heart attack on December 22, 1828, three weeks after her husband's victory in the election (which began on October 31 and ended on December 2) and 10 weeks before Jackson took office as president. A distraught Jackson had to be pulled from her so the undertaker could prepare the body. He felt that the abuse from Adams's supporters had hastened her death and never forgave him. Rachel was buried at the Hermitage on Christmas Eve. "May God Almighty forgive her murderers, as I know she forgave them," Jackson swore at her funeral. "I never can."
Presidency (1829–1837)
Philosophy
Jackson's name has been associated with Jacksonian democracy or the shift and expansion of democracy with the passing of some political power from established elites to ordinary voters based in political parties. "The Age of Jackson" shaped the national agenda and American politics. Jackson's philosophy as president was similar to that of Jefferson, advocating republican values held by the Revolutionary generation. Jackson took a moral tone, with the belief that agrarian sympathies, and strong states rights with a limited federal government, would produce less corruption. He feared that monied and business interests would corrupt republican values. When South Carolina opposed the tariff law, he took a strong line in favor of nationalism and against secession.
Jackson believed in the ability of the people to "arrive at right conclusions." They had the right not only to elect but to "instruct their agents & representatives." Office holders should either obey the popular will or resign. He rejected the view of a powerful and independent Supreme Court with binding decisions, arguing that "the Congress, the Executive, and the Court must each or itself be guided by its own opinions of the Constitution." Jackson thought that Supreme Court justices should be made to stand for election, and believed in strict constructionism as the best way to ensure democratic rule. He called for term limits on presidents and the abolition of the Electoral College. According to Robert V. Remini, Jackson "was far ahead of his times–and maybe even further than this country can ever achieve."
Inauguration
Jackson departed from the Hermitage on January 19 and arrived in Washington on February 11. He then set about choosing his cabinet members. Jackson chose Van Buren as expected for Secretary of State, Eaton of Tennessee as Secretary of War, Samuel D. Ingham of Pennsylvania as Secretary of Treasury, John Branch of North Carolina as Secretary of Navy, John M. Berrien of Georgia as Attorney General, and William T. Barry of Kentucky as Postmaster General. Jackson's first choice of cabinet proved to be unsuccessful, full of bitter partisanship and gossip. Jackson blamed Adams in part for what was said about Rachel during the campaign, and refused to meet him after arriving in Washington. Therefore, Adams chose not to attend the inauguration.
On March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson became the first United States president-elect to take the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. In his inaugural speech, Jackson promised to respect the sovereign powers of states and the constitutional limits of the presidency. He also promised to pursue "reform" by removing power from "unfaithful or incompetent hands." At the conclusion of the ceremony, Jackson invited the public to the White House, where his supporters held a raucous party. Thousands of spectators overwhelmed the White House staff, and minor damage was caused to fixtures and furnishings. Jackson's populism earned him the nickname "King Mob."
Reforms, rotation of offices, and spoils system
In an effort to purge the government of corruption, Jackson launched presidential investigations into all executive Cabinet offices and departments. He believed appointees should be hired on merit and withdrew many candidates he believed were lax in their handling of monies. He believed that the federal government had been corrupted and that he had received a mandate from the American people to purge such corruption. Jackson's investigations uncovered enormous fraud in the federal government, and numerous officials were removed from office and indicted on corruption, including personal friend of John Quincy Adams and Treasury Fourth Auditor Tobias Watkins. In the first year of Jackson's presidency, his investigations uncovered $280,000 stolen from the Treasury, and the Department of the Navy was saved $1 million. He asked Congress to reform embezzlement laws, reduce fraudulent applications for federal pensions, pass revenue laws to prevent evasion of custom duties, and pass laws to improve government accounting. Jackson's Postmaster General Barry resigned after a Congressional investigation into the postal service revealed mismanagement of mail services, collusion and favoritism in awarding lucrative contracts, as well as failure to audit accounts and supervise contract performances. Jackson replaced Barry with Treasury Auditor and prominent Kitchen Cabinet member Amos Kendall, who went on to implement reforms in the Post Office Department.
Jackson repeatedly called for the abolition of the Electoral College by constitutional amendment in his annual messages to Congress as president. In his third annual message to Congress, he expressed the view "I have heretofore recommended amendments of the Federal Constitution giving the election of President and Vice-President to the people and limiting the service of the former to a single term. So important do I consider these changes in our fundamental law that I can not, in accordance with my sense of duty, omit to press them upon the consideration of a new Congress."
Although he was unable to implement these goals, Jackson's time in office did see a variety of other reforms. He supported an act in July 1836 that enabled widows of Revolutionary War soldiers who met certain criteria to receive their husbands' pensions. In 1836, Jackson established the ten-hour day in national shipyards.
Jackson enforced the Tenure of Office Act, signed by President Monroe in 1820, that limited appointed office tenure and authorized the president to remove and appoint political party associates. Jackson believed that a rotation in office was a democratic reform preventing hereditary officeholding and made civil service responsible to the popular will. Jackson declared that rotation of appointments in political office was "a leading principle in the republican creed." Jackson noted, "In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another." Jackson believed that rotating political appointments would prevent the development of a corrupt bureaucracy. The number of federal office holders removed by Jackson were exaggerated by his opponents; Jackson rotated only about 20% of federal office holders during his first term, some for dereliction of duty rather than political purposes. Jackson, nonetheless, used his presidential power to award loyal Democrats by granting them federal office appointments. Jackson's approach incorporated patriotism for country as qualification for holding office. Having appointed a soldier who had lost his leg fighting on the battlefield to postmaster, Jackson stated, "[i]f he lost his leg fighting for his country, that is ... enough for me."
Jackson's theory regarding rotation of office generated what would later be called the spoils system. The political realities of Washington sometimes forced Jackson to make partisan appointments despite his personal reservations. Supervision of bureaus and departments whose operations were outside of Washington (such as the New York Customs House; the Postal Service; the Departments of Navy and War; and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose budget had increased enormously in the previous two decades) proved to be difficult. Remini writes that because "friendship, politics, and geography constituted the President's total criteria for appointments, most of his appointments were predictably substandard."
Petticoat affair
Jackson devoted a considerable amount of his presidential time during his early years in office responding to what came to be known as the "Petticoat affair" or "Eaton affair." Washington gossip circulated among Jackson's cabinet members and their wives, including Calhoun's wife Floride Calhoun, concerning Secretary of War Eaton and his wife Peggy Eaton. Salacious rumors held that Peggy, as a barmaid in her father's tavern, had been sexually promiscuous or had even been a prostitute. Controversy also ensued because Peggy had married soon after her previous husband's death, and it was alleged that she and her husband had engaged in an adulterous affair while her previous husband was still living. Petticoat politics emerged when the wives of cabinet members, led by Mrs. Calhoun, refused to socialize with the Eatons. Allowing a prostitute in the official family was unthinkable—but Jackson refused to believe the rumors, telling his Cabinet that "She is as chaste as a virgin!" Jackson believed that the dishonorable people were the rumormongers, who in essence questioned and dishonored Jackson himself by, in attempting to drive the Eatons out, daring to tell him who he could and could not have in his cabinet. Jackson was also reminded of the attacks that were made against his wife. These memories increased his dedication to defending Peggy Eaton.
Meanwhile, the cabinet wives insisted that the interests and honor of all American women was at stake. They believed a responsible woman should never accord a man sexual favors without the assurance that went with marriage. A woman who broke that code was dishonorable and unacceptable. Historian Daniel Walker Howe notes that this was the feminist spirit that in the next decade shaped the woman's rights movement. Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, a widower, was already forming a coalition against Calhoun. He could now see his main chance to strike hard; he took the side of Jackson and Eaton.
In the spring of 1831, Jackson, at Van Buren's suggestion, demanded the resignations of all the cabinet members except Barry. Van Buren himself resigned to avoid the appearance of bias. In 1832, Jackson nominated Van Buren to be Minister to Great Britain. Calhoun blocked the nomination with a tie-breaking vote against it, claiming the defeated nomination would "...kill him [Van Buren] dead, sir, kill him dead. He will never kick, sir, never kick." Van Buren continued to serve as an important adviser to Jackson and was placed on the ticket for vice president in the 1832 election, making him Jackson's heir-apparent. The Petticoat affair led to the development of the Kitchen Cabinet. The Kitchen Cabinet emerged as an unofficial group of advisors to the president. Its existence was partially rooted in Jackson's difficulties with his official cabinet, even after the purging.
Indian removal policy
Throughout his eight years in office, Jackson made about 70 treaties with American Indian tribes both in the South and in the Northwest. Jackson's presidency marked the beginning of a policy of Indian removal. Jackson himself sometimes participated in the treaty negotiating process, though other times he left the negotiations to his subordinates. The southern tribes included the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole and the Cherokee. The northwest tribes included the Chippewa, Ottawa, and the Potawatomi.
Relations between Indians and whites increasingly grew tense and sometimes violent as a result of territorial conflicts. Previous presidents had at times supported removal or attempts to "civilize" Native people, but generally let the problem play itself out with minimal intervention. But by Jackson's time, a growing popular and political movement developed wanting action on the issue, and out of this came policy decisions to relocate certain Indian populations. Jackson, never known for timidity, became an advocate for this relocation policy in what many historians consider the most controversial aspect of his presidency.
In his First Annual Message to Congress, Jackson advocated land west of the Mississippi River be set aside for Indian tribes. On May 26, 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which Jackson signed into law two days later. The Act authorized the president to negotiate treaties to buy tribal lands in the east in exchange for lands farther west, outside of existing state borders. The act specifically pertained to the Five Civilized Tribes in the South, the conditions being that they could either move west or stay and obey state law, effectively relinquishing their sovereignty.
Jackson, Eaton, and General Coffee negotiated with the Chickasaw, who quickly agreed to move. Jackson put Eaton and Coffee in charge of negotiating with the Choctaw. Lacking Jackson's skills at negotiation, they simply bribed various leaders in order to gain their agreement. The tactics worked, and with the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Choctaw were required to move. The removal of the Choctaw took place in the winter of 1831 and 1832, and was wrought with misery and suffering. The Seminole, despite the signing of the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832, refused to move. In December 1835, this dispute began the Second Seminole War. The war lasted over six years, finally ending in 1842. Members of the Creek Nation had signed the Treaty of Cusseta in 1832, allowing the Creek to either sell or retain their land. Conflict later erupted between the Creek who remained and the white settlers, leading to a second Creek War. A common complaint amongst the tribes was that the men who had signed the treaties did not represent the whole tribe.
The state of Georgia became involved in a dispute with the Cherokee, culminating in the 1832 Supreme Court decision in Worcester v. Georgia. Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for the court, ruled that Georgia could not forbid whites from entering tribal lands, as it had attempted to do with two missionaries supposedly stirring up resistance amongst the tribespeople. Jackson is frequently attributed the following response: "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." The quote, apparently indicating Jackson's dismissive view of the courts, was attributed to Jackson by Horace Greeley, who cited as his source Representative George N. Briggs. Remini argues that Jackson did not say it because, while it "certainly sounds like Jackson...[t]here was nothing for him to enforce." This is because a writ of habeas corpus had never been issued for the missionaries. The Court also did not ask federal marshals to carry out the decision, as had become standard.
A group of Cherokees led by John Ridge negotiated the Treaty of New Echota. Ridge was not a widely recognized leader of the Cherokee, and this document was rejected by some as illegitimate. Another faction, led by John Ross, unsuccessfully petitioned to protest the proposed removal. The Cherokee largely considered themselves independent, and not subject to the laws of the United States or Georgia. The treaty was enforced by Jackson's successor, Van Buren. Subsequently, as many as 4,000 out of 18,000 Cherokee died on the "Trail of Tears" in 1838.
More than 45,000 people were relocated, primarily to Indian territory in present-day Oklahoma during Jackson's administration, though some Cherokee people walked back afterwards, and others evaded removal by migrating into the Great Smoky Mountains. Another conflict during the Jackson administration was the Black Hawk War in 1832 after a group of Indians crossed into U.S. territory.
Nullification crisis
In 1828, Congress had approved the "Tariff of Abominations", which set the tariff at a historically high rate. Southern planters, who sold their cotton on the world market, strongly opposed this tariff, which they saw as favoring northern interests. The South now had to pay more for goods it did not produce locally; and other countries would have more difficulty affording southern cotton. The issue came to a head during Jackson's presidency, resulting in the Nullification Crisis, in which South Carolina threatened disunion.
The South Carolina Exposition and Protest of 1828, secretly written by Calhoun, asserted that their state had the right to "nullify"—declare void—the tariff legislation of 1828. Although Jackson sympathized with the South in the tariff debate, he also vigorously supported a strong union, with effective powers for the central government. Jackson attempted to face down Calhoun over the issue, which developed into a bitter rivalry between the two men. One incident came at the April 13, 1830, Jefferson Day dinner, involving after-dinner toasts. Robert Hayne began by toasting to "The Union of the States, and the Sovereignty of the States." Jackson then rose, and in a booming voice added "Our federal Union: It must be preserved!" – a clear challenge to Calhoun. Calhoun clarified his position by responding "The Union: Next to our Liberty, the most dear!"
In May 1830, Jackson discovered that Calhoun had asked President Monroe to censure Jackson for his invasion of Spanish Florida in 1818 while Calhoun was serving as Secretary of War. Calhoun's and Jackson's relationship deteriorated further. By February 1831, the break between Calhoun and Jackson was final. Responding to inaccurate press reports about the feud, Calhoun had published letters between him and Jackson detailing the conflict in the United States Telegraph. Jackson and Calhoun began an angry correspondence which lasted until Jackson stopped it in July. The Telegraph, edited by Duff Green, initially supported Jackson. After it sided with Calhoun on nullification, Jackson needed a new organ for the administration. He enlisted the help of longtime supporter Francis Preston Blair, who in November 1830 established a newspaper known as the Washington Globe, which from then on served as the primary mouthpiece of the Democratic Party.
Jackson supported a revision to tariff rates known as the Tariff of 1832. It was designed to placate the nullifiers by lowering tariff rates. Written by Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, the bill lowered duties from 45% to 27%. In May, Representative John Quincy Adams introduced a slightly revised version of the bill, which Jackson accepted. It passed Congress on July 9 and was signed by the president on July 14. The bill failed to satisfy extremists on either side. On November 24, the South Carolina legislature nullified both the Tariff of 1832 and the Tariff of 1828. In response, Jackson sent U.S. Navy warships to Charleston harbor, and threatened to hang any man who worked to support nullification or secession. On December 28, 1832, Calhoun resigned as vice president, after having been elected to the U.S. Senate. This was part of a strategy whereby Calhoun, with less than three months remaining on his vice presidential term, would replace Robert Y. Hayne in the Senate, and he would then become governor of South Carolina. Hayne had often struggled to defend nullification on the floor of the Senate, especially against fierce criticism from Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts.
Also that December, Jackson issued a resounding proclamation against the "nullifiers," stating that he considered "the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed." South Carolina, the president declared, stood on "the brink of insurrection and treason," and he appealed to the people of the state to reassert their allegiance to that Union for which their ancestors had fought. Jackson also denied the right of secession: "The Constitution ... forms a government not a league ... To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States are not a nation." Jackson tended to personalize the controversy, frequently characterizing nullification as a conspiracy between disappointed and bitter men whose ambitions had been thwarted.
Jackson asked Congress to pass a "Force Bill" explicitly authorizing the use of military force to enforce the tariff. It was introduced by Senator Felix Grundy of Tennessee, and was quickly attacked by Calhoun as "military despotism." At the same time, Calhoun and Clay began to work on a new compromise tariff. A bill sponsored by the administration had been introduced by Representative Gulian C. Verplanck of New York, but it lowered rates more sharply than Clay and other protectionists desired. Clay managed to get Calhoun to agree to a bill with higher rates in exchange for Clay's opposition to Jackson's military threats and, perhaps, with the hope that he could win some Southern votes in his next bid for the presidency. The Compromise Tariff passed on March 1, 1833. The Force Bill passed the same day. Calhoun, Clay, and several others marched out of the chamber in opposition, the only dissenting vote coming from John Tyler of Virginia. The new tariff was opposed by Webster, who argued that it essentially surrendered to South Carolina's demands. Jackson, despite his anger over the scrapping of the Verplanck bill and the new alliance between Clay and Calhoun, saw it as an efficient way to end the crisis. He signed both bills on March 2, starting with the Force Bill. The South Carolina Convention then met and rescinded its nullification ordinance, but in a final show of defiance, nullified the Force Bill. On May 1, Jackson wrote, "the tariff was only the pretext, and disunion and southern confederacy the real object. The next pretext will be the negro, or slavery question."
Foreign affairs
Addressing the subject of foreign affairs in his First Annual Address to Congress, Jackson declared it to be his "settled purpose to ask nothing that is not clearly right and to submit to nothing that is wrong."
When Jackson took office, spoliation claims, or compensation demands for the capture of American ships and sailors, dating from the Napoleonic era, caused strained relations between the U.S. and French governments. The French Navy had captured and sent American ships to Spanish ports while holding their crews captive forcing them to labor without any charges or judicial rules. According to Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, relations between the U.S. and France were "hopeless." Jackson's Minister to France, William C. Rives, through diplomacy was able to convince the French government to sign a reparations treaty on July 4, 1831, that would award the U.S. ₣ 25,000,000 ($5,000,000) in damages. The French government became delinquent in payment due to internal financial and political difficulties. The French king Louis Philippe I and his ministers blamed the French Chamber of Deputies. By 1834, the non-payment of reparations by the French government drew Jackson's ire and he became impatient. In his December 1834 State of the Union address, Jackson sternly reprimanded the French government for non-payment, stating the federal government was "wholly disappointed" by the French, and demanded Congress authorize trade reprisals against France. Feeling insulted by Jackson's words, the French people began pressuring their government not to pay the indemnity until Jackson had apologized for his remarks. In his December 1835 State of the Union Address, Jackson refused to apologize, stating he had a good opinion of the French people and his intentions were peaceful. Jackson described in lengthy and minute detail the history of events surrounding the treaty and his belief that the French government was purposely stalling payment. The French accepted Jackson's statements as sincere and in February 1836, reparations were paid.
In addition to France, the Jackson administration successfully settled spoliation claims with Denmark, Portugal, and Spain. Jackson's state department was active and successful at making trade agreements with Russia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Siam. Under the treaty with the United Kingdom, American trade was reopened in the West Indies. The trade agreement with Siam was America's first treaty between the United States and an Asiatic country. As a result, American exports increased 75% while imports increased 250%.
Jackson's attempt to purchase Texas from Mexico for $5,000,000 failed. The chargé d'affaires in Mexico, Colonel Anthony Butler, suggested that the U.S. take Texas over militarily, but Jackson refused. Butler was later replaced toward the end of Jackson's presidency. In 1835, the Texas Revolution began when pro-slavery American settlers in Texas fought the Mexican government for Texan independence. By May 1836, they had routed the Mexican military, establishing an independent Republic of Texas. The new Texas government legalized slavery and demanded recognition from President Jackson and annexation into the United States. Jackson was hesitant in recognizing Texas, unconvinced that the new republic could maintain independence from Mexico, and not wanting to make Texas an anti-slavery issue during the 1836 election. The strategy worked; the Democratic Party and national loyalties were held intact, and Van Buren was elected president. Jackson formally recognized the Republic of Texas, nominating Alcée Louis la Branche as chargé d'affaires on the last full day of his presidency, March 3, 1837.
Jackson failed in his efforts to open trade with China and Japan and was unsuccessful at thwarting the United Kingdom's presence and power in South America.
Bank veto and election of 1832
The 1832 presidential election demonstrated the rapid development and organization of political parties during this time period. The Democratic Party's first national convention, held in Baltimore, nominated Jackson's choice for vice president, Van Buren. The National Republican Party, who had held their first convention in Baltimore earlier in December 1831, nominated Henry Clay, now a senator from Kentucky, and John Sergeant of Pennsylvania. The Anti-Masonic Party emerged by capitalizing on opposition to Freemasonry, which existed primarily in New England, after the disappearance and possible murder of William Morgan. The party, which had earlier held its convention also in Baltimore in September 1831, nominated William Wirt of Maryland and Amos Ellmaker of Pennsylvania. Clay was, like Jackson, a Mason, and so some anti-Jacksonians who would have supported the National Republican Party supported Wirt instead.
In 1816, the Second Bank of the United States was chartered by President James Madison to restore the United States economy devastated by the War of 1812. Monroe had appointed Nicholas Biddle as the Bank's executive. Jackson believed that the Bank was a fundamentally corrupt monopoly. Its stock was mostly held by foreigners, he insisted, and it exerted an unfair amount of control over the political system. Jackson used the issue to promote his democratic values, believing the Bank was being run exclusively for the wealthy. Jackson stated the Bank made "the rich richer and the potent more powerful." He accused it of making loans with the intent of influencing elections. In his address to Congress in 1830, Jackson called for a substitute for the Bank that would have no private stockholders and no ability to lend or purchase land. Its only power would be to issue bills of exchange. The address touched off fiery debate in the Senate. Thomas Hart Benton, now a strong supporter of the president despite the brawl years earlier, gave a speech excoriating the Bank and calling for debate on its recharter. Webster led a motion to narrowly defeat the resolution. Shortly afterward, the Globe announced that Jackson would stand for reelection.
Despite his misgivings about the Bank, Jackson supported a plan proposed in late 1831 by his moderately pro-Bank Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, who was secretly working with Biddle, to recharter a reformed version of the Bank in a way that would free up funds which would in turn be used to strengthen the military or pay off the nation's debt. This would be done, in part, through the sale of government stock in the Bank. Over the objections of Attorney General Roger B. Taney, an irreconcilable opponent of the Bank, he allowed McLane to publish a Treasury Report which essentially recommended rechartering the Bank.
Clay hoped to make the Bank an issue in the election, so as to accuse Jackson of going beyond his powers if he vetoed a recharter bill. He and Webster urged Biddle to immediately apply for recharter rather than wait to reach a compromise with the administration. Biddle received advice to the contrary from moderate Democrats such as McLane and William Lewis, who argued that Biddle should wait because Jackson would likely veto the recharter bill. On January 6, 1832, Biddle submitted to Congress a renewal of the Bank's charter without any of the proposed reforms. The submission came four years before the original 20-year charter was to end. Biddle's recharter bill passed the Senate on June 11 and the House on July 3, 1832. Jackson determined to veto it. Many moderate Democrats, including McLane, were appalled by the perceived arrogance of the bill and supported his decision. When Van Buren met Jackson on July 4, Jackson declared, "The Bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill me. But I will kill it." Jackson vetoed the bill on July 10. The veto message was crafted primarily by Taney, Kendall, and Jackson's nephew and advisor Andrew Jackson Donelson. It attacked the Bank as an agent of inequality that supported only the wealthy. The veto was considered "one of the strongest and most controversial" presidential statements and "a brilliant political manifesto." The National Republican Party immediately made Jackson's veto of the Bank a political issue. Jackson's political opponents castigated the veto as "the very slang of the leveller and demagogue," claiming Jackson was using class warfare to gain support from the common man.
At Biddle's direction, the Bank poured thousands of dollars into a campaign to defeat Jackson, seemingly confirming Jackson's view that it interfered in the political process. Jackson successfully portrayed his veto as a defense of the common man against governmental tyranny. Clay proved to be no match for Jackson's ability to resonate with the people and the Democratic Party's strong political networks. Democratic newspapers, parades, barbecues, and rallies increased Jackson's popularity. Jackson himself made numerous public appearances on his return trip from Tennessee to Washington, D.C. He won the election by a landslide, receiving 54 percent of the popular vote and 219 electoral votes. Clay received 37 percent of the popular vote and 49 electoral votes. Wirt received only eight percent of the popular vote and seven electoral votes while the Anti-Masonic Party eventually declined. Jackson believed the solid victory was a popular mandate for his veto of the Bank's recharter and his continued warfare on the Bank's control over the national economy.
Removal of deposits and censure
In 1833, Jackson attempted to begin removing federal deposits from the bank, whose money-lending functions were taken over by the legions of local and state banks that materialized across America, thus drastically increasing credit and speculation. Jackson's moves were greatly controversial. He removed McLane from the Treasury Department, having him serve instead as Secretary of State, replacing Edward Livingston. He replaced McLane with William J. Duane. In September, he fired Duane for refusing to remove the deposits. Signalling his intent to continue battling the Bank, he replaced Duane with Taney. Under Taney, the deposits began to be removed. They were placed in a variety of state banks which were friendly to the administration's policies, known to critics as pet banks. Biddle responded by stockpiling the Bank's reserves and contracting credit, thus causing interest rates to rise and bringing about a financial panic. The moves were intended to force Jackson into a compromise. "Nothing but the evidence of suffering abroad will produce any effect in Congress," he wrote. At first, Biddle's strategy was successful, putting enormous pressure on Jackson. But Jackson handled the situation well. When people came to him complaining, he referred them to Biddle, saying that he was the man who had "all the money." Jackson's approach worked. Biddle's strategy backfired, increasing anti-Bank sentiment.
In 1834, those who disagreed with Jackson's expansion of executive power united and formed the Whig Party, calling Jackson "King Andrew I," and named their party after the English Whigs who opposed seventeenth century British monarchy. A movement emerged among Whigs in the Senate to censure Jackson. The censure was a political maneuver spearheaded by Clay, which served only to perpetuate the animosity between him and Jackson. Jackson called Clay "reckless and as full of fury as a drunken man in a brothel." On March 28, the Senate voted to censure Jackson 26–20. It also rejected Taney as Treasury Secretary. The House however, led by Ways and Means Committee chairman James K. Polk, declared on April 4 that the Bank "ought not to be rechartered" and that the depositions "ought not to be restored." It voted to continue allowing pet banks to be places of deposit and voted even more overwhelmingly to investigate whether the Bank had deliberately instigated the panic. Jackson called the passage of these resolutions a "glorious triumph." It essentially sealed the Bank's demise. The Democrats later suffered a temporary setback. Polk ran for Speaker of the House to replace Andrew Stevenson. After Southerners discovered his connection to Van Buren, he was defeated by fellow-Tennessean John Bell, a Democrat-turned-Whig who opposed Jackson's removal policy.
Payment of US national debt
The national economy following the withdrawal of the remaining funds from the Bank was booming and the federal government through duty revenues and sale of public lands was able to pay all bills. On January 1, 1835, Jackson paid off the entire national debt, the only time in U.S. history that has been accomplished. The objective had been reached in part through Jackson's reforms aimed at eliminating the misuse of funds and through his vetoes of legislation which he deemed extravagant. In December 1835, Polk defeated Bell in a rematch and was elected Speaker. Finally, on January 16, 1837, when the Jacksonians had a majority in the Senate, the censure was expunged after years of effort by Jackson supporters. The expunction movement was led, ironically, by Benton.
In 1836, in response to increased land speculation, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, an executive order that required buyers of government lands to pay in "specie" (gold or silver coins). The result was high demand for specie, which many banks could not meet in exchange for their notes, contributing to the Panic of 1837. The White House Van Buren biography notes, "Basically the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of 'boom and bust,' which was following its regular pattern, but Jackson's financial measures contributed to the crash. His destruction of the Second Bank of the United States had removed restrictions upon the inflationary practices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easy bank credit, had swept the West. To end this speculation, Jackson in 1836 had issued a Specie Circular..."
Attack and assassination attempt
The first recorded physical attack on a U.S. president was directed at Jackson. He had ordered the dismissal of Robert B. Randolph from the navy for embezzlement. On May 6, 1833, Jackson sailed on USS Cygnet to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he was to lay the cornerstone on a monument near the grave of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother. During a stopover near Alexandria, Randolph appeared and struck the president. He fled the scene chased by several members of Jackson's party, including the writer Washington Irving. Jackson declined to press charges.
On January 30, 1835, what is believed to be the first attempt to kill a sitting president of the United States occurred just outside the United States Capitol. When Jackson was leaving through the East Portico after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter from England, aimed a pistol at Jackson, which misfired. Lawrence then pulled out a second pistol, which also misfired. Historians believe the humid weather contributed to the double misfiring. Jackson, infuriated, attacked Lawrence with his cane, until others present, including Davy Crockett, fearing that the president would beat Lawrence to a pulp, intervened to restrain and disarm Lawrence.
Lawrence offered a variety of explanations for the attempted shooting. He blamed Jackson for the loss of his job. He claimed that with the president dead, "money would be more plenty," (a reference to Jackson's struggle with the Bank of the United States) and that he "could not rise until the President fell." Finally, Lawrence told his interrogators that he was a deposed English king—specifically, Richard III, dead since 1485—and that Jackson was his clerk. He was deemed insane and was institutionalized at the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C.
Afterwards, the pistols were tested and retested. Each time they performed perfectly. Many believed that Jackson had been protected by the same Providence that also protected their young nation. The incident became a part of Jacksonian mythos. Jackson initially suspected that a number of his political enemies might have orchestrated the attempt on his life. His suspicions were never proven.
Reaction to anti-slavery tracts
During the summer of 1835, Northern abolitionists began sending anti-slavery tracts through the postal system into the South. Pro-slavery Southerners demanded that the postal service ban distribution of the materials, which were deemed "incendiary," and some began to riot. Jackson wanted sectional peace, and desired to placate Southerners ahead of the 1836 election. He fiercely disliked the abolitionists, whom he believed were, by instituting sectional jealousies, attempting to destroy the Union. Jackson also did not want to condone open insurrection. He supported the solution of Postmaster General Amos Kendall, which gave Southern postmasters discretionary powers to either send or detain the anti-slavery tracts. That December, Jackson called on Congress to prohibit the circulation through the South of "incendiary publications intended to instigate the slaves to insurrection."
U.S. exploring expedition
Jackson initially opposed any federal exploratory scientific expeditions during his first term in office. The last scientific federally funded expeditions took place from 1817 to 1823, led by Stephen H. Harriman west of the Mississippi. Jackson's predecessor, President Adams, attempted to launch a scientific oceanic exploration in 1828, but Congress was unwilling to fund the effort. When Jackson assumed office in 1829 he pocketed Adams' expedition plans. Eventually, wanting to establish his presidential legacy, similar to Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Jackson sponsored scientific exploration during his second term. On May 18, 1836, Jackson signed a law creating and funding the oceanic United States Exploring Expedition. Jackson put Secretary of the Navy Mahlon Dickerson in charge, to assemble suitable ships, officers, and scientific staff for the expedition; with a planned launch before Jackson's term of office expired. Dickerson proved unfit for the task, preparations stalled and the expedition was not launched until 1838, during the presidency of Van Buren. One brig ship, , later used in the expedition; having been commissioned by Secretary Dickerson in May 1836, circumnavigated the world and explored and mapped the Southern Ocean, confirming the existence of the continent of Antarctica.
Panic of 1837
In spite of economic success following Jackson's vetoes and war against the Bank, reckless speculation in land and railroads eventually caused the Panic of 1837. Contributing factors included Jackson's veto of the Second National Bank renewal charter in 1832 and subsequent transfer of federal monies to state banks in 1833 that caused western banks to relax their lending standards. Two other Jacksonian acts in 1836 contributed to the Panic of 1837: the Specie Circular, which mandated western lands only be purchased by money backed by gold and silver, and the Deposit and Distribution Act, which transferred federal monies from eastern to western state banks and in turn led to a speculation frenzy by banks. Jackson's Specie Circular, albeit designed to reduce speculation and stabilize the economy, left many investors unable to afford to pay loans in gold and silver. The same year there was a downturn in Great Britain's economy that stopped investment in the United States. As a result, the U.S. economy went into a depression, banks became insolvent, the national debt (previously paid off) increased, business failures rose, cotton prices dropped, and unemployment dramatically increased. The depression that followed lasted for four years until 1841, when the economy began to rebound.
Administration and cabinet
Judicial appointments
Jackson appointed six justices to the Supreme Court. Most were undistinguished. His first appointee, John McLean, had been nominated in Barry's place after Barry had agreed to become postmaster general. McLean "turned Whig and forever schemed to win" the presidency. His next two appointees–Henry Baldwin and James Moore Wayne–disagreed with Jackson on some points but were poorly regarded even by Jackson's enemies. In reward for his services, Jackson nominated Taney to the Court to fill a vacancy in January 1835, but the nomination failed to win Senate approval. Chief Justice Marshall died in 1835, leaving two vacancies on the court. Jackson nominated Taney for Chief Justice and Philip P. Barbour for Associate Justice. Both were confirmed by the new Senate. Taney served as Chief Justice until 1864, presiding over a court that upheld many of the precedents set by the Marshall Court. He was regarded with respect over the course of his career on the bench, but his opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford largely overshadows his other accomplishments. On the last full day of his presidency, Jackson nominated John Catron, who was confirmed.
States admitted to the Union
Two new states were admitted into the Union during Jackson's presidency: Arkansas (June 15, 1836) and Michigan (January 26, 1837). Both states increased Democratic power in Congress and helped Van Buren win the presidency in 1836. This was in keeping with the tradition that new states would support the party which had done the most to admit them.
Later life and death (1837–1845)
In 1837, after serving two terms as president, Jackson was replaced by his chosen successor Martin Van Buren and retired to the Hermitage. He immediately began putting it in order as it had been poorly managed in his absence by his adopted son, Andrew Jackson Jr. Although he suffered ill health, Jackson remained highly influential in both national and state politics. He was a firm advocate of the federal union of the states and rejected any talk of secession, insisting, "I will die with the Union." Blamed for causing the Panic of 1837, he was unpopular in his early retirement. Jackson continued to denounce the "perfidy and treachery" of banks and urged his successor, Van Buren, to repudiate the Specie Circular as president.
As a solution to the panic, he supported an Independent Treasury system, which was designed to hold the money balances of the government in the form of gold or silver and would be restricted from printing paper money so as to prevent further inflation. A coalition of conservative Democrats and Whigs opposed the bill, and it was not passed until 1840. During the delay, no effective remedy had been implemented for the depression. Van Buren grew deeply unpopular. A unified Whig Party nominated popular war hero William Henry Harrison and former Jacksonian John Tyler in the 1840 presidential election. The Whigs' campaign style in many ways mimicked that of the Democrats when Jackson ran. They depicted Van Buren as an aristocrat who did not care for the concerns of ordinary Americans, while glorifying Harrison's military record and portraying him as a man of the people. Jackson campaigned heavily for Van Buren in Tennessee. He favored the nomination of Polk for vice president at the 1840 Democratic National Convention over controversial incumbent Richard Mentor Johnson. No nominee was chosen, and the party chose to leave the decision up to individual state electors.
Harrison won the election, and the Whigs captured majorities in both houses of Congress. "The democracy of the United States has been shamefully beaten", Jackson wrote to Van Buren, "but I trust, not conquered." Harrison died only a month into his term, and was replaced by Tyler. Jackson was encouraged because Tyler had a strong independent streak and was not bound by party lines. Tyler quickly incurred the wrath of the Whigs in 1841 when he vetoed two Whig-sponsored bills to establish a new national bank, bringing satisfaction to Jackson and other Democrats. After the second veto, Tyler's entire cabinet, with the exception of Webster, resigned.
Jackson strongly favored the annexation of Texas, a feat he had been unable to accomplish during his own presidency. While Jackson still feared that annexation would stir up anti-slavery sentiment, his belief that the British would use Texas as a base to threaten the United States overrode his other concerns. He also insisted that Texas was part of the Louisiana Purchase and therefore rightfully belonged to the United States. At the request of Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, acting on behalf of the Tyler administration, which also supported annexation, Jackson wrote several letters to Texas president Sam Houston, urging him to wait for the Senate to approve annexation and explaining how much being a part of the United States would benefit Texas. Initially prior to the 1844 election, Jackson again supported Van Buren for president and Polk for vice president. A treaty of annexation was signed by Tyler on April 12, 1844, and submitted to the Senate. When a letter from Secretary of State Calhoun to British Ambassador Richard Pakenham linking annexation to slavery was made public, anti-annexation sentiment exploded in the North and the bill failed to be ratified. Van Buren decided to write the "Hamlet letter," opposing annexation. This effectively extinguished any support that Van Buren might previously have enjoyed in the South. The Whig nominee, Henry Clay, also opposed annexation, and Jackson recognized the need for the Democrats to nominate a candidate who supported it and could therefore gain the support of the South. If the plan failed, Jackson warned, Texas would not join the Union and would potentially fall victim to a Mexican invasion supported by the British.
Jackson met with Polk, Robert Armstrong, and Andrew Jackson Donelson in his study. He then pointed directly at a startled Polk, telling him that, as a man from the southwest and a supporter of annexation, he would be the perfect candidate. Polk called the scheme "utterly abortive", but agreed to go along with it. At the 1844 Democratic National Convention, Polk emerged as the party's nominee after Van Buren failed to win the required two-thirds majority of delegates. George M. Dallas was selected for vice president. Jackson convinced Tyler to drop his plans of running for re-election as an independent by promising, as Tyler requested, to welcome the President and his allies back into the Democratic Party and by instructing Blair to stop criticizing the President. Polk won the election, defeating Clay. A bill of annexation was passed by Congress in February and signed by Tyler on March 1.
Jackson's age and illness eventually overcame him. On June 8, 1845, he was surrounded by family and friends at his deathbed. Jackson, startled by their sobbing, said, "What is the matter with my dear children? Have I alarmed you? Oh, do not cry. Be good children and we will all meet in Heaven." He died immediately after at the age of 78 of chronic dropsy and heart failure. According to a newspaper account from the Boon Lick Times, "[he] fainted whilst being removed from his chair to the bed ... but he subsequently revived ... Gen. Jackson died at the Hermitage at 6 p.m. on Sunday the 8th instant. ... When the messenger finally came, the old soldier, patriot and Christian was looking out for his approach. He is gone, but his memory lives, and will continue to live." In his will, Jackson left his entire estate to Andrew Jackson Jr. except for specifically enumerated items that were left to various friends and family members.
Personal life
Family
Jackson had three adopted sons: Theodore, an Indian about whom little is known, Andrew Jackson Jr., the son of Rachel's brother Severn Donelson, and Lyncoya, a Creek orphan adopted by Jackson after the Battle of Tallushatchee. Lyncoya died of tuberculosis on July 1, 1828, at the age of sixteen.
The Jacksons also acted as guardians for eight other children. John Samuel Donelson, Daniel Smith Donelson, and Andrew Jackson Donelson were the sons of Rachel's brother Samuel Donelson, who died in 1804. Andrew Jackson Hutchings was Rachel's orphaned grand nephew. Caroline Butler, Eliza Butler, Edward Butler, and Anthony Butler were the orphaned children of Edward Butler, a family friend. They came to live with the Jacksons after the death of their father.
The widower Jackson invited Rachel's niece Emily Donelson to serve as hostess at the White House. Emily was married to Andrew Jackson Donelson, who acted as Jackson's private secretary and in 1856 ran for vice president on the American Party ticket. The relationship between the president and Emily became strained during the Petticoat affair, and the two became estranged for over a year. They eventually reconciled and she resumed her duties as White House hostess. Sarah Yorke Jackson, the wife of Andrew Jackson Jr., became co-hostess of the White House in 1834. It was the only time in history when two women simultaneously acted as unofficial First Lady. Sarah took over all hostess duties after Emily died from tuberculosis in 1836. Jackson used Rip Raps as a retreat.
Temperament
Jackson's quick temper was notorious. Biographer H. W. Brands notes that his opponents were terrified of his temper: "Observers likened him to a volcano, and only the most intrepid or recklessly curious cared to see it erupt. ... His close associates all had stories of his blood-curdling oaths, his summoning of the Almighty to loose His wrath upon some miscreant, typically followed by his own vow to hang the villain or blow him to perdition. Given his record—in duels, brawls, mutiny trials, and summary hearings—listeners had to take his vows seriously."
On the last day of his presidency, Jackson admitted that he had but two regrets, that he "had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun." On his deathbed, he was once again quoted as regretting that he had not hanged Calhoun for treason. "My country would have sustained me in the act, and his fate would have been a warning to traitors in all time to come," he said. Remini expresses the opinion that Jackson was typically in control of his temper, and that he used his anger, along with his fearsome reputation, as a tool to get what he wanted.
Physical appearance
Jackson was a lean figure, standing at tall, and weighing between on average. Jackson also had an unruly shock of red hair, which had completely grayed by the time he became president at age 61. He had penetrating deep blue eyes. Jackson was one of the more sickly presidents, suffering from chronic headaches, abdominal pains, and a hacking cough. Much of his trouble was caused by a musket ball in his lung that was never removed, that often brought up blood and sometimes made his whole body shake.
Religious faith
In 1838, Jackson became an official member of the First Presbyterian Church in Nashville. Both his mother and his wife had been devout Presbyterians all their lives, but Jackson himself had postponed officially entering the church in order to avoid accusations that he had joined only for political reasons.
Freemasonry
Jackson was a Freemason, initiated at Harmony Lodge No. 1 in Tennessee. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee in 1822 and 1823. During the 1832 presidential election, Jackson faced opposition from the Anti-Masonic Party. He was the only U.S. president to have served as Grand Master of a state's Grand Lodge until Harry S. Truman in 1945. His Masonic apron is on display in the Tennessee State Museum. An obelisk and bronze Masonic plaque decorate his tomb at the Hermitage.
Legacy
Historical reputation
Jackson remains one of the most studied and controversial figures in American history. Historian Charles Grier Sellers says, "Andrew Jackson's masterful personality was enough by itself to make him one of the most controversial figures ever to stride across the American stage." There has never been universal agreement on Jackson's legacy, for "his opponents have ever been his most bitter enemies, and his friends almost his worshippers." He was always a fierce partisan, with many friends and many enemies. He has been lauded as the champion of the common man, while criticized for his treatment of Indians and for other matters. James Parton was the first man after Jackson's death to write a full biography of him. Trying to sum up the contradictions in his subject, he wrote:
Jackson was criticized by his contemporary Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1835 book Democracy in America for flattering the dominant ideas of his time, including the mistrust over the federal power, for sometimes enforcing his view by force and disrespect towards the institutions and the law:
In the 20th century, Jackson was the subject of multiple highly favorable biographies. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.'s Age of Jackson (1945) depicts Jackson as a man of the people battling inequality and upper-class tyranny. From the 1970s to the 1980s, Robert Remini published a three-volume biography of Jackson followed by an abridged one-volume study. Remini paints a generally favorable portrait of Jackson. He contends that Jacksonian democracy "stretches the concept of democracy about as far as it can go and still remain workable. ... As such it has inspired much of the dynamic and dramatic events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in American history—Populism, Progressivism, the New and Fair Deals, and the programs of the New Frontier and Great Society." To Remini, Jackson serves as "the embodiment of the new American ... This new man was no longer British. He no longer wore the queue and silk pants. He wore trousers, and he had stopped speaking with a British accent." Other 20th-century writers such as Richard Hofstadter and Bray Hammond depict Jackson as an advocate of the sort of laissez-faire capitalism that benefits the rich and oppresses the poor.
Jackson's initiatives to deal with the conflicts between Native American people and European-American settlers has been a source of controversy. Starting around 1970, Jackson came under attack from some historians on this issue. Howard Zinn called him "the most aggressive enemy of the Indians in early American history" and "exterminator of Indians." Conversely, in 1969, Francis Paul Prucha argued that Jackson's removal of the Five Civilized Tribes from the extremely hostile white environment in the Old South to Oklahoma probably saved their very existence. Similarly, Remini claims that, if not for Jackson's policies, the Southeastern tribes would have been totally wiped out, similar to people such as the Yamasee, Mahican, and Narragansett.
Jackson has long been honored, along with Thomas Jefferson, in the Jefferson–Jackson Day fundraising dinners held by state Democratic Party organizations to honor the two men whom the party regards as its founders. However, because both Jefferson and Jackson were slave owners, as well as because of Jackson's Indian removal policies, many state party organizations have renamed the dinners.
Brands argues that Jackson's reputation suffered since the 1960s as his actions towards Indians and African Americans received new attention. After the civil rights movement, Brand writes, "his unrepentant ownership of slaves marked him as one to be censured rather than praised." Further, "By the turn of the present [21st] century, it was scarcely an exaggeration to say that the one thing American schoolchildren learned about Jackson was that he was the author of the Trail of Tears." Brands notes that he was often hailed during his lifetime as the "second George Washington" because, while Washington had fought for independence, Jackson confirmed it at New Orleans and made the United States a great power. Over time, while the Revolution has maintained a strong presence in the public conscience, memory of the War of 1812, including the Battle of New Orleans, has sharply declined. Brands writes that this is because once America had become a military power, "it was easy to think that America had been destined for this role from the beginning."
Still, Jackson's performance in office compared to other presidents has generally been ranked in the top half in public opinion polling. His position in C-SPAN's poll dropped from 13th in 2009, to 18th in 2017, and to 22nd in 2021.
Portrayal on banknotes and stamps
Jackson has appeared on U.S. banknotes as far back as 1869, and extending into the 21st century. His image has appeared on the $5, $10, $20, and $10,000 note. Most recently, his image has appeared on the U.S. $20 Federal reserve note beginning in 1928. In 2016, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced his goal that by 2020 an image of Harriet Tubman would replace Jackson's depiction on the front side of the $20 banknote, and that an image of Jackson would be placed on the reverse side, though the final decision will be made by his successors.
Jackson has appeared on several postage stamps. He first appeared on an 1863 two-cent stamp, which is commonly referred to by collectors as the Black Jack due to the large portraiture of Jackson on its face printed in pitch black. During the American Civil War, the Confederate government issued two Confederate postage stamps bearing Jackson's portrait, one a 2-cent red stamp and the other a 2-cent green stamp, both issued in 1863.
Memorials
Numerous counties and cities are named after him, including the cities of Jacksonville in Florida and North Carolina; the cities of Jackson in Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee; the city of Andrew in Iowa; Jackson County in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Oregon; and Jackson Parish in Louisiana.
Memorials to Jackson include a set of four identical equestrian statues by the sculptor Clark Mills: in Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.; in Jackson Square, New Orleans; in Nashville on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol; and in Jacksonville, Florida. Other equestrian statues of Jackson have been erected elsewhere, as in the State Capitol grounds in Raleigh, North Carolina. That statue controversially identifies him as one of the "presidents North Carolina gave the nation," and he is featured alongside James Polk and Andrew Johnson, both U.S. presidents born in North Carolina. There is a bust of Andrew Jackson in Plaza Ferdinand VII in Pensacola, Florida, where he became the first governor of the Florida Territory in 1821. There is also a 1928 bronze sculpture of Andrew Jackson by Belle Kinney Scholz and Leopold Scholz in the U.S. Capitol Building as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Popular culture depictions
Jackson and his wife Rachel were the main subjects of a 1951 historical novel by Irving Stone, The President's Lady, which told the story of their lives up until Rachel's death. The novel was the basis for the 1953 film of the same name starring Charlton Heston as Jackson and Susan Hayward as Rachel.
Jackson has been a supporting character in a number of historical films and television productions. Lionel Barrymore played Jackson in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), a fictionalized biography of Peggy Eaton starring Joan Crawford. The Buccaneer (1938), depicting the Battle of New Orleans, included Hugh Sothern as Jackson, and was remade in 1958 with Heston again playing Jackson.
Brian Donlevy played Jackson in the Paramount Pictures 1942 film The Remarkable Andrew. Basil Ruysdael played Jackson in Walt Disney's 1955 Davy Crockett TV miniseries. Wesley Addy appeared as Jackson in some episodes of the 1976 PBS miniseries The Adams Chronicles.
Jackson is the protagonist of the comedic historic rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (2008) with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and book by Alex Timbers.
In 1959, Jimmy Driftwood wrote the song "The Battle of New Orleans," which mentions Jackson. Johnny Horton recorded it that same year.
See also
List of presidents of the United States on currency
Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps
Notes
References
Bibliography
Biographies
; 344 pages; coverage to age 21
Abridgment of Remini's 3-volume biography.
Specialized studies
Historiography
Ward, John William 1955. Andrew Jackson, Symbol for an Age. New York: Oxford University Press.
Primary sources
7 volumes total.
(9 vols. 1980 to date)
Reprints his major messages and reports.
Library of Congress. "Andrew Jackson Papers", a digital archive that provides direct access to the manuscript images of many of the Jackson documents. online
Further reading
External links
Andrew Jackson: A Resource Guide at the Library of Congress
The Papers of Andrew Jackson at the Avalon Project
The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson
"Life Portrait of Andrew Jackson", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, April 26, 1999
"The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson and the Growth of Party Politics", lesson plan at the National Endowment for the Humanities
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Tuberculosis deaths in Tennessee | true | [
"Prague was captured and sacked twice in the Thirty Years' War, right at the start, and right at the end:\n\nin 1620 by Habsburg troops, after the Battle of White Mountain\nin 1648 by Swedish troops, after the Battle of Prague (1648); they did not capture the whole city - this is the more likely reference.\n\nThirty Years' War",
"The Trois Burettes Inn was situated at the crossroads of Namur high road and the Old Roman Road, in Belgium. It was a notable location in two battles:\nBattle of Fleurus (1690): Duc de Luxembourg, commanding Louis XIV of a French army soundly defeated Prince Waldeck’s Allied force of comprising mainly Dutch, German, and Spanish troops. In this battle the right wing of the French army crossed two bridges near the Trois-Burettes.\nBattle of Ligny (1815): The French Army of the North under Napoleon Bonaparte defeated a Prussian army under the command of Prince Blücher. At the start of the battle the cross roads was occupied by the Prussian 5th Brigade (Greneral Tippelskirch's). When the 5th Brigade advanced on Saint-Amand-la-Haye the 7th Brigade (General Brause's) occupy the position.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\n \n\nHotels in Belgium\nBattle of Ligny locations"
] |
[
"Andrew Jackson",
"Battle of New Orleans",
"When did the battle start?",
"December 1, 1814,"
] | C_d066211bb235410c9c7b763df9a0ddfd_1 | When did the battle end? | 2 | When did Andrew Jackson's, Battle of New Orleans battle end? | Andrew Jackson | Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from present day Northern Ireland two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, in current-day Northern Ireland, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal family line originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England. When they immigrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. They brought two children from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). Jackson's father died in a logging accident while clearing land in February 1767 at the age of 29, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests. Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824 Jackson wrote a letter saying that he was born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian country. Most of the transactions involved grants made under the 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819. After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. Jackson soon became associated with the more radical, pro-French and anti-British wing. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. Senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests. After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of conflict with Europeans or Indians, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane, and continued to serve as governor until 1809. After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson only had about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained. The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." CANNOTANSWER | February 27, 1815, | Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. An expansionist president, Jackson sought to advance the rights of the "common man" against a "corrupt aristocracy" and to preserve the Union.
Born in the colonial Carolinas in the decade before the American Revolutionary War, Jackson became a frontier lawyer and married Rachel Donelson Robards. He served briefly in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, representing Tennessee. After resigning, he served as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1798 until 1804. Jackson purchased a property later known as The Hermitage, and became a wealthy, slaveowning planter. In 1801, he was appointed colonel of the Tennessee militia and was elected its commander the following year. He led troops during the Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The subsequent Treaty of Fort Jackson required the Creek surrender of vast lands in present-day Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent war against the British, Jackson's victory in 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans made him a national hero. Jackson then led U.S. forces in the First Seminole War, which led to the annexation of Florida from Spain. Jackson briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824, winning a plurality of the popular and electoral vote. As no candidate won an electoral majority, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams in a contingent election. In reaction to the alleged "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Henry Clay and the ambitious agenda of President Adams, Jackson's supporters founded the Democratic Party.
Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide. Jackson faced the threat of secession by South Carolina over what opponents called the "Tariff of Abominations". The crisis was defused when the tariff was amended, and Jackson threatened the use of military force if South Carolina attempted to secede. In Congress, Henry Clay led the effort to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States. Jackson, regarding the Bank as a corrupt institution that benefited the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Americans, vetoed the renewal of its charter. After a lengthy struggle, Jackson and his allies thoroughly dismantled the Bank. In 1835, Jackson became the only president to completely pay off the national debt, fulfilling a longtime goal. While Jackson pursued numerous reforms designed to eliminate waste and corruption, his presidency marked the beginning of the ascendancy of the party "spoils system" in American politics. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibly removed most members of the major tribes of the Southeast to Indian Territory; these removals were subsequently known as the Trail of Tears. The relocation process dispossessed these nations of their land and resulted in widespread death and disease. Jackson opposed the abolitionist movement, which grew stronger in his second term. In foreign affairs, Jackson's administration concluded a "most favored nation" treaty with the United Kingdom, settled claims of damages against France from the Napoleonic Wars, and recognized the Republic of Texas. In January 1835, he survived the first assassination attempt on a sitting president.
In his retirement, Jackson remained active in Democratic Party politics, supporting the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk. Though fearful of its effects on the slavery debate, Jackson advocated the annexation of Texas, which was accomplished shortly before his death. Jackson has been widely revered in the United States as an advocate for democracy and the common man. Many of his actions proved divisive, garnering both fervent support and strong opposition from many in the country. His reputation has suffered since the 1970s, largely due to his anti-abolitionist views and policy of the forcible removal of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands. However, surveys of historians and scholars have ranked Jackson favorably among U.S. presidents.
Early life and education
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew Jackson and his wife Elizabeth Hutchinson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ulster, Ireland, two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal ancestors originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England.
When they migrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents brought two children with them from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). The family probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. Jackson's father died in February 1767 at the age of 29, in a logging accident while clearing land, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests.
Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824, Jackson wrote a letter saying he had been born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. As a young boy, Jackson was easily offended and was considered something of a bully. He was, however, also said to have taken a group of younger and weaker boys under his wing and been kind to them.
Revolutionary War service
During the Revolutionary War, Jackson's eldest brother, Hugh, died from heat exhaustion after the Battle of Stono Ferry on June 20, 1779. Anti-British sentiment intensified following the Waxhaws Massacre on May 29, 1780. Jackson's mother encouraged him and his elder brother Robert to attend the local militia drills. Soon, they began to help the militia as couriers. They served under Colonel William Richardson Davie at the Battle of Hanging Rock on August 6. Andrew and Robert were captured by the British in April 1781 while staying at the home of the Crawford family. When Andrew refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the officer slashed at the youth with a sword, leaving him with scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British. Robert also refused to do as commanded and was struck with the sword. The two brothers were held as prisoners, contracted smallpox, and nearly starved to death in captivity.
Later that year, their mother Elizabeth secured the brothers' release. She then began to walk both boys back to their home in the Waxhaws, a distance of some 40 miles (64 km). Both were in very poor health. Robert, who was far worse, rode on the only horse they had, while Andrew walked behind them. In the final two hours of the journey, a torrential downpour began which worsened the effects of the smallpox. Within two days of arriving back home, Robert was dead and Andrew in mortal danger. After nursing Andrew back to health, Elizabeth volunteered to nurse American prisoners of war on board two British ships in the Charleston harbor, where there had been an outbreak of cholera. In November, she died from the disease and was buried in an unmarked grave. Andrew became an orphan at age 14. He blamed the British personally for the loss of his brothers and mother.
Early career
Legal career and marriage
After the Revolutionary War, Jackson received a sporadic education in a local Waxhaw school. On bad terms with much of his extended family, he boarded with several different people. In 1781, he worked for a time as a saddle-maker, and eventually taught school. He apparently prospered in neither profession. In 1784, he left the Waxhaws region for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he studied law under attorney Spruce Macay. With the help of various lawyers, he was able to learn enough to qualify for the bar. In September 1787, Jackson was admitted to the North Carolina bar. Shortly thereafter, his friend John McNairy helped him get appointed to a vacant prosecutor position in the Western District of North Carolina, which would later become the state of Tennessee. During his travel west, Jackson bought his first slave, a woman who was older than him. In 1788, having been offended by fellow lawyer Waightstill Avery, Jackson fought his first duel. The duel ended with both men firing into the air, having made a secret agreement to do so before the engagement.
Jackson moved to the small frontier town of Nashville in 1788, where he lived as a boarder with Rachel Stockly Donelson, the widow of John Donelson. Here Jackson became acquainted with their daughter, Rachel Donelson Robards. The younger Rachel was in an unhappy marriage with Captain Lewis Robards; he was subject to fits of jealous rage. The two were separated in 1790. According to Jackson, he married Rachel after hearing that Robards had obtained a divorce. Her divorce had not been made final, making Rachel's marriage to Jackson bigamous and therefore invalid. After the divorce was officially completed, Rachel and Jackson remarried in 1794. To complicate matters further, evidence shows that Rachel had been living with Jackson and referred to herself as Mrs. Jackson before the petition for divorce was ever made. It was not uncommon on the frontier for relationships to be formed and dissolved unofficially, as long as they were recognized by the community.
Land speculation and early public career
In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian territory. Most of the transactions involved grants made under a 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819.
After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. As a representative, Jackson staunchly advocated for the rights of Tennesseans against Native American tribal interests. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Democratic-Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Democratic-Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision-making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests.
After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of armed conflicts, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Jackson then published a newspaper article accusing Sevier of fraud and bribery. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane and continued to serve as governor until 1809.
Planting career and controversy
In addition to his legal and political career, Jackson prospered as a planter and merchant. He built a home and the first general store in Gallatin, Tennessee, in 1803. The next year, he acquired The Hermitage, a plantation in Davidson County, near Nashville. He later added to the plantation, which eventually totaled . The primary crop was cotton. Like most successful American planters at the time, Jackson's plantation depended on slave labor. The cotton cultivated at the Hermitage was planted and picked by slaves. The Hermitage was quite profitable; Jackson began with nine slaves, owned as many as 44 by 1820, and later up to 150, placing him among the planter elite. Jackson also co-owned with his son Andrew Jackson Jr. the Halcyon plantation in Coahoma County, Mississippi, which housed 51 slaves at the time of his death. Throughout his lifetime, Jackson may have owned as many as 500 slaves.
Men, women, and child slaves were owned by Jackson on three sections of the Hermitage plantation. Slaves lived in extended family units of between five and ten persons and were quartered in cabins made either of brick or logs. The size and quality of the Hermitage slave quarters exceeded the standards of the time. To help slaves acquire food, Jackson supplied them with guns, knives, and fishing equipment. At times he paid his slaves with money and coins to trade in local markets. Jackson permitted slaves to be whipped to increase productivity or if he believed his slaves' offenses were severe enough. At various times he posted advertisements for fugitive slaves who had escaped from his plantation. In one advertisement placed in the Tennessee Gazette in October 1804, Jackson offered "ten dollars extra, for every hundred lashes any person will give him, to the amount of three hundred."
The controversy surrounding his marriage to Rachel remained a sore point for Jackson, who deeply resented attacks on his wife's honor. By May 1806, Charles Dickinson, who, like Jackson, raced horses, had published an attack on Jackson in the local newspaper, and it resulted in a written challenge from Jackson to a duel. Since Dickinson was considered an expert shot, Jackson determined it would be best to let Dickinson turn and fire first, hoping that his aim might be spoiled in his quickness; Jackson would wait and take careful aim at Dickinson. Dickinson did fire first, hitting Jackson in the chest. The bullet that struck Jackson was so close to his heart that it could not be removed. Under the rules of dueling, Dickinson had to remain still as Jackson took aim and shot and killed him. Jackson's behavior in the duel outraged many in Tennessee, who called it a brutal, cold-blooded killing and saddled Jackson with a reputation as a violent, vengeful man. He became a social outcast.
After the Sevier affair and the duel, Jackson was looking for a way to salvage his reputation. He chose to align himself with former vice president Aaron Burr. Burr's political career ended after the killing of Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804; in 1805 he set out on a tour of what was then the western United States. Burr was extremely well received by the people of Tennessee, and stayed for five days at the Hermitage. Burr's true intentions are not known with certainty. He seems to have been planning a military operation to conquer Spanish Florida and drive the Spanish from Texas. To many westerners like Jackson, the promise seemed enticing. Western American settlers had long held bitter feelings towards Spain due to territorial disputes and their persistent failure to stop Indians living in Spanish territory from raiding American settlements. On October 4, 1806, Jackson addressed the Tennessee militia, declaring that the men should be "at a moment's warning ready to march." On the same day, he wrote to James Winchester, proclaiming that the United States "can conquer not only the Floridas [at that time there was an East Florida and a West Florida.], but all Spanish North America." He continued:
Jackson agreed to provide boats and other provisions for the expedition. However, on November 10, he learned from a military captain that Burr's plans apparently included seizure of New Orleans, then part of the Louisiana Territory of the United States, and incorporating it, along with lands won from the Spanish, into a new empire. He was further outraged when he learned from the same man of the involvement of Brigadier General James Wilkinson, whom he deeply disliked, in the plan. Jackson acted cautiously at first, but wrote letters to public officials, including President Thomas Jefferson, vaguely warning them about the scheme. In December, Jefferson, a political opponent of Burr, issued a proclamation declaring that a treasonous plot was underway in the West and calling for the arrest of the perpetrators. Jackson, safe from arrest because of his extensive paper trail, organized the militia. Burr was soon captured, and the men were sent home. Jackson traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to testify on Burr's behalf in trial. The defense team decided against placing him on the witness stand, fearing his remarks were too provocative. Burr was acquitted of treason, despite Jefferson's efforts to have him convicted. Jackson endorsed James Monroe for president in 1808 against James Madison. The latter was part of the Jeffersonian wing of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson lived relatively quietly at the Hermitage in the years after the Burr trial, eventually accumulating 640 acres of land.
Military career
War of 1812
Creek campaign and treaty
Leading up to 1812, the United States found itself increasingly drawn into international conflict. Formal hostilities with Spain or France never materialized, but tensions with Britain increased for a number of reasons. Among these was the desire of many Americans for more land, particularly British Canada and Florida, the latter still controlled by Spain, Britain's European ally. On June 18, 1812, Congress officially declared war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, beginning the War of 1812. Jackson responded enthusiastically, sending a letter to Washington offering 2,500 volunteers. However, the men were not called up for many months. Biographer Robert V. Remini claims that Jackson saw the apparent slight as payback by the Madison administration for his support of Burr and Monroe. Meanwhile, the United States military repeatedly suffered devastating defeats on the battlefield.
On January 10, 1813, Jackson led an army of 2,071 volunteers to New Orleans to defend the region against British and Native American attacks. He had been instructed to serve under General Wilkinson, who commanded Federal forces in New Orleans. Lacking adequate provisions, Wilkinson ordered Jackson to halt in Natchez, then part of the Mississippi Territory, and await further orders. Jackson reluctantly obeyed. The newly appointed Secretary of War, John Armstrong Jr., sent a letter to Jackson dated February 6 ordering him to dismiss his forces and to turn over his supplies to Wilkinson. In reply to Armstrong on March 15, Jackson defended the character and readiness of his men, and promised to turn over his supplies. He also promised, instead of dismissing the troops without provisions in Natchez, to march them back to Nashville. The march was filled with agony. Many of the men had fallen ill. Jackson and his officers turned over their horses to the sick. He paid for provisions for the men out of his own pocket. The soldiers began referring to their commander as "Hickory," after a hickory nut, because of his toughness, and Jackson became known as "Old Hickory". After about a month long march, the army finally arrived in Nashville. His actions earned him respect and praise from the people of Tennessee. Jackson faced financial ruin, until his former aide-de-camp Thomas Benton persuaded Armstrong to order the army to pay the expenses Jackson had incurred. On June 14, Jackson served as a second in a duel on behalf of his junior officer William Carroll against Jesse Benton, the brother of Thomas. On September 3, Jackson and his top cavalry officer, Brigadier General John Coffee, were involved in a street brawl with the Benton brothers. Jackson was severely wounded by Jesse with a gunshot to the shoulder.
On August 30, 1813, a group of Muscogee (or Creek) called the Red Sticks, so named for the color of their war paint, perpetrated the Fort Mims massacre in which hundreds of white American settlers and non-Red Stick Creeks were slaughtered. The Red Sticks, led by William Weatherford (also called Red Eagle) and Peter McQueen, had broken away from the rest of the Creek Confederacy, which wanted peace with the United States. They were allied with Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief who had launched Tecumseh's War against the United States, and who was fighting alongside the British. The resulting conflict became known as the Creek War.
Jackson, with 2,500 American soldiers, was ordered to crush the Red Sticks. On October 10, he set out on the expedition, his arm still in a sling from fighting the Bentons. Jackson established Fort Strother as a supply base. On November 3, Coffee defeated a band of Red Sticks at the Battle of Tallushatchee. Coming to the relief of friendly Creeks besieged by Red Sticks, Jackson won another decisive victory at the Battle of Talladega. In the winter, Jackson, encamped at Fort Strother, faced a severe shortage of troops due to the expiration of enlistments and chronic desertions. He sent Coffee with the cavalry (which abandoned him) back to Tennessee to secure more enlistments. Jackson decided to combine his force with that of the Georgia militia, and marched to meet the Georgia troops. From January 22–24, 1814, while on their way, the Tennessee militia and allied Muscogee were attacked by the Red Sticks at the Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek. Jackson's troops repelled the attackers, but outnumbered, were forced to withdraw to Fort Strother. Jackson, now with over 2,000 troops, marched most of his army south to confront the Red Sticks at a fortress they had constructed at a bend in the Tallapoosa River. Jackson, together with Lower Creek and Cherokee allies and enjoying an advantage of more than 2 to 1, engaged them on March 27 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. An initial artillery barrage did little damage to the well-constructed fort. A subsequent Infantry charge, in addition to an assault by Coffee's cavalry and diversions caused by the allied Creeks, overwhelmed the Red Sticks.
The campaign ended three weeks later with Red Eagle's surrender, although some Red Sticks such as McQueen fled to East Florida. On June 8, Jackson accepted a commission as brigadier general in the United States Army, and 10 days later became a major general, in command of the Seventh Military Division. Subsequently, Jackson, with Madison's approval, imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson. The treaty required the Muscogee, including those who had not joined the Red Sticks, to surrender 23 million acres (8,093,713 ha) of land to the United States. Most of the Creeks bitterly acquiesced. Though in ill-health from dysentery, Jackson then turned his attention to defeating Spanish and British forces. Jackson accused the Spanish of arming the Red Sticks and of violating the terms of their neutrality by allowing British soldiers into the Floridas. The first charge was true, while the second ignored the fact that it was Jackson's threats to invade Florida which had caused them to seek British protection. In the November 7 Battle of Pensacola, Jackson defeated the relatively small British and Spanish forces in a short skirmish. Shortly thereafter, the Spanish surrendered and the remaining British wthdrew. Weeks later, Jackson learned that the British were planning an attack on New Orleans, which sat on the mouth of the Mississippi River and held immense strategic and commercial value. Jackson abandoned Pensacola to the Spanish, placed a force in Mobile, Alabama, to guard against a possible invasion there, and rushed the rest of his forces west to defend New Orleans.
The Creeks coined their own name for Jackson, Jacksa Chula Harjo or "Jackson, old and fierce."
Battle of New Orleans
After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson had only about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained.
The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.
Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." Some have claimed that, because the war was already ended by the preliminary signing of the Treaty of Ghent, Jackson's victory at New Orleans was without importance aside from making him a celebrated figure. However, the Spanish, who had sold the Louisiana Territory to France, disputed France's right to sell it to the United States through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In April 1815, Spain, assuming that the British had won at New Orleans, asked for the return of the Louisiana Territory. Spanish representatives claimed to have been assured that they would receive the land back. Furthermore, Article IX of the Treaty of Ghent stipulated that the United States must return land taken from the Creeks to their original owners, essentially undoing the Treaty of Fort Jackson. Thanks to Jackson's victory at New Orleans, the American government felt that it could safely ignore that provision and it kept the lands that Jackson had acquired.
Enforced martial law in New Orleans
Jackson, still not knowing for certain of the treaty's signing, refused to lift martial law in the city. Citizens, local politicians, and some of Jackson's troops expressed growing displeasure. When some of the Creoles under Jackson's service, registering as French citizens with the French consul Louis de Toussard, asked to be discharged based on their foreign nationality, Jackson ordered all Frenchmen, including Toussard, to depart to no less than 120 miles from the limits of New Orleans. State senator Louis Louaillier wrote an anonymous piece in the New Orleans newspaper challenging Jackson's refusal to release the militia after the British ceded the field of battle. Jackson attempted to find the author and, after Louiallier admitted to having written the piece, he imprisoned him. In March, after U.S. District Court Judge Dominic A. Hall signed a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Louaillier, Jackson ordered Hall's arrest. A military court ordered Louiallier's release, but Jackson kept him in prison. He released Hall four miles from the city, which marked the limits of his jurisdiction. Jackson also ordered the execution of six members of the militia who had attempted to leave. Their deaths were not well publicized until the Coffin Handbills were circulated during his 1828 presidential campaign. On March 13, news officially reached the city that the peace treaty had been signed and ratified. Jackson immediately lifted martial law, released Louaillier from prison, and allowed the return of those he had exiled. Hall subsequently brought Jackson to trial on charges of contempt of court, and fined him $1,000.
First Seminole War
Following the war, Jackson remained in command of troops on the southern border of the U.S. He conducted business from the Hermitage. He signed treaties with the Cherokee and Chickasaw which gained for the United States large parts of Tennessee and Kentucky. The treaty with the Chickasaw, finally agreed to later in the year, is commonly known as the Jackson Purchase.
Jackson would soon find himself embroiled in another conflict in the Floridas. Several Native American tribes, collectively known as the Seminole, straddled the border between the U.S. and Florida. The Seminole, in alliance with escaped slaves, frequently raided Georgia settlements before retreating back into Florida. These skirmishes continually escalated into the conflict now known as the First Seminole War. In 1816, Jackson led a detachment into Florida and at the Battle of Negro Fort destroyed the fort, killing most of the fugitive slaves defending it and a smaller number of allied Choctaw. Jackson was then ordered by President Monroe in December 1817 to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Seminole and Creek. Jackson was again charged with preventing Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves, after Spain promised freedom to fugitive slaves. Critics later alleged that Jackson exceeded orders in his Florida actions. His orders from President Monroe were to "terminate the conflict." Jackson believed the best way to do this was to seize Florida from Spain once and for all. Before departing, Jackson wrote to Monroe, "Let it be signified to me through any channel ... that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished."
Jackson invaded Florida on March 15, 1818, capturing Pensacola. He crushed Seminole and Spanish resistance in the region and captured two British agents, Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, who had been working with the Seminole. After a brief trial, Jackson executed both of them, causing a diplomatic incident with the British. Jackson's actions polarized Monroe's cabinet, some of whom argued that Jackson had gone against Monroe's orders and violated the Constitution, since the United States had not declared war upon Spain. He was defended by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. Adams thought that Jackson's conquest of Florida would force Spain to finally sell the province, and Spain did indeed sell Florida to the United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. A congressional investigation exonerated Jackson, but he was deeply angered by the criticism he received, particularly from Speaker of the House Henry Clay. After the ratification of the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1821, Jackson resigned from the army and briefly served as the territorial Governor of Florida before returning to Tennessee.
Presidential aspirations
Election of 1824
In the spring of 1822, Jackson suffered a physical breakdown. His body had two bullets lodged in it, and he had grown exhausted from years of hard military campaigning. He regularly coughed up blood, and his entire body shook. Jackson feared that he was on the brink of death. After several months of rest, he recovered. During his convalescence, Jackson's thoughts increasingly turned to national affairs. He obsessed over rampant corruption in the Monroe administration and grew to detest the Second Bank of the United States, blaming it for causing the Panic of 1819 by contracting credit.
Jackson turned down an offer to run for governor of his home state, but accepted John Overton's plan to have the legislature nominate him for president. On July 22, 1822, he was officially nominated by the Tennessee legislature. Jackson had come to dislike Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford, who had been the most vocal critic of Jackson in Monroe's cabinet, and he hoped to prevent Tennessee's electoral votes from going to Crawford. Yet Jackson's nomination garnered a welcoming response even outside of Tennessee, as many Americans appreciated his attacks on banks. The Panic of 1819 had devastated the fortunes of many, and banks and politicians seen as supportive of banks were unpopular. With his growing political viability, Jackson emerged as one of the five major presidential candidates, along with Crawford, Adams, Clay, and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun. During the Era of Good Feelings, the Federalist Party had faded away, and all five presidential contenders were members of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson's campaign promoted him as a defender of the common people, as well as the one candidate who could rise above sectional divisions. On the major issues of the day, most prominently the tariff, Jackson expressed centrist beliefs, and opponents accused him of obfuscating his positions. At the forefront of Jackson's campaign was combatting corruption. Jackson vowed to restore honesty in government and to scale back its excesses. As a war hero, Jackson was popular with ordinary people, and he benefited from the expansion of suffrage among white males that followed the conclusion of the War of 1812.
In 1823, Jackson reluctantly allowed his name to be placed in contention for one of Tennessee's U.S. Senate seats. The move was independently orchestrated by his advisors William Berkeley Lewis and U.S. senator John Eaton in order to defeat incumbent John Williams, who openly opposed his presidential candidacy. The legislature narrowly elected him. His return, after 24 years, 11 months, 3 days out of office, marks the second longest gap in service to the chamber in history. Although Jackson was reluctant to serve once more in the Senate, he was appointed chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. Eaton wrote to Rachel that Jackson as a senator was "in harmony and good understanding with every body," including Thomas Hart Benton, now a senator from Missouri, with whom Jackson had fought in 1813. Meanwhile, Jackson himself did little active campaigning for the presidency, as was customary. Eaton updated an already-written biography of him in preparation for the campaign and, along with others, wrote letters to newspapers praising Jackson's record and past conduct.
Democratic-Republican presidential nominees had historically been chosen by informal Congressional nominating caucuses, but this method had become unpopular. In 1824, most of the Democratic-Republicans in Congress boycotted the caucus. Those who attended backed Crawford for president and Albert Gallatin for vice president. A Pennsylvania convention nominated Jackson for president a month later, stating that the irregular caucus ignored the "voice of the people" in the "vain hope that the American people might be thus deceived into a belief that he [Crawford] was the regular democratic candidate." Gallatin criticized Jackson as "an honest man and the idol of the worshipers of military glory, but from incapacity, military habits, and habitual disregard of laws and constitutional provisions, altogether unfit for the office." After Jackson won the Pennsylvania nomination, Calhoun dropped out of the presidential race and successfully sought the vice presidency instead.
In the presidential election, Jackson won a plurality of the electoral vote, taking states in the South, West, and Mid-Atlantic. He was the only candidate to win states outside of his regional base, as Adams dominated New England, Clay took three western states, and Crawford won Virginia and Georgia. Jackson won a plurality of the popular vote, taking 42 percent, although not all states held a popular vote for the presidency. He won 99 electoral votes, more than any other candidate, but still short of 131, which he needed for a true majority. With no candidate having won a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives held a contingent election under the terms of the Twelfth Amendment. The amendment specifies that only the top three electoral vote-winners are eligible to be elected by the House, so Clay was eliminated from contention. Jackson believed that he was likely to win this contingent election, as Crawford and Adams lacked Jackson's national appeal, and Crawford had suffered a debilitating stroke that made many doubt his physical fitness for the presidency. Clay, who as Speaker of the House presided over the election, saw Jackson as a dangerous demagogue who might topple the republic in favor of his own leadership. He threw his support behind Adams, who shared Clay's support for federally funded internal improvements such as roads and canals. With Clay's backing, Adams won the contingent election on the first ballot. Furious supporters of Jackson accused Clay and Adams of having reached a "corrupt bargain" after Adams appointed Clay as his Secretary of State. "So you see," Jackson growled, "the Judas of the West has closed the contract and receive the thirty pieces of silver. [H]is end will be the same." After the Congressional session concluded, Jackson resigned his Senate seat and returned to Tennessee.
Election of 1828 and death of Rachel Jackson
Almost immediately, opposition arose to the Adams presidency. Jackson opposed Adams's plan to involve the U.S. in Panama's quest for independence, writing, "The moment we engage in confederations, or alliances with any nation, we may from that time date the down fall of our republic." Adams damaged his standing in his first annual message to Congress, when he argued that Congress must not give the world the impression "that we are palsied by the will of our constituents."
Jackson was nominated for president by the Tennessee legislature in October 1825, more than three years before the 1828 election. It was the earliest such nomination in presidential history, and it attested to the fact that Jackson's supporters began the 1828 campaign almost as soon as the 1824 campaign ended. Adams's presidency foundered, as his ambitious agenda faced defeat in a new era of mass politics. Critics led by Jackson attacked Adams's policies as a dangerous expansion of Federal power. New York Senator Martin Van Buren, who had been a prominent supporter of Crawford in 1824, emerged as one of the strongest opponents of Adams's policies, and he settled on Jackson as his preferred candidate in 1828. Van Buren was joined by Vice President Calhoun, who opposed much of Adams's agenda on states' rights grounds. Van Buren and other Jackson allies established numerous pro-Jackson newspapers and clubs around the country, while Jackson avoided campaigning but made himself available to visitors at his Hermitage plantation. In the election, Jackson won a commanding 56 percent of the popular vote and 68 percent of the electoral vote. The election marked the definitive end of the one-party Era of Good Feelings, as Jackson's supporters coalesced into the Democratic Party and Adams's followers became known as the National Republicans. In the large Scots-Irish community that was especially numerous in the rural South and Southwest, Jackson was a favorite.
The campaign was heavily personal. As was the custom at the time, neither candidate personally campaigned, but their political followers organized campaign events. Both candidates were rhetorically attacked in the press. Jackson was labelled a slave trader who bought and sold slaves and moved them about in defiance of higher standards of slaveholder behavior. A series of pamphlets known as the Coffin Handbills were published to attack Jackson, one of which revealed his order to execute soldiers at New Orleans. Another accused him of engaging in cannibalism by eating the bodies of American Indians killed in battle, while still another labeled his mother a "common prostitute" and stated that Jackson's father was a "mulatto man."
Rachel Jackson was also a frequent target of attacks, and was widely accused of bigamy, a reference to the controversial situation of her marriage with Jackson. Jackson's campaigners fired back by claiming that while serving as Minister to Russia, Adams had procured a young girl to serve as a prostitute for Emperor Alexander I. They also stated that Adams had a billiard table in the White House and that he had charged the government for it.
Rachel had been under extreme stress during the election, and often struggled while Jackson was away. She began experiencing significant physical stress during the election season. Jackson described her symptoms as "excruciating pain in the left shoulder, arm, and breast." After struggling for three days, Rachel finally died of a heart attack on December 22, 1828, three weeks after her husband's victory in the election (which began on October 31 and ended on December 2) and 10 weeks before Jackson took office as president. A distraught Jackson had to be pulled from her so the undertaker could prepare the body. He felt that the abuse from Adams's supporters had hastened her death and never forgave him. Rachel was buried at the Hermitage on Christmas Eve. "May God Almighty forgive her murderers, as I know she forgave them," Jackson swore at her funeral. "I never can."
Presidency (1829–1837)
Philosophy
Jackson's name has been associated with Jacksonian democracy or the shift and expansion of democracy with the passing of some political power from established elites to ordinary voters based in political parties. "The Age of Jackson" shaped the national agenda and American politics. Jackson's philosophy as president was similar to that of Jefferson, advocating republican values held by the Revolutionary generation. Jackson took a moral tone, with the belief that agrarian sympathies, and strong states rights with a limited federal government, would produce less corruption. He feared that monied and business interests would corrupt republican values. When South Carolina opposed the tariff law, he took a strong line in favor of nationalism and against secession.
Jackson believed in the ability of the people to "arrive at right conclusions." They had the right not only to elect but to "instruct their agents & representatives." Office holders should either obey the popular will or resign. He rejected the view of a powerful and independent Supreme Court with binding decisions, arguing that "the Congress, the Executive, and the Court must each or itself be guided by its own opinions of the Constitution." Jackson thought that Supreme Court justices should be made to stand for election, and believed in strict constructionism as the best way to ensure democratic rule. He called for term limits on presidents and the abolition of the Electoral College. According to Robert V. Remini, Jackson "was far ahead of his times–and maybe even further than this country can ever achieve."
Inauguration
Jackson departed from the Hermitage on January 19 and arrived in Washington on February 11. He then set about choosing his cabinet members. Jackson chose Van Buren as expected for Secretary of State, Eaton of Tennessee as Secretary of War, Samuel D. Ingham of Pennsylvania as Secretary of Treasury, John Branch of North Carolina as Secretary of Navy, John M. Berrien of Georgia as Attorney General, and William T. Barry of Kentucky as Postmaster General. Jackson's first choice of cabinet proved to be unsuccessful, full of bitter partisanship and gossip. Jackson blamed Adams in part for what was said about Rachel during the campaign, and refused to meet him after arriving in Washington. Therefore, Adams chose not to attend the inauguration.
On March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson became the first United States president-elect to take the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. In his inaugural speech, Jackson promised to respect the sovereign powers of states and the constitutional limits of the presidency. He also promised to pursue "reform" by removing power from "unfaithful or incompetent hands." At the conclusion of the ceremony, Jackson invited the public to the White House, where his supporters held a raucous party. Thousands of spectators overwhelmed the White House staff, and minor damage was caused to fixtures and furnishings. Jackson's populism earned him the nickname "King Mob."
Reforms, rotation of offices, and spoils system
In an effort to purge the government of corruption, Jackson launched presidential investigations into all executive Cabinet offices and departments. He believed appointees should be hired on merit and withdrew many candidates he believed were lax in their handling of monies. He believed that the federal government had been corrupted and that he had received a mandate from the American people to purge such corruption. Jackson's investigations uncovered enormous fraud in the federal government, and numerous officials were removed from office and indicted on corruption, including personal friend of John Quincy Adams and Treasury Fourth Auditor Tobias Watkins. In the first year of Jackson's presidency, his investigations uncovered $280,000 stolen from the Treasury, and the Department of the Navy was saved $1 million. He asked Congress to reform embezzlement laws, reduce fraudulent applications for federal pensions, pass revenue laws to prevent evasion of custom duties, and pass laws to improve government accounting. Jackson's Postmaster General Barry resigned after a Congressional investigation into the postal service revealed mismanagement of mail services, collusion and favoritism in awarding lucrative contracts, as well as failure to audit accounts and supervise contract performances. Jackson replaced Barry with Treasury Auditor and prominent Kitchen Cabinet member Amos Kendall, who went on to implement reforms in the Post Office Department.
Jackson repeatedly called for the abolition of the Electoral College by constitutional amendment in his annual messages to Congress as president. In his third annual message to Congress, he expressed the view "I have heretofore recommended amendments of the Federal Constitution giving the election of President and Vice-President to the people and limiting the service of the former to a single term. So important do I consider these changes in our fundamental law that I can not, in accordance with my sense of duty, omit to press them upon the consideration of a new Congress."
Although he was unable to implement these goals, Jackson's time in office did see a variety of other reforms. He supported an act in July 1836 that enabled widows of Revolutionary War soldiers who met certain criteria to receive their husbands' pensions. In 1836, Jackson established the ten-hour day in national shipyards.
Jackson enforced the Tenure of Office Act, signed by President Monroe in 1820, that limited appointed office tenure and authorized the president to remove and appoint political party associates. Jackson believed that a rotation in office was a democratic reform preventing hereditary officeholding and made civil service responsible to the popular will. Jackson declared that rotation of appointments in political office was "a leading principle in the republican creed." Jackson noted, "In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another." Jackson believed that rotating political appointments would prevent the development of a corrupt bureaucracy. The number of federal office holders removed by Jackson were exaggerated by his opponents; Jackson rotated only about 20% of federal office holders during his first term, some for dereliction of duty rather than political purposes. Jackson, nonetheless, used his presidential power to award loyal Democrats by granting them federal office appointments. Jackson's approach incorporated patriotism for country as qualification for holding office. Having appointed a soldier who had lost his leg fighting on the battlefield to postmaster, Jackson stated, "[i]f he lost his leg fighting for his country, that is ... enough for me."
Jackson's theory regarding rotation of office generated what would later be called the spoils system. The political realities of Washington sometimes forced Jackson to make partisan appointments despite his personal reservations. Supervision of bureaus and departments whose operations were outside of Washington (such as the New York Customs House; the Postal Service; the Departments of Navy and War; and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose budget had increased enormously in the previous two decades) proved to be difficult. Remini writes that because "friendship, politics, and geography constituted the President's total criteria for appointments, most of his appointments were predictably substandard."
Petticoat affair
Jackson devoted a considerable amount of his presidential time during his early years in office responding to what came to be known as the "Petticoat affair" or "Eaton affair." Washington gossip circulated among Jackson's cabinet members and their wives, including Calhoun's wife Floride Calhoun, concerning Secretary of War Eaton and his wife Peggy Eaton. Salacious rumors held that Peggy, as a barmaid in her father's tavern, had been sexually promiscuous or had even been a prostitute. Controversy also ensued because Peggy had married soon after her previous husband's death, and it was alleged that she and her husband had engaged in an adulterous affair while her previous husband was still living. Petticoat politics emerged when the wives of cabinet members, led by Mrs. Calhoun, refused to socialize with the Eatons. Allowing a prostitute in the official family was unthinkable—but Jackson refused to believe the rumors, telling his Cabinet that "She is as chaste as a virgin!" Jackson believed that the dishonorable people were the rumormongers, who in essence questioned and dishonored Jackson himself by, in attempting to drive the Eatons out, daring to tell him who he could and could not have in his cabinet. Jackson was also reminded of the attacks that were made against his wife. These memories increased his dedication to defending Peggy Eaton.
Meanwhile, the cabinet wives insisted that the interests and honor of all American women was at stake. They believed a responsible woman should never accord a man sexual favors without the assurance that went with marriage. A woman who broke that code was dishonorable and unacceptable. Historian Daniel Walker Howe notes that this was the feminist spirit that in the next decade shaped the woman's rights movement. Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, a widower, was already forming a coalition against Calhoun. He could now see his main chance to strike hard; he took the side of Jackson and Eaton.
In the spring of 1831, Jackson, at Van Buren's suggestion, demanded the resignations of all the cabinet members except Barry. Van Buren himself resigned to avoid the appearance of bias. In 1832, Jackson nominated Van Buren to be Minister to Great Britain. Calhoun blocked the nomination with a tie-breaking vote against it, claiming the defeated nomination would "...kill him [Van Buren] dead, sir, kill him dead. He will never kick, sir, never kick." Van Buren continued to serve as an important adviser to Jackson and was placed on the ticket for vice president in the 1832 election, making him Jackson's heir-apparent. The Petticoat affair led to the development of the Kitchen Cabinet. The Kitchen Cabinet emerged as an unofficial group of advisors to the president. Its existence was partially rooted in Jackson's difficulties with his official cabinet, even after the purging.
Indian removal policy
Throughout his eight years in office, Jackson made about 70 treaties with American Indian tribes both in the South and in the Northwest. Jackson's presidency marked the beginning of a policy of Indian removal. Jackson himself sometimes participated in the treaty negotiating process, though other times he left the negotiations to his subordinates. The southern tribes included the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole and the Cherokee. The northwest tribes included the Chippewa, Ottawa, and the Potawatomi.
Relations between Indians and whites increasingly grew tense and sometimes violent as a result of territorial conflicts. Previous presidents had at times supported removal or attempts to "civilize" Native people, but generally let the problem play itself out with minimal intervention. But by Jackson's time, a growing popular and political movement developed wanting action on the issue, and out of this came policy decisions to relocate certain Indian populations. Jackson, never known for timidity, became an advocate for this relocation policy in what many historians consider the most controversial aspect of his presidency.
In his First Annual Message to Congress, Jackson advocated land west of the Mississippi River be set aside for Indian tribes. On May 26, 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which Jackson signed into law two days later. The Act authorized the president to negotiate treaties to buy tribal lands in the east in exchange for lands farther west, outside of existing state borders. The act specifically pertained to the Five Civilized Tribes in the South, the conditions being that they could either move west or stay and obey state law, effectively relinquishing their sovereignty.
Jackson, Eaton, and General Coffee negotiated with the Chickasaw, who quickly agreed to move. Jackson put Eaton and Coffee in charge of negotiating with the Choctaw. Lacking Jackson's skills at negotiation, they simply bribed various leaders in order to gain their agreement. The tactics worked, and with the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Choctaw were required to move. The removal of the Choctaw took place in the winter of 1831 and 1832, and was wrought with misery and suffering. The Seminole, despite the signing of the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832, refused to move. In December 1835, this dispute began the Second Seminole War. The war lasted over six years, finally ending in 1842. Members of the Creek Nation had signed the Treaty of Cusseta in 1832, allowing the Creek to either sell or retain their land. Conflict later erupted between the Creek who remained and the white settlers, leading to a second Creek War. A common complaint amongst the tribes was that the men who had signed the treaties did not represent the whole tribe.
The state of Georgia became involved in a dispute with the Cherokee, culminating in the 1832 Supreme Court decision in Worcester v. Georgia. Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for the court, ruled that Georgia could not forbid whites from entering tribal lands, as it had attempted to do with two missionaries supposedly stirring up resistance amongst the tribespeople. Jackson is frequently attributed the following response: "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." The quote, apparently indicating Jackson's dismissive view of the courts, was attributed to Jackson by Horace Greeley, who cited as his source Representative George N. Briggs. Remini argues that Jackson did not say it because, while it "certainly sounds like Jackson...[t]here was nothing for him to enforce." This is because a writ of habeas corpus had never been issued for the missionaries. The Court also did not ask federal marshals to carry out the decision, as had become standard.
A group of Cherokees led by John Ridge negotiated the Treaty of New Echota. Ridge was not a widely recognized leader of the Cherokee, and this document was rejected by some as illegitimate. Another faction, led by John Ross, unsuccessfully petitioned to protest the proposed removal. The Cherokee largely considered themselves independent, and not subject to the laws of the United States or Georgia. The treaty was enforced by Jackson's successor, Van Buren. Subsequently, as many as 4,000 out of 18,000 Cherokee died on the "Trail of Tears" in 1838.
More than 45,000 people were relocated, primarily to Indian territory in present-day Oklahoma during Jackson's administration, though some Cherokee people walked back afterwards, and others evaded removal by migrating into the Great Smoky Mountains. Another conflict during the Jackson administration was the Black Hawk War in 1832 after a group of Indians crossed into U.S. territory.
Nullification crisis
In 1828, Congress had approved the "Tariff of Abominations", which set the tariff at a historically high rate. Southern planters, who sold their cotton on the world market, strongly opposed this tariff, which they saw as favoring northern interests. The South now had to pay more for goods it did not produce locally; and other countries would have more difficulty affording southern cotton. The issue came to a head during Jackson's presidency, resulting in the Nullification Crisis, in which South Carolina threatened disunion.
The South Carolina Exposition and Protest of 1828, secretly written by Calhoun, asserted that their state had the right to "nullify"—declare void—the tariff legislation of 1828. Although Jackson sympathized with the South in the tariff debate, he also vigorously supported a strong union, with effective powers for the central government. Jackson attempted to face down Calhoun over the issue, which developed into a bitter rivalry between the two men. One incident came at the April 13, 1830, Jefferson Day dinner, involving after-dinner toasts. Robert Hayne began by toasting to "The Union of the States, and the Sovereignty of the States." Jackson then rose, and in a booming voice added "Our federal Union: It must be preserved!" – a clear challenge to Calhoun. Calhoun clarified his position by responding "The Union: Next to our Liberty, the most dear!"
In May 1830, Jackson discovered that Calhoun had asked President Monroe to censure Jackson for his invasion of Spanish Florida in 1818 while Calhoun was serving as Secretary of War. Calhoun's and Jackson's relationship deteriorated further. By February 1831, the break between Calhoun and Jackson was final. Responding to inaccurate press reports about the feud, Calhoun had published letters between him and Jackson detailing the conflict in the United States Telegraph. Jackson and Calhoun began an angry correspondence which lasted until Jackson stopped it in July. The Telegraph, edited by Duff Green, initially supported Jackson. After it sided with Calhoun on nullification, Jackson needed a new organ for the administration. He enlisted the help of longtime supporter Francis Preston Blair, who in November 1830 established a newspaper known as the Washington Globe, which from then on served as the primary mouthpiece of the Democratic Party.
Jackson supported a revision to tariff rates known as the Tariff of 1832. It was designed to placate the nullifiers by lowering tariff rates. Written by Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, the bill lowered duties from 45% to 27%. In May, Representative John Quincy Adams introduced a slightly revised version of the bill, which Jackson accepted. It passed Congress on July 9 and was signed by the president on July 14. The bill failed to satisfy extremists on either side. On November 24, the South Carolina legislature nullified both the Tariff of 1832 and the Tariff of 1828. In response, Jackson sent U.S. Navy warships to Charleston harbor, and threatened to hang any man who worked to support nullification or secession. On December 28, 1832, Calhoun resigned as vice president, after having been elected to the U.S. Senate. This was part of a strategy whereby Calhoun, with less than three months remaining on his vice presidential term, would replace Robert Y. Hayne in the Senate, and he would then become governor of South Carolina. Hayne had often struggled to defend nullification on the floor of the Senate, especially against fierce criticism from Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts.
Also that December, Jackson issued a resounding proclamation against the "nullifiers," stating that he considered "the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed." South Carolina, the president declared, stood on "the brink of insurrection and treason," and he appealed to the people of the state to reassert their allegiance to that Union for which their ancestors had fought. Jackson also denied the right of secession: "The Constitution ... forms a government not a league ... To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States are not a nation." Jackson tended to personalize the controversy, frequently characterizing nullification as a conspiracy between disappointed and bitter men whose ambitions had been thwarted.
Jackson asked Congress to pass a "Force Bill" explicitly authorizing the use of military force to enforce the tariff. It was introduced by Senator Felix Grundy of Tennessee, and was quickly attacked by Calhoun as "military despotism." At the same time, Calhoun and Clay began to work on a new compromise tariff. A bill sponsored by the administration had been introduced by Representative Gulian C. Verplanck of New York, but it lowered rates more sharply than Clay and other protectionists desired. Clay managed to get Calhoun to agree to a bill with higher rates in exchange for Clay's opposition to Jackson's military threats and, perhaps, with the hope that he could win some Southern votes in his next bid for the presidency. The Compromise Tariff passed on March 1, 1833. The Force Bill passed the same day. Calhoun, Clay, and several others marched out of the chamber in opposition, the only dissenting vote coming from John Tyler of Virginia. The new tariff was opposed by Webster, who argued that it essentially surrendered to South Carolina's demands. Jackson, despite his anger over the scrapping of the Verplanck bill and the new alliance between Clay and Calhoun, saw it as an efficient way to end the crisis. He signed both bills on March 2, starting with the Force Bill. The South Carolina Convention then met and rescinded its nullification ordinance, but in a final show of defiance, nullified the Force Bill. On May 1, Jackson wrote, "the tariff was only the pretext, and disunion and southern confederacy the real object. The next pretext will be the negro, or slavery question."
Foreign affairs
Addressing the subject of foreign affairs in his First Annual Address to Congress, Jackson declared it to be his "settled purpose to ask nothing that is not clearly right and to submit to nothing that is wrong."
When Jackson took office, spoliation claims, or compensation demands for the capture of American ships and sailors, dating from the Napoleonic era, caused strained relations between the U.S. and French governments. The French Navy had captured and sent American ships to Spanish ports while holding their crews captive forcing them to labor without any charges or judicial rules. According to Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, relations between the U.S. and France were "hopeless." Jackson's Minister to France, William C. Rives, through diplomacy was able to convince the French government to sign a reparations treaty on July 4, 1831, that would award the U.S. ₣ 25,000,000 ($5,000,000) in damages. The French government became delinquent in payment due to internal financial and political difficulties. The French king Louis Philippe I and his ministers blamed the French Chamber of Deputies. By 1834, the non-payment of reparations by the French government drew Jackson's ire and he became impatient. In his December 1834 State of the Union address, Jackson sternly reprimanded the French government for non-payment, stating the federal government was "wholly disappointed" by the French, and demanded Congress authorize trade reprisals against France. Feeling insulted by Jackson's words, the French people began pressuring their government not to pay the indemnity until Jackson had apologized for his remarks. In his December 1835 State of the Union Address, Jackson refused to apologize, stating he had a good opinion of the French people and his intentions were peaceful. Jackson described in lengthy and minute detail the history of events surrounding the treaty and his belief that the French government was purposely stalling payment. The French accepted Jackson's statements as sincere and in February 1836, reparations were paid.
In addition to France, the Jackson administration successfully settled spoliation claims with Denmark, Portugal, and Spain. Jackson's state department was active and successful at making trade agreements with Russia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Siam. Under the treaty with the United Kingdom, American trade was reopened in the West Indies. The trade agreement with Siam was America's first treaty between the United States and an Asiatic country. As a result, American exports increased 75% while imports increased 250%.
Jackson's attempt to purchase Texas from Mexico for $5,000,000 failed. The chargé d'affaires in Mexico, Colonel Anthony Butler, suggested that the U.S. take Texas over militarily, but Jackson refused. Butler was later replaced toward the end of Jackson's presidency. In 1835, the Texas Revolution began when pro-slavery American settlers in Texas fought the Mexican government for Texan independence. By May 1836, they had routed the Mexican military, establishing an independent Republic of Texas. The new Texas government legalized slavery and demanded recognition from President Jackson and annexation into the United States. Jackson was hesitant in recognizing Texas, unconvinced that the new republic could maintain independence from Mexico, and not wanting to make Texas an anti-slavery issue during the 1836 election. The strategy worked; the Democratic Party and national loyalties were held intact, and Van Buren was elected president. Jackson formally recognized the Republic of Texas, nominating Alcée Louis la Branche as chargé d'affaires on the last full day of his presidency, March 3, 1837.
Jackson failed in his efforts to open trade with China and Japan and was unsuccessful at thwarting the United Kingdom's presence and power in South America.
Bank veto and election of 1832
The 1832 presidential election demonstrated the rapid development and organization of political parties during this time period. The Democratic Party's first national convention, held in Baltimore, nominated Jackson's choice for vice president, Van Buren. The National Republican Party, who had held their first convention in Baltimore earlier in December 1831, nominated Henry Clay, now a senator from Kentucky, and John Sergeant of Pennsylvania. The Anti-Masonic Party emerged by capitalizing on opposition to Freemasonry, which existed primarily in New England, after the disappearance and possible murder of William Morgan. The party, which had earlier held its convention also in Baltimore in September 1831, nominated William Wirt of Maryland and Amos Ellmaker of Pennsylvania. Clay was, like Jackson, a Mason, and so some anti-Jacksonians who would have supported the National Republican Party supported Wirt instead.
In 1816, the Second Bank of the United States was chartered by President James Madison to restore the United States economy devastated by the War of 1812. Monroe had appointed Nicholas Biddle as the Bank's executive. Jackson believed that the Bank was a fundamentally corrupt monopoly. Its stock was mostly held by foreigners, he insisted, and it exerted an unfair amount of control over the political system. Jackson used the issue to promote his democratic values, believing the Bank was being run exclusively for the wealthy. Jackson stated the Bank made "the rich richer and the potent more powerful." He accused it of making loans with the intent of influencing elections. In his address to Congress in 1830, Jackson called for a substitute for the Bank that would have no private stockholders and no ability to lend or purchase land. Its only power would be to issue bills of exchange. The address touched off fiery debate in the Senate. Thomas Hart Benton, now a strong supporter of the president despite the brawl years earlier, gave a speech excoriating the Bank and calling for debate on its recharter. Webster led a motion to narrowly defeat the resolution. Shortly afterward, the Globe announced that Jackson would stand for reelection.
Despite his misgivings about the Bank, Jackson supported a plan proposed in late 1831 by his moderately pro-Bank Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, who was secretly working with Biddle, to recharter a reformed version of the Bank in a way that would free up funds which would in turn be used to strengthen the military or pay off the nation's debt. This would be done, in part, through the sale of government stock in the Bank. Over the objections of Attorney General Roger B. Taney, an irreconcilable opponent of the Bank, he allowed McLane to publish a Treasury Report which essentially recommended rechartering the Bank.
Clay hoped to make the Bank an issue in the election, so as to accuse Jackson of going beyond his powers if he vetoed a recharter bill. He and Webster urged Biddle to immediately apply for recharter rather than wait to reach a compromise with the administration. Biddle received advice to the contrary from moderate Democrats such as McLane and William Lewis, who argued that Biddle should wait because Jackson would likely veto the recharter bill. On January 6, 1832, Biddle submitted to Congress a renewal of the Bank's charter without any of the proposed reforms. The submission came four years before the original 20-year charter was to end. Biddle's recharter bill passed the Senate on June 11 and the House on July 3, 1832. Jackson determined to veto it. Many moderate Democrats, including McLane, were appalled by the perceived arrogance of the bill and supported his decision. When Van Buren met Jackson on July 4, Jackson declared, "The Bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill me. But I will kill it." Jackson vetoed the bill on July 10. The veto message was crafted primarily by Taney, Kendall, and Jackson's nephew and advisor Andrew Jackson Donelson. It attacked the Bank as an agent of inequality that supported only the wealthy. The veto was considered "one of the strongest and most controversial" presidential statements and "a brilliant political manifesto." The National Republican Party immediately made Jackson's veto of the Bank a political issue. Jackson's political opponents castigated the veto as "the very slang of the leveller and demagogue," claiming Jackson was using class warfare to gain support from the common man.
At Biddle's direction, the Bank poured thousands of dollars into a campaign to defeat Jackson, seemingly confirming Jackson's view that it interfered in the political process. Jackson successfully portrayed his veto as a defense of the common man against governmental tyranny. Clay proved to be no match for Jackson's ability to resonate with the people and the Democratic Party's strong political networks. Democratic newspapers, parades, barbecues, and rallies increased Jackson's popularity. Jackson himself made numerous public appearances on his return trip from Tennessee to Washington, D.C. He won the election by a landslide, receiving 54 percent of the popular vote and 219 electoral votes. Clay received 37 percent of the popular vote and 49 electoral votes. Wirt received only eight percent of the popular vote and seven electoral votes while the Anti-Masonic Party eventually declined. Jackson believed the solid victory was a popular mandate for his veto of the Bank's recharter and his continued warfare on the Bank's control over the national economy.
Removal of deposits and censure
In 1833, Jackson attempted to begin removing federal deposits from the bank, whose money-lending functions were taken over by the legions of local and state banks that materialized across America, thus drastically increasing credit and speculation. Jackson's moves were greatly controversial. He removed McLane from the Treasury Department, having him serve instead as Secretary of State, replacing Edward Livingston. He replaced McLane with William J. Duane. In September, he fired Duane for refusing to remove the deposits. Signalling his intent to continue battling the Bank, he replaced Duane with Taney. Under Taney, the deposits began to be removed. They were placed in a variety of state banks which were friendly to the administration's policies, known to critics as pet banks. Biddle responded by stockpiling the Bank's reserves and contracting credit, thus causing interest rates to rise and bringing about a financial panic. The moves were intended to force Jackson into a compromise. "Nothing but the evidence of suffering abroad will produce any effect in Congress," he wrote. At first, Biddle's strategy was successful, putting enormous pressure on Jackson. But Jackson handled the situation well. When people came to him complaining, he referred them to Biddle, saying that he was the man who had "all the money." Jackson's approach worked. Biddle's strategy backfired, increasing anti-Bank sentiment.
In 1834, those who disagreed with Jackson's expansion of executive power united and formed the Whig Party, calling Jackson "King Andrew I," and named their party after the English Whigs who opposed seventeenth century British monarchy. A movement emerged among Whigs in the Senate to censure Jackson. The censure was a political maneuver spearheaded by Clay, which served only to perpetuate the animosity between him and Jackson. Jackson called Clay "reckless and as full of fury as a drunken man in a brothel." On March 28, the Senate voted to censure Jackson 26–20. It also rejected Taney as Treasury Secretary. The House however, led by Ways and Means Committee chairman James K. Polk, declared on April 4 that the Bank "ought not to be rechartered" and that the depositions "ought not to be restored." It voted to continue allowing pet banks to be places of deposit and voted even more overwhelmingly to investigate whether the Bank had deliberately instigated the panic. Jackson called the passage of these resolutions a "glorious triumph." It essentially sealed the Bank's demise. The Democrats later suffered a temporary setback. Polk ran for Speaker of the House to replace Andrew Stevenson. After Southerners discovered his connection to Van Buren, he was defeated by fellow-Tennessean John Bell, a Democrat-turned-Whig who opposed Jackson's removal policy.
Payment of US national debt
The national economy following the withdrawal of the remaining funds from the Bank was booming and the federal government through duty revenues and sale of public lands was able to pay all bills. On January 1, 1835, Jackson paid off the entire national debt, the only time in U.S. history that has been accomplished. The objective had been reached in part through Jackson's reforms aimed at eliminating the misuse of funds and through his vetoes of legislation which he deemed extravagant. In December 1835, Polk defeated Bell in a rematch and was elected Speaker. Finally, on January 16, 1837, when the Jacksonians had a majority in the Senate, the censure was expunged after years of effort by Jackson supporters. The expunction movement was led, ironically, by Benton.
In 1836, in response to increased land speculation, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, an executive order that required buyers of government lands to pay in "specie" (gold or silver coins). The result was high demand for specie, which many banks could not meet in exchange for their notes, contributing to the Panic of 1837. The White House Van Buren biography notes, "Basically the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of 'boom and bust,' which was following its regular pattern, but Jackson's financial measures contributed to the crash. His destruction of the Second Bank of the United States had removed restrictions upon the inflationary practices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easy bank credit, had swept the West. To end this speculation, Jackson in 1836 had issued a Specie Circular..."
Attack and assassination attempt
The first recorded physical attack on a U.S. president was directed at Jackson. He had ordered the dismissal of Robert B. Randolph from the navy for embezzlement. On May 6, 1833, Jackson sailed on USS Cygnet to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he was to lay the cornerstone on a monument near the grave of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother. During a stopover near Alexandria, Randolph appeared and struck the president. He fled the scene chased by several members of Jackson's party, including the writer Washington Irving. Jackson declined to press charges.
On January 30, 1835, what is believed to be the first attempt to kill a sitting president of the United States occurred just outside the United States Capitol. When Jackson was leaving through the East Portico after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter from England, aimed a pistol at Jackson, which misfired. Lawrence then pulled out a second pistol, which also misfired. Historians believe the humid weather contributed to the double misfiring. Jackson, infuriated, attacked Lawrence with his cane, until others present, including Davy Crockett, fearing that the president would beat Lawrence to a pulp, intervened to restrain and disarm Lawrence.
Lawrence offered a variety of explanations for the attempted shooting. He blamed Jackson for the loss of his job. He claimed that with the president dead, "money would be more plenty," (a reference to Jackson's struggle with the Bank of the United States) and that he "could not rise until the President fell." Finally, Lawrence told his interrogators that he was a deposed English king—specifically, Richard III, dead since 1485—and that Jackson was his clerk. He was deemed insane and was institutionalized at the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C.
Afterwards, the pistols were tested and retested. Each time they performed perfectly. Many believed that Jackson had been protected by the same Providence that also protected their young nation. The incident became a part of Jacksonian mythos. Jackson initially suspected that a number of his political enemies might have orchestrated the attempt on his life. His suspicions were never proven.
Reaction to anti-slavery tracts
During the summer of 1835, Northern abolitionists began sending anti-slavery tracts through the postal system into the South. Pro-slavery Southerners demanded that the postal service ban distribution of the materials, which were deemed "incendiary," and some began to riot. Jackson wanted sectional peace, and desired to placate Southerners ahead of the 1836 election. He fiercely disliked the abolitionists, whom he believed were, by instituting sectional jealousies, attempting to destroy the Union. Jackson also did not want to condone open insurrection. He supported the solution of Postmaster General Amos Kendall, which gave Southern postmasters discretionary powers to either send or detain the anti-slavery tracts. That December, Jackson called on Congress to prohibit the circulation through the South of "incendiary publications intended to instigate the slaves to insurrection."
U.S. exploring expedition
Jackson initially opposed any federal exploratory scientific expeditions during his first term in office. The last scientific federally funded expeditions took place from 1817 to 1823, led by Stephen H. Harriman west of the Mississippi. Jackson's predecessor, President Adams, attempted to launch a scientific oceanic exploration in 1828, but Congress was unwilling to fund the effort. When Jackson assumed office in 1829 he pocketed Adams' expedition plans. Eventually, wanting to establish his presidential legacy, similar to Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Jackson sponsored scientific exploration during his second term. On May 18, 1836, Jackson signed a law creating and funding the oceanic United States Exploring Expedition. Jackson put Secretary of the Navy Mahlon Dickerson in charge, to assemble suitable ships, officers, and scientific staff for the expedition; with a planned launch before Jackson's term of office expired. Dickerson proved unfit for the task, preparations stalled and the expedition was not launched until 1838, during the presidency of Van Buren. One brig ship, , later used in the expedition; having been commissioned by Secretary Dickerson in May 1836, circumnavigated the world and explored and mapped the Southern Ocean, confirming the existence of the continent of Antarctica.
Panic of 1837
In spite of economic success following Jackson's vetoes and war against the Bank, reckless speculation in land and railroads eventually caused the Panic of 1837. Contributing factors included Jackson's veto of the Second National Bank renewal charter in 1832 and subsequent transfer of federal monies to state banks in 1833 that caused western banks to relax their lending standards. Two other Jacksonian acts in 1836 contributed to the Panic of 1837: the Specie Circular, which mandated western lands only be purchased by money backed by gold and silver, and the Deposit and Distribution Act, which transferred federal monies from eastern to western state banks and in turn led to a speculation frenzy by banks. Jackson's Specie Circular, albeit designed to reduce speculation and stabilize the economy, left many investors unable to afford to pay loans in gold and silver. The same year there was a downturn in Great Britain's economy that stopped investment in the United States. As a result, the U.S. economy went into a depression, banks became insolvent, the national debt (previously paid off) increased, business failures rose, cotton prices dropped, and unemployment dramatically increased. The depression that followed lasted for four years until 1841, when the economy began to rebound.
Administration and cabinet
Judicial appointments
Jackson appointed six justices to the Supreme Court. Most were undistinguished. His first appointee, John McLean, had been nominated in Barry's place after Barry had agreed to become postmaster general. McLean "turned Whig and forever schemed to win" the presidency. His next two appointees–Henry Baldwin and James Moore Wayne–disagreed with Jackson on some points but were poorly regarded even by Jackson's enemies. In reward for his services, Jackson nominated Taney to the Court to fill a vacancy in January 1835, but the nomination failed to win Senate approval. Chief Justice Marshall died in 1835, leaving two vacancies on the court. Jackson nominated Taney for Chief Justice and Philip P. Barbour for Associate Justice. Both were confirmed by the new Senate. Taney served as Chief Justice until 1864, presiding over a court that upheld many of the precedents set by the Marshall Court. He was regarded with respect over the course of his career on the bench, but his opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford largely overshadows his other accomplishments. On the last full day of his presidency, Jackson nominated John Catron, who was confirmed.
States admitted to the Union
Two new states were admitted into the Union during Jackson's presidency: Arkansas (June 15, 1836) and Michigan (January 26, 1837). Both states increased Democratic power in Congress and helped Van Buren win the presidency in 1836. This was in keeping with the tradition that new states would support the party which had done the most to admit them.
Later life and death (1837–1845)
In 1837, after serving two terms as president, Jackson was replaced by his chosen successor Martin Van Buren and retired to the Hermitage. He immediately began putting it in order as it had been poorly managed in his absence by his adopted son, Andrew Jackson Jr. Although he suffered ill health, Jackson remained highly influential in both national and state politics. He was a firm advocate of the federal union of the states and rejected any talk of secession, insisting, "I will die with the Union." Blamed for causing the Panic of 1837, he was unpopular in his early retirement. Jackson continued to denounce the "perfidy and treachery" of banks and urged his successor, Van Buren, to repudiate the Specie Circular as president.
As a solution to the panic, he supported an Independent Treasury system, which was designed to hold the money balances of the government in the form of gold or silver and would be restricted from printing paper money so as to prevent further inflation. A coalition of conservative Democrats and Whigs opposed the bill, and it was not passed until 1840. During the delay, no effective remedy had been implemented for the depression. Van Buren grew deeply unpopular. A unified Whig Party nominated popular war hero William Henry Harrison and former Jacksonian John Tyler in the 1840 presidential election. The Whigs' campaign style in many ways mimicked that of the Democrats when Jackson ran. They depicted Van Buren as an aristocrat who did not care for the concerns of ordinary Americans, while glorifying Harrison's military record and portraying him as a man of the people. Jackson campaigned heavily for Van Buren in Tennessee. He favored the nomination of Polk for vice president at the 1840 Democratic National Convention over controversial incumbent Richard Mentor Johnson. No nominee was chosen, and the party chose to leave the decision up to individual state electors.
Harrison won the election, and the Whigs captured majorities in both houses of Congress. "The democracy of the United States has been shamefully beaten", Jackson wrote to Van Buren, "but I trust, not conquered." Harrison died only a month into his term, and was replaced by Tyler. Jackson was encouraged because Tyler had a strong independent streak and was not bound by party lines. Tyler quickly incurred the wrath of the Whigs in 1841 when he vetoed two Whig-sponsored bills to establish a new national bank, bringing satisfaction to Jackson and other Democrats. After the second veto, Tyler's entire cabinet, with the exception of Webster, resigned.
Jackson strongly favored the annexation of Texas, a feat he had been unable to accomplish during his own presidency. While Jackson still feared that annexation would stir up anti-slavery sentiment, his belief that the British would use Texas as a base to threaten the United States overrode his other concerns. He also insisted that Texas was part of the Louisiana Purchase and therefore rightfully belonged to the United States. At the request of Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, acting on behalf of the Tyler administration, which also supported annexation, Jackson wrote several letters to Texas president Sam Houston, urging him to wait for the Senate to approve annexation and explaining how much being a part of the United States would benefit Texas. Initially prior to the 1844 election, Jackson again supported Van Buren for president and Polk for vice president. A treaty of annexation was signed by Tyler on April 12, 1844, and submitted to the Senate. When a letter from Secretary of State Calhoun to British Ambassador Richard Pakenham linking annexation to slavery was made public, anti-annexation sentiment exploded in the North and the bill failed to be ratified. Van Buren decided to write the "Hamlet letter," opposing annexation. This effectively extinguished any support that Van Buren might previously have enjoyed in the South. The Whig nominee, Henry Clay, also opposed annexation, and Jackson recognized the need for the Democrats to nominate a candidate who supported it and could therefore gain the support of the South. If the plan failed, Jackson warned, Texas would not join the Union and would potentially fall victim to a Mexican invasion supported by the British.
Jackson met with Polk, Robert Armstrong, and Andrew Jackson Donelson in his study. He then pointed directly at a startled Polk, telling him that, as a man from the southwest and a supporter of annexation, he would be the perfect candidate. Polk called the scheme "utterly abortive", but agreed to go along with it. At the 1844 Democratic National Convention, Polk emerged as the party's nominee after Van Buren failed to win the required two-thirds majority of delegates. George M. Dallas was selected for vice president. Jackson convinced Tyler to drop his plans of running for re-election as an independent by promising, as Tyler requested, to welcome the President and his allies back into the Democratic Party and by instructing Blair to stop criticizing the President. Polk won the election, defeating Clay. A bill of annexation was passed by Congress in February and signed by Tyler on March 1.
Jackson's age and illness eventually overcame him. On June 8, 1845, he was surrounded by family and friends at his deathbed. Jackson, startled by their sobbing, said, "What is the matter with my dear children? Have I alarmed you? Oh, do not cry. Be good children and we will all meet in Heaven." He died immediately after at the age of 78 of chronic dropsy and heart failure. According to a newspaper account from the Boon Lick Times, "[he] fainted whilst being removed from his chair to the bed ... but he subsequently revived ... Gen. Jackson died at the Hermitage at 6 p.m. on Sunday the 8th instant. ... When the messenger finally came, the old soldier, patriot and Christian was looking out for his approach. He is gone, but his memory lives, and will continue to live." In his will, Jackson left his entire estate to Andrew Jackson Jr. except for specifically enumerated items that were left to various friends and family members.
Personal life
Family
Jackson had three adopted sons: Theodore, an Indian about whom little is known, Andrew Jackson Jr., the son of Rachel's brother Severn Donelson, and Lyncoya, a Creek orphan adopted by Jackson after the Battle of Tallushatchee. Lyncoya died of tuberculosis on July 1, 1828, at the age of sixteen.
The Jacksons also acted as guardians for eight other children. John Samuel Donelson, Daniel Smith Donelson, and Andrew Jackson Donelson were the sons of Rachel's brother Samuel Donelson, who died in 1804. Andrew Jackson Hutchings was Rachel's orphaned grand nephew. Caroline Butler, Eliza Butler, Edward Butler, and Anthony Butler were the orphaned children of Edward Butler, a family friend. They came to live with the Jacksons after the death of their father.
The widower Jackson invited Rachel's niece Emily Donelson to serve as hostess at the White House. Emily was married to Andrew Jackson Donelson, who acted as Jackson's private secretary and in 1856 ran for vice president on the American Party ticket. The relationship between the president and Emily became strained during the Petticoat affair, and the two became estranged for over a year. They eventually reconciled and she resumed her duties as White House hostess. Sarah Yorke Jackson, the wife of Andrew Jackson Jr., became co-hostess of the White House in 1834. It was the only time in history when two women simultaneously acted as unofficial First Lady. Sarah took over all hostess duties after Emily died from tuberculosis in 1836. Jackson used Rip Raps as a retreat.
Temperament
Jackson's quick temper was notorious. Biographer H. W. Brands notes that his opponents were terrified of his temper: "Observers likened him to a volcano, and only the most intrepid or recklessly curious cared to see it erupt. ... His close associates all had stories of his blood-curdling oaths, his summoning of the Almighty to loose His wrath upon some miscreant, typically followed by his own vow to hang the villain or blow him to perdition. Given his record—in duels, brawls, mutiny trials, and summary hearings—listeners had to take his vows seriously."
On the last day of his presidency, Jackson admitted that he had but two regrets, that he "had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun." On his deathbed, he was once again quoted as regretting that he had not hanged Calhoun for treason. "My country would have sustained me in the act, and his fate would have been a warning to traitors in all time to come," he said. Remini expresses the opinion that Jackson was typically in control of his temper, and that he used his anger, along with his fearsome reputation, as a tool to get what he wanted.
Physical appearance
Jackson was a lean figure, standing at tall, and weighing between on average. Jackson also had an unruly shock of red hair, which had completely grayed by the time he became president at age 61. He had penetrating deep blue eyes. Jackson was one of the more sickly presidents, suffering from chronic headaches, abdominal pains, and a hacking cough. Much of his trouble was caused by a musket ball in his lung that was never removed, that often brought up blood and sometimes made his whole body shake.
Religious faith
In 1838, Jackson became an official member of the First Presbyterian Church in Nashville. Both his mother and his wife had been devout Presbyterians all their lives, but Jackson himself had postponed officially entering the church in order to avoid accusations that he had joined only for political reasons.
Freemasonry
Jackson was a Freemason, initiated at Harmony Lodge No. 1 in Tennessee. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee in 1822 and 1823. During the 1832 presidential election, Jackson faced opposition from the Anti-Masonic Party. He was the only U.S. president to have served as Grand Master of a state's Grand Lodge until Harry S. Truman in 1945. His Masonic apron is on display in the Tennessee State Museum. An obelisk and bronze Masonic plaque decorate his tomb at the Hermitage.
Legacy
Historical reputation
Jackson remains one of the most studied and controversial figures in American history. Historian Charles Grier Sellers says, "Andrew Jackson's masterful personality was enough by itself to make him one of the most controversial figures ever to stride across the American stage." There has never been universal agreement on Jackson's legacy, for "his opponents have ever been his most bitter enemies, and his friends almost his worshippers." He was always a fierce partisan, with many friends and many enemies. He has been lauded as the champion of the common man, while criticized for his treatment of Indians and for other matters. James Parton was the first man after Jackson's death to write a full biography of him. Trying to sum up the contradictions in his subject, he wrote:
Jackson was criticized by his contemporary Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1835 book Democracy in America for flattering the dominant ideas of his time, including the mistrust over the federal power, for sometimes enforcing his view by force and disrespect towards the institutions and the law:
In the 20th century, Jackson was the subject of multiple highly favorable biographies. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.'s Age of Jackson (1945) depicts Jackson as a man of the people battling inequality and upper-class tyranny. From the 1970s to the 1980s, Robert Remini published a three-volume biography of Jackson followed by an abridged one-volume study. Remini paints a generally favorable portrait of Jackson. He contends that Jacksonian democracy "stretches the concept of democracy about as far as it can go and still remain workable. ... As such it has inspired much of the dynamic and dramatic events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in American history—Populism, Progressivism, the New and Fair Deals, and the programs of the New Frontier and Great Society." To Remini, Jackson serves as "the embodiment of the new American ... This new man was no longer British. He no longer wore the queue and silk pants. He wore trousers, and he had stopped speaking with a British accent." Other 20th-century writers such as Richard Hofstadter and Bray Hammond depict Jackson as an advocate of the sort of laissez-faire capitalism that benefits the rich and oppresses the poor.
Jackson's initiatives to deal with the conflicts between Native American people and European-American settlers has been a source of controversy. Starting around 1970, Jackson came under attack from some historians on this issue. Howard Zinn called him "the most aggressive enemy of the Indians in early American history" and "exterminator of Indians." Conversely, in 1969, Francis Paul Prucha argued that Jackson's removal of the Five Civilized Tribes from the extremely hostile white environment in the Old South to Oklahoma probably saved their very existence. Similarly, Remini claims that, if not for Jackson's policies, the Southeastern tribes would have been totally wiped out, similar to people such as the Yamasee, Mahican, and Narragansett.
Jackson has long been honored, along with Thomas Jefferson, in the Jefferson–Jackson Day fundraising dinners held by state Democratic Party organizations to honor the two men whom the party regards as its founders. However, because both Jefferson and Jackson were slave owners, as well as because of Jackson's Indian removal policies, many state party organizations have renamed the dinners.
Brands argues that Jackson's reputation suffered since the 1960s as his actions towards Indians and African Americans received new attention. After the civil rights movement, Brand writes, "his unrepentant ownership of slaves marked him as one to be censured rather than praised." Further, "By the turn of the present [21st] century, it was scarcely an exaggeration to say that the one thing American schoolchildren learned about Jackson was that he was the author of the Trail of Tears." Brands notes that he was often hailed during his lifetime as the "second George Washington" because, while Washington had fought for independence, Jackson confirmed it at New Orleans and made the United States a great power. Over time, while the Revolution has maintained a strong presence in the public conscience, memory of the War of 1812, including the Battle of New Orleans, has sharply declined. Brands writes that this is because once America had become a military power, "it was easy to think that America had been destined for this role from the beginning."
Still, Jackson's performance in office compared to other presidents has generally been ranked in the top half in public opinion polling. His position in C-SPAN's poll dropped from 13th in 2009, to 18th in 2017, and to 22nd in 2021.
Portrayal on banknotes and stamps
Jackson has appeared on U.S. banknotes as far back as 1869, and extending into the 21st century. His image has appeared on the $5, $10, $20, and $10,000 note. Most recently, his image has appeared on the U.S. $20 Federal reserve note beginning in 1928. In 2016, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced his goal that by 2020 an image of Harriet Tubman would replace Jackson's depiction on the front side of the $20 banknote, and that an image of Jackson would be placed on the reverse side, though the final decision will be made by his successors.
Jackson has appeared on several postage stamps. He first appeared on an 1863 two-cent stamp, which is commonly referred to by collectors as the Black Jack due to the large portraiture of Jackson on its face printed in pitch black. During the American Civil War, the Confederate government issued two Confederate postage stamps bearing Jackson's portrait, one a 2-cent red stamp and the other a 2-cent green stamp, both issued in 1863.
Memorials
Numerous counties and cities are named after him, including the cities of Jacksonville in Florida and North Carolina; the cities of Jackson in Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee; the city of Andrew in Iowa; Jackson County in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Oregon; and Jackson Parish in Louisiana.
Memorials to Jackson include a set of four identical equestrian statues by the sculptor Clark Mills: in Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.; in Jackson Square, New Orleans; in Nashville on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol; and in Jacksonville, Florida. Other equestrian statues of Jackson have been erected elsewhere, as in the State Capitol grounds in Raleigh, North Carolina. That statue controversially identifies him as one of the "presidents North Carolina gave the nation," and he is featured alongside James Polk and Andrew Johnson, both U.S. presidents born in North Carolina. There is a bust of Andrew Jackson in Plaza Ferdinand VII in Pensacola, Florida, where he became the first governor of the Florida Territory in 1821. There is also a 1928 bronze sculpture of Andrew Jackson by Belle Kinney Scholz and Leopold Scholz in the U.S. Capitol Building as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Popular culture depictions
Jackson and his wife Rachel were the main subjects of a 1951 historical novel by Irving Stone, The President's Lady, which told the story of their lives up until Rachel's death. The novel was the basis for the 1953 film of the same name starring Charlton Heston as Jackson and Susan Hayward as Rachel.
Jackson has been a supporting character in a number of historical films and television productions. Lionel Barrymore played Jackson in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), a fictionalized biography of Peggy Eaton starring Joan Crawford. The Buccaneer (1938), depicting the Battle of New Orleans, included Hugh Sothern as Jackson, and was remade in 1958 with Heston again playing Jackson.
Brian Donlevy played Jackson in the Paramount Pictures 1942 film The Remarkable Andrew. Basil Ruysdael played Jackson in Walt Disney's 1955 Davy Crockett TV miniseries. Wesley Addy appeared as Jackson in some episodes of the 1976 PBS miniseries The Adams Chronicles.
Jackson is the protagonist of the comedic historic rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (2008) with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and book by Alex Timbers.
In 1959, Jimmy Driftwood wrote the song "The Battle of New Orleans," which mentions Jackson. Johnny Horton recorded it that same year.
See also
List of presidents of the United States on currency
Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps
Notes
References
Bibliography
Biographies
; 344 pages; coverage to age 21
Abridgment of Remini's 3-volume biography.
Specialized studies
Historiography
Ward, John William 1955. Andrew Jackson, Symbol for an Age. New York: Oxford University Press.
Primary sources
7 volumes total.
(9 vols. 1980 to date)
Reprints his major messages and reports.
Library of Congress. "Andrew Jackson Papers", a digital archive that provides direct access to the manuscript images of many of the Jackson documents. online
Further reading
External links
Andrew Jackson: A Resource Guide at the Library of Congress
The Papers of Andrew Jackson at the Avalon Project
The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson
"Life Portrait of Andrew Jackson", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, April 26, 1999
"The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson and the Growth of Party Politics", lesson plan at the National Endowment for the Humanities
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Tuberculosis deaths in Tennessee | true | [
"The Battle of Drumlui was a Scottish clan battle that took place in either 1330 or 1337, in the Scottish Highlands between the Clan Cameron and the Clan Mackintosh.\n\nBackground\n\nThe parents of William Mackintosh, 7th chief of Clan Mackintosh and the confederation of Clan Chattan, had removed from their lands in Lochaber which were subsequently occupied by the Clan Cameron without disturbance. However, when William became a man he demanded that the lands were restored to him, but this claim was denied to him and refused by the Camerons who claimed that the lands had been deserted and now belonged to themselves as they were the first to seize and occupy them.\n\nBattle\n\nThe (Mackintosh of) Kinrara MS (manuscript) mentions a great battle at Drumlui in which William Mackintosh defeated the Camerons who were under the leadership of Donald Alin Vic Ian, or Donald Alin Mhic Evin. However, a number of Mackintosh and Clan Shaw men were also mortally wounded.\n\nAftermath\n\nThis battle led to a very long-lasting 350 year feud which did not end until near the end of the 17th century. In the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Drumlui each clan alternately harried each other's lands, lifting cattle, until the famous Battle of Invernahavon in 1370.\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nConflicts in 1330\nConflicts in 1337\n1337 in Scotland\n14th-century Scottish clan battles",
"The Battle of Constantinople was a Gothic attack on Constantinople in 378 following the Gothic victory at the Battle of Adrianople. The emperor Valens's widow prepared the defence, and also reinforced the city with Arab warriors, who performed excellently in combat. It is said that the Goths were impressed when one of the Arab warriors stormed out of the city naked, slaughtered enemies, and drank blood from the neck of a decapitated Goth. Other sources maintain that the Goths actually abandoned the attack because they were greatly outnumbered.\n\nIn the end, Goths did not enter the city and retreated to Thrace, Illyria, and Dacia.\n\nReferences\n\n378\nConstantinople 378\nConstantinople 378\nConstantinople 378\nSieges of Constantinople\n370s in the Roman Empire"
] |
[
"Andrew Jackson",
"Battle of New Orleans",
"When did the battle start?",
"December 1, 1814,",
"When did the battle end?",
"February 27, 1815,"
] | C_d066211bb235410c9c7b763df9a0ddfd_1 | What was the battle about? | 3 | What was Andrew Jackson's, Battle of New Orleans battle about? | Andrew Jackson | Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from present day Northern Ireland two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, in current-day Northern Ireland, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal family line originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England. When they immigrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. They brought two children from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). Jackson's father died in a logging accident while clearing land in February 1767 at the age of 29, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests. Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824 Jackson wrote a letter saying that he was born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian country. Most of the transactions involved grants made under the 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819. After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. Jackson soon became associated with the more radical, pro-French and anti-British wing. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. Senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests. After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of conflict with Europeans or Indians, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane, and continued to serve as governor until 1809. After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson only had about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained. The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." CANNOTANSWER | he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. | Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. An expansionist president, Jackson sought to advance the rights of the "common man" against a "corrupt aristocracy" and to preserve the Union.
Born in the colonial Carolinas in the decade before the American Revolutionary War, Jackson became a frontier lawyer and married Rachel Donelson Robards. He served briefly in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, representing Tennessee. After resigning, he served as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1798 until 1804. Jackson purchased a property later known as The Hermitage, and became a wealthy, slaveowning planter. In 1801, he was appointed colonel of the Tennessee militia and was elected its commander the following year. He led troops during the Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The subsequent Treaty of Fort Jackson required the Creek surrender of vast lands in present-day Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent war against the British, Jackson's victory in 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans made him a national hero. Jackson then led U.S. forces in the First Seminole War, which led to the annexation of Florida from Spain. Jackson briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824, winning a plurality of the popular and electoral vote. As no candidate won an electoral majority, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams in a contingent election. In reaction to the alleged "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Henry Clay and the ambitious agenda of President Adams, Jackson's supporters founded the Democratic Party.
Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide. Jackson faced the threat of secession by South Carolina over what opponents called the "Tariff of Abominations". The crisis was defused when the tariff was amended, and Jackson threatened the use of military force if South Carolina attempted to secede. In Congress, Henry Clay led the effort to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States. Jackson, regarding the Bank as a corrupt institution that benefited the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Americans, vetoed the renewal of its charter. After a lengthy struggle, Jackson and his allies thoroughly dismantled the Bank. In 1835, Jackson became the only president to completely pay off the national debt, fulfilling a longtime goal. While Jackson pursued numerous reforms designed to eliminate waste and corruption, his presidency marked the beginning of the ascendancy of the party "spoils system" in American politics. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibly removed most members of the major tribes of the Southeast to Indian Territory; these removals were subsequently known as the Trail of Tears. The relocation process dispossessed these nations of their land and resulted in widespread death and disease. Jackson opposed the abolitionist movement, which grew stronger in his second term. In foreign affairs, Jackson's administration concluded a "most favored nation" treaty with the United Kingdom, settled claims of damages against France from the Napoleonic Wars, and recognized the Republic of Texas. In January 1835, he survived the first assassination attempt on a sitting president.
In his retirement, Jackson remained active in Democratic Party politics, supporting the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk. Though fearful of its effects on the slavery debate, Jackson advocated the annexation of Texas, which was accomplished shortly before his death. Jackson has been widely revered in the United States as an advocate for democracy and the common man. Many of his actions proved divisive, garnering both fervent support and strong opposition from many in the country. His reputation has suffered since the 1970s, largely due to his anti-abolitionist views and policy of the forcible removal of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands. However, surveys of historians and scholars have ranked Jackson favorably among U.S. presidents.
Early life and education
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew Jackson and his wife Elizabeth Hutchinson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ulster, Ireland, two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal ancestors originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England.
When they migrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents brought two children with them from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). The family probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. Jackson's father died in February 1767 at the age of 29, in a logging accident while clearing land, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests.
Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824, Jackson wrote a letter saying he had been born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. As a young boy, Jackson was easily offended and was considered something of a bully. He was, however, also said to have taken a group of younger and weaker boys under his wing and been kind to them.
Revolutionary War service
During the Revolutionary War, Jackson's eldest brother, Hugh, died from heat exhaustion after the Battle of Stono Ferry on June 20, 1779. Anti-British sentiment intensified following the Waxhaws Massacre on May 29, 1780. Jackson's mother encouraged him and his elder brother Robert to attend the local militia drills. Soon, they began to help the militia as couriers. They served under Colonel William Richardson Davie at the Battle of Hanging Rock on August 6. Andrew and Robert were captured by the British in April 1781 while staying at the home of the Crawford family. When Andrew refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the officer slashed at the youth with a sword, leaving him with scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British. Robert also refused to do as commanded and was struck with the sword. The two brothers were held as prisoners, contracted smallpox, and nearly starved to death in captivity.
Later that year, their mother Elizabeth secured the brothers' release. She then began to walk both boys back to their home in the Waxhaws, a distance of some 40 miles (64 km). Both were in very poor health. Robert, who was far worse, rode on the only horse they had, while Andrew walked behind them. In the final two hours of the journey, a torrential downpour began which worsened the effects of the smallpox. Within two days of arriving back home, Robert was dead and Andrew in mortal danger. After nursing Andrew back to health, Elizabeth volunteered to nurse American prisoners of war on board two British ships in the Charleston harbor, where there had been an outbreak of cholera. In November, she died from the disease and was buried in an unmarked grave. Andrew became an orphan at age 14. He blamed the British personally for the loss of his brothers and mother.
Early career
Legal career and marriage
After the Revolutionary War, Jackson received a sporadic education in a local Waxhaw school. On bad terms with much of his extended family, he boarded with several different people. In 1781, he worked for a time as a saddle-maker, and eventually taught school. He apparently prospered in neither profession. In 1784, he left the Waxhaws region for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he studied law under attorney Spruce Macay. With the help of various lawyers, he was able to learn enough to qualify for the bar. In September 1787, Jackson was admitted to the North Carolina bar. Shortly thereafter, his friend John McNairy helped him get appointed to a vacant prosecutor position in the Western District of North Carolina, which would later become the state of Tennessee. During his travel west, Jackson bought his first slave, a woman who was older than him. In 1788, having been offended by fellow lawyer Waightstill Avery, Jackson fought his first duel. The duel ended with both men firing into the air, having made a secret agreement to do so before the engagement.
Jackson moved to the small frontier town of Nashville in 1788, where he lived as a boarder with Rachel Stockly Donelson, the widow of John Donelson. Here Jackson became acquainted with their daughter, Rachel Donelson Robards. The younger Rachel was in an unhappy marriage with Captain Lewis Robards; he was subject to fits of jealous rage. The two were separated in 1790. According to Jackson, he married Rachel after hearing that Robards had obtained a divorce. Her divorce had not been made final, making Rachel's marriage to Jackson bigamous and therefore invalid. After the divorce was officially completed, Rachel and Jackson remarried in 1794. To complicate matters further, evidence shows that Rachel had been living with Jackson and referred to herself as Mrs. Jackson before the petition for divorce was ever made. It was not uncommon on the frontier for relationships to be formed and dissolved unofficially, as long as they were recognized by the community.
Land speculation and early public career
In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian territory. Most of the transactions involved grants made under a 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819.
After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. As a representative, Jackson staunchly advocated for the rights of Tennesseans against Native American tribal interests. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Democratic-Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Democratic-Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision-making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests.
After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of armed conflicts, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Jackson then published a newspaper article accusing Sevier of fraud and bribery. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane and continued to serve as governor until 1809.
Planting career and controversy
In addition to his legal and political career, Jackson prospered as a planter and merchant. He built a home and the first general store in Gallatin, Tennessee, in 1803. The next year, he acquired The Hermitage, a plantation in Davidson County, near Nashville. He later added to the plantation, which eventually totaled . The primary crop was cotton. Like most successful American planters at the time, Jackson's plantation depended on slave labor. The cotton cultivated at the Hermitage was planted and picked by slaves. The Hermitage was quite profitable; Jackson began with nine slaves, owned as many as 44 by 1820, and later up to 150, placing him among the planter elite. Jackson also co-owned with his son Andrew Jackson Jr. the Halcyon plantation in Coahoma County, Mississippi, which housed 51 slaves at the time of his death. Throughout his lifetime, Jackson may have owned as many as 500 slaves.
Men, women, and child slaves were owned by Jackson on three sections of the Hermitage plantation. Slaves lived in extended family units of between five and ten persons and were quartered in cabins made either of brick or logs. The size and quality of the Hermitage slave quarters exceeded the standards of the time. To help slaves acquire food, Jackson supplied them with guns, knives, and fishing equipment. At times he paid his slaves with money and coins to trade in local markets. Jackson permitted slaves to be whipped to increase productivity or if he believed his slaves' offenses were severe enough. At various times he posted advertisements for fugitive slaves who had escaped from his plantation. In one advertisement placed in the Tennessee Gazette in October 1804, Jackson offered "ten dollars extra, for every hundred lashes any person will give him, to the amount of three hundred."
The controversy surrounding his marriage to Rachel remained a sore point for Jackson, who deeply resented attacks on his wife's honor. By May 1806, Charles Dickinson, who, like Jackson, raced horses, had published an attack on Jackson in the local newspaper, and it resulted in a written challenge from Jackson to a duel. Since Dickinson was considered an expert shot, Jackson determined it would be best to let Dickinson turn and fire first, hoping that his aim might be spoiled in his quickness; Jackson would wait and take careful aim at Dickinson. Dickinson did fire first, hitting Jackson in the chest. The bullet that struck Jackson was so close to his heart that it could not be removed. Under the rules of dueling, Dickinson had to remain still as Jackson took aim and shot and killed him. Jackson's behavior in the duel outraged many in Tennessee, who called it a brutal, cold-blooded killing and saddled Jackson with a reputation as a violent, vengeful man. He became a social outcast.
After the Sevier affair and the duel, Jackson was looking for a way to salvage his reputation. He chose to align himself with former vice president Aaron Burr. Burr's political career ended after the killing of Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804; in 1805 he set out on a tour of what was then the western United States. Burr was extremely well received by the people of Tennessee, and stayed for five days at the Hermitage. Burr's true intentions are not known with certainty. He seems to have been planning a military operation to conquer Spanish Florida and drive the Spanish from Texas. To many westerners like Jackson, the promise seemed enticing. Western American settlers had long held bitter feelings towards Spain due to territorial disputes and their persistent failure to stop Indians living in Spanish territory from raiding American settlements. On October 4, 1806, Jackson addressed the Tennessee militia, declaring that the men should be "at a moment's warning ready to march." On the same day, he wrote to James Winchester, proclaiming that the United States "can conquer not only the Floridas [at that time there was an East Florida and a West Florida.], but all Spanish North America." He continued:
Jackson agreed to provide boats and other provisions for the expedition. However, on November 10, he learned from a military captain that Burr's plans apparently included seizure of New Orleans, then part of the Louisiana Territory of the United States, and incorporating it, along with lands won from the Spanish, into a new empire. He was further outraged when he learned from the same man of the involvement of Brigadier General James Wilkinson, whom he deeply disliked, in the plan. Jackson acted cautiously at first, but wrote letters to public officials, including President Thomas Jefferson, vaguely warning them about the scheme. In December, Jefferson, a political opponent of Burr, issued a proclamation declaring that a treasonous plot was underway in the West and calling for the arrest of the perpetrators. Jackson, safe from arrest because of his extensive paper trail, organized the militia. Burr was soon captured, and the men were sent home. Jackson traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to testify on Burr's behalf in trial. The defense team decided against placing him on the witness stand, fearing his remarks were too provocative. Burr was acquitted of treason, despite Jefferson's efforts to have him convicted. Jackson endorsed James Monroe for president in 1808 against James Madison. The latter was part of the Jeffersonian wing of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson lived relatively quietly at the Hermitage in the years after the Burr trial, eventually accumulating 640 acres of land.
Military career
War of 1812
Creek campaign and treaty
Leading up to 1812, the United States found itself increasingly drawn into international conflict. Formal hostilities with Spain or France never materialized, but tensions with Britain increased for a number of reasons. Among these was the desire of many Americans for more land, particularly British Canada and Florida, the latter still controlled by Spain, Britain's European ally. On June 18, 1812, Congress officially declared war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, beginning the War of 1812. Jackson responded enthusiastically, sending a letter to Washington offering 2,500 volunteers. However, the men were not called up for many months. Biographer Robert V. Remini claims that Jackson saw the apparent slight as payback by the Madison administration for his support of Burr and Monroe. Meanwhile, the United States military repeatedly suffered devastating defeats on the battlefield.
On January 10, 1813, Jackson led an army of 2,071 volunteers to New Orleans to defend the region against British and Native American attacks. He had been instructed to serve under General Wilkinson, who commanded Federal forces in New Orleans. Lacking adequate provisions, Wilkinson ordered Jackson to halt in Natchez, then part of the Mississippi Territory, and await further orders. Jackson reluctantly obeyed. The newly appointed Secretary of War, John Armstrong Jr., sent a letter to Jackson dated February 6 ordering him to dismiss his forces and to turn over his supplies to Wilkinson. In reply to Armstrong on March 15, Jackson defended the character and readiness of his men, and promised to turn over his supplies. He also promised, instead of dismissing the troops without provisions in Natchez, to march them back to Nashville. The march was filled with agony. Many of the men had fallen ill. Jackson and his officers turned over their horses to the sick. He paid for provisions for the men out of his own pocket. The soldiers began referring to their commander as "Hickory," after a hickory nut, because of his toughness, and Jackson became known as "Old Hickory". After about a month long march, the army finally arrived in Nashville. His actions earned him respect and praise from the people of Tennessee. Jackson faced financial ruin, until his former aide-de-camp Thomas Benton persuaded Armstrong to order the army to pay the expenses Jackson had incurred. On June 14, Jackson served as a second in a duel on behalf of his junior officer William Carroll against Jesse Benton, the brother of Thomas. On September 3, Jackson and his top cavalry officer, Brigadier General John Coffee, were involved in a street brawl with the Benton brothers. Jackson was severely wounded by Jesse with a gunshot to the shoulder.
On August 30, 1813, a group of Muscogee (or Creek) called the Red Sticks, so named for the color of their war paint, perpetrated the Fort Mims massacre in which hundreds of white American settlers and non-Red Stick Creeks were slaughtered. The Red Sticks, led by William Weatherford (also called Red Eagle) and Peter McQueen, had broken away from the rest of the Creek Confederacy, which wanted peace with the United States. They were allied with Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief who had launched Tecumseh's War against the United States, and who was fighting alongside the British. The resulting conflict became known as the Creek War.
Jackson, with 2,500 American soldiers, was ordered to crush the Red Sticks. On October 10, he set out on the expedition, his arm still in a sling from fighting the Bentons. Jackson established Fort Strother as a supply base. On November 3, Coffee defeated a band of Red Sticks at the Battle of Tallushatchee. Coming to the relief of friendly Creeks besieged by Red Sticks, Jackson won another decisive victory at the Battle of Talladega. In the winter, Jackson, encamped at Fort Strother, faced a severe shortage of troops due to the expiration of enlistments and chronic desertions. He sent Coffee with the cavalry (which abandoned him) back to Tennessee to secure more enlistments. Jackson decided to combine his force with that of the Georgia militia, and marched to meet the Georgia troops. From January 22–24, 1814, while on their way, the Tennessee militia and allied Muscogee were attacked by the Red Sticks at the Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek. Jackson's troops repelled the attackers, but outnumbered, were forced to withdraw to Fort Strother. Jackson, now with over 2,000 troops, marched most of his army south to confront the Red Sticks at a fortress they had constructed at a bend in the Tallapoosa River. Jackson, together with Lower Creek and Cherokee allies and enjoying an advantage of more than 2 to 1, engaged them on March 27 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. An initial artillery barrage did little damage to the well-constructed fort. A subsequent Infantry charge, in addition to an assault by Coffee's cavalry and diversions caused by the allied Creeks, overwhelmed the Red Sticks.
The campaign ended three weeks later with Red Eagle's surrender, although some Red Sticks such as McQueen fled to East Florida. On June 8, Jackson accepted a commission as brigadier general in the United States Army, and 10 days later became a major general, in command of the Seventh Military Division. Subsequently, Jackson, with Madison's approval, imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson. The treaty required the Muscogee, including those who had not joined the Red Sticks, to surrender 23 million acres (8,093,713 ha) of land to the United States. Most of the Creeks bitterly acquiesced. Though in ill-health from dysentery, Jackson then turned his attention to defeating Spanish and British forces. Jackson accused the Spanish of arming the Red Sticks and of violating the terms of their neutrality by allowing British soldiers into the Floridas. The first charge was true, while the second ignored the fact that it was Jackson's threats to invade Florida which had caused them to seek British protection. In the November 7 Battle of Pensacola, Jackson defeated the relatively small British and Spanish forces in a short skirmish. Shortly thereafter, the Spanish surrendered and the remaining British wthdrew. Weeks later, Jackson learned that the British were planning an attack on New Orleans, which sat on the mouth of the Mississippi River and held immense strategic and commercial value. Jackson abandoned Pensacola to the Spanish, placed a force in Mobile, Alabama, to guard against a possible invasion there, and rushed the rest of his forces west to defend New Orleans.
The Creeks coined their own name for Jackson, Jacksa Chula Harjo or "Jackson, old and fierce."
Battle of New Orleans
After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson had only about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained.
The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.
Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." Some have claimed that, because the war was already ended by the preliminary signing of the Treaty of Ghent, Jackson's victory at New Orleans was without importance aside from making him a celebrated figure. However, the Spanish, who had sold the Louisiana Territory to France, disputed France's right to sell it to the United States through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In April 1815, Spain, assuming that the British had won at New Orleans, asked for the return of the Louisiana Territory. Spanish representatives claimed to have been assured that they would receive the land back. Furthermore, Article IX of the Treaty of Ghent stipulated that the United States must return land taken from the Creeks to their original owners, essentially undoing the Treaty of Fort Jackson. Thanks to Jackson's victory at New Orleans, the American government felt that it could safely ignore that provision and it kept the lands that Jackson had acquired.
Enforced martial law in New Orleans
Jackson, still not knowing for certain of the treaty's signing, refused to lift martial law in the city. Citizens, local politicians, and some of Jackson's troops expressed growing displeasure. When some of the Creoles under Jackson's service, registering as French citizens with the French consul Louis de Toussard, asked to be discharged based on their foreign nationality, Jackson ordered all Frenchmen, including Toussard, to depart to no less than 120 miles from the limits of New Orleans. State senator Louis Louaillier wrote an anonymous piece in the New Orleans newspaper challenging Jackson's refusal to release the militia after the British ceded the field of battle. Jackson attempted to find the author and, after Louiallier admitted to having written the piece, he imprisoned him. In March, after U.S. District Court Judge Dominic A. Hall signed a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Louaillier, Jackson ordered Hall's arrest. A military court ordered Louiallier's release, but Jackson kept him in prison. He released Hall four miles from the city, which marked the limits of his jurisdiction. Jackson also ordered the execution of six members of the militia who had attempted to leave. Their deaths were not well publicized until the Coffin Handbills were circulated during his 1828 presidential campaign. On March 13, news officially reached the city that the peace treaty had been signed and ratified. Jackson immediately lifted martial law, released Louaillier from prison, and allowed the return of those he had exiled. Hall subsequently brought Jackson to trial on charges of contempt of court, and fined him $1,000.
First Seminole War
Following the war, Jackson remained in command of troops on the southern border of the U.S. He conducted business from the Hermitage. He signed treaties with the Cherokee and Chickasaw which gained for the United States large parts of Tennessee and Kentucky. The treaty with the Chickasaw, finally agreed to later in the year, is commonly known as the Jackson Purchase.
Jackson would soon find himself embroiled in another conflict in the Floridas. Several Native American tribes, collectively known as the Seminole, straddled the border between the U.S. and Florida. The Seminole, in alliance with escaped slaves, frequently raided Georgia settlements before retreating back into Florida. These skirmishes continually escalated into the conflict now known as the First Seminole War. In 1816, Jackson led a detachment into Florida and at the Battle of Negro Fort destroyed the fort, killing most of the fugitive slaves defending it and a smaller number of allied Choctaw. Jackson was then ordered by President Monroe in December 1817 to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Seminole and Creek. Jackson was again charged with preventing Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves, after Spain promised freedom to fugitive slaves. Critics later alleged that Jackson exceeded orders in his Florida actions. His orders from President Monroe were to "terminate the conflict." Jackson believed the best way to do this was to seize Florida from Spain once and for all. Before departing, Jackson wrote to Monroe, "Let it be signified to me through any channel ... that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished."
Jackson invaded Florida on March 15, 1818, capturing Pensacola. He crushed Seminole and Spanish resistance in the region and captured two British agents, Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, who had been working with the Seminole. After a brief trial, Jackson executed both of them, causing a diplomatic incident with the British. Jackson's actions polarized Monroe's cabinet, some of whom argued that Jackson had gone against Monroe's orders and violated the Constitution, since the United States had not declared war upon Spain. He was defended by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. Adams thought that Jackson's conquest of Florida would force Spain to finally sell the province, and Spain did indeed sell Florida to the United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. A congressional investigation exonerated Jackson, but he was deeply angered by the criticism he received, particularly from Speaker of the House Henry Clay. After the ratification of the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1821, Jackson resigned from the army and briefly served as the territorial Governor of Florida before returning to Tennessee.
Presidential aspirations
Election of 1824
In the spring of 1822, Jackson suffered a physical breakdown. His body had two bullets lodged in it, and he had grown exhausted from years of hard military campaigning. He regularly coughed up blood, and his entire body shook. Jackson feared that he was on the brink of death. After several months of rest, he recovered. During his convalescence, Jackson's thoughts increasingly turned to national affairs. He obsessed over rampant corruption in the Monroe administration and grew to detest the Second Bank of the United States, blaming it for causing the Panic of 1819 by contracting credit.
Jackson turned down an offer to run for governor of his home state, but accepted John Overton's plan to have the legislature nominate him for president. On July 22, 1822, he was officially nominated by the Tennessee legislature. Jackson had come to dislike Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford, who had been the most vocal critic of Jackson in Monroe's cabinet, and he hoped to prevent Tennessee's electoral votes from going to Crawford. Yet Jackson's nomination garnered a welcoming response even outside of Tennessee, as many Americans appreciated his attacks on banks. The Panic of 1819 had devastated the fortunes of many, and banks and politicians seen as supportive of banks were unpopular. With his growing political viability, Jackson emerged as one of the five major presidential candidates, along with Crawford, Adams, Clay, and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun. During the Era of Good Feelings, the Federalist Party had faded away, and all five presidential contenders were members of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson's campaign promoted him as a defender of the common people, as well as the one candidate who could rise above sectional divisions. On the major issues of the day, most prominently the tariff, Jackson expressed centrist beliefs, and opponents accused him of obfuscating his positions. At the forefront of Jackson's campaign was combatting corruption. Jackson vowed to restore honesty in government and to scale back its excesses. As a war hero, Jackson was popular with ordinary people, and he benefited from the expansion of suffrage among white males that followed the conclusion of the War of 1812.
In 1823, Jackson reluctantly allowed his name to be placed in contention for one of Tennessee's U.S. Senate seats. The move was independently orchestrated by his advisors William Berkeley Lewis and U.S. senator John Eaton in order to defeat incumbent John Williams, who openly opposed his presidential candidacy. The legislature narrowly elected him. His return, after 24 years, 11 months, 3 days out of office, marks the second longest gap in service to the chamber in history. Although Jackson was reluctant to serve once more in the Senate, he was appointed chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. Eaton wrote to Rachel that Jackson as a senator was "in harmony and good understanding with every body," including Thomas Hart Benton, now a senator from Missouri, with whom Jackson had fought in 1813. Meanwhile, Jackson himself did little active campaigning for the presidency, as was customary. Eaton updated an already-written biography of him in preparation for the campaign and, along with others, wrote letters to newspapers praising Jackson's record and past conduct.
Democratic-Republican presidential nominees had historically been chosen by informal Congressional nominating caucuses, but this method had become unpopular. In 1824, most of the Democratic-Republicans in Congress boycotted the caucus. Those who attended backed Crawford for president and Albert Gallatin for vice president. A Pennsylvania convention nominated Jackson for president a month later, stating that the irregular caucus ignored the "voice of the people" in the "vain hope that the American people might be thus deceived into a belief that he [Crawford] was the regular democratic candidate." Gallatin criticized Jackson as "an honest man and the idol of the worshipers of military glory, but from incapacity, military habits, and habitual disregard of laws and constitutional provisions, altogether unfit for the office." After Jackson won the Pennsylvania nomination, Calhoun dropped out of the presidential race and successfully sought the vice presidency instead.
In the presidential election, Jackson won a plurality of the electoral vote, taking states in the South, West, and Mid-Atlantic. He was the only candidate to win states outside of his regional base, as Adams dominated New England, Clay took three western states, and Crawford won Virginia and Georgia. Jackson won a plurality of the popular vote, taking 42 percent, although not all states held a popular vote for the presidency. He won 99 electoral votes, more than any other candidate, but still short of 131, which he needed for a true majority. With no candidate having won a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives held a contingent election under the terms of the Twelfth Amendment. The amendment specifies that only the top three electoral vote-winners are eligible to be elected by the House, so Clay was eliminated from contention. Jackson believed that he was likely to win this contingent election, as Crawford and Adams lacked Jackson's national appeal, and Crawford had suffered a debilitating stroke that made many doubt his physical fitness for the presidency. Clay, who as Speaker of the House presided over the election, saw Jackson as a dangerous demagogue who might topple the republic in favor of his own leadership. He threw his support behind Adams, who shared Clay's support for federally funded internal improvements such as roads and canals. With Clay's backing, Adams won the contingent election on the first ballot. Furious supporters of Jackson accused Clay and Adams of having reached a "corrupt bargain" after Adams appointed Clay as his Secretary of State. "So you see," Jackson growled, "the Judas of the West has closed the contract and receive the thirty pieces of silver. [H]is end will be the same." After the Congressional session concluded, Jackson resigned his Senate seat and returned to Tennessee.
Election of 1828 and death of Rachel Jackson
Almost immediately, opposition arose to the Adams presidency. Jackson opposed Adams's plan to involve the U.S. in Panama's quest for independence, writing, "The moment we engage in confederations, or alliances with any nation, we may from that time date the down fall of our republic." Adams damaged his standing in his first annual message to Congress, when he argued that Congress must not give the world the impression "that we are palsied by the will of our constituents."
Jackson was nominated for president by the Tennessee legislature in October 1825, more than three years before the 1828 election. It was the earliest such nomination in presidential history, and it attested to the fact that Jackson's supporters began the 1828 campaign almost as soon as the 1824 campaign ended. Adams's presidency foundered, as his ambitious agenda faced defeat in a new era of mass politics. Critics led by Jackson attacked Adams's policies as a dangerous expansion of Federal power. New York Senator Martin Van Buren, who had been a prominent supporter of Crawford in 1824, emerged as one of the strongest opponents of Adams's policies, and he settled on Jackson as his preferred candidate in 1828. Van Buren was joined by Vice President Calhoun, who opposed much of Adams's agenda on states' rights grounds. Van Buren and other Jackson allies established numerous pro-Jackson newspapers and clubs around the country, while Jackson avoided campaigning but made himself available to visitors at his Hermitage plantation. In the election, Jackson won a commanding 56 percent of the popular vote and 68 percent of the electoral vote. The election marked the definitive end of the one-party Era of Good Feelings, as Jackson's supporters coalesced into the Democratic Party and Adams's followers became known as the National Republicans. In the large Scots-Irish community that was especially numerous in the rural South and Southwest, Jackson was a favorite.
The campaign was heavily personal. As was the custom at the time, neither candidate personally campaigned, but their political followers organized campaign events. Both candidates were rhetorically attacked in the press. Jackson was labelled a slave trader who bought and sold slaves and moved them about in defiance of higher standards of slaveholder behavior. A series of pamphlets known as the Coffin Handbills were published to attack Jackson, one of which revealed his order to execute soldiers at New Orleans. Another accused him of engaging in cannibalism by eating the bodies of American Indians killed in battle, while still another labeled his mother a "common prostitute" and stated that Jackson's father was a "mulatto man."
Rachel Jackson was also a frequent target of attacks, and was widely accused of bigamy, a reference to the controversial situation of her marriage with Jackson. Jackson's campaigners fired back by claiming that while serving as Minister to Russia, Adams had procured a young girl to serve as a prostitute for Emperor Alexander I. They also stated that Adams had a billiard table in the White House and that he had charged the government for it.
Rachel had been under extreme stress during the election, and often struggled while Jackson was away. She began experiencing significant physical stress during the election season. Jackson described her symptoms as "excruciating pain in the left shoulder, arm, and breast." After struggling for three days, Rachel finally died of a heart attack on December 22, 1828, three weeks after her husband's victory in the election (which began on October 31 and ended on December 2) and 10 weeks before Jackson took office as president. A distraught Jackson had to be pulled from her so the undertaker could prepare the body. He felt that the abuse from Adams's supporters had hastened her death and never forgave him. Rachel was buried at the Hermitage on Christmas Eve. "May God Almighty forgive her murderers, as I know she forgave them," Jackson swore at her funeral. "I never can."
Presidency (1829–1837)
Philosophy
Jackson's name has been associated with Jacksonian democracy or the shift and expansion of democracy with the passing of some political power from established elites to ordinary voters based in political parties. "The Age of Jackson" shaped the national agenda and American politics. Jackson's philosophy as president was similar to that of Jefferson, advocating republican values held by the Revolutionary generation. Jackson took a moral tone, with the belief that agrarian sympathies, and strong states rights with a limited federal government, would produce less corruption. He feared that monied and business interests would corrupt republican values. When South Carolina opposed the tariff law, he took a strong line in favor of nationalism and against secession.
Jackson believed in the ability of the people to "arrive at right conclusions." They had the right not only to elect but to "instruct their agents & representatives." Office holders should either obey the popular will or resign. He rejected the view of a powerful and independent Supreme Court with binding decisions, arguing that "the Congress, the Executive, and the Court must each or itself be guided by its own opinions of the Constitution." Jackson thought that Supreme Court justices should be made to stand for election, and believed in strict constructionism as the best way to ensure democratic rule. He called for term limits on presidents and the abolition of the Electoral College. According to Robert V. Remini, Jackson "was far ahead of his times–and maybe even further than this country can ever achieve."
Inauguration
Jackson departed from the Hermitage on January 19 and arrived in Washington on February 11. He then set about choosing his cabinet members. Jackson chose Van Buren as expected for Secretary of State, Eaton of Tennessee as Secretary of War, Samuel D. Ingham of Pennsylvania as Secretary of Treasury, John Branch of North Carolina as Secretary of Navy, John M. Berrien of Georgia as Attorney General, and William T. Barry of Kentucky as Postmaster General. Jackson's first choice of cabinet proved to be unsuccessful, full of bitter partisanship and gossip. Jackson blamed Adams in part for what was said about Rachel during the campaign, and refused to meet him after arriving in Washington. Therefore, Adams chose not to attend the inauguration.
On March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson became the first United States president-elect to take the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. In his inaugural speech, Jackson promised to respect the sovereign powers of states and the constitutional limits of the presidency. He also promised to pursue "reform" by removing power from "unfaithful or incompetent hands." At the conclusion of the ceremony, Jackson invited the public to the White House, where his supporters held a raucous party. Thousands of spectators overwhelmed the White House staff, and minor damage was caused to fixtures and furnishings. Jackson's populism earned him the nickname "King Mob."
Reforms, rotation of offices, and spoils system
In an effort to purge the government of corruption, Jackson launched presidential investigations into all executive Cabinet offices and departments. He believed appointees should be hired on merit and withdrew many candidates he believed were lax in their handling of monies. He believed that the federal government had been corrupted and that he had received a mandate from the American people to purge such corruption. Jackson's investigations uncovered enormous fraud in the federal government, and numerous officials were removed from office and indicted on corruption, including personal friend of John Quincy Adams and Treasury Fourth Auditor Tobias Watkins. In the first year of Jackson's presidency, his investigations uncovered $280,000 stolen from the Treasury, and the Department of the Navy was saved $1 million. He asked Congress to reform embezzlement laws, reduce fraudulent applications for federal pensions, pass revenue laws to prevent evasion of custom duties, and pass laws to improve government accounting. Jackson's Postmaster General Barry resigned after a Congressional investigation into the postal service revealed mismanagement of mail services, collusion and favoritism in awarding lucrative contracts, as well as failure to audit accounts and supervise contract performances. Jackson replaced Barry with Treasury Auditor and prominent Kitchen Cabinet member Amos Kendall, who went on to implement reforms in the Post Office Department.
Jackson repeatedly called for the abolition of the Electoral College by constitutional amendment in his annual messages to Congress as president. In his third annual message to Congress, he expressed the view "I have heretofore recommended amendments of the Federal Constitution giving the election of President and Vice-President to the people and limiting the service of the former to a single term. So important do I consider these changes in our fundamental law that I can not, in accordance with my sense of duty, omit to press them upon the consideration of a new Congress."
Although he was unable to implement these goals, Jackson's time in office did see a variety of other reforms. He supported an act in July 1836 that enabled widows of Revolutionary War soldiers who met certain criteria to receive their husbands' pensions. In 1836, Jackson established the ten-hour day in national shipyards.
Jackson enforced the Tenure of Office Act, signed by President Monroe in 1820, that limited appointed office tenure and authorized the president to remove and appoint political party associates. Jackson believed that a rotation in office was a democratic reform preventing hereditary officeholding and made civil service responsible to the popular will. Jackson declared that rotation of appointments in political office was "a leading principle in the republican creed." Jackson noted, "In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another." Jackson believed that rotating political appointments would prevent the development of a corrupt bureaucracy. The number of federal office holders removed by Jackson were exaggerated by his opponents; Jackson rotated only about 20% of federal office holders during his first term, some for dereliction of duty rather than political purposes. Jackson, nonetheless, used his presidential power to award loyal Democrats by granting them federal office appointments. Jackson's approach incorporated patriotism for country as qualification for holding office. Having appointed a soldier who had lost his leg fighting on the battlefield to postmaster, Jackson stated, "[i]f he lost his leg fighting for his country, that is ... enough for me."
Jackson's theory regarding rotation of office generated what would later be called the spoils system. The political realities of Washington sometimes forced Jackson to make partisan appointments despite his personal reservations. Supervision of bureaus and departments whose operations were outside of Washington (such as the New York Customs House; the Postal Service; the Departments of Navy and War; and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose budget had increased enormously in the previous two decades) proved to be difficult. Remini writes that because "friendship, politics, and geography constituted the President's total criteria for appointments, most of his appointments were predictably substandard."
Petticoat affair
Jackson devoted a considerable amount of his presidential time during his early years in office responding to what came to be known as the "Petticoat affair" or "Eaton affair." Washington gossip circulated among Jackson's cabinet members and their wives, including Calhoun's wife Floride Calhoun, concerning Secretary of War Eaton and his wife Peggy Eaton. Salacious rumors held that Peggy, as a barmaid in her father's tavern, had been sexually promiscuous or had even been a prostitute. Controversy also ensued because Peggy had married soon after her previous husband's death, and it was alleged that she and her husband had engaged in an adulterous affair while her previous husband was still living. Petticoat politics emerged when the wives of cabinet members, led by Mrs. Calhoun, refused to socialize with the Eatons. Allowing a prostitute in the official family was unthinkable—but Jackson refused to believe the rumors, telling his Cabinet that "She is as chaste as a virgin!" Jackson believed that the dishonorable people were the rumormongers, who in essence questioned and dishonored Jackson himself by, in attempting to drive the Eatons out, daring to tell him who he could and could not have in his cabinet. Jackson was also reminded of the attacks that were made against his wife. These memories increased his dedication to defending Peggy Eaton.
Meanwhile, the cabinet wives insisted that the interests and honor of all American women was at stake. They believed a responsible woman should never accord a man sexual favors without the assurance that went with marriage. A woman who broke that code was dishonorable and unacceptable. Historian Daniel Walker Howe notes that this was the feminist spirit that in the next decade shaped the woman's rights movement. Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, a widower, was already forming a coalition against Calhoun. He could now see his main chance to strike hard; he took the side of Jackson and Eaton.
In the spring of 1831, Jackson, at Van Buren's suggestion, demanded the resignations of all the cabinet members except Barry. Van Buren himself resigned to avoid the appearance of bias. In 1832, Jackson nominated Van Buren to be Minister to Great Britain. Calhoun blocked the nomination with a tie-breaking vote against it, claiming the defeated nomination would "...kill him [Van Buren] dead, sir, kill him dead. He will never kick, sir, never kick." Van Buren continued to serve as an important adviser to Jackson and was placed on the ticket for vice president in the 1832 election, making him Jackson's heir-apparent. The Petticoat affair led to the development of the Kitchen Cabinet. The Kitchen Cabinet emerged as an unofficial group of advisors to the president. Its existence was partially rooted in Jackson's difficulties with his official cabinet, even after the purging.
Indian removal policy
Throughout his eight years in office, Jackson made about 70 treaties with American Indian tribes both in the South and in the Northwest. Jackson's presidency marked the beginning of a policy of Indian removal. Jackson himself sometimes participated in the treaty negotiating process, though other times he left the negotiations to his subordinates. The southern tribes included the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole and the Cherokee. The northwest tribes included the Chippewa, Ottawa, and the Potawatomi.
Relations between Indians and whites increasingly grew tense and sometimes violent as a result of territorial conflicts. Previous presidents had at times supported removal or attempts to "civilize" Native people, but generally let the problem play itself out with minimal intervention. But by Jackson's time, a growing popular and political movement developed wanting action on the issue, and out of this came policy decisions to relocate certain Indian populations. Jackson, never known for timidity, became an advocate for this relocation policy in what many historians consider the most controversial aspect of his presidency.
In his First Annual Message to Congress, Jackson advocated land west of the Mississippi River be set aside for Indian tribes. On May 26, 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which Jackson signed into law two days later. The Act authorized the president to negotiate treaties to buy tribal lands in the east in exchange for lands farther west, outside of existing state borders. The act specifically pertained to the Five Civilized Tribes in the South, the conditions being that they could either move west or stay and obey state law, effectively relinquishing their sovereignty.
Jackson, Eaton, and General Coffee negotiated with the Chickasaw, who quickly agreed to move. Jackson put Eaton and Coffee in charge of negotiating with the Choctaw. Lacking Jackson's skills at negotiation, they simply bribed various leaders in order to gain their agreement. The tactics worked, and with the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Choctaw were required to move. The removal of the Choctaw took place in the winter of 1831 and 1832, and was wrought with misery and suffering. The Seminole, despite the signing of the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832, refused to move. In December 1835, this dispute began the Second Seminole War. The war lasted over six years, finally ending in 1842. Members of the Creek Nation had signed the Treaty of Cusseta in 1832, allowing the Creek to either sell or retain their land. Conflict later erupted between the Creek who remained and the white settlers, leading to a second Creek War. A common complaint amongst the tribes was that the men who had signed the treaties did not represent the whole tribe.
The state of Georgia became involved in a dispute with the Cherokee, culminating in the 1832 Supreme Court decision in Worcester v. Georgia. Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for the court, ruled that Georgia could not forbid whites from entering tribal lands, as it had attempted to do with two missionaries supposedly stirring up resistance amongst the tribespeople. Jackson is frequently attributed the following response: "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." The quote, apparently indicating Jackson's dismissive view of the courts, was attributed to Jackson by Horace Greeley, who cited as his source Representative George N. Briggs. Remini argues that Jackson did not say it because, while it "certainly sounds like Jackson...[t]here was nothing for him to enforce." This is because a writ of habeas corpus had never been issued for the missionaries. The Court also did not ask federal marshals to carry out the decision, as had become standard.
A group of Cherokees led by John Ridge negotiated the Treaty of New Echota. Ridge was not a widely recognized leader of the Cherokee, and this document was rejected by some as illegitimate. Another faction, led by John Ross, unsuccessfully petitioned to protest the proposed removal. The Cherokee largely considered themselves independent, and not subject to the laws of the United States or Georgia. The treaty was enforced by Jackson's successor, Van Buren. Subsequently, as many as 4,000 out of 18,000 Cherokee died on the "Trail of Tears" in 1838.
More than 45,000 people were relocated, primarily to Indian territory in present-day Oklahoma during Jackson's administration, though some Cherokee people walked back afterwards, and others evaded removal by migrating into the Great Smoky Mountains. Another conflict during the Jackson administration was the Black Hawk War in 1832 after a group of Indians crossed into U.S. territory.
Nullification crisis
In 1828, Congress had approved the "Tariff of Abominations", which set the tariff at a historically high rate. Southern planters, who sold their cotton on the world market, strongly opposed this tariff, which they saw as favoring northern interests. The South now had to pay more for goods it did not produce locally; and other countries would have more difficulty affording southern cotton. The issue came to a head during Jackson's presidency, resulting in the Nullification Crisis, in which South Carolina threatened disunion.
The South Carolina Exposition and Protest of 1828, secretly written by Calhoun, asserted that their state had the right to "nullify"—declare void—the tariff legislation of 1828. Although Jackson sympathized with the South in the tariff debate, he also vigorously supported a strong union, with effective powers for the central government. Jackson attempted to face down Calhoun over the issue, which developed into a bitter rivalry between the two men. One incident came at the April 13, 1830, Jefferson Day dinner, involving after-dinner toasts. Robert Hayne began by toasting to "The Union of the States, and the Sovereignty of the States." Jackson then rose, and in a booming voice added "Our federal Union: It must be preserved!" – a clear challenge to Calhoun. Calhoun clarified his position by responding "The Union: Next to our Liberty, the most dear!"
In May 1830, Jackson discovered that Calhoun had asked President Monroe to censure Jackson for his invasion of Spanish Florida in 1818 while Calhoun was serving as Secretary of War. Calhoun's and Jackson's relationship deteriorated further. By February 1831, the break between Calhoun and Jackson was final. Responding to inaccurate press reports about the feud, Calhoun had published letters between him and Jackson detailing the conflict in the United States Telegraph. Jackson and Calhoun began an angry correspondence which lasted until Jackson stopped it in July. The Telegraph, edited by Duff Green, initially supported Jackson. After it sided with Calhoun on nullification, Jackson needed a new organ for the administration. He enlisted the help of longtime supporter Francis Preston Blair, who in November 1830 established a newspaper known as the Washington Globe, which from then on served as the primary mouthpiece of the Democratic Party.
Jackson supported a revision to tariff rates known as the Tariff of 1832. It was designed to placate the nullifiers by lowering tariff rates. Written by Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, the bill lowered duties from 45% to 27%. In May, Representative John Quincy Adams introduced a slightly revised version of the bill, which Jackson accepted. It passed Congress on July 9 and was signed by the president on July 14. The bill failed to satisfy extremists on either side. On November 24, the South Carolina legislature nullified both the Tariff of 1832 and the Tariff of 1828. In response, Jackson sent U.S. Navy warships to Charleston harbor, and threatened to hang any man who worked to support nullification or secession. On December 28, 1832, Calhoun resigned as vice president, after having been elected to the U.S. Senate. This was part of a strategy whereby Calhoun, with less than three months remaining on his vice presidential term, would replace Robert Y. Hayne in the Senate, and he would then become governor of South Carolina. Hayne had often struggled to defend nullification on the floor of the Senate, especially against fierce criticism from Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts.
Also that December, Jackson issued a resounding proclamation against the "nullifiers," stating that he considered "the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed." South Carolina, the president declared, stood on "the brink of insurrection and treason," and he appealed to the people of the state to reassert their allegiance to that Union for which their ancestors had fought. Jackson also denied the right of secession: "The Constitution ... forms a government not a league ... To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States are not a nation." Jackson tended to personalize the controversy, frequently characterizing nullification as a conspiracy between disappointed and bitter men whose ambitions had been thwarted.
Jackson asked Congress to pass a "Force Bill" explicitly authorizing the use of military force to enforce the tariff. It was introduced by Senator Felix Grundy of Tennessee, and was quickly attacked by Calhoun as "military despotism." At the same time, Calhoun and Clay began to work on a new compromise tariff. A bill sponsored by the administration had been introduced by Representative Gulian C. Verplanck of New York, but it lowered rates more sharply than Clay and other protectionists desired. Clay managed to get Calhoun to agree to a bill with higher rates in exchange for Clay's opposition to Jackson's military threats and, perhaps, with the hope that he could win some Southern votes in his next bid for the presidency. The Compromise Tariff passed on March 1, 1833. The Force Bill passed the same day. Calhoun, Clay, and several others marched out of the chamber in opposition, the only dissenting vote coming from John Tyler of Virginia. The new tariff was opposed by Webster, who argued that it essentially surrendered to South Carolina's demands. Jackson, despite his anger over the scrapping of the Verplanck bill and the new alliance between Clay and Calhoun, saw it as an efficient way to end the crisis. He signed both bills on March 2, starting with the Force Bill. The South Carolina Convention then met and rescinded its nullification ordinance, but in a final show of defiance, nullified the Force Bill. On May 1, Jackson wrote, "the tariff was only the pretext, and disunion and southern confederacy the real object. The next pretext will be the negro, or slavery question."
Foreign affairs
Addressing the subject of foreign affairs in his First Annual Address to Congress, Jackson declared it to be his "settled purpose to ask nothing that is not clearly right and to submit to nothing that is wrong."
When Jackson took office, spoliation claims, or compensation demands for the capture of American ships and sailors, dating from the Napoleonic era, caused strained relations between the U.S. and French governments. The French Navy had captured and sent American ships to Spanish ports while holding their crews captive forcing them to labor without any charges or judicial rules. According to Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, relations between the U.S. and France were "hopeless." Jackson's Minister to France, William C. Rives, through diplomacy was able to convince the French government to sign a reparations treaty on July 4, 1831, that would award the U.S. ₣ 25,000,000 ($5,000,000) in damages. The French government became delinquent in payment due to internal financial and political difficulties. The French king Louis Philippe I and his ministers blamed the French Chamber of Deputies. By 1834, the non-payment of reparations by the French government drew Jackson's ire and he became impatient. In his December 1834 State of the Union address, Jackson sternly reprimanded the French government for non-payment, stating the federal government was "wholly disappointed" by the French, and demanded Congress authorize trade reprisals against France. Feeling insulted by Jackson's words, the French people began pressuring their government not to pay the indemnity until Jackson had apologized for his remarks. In his December 1835 State of the Union Address, Jackson refused to apologize, stating he had a good opinion of the French people and his intentions were peaceful. Jackson described in lengthy and minute detail the history of events surrounding the treaty and his belief that the French government was purposely stalling payment. The French accepted Jackson's statements as sincere and in February 1836, reparations were paid.
In addition to France, the Jackson administration successfully settled spoliation claims with Denmark, Portugal, and Spain. Jackson's state department was active and successful at making trade agreements with Russia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Siam. Under the treaty with the United Kingdom, American trade was reopened in the West Indies. The trade agreement with Siam was America's first treaty between the United States and an Asiatic country. As a result, American exports increased 75% while imports increased 250%.
Jackson's attempt to purchase Texas from Mexico for $5,000,000 failed. The chargé d'affaires in Mexico, Colonel Anthony Butler, suggested that the U.S. take Texas over militarily, but Jackson refused. Butler was later replaced toward the end of Jackson's presidency. In 1835, the Texas Revolution began when pro-slavery American settlers in Texas fought the Mexican government for Texan independence. By May 1836, they had routed the Mexican military, establishing an independent Republic of Texas. The new Texas government legalized slavery and demanded recognition from President Jackson and annexation into the United States. Jackson was hesitant in recognizing Texas, unconvinced that the new republic could maintain independence from Mexico, and not wanting to make Texas an anti-slavery issue during the 1836 election. The strategy worked; the Democratic Party and national loyalties were held intact, and Van Buren was elected president. Jackson formally recognized the Republic of Texas, nominating Alcée Louis la Branche as chargé d'affaires on the last full day of his presidency, March 3, 1837.
Jackson failed in his efforts to open trade with China and Japan and was unsuccessful at thwarting the United Kingdom's presence and power in South America.
Bank veto and election of 1832
The 1832 presidential election demonstrated the rapid development and organization of political parties during this time period. The Democratic Party's first national convention, held in Baltimore, nominated Jackson's choice for vice president, Van Buren. The National Republican Party, who had held their first convention in Baltimore earlier in December 1831, nominated Henry Clay, now a senator from Kentucky, and John Sergeant of Pennsylvania. The Anti-Masonic Party emerged by capitalizing on opposition to Freemasonry, which existed primarily in New England, after the disappearance and possible murder of William Morgan. The party, which had earlier held its convention also in Baltimore in September 1831, nominated William Wirt of Maryland and Amos Ellmaker of Pennsylvania. Clay was, like Jackson, a Mason, and so some anti-Jacksonians who would have supported the National Republican Party supported Wirt instead.
In 1816, the Second Bank of the United States was chartered by President James Madison to restore the United States economy devastated by the War of 1812. Monroe had appointed Nicholas Biddle as the Bank's executive. Jackson believed that the Bank was a fundamentally corrupt monopoly. Its stock was mostly held by foreigners, he insisted, and it exerted an unfair amount of control over the political system. Jackson used the issue to promote his democratic values, believing the Bank was being run exclusively for the wealthy. Jackson stated the Bank made "the rich richer and the potent more powerful." He accused it of making loans with the intent of influencing elections. In his address to Congress in 1830, Jackson called for a substitute for the Bank that would have no private stockholders and no ability to lend or purchase land. Its only power would be to issue bills of exchange. The address touched off fiery debate in the Senate. Thomas Hart Benton, now a strong supporter of the president despite the brawl years earlier, gave a speech excoriating the Bank and calling for debate on its recharter. Webster led a motion to narrowly defeat the resolution. Shortly afterward, the Globe announced that Jackson would stand for reelection.
Despite his misgivings about the Bank, Jackson supported a plan proposed in late 1831 by his moderately pro-Bank Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, who was secretly working with Biddle, to recharter a reformed version of the Bank in a way that would free up funds which would in turn be used to strengthen the military or pay off the nation's debt. This would be done, in part, through the sale of government stock in the Bank. Over the objections of Attorney General Roger B. Taney, an irreconcilable opponent of the Bank, he allowed McLane to publish a Treasury Report which essentially recommended rechartering the Bank.
Clay hoped to make the Bank an issue in the election, so as to accuse Jackson of going beyond his powers if he vetoed a recharter bill. He and Webster urged Biddle to immediately apply for recharter rather than wait to reach a compromise with the administration. Biddle received advice to the contrary from moderate Democrats such as McLane and William Lewis, who argued that Biddle should wait because Jackson would likely veto the recharter bill. On January 6, 1832, Biddle submitted to Congress a renewal of the Bank's charter without any of the proposed reforms. The submission came four years before the original 20-year charter was to end. Biddle's recharter bill passed the Senate on June 11 and the House on July 3, 1832. Jackson determined to veto it. Many moderate Democrats, including McLane, were appalled by the perceived arrogance of the bill and supported his decision. When Van Buren met Jackson on July 4, Jackson declared, "The Bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill me. But I will kill it." Jackson vetoed the bill on July 10. The veto message was crafted primarily by Taney, Kendall, and Jackson's nephew and advisor Andrew Jackson Donelson. It attacked the Bank as an agent of inequality that supported only the wealthy. The veto was considered "one of the strongest and most controversial" presidential statements and "a brilliant political manifesto." The National Republican Party immediately made Jackson's veto of the Bank a political issue. Jackson's political opponents castigated the veto as "the very slang of the leveller and demagogue," claiming Jackson was using class warfare to gain support from the common man.
At Biddle's direction, the Bank poured thousands of dollars into a campaign to defeat Jackson, seemingly confirming Jackson's view that it interfered in the political process. Jackson successfully portrayed his veto as a defense of the common man against governmental tyranny. Clay proved to be no match for Jackson's ability to resonate with the people and the Democratic Party's strong political networks. Democratic newspapers, parades, barbecues, and rallies increased Jackson's popularity. Jackson himself made numerous public appearances on his return trip from Tennessee to Washington, D.C. He won the election by a landslide, receiving 54 percent of the popular vote and 219 electoral votes. Clay received 37 percent of the popular vote and 49 electoral votes. Wirt received only eight percent of the popular vote and seven electoral votes while the Anti-Masonic Party eventually declined. Jackson believed the solid victory was a popular mandate for his veto of the Bank's recharter and his continued warfare on the Bank's control over the national economy.
Removal of deposits and censure
In 1833, Jackson attempted to begin removing federal deposits from the bank, whose money-lending functions were taken over by the legions of local and state banks that materialized across America, thus drastically increasing credit and speculation. Jackson's moves were greatly controversial. He removed McLane from the Treasury Department, having him serve instead as Secretary of State, replacing Edward Livingston. He replaced McLane with William J. Duane. In September, he fired Duane for refusing to remove the deposits. Signalling his intent to continue battling the Bank, he replaced Duane with Taney. Under Taney, the deposits began to be removed. They were placed in a variety of state banks which were friendly to the administration's policies, known to critics as pet banks. Biddle responded by stockpiling the Bank's reserves and contracting credit, thus causing interest rates to rise and bringing about a financial panic. The moves were intended to force Jackson into a compromise. "Nothing but the evidence of suffering abroad will produce any effect in Congress," he wrote. At first, Biddle's strategy was successful, putting enormous pressure on Jackson. But Jackson handled the situation well. When people came to him complaining, he referred them to Biddle, saying that he was the man who had "all the money." Jackson's approach worked. Biddle's strategy backfired, increasing anti-Bank sentiment.
In 1834, those who disagreed with Jackson's expansion of executive power united and formed the Whig Party, calling Jackson "King Andrew I," and named their party after the English Whigs who opposed seventeenth century British monarchy. A movement emerged among Whigs in the Senate to censure Jackson. The censure was a political maneuver spearheaded by Clay, which served only to perpetuate the animosity between him and Jackson. Jackson called Clay "reckless and as full of fury as a drunken man in a brothel." On March 28, the Senate voted to censure Jackson 26–20. It also rejected Taney as Treasury Secretary. The House however, led by Ways and Means Committee chairman James K. Polk, declared on April 4 that the Bank "ought not to be rechartered" and that the depositions "ought not to be restored." It voted to continue allowing pet banks to be places of deposit and voted even more overwhelmingly to investigate whether the Bank had deliberately instigated the panic. Jackson called the passage of these resolutions a "glorious triumph." It essentially sealed the Bank's demise. The Democrats later suffered a temporary setback. Polk ran for Speaker of the House to replace Andrew Stevenson. After Southerners discovered his connection to Van Buren, he was defeated by fellow-Tennessean John Bell, a Democrat-turned-Whig who opposed Jackson's removal policy.
Payment of US national debt
The national economy following the withdrawal of the remaining funds from the Bank was booming and the federal government through duty revenues and sale of public lands was able to pay all bills. On January 1, 1835, Jackson paid off the entire national debt, the only time in U.S. history that has been accomplished. The objective had been reached in part through Jackson's reforms aimed at eliminating the misuse of funds and through his vetoes of legislation which he deemed extravagant. In December 1835, Polk defeated Bell in a rematch and was elected Speaker. Finally, on January 16, 1837, when the Jacksonians had a majority in the Senate, the censure was expunged after years of effort by Jackson supporters. The expunction movement was led, ironically, by Benton.
In 1836, in response to increased land speculation, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, an executive order that required buyers of government lands to pay in "specie" (gold or silver coins). The result was high demand for specie, which many banks could not meet in exchange for their notes, contributing to the Panic of 1837. The White House Van Buren biography notes, "Basically the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of 'boom and bust,' which was following its regular pattern, but Jackson's financial measures contributed to the crash. His destruction of the Second Bank of the United States had removed restrictions upon the inflationary practices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easy bank credit, had swept the West. To end this speculation, Jackson in 1836 had issued a Specie Circular..."
Attack and assassination attempt
The first recorded physical attack on a U.S. president was directed at Jackson. He had ordered the dismissal of Robert B. Randolph from the navy for embezzlement. On May 6, 1833, Jackson sailed on USS Cygnet to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he was to lay the cornerstone on a monument near the grave of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother. During a stopover near Alexandria, Randolph appeared and struck the president. He fled the scene chased by several members of Jackson's party, including the writer Washington Irving. Jackson declined to press charges.
On January 30, 1835, what is believed to be the first attempt to kill a sitting president of the United States occurred just outside the United States Capitol. When Jackson was leaving through the East Portico after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter from England, aimed a pistol at Jackson, which misfired. Lawrence then pulled out a second pistol, which also misfired. Historians believe the humid weather contributed to the double misfiring. Jackson, infuriated, attacked Lawrence with his cane, until others present, including Davy Crockett, fearing that the president would beat Lawrence to a pulp, intervened to restrain and disarm Lawrence.
Lawrence offered a variety of explanations for the attempted shooting. He blamed Jackson for the loss of his job. He claimed that with the president dead, "money would be more plenty," (a reference to Jackson's struggle with the Bank of the United States) and that he "could not rise until the President fell." Finally, Lawrence told his interrogators that he was a deposed English king—specifically, Richard III, dead since 1485—and that Jackson was his clerk. He was deemed insane and was institutionalized at the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C.
Afterwards, the pistols were tested and retested. Each time they performed perfectly. Many believed that Jackson had been protected by the same Providence that also protected their young nation. The incident became a part of Jacksonian mythos. Jackson initially suspected that a number of his political enemies might have orchestrated the attempt on his life. His suspicions were never proven.
Reaction to anti-slavery tracts
During the summer of 1835, Northern abolitionists began sending anti-slavery tracts through the postal system into the South. Pro-slavery Southerners demanded that the postal service ban distribution of the materials, which were deemed "incendiary," and some began to riot. Jackson wanted sectional peace, and desired to placate Southerners ahead of the 1836 election. He fiercely disliked the abolitionists, whom he believed were, by instituting sectional jealousies, attempting to destroy the Union. Jackson also did not want to condone open insurrection. He supported the solution of Postmaster General Amos Kendall, which gave Southern postmasters discretionary powers to either send or detain the anti-slavery tracts. That December, Jackson called on Congress to prohibit the circulation through the South of "incendiary publications intended to instigate the slaves to insurrection."
U.S. exploring expedition
Jackson initially opposed any federal exploratory scientific expeditions during his first term in office. The last scientific federally funded expeditions took place from 1817 to 1823, led by Stephen H. Harriman west of the Mississippi. Jackson's predecessor, President Adams, attempted to launch a scientific oceanic exploration in 1828, but Congress was unwilling to fund the effort. When Jackson assumed office in 1829 he pocketed Adams' expedition plans. Eventually, wanting to establish his presidential legacy, similar to Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Jackson sponsored scientific exploration during his second term. On May 18, 1836, Jackson signed a law creating and funding the oceanic United States Exploring Expedition. Jackson put Secretary of the Navy Mahlon Dickerson in charge, to assemble suitable ships, officers, and scientific staff for the expedition; with a planned launch before Jackson's term of office expired. Dickerson proved unfit for the task, preparations stalled and the expedition was not launched until 1838, during the presidency of Van Buren. One brig ship, , later used in the expedition; having been commissioned by Secretary Dickerson in May 1836, circumnavigated the world and explored and mapped the Southern Ocean, confirming the existence of the continent of Antarctica.
Panic of 1837
In spite of economic success following Jackson's vetoes and war against the Bank, reckless speculation in land and railroads eventually caused the Panic of 1837. Contributing factors included Jackson's veto of the Second National Bank renewal charter in 1832 and subsequent transfer of federal monies to state banks in 1833 that caused western banks to relax their lending standards. Two other Jacksonian acts in 1836 contributed to the Panic of 1837: the Specie Circular, which mandated western lands only be purchased by money backed by gold and silver, and the Deposit and Distribution Act, which transferred federal monies from eastern to western state banks and in turn led to a speculation frenzy by banks. Jackson's Specie Circular, albeit designed to reduce speculation and stabilize the economy, left many investors unable to afford to pay loans in gold and silver. The same year there was a downturn in Great Britain's economy that stopped investment in the United States. As a result, the U.S. economy went into a depression, banks became insolvent, the national debt (previously paid off) increased, business failures rose, cotton prices dropped, and unemployment dramatically increased. The depression that followed lasted for four years until 1841, when the economy began to rebound.
Administration and cabinet
Judicial appointments
Jackson appointed six justices to the Supreme Court. Most were undistinguished. His first appointee, John McLean, had been nominated in Barry's place after Barry had agreed to become postmaster general. McLean "turned Whig and forever schemed to win" the presidency. His next two appointees–Henry Baldwin and James Moore Wayne–disagreed with Jackson on some points but were poorly regarded even by Jackson's enemies. In reward for his services, Jackson nominated Taney to the Court to fill a vacancy in January 1835, but the nomination failed to win Senate approval. Chief Justice Marshall died in 1835, leaving two vacancies on the court. Jackson nominated Taney for Chief Justice and Philip P. Barbour for Associate Justice. Both were confirmed by the new Senate. Taney served as Chief Justice until 1864, presiding over a court that upheld many of the precedents set by the Marshall Court. He was regarded with respect over the course of his career on the bench, but his opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford largely overshadows his other accomplishments. On the last full day of his presidency, Jackson nominated John Catron, who was confirmed.
States admitted to the Union
Two new states were admitted into the Union during Jackson's presidency: Arkansas (June 15, 1836) and Michigan (January 26, 1837). Both states increased Democratic power in Congress and helped Van Buren win the presidency in 1836. This was in keeping with the tradition that new states would support the party which had done the most to admit them.
Later life and death (1837–1845)
In 1837, after serving two terms as president, Jackson was replaced by his chosen successor Martin Van Buren and retired to the Hermitage. He immediately began putting it in order as it had been poorly managed in his absence by his adopted son, Andrew Jackson Jr. Although he suffered ill health, Jackson remained highly influential in both national and state politics. He was a firm advocate of the federal union of the states and rejected any talk of secession, insisting, "I will die with the Union." Blamed for causing the Panic of 1837, he was unpopular in his early retirement. Jackson continued to denounce the "perfidy and treachery" of banks and urged his successor, Van Buren, to repudiate the Specie Circular as president.
As a solution to the panic, he supported an Independent Treasury system, which was designed to hold the money balances of the government in the form of gold or silver and would be restricted from printing paper money so as to prevent further inflation. A coalition of conservative Democrats and Whigs opposed the bill, and it was not passed until 1840. During the delay, no effective remedy had been implemented for the depression. Van Buren grew deeply unpopular. A unified Whig Party nominated popular war hero William Henry Harrison and former Jacksonian John Tyler in the 1840 presidential election. The Whigs' campaign style in many ways mimicked that of the Democrats when Jackson ran. They depicted Van Buren as an aristocrat who did not care for the concerns of ordinary Americans, while glorifying Harrison's military record and portraying him as a man of the people. Jackson campaigned heavily for Van Buren in Tennessee. He favored the nomination of Polk for vice president at the 1840 Democratic National Convention over controversial incumbent Richard Mentor Johnson. No nominee was chosen, and the party chose to leave the decision up to individual state electors.
Harrison won the election, and the Whigs captured majorities in both houses of Congress. "The democracy of the United States has been shamefully beaten", Jackson wrote to Van Buren, "but I trust, not conquered." Harrison died only a month into his term, and was replaced by Tyler. Jackson was encouraged because Tyler had a strong independent streak and was not bound by party lines. Tyler quickly incurred the wrath of the Whigs in 1841 when he vetoed two Whig-sponsored bills to establish a new national bank, bringing satisfaction to Jackson and other Democrats. After the second veto, Tyler's entire cabinet, with the exception of Webster, resigned.
Jackson strongly favored the annexation of Texas, a feat he had been unable to accomplish during his own presidency. While Jackson still feared that annexation would stir up anti-slavery sentiment, his belief that the British would use Texas as a base to threaten the United States overrode his other concerns. He also insisted that Texas was part of the Louisiana Purchase and therefore rightfully belonged to the United States. At the request of Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, acting on behalf of the Tyler administration, which also supported annexation, Jackson wrote several letters to Texas president Sam Houston, urging him to wait for the Senate to approve annexation and explaining how much being a part of the United States would benefit Texas. Initially prior to the 1844 election, Jackson again supported Van Buren for president and Polk for vice president. A treaty of annexation was signed by Tyler on April 12, 1844, and submitted to the Senate. When a letter from Secretary of State Calhoun to British Ambassador Richard Pakenham linking annexation to slavery was made public, anti-annexation sentiment exploded in the North and the bill failed to be ratified. Van Buren decided to write the "Hamlet letter," opposing annexation. This effectively extinguished any support that Van Buren might previously have enjoyed in the South. The Whig nominee, Henry Clay, also opposed annexation, and Jackson recognized the need for the Democrats to nominate a candidate who supported it and could therefore gain the support of the South. If the plan failed, Jackson warned, Texas would not join the Union and would potentially fall victim to a Mexican invasion supported by the British.
Jackson met with Polk, Robert Armstrong, and Andrew Jackson Donelson in his study. He then pointed directly at a startled Polk, telling him that, as a man from the southwest and a supporter of annexation, he would be the perfect candidate. Polk called the scheme "utterly abortive", but agreed to go along with it. At the 1844 Democratic National Convention, Polk emerged as the party's nominee after Van Buren failed to win the required two-thirds majority of delegates. George M. Dallas was selected for vice president. Jackson convinced Tyler to drop his plans of running for re-election as an independent by promising, as Tyler requested, to welcome the President and his allies back into the Democratic Party and by instructing Blair to stop criticizing the President. Polk won the election, defeating Clay. A bill of annexation was passed by Congress in February and signed by Tyler on March 1.
Jackson's age and illness eventually overcame him. On June 8, 1845, he was surrounded by family and friends at his deathbed. Jackson, startled by their sobbing, said, "What is the matter with my dear children? Have I alarmed you? Oh, do not cry. Be good children and we will all meet in Heaven." He died immediately after at the age of 78 of chronic dropsy and heart failure. According to a newspaper account from the Boon Lick Times, "[he] fainted whilst being removed from his chair to the bed ... but he subsequently revived ... Gen. Jackson died at the Hermitage at 6 p.m. on Sunday the 8th instant. ... When the messenger finally came, the old soldier, patriot and Christian was looking out for his approach. He is gone, but his memory lives, and will continue to live." In his will, Jackson left his entire estate to Andrew Jackson Jr. except for specifically enumerated items that were left to various friends and family members.
Personal life
Family
Jackson had three adopted sons: Theodore, an Indian about whom little is known, Andrew Jackson Jr., the son of Rachel's brother Severn Donelson, and Lyncoya, a Creek orphan adopted by Jackson after the Battle of Tallushatchee. Lyncoya died of tuberculosis on July 1, 1828, at the age of sixteen.
The Jacksons also acted as guardians for eight other children. John Samuel Donelson, Daniel Smith Donelson, and Andrew Jackson Donelson were the sons of Rachel's brother Samuel Donelson, who died in 1804. Andrew Jackson Hutchings was Rachel's orphaned grand nephew. Caroline Butler, Eliza Butler, Edward Butler, and Anthony Butler were the orphaned children of Edward Butler, a family friend. They came to live with the Jacksons after the death of their father.
The widower Jackson invited Rachel's niece Emily Donelson to serve as hostess at the White House. Emily was married to Andrew Jackson Donelson, who acted as Jackson's private secretary and in 1856 ran for vice president on the American Party ticket. The relationship between the president and Emily became strained during the Petticoat affair, and the two became estranged for over a year. They eventually reconciled and she resumed her duties as White House hostess. Sarah Yorke Jackson, the wife of Andrew Jackson Jr., became co-hostess of the White House in 1834. It was the only time in history when two women simultaneously acted as unofficial First Lady. Sarah took over all hostess duties after Emily died from tuberculosis in 1836. Jackson used Rip Raps as a retreat.
Temperament
Jackson's quick temper was notorious. Biographer H. W. Brands notes that his opponents were terrified of his temper: "Observers likened him to a volcano, and only the most intrepid or recklessly curious cared to see it erupt. ... His close associates all had stories of his blood-curdling oaths, his summoning of the Almighty to loose His wrath upon some miscreant, typically followed by his own vow to hang the villain or blow him to perdition. Given his record—in duels, brawls, mutiny trials, and summary hearings—listeners had to take his vows seriously."
On the last day of his presidency, Jackson admitted that he had but two regrets, that he "had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun." On his deathbed, he was once again quoted as regretting that he had not hanged Calhoun for treason. "My country would have sustained me in the act, and his fate would have been a warning to traitors in all time to come," he said. Remini expresses the opinion that Jackson was typically in control of his temper, and that he used his anger, along with his fearsome reputation, as a tool to get what he wanted.
Physical appearance
Jackson was a lean figure, standing at tall, and weighing between on average. Jackson also had an unruly shock of red hair, which had completely grayed by the time he became president at age 61. He had penetrating deep blue eyes. Jackson was one of the more sickly presidents, suffering from chronic headaches, abdominal pains, and a hacking cough. Much of his trouble was caused by a musket ball in his lung that was never removed, that often brought up blood and sometimes made his whole body shake.
Religious faith
In 1838, Jackson became an official member of the First Presbyterian Church in Nashville. Both his mother and his wife had been devout Presbyterians all their lives, but Jackson himself had postponed officially entering the church in order to avoid accusations that he had joined only for political reasons.
Freemasonry
Jackson was a Freemason, initiated at Harmony Lodge No. 1 in Tennessee. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee in 1822 and 1823. During the 1832 presidential election, Jackson faced opposition from the Anti-Masonic Party. He was the only U.S. president to have served as Grand Master of a state's Grand Lodge until Harry S. Truman in 1945. His Masonic apron is on display in the Tennessee State Museum. An obelisk and bronze Masonic plaque decorate his tomb at the Hermitage.
Legacy
Historical reputation
Jackson remains one of the most studied and controversial figures in American history. Historian Charles Grier Sellers says, "Andrew Jackson's masterful personality was enough by itself to make him one of the most controversial figures ever to stride across the American stage." There has never been universal agreement on Jackson's legacy, for "his opponents have ever been his most bitter enemies, and his friends almost his worshippers." He was always a fierce partisan, with many friends and many enemies. He has been lauded as the champion of the common man, while criticized for his treatment of Indians and for other matters. James Parton was the first man after Jackson's death to write a full biography of him. Trying to sum up the contradictions in his subject, he wrote:
Jackson was criticized by his contemporary Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1835 book Democracy in America for flattering the dominant ideas of his time, including the mistrust over the federal power, for sometimes enforcing his view by force and disrespect towards the institutions and the law:
In the 20th century, Jackson was the subject of multiple highly favorable biographies. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.'s Age of Jackson (1945) depicts Jackson as a man of the people battling inequality and upper-class tyranny. From the 1970s to the 1980s, Robert Remini published a three-volume biography of Jackson followed by an abridged one-volume study. Remini paints a generally favorable portrait of Jackson. He contends that Jacksonian democracy "stretches the concept of democracy about as far as it can go and still remain workable. ... As such it has inspired much of the dynamic and dramatic events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in American history—Populism, Progressivism, the New and Fair Deals, and the programs of the New Frontier and Great Society." To Remini, Jackson serves as "the embodiment of the new American ... This new man was no longer British. He no longer wore the queue and silk pants. He wore trousers, and he had stopped speaking with a British accent." Other 20th-century writers such as Richard Hofstadter and Bray Hammond depict Jackson as an advocate of the sort of laissez-faire capitalism that benefits the rich and oppresses the poor.
Jackson's initiatives to deal with the conflicts between Native American people and European-American settlers has been a source of controversy. Starting around 1970, Jackson came under attack from some historians on this issue. Howard Zinn called him "the most aggressive enemy of the Indians in early American history" and "exterminator of Indians." Conversely, in 1969, Francis Paul Prucha argued that Jackson's removal of the Five Civilized Tribes from the extremely hostile white environment in the Old South to Oklahoma probably saved their very existence. Similarly, Remini claims that, if not for Jackson's policies, the Southeastern tribes would have been totally wiped out, similar to people such as the Yamasee, Mahican, and Narragansett.
Jackson has long been honored, along with Thomas Jefferson, in the Jefferson–Jackson Day fundraising dinners held by state Democratic Party organizations to honor the two men whom the party regards as its founders. However, because both Jefferson and Jackson were slave owners, as well as because of Jackson's Indian removal policies, many state party organizations have renamed the dinners.
Brands argues that Jackson's reputation suffered since the 1960s as his actions towards Indians and African Americans received new attention. After the civil rights movement, Brand writes, "his unrepentant ownership of slaves marked him as one to be censured rather than praised." Further, "By the turn of the present [21st] century, it was scarcely an exaggeration to say that the one thing American schoolchildren learned about Jackson was that he was the author of the Trail of Tears." Brands notes that he was often hailed during his lifetime as the "second George Washington" because, while Washington had fought for independence, Jackson confirmed it at New Orleans and made the United States a great power. Over time, while the Revolution has maintained a strong presence in the public conscience, memory of the War of 1812, including the Battle of New Orleans, has sharply declined. Brands writes that this is because once America had become a military power, "it was easy to think that America had been destined for this role from the beginning."
Still, Jackson's performance in office compared to other presidents has generally been ranked in the top half in public opinion polling. His position in C-SPAN's poll dropped from 13th in 2009, to 18th in 2017, and to 22nd in 2021.
Portrayal on banknotes and stamps
Jackson has appeared on U.S. banknotes as far back as 1869, and extending into the 21st century. His image has appeared on the $5, $10, $20, and $10,000 note. Most recently, his image has appeared on the U.S. $20 Federal reserve note beginning in 1928. In 2016, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced his goal that by 2020 an image of Harriet Tubman would replace Jackson's depiction on the front side of the $20 banknote, and that an image of Jackson would be placed on the reverse side, though the final decision will be made by his successors.
Jackson has appeared on several postage stamps. He first appeared on an 1863 two-cent stamp, which is commonly referred to by collectors as the Black Jack due to the large portraiture of Jackson on its face printed in pitch black. During the American Civil War, the Confederate government issued two Confederate postage stamps bearing Jackson's portrait, one a 2-cent red stamp and the other a 2-cent green stamp, both issued in 1863.
Memorials
Numerous counties and cities are named after him, including the cities of Jacksonville in Florida and North Carolina; the cities of Jackson in Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee; the city of Andrew in Iowa; Jackson County in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Oregon; and Jackson Parish in Louisiana.
Memorials to Jackson include a set of four identical equestrian statues by the sculptor Clark Mills: in Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.; in Jackson Square, New Orleans; in Nashville on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol; and in Jacksonville, Florida. Other equestrian statues of Jackson have been erected elsewhere, as in the State Capitol grounds in Raleigh, North Carolina. That statue controversially identifies him as one of the "presidents North Carolina gave the nation," and he is featured alongside James Polk and Andrew Johnson, both U.S. presidents born in North Carolina. There is a bust of Andrew Jackson in Plaza Ferdinand VII in Pensacola, Florida, where he became the first governor of the Florida Territory in 1821. There is also a 1928 bronze sculpture of Andrew Jackson by Belle Kinney Scholz and Leopold Scholz in the U.S. Capitol Building as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Popular culture depictions
Jackson and his wife Rachel were the main subjects of a 1951 historical novel by Irving Stone, The President's Lady, which told the story of their lives up until Rachel's death. The novel was the basis for the 1953 film of the same name starring Charlton Heston as Jackson and Susan Hayward as Rachel.
Jackson has been a supporting character in a number of historical films and television productions. Lionel Barrymore played Jackson in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), a fictionalized biography of Peggy Eaton starring Joan Crawford. The Buccaneer (1938), depicting the Battle of New Orleans, included Hugh Sothern as Jackson, and was remade in 1958 with Heston again playing Jackson.
Brian Donlevy played Jackson in the Paramount Pictures 1942 film The Remarkable Andrew. Basil Ruysdael played Jackson in Walt Disney's 1955 Davy Crockett TV miniseries. Wesley Addy appeared as Jackson in some episodes of the 1976 PBS miniseries The Adams Chronicles.
Jackson is the protagonist of the comedic historic rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (2008) with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and book by Alex Timbers.
In 1959, Jimmy Driftwood wrote the song "The Battle of New Orleans," which mentions Jackson. Johnny Horton recorded it that same year.
See also
List of presidents of the United States on currency
Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps
Notes
References
Bibliography
Biographies
; 344 pages; coverage to age 21
Abridgment of Remini's 3-volume biography.
Specialized studies
Historiography
Ward, John William 1955. Andrew Jackson, Symbol for an Age. New York: Oxford University Press.
Primary sources
7 volumes total.
(9 vols. 1980 to date)
Reprints his major messages and reports.
Library of Congress. "Andrew Jackson Papers", a digital archive that provides direct access to the manuscript images of many of the Jackson documents. online
Further reading
External links
Andrew Jackson: A Resource Guide at the Library of Congress
The Papers of Andrew Jackson at the Avalon Project
The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson
"Life Portrait of Andrew Jackson", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, April 26, 1999
"The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson and the Growth of Party Politics", lesson plan at the National Endowment for the Humanities
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United States Army personnel of the Seminole Wars
United States military governors
Candidates in the 1824 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1828 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1832 United States presidential election
United States senators from Tennessee
Tuberculosis deaths in Tennessee | true | [
", officially the (; ), is a in the province of , . According to the , it has a population of people.\n\nHistory\nCatubig was mentioned by historian William Henry Scott in his article \"Bingi of Lawan\" of the Lakanate of Lawan which one of the chieftain was Datu Iberein. The Scott article wrote in the Bingi of Lawan epic: \"There lived in this place a chief called Karagrag, who was its lord and ruler. He was married to a lady of his rank called Bingi, a name which had been bestowed on her because of her chastity, as we shall see. I was not able to find out if she came from the same town; most probably she was from upstream on the Catubig River, where she was the daughter of the chief there.\"\n\nAnother tale was mentioned that the name Catubig was also a product of a 'word compact' between Americans and Filipinos. It was stated that an American surveyors saw a cat sunbathing by rolling along the grassy edge of the brook. They then approached a young lady who was doing her laundry and asked, “What is that, cat?” The lass, hardly seeing the cat which was in higher elevation, and not knowing what the foreigners were asking about simply responded, “Tubig,” meaning the water of the brook.\n\nDuring the Philippine–American War, Catubig was the scene of a battle between the warays and the Americans known as the Siege of Catubig. The Siege of Catubig was fought for four days beginning April 15, 1900.\n\nBarangays\n\nCatubig is politically subdivided into 47 barangays.\n\nDemographics\n\nClimate\n\nEconomy\n\nLandmarks\nHanging Bridge of Catubig\nSt. Joseph Parish Church\nBattle of Catubig Shrine\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n [ Philippine Standard Geographic Code]\n Philippine Census Information\n Local Governance Performance Management System\n The Battle of Catubig\n\nMunicipalities of Northern Samar",
"The Battle of Melrose was a Scottish clan battle that took place on 25 July 1526. Walter Scott of Branxholme and Buccleuch attempted to rescue the young James V of Scotland from the powerful Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus.\n\nBackground\n\nGuardianship of the young James V of Scotland had been secured by Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus in what was supposed to be a three monthly arrangement whereby each of the four members of the Council of Regency would care for James. However, Douglas refused to hand James over to the Earl of Arran whose turn it was next. James sent a message out to Sir Walter Scott asking him to launch a rescue attempt. The young King James, while being escorted on a journey to Edinburgh by Douglas was intercepted by a large body of Border Reivers led by Sir Walter Scott at Melrose.\n\nBattle\n\nAngus's force mainly consisted of Kerrs and stood its ground, managing to drive off the attackers. Scott led as many as 1000 men down Eildon Hill at Melrose. Angus’s men charged and Scott’s men stood their ground also. However, the Lord Hume arrived with a reinforcement of 80 Kerrs to support Angus, they attacked the wing of Scott's force afresh, and the Scotts and Eliotts began to fall back and run. During the pursuit Andrew Kerr of Cessford was killed by one of the Eliotts. Scott lost about 80 of his men while the Earl of Angus lost about 100, but still won the battle.\n\nAftermath\n\nThe young King James stayed at Darnick Tower on the night following the battle and proceeded to Edinburgh the next day. In the aftermath of the Battle of Melrose a deadly feud raged for many years in the Scottish Borders between the Kerrs and Scotts due to the death of Andrew Kerr, Laird of Cessford at the battle. On 4 September 1526 the Battle of Linlithgow Bridge took place where once again anti-Douglas forces attempted to rescue the young King James from the Earl of Angus.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Battle of Melrose bolb.org.uk. (Article about the Battle of Melrose on website about the later Battle of Linlithgow Bridge).\n\nConflicts in 1526\n1526 in Scotland\n16th-century Scottish clan battles\n\nBattle of Melrose"
] |
[
"Andrew Jackson",
"Battle of New Orleans",
"When did the battle start?",
"December 1, 1814,",
"When did the battle end?",
"February 27, 1815,",
"What was the battle about?",
"he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants."
] | C_d066211bb235410c9c7b763df9a0ddfd_1 | Did they win the battle | 4 | Did Andrew Jackson win the Battle of New Orleans. | Andrew Jackson | Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from present day Northern Ireland two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, in current-day Northern Ireland, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal family line originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England. When they immigrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. They brought two children from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). Jackson's father died in a logging accident while clearing land in February 1767 at the age of 29, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests. Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824 Jackson wrote a letter saying that he was born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian country. Most of the transactions involved grants made under the 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819. After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. Jackson soon became associated with the more radical, pro-French and anti-British wing. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. Senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests. After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of conflict with Europeans or Indians, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane, and continued to serve as governor until 1809. After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson only had about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained. The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." CANNOTANSWER | After the battle, the British retreated from the area, | Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. An expansionist president, Jackson sought to advance the rights of the "common man" against a "corrupt aristocracy" and to preserve the Union.
Born in the colonial Carolinas in the decade before the American Revolutionary War, Jackson became a frontier lawyer and married Rachel Donelson Robards. He served briefly in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, representing Tennessee. After resigning, he served as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1798 until 1804. Jackson purchased a property later known as The Hermitage, and became a wealthy, slaveowning planter. In 1801, he was appointed colonel of the Tennessee militia and was elected its commander the following year. He led troops during the Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The subsequent Treaty of Fort Jackson required the Creek surrender of vast lands in present-day Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent war against the British, Jackson's victory in 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans made him a national hero. Jackson then led U.S. forces in the First Seminole War, which led to the annexation of Florida from Spain. Jackson briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824, winning a plurality of the popular and electoral vote. As no candidate won an electoral majority, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams in a contingent election. In reaction to the alleged "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Henry Clay and the ambitious agenda of President Adams, Jackson's supporters founded the Democratic Party.
Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide. Jackson faced the threat of secession by South Carolina over what opponents called the "Tariff of Abominations". The crisis was defused when the tariff was amended, and Jackson threatened the use of military force if South Carolina attempted to secede. In Congress, Henry Clay led the effort to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States. Jackson, regarding the Bank as a corrupt institution that benefited the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Americans, vetoed the renewal of its charter. After a lengthy struggle, Jackson and his allies thoroughly dismantled the Bank. In 1835, Jackson became the only president to completely pay off the national debt, fulfilling a longtime goal. While Jackson pursued numerous reforms designed to eliminate waste and corruption, his presidency marked the beginning of the ascendancy of the party "spoils system" in American politics. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibly removed most members of the major tribes of the Southeast to Indian Territory; these removals were subsequently known as the Trail of Tears. The relocation process dispossessed these nations of their land and resulted in widespread death and disease. Jackson opposed the abolitionist movement, which grew stronger in his second term. In foreign affairs, Jackson's administration concluded a "most favored nation" treaty with the United Kingdom, settled claims of damages against France from the Napoleonic Wars, and recognized the Republic of Texas. In January 1835, he survived the first assassination attempt on a sitting president.
In his retirement, Jackson remained active in Democratic Party politics, supporting the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk. Though fearful of its effects on the slavery debate, Jackson advocated the annexation of Texas, which was accomplished shortly before his death. Jackson has been widely revered in the United States as an advocate for democracy and the common man. Many of his actions proved divisive, garnering both fervent support and strong opposition from many in the country. His reputation has suffered since the 1970s, largely due to his anti-abolitionist views and policy of the forcible removal of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands. However, surveys of historians and scholars have ranked Jackson favorably among U.S. presidents.
Early life and education
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew Jackson and his wife Elizabeth Hutchinson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ulster, Ireland, two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal ancestors originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England.
When they migrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents brought two children with them from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). The family probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. Jackson's father died in February 1767 at the age of 29, in a logging accident while clearing land, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests.
Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824, Jackson wrote a letter saying he had been born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. As a young boy, Jackson was easily offended and was considered something of a bully. He was, however, also said to have taken a group of younger and weaker boys under his wing and been kind to them.
Revolutionary War service
During the Revolutionary War, Jackson's eldest brother, Hugh, died from heat exhaustion after the Battle of Stono Ferry on June 20, 1779. Anti-British sentiment intensified following the Waxhaws Massacre on May 29, 1780. Jackson's mother encouraged him and his elder brother Robert to attend the local militia drills. Soon, they began to help the militia as couriers. They served under Colonel William Richardson Davie at the Battle of Hanging Rock on August 6. Andrew and Robert were captured by the British in April 1781 while staying at the home of the Crawford family. When Andrew refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the officer slashed at the youth with a sword, leaving him with scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British. Robert also refused to do as commanded and was struck with the sword. The two brothers were held as prisoners, contracted smallpox, and nearly starved to death in captivity.
Later that year, their mother Elizabeth secured the brothers' release. She then began to walk both boys back to their home in the Waxhaws, a distance of some 40 miles (64 km). Both were in very poor health. Robert, who was far worse, rode on the only horse they had, while Andrew walked behind them. In the final two hours of the journey, a torrential downpour began which worsened the effects of the smallpox. Within two days of arriving back home, Robert was dead and Andrew in mortal danger. After nursing Andrew back to health, Elizabeth volunteered to nurse American prisoners of war on board two British ships in the Charleston harbor, where there had been an outbreak of cholera. In November, she died from the disease and was buried in an unmarked grave. Andrew became an orphan at age 14. He blamed the British personally for the loss of his brothers and mother.
Early career
Legal career and marriage
After the Revolutionary War, Jackson received a sporadic education in a local Waxhaw school. On bad terms with much of his extended family, he boarded with several different people. In 1781, he worked for a time as a saddle-maker, and eventually taught school. He apparently prospered in neither profession. In 1784, he left the Waxhaws region for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he studied law under attorney Spruce Macay. With the help of various lawyers, he was able to learn enough to qualify for the bar. In September 1787, Jackson was admitted to the North Carolina bar. Shortly thereafter, his friend John McNairy helped him get appointed to a vacant prosecutor position in the Western District of North Carolina, which would later become the state of Tennessee. During his travel west, Jackson bought his first slave, a woman who was older than him. In 1788, having been offended by fellow lawyer Waightstill Avery, Jackson fought his first duel. The duel ended with both men firing into the air, having made a secret agreement to do so before the engagement.
Jackson moved to the small frontier town of Nashville in 1788, where he lived as a boarder with Rachel Stockly Donelson, the widow of John Donelson. Here Jackson became acquainted with their daughter, Rachel Donelson Robards. The younger Rachel was in an unhappy marriage with Captain Lewis Robards; he was subject to fits of jealous rage. The two were separated in 1790. According to Jackson, he married Rachel after hearing that Robards had obtained a divorce. Her divorce had not been made final, making Rachel's marriage to Jackson bigamous and therefore invalid. After the divorce was officially completed, Rachel and Jackson remarried in 1794. To complicate matters further, evidence shows that Rachel had been living with Jackson and referred to herself as Mrs. Jackson before the petition for divorce was ever made. It was not uncommon on the frontier for relationships to be formed and dissolved unofficially, as long as they were recognized by the community.
Land speculation and early public career
In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian territory. Most of the transactions involved grants made under a 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819.
After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. As a representative, Jackson staunchly advocated for the rights of Tennesseans against Native American tribal interests. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Democratic-Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Democratic-Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision-making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests.
After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of armed conflicts, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Jackson then published a newspaper article accusing Sevier of fraud and bribery. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane and continued to serve as governor until 1809.
Planting career and controversy
In addition to his legal and political career, Jackson prospered as a planter and merchant. He built a home and the first general store in Gallatin, Tennessee, in 1803. The next year, he acquired The Hermitage, a plantation in Davidson County, near Nashville. He later added to the plantation, which eventually totaled . The primary crop was cotton. Like most successful American planters at the time, Jackson's plantation depended on slave labor. The cotton cultivated at the Hermitage was planted and picked by slaves. The Hermitage was quite profitable; Jackson began with nine slaves, owned as many as 44 by 1820, and later up to 150, placing him among the planter elite. Jackson also co-owned with his son Andrew Jackson Jr. the Halcyon plantation in Coahoma County, Mississippi, which housed 51 slaves at the time of his death. Throughout his lifetime, Jackson may have owned as many as 500 slaves.
Men, women, and child slaves were owned by Jackson on three sections of the Hermitage plantation. Slaves lived in extended family units of between five and ten persons and were quartered in cabins made either of brick or logs. The size and quality of the Hermitage slave quarters exceeded the standards of the time. To help slaves acquire food, Jackson supplied them with guns, knives, and fishing equipment. At times he paid his slaves with money and coins to trade in local markets. Jackson permitted slaves to be whipped to increase productivity or if he believed his slaves' offenses were severe enough. At various times he posted advertisements for fugitive slaves who had escaped from his plantation. In one advertisement placed in the Tennessee Gazette in October 1804, Jackson offered "ten dollars extra, for every hundred lashes any person will give him, to the amount of three hundred."
The controversy surrounding his marriage to Rachel remained a sore point for Jackson, who deeply resented attacks on his wife's honor. By May 1806, Charles Dickinson, who, like Jackson, raced horses, had published an attack on Jackson in the local newspaper, and it resulted in a written challenge from Jackson to a duel. Since Dickinson was considered an expert shot, Jackson determined it would be best to let Dickinson turn and fire first, hoping that his aim might be spoiled in his quickness; Jackson would wait and take careful aim at Dickinson. Dickinson did fire first, hitting Jackson in the chest. The bullet that struck Jackson was so close to his heart that it could not be removed. Under the rules of dueling, Dickinson had to remain still as Jackson took aim and shot and killed him. Jackson's behavior in the duel outraged many in Tennessee, who called it a brutal, cold-blooded killing and saddled Jackson with a reputation as a violent, vengeful man. He became a social outcast.
After the Sevier affair and the duel, Jackson was looking for a way to salvage his reputation. He chose to align himself with former vice president Aaron Burr. Burr's political career ended after the killing of Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804; in 1805 he set out on a tour of what was then the western United States. Burr was extremely well received by the people of Tennessee, and stayed for five days at the Hermitage. Burr's true intentions are not known with certainty. He seems to have been planning a military operation to conquer Spanish Florida and drive the Spanish from Texas. To many westerners like Jackson, the promise seemed enticing. Western American settlers had long held bitter feelings towards Spain due to territorial disputes and their persistent failure to stop Indians living in Spanish territory from raiding American settlements. On October 4, 1806, Jackson addressed the Tennessee militia, declaring that the men should be "at a moment's warning ready to march." On the same day, he wrote to James Winchester, proclaiming that the United States "can conquer not only the Floridas [at that time there was an East Florida and a West Florida.], but all Spanish North America." He continued:
Jackson agreed to provide boats and other provisions for the expedition. However, on November 10, he learned from a military captain that Burr's plans apparently included seizure of New Orleans, then part of the Louisiana Territory of the United States, and incorporating it, along with lands won from the Spanish, into a new empire. He was further outraged when he learned from the same man of the involvement of Brigadier General James Wilkinson, whom he deeply disliked, in the plan. Jackson acted cautiously at first, but wrote letters to public officials, including President Thomas Jefferson, vaguely warning them about the scheme. In December, Jefferson, a political opponent of Burr, issued a proclamation declaring that a treasonous plot was underway in the West and calling for the arrest of the perpetrators. Jackson, safe from arrest because of his extensive paper trail, organized the militia. Burr was soon captured, and the men were sent home. Jackson traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to testify on Burr's behalf in trial. The defense team decided against placing him on the witness stand, fearing his remarks were too provocative. Burr was acquitted of treason, despite Jefferson's efforts to have him convicted. Jackson endorsed James Monroe for president in 1808 against James Madison. The latter was part of the Jeffersonian wing of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson lived relatively quietly at the Hermitage in the years after the Burr trial, eventually accumulating 640 acres of land.
Military career
War of 1812
Creek campaign and treaty
Leading up to 1812, the United States found itself increasingly drawn into international conflict. Formal hostilities with Spain or France never materialized, but tensions with Britain increased for a number of reasons. Among these was the desire of many Americans for more land, particularly British Canada and Florida, the latter still controlled by Spain, Britain's European ally. On June 18, 1812, Congress officially declared war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, beginning the War of 1812. Jackson responded enthusiastically, sending a letter to Washington offering 2,500 volunteers. However, the men were not called up for many months. Biographer Robert V. Remini claims that Jackson saw the apparent slight as payback by the Madison administration for his support of Burr and Monroe. Meanwhile, the United States military repeatedly suffered devastating defeats on the battlefield.
On January 10, 1813, Jackson led an army of 2,071 volunteers to New Orleans to defend the region against British and Native American attacks. He had been instructed to serve under General Wilkinson, who commanded Federal forces in New Orleans. Lacking adequate provisions, Wilkinson ordered Jackson to halt in Natchez, then part of the Mississippi Territory, and await further orders. Jackson reluctantly obeyed. The newly appointed Secretary of War, John Armstrong Jr., sent a letter to Jackson dated February 6 ordering him to dismiss his forces and to turn over his supplies to Wilkinson. In reply to Armstrong on March 15, Jackson defended the character and readiness of his men, and promised to turn over his supplies. He also promised, instead of dismissing the troops without provisions in Natchez, to march them back to Nashville. The march was filled with agony. Many of the men had fallen ill. Jackson and his officers turned over their horses to the sick. He paid for provisions for the men out of his own pocket. The soldiers began referring to their commander as "Hickory," after a hickory nut, because of his toughness, and Jackson became known as "Old Hickory". After about a month long march, the army finally arrived in Nashville. His actions earned him respect and praise from the people of Tennessee. Jackson faced financial ruin, until his former aide-de-camp Thomas Benton persuaded Armstrong to order the army to pay the expenses Jackson had incurred. On June 14, Jackson served as a second in a duel on behalf of his junior officer William Carroll against Jesse Benton, the brother of Thomas. On September 3, Jackson and his top cavalry officer, Brigadier General John Coffee, were involved in a street brawl with the Benton brothers. Jackson was severely wounded by Jesse with a gunshot to the shoulder.
On August 30, 1813, a group of Muscogee (or Creek) called the Red Sticks, so named for the color of their war paint, perpetrated the Fort Mims massacre in which hundreds of white American settlers and non-Red Stick Creeks were slaughtered. The Red Sticks, led by William Weatherford (also called Red Eagle) and Peter McQueen, had broken away from the rest of the Creek Confederacy, which wanted peace with the United States. They were allied with Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief who had launched Tecumseh's War against the United States, and who was fighting alongside the British. The resulting conflict became known as the Creek War.
Jackson, with 2,500 American soldiers, was ordered to crush the Red Sticks. On October 10, he set out on the expedition, his arm still in a sling from fighting the Bentons. Jackson established Fort Strother as a supply base. On November 3, Coffee defeated a band of Red Sticks at the Battle of Tallushatchee. Coming to the relief of friendly Creeks besieged by Red Sticks, Jackson won another decisive victory at the Battle of Talladega. In the winter, Jackson, encamped at Fort Strother, faced a severe shortage of troops due to the expiration of enlistments and chronic desertions. He sent Coffee with the cavalry (which abandoned him) back to Tennessee to secure more enlistments. Jackson decided to combine his force with that of the Georgia militia, and marched to meet the Georgia troops. From January 22–24, 1814, while on their way, the Tennessee militia and allied Muscogee were attacked by the Red Sticks at the Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek. Jackson's troops repelled the attackers, but outnumbered, were forced to withdraw to Fort Strother. Jackson, now with over 2,000 troops, marched most of his army south to confront the Red Sticks at a fortress they had constructed at a bend in the Tallapoosa River. Jackson, together with Lower Creek and Cherokee allies and enjoying an advantage of more than 2 to 1, engaged them on March 27 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. An initial artillery barrage did little damage to the well-constructed fort. A subsequent Infantry charge, in addition to an assault by Coffee's cavalry and diversions caused by the allied Creeks, overwhelmed the Red Sticks.
The campaign ended three weeks later with Red Eagle's surrender, although some Red Sticks such as McQueen fled to East Florida. On June 8, Jackson accepted a commission as brigadier general in the United States Army, and 10 days later became a major general, in command of the Seventh Military Division. Subsequently, Jackson, with Madison's approval, imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson. The treaty required the Muscogee, including those who had not joined the Red Sticks, to surrender 23 million acres (8,093,713 ha) of land to the United States. Most of the Creeks bitterly acquiesced. Though in ill-health from dysentery, Jackson then turned his attention to defeating Spanish and British forces. Jackson accused the Spanish of arming the Red Sticks and of violating the terms of their neutrality by allowing British soldiers into the Floridas. The first charge was true, while the second ignored the fact that it was Jackson's threats to invade Florida which had caused them to seek British protection. In the November 7 Battle of Pensacola, Jackson defeated the relatively small British and Spanish forces in a short skirmish. Shortly thereafter, the Spanish surrendered and the remaining British wthdrew. Weeks later, Jackson learned that the British were planning an attack on New Orleans, which sat on the mouth of the Mississippi River and held immense strategic and commercial value. Jackson abandoned Pensacola to the Spanish, placed a force in Mobile, Alabama, to guard against a possible invasion there, and rushed the rest of his forces west to defend New Orleans.
The Creeks coined their own name for Jackson, Jacksa Chula Harjo or "Jackson, old and fierce."
Battle of New Orleans
After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson had only about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained.
The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.
Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." Some have claimed that, because the war was already ended by the preliminary signing of the Treaty of Ghent, Jackson's victory at New Orleans was without importance aside from making him a celebrated figure. However, the Spanish, who had sold the Louisiana Territory to France, disputed France's right to sell it to the United States through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In April 1815, Spain, assuming that the British had won at New Orleans, asked for the return of the Louisiana Territory. Spanish representatives claimed to have been assured that they would receive the land back. Furthermore, Article IX of the Treaty of Ghent stipulated that the United States must return land taken from the Creeks to their original owners, essentially undoing the Treaty of Fort Jackson. Thanks to Jackson's victory at New Orleans, the American government felt that it could safely ignore that provision and it kept the lands that Jackson had acquired.
Enforced martial law in New Orleans
Jackson, still not knowing for certain of the treaty's signing, refused to lift martial law in the city. Citizens, local politicians, and some of Jackson's troops expressed growing displeasure. When some of the Creoles under Jackson's service, registering as French citizens with the French consul Louis de Toussard, asked to be discharged based on their foreign nationality, Jackson ordered all Frenchmen, including Toussard, to depart to no less than 120 miles from the limits of New Orleans. State senator Louis Louaillier wrote an anonymous piece in the New Orleans newspaper challenging Jackson's refusal to release the militia after the British ceded the field of battle. Jackson attempted to find the author and, after Louiallier admitted to having written the piece, he imprisoned him. In March, after U.S. District Court Judge Dominic A. Hall signed a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Louaillier, Jackson ordered Hall's arrest. A military court ordered Louiallier's release, but Jackson kept him in prison. He released Hall four miles from the city, which marked the limits of his jurisdiction. Jackson also ordered the execution of six members of the militia who had attempted to leave. Their deaths were not well publicized until the Coffin Handbills were circulated during his 1828 presidential campaign. On March 13, news officially reached the city that the peace treaty had been signed and ratified. Jackson immediately lifted martial law, released Louaillier from prison, and allowed the return of those he had exiled. Hall subsequently brought Jackson to trial on charges of contempt of court, and fined him $1,000.
First Seminole War
Following the war, Jackson remained in command of troops on the southern border of the U.S. He conducted business from the Hermitage. He signed treaties with the Cherokee and Chickasaw which gained for the United States large parts of Tennessee and Kentucky. The treaty with the Chickasaw, finally agreed to later in the year, is commonly known as the Jackson Purchase.
Jackson would soon find himself embroiled in another conflict in the Floridas. Several Native American tribes, collectively known as the Seminole, straddled the border between the U.S. and Florida. The Seminole, in alliance with escaped slaves, frequently raided Georgia settlements before retreating back into Florida. These skirmishes continually escalated into the conflict now known as the First Seminole War. In 1816, Jackson led a detachment into Florida and at the Battle of Negro Fort destroyed the fort, killing most of the fugitive slaves defending it and a smaller number of allied Choctaw. Jackson was then ordered by President Monroe in December 1817 to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Seminole and Creek. Jackson was again charged with preventing Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves, after Spain promised freedom to fugitive slaves. Critics later alleged that Jackson exceeded orders in his Florida actions. His orders from President Monroe were to "terminate the conflict." Jackson believed the best way to do this was to seize Florida from Spain once and for all. Before departing, Jackson wrote to Monroe, "Let it be signified to me through any channel ... that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished."
Jackson invaded Florida on March 15, 1818, capturing Pensacola. He crushed Seminole and Spanish resistance in the region and captured two British agents, Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, who had been working with the Seminole. After a brief trial, Jackson executed both of them, causing a diplomatic incident with the British. Jackson's actions polarized Monroe's cabinet, some of whom argued that Jackson had gone against Monroe's orders and violated the Constitution, since the United States had not declared war upon Spain. He was defended by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. Adams thought that Jackson's conquest of Florida would force Spain to finally sell the province, and Spain did indeed sell Florida to the United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. A congressional investigation exonerated Jackson, but he was deeply angered by the criticism he received, particularly from Speaker of the House Henry Clay. After the ratification of the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1821, Jackson resigned from the army and briefly served as the territorial Governor of Florida before returning to Tennessee.
Presidential aspirations
Election of 1824
In the spring of 1822, Jackson suffered a physical breakdown. His body had two bullets lodged in it, and he had grown exhausted from years of hard military campaigning. He regularly coughed up blood, and his entire body shook. Jackson feared that he was on the brink of death. After several months of rest, he recovered. During his convalescence, Jackson's thoughts increasingly turned to national affairs. He obsessed over rampant corruption in the Monroe administration and grew to detest the Second Bank of the United States, blaming it for causing the Panic of 1819 by contracting credit.
Jackson turned down an offer to run for governor of his home state, but accepted John Overton's plan to have the legislature nominate him for president. On July 22, 1822, he was officially nominated by the Tennessee legislature. Jackson had come to dislike Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford, who had been the most vocal critic of Jackson in Monroe's cabinet, and he hoped to prevent Tennessee's electoral votes from going to Crawford. Yet Jackson's nomination garnered a welcoming response even outside of Tennessee, as many Americans appreciated his attacks on banks. The Panic of 1819 had devastated the fortunes of many, and banks and politicians seen as supportive of banks were unpopular. With his growing political viability, Jackson emerged as one of the five major presidential candidates, along with Crawford, Adams, Clay, and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun. During the Era of Good Feelings, the Federalist Party had faded away, and all five presidential contenders were members of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson's campaign promoted him as a defender of the common people, as well as the one candidate who could rise above sectional divisions. On the major issues of the day, most prominently the tariff, Jackson expressed centrist beliefs, and opponents accused him of obfuscating his positions. At the forefront of Jackson's campaign was combatting corruption. Jackson vowed to restore honesty in government and to scale back its excesses. As a war hero, Jackson was popular with ordinary people, and he benefited from the expansion of suffrage among white males that followed the conclusion of the War of 1812.
In 1823, Jackson reluctantly allowed his name to be placed in contention for one of Tennessee's U.S. Senate seats. The move was independently orchestrated by his advisors William Berkeley Lewis and U.S. senator John Eaton in order to defeat incumbent John Williams, who openly opposed his presidential candidacy. The legislature narrowly elected him. His return, after 24 years, 11 months, 3 days out of office, marks the second longest gap in service to the chamber in history. Although Jackson was reluctant to serve once more in the Senate, he was appointed chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. Eaton wrote to Rachel that Jackson as a senator was "in harmony and good understanding with every body," including Thomas Hart Benton, now a senator from Missouri, with whom Jackson had fought in 1813. Meanwhile, Jackson himself did little active campaigning for the presidency, as was customary. Eaton updated an already-written biography of him in preparation for the campaign and, along with others, wrote letters to newspapers praising Jackson's record and past conduct.
Democratic-Republican presidential nominees had historically been chosen by informal Congressional nominating caucuses, but this method had become unpopular. In 1824, most of the Democratic-Republicans in Congress boycotted the caucus. Those who attended backed Crawford for president and Albert Gallatin for vice president. A Pennsylvania convention nominated Jackson for president a month later, stating that the irregular caucus ignored the "voice of the people" in the "vain hope that the American people might be thus deceived into a belief that he [Crawford] was the regular democratic candidate." Gallatin criticized Jackson as "an honest man and the idol of the worshipers of military glory, but from incapacity, military habits, and habitual disregard of laws and constitutional provisions, altogether unfit for the office." After Jackson won the Pennsylvania nomination, Calhoun dropped out of the presidential race and successfully sought the vice presidency instead.
In the presidential election, Jackson won a plurality of the electoral vote, taking states in the South, West, and Mid-Atlantic. He was the only candidate to win states outside of his regional base, as Adams dominated New England, Clay took three western states, and Crawford won Virginia and Georgia. Jackson won a plurality of the popular vote, taking 42 percent, although not all states held a popular vote for the presidency. He won 99 electoral votes, more than any other candidate, but still short of 131, which he needed for a true majority. With no candidate having won a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives held a contingent election under the terms of the Twelfth Amendment. The amendment specifies that only the top three electoral vote-winners are eligible to be elected by the House, so Clay was eliminated from contention. Jackson believed that he was likely to win this contingent election, as Crawford and Adams lacked Jackson's national appeal, and Crawford had suffered a debilitating stroke that made many doubt his physical fitness for the presidency. Clay, who as Speaker of the House presided over the election, saw Jackson as a dangerous demagogue who might topple the republic in favor of his own leadership. He threw his support behind Adams, who shared Clay's support for federally funded internal improvements such as roads and canals. With Clay's backing, Adams won the contingent election on the first ballot. Furious supporters of Jackson accused Clay and Adams of having reached a "corrupt bargain" after Adams appointed Clay as his Secretary of State. "So you see," Jackson growled, "the Judas of the West has closed the contract and receive the thirty pieces of silver. [H]is end will be the same." After the Congressional session concluded, Jackson resigned his Senate seat and returned to Tennessee.
Election of 1828 and death of Rachel Jackson
Almost immediately, opposition arose to the Adams presidency. Jackson opposed Adams's plan to involve the U.S. in Panama's quest for independence, writing, "The moment we engage in confederations, or alliances with any nation, we may from that time date the down fall of our republic." Adams damaged his standing in his first annual message to Congress, when he argued that Congress must not give the world the impression "that we are palsied by the will of our constituents."
Jackson was nominated for president by the Tennessee legislature in October 1825, more than three years before the 1828 election. It was the earliest such nomination in presidential history, and it attested to the fact that Jackson's supporters began the 1828 campaign almost as soon as the 1824 campaign ended. Adams's presidency foundered, as his ambitious agenda faced defeat in a new era of mass politics. Critics led by Jackson attacked Adams's policies as a dangerous expansion of Federal power. New York Senator Martin Van Buren, who had been a prominent supporter of Crawford in 1824, emerged as one of the strongest opponents of Adams's policies, and he settled on Jackson as his preferred candidate in 1828. Van Buren was joined by Vice President Calhoun, who opposed much of Adams's agenda on states' rights grounds. Van Buren and other Jackson allies established numerous pro-Jackson newspapers and clubs around the country, while Jackson avoided campaigning but made himself available to visitors at his Hermitage plantation. In the election, Jackson won a commanding 56 percent of the popular vote and 68 percent of the electoral vote. The election marked the definitive end of the one-party Era of Good Feelings, as Jackson's supporters coalesced into the Democratic Party and Adams's followers became known as the National Republicans. In the large Scots-Irish community that was especially numerous in the rural South and Southwest, Jackson was a favorite.
The campaign was heavily personal. As was the custom at the time, neither candidate personally campaigned, but their political followers organized campaign events. Both candidates were rhetorically attacked in the press. Jackson was labelled a slave trader who bought and sold slaves and moved them about in defiance of higher standards of slaveholder behavior. A series of pamphlets known as the Coffin Handbills were published to attack Jackson, one of which revealed his order to execute soldiers at New Orleans. Another accused him of engaging in cannibalism by eating the bodies of American Indians killed in battle, while still another labeled his mother a "common prostitute" and stated that Jackson's father was a "mulatto man."
Rachel Jackson was also a frequent target of attacks, and was widely accused of bigamy, a reference to the controversial situation of her marriage with Jackson. Jackson's campaigners fired back by claiming that while serving as Minister to Russia, Adams had procured a young girl to serve as a prostitute for Emperor Alexander I. They also stated that Adams had a billiard table in the White House and that he had charged the government for it.
Rachel had been under extreme stress during the election, and often struggled while Jackson was away. She began experiencing significant physical stress during the election season. Jackson described her symptoms as "excruciating pain in the left shoulder, arm, and breast." After struggling for three days, Rachel finally died of a heart attack on December 22, 1828, three weeks after her husband's victory in the election (which began on October 31 and ended on December 2) and 10 weeks before Jackson took office as president. A distraught Jackson had to be pulled from her so the undertaker could prepare the body. He felt that the abuse from Adams's supporters had hastened her death and never forgave him. Rachel was buried at the Hermitage on Christmas Eve. "May God Almighty forgive her murderers, as I know she forgave them," Jackson swore at her funeral. "I never can."
Presidency (1829–1837)
Philosophy
Jackson's name has been associated with Jacksonian democracy or the shift and expansion of democracy with the passing of some political power from established elites to ordinary voters based in political parties. "The Age of Jackson" shaped the national agenda and American politics. Jackson's philosophy as president was similar to that of Jefferson, advocating republican values held by the Revolutionary generation. Jackson took a moral tone, with the belief that agrarian sympathies, and strong states rights with a limited federal government, would produce less corruption. He feared that monied and business interests would corrupt republican values. When South Carolina opposed the tariff law, he took a strong line in favor of nationalism and against secession.
Jackson believed in the ability of the people to "arrive at right conclusions." They had the right not only to elect but to "instruct their agents & representatives." Office holders should either obey the popular will or resign. He rejected the view of a powerful and independent Supreme Court with binding decisions, arguing that "the Congress, the Executive, and the Court must each or itself be guided by its own opinions of the Constitution." Jackson thought that Supreme Court justices should be made to stand for election, and believed in strict constructionism as the best way to ensure democratic rule. He called for term limits on presidents and the abolition of the Electoral College. According to Robert V. Remini, Jackson "was far ahead of his times–and maybe even further than this country can ever achieve."
Inauguration
Jackson departed from the Hermitage on January 19 and arrived in Washington on February 11. He then set about choosing his cabinet members. Jackson chose Van Buren as expected for Secretary of State, Eaton of Tennessee as Secretary of War, Samuel D. Ingham of Pennsylvania as Secretary of Treasury, John Branch of North Carolina as Secretary of Navy, John M. Berrien of Georgia as Attorney General, and William T. Barry of Kentucky as Postmaster General. Jackson's first choice of cabinet proved to be unsuccessful, full of bitter partisanship and gossip. Jackson blamed Adams in part for what was said about Rachel during the campaign, and refused to meet him after arriving in Washington. Therefore, Adams chose not to attend the inauguration.
On March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson became the first United States president-elect to take the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. In his inaugural speech, Jackson promised to respect the sovereign powers of states and the constitutional limits of the presidency. He also promised to pursue "reform" by removing power from "unfaithful or incompetent hands." At the conclusion of the ceremony, Jackson invited the public to the White House, where his supporters held a raucous party. Thousands of spectators overwhelmed the White House staff, and minor damage was caused to fixtures and furnishings. Jackson's populism earned him the nickname "King Mob."
Reforms, rotation of offices, and spoils system
In an effort to purge the government of corruption, Jackson launched presidential investigations into all executive Cabinet offices and departments. He believed appointees should be hired on merit and withdrew many candidates he believed were lax in their handling of monies. He believed that the federal government had been corrupted and that he had received a mandate from the American people to purge such corruption. Jackson's investigations uncovered enormous fraud in the federal government, and numerous officials were removed from office and indicted on corruption, including personal friend of John Quincy Adams and Treasury Fourth Auditor Tobias Watkins. In the first year of Jackson's presidency, his investigations uncovered $280,000 stolen from the Treasury, and the Department of the Navy was saved $1 million. He asked Congress to reform embezzlement laws, reduce fraudulent applications for federal pensions, pass revenue laws to prevent evasion of custom duties, and pass laws to improve government accounting. Jackson's Postmaster General Barry resigned after a Congressional investigation into the postal service revealed mismanagement of mail services, collusion and favoritism in awarding lucrative contracts, as well as failure to audit accounts and supervise contract performances. Jackson replaced Barry with Treasury Auditor and prominent Kitchen Cabinet member Amos Kendall, who went on to implement reforms in the Post Office Department.
Jackson repeatedly called for the abolition of the Electoral College by constitutional amendment in his annual messages to Congress as president. In his third annual message to Congress, he expressed the view "I have heretofore recommended amendments of the Federal Constitution giving the election of President and Vice-President to the people and limiting the service of the former to a single term. So important do I consider these changes in our fundamental law that I can not, in accordance with my sense of duty, omit to press them upon the consideration of a new Congress."
Although he was unable to implement these goals, Jackson's time in office did see a variety of other reforms. He supported an act in July 1836 that enabled widows of Revolutionary War soldiers who met certain criteria to receive their husbands' pensions. In 1836, Jackson established the ten-hour day in national shipyards.
Jackson enforced the Tenure of Office Act, signed by President Monroe in 1820, that limited appointed office tenure and authorized the president to remove and appoint political party associates. Jackson believed that a rotation in office was a democratic reform preventing hereditary officeholding and made civil service responsible to the popular will. Jackson declared that rotation of appointments in political office was "a leading principle in the republican creed." Jackson noted, "In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another." Jackson believed that rotating political appointments would prevent the development of a corrupt bureaucracy. The number of federal office holders removed by Jackson were exaggerated by his opponents; Jackson rotated only about 20% of federal office holders during his first term, some for dereliction of duty rather than political purposes. Jackson, nonetheless, used his presidential power to award loyal Democrats by granting them federal office appointments. Jackson's approach incorporated patriotism for country as qualification for holding office. Having appointed a soldier who had lost his leg fighting on the battlefield to postmaster, Jackson stated, "[i]f he lost his leg fighting for his country, that is ... enough for me."
Jackson's theory regarding rotation of office generated what would later be called the spoils system. The political realities of Washington sometimes forced Jackson to make partisan appointments despite his personal reservations. Supervision of bureaus and departments whose operations were outside of Washington (such as the New York Customs House; the Postal Service; the Departments of Navy and War; and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose budget had increased enormously in the previous two decades) proved to be difficult. Remini writes that because "friendship, politics, and geography constituted the President's total criteria for appointments, most of his appointments were predictably substandard."
Petticoat affair
Jackson devoted a considerable amount of his presidential time during his early years in office responding to what came to be known as the "Petticoat affair" or "Eaton affair." Washington gossip circulated among Jackson's cabinet members and their wives, including Calhoun's wife Floride Calhoun, concerning Secretary of War Eaton and his wife Peggy Eaton. Salacious rumors held that Peggy, as a barmaid in her father's tavern, had been sexually promiscuous or had even been a prostitute. Controversy also ensued because Peggy had married soon after her previous husband's death, and it was alleged that she and her husband had engaged in an adulterous affair while her previous husband was still living. Petticoat politics emerged when the wives of cabinet members, led by Mrs. Calhoun, refused to socialize with the Eatons. Allowing a prostitute in the official family was unthinkable—but Jackson refused to believe the rumors, telling his Cabinet that "She is as chaste as a virgin!" Jackson believed that the dishonorable people were the rumormongers, who in essence questioned and dishonored Jackson himself by, in attempting to drive the Eatons out, daring to tell him who he could and could not have in his cabinet. Jackson was also reminded of the attacks that were made against his wife. These memories increased his dedication to defending Peggy Eaton.
Meanwhile, the cabinet wives insisted that the interests and honor of all American women was at stake. They believed a responsible woman should never accord a man sexual favors without the assurance that went with marriage. A woman who broke that code was dishonorable and unacceptable. Historian Daniel Walker Howe notes that this was the feminist spirit that in the next decade shaped the woman's rights movement. Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, a widower, was already forming a coalition against Calhoun. He could now see his main chance to strike hard; he took the side of Jackson and Eaton.
In the spring of 1831, Jackson, at Van Buren's suggestion, demanded the resignations of all the cabinet members except Barry. Van Buren himself resigned to avoid the appearance of bias. In 1832, Jackson nominated Van Buren to be Minister to Great Britain. Calhoun blocked the nomination with a tie-breaking vote against it, claiming the defeated nomination would "...kill him [Van Buren] dead, sir, kill him dead. He will never kick, sir, never kick." Van Buren continued to serve as an important adviser to Jackson and was placed on the ticket for vice president in the 1832 election, making him Jackson's heir-apparent. The Petticoat affair led to the development of the Kitchen Cabinet. The Kitchen Cabinet emerged as an unofficial group of advisors to the president. Its existence was partially rooted in Jackson's difficulties with his official cabinet, even after the purging.
Indian removal policy
Throughout his eight years in office, Jackson made about 70 treaties with American Indian tribes both in the South and in the Northwest. Jackson's presidency marked the beginning of a policy of Indian removal. Jackson himself sometimes participated in the treaty negotiating process, though other times he left the negotiations to his subordinates. The southern tribes included the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole and the Cherokee. The northwest tribes included the Chippewa, Ottawa, and the Potawatomi.
Relations between Indians and whites increasingly grew tense and sometimes violent as a result of territorial conflicts. Previous presidents had at times supported removal or attempts to "civilize" Native people, but generally let the problem play itself out with minimal intervention. But by Jackson's time, a growing popular and political movement developed wanting action on the issue, and out of this came policy decisions to relocate certain Indian populations. Jackson, never known for timidity, became an advocate for this relocation policy in what many historians consider the most controversial aspect of his presidency.
In his First Annual Message to Congress, Jackson advocated land west of the Mississippi River be set aside for Indian tribes. On May 26, 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which Jackson signed into law two days later. The Act authorized the president to negotiate treaties to buy tribal lands in the east in exchange for lands farther west, outside of existing state borders. The act specifically pertained to the Five Civilized Tribes in the South, the conditions being that they could either move west or stay and obey state law, effectively relinquishing their sovereignty.
Jackson, Eaton, and General Coffee negotiated with the Chickasaw, who quickly agreed to move. Jackson put Eaton and Coffee in charge of negotiating with the Choctaw. Lacking Jackson's skills at negotiation, they simply bribed various leaders in order to gain their agreement. The tactics worked, and with the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Choctaw were required to move. The removal of the Choctaw took place in the winter of 1831 and 1832, and was wrought with misery and suffering. The Seminole, despite the signing of the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832, refused to move. In December 1835, this dispute began the Second Seminole War. The war lasted over six years, finally ending in 1842. Members of the Creek Nation had signed the Treaty of Cusseta in 1832, allowing the Creek to either sell or retain their land. Conflict later erupted between the Creek who remained and the white settlers, leading to a second Creek War. A common complaint amongst the tribes was that the men who had signed the treaties did not represent the whole tribe.
The state of Georgia became involved in a dispute with the Cherokee, culminating in the 1832 Supreme Court decision in Worcester v. Georgia. Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for the court, ruled that Georgia could not forbid whites from entering tribal lands, as it had attempted to do with two missionaries supposedly stirring up resistance amongst the tribespeople. Jackson is frequently attributed the following response: "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." The quote, apparently indicating Jackson's dismissive view of the courts, was attributed to Jackson by Horace Greeley, who cited as his source Representative George N. Briggs. Remini argues that Jackson did not say it because, while it "certainly sounds like Jackson...[t]here was nothing for him to enforce." This is because a writ of habeas corpus had never been issued for the missionaries. The Court also did not ask federal marshals to carry out the decision, as had become standard.
A group of Cherokees led by John Ridge negotiated the Treaty of New Echota. Ridge was not a widely recognized leader of the Cherokee, and this document was rejected by some as illegitimate. Another faction, led by John Ross, unsuccessfully petitioned to protest the proposed removal. The Cherokee largely considered themselves independent, and not subject to the laws of the United States or Georgia. The treaty was enforced by Jackson's successor, Van Buren. Subsequently, as many as 4,000 out of 18,000 Cherokee died on the "Trail of Tears" in 1838.
More than 45,000 people were relocated, primarily to Indian territory in present-day Oklahoma during Jackson's administration, though some Cherokee people walked back afterwards, and others evaded removal by migrating into the Great Smoky Mountains. Another conflict during the Jackson administration was the Black Hawk War in 1832 after a group of Indians crossed into U.S. territory.
Nullification crisis
In 1828, Congress had approved the "Tariff of Abominations", which set the tariff at a historically high rate. Southern planters, who sold their cotton on the world market, strongly opposed this tariff, which they saw as favoring northern interests. The South now had to pay more for goods it did not produce locally; and other countries would have more difficulty affording southern cotton. The issue came to a head during Jackson's presidency, resulting in the Nullification Crisis, in which South Carolina threatened disunion.
The South Carolina Exposition and Protest of 1828, secretly written by Calhoun, asserted that their state had the right to "nullify"—declare void—the tariff legislation of 1828. Although Jackson sympathized with the South in the tariff debate, he also vigorously supported a strong union, with effective powers for the central government. Jackson attempted to face down Calhoun over the issue, which developed into a bitter rivalry between the two men. One incident came at the April 13, 1830, Jefferson Day dinner, involving after-dinner toasts. Robert Hayne began by toasting to "The Union of the States, and the Sovereignty of the States." Jackson then rose, and in a booming voice added "Our federal Union: It must be preserved!" – a clear challenge to Calhoun. Calhoun clarified his position by responding "The Union: Next to our Liberty, the most dear!"
In May 1830, Jackson discovered that Calhoun had asked President Monroe to censure Jackson for his invasion of Spanish Florida in 1818 while Calhoun was serving as Secretary of War. Calhoun's and Jackson's relationship deteriorated further. By February 1831, the break between Calhoun and Jackson was final. Responding to inaccurate press reports about the feud, Calhoun had published letters between him and Jackson detailing the conflict in the United States Telegraph. Jackson and Calhoun began an angry correspondence which lasted until Jackson stopped it in July. The Telegraph, edited by Duff Green, initially supported Jackson. After it sided with Calhoun on nullification, Jackson needed a new organ for the administration. He enlisted the help of longtime supporter Francis Preston Blair, who in November 1830 established a newspaper known as the Washington Globe, which from then on served as the primary mouthpiece of the Democratic Party.
Jackson supported a revision to tariff rates known as the Tariff of 1832. It was designed to placate the nullifiers by lowering tariff rates. Written by Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, the bill lowered duties from 45% to 27%. In May, Representative John Quincy Adams introduced a slightly revised version of the bill, which Jackson accepted. It passed Congress on July 9 and was signed by the president on July 14. The bill failed to satisfy extremists on either side. On November 24, the South Carolina legislature nullified both the Tariff of 1832 and the Tariff of 1828. In response, Jackson sent U.S. Navy warships to Charleston harbor, and threatened to hang any man who worked to support nullification or secession. On December 28, 1832, Calhoun resigned as vice president, after having been elected to the U.S. Senate. This was part of a strategy whereby Calhoun, with less than three months remaining on his vice presidential term, would replace Robert Y. Hayne in the Senate, and he would then become governor of South Carolina. Hayne had often struggled to defend nullification on the floor of the Senate, especially against fierce criticism from Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts.
Also that December, Jackson issued a resounding proclamation against the "nullifiers," stating that he considered "the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed." South Carolina, the president declared, stood on "the brink of insurrection and treason," and he appealed to the people of the state to reassert their allegiance to that Union for which their ancestors had fought. Jackson also denied the right of secession: "The Constitution ... forms a government not a league ... To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States are not a nation." Jackson tended to personalize the controversy, frequently characterizing nullification as a conspiracy between disappointed and bitter men whose ambitions had been thwarted.
Jackson asked Congress to pass a "Force Bill" explicitly authorizing the use of military force to enforce the tariff. It was introduced by Senator Felix Grundy of Tennessee, and was quickly attacked by Calhoun as "military despotism." At the same time, Calhoun and Clay began to work on a new compromise tariff. A bill sponsored by the administration had been introduced by Representative Gulian C. Verplanck of New York, but it lowered rates more sharply than Clay and other protectionists desired. Clay managed to get Calhoun to agree to a bill with higher rates in exchange for Clay's opposition to Jackson's military threats and, perhaps, with the hope that he could win some Southern votes in his next bid for the presidency. The Compromise Tariff passed on March 1, 1833. The Force Bill passed the same day. Calhoun, Clay, and several others marched out of the chamber in opposition, the only dissenting vote coming from John Tyler of Virginia. The new tariff was opposed by Webster, who argued that it essentially surrendered to South Carolina's demands. Jackson, despite his anger over the scrapping of the Verplanck bill and the new alliance between Clay and Calhoun, saw it as an efficient way to end the crisis. He signed both bills on March 2, starting with the Force Bill. The South Carolina Convention then met and rescinded its nullification ordinance, but in a final show of defiance, nullified the Force Bill. On May 1, Jackson wrote, "the tariff was only the pretext, and disunion and southern confederacy the real object. The next pretext will be the negro, or slavery question."
Foreign affairs
Addressing the subject of foreign affairs in his First Annual Address to Congress, Jackson declared it to be his "settled purpose to ask nothing that is not clearly right and to submit to nothing that is wrong."
When Jackson took office, spoliation claims, or compensation demands for the capture of American ships and sailors, dating from the Napoleonic era, caused strained relations between the U.S. and French governments. The French Navy had captured and sent American ships to Spanish ports while holding their crews captive forcing them to labor without any charges or judicial rules. According to Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, relations between the U.S. and France were "hopeless." Jackson's Minister to France, William C. Rives, through diplomacy was able to convince the French government to sign a reparations treaty on July 4, 1831, that would award the U.S. ₣ 25,000,000 ($5,000,000) in damages. The French government became delinquent in payment due to internal financial and political difficulties. The French king Louis Philippe I and his ministers blamed the French Chamber of Deputies. By 1834, the non-payment of reparations by the French government drew Jackson's ire and he became impatient. In his December 1834 State of the Union address, Jackson sternly reprimanded the French government for non-payment, stating the federal government was "wholly disappointed" by the French, and demanded Congress authorize trade reprisals against France. Feeling insulted by Jackson's words, the French people began pressuring their government not to pay the indemnity until Jackson had apologized for his remarks. In his December 1835 State of the Union Address, Jackson refused to apologize, stating he had a good opinion of the French people and his intentions were peaceful. Jackson described in lengthy and minute detail the history of events surrounding the treaty and his belief that the French government was purposely stalling payment. The French accepted Jackson's statements as sincere and in February 1836, reparations were paid.
In addition to France, the Jackson administration successfully settled spoliation claims with Denmark, Portugal, and Spain. Jackson's state department was active and successful at making trade agreements with Russia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Siam. Under the treaty with the United Kingdom, American trade was reopened in the West Indies. The trade agreement with Siam was America's first treaty between the United States and an Asiatic country. As a result, American exports increased 75% while imports increased 250%.
Jackson's attempt to purchase Texas from Mexico for $5,000,000 failed. The chargé d'affaires in Mexico, Colonel Anthony Butler, suggested that the U.S. take Texas over militarily, but Jackson refused. Butler was later replaced toward the end of Jackson's presidency. In 1835, the Texas Revolution began when pro-slavery American settlers in Texas fought the Mexican government for Texan independence. By May 1836, they had routed the Mexican military, establishing an independent Republic of Texas. The new Texas government legalized slavery and demanded recognition from President Jackson and annexation into the United States. Jackson was hesitant in recognizing Texas, unconvinced that the new republic could maintain independence from Mexico, and not wanting to make Texas an anti-slavery issue during the 1836 election. The strategy worked; the Democratic Party and national loyalties were held intact, and Van Buren was elected president. Jackson formally recognized the Republic of Texas, nominating Alcée Louis la Branche as chargé d'affaires on the last full day of his presidency, March 3, 1837.
Jackson failed in his efforts to open trade with China and Japan and was unsuccessful at thwarting the United Kingdom's presence and power in South America.
Bank veto and election of 1832
The 1832 presidential election demonstrated the rapid development and organization of political parties during this time period. The Democratic Party's first national convention, held in Baltimore, nominated Jackson's choice for vice president, Van Buren. The National Republican Party, who had held their first convention in Baltimore earlier in December 1831, nominated Henry Clay, now a senator from Kentucky, and John Sergeant of Pennsylvania. The Anti-Masonic Party emerged by capitalizing on opposition to Freemasonry, which existed primarily in New England, after the disappearance and possible murder of William Morgan. The party, which had earlier held its convention also in Baltimore in September 1831, nominated William Wirt of Maryland and Amos Ellmaker of Pennsylvania. Clay was, like Jackson, a Mason, and so some anti-Jacksonians who would have supported the National Republican Party supported Wirt instead.
In 1816, the Second Bank of the United States was chartered by President James Madison to restore the United States economy devastated by the War of 1812. Monroe had appointed Nicholas Biddle as the Bank's executive. Jackson believed that the Bank was a fundamentally corrupt monopoly. Its stock was mostly held by foreigners, he insisted, and it exerted an unfair amount of control over the political system. Jackson used the issue to promote his democratic values, believing the Bank was being run exclusively for the wealthy. Jackson stated the Bank made "the rich richer and the potent more powerful." He accused it of making loans with the intent of influencing elections. In his address to Congress in 1830, Jackson called for a substitute for the Bank that would have no private stockholders and no ability to lend or purchase land. Its only power would be to issue bills of exchange. The address touched off fiery debate in the Senate. Thomas Hart Benton, now a strong supporter of the president despite the brawl years earlier, gave a speech excoriating the Bank and calling for debate on its recharter. Webster led a motion to narrowly defeat the resolution. Shortly afterward, the Globe announced that Jackson would stand for reelection.
Despite his misgivings about the Bank, Jackson supported a plan proposed in late 1831 by his moderately pro-Bank Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, who was secretly working with Biddle, to recharter a reformed version of the Bank in a way that would free up funds which would in turn be used to strengthen the military or pay off the nation's debt. This would be done, in part, through the sale of government stock in the Bank. Over the objections of Attorney General Roger B. Taney, an irreconcilable opponent of the Bank, he allowed McLane to publish a Treasury Report which essentially recommended rechartering the Bank.
Clay hoped to make the Bank an issue in the election, so as to accuse Jackson of going beyond his powers if he vetoed a recharter bill. He and Webster urged Biddle to immediately apply for recharter rather than wait to reach a compromise with the administration. Biddle received advice to the contrary from moderate Democrats such as McLane and William Lewis, who argued that Biddle should wait because Jackson would likely veto the recharter bill. On January 6, 1832, Biddle submitted to Congress a renewal of the Bank's charter without any of the proposed reforms. The submission came four years before the original 20-year charter was to end. Biddle's recharter bill passed the Senate on June 11 and the House on July 3, 1832. Jackson determined to veto it. Many moderate Democrats, including McLane, were appalled by the perceived arrogance of the bill and supported his decision. When Van Buren met Jackson on July 4, Jackson declared, "The Bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill me. But I will kill it." Jackson vetoed the bill on July 10. The veto message was crafted primarily by Taney, Kendall, and Jackson's nephew and advisor Andrew Jackson Donelson. It attacked the Bank as an agent of inequality that supported only the wealthy. The veto was considered "one of the strongest and most controversial" presidential statements and "a brilliant political manifesto." The National Republican Party immediately made Jackson's veto of the Bank a political issue. Jackson's political opponents castigated the veto as "the very slang of the leveller and demagogue," claiming Jackson was using class warfare to gain support from the common man.
At Biddle's direction, the Bank poured thousands of dollars into a campaign to defeat Jackson, seemingly confirming Jackson's view that it interfered in the political process. Jackson successfully portrayed his veto as a defense of the common man against governmental tyranny. Clay proved to be no match for Jackson's ability to resonate with the people and the Democratic Party's strong political networks. Democratic newspapers, parades, barbecues, and rallies increased Jackson's popularity. Jackson himself made numerous public appearances on his return trip from Tennessee to Washington, D.C. He won the election by a landslide, receiving 54 percent of the popular vote and 219 electoral votes. Clay received 37 percent of the popular vote and 49 electoral votes. Wirt received only eight percent of the popular vote and seven electoral votes while the Anti-Masonic Party eventually declined. Jackson believed the solid victory was a popular mandate for his veto of the Bank's recharter and his continued warfare on the Bank's control over the national economy.
Removal of deposits and censure
In 1833, Jackson attempted to begin removing federal deposits from the bank, whose money-lending functions were taken over by the legions of local and state banks that materialized across America, thus drastically increasing credit and speculation. Jackson's moves were greatly controversial. He removed McLane from the Treasury Department, having him serve instead as Secretary of State, replacing Edward Livingston. He replaced McLane with William J. Duane. In September, he fired Duane for refusing to remove the deposits. Signalling his intent to continue battling the Bank, he replaced Duane with Taney. Under Taney, the deposits began to be removed. They were placed in a variety of state banks which were friendly to the administration's policies, known to critics as pet banks. Biddle responded by stockpiling the Bank's reserves and contracting credit, thus causing interest rates to rise and bringing about a financial panic. The moves were intended to force Jackson into a compromise. "Nothing but the evidence of suffering abroad will produce any effect in Congress," he wrote. At first, Biddle's strategy was successful, putting enormous pressure on Jackson. But Jackson handled the situation well. When people came to him complaining, he referred them to Biddle, saying that he was the man who had "all the money." Jackson's approach worked. Biddle's strategy backfired, increasing anti-Bank sentiment.
In 1834, those who disagreed with Jackson's expansion of executive power united and formed the Whig Party, calling Jackson "King Andrew I," and named their party after the English Whigs who opposed seventeenth century British monarchy. A movement emerged among Whigs in the Senate to censure Jackson. The censure was a political maneuver spearheaded by Clay, which served only to perpetuate the animosity between him and Jackson. Jackson called Clay "reckless and as full of fury as a drunken man in a brothel." On March 28, the Senate voted to censure Jackson 26–20. It also rejected Taney as Treasury Secretary. The House however, led by Ways and Means Committee chairman James K. Polk, declared on April 4 that the Bank "ought not to be rechartered" and that the depositions "ought not to be restored." It voted to continue allowing pet banks to be places of deposit and voted even more overwhelmingly to investigate whether the Bank had deliberately instigated the panic. Jackson called the passage of these resolutions a "glorious triumph." It essentially sealed the Bank's demise. The Democrats later suffered a temporary setback. Polk ran for Speaker of the House to replace Andrew Stevenson. After Southerners discovered his connection to Van Buren, he was defeated by fellow-Tennessean John Bell, a Democrat-turned-Whig who opposed Jackson's removal policy.
Payment of US national debt
The national economy following the withdrawal of the remaining funds from the Bank was booming and the federal government through duty revenues and sale of public lands was able to pay all bills. On January 1, 1835, Jackson paid off the entire national debt, the only time in U.S. history that has been accomplished. The objective had been reached in part through Jackson's reforms aimed at eliminating the misuse of funds and through his vetoes of legislation which he deemed extravagant. In December 1835, Polk defeated Bell in a rematch and was elected Speaker. Finally, on January 16, 1837, when the Jacksonians had a majority in the Senate, the censure was expunged after years of effort by Jackson supporters. The expunction movement was led, ironically, by Benton.
In 1836, in response to increased land speculation, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, an executive order that required buyers of government lands to pay in "specie" (gold or silver coins). The result was high demand for specie, which many banks could not meet in exchange for their notes, contributing to the Panic of 1837. The White House Van Buren biography notes, "Basically the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of 'boom and bust,' which was following its regular pattern, but Jackson's financial measures contributed to the crash. His destruction of the Second Bank of the United States had removed restrictions upon the inflationary practices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easy bank credit, had swept the West. To end this speculation, Jackson in 1836 had issued a Specie Circular..."
Attack and assassination attempt
The first recorded physical attack on a U.S. president was directed at Jackson. He had ordered the dismissal of Robert B. Randolph from the navy for embezzlement. On May 6, 1833, Jackson sailed on USS Cygnet to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he was to lay the cornerstone on a monument near the grave of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother. During a stopover near Alexandria, Randolph appeared and struck the president. He fled the scene chased by several members of Jackson's party, including the writer Washington Irving. Jackson declined to press charges.
On January 30, 1835, what is believed to be the first attempt to kill a sitting president of the United States occurred just outside the United States Capitol. When Jackson was leaving through the East Portico after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter from England, aimed a pistol at Jackson, which misfired. Lawrence then pulled out a second pistol, which also misfired. Historians believe the humid weather contributed to the double misfiring. Jackson, infuriated, attacked Lawrence with his cane, until others present, including Davy Crockett, fearing that the president would beat Lawrence to a pulp, intervened to restrain and disarm Lawrence.
Lawrence offered a variety of explanations for the attempted shooting. He blamed Jackson for the loss of his job. He claimed that with the president dead, "money would be more plenty," (a reference to Jackson's struggle with the Bank of the United States) and that he "could not rise until the President fell." Finally, Lawrence told his interrogators that he was a deposed English king—specifically, Richard III, dead since 1485—and that Jackson was his clerk. He was deemed insane and was institutionalized at the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C.
Afterwards, the pistols were tested and retested. Each time they performed perfectly. Many believed that Jackson had been protected by the same Providence that also protected their young nation. The incident became a part of Jacksonian mythos. Jackson initially suspected that a number of his political enemies might have orchestrated the attempt on his life. His suspicions were never proven.
Reaction to anti-slavery tracts
During the summer of 1835, Northern abolitionists began sending anti-slavery tracts through the postal system into the South. Pro-slavery Southerners demanded that the postal service ban distribution of the materials, which were deemed "incendiary," and some began to riot. Jackson wanted sectional peace, and desired to placate Southerners ahead of the 1836 election. He fiercely disliked the abolitionists, whom he believed were, by instituting sectional jealousies, attempting to destroy the Union. Jackson also did not want to condone open insurrection. He supported the solution of Postmaster General Amos Kendall, which gave Southern postmasters discretionary powers to either send or detain the anti-slavery tracts. That December, Jackson called on Congress to prohibit the circulation through the South of "incendiary publications intended to instigate the slaves to insurrection."
U.S. exploring expedition
Jackson initially opposed any federal exploratory scientific expeditions during his first term in office. The last scientific federally funded expeditions took place from 1817 to 1823, led by Stephen H. Harriman west of the Mississippi. Jackson's predecessor, President Adams, attempted to launch a scientific oceanic exploration in 1828, but Congress was unwilling to fund the effort. When Jackson assumed office in 1829 he pocketed Adams' expedition plans. Eventually, wanting to establish his presidential legacy, similar to Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Jackson sponsored scientific exploration during his second term. On May 18, 1836, Jackson signed a law creating and funding the oceanic United States Exploring Expedition. Jackson put Secretary of the Navy Mahlon Dickerson in charge, to assemble suitable ships, officers, and scientific staff for the expedition; with a planned launch before Jackson's term of office expired. Dickerson proved unfit for the task, preparations stalled and the expedition was not launched until 1838, during the presidency of Van Buren. One brig ship, , later used in the expedition; having been commissioned by Secretary Dickerson in May 1836, circumnavigated the world and explored and mapped the Southern Ocean, confirming the existence of the continent of Antarctica.
Panic of 1837
In spite of economic success following Jackson's vetoes and war against the Bank, reckless speculation in land and railroads eventually caused the Panic of 1837. Contributing factors included Jackson's veto of the Second National Bank renewal charter in 1832 and subsequent transfer of federal monies to state banks in 1833 that caused western banks to relax their lending standards. Two other Jacksonian acts in 1836 contributed to the Panic of 1837: the Specie Circular, which mandated western lands only be purchased by money backed by gold and silver, and the Deposit and Distribution Act, which transferred federal monies from eastern to western state banks and in turn led to a speculation frenzy by banks. Jackson's Specie Circular, albeit designed to reduce speculation and stabilize the economy, left many investors unable to afford to pay loans in gold and silver. The same year there was a downturn in Great Britain's economy that stopped investment in the United States. As a result, the U.S. economy went into a depression, banks became insolvent, the national debt (previously paid off) increased, business failures rose, cotton prices dropped, and unemployment dramatically increased. The depression that followed lasted for four years until 1841, when the economy began to rebound.
Administration and cabinet
Judicial appointments
Jackson appointed six justices to the Supreme Court. Most were undistinguished. His first appointee, John McLean, had been nominated in Barry's place after Barry had agreed to become postmaster general. McLean "turned Whig and forever schemed to win" the presidency. His next two appointees–Henry Baldwin and James Moore Wayne–disagreed with Jackson on some points but were poorly regarded even by Jackson's enemies. In reward for his services, Jackson nominated Taney to the Court to fill a vacancy in January 1835, but the nomination failed to win Senate approval. Chief Justice Marshall died in 1835, leaving two vacancies on the court. Jackson nominated Taney for Chief Justice and Philip P. Barbour for Associate Justice. Both were confirmed by the new Senate. Taney served as Chief Justice until 1864, presiding over a court that upheld many of the precedents set by the Marshall Court. He was regarded with respect over the course of his career on the bench, but his opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford largely overshadows his other accomplishments. On the last full day of his presidency, Jackson nominated John Catron, who was confirmed.
States admitted to the Union
Two new states were admitted into the Union during Jackson's presidency: Arkansas (June 15, 1836) and Michigan (January 26, 1837). Both states increased Democratic power in Congress and helped Van Buren win the presidency in 1836. This was in keeping with the tradition that new states would support the party which had done the most to admit them.
Later life and death (1837–1845)
In 1837, after serving two terms as president, Jackson was replaced by his chosen successor Martin Van Buren and retired to the Hermitage. He immediately began putting it in order as it had been poorly managed in his absence by his adopted son, Andrew Jackson Jr. Although he suffered ill health, Jackson remained highly influential in both national and state politics. He was a firm advocate of the federal union of the states and rejected any talk of secession, insisting, "I will die with the Union." Blamed for causing the Panic of 1837, he was unpopular in his early retirement. Jackson continued to denounce the "perfidy and treachery" of banks and urged his successor, Van Buren, to repudiate the Specie Circular as president.
As a solution to the panic, he supported an Independent Treasury system, which was designed to hold the money balances of the government in the form of gold or silver and would be restricted from printing paper money so as to prevent further inflation. A coalition of conservative Democrats and Whigs opposed the bill, and it was not passed until 1840. During the delay, no effective remedy had been implemented for the depression. Van Buren grew deeply unpopular. A unified Whig Party nominated popular war hero William Henry Harrison and former Jacksonian John Tyler in the 1840 presidential election. The Whigs' campaign style in many ways mimicked that of the Democrats when Jackson ran. They depicted Van Buren as an aristocrat who did not care for the concerns of ordinary Americans, while glorifying Harrison's military record and portraying him as a man of the people. Jackson campaigned heavily for Van Buren in Tennessee. He favored the nomination of Polk for vice president at the 1840 Democratic National Convention over controversial incumbent Richard Mentor Johnson. No nominee was chosen, and the party chose to leave the decision up to individual state electors.
Harrison won the election, and the Whigs captured majorities in both houses of Congress. "The democracy of the United States has been shamefully beaten", Jackson wrote to Van Buren, "but I trust, not conquered." Harrison died only a month into his term, and was replaced by Tyler. Jackson was encouraged because Tyler had a strong independent streak and was not bound by party lines. Tyler quickly incurred the wrath of the Whigs in 1841 when he vetoed two Whig-sponsored bills to establish a new national bank, bringing satisfaction to Jackson and other Democrats. After the second veto, Tyler's entire cabinet, with the exception of Webster, resigned.
Jackson strongly favored the annexation of Texas, a feat he had been unable to accomplish during his own presidency. While Jackson still feared that annexation would stir up anti-slavery sentiment, his belief that the British would use Texas as a base to threaten the United States overrode his other concerns. He also insisted that Texas was part of the Louisiana Purchase and therefore rightfully belonged to the United States. At the request of Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, acting on behalf of the Tyler administration, which also supported annexation, Jackson wrote several letters to Texas president Sam Houston, urging him to wait for the Senate to approve annexation and explaining how much being a part of the United States would benefit Texas. Initially prior to the 1844 election, Jackson again supported Van Buren for president and Polk for vice president. A treaty of annexation was signed by Tyler on April 12, 1844, and submitted to the Senate. When a letter from Secretary of State Calhoun to British Ambassador Richard Pakenham linking annexation to slavery was made public, anti-annexation sentiment exploded in the North and the bill failed to be ratified. Van Buren decided to write the "Hamlet letter," opposing annexation. This effectively extinguished any support that Van Buren might previously have enjoyed in the South. The Whig nominee, Henry Clay, also opposed annexation, and Jackson recognized the need for the Democrats to nominate a candidate who supported it and could therefore gain the support of the South. If the plan failed, Jackson warned, Texas would not join the Union and would potentially fall victim to a Mexican invasion supported by the British.
Jackson met with Polk, Robert Armstrong, and Andrew Jackson Donelson in his study. He then pointed directly at a startled Polk, telling him that, as a man from the southwest and a supporter of annexation, he would be the perfect candidate. Polk called the scheme "utterly abortive", but agreed to go along with it. At the 1844 Democratic National Convention, Polk emerged as the party's nominee after Van Buren failed to win the required two-thirds majority of delegates. George M. Dallas was selected for vice president. Jackson convinced Tyler to drop his plans of running for re-election as an independent by promising, as Tyler requested, to welcome the President and his allies back into the Democratic Party and by instructing Blair to stop criticizing the President. Polk won the election, defeating Clay. A bill of annexation was passed by Congress in February and signed by Tyler on March 1.
Jackson's age and illness eventually overcame him. On June 8, 1845, he was surrounded by family and friends at his deathbed. Jackson, startled by their sobbing, said, "What is the matter with my dear children? Have I alarmed you? Oh, do not cry. Be good children and we will all meet in Heaven." He died immediately after at the age of 78 of chronic dropsy and heart failure. According to a newspaper account from the Boon Lick Times, "[he] fainted whilst being removed from his chair to the bed ... but he subsequently revived ... Gen. Jackson died at the Hermitage at 6 p.m. on Sunday the 8th instant. ... When the messenger finally came, the old soldier, patriot and Christian was looking out for his approach. He is gone, but his memory lives, and will continue to live." In his will, Jackson left his entire estate to Andrew Jackson Jr. except for specifically enumerated items that were left to various friends and family members.
Personal life
Family
Jackson had three adopted sons: Theodore, an Indian about whom little is known, Andrew Jackson Jr., the son of Rachel's brother Severn Donelson, and Lyncoya, a Creek orphan adopted by Jackson after the Battle of Tallushatchee. Lyncoya died of tuberculosis on July 1, 1828, at the age of sixteen.
The Jacksons also acted as guardians for eight other children. John Samuel Donelson, Daniel Smith Donelson, and Andrew Jackson Donelson were the sons of Rachel's brother Samuel Donelson, who died in 1804. Andrew Jackson Hutchings was Rachel's orphaned grand nephew. Caroline Butler, Eliza Butler, Edward Butler, and Anthony Butler were the orphaned children of Edward Butler, a family friend. They came to live with the Jacksons after the death of their father.
The widower Jackson invited Rachel's niece Emily Donelson to serve as hostess at the White House. Emily was married to Andrew Jackson Donelson, who acted as Jackson's private secretary and in 1856 ran for vice president on the American Party ticket. The relationship between the president and Emily became strained during the Petticoat affair, and the two became estranged for over a year. They eventually reconciled and she resumed her duties as White House hostess. Sarah Yorke Jackson, the wife of Andrew Jackson Jr., became co-hostess of the White House in 1834. It was the only time in history when two women simultaneously acted as unofficial First Lady. Sarah took over all hostess duties after Emily died from tuberculosis in 1836. Jackson used Rip Raps as a retreat.
Temperament
Jackson's quick temper was notorious. Biographer H. W. Brands notes that his opponents were terrified of his temper: "Observers likened him to a volcano, and only the most intrepid or recklessly curious cared to see it erupt. ... His close associates all had stories of his blood-curdling oaths, his summoning of the Almighty to loose His wrath upon some miscreant, typically followed by his own vow to hang the villain or blow him to perdition. Given his record—in duels, brawls, mutiny trials, and summary hearings—listeners had to take his vows seriously."
On the last day of his presidency, Jackson admitted that he had but two regrets, that he "had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun." On his deathbed, he was once again quoted as regretting that he had not hanged Calhoun for treason. "My country would have sustained me in the act, and his fate would have been a warning to traitors in all time to come," he said. Remini expresses the opinion that Jackson was typically in control of his temper, and that he used his anger, along with his fearsome reputation, as a tool to get what he wanted.
Physical appearance
Jackson was a lean figure, standing at tall, and weighing between on average. Jackson also had an unruly shock of red hair, which had completely grayed by the time he became president at age 61. He had penetrating deep blue eyes. Jackson was one of the more sickly presidents, suffering from chronic headaches, abdominal pains, and a hacking cough. Much of his trouble was caused by a musket ball in his lung that was never removed, that often brought up blood and sometimes made his whole body shake.
Religious faith
In 1838, Jackson became an official member of the First Presbyterian Church in Nashville. Both his mother and his wife had been devout Presbyterians all their lives, but Jackson himself had postponed officially entering the church in order to avoid accusations that he had joined only for political reasons.
Freemasonry
Jackson was a Freemason, initiated at Harmony Lodge No. 1 in Tennessee. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee in 1822 and 1823. During the 1832 presidential election, Jackson faced opposition from the Anti-Masonic Party. He was the only U.S. president to have served as Grand Master of a state's Grand Lodge until Harry S. Truman in 1945. His Masonic apron is on display in the Tennessee State Museum. An obelisk and bronze Masonic plaque decorate his tomb at the Hermitage.
Legacy
Historical reputation
Jackson remains one of the most studied and controversial figures in American history. Historian Charles Grier Sellers says, "Andrew Jackson's masterful personality was enough by itself to make him one of the most controversial figures ever to stride across the American stage." There has never been universal agreement on Jackson's legacy, for "his opponents have ever been his most bitter enemies, and his friends almost his worshippers." He was always a fierce partisan, with many friends and many enemies. He has been lauded as the champion of the common man, while criticized for his treatment of Indians and for other matters. James Parton was the first man after Jackson's death to write a full biography of him. Trying to sum up the contradictions in his subject, he wrote:
Jackson was criticized by his contemporary Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1835 book Democracy in America for flattering the dominant ideas of his time, including the mistrust over the federal power, for sometimes enforcing his view by force and disrespect towards the institutions and the law:
In the 20th century, Jackson was the subject of multiple highly favorable biographies. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.'s Age of Jackson (1945) depicts Jackson as a man of the people battling inequality and upper-class tyranny. From the 1970s to the 1980s, Robert Remini published a three-volume biography of Jackson followed by an abridged one-volume study. Remini paints a generally favorable portrait of Jackson. He contends that Jacksonian democracy "stretches the concept of democracy about as far as it can go and still remain workable. ... As such it has inspired much of the dynamic and dramatic events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in American history—Populism, Progressivism, the New and Fair Deals, and the programs of the New Frontier and Great Society." To Remini, Jackson serves as "the embodiment of the new American ... This new man was no longer British. He no longer wore the queue and silk pants. He wore trousers, and he had stopped speaking with a British accent." Other 20th-century writers such as Richard Hofstadter and Bray Hammond depict Jackson as an advocate of the sort of laissez-faire capitalism that benefits the rich and oppresses the poor.
Jackson's initiatives to deal with the conflicts between Native American people and European-American settlers has been a source of controversy. Starting around 1970, Jackson came under attack from some historians on this issue. Howard Zinn called him "the most aggressive enemy of the Indians in early American history" and "exterminator of Indians." Conversely, in 1969, Francis Paul Prucha argued that Jackson's removal of the Five Civilized Tribes from the extremely hostile white environment in the Old South to Oklahoma probably saved their very existence. Similarly, Remini claims that, if not for Jackson's policies, the Southeastern tribes would have been totally wiped out, similar to people such as the Yamasee, Mahican, and Narragansett.
Jackson has long been honored, along with Thomas Jefferson, in the Jefferson–Jackson Day fundraising dinners held by state Democratic Party organizations to honor the two men whom the party regards as its founders. However, because both Jefferson and Jackson were slave owners, as well as because of Jackson's Indian removal policies, many state party organizations have renamed the dinners.
Brands argues that Jackson's reputation suffered since the 1960s as his actions towards Indians and African Americans received new attention. After the civil rights movement, Brand writes, "his unrepentant ownership of slaves marked him as one to be censured rather than praised." Further, "By the turn of the present [21st] century, it was scarcely an exaggeration to say that the one thing American schoolchildren learned about Jackson was that he was the author of the Trail of Tears." Brands notes that he was often hailed during his lifetime as the "second George Washington" because, while Washington had fought for independence, Jackson confirmed it at New Orleans and made the United States a great power. Over time, while the Revolution has maintained a strong presence in the public conscience, memory of the War of 1812, including the Battle of New Orleans, has sharply declined. Brands writes that this is because once America had become a military power, "it was easy to think that America had been destined for this role from the beginning."
Still, Jackson's performance in office compared to other presidents has generally been ranked in the top half in public opinion polling. His position in C-SPAN's poll dropped from 13th in 2009, to 18th in 2017, and to 22nd in 2021.
Portrayal on banknotes and stamps
Jackson has appeared on U.S. banknotes as far back as 1869, and extending into the 21st century. His image has appeared on the $5, $10, $20, and $10,000 note. Most recently, his image has appeared on the U.S. $20 Federal reserve note beginning in 1928. In 2016, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced his goal that by 2020 an image of Harriet Tubman would replace Jackson's depiction on the front side of the $20 banknote, and that an image of Jackson would be placed on the reverse side, though the final decision will be made by his successors.
Jackson has appeared on several postage stamps. He first appeared on an 1863 two-cent stamp, which is commonly referred to by collectors as the Black Jack due to the large portraiture of Jackson on its face printed in pitch black. During the American Civil War, the Confederate government issued two Confederate postage stamps bearing Jackson's portrait, one a 2-cent red stamp and the other a 2-cent green stamp, both issued in 1863.
Memorials
Numerous counties and cities are named after him, including the cities of Jacksonville in Florida and North Carolina; the cities of Jackson in Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee; the city of Andrew in Iowa; Jackson County in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Oregon; and Jackson Parish in Louisiana.
Memorials to Jackson include a set of four identical equestrian statues by the sculptor Clark Mills: in Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.; in Jackson Square, New Orleans; in Nashville on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol; and in Jacksonville, Florida. Other equestrian statues of Jackson have been erected elsewhere, as in the State Capitol grounds in Raleigh, North Carolina. That statue controversially identifies him as one of the "presidents North Carolina gave the nation," and he is featured alongside James Polk and Andrew Johnson, both U.S. presidents born in North Carolina. There is a bust of Andrew Jackson in Plaza Ferdinand VII in Pensacola, Florida, where he became the first governor of the Florida Territory in 1821. There is also a 1928 bronze sculpture of Andrew Jackson by Belle Kinney Scholz and Leopold Scholz in the U.S. Capitol Building as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Popular culture depictions
Jackson and his wife Rachel were the main subjects of a 1951 historical novel by Irving Stone, The President's Lady, which told the story of their lives up until Rachel's death. The novel was the basis for the 1953 film of the same name starring Charlton Heston as Jackson and Susan Hayward as Rachel.
Jackson has been a supporting character in a number of historical films and television productions. Lionel Barrymore played Jackson in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), a fictionalized biography of Peggy Eaton starring Joan Crawford. The Buccaneer (1938), depicting the Battle of New Orleans, included Hugh Sothern as Jackson, and was remade in 1958 with Heston again playing Jackson.
Brian Donlevy played Jackson in the Paramount Pictures 1942 film The Remarkable Andrew. Basil Ruysdael played Jackson in Walt Disney's 1955 Davy Crockett TV miniseries. Wesley Addy appeared as Jackson in some episodes of the 1976 PBS miniseries The Adams Chronicles.
Jackson is the protagonist of the comedic historic rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (2008) with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and book by Alex Timbers.
In 1959, Jimmy Driftwood wrote the song "The Battle of New Orleans," which mentions Jackson. Johnny Horton recorded it that same year.
See also
List of presidents of the United States on currency
Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps
Notes
References
Bibliography
Biographies
; 344 pages; coverage to age 21
Abridgment of Remini's 3-volume biography.
Specialized studies
Historiography
Ward, John William 1955. Andrew Jackson, Symbol for an Age. New York: Oxford University Press.
Primary sources
7 volumes total.
(9 vols. 1980 to date)
Reprints his major messages and reports.
Library of Congress. "Andrew Jackson Papers", a digital archive that provides direct access to the manuscript images of many of the Jackson documents. online
Further reading
External links
Andrew Jackson: A Resource Guide at the Library of Congress
The Papers of Andrew Jackson at the Avalon Project
The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson
"Life Portrait of Andrew Jackson", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, April 26, 1999
"The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson and the Growth of Party Politics", lesson plan at the National Endowment for the Humanities
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Tuberculosis deaths in Tennessee | true | [
"Farmen 2016 (The Farm 2016) is the ninth season of the Swedish version of The Farm reality television show. The season like last year takes place on a farm in Brandsjön in the municipality of Vaggeryd, Sweden where contestants live on and work on a farm like they did 100 year prior. The season premiered on TV4 on 10 January 2016 and concluded on 20 March 2016 where Fredrik Rosenkvist won against Lina Ilar in the final duel to win 500,000 kr. and the title of Farmen 2016.\n\nFormat\nSixteen contestants are chosen from the outside world. Each week one contestant is selected the Farmer of the Week. In the first week, the contestants choose the Farmer. Since week 2, the Farmer is chosen by the contestant evicted in the previous week.\n\nNomination process\nThe Farmer of the Week nominates two people (a man and a woman) as the Butlers. The others must decide which Butler is the first to go to the Battle. That person then chooses the second person (from the same sex) for the Battle and also the type of battle (a quiz, extrusion, endurance, sleight). The Battle winner must win two duels. The Battle loser is evicted from the game.\n\nFinishing order\n(ages stated are at time of contest)\n\nThe game\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Farm (franchise)\n2016 Swedish television seasons",
"Hair Battle Spectacular is an American reality competition series that aired on Oxygen from August 10, 2010, to October 3, 2011. The series features ten hair stylists as they compete for a $100,000 grand prize and to see who can create the most outrageous hair styles that resemble everything from multilayer wedding cakes to toys with movable pieces.\n\nCast\nBrooke Burns, Host — Season 1\nEva Marcille, Host — Season 2\n Derek J, Judge — Hair designer\n Taylor Jacobson, Judge — Stylist\n\nSeason 1\n\nEliminated\nJosh 'Roo' Wixom – Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada\nKeleigh 'Malibu' Laier – Hometown: Laguna Niguel, California (Left due to medical reasons)\nBryson 'Boss' Conley – Hometown: Los Angeles, California\nTara 'Cajmonet' Merritt – Hometown: Woodland Hills, California\nJerome 'J-Rok' Allen – Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia\nValerie 'Valley Girl' St. George – Hometown: Burbank, California\nSexi Lexi Hopper — Hometown: Denver, Colorado\nMoira 'Fingaz' Frazier – Hometown: Toledo, Ohio\nNate 'Tsunami' Siam – Hometown: Modesto, California (Runner-up)\n\nWinner\n Jasmaine 'Minista' Jazz – Hometown: Brooklyn, New York\n\nProgress\n\n12345 Two contestants with the same numbers indicates that they faced off in a battle that week.\n The contestant withdrew from the competition due to medical reasons.\n The contestant lost their hair battle, was a \"Hair Don't\", and was eliminated from the competition.\n The contestant lost their hair battle and was a \"Hair Don't\".\n The contestant lost their hair battle and was a \"Hair Don't\" and was also in the bottom 2.\n The contestant won their hair battle and was a \"Hair Do\" but did not win the challenge.\n The contestant won their hair battle and was a \"Hair Do\" and won the challenge.\n The contestant won Hair Battle Spectacular.\n\nSeason 2\n\nEliminated\nDnise \"Bronx\" Brown – Hometown: Bronx, New York\nKristin \"Dimples\" Jackson – Hometown: Bronx, New York\nSpencer \"Camouflage\" Lebowitz – Hometown: Redondo Beach, California\nGabriel \"GQ\" Quiñones -Hometown: La Puente, California\nBrenda \"MzH20\" Waters – Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia\nTyler \"Atomic\" True – Hometown: Los Angeles, California\nBethany \"Queen B\" Bell — Hometown: Los Angeles, California\nJeanine \"J9\" Calia — Hometown: Providence, Rhode Island\nAlessandro \"Bossa Nova\" Voce – Hometown: Beverly Hills, California\nAshley \"Blondie\" Stone — Hometown: Newington, Connecticut\n\nWinner\n Kirby \"Nostradamus\" Keomysay — Hometown: Omaha, Nebraska\n\nProgress\n\n12345 Two contestants with the same numbers indicates that they faced off in a battle that week.\n The contestant withdrew from the competition due to medical reasons.\n The contestant lost their hair battle, was a \"Hair Don't\", and was eliminated from the competition.\n The contestant lost their hair battle and was a \"Hair Don't\".\n The contestant lost their hair battle and was a \"Hair Don't\" and was also in the bottom 2.\n The contestant won their hair battle and was a \"Hair Do\" but did not win the challenge.\n The contestant won their hair battle and was a \"Hair Do\" and won the challenge.\n The contestant won Hair Battle Spectacular.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n2010s American reality television series\n2010 American television series debuts\n2011 American television series endings\nEnglish-language television shows\nOxygen (TV channel) original programming"
] |
[
"Andrew Jackson",
"Battle of New Orleans",
"When did the battle start?",
"December 1, 1814,",
"When did the battle end?",
"February 27, 1815,",
"What was the battle about?",
"he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants.",
"Did they win the battle",
"After the battle, the British retreated from the area,"
] | C_d066211bb235410c9c7b763df9a0ddfd_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 5 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article other than Andrew Jackson's, Battle of New Orleans? | Andrew Jackson | Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from present day Northern Ireland two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, in current-day Northern Ireland, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal family line originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England. When they immigrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. They brought two children from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). Jackson's father died in a logging accident while clearing land in February 1767 at the age of 29, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests. Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824 Jackson wrote a letter saying that he was born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian country. Most of the transactions involved grants made under the 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819. After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. Jackson soon became associated with the more radical, pro-French and anti-British wing. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. Senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests. After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of conflict with Europeans or Indians, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane, and continued to serve as governor until 1809. After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson only had about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained. The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." CANNOTANSWER | Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. | Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. An expansionist president, Jackson sought to advance the rights of the "common man" against a "corrupt aristocracy" and to preserve the Union.
Born in the colonial Carolinas in the decade before the American Revolutionary War, Jackson became a frontier lawyer and married Rachel Donelson Robards. He served briefly in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, representing Tennessee. After resigning, he served as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1798 until 1804. Jackson purchased a property later known as The Hermitage, and became a wealthy, slaveowning planter. In 1801, he was appointed colonel of the Tennessee militia and was elected its commander the following year. He led troops during the Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The subsequent Treaty of Fort Jackson required the Creek surrender of vast lands in present-day Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent war against the British, Jackson's victory in 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans made him a national hero. Jackson then led U.S. forces in the First Seminole War, which led to the annexation of Florida from Spain. Jackson briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824, winning a plurality of the popular and electoral vote. As no candidate won an electoral majority, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams in a contingent election. In reaction to the alleged "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Henry Clay and the ambitious agenda of President Adams, Jackson's supporters founded the Democratic Party.
Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide. Jackson faced the threat of secession by South Carolina over what opponents called the "Tariff of Abominations". The crisis was defused when the tariff was amended, and Jackson threatened the use of military force if South Carolina attempted to secede. In Congress, Henry Clay led the effort to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States. Jackson, regarding the Bank as a corrupt institution that benefited the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Americans, vetoed the renewal of its charter. After a lengthy struggle, Jackson and his allies thoroughly dismantled the Bank. In 1835, Jackson became the only president to completely pay off the national debt, fulfilling a longtime goal. While Jackson pursued numerous reforms designed to eliminate waste and corruption, his presidency marked the beginning of the ascendancy of the party "spoils system" in American politics. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibly removed most members of the major tribes of the Southeast to Indian Territory; these removals were subsequently known as the Trail of Tears. The relocation process dispossessed these nations of their land and resulted in widespread death and disease. Jackson opposed the abolitionist movement, which grew stronger in his second term. In foreign affairs, Jackson's administration concluded a "most favored nation" treaty with the United Kingdom, settled claims of damages against France from the Napoleonic Wars, and recognized the Republic of Texas. In January 1835, he survived the first assassination attempt on a sitting president.
In his retirement, Jackson remained active in Democratic Party politics, supporting the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk. Though fearful of its effects on the slavery debate, Jackson advocated the annexation of Texas, which was accomplished shortly before his death. Jackson has been widely revered in the United States as an advocate for democracy and the common man. Many of his actions proved divisive, garnering both fervent support and strong opposition from many in the country. His reputation has suffered since the 1970s, largely due to his anti-abolitionist views and policy of the forcible removal of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands. However, surveys of historians and scholars have ranked Jackson favorably among U.S. presidents.
Early life and education
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew Jackson and his wife Elizabeth Hutchinson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ulster, Ireland, two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal ancestors originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England.
When they migrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents brought two children with them from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). The family probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. Jackson's father died in February 1767 at the age of 29, in a logging accident while clearing land, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests.
Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824, Jackson wrote a letter saying he had been born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. As a young boy, Jackson was easily offended and was considered something of a bully. He was, however, also said to have taken a group of younger and weaker boys under his wing and been kind to them.
Revolutionary War service
During the Revolutionary War, Jackson's eldest brother, Hugh, died from heat exhaustion after the Battle of Stono Ferry on June 20, 1779. Anti-British sentiment intensified following the Waxhaws Massacre on May 29, 1780. Jackson's mother encouraged him and his elder brother Robert to attend the local militia drills. Soon, they began to help the militia as couriers. They served under Colonel William Richardson Davie at the Battle of Hanging Rock on August 6. Andrew and Robert were captured by the British in April 1781 while staying at the home of the Crawford family. When Andrew refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the officer slashed at the youth with a sword, leaving him with scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British. Robert also refused to do as commanded and was struck with the sword. The two brothers were held as prisoners, contracted smallpox, and nearly starved to death in captivity.
Later that year, their mother Elizabeth secured the brothers' release. She then began to walk both boys back to their home in the Waxhaws, a distance of some 40 miles (64 km). Both were in very poor health. Robert, who was far worse, rode on the only horse they had, while Andrew walked behind them. In the final two hours of the journey, a torrential downpour began which worsened the effects of the smallpox. Within two days of arriving back home, Robert was dead and Andrew in mortal danger. After nursing Andrew back to health, Elizabeth volunteered to nurse American prisoners of war on board two British ships in the Charleston harbor, where there had been an outbreak of cholera. In November, she died from the disease and was buried in an unmarked grave. Andrew became an orphan at age 14. He blamed the British personally for the loss of his brothers and mother.
Early career
Legal career and marriage
After the Revolutionary War, Jackson received a sporadic education in a local Waxhaw school. On bad terms with much of his extended family, he boarded with several different people. In 1781, he worked for a time as a saddle-maker, and eventually taught school. He apparently prospered in neither profession. In 1784, he left the Waxhaws region for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he studied law under attorney Spruce Macay. With the help of various lawyers, he was able to learn enough to qualify for the bar. In September 1787, Jackson was admitted to the North Carolina bar. Shortly thereafter, his friend John McNairy helped him get appointed to a vacant prosecutor position in the Western District of North Carolina, which would later become the state of Tennessee. During his travel west, Jackson bought his first slave, a woman who was older than him. In 1788, having been offended by fellow lawyer Waightstill Avery, Jackson fought his first duel. The duel ended with both men firing into the air, having made a secret agreement to do so before the engagement.
Jackson moved to the small frontier town of Nashville in 1788, where he lived as a boarder with Rachel Stockly Donelson, the widow of John Donelson. Here Jackson became acquainted with their daughter, Rachel Donelson Robards. The younger Rachel was in an unhappy marriage with Captain Lewis Robards; he was subject to fits of jealous rage. The two were separated in 1790. According to Jackson, he married Rachel after hearing that Robards had obtained a divorce. Her divorce had not been made final, making Rachel's marriage to Jackson bigamous and therefore invalid. After the divorce was officially completed, Rachel and Jackson remarried in 1794. To complicate matters further, evidence shows that Rachel had been living with Jackson and referred to herself as Mrs. Jackson before the petition for divorce was ever made. It was not uncommon on the frontier for relationships to be formed and dissolved unofficially, as long as they were recognized by the community.
Land speculation and early public career
In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian territory. Most of the transactions involved grants made under a 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819.
After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. As a representative, Jackson staunchly advocated for the rights of Tennesseans against Native American tribal interests. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Democratic-Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Democratic-Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision-making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests.
After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of armed conflicts, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Jackson then published a newspaper article accusing Sevier of fraud and bribery. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane and continued to serve as governor until 1809.
Planting career and controversy
In addition to his legal and political career, Jackson prospered as a planter and merchant. He built a home and the first general store in Gallatin, Tennessee, in 1803. The next year, he acquired The Hermitage, a plantation in Davidson County, near Nashville. He later added to the plantation, which eventually totaled . The primary crop was cotton. Like most successful American planters at the time, Jackson's plantation depended on slave labor. The cotton cultivated at the Hermitage was planted and picked by slaves. The Hermitage was quite profitable; Jackson began with nine slaves, owned as many as 44 by 1820, and later up to 150, placing him among the planter elite. Jackson also co-owned with his son Andrew Jackson Jr. the Halcyon plantation in Coahoma County, Mississippi, which housed 51 slaves at the time of his death. Throughout his lifetime, Jackson may have owned as many as 500 slaves.
Men, women, and child slaves were owned by Jackson on three sections of the Hermitage plantation. Slaves lived in extended family units of between five and ten persons and were quartered in cabins made either of brick or logs. The size and quality of the Hermitage slave quarters exceeded the standards of the time. To help slaves acquire food, Jackson supplied them with guns, knives, and fishing equipment. At times he paid his slaves with money and coins to trade in local markets. Jackson permitted slaves to be whipped to increase productivity or if he believed his slaves' offenses were severe enough. At various times he posted advertisements for fugitive slaves who had escaped from his plantation. In one advertisement placed in the Tennessee Gazette in October 1804, Jackson offered "ten dollars extra, for every hundred lashes any person will give him, to the amount of three hundred."
The controversy surrounding his marriage to Rachel remained a sore point for Jackson, who deeply resented attacks on his wife's honor. By May 1806, Charles Dickinson, who, like Jackson, raced horses, had published an attack on Jackson in the local newspaper, and it resulted in a written challenge from Jackson to a duel. Since Dickinson was considered an expert shot, Jackson determined it would be best to let Dickinson turn and fire first, hoping that his aim might be spoiled in his quickness; Jackson would wait and take careful aim at Dickinson. Dickinson did fire first, hitting Jackson in the chest. The bullet that struck Jackson was so close to his heart that it could not be removed. Under the rules of dueling, Dickinson had to remain still as Jackson took aim and shot and killed him. Jackson's behavior in the duel outraged many in Tennessee, who called it a brutal, cold-blooded killing and saddled Jackson with a reputation as a violent, vengeful man. He became a social outcast.
After the Sevier affair and the duel, Jackson was looking for a way to salvage his reputation. He chose to align himself with former vice president Aaron Burr. Burr's political career ended after the killing of Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804; in 1805 he set out on a tour of what was then the western United States. Burr was extremely well received by the people of Tennessee, and stayed for five days at the Hermitage. Burr's true intentions are not known with certainty. He seems to have been planning a military operation to conquer Spanish Florida and drive the Spanish from Texas. To many westerners like Jackson, the promise seemed enticing. Western American settlers had long held bitter feelings towards Spain due to territorial disputes and their persistent failure to stop Indians living in Spanish territory from raiding American settlements. On October 4, 1806, Jackson addressed the Tennessee militia, declaring that the men should be "at a moment's warning ready to march." On the same day, he wrote to James Winchester, proclaiming that the United States "can conquer not only the Floridas [at that time there was an East Florida and a West Florida.], but all Spanish North America." He continued:
Jackson agreed to provide boats and other provisions for the expedition. However, on November 10, he learned from a military captain that Burr's plans apparently included seizure of New Orleans, then part of the Louisiana Territory of the United States, and incorporating it, along with lands won from the Spanish, into a new empire. He was further outraged when he learned from the same man of the involvement of Brigadier General James Wilkinson, whom he deeply disliked, in the plan. Jackson acted cautiously at first, but wrote letters to public officials, including President Thomas Jefferson, vaguely warning them about the scheme. In December, Jefferson, a political opponent of Burr, issued a proclamation declaring that a treasonous plot was underway in the West and calling for the arrest of the perpetrators. Jackson, safe from arrest because of his extensive paper trail, organized the militia. Burr was soon captured, and the men were sent home. Jackson traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to testify on Burr's behalf in trial. The defense team decided against placing him on the witness stand, fearing his remarks were too provocative. Burr was acquitted of treason, despite Jefferson's efforts to have him convicted. Jackson endorsed James Monroe for president in 1808 against James Madison. The latter was part of the Jeffersonian wing of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson lived relatively quietly at the Hermitage in the years after the Burr trial, eventually accumulating 640 acres of land.
Military career
War of 1812
Creek campaign and treaty
Leading up to 1812, the United States found itself increasingly drawn into international conflict. Formal hostilities with Spain or France never materialized, but tensions with Britain increased for a number of reasons. Among these was the desire of many Americans for more land, particularly British Canada and Florida, the latter still controlled by Spain, Britain's European ally. On June 18, 1812, Congress officially declared war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, beginning the War of 1812. Jackson responded enthusiastically, sending a letter to Washington offering 2,500 volunteers. However, the men were not called up for many months. Biographer Robert V. Remini claims that Jackson saw the apparent slight as payback by the Madison administration for his support of Burr and Monroe. Meanwhile, the United States military repeatedly suffered devastating defeats on the battlefield.
On January 10, 1813, Jackson led an army of 2,071 volunteers to New Orleans to defend the region against British and Native American attacks. He had been instructed to serve under General Wilkinson, who commanded Federal forces in New Orleans. Lacking adequate provisions, Wilkinson ordered Jackson to halt in Natchez, then part of the Mississippi Territory, and await further orders. Jackson reluctantly obeyed. The newly appointed Secretary of War, John Armstrong Jr., sent a letter to Jackson dated February 6 ordering him to dismiss his forces and to turn over his supplies to Wilkinson. In reply to Armstrong on March 15, Jackson defended the character and readiness of his men, and promised to turn over his supplies. He also promised, instead of dismissing the troops without provisions in Natchez, to march them back to Nashville. The march was filled with agony. Many of the men had fallen ill. Jackson and his officers turned over their horses to the sick. He paid for provisions for the men out of his own pocket. The soldiers began referring to their commander as "Hickory," after a hickory nut, because of his toughness, and Jackson became known as "Old Hickory". After about a month long march, the army finally arrived in Nashville. His actions earned him respect and praise from the people of Tennessee. Jackson faced financial ruin, until his former aide-de-camp Thomas Benton persuaded Armstrong to order the army to pay the expenses Jackson had incurred. On June 14, Jackson served as a second in a duel on behalf of his junior officer William Carroll against Jesse Benton, the brother of Thomas. On September 3, Jackson and his top cavalry officer, Brigadier General John Coffee, were involved in a street brawl with the Benton brothers. Jackson was severely wounded by Jesse with a gunshot to the shoulder.
On August 30, 1813, a group of Muscogee (or Creek) called the Red Sticks, so named for the color of their war paint, perpetrated the Fort Mims massacre in which hundreds of white American settlers and non-Red Stick Creeks were slaughtered. The Red Sticks, led by William Weatherford (also called Red Eagle) and Peter McQueen, had broken away from the rest of the Creek Confederacy, which wanted peace with the United States. They were allied with Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief who had launched Tecumseh's War against the United States, and who was fighting alongside the British. The resulting conflict became known as the Creek War.
Jackson, with 2,500 American soldiers, was ordered to crush the Red Sticks. On October 10, he set out on the expedition, his arm still in a sling from fighting the Bentons. Jackson established Fort Strother as a supply base. On November 3, Coffee defeated a band of Red Sticks at the Battle of Tallushatchee. Coming to the relief of friendly Creeks besieged by Red Sticks, Jackson won another decisive victory at the Battle of Talladega. In the winter, Jackson, encamped at Fort Strother, faced a severe shortage of troops due to the expiration of enlistments and chronic desertions. He sent Coffee with the cavalry (which abandoned him) back to Tennessee to secure more enlistments. Jackson decided to combine his force with that of the Georgia militia, and marched to meet the Georgia troops. From January 22–24, 1814, while on their way, the Tennessee militia and allied Muscogee were attacked by the Red Sticks at the Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek. Jackson's troops repelled the attackers, but outnumbered, were forced to withdraw to Fort Strother. Jackson, now with over 2,000 troops, marched most of his army south to confront the Red Sticks at a fortress they had constructed at a bend in the Tallapoosa River. Jackson, together with Lower Creek and Cherokee allies and enjoying an advantage of more than 2 to 1, engaged them on March 27 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. An initial artillery barrage did little damage to the well-constructed fort. A subsequent Infantry charge, in addition to an assault by Coffee's cavalry and diversions caused by the allied Creeks, overwhelmed the Red Sticks.
The campaign ended three weeks later with Red Eagle's surrender, although some Red Sticks such as McQueen fled to East Florida. On June 8, Jackson accepted a commission as brigadier general in the United States Army, and 10 days later became a major general, in command of the Seventh Military Division. Subsequently, Jackson, with Madison's approval, imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson. The treaty required the Muscogee, including those who had not joined the Red Sticks, to surrender 23 million acres (8,093,713 ha) of land to the United States. Most of the Creeks bitterly acquiesced. Though in ill-health from dysentery, Jackson then turned his attention to defeating Spanish and British forces. Jackson accused the Spanish of arming the Red Sticks and of violating the terms of their neutrality by allowing British soldiers into the Floridas. The first charge was true, while the second ignored the fact that it was Jackson's threats to invade Florida which had caused them to seek British protection. In the November 7 Battle of Pensacola, Jackson defeated the relatively small British and Spanish forces in a short skirmish. Shortly thereafter, the Spanish surrendered and the remaining British wthdrew. Weeks later, Jackson learned that the British were planning an attack on New Orleans, which sat on the mouth of the Mississippi River and held immense strategic and commercial value. Jackson abandoned Pensacola to the Spanish, placed a force in Mobile, Alabama, to guard against a possible invasion there, and rushed the rest of his forces west to defend New Orleans.
The Creeks coined their own name for Jackson, Jacksa Chula Harjo or "Jackson, old and fierce."
Battle of New Orleans
After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson had only about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained.
The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.
Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." Some have claimed that, because the war was already ended by the preliminary signing of the Treaty of Ghent, Jackson's victory at New Orleans was without importance aside from making him a celebrated figure. However, the Spanish, who had sold the Louisiana Territory to France, disputed France's right to sell it to the United States through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In April 1815, Spain, assuming that the British had won at New Orleans, asked for the return of the Louisiana Territory. Spanish representatives claimed to have been assured that they would receive the land back. Furthermore, Article IX of the Treaty of Ghent stipulated that the United States must return land taken from the Creeks to their original owners, essentially undoing the Treaty of Fort Jackson. Thanks to Jackson's victory at New Orleans, the American government felt that it could safely ignore that provision and it kept the lands that Jackson had acquired.
Enforced martial law in New Orleans
Jackson, still not knowing for certain of the treaty's signing, refused to lift martial law in the city. Citizens, local politicians, and some of Jackson's troops expressed growing displeasure. When some of the Creoles under Jackson's service, registering as French citizens with the French consul Louis de Toussard, asked to be discharged based on their foreign nationality, Jackson ordered all Frenchmen, including Toussard, to depart to no less than 120 miles from the limits of New Orleans. State senator Louis Louaillier wrote an anonymous piece in the New Orleans newspaper challenging Jackson's refusal to release the militia after the British ceded the field of battle. Jackson attempted to find the author and, after Louiallier admitted to having written the piece, he imprisoned him. In March, after U.S. District Court Judge Dominic A. Hall signed a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Louaillier, Jackson ordered Hall's arrest. A military court ordered Louiallier's release, but Jackson kept him in prison. He released Hall four miles from the city, which marked the limits of his jurisdiction. Jackson also ordered the execution of six members of the militia who had attempted to leave. Their deaths were not well publicized until the Coffin Handbills were circulated during his 1828 presidential campaign. On March 13, news officially reached the city that the peace treaty had been signed and ratified. Jackson immediately lifted martial law, released Louaillier from prison, and allowed the return of those he had exiled. Hall subsequently brought Jackson to trial on charges of contempt of court, and fined him $1,000.
First Seminole War
Following the war, Jackson remained in command of troops on the southern border of the U.S. He conducted business from the Hermitage. He signed treaties with the Cherokee and Chickasaw which gained for the United States large parts of Tennessee and Kentucky. The treaty with the Chickasaw, finally agreed to later in the year, is commonly known as the Jackson Purchase.
Jackson would soon find himself embroiled in another conflict in the Floridas. Several Native American tribes, collectively known as the Seminole, straddled the border between the U.S. and Florida. The Seminole, in alliance with escaped slaves, frequently raided Georgia settlements before retreating back into Florida. These skirmishes continually escalated into the conflict now known as the First Seminole War. In 1816, Jackson led a detachment into Florida and at the Battle of Negro Fort destroyed the fort, killing most of the fugitive slaves defending it and a smaller number of allied Choctaw. Jackson was then ordered by President Monroe in December 1817 to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Seminole and Creek. Jackson was again charged with preventing Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves, after Spain promised freedom to fugitive slaves. Critics later alleged that Jackson exceeded orders in his Florida actions. His orders from President Monroe were to "terminate the conflict." Jackson believed the best way to do this was to seize Florida from Spain once and for all. Before departing, Jackson wrote to Monroe, "Let it be signified to me through any channel ... that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished."
Jackson invaded Florida on March 15, 1818, capturing Pensacola. He crushed Seminole and Spanish resistance in the region and captured two British agents, Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, who had been working with the Seminole. After a brief trial, Jackson executed both of them, causing a diplomatic incident with the British. Jackson's actions polarized Monroe's cabinet, some of whom argued that Jackson had gone against Monroe's orders and violated the Constitution, since the United States had not declared war upon Spain. He was defended by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. Adams thought that Jackson's conquest of Florida would force Spain to finally sell the province, and Spain did indeed sell Florida to the United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. A congressional investigation exonerated Jackson, but he was deeply angered by the criticism he received, particularly from Speaker of the House Henry Clay. After the ratification of the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1821, Jackson resigned from the army and briefly served as the territorial Governor of Florida before returning to Tennessee.
Presidential aspirations
Election of 1824
In the spring of 1822, Jackson suffered a physical breakdown. His body had two bullets lodged in it, and he had grown exhausted from years of hard military campaigning. He regularly coughed up blood, and his entire body shook. Jackson feared that he was on the brink of death. After several months of rest, he recovered. During his convalescence, Jackson's thoughts increasingly turned to national affairs. He obsessed over rampant corruption in the Monroe administration and grew to detest the Second Bank of the United States, blaming it for causing the Panic of 1819 by contracting credit.
Jackson turned down an offer to run for governor of his home state, but accepted John Overton's plan to have the legislature nominate him for president. On July 22, 1822, he was officially nominated by the Tennessee legislature. Jackson had come to dislike Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford, who had been the most vocal critic of Jackson in Monroe's cabinet, and he hoped to prevent Tennessee's electoral votes from going to Crawford. Yet Jackson's nomination garnered a welcoming response even outside of Tennessee, as many Americans appreciated his attacks on banks. The Panic of 1819 had devastated the fortunes of many, and banks and politicians seen as supportive of banks were unpopular. With his growing political viability, Jackson emerged as one of the five major presidential candidates, along with Crawford, Adams, Clay, and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun. During the Era of Good Feelings, the Federalist Party had faded away, and all five presidential contenders were members of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson's campaign promoted him as a defender of the common people, as well as the one candidate who could rise above sectional divisions. On the major issues of the day, most prominently the tariff, Jackson expressed centrist beliefs, and opponents accused him of obfuscating his positions. At the forefront of Jackson's campaign was combatting corruption. Jackson vowed to restore honesty in government and to scale back its excesses. As a war hero, Jackson was popular with ordinary people, and he benefited from the expansion of suffrage among white males that followed the conclusion of the War of 1812.
In 1823, Jackson reluctantly allowed his name to be placed in contention for one of Tennessee's U.S. Senate seats. The move was independently orchestrated by his advisors William Berkeley Lewis and U.S. senator John Eaton in order to defeat incumbent John Williams, who openly opposed his presidential candidacy. The legislature narrowly elected him. His return, after 24 years, 11 months, 3 days out of office, marks the second longest gap in service to the chamber in history. Although Jackson was reluctant to serve once more in the Senate, he was appointed chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. Eaton wrote to Rachel that Jackson as a senator was "in harmony and good understanding with every body," including Thomas Hart Benton, now a senator from Missouri, with whom Jackson had fought in 1813. Meanwhile, Jackson himself did little active campaigning for the presidency, as was customary. Eaton updated an already-written biography of him in preparation for the campaign and, along with others, wrote letters to newspapers praising Jackson's record and past conduct.
Democratic-Republican presidential nominees had historically been chosen by informal Congressional nominating caucuses, but this method had become unpopular. In 1824, most of the Democratic-Republicans in Congress boycotted the caucus. Those who attended backed Crawford for president and Albert Gallatin for vice president. A Pennsylvania convention nominated Jackson for president a month later, stating that the irregular caucus ignored the "voice of the people" in the "vain hope that the American people might be thus deceived into a belief that he [Crawford] was the regular democratic candidate." Gallatin criticized Jackson as "an honest man and the idol of the worshipers of military glory, but from incapacity, military habits, and habitual disregard of laws and constitutional provisions, altogether unfit for the office." After Jackson won the Pennsylvania nomination, Calhoun dropped out of the presidential race and successfully sought the vice presidency instead.
In the presidential election, Jackson won a plurality of the electoral vote, taking states in the South, West, and Mid-Atlantic. He was the only candidate to win states outside of his regional base, as Adams dominated New England, Clay took three western states, and Crawford won Virginia and Georgia. Jackson won a plurality of the popular vote, taking 42 percent, although not all states held a popular vote for the presidency. He won 99 electoral votes, more than any other candidate, but still short of 131, which he needed for a true majority. With no candidate having won a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives held a contingent election under the terms of the Twelfth Amendment. The amendment specifies that only the top three electoral vote-winners are eligible to be elected by the House, so Clay was eliminated from contention. Jackson believed that he was likely to win this contingent election, as Crawford and Adams lacked Jackson's national appeal, and Crawford had suffered a debilitating stroke that made many doubt his physical fitness for the presidency. Clay, who as Speaker of the House presided over the election, saw Jackson as a dangerous demagogue who might topple the republic in favor of his own leadership. He threw his support behind Adams, who shared Clay's support for federally funded internal improvements such as roads and canals. With Clay's backing, Adams won the contingent election on the first ballot. Furious supporters of Jackson accused Clay and Adams of having reached a "corrupt bargain" after Adams appointed Clay as his Secretary of State. "So you see," Jackson growled, "the Judas of the West has closed the contract and receive the thirty pieces of silver. [H]is end will be the same." After the Congressional session concluded, Jackson resigned his Senate seat and returned to Tennessee.
Election of 1828 and death of Rachel Jackson
Almost immediately, opposition arose to the Adams presidency. Jackson opposed Adams's plan to involve the U.S. in Panama's quest for independence, writing, "The moment we engage in confederations, or alliances with any nation, we may from that time date the down fall of our republic." Adams damaged his standing in his first annual message to Congress, when he argued that Congress must not give the world the impression "that we are palsied by the will of our constituents."
Jackson was nominated for president by the Tennessee legislature in October 1825, more than three years before the 1828 election. It was the earliest such nomination in presidential history, and it attested to the fact that Jackson's supporters began the 1828 campaign almost as soon as the 1824 campaign ended. Adams's presidency foundered, as his ambitious agenda faced defeat in a new era of mass politics. Critics led by Jackson attacked Adams's policies as a dangerous expansion of Federal power. New York Senator Martin Van Buren, who had been a prominent supporter of Crawford in 1824, emerged as one of the strongest opponents of Adams's policies, and he settled on Jackson as his preferred candidate in 1828. Van Buren was joined by Vice President Calhoun, who opposed much of Adams's agenda on states' rights grounds. Van Buren and other Jackson allies established numerous pro-Jackson newspapers and clubs around the country, while Jackson avoided campaigning but made himself available to visitors at his Hermitage plantation. In the election, Jackson won a commanding 56 percent of the popular vote and 68 percent of the electoral vote. The election marked the definitive end of the one-party Era of Good Feelings, as Jackson's supporters coalesced into the Democratic Party and Adams's followers became known as the National Republicans. In the large Scots-Irish community that was especially numerous in the rural South and Southwest, Jackson was a favorite.
The campaign was heavily personal. As was the custom at the time, neither candidate personally campaigned, but their political followers organized campaign events. Both candidates were rhetorically attacked in the press. Jackson was labelled a slave trader who bought and sold slaves and moved them about in defiance of higher standards of slaveholder behavior. A series of pamphlets known as the Coffin Handbills were published to attack Jackson, one of which revealed his order to execute soldiers at New Orleans. Another accused him of engaging in cannibalism by eating the bodies of American Indians killed in battle, while still another labeled his mother a "common prostitute" and stated that Jackson's father was a "mulatto man."
Rachel Jackson was also a frequent target of attacks, and was widely accused of bigamy, a reference to the controversial situation of her marriage with Jackson. Jackson's campaigners fired back by claiming that while serving as Minister to Russia, Adams had procured a young girl to serve as a prostitute for Emperor Alexander I. They also stated that Adams had a billiard table in the White House and that he had charged the government for it.
Rachel had been under extreme stress during the election, and often struggled while Jackson was away. She began experiencing significant physical stress during the election season. Jackson described her symptoms as "excruciating pain in the left shoulder, arm, and breast." After struggling for three days, Rachel finally died of a heart attack on December 22, 1828, three weeks after her husband's victory in the election (which began on October 31 and ended on December 2) and 10 weeks before Jackson took office as president. A distraught Jackson had to be pulled from her so the undertaker could prepare the body. He felt that the abuse from Adams's supporters had hastened her death and never forgave him. Rachel was buried at the Hermitage on Christmas Eve. "May God Almighty forgive her murderers, as I know she forgave them," Jackson swore at her funeral. "I never can."
Presidency (1829–1837)
Philosophy
Jackson's name has been associated with Jacksonian democracy or the shift and expansion of democracy with the passing of some political power from established elites to ordinary voters based in political parties. "The Age of Jackson" shaped the national agenda and American politics. Jackson's philosophy as president was similar to that of Jefferson, advocating republican values held by the Revolutionary generation. Jackson took a moral tone, with the belief that agrarian sympathies, and strong states rights with a limited federal government, would produce less corruption. He feared that monied and business interests would corrupt republican values. When South Carolina opposed the tariff law, he took a strong line in favor of nationalism and against secession.
Jackson believed in the ability of the people to "arrive at right conclusions." They had the right not only to elect but to "instruct their agents & representatives." Office holders should either obey the popular will or resign. He rejected the view of a powerful and independent Supreme Court with binding decisions, arguing that "the Congress, the Executive, and the Court must each or itself be guided by its own opinions of the Constitution." Jackson thought that Supreme Court justices should be made to stand for election, and believed in strict constructionism as the best way to ensure democratic rule. He called for term limits on presidents and the abolition of the Electoral College. According to Robert V. Remini, Jackson "was far ahead of his times–and maybe even further than this country can ever achieve."
Inauguration
Jackson departed from the Hermitage on January 19 and arrived in Washington on February 11. He then set about choosing his cabinet members. Jackson chose Van Buren as expected for Secretary of State, Eaton of Tennessee as Secretary of War, Samuel D. Ingham of Pennsylvania as Secretary of Treasury, John Branch of North Carolina as Secretary of Navy, John M. Berrien of Georgia as Attorney General, and William T. Barry of Kentucky as Postmaster General. Jackson's first choice of cabinet proved to be unsuccessful, full of bitter partisanship and gossip. Jackson blamed Adams in part for what was said about Rachel during the campaign, and refused to meet him after arriving in Washington. Therefore, Adams chose not to attend the inauguration.
On March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson became the first United States president-elect to take the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. In his inaugural speech, Jackson promised to respect the sovereign powers of states and the constitutional limits of the presidency. He also promised to pursue "reform" by removing power from "unfaithful or incompetent hands." At the conclusion of the ceremony, Jackson invited the public to the White House, where his supporters held a raucous party. Thousands of spectators overwhelmed the White House staff, and minor damage was caused to fixtures and furnishings. Jackson's populism earned him the nickname "King Mob."
Reforms, rotation of offices, and spoils system
In an effort to purge the government of corruption, Jackson launched presidential investigations into all executive Cabinet offices and departments. He believed appointees should be hired on merit and withdrew many candidates he believed were lax in their handling of monies. He believed that the federal government had been corrupted and that he had received a mandate from the American people to purge such corruption. Jackson's investigations uncovered enormous fraud in the federal government, and numerous officials were removed from office and indicted on corruption, including personal friend of John Quincy Adams and Treasury Fourth Auditor Tobias Watkins. In the first year of Jackson's presidency, his investigations uncovered $280,000 stolen from the Treasury, and the Department of the Navy was saved $1 million. He asked Congress to reform embezzlement laws, reduce fraudulent applications for federal pensions, pass revenue laws to prevent evasion of custom duties, and pass laws to improve government accounting. Jackson's Postmaster General Barry resigned after a Congressional investigation into the postal service revealed mismanagement of mail services, collusion and favoritism in awarding lucrative contracts, as well as failure to audit accounts and supervise contract performances. Jackson replaced Barry with Treasury Auditor and prominent Kitchen Cabinet member Amos Kendall, who went on to implement reforms in the Post Office Department.
Jackson repeatedly called for the abolition of the Electoral College by constitutional amendment in his annual messages to Congress as president. In his third annual message to Congress, he expressed the view "I have heretofore recommended amendments of the Federal Constitution giving the election of President and Vice-President to the people and limiting the service of the former to a single term. So important do I consider these changes in our fundamental law that I can not, in accordance with my sense of duty, omit to press them upon the consideration of a new Congress."
Although he was unable to implement these goals, Jackson's time in office did see a variety of other reforms. He supported an act in July 1836 that enabled widows of Revolutionary War soldiers who met certain criteria to receive their husbands' pensions. In 1836, Jackson established the ten-hour day in national shipyards.
Jackson enforced the Tenure of Office Act, signed by President Monroe in 1820, that limited appointed office tenure and authorized the president to remove and appoint political party associates. Jackson believed that a rotation in office was a democratic reform preventing hereditary officeholding and made civil service responsible to the popular will. Jackson declared that rotation of appointments in political office was "a leading principle in the republican creed." Jackson noted, "In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another." Jackson believed that rotating political appointments would prevent the development of a corrupt bureaucracy. The number of federal office holders removed by Jackson were exaggerated by his opponents; Jackson rotated only about 20% of federal office holders during his first term, some for dereliction of duty rather than political purposes. Jackson, nonetheless, used his presidential power to award loyal Democrats by granting them federal office appointments. Jackson's approach incorporated patriotism for country as qualification for holding office. Having appointed a soldier who had lost his leg fighting on the battlefield to postmaster, Jackson stated, "[i]f he lost his leg fighting for his country, that is ... enough for me."
Jackson's theory regarding rotation of office generated what would later be called the spoils system. The political realities of Washington sometimes forced Jackson to make partisan appointments despite his personal reservations. Supervision of bureaus and departments whose operations were outside of Washington (such as the New York Customs House; the Postal Service; the Departments of Navy and War; and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose budget had increased enormously in the previous two decades) proved to be difficult. Remini writes that because "friendship, politics, and geography constituted the President's total criteria for appointments, most of his appointments were predictably substandard."
Petticoat affair
Jackson devoted a considerable amount of his presidential time during his early years in office responding to what came to be known as the "Petticoat affair" or "Eaton affair." Washington gossip circulated among Jackson's cabinet members and their wives, including Calhoun's wife Floride Calhoun, concerning Secretary of War Eaton and his wife Peggy Eaton. Salacious rumors held that Peggy, as a barmaid in her father's tavern, had been sexually promiscuous or had even been a prostitute. Controversy also ensued because Peggy had married soon after her previous husband's death, and it was alleged that she and her husband had engaged in an adulterous affair while her previous husband was still living. Petticoat politics emerged when the wives of cabinet members, led by Mrs. Calhoun, refused to socialize with the Eatons. Allowing a prostitute in the official family was unthinkable—but Jackson refused to believe the rumors, telling his Cabinet that "She is as chaste as a virgin!" Jackson believed that the dishonorable people were the rumormongers, who in essence questioned and dishonored Jackson himself by, in attempting to drive the Eatons out, daring to tell him who he could and could not have in his cabinet. Jackson was also reminded of the attacks that were made against his wife. These memories increased his dedication to defending Peggy Eaton.
Meanwhile, the cabinet wives insisted that the interests and honor of all American women was at stake. They believed a responsible woman should never accord a man sexual favors without the assurance that went with marriage. A woman who broke that code was dishonorable and unacceptable. Historian Daniel Walker Howe notes that this was the feminist spirit that in the next decade shaped the woman's rights movement. Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, a widower, was already forming a coalition against Calhoun. He could now see his main chance to strike hard; he took the side of Jackson and Eaton.
In the spring of 1831, Jackson, at Van Buren's suggestion, demanded the resignations of all the cabinet members except Barry. Van Buren himself resigned to avoid the appearance of bias. In 1832, Jackson nominated Van Buren to be Minister to Great Britain. Calhoun blocked the nomination with a tie-breaking vote against it, claiming the defeated nomination would "...kill him [Van Buren] dead, sir, kill him dead. He will never kick, sir, never kick." Van Buren continued to serve as an important adviser to Jackson and was placed on the ticket for vice president in the 1832 election, making him Jackson's heir-apparent. The Petticoat affair led to the development of the Kitchen Cabinet. The Kitchen Cabinet emerged as an unofficial group of advisors to the president. Its existence was partially rooted in Jackson's difficulties with his official cabinet, even after the purging.
Indian removal policy
Throughout his eight years in office, Jackson made about 70 treaties with American Indian tribes both in the South and in the Northwest. Jackson's presidency marked the beginning of a policy of Indian removal. Jackson himself sometimes participated in the treaty negotiating process, though other times he left the negotiations to his subordinates. The southern tribes included the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole and the Cherokee. The northwest tribes included the Chippewa, Ottawa, and the Potawatomi.
Relations between Indians and whites increasingly grew tense and sometimes violent as a result of territorial conflicts. Previous presidents had at times supported removal or attempts to "civilize" Native people, but generally let the problem play itself out with minimal intervention. But by Jackson's time, a growing popular and political movement developed wanting action on the issue, and out of this came policy decisions to relocate certain Indian populations. Jackson, never known for timidity, became an advocate for this relocation policy in what many historians consider the most controversial aspect of his presidency.
In his First Annual Message to Congress, Jackson advocated land west of the Mississippi River be set aside for Indian tribes. On May 26, 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which Jackson signed into law two days later. The Act authorized the president to negotiate treaties to buy tribal lands in the east in exchange for lands farther west, outside of existing state borders. The act specifically pertained to the Five Civilized Tribes in the South, the conditions being that they could either move west or stay and obey state law, effectively relinquishing their sovereignty.
Jackson, Eaton, and General Coffee negotiated with the Chickasaw, who quickly agreed to move. Jackson put Eaton and Coffee in charge of negotiating with the Choctaw. Lacking Jackson's skills at negotiation, they simply bribed various leaders in order to gain their agreement. The tactics worked, and with the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Choctaw were required to move. The removal of the Choctaw took place in the winter of 1831 and 1832, and was wrought with misery and suffering. The Seminole, despite the signing of the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832, refused to move. In December 1835, this dispute began the Second Seminole War. The war lasted over six years, finally ending in 1842. Members of the Creek Nation had signed the Treaty of Cusseta in 1832, allowing the Creek to either sell or retain their land. Conflict later erupted between the Creek who remained and the white settlers, leading to a second Creek War. A common complaint amongst the tribes was that the men who had signed the treaties did not represent the whole tribe.
The state of Georgia became involved in a dispute with the Cherokee, culminating in the 1832 Supreme Court decision in Worcester v. Georgia. Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for the court, ruled that Georgia could not forbid whites from entering tribal lands, as it had attempted to do with two missionaries supposedly stirring up resistance amongst the tribespeople. Jackson is frequently attributed the following response: "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." The quote, apparently indicating Jackson's dismissive view of the courts, was attributed to Jackson by Horace Greeley, who cited as his source Representative George N. Briggs. Remini argues that Jackson did not say it because, while it "certainly sounds like Jackson...[t]here was nothing for him to enforce." This is because a writ of habeas corpus had never been issued for the missionaries. The Court also did not ask federal marshals to carry out the decision, as had become standard.
A group of Cherokees led by John Ridge negotiated the Treaty of New Echota. Ridge was not a widely recognized leader of the Cherokee, and this document was rejected by some as illegitimate. Another faction, led by John Ross, unsuccessfully petitioned to protest the proposed removal. The Cherokee largely considered themselves independent, and not subject to the laws of the United States or Georgia. The treaty was enforced by Jackson's successor, Van Buren. Subsequently, as many as 4,000 out of 18,000 Cherokee died on the "Trail of Tears" in 1838.
More than 45,000 people were relocated, primarily to Indian territory in present-day Oklahoma during Jackson's administration, though some Cherokee people walked back afterwards, and others evaded removal by migrating into the Great Smoky Mountains. Another conflict during the Jackson administration was the Black Hawk War in 1832 after a group of Indians crossed into U.S. territory.
Nullification crisis
In 1828, Congress had approved the "Tariff of Abominations", which set the tariff at a historically high rate. Southern planters, who sold their cotton on the world market, strongly opposed this tariff, which they saw as favoring northern interests. The South now had to pay more for goods it did not produce locally; and other countries would have more difficulty affording southern cotton. The issue came to a head during Jackson's presidency, resulting in the Nullification Crisis, in which South Carolina threatened disunion.
The South Carolina Exposition and Protest of 1828, secretly written by Calhoun, asserted that their state had the right to "nullify"—declare void—the tariff legislation of 1828. Although Jackson sympathized with the South in the tariff debate, he also vigorously supported a strong union, with effective powers for the central government. Jackson attempted to face down Calhoun over the issue, which developed into a bitter rivalry between the two men. One incident came at the April 13, 1830, Jefferson Day dinner, involving after-dinner toasts. Robert Hayne began by toasting to "The Union of the States, and the Sovereignty of the States." Jackson then rose, and in a booming voice added "Our federal Union: It must be preserved!" – a clear challenge to Calhoun. Calhoun clarified his position by responding "The Union: Next to our Liberty, the most dear!"
In May 1830, Jackson discovered that Calhoun had asked President Monroe to censure Jackson for his invasion of Spanish Florida in 1818 while Calhoun was serving as Secretary of War. Calhoun's and Jackson's relationship deteriorated further. By February 1831, the break between Calhoun and Jackson was final. Responding to inaccurate press reports about the feud, Calhoun had published letters between him and Jackson detailing the conflict in the United States Telegraph. Jackson and Calhoun began an angry correspondence which lasted until Jackson stopped it in July. The Telegraph, edited by Duff Green, initially supported Jackson. After it sided with Calhoun on nullification, Jackson needed a new organ for the administration. He enlisted the help of longtime supporter Francis Preston Blair, who in November 1830 established a newspaper known as the Washington Globe, which from then on served as the primary mouthpiece of the Democratic Party.
Jackson supported a revision to tariff rates known as the Tariff of 1832. It was designed to placate the nullifiers by lowering tariff rates. Written by Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, the bill lowered duties from 45% to 27%. In May, Representative John Quincy Adams introduced a slightly revised version of the bill, which Jackson accepted. It passed Congress on July 9 and was signed by the president on July 14. The bill failed to satisfy extremists on either side. On November 24, the South Carolina legislature nullified both the Tariff of 1832 and the Tariff of 1828. In response, Jackson sent U.S. Navy warships to Charleston harbor, and threatened to hang any man who worked to support nullification or secession. On December 28, 1832, Calhoun resigned as vice president, after having been elected to the U.S. Senate. This was part of a strategy whereby Calhoun, with less than three months remaining on his vice presidential term, would replace Robert Y. Hayne in the Senate, and he would then become governor of South Carolina. Hayne had often struggled to defend nullification on the floor of the Senate, especially against fierce criticism from Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts.
Also that December, Jackson issued a resounding proclamation against the "nullifiers," stating that he considered "the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed." South Carolina, the president declared, stood on "the brink of insurrection and treason," and he appealed to the people of the state to reassert their allegiance to that Union for which their ancestors had fought. Jackson also denied the right of secession: "The Constitution ... forms a government not a league ... To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States are not a nation." Jackson tended to personalize the controversy, frequently characterizing nullification as a conspiracy between disappointed and bitter men whose ambitions had been thwarted.
Jackson asked Congress to pass a "Force Bill" explicitly authorizing the use of military force to enforce the tariff. It was introduced by Senator Felix Grundy of Tennessee, and was quickly attacked by Calhoun as "military despotism." At the same time, Calhoun and Clay began to work on a new compromise tariff. A bill sponsored by the administration had been introduced by Representative Gulian C. Verplanck of New York, but it lowered rates more sharply than Clay and other protectionists desired. Clay managed to get Calhoun to agree to a bill with higher rates in exchange for Clay's opposition to Jackson's military threats and, perhaps, with the hope that he could win some Southern votes in his next bid for the presidency. The Compromise Tariff passed on March 1, 1833. The Force Bill passed the same day. Calhoun, Clay, and several others marched out of the chamber in opposition, the only dissenting vote coming from John Tyler of Virginia. The new tariff was opposed by Webster, who argued that it essentially surrendered to South Carolina's demands. Jackson, despite his anger over the scrapping of the Verplanck bill and the new alliance between Clay and Calhoun, saw it as an efficient way to end the crisis. He signed both bills on March 2, starting with the Force Bill. The South Carolina Convention then met and rescinded its nullification ordinance, but in a final show of defiance, nullified the Force Bill. On May 1, Jackson wrote, "the tariff was only the pretext, and disunion and southern confederacy the real object. The next pretext will be the negro, or slavery question."
Foreign affairs
Addressing the subject of foreign affairs in his First Annual Address to Congress, Jackson declared it to be his "settled purpose to ask nothing that is not clearly right and to submit to nothing that is wrong."
When Jackson took office, spoliation claims, or compensation demands for the capture of American ships and sailors, dating from the Napoleonic era, caused strained relations between the U.S. and French governments. The French Navy had captured and sent American ships to Spanish ports while holding their crews captive forcing them to labor without any charges or judicial rules. According to Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, relations between the U.S. and France were "hopeless." Jackson's Minister to France, William C. Rives, through diplomacy was able to convince the French government to sign a reparations treaty on July 4, 1831, that would award the U.S. ₣ 25,000,000 ($5,000,000) in damages. The French government became delinquent in payment due to internal financial and political difficulties. The French king Louis Philippe I and his ministers blamed the French Chamber of Deputies. By 1834, the non-payment of reparations by the French government drew Jackson's ire and he became impatient. In his December 1834 State of the Union address, Jackson sternly reprimanded the French government for non-payment, stating the federal government was "wholly disappointed" by the French, and demanded Congress authorize trade reprisals against France. Feeling insulted by Jackson's words, the French people began pressuring their government not to pay the indemnity until Jackson had apologized for his remarks. In his December 1835 State of the Union Address, Jackson refused to apologize, stating he had a good opinion of the French people and his intentions were peaceful. Jackson described in lengthy and minute detail the history of events surrounding the treaty and his belief that the French government was purposely stalling payment. The French accepted Jackson's statements as sincere and in February 1836, reparations were paid.
In addition to France, the Jackson administration successfully settled spoliation claims with Denmark, Portugal, and Spain. Jackson's state department was active and successful at making trade agreements with Russia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Siam. Under the treaty with the United Kingdom, American trade was reopened in the West Indies. The trade agreement with Siam was America's first treaty between the United States and an Asiatic country. As a result, American exports increased 75% while imports increased 250%.
Jackson's attempt to purchase Texas from Mexico for $5,000,000 failed. The chargé d'affaires in Mexico, Colonel Anthony Butler, suggested that the U.S. take Texas over militarily, but Jackson refused. Butler was later replaced toward the end of Jackson's presidency. In 1835, the Texas Revolution began when pro-slavery American settlers in Texas fought the Mexican government for Texan independence. By May 1836, they had routed the Mexican military, establishing an independent Republic of Texas. The new Texas government legalized slavery and demanded recognition from President Jackson and annexation into the United States. Jackson was hesitant in recognizing Texas, unconvinced that the new republic could maintain independence from Mexico, and not wanting to make Texas an anti-slavery issue during the 1836 election. The strategy worked; the Democratic Party and national loyalties were held intact, and Van Buren was elected president. Jackson formally recognized the Republic of Texas, nominating Alcée Louis la Branche as chargé d'affaires on the last full day of his presidency, March 3, 1837.
Jackson failed in his efforts to open trade with China and Japan and was unsuccessful at thwarting the United Kingdom's presence and power in South America.
Bank veto and election of 1832
The 1832 presidential election demonstrated the rapid development and organization of political parties during this time period. The Democratic Party's first national convention, held in Baltimore, nominated Jackson's choice for vice president, Van Buren. The National Republican Party, who had held their first convention in Baltimore earlier in December 1831, nominated Henry Clay, now a senator from Kentucky, and John Sergeant of Pennsylvania. The Anti-Masonic Party emerged by capitalizing on opposition to Freemasonry, which existed primarily in New England, after the disappearance and possible murder of William Morgan. The party, which had earlier held its convention also in Baltimore in September 1831, nominated William Wirt of Maryland and Amos Ellmaker of Pennsylvania. Clay was, like Jackson, a Mason, and so some anti-Jacksonians who would have supported the National Republican Party supported Wirt instead.
In 1816, the Second Bank of the United States was chartered by President James Madison to restore the United States economy devastated by the War of 1812. Monroe had appointed Nicholas Biddle as the Bank's executive. Jackson believed that the Bank was a fundamentally corrupt monopoly. Its stock was mostly held by foreigners, he insisted, and it exerted an unfair amount of control over the political system. Jackson used the issue to promote his democratic values, believing the Bank was being run exclusively for the wealthy. Jackson stated the Bank made "the rich richer and the potent more powerful." He accused it of making loans with the intent of influencing elections. In his address to Congress in 1830, Jackson called for a substitute for the Bank that would have no private stockholders and no ability to lend or purchase land. Its only power would be to issue bills of exchange. The address touched off fiery debate in the Senate. Thomas Hart Benton, now a strong supporter of the president despite the brawl years earlier, gave a speech excoriating the Bank and calling for debate on its recharter. Webster led a motion to narrowly defeat the resolution. Shortly afterward, the Globe announced that Jackson would stand for reelection.
Despite his misgivings about the Bank, Jackson supported a plan proposed in late 1831 by his moderately pro-Bank Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, who was secretly working with Biddle, to recharter a reformed version of the Bank in a way that would free up funds which would in turn be used to strengthen the military or pay off the nation's debt. This would be done, in part, through the sale of government stock in the Bank. Over the objections of Attorney General Roger B. Taney, an irreconcilable opponent of the Bank, he allowed McLane to publish a Treasury Report which essentially recommended rechartering the Bank.
Clay hoped to make the Bank an issue in the election, so as to accuse Jackson of going beyond his powers if he vetoed a recharter bill. He and Webster urged Biddle to immediately apply for recharter rather than wait to reach a compromise with the administration. Biddle received advice to the contrary from moderate Democrats such as McLane and William Lewis, who argued that Biddle should wait because Jackson would likely veto the recharter bill. On January 6, 1832, Biddle submitted to Congress a renewal of the Bank's charter without any of the proposed reforms. The submission came four years before the original 20-year charter was to end. Biddle's recharter bill passed the Senate on June 11 and the House on July 3, 1832. Jackson determined to veto it. Many moderate Democrats, including McLane, were appalled by the perceived arrogance of the bill and supported his decision. When Van Buren met Jackson on July 4, Jackson declared, "The Bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill me. But I will kill it." Jackson vetoed the bill on July 10. The veto message was crafted primarily by Taney, Kendall, and Jackson's nephew and advisor Andrew Jackson Donelson. It attacked the Bank as an agent of inequality that supported only the wealthy. The veto was considered "one of the strongest and most controversial" presidential statements and "a brilliant political manifesto." The National Republican Party immediately made Jackson's veto of the Bank a political issue. Jackson's political opponents castigated the veto as "the very slang of the leveller and demagogue," claiming Jackson was using class warfare to gain support from the common man.
At Biddle's direction, the Bank poured thousands of dollars into a campaign to defeat Jackson, seemingly confirming Jackson's view that it interfered in the political process. Jackson successfully portrayed his veto as a defense of the common man against governmental tyranny. Clay proved to be no match for Jackson's ability to resonate with the people and the Democratic Party's strong political networks. Democratic newspapers, parades, barbecues, and rallies increased Jackson's popularity. Jackson himself made numerous public appearances on his return trip from Tennessee to Washington, D.C. He won the election by a landslide, receiving 54 percent of the popular vote and 219 electoral votes. Clay received 37 percent of the popular vote and 49 electoral votes. Wirt received only eight percent of the popular vote and seven electoral votes while the Anti-Masonic Party eventually declined. Jackson believed the solid victory was a popular mandate for his veto of the Bank's recharter and his continued warfare on the Bank's control over the national economy.
Removal of deposits and censure
In 1833, Jackson attempted to begin removing federal deposits from the bank, whose money-lending functions were taken over by the legions of local and state banks that materialized across America, thus drastically increasing credit and speculation. Jackson's moves were greatly controversial. He removed McLane from the Treasury Department, having him serve instead as Secretary of State, replacing Edward Livingston. He replaced McLane with William J. Duane. In September, he fired Duane for refusing to remove the deposits. Signalling his intent to continue battling the Bank, he replaced Duane with Taney. Under Taney, the deposits began to be removed. They were placed in a variety of state banks which were friendly to the administration's policies, known to critics as pet banks. Biddle responded by stockpiling the Bank's reserves and contracting credit, thus causing interest rates to rise and bringing about a financial panic. The moves were intended to force Jackson into a compromise. "Nothing but the evidence of suffering abroad will produce any effect in Congress," he wrote. At first, Biddle's strategy was successful, putting enormous pressure on Jackson. But Jackson handled the situation well. When people came to him complaining, he referred them to Biddle, saying that he was the man who had "all the money." Jackson's approach worked. Biddle's strategy backfired, increasing anti-Bank sentiment.
In 1834, those who disagreed with Jackson's expansion of executive power united and formed the Whig Party, calling Jackson "King Andrew I," and named their party after the English Whigs who opposed seventeenth century British monarchy. A movement emerged among Whigs in the Senate to censure Jackson. The censure was a political maneuver spearheaded by Clay, which served only to perpetuate the animosity between him and Jackson. Jackson called Clay "reckless and as full of fury as a drunken man in a brothel." On March 28, the Senate voted to censure Jackson 26–20. It also rejected Taney as Treasury Secretary. The House however, led by Ways and Means Committee chairman James K. Polk, declared on April 4 that the Bank "ought not to be rechartered" and that the depositions "ought not to be restored." It voted to continue allowing pet banks to be places of deposit and voted even more overwhelmingly to investigate whether the Bank had deliberately instigated the panic. Jackson called the passage of these resolutions a "glorious triumph." It essentially sealed the Bank's demise. The Democrats later suffered a temporary setback. Polk ran for Speaker of the House to replace Andrew Stevenson. After Southerners discovered his connection to Van Buren, he was defeated by fellow-Tennessean John Bell, a Democrat-turned-Whig who opposed Jackson's removal policy.
Payment of US national debt
The national economy following the withdrawal of the remaining funds from the Bank was booming and the federal government through duty revenues and sale of public lands was able to pay all bills. On January 1, 1835, Jackson paid off the entire national debt, the only time in U.S. history that has been accomplished. The objective had been reached in part through Jackson's reforms aimed at eliminating the misuse of funds and through his vetoes of legislation which he deemed extravagant. In December 1835, Polk defeated Bell in a rematch and was elected Speaker. Finally, on January 16, 1837, when the Jacksonians had a majority in the Senate, the censure was expunged after years of effort by Jackson supporters. The expunction movement was led, ironically, by Benton.
In 1836, in response to increased land speculation, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, an executive order that required buyers of government lands to pay in "specie" (gold or silver coins). The result was high demand for specie, which many banks could not meet in exchange for their notes, contributing to the Panic of 1837. The White House Van Buren biography notes, "Basically the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of 'boom and bust,' which was following its regular pattern, but Jackson's financial measures contributed to the crash. His destruction of the Second Bank of the United States had removed restrictions upon the inflationary practices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easy bank credit, had swept the West. To end this speculation, Jackson in 1836 had issued a Specie Circular..."
Attack and assassination attempt
The first recorded physical attack on a U.S. president was directed at Jackson. He had ordered the dismissal of Robert B. Randolph from the navy for embezzlement. On May 6, 1833, Jackson sailed on USS Cygnet to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he was to lay the cornerstone on a monument near the grave of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother. During a stopover near Alexandria, Randolph appeared and struck the president. He fled the scene chased by several members of Jackson's party, including the writer Washington Irving. Jackson declined to press charges.
On January 30, 1835, what is believed to be the first attempt to kill a sitting president of the United States occurred just outside the United States Capitol. When Jackson was leaving through the East Portico after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter from England, aimed a pistol at Jackson, which misfired. Lawrence then pulled out a second pistol, which also misfired. Historians believe the humid weather contributed to the double misfiring. Jackson, infuriated, attacked Lawrence with his cane, until others present, including Davy Crockett, fearing that the president would beat Lawrence to a pulp, intervened to restrain and disarm Lawrence.
Lawrence offered a variety of explanations for the attempted shooting. He blamed Jackson for the loss of his job. He claimed that with the president dead, "money would be more plenty," (a reference to Jackson's struggle with the Bank of the United States) and that he "could not rise until the President fell." Finally, Lawrence told his interrogators that he was a deposed English king—specifically, Richard III, dead since 1485—and that Jackson was his clerk. He was deemed insane and was institutionalized at the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C.
Afterwards, the pistols were tested and retested. Each time they performed perfectly. Many believed that Jackson had been protected by the same Providence that also protected their young nation. The incident became a part of Jacksonian mythos. Jackson initially suspected that a number of his political enemies might have orchestrated the attempt on his life. His suspicions were never proven.
Reaction to anti-slavery tracts
During the summer of 1835, Northern abolitionists began sending anti-slavery tracts through the postal system into the South. Pro-slavery Southerners demanded that the postal service ban distribution of the materials, which were deemed "incendiary," and some began to riot. Jackson wanted sectional peace, and desired to placate Southerners ahead of the 1836 election. He fiercely disliked the abolitionists, whom he believed were, by instituting sectional jealousies, attempting to destroy the Union. Jackson also did not want to condone open insurrection. He supported the solution of Postmaster General Amos Kendall, which gave Southern postmasters discretionary powers to either send or detain the anti-slavery tracts. That December, Jackson called on Congress to prohibit the circulation through the South of "incendiary publications intended to instigate the slaves to insurrection."
U.S. exploring expedition
Jackson initially opposed any federal exploratory scientific expeditions during his first term in office. The last scientific federally funded expeditions took place from 1817 to 1823, led by Stephen H. Harriman west of the Mississippi. Jackson's predecessor, President Adams, attempted to launch a scientific oceanic exploration in 1828, but Congress was unwilling to fund the effort. When Jackson assumed office in 1829 he pocketed Adams' expedition plans. Eventually, wanting to establish his presidential legacy, similar to Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Jackson sponsored scientific exploration during his second term. On May 18, 1836, Jackson signed a law creating and funding the oceanic United States Exploring Expedition. Jackson put Secretary of the Navy Mahlon Dickerson in charge, to assemble suitable ships, officers, and scientific staff for the expedition; with a planned launch before Jackson's term of office expired. Dickerson proved unfit for the task, preparations stalled and the expedition was not launched until 1838, during the presidency of Van Buren. One brig ship, , later used in the expedition; having been commissioned by Secretary Dickerson in May 1836, circumnavigated the world and explored and mapped the Southern Ocean, confirming the existence of the continent of Antarctica.
Panic of 1837
In spite of economic success following Jackson's vetoes and war against the Bank, reckless speculation in land and railroads eventually caused the Panic of 1837. Contributing factors included Jackson's veto of the Second National Bank renewal charter in 1832 and subsequent transfer of federal monies to state banks in 1833 that caused western banks to relax their lending standards. Two other Jacksonian acts in 1836 contributed to the Panic of 1837: the Specie Circular, which mandated western lands only be purchased by money backed by gold and silver, and the Deposit and Distribution Act, which transferred federal monies from eastern to western state banks and in turn led to a speculation frenzy by banks. Jackson's Specie Circular, albeit designed to reduce speculation and stabilize the economy, left many investors unable to afford to pay loans in gold and silver. The same year there was a downturn in Great Britain's economy that stopped investment in the United States. As a result, the U.S. economy went into a depression, banks became insolvent, the national debt (previously paid off) increased, business failures rose, cotton prices dropped, and unemployment dramatically increased. The depression that followed lasted for four years until 1841, when the economy began to rebound.
Administration and cabinet
Judicial appointments
Jackson appointed six justices to the Supreme Court. Most were undistinguished. His first appointee, John McLean, had been nominated in Barry's place after Barry had agreed to become postmaster general. McLean "turned Whig and forever schemed to win" the presidency. His next two appointees–Henry Baldwin and James Moore Wayne–disagreed with Jackson on some points but were poorly regarded even by Jackson's enemies. In reward for his services, Jackson nominated Taney to the Court to fill a vacancy in January 1835, but the nomination failed to win Senate approval. Chief Justice Marshall died in 1835, leaving two vacancies on the court. Jackson nominated Taney for Chief Justice and Philip P. Barbour for Associate Justice. Both were confirmed by the new Senate. Taney served as Chief Justice until 1864, presiding over a court that upheld many of the precedents set by the Marshall Court. He was regarded with respect over the course of his career on the bench, but his opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford largely overshadows his other accomplishments. On the last full day of his presidency, Jackson nominated John Catron, who was confirmed.
States admitted to the Union
Two new states were admitted into the Union during Jackson's presidency: Arkansas (June 15, 1836) and Michigan (January 26, 1837). Both states increased Democratic power in Congress and helped Van Buren win the presidency in 1836. This was in keeping with the tradition that new states would support the party which had done the most to admit them.
Later life and death (1837–1845)
In 1837, after serving two terms as president, Jackson was replaced by his chosen successor Martin Van Buren and retired to the Hermitage. He immediately began putting it in order as it had been poorly managed in his absence by his adopted son, Andrew Jackson Jr. Although he suffered ill health, Jackson remained highly influential in both national and state politics. He was a firm advocate of the federal union of the states and rejected any talk of secession, insisting, "I will die with the Union." Blamed for causing the Panic of 1837, he was unpopular in his early retirement. Jackson continued to denounce the "perfidy and treachery" of banks and urged his successor, Van Buren, to repudiate the Specie Circular as president.
As a solution to the panic, he supported an Independent Treasury system, which was designed to hold the money balances of the government in the form of gold or silver and would be restricted from printing paper money so as to prevent further inflation. A coalition of conservative Democrats and Whigs opposed the bill, and it was not passed until 1840. During the delay, no effective remedy had been implemented for the depression. Van Buren grew deeply unpopular. A unified Whig Party nominated popular war hero William Henry Harrison and former Jacksonian John Tyler in the 1840 presidential election. The Whigs' campaign style in many ways mimicked that of the Democrats when Jackson ran. They depicted Van Buren as an aristocrat who did not care for the concerns of ordinary Americans, while glorifying Harrison's military record and portraying him as a man of the people. Jackson campaigned heavily for Van Buren in Tennessee. He favored the nomination of Polk for vice president at the 1840 Democratic National Convention over controversial incumbent Richard Mentor Johnson. No nominee was chosen, and the party chose to leave the decision up to individual state electors.
Harrison won the election, and the Whigs captured majorities in both houses of Congress. "The democracy of the United States has been shamefully beaten", Jackson wrote to Van Buren, "but I trust, not conquered." Harrison died only a month into his term, and was replaced by Tyler. Jackson was encouraged because Tyler had a strong independent streak and was not bound by party lines. Tyler quickly incurred the wrath of the Whigs in 1841 when he vetoed two Whig-sponsored bills to establish a new national bank, bringing satisfaction to Jackson and other Democrats. After the second veto, Tyler's entire cabinet, with the exception of Webster, resigned.
Jackson strongly favored the annexation of Texas, a feat he had been unable to accomplish during his own presidency. While Jackson still feared that annexation would stir up anti-slavery sentiment, his belief that the British would use Texas as a base to threaten the United States overrode his other concerns. He also insisted that Texas was part of the Louisiana Purchase and therefore rightfully belonged to the United States. At the request of Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, acting on behalf of the Tyler administration, which also supported annexation, Jackson wrote several letters to Texas president Sam Houston, urging him to wait for the Senate to approve annexation and explaining how much being a part of the United States would benefit Texas. Initially prior to the 1844 election, Jackson again supported Van Buren for president and Polk for vice president. A treaty of annexation was signed by Tyler on April 12, 1844, and submitted to the Senate. When a letter from Secretary of State Calhoun to British Ambassador Richard Pakenham linking annexation to slavery was made public, anti-annexation sentiment exploded in the North and the bill failed to be ratified. Van Buren decided to write the "Hamlet letter," opposing annexation. This effectively extinguished any support that Van Buren might previously have enjoyed in the South. The Whig nominee, Henry Clay, also opposed annexation, and Jackson recognized the need for the Democrats to nominate a candidate who supported it and could therefore gain the support of the South. If the plan failed, Jackson warned, Texas would not join the Union and would potentially fall victim to a Mexican invasion supported by the British.
Jackson met with Polk, Robert Armstrong, and Andrew Jackson Donelson in his study. He then pointed directly at a startled Polk, telling him that, as a man from the southwest and a supporter of annexation, he would be the perfect candidate. Polk called the scheme "utterly abortive", but agreed to go along with it. At the 1844 Democratic National Convention, Polk emerged as the party's nominee after Van Buren failed to win the required two-thirds majority of delegates. George M. Dallas was selected for vice president. Jackson convinced Tyler to drop his plans of running for re-election as an independent by promising, as Tyler requested, to welcome the President and his allies back into the Democratic Party and by instructing Blair to stop criticizing the President. Polk won the election, defeating Clay. A bill of annexation was passed by Congress in February and signed by Tyler on March 1.
Jackson's age and illness eventually overcame him. On June 8, 1845, he was surrounded by family and friends at his deathbed. Jackson, startled by their sobbing, said, "What is the matter with my dear children? Have I alarmed you? Oh, do not cry. Be good children and we will all meet in Heaven." He died immediately after at the age of 78 of chronic dropsy and heart failure. According to a newspaper account from the Boon Lick Times, "[he] fainted whilst being removed from his chair to the bed ... but he subsequently revived ... Gen. Jackson died at the Hermitage at 6 p.m. on Sunday the 8th instant. ... When the messenger finally came, the old soldier, patriot and Christian was looking out for his approach. He is gone, but his memory lives, and will continue to live." In his will, Jackson left his entire estate to Andrew Jackson Jr. except for specifically enumerated items that were left to various friends and family members.
Personal life
Family
Jackson had three adopted sons: Theodore, an Indian about whom little is known, Andrew Jackson Jr., the son of Rachel's brother Severn Donelson, and Lyncoya, a Creek orphan adopted by Jackson after the Battle of Tallushatchee. Lyncoya died of tuberculosis on July 1, 1828, at the age of sixteen.
The Jacksons also acted as guardians for eight other children. John Samuel Donelson, Daniel Smith Donelson, and Andrew Jackson Donelson were the sons of Rachel's brother Samuel Donelson, who died in 1804. Andrew Jackson Hutchings was Rachel's orphaned grand nephew. Caroline Butler, Eliza Butler, Edward Butler, and Anthony Butler were the orphaned children of Edward Butler, a family friend. They came to live with the Jacksons after the death of their father.
The widower Jackson invited Rachel's niece Emily Donelson to serve as hostess at the White House. Emily was married to Andrew Jackson Donelson, who acted as Jackson's private secretary and in 1856 ran for vice president on the American Party ticket. The relationship between the president and Emily became strained during the Petticoat affair, and the two became estranged for over a year. They eventually reconciled and she resumed her duties as White House hostess. Sarah Yorke Jackson, the wife of Andrew Jackson Jr., became co-hostess of the White House in 1834. It was the only time in history when two women simultaneously acted as unofficial First Lady. Sarah took over all hostess duties after Emily died from tuberculosis in 1836. Jackson used Rip Raps as a retreat.
Temperament
Jackson's quick temper was notorious. Biographer H. W. Brands notes that his opponents were terrified of his temper: "Observers likened him to a volcano, and only the most intrepid or recklessly curious cared to see it erupt. ... His close associates all had stories of his blood-curdling oaths, his summoning of the Almighty to loose His wrath upon some miscreant, typically followed by his own vow to hang the villain or blow him to perdition. Given his record—in duels, brawls, mutiny trials, and summary hearings—listeners had to take his vows seriously."
On the last day of his presidency, Jackson admitted that he had but two regrets, that he "had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun." On his deathbed, he was once again quoted as regretting that he had not hanged Calhoun for treason. "My country would have sustained me in the act, and his fate would have been a warning to traitors in all time to come," he said. Remini expresses the opinion that Jackson was typically in control of his temper, and that he used his anger, along with his fearsome reputation, as a tool to get what he wanted.
Physical appearance
Jackson was a lean figure, standing at tall, and weighing between on average. Jackson also had an unruly shock of red hair, which had completely grayed by the time he became president at age 61. He had penetrating deep blue eyes. Jackson was one of the more sickly presidents, suffering from chronic headaches, abdominal pains, and a hacking cough. Much of his trouble was caused by a musket ball in his lung that was never removed, that often brought up blood and sometimes made his whole body shake.
Religious faith
In 1838, Jackson became an official member of the First Presbyterian Church in Nashville. Both his mother and his wife had been devout Presbyterians all their lives, but Jackson himself had postponed officially entering the church in order to avoid accusations that he had joined only for political reasons.
Freemasonry
Jackson was a Freemason, initiated at Harmony Lodge No. 1 in Tennessee. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee in 1822 and 1823. During the 1832 presidential election, Jackson faced opposition from the Anti-Masonic Party. He was the only U.S. president to have served as Grand Master of a state's Grand Lodge until Harry S. Truman in 1945. His Masonic apron is on display in the Tennessee State Museum. An obelisk and bronze Masonic plaque decorate his tomb at the Hermitage.
Legacy
Historical reputation
Jackson remains one of the most studied and controversial figures in American history. Historian Charles Grier Sellers says, "Andrew Jackson's masterful personality was enough by itself to make him one of the most controversial figures ever to stride across the American stage." There has never been universal agreement on Jackson's legacy, for "his opponents have ever been his most bitter enemies, and his friends almost his worshippers." He was always a fierce partisan, with many friends and many enemies. He has been lauded as the champion of the common man, while criticized for his treatment of Indians and for other matters. James Parton was the first man after Jackson's death to write a full biography of him. Trying to sum up the contradictions in his subject, he wrote:
Jackson was criticized by his contemporary Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1835 book Democracy in America for flattering the dominant ideas of his time, including the mistrust over the federal power, for sometimes enforcing his view by force and disrespect towards the institutions and the law:
In the 20th century, Jackson was the subject of multiple highly favorable biographies. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.'s Age of Jackson (1945) depicts Jackson as a man of the people battling inequality and upper-class tyranny. From the 1970s to the 1980s, Robert Remini published a three-volume biography of Jackson followed by an abridged one-volume study. Remini paints a generally favorable portrait of Jackson. He contends that Jacksonian democracy "stretches the concept of democracy about as far as it can go and still remain workable. ... As such it has inspired much of the dynamic and dramatic events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in American history—Populism, Progressivism, the New and Fair Deals, and the programs of the New Frontier and Great Society." To Remini, Jackson serves as "the embodiment of the new American ... This new man was no longer British. He no longer wore the queue and silk pants. He wore trousers, and he had stopped speaking with a British accent." Other 20th-century writers such as Richard Hofstadter and Bray Hammond depict Jackson as an advocate of the sort of laissez-faire capitalism that benefits the rich and oppresses the poor.
Jackson's initiatives to deal with the conflicts between Native American people and European-American settlers has been a source of controversy. Starting around 1970, Jackson came under attack from some historians on this issue. Howard Zinn called him "the most aggressive enemy of the Indians in early American history" and "exterminator of Indians." Conversely, in 1969, Francis Paul Prucha argued that Jackson's removal of the Five Civilized Tribes from the extremely hostile white environment in the Old South to Oklahoma probably saved their very existence. Similarly, Remini claims that, if not for Jackson's policies, the Southeastern tribes would have been totally wiped out, similar to people such as the Yamasee, Mahican, and Narragansett.
Jackson has long been honored, along with Thomas Jefferson, in the Jefferson–Jackson Day fundraising dinners held by state Democratic Party organizations to honor the two men whom the party regards as its founders. However, because both Jefferson and Jackson were slave owners, as well as because of Jackson's Indian removal policies, many state party organizations have renamed the dinners.
Brands argues that Jackson's reputation suffered since the 1960s as his actions towards Indians and African Americans received new attention. After the civil rights movement, Brand writes, "his unrepentant ownership of slaves marked him as one to be censured rather than praised." Further, "By the turn of the present [21st] century, it was scarcely an exaggeration to say that the one thing American schoolchildren learned about Jackson was that he was the author of the Trail of Tears." Brands notes that he was often hailed during his lifetime as the "second George Washington" because, while Washington had fought for independence, Jackson confirmed it at New Orleans and made the United States a great power. Over time, while the Revolution has maintained a strong presence in the public conscience, memory of the War of 1812, including the Battle of New Orleans, has sharply declined. Brands writes that this is because once America had become a military power, "it was easy to think that America had been destined for this role from the beginning."
Still, Jackson's performance in office compared to other presidents has generally been ranked in the top half in public opinion polling. His position in C-SPAN's poll dropped from 13th in 2009, to 18th in 2017, and to 22nd in 2021.
Portrayal on banknotes and stamps
Jackson has appeared on U.S. banknotes as far back as 1869, and extending into the 21st century. His image has appeared on the $5, $10, $20, and $10,000 note. Most recently, his image has appeared on the U.S. $20 Federal reserve note beginning in 1928. In 2016, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced his goal that by 2020 an image of Harriet Tubman would replace Jackson's depiction on the front side of the $20 banknote, and that an image of Jackson would be placed on the reverse side, though the final decision will be made by his successors.
Jackson has appeared on several postage stamps. He first appeared on an 1863 two-cent stamp, which is commonly referred to by collectors as the Black Jack due to the large portraiture of Jackson on its face printed in pitch black. During the American Civil War, the Confederate government issued two Confederate postage stamps bearing Jackson's portrait, one a 2-cent red stamp and the other a 2-cent green stamp, both issued in 1863.
Memorials
Numerous counties and cities are named after him, including the cities of Jacksonville in Florida and North Carolina; the cities of Jackson in Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee; the city of Andrew in Iowa; Jackson County in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Oregon; and Jackson Parish in Louisiana.
Memorials to Jackson include a set of four identical equestrian statues by the sculptor Clark Mills: in Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.; in Jackson Square, New Orleans; in Nashville on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol; and in Jacksonville, Florida. Other equestrian statues of Jackson have been erected elsewhere, as in the State Capitol grounds in Raleigh, North Carolina. That statue controversially identifies him as one of the "presidents North Carolina gave the nation," and he is featured alongside James Polk and Andrew Johnson, both U.S. presidents born in North Carolina. There is a bust of Andrew Jackson in Plaza Ferdinand VII in Pensacola, Florida, where he became the first governor of the Florida Territory in 1821. There is also a 1928 bronze sculpture of Andrew Jackson by Belle Kinney Scholz and Leopold Scholz in the U.S. Capitol Building as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Popular culture depictions
Jackson and his wife Rachel were the main subjects of a 1951 historical novel by Irving Stone, The President's Lady, which told the story of their lives up until Rachel's death. The novel was the basis for the 1953 film of the same name starring Charlton Heston as Jackson and Susan Hayward as Rachel.
Jackson has been a supporting character in a number of historical films and television productions. Lionel Barrymore played Jackson in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), a fictionalized biography of Peggy Eaton starring Joan Crawford. The Buccaneer (1938), depicting the Battle of New Orleans, included Hugh Sothern as Jackson, and was remade in 1958 with Heston again playing Jackson.
Brian Donlevy played Jackson in the Paramount Pictures 1942 film The Remarkable Andrew. Basil Ruysdael played Jackson in Walt Disney's 1955 Davy Crockett TV miniseries. Wesley Addy appeared as Jackson in some episodes of the 1976 PBS miniseries The Adams Chronicles.
Jackson is the protagonist of the comedic historic rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (2008) with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and book by Alex Timbers.
In 1959, Jimmy Driftwood wrote the song "The Battle of New Orleans," which mentions Jackson. Johnny Horton recorded it that same year.
See also
List of presidents of the United States on currency
Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps
Notes
References
Bibliography
Biographies
; 344 pages; coverage to age 21
Abridgment of Remini's 3-volume biography.
Specialized studies
Historiography
Ward, John William 1955. Andrew Jackson, Symbol for an Age. New York: Oxford University Press.
Primary sources
7 volumes total.
(9 vols. 1980 to date)
Reprints his major messages and reports.
Library of Congress. "Andrew Jackson Papers", a digital archive that provides direct access to the manuscript images of many of the Jackson documents. online
Further reading
External links
Andrew Jackson: A Resource Guide at the Library of Congress
The Papers of Andrew Jackson at the Avalon Project
The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson
"Life Portrait of Andrew Jackson", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, April 26, 1999
"The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson and the Growth of Party Politics", lesson plan at the National Endowment for the Humanities
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Tuberculosis deaths in Tennessee | 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"
] |
[
"Andrew Jackson",
"Battle of New Orleans",
"When did the battle start?",
"December 1, 1814,",
"When did the battle end?",
"February 27, 1815,",
"What was the battle about?",
"he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants.",
"Did they win the battle",
"After the battle, the British retreated from the area,",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas."
] | C_d066211bb235410c9c7b763df9a0ddfd_1 | What was his role in the war? | 6 | What was Andrew Jackson's role in the war? | Andrew Jackson | Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from present day Northern Ireland two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, in current-day Northern Ireland, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal family line originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England. When they immigrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. They brought two children from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). Jackson's father died in a logging accident while clearing land in February 1767 at the age of 29, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests. Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824 Jackson wrote a letter saying that he was born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian country. Most of the transactions involved grants made under the 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819. After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. Jackson soon became associated with the more radical, pro-French and anti-British wing. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. Senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests. After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of conflict with Europeans or Indians, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane, and continued to serve as governor until 1809. After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson only had about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained. The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." CANNOTANSWER | After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, | Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. An expansionist president, Jackson sought to advance the rights of the "common man" against a "corrupt aristocracy" and to preserve the Union.
Born in the colonial Carolinas in the decade before the American Revolutionary War, Jackson became a frontier lawyer and married Rachel Donelson Robards. He served briefly in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, representing Tennessee. After resigning, he served as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1798 until 1804. Jackson purchased a property later known as The Hermitage, and became a wealthy, slaveowning planter. In 1801, he was appointed colonel of the Tennessee militia and was elected its commander the following year. He led troops during the Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The subsequent Treaty of Fort Jackson required the Creek surrender of vast lands in present-day Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent war against the British, Jackson's victory in 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans made him a national hero. Jackson then led U.S. forces in the First Seminole War, which led to the annexation of Florida from Spain. Jackson briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824, winning a plurality of the popular and electoral vote. As no candidate won an electoral majority, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams in a contingent election. In reaction to the alleged "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Henry Clay and the ambitious agenda of President Adams, Jackson's supporters founded the Democratic Party.
Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide. Jackson faced the threat of secession by South Carolina over what opponents called the "Tariff of Abominations". The crisis was defused when the tariff was amended, and Jackson threatened the use of military force if South Carolina attempted to secede. In Congress, Henry Clay led the effort to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States. Jackson, regarding the Bank as a corrupt institution that benefited the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Americans, vetoed the renewal of its charter. After a lengthy struggle, Jackson and his allies thoroughly dismantled the Bank. In 1835, Jackson became the only president to completely pay off the national debt, fulfilling a longtime goal. While Jackson pursued numerous reforms designed to eliminate waste and corruption, his presidency marked the beginning of the ascendancy of the party "spoils system" in American politics. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibly removed most members of the major tribes of the Southeast to Indian Territory; these removals were subsequently known as the Trail of Tears. The relocation process dispossessed these nations of their land and resulted in widespread death and disease. Jackson opposed the abolitionist movement, which grew stronger in his second term. In foreign affairs, Jackson's administration concluded a "most favored nation" treaty with the United Kingdom, settled claims of damages against France from the Napoleonic Wars, and recognized the Republic of Texas. In January 1835, he survived the first assassination attempt on a sitting president.
In his retirement, Jackson remained active in Democratic Party politics, supporting the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk. Though fearful of its effects on the slavery debate, Jackson advocated the annexation of Texas, which was accomplished shortly before his death. Jackson has been widely revered in the United States as an advocate for democracy and the common man. Many of his actions proved divisive, garnering both fervent support and strong opposition from many in the country. His reputation has suffered since the 1970s, largely due to his anti-abolitionist views and policy of the forcible removal of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands. However, surveys of historians and scholars have ranked Jackson favorably among U.S. presidents.
Early life and education
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew Jackson and his wife Elizabeth Hutchinson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ulster, Ireland, two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal ancestors originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England.
When they migrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents brought two children with them from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). The family probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. Jackson's father died in February 1767 at the age of 29, in a logging accident while clearing land, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests.
Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824, Jackson wrote a letter saying he had been born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. As a young boy, Jackson was easily offended and was considered something of a bully. He was, however, also said to have taken a group of younger and weaker boys under his wing and been kind to them.
Revolutionary War service
During the Revolutionary War, Jackson's eldest brother, Hugh, died from heat exhaustion after the Battle of Stono Ferry on June 20, 1779. Anti-British sentiment intensified following the Waxhaws Massacre on May 29, 1780. Jackson's mother encouraged him and his elder brother Robert to attend the local militia drills. Soon, they began to help the militia as couriers. They served under Colonel William Richardson Davie at the Battle of Hanging Rock on August 6. Andrew and Robert were captured by the British in April 1781 while staying at the home of the Crawford family. When Andrew refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the officer slashed at the youth with a sword, leaving him with scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British. Robert also refused to do as commanded and was struck with the sword. The two brothers were held as prisoners, contracted smallpox, and nearly starved to death in captivity.
Later that year, their mother Elizabeth secured the brothers' release. She then began to walk both boys back to their home in the Waxhaws, a distance of some 40 miles (64 km). Both were in very poor health. Robert, who was far worse, rode on the only horse they had, while Andrew walked behind them. In the final two hours of the journey, a torrential downpour began which worsened the effects of the smallpox. Within two days of arriving back home, Robert was dead and Andrew in mortal danger. After nursing Andrew back to health, Elizabeth volunteered to nurse American prisoners of war on board two British ships in the Charleston harbor, where there had been an outbreak of cholera. In November, she died from the disease and was buried in an unmarked grave. Andrew became an orphan at age 14. He blamed the British personally for the loss of his brothers and mother.
Early career
Legal career and marriage
After the Revolutionary War, Jackson received a sporadic education in a local Waxhaw school. On bad terms with much of his extended family, he boarded with several different people. In 1781, he worked for a time as a saddle-maker, and eventually taught school. He apparently prospered in neither profession. In 1784, he left the Waxhaws region for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he studied law under attorney Spruce Macay. With the help of various lawyers, he was able to learn enough to qualify for the bar. In September 1787, Jackson was admitted to the North Carolina bar. Shortly thereafter, his friend John McNairy helped him get appointed to a vacant prosecutor position in the Western District of North Carolina, which would later become the state of Tennessee. During his travel west, Jackson bought his first slave, a woman who was older than him. In 1788, having been offended by fellow lawyer Waightstill Avery, Jackson fought his first duel. The duel ended with both men firing into the air, having made a secret agreement to do so before the engagement.
Jackson moved to the small frontier town of Nashville in 1788, where he lived as a boarder with Rachel Stockly Donelson, the widow of John Donelson. Here Jackson became acquainted with their daughter, Rachel Donelson Robards. The younger Rachel was in an unhappy marriage with Captain Lewis Robards; he was subject to fits of jealous rage. The two were separated in 1790. According to Jackson, he married Rachel after hearing that Robards had obtained a divorce. Her divorce had not been made final, making Rachel's marriage to Jackson bigamous and therefore invalid. After the divorce was officially completed, Rachel and Jackson remarried in 1794. To complicate matters further, evidence shows that Rachel had been living with Jackson and referred to herself as Mrs. Jackson before the petition for divorce was ever made. It was not uncommon on the frontier for relationships to be formed and dissolved unofficially, as long as they were recognized by the community.
Land speculation and early public career
In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian territory. Most of the transactions involved grants made under a 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819.
After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. As a representative, Jackson staunchly advocated for the rights of Tennesseans against Native American tribal interests. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Democratic-Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Democratic-Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision-making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests.
After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of armed conflicts, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Jackson then published a newspaper article accusing Sevier of fraud and bribery. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane and continued to serve as governor until 1809.
Planting career and controversy
In addition to his legal and political career, Jackson prospered as a planter and merchant. He built a home and the first general store in Gallatin, Tennessee, in 1803. The next year, he acquired The Hermitage, a plantation in Davidson County, near Nashville. He later added to the plantation, which eventually totaled . The primary crop was cotton. Like most successful American planters at the time, Jackson's plantation depended on slave labor. The cotton cultivated at the Hermitage was planted and picked by slaves. The Hermitage was quite profitable; Jackson began with nine slaves, owned as many as 44 by 1820, and later up to 150, placing him among the planter elite. Jackson also co-owned with his son Andrew Jackson Jr. the Halcyon plantation in Coahoma County, Mississippi, which housed 51 slaves at the time of his death. Throughout his lifetime, Jackson may have owned as many as 500 slaves.
Men, women, and child slaves were owned by Jackson on three sections of the Hermitage plantation. Slaves lived in extended family units of between five and ten persons and were quartered in cabins made either of brick or logs. The size and quality of the Hermitage slave quarters exceeded the standards of the time. To help slaves acquire food, Jackson supplied them with guns, knives, and fishing equipment. At times he paid his slaves with money and coins to trade in local markets. Jackson permitted slaves to be whipped to increase productivity or if he believed his slaves' offenses were severe enough. At various times he posted advertisements for fugitive slaves who had escaped from his plantation. In one advertisement placed in the Tennessee Gazette in October 1804, Jackson offered "ten dollars extra, for every hundred lashes any person will give him, to the amount of three hundred."
The controversy surrounding his marriage to Rachel remained a sore point for Jackson, who deeply resented attacks on his wife's honor. By May 1806, Charles Dickinson, who, like Jackson, raced horses, had published an attack on Jackson in the local newspaper, and it resulted in a written challenge from Jackson to a duel. Since Dickinson was considered an expert shot, Jackson determined it would be best to let Dickinson turn and fire first, hoping that his aim might be spoiled in his quickness; Jackson would wait and take careful aim at Dickinson. Dickinson did fire first, hitting Jackson in the chest. The bullet that struck Jackson was so close to his heart that it could not be removed. Under the rules of dueling, Dickinson had to remain still as Jackson took aim and shot and killed him. Jackson's behavior in the duel outraged many in Tennessee, who called it a brutal, cold-blooded killing and saddled Jackson with a reputation as a violent, vengeful man. He became a social outcast.
After the Sevier affair and the duel, Jackson was looking for a way to salvage his reputation. He chose to align himself with former vice president Aaron Burr. Burr's political career ended after the killing of Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804; in 1805 he set out on a tour of what was then the western United States. Burr was extremely well received by the people of Tennessee, and stayed for five days at the Hermitage. Burr's true intentions are not known with certainty. He seems to have been planning a military operation to conquer Spanish Florida and drive the Spanish from Texas. To many westerners like Jackson, the promise seemed enticing. Western American settlers had long held bitter feelings towards Spain due to territorial disputes and their persistent failure to stop Indians living in Spanish territory from raiding American settlements. On October 4, 1806, Jackson addressed the Tennessee militia, declaring that the men should be "at a moment's warning ready to march." On the same day, he wrote to James Winchester, proclaiming that the United States "can conquer not only the Floridas [at that time there was an East Florida and a West Florida.], but all Spanish North America." He continued:
Jackson agreed to provide boats and other provisions for the expedition. However, on November 10, he learned from a military captain that Burr's plans apparently included seizure of New Orleans, then part of the Louisiana Territory of the United States, and incorporating it, along with lands won from the Spanish, into a new empire. He was further outraged when he learned from the same man of the involvement of Brigadier General James Wilkinson, whom he deeply disliked, in the plan. Jackson acted cautiously at first, but wrote letters to public officials, including President Thomas Jefferson, vaguely warning them about the scheme. In December, Jefferson, a political opponent of Burr, issued a proclamation declaring that a treasonous plot was underway in the West and calling for the arrest of the perpetrators. Jackson, safe from arrest because of his extensive paper trail, organized the militia. Burr was soon captured, and the men were sent home. Jackson traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to testify on Burr's behalf in trial. The defense team decided against placing him on the witness stand, fearing his remarks were too provocative. Burr was acquitted of treason, despite Jefferson's efforts to have him convicted. Jackson endorsed James Monroe for president in 1808 against James Madison. The latter was part of the Jeffersonian wing of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson lived relatively quietly at the Hermitage in the years after the Burr trial, eventually accumulating 640 acres of land.
Military career
War of 1812
Creek campaign and treaty
Leading up to 1812, the United States found itself increasingly drawn into international conflict. Formal hostilities with Spain or France never materialized, but tensions with Britain increased for a number of reasons. Among these was the desire of many Americans for more land, particularly British Canada and Florida, the latter still controlled by Spain, Britain's European ally. On June 18, 1812, Congress officially declared war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, beginning the War of 1812. Jackson responded enthusiastically, sending a letter to Washington offering 2,500 volunteers. However, the men were not called up for many months. Biographer Robert V. Remini claims that Jackson saw the apparent slight as payback by the Madison administration for his support of Burr and Monroe. Meanwhile, the United States military repeatedly suffered devastating defeats on the battlefield.
On January 10, 1813, Jackson led an army of 2,071 volunteers to New Orleans to defend the region against British and Native American attacks. He had been instructed to serve under General Wilkinson, who commanded Federal forces in New Orleans. Lacking adequate provisions, Wilkinson ordered Jackson to halt in Natchez, then part of the Mississippi Territory, and await further orders. Jackson reluctantly obeyed. The newly appointed Secretary of War, John Armstrong Jr., sent a letter to Jackson dated February 6 ordering him to dismiss his forces and to turn over his supplies to Wilkinson. In reply to Armstrong on March 15, Jackson defended the character and readiness of his men, and promised to turn over his supplies. He also promised, instead of dismissing the troops without provisions in Natchez, to march them back to Nashville. The march was filled with agony. Many of the men had fallen ill. Jackson and his officers turned over their horses to the sick. He paid for provisions for the men out of his own pocket. The soldiers began referring to their commander as "Hickory," after a hickory nut, because of his toughness, and Jackson became known as "Old Hickory". After about a month long march, the army finally arrived in Nashville. His actions earned him respect and praise from the people of Tennessee. Jackson faced financial ruin, until his former aide-de-camp Thomas Benton persuaded Armstrong to order the army to pay the expenses Jackson had incurred. On June 14, Jackson served as a second in a duel on behalf of his junior officer William Carroll against Jesse Benton, the brother of Thomas. On September 3, Jackson and his top cavalry officer, Brigadier General John Coffee, were involved in a street brawl with the Benton brothers. Jackson was severely wounded by Jesse with a gunshot to the shoulder.
On August 30, 1813, a group of Muscogee (or Creek) called the Red Sticks, so named for the color of their war paint, perpetrated the Fort Mims massacre in which hundreds of white American settlers and non-Red Stick Creeks were slaughtered. The Red Sticks, led by William Weatherford (also called Red Eagle) and Peter McQueen, had broken away from the rest of the Creek Confederacy, which wanted peace with the United States. They were allied with Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief who had launched Tecumseh's War against the United States, and who was fighting alongside the British. The resulting conflict became known as the Creek War.
Jackson, with 2,500 American soldiers, was ordered to crush the Red Sticks. On October 10, he set out on the expedition, his arm still in a sling from fighting the Bentons. Jackson established Fort Strother as a supply base. On November 3, Coffee defeated a band of Red Sticks at the Battle of Tallushatchee. Coming to the relief of friendly Creeks besieged by Red Sticks, Jackson won another decisive victory at the Battle of Talladega. In the winter, Jackson, encamped at Fort Strother, faced a severe shortage of troops due to the expiration of enlistments and chronic desertions. He sent Coffee with the cavalry (which abandoned him) back to Tennessee to secure more enlistments. Jackson decided to combine his force with that of the Georgia militia, and marched to meet the Georgia troops. From January 22–24, 1814, while on their way, the Tennessee militia and allied Muscogee were attacked by the Red Sticks at the Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek. Jackson's troops repelled the attackers, but outnumbered, were forced to withdraw to Fort Strother. Jackson, now with over 2,000 troops, marched most of his army south to confront the Red Sticks at a fortress they had constructed at a bend in the Tallapoosa River. Jackson, together with Lower Creek and Cherokee allies and enjoying an advantage of more than 2 to 1, engaged them on March 27 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. An initial artillery barrage did little damage to the well-constructed fort. A subsequent Infantry charge, in addition to an assault by Coffee's cavalry and diversions caused by the allied Creeks, overwhelmed the Red Sticks.
The campaign ended three weeks later with Red Eagle's surrender, although some Red Sticks such as McQueen fled to East Florida. On June 8, Jackson accepted a commission as brigadier general in the United States Army, and 10 days later became a major general, in command of the Seventh Military Division. Subsequently, Jackson, with Madison's approval, imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson. The treaty required the Muscogee, including those who had not joined the Red Sticks, to surrender 23 million acres (8,093,713 ha) of land to the United States. Most of the Creeks bitterly acquiesced. Though in ill-health from dysentery, Jackson then turned his attention to defeating Spanish and British forces. Jackson accused the Spanish of arming the Red Sticks and of violating the terms of their neutrality by allowing British soldiers into the Floridas. The first charge was true, while the second ignored the fact that it was Jackson's threats to invade Florida which had caused them to seek British protection. In the November 7 Battle of Pensacola, Jackson defeated the relatively small British and Spanish forces in a short skirmish. Shortly thereafter, the Spanish surrendered and the remaining British wthdrew. Weeks later, Jackson learned that the British were planning an attack on New Orleans, which sat on the mouth of the Mississippi River and held immense strategic and commercial value. Jackson abandoned Pensacola to the Spanish, placed a force in Mobile, Alabama, to guard against a possible invasion there, and rushed the rest of his forces west to defend New Orleans.
The Creeks coined their own name for Jackson, Jacksa Chula Harjo or "Jackson, old and fierce."
Battle of New Orleans
After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson had only about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained.
The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.
Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." Some have claimed that, because the war was already ended by the preliminary signing of the Treaty of Ghent, Jackson's victory at New Orleans was without importance aside from making him a celebrated figure. However, the Spanish, who had sold the Louisiana Territory to France, disputed France's right to sell it to the United States through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In April 1815, Spain, assuming that the British had won at New Orleans, asked for the return of the Louisiana Territory. Spanish representatives claimed to have been assured that they would receive the land back. Furthermore, Article IX of the Treaty of Ghent stipulated that the United States must return land taken from the Creeks to their original owners, essentially undoing the Treaty of Fort Jackson. Thanks to Jackson's victory at New Orleans, the American government felt that it could safely ignore that provision and it kept the lands that Jackson had acquired.
Enforced martial law in New Orleans
Jackson, still not knowing for certain of the treaty's signing, refused to lift martial law in the city. Citizens, local politicians, and some of Jackson's troops expressed growing displeasure. When some of the Creoles under Jackson's service, registering as French citizens with the French consul Louis de Toussard, asked to be discharged based on their foreign nationality, Jackson ordered all Frenchmen, including Toussard, to depart to no less than 120 miles from the limits of New Orleans. State senator Louis Louaillier wrote an anonymous piece in the New Orleans newspaper challenging Jackson's refusal to release the militia after the British ceded the field of battle. Jackson attempted to find the author and, after Louiallier admitted to having written the piece, he imprisoned him. In March, after U.S. District Court Judge Dominic A. Hall signed a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Louaillier, Jackson ordered Hall's arrest. A military court ordered Louiallier's release, but Jackson kept him in prison. He released Hall four miles from the city, which marked the limits of his jurisdiction. Jackson also ordered the execution of six members of the militia who had attempted to leave. Their deaths were not well publicized until the Coffin Handbills were circulated during his 1828 presidential campaign. On March 13, news officially reached the city that the peace treaty had been signed and ratified. Jackson immediately lifted martial law, released Louaillier from prison, and allowed the return of those he had exiled. Hall subsequently brought Jackson to trial on charges of contempt of court, and fined him $1,000.
First Seminole War
Following the war, Jackson remained in command of troops on the southern border of the U.S. He conducted business from the Hermitage. He signed treaties with the Cherokee and Chickasaw which gained for the United States large parts of Tennessee and Kentucky. The treaty with the Chickasaw, finally agreed to later in the year, is commonly known as the Jackson Purchase.
Jackson would soon find himself embroiled in another conflict in the Floridas. Several Native American tribes, collectively known as the Seminole, straddled the border between the U.S. and Florida. The Seminole, in alliance with escaped slaves, frequently raided Georgia settlements before retreating back into Florida. These skirmishes continually escalated into the conflict now known as the First Seminole War. In 1816, Jackson led a detachment into Florida and at the Battle of Negro Fort destroyed the fort, killing most of the fugitive slaves defending it and a smaller number of allied Choctaw. Jackson was then ordered by President Monroe in December 1817 to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Seminole and Creek. Jackson was again charged with preventing Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves, after Spain promised freedom to fugitive slaves. Critics later alleged that Jackson exceeded orders in his Florida actions. His orders from President Monroe were to "terminate the conflict." Jackson believed the best way to do this was to seize Florida from Spain once and for all. Before departing, Jackson wrote to Monroe, "Let it be signified to me through any channel ... that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished."
Jackson invaded Florida on March 15, 1818, capturing Pensacola. He crushed Seminole and Spanish resistance in the region and captured two British agents, Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, who had been working with the Seminole. After a brief trial, Jackson executed both of them, causing a diplomatic incident with the British. Jackson's actions polarized Monroe's cabinet, some of whom argued that Jackson had gone against Monroe's orders and violated the Constitution, since the United States had not declared war upon Spain. He was defended by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. Adams thought that Jackson's conquest of Florida would force Spain to finally sell the province, and Spain did indeed sell Florida to the United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. A congressional investigation exonerated Jackson, but he was deeply angered by the criticism he received, particularly from Speaker of the House Henry Clay. After the ratification of the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1821, Jackson resigned from the army and briefly served as the territorial Governor of Florida before returning to Tennessee.
Presidential aspirations
Election of 1824
In the spring of 1822, Jackson suffered a physical breakdown. His body had two bullets lodged in it, and he had grown exhausted from years of hard military campaigning. He regularly coughed up blood, and his entire body shook. Jackson feared that he was on the brink of death. After several months of rest, he recovered. During his convalescence, Jackson's thoughts increasingly turned to national affairs. He obsessed over rampant corruption in the Monroe administration and grew to detest the Second Bank of the United States, blaming it for causing the Panic of 1819 by contracting credit.
Jackson turned down an offer to run for governor of his home state, but accepted John Overton's plan to have the legislature nominate him for president. On July 22, 1822, he was officially nominated by the Tennessee legislature. Jackson had come to dislike Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford, who had been the most vocal critic of Jackson in Monroe's cabinet, and he hoped to prevent Tennessee's electoral votes from going to Crawford. Yet Jackson's nomination garnered a welcoming response even outside of Tennessee, as many Americans appreciated his attacks on banks. The Panic of 1819 had devastated the fortunes of many, and banks and politicians seen as supportive of banks were unpopular. With his growing political viability, Jackson emerged as one of the five major presidential candidates, along with Crawford, Adams, Clay, and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun. During the Era of Good Feelings, the Federalist Party had faded away, and all five presidential contenders were members of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson's campaign promoted him as a defender of the common people, as well as the one candidate who could rise above sectional divisions. On the major issues of the day, most prominently the tariff, Jackson expressed centrist beliefs, and opponents accused him of obfuscating his positions. At the forefront of Jackson's campaign was combatting corruption. Jackson vowed to restore honesty in government and to scale back its excesses. As a war hero, Jackson was popular with ordinary people, and he benefited from the expansion of suffrage among white males that followed the conclusion of the War of 1812.
In 1823, Jackson reluctantly allowed his name to be placed in contention for one of Tennessee's U.S. Senate seats. The move was independently orchestrated by his advisors William Berkeley Lewis and U.S. senator John Eaton in order to defeat incumbent John Williams, who openly opposed his presidential candidacy. The legislature narrowly elected him. His return, after 24 years, 11 months, 3 days out of office, marks the second longest gap in service to the chamber in history. Although Jackson was reluctant to serve once more in the Senate, he was appointed chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. Eaton wrote to Rachel that Jackson as a senator was "in harmony and good understanding with every body," including Thomas Hart Benton, now a senator from Missouri, with whom Jackson had fought in 1813. Meanwhile, Jackson himself did little active campaigning for the presidency, as was customary. Eaton updated an already-written biography of him in preparation for the campaign and, along with others, wrote letters to newspapers praising Jackson's record and past conduct.
Democratic-Republican presidential nominees had historically been chosen by informal Congressional nominating caucuses, but this method had become unpopular. In 1824, most of the Democratic-Republicans in Congress boycotted the caucus. Those who attended backed Crawford for president and Albert Gallatin for vice president. A Pennsylvania convention nominated Jackson for president a month later, stating that the irregular caucus ignored the "voice of the people" in the "vain hope that the American people might be thus deceived into a belief that he [Crawford] was the regular democratic candidate." Gallatin criticized Jackson as "an honest man and the idol of the worshipers of military glory, but from incapacity, military habits, and habitual disregard of laws and constitutional provisions, altogether unfit for the office." After Jackson won the Pennsylvania nomination, Calhoun dropped out of the presidential race and successfully sought the vice presidency instead.
In the presidential election, Jackson won a plurality of the electoral vote, taking states in the South, West, and Mid-Atlantic. He was the only candidate to win states outside of his regional base, as Adams dominated New England, Clay took three western states, and Crawford won Virginia and Georgia. Jackson won a plurality of the popular vote, taking 42 percent, although not all states held a popular vote for the presidency. He won 99 electoral votes, more than any other candidate, but still short of 131, which he needed for a true majority. With no candidate having won a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives held a contingent election under the terms of the Twelfth Amendment. The amendment specifies that only the top three electoral vote-winners are eligible to be elected by the House, so Clay was eliminated from contention. Jackson believed that he was likely to win this contingent election, as Crawford and Adams lacked Jackson's national appeal, and Crawford had suffered a debilitating stroke that made many doubt his physical fitness for the presidency. Clay, who as Speaker of the House presided over the election, saw Jackson as a dangerous demagogue who might topple the republic in favor of his own leadership. He threw his support behind Adams, who shared Clay's support for federally funded internal improvements such as roads and canals. With Clay's backing, Adams won the contingent election on the first ballot. Furious supporters of Jackson accused Clay and Adams of having reached a "corrupt bargain" after Adams appointed Clay as his Secretary of State. "So you see," Jackson growled, "the Judas of the West has closed the contract and receive the thirty pieces of silver. [H]is end will be the same." After the Congressional session concluded, Jackson resigned his Senate seat and returned to Tennessee.
Election of 1828 and death of Rachel Jackson
Almost immediately, opposition arose to the Adams presidency. Jackson opposed Adams's plan to involve the U.S. in Panama's quest for independence, writing, "The moment we engage in confederations, or alliances with any nation, we may from that time date the down fall of our republic." Adams damaged his standing in his first annual message to Congress, when he argued that Congress must not give the world the impression "that we are palsied by the will of our constituents."
Jackson was nominated for president by the Tennessee legislature in October 1825, more than three years before the 1828 election. It was the earliest such nomination in presidential history, and it attested to the fact that Jackson's supporters began the 1828 campaign almost as soon as the 1824 campaign ended. Adams's presidency foundered, as his ambitious agenda faced defeat in a new era of mass politics. Critics led by Jackson attacked Adams's policies as a dangerous expansion of Federal power. New York Senator Martin Van Buren, who had been a prominent supporter of Crawford in 1824, emerged as one of the strongest opponents of Adams's policies, and he settled on Jackson as his preferred candidate in 1828. Van Buren was joined by Vice President Calhoun, who opposed much of Adams's agenda on states' rights grounds. Van Buren and other Jackson allies established numerous pro-Jackson newspapers and clubs around the country, while Jackson avoided campaigning but made himself available to visitors at his Hermitage plantation. In the election, Jackson won a commanding 56 percent of the popular vote and 68 percent of the electoral vote. The election marked the definitive end of the one-party Era of Good Feelings, as Jackson's supporters coalesced into the Democratic Party and Adams's followers became known as the National Republicans. In the large Scots-Irish community that was especially numerous in the rural South and Southwest, Jackson was a favorite.
The campaign was heavily personal. As was the custom at the time, neither candidate personally campaigned, but their political followers organized campaign events. Both candidates were rhetorically attacked in the press. Jackson was labelled a slave trader who bought and sold slaves and moved them about in defiance of higher standards of slaveholder behavior. A series of pamphlets known as the Coffin Handbills were published to attack Jackson, one of which revealed his order to execute soldiers at New Orleans. Another accused him of engaging in cannibalism by eating the bodies of American Indians killed in battle, while still another labeled his mother a "common prostitute" and stated that Jackson's father was a "mulatto man."
Rachel Jackson was also a frequent target of attacks, and was widely accused of bigamy, a reference to the controversial situation of her marriage with Jackson. Jackson's campaigners fired back by claiming that while serving as Minister to Russia, Adams had procured a young girl to serve as a prostitute for Emperor Alexander I. They also stated that Adams had a billiard table in the White House and that he had charged the government for it.
Rachel had been under extreme stress during the election, and often struggled while Jackson was away. She began experiencing significant physical stress during the election season. Jackson described her symptoms as "excruciating pain in the left shoulder, arm, and breast." After struggling for three days, Rachel finally died of a heart attack on December 22, 1828, three weeks after her husband's victory in the election (which began on October 31 and ended on December 2) and 10 weeks before Jackson took office as president. A distraught Jackson had to be pulled from her so the undertaker could prepare the body. He felt that the abuse from Adams's supporters had hastened her death and never forgave him. Rachel was buried at the Hermitage on Christmas Eve. "May God Almighty forgive her murderers, as I know she forgave them," Jackson swore at her funeral. "I never can."
Presidency (1829–1837)
Philosophy
Jackson's name has been associated with Jacksonian democracy or the shift and expansion of democracy with the passing of some political power from established elites to ordinary voters based in political parties. "The Age of Jackson" shaped the national agenda and American politics. Jackson's philosophy as president was similar to that of Jefferson, advocating republican values held by the Revolutionary generation. Jackson took a moral tone, with the belief that agrarian sympathies, and strong states rights with a limited federal government, would produce less corruption. He feared that monied and business interests would corrupt republican values. When South Carolina opposed the tariff law, he took a strong line in favor of nationalism and against secession.
Jackson believed in the ability of the people to "arrive at right conclusions." They had the right not only to elect but to "instruct their agents & representatives." Office holders should either obey the popular will or resign. He rejected the view of a powerful and independent Supreme Court with binding decisions, arguing that "the Congress, the Executive, and the Court must each or itself be guided by its own opinions of the Constitution." Jackson thought that Supreme Court justices should be made to stand for election, and believed in strict constructionism as the best way to ensure democratic rule. He called for term limits on presidents and the abolition of the Electoral College. According to Robert V. Remini, Jackson "was far ahead of his times–and maybe even further than this country can ever achieve."
Inauguration
Jackson departed from the Hermitage on January 19 and arrived in Washington on February 11. He then set about choosing his cabinet members. Jackson chose Van Buren as expected for Secretary of State, Eaton of Tennessee as Secretary of War, Samuel D. Ingham of Pennsylvania as Secretary of Treasury, John Branch of North Carolina as Secretary of Navy, John M. Berrien of Georgia as Attorney General, and William T. Barry of Kentucky as Postmaster General. Jackson's first choice of cabinet proved to be unsuccessful, full of bitter partisanship and gossip. Jackson blamed Adams in part for what was said about Rachel during the campaign, and refused to meet him after arriving in Washington. Therefore, Adams chose not to attend the inauguration.
On March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson became the first United States president-elect to take the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. In his inaugural speech, Jackson promised to respect the sovereign powers of states and the constitutional limits of the presidency. He also promised to pursue "reform" by removing power from "unfaithful or incompetent hands." At the conclusion of the ceremony, Jackson invited the public to the White House, where his supporters held a raucous party. Thousands of spectators overwhelmed the White House staff, and minor damage was caused to fixtures and furnishings. Jackson's populism earned him the nickname "King Mob."
Reforms, rotation of offices, and spoils system
In an effort to purge the government of corruption, Jackson launched presidential investigations into all executive Cabinet offices and departments. He believed appointees should be hired on merit and withdrew many candidates he believed were lax in their handling of monies. He believed that the federal government had been corrupted and that he had received a mandate from the American people to purge such corruption. Jackson's investigations uncovered enormous fraud in the federal government, and numerous officials were removed from office and indicted on corruption, including personal friend of John Quincy Adams and Treasury Fourth Auditor Tobias Watkins. In the first year of Jackson's presidency, his investigations uncovered $280,000 stolen from the Treasury, and the Department of the Navy was saved $1 million. He asked Congress to reform embezzlement laws, reduce fraudulent applications for federal pensions, pass revenue laws to prevent evasion of custom duties, and pass laws to improve government accounting. Jackson's Postmaster General Barry resigned after a Congressional investigation into the postal service revealed mismanagement of mail services, collusion and favoritism in awarding lucrative contracts, as well as failure to audit accounts and supervise contract performances. Jackson replaced Barry with Treasury Auditor and prominent Kitchen Cabinet member Amos Kendall, who went on to implement reforms in the Post Office Department.
Jackson repeatedly called for the abolition of the Electoral College by constitutional amendment in his annual messages to Congress as president. In his third annual message to Congress, he expressed the view "I have heretofore recommended amendments of the Federal Constitution giving the election of President and Vice-President to the people and limiting the service of the former to a single term. So important do I consider these changes in our fundamental law that I can not, in accordance with my sense of duty, omit to press them upon the consideration of a new Congress."
Although he was unable to implement these goals, Jackson's time in office did see a variety of other reforms. He supported an act in July 1836 that enabled widows of Revolutionary War soldiers who met certain criteria to receive their husbands' pensions. In 1836, Jackson established the ten-hour day in national shipyards.
Jackson enforced the Tenure of Office Act, signed by President Monroe in 1820, that limited appointed office tenure and authorized the president to remove and appoint political party associates. Jackson believed that a rotation in office was a democratic reform preventing hereditary officeholding and made civil service responsible to the popular will. Jackson declared that rotation of appointments in political office was "a leading principle in the republican creed." Jackson noted, "In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another." Jackson believed that rotating political appointments would prevent the development of a corrupt bureaucracy. The number of federal office holders removed by Jackson were exaggerated by his opponents; Jackson rotated only about 20% of federal office holders during his first term, some for dereliction of duty rather than political purposes. Jackson, nonetheless, used his presidential power to award loyal Democrats by granting them federal office appointments. Jackson's approach incorporated patriotism for country as qualification for holding office. Having appointed a soldier who had lost his leg fighting on the battlefield to postmaster, Jackson stated, "[i]f he lost his leg fighting for his country, that is ... enough for me."
Jackson's theory regarding rotation of office generated what would later be called the spoils system. The political realities of Washington sometimes forced Jackson to make partisan appointments despite his personal reservations. Supervision of bureaus and departments whose operations were outside of Washington (such as the New York Customs House; the Postal Service; the Departments of Navy and War; and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose budget had increased enormously in the previous two decades) proved to be difficult. Remini writes that because "friendship, politics, and geography constituted the President's total criteria for appointments, most of his appointments were predictably substandard."
Petticoat affair
Jackson devoted a considerable amount of his presidential time during his early years in office responding to what came to be known as the "Petticoat affair" or "Eaton affair." Washington gossip circulated among Jackson's cabinet members and their wives, including Calhoun's wife Floride Calhoun, concerning Secretary of War Eaton and his wife Peggy Eaton. Salacious rumors held that Peggy, as a barmaid in her father's tavern, had been sexually promiscuous or had even been a prostitute. Controversy also ensued because Peggy had married soon after her previous husband's death, and it was alleged that she and her husband had engaged in an adulterous affair while her previous husband was still living. Petticoat politics emerged when the wives of cabinet members, led by Mrs. Calhoun, refused to socialize with the Eatons. Allowing a prostitute in the official family was unthinkable—but Jackson refused to believe the rumors, telling his Cabinet that "She is as chaste as a virgin!" Jackson believed that the dishonorable people were the rumormongers, who in essence questioned and dishonored Jackson himself by, in attempting to drive the Eatons out, daring to tell him who he could and could not have in his cabinet. Jackson was also reminded of the attacks that were made against his wife. These memories increased his dedication to defending Peggy Eaton.
Meanwhile, the cabinet wives insisted that the interests and honor of all American women was at stake. They believed a responsible woman should never accord a man sexual favors without the assurance that went with marriage. A woman who broke that code was dishonorable and unacceptable. Historian Daniel Walker Howe notes that this was the feminist spirit that in the next decade shaped the woman's rights movement. Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, a widower, was already forming a coalition against Calhoun. He could now see his main chance to strike hard; he took the side of Jackson and Eaton.
In the spring of 1831, Jackson, at Van Buren's suggestion, demanded the resignations of all the cabinet members except Barry. Van Buren himself resigned to avoid the appearance of bias. In 1832, Jackson nominated Van Buren to be Minister to Great Britain. Calhoun blocked the nomination with a tie-breaking vote against it, claiming the defeated nomination would "...kill him [Van Buren] dead, sir, kill him dead. He will never kick, sir, never kick." Van Buren continued to serve as an important adviser to Jackson and was placed on the ticket for vice president in the 1832 election, making him Jackson's heir-apparent. The Petticoat affair led to the development of the Kitchen Cabinet. The Kitchen Cabinet emerged as an unofficial group of advisors to the president. Its existence was partially rooted in Jackson's difficulties with his official cabinet, even after the purging.
Indian removal policy
Throughout his eight years in office, Jackson made about 70 treaties with American Indian tribes both in the South and in the Northwest. Jackson's presidency marked the beginning of a policy of Indian removal. Jackson himself sometimes participated in the treaty negotiating process, though other times he left the negotiations to his subordinates. The southern tribes included the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole and the Cherokee. The northwest tribes included the Chippewa, Ottawa, and the Potawatomi.
Relations between Indians and whites increasingly grew tense and sometimes violent as a result of territorial conflicts. Previous presidents had at times supported removal or attempts to "civilize" Native people, but generally let the problem play itself out with minimal intervention. But by Jackson's time, a growing popular and political movement developed wanting action on the issue, and out of this came policy decisions to relocate certain Indian populations. Jackson, never known for timidity, became an advocate for this relocation policy in what many historians consider the most controversial aspect of his presidency.
In his First Annual Message to Congress, Jackson advocated land west of the Mississippi River be set aside for Indian tribes. On May 26, 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which Jackson signed into law two days later. The Act authorized the president to negotiate treaties to buy tribal lands in the east in exchange for lands farther west, outside of existing state borders. The act specifically pertained to the Five Civilized Tribes in the South, the conditions being that they could either move west or stay and obey state law, effectively relinquishing their sovereignty.
Jackson, Eaton, and General Coffee negotiated with the Chickasaw, who quickly agreed to move. Jackson put Eaton and Coffee in charge of negotiating with the Choctaw. Lacking Jackson's skills at negotiation, they simply bribed various leaders in order to gain their agreement. The tactics worked, and with the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Choctaw were required to move. The removal of the Choctaw took place in the winter of 1831 and 1832, and was wrought with misery and suffering. The Seminole, despite the signing of the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832, refused to move. In December 1835, this dispute began the Second Seminole War. The war lasted over six years, finally ending in 1842. Members of the Creek Nation had signed the Treaty of Cusseta in 1832, allowing the Creek to either sell or retain their land. Conflict later erupted between the Creek who remained and the white settlers, leading to a second Creek War. A common complaint amongst the tribes was that the men who had signed the treaties did not represent the whole tribe.
The state of Georgia became involved in a dispute with the Cherokee, culminating in the 1832 Supreme Court decision in Worcester v. Georgia. Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for the court, ruled that Georgia could not forbid whites from entering tribal lands, as it had attempted to do with two missionaries supposedly stirring up resistance amongst the tribespeople. Jackson is frequently attributed the following response: "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." The quote, apparently indicating Jackson's dismissive view of the courts, was attributed to Jackson by Horace Greeley, who cited as his source Representative George N. Briggs. Remini argues that Jackson did not say it because, while it "certainly sounds like Jackson...[t]here was nothing for him to enforce." This is because a writ of habeas corpus had never been issued for the missionaries. The Court also did not ask federal marshals to carry out the decision, as had become standard.
A group of Cherokees led by John Ridge negotiated the Treaty of New Echota. Ridge was not a widely recognized leader of the Cherokee, and this document was rejected by some as illegitimate. Another faction, led by John Ross, unsuccessfully petitioned to protest the proposed removal. The Cherokee largely considered themselves independent, and not subject to the laws of the United States or Georgia. The treaty was enforced by Jackson's successor, Van Buren. Subsequently, as many as 4,000 out of 18,000 Cherokee died on the "Trail of Tears" in 1838.
More than 45,000 people were relocated, primarily to Indian territory in present-day Oklahoma during Jackson's administration, though some Cherokee people walked back afterwards, and others evaded removal by migrating into the Great Smoky Mountains. Another conflict during the Jackson administration was the Black Hawk War in 1832 after a group of Indians crossed into U.S. territory.
Nullification crisis
In 1828, Congress had approved the "Tariff of Abominations", which set the tariff at a historically high rate. Southern planters, who sold their cotton on the world market, strongly opposed this tariff, which they saw as favoring northern interests. The South now had to pay more for goods it did not produce locally; and other countries would have more difficulty affording southern cotton. The issue came to a head during Jackson's presidency, resulting in the Nullification Crisis, in which South Carolina threatened disunion.
The South Carolina Exposition and Protest of 1828, secretly written by Calhoun, asserted that their state had the right to "nullify"—declare void—the tariff legislation of 1828. Although Jackson sympathized with the South in the tariff debate, he also vigorously supported a strong union, with effective powers for the central government. Jackson attempted to face down Calhoun over the issue, which developed into a bitter rivalry between the two men. One incident came at the April 13, 1830, Jefferson Day dinner, involving after-dinner toasts. Robert Hayne began by toasting to "The Union of the States, and the Sovereignty of the States." Jackson then rose, and in a booming voice added "Our federal Union: It must be preserved!" – a clear challenge to Calhoun. Calhoun clarified his position by responding "The Union: Next to our Liberty, the most dear!"
In May 1830, Jackson discovered that Calhoun had asked President Monroe to censure Jackson for his invasion of Spanish Florida in 1818 while Calhoun was serving as Secretary of War. Calhoun's and Jackson's relationship deteriorated further. By February 1831, the break between Calhoun and Jackson was final. Responding to inaccurate press reports about the feud, Calhoun had published letters between him and Jackson detailing the conflict in the United States Telegraph. Jackson and Calhoun began an angry correspondence which lasted until Jackson stopped it in July. The Telegraph, edited by Duff Green, initially supported Jackson. After it sided with Calhoun on nullification, Jackson needed a new organ for the administration. He enlisted the help of longtime supporter Francis Preston Blair, who in November 1830 established a newspaper known as the Washington Globe, which from then on served as the primary mouthpiece of the Democratic Party.
Jackson supported a revision to tariff rates known as the Tariff of 1832. It was designed to placate the nullifiers by lowering tariff rates. Written by Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, the bill lowered duties from 45% to 27%. In May, Representative John Quincy Adams introduced a slightly revised version of the bill, which Jackson accepted. It passed Congress on July 9 and was signed by the president on July 14. The bill failed to satisfy extremists on either side. On November 24, the South Carolina legislature nullified both the Tariff of 1832 and the Tariff of 1828. In response, Jackson sent U.S. Navy warships to Charleston harbor, and threatened to hang any man who worked to support nullification or secession. On December 28, 1832, Calhoun resigned as vice president, after having been elected to the U.S. Senate. This was part of a strategy whereby Calhoun, with less than three months remaining on his vice presidential term, would replace Robert Y. Hayne in the Senate, and he would then become governor of South Carolina. Hayne had often struggled to defend nullification on the floor of the Senate, especially against fierce criticism from Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts.
Also that December, Jackson issued a resounding proclamation against the "nullifiers," stating that he considered "the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed." South Carolina, the president declared, stood on "the brink of insurrection and treason," and he appealed to the people of the state to reassert their allegiance to that Union for which their ancestors had fought. Jackson also denied the right of secession: "The Constitution ... forms a government not a league ... To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States are not a nation." Jackson tended to personalize the controversy, frequently characterizing nullification as a conspiracy between disappointed and bitter men whose ambitions had been thwarted.
Jackson asked Congress to pass a "Force Bill" explicitly authorizing the use of military force to enforce the tariff. It was introduced by Senator Felix Grundy of Tennessee, and was quickly attacked by Calhoun as "military despotism." At the same time, Calhoun and Clay began to work on a new compromise tariff. A bill sponsored by the administration had been introduced by Representative Gulian C. Verplanck of New York, but it lowered rates more sharply than Clay and other protectionists desired. Clay managed to get Calhoun to agree to a bill with higher rates in exchange for Clay's opposition to Jackson's military threats and, perhaps, with the hope that he could win some Southern votes in his next bid for the presidency. The Compromise Tariff passed on March 1, 1833. The Force Bill passed the same day. Calhoun, Clay, and several others marched out of the chamber in opposition, the only dissenting vote coming from John Tyler of Virginia. The new tariff was opposed by Webster, who argued that it essentially surrendered to South Carolina's demands. Jackson, despite his anger over the scrapping of the Verplanck bill and the new alliance between Clay and Calhoun, saw it as an efficient way to end the crisis. He signed both bills on March 2, starting with the Force Bill. The South Carolina Convention then met and rescinded its nullification ordinance, but in a final show of defiance, nullified the Force Bill. On May 1, Jackson wrote, "the tariff was only the pretext, and disunion and southern confederacy the real object. The next pretext will be the negro, or slavery question."
Foreign affairs
Addressing the subject of foreign affairs in his First Annual Address to Congress, Jackson declared it to be his "settled purpose to ask nothing that is not clearly right and to submit to nothing that is wrong."
When Jackson took office, spoliation claims, or compensation demands for the capture of American ships and sailors, dating from the Napoleonic era, caused strained relations between the U.S. and French governments. The French Navy had captured and sent American ships to Spanish ports while holding their crews captive forcing them to labor without any charges or judicial rules. According to Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, relations between the U.S. and France were "hopeless." Jackson's Minister to France, William C. Rives, through diplomacy was able to convince the French government to sign a reparations treaty on July 4, 1831, that would award the U.S. ₣ 25,000,000 ($5,000,000) in damages. The French government became delinquent in payment due to internal financial and political difficulties. The French king Louis Philippe I and his ministers blamed the French Chamber of Deputies. By 1834, the non-payment of reparations by the French government drew Jackson's ire and he became impatient. In his December 1834 State of the Union address, Jackson sternly reprimanded the French government for non-payment, stating the federal government was "wholly disappointed" by the French, and demanded Congress authorize trade reprisals against France. Feeling insulted by Jackson's words, the French people began pressuring their government not to pay the indemnity until Jackson had apologized for his remarks. In his December 1835 State of the Union Address, Jackson refused to apologize, stating he had a good opinion of the French people and his intentions were peaceful. Jackson described in lengthy and minute detail the history of events surrounding the treaty and his belief that the French government was purposely stalling payment. The French accepted Jackson's statements as sincere and in February 1836, reparations were paid.
In addition to France, the Jackson administration successfully settled spoliation claims with Denmark, Portugal, and Spain. Jackson's state department was active and successful at making trade agreements with Russia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Siam. Under the treaty with the United Kingdom, American trade was reopened in the West Indies. The trade agreement with Siam was America's first treaty between the United States and an Asiatic country. As a result, American exports increased 75% while imports increased 250%.
Jackson's attempt to purchase Texas from Mexico for $5,000,000 failed. The chargé d'affaires in Mexico, Colonel Anthony Butler, suggested that the U.S. take Texas over militarily, but Jackson refused. Butler was later replaced toward the end of Jackson's presidency. In 1835, the Texas Revolution began when pro-slavery American settlers in Texas fought the Mexican government for Texan independence. By May 1836, they had routed the Mexican military, establishing an independent Republic of Texas. The new Texas government legalized slavery and demanded recognition from President Jackson and annexation into the United States. Jackson was hesitant in recognizing Texas, unconvinced that the new republic could maintain independence from Mexico, and not wanting to make Texas an anti-slavery issue during the 1836 election. The strategy worked; the Democratic Party and national loyalties were held intact, and Van Buren was elected president. Jackson formally recognized the Republic of Texas, nominating Alcée Louis la Branche as chargé d'affaires on the last full day of his presidency, March 3, 1837.
Jackson failed in his efforts to open trade with China and Japan and was unsuccessful at thwarting the United Kingdom's presence and power in South America.
Bank veto and election of 1832
The 1832 presidential election demonstrated the rapid development and organization of political parties during this time period. The Democratic Party's first national convention, held in Baltimore, nominated Jackson's choice for vice president, Van Buren. The National Republican Party, who had held their first convention in Baltimore earlier in December 1831, nominated Henry Clay, now a senator from Kentucky, and John Sergeant of Pennsylvania. The Anti-Masonic Party emerged by capitalizing on opposition to Freemasonry, which existed primarily in New England, after the disappearance and possible murder of William Morgan. The party, which had earlier held its convention also in Baltimore in September 1831, nominated William Wirt of Maryland and Amos Ellmaker of Pennsylvania. Clay was, like Jackson, a Mason, and so some anti-Jacksonians who would have supported the National Republican Party supported Wirt instead.
In 1816, the Second Bank of the United States was chartered by President James Madison to restore the United States economy devastated by the War of 1812. Monroe had appointed Nicholas Biddle as the Bank's executive. Jackson believed that the Bank was a fundamentally corrupt monopoly. Its stock was mostly held by foreigners, he insisted, and it exerted an unfair amount of control over the political system. Jackson used the issue to promote his democratic values, believing the Bank was being run exclusively for the wealthy. Jackson stated the Bank made "the rich richer and the potent more powerful." He accused it of making loans with the intent of influencing elections. In his address to Congress in 1830, Jackson called for a substitute for the Bank that would have no private stockholders and no ability to lend or purchase land. Its only power would be to issue bills of exchange. The address touched off fiery debate in the Senate. Thomas Hart Benton, now a strong supporter of the president despite the brawl years earlier, gave a speech excoriating the Bank and calling for debate on its recharter. Webster led a motion to narrowly defeat the resolution. Shortly afterward, the Globe announced that Jackson would stand for reelection.
Despite his misgivings about the Bank, Jackson supported a plan proposed in late 1831 by his moderately pro-Bank Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, who was secretly working with Biddle, to recharter a reformed version of the Bank in a way that would free up funds which would in turn be used to strengthen the military or pay off the nation's debt. This would be done, in part, through the sale of government stock in the Bank. Over the objections of Attorney General Roger B. Taney, an irreconcilable opponent of the Bank, he allowed McLane to publish a Treasury Report which essentially recommended rechartering the Bank.
Clay hoped to make the Bank an issue in the election, so as to accuse Jackson of going beyond his powers if he vetoed a recharter bill. He and Webster urged Biddle to immediately apply for recharter rather than wait to reach a compromise with the administration. Biddle received advice to the contrary from moderate Democrats such as McLane and William Lewis, who argued that Biddle should wait because Jackson would likely veto the recharter bill. On January 6, 1832, Biddle submitted to Congress a renewal of the Bank's charter without any of the proposed reforms. The submission came four years before the original 20-year charter was to end. Biddle's recharter bill passed the Senate on June 11 and the House on July 3, 1832. Jackson determined to veto it. Many moderate Democrats, including McLane, were appalled by the perceived arrogance of the bill and supported his decision. When Van Buren met Jackson on July 4, Jackson declared, "The Bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill me. But I will kill it." Jackson vetoed the bill on July 10. The veto message was crafted primarily by Taney, Kendall, and Jackson's nephew and advisor Andrew Jackson Donelson. It attacked the Bank as an agent of inequality that supported only the wealthy. The veto was considered "one of the strongest and most controversial" presidential statements and "a brilliant political manifesto." The National Republican Party immediately made Jackson's veto of the Bank a political issue. Jackson's political opponents castigated the veto as "the very slang of the leveller and demagogue," claiming Jackson was using class warfare to gain support from the common man.
At Biddle's direction, the Bank poured thousands of dollars into a campaign to defeat Jackson, seemingly confirming Jackson's view that it interfered in the political process. Jackson successfully portrayed his veto as a defense of the common man against governmental tyranny. Clay proved to be no match for Jackson's ability to resonate with the people and the Democratic Party's strong political networks. Democratic newspapers, parades, barbecues, and rallies increased Jackson's popularity. Jackson himself made numerous public appearances on his return trip from Tennessee to Washington, D.C. He won the election by a landslide, receiving 54 percent of the popular vote and 219 electoral votes. Clay received 37 percent of the popular vote and 49 electoral votes. Wirt received only eight percent of the popular vote and seven electoral votes while the Anti-Masonic Party eventually declined. Jackson believed the solid victory was a popular mandate for his veto of the Bank's recharter and his continued warfare on the Bank's control over the national economy.
Removal of deposits and censure
In 1833, Jackson attempted to begin removing federal deposits from the bank, whose money-lending functions were taken over by the legions of local and state banks that materialized across America, thus drastically increasing credit and speculation. Jackson's moves were greatly controversial. He removed McLane from the Treasury Department, having him serve instead as Secretary of State, replacing Edward Livingston. He replaced McLane with William J. Duane. In September, he fired Duane for refusing to remove the deposits. Signalling his intent to continue battling the Bank, he replaced Duane with Taney. Under Taney, the deposits began to be removed. They were placed in a variety of state banks which were friendly to the administration's policies, known to critics as pet banks. Biddle responded by stockpiling the Bank's reserves and contracting credit, thus causing interest rates to rise and bringing about a financial panic. The moves were intended to force Jackson into a compromise. "Nothing but the evidence of suffering abroad will produce any effect in Congress," he wrote. At first, Biddle's strategy was successful, putting enormous pressure on Jackson. But Jackson handled the situation well. When people came to him complaining, he referred them to Biddle, saying that he was the man who had "all the money." Jackson's approach worked. Biddle's strategy backfired, increasing anti-Bank sentiment.
In 1834, those who disagreed with Jackson's expansion of executive power united and formed the Whig Party, calling Jackson "King Andrew I," and named their party after the English Whigs who opposed seventeenth century British monarchy. A movement emerged among Whigs in the Senate to censure Jackson. The censure was a political maneuver spearheaded by Clay, which served only to perpetuate the animosity between him and Jackson. Jackson called Clay "reckless and as full of fury as a drunken man in a brothel." On March 28, the Senate voted to censure Jackson 26–20. It also rejected Taney as Treasury Secretary. The House however, led by Ways and Means Committee chairman James K. Polk, declared on April 4 that the Bank "ought not to be rechartered" and that the depositions "ought not to be restored." It voted to continue allowing pet banks to be places of deposit and voted even more overwhelmingly to investigate whether the Bank had deliberately instigated the panic. Jackson called the passage of these resolutions a "glorious triumph." It essentially sealed the Bank's demise. The Democrats later suffered a temporary setback. Polk ran for Speaker of the House to replace Andrew Stevenson. After Southerners discovered his connection to Van Buren, he was defeated by fellow-Tennessean John Bell, a Democrat-turned-Whig who opposed Jackson's removal policy.
Payment of US national debt
The national economy following the withdrawal of the remaining funds from the Bank was booming and the federal government through duty revenues and sale of public lands was able to pay all bills. On January 1, 1835, Jackson paid off the entire national debt, the only time in U.S. history that has been accomplished. The objective had been reached in part through Jackson's reforms aimed at eliminating the misuse of funds and through his vetoes of legislation which he deemed extravagant. In December 1835, Polk defeated Bell in a rematch and was elected Speaker. Finally, on January 16, 1837, when the Jacksonians had a majority in the Senate, the censure was expunged after years of effort by Jackson supporters. The expunction movement was led, ironically, by Benton.
In 1836, in response to increased land speculation, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, an executive order that required buyers of government lands to pay in "specie" (gold or silver coins). The result was high demand for specie, which many banks could not meet in exchange for their notes, contributing to the Panic of 1837. The White House Van Buren biography notes, "Basically the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of 'boom and bust,' which was following its regular pattern, but Jackson's financial measures contributed to the crash. His destruction of the Second Bank of the United States had removed restrictions upon the inflationary practices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easy bank credit, had swept the West. To end this speculation, Jackson in 1836 had issued a Specie Circular..."
Attack and assassination attempt
The first recorded physical attack on a U.S. president was directed at Jackson. He had ordered the dismissal of Robert B. Randolph from the navy for embezzlement. On May 6, 1833, Jackson sailed on USS Cygnet to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he was to lay the cornerstone on a monument near the grave of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother. During a stopover near Alexandria, Randolph appeared and struck the president. He fled the scene chased by several members of Jackson's party, including the writer Washington Irving. Jackson declined to press charges.
On January 30, 1835, what is believed to be the first attempt to kill a sitting president of the United States occurred just outside the United States Capitol. When Jackson was leaving through the East Portico after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter from England, aimed a pistol at Jackson, which misfired. Lawrence then pulled out a second pistol, which also misfired. Historians believe the humid weather contributed to the double misfiring. Jackson, infuriated, attacked Lawrence with his cane, until others present, including Davy Crockett, fearing that the president would beat Lawrence to a pulp, intervened to restrain and disarm Lawrence.
Lawrence offered a variety of explanations for the attempted shooting. He blamed Jackson for the loss of his job. He claimed that with the president dead, "money would be more plenty," (a reference to Jackson's struggle with the Bank of the United States) and that he "could not rise until the President fell." Finally, Lawrence told his interrogators that he was a deposed English king—specifically, Richard III, dead since 1485—and that Jackson was his clerk. He was deemed insane and was institutionalized at the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C.
Afterwards, the pistols were tested and retested. Each time they performed perfectly. Many believed that Jackson had been protected by the same Providence that also protected their young nation. The incident became a part of Jacksonian mythos. Jackson initially suspected that a number of his political enemies might have orchestrated the attempt on his life. His suspicions were never proven.
Reaction to anti-slavery tracts
During the summer of 1835, Northern abolitionists began sending anti-slavery tracts through the postal system into the South. Pro-slavery Southerners demanded that the postal service ban distribution of the materials, which were deemed "incendiary," and some began to riot. Jackson wanted sectional peace, and desired to placate Southerners ahead of the 1836 election. He fiercely disliked the abolitionists, whom he believed were, by instituting sectional jealousies, attempting to destroy the Union. Jackson also did not want to condone open insurrection. He supported the solution of Postmaster General Amos Kendall, which gave Southern postmasters discretionary powers to either send or detain the anti-slavery tracts. That December, Jackson called on Congress to prohibit the circulation through the South of "incendiary publications intended to instigate the slaves to insurrection."
U.S. exploring expedition
Jackson initially opposed any federal exploratory scientific expeditions during his first term in office. The last scientific federally funded expeditions took place from 1817 to 1823, led by Stephen H. Harriman west of the Mississippi. Jackson's predecessor, President Adams, attempted to launch a scientific oceanic exploration in 1828, but Congress was unwilling to fund the effort. When Jackson assumed office in 1829 he pocketed Adams' expedition plans. Eventually, wanting to establish his presidential legacy, similar to Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Jackson sponsored scientific exploration during his second term. On May 18, 1836, Jackson signed a law creating and funding the oceanic United States Exploring Expedition. Jackson put Secretary of the Navy Mahlon Dickerson in charge, to assemble suitable ships, officers, and scientific staff for the expedition; with a planned launch before Jackson's term of office expired. Dickerson proved unfit for the task, preparations stalled and the expedition was not launched until 1838, during the presidency of Van Buren. One brig ship, , later used in the expedition; having been commissioned by Secretary Dickerson in May 1836, circumnavigated the world and explored and mapped the Southern Ocean, confirming the existence of the continent of Antarctica.
Panic of 1837
In spite of economic success following Jackson's vetoes and war against the Bank, reckless speculation in land and railroads eventually caused the Panic of 1837. Contributing factors included Jackson's veto of the Second National Bank renewal charter in 1832 and subsequent transfer of federal monies to state banks in 1833 that caused western banks to relax their lending standards. Two other Jacksonian acts in 1836 contributed to the Panic of 1837: the Specie Circular, which mandated western lands only be purchased by money backed by gold and silver, and the Deposit and Distribution Act, which transferred federal monies from eastern to western state banks and in turn led to a speculation frenzy by banks. Jackson's Specie Circular, albeit designed to reduce speculation and stabilize the economy, left many investors unable to afford to pay loans in gold and silver. The same year there was a downturn in Great Britain's economy that stopped investment in the United States. As a result, the U.S. economy went into a depression, banks became insolvent, the national debt (previously paid off) increased, business failures rose, cotton prices dropped, and unemployment dramatically increased. The depression that followed lasted for four years until 1841, when the economy began to rebound.
Administration and cabinet
Judicial appointments
Jackson appointed six justices to the Supreme Court. Most were undistinguished. His first appointee, John McLean, had been nominated in Barry's place after Barry had agreed to become postmaster general. McLean "turned Whig and forever schemed to win" the presidency. His next two appointees–Henry Baldwin and James Moore Wayne–disagreed with Jackson on some points but were poorly regarded even by Jackson's enemies. In reward for his services, Jackson nominated Taney to the Court to fill a vacancy in January 1835, but the nomination failed to win Senate approval. Chief Justice Marshall died in 1835, leaving two vacancies on the court. Jackson nominated Taney for Chief Justice and Philip P. Barbour for Associate Justice. Both were confirmed by the new Senate. Taney served as Chief Justice until 1864, presiding over a court that upheld many of the precedents set by the Marshall Court. He was regarded with respect over the course of his career on the bench, but his opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford largely overshadows his other accomplishments. On the last full day of his presidency, Jackson nominated John Catron, who was confirmed.
States admitted to the Union
Two new states were admitted into the Union during Jackson's presidency: Arkansas (June 15, 1836) and Michigan (January 26, 1837). Both states increased Democratic power in Congress and helped Van Buren win the presidency in 1836. This was in keeping with the tradition that new states would support the party which had done the most to admit them.
Later life and death (1837–1845)
In 1837, after serving two terms as president, Jackson was replaced by his chosen successor Martin Van Buren and retired to the Hermitage. He immediately began putting it in order as it had been poorly managed in his absence by his adopted son, Andrew Jackson Jr. Although he suffered ill health, Jackson remained highly influential in both national and state politics. He was a firm advocate of the federal union of the states and rejected any talk of secession, insisting, "I will die with the Union." Blamed for causing the Panic of 1837, he was unpopular in his early retirement. Jackson continued to denounce the "perfidy and treachery" of banks and urged his successor, Van Buren, to repudiate the Specie Circular as president.
As a solution to the panic, he supported an Independent Treasury system, which was designed to hold the money balances of the government in the form of gold or silver and would be restricted from printing paper money so as to prevent further inflation. A coalition of conservative Democrats and Whigs opposed the bill, and it was not passed until 1840. During the delay, no effective remedy had been implemented for the depression. Van Buren grew deeply unpopular. A unified Whig Party nominated popular war hero William Henry Harrison and former Jacksonian John Tyler in the 1840 presidential election. The Whigs' campaign style in many ways mimicked that of the Democrats when Jackson ran. They depicted Van Buren as an aristocrat who did not care for the concerns of ordinary Americans, while glorifying Harrison's military record and portraying him as a man of the people. Jackson campaigned heavily for Van Buren in Tennessee. He favored the nomination of Polk for vice president at the 1840 Democratic National Convention over controversial incumbent Richard Mentor Johnson. No nominee was chosen, and the party chose to leave the decision up to individual state electors.
Harrison won the election, and the Whigs captured majorities in both houses of Congress. "The democracy of the United States has been shamefully beaten", Jackson wrote to Van Buren, "but I trust, not conquered." Harrison died only a month into his term, and was replaced by Tyler. Jackson was encouraged because Tyler had a strong independent streak and was not bound by party lines. Tyler quickly incurred the wrath of the Whigs in 1841 when he vetoed two Whig-sponsored bills to establish a new national bank, bringing satisfaction to Jackson and other Democrats. After the second veto, Tyler's entire cabinet, with the exception of Webster, resigned.
Jackson strongly favored the annexation of Texas, a feat he had been unable to accomplish during his own presidency. While Jackson still feared that annexation would stir up anti-slavery sentiment, his belief that the British would use Texas as a base to threaten the United States overrode his other concerns. He also insisted that Texas was part of the Louisiana Purchase and therefore rightfully belonged to the United States. At the request of Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, acting on behalf of the Tyler administration, which also supported annexation, Jackson wrote several letters to Texas president Sam Houston, urging him to wait for the Senate to approve annexation and explaining how much being a part of the United States would benefit Texas. Initially prior to the 1844 election, Jackson again supported Van Buren for president and Polk for vice president. A treaty of annexation was signed by Tyler on April 12, 1844, and submitted to the Senate. When a letter from Secretary of State Calhoun to British Ambassador Richard Pakenham linking annexation to slavery was made public, anti-annexation sentiment exploded in the North and the bill failed to be ratified. Van Buren decided to write the "Hamlet letter," opposing annexation. This effectively extinguished any support that Van Buren might previously have enjoyed in the South. The Whig nominee, Henry Clay, also opposed annexation, and Jackson recognized the need for the Democrats to nominate a candidate who supported it and could therefore gain the support of the South. If the plan failed, Jackson warned, Texas would not join the Union and would potentially fall victim to a Mexican invasion supported by the British.
Jackson met with Polk, Robert Armstrong, and Andrew Jackson Donelson in his study. He then pointed directly at a startled Polk, telling him that, as a man from the southwest and a supporter of annexation, he would be the perfect candidate. Polk called the scheme "utterly abortive", but agreed to go along with it. At the 1844 Democratic National Convention, Polk emerged as the party's nominee after Van Buren failed to win the required two-thirds majority of delegates. George M. Dallas was selected for vice president. Jackson convinced Tyler to drop his plans of running for re-election as an independent by promising, as Tyler requested, to welcome the President and his allies back into the Democratic Party and by instructing Blair to stop criticizing the President. Polk won the election, defeating Clay. A bill of annexation was passed by Congress in February and signed by Tyler on March 1.
Jackson's age and illness eventually overcame him. On June 8, 1845, he was surrounded by family and friends at his deathbed. Jackson, startled by their sobbing, said, "What is the matter with my dear children? Have I alarmed you? Oh, do not cry. Be good children and we will all meet in Heaven." He died immediately after at the age of 78 of chronic dropsy and heart failure. According to a newspaper account from the Boon Lick Times, "[he] fainted whilst being removed from his chair to the bed ... but he subsequently revived ... Gen. Jackson died at the Hermitage at 6 p.m. on Sunday the 8th instant. ... When the messenger finally came, the old soldier, patriot and Christian was looking out for his approach. He is gone, but his memory lives, and will continue to live." In his will, Jackson left his entire estate to Andrew Jackson Jr. except for specifically enumerated items that were left to various friends and family members.
Personal life
Family
Jackson had three adopted sons: Theodore, an Indian about whom little is known, Andrew Jackson Jr., the son of Rachel's brother Severn Donelson, and Lyncoya, a Creek orphan adopted by Jackson after the Battle of Tallushatchee. Lyncoya died of tuberculosis on July 1, 1828, at the age of sixteen.
The Jacksons also acted as guardians for eight other children. John Samuel Donelson, Daniel Smith Donelson, and Andrew Jackson Donelson were the sons of Rachel's brother Samuel Donelson, who died in 1804. Andrew Jackson Hutchings was Rachel's orphaned grand nephew. Caroline Butler, Eliza Butler, Edward Butler, and Anthony Butler were the orphaned children of Edward Butler, a family friend. They came to live with the Jacksons after the death of their father.
The widower Jackson invited Rachel's niece Emily Donelson to serve as hostess at the White House. Emily was married to Andrew Jackson Donelson, who acted as Jackson's private secretary and in 1856 ran for vice president on the American Party ticket. The relationship between the president and Emily became strained during the Petticoat affair, and the two became estranged for over a year. They eventually reconciled and she resumed her duties as White House hostess. Sarah Yorke Jackson, the wife of Andrew Jackson Jr., became co-hostess of the White House in 1834. It was the only time in history when two women simultaneously acted as unofficial First Lady. Sarah took over all hostess duties after Emily died from tuberculosis in 1836. Jackson used Rip Raps as a retreat.
Temperament
Jackson's quick temper was notorious. Biographer H. W. Brands notes that his opponents were terrified of his temper: "Observers likened him to a volcano, and only the most intrepid or recklessly curious cared to see it erupt. ... His close associates all had stories of his blood-curdling oaths, his summoning of the Almighty to loose His wrath upon some miscreant, typically followed by his own vow to hang the villain or blow him to perdition. Given his record—in duels, brawls, mutiny trials, and summary hearings—listeners had to take his vows seriously."
On the last day of his presidency, Jackson admitted that he had but two regrets, that he "had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun." On his deathbed, he was once again quoted as regretting that he had not hanged Calhoun for treason. "My country would have sustained me in the act, and his fate would have been a warning to traitors in all time to come," he said. Remini expresses the opinion that Jackson was typically in control of his temper, and that he used his anger, along with his fearsome reputation, as a tool to get what he wanted.
Physical appearance
Jackson was a lean figure, standing at tall, and weighing between on average. Jackson also had an unruly shock of red hair, which had completely grayed by the time he became president at age 61. He had penetrating deep blue eyes. Jackson was one of the more sickly presidents, suffering from chronic headaches, abdominal pains, and a hacking cough. Much of his trouble was caused by a musket ball in his lung that was never removed, that often brought up blood and sometimes made his whole body shake.
Religious faith
In 1838, Jackson became an official member of the First Presbyterian Church in Nashville. Both his mother and his wife had been devout Presbyterians all their lives, but Jackson himself had postponed officially entering the church in order to avoid accusations that he had joined only for political reasons.
Freemasonry
Jackson was a Freemason, initiated at Harmony Lodge No. 1 in Tennessee. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee in 1822 and 1823. During the 1832 presidential election, Jackson faced opposition from the Anti-Masonic Party. He was the only U.S. president to have served as Grand Master of a state's Grand Lodge until Harry S. Truman in 1945. His Masonic apron is on display in the Tennessee State Museum. An obelisk and bronze Masonic plaque decorate his tomb at the Hermitage.
Legacy
Historical reputation
Jackson remains one of the most studied and controversial figures in American history. Historian Charles Grier Sellers says, "Andrew Jackson's masterful personality was enough by itself to make him one of the most controversial figures ever to stride across the American stage." There has never been universal agreement on Jackson's legacy, for "his opponents have ever been his most bitter enemies, and his friends almost his worshippers." He was always a fierce partisan, with many friends and many enemies. He has been lauded as the champion of the common man, while criticized for his treatment of Indians and for other matters. James Parton was the first man after Jackson's death to write a full biography of him. Trying to sum up the contradictions in his subject, he wrote:
Jackson was criticized by his contemporary Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1835 book Democracy in America for flattering the dominant ideas of his time, including the mistrust over the federal power, for sometimes enforcing his view by force and disrespect towards the institutions and the law:
In the 20th century, Jackson was the subject of multiple highly favorable biographies. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.'s Age of Jackson (1945) depicts Jackson as a man of the people battling inequality and upper-class tyranny. From the 1970s to the 1980s, Robert Remini published a three-volume biography of Jackson followed by an abridged one-volume study. Remini paints a generally favorable portrait of Jackson. He contends that Jacksonian democracy "stretches the concept of democracy about as far as it can go and still remain workable. ... As such it has inspired much of the dynamic and dramatic events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in American history—Populism, Progressivism, the New and Fair Deals, and the programs of the New Frontier and Great Society." To Remini, Jackson serves as "the embodiment of the new American ... This new man was no longer British. He no longer wore the queue and silk pants. He wore trousers, and he had stopped speaking with a British accent." Other 20th-century writers such as Richard Hofstadter and Bray Hammond depict Jackson as an advocate of the sort of laissez-faire capitalism that benefits the rich and oppresses the poor.
Jackson's initiatives to deal with the conflicts between Native American people and European-American settlers has been a source of controversy. Starting around 1970, Jackson came under attack from some historians on this issue. Howard Zinn called him "the most aggressive enemy of the Indians in early American history" and "exterminator of Indians." Conversely, in 1969, Francis Paul Prucha argued that Jackson's removal of the Five Civilized Tribes from the extremely hostile white environment in the Old South to Oklahoma probably saved their very existence. Similarly, Remini claims that, if not for Jackson's policies, the Southeastern tribes would have been totally wiped out, similar to people such as the Yamasee, Mahican, and Narragansett.
Jackson has long been honored, along with Thomas Jefferson, in the Jefferson–Jackson Day fundraising dinners held by state Democratic Party organizations to honor the two men whom the party regards as its founders. However, because both Jefferson and Jackson were slave owners, as well as because of Jackson's Indian removal policies, many state party organizations have renamed the dinners.
Brands argues that Jackson's reputation suffered since the 1960s as his actions towards Indians and African Americans received new attention. After the civil rights movement, Brand writes, "his unrepentant ownership of slaves marked him as one to be censured rather than praised." Further, "By the turn of the present [21st] century, it was scarcely an exaggeration to say that the one thing American schoolchildren learned about Jackson was that he was the author of the Trail of Tears." Brands notes that he was often hailed during his lifetime as the "second George Washington" because, while Washington had fought for independence, Jackson confirmed it at New Orleans and made the United States a great power. Over time, while the Revolution has maintained a strong presence in the public conscience, memory of the War of 1812, including the Battle of New Orleans, has sharply declined. Brands writes that this is because once America had become a military power, "it was easy to think that America had been destined for this role from the beginning."
Still, Jackson's performance in office compared to other presidents has generally been ranked in the top half in public opinion polling. His position in C-SPAN's poll dropped from 13th in 2009, to 18th in 2017, and to 22nd in 2021.
Portrayal on banknotes and stamps
Jackson has appeared on U.S. banknotes as far back as 1869, and extending into the 21st century. His image has appeared on the $5, $10, $20, and $10,000 note. Most recently, his image has appeared on the U.S. $20 Federal reserve note beginning in 1928. In 2016, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced his goal that by 2020 an image of Harriet Tubman would replace Jackson's depiction on the front side of the $20 banknote, and that an image of Jackson would be placed on the reverse side, though the final decision will be made by his successors.
Jackson has appeared on several postage stamps. He first appeared on an 1863 two-cent stamp, which is commonly referred to by collectors as the Black Jack due to the large portraiture of Jackson on its face printed in pitch black. During the American Civil War, the Confederate government issued two Confederate postage stamps bearing Jackson's portrait, one a 2-cent red stamp and the other a 2-cent green stamp, both issued in 1863.
Memorials
Numerous counties and cities are named after him, including the cities of Jacksonville in Florida and North Carolina; the cities of Jackson in Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee; the city of Andrew in Iowa; Jackson County in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Oregon; and Jackson Parish in Louisiana.
Memorials to Jackson include a set of four identical equestrian statues by the sculptor Clark Mills: in Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.; in Jackson Square, New Orleans; in Nashville on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol; and in Jacksonville, Florida. Other equestrian statues of Jackson have been erected elsewhere, as in the State Capitol grounds in Raleigh, North Carolina. That statue controversially identifies him as one of the "presidents North Carolina gave the nation," and he is featured alongside James Polk and Andrew Johnson, both U.S. presidents born in North Carolina. There is a bust of Andrew Jackson in Plaza Ferdinand VII in Pensacola, Florida, where he became the first governor of the Florida Territory in 1821. There is also a 1928 bronze sculpture of Andrew Jackson by Belle Kinney Scholz and Leopold Scholz in the U.S. Capitol Building as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Popular culture depictions
Jackson and his wife Rachel were the main subjects of a 1951 historical novel by Irving Stone, The President's Lady, which told the story of their lives up until Rachel's death. The novel was the basis for the 1953 film of the same name starring Charlton Heston as Jackson and Susan Hayward as Rachel.
Jackson has been a supporting character in a number of historical films and television productions. Lionel Barrymore played Jackson in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), a fictionalized biography of Peggy Eaton starring Joan Crawford. The Buccaneer (1938), depicting the Battle of New Orleans, included Hugh Sothern as Jackson, and was remade in 1958 with Heston again playing Jackson.
Brian Donlevy played Jackson in the Paramount Pictures 1942 film The Remarkable Andrew. Basil Ruysdael played Jackson in Walt Disney's 1955 Davy Crockett TV miniseries. Wesley Addy appeared as Jackson in some episodes of the 1976 PBS miniseries The Adams Chronicles.
Jackson is the protagonist of the comedic historic rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (2008) with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and book by Alex Timbers.
In 1959, Jimmy Driftwood wrote the song "The Battle of New Orleans," which mentions Jackson. Johnny Horton recorded it that same year.
See also
List of presidents of the United States on currency
Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps
Notes
References
Bibliography
Biographies
; 344 pages; coverage to age 21
Abridgment of Remini's 3-volume biography.
Specialized studies
Historiography
Ward, John William 1955. Andrew Jackson, Symbol for an Age. New York: Oxford University Press.
Primary sources
7 volumes total.
(9 vols. 1980 to date)
Reprints his major messages and reports.
Library of Congress. "Andrew Jackson Papers", a digital archive that provides direct access to the manuscript images of many of the Jackson documents. online
Further reading
External links
Andrew Jackson: A Resource Guide at the Library of Congress
The Papers of Andrew Jackson at the Avalon Project
The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson
"Life Portrait of Andrew Jackson", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, April 26, 1999
"The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson and the Growth of Party Politics", lesson plan at the National Endowment for the Humanities
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Tuberculosis deaths in Tennessee | true | [
"Commodore Sheikh Mohammad Anwar ( ; 19 September 1920 – 24 January 1977), popularly known as SM Anwar, was a one-star rank admiral in the Pakistan Navy who is known for his role as officer in tactical command of the 25th Destroyer Squadron that attack and raided the radar station in Dwarka in Gujarat during the second war with India in 1965.\n\nDespite his feat, Anwar's accomplishment in the Navy was not well known. He died in Karachi in 1977. It was only in 1990s when his role as war hero was highlighted when ISPR released the telefilm of same name of operation. After much literary criticism by media and veterans, his achievements were recognized in 2010s.\n\nBiography\n\nSheikh Mohammad Anwar was born in Lahore, Punjab, India, on 12 September 1920. After his matriculation, he was educated at the Forman Christian College University in Lahore, graduating in 1940.\n\nHe joined and commissioned in the Royal Indian Navy as a Sub-Lieutenant in 1941, and briefly served in World War II's Burma theatre in 1942–43. After the India's partition that resulted in the independence of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, Lt Anwar joined the Pakistan Navy, and was directed to attend the Naval War College in Rhodes Island, United States, in 1958. After graduating from the Naval War College in 1959, Cdr. Anwar served as an exchange officer in the United States Navy's surface warships for two months. In 1960, Cdr Anwar served as base commander for the PNS Bahadur, a training establishment.\n\nIn 1962, Capt. Anwar was appointed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for a diplomatic assignment, and briefly tenured as naval attaché at the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington, D.C. in the United States until 1964.\n\nIn 1965, Anwar was appointed as senior fleet commander when he took over the command of the Pakistan Fleet (COMPAK). During the second war with India in 1965, Cdre. Anwar was the officer in tactical command of the 25th Destroyer Squadron who led the attack and raid radar station used by the Indian Air Force in Dwarka, Gujarat in India.\n\nIn 1968, the United States honoured him with their highest military award, the Legion of Merit, presented by then-U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Eugene Locke. In 1969, he was appointed as chairman of Karachi Port Trust which he remained until 1970.\n\nIn 1971, Cdre. Anwar served in the command of the Marines Corps for a short period, and was later appointed as commandant of the Pakistan Marine Academy until 1975.\n\nDespite his role and heroic feats in 1965 war, his role in the Navy was less known and was hardly recognised in the Navy. He was unknown to the public, and it was not until 1990s when the ISPR highlighted his role as a war hero when releasing the telefilm bearing the same name of operation that was aired on the STN; his role was played by Talat Hussain in the 1990s.\n\nHis death also went unnoticed in 1977, and it was only in 2016, when the Pakistan Navy officially recognised his services on their official page on Facebook.\n\nReferences\n\n1920 births\n1977 deaths\nPeople from Lahore\nPunjabi people\nForman Christian College alumni\nRoyal Indian Navy officers\nIndian military personnel of World War II\nNaval War College alumni\nPakistan Navy officers\nMilitary personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965\nForeign recipients of the Legion of Merit\nPakistan Navy admirals\nPakistan Marines\nPakistan Merchant Navy\nAdmirals of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965",
"Fred W. Halstead (April 21, 1927 – June 2, 1988) was the Socialist Workers Party's candidate for President of the United States in 1968. His running mate was Paul Boutelle.\n\nHalstead played a significant role in the movement against the Vietnam War, outlined in his book Out Now! He also was a staff writer on The Militant, the publication of the Socialist Workers Party.\n\nHalstead was a 6′6″, 350-pound ex–garment cutter who worked briefly as a bouncer in a country-and-western saloon in the 1950s, when he was on the blacklist.\n\nBibliography\n GIs Speak Out Against the War: The Case of the Ft. Jackson 8 (1970)\n Out Now!: A Participant's Account of the American Movement against the Vietnam War (1978) \n What Working People Should Know About the Dangers of Nuclear Power (1979) \n The 1985-86 Hormel Meat-Packers Strike in Austin, Minnesota (1987)\n\nReferences\n\n1927 births\n1988 deaths\nCandidates in the 1968 United States presidential election\n20th-century American politicians\nSocialist Workers Party (United States) presidential nominees\nAmerican anti–Vietnam War activists\nSocialist Workers Party (United States) politicians from California\nActivists from California"
] |
[
"Andrew Jackson",
"Battle of New Orleans",
"When did the battle start?",
"December 1, 1814,",
"When did the battle end?",
"February 27, 1815,",
"What was the battle about?",
"he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants.",
"Did they win the battle",
"After the battle, the British retreated from the area,",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas.",
"What was his role in the war?",
"After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city,"
] | C_d066211bb235410c9c7b763df9a0ddfd_1 | What happens when he instituted martial law | 7 | What happens when Andrew Jackson instituted martial law? | Andrew Jackson | Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from present day Northern Ireland two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, in current-day Northern Ireland, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal family line originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England. When they immigrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. They brought two children from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). Jackson's father died in a logging accident while clearing land in February 1767 at the age of 29, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests. Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824 Jackson wrote a letter saying that he was born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian country. Most of the transactions involved grants made under the 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819. After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. Jackson soon became associated with the more radical, pro-French and anti-British wing. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. Senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests. After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of conflict with Europeans or Indians, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane, and continued to serve as governor until 1809. After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson only had about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained. The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." CANNOTANSWER | The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. | Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. An expansionist president, Jackson sought to advance the rights of the "common man" against a "corrupt aristocracy" and to preserve the Union.
Born in the colonial Carolinas in the decade before the American Revolutionary War, Jackson became a frontier lawyer and married Rachel Donelson Robards. He served briefly in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, representing Tennessee. After resigning, he served as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1798 until 1804. Jackson purchased a property later known as The Hermitage, and became a wealthy, slaveowning planter. In 1801, he was appointed colonel of the Tennessee militia and was elected its commander the following year. He led troops during the Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The subsequent Treaty of Fort Jackson required the Creek surrender of vast lands in present-day Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent war against the British, Jackson's victory in 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans made him a national hero. Jackson then led U.S. forces in the First Seminole War, which led to the annexation of Florida from Spain. Jackson briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824, winning a plurality of the popular and electoral vote. As no candidate won an electoral majority, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams in a contingent election. In reaction to the alleged "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Henry Clay and the ambitious agenda of President Adams, Jackson's supporters founded the Democratic Party.
Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide. Jackson faced the threat of secession by South Carolina over what opponents called the "Tariff of Abominations". The crisis was defused when the tariff was amended, and Jackson threatened the use of military force if South Carolina attempted to secede. In Congress, Henry Clay led the effort to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States. Jackson, regarding the Bank as a corrupt institution that benefited the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Americans, vetoed the renewal of its charter. After a lengthy struggle, Jackson and his allies thoroughly dismantled the Bank. In 1835, Jackson became the only president to completely pay off the national debt, fulfilling a longtime goal. While Jackson pursued numerous reforms designed to eliminate waste and corruption, his presidency marked the beginning of the ascendancy of the party "spoils system" in American politics. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibly removed most members of the major tribes of the Southeast to Indian Territory; these removals were subsequently known as the Trail of Tears. The relocation process dispossessed these nations of their land and resulted in widespread death and disease. Jackson opposed the abolitionist movement, which grew stronger in his second term. In foreign affairs, Jackson's administration concluded a "most favored nation" treaty with the United Kingdom, settled claims of damages against France from the Napoleonic Wars, and recognized the Republic of Texas. In January 1835, he survived the first assassination attempt on a sitting president.
In his retirement, Jackson remained active in Democratic Party politics, supporting the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk. Though fearful of its effects on the slavery debate, Jackson advocated the annexation of Texas, which was accomplished shortly before his death. Jackson has been widely revered in the United States as an advocate for democracy and the common man. Many of his actions proved divisive, garnering both fervent support and strong opposition from many in the country. His reputation has suffered since the 1970s, largely due to his anti-abolitionist views and policy of the forcible removal of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands. However, surveys of historians and scholars have ranked Jackson favorably among U.S. presidents.
Early life and education
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew Jackson and his wife Elizabeth Hutchinson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ulster, Ireland, two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal ancestors originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England.
When they migrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents brought two children with them from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). The family probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. Jackson's father died in February 1767 at the age of 29, in a logging accident while clearing land, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests.
Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824, Jackson wrote a letter saying he had been born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. As a young boy, Jackson was easily offended and was considered something of a bully. He was, however, also said to have taken a group of younger and weaker boys under his wing and been kind to them.
Revolutionary War service
During the Revolutionary War, Jackson's eldest brother, Hugh, died from heat exhaustion after the Battle of Stono Ferry on June 20, 1779. Anti-British sentiment intensified following the Waxhaws Massacre on May 29, 1780. Jackson's mother encouraged him and his elder brother Robert to attend the local militia drills. Soon, they began to help the militia as couriers. They served under Colonel William Richardson Davie at the Battle of Hanging Rock on August 6. Andrew and Robert were captured by the British in April 1781 while staying at the home of the Crawford family. When Andrew refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the officer slashed at the youth with a sword, leaving him with scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British. Robert also refused to do as commanded and was struck with the sword. The two brothers were held as prisoners, contracted smallpox, and nearly starved to death in captivity.
Later that year, their mother Elizabeth secured the brothers' release. She then began to walk both boys back to their home in the Waxhaws, a distance of some 40 miles (64 km). Both were in very poor health. Robert, who was far worse, rode on the only horse they had, while Andrew walked behind them. In the final two hours of the journey, a torrential downpour began which worsened the effects of the smallpox. Within two days of arriving back home, Robert was dead and Andrew in mortal danger. After nursing Andrew back to health, Elizabeth volunteered to nurse American prisoners of war on board two British ships in the Charleston harbor, where there had been an outbreak of cholera. In November, she died from the disease and was buried in an unmarked grave. Andrew became an orphan at age 14. He blamed the British personally for the loss of his brothers and mother.
Early career
Legal career and marriage
After the Revolutionary War, Jackson received a sporadic education in a local Waxhaw school. On bad terms with much of his extended family, he boarded with several different people. In 1781, he worked for a time as a saddle-maker, and eventually taught school. He apparently prospered in neither profession. In 1784, he left the Waxhaws region for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he studied law under attorney Spruce Macay. With the help of various lawyers, he was able to learn enough to qualify for the bar. In September 1787, Jackson was admitted to the North Carolina bar. Shortly thereafter, his friend John McNairy helped him get appointed to a vacant prosecutor position in the Western District of North Carolina, which would later become the state of Tennessee. During his travel west, Jackson bought his first slave, a woman who was older than him. In 1788, having been offended by fellow lawyer Waightstill Avery, Jackson fought his first duel. The duel ended with both men firing into the air, having made a secret agreement to do so before the engagement.
Jackson moved to the small frontier town of Nashville in 1788, where he lived as a boarder with Rachel Stockly Donelson, the widow of John Donelson. Here Jackson became acquainted with their daughter, Rachel Donelson Robards. The younger Rachel was in an unhappy marriage with Captain Lewis Robards; he was subject to fits of jealous rage. The two were separated in 1790. According to Jackson, he married Rachel after hearing that Robards had obtained a divorce. Her divorce had not been made final, making Rachel's marriage to Jackson bigamous and therefore invalid. After the divorce was officially completed, Rachel and Jackson remarried in 1794. To complicate matters further, evidence shows that Rachel had been living with Jackson and referred to herself as Mrs. Jackson before the petition for divorce was ever made. It was not uncommon on the frontier for relationships to be formed and dissolved unofficially, as long as they were recognized by the community.
Land speculation and early public career
In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian territory. Most of the transactions involved grants made under a 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819.
After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. As a representative, Jackson staunchly advocated for the rights of Tennesseans against Native American tribal interests. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Democratic-Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Democratic-Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision-making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests.
After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of armed conflicts, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Jackson then published a newspaper article accusing Sevier of fraud and bribery. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane and continued to serve as governor until 1809.
Planting career and controversy
In addition to his legal and political career, Jackson prospered as a planter and merchant. He built a home and the first general store in Gallatin, Tennessee, in 1803. The next year, he acquired The Hermitage, a plantation in Davidson County, near Nashville. He later added to the plantation, which eventually totaled . The primary crop was cotton. Like most successful American planters at the time, Jackson's plantation depended on slave labor. The cotton cultivated at the Hermitage was planted and picked by slaves. The Hermitage was quite profitable; Jackson began with nine slaves, owned as many as 44 by 1820, and later up to 150, placing him among the planter elite. Jackson also co-owned with his son Andrew Jackson Jr. the Halcyon plantation in Coahoma County, Mississippi, which housed 51 slaves at the time of his death. Throughout his lifetime, Jackson may have owned as many as 500 slaves.
Men, women, and child slaves were owned by Jackson on three sections of the Hermitage plantation. Slaves lived in extended family units of between five and ten persons and were quartered in cabins made either of brick or logs. The size and quality of the Hermitage slave quarters exceeded the standards of the time. To help slaves acquire food, Jackson supplied them with guns, knives, and fishing equipment. At times he paid his slaves with money and coins to trade in local markets. Jackson permitted slaves to be whipped to increase productivity or if he believed his slaves' offenses were severe enough. At various times he posted advertisements for fugitive slaves who had escaped from his plantation. In one advertisement placed in the Tennessee Gazette in October 1804, Jackson offered "ten dollars extra, for every hundred lashes any person will give him, to the amount of three hundred."
The controversy surrounding his marriage to Rachel remained a sore point for Jackson, who deeply resented attacks on his wife's honor. By May 1806, Charles Dickinson, who, like Jackson, raced horses, had published an attack on Jackson in the local newspaper, and it resulted in a written challenge from Jackson to a duel. Since Dickinson was considered an expert shot, Jackson determined it would be best to let Dickinson turn and fire first, hoping that his aim might be spoiled in his quickness; Jackson would wait and take careful aim at Dickinson. Dickinson did fire first, hitting Jackson in the chest. The bullet that struck Jackson was so close to his heart that it could not be removed. Under the rules of dueling, Dickinson had to remain still as Jackson took aim and shot and killed him. Jackson's behavior in the duel outraged many in Tennessee, who called it a brutal, cold-blooded killing and saddled Jackson with a reputation as a violent, vengeful man. He became a social outcast.
After the Sevier affair and the duel, Jackson was looking for a way to salvage his reputation. He chose to align himself with former vice president Aaron Burr. Burr's political career ended after the killing of Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804; in 1805 he set out on a tour of what was then the western United States. Burr was extremely well received by the people of Tennessee, and stayed for five days at the Hermitage. Burr's true intentions are not known with certainty. He seems to have been planning a military operation to conquer Spanish Florida and drive the Spanish from Texas. To many westerners like Jackson, the promise seemed enticing. Western American settlers had long held bitter feelings towards Spain due to territorial disputes and their persistent failure to stop Indians living in Spanish territory from raiding American settlements. On October 4, 1806, Jackson addressed the Tennessee militia, declaring that the men should be "at a moment's warning ready to march." On the same day, he wrote to James Winchester, proclaiming that the United States "can conquer not only the Floridas [at that time there was an East Florida and a West Florida.], but all Spanish North America." He continued:
Jackson agreed to provide boats and other provisions for the expedition. However, on November 10, he learned from a military captain that Burr's plans apparently included seizure of New Orleans, then part of the Louisiana Territory of the United States, and incorporating it, along with lands won from the Spanish, into a new empire. He was further outraged when he learned from the same man of the involvement of Brigadier General James Wilkinson, whom he deeply disliked, in the plan. Jackson acted cautiously at first, but wrote letters to public officials, including President Thomas Jefferson, vaguely warning them about the scheme. In December, Jefferson, a political opponent of Burr, issued a proclamation declaring that a treasonous plot was underway in the West and calling for the arrest of the perpetrators. Jackson, safe from arrest because of his extensive paper trail, organized the militia. Burr was soon captured, and the men were sent home. Jackson traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to testify on Burr's behalf in trial. The defense team decided against placing him on the witness stand, fearing his remarks were too provocative. Burr was acquitted of treason, despite Jefferson's efforts to have him convicted. Jackson endorsed James Monroe for president in 1808 against James Madison. The latter was part of the Jeffersonian wing of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson lived relatively quietly at the Hermitage in the years after the Burr trial, eventually accumulating 640 acres of land.
Military career
War of 1812
Creek campaign and treaty
Leading up to 1812, the United States found itself increasingly drawn into international conflict. Formal hostilities with Spain or France never materialized, but tensions with Britain increased for a number of reasons. Among these was the desire of many Americans for more land, particularly British Canada and Florida, the latter still controlled by Spain, Britain's European ally. On June 18, 1812, Congress officially declared war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, beginning the War of 1812. Jackson responded enthusiastically, sending a letter to Washington offering 2,500 volunteers. However, the men were not called up for many months. Biographer Robert V. Remini claims that Jackson saw the apparent slight as payback by the Madison administration for his support of Burr and Monroe. Meanwhile, the United States military repeatedly suffered devastating defeats on the battlefield.
On January 10, 1813, Jackson led an army of 2,071 volunteers to New Orleans to defend the region against British and Native American attacks. He had been instructed to serve under General Wilkinson, who commanded Federal forces in New Orleans. Lacking adequate provisions, Wilkinson ordered Jackson to halt in Natchez, then part of the Mississippi Territory, and await further orders. Jackson reluctantly obeyed. The newly appointed Secretary of War, John Armstrong Jr., sent a letter to Jackson dated February 6 ordering him to dismiss his forces and to turn over his supplies to Wilkinson. In reply to Armstrong on March 15, Jackson defended the character and readiness of his men, and promised to turn over his supplies. He also promised, instead of dismissing the troops without provisions in Natchez, to march them back to Nashville. The march was filled with agony. Many of the men had fallen ill. Jackson and his officers turned over their horses to the sick. He paid for provisions for the men out of his own pocket. The soldiers began referring to their commander as "Hickory," after a hickory nut, because of his toughness, and Jackson became known as "Old Hickory". After about a month long march, the army finally arrived in Nashville. His actions earned him respect and praise from the people of Tennessee. Jackson faced financial ruin, until his former aide-de-camp Thomas Benton persuaded Armstrong to order the army to pay the expenses Jackson had incurred. On June 14, Jackson served as a second in a duel on behalf of his junior officer William Carroll against Jesse Benton, the brother of Thomas. On September 3, Jackson and his top cavalry officer, Brigadier General John Coffee, were involved in a street brawl with the Benton brothers. Jackson was severely wounded by Jesse with a gunshot to the shoulder.
On August 30, 1813, a group of Muscogee (or Creek) called the Red Sticks, so named for the color of their war paint, perpetrated the Fort Mims massacre in which hundreds of white American settlers and non-Red Stick Creeks were slaughtered. The Red Sticks, led by William Weatherford (also called Red Eagle) and Peter McQueen, had broken away from the rest of the Creek Confederacy, which wanted peace with the United States. They were allied with Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief who had launched Tecumseh's War against the United States, and who was fighting alongside the British. The resulting conflict became known as the Creek War.
Jackson, with 2,500 American soldiers, was ordered to crush the Red Sticks. On October 10, he set out on the expedition, his arm still in a sling from fighting the Bentons. Jackson established Fort Strother as a supply base. On November 3, Coffee defeated a band of Red Sticks at the Battle of Tallushatchee. Coming to the relief of friendly Creeks besieged by Red Sticks, Jackson won another decisive victory at the Battle of Talladega. In the winter, Jackson, encamped at Fort Strother, faced a severe shortage of troops due to the expiration of enlistments and chronic desertions. He sent Coffee with the cavalry (which abandoned him) back to Tennessee to secure more enlistments. Jackson decided to combine his force with that of the Georgia militia, and marched to meet the Georgia troops. From January 22–24, 1814, while on their way, the Tennessee militia and allied Muscogee were attacked by the Red Sticks at the Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek. Jackson's troops repelled the attackers, but outnumbered, were forced to withdraw to Fort Strother. Jackson, now with over 2,000 troops, marched most of his army south to confront the Red Sticks at a fortress they had constructed at a bend in the Tallapoosa River. Jackson, together with Lower Creek and Cherokee allies and enjoying an advantage of more than 2 to 1, engaged them on March 27 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. An initial artillery barrage did little damage to the well-constructed fort. A subsequent Infantry charge, in addition to an assault by Coffee's cavalry and diversions caused by the allied Creeks, overwhelmed the Red Sticks.
The campaign ended three weeks later with Red Eagle's surrender, although some Red Sticks such as McQueen fled to East Florida. On June 8, Jackson accepted a commission as brigadier general in the United States Army, and 10 days later became a major general, in command of the Seventh Military Division. Subsequently, Jackson, with Madison's approval, imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson. The treaty required the Muscogee, including those who had not joined the Red Sticks, to surrender 23 million acres (8,093,713 ha) of land to the United States. Most of the Creeks bitterly acquiesced. Though in ill-health from dysentery, Jackson then turned his attention to defeating Spanish and British forces. Jackson accused the Spanish of arming the Red Sticks and of violating the terms of their neutrality by allowing British soldiers into the Floridas. The first charge was true, while the second ignored the fact that it was Jackson's threats to invade Florida which had caused them to seek British protection. In the November 7 Battle of Pensacola, Jackson defeated the relatively small British and Spanish forces in a short skirmish. Shortly thereafter, the Spanish surrendered and the remaining British wthdrew. Weeks later, Jackson learned that the British were planning an attack on New Orleans, which sat on the mouth of the Mississippi River and held immense strategic and commercial value. Jackson abandoned Pensacola to the Spanish, placed a force in Mobile, Alabama, to guard against a possible invasion there, and rushed the rest of his forces west to defend New Orleans.
The Creeks coined their own name for Jackson, Jacksa Chula Harjo or "Jackson, old and fierce."
Battle of New Orleans
After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson had only about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained.
The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.
Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." Some have claimed that, because the war was already ended by the preliminary signing of the Treaty of Ghent, Jackson's victory at New Orleans was without importance aside from making him a celebrated figure. However, the Spanish, who had sold the Louisiana Territory to France, disputed France's right to sell it to the United States through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In April 1815, Spain, assuming that the British had won at New Orleans, asked for the return of the Louisiana Territory. Spanish representatives claimed to have been assured that they would receive the land back. Furthermore, Article IX of the Treaty of Ghent stipulated that the United States must return land taken from the Creeks to their original owners, essentially undoing the Treaty of Fort Jackson. Thanks to Jackson's victory at New Orleans, the American government felt that it could safely ignore that provision and it kept the lands that Jackson had acquired.
Enforced martial law in New Orleans
Jackson, still not knowing for certain of the treaty's signing, refused to lift martial law in the city. Citizens, local politicians, and some of Jackson's troops expressed growing displeasure. When some of the Creoles under Jackson's service, registering as French citizens with the French consul Louis de Toussard, asked to be discharged based on their foreign nationality, Jackson ordered all Frenchmen, including Toussard, to depart to no less than 120 miles from the limits of New Orleans. State senator Louis Louaillier wrote an anonymous piece in the New Orleans newspaper challenging Jackson's refusal to release the militia after the British ceded the field of battle. Jackson attempted to find the author and, after Louiallier admitted to having written the piece, he imprisoned him. In March, after U.S. District Court Judge Dominic A. Hall signed a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Louaillier, Jackson ordered Hall's arrest. A military court ordered Louiallier's release, but Jackson kept him in prison. He released Hall four miles from the city, which marked the limits of his jurisdiction. Jackson also ordered the execution of six members of the militia who had attempted to leave. Their deaths were not well publicized until the Coffin Handbills were circulated during his 1828 presidential campaign. On March 13, news officially reached the city that the peace treaty had been signed and ratified. Jackson immediately lifted martial law, released Louaillier from prison, and allowed the return of those he had exiled. Hall subsequently brought Jackson to trial on charges of contempt of court, and fined him $1,000.
First Seminole War
Following the war, Jackson remained in command of troops on the southern border of the U.S. He conducted business from the Hermitage. He signed treaties with the Cherokee and Chickasaw which gained for the United States large parts of Tennessee and Kentucky. The treaty with the Chickasaw, finally agreed to later in the year, is commonly known as the Jackson Purchase.
Jackson would soon find himself embroiled in another conflict in the Floridas. Several Native American tribes, collectively known as the Seminole, straddled the border between the U.S. and Florida. The Seminole, in alliance with escaped slaves, frequently raided Georgia settlements before retreating back into Florida. These skirmishes continually escalated into the conflict now known as the First Seminole War. In 1816, Jackson led a detachment into Florida and at the Battle of Negro Fort destroyed the fort, killing most of the fugitive slaves defending it and a smaller number of allied Choctaw. Jackson was then ordered by President Monroe in December 1817 to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Seminole and Creek. Jackson was again charged with preventing Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves, after Spain promised freedom to fugitive slaves. Critics later alleged that Jackson exceeded orders in his Florida actions. His orders from President Monroe were to "terminate the conflict." Jackson believed the best way to do this was to seize Florida from Spain once and for all. Before departing, Jackson wrote to Monroe, "Let it be signified to me through any channel ... that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished."
Jackson invaded Florida on March 15, 1818, capturing Pensacola. He crushed Seminole and Spanish resistance in the region and captured two British agents, Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, who had been working with the Seminole. After a brief trial, Jackson executed both of them, causing a diplomatic incident with the British. Jackson's actions polarized Monroe's cabinet, some of whom argued that Jackson had gone against Monroe's orders and violated the Constitution, since the United States had not declared war upon Spain. He was defended by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. Adams thought that Jackson's conquest of Florida would force Spain to finally sell the province, and Spain did indeed sell Florida to the United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. A congressional investigation exonerated Jackson, but he was deeply angered by the criticism he received, particularly from Speaker of the House Henry Clay. After the ratification of the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1821, Jackson resigned from the army and briefly served as the territorial Governor of Florida before returning to Tennessee.
Presidential aspirations
Election of 1824
In the spring of 1822, Jackson suffered a physical breakdown. His body had two bullets lodged in it, and he had grown exhausted from years of hard military campaigning. He regularly coughed up blood, and his entire body shook. Jackson feared that he was on the brink of death. After several months of rest, he recovered. During his convalescence, Jackson's thoughts increasingly turned to national affairs. He obsessed over rampant corruption in the Monroe administration and grew to detest the Second Bank of the United States, blaming it for causing the Panic of 1819 by contracting credit.
Jackson turned down an offer to run for governor of his home state, but accepted John Overton's plan to have the legislature nominate him for president. On July 22, 1822, he was officially nominated by the Tennessee legislature. Jackson had come to dislike Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford, who had been the most vocal critic of Jackson in Monroe's cabinet, and he hoped to prevent Tennessee's electoral votes from going to Crawford. Yet Jackson's nomination garnered a welcoming response even outside of Tennessee, as many Americans appreciated his attacks on banks. The Panic of 1819 had devastated the fortunes of many, and banks and politicians seen as supportive of banks were unpopular. With his growing political viability, Jackson emerged as one of the five major presidential candidates, along with Crawford, Adams, Clay, and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun. During the Era of Good Feelings, the Federalist Party had faded away, and all five presidential contenders were members of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson's campaign promoted him as a defender of the common people, as well as the one candidate who could rise above sectional divisions. On the major issues of the day, most prominently the tariff, Jackson expressed centrist beliefs, and opponents accused him of obfuscating his positions. At the forefront of Jackson's campaign was combatting corruption. Jackson vowed to restore honesty in government and to scale back its excesses. As a war hero, Jackson was popular with ordinary people, and he benefited from the expansion of suffrage among white males that followed the conclusion of the War of 1812.
In 1823, Jackson reluctantly allowed his name to be placed in contention for one of Tennessee's U.S. Senate seats. The move was independently orchestrated by his advisors William Berkeley Lewis and U.S. senator John Eaton in order to defeat incumbent John Williams, who openly opposed his presidential candidacy. The legislature narrowly elected him. His return, after 24 years, 11 months, 3 days out of office, marks the second longest gap in service to the chamber in history. Although Jackson was reluctant to serve once more in the Senate, he was appointed chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. Eaton wrote to Rachel that Jackson as a senator was "in harmony and good understanding with every body," including Thomas Hart Benton, now a senator from Missouri, with whom Jackson had fought in 1813. Meanwhile, Jackson himself did little active campaigning for the presidency, as was customary. Eaton updated an already-written biography of him in preparation for the campaign and, along with others, wrote letters to newspapers praising Jackson's record and past conduct.
Democratic-Republican presidential nominees had historically been chosen by informal Congressional nominating caucuses, but this method had become unpopular. In 1824, most of the Democratic-Republicans in Congress boycotted the caucus. Those who attended backed Crawford for president and Albert Gallatin for vice president. A Pennsylvania convention nominated Jackson for president a month later, stating that the irregular caucus ignored the "voice of the people" in the "vain hope that the American people might be thus deceived into a belief that he [Crawford] was the regular democratic candidate." Gallatin criticized Jackson as "an honest man and the idol of the worshipers of military glory, but from incapacity, military habits, and habitual disregard of laws and constitutional provisions, altogether unfit for the office." After Jackson won the Pennsylvania nomination, Calhoun dropped out of the presidential race and successfully sought the vice presidency instead.
In the presidential election, Jackson won a plurality of the electoral vote, taking states in the South, West, and Mid-Atlantic. He was the only candidate to win states outside of his regional base, as Adams dominated New England, Clay took three western states, and Crawford won Virginia and Georgia. Jackson won a plurality of the popular vote, taking 42 percent, although not all states held a popular vote for the presidency. He won 99 electoral votes, more than any other candidate, but still short of 131, which he needed for a true majority. With no candidate having won a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives held a contingent election under the terms of the Twelfth Amendment. The amendment specifies that only the top three electoral vote-winners are eligible to be elected by the House, so Clay was eliminated from contention. Jackson believed that he was likely to win this contingent election, as Crawford and Adams lacked Jackson's national appeal, and Crawford had suffered a debilitating stroke that made many doubt his physical fitness for the presidency. Clay, who as Speaker of the House presided over the election, saw Jackson as a dangerous demagogue who might topple the republic in favor of his own leadership. He threw his support behind Adams, who shared Clay's support for federally funded internal improvements such as roads and canals. With Clay's backing, Adams won the contingent election on the first ballot. Furious supporters of Jackson accused Clay and Adams of having reached a "corrupt bargain" after Adams appointed Clay as his Secretary of State. "So you see," Jackson growled, "the Judas of the West has closed the contract and receive the thirty pieces of silver. [H]is end will be the same." After the Congressional session concluded, Jackson resigned his Senate seat and returned to Tennessee.
Election of 1828 and death of Rachel Jackson
Almost immediately, opposition arose to the Adams presidency. Jackson opposed Adams's plan to involve the U.S. in Panama's quest for independence, writing, "The moment we engage in confederations, or alliances with any nation, we may from that time date the down fall of our republic." Adams damaged his standing in his first annual message to Congress, when he argued that Congress must not give the world the impression "that we are palsied by the will of our constituents."
Jackson was nominated for president by the Tennessee legislature in October 1825, more than three years before the 1828 election. It was the earliest such nomination in presidential history, and it attested to the fact that Jackson's supporters began the 1828 campaign almost as soon as the 1824 campaign ended. Adams's presidency foundered, as his ambitious agenda faced defeat in a new era of mass politics. Critics led by Jackson attacked Adams's policies as a dangerous expansion of Federal power. New York Senator Martin Van Buren, who had been a prominent supporter of Crawford in 1824, emerged as one of the strongest opponents of Adams's policies, and he settled on Jackson as his preferred candidate in 1828. Van Buren was joined by Vice President Calhoun, who opposed much of Adams's agenda on states' rights grounds. Van Buren and other Jackson allies established numerous pro-Jackson newspapers and clubs around the country, while Jackson avoided campaigning but made himself available to visitors at his Hermitage plantation. In the election, Jackson won a commanding 56 percent of the popular vote and 68 percent of the electoral vote. The election marked the definitive end of the one-party Era of Good Feelings, as Jackson's supporters coalesced into the Democratic Party and Adams's followers became known as the National Republicans. In the large Scots-Irish community that was especially numerous in the rural South and Southwest, Jackson was a favorite.
The campaign was heavily personal. As was the custom at the time, neither candidate personally campaigned, but their political followers organized campaign events. Both candidates were rhetorically attacked in the press. Jackson was labelled a slave trader who bought and sold slaves and moved them about in defiance of higher standards of slaveholder behavior. A series of pamphlets known as the Coffin Handbills were published to attack Jackson, one of which revealed his order to execute soldiers at New Orleans. Another accused him of engaging in cannibalism by eating the bodies of American Indians killed in battle, while still another labeled his mother a "common prostitute" and stated that Jackson's father was a "mulatto man."
Rachel Jackson was also a frequent target of attacks, and was widely accused of bigamy, a reference to the controversial situation of her marriage with Jackson. Jackson's campaigners fired back by claiming that while serving as Minister to Russia, Adams had procured a young girl to serve as a prostitute for Emperor Alexander I. They also stated that Adams had a billiard table in the White House and that he had charged the government for it.
Rachel had been under extreme stress during the election, and often struggled while Jackson was away. She began experiencing significant physical stress during the election season. Jackson described her symptoms as "excruciating pain in the left shoulder, arm, and breast." After struggling for three days, Rachel finally died of a heart attack on December 22, 1828, three weeks after her husband's victory in the election (which began on October 31 and ended on December 2) and 10 weeks before Jackson took office as president. A distraught Jackson had to be pulled from her so the undertaker could prepare the body. He felt that the abuse from Adams's supporters had hastened her death and never forgave him. Rachel was buried at the Hermitage on Christmas Eve. "May God Almighty forgive her murderers, as I know she forgave them," Jackson swore at her funeral. "I never can."
Presidency (1829–1837)
Philosophy
Jackson's name has been associated with Jacksonian democracy or the shift and expansion of democracy with the passing of some political power from established elites to ordinary voters based in political parties. "The Age of Jackson" shaped the national agenda and American politics. Jackson's philosophy as president was similar to that of Jefferson, advocating republican values held by the Revolutionary generation. Jackson took a moral tone, with the belief that agrarian sympathies, and strong states rights with a limited federal government, would produce less corruption. He feared that monied and business interests would corrupt republican values. When South Carolina opposed the tariff law, he took a strong line in favor of nationalism and against secession.
Jackson believed in the ability of the people to "arrive at right conclusions." They had the right not only to elect but to "instruct their agents & representatives." Office holders should either obey the popular will or resign. He rejected the view of a powerful and independent Supreme Court with binding decisions, arguing that "the Congress, the Executive, and the Court must each or itself be guided by its own opinions of the Constitution." Jackson thought that Supreme Court justices should be made to stand for election, and believed in strict constructionism as the best way to ensure democratic rule. He called for term limits on presidents and the abolition of the Electoral College. According to Robert V. Remini, Jackson "was far ahead of his times–and maybe even further than this country can ever achieve."
Inauguration
Jackson departed from the Hermitage on January 19 and arrived in Washington on February 11. He then set about choosing his cabinet members. Jackson chose Van Buren as expected for Secretary of State, Eaton of Tennessee as Secretary of War, Samuel D. Ingham of Pennsylvania as Secretary of Treasury, John Branch of North Carolina as Secretary of Navy, John M. Berrien of Georgia as Attorney General, and William T. Barry of Kentucky as Postmaster General. Jackson's first choice of cabinet proved to be unsuccessful, full of bitter partisanship and gossip. Jackson blamed Adams in part for what was said about Rachel during the campaign, and refused to meet him after arriving in Washington. Therefore, Adams chose not to attend the inauguration.
On March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson became the first United States president-elect to take the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. In his inaugural speech, Jackson promised to respect the sovereign powers of states and the constitutional limits of the presidency. He also promised to pursue "reform" by removing power from "unfaithful or incompetent hands." At the conclusion of the ceremony, Jackson invited the public to the White House, where his supporters held a raucous party. Thousands of spectators overwhelmed the White House staff, and minor damage was caused to fixtures and furnishings. Jackson's populism earned him the nickname "King Mob."
Reforms, rotation of offices, and spoils system
In an effort to purge the government of corruption, Jackson launched presidential investigations into all executive Cabinet offices and departments. He believed appointees should be hired on merit and withdrew many candidates he believed were lax in their handling of monies. He believed that the federal government had been corrupted and that he had received a mandate from the American people to purge such corruption. Jackson's investigations uncovered enormous fraud in the federal government, and numerous officials were removed from office and indicted on corruption, including personal friend of John Quincy Adams and Treasury Fourth Auditor Tobias Watkins. In the first year of Jackson's presidency, his investigations uncovered $280,000 stolen from the Treasury, and the Department of the Navy was saved $1 million. He asked Congress to reform embezzlement laws, reduce fraudulent applications for federal pensions, pass revenue laws to prevent evasion of custom duties, and pass laws to improve government accounting. Jackson's Postmaster General Barry resigned after a Congressional investigation into the postal service revealed mismanagement of mail services, collusion and favoritism in awarding lucrative contracts, as well as failure to audit accounts and supervise contract performances. Jackson replaced Barry with Treasury Auditor and prominent Kitchen Cabinet member Amos Kendall, who went on to implement reforms in the Post Office Department.
Jackson repeatedly called for the abolition of the Electoral College by constitutional amendment in his annual messages to Congress as president. In his third annual message to Congress, he expressed the view "I have heretofore recommended amendments of the Federal Constitution giving the election of President and Vice-President to the people and limiting the service of the former to a single term. So important do I consider these changes in our fundamental law that I can not, in accordance with my sense of duty, omit to press them upon the consideration of a new Congress."
Although he was unable to implement these goals, Jackson's time in office did see a variety of other reforms. He supported an act in July 1836 that enabled widows of Revolutionary War soldiers who met certain criteria to receive their husbands' pensions. In 1836, Jackson established the ten-hour day in national shipyards.
Jackson enforced the Tenure of Office Act, signed by President Monroe in 1820, that limited appointed office tenure and authorized the president to remove and appoint political party associates. Jackson believed that a rotation in office was a democratic reform preventing hereditary officeholding and made civil service responsible to the popular will. Jackson declared that rotation of appointments in political office was "a leading principle in the republican creed." Jackson noted, "In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another." Jackson believed that rotating political appointments would prevent the development of a corrupt bureaucracy. The number of federal office holders removed by Jackson were exaggerated by his opponents; Jackson rotated only about 20% of federal office holders during his first term, some for dereliction of duty rather than political purposes. Jackson, nonetheless, used his presidential power to award loyal Democrats by granting them federal office appointments. Jackson's approach incorporated patriotism for country as qualification for holding office. Having appointed a soldier who had lost his leg fighting on the battlefield to postmaster, Jackson stated, "[i]f he lost his leg fighting for his country, that is ... enough for me."
Jackson's theory regarding rotation of office generated what would later be called the spoils system. The political realities of Washington sometimes forced Jackson to make partisan appointments despite his personal reservations. Supervision of bureaus and departments whose operations were outside of Washington (such as the New York Customs House; the Postal Service; the Departments of Navy and War; and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose budget had increased enormously in the previous two decades) proved to be difficult. Remini writes that because "friendship, politics, and geography constituted the President's total criteria for appointments, most of his appointments were predictably substandard."
Petticoat affair
Jackson devoted a considerable amount of his presidential time during his early years in office responding to what came to be known as the "Petticoat affair" or "Eaton affair." Washington gossip circulated among Jackson's cabinet members and their wives, including Calhoun's wife Floride Calhoun, concerning Secretary of War Eaton and his wife Peggy Eaton. Salacious rumors held that Peggy, as a barmaid in her father's tavern, had been sexually promiscuous or had even been a prostitute. Controversy also ensued because Peggy had married soon after her previous husband's death, and it was alleged that she and her husband had engaged in an adulterous affair while her previous husband was still living. Petticoat politics emerged when the wives of cabinet members, led by Mrs. Calhoun, refused to socialize with the Eatons. Allowing a prostitute in the official family was unthinkable—but Jackson refused to believe the rumors, telling his Cabinet that "She is as chaste as a virgin!" Jackson believed that the dishonorable people were the rumormongers, who in essence questioned and dishonored Jackson himself by, in attempting to drive the Eatons out, daring to tell him who he could and could not have in his cabinet. Jackson was also reminded of the attacks that were made against his wife. These memories increased his dedication to defending Peggy Eaton.
Meanwhile, the cabinet wives insisted that the interests and honor of all American women was at stake. They believed a responsible woman should never accord a man sexual favors without the assurance that went with marriage. A woman who broke that code was dishonorable and unacceptable. Historian Daniel Walker Howe notes that this was the feminist spirit that in the next decade shaped the woman's rights movement. Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, a widower, was already forming a coalition against Calhoun. He could now see his main chance to strike hard; he took the side of Jackson and Eaton.
In the spring of 1831, Jackson, at Van Buren's suggestion, demanded the resignations of all the cabinet members except Barry. Van Buren himself resigned to avoid the appearance of bias. In 1832, Jackson nominated Van Buren to be Minister to Great Britain. Calhoun blocked the nomination with a tie-breaking vote against it, claiming the defeated nomination would "...kill him [Van Buren] dead, sir, kill him dead. He will never kick, sir, never kick." Van Buren continued to serve as an important adviser to Jackson and was placed on the ticket for vice president in the 1832 election, making him Jackson's heir-apparent. The Petticoat affair led to the development of the Kitchen Cabinet. The Kitchen Cabinet emerged as an unofficial group of advisors to the president. Its existence was partially rooted in Jackson's difficulties with his official cabinet, even after the purging.
Indian removal policy
Throughout his eight years in office, Jackson made about 70 treaties with American Indian tribes both in the South and in the Northwest. Jackson's presidency marked the beginning of a policy of Indian removal. Jackson himself sometimes participated in the treaty negotiating process, though other times he left the negotiations to his subordinates. The southern tribes included the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole and the Cherokee. The northwest tribes included the Chippewa, Ottawa, and the Potawatomi.
Relations between Indians and whites increasingly grew tense and sometimes violent as a result of territorial conflicts. Previous presidents had at times supported removal or attempts to "civilize" Native people, but generally let the problem play itself out with minimal intervention. But by Jackson's time, a growing popular and political movement developed wanting action on the issue, and out of this came policy decisions to relocate certain Indian populations. Jackson, never known for timidity, became an advocate for this relocation policy in what many historians consider the most controversial aspect of his presidency.
In his First Annual Message to Congress, Jackson advocated land west of the Mississippi River be set aside for Indian tribes. On May 26, 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which Jackson signed into law two days later. The Act authorized the president to negotiate treaties to buy tribal lands in the east in exchange for lands farther west, outside of existing state borders. The act specifically pertained to the Five Civilized Tribes in the South, the conditions being that they could either move west or stay and obey state law, effectively relinquishing their sovereignty.
Jackson, Eaton, and General Coffee negotiated with the Chickasaw, who quickly agreed to move. Jackson put Eaton and Coffee in charge of negotiating with the Choctaw. Lacking Jackson's skills at negotiation, they simply bribed various leaders in order to gain their agreement. The tactics worked, and with the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Choctaw were required to move. The removal of the Choctaw took place in the winter of 1831 and 1832, and was wrought with misery and suffering. The Seminole, despite the signing of the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832, refused to move. In December 1835, this dispute began the Second Seminole War. The war lasted over six years, finally ending in 1842. Members of the Creek Nation had signed the Treaty of Cusseta in 1832, allowing the Creek to either sell or retain their land. Conflict later erupted between the Creek who remained and the white settlers, leading to a second Creek War. A common complaint amongst the tribes was that the men who had signed the treaties did not represent the whole tribe.
The state of Georgia became involved in a dispute with the Cherokee, culminating in the 1832 Supreme Court decision in Worcester v. Georgia. Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for the court, ruled that Georgia could not forbid whites from entering tribal lands, as it had attempted to do with two missionaries supposedly stirring up resistance amongst the tribespeople. Jackson is frequently attributed the following response: "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." The quote, apparently indicating Jackson's dismissive view of the courts, was attributed to Jackson by Horace Greeley, who cited as his source Representative George N. Briggs. Remini argues that Jackson did not say it because, while it "certainly sounds like Jackson...[t]here was nothing for him to enforce." This is because a writ of habeas corpus had never been issued for the missionaries. The Court also did not ask federal marshals to carry out the decision, as had become standard.
A group of Cherokees led by John Ridge negotiated the Treaty of New Echota. Ridge was not a widely recognized leader of the Cherokee, and this document was rejected by some as illegitimate. Another faction, led by John Ross, unsuccessfully petitioned to protest the proposed removal. The Cherokee largely considered themselves independent, and not subject to the laws of the United States or Georgia. The treaty was enforced by Jackson's successor, Van Buren. Subsequently, as many as 4,000 out of 18,000 Cherokee died on the "Trail of Tears" in 1838.
More than 45,000 people were relocated, primarily to Indian territory in present-day Oklahoma during Jackson's administration, though some Cherokee people walked back afterwards, and others evaded removal by migrating into the Great Smoky Mountains. Another conflict during the Jackson administration was the Black Hawk War in 1832 after a group of Indians crossed into U.S. territory.
Nullification crisis
In 1828, Congress had approved the "Tariff of Abominations", which set the tariff at a historically high rate. Southern planters, who sold their cotton on the world market, strongly opposed this tariff, which they saw as favoring northern interests. The South now had to pay more for goods it did not produce locally; and other countries would have more difficulty affording southern cotton. The issue came to a head during Jackson's presidency, resulting in the Nullification Crisis, in which South Carolina threatened disunion.
The South Carolina Exposition and Protest of 1828, secretly written by Calhoun, asserted that their state had the right to "nullify"—declare void—the tariff legislation of 1828. Although Jackson sympathized with the South in the tariff debate, he also vigorously supported a strong union, with effective powers for the central government. Jackson attempted to face down Calhoun over the issue, which developed into a bitter rivalry between the two men. One incident came at the April 13, 1830, Jefferson Day dinner, involving after-dinner toasts. Robert Hayne began by toasting to "The Union of the States, and the Sovereignty of the States." Jackson then rose, and in a booming voice added "Our federal Union: It must be preserved!" – a clear challenge to Calhoun. Calhoun clarified his position by responding "The Union: Next to our Liberty, the most dear!"
In May 1830, Jackson discovered that Calhoun had asked President Monroe to censure Jackson for his invasion of Spanish Florida in 1818 while Calhoun was serving as Secretary of War. Calhoun's and Jackson's relationship deteriorated further. By February 1831, the break between Calhoun and Jackson was final. Responding to inaccurate press reports about the feud, Calhoun had published letters between him and Jackson detailing the conflict in the United States Telegraph. Jackson and Calhoun began an angry correspondence which lasted until Jackson stopped it in July. The Telegraph, edited by Duff Green, initially supported Jackson. After it sided with Calhoun on nullification, Jackson needed a new organ for the administration. He enlisted the help of longtime supporter Francis Preston Blair, who in November 1830 established a newspaper known as the Washington Globe, which from then on served as the primary mouthpiece of the Democratic Party.
Jackson supported a revision to tariff rates known as the Tariff of 1832. It was designed to placate the nullifiers by lowering tariff rates. Written by Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, the bill lowered duties from 45% to 27%. In May, Representative John Quincy Adams introduced a slightly revised version of the bill, which Jackson accepted. It passed Congress on July 9 and was signed by the president on July 14. The bill failed to satisfy extremists on either side. On November 24, the South Carolina legislature nullified both the Tariff of 1832 and the Tariff of 1828. In response, Jackson sent U.S. Navy warships to Charleston harbor, and threatened to hang any man who worked to support nullification or secession. On December 28, 1832, Calhoun resigned as vice president, after having been elected to the U.S. Senate. This was part of a strategy whereby Calhoun, with less than three months remaining on his vice presidential term, would replace Robert Y. Hayne in the Senate, and he would then become governor of South Carolina. Hayne had often struggled to defend nullification on the floor of the Senate, especially against fierce criticism from Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts.
Also that December, Jackson issued a resounding proclamation against the "nullifiers," stating that he considered "the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed." South Carolina, the president declared, stood on "the brink of insurrection and treason," and he appealed to the people of the state to reassert their allegiance to that Union for which their ancestors had fought. Jackson also denied the right of secession: "The Constitution ... forms a government not a league ... To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States are not a nation." Jackson tended to personalize the controversy, frequently characterizing nullification as a conspiracy between disappointed and bitter men whose ambitions had been thwarted.
Jackson asked Congress to pass a "Force Bill" explicitly authorizing the use of military force to enforce the tariff. It was introduced by Senator Felix Grundy of Tennessee, and was quickly attacked by Calhoun as "military despotism." At the same time, Calhoun and Clay began to work on a new compromise tariff. A bill sponsored by the administration had been introduced by Representative Gulian C. Verplanck of New York, but it lowered rates more sharply than Clay and other protectionists desired. Clay managed to get Calhoun to agree to a bill with higher rates in exchange for Clay's opposition to Jackson's military threats and, perhaps, with the hope that he could win some Southern votes in his next bid for the presidency. The Compromise Tariff passed on March 1, 1833. The Force Bill passed the same day. Calhoun, Clay, and several others marched out of the chamber in opposition, the only dissenting vote coming from John Tyler of Virginia. The new tariff was opposed by Webster, who argued that it essentially surrendered to South Carolina's demands. Jackson, despite his anger over the scrapping of the Verplanck bill and the new alliance between Clay and Calhoun, saw it as an efficient way to end the crisis. He signed both bills on March 2, starting with the Force Bill. The South Carolina Convention then met and rescinded its nullification ordinance, but in a final show of defiance, nullified the Force Bill. On May 1, Jackson wrote, "the tariff was only the pretext, and disunion and southern confederacy the real object. The next pretext will be the negro, or slavery question."
Foreign affairs
Addressing the subject of foreign affairs in his First Annual Address to Congress, Jackson declared it to be his "settled purpose to ask nothing that is not clearly right and to submit to nothing that is wrong."
When Jackson took office, spoliation claims, or compensation demands for the capture of American ships and sailors, dating from the Napoleonic era, caused strained relations between the U.S. and French governments. The French Navy had captured and sent American ships to Spanish ports while holding their crews captive forcing them to labor without any charges or judicial rules. According to Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, relations between the U.S. and France were "hopeless." Jackson's Minister to France, William C. Rives, through diplomacy was able to convince the French government to sign a reparations treaty on July 4, 1831, that would award the U.S. ₣ 25,000,000 ($5,000,000) in damages. The French government became delinquent in payment due to internal financial and political difficulties. The French king Louis Philippe I and his ministers blamed the French Chamber of Deputies. By 1834, the non-payment of reparations by the French government drew Jackson's ire and he became impatient. In his December 1834 State of the Union address, Jackson sternly reprimanded the French government for non-payment, stating the federal government was "wholly disappointed" by the French, and demanded Congress authorize trade reprisals against France. Feeling insulted by Jackson's words, the French people began pressuring their government not to pay the indemnity until Jackson had apologized for his remarks. In his December 1835 State of the Union Address, Jackson refused to apologize, stating he had a good opinion of the French people and his intentions were peaceful. Jackson described in lengthy and minute detail the history of events surrounding the treaty and his belief that the French government was purposely stalling payment. The French accepted Jackson's statements as sincere and in February 1836, reparations were paid.
In addition to France, the Jackson administration successfully settled spoliation claims with Denmark, Portugal, and Spain. Jackson's state department was active and successful at making trade agreements with Russia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Siam. Under the treaty with the United Kingdom, American trade was reopened in the West Indies. The trade agreement with Siam was America's first treaty between the United States and an Asiatic country. As a result, American exports increased 75% while imports increased 250%.
Jackson's attempt to purchase Texas from Mexico for $5,000,000 failed. The chargé d'affaires in Mexico, Colonel Anthony Butler, suggested that the U.S. take Texas over militarily, but Jackson refused. Butler was later replaced toward the end of Jackson's presidency. In 1835, the Texas Revolution began when pro-slavery American settlers in Texas fought the Mexican government for Texan independence. By May 1836, they had routed the Mexican military, establishing an independent Republic of Texas. The new Texas government legalized slavery and demanded recognition from President Jackson and annexation into the United States. Jackson was hesitant in recognizing Texas, unconvinced that the new republic could maintain independence from Mexico, and not wanting to make Texas an anti-slavery issue during the 1836 election. The strategy worked; the Democratic Party and national loyalties were held intact, and Van Buren was elected president. Jackson formally recognized the Republic of Texas, nominating Alcée Louis la Branche as chargé d'affaires on the last full day of his presidency, March 3, 1837.
Jackson failed in his efforts to open trade with China and Japan and was unsuccessful at thwarting the United Kingdom's presence and power in South America.
Bank veto and election of 1832
The 1832 presidential election demonstrated the rapid development and organization of political parties during this time period. The Democratic Party's first national convention, held in Baltimore, nominated Jackson's choice for vice president, Van Buren. The National Republican Party, who had held their first convention in Baltimore earlier in December 1831, nominated Henry Clay, now a senator from Kentucky, and John Sergeant of Pennsylvania. The Anti-Masonic Party emerged by capitalizing on opposition to Freemasonry, which existed primarily in New England, after the disappearance and possible murder of William Morgan. The party, which had earlier held its convention also in Baltimore in September 1831, nominated William Wirt of Maryland and Amos Ellmaker of Pennsylvania. Clay was, like Jackson, a Mason, and so some anti-Jacksonians who would have supported the National Republican Party supported Wirt instead.
In 1816, the Second Bank of the United States was chartered by President James Madison to restore the United States economy devastated by the War of 1812. Monroe had appointed Nicholas Biddle as the Bank's executive. Jackson believed that the Bank was a fundamentally corrupt monopoly. Its stock was mostly held by foreigners, he insisted, and it exerted an unfair amount of control over the political system. Jackson used the issue to promote his democratic values, believing the Bank was being run exclusively for the wealthy. Jackson stated the Bank made "the rich richer and the potent more powerful." He accused it of making loans with the intent of influencing elections. In his address to Congress in 1830, Jackson called for a substitute for the Bank that would have no private stockholders and no ability to lend or purchase land. Its only power would be to issue bills of exchange. The address touched off fiery debate in the Senate. Thomas Hart Benton, now a strong supporter of the president despite the brawl years earlier, gave a speech excoriating the Bank and calling for debate on its recharter. Webster led a motion to narrowly defeat the resolution. Shortly afterward, the Globe announced that Jackson would stand for reelection.
Despite his misgivings about the Bank, Jackson supported a plan proposed in late 1831 by his moderately pro-Bank Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, who was secretly working with Biddle, to recharter a reformed version of the Bank in a way that would free up funds which would in turn be used to strengthen the military or pay off the nation's debt. This would be done, in part, through the sale of government stock in the Bank. Over the objections of Attorney General Roger B. Taney, an irreconcilable opponent of the Bank, he allowed McLane to publish a Treasury Report which essentially recommended rechartering the Bank.
Clay hoped to make the Bank an issue in the election, so as to accuse Jackson of going beyond his powers if he vetoed a recharter bill. He and Webster urged Biddle to immediately apply for recharter rather than wait to reach a compromise with the administration. Biddle received advice to the contrary from moderate Democrats such as McLane and William Lewis, who argued that Biddle should wait because Jackson would likely veto the recharter bill. On January 6, 1832, Biddle submitted to Congress a renewal of the Bank's charter without any of the proposed reforms. The submission came four years before the original 20-year charter was to end. Biddle's recharter bill passed the Senate on June 11 and the House on July 3, 1832. Jackson determined to veto it. Many moderate Democrats, including McLane, were appalled by the perceived arrogance of the bill and supported his decision. When Van Buren met Jackson on July 4, Jackson declared, "The Bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill me. But I will kill it." Jackson vetoed the bill on July 10. The veto message was crafted primarily by Taney, Kendall, and Jackson's nephew and advisor Andrew Jackson Donelson. It attacked the Bank as an agent of inequality that supported only the wealthy. The veto was considered "one of the strongest and most controversial" presidential statements and "a brilliant political manifesto." The National Republican Party immediately made Jackson's veto of the Bank a political issue. Jackson's political opponents castigated the veto as "the very slang of the leveller and demagogue," claiming Jackson was using class warfare to gain support from the common man.
At Biddle's direction, the Bank poured thousands of dollars into a campaign to defeat Jackson, seemingly confirming Jackson's view that it interfered in the political process. Jackson successfully portrayed his veto as a defense of the common man against governmental tyranny. Clay proved to be no match for Jackson's ability to resonate with the people and the Democratic Party's strong political networks. Democratic newspapers, parades, barbecues, and rallies increased Jackson's popularity. Jackson himself made numerous public appearances on his return trip from Tennessee to Washington, D.C. He won the election by a landslide, receiving 54 percent of the popular vote and 219 electoral votes. Clay received 37 percent of the popular vote and 49 electoral votes. Wirt received only eight percent of the popular vote and seven electoral votes while the Anti-Masonic Party eventually declined. Jackson believed the solid victory was a popular mandate for his veto of the Bank's recharter and his continued warfare on the Bank's control over the national economy.
Removal of deposits and censure
In 1833, Jackson attempted to begin removing federal deposits from the bank, whose money-lending functions were taken over by the legions of local and state banks that materialized across America, thus drastically increasing credit and speculation. Jackson's moves were greatly controversial. He removed McLane from the Treasury Department, having him serve instead as Secretary of State, replacing Edward Livingston. He replaced McLane with William J. Duane. In September, he fired Duane for refusing to remove the deposits. Signalling his intent to continue battling the Bank, he replaced Duane with Taney. Under Taney, the deposits began to be removed. They were placed in a variety of state banks which were friendly to the administration's policies, known to critics as pet banks. Biddle responded by stockpiling the Bank's reserves and contracting credit, thus causing interest rates to rise and bringing about a financial panic. The moves were intended to force Jackson into a compromise. "Nothing but the evidence of suffering abroad will produce any effect in Congress," he wrote. At first, Biddle's strategy was successful, putting enormous pressure on Jackson. But Jackson handled the situation well. When people came to him complaining, he referred them to Biddle, saying that he was the man who had "all the money." Jackson's approach worked. Biddle's strategy backfired, increasing anti-Bank sentiment.
In 1834, those who disagreed with Jackson's expansion of executive power united and formed the Whig Party, calling Jackson "King Andrew I," and named their party after the English Whigs who opposed seventeenth century British monarchy. A movement emerged among Whigs in the Senate to censure Jackson. The censure was a political maneuver spearheaded by Clay, which served only to perpetuate the animosity between him and Jackson. Jackson called Clay "reckless and as full of fury as a drunken man in a brothel." On March 28, the Senate voted to censure Jackson 26–20. It also rejected Taney as Treasury Secretary. The House however, led by Ways and Means Committee chairman James K. Polk, declared on April 4 that the Bank "ought not to be rechartered" and that the depositions "ought not to be restored." It voted to continue allowing pet banks to be places of deposit and voted even more overwhelmingly to investigate whether the Bank had deliberately instigated the panic. Jackson called the passage of these resolutions a "glorious triumph." It essentially sealed the Bank's demise. The Democrats later suffered a temporary setback. Polk ran for Speaker of the House to replace Andrew Stevenson. After Southerners discovered his connection to Van Buren, he was defeated by fellow-Tennessean John Bell, a Democrat-turned-Whig who opposed Jackson's removal policy.
Payment of US national debt
The national economy following the withdrawal of the remaining funds from the Bank was booming and the federal government through duty revenues and sale of public lands was able to pay all bills. On January 1, 1835, Jackson paid off the entire national debt, the only time in U.S. history that has been accomplished. The objective had been reached in part through Jackson's reforms aimed at eliminating the misuse of funds and through his vetoes of legislation which he deemed extravagant. In December 1835, Polk defeated Bell in a rematch and was elected Speaker. Finally, on January 16, 1837, when the Jacksonians had a majority in the Senate, the censure was expunged after years of effort by Jackson supporters. The expunction movement was led, ironically, by Benton.
In 1836, in response to increased land speculation, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, an executive order that required buyers of government lands to pay in "specie" (gold or silver coins). The result was high demand for specie, which many banks could not meet in exchange for their notes, contributing to the Panic of 1837. The White House Van Buren biography notes, "Basically the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of 'boom and bust,' which was following its regular pattern, but Jackson's financial measures contributed to the crash. His destruction of the Second Bank of the United States had removed restrictions upon the inflationary practices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easy bank credit, had swept the West. To end this speculation, Jackson in 1836 had issued a Specie Circular..."
Attack and assassination attempt
The first recorded physical attack on a U.S. president was directed at Jackson. He had ordered the dismissal of Robert B. Randolph from the navy for embezzlement. On May 6, 1833, Jackson sailed on USS Cygnet to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he was to lay the cornerstone on a monument near the grave of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother. During a stopover near Alexandria, Randolph appeared and struck the president. He fled the scene chased by several members of Jackson's party, including the writer Washington Irving. Jackson declined to press charges.
On January 30, 1835, what is believed to be the first attempt to kill a sitting president of the United States occurred just outside the United States Capitol. When Jackson was leaving through the East Portico after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter from England, aimed a pistol at Jackson, which misfired. Lawrence then pulled out a second pistol, which also misfired. Historians believe the humid weather contributed to the double misfiring. Jackson, infuriated, attacked Lawrence with his cane, until others present, including Davy Crockett, fearing that the president would beat Lawrence to a pulp, intervened to restrain and disarm Lawrence.
Lawrence offered a variety of explanations for the attempted shooting. He blamed Jackson for the loss of his job. He claimed that with the president dead, "money would be more plenty," (a reference to Jackson's struggle with the Bank of the United States) and that he "could not rise until the President fell." Finally, Lawrence told his interrogators that he was a deposed English king—specifically, Richard III, dead since 1485—and that Jackson was his clerk. He was deemed insane and was institutionalized at the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C.
Afterwards, the pistols were tested and retested. Each time they performed perfectly. Many believed that Jackson had been protected by the same Providence that also protected their young nation. The incident became a part of Jacksonian mythos. Jackson initially suspected that a number of his political enemies might have orchestrated the attempt on his life. His suspicions were never proven.
Reaction to anti-slavery tracts
During the summer of 1835, Northern abolitionists began sending anti-slavery tracts through the postal system into the South. Pro-slavery Southerners demanded that the postal service ban distribution of the materials, which were deemed "incendiary," and some began to riot. Jackson wanted sectional peace, and desired to placate Southerners ahead of the 1836 election. He fiercely disliked the abolitionists, whom he believed were, by instituting sectional jealousies, attempting to destroy the Union. Jackson also did not want to condone open insurrection. He supported the solution of Postmaster General Amos Kendall, which gave Southern postmasters discretionary powers to either send or detain the anti-slavery tracts. That December, Jackson called on Congress to prohibit the circulation through the South of "incendiary publications intended to instigate the slaves to insurrection."
U.S. exploring expedition
Jackson initially opposed any federal exploratory scientific expeditions during his first term in office. The last scientific federally funded expeditions took place from 1817 to 1823, led by Stephen H. Harriman west of the Mississippi. Jackson's predecessor, President Adams, attempted to launch a scientific oceanic exploration in 1828, but Congress was unwilling to fund the effort. When Jackson assumed office in 1829 he pocketed Adams' expedition plans. Eventually, wanting to establish his presidential legacy, similar to Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Jackson sponsored scientific exploration during his second term. On May 18, 1836, Jackson signed a law creating and funding the oceanic United States Exploring Expedition. Jackson put Secretary of the Navy Mahlon Dickerson in charge, to assemble suitable ships, officers, and scientific staff for the expedition; with a planned launch before Jackson's term of office expired. Dickerson proved unfit for the task, preparations stalled and the expedition was not launched until 1838, during the presidency of Van Buren. One brig ship, , later used in the expedition; having been commissioned by Secretary Dickerson in May 1836, circumnavigated the world and explored and mapped the Southern Ocean, confirming the existence of the continent of Antarctica.
Panic of 1837
In spite of economic success following Jackson's vetoes and war against the Bank, reckless speculation in land and railroads eventually caused the Panic of 1837. Contributing factors included Jackson's veto of the Second National Bank renewal charter in 1832 and subsequent transfer of federal monies to state banks in 1833 that caused western banks to relax their lending standards. Two other Jacksonian acts in 1836 contributed to the Panic of 1837: the Specie Circular, which mandated western lands only be purchased by money backed by gold and silver, and the Deposit and Distribution Act, which transferred federal monies from eastern to western state banks and in turn led to a speculation frenzy by banks. Jackson's Specie Circular, albeit designed to reduce speculation and stabilize the economy, left many investors unable to afford to pay loans in gold and silver. The same year there was a downturn in Great Britain's economy that stopped investment in the United States. As a result, the U.S. economy went into a depression, banks became insolvent, the national debt (previously paid off) increased, business failures rose, cotton prices dropped, and unemployment dramatically increased. The depression that followed lasted for four years until 1841, when the economy began to rebound.
Administration and cabinet
Judicial appointments
Jackson appointed six justices to the Supreme Court. Most were undistinguished. His first appointee, John McLean, had been nominated in Barry's place after Barry had agreed to become postmaster general. McLean "turned Whig and forever schemed to win" the presidency. His next two appointees–Henry Baldwin and James Moore Wayne–disagreed with Jackson on some points but were poorly regarded even by Jackson's enemies. In reward for his services, Jackson nominated Taney to the Court to fill a vacancy in January 1835, but the nomination failed to win Senate approval. Chief Justice Marshall died in 1835, leaving two vacancies on the court. Jackson nominated Taney for Chief Justice and Philip P. Barbour for Associate Justice. Both were confirmed by the new Senate. Taney served as Chief Justice until 1864, presiding over a court that upheld many of the precedents set by the Marshall Court. He was regarded with respect over the course of his career on the bench, but his opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford largely overshadows his other accomplishments. On the last full day of his presidency, Jackson nominated John Catron, who was confirmed.
States admitted to the Union
Two new states were admitted into the Union during Jackson's presidency: Arkansas (June 15, 1836) and Michigan (January 26, 1837). Both states increased Democratic power in Congress and helped Van Buren win the presidency in 1836. This was in keeping with the tradition that new states would support the party which had done the most to admit them.
Later life and death (1837–1845)
In 1837, after serving two terms as president, Jackson was replaced by his chosen successor Martin Van Buren and retired to the Hermitage. He immediately began putting it in order as it had been poorly managed in his absence by his adopted son, Andrew Jackson Jr. Although he suffered ill health, Jackson remained highly influential in both national and state politics. He was a firm advocate of the federal union of the states and rejected any talk of secession, insisting, "I will die with the Union." Blamed for causing the Panic of 1837, he was unpopular in his early retirement. Jackson continued to denounce the "perfidy and treachery" of banks and urged his successor, Van Buren, to repudiate the Specie Circular as president.
As a solution to the panic, he supported an Independent Treasury system, which was designed to hold the money balances of the government in the form of gold or silver and would be restricted from printing paper money so as to prevent further inflation. A coalition of conservative Democrats and Whigs opposed the bill, and it was not passed until 1840. During the delay, no effective remedy had been implemented for the depression. Van Buren grew deeply unpopular. A unified Whig Party nominated popular war hero William Henry Harrison and former Jacksonian John Tyler in the 1840 presidential election. The Whigs' campaign style in many ways mimicked that of the Democrats when Jackson ran. They depicted Van Buren as an aristocrat who did not care for the concerns of ordinary Americans, while glorifying Harrison's military record and portraying him as a man of the people. Jackson campaigned heavily for Van Buren in Tennessee. He favored the nomination of Polk for vice president at the 1840 Democratic National Convention over controversial incumbent Richard Mentor Johnson. No nominee was chosen, and the party chose to leave the decision up to individual state electors.
Harrison won the election, and the Whigs captured majorities in both houses of Congress. "The democracy of the United States has been shamefully beaten", Jackson wrote to Van Buren, "but I trust, not conquered." Harrison died only a month into his term, and was replaced by Tyler. Jackson was encouraged because Tyler had a strong independent streak and was not bound by party lines. Tyler quickly incurred the wrath of the Whigs in 1841 when he vetoed two Whig-sponsored bills to establish a new national bank, bringing satisfaction to Jackson and other Democrats. After the second veto, Tyler's entire cabinet, with the exception of Webster, resigned.
Jackson strongly favored the annexation of Texas, a feat he had been unable to accomplish during his own presidency. While Jackson still feared that annexation would stir up anti-slavery sentiment, his belief that the British would use Texas as a base to threaten the United States overrode his other concerns. He also insisted that Texas was part of the Louisiana Purchase and therefore rightfully belonged to the United States. At the request of Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, acting on behalf of the Tyler administration, which also supported annexation, Jackson wrote several letters to Texas president Sam Houston, urging him to wait for the Senate to approve annexation and explaining how much being a part of the United States would benefit Texas. Initially prior to the 1844 election, Jackson again supported Van Buren for president and Polk for vice president. A treaty of annexation was signed by Tyler on April 12, 1844, and submitted to the Senate. When a letter from Secretary of State Calhoun to British Ambassador Richard Pakenham linking annexation to slavery was made public, anti-annexation sentiment exploded in the North and the bill failed to be ratified. Van Buren decided to write the "Hamlet letter," opposing annexation. This effectively extinguished any support that Van Buren might previously have enjoyed in the South. The Whig nominee, Henry Clay, also opposed annexation, and Jackson recognized the need for the Democrats to nominate a candidate who supported it and could therefore gain the support of the South. If the plan failed, Jackson warned, Texas would not join the Union and would potentially fall victim to a Mexican invasion supported by the British.
Jackson met with Polk, Robert Armstrong, and Andrew Jackson Donelson in his study. He then pointed directly at a startled Polk, telling him that, as a man from the southwest and a supporter of annexation, he would be the perfect candidate. Polk called the scheme "utterly abortive", but agreed to go along with it. At the 1844 Democratic National Convention, Polk emerged as the party's nominee after Van Buren failed to win the required two-thirds majority of delegates. George M. Dallas was selected for vice president. Jackson convinced Tyler to drop his plans of running for re-election as an independent by promising, as Tyler requested, to welcome the President and his allies back into the Democratic Party and by instructing Blair to stop criticizing the President. Polk won the election, defeating Clay. A bill of annexation was passed by Congress in February and signed by Tyler on March 1.
Jackson's age and illness eventually overcame him. On June 8, 1845, he was surrounded by family and friends at his deathbed. Jackson, startled by their sobbing, said, "What is the matter with my dear children? Have I alarmed you? Oh, do not cry. Be good children and we will all meet in Heaven." He died immediately after at the age of 78 of chronic dropsy and heart failure. According to a newspaper account from the Boon Lick Times, "[he] fainted whilst being removed from his chair to the bed ... but he subsequently revived ... Gen. Jackson died at the Hermitage at 6 p.m. on Sunday the 8th instant. ... When the messenger finally came, the old soldier, patriot and Christian was looking out for his approach. He is gone, but his memory lives, and will continue to live." In his will, Jackson left his entire estate to Andrew Jackson Jr. except for specifically enumerated items that were left to various friends and family members.
Personal life
Family
Jackson had three adopted sons: Theodore, an Indian about whom little is known, Andrew Jackson Jr., the son of Rachel's brother Severn Donelson, and Lyncoya, a Creek orphan adopted by Jackson after the Battle of Tallushatchee. Lyncoya died of tuberculosis on July 1, 1828, at the age of sixteen.
The Jacksons also acted as guardians for eight other children. John Samuel Donelson, Daniel Smith Donelson, and Andrew Jackson Donelson were the sons of Rachel's brother Samuel Donelson, who died in 1804. Andrew Jackson Hutchings was Rachel's orphaned grand nephew. Caroline Butler, Eliza Butler, Edward Butler, and Anthony Butler were the orphaned children of Edward Butler, a family friend. They came to live with the Jacksons after the death of their father.
The widower Jackson invited Rachel's niece Emily Donelson to serve as hostess at the White House. Emily was married to Andrew Jackson Donelson, who acted as Jackson's private secretary and in 1856 ran for vice president on the American Party ticket. The relationship between the president and Emily became strained during the Petticoat affair, and the two became estranged for over a year. They eventually reconciled and she resumed her duties as White House hostess. Sarah Yorke Jackson, the wife of Andrew Jackson Jr., became co-hostess of the White House in 1834. It was the only time in history when two women simultaneously acted as unofficial First Lady. Sarah took over all hostess duties after Emily died from tuberculosis in 1836. Jackson used Rip Raps as a retreat.
Temperament
Jackson's quick temper was notorious. Biographer H. W. Brands notes that his opponents were terrified of his temper: "Observers likened him to a volcano, and only the most intrepid or recklessly curious cared to see it erupt. ... His close associates all had stories of his blood-curdling oaths, his summoning of the Almighty to loose His wrath upon some miscreant, typically followed by his own vow to hang the villain or blow him to perdition. Given his record—in duels, brawls, mutiny trials, and summary hearings—listeners had to take his vows seriously."
On the last day of his presidency, Jackson admitted that he had but two regrets, that he "had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun." On his deathbed, he was once again quoted as regretting that he had not hanged Calhoun for treason. "My country would have sustained me in the act, and his fate would have been a warning to traitors in all time to come," he said. Remini expresses the opinion that Jackson was typically in control of his temper, and that he used his anger, along with his fearsome reputation, as a tool to get what he wanted.
Physical appearance
Jackson was a lean figure, standing at tall, and weighing between on average. Jackson also had an unruly shock of red hair, which had completely grayed by the time he became president at age 61. He had penetrating deep blue eyes. Jackson was one of the more sickly presidents, suffering from chronic headaches, abdominal pains, and a hacking cough. Much of his trouble was caused by a musket ball in his lung that was never removed, that often brought up blood and sometimes made his whole body shake.
Religious faith
In 1838, Jackson became an official member of the First Presbyterian Church in Nashville. Both his mother and his wife had been devout Presbyterians all their lives, but Jackson himself had postponed officially entering the church in order to avoid accusations that he had joined only for political reasons.
Freemasonry
Jackson was a Freemason, initiated at Harmony Lodge No. 1 in Tennessee. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee in 1822 and 1823. During the 1832 presidential election, Jackson faced opposition from the Anti-Masonic Party. He was the only U.S. president to have served as Grand Master of a state's Grand Lodge until Harry S. Truman in 1945. His Masonic apron is on display in the Tennessee State Museum. An obelisk and bronze Masonic plaque decorate his tomb at the Hermitage.
Legacy
Historical reputation
Jackson remains one of the most studied and controversial figures in American history. Historian Charles Grier Sellers says, "Andrew Jackson's masterful personality was enough by itself to make him one of the most controversial figures ever to stride across the American stage." There has never been universal agreement on Jackson's legacy, for "his opponents have ever been his most bitter enemies, and his friends almost his worshippers." He was always a fierce partisan, with many friends and many enemies. He has been lauded as the champion of the common man, while criticized for his treatment of Indians and for other matters. James Parton was the first man after Jackson's death to write a full biography of him. Trying to sum up the contradictions in his subject, he wrote:
Jackson was criticized by his contemporary Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1835 book Democracy in America for flattering the dominant ideas of his time, including the mistrust over the federal power, for sometimes enforcing his view by force and disrespect towards the institutions and the law:
In the 20th century, Jackson was the subject of multiple highly favorable biographies. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.'s Age of Jackson (1945) depicts Jackson as a man of the people battling inequality and upper-class tyranny. From the 1970s to the 1980s, Robert Remini published a three-volume biography of Jackson followed by an abridged one-volume study. Remini paints a generally favorable portrait of Jackson. He contends that Jacksonian democracy "stretches the concept of democracy about as far as it can go and still remain workable. ... As such it has inspired much of the dynamic and dramatic events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in American history—Populism, Progressivism, the New and Fair Deals, and the programs of the New Frontier and Great Society." To Remini, Jackson serves as "the embodiment of the new American ... This new man was no longer British. He no longer wore the queue and silk pants. He wore trousers, and he had stopped speaking with a British accent." Other 20th-century writers such as Richard Hofstadter and Bray Hammond depict Jackson as an advocate of the sort of laissez-faire capitalism that benefits the rich and oppresses the poor.
Jackson's initiatives to deal with the conflicts between Native American people and European-American settlers has been a source of controversy. Starting around 1970, Jackson came under attack from some historians on this issue. Howard Zinn called him "the most aggressive enemy of the Indians in early American history" and "exterminator of Indians." Conversely, in 1969, Francis Paul Prucha argued that Jackson's removal of the Five Civilized Tribes from the extremely hostile white environment in the Old South to Oklahoma probably saved their very existence. Similarly, Remini claims that, if not for Jackson's policies, the Southeastern tribes would have been totally wiped out, similar to people such as the Yamasee, Mahican, and Narragansett.
Jackson has long been honored, along with Thomas Jefferson, in the Jefferson–Jackson Day fundraising dinners held by state Democratic Party organizations to honor the two men whom the party regards as its founders. However, because both Jefferson and Jackson were slave owners, as well as because of Jackson's Indian removal policies, many state party organizations have renamed the dinners.
Brands argues that Jackson's reputation suffered since the 1960s as his actions towards Indians and African Americans received new attention. After the civil rights movement, Brand writes, "his unrepentant ownership of slaves marked him as one to be censured rather than praised." Further, "By the turn of the present [21st] century, it was scarcely an exaggeration to say that the one thing American schoolchildren learned about Jackson was that he was the author of the Trail of Tears." Brands notes that he was often hailed during his lifetime as the "second George Washington" because, while Washington had fought for independence, Jackson confirmed it at New Orleans and made the United States a great power. Over time, while the Revolution has maintained a strong presence in the public conscience, memory of the War of 1812, including the Battle of New Orleans, has sharply declined. Brands writes that this is because once America had become a military power, "it was easy to think that America had been destined for this role from the beginning."
Still, Jackson's performance in office compared to other presidents has generally been ranked in the top half in public opinion polling. His position in C-SPAN's poll dropped from 13th in 2009, to 18th in 2017, and to 22nd in 2021.
Portrayal on banknotes and stamps
Jackson has appeared on U.S. banknotes as far back as 1869, and extending into the 21st century. His image has appeared on the $5, $10, $20, and $10,000 note. Most recently, his image has appeared on the U.S. $20 Federal reserve note beginning in 1928. In 2016, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced his goal that by 2020 an image of Harriet Tubman would replace Jackson's depiction on the front side of the $20 banknote, and that an image of Jackson would be placed on the reverse side, though the final decision will be made by his successors.
Jackson has appeared on several postage stamps. He first appeared on an 1863 two-cent stamp, which is commonly referred to by collectors as the Black Jack due to the large portraiture of Jackson on its face printed in pitch black. During the American Civil War, the Confederate government issued two Confederate postage stamps bearing Jackson's portrait, one a 2-cent red stamp and the other a 2-cent green stamp, both issued in 1863.
Memorials
Numerous counties and cities are named after him, including the cities of Jacksonville in Florida and North Carolina; the cities of Jackson in Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee; the city of Andrew in Iowa; Jackson County in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Oregon; and Jackson Parish in Louisiana.
Memorials to Jackson include a set of four identical equestrian statues by the sculptor Clark Mills: in Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.; in Jackson Square, New Orleans; in Nashville on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol; and in Jacksonville, Florida. Other equestrian statues of Jackson have been erected elsewhere, as in the State Capitol grounds in Raleigh, North Carolina. That statue controversially identifies him as one of the "presidents North Carolina gave the nation," and he is featured alongside James Polk and Andrew Johnson, both U.S. presidents born in North Carolina. There is a bust of Andrew Jackson in Plaza Ferdinand VII in Pensacola, Florida, where he became the first governor of the Florida Territory in 1821. There is also a 1928 bronze sculpture of Andrew Jackson by Belle Kinney Scholz and Leopold Scholz in the U.S. Capitol Building as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Popular culture depictions
Jackson and his wife Rachel were the main subjects of a 1951 historical novel by Irving Stone, The President's Lady, which told the story of their lives up until Rachel's death. The novel was the basis for the 1953 film of the same name starring Charlton Heston as Jackson and Susan Hayward as Rachel.
Jackson has been a supporting character in a number of historical films and television productions. Lionel Barrymore played Jackson in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), a fictionalized biography of Peggy Eaton starring Joan Crawford. The Buccaneer (1938), depicting the Battle of New Orleans, included Hugh Sothern as Jackson, and was remade in 1958 with Heston again playing Jackson.
Brian Donlevy played Jackson in the Paramount Pictures 1942 film The Remarkable Andrew. Basil Ruysdael played Jackson in Walt Disney's 1955 Davy Crockett TV miniseries. Wesley Addy appeared as Jackson in some episodes of the 1976 PBS miniseries The Adams Chronicles.
Jackson is the protagonist of the comedic historic rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (2008) with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and book by Alex Timbers.
In 1959, Jimmy Driftwood wrote the song "The Battle of New Orleans," which mentions Jackson. Johnny Horton recorded it that same year.
See also
List of presidents of the United States on currency
Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps
Notes
References
Bibliography
Biographies
; 344 pages; coverage to age 21
Abridgment of Remini's 3-volume biography.
Specialized studies
Historiography
Ward, John William 1955. Andrew Jackson, Symbol for an Age. New York: Oxford University Press.
Primary sources
7 volumes total.
(9 vols. 1980 to date)
Reprints his major messages and reports.
Library of Congress. "Andrew Jackson Papers", a digital archive that provides direct access to the manuscript images of many of the Jackson documents. online
Further reading
External links
Andrew Jackson: A Resource Guide at the Library of Congress
The Papers of Andrew Jackson at the Avalon Project
The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson
"Life Portrait of Andrew Jackson", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, April 26, 1999
"The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson and the Growth of Party Politics", lesson plan at the National Endowment for the Humanities
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United States Army personnel of the Seminole Wars
United States military governors
Candidates in the 1824 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1828 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1832 United States presidential election
United States senators from Tennessee
Tuberculosis deaths in Tennessee | true | [
"Count Karl Karlovich Lambert (; ) (1815 – 20 July 1865) was a Russian General of Cavalry and Namestnik of the Kingdom of Poland from August to October 1861.\n\nFrom 1840 to 1844, he fought against Chechen highlanders during the Caucasian War. In 1848, he became chief of staff of II Russian Corps suppressing the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.\n\nOn 14 October 1861, he instituted martial law in the territory of Congress Poland.\n\nReferences\n Ламберт граф Карл Карлович\n\n1815 births\n1865 deaths\nHungarian Revolution of 1848\nImperial Russian Army generals\nMembers of the State Council (Russian Empire)\nNamestniks of the Kingdom of Poland\nPeople of the Revolutions of 1848\nRecipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia)",
"The Philippine constitutional plebiscite of 1973 occurred from 10 to 15 January which ratified the 1973 Constitution of the Philippines.\n\nBackground \nIn 1970, 320 delegates were elected to a constitutional convention which began to meet in 1971. On 23 September 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos issued the formal declaration of martial law which led to the arrests of 11 conveners, alongside government critics and journalists, by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Constabulary. The convention then re-convened and wrote a constitution in line with what President Ferdinand Marcos wanted, at least, according to many critics and victims of martial law.\n\nMarcos issued Presidential Decree No. 86 calling for the cancellation of the plebiscite and instituted barangays' citizens' assemblies to ratify the new constitution by a referendum from 10–15 January 1973. Alongside the utilization of citizens' assemblies, the voting age was also reduced to 15. Voting in citizens' assemblies took place through viva voce voting, similar to parliamentary procedure, rather than the standard secret ballot that had been used up until that point.\n\nDuring the course of voting, military men were stationed in prominent positions to intimidate voters. And mayors were given quotas for \"yes\" votes, while \"no\" votes were occasionally not recorded. Official figures state that 90% of voters voted in favor of adopting the new constitution, although some communities did not partake in voting.\n\nOn 17 January 1973, Marcos issued Proclamation No. 1102 certifying and proclaiming that the 1973 Constitution had been ratified by the Filipino people and thereby was in effect.\n\nThese results were challenged during the Ratification Cases heard by the Supreme Court of the Philippine in 1973. The court upheld the results and the ratification of the 1973 Constitution.\n\nResults\n\nApproving the constitution\n\nHaving another plebiscite to ratify the constitution\n\nSee also\nConstitution of the Philippines\nElections in the Philippines\nPolitics of the Philippines\nMartial Law under Ferdinand Marcos\nRatification Cases\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Full text of the 1973 Philippine Constitution\nOfficial website of the Commission on Elections\nConstitution Day\nThe Fall of Martial Law\n\n1973 elections in the Philippines\n1973 referendums\nConstitutional referendums in the Philippines\nPresidency of Ferdinand Marcos"
] |
[
"Andrew Jackson",
"Battle of New Orleans",
"When did the battle start?",
"December 1, 1814,",
"When did the battle end?",
"February 27, 1815,",
"What was the battle about?",
"he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants.",
"Did they win the battle",
"After the battle, the British retreated from the area,",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas.",
"What was his role in the war?",
"After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city,",
"What happens when he instituted martial law",
"The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23."
] | C_d066211bb235410c9c7b763df9a0ddfd_1 | Was he hurt during the battle? | 8 | Was Andrew Jackson hurt during the battle? | Andrew Jackson | Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from present day Northern Ireland two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, in current-day Northern Ireland, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal family line originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England. When they immigrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. They brought two children from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). Jackson's father died in a logging accident while clearing land in February 1767 at the age of 29, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests. Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824 Jackson wrote a letter saying that he was born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian country. Most of the transactions involved grants made under the 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819. After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. Jackson soon became associated with the more radical, pro-French and anti-British wing. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. Senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests. After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of conflict with Europeans or Indians, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane, and continued to serve as governor until 1809. After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson only had about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained. The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." CANNOTANSWER | For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. | Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. An expansionist president, Jackson sought to advance the rights of the "common man" against a "corrupt aristocracy" and to preserve the Union.
Born in the colonial Carolinas in the decade before the American Revolutionary War, Jackson became a frontier lawyer and married Rachel Donelson Robards. He served briefly in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, representing Tennessee. After resigning, he served as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1798 until 1804. Jackson purchased a property later known as The Hermitage, and became a wealthy, slaveowning planter. In 1801, he was appointed colonel of the Tennessee militia and was elected its commander the following year. He led troops during the Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The subsequent Treaty of Fort Jackson required the Creek surrender of vast lands in present-day Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent war against the British, Jackson's victory in 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans made him a national hero. Jackson then led U.S. forces in the First Seminole War, which led to the annexation of Florida from Spain. Jackson briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824, winning a plurality of the popular and electoral vote. As no candidate won an electoral majority, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams in a contingent election. In reaction to the alleged "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Henry Clay and the ambitious agenda of President Adams, Jackson's supporters founded the Democratic Party.
Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide. Jackson faced the threat of secession by South Carolina over what opponents called the "Tariff of Abominations". The crisis was defused when the tariff was amended, and Jackson threatened the use of military force if South Carolina attempted to secede. In Congress, Henry Clay led the effort to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States. Jackson, regarding the Bank as a corrupt institution that benefited the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Americans, vetoed the renewal of its charter. After a lengthy struggle, Jackson and his allies thoroughly dismantled the Bank. In 1835, Jackson became the only president to completely pay off the national debt, fulfilling a longtime goal. While Jackson pursued numerous reforms designed to eliminate waste and corruption, his presidency marked the beginning of the ascendancy of the party "spoils system" in American politics. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibly removed most members of the major tribes of the Southeast to Indian Territory; these removals were subsequently known as the Trail of Tears. The relocation process dispossessed these nations of their land and resulted in widespread death and disease. Jackson opposed the abolitionist movement, which grew stronger in his second term. In foreign affairs, Jackson's administration concluded a "most favored nation" treaty with the United Kingdom, settled claims of damages against France from the Napoleonic Wars, and recognized the Republic of Texas. In January 1835, he survived the first assassination attempt on a sitting president.
In his retirement, Jackson remained active in Democratic Party politics, supporting the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk. Though fearful of its effects on the slavery debate, Jackson advocated the annexation of Texas, which was accomplished shortly before his death. Jackson has been widely revered in the United States as an advocate for democracy and the common man. Many of his actions proved divisive, garnering both fervent support and strong opposition from many in the country. His reputation has suffered since the 1970s, largely due to his anti-abolitionist views and policy of the forcible removal of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands. However, surveys of historians and scholars have ranked Jackson favorably among U.S. presidents.
Early life and education
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew Jackson and his wife Elizabeth Hutchinson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ulster, Ireland, two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal ancestors originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England.
When they migrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents brought two children with them from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). The family probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. Jackson's father died in February 1767 at the age of 29, in a logging accident while clearing land, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests.
Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824, Jackson wrote a letter saying he had been born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. As a young boy, Jackson was easily offended and was considered something of a bully. He was, however, also said to have taken a group of younger and weaker boys under his wing and been kind to them.
Revolutionary War service
During the Revolutionary War, Jackson's eldest brother, Hugh, died from heat exhaustion after the Battle of Stono Ferry on June 20, 1779. Anti-British sentiment intensified following the Waxhaws Massacre on May 29, 1780. Jackson's mother encouraged him and his elder brother Robert to attend the local militia drills. Soon, they began to help the militia as couriers. They served under Colonel William Richardson Davie at the Battle of Hanging Rock on August 6. Andrew and Robert were captured by the British in April 1781 while staying at the home of the Crawford family. When Andrew refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the officer slashed at the youth with a sword, leaving him with scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British. Robert also refused to do as commanded and was struck with the sword. The two brothers were held as prisoners, contracted smallpox, and nearly starved to death in captivity.
Later that year, their mother Elizabeth secured the brothers' release. She then began to walk both boys back to their home in the Waxhaws, a distance of some 40 miles (64 km). Both were in very poor health. Robert, who was far worse, rode on the only horse they had, while Andrew walked behind them. In the final two hours of the journey, a torrential downpour began which worsened the effects of the smallpox. Within two days of arriving back home, Robert was dead and Andrew in mortal danger. After nursing Andrew back to health, Elizabeth volunteered to nurse American prisoners of war on board two British ships in the Charleston harbor, where there had been an outbreak of cholera. In November, she died from the disease and was buried in an unmarked grave. Andrew became an orphan at age 14. He blamed the British personally for the loss of his brothers and mother.
Early career
Legal career and marriage
After the Revolutionary War, Jackson received a sporadic education in a local Waxhaw school. On bad terms with much of his extended family, he boarded with several different people. In 1781, he worked for a time as a saddle-maker, and eventually taught school. He apparently prospered in neither profession. In 1784, he left the Waxhaws region for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he studied law under attorney Spruce Macay. With the help of various lawyers, he was able to learn enough to qualify for the bar. In September 1787, Jackson was admitted to the North Carolina bar. Shortly thereafter, his friend John McNairy helped him get appointed to a vacant prosecutor position in the Western District of North Carolina, which would later become the state of Tennessee. During his travel west, Jackson bought his first slave, a woman who was older than him. In 1788, having been offended by fellow lawyer Waightstill Avery, Jackson fought his first duel. The duel ended with both men firing into the air, having made a secret agreement to do so before the engagement.
Jackson moved to the small frontier town of Nashville in 1788, where he lived as a boarder with Rachel Stockly Donelson, the widow of John Donelson. Here Jackson became acquainted with their daughter, Rachel Donelson Robards. The younger Rachel was in an unhappy marriage with Captain Lewis Robards; he was subject to fits of jealous rage. The two were separated in 1790. According to Jackson, he married Rachel after hearing that Robards had obtained a divorce. Her divorce had not been made final, making Rachel's marriage to Jackson bigamous and therefore invalid. After the divorce was officially completed, Rachel and Jackson remarried in 1794. To complicate matters further, evidence shows that Rachel had been living with Jackson and referred to herself as Mrs. Jackson before the petition for divorce was ever made. It was not uncommon on the frontier for relationships to be formed and dissolved unofficially, as long as they were recognized by the community.
Land speculation and early public career
In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian territory. Most of the transactions involved grants made under a 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819.
After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. As a representative, Jackson staunchly advocated for the rights of Tennesseans against Native American tribal interests. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Democratic-Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Democratic-Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision-making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests.
After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of armed conflicts, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Jackson then published a newspaper article accusing Sevier of fraud and bribery. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane and continued to serve as governor until 1809.
Planting career and controversy
In addition to his legal and political career, Jackson prospered as a planter and merchant. He built a home and the first general store in Gallatin, Tennessee, in 1803. The next year, he acquired The Hermitage, a plantation in Davidson County, near Nashville. He later added to the plantation, which eventually totaled . The primary crop was cotton. Like most successful American planters at the time, Jackson's plantation depended on slave labor. The cotton cultivated at the Hermitage was planted and picked by slaves. The Hermitage was quite profitable; Jackson began with nine slaves, owned as many as 44 by 1820, and later up to 150, placing him among the planter elite. Jackson also co-owned with his son Andrew Jackson Jr. the Halcyon plantation in Coahoma County, Mississippi, which housed 51 slaves at the time of his death. Throughout his lifetime, Jackson may have owned as many as 500 slaves.
Men, women, and child slaves were owned by Jackson on three sections of the Hermitage plantation. Slaves lived in extended family units of between five and ten persons and were quartered in cabins made either of brick or logs. The size and quality of the Hermitage slave quarters exceeded the standards of the time. To help slaves acquire food, Jackson supplied them with guns, knives, and fishing equipment. At times he paid his slaves with money and coins to trade in local markets. Jackson permitted slaves to be whipped to increase productivity or if he believed his slaves' offenses were severe enough. At various times he posted advertisements for fugitive slaves who had escaped from his plantation. In one advertisement placed in the Tennessee Gazette in October 1804, Jackson offered "ten dollars extra, for every hundred lashes any person will give him, to the amount of three hundred."
The controversy surrounding his marriage to Rachel remained a sore point for Jackson, who deeply resented attacks on his wife's honor. By May 1806, Charles Dickinson, who, like Jackson, raced horses, had published an attack on Jackson in the local newspaper, and it resulted in a written challenge from Jackson to a duel. Since Dickinson was considered an expert shot, Jackson determined it would be best to let Dickinson turn and fire first, hoping that his aim might be spoiled in his quickness; Jackson would wait and take careful aim at Dickinson. Dickinson did fire first, hitting Jackson in the chest. The bullet that struck Jackson was so close to his heart that it could not be removed. Under the rules of dueling, Dickinson had to remain still as Jackson took aim and shot and killed him. Jackson's behavior in the duel outraged many in Tennessee, who called it a brutal, cold-blooded killing and saddled Jackson with a reputation as a violent, vengeful man. He became a social outcast.
After the Sevier affair and the duel, Jackson was looking for a way to salvage his reputation. He chose to align himself with former vice president Aaron Burr. Burr's political career ended after the killing of Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804; in 1805 he set out on a tour of what was then the western United States. Burr was extremely well received by the people of Tennessee, and stayed for five days at the Hermitage. Burr's true intentions are not known with certainty. He seems to have been planning a military operation to conquer Spanish Florida and drive the Spanish from Texas. To many westerners like Jackson, the promise seemed enticing. Western American settlers had long held bitter feelings towards Spain due to territorial disputes and their persistent failure to stop Indians living in Spanish territory from raiding American settlements. On October 4, 1806, Jackson addressed the Tennessee militia, declaring that the men should be "at a moment's warning ready to march." On the same day, he wrote to James Winchester, proclaiming that the United States "can conquer not only the Floridas [at that time there was an East Florida and a West Florida.], but all Spanish North America." He continued:
Jackson agreed to provide boats and other provisions for the expedition. However, on November 10, he learned from a military captain that Burr's plans apparently included seizure of New Orleans, then part of the Louisiana Territory of the United States, and incorporating it, along with lands won from the Spanish, into a new empire. He was further outraged when he learned from the same man of the involvement of Brigadier General James Wilkinson, whom he deeply disliked, in the plan. Jackson acted cautiously at first, but wrote letters to public officials, including President Thomas Jefferson, vaguely warning them about the scheme. In December, Jefferson, a political opponent of Burr, issued a proclamation declaring that a treasonous plot was underway in the West and calling for the arrest of the perpetrators. Jackson, safe from arrest because of his extensive paper trail, organized the militia. Burr was soon captured, and the men were sent home. Jackson traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to testify on Burr's behalf in trial. The defense team decided against placing him on the witness stand, fearing his remarks were too provocative. Burr was acquitted of treason, despite Jefferson's efforts to have him convicted. Jackson endorsed James Monroe for president in 1808 against James Madison. The latter was part of the Jeffersonian wing of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson lived relatively quietly at the Hermitage in the years after the Burr trial, eventually accumulating 640 acres of land.
Military career
War of 1812
Creek campaign and treaty
Leading up to 1812, the United States found itself increasingly drawn into international conflict. Formal hostilities with Spain or France never materialized, but tensions with Britain increased for a number of reasons. Among these was the desire of many Americans for more land, particularly British Canada and Florida, the latter still controlled by Spain, Britain's European ally. On June 18, 1812, Congress officially declared war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, beginning the War of 1812. Jackson responded enthusiastically, sending a letter to Washington offering 2,500 volunteers. However, the men were not called up for many months. Biographer Robert V. Remini claims that Jackson saw the apparent slight as payback by the Madison administration for his support of Burr and Monroe. Meanwhile, the United States military repeatedly suffered devastating defeats on the battlefield.
On January 10, 1813, Jackson led an army of 2,071 volunteers to New Orleans to defend the region against British and Native American attacks. He had been instructed to serve under General Wilkinson, who commanded Federal forces in New Orleans. Lacking adequate provisions, Wilkinson ordered Jackson to halt in Natchez, then part of the Mississippi Territory, and await further orders. Jackson reluctantly obeyed. The newly appointed Secretary of War, John Armstrong Jr., sent a letter to Jackson dated February 6 ordering him to dismiss his forces and to turn over his supplies to Wilkinson. In reply to Armstrong on March 15, Jackson defended the character and readiness of his men, and promised to turn over his supplies. He also promised, instead of dismissing the troops without provisions in Natchez, to march them back to Nashville. The march was filled with agony. Many of the men had fallen ill. Jackson and his officers turned over their horses to the sick. He paid for provisions for the men out of his own pocket. The soldiers began referring to their commander as "Hickory," after a hickory nut, because of his toughness, and Jackson became known as "Old Hickory". After about a month long march, the army finally arrived in Nashville. His actions earned him respect and praise from the people of Tennessee. Jackson faced financial ruin, until his former aide-de-camp Thomas Benton persuaded Armstrong to order the army to pay the expenses Jackson had incurred. On June 14, Jackson served as a second in a duel on behalf of his junior officer William Carroll against Jesse Benton, the brother of Thomas. On September 3, Jackson and his top cavalry officer, Brigadier General John Coffee, were involved in a street brawl with the Benton brothers. Jackson was severely wounded by Jesse with a gunshot to the shoulder.
On August 30, 1813, a group of Muscogee (or Creek) called the Red Sticks, so named for the color of their war paint, perpetrated the Fort Mims massacre in which hundreds of white American settlers and non-Red Stick Creeks were slaughtered. The Red Sticks, led by William Weatherford (also called Red Eagle) and Peter McQueen, had broken away from the rest of the Creek Confederacy, which wanted peace with the United States. They were allied with Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief who had launched Tecumseh's War against the United States, and who was fighting alongside the British. The resulting conflict became known as the Creek War.
Jackson, with 2,500 American soldiers, was ordered to crush the Red Sticks. On October 10, he set out on the expedition, his arm still in a sling from fighting the Bentons. Jackson established Fort Strother as a supply base. On November 3, Coffee defeated a band of Red Sticks at the Battle of Tallushatchee. Coming to the relief of friendly Creeks besieged by Red Sticks, Jackson won another decisive victory at the Battle of Talladega. In the winter, Jackson, encamped at Fort Strother, faced a severe shortage of troops due to the expiration of enlistments and chronic desertions. He sent Coffee with the cavalry (which abandoned him) back to Tennessee to secure more enlistments. Jackson decided to combine his force with that of the Georgia militia, and marched to meet the Georgia troops. From January 22–24, 1814, while on their way, the Tennessee militia and allied Muscogee were attacked by the Red Sticks at the Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek. Jackson's troops repelled the attackers, but outnumbered, were forced to withdraw to Fort Strother. Jackson, now with over 2,000 troops, marched most of his army south to confront the Red Sticks at a fortress they had constructed at a bend in the Tallapoosa River. Jackson, together with Lower Creek and Cherokee allies and enjoying an advantage of more than 2 to 1, engaged them on March 27 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. An initial artillery barrage did little damage to the well-constructed fort. A subsequent Infantry charge, in addition to an assault by Coffee's cavalry and diversions caused by the allied Creeks, overwhelmed the Red Sticks.
The campaign ended three weeks later with Red Eagle's surrender, although some Red Sticks such as McQueen fled to East Florida. On June 8, Jackson accepted a commission as brigadier general in the United States Army, and 10 days later became a major general, in command of the Seventh Military Division. Subsequently, Jackson, with Madison's approval, imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson. The treaty required the Muscogee, including those who had not joined the Red Sticks, to surrender 23 million acres (8,093,713 ha) of land to the United States. Most of the Creeks bitterly acquiesced. Though in ill-health from dysentery, Jackson then turned his attention to defeating Spanish and British forces. Jackson accused the Spanish of arming the Red Sticks and of violating the terms of their neutrality by allowing British soldiers into the Floridas. The first charge was true, while the second ignored the fact that it was Jackson's threats to invade Florida which had caused them to seek British protection. In the November 7 Battle of Pensacola, Jackson defeated the relatively small British and Spanish forces in a short skirmish. Shortly thereafter, the Spanish surrendered and the remaining British wthdrew. Weeks later, Jackson learned that the British were planning an attack on New Orleans, which sat on the mouth of the Mississippi River and held immense strategic and commercial value. Jackson abandoned Pensacola to the Spanish, placed a force in Mobile, Alabama, to guard against a possible invasion there, and rushed the rest of his forces west to defend New Orleans.
The Creeks coined their own name for Jackson, Jacksa Chula Harjo or "Jackson, old and fierce."
Battle of New Orleans
After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson had only about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained.
The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.
Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." Some have claimed that, because the war was already ended by the preliminary signing of the Treaty of Ghent, Jackson's victory at New Orleans was without importance aside from making him a celebrated figure. However, the Spanish, who had sold the Louisiana Territory to France, disputed France's right to sell it to the United States through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In April 1815, Spain, assuming that the British had won at New Orleans, asked for the return of the Louisiana Territory. Spanish representatives claimed to have been assured that they would receive the land back. Furthermore, Article IX of the Treaty of Ghent stipulated that the United States must return land taken from the Creeks to their original owners, essentially undoing the Treaty of Fort Jackson. Thanks to Jackson's victory at New Orleans, the American government felt that it could safely ignore that provision and it kept the lands that Jackson had acquired.
Enforced martial law in New Orleans
Jackson, still not knowing for certain of the treaty's signing, refused to lift martial law in the city. Citizens, local politicians, and some of Jackson's troops expressed growing displeasure. When some of the Creoles under Jackson's service, registering as French citizens with the French consul Louis de Toussard, asked to be discharged based on their foreign nationality, Jackson ordered all Frenchmen, including Toussard, to depart to no less than 120 miles from the limits of New Orleans. State senator Louis Louaillier wrote an anonymous piece in the New Orleans newspaper challenging Jackson's refusal to release the militia after the British ceded the field of battle. Jackson attempted to find the author and, after Louiallier admitted to having written the piece, he imprisoned him. In March, after U.S. District Court Judge Dominic A. Hall signed a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Louaillier, Jackson ordered Hall's arrest. A military court ordered Louiallier's release, but Jackson kept him in prison. He released Hall four miles from the city, which marked the limits of his jurisdiction. Jackson also ordered the execution of six members of the militia who had attempted to leave. Their deaths were not well publicized until the Coffin Handbills were circulated during his 1828 presidential campaign. On March 13, news officially reached the city that the peace treaty had been signed and ratified. Jackson immediately lifted martial law, released Louaillier from prison, and allowed the return of those he had exiled. Hall subsequently brought Jackson to trial on charges of contempt of court, and fined him $1,000.
First Seminole War
Following the war, Jackson remained in command of troops on the southern border of the U.S. He conducted business from the Hermitage. He signed treaties with the Cherokee and Chickasaw which gained for the United States large parts of Tennessee and Kentucky. The treaty with the Chickasaw, finally agreed to later in the year, is commonly known as the Jackson Purchase.
Jackson would soon find himself embroiled in another conflict in the Floridas. Several Native American tribes, collectively known as the Seminole, straddled the border between the U.S. and Florida. The Seminole, in alliance with escaped slaves, frequently raided Georgia settlements before retreating back into Florida. These skirmishes continually escalated into the conflict now known as the First Seminole War. In 1816, Jackson led a detachment into Florida and at the Battle of Negro Fort destroyed the fort, killing most of the fugitive slaves defending it and a smaller number of allied Choctaw. Jackson was then ordered by President Monroe in December 1817 to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Seminole and Creek. Jackson was again charged with preventing Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves, after Spain promised freedom to fugitive slaves. Critics later alleged that Jackson exceeded orders in his Florida actions. His orders from President Monroe were to "terminate the conflict." Jackson believed the best way to do this was to seize Florida from Spain once and for all. Before departing, Jackson wrote to Monroe, "Let it be signified to me through any channel ... that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished."
Jackson invaded Florida on March 15, 1818, capturing Pensacola. He crushed Seminole and Spanish resistance in the region and captured two British agents, Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, who had been working with the Seminole. After a brief trial, Jackson executed both of them, causing a diplomatic incident with the British. Jackson's actions polarized Monroe's cabinet, some of whom argued that Jackson had gone against Monroe's orders and violated the Constitution, since the United States had not declared war upon Spain. He was defended by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. Adams thought that Jackson's conquest of Florida would force Spain to finally sell the province, and Spain did indeed sell Florida to the United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. A congressional investigation exonerated Jackson, but he was deeply angered by the criticism he received, particularly from Speaker of the House Henry Clay. After the ratification of the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1821, Jackson resigned from the army and briefly served as the territorial Governor of Florida before returning to Tennessee.
Presidential aspirations
Election of 1824
In the spring of 1822, Jackson suffered a physical breakdown. His body had two bullets lodged in it, and he had grown exhausted from years of hard military campaigning. He regularly coughed up blood, and his entire body shook. Jackson feared that he was on the brink of death. After several months of rest, he recovered. During his convalescence, Jackson's thoughts increasingly turned to national affairs. He obsessed over rampant corruption in the Monroe administration and grew to detest the Second Bank of the United States, blaming it for causing the Panic of 1819 by contracting credit.
Jackson turned down an offer to run for governor of his home state, but accepted John Overton's plan to have the legislature nominate him for president. On July 22, 1822, he was officially nominated by the Tennessee legislature. Jackson had come to dislike Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford, who had been the most vocal critic of Jackson in Monroe's cabinet, and he hoped to prevent Tennessee's electoral votes from going to Crawford. Yet Jackson's nomination garnered a welcoming response even outside of Tennessee, as many Americans appreciated his attacks on banks. The Panic of 1819 had devastated the fortunes of many, and banks and politicians seen as supportive of banks were unpopular. With his growing political viability, Jackson emerged as one of the five major presidential candidates, along with Crawford, Adams, Clay, and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun. During the Era of Good Feelings, the Federalist Party had faded away, and all five presidential contenders were members of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson's campaign promoted him as a defender of the common people, as well as the one candidate who could rise above sectional divisions. On the major issues of the day, most prominently the tariff, Jackson expressed centrist beliefs, and opponents accused him of obfuscating his positions. At the forefront of Jackson's campaign was combatting corruption. Jackson vowed to restore honesty in government and to scale back its excesses. As a war hero, Jackson was popular with ordinary people, and he benefited from the expansion of suffrage among white males that followed the conclusion of the War of 1812.
In 1823, Jackson reluctantly allowed his name to be placed in contention for one of Tennessee's U.S. Senate seats. The move was independently orchestrated by his advisors William Berkeley Lewis and U.S. senator John Eaton in order to defeat incumbent John Williams, who openly opposed his presidential candidacy. The legislature narrowly elected him. His return, after 24 years, 11 months, 3 days out of office, marks the second longest gap in service to the chamber in history. Although Jackson was reluctant to serve once more in the Senate, he was appointed chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. Eaton wrote to Rachel that Jackson as a senator was "in harmony and good understanding with every body," including Thomas Hart Benton, now a senator from Missouri, with whom Jackson had fought in 1813. Meanwhile, Jackson himself did little active campaigning for the presidency, as was customary. Eaton updated an already-written biography of him in preparation for the campaign and, along with others, wrote letters to newspapers praising Jackson's record and past conduct.
Democratic-Republican presidential nominees had historically been chosen by informal Congressional nominating caucuses, but this method had become unpopular. In 1824, most of the Democratic-Republicans in Congress boycotted the caucus. Those who attended backed Crawford for president and Albert Gallatin for vice president. A Pennsylvania convention nominated Jackson for president a month later, stating that the irregular caucus ignored the "voice of the people" in the "vain hope that the American people might be thus deceived into a belief that he [Crawford] was the regular democratic candidate." Gallatin criticized Jackson as "an honest man and the idol of the worshipers of military glory, but from incapacity, military habits, and habitual disregard of laws and constitutional provisions, altogether unfit for the office." After Jackson won the Pennsylvania nomination, Calhoun dropped out of the presidential race and successfully sought the vice presidency instead.
In the presidential election, Jackson won a plurality of the electoral vote, taking states in the South, West, and Mid-Atlantic. He was the only candidate to win states outside of his regional base, as Adams dominated New England, Clay took three western states, and Crawford won Virginia and Georgia. Jackson won a plurality of the popular vote, taking 42 percent, although not all states held a popular vote for the presidency. He won 99 electoral votes, more than any other candidate, but still short of 131, which he needed for a true majority. With no candidate having won a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives held a contingent election under the terms of the Twelfth Amendment. The amendment specifies that only the top three electoral vote-winners are eligible to be elected by the House, so Clay was eliminated from contention. Jackson believed that he was likely to win this contingent election, as Crawford and Adams lacked Jackson's national appeal, and Crawford had suffered a debilitating stroke that made many doubt his physical fitness for the presidency. Clay, who as Speaker of the House presided over the election, saw Jackson as a dangerous demagogue who might topple the republic in favor of his own leadership. He threw his support behind Adams, who shared Clay's support for federally funded internal improvements such as roads and canals. With Clay's backing, Adams won the contingent election on the first ballot. Furious supporters of Jackson accused Clay and Adams of having reached a "corrupt bargain" after Adams appointed Clay as his Secretary of State. "So you see," Jackson growled, "the Judas of the West has closed the contract and receive the thirty pieces of silver. [H]is end will be the same." After the Congressional session concluded, Jackson resigned his Senate seat and returned to Tennessee.
Election of 1828 and death of Rachel Jackson
Almost immediately, opposition arose to the Adams presidency. Jackson opposed Adams's plan to involve the U.S. in Panama's quest for independence, writing, "The moment we engage in confederations, or alliances with any nation, we may from that time date the down fall of our republic." Adams damaged his standing in his first annual message to Congress, when he argued that Congress must not give the world the impression "that we are palsied by the will of our constituents."
Jackson was nominated for president by the Tennessee legislature in October 1825, more than three years before the 1828 election. It was the earliest such nomination in presidential history, and it attested to the fact that Jackson's supporters began the 1828 campaign almost as soon as the 1824 campaign ended. Adams's presidency foundered, as his ambitious agenda faced defeat in a new era of mass politics. Critics led by Jackson attacked Adams's policies as a dangerous expansion of Federal power. New York Senator Martin Van Buren, who had been a prominent supporter of Crawford in 1824, emerged as one of the strongest opponents of Adams's policies, and he settled on Jackson as his preferred candidate in 1828. Van Buren was joined by Vice President Calhoun, who opposed much of Adams's agenda on states' rights grounds. Van Buren and other Jackson allies established numerous pro-Jackson newspapers and clubs around the country, while Jackson avoided campaigning but made himself available to visitors at his Hermitage plantation. In the election, Jackson won a commanding 56 percent of the popular vote and 68 percent of the electoral vote. The election marked the definitive end of the one-party Era of Good Feelings, as Jackson's supporters coalesced into the Democratic Party and Adams's followers became known as the National Republicans. In the large Scots-Irish community that was especially numerous in the rural South and Southwest, Jackson was a favorite.
The campaign was heavily personal. As was the custom at the time, neither candidate personally campaigned, but their political followers organized campaign events. Both candidates were rhetorically attacked in the press. Jackson was labelled a slave trader who bought and sold slaves and moved them about in defiance of higher standards of slaveholder behavior. A series of pamphlets known as the Coffin Handbills were published to attack Jackson, one of which revealed his order to execute soldiers at New Orleans. Another accused him of engaging in cannibalism by eating the bodies of American Indians killed in battle, while still another labeled his mother a "common prostitute" and stated that Jackson's father was a "mulatto man."
Rachel Jackson was also a frequent target of attacks, and was widely accused of bigamy, a reference to the controversial situation of her marriage with Jackson. Jackson's campaigners fired back by claiming that while serving as Minister to Russia, Adams had procured a young girl to serve as a prostitute for Emperor Alexander I. They also stated that Adams had a billiard table in the White House and that he had charged the government for it.
Rachel had been under extreme stress during the election, and often struggled while Jackson was away. She began experiencing significant physical stress during the election season. Jackson described her symptoms as "excruciating pain in the left shoulder, arm, and breast." After struggling for three days, Rachel finally died of a heart attack on December 22, 1828, three weeks after her husband's victory in the election (which began on October 31 and ended on December 2) and 10 weeks before Jackson took office as president. A distraught Jackson had to be pulled from her so the undertaker could prepare the body. He felt that the abuse from Adams's supporters had hastened her death and never forgave him. Rachel was buried at the Hermitage on Christmas Eve. "May God Almighty forgive her murderers, as I know she forgave them," Jackson swore at her funeral. "I never can."
Presidency (1829–1837)
Philosophy
Jackson's name has been associated with Jacksonian democracy or the shift and expansion of democracy with the passing of some political power from established elites to ordinary voters based in political parties. "The Age of Jackson" shaped the national agenda and American politics. Jackson's philosophy as president was similar to that of Jefferson, advocating republican values held by the Revolutionary generation. Jackson took a moral tone, with the belief that agrarian sympathies, and strong states rights with a limited federal government, would produce less corruption. He feared that monied and business interests would corrupt republican values. When South Carolina opposed the tariff law, he took a strong line in favor of nationalism and against secession.
Jackson believed in the ability of the people to "arrive at right conclusions." They had the right not only to elect but to "instruct their agents & representatives." Office holders should either obey the popular will or resign. He rejected the view of a powerful and independent Supreme Court with binding decisions, arguing that "the Congress, the Executive, and the Court must each or itself be guided by its own opinions of the Constitution." Jackson thought that Supreme Court justices should be made to stand for election, and believed in strict constructionism as the best way to ensure democratic rule. He called for term limits on presidents and the abolition of the Electoral College. According to Robert V. Remini, Jackson "was far ahead of his times–and maybe even further than this country can ever achieve."
Inauguration
Jackson departed from the Hermitage on January 19 and arrived in Washington on February 11. He then set about choosing his cabinet members. Jackson chose Van Buren as expected for Secretary of State, Eaton of Tennessee as Secretary of War, Samuel D. Ingham of Pennsylvania as Secretary of Treasury, John Branch of North Carolina as Secretary of Navy, John M. Berrien of Georgia as Attorney General, and William T. Barry of Kentucky as Postmaster General. Jackson's first choice of cabinet proved to be unsuccessful, full of bitter partisanship and gossip. Jackson blamed Adams in part for what was said about Rachel during the campaign, and refused to meet him after arriving in Washington. Therefore, Adams chose not to attend the inauguration.
On March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson became the first United States president-elect to take the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. In his inaugural speech, Jackson promised to respect the sovereign powers of states and the constitutional limits of the presidency. He also promised to pursue "reform" by removing power from "unfaithful or incompetent hands." At the conclusion of the ceremony, Jackson invited the public to the White House, where his supporters held a raucous party. Thousands of spectators overwhelmed the White House staff, and minor damage was caused to fixtures and furnishings. Jackson's populism earned him the nickname "King Mob."
Reforms, rotation of offices, and spoils system
In an effort to purge the government of corruption, Jackson launched presidential investigations into all executive Cabinet offices and departments. He believed appointees should be hired on merit and withdrew many candidates he believed were lax in their handling of monies. He believed that the federal government had been corrupted and that he had received a mandate from the American people to purge such corruption. Jackson's investigations uncovered enormous fraud in the federal government, and numerous officials were removed from office and indicted on corruption, including personal friend of John Quincy Adams and Treasury Fourth Auditor Tobias Watkins. In the first year of Jackson's presidency, his investigations uncovered $280,000 stolen from the Treasury, and the Department of the Navy was saved $1 million. He asked Congress to reform embezzlement laws, reduce fraudulent applications for federal pensions, pass revenue laws to prevent evasion of custom duties, and pass laws to improve government accounting. Jackson's Postmaster General Barry resigned after a Congressional investigation into the postal service revealed mismanagement of mail services, collusion and favoritism in awarding lucrative contracts, as well as failure to audit accounts and supervise contract performances. Jackson replaced Barry with Treasury Auditor and prominent Kitchen Cabinet member Amos Kendall, who went on to implement reforms in the Post Office Department.
Jackson repeatedly called for the abolition of the Electoral College by constitutional amendment in his annual messages to Congress as president. In his third annual message to Congress, he expressed the view "I have heretofore recommended amendments of the Federal Constitution giving the election of President and Vice-President to the people and limiting the service of the former to a single term. So important do I consider these changes in our fundamental law that I can not, in accordance with my sense of duty, omit to press them upon the consideration of a new Congress."
Although he was unable to implement these goals, Jackson's time in office did see a variety of other reforms. He supported an act in July 1836 that enabled widows of Revolutionary War soldiers who met certain criteria to receive their husbands' pensions. In 1836, Jackson established the ten-hour day in national shipyards.
Jackson enforced the Tenure of Office Act, signed by President Monroe in 1820, that limited appointed office tenure and authorized the president to remove and appoint political party associates. Jackson believed that a rotation in office was a democratic reform preventing hereditary officeholding and made civil service responsible to the popular will. Jackson declared that rotation of appointments in political office was "a leading principle in the republican creed." Jackson noted, "In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another." Jackson believed that rotating political appointments would prevent the development of a corrupt bureaucracy. The number of federal office holders removed by Jackson were exaggerated by his opponents; Jackson rotated only about 20% of federal office holders during his first term, some for dereliction of duty rather than political purposes. Jackson, nonetheless, used his presidential power to award loyal Democrats by granting them federal office appointments. Jackson's approach incorporated patriotism for country as qualification for holding office. Having appointed a soldier who had lost his leg fighting on the battlefield to postmaster, Jackson stated, "[i]f he lost his leg fighting for his country, that is ... enough for me."
Jackson's theory regarding rotation of office generated what would later be called the spoils system. The political realities of Washington sometimes forced Jackson to make partisan appointments despite his personal reservations. Supervision of bureaus and departments whose operations were outside of Washington (such as the New York Customs House; the Postal Service; the Departments of Navy and War; and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose budget had increased enormously in the previous two decades) proved to be difficult. Remini writes that because "friendship, politics, and geography constituted the President's total criteria for appointments, most of his appointments were predictably substandard."
Petticoat affair
Jackson devoted a considerable amount of his presidential time during his early years in office responding to what came to be known as the "Petticoat affair" or "Eaton affair." Washington gossip circulated among Jackson's cabinet members and their wives, including Calhoun's wife Floride Calhoun, concerning Secretary of War Eaton and his wife Peggy Eaton. Salacious rumors held that Peggy, as a barmaid in her father's tavern, had been sexually promiscuous or had even been a prostitute. Controversy also ensued because Peggy had married soon after her previous husband's death, and it was alleged that she and her husband had engaged in an adulterous affair while her previous husband was still living. Petticoat politics emerged when the wives of cabinet members, led by Mrs. Calhoun, refused to socialize with the Eatons. Allowing a prostitute in the official family was unthinkable—but Jackson refused to believe the rumors, telling his Cabinet that "She is as chaste as a virgin!" Jackson believed that the dishonorable people were the rumormongers, who in essence questioned and dishonored Jackson himself by, in attempting to drive the Eatons out, daring to tell him who he could and could not have in his cabinet. Jackson was also reminded of the attacks that were made against his wife. These memories increased his dedication to defending Peggy Eaton.
Meanwhile, the cabinet wives insisted that the interests and honor of all American women was at stake. They believed a responsible woman should never accord a man sexual favors without the assurance that went with marriage. A woman who broke that code was dishonorable and unacceptable. Historian Daniel Walker Howe notes that this was the feminist spirit that in the next decade shaped the woman's rights movement. Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, a widower, was already forming a coalition against Calhoun. He could now see his main chance to strike hard; he took the side of Jackson and Eaton.
In the spring of 1831, Jackson, at Van Buren's suggestion, demanded the resignations of all the cabinet members except Barry. Van Buren himself resigned to avoid the appearance of bias. In 1832, Jackson nominated Van Buren to be Minister to Great Britain. Calhoun blocked the nomination with a tie-breaking vote against it, claiming the defeated nomination would "...kill him [Van Buren] dead, sir, kill him dead. He will never kick, sir, never kick." Van Buren continued to serve as an important adviser to Jackson and was placed on the ticket for vice president in the 1832 election, making him Jackson's heir-apparent. The Petticoat affair led to the development of the Kitchen Cabinet. The Kitchen Cabinet emerged as an unofficial group of advisors to the president. Its existence was partially rooted in Jackson's difficulties with his official cabinet, even after the purging.
Indian removal policy
Throughout his eight years in office, Jackson made about 70 treaties with American Indian tribes both in the South and in the Northwest. Jackson's presidency marked the beginning of a policy of Indian removal. Jackson himself sometimes participated in the treaty negotiating process, though other times he left the negotiations to his subordinates. The southern tribes included the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole and the Cherokee. The northwest tribes included the Chippewa, Ottawa, and the Potawatomi.
Relations between Indians and whites increasingly grew tense and sometimes violent as a result of territorial conflicts. Previous presidents had at times supported removal or attempts to "civilize" Native people, but generally let the problem play itself out with minimal intervention. But by Jackson's time, a growing popular and political movement developed wanting action on the issue, and out of this came policy decisions to relocate certain Indian populations. Jackson, never known for timidity, became an advocate for this relocation policy in what many historians consider the most controversial aspect of his presidency.
In his First Annual Message to Congress, Jackson advocated land west of the Mississippi River be set aside for Indian tribes. On May 26, 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which Jackson signed into law two days later. The Act authorized the president to negotiate treaties to buy tribal lands in the east in exchange for lands farther west, outside of existing state borders. The act specifically pertained to the Five Civilized Tribes in the South, the conditions being that they could either move west or stay and obey state law, effectively relinquishing their sovereignty.
Jackson, Eaton, and General Coffee negotiated with the Chickasaw, who quickly agreed to move. Jackson put Eaton and Coffee in charge of negotiating with the Choctaw. Lacking Jackson's skills at negotiation, they simply bribed various leaders in order to gain their agreement. The tactics worked, and with the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Choctaw were required to move. The removal of the Choctaw took place in the winter of 1831 and 1832, and was wrought with misery and suffering. The Seminole, despite the signing of the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832, refused to move. In December 1835, this dispute began the Second Seminole War. The war lasted over six years, finally ending in 1842. Members of the Creek Nation had signed the Treaty of Cusseta in 1832, allowing the Creek to either sell or retain their land. Conflict later erupted between the Creek who remained and the white settlers, leading to a second Creek War. A common complaint amongst the tribes was that the men who had signed the treaties did not represent the whole tribe.
The state of Georgia became involved in a dispute with the Cherokee, culminating in the 1832 Supreme Court decision in Worcester v. Georgia. Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for the court, ruled that Georgia could not forbid whites from entering tribal lands, as it had attempted to do with two missionaries supposedly stirring up resistance amongst the tribespeople. Jackson is frequently attributed the following response: "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." The quote, apparently indicating Jackson's dismissive view of the courts, was attributed to Jackson by Horace Greeley, who cited as his source Representative George N. Briggs. Remini argues that Jackson did not say it because, while it "certainly sounds like Jackson...[t]here was nothing for him to enforce." This is because a writ of habeas corpus had never been issued for the missionaries. The Court also did not ask federal marshals to carry out the decision, as had become standard.
A group of Cherokees led by John Ridge negotiated the Treaty of New Echota. Ridge was not a widely recognized leader of the Cherokee, and this document was rejected by some as illegitimate. Another faction, led by John Ross, unsuccessfully petitioned to protest the proposed removal. The Cherokee largely considered themselves independent, and not subject to the laws of the United States or Georgia. The treaty was enforced by Jackson's successor, Van Buren. Subsequently, as many as 4,000 out of 18,000 Cherokee died on the "Trail of Tears" in 1838.
More than 45,000 people were relocated, primarily to Indian territory in present-day Oklahoma during Jackson's administration, though some Cherokee people walked back afterwards, and others evaded removal by migrating into the Great Smoky Mountains. Another conflict during the Jackson administration was the Black Hawk War in 1832 after a group of Indians crossed into U.S. territory.
Nullification crisis
In 1828, Congress had approved the "Tariff of Abominations", which set the tariff at a historically high rate. Southern planters, who sold their cotton on the world market, strongly opposed this tariff, which they saw as favoring northern interests. The South now had to pay more for goods it did not produce locally; and other countries would have more difficulty affording southern cotton. The issue came to a head during Jackson's presidency, resulting in the Nullification Crisis, in which South Carolina threatened disunion.
The South Carolina Exposition and Protest of 1828, secretly written by Calhoun, asserted that their state had the right to "nullify"—declare void—the tariff legislation of 1828. Although Jackson sympathized with the South in the tariff debate, he also vigorously supported a strong union, with effective powers for the central government. Jackson attempted to face down Calhoun over the issue, which developed into a bitter rivalry between the two men. One incident came at the April 13, 1830, Jefferson Day dinner, involving after-dinner toasts. Robert Hayne began by toasting to "The Union of the States, and the Sovereignty of the States." Jackson then rose, and in a booming voice added "Our federal Union: It must be preserved!" – a clear challenge to Calhoun. Calhoun clarified his position by responding "The Union: Next to our Liberty, the most dear!"
In May 1830, Jackson discovered that Calhoun had asked President Monroe to censure Jackson for his invasion of Spanish Florida in 1818 while Calhoun was serving as Secretary of War. Calhoun's and Jackson's relationship deteriorated further. By February 1831, the break between Calhoun and Jackson was final. Responding to inaccurate press reports about the feud, Calhoun had published letters between him and Jackson detailing the conflict in the United States Telegraph. Jackson and Calhoun began an angry correspondence which lasted until Jackson stopped it in July. The Telegraph, edited by Duff Green, initially supported Jackson. After it sided with Calhoun on nullification, Jackson needed a new organ for the administration. He enlisted the help of longtime supporter Francis Preston Blair, who in November 1830 established a newspaper known as the Washington Globe, which from then on served as the primary mouthpiece of the Democratic Party.
Jackson supported a revision to tariff rates known as the Tariff of 1832. It was designed to placate the nullifiers by lowering tariff rates. Written by Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, the bill lowered duties from 45% to 27%. In May, Representative John Quincy Adams introduced a slightly revised version of the bill, which Jackson accepted. It passed Congress on July 9 and was signed by the president on July 14. The bill failed to satisfy extremists on either side. On November 24, the South Carolina legislature nullified both the Tariff of 1832 and the Tariff of 1828. In response, Jackson sent U.S. Navy warships to Charleston harbor, and threatened to hang any man who worked to support nullification or secession. On December 28, 1832, Calhoun resigned as vice president, after having been elected to the U.S. Senate. This was part of a strategy whereby Calhoun, with less than three months remaining on his vice presidential term, would replace Robert Y. Hayne in the Senate, and he would then become governor of South Carolina. Hayne had often struggled to defend nullification on the floor of the Senate, especially against fierce criticism from Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts.
Also that December, Jackson issued a resounding proclamation against the "nullifiers," stating that he considered "the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed." South Carolina, the president declared, stood on "the brink of insurrection and treason," and he appealed to the people of the state to reassert their allegiance to that Union for which their ancestors had fought. Jackson also denied the right of secession: "The Constitution ... forms a government not a league ... To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States are not a nation." Jackson tended to personalize the controversy, frequently characterizing nullification as a conspiracy between disappointed and bitter men whose ambitions had been thwarted.
Jackson asked Congress to pass a "Force Bill" explicitly authorizing the use of military force to enforce the tariff. It was introduced by Senator Felix Grundy of Tennessee, and was quickly attacked by Calhoun as "military despotism." At the same time, Calhoun and Clay began to work on a new compromise tariff. A bill sponsored by the administration had been introduced by Representative Gulian C. Verplanck of New York, but it lowered rates more sharply than Clay and other protectionists desired. Clay managed to get Calhoun to agree to a bill with higher rates in exchange for Clay's opposition to Jackson's military threats and, perhaps, with the hope that he could win some Southern votes in his next bid for the presidency. The Compromise Tariff passed on March 1, 1833. The Force Bill passed the same day. Calhoun, Clay, and several others marched out of the chamber in opposition, the only dissenting vote coming from John Tyler of Virginia. The new tariff was opposed by Webster, who argued that it essentially surrendered to South Carolina's demands. Jackson, despite his anger over the scrapping of the Verplanck bill and the new alliance between Clay and Calhoun, saw it as an efficient way to end the crisis. He signed both bills on March 2, starting with the Force Bill. The South Carolina Convention then met and rescinded its nullification ordinance, but in a final show of defiance, nullified the Force Bill. On May 1, Jackson wrote, "the tariff was only the pretext, and disunion and southern confederacy the real object. The next pretext will be the negro, or slavery question."
Foreign affairs
Addressing the subject of foreign affairs in his First Annual Address to Congress, Jackson declared it to be his "settled purpose to ask nothing that is not clearly right and to submit to nothing that is wrong."
When Jackson took office, spoliation claims, or compensation demands for the capture of American ships and sailors, dating from the Napoleonic era, caused strained relations between the U.S. and French governments. The French Navy had captured and sent American ships to Spanish ports while holding their crews captive forcing them to labor without any charges or judicial rules. According to Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, relations between the U.S. and France were "hopeless." Jackson's Minister to France, William C. Rives, through diplomacy was able to convince the French government to sign a reparations treaty on July 4, 1831, that would award the U.S. ₣ 25,000,000 ($5,000,000) in damages. The French government became delinquent in payment due to internal financial and political difficulties. The French king Louis Philippe I and his ministers blamed the French Chamber of Deputies. By 1834, the non-payment of reparations by the French government drew Jackson's ire and he became impatient. In his December 1834 State of the Union address, Jackson sternly reprimanded the French government for non-payment, stating the federal government was "wholly disappointed" by the French, and demanded Congress authorize trade reprisals against France. Feeling insulted by Jackson's words, the French people began pressuring their government not to pay the indemnity until Jackson had apologized for his remarks. In his December 1835 State of the Union Address, Jackson refused to apologize, stating he had a good opinion of the French people and his intentions were peaceful. Jackson described in lengthy and minute detail the history of events surrounding the treaty and his belief that the French government was purposely stalling payment. The French accepted Jackson's statements as sincere and in February 1836, reparations were paid.
In addition to France, the Jackson administration successfully settled spoliation claims with Denmark, Portugal, and Spain. Jackson's state department was active and successful at making trade agreements with Russia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Siam. Under the treaty with the United Kingdom, American trade was reopened in the West Indies. The trade agreement with Siam was America's first treaty between the United States and an Asiatic country. As a result, American exports increased 75% while imports increased 250%.
Jackson's attempt to purchase Texas from Mexico for $5,000,000 failed. The chargé d'affaires in Mexico, Colonel Anthony Butler, suggested that the U.S. take Texas over militarily, but Jackson refused. Butler was later replaced toward the end of Jackson's presidency. In 1835, the Texas Revolution began when pro-slavery American settlers in Texas fought the Mexican government for Texan independence. By May 1836, they had routed the Mexican military, establishing an independent Republic of Texas. The new Texas government legalized slavery and demanded recognition from President Jackson and annexation into the United States. Jackson was hesitant in recognizing Texas, unconvinced that the new republic could maintain independence from Mexico, and not wanting to make Texas an anti-slavery issue during the 1836 election. The strategy worked; the Democratic Party and national loyalties were held intact, and Van Buren was elected president. Jackson formally recognized the Republic of Texas, nominating Alcée Louis la Branche as chargé d'affaires on the last full day of his presidency, March 3, 1837.
Jackson failed in his efforts to open trade with China and Japan and was unsuccessful at thwarting the United Kingdom's presence and power in South America.
Bank veto and election of 1832
The 1832 presidential election demonstrated the rapid development and organization of political parties during this time period. The Democratic Party's first national convention, held in Baltimore, nominated Jackson's choice for vice president, Van Buren. The National Republican Party, who had held their first convention in Baltimore earlier in December 1831, nominated Henry Clay, now a senator from Kentucky, and John Sergeant of Pennsylvania. The Anti-Masonic Party emerged by capitalizing on opposition to Freemasonry, which existed primarily in New England, after the disappearance and possible murder of William Morgan. The party, which had earlier held its convention also in Baltimore in September 1831, nominated William Wirt of Maryland and Amos Ellmaker of Pennsylvania. Clay was, like Jackson, a Mason, and so some anti-Jacksonians who would have supported the National Republican Party supported Wirt instead.
In 1816, the Second Bank of the United States was chartered by President James Madison to restore the United States economy devastated by the War of 1812. Monroe had appointed Nicholas Biddle as the Bank's executive. Jackson believed that the Bank was a fundamentally corrupt monopoly. Its stock was mostly held by foreigners, he insisted, and it exerted an unfair amount of control over the political system. Jackson used the issue to promote his democratic values, believing the Bank was being run exclusively for the wealthy. Jackson stated the Bank made "the rich richer and the potent more powerful." He accused it of making loans with the intent of influencing elections. In his address to Congress in 1830, Jackson called for a substitute for the Bank that would have no private stockholders and no ability to lend or purchase land. Its only power would be to issue bills of exchange. The address touched off fiery debate in the Senate. Thomas Hart Benton, now a strong supporter of the president despite the brawl years earlier, gave a speech excoriating the Bank and calling for debate on its recharter. Webster led a motion to narrowly defeat the resolution. Shortly afterward, the Globe announced that Jackson would stand for reelection.
Despite his misgivings about the Bank, Jackson supported a plan proposed in late 1831 by his moderately pro-Bank Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, who was secretly working with Biddle, to recharter a reformed version of the Bank in a way that would free up funds which would in turn be used to strengthen the military or pay off the nation's debt. This would be done, in part, through the sale of government stock in the Bank. Over the objections of Attorney General Roger B. Taney, an irreconcilable opponent of the Bank, he allowed McLane to publish a Treasury Report which essentially recommended rechartering the Bank.
Clay hoped to make the Bank an issue in the election, so as to accuse Jackson of going beyond his powers if he vetoed a recharter bill. He and Webster urged Biddle to immediately apply for recharter rather than wait to reach a compromise with the administration. Biddle received advice to the contrary from moderate Democrats such as McLane and William Lewis, who argued that Biddle should wait because Jackson would likely veto the recharter bill. On January 6, 1832, Biddle submitted to Congress a renewal of the Bank's charter without any of the proposed reforms. The submission came four years before the original 20-year charter was to end. Biddle's recharter bill passed the Senate on June 11 and the House on July 3, 1832. Jackson determined to veto it. Many moderate Democrats, including McLane, were appalled by the perceived arrogance of the bill and supported his decision. When Van Buren met Jackson on July 4, Jackson declared, "The Bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill me. But I will kill it." Jackson vetoed the bill on July 10. The veto message was crafted primarily by Taney, Kendall, and Jackson's nephew and advisor Andrew Jackson Donelson. It attacked the Bank as an agent of inequality that supported only the wealthy. The veto was considered "one of the strongest and most controversial" presidential statements and "a brilliant political manifesto." The National Republican Party immediately made Jackson's veto of the Bank a political issue. Jackson's political opponents castigated the veto as "the very slang of the leveller and demagogue," claiming Jackson was using class warfare to gain support from the common man.
At Biddle's direction, the Bank poured thousands of dollars into a campaign to defeat Jackson, seemingly confirming Jackson's view that it interfered in the political process. Jackson successfully portrayed his veto as a defense of the common man against governmental tyranny. Clay proved to be no match for Jackson's ability to resonate with the people and the Democratic Party's strong political networks. Democratic newspapers, parades, barbecues, and rallies increased Jackson's popularity. Jackson himself made numerous public appearances on his return trip from Tennessee to Washington, D.C. He won the election by a landslide, receiving 54 percent of the popular vote and 219 electoral votes. Clay received 37 percent of the popular vote and 49 electoral votes. Wirt received only eight percent of the popular vote and seven electoral votes while the Anti-Masonic Party eventually declined. Jackson believed the solid victory was a popular mandate for his veto of the Bank's recharter and his continued warfare on the Bank's control over the national economy.
Removal of deposits and censure
In 1833, Jackson attempted to begin removing federal deposits from the bank, whose money-lending functions were taken over by the legions of local and state banks that materialized across America, thus drastically increasing credit and speculation. Jackson's moves were greatly controversial. He removed McLane from the Treasury Department, having him serve instead as Secretary of State, replacing Edward Livingston. He replaced McLane with William J. Duane. In September, he fired Duane for refusing to remove the deposits. Signalling his intent to continue battling the Bank, he replaced Duane with Taney. Under Taney, the deposits began to be removed. They were placed in a variety of state banks which were friendly to the administration's policies, known to critics as pet banks. Biddle responded by stockpiling the Bank's reserves and contracting credit, thus causing interest rates to rise and bringing about a financial panic. The moves were intended to force Jackson into a compromise. "Nothing but the evidence of suffering abroad will produce any effect in Congress," he wrote. At first, Biddle's strategy was successful, putting enormous pressure on Jackson. But Jackson handled the situation well. When people came to him complaining, he referred them to Biddle, saying that he was the man who had "all the money." Jackson's approach worked. Biddle's strategy backfired, increasing anti-Bank sentiment.
In 1834, those who disagreed with Jackson's expansion of executive power united and formed the Whig Party, calling Jackson "King Andrew I," and named their party after the English Whigs who opposed seventeenth century British monarchy. A movement emerged among Whigs in the Senate to censure Jackson. The censure was a political maneuver spearheaded by Clay, which served only to perpetuate the animosity between him and Jackson. Jackson called Clay "reckless and as full of fury as a drunken man in a brothel." On March 28, the Senate voted to censure Jackson 26–20. It also rejected Taney as Treasury Secretary. The House however, led by Ways and Means Committee chairman James K. Polk, declared on April 4 that the Bank "ought not to be rechartered" and that the depositions "ought not to be restored." It voted to continue allowing pet banks to be places of deposit and voted even more overwhelmingly to investigate whether the Bank had deliberately instigated the panic. Jackson called the passage of these resolutions a "glorious triumph." It essentially sealed the Bank's demise. The Democrats later suffered a temporary setback. Polk ran for Speaker of the House to replace Andrew Stevenson. After Southerners discovered his connection to Van Buren, he was defeated by fellow-Tennessean John Bell, a Democrat-turned-Whig who opposed Jackson's removal policy.
Payment of US national debt
The national economy following the withdrawal of the remaining funds from the Bank was booming and the federal government through duty revenues and sale of public lands was able to pay all bills. On January 1, 1835, Jackson paid off the entire national debt, the only time in U.S. history that has been accomplished. The objective had been reached in part through Jackson's reforms aimed at eliminating the misuse of funds and through his vetoes of legislation which he deemed extravagant. In December 1835, Polk defeated Bell in a rematch and was elected Speaker. Finally, on January 16, 1837, when the Jacksonians had a majority in the Senate, the censure was expunged after years of effort by Jackson supporters. The expunction movement was led, ironically, by Benton.
In 1836, in response to increased land speculation, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, an executive order that required buyers of government lands to pay in "specie" (gold or silver coins). The result was high demand for specie, which many banks could not meet in exchange for their notes, contributing to the Panic of 1837. The White House Van Buren biography notes, "Basically the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of 'boom and bust,' which was following its regular pattern, but Jackson's financial measures contributed to the crash. His destruction of the Second Bank of the United States had removed restrictions upon the inflationary practices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easy bank credit, had swept the West. To end this speculation, Jackson in 1836 had issued a Specie Circular..."
Attack and assassination attempt
The first recorded physical attack on a U.S. president was directed at Jackson. He had ordered the dismissal of Robert B. Randolph from the navy for embezzlement. On May 6, 1833, Jackson sailed on USS Cygnet to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he was to lay the cornerstone on a monument near the grave of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother. During a stopover near Alexandria, Randolph appeared and struck the president. He fled the scene chased by several members of Jackson's party, including the writer Washington Irving. Jackson declined to press charges.
On January 30, 1835, what is believed to be the first attempt to kill a sitting president of the United States occurred just outside the United States Capitol. When Jackson was leaving through the East Portico after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter from England, aimed a pistol at Jackson, which misfired. Lawrence then pulled out a second pistol, which also misfired. Historians believe the humid weather contributed to the double misfiring. Jackson, infuriated, attacked Lawrence with his cane, until others present, including Davy Crockett, fearing that the president would beat Lawrence to a pulp, intervened to restrain and disarm Lawrence.
Lawrence offered a variety of explanations for the attempted shooting. He blamed Jackson for the loss of his job. He claimed that with the president dead, "money would be more plenty," (a reference to Jackson's struggle with the Bank of the United States) and that he "could not rise until the President fell." Finally, Lawrence told his interrogators that he was a deposed English king—specifically, Richard III, dead since 1485—and that Jackson was his clerk. He was deemed insane and was institutionalized at the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C.
Afterwards, the pistols were tested and retested. Each time they performed perfectly. Many believed that Jackson had been protected by the same Providence that also protected their young nation. The incident became a part of Jacksonian mythos. Jackson initially suspected that a number of his political enemies might have orchestrated the attempt on his life. His suspicions were never proven.
Reaction to anti-slavery tracts
During the summer of 1835, Northern abolitionists began sending anti-slavery tracts through the postal system into the South. Pro-slavery Southerners demanded that the postal service ban distribution of the materials, which were deemed "incendiary," and some began to riot. Jackson wanted sectional peace, and desired to placate Southerners ahead of the 1836 election. He fiercely disliked the abolitionists, whom he believed were, by instituting sectional jealousies, attempting to destroy the Union. Jackson also did not want to condone open insurrection. He supported the solution of Postmaster General Amos Kendall, which gave Southern postmasters discretionary powers to either send or detain the anti-slavery tracts. That December, Jackson called on Congress to prohibit the circulation through the South of "incendiary publications intended to instigate the slaves to insurrection."
U.S. exploring expedition
Jackson initially opposed any federal exploratory scientific expeditions during his first term in office. The last scientific federally funded expeditions took place from 1817 to 1823, led by Stephen H. Harriman west of the Mississippi. Jackson's predecessor, President Adams, attempted to launch a scientific oceanic exploration in 1828, but Congress was unwilling to fund the effort. When Jackson assumed office in 1829 he pocketed Adams' expedition plans. Eventually, wanting to establish his presidential legacy, similar to Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Jackson sponsored scientific exploration during his second term. On May 18, 1836, Jackson signed a law creating and funding the oceanic United States Exploring Expedition. Jackson put Secretary of the Navy Mahlon Dickerson in charge, to assemble suitable ships, officers, and scientific staff for the expedition; with a planned launch before Jackson's term of office expired. Dickerson proved unfit for the task, preparations stalled and the expedition was not launched until 1838, during the presidency of Van Buren. One brig ship, , later used in the expedition; having been commissioned by Secretary Dickerson in May 1836, circumnavigated the world and explored and mapped the Southern Ocean, confirming the existence of the continent of Antarctica.
Panic of 1837
In spite of economic success following Jackson's vetoes and war against the Bank, reckless speculation in land and railroads eventually caused the Panic of 1837. Contributing factors included Jackson's veto of the Second National Bank renewal charter in 1832 and subsequent transfer of federal monies to state banks in 1833 that caused western banks to relax their lending standards. Two other Jacksonian acts in 1836 contributed to the Panic of 1837: the Specie Circular, which mandated western lands only be purchased by money backed by gold and silver, and the Deposit and Distribution Act, which transferred federal monies from eastern to western state banks and in turn led to a speculation frenzy by banks. Jackson's Specie Circular, albeit designed to reduce speculation and stabilize the economy, left many investors unable to afford to pay loans in gold and silver. The same year there was a downturn in Great Britain's economy that stopped investment in the United States. As a result, the U.S. economy went into a depression, banks became insolvent, the national debt (previously paid off) increased, business failures rose, cotton prices dropped, and unemployment dramatically increased. The depression that followed lasted for four years until 1841, when the economy began to rebound.
Administration and cabinet
Judicial appointments
Jackson appointed six justices to the Supreme Court. Most were undistinguished. His first appointee, John McLean, had been nominated in Barry's place after Barry had agreed to become postmaster general. McLean "turned Whig and forever schemed to win" the presidency. His next two appointees–Henry Baldwin and James Moore Wayne–disagreed with Jackson on some points but were poorly regarded even by Jackson's enemies. In reward for his services, Jackson nominated Taney to the Court to fill a vacancy in January 1835, but the nomination failed to win Senate approval. Chief Justice Marshall died in 1835, leaving two vacancies on the court. Jackson nominated Taney for Chief Justice and Philip P. Barbour for Associate Justice. Both were confirmed by the new Senate. Taney served as Chief Justice until 1864, presiding over a court that upheld many of the precedents set by the Marshall Court. He was regarded with respect over the course of his career on the bench, but his opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford largely overshadows his other accomplishments. On the last full day of his presidency, Jackson nominated John Catron, who was confirmed.
States admitted to the Union
Two new states were admitted into the Union during Jackson's presidency: Arkansas (June 15, 1836) and Michigan (January 26, 1837). Both states increased Democratic power in Congress and helped Van Buren win the presidency in 1836. This was in keeping with the tradition that new states would support the party which had done the most to admit them.
Later life and death (1837–1845)
In 1837, after serving two terms as president, Jackson was replaced by his chosen successor Martin Van Buren and retired to the Hermitage. He immediately began putting it in order as it had been poorly managed in his absence by his adopted son, Andrew Jackson Jr. Although he suffered ill health, Jackson remained highly influential in both national and state politics. He was a firm advocate of the federal union of the states and rejected any talk of secession, insisting, "I will die with the Union." Blamed for causing the Panic of 1837, he was unpopular in his early retirement. Jackson continued to denounce the "perfidy and treachery" of banks and urged his successor, Van Buren, to repudiate the Specie Circular as president.
As a solution to the panic, he supported an Independent Treasury system, which was designed to hold the money balances of the government in the form of gold or silver and would be restricted from printing paper money so as to prevent further inflation. A coalition of conservative Democrats and Whigs opposed the bill, and it was not passed until 1840. During the delay, no effective remedy had been implemented for the depression. Van Buren grew deeply unpopular. A unified Whig Party nominated popular war hero William Henry Harrison and former Jacksonian John Tyler in the 1840 presidential election. The Whigs' campaign style in many ways mimicked that of the Democrats when Jackson ran. They depicted Van Buren as an aristocrat who did not care for the concerns of ordinary Americans, while glorifying Harrison's military record and portraying him as a man of the people. Jackson campaigned heavily for Van Buren in Tennessee. He favored the nomination of Polk for vice president at the 1840 Democratic National Convention over controversial incumbent Richard Mentor Johnson. No nominee was chosen, and the party chose to leave the decision up to individual state electors.
Harrison won the election, and the Whigs captured majorities in both houses of Congress. "The democracy of the United States has been shamefully beaten", Jackson wrote to Van Buren, "but I trust, not conquered." Harrison died only a month into his term, and was replaced by Tyler. Jackson was encouraged because Tyler had a strong independent streak and was not bound by party lines. Tyler quickly incurred the wrath of the Whigs in 1841 when he vetoed two Whig-sponsored bills to establish a new national bank, bringing satisfaction to Jackson and other Democrats. After the second veto, Tyler's entire cabinet, with the exception of Webster, resigned.
Jackson strongly favored the annexation of Texas, a feat he had been unable to accomplish during his own presidency. While Jackson still feared that annexation would stir up anti-slavery sentiment, his belief that the British would use Texas as a base to threaten the United States overrode his other concerns. He also insisted that Texas was part of the Louisiana Purchase and therefore rightfully belonged to the United States. At the request of Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, acting on behalf of the Tyler administration, which also supported annexation, Jackson wrote several letters to Texas president Sam Houston, urging him to wait for the Senate to approve annexation and explaining how much being a part of the United States would benefit Texas. Initially prior to the 1844 election, Jackson again supported Van Buren for president and Polk for vice president. A treaty of annexation was signed by Tyler on April 12, 1844, and submitted to the Senate. When a letter from Secretary of State Calhoun to British Ambassador Richard Pakenham linking annexation to slavery was made public, anti-annexation sentiment exploded in the North and the bill failed to be ratified. Van Buren decided to write the "Hamlet letter," opposing annexation. This effectively extinguished any support that Van Buren might previously have enjoyed in the South. The Whig nominee, Henry Clay, also opposed annexation, and Jackson recognized the need for the Democrats to nominate a candidate who supported it and could therefore gain the support of the South. If the plan failed, Jackson warned, Texas would not join the Union and would potentially fall victim to a Mexican invasion supported by the British.
Jackson met with Polk, Robert Armstrong, and Andrew Jackson Donelson in his study. He then pointed directly at a startled Polk, telling him that, as a man from the southwest and a supporter of annexation, he would be the perfect candidate. Polk called the scheme "utterly abortive", but agreed to go along with it. At the 1844 Democratic National Convention, Polk emerged as the party's nominee after Van Buren failed to win the required two-thirds majority of delegates. George M. Dallas was selected for vice president. Jackson convinced Tyler to drop his plans of running for re-election as an independent by promising, as Tyler requested, to welcome the President and his allies back into the Democratic Party and by instructing Blair to stop criticizing the President. Polk won the election, defeating Clay. A bill of annexation was passed by Congress in February and signed by Tyler on March 1.
Jackson's age and illness eventually overcame him. On June 8, 1845, he was surrounded by family and friends at his deathbed. Jackson, startled by their sobbing, said, "What is the matter with my dear children? Have I alarmed you? Oh, do not cry. Be good children and we will all meet in Heaven." He died immediately after at the age of 78 of chronic dropsy and heart failure. According to a newspaper account from the Boon Lick Times, "[he] fainted whilst being removed from his chair to the bed ... but he subsequently revived ... Gen. Jackson died at the Hermitage at 6 p.m. on Sunday the 8th instant. ... When the messenger finally came, the old soldier, patriot and Christian was looking out for his approach. He is gone, but his memory lives, and will continue to live." In his will, Jackson left his entire estate to Andrew Jackson Jr. except for specifically enumerated items that were left to various friends and family members.
Personal life
Family
Jackson had three adopted sons: Theodore, an Indian about whom little is known, Andrew Jackson Jr., the son of Rachel's brother Severn Donelson, and Lyncoya, a Creek orphan adopted by Jackson after the Battle of Tallushatchee. Lyncoya died of tuberculosis on July 1, 1828, at the age of sixteen.
The Jacksons also acted as guardians for eight other children. John Samuel Donelson, Daniel Smith Donelson, and Andrew Jackson Donelson were the sons of Rachel's brother Samuel Donelson, who died in 1804. Andrew Jackson Hutchings was Rachel's orphaned grand nephew. Caroline Butler, Eliza Butler, Edward Butler, and Anthony Butler were the orphaned children of Edward Butler, a family friend. They came to live with the Jacksons after the death of their father.
The widower Jackson invited Rachel's niece Emily Donelson to serve as hostess at the White House. Emily was married to Andrew Jackson Donelson, who acted as Jackson's private secretary and in 1856 ran for vice president on the American Party ticket. The relationship between the president and Emily became strained during the Petticoat affair, and the two became estranged for over a year. They eventually reconciled and she resumed her duties as White House hostess. Sarah Yorke Jackson, the wife of Andrew Jackson Jr., became co-hostess of the White House in 1834. It was the only time in history when two women simultaneously acted as unofficial First Lady. Sarah took over all hostess duties after Emily died from tuberculosis in 1836. Jackson used Rip Raps as a retreat.
Temperament
Jackson's quick temper was notorious. Biographer H. W. Brands notes that his opponents were terrified of his temper: "Observers likened him to a volcano, and only the most intrepid or recklessly curious cared to see it erupt. ... His close associates all had stories of his blood-curdling oaths, his summoning of the Almighty to loose His wrath upon some miscreant, typically followed by his own vow to hang the villain or blow him to perdition. Given his record—in duels, brawls, mutiny trials, and summary hearings—listeners had to take his vows seriously."
On the last day of his presidency, Jackson admitted that he had but two regrets, that he "had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun." On his deathbed, he was once again quoted as regretting that he had not hanged Calhoun for treason. "My country would have sustained me in the act, and his fate would have been a warning to traitors in all time to come," he said. Remini expresses the opinion that Jackson was typically in control of his temper, and that he used his anger, along with his fearsome reputation, as a tool to get what he wanted.
Physical appearance
Jackson was a lean figure, standing at tall, and weighing between on average. Jackson also had an unruly shock of red hair, which had completely grayed by the time he became president at age 61. He had penetrating deep blue eyes. Jackson was one of the more sickly presidents, suffering from chronic headaches, abdominal pains, and a hacking cough. Much of his trouble was caused by a musket ball in his lung that was never removed, that often brought up blood and sometimes made his whole body shake.
Religious faith
In 1838, Jackson became an official member of the First Presbyterian Church in Nashville. Both his mother and his wife had been devout Presbyterians all their lives, but Jackson himself had postponed officially entering the church in order to avoid accusations that he had joined only for political reasons.
Freemasonry
Jackson was a Freemason, initiated at Harmony Lodge No. 1 in Tennessee. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee in 1822 and 1823. During the 1832 presidential election, Jackson faced opposition from the Anti-Masonic Party. He was the only U.S. president to have served as Grand Master of a state's Grand Lodge until Harry S. Truman in 1945. His Masonic apron is on display in the Tennessee State Museum. An obelisk and bronze Masonic plaque decorate his tomb at the Hermitage.
Legacy
Historical reputation
Jackson remains one of the most studied and controversial figures in American history. Historian Charles Grier Sellers says, "Andrew Jackson's masterful personality was enough by itself to make him one of the most controversial figures ever to stride across the American stage." There has never been universal agreement on Jackson's legacy, for "his opponents have ever been his most bitter enemies, and his friends almost his worshippers." He was always a fierce partisan, with many friends and many enemies. He has been lauded as the champion of the common man, while criticized for his treatment of Indians and for other matters. James Parton was the first man after Jackson's death to write a full biography of him. Trying to sum up the contradictions in his subject, he wrote:
Jackson was criticized by his contemporary Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1835 book Democracy in America for flattering the dominant ideas of his time, including the mistrust over the federal power, for sometimes enforcing his view by force and disrespect towards the institutions and the law:
In the 20th century, Jackson was the subject of multiple highly favorable biographies. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.'s Age of Jackson (1945) depicts Jackson as a man of the people battling inequality and upper-class tyranny. From the 1970s to the 1980s, Robert Remini published a three-volume biography of Jackson followed by an abridged one-volume study. Remini paints a generally favorable portrait of Jackson. He contends that Jacksonian democracy "stretches the concept of democracy about as far as it can go and still remain workable. ... As such it has inspired much of the dynamic and dramatic events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in American history—Populism, Progressivism, the New and Fair Deals, and the programs of the New Frontier and Great Society." To Remini, Jackson serves as "the embodiment of the new American ... This new man was no longer British. He no longer wore the queue and silk pants. He wore trousers, and he had stopped speaking with a British accent." Other 20th-century writers such as Richard Hofstadter and Bray Hammond depict Jackson as an advocate of the sort of laissez-faire capitalism that benefits the rich and oppresses the poor.
Jackson's initiatives to deal with the conflicts between Native American people and European-American settlers has been a source of controversy. Starting around 1970, Jackson came under attack from some historians on this issue. Howard Zinn called him "the most aggressive enemy of the Indians in early American history" and "exterminator of Indians." Conversely, in 1969, Francis Paul Prucha argued that Jackson's removal of the Five Civilized Tribes from the extremely hostile white environment in the Old South to Oklahoma probably saved their very existence. Similarly, Remini claims that, if not for Jackson's policies, the Southeastern tribes would have been totally wiped out, similar to people such as the Yamasee, Mahican, and Narragansett.
Jackson has long been honored, along with Thomas Jefferson, in the Jefferson–Jackson Day fundraising dinners held by state Democratic Party organizations to honor the two men whom the party regards as its founders. However, because both Jefferson and Jackson were slave owners, as well as because of Jackson's Indian removal policies, many state party organizations have renamed the dinners.
Brands argues that Jackson's reputation suffered since the 1960s as his actions towards Indians and African Americans received new attention. After the civil rights movement, Brand writes, "his unrepentant ownership of slaves marked him as one to be censured rather than praised." Further, "By the turn of the present [21st] century, it was scarcely an exaggeration to say that the one thing American schoolchildren learned about Jackson was that he was the author of the Trail of Tears." Brands notes that he was often hailed during his lifetime as the "second George Washington" because, while Washington had fought for independence, Jackson confirmed it at New Orleans and made the United States a great power. Over time, while the Revolution has maintained a strong presence in the public conscience, memory of the War of 1812, including the Battle of New Orleans, has sharply declined. Brands writes that this is because once America had become a military power, "it was easy to think that America had been destined for this role from the beginning."
Still, Jackson's performance in office compared to other presidents has generally been ranked in the top half in public opinion polling. His position in C-SPAN's poll dropped from 13th in 2009, to 18th in 2017, and to 22nd in 2021.
Portrayal on banknotes and stamps
Jackson has appeared on U.S. banknotes as far back as 1869, and extending into the 21st century. His image has appeared on the $5, $10, $20, and $10,000 note. Most recently, his image has appeared on the U.S. $20 Federal reserve note beginning in 1928. In 2016, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced his goal that by 2020 an image of Harriet Tubman would replace Jackson's depiction on the front side of the $20 banknote, and that an image of Jackson would be placed on the reverse side, though the final decision will be made by his successors.
Jackson has appeared on several postage stamps. He first appeared on an 1863 two-cent stamp, which is commonly referred to by collectors as the Black Jack due to the large portraiture of Jackson on its face printed in pitch black. During the American Civil War, the Confederate government issued two Confederate postage stamps bearing Jackson's portrait, one a 2-cent red stamp and the other a 2-cent green stamp, both issued in 1863.
Memorials
Numerous counties and cities are named after him, including the cities of Jacksonville in Florida and North Carolina; the cities of Jackson in Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee; the city of Andrew in Iowa; Jackson County in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Oregon; and Jackson Parish in Louisiana.
Memorials to Jackson include a set of four identical equestrian statues by the sculptor Clark Mills: in Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.; in Jackson Square, New Orleans; in Nashville on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol; and in Jacksonville, Florida. Other equestrian statues of Jackson have been erected elsewhere, as in the State Capitol grounds in Raleigh, North Carolina. That statue controversially identifies him as one of the "presidents North Carolina gave the nation," and he is featured alongside James Polk and Andrew Johnson, both U.S. presidents born in North Carolina. There is a bust of Andrew Jackson in Plaza Ferdinand VII in Pensacola, Florida, where he became the first governor of the Florida Territory in 1821. There is also a 1928 bronze sculpture of Andrew Jackson by Belle Kinney Scholz and Leopold Scholz in the U.S. Capitol Building as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Popular culture depictions
Jackson and his wife Rachel were the main subjects of a 1951 historical novel by Irving Stone, The President's Lady, which told the story of their lives up until Rachel's death. The novel was the basis for the 1953 film of the same name starring Charlton Heston as Jackson and Susan Hayward as Rachel.
Jackson has been a supporting character in a number of historical films and television productions. Lionel Barrymore played Jackson in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), a fictionalized biography of Peggy Eaton starring Joan Crawford. The Buccaneer (1938), depicting the Battle of New Orleans, included Hugh Sothern as Jackson, and was remade in 1958 with Heston again playing Jackson.
Brian Donlevy played Jackson in the Paramount Pictures 1942 film The Remarkable Andrew. Basil Ruysdael played Jackson in Walt Disney's 1955 Davy Crockett TV miniseries. Wesley Addy appeared as Jackson in some episodes of the 1976 PBS miniseries The Adams Chronicles.
Jackson is the protagonist of the comedic historic rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (2008) with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and book by Alex Timbers.
In 1959, Jimmy Driftwood wrote the song "The Battle of New Orleans," which mentions Jackson. Johnny Horton recorded it that same year.
See also
List of presidents of the United States on currency
Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps
Notes
References
Bibliography
Biographies
; 344 pages; coverage to age 21
Abridgment of Remini's 3-volume biography.
Specialized studies
Historiography
Ward, John William 1955. Andrew Jackson, Symbol for an Age. New York: Oxford University Press.
Primary sources
7 volumes total.
(9 vols. 1980 to date)
Reprints his major messages and reports.
Library of Congress. "Andrew Jackson Papers", a digital archive that provides direct access to the manuscript images of many of the Jackson documents. online
Further reading
External links
Andrew Jackson: A Resource Guide at the Library of Congress
The Papers of Andrew Jackson at the Avalon Project
The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson
"Life Portrait of Andrew Jackson", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, April 26, 1999
"The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson and the Growth of Party Politics", lesson plan at the National Endowment for the Humanities
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Tuberculosis deaths in Tennessee | true | [
"The Augustus Hurt house, often erroneously cited as the Howard House, was General Sherman's temporary headquarters during the Battle of Atlanta. After the battle the house was torn down for firewood.\n\nIt was located on Copenhill, which in the 1890s became the Copenhill streetcar suburb of Atlanta, east of the city center. The neighborhood was razed for the site of a freeway interchange which was never built, and is now the site of the Carter Center.\n\nReferences\n\n Augustus Hurt House, historical marker\n Augustus Hurt Plantation historical marker\n\nHouses in Georgia (U.S. state)\nDemolished buildings and structures in Atlanta\nHouses completed in 1858",
"Francis Hurt (22 October 1803 at Cromford, Derbyshire – 1 April 1861 at Alderwasley, Derbyshire) was an English Tory politician who represented the constituency of South Derbyshire.\n\nBiography\nHurt was born at Rock House Cromford, the son of Francis Edward Hurt and his wife Elizabeth Arkwright, the daughter of Richard Arkwright Junior. \n\nHe played a first-class cricket match for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1840, being out for nought in both innings.\n\nHurt became MP for Derbyshire South in 1837 but lost the seat in 1841. He lived at Alderwasley Hall which had been in the Hurt family since 1690. He was High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1860, Deputy Lieutenant and J. P.\n\nIn 1851, he rebuilt in stone an Observatory called Crich Stand on a limestone cliff overlooking Crich. This had originally been erected by his grandfather in 1788 at a cost of £210. This was rebuilt in 1923 as a Memorial Tower for those of the Sherwood Foresters regiment who died in battle, particularly in World War I. Hurt also built a wooden house on a height in the Alderwasley woods in 1857 which was used for picnics. This was on or near the site of the \"Earl's Chamber\", a hunting lodge belonging to Edmund Earl of Lancaster, brother of Edward I.\n\nHurt married Cecilia Norman, daughter of Richard Norman of Melton Mowbray and niece to the Duke of 'Rutland. Their son Captain Francis R. Hurt was killed in the Crimean War in the attack on the Redan on 18 June 1855.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n1803 births\n1861 deaths\nPeople from Cromford\nConservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies\nUK MPs 1837–1841\nDeputy Lieutenants of Derbyshire\nMembers of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire\nHigh Sheriffs of Derbyshire\nEnglish cricketers\nEnglish cricketers of 1826 to 1863\nMarylebone Cricket Club cricketers"
] |
[
"Andrew Jackson",
"Battle of New Orleans",
"When did the battle start?",
"December 1, 1814,",
"When did the battle end?",
"February 27, 1815,",
"What was the battle about?",
"he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants.",
"Did they win the battle",
"After the battle, the British retreated from the area,",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas.",
"What was his role in the war?",
"After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city,",
"What happens when he instituted martial law",
"The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23.",
"Was he hurt during the battle?",
"For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured."
] | C_d066211bb235410c9c7b763df9a0ddfd_1 | Where did they stay during the battle | 9 | Where did Andrew Jackson stay during the battle | Andrew Jackson | Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from present day Northern Ireland two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, in current-day Northern Ireland, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal family line originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England. When they immigrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. They brought two children from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). Jackson's father died in a logging accident while clearing land in February 1767 at the age of 29, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests. Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824 Jackson wrote a letter saying that he was born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian country. Most of the transactions involved grants made under the 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819. After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. Jackson soon became associated with the more radical, pro-French and anti-British wing. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. Senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests. After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of conflict with Europeans or Indians, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane, and continued to serve as governor until 1809. After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson only had about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained. The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." CANNOTANSWER | Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. | Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. An expansionist president, Jackson sought to advance the rights of the "common man" against a "corrupt aristocracy" and to preserve the Union.
Born in the colonial Carolinas in the decade before the American Revolutionary War, Jackson became a frontier lawyer and married Rachel Donelson Robards. He served briefly in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, representing Tennessee. After resigning, he served as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1798 until 1804. Jackson purchased a property later known as The Hermitage, and became a wealthy, slaveowning planter. In 1801, he was appointed colonel of the Tennessee militia and was elected its commander the following year. He led troops during the Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The subsequent Treaty of Fort Jackson required the Creek surrender of vast lands in present-day Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent war against the British, Jackson's victory in 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans made him a national hero. Jackson then led U.S. forces in the First Seminole War, which led to the annexation of Florida from Spain. Jackson briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824, winning a plurality of the popular and electoral vote. As no candidate won an electoral majority, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams in a contingent election. In reaction to the alleged "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Henry Clay and the ambitious agenda of President Adams, Jackson's supporters founded the Democratic Party.
Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide. Jackson faced the threat of secession by South Carolina over what opponents called the "Tariff of Abominations". The crisis was defused when the tariff was amended, and Jackson threatened the use of military force if South Carolina attempted to secede. In Congress, Henry Clay led the effort to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States. Jackson, regarding the Bank as a corrupt institution that benefited the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Americans, vetoed the renewal of its charter. After a lengthy struggle, Jackson and his allies thoroughly dismantled the Bank. In 1835, Jackson became the only president to completely pay off the national debt, fulfilling a longtime goal. While Jackson pursued numerous reforms designed to eliminate waste and corruption, his presidency marked the beginning of the ascendancy of the party "spoils system" in American politics. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibly removed most members of the major tribes of the Southeast to Indian Territory; these removals were subsequently known as the Trail of Tears. The relocation process dispossessed these nations of their land and resulted in widespread death and disease. Jackson opposed the abolitionist movement, which grew stronger in his second term. In foreign affairs, Jackson's administration concluded a "most favored nation" treaty with the United Kingdom, settled claims of damages against France from the Napoleonic Wars, and recognized the Republic of Texas. In January 1835, he survived the first assassination attempt on a sitting president.
In his retirement, Jackson remained active in Democratic Party politics, supporting the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk. Though fearful of its effects on the slavery debate, Jackson advocated the annexation of Texas, which was accomplished shortly before his death. Jackson has been widely revered in the United States as an advocate for democracy and the common man. Many of his actions proved divisive, garnering both fervent support and strong opposition from many in the country. His reputation has suffered since the 1970s, largely due to his anti-abolitionist views and policy of the forcible removal of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands. However, surveys of historians and scholars have ranked Jackson favorably among U.S. presidents.
Early life and education
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew Jackson and his wife Elizabeth Hutchinson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ulster, Ireland, two years earlier. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, around 1738. Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His paternal ancestors originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England.
When they migrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents brought two children with them from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). The family probably landed in Philadelphia. Most likely they traveled overland through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws, straddling the border between North and South Carolina. Jackson's father died in February 1767 at the age of 29, in a logging accident while clearing land, three weeks before his son Andrew was born. Jackson, his mother, and his brothers lived with Jackson's aunt and uncle in the Waxhaws region, and Jackson received schooling from two nearby priests.
Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear because of a lack of knowledge of his mother's actions immediately following her husband's funeral. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824, Jackson wrote a letter saying he had been born on the plantation of his uncle James Crawford in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Jackson may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he might have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. As a young boy, Jackson was easily offended and was considered something of a bully. He was, however, also said to have taken a group of younger and weaker boys under his wing and been kind to them.
Revolutionary War service
During the Revolutionary War, Jackson's eldest brother, Hugh, died from heat exhaustion after the Battle of Stono Ferry on June 20, 1779. Anti-British sentiment intensified following the Waxhaws Massacre on May 29, 1780. Jackson's mother encouraged him and his elder brother Robert to attend the local militia drills. Soon, they began to help the militia as couriers. They served under Colonel William Richardson Davie at the Battle of Hanging Rock on August 6. Andrew and Robert were captured by the British in April 1781 while staying at the home of the Crawford family. When Andrew refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the officer slashed at the youth with a sword, leaving him with scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British. Robert also refused to do as commanded and was struck with the sword. The two brothers were held as prisoners, contracted smallpox, and nearly starved to death in captivity.
Later that year, their mother Elizabeth secured the brothers' release. She then began to walk both boys back to their home in the Waxhaws, a distance of some 40 miles (64 km). Both were in very poor health. Robert, who was far worse, rode on the only horse they had, while Andrew walked behind them. In the final two hours of the journey, a torrential downpour began which worsened the effects of the smallpox. Within two days of arriving back home, Robert was dead and Andrew in mortal danger. After nursing Andrew back to health, Elizabeth volunteered to nurse American prisoners of war on board two British ships in the Charleston harbor, where there had been an outbreak of cholera. In November, she died from the disease and was buried in an unmarked grave. Andrew became an orphan at age 14. He blamed the British personally for the loss of his brothers and mother.
Early career
Legal career and marriage
After the Revolutionary War, Jackson received a sporadic education in a local Waxhaw school. On bad terms with much of his extended family, he boarded with several different people. In 1781, he worked for a time as a saddle-maker, and eventually taught school. He apparently prospered in neither profession. In 1784, he left the Waxhaws region for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he studied law under attorney Spruce Macay. With the help of various lawyers, he was able to learn enough to qualify for the bar. In September 1787, Jackson was admitted to the North Carolina bar. Shortly thereafter, his friend John McNairy helped him get appointed to a vacant prosecutor position in the Western District of North Carolina, which would later become the state of Tennessee. During his travel west, Jackson bought his first slave, a woman who was older than him. In 1788, having been offended by fellow lawyer Waightstill Avery, Jackson fought his first duel. The duel ended with both men firing into the air, having made a secret agreement to do so before the engagement.
Jackson moved to the small frontier town of Nashville in 1788, where he lived as a boarder with Rachel Stockly Donelson, the widow of John Donelson. Here Jackson became acquainted with their daughter, Rachel Donelson Robards. The younger Rachel was in an unhappy marriage with Captain Lewis Robards; he was subject to fits of jealous rage. The two were separated in 1790. According to Jackson, he married Rachel after hearing that Robards had obtained a divorce. Her divorce had not been made final, making Rachel's marriage to Jackson bigamous and therefore invalid. After the divorce was officially completed, Rachel and Jackson remarried in 1794. To complicate matters further, evidence shows that Rachel had been living with Jackson and referred to herself as Mrs. Jackson before the petition for divorce was ever made. It was not uncommon on the frontier for relationships to be formed and dissolved unofficially, as long as they were recognized by the community.
Land speculation and early public career
In 1794, Jackson formed a partnership with fellow lawyer John Overton, dealing in claims for land reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw. Like many of their contemporaries, they dealt in such claims although the land was in Indian territory. Most of the transactions involved grants made under a 'land grab' act of 1783 that briefly opened Indian lands west of the Appalachians within North Carolina to claim by that state's residents. He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819.
After moving to Nashville, Jackson became a protege of William Blount, a friend of the Donelsons and one of the most powerful men in the territory. Jackson became attorney general in 1791, and he won election as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its only U.S. Representative. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, the dominant party in Tennessee. As a representative, Jackson staunchly advocated for the rights of Tennesseans against Native American tribal interests. He strongly opposed the Jay Treaty and criticized George Washington for allegedly removing Democratic-Republicans from public office. Jackson joined several other Democratic-Republican congressmen in voting against a resolution of thanks for Washington, a vote that would later haunt him when he sought the presidency. In 1797, the state legislature elected him as U.S. senator. Jackson seldom participated in debate and found the job dissatisfying. He pronounced himself "disgusted with the administration" of President John Adams and resigned the following year without explanation. Upon returning home, with strong support from western Tennessee, he was elected to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court at an annual salary of $600. Jackson's service as a judge is generally viewed as a success and earned him a reputation for honesty and good decision-making. Jackson resigned the judgeship in 1804. His official reason for resigning was ill health. He had been suffering financially from poor land ventures, and so it is also possible that he wanted to return full-time to his business interests.
After arriving in Tennessee, Jackson won the appointment of judge advocate of the Tennessee militia. In 1802, while serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court, he declared his candidacy for major general, or commander, of the Tennessee militia, a position voted on by the officers. At that time, most free men were members of the militia. The organizations, intended to be called up in case of armed conflicts, resembled large social clubs. Jackson saw it as a way to advance his stature. With strong support from western Tennessee, he tied with John Sevier with seventeen votes. Sevier was a popular Revolutionary War veteran and former governor, the recognized leader of politics in eastern Tennessee. On February 5, Governor Archibald Roane broke the tie in Jackson's favor. Jackson had also presented Roane with evidence of land fraud against Sevier. Subsequently, in 1803, when Sevier announced his intention to regain the governorship, Roane released the evidence. Jackson then published a newspaper article accusing Sevier of fraud and bribery. Sevier insulted Jackson in public, and the two nearly fought a duel over the matter. Despite the charges leveled against Sevier, he defeated Roane and continued to serve as governor until 1809.
Planting career and controversy
In addition to his legal and political career, Jackson prospered as a planter and merchant. He built a home and the first general store in Gallatin, Tennessee, in 1803. The next year, he acquired The Hermitage, a plantation in Davidson County, near Nashville. He later added to the plantation, which eventually totaled . The primary crop was cotton. Like most successful American planters at the time, Jackson's plantation depended on slave labor. The cotton cultivated at the Hermitage was planted and picked by slaves. The Hermitage was quite profitable; Jackson began with nine slaves, owned as many as 44 by 1820, and later up to 150, placing him among the planter elite. Jackson also co-owned with his son Andrew Jackson Jr. the Halcyon plantation in Coahoma County, Mississippi, which housed 51 slaves at the time of his death. Throughout his lifetime, Jackson may have owned as many as 500 slaves.
Men, women, and child slaves were owned by Jackson on three sections of the Hermitage plantation. Slaves lived in extended family units of between five and ten persons and were quartered in cabins made either of brick or logs. The size and quality of the Hermitage slave quarters exceeded the standards of the time. To help slaves acquire food, Jackson supplied them with guns, knives, and fishing equipment. At times he paid his slaves with money and coins to trade in local markets. Jackson permitted slaves to be whipped to increase productivity or if he believed his slaves' offenses were severe enough. At various times he posted advertisements for fugitive slaves who had escaped from his plantation. In one advertisement placed in the Tennessee Gazette in October 1804, Jackson offered "ten dollars extra, for every hundred lashes any person will give him, to the amount of three hundred."
The controversy surrounding his marriage to Rachel remained a sore point for Jackson, who deeply resented attacks on his wife's honor. By May 1806, Charles Dickinson, who, like Jackson, raced horses, had published an attack on Jackson in the local newspaper, and it resulted in a written challenge from Jackson to a duel. Since Dickinson was considered an expert shot, Jackson determined it would be best to let Dickinson turn and fire first, hoping that his aim might be spoiled in his quickness; Jackson would wait and take careful aim at Dickinson. Dickinson did fire first, hitting Jackson in the chest. The bullet that struck Jackson was so close to his heart that it could not be removed. Under the rules of dueling, Dickinson had to remain still as Jackson took aim and shot and killed him. Jackson's behavior in the duel outraged many in Tennessee, who called it a brutal, cold-blooded killing and saddled Jackson with a reputation as a violent, vengeful man. He became a social outcast.
After the Sevier affair and the duel, Jackson was looking for a way to salvage his reputation. He chose to align himself with former vice president Aaron Burr. Burr's political career ended after the killing of Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804; in 1805 he set out on a tour of what was then the western United States. Burr was extremely well received by the people of Tennessee, and stayed for five days at the Hermitage. Burr's true intentions are not known with certainty. He seems to have been planning a military operation to conquer Spanish Florida and drive the Spanish from Texas. To many westerners like Jackson, the promise seemed enticing. Western American settlers had long held bitter feelings towards Spain due to territorial disputes and their persistent failure to stop Indians living in Spanish territory from raiding American settlements. On October 4, 1806, Jackson addressed the Tennessee militia, declaring that the men should be "at a moment's warning ready to march." On the same day, he wrote to James Winchester, proclaiming that the United States "can conquer not only the Floridas [at that time there was an East Florida and a West Florida.], but all Spanish North America." He continued:
Jackson agreed to provide boats and other provisions for the expedition. However, on November 10, he learned from a military captain that Burr's plans apparently included seizure of New Orleans, then part of the Louisiana Territory of the United States, and incorporating it, along with lands won from the Spanish, into a new empire. He was further outraged when he learned from the same man of the involvement of Brigadier General James Wilkinson, whom he deeply disliked, in the plan. Jackson acted cautiously at first, but wrote letters to public officials, including President Thomas Jefferson, vaguely warning them about the scheme. In December, Jefferson, a political opponent of Burr, issued a proclamation declaring that a treasonous plot was underway in the West and calling for the arrest of the perpetrators. Jackson, safe from arrest because of his extensive paper trail, organized the militia. Burr was soon captured, and the men were sent home. Jackson traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to testify on Burr's behalf in trial. The defense team decided against placing him on the witness stand, fearing his remarks were too provocative. Burr was acquitted of treason, despite Jefferson's efforts to have him convicted. Jackson endorsed James Monroe for president in 1808 against James Madison. The latter was part of the Jeffersonian wing of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson lived relatively quietly at the Hermitage in the years after the Burr trial, eventually accumulating 640 acres of land.
Military career
War of 1812
Creek campaign and treaty
Leading up to 1812, the United States found itself increasingly drawn into international conflict. Formal hostilities with Spain or France never materialized, but tensions with Britain increased for a number of reasons. Among these was the desire of many Americans for more land, particularly British Canada and Florida, the latter still controlled by Spain, Britain's European ally. On June 18, 1812, Congress officially declared war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, beginning the War of 1812. Jackson responded enthusiastically, sending a letter to Washington offering 2,500 volunteers. However, the men were not called up for many months. Biographer Robert V. Remini claims that Jackson saw the apparent slight as payback by the Madison administration for his support of Burr and Monroe. Meanwhile, the United States military repeatedly suffered devastating defeats on the battlefield.
On January 10, 1813, Jackson led an army of 2,071 volunteers to New Orleans to defend the region against British and Native American attacks. He had been instructed to serve under General Wilkinson, who commanded Federal forces in New Orleans. Lacking adequate provisions, Wilkinson ordered Jackson to halt in Natchez, then part of the Mississippi Territory, and await further orders. Jackson reluctantly obeyed. The newly appointed Secretary of War, John Armstrong Jr., sent a letter to Jackson dated February 6 ordering him to dismiss his forces and to turn over his supplies to Wilkinson. In reply to Armstrong on March 15, Jackson defended the character and readiness of his men, and promised to turn over his supplies. He also promised, instead of dismissing the troops without provisions in Natchez, to march them back to Nashville. The march was filled with agony. Many of the men had fallen ill. Jackson and his officers turned over their horses to the sick. He paid for provisions for the men out of his own pocket. The soldiers began referring to their commander as "Hickory," after a hickory nut, because of his toughness, and Jackson became known as "Old Hickory". After about a month long march, the army finally arrived in Nashville. His actions earned him respect and praise from the people of Tennessee. Jackson faced financial ruin, until his former aide-de-camp Thomas Benton persuaded Armstrong to order the army to pay the expenses Jackson had incurred. On June 14, Jackson served as a second in a duel on behalf of his junior officer William Carroll against Jesse Benton, the brother of Thomas. On September 3, Jackson and his top cavalry officer, Brigadier General John Coffee, were involved in a street brawl with the Benton brothers. Jackson was severely wounded by Jesse with a gunshot to the shoulder.
On August 30, 1813, a group of Muscogee (or Creek) called the Red Sticks, so named for the color of their war paint, perpetrated the Fort Mims massacre in which hundreds of white American settlers and non-Red Stick Creeks were slaughtered. The Red Sticks, led by William Weatherford (also called Red Eagle) and Peter McQueen, had broken away from the rest of the Creek Confederacy, which wanted peace with the United States. They were allied with Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief who had launched Tecumseh's War against the United States, and who was fighting alongside the British. The resulting conflict became known as the Creek War.
Jackson, with 2,500 American soldiers, was ordered to crush the Red Sticks. On October 10, he set out on the expedition, his arm still in a sling from fighting the Bentons. Jackson established Fort Strother as a supply base. On November 3, Coffee defeated a band of Red Sticks at the Battle of Tallushatchee. Coming to the relief of friendly Creeks besieged by Red Sticks, Jackson won another decisive victory at the Battle of Talladega. In the winter, Jackson, encamped at Fort Strother, faced a severe shortage of troops due to the expiration of enlistments and chronic desertions. He sent Coffee with the cavalry (which abandoned him) back to Tennessee to secure more enlistments. Jackson decided to combine his force with that of the Georgia militia, and marched to meet the Georgia troops. From January 22–24, 1814, while on their way, the Tennessee militia and allied Muscogee were attacked by the Red Sticks at the Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek. Jackson's troops repelled the attackers, but outnumbered, were forced to withdraw to Fort Strother. Jackson, now with over 2,000 troops, marched most of his army south to confront the Red Sticks at a fortress they had constructed at a bend in the Tallapoosa River. Jackson, together with Lower Creek and Cherokee allies and enjoying an advantage of more than 2 to 1, engaged them on March 27 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. An initial artillery barrage did little damage to the well-constructed fort. A subsequent Infantry charge, in addition to an assault by Coffee's cavalry and diversions caused by the allied Creeks, overwhelmed the Red Sticks.
The campaign ended three weeks later with Red Eagle's surrender, although some Red Sticks such as McQueen fled to East Florida. On June 8, Jackson accepted a commission as brigadier general in the United States Army, and 10 days later became a major general, in command of the Seventh Military Division. Subsequently, Jackson, with Madison's approval, imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson. The treaty required the Muscogee, including those who had not joined the Red Sticks, to surrender 23 million acres (8,093,713 ha) of land to the United States. Most of the Creeks bitterly acquiesced. Though in ill-health from dysentery, Jackson then turned his attention to defeating Spanish and British forces. Jackson accused the Spanish of arming the Red Sticks and of violating the terms of their neutrality by allowing British soldiers into the Floridas. The first charge was true, while the second ignored the fact that it was Jackson's threats to invade Florida which had caused them to seek British protection. In the November 7 Battle of Pensacola, Jackson defeated the relatively small British and Spanish forces in a short skirmish. Shortly thereafter, the Spanish surrendered and the remaining British wthdrew. Weeks later, Jackson learned that the British were planning an attack on New Orleans, which sat on the mouth of the Mississippi River and held immense strategic and commercial value. Jackson abandoned Pensacola to the Spanish, placed a force in Mobile, Alabama, to guard against a possible invasion there, and rushed the rest of his forces west to defend New Orleans.
The Creeks coined their own name for Jackson, Jacksa Chula Harjo or "Jackson, old and fierce."
Battle of New Orleans
After arriving in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, Jackson instituted martial law in the city, as he worried about the loyalty of the city's Creole and Spanish inhabitants. At the same time, he formed an alliance with Jean Lafitte's smugglers, and formed military units consisting of African-Americans and Muscogees, in addition to recruiting volunteers in the city. Jackson received some criticism for paying white and non-white volunteers the same salary. These forces, along with U.S. Army regulars and volunteers from surrounding states, joined with Jackson's force in defending New Orleans. The approaching British force, led by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and later General Edward Pakenham, consisted of over 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars. Jackson had only about 5,000 men, most of whom were inexperienced and poorly trained.
The British arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River on the morning of December 23. That evening, Jackson attacked the British and temporarily drove them back. On January 8, 1815, the British launched a major frontal assault against Jackson's defenses. An initial artillery barrage by the British did little damage to the well-constructed American defenses. Once the morning fog had cleared, the British launched a frontal assault, and their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their parapets. Despite managing to temporarily drive back the American right flank, the overall attack ended in disaster. For the battle on January 8, Jackson admitted to only 71 total casualties. Of these, 13 men were killed, 39 wounded, and 19 missing or captured. The British admitted 2,037 casualties. Of these, 291 men were killed (including Pakenham), 1,262 wounded, and 484 missing or captured. After the battle, the British retreated from the area, and open hostilities ended shortly thereafter when word spread that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in Europe that December. Coming in the waning days of the war, Jackson's victory made him a national hero, as the country celebrated the end of what many called the "Second American Revolution" against the British. By a Congressional resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson was given the Thanks of Congress and awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.
Alexis de Tocqueville ("underwhelmed" by Jackson according to a 2001 commentator) later wrote in Democracy in America that Jackson "was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." Some have claimed that, because the war was already ended by the preliminary signing of the Treaty of Ghent, Jackson's victory at New Orleans was without importance aside from making him a celebrated figure. However, the Spanish, who had sold the Louisiana Territory to France, disputed France's right to sell it to the United States through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In April 1815, Spain, assuming that the British had won at New Orleans, asked for the return of the Louisiana Territory. Spanish representatives claimed to have been assured that they would receive the land back. Furthermore, Article IX of the Treaty of Ghent stipulated that the United States must return land taken from the Creeks to their original owners, essentially undoing the Treaty of Fort Jackson. Thanks to Jackson's victory at New Orleans, the American government felt that it could safely ignore that provision and it kept the lands that Jackson had acquired.
Enforced martial law in New Orleans
Jackson, still not knowing for certain of the treaty's signing, refused to lift martial law in the city. Citizens, local politicians, and some of Jackson's troops expressed growing displeasure. When some of the Creoles under Jackson's service, registering as French citizens with the French consul Louis de Toussard, asked to be discharged based on their foreign nationality, Jackson ordered all Frenchmen, including Toussard, to depart to no less than 120 miles from the limits of New Orleans. State senator Louis Louaillier wrote an anonymous piece in the New Orleans newspaper challenging Jackson's refusal to release the militia after the British ceded the field of battle. Jackson attempted to find the author and, after Louiallier admitted to having written the piece, he imprisoned him. In March, after U.S. District Court Judge Dominic A. Hall signed a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Louaillier, Jackson ordered Hall's arrest. A military court ordered Louiallier's release, but Jackson kept him in prison. He released Hall four miles from the city, which marked the limits of his jurisdiction. Jackson also ordered the execution of six members of the militia who had attempted to leave. Their deaths were not well publicized until the Coffin Handbills were circulated during his 1828 presidential campaign. On March 13, news officially reached the city that the peace treaty had been signed and ratified. Jackson immediately lifted martial law, released Louaillier from prison, and allowed the return of those he had exiled. Hall subsequently brought Jackson to trial on charges of contempt of court, and fined him $1,000.
First Seminole War
Following the war, Jackson remained in command of troops on the southern border of the U.S. He conducted business from the Hermitage. He signed treaties with the Cherokee and Chickasaw which gained for the United States large parts of Tennessee and Kentucky. The treaty with the Chickasaw, finally agreed to later in the year, is commonly known as the Jackson Purchase.
Jackson would soon find himself embroiled in another conflict in the Floridas. Several Native American tribes, collectively known as the Seminole, straddled the border between the U.S. and Florida. The Seminole, in alliance with escaped slaves, frequently raided Georgia settlements before retreating back into Florida. These skirmishes continually escalated into the conflict now known as the First Seminole War. In 1816, Jackson led a detachment into Florida and at the Battle of Negro Fort destroyed the fort, killing most of the fugitive slaves defending it and a smaller number of allied Choctaw. Jackson was then ordered by President Monroe in December 1817 to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Seminole and Creek. Jackson was again charged with preventing Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves, after Spain promised freedom to fugitive slaves. Critics later alleged that Jackson exceeded orders in his Florida actions. His orders from President Monroe were to "terminate the conflict." Jackson believed the best way to do this was to seize Florida from Spain once and for all. Before departing, Jackson wrote to Monroe, "Let it be signified to me through any channel ... that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished."
Jackson invaded Florida on March 15, 1818, capturing Pensacola. He crushed Seminole and Spanish resistance in the region and captured two British agents, Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, who had been working with the Seminole. After a brief trial, Jackson executed both of them, causing a diplomatic incident with the British. Jackson's actions polarized Monroe's cabinet, some of whom argued that Jackson had gone against Monroe's orders and violated the Constitution, since the United States had not declared war upon Spain. He was defended by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. Adams thought that Jackson's conquest of Florida would force Spain to finally sell the province, and Spain did indeed sell Florida to the United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. A congressional investigation exonerated Jackson, but he was deeply angered by the criticism he received, particularly from Speaker of the House Henry Clay. After the ratification of the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1821, Jackson resigned from the army and briefly served as the territorial Governor of Florida before returning to Tennessee.
Presidential aspirations
Election of 1824
In the spring of 1822, Jackson suffered a physical breakdown. His body had two bullets lodged in it, and he had grown exhausted from years of hard military campaigning. He regularly coughed up blood, and his entire body shook. Jackson feared that he was on the brink of death. After several months of rest, he recovered. During his convalescence, Jackson's thoughts increasingly turned to national affairs. He obsessed over rampant corruption in the Monroe administration and grew to detest the Second Bank of the United States, blaming it for causing the Panic of 1819 by contracting credit.
Jackson turned down an offer to run for governor of his home state, but accepted John Overton's plan to have the legislature nominate him for president. On July 22, 1822, he was officially nominated by the Tennessee legislature. Jackson had come to dislike Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford, who had been the most vocal critic of Jackson in Monroe's cabinet, and he hoped to prevent Tennessee's electoral votes from going to Crawford. Yet Jackson's nomination garnered a welcoming response even outside of Tennessee, as many Americans appreciated his attacks on banks. The Panic of 1819 had devastated the fortunes of many, and banks and politicians seen as supportive of banks were unpopular. With his growing political viability, Jackson emerged as one of the five major presidential candidates, along with Crawford, Adams, Clay, and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun. During the Era of Good Feelings, the Federalist Party had faded away, and all five presidential contenders were members of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jackson's campaign promoted him as a defender of the common people, as well as the one candidate who could rise above sectional divisions. On the major issues of the day, most prominently the tariff, Jackson expressed centrist beliefs, and opponents accused him of obfuscating his positions. At the forefront of Jackson's campaign was combatting corruption. Jackson vowed to restore honesty in government and to scale back its excesses. As a war hero, Jackson was popular with ordinary people, and he benefited from the expansion of suffrage among white males that followed the conclusion of the War of 1812.
In 1823, Jackson reluctantly allowed his name to be placed in contention for one of Tennessee's U.S. Senate seats. The move was independently orchestrated by his advisors William Berkeley Lewis and U.S. senator John Eaton in order to defeat incumbent John Williams, who openly opposed his presidential candidacy. The legislature narrowly elected him. His return, after 24 years, 11 months, 3 days out of office, marks the second longest gap in service to the chamber in history. Although Jackson was reluctant to serve once more in the Senate, he was appointed chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. Eaton wrote to Rachel that Jackson as a senator was "in harmony and good understanding with every body," including Thomas Hart Benton, now a senator from Missouri, with whom Jackson had fought in 1813. Meanwhile, Jackson himself did little active campaigning for the presidency, as was customary. Eaton updated an already-written biography of him in preparation for the campaign and, along with others, wrote letters to newspapers praising Jackson's record and past conduct.
Democratic-Republican presidential nominees had historically been chosen by informal Congressional nominating caucuses, but this method had become unpopular. In 1824, most of the Democratic-Republicans in Congress boycotted the caucus. Those who attended backed Crawford for president and Albert Gallatin for vice president. A Pennsylvania convention nominated Jackson for president a month later, stating that the irregular caucus ignored the "voice of the people" in the "vain hope that the American people might be thus deceived into a belief that he [Crawford] was the regular democratic candidate." Gallatin criticized Jackson as "an honest man and the idol of the worshipers of military glory, but from incapacity, military habits, and habitual disregard of laws and constitutional provisions, altogether unfit for the office." After Jackson won the Pennsylvania nomination, Calhoun dropped out of the presidential race and successfully sought the vice presidency instead.
In the presidential election, Jackson won a plurality of the electoral vote, taking states in the South, West, and Mid-Atlantic. He was the only candidate to win states outside of his regional base, as Adams dominated New England, Clay took three western states, and Crawford won Virginia and Georgia. Jackson won a plurality of the popular vote, taking 42 percent, although not all states held a popular vote for the presidency. He won 99 electoral votes, more than any other candidate, but still short of 131, which he needed for a true majority. With no candidate having won a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives held a contingent election under the terms of the Twelfth Amendment. The amendment specifies that only the top three electoral vote-winners are eligible to be elected by the House, so Clay was eliminated from contention. Jackson believed that he was likely to win this contingent election, as Crawford and Adams lacked Jackson's national appeal, and Crawford had suffered a debilitating stroke that made many doubt his physical fitness for the presidency. Clay, who as Speaker of the House presided over the election, saw Jackson as a dangerous demagogue who might topple the republic in favor of his own leadership. He threw his support behind Adams, who shared Clay's support for federally funded internal improvements such as roads and canals. With Clay's backing, Adams won the contingent election on the first ballot. Furious supporters of Jackson accused Clay and Adams of having reached a "corrupt bargain" after Adams appointed Clay as his Secretary of State. "So you see," Jackson growled, "the Judas of the West has closed the contract and receive the thirty pieces of silver. [H]is end will be the same." After the Congressional session concluded, Jackson resigned his Senate seat and returned to Tennessee.
Election of 1828 and death of Rachel Jackson
Almost immediately, opposition arose to the Adams presidency. Jackson opposed Adams's plan to involve the U.S. in Panama's quest for independence, writing, "The moment we engage in confederations, or alliances with any nation, we may from that time date the down fall of our republic." Adams damaged his standing in his first annual message to Congress, when he argued that Congress must not give the world the impression "that we are palsied by the will of our constituents."
Jackson was nominated for president by the Tennessee legislature in October 1825, more than three years before the 1828 election. It was the earliest such nomination in presidential history, and it attested to the fact that Jackson's supporters began the 1828 campaign almost as soon as the 1824 campaign ended. Adams's presidency foundered, as his ambitious agenda faced defeat in a new era of mass politics. Critics led by Jackson attacked Adams's policies as a dangerous expansion of Federal power. New York Senator Martin Van Buren, who had been a prominent supporter of Crawford in 1824, emerged as one of the strongest opponents of Adams's policies, and he settled on Jackson as his preferred candidate in 1828. Van Buren was joined by Vice President Calhoun, who opposed much of Adams's agenda on states' rights grounds. Van Buren and other Jackson allies established numerous pro-Jackson newspapers and clubs around the country, while Jackson avoided campaigning but made himself available to visitors at his Hermitage plantation. In the election, Jackson won a commanding 56 percent of the popular vote and 68 percent of the electoral vote. The election marked the definitive end of the one-party Era of Good Feelings, as Jackson's supporters coalesced into the Democratic Party and Adams's followers became known as the National Republicans. In the large Scots-Irish community that was especially numerous in the rural South and Southwest, Jackson was a favorite.
The campaign was heavily personal. As was the custom at the time, neither candidate personally campaigned, but their political followers organized campaign events. Both candidates were rhetorically attacked in the press. Jackson was labelled a slave trader who bought and sold slaves and moved them about in defiance of higher standards of slaveholder behavior. A series of pamphlets known as the Coffin Handbills were published to attack Jackson, one of which revealed his order to execute soldiers at New Orleans. Another accused him of engaging in cannibalism by eating the bodies of American Indians killed in battle, while still another labeled his mother a "common prostitute" and stated that Jackson's father was a "mulatto man."
Rachel Jackson was also a frequent target of attacks, and was widely accused of bigamy, a reference to the controversial situation of her marriage with Jackson. Jackson's campaigners fired back by claiming that while serving as Minister to Russia, Adams had procured a young girl to serve as a prostitute for Emperor Alexander I. They also stated that Adams had a billiard table in the White House and that he had charged the government for it.
Rachel had been under extreme stress during the election, and often struggled while Jackson was away. She began experiencing significant physical stress during the election season. Jackson described her symptoms as "excruciating pain in the left shoulder, arm, and breast." After struggling for three days, Rachel finally died of a heart attack on December 22, 1828, three weeks after her husband's victory in the election (which began on October 31 and ended on December 2) and 10 weeks before Jackson took office as president. A distraught Jackson had to be pulled from her so the undertaker could prepare the body. He felt that the abuse from Adams's supporters had hastened her death and never forgave him. Rachel was buried at the Hermitage on Christmas Eve. "May God Almighty forgive her murderers, as I know she forgave them," Jackson swore at her funeral. "I never can."
Presidency (1829–1837)
Philosophy
Jackson's name has been associated with Jacksonian democracy or the shift and expansion of democracy with the passing of some political power from established elites to ordinary voters based in political parties. "The Age of Jackson" shaped the national agenda and American politics. Jackson's philosophy as president was similar to that of Jefferson, advocating republican values held by the Revolutionary generation. Jackson took a moral tone, with the belief that agrarian sympathies, and strong states rights with a limited federal government, would produce less corruption. He feared that monied and business interests would corrupt republican values. When South Carolina opposed the tariff law, he took a strong line in favor of nationalism and against secession.
Jackson believed in the ability of the people to "arrive at right conclusions." They had the right not only to elect but to "instruct their agents & representatives." Office holders should either obey the popular will or resign. He rejected the view of a powerful and independent Supreme Court with binding decisions, arguing that "the Congress, the Executive, and the Court must each or itself be guided by its own opinions of the Constitution." Jackson thought that Supreme Court justices should be made to stand for election, and believed in strict constructionism as the best way to ensure democratic rule. He called for term limits on presidents and the abolition of the Electoral College. According to Robert V. Remini, Jackson "was far ahead of his times–and maybe even further than this country can ever achieve."
Inauguration
Jackson departed from the Hermitage on January 19 and arrived in Washington on February 11. He then set about choosing his cabinet members. Jackson chose Van Buren as expected for Secretary of State, Eaton of Tennessee as Secretary of War, Samuel D. Ingham of Pennsylvania as Secretary of Treasury, John Branch of North Carolina as Secretary of Navy, John M. Berrien of Georgia as Attorney General, and William T. Barry of Kentucky as Postmaster General. Jackson's first choice of cabinet proved to be unsuccessful, full of bitter partisanship and gossip. Jackson blamed Adams in part for what was said about Rachel during the campaign, and refused to meet him after arriving in Washington. Therefore, Adams chose not to attend the inauguration.
On March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson became the first United States president-elect to take the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. In his inaugural speech, Jackson promised to respect the sovereign powers of states and the constitutional limits of the presidency. He also promised to pursue "reform" by removing power from "unfaithful or incompetent hands." At the conclusion of the ceremony, Jackson invited the public to the White House, where his supporters held a raucous party. Thousands of spectators overwhelmed the White House staff, and minor damage was caused to fixtures and furnishings. Jackson's populism earned him the nickname "King Mob."
Reforms, rotation of offices, and spoils system
In an effort to purge the government of corruption, Jackson launched presidential investigations into all executive Cabinet offices and departments. He believed appointees should be hired on merit and withdrew many candidates he believed were lax in their handling of monies. He believed that the federal government had been corrupted and that he had received a mandate from the American people to purge such corruption. Jackson's investigations uncovered enormous fraud in the federal government, and numerous officials were removed from office and indicted on corruption, including personal friend of John Quincy Adams and Treasury Fourth Auditor Tobias Watkins. In the first year of Jackson's presidency, his investigations uncovered $280,000 stolen from the Treasury, and the Department of the Navy was saved $1 million. He asked Congress to reform embezzlement laws, reduce fraudulent applications for federal pensions, pass revenue laws to prevent evasion of custom duties, and pass laws to improve government accounting. Jackson's Postmaster General Barry resigned after a Congressional investigation into the postal service revealed mismanagement of mail services, collusion and favoritism in awarding lucrative contracts, as well as failure to audit accounts and supervise contract performances. Jackson replaced Barry with Treasury Auditor and prominent Kitchen Cabinet member Amos Kendall, who went on to implement reforms in the Post Office Department.
Jackson repeatedly called for the abolition of the Electoral College by constitutional amendment in his annual messages to Congress as president. In his third annual message to Congress, he expressed the view "I have heretofore recommended amendments of the Federal Constitution giving the election of President and Vice-President to the people and limiting the service of the former to a single term. So important do I consider these changes in our fundamental law that I can not, in accordance with my sense of duty, omit to press them upon the consideration of a new Congress."
Although he was unable to implement these goals, Jackson's time in office did see a variety of other reforms. He supported an act in July 1836 that enabled widows of Revolutionary War soldiers who met certain criteria to receive their husbands' pensions. In 1836, Jackson established the ten-hour day in national shipyards.
Jackson enforced the Tenure of Office Act, signed by President Monroe in 1820, that limited appointed office tenure and authorized the president to remove and appoint political party associates. Jackson believed that a rotation in office was a democratic reform preventing hereditary officeholding and made civil service responsible to the popular will. Jackson declared that rotation of appointments in political office was "a leading principle in the republican creed." Jackson noted, "In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another." Jackson believed that rotating political appointments would prevent the development of a corrupt bureaucracy. The number of federal office holders removed by Jackson were exaggerated by his opponents; Jackson rotated only about 20% of federal office holders during his first term, some for dereliction of duty rather than political purposes. Jackson, nonetheless, used his presidential power to award loyal Democrats by granting them federal office appointments. Jackson's approach incorporated patriotism for country as qualification for holding office. Having appointed a soldier who had lost his leg fighting on the battlefield to postmaster, Jackson stated, "[i]f he lost his leg fighting for his country, that is ... enough for me."
Jackson's theory regarding rotation of office generated what would later be called the spoils system. The political realities of Washington sometimes forced Jackson to make partisan appointments despite his personal reservations. Supervision of bureaus and departments whose operations were outside of Washington (such as the New York Customs House; the Postal Service; the Departments of Navy and War; and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose budget had increased enormously in the previous two decades) proved to be difficult. Remini writes that because "friendship, politics, and geography constituted the President's total criteria for appointments, most of his appointments were predictably substandard."
Petticoat affair
Jackson devoted a considerable amount of his presidential time during his early years in office responding to what came to be known as the "Petticoat affair" or "Eaton affair." Washington gossip circulated among Jackson's cabinet members and their wives, including Calhoun's wife Floride Calhoun, concerning Secretary of War Eaton and his wife Peggy Eaton. Salacious rumors held that Peggy, as a barmaid in her father's tavern, had been sexually promiscuous or had even been a prostitute. Controversy also ensued because Peggy had married soon after her previous husband's death, and it was alleged that she and her husband had engaged in an adulterous affair while her previous husband was still living. Petticoat politics emerged when the wives of cabinet members, led by Mrs. Calhoun, refused to socialize with the Eatons. Allowing a prostitute in the official family was unthinkable—but Jackson refused to believe the rumors, telling his Cabinet that "She is as chaste as a virgin!" Jackson believed that the dishonorable people were the rumormongers, who in essence questioned and dishonored Jackson himself by, in attempting to drive the Eatons out, daring to tell him who he could and could not have in his cabinet. Jackson was also reminded of the attacks that were made against his wife. These memories increased his dedication to defending Peggy Eaton.
Meanwhile, the cabinet wives insisted that the interests and honor of all American women was at stake. They believed a responsible woman should never accord a man sexual favors without the assurance that went with marriage. A woman who broke that code was dishonorable and unacceptable. Historian Daniel Walker Howe notes that this was the feminist spirit that in the next decade shaped the woman's rights movement. Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, a widower, was already forming a coalition against Calhoun. He could now see his main chance to strike hard; he took the side of Jackson and Eaton.
In the spring of 1831, Jackson, at Van Buren's suggestion, demanded the resignations of all the cabinet members except Barry. Van Buren himself resigned to avoid the appearance of bias. In 1832, Jackson nominated Van Buren to be Minister to Great Britain. Calhoun blocked the nomination with a tie-breaking vote against it, claiming the defeated nomination would "...kill him [Van Buren] dead, sir, kill him dead. He will never kick, sir, never kick." Van Buren continued to serve as an important adviser to Jackson and was placed on the ticket for vice president in the 1832 election, making him Jackson's heir-apparent. The Petticoat affair led to the development of the Kitchen Cabinet. The Kitchen Cabinet emerged as an unofficial group of advisors to the president. Its existence was partially rooted in Jackson's difficulties with his official cabinet, even after the purging.
Indian removal policy
Throughout his eight years in office, Jackson made about 70 treaties with American Indian tribes both in the South and in the Northwest. Jackson's presidency marked the beginning of a policy of Indian removal. Jackson himself sometimes participated in the treaty negotiating process, though other times he left the negotiations to his subordinates. The southern tribes included the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole and the Cherokee. The northwest tribes included the Chippewa, Ottawa, and the Potawatomi.
Relations between Indians and whites increasingly grew tense and sometimes violent as a result of territorial conflicts. Previous presidents had at times supported removal or attempts to "civilize" Native people, but generally let the problem play itself out with minimal intervention. But by Jackson's time, a growing popular and political movement developed wanting action on the issue, and out of this came policy decisions to relocate certain Indian populations. Jackson, never known for timidity, became an advocate for this relocation policy in what many historians consider the most controversial aspect of his presidency.
In his First Annual Message to Congress, Jackson advocated land west of the Mississippi River be set aside for Indian tribes. On May 26, 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which Jackson signed into law two days later. The Act authorized the president to negotiate treaties to buy tribal lands in the east in exchange for lands farther west, outside of existing state borders. The act specifically pertained to the Five Civilized Tribes in the South, the conditions being that they could either move west or stay and obey state law, effectively relinquishing their sovereignty.
Jackson, Eaton, and General Coffee negotiated with the Chickasaw, who quickly agreed to move. Jackson put Eaton and Coffee in charge of negotiating with the Choctaw. Lacking Jackson's skills at negotiation, they simply bribed various leaders in order to gain their agreement. The tactics worked, and with the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Choctaw were required to move. The removal of the Choctaw took place in the winter of 1831 and 1832, and was wrought with misery and suffering. The Seminole, despite the signing of the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832, refused to move. In December 1835, this dispute began the Second Seminole War. The war lasted over six years, finally ending in 1842. Members of the Creek Nation had signed the Treaty of Cusseta in 1832, allowing the Creek to either sell or retain their land. Conflict later erupted between the Creek who remained and the white settlers, leading to a second Creek War. A common complaint amongst the tribes was that the men who had signed the treaties did not represent the whole tribe.
The state of Georgia became involved in a dispute with the Cherokee, culminating in the 1832 Supreme Court decision in Worcester v. Georgia. Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for the court, ruled that Georgia could not forbid whites from entering tribal lands, as it had attempted to do with two missionaries supposedly stirring up resistance amongst the tribespeople. Jackson is frequently attributed the following response: "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." The quote, apparently indicating Jackson's dismissive view of the courts, was attributed to Jackson by Horace Greeley, who cited as his source Representative George N. Briggs. Remini argues that Jackson did not say it because, while it "certainly sounds like Jackson...[t]here was nothing for him to enforce." This is because a writ of habeas corpus had never been issued for the missionaries. The Court also did not ask federal marshals to carry out the decision, as had become standard.
A group of Cherokees led by John Ridge negotiated the Treaty of New Echota. Ridge was not a widely recognized leader of the Cherokee, and this document was rejected by some as illegitimate. Another faction, led by John Ross, unsuccessfully petitioned to protest the proposed removal. The Cherokee largely considered themselves independent, and not subject to the laws of the United States or Georgia. The treaty was enforced by Jackson's successor, Van Buren. Subsequently, as many as 4,000 out of 18,000 Cherokee died on the "Trail of Tears" in 1838.
More than 45,000 people were relocated, primarily to Indian territory in present-day Oklahoma during Jackson's administration, though some Cherokee people walked back afterwards, and others evaded removal by migrating into the Great Smoky Mountains. Another conflict during the Jackson administration was the Black Hawk War in 1832 after a group of Indians crossed into U.S. territory.
Nullification crisis
In 1828, Congress had approved the "Tariff of Abominations", which set the tariff at a historically high rate. Southern planters, who sold their cotton on the world market, strongly opposed this tariff, which they saw as favoring northern interests. The South now had to pay more for goods it did not produce locally; and other countries would have more difficulty affording southern cotton. The issue came to a head during Jackson's presidency, resulting in the Nullification Crisis, in which South Carolina threatened disunion.
The South Carolina Exposition and Protest of 1828, secretly written by Calhoun, asserted that their state had the right to "nullify"—declare void—the tariff legislation of 1828. Although Jackson sympathized with the South in the tariff debate, he also vigorously supported a strong union, with effective powers for the central government. Jackson attempted to face down Calhoun over the issue, which developed into a bitter rivalry between the two men. One incident came at the April 13, 1830, Jefferson Day dinner, involving after-dinner toasts. Robert Hayne began by toasting to "The Union of the States, and the Sovereignty of the States." Jackson then rose, and in a booming voice added "Our federal Union: It must be preserved!" – a clear challenge to Calhoun. Calhoun clarified his position by responding "The Union: Next to our Liberty, the most dear!"
In May 1830, Jackson discovered that Calhoun had asked President Monroe to censure Jackson for his invasion of Spanish Florida in 1818 while Calhoun was serving as Secretary of War. Calhoun's and Jackson's relationship deteriorated further. By February 1831, the break between Calhoun and Jackson was final. Responding to inaccurate press reports about the feud, Calhoun had published letters between him and Jackson detailing the conflict in the United States Telegraph. Jackson and Calhoun began an angry correspondence which lasted until Jackson stopped it in July. The Telegraph, edited by Duff Green, initially supported Jackson. After it sided with Calhoun on nullification, Jackson needed a new organ for the administration. He enlisted the help of longtime supporter Francis Preston Blair, who in November 1830 established a newspaper known as the Washington Globe, which from then on served as the primary mouthpiece of the Democratic Party.
Jackson supported a revision to tariff rates known as the Tariff of 1832. It was designed to placate the nullifiers by lowering tariff rates. Written by Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, the bill lowered duties from 45% to 27%. In May, Representative John Quincy Adams introduced a slightly revised version of the bill, which Jackson accepted. It passed Congress on July 9 and was signed by the president on July 14. The bill failed to satisfy extremists on either side. On November 24, the South Carolina legislature nullified both the Tariff of 1832 and the Tariff of 1828. In response, Jackson sent U.S. Navy warships to Charleston harbor, and threatened to hang any man who worked to support nullification or secession. On December 28, 1832, Calhoun resigned as vice president, after having been elected to the U.S. Senate. This was part of a strategy whereby Calhoun, with less than three months remaining on his vice presidential term, would replace Robert Y. Hayne in the Senate, and he would then become governor of South Carolina. Hayne had often struggled to defend nullification on the floor of the Senate, especially against fierce criticism from Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts.
Also that December, Jackson issued a resounding proclamation against the "nullifiers," stating that he considered "the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed." South Carolina, the president declared, stood on "the brink of insurrection and treason," and he appealed to the people of the state to reassert their allegiance to that Union for which their ancestors had fought. Jackson also denied the right of secession: "The Constitution ... forms a government not a league ... To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States are not a nation." Jackson tended to personalize the controversy, frequently characterizing nullification as a conspiracy between disappointed and bitter men whose ambitions had been thwarted.
Jackson asked Congress to pass a "Force Bill" explicitly authorizing the use of military force to enforce the tariff. It was introduced by Senator Felix Grundy of Tennessee, and was quickly attacked by Calhoun as "military despotism." At the same time, Calhoun and Clay began to work on a new compromise tariff. A bill sponsored by the administration had been introduced by Representative Gulian C. Verplanck of New York, but it lowered rates more sharply than Clay and other protectionists desired. Clay managed to get Calhoun to agree to a bill with higher rates in exchange for Clay's opposition to Jackson's military threats and, perhaps, with the hope that he could win some Southern votes in his next bid for the presidency. The Compromise Tariff passed on March 1, 1833. The Force Bill passed the same day. Calhoun, Clay, and several others marched out of the chamber in opposition, the only dissenting vote coming from John Tyler of Virginia. The new tariff was opposed by Webster, who argued that it essentially surrendered to South Carolina's demands. Jackson, despite his anger over the scrapping of the Verplanck bill and the new alliance between Clay and Calhoun, saw it as an efficient way to end the crisis. He signed both bills on March 2, starting with the Force Bill. The South Carolina Convention then met and rescinded its nullification ordinance, but in a final show of defiance, nullified the Force Bill. On May 1, Jackson wrote, "the tariff was only the pretext, and disunion and southern confederacy the real object. The next pretext will be the negro, or slavery question."
Foreign affairs
Addressing the subject of foreign affairs in his First Annual Address to Congress, Jackson declared it to be his "settled purpose to ask nothing that is not clearly right and to submit to nothing that is wrong."
When Jackson took office, spoliation claims, or compensation demands for the capture of American ships and sailors, dating from the Napoleonic era, caused strained relations between the U.S. and French governments. The French Navy had captured and sent American ships to Spanish ports while holding their crews captive forcing them to labor without any charges or judicial rules. According to Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, relations between the U.S. and France were "hopeless." Jackson's Minister to France, William C. Rives, through diplomacy was able to convince the French government to sign a reparations treaty on July 4, 1831, that would award the U.S. ₣ 25,000,000 ($5,000,000) in damages. The French government became delinquent in payment due to internal financial and political difficulties. The French king Louis Philippe I and his ministers blamed the French Chamber of Deputies. By 1834, the non-payment of reparations by the French government drew Jackson's ire and he became impatient. In his December 1834 State of the Union address, Jackson sternly reprimanded the French government for non-payment, stating the federal government was "wholly disappointed" by the French, and demanded Congress authorize trade reprisals against France. Feeling insulted by Jackson's words, the French people began pressuring their government not to pay the indemnity until Jackson had apologized for his remarks. In his December 1835 State of the Union Address, Jackson refused to apologize, stating he had a good opinion of the French people and his intentions were peaceful. Jackson described in lengthy and minute detail the history of events surrounding the treaty and his belief that the French government was purposely stalling payment. The French accepted Jackson's statements as sincere and in February 1836, reparations were paid.
In addition to France, the Jackson administration successfully settled spoliation claims with Denmark, Portugal, and Spain. Jackson's state department was active and successful at making trade agreements with Russia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Siam. Under the treaty with the United Kingdom, American trade was reopened in the West Indies. The trade agreement with Siam was America's first treaty between the United States and an Asiatic country. As a result, American exports increased 75% while imports increased 250%.
Jackson's attempt to purchase Texas from Mexico for $5,000,000 failed. The chargé d'affaires in Mexico, Colonel Anthony Butler, suggested that the U.S. take Texas over militarily, but Jackson refused. Butler was later replaced toward the end of Jackson's presidency. In 1835, the Texas Revolution began when pro-slavery American settlers in Texas fought the Mexican government for Texan independence. By May 1836, they had routed the Mexican military, establishing an independent Republic of Texas. The new Texas government legalized slavery and demanded recognition from President Jackson and annexation into the United States. Jackson was hesitant in recognizing Texas, unconvinced that the new republic could maintain independence from Mexico, and not wanting to make Texas an anti-slavery issue during the 1836 election. The strategy worked; the Democratic Party and national loyalties were held intact, and Van Buren was elected president. Jackson formally recognized the Republic of Texas, nominating Alcée Louis la Branche as chargé d'affaires on the last full day of his presidency, March 3, 1837.
Jackson failed in his efforts to open trade with China and Japan and was unsuccessful at thwarting the United Kingdom's presence and power in South America.
Bank veto and election of 1832
The 1832 presidential election demonstrated the rapid development and organization of political parties during this time period. The Democratic Party's first national convention, held in Baltimore, nominated Jackson's choice for vice president, Van Buren. The National Republican Party, who had held their first convention in Baltimore earlier in December 1831, nominated Henry Clay, now a senator from Kentucky, and John Sergeant of Pennsylvania. The Anti-Masonic Party emerged by capitalizing on opposition to Freemasonry, which existed primarily in New England, after the disappearance and possible murder of William Morgan. The party, which had earlier held its convention also in Baltimore in September 1831, nominated William Wirt of Maryland and Amos Ellmaker of Pennsylvania. Clay was, like Jackson, a Mason, and so some anti-Jacksonians who would have supported the National Republican Party supported Wirt instead.
In 1816, the Second Bank of the United States was chartered by President James Madison to restore the United States economy devastated by the War of 1812. Monroe had appointed Nicholas Biddle as the Bank's executive. Jackson believed that the Bank was a fundamentally corrupt monopoly. Its stock was mostly held by foreigners, he insisted, and it exerted an unfair amount of control over the political system. Jackson used the issue to promote his democratic values, believing the Bank was being run exclusively for the wealthy. Jackson stated the Bank made "the rich richer and the potent more powerful." He accused it of making loans with the intent of influencing elections. In his address to Congress in 1830, Jackson called for a substitute for the Bank that would have no private stockholders and no ability to lend or purchase land. Its only power would be to issue bills of exchange. The address touched off fiery debate in the Senate. Thomas Hart Benton, now a strong supporter of the president despite the brawl years earlier, gave a speech excoriating the Bank and calling for debate on its recharter. Webster led a motion to narrowly defeat the resolution. Shortly afterward, the Globe announced that Jackson would stand for reelection.
Despite his misgivings about the Bank, Jackson supported a plan proposed in late 1831 by his moderately pro-Bank Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, who was secretly working with Biddle, to recharter a reformed version of the Bank in a way that would free up funds which would in turn be used to strengthen the military or pay off the nation's debt. This would be done, in part, through the sale of government stock in the Bank. Over the objections of Attorney General Roger B. Taney, an irreconcilable opponent of the Bank, he allowed McLane to publish a Treasury Report which essentially recommended rechartering the Bank.
Clay hoped to make the Bank an issue in the election, so as to accuse Jackson of going beyond his powers if he vetoed a recharter bill. He and Webster urged Biddle to immediately apply for recharter rather than wait to reach a compromise with the administration. Biddle received advice to the contrary from moderate Democrats such as McLane and William Lewis, who argued that Biddle should wait because Jackson would likely veto the recharter bill. On January 6, 1832, Biddle submitted to Congress a renewal of the Bank's charter without any of the proposed reforms. The submission came four years before the original 20-year charter was to end. Biddle's recharter bill passed the Senate on June 11 and the House on July 3, 1832. Jackson determined to veto it. Many moderate Democrats, including McLane, were appalled by the perceived arrogance of the bill and supported his decision. When Van Buren met Jackson on July 4, Jackson declared, "The Bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill me. But I will kill it." Jackson vetoed the bill on July 10. The veto message was crafted primarily by Taney, Kendall, and Jackson's nephew and advisor Andrew Jackson Donelson. It attacked the Bank as an agent of inequality that supported only the wealthy. The veto was considered "one of the strongest and most controversial" presidential statements and "a brilliant political manifesto." The National Republican Party immediately made Jackson's veto of the Bank a political issue. Jackson's political opponents castigated the veto as "the very slang of the leveller and demagogue," claiming Jackson was using class warfare to gain support from the common man.
At Biddle's direction, the Bank poured thousands of dollars into a campaign to defeat Jackson, seemingly confirming Jackson's view that it interfered in the political process. Jackson successfully portrayed his veto as a defense of the common man against governmental tyranny. Clay proved to be no match for Jackson's ability to resonate with the people and the Democratic Party's strong political networks. Democratic newspapers, parades, barbecues, and rallies increased Jackson's popularity. Jackson himself made numerous public appearances on his return trip from Tennessee to Washington, D.C. He won the election by a landslide, receiving 54 percent of the popular vote and 219 electoral votes. Clay received 37 percent of the popular vote and 49 electoral votes. Wirt received only eight percent of the popular vote and seven electoral votes while the Anti-Masonic Party eventually declined. Jackson believed the solid victory was a popular mandate for his veto of the Bank's recharter and his continued warfare on the Bank's control over the national economy.
Removal of deposits and censure
In 1833, Jackson attempted to begin removing federal deposits from the bank, whose money-lending functions were taken over by the legions of local and state banks that materialized across America, thus drastically increasing credit and speculation. Jackson's moves were greatly controversial. He removed McLane from the Treasury Department, having him serve instead as Secretary of State, replacing Edward Livingston. He replaced McLane with William J. Duane. In September, he fired Duane for refusing to remove the deposits. Signalling his intent to continue battling the Bank, he replaced Duane with Taney. Under Taney, the deposits began to be removed. They were placed in a variety of state banks which were friendly to the administration's policies, known to critics as pet banks. Biddle responded by stockpiling the Bank's reserves and contracting credit, thus causing interest rates to rise and bringing about a financial panic. The moves were intended to force Jackson into a compromise. "Nothing but the evidence of suffering abroad will produce any effect in Congress," he wrote. At first, Biddle's strategy was successful, putting enormous pressure on Jackson. But Jackson handled the situation well. When people came to him complaining, he referred them to Biddle, saying that he was the man who had "all the money." Jackson's approach worked. Biddle's strategy backfired, increasing anti-Bank sentiment.
In 1834, those who disagreed with Jackson's expansion of executive power united and formed the Whig Party, calling Jackson "King Andrew I," and named their party after the English Whigs who opposed seventeenth century British monarchy. A movement emerged among Whigs in the Senate to censure Jackson. The censure was a political maneuver spearheaded by Clay, which served only to perpetuate the animosity between him and Jackson. Jackson called Clay "reckless and as full of fury as a drunken man in a brothel." On March 28, the Senate voted to censure Jackson 26–20. It also rejected Taney as Treasury Secretary. The House however, led by Ways and Means Committee chairman James K. Polk, declared on April 4 that the Bank "ought not to be rechartered" and that the depositions "ought not to be restored." It voted to continue allowing pet banks to be places of deposit and voted even more overwhelmingly to investigate whether the Bank had deliberately instigated the panic. Jackson called the passage of these resolutions a "glorious triumph." It essentially sealed the Bank's demise. The Democrats later suffered a temporary setback. Polk ran for Speaker of the House to replace Andrew Stevenson. After Southerners discovered his connection to Van Buren, he was defeated by fellow-Tennessean John Bell, a Democrat-turned-Whig who opposed Jackson's removal policy.
Payment of US national debt
The national economy following the withdrawal of the remaining funds from the Bank was booming and the federal government through duty revenues and sale of public lands was able to pay all bills. On January 1, 1835, Jackson paid off the entire national debt, the only time in U.S. history that has been accomplished. The objective had been reached in part through Jackson's reforms aimed at eliminating the misuse of funds and through his vetoes of legislation which he deemed extravagant. In December 1835, Polk defeated Bell in a rematch and was elected Speaker. Finally, on January 16, 1837, when the Jacksonians had a majority in the Senate, the censure was expunged after years of effort by Jackson supporters. The expunction movement was led, ironically, by Benton.
In 1836, in response to increased land speculation, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, an executive order that required buyers of government lands to pay in "specie" (gold or silver coins). The result was high demand for specie, which many banks could not meet in exchange for their notes, contributing to the Panic of 1837. The White House Van Buren biography notes, "Basically the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of 'boom and bust,' which was following its regular pattern, but Jackson's financial measures contributed to the crash. His destruction of the Second Bank of the United States had removed restrictions upon the inflationary practices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easy bank credit, had swept the West. To end this speculation, Jackson in 1836 had issued a Specie Circular..."
Attack and assassination attempt
The first recorded physical attack on a U.S. president was directed at Jackson. He had ordered the dismissal of Robert B. Randolph from the navy for embezzlement. On May 6, 1833, Jackson sailed on USS Cygnet to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he was to lay the cornerstone on a monument near the grave of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother. During a stopover near Alexandria, Randolph appeared and struck the president. He fled the scene chased by several members of Jackson's party, including the writer Washington Irving. Jackson declined to press charges.
On January 30, 1835, what is believed to be the first attempt to kill a sitting president of the United States occurred just outside the United States Capitol. When Jackson was leaving through the East Portico after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter from England, aimed a pistol at Jackson, which misfired. Lawrence then pulled out a second pistol, which also misfired. Historians believe the humid weather contributed to the double misfiring. Jackson, infuriated, attacked Lawrence with his cane, until others present, including Davy Crockett, fearing that the president would beat Lawrence to a pulp, intervened to restrain and disarm Lawrence.
Lawrence offered a variety of explanations for the attempted shooting. He blamed Jackson for the loss of his job. He claimed that with the president dead, "money would be more plenty," (a reference to Jackson's struggle with the Bank of the United States) and that he "could not rise until the President fell." Finally, Lawrence told his interrogators that he was a deposed English king—specifically, Richard III, dead since 1485—and that Jackson was his clerk. He was deemed insane and was institutionalized at the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C.
Afterwards, the pistols were tested and retested. Each time they performed perfectly. Many believed that Jackson had been protected by the same Providence that also protected their young nation. The incident became a part of Jacksonian mythos. Jackson initially suspected that a number of his political enemies might have orchestrated the attempt on his life. His suspicions were never proven.
Reaction to anti-slavery tracts
During the summer of 1835, Northern abolitionists began sending anti-slavery tracts through the postal system into the South. Pro-slavery Southerners demanded that the postal service ban distribution of the materials, which were deemed "incendiary," and some began to riot. Jackson wanted sectional peace, and desired to placate Southerners ahead of the 1836 election. He fiercely disliked the abolitionists, whom he believed were, by instituting sectional jealousies, attempting to destroy the Union. Jackson also did not want to condone open insurrection. He supported the solution of Postmaster General Amos Kendall, which gave Southern postmasters discretionary powers to either send or detain the anti-slavery tracts. That December, Jackson called on Congress to prohibit the circulation through the South of "incendiary publications intended to instigate the slaves to insurrection."
U.S. exploring expedition
Jackson initially opposed any federal exploratory scientific expeditions during his first term in office. The last scientific federally funded expeditions took place from 1817 to 1823, led by Stephen H. Harriman west of the Mississippi. Jackson's predecessor, President Adams, attempted to launch a scientific oceanic exploration in 1828, but Congress was unwilling to fund the effort. When Jackson assumed office in 1829 he pocketed Adams' expedition plans. Eventually, wanting to establish his presidential legacy, similar to Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Jackson sponsored scientific exploration during his second term. On May 18, 1836, Jackson signed a law creating and funding the oceanic United States Exploring Expedition. Jackson put Secretary of the Navy Mahlon Dickerson in charge, to assemble suitable ships, officers, and scientific staff for the expedition; with a planned launch before Jackson's term of office expired. Dickerson proved unfit for the task, preparations stalled and the expedition was not launched until 1838, during the presidency of Van Buren. One brig ship, , later used in the expedition; having been commissioned by Secretary Dickerson in May 1836, circumnavigated the world and explored and mapped the Southern Ocean, confirming the existence of the continent of Antarctica.
Panic of 1837
In spite of economic success following Jackson's vetoes and war against the Bank, reckless speculation in land and railroads eventually caused the Panic of 1837. Contributing factors included Jackson's veto of the Second National Bank renewal charter in 1832 and subsequent transfer of federal monies to state banks in 1833 that caused western banks to relax their lending standards. Two other Jacksonian acts in 1836 contributed to the Panic of 1837: the Specie Circular, which mandated western lands only be purchased by money backed by gold and silver, and the Deposit and Distribution Act, which transferred federal monies from eastern to western state banks and in turn led to a speculation frenzy by banks. Jackson's Specie Circular, albeit designed to reduce speculation and stabilize the economy, left many investors unable to afford to pay loans in gold and silver. The same year there was a downturn in Great Britain's economy that stopped investment in the United States. As a result, the U.S. economy went into a depression, banks became insolvent, the national debt (previously paid off) increased, business failures rose, cotton prices dropped, and unemployment dramatically increased. The depression that followed lasted for four years until 1841, when the economy began to rebound.
Administration and cabinet
Judicial appointments
Jackson appointed six justices to the Supreme Court. Most were undistinguished. His first appointee, John McLean, had been nominated in Barry's place after Barry had agreed to become postmaster general. McLean "turned Whig and forever schemed to win" the presidency. His next two appointees–Henry Baldwin and James Moore Wayne–disagreed with Jackson on some points but were poorly regarded even by Jackson's enemies. In reward for his services, Jackson nominated Taney to the Court to fill a vacancy in January 1835, but the nomination failed to win Senate approval. Chief Justice Marshall died in 1835, leaving two vacancies on the court. Jackson nominated Taney for Chief Justice and Philip P. Barbour for Associate Justice. Both were confirmed by the new Senate. Taney served as Chief Justice until 1864, presiding over a court that upheld many of the precedents set by the Marshall Court. He was regarded with respect over the course of his career on the bench, but his opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford largely overshadows his other accomplishments. On the last full day of his presidency, Jackson nominated John Catron, who was confirmed.
States admitted to the Union
Two new states were admitted into the Union during Jackson's presidency: Arkansas (June 15, 1836) and Michigan (January 26, 1837). Both states increased Democratic power in Congress and helped Van Buren win the presidency in 1836. This was in keeping with the tradition that new states would support the party which had done the most to admit them.
Later life and death (1837–1845)
In 1837, after serving two terms as president, Jackson was replaced by his chosen successor Martin Van Buren and retired to the Hermitage. He immediately began putting it in order as it had been poorly managed in his absence by his adopted son, Andrew Jackson Jr. Although he suffered ill health, Jackson remained highly influential in both national and state politics. He was a firm advocate of the federal union of the states and rejected any talk of secession, insisting, "I will die with the Union." Blamed for causing the Panic of 1837, he was unpopular in his early retirement. Jackson continued to denounce the "perfidy and treachery" of banks and urged his successor, Van Buren, to repudiate the Specie Circular as president.
As a solution to the panic, he supported an Independent Treasury system, which was designed to hold the money balances of the government in the form of gold or silver and would be restricted from printing paper money so as to prevent further inflation. A coalition of conservative Democrats and Whigs opposed the bill, and it was not passed until 1840. During the delay, no effective remedy had been implemented for the depression. Van Buren grew deeply unpopular. A unified Whig Party nominated popular war hero William Henry Harrison and former Jacksonian John Tyler in the 1840 presidential election. The Whigs' campaign style in many ways mimicked that of the Democrats when Jackson ran. They depicted Van Buren as an aristocrat who did not care for the concerns of ordinary Americans, while glorifying Harrison's military record and portraying him as a man of the people. Jackson campaigned heavily for Van Buren in Tennessee. He favored the nomination of Polk for vice president at the 1840 Democratic National Convention over controversial incumbent Richard Mentor Johnson. No nominee was chosen, and the party chose to leave the decision up to individual state electors.
Harrison won the election, and the Whigs captured majorities in both houses of Congress. "The democracy of the United States has been shamefully beaten", Jackson wrote to Van Buren, "but I trust, not conquered." Harrison died only a month into his term, and was replaced by Tyler. Jackson was encouraged because Tyler had a strong independent streak and was not bound by party lines. Tyler quickly incurred the wrath of the Whigs in 1841 when he vetoed two Whig-sponsored bills to establish a new national bank, bringing satisfaction to Jackson and other Democrats. After the second veto, Tyler's entire cabinet, with the exception of Webster, resigned.
Jackson strongly favored the annexation of Texas, a feat he had been unable to accomplish during his own presidency. While Jackson still feared that annexation would stir up anti-slavery sentiment, his belief that the British would use Texas as a base to threaten the United States overrode his other concerns. He also insisted that Texas was part of the Louisiana Purchase and therefore rightfully belonged to the United States. At the request of Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, acting on behalf of the Tyler administration, which also supported annexation, Jackson wrote several letters to Texas president Sam Houston, urging him to wait for the Senate to approve annexation and explaining how much being a part of the United States would benefit Texas. Initially prior to the 1844 election, Jackson again supported Van Buren for president and Polk for vice president. A treaty of annexation was signed by Tyler on April 12, 1844, and submitted to the Senate. When a letter from Secretary of State Calhoun to British Ambassador Richard Pakenham linking annexation to slavery was made public, anti-annexation sentiment exploded in the North and the bill failed to be ratified. Van Buren decided to write the "Hamlet letter," opposing annexation. This effectively extinguished any support that Van Buren might previously have enjoyed in the South. The Whig nominee, Henry Clay, also opposed annexation, and Jackson recognized the need for the Democrats to nominate a candidate who supported it and could therefore gain the support of the South. If the plan failed, Jackson warned, Texas would not join the Union and would potentially fall victim to a Mexican invasion supported by the British.
Jackson met with Polk, Robert Armstrong, and Andrew Jackson Donelson in his study. He then pointed directly at a startled Polk, telling him that, as a man from the southwest and a supporter of annexation, he would be the perfect candidate. Polk called the scheme "utterly abortive", but agreed to go along with it. At the 1844 Democratic National Convention, Polk emerged as the party's nominee after Van Buren failed to win the required two-thirds majority of delegates. George M. Dallas was selected for vice president. Jackson convinced Tyler to drop his plans of running for re-election as an independent by promising, as Tyler requested, to welcome the President and his allies back into the Democratic Party and by instructing Blair to stop criticizing the President. Polk won the election, defeating Clay. A bill of annexation was passed by Congress in February and signed by Tyler on March 1.
Jackson's age and illness eventually overcame him. On June 8, 1845, he was surrounded by family and friends at his deathbed. Jackson, startled by their sobbing, said, "What is the matter with my dear children? Have I alarmed you? Oh, do not cry. Be good children and we will all meet in Heaven." He died immediately after at the age of 78 of chronic dropsy and heart failure. According to a newspaper account from the Boon Lick Times, "[he] fainted whilst being removed from his chair to the bed ... but he subsequently revived ... Gen. Jackson died at the Hermitage at 6 p.m. on Sunday the 8th instant. ... When the messenger finally came, the old soldier, patriot and Christian was looking out for his approach. He is gone, but his memory lives, and will continue to live." In his will, Jackson left his entire estate to Andrew Jackson Jr. except for specifically enumerated items that were left to various friends and family members.
Personal life
Family
Jackson had three adopted sons: Theodore, an Indian about whom little is known, Andrew Jackson Jr., the son of Rachel's brother Severn Donelson, and Lyncoya, a Creek orphan adopted by Jackson after the Battle of Tallushatchee. Lyncoya died of tuberculosis on July 1, 1828, at the age of sixteen.
The Jacksons also acted as guardians for eight other children. John Samuel Donelson, Daniel Smith Donelson, and Andrew Jackson Donelson were the sons of Rachel's brother Samuel Donelson, who died in 1804. Andrew Jackson Hutchings was Rachel's orphaned grand nephew. Caroline Butler, Eliza Butler, Edward Butler, and Anthony Butler were the orphaned children of Edward Butler, a family friend. They came to live with the Jacksons after the death of their father.
The widower Jackson invited Rachel's niece Emily Donelson to serve as hostess at the White House. Emily was married to Andrew Jackson Donelson, who acted as Jackson's private secretary and in 1856 ran for vice president on the American Party ticket. The relationship between the president and Emily became strained during the Petticoat affair, and the two became estranged for over a year. They eventually reconciled and she resumed her duties as White House hostess. Sarah Yorke Jackson, the wife of Andrew Jackson Jr., became co-hostess of the White House in 1834. It was the only time in history when two women simultaneously acted as unofficial First Lady. Sarah took over all hostess duties after Emily died from tuberculosis in 1836. Jackson used Rip Raps as a retreat.
Temperament
Jackson's quick temper was notorious. Biographer H. W. Brands notes that his opponents were terrified of his temper: "Observers likened him to a volcano, and only the most intrepid or recklessly curious cared to see it erupt. ... His close associates all had stories of his blood-curdling oaths, his summoning of the Almighty to loose His wrath upon some miscreant, typically followed by his own vow to hang the villain or blow him to perdition. Given his record—in duels, brawls, mutiny trials, and summary hearings—listeners had to take his vows seriously."
On the last day of his presidency, Jackson admitted that he had but two regrets, that he "had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun." On his deathbed, he was once again quoted as regretting that he had not hanged Calhoun for treason. "My country would have sustained me in the act, and his fate would have been a warning to traitors in all time to come," he said. Remini expresses the opinion that Jackson was typically in control of his temper, and that he used his anger, along with his fearsome reputation, as a tool to get what he wanted.
Physical appearance
Jackson was a lean figure, standing at tall, and weighing between on average. Jackson also had an unruly shock of red hair, which had completely grayed by the time he became president at age 61. He had penetrating deep blue eyes. Jackson was one of the more sickly presidents, suffering from chronic headaches, abdominal pains, and a hacking cough. Much of his trouble was caused by a musket ball in his lung that was never removed, that often brought up blood and sometimes made his whole body shake.
Religious faith
In 1838, Jackson became an official member of the First Presbyterian Church in Nashville. Both his mother and his wife had been devout Presbyterians all their lives, but Jackson himself had postponed officially entering the church in order to avoid accusations that he had joined only for political reasons.
Freemasonry
Jackson was a Freemason, initiated at Harmony Lodge No. 1 in Tennessee. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee in 1822 and 1823. During the 1832 presidential election, Jackson faced opposition from the Anti-Masonic Party. He was the only U.S. president to have served as Grand Master of a state's Grand Lodge until Harry S. Truman in 1945. His Masonic apron is on display in the Tennessee State Museum. An obelisk and bronze Masonic plaque decorate his tomb at the Hermitage.
Legacy
Historical reputation
Jackson remains one of the most studied and controversial figures in American history. Historian Charles Grier Sellers says, "Andrew Jackson's masterful personality was enough by itself to make him one of the most controversial figures ever to stride across the American stage." There has never been universal agreement on Jackson's legacy, for "his opponents have ever been his most bitter enemies, and his friends almost his worshippers." He was always a fierce partisan, with many friends and many enemies. He has been lauded as the champion of the common man, while criticized for his treatment of Indians and for other matters. James Parton was the first man after Jackson's death to write a full biography of him. Trying to sum up the contradictions in his subject, he wrote:
Jackson was criticized by his contemporary Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1835 book Democracy in America for flattering the dominant ideas of his time, including the mistrust over the federal power, for sometimes enforcing his view by force and disrespect towards the institutions and the law:
In the 20th century, Jackson was the subject of multiple highly favorable biographies. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.'s Age of Jackson (1945) depicts Jackson as a man of the people battling inequality and upper-class tyranny. From the 1970s to the 1980s, Robert Remini published a three-volume biography of Jackson followed by an abridged one-volume study. Remini paints a generally favorable portrait of Jackson. He contends that Jacksonian democracy "stretches the concept of democracy about as far as it can go and still remain workable. ... As such it has inspired much of the dynamic and dramatic events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in American history—Populism, Progressivism, the New and Fair Deals, and the programs of the New Frontier and Great Society." To Remini, Jackson serves as "the embodiment of the new American ... This new man was no longer British. He no longer wore the queue and silk pants. He wore trousers, and he had stopped speaking with a British accent." Other 20th-century writers such as Richard Hofstadter and Bray Hammond depict Jackson as an advocate of the sort of laissez-faire capitalism that benefits the rich and oppresses the poor.
Jackson's initiatives to deal with the conflicts between Native American people and European-American settlers has been a source of controversy. Starting around 1970, Jackson came under attack from some historians on this issue. Howard Zinn called him "the most aggressive enemy of the Indians in early American history" and "exterminator of Indians." Conversely, in 1969, Francis Paul Prucha argued that Jackson's removal of the Five Civilized Tribes from the extremely hostile white environment in the Old South to Oklahoma probably saved their very existence. Similarly, Remini claims that, if not for Jackson's policies, the Southeastern tribes would have been totally wiped out, similar to people such as the Yamasee, Mahican, and Narragansett.
Jackson has long been honored, along with Thomas Jefferson, in the Jefferson–Jackson Day fundraising dinners held by state Democratic Party organizations to honor the two men whom the party regards as its founders. However, because both Jefferson and Jackson were slave owners, as well as because of Jackson's Indian removal policies, many state party organizations have renamed the dinners.
Brands argues that Jackson's reputation suffered since the 1960s as his actions towards Indians and African Americans received new attention. After the civil rights movement, Brand writes, "his unrepentant ownership of slaves marked him as one to be censured rather than praised." Further, "By the turn of the present [21st] century, it was scarcely an exaggeration to say that the one thing American schoolchildren learned about Jackson was that he was the author of the Trail of Tears." Brands notes that he was often hailed during his lifetime as the "second George Washington" because, while Washington had fought for independence, Jackson confirmed it at New Orleans and made the United States a great power. Over time, while the Revolution has maintained a strong presence in the public conscience, memory of the War of 1812, including the Battle of New Orleans, has sharply declined. Brands writes that this is because once America had become a military power, "it was easy to think that America had been destined for this role from the beginning."
Still, Jackson's performance in office compared to other presidents has generally been ranked in the top half in public opinion polling. His position in C-SPAN's poll dropped from 13th in 2009, to 18th in 2017, and to 22nd in 2021.
Portrayal on banknotes and stamps
Jackson has appeared on U.S. banknotes as far back as 1869, and extending into the 21st century. His image has appeared on the $5, $10, $20, and $10,000 note. Most recently, his image has appeared on the U.S. $20 Federal reserve note beginning in 1928. In 2016, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced his goal that by 2020 an image of Harriet Tubman would replace Jackson's depiction on the front side of the $20 banknote, and that an image of Jackson would be placed on the reverse side, though the final decision will be made by his successors.
Jackson has appeared on several postage stamps. He first appeared on an 1863 two-cent stamp, which is commonly referred to by collectors as the Black Jack due to the large portraiture of Jackson on its face printed in pitch black. During the American Civil War, the Confederate government issued two Confederate postage stamps bearing Jackson's portrait, one a 2-cent red stamp and the other a 2-cent green stamp, both issued in 1863.
Memorials
Numerous counties and cities are named after him, including the cities of Jacksonville in Florida and North Carolina; the cities of Jackson in Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee; the city of Andrew in Iowa; Jackson County in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Oregon; and Jackson Parish in Louisiana.
Memorials to Jackson include a set of four identical equestrian statues by the sculptor Clark Mills: in Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.; in Jackson Square, New Orleans; in Nashville on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol; and in Jacksonville, Florida. Other equestrian statues of Jackson have been erected elsewhere, as in the State Capitol grounds in Raleigh, North Carolina. That statue controversially identifies him as one of the "presidents North Carolina gave the nation," and he is featured alongside James Polk and Andrew Johnson, both U.S. presidents born in North Carolina. There is a bust of Andrew Jackson in Plaza Ferdinand VII in Pensacola, Florida, where he became the first governor of the Florida Territory in 1821. There is also a 1928 bronze sculpture of Andrew Jackson by Belle Kinney Scholz and Leopold Scholz in the U.S. Capitol Building as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Popular culture depictions
Jackson and his wife Rachel were the main subjects of a 1951 historical novel by Irving Stone, The President's Lady, which told the story of their lives up until Rachel's death. The novel was the basis for the 1953 film of the same name starring Charlton Heston as Jackson and Susan Hayward as Rachel.
Jackson has been a supporting character in a number of historical films and television productions. Lionel Barrymore played Jackson in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), a fictionalized biography of Peggy Eaton starring Joan Crawford. The Buccaneer (1938), depicting the Battle of New Orleans, included Hugh Sothern as Jackson, and was remade in 1958 with Heston again playing Jackson.
Brian Donlevy played Jackson in the Paramount Pictures 1942 film The Remarkable Andrew. Basil Ruysdael played Jackson in Walt Disney's 1955 Davy Crockett TV miniseries. Wesley Addy appeared as Jackson in some episodes of the 1976 PBS miniseries The Adams Chronicles.
Jackson is the protagonist of the comedic historic rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (2008) with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and book by Alex Timbers.
In 1959, Jimmy Driftwood wrote the song "The Battle of New Orleans," which mentions Jackson. Johnny Horton recorded it that same year.
See also
List of presidents of the United States on currency
Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps
Notes
References
Bibliography
Biographies
; 344 pages; coverage to age 21
Abridgment of Remini's 3-volume biography.
Specialized studies
Historiography
Ward, John William 1955. Andrew Jackson, Symbol for an Age. New York: Oxford University Press.
Primary sources
7 volumes total.
(9 vols. 1980 to date)
Reprints his major messages and reports.
Library of Congress. "Andrew Jackson Papers", a digital archive that provides direct access to the manuscript images of many of the Jackson documents. online
Further reading
External links
Andrew Jackson: A Resource Guide at the Library of Congress
The Papers of Andrew Jackson at the Avalon Project
The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson
"Life Portrait of Andrew Jackson", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, April 26, 1999
"The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson and the Growth of Party Politics", lesson plan at the National Endowment for the Humanities
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Tuberculosis deaths in Tennessee | true | [
"Eurybiades (; ) was the Spartan navarch in charge of the Greek navy during the Second Persian invasion of Greece (480–479 BC).\n\nBiography\nEurybiades was the son of Eurycleides, and was chosen as commander in 480 BC because the Peloponnesian city-states led by Sparta, worried about the growing power of Athens, Greece as a whole did not want to serve under an Athenian despite the Athenians' superior naval skill. For all the enmity between the two, Eurybiades was ultimately assisted by the Athenian naval commander Themistocles.\n\nHis first act as commander was to sail the fleet to Artemisium, north of Euboea, to meet the Persian fleet. When they arrived the Greeks found that the Persians were already there, and Eurybiades ordered a retreat, although the Euboeans begged him to stay. Instead, they bribed Themistocles to keep the fleet there, and Themistocles used some of his bribe to pay off Eurybiades (at least according to Herodotus). The subsequent Battle of Artemisium was indecisive, and the Greeks removed their fleet to Salamis Island.\n\nInitially at Salamis, Eurybiades wanted to move the fleet to the Isthmus of Corinth, where the armies of the Hellenic League were building fortifications. Themistocles, the better naval tactition, saw the benefits of fighting at Salamis and wanted to force a naval battle there. Eurybiades was insistent, and Themistocles had to threaten to withdraw the Athenian fleet (the largest contingent of the Greek forces) in order to make Eurybiades stay. After Themistocles tricked the Persian king Xerxes into separating his fleet by sending part around the island to blockade the Greek fleet in the Straits of Salamis, Eurybiades was forced to accept Salamis as the battlefield. The Battle of Salamis was a decisive victory for the Greeks. After the battle Eurybiades was opposed to chasing the Persian fleet, and also to sailing towards the Hellespont to destroy the bridge of ships that Xerxes had built there. He wanted Xerxes to be able to escape rather than have him remain in Greece where he would possibly renew the land war.\n\nBack in Sparta Eurybiades was rewarded with an olive wreath for his success at Salamis; Themistocles was given a similar reward.\n\nReferences\n\nSources\nHerodotus, Histories\nPlutarch, Parallel Lives\n\nAncient Spartan admirals\n5th-century BC Spartans\nBattle of Salamis\nBattle of Artemisium\nSpartans of the Greco-Persian Wars",
"Mihran-i Bahram-i Razi, better simply known as Mihran Razi, was an Iranian military officer from the Mihran family. He was killed in 637 at the battle of Jalula.\n\nBiography \nMihran is first mentioned during the Arab invasion of Persia, and is known to have commanded the left wing of the Sasanian army during the battle of al-Qādisiyyah. Mihran, along with Nakhiragan, Hormuzan and Piruz Khosrow, including the rest of the survivors, regrouped at Bavel (Babylon), where they tried to repel the Arab army, but were once again defeated. While Piruz and Hormuzan fled different directions, Mihran and Nakhiragan remained in Asoristan.\n\nAfter a brief stay at Veh-Ardashir, they abandoned and destroyed the bridge on the east bank of the Tigris river. Nakhiragan and Mihran then briefly stayed at Kutha, where they installed a certain dehqan named Shahriyar as the commander of the garrison of the place. The two Sasanian military officers then went to the capital Ctesiphon, which was under attack by the Arabs. However, their stay there was only brief.\n\nAfter some time, they regrouped again with other Sasanian officers and fought the Arabs at Jalula. The Sasanian forces, however, were once again defeated. Mihran along with the rest of the survivors then fled to Khanaqin, but were at last killed by an Arab force which had pursued them.\n\nReferences\n\nSources \n\n \n \n\nGenerals of Yazdegerd III\nYear of birth unknown\n637 deaths\nMilitary personnel killed in action\nHouse of Mihran\nPeople from Rey, Iran\n7th-century Iranian people"
] |
[
"Fear Factory",
"Demanufacture (1995-1997)"
] | C_94fad564d0f240aa84b5c7c9779de8fd_0 | What is Demanufacture? | 1 | What is Demanufacture by Fear Factory? | Fear Factory | In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands. Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines. The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics. Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC videogames Carmageddon and Messiah. Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Waldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200 ;it also appeared on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995). CANNOTANSWER | Fear Factory's second album, | Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. Over the years, Fear Factory has seen changes in its lineup, with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell being the only consistent member for 31 years until his departure in 2020. Other than guitarist Dino Cazares, there are no original members left in its current lineup. The band went on hold in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but resumed activity a year later without founding member Cazares. Previous bassist Christian Olde Wolbers replaced him as the new guitarist, and bassist Byron Stroud joined the band. In April 2009, a new lineup was announced. Cazares returned as guitarist, and Gene Hoglan as drummer. Bell and Stroud reprised their respective roles, and this lineup recorded the band's seventh studio album titled Mechanize (2010). Former members Wolbers and Raymond Herrera—both of whom were playing in Arkaea—disputed the legitimacy of the new lineup, and a legal battle from both parties had begun. Despite this, Fear Factory has since released three more albums: The Industrialist (2012), Genexus (2015) and Aggression Continuum (2021).
The band has performed at four Ozzfests and the inaugural Gigantour. Their singles have charted on the US Mainstream Rock Top 40 and albums on the Billboard Top 40, 100, and 200, and they have sold more than a million albums in the U.S. alone.
History
Early years (1989–1990)
Fear Factory was formed in 1989 under the name Ulceration, which the band agreed would "just be a cool name". In 1990, the name "Fear the Factory" was adopted. The name was inspired by a factory that the band supposedly saw near their rehearsal space which was guarded by men carrying rifles. Later, they shortened the name to just "Fear Factory".
The band's origins can be traced to an outfit formed by guitarist Dino Cazares—formerly of The Douche Lords—and drummer Raymond Herrera in Los Angeles, California. Their first lineup was completed with the addition of bassist Dave Gibney and vocalist Burton C. Bell (ex-Hate Face), who was allegedly recruited by an impressed Cazares, who overheard him singing "New Year's Day" by U2. Cazares played bass on the first three Fear Factory albums Concrete, Soul of a New Machine and Demanufacture, on which Cazares changed many of the riffs during the recording. It took Cazares two weeks to get the appropriate guitar tone. Cazares created, wrote and recorded all the music on the album. Wolbers joined the band two weeks before they were scheduled to go on tour to promote the album and, although he contributed musical changes to a couple of songs on the album he stated that these were not significant.
Fear Factory's earliest demo recordings are strongly reminiscent of the early works of Napalm Death and Godflesh, an acknowledged influence of the band in the grindcore-driven approach of the former and the mechanical brutality, bleakness, and vocal stylings of the latter. According to Brian Russ of The BNR Metal Pages, the demos are remarkable for integrating these influences into the band's death metal sound and for Burton C. Bell's pioneering fusion of extreme death growls and clean vocals in the same song, which was to become a significant and influential element of the band's sound throughout their career. The use of grunts and "throat singing" combined with clean vocals later defined the nu metal and other emerging subgenres of metal. Many vocalists in today's metal scene use two or more methods of singing and vocalizing lyrics. The band contributed two songs to the L.A. Death Metal Compilation in 1990. The band played its first show on October 31, 1990.
Concrete (1991)
In 1991, Fear Factory recorded a series of cuts for their debut album with the then-little-known producer Ross Robinson in Blackie Lawless' studio. The band's members were unhappy with the terms of their recording contract and caused a delay with the album's release. The band retained the rights to the songs, many of which they re-recorded in 1992 with a different producer, Colin Richardson, for inclusion on their debut release Soul of a New Machine. Meanwhile, Ross Robinson obtained the rights to the recording, which he used to promote himself as a producer. The album was officially released in 2002 by Roadrunner Records under the title Concrete after the band's breakup. The release was controversial because the album was issued because of the band's outstanding contractual obligation and without the approval of every band member.
Fan opinion has been divided as to whether Ross Robinson's production properly captured the intricacies of the band's sound. The released album favored a straight-up approach and Robinson's distinct drum sound. Concrete has become an important album for fans of the early Fear Factory sound; it can be seen as a bridge between the band's sound on their demo recordings and their debut release, Soul of a New Machine, and a blueprint for later songs and B-sides.
Based on the Concrete recording, Max Cavalera recommended Fear Factory to the then-death-metal-focused Roadrunner Records label, which offered the band a recording contract. While the band signed the contract, it has since become controversial because of Roadrunner's treatment of the band during the events surrounding its 2002 breakup. This was reflected in the first album Archetype (2004), which was released following the band's re-formation. The opening song with lyrics by Burton C. Bell, "Slave Labor", was direct about the band's feelings on the matter. After working with numerous bassists, Andrew Shives was hired as a live bassist prior to the release of Soul of a New Machine.
Soul of a New Machine (1992–1994)
Soul of a New Machine (1992), which was recorded with producer Colin Richardson, gave the band greater exposure in the music scene. It is characterized by an industrial death metal sound that combined Bell's harsh and melodic vocals, Herrera's machine-like drums, the integrated industrial samples and textures and the sharp, down-tuned, rhythmic, death metal riffs of Dino Cazares. Cazares and Herrera wrote all the music. Because the band had no bass player, Cazares played both guitar and bass on the recording. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic called the album "groundbreaking" and said that "it ushered in the '90s alternative metal era".
Due to the extreme nature of the music, the album never reached the level of popularity attained by their later, more accessible works, and remains a cult favorite. Soul of a New Machine is considered by many as Fear Factory's final work death metal album because with each album, the band's style shifted away from the death metal subgenre.
To promote the album, Fear Factory embarked on extensive U.S. tours with Biohazard, Sepultura, and Sick of It All. During this period, sampler-keyboardist Reynor Diego joined the group. An album tour of Europe with Brutal Truth, then Cannibal Corpse, Cathedral, and Sleep, followed. The following year, they hired Front Line Assembly member Rhys Fulber to remix some songs from the album, demonstrating the band's willingness to experiment with their music. The results took on a predominantly industrial guise, and were released as the Fear Is the Mindkiller EP (1993). Soul of a New Machine and Fear is the Mindkiller were released (2004) as a package in a new re-mastered reissue by Roadrunner Records.
In 1994, Andrew Shives was forced to leave the band. Cazares recorded both the guitar and bass for the entire album. In November the same year, the band met Belgian Christian Olde Wolbers through Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard. Wolbers auditioned for Fear Factory's permanent bassist. Wolbers joined the band immediately since the band's tour was starting in two weeks.
Demanufacture (1995–1997)
In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands.
Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines.
The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics.
Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC video games Carmageddon and Messiah.
Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Wâldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995).
Obsolete (1998–2000)
Fear Factory's third studio album, Obsolete (July 1998), was reportedly completed earlier than planned by canceling an appearance at the Dynamo Open Air Festival.
Obsolete was similar in sound to Demanufacture, and introduced the progressive metal and alternative metal elements to the band's output. For the first time, the album featured Christian Olde Wolbers writing and recording full-time with the band. It also featured Cazares' debut use of 7-string Ibanez guitars tuned to A tuning (A, D, G, C, F, A, D), and paved the way for a lower-tuned sound than previously. The album is also notable for Rhys Fulber's increased involvement with the band.
While Fear Factory had explored the theme of "Man versus Machine" in their earlier work, Obsolete was their first concept album that dealt specifically with a literal interpretation of this subject. It tells a story called Conception 5, which was written by Bell, that takes place in a future world where mankind is rendered "obsolete" by machines. Its characters include the "Edgecrusher", "Smasher/Devourer", and the "Securitron" monitoring system. The story is presented in the lyrics booklet in a screenplay format between the individual songs. The printed story parts link the lyrics of the songs together thematically.
Obsolete was released during the alternative metal boom of the late 1990s. It was supported by tours with Slayer and later, Rammstein, and a headlining spot on the second stage at Ozzfest in 1999 as last-minute replacements for Judas Priest. They also toured in Europe in December 1998 with Spineshank and Kilgore, and went on their first headlining tour in North America with Static-X the next year, though the first leg was interrupted due to the band's tour bus and material being stolen. They also played in Japan for the first time. Obsolete became the band's highest selling album, marking the band's first entry into the Top 100 on the Billboard charts. The album also spawned singles "Descent" and a digipak bonus track, "Cars", a cover of the Gary Numan song featuring a guest appearance by Numan on the song. The single made the Mainstream Rock Top 40 in 1999 and was also featured in the video game, Test Drive 6. Numan also performed a spoken-word sample on the album's title track. A video was filmed for the song "Resurrection". To date, Obsolete remains the only Fear Factory album to have achieved gold sales in the U.S.
Digimortal and demise (2001–2002)
In early 2001, Fear Factory was asked to headline SnoCore Rock. The success of Obsolete and "Cars" was a turning point for the band; Roadrunner Records was now keen on capitalizing on the band's sales potential and pressured the band to record more accessible material for the follow-up album, titled Digimortal, which was released on April 23, 2001. Few weeks before its release, they were touring in Europe with One Minute Silence.
They went on a long headlining North American tour during 2001, then played in much larger European festivals like Bizarre Festival, Pukkelpop, Lowlands Festival and Leeds & Reading Festival. They then went on the first Roadrunner Roadrage tour in North America, toured Europe with Devin Townsend and Godflesh and played in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Digimortal made the Top 40 on the Billboard album charts, the Top 20 in Canada and the Top 10 of the Australian album charts. The track "Linchpin" reached the Mainstream Rock Top 40. A remix of "Invisible Wounds" was included on the Resident Evil film soundtrack, and an instrumental digipak bonus track called "Full Metal Contact" was originally written for the video game, Demolition Racer. A VHS/DVD release called Digital Connectivity, which documents each of the four album periods of the band via interviews, live clips, music videos and tour/studio footage, was released in January 2002.
Although Digimortal had a successful start, the sales did not reach the levels of Obsolete and the band received little tour support. The direction of the album coupled with strong personal differences between some of the band members created a rift that escalated to the point where Bell announced his exit in March 2002. The band disbanded immediately thereafter; its publicists said this was "largely because vocalist Burton C. Bell is tired of playing angry, aggressive music and wants to form a band that's more indie-rock-oriented". In a final collaboration, the group recorded two songs for the video game The Terminator: Dawn of Fate that month. Fear Factory's contractual obligations remained unfulfilled, however, and Roadrunner did not release them without controversially issuing the Concrete album in 2002 and the B-sides and rarities compilation, Hatefiles, in 2003. During his time away from Fear Factory, Bell with John Bechdel started a side project called Ascension of the Watchers, which released its first EP, Iconoclast, independently via their online store in 2005.
First return and Archetype (2002–2004)
Over time, tensions within the band developed between Dino Cazares and the other members, particularly Burton C. Bell and Raymond Herrera. When asked about the breakup in May 2002, Cazares made claims and allegations against Bell and the other members, stating that Fear Factory could continue without Christian Olde Wolbers and that he and Raymond Herrera were primarily motivated by money. Herrera responded to these allegations on behalf of the other band members, saying that Cazares was motivated by money and emphasizing Olde Wolbers' influence on the band's sound. According to Herrera, the other band members would often come up with new ideas they wanted to incorporate into Fear Factory's sound, but their suggestions were dismissed or openly ridiculed by Cazares, causing a rift between him and the other members that ultimately led to the band's breakup. In the same interview, Herrera also revealed that Cazares had attempted to control the direction of the band by manipulating their business management and record company, and had openly lied to the other members about his actions.
Herrera and Olde Wolbers reunited later in 2002 and laid the foundations for the return of Fear Factory. Cazares was then permanently out of the band. Bell was approached with their demo recordings and was impressed enough to rejoin the band and Fear Factory was re-formed. Olde Wolbers switched to guitar and Byron Stroud of Strapping Young Lad was approached to join the band as a bassist. He was a member from 2003 until 2012. Cazares continued recording and performing with his side project called Asesino, a Mexican deathgrind band. In 2007, he also started a new group called Divine Heresy.
Fear Factory made its live return as the mystery band at the Australian Big Day Out festival in January 2004, followed by its first American shows since re-forming on the spring Jägermeister tour with Slipknot and Chimaira. The new lineup's first album Archetype was released on April 20, 2004, through new record label Liquid 8 Records based in Minnesota. With Archetype, Fear Factory returned to an alternative, industrial, metal sound; the album is generally considered to be a strong 'return-to-form' record, if not a particularly innovative effort, with most of the trademark elements of the band firmly in place.
Videos were shot for the songs "Cyberwaste", "Archetype", and "Bite the Hand That Bleeds"; the latter featured on the Saw film soundtrack. The band performed on further tours with Lamb of God and Mastodon in the US and with Mnemic in Europe. The new Fear Factory has largely abandoned the direct "Man versus Machine" theme prevalent on earlier releases in favor of subjects such as religion, war, and corporatism.
Transgression (2005–2006)
Fear Factory announced plans to record and release its next full-length album over a very short period of time with mainstream rock producer Toby Wright, who had worked with Korn and Alice in Chains. This was allegedly due to pressure from Fear Factory's new label Calvin Records, which preponed the album's release date from four months away to just a month and a half so the band would have a new album to support on the inaugural Gigantour, which they had been invited to participate on by Dave Mustaine.
The resulting album, Transgression, was released on August 22, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and on the following day in North America, almost a year after Archetype. The album garnered highly polarized reviews; some critics hailed the album as diverse and progressive, and other reviewers did not receive the record very well. Although the album starts off as a Fear Factory record, subsequent songs include mellow/alt-rock numbers "Echo of My Scream" (featuring Faith No More's Billy Gould on bass) and "New Promise", a pop-rock song "Supernova", and a faithful cover of U2's rock song "I Will Follow".
In 2013, Wolbers posted more details about writing and recording of Transgression and Archetype on his Facebook page. He said he was disappointed with Transgression, calling it half-finished, and blamed the label for the severe time constraints imposed during the recording sessions and for the inclusion of the U2 cover. However, Burton C. Bell said he is proud of the album and sees it as the band "stepping over boundaries".
During 2005 and 2006, Fear Factory promoted the album on the "Fifteen Years of Fear" world tour in celebration of their fifteenth anniversary. The members invited bands including Darkane, Strapping Young Lad and Soilwork to join them on the U.S. leg, and Misery Index to join them on the European leg. Late in 2005, Fear Factory toured the U.S. again on the "Machines at War" tour, with an all-star death metal lineup of guests in Suffocation, Hypocrisy, and Decapitated; they played old classics from Soul of a New Machine, such as "Crash Test", which they had not performed live in many years.
Hiatus and other projects (2006–2008)
An online statement from Wolbers in December 2006 said the band would return to the studio to record a new album, produced by the band, immediately after the completion of the Transgression touring cycle. That month, Bell confirmed in an interview that the band would leave Liquid 8 Records.
Rather than begin work on a new studio album, the band members briefly parted and began working with other projects. Bell contributed vocals to the songs "End of Days, Pt.1", "End of Days, Pt. 2", and "Die in a Crash" on Ministry's 2007 album The Last Sucker, and later toured with Ministry in support of the album. In an interview for the website Metalsucks, Bell called this a "dream come true", describing Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen as "one of [his] heroes". In the same interview, Bell talked at length about his new band Ascension of the Watchers, providing insight into the inspiration behind the project's formation.
On March 21, 2008, while Fear Factory was on hiatus, Bell spoke in a video interview about the band's future, saying he no longer wanted to contribute to the violence and aggression he saw in the world with the aggressive type of music Fear Factory produced. Wolbers and Herrera started a new band called Arkaea, with vocalist Jon Howard and bassist Pat Kavanagh of Threat Signal. Wolbers said, "Ironically, half of the Arkaea album consists of songs that were intended to be the next Fear Factory record". Arkaea's debut album Years in the Darkness was released on July 14, 2009.
Second return, internal disputes, and Mechanize (2009–2011)
On April 8, 2009, Bell and Cazares announced the reconciliation of their friendship, and the formation of a new project with Byron Stroud on bass and drummer Gene Hoglan of Testament, Death, Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel, and Dethklok. On April 28, this project was announced to be a new version of Fear Factory without Herrera and Wolbers. When asked about their exclusion, Bell said, "[Fear Factory is] like a business and I'm just reorganizing ... We won't talk about [their exclusion]".
In June 2009, Wolbers and Herrera spoke about the issue on the radio program Speed Freaks. Herrera said he and Wolbers were still in the band. "[Christian and I] are actually still in Fear Factory ... [Burton and Dino] decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it Fear Factory. They never communicated with us about it", said Herrera. Herrera also said the four original members—Bell, Cazares, Wolbers, and Herrera—were contractually regarded as Fear Factory Incorporated, and, "it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate". The drummer also said he and Wolbers had written eight songs for the next Fear Factory record, but that a "personal disagreement" had arisen between them and Bell, which left Bell not wanting to continue work with the band.
Bell and Cazares later spoke about their reasons for excluding Herrera and Wolbers. Cazares said Bell wanted to reunite the classic Fear Factory lineup of himself, Cazares, Herrera, and Wolbers, but that Herrera and Wolbers refused to be part of any reunion with Cazares. Bell also said he wanted to fire the band's manager Christy Priske, who was also Wolbers' wife, and Herrera and Wolbers refused. Herrera and Wolbers threatened to sign a new record deal without Bell, prompting him to form a new version of Fear Factory without them. In some interviews, Wolbers said Bell had made "growing unacceptable demands", which were declined. He said, "Ray and I wanted what was best for the business and what he [Burton] was trying to change wasn't really good for the business. It was only bad for the business, so that's why he went into that whole phase of hijacking the name and trying to run with it."
Fear Factory featuring Bell and Cazares was due to make its live debut on June 21 at the Metalway Festival in Zaragoza, Spain. However, the show was canceled "at the last minute", apparently because of the legal complications referenced by Herrera. The rest of that lineup's planned performances in mid-2009, which included a tour of the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand that August, had also been canceled. The group said they canceled the tour to finish writing and recording the next Fear Factory album. Despite the canceled performances in Europe, they performed some shows in December in South American countries including Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.
During an interview on June 23, 2009, Cazares said he could never have a working relationship with Raymond and Wolbers again, saying they were too money-driven and criticized the music they recorded on Archetype for being too similar to the band's earlier output. Despite ongoing issues between the two parties, the new Fear Factory went ahead with the recording process. In late July 2009, a short video shot with a cell telephone showed Cazares recording drum tracks with longtime contributor Rhys Fulber. On November 6, 2009, blabbermouth.net said a new album, Mechanize, would be released on February 9, 2010, on Candlelight Records. On November 8, 2009, Fear Factory released a track titled "Powershifter" on YouTube. On November 10, 2009, Bell announced the track list for Mechanize, along with an explanation of each song.
In January 2010, Fear Factory played in Australia and New Zealand tour on the Big Day Out tour, playing their first Australian dates since 2005 on January 17 at Parklands Showgrounds on Queensland's Gold Coast. Fear Factory released Mechanize on February 5, 2010, and began a U.S. tour titled "Fear Campaign Tour 2010", in late March. In August 2010, the band headlined the Brutal Assault open air festival in Czech Republic. In September 2010, Fear Factory toured Australia, New Zealand, and Tokyo as the opening act for Metallica. The New Zealand concerts were in Christchurch, two shows that were brought about by a petition sent to Metallica asking them to visit New Zealand's second-largest city. After the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, the South Island concerts were in doubt, but on September 15, 2010, an official announced the CBS Arena had escaped harm and both shows went ahead.
The Industrialist (2011–2013)
In an interview during the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, Bell said Fear Factory was planning to write and record a "full-on concept" album, which was due for release in 2012. He said, "We're gonna kind of take a break a little bit, but we're definitely going into the studio at some point and start writing. We wanna take our time doing it. Personally ... Mechanize, don't get me wrong, is a good record—I'm very proud of it—but it's gotta be better than that. I've got plans where I'd like to do a full-on concept again—story, artwork. Just make it real cerebral. But there'll definitely be another Fear Factory record, maybe in 2012." On August 3, 2011, Dino Cazares said on his Twitter feed that he was working and demoing new material for the next Fear Factory album. On January 25, 2012, the band announced the new album will be titled The Industrialist. The album was again co-produced by the band with Rhys Fulber and mixed by Greg Reely.
Byron Stroud left the band early in 2012, saying, "Life's too short to spend it with people who don't respect you". In one interview, Cazares said he did not know why Stroud decided to leave and that he could not play the bass parts on Mechanize, prompting Cazares to do it himself.
In February 2012, former Chimaira guitar player Matt DeVries replaced Stroud. On April 19, 2012, Mike Heller of Malignancy and System Divide was announced as the band's new drummer, replacing Gene Hoglan; in an interview, Hoglan claimed that he only found out through Blabbermouth.net that he was no longer needed, and expressed some disappointment about the course of events. At the same time, Cazares confirmed on his Facebook page that John Sankey of Devolved had programmed the drums on The Industrialist. Burton described The Industrialist as another concept album "sonically, conceptually, and lyrically". Cazares also said he and Burton were the two in control of the record's outcome, and that the songwriting on the album was much more "definitive" in regards to Fear Factory's platform sound. On June 4, 2012,The Industrialist was available to stream through AOL Music. The album was released through Candlelight Records on June 5, 2012.
On May 2, 2013, Cazares commented regarding the status of Fear Factory albums Archetype and Transgression, which were recorded without his participation, and the band's decision not to play songs from them live, saying "they don't count" as Fear Factory albums. Contradicting this, Fear Factory played the track Archetype on its 2013 Australian tour in early July, with minor changes to the song's lyrics. On August 2, 2013, ex-drummer Hoglan said he left Fear Factory because he was prevented from participating on the album, and only found out about its completion online.
Genexus (2013–2015)
On May 1, 2013, Dino Cazares told Songfacts.com Fear Factory would begin work on their ninth studio album after the end of The Industrialist tour. The album was expected to be released in early 2014. On May 13, 2013, Burton C. Bell told Metal-Rules.com, "Fear Factory will continue to tour North America and Europe 2013. We've got some more tours scheduled, some summer festivals next year. During that time our plan is to start writing a new record and we would like to have a new record out by spring 2014". On March 19, 2014, Bell told Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles he would like to have the new album released by August, followed by a tour in September. On September 12, 2014, the band announced it had signed to record label Nuclear Blast and would enter the studio in October. The band also confirmed that the album would be mixed by Andy Sneap, and that Rhys Fulber would again produce it.
The band played their first shows in India, in November 2014, as part of the Weekender Tour, and on February/March 2015, they participated at the Soundwave Festival in Australia and New Zealand.
On May 1, 2015, it was announced that former Static-X and Soulfly bassist Tony Campos joined the band. Later that month, Fear Factory announced that they would release their ninth studio album, titled Genexus, on August 7, 2015.
They toured in European festivals in July 2015, and then onto North America, as an opening act for Coal Chamber. From late August until mid-September 2015, the band toured the midwestern, southern and southwestern United States with support from Once Human (starring Logan Mader), Los Angeles melodic metal band Before the Mourning and Chicago rock band The Bloodline. They also announced that they would play the entire Demanufacture album in Europe between November and December 2015, a tour which again included Once Human with the addition of Irish band Dead Label as openers.
Hiatus and lawsuits (2016–2019)
In a November 2016 interview with Loudwire, guitarist Dino Cazares revealed that Fear Factory had planned to release their tenth studio album in mid-to-late 2017. He stated, "Right now we're going to be home and doing a new record. We're writing already and in the process of doing a new record, but it probably won't be out until late summer of next year or maybe even October. I'm not exactly sure."
In a December 2016 interview with The Ex-Man, despite an ongoing "huge legal battle" with Bell and Cazares, former bassist-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers stated that he was "trying to reach out and try to get this reunion thing happening." He added, "There would be nothing better for this band [than] to reconcile our differences, fucking write a killer record, which I know we can, and fucking we would be doing really big tours. My passion for playing and what we have invested in this band is very big, and I know it's really big for Dino as well, 'cause he started it with Raymond back in the day." More fuel to the possibility of a reunion with the "classic" lineup of Bell, Cazares, Herrera and Wolbers was added later that month, when Wolbers posted an image on his Instagram account, suggesting Fear Factory's official website was "under construction."
On May 7, 2017, Wolbers posted a blank picture on his Instagram (which was later deleted), claiming that Fear Factory had broken up. Later that day, Cazares was asked via Twitter if they were still together, and his response was, "Not sure why your asking that and rant by who?".
In an interview with Kilpop in May 2017, Burton C. Bell said that the new songs were "even stronger than Genexus, 'cause it just seems even more tight. We're on a groove, and it's kicking ass."
In an interview with SiriusXM's Jose Mangin at November 2018's inaugural Headbangers Con in Portland, Oregon, Bell revealed Monolith as the title of Fear Factory's tenth studio album and its tentative artwork via his smartphone. In October 2019, this was refuted by guitarist Dino Cazares who stated via his Twitter account that there was no new Fear Factory album. Shortly thereafter, Cazares expressed uncertainty towards the band's future, indicating that a lawsuit filed by former members Raymond Herrera and Christian Olde Wolbers had prevented him and Bell from using the Fear Factory name.
Split with Burton C. Bell, Aggression Continuum and new vocalist (2020–present)
On September 2, 2020, Dino Cazares announced he would be releasing new Fear Factory music in 2021. Less than a month later, Burton C. Bell announced he quit Fear Factory citing "consistent series of dishonest representations and unfounded accusations from past and present band members", leaving no original members left in the band besides Cazares. However, Bell's contributions to their upcoming album will remain, as he recorded his vocals in 2017.
In an interview with Robb Flynn on September 28, 2020, which took place within hours after Bell announced his departure from Fear Factory, Cazares claimed that he was not aware of the split until he "found out [about it] via social media." He also claimed that one of the reasons behind Bell's departure was not only due to the lawsuit that prevented the release of the band's new album, but because the latter's portion of the Fear Factory "trademark ownership became available", which left Cazares as the sole owner of the band name. Cazares reiterated that Bell's vocals will appear on the new album, which was being mixed by Andy Sneap for a March 2021 release, and hoped the pair would continue to work together in order to support it.
On April 1, 2021, Fear Factory announced that their first new song in over five years would be released on April 16. A short riff teaser of the song from Cazares was released soon after. The new single "Disruptor" was released on April 16, followed by the announcement of the tenth studio album Aggression Continuum, which was released on June 18.
While deciding on a new vocalist through auditions, Cazares said that gender would not play a role, expressing an open interest in hiring a female; however, he said that he would not announce it for a while. Out of all the potential talents, he decided on a replacement who had yet to be revealed, with the member being a male and "kind of known" within the metal scene. He also said that the new member would be introduced through new songs.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
Fear Factory has been classified under several metal genres, but usually are described as industrial metal. The band also has been described as groove metal, nu metal, grindcore, thrash metal, and death metal. The band began as a death metal band with their debut album Soul of a New Machine, but quickly moved to industrial metal after that album. Fear Factory's influences include Slayer, Exodus, Napalm Death, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and Godflesh.
In terms of influences on the group's work, Dino Cazares has cited the band members' interests in fantasy and science fiction alternative universes such as the Terminator mythos as well as the Dune mythos. As a specific example, their debut album, Soul of a New Machine, picked up its name directly from a line in a movie critic review of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day film (discussing the T-1000 villain). Cazares has also cited recurring influences on Fear Factory coming from conventional popular music, outside of the genres of hard rock and heavy metal, for instance looking to singer-songwriter Paul McCartney's sounds in both The Beatles and Wings. Over the years the film Blade Runner has become a recurring theme as the band often makes lyrical reference to the plot, as well as directly quote and sample lines from the film.
Fear Factory's innovative approach towards and hybridization of the genres industrial metal, death metal, and alternative metal has had a lasting impact on other artists coming later, the band putting a stamp on metal music ever since the release of their first album in 1992. Fear Factory is noteworthy among contemporaries for its lyrical focus on science fiction, with much of the band's music telling a single story spanning several concept albums. The band has been called a "stepping stone", leading mainstream listeners to venture into less-known, more extreme bands, and are consistently appreciated.
In the liner notes of the re-released version of Soul of a New Machine, Machine Head vocalist Robb Flynn, Chimaira vocalist Mark Hunter, and Spineshank guitarist Mike Sarkisyan cited Fear Factory as an influence. Robb Flynn said his vocal style was influenced by Burton C. Bell's vocals and Machine Head have been wrongly credited for the vocal style. Mark Hunter said Chimaira's drumming was heavily influenced by Raymond Herrera. Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Static-X, and Coal Chamber have also mentioned Fear Factory in their liner notes.
Modern bands including Mnemic, Scarve, Stiff Valentine, and Threat Signal contain significant influences from Fear Factory's technique and have also credited a substantial debt of gratitude to the band. Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy said, "Fear Factory are close to our hearts" and, "Soul of a New Machine was the influence for me to start my other project, 'Pain'". Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad said his main influences for Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing were Fear Factory and Napalm Death. In an interview on That Metal Show, Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward said Fear Factory is one of the bands he wishes he could play with, and picked Mechanize as one of his favourite albums.
Band members
Current members
Dino Cazares – guitars, backing vocals (1989–2002, 2009–present), bass (1992, 1995, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2020–present), keyboards (1995), drum programming (2012)
Mike Heller – drums (2012–present)
Tony Campos – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
Burton C. Bell – lead vocals (1989–2002, 2002–2006, 2009–2020), keyboards (1995)
David Gibney – bass (1989–1991)
Andy Romero – bass (1991–1992)
Andrew Shives – bass (1992–1993)
Raymond Herrera – drums (1989–2002, 2002–2006)
Christian Olde Wolbers – bass (1993–2002, 2002–2006), guitars (2002–2006), backing vocals (1993–2002, 2002–2006)
Byron Stroud – bass (2002–2006, 2009–2012)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2009–2012)
Matt DeVries – bass, backing vocals (2012–2015)
Session/touring musicians
Reynor Diego – keyboards, samples (1992–1995)
Rhys Fulber – keyboards, samples (1993–2002, 2003–2004, 2009–present)
Steve Tushar – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1995–1997, 2003–2005)
John Morgan – keyboards, samples (1997)
John Bechdel – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1998–2002, 2002–2004)
Timeline
Discography
Soul of a New Machine (1992)
Demanufacture (1995)
Obsolete (1998)
Digimortal (2001)
Archetype (2004)
Transgression (2005)
Mechanize (2010)
The Industrialist (2012)
Genexus (2015)
Aggression Continuum (2021)
References
External links
1989 establishments in California
American industrial metal musical groups
Candlelight Records artists
Death metal musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups reestablished in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2006
Musical groups reestablished in 2009
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Roadrunner Records artists | true | [
"Remanufacture – Cloning Technology (sometimes referred to as Remanufacture) is a remix album of Fear Factory's second album Demanufacture, released on May 20, 1997.\n\nTrack listing\nThe titles of the original songs are in brackets. All songs composed by Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares and Raymond Herrera.\n\nNotes\nThe tracks \"Genetic Blueprint\" (New Breed) and \"21st Century Jesus\" (Pisschrist) featured on Infogrames Test Drive 5 which was released on PC and PlayStation in 1998. Additionally, the song \"Remanufacture (Demanufacture)\" was featured on the 2005 PSP video game Infected and is the theme song for the 2000 PC game Messiah. There was also a 12\" vinyl released called The Gabber Mixes on the label Mokum Records with additional tracks.\n\n2005 remastered edition\nThe album was re-released on June 7, 2005 in a digipak edition, with new bonus tracks and Demanufacture as the first disc.\n\nDisc two bonus tracks\nTracks 1–12 are the same as on the original version.\n\nPersonnel\n\nFear Factory\nFear Factory – production, cover design\nBurton C. Bell – vocals\nDino Cazares – guitar, production\nChristian Olde Wolbers – bass\nRaymond Herrera – drums\n\nOther personal \nDelwyn Brooks – mixing assistant\nCiel – artwork, design\nAnne Marie Damjanovic – production coordination\nRhys Fulber – remixing\nTed Jensen – mastering\nJunkie XL – producer, remixing\nKingsize – remixing\nDJ Dano – remixing\nGreg Reely – producer, mixing\nColin Richardson – producer\nCristian Wicha – design\n\nCharts\nAlbum - Billboard (United States)\n\nReferences\n\nFear Factory albums\n1997 remix albums\nRoadrunner Records remix albums\nAlbums produced by Greg Reely\n\nes:Demanufacture#Remanufacture",
"Burn is an EP/single by American heavy metal band Fear Factory, released in 1997 by Roadrunner Records. The title track, \"Burn\", is a remix of \"Flashpoint\" (a track from the Demanufacture album), which appears on the Remanufacture album. Burn has sold over 5,000 copies.\n\nTrack listing\nEP\n\n12\" single\n\n1997 EPs\nFear Factory EPs\nRemix EPs\nRoadrunner Records EPs"
] |
[
"Fear Factory",
"Demanufacture (1995-1997)",
"What is Demanufacture?",
"Fear Factory's second album,"
] | C_94fad564d0f240aa84b5c7c9779de8fd_0 | What kind of music is this album? | 2 | What kind of music is the album Demanufacture? | Fear Factory | In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands. Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines. The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics. Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC videogames Carmageddon and Messiah. Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Waldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200 ;it also appeared on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995). CANNOTANSWER | rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar | Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. Over the years, Fear Factory has seen changes in its lineup, with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell being the only consistent member for 31 years until his departure in 2020. Other than guitarist Dino Cazares, there are no original members left in its current lineup. The band went on hold in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but resumed activity a year later without founding member Cazares. Previous bassist Christian Olde Wolbers replaced him as the new guitarist, and bassist Byron Stroud joined the band. In April 2009, a new lineup was announced. Cazares returned as guitarist, and Gene Hoglan as drummer. Bell and Stroud reprised their respective roles, and this lineup recorded the band's seventh studio album titled Mechanize (2010). Former members Wolbers and Raymond Herrera—both of whom were playing in Arkaea—disputed the legitimacy of the new lineup, and a legal battle from both parties had begun. Despite this, Fear Factory has since released three more albums: The Industrialist (2012), Genexus (2015) and Aggression Continuum (2021).
The band has performed at four Ozzfests and the inaugural Gigantour. Their singles have charted on the US Mainstream Rock Top 40 and albums on the Billboard Top 40, 100, and 200, and they have sold more than a million albums in the U.S. alone.
History
Early years (1989–1990)
Fear Factory was formed in 1989 under the name Ulceration, which the band agreed would "just be a cool name". In 1990, the name "Fear the Factory" was adopted. The name was inspired by a factory that the band supposedly saw near their rehearsal space which was guarded by men carrying rifles. Later, they shortened the name to just "Fear Factory".
The band's origins can be traced to an outfit formed by guitarist Dino Cazares—formerly of The Douche Lords—and drummer Raymond Herrera in Los Angeles, California. Their first lineup was completed with the addition of bassist Dave Gibney and vocalist Burton C. Bell (ex-Hate Face), who was allegedly recruited by an impressed Cazares, who overheard him singing "New Year's Day" by U2. Cazares played bass on the first three Fear Factory albums Concrete, Soul of a New Machine and Demanufacture, on which Cazares changed many of the riffs during the recording. It took Cazares two weeks to get the appropriate guitar tone. Cazares created, wrote and recorded all the music on the album. Wolbers joined the band two weeks before they were scheduled to go on tour to promote the album and, although he contributed musical changes to a couple of songs on the album he stated that these were not significant.
Fear Factory's earliest demo recordings are strongly reminiscent of the early works of Napalm Death and Godflesh, an acknowledged influence of the band in the grindcore-driven approach of the former and the mechanical brutality, bleakness, and vocal stylings of the latter. According to Brian Russ of The BNR Metal Pages, the demos are remarkable for integrating these influences into the band's death metal sound and for Burton C. Bell's pioneering fusion of extreme death growls and clean vocals in the same song, which was to become a significant and influential element of the band's sound throughout their career. The use of grunts and "throat singing" combined with clean vocals later defined the nu metal and other emerging subgenres of metal. Many vocalists in today's metal scene use two or more methods of singing and vocalizing lyrics. The band contributed two songs to the L.A. Death Metal Compilation in 1990. The band played its first show on October 31, 1990.
Concrete (1991)
In 1991, Fear Factory recorded a series of cuts for their debut album with the then-little-known producer Ross Robinson in Blackie Lawless' studio. The band's members were unhappy with the terms of their recording contract and caused a delay with the album's release. The band retained the rights to the songs, many of which they re-recorded in 1992 with a different producer, Colin Richardson, for inclusion on their debut release Soul of a New Machine. Meanwhile, Ross Robinson obtained the rights to the recording, which he used to promote himself as a producer. The album was officially released in 2002 by Roadrunner Records under the title Concrete after the band's breakup. The release was controversial because the album was issued because of the band's outstanding contractual obligation and without the approval of every band member.
Fan opinion has been divided as to whether Ross Robinson's production properly captured the intricacies of the band's sound. The released album favored a straight-up approach and Robinson's distinct drum sound. Concrete has become an important album for fans of the early Fear Factory sound; it can be seen as a bridge between the band's sound on their demo recordings and their debut release, Soul of a New Machine, and a blueprint for later songs and B-sides.
Based on the Concrete recording, Max Cavalera recommended Fear Factory to the then-death-metal-focused Roadrunner Records label, which offered the band a recording contract. While the band signed the contract, it has since become controversial because of Roadrunner's treatment of the band during the events surrounding its 2002 breakup. This was reflected in the first album Archetype (2004), which was released following the band's re-formation. The opening song with lyrics by Burton C. Bell, "Slave Labor", was direct about the band's feelings on the matter. After working with numerous bassists, Andrew Shives was hired as a live bassist prior to the release of Soul of a New Machine.
Soul of a New Machine (1992–1994)
Soul of a New Machine (1992), which was recorded with producer Colin Richardson, gave the band greater exposure in the music scene. It is characterized by an industrial death metal sound that combined Bell's harsh and melodic vocals, Herrera's machine-like drums, the integrated industrial samples and textures and the sharp, down-tuned, rhythmic, death metal riffs of Dino Cazares. Cazares and Herrera wrote all the music. Because the band had no bass player, Cazares played both guitar and bass on the recording. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic called the album "groundbreaking" and said that "it ushered in the '90s alternative metal era".
Due to the extreme nature of the music, the album never reached the level of popularity attained by their later, more accessible works, and remains a cult favorite. Soul of a New Machine is considered by many as Fear Factory's final work death metal album because with each album, the band's style shifted away from the death metal subgenre.
To promote the album, Fear Factory embarked on extensive U.S. tours with Biohazard, Sepultura, and Sick of It All. During this period, sampler-keyboardist Reynor Diego joined the group. An album tour of Europe with Brutal Truth, then Cannibal Corpse, Cathedral, and Sleep, followed. The following year, they hired Front Line Assembly member Rhys Fulber to remix some songs from the album, demonstrating the band's willingness to experiment with their music. The results took on a predominantly industrial guise, and were released as the Fear Is the Mindkiller EP (1993). Soul of a New Machine and Fear is the Mindkiller were released (2004) as a package in a new re-mastered reissue by Roadrunner Records.
In 1994, Andrew Shives was forced to leave the band. Cazares recorded both the guitar and bass for the entire album. In November the same year, the band met Belgian Christian Olde Wolbers through Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard. Wolbers auditioned for Fear Factory's permanent bassist. Wolbers joined the band immediately since the band's tour was starting in two weeks.
Demanufacture (1995–1997)
In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands.
Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines.
The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics.
Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC video games Carmageddon and Messiah.
Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Wâldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995).
Obsolete (1998–2000)
Fear Factory's third studio album, Obsolete (July 1998), was reportedly completed earlier than planned by canceling an appearance at the Dynamo Open Air Festival.
Obsolete was similar in sound to Demanufacture, and introduced the progressive metal and alternative metal elements to the band's output. For the first time, the album featured Christian Olde Wolbers writing and recording full-time with the band. It also featured Cazares' debut use of 7-string Ibanez guitars tuned to A tuning (A, D, G, C, F, A, D), and paved the way for a lower-tuned sound than previously. The album is also notable for Rhys Fulber's increased involvement with the band.
While Fear Factory had explored the theme of "Man versus Machine" in their earlier work, Obsolete was their first concept album that dealt specifically with a literal interpretation of this subject. It tells a story called Conception 5, which was written by Bell, that takes place in a future world where mankind is rendered "obsolete" by machines. Its characters include the "Edgecrusher", "Smasher/Devourer", and the "Securitron" monitoring system. The story is presented in the lyrics booklet in a screenplay format between the individual songs. The printed story parts link the lyrics of the songs together thematically.
Obsolete was released during the alternative metal boom of the late 1990s. It was supported by tours with Slayer and later, Rammstein, and a headlining spot on the second stage at Ozzfest in 1999 as last-minute replacements for Judas Priest. They also toured in Europe in December 1998 with Spineshank and Kilgore, and went on their first headlining tour in North America with Static-X the next year, though the first leg was interrupted due to the band's tour bus and material being stolen. They also played in Japan for the first time. Obsolete became the band's highest selling album, marking the band's first entry into the Top 100 on the Billboard charts. The album also spawned singles "Descent" and a digipak bonus track, "Cars", a cover of the Gary Numan song featuring a guest appearance by Numan on the song. The single made the Mainstream Rock Top 40 in 1999 and was also featured in the video game, Test Drive 6. Numan also performed a spoken-word sample on the album's title track. A video was filmed for the song "Resurrection". To date, Obsolete remains the only Fear Factory album to have achieved gold sales in the U.S.
Digimortal and demise (2001–2002)
In early 2001, Fear Factory was asked to headline SnoCore Rock. The success of Obsolete and "Cars" was a turning point for the band; Roadrunner Records was now keen on capitalizing on the band's sales potential and pressured the band to record more accessible material for the follow-up album, titled Digimortal, which was released on April 23, 2001. Few weeks before its release, they were touring in Europe with One Minute Silence.
They went on a long headlining North American tour during 2001, then played in much larger European festivals like Bizarre Festival, Pukkelpop, Lowlands Festival and Leeds & Reading Festival. They then went on the first Roadrunner Roadrage tour in North America, toured Europe with Devin Townsend and Godflesh and played in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Digimortal made the Top 40 on the Billboard album charts, the Top 20 in Canada and the Top 10 of the Australian album charts. The track "Linchpin" reached the Mainstream Rock Top 40. A remix of "Invisible Wounds" was included on the Resident Evil film soundtrack, and an instrumental digipak bonus track called "Full Metal Contact" was originally written for the video game, Demolition Racer. A VHS/DVD release called Digital Connectivity, which documents each of the four album periods of the band via interviews, live clips, music videos and tour/studio footage, was released in January 2002.
Although Digimortal had a successful start, the sales did not reach the levels of Obsolete and the band received little tour support. The direction of the album coupled with strong personal differences between some of the band members created a rift that escalated to the point where Bell announced his exit in March 2002. The band disbanded immediately thereafter; its publicists said this was "largely because vocalist Burton C. Bell is tired of playing angry, aggressive music and wants to form a band that's more indie-rock-oriented". In a final collaboration, the group recorded two songs for the video game The Terminator: Dawn of Fate that month. Fear Factory's contractual obligations remained unfulfilled, however, and Roadrunner did not release them without controversially issuing the Concrete album in 2002 and the B-sides and rarities compilation, Hatefiles, in 2003. During his time away from Fear Factory, Bell with John Bechdel started a side project called Ascension of the Watchers, which released its first EP, Iconoclast, independently via their online store in 2005.
First return and Archetype (2002–2004)
Over time, tensions within the band developed between Dino Cazares and the other members, particularly Burton C. Bell and Raymond Herrera. When asked about the breakup in May 2002, Cazares made claims and allegations against Bell and the other members, stating that Fear Factory could continue without Christian Olde Wolbers and that he and Raymond Herrera were primarily motivated by money. Herrera responded to these allegations on behalf of the other band members, saying that Cazares was motivated by money and emphasizing Olde Wolbers' influence on the band's sound. According to Herrera, the other band members would often come up with new ideas they wanted to incorporate into Fear Factory's sound, but their suggestions were dismissed or openly ridiculed by Cazares, causing a rift between him and the other members that ultimately led to the band's breakup. In the same interview, Herrera also revealed that Cazares had attempted to control the direction of the band by manipulating their business management and record company, and had openly lied to the other members about his actions.
Herrera and Olde Wolbers reunited later in 2002 and laid the foundations for the return of Fear Factory. Cazares was then permanently out of the band. Bell was approached with their demo recordings and was impressed enough to rejoin the band and Fear Factory was re-formed. Olde Wolbers switched to guitar and Byron Stroud of Strapping Young Lad was approached to join the band as a bassist. He was a member from 2003 until 2012. Cazares continued recording and performing with his side project called Asesino, a Mexican deathgrind band. In 2007, he also started a new group called Divine Heresy.
Fear Factory made its live return as the mystery band at the Australian Big Day Out festival in January 2004, followed by its first American shows since re-forming on the spring Jägermeister tour with Slipknot and Chimaira. The new lineup's first album Archetype was released on April 20, 2004, through new record label Liquid 8 Records based in Minnesota. With Archetype, Fear Factory returned to an alternative, industrial, metal sound; the album is generally considered to be a strong 'return-to-form' record, if not a particularly innovative effort, with most of the trademark elements of the band firmly in place.
Videos were shot for the songs "Cyberwaste", "Archetype", and "Bite the Hand That Bleeds"; the latter featured on the Saw film soundtrack. The band performed on further tours with Lamb of God and Mastodon in the US and with Mnemic in Europe. The new Fear Factory has largely abandoned the direct "Man versus Machine" theme prevalent on earlier releases in favor of subjects such as religion, war, and corporatism.
Transgression (2005–2006)
Fear Factory announced plans to record and release its next full-length album over a very short period of time with mainstream rock producer Toby Wright, who had worked with Korn and Alice in Chains. This was allegedly due to pressure from Fear Factory's new label Calvin Records, which preponed the album's release date from four months away to just a month and a half so the band would have a new album to support on the inaugural Gigantour, which they had been invited to participate on by Dave Mustaine.
The resulting album, Transgression, was released on August 22, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and on the following day in North America, almost a year after Archetype. The album garnered highly polarized reviews; some critics hailed the album as diverse and progressive, and other reviewers did not receive the record very well. Although the album starts off as a Fear Factory record, subsequent songs include mellow/alt-rock numbers "Echo of My Scream" (featuring Faith No More's Billy Gould on bass) and "New Promise", a pop-rock song "Supernova", and a faithful cover of U2's rock song "I Will Follow".
In 2013, Wolbers posted more details about writing and recording of Transgression and Archetype on his Facebook page. He said he was disappointed with Transgression, calling it half-finished, and blamed the label for the severe time constraints imposed during the recording sessions and for the inclusion of the U2 cover. However, Burton C. Bell said he is proud of the album and sees it as the band "stepping over boundaries".
During 2005 and 2006, Fear Factory promoted the album on the "Fifteen Years of Fear" world tour in celebration of their fifteenth anniversary. The members invited bands including Darkane, Strapping Young Lad and Soilwork to join them on the U.S. leg, and Misery Index to join them on the European leg. Late in 2005, Fear Factory toured the U.S. again on the "Machines at War" tour, with an all-star death metal lineup of guests in Suffocation, Hypocrisy, and Decapitated; they played old classics from Soul of a New Machine, such as "Crash Test", which they had not performed live in many years.
Hiatus and other projects (2006–2008)
An online statement from Wolbers in December 2006 said the band would return to the studio to record a new album, produced by the band, immediately after the completion of the Transgression touring cycle. That month, Bell confirmed in an interview that the band would leave Liquid 8 Records.
Rather than begin work on a new studio album, the band members briefly parted and began working with other projects. Bell contributed vocals to the songs "End of Days, Pt.1", "End of Days, Pt. 2", and "Die in a Crash" on Ministry's 2007 album The Last Sucker, and later toured with Ministry in support of the album. In an interview for the website Metalsucks, Bell called this a "dream come true", describing Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen as "one of [his] heroes". In the same interview, Bell talked at length about his new band Ascension of the Watchers, providing insight into the inspiration behind the project's formation.
On March 21, 2008, while Fear Factory was on hiatus, Bell spoke in a video interview about the band's future, saying he no longer wanted to contribute to the violence and aggression he saw in the world with the aggressive type of music Fear Factory produced. Wolbers and Herrera started a new band called Arkaea, with vocalist Jon Howard and bassist Pat Kavanagh of Threat Signal. Wolbers said, "Ironically, half of the Arkaea album consists of songs that were intended to be the next Fear Factory record". Arkaea's debut album Years in the Darkness was released on July 14, 2009.
Second return, internal disputes, and Mechanize (2009–2011)
On April 8, 2009, Bell and Cazares announced the reconciliation of their friendship, and the formation of a new project with Byron Stroud on bass and drummer Gene Hoglan of Testament, Death, Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel, and Dethklok. On April 28, this project was announced to be a new version of Fear Factory without Herrera and Wolbers. When asked about their exclusion, Bell said, "[Fear Factory is] like a business and I'm just reorganizing ... We won't talk about [their exclusion]".
In June 2009, Wolbers and Herrera spoke about the issue on the radio program Speed Freaks. Herrera said he and Wolbers were still in the band. "[Christian and I] are actually still in Fear Factory ... [Burton and Dino] decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it Fear Factory. They never communicated with us about it", said Herrera. Herrera also said the four original members—Bell, Cazares, Wolbers, and Herrera—were contractually regarded as Fear Factory Incorporated, and, "it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate". The drummer also said he and Wolbers had written eight songs for the next Fear Factory record, but that a "personal disagreement" had arisen between them and Bell, which left Bell not wanting to continue work with the band.
Bell and Cazares later spoke about their reasons for excluding Herrera and Wolbers. Cazares said Bell wanted to reunite the classic Fear Factory lineup of himself, Cazares, Herrera, and Wolbers, but that Herrera and Wolbers refused to be part of any reunion with Cazares. Bell also said he wanted to fire the band's manager Christy Priske, who was also Wolbers' wife, and Herrera and Wolbers refused. Herrera and Wolbers threatened to sign a new record deal without Bell, prompting him to form a new version of Fear Factory without them. In some interviews, Wolbers said Bell had made "growing unacceptable demands", which were declined. He said, "Ray and I wanted what was best for the business and what he [Burton] was trying to change wasn't really good for the business. It was only bad for the business, so that's why he went into that whole phase of hijacking the name and trying to run with it."
Fear Factory featuring Bell and Cazares was due to make its live debut on June 21 at the Metalway Festival in Zaragoza, Spain. However, the show was canceled "at the last minute", apparently because of the legal complications referenced by Herrera. The rest of that lineup's planned performances in mid-2009, which included a tour of the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand that August, had also been canceled. The group said they canceled the tour to finish writing and recording the next Fear Factory album. Despite the canceled performances in Europe, they performed some shows in December in South American countries including Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.
During an interview on June 23, 2009, Cazares said he could never have a working relationship with Raymond and Wolbers again, saying they were too money-driven and criticized the music they recorded on Archetype for being too similar to the band's earlier output. Despite ongoing issues between the two parties, the new Fear Factory went ahead with the recording process. In late July 2009, a short video shot with a cell telephone showed Cazares recording drum tracks with longtime contributor Rhys Fulber. On November 6, 2009, blabbermouth.net said a new album, Mechanize, would be released on February 9, 2010, on Candlelight Records. On November 8, 2009, Fear Factory released a track titled "Powershifter" on YouTube. On November 10, 2009, Bell announced the track list for Mechanize, along with an explanation of each song.
In January 2010, Fear Factory played in Australia and New Zealand tour on the Big Day Out tour, playing their first Australian dates since 2005 on January 17 at Parklands Showgrounds on Queensland's Gold Coast. Fear Factory released Mechanize on February 5, 2010, and began a U.S. tour titled "Fear Campaign Tour 2010", in late March. In August 2010, the band headlined the Brutal Assault open air festival in Czech Republic. In September 2010, Fear Factory toured Australia, New Zealand, and Tokyo as the opening act for Metallica. The New Zealand concerts were in Christchurch, two shows that were brought about by a petition sent to Metallica asking them to visit New Zealand's second-largest city. After the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, the South Island concerts were in doubt, but on September 15, 2010, an official announced the CBS Arena had escaped harm and both shows went ahead.
The Industrialist (2011–2013)
In an interview during the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, Bell said Fear Factory was planning to write and record a "full-on concept" album, which was due for release in 2012. He said, "We're gonna kind of take a break a little bit, but we're definitely going into the studio at some point and start writing. We wanna take our time doing it. Personally ... Mechanize, don't get me wrong, is a good record—I'm very proud of it—but it's gotta be better than that. I've got plans where I'd like to do a full-on concept again—story, artwork. Just make it real cerebral. But there'll definitely be another Fear Factory record, maybe in 2012." On August 3, 2011, Dino Cazares said on his Twitter feed that he was working and demoing new material for the next Fear Factory album. On January 25, 2012, the band announced the new album will be titled The Industrialist. The album was again co-produced by the band with Rhys Fulber and mixed by Greg Reely.
Byron Stroud left the band early in 2012, saying, "Life's too short to spend it with people who don't respect you". In one interview, Cazares said he did not know why Stroud decided to leave and that he could not play the bass parts on Mechanize, prompting Cazares to do it himself.
In February 2012, former Chimaira guitar player Matt DeVries replaced Stroud. On April 19, 2012, Mike Heller of Malignancy and System Divide was announced as the band's new drummer, replacing Gene Hoglan; in an interview, Hoglan claimed that he only found out through Blabbermouth.net that he was no longer needed, and expressed some disappointment about the course of events. At the same time, Cazares confirmed on his Facebook page that John Sankey of Devolved had programmed the drums on The Industrialist. Burton described The Industrialist as another concept album "sonically, conceptually, and lyrically". Cazares also said he and Burton were the two in control of the record's outcome, and that the songwriting on the album was much more "definitive" in regards to Fear Factory's platform sound. On June 4, 2012,The Industrialist was available to stream through AOL Music. The album was released through Candlelight Records on June 5, 2012.
On May 2, 2013, Cazares commented regarding the status of Fear Factory albums Archetype and Transgression, which were recorded without his participation, and the band's decision not to play songs from them live, saying "they don't count" as Fear Factory albums. Contradicting this, Fear Factory played the track Archetype on its 2013 Australian tour in early July, with minor changes to the song's lyrics. On August 2, 2013, ex-drummer Hoglan said he left Fear Factory because he was prevented from participating on the album, and only found out about its completion online.
Genexus (2013–2015)
On May 1, 2013, Dino Cazares told Songfacts.com Fear Factory would begin work on their ninth studio album after the end of The Industrialist tour. The album was expected to be released in early 2014. On May 13, 2013, Burton C. Bell told Metal-Rules.com, "Fear Factory will continue to tour North America and Europe 2013. We've got some more tours scheduled, some summer festivals next year. During that time our plan is to start writing a new record and we would like to have a new record out by spring 2014". On March 19, 2014, Bell told Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles he would like to have the new album released by August, followed by a tour in September. On September 12, 2014, the band announced it had signed to record label Nuclear Blast and would enter the studio in October. The band also confirmed that the album would be mixed by Andy Sneap, and that Rhys Fulber would again produce it.
The band played their first shows in India, in November 2014, as part of the Weekender Tour, and on February/March 2015, they participated at the Soundwave Festival in Australia and New Zealand.
On May 1, 2015, it was announced that former Static-X and Soulfly bassist Tony Campos joined the band. Later that month, Fear Factory announced that they would release their ninth studio album, titled Genexus, on August 7, 2015.
They toured in European festivals in July 2015, and then onto North America, as an opening act for Coal Chamber. From late August until mid-September 2015, the band toured the midwestern, southern and southwestern United States with support from Once Human (starring Logan Mader), Los Angeles melodic metal band Before the Mourning and Chicago rock band The Bloodline. They also announced that they would play the entire Demanufacture album in Europe between November and December 2015, a tour which again included Once Human with the addition of Irish band Dead Label as openers.
Hiatus and lawsuits (2016–2019)
In a November 2016 interview with Loudwire, guitarist Dino Cazares revealed that Fear Factory had planned to release their tenth studio album in mid-to-late 2017. He stated, "Right now we're going to be home and doing a new record. We're writing already and in the process of doing a new record, but it probably won't be out until late summer of next year or maybe even October. I'm not exactly sure."
In a December 2016 interview with The Ex-Man, despite an ongoing "huge legal battle" with Bell and Cazares, former bassist-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers stated that he was "trying to reach out and try to get this reunion thing happening." He added, "There would be nothing better for this band [than] to reconcile our differences, fucking write a killer record, which I know we can, and fucking we would be doing really big tours. My passion for playing and what we have invested in this band is very big, and I know it's really big for Dino as well, 'cause he started it with Raymond back in the day." More fuel to the possibility of a reunion with the "classic" lineup of Bell, Cazares, Herrera and Wolbers was added later that month, when Wolbers posted an image on his Instagram account, suggesting Fear Factory's official website was "under construction."
On May 7, 2017, Wolbers posted a blank picture on his Instagram (which was later deleted), claiming that Fear Factory had broken up. Later that day, Cazares was asked via Twitter if they were still together, and his response was, "Not sure why your asking that and rant by who?".
In an interview with Kilpop in May 2017, Burton C. Bell said that the new songs were "even stronger than Genexus, 'cause it just seems even more tight. We're on a groove, and it's kicking ass."
In an interview with SiriusXM's Jose Mangin at November 2018's inaugural Headbangers Con in Portland, Oregon, Bell revealed Monolith as the title of Fear Factory's tenth studio album and its tentative artwork via his smartphone. In October 2019, this was refuted by guitarist Dino Cazares who stated via his Twitter account that there was no new Fear Factory album. Shortly thereafter, Cazares expressed uncertainty towards the band's future, indicating that a lawsuit filed by former members Raymond Herrera and Christian Olde Wolbers had prevented him and Bell from using the Fear Factory name.
Split with Burton C. Bell, Aggression Continuum and new vocalist (2020–present)
On September 2, 2020, Dino Cazares announced he would be releasing new Fear Factory music in 2021. Less than a month later, Burton C. Bell announced he quit Fear Factory citing "consistent series of dishonest representations and unfounded accusations from past and present band members", leaving no original members left in the band besides Cazares. However, Bell's contributions to their upcoming album will remain, as he recorded his vocals in 2017.
In an interview with Robb Flynn on September 28, 2020, which took place within hours after Bell announced his departure from Fear Factory, Cazares claimed that he was not aware of the split until he "found out [about it] via social media." He also claimed that one of the reasons behind Bell's departure was not only due to the lawsuit that prevented the release of the band's new album, but because the latter's portion of the Fear Factory "trademark ownership became available", which left Cazares as the sole owner of the band name. Cazares reiterated that Bell's vocals will appear on the new album, which was being mixed by Andy Sneap for a March 2021 release, and hoped the pair would continue to work together in order to support it.
On April 1, 2021, Fear Factory announced that their first new song in over five years would be released on April 16. A short riff teaser of the song from Cazares was released soon after. The new single "Disruptor" was released on April 16, followed by the announcement of the tenth studio album Aggression Continuum, which was released on June 18.
While deciding on a new vocalist through auditions, Cazares said that gender would not play a role, expressing an open interest in hiring a female; however, he said that he would not announce it for a while. Out of all the potential talents, he decided on a replacement who had yet to be revealed, with the member being a male and "kind of known" within the metal scene. He also said that the new member would be introduced through new songs.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
Fear Factory has been classified under several metal genres, but usually are described as industrial metal. The band also has been described as groove metal, nu metal, grindcore, thrash metal, and death metal. The band began as a death metal band with their debut album Soul of a New Machine, but quickly moved to industrial metal after that album. Fear Factory's influences include Slayer, Exodus, Napalm Death, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and Godflesh.
In terms of influences on the group's work, Dino Cazares has cited the band members' interests in fantasy and science fiction alternative universes such as the Terminator mythos as well as the Dune mythos. As a specific example, their debut album, Soul of a New Machine, picked up its name directly from a line in a movie critic review of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day film (discussing the T-1000 villain). Cazares has also cited recurring influences on Fear Factory coming from conventional popular music, outside of the genres of hard rock and heavy metal, for instance looking to singer-songwriter Paul McCartney's sounds in both The Beatles and Wings. Over the years the film Blade Runner has become a recurring theme as the band often makes lyrical reference to the plot, as well as directly quote and sample lines from the film.
Fear Factory's innovative approach towards and hybridization of the genres industrial metal, death metal, and alternative metal has had a lasting impact on other artists coming later, the band putting a stamp on metal music ever since the release of their first album in 1992. Fear Factory is noteworthy among contemporaries for its lyrical focus on science fiction, with much of the band's music telling a single story spanning several concept albums. The band has been called a "stepping stone", leading mainstream listeners to venture into less-known, more extreme bands, and are consistently appreciated.
In the liner notes of the re-released version of Soul of a New Machine, Machine Head vocalist Robb Flynn, Chimaira vocalist Mark Hunter, and Spineshank guitarist Mike Sarkisyan cited Fear Factory as an influence. Robb Flynn said his vocal style was influenced by Burton C. Bell's vocals and Machine Head have been wrongly credited for the vocal style. Mark Hunter said Chimaira's drumming was heavily influenced by Raymond Herrera. Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Static-X, and Coal Chamber have also mentioned Fear Factory in their liner notes.
Modern bands including Mnemic, Scarve, Stiff Valentine, and Threat Signal contain significant influences from Fear Factory's technique and have also credited a substantial debt of gratitude to the band. Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy said, "Fear Factory are close to our hearts" and, "Soul of a New Machine was the influence for me to start my other project, 'Pain'". Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad said his main influences for Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing were Fear Factory and Napalm Death. In an interview on That Metal Show, Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward said Fear Factory is one of the bands he wishes he could play with, and picked Mechanize as one of his favourite albums.
Band members
Current members
Dino Cazares – guitars, backing vocals (1989–2002, 2009–present), bass (1992, 1995, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2020–present), keyboards (1995), drum programming (2012)
Mike Heller – drums (2012–present)
Tony Campos – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
Burton C. Bell – lead vocals (1989–2002, 2002–2006, 2009–2020), keyboards (1995)
David Gibney – bass (1989–1991)
Andy Romero – bass (1991–1992)
Andrew Shives – bass (1992–1993)
Raymond Herrera – drums (1989–2002, 2002–2006)
Christian Olde Wolbers – bass (1993–2002, 2002–2006), guitars (2002–2006), backing vocals (1993–2002, 2002–2006)
Byron Stroud – bass (2002–2006, 2009–2012)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2009–2012)
Matt DeVries – bass, backing vocals (2012–2015)
Session/touring musicians
Reynor Diego – keyboards, samples (1992–1995)
Rhys Fulber – keyboards, samples (1993–2002, 2003–2004, 2009–present)
Steve Tushar – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1995–1997, 2003–2005)
John Morgan – keyboards, samples (1997)
John Bechdel – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1998–2002, 2002–2004)
Timeline
Discography
Soul of a New Machine (1992)
Demanufacture (1995)
Obsolete (1998)
Digimortal (2001)
Archetype (2004)
Transgression (2005)
Mechanize (2010)
The Industrialist (2012)
Genexus (2015)
Aggression Continuum (2021)
References
External links
1989 establishments in California
American industrial metal musical groups
Candlelight Records artists
Death metal musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups reestablished in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2006
Musical groups reestablished in 2009
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Roadrunner Records artists | true | [
"There Is Only Now is the sixth studio album by American hip hop group Souls of Mischief. The album was released on August 26, 2014, by Linear Labs. The album features guest appearances from Busta Rhymes, William Hart, Snoop Dogg and Scarub.\n\nBackground\nIn a July 2013, interview on Hip-Hop Nation, the album's producer Adrian Younge announced the album, saying: \"The next project is Adrian Younge Presents Souls of Mischief. That’s my next big thing and I’m super happy about that. It’s a project that if somebody misses the sounds of 93 'til Infinity meets The Low End Theory meets De La Soul Is Dead. If somebody misses that kind of sound, they’ll be happy to hear this album because it goes back to that time, you know. Kind of like how the Ghostface album [12 Reasons To Die] kind of went back to that time. And I love both styles of music back then, so I’m very, very excited.\"\n\nHe continued: \"And it’s also a concept album too — Souls of Mischief almost gets killed by some dude that was just crazy and the whole album just starts off with this incident, and then it blossoms into these different stories that are a result of this volatile incident. And that’s basically what that album is about. It’s dope though. It’s really dope. As far as stylistically, it’s kind of like if Bob James and Herbie Hancock recorded with Q-Tip back in the day, you know what I’m saying. That’s the perspective on the album. I was with Ali Shaheed Muhammad yesterday showing him some of the stuff and he was totally getting it because he’s going to be the narrator on this album, like how RZA was sort of the narrator for Ghost [on 12 Reasons], that’s what Shaheed’s going to be doing. It’s Native Tongues shit, you know what I’m saying, so that’s what I’m super psyched about. I mean it’s done now; I’m just touching stuff up. But it’s pretty much done. It’s going to be released in September.\"\n\nIn an August 2014 interview with PopMatters, he spoke about how he produced the album, saying: \"You’re doing it over the course of an album, so you have to understand what the different moods are throughout the album and once you understand those points of progress within the story are you compositionally illustrate music that denotes that feeling. So there’s one part where everybody’s panicking—that song’s actually called \"Panic Struck\"—so I wanted to make something that feels kind of jarring and pervasive, in your face, temperamental. Then there's a song about love so I want something that feels like love, there's a song where there's a finale closing out the whole story, the whole plot line. So I want to make it seem like a chase scene to the end. So it all depends on what's going on because I'm a film composer first, so I like to approach my music cinematically.\"\n\nHe spoke about if there were songs on the album that were difficult to produce, saying: \"Yes, there was a lot of difficulty because I always try to outdo myself. So I set very high standards because I kind of want to be an exemplary example of who I should be as an artist. I always compare myself to what I did last, so I’ve got to try and beat what I did last I’m always upping my own bar. It’s one of those things that creates a lot of difficulty just for myself, but it’s the kind of difficulty I need to embrace because it makes me a better artist. And I do not want to be one of those artists that falls off later, I want to be one of those artists that is continually pushing the bar. But going back to certain songs on the album that were more difficult than others, I would say. There’s a song called \"Miriam Got a Mickey\" that was pretty difficult, there's a song called \"Ghetto Superhero\" that wasn't that easy. I mean there's a lot of... it all ranges. A lot of it is just, you know everything I do is samples. It's tape, analog, hardware, hand crafted music and soul. It's not just creating a loop; every single thing has to be done by hand. A lot of it is just tedious.\"\n\nCritical response\n\nThere Is Only Now received positive reviews from music critics. Homer Johnsen of HipHopDX said, \"Philosophically, the message on There Is Only Now is an intelligent one, as is the case with most things Hiero. Part of the experience is hearing the story as it unfolds, but at the same time, the Souls of Mischief are dealing with concepts like the Theory of Relativity, and experiencing life while being fully present. Like the album itself, the cast of guest appearances is minimal, yet praiseworthy for its originality. Busta Rhymes and Scarub (Living Legends) portray Womack and Stoney, two characters in the story, while Snoop Dogg supplies some wisdom of his own on the title-track. The seamless listen from beginning to end, and the intricacy of the story itself make it almost possible to listen to There Is Only Now just once.\" Kevin Jones of Exclaim! stated, \"Fresh, crisp drums, creamy keys, luxuriant strings and timely flute and horn flourishes, each held together by a series of mood-defining bass lines, work to soundtrack this production, an inspiring foil that the record's MCs make certain not to waste on this grand testament to Souls' skill and staying power.\" Sheldon Pearce of XXL said, \"With There Is Only Now, Souls of Mischief turn out a prize just short of a solid masterpiece. It tremors along steadily, churning out consistently good but not great mini narratives, and it does so with flair but with little change of pace. Still, it is the realization of an ambitious idea seen through to its conclusion, and it is an exceptional attempt to push rap to its limits as a medium.\"\n\nTrack listing\nAll tracks produced by Adrian Younge.\n\nReferences\n\n2014 albums\nSouls of Mischief albums\nAlbums produced by Adrian Younge",
"My Kind of Music is a British game show.\n\nThe title may also refer to:\nMy Kind of Music (Mel Tormé album)\nMy Kind of Music (Ray Scott album), or its title track"
] |
[
"Fear Factory",
"Demanufacture (1995-1997)",
"What is Demanufacture?",
"Fear Factory's second album,",
"What kind of music is this album?",
"rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar"
] | C_94fad564d0f240aa84b5c7c9779de8fd_0 | Is this the only album from this band? | 3 | Is Demanufacture the only album from Fear Factory? | Fear Factory | In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands. Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines. The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics. Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC videogames Carmageddon and Messiah. Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Waldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200 ;it also appeared on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995). CANNOTANSWER | It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, | Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. Over the years, Fear Factory has seen changes in its lineup, with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell being the only consistent member for 31 years until his departure in 2020. Other than guitarist Dino Cazares, there are no original members left in its current lineup. The band went on hold in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but resumed activity a year later without founding member Cazares. Previous bassist Christian Olde Wolbers replaced him as the new guitarist, and bassist Byron Stroud joined the band. In April 2009, a new lineup was announced. Cazares returned as guitarist, and Gene Hoglan as drummer. Bell and Stroud reprised their respective roles, and this lineup recorded the band's seventh studio album titled Mechanize (2010). Former members Wolbers and Raymond Herrera—both of whom were playing in Arkaea—disputed the legitimacy of the new lineup, and a legal battle from both parties had begun. Despite this, Fear Factory has since released three more albums: The Industrialist (2012), Genexus (2015) and Aggression Continuum (2021).
The band has performed at four Ozzfests and the inaugural Gigantour. Their singles have charted on the US Mainstream Rock Top 40 and albums on the Billboard Top 40, 100, and 200, and they have sold more than a million albums in the U.S. alone.
History
Early years (1989–1990)
Fear Factory was formed in 1989 under the name Ulceration, which the band agreed would "just be a cool name". In 1990, the name "Fear the Factory" was adopted. The name was inspired by a factory that the band supposedly saw near their rehearsal space which was guarded by men carrying rifles. Later, they shortened the name to just "Fear Factory".
The band's origins can be traced to an outfit formed by guitarist Dino Cazares—formerly of The Douche Lords—and drummer Raymond Herrera in Los Angeles, California. Their first lineup was completed with the addition of bassist Dave Gibney and vocalist Burton C. Bell (ex-Hate Face), who was allegedly recruited by an impressed Cazares, who overheard him singing "New Year's Day" by U2. Cazares played bass on the first three Fear Factory albums Concrete, Soul of a New Machine and Demanufacture, on which Cazares changed many of the riffs during the recording. It took Cazares two weeks to get the appropriate guitar tone. Cazares created, wrote and recorded all the music on the album. Wolbers joined the band two weeks before they were scheduled to go on tour to promote the album and, although he contributed musical changes to a couple of songs on the album he stated that these were not significant.
Fear Factory's earliest demo recordings are strongly reminiscent of the early works of Napalm Death and Godflesh, an acknowledged influence of the band in the grindcore-driven approach of the former and the mechanical brutality, bleakness, and vocal stylings of the latter. According to Brian Russ of The BNR Metal Pages, the demos are remarkable for integrating these influences into the band's death metal sound and for Burton C. Bell's pioneering fusion of extreme death growls and clean vocals in the same song, which was to become a significant and influential element of the band's sound throughout their career. The use of grunts and "throat singing" combined with clean vocals later defined the nu metal and other emerging subgenres of metal. Many vocalists in today's metal scene use two or more methods of singing and vocalizing lyrics. The band contributed two songs to the L.A. Death Metal Compilation in 1990. The band played its first show on October 31, 1990.
Concrete (1991)
In 1991, Fear Factory recorded a series of cuts for their debut album with the then-little-known producer Ross Robinson in Blackie Lawless' studio. The band's members were unhappy with the terms of their recording contract and caused a delay with the album's release. The band retained the rights to the songs, many of which they re-recorded in 1992 with a different producer, Colin Richardson, for inclusion on their debut release Soul of a New Machine. Meanwhile, Ross Robinson obtained the rights to the recording, which he used to promote himself as a producer. The album was officially released in 2002 by Roadrunner Records under the title Concrete after the band's breakup. The release was controversial because the album was issued because of the band's outstanding contractual obligation and without the approval of every band member.
Fan opinion has been divided as to whether Ross Robinson's production properly captured the intricacies of the band's sound. The released album favored a straight-up approach and Robinson's distinct drum sound. Concrete has become an important album for fans of the early Fear Factory sound; it can be seen as a bridge between the band's sound on their demo recordings and their debut release, Soul of a New Machine, and a blueprint for later songs and B-sides.
Based on the Concrete recording, Max Cavalera recommended Fear Factory to the then-death-metal-focused Roadrunner Records label, which offered the band a recording contract. While the band signed the contract, it has since become controversial because of Roadrunner's treatment of the band during the events surrounding its 2002 breakup. This was reflected in the first album Archetype (2004), which was released following the band's re-formation. The opening song with lyrics by Burton C. Bell, "Slave Labor", was direct about the band's feelings on the matter. After working with numerous bassists, Andrew Shives was hired as a live bassist prior to the release of Soul of a New Machine.
Soul of a New Machine (1992–1994)
Soul of a New Machine (1992), which was recorded with producer Colin Richardson, gave the band greater exposure in the music scene. It is characterized by an industrial death metal sound that combined Bell's harsh and melodic vocals, Herrera's machine-like drums, the integrated industrial samples and textures and the sharp, down-tuned, rhythmic, death metal riffs of Dino Cazares. Cazares and Herrera wrote all the music. Because the band had no bass player, Cazares played both guitar and bass on the recording. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic called the album "groundbreaking" and said that "it ushered in the '90s alternative metal era".
Due to the extreme nature of the music, the album never reached the level of popularity attained by their later, more accessible works, and remains a cult favorite. Soul of a New Machine is considered by many as Fear Factory's final work death metal album because with each album, the band's style shifted away from the death metal subgenre.
To promote the album, Fear Factory embarked on extensive U.S. tours with Biohazard, Sepultura, and Sick of It All. During this period, sampler-keyboardist Reynor Diego joined the group. An album tour of Europe with Brutal Truth, then Cannibal Corpse, Cathedral, and Sleep, followed. The following year, they hired Front Line Assembly member Rhys Fulber to remix some songs from the album, demonstrating the band's willingness to experiment with their music. The results took on a predominantly industrial guise, and were released as the Fear Is the Mindkiller EP (1993). Soul of a New Machine and Fear is the Mindkiller were released (2004) as a package in a new re-mastered reissue by Roadrunner Records.
In 1994, Andrew Shives was forced to leave the band. Cazares recorded both the guitar and bass for the entire album. In November the same year, the band met Belgian Christian Olde Wolbers through Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard. Wolbers auditioned for Fear Factory's permanent bassist. Wolbers joined the band immediately since the band's tour was starting in two weeks.
Demanufacture (1995–1997)
In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands.
Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines.
The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics.
Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC video games Carmageddon and Messiah.
Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Wâldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995).
Obsolete (1998–2000)
Fear Factory's third studio album, Obsolete (July 1998), was reportedly completed earlier than planned by canceling an appearance at the Dynamo Open Air Festival.
Obsolete was similar in sound to Demanufacture, and introduced the progressive metal and alternative metal elements to the band's output. For the first time, the album featured Christian Olde Wolbers writing and recording full-time with the band. It also featured Cazares' debut use of 7-string Ibanez guitars tuned to A tuning (A, D, G, C, F, A, D), and paved the way for a lower-tuned sound than previously. The album is also notable for Rhys Fulber's increased involvement with the band.
While Fear Factory had explored the theme of "Man versus Machine" in their earlier work, Obsolete was their first concept album that dealt specifically with a literal interpretation of this subject. It tells a story called Conception 5, which was written by Bell, that takes place in a future world where mankind is rendered "obsolete" by machines. Its characters include the "Edgecrusher", "Smasher/Devourer", and the "Securitron" monitoring system. The story is presented in the lyrics booklet in a screenplay format between the individual songs. The printed story parts link the lyrics of the songs together thematically.
Obsolete was released during the alternative metal boom of the late 1990s. It was supported by tours with Slayer and later, Rammstein, and a headlining spot on the second stage at Ozzfest in 1999 as last-minute replacements for Judas Priest. They also toured in Europe in December 1998 with Spineshank and Kilgore, and went on their first headlining tour in North America with Static-X the next year, though the first leg was interrupted due to the band's tour bus and material being stolen. They also played in Japan for the first time. Obsolete became the band's highest selling album, marking the band's first entry into the Top 100 on the Billboard charts. The album also spawned singles "Descent" and a digipak bonus track, "Cars", a cover of the Gary Numan song featuring a guest appearance by Numan on the song. The single made the Mainstream Rock Top 40 in 1999 and was also featured in the video game, Test Drive 6. Numan also performed a spoken-word sample on the album's title track. A video was filmed for the song "Resurrection". To date, Obsolete remains the only Fear Factory album to have achieved gold sales in the U.S.
Digimortal and demise (2001–2002)
In early 2001, Fear Factory was asked to headline SnoCore Rock. The success of Obsolete and "Cars" was a turning point for the band; Roadrunner Records was now keen on capitalizing on the band's sales potential and pressured the band to record more accessible material for the follow-up album, titled Digimortal, which was released on April 23, 2001. Few weeks before its release, they were touring in Europe with One Minute Silence.
They went on a long headlining North American tour during 2001, then played in much larger European festivals like Bizarre Festival, Pukkelpop, Lowlands Festival and Leeds & Reading Festival. They then went on the first Roadrunner Roadrage tour in North America, toured Europe with Devin Townsend and Godflesh and played in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Digimortal made the Top 40 on the Billboard album charts, the Top 20 in Canada and the Top 10 of the Australian album charts. The track "Linchpin" reached the Mainstream Rock Top 40. A remix of "Invisible Wounds" was included on the Resident Evil film soundtrack, and an instrumental digipak bonus track called "Full Metal Contact" was originally written for the video game, Demolition Racer. A VHS/DVD release called Digital Connectivity, which documents each of the four album periods of the band via interviews, live clips, music videos and tour/studio footage, was released in January 2002.
Although Digimortal had a successful start, the sales did not reach the levels of Obsolete and the band received little tour support. The direction of the album coupled with strong personal differences between some of the band members created a rift that escalated to the point where Bell announced his exit in March 2002. The band disbanded immediately thereafter; its publicists said this was "largely because vocalist Burton C. Bell is tired of playing angry, aggressive music and wants to form a band that's more indie-rock-oriented". In a final collaboration, the group recorded two songs for the video game The Terminator: Dawn of Fate that month. Fear Factory's contractual obligations remained unfulfilled, however, and Roadrunner did not release them without controversially issuing the Concrete album in 2002 and the B-sides and rarities compilation, Hatefiles, in 2003. During his time away from Fear Factory, Bell with John Bechdel started a side project called Ascension of the Watchers, which released its first EP, Iconoclast, independently via their online store in 2005.
First return and Archetype (2002–2004)
Over time, tensions within the band developed between Dino Cazares and the other members, particularly Burton C. Bell and Raymond Herrera. When asked about the breakup in May 2002, Cazares made claims and allegations against Bell and the other members, stating that Fear Factory could continue without Christian Olde Wolbers and that he and Raymond Herrera were primarily motivated by money. Herrera responded to these allegations on behalf of the other band members, saying that Cazares was motivated by money and emphasizing Olde Wolbers' influence on the band's sound. According to Herrera, the other band members would often come up with new ideas they wanted to incorporate into Fear Factory's sound, but their suggestions were dismissed or openly ridiculed by Cazares, causing a rift between him and the other members that ultimately led to the band's breakup. In the same interview, Herrera also revealed that Cazares had attempted to control the direction of the band by manipulating their business management and record company, and had openly lied to the other members about his actions.
Herrera and Olde Wolbers reunited later in 2002 and laid the foundations for the return of Fear Factory. Cazares was then permanently out of the band. Bell was approached with their demo recordings and was impressed enough to rejoin the band and Fear Factory was re-formed. Olde Wolbers switched to guitar and Byron Stroud of Strapping Young Lad was approached to join the band as a bassist. He was a member from 2003 until 2012. Cazares continued recording and performing with his side project called Asesino, a Mexican deathgrind band. In 2007, he also started a new group called Divine Heresy.
Fear Factory made its live return as the mystery band at the Australian Big Day Out festival in January 2004, followed by its first American shows since re-forming on the spring Jägermeister tour with Slipknot and Chimaira. The new lineup's first album Archetype was released on April 20, 2004, through new record label Liquid 8 Records based in Minnesota. With Archetype, Fear Factory returned to an alternative, industrial, metal sound; the album is generally considered to be a strong 'return-to-form' record, if not a particularly innovative effort, with most of the trademark elements of the band firmly in place.
Videos were shot for the songs "Cyberwaste", "Archetype", and "Bite the Hand That Bleeds"; the latter featured on the Saw film soundtrack. The band performed on further tours with Lamb of God and Mastodon in the US and with Mnemic in Europe. The new Fear Factory has largely abandoned the direct "Man versus Machine" theme prevalent on earlier releases in favor of subjects such as religion, war, and corporatism.
Transgression (2005–2006)
Fear Factory announced plans to record and release its next full-length album over a very short period of time with mainstream rock producer Toby Wright, who had worked with Korn and Alice in Chains. This was allegedly due to pressure from Fear Factory's new label Calvin Records, which preponed the album's release date from four months away to just a month and a half so the band would have a new album to support on the inaugural Gigantour, which they had been invited to participate on by Dave Mustaine.
The resulting album, Transgression, was released on August 22, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and on the following day in North America, almost a year after Archetype. The album garnered highly polarized reviews; some critics hailed the album as diverse and progressive, and other reviewers did not receive the record very well. Although the album starts off as a Fear Factory record, subsequent songs include mellow/alt-rock numbers "Echo of My Scream" (featuring Faith No More's Billy Gould on bass) and "New Promise", a pop-rock song "Supernova", and a faithful cover of U2's rock song "I Will Follow".
In 2013, Wolbers posted more details about writing and recording of Transgression and Archetype on his Facebook page. He said he was disappointed with Transgression, calling it half-finished, and blamed the label for the severe time constraints imposed during the recording sessions and for the inclusion of the U2 cover. However, Burton C. Bell said he is proud of the album and sees it as the band "stepping over boundaries".
During 2005 and 2006, Fear Factory promoted the album on the "Fifteen Years of Fear" world tour in celebration of their fifteenth anniversary. The members invited bands including Darkane, Strapping Young Lad and Soilwork to join them on the U.S. leg, and Misery Index to join them on the European leg. Late in 2005, Fear Factory toured the U.S. again on the "Machines at War" tour, with an all-star death metal lineup of guests in Suffocation, Hypocrisy, and Decapitated; they played old classics from Soul of a New Machine, such as "Crash Test", which they had not performed live in many years.
Hiatus and other projects (2006–2008)
An online statement from Wolbers in December 2006 said the band would return to the studio to record a new album, produced by the band, immediately after the completion of the Transgression touring cycle. That month, Bell confirmed in an interview that the band would leave Liquid 8 Records.
Rather than begin work on a new studio album, the band members briefly parted and began working with other projects. Bell contributed vocals to the songs "End of Days, Pt.1", "End of Days, Pt. 2", and "Die in a Crash" on Ministry's 2007 album The Last Sucker, and later toured with Ministry in support of the album. In an interview for the website Metalsucks, Bell called this a "dream come true", describing Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen as "one of [his] heroes". In the same interview, Bell talked at length about his new band Ascension of the Watchers, providing insight into the inspiration behind the project's formation.
On March 21, 2008, while Fear Factory was on hiatus, Bell spoke in a video interview about the band's future, saying he no longer wanted to contribute to the violence and aggression he saw in the world with the aggressive type of music Fear Factory produced. Wolbers and Herrera started a new band called Arkaea, with vocalist Jon Howard and bassist Pat Kavanagh of Threat Signal. Wolbers said, "Ironically, half of the Arkaea album consists of songs that were intended to be the next Fear Factory record". Arkaea's debut album Years in the Darkness was released on July 14, 2009.
Second return, internal disputes, and Mechanize (2009–2011)
On April 8, 2009, Bell and Cazares announced the reconciliation of their friendship, and the formation of a new project with Byron Stroud on bass and drummer Gene Hoglan of Testament, Death, Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel, and Dethklok. On April 28, this project was announced to be a new version of Fear Factory without Herrera and Wolbers. When asked about their exclusion, Bell said, "[Fear Factory is] like a business and I'm just reorganizing ... We won't talk about [their exclusion]".
In June 2009, Wolbers and Herrera spoke about the issue on the radio program Speed Freaks. Herrera said he and Wolbers were still in the band. "[Christian and I] are actually still in Fear Factory ... [Burton and Dino] decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it Fear Factory. They never communicated with us about it", said Herrera. Herrera also said the four original members—Bell, Cazares, Wolbers, and Herrera—were contractually regarded as Fear Factory Incorporated, and, "it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate". The drummer also said he and Wolbers had written eight songs for the next Fear Factory record, but that a "personal disagreement" had arisen between them and Bell, which left Bell not wanting to continue work with the band.
Bell and Cazares later spoke about their reasons for excluding Herrera and Wolbers. Cazares said Bell wanted to reunite the classic Fear Factory lineup of himself, Cazares, Herrera, and Wolbers, but that Herrera and Wolbers refused to be part of any reunion with Cazares. Bell also said he wanted to fire the band's manager Christy Priske, who was also Wolbers' wife, and Herrera and Wolbers refused. Herrera and Wolbers threatened to sign a new record deal without Bell, prompting him to form a new version of Fear Factory without them. In some interviews, Wolbers said Bell had made "growing unacceptable demands", which were declined. He said, "Ray and I wanted what was best for the business and what he [Burton] was trying to change wasn't really good for the business. It was only bad for the business, so that's why he went into that whole phase of hijacking the name and trying to run with it."
Fear Factory featuring Bell and Cazares was due to make its live debut on June 21 at the Metalway Festival in Zaragoza, Spain. However, the show was canceled "at the last minute", apparently because of the legal complications referenced by Herrera. The rest of that lineup's planned performances in mid-2009, which included a tour of the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand that August, had also been canceled. The group said they canceled the tour to finish writing and recording the next Fear Factory album. Despite the canceled performances in Europe, they performed some shows in December in South American countries including Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.
During an interview on June 23, 2009, Cazares said he could never have a working relationship with Raymond and Wolbers again, saying they were too money-driven and criticized the music they recorded on Archetype for being too similar to the band's earlier output. Despite ongoing issues between the two parties, the new Fear Factory went ahead with the recording process. In late July 2009, a short video shot with a cell telephone showed Cazares recording drum tracks with longtime contributor Rhys Fulber. On November 6, 2009, blabbermouth.net said a new album, Mechanize, would be released on February 9, 2010, on Candlelight Records. On November 8, 2009, Fear Factory released a track titled "Powershifter" on YouTube. On November 10, 2009, Bell announced the track list for Mechanize, along with an explanation of each song.
In January 2010, Fear Factory played in Australia and New Zealand tour on the Big Day Out tour, playing their first Australian dates since 2005 on January 17 at Parklands Showgrounds on Queensland's Gold Coast. Fear Factory released Mechanize on February 5, 2010, and began a U.S. tour titled "Fear Campaign Tour 2010", in late March. In August 2010, the band headlined the Brutal Assault open air festival in Czech Republic. In September 2010, Fear Factory toured Australia, New Zealand, and Tokyo as the opening act for Metallica. The New Zealand concerts were in Christchurch, two shows that were brought about by a petition sent to Metallica asking them to visit New Zealand's second-largest city. After the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, the South Island concerts were in doubt, but on September 15, 2010, an official announced the CBS Arena had escaped harm and both shows went ahead.
The Industrialist (2011–2013)
In an interview during the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, Bell said Fear Factory was planning to write and record a "full-on concept" album, which was due for release in 2012. He said, "We're gonna kind of take a break a little bit, but we're definitely going into the studio at some point and start writing. We wanna take our time doing it. Personally ... Mechanize, don't get me wrong, is a good record—I'm very proud of it—but it's gotta be better than that. I've got plans where I'd like to do a full-on concept again—story, artwork. Just make it real cerebral. But there'll definitely be another Fear Factory record, maybe in 2012." On August 3, 2011, Dino Cazares said on his Twitter feed that he was working and demoing new material for the next Fear Factory album. On January 25, 2012, the band announced the new album will be titled The Industrialist. The album was again co-produced by the band with Rhys Fulber and mixed by Greg Reely.
Byron Stroud left the band early in 2012, saying, "Life's too short to spend it with people who don't respect you". In one interview, Cazares said he did not know why Stroud decided to leave and that he could not play the bass parts on Mechanize, prompting Cazares to do it himself.
In February 2012, former Chimaira guitar player Matt DeVries replaced Stroud. On April 19, 2012, Mike Heller of Malignancy and System Divide was announced as the band's new drummer, replacing Gene Hoglan; in an interview, Hoglan claimed that he only found out through Blabbermouth.net that he was no longer needed, and expressed some disappointment about the course of events. At the same time, Cazares confirmed on his Facebook page that John Sankey of Devolved had programmed the drums on The Industrialist. Burton described The Industrialist as another concept album "sonically, conceptually, and lyrically". Cazares also said he and Burton were the two in control of the record's outcome, and that the songwriting on the album was much more "definitive" in regards to Fear Factory's platform sound. On June 4, 2012,The Industrialist was available to stream through AOL Music. The album was released through Candlelight Records on June 5, 2012.
On May 2, 2013, Cazares commented regarding the status of Fear Factory albums Archetype and Transgression, which were recorded without his participation, and the band's decision not to play songs from them live, saying "they don't count" as Fear Factory albums. Contradicting this, Fear Factory played the track Archetype on its 2013 Australian tour in early July, with minor changes to the song's lyrics. On August 2, 2013, ex-drummer Hoglan said he left Fear Factory because he was prevented from participating on the album, and only found out about its completion online.
Genexus (2013–2015)
On May 1, 2013, Dino Cazares told Songfacts.com Fear Factory would begin work on their ninth studio album after the end of The Industrialist tour. The album was expected to be released in early 2014. On May 13, 2013, Burton C. Bell told Metal-Rules.com, "Fear Factory will continue to tour North America and Europe 2013. We've got some more tours scheduled, some summer festivals next year. During that time our plan is to start writing a new record and we would like to have a new record out by spring 2014". On March 19, 2014, Bell told Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles he would like to have the new album released by August, followed by a tour in September. On September 12, 2014, the band announced it had signed to record label Nuclear Blast and would enter the studio in October. The band also confirmed that the album would be mixed by Andy Sneap, and that Rhys Fulber would again produce it.
The band played their first shows in India, in November 2014, as part of the Weekender Tour, and on February/March 2015, they participated at the Soundwave Festival in Australia and New Zealand.
On May 1, 2015, it was announced that former Static-X and Soulfly bassist Tony Campos joined the band. Later that month, Fear Factory announced that they would release their ninth studio album, titled Genexus, on August 7, 2015.
They toured in European festivals in July 2015, and then onto North America, as an opening act for Coal Chamber. From late August until mid-September 2015, the band toured the midwestern, southern and southwestern United States with support from Once Human (starring Logan Mader), Los Angeles melodic metal band Before the Mourning and Chicago rock band The Bloodline. They also announced that they would play the entire Demanufacture album in Europe between November and December 2015, a tour which again included Once Human with the addition of Irish band Dead Label as openers.
Hiatus and lawsuits (2016–2019)
In a November 2016 interview with Loudwire, guitarist Dino Cazares revealed that Fear Factory had planned to release their tenth studio album in mid-to-late 2017. He stated, "Right now we're going to be home and doing a new record. We're writing already and in the process of doing a new record, but it probably won't be out until late summer of next year or maybe even October. I'm not exactly sure."
In a December 2016 interview with The Ex-Man, despite an ongoing "huge legal battle" with Bell and Cazares, former bassist-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers stated that he was "trying to reach out and try to get this reunion thing happening." He added, "There would be nothing better for this band [than] to reconcile our differences, fucking write a killer record, which I know we can, and fucking we would be doing really big tours. My passion for playing and what we have invested in this band is very big, and I know it's really big for Dino as well, 'cause he started it with Raymond back in the day." More fuel to the possibility of a reunion with the "classic" lineup of Bell, Cazares, Herrera and Wolbers was added later that month, when Wolbers posted an image on his Instagram account, suggesting Fear Factory's official website was "under construction."
On May 7, 2017, Wolbers posted a blank picture on his Instagram (which was later deleted), claiming that Fear Factory had broken up. Later that day, Cazares was asked via Twitter if they were still together, and his response was, "Not sure why your asking that and rant by who?".
In an interview with Kilpop in May 2017, Burton C. Bell said that the new songs were "even stronger than Genexus, 'cause it just seems even more tight. We're on a groove, and it's kicking ass."
In an interview with SiriusXM's Jose Mangin at November 2018's inaugural Headbangers Con in Portland, Oregon, Bell revealed Monolith as the title of Fear Factory's tenth studio album and its tentative artwork via his smartphone. In October 2019, this was refuted by guitarist Dino Cazares who stated via his Twitter account that there was no new Fear Factory album. Shortly thereafter, Cazares expressed uncertainty towards the band's future, indicating that a lawsuit filed by former members Raymond Herrera and Christian Olde Wolbers had prevented him and Bell from using the Fear Factory name.
Split with Burton C. Bell, Aggression Continuum and new vocalist (2020–present)
On September 2, 2020, Dino Cazares announced he would be releasing new Fear Factory music in 2021. Less than a month later, Burton C. Bell announced he quit Fear Factory citing "consistent series of dishonest representations and unfounded accusations from past and present band members", leaving no original members left in the band besides Cazares. However, Bell's contributions to their upcoming album will remain, as he recorded his vocals in 2017.
In an interview with Robb Flynn on September 28, 2020, which took place within hours after Bell announced his departure from Fear Factory, Cazares claimed that he was not aware of the split until he "found out [about it] via social media." He also claimed that one of the reasons behind Bell's departure was not only due to the lawsuit that prevented the release of the band's new album, but because the latter's portion of the Fear Factory "trademark ownership became available", which left Cazares as the sole owner of the band name. Cazares reiterated that Bell's vocals will appear on the new album, which was being mixed by Andy Sneap for a March 2021 release, and hoped the pair would continue to work together in order to support it.
On April 1, 2021, Fear Factory announced that their first new song in over five years would be released on April 16. A short riff teaser of the song from Cazares was released soon after. The new single "Disruptor" was released on April 16, followed by the announcement of the tenth studio album Aggression Continuum, which was released on June 18.
While deciding on a new vocalist through auditions, Cazares said that gender would not play a role, expressing an open interest in hiring a female; however, he said that he would not announce it for a while. Out of all the potential talents, he decided on a replacement who had yet to be revealed, with the member being a male and "kind of known" within the metal scene. He also said that the new member would be introduced through new songs.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
Fear Factory has been classified under several metal genres, but usually are described as industrial metal. The band also has been described as groove metal, nu metal, grindcore, thrash metal, and death metal. The band began as a death metal band with their debut album Soul of a New Machine, but quickly moved to industrial metal after that album. Fear Factory's influences include Slayer, Exodus, Napalm Death, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and Godflesh.
In terms of influences on the group's work, Dino Cazares has cited the band members' interests in fantasy and science fiction alternative universes such as the Terminator mythos as well as the Dune mythos. As a specific example, their debut album, Soul of a New Machine, picked up its name directly from a line in a movie critic review of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day film (discussing the T-1000 villain). Cazares has also cited recurring influences on Fear Factory coming from conventional popular music, outside of the genres of hard rock and heavy metal, for instance looking to singer-songwriter Paul McCartney's sounds in both The Beatles and Wings. Over the years the film Blade Runner has become a recurring theme as the band often makes lyrical reference to the plot, as well as directly quote and sample lines from the film.
Fear Factory's innovative approach towards and hybridization of the genres industrial metal, death metal, and alternative metal has had a lasting impact on other artists coming later, the band putting a stamp on metal music ever since the release of their first album in 1992. Fear Factory is noteworthy among contemporaries for its lyrical focus on science fiction, with much of the band's music telling a single story spanning several concept albums. The band has been called a "stepping stone", leading mainstream listeners to venture into less-known, more extreme bands, and are consistently appreciated.
In the liner notes of the re-released version of Soul of a New Machine, Machine Head vocalist Robb Flynn, Chimaira vocalist Mark Hunter, and Spineshank guitarist Mike Sarkisyan cited Fear Factory as an influence. Robb Flynn said his vocal style was influenced by Burton C. Bell's vocals and Machine Head have been wrongly credited for the vocal style. Mark Hunter said Chimaira's drumming was heavily influenced by Raymond Herrera. Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Static-X, and Coal Chamber have also mentioned Fear Factory in their liner notes.
Modern bands including Mnemic, Scarve, Stiff Valentine, and Threat Signal contain significant influences from Fear Factory's technique and have also credited a substantial debt of gratitude to the band. Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy said, "Fear Factory are close to our hearts" and, "Soul of a New Machine was the influence for me to start my other project, 'Pain'". Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad said his main influences for Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing were Fear Factory and Napalm Death. In an interview on That Metal Show, Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward said Fear Factory is one of the bands he wishes he could play with, and picked Mechanize as one of his favourite albums.
Band members
Current members
Dino Cazares – guitars, backing vocals (1989–2002, 2009–present), bass (1992, 1995, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2020–present), keyboards (1995), drum programming (2012)
Mike Heller – drums (2012–present)
Tony Campos – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
Burton C. Bell – lead vocals (1989–2002, 2002–2006, 2009–2020), keyboards (1995)
David Gibney – bass (1989–1991)
Andy Romero – bass (1991–1992)
Andrew Shives – bass (1992–1993)
Raymond Herrera – drums (1989–2002, 2002–2006)
Christian Olde Wolbers – bass (1993–2002, 2002–2006), guitars (2002–2006), backing vocals (1993–2002, 2002–2006)
Byron Stroud – bass (2002–2006, 2009–2012)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2009–2012)
Matt DeVries – bass, backing vocals (2012–2015)
Session/touring musicians
Reynor Diego – keyboards, samples (1992–1995)
Rhys Fulber – keyboards, samples (1993–2002, 2003–2004, 2009–present)
Steve Tushar – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1995–1997, 2003–2005)
John Morgan – keyboards, samples (1997)
John Bechdel – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1998–2002, 2002–2004)
Timeline
Discography
Soul of a New Machine (1992)
Demanufacture (1995)
Obsolete (1998)
Digimortal (2001)
Archetype (2004)
Transgression (2005)
Mechanize (2010)
The Industrialist (2012)
Genexus (2015)
Aggression Continuum (2021)
References
External links
1989 establishments in California
American industrial metal musical groups
Candlelight Records artists
Death metal musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups reestablished in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2006
Musical groups reestablished in 2009
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Roadrunner Records artists | true | [
"Polysics Or Die!!!! is the first greatest hits album by Japanese band Polysics. It is their first release in the United Kingdom, it was later\nreleased in the U.S and Japan. The name is likely a reference to the album Music Industrial Wastes〜P-MODEL OR DIE by P-Model, a band whom Polysics is heavily influenced by.\n\nTrack listing\n Buggie Technica (new recording)\n Hot Stuff (new recording)\n New Wave Jacket (from the \"New Wave Jacket - single\")\n Plus Chicker (new recording)\n Kaja Kaja Goo (from the \"Kaja Kaja Goo EP\")\n Black Out Fall Out (new recording)\n My Sharona (from the album \"For Young Electric Pop\")\n Making Sense (from the album \"NEU\")\n Lookin’ Lookin’ Gaa (from the album \"National P\")\n Commodoll (from the album \"ENO\")\n For Young Electric Pop (from the album \"For Young Electric Pop\")\n XCT (from the album \"NEU\")\n Peach Pie on the Beach (from the album \"National P\")\n Each Life Each End (from the \"each life each end - single\")\n Code 4 (from the mini album \"Lo-bits\")\n Modern (new recording)\n Urge On !! (from the \"XCT - single\")\n ENO (from the album \"ENO\")\n Black Out Fall Out (Bonus video, UK Only)\n Kaja Kaja Goo (Bonus video, UK Only)\n\nPolysics Or Die!!!! Vista\n\nAfter Polysics signed to MySpace Records, a revised version of Polysics or Die!!!! was released in the US, under the name Polysics or Die!!!! Vista. It included the latest singles from Karate House and a bonus DVD of videos and live cuts. Polysics or Die!!!! Vista was released on October 9, 2007, to mark the band's ten-year anniversary.\n\nTrack listing\n\n Electric Surfin' Go Go (from the album \"Karate House\")\n New Wave Jacket (Reform) (from the album \"Eno\")\n Baby Bias (from the album \"Now is the time\")\n Go Ahead Now! (from the album \"Neu\")\n Kaja Kaja Goo (from the EP \"Kaja Kaja Goo\")\n I My Me Mine (from the album \"Now is the time\")\n You-You-You (from the album \"Karate House\")\n Catch On Everywhere (from the album \"Karate House\")\n Coelakanth Is Android (from the single \"Coelakanth is Android\")\n My Sharona (from the album \"For Young Electric Pop\")\n Black Out Fall Out (new recording from \"POLYSICS OR DIE!!!!\")\n Shizuka Is A Machine Doctor (from the album \"Karate House\")\n Tei! Tei! Tei! (from the album \"Now is the Time\")\n Each Life Each End (from the single \"Each Life Each End\")\n New Wave Outline (from the album \"Karate House\")\n Peach Pie On the Beach (from the album \"National P\")\n Secret Candy* (Vinyl only from the album \"For Young Electric Pop\")\n Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto* (Vinyl only Cover song from the mini album \"Lo-Bits\")\n\nPolysics albums\n2004 compilation albums",
"This Is Hell may refer to:\n\n This Is Hell (band), a Long Island, New York-based hardcore punk band\n This Is Hell (This Is Hell album), the first album by the above band\n This Is Hell Demo, the first demo by the above band\n This Is Hell (Dimension Zero album), the second album by Swedish melodic death metal band Dimension Zero\n This Is Hell!, a 4-hour weekly news radio show from Chicago\n \"Fuck Armageddon...This Is Hell\", a song from Bad Religion's debut record, How Could Hell Be Any Worse?"
] |
[
"Fear Factory",
"Demanufacture (1995-1997)",
"What is Demanufacture?",
"Fear Factory's second album,",
"What kind of music is this album?",
"rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar",
"Is this the only album from this band?",
"It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere,"
] | C_94fad564d0f240aa84b5c7c9779de8fd_0 | Was Demanufacture successful? | 4 | Was the album Demanufacture successful? | Fear Factory | In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands. Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines. The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics. Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC videogames Carmageddon and Messiah. Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Waldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200 ;it also appeared on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995). CANNOTANSWER | Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. | Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. Over the years, Fear Factory has seen changes in its lineup, with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell being the only consistent member for 31 years until his departure in 2020. Other than guitarist Dino Cazares, there are no original members left in its current lineup. The band went on hold in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but resumed activity a year later without founding member Cazares. Previous bassist Christian Olde Wolbers replaced him as the new guitarist, and bassist Byron Stroud joined the band. In April 2009, a new lineup was announced. Cazares returned as guitarist, and Gene Hoglan as drummer. Bell and Stroud reprised their respective roles, and this lineup recorded the band's seventh studio album titled Mechanize (2010). Former members Wolbers and Raymond Herrera—both of whom were playing in Arkaea—disputed the legitimacy of the new lineup, and a legal battle from both parties had begun. Despite this, Fear Factory has since released three more albums: The Industrialist (2012), Genexus (2015) and Aggression Continuum (2021).
The band has performed at four Ozzfests and the inaugural Gigantour. Their singles have charted on the US Mainstream Rock Top 40 and albums on the Billboard Top 40, 100, and 200, and they have sold more than a million albums in the U.S. alone.
History
Early years (1989–1990)
Fear Factory was formed in 1989 under the name Ulceration, which the band agreed would "just be a cool name". In 1990, the name "Fear the Factory" was adopted. The name was inspired by a factory that the band supposedly saw near their rehearsal space which was guarded by men carrying rifles. Later, they shortened the name to just "Fear Factory".
The band's origins can be traced to an outfit formed by guitarist Dino Cazares—formerly of The Douche Lords—and drummer Raymond Herrera in Los Angeles, California. Their first lineup was completed with the addition of bassist Dave Gibney and vocalist Burton C. Bell (ex-Hate Face), who was allegedly recruited by an impressed Cazares, who overheard him singing "New Year's Day" by U2. Cazares played bass on the first three Fear Factory albums Concrete, Soul of a New Machine and Demanufacture, on which Cazares changed many of the riffs during the recording. It took Cazares two weeks to get the appropriate guitar tone. Cazares created, wrote and recorded all the music on the album. Wolbers joined the band two weeks before they were scheduled to go on tour to promote the album and, although he contributed musical changes to a couple of songs on the album he stated that these were not significant.
Fear Factory's earliest demo recordings are strongly reminiscent of the early works of Napalm Death and Godflesh, an acknowledged influence of the band in the grindcore-driven approach of the former and the mechanical brutality, bleakness, and vocal stylings of the latter. According to Brian Russ of The BNR Metal Pages, the demos are remarkable for integrating these influences into the band's death metal sound and for Burton C. Bell's pioneering fusion of extreme death growls and clean vocals in the same song, which was to become a significant and influential element of the band's sound throughout their career. The use of grunts and "throat singing" combined with clean vocals later defined the nu metal and other emerging subgenres of metal. Many vocalists in today's metal scene use two or more methods of singing and vocalizing lyrics. The band contributed two songs to the L.A. Death Metal Compilation in 1990. The band played its first show on October 31, 1990.
Concrete (1991)
In 1991, Fear Factory recorded a series of cuts for their debut album with the then-little-known producer Ross Robinson in Blackie Lawless' studio. The band's members were unhappy with the terms of their recording contract and caused a delay with the album's release. The band retained the rights to the songs, many of which they re-recorded in 1992 with a different producer, Colin Richardson, for inclusion on their debut release Soul of a New Machine. Meanwhile, Ross Robinson obtained the rights to the recording, which he used to promote himself as a producer. The album was officially released in 2002 by Roadrunner Records under the title Concrete after the band's breakup. The release was controversial because the album was issued because of the band's outstanding contractual obligation and without the approval of every band member.
Fan opinion has been divided as to whether Ross Robinson's production properly captured the intricacies of the band's sound. The released album favored a straight-up approach and Robinson's distinct drum sound. Concrete has become an important album for fans of the early Fear Factory sound; it can be seen as a bridge between the band's sound on their demo recordings and their debut release, Soul of a New Machine, and a blueprint for later songs and B-sides.
Based on the Concrete recording, Max Cavalera recommended Fear Factory to the then-death-metal-focused Roadrunner Records label, which offered the band a recording contract. While the band signed the contract, it has since become controversial because of Roadrunner's treatment of the band during the events surrounding its 2002 breakup. This was reflected in the first album Archetype (2004), which was released following the band's re-formation. The opening song with lyrics by Burton C. Bell, "Slave Labor", was direct about the band's feelings on the matter. After working with numerous bassists, Andrew Shives was hired as a live bassist prior to the release of Soul of a New Machine.
Soul of a New Machine (1992–1994)
Soul of a New Machine (1992), which was recorded with producer Colin Richardson, gave the band greater exposure in the music scene. It is characterized by an industrial death metal sound that combined Bell's harsh and melodic vocals, Herrera's machine-like drums, the integrated industrial samples and textures and the sharp, down-tuned, rhythmic, death metal riffs of Dino Cazares. Cazares and Herrera wrote all the music. Because the band had no bass player, Cazares played both guitar and bass on the recording. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic called the album "groundbreaking" and said that "it ushered in the '90s alternative metal era".
Due to the extreme nature of the music, the album never reached the level of popularity attained by their later, more accessible works, and remains a cult favorite. Soul of a New Machine is considered by many as Fear Factory's final work death metal album because with each album, the band's style shifted away from the death metal subgenre.
To promote the album, Fear Factory embarked on extensive U.S. tours with Biohazard, Sepultura, and Sick of It All. During this period, sampler-keyboardist Reynor Diego joined the group. An album tour of Europe with Brutal Truth, then Cannibal Corpse, Cathedral, and Sleep, followed. The following year, they hired Front Line Assembly member Rhys Fulber to remix some songs from the album, demonstrating the band's willingness to experiment with their music. The results took on a predominantly industrial guise, and were released as the Fear Is the Mindkiller EP (1993). Soul of a New Machine and Fear is the Mindkiller were released (2004) as a package in a new re-mastered reissue by Roadrunner Records.
In 1994, Andrew Shives was forced to leave the band. Cazares recorded both the guitar and bass for the entire album. In November the same year, the band met Belgian Christian Olde Wolbers through Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard. Wolbers auditioned for Fear Factory's permanent bassist. Wolbers joined the band immediately since the band's tour was starting in two weeks.
Demanufacture (1995–1997)
In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands.
Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines.
The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics.
Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC video games Carmageddon and Messiah.
Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Wâldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995).
Obsolete (1998–2000)
Fear Factory's third studio album, Obsolete (July 1998), was reportedly completed earlier than planned by canceling an appearance at the Dynamo Open Air Festival.
Obsolete was similar in sound to Demanufacture, and introduced the progressive metal and alternative metal elements to the band's output. For the first time, the album featured Christian Olde Wolbers writing and recording full-time with the band. It also featured Cazares' debut use of 7-string Ibanez guitars tuned to A tuning (A, D, G, C, F, A, D), and paved the way for a lower-tuned sound than previously. The album is also notable for Rhys Fulber's increased involvement with the band.
While Fear Factory had explored the theme of "Man versus Machine" in their earlier work, Obsolete was their first concept album that dealt specifically with a literal interpretation of this subject. It tells a story called Conception 5, which was written by Bell, that takes place in a future world where mankind is rendered "obsolete" by machines. Its characters include the "Edgecrusher", "Smasher/Devourer", and the "Securitron" monitoring system. The story is presented in the lyrics booklet in a screenplay format between the individual songs. The printed story parts link the lyrics of the songs together thematically.
Obsolete was released during the alternative metal boom of the late 1990s. It was supported by tours with Slayer and later, Rammstein, and a headlining spot on the second stage at Ozzfest in 1999 as last-minute replacements for Judas Priest. They also toured in Europe in December 1998 with Spineshank and Kilgore, and went on their first headlining tour in North America with Static-X the next year, though the first leg was interrupted due to the band's tour bus and material being stolen. They also played in Japan for the first time. Obsolete became the band's highest selling album, marking the band's first entry into the Top 100 on the Billboard charts. The album also spawned singles "Descent" and a digipak bonus track, "Cars", a cover of the Gary Numan song featuring a guest appearance by Numan on the song. The single made the Mainstream Rock Top 40 in 1999 and was also featured in the video game, Test Drive 6. Numan also performed a spoken-word sample on the album's title track. A video was filmed for the song "Resurrection". To date, Obsolete remains the only Fear Factory album to have achieved gold sales in the U.S.
Digimortal and demise (2001–2002)
In early 2001, Fear Factory was asked to headline SnoCore Rock. The success of Obsolete and "Cars" was a turning point for the band; Roadrunner Records was now keen on capitalizing on the band's sales potential and pressured the band to record more accessible material for the follow-up album, titled Digimortal, which was released on April 23, 2001. Few weeks before its release, they were touring in Europe with One Minute Silence.
They went on a long headlining North American tour during 2001, then played in much larger European festivals like Bizarre Festival, Pukkelpop, Lowlands Festival and Leeds & Reading Festival. They then went on the first Roadrunner Roadrage tour in North America, toured Europe with Devin Townsend and Godflesh and played in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Digimortal made the Top 40 on the Billboard album charts, the Top 20 in Canada and the Top 10 of the Australian album charts. The track "Linchpin" reached the Mainstream Rock Top 40. A remix of "Invisible Wounds" was included on the Resident Evil film soundtrack, and an instrumental digipak bonus track called "Full Metal Contact" was originally written for the video game, Demolition Racer. A VHS/DVD release called Digital Connectivity, which documents each of the four album periods of the band via interviews, live clips, music videos and tour/studio footage, was released in January 2002.
Although Digimortal had a successful start, the sales did not reach the levels of Obsolete and the band received little tour support. The direction of the album coupled with strong personal differences between some of the band members created a rift that escalated to the point where Bell announced his exit in March 2002. The band disbanded immediately thereafter; its publicists said this was "largely because vocalist Burton C. Bell is tired of playing angry, aggressive music and wants to form a band that's more indie-rock-oriented". In a final collaboration, the group recorded two songs for the video game The Terminator: Dawn of Fate that month. Fear Factory's contractual obligations remained unfulfilled, however, and Roadrunner did not release them without controversially issuing the Concrete album in 2002 and the B-sides and rarities compilation, Hatefiles, in 2003. During his time away from Fear Factory, Bell with John Bechdel started a side project called Ascension of the Watchers, which released its first EP, Iconoclast, independently via their online store in 2005.
First return and Archetype (2002–2004)
Over time, tensions within the band developed between Dino Cazares and the other members, particularly Burton C. Bell and Raymond Herrera. When asked about the breakup in May 2002, Cazares made claims and allegations against Bell and the other members, stating that Fear Factory could continue without Christian Olde Wolbers and that he and Raymond Herrera were primarily motivated by money. Herrera responded to these allegations on behalf of the other band members, saying that Cazares was motivated by money and emphasizing Olde Wolbers' influence on the band's sound. According to Herrera, the other band members would often come up with new ideas they wanted to incorporate into Fear Factory's sound, but their suggestions were dismissed or openly ridiculed by Cazares, causing a rift between him and the other members that ultimately led to the band's breakup. In the same interview, Herrera also revealed that Cazares had attempted to control the direction of the band by manipulating their business management and record company, and had openly lied to the other members about his actions.
Herrera and Olde Wolbers reunited later in 2002 and laid the foundations for the return of Fear Factory. Cazares was then permanently out of the band. Bell was approached with their demo recordings and was impressed enough to rejoin the band and Fear Factory was re-formed. Olde Wolbers switched to guitar and Byron Stroud of Strapping Young Lad was approached to join the band as a bassist. He was a member from 2003 until 2012. Cazares continued recording and performing with his side project called Asesino, a Mexican deathgrind band. In 2007, he also started a new group called Divine Heresy.
Fear Factory made its live return as the mystery band at the Australian Big Day Out festival in January 2004, followed by its first American shows since re-forming on the spring Jägermeister tour with Slipknot and Chimaira. The new lineup's first album Archetype was released on April 20, 2004, through new record label Liquid 8 Records based in Minnesota. With Archetype, Fear Factory returned to an alternative, industrial, metal sound; the album is generally considered to be a strong 'return-to-form' record, if not a particularly innovative effort, with most of the trademark elements of the band firmly in place.
Videos were shot for the songs "Cyberwaste", "Archetype", and "Bite the Hand That Bleeds"; the latter featured on the Saw film soundtrack. The band performed on further tours with Lamb of God and Mastodon in the US and with Mnemic in Europe. The new Fear Factory has largely abandoned the direct "Man versus Machine" theme prevalent on earlier releases in favor of subjects such as religion, war, and corporatism.
Transgression (2005–2006)
Fear Factory announced plans to record and release its next full-length album over a very short period of time with mainstream rock producer Toby Wright, who had worked with Korn and Alice in Chains. This was allegedly due to pressure from Fear Factory's new label Calvin Records, which preponed the album's release date from four months away to just a month and a half so the band would have a new album to support on the inaugural Gigantour, which they had been invited to participate on by Dave Mustaine.
The resulting album, Transgression, was released on August 22, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and on the following day in North America, almost a year after Archetype. The album garnered highly polarized reviews; some critics hailed the album as diverse and progressive, and other reviewers did not receive the record very well. Although the album starts off as a Fear Factory record, subsequent songs include mellow/alt-rock numbers "Echo of My Scream" (featuring Faith No More's Billy Gould on bass) and "New Promise", a pop-rock song "Supernova", and a faithful cover of U2's rock song "I Will Follow".
In 2013, Wolbers posted more details about writing and recording of Transgression and Archetype on his Facebook page. He said he was disappointed with Transgression, calling it half-finished, and blamed the label for the severe time constraints imposed during the recording sessions and for the inclusion of the U2 cover. However, Burton C. Bell said he is proud of the album and sees it as the band "stepping over boundaries".
During 2005 and 2006, Fear Factory promoted the album on the "Fifteen Years of Fear" world tour in celebration of their fifteenth anniversary. The members invited bands including Darkane, Strapping Young Lad and Soilwork to join them on the U.S. leg, and Misery Index to join them on the European leg. Late in 2005, Fear Factory toured the U.S. again on the "Machines at War" tour, with an all-star death metal lineup of guests in Suffocation, Hypocrisy, and Decapitated; they played old classics from Soul of a New Machine, such as "Crash Test", which they had not performed live in many years.
Hiatus and other projects (2006–2008)
An online statement from Wolbers in December 2006 said the band would return to the studio to record a new album, produced by the band, immediately after the completion of the Transgression touring cycle. That month, Bell confirmed in an interview that the band would leave Liquid 8 Records.
Rather than begin work on a new studio album, the band members briefly parted and began working with other projects. Bell contributed vocals to the songs "End of Days, Pt.1", "End of Days, Pt. 2", and "Die in a Crash" on Ministry's 2007 album The Last Sucker, and later toured with Ministry in support of the album. In an interview for the website Metalsucks, Bell called this a "dream come true", describing Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen as "one of [his] heroes". In the same interview, Bell talked at length about his new band Ascension of the Watchers, providing insight into the inspiration behind the project's formation.
On March 21, 2008, while Fear Factory was on hiatus, Bell spoke in a video interview about the band's future, saying he no longer wanted to contribute to the violence and aggression he saw in the world with the aggressive type of music Fear Factory produced. Wolbers and Herrera started a new band called Arkaea, with vocalist Jon Howard and bassist Pat Kavanagh of Threat Signal. Wolbers said, "Ironically, half of the Arkaea album consists of songs that were intended to be the next Fear Factory record". Arkaea's debut album Years in the Darkness was released on July 14, 2009.
Second return, internal disputes, and Mechanize (2009–2011)
On April 8, 2009, Bell and Cazares announced the reconciliation of their friendship, and the formation of a new project with Byron Stroud on bass and drummer Gene Hoglan of Testament, Death, Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel, and Dethklok. On April 28, this project was announced to be a new version of Fear Factory without Herrera and Wolbers. When asked about their exclusion, Bell said, "[Fear Factory is] like a business and I'm just reorganizing ... We won't talk about [their exclusion]".
In June 2009, Wolbers and Herrera spoke about the issue on the radio program Speed Freaks. Herrera said he and Wolbers were still in the band. "[Christian and I] are actually still in Fear Factory ... [Burton and Dino] decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it Fear Factory. They never communicated with us about it", said Herrera. Herrera also said the four original members—Bell, Cazares, Wolbers, and Herrera—were contractually regarded as Fear Factory Incorporated, and, "it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate". The drummer also said he and Wolbers had written eight songs for the next Fear Factory record, but that a "personal disagreement" had arisen between them and Bell, which left Bell not wanting to continue work with the band.
Bell and Cazares later spoke about their reasons for excluding Herrera and Wolbers. Cazares said Bell wanted to reunite the classic Fear Factory lineup of himself, Cazares, Herrera, and Wolbers, but that Herrera and Wolbers refused to be part of any reunion with Cazares. Bell also said he wanted to fire the band's manager Christy Priske, who was also Wolbers' wife, and Herrera and Wolbers refused. Herrera and Wolbers threatened to sign a new record deal without Bell, prompting him to form a new version of Fear Factory without them. In some interviews, Wolbers said Bell had made "growing unacceptable demands", which were declined. He said, "Ray and I wanted what was best for the business and what he [Burton] was trying to change wasn't really good for the business. It was only bad for the business, so that's why he went into that whole phase of hijacking the name and trying to run with it."
Fear Factory featuring Bell and Cazares was due to make its live debut on June 21 at the Metalway Festival in Zaragoza, Spain. However, the show was canceled "at the last minute", apparently because of the legal complications referenced by Herrera. The rest of that lineup's planned performances in mid-2009, which included a tour of the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand that August, had also been canceled. The group said they canceled the tour to finish writing and recording the next Fear Factory album. Despite the canceled performances in Europe, they performed some shows in December in South American countries including Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.
During an interview on June 23, 2009, Cazares said he could never have a working relationship with Raymond and Wolbers again, saying they were too money-driven and criticized the music they recorded on Archetype for being too similar to the band's earlier output. Despite ongoing issues between the two parties, the new Fear Factory went ahead with the recording process. In late July 2009, a short video shot with a cell telephone showed Cazares recording drum tracks with longtime contributor Rhys Fulber. On November 6, 2009, blabbermouth.net said a new album, Mechanize, would be released on February 9, 2010, on Candlelight Records. On November 8, 2009, Fear Factory released a track titled "Powershifter" on YouTube. On November 10, 2009, Bell announced the track list for Mechanize, along with an explanation of each song.
In January 2010, Fear Factory played in Australia and New Zealand tour on the Big Day Out tour, playing their first Australian dates since 2005 on January 17 at Parklands Showgrounds on Queensland's Gold Coast. Fear Factory released Mechanize on February 5, 2010, and began a U.S. tour titled "Fear Campaign Tour 2010", in late March. In August 2010, the band headlined the Brutal Assault open air festival in Czech Republic. In September 2010, Fear Factory toured Australia, New Zealand, and Tokyo as the opening act for Metallica. The New Zealand concerts were in Christchurch, two shows that were brought about by a petition sent to Metallica asking them to visit New Zealand's second-largest city. After the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, the South Island concerts were in doubt, but on September 15, 2010, an official announced the CBS Arena had escaped harm and both shows went ahead.
The Industrialist (2011–2013)
In an interview during the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, Bell said Fear Factory was planning to write and record a "full-on concept" album, which was due for release in 2012. He said, "We're gonna kind of take a break a little bit, but we're definitely going into the studio at some point and start writing. We wanna take our time doing it. Personally ... Mechanize, don't get me wrong, is a good record—I'm very proud of it—but it's gotta be better than that. I've got plans where I'd like to do a full-on concept again—story, artwork. Just make it real cerebral. But there'll definitely be another Fear Factory record, maybe in 2012." On August 3, 2011, Dino Cazares said on his Twitter feed that he was working and demoing new material for the next Fear Factory album. On January 25, 2012, the band announced the new album will be titled The Industrialist. The album was again co-produced by the band with Rhys Fulber and mixed by Greg Reely.
Byron Stroud left the band early in 2012, saying, "Life's too short to spend it with people who don't respect you". In one interview, Cazares said he did not know why Stroud decided to leave and that he could not play the bass parts on Mechanize, prompting Cazares to do it himself.
In February 2012, former Chimaira guitar player Matt DeVries replaced Stroud. On April 19, 2012, Mike Heller of Malignancy and System Divide was announced as the band's new drummer, replacing Gene Hoglan; in an interview, Hoglan claimed that he only found out through Blabbermouth.net that he was no longer needed, and expressed some disappointment about the course of events. At the same time, Cazares confirmed on his Facebook page that John Sankey of Devolved had programmed the drums on The Industrialist. Burton described The Industrialist as another concept album "sonically, conceptually, and lyrically". Cazares also said he and Burton were the two in control of the record's outcome, and that the songwriting on the album was much more "definitive" in regards to Fear Factory's platform sound. On June 4, 2012,The Industrialist was available to stream through AOL Music. The album was released through Candlelight Records on June 5, 2012.
On May 2, 2013, Cazares commented regarding the status of Fear Factory albums Archetype and Transgression, which were recorded without his participation, and the band's decision not to play songs from them live, saying "they don't count" as Fear Factory albums. Contradicting this, Fear Factory played the track Archetype on its 2013 Australian tour in early July, with minor changes to the song's lyrics. On August 2, 2013, ex-drummer Hoglan said he left Fear Factory because he was prevented from participating on the album, and only found out about its completion online.
Genexus (2013–2015)
On May 1, 2013, Dino Cazares told Songfacts.com Fear Factory would begin work on their ninth studio album after the end of The Industrialist tour. The album was expected to be released in early 2014. On May 13, 2013, Burton C. Bell told Metal-Rules.com, "Fear Factory will continue to tour North America and Europe 2013. We've got some more tours scheduled, some summer festivals next year. During that time our plan is to start writing a new record and we would like to have a new record out by spring 2014". On March 19, 2014, Bell told Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles he would like to have the new album released by August, followed by a tour in September. On September 12, 2014, the band announced it had signed to record label Nuclear Blast and would enter the studio in October. The band also confirmed that the album would be mixed by Andy Sneap, and that Rhys Fulber would again produce it.
The band played their first shows in India, in November 2014, as part of the Weekender Tour, and on February/March 2015, they participated at the Soundwave Festival in Australia and New Zealand.
On May 1, 2015, it was announced that former Static-X and Soulfly bassist Tony Campos joined the band. Later that month, Fear Factory announced that they would release their ninth studio album, titled Genexus, on August 7, 2015.
They toured in European festivals in July 2015, and then onto North America, as an opening act for Coal Chamber. From late August until mid-September 2015, the band toured the midwestern, southern and southwestern United States with support from Once Human (starring Logan Mader), Los Angeles melodic metal band Before the Mourning and Chicago rock band The Bloodline. They also announced that they would play the entire Demanufacture album in Europe between November and December 2015, a tour which again included Once Human with the addition of Irish band Dead Label as openers.
Hiatus and lawsuits (2016–2019)
In a November 2016 interview with Loudwire, guitarist Dino Cazares revealed that Fear Factory had planned to release their tenth studio album in mid-to-late 2017. He stated, "Right now we're going to be home and doing a new record. We're writing already and in the process of doing a new record, but it probably won't be out until late summer of next year or maybe even October. I'm not exactly sure."
In a December 2016 interview with The Ex-Man, despite an ongoing "huge legal battle" with Bell and Cazares, former bassist-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers stated that he was "trying to reach out and try to get this reunion thing happening." He added, "There would be nothing better for this band [than] to reconcile our differences, fucking write a killer record, which I know we can, and fucking we would be doing really big tours. My passion for playing and what we have invested in this band is very big, and I know it's really big for Dino as well, 'cause he started it with Raymond back in the day." More fuel to the possibility of a reunion with the "classic" lineup of Bell, Cazares, Herrera and Wolbers was added later that month, when Wolbers posted an image on his Instagram account, suggesting Fear Factory's official website was "under construction."
On May 7, 2017, Wolbers posted a blank picture on his Instagram (which was later deleted), claiming that Fear Factory had broken up. Later that day, Cazares was asked via Twitter if they were still together, and his response was, "Not sure why your asking that and rant by who?".
In an interview with Kilpop in May 2017, Burton C. Bell said that the new songs were "even stronger than Genexus, 'cause it just seems even more tight. We're on a groove, and it's kicking ass."
In an interview with SiriusXM's Jose Mangin at November 2018's inaugural Headbangers Con in Portland, Oregon, Bell revealed Monolith as the title of Fear Factory's tenth studio album and its tentative artwork via his smartphone. In October 2019, this was refuted by guitarist Dino Cazares who stated via his Twitter account that there was no new Fear Factory album. Shortly thereafter, Cazares expressed uncertainty towards the band's future, indicating that a lawsuit filed by former members Raymond Herrera and Christian Olde Wolbers had prevented him and Bell from using the Fear Factory name.
Split with Burton C. Bell, Aggression Continuum and new vocalist (2020–present)
On September 2, 2020, Dino Cazares announced he would be releasing new Fear Factory music in 2021. Less than a month later, Burton C. Bell announced he quit Fear Factory citing "consistent series of dishonest representations and unfounded accusations from past and present band members", leaving no original members left in the band besides Cazares. However, Bell's contributions to their upcoming album will remain, as he recorded his vocals in 2017.
In an interview with Robb Flynn on September 28, 2020, which took place within hours after Bell announced his departure from Fear Factory, Cazares claimed that he was not aware of the split until he "found out [about it] via social media." He also claimed that one of the reasons behind Bell's departure was not only due to the lawsuit that prevented the release of the band's new album, but because the latter's portion of the Fear Factory "trademark ownership became available", which left Cazares as the sole owner of the band name. Cazares reiterated that Bell's vocals will appear on the new album, which was being mixed by Andy Sneap for a March 2021 release, and hoped the pair would continue to work together in order to support it.
On April 1, 2021, Fear Factory announced that their first new song in over five years would be released on April 16. A short riff teaser of the song from Cazares was released soon after. The new single "Disruptor" was released on April 16, followed by the announcement of the tenth studio album Aggression Continuum, which was released on June 18.
While deciding on a new vocalist through auditions, Cazares said that gender would not play a role, expressing an open interest in hiring a female; however, he said that he would not announce it for a while. Out of all the potential talents, he decided on a replacement who had yet to be revealed, with the member being a male and "kind of known" within the metal scene. He also said that the new member would be introduced through new songs.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
Fear Factory has been classified under several metal genres, but usually are described as industrial metal. The band also has been described as groove metal, nu metal, grindcore, thrash metal, and death metal. The band began as a death metal band with their debut album Soul of a New Machine, but quickly moved to industrial metal after that album. Fear Factory's influences include Slayer, Exodus, Napalm Death, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and Godflesh.
In terms of influences on the group's work, Dino Cazares has cited the band members' interests in fantasy and science fiction alternative universes such as the Terminator mythos as well as the Dune mythos. As a specific example, their debut album, Soul of a New Machine, picked up its name directly from a line in a movie critic review of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day film (discussing the T-1000 villain). Cazares has also cited recurring influences on Fear Factory coming from conventional popular music, outside of the genres of hard rock and heavy metal, for instance looking to singer-songwriter Paul McCartney's sounds in both The Beatles and Wings. Over the years the film Blade Runner has become a recurring theme as the band often makes lyrical reference to the plot, as well as directly quote and sample lines from the film.
Fear Factory's innovative approach towards and hybridization of the genres industrial metal, death metal, and alternative metal has had a lasting impact on other artists coming later, the band putting a stamp on metal music ever since the release of their first album in 1992. Fear Factory is noteworthy among contemporaries for its lyrical focus on science fiction, with much of the band's music telling a single story spanning several concept albums. The band has been called a "stepping stone", leading mainstream listeners to venture into less-known, more extreme bands, and are consistently appreciated.
In the liner notes of the re-released version of Soul of a New Machine, Machine Head vocalist Robb Flynn, Chimaira vocalist Mark Hunter, and Spineshank guitarist Mike Sarkisyan cited Fear Factory as an influence. Robb Flynn said his vocal style was influenced by Burton C. Bell's vocals and Machine Head have been wrongly credited for the vocal style. Mark Hunter said Chimaira's drumming was heavily influenced by Raymond Herrera. Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Static-X, and Coal Chamber have also mentioned Fear Factory in their liner notes.
Modern bands including Mnemic, Scarve, Stiff Valentine, and Threat Signal contain significant influences from Fear Factory's technique and have also credited a substantial debt of gratitude to the band. Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy said, "Fear Factory are close to our hearts" and, "Soul of a New Machine was the influence for me to start my other project, 'Pain'". Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad said his main influences for Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing were Fear Factory and Napalm Death. In an interview on That Metal Show, Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward said Fear Factory is one of the bands he wishes he could play with, and picked Mechanize as one of his favourite albums.
Band members
Current members
Dino Cazares – guitars, backing vocals (1989–2002, 2009–present), bass (1992, 1995, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2020–present), keyboards (1995), drum programming (2012)
Mike Heller – drums (2012–present)
Tony Campos – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
Burton C. Bell – lead vocals (1989–2002, 2002–2006, 2009–2020), keyboards (1995)
David Gibney – bass (1989–1991)
Andy Romero – bass (1991–1992)
Andrew Shives – bass (1992–1993)
Raymond Herrera – drums (1989–2002, 2002–2006)
Christian Olde Wolbers – bass (1993–2002, 2002–2006), guitars (2002–2006), backing vocals (1993–2002, 2002–2006)
Byron Stroud – bass (2002–2006, 2009–2012)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2009–2012)
Matt DeVries – bass, backing vocals (2012–2015)
Session/touring musicians
Reynor Diego – keyboards, samples (1992–1995)
Rhys Fulber – keyboards, samples (1993–2002, 2003–2004, 2009–present)
Steve Tushar – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1995–1997, 2003–2005)
John Morgan – keyboards, samples (1997)
John Bechdel – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1998–2002, 2002–2004)
Timeline
Discography
Soul of a New Machine (1992)
Demanufacture (1995)
Obsolete (1998)
Digimortal (2001)
Archetype (2004)
Transgression (2005)
Mechanize (2010)
The Industrialist (2012)
Genexus (2015)
Aggression Continuum (2021)
References
External links
1989 establishments in California
American industrial metal musical groups
Candlelight Records artists
Death metal musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups reestablished in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2006
Musical groups reestablished in 2009
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Roadrunner Records artists | true | [
"Remanufacture – Cloning Technology (sometimes referred to as Remanufacture) is a remix album of Fear Factory's second album Demanufacture, released on May 20, 1997.\n\nTrack listing\nThe titles of the original songs are in brackets. All songs composed by Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares and Raymond Herrera.\n\nNotes\nThe tracks \"Genetic Blueprint\" (New Breed) and \"21st Century Jesus\" (Pisschrist) featured on Infogrames Test Drive 5 which was released on PC and PlayStation in 1998. Additionally, the song \"Remanufacture (Demanufacture)\" was featured on the 2005 PSP video game Infected and is the theme song for the 2000 PC game Messiah. There was also a 12\" vinyl released called The Gabber Mixes on the label Mokum Records with additional tracks.\n\n2005 remastered edition\nThe album was re-released on June 7, 2005 in a digipak edition, with new bonus tracks and Demanufacture as the first disc.\n\nDisc two bonus tracks\nTracks 1–12 are the same as on the original version.\n\nPersonnel\n\nFear Factory\nFear Factory – production, cover design\nBurton C. Bell – vocals\nDino Cazares – guitar, production\nChristian Olde Wolbers – bass\nRaymond Herrera – drums\n\nOther personal \nDelwyn Brooks – mixing assistant\nCiel – artwork, design\nAnne Marie Damjanovic – production coordination\nRhys Fulber – remixing\nTed Jensen – mastering\nJunkie XL – producer, remixing\nKingsize – remixing\nDJ Dano – remixing\nGreg Reely – producer, mixing\nColin Richardson – producer\nCristian Wicha – design\n\nCharts\nAlbum - Billboard (United States)\n\nReferences\n\nFear Factory albums\n1997 remix albums\nRoadrunner Records remix albums\nAlbums produced by Greg Reely\n\nes:Demanufacture#Remanufacture",
"\"Dog Day Sunrise\" is a song originally by British band Head of David, from their 1988 album, Dustbowl.\n\nFear Factory version\n\n\"Dog Day Sunrise\" was covered by industrial metal band Fear Factory on their second studio album, Demanufacture. It was released as the second and final single from the album.\n\nThe song reached No. 85 on the UK chart, but did not chart on any of the US charts.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences \n\nFear Factory songs\n1996 singles\nRoadrunner Records singles\n1988 songs"
] |
[
"Fear Factory",
"Demanufacture (1995-1997)",
"What is Demanufacture?",
"Fear Factory's second album,",
"What kind of music is this album?",
"rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar",
"Is this the only album from this band?",
"It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere,",
"Was Demanufacture successful?",
"Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine."
] | C_94fad564d0f240aa84b5c7c9779de8fd_0 | Did the bank go on tour when releasing this album? | 5 | Did Fear Factory go on tour when releasing Demanufacture? | Fear Factory | In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands. Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines. The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics. Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC videogames Carmageddon and Messiah. Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Waldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200 ;it also appeared on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995). CANNOTANSWER | Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, | Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. Over the years, Fear Factory has seen changes in its lineup, with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell being the only consistent member for 31 years until his departure in 2020. Other than guitarist Dino Cazares, there are no original members left in its current lineup. The band went on hold in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but resumed activity a year later without founding member Cazares. Previous bassist Christian Olde Wolbers replaced him as the new guitarist, and bassist Byron Stroud joined the band. In April 2009, a new lineup was announced. Cazares returned as guitarist, and Gene Hoglan as drummer. Bell and Stroud reprised their respective roles, and this lineup recorded the band's seventh studio album titled Mechanize (2010). Former members Wolbers and Raymond Herrera—both of whom were playing in Arkaea—disputed the legitimacy of the new lineup, and a legal battle from both parties had begun. Despite this, Fear Factory has since released three more albums: The Industrialist (2012), Genexus (2015) and Aggression Continuum (2021).
The band has performed at four Ozzfests and the inaugural Gigantour. Their singles have charted on the US Mainstream Rock Top 40 and albums on the Billboard Top 40, 100, and 200, and they have sold more than a million albums in the U.S. alone.
History
Early years (1989–1990)
Fear Factory was formed in 1989 under the name Ulceration, which the band agreed would "just be a cool name". In 1990, the name "Fear the Factory" was adopted. The name was inspired by a factory that the band supposedly saw near their rehearsal space which was guarded by men carrying rifles. Later, they shortened the name to just "Fear Factory".
The band's origins can be traced to an outfit formed by guitarist Dino Cazares—formerly of The Douche Lords—and drummer Raymond Herrera in Los Angeles, California. Their first lineup was completed with the addition of bassist Dave Gibney and vocalist Burton C. Bell (ex-Hate Face), who was allegedly recruited by an impressed Cazares, who overheard him singing "New Year's Day" by U2. Cazares played bass on the first three Fear Factory albums Concrete, Soul of a New Machine and Demanufacture, on which Cazares changed many of the riffs during the recording. It took Cazares two weeks to get the appropriate guitar tone. Cazares created, wrote and recorded all the music on the album. Wolbers joined the band two weeks before they were scheduled to go on tour to promote the album and, although he contributed musical changes to a couple of songs on the album he stated that these were not significant.
Fear Factory's earliest demo recordings are strongly reminiscent of the early works of Napalm Death and Godflesh, an acknowledged influence of the band in the grindcore-driven approach of the former and the mechanical brutality, bleakness, and vocal stylings of the latter. According to Brian Russ of The BNR Metal Pages, the demos are remarkable for integrating these influences into the band's death metal sound and for Burton C. Bell's pioneering fusion of extreme death growls and clean vocals in the same song, which was to become a significant and influential element of the band's sound throughout their career. The use of grunts and "throat singing" combined with clean vocals later defined the nu metal and other emerging subgenres of metal. Many vocalists in today's metal scene use two or more methods of singing and vocalizing lyrics. The band contributed two songs to the L.A. Death Metal Compilation in 1990. The band played its first show on October 31, 1990.
Concrete (1991)
In 1991, Fear Factory recorded a series of cuts for their debut album with the then-little-known producer Ross Robinson in Blackie Lawless' studio. The band's members were unhappy with the terms of their recording contract and caused a delay with the album's release. The band retained the rights to the songs, many of which they re-recorded in 1992 with a different producer, Colin Richardson, for inclusion on their debut release Soul of a New Machine. Meanwhile, Ross Robinson obtained the rights to the recording, which he used to promote himself as a producer. The album was officially released in 2002 by Roadrunner Records under the title Concrete after the band's breakup. The release was controversial because the album was issued because of the band's outstanding contractual obligation and without the approval of every band member.
Fan opinion has been divided as to whether Ross Robinson's production properly captured the intricacies of the band's sound. The released album favored a straight-up approach and Robinson's distinct drum sound. Concrete has become an important album for fans of the early Fear Factory sound; it can be seen as a bridge between the band's sound on their demo recordings and their debut release, Soul of a New Machine, and a blueprint for later songs and B-sides.
Based on the Concrete recording, Max Cavalera recommended Fear Factory to the then-death-metal-focused Roadrunner Records label, which offered the band a recording contract. While the band signed the contract, it has since become controversial because of Roadrunner's treatment of the band during the events surrounding its 2002 breakup. This was reflected in the first album Archetype (2004), which was released following the band's re-formation. The opening song with lyrics by Burton C. Bell, "Slave Labor", was direct about the band's feelings on the matter. After working with numerous bassists, Andrew Shives was hired as a live bassist prior to the release of Soul of a New Machine.
Soul of a New Machine (1992–1994)
Soul of a New Machine (1992), which was recorded with producer Colin Richardson, gave the band greater exposure in the music scene. It is characterized by an industrial death metal sound that combined Bell's harsh and melodic vocals, Herrera's machine-like drums, the integrated industrial samples and textures and the sharp, down-tuned, rhythmic, death metal riffs of Dino Cazares. Cazares and Herrera wrote all the music. Because the band had no bass player, Cazares played both guitar and bass on the recording. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic called the album "groundbreaking" and said that "it ushered in the '90s alternative metal era".
Due to the extreme nature of the music, the album never reached the level of popularity attained by their later, more accessible works, and remains a cult favorite. Soul of a New Machine is considered by many as Fear Factory's final work death metal album because with each album, the band's style shifted away from the death metal subgenre.
To promote the album, Fear Factory embarked on extensive U.S. tours with Biohazard, Sepultura, and Sick of It All. During this period, sampler-keyboardist Reynor Diego joined the group. An album tour of Europe with Brutal Truth, then Cannibal Corpse, Cathedral, and Sleep, followed. The following year, they hired Front Line Assembly member Rhys Fulber to remix some songs from the album, demonstrating the band's willingness to experiment with their music. The results took on a predominantly industrial guise, and were released as the Fear Is the Mindkiller EP (1993). Soul of a New Machine and Fear is the Mindkiller were released (2004) as a package in a new re-mastered reissue by Roadrunner Records.
In 1994, Andrew Shives was forced to leave the band. Cazares recorded both the guitar and bass for the entire album. In November the same year, the band met Belgian Christian Olde Wolbers through Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard. Wolbers auditioned for Fear Factory's permanent bassist. Wolbers joined the band immediately since the band's tour was starting in two weeks.
Demanufacture (1995–1997)
In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands.
Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines.
The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics.
Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC video games Carmageddon and Messiah.
Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Wâldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995).
Obsolete (1998–2000)
Fear Factory's third studio album, Obsolete (July 1998), was reportedly completed earlier than planned by canceling an appearance at the Dynamo Open Air Festival.
Obsolete was similar in sound to Demanufacture, and introduced the progressive metal and alternative metal elements to the band's output. For the first time, the album featured Christian Olde Wolbers writing and recording full-time with the band. It also featured Cazares' debut use of 7-string Ibanez guitars tuned to A tuning (A, D, G, C, F, A, D), and paved the way for a lower-tuned sound than previously. The album is also notable for Rhys Fulber's increased involvement with the band.
While Fear Factory had explored the theme of "Man versus Machine" in their earlier work, Obsolete was their first concept album that dealt specifically with a literal interpretation of this subject. It tells a story called Conception 5, which was written by Bell, that takes place in a future world where mankind is rendered "obsolete" by machines. Its characters include the "Edgecrusher", "Smasher/Devourer", and the "Securitron" monitoring system. The story is presented in the lyrics booklet in a screenplay format between the individual songs. The printed story parts link the lyrics of the songs together thematically.
Obsolete was released during the alternative metal boom of the late 1990s. It was supported by tours with Slayer and later, Rammstein, and a headlining spot on the second stage at Ozzfest in 1999 as last-minute replacements for Judas Priest. They also toured in Europe in December 1998 with Spineshank and Kilgore, and went on their first headlining tour in North America with Static-X the next year, though the first leg was interrupted due to the band's tour bus and material being stolen. They also played in Japan for the first time. Obsolete became the band's highest selling album, marking the band's first entry into the Top 100 on the Billboard charts. The album also spawned singles "Descent" and a digipak bonus track, "Cars", a cover of the Gary Numan song featuring a guest appearance by Numan on the song. The single made the Mainstream Rock Top 40 in 1999 and was also featured in the video game, Test Drive 6. Numan also performed a spoken-word sample on the album's title track. A video was filmed for the song "Resurrection". To date, Obsolete remains the only Fear Factory album to have achieved gold sales in the U.S.
Digimortal and demise (2001–2002)
In early 2001, Fear Factory was asked to headline SnoCore Rock. The success of Obsolete and "Cars" was a turning point for the band; Roadrunner Records was now keen on capitalizing on the band's sales potential and pressured the band to record more accessible material for the follow-up album, titled Digimortal, which was released on April 23, 2001. Few weeks before its release, they were touring in Europe with One Minute Silence.
They went on a long headlining North American tour during 2001, then played in much larger European festivals like Bizarre Festival, Pukkelpop, Lowlands Festival and Leeds & Reading Festival. They then went on the first Roadrunner Roadrage tour in North America, toured Europe with Devin Townsend and Godflesh and played in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Digimortal made the Top 40 on the Billboard album charts, the Top 20 in Canada and the Top 10 of the Australian album charts. The track "Linchpin" reached the Mainstream Rock Top 40. A remix of "Invisible Wounds" was included on the Resident Evil film soundtrack, and an instrumental digipak bonus track called "Full Metal Contact" was originally written for the video game, Demolition Racer. A VHS/DVD release called Digital Connectivity, which documents each of the four album periods of the band via interviews, live clips, music videos and tour/studio footage, was released in January 2002.
Although Digimortal had a successful start, the sales did not reach the levels of Obsolete and the band received little tour support. The direction of the album coupled with strong personal differences between some of the band members created a rift that escalated to the point where Bell announced his exit in March 2002. The band disbanded immediately thereafter; its publicists said this was "largely because vocalist Burton C. Bell is tired of playing angry, aggressive music and wants to form a band that's more indie-rock-oriented". In a final collaboration, the group recorded two songs for the video game The Terminator: Dawn of Fate that month. Fear Factory's contractual obligations remained unfulfilled, however, and Roadrunner did not release them without controversially issuing the Concrete album in 2002 and the B-sides and rarities compilation, Hatefiles, in 2003. During his time away from Fear Factory, Bell with John Bechdel started a side project called Ascension of the Watchers, which released its first EP, Iconoclast, independently via their online store in 2005.
First return and Archetype (2002–2004)
Over time, tensions within the band developed between Dino Cazares and the other members, particularly Burton C. Bell and Raymond Herrera. When asked about the breakup in May 2002, Cazares made claims and allegations against Bell and the other members, stating that Fear Factory could continue without Christian Olde Wolbers and that he and Raymond Herrera were primarily motivated by money. Herrera responded to these allegations on behalf of the other band members, saying that Cazares was motivated by money and emphasizing Olde Wolbers' influence on the band's sound. According to Herrera, the other band members would often come up with new ideas they wanted to incorporate into Fear Factory's sound, but their suggestions were dismissed or openly ridiculed by Cazares, causing a rift between him and the other members that ultimately led to the band's breakup. In the same interview, Herrera also revealed that Cazares had attempted to control the direction of the band by manipulating their business management and record company, and had openly lied to the other members about his actions.
Herrera and Olde Wolbers reunited later in 2002 and laid the foundations for the return of Fear Factory. Cazares was then permanently out of the band. Bell was approached with their demo recordings and was impressed enough to rejoin the band and Fear Factory was re-formed. Olde Wolbers switched to guitar and Byron Stroud of Strapping Young Lad was approached to join the band as a bassist. He was a member from 2003 until 2012. Cazares continued recording and performing with his side project called Asesino, a Mexican deathgrind band. In 2007, he also started a new group called Divine Heresy.
Fear Factory made its live return as the mystery band at the Australian Big Day Out festival in January 2004, followed by its first American shows since re-forming on the spring Jägermeister tour with Slipknot and Chimaira. The new lineup's first album Archetype was released on April 20, 2004, through new record label Liquid 8 Records based in Minnesota. With Archetype, Fear Factory returned to an alternative, industrial, metal sound; the album is generally considered to be a strong 'return-to-form' record, if not a particularly innovative effort, with most of the trademark elements of the band firmly in place.
Videos were shot for the songs "Cyberwaste", "Archetype", and "Bite the Hand That Bleeds"; the latter featured on the Saw film soundtrack. The band performed on further tours with Lamb of God and Mastodon in the US and with Mnemic in Europe. The new Fear Factory has largely abandoned the direct "Man versus Machine" theme prevalent on earlier releases in favor of subjects such as religion, war, and corporatism.
Transgression (2005–2006)
Fear Factory announced plans to record and release its next full-length album over a very short period of time with mainstream rock producer Toby Wright, who had worked with Korn and Alice in Chains. This was allegedly due to pressure from Fear Factory's new label Calvin Records, which preponed the album's release date from four months away to just a month and a half so the band would have a new album to support on the inaugural Gigantour, which they had been invited to participate on by Dave Mustaine.
The resulting album, Transgression, was released on August 22, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and on the following day in North America, almost a year after Archetype. The album garnered highly polarized reviews; some critics hailed the album as diverse and progressive, and other reviewers did not receive the record very well. Although the album starts off as a Fear Factory record, subsequent songs include mellow/alt-rock numbers "Echo of My Scream" (featuring Faith No More's Billy Gould on bass) and "New Promise", a pop-rock song "Supernova", and a faithful cover of U2's rock song "I Will Follow".
In 2013, Wolbers posted more details about writing and recording of Transgression and Archetype on his Facebook page. He said he was disappointed with Transgression, calling it half-finished, and blamed the label for the severe time constraints imposed during the recording sessions and for the inclusion of the U2 cover. However, Burton C. Bell said he is proud of the album and sees it as the band "stepping over boundaries".
During 2005 and 2006, Fear Factory promoted the album on the "Fifteen Years of Fear" world tour in celebration of their fifteenth anniversary. The members invited bands including Darkane, Strapping Young Lad and Soilwork to join them on the U.S. leg, and Misery Index to join them on the European leg. Late in 2005, Fear Factory toured the U.S. again on the "Machines at War" tour, with an all-star death metal lineup of guests in Suffocation, Hypocrisy, and Decapitated; they played old classics from Soul of a New Machine, such as "Crash Test", which they had not performed live in many years.
Hiatus and other projects (2006–2008)
An online statement from Wolbers in December 2006 said the band would return to the studio to record a new album, produced by the band, immediately after the completion of the Transgression touring cycle. That month, Bell confirmed in an interview that the band would leave Liquid 8 Records.
Rather than begin work on a new studio album, the band members briefly parted and began working with other projects. Bell contributed vocals to the songs "End of Days, Pt.1", "End of Days, Pt. 2", and "Die in a Crash" on Ministry's 2007 album The Last Sucker, and later toured with Ministry in support of the album. In an interview for the website Metalsucks, Bell called this a "dream come true", describing Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen as "one of [his] heroes". In the same interview, Bell talked at length about his new band Ascension of the Watchers, providing insight into the inspiration behind the project's formation.
On March 21, 2008, while Fear Factory was on hiatus, Bell spoke in a video interview about the band's future, saying he no longer wanted to contribute to the violence and aggression he saw in the world with the aggressive type of music Fear Factory produced. Wolbers and Herrera started a new band called Arkaea, with vocalist Jon Howard and bassist Pat Kavanagh of Threat Signal. Wolbers said, "Ironically, half of the Arkaea album consists of songs that were intended to be the next Fear Factory record". Arkaea's debut album Years in the Darkness was released on July 14, 2009.
Second return, internal disputes, and Mechanize (2009–2011)
On April 8, 2009, Bell and Cazares announced the reconciliation of their friendship, and the formation of a new project with Byron Stroud on bass and drummer Gene Hoglan of Testament, Death, Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel, and Dethklok. On April 28, this project was announced to be a new version of Fear Factory without Herrera and Wolbers. When asked about their exclusion, Bell said, "[Fear Factory is] like a business and I'm just reorganizing ... We won't talk about [their exclusion]".
In June 2009, Wolbers and Herrera spoke about the issue on the radio program Speed Freaks. Herrera said he and Wolbers were still in the band. "[Christian and I] are actually still in Fear Factory ... [Burton and Dino] decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it Fear Factory. They never communicated with us about it", said Herrera. Herrera also said the four original members—Bell, Cazares, Wolbers, and Herrera—were contractually regarded as Fear Factory Incorporated, and, "it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate". The drummer also said he and Wolbers had written eight songs for the next Fear Factory record, but that a "personal disagreement" had arisen between them and Bell, which left Bell not wanting to continue work with the band.
Bell and Cazares later spoke about their reasons for excluding Herrera and Wolbers. Cazares said Bell wanted to reunite the classic Fear Factory lineup of himself, Cazares, Herrera, and Wolbers, but that Herrera and Wolbers refused to be part of any reunion with Cazares. Bell also said he wanted to fire the band's manager Christy Priske, who was also Wolbers' wife, and Herrera and Wolbers refused. Herrera and Wolbers threatened to sign a new record deal without Bell, prompting him to form a new version of Fear Factory without them. In some interviews, Wolbers said Bell had made "growing unacceptable demands", which were declined. He said, "Ray and I wanted what was best for the business and what he [Burton] was trying to change wasn't really good for the business. It was only bad for the business, so that's why he went into that whole phase of hijacking the name and trying to run with it."
Fear Factory featuring Bell and Cazares was due to make its live debut on June 21 at the Metalway Festival in Zaragoza, Spain. However, the show was canceled "at the last minute", apparently because of the legal complications referenced by Herrera. The rest of that lineup's planned performances in mid-2009, which included a tour of the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand that August, had also been canceled. The group said they canceled the tour to finish writing and recording the next Fear Factory album. Despite the canceled performances in Europe, they performed some shows in December in South American countries including Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.
During an interview on June 23, 2009, Cazares said he could never have a working relationship with Raymond and Wolbers again, saying they were too money-driven and criticized the music they recorded on Archetype for being too similar to the band's earlier output. Despite ongoing issues between the two parties, the new Fear Factory went ahead with the recording process. In late July 2009, a short video shot with a cell telephone showed Cazares recording drum tracks with longtime contributor Rhys Fulber. On November 6, 2009, blabbermouth.net said a new album, Mechanize, would be released on February 9, 2010, on Candlelight Records. On November 8, 2009, Fear Factory released a track titled "Powershifter" on YouTube. On November 10, 2009, Bell announced the track list for Mechanize, along with an explanation of each song.
In January 2010, Fear Factory played in Australia and New Zealand tour on the Big Day Out tour, playing their first Australian dates since 2005 on January 17 at Parklands Showgrounds on Queensland's Gold Coast. Fear Factory released Mechanize on February 5, 2010, and began a U.S. tour titled "Fear Campaign Tour 2010", in late March. In August 2010, the band headlined the Brutal Assault open air festival in Czech Republic. In September 2010, Fear Factory toured Australia, New Zealand, and Tokyo as the opening act for Metallica. The New Zealand concerts were in Christchurch, two shows that were brought about by a petition sent to Metallica asking them to visit New Zealand's second-largest city. After the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, the South Island concerts were in doubt, but on September 15, 2010, an official announced the CBS Arena had escaped harm and both shows went ahead.
The Industrialist (2011–2013)
In an interview during the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, Bell said Fear Factory was planning to write and record a "full-on concept" album, which was due for release in 2012. He said, "We're gonna kind of take a break a little bit, but we're definitely going into the studio at some point and start writing. We wanna take our time doing it. Personally ... Mechanize, don't get me wrong, is a good record—I'm very proud of it—but it's gotta be better than that. I've got plans where I'd like to do a full-on concept again—story, artwork. Just make it real cerebral. But there'll definitely be another Fear Factory record, maybe in 2012." On August 3, 2011, Dino Cazares said on his Twitter feed that he was working and demoing new material for the next Fear Factory album. On January 25, 2012, the band announced the new album will be titled The Industrialist. The album was again co-produced by the band with Rhys Fulber and mixed by Greg Reely.
Byron Stroud left the band early in 2012, saying, "Life's too short to spend it with people who don't respect you". In one interview, Cazares said he did not know why Stroud decided to leave and that he could not play the bass parts on Mechanize, prompting Cazares to do it himself.
In February 2012, former Chimaira guitar player Matt DeVries replaced Stroud. On April 19, 2012, Mike Heller of Malignancy and System Divide was announced as the band's new drummer, replacing Gene Hoglan; in an interview, Hoglan claimed that he only found out through Blabbermouth.net that he was no longer needed, and expressed some disappointment about the course of events. At the same time, Cazares confirmed on his Facebook page that John Sankey of Devolved had programmed the drums on The Industrialist. Burton described The Industrialist as another concept album "sonically, conceptually, and lyrically". Cazares also said he and Burton were the two in control of the record's outcome, and that the songwriting on the album was much more "definitive" in regards to Fear Factory's platform sound. On June 4, 2012,The Industrialist was available to stream through AOL Music. The album was released through Candlelight Records on June 5, 2012.
On May 2, 2013, Cazares commented regarding the status of Fear Factory albums Archetype and Transgression, which were recorded without his participation, and the band's decision not to play songs from them live, saying "they don't count" as Fear Factory albums. Contradicting this, Fear Factory played the track Archetype on its 2013 Australian tour in early July, with minor changes to the song's lyrics. On August 2, 2013, ex-drummer Hoglan said he left Fear Factory because he was prevented from participating on the album, and only found out about its completion online.
Genexus (2013–2015)
On May 1, 2013, Dino Cazares told Songfacts.com Fear Factory would begin work on their ninth studio album after the end of The Industrialist tour. The album was expected to be released in early 2014. On May 13, 2013, Burton C. Bell told Metal-Rules.com, "Fear Factory will continue to tour North America and Europe 2013. We've got some more tours scheduled, some summer festivals next year. During that time our plan is to start writing a new record and we would like to have a new record out by spring 2014". On March 19, 2014, Bell told Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles he would like to have the new album released by August, followed by a tour in September. On September 12, 2014, the band announced it had signed to record label Nuclear Blast and would enter the studio in October. The band also confirmed that the album would be mixed by Andy Sneap, and that Rhys Fulber would again produce it.
The band played their first shows in India, in November 2014, as part of the Weekender Tour, and on February/March 2015, they participated at the Soundwave Festival in Australia and New Zealand.
On May 1, 2015, it was announced that former Static-X and Soulfly bassist Tony Campos joined the band. Later that month, Fear Factory announced that they would release their ninth studio album, titled Genexus, on August 7, 2015.
They toured in European festivals in July 2015, and then onto North America, as an opening act for Coal Chamber. From late August until mid-September 2015, the band toured the midwestern, southern and southwestern United States with support from Once Human (starring Logan Mader), Los Angeles melodic metal band Before the Mourning and Chicago rock band The Bloodline. They also announced that they would play the entire Demanufacture album in Europe between November and December 2015, a tour which again included Once Human with the addition of Irish band Dead Label as openers.
Hiatus and lawsuits (2016–2019)
In a November 2016 interview with Loudwire, guitarist Dino Cazares revealed that Fear Factory had planned to release their tenth studio album in mid-to-late 2017. He stated, "Right now we're going to be home and doing a new record. We're writing already and in the process of doing a new record, but it probably won't be out until late summer of next year or maybe even October. I'm not exactly sure."
In a December 2016 interview with The Ex-Man, despite an ongoing "huge legal battle" with Bell and Cazares, former bassist-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers stated that he was "trying to reach out and try to get this reunion thing happening." He added, "There would be nothing better for this band [than] to reconcile our differences, fucking write a killer record, which I know we can, and fucking we would be doing really big tours. My passion for playing and what we have invested in this band is very big, and I know it's really big for Dino as well, 'cause he started it with Raymond back in the day." More fuel to the possibility of a reunion with the "classic" lineup of Bell, Cazares, Herrera and Wolbers was added later that month, when Wolbers posted an image on his Instagram account, suggesting Fear Factory's official website was "under construction."
On May 7, 2017, Wolbers posted a blank picture on his Instagram (which was later deleted), claiming that Fear Factory had broken up. Later that day, Cazares was asked via Twitter if they were still together, and his response was, "Not sure why your asking that and rant by who?".
In an interview with Kilpop in May 2017, Burton C. Bell said that the new songs were "even stronger than Genexus, 'cause it just seems even more tight. We're on a groove, and it's kicking ass."
In an interview with SiriusXM's Jose Mangin at November 2018's inaugural Headbangers Con in Portland, Oregon, Bell revealed Monolith as the title of Fear Factory's tenth studio album and its tentative artwork via his smartphone. In October 2019, this was refuted by guitarist Dino Cazares who stated via his Twitter account that there was no new Fear Factory album. Shortly thereafter, Cazares expressed uncertainty towards the band's future, indicating that a lawsuit filed by former members Raymond Herrera and Christian Olde Wolbers had prevented him and Bell from using the Fear Factory name.
Split with Burton C. Bell, Aggression Continuum and new vocalist (2020–present)
On September 2, 2020, Dino Cazares announced he would be releasing new Fear Factory music in 2021. Less than a month later, Burton C. Bell announced he quit Fear Factory citing "consistent series of dishonest representations and unfounded accusations from past and present band members", leaving no original members left in the band besides Cazares. However, Bell's contributions to their upcoming album will remain, as he recorded his vocals in 2017.
In an interview with Robb Flynn on September 28, 2020, which took place within hours after Bell announced his departure from Fear Factory, Cazares claimed that he was not aware of the split until he "found out [about it] via social media." He also claimed that one of the reasons behind Bell's departure was not only due to the lawsuit that prevented the release of the band's new album, but because the latter's portion of the Fear Factory "trademark ownership became available", which left Cazares as the sole owner of the band name. Cazares reiterated that Bell's vocals will appear on the new album, which was being mixed by Andy Sneap for a March 2021 release, and hoped the pair would continue to work together in order to support it.
On April 1, 2021, Fear Factory announced that their first new song in over five years would be released on April 16. A short riff teaser of the song from Cazares was released soon after. The new single "Disruptor" was released on April 16, followed by the announcement of the tenth studio album Aggression Continuum, which was released on June 18.
While deciding on a new vocalist through auditions, Cazares said that gender would not play a role, expressing an open interest in hiring a female; however, he said that he would not announce it for a while. Out of all the potential talents, he decided on a replacement who had yet to be revealed, with the member being a male and "kind of known" within the metal scene. He also said that the new member would be introduced through new songs.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
Fear Factory has been classified under several metal genres, but usually are described as industrial metal. The band also has been described as groove metal, nu metal, grindcore, thrash metal, and death metal. The band began as a death metal band with their debut album Soul of a New Machine, but quickly moved to industrial metal after that album. Fear Factory's influences include Slayer, Exodus, Napalm Death, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and Godflesh.
In terms of influences on the group's work, Dino Cazares has cited the band members' interests in fantasy and science fiction alternative universes such as the Terminator mythos as well as the Dune mythos. As a specific example, their debut album, Soul of a New Machine, picked up its name directly from a line in a movie critic review of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day film (discussing the T-1000 villain). Cazares has also cited recurring influences on Fear Factory coming from conventional popular music, outside of the genres of hard rock and heavy metal, for instance looking to singer-songwriter Paul McCartney's sounds in both The Beatles and Wings. Over the years the film Blade Runner has become a recurring theme as the band often makes lyrical reference to the plot, as well as directly quote and sample lines from the film.
Fear Factory's innovative approach towards and hybridization of the genres industrial metal, death metal, and alternative metal has had a lasting impact on other artists coming later, the band putting a stamp on metal music ever since the release of their first album in 1992. Fear Factory is noteworthy among contemporaries for its lyrical focus on science fiction, with much of the band's music telling a single story spanning several concept albums. The band has been called a "stepping stone", leading mainstream listeners to venture into less-known, more extreme bands, and are consistently appreciated.
In the liner notes of the re-released version of Soul of a New Machine, Machine Head vocalist Robb Flynn, Chimaira vocalist Mark Hunter, and Spineshank guitarist Mike Sarkisyan cited Fear Factory as an influence. Robb Flynn said his vocal style was influenced by Burton C. Bell's vocals and Machine Head have been wrongly credited for the vocal style. Mark Hunter said Chimaira's drumming was heavily influenced by Raymond Herrera. Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Static-X, and Coal Chamber have also mentioned Fear Factory in their liner notes.
Modern bands including Mnemic, Scarve, Stiff Valentine, and Threat Signal contain significant influences from Fear Factory's technique and have also credited a substantial debt of gratitude to the band. Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy said, "Fear Factory are close to our hearts" and, "Soul of a New Machine was the influence for me to start my other project, 'Pain'". Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad said his main influences for Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing were Fear Factory and Napalm Death. In an interview on That Metal Show, Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward said Fear Factory is one of the bands he wishes he could play with, and picked Mechanize as one of his favourite albums.
Band members
Current members
Dino Cazares – guitars, backing vocals (1989–2002, 2009–present), bass (1992, 1995, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2020–present), keyboards (1995), drum programming (2012)
Mike Heller – drums (2012–present)
Tony Campos – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
Burton C. Bell – lead vocals (1989–2002, 2002–2006, 2009–2020), keyboards (1995)
David Gibney – bass (1989–1991)
Andy Romero – bass (1991–1992)
Andrew Shives – bass (1992–1993)
Raymond Herrera – drums (1989–2002, 2002–2006)
Christian Olde Wolbers – bass (1993–2002, 2002–2006), guitars (2002–2006), backing vocals (1993–2002, 2002–2006)
Byron Stroud – bass (2002–2006, 2009–2012)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2009–2012)
Matt DeVries – bass, backing vocals (2012–2015)
Session/touring musicians
Reynor Diego – keyboards, samples (1992–1995)
Rhys Fulber – keyboards, samples (1993–2002, 2003–2004, 2009–present)
Steve Tushar – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1995–1997, 2003–2005)
John Morgan – keyboards, samples (1997)
John Bechdel – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1998–2002, 2002–2004)
Timeline
Discography
Soul of a New Machine (1992)
Demanufacture (1995)
Obsolete (1998)
Digimortal (2001)
Archetype (2004)
Transgression (2005)
Mechanize (2010)
The Industrialist (2012)
Genexus (2015)
Aggression Continuum (2021)
References
External links
1989 establishments in California
American industrial metal musical groups
Candlelight Records artists
Death metal musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups reestablished in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2006
Musical groups reestablished in 2009
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Roadrunner Records artists | true | [
"Inspired by True Events is the third studio album by American singer Tori Kelly. It was released on August 9, 2019, through Schoolboy and Capitol Records. The album is a coming-of-age record, interspersed with deeply personal moments and encapsulates her experiences with marriage, divorce and public scrutinity. The album is primarily influenced by R&B-soul and contains blues, pop, and contemporary-gospel influences.\n\nBackground\n\nAfter releasing her debut album in 2015, Unbreakable Smile, Kelly released Hiding Place, a gospel album co-written & produced with Kirk Franklin.\n\nIn 2018, Kelly married basketball player André Murillo, as well as experienced her parents' divorce & the death of her grandfather. These events served for much of the inspiration behind the album.\n\nKelly worked with Jimmy Napes on much of the album, as well as with Bruno Major, Justin Tranter, and Tayla Parx, among others.\n\nRelease \n\nOn June 27, 2019, Kelly announced her third studio album would be released on August 9, 2019. On November 6, 2019, she announced on Instagram that the two deluxe tracks would be released for streaming that Friday.\n\nSingles \nOn January 18, 2019, Kelly announced she would be releasing her first single titled \"Change Your Mind\" on January 25, 2019.\n\nHer second single, \"Sorry Would Go A Long Way\", was released on June 28, 2019.\n\nOn July 19, 2019, the third single, \"Language\", was released digitally.\n\nA week before her album was released, Kelly released a promotional single titled \"2 Places\" and debuted it exclusively on Apple Music's Beats 1.\n\nPromotion \nKelly released the lead single for the album on January 25, 2019 titled \"Change Your Mind\".\n\nShe then went on a two-month promotional tour called The Acoustic Sessions where she performed some unreleased songs along with her top hits.\n\nOn June 28, Kelly released \"Sorry Would Go A Long Way\" which was the second single. The third and final single for the album, \"Language\", was released on July 19.\n\nOn August 9, Kelly performed \"Change Your Mind\", \"Language\", & \"Sorry Would Go A Long Way\" on Today. She also performed \"Sorry Would Go A Long Way\" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on August 15, 2019.\n\nShe will be on the Inspired by True Events tour in 2020.\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences \n\n2019 albums\nAlbums produced by Mike Elizondo\nCapitol Records albums\nTori Kelly albums",
"The Plot in You is an American rock band formed in Hancock County, Ohio in 2010. Originally a side project of former Before Their Eyes member Landon Tewers, the group is composed of Tewers, guitarist Josh Childress, bassist Ethan Yoder and drummer Michael Cooper.\n\nThe Plot in You have released one EP and five studio albums. Their EP Wife Beater was released in 2010, followed by their debut studio album First Born in 2011, and second studio album Could You Watch Your Children Burn in 2013. On July 17, 2015, the band announced their signing with StaySick Recordings and Happiness in Self Destruction was released on October 16, 2015. On June 15, 2017, they parted ways with StaySick Recordings and signed to Fearless Records while also announced their fourth studio album Dispose, which was released on February 16, 2018. Their fifth studio album, Swan Song, was released on September 17, 2021.\n\nHistory\n\nFormation, name change and First Born (2010–2011)\nBeginning as a side project to guitarist/vocalist Landon Tewers while a part of the post-hardcore band, Before Their Eyes under the name \"Vessels\". Vessels would go on to release a debut EP recorded and produced by himself titled Wife Beater through InVogue Records the label that Before Their Eyes was also signed to. Shortly after the release of Wife Beater, Tewers saw the potential of Vessels and decided to leave Before Their Eyes. He would then go on to change the band's name \"The Plot in You\" and recruit guitarists Anthony Thoma and Josh Childress, bassist Ethan Yoder, and drummer Cole Worden for live performances choosing to create the music independently from the rest of the band. Near the end of 2010, the band announced that they had signed to Rise Records and with Tewers admitting that he had already begun working on the material for an album with an expected release for early next year.\n\nOn October 21, 2010, the band set out on their first tour as support for A Plea for Purging \"The Mosh PotatTour\" in December alongside Your Memorial and Within the Ruins. The band would go on to release two promotional singles from their forthcoming new album, \"Unwelcome\" on November 29 and \"Miscarriage\" on February 24. The last song the band would go on to release prior to their album would be a cover of Rob Zombie's \"Superbeast\" which was released on March 30 on the band's Facebook page.\n\nOn April 19, 2011, the band official released their debut album, First Born, through Rise Records and would go on to tour extensively throughout 2011 and 2012. \nAt the end of the summer of 2011, the band would begin working on a music video for the song, \"Miscarriage\" which they would release on September 1. The band would join Thick as Blood, Legend and We Are Defiance on their \"Circle of Friends Tour\" before embarking on A Bullet for Pretty Boy for their fall \"The Revision:Revise Tour\" for their album of the same name alongside The Great Commission and The Air I Breathe. The band would finish the year as part of MyChildren MyBride winter headlining tour alongside Within the Ruins, Lionheart and I Declare War.\n\nCould You Watch Your Children Burn (2011–2013)\nOn October 22, 2011, the band announced on Twitter that they had already begun work on their next release. At the end of December 2011, guitarist Anthony Thoma announced that he would be leaving the band to return to school and had played his last show with the band earlier that month and would be replaced by A Bullet for Pretty Boy's guitarist, Derrick Sechrist. The band would begin the year touring as a part of Whitechapel's \"The Recorruptour\" alongside fellow supporting acts Miss May I, After the Burial, Structures and Within the Ruins. Soon after the band announced that they would be returning to the studio in March to begin tracking their next album. In the spring it was announced that the band would be embarking on \"The Dead Kid Tour\" this summer along with My Ticket Home, For All I Am and Erra before joining Demon Hunter's \"The True Defiance Tour\" alongside Bleeding Through, Cancer Bats and Willows. The band would go on to replace Molotov Solution on Impending Doom's forthcoming July U.S. tour with Within the Ruins, Erra and To Each His Own.\n\nAt the end of the summer of 2012, the band announced that they would be releasing their forthcoming album sometime this fall through Rise Records. Shortly after they were confirmed to be a part of Iwrestledabearonce's North American \"Ruining Earth for Everybody\" headlining tour this fall with Oceano, Vanna, Within the Ruins and Surrounded by Monsters. By the fall, the band announced that they would be ending the year as part of Like Moths to Flames mini-headlining tour in support of the deluxe reissue of When We Don't Exist alongside Ice Nine Kills, Horizons and Assassins. Not too much time later the band began releasing studio footage of them hard at work on their forthcoming album. Following the announcement the band also revealed that their outing titled, Could You Watch Your Children Burn would have a January 15 release date. The band would bring in the new year as part of Whitechapel's and Emmure's co-headlining tour the \"Brothers of Brutality Tour\" with Unearth and Obey the Brave.\n\nOn December 10, the band released their first song from their forthcoming album, the aggressive track, \"Premeditated\" detailing vocalist Tewers hostility towards the individual that had victimized his girlfriend while on tour. Later that month, the band released the next song from their forthcoming record, the veracious \"Fiction Religion\". The last song the band would release promotionally before the January 15 release of their sophomore album would be \"Digging Your Grave\", a track about Of Mice & Men's former vocalist Austin Carlile for an undisclosed reason.\n\nOn February 18, 2013, the band would release the NSFW tortured themed music video for their track, \"Premeditated\". A month later the band were announced to be a part of Attack Attack!'s \"Back in Action Tour\" the band's first tour since changing up singers and would be supported by Get Scared, Dangerkids and Closer to Closure. A couple days later, the band released a music video for the song, \"Fiction Religion\". Drummer Cole Worden announced his amicable departure from he band in the summer of 2013 stepping down from the band to pursue steadier employment. Kevin Rutherford formerly of Like Moths to Flames' fame would unofficially take over as the band's new drummer being officially announced some time later. The band released their final music video from their sophomore effort at the end of summer 2013, releasing the live video for their song, \"Troll\".\n\nThe Plot in You would embark on a summer overseas European and UK tour with direct support from I Declare War along with Empires Fade and Odessa providing split support for the tour. Followed by an Australian tour in September with For the Fallen Dreams, Storm the Sky and Fit for a King. They would end the year touring the US as part of Attila's \"About That Life Tour\" with Upon a Burning Body and Fit for a King. Later joined by Iwrestledabearonce completed the lineup for Attila's headlining tour.\n\nHappiness in Self Destruction (2013–2016)\nThe band were revealed to be heading back into the studio after their fall tour with Attila and Upon a Burning Body to begin work on their next release. The band will also bring in the new year as part of For Today's headlining tour in support of their new album, Fight the Silence through Razor & Tie with support from Stray from the Path, Like Moths to Flames and Fit for a King. The band were revealed to be joining Motionless in White and The Defiled on a tour in March appearing on select dates with For the Fallen Dreams and For Today.\n\nThe band would join Chimaira on their summer headlining \"The Artery Metal Tour\" alongside fellow supporting acts; Upon This Dawning, Allegaeon and Silence the Messenger. Following that tour, the band would then find themselves a part of The Acacia Strain's fall North American tour along with Cane Hill. During those shows the band began playing the song, \"Crows\" live with the song expected to be featured on their third album.\n\nAt the beginning of 2015, the band announced that they would be embarking on a spring tour with Sworn In, I Declare War and Gift Giver. But before joining up with Sworn In and I Declare War the band was a part of a small spring tour with Outline in Color and Gift Giver. Packing in their spring the band were announced to be a part of the \"New England Metal & Hardcore Festival\" among other heavy metal acts Fit for an Autopsy, I Declare War, Lionheart and Boris the Blade.\n\nOn February 23, 2015, the band announced their departure from Rise Records thanking the label for being a tremendous help with their last few releases and that they are finishing up work on the next album and will be announcing a new label soon. Along with the announcement they released a music video for their new song, \"My Old Ways\" stating the song showcases the sound and feel of their new album. In March, they released the previously unreleased B-side, \"Crows\", a song they had been playing live at shows and were planning to release on a 7-inch that never came to fruition. On June 3, the band announced that they will be taking part in Like Moths to Flames' summer headlining tour in support of the band's new 7 inch, The Dream Is Dead alongside Myka Relocate, and Yuth Forever (formerly Villains). After their supportive run with Like Moths to Flames, they were announced to be playing a small headlining run of shows with Myka Relocate finishing up the summer.\n\nIn July, the band officially announced that they had signed to StaySick Recordings and would be releasing their new album in the fall with Tewers expressing his joy to be working with hard working and passionate people that are also friends they've known on a personal level. They would later announce that their third album, Happiness in Self Destruction, would be released on October 16, 2015 releasing a video detailing the hardships behind the new album. At the end of August, they released, \"Take Me Away\", the second single from their looming album with Tewers citing the song as the most meaningful songs on the record and a tribute to his late grandfather. In September, they released a music video for \"Take Me Away\". They released the last promotional single, \"Dear Old Friend\" from their forthcoming album on October 3. In December 2015, they announced that they would be beginning the year supporting Blessthefall on their headlining tour in February alongside Sirens and Sailors, Miss May I, and A War Within.\n\nOn June 28, 2016, they premiered a music video for their song, \"Time Changes Everything\", taken from the new album Happiness in Self Destruction directed by Mathias Arnell the band's current touring drummer.\n\nDispose (2017–2019)\nOn June 1, 2017, it was announced that they would be part of Fearless Records' newest Punk Goes... compilation album, Punk Goes Pop Vol. 7, along with other top and up-and-coming bands in today's alternative scene covering the biggest Top 40 hits with their own dynamic flair. The band would go on to include their cover of the James Bay song, \"Let It Go\", with the compilation album being released on July 14.\n\nOn June 15, The Plot in You announced that they had signed with Fearless Records stating that they excited to be a part of the \"Fearless family\" and that it's refreshing to have a team behind them with the ambition and the tools to bring life to the creative vision they've always had for the band. They celebrated with the signing by releasing the song, \"Feel Nothing\", a song from their upcoming and first album that Tewers' had worked with another producer. This also served as an announcement of the band's departure from StaySick Recordings. Later that month, they were announced to be a part of The Color Morale's summer headlining tour in support of their 2016 album, Desolate Divine, alongside Dayseeker and Picturesque. They would later announce that they would be joining Ice Nine Kills on their \"Every Trick in the Book tour\" with the band performing the album of the same name in full each night with support from Dayseeker, Ovtlier and Carousel Kings. On November 16, the band released a music video for the first single from their forthcoming album, \"Not Just Breathing\" along with the tracklisting and that the album would be released on February 16.\n\nOn January 5, 2018, they were announced to be bringing in the new year till spring accompanying We Came as Romans' in their \"Cold Like War Tour\" alongside Oceans Ate Alaska, Currents and Tempting Fate. On January 25, the band opened up about their upcoming album, Dispose stating that \"breakdowns are no longer his main concern, that doesn't mean the band's sound is lightening up\" and that the album would be the band's heaviest but not in the way that fans think. Also in January, the band were announced to be joining Polaris and Alpha Wolf on their spring Australian tour. By the end of January they were set up to finish touring the spring in Europe and the UK alongside We Came as Romans, Polaris and Alazka.\n\nBeginning in February, the band would go on to release a music video for their new song, \"Disposable Fix\" on February 2 and \"I Always Wanted to Leave\" ironically released on Valentine's Day. The band began streaming their new album a day before its official release with Tewers issuing a statement on the overall style change. Stating: \"...when I first started Plot I was a metalhead through and through. After touring with only heavy bands, recording heavy bands, and writing primarily heavy music for years it just became mundane... I simply don't listen to what I listened to eight to 10 years ago. I've gone through things in my earlier days that made sense to scream about, and could be conveyed properly through heavy music. These days that tone just doesn't work for the most part. I've written three and a half records worth of heavy music. I want to expand and challenge myself.\"\n\nIn June 2018, they were announced to be continuing their trek in Europe and the UK this fall alongside The Amity Affliction, Dream State and Endless Heights. By July, they were announced to be finishing up the year touring in support of Underoath's winter North American headlining tour with Dance Gavin Dance and Crown the Empire. The following day, the band released a music video for their emotional song, \"The One You Loved\".\n\nAt the end of January 2019, they were announced to be joining their pals Like Moths to Flames, Dayseeker and Limbs for an upcoming spring North American tour. In May 2019, The Plot in You announced a few headlining shows this summer around their appearance at this years 2019 \"Rock USA\" festival with an appearance by Ice Nine Kills at their Columbus, Ohio show. At the end of July, they were excited to announce that they would be a part of Sum 41's fall headlining tour with The Amity Affliction with Of Mice & Men appearing on the dates that The Amity Affliction won't. They would go on to play a select few shows on the off-dates from their tour with Sum 41 and The Amity Affliction.\n\nSwan Song (2019–present)\nOn November 5, 2019, Landon announced on Instagram that he is working on new material for the band and his side project Ai640. It wouldn't be until the beginning of April 2020 that Tewers would go on to update the album's progress going on to state that: \"...we're a little over half way done tracking the new plot record and I'm really excited to get another record out. The new shit is truly unlike anything we've ever done..\". Tewers would also go onto release his melancholy solo track \"Say It Ain't So\" to tide fans over for the coming album. In May 2021, Tewers officially announced the album is completed.\n\nOn July 29, the band officially released the new lead single \"Face Me\" from their fifth studio album, Swan Song, which was released on September 17, 2021, along with its music video. At the same time, the band revealed the album cover and the track list. To promote the album, the band also announced that they will support Silverstein's rescheduled 20th anniversary tour along with Can't Swim in November 2021. On August 19, the band unveiled the second single \"Enemy\". On September 9, one week before the album release, the band released the third single \"Paradigm\" and its corresponding music video.\n\nMusical style\nThe band's initial music featured a gritty metalcore sound with low-tuned guitars a hint of djent, slight melodies but an overall emphasis on dissonance and equally as gritty lyrics. Tewers used a guttural vocal style most typically found in deathcore music with minor use of sung vocals in their earlier music mirror their angry and gritty tone conveying his lyricism of dark themes. The band would go on to add some melodic elements in their future releases after incorporating the use of clean vocals during their debut album. Their sophomore album would mark a change a shift to faster aggressive music with the incorporation of industrial samples and even full songs with little to no screaming. By their third album the band began to stray away from their metalcore and deathcore roots leaving the aggression behind in favor of experimentation. By their fourth outing, Dispose, Tewers stated the album would be a different type of heavy with the band leaving breakdowns and the cliches of metalcore behind them for unpredictable with songs varying from alternative rock to electronica many switching seamlessly from genre to the next in a matter of seconds. The biggest change came with multi-instrumentalist Landon Tewers including help from the rest of the band in the creative process for Dispose with Tewers writing, recording and producing all of the band previous releases aside from drums and percussion on some of their older releases.\n\nBand members\nCurrent\n Landon Khale Tewers (formerly of Before Their Eyes) – vocals, keyboards, programming (2010–present); guitars (2014–present); drums, percussion (2014–2015)\n Ethan Yoder (formerly of Walking Edith Park) – bass (2010–present)\n Josh Lewis Childress – guitars (2010–present)\n Michael Cooper – drums, percussion (2021–present)\n\nFormer\n Anthony Thoma – guitars (2010–2012)\n Cole Worden (formerly of Walking Edith Park) – drums, percussion (2010–2013)\n Derrick Sechrist (formerly of A Bullet for Pretty Boy) – guitars (2012–2014)\n Kevin Rutherford (formerly of Like Moths to Flames and Legion) – drums, percussion (2013–2014)\n Mathis Arnell (formerly of MyChildren MyBride) – drums, percussion (2015–2021)\n\nTouring musicians\n Alex Ballew (Erra) – drums, percussion (2014–2015, 2017)\n\nTimeline\n\nOther projects\n In March 2014, vocalist Landon Tewers announced that he would be releasing a debut solo EP on April 1 describing it as \"full of weird songs I can't use for anything else\" debuting his first single, \"Ma and Pa\" along with the announcement. He would go on to stream his EP, entitled Dead Kid on March 31 a day before its intended release and set out on a tour that summer with support from Wind in Sails. After the debut of his solo project, Landon would begin releasing original music and covers infrequently for the following years sometimes under different monikers. On Christmas Eve of 2014, Landon released another solo song with the title, \"I Hope You Have a Shitty Christmas\", having written the song while drunk and releasing it to tide fans over until the next Plot in You release. Along with revealing that the band have a music video shot, a 7 inch ready to go and that he will be releasing some studio updates soon so that fans will have a taste of what's to come. In February 2015, continuing with appeasing fans with the wait for new Plot in You music Landon released another solo track this time a cover of Drake's \"Hold On, We're Going Home\" with Dream Pilot's Sean Macdonald providing the guest backup vocals for the track. On the 12, Landon shared another solo track, \"I'll Always Be Proud\" a song he wrote for his girlfriend when he was \"borderline suicidal\" which is set to appear on his forthcoming EP. Followed by the song \"Feel You Out\" three days later.\n In 2015, Landon revealed another side project this being the chaotic metalcore moniker, \"Ai640\" which he would be releasing a concept EP full of music that didn't fit with the Plot in You's third album. He released the first song for the project in June 2015, \"Debate\", beginning a series of releases that would continue the ever-growing story of the sentient robot \"Ai640\". Landon released the self-titled EP about the titular violent robot with artificial intelligence. Tewers would go on to follow this concept into a second EP with the title \"Ai640, Pt. 2\" in 2017 along with the supporting single, \"Jane\". It would not be until the end of 2019 that Tewers would release any more heavy music under the moniker \"Ai640\". And in 2020, Tewers would finally complete his six-year side project and release the last EP in his conceptual trilogy.\n In 2016, guitarist Josh Childress began releasing his own music first releasing a cover of Leonard Cohen's \"Hallelujah\" at the beginning of November then debuting his original song, \"Always Blue\" at the end of November featuring a more atmospheric alternative rock sound with gritty vocals as opposed to the metalcore typically found in The Plot in You's music. He would then go on to premiere his next song, \"Bottle of Red\" and reveal that he would be releasing an EP titled, Always Blue in December 9. On March 16, 2017, they released his next song, \"Sell Your Soul\" continuing with the atmospheric alternative rock style with progressive elements thrown in the mix. Two years later in 2019, Childress would release his cover of The Rolling Stones' song \"Blinded by Rainbows\" and release his second EP, A Little Lost Without You. premiering the promotional singles, \"Think.\" and \"Kind Eyes\" for the release.\n\nDiscography\n\nStudio albums\n\nExtended plays\n\nSingles\n\nAs featured artist\n\nAlbum appearances\n\nMusic videos\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nAmerican metalcore musical groups\nRise Records artists\nMusical groups established in 2010\nHeavy metal musical groups from Ohio\nPeople from Findlay, Ohio\nFearless Records artists\n2010 establishments in Ohio"
] |
[
"Fear Factory",
"Demanufacture (1995-1997)",
"What is Demanufacture?",
"Fear Factory's second album,",
"What kind of music is this album?",
"rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar",
"Is this the only album from this band?",
"It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere,",
"Was Demanufacture successful?",
"Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine.",
"Did the bank go on tour when releasing this album?",
"Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden,"
] | C_94fad564d0f240aa84b5c7c9779de8fd_0 | When did the album first come out? | 6 | When did the album Demanufacture first come out? | Fear Factory | In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands. Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines. The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics. Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC videogames Carmageddon and Messiah. Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Waldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200 ;it also appeared on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995). CANNOTANSWER | June 12. | Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. Over the years, Fear Factory has seen changes in its lineup, with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell being the only consistent member for 31 years until his departure in 2020. Other than guitarist Dino Cazares, there are no original members left in its current lineup. The band went on hold in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but resumed activity a year later without founding member Cazares. Previous bassist Christian Olde Wolbers replaced him as the new guitarist, and bassist Byron Stroud joined the band. In April 2009, a new lineup was announced. Cazares returned as guitarist, and Gene Hoglan as drummer. Bell and Stroud reprised their respective roles, and this lineup recorded the band's seventh studio album titled Mechanize (2010). Former members Wolbers and Raymond Herrera—both of whom were playing in Arkaea—disputed the legitimacy of the new lineup, and a legal battle from both parties had begun. Despite this, Fear Factory has since released three more albums: The Industrialist (2012), Genexus (2015) and Aggression Continuum (2021).
The band has performed at four Ozzfests and the inaugural Gigantour. Their singles have charted on the US Mainstream Rock Top 40 and albums on the Billboard Top 40, 100, and 200, and they have sold more than a million albums in the U.S. alone.
History
Early years (1989–1990)
Fear Factory was formed in 1989 under the name Ulceration, which the band agreed would "just be a cool name". In 1990, the name "Fear the Factory" was adopted. The name was inspired by a factory that the band supposedly saw near their rehearsal space which was guarded by men carrying rifles. Later, they shortened the name to just "Fear Factory".
The band's origins can be traced to an outfit formed by guitarist Dino Cazares—formerly of The Douche Lords—and drummer Raymond Herrera in Los Angeles, California. Their first lineup was completed with the addition of bassist Dave Gibney and vocalist Burton C. Bell (ex-Hate Face), who was allegedly recruited by an impressed Cazares, who overheard him singing "New Year's Day" by U2. Cazares played bass on the first three Fear Factory albums Concrete, Soul of a New Machine and Demanufacture, on which Cazares changed many of the riffs during the recording. It took Cazares two weeks to get the appropriate guitar tone. Cazares created, wrote and recorded all the music on the album. Wolbers joined the band two weeks before they were scheduled to go on tour to promote the album and, although he contributed musical changes to a couple of songs on the album he stated that these were not significant.
Fear Factory's earliest demo recordings are strongly reminiscent of the early works of Napalm Death and Godflesh, an acknowledged influence of the band in the grindcore-driven approach of the former and the mechanical brutality, bleakness, and vocal stylings of the latter. According to Brian Russ of The BNR Metal Pages, the demos are remarkable for integrating these influences into the band's death metal sound and for Burton C. Bell's pioneering fusion of extreme death growls and clean vocals in the same song, which was to become a significant and influential element of the band's sound throughout their career. The use of grunts and "throat singing" combined with clean vocals later defined the nu metal and other emerging subgenres of metal. Many vocalists in today's metal scene use two or more methods of singing and vocalizing lyrics. The band contributed two songs to the L.A. Death Metal Compilation in 1990. The band played its first show on October 31, 1990.
Concrete (1991)
In 1991, Fear Factory recorded a series of cuts for their debut album with the then-little-known producer Ross Robinson in Blackie Lawless' studio. The band's members were unhappy with the terms of their recording contract and caused a delay with the album's release. The band retained the rights to the songs, many of which they re-recorded in 1992 with a different producer, Colin Richardson, for inclusion on their debut release Soul of a New Machine. Meanwhile, Ross Robinson obtained the rights to the recording, which he used to promote himself as a producer. The album was officially released in 2002 by Roadrunner Records under the title Concrete after the band's breakup. The release was controversial because the album was issued because of the band's outstanding contractual obligation and without the approval of every band member.
Fan opinion has been divided as to whether Ross Robinson's production properly captured the intricacies of the band's sound. The released album favored a straight-up approach and Robinson's distinct drum sound. Concrete has become an important album for fans of the early Fear Factory sound; it can be seen as a bridge between the band's sound on their demo recordings and their debut release, Soul of a New Machine, and a blueprint for later songs and B-sides.
Based on the Concrete recording, Max Cavalera recommended Fear Factory to the then-death-metal-focused Roadrunner Records label, which offered the band a recording contract. While the band signed the contract, it has since become controversial because of Roadrunner's treatment of the band during the events surrounding its 2002 breakup. This was reflected in the first album Archetype (2004), which was released following the band's re-formation. The opening song with lyrics by Burton C. Bell, "Slave Labor", was direct about the band's feelings on the matter. After working with numerous bassists, Andrew Shives was hired as a live bassist prior to the release of Soul of a New Machine.
Soul of a New Machine (1992–1994)
Soul of a New Machine (1992), which was recorded with producer Colin Richardson, gave the band greater exposure in the music scene. It is characterized by an industrial death metal sound that combined Bell's harsh and melodic vocals, Herrera's machine-like drums, the integrated industrial samples and textures and the sharp, down-tuned, rhythmic, death metal riffs of Dino Cazares. Cazares and Herrera wrote all the music. Because the band had no bass player, Cazares played both guitar and bass on the recording. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic called the album "groundbreaking" and said that "it ushered in the '90s alternative metal era".
Due to the extreme nature of the music, the album never reached the level of popularity attained by their later, more accessible works, and remains a cult favorite. Soul of a New Machine is considered by many as Fear Factory's final work death metal album because with each album, the band's style shifted away from the death metal subgenre.
To promote the album, Fear Factory embarked on extensive U.S. tours with Biohazard, Sepultura, and Sick of It All. During this period, sampler-keyboardist Reynor Diego joined the group. An album tour of Europe with Brutal Truth, then Cannibal Corpse, Cathedral, and Sleep, followed. The following year, they hired Front Line Assembly member Rhys Fulber to remix some songs from the album, demonstrating the band's willingness to experiment with their music. The results took on a predominantly industrial guise, and were released as the Fear Is the Mindkiller EP (1993). Soul of a New Machine and Fear is the Mindkiller were released (2004) as a package in a new re-mastered reissue by Roadrunner Records.
In 1994, Andrew Shives was forced to leave the band. Cazares recorded both the guitar and bass for the entire album. In November the same year, the band met Belgian Christian Olde Wolbers through Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard. Wolbers auditioned for Fear Factory's permanent bassist. Wolbers joined the band immediately since the band's tour was starting in two weeks.
Demanufacture (1995–1997)
In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands.
Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines.
The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics.
Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC video games Carmageddon and Messiah.
Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Wâldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995).
Obsolete (1998–2000)
Fear Factory's third studio album, Obsolete (July 1998), was reportedly completed earlier than planned by canceling an appearance at the Dynamo Open Air Festival.
Obsolete was similar in sound to Demanufacture, and introduced the progressive metal and alternative metal elements to the band's output. For the first time, the album featured Christian Olde Wolbers writing and recording full-time with the band. It also featured Cazares' debut use of 7-string Ibanez guitars tuned to A tuning (A, D, G, C, F, A, D), and paved the way for a lower-tuned sound than previously. The album is also notable for Rhys Fulber's increased involvement with the band.
While Fear Factory had explored the theme of "Man versus Machine" in their earlier work, Obsolete was their first concept album that dealt specifically with a literal interpretation of this subject. It tells a story called Conception 5, which was written by Bell, that takes place in a future world where mankind is rendered "obsolete" by machines. Its characters include the "Edgecrusher", "Smasher/Devourer", and the "Securitron" monitoring system. The story is presented in the lyrics booklet in a screenplay format between the individual songs. The printed story parts link the lyrics of the songs together thematically.
Obsolete was released during the alternative metal boom of the late 1990s. It was supported by tours with Slayer and later, Rammstein, and a headlining spot on the second stage at Ozzfest in 1999 as last-minute replacements for Judas Priest. They also toured in Europe in December 1998 with Spineshank and Kilgore, and went on their first headlining tour in North America with Static-X the next year, though the first leg was interrupted due to the band's tour bus and material being stolen. They also played in Japan for the first time. Obsolete became the band's highest selling album, marking the band's first entry into the Top 100 on the Billboard charts. The album also spawned singles "Descent" and a digipak bonus track, "Cars", a cover of the Gary Numan song featuring a guest appearance by Numan on the song. The single made the Mainstream Rock Top 40 in 1999 and was also featured in the video game, Test Drive 6. Numan also performed a spoken-word sample on the album's title track. A video was filmed for the song "Resurrection". To date, Obsolete remains the only Fear Factory album to have achieved gold sales in the U.S.
Digimortal and demise (2001–2002)
In early 2001, Fear Factory was asked to headline SnoCore Rock. The success of Obsolete and "Cars" was a turning point for the band; Roadrunner Records was now keen on capitalizing on the band's sales potential and pressured the band to record more accessible material for the follow-up album, titled Digimortal, which was released on April 23, 2001. Few weeks before its release, they were touring in Europe with One Minute Silence.
They went on a long headlining North American tour during 2001, then played in much larger European festivals like Bizarre Festival, Pukkelpop, Lowlands Festival and Leeds & Reading Festival. They then went on the first Roadrunner Roadrage tour in North America, toured Europe with Devin Townsend and Godflesh and played in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Digimortal made the Top 40 on the Billboard album charts, the Top 20 in Canada and the Top 10 of the Australian album charts. The track "Linchpin" reached the Mainstream Rock Top 40. A remix of "Invisible Wounds" was included on the Resident Evil film soundtrack, and an instrumental digipak bonus track called "Full Metal Contact" was originally written for the video game, Demolition Racer. A VHS/DVD release called Digital Connectivity, which documents each of the four album periods of the band via interviews, live clips, music videos and tour/studio footage, was released in January 2002.
Although Digimortal had a successful start, the sales did not reach the levels of Obsolete and the band received little tour support. The direction of the album coupled with strong personal differences between some of the band members created a rift that escalated to the point where Bell announced his exit in March 2002. The band disbanded immediately thereafter; its publicists said this was "largely because vocalist Burton C. Bell is tired of playing angry, aggressive music and wants to form a band that's more indie-rock-oriented". In a final collaboration, the group recorded two songs for the video game The Terminator: Dawn of Fate that month. Fear Factory's contractual obligations remained unfulfilled, however, and Roadrunner did not release them without controversially issuing the Concrete album in 2002 and the B-sides and rarities compilation, Hatefiles, in 2003. During his time away from Fear Factory, Bell with John Bechdel started a side project called Ascension of the Watchers, which released its first EP, Iconoclast, independently via their online store in 2005.
First return and Archetype (2002–2004)
Over time, tensions within the band developed between Dino Cazares and the other members, particularly Burton C. Bell and Raymond Herrera. When asked about the breakup in May 2002, Cazares made claims and allegations against Bell and the other members, stating that Fear Factory could continue without Christian Olde Wolbers and that he and Raymond Herrera were primarily motivated by money. Herrera responded to these allegations on behalf of the other band members, saying that Cazares was motivated by money and emphasizing Olde Wolbers' influence on the band's sound. According to Herrera, the other band members would often come up with new ideas they wanted to incorporate into Fear Factory's sound, but their suggestions were dismissed or openly ridiculed by Cazares, causing a rift between him and the other members that ultimately led to the band's breakup. In the same interview, Herrera also revealed that Cazares had attempted to control the direction of the band by manipulating their business management and record company, and had openly lied to the other members about his actions.
Herrera and Olde Wolbers reunited later in 2002 and laid the foundations for the return of Fear Factory. Cazares was then permanently out of the band. Bell was approached with their demo recordings and was impressed enough to rejoin the band and Fear Factory was re-formed. Olde Wolbers switched to guitar and Byron Stroud of Strapping Young Lad was approached to join the band as a bassist. He was a member from 2003 until 2012. Cazares continued recording and performing with his side project called Asesino, a Mexican deathgrind band. In 2007, he also started a new group called Divine Heresy.
Fear Factory made its live return as the mystery band at the Australian Big Day Out festival in January 2004, followed by its first American shows since re-forming on the spring Jägermeister tour with Slipknot and Chimaira. The new lineup's first album Archetype was released on April 20, 2004, through new record label Liquid 8 Records based in Minnesota. With Archetype, Fear Factory returned to an alternative, industrial, metal sound; the album is generally considered to be a strong 'return-to-form' record, if not a particularly innovative effort, with most of the trademark elements of the band firmly in place.
Videos were shot for the songs "Cyberwaste", "Archetype", and "Bite the Hand That Bleeds"; the latter featured on the Saw film soundtrack. The band performed on further tours with Lamb of God and Mastodon in the US and with Mnemic in Europe. The new Fear Factory has largely abandoned the direct "Man versus Machine" theme prevalent on earlier releases in favor of subjects such as religion, war, and corporatism.
Transgression (2005–2006)
Fear Factory announced plans to record and release its next full-length album over a very short period of time with mainstream rock producer Toby Wright, who had worked with Korn and Alice in Chains. This was allegedly due to pressure from Fear Factory's new label Calvin Records, which preponed the album's release date from four months away to just a month and a half so the band would have a new album to support on the inaugural Gigantour, which they had been invited to participate on by Dave Mustaine.
The resulting album, Transgression, was released on August 22, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and on the following day in North America, almost a year after Archetype. The album garnered highly polarized reviews; some critics hailed the album as diverse and progressive, and other reviewers did not receive the record very well. Although the album starts off as a Fear Factory record, subsequent songs include mellow/alt-rock numbers "Echo of My Scream" (featuring Faith No More's Billy Gould on bass) and "New Promise", a pop-rock song "Supernova", and a faithful cover of U2's rock song "I Will Follow".
In 2013, Wolbers posted more details about writing and recording of Transgression and Archetype on his Facebook page. He said he was disappointed with Transgression, calling it half-finished, and blamed the label for the severe time constraints imposed during the recording sessions and for the inclusion of the U2 cover. However, Burton C. Bell said he is proud of the album and sees it as the band "stepping over boundaries".
During 2005 and 2006, Fear Factory promoted the album on the "Fifteen Years of Fear" world tour in celebration of their fifteenth anniversary. The members invited bands including Darkane, Strapping Young Lad and Soilwork to join them on the U.S. leg, and Misery Index to join them on the European leg. Late in 2005, Fear Factory toured the U.S. again on the "Machines at War" tour, with an all-star death metal lineup of guests in Suffocation, Hypocrisy, and Decapitated; they played old classics from Soul of a New Machine, such as "Crash Test", which they had not performed live in many years.
Hiatus and other projects (2006–2008)
An online statement from Wolbers in December 2006 said the band would return to the studio to record a new album, produced by the band, immediately after the completion of the Transgression touring cycle. That month, Bell confirmed in an interview that the band would leave Liquid 8 Records.
Rather than begin work on a new studio album, the band members briefly parted and began working with other projects. Bell contributed vocals to the songs "End of Days, Pt.1", "End of Days, Pt. 2", and "Die in a Crash" on Ministry's 2007 album The Last Sucker, and later toured with Ministry in support of the album. In an interview for the website Metalsucks, Bell called this a "dream come true", describing Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen as "one of [his] heroes". In the same interview, Bell talked at length about his new band Ascension of the Watchers, providing insight into the inspiration behind the project's formation.
On March 21, 2008, while Fear Factory was on hiatus, Bell spoke in a video interview about the band's future, saying he no longer wanted to contribute to the violence and aggression he saw in the world with the aggressive type of music Fear Factory produced. Wolbers and Herrera started a new band called Arkaea, with vocalist Jon Howard and bassist Pat Kavanagh of Threat Signal. Wolbers said, "Ironically, half of the Arkaea album consists of songs that were intended to be the next Fear Factory record". Arkaea's debut album Years in the Darkness was released on July 14, 2009.
Second return, internal disputes, and Mechanize (2009–2011)
On April 8, 2009, Bell and Cazares announced the reconciliation of their friendship, and the formation of a new project with Byron Stroud on bass and drummer Gene Hoglan of Testament, Death, Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel, and Dethklok. On April 28, this project was announced to be a new version of Fear Factory without Herrera and Wolbers. When asked about their exclusion, Bell said, "[Fear Factory is] like a business and I'm just reorganizing ... We won't talk about [their exclusion]".
In June 2009, Wolbers and Herrera spoke about the issue on the radio program Speed Freaks. Herrera said he and Wolbers were still in the band. "[Christian and I] are actually still in Fear Factory ... [Burton and Dino] decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it Fear Factory. They never communicated with us about it", said Herrera. Herrera also said the four original members—Bell, Cazares, Wolbers, and Herrera—were contractually regarded as Fear Factory Incorporated, and, "it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate". The drummer also said he and Wolbers had written eight songs for the next Fear Factory record, but that a "personal disagreement" had arisen between them and Bell, which left Bell not wanting to continue work with the band.
Bell and Cazares later spoke about their reasons for excluding Herrera and Wolbers. Cazares said Bell wanted to reunite the classic Fear Factory lineup of himself, Cazares, Herrera, and Wolbers, but that Herrera and Wolbers refused to be part of any reunion with Cazares. Bell also said he wanted to fire the band's manager Christy Priske, who was also Wolbers' wife, and Herrera and Wolbers refused. Herrera and Wolbers threatened to sign a new record deal without Bell, prompting him to form a new version of Fear Factory without them. In some interviews, Wolbers said Bell had made "growing unacceptable demands", which were declined. He said, "Ray and I wanted what was best for the business and what he [Burton] was trying to change wasn't really good for the business. It was only bad for the business, so that's why he went into that whole phase of hijacking the name and trying to run with it."
Fear Factory featuring Bell and Cazares was due to make its live debut on June 21 at the Metalway Festival in Zaragoza, Spain. However, the show was canceled "at the last minute", apparently because of the legal complications referenced by Herrera. The rest of that lineup's planned performances in mid-2009, which included a tour of the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand that August, had also been canceled. The group said they canceled the tour to finish writing and recording the next Fear Factory album. Despite the canceled performances in Europe, they performed some shows in December in South American countries including Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.
During an interview on June 23, 2009, Cazares said he could never have a working relationship with Raymond and Wolbers again, saying they were too money-driven and criticized the music they recorded on Archetype for being too similar to the band's earlier output. Despite ongoing issues between the two parties, the new Fear Factory went ahead with the recording process. In late July 2009, a short video shot with a cell telephone showed Cazares recording drum tracks with longtime contributor Rhys Fulber. On November 6, 2009, blabbermouth.net said a new album, Mechanize, would be released on February 9, 2010, on Candlelight Records. On November 8, 2009, Fear Factory released a track titled "Powershifter" on YouTube. On November 10, 2009, Bell announced the track list for Mechanize, along with an explanation of each song.
In January 2010, Fear Factory played in Australia and New Zealand tour on the Big Day Out tour, playing their first Australian dates since 2005 on January 17 at Parklands Showgrounds on Queensland's Gold Coast. Fear Factory released Mechanize on February 5, 2010, and began a U.S. tour titled "Fear Campaign Tour 2010", in late March. In August 2010, the band headlined the Brutal Assault open air festival in Czech Republic. In September 2010, Fear Factory toured Australia, New Zealand, and Tokyo as the opening act for Metallica. The New Zealand concerts were in Christchurch, two shows that were brought about by a petition sent to Metallica asking them to visit New Zealand's second-largest city. After the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, the South Island concerts were in doubt, but on September 15, 2010, an official announced the CBS Arena had escaped harm and both shows went ahead.
The Industrialist (2011–2013)
In an interview during the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, Bell said Fear Factory was planning to write and record a "full-on concept" album, which was due for release in 2012. He said, "We're gonna kind of take a break a little bit, but we're definitely going into the studio at some point and start writing. We wanna take our time doing it. Personally ... Mechanize, don't get me wrong, is a good record—I'm very proud of it—but it's gotta be better than that. I've got plans where I'd like to do a full-on concept again—story, artwork. Just make it real cerebral. But there'll definitely be another Fear Factory record, maybe in 2012." On August 3, 2011, Dino Cazares said on his Twitter feed that he was working and demoing new material for the next Fear Factory album. On January 25, 2012, the band announced the new album will be titled The Industrialist. The album was again co-produced by the band with Rhys Fulber and mixed by Greg Reely.
Byron Stroud left the band early in 2012, saying, "Life's too short to spend it with people who don't respect you". In one interview, Cazares said he did not know why Stroud decided to leave and that he could not play the bass parts on Mechanize, prompting Cazares to do it himself.
In February 2012, former Chimaira guitar player Matt DeVries replaced Stroud. On April 19, 2012, Mike Heller of Malignancy and System Divide was announced as the band's new drummer, replacing Gene Hoglan; in an interview, Hoglan claimed that he only found out through Blabbermouth.net that he was no longer needed, and expressed some disappointment about the course of events. At the same time, Cazares confirmed on his Facebook page that John Sankey of Devolved had programmed the drums on The Industrialist. Burton described The Industrialist as another concept album "sonically, conceptually, and lyrically". Cazares also said he and Burton were the two in control of the record's outcome, and that the songwriting on the album was much more "definitive" in regards to Fear Factory's platform sound. On June 4, 2012,The Industrialist was available to stream through AOL Music. The album was released through Candlelight Records on June 5, 2012.
On May 2, 2013, Cazares commented regarding the status of Fear Factory albums Archetype and Transgression, which were recorded without his participation, and the band's decision not to play songs from them live, saying "they don't count" as Fear Factory albums. Contradicting this, Fear Factory played the track Archetype on its 2013 Australian tour in early July, with minor changes to the song's lyrics. On August 2, 2013, ex-drummer Hoglan said he left Fear Factory because he was prevented from participating on the album, and only found out about its completion online.
Genexus (2013–2015)
On May 1, 2013, Dino Cazares told Songfacts.com Fear Factory would begin work on their ninth studio album after the end of The Industrialist tour. The album was expected to be released in early 2014. On May 13, 2013, Burton C. Bell told Metal-Rules.com, "Fear Factory will continue to tour North America and Europe 2013. We've got some more tours scheduled, some summer festivals next year. During that time our plan is to start writing a new record and we would like to have a new record out by spring 2014". On March 19, 2014, Bell told Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles he would like to have the new album released by August, followed by a tour in September. On September 12, 2014, the band announced it had signed to record label Nuclear Blast and would enter the studio in October. The band also confirmed that the album would be mixed by Andy Sneap, and that Rhys Fulber would again produce it.
The band played their first shows in India, in November 2014, as part of the Weekender Tour, and on February/March 2015, they participated at the Soundwave Festival in Australia and New Zealand.
On May 1, 2015, it was announced that former Static-X and Soulfly bassist Tony Campos joined the band. Later that month, Fear Factory announced that they would release their ninth studio album, titled Genexus, on August 7, 2015.
They toured in European festivals in July 2015, and then onto North America, as an opening act for Coal Chamber. From late August until mid-September 2015, the band toured the midwestern, southern and southwestern United States with support from Once Human (starring Logan Mader), Los Angeles melodic metal band Before the Mourning and Chicago rock band The Bloodline. They also announced that they would play the entire Demanufacture album in Europe between November and December 2015, a tour which again included Once Human with the addition of Irish band Dead Label as openers.
Hiatus and lawsuits (2016–2019)
In a November 2016 interview with Loudwire, guitarist Dino Cazares revealed that Fear Factory had planned to release their tenth studio album in mid-to-late 2017. He stated, "Right now we're going to be home and doing a new record. We're writing already and in the process of doing a new record, but it probably won't be out until late summer of next year or maybe even October. I'm not exactly sure."
In a December 2016 interview with The Ex-Man, despite an ongoing "huge legal battle" with Bell and Cazares, former bassist-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers stated that he was "trying to reach out and try to get this reunion thing happening." He added, "There would be nothing better for this band [than] to reconcile our differences, fucking write a killer record, which I know we can, and fucking we would be doing really big tours. My passion for playing and what we have invested in this band is very big, and I know it's really big for Dino as well, 'cause he started it with Raymond back in the day." More fuel to the possibility of a reunion with the "classic" lineup of Bell, Cazares, Herrera and Wolbers was added later that month, when Wolbers posted an image on his Instagram account, suggesting Fear Factory's official website was "under construction."
On May 7, 2017, Wolbers posted a blank picture on his Instagram (which was later deleted), claiming that Fear Factory had broken up. Later that day, Cazares was asked via Twitter if they were still together, and his response was, "Not sure why your asking that and rant by who?".
In an interview with Kilpop in May 2017, Burton C. Bell said that the new songs were "even stronger than Genexus, 'cause it just seems even more tight. We're on a groove, and it's kicking ass."
In an interview with SiriusXM's Jose Mangin at November 2018's inaugural Headbangers Con in Portland, Oregon, Bell revealed Monolith as the title of Fear Factory's tenth studio album and its tentative artwork via his smartphone. In October 2019, this was refuted by guitarist Dino Cazares who stated via his Twitter account that there was no new Fear Factory album. Shortly thereafter, Cazares expressed uncertainty towards the band's future, indicating that a lawsuit filed by former members Raymond Herrera and Christian Olde Wolbers had prevented him and Bell from using the Fear Factory name.
Split with Burton C. Bell, Aggression Continuum and new vocalist (2020–present)
On September 2, 2020, Dino Cazares announced he would be releasing new Fear Factory music in 2021. Less than a month later, Burton C. Bell announced he quit Fear Factory citing "consistent series of dishonest representations and unfounded accusations from past and present band members", leaving no original members left in the band besides Cazares. However, Bell's contributions to their upcoming album will remain, as he recorded his vocals in 2017.
In an interview with Robb Flynn on September 28, 2020, which took place within hours after Bell announced his departure from Fear Factory, Cazares claimed that he was not aware of the split until he "found out [about it] via social media." He also claimed that one of the reasons behind Bell's departure was not only due to the lawsuit that prevented the release of the band's new album, but because the latter's portion of the Fear Factory "trademark ownership became available", which left Cazares as the sole owner of the band name. Cazares reiterated that Bell's vocals will appear on the new album, which was being mixed by Andy Sneap for a March 2021 release, and hoped the pair would continue to work together in order to support it.
On April 1, 2021, Fear Factory announced that their first new song in over five years would be released on April 16. A short riff teaser of the song from Cazares was released soon after. The new single "Disruptor" was released on April 16, followed by the announcement of the tenth studio album Aggression Continuum, which was released on June 18.
While deciding on a new vocalist through auditions, Cazares said that gender would not play a role, expressing an open interest in hiring a female; however, he said that he would not announce it for a while. Out of all the potential talents, he decided on a replacement who had yet to be revealed, with the member being a male and "kind of known" within the metal scene. He also said that the new member would be introduced through new songs.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
Fear Factory has been classified under several metal genres, but usually are described as industrial metal. The band also has been described as groove metal, nu metal, grindcore, thrash metal, and death metal. The band began as a death metal band with their debut album Soul of a New Machine, but quickly moved to industrial metal after that album. Fear Factory's influences include Slayer, Exodus, Napalm Death, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and Godflesh.
In terms of influences on the group's work, Dino Cazares has cited the band members' interests in fantasy and science fiction alternative universes such as the Terminator mythos as well as the Dune mythos. As a specific example, their debut album, Soul of a New Machine, picked up its name directly from a line in a movie critic review of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day film (discussing the T-1000 villain). Cazares has also cited recurring influences on Fear Factory coming from conventional popular music, outside of the genres of hard rock and heavy metal, for instance looking to singer-songwriter Paul McCartney's sounds in both The Beatles and Wings. Over the years the film Blade Runner has become a recurring theme as the band often makes lyrical reference to the plot, as well as directly quote and sample lines from the film.
Fear Factory's innovative approach towards and hybridization of the genres industrial metal, death metal, and alternative metal has had a lasting impact on other artists coming later, the band putting a stamp on metal music ever since the release of their first album in 1992. Fear Factory is noteworthy among contemporaries for its lyrical focus on science fiction, with much of the band's music telling a single story spanning several concept albums. The band has been called a "stepping stone", leading mainstream listeners to venture into less-known, more extreme bands, and are consistently appreciated.
In the liner notes of the re-released version of Soul of a New Machine, Machine Head vocalist Robb Flynn, Chimaira vocalist Mark Hunter, and Spineshank guitarist Mike Sarkisyan cited Fear Factory as an influence. Robb Flynn said his vocal style was influenced by Burton C. Bell's vocals and Machine Head have been wrongly credited for the vocal style. Mark Hunter said Chimaira's drumming was heavily influenced by Raymond Herrera. Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Static-X, and Coal Chamber have also mentioned Fear Factory in their liner notes.
Modern bands including Mnemic, Scarve, Stiff Valentine, and Threat Signal contain significant influences from Fear Factory's technique and have also credited a substantial debt of gratitude to the band. Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy said, "Fear Factory are close to our hearts" and, "Soul of a New Machine was the influence for me to start my other project, 'Pain'". Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad said his main influences for Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing were Fear Factory and Napalm Death. In an interview on That Metal Show, Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward said Fear Factory is one of the bands he wishes he could play with, and picked Mechanize as one of his favourite albums.
Band members
Current members
Dino Cazares – guitars, backing vocals (1989–2002, 2009–present), bass (1992, 1995, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2020–present), keyboards (1995), drum programming (2012)
Mike Heller – drums (2012–present)
Tony Campos – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
Burton C. Bell – lead vocals (1989–2002, 2002–2006, 2009–2020), keyboards (1995)
David Gibney – bass (1989–1991)
Andy Romero – bass (1991–1992)
Andrew Shives – bass (1992–1993)
Raymond Herrera – drums (1989–2002, 2002–2006)
Christian Olde Wolbers – bass (1993–2002, 2002–2006), guitars (2002–2006), backing vocals (1993–2002, 2002–2006)
Byron Stroud – bass (2002–2006, 2009–2012)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2009–2012)
Matt DeVries – bass, backing vocals (2012–2015)
Session/touring musicians
Reynor Diego – keyboards, samples (1992–1995)
Rhys Fulber – keyboards, samples (1993–2002, 2003–2004, 2009–present)
Steve Tushar – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1995–1997, 2003–2005)
John Morgan – keyboards, samples (1997)
John Bechdel – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1998–2002, 2002–2004)
Timeline
Discography
Soul of a New Machine (1992)
Demanufacture (1995)
Obsolete (1998)
Digimortal (2001)
Archetype (2004)
Transgression (2005)
Mechanize (2010)
The Industrialist (2012)
Genexus (2015)
Aggression Continuum (2021)
References
External links
1989 establishments in California
American industrial metal musical groups
Candlelight Records artists
Death metal musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups reestablished in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2006
Musical groups reestablished in 2009
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Roadrunner Records artists | true | [
"Come On In may refer to:\nCome On In, a 1998 album by R. L. Burnside\n\"Come On In\", a song by The Association on their 1968 album Birthday\n\"Come On In\", a song by Rick Nelson from his live album In Concert at the Troubadour, 1969\n\"Come On In\", a song written by Bobby Braddock and first released by Jerry Lee Lewis on his 1977 album Country Memories\n\"Come On In\" (The Oak Ridge Boys song), a 1978 song by The Oak Ridge Boys from the album Room Service\n\"Come On In (You Did the Best You Could Do)\", a 1986 unrelated song by The Oak Ridge Boys from the album Step On Out\n\"Come On In\", a song by The Blues Band on their 1979 album The Official Blues Band Bootleg Album\n\"Come On In\", a song by Sparklehorse on their 1998 album Good Morning Spider\n\"Come On In\", a song featuring Akon on Sean Garrett's 2008 debut album Turbo 919\nCome On In!, a book of poetry by Charles Bukowski, published in 2006\nCome On In (film), a 1918 American comedy silent film\n Come On In (album), a 1998 remix album by Delta blues guitarist R. L. Burnside\n\nSee also\nCome On (disambiguation)",
"Where Did Our Love Go is the second studio album by Motown singing group The Supremes, released in 1964. The album includes several of the group's singles and B-sides from 1963 and 1964. Included are the group's first Billboard Pop Singles number-one hits, \"Where Did Our Love Go\", \"Baby Love\", and \"Come See About Me\", as well as their first Top 40 hit, \"When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes\", and the singles \"A Breathtaking Guy\" and \"Run, Run, Run\".\n\nWith the release of this album, The Supremes became the first act in Billboard magazine history to have three number-one hits from the same album. It was the album that introduced \"The Motown Sound\" to the masses. It was also, at the time, the highest-ranking album by an all-female group. It remained in the #2 position for 4 consecutive weeks in January 1965, shut out of the top spot by the Beatles' blockbuster Beatles '65 album. Where Did Our Love Go remained on the Billboard album chart for an unprecedented 89 weeks.\n\nHip-O Select released a limited run fortieth anniversary deluxe edition of the album in 2004, which included both the mono and stereo versions of the album, as well as several outtakes, non-album tracks and a recorded live show from the Twenty Grand club in Detroit, Michigan. It sold out immediately.\n\nThey filmed performances of four of the singles from the album including \"Run, Run, Run\", \"When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes\", \"Where Did Our Love Go\" and \"Baby Love\" for the concert film, The T.A.M.I. Show released on December 29, 1964. It was equivalent to Motown 25 or Live Aid as a pivotal music concert event . When it hit theaters nationwide, it undoubtedly raised and extended the visibility of the Where Did Our Love Go album.\n\nTrack listing\nAll tracks written by Holland–Dozier–Holland except as noted.\n\nSide one\n\"Where Did Our Love Go\" - 2:33\n\"Run, Run, Run\" - 2:16\n\"Baby Love\" - 2:39\n\"When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes\" - 3:05\n\"Come See About Me\" - 2:44\n\"Long Gone Lover\" (Smokey Robinson) - 2:27\n\nSide two\n\"I'm Giving You Your Freedom\" - 2:40\n\"A Breathtaking Guy\" (Robinson) - 2:25\n\"He Means the World to Me\" (Norman Whitfield) - 2:00\n\"Standing at the Crossroads of Love\" - 2:27\n\"Your Kiss of Fire\" (Robert Gordy, Harvey Fuqua) - 2:48\n\"Ask Any Girl\" - 3:00\n\n2004 Expanded CD bonus tracklist\n \"This Is It\" (Faye Hale) ****\n \"I'm The Exception To The Rule\" (Whitfield) **\n \"Everyday I'll Love You More Than Yesterday\" (Robinson, Claudette Rogers Robinson) *\n \"Beginning To The Ending\" (George Fowler) *****\n \"Mr. Blues\" (Robinson) *\n \"Come On Boy\" (Berry Gordy, Jr.) ***\n \"Bye Baby\" (Gordy) ***\n \"My Imagination\" (Richard Parker, Faye Hale) ****\n \"I Idolize You\" (Robinson) *\n \"You're Gonna Come To Me\" (Gordy) (Version 4 - Credited as Version \"3\")\n \"Honey Babe\" (Gordy, Stevie Wonder) ***\n \"Penny Pincher\"\n \"Let Me Hear You Say (I Love You)\" (Andre Williams, Johnny Bristol) ********\n \"Don't Take It Away\" (William Weatherspoon, William \"Mickey\" Stevenson) *******\n \"Just Call Me\" (Ivy Jo Hunter, Stevenson) ******\n \"That's A Funny Way\" (Hunter, Stevenson) ******\n \"Stop, Look & Listen\" (Ed Cobb) ***\n \"Send Me No Flowers\"\n \"Baby Love\" (Alternate \"early\" version)\n \"Introduction/Devil's Den\" (Live (Live 1964)\n \"When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes\" (Live 1964)\n \"A Breathtaking Guy\" (Live 1964)\n \"Your Heart Belongs To Me\" (Live 1964)\n \"Let Me Go The Right Way\" (Live 1964)\n \"I Am Woman, You Are Man\" (Jule Styne, Bob Merrill) (Live 1964)\n \"People\" (Merrill, Styne) (Live 1964)\n \"Where Did Our Love Go\" (Live 1964)\n\nThe original album sold a million copies {in 1964-1965} stateside alone. The limited exclusive \"40th Anniversary\" version is now listed as \"sold out\". It remains, to date, their third best-selling studio album.\n\nPersonnel\n Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, and Mary Wilson - lead and background vocals\n The Four Tops, and Holland–Dozier–Holland - background vocals on \"When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes\", \"Run, Run, Run\" and \"Penny Pincher\"\n The Love-Tones - background vocals on \"Standing on the Crossroads of Love\", \"This Is It\" and \"My Imagination\"\n Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier - producers on all tracks except noted below\n Smokey Robinson - producer on \"Long Gone Lover\" and \"A Breathtaking Guy\" (and bonus track *)\n Norman Whitfield - producer on \"He Means the World to Me\" (and bonus track **)\n Robert Gordy - producer on \"Your Kiss of Fire\"\n Berry Gordy, Jr. - producer on bonus track ***\n Faye Hale - producer on bonus track ****\n George Fowler - producer on bonus track *****\n Ivy Jo Hunter, William \"Mickey\" Stevenson - producer on bonus track ******\n William \"Mickey\" Stevenson - producer on bonus track *******\n Andre Williams - producer on bonus track ********\n The Funk Brothers - instrumentation\nEarl Van Dyke – piano on \"Where Did Our Love Go\", \"Baby Love\" and \"Come See About Me\"\nRobert White – guitar on \"Where Did Our Love Go\"\nEddie Willis – guitar on \"Where Did Our Love Go\" and \"Baby Love\"\nJoe Messina – guitar on \"Come See About Me\"\nJames Jamerson – bass on \"Where Did Our Love Go\", \"Baby Love\" and \"Come See About Me\"\nRichard \"Pistol\" Allen – drums on \"Where Did Our Love Go\" and \"Baby Love\"\nUriel Jones – drums on \"Come See About Me\"\nJack Ashford – vibraphone on \"Where Did Our Love Go\", \"Baby Love\" and \"Come See About Me\"\nAndrew \"Mike\" Terry – baritone saxophone on \"Where Did Our Love Go\", \"Baby Love\" and \"Come See About Me\"\nHank Cosby – tenor saxophone on \"Baby Love\" and \"Come See About Me\"\nMike Valvano – footstomps on \"Where Did Our Love Go\", \"Baby Love\" and \"Come See About Me\"\n Bernard Yeszin, Wallace Mead - cover design\n\nSingles history\n\"A Breath Taking, First Sight Soul Shaking, One Night Love Making, Next Day Heart Breaking Guy\" b/w \"(The Man with the) Rock And Roll Banjo Band\" (from The Supremes Sing Country, Western and Pop) (Motown 1044, June 12, 1963, reissued immediately with A-side title shortened to \"A Breath Taking Guy\")\n\"When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes\" b/w \"Standing at the Crossroads of Love\" (Motown 1051, October 31, 1963)\n\"Run, Run, Run\" b/w \"I'm Giving You Your Freedom\" (Motown 1054, February 7, 1964)\n\"Where Did Our Love Go\" b/w \"He Means the World to Me\" (Motown 1060, June 17, 1964)\n\"Baby Love\" b/w \"Ask Any Girl\" (Motown 1066, September 17, 1964)\n\"Come See About Me\" b/w \"You're Gone, But Always in My Heart\" (on The Supremes Sing Holland–Dozier–Holland) (Motown 1068, October 27, 1964)\n\nChart history\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nSee also\nList of Billboard number-one R&B albums of the 1960s\n\nReferences\n\n1964 albums\nThe Supremes albums\nAlbums produced by Norman Whitfield\nAlbums produced by Smokey Robinson\nAlbums produced by Brian Holland\nAlbums produced by Lamont Dozier\nMotown albums\nAlbums recorded at Hitsville U.S.A."
] |
[
"Fear Factory",
"Demanufacture (1995-1997)",
"What is Demanufacture?",
"Fear Factory's second album,",
"What kind of music is this album?",
"rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar",
"Is this the only album from this band?",
"It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere,",
"Was Demanufacture successful?",
"Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine.",
"Did the bank go on tour when releasing this album?",
"Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden,",
"When did the album first come out?",
"June 12."
] | C_94fad564d0f240aa84b5c7c9779de8fd_0 | What year did the album come out? | 7 | What year did the album Demanufacture come out? | Fear Factory | In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands. Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines. The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics. Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC videogames Carmageddon and Messiah. Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Waldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200 ;it also appeared on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995). CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. Over the years, Fear Factory has seen changes in its lineup, with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell being the only consistent member for 31 years until his departure in 2020. Other than guitarist Dino Cazares, there are no original members left in its current lineup. The band went on hold in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but resumed activity a year later without founding member Cazares. Previous bassist Christian Olde Wolbers replaced him as the new guitarist, and bassist Byron Stroud joined the band. In April 2009, a new lineup was announced. Cazares returned as guitarist, and Gene Hoglan as drummer. Bell and Stroud reprised their respective roles, and this lineup recorded the band's seventh studio album titled Mechanize (2010). Former members Wolbers and Raymond Herrera—both of whom were playing in Arkaea—disputed the legitimacy of the new lineup, and a legal battle from both parties had begun. Despite this, Fear Factory has since released three more albums: The Industrialist (2012), Genexus (2015) and Aggression Continuum (2021).
The band has performed at four Ozzfests and the inaugural Gigantour. Their singles have charted on the US Mainstream Rock Top 40 and albums on the Billboard Top 40, 100, and 200, and they have sold more than a million albums in the U.S. alone.
History
Early years (1989–1990)
Fear Factory was formed in 1989 under the name Ulceration, which the band agreed would "just be a cool name". In 1990, the name "Fear the Factory" was adopted. The name was inspired by a factory that the band supposedly saw near their rehearsal space which was guarded by men carrying rifles. Later, they shortened the name to just "Fear Factory".
The band's origins can be traced to an outfit formed by guitarist Dino Cazares—formerly of The Douche Lords—and drummer Raymond Herrera in Los Angeles, California. Their first lineup was completed with the addition of bassist Dave Gibney and vocalist Burton C. Bell (ex-Hate Face), who was allegedly recruited by an impressed Cazares, who overheard him singing "New Year's Day" by U2. Cazares played bass on the first three Fear Factory albums Concrete, Soul of a New Machine and Demanufacture, on which Cazares changed many of the riffs during the recording. It took Cazares two weeks to get the appropriate guitar tone. Cazares created, wrote and recorded all the music on the album. Wolbers joined the band two weeks before they were scheduled to go on tour to promote the album and, although he contributed musical changes to a couple of songs on the album he stated that these were not significant.
Fear Factory's earliest demo recordings are strongly reminiscent of the early works of Napalm Death and Godflesh, an acknowledged influence of the band in the grindcore-driven approach of the former and the mechanical brutality, bleakness, and vocal stylings of the latter. According to Brian Russ of The BNR Metal Pages, the demos are remarkable for integrating these influences into the band's death metal sound and for Burton C. Bell's pioneering fusion of extreme death growls and clean vocals in the same song, which was to become a significant and influential element of the band's sound throughout their career. The use of grunts and "throat singing" combined with clean vocals later defined the nu metal and other emerging subgenres of metal. Many vocalists in today's metal scene use two or more methods of singing and vocalizing lyrics. The band contributed two songs to the L.A. Death Metal Compilation in 1990. The band played its first show on October 31, 1990.
Concrete (1991)
In 1991, Fear Factory recorded a series of cuts for their debut album with the then-little-known producer Ross Robinson in Blackie Lawless' studio. The band's members were unhappy with the terms of their recording contract and caused a delay with the album's release. The band retained the rights to the songs, many of which they re-recorded in 1992 with a different producer, Colin Richardson, for inclusion on their debut release Soul of a New Machine. Meanwhile, Ross Robinson obtained the rights to the recording, which he used to promote himself as a producer. The album was officially released in 2002 by Roadrunner Records under the title Concrete after the band's breakup. The release was controversial because the album was issued because of the band's outstanding contractual obligation and without the approval of every band member.
Fan opinion has been divided as to whether Ross Robinson's production properly captured the intricacies of the band's sound. The released album favored a straight-up approach and Robinson's distinct drum sound. Concrete has become an important album for fans of the early Fear Factory sound; it can be seen as a bridge between the band's sound on their demo recordings and their debut release, Soul of a New Machine, and a blueprint for later songs and B-sides.
Based on the Concrete recording, Max Cavalera recommended Fear Factory to the then-death-metal-focused Roadrunner Records label, which offered the band a recording contract. While the band signed the contract, it has since become controversial because of Roadrunner's treatment of the band during the events surrounding its 2002 breakup. This was reflected in the first album Archetype (2004), which was released following the band's re-formation. The opening song with lyrics by Burton C. Bell, "Slave Labor", was direct about the band's feelings on the matter. After working with numerous bassists, Andrew Shives was hired as a live bassist prior to the release of Soul of a New Machine.
Soul of a New Machine (1992–1994)
Soul of a New Machine (1992), which was recorded with producer Colin Richardson, gave the band greater exposure in the music scene. It is characterized by an industrial death metal sound that combined Bell's harsh and melodic vocals, Herrera's machine-like drums, the integrated industrial samples and textures and the sharp, down-tuned, rhythmic, death metal riffs of Dino Cazares. Cazares and Herrera wrote all the music. Because the band had no bass player, Cazares played both guitar and bass on the recording. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic called the album "groundbreaking" and said that "it ushered in the '90s alternative metal era".
Due to the extreme nature of the music, the album never reached the level of popularity attained by their later, more accessible works, and remains a cult favorite. Soul of a New Machine is considered by many as Fear Factory's final work death metal album because with each album, the band's style shifted away from the death metal subgenre.
To promote the album, Fear Factory embarked on extensive U.S. tours with Biohazard, Sepultura, and Sick of It All. During this period, sampler-keyboardist Reynor Diego joined the group. An album tour of Europe with Brutal Truth, then Cannibal Corpse, Cathedral, and Sleep, followed. The following year, they hired Front Line Assembly member Rhys Fulber to remix some songs from the album, demonstrating the band's willingness to experiment with their music. The results took on a predominantly industrial guise, and were released as the Fear Is the Mindkiller EP (1993). Soul of a New Machine and Fear is the Mindkiller were released (2004) as a package in a new re-mastered reissue by Roadrunner Records.
In 1994, Andrew Shives was forced to leave the band. Cazares recorded both the guitar and bass for the entire album. In November the same year, the band met Belgian Christian Olde Wolbers through Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard. Wolbers auditioned for Fear Factory's permanent bassist. Wolbers joined the band immediately since the band's tour was starting in two weeks.
Demanufacture (1995–1997)
In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands.
Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines.
The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics.
Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC video games Carmageddon and Messiah.
Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Wâldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995).
Obsolete (1998–2000)
Fear Factory's third studio album, Obsolete (July 1998), was reportedly completed earlier than planned by canceling an appearance at the Dynamo Open Air Festival.
Obsolete was similar in sound to Demanufacture, and introduced the progressive metal and alternative metal elements to the band's output. For the first time, the album featured Christian Olde Wolbers writing and recording full-time with the band. It also featured Cazares' debut use of 7-string Ibanez guitars tuned to A tuning (A, D, G, C, F, A, D), and paved the way for a lower-tuned sound than previously. The album is also notable for Rhys Fulber's increased involvement with the band.
While Fear Factory had explored the theme of "Man versus Machine" in their earlier work, Obsolete was their first concept album that dealt specifically with a literal interpretation of this subject. It tells a story called Conception 5, which was written by Bell, that takes place in a future world where mankind is rendered "obsolete" by machines. Its characters include the "Edgecrusher", "Smasher/Devourer", and the "Securitron" monitoring system. The story is presented in the lyrics booklet in a screenplay format between the individual songs. The printed story parts link the lyrics of the songs together thematically.
Obsolete was released during the alternative metal boom of the late 1990s. It was supported by tours with Slayer and later, Rammstein, and a headlining spot on the second stage at Ozzfest in 1999 as last-minute replacements for Judas Priest. They also toured in Europe in December 1998 with Spineshank and Kilgore, and went on their first headlining tour in North America with Static-X the next year, though the first leg was interrupted due to the band's tour bus and material being stolen. They also played in Japan for the first time. Obsolete became the band's highest selling album, marking the band's first entry into the Top 100 on the Billboard charts. The album also spawned singles "Descent" and a digipak bonus track, "Cars", a cover of the Gary Numan song featuring a guest appearance by Numan on the song. The single made the Mainstream Rock Top 40 in 1999 and was also featured in the video game, Test Drive 6. Numan also performed a spoken-word sample on the album's title track. A video was filmed for the song "Resurrection". To date, Obsolete remains the only Fear Factory album to have achieved gold sales in the U.S.
Digimortal and demise (2001–2002)
In early 2001, Fear Factory was asked to headline SnoCore Rock. The success of Obsolete and "Cars" was a turning point for the band; Roadrunner Records was now keen on capitalizing on the band's sales potential and pressured the band to record more accessible material for the follow-up album, titled Digimortal, which was released on April 23, 2001. Few weeks before its release, they were touring in Europe with One Minute Silence.
They went on a long headlining North American tour during 2001, then played in much larger European festivals like Bizarre Festival, Pukkelpop, Lowlands Festival and Leeds & Reading Festival. They then went on the first Roadrunner Roadrage tour in North America, toured Europe with Devin Townsend and Godflesh and played in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Digimortal made the Top 40 on the Billboard album charts, the Top 20 in Canada and the Top 10 of the Australian album charts. The track "Linchpin" reached the Mainstream Rock Top 40. A remix of "Invisible Wounds" was included on the Resident Evil film soundtrack, and an instrumental digipak bonus track called "Full Metal Contact" was originally written for the video game, Demolition Racer. A VHS/DVD release called Digital Connectivity, which documents each of the four album periods of the band via interviews, live clips, music videos and tour/studio footage, was released in January 2002.
Although Digimortal had a successful start, the sales did not reach the levels of Obsolete and the band received little tour support. The direction of the album coupled with strong personal differences between some of the band members created a rift that escalated to the point where Bell announced his exit in March 2002. The band disbanded immediately thereafter; its publicists said this was "largely because vocalist Burton C. Bell is tired of playing angry, aggressive music and wants to form a band that's more indie-rock-oriented". In a final collaboration, the group recorded two songs for the video game The Terminator: Dawn of Fate that month. Fear Factory's contractual obligations remained unfulfilled, however, and Roadrunner did not release them without controversially issuing the Concrete album in 2002 and the B-sides and rarities compilation, Hatefiles, in 2003. During his time away from Fear Factory, Bell with John Bechdel started a side project called Ascension of the Watchers, which released its first EP, Iconoclast, independently via their online store in 2005.
First return and Archetype (2002–2004)
Over time, tensions within the band developed between Dino Cazares and the other members, particularly Burton C. Bell and Raymond Herrera. When asked about the breakup in May 2002, Cazares made claims and allegations against Bell and the other members, stating that Fear Factory could continue without Christian Olde Wolbers and that he and Raymond Herrera were primarily motivated by money. Herrera responded to these allegations on behalf of the other band members, saying that Cazares was motivated by money and emphasizing Olde Wolbers' influence on the band's sound. According to Herrera, the other band members would often come up with new ideas they wanted to incorporate into Fear Factory's sound, but their suggestions were dismissed or openly ridiculed by Cazares, causing a rift between him and the other members that ultimately led to the band's breakup. In the same interview, Herrera also revealed that Cazares had attempted to control the direction of the band by manipulating their business management and record company, and had openly lied to the other members about his actions.
Herrera and Olde Wolbers reunited later in 2002 and laid the foundations for the return of Fear Factory. Cazares was then permanently out of the band. Bell was approached with their demo recordings and was impressed enough to rejoin the band and Fear Factory was re-formed. Olde Wolbers switched to guitar and Byron Stroud of Strapping Young Lad was approached to join the band as a bassist. He was a member from 2003 until 2012. Cazares continued recording and performing with his side project called Asesino, a Mexican deathgrind band. In 2007, he also started a new group called Divine Heresy.
Fear Factory made its live return as the mystery band at the Australian Big Day Out festival in January 2004, followed by its first American shows since re-forming on the spring Jägermeister tour with Slipknot and Chimaira. The new lineup's first album Archetype was released on April 20, 2004, through new record label Liquid 8 Records based in Minnesota. With Archetype, Fear Factory returned to an alternative, industrial, metal sound; the album is generally considered to be a strong 'return-to-form' record, if not a particularly innovative effort, with most of the trademark elements of the band firmly in place.
Videos were shot for the songs "Cyberwaste", "Archetype", and "Bite the Hand That Bleeds"; the latter featured on the Saw film soundtrack. The band performed on further tours with Lamb of God and Mastodon in the US and with Mnemic in Europe. The new Fear Factory has largely abandoned the direct "Man versus Machine" theme prevalent on earlier releases in favor of subjects such as religion, war, and corporatism.
Transgression (2005–2006)
Fear Factory announced plans to record and release its next full-length album over a very short period of time with mainstream rock producer Toby Wright, who had worked with Korn and Alice in Chains. This was allegedly due to pressure from Fear Factory's new label Calvin Records, which preponed the album's release date from four months away to just a month and a half so the band would have a new album to support on the inaugural Gigantour, which they had been invited to participate on by Dave Mustaine.
The resulting album, Transgression, was released on August 22, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and on the following day in North America, almost a year after Archetype. The album garnered highly polarized reviews; some critics hailed the album as diverse and progressive, and other reviewers did not receive the record very well. Although the album starts off as a Fear Factory record, subsequent songs include mellow/alt-rock numbers "Echo of My Scream" (featuring Faith No More's Billy Gould on bass) and "New Promise", a pop-rock song "Supernova", and a faithful cover of U2's rock song "I Will Follow".
In 2013, Wolbers posted more details about writing and recording of Transgression and Archetype on his Facebook page. He said he was disappointed with Transgression, calling it half-finished, and blamed the label for the severe time constraints imposed during the recording sessions and for the inclusion of the U2 cover. However, Burton C. Bell said he is proud of the album and sees it as the band "stepping over boundaries".
During 2005 and 2006, Fear Factory promoted the album on the "Fifteen Years of Fear" world tour in celebration of their fifteenth anniversary. The members invited bands including Darkane, Strapping Young Lad and Soilwork to join them on the U.S. leg, and Misery Index to join them on the European leg. Late in 2005, Fear Factory toured the U.S. again on the "Machines at War" tour, with an all-star death metal lineup of guests in Suffocation, Hypocrisy, and Decapitated; they played old classics from Soul of a New Machine, such as "Crash Test", which they had not performed live in many years.
Hiatus and other projects (2006–2008)
An online statement from Wolbers in December 2006 said the band would return to the studio to record a new album, produced by the band, immediately after the completion of the Transgression touring cycle. That month, Bell confirmed in an interview that the band would leave Liquid 8 Records.
Rather than begin work on a new studio album, the band members briefly parted and began working with other projects. Bell contributed vocals to the songs "End of Days, Pt.1", "End of Days, Pt. 2", and "Die in a Crash" on Ministry's 2007 album The Last Sucker, and later toured with Ministry in support of the album. In an interview for the website Metalsucks, Bell called this a "dream come true", describing Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen as "one of [his] heroes". In the same interview, Bell talked at length about his new band Ascension of the Watchers, providing insight into the inspiration behind the project's formation.
On March 21, 2008, while Fear Factory was on hiatus, Bell spoke in a video interview about the band's future, saying he no longer wanted to contribute to the violence and aggression he saw in the world with the aggressive type of music Fear Factory produced. Wolbers and Herrera started a new band called Arkaea, with vocalist Jon Howard and bassist Pat Kavanagh of Threat Signal. Wolbers said, "Ironically, half of the Arkaea album consists of songs that were intended to be the next Fear Factory record". Arkaea's debut album Years in the Darkness was released on July 14, 2009.
Second return, internal disputes, and Mechanize (2009–2011)
On April 8, 2009, Bell and Cazares announced the reconciliation of their friendship, and the formation of a new project with Byron Stroud on bass and drummer Gene Hoglan of Testament, Death, Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel, and Dethklok. On April 28, this project was announced to be a new version of Fear Factory without Herrera and Wolbers. When asked about their exclusion, Bell said, "[Fear Factory is] like a business and I'm just reorganizing ... We won't talk about [their exclusion]".
In June 2009, Wolbers and Herrera spoke about the issue on the radio program Speed Freaks. Herrera said he and Wolbers were still in the band. "[Christian and I] are actually still in Fear Factory ... [Burton and Dino] decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it Fear Factory. They never communicated with us about it", said Herrera. Herrera also said the four original members—Bell, Cazares, Wolbers, and Herrera—were contractually regarded as Fear Factory Incorporated, and, "it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate". The drummer also said he and Wolbers had written eight songs for the next Fear Factory record, but that a "personal disagreement" had arisen between them and Bell, which left Bell not wanting to continue work with the band.
Bell and Cazares later spoke about their reasons for excluding Herrera and Wolbers. Cazares said Bell wanted to reunite the classic Fear Factory lineup of himself, Cazares, Herrera, and Wolbers, but that Herrera and Wolbers refused to be part of any reunion with Cazares. Bell also said he wanted to fire the band's manager Christy Priske, who was also Wolbers' wife, and Herrera and Wolbers refused. Herrera and Wolbers threatened to sign a new record deal without Bell, prompting him to form a new version of Fear Factory without them. In some interviews, Wolbers said Bell had made "growing unacceptable demands", which were declined. He said, "Ray and I wanted what was best for the business and what he [Burton] was trying to change wasn't really good for the business. It was only bad for the business, so that's why he went into that whole phase of hijacking the name and trying to run with it."
Fear Factory featuring Bell and Cazares was due to make its live debut on June 21 at the Metalway Festival in Zaragoza, Spain. However, the show was canceled "at the last minute", apparently because of the legal complications referenced by Herrera. The rest of that lineup's planned performances in mid-2009, which included a tour of the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand that August, had also been canceled. The group said they canceled the tour to finish writing and recording the next Fear Factory album. Despite the canceled performances in Europe, they performed some shows in December in South American countries including Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.
During an interview on June 23, 2009, Cazares said he could never have a working relationship with Raymond and Wolbers again, saying they were too money-driven and criticized the music they recorded on Archetype for being too similar to the band's earlier output. Despite ongoing issues between the two parties, the new Fear Factory went ahead with the recording process. In late July 2009, a short video shot with a cell telephone showed Cazares recording drum tracks with longtime contributor Rhys Fulber. On November 6, 2009, blabbermouth.net said a new album, Mechanize, would be released on February 9, 2010, on Candlelight Records. On November 8, 2009, Fear Factory released a track titled "Powershifter" on YouTube. On November 10, 2009, Bell announced the track list for Mechanize, along with an explanation of each song.
In January 2010, Fear Factory played in Australia and New Zealand tour on the Big Day Out tour, playing their first Australian dates since 2005 on January 17 at Parklands Showgrounds on Queensland's Gold Coast. Fear Factory released Mechanize on February 5, 2010, and began a U.S. tour titled "Fear Campaign Tour 2010", in late March. In August 2010, the band headlined the Brutal Assault open air festival in Czech Republic. In September 2010, Fear Factory toured Australia, New Zealand, and Tokyo as the opening act for Metallica. The New Zealand concerts were in Christchurch, two shows that were brought about by a petition sent to Metallica asking them to visit New Zealand's second-largest city. After the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, the South Island concerts were in doubt, but on September 15, 2010, an official announced the CBS Arena had escaped harm and both shows went ahead.
The Industrialist (2011–2013)
In an interview during the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, Bell said Fear Factory was planning to write and record a "full-on concept" album, which was due for release in 2012. He said, "We're gonna kind of take a break a little bit, but we're definitely going into the studio at some point and start writing. We wanna take our time doing it. Personally ... Mechanize, don't get me wrong, is a good record—I'm very proud of it—but it's gotta be better than that. I've got plans where I'd like to do a full-on concept again—story, artwork. Just make it real cerebral. But there'll definitely be another Fear Factory record, maybe in 2012." On August 3, 2011, Dino Cazares said on his Twitter feed that he was working and demoing new material for the next Fear Factory album. On January 25, 2012, the band announced the new album will be titled The Industrialist. The album was again co-produced by the band with Rhys Fulber and mixed by Greg Reely.
Byron Stroud left the band early in 2012, saying, "Life's too short to spend it with people who don't respect you". In one interview, Cazares said he did not know why Stroud decided to leave and that he could not play the bass parts on Mechanize, prompting Cazares to do it himself.
In February 2012, former Chimaira guitar player Matt DeVries replaced Stroud. On April 19, 2012, Mike Heller of Malignancy and System Divide was announced as the band's new drummer, replacing Gene Hoglan; in an interview, Hoglan claimed that he only found out through Blabbermouth.net that he was no longer needed, and expressed some disappointment about the course of events. At the same time, Cazares confirmed on his Facebook page that John Sankey of Devolved had programmed the drums on The Industrialist. Burton described The Industrialist as another concept album "sonically, conceptually, and lyrically". Cazares also said he and Burton were the two in control of the record's outcome, and that the songwriting on the album was much more "definitive" in regards to Fear Factory's platform sound. On June 4, 2012,The Industrialist was available to stream through AOL Music. The album was released through Candlelight Records on June 5, 2012.
On May 2, 2013, Cazares commented regarding the status of Fear Factory albums Archetype and Transgression, which were recorded without his participation, and the band's decision not to play songs from them live, saying "they don't count" as Fear Factory albums. Contradicting this, Fear Factory played the track Archetype on its 2013 Australian tour in early July, with minor changes to the song's lyrics. On August 2, 2013, ex-drummer Hoglan said he left Fear Factory because he was prevented from participating on the album, and only found out about its completion online.
Genexus (2013–2015)
On May 1, 2013, Dino Cazares told Songfacts.com Fear Factory would begin work on their ninth studio album after the end of The Industrialist tour. The album was expected to be released in early 2014. On May 13, 2013, Burton C. Bell told Metal-Rules.com, "Fear Factory will continue to tour North America and Europe 2013. We've got some more tours scheduled, some summer festivals next year. During that time our plan is to start writing a new record and we would like to have a new record out by spring 2014". On March 19, 2014, Bell told Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles he would like to have the new album released by August, followed by a tour in September. On September 12, 2014, the band announced it had signed to record label Nuclear Blast and would enter the studio in October. The band also confirmed that the album would be mixed by Andy Sneap, and that Rhys Fulber would again produce it.
The band played their first shows in India, in November 2014, as part of the Weekender Tour, and on February/March 2015, they participated at the Soundwave Festival in Australia and New Zealand.
On May 1, 2015, it was announced that former Static-X and Soulfly bassist Tony Campos joined the band. Later that month, Fear Factory announced that they would release their ninth studio album, titled Genexus, on August 7, 2015.
They toured in European festivals in July 2015, and then onto North America, as an opening act for Coal Chamber. From late August until mid-September 2015, the band toured the midwestern, southern and southwestern United States with support from Once Human (starring Logan Mader), Los Angeles melodic metal band Before the Mourning and Chicago rock band The Bloodline. They also announced that they would play the entire Demanufacture album in Europe between November and December 2015, a tour which again included Once Human with the addition of Irish band Dead Label as openers.
Hiatus and lawsuits (2016–2019)
In a November 2016 interview with Loudwire, guitarist Dino Cazares revealed that Fear Factory had planned to release their tenth studio album in mid-to-late 2017. He stated, "Right now we're going to be home and doing a new record. We're writing already and in the process of doing a new record, but it probably won't be out until late summer of next year or maybe even October. I'm not exactly sure."
In a December 2016 interview with The Ex-Man, despite an ongoing "huge legal battle" with Bell and Cazares, former bassist-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers stated that he was "trying to reach out and try to get this reunion thing happening." He added, "There would be nothing better for this band [than] to reconcile our differences, fucking write a killer record, which I know we can, and fucking we would be doing really big tours. My passion for playing and what we have invested in this band is very big, and I know it's really big for Dino as well, 'cause he started it with Raymond back in the day." More fuel to the possibility of a reunion with the "classic" lineup of Bell, Cazares, Herrera and Wolbers was added later that month, when Wolbers posted an image on his Instagram account, suggesting Fear Factory's official website was "under construction."
On May 7, 2017, Wolbers posted a blank picture on his Instagram (which was later deleted), claiming that Fear Factory had broken up. Later that day, Cazares was asked via Twitter if they were still together, and his response was, "Not sure why your asking that and rant by who?".
In an interview with Kilpop in May 2017, Burton C. Bell said that the new songs were "even stronger than Genexus, 'cause it just seems even more tight. We're on a groove, and it's kicking ass."
In an interview with SiriusXM's Jose Mangin at November 2018's inaugural Headbangers Con in Portland, Oregon, Bell revealed Monolith as the title of Fear Factory's tenth studio album and its tentative artwork via his smartphone. In October 2019, this was refuted by guitarist Dino Cazares who stated via his Twitter account that there was no new Fear Factory album. Shortly thereafter, Cazares expressed uncertainty towards the band's future, indicating that a lawsuit filed by former members Raymond Herrera and Christian Olde Wolbers had prevented him and Bell from using the Fear Factory name.
Split with Burton C. Bell, Aggression Continuum and new vocalist (2020–present)
On September 2, 2020, Dino Cazares announced he would be releasing new Fear Factory music in 2021. Less than a month later, Burton C. Bell announced he quit Fear Factory citing "consistent series of dishonest representations and unfounded accusations from past and present band members", leaving no original members left in the band besides Cazares. However, Bell's contributions to their upcoming album will remain, as he recorded his vocals in 2017.
In an interview with Robb Flynn on September 28, 2020, which took place within hours after Bell announced his departure from Fear Factory, Cazares claimed that he was not aware of the split until he "found out [about it] via social media." He also claimed that one of the reasons behind Bell's departure was not only due to the lawsuit that prevented the release of the band's new album, but because the latter's portion of the Fear Factory "trademark ownership became available", which left Cazares as the sole owner of the band name. Cazares reiterated that Bell's vocals will appear on the new album, which was being mixed by Andy Sneap for a March 2021 release, and hoped the pair would continue to work together in order to support it.
On April 1, 2021, Fear Factory announced that their first new song in over five years would be released on April 16. A short riff teaser of the song from Cazares was released soon after. The new single "Disruptor" was released on April 16, followed by the announcement of the tenth studio album Aggression Continuum, which was released on June 18.
While deciding on a new vocalist through auditions, Cazares said that gender would not play a role, expressing an open interest in hiring a female; however, he said that he would not announce it for a while. Out of all the potential talents, he decided on a replacement who had yet to be revealed, with the member being a male and "kind of known" within the metal scene. He also said that the new member would be introduced through new songs.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
Fear Factory has been classified under several metal genres, but usually are described as industrial metal. The band also has been described as groove metal, nu metal, grindcore, thrash metal, and death metal. The band began as a death metal band with their debut album Soul of a New Machine, but quickly moved to industrial metal after that album. Fear Factory's influences include Slayer, Exodus, Napalm Death, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and Godflesh.
In terms of influences on the group's work, Dino Cazares has cited the band members' interests in fantasy and science fiction alternative universes such as the Terminator mythos as well as the Dune mythos. As a specific example, their debut album, Soul of a New Machine, picked up its name directly from a line in a movie critic review of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day film (discussing the T-1000 villain). Cazares has also cited recurring influences on Fear Factory coming from conventional popular music, outside of the genres of hard rock and heavy metal, for instance looking to singer-songwriter Paul McCartney's sounds in both The Beatles and Wings. Over the years the film Blade Runner has become a recurring theme as the band often makes lyrical reference to the plot, as well as directly quote and sample lines from the film.
Fear Factory's innovative approach towards and hybridization of the genres industrial metal, death metal, and alternative metal has had a lasting impact on other artists coming later, the band putting a stamp on metal music ever since the release of their first album in 1992. Fear Factory is noteworthy among contemporaries for its lyrical focus on science fiction, with much of the band's music telling a single story spanning several concept albums. The band has been called a "stepping stone", leading mainstream listeners to venture into less-known, more extreme bands, and are consistently appreciated.
In the liner notes of the re-released version of Soul of a New Machine, Machine Head vocalist Robb Flynn, Chimaira vocalist Mark Hunter, and Spineshank guitarist Mike Sarkisyan cited Fear Factory as an influence. Robb Flynn said his vocal style was influenced by Burton C. Bell's vocals and Machine Head have been wrongly credited for the vocal style. Mark Hunter said Chimaira's drumming was heavily influenced by Raymond Herrera. Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Static-X, and Coal Chamber have also mentioned Fear Factory in their liner notes.
Modern bands including Mnemic, Scarve, Stiff Valentine, and Threat Signal contain significant influences from Fear Factory's technique and have also credited a substantial debt of gratitude to the band. Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy said, "Fear Factory are close to our hearts" and, "Soul of a New Machine was the influence for me to start my other project, 'Pain'". Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad said his main influences for Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing were Fear Factory and Napalm Death. In an interview on That Metal Show, Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward said Fear Factory is one of the bands he wishes he could play with, and picked Mechanize as one of his favourite albums.
Band members
Current members
Dino Cazares – guitars, backing vocals (1989–2002, 2009–present), bass (1992, 1995, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2020–present), keyboards (1995), drum programming (2012)
Mike Heller – drums (2012–present)
Tony Campos – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
Burton C. Bell – lead vocals (1989–2002, 2002–2006, 2009–2020), keyboards (1995)
David Gibney – bass (1989–1991)
Andy Romero – bass (1991–1992)
Andrew Shives – bass (1992–1993)
Raymond Herrera – drums (1989–2002, 2002–2006)
Christian Olde Wolbers – bass (1993–2002, 2002–2006), guitars (2002–2006), backing vocals (1993–2002, 2002–2006)
Byron Stroud – bass (2002–2006, 2009–2012)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2009–2012)
Matt DeVries – bass, backing vocals (2012–2015)
Session/touring musicians
Reynor Diego – keyboards, samples (1992–1995)
Rhys Fulber – keyboards, samples (1993–2002, 2003–2004, 2009–present)
Steve Tushar – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1995–1997, 2003–2005)
John Morgan – keyboards, samples (1997)
John Bechdel – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1998–2002, 2002–2004)
Timeline
Discography
Soul of a New Machine (1992)
Demanufacture (1995)
Obsolete (1998)
Digimortal (2001)
Archetype (2004)
Transgression (2005)
Mechanize (2010)
The Industrialist (2012)
Genexus (2015)
Aggression Continuum (2021)
References
External links
1989 establishments in California
American industrial metal musical groups
Candlelight Records artists
Death metal musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups reestablished in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2006
Musical groups reestablished in 2009
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Roadrunner Records artists | false | [
"Kill the King is the upcoming twelfth studio album by American rapper T.I. It is set to be released via Grand Hustle Records and Interscope Records. T.I. had announced this album would be his final solo album.\n\nBackground\nOn May 20, 2021, T.I. released a lyric video for his song, “What It's Come To.” At the end of the visuals, it is revealed that T.I.’s working on his “final album,” unveiling Kill the King as the album's title. In a message, T.I. said that the follow-up to his 2020 effort The L.I.B.R.A. is “coming soon.” T.I. had been hinting at retirement as far back as 2017, when he appeared on The Breakfast Club radio show, and spoke about his plans to leave the music industry: \n\nThe following year, in 2018 T.I. went on to release his tenth studio album, Dime Trap. In 2020 he issued The L.I.B.R.A., meaning Kill the King would be right on track to be his third, and final, project since 2017. The song \"What It's Come To\" which was released as a single in promotion for the album, addresses allegations against him and his wife Tiny, who appears in the video for the song, alongside T.I.\n\nIn September 2021, T.I. was interviewed on the Big Facts Podcast, where he addressed allegations against him and maintained that Kill the King is still due to be his last album: \"I don't care enough,\" he admits. \"I just don't care about the same shit other muthafuckers out there care about...At this point. It did at one time. When I went to prison and came home, I learned what the fuck was important.\"\n\nRelease and promotion\nThe song \"What It's Come To\" was released on May 21, 2021, as a single via digital distribution in promotion for the album. The song was produced by Villa Nova and Keepitphilthy. The song’s music video, which was released on June 8, was directed by T.I. himself under his VisionMob banner.\n\nReferences\n\nUpcoming albums\n2021 albums\nT.I. albums\nGrand Hustle Records albums\nEmpire Distribution albums",
"\"Out Come the Freaks\" is the name of a trilogy of songs by art-funk ensemble Was (Not Was). The trilogy consists of three songs that feature the same basic title, tune and chorus lyric: \"Out Come the Freaks\" (1981), \"(Return to the Valley of) Out Come the Freaks\" (1983), and \"Out Come The Freaks\" (1987) (later issued as \"Out Come the Freaks (Again)\".)\n\nDespite the three songs' abundant similarities, each song is distinctive, as differing lyrics in the verses of each song tell stories about different societal outcasts. As well, each recording had a different contemporary sound, a thoroughly different arrangement, and reworked the melody while still retaining the chorus vocal: Woodwork squeaks, and out comes the freaks.\n\nRecordings\n\n\"Out Come the Freaks\" (1981)\nThe original recording was the opening song on the groups debut album Was (Not Was). This version began with the chorus sung several times simultaneously by a number of vocalists before the rhythm section is introduced. The single became a club hit in the US and peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart.\n\nThe song's parent album was later renamed Out Come The Freaks when it was remastered and expanded in 2004. A companion remix album is titled (The) Woodwork Squeaks.\n\n\"(Return to the Valley of) Out Come the Freaks\" (1983)\n\nThe second recording is slower and sparser as opposed to the post-disco sound of the original. This version is sung by Harry Bowens, who sings the Woodwork Squeaks chorus as more of a refrain than a chant. This version adds a new introductory verse which sets up the concept of the song. The final chorus replaces the words \"the freaks\" with a succession of song titles including \"Papa's Got A Brand New Bag\" and \"The Shadow of Your Smile\", implying a more positive spin on the idea of a \"freak\" to counterpoint the earlier verses. \"(Return to the Valley of) Out Come the Freaks\" was the only single from Born to Laugh at Tornadoes to chart in the UK, and was also their first hit in that country, hitting the UK top 50. This version of the song also appears as a hidden track (at the end of track 11, Walk The Dinosaur) on the compilation album Hello Dad... I'm In Jail.\n\n\"Out Come the Freaks (Again)\" (1988)\n\nThe third \"Out Come The Freaks\" recording was released in 1987 and included on the group's most successful album What Up, Dog?. It was eventually also released as one of the final singles from the album in the UK, and again peaked just inside the UK top 50. The song was listed as \"Out Come the Freaks\" on the album but reference to the songs reworked status was acknowledged in the inclusion of the subtitle 'Again' on the single's release. The single version was also alternatively titled \"(Stuck Inside of Detroit With the) Out Come the Freaks (Again)\".\n\nThis recording was once again dominated by the vocal of Harry Bowens, but a female vocalist sang the chorus refrain. The arrangement was more upbeat than the second recording but had a tighter Funk and Synth-Pop sound. The introductory verse was retained but the other verses were changed to feature different characters to the earlier versions. Instead of song titles, the more positive final chorus listed real people such as Leon Trotsky and John Coltrane.\n\n\"Look What's Back\" (1990)\nA fourth song related to \"Out Come the Freaks\" called \"Look What's Back\" appears as the final track on the group's fourth album Are You Okay? in 1990. The song is a 43-second acoustic camp-fire rendition in which the group chants the chorus: 'Woodwork squeaks, and out comes the freaks'.\n\nRemixes\n\"Out Come the Freaks\"\n Album Version – 5:37\n Seven Inch – 4:28\n Extended Version – 6:39\n Dub Version – 6:10\n \"Tell Me That I'm Dreaming (Souped Up Version)\" / \"Out Come the Freaks (Dub Version)\" – 12:50\n Classic 12\" Version – 7:12\n Predominantly Funk Version – 12:25\n\n\"(Return to the Valley of) Out Come the Freaks\"\n Album Version – 4:22\n Seven Inch – 3:45\n Extended Version – 8:45\n\n\"Out Come the Freaks (Again)\"\n Album Version – 4:35\n The Mighty Mook Mix\n The Bobby Maggot Mix\n\nChart positions\n\nReferences\n\n1981 songs\n1981 singles\n1984 singles\n1988 singles\nWas (Not Was) songs\nSong recordings produced by Don Was\nSongs written by David Was\nSongs written by Don Was\nIsland Records singles"
] |
[
"Fear Factory",
"Demanufacture (1995-1997)",
"What is Demanufacture?",
"Fear Factory's second album,",
"What kind of music is this album?",
"rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar",
"Is this the only album from this band?",
"It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere,",
"Was Demanufacture successful?",
"Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine.",
"Did the bank go on tour when releasing this album?",
"Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden,",
"When did the album first come out?",
"June 12.",
"What year did the album come out?",
"I don't know."
] | C_94fad564d0f240aa84b5c7c9779de8fd_0 | Is there any other interesting information about Demanufacture? | 8 | In addition to Demanufacture, was there any other interesting information about Fear Factory? | Fear Factory | In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands. Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines. The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics. Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC videogames Carmageddon and Messiah. Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Waldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200 ;it also appeared on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995). CANNOTANSWER | Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). | Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. Over the years, Fear Factory has seen changes in its lineup, with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell being the only consistent member for 31 years until his departure in 2020. Other than guitarist Dino Cazares, there are no original members left in its current lineup. The band went on hold in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but resumed activity a year later without founding member Cazares. Previous bassist Christian Olde Wolbers replaced him as the new guitarist, and bassist Byron Stroud joined the band. In April 2009, a new lineup was announced. Cazares returned as guitarist, and Gene Hoglan as drummer. Bell and Stroud reprised their respective roles, and this lineup recorded the band's seventh studio album titled Mechanize (2010). Former members Wolbers and Raymond Herrera—both of whom were playing in Arkaea—disputed the legitimacy of the new lineup, and a legal battle from both parties had begun. Despite this, Fear Factory has since released three more albums: The Industrialist (2012), Genexus (2015) and Aggression Continuum (2021).
The band has performed at four Ozzfests and the inaugural Gigantour. Their singles have charted on the US Mainstream Rock Top 40 and albums on the Billboard Top 40, 100, and 200, and they have sold more than a million albums in the U.S. alone.
History
Early years (1989–1990)
Fear Factory was formed in 1989 under the name Ulceration, which the band agreed would "just be a cool name". In 1990, the name "Fear the Factory" was adopted. The name was inspired by a factory that the band supposedly saw near their rehearsal space which was guarded by men carrying rifles. Later, they shortened the name to just "Fear Factory".
The band's origins can be traced to an outfit formed by guitarist Dino Cazares—formerly of The Douche Lords—and drummer Raymond Herrera in Los Angeles, California. Their first lineup was completed with the addition of bassist Dave Gibney and vocalist Burton C. Bell (ex-Hate Face), who was allegedly recruited by an impressed Cazares, who overheard him singing "New Year's Day" by U2. Cazares played bass on the first three Fear Factory albums Concrete, Soul of a New Machine and Demanufacture, on which Cazares changed many of the riffs during the recording. It took Cazares two weeks to get the appropriate guitar tone. Cazares created, wrote and recorded all the music on the album. Wolbers joined the band two weeks before they were scheduled to go on tour to promote the album and, although he contributed musical changes to a couple of songs on the album he stated that these were not significant.
Fear Factory's earliest demo recordings are strongly reminiscent of the early works of Napalm Death and Godflesh, an acknowledged influence of the band in the grindcore-driven approach of the former and the mechanical brutality, bleakness, and vocal stylings of the latter. According to Brian Russ of The BNR Metal Pages, the demos are remarkable for integrating these influences into the band's death metal sound and for Burton C. Bell's pioneering fusion of extreme death growls and clean vocals in the same song, which was to become a significant and influential element of the band's sound throughout their career. The use of grunts and "throat singing" combined with clean vocals later defined the nu metal and other emerging subgenres of metal. Many vocalists in today's metal scene use two or more methods of singing and vocalizing lyrics. The band contributed two songs to the L.A. Death Metal Compilation in 1990. The band played its first show on October 31, 1990.
Concrete (1991)
In 1991, Fear Factory recorded a series of cuts for their debut album with the then-little-known producer Ross Robinson in Blackie Lawless' studio. The band's members were unhappy with the terms of their recording contract and caused a delay with the album's release. The band retained the rights to the songs, many of which they re-recorded in 1992 with a different producer, Colin Richardson, for inclusion on their debut release Soul of a New Machine. Meanwhile, Ross Robinson obtained the rights to the recording, which he used to promote himself as a producer. The album was officially released in 2002 by Roadrunner Records under the title Concrete after the band's breakup. The release was controversial because the album was issued because of the band's outstanding contractual obligation and without the approval of every band member.
Fan opinion has been divided as to whether Ross Robinson's production properly captured the intricacies of the band's sound. The released album favored a straight-up approach and Robinson's distinct drum sound. Concrete has become an important album for fans of the early Fear Factory sound; it can be seen as a bridge between the band's sound on their demo recordings and their debut release, Soul of a New Machine, and a blueprint for later songs and B-sides.
Based on the Concrete recording, Max Cavalera recommended Fear Factory to the then-death-metal-focused Roadrunner Records label, which offered the band a recording contract. While the band signed the contract, it has since become controversial because of Roadrunner's treatment of the band during the events surrounding its 2002 breakup. This was reflected in the first album Archetype (2004), which was released following the band's re-formation. The opening song with lyrics by Burton C. Bell, "Slave Labor", was direct about the band's feelings on the matter. After working with numerous bassists, Andrew Shives was hired as a live bassist prior to the release of Soul of a New Machine.
Soul of a New Machine (1992–1994)
Soul of a New Machine (1992), which was recorded with producer Colin Richardson, gave the band greater exposure in the music scene. It is characterized by an industrial death metal sound that combined Bell's harsh and melodic vocals, Herrera's machine-like drums, the integrated industrial samples and textures and the sharp, down-tuned, rhythmic, death metal riffs of Dino Cazares. Cazares and Herrera wrote all the music. Because the band had no bass player, Cazares played both guitar and bass on the recording. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic called the album "groundbreaking" and said that "it ushered in the '90s alternative metal era".
Due to the extreme nature of the music, the album never reached the level of popularity attained by their later, more accessible works, and remains a cult favorite. Soul of a New Machine is considered by many as Fear Factory's final work death metal album because with each album, the band's style shifted away from the death metal subgenre.
To promote the album, Fear Factory embarked on extensive U.S. tours with Biohazard, Sepultura, and Sick of It All. During this period, sampler-keyboardist Reynor Diego joined the group. An album tour of Europe with Brutal Truth, then Cannibal Corpse, Cathedral, and Sleep, followed. The following year, they hired Front Line Assembly member Rhys Fulber to remix some songs from the album, demonstrating the band's willingness to experiment with their music. The results took on a predominantly industrial guise, and were released as the Fear Is the Mindkiller EP (1993). Soul of a New Machine and Fear is the Mindkiller were released (2004) as a package in a new re-mastered reissue by Roadrunner Records.
In 1994, Andrew Shives was forced to leave the band. Cazares recorded both the guitar and bass for the entire album. In November the same year, the band met Belgian Christian Olde Wolbers through Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard. Wolbers auditioned for Fear Factory's permanent bassist. Wolbers joined the band immediately since the band's tour was starting in two weeks.
Demanufacture (1995–1997)
In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands.
Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines.
The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics.
Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC video games Carmageddon and Messiah.
Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Wâldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995).
Obsolete (1998–2000)
Fear Factory's third studio album, Obsolete (July 1998), was reportedly completed earlier than planned by canceling an appearance at the Dynamo Open Air Festival.
Obsolete was similar in sound to Demanufacture, and introduced the progressive metal and alternative metal elements to the band's output. For the first time, the album featured Christian Olde Wolbers writing and recording full-time with the band. It also featured Cazares' debut use of 7-string Ibanez guitars tuned to A tuning (A, D, G, C, F, A, D), and paved the way for a lower-tuned sound than previously. The album is also notable for Rhys Fulber's increased involvement with the band.
While Fear Factory had explored the theme of "Man versus Machine" in their earlier work, Obsolete was their first concept album that dealt specifically with a literal interpretation of this subject. It tells a story called Conception 5, which was written by Bell, that takes place in a future world where mankind is rendered "obsolete" by machines. Its characters include the "Edgecrusher", "Smasher/Devourer", and the "Securitron" monitoring system. The story is presented in the lyrics booklet in a screenplay format between the individual songs. The printed story parts link the lyrics of the songs together thematically.
Obsolete was released during the alternative metal boom of the late 1990s. It was supported by tours with Slayer and later, Rammstein, and a headlining spot on the second stage at Ozzfest in 1999 as last-minute replacements for Judas Priest. They also toured in Europe in December 1998 with Spineshank and Kilgore, and went on their first headlining tour in North America with Static-X the next year, though the first leg was interrupted due to the band's tour bus and material being stolen. They also played in Japan for the first time. Obsolete became the band's highest selling album, marking the band's first entry into the Top 100 on the Billboard charts. The album also spawned singles "Descent" and a digipak bonus track, "Cars", a cover of the Gary Numan song featuring a guest appearance by Numan on the song. The single made the Mainstream Rock Top 40 in 1999 and was also featured in the video game, Test Drive 6. Numan also performed a spoken-word sample on the album's title track. A video was filmed for the song "Resurrection". To date, Obsolete remains the only Fear Factory album to have achieved gold sales in the U.S.
Digimortal and demise (2001–2002)
In early 2001, Fear Factory was asked to headline SnoCore Rock. The success of Obsolete and "Cars" was a turning point for the band; Roadrunner Records was now keen on capitalizing on the band's sales potential and pressured the band to record more accessible material for the follow-up album, titled Digimortal, which was released on April 23, 2001. Few weeks before its release, they were touring in Europe with One Minute Silence.
They went on a long headlining North American tour during 2001, then played in much larger European festivals like Bizarre Festival, Pukkelpop, Lowlands Festival and Leeds & Reading Festival. They then went on the first Roadrunner Roadrage tour in North America, toured Europe with Devin Townsend and Godflesh and played in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Digimortal made the Top 40 on the Billboard album charts, the Top 20 in Canada and the Top 10 of the Australian album charts. The track "Linchpin" reached the Mainstream Rock Top 40. A remix of "Invisible Wounds" was included on the Resident Evil film soundtrack, and an instrumental digipak bonus track called "Full Metal Contact" was originally written for the video game, Demolition Racer. A VHS/DVD release called Digital Connectivity, which documents each of the four album periods of the band via interviews, live clips, music videos and tour/studio footage, was released in January 2002.
Although Digimortal had a successful start, the sales did not reach the levels of Obsolete and the band received little tour support. The direction of the album coupled with strong personal differences between some of the band members created a rift that escalated to the point where Bell announced his exit in March 2002. The band disbanded immediately thereafter; its publicists said this was "largely because vocalist Burton C. Bell is tired of playing angry, aggressive music and wants to form a band that's more indie-rock-oriented". In a final collaboration, the group recorded two songs for the video game The Terminator: Dawn of Fate that month. Fear Factory's contractual obligations remained unfulfilled, however, and Roadrunner did not release them without controversially issuing the Concrete album in 2002 and the B-sides and rarities compilation, Hatefiles, in 2003. During his time away from Fear Factory, Bell with John Bechdel started a side project called Ascension of the Watchers, which released its first EP, Iconoclast, independently via their online store in 2005.
First return and Archetype (2002–2004)
Over time, tensions within the band developed between Dino Cazares and the other members, particularly Burton C. Bell and Raymond Herrera. When asked about the breakup in May 2002, Cazares made claims and allegations against Bell and the other members, stating that Fear Factory could continue without Christian Olde Wolbers and that he and Raymond Herrera were primarily motivated by money. Herrera responded to these allegations on behalf of the other band members, saying that Cazares was motivated by money and emphasizing Olde Wolbers' influence on the band's sound. According to Herrera, the other band members would often come up with new ideas they wanted to incorporate into Fear Factory's sound, but their suggestions were dismissed or openly ridiculed by Cazares, causing a rift between him and the other members that ultimately led to the band's breakup. In the same interview, Herrera also revealed that Cazares had attempted to control the direction of the band by manipulating their business management and record company, and had openly lied to the other members about his actions.
Herrera and Olde Wolbers reunited later in 2002 and laid the foundations for the return of Fear Factory. Cazares was then permanently out of the band. Bell was approached with their demo recordings and was impressed enough to rejoin the band and Fear Factory was re-formed. Olde Wolbers switched to guitar and Byron Stroud of Strapping Young Lad was approached to join the band as a bassist. He was a member from 2003 until 2012. Cazares continued recording and performing with his side project called Asesino, a Mexican deathgrind band. In 2007, he also started a new group called Divine Heresy.
Fear Factory made its live return as the mystery band at the Australian Big Day Out festival in January 2004, followed by its first American shows since re-forming on the spring Jägermeister tour with Slipknot and Chimaira. The new lineup's first album Archetype was released on April 20, 2004, through new record label Liquid 8 Records based in Minnesota. With Archetype, Fear Factory returned to an alternative, industrial, metal sound; the album is generally considered to be a strong 'return-to-form' record, if not a particularly innovative effort, with most of the trademark elements of the band firmly in place.
Videos were shot for the songs "Cyberwaste", "Archetype", and "Bite the Hand That Bleeds"; the latter featured on the Saw film soundtrack. The band performed on further tours with Lamb of God and Mastodon in the US and with Mnemic in Europe. The new Fear Factory has largely abandoned the direct "Man versus Machine" theme prevalent on earlier releases in favor of subjects such as religion, war, and corporatism.
Transgression (2005–2006)
Fear Factory announced plans to record and release its next full-length album over a very short period of time with mainstream rock producer Toby Wright, who had worked with Korn and Alice in Chains. This was allegedly due to pressure from Fear Factory's new label Calvin Records, which preponed the album's release date from four months away to just a month and a half so the band would have a new album to support on the inaugural Gigantour, which they had been invited to participate on by Dave Mustaine.
The resulting album, Transgression, was released on August 22, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and on the following day in North America, almost a year after Archetype. The album garnered highly polarized reviews; some critics hailed the album as diverse and progressive, and other reviewers did not receive the record very well. Although the album starts off as a Fear Factory record, subsequent songs include mellow/alt-rock numbers "Echo of My Scream" (featuring Faith No More's Billy Gould on bass) and "New Promise", a pop-rock song "Supernova", and a faithful cover of U2's rock song "I Will Follow".
In 2013, Wolbers posted more details about writing and recording of Transgression and Archetype on his Facebook page. He said he was disappointed with Transgression, calling it half-finished, and blamed the label for the severe time constraints imposed during the recording sessions and for the inclusion of the U2 cover. However, Burton C. Bell said he is proud of the album and sees it as the band "stepping over boundaries".
During 2005 and 2006, Fear Factory promoted the album on the "Fifteen Years of Fear" world tour in celebration of their fifteenth anniversary. The members invited bands including Darkane, Strapping Young Lad and Soilwork to join them on the U.S. leg, and Misery Index to join them on the European leg. Late in 2005, Fear Factory toured the U.S. again on the "Machines at War" tour, with an all-star death metal lineup of guests in Suffocation, Hypocrisy, and Decapitated; they played old classics from Soul of a New Machine, such as "Crash Test", which they had not performed live in many years.
Hiatus and other projects (2006–2008)
An online statement from Wolbers in December 2006 said the band would return to the studio to record a new album, produced by the band, immediately after the completion of the Transgression touring cycle. That month, Bell confirmed in an interview that the band would leave Liquid 8 Records.
Rather than begin work on a new studio album, the band members briefly parted and began working with other projects. Bell contributed vocals to the songs "End of Days, Pt.1", "End of Days, Pt. 2", and "Die in a Crash" on Ministry's 2007 album The Last Sucker, and later toured with Ministry in support of the album. In an interview for the website Metalsucks, Bell called this a "dream come true", describing Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen as "one of [his] heroes". In the same interview, Bell talked at length about his new band Ascension of the Watchers, providing insight into the inspiration behind the project's formation.
On March 21, 2008, while Fear Factory was on hiatus, Bell spoke in a video interview about the band's future, saying he no longer wanted to contribute to the violence and aggression he saw in the world with the aggressive type of music Fear Factory produced. Wolbers and Herrera started a new band called Arkaea, with vocalist Jon Howard and bassist Pat Kavanagh of Threat Signal. Wolbers said, "Ironically, half of the Arkaea album consists of songs that were intended to be the next Fear Factory record". Arkaea's debut album Years in the Darkness was released on July 14, 2009.
Second return, internal disputes, and Mechanize (2009–2011)
On April 8, 2009, Bell and Cazares announced the reconciliation of their friendship, and the formation of a new project with Byron Stroud on bass and drummer Gene Hoglan of Testament, Death, Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel, and Dethklok. On April 28, this project was announced to be a new version of Fear Factory without Herrera and Wolbers. When asked about their exclusion, Bell said, "[Fear Factory is] like a business and I'm just reorganizing ... We won't talk about [their exclusion]".
In June 2009, Wolbers and Herrera spoke about the issue on the radio program Speed Freaks. Herrera said he and Wolbers were still in the band. "[Christian and I] are actually still in Fear Factory ... [Burton and Dino] decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it Fear Factory. They never communicated with us about it", said Herrera. Herrera also said the four original members—Bell, Cazares, Wolbers, and Herrera—were contractually regarded as Fear Factory Incorporated, and, "it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate". The drummer also said he and Wolbers had written eight songs for the next Fear Factory record, but that a "personal disagreement" had arisen between them and Bell, which left Bell not wanting to continue work with the band.
Bell and Cazares later spoke about their reasons for excluding Herrera and Wolbers. Cazares said Bell wanted to reunite the classic Fear Factory lineup of himself, Cazares, Herrera, and Wolbers, but that Herrera and Wolbers refused to be part of any reunion with Cazares. Bell also said he wanted to fire the band's manager Christy Priske, who was also Wolbers' wife, and Herrera and Wolbers refused. Herrera and Wolbers threatened to sign a new record deal without Bell, prompting him to form a new version of Fear Factory without them. In some interviews, Wolbers said Bell had made "growing unacceptable demands", which were declined. He said, "Ray and I wanted what was best for the business and what he [Burton] was trying to change wasn't really good for the business. It was only bad for the business, so that's why he went into that whole phase of hijacking the name and trying to run with it."
Fear Factory featuring Bell and Cazares was due to make its live debut on June 21 at the Metalway Festival in Zaragoza, Spain. However, the show was canceled "at the last minute", apparently because of the legal complications referenced by Herrera. The rest of that lineup's planned performances in mid-2009, which included a tour of the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand that August, had also been canceled. The group said they canceled the tour to finish writing and recording the next Fear Factory album. Despite the canceled performances in Europe, they performed some shows in December in South American countries including Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.
During an interview on June 23, 2009, Cazares said he could never have a working relationship with Raymond and Wolbers again, saying they were too money-driven and criticized the music they recorded on Archetype for being too similar to the band's earlier output. Despite ongoing issues between the two parties, the new Fear Factory went ahead with the recording process. In late July 2009, a short video shot with a cell telephone showed Cazares recording drum tracks with longtime contributor Rhys Fulber. On November 6, 2009, blabbermouth.net said a new album, Mechanize, would be released on February 9, 2010, on Candlelight Records. On November 8, 2009, Fear Factory released a track titled "Powershifter" on YouTube. On November 10, 2009, Bell announced the track list for Mechanize, along with an explanation of each song.
In January 2010, Fear Factory played in Australia and New Zealand tour on the Big Day Out tour, playing their first Australian dates since 2005 on January 17 at Parklands Showgrounds on Queensland's Gold Coast. Fear Factory released Mechanize on February 5, 2010, and began a U.S. tour titled "Fear Campaign Tour 2010", in late March. In August 2010, the band headlined the Brutal Assault open air festival in Czech Republic. In September 2010, Fear Factory toured Australia, New Zealand, and Tokyo as the opening act for Metallica. The New Zealand concerts were in Christchurch, two shows that were brought about by a petition sent to Metallica asking them to visit New Zealand's second-largest city. After the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, the South Island concerts were in doubt, but on September 15, 2010, an official announced the CBS Arena had escaped harm and both shows went ahead.
The Industrialist (2011–2013)
In an interview during the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, Bell said Fear Factory was planning to write and record a "full-on concept" album, which was due for release in 2012. He said, "We're gonna kind of take a break a little bit, but we're definitely going into the studio at some point and start writing. We wanna take our time doing it. Personally ... Mechanize, don't get me wrong, is a good record—I'm very proud of it—but it's gotta be better than that. I've got plans where I'd like to do a full-on concept again—story, artwork. Just make it real cerebral. But there'll definitely be another Fear Factory record, maybe in 2012." On August 3, 2011, Dino Cazares said on his Twitter feed that he was working and demoing new material for the next Fear Factory album. On January 25, 2012, the band announced the new album will be titled The Industrialist. The album was again co-produced by the band with Rhys Fulber and mixed by Greg Reely.
Byron Stroud left the band early in 2012, saying, "Life's too short to spend it with people who don't respect you". In one interview, Cazares said he did not know why Stroud decided to leave and that he could not play the bass parts on Mechanize, prompting Cazares to do it himself.
In February 2012, former Chimaira guitar player Matt DeVries replaced Stroud. On April 19, 2012, Mike Heller of Malignancy and System Divide was announced as the band's new drummer, replacing Gene Hoglan; in an interview, Hoglan claimed that he only found out through Blabbermouth.net that he was no longer needed, and expressed some disappointment about the course of events. At the same time, Cazares confirmed on his Facebook page that John Sankey of Devolved had programmed the drums on The Industrialist. Burton described The Industrialist as another concept album "sonically, conceptually, and lyrically". Cazares also said he and Burton were the two in control of the record's outcome, and that the songwriting on the album was much more "definitive" in regards to Fear Factory's platform sound. On June 4, 2012,The Industrialist was available to stream through AOL Music. The album was released through Candlelight Records on June 5, 2012.
On May 2, 2013, Cazares commented regarding the status of Fear Factory albums Archetype and Transgression, which were recorded without his participation, and the band's decision not to play songs from them live, saying "they don't count" as Fear Factory albums. Contradicting this, Fear Factory played the track Archetype on its 2013 Australian tour in early July, with minor changes to the song's lyrics. On August 2, 2013, ex-drummer Hoglan said he left Fear Factory because he was prevented from participating on the album, and only found out about its completion online.
Genexus (2013–2015)
On May 1, 2013, Dino Cazares told Songfacts.com Fear Factory would begin work on their ninth studio album after the end of The Industrialist tour. The album was expected to be released in early 2014. On May 13, 2013, Burton C. Bell told Metal-Rules.com, "Fear Factory will continue to tour North America and Europe 2013. We've got some more tours scheduled, some summer festivals next year. During that time our plan is to start writing a new record and we would like to have a new record out by spring 2014". On March 19, 2014, Bell told Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles he would like to have the new album released by August, followed by a tour in September. On September 12, 2014, the band announced it had signed to record label Nuclear Blast and would enter the studio in October. The band also confirmed that the album would be mixed by Andy Sneap, and that Rhys Fulber would again produce it.
The band played their first shows in India, in November 2014, as part of the Weekender Tour, and on February/March 2015, they participated at the Soundwave Festival in Australia and New Zealand.
On May 1, 2015, it was announced that former Static-X and Soulfly bassist Tony Campos joined the band. Later that month, Fear Factory announced that they would release their ninth studio album, titled Genexus, on August 7, 2015.
They toured in European festivals in July 2015, and then onto North America, as an opening act for Coal Chamber. From late August until mid-September 2015, the band toured the midwestern, southern and southwestern United States with support from Once Human (starring Logan Mader), Los Angeles melodic metal band Before the Mourning and Chicago rock band The Bloodline. They also announced that they would play the entire Demanufacture album in Europe between November and December 2015, a tour which again included Once Human with the addition of Irish band Dead Label as openers.
Hiatus and lawsuits (2016–2019)
In a November 2016 interview with Loudwire, guitarist Dino Cazares revealed that Fear Factory had planned to release their tenth studio album in mid-to-late 2017. He stated, "Right now we're going to be home and doing a new record. We're writing already and in the process of doing a new record, but it probably won't be out until late summer of next year or maybe even October. I'm not exactly sure."
In a December 2016 interview with The Ex-Man, despite an ongoing "huge legal battle" with Bell and Cazares, former bassist-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers stated that he was "trying to reach out and try to get this reunion thing happening." He added, "There would be nothing better for this band [than] to reconcile our differences, fucking write a killer record, which I know we can, and fucking we would be doing really big tours. My passion for playing and what we have invested in this band is very big, and I know it's really big for Dino as well, 'cause he started it with Raymond back in the day." More fuel to the possibility of a reunion with the "classic" lineup of Bell, Cazares, Herrera and Wolbers was added later that month, when Wolbers posted an image on his Instagram account, suggesting Fear Factory's official website was "under construction."
On May 7, 2017, Wolbers posted a blank picture on his Instagram (which was later deleted), claiming that Fear Factory had broken up. Later that day, Cazares was asked via Twitter if they were still together, and his response was, "Not sure why your asking that and rant by who?".
In an interview with Kilpop in May 2017, Burton C. Bell said that the new songs were "even stronger than Genexus, 'cause it just seems even more tight. We're on a groove, and it's kicking ass."
In an interview with SiriusXM's Jose Mangin at November 2018's inaugural Headbangers Con in Portland, Oregon, Bell revealed Monolith as the title of Fear Factory's tenth studio album and its tentative artwork via his smartphone. In October 2019, this was refuted by guitarist Dino Cazares who stated via his Twitter account that there was no new Fear Factory album. Shortly thereafter, Cazares expressed uncertainty towards the band's future, indicating that a lawsuit filed by former members Raymond Herrera and Christian Olde Wolbers had prevented him and Bell from using the Fear Factory name.
Split with Burton C. Bell, Aggression Continuum and new vocalist (2020–present)
On September 2, 2020, Dino Cazares announced he would be releasing new Fear Factory music in 2021. Less than a month later, Burton C. Bell announced he quit Fear Factory citing "consistent series of dishonest representations and unfounded accusations from past and present band members", leaving no original members left in the band besides Cazares. However, Bell's contributions to their upcoming album will remain, as he recorded his vocals in 2017.
In an interview with Robb Flynn on September 28, 2020, which took place within hours after Bell announced his departure from Fear Factory, Cazares claimed that he was not aware of the split until he "found out [about it] via social media." He also claimed that one of the reasons behind Bell's departure was not only due to the lawsuit that prevented the release of the band's new album, but because the latter's portion of the Fear Factory "trademark ownership became available", which left Cazares as the sole owner of the band name. Cazares reiterated that Bell's vocals will appear on the new album, which was being mixed by Andy Sneap for a March 2021 release, and hoped the pair would continue to work together in order to support it.
On April 1, 2021, Fear Factory announced that their first new song in over five years would be released on April 16. A short riff teaser of the song from Cazares was released soon after. The new single "Disruptor" was released on April 16, followed by the announcement of the tenth studio album Aggression Continuum, which was released on June 18.
While deciding on a new vocalist through auditions, Cazares said that gender would not play a role, expressing an open interest in hiring a female; however, he said that he would not announce it for a while. Out of all the potential talents, he decided on a replacement who had yet to be revealed, with the member being a male and "kind of known" within the metal scene. He also said that the new member would be introduced through new songs.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
Fear Factory has been classified under several metal genres, but usually are described as industrial metal. The band also has been described as groove metal, nu metal, grindcore, thrash metal, and death metal. The band began as a death metal band with their debut album Soul of a New Machine, but quickly moved to industrial metal after that album. Fear Factory's influences include Slayer, Exodus, Napalm Death, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and Godflesh.
In terms of influences on the group's work, Dino Cazares has cited the band members' interests in fantasy and science fiction alternative universes such as the Terminator mythos as well as the Dune mythos. As a specific example, their debut album, Soul of a New Machine, picked up its name directly from a line in a movie critic review of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day film (discussing the T-1000 villain). Cazares has also cited recurring influences on Fear Factory coming from conventional popular music, outside of the genres of hard rock and heavy metal, for instance looking to singer-songwriter Paul McCartney's sounds in both The Beatles and Wings. Over the years the film Blade Runner has become a recurring theme as the band often makes lyrical reference to the plot, as well as directly quote and sample lines from the film.
Fear Factory's innovative approach towards and hybridization of the genres industrial metal, death metal, and alternative metal has had a lasting impact on other artists coming later, the band putting a stamp on metal music ever since the release of their first album in 1992. Fear Factory is noteworthy among contemporaries for its lyrical focus on science fiction, with much of the band's music telling a single story spanning several concept albums. The band has been called a "stepping stone", leading mainstream listeners to venture into less-known, more extreme bands, and are consistently appreciated.
In the liner notes of the re-released version of Soul of a New Machine, Machine Head vocalist Robb Flynn, Chimaira vocalist Mark Hunter, and Spineshank guitarist Mike Sarkisyan cited Fear Factory as an influence. Robb Flynn said his vocal style was influenced by Burton C. Bell's vocals and Machine Head have been wrongly credited for the vocal style. Mark Hunter said Chimaira's drumming was heavily influenced by Raymond Herrera. Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Static-X, and Coal Chamber have also mentioned Fear Factory in their liner notes.
Modern bands including Mnemic, Scarve, Stiff Valentine, and Threat Signal contain significant influences from Fear Factory's technique and have also credited a substantial debt of gratitude to the band. Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy said, "Fear Factory are close to our hearts" and, "Soul of a New Machine was the influence for me to start my other project, 'Pain'". Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad said his main influences for Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing were Fear Factory and Napalm Death. In an interview on That Metal Show, Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward said Fear Factory is one of the bands he wishes he could play with, and picked Mechanize as one of his favourite albums.
Band members
Current members
Dino Cazares – guitars, backing vocals (1989–2002, 2009–present), bass (1992, 1995, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2020–present), keyboards (1995), drum programming (2012)
Mike Heller – drums (2012–present)
Tony Campos – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
Burton C. Bell – lead vocals (1989–2002, 2002–2006, 2009–2020), keyboards (1995)
David Gibney – bass (1989–1991)
Andy Romero – bass (1991–1992)
Andrew Shives – bass (1992–1993)
Raymond Herrera – drums (1989–2002, 2002–2006)
Christian Olde Wolbers – bass (1993–2002, 2002–2006), guitars (2002–2006), backing vocals (1993–2002, 2002–2006)
Byron Stroud – bass (2002–2006, 2009–2012)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2009–2012)
Matt DeVries – bass, backing vocals (2012–2015)
Session/touring musicians
Reynor Diego – keyboards, samples (1992–1995)
Rhys Fulber – keyboards, samples (1993–2002, 2003–2004, 2009–present)
Steve Tushar – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1995–1997, 2003–2005)
John Morgan – keyboards, samples (1997)
John Bechdel – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1998–2002, 2002–2004)
Timeline
Discography
Soul of a New Machine (1992)
Demanufacture (1995)
Obsolete (1998)
Digimortal (2001)
Archetype (2004)
Transgression (2005)
Mechanize (2010)
The Industrialist (2012)
Genexus (2015)
Aggression Continuum (2021)
References
External links
1989 establishments in California
American industrial metal musical groups
Candlelight Records artists
Death metal musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups reestablished in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2006
Musical groups reestablished in 2009
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Roadrunner Records artists | true | [
"Remanufacture – Cloning Technology (sometimes referred to as Remanufacture) is a remix album of Fear Factory's second album Demanufacture, released on May 20, 1997.\n\nTrack listing\nThe titles of the original songs are in brackets. All songs composed by Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares and Raymond Herrera.\n\nNotes\nThe tracks \"Genetic Blueprint\" (New Breed) and \"21st Century Jesus\" (Pisschrist) featured on Infogrames Test Drive 5 which was released on PC and PlayStation in 1998. Additionally, the song \"Remanufacture (Demanufacture)\" was featured on the 2005 PSP video game Infected and is the theme song for the 2000 PC game Messiah. There was also a 12\" vinyl released called The Gabber Mixes on the label Mokum Records with additional tracks.\n\n2005 remastered edition\nThe album was re-released on June 7, 2005 in a digipak edition, with new bonus tracks and Demanufacture as the first disc.\n\nDisc two bonus tracks\nTracks 1–12 are the same as on the original version.\n\nPersonnel\n\nFear Factory\nFear Factory – production, cover design\nBurton C. Bell – vocals\nDino Cazares – guitar, production\nChristian Olde Wolbers – bass\nRaymond Herrera – drums\n\nOther personal \nDelwyn Brooks – mixing assistant\nCiel – artwork, design\nAnne Marie Damjanovic – production coordination\nRhys Fulber – remixing\nTed Jensen – mastering\nJunkie XL – producer, remixing\nKingsize – remixing\nDJ Dano – remixing\nGreg Reely – producer, mixing\nColin Richardson – producer\nCristian Wicha – design\n\nCharts\nAlbum - Billboard (United States)\n\nReferences\n\nFear Factory albums\n1997 remix albums\nRoadrunner Records remix albums\nAlbums produced by Greg Reely\n\nes:Demanufacture#Remanufacture",
"\"Dog Day Sunrise\" is a song originally by British band Head of David, from their 1988 album, Dustbowl.\n\nFear Factory version\n\n\"Dog Day Sunrise\" was covered by industrial metal band Fear Factory on their second studio album, Demanufacture. It was released as the second and final single from the album.\n\nThe song reached No. 85 on the UK chart, but did not chart on any of the US charts.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences \n\nFear Factory songs\n1996 singles\nRoadrunner Records singles\n1988 songs"
] |
[
"Fear Factory",
"Demanufacture (1995-1997)",
"What is Demanufacture?",
"Fear Factory's second album,",
"What kind of music is this album?",
"rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar",
"Is this the only album from this band?",
"It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere,",
"Was Demanufacture successful?",
"Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine.",
"Did the bank go on tour when releasing this album?",
"Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden,",
"When did the album first come out?",
"June 12.",
"What year did the album come out?",
"I don't know.",
"Is there any other interesting information about Demanufacture?",
"Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004)."
] | C_94fad564d0f240aa84b5c7c9779de8fd_0 | How was it similar to the other albums? | 9 | How was Soul of a New Machine similar to Demanufacture and Remanufacture? | Fear Factory | In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands. Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines. The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics. Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC videogames Carmageddon and Messiah. Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Waldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200 ;it also appeared on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995). CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. Over the years, Fear Factory has seen changes in its lineup, with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell being the only consistent member for 31 years until his departure in 2020. Other than guitarist Dino Cazares, there are no original members left in its current lineup. The band went on hold in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but resumed activity a year later without founding member Cazares. Previous bassist Christian Olde Wolbers replaced him as the new guitarist, and bassist Byron Stroud joined the band. In April 2009, a new lineup was announced. Cazares returned as guitarist, and Gene Hoglan as drummer. Bell and Stroud reprised their respective roles, and this lineup recorded the band's seventh studio album titled Mechanize (2010). Former members Wolbers and Raymond Herrera—both of whom were playing in Arkaea—disputed the legitimacy of the new lineup, and a legal battle from both parties had begun. Despite this, Fear Factory has since released three more albums: The Industrialist (2012), Genexus (2015) and Aggression Continuum (2021).
The band has performed at four Ozzfests and the inaugural Gigantour. Their singles have charted on the US Mainstream Rock Top 40 and albums on the Billboard Top 40, 100, and 200, and they have sold more than a million albums in the U.S. alone.
History
Early years (1989–1990)
Fear Factory was formed in 1989 under the name Ulceration, which the band agreed would "just be a cool name". In 1990, the name "Fear the Factory" was adopted. The name was inspired by a factory that the band supposedly saw near their rehearsal space which was guarded by men carrying rifles. Later, they shortened the name to just "Fear Factory".
The band's origins can be traced to an outfit formed by guitarist Dino Cazares—formerly of The Douche Lords—and drummer Raymond Herrera in Los Angeles, California. Their first lineup was completed with the addition of bassist Dave Gibney and vocalist Burton C. Bell (ex-Hate Face), who was allegedly recruited by an impressed Cazares, who overheard him singing "New Year's Day" by U2. Cazares played bass on the first three Fear Factory albums Concrete, Soul of a New Machine and Demanufacture, on which Cazares changed many of the riffs during the recording. It took Cazares two weeks to get the appropriate guitar tone. Cazares created, wrote and recorded all the music on the album. Wolbers joined the band two weeks before they were scheduled to go on tour to promote the album and, although he contributed musical changes to a couple of songs on the album he stated that these were not significant.
Fear Factory's earliest demo recordings are strongly reminiscent of the early works of Napalm Death and Godflesh, an acknowledged influence of the band in the grindcore-driven approach of the former and the mechanical brutality, bleakness, and vocal stylings of the latter. According to Brian Russ of The BNR Metal Pages, the demos are remarkable for integrating these influences into the band's death metal sound and for Burton C. Bell's pioneering fusion of extreme death growls and clean vocals in the same song, which was to become a significant and influential element of the band's sound throughout their career. The use of grunts and "throat singing" combined with clean vocals later defined the nu metal and other emerging subgenres of metal. Many vocalists in today's metal scene use two or more methods of singing and vocalizing lyrics. The band contributed two songs to the L.A. Death Metal Compilation in 1990. The band played its first show on October 31, 1990.
Concrete (1991)
In 1991, Fear Factory recorded a series of cuts for their debut album with the then-little-known producer Ross Robinson in Blackie Lawless' studio. The band's members were unhappy with the terms of their recording contract and caused a delay with the album's release. The band retained the rights to the songs, many of which they re-recorded in 1992 with a different producer, Colin Richardson, for inclusion on their debut release Soul of a New Machine. Meanwhile, Ross Robinson obtained the rights to the recording, which he used to promote himself as a producer. The album was officially released in 2002 by Roadrunner Records under the title Concrete after the band's breakup. The release was controversial because the album was issued because of the band's outstanding contractual obligation and without the approval of every band member.
Fan opinion has been divided as to whether Ross Robinson's production properly captured the intricacies of the band's sound. The released album favored a straight-up approach and Robinson's distinct drum sound. Concrete has become an important album for fans of the early Fear Factory sound; it can be seen as a bridge between the band's sound on their demo recordings and their debut release, Soul of a New Machine, and a blueprint for later songs and B-sides.
Based on the Concrete recording, Max Cavalera recommended Fear Factory to the then-death-metal-focused Roadrunner Records label, which offered the band a recording contract. While the band signed the contract, it has since become controversial because of Roadrunner's treatment of the band during the events surrounding its 2002 breakup. This was reflected in the first album Archetype (2004), which was released following the band's re-formation. The opening song with lyrics by Burton C. Bell, "Slave Labor", was direct about the band's feelings on the matter. After working with numerous bassists, Andrew Shives was hired as a live bassist prior to the release of Soul of a New Machine.
Soul of a New Machine (1992–1994)
Soul of a New Machine (1992), which was recorded with producer Colin Richardson, gave the band greater exposure in the music scene. It is characterized by an industrial death metal sound that combined Bell's harsh and melodic vocals, Herrera's machine-like drums, the integrated industrial samples and textures and the sharp, down-tuned, rhythmic, death metal riffs of Dino Cazares. Cazares and Herrera wrote all the music. Because the band had no bass player, Cazares played both guitar and bass on the recording. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic called the album "groundbreaking" and said that "it ushered in the '90s alternative metal era".
Due to the extreme nature of the music, the album never reached the level of popularity attained by their later, more accessible works, and remains a cult favorite. Soul of a New Machine is considered by many as Fear Factory's final work death metal album because with each album, the band's style shifted away from the death metal subgenre.
To promote the album, Fear Factory embarked on extensive U.S. tours with Biohazard, Sepultura, and Sick of It All. During this period, sampler-keyboardist Reynor Diego joined the group. An album tour of Europe with Brutal Truth, then Cannibal Corpse, Cathedral, and Sleep, followed. The following year, they hired Front Line Assembly member Rhys Fulber to remix some songs from the album, demonstrating the band's willingness to experiment with their music. The results took on a predominantly industrial guise, and were released as the Fear Is the Mindkiller EP (1993). Soul of a New Machine and Fear is the Mindkiller were released (2004) as a package in a new re-mastered reissue by Roadrunner Records.
In 1994, Andrew Shives was forced to leave the band. Cazares recorded both the guitar and bass for the entire album. In November the same year, the band met Belgian Christian Olde Wolbers through Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard. Wolbers auditioned for Fear Factory's permanent bassist. Wolbers joined the band immediately since the band's tour was starting in two weeks.
Demanufacture (1995–1997)
In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands.
Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture, was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features, in comparison to the overly brutal approach favored in the early recordings, a more industrial metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines.
The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel than the band's previous works. Many fans consider Rhys Fulber's involvement with the band integral to this dimension of their sound. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics.
Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC video games Carmageddon and Messiah.
Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force, Wâldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting. They also appeared at the Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology. This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200. Roadrunner Records re-released, in a 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995).
Obsolete (1998–2000)
Fear Factory's third studio album, Obsolete (July 1998), was reportedly completed earlier than planned by canceling an appearance at the Dynamo Open Air Festival.
Obsolete was similar in sound to Demanufacture, and introduced the progressive metal and alternative metal elements to the band's output. For the first time, the album featured Christian Olde Wolbers writing and recording full-time with the band. It also featured Cazares' debut use of 7-string Ibanez guitars tuned to A tuning (A, D, G, C, F, A, D), and paved the way for a lower-tuned sound than previously. The album is also notable for Rhys Fulber's increased involvement with the band.
While Fear Factory had explored the theme of "Man versus Machine" in their earlier work, Obsolete was their first concept album that dealt specifically with a literal interpretation of this subject. It tells a story called Conception 5, which was written by Bell, that takes place in a future world where mankind is rendered "obsolete" by machines. Its characters include the "Edgecrusher", "Smasher/Devourer", and the "Securitron" monitoring system. The story is presented in the lyrics booklet in a screenplay format between the individual songs. The printed story parts link the lyrics of the songs together thematically.
Obsolete was released during the alternative metal boom of the late 1990s. It was supported by tours with Slayer and later, Rammstein, and a headlining spot on the second stage at Ozzfest in 1999 as last-minute replacements for Judas Priest. They also toured in Europe in December 1998 with Spineshank and Kilgore, and went on their first headlining tour in North America with Static-X the next year, though the first leg was interrupted due to the band's tour bus and material being stolen. They also played in Japan for the first time. Obsolete became the band's highest selling album, marking the band's first entry into the Top 100 on the Billboard charts. The album also spawned singles "Descent" and a digipak bonus track, "Cars", a cover of the Gary Numan song featuring a guest appearance by Numan on the song. The single made the Mainstream Rock Top 40 in 1999 and was also featured in the video game, Test Drive 6. Numan also performed a spoken-word sample on the album's title track. A video was filmed for the song "Resurrection". To date, Obsolete remains the only Fear Factory album to have achieved gold sales in the U.S.
Digimortal and demise (2001–2002)
In early 2001, Fear Factory was asked to headline SnoCore Rock. The success of Obsolete and "Cars" was a turning point for the band; Roadrunner Records was now keen on capitalizing on the band's sales potential and pressured the band to record more accessible material for the follow-up album, titled Digimortal, which was released on April 23, 2001. Few weeks before its release, they were touring in Europe with One Minute Silence.
They went on a long headlining North American tour during 2001, then played in much larger European festivals like Bizarre Festival, Pukkelpop, Lowlands Festival and Leeds & Reading Festival. They then went on the first Roadrunner Roadrage tour in North America, toured Europe with Devin Townsend and Godflesh and played in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Digimortal made the Top 40 on the Billboard album charts, the Top 20 in Canada and the Top 10 of the Australian album charts. The track "Linchpin" reached the Mainstream Rock Top 40. A remix of "Invisible Wounds" was included on the Resident Evil film soundtrack, and an instrumental digipak bonus track called "Full Metal Contact" was originally written for the video game, Demolition Racer. A VHS/DVD release called Digital Connectivity, which documents each of the four album periods of the band via interviews, live clips, music videos and tour/studio footage, was released in January 2002.
Although Digimortal had a successful start, the sales did not reach the levels of Obsolete and the band received little tour support. The direction of the album coupled with strong personal differences between some of the band members created a rift that escalated to the point where Bell announced his exit in March 2002. The band disbanded immediately thereafter; its publicists said this was "largely because vocalist Burton C. Bell is tired of playing angry, aggressive music and wants to form a band that's more indie-rock-oriented". In a final collaboration, the group recorded two songs for the video game The Terminator: Dawn of Fate that month. Fear Factory's contractual obligations remained unfulfilled, however, and Roadrunner did not release them without controversially issuing the Concrete album in 2002 and the B-sides and rarities compilation, Hatefiles, in 2003. During his time away from Fear Factory, Bell with John Bechdel started a side project called Ascension of the Watchers, which released its first EP, Iconoclast, independently via their online store in 2005.
First return and Archetype (2002–2004)
Over time, tensions within the band developed between Dino Cazares and the other members, particularly Burton C. Bell and Raymond Herrera. When asked about the breakup in May 2002, Cazares made claims and allegations against Bell and the other members, stating that Fear Factory could continue without Christian Olde Wolbers and that he and Raymond Herrera were primarily motivated by money. Herrera responded to these allegations on behalf of the other band members, saying that Cazares was motivated by money and emphasizing Olde Wolbers' influence on the band's sound. According to Herrera, the other band members would often come up with new ideas they wanted to incorporate into Fear Factory's sound, but their suggestions were dismissed or openly ridiculed by Cazares, causing a rift between him and the other members that ultimately led to the band's breakup. In the same interview, Herrera also revealed that Cazares had attempted to control the direction of the band by manipulating their business management and record company, and had openly lied to the other members about his actions.
Herrera and Olde Wolbers reunited later in 2002 and laid the foundations for the return of Fear Factory. Cazares was then permanently out of the band. Bell was approached with their demo recordings and was impressed enough to rejoin the band and Fear Factory was re-formed. Olde Wolbers switched to guitar and Byron Stroud of Strapping Young Lad was approached to join the band as a bassist. He was a member from 2003 until 2012. Cazares continued recording and performing with his side project called Asesino, a Mexican deathgrind band. In 2007, he also started a new group called Divine Heresy.
Fear Factory made its live return as the mystery band at the Australian Big Day Out festival in January 2004, followed by its first American shows since re-forming on the spring Jägermeister tour with Slipknot and Chimaira. The new lineup's first album Archetype was released on April 20, 2004, through new record label Liquid 8 Records based in Minnesota. With Archetype, Fear Factory returned to an alternative, industrial, metal sound; the album is generally considered to be a strong 'return-to-form' record, if not a particularly innovative effort, with most of the trademark elements of the band firmly in place.
Videos were shot for the songs "Cyberwaste", "Archetype", and "Bite the Hand That Bleeds"; the latter featured on the Saw film soundtrack. The band performed on further tours with Lamb of God and Mastodon in the US and with Mnemic in Europe. The new Fear Factory has largely abandoned the direct "Man versus Machine" theme prevalent on earlier releases in favor of subjects such as religion, war, and corporatism.
Transgression (2005–2006)
Fear Factory announced plans to record and release its next full-length album over a very short period of time with mainstream rock producer Toby Wright, who had worked with Korn and Alice in Chains. This was allegedly due to pressure from Fear Factory's new label Calvin Records, which preponed the album's release date from four months away to just a month and a half so the band would have a new album to support on the inaugural Gigantour, which they had been invited to participate on by Dave Mustaine.
The resulting album, Transgression, was released on August 22, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and on the following day in North America, almost a year after Archetype. The album garnered highly polarized reviews; some critics hailed the album as diverse and progressive, and other reviewers did not receive the record very well. Although the album starts off as a Fear Factory record, subsequent songs include mellow/alt-rock numbers "Echo of My Scream" (featuring Faith No More's Billy Gould on bass) and "New Promise", a pop-rock song "Supernova", and a faithful cover of U2's rock song "I Will Follow".
In 2013, Wolbers posted more details about writing and recording of Transgression and Archetype on his Facebook page. He said he was disappointed with Transgression, calling it half-finished, and blamed the label for the severe time constraints imposed during the recording sessions and for the inclusion of the U2 cover. However, Burton C. Bell said he is proud of the album and sees it as the band "stepping over boundaries".
During 2005 and 2006, Fear Factory promoted the album on the "Fifteen Years of Fear" world tour in celebration of their fifteenth anniversary. The members invited bands including Darkane, Strapping Young Lad and Soilwork to join them on the U.S. leg, and Misery Index to join them on the European leg. Late in 2005, Fear Factory toured the U.S. again on the "Machines at War" tour, with an all-star death metal lineup of guests in Suffocation, Hypocrisy, and Decapitated; they played old classics from Soul of a New Machine, such as "Crash Test", which they had not performed live in many years.
Hiatus and other projects (2006–2008)
An online statement from Wolbers in December 2006 said the band would return to the studio to record a new album, produced by the band, immediately after the completion of the Transgression touring cycle. That month, Bell confirmed in an interview that the band would leave Liquid 8 Records.
Rather than begin work on a new studio album, the band members briefly parted and began working with other projects. Bell contributed vocals to the songs "End of Days, Pt.1", "End of Days, Pt. 2", and "Die in a Crash" on Ministry's 2007 album The Last Sucker, and later toured with Ministry in support of the album. In an interview for the website Metalsucks, Bell called this a "dream come true", describing Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen as "one of [his] heroes". In the same interview, Bell talked at length about his new band Ascension of the Watchers, providing insight into the inspiration behind the project's formation.
On March 21, 2008, while Fear Factory was on hiatus, Bell spoke in a video interview about the band's future, saying he no longer wanted to contribute to the violence and aggression he saw in the world with the aggressive type of music Fear Factory produced. Wolbers and Herrera started a new band called Arkaea, with vocalist Jon Howard and bassist Pat Kavanagh of Threat Signal. Wolbers said, "Ironically, half of the Arkaea album consists of songs that were intended to be the next Fear Factory record". Arkaea's debut album Years in the Darkness was released on July 14, 2009.
Second return, internal disputes, and Mechanize (2009–2011)
On April 8, 2009, Bell and Cazares announced the reconciliation of their friendship, and the formation of a new project with Byron Stroud on bass and drummer Gene Hoglan of Testament, Death, Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel, and Dethklok. On April 28, this project was announced to be a new version of Fear Factory without Herrera and Wolbers. When asked about their exclusion, Bell said, "[Fear Factory is] like a business and I'm just reorganizing ... We won't talk about [their exclusion]".
In June 2009, Wolbers and Herrera spoke about the issue on the radio program Speed Freaks. Herrera said he and Wolbers were still in the band. "[Christian and I] are actually still in Fear Factory ... [Burton and Dino] decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it Fear Factory. They never communicated with us about it", said Herrera. Herrera also said the four original members—Bell, Cazares, Wolbers, and Herrera—were contractually regarded as Fear Factory Incorporated, and, "it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate". The drummer also said he and Wolbers had written eight songs for the next Fear Factory record, but that a "personal disagreement" had arisen between them and Bell, which left Bell not wanting to continue work with the band.
Bell and Cazares later spoke about their reasons for excluding Herrera and Wolbers. Cazares said Bell wanted to reunite the classic Fear Factory lineup of himself, Cazares, Herrera, and Wolbers, but that Herrera and Wolbers refused to be part of any reunion with Cazares. Bell also said he wanted to fire the band's manager Christy Priske, who was also Wolbers' wife, and Herrera and Wolbers refused. Herrera and Wolbers threatened to sign a new record deal without Bell, prompting him to form a new version of Fear Factory without them. In some interviews, Wolbers said Bell had made "growing unacceptable demands", which were declined. He said, "Ray and I wanted what was best for the business and what he [Burton] was trying to change wasn't really good for the business. It was only bad for the business, so that's why he went into that whole phase of hijacking the name and trying to run with it."
Fear Factory featuring Bell and Cazares was due to make its live debut on June 21 at the Metalway Festival in Zaragoza, Spain. However, the show was canceled "at the last minute", apparently because of the legal complications referenced by Herrera. The rest of that lineup's planned performances in mid-2009, which included a tour of the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand that August, had also been canceled. The group said they canceled the tour to finish writing and recording the next Fear Factory album. Despite the canceled performances in Europe, they performed some shows in December in South American countries including Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.
During an interview on June 23, 2009, Cazares said he could never have a working relationship with Raymond and Wolbers again, saying they were too money-driven and criticized the music they recorded on Archetype for being too similar to the band's earlier output. Despite ongoing issues between the two parties, the new Fear Factory went ahead with the recording process. In late July 2009, a short video shot with a cell telephone showed Cazares recording drum tracks with longtime contributor Rhys Fulber. On November 6, 2009, blabbermouth.net said a new album, Mechanize, would be released on February 9, 2010, on Candlelight Records. On November 8, 2009, Fear Factory released a track titled "Powershifter" on YouTube. On November 10, 2009, Bell announced the track list for Mechanize, along with an explanation of each song.
In January 2010, Fear Factory played in Australia and New Zealand tour on the Big Day Out tour, playing their first Australian dates since 2005 on January 17 at Parklands Showgrounds on Queensland's Gold Coast. Fear Factory released Mechanize on February 5, 2010, and began a U.S. tour titled "Fear Campaign Tour 2010", in late March. In August 2010, the band headlined the Brutal Assault open air festival in Czech Republic. In September 2010, Fear Factory toured Australia, New Zealand, and Tokyo as the opening act for Metallica. The New Zealand concerts were in Christchurch, two shows that were brought about by a petition sent to Metallica asking them to visit New Zealand's second-largest city. After the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, the South Island concerts were in doubt, but on September 15, 2010, an official announced the CBS Arena had escaped harm and both shows went ahead.
The Industrialist (2011–2013)
In an interview during the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, Bell said Fear Factory was planning to write and record a "full-on concept" album, which was due for release in 2012. He said, "We're gonna kind of take a break a little bit, but we're definitely going into the studio at some point and start writing. We wanna take our time doing it. Personally ... Mechanize, don't get me wrong, is a good record—I'm very proud of it—but it's gotta be better than that. I've got plans where I'd like to do a full-on concept again—story, artwork. Just make it real cerebral. But there'll definitely be another Fear Factory record, maybe in 2012." On August 3, 2011, Dino Cazares said on his Twitter feed that he was working and demoing new material for the next Fear Factory album. On January 25, 2012, the band announced the new album will be titled The Industrialist. The album was again co-produced by the band with Rhys Fulber and mixed by Greg Reely.
Byron Stroud left the band early in 2012, saying, "Life's too short to spend it with people who don't respect you". In one interview, Cazares said he did not know why Stroud decided to leave and that he could not play the bass parts on Mechanize, prompting Cazares to do it himself.
In February 2012, former Chimaira guitar player Matt DeVries replaced Stroud. On April 19, 2012, Mike Heller of Malignancy and System Divide was announced as the band's new drummer, replacing Gene Hoglan; in an interview, Hoglan claimed that he only found out through Blabbermouth.net that he was no longer needed, and expressed some disappointment about the course of events. At the same time, Cazares confirmed on his Facebook page that John Sankey of Devolved had programmed the drums on The Industrialist. Burton described The Industrialist as another concept album "sonically, conceptually, and lyrically". Cazares also said he and Burton were the two in control of the record's outcome, and that the songwriting on the album was much more "definitive" in regards to Fear Factory's platform sound. On June 4, 2012,The Industrialist was available to stream through AOL Music. The album was released through Candlelight Records on June 5, 2012.
On May 2, 2013, Cazares commented regarding the status of Fear Factory albums Archetype and Transgression, which were recorded without his participation, and the band's decision not to play songs from them live, saying "they don't count" as Fear Factory albums. Contradicting this, Fear Factory played the track Archetype on its 2013 Australian tour in early July, with minor changes to the song's lyrics. On August 2, 2013, ex-drummer Hoglan said he left Fear Factory because he was prevented from participating on the album, and only found out about its completion online.
Genexus (2013–2015)
On May 1, 2013, Dino Cazares told Songfacts.com Fear Factory would begin work on their ninth studio album after the end of The Industrialist tour. The album was expected to be released in early 2014. On May 13, 2013, Burton C. Bell told Metal-Rules.com, "Fear Factory will continue to tour North America and Europe 2013. We've got some more tours scheduled, some summer festivals next year. During that time our plan is to start writing a new record and we would like to have a new record out by spring 2014". On March 19, 2014, Bell told Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles he would like to have the new album released by August, followed by a tour in September. On September 12, 2014, the band announced it had signed to record label Nuclear Blast and would enter the studio in October. The band also confirmed that the album would be mixed by Andy Sneap, and that Rhys Fulber would again produce it.
The band played their first shows in India, in November 2014, as part of the Weekender Tour, and on February/March 2015, they participated at the Soundwave Festival in Australia and New Zealand.
On May 1, 2015, it was announced that former Static-X and Soulfly bassist Tony Campos joined the band. Later that month, Fear Factory announced that they would release their ninth studio album, titled Genexus, on August 7, 2015.
They toured in European festivals in July 2015, and then onto North America, as an opening act for Coal Chamber. From late August until mid-September 2015, the band toured the midwestern, southern and southwestern United States with support from Once Human (starring Logan Mader), Los Angeles melodic metal band Before the Mourning and Chicago rock band The Bloodline. They also announced that they would play the entire Demanufacture album in Europe between November and December 2015, a tour which again included Once Human with the addition of Irish band Dead Label as openers.
Hiatus and lawsuits (2016–2019)
In a November 2016 interview with Loudwire, guitarist Dino Cazares revealed that Fear Factory had planned to release their tenth studio album in mid-to-late 2017. He stated, "Right now we're going to be home and doing a new record. We're writing already and in the process of doing a new record, but it probably won't be out until late summer of next year or maybe even October. I'm not exactly sure."
In a December 2016 interview with The Ex-Man, despite an ongoing "huge legal battle" with Bell and Cazares, former bassist-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers stated that he was "trying to reach out and try to get this reunion thing happening." He added, "There would be nothing better for this band [than] to reconcile our differences, fucking write a killer record, which I know we can, and fucking we would be doing really big tours. My passion for playing and what we have invested in this band is very big, and I know it's really big for Dino as well, 'cause he started it with Raymond back in the day." More fuel to the possibility of a reunion with the "classic" lineup of Bell, Cazares, Herrera and Wolbers was added later that month, when Wolbers posted an image on his Instagram account, suggesting Fear Factory's official website was "under construction."
On May 7, 2017, Wolbers posted a blank picture on his Instagram (which was later deleted), claiming that Fear Factory had broken up. Later that day, Cazares was asked via Twitter if they were still together, and his response was, "Not sure why your asking that and rant by who?".
In an interview with Kilpop in May 2017, Burton C. Bell said that the new songs were "even stronger than Genexus, 'cause it just seems even more tight. We're on a groove, and it's kicking ass."
In an interview with SiriusXM's Jose Mangin at November 2018's inaugural Headbangers Con in Portland, Oregon, Bell revealed Monolith as the title of Fear Factory's tenth studio album and its tentative artwork via his smartphone. In October 2019, this was refuted by guitarist Dino Cazares who stated via his Twitter account that there was no new Fear Factory album. Shortly thereafter, Cazares expressed uncertainty towards the band's future, indicating that a lawsuit filed by former members Raymond Herrera and Christian Olde Wolbers had prevented him and Bell from using the Fear Factory name.
Split with Burton C. Bell, Aggression Continuum and new vocalist (2020–present)
On September 2, 2020, Dino Cazares announced he would be releasing new Fear Factory music in 2021. Less than a month later, Burton C. Bell announced he quit Fear Factory citing "consistent series of dishonest representations and unfounded accusations from past and present band members", leaving no original members left in the band besides Cazares. However, Bell's contributions to their upcoming album will remain, as he recorded his vocals in 2017.
In an interview with Robb Flynn on September 28, 2020, which took place within hours after Bell announced his departure from Fear Factory, Cazares claimed that he was not aware of the split until he "found out [about it] via social media." He also claimed that one of the reasons behind Bell's departure was not only due to the lawsuit that prevented the release of the band's new album, but because the latter's portion of the Fear Factory "trademark ownership became available", which left Cazares as the sole owner of the band name. Cazares reiterated that Bell's vocals will appear on the new album, which was being mixed by Andy Sneap for a March 2021 release, and hoped the pair would continue to work together in order to support it.
On April 1, 2021, Fear Factory announced that their first new song in over five years would be released on April 16. A short riff teaser of the song from Cazares was released soon after. The new single "Disruptor" was released on April 16, followed by the announcement of the tenth studio album Aggression Continuum, which was released on June 18.
While deciding on a new vocalist through auditions, Cazares said that gender would not play a role, expressing an open interest in hiring a female; however, he said that he would not announce it for a while. Out of all the potential talents, he decided on a replacement who had yet to be revealed, with the member being a male and "kind of known" within the metal scene. He also said that the new member would be introduced through new songs.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
Fear Factory has been classified under several metal genres, but usually are described as industrial metal. The band also has been described as groove metal, nu metal, grindcore, thrash metal, and death metal. The band began as a death metal band with their debut album Soul of a New Machine, but quickly moved to industrial metal after that album. Fear Factory's influences include Slayer, Exodus, Napalm Death, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and Godflesh.
In terms of influences on the group's work, Dino Cazares has cited the band members' interests in fantasy and science fiction alternative universes such as the Terminator mythos as well as the Dune mythos. As a specific example, their debut album, Soul of a New Machine, picked up its name directly from a line in a movie critic review of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day film (discussing the T-1000 villain). Cazares has also cited recurring influences on Fear Factory coming from conventional popular music, outside of the genres of hard rock and heavy metal, for instance looking to singer-songwriter Paul McCartney's sounds in both The Beatles and Wings. Over the years the film Blade Runner has become a recurring theme as the band often makes lyrical reference to the plot, as well as directly quote and sample lines from the film.
Fear Factory's innovative approach towards and hybridization of the genres industrial metal, death metal, and alternative metal has had a lasting impact on other artists coming later, the band putting a stamp on metal music ever since the release of their first album in 1992. Fear Factory is noteworthy among contemporaries for its lyrical focus on science fiction, with much of the band's music telling a single story spanning several concept albums. The band has been called a "stepping stone", leading mainstream listeners to venture into less-known, more extreme bands, and are consistently appreciated.
In the liner notes of the re-released version of Soul of a New Machine, Machine Head vocalist Robb Flynn, Chimaira vocalist Mark Hunter, and Spineshank guitarist Mike Sarkisyan cited Fear Factory as an influence. Robb Flynn said his vocal style was influenced by Burton C. Bell's vocals and Machine Head have been wrongly credited for the vocal style. Mark Hunter said Chimaira's drumming was heavily influenced by Raymond Herrera. Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Static-X, and Coal Chamber have also mentioned Fear Factory in their liner notes.
Modern bands including Mnemic, Scarve, Stiff Valentine, and Threat Signal contain significant influences from Fear Factory's technique and have also credited a substantial debt of gratitude to the band. Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy said, "Fear Factory are close to our hearts" and, "Soul of a New Machine was the influence for me to start my other project, 'Pain'". Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad said his main influences for Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing were Fear Factory and Napalm Death. In an interview on That Metal Show, Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward said Fear Factory is one of the bands he wishes he could play with, and picked Mechanize as one of his favourite albums.
Band members
Current members
Dino Cazares – guitars, backing vocals (1989–2002, 2009–present), bass (1992, 1995, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2020–present), keyboards (1995), drum programming (2012)
Mike Heller – drums (2012–present)
Tony Campos – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
Burton C. Bell – lead vocals (1989–2002, 2002–2006, 2009–2020), keyboards (1995)
David Gibney – bass (1989–1991)
Andy Romero – bass (1991–1992)
Andrew Shives – bass (1992–1993)
Raymond Herrera – drums (1989–2002, 2002–2006)
Christian Olde Wolbers – bass (1993–2002, 2002–2006), guitars (2002–2006), backing vocals (1993–2002, 2002–2006)
Byron Stroud – bass (2002–2006, 2009–2012)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2009–2012)
Matt DeVries – bass, backing vocals (2012–2015)
Session/touring musicians
Reynor Diego – keyboards, samples (1992–1995)
Rhys Fulber – keyboards, samples (1993–2002, 2003–2004, 2009–present)
Steve Tushar – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1995–1997, 2003–2005)
John Morgan – keyboards, samples (1997)
John Bechdel – keyboards, synthesizers, samples (1998–2002, 2002–2004)
Timeline
Discography
Soul of a New Machine (1992)
Demanufacture (1995)
Obsolete (1998)
Digimortal (2001)
Archetype (2004)
Transgression (2005)
Mechanize (2010)
The Industrialist (2012)
Genexus (2015)
Aggression Continuum (2021)
References
External links
1989 establishments in California
American industrial metal musical groups
Candlelight Records artists
Death metal musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups reestablished in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2006
Musical groups reestablished in 2009
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Roadrunner Records artists | false | [
"It's Only Ketchup is an album released by Tim Fite. Like his previous release, Over the Counter Culture, the album was made available at Fite's website for free download. However, the album was only available on October 31, 2007—the day of Halloween. The album was, again, made available on October 31, 2008, along with a second Halloween-themed album, Ding-Dong DITCH!!!.\n\nMusically, it is similar to Over the Counter Culture, eschewing the folk stylings of his studio albums and ending up as largely a hip hop album.\n\nOn the ANTI- website, Fite provides a humorous explanation of how the album came to be:\n\nThe song \"Slash Rules\" is similar to the song \"C.R.E.A.M.\" by Wu-Tang Clan.\n\nTrack listing\nAll songs written by Tim Fite.\n\n\"Finders Keepers\" (1:04)\n\"Slash Rules\" (3:20)\n\"Trick or Treat\" (3:19)\n\"We Look Good Together\" (4:31)\n\"Get Up\" (1:40)\n\"I Will Save Everything\" (3:24)\n\n2007 albums\nTim Fite albums\nAlbums free for download by copyright owner",
"Erota, Den Ksereis N'Agapas (Greek: Έρωτα, Δεν Ξέρεις Ν' Αγαπάς; English: Love, you don't know how to love) is an album by popular Greek artist Natasa Theodoridou. It was released in 2004.\n\nBackground\nReleased as Natasa Theodoridou's sixth studio album and the follow-up to the platinum certified Mia Diadromi, the album was written by Evanthia Reboutsika, with whom Theodoridou had recently collaborated with on the soundtrack for Politiki Kouzina (A Touch of Spice); the lyrics are by Mihalis Gkanas.\n\nOriginally scheduled for a September release, the album was delayed and finally released on October 27, 2004. It is described as being substantially different from the style of Theodoridou's first albums and is similar to the music and beat of older Greek folk music, featuring many Hasapikos and Zeibekikos.\n\nPromotion\nTheodoridou appeared on the MAD TV show Live@5 on December 31, 2004 to co-host the New Year's Eve party, talk about the album and her successful career so far. She was also nominated for \"Best Female Artist\" at the Arion Music Awards with the album.\n\nTrack listing \n\"Ksimeronomai\" (I'm dawning) – 3:14\n\"Govaki Gialino\" (Glass shoe) – 2:57\n\"Pos Ta Kataferes\" (How do you make it?) – 3:33\n\"Erota, Den Ksereis N' Agapas\" (Love, you don't know how to love) – 2:45\n\"Saloniki\" (Saloniki) – 3:18\n\"Nostalgia\" (Nostalgia) – 2:25\n\"Mathima Horou\" (Dance lesson) – 3:20\n\"Fotia\" (Fire) – 4:14\n\"Ti Sou Ho Kani\" (What did I do to you?) – 3:45\n\"Mia Foni Makrini\" (A distant voice) – 2:54\n\nSingles and music videos\n\"Ksimeronomai\"\n\"Ksimeronomai\" was released as the first single from the album.\n\n\"Pos Ta Kataferes\"\n\"Pos Ta Kataferes\" was released as the second single from the album with music by Evanthia Reboutsika and lyrics by Michalis Gkanas. A music video was created and is directed by Manolis Tzirakis.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nNatasa Theodoridou albums\nGreek-language albums\n2004 albums\nSony Music Greece albums"
] |
[
"Cheri Honkala",
"On video"
] | C_47894f9a278d414e89216ecba81aae88_0 | What made her first decide to do video? | 1 | What made Cheri Honkala first decide to do video? | Cheri Honkala | Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.) In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country. The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance. In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.) On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. CANNOTANSWER | Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers | Cheri Lynn Honkala (; born January 12, 1963) is an American anti-poverty advocate, co-founder of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and co-founder and National Coordinator of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. She has been a noted advocate for human rights in the United States and internationally. She is the mother of actor Mark Webber.
She was featured prominently in the 1997 book Myth of the Welfare Queen by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino. In 2011, Honkala was the Green Party candidate for Sheriff of Philadelphia, running on the promise of refusing to evict families from their homes. She was the Green Party's nominee for vice-president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
Early life
Cheri Honkala was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1963. Her father, Maynard Duane Honkala, was of Finnish ancestry, and her mother had Cheyenne Native American ancestry. She grew up watching her mother suffer from domestic violence. Honkala's mother quietly endured this abuse for fear of losing her children. Honkala was removed from the household and spent most of her youth incarcerated in a total of nine youth detention facilities.
When Honkala was 17, her 19-year-old brother Mark, who suffered from mental health issues, committed suicide. Because he was uninsured, he could not afford to get the professional help he needed. At the time of Mark's suicide, Honkala was already a mother (with a son, Mark, named after her brother), living out of her car and going to high school. Despite her difficult upbringing, she managed to graduate.
After living in an apartment in Minnesota, Honkala and her young son were forced to move out and live out of their white Camaro. She and her son became homeless after the Camaro was demolished by a drunk driver. Honkala could not find a shelter that would allow them to remain together that winter. To stay together and keep from freezing, Honkala decided to move into an abandoned Housing and Urban Development (HUD) home. She would later comment, "I chose to live, and I chose to keep my son alive." She called a press conference, in which she said, "This is me, this is my nine-year-old son, and we're not leaving until somebody can tell us where we can live and not freeze to death."
Work as organizer
For the past 25 years, Honkala has been a leading advocate for the poor and homeless in America. While still living in Minnesota, she formed the Twin Cities anti-poverty groups "Women, Work and Welfare" and "Up and Out of Poverty Now." In Philadelphia, she co-founded the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC). She has organized numerous protests, holding marches, demonstrations and setting up tent cities, in the course of which activities she claims to have been arrested for civil disobedience violations more than 200 times. She is known internationally for her work advocating for the rights of poor people in the United States, and has received recognition in numerous publications for her role in bringing attention to issues such as homelessness and home foreclosures and has been called "the protester's protester." Currently based in Philadelphia, she has devoted most of her attention to the rise in home evictions among lower income families.
Kensington Welfare Rights Union
After moving to Philadelphia with her son in the late 1980s, in 1991 Honkala co-founded KWRU, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, named after the Kensington area in northern Philadelphia, where Honkala lived. She called KWRU a "Philadelphia based interracial organization of welfare recipients and other poor people." In the winter of 1993, when homeless shelters were full, the organization took over an abandoned Catholic Church to use as a shelter. In late 1994, KWRU broke into and took over vacant HUD homes destined for low-income housing and subsidized rent, although all the inhabitants (which included Honkala herself) were eligible for the housing program under the rules. They chose to ignore the bureaucracy and its delays, particularly the paperwork, paying rent into an escrow account to avoid trespassing charges. This became known as the Underground Railroad Project.
From that time, the volunteers of the organization regularly (and illegally) took over HUD homes to provide accommodations for homeless families. To provide a support system to these families, the organization set up what they called an "'Underground Railroad,' a network of other poor people, students, social workers, doctors and lawyers." Said Honkala: "Stealing slaves out of captivity was against the law ... But it was right. Sometimes the law is wrong. Sometimes you have to appeal to a higher authority."
In the spring of 1994, the Quaker Lace factory (a manufacturer of lace tablecloths) in the Kensington area of Philadelphia burned down, leaving an empty lot. The following summer, Honkala and KWRU constructed a large tent city on the site. Because Philadelphia authorities could not produce documentation establishing who owned the property, it was unable to evict the residents. (Eventually, they were driven out by flooding.) This very public action resulted in a substantial increase in donations to KWRU.
In September 1995, while the tent city was still standing, Honkala staged a protest by camping out for 36 hours, with others from the tent city, on Independence Mall within sight of the Liberty Bell, to make the plight of Philadelphia's homeless visible to residents and tourists next to one of the city's most famous landmarks. Although she argued that she and the others were merely exercising their right to free speech and had not hurt the park, she was cited and later tried for "residing in a park area." She was sentenced to six months' probation and fined $250. In July 1997, she was involved with the Liberty Bell once more, when she led a group on the "March for Our Lives" from the Bell to the United Nations building in New York to protest so-called welfare reform as a violation of the human rights of the poor. This action led directly to the formation of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC).
In October 1996, Honkala, with KWRU, staged a sit-in on the floor of the rotunda of Harrisburg's capitol building. The organization created a makeshift "city" that it dubbed "Ridgeville" after Republican Governor Tom Ridge, who had slashed social service benefits. Part of the purpose of the protests was to point out to the homeless the opulence of Gov. Ridge's lifestyle, including the governor's mansion, supported at state expense. The protest was supported by legislators opposed to the cuts, who bought meals for the protesters.
In April 1997, Honkala was arrested on a charge of "defiant trespassing" for attempting to build shacks for homeless families in Philadelphia on an empty industrial lot, though at the time, the shelter system was full and people were living on the streets.
The organization's leaders maintained that "some U.S. laws, such as the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, which limits the amount of time a family can receive federal assistance, violate Articles 23, 25 and 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Those articles guarantee, respectively, the right to work for a living wage under humane conditions; the right to adequate food, housing, medical care and social security; and the right to education."
Starting in June 1998, KWRU led the New Freedom Bus Tour, which traveled across the country, gathering stories of human rights violations to present as a petition to the United Nations. "Under the banner 'Freedom from Unemployment, Hunger and Homelessness,' the KWRU team collected additional evidence on the [negative] impact of [welfare reform] and held educational sessions teaching the poor about their economic rights." (A second such bus tour was organized by the PPEHRC in November–December 2002, which traveled to 27 cities to record human rights violations.)
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign
In the late 1990s, Honkala started another nonprofit, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, of which she became National Coordinator. The PPEHRC represents "a network of over 40 poor people's organizations from across the U.S." One commentator has written that the campaign "is the only [national] movement to come out of welfare reform that has been organized by poor people, and not their advocates."
This organization was formed in direct response to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 (also known as the Welfare Reform Act), signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton, which she and her allies claim hurts recipients of welfare. The organization's mission statement reads, "The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is committed to uniting the poor across color lines as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty. We work to accomplish this through advancing economic human rights as named in the universal declaration of human rights — such as the rights to food, housing, health, education, communication and a living wage job."
Part of the purpose of the organization is to make homelessness and the homeless visible, in order to force politicians to act. Honkala claims that the latter prefer that the homeless remain invisible, so they won't have to address the problem. In a speech, Honkala said: "That's what [the authorities] are saying [to you]: 'Go hide! Go be under a bridge, or ... hide under a bench, and we won't arrest you, we won't do anything to you, because you will be quiet!'" As Honkala declared, "When you have nothing, you still have your voice."
In October 1999, PPEHRC organized a month-long March of the Americas, from Washington, DC, to the United Nations in New York. Participants in the march included low-income families from the US, Canada and Latin America. The group "marched 15 miles a day for 32 days, sleeping in tent cities, churches and community centers at night, and holding press conferences and protests in local communities."
In July 2000, a PPEHRC march for the opening day of the Republican Party's National Convention in Philadelphia drew 10,000 homeless and poor people from around the country. (Of the several protest marches during that convention, this was the only one denied a permit by city authorities.)
In November 2000, at the historic Riverside Church in Manhattan in New York City, the PPEHRC held a "Poor People's World Summit to End Poverty," consisting of several hundred activists from some 30 countries, to share "experiences and [work] to build an international movement for economic human rights drawing explicitly on international treaties."
On July 4, 2003, Philadelphia held a celebration for the opening of the National Constitution Center, a new facility housing the Liberty Bell. Poor and homeless families from the city held a peaceful protest to demand their economic rights. "As the demonstrators marched toward Constitution Center single-file, carrying their own mattresses and led by children, park rangers, federal guards, and city police formed lines to prevent the families from approaching. Singing 'We Shall Not Be Moved,' the demonstrators locked arms and refused to leave the sidewalk. Protest leaders Honkala and Galen Tyler had prepared a 'Declaration of Economic Human Rights' to present at the Center. As they moved toward the Center, police moved to stop them, threw them to the ground, handcuffed them, and placed them under arrest ... Honkala was charged with one first-degree felony and four other felony counts. Police officers claimed that Honkala had struck one of them in the chest. However, a video taken at the time clearly shows Honkala carrying a mattress and being struck by the officer ... all the charges were subsequently withdrawn by the District Attorney's office."
In August 2004, Honkala marched with the PPEHRC in New York City (without a permit) to protest President Bush and the Republican National Convention (RNC) and to publicly call for greater attention by the government to the needs of the poor and homeless.
2011 campaign for Sheriff of Philadelphia
In early 2011, Honkala announced her run for Sheriff of Philadelphia on a "No Evictions" platform, with a campaign slogan of "Keeping families in their homes and protecting the 'hood." When asked why she accepted the Green Party's invitation to run, Honkala said: "I've been involved in too many fights in my life where I thought I was separate from the machine and the corporate money, only to find out later on that I was being used as a pawn for the Democratic Party ... [The Green Party] has a strict policy of no corporate money, which I liked."
As a publicity stunt, Honkala during the campaign rode a horse down Allegheny Avenue in Philadelphia while wearing a white hat resembling a Stetson, in imitation of the image of a Wild West sheriff. During her campaign, Honkala addressed the Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park in Manhattan to express solidarity with the group's anti-foreclosure aims and to ask for help in "occupying Philadelphia" on election day.
She finished in third place with over 10,000 votes.
2012 vice-presidential campaign
Nomination
On July 11, 2012, Jill Stein, then the presumptive nominee of the Green Party for president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, announced that she had selected Honkala as her vice-presidential running mate. Said Stein: "My running mate has been on the front lines fighting for the American poor, taking on the banks, taking on foreclosures, standing up for children most at risk."
Stein and Honkala were officially nominated by the Green Party at its national convention in Baltimore on Saturday, July 14.
Political activism during campaign
On August 1, 2012, Honkala was arrested along with Stein and three others during a sit-in at a Philadelphia bank to protest housing foreclosures by Fannie Mae, on behalf of several city residents struggling to keep their homes. The event began as a PPEHRC protest involving Honkala which Stein, after the former became her running mate, decided to join. The organization demanded that the mortgage company halt foreclosure proceedings against two Philadelphia residents. Fannie Mae executive Zach Oppenheimer had previously promised in writing to meet with the two women at the center of the controversy to negotiate a solution, but no such meeting ever took place. The protestors entered the Fannie Mae building and vowed to stay until Mr. Oppenheimer kept his word. Two lower-level officials met with the group, but when no resolution was obtained, most of the protesters exited the building, leaving only the core group, including Honkala, to be subject to arrest. They were charged with "defiant trespassing" and released the following day.
John Nichols, a commentator for The Nation magazine, compared the position of the Green Party candidates on this issue to the anti-banking rhetoric of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the New Deal.
She visited the PPEHRC encampment in Tampa, Florida, nicknamed "Romneyville," and strongly supported its plan to protest the 2012 Republican National Convention in that city, beginning on the convention's opening day in August.
On October 16, 2012, Honkala and Stein were arrested after they tried to enter the site of the second presidential debate at Hofstra University.
Policy positions
Stein and Honkala ran on a platform they call the Green New Deal, "an emergency four-part program of specific solutions for moving America quickly out of crisis into the secure green future." The program's name is inspired by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal in the Depression era.
The four pillars of the Green New Deal, "the central platform of the Stein/Honkala ticket" are:
An Economic Bill Of Rights – a) a Full Employment Program that will create 25 million jobs by implementing a nationally funded, but locally controlled direct employment initiative, replacing unemployment offices with local employment offices; b) defense of worker's rights including the right to a living wage, to a safe workplace, to fair trade, and to organize a union at work without fear of firing or reprisal; c) the right to quality health care which will be achieved through a single-payer Medicare-for-All program; d) the right to a tuition-free, quality, federally funded, local controlled public education system from pre-school through college, and forgiveness of current student loan debt; e) the right to decent affordable housing, including an immediate halt to all foreclosures and evictions; f) the right to accessible and affordable utilities; g) the right to fair taxation that's distributed in proportion to ability to pay.
A Green Transition – a) investment in green business by providing grants and low-interest loans to grow green businesses and cooperatives; b) investment in green research by redirecting research funds from fossil fuels and other dead-end industries toward research in wind, solar and geothermal; c) the creation of green jobs by enacting the Full Employment Program which will directly provide 16 million jobs in sustainable energy and energy efficiency.
Real Financial Reform – a) relief of the debt overhang holding back the economy by reducing homeowner and student debt burdens; b) democratization of monetary policy to bring about public control of the money supply and credit creation; c) a policy of breaking up oversized banks that are "too big to fail"; d) termination of taxpayer-funded bailouts for banks, insurers, and other financial companies; e) the regulation of all financial derivatives; f) the restoration of the separation of depository commercial banks from speculative investment banks, as was the case under the Glass-Steagall Act; g) a 90% tax on bonuses for bailed out bankers; and h) support for the formation of federal, state, and municipal public-owned banks that function as non-profit utilities.
A Functioning Democracy – a) the revocation of corporate personhood by amending our Constitution to make clear that corporations are not persons and money is not speech; b) the protect of our right to vote by supporting the proposed "Right to Vote Amendment"; c) the enactment of the Voter Bill of Rights; d) the commissioning of a thorough review of federal preemption law; e) the creation of a Corporation for Economic Democracy, f) the strengthening of media democracy by expanding federal support for locally owned broadcast media and local print media; g) the protection of our personal liberty and freedoms by, among other things, revoking the Patriot Act; h) a dramatic scaling back of the military–industrial complex.
Campaign goals
The SteinHonkala campaign set two immediate goals: to get its candidates on the ballots of as many states as possible before election day (November 6) and to make itself eligible to participate in the televised presidential debates, to take place in October. According to the rules of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), the nonprofit organization that sponsors and produces the presidential and vice-presidential debates, to qualify for a place in the debates the Green Party's presidential slate must a) appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to make it theoretically possible for its candidates to receive enough electoral votes to win the election, and b) receive an average of 15% support from respondents in five selected national polls. The CPD's selection criteria have often been criticized as prohibitively restrictive.
2016 Democratic National Convention
Honkala planned a novel political protest called a "fart-in" to be staged at the 2016 DNC "to greet the rhetorical flatulence of Hillary Clinton with the real thing". Just prior to the protest, Honkala hosted a "massive bean supper" for Sanders supporters in her home.
2017 Pennsylvania House of Representatives campaign
On January 31, 2017 Honkala announced she was running for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the March 21 special election to replace Leslie Acosta, who was the second state representative for the 197th legislative district to resign on federal fraud charges. She was considered to have more name recognition than her Republican and Democratic opponents. Honkala ran as a write-in candidate against Republican Lucinda Little; there was no Democrat on the ballot in the heavily Democratic district.
Honkala was endorsed by many progressives and organizations including Our Revolution, Progress for All, environmental activist Josh Fox, progressive entertainers Rosario Dawson and Tom Morello, former Director Emeritus of Philaposh (a labor organization) Jim Moran, former Philadelphia Health Commissioner Walter Tsou, the PEOPLE Committee of the AFSCME District Council 47, Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, the Philadelphia chapter of Socialist Alternative, and other local clergy and leaders.
In March 2017, Honkala lost to Democratic write-in Emilio Vazquez. However, this election went under investigation by the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and the Pennsylvania Attorney General. Honkala, alongside the Green Party of Pennsylvania, Lucinda Little (the Republican candidate), and the State and City Republican parties filed a lawsuit in United States District Court against Emilio Vazquez, the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, Philadelphia City Commissioners, PA Secretary of State Cortes, and the State's Bureau of Commissions, Elections, and Legislation. The lawsuit alleges widespread election fraud and voter intimidation on the part of Vazquez and the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, and failure to properly supervise the elections for the other defendants.
Claims in the federal lawsuit include electioneering inside the polling place, money exchange between Democratic poll workers and election officials, a ballot box being at Vazquez's "victory" party, tables set up outside by Democratic poll works made to look like voter sign-in tables, election workers asking people who they are voting for, Democratic ward leaders handling the voting machines, Vazquez meeting with election officials on election day inside of the polling place, and other claims. Despite the investigation, Vazquez was officially sworn in as a member of the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives on April 5, 2017.
Criticism
Honkala has been a controversial figure throughout her career as a protester and organizer. Feather O. Houstoun, a former secretary of the (Pennsylvania) State Department of Public Welfare, said "She has not been working, rolling up her sleeves on issues like Community Legal Services does. She has never availed herself [of] that opportunity, while other groups have." John Kromer, a former director of the city's office of Housing and Community Development, faxed a five-page letter to KWRU, in which he claimed that the group was actually preventing its poor followers from obtaining housing through its tactic of breaking into vacant homes, rather than utilizing established organizations. He wrote: "No good can come of an organization-building strategy, which is based on misleading poor people or preventing them from obtaining access to available assistance and support." Honkala admits that the group failed to rehabilitate any of the homes illegally taken, but asserts that the group was instrumental in helping 500 formerly homeless people find housing through existing programs. Honkala added: "I get criticized on a regular basis for not being a team player. But I have no qualms about holding a protest tomorrow at anybody's offices if they are denying anybody the basic necessities of life. You're not supposed to do that in Philadelphia."
She has been criticized for her confrontational tactics in dealing with the authorities. Author David Zucchino described Honkala's behavior at the first Liberty Bell protest as follows:
Cheri loved to make people uncomfortable ... She wanted people to squirm and recoil when they saw poor people. She was convinced that America sought desperately to keep its poor out of sight so as not to be reminded of the social policies she believed exacerbated poverty. If the country was going to turn its back on the poor, she was not going to let anyone feel ambivalent about it. She would assault people with her high-pitched nasal voice—in public demonstrations, in confrontations with elected officials, in media interviews, and in front of a ragged tent on Independence Mall.
During the church takeover incident, William Parshall, the deputy city managing director, known as the Philadelphia "housing czar," was asked whether Honkala's in-your-face tactics "made his job difficult." Parshall replied that he was far more concerned with such pending problems as national and state welfare cuts. He added, "The question is, what are we going to do about it? That's the question Cheri should be asking."
Zucchino in his book details many confrontations between Honkala and the authorities, but also instances in which she reached a mutually satisfactory compromise with them. For example, during the first Liberty Bell protest, she negotiated successfully with park authorities to leave the site without the necessity of admitting guilt or of enduring mass arrests.
Recognition
Honkala in the media
Honkala and her activities on behalf of the poor have been profiled many times in various media.
In print and photography
Honkala was one of two women profiled in Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino's book, The Myth of the Welfare Queen (1999). According to one review, Honkala, as depicted in the book, "helps create a tent city to protest welfare cuts, joins the occupation of an abandoned church and the takeover by protesters of empty houses owned by HUD. She tirelessly seeks publicity for her cause, battles with bureaucrats, and rallies and comforts fellow protesters."
She was the subject of Chapter 6, "Using Economic Human Rights in the Movement to End Poverty: The Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the Poor People's Economic Human Right Campaign" by Mary Bricker-Jenkins, Carrie Young and Honkala, in the book Challenges in Human Rights: A Social Work Perspective, edited by Elizabeth Reichert (2007). She was also briefly profiled in Katherine Martin's book Women of Courage: Inspiring Stories from the Women who Lived Them (1999).
Since the mid-1990s Honkala has been extensively documented by photographer Harvey Finkle. A YouTube video was created consisting of many of Finkle's photos of Honkala and of other poor people. She also wrote the introduction to Finkle's book of photographs of the urban poor, Urban Nomads: A Poor People's Movement (1997). One of the last photos taken by the late photographer Richard Avedon (1923–2004) was a portrait of Honkala for the series Democracy 2004, which appeared in an October 2004 issue of The New Yorker magazine.
Interviews and articles on Honkala have appeared in numerous print and online publications, including The Village Voice, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Weekly, Yes! magazine, Salon, Truthdig and The Nation.
On video
Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.)
In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country.
The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance.
In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.)
On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Honors and awards
Honkala has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards:
Philadelphia Magazine – list of the 100 Most Powerful Philadelphians
Philadelphia Weekly – "Woman of the Year" (1997)
Ms. Magazine – Woman of the Year (2001)
Bread and Roses Human Rights Award
Pennsylvania Association of Social Workers' Public Citizen of the Year
Front Line Defenders (The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders), a Dublin-based human rights organization, named her one of the "12 most endangered" activists in America
Mother Jones magazine – Hellraiser of the Month (April 2005)
In addition, the organization Honkala co-founded, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, was a 1999 co-winner (with Dr. Juan Garcés) of the prestigious Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award, given by the Institute for Policy Studies.
In January 2004, Honkala was invited to speak at the annual World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai, India on the subject of the "War against the Homeless." In 2006, Honkala again addressed the WSF, this time in Caracas, Venezuela, to discuss poverty and homelessness in the United States, information that many of her listeners do not often receive from mainstream U.S. media sources.
Electoral history
Personal life
Honkala in 1990 married a Philadelphia-based union official, Bob Brown, whom she had met at a convention the previous year. They divorced not long afterwards.
Honkala is the mother of the actor and director Mark Webber (born 1980). Webber has supported his mother's causes in a number of ways, including holding benefit events, such as art auctions, on her behalf.
Honkala is also the mother of Guillermo Santos (born 2002).
References
External links
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign Official site
1963 births
Living people
2012 United States vice-presidential candidates
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
Activists from Philadelphia
American people of Cheyenne descent
American people of Finnish descent
American political activists
American social activists
Female candidates for Vice President of the United States
Green Party of the United States vice presidential nominees
Homeless people
Homelessness activists
Pennsylvania Greens
People from Minneapolis
Politicians from Philadelphia
Women in Pennsylvania politics
Native American candidates for Vice President of the United States | true | [
"\"What Do I Have to Do\" is a song performed by Australian singer and songwriter Kylie Minogue taken from her third studio album, Rhythm of Love (1990). The song was written and produced by Stock, Aitken & Waterman. Originally, the song was planned to be released after the single \"Better the Devil You Know\", but instead \"Step Back in Time\" was released and this was released as the third single on 21 January 1991. The song received positive reviews from most music critics, who thought the song was an instant rave classic.\n\nThe song peaked at number eleven in her native Australia. The song did however peak at number six in the United Kingdom, becoming a success there. The song was also hit in France and The Netherlands.\n\nThe song has been performed on most of Minogue's concert tours, including her Rhythm of Love Tour, Let's Get to It Tour and Intimate and Live Tour. The song has also been performed at the Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour and the Homecoming Tour, and has been most recently been performed at her Aphrodite World Tour.\n\nBackground\nThere are three official promotional mixes of the song. The early unreleased first version is synth orienated and has multilayered vocals. Much of the synth was omitted and the drums, bass and vocals were toned down for the second album version. The third version, the 7\" Mix, contains a newer drum track, multilayered vocals in the chorus and relies much less on the synthesizers than on the album version. This version of the song also contains samples from American comedian Sam Kinison, and was used for the music video. In the UK a limited edition 7″ single came with postcards with shots from the video.\n\nOriginally, \"What Do I Have To Do\" was planned to be released as the follow-up single to \"Better the Devil You Know\", but was later released as the third single off the album instead, and the track was specially remixed for single release. The 1999 biographical book Girl Next Door identified this track as Kylie's favourite to perform live.\n\nThe single artwork was photographed by Robert Erdmann.\n\nReception\n\nCritical response\n\"What Do I Have To Do?\" received very positive reviews from many music critics. Jason Shawahn from About.com said the song, along with \"Better The Devil You Know\" and \"Wouldn't Change a Thing\", \"are nothing if not pop masterpieces.\" He also labeled it as a \"pop classic\". Quentin Harrison from Albumism noted it as \"luxuriant electro-pop\", adding that Ian Curnow and Phil Harding \"rework it into an appetizing, but accessible house ditty that emphasizes unity between the single's beat and Minogue's supple vocal.\" While reviewing Rhythm of Love, Chris True from AllMusic highlighted the song as an album standout. NME voted it as the thirtieth best track of 1991. Eleanor Levy from Record Mirror described it as \"more mature, in a Hi-NRG, Bronski Beatish way.\" She added, \"More straightforward rhythm than formula pop song, it fizzes predictably rather than sparkles but, like Kylie's ever-elongating fringe, will no doubt grow and grow.\" Caroline Sullivan from Smash Hits called it \"supreme\", and said the song \"sees a return to the reassuring old Kylie-sound\". While reviewing Ultimate Kylie, Mark Edwards from Stylus Magazine gave it a positive remark, saying that along with \"Shocked\" and \"Give Me Just a Little More Time\", they \"were great songs and suddenly Kylie was a little bit cool.\"\n\nChart performance\n\"What Do I Have to Do\" debuted at number twenty-seven on the Australian Singles Chart, until rising and peaking at number eleven, staying there for two consecutive weeks. The song then debuted at number ninety-nine on the Dutch Top 40, until peaking at number eighty-one for one week. The song then debuted and peaked at number fifty on the French Singles Chart.\n\nImpact and legacy\nEnglish DJ and record producer Nicky Holloway chose \"What Do I Have to Do\" as one of his top 10 vinyl thrills in 1996, saying, \"I've had so much fun with this over the years. You don't realise what you're dancing to until it's too late to stop! It's got a long intro so people are dancing away and don't realise that it's Kylie Minogue until they're sucked into it.\"\n\nMusic video\n\nThe music video for the song was directed by Dave Hogan. In relation to this video, Minogue is quoted as saying \"how many Hollywood stars can you look like in three and a half minutes...\". Her younger sister Dannii Minogue also appears in the video. The music video begins with clips of the dance scene intercut with Minogue emerging from a swimming pool and her love interest seeing her with another man. The love interest is played by Zane O'Donnell, the same model who would appear in the video for Minogue's subsequent single \"Shocked\". \nMinogue then goes out to the balcony overlooking a fairground and the man follows. The video then shifts to the man watching Minogue dancing with a female friend in a club. The next scene is Minogue waking up in her lover's bed as he prepares to leave the bedroom. After this, Minogue singing on the bed is intercut with scenes of her singing and dancing in front of a white backdrop. The video goes back to her and her friend having fun in the club as the man stares at her again. Later, she sits on the bench overlooking the scene and takes a glance at a lookalike of her lover next to her. Following this, she gets up to dance as the man watches. Finally, she gets a tattoo of a black panther on her back and shows it to her lover. The video concludes with all of Minogue's performance scenes intercut with her doing the ironing in a Gingham Apron and on a date with her lover. The final shot is of Minogue and her lover walking across a bridge.\n\nWhile reviewing the DVD version of Greatest Hits for Amazon.co.uk, John Galilee said \"Her most outrageous but greatest video moment is where she parodies certain movie stars in the chic video for \"What Do I Have to Do?\", and because of her heavy eye make-up almost earns herself the title drag-queen Kylie (watch out for sister Dannii who briefly stars in the video, wearing a blonde wig).\"\n\nFormats and track listings\nThese are the formats and track listings of major single releases of \"What Do I Have to Do\".\n\n 7\" vinyl single\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (7\" Mix) – 3:32\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Instrumental) – 3:48\n\n 12\" vinyl single\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Pumpin' Mix) – 7:48\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Extended Instrumental) – 5:08\n\n CD single\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (7\" Mix) – 3:32\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Pumpin' Mix) – 7:48\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Extended Instrumental) – 5:08\n\n iTunes Digital EP – Remixes\n(Not available at time of original release. Released for the first time as part of iTunes PWL archive release in 2009)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (12\" Instrumental)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (7\" Mix)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (7\" Backing Track)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (7\" Instrumental)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Album Backing Track)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Album Instrumental)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Between the Sheets Mix)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Extended Album Mix)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Movers & Shakers 12\" Backing Track)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Movers & Shakers 12\" Instrumental)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Movers & Shakers 7\" Backing Track)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Movers & Shakers 7\" Instrumental)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Movers & Shakers 7\" Mix)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Movers & Shakers 12\" Mix)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Movers & Shakers Do the Dub)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Pumpin' Mix)\n\n iTunes Digital EP – The Original Synth Mixes (released 8 November 2010)\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Billy The Fish Mix: Part I) 3:44\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Billy The Fish Mix: Part II) 7:30\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Original 12\" Mix) 7:09\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Extended Album Mix II) 8:42\n\n iTunes Digital EP – What Do I Have to Do?\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (7\" Mix) — 3:33\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Pumpin' Mix) — 7:47\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Extended Album Mix) — 8:07\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (7\" Instrumental) — 3:33\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Extended Instrumental) — 5:07\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (7\" Backing Track) — 3:33\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Album Instrumental) — 3:43\n \"What Do I Have to Do\" (Album Backing Track) — 3:43\n \"Things Can Only Get Better\" (Album Instrumental) — 3:55\n \"Things Can Only Get Better\" (Album Backing Track) — 3:55\n\nLive performances\nMinogue performed the song on the following concert tours:\n Rhythm of Love Tour\n Let's Get to It Tour\n Intimate and Live Tour\n On a Night Like This Tour\n Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour (as part of the \"Smiley Kylie Medley\")\n Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour (as part of the \"Everything Taboo Medley\")\n For You, for Me (as part of the \"Everything Taboo Medley\")\n Aphrodite World Tour\nSummer 2019\n\nThe song was also performed on:\n An Audience with Kylie Minogue 2001 TV special, performed as part of the hits medley.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n1991 singles\nKylie Minogue songs\nSong recordings produced by Stock Aitken Waterman\nSongs written by Mike Stock (musician)\nSongs written by Matt Aitken\nSongs written by Pete Waterman\n1990 songs\nMushroom Records singles\nPete Waterman Entertainment singles\nTorch songs\nEurodance songs",
"Stormy In The North, Karma In The South is the title of a single released by The Wildhearts.\n\nTrack listing\nDisc 1:\nStormy In The North, Karma In The South\nBang!\nIf I Decide\n\nDisc 2:\nStormy In The North, Karma In The South\nYou Got To Get Through What You've Got To Go Through To Get What You Want, But You Got to Know What You Want To Get Through What You Got To Go Through\nMove On\n\nThere was also a DVD released detailing how the video was made, but the video itself was not featured on the DVD.\n\nReferences\n\nThe Wildhearts songs\n2003 songs"
] |
[
"Cheri Honkala",
"On video",
"What made her first decide to do video?",
"Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers"
] | C_47894f9a278d414e89216ecba81aae88_0 | What was her first? | 2 | What was Cheri Honkala first? | Cheri Honkala | Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.) In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country. The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance. In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.) On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. CANNOTANSWER | Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen | Cheri Lynn Honkala (; born January 12, 1963) is an American anti-poverty advocate, co-founder of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and co-founder and National Coordinator of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. She has been a noted advocate for human rights in the United States and internationally. She is the mother of actor Mark Webber.
She was featured prominently in the 1997 book Myth of the Welfare Queen by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino. In 2011, Honkala was the Green Party candidate for Sheriff of Philadelphia, running on the promise of refusing to evict families from their homes. She was the Green Party's nominee for vice-president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
Early life
Cheri Honkala was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1963. Her father, Maynard Duane Honkala, was of Finnish ancestry, and her mother had Cheyenne Native American ancestry. She grew up watching her mother suffer from domestic violence. Honkala's mother quietly endured this abuse for fear of losing her children. Honkala was removed from the household and spent most of her youth incarcerated in a total of nine youth detention facilities.
When Honkala was 17, her 19-year-old brother Mark, who suffered from mental health issues, committed suicide. Because he was uninsured, he could not afford to get the professional help he needed. At the time of Mark's suicide, Honkala was already a mother (with a son, Mark, named after her brother), living out of her car and going to high school. Despite her difficult upbringing, she managed to graduate.
After living in an apartment in Minnesota, Honkala and her young son were forced to move out and live out of their white Camaro. She and her son became homeless after the Camaro was demolished by a drunk driver. Honkala could not find a shelter that would allow them to remain together that winter. To stay together and keep from freezing, Honkala decided to move into an abandoned Housing and Urban Development (HUD) home. She would later comment, "I chose to live, and I chose to keep my son alive." She called a press conference, in which she said, "This is me, this is my nine-year-old son, and we're not leaving until somebody can tell us where we can live and not freeze to death."
Work as organizer
For the past 25 years, Honkala has been a leading advocate for the poor and homeless in America. While still living in Minnesota, she formed the Twin Cities anti-poverty groups "Women, Work and Welfare" and "Up and Out of Poverty Now." In Philadelphia, she co-founded the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC). She has organized numerous protests, holding marches, demonstrations and setting up tent cities, in the course of which activities she claims to have been arrested for civil disobedience violations more than 200 times. She is known internationally for her work advocating for the rights of poor people in the United States, and has received recognition in numerous publications for her role in bringing attention to issues such as homelessness and home foreclosures and has been called "the protester's protester." Currently based in Philadelphia, she has devoted most of her attention to the rise in home evictions among lower income families.
Kensington Welfare Rights Union
After moving to Philadelphia with her son in the late 1980s, in 1991 Honkala co-founded KWRU, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, named after the Kensington area in northern Philadelphia, where Honkala lived. She called KWRU a "Philadelphia based interracial organization of welfare recipients and other poor people." In the winter of 1993, when homeless shelters were full, the organization took over an abandoned Catholic Church to use as a shelter. In late 1994, KWRU broke into and took over vacant HUD homes destined for low-income housing and subsidized rent, although all the inhabitants (which included Honkala herself) were eligible for the housing program under the rules. They chose to ignore the bureaucracy and its delays, particularly the paperwork, paying rent into an escrow account to avoid trespassing charges. This became known as the Underground Railroad Project.
From that time, the volunteers of the organization regularly (and illegally) took over HUD homes to provide accommodations for homeless families. To provide a support system to these families, the organization set up what they called an "'Underground Railroad,' a network of other poor people, students, social workers, doctors and lawyers." Said Honkala: "Stealing slaves out of captivity was against the law ... But it was right. Sometimes the law is wrong. Sometimes you have to appeal to a higher authority."
In the spring of 1994, the Quaker Lace factory (a manufacturer of lace tablecloths) in the Kensington area of Philadelphia burned down, leaving an empty lot. The following summer, Honkala and KWRU constructed a large tent city on the site. Because Philadelphia authorities could not produce documentation establishing who owned the property, it was unable to evict the residents. (Eventually, they were driven out by flooding.) This very public action resulted in a substantial increase in donations to KWRU.
In September 1995, while the tent city was still standing, Honkala staged a protest by camping out for 36 hours, with others from the tent city, on Independence Mall within sight of the Liberty Bell, to make the plight of Philadelphia's homeless visible to residents and tourists next to one of the city's most famous landmarks. Although she argued that she and the others were merely exercising their right to free speech and had not hurt the park, she was cited and later tried for "residing in a park area." She was sentenced to six months' probation and fined $250. In July 1997, she was involved with the Liberty Bell once more, when she led a group on the "March for Our Lives" from the Bell to the United Nations building in New York to protest so-called welfare reform as a violation of the human rights of the poor. This action led directly to the formation of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC).
In October 1996, Honkala, with KWRU, staged a sit-in on the floor of the rotunda of Harrisburg's capitol building. The organization created a makeshift "city" that it dubbed "Ridgeville" after Republican Governor Tom Ridge, who had slashed social service benefits. Part of the purpose of the protests was to point out to the homeless the opulence of Gov. Ridge's lifestyle, including the governor's mansion, supported at state expense. The protest was supported by legislators opposed to the cuts, who bought meals for the protesters.
In April 1997, Honkala was arrested on a charge of "defiant trespassing" for attempting to build shacks for homeless families in Philadelphia on an empty industrial lot, though at the time, the shelter system was full and people were living on the streets.
The organization's leaders maintained that "some U.S. laws, such as the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, which limits the amount of time a family can receive federal assistance, violate Articles 23, 25 and 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Those articles guarantee, respectively, the right to work for a living wage under humane conditions; the right to adequate food, housing, medical care and social security; and the right to education."
Starting in June 1998, KWRU led the New Freedom Bus Tour, which traveled across the country, gathering stories of human rights violations to present as a petition to the United Nations. "Under the banner 'Freedom from Unemployment, Hunger and Homelessness,' the KWRU team collected additional evidence on the [negative] impact of [welfare reform] and held educational sessions teaching the poor about their economic rights." (A second such bus tour was organized by the PPEHRC in November–December 2002, which traveled to 27 cities to record human rights violations.)
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign
In the late 1990s, Honkala started another nonprofit, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, of which she became National Coordinator. The PPEHRC represents "a network of over 40 poor people's organizations from across the U.S." One commentator has written that the campaign "is the only [national] movement to come out of welfare reform that has been organized by poor people, and not their advocates."
This organization was formed in direct response to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 (also known as the Welfare Reform Act), signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton, which she and her allies claim hurts recipients of welfare. The organization's mission statement reads, "The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is committed to uniting the poor across color lines as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty. We work to accomplish this through advancing economic human rights as named in the universal declaration of human rights — such as the rights to food, housing, health, education, communication and a living wage job."
Part of the purpose of the organization is to make homelessness and the homeless visible, in order to force politicians to act. Honkala claims that the latter prefer that the homeless remain invisible, so they won't have to address the problem. In a speech, Honkala said: "That's what [the authorities] are saying [to you]: 'Go hide! Go be under a bridge, or ... hide under a bench, and we won't arrest you, we won't do anything to you, because you will be quiet!'" As Honkala declared, "When you have nothing, you still have your voice."
In October 1999, PPEHRC organized a month-long March of the Americas, from Washington, DC, to the United Nations in New York. Participants in the march included low-income families from the US, Canada and Latin America. The group "marched 15 miles a day for 32 days, sleeping in tent cities, churches and community centers at night, and holding press conferences and protests in local communities."
In July 2000, a PPEHRC march for the opening day of the Republican Party's National Convention in Philadelphia drew 10,000 homeless and poor people from around the country. (Of the several protest marches during that convention, this was the only one denied a permit by city authorities.)
In November 2000, at the historic Riverside Church in Manhattan in New York City, the PPEHRC held a "Poor People's World Summit to End Poverty," consisting of several hundred activists from some 30 countries, to share "experiences and [work] to build an international movement for economic human rights drawing explicitly on international treaties."
On July 4, 2003, Philadelphia held a celebration for the opening of the National Constitution Center, a new facility housing the Liberty Bell. Poor and homeless families from the city held a peaceful protest to demand their economic rights. "As the demonstrators marched toward Constitution Center single-file, carrying their own mattresses and led by children, park rangers, federal guards, and city police formed lines to prevent the families from approaching. Singing 'We Shall Not Be Moved,' the demonstrators locked arms and refused to leave the sidewalk. Protest leaders Honkala and Galen Tyler had prepared a 'Declaration of Economic Human Rights' to present at the Center. As they moved toward the Center, police moved to stop them, threw them to the ground, handcuffed them, and placed them under arrest ... Honkala was charged with one first-degree felony and four other felony counts. Police officers claimed that Honkala had struck one of them in the chest. However, a video taken at the time clearly shows Honkala carrying a mattress and being struck by the officer ... all the charges were subsequently withdrawn by the District Attorney's office."
In August 2004, Honkala marched with the PPEHRC in New York City (without a permit) to protest President Bush and the Republican National Convention (RNC) and to publicly call for greater attention by the government to the needs of the poor and homeless.
2011 campaign for Sheriff of Philadelphia
In early 2011, Honkala announced her run for Sheriff of Philadelphia on a "No Evictions" platform, with a campaign slogan of "Keeping families in their homes and protecting the 'hood." When asked why she accepted the Green Party's invitation to run, Honkala said: "I've been involved in too many fights in my life where I thought I was separate from the machine and the corporate money, only to find out later on that I was being used as a pawn for the Democratic Party ... [The Green Party] has a strict policy of no corporate money, which I liked."
As a publicity stunt, Honkala during the campaign rode a horse down Allegheny Avenue in Philadelphia while wearing a white hat resembling a Stetson, in imitation of the image of a Wild West sheriff. During her campaign, Honkala addressed the Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park in Manhattan to express solidarity with the group's anti-foreclosure aims and to ask for help in "occupying Philadelphia" on election day.
She finished in third place with over 10,000 votes.
2012 vice-presidential campaign
Nomination
On July 11, 2012, Jill Stein, then the presumptive nominee of the Green Party for president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, announced that she had selected Honkala as her vice-presidential running mate. Said Stein: "My running mate has been on the front lines fighting for the American poor, taking on the banks, taking on foreclosures, standing up for children most at risk."
Stein and Honkala were officially nominated by the Green Party at its national convention in Baltimore on Saturday, July 14.
Political activism during campaign
On August 1, 2012, Honkala was arrested along with Stein and three others during a sit-in at a Philadelphia bank to protest housing foreclosures by Fannie Mae, on behalf of several city residents struggling to keep their homes. The event began as a PPEHRC protest involving Honkala which Stein, after the former became her running mate, decided to join. The organization demanded that the mortgage company halt foreclosure proceedings against two Philadelphia residents. Fannie Mae executive Zach Oppenheimer had previously promised in writing to meet with the two women at the center of the controversy to negotiate a solution, but no such meeting ever took place. The protestors entered the Fannie Mae building and vowed to stay until Mr. Oppenheimer kept his word. Two lower-level officials met with the group, but when no resolution was obtained, most of the protesters exited the building, leaving only the core group, including Honkala, to be subject to arrest. They were charged with "defiant trespassing" and released the following day.
John Nichols, a commentator for The Nation magazine, compared the position of the Green Party candidates on this issue to the anti-banking rhetoric of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the New Deal.
She visited the PPEHRC encampment in Tampa, Florida, nicknamed "Romneyville," and strongly supported its plan to protest the 2012 Republican National Convention in that city, beginning on the convention's opening day in August.
On October 16, 2012, Honkala and Stein were arrested after they tried to enter the site of the second presidential debate at Hofstra University.
Policy positions
Stein and Honkala ran on a platform they call the Green New Deal, "an emergency four-part program of specific solutions for moving America quickly out of crisis into the secure green future." The program's name is inspired by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal in the Depression era.
The four pillars of the Green New Deal, "the central platform of the Stein/Honkala ticket" are:
An Economic Bill Of Rights – a) a Full Employment Program that will create 25 million jobs by implementing a nationally funded, but locally controlled direct employment initiative, replacing unemployment offices with local employment offices; b) defense of worker's rights including the right to a living wage, to a safe workplace, to fair trade, and to organize a union at work without fear of firing or reprisal; c) the right to quality health care which will be achieved through a single-payer Medicare-for-All program; d) the right to a tuition-free, quality, federally funded, local controlled public education system from pre-school through college, and forgiveness of current student loan debt; e) the right to decent affordable housing, including an immediate halt to all foreclosures and evictions; f) the right to accessible and affordable utilities; g) the right to fair taxation that's distributed in proportion to ability to pay.
A Green Transition – a) investment in green business by providing grants and low-interest loans to grow green businesses and cooperatives; b) investment in green research by redirecting research funds from fossil fuels and other dead-end industries toward research in wind, solar and geothermal; c) the creation of green jobs by enacting the Full Employment Program which will directly provide 16 million jobs in sustainable energy and energy efficiency.
Real Financial Reform – a) relief of the debt overhang holding back the economy by reducing homeowner and student debt burdens; b) democratization of monetary policy to bring about public control of the money supply and credit creation; c) a policy of breaking up oversized banks that are "too big to fail"; d) termination of taxpayer-funded bailouts for banks, insurers, and other financial companies; e) the regulation of all financial derivatives; f) the restoration of the separation of depository commercial banks from speculative investment banks, as was the case under the Glass-Steagall Act; g) a 90% tax on bonuses for bailed out bankers; and h) support for the formation of federal, state, and municipal public-owned banks that function as non-profit utilities.
A Functioning Democracy – a) the revocation of corporate personhood by amending our Constitution to make clear that corporations are not persons and money is not speech; b) the protect of our right to vote by supporting the proposed "Right to Vote Amendment"; c) the enactment of the Voter Bill of Rights; d) the commissioning of a thorough review of federal preemption law; e) the creation of a Corporation for Economic Democracy, f) the strengthening of media democracy by expanding federal support for locally owned broadcast media and local print media; g) the protection of our personal liberty and freedoms by, among other things, revoking the Patriot Act; h) a dramatic scaling back of the military–industrial complex.
Campaign goals
The SteinHonkala campaign set two immediate goals: to get its candidates on the ballots of as many states as possible before election day (November 6) and to make itself eligible to participate in the televised presidential debates, to take place in October. According to the rules of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), the nonprofit organization that sponsors and produces the presidential and vice-presidential debates, to qualify for a place in the debates the Green Party's presidential slate must a) appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to make it theoretically possible for its candidates to receive enough electoral votes to win the election, and b) receive an average of 15% support from respondents in five selected national polls. The CPD's selection criteria have often been criticized as prohibitively restrictive.
2016 Democratic National Convention
Honkala planned a novel political protest called a "fart-in" to be staged at the 2016 DNC "to greet the rhetorical flatulence of Hillary Clinton with the real thing". Just prior to the protest, Honkala hosted a "massive bean supper" for Sanders supporters in her home.
2017 Pennsylvania House of Representatives campaign
On January 31, 2017 Honkala announced she was running for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the March 21 special election to replace Leslie Acosta, who was the second state representative for the 197th legislative district to resign on federal fraud charges. She was considered to have more name recognition than her Republican and Democratic opponents. Honkala ran as a write-in candidate against Republican Lucinda Little; there was no Democrat on the ballot in the heavily Democratic district.
Honkala was endorsed by many progressives and organizations including Our Revolution, Progress for All, environmental activist Josh Fox, progressive entertainers Rosario Dawson and Tom Morello, former Director Emeritus of Philaposh (a labor organization) Jim Moran, former Philadelphia Health Commissioner Walter Tsou, the PEOPLE Committee of the AFSCME District Council 47, Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, the Philadelphia chapter of Socialist Alternative, and other local clergy and leaders.
In March 2017, Honkala lost to Democratic write-in Emilio Vazquez. However, this election went under investigation by the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and the Pennsylvania Attorney General. Honkala, alongside the Green Party of Pennsylvania, Lucinda Little (the Republican candidate), and the State and City Republican parties filed a lawsuit in United States District Court against Emilio Vazquez, the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, Philadelphia City Commissioners, PA Secretary of State Cortes, and the State's Bureau of Commissions, Elections, and Legislation. The lawsuit alleges widespread election fraud and voter intimidation on the part of Vazquez and the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, and failure to properly supervise the elections for the other defendants.
Claims in the federal lawsuit include electioneering inside the polling place, money exchange between Democratic poll workers and election officials, a ballot box being at Vazquez's "victory" party, tables set up outside by Democratic poll works made to look like voter sign-in tables, election workers asking people who they are voting for, Democratic ward leaders handling the voting machines, Vazquez meeting with election officials on election day inside of the polling place, and other claims. Despite the investigation, Vazquez was officially sworn in as a member of the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives on April 5, 2017.
Criticism
Honkala has been a controversial figure throughout her career as a protester and organizer. Feather O. Houstoun, a former secretary of the (Pennsylvania) State Department of Public Welfare, said "She has not been working, rolling up her sleeves on issues like Community Legal Services does. She has never availed herself [of] that opportunity, while other groups have." John Kromer, a former director of the city's office of Housing and Community Development, faxed a five-page letter to KWRU, in which he claimed that the group was actually preventing its poor followers from obtaining housing through its tactic of breaking into vacant homes, rather than utilizing established organizations. He wrote: "No good can come of an organization-building strategy, which is based on misleading poor people or preventing them from obtaining access to available assistance and support." Honkala admits that the group failed to rehabilitate any of the homes illegally taken, but asserts that the group was instrumental in helping 500 formerly homeless people find housing through existing programs. Honkala added: "I get criticized on a regular basis for not being a team player. But I have no qualms about holding a protest tomorrow at anybody's offices if they are denying anybody the basic necessities of life. You're not supposed to do that in Philadelphia."
She has been criticized for her confrontational tactics in dealing with the authorities. Author David Zucchino described Honkala's behavior at the first Liberty Bell protest as follows:
Cheri loved to make people uncomfortable ... She wanted people to squirm and recoil when they saw poor people. She was convinced that America sought desperately to keep its poor out of sight so as not to be reminded of the social policies she believed exacerbated poverty. If the country was going to turn its back on the poor, she was not going to let anyone feel ambivalent about it. She would assault people with her high-pitched nasal voice—in public demonstrations, in confrontations with elected officials, in media interviews, and in front of a ragged tent on Independence Mall.
During the church takeover incident, William Parshall, the deputy city managing director, known as the Philadelphia "housing czar," was asked whether Honkala's in-your-face tactics "made his job difficult." Parshall replied that he was far more concerned with such pending problems as national and state welfare cuts. He added, "The question is, what are we going to do about it? That's the question Cheri should be asking."
Zucchino in his book details many confrontations between Honkala and the authorities, but also instances in which she reached a mutually satisfactory compromise with them. For example, during the first Liberty Bell protest, she negotiated successfully with park authorities to leave the site without the necessity of admitting guilt or of enduring mass arrests.
Recognition
Honkala in the media
Honkala and her activities on behalf of the poor have been profiled many times in various media.
In print and photography
Honkala was one of two women profiled in Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino's book, The Myth of the Welfare Queen (1999). According to one review, Honkala, as depicted in the book, "helps create a tent city to protest welfare cuts, joins the occupation of an abandoned church and the takeover by protesters of empty houses owned by HUD. She tirelessly seeks publicity for her cause, battles with bureaucrats, and rallies and comforts fellow protesters."
She was the subject of Chapter 6, "Using Economic Human Rights in the Movement to End Poverty: The Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the Poor People's Economic Human Right Campaign" by Mary Bricker-Jenkins, Carrie Young and Honkala, in the book Challenges in Human Rights: A Social Work Perspective, edited by Elizabeth Reichert (2007). She was also briefly profiled in Katherine Martin's book Women of Courage: Inspiring Stories from the Women who Lived Them (1999).
Since the mid-1990s Honkala has been extensively documented by photographer Harvey Finkle. A YouTube video was created consisting of many of Finkle's photos of Honkala and of other poor people. She also wrote the introduction to Finkle's book of photographs of the urban poor, Urban Nomads: A Poor People's Movement (1997). One of the last photos taken by the late photographer Richard Avedon (1923–2004) was a portrait of Honkala for the series Democracy 2004, which appeared in an October 2004 issue of The New Yorker magazine.
Interviews and articles on Honkala have appeared in numerous print and online publications, including The Village Voice, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Weekly, Yes! magazine, Salon, Truthdig and The Nation.
On video
Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.)
In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country.
The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance.
In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.)
On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Honors and awards
Honkala has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards:
Philadelphia Magazine – list of the 100 Most Powerful Philadelphians
Philadelphia Weekly – "Woman of the Year" (1997)
Ms. Magazine – Woman of the Year (2001)
Bread and Roses Human Rights Award
Pennsylvania Association of Social Workers' Public Citizen of the Year
Front Line Defenders (The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders), a Dublin-based human rights organization, named her one of the "12 most endangered" activists in America
Mother Jones magazine – Hellraiser of the Month (April 2005)
In addition, the organization Honkala co-founded, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, was a 1999 co-winner (with Dr. Juan Garcés) of the prestigious Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award, given by the Institute for Policy Studies.
In January 2004, Honkala was invited to speak at the annual World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai, India on the subject of the "War against the Homeless." In 2006, Honkala again addressed the WSF, this time in Caracas, Venezuela, to discuss poverty and homelessness in the United States, information that many of her listeners do not often receive from mainstream U.S. media sources.
Electoral history
Personal life
Honkala in 1990 married a Philadelphia-based union official, Bob Brown, whom she had met at a convention the previous year. They divorced not long afterwards.
Honkala is the mother of the actor and director Mark Webber (born 1980). Webber has supported his mother's causes in a number of ways, including holding benefit events, such as art auctions, on her behalf.
Honkala is also the mother of Guillermo Santos (born 2002).
References
External links
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign Official site
1963 births
Living people
2012 United States vice-presidential candidates
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
Activists from Philadelphia
American people of Cheyenne descent
American people of Finnish descent
American political activists
American social activists
Female candidates for Vice President of the United States
Green Party of the United States vice presidential nominees
Homeless people
Homelessness activists
Pennsylvania Greens
People from Minneapolis
Politicians from Philadelphia
Women in Pennsylvania politics
Native American candidates for Vice President of the United States | true | [
"What Was Lost is the 2007 début novel by Catherine O'Flynn. The novel is about a girl who goes missing in a shopping centre in 1984, and the people who try to discover what happened to her twenty years later. What Was Lost won the First Novel Award at the 2007 Costa Book Awards, and was short-listed for the overall Costa Book of the Year Award.\n\nDevelopment of the novel \nO'Flynn found inspiration for What Was Lost while she was working as an assistant manager in a record shop. She found ideas for her book from her job in the Merry Hill Shopping Centre near Dudley in the West Midlands.\n\nWhat Was Lost was rejected by 20 agents and publishers before being accepted for publication by Tindal Street Press, a small Birmingham publisher.\n\nPlot summary \nWhat Was Lost is a mystery story about a missing girl. It is also a portrait of a changing community over twenty years. It examines modern life's emptiness, and society's obsession with shopping.\n\nWhat Was Lost is set in the city of Birmingham, England. The main events of the novel take place in Green Oaks shopping centre. The first part of the novel is set in 1984. A 10-year-old girl called Kate Meaney frequently plays in the newly opened Green Oaks. She pretends to be a detective, observing and following people. She carries her toy monkey Mickey and a notebook with her. Kate vanishes and Adrian, the 22-year-old son of a newsagent, is the prime suspect in her disappearance. He is hounded by the press and the police. Unable to handle the pressure, he disappears.\n\nThe novel's narrative moves forward to 2004. Kurt is a security guard at Green Oaks. He has a sleeping disorder. Lisa is the deputy manager of a music store. She is unhappy because of the strange behaviour of her colleagues and customers and because of her relationship with her partner. She becomes friends with Kurt. A girl holding a soft toy is seen in a CCTV security monitor. Kurt and Lisa follow the girl through Green Oaks and investigate how she is connected to Green Oaks' unsettling history. It is revealed that both Kurt and Lisa have connections to the case of the missing girl.\n\nAwards and nominations \nWhat Was Lost was the winner in the first novel category of the Costa Book Awards. O'Flynn received a £5,000 prize. It was short-listed for the overall Costa Book of the Year Award. The Costa Book Awards' judging panel, chaired by Joanna Trollope, praised the novel for \"blending humour and pathos in a cleverly constructed and absorbing mystery.\" They described the novel as inventive, compelling, and poignant.\n\nWhat Was Lost was long-listed for the 2007 Man Booker Prize and the Orange Prize for Fiction. It was short-listed for the Guardian First Book Award. It won the Jelf Group First Novel Award for which O'Flynn received a prize of £2,500. It was BBC Radio 5 Live's Book of the Month in March 2007.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nExtract from What Was Lost.\n\n2007 British novels\nBritish mystery novels\nNovels set in Birmingham, West Midlands\nFiction set in 1984\nFiction set in 2004\n2007 debut novels",
"What A Summer (foal in 1973) was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse who defeated both male and female competitors. She was bred in Maryland by Milton Polinger. She was a gray out of the mare Summer Classic who was sired by Summer Tan. Her sire was What Luck, a multiple stakes winning son of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Bold Ruler. What A Summer is probably best remembered for her win in the Grade II $65,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes over stakes winners Dearly Precious and Artfully on May 14, 1976.\n\nTwo-year-old season \n\nWhat A Summer was trained very early in her career by Hall of Fame conditioner Bud Delp while racing for her breeder, Milton Polinger. She was bought by Mrs. Bertram Firestone following Polinger's death in the early fall of 1976. That death delayed her the first start of her career until late in the year. Mrs. Firestone turned the mare over to trainer LeRoy Jolley. What A Summer did not start racing until near the end of her two-year-old season, when she broke her maiden at Philadelphia Park. Near the end of the year, she won an allowance race. She ended the year with two wins in four starts.\n\nThree-year-old season \nIn January, What A Summer placed second in her first stakes race, the $25,000 Heirloom Stakes at the old Liberty Bell Race Track in Philadelphia. Two months later, she won her second allowance race over winners and convinced her connections that she was ready to step up in class and take on stakes winners in the Grade II $65,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. In that race, she withstood a fast closing challenge down the stretch to hold off a late charge by 4:5 favorite Dearly Precious in a final time of 1:42.40 for the mile and one sixteenth on the dirt track at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. Her jockey, Chris McCarron, was credited with a solid ride by conserving energy with moderate fractions in the middle portion of the race. Stakes winner Artfully held on for third in the field of ten three-year-old fillies. In December 1976, What A Summer won the $50,000 Anne Arundel Stakes at Laurel Park Racecourse, beating Turn the Guns and Avum in 1:38.20 for the mile under McCarron.\n\nFour-year-old season \n\nIn 1977, What A Summer won the $75,000 Fall Highweight Handicap twice, carrying the high weight of 134 pounds under jockey Jacinto Vásquez. The Fall Highweight is run in November of each year at Aqueduct Racetrack. In the 1977 race, she finished in a time of 1:09.4 and she broke the stakes record for six furlongs. That year, she also won the $40,000 Silver Spoon Handicap, the $50,000 Maskette Handicap and the $35,000 Distaff Handicap. She placed second in the grade one Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park and showed in both the $40,000 Grey Flight Handicap and the $25,000 Regret Stakes.\n\nFive-year-old season \n\nIn 1978 as a five-year-old, What A Summer repeated two of her victories from the year before in both the Fall Highweight Handicap, under Hall of Fame jockey Ángel Cordero Jr., and the $40,000 Silver Spoon Handicap. She also won the $40,000 First Flight Handicap. She placed second in the grade two Vosburgh Stakes, the grade three Vagrancy Handicap, the Sport Page Handicap, the Suwanee River Handicap and the Egret Handicap.\n\nHonors \n\nWhat A Summer was named Maryland-bred horse of the year in 1977 and twice was named champion older mare for the state of Maryland in both 1977 and 1978. She was retired in 1978 and as a broodmare she produced several graded stakes winners. After her retirement, Laurel Park Racecourse named a race in honor, the What A Summer Stakes. She was an Eclipse Award winner and was named American Champion Sprint Horse in 1977.\n\nWhat A Summer ended her career with a record of 18 wins out of 31 starts in her career. Her most memorable race was perhaps her dominating performance in the de facto second leg of the filly Triple Crown, the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. In addition to her 18 wins, she placed nine times with earnings of $479,161. That record of 27 first or second finishes in 31 starts at 87% is among the best in history.\n\nReferences\n What A Summer's pedigree and partial racing stats\n\n1973 racehorse births\nRacehorses bred in Maryland\nRacehorses trained in the United States\nEclipse Award winners\nThoroughbred family 17-b"
] |
[
"Cheri Honkala",
"On video",
"What made her first decide to do video?",
"Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers",
"What was her first?",
"Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen"
] | C_47894f9a278d414e89216ecba81aae88_0 | What was it about? | 3 | What was Takeover (1990) about? | Cheri Honkala | Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.) In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country. The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance. In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.) On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. CANNOTANSWER | about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression; | Cheri Lynn Honkala (; born January 12, 1963) is an American anti-poverty advocate, co-founder of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and co-founder and National Coordinator of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. She has been a noted advocate for human rights in the United States and internationally. She is the mother of actor Mark Webber.
She was featured prominently in the 1997 book Myth of the Welfare Queen by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino. In 2011, Honkala was the Green Party candidate for Sheriff of Philadelphia, running on the promise of refusing to evict families from their homes. She was the Green Party's nominee for vice-president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
Early life
Cheri Honkala was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1963. Her father, Maynard Duane Honkala, was of Finnish ancestry, and her mother had Cheyenne Native American ancestry. She grew up watching her mother suffer from domestic violence. Honkala's mother quietly endured this abuse for fear of losing her children. Honkala was removed from the household and spent most of her youth incarcerated in a total of nine youth detention facilities.
When Honkala was 17, her 19-year-old brother Mark, who suffered from mental health issues, committed suicide. Because he was uninsured, he could not afford to get the professional help he needed. At the time of Mark's suicide, Honkala was already a mother (with a son, Mark, named after her brother), living out of her car and going to high school. Despite her difficult upbringing, she managed to graduate.
After living in an apartment in Minnesota, Honkala and her young son were forced to move out and live out of their white Camaro. She and her son became homeless after the Camaro was demolished by a drunk driver. Honkala could not find a shelter that would allow them to remain together that winter. To stay together and keep from freezing, Honkala decided to move into an abandoned Housing and Urban Development (HUD) home. She would later comment, "I chose to live, and I chose to keep my son alive." She called a press conference, in which she said, "This is me, this is my nine-year-old son, and we're not leaving until somebody can tell us where we can live and not freeze to death."
Work as organizer
For the past 25 years, Honkala has been a leading advocate for the poor and homeless in America. While still living in Minnesota, she formed the Twin Cities anti-poverty groups "Women, Work and Welfare" and "Up and Out of Poverty Now." In Philadelphia, she co-founded the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC). She has organized numerous protests, holding marches, demonstrations and setting up tent cities, in the course of which activities she claims to have been arrested for civil disobedience violations more than 200 times. She is known internationally for her work advocating for the rights of poor people in the United States, and has received recognition in numerous publications for her role in bringing attention to issues such as homelessness and home foreclosures and has been called "the protester's protester." Currently based in Philadelphia, she has devoted most of her attention to the rise in home evictions among lower income families.
Kensington Welfare Rights Union
After moving to Philadelphia with her son in the late 1980s, in 1991 Honkala co-founded KWRU, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, named after the Kensington area in northern Philadelphia, where Honkala lived. She called KWRU a "Philadelphia based interracial organization of welfare recipients and other poor people." In the winter of 1993, when homeless shelters were full, the organization took over an abandoned Catholic Church to use as a shelter. In late 1994, KWRU broke into and took over vacant HUD homes destined for low-income housing and subsidized rent, although all the inhabitants (which included Honkala herself) were eligible for the housing program under the rules. They chose to ignore the bureaucracy and its delays, particularly the paperwork, paying rent into an escrow account to avoid trespassing charges. This became known as the Underground Railroad Project.
From that time, the volunteers of the organization regularly (and illegally) took over HUD homes to provide accommodations for homeless families. To provide a support system to these families, the organization set up what they called an "'Underground Railroad,' a network of other poor people, students, social workers, doctors and lawyers." Said Honkala: "Stealing slaves out of captivity was against the law ... But it was right. Sometimes the law is wrong. Sometimes you have to appeal to a higher authority."
In the spring of 1994, the Quaker Lace factory (a manufacturer of lace tablecloths) in the Kensington area of Philadelphia burned down, leaving an empty lot. The following summer, Honkala and KWRU constructed a large tent city on the site. Because Philadelphia authorities could not produce documentation establishing who owned the property, it was unable to evict the residents. (Eventually, they were driven out by flooding.) This very public action resulted in a substantial increase in donations to KWRU.
In September 1995, while the tent city was still standing, Honkala staged a protest by camping out for 36 hours, with others from the tent city, on Independence Mall within sight of the Liberty Bell, to make the plight of Philadelphia's homeless visible to residents and tourists next to one of the city's most famous landmarks. Although she argued that she and the others were merely exercising their right to free speech and had not hurt the park, she was cited and later tried for "residing in a park area." She was sentenced to six months' probation and fined $250. In July 1997, she was involved with the Liberty Bell once more, when she led a group on the "March for Our Lives" from the Bell to the United Nations building in New York to protest so-called welfare reform as a violation of the human rights of the poor. This action led directly to the formation of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC).
In October 1996, Honkala, with KWRU, staged a sit-in on the floor of the rotunda of Harrisburg's capitol building. The organization created a makeshift "city" that it dubbed "Ridgeville" after Republican Governor Tom Ridge, who had slashed social service benefits. Part of the purpose of the protests was to point out to the homeless the opulence of Gov. Ridge's lifestyle, including the governor's mansion, supported at state expense. The protest was supported by legislators opposed to the cuts, who bought meals for the protesters.
In April 1997, Honkala was arrested on a charge of "defiant trespassing" for attempting to build shacks for homeless families in Philadelphia on an empty industrial lot, though at the time, the shelter system was full and people were living on the streets.
The organization's leaders maintained that "some U.S. laws, such as the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, which limits the amount of time a family can receive federal assistance, violate Articles 23, 25 and 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Those articles guarantee, respectively, the right to work for a living wage under humane conditions; the right to adequate food, housing, medical care and social security; and the right to education."
Starting in June 1998, KWRU led the New Freedom Bus Tour, which traveled across the country, gathering stories of human rights violations to present as a petition to the United Nations. "Under the banner 'Freedom from Unemployment, Hunger and Homelessness,' the KWRU team collected additional evidence on the [negative] impact of [welfare reform] and held educational sessions teaching the poor about their economic rights." (A second such bus tour was organized by the PPEHRC in November–December 2002, which traveled to 27 cities to record human rights violations.)
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign
In the late 1990s, Honkala started another nonprofit, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, of which she became National Coordinator. The PPEHRC represents "a network of over 40 poor people's organizations from across the U.S." One commentator has written that the campaign "is the only [national] movement to come out of welfare reform that has been organized by poor people, and not their advocates."
This organization was formed in direct response to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 (also known as the Welfare Reform Act), signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton, which she and her allies claim hurts recipients of welfare. The organization's mission statement reads, "The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is committed to uniting the poor across color lines as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty. We work to accomplish this through advancing economic human rights as named in the universal declaration of human rights — such as the rights to food, housing, health, education, communication and a living wage job."
Part of the purpose of the organization is to make homelessness and the homeless visible, in order to force politicians to act. Honkala claims that the latter prefer that the homeless remain invisible, so they won't have to address the problem. In a speech, Honkala said: "That's what [the authorities] are saying [to you]: 'Go hide! Go be under a bridge, or ... hide under a bench, and we won't arrest you, we won't do anything to you, because you will be quiet!'" As Honkala declared, "When you have nothing, you still have your voice."
In October 1999, PPEHRC organized a month-long March of the Americas, from Washington, DC, to the United Nations in New York. Participants in the march included low-income families from the US, Canada and Latin America. The group "marched 15 miles a day for 32 days, sleeping in tent cities, churches and community centers at night, and holding press conferences and protests in local communities."
In July 2000, a PPEHRC march for the opening day of the Republican Party's National Convention in Philadelphia drew 10,000 homeless and poor people from around the country. (Of the several protest marches during that convention, this was the only one denied a permit by city authorities.)
In November 2000, at the historic Riverside Church in Manhattan in New York City, the PPEHRC held a "Poor People's World Summit to End Poverty," consisting of several hundred activists from some 30 countries, to share "experiences and [work] to build an international movement for economic human rights drawing explicitly on international treaties."
On July 4, 2003, Philadelphia held a celebration for the opening of the National Constitution Center, a new facility housing the Liberty Bell. Poor and homeless families from the city held a peaceful protest to demand their economic rights. "As the demonstrators marched toward Constitution Center single-file, carrying their own mattresses and led by children, park rangers, federal guards, and city police formed lines to prevent the families from approaching. Singing 'We Shall Not Be Moved,' the demonstrators locked arms and refused to leave the sidewalk. Protest leaders Honkala and Galen Tyler had prepared a 'Declaration of Economic Human Rights' to present at the Center. As they moved toward the Center, police moved to stop them, threw them to the ground, handcuffed them, and placed them under arrest ... Honkala was charged with one first-degree felony and four other felony counts. Police officers claimed that Honkala had struck one of them in the chest. However, a video taken at the time clearly shows Honkala carrying a mattress and being struck by the officer ... all the charges were subsequently withdrawn by the District Attorney's office."
In August 2004, Honkala marched with the PPEHRC in New York City (without a permit) to protest President Bush and the Republican National Convention (RNC) and to publicly call for greater attention by the government to the needs of the poor and homeless.
2011 campaign for Sheriff of Philadelphia
In early 2011, Honkala announced her run for Sheriff of Philadelphia on a "No Evictions" platform, with a campaign slogan of "Keeping families in their homes and protecting the 'hood." When asked why she accepted the Green Party's invitation to run, Honkala said: "I've been involved in too many fights in my life where I thought I was separate from the machine and the corporate money, only to find out later on that I was being used as a pawn for the Democratic Party ... [The Green Party] has a strict policy of no corporate money, which I liked."
As a publicity stunt, Honkala during the campaign rode a horse down Allegheny Avenue in Philadelphia while wearing a white hat resembling a Stetson, in imitation of the image of a Wild West sheriff. During her campaign, Honkala addressed the Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park in Manhattan to express solidarity with the group's anti-foreclosure aims and to ask for help in "occupying Philadelphia" on election day.
She finished in third place with over 10,000 votes.
2012 vice-presidential campaign
Nomination
On July 11, 2012, Jill Stein, then the presumptive nominee of the Green Party for president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, announced that she had selected Honkala as her vice-presidential running mate. Said Stein: "My running mate has been on the front lines fighting for the American poor, taking on the banks, taking on foreclosures, standing up for children most at risk."
Stein and Honkala were officially nominated by the Green Party at its national convention in Baltimore on Saturday, July 14.
Political activism during campaign
On August 1, 2012, Honkala was arrested along with Stein and three others during a sit-in at a Philadelphia bank to protest housing foreclosures by Fannie Mae, on behalf of several city residents struggling to keep their homes. The event began as a PPEHRC protest involving Honkala which Stein, after the former became her running mate, decided to join. The organization demanded that the mortgage company halt foreclosure proceedings against two Philadelphia residents. Fannie Mae executive Zach Oppenheimer had previously promised in writing to meet with the two women at the center of the controversy to negotiate a solution, but no such meeting ever took place. The protestors entered the Fannie Mae building and vowed to stay until Mr. Oppenheimer kept his word. Two lower-level officials met with the group, but when no resolution was obtained, most of the protesters exited the building, leaving only the core group, including Honkala, to be subject to arrest. They were charged with "defiant trespassing" and released the following day.
John Nichols, a commentator for The Nation magazine, compared the position of the Green Party candidates on this issue to the anti-banking rhetoric of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the New Deal.
She visited the PPEHRC encampment in Tampa, Florida, nicknamed "Romneyville," and strongly supported its plan to protest the 2012 Republican National Convention in that city, beginning on the convention's opening day in August.
On October 16, 2012, Honkala and Stein were arrested after they tried to enter the site of the second presidential debate at Hofstra University.
Policy positions
Stein and Honkala ran on a platform they call the Green New Deal, "an emergency four-part program of specific solutions for moving America quickly out of crisis into the secure green future." The program's name is inspired by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal in the Depression era.
The four pillars of the Green New Deal, "the central platform of the Stein/Honkala ticket" are:
An Economic Bill Of Rights – a) a Full Employment Program that will create 25 million jobs by implementing a nationally funded, but locally controlled direct employment initiative, replacing unemployment offices with local employment offices; b) defense of worker's rights including the right to a living wage, to a safe workplace, to fair trade, and to organize a union at work without fear of firing or reprisal; c) the right to quality health care which will be achieved through a single-payer Medicare-for-All program; d) the right to a tuition-free, quality, federally funded, local controlled public education system from pre-school through college, and forgiveness of current student loan debt; e) the right to decent affordable housing, including an immediate halt to all foreclosures and evictions; f) the right to accessible and affordable utilities; g) the right to fair taxation that's distributed in proportion to ability to pay.
A Green Transition – a) investment in green business by providing grants and low-interest loans to grow green businesses and cooperatives; b) investment in green research by redirecting research funds from fossil fuels and other dead-end industries toward research in wind, solar and geothermal; c) the creation of green jobs by enacting the Full Employment Program which will directly provide 16 million jobs in sustainable energy and energy efficiency.
Real Financial Reform – a) relief of the debt overhang holding back the economy by reducing homeowner and student debt burdens; b) democratization of monetary policy to bring about public control of the money supply and credit creation; c) a policy of breaking up oversized banks that are "too big to fail"; d) termination of taxpayer-funded bailouts for banks, insurers, and other financial companies; e) the regulation of all financial derivatives; f) the restoration of the separation of depository commercial banks from speculative investment banks, as was the case under the Glass-Steagall Act; g) a 90% tax on bonuses for bailed out bankers; and h) support for the formation of federal, state, and municipal public-owned banks that function as non-profit utilities.
A Functioning Democracy – a) the revocation of corporate personhood by amending our Constitution to make clear that corporations are not persons and money is not speech; b) the protect of our right to vote by supporting the proposed "Right to Vote Amendment"; c) the enactment of the Voter Bill of Rights; d) the commissioning of a thorough review of federal preemption law; e) the creation of a Corporation for Economic Democracy, f) the strengthening of media democracy by expanding federal support for locally owned broadcast media and local print media; g) the protection of our personal liberty and freedoms by, among other things, revoking the Patriot Act; h) a dramatic scaling back of the military–industrial complex.
Campaign goals
The SteinHonkala campaign set two immediate goals: to get its candidates on the ballots of as many states as possible before election day (November 6) and to make itself eligible to participate in the televised presidential debates, to take place in October. According to the rules of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), the nonprofit organization that sponsors and produces the presidential and vice-presidential debates, to qualify for a place in the debates the Green Party's presidential slate must a) appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to make it theoretically possible for its candidates to receive enough electoral votes to win the election, and b) receive an average of 15% support from respondents in five selected national polls. The CPD's selection criteria have often been criticized as prohibitively restrictive.
2016 Democratic National Convention
Honkala planned a novel political protest called a "fart-in" to be staged at the 2016 DNC "to greet the rhetorical flatulence of Hillary Clinton with the real thing". Just prior to the protest, Honkala hosted a "massive bean supper" for Sanders supporters in her home.
2017 Pennsylvania House of Representatives campaign
On January 31, 2017 Honkala announced she was running for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the March 21 special election to replace Leslie Acosta, who was the second state representative for the 197th legislative district to resign on federal fraud charges. She was considered to have more name recognition than her Republican and Democratic opponents. Honkala ran as a write-in candidate against Republican Lucinda Little; there was no Democrat on the ballot in the heavily Democratic district.
Honkala was endorsed by many progressives and organizations including Our Revolution, Progress for All, environmental activist Josh Fox, progressive entertainers Rosario Dawson and Tom Morello, former Director Emeritus of Philaposh (a labor organization) Jim Moran, former Philadelphia Health Commissioner Walter Tsou, the PEOPLE Committee of the AFSCME District Council 47, Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, the Philadelphia chapter of Socialist Alternative, and other local clergy and leaders.
In March 2017, Honkala lost to Democratic write-in Emilio Vazquez. However, this election went under investigation by the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and the Pennsylvania Attorney General. Honkala, alongside the Green Party of Pennsylvania, Lucinda Little (the Republican candidate), and the State and City Republican parties filed a lawsuit in United States District Court against Emilio Vazquez, the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, Philadelphia City Commissioners, PA Secretary of State Cortes, and the State's Bureau of Commissions, Elections, and Legislation. The lawsuit alleges widespread election fraud and voter intimidation on the part of Vazquez and the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, and failure to properly supervise the elections for the other defendants.
Claims in the federal lawsuit include electioneering inside the polling place, money exchange between Democratic poll workers and election officials, a ballot box being at Vazquez's "victory" party, tables set up outside by Democratic poll works made to look like voter sign-in tables, election workers asking people who they are voting for, Democratic ward leaders handling the voting machines, Vazquez meeting with election officials on election day inside of the polling place, and other claims. Despite the investigation, Vazquez was officially sworn in as a member of the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives on April 5, 2017.
Criticism
Honkala has been a controversial figure throughout her career as a protester and organizer. Feather O. Houstoun, a former secretary of the (Pennsylvania) State Department of Public Welfare, said "She has not been working, rolling up her sleeves on issues like Community Legal Services does. She has never availed herself [of] that opportunity, while other groups have." John Kromer, a former director of the city's office of Housing and Community Development, faxed a five-page letter to KWRU, in which he claimed that the group was actually preventing its poor followers from obtaining housing through its tactic of breaking into vacant homes, rather than utilizing established organizations. He wrote: "No good can come of an organization-building strategy, which is based on misleading poor people or preventing them from obtaining access to available assistance and support." Honkala admits that the group failed to rehabilitate any of the homes illegally taken, but asserts that the group was instrumental in helping 500 formerly homeless people find housing through existing programs. Honkala added: "I get criticized on a regular basis for not being a team player. But I have no qualms about holding a protest tomorrow at anybody's offices if they are denying anybody the basic necessities of life. You're not supposed to do that in Philadelphia."
She has been criticized for her confrontational tactics in dealing with the authorities. Author David Zucchino described Honkala's behavior at the first Liberty Bell protest as follows:
Cheri loved to make people uncomfortable ... She wanted people to squirm and recoil when they saw poor people. She was convinced that America sought desperately to keep its poor out of sight so as not to be reminded of the social policies she believed exacerbated poverty. If the country was going to turn its back on the poor, she was not going to let anyone feel ambivalent about it. She would assault people with her high-pitched nasal voice—in public demonstrations, in confrontations with elected officials, in media interviews, and in front of a ragged tent on Independence Mall.
During the church takeover incident, William Parshall, the deputy city managing director, known as the Philadelphia "housing czar," was asked whether Honkala's in-your-face tactics "made his job difficult." Parshall replied that he was far more concerned with such pending problems as national and state welfare cuts. He added, "The question is, what are we going to do about it? That's the question Cheri should be asking."
Zucchino in his book details many confrontations between Honkala and the authorities, but also instances in which she reached a mutually satisfactory compromise with them. For example, during the first Liberty Bell protest, she negotiated successfully with park authorities to leave the site without the necessity of admitting guilt or of enduring mass arrests.
Recognition
Honkala in the media
Honkala and her activities on behalf of the poor have been profiled many times in various media.
In print and photography
Honkala was one of two women profiled in Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino's book, The Myth of the Welfare Queen (1999). According to one review, Honkala, as depicted in the book, "helps create a tent city to protest welfare cuts, joins the occupation of an abandoned church and the takeover by protesters of empty houses owned by HUD. She tirelessly seeks publicity for her cause, battles with bureaucrats, and rallies and comforts fellow protesters."
She was the subject of Chapter 6, "Using Economic Human Rights in the Movement to End Poverty: The Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the Poor People's Economic Human Right Campaign" by Mary Bricker-Jenkins, Carrie Young and Honkala, in the book Challenges in Human Rights: A Social Work Perspective, edited by Elizabeth Reichert (2007). She was also briefly profiled in Katherine Martin's book Women of Courage: Inspiring Stories from the Women who Lived Them (1999).
Since the mid-1990s Honkala has been extensively documented by photographer Harvey Finkle. A YouTube video was created consisting of many of Finkle's photos of Honkala and of other poor people. She also wrote the introduction to Finkle's book of photographs of the urban poor, Urban Nomads: A Poor People's Movement (1997). One of the last photos taken by the late photographer Richard Avedon (1923–2004) was a portrait of Honkala for the series Democracy 2004, which appeared in an October 2004 issue of The New Yorker magazine.
Interviews and articles on Honkala have appeared in numerous print and online publications, including The Village Voice, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Weekly, Yes! magazine, Salon, Truthdig and The Nation.
On video
Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.)
In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country.
The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance.
In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.)
On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Honors and awards
Honkala has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards:
Philadelphia Magazine – list of the 100 Most Powerful Philadelphians
Philadelphia Weekly – "Woman of the Year" (1997)
Ms. Magazine – Woman of the Year (2001)
Bread and Roses Human Rights Award
Pennsylvania Association of Social Workers' Public Citizen of the Year
Front Line Defenders (The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders), a Dublin-based human rights organization, named her one of the "12 most endangered" activists in America
Mother Jones magazine – Hellraiser of the Month (April 2005)
In addition, the organization Honkala co-founded, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, was a 1999 co-winner (with Dr. Juan Garcés) of the prestigious Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award, given by the Institute for Policy Studies.
In January 2004, Honkala was invited to speak at the annual World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai, India on the subject of the "War against the Homeless." In 2006, Honkala again addressed the WSF, this time in Caracas, Venezuela, to discuss poverty and homelessness in the United States, information that many of her listeners do not often receive from mainstream U.S. media sources.
Electoral history
Personal life
Honkala in 1990 married a Philadelphia-based union official, Bob Brown, whom she had met at a convention the previous year. They divorced not long afterwards.
Honkala is the mother of the actor and director Mark Webber (born 1980). Webber has supported his mother's causes in a number of ways, including holding benefit events, such as art auctions, on her behalf.
Honkala is also the mother of Guillermo Santos (born 2002).
References
External links
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign Official site
1963 births
Living people
2012 United States vice-presidential candidates
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
Activists from Philadelphia
American people of Cheyenne descent
American people of Finnish descent
American political activists
American social activists
Female candidates for Vice President of the United States
Green Party of the United States vice presidential nominees
Homeless people
Homelessness activists
Pennsylvania Greens
People from Minneapolis
Politicians from Philadelphia
Women in Pennsylvania politics
Native American candidates for Vice President of the United States | true | [
"\"What About Us\" is a single released by British-Irish girl group the Saturdays. Their first international single, it is the lead single from their first American-only release EP, Chasing the Saturdays (2013). It also acts as the second single from their fourth studio album Living for the Weekend (2013). The single was first released in the United States and Canada on 18 December 2012 via digital download, before being released in the United Kingdom on 16 March 2013 via CD single and digital download. The single was written by Camille Purcell, Ollie Jacobs, Philip Jacobs. There are two different versions of the track which have been recorded and released: a solo version, which was released exclusively in the US and Canada, and a version featuring Jamaican rapper Sean Paul, which was released internationally. Music critics gave the song positive feedback, but questioned the heavily auto-tuned chorus and the move away from the group's traditional sound.\n\nA music video was released for the song was published and released via the Saturdays' Vevo account on 11 January 2013. The video was filmed in Los Angeles, where the band were filming their US reality series, Chasing the Saturdays, which is broadcast through E!. An acoustic version of \"Somebody Else's Life\", which can be heard on the opening titles of the show, was released as a B-side. The Saturdays went on to a promotional tour in order to get the song \"out there\" in the United States, and appeared on a number of different chat shows including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Jeff Probst Show, Fashion Police, Chelsea Lately and The Today Show in New York City. They later went on to a promotional tour in the UK, visiting radio stations around the country.\n\n\"What About Us\" gained commercial success, debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart to become the Saturdays' twelfth UK top 10 single and first ever number-one. In Ireland, the song debuted at number six on the Irish Singles Chart, gaining the group their fifth top 10 single there. With first-week sales of 114,000 copies and 40,000 copies more sold than their closest competitor to number one, \"What About Us\" was the fastest-selling single of 2013 in the UK until it was overtaken by Naughty Boy's \"La La La\" two months later. In December 2013, it was announced as the eleventh fastest-selling single of the year overall. As of August 2014, the song has sold over 400,000 copies in the UK. On 23 December 2013, Mollie King posted a photo on Instagram of her holding a 500,000 sales plaque from their record label, with the message that \"What About Us\" had sold over 500,000 copies in UK and USA, with 120,000 copies in the US alone even without charting on the Billboard Hot 100.\n\nBackground \n\nIn 2012, it was announced that the Saturdays had received an offer to star in their own reality television programme, Chasing the Saturdays, broadcast through E! Network. While filming their show, the band began visiting the recording studio, where they began work with Rodney \"Darkchild\" Jerkins.\n\nThe Saturdays felt comfortable with their US labels, and thanked them for not only giving them a chance in North America, but for making them feel at ease and welcome which took a lot of \"weight of our shoulders\". The band said they have always respected the labels due to the massive success they've had with artists. The band had been working with Demi Lovato in the recording studio.\n\nComposition\n\n\"What About Us\" was written and produced by Ollie Jacobs and acts as the Saturdays first single to be released in North America where it could appear on the Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100. In America its release coincided with their TV show, Chasing the Saturdays. The track is the band's fourteenth single to be released in the United Kingdom and Ireland and the track is a dance-pop song. Before the release of the song, Mollie King said that the band were excited to share the track as they had the song \"for months\" She said: \"I can't wait for everyone to hear it and to get to perform it. I'm just so excited about this one, I think it's going down really well.\" The band said they didn't want to change their type of music just for the American public and would stick to their roots and the genre they enjoyed to perform. King spoke: \"We've always made a point that we don't want to change to go to America. We wanted to go over as we are and if they like us, they like us and if they don't, they don't!\" King said that the track is reggae pop music, a little different from what band usually record, but the track is still really \"dancey\" and \"upbeat\", as well a good song to dance to on either stage or at a club. When Una Healy was asked what the song was about she said that she \"did not know\" what the song was exactly about. \"To be honest I was trying to figure out the other day what exactly it's about. I could bullshit away telling you, but I really don't know. But I think it's all about someone driving you crazy.\" She said she \"thinks\" that 'What About Us' part means \"me and you getting together\". She did point out that she did know that the song was about \"making you happy\" and that the track was good for the summer and will get you on the dancefloor. The band teased saying that \"What About Us\" is a pop track, and that is a good indication of what the expect from the album, and that they've paired up with Diane Warren to record a few ballads and not just pop tracks. \"What About Us\" is the only collaboration on the album.\n\nRelease\n\"What About Us\" was confirmed as the Saturdays' first single to be released in North America, and would be released on 18 December 2012 to coincide with their American reality show, Chasing the Saturdays. It was also revealed that the track would be released as the lead single from the band's North America released only Extended play, Chasing the Saturdays, which was named after the show. Some critics said that releasing \"What About Us\" from an EP for the US market was a \"wise decision\". One critic said: For, throwing out a traditional release on the back of a show that isn't (yet) a hit would ultimately be setting them up for failure. What's more, the EP allows their \"storyline\" for the next season of the show (should there be one) to revolve around recording an album. In the United Kingdom, it was revealed that \"What About Us\" would be the follow-up single from \"30 Days\" in the UK and Ireland, and therefore would not be the lead single from the band's fourth studio album. The band announced that before the release of the album, there would be another single release from the album. The follow-up single was revealed to be titled \"Gentleman\".\n\nJust like all the band's previous singles, the record was accepted by all A-Lists at radio stations. The UK and Ireland version of the track features a guest rap from Sean Paul. Whereas the North American version does not feature vocals from Sean Paul and only vocals from the band. The original version of the track last 3 minutes and 24 seconds, whereas the version which features Sean Paul lasts 3 minutes and 40 seconds. The single was released with B-side, an Acoustic version of a brand new track, \"Somebody Else's Life\", which is the opening theme to Chasing the Saturdays. \"What About Us\" was released as a digital download EP, and this featured the single version which features Sean Paul, the solo version and the B-side track. Upon the release in North America, there was a digital remixes EP which featured remixes of \"What About Us\" by a number of DJs including: Seamus Haji, Guy Scheiman, the Buzz Junkies and 2nd Adventure and this was also made available to purchase on 18 December 2012. While in the UK, the CD single was made available to be from stores from 18 March 2013. On the CD single featured \"What About Us\", the B-side \"Somebody Else's Life\".\n\nThe band decided to release \"What About Us\" differently between the United Kingdom and the United States, \"What About Us\" was released onto the charts without any airplay and without a music video accompanying the release, something the band experienced in the UK, with \"Notorious\". Whereas in the UK, \"What About Us\" was released with airplay and the music video being released before the release of the single. During this time, Frankie Sandford became ambassadors for mental health after Sandford battled depression. The band said they choose \"What About Us\" to be the lead single in the US and follow-up single from \"30 Days\" because they all loved it once they demoed it and it gave them a \"really good feeling\" They also said it is a fresh start for a new album, with a \"reggae vibe\", but still a pop record. The Saturdays said that Sean Paul was \"perfect\" for the UK version of the song. They said that he was \"just so nice\" and that he would be present during some of the promotional performances when the single was released.\n\nCritical reception\nRobert Copsey of Digital Spy said that Rochelle Humes asks in a \"curious Jamaican-flecked timbre\" during the intro of \"What About Us\". During the lyrics \"Oh why are we are waiting so long I'm suffocating\", and he went on to say that it is in reference to \"man-related drama\" and also pointing out that there is plenty of that on their reality series, Chasing the Saturdays. Copsey later went on to tip the band for their first number-one single as he said: \"but we suspect it could also be a sly wink at their enduring quest for a number one single\". He said that track was \"radio-friendly\" due to the \"trace beats\" and \"demanding their contrary lover to give up the hard-to-get schtick sharpish\". Although he didn't think that the song was \"original\" enough for the band, but is \"strangely addictive\" and he would be happy to see the song at the top of the charts.\n\n4Music described the song as a \"electro-pop affair with a bucket-load of synths thrown in for good measure. It's quite good, but we wonder if they should reconsider this single choice if they truly want to launch an invasion on America's charts.\" Idolator wrote a mixed review criticizing the track for lacking the group's signature style; \"While the beat is pounding enough to nab the girls a chart hit, it doesn’t feel true to the spirit of The Sats. Then again, maybe it isn’t supposed to.\" Jessica Sager from PopCrush also touched on the departure from their original sound; \"It’s a pretty big departure from their usual sugary oeuvre, but not necessarily in a bad way.\" She went on to praise Sean Paul's feature; \"His presence on the track gives it an air of authenticity and fun, but pretty much only during his own verses and interjections.\" However, she criticised the mediocre attempt at dialect the groups sing in throughout the track; \"When the Saturdays try to emulate island tones, it sounds a little awkward and they start out like that right off the bat, but go in and out of the undistinguished dialect throughout the song.\" She also felt that the heavily Auto-Tuned chorus was not need; \"The Auto-Tune seems extraneous, because the Saturdays can actually sing well without it.\" She end the review by labeling their latest effort as \"generic\" and \"not the best the Saturdays have to offer\", also rating it two and a half stars out of five.\n\nCommercial reception\n\"What About Us\" debuted at number 44 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart for the week dated 8 December 2012. This marks their first ever chart entry in the United States and it has since peaked at number twenty-seven. The song debuted at number 79 on the Canadian Hot 100, becoming the highest Canadian debut for a new artist in 2013.\n\nThe Saturdays admitted that they did not want to get their hopes up on debuting at number one on the UK Singles Charts due to being beaten to number-one three times before with \"Forever Is Over\", \"Just Can't Get Enough\" and \"Missing You\", after being number one on the Official Chart Update. During the latter two occasions, it was rapper Flo Rida who had pushed them back to numbers two and three respectively. It was revealed that the Saturdays had knocked Justin Timberlake's \"Mirrors\" off the number-one spot on the UK Singles Chart. This became the band's first ever number-one single in the United Kingdom, it also became Sean Paul's second number one in the United Kingdom after being featured on \"Breathe\" in 2003. For every one copy that Timberlake's \"Mirrors\" sold, the Saturdays sold two more copies of \"What About Us\". \"What About Us\" sold 114,000 copies in the first week of release, making it, at the time, the fastest selling single of 2013. The track sold 40,000 copies more than Timberlake, who was pushed back to number-two on the UK Singles Charts. The band said they were thrilled to be the UK's number-one with \"What About Us\". They went on to thanking their fans for supporting the single and supporting them for the past five years.\n\n\"What About Us\" debuted at number six on the Irish Singles Chart, marking the band's fifth top ten single in that country. \"What About Us\" made its debut at number thirty-six on the New Zealand Singles Chart.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video for \"What About Us\" was filmed during the summer of 2012 in Los Angeles, while the Saturdays were filming their reality television series. The North American version of the video was released via the Saturdays' official Vevo account on YouTube on 11 January 2013. A variant of the video, featuring vocals and additional scenes of the women with Sean Paul, was later released on 5 February 2013.\n\nLive performances and promotion\nThe Saturdays appeared in a number of nightclubs throughout 2012 in the United States performing \"What About Us\" along other hits. On 14 January 2013, the group made their first televised performance of the single on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. It was their first performance done on American television. On 16 January, the girls performed \"What About Us\" on The Today Show in New York City. Along with the performances, they appeared on chat shows such as Chelsea Lately, Daybreak, Fashion Police, Lorraine, The Jeff Probst Show, Loose Women, Alan Carr: Chatty Man, Sunday Brunch and What's Cooking? to promote the single.\n\nTrack listings\nUS digital download\n\"What About Us\" - 3:24\n\nCD Single - UK Version Only\n\"What About Us\" (featuring Sean Paul) - 3:40\n\"What About Us\" - 3:24\n\"Somebody Else's Life\" (Acoustic) - 3:18\n\nUS Digital remixes EP\n\"What About Us\" (Seamus Haji Radio Edit) - 3:06\n\"What About Us\" (Seamus Haji Club Mix) - 6:35\n\"What About Us\" (Seamus Haji Dub) - 6:49\n\"What About Us\" (Guy Scheiman Radio Edit) - 3:59\n\"What About Us\" (Guy Scheiman Club Mix) - 7:35\n\"What About Us\" (Guy Scheiman Dub) - 7:20\n\"What About Us\" (The Buzz Junkies Radio Edit) - 3:23\n\"What About Us\" (The Buzz Junkies Club Mix) - 4:32\n\"What About Us\" (featuring Sean Paul) - 4:32\n\"What About Us\" (2nd Adventure Radio Edit) - 4:24\n\"What About Us\" (2nd Adventure Club Mix) - 6:36\n\nEurope and Oceania EP - digital download\n\"What About Us\" (featuring Sean Paul) - 3:40\n\"What About Us\" (featuring Sean Paul) [The Buzz Junkies Radio Edit] - 3:23\n\"What About Us\" (featuring Sean Paul) [Seamus Haji Radio Edit] - 3:37\n\"What About Us\" (Guy Scheiman Radio Edit) - 3:58\n\"What About Us\" (Extended Mix) - 3:49 (only available through pre-order)\n\nUK Digital Remixes EP\n\"What About Us\" (Guy Scheiman Club Mix) - 7:35\n\"What About Us\" (2nd Adventure Club Mix) - 6:36\n\"What About Us\" (Seamus Haji Club Mix) - 6:35\n\"What About Us\" (The Buzz Junkies Club Mix) - 4:32\n\"What About Us\" (2nd Adventure Radio Edit) - 4:24\n\nRevamped Version\n\"What About Us\" - 3:24\n\"Somebody Else's Life\" (Acoustic) - 3:18\n\"What About Us\" (Extended Mix) - 3:49\n\"What About Us\" (2nd Adventure Radio Edit) - 4:24\n\"What About Us\" (Guy Scheiman Radio Edit) - 3:58\n\"What About Us\" (featuring Sean Paul) - 4:32\n\"What About Us\" (featuring Sean Paul) [The Buzz Junkies Radio Edit] - 3:23\n\"What About Us\" (featuring Sean Paul) [Seamus Haji Radio Edit] - 3:37\n\"What About Us\" (2nd Adventure Club Mix) - 6:36\n\"What About Us\" (Guy Scheiman Club Mix) - 7:35\n\"What About Us\" (The Buzz Junkies Club Mix) - 4:32\n\"What About Us\" (Seamus Haji Club Mix) - 6:35\n\nCredits and personnel\n\"What About Us\" was recorded at Rollover Studios in London.\n\nOllie Jacobs a.k.a. Art Bastian ~ Songwriter, Producer, Vocal Producer, Mix Engineer\n\nPhillip Jacobs ~ co-writer\nCamille Purcell ~ co-writer\nThe Saturdays ~ vocals\nSean Paul ~ guest vocalist\n\nCharts and certifications\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nRelease and radio history\n\nSee also\n\nList of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 2010s\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n feat. Sean Paul\n\nThe Saturdays songs\nSean Paul songs\n2012 singles\nDance-pop songs\nNumber-one singles in Scotland\nUK Singles Chart number-one singles\nSongs written by Camille Purcell\n2012 songs\nFascination Records singles\nSongs written by Ollie Jacobs",
"No Turning Back: The Story So Far is the first compilation album by Shannon Noll. The album includes tracks from Noll's three studio albums to date, That's What I'm Talking About (2004), Lift (2005) and Turn It Up (2008) and five brand new tracks. The album was released in September 2008 and peaked at number 7 on the ARIA Charts, becoming Noll's fourth consecutive top ten album.\n\nUpon released, Noll said \"It was only once we started talking about the idea that it sank in how many singles there's been, from \"What About Me\" right through to \"Loud\" and \"In Pieces\". All these songs mean so much to me and showcase a journey that I've been through with my songwriting and recording, my career in general. It's great to have the new songs on the album, as they are just a taste of what we've got planned for next year!\"\n\nSingles\nThe first single taken from the album was \"Summertime\", which was originally by 2007 Canadian Idol Brian Melo. The track peaked at number 54 on the ARIA Chart.\n\nTrack listing\n\"Summertime\" – 3:42\n\"Shine\" – 3:34\n\"Lift\" – 3:56\n\"Lonely\" – 4:42\n\"Now I Run\" – 3:44\n\"What About Me\" – 3:21\n\"Drive\" – 3:58\n\"Learn to Fly\" – 4:09\n\"Don't Give Up\" (with Natalie Bassingthwaighte) – 4:40\n\"Loud\" – 3:10\n\"In Pieces\" – 3:32\n\"Tomorrow\" – 3:57\n\"No Turning Back\" – 3:43\n\"Crash\" – 3:21\n\"You're Never Alone\" – 5:01\n\"Sorry Is Just Too Late\" (featuring Kari Kimmel) (iTunes exclusive bonus track) – 3:54\n\nDisc 2 (DVD edition)\n\"What About Me\"\n\"Drive\"\n\"Learn to Fly\"\n\"Lonely\"\n\"Shine\"\n\"Lift\"\n\"Now I Run\"\n\"Loud\"\n\"In Pieces\"\n\"Don't Give Up\" (with Natalie Bassingthwaighte)\n\nOmissions\nThe compilation omits the following singles:\n \"Rise Up\" with Australian Idol Top 12 (2003) – was a collaborative single and is not considered part of Noll's official discography.\n \"New Beginning\" (2004) – was a radio-only single release from That's What I'm Talking About.\n \"C'mon Aussie C'mon\" (2004) – was a charity single only.\n \"Twelve Days of Christmas\" with Dreamtime Christmas All-Stars (2004) – was a collaborative single and is not considered part of Noll's official discography.\n \"Everybody Needs a Little Help\" (2008) – was a radio-only single release from Turn It Up.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nShannon Noll albums\nSony BMG albums\n2008 greatest hits albums\nCompilation albums by Australian artists"
] |
[
"Cheri Honkala",
"On video",
"What made her first decide to do video?",
"Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers",
"What was her first?",
"Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen",
"What was it about?",
"about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;"
] | C_47894f9a278d414e89216ecba81aae88_0 | How many videos has she been in? | 4 | How many videos has Cheri Honkala been in? | Cheri Honkala | Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.) In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country. The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance. In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.) On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Cheri Lynn Honkala (; born January 12, 1963) is an American anti-poverty advocate, co-founder of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and co-founder and National Coordinator of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. She has been a noted advocate for human rights in the United States and internationally. She is the mother of actor Mark Webber.
She was featured prominently in the 1997 book Myth of the Welfare Queen by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino. In 2011, Honkala was the Green Party candidate for Sheriff of Philadelphia, running on the promise of refusing to evict families from their homes. She was the Green Party's nominee for vice-president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
Early life
Cheri Honkala was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1963. Her father, Maynard Duane Honkala, was of Finnish ancestry, and her mother had Cheyenne Native American ancestry. She grew up watching her mother suffer from domestic violence. Honkala's mother quietly endured this abuse for fear of losing her children. Honkala was removed from the household and spent most of her youth incarcerated in a total of nine youth detention facilities.
When Honkala was 17, her 19-year-old brother Mark, who suffered from mental health issues, committed suicide. Because he was uninsured, he could not afford to get the professional help he needed. At the time of Mark's suicide, Honkala was already a mother (with a son, Mark, named after her brother), living out of her car and going to high school. Despite her difficult upbringing, she managed to graduate.
After living in an apartment in Minnesota, Honkala and her young son were forced to move out and live out of their white Camaro. She and her son became homeless after the Camaro was demolished by a drunk driver. Honkala could not find a shelter that would allow them to remain together that winter. To stay together and keep from freezing, Honkala decided to move into an abandoned Housing and Urban Development (HUD) home. She would later comment, "I chose to live, and I chose to keep my son alive." She called a press conference, in which she said, "This is me, this is my nine-year-old son, and we're not leaving until somebody can tell us where we can live and not freeze to death."
Work as organizer
For the past 25 years, Honkala has been a leading advocate for the poor and homeless in America. While still living in Minnesota, she formed the Twin Cities anti-poverty groups "Women, Work and Welfare" and "Up and Out of Poverty Now." In Philadelphia, she co-founded the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC). She has organized numerous protests, holding marches, demonstrations and setting up tent cities, in the course of which activities she claims to have been arrested for civil disobedience violations more than 200 times. She is known internationally for her work advocating for the rights of poor people in the United States, and has received recognition in numerous publications for her role in bringing attention to issues such as homelessness and home foreclosures and has been called "the protester's protester." Currently based in Philadelphia, she has devoted most of her attention to the rise in home evictions among lower income families.
Kensington Welfare Rights Union
After moving to Philadelphia with her son in the late 1980s, in 1991 Honkala co-founded KWRU, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, named after the Kensington area in northern Philadelphia, where Honkala lived. She called KWRU a "Philadelphia based interracial organization of welfare recipients and other poor people." In the winter of 1993, when homeless shelters were full, the organization took over an abandoned Catholic Church to use as a shelter. In late 1994, KWRU broke into and took over vacant HUD homes destined for low-income housing and subsidized rent, although all the inhabitants (which included Honkala herself) were eligible for the housing program under the rules. They chose to ignore the bureaucracy and its delays, particularly the paperwork, paying rent into an escrow account to avoid trespassing charges. This became known as the Underground Railroad Project.
From that time, the volunteers of the organization regularly (and illegally) took over HUD homes to provide accommodations for homeless families. To provide a support system to these families, the organization set up what they called an "'Underground Railroad,' a network of other poor people, students, social workers, doctors and lawyers." Said Honkala: "Stealing slaves out of captivity was against the law ... But it was right. Sometimes the law is wrong. Sometimes you have to appeal to a higher authority."
In the spring of 1994, the Quaker Lace factory (a manufacturer of lace tablecloths) in the Kensington area of Philadelphia burned down, leaving an empty lot. The following summer, Honkala and KWRU constructed a large tent city on the site. Because Philadelphia authorities could not produce documentation establishing who owned the property, it was unable to evict the residents. (Eventually, they were driven out by flooding.) This very public action resulted in a substantial increase in donations to KWRU.
In September 1995, while the tent city was still standing, Honkala staged a protest by camping out for 36 hours, with others from the tent city, on Independence Mall within sight of the Liberty Bell, to make the plight of Philadelphia's homeless visible to residents and tourists next to one of the city's most famous landmarks. Although she argued that she and the others were merely exercising their right to free speech and had not hurt the park, she was cited and later tried for "residing in a park area." She was sentenced to six months' probation and fined $250. In July 1997, she was involved with the Liberty Bell once more, when she led a group on the "March for Our Lives" from the Bell to the United Nations building in New York to protest so-called welfare reform as a violation of the human rights of the poor. This action led directly to the formation of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC).
In October 1996, Honkala, with KWRU, staged a sit-in on the floor of the rotunda of Harrisburg's capitol building. The organization created a makeshift "city" that it dubbed "Ridgeville" after Republican Governor Tom Ridge, who had slashed social service benefits. Part of the purpose of the protests was to point out to the homeless the opulence of Gov. Ridge's lifestyle, including the governor's mansion, supported at state expense. The protest was supported by legislators opposed to the cuts, who bought meals for the protesters.
In April 1997, Honkala was arrested on a charge of "defiant trespassing" for attempting to build shacks for homeless families in Philadelphia on an empty industrial lot, though at the time, the shelter system was full and people were living on the streets.
The organization's leaders maintained that "some U.S. laws, such as the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, which limits the amount of time a family can receive federal assistance, violate Articles 23, 25 and 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Those articles guarantee, respectively, the right to work for a living wage under humane conditions; the right to adequate food, housing, medical care and social security; and the right to education."
Starting in June 1998, KWRU led the New Freedom Bus Tour, which traveled across the country, gathering stories of human rights violations to present as a petition to the United Nations. "Under the banner 'Freedom from Unemployment, Hunger and Homelessness,' the KWRU team collected additional evidence on the [negative] impact of [welfare reform] and held educational sessions teaching the poor about their economic rights." (A second such bus tour was organized by the PPEHRC in November–December 2002, which traveled to 27 cities to record human rights violations.)
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign
In the late 1990s, Honkala started another nonprofit, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, of which she became National Coordinator. The PPEHRC represents "a network of over 40 poor people's organizations from across the U.S." One commentator has written that the campaign "is the only [national] movement to come out of welfare reform that has been organized by poor people, and not their advocates."
This organization was formed in direct response to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 (also known as the Welfare Reform Act), signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton, which she and her allies claim hurts recipients of welfare. The organization's mission statement reads, "The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is committed to uniting the poor across color lines as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty. We work to accomplish this through advancing economic human rights as named in the universal declaration of human rights — such as the rights to food, housing, health, education, communication and a living wage job."
Part of the purpose of the organization is to make homelessness and the homeless visible, in order to force politicians to act. Honkala claims that the latter prefer that the homeless remain invisible, so they won't have to address the problem. In a speech, Honkala said: "That's what [the authorities] are saying [to you]: 'Go hide! Go be under a bridge, or ... hide under a bench, and we won't arrest you, we won't do anything to you, because you will be quiet!'" As Honkala declared, "When you have nothing, you still have your voice."
In October 1999, PPEHRC organized a month-long March of the Americas, from Washington, DC, to the United Nations in New York. Participants in the march included low-income families from the US, Canada and Latin America. The group "marched 15 miles a day for 32 days, sleeping in tent cities, churches and community centers at night, and holding press conferences and protests in local communities."
In July 2000, a PPEHRC march for the opening day of the Republican Party's National Convention in Philadelphia drew 10,000 homeless and poor people from around the country. (Of the several protest marches during that convention, this was the only one denied a permit by city authorities.)
In November 2000, at the historic Riverside Church in Manhattan in New York City, the PPEHRC held a "Poor People's World Summit to End Poverty," consisting of several hundred activists from some 30 countries, to share "experiences and [work] to build an international movement for economic human rights drawing explicitly on international treaties."
On July 4, 2003, Philadelphia held a celebration for the opening of the National Constitution Center, a new facility housing the Liberty Bell. Poor and homeless families from the city held a peaceful protest to demand their economic rights. "As the demonstrators marched toward Constitution Center single-file, carrying their own mattresses and led by children, park rangers, federal guards, and city police formed lines to prevent the families from approaching. Singing 'We Shall Not Be Moved,' the demonstrators locked arms and refused to leave the sidewalk. Protest leaders Honkala and Galen Tyler had prepared a 'Declaration of Economic Human Rights' to present at the Center. As they moved toward the Center, police moved to stop them, threw them to the ground, handcuffed them, and placed them under arrest ... Honkala was charged with one first-degree felony and four other felony counts. Police officers claimed that Honkala had struck one of them in the chest. However, a video taken at the time clearly shows Honkala carrying a mattress and being struck by the officer ... all the charges were subsequently withdrawn by the District Attorney's office."
In August 2004, Honkala marched with the PPEHRC in New York City (without a permit) to protest President Bush and the Republican National Convention (RNC) and to publicly call for greater attention by the government to the needs of the poor and homeless.
2011 campaign for Sheriff of Philadelphia
In early 2011, Honkala announced her run for Sheriff of Philadelphia on a "No Evictions" platform, with a campaign slogan of "Keeping families in their homes and protecting the 'hood." When asked why she accepted the Green Party's invitation to run, Honkala said: "I've been involved in too many fights in my life where I thought I was separate from the machine and the corporate money, only to find out later on that I was being used as a pawn for the Democratic Party ... [The Green Party] has a strict policy of no corporate money, which I liked."
As a publicity stunt, Honkala during the campaign rode a horse down Allegheny Avenue in Philadelphia while wearing a white hat resembling a Stetson, in imitation of the image of a Wild West sheriff. During her campaign, Honkala addressed the Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park in Manhattan to express solidarity with the group's anti-foreclosure aims and to ask for help in "occupying Philadelphia" on election day.
She finished in third place with over 10,000 votes.
2012 vice-presidential campaign
Nomination
On July 11, 2012, Jill Stein, then the presumptive nominee of the Green Party for president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, announced that she had selected Honkala as her vice-presidential running mate. Said Stein: "My running mate has been on the front lines fighting for the American poor, taking on the banks, taking on foreclosures, standing up for children most at risk."
Stein and Honkala were officially nominated by the Green Party at its national convention in Baltimore on Saturday, July 14.
Political activism during campaign
On August 1, 2012, Honkala was arrested along with Stein and three others during a sit-in at a Philadelphia bank to protest housing foreclosures by Fannie Mae, on behalf of several city residents struggling to keep their homes. The event began as a PPEHRC protest involving Honkala which Stein, after the former became her running mate, decided to join. The organization demanded that the mortgage company halt foreclosure proceedings against two Philadelphia residents. Fannie Mae executive Zach Oppenheimer had previously promised in writing to meet with the two women at the center of the controversy to negotiate a solution, but no such meeting ever took place. The protestors entered the Fannie Mae building and vowed to stay until Mr. Oppenheimer kept his word. Two lower-level officials met with the group, but when no resolution was obtained, most of the protesters exited the building, leaving only the core group, including Honkala, to be subject to arrest. They were charged with "defiant trespassing" and released the following day.
John Nichols, a commentator for The Nation magazine, compared the position of the Green Party candidates on this issue to the anti-banking rhetoric of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the New Deal.
She visited the PPEHRC encampment in Tampa, Florida, nicknamed "Romneyville," and strongly supported its plan to protest the 2012 Republican National Convention in that city, beginning on the convention's opening day in August.
On October 16, 2012, Honkala and Stein were arrested after they tried to enter the site of the second presidential debate at Hofstra University.
Policy positions
Stein and Honkala ran on a platform they call the Green New Deal, "an emergency four-part program of specific solutions for moving America quickly out of crisis into the secure green future." The program's name is inspired by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal in the Depression era.
The four pillars of the Green New Deal, "the central platform of the Stein/Honkala ticket" are:
An Economic Bill Of Rights – a) a Full Employment Program that will create 25 million jobs by implementing a nationally funded, but locally controlled direct employment initiative, replacing unemployment offices with local employment offices; b) defense of worker's rights including the right to a living wage, to a safe workplace, to fair trade, and to organize a union at work without fear of firing or reprisal; c) the right to quality health care which will be achieved through a single-payer Medicare-for-All program; d) the right to a tuition-free, quality, federally funded, local controlled public education system from pre-school through college, and forgiveness of current student loan debt; e) the right to decent affordable housing, including an immediate halt to all foreclosures and evictions; f) the right to accessible and affordable utilities; g) the right to fair taxation that's distributed in proportion to ability to pay.
A Green Transition – a) investment in green business by providing grants and low-interest loans to grow green businesses and cooperatives; b) investment in green research by redirecting research funds from fossil fuels and other dead-end industries toward research in wind, solar and geothermal; c) the creation of green jobs by enacting the Full Employment Program which will directly provide 16 million jobs in sustainable energy and energy efficiency.
Real Financial Reform – a) relief of the debt overhang holding back the economy by reducing homeowner and student debt burdens; b) democratization of monetary policy to bring about public control of the money supply and credit creation; c) a policy of breaking up oversized banks that are "too big to fail"; d) termination of taxpayer-funded bailouts for banks, insurers, and other financial companies; e) the regulation of all financial derivatives; f) the restoration of the separation of depository commercial banks from speculative investment banks, as was the case under the Glass-Steagall Act; g) a 90% tax on bonuses for bailed out bankers; and h) support for the formation of federal, state, and municipal public-owned banks that function as non-profit utilities.
A Functioning Democracy – a) the revocation of corporate personhood by amending our Constitution to make clear that corporations are not persons and money is not speech; b) the protect of our right to vote by supporting the proposed "Right to Vote Amendment"; c) the enactment of the Voter Bill of Rights; d) the commissioning of a thorough review of federal preemption law; e) the creation of a Corporation for Economic Democracy, f) the strengthening of media democracy by expanding federal support for locally owned broadcast media and local print media; g) the protection of our personal liberty and freedoms by, among other things, revoking the Patriot Act; h) a dramatic scaling back of the military–industrial complex.
Campaign goals
The SteinHonkala campaign set two immediate goals: to get its candidates on the ballots of as many states as possible before election day (November 6) and to make itself eligible to participate in the televised presidential debates, to take place in October. According to the rules of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), the nonprofit organization that sponsors and produces the presidential and vice-presidential debates, to qualify for a place in the debates the Green Party's presidential slate must a) appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to make it theoretically possible for its candidates to receive enough electoral votes to win the election, and b) receive an average of 15% support from respondents in five selected national polls. The CPD's selection criteria have often been criticized as prohibitively restrictive.
2016 Democratic National Convention
Honkala planned a novel political protest called a "fart-in" to be staged at the 2016 DNC "to greet the rhetorical flatulence of Hillary Clinton with the real thing". Just prior to the protest, Honkala hosted a "massive bean supper" for Sanders supporters in her home.
2017 Pennsylvania House of Representatives campaign
On January 31, 2017 Honkala announced she was running for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the March 21 special election to replace Leslie Acosta, who was the second state representative for the 197th legislative district to resign on federal fraud charges. She was considered to have more name recognition than her Republican and Democratic opponents. Honkala ran as a write-in candidate against Republican Lucinda Little; there was no Democrat on the ballot in the heavily Democratic district.
Honkala was endorsed by many progressives and organizations including Our Revolution, Progress for All, environmental activist Josh Fox, progressive entertainers Rosario Dawson and Tom Morello, former Director Emeritus of Philaposh (a labor organization) Jim Moran, former Philadelphia Health Commissioner Walter Tsou, the PEOPLE Committee of the AFSCME District Council 47, Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, the Philadelphia chapter of Socialist Alternative, and other local clergy and leaders.
In March 2017, Honkala lost to Democratic write-in Emilio Vazquez. However, this election went under investigation by the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and the Pennsylvania Attorney General. Honkala, alongside the Green Party of Pennsylvania, Lucinda Little (the Republican candidate), and the State and City Republican parties filed a lawsuit in United States District Court against Emilio Vazquez, the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, Philadelphia City Commissioners, PA Secretary of State Cortes, and the State's Bureau of Commissions, Elections, and Legislation. The lawsuit alleges widespread election fraud and voter intimidation on the part of Vazquez and the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, and failure to properly supervise the elections for the other defendants.
Claims in the federal lawsuit include electioneering inside the polling place, money exchange between Democratic poll workers and election officials, a ballot box being at Vazquez's "victory" party, tables set up outside by Democratic poll works made to look like voter sign-in tables, election workers asking people who they are voting for, Democratic ward leaders handling the voting machines, Vazquez meeting with election officials on election day inside of the polling place, and other claims. Despite the investigation, Vazquez was officially sworn in as a member of the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives on April 5, 2017.
Criticism
Honkala has been a controversial figure throughout her career as a protester and organizer. Feather O. Houstoun, a former secretary of the (Pennsylvania) State Department of Public Welfare, said "She has not been working, rolling up her sleeves on issues like Community Legal Services does. She has never availed herself [of] that opportunity, while other groups have." John Kromer, a former director of the city's office of Housing and Community Development, faxed a five-page letter to KWRU, in which he claimed that the group was actually preventing its poor followers from obtaining housing through its tactic of breaking into vacant homes, rather than utilizing established organizations. He wrote: "No good can come of an organization-building strategy, which is based on misleading poor people or preventing them from obtaining access to available assistance and support." Honkala admits that the group failed to rehabilitate any of the homes illegally taken, but asserts that the group was instrumental in helping 500 formerly homeless people find housing through existing programs. Honkala added: "I get criticized on a regular basis for not being a team player. But I have no qualms about holding a protest tomorrow at anybody's offices if they are denying anybody the basic necessities of life. You're not supposed to do that in Philadelphia."
She has been criticized for her confrontational tactics in dealing with the authorities. Author David Zucchino described Honkala's behavior at the first Liberty Bell protest as follows:
Cheri loved to make people uncomfortable ... She wanted people to squirm and recoil when they saw poor people. She was convinced that America sought desperately to keep its poor out of sight so as not to be reminded of the social policies she believed exacerbated poverty. If the country was going to turn its back on the poor, she was not going to let anyone feel ambivalent about it. She would assault people with her high-pitched nasal voice—in public demonstrations, in confrontations with elected officials, in media interviews, and in front of a ragged tent on Independence Mall.
During the church takeover incident, William Parshall, the deputy city managing director, known as the Philadelphia "housing czar," was asked whether Honkala's in-your-face tactics "made his job difficult." Parshall replied that he was far more concerned with such pending problems as national and state welfare cuts. He added, "The question is, what are we going to do about it? That's the question Cheri should be asking."
Zucchino in his book details many confrontations between Honkala and the authorities, but also instances in which she reached a mutually satisfactory compromise with them. For example, during the first Liberty Bell protest, she negotiated successfully with park authorities to leave the site without the necessity of admitting guilt or of enduring mass arrests.
Recognition
Honkala in the media
Honkala and her activities on behalf of the poor have been profiled many times in various media.
In print and photography
Honkala was one of two women profiled in Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino's book, The Myth of the Welfare Queen (1999). According to one review, Honkala, as depicted in the book, "helps create a tent city to protest welfare cuts, joins the occupation of an abandoned church and the takeover by protesters of empty houses owned by HUD. She tirelessly seeks publicity for her cause, battles with bureaucrats, and rallies and comforts fellow protesters."
She was the subject of Chapter 6, "Using Economic Human Rights in the Movement to End Poverty: The Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the Poor People's Economic Human Right Campaign" by Mary Bricker-Jenkins, Carrie Young and Honkala, in the book Challenges in Human Rights: A Social Work Perspective, edited by Elizabeth Reichert (2007). She was also briefly profiled in Katherine Martin's book Women of Courage: Inspiring Stories from the Women who Lived Them (1999).
Since the mid-1990s Honkala has been extensively documented by photographer Harvey Finkle. A YouTube video was created consisting of many of Finkle's photos of Honkala and of other poor people. She also wrote the introduction to Finkle's book of photographs of the urban poor, Urban Nomads: A Poor People's Movement (1997). One of the last photos taken by the late photographer Richard Avedon (1923–2004) was a portrait of Honkala for the series Democracy 2004, which appeared in an October 2004 issue of The New Yorker magazine.
Interviews and articles on Honkala have appeared in numerous print and online publications, including The Village Voice, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Weekly, Yes! magazine, Salon, Truthdig and The Nation.
On video
Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.)
In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country.
The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance.
In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.)
On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Honors and awards
Honkala has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards:
Philadelphia Magazine – list of the 100 Most Powerful Philadelphians
Philadelphia Weekly – "Woman of the Year" (1997)
Ms. Magazine – Woman of the Year (2001)
Bread and Roses Human Rights Award
Pennsylvania Association of Social Workers' Public Citizen of the Year
Front Line Defenders (The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders), a Dublin-based human rights organization, named her one of the "12 most endangered" activists in America
Mother Jones magazine – Hellraiser of the Month (April 2005)
In addition, the organization Honkala co-founded, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, was a 1999 co-winner (with Dr. Juan Garcés) of the prestigious Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award, given by the Institute for Policy Studies.
In January 2004, Honkala was invited to speak at the annual World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai, India on the subject of the "War against the Homeless." In 2006, Honkala again addressed the WSF, this time in Caracas, Venezuela, to discuss poverty and homelessness in the United States, information that many of her listeners do not often receive from mainstream U.S. media sources.
Electoral history
Personal life
Honkala in 1990 married a Philadelphia-based union official, Bob Brown, whom she had met at a convention the previous year. They divorced not long afterwards.
Honkala is the mother of the actor and director Mark Webber (born 1980). Webber has supported his mother's causes in a number of ways, including holding benefit events, such as art auctions, on her behalf.
Honkala is also the mother of Guillermo Santos (born 2002).
References
External links
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign Official site
1963 births
Living people
2012 United States vice-presidential candidates
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
Activists from Philadelphia
American people of Cheyenne descent
American people of Finnish descent
American political activists
American social activists
Female candidates for Vice President of the United States
Green Party of the United States vice presidential nominees
Homeless people
Homelessness activists
Pennsylvania Greens
People from Minneapolis
Politicians from Philadelphia
Women in Pennsylvania politics
Native American candidates for Vice President of the United States | false | [
"Hong Kong singer Kelly Chen has released four Hong Kong Cantonese and five Taiwanese Mandarin video albums and three Taiwanese Mandarin video singles and been featured in over 100 music videos, 26 films, 6 TV series, 3 musical special features, and over 200 commercials. Kelly achieved early fame in 1994 when she appeared in the Shanghai Beer and HSBC commercials.\n\nVideo albums\n\nHong Kong Cantonese\n\nWho Wants To Let Go 17 Greatest Hits 誰願放手精選十七首 (Dec. 1996) (VCD/LD)\nFaye and Kelly Party 菲琳派對 (Feb. 1997) (VCD/LD/DVD)\nI Care About You So MuchMusic Videos Karaoke 對你太在乎卡拉OK (May.1999)(VCD)\nUnprecedentednessMusic Videos Karaoke 前所未見精選卡拉OK (Dec. 2004)(VCD/DVD)\n\nTaiwanese Mandarin\n\n Defenseless Heart 心不設防 (1998) (VCD)\n The Best Of Kelly Chen Music Video Vol.1 慧聲慧影精選集1(1999) (DVD)\nLove You So Much 愛你愛的 (Mar. 2000) (VCD)\nFlying 飛吧 (Jan. 2002) (VCD)\nLove Appeared 愛情來了 (Mar. 2003)(VCD)\n\nVideo singles\n\nTaiwanese Mandarin\n Insight 體會 (Aug. 1997) (VHS)\n Unbelievable(不得了)(Jan. 2001) (Business Card VCD)\n I stop crying on the count of three (數到三就不哭)(Sept. 2001) (VCD)\n\nMusic videos\nKelly has been featured in over One Hundred music videos, Her Single Three Seconds （三秒鐘）Which won 1998/1999 TVB8 Mandarin Music On Demand Awards Presentation: the Best Music Video Award.\n\nList of videos\n\nFilmography\n\nHer film debut was in 1995, in Whatever Will Be, Will Be (仙樂飄飄, Xian Yue Piao Piao, literally Heavenly Music Floating in the Air). Chen has since starred and made cameos in quite a number of films. Her filmography includes:\n\nList of films\n\nTelevision\n\nTV series\n\nMusical Special Features\n\nTelevision Host\n\nCommercials\n\nChen has been involved in many commercials since she started her career. She has been spokesman of many top well-known brands. The following list shows the commercials she involved.\n\nList of commercials\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nKelly Chen's official Vevo channel on YouTube\n\nActress filmographies\nVideography\nVideographies\nHong Kong filmographies",
"Sumayia Zafar Suzana is a former Bangladeshi tv actress, model. She became a model in many music video and acted in many plays.\n\nCareer \nZafar started working as a model in 2001. She has done several TV commercials and in 2003 she won the Lux Photogenic Beauty Contest Award. She acted with singer Shafin Ahmed in the six episode drama \"Rhyme of Life\", and has appeared in some Eid al-Fitr dramas including Onukoron and Patrider Janano Jachchhey Je.\n\nShe was a model in the music video \"Keu Na januk\", a song by Tahsan and composed by Imran, and appeared in other music videos including Tumi Ashba Naki and Ami Chuye Dilei. She also appeared in two music videos, Bhalo Lage Na and Arale, with her ex-husband, the singer Hridoy Khan.\n\nPersonal life \nZafar has been married twice, to businessman Faysal and singer Hridoy Khan. She divorced Khan in 2015.\n\nReferences \n\nLiving people\nBangladeshi television actresses\nBangladeshi female models\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
] |
[
"Cheri Honkala",
"On video",
"What made her first decide to do video?",
"Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers",
"What was her first?",
"Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen",
"What was it about?",
"about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;",
"How many videos has she been in?",
"I don't know."
] | C_47894f9a278d414e89216ecba81aae88_0 | What was the main message sd.1he tried co convey? | 5 | What was the main message Cheri Honkala tried co convey? | Cheri Honkala | Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.) In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country. The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance. In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.) On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. CANNOTANSWER | Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country. | Cheri Lynn Honkala (; born January 12, 1963) is an American anti-poverty advocate, co-founder of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and co-founder and National Coordinator of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. She has been a noted advocate for human rights in the United States and internationally. She is the mother of actor Mark Webber.
She was featured prominently in the 1997 book Myth of the Welfare Queen by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino. In 2011, Honkala was the Green Party candidate for Sheriff of Philadelphia, running on the promise of refusing to evict families from their homes. She was the Green Party's nominee for vice-president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
Early life
Cheri Honkala was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1963. Her father, Maynard Duane Honkala, was of Finnish ancestry, and her mother had Cheyenne Native American ancestry. She grew up watching her mother suffer from domestic violence. Honkala's mother quietly endured this abuse for fear of losing her children. Honkala was removed from the household and spent most of her youth incarcerated in a total of nine youth detention facilities.
When Honkala was 17, her 19-year-old brother Mark, who suffered from mental health issues, committed suicide. Because he was uninsured, he could not afford to get the professional help he needed. At the time of Mark's suicide, Honkala was already a mother (with a son, Mark, named after her brother), living out of her car and going to high school. Despite her difficult upbringing, she managed to graduate.
After living in an apartment in Minnesota, Honkala and her young son were forced to move out and live out of their white Camaro. She and her son became homeless after the Camaro was demolished by a drunk driver. Honkala could not find a shelter that would allow them to remain together that winter. To stay together and keep from freezing, Honkala decided to move into an abandoned Housing and Urban Development (HUD) home. She would later comment, "I chose to live, and I chose to keep my son alive." She called a press conference, in which she said, "This is me, this is my nine-year-old son, and we're not leaving until somebody can tell us where we can live and not freeze to death."
Work as organizer
For the past 25 years, Honkala has been a leading advocate for the poor and homeless in America. While still living in Minnesota, she formed the Twin Cities anti-poverty groups "Women, Work and Welfare" and "Up and Out of Poverty Now." In Philadelphia, she co-founded the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC). She has organized numerous protests, holding marches, demonstrations and setting up tent cities, in the course of which activities she claims to have been arrested for civil disobedience violations more than 200 times. She is known internationally for her work advocating for the rights of poor people in the United States, and has received recognition in numerous publications for her role in bringing attention to issues such as homelessness and home foreclosures and has been called "the protester's protester." Currently based in Philadelphia, she has devoted most of her attention to the rise in home evictions among lower income families.
Kensington Welfare Rights Union
After moving to Philadelphia with her son in the late 1980s, in 1991 Honkala co-founded KWRU, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, named after the Kensington area in northern Philadelphia, where Honkala lived. She called KWRU a "Philadelphia based interracial organization of welfare recipients and other poor people." In the winter of 1993, when homeless shelters were full, the organization took over an abandoned Catholic Church to use as a shelter. In late 1994, KWRU broke into and took over vacant HUD homes destined for low-income housing and subsidized rent, although all the inhabitants (which included Honkala herself) were eligible for the housing program under the rules. They chose to ignore the bureaucracy and its delays, particularly the paperwork, paying rent into an escrow account to avoid trespassing charges. This became known as the Underground Railroad Project.
From that time, the volunteers of the organization regularly (and illegally) took over HUD homes to provide accommodations for homeless families. To provide a support system to these families, the organization set up what they called an "'Underground Railroad,' a network of other poor people, students, social workers, doctors and lawyers." Said Honkala: "Stealing slaves out of captivity was against the law ... But it was right. Sometimes the law is wrong. Sometimes you have to appeal to a higher authority."
In the spring of 1994, the Quaker Lace factory (a manufacturer of lace tablecloths) in the Kensington area of Philadelphia burned down, leaving an empty lot. The following summer, Honkala and KWRU constructed a large tent city on the site. Because Philadelphia authorities could not produce documentation establishing who owned the property, it was unable to evict the residents. (Eventually, they were driven out by flooding.) This very public action resulted in a substantial increase in donations to KWRU.
In September 1995, while the tent city was still standing, Honkala staged a protest by camping out for 36 hours, with others from the tent city, on Independence Mall within sight of the Liberty Bell, to make the plight of Philadelphia's homeless visible to residents and tourists next to one of the city's most famous landmarks. Although she argued that she and the others were merely exercising their right to free speech and had not hurt the park, she was cited and later tried for "residing in a park area." She was sentenced to six months' probation and fined $250. In July 1997, she was involved with the Liberty Bell once more, when she led a group on the "March for Our Lives" from the Bell to the United Nations building in New York to protest so-called welfare reform as a violation of the human rights of the poor. This action led directly to the formation of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC).
In October 1996, Honkala, with KWRU, staged a sit-in on the floor of the rotunda of Harrisburg's capitol building. The organization created a makeshift "city" that it dubbed "Ridgeville" after Republican Governor Tom Ridge, who had slashed social service benefits. Part of the purpose of the protests was to point out to the homeless the opulence of Gov. Ridge's lifestyle, including the governor's mansion, supported at state expense. The protest was supported by legislators opposed to the cuts, who bought meals for the protesters.
In April 1997, Honkala was arrested on a charge of "defiant trespassing" for attempting to build shacks for homeless families in Philadelphia on an empty industrial lot, though at the time, the shelter system was full and people were living on the streets.
The organization's leaders maintained that "some U.S. laws, such as the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, which limits the amount of time a family can receive federal assistance, violate Articles 23, 25 and 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Those articles guarantee, respectively, the right to work for a living wage under humane conditions; the right to adequate food, housing, medical care and social security; and the right to education."
Starting in June 1998, KWRU led the New Freedom Bus Tour, which traveled across the country, gathering stories of human rights violations to present as a petition to the United Nations. "Under the banner 'Freedom from Unemployment, Hunger and Homelessness,' the KWRU team collected additional evidence on the [negative] impact of [welfare reform] and held educational sessions teaching the poor about their economic rights." (A second such bus tour was organized by the PPEHRC in November–December 2002, which traveled to 27 cities to record human rights violations.)
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign
In the late 1990s, Honkala started another nonprofit, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, of which she became National Coordinator. The PPEHRC represents "a network of over 40 poor people's organizations from across the U.S." One commentator has written that the campaign "is the only [national] movement to come out of welfare reform that has been organized by poor people, and not their advocates."
This organization was formed in direct response to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 (also known as the Welfare Reform Act), signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton, which she and her allies claim hurts recipients of welfare. The organization's mission statement reads, "The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is committed to uniting the poor across color lines as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty. We work to accomplish this through advancing economic human rights as named in the universal declaration of human rights — such as the rights to food, housing, health, education, communication and a living wage job."
Part of the purpose of the organization is to make homelessness and the homeless visible, in order to force politicians to act. Honkala claims that the latter prefer that the homeless remain invisible, so they won't have to address the problem. In a speech, Honkala said: "That's what [the authorities] are saying [to you]: 'Go hide! Go be under a bridge, or ... hide under a bench, and we won't arrest you, we won't do anything to you, because you will be quiet!'" As Honkala declared, "When you have nothing, you still have your voice."
In October 1999, PPEHRC organized a month-long March of the Americas, from Washington, DC, to the United Nations in New York. Participants in the march included low-income families from the US, Canada and Latin America. The group "marched 15 miles a day for 32 days, sleeping in tent cities, churches and community centers at night, and holding press conferences and protests in local communities."
In July 2000, a PPEHRC march for the opening day of the Republican Party's National Convention in Philadelphia drew 10,000 homeless and poor people from around the country. (Of the several protest marches during that convention, this was the only one denied a permit by city authorities.)
In November 2000, at the historic Riverside Church in Manhattan in New York City, the PPEHRC held a "Poor People's World Summit to End Poverty," consisting of several hundred activists from some 30 countries, to share "experiences and [work] to build an international movement for economic human rights drawing explicitly on international treaties."
On July 4, 2003, Philadelphia held a celebration for the opening of the National Constitution Center, a new facility housing the Liberty Bell. Poor and homeless families from the city held a peaceful protest to demand their economic rights. "As the demonstrators marched toward Constitution Center single-file, carrying their own mattresses and led by children, park rangers, federal guards, and city police formed lines to prevent the families from approaching. Singing 'We Shall Not Be Moved,' the demonstrators locked arms and refused to leave the sidewalk. Protest leaders Honkala and Galen Tyler had prepared a 'Declaration of Economic Human Rights' to present at the Center. As they moved toward the Center, police moved to stop them, threw them to the ground, handcuffed them, and placed them under arrest ... Honkala was charged with one first-degree felony and four other felony counts. Police officers claimed that Honkala had struck one of them in the chest. However, a video taken at the time clearly shows Honkala carrying a mattress and being struck by the officer ... all the charges were subsequently withdrawn by the District Attorney's office."
In August 2004, Honkala marched with the PPEHRC in New York City (without a permit) to protest President Bush and the Republican National Convention (RNC) and to publicly call for greater attention by the government to the needs of the poor and homeless.
2011 campaign for Sheriff of Philadelphia
In early 2011, Honkala announced her run for Sheriff of Philadelphia on a "No Evictions" platform, with a campaign slogan of "Keeping families in their homes and protecting the 'hood." When asked why she accepted the Green Party's invitation to run, Honkala said: "I've been involved in too many fights in my life where I thought I was separate from the machine and the corporate money, only to find out later on that I was being used as a pawn for the Democratic Party ... [The Green Party] has a strict policy of no corporate money, which I liked."
As a publicity stunt, Honkala during the campaign rode a horse down Allegheny Avenue in Philadelphia while wearing a white hat resembling a Stetson, in imitation of the image of a Wild West sheriff. During her campaign, Honkala addressed the Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park in Manhattan to express solidarity with the group's anti-foreclosure aims and to ask for help in "occupying Philadelphia" on election day.
She finished in third place with over 10,000 votes.
2012 vice-presidential campaign
Nomination
On July 11, 2012, Jill Stein, then the presumptive nominee of the Green Party for president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, announced that she had selected Honkala as her vice-presidential running mate. Said Stein: "My running mate has been on the front lines fighting for the American poor, taking on the banks, taking on foreclosures, standing up for children most at risk."
Stein and Honkala were officially nominated by the Green Party at its national convention in Baltimore on Saturday, July 14.
Political activism during campaign
On August 1, 2012, Honkala was arrested along with Stein and three others during a sit-in at a Philadelphia bank to protest housing foreclosures by Fannie Mae, on behalf of several city residents struggling to keep their homes. The event began as a PPEHRC protest involving Honkala which Stein, after the former became her running mate, decided to join. The organization demanded that the mortgage company halt foreclosure proceedings against two Philadelphia residents. Fannie Mae executive Zach Oppenheimer had previously promised in writing to meet with the two women at the center of the controversy to negotiate a solution, but no such meeting ever took place. The protestors entered the Fannie Mae building and vowed to stay until Mr. Oppenheimer kept his word. Two lower-level officials met with the group, but when no resolution was obtained, most of the protesters exited the building, leaving only the core group, including Honkala, to be subject to arrest. They were charged with "defiant trespassing" and released the following day.
John Nichols, a commentator for The Nation magazine, compared the position of the Green Party candidates on this issue to the anti-banking rhetoric of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the New Deal.
She visited the PPEHRC encampment in Tampa, Florida, nicknamed "Romneyville," and strongly supported its plan to protest the 2012 Republican National Convention in that city, beginning on the convention's opening day in August.
On October 16, 2012, Honkala and Stein were arrested after they tried to enter the site of the second presidential debate at Hofstra University.
Policy positions
Stein and Honkala ran on a platform they call the Green New Deal, "an emergency four-part program of specific solutions for moving America quickly out of crisis into the secure green future." The program's name is inspired by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal in the Depression era.
The four pillars of the Green New Deal, "the central platform of the Stein/Honkala ticket" are:
An Economic Bill Of Rights – a) a Full Employment Program that will create 25 million jobs by implementing a nationally funded, but locally controlled direct employment initiative, replacing unemployment offices with local employment offices; b) defense of worker's rights including the right to a living wage, to a safe workplace, to fair trade, and to organize a union at work without fear of firing or reprisal; c) the right to quality health care which will be achieved through a single-payer Medicare-for-All program; d) the right to a tuition-free, quality, federally funded, local controlled public education system from pre-school through college, and forgiveness of current student loan debt; e) the right to decent affordable housing, including an immediate halt to all foreclosures and evictions; f) the right to accessible and affordable utilities; g) the right to fair taxation that's distributed in proportion to ability to pay.
A Green Transition – a) investment in green business by providing grants and low-interest loans to grow green businesses and cooperatives; b) investment in green research by redirecting research funds from fossil fuels and other dead-end industries toward research in wind, solar and geothermal; c) the creation of green jobs by enacting the Full Employment Program which will directly provide 16 million jobs in sustainable energy and energy efficiency.
Real Financial Reform – a) relief of the debt overhang holding back the economy by reducing homeowner and student debt burdens; b) democratization of monetary policy to bring about public control of the money supply and credit creation; c) a policy of breaking up oversized banks that are "too big to fail"; d) termination of taxpayer-funded bailouts for banks, insurers, and other financial companies; e) the regulation of all financial derivatives; f) the restoration of the separation of depository commercial banks from speculative investment banks, as was the case under the Glass-Steagall Act; g) a 90% tax on bonuses for bailed out bankers; and h) support for the formation of federal, state, and municipal public-owned banks that function as non-profit utilities.
A Functioning Democracy – a) the revocation of corporate personhood by amending our Constitution to make clear that corporations are not persons and money is not speech; b) the protect of our right to vote by supporting the proposed "Right to Vote Amendment"; c) the enactment of the Voter Bill of Rights; d) the commissioning of a thorough review of federal preemption law; e) the creation of a Corporation for Economic Democracy, f) the strengthening of media democracy by expanding federal support for locally owned broadcast media and local print media; g) the protection of our personal liberty and freedoms by, among other things, revoking the Patriot Act; h) a dramatic scaling back of the military–industrial complex.
Campaign goals
The SteinHonkala campaign set two immediate goals: to get its candidates on the ballots of as many states as possible before election day (November 6) and to make itself eligible to participate in the televised presidential debates, to take place in October. According to the rules of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), the nonprofit organization that sponsors and produces the presidential and vice-presidential debates, to qualify for a place in the debates the Green Party's presidential slate must a) appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to make it theoretically possible for its candidates to receive enough electoral votes to win the election, and b) receive an average of 15% support from respondents in five selected national polls. The CPD's selection criteria have often been criticized as prohibitively restrictive.
2016 Democratic National Convention
Honkala planned a novel political protest called a "fart-in" to be staged at the 2016 DNC "to greet the rhetorical flatulence of Hillary Clinton with the real thing". Just prior to the protest, Honkala hosted a "massive bean supper" for Sanders supporters in her home.
2017 Pennsylvania House of Representatives campaign
On January 31, 2017 Honkala announced she was running for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the March 21 special election to replace Leslie Acosta, who was the second state representative for the 197th legislative district to resign on federal fraud charges. She was considered to have more name recognition than her Republican and Democratic opponents. Honkala ran as a write-in candidate against Republican Lucinda Little; there was no Democrat on the ballot in the heavily Democratic district.
Honkala was endorsed by many progressives and organizations including Our Revolution, Progress for All, environmental activist Josh Fox, progressive entertainers Rosario Dawson and Tom Morello, former Director Emeritus of Philaposh (a labor organization) Jim Moran, former Philadelphia Health Commissioner Walter Tsou, the PEOPLE Committee of the AFSCME District Council 47, Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, the Philadelphia chapter of Socialist Alternative, and other local clergy and leaders.
In March 2017, Honkala lost to Democratic write-in Emilio Vazquez. However, this election went under investigation by the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and the Pennsylvania Attorney General. Honkala, alongside the Green Party of Pennsylvania, Lucinda Little (the Republican candidate), and the State and City Republican parties filed a lawsuit in United States District Court against Emilio Vazquez, the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, Philadelphia City Commissioners, PA Secretary of State Cortes, and the State's Bureau of Commissions, Elections, and Legislation. The lawsuit alleges widespread election fraud and voter intimidation on the part of Vazquez and the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, and failure to properly supervise the elections for the other defendants.
Claims in the federal lawsuit include electioneering inside the polling place, money exchange between Democratic poll workers and election officials, a ballot box being at Vazquez's "victory" party, tables set up outside by Democratic poll works made to look like voter sign-in tables, election workers asking people who they are voting for, Democratic ward leaders handling the voting machines, Vazquez meeting with election officials on election day inside of the polling place, and other claims. Despite the investigation, Vazquez was officially sworn in as a member of the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives on April 5, 2017.
Criticism
Honkala has been a controversial figure throughout her career as a protester and organizer. Feather O. Houstoun, a former secretary of the (Pennsylvania) State Department of Public Welfare, said "She has not been working, rolling up her sleeves on issues like Community Legal Services does. She has never availed herself [of] that opportunity, while other groups have." John Kromer, a former director of the city's office of Housing and Community Development, faxed a five-page letter to KWRU, in which he claimed that the group was actually preventing its poor followers from obtaining housing through its tactic of breaking into vacant homes, rather than utilizing established organizations. He wrote: "No good can come of an organization-building strategy, which is based on misleading poor people or preventing them from obtaining access to available assistance and support." Honkala admits that the group failed to rehabilitate any of the homes illegally taken, but asserts that the group was instrumental in helping 500 formerly homeless people find housing through existing programs. Honkala added: "I get criticized on a regular basis for not being a team player. But I have no qualms about holding a protest tomorrow at anybody's offices if they are denying anybody the basic necessities of life. You're not supposed to do that in Philadelphia."
She has been criticized for her confrontational tactics in dealing with the authorities. Author David Zucchino described Honkala's behavior at the first Liberty Bell protest as follows:
Cheri loved to make people uncomfortable ... She wanted people to squirm and recoil when they saw poor people. She was convinced that America sought desperately to keep its poor out of sight so as not to be reminded of the social policies she believed exacerbated poverty. If the country was going to turn its back on the poor, she was not going to let anyone feel ambivalent about it. She would assault people with her high-pitched nasal voice—in public demonstrations, in confrontations with elected officials, in media interviews, and in front of a ragged tent on Independence Mall.
During the church takeover incident, William Parshall, the deputy city managing director, known as the Philadelphia "housing czar," was asked whether Honkala's in-your-face tactics "made his job difficult." Parshall replied that he was far more concerned with such pending problems as national and state welfare cuts. He added, "The question is, what are we going to do about it? That's the question Cheri should be asking."
Zucchino in his book details many confrontations between Honkala and the authorities, but also instances in which she reached a mutually satisfactory compromise with them. For example, during the first Liberty Bell protest, she negotiated successfully with park authorities to leave the site without the necessity of admitting guilt or of enduring mass arrests.
Recognition
Honkala in the media
Honkala and her activities on behalf of the poor have been profiled many times in various media.
In print and photography
Honkala was one of two women profiled in Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino's book, The Myth of the Welfare Queen (1999). According to one review, Honkala, as depicted in the book, "helps create a tent city to protest welfare cuts, joins the occupation of an abandoned church and the takeover by protesters of empty houses owned by HUD. She tirelessly seeks publicity for her cause, battles with bureaucrats, and rallies and comforts fellow protesters."
She was the subject of Chapter 6, "Using Economic Human Rights in the Movement to End Poverty: The Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the Poor People's Economic Human Right Campaign" by Mary Bricker-Jenkins, Carrie Young and Honkala, in the book Challenges in Human Rights: A Social Work Perspective, edited by Elizabeth Reichert (2007). She was also briefly profiled in Katherine Martin's book Women of Courage: Inspiring Stories from the Women who Lived Them (1999).
Since the mid-1990s Honkala has been extensively documented by photographer Harvey Finkle. A YouTube video was created consisting of many of Finkle's photos of Honkala and of other poor people. She also wrote the introduction to Finkle's book of photographs of the urban poor, Urban Nomads: A Poor People's Movement (1997). One of the last photos taken by the late photographer Richard Avedon (1923–2004) was a portrait of Honkala for the series Democracy 2004, which appeared in an October 2004 issue of The New Yorker magazine.
Interviews and articles on Honkala have appeared in numerous print and online publications, including The Village Voice, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Weekly, Yes! magazine, Salon, Truthdig and The Nation.
On video
Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.)
In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country.
The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance.
In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.)
On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Honors and awards
Honkala has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards:
Philadelphia Magazine – list of the 100 Most Powerful Philadelphians
Philadelphia Weekly – "Woman of the Year" (1997)
Ms. Magazine – Woman of the Year (2001)
Bread and Roses Human Rights Award
Pennsylvania Association of Social Workers' Public Citizen of the Year
Front Line Defenders (The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders), a Dublin-based human rights organization, named her one of the "12 most endangered" activists in America
Mother Jones magazine – Hellraiser of the Month (April 2005)
In addition, the organization Honkala co-founded, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, was a 1999 co-winner (with Dr. Juan Garcés) of the prestigious Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award, given by the Institute for Policy Studies.
In January 2004, Honkala was invited to speak at the annual World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai, India on the subject of the "War against the Homeless." In 2006, Honkala again addressed the WSF, this time in Caracas, Venezuela, to discuss poverty and homelessness in the United States, information that many of her listeners do not often receive from mainstream U.S. media sources.
Electoral history
Personal life
Honkala in 1990 married a Philadelphia-based union official, Bob Brown, whom she had met at a convention the previous year. They divorced not long afterwards.
Honkala is the mother of the actor and director Mark Webber (born 1980). Webber has supported his mother's causes in a number of ways, including holding benefit events, such as art auctions, on her behalf.
Honkala is also the mother of Guillermo Santos (born 2002).
References
External links
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign Official site
1963 births
Living people
2012 United States vice-presidential candidates
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
Activists from Philadelphia
American people of Cheyenne descent
American people of Finnish descent
American political activists
American social activists
Female candidates for Vice President of the United States
Green Party of the United States vice presidential nominees
Homeless people
Homelessness activists
Pennsylvania Greens
People from Minneapolis
Politicians from Philadelphia
Women in Pennsylvania politics
Native American candidates for Vice President of the United States | true | [
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[
"Cheri Honkala",
"On video",
"What made her first decide to do video?",
"Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers",
"What was her first?",
"Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen",
"What was it about?",
"about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;",
"How many videos has she been in?",
"I don't know.",
"What was the main message sd.1he tried co convey?",
"Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country."
] | C_47894f9a278d414e89216ecba81aae88_0 | Was she well received by the public? | 6 | Was Cheri Honkala well received by the public? | Cheri Honkala | Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.) In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country. The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance. In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.) On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Cheri Lynn Honkala (; born January 12, 1963) is an American anti-poverty advocate, co-founder of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and co-founder and National Coordinator of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. She has been a noted advocate for human rights in the United States and internationally. She is the mother of actor Mark Webber.
She was featured prominently in the 1997 book Myth of the Welfare Queen by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino. In 2011, Honkala was the Green Party candidate for Sheriff of Philadelphia, running on the promise of refusing to evict families from their homes. She was the Green Party's nominee for vice-president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
Early life
Cheri Honkala was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1963. Her father, Maynard Duane Honkala, was of Finnish ancestry, and her mother had Cheyenne Native American ancestry. She grew up watching her mother suffer from domestic violence. Honkala's mother quietly endured this abuse for fear of losing her children. Honkala was removed from the household and spent most of her youth incarcerated in a total of nine youth detention facilities.
When Honkala was 17, her 19-year-old brother Mark, who suffered from mental health issues, committed suicide. Because he was uninsured, he could not afford to get the professional help he needed. At the time of Mark's suicide, Honkala was already a mother (with a son, Mark, named after her brother), living out of her car and going to high school. Despite her difficult upbringing, she managed to graduate.
After living in an apartment in Minnesota, Honkala and her young son were forced to move out and live out of their white Camaro. She and her son became homeless after the Camaro was demolished by a drunk driver. Honkala could not find a shelter that would allow them to remain together that winter. To stay together and keep from freezing, Honkala decided to move into an abandoned Housing and Urban Development (HUD) home. She would later comment, "I chose to live, and I chose to keep my son alive." She called a press conference, in which she said, "This is me, this is my nine-year-old son, and we're not leaving until somebody can tell us where we can live and not freeze to death."
Work as organizer
For the past 25 years, Honkala has been a leading advocate for the poor and homeless in America. While still living in Minnesota, she formed the Twin Cities anti-poverty groups "Women, Work and Welfare" and "Up and Out of Poverty Now." In Philadelphia, she co-founded the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC). She has organized numerous protests, holding marches, demonstrations and setting up tent cities, in the course of which activities she claims to have been arrested for civil disobedience violations more than 200 times. She is known internationally for her work advocating for the rights of poor people in the United States, and has received recognition in numerous publications for her role in bringing attention to issues such as homelessness and home foreclosures and has been called "the protester's protester." Currently based in Philadelphia, she has devoted most of her attention to the rise in home evictions among lower income families.
Kensington Welfare Rights Union
After moving to Philadelphia with her son in the late 1980s, in 1991 Honkala co-founded KWRU, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, named after the Kensington area in northern Philadelphia, where Honkala lived. She called KWRU a "Philadelphia based interracial organization of welfare recipients and other poor people." In the winter of 1993, when homeless shelters were full, the organization took over an abandoned Catholic Church to use as a shelter. In late 1994, KWRU broke into and took over vacant HUD homes destined for low-income housing and subsidized rent, although all the inhabitants (which included Honkala herself) were eligible for the housing program under the rules. They chose to ignore the bureaucracy and its delays, particularly the paperwork, paying rent into an escrow account to avoid trespassing charges. This became known as the Underground Railroad Project.
From that time, the volunteers of the organization regularly (and illegally) took over HUD homes to provide accommodations for homeless families. To provide a support system to these families, the organization set up what they called an "'Underground Railroad,' a network of other poor people, students, social workers, doctors and lawyers." Said Honkala: "Stealing slaves out of captivity was against the law ... But it was right. Sometimes the law is wrong. Sometimes you have to appeal to a higher authority."
In the spring of 1994, the Quaker Lace factory (a manufacturer of lace tablecloths) in the Kensington area of Philadelphia burned down, leaving an empty lot. The following summer, Honkala and KWRU constructed a large tent city on the site. Because Philadelphia authorities could not produce documentation establishing who owned the property, it was unable to evict the residents. (Eventually, they were driven out by flooding.) This very public action resulted in a substantial increase in donations to KWRU.
In September 1995, while the tent city was still standing, Honkala staged a protest by camping out for 36 hours, with others from the tent city, on Independence Mall within sight of the Liberty Bell, to make the plight of Philadelphia's homeless visible to residents and tourists next to one of the city's most famous landmarks. Although she argued that she and the others were merely exercising their right to free speech and had not hurt the park, she was cited and later tried for "residing in a park area." She was sentenced to six months' probation and fined $250. In July 1997, she was involved with the Liberty Bell once more, when she led a group on the "March for Our Lives" from the Bell to the United Nations building in New York to protest so-called welfare reform as a violation of the human rights of the poor. This action led directly to the formation of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC).
In October 1996, Honkala, with KWRU, staged a sit-in on the floor of the rotunda of Harrisburg's capitol building. The organization created a makeshift "city" that it dubbed "Ridgeville" after Republican Governor Tom Ridge, who had slashed social service benefits. Part of the purpose of the protests was to point out to the homeless the opulence of Gov. Ridge's lifestyle, including the governor's mansion, supported at state expense. The protest was supported by legislators opposed to the cuts, who bought meals for the protesters.
In April 1997, Honkala was arrested on a charge of "defiant trespassing" for attempting to build shacks for homeless families in Philadelphia on an empty industrial lot, though at the time, the shelter system was full and people were living on the streets.
The organization's leaders maintained that "some U.S. laws, such as the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, which limits the amount of time a family can receive federal assistance, violate Articles 23, 25 and 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Those articles guarantee, respectively, the right to work for a living wage under humane conditions; the right to adequate food, housing, medical care and social security; and the right to education."
Starting in June 1998, KWRU led the New Freedom Bus Tour, which traveled across the country, gathering stories of human rights violations to present as a petition to the United Nations. "Under the banner 'Freedom from Unemployment, Hunger and Homelessness,' the KWRU team collected additional evidence on the [negative] impact of [welfare reform] and held educational sessions teaching the poor about their economic rights." (A second such bus tour was organized by the PPEHRC in November–December 2002, which traveled to 27 cities to record human rights violations.)
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign
In the late 1990s, Honkala started another nonprofit, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, of which she became National Coordinator. The PPEHRC represents "a network of over 40 poor people's organizations from across the U.S." One commentator has written that the campaign "is the only [national] movement to come out of welfare reform that has been organized by poor people, and not their advocates."
This organization was formed in direct response to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 (also known as the Welfare Reform Act), signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton, which she and her allies claim hurts recipients of welfare. The organization's mission statement reads, "The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is committed to uniting the poor across color lines as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty. We work to accomplish this through advancing economic human rights as named in the universal declaration of human rights — such as the rights to food, housing, health, education, communication and a living wage job."
Part of the purpose of the organization is to make homelessness and the homeless visible, in order to force politicians to act. Honkala claims that the latter prefer that the homeless remain invisible, so they won't have to address the problem. In a speech, Honkala said: "That's what [the authorities] are saying [to you]: 'Go hide! Go be under a bridge, or ... hide under a bench, and we won't arrest you, we won't do anything to you, because you will be quiet!'" As Honkala declared, "When you have nothing, you still have your voice."
In October 1999, PPEHRC organized a month-long March of the Americas, from Washington, DC, to the United Nations in New York. Participants in the march included low-income families from the US, Canada and Latin America. The group "marched 15 miles a day for 32 days, sleeping in tent cities, churches and community centers at night, and holding press conferences and protests in local communities."
In July 2000, a PPEHRC march for the opening day of the Republican Party's National Convention in Philadelphia drew 10,000 homeless and poor people from around the country. (Of the several protest marches during that convention, this was the only one denied a permit by city authorities.)
In November 2000, at the historic Riverside Church in Manhattan in New York City, the PPEHRC held a "Poor People's World Summit to End Poverty," consisting of several hundred activists from some 30 countries, to share "experiences and [work] to build an international movement for economic human rights drawing explicitly on international treaties."
On July 4, 2003, Philadelphia held a celebration for the opening of the National Constitution Center, a new facility housing the Liberty Bell. Poor and homeless families from the city held a peaceful protest to demand their economic rights. "As the demonstrators marched toward Constitution Center single-file, carrying their own mattresses and led by children, park rangers, federal guards, and city police formed lines to prevent the families from approaching. Singing 'We Shall Not Be Moved,' the demonstrators locked arms and refused to leave the sidewalk. Protest leaders Honkala and Galen Tyler had prepared a 'Declaration of Economic Human Rights' to present at the Center. As they moved toward the Center, police moved to stop them, threw them to the ground, handcuffed them, and placed them under arrest ... Honkala was charged with one first-degree felony and four other felony counts. Police officers claimed that Honkala had struck one of them in the chest. However, a video taken at the time clearly shows Honkala carrying a mattress and being struck by the officer ... all the charges were subsequently withdrawn by the District Attorney's office."
In August 2004, Honkala marched with the PPEHRC in New York City (without a permit) to protest President Bush and the Republican National Convention (RNC) and to publicly call for greater attention by the government to the needs of the poor and homeless.
2011 campaign for Sheriff of Philadelphia
In early 2011, Honkala announced her run for Sheriff of Philadelphia on a "No Evictions" platform, with a campaign slogan of "Keeping families in their homes and protecting the 'hood." When asked why she accepted the Green Party's invitation to run, Honkala said: "I've been involved in too many fights in my life where I thought I was separate from the machine and the corporate money, only to find out later on that I was being used as a pawn for the Democratic Party ... [The Green Party] has a strict policy of no corporate money, which I liked."
As a publicity stunt, Honkala during the campaign rode a horse down Allegheny Avenue in Philadelphia while wearing a white hat resembling a Stetson, in imitation of the image of a Wild West sheriff. During her campaign, Honkala addressed the Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park in Manhattan to express solidarity with the group's anti-foreclosure aims and to ask for help in "occupying Philadelphia" on election day.
She finished in third place with over 10,000 votes.
2012 vice-presidential campaign
Nomination
On July 11, 2012, Jill Stein, then the presumptive nominee of the Green Party for president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, announced that she had selected Honkala as her vice-presidential running mate. Said Stein: "My running mate has been on the front lines fighting for the American poor, taking on the banks, taking on foreclosures, standing up for children most at risk."
Stein and Honkala were officially nominated by the Green Party at its national convention in Baltimore on Saturday, July 14.
Political activism during campaign
On August 1, 2012, Honkala was arrested along with Stein and three others during a sit-in at a Philadelphia bank to protest housing foreclosures by Fannie Mae, on behalf of several city residents struggling to keep their homes. The event began as a PPEHRC protest involving Honkala which Stein, after the former became her running mate, decided to join. The organization demanded that the mortgage company halt foreclosure proceedings against two Philadelphia residents. Fannie Mae executive Zach Oppenheimer had previously promised in writing to meet with the two women at the center of the controversy to negotiate a solution, but no such meeting ever took place. The protestors entered the Fannie Mae building and vowed to stay until Mr. Oppenheimer kept his word. Two lower-level officials met with the group, but when no resolution was obtained, most of the protesters exited the building, leaving only the core group, including Honkala, to be subject to arrest. They were charged with "defiant trespassing" and released the following day.
John Nichols, a commentator for The Nation magazine, compared the position of the Green Party candidates on this issue to the anti-banking rhetoric of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the New Deal.
She visited the PPEHRC encampment in Tampa, Florida, nicknamed "Romneyville," and strongly supported its plan to protest the 2012 Republican National Convention in that city, beginning on the convention's opening day in August.
On October 16, 2012, Honkala and Stein were arrested after they tried to enter the site of the second presidential debate at Hofstra University.
Policy positions
Stein and Honkala ran on a platform they call the Green New Deal, "an emergency four-part program of specific solutions for moving America quickly out of crisis into the secure green future." The program's name is inspired by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal in the Depression era.
The four pillars of the Green New Deal, "the central platform of the Stein/Honkala ticket" are:
An Economic Bill Of Rights – a) a Full Employment Program that will create 25 million jobs by implementing a nationally funded, but locally controlled direct employment initiative, replacing unemployment offices with local employment offices; b) defense of worker's rights including the right to a living wage, to a safe workplace, to fair trade, and to organize a union at work without fear of firing or reprisal; c) the right to quality health care which will be achieved through a single-payer Medicare-for-All program; d) the right to a tuition-free, quality, federally funded, local controlled public education system from pre-school through college, and forgiveness of current student loan debt; e) the right to decent affordable housing, including an immediate halt to all foreclosures and evictions; f) the right to accessible and affordable utilities; g) the right to fair taxation that's distributed in proportion to ability to pay.
A Green Transition – a) investment in green business by providing grants and low-interest loans to grow green businesses and cooperatives; b) investment in green research by redirecting research funds from fossil fuels and other dead-end industries toward research in wind, solar and geothermal; c) the creation of green jobs by enacting the Full Employment Program which will directly provide 16 million jobs in sustainable energy and energy efficiency.
Real Financial Reform – a) relief of the debt overhang holding back the economy by reducing homeowner and student debt burdens; b) democratization of monetary policy to bring about public control of the money supply and credit creation; c) a policy of breaking up oversized banks that are "too big to fail"; d) termination of taxpayer-funded bailouts for banks, insurers, and other financial companies; e) the regulation of all financial derivatives; f) the restoration of the separation of depository commercial banks from speculative investment banks, as was the case under the Glass-Steagall Act; g) a 90% tax on bonuses for bailed out bankers; and h) support for the formation of federal, state, and municipal public-owned banks that function as non-profit utilities.
A Functioning Democracy – a) the revocation of corporate personhood by amending our Constitution to make clear that corporations are not persons and money is not speech; b) the protect of our right to vote by supporting the proposed "Right to Vote Amendment"; c) the enactment of the Voter Bill of Rights; d) the commissioning of a thorough review of federal preemption law; e) the creation of a Corporation for Economic Democracy, f) the strengthening of media democracy by expanding federal support for locally owned broadcast media and local print media; g) the protection of our personal liberty and freedoms by, among other things, revoking the Patriot Act; h) a dramatic scaling back of the military–industrial complex.
Campaign goals
The SteinHonkala campaign set two immediate goals: to get its candidates on the ballots of as many states as possible before election day (November 6) and to make itself eligible to participate in the televised presidential debates, to take place in October. According to the rules of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), the nonprofit organization that sponsors and produces the presidential and vice-presidential debates, to qualify for a place in the debates the Green Party's presidential slate must a) appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to make it theoretically possible for its candidates to receive enough electoral votes to win the election, and b) receive an average of 15% support from respondents in five selected national polls. The CPD's selection criteria have often been criticized as prohibitively restrictive.
2016 Democratic National Convention
Honkala planned a novel political protest called a "fart-in" to be staged at the 2016 DNC "to greet the rhetorical flatulence of Hillary Clinton with the real thing". Just prior to the protest, Honkala hosted a "massive bean supper" for Sanders supporters in her home.
2017 Pennsylvania House of Representatives campaign
On January 31, 2017 Honkala announced she was running for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the March 21 special election to replace Leslie Acosta, who was the second state representative for the 197th legislative district to resign on federal fraud charges. She was considered to have more name recognition than her Republican and Democratic opponents. Honkala ran as a write-in candidate against Republican Lucinda Little; there was no Democrat on the ballot in the heavily Democratic district.
Honkala was endorsed by many progressives and organizations including Our Revolution, Progress for All, environmental activist Josh Fox, progressive entertainers Rosario Dawson and Tom Morello, former Director Emeritus of Philaposh (a labor organization) Jim Moran, former Philadelphia Health Commissioner Walter Tsou, the PEOPLE Committee of the AFSCME District Council 47, Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, the Philadelphia chapter of Socialist Alternative, and other local clergy and leaders.
In March 2017, Honkala lost to Democratic write-in Emilio Vazquez. However, this election went under investigation by the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and the Pennsylvania Attorney General. Honkala, alongside the Green Party of Pennsylvania, Lucinda Little (the Republican candidate), and the State and City Republican parties filed a lawsuit in United States District Court against Emilio Vazquez, the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, Philadelphia City Commissioners, PA Secretary of State Cortes, and the State's Bureau of Commissions, Elections, and Legislation. The lawsuit alleges widespread election fraud and voter intimidation on the part of Vazquez and the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, and failure to properly supervise the elections for the other defendants.
Claims in the federal lawsuit include electioneering inside the polling place, money exchange between Democratic poll workers and election officials, a ballot box being at Vazquez's "victory" party, tables set up outside by Democratic poll works made to look like voter sign-in tables, election workers asking people who they are voting for, Democratic ward leaders handling the voting machines, Vazquez meeting with election officials on election day inside of the polling place, and other claims. Despite the investigation, Vazquez was officially sworn in as a member of the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives on April 5, 2017.
Criticism
Honkala has been a controversial figure throughout her career as a protester and organizer. Feather O. Houstoun, a former secretary of the (Pennsylvania) State Department of Public Welfare, said "She has not been working, rolling up her sleeves on issues like Community Legal Services does. She has never availed herself [of] that opportunity, while other groups have." John Kromer, a former director of the city's office of Housing and Community Development, faxed a five-page letter to KWRU, in which he claimed that the group was actually preventing its poor followers from obtaining housing through its tactic of breaking into vacant homes, rather than utilizing established organizations. He wrote: "No good can come of an organization-building strategy, which is based on misleading poor people or preventing them from obtaining access to available assistance and support." Honkala admits that the group failed to rehabilitate any of the homes illegally taken, but asserts that the group was instrumental in helping 500 formerly homeless people find housing through existing programs. Honkala added: "I get criticized on a regular basis for not being a team player. But I have no qualms about holding a protest tomorrow at anybody's offices if they are denying anybody the basic necessities of life. You're not supposed to do that in Philadelphia."
She has been criticized for her confrontational tactics in dealing with the authorities. Author David Zucchino described Honkala's behavior at the first Liberty Bell protest as follows:
Cheri loved to make people uncomfortable ... She wanted people to squirm and recoil when they saw poor people. She was convinced that America sought desperately to keep its poor out of sight so as not to be reminded of the social policies she believed exacerbated poverty. If the country was going to turn its back on the poor, she was not going to let anyone feel ambivalent about it. She would assault people with her high-pitched nasal voice—in public demonstrations, in confrontations with elected officials, in media interviews, and in front of a ragged tent on Independence Mall.
During the church takeover incident, William Parshall, the deputy city managing director, known as the Philadelphia "housing czar," was asked whether Honkala's in-your-face tactics "made his job difficult." Parshall replied that he was far more concerned with such pending problems as national and state welfare cuts. He added, "The question is, what are we going to do about it? That's the question Cheri should be asking."
Zucchino in his book details many confrontations between Honkala and the authorities, but also instances in which she reached a mutually satisfactory compromise with them. For example, during the first Liberty Bell protest, she negotiated successfully with park authorities to leave the site without the necessity of admitting guilt or of enduring mass arrests.
Recognition
Honkala in the media
Honkala and her activities on behalf of the poor have been profiled many times in various media.
In print and photography
Honkala was one of two women profiled in Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino's book, The Myth of the Welfare Queen (1999). According to one review, Honkala, as depicted in the book, "helps create a tent city to protest welfare cuts, joins the occupation of an abandoned church and the takeover by protesters of empty houses owned by HUD. She tirelessly seeks publicity for her cause, battles with bureaucrats, and rallies and comforts fellow protesters."
She was the subject of Chapter 6, "Using Economic Human Rights in the Movement to End Poverty: The Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the Poor People's Economic Human Right Campaign" by Mary Bricker-Jenkins, Carrie Young and Honkala, in the book Challenges in Human Rights: A Social Work Perspective, edited by Elizabeth Reichert (2007). She was also briefly profiled in Katherine Martin's book Women of Courage: Inspiring Stories from the Women who Lived Them (1999).
Since the mid-1990s Honkala has been extensively documented by photographer Harvey Finkle. A YouTube video was created consisting of many of Finkle's photos of Honkala and of other poor people. She also wrote the introduction to Finkle's book of photographs of the urban poor, Urban Nomads: A Poor People's Movement (1997). One of the last photos taken by the late photographer Richard Avedon (1923–2004) was a portrait of Honkala for the series Democracy 2004, which appeared in an October 2004 issue of The New Yorker magazine.
Interviews and articles on Honkala have appeared in numerous print and online publications, including The Village Voice, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Weekly, Yes! magazine, Salon, Truthdig and The Nation.
On video
Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.)
In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country.
The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance.
In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.)
On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Honors and awards
Honkala has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards:
Philadelphia Magazine – list of the 100 Most Powerful Philadelphians
Philadelphia Weekly – "Woman of the Year" (1997)
Ms. Magazine – Woman of the Year (2001)
Bread and Roses Human Rights Award
Pennsylvania Association of Social Workers' Public Citizen of the Year
Front Line Defenders (The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders), a Dublin-based human rights organization, named her one of the "12 most endangered" activists in America
Mother Jones magazine – Hellraiser of the Month (April 2005)
In addition, the organization Honkala co-founded, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, was a 1999 co-winner (with Dr. Juan Garcés) of the prestigious Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award, given by the Institute for Policy Studies.
In January 2004, Honkala was invited to speak at the annual World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai, India on the subject of the "War against the Homeless." In 2006, Honkala again addressed the WSF, this time in Caracas, Venezuela, to discuss poverty and homelessness in the United States, information that many of her listeners do not often receive from mainstream U.S. media sources.
Electoral history
Personal life
Honkala in 1990 married a Philadelphia-based union official, Bob Brown, whom she had met at a convention the previous year. They divorced not long afterwards.
Honkala is the mother of the actor and director Mark Webber (born 1980). Webber has supported his mother's causes in a number of ways, including holding benefit events, such as art auctions, on her behalf.
Honkala is also the mother of Guillermo Santos (born 2002).
References
External links
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign Official site
1963 births
Living people
2012 United States vice-presidential candidates
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
Activists from Philadelphia
American people of Cheyenne descent
American people of Finnish descent
American political activists
American social activists
Female candidates for Vice President of the United States
Green Party of the United States vice presidential nominees
Homeless people
Homelessness activists
Pennsylvania Greens
People from Minneapolis
Politicians from Philadelphia
Women in Pennsylvania politics
Native American candidates for Vice President of the United States | false | [
"Veronika Marchenko is a Russian activist. In 2008 she was the head of the NGO Mother's Right Foundation, which she founded as a student in 1988.\n\nLife\nThe Mother's Right Foundation works to expose the inhumane conditions that led to the deaths of Russian service members in peacetime, as well as to help families of the dead get compensation and to punish those guilty of deaths. It also presses for an end to hazing and bullying. This NGO is mainly funded by foreign grants.\n\nMarchenko has also worked on the journal Yunost. In 1986 she was on the show \"12th Storey\", broadcast by Soviet Central TV, and she was in the International Youth Movement \"Next Stop Soviet\" (1987-1990). In November 1998 she was awarded the Public Recognition prize, and in December 2002 the Open Society Institute in Russia awarded her the prize For Selfless Work. She also received a 2009 International Women of Courage Award.\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nRussian activists\nRussian women activists\nRussian women\nRussian women's rights activists\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nWomen who received the International Women of Courage Award",
"Bibata Niandou Barry known as Madame Barry (born 1955) is an activist lawyer \nwho rose to be Niger's minister for women in Mamadou Tandja's government. She is the sister of both the \npolitician Harouna Niandou and the political scientist Abdoulaye Niandou Souley.\n\nLife\nNiandou Barry was born on 2 March 1955 and she attended the \"Lycée Kassaï\" in Niamey. She then studied civil law and graduated in 1990. In 1991, she founded the \nAssociation des Femmes Juristes du Niger, an association of women lawyers in Niger. It was \namong the most active organizations for women's rights during the period of democratic change in Niger in the early 1990s and now supports poorer female litigants.\n\nDuring the 1990s Niandou Barry's brother Harouna Niandou rose to be a minister in Niger.\n\nHer brief record as Prefect President of the municipality Niamey from 2003 was well received. She had organised a set of games that went well but she was still dismissed the following year.\n\nPresident Mamadou Tandja took Niandou Barry on 9 June 9, 2007 as the Minister of Women's Promotion and Child Protection in his government. In contravention of the constitution President Tandja decided to take a third term and he was supported by Niandou Barry. This meant that she\nlost her position when Tandja was overthrown the following year by Salou Djibo. Tandja was notably\nopposed by her brother, Abdoulaye Souley Niandou. He was rewarded by being appointed a minister but he died within a few \nmonths.\n\nNiandou Barry continued her career as a lawyer in Niger.\n\nIn 2016 she was the defending lawyer for seven supporters of Hama Amadou. In November 2015 the seven went to meet Amadou at the airport when he returned from abroad. The seven who include Soumana Sanda were charged with \"\"armed assembly and disturbing public order\". They came to what Barry called a \"political trial\" in July 2016 and they all received a 10 month sentence.\n\nReferences\n\n1955 births\nPeople from Niger State\nNigerien activists\nLiving people"
] |
[
"Cheri Honkala",
"On video",
"What made her first decide to do video?",
"Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers",
"What was her first?",
"Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen",
"What was it about?",
"about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;",
"How many videos has she been in?",
"I don't know.",
"What was the main message sd.1he tried co convey?",
"Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country.",
"Was she well received by the public?",
"I don't know."
] | C_47894f9a278d414e89216ecba81aae88_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 7 | Besides Cheri Honkala talk about gated communities, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Cheri Honkala | Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.) In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country. The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance. In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.) On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. CANNOTANSWER | On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers | Cheri Lynn Honkala (; born January 12, 1963) is an American anti-poverty advocate, co-founder of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and co-founder and National Coordinator of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. She has been a noted advocate for human rights in the United States and internationally. She is the mother of actor Mark Webber.
She was featured prominently in the 1997 book Myth of the Welfare Queen by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino. In 2011, Honkala was the Green Party candidate for Sheriff of Philadelphia, running on the promise of refusing to evict families from their homes. She was the Green Party's nominee for vice-president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
Early life
Cheri Honkala was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1963. Her father, Maynard Duane Honkala, was of Finnish ancestry, and her mother had Cheyenne Native American ancestry. She grew up watching her mother suffer from domestic violence. Honkala's mother quietly endured this abuse for fear of losing her children. Honkala was removed from the household and spent most of her youth incarcerated in a total of nine youth detention facilities.
When Honkala was 17, her 19-year-old brother Mark, who suffered from mental health issues, committed suicide. Because he was uninsured, he could not afford to get the professional help he needed. At the time of Mark's suicide, Honkala was already a mother (with a son, Mark, named after her brother), living out of her car and going to high school. Despite her difficult upbringing, she managed to graduate.
After living in an apartment in Minnesota, Honkala and her young son were forced to move out and live out of their white Camaro. She and her son became homeless after the Camaro was demolished by a drunk driver. Honkala could not find a shelter that would allow them to remain together that winter. To stay together and keep from freezing, Honkala decided to move into an abandoned Housing and Urban Development (HUD) home. She would later comment, "I chose to live, and I chose to keep my son alive." She called a press conference, in which she said, "This is me, this is my nine-year-old son, and we're not leaving until somebody can tell us where we can live and not freeze to death."
Work as organizer
For the past 25 years, Honkala has been a leading advocate for the poor and homeless in America. While still living in Minnesota, she formed the Twin Cities anti-poverty groups "Women, Work and Welfare" and "Up and Out of Poverty Now." In Philadelphia, she co-founded the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC). She has organized numerous protests, holding marches, demonstrations and setting up tent cities, in the course of which activities she claims to have been arrested for civil disobedience violations more than 200 times. She is known internationally for her work advocating for the rights of poor people in the United States, and has received recognition in numerous publications for her role in bringing attention to issues such as homelessness and home foreclosures and has been called "the protester's protester." Currently based in Philadelphia, she has devoted most of her attention to the rise in home evictions among lower income families.
Kensington Welfare Rights Union
After moving to Philadelphia with her son in the late 1980s, in 1991 Honkala co-founded KWRU, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, named after the Kensington area in northern Philadelphia, where Honkala lived. She called KWRU a "Philadelphia based interracial organization of welfare recipients and other poor people." In the winter of 1993, when homeless shelters were full, the organization took over an abandoned Catholic Church to use as a shelter. In late 1994, KWRU broke into and took over vacant HUD homes destined for low-income housing and subsidized rent, although all the inhabitants (which included Honkala herself) were eligible for the housing program under the rules. They chose to ignore the bureaucracy and its delays, particularly the paperwork, paying rent into an escrow account to avoid trespassing charges. This became known as the Underground Railroad Project.
From that time, the volunteers of the organization regularly (and illegally) took over HUD homes to provide accommodations for homeless families. To provide a support system to these families, the organization set up what they called an "'Underground Railroad,' a network of other poor people, students, social workers, doctors and lawyers." Said Honkala: "Stealing slaves out of captivity was against the law ... But it was right. Sometimes the law is wrong. Sometimes you have to appeal to a higher authority."
In the spring of 1994, the Quaker Lace factory (a manufacturer of lace tablecloths) in the Kensington area of Philadelphia burned down, leaving an empty lot. The following summer, Honkala and KWRU constructed a large tent city on the site. Because Philadelphia authorities could not produce documentation establishing who owned the property, it was unable to evict the residents. (Eventually, they were driven out by flooding.) This very public action resulted in a substantial increase in donations to KWRU.
In September 1995, while the tent city was still standing, Honkala staged a protest by camping out for 36 hours, with others from the tent city, on Independence Mall within sight of the Liberty Bell, to make the plight of Philadelphia's homeless visible to residents and tourists next to one of the city's most famous landmarks. Although she argued that she and the others were merely exercising their right to free speech and had not hurt the park, she was cited and later tried for "residing in a park area." She was sentenced to six months' probation and fined $250. In July 1997, she was involved with the Liberty Bell once more, when she led a group on the "March for Our Lives" from the Bell to the United Nations building in New York to protest so-called welfare reform as a violation of the human rights of the poor. This action led directly to the formation of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC).
In October 1996, Honkala, with KWRU, staged a sit-in on the floor of the rotunda of Harrisburg's capitol building. The organization created a makeshift "city" that it dubbed "Ridgeville" after Republican Governor Tom Ridge, who had slashed social service benefits. Part of the purpose of the protests was to point out to the homeless the opulence of Gov. Ridge's lifestyle, including the governor's mansion, supported at state expense. The protest was supported by legislators opposed to the cuts, who bought meals for the protesters.
In April 1997, Honkala was arrested on a charge of "defiant trespassing" for attempting to build shacks for homeless families in Philadelphia on an empty industrial lot, though at the time, the shelter system was full and people were living on the streets.
The organization's leaders maintained that "some U.S. laws, such as the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, which limits the amount of time a family can receive federal assistance, violate Articles 23, 25 and 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Those articles guarantee, respectively, the right to work for a living wage under humane conditions; the right to adequate food, housing, medical care and social security; and the right to education."
Starting in June 1998, KWRU led the New Freedom Bus Tour, which traveled across the country, gathering stories of human rights violations to present as a petition to the United Nations. "Under the banner 'Freedom from Unemployment, Hunger and Homelessness,' the KWRU team collected additional evidence on the [negative] impact of [welfare reform] and held educational sessions teaching the poor about their economic rights." (A second such bus tour was organized by the PPEHRC in November–December 2002, which traveled to 27 cities to record human rights violations.)
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign
In the late 1990s, Honkala started another nonprofit, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, of which she became National Coordinator. The PPEHRC represents "a network of over 40 poor people's organizations from across the U.S." One commentator has written that the campaign "is the only [national] movement to come out of welfare reform that has been organized by poor people, and not their advocates."
This organization was formed in direct response to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 (also known as the Welfare Reform Act), signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton, which she and her allies claim hurts recipients of welfare. The organization's mission statement reads, "The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is committed to uniting the poor across color lines as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty. We work to accomplish this through advancing economic human rights as named in the universal declaration of human rights — such as the rights to food, housing, health, education, communication and a living wage job."
Part of the purpose of the organization is to make homelessness and the homeless visible, in order to force politicians to act. Honkala claims that the latter prefer that the homeless remain invisible, so they won't have to address the problem. In a speech, Honkala said: "That's what [the authorities] are saying [to you]: 'Go hide! Go be under a bridge, or ... hide under a bench, and we won't arrest you, we won't do anything to you, because you will be quiet!'" As Honkala declared, "When you have nothing, you still have your voice."
In October 1999, PPEHRC organized a month-long March of the Americas, from Washington, DC, to the United Nations in New York. Participants in the march included low-income families from the US, Canada and Latin America. The group "marched 15 miles a day for 32 days, sleeping in tent cities, churches and community centers at night, and holding press conferences and protests in local communities."
In July 2000, a PPEHRC march for the opening day of the Republican Party's National Convention in Philadelphia drew 10,000 homeless and poor people from around the country. (Of the several protest marches during that convention, this was the only one denied a permit by city authorities.)
In November 2000, at the historic Riverside Church in Manhattan in New York City, the PPEHRC held a "Poor People's World Summit to End Poverty," consisting of several hundred activists from some 30 countries, to share "experiences and [work] to build an international movement for economic human rights drawing explicitly on international treaties."
On July 4, 2003, Philadelphia held a celebration for the opening of the National Constitution Center, a new facility housing the Liberty Bell. Poor and homeless families from the city held a peaceful protest to demand their economic rights. "As the demonstrators marched toward Constitution Center single-file, carrying their own mattresses and led by children, park rangers, federal guards, and city police formed lines to prevent the families from approaching. Singing 'We Shall Not Be Moved,' the demonstrators locked arms and refused to leave the sidewalk. Protest leaders Honkala and Galen Tyler had prepared a 'Declaration of Economic Human Rights' to present at the Center. As they moved toward the Center, police moved to stop them, threw them to the ground, handcuffed them, and placed them under arrest ... Honkala was charged with one first-degree felony and four other felony counts. Police officers claimed that Honkala had struck one of them in the chest. However, a video taken at the time clearly shows Honkala carrying a mattress and being struck by the officer ... all the charges were subsequently withdrawn by the District Attorney's office."
In August 2004, Honkala marched with the PPEHRC in New York City (without a permit) to protest President Bush and the Republican National Convention (RNC) and to publicly call for greater attention by the government to the needs of the poor and homeless.
2011 campaign for Sheriff of Philadelphia
In early 2011, Honkala announced her run for Sheriff of Philadelphia on a "No Evictions" platform, with a campaign slogan of "Keeping families in their homes and protecting the 'hood." When asked why she accepted the Green Party's invitation to run, Honkala said: "I've been involved in too many fights in my life where I thought I was separate from the machine and the corporate money, only to find out later on that I was being used as a pawn for the Democratic Party ... [The Green Party] has a strict policy of no corporate money, which I liked."
As a publicity stunt, Honkala during the campaign rode a horse down Allegheny Avenue in Philadelphia while wearing a white hat resembling a Stetson, in imitation of the image of a Wild West sheriff. During her campaign, Honkala addressed the Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park in Manhattan to express solidarity with the group's anti-foreclosure aims and to ask for help in "occupying Philadelphia" on election day.
She finished in third place with over 10,000 votes.
2012 vice-presidential campaign
Nomination
On July 11, 2012, Jill Stein, then the presumptive nominee of the Green Party for president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, announced that she had selected Honkala as her vice-presidential running mate. Said Stein: "My running mate has been on the front lines fighting for the American poor, taking on the banks, taking on foreclosures, standing up for children most at risk."
Stein and Honkala were officially nominated by the Green Party at its national convention in Baltimore on Saturday, July 14.
Political activism during campaign
On August 1, 2012, Honkala was arrested along with Stein and three others during a sit-in at a Philadelphia bank to protest housing foreclosures by Fannie Mae, on behalf of several city residents struggling to keep their homes. The event began as a PPEHRC protest involving Honkala which Stein, after the former became her running mate, decided to join. The organization demanded that the mortgage company halt foreclosure proceedings against two Philadelphia residents. Fannie Mae executive Zach Oppenheimer had previously promised in writing to meet with the two women at the center of the controversy to negotiate a solution, but no such meeting ever took place. The protestors entered the Fannie Mae building and vowed to stay until Mr. Oppenheimer kept his word. Two lower-level officials met with the group, but when no resolution was obtained, most of the protesters exited the building, leaving only the core group, including Honkala, to be subject to arrest. They were charged with "defiant trespassing" and released the following day.
John Nichols, a commentator for The Nation magazine, compared the position of the Green Party candidates on this issue to the anti-banking rhetoric of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the New Deal.
She visited the PPEHRC encampment in Tampa, Florida, nicknamed "Romneyville," and strongly supported its plan to protest the 2012 Republican National Convention in that city, beginning on the convention's opening day in August.
On October 16, 2012, Honkala and Stein were arrested after they tried to enter the site of the second presidential debate at Hofstra University.
Policy positions
Stein and Honkala ran on a platform they call the Green New Deal, "an emergency four-part program of specific solutions for moving America quickly out of crisis into the secure green future." The program's name is inspired by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal in the Depression era.
The four pillars of the Green New Deal, "the central platform of the Stein/Honkala ticket" are:
An Economic Bill Of Rights – a) a Full Employment Program that will create 25 million jobs by implementing a nationally funded, but locally controlled direct employment initiative, replacing unemployment offices with local employment offices; b) defense of worker's rights including the right to a living wage, to a safe workplace, to fair trade, and to organize a union at work without fear of firing or reprisal; c) the right to quality health care which will be achieved through a single-payer Medicare-for-All program; d) the right to a tuition-free, quality, federally funded, local controlled public education system from pre-school through college, and forgiveness of current student loan debt; e) the right to decent affordable housing, including an immediate halt to all foreclosures and evictions; f) the right to accessible and affordable utilities; g) the right to fair taxation that's distributed in proportion to ability to pay.
A Green Transition – a) investment in green business by providing grants and low-interest loans to grow green businesses and cooperatives; b) investment in green research by redirecting research funds from fossil fuels and other dead-end industries toward research in wind, solar and geothermal; c) the creation of green jobs by enacting the Full Employment Program which will directly provide 16 million jobs in sustainable energy and energy efficiency.
Real Financial Reform – a) relief of the debt overhang holding back the economy by reducing homeowner and student debt burdens; b) democratization of monetary policy to bring about public control of the money supply and credit creation; c) a policy of breaking up oversized banks that are "too big to fail"; d) termination of taxpayer-funded bailouts for banks, insurers, and other financial companies; e) the regulation of all financial derivatives; f) the restoration of the separation of depository commercial banks from speculative investment banks, as was the case under the Glass-Steagall Act; g) a 90% tax on bonuses for bailed out bankers; and h) support for the formation of federal, state, and municipal public-owned banks that function as non-profit utilities.
A Functioning Democracy – a) the revocation of corporate personhood by amending our Constitution to make clear that corporations are not persons and money is not speech; b) the protect of our right to vote by supporting the proposed "Right to Vote Amendment"; c) the enactment of the Voter Bill of Rights; d) the commissioning of a thorough review of federal preemption law; e) the creation of a Corporation for Economic Democracy, f) the strengthening of media democracy by expanding federal support for locally owned broadcast media and local print media; g) the protection of our personal liberty and freedoms by, among other things, revoking the Patriot Act; h) a dramatic scaling back of the military–industrial complex.
Campaign goals
The SteinHonkala campaign set two immediate goals: to get its candidates on the ballots of as many states as possible before election day (November 6) and to make itself eligible to participate in the televised presidential debates, to take place in October. According to the rules of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), the nonprofit organization that sponsors and produces the presidential and vice-presidential debates, to qualify for a place in the debates the Green Party's presidential slate must a) appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to make it theoretically possible for its candidates to receive enough electoral votes to win the election, and b) receive an average of 15% support from respondents in five selected national polls. The CPD's selection criteria have often been criticized as prohibitively restrictive.
2016 Democratic National Convention
Honkala planned a novel political protest called a "fart-in" to be staged at the 2016 DNC "to greet the rhetorical flatulence of Hillary Clinton with the real thing". Just prior to the protest, Honkala hosted a "massive bean supper" for Sanders supporters in her home.
2017 Pennsylvania House of Representatives campaign
On January 31, 2017 Honkala announced she was running for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the March 21 special election to replace Leslie Acosta, who was the second state representative for the 197th legislative district to resign on federal fraud charges. She was considered to have more name recognition than her Republican and Democratic opponents. Honkala ran as a write-in candidate against Republican Lucinda Little; there was no Democrat on the ballot in the heavily Democratic district.
Honkala was endorsed by many progressives and organizations including Our Revolution, Progress for All, environmental activist Josh Fox, progressive entertainers Rosario Dawson and Tom Morello, former Director Emeritus of Philaposh (a labor organization) Jim Moran, former Philadelphia Health Commissioner Walter Tsou, the PEOPLE Committee of the AFSCME District Council 47, Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, the Philadelphia chapter of Socialist Alternative, and other local clergy and leaders.
In March 2017, Honkala lost to Democratic write-in Emilio Vazquez. However, this election went under investigation by the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and the Pennsylvania Attorney General. Honkala, alongside the Green Party of Pennsylvania, Lucinda Little (the Republican candidate), and the State and City Republican parties filed a lawsuit in United States District Court against Emilio Vazquez, the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, Philadelphia City Commissioners, PA Secretary of State Cortes, and the State's Bureau of Commissions, Elections, and Legislation. The lawsuit alleges widespread election fraud and voter intimidation on the part of Vazquez and the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, and failure to properly supervise the elections for the other defendants.
Claims in the federal lawsuit include electioneering inside the polling place, money exchange between Democratic poll workers and election officials, a ballot box being at Vazquez's "victory" party, tables set up outside by Democratic poll works made to look like voter sign-in tables, election workers asking people who they are voting for, Democratic ward leaders handling the voting machines, Vazquez meeting with election officials on election day inside of the polling place, and other claims. Despite the investigation, Vazquez was officially sworn in as a member of the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives on April 5, 2017.
Criticism
Honkala has been a controversial figure throughout her career as a protester and organizer. Feather O. Houstoun, a former secretary of the (Pennsylvania) State Department of Public Welfare, said "She has not been working, rolling up her sleeves on issues like Community Legal Services does. She has never availed herself [of] that opportunity, while other groups have." John Kromer, a former director of the city's office of Housing and Community Development, faxed a five-page letter to KWRU, in which he claimed that the group was actually preventing its poor followers from obtaining housing through its tactic of breaking into vacant homes, rather than utilizing established organizations. He wrote: "No good can come of an organization-building strategy, which is based on misleading poor people or preventing them from obtaining access to available assistance and support." Honkala admits that the group failed to rehabilitate any of the homes illegally taken, but asserts that the group was instrumental in helping 500 formerly homeless people find housing through existing programs. Honkala added: "I get criticized on a regular basis for not being a team player. But I have no qualms about holding a protest tomorrow at anybody's offices if they are denying anybody the basic necessities of life. You're not supposed to do that in Philadelphia."
She has been criticized for her confrontational tactics in dealing with the authorities. Author David Zucchino described Honkala's behavior at the first Liberty Bell protest as follows:
Cheri loved to make people uncomfortable ... She wanted people to squirm and recoil when they saw poor people. She was convinced that America sought desperately to keep its poor out of sight so as not to be reminded of the social policies she believed exacerbated poverty. If the country was going to turn its back on the poor, she was not going to let anyone feel ambivalent about it. She would assault people with her high-pitched nasal voice—in public demonstrations, in confrontations with elected officials, in media interviews, and in front of a ragged tent on Independence Mall.
During the church takeover incident, William Parshall, the deputy city managing director, known as the Philadelphia "housing czar," was asked whether Honkala's in-your-face tactics "made his job difficult." Parshall replied that he was far more concerned with such pending problems as national and state welfare cuts. He added, "The question is, what are we going to do about it? That's the question Cheri should be asking."
Zucchino in his book details many confrontations between Honkala and the authorities, but also instances in which she reached a mutually satisfactory compromise with them. For example, during the first Liberty Bell protest, she negotiated successfully with park authorities to leave the site without the necessity of admitting guilt or of enduring mass arrests.
Recognition
Honkala in the media
Honkala and her activities on behalf of the poor have been profiled many times in various media.
In print and photography
Honkala was one of two women profiled in Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino's book, The Myth of the Welfare Queen (1999). According to one review, Honkala, as depicted in the book, "helps create a tent city to protest welfare cuts, joins the occupation of an abandoned church and the takeover by protesters of empty houses owned by HUD. She tirelessly seeks publicity for her cause, battles with bureaucrats, and rallies and comforts fellow protesters."
She was the subject of Chapter 6, "Using Economic Human Rights in the Movement to End Poverty: The Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the Poor People's Economic Human Right Campaign" by Mary Bricker-Jenkins, Carrie Young and Honkala, in the book Challenges in Human Rights: A Social Work Perspective, edited by Elizabeth Reichert (2007). She was also briefly profiled in Katherine Martin's book Women of Courage: Inspiring Stories from the Women who Lived Them (1999).
Since the mid-1990s Honkala has been extensively documented by photographer Harvey Finkle. A YouTube video was created consisting of many of Finkle's photos of Honkala and of other poor people. She also wrote the introduction to Finkle's book of photographs of the urban poor, Urban Nomads: A Poor People's Movement (1997). One of the last photos taken by the late photographer Richard Avedon (1923–2004) was a portrait of Honkala for the series Democracy 2004, which appeared in an October 2004 issue of The New Yorker magazine.
Interviews and articles on Honkala have appeared in numerous print and online publications, including The Village Voice, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Weekly, Yes! magazine, Salon, Truthdig and The Nation.
On video
Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.)
In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country.
The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance.
In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.)
On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Honors and awards
Honkala has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards:
Philadelphia Magazine – list of the 100 Most Powerful Philadelphians
Philadelphia Weekly – "Woman of the Year" (1997)
Ms. Magazine – Woman of the Year (2001)
Bread and Roses Human Rights Award
Pennsylvania Association of Social Workers' Public Citizen of the Year
Front Line Defenders (The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders), a Dublin-based human rights organization, named her one of the "12 most endangered" activists in America
Mother Jones magazine – Hellraiser of the Month (April 2005)
In addition, the organization Honkala co-founded, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, was a 1999 co-winner (with Dr. Juan Garcés) of the prestigious Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award, given by the Institute for Policy Studies.
In January 2004, Honkala was invited to speak at the annual World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai, India on the subject of the "War against the Homeless." In 2006, Honkala again addressed the WSF, this time in Caracas, Venezuela, to discuss poverty and homelessness in the United States, information that many of her listeners do not often receive from mainstream U.S. media sources.
Electoral history
Personal life
Honkala in 1990 married a Philadelphia-based union official, Bob Brown, whom she had met at a convention the previous year. They divorced not long afterwards.
Honkala is the mother of the actor and director Mark Webber (born 1980). Webber has supported his mother's causes in a number of ways, including holding benefit events, such as art auctions, on her behalf.
Honkala is also the mother of Guillermo Santos (born 2002).
References
External links
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign Official site
1963 births
Living people
2012 United States vice-presidential candidates
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
Activists from Philadelphia
American people of Cheyenne descent
American people of Finnish descent
American political activists
American social activists
Female candidates for Vice President of the United States
Green Party of the United States vice presidential nominees
Homeless people
Homelessness activists
Pennsylvania Greens
People from Minneapolis
Politicians from Philadelphia
Women in Pennsylvania politics
Native American candidates for Vice President of the United States | 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"
] |
[
"Cheri Honkala",
"On video",
"What made her first decide to do video?",
"Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers",
"What was her first?",
"Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen",
"What was it about?",
"about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;",
"How many videos has she been in?",
"I don't know.",
"What was the main message sd.1he tried co convey?",
"Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country.",
"Was she well received by the public?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers"
] | C_47894f9a278d414e89216ecba81aae88_0 | What did they discuss? | 8 | What did Cheri Honkala and Bill Moyers discuss? | Cheri Honkala | Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.) In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country. The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance. In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.) On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. CANNOTANSWER | "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. | Cheri Lynn Honkala (; born January 12, 1963) is an American anti-poverty advocate, co-founder of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and co-founder and National Coordinator of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. She has been a noted advocate for human rights in the United States and internationally. She is the mother of actor Mark Webber.
She was featured prominently in the 1997 book Myth of the Welfare Queen by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino. In 2011, Honkala was the Green Party candidate for Sheriff of Philadelphia, running on the promise of refusing to evict families from their homes. She was the Green Party's nominee for vice-president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
Early life
Cheri Honkala was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1963. Her father, Maynard Duane Honkala, was of Finnish ancestry, and her mother had Cheyenne Native American ancestry. She grew up watching her mother suffer from domestic violence. Honkala's mother quietly endured this abuse for fear of losing her children. Honkala was removed from the household and spent most of her youth incarcerated in a total of nine youth detention facilities.
When Honkala was 17, her 19-year-old brother Mark, who suffered from mental health issues, committed suicide. Because he was uninsured, he could not afford to get the professional help he needed. At the time of Mark's suicide, Honkala was already a mother (with a son, Mark, named after her brother), living out of her car and going to high school. Despite her difficult upbringing, she managed to graduate.
After living in an apartment in Minnesota, Honkala and her young son were forced to move out and live out of their white Camaro. She and her son became homeless after the Camaro was demolished by a drunk driver. Honkala could not find a shelter that would allow them to remain together that winter. To stay together and keep from freezing, Honkala decided to move into an abandoned Housing and Urban Development (HUD) home. She would later comment, "I chose to live, and I chose to keep my son alive." She called a press conference, in which she said, "This is me, this is my nine-year-old son, and we're not leaving until somebody can tell us where we can live and not freeze to death."
Work as organizer
For the past 25 years, Honkala has been a leading advocate for the poor and homeless in America. While still living in Minnesota, she formed the Twin Cities anti-poverty groups "Women, Work and Welfare" and "Up and Out of Poverty Now." In Philadelphia, she co-founded the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC). She has organized numerous protests, holding marches, demonstrations and setting up tent cities, in the course of which activities she claims to have been arrested for civil disobedience violations more than 200 times. She is known internationally for her work advocating for the rights of poor people in the United States, and has received recognition in numerous publications for her role in bringing attention to issues such as homelessness and home foreclosures and has been called "the protester's protester." Currently based in Philadelphia, she has devoted most of her attention to the rise in home evictions among lower income families.
Kensington Welfare Rights Union
After moving to Philadelphia with her son in the late 1980s, in 1991 Honkala co-founded KWRU, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, named after the Kensington area in northern Philadelphia, where Honkala lived. She called KWRU a "Philadelphia based interracial organization of welfare recipients and other poor people." In the winter of 1993, when homeless shelters were full, the organization took over an abandoned Catholic Church to use as a shelter. In late 1994, KWRU broke into and took over vacant HUD homes destined for low-income housing and subsidized rent, although all the inhabitants (which included Honkala herself) were eligible for the housing program under the rules. They chose to ignore the bureaucracy and its delays, particularly the paperwork, paying rent into an escrow account to avoid trespassing charges. This became known as the Underground Railroad Project.
From that time, the volunteers of the organization regularly (and illegally) took over HUD homes to provide accommodations for homeless families. To provide a support system to these families, the organization set up what they called an "'Underground Railroad,' a network of other poor people, students, social workers, doctors and lawyers." Said Honkala: "Stealing slaves out of captivity was against the law ... But it was right. Sometimes the law is wrong. Sometimes you have to appeal to a higher authority."
In the spring of 1994, the Quaker Lace factory (a manufacturer of lace tablecloths) in the Kensington area of Philadelphia burned down, leaving an empty lot. The following summer, Honkala and KWRU constructed a large tent city on the site. Because Philadelphia authorities could not produce documentation establishing who owned the property, it was unable to evict the residents. (Eventually, they were driven out by flooding.) This very public action resulted in a substantial increase in donations to KWRU.
In September 1995, while the tent city was still standing, Honkala staged a protest by camping out for 36 hours, with others from the tent city, on Independence Mall within sight of the Liberty Bell, to make the plight of Philadelphia's homeless visible to residents and tourists next to one of the city's most famous landmarks. Although she argued that she and the others were merely exercising their right to free speech and had not hurt the park, she was cited and later tried for "residing in a park area." She was sentenced to six months' probation and fined $250. In July 1997, she was involved with the Liberty Bell once more, when she led a group on the "March for Our Lives" from the Bell to the United Nations building in New York to protest so-called welfare reform as a violation of the human rights of the poor. This action led directly to the formation of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC).
In October 1996, Honkala, with KWRU, staged a sit-in on the floor of the rotunda of Harrisburg's capitol building. The organization created a makeshift "city" that it dubbed "Ridgeville" after Republican Governor Tom Ridge, who had slashed social service benefits. Part of the purpose of the protests was to point out to the homeless the opulence of Gov. Ridge's lifestyle, including the governor's mansion, supported at state expense. The protest was supported by legislators opposed to the cuts, who bought meals for the protesters.
In April 1997, Honkala was arrested on a charge of "defiant trespassing" for attempting to build shacks for homeless families in Philadelphia on an empty industrial lot, though at the time, the shelter system was full and people were living on the streets.
The organization's leaders maintained that "some U.S. laws, such as the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, which limits the amount of time a family can receive federal assistance, violate Articles 23, 25 and 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Those articles guarantee, respectively, the right to work for a living wage under humane conditions; the right to adequate food, housing, medical care and social security; and the right to education."
Starting in June 1998, KWRU led the New Freedom Bus Tour, which traveled across the country, gathering stories of human rights violations to present as a petition to the United Nations. "Under the banner 'Freedom from Unemployment, Hunger and Homelessness,' the KWRU team collected additional evidence on the [negative] impact of [welfare reform] and held educational sessions teaching the poor about their economic rights." (A second such bus tour was organized by the PPEHRC in November–December 2002, which traveled to 27 cities to record human rights violations.)
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign
In the late 1990s, Honkala started another nonprofit, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, of which she became National Coordinator. The PPEHRC represents "a network of over 40 poor people's organizations from across the U.S." One commentator has written that the campaign "is the only [national] movement to come out of welfare reform that has been organized by poor people, and not their advocates."
This organization was formed in direct response to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 (also known as the Welfare Reform Act), signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton, which she and her allies claim hurts recipients of welfare. The organization's mission statement reads, "The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is committed to uniting the poor across color lines as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty. We work to accomplish this through advancing economic human rights as named in the universal declaration of human rights — such as the rights to food, housing, health, education, communication and a living wage job."
Part of the purpose of the organization is to make homelessness and the homeless visible, in order to force politicians to act. Honkala claims that the latter prefer that the homeless remain invisible, so they won't have to address the problem. In a speech, Honkala said: "That's what [the authorities] are saying [to you]: 'Go hide! Go be under a bridge, or ... hide under a bench, and we won't arrest you, we won't do anything to you, because you will be quiet!'" As Honkala declared, "When you have nothing, you still have your voice."
In October 1999, PPEHRC organized a month-long March of the Americas, from Washington, DC, to the United Nations in New York. Participants in the march included low-income families from the US, Canada and Latin America. The group "marched 15 miles a day for 32 days, sleeping in tent cities, churches and community centers at night, and holding press conferences and protests in local communities."
In July 2000, a PPEHRC march for the opening day of the Republican Party's National Convention in Philadelphia drew 10,000 homeless and poor people from around the country. (Of the several protest marches during that convention, this was the only one denied a permit by city authorities.)
In November 2000, at the historic Riverside Church in Manhattan in New York City, the PPEHRC held a "Poor People's World Summit to End Poverty," consisting of several hundred activists from some 30 countries, to share "experiences and [work] to build an international movement for economic human rights drawing explicitly on international treaties."
On July 4, 2003, Philadelphia held a celebration for the opening of the National Constitution Center, a new facility housing the Liberty Bell. Poor and homeless families from the city held a peaceful protest to demand their economic rights. "As the demonstrators marched toward Constitution Center single-file, carrying their own mattresses and led by children, park rangers, federal guards, and city police formed lines to prevent the families from approaching. Singing 'We Shall Not Be Moved,' the demonstrators locked arms and refused to leave the sidewalk. Protest leaders Honkala and Galen Tyler had prepared a 'Declaration of Economic Human Rights' to present at the Center. As they moved toward the Center, police moved to stop them, threw them to the ground, handcuffed them, and placed them under arrest ... Honkala was charged with one first-degree felony and four other felony counts. Police officers claimed that Honkala had struck one of them in the chest. However, a video taken at the time clearly shows Honkala carrying a mattress and being struck by the officer ... all the charges were subsequently withdrawn by the District Attorney's office."
In August 2004, Honkala marched with the PPEHRC in New York City (without a permit) to protest President Bush and the Republican National Convention (RNC) and to publicly call for greater attention by the government to the needs of the poor and homeless.
2011 campaign for Sheriff of Philadelphia
In early 2011, Honkala announced her run for Sheriff of Philadelphia on a "No Evictions" platform, with a campaign slogan of "Keeping families in their homes and protecting the 'hood." When asked why she accepted the Green Party's invitation to run, Honkala said: "I've been involved in too many fights in my life where I thought I was separate from the machine and the corporate money, only to find out later on that I was being used as a pawn for the Democratic Party ... [The Green Party] has a strict policy of no corporate money, which I liked."
As a publicity stunt, Honkala during the campaign rode a horse down Allegheny Avenue in Philadelphia while wearing a white hat resembling a Stetson, in imitation of the image of a Wild West sheriff. During her campaign, Honkala addressed the Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park in Manhattan to express solidarity with the group's anti-foreclosure aims and to ask for help in "occupying Philadelphia" on election day.
She finished in third place with over 10,000 votes.
2012 vice-presidential campaign
Nomination
On July 11, 2012, Jill Stein, then the presumptive nominee of the Green Party for president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, announced that she had selected Honkala as her vice-presidential running mate. Said Stein: "My running mate has been on the front lines fighting for the American poor, taking on the banks, taking on foreclosures, standing up for children most at risk."
Stein and Honkala were officially nominated by the Green Party at its national convention in Baltimore on Saturday, July 14.
Political activism during campaign
On August 1, 2012, Honkala was arrested along with Stein and three others during a sit-in at a Philadelphia bank to protest housing foreclosures by Fannie Mae, on behalf of several city residents struggling to keep their homes. The event began as a PPEHRC protest involving Honkala which Stein, after the former became her running mate, decided to join. The organization demanded that the mortgage company halt foreclosure proceedings against two Philadelphia residents. Fannie Mae executive Zach Oppenheimer had previously promised in writing to meet with the two women at the center of the controversy to negotiate a solution, but no such meeting ever took place. The protestors entered the Fannie Mae building and vowed to stay until Mr. Oppenheimer kept his word. Two lower-level officials met with the group, but when no resolution was obtained, most of the protesters exited the building, leaving only the core group, including Honkala, to be subject to arrest. They were charged with "defiant trespassing" and released the following day.
John Nichols, a commentator for The Nation magazine, compared the position of the Green Party candidates on this issue to the anti-banking rhetoric of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the New Deal.
She visited the PPEHRC encampment in Tampa, Florida, nicknamed "Romneyville," and strongly supported its plan to protest the 2012 Republican National Convention in that city, beginning on the convention's opening day in August.
On October 16, 2012, Honkala and Stein were arrested after they tried to enter the site of the second presidential debate at Hofstra University.
Policy positions
Stein and Honkala ran on a platform they call the Green New Deal, "an emergency four-part program of specific solutions for moving America quickly out of crisis into the secure green future." The program's name is inspired by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal in the Depression era.
The four pillars of the Green New Deal, "the central platform of the Stein/Honkala ticket" are:
An Economic Bill Of Rights – a) a Full Employment Program that will create 25 million jobs by implementing a nationally funded, but locally controlled direct employment initiative, replacing unemployment offices with local employment offices; b) defense of worker's rights including the right to a living wage, to a safe workplace, to fair trade, and to organize a union at work without fear of firing or reprisal; c) the right to quality health care which will be achieved through a single-payer Medicare-for-All program; d) the right to a tuition-free, quality, federally funded, local controlled public education system from pre-school through college, and forgiveness of current student loan debt; e) the right to decent affordable housing, including an immediate halt to all foreclosures and evictions; f) the right to accessible and affordable utilities; g) the right to fair taxation that's distributed in proportion to ability to pay.
A Green Transition – a) investment in green business by providing grants and low-interest loans to grow green businesses and cooperatives; b) investment in green research by redirecting research funds from fossil fuels and other dead-end industries toward research in wind, solar and geothermal; c) the creation of green jobs by enacting the Full Employment Program which will directly provide 16 million jobs in sustainable energy and energy efficiency.
Real Financial Reform – a) relief of the debt overhang holding back the economy by reducing homeowner and student debt burdens; b) democratization of monetary policy to bring about public control of the money supply and credit creation; c) a policy of breaking up oversized banks that are "too big to fail"; d) termination of taxpayer-funded bailouts for banks, insurers, and other financial companies; e) the regulation of all financial derivatives; f) the restoration of the separation of depository commercial banks from speculative investment banks, as was the case under the Glass-Steagall Act; g) a 90% tax on bonuses for bailed out bankers; and h) support for the formation of federal, state, and municipal public-owned banks that function as non-profit utilities.
A Functioning Democracy – a) the revocation of corporate personhood by amending our Constitution to make clear that corporations are not persons and money is not speech; b) the protect of our right to vote by supporting the proposed "Right to Vote Amendment"; c) the enactment of the Voter Bill of Rights; d) the commissioning of a thorough review of federal preemption law; e) the creation of a Corporation for Economic Democracy, f) the strengthening of media democracy by expanding federal support for locally owned broadcast media and local print media; g) the protection of our personal liberty and freedoms by, among other things, revoking the Patriot Act; h) a dramatic scaling back of the military–industrial complex.
Campaign goals
The SteinHonkala campaign set two immediate goals: to get its candidates on the ballots of as many states as possible before election day (November 6) and to make itself eligible to participate in the televised presidential debates, to take place in October. According to the rules of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), the nonprofit organization that sponsors and produces the presidential and vice-presidential debates, to qualify for a place in the debates the Green Party's presidential slate must a) appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to make it theoretically possible for its candidates to receive enough electoral votes to win the election, and b) receive an average of 15% support from respondents in five selected national polls. The CPD's selection criteria have often been criticized as prohibitively restrictive.
2016 Democratic National Convention
Honkala planned a novel political protest called a "fart-in" to be staged at the 2016 DNC "to greet the rhetorical flatulence of Hillary Clinton with the real thing". Just prior to the protest, Honkala hosted a "massive bean supper" for Sanders supporters in her home.
2017 Pennsylvania House of Representatives campaign
On January 31, 2017 Honkala announced she was running for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the March 21 special election to replace Leslie Acosta, who was the second state representative for the 197th legislative district to resign on federal fraud charges. She was considered to have more name recognition than her Republican and Democratic opponents. Honkala ran as a write-in candidate against Republican Lucinda Little; there was no Democrat on the ballot in the heavily Democratic district.
Honkala was endorsed by many progressives and organizations including Our Revolution, Progress for All, environmental activist Josh Fox, progressive entertainers Rosario Dawson and Tom Morello, former Director Emeritus of Philaposh (a labor organization) Jim Moran, former Philadelphia Health Commissioner Walter Tsou, the PEOPLE Committee of the AFSCME District Council 47, Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, the Philadelphia chapter of Socialist Alternative, and other local clergy and leaders.
In March 2017, Honkala lost to Democratic write-in Emilio Vazquez. However, this election went under investigation by the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and the Pennsylvania Attorney General. Honkala, alongside the Green Party of Pennsylvania, Lucinda Little (the Republican candidate), and the State and City Republican parties filed a lawsuit in United States District Court against Emilio Vazquez, the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, Philadelphia City Commissioners, PA Secretary of State Cortes, and the State's Bureau of Commissions, Elections, and Legislation. The lawsuit alleges widespread election fraud and voter intimidation on the part of Vazquez and the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, and failure to properly supervise the elections for the other defendants.
Claims in the federal lawsuit include electioneering inside the polling place, money exchange between Democratic poll workers and election officials, a ballot box being at Vazquez's "victory" party, tables set up outside by Democratic poll works made to look like voter sign-in tables, election workers asking people who they are voting for, Democratic ward leaders handling the voting machines, Vazquez meeting with election officials on election day inside of the polling place, and other claims. Despite the investigation, Vazquez was officially sworn in as a member of the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives on April 5, 2017.
Criticism
Honkala has been a controversial figure throughout her career as a protester and organizer. Feather O. Houstoun, a former secretary of the (Pennsylvania) State Department of Public Welfare, said "She has not been working, rolling up her sleeves on issues like Community Legal Services does. She has never availed herself [of] that opportunity, while other groups have." John Kromer, a former director of the city's office of Housing and Community Development, faxed a five-page letter to KWRU, in which he claimed that the group was actually preventing its poor followers from obtaining housing through its tactic of breaking into vacant homes, rather than utilizing established organizations. He wrote: "No good can come of an organization-building strategy, which is based on misleading poor people or preventing them from obtaining access to available assistance and support." Honkala admits that the group failed to rehabilitate any of the homes illegally taken, but asserts that the group was instrumental in helping 500 formerly homeless people find housing through existing programs. Honkala added: "I get criticized on a regular basis for not being a team player. But I have no qualms about holding a protest tomorrow at anybody's offices if they are denying anybody the basic necessities of life. You're not supposed to do that in Philadelphia."
She has been criticized for her confrontational tactics in dealing with the authorities. Author David Zucchino described Honkala's behavior at the first Liberty Bell protest as follows:
Cheri loved to make people uncomfortable ... She wanted people to squirm and recoil when they saw poor people. She was convinced that America sought desperately to keep its poor out of sight so as not to be reminded of the social policies she believed exacerbated poverty. If the country was going to turn its back on the poor, she was not going to let anyone feel ambivalent about it. She would assault people with her high-pitched nasal voice—in public demonstrations, in confrontations with elected officials, in media interviews, and in front of a ragged tent on Independence Mall.
During the church takeover incident, William Parshall, the deputy city managing director, known as the Philadelphia "housing czar," was asked whether Honkala's in-your-face tactics "made his job difficult." Parshall replied that he was far more concerned with such pending problems as national and state welfare cuts. He added, "The question is, what are we going to do about it? That's the question Cheri should be asking."
Zucchino in his book details many confrontations between Honkala and the authorities, but also instances in which she reached a mutually satisfactory compromise with them. For example, during the first Liberty Bell protest, she negotiated successfully with park authorities to leave the site without the necessity of admitting guilt or of enduring mass arrests.
Recognition
Honkala in the media
Honkala and her activities on behalf of the poor have been profiled many times in various media.
In print and photography
Honkala was one of two women profiled in Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino's book, The Myth of the Welfare Queen (1999). According to one review, Honkala, as depicted in the book, "helps create a tent city to protest welfare cuts, joins the occupation of an abandoned church and the takeover by protesters of empty houses owned by HUD. She tirelessly seeks publicity for her cause, battles with bureaucrats, and rallies and comforts fellow protesters."
She was the subject of Chapter 6, "Using Economic Human Rights in the Movement to End Poverty: The Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the Poor People's Economic Human Right Campaign" by Mary Bricker-Jenkins, Carrie Young and Honkala, in the book Challenges in Human Rights: A Social Work Perspective, edited by Elizabeth Reichert (2007). She was also briefly profiled in Katherine Martin's book Women of Courage: Inspiring Stories from the Women who Lived Them (1999).
Since the mid-1990s Honkala has been extensively documented by photographer Harvey Finkle. A YouTube video was created consisting of many of Finkle's photos of Honkala and of other poor people. She also wrote the introduction to Finkle's book of photographs of the urban poor, Urban Nomads: A Poor People's Movement (1997). One of the last photos taken by the late photographer Richard Avedon (1923–2004) was a portrait of Honkala for the series Democracy 2004, which appeared in an October 2004 issue of The New Yorker magazine.
Interviews and articles on Honkala have appeared in numerous print and online publications, including The Village Voice, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Weekly, Yes! magazine, Salon, Truthdig and The Nation.
On video
Honkala has been repeatedly and prominently featured in the work of documentary filmmakers Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, the latter a co-director of the award-winning film When the Mountains Tremble. Their work with Honkala has included Takeover (1990), a film, financed by Bruce Springsteen (during the making of which they first met Honkala), "about homeless women that was planned as the first in a series on 'heroes of the new American depression;'" Poverty Outlaw (1997), the story of a homeless woman "who must break the law to survive" and which tells the story of the birth and growth of the KWRU; Outriders (1999), about the New Freedom Bus Tour; and The Battle for Broad (2000), about KWRU's and PPEHRC's march during the Republican National Convention in 2000 in Philadelphia. (Living Broke in Broke Times is a compilation film condensing Takeover, Poverty Outlaw and Outriders.)
In the 1990s, the Television Trust for the Environment, as part of its "Life" series, broadcast on BBC World News a short documentary on Honkala and the KWRU called The Philadelphia Story. In the profile, Honkala talks about gated communities and her complex feelings about the state of the country.
The independent film, August in the Empire State, directed by Keefe Murren and Gabriel Rhodes, profiles several persons during the 2004 Republican National Convention, including Honkala, who is depicted leading her PPEHRC march against the RNC. In the film, Honkala discusses her commitment to the principle of Gandhian nonviolent resistance.
In February 2008, on its flagship public affairs program, People & Power, Al Jazeera English ran a video profile of Honkala entitled "Homeless Hero," depicting a campaign by the Nashville Homeless Power Project, which had invited Honkala to that city to organize "the first major homeless action in the history of Tennessee." The video shows the construction of an encampment to confront Nashville's mayor, during his budget address, with the issue of homelessness. (The mayor never appeared.)
On September 7, 2012, Honkala was a guest of Bill Moyers for the program Moyers & Company, "Challenging Power, Changing Politics", along with her Green Party Presidential running mate, Jill Stein, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Honors and awards
Honkala has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards:
Philadelphia Magazine – list of the 100 Most Powerful Philadelphians
Philadelphia Weekly – "Woman of the Year" (1997)
Ms. Magazine – Woman of the Year (2001)
Bread and Roses Human Rights Award
Pennsylvania Association of Social Workers' Public Citizen of the Year
Front Line Defenders (The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders), a Dublin-based human rights organization, named her one of the "12 most endangered" activists in America
Mother Jones magazine – Hellraiser of the Month (April 2005)
In addition, the organization Honkala co-founded, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, was a 1999 co-winner (with Dr. Juan Garcés) of the prestigious Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award, given by the Institute for Policy Studies.
In January 2004, Honkala was invited to speak at the annual World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai, India on the subject of the "War against the Homeless." In 2006, Honkala again addressed the WSF, this time in Caracas, Venezuela, to discuss poverty and homelessness in the United States, information that many of her listeners do not often receive from mainstream U.S. media sources.
Electoral history
Personal life
Honkala in 1990 married a Philadelphia-based union official, Bob Brown, whom she had met at a convention the previous year. They divorced not long afterwards.
Honkala is the mother of the actor and director Mark Webber (born 1980). Webber has supported his mother's causes in a number of ways, including holding benefit events, such as art auctions, on her behalf.
Honkala is also the mother of Guillermo Santos (born 2002).
References
External links
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign Official site
1963 births
Living people
2012 United States vice-presidential candidates
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
Activists from Philadelphia
American people of Cheyenne descent
American people of Finnish descent
American political activists
American social activists
Female candidates for Vice President of the United States
Green Party of the United States vice presidential nominees
Homeless people
Homelessness activists
Pennsylvania Greens
People from Minneapolis
Politicians from Philadelphia
Women in Pennsylvania politics
Native American candidates for Vice President of the United States | true | [
"RuPaul: What's the Tee? (also known as RuPaul: What's the Tee w/ Michelle Visage) is a comedy podcast first released on April 9, 2014 hosted by American entertainers RuPaul and Michelle Visage. The hosts discuss a wide range of subjects and usually have at least one celebrity guest appear per episode. They often discuss behind-the-scenes topics from RuPaul's Drag Race, where RuPaul and Visage are also hosts. The podcast won a Webby Award in 2018. \n\nAt the 2018 RuPaul's DragCon NYC, RuPaul and Visage held three live tapings of the podcast.\n\nGuests\nCelebrity guests have included Anastacia, Emma Bunton, Frances Bean Cobain, Elvira, Lady Gaga, Debbie Harry, Marc Jacobs, Rose McGowan, Moby, Kathy Najimy, and Henry Rollins, among many others.\n\nReception\nNoisey stated, \"Honestly, this podcast slays the podcast game. After one hour of listening to RuPaul and Michelle Visage chat about sex, drugs, mental health, musicals, drag queens, Hollywood and the infinite wisdom of Judge Judy, you will feel as if your life is an empty vortex of nothingness when they are not making sounds into your ears.\"\n\nHornet stated \"Any Drag Race fan knows that if they want the scoop, they should listen to What's the Tee?\" \n\nRuPaul: What's the Tee? won a Webby Award for Best Host in 2018, with both RuPaul and Visage being listed. In 2019 the podcast won the WOWIE Award for Best Podcast.\n\nReferences\n\nComedy and humor podcasts\nWorks by RuPaul\nAudio podcasts\nLGBT-related podcasts\n2014 podcast debuts\nInterview podcasts",
"What the Master Would Not Discuss (, alternatively known as Xin Qixie ) is a collection of supernatural stories compiled by Qing Dynasty scholar and writer Yuan Mei.\n\nTitle\nThe title of the work refers to the passage of the Analects that states, 'Confucius did not speak of strange events, violence, riots and supernatural things.' His reference to the master was criticised as a 'heretical' use of Confucian texts.\n\nYuan later changed the title to Xin Qixie (\"New Strange Events\") when he discovered there was a Yuan dynasty text with the title What the Master Would Not Discuss. However, Yuan's collection is still commonly known by its original title.\n\nRelease\nWhat the Master Would Not Discuss first appeared in 1788. In contrast to the prevailing Confucian orthodoxy of the imperial court, the 746 short stories depicted a rich tapestry of daily life, including themes of ghosts, sex, betrayal, revenge, transvestism, homosexuality, and corruption. However, Yuan defended the collection, as the whims of an ageing man enjoying his last days as much as possible, though the content of his stories relates to many of his personal grievances with the Confucian establishment.\n\nThe work was so popular that the government censored it in 1836 during attempts to suppress anti-establishment sentiment.\n\nStories\nThe stories were collected over a lengthy period of time. The sources included oral accounts from friends and relatives, official gazettes, or other collections.\n\nIn popular culture\nOne of the supernatural creatures mentioned in this collection called the Hua Po (花魄), literally Floral Spirit, is a recurring demon in the popular Japanese video game series Megami Tensei.\n\nExternal links\nChina Knowledge\n\nReferences\n\nCitations\n\nWorks cited\n\nChinese literature\nJiangshi fiction\nFictional depictions of Bao Zheng in literature\nChinese short story collections"
] |
[
"Joaquin Phoenix",
"1995-1999: Return to acting"
] | C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_1 | what made him return to acting? | 1 | what made Joaquin Phoenix return to acting? | Joaquin Phoenix | During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side. In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million. New York Times critic Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all." In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons (1998) as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. Budgeted at $8 million, the film became a box office flop, grossing only $1 million and was, like Phoenix's previous projects, not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) penetrate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics. CANNOTANSWER | During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side. | Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners | false | [
"Taylor Takahashi (born September 7, 1992) is a Japanese American actor and chef and formally a basketball player and personal assistant to Eddie Huang. He made his acting debut in Huang's first directorial effort Boogie.\n\nEarly life and career\nTaylor Takahashi is a yonsei (fourth-generational Japanese-American) and was born and raised in Alameda, California and relocated to Orange County as an adult. In high school he played basketball before becoming a personal trainer. He returned to his roots and joined a recreation league where he discovered that Eddie Huang was one of his teammates. They quickly bonded as Takahashi was a fan of his work and became employed as his personal assistant and worked as a chef in his restaurant, \"I learned so much by being able to observe... he never treated me like, 'I'm your boss and you work for me.' It was always very open... 'If you want to explore relationships with them, my world is your world. And I want you to try to take advantage as much as you can.'\" Huang showed Takahashi the script for the movie he was hoping to direct titled Boogie and continued to assist him on the project by training the actor chosen for the lead role. \"I show up to the office about three and a half weeks into pre-production, and Eddie's standing at the front door... And he's like, 'What’s up? How you doing today? Give me your phone and give me your laptop. No distractions today.' And I was like, 'Am I fired? What happened?'\" Takahashi was soon informed by Huang that the actor chosen was unable to take the role and had decided to cast him instead. Following the release of Boogie, Takahashi stated that he plans to continue acting and has started auditioning and taking acting classes to improve his craft.\n\nFilmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nLiving people\n1990s births\n21st-century American actors\nAmerican male film actors\nAmerican male actors of Japanese descent\nAmerican chefs\nMale actors from California\nPeople from Alameda, California",
"Bill Kipsang Rotich, also known as Kipsang Rotich, is a voice actor best known for voicing the character Nien Nunb in the Star Wars films.\n\nEarly life\nBill Kipsang Rotich was born in 1958. Eldama Ravine, Koibatek, Kenya.\n\nEducation\nHe attended Eldama Ravine Mission Primary School for his primary education and later joined Nairobi School for his high school studies. After completing his secondary education he attended Dominican University in San Rafael, California. It is during this time that he landed the role to play the voice of Nien Nunb in Return of the Jedi.\n\nVoice of Nien Nunb\nRotich voiced Nunb by speaking in Kalenjin and Kikuyu, both of which are spoken in Kenya. This turned him into a celebrity in Kenya because audiences there could understand what Nien Nunb was saying. Rotich then put a hold on his acting career and decided to pursue business.\n\nReturn to voice acting\nAfter 32 years, Rotich was located by Star Wars producers to be the voice of Nien Nunb once more in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.\nHe reprised the role in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Nien Nunb at the Star Wars Databank\n\n1958 births\n20th-century Kenyan male actors\n21st-century Kenyan male actors\nDominican University of California alumni\nLiving people\nMale voice actors\nPeople from Rift Valley Province"
] |
[
"Joaquin Phoenix",
"1995-1999: Return to acting",
"what made him return to acting?",
"During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side."
] | C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_1 | did he like doing these roles? | 2 | Did Joaquin Phoenix like doing supporting roles? | Joaquin Phoenix | During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side. In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million. New York Times critic Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all." In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons (1998) as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. Budgeted at $8 million, the film became a box office flop, grossing only $1 million and was, like Phoenix's previous projects, not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) penetrate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics. CANNOTANSWER | In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. | Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners | false | [
"Gokulan is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. He made his acting debut through the 2013 Malayalam movie Punyalan Agarbattis by doing the character of Jimbroottan, which became popular. As of 2021, he has so far acted in more than 30 Malayalam movies.\n\nCareer\nGokulan made his acting debut in 2013 with the film Punyalan Agarbattis. Even though he did a minor comedy role called Jimbrootan in the movie, which also had a less screen time, the character became very popular. Gokulan later did different minor roles in some movies. He also appeared in few character roles during this time. He went on to act in the films like Thoppil Joppan, Vaarikkuzhiyile Kolapathakam, Ente Ummante Peru, Punyalan Private Limited, Sapthamashree Thaskaraha, Pathemari, Ramante Edantottam and several others. But, it was the 2019 movie Unda (film) that gave him a new turn on his film career. Gokulan had a major character role in this movie. His performance in the 2020 movie Love was critically acclaimed. Gokulan then did the notable roles in the movies Innu Mudhal and Randu which was released in March and April 2021 respectively.\n\nPersonal life\nHe married his long time girlfriend Dhanya in May 2020.\n\nReferences\n\nIndian male film actors\nLiving people\nMale actors in Malayalam cinema\n20th-century Indian male actors\nFilm people from Kerala\nYear of birth missing (living people)",
"Ragasiya is an Indian actress, runway model, and theater artist.\n\nCareer\nShe started her career as an assistant choreographer to Pony Verma, Longie Fernandes, Raju Khan and later she started doing theaters with Gary Richardson for Mad Horses. She started her modelling career by doing catalogue shoot for \"roopam\" owned by Viren Shah, walked on ramp for Nisha Jhampwal, Umer Zafer. \nSaran who also rechristened her as Ragasiya. After that she did many promotional item numbers mostly in Tamil films. She has also played supporting roles in films like Indira Vizha and Velmurugan Borewells.'.\n\nFilmography\nActress\n\nDancer\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nLiving people\nIndian film actresses\nActresses from Mumbai\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nFemale models from Mumbai\n21st-century Indian actresses\nActresses in Tamil cinema\nActresses in Malayalam cinema\nActresses in Kannada cinema\nActresses in Telugu cinema\nActresses in Hindi cinema"
] |
[
"Joaquin Phoenix",
"1995-1999: Return to acting",
"what made him return to acting?",
"During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side.",
"did he like doing these roles?",
"In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder."
] | C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_1 | what else happened in 1995 | 3 | what else happened to Joaquin Phoenix in 1995, other than his return to acting? | Joaquin Phoenix | During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side. In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million. New York Times critic Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all." In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons (1998) as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. Budgeted at $8 million, the film became a box office flop, grossing only $1 million and was, like Phoenix's previous projects, not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) penetrate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics. CANNOTANSWER | the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million. | Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners | false | [
"An Englishman in Auschwitz is a 2001 book written by Leon Greenman, a Holocaust survivor. The book details his experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camp.\n\nThe book is a result of the commitment of English-born Greenman to God \"that if he lived, he would let the world know what happened during the war\". In short, the book describes the reminiscences of his days of imprisonment in six concentration camps of the Nazis. Greenman describes the arrival of his family (consisting of himself, his wife, Esther, a Dutchwoman, and their three-year-old son, Barney) at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in these words: The women were separated from the men: Else and Barny were marched about 20 yards away to a queue of women...I tried to watch Else. I could see her clearly against the blue lights. She could see me too for she threw me a kiss and held up our child for me to see. What was going through her mind I will never know. Perhaps she was pleased that the journey had come to an end.\n\nReferences\n\n2001 non-fiction books\nPersonal accounts of the Holocaust",
"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"
] |
[
"Joaquin Phoenix",
"1995-1999: Return to acting",
"what made him return to acting?",
"During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side.",
"did he like doing these roles?",
"In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder.",
"what else happened in 1995",
"the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million."
] | C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_1 | what else did he do in 1995? | 4 | what else did Joaquin Phoenix do in 1995, other than return to acting? | Joaquin Phoenix | During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side. In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million. New York Times critic Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all." In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons (1998) as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. Budgeted at $8 million, the film became a box office flop, grossing only $1 million and was, like Phoenix's previous projects, not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) penetrate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics. CANNOTANSWER | Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, | Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners | false | [
"What Else Do You Do? (A Compilation of Quiet Music) is a various artists compilation album, released in 1990 by Shimmy Disc.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel \nAdapted from the What Else Do You Do? (A Compilation of Quiet Music) liner notes.\n Kramer – production, engineering\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1990 compilation albums\nAlbums produced by Kramer (musician)\nShimmy Disc compilation albums",
"Fiction is the Comsat Angels' third album, released in August 1982 on Polydor Records. The album has been reissued on CD three times: in 1995 by RPM Records, in 2006 by Renascent and in 2015 by Edsel Records, with different track listings (see below). The album peaked at No. 94 in the UK charts in September 1982.\n\nFiction was less gloomy than the Comsats' previous album, Sleep No More. Frontman Stephen Fellows said of the change: \"I certainly didn't want to make another record as intense as Sleep No More — at least not immediately. Sleep No More was so dark that I felt it skewed things a bit — possibly even mentally for me. I just felt if we carried on in that direction it'd lead to madness or maybe even something worse\".\n\nFellows was satisfied with many of the songs on Fiction, including \"What Else!?\", \"Pictures\" and \"After the Rain\", but felt that the album as a whole could have been better. \"We were a bit short of tunes when we recorded it\", he said. \"We were touring quite a bit after Sleep No More and there wasn't as much time to write as I would have liked\".\n\nTrack listing (1982) \nAll tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake.\n\n\"After the Rain\"\n\"Zinger\"\n\"Now I Know\"\n\"Not a Word\"\n\"Ju Ju Money\"\n\"More\"\n\"Pictures\"\n\"Birdman\"\n\"Don't Look Now\"\n\"What Else!?\"\n\nTrack listing (1995) \nAll tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake.\n\n\"After the Rain\"\n\"Zinger\"\n\"Now I Know\"\n\"Not a Word\"\n\"Ju Ju Money\"\n\"More\"\n\"Pictures\"\n\"Birdman\"\n\"Don't Look Now\"\n\"What Else!?\"\n\"It's History\"\n\"After the Rain\" (Remix)\n\"Private Party\"\n\"Mass\"\n\nTrack listing (2006) \nAll tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake.\n\n\"After the Rain\"\n\"Zinger\"\n\"Now I Know\"\n\"Not a Word\"\n\"Ju Ju Money\"\n\"More\"\n\"Pictures\"\n\"Birdman\"\n\"Don't Look Now\"\n\"What Else!?\"\n\"(Do The) Empty House\"\n\"Red Planet Revisited\"\n\"It's History\"\n\"Private Party\"\n\"For Your Information\"\n\"After the Rain\" (Remix)\n\"(Do The) Empty House\" (Live)\n\"What Else!?\" (Live)\n\nTrack listing (2015) \nAll tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake.\n\nDisc 1\n\"After the Rain\"\n\"Zinger\"\n\"Now I Know\"\n\"Not a Word\"\n\"Ju Ju Money\"\n\"More\"\n\"Pictures\"\n\"Birdman\"\n\"Don't Look Now\"\n\"What Else!?\"\n\nDisc 2 – bonus tracks\n\"(Do The) Empty House\"\n\"Red Planet Revisited\"\n\"It's History\"\n\"Private Party\"\n\"For Your Information\"\n\"After the Rain\" (Remix)\n\nJohn Peel Session\n\"Now I Know\"\n\"Ju Ju Money\"\n\"Our Secret\"\n\"Goat of the West\"\n\nPersonnel \nThe Comsat Angels\nStephen Fellows – vocals, guitar, artwork\nAndy Peake – synthesizer, vocals\nKevin Bacon – bass guitar\nMik Glaisher – drums\n\nReferences \n\n1982 albums\nThe Comsat Angels albums\nPolydor Records albums"
] |
[
"Joaquin Phoenix",
"1995-1999: Return to acting",
"what made him return to acting?",
"During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side.",
"did he like doing these roles?",
"In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder.",
"what else happened in 1995",
"the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million.",
"what else did he do in 1995?",
"Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing \"So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for,"
] | C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_1 | what significant event happened in 1996? | 5 | what significant event happened in 1996 to Joaquin Phoenix? | Joaquin Phoenix | During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side. In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million. New York Times critic Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all." In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons (1998) as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. Budgeted at $8 million, the film became a box office flop, grossing only $1 million and was, like Phoenix's previous projects, not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) penetrate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics. CANNOTANSWER | In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. | Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners | true | [
"The year 1942 in archaeology involved some significant events.\n\nExcavations\n\nPublications\n V. Gordon Childe - What Happened in History.\n\nFinds\nJanuary: Mildenhall Treasure discovered by ploughman Gordon Butcher in Suffolk, England.\nA hoard of La Tène metalwork is found during the building of a military airfield in Llyn Cerrig Bach on Anglesey.\nRockbourne Roman Villa discovered by a local farmer in Rockbourne, England.\n\nBirths\n 30 October - Linda Schele, Mayanist (died 1998)\n\nDeaths\n July 28: William Matthew Flinders Petrie, Egyptologist (born 1853)\n\nReferences\n\nArchaeology\nArchaeology\nArchaeology by year",
"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"
] |
[
"Joaquin Phoenix",
"1995-1999: Return to acting",
"what made him return to acting?",
"During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side.",
"did he like doing these roles?",
"In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder.",
"what else happened in 1995",
"the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million.",
"what else did he do in 1995?",
"Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing \"So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for,",
"what significant event happened in 1996?",
"In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts."
] | C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_1 | how did this movie perform at the box office? | 6 | how did U Turn perform at the box office? | Joaquin Phoenix | During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side. In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million. New York Times critic Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all." In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons (1998) as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. Budgeted at $8 million, the film became a box office flop, grossing only $1 million and was, like Phoenix's previous projects, not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) penetrate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics. CANNOTANSWER | The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. | Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners | true | [
"This is a list of films which have placed number one at the weekend box office in the United Kingdom during 2010.\n\nFilms\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nSee also\nList of British films of 2010\n\nExternal links\nUK Box Office at Digital Spy\nUK Box Office at the Internet Movie Database\nUK Box Office Archive at the Internet Movie Database\nUK Box Office at Virgin Media\n\n2010\nUnited Kingdom\n2010 in British cinema\n\nja:2009年イギリス週末興行収入1位の映画の一覧",
"This is a list of films which have placed number one at the weekend box office in the United Kingdom during 2009.\n\nFilms\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nSee also\nBritish films of 2009\nList of number-one DVDs of 2009 (UK)\n\nExternal links\nUK Box Office at Digital Spy\nUK Box Office at the Internet Movie Database\nUK Box Office Archive at the Internet Movie Database\nUK Box Office at Virgin Media\n\n2009\nUnited Kingdom\n2009 in British cinema"
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"what made him return to acting?",
"During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side.",
"did he like doing these roles?",
"In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder.",
"what else happened in 1995",
"the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million.",
"what else did he do in 1995?",
"Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing \"So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for,",
"what significant event happened in 1996?",
"In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts.",
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] | C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_1 | what happened in 1998? | 7 | what happened in 1998 to Joaquin Phoenix? | Joaquin Phoenix | During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side. In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million. New York Times critic Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all." In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons (1998) as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. Budgeted at $8 million, the film became a box office flop, grossing only $1 million and was, like Phoenix's previous projects, not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) penetrate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics. CANNOTANSWER | The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons (1998) as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. | Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners | false | [
"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",
"\"What Happened to Us\" is a song by Australian recording artist Jessica Mauboy, featuring English recording artist Jay Sean. It was written by Sean, Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim and Israel Cruz. \"What Happened to Us\" was leaked online in October 2010, and was released on 10 March 2011, as the third single from Mauboy's second studio album, Get 'Em Girls (2010). The song received positive reviews from critics.\n\nA remix of \"What Happened to Us\" made by production team OFM, was released on 11 April 2011. A different version of the song which features Stan Walker, was released on 29 May 2011. \"What Happened to Us\" charted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 14 and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). An accompanying music video was directed by Mark Alston, and reminisces on a former relationship between Mauboy and Sean.\n\nProduction and release\n\n\"What Happened to Us\" was written by Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz and Jay Sean. It was produced by Skaller, Cruz, Rohaim and Bobby Bass. The song uses C, D, and B minor chords in the chorus. \"What Happened to Us\" was sent to contemporary hit radio in Australia on 14 February 2011. The cover art for the song was revealed on 22 February on Mauboy's official Facebook page. A CD release was available for purchase via her official website on 10 March, for one week only. It was released digitally the following day.\n\nReception\nMajhid Heath from ABC Online Indigenous called the song a \"Jordin Sparks-esque duet\", and wrote that it \"has a nice innocence to it that rings true to the experience of losing a first love.\" Chris Urankar from Nine to Five wrote that it as a \"mid-tempo duet ballad\" which signifies Mauboy's strength as a global player. On 21 March 2011, \"What Happened to Us\" debuted at number 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and peaked at number 14 the following week. The song was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), for selling 70,000 copies. \"What Happened to Us\" spent a total of ten weeks in the ARIA top fifty.\n\nMusic video\n\nBackground\nThe music video for the song was shot in the Elizabeth Bay House in Sydney on 26 November 2010. The video was shot during Sean's visit to Australia for the Summerbeatz tour. During an interview with The Daily Telegraph while on the set of the video, Sean said \"the song is sick! ... Jessica's voice is amazing and we're shooting [the video] in this ridiculously beautiful mansion overlooking the harbour.\" The video was directed by Mark Alston, who had previously directed the video for Mauboy's single \"Let Me Be Me\" (2009). It premiered on YouTube on 10 February 2011.\n\nSynopsis and reception\nThe video begins showing Mauboy who appears to be sitting on a yellow antique couch in a mansion, wearing a purple dress. As the video progresses, scenes of memories are displayed of Mauboy and her love interest, played by Sean, spending time there previously. It then cuts to the scenes where Sean appears in the main entrance room of the mansion. The final scene shows Mauboy outdoors in a gold dress, surrounded by green grass and trees. She is later joined by Sean who appears in a black suit and a white shirt, and together they sing the chorus of the song to each other. David Lim of Feed Limmy wrote that the video is \"easily the best thing our R&B princess has committed to film – ever\" and praised the \"mansion and wondrous interior décor\". He also commended Mauboy for choosing Australian talent to direct the video instead of American directors, which she had used for her previous two music videos. Since its release, the video has received over two million views on Vevo.\n\nLive performances\nMauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" live for the first time during her YouTube Live Sessions program on 4 December 2010. She also appeared on Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight on 23 February 2011 for an interview and later performed the song. On 15 March 2011, Mauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Sunrise. She also performed the song with Stan Walker during the Australian leg of Chris Brown's F.A.M.E. Tour in April 2011. Mauboy and Walker later performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Dancing with the Stars Australia on 29 May 2011. From November 2013 to February 2014, \"What Happened to Us\" was part of the set list of the To the End of the Earth Tour, Mauboy's second headlining tour of Australia, with Nathaniel Willemse singing Sean's part.\n\nTrack listing\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Just Witness Remix) – 3:45\n\nCD single\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Album Version) – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:39\n\nDigital download – Remix\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:38\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Stan Walker – 3:20\n\nPersonnel\nSongwriting – Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz, Jay Sean\nProduction – Jeremy Skaller, Bobby Bass\nAdditional production – Israel Cruz, Khaled Rohaim\nLead vocals – Jessica Mauboy, Jay Sean\nMixing – Phil Tan\nAdditional mixing – Damien Lewis\nMastering – Tom Coyne \nSource:\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly chart\n\nYear-end chart\n\nCertification\n\nRadio dates and release history\n\nReferences\n\n2010 songs\n2011 singles\nJessica Mauboy songs\nJay Sean songs\nSongs written by Billy Steinberg\nSongs written by Jay Sean\nSongs written by Josh Alexander\nSongs written by Israel Cruz\nVocal duets\nSony Music Australia singles\nSongs written by Khaled Rohaim"
] |
[
"Joaquin Phoenix",
"1995-1999: Return to acting",
"what made him return to acting?",
"During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side.",
"did he like doing these roles?",
"In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder.",
"what else happened in 1995",
"the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million.",
"what else did he do in 1995?",
"Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing \"So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for,",
"what significant event happened in 1996?",
"In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts.",
"how did this movie perform at the box office?",
"The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office.",
"what happened in 1998?",
"The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons (1998) as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer."
] | C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_1 | how did the clay pigeons do? | 8 | how did the clay pigeons do? | Joaquin Phoenix | During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side. In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million. New York Times critic Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all." In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons (1998) as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. Budgeted at $8 million, the film became a box office flop, grossing only $1 million and was, like Phoenix's previous projects, not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) penetrate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics. CANNOTANSWER | Budgeted at $8 million, the film became a box office flop, grossing only $1 million and was, like Phoenix's previous projects, not well received by critics. | Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners | false | [
"René Texier (28 October 1882 – 10 October 1967) was a French sport shooter who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics, in the 1920 Summer Olympics, and in the 1924 Summer Olympics. He was born in Chantilly. In 1912 he was a member of the French team which finished sixth in the team clay pigeons event. In the individual trap competition he finished 48th. Eight years later he was part of the French team which finished seventh in the team clay pigeons event. At the 1924 Games he finished eleventh with the French team in the team clay pigeons competition.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1882 births\n1967 deaths\nFrench male sport shooters\nTrap and double trap shooters\nOlympic shooters of France\nShooters at the 1912 Summer Olympics\nShooters at the 1920 Summer Olympics\nShooters at the 1924 Summer Olympics",
"Clay pigeon may refer to:\n\n the target of the sport of clay pigeon shooting\n Clay pigeon floor procedure, a strategy used in the U.S. Senate\n The Clay Pigeon, a 1949 film noir\n Clay Pigeons, a 1998 film\n Clay Pigeon (film), a 1971 American action film"
] |
[
"Joaquin Phoenix",
"1995-1999: Return to acting",
"what made him return to acting?",
"During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side.",
"did he like doing these roles?",
"In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder.",
"what else happened in 1995",
"the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million.",
"what else did he do in 1995?",
"Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing \"So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for,",
"what significant event happened in 1996?",
"In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts.",
"how did this movie perform at the box office?",
"The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office.",
"what happened in 1998?",
"The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons (1998) as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer.",
"how did the clay pigeons do?",
"Budgeted at $8 million, the film became a box office flop, grossing only $1 million and was, like Phoenix's previous projects, not well received by critics."
] | C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_1 | what followed this flop? | 9 | what followed Clay Pigeons? | Joaquin Phoenix | During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side. In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million. New York Times critic Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all." In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons (1998) as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. Budgeted at $8 million, the film became a box office flop, grossing only $1 million and was, like Phoenix's previous projects, not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) penetrate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics. CANNOTANSWER | In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) penetrate the underworld of illegal pornography. | Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners | false | [
"In computer programming, a flip-flop is a seldom-used syntactic construct which allows a boolean to flip from false to true when a first condition is met and then back to false when a second condition is met. The syntax is available in the programming languages Perl and Ruby. Similar logic is available in sed and awk.\n\nA flip-flop with first condition A and second condition B is not equivalent to \"if A and not B\", as the former has persistent state and is true even if A is no longer true, as long as at some point in the past A was true and B has always been false.\n\nExample\n\nThe following Ruby code prints the numbers 4 through 6:\n\n(1..10).each do |x|\n puts x if (x == 4 .. x == 6)\nend\n\nThe first instance of \"..\" is the range operator, which produces the enumeration of integers 1 through 10. The second \"..\" is the flip-flop operator, otherwise known as the flip floperator. Note that the number 5 is printed even though both \"x == 4\" and \"x== 6\" are false. This is because the expression remembers that \"x == 4\" was true on a previous iteration, and that \"x == 6\" had at that point never been true.\n\nPitfalls\n\nThe flip-flop operator needs to store its current state.\nThere is no way for the programmer to explicitly define where this state is stored and what its lifetime is.\nThe lifetime makes a difference when the same code is used by several threads, or in recursive functions.\nThese concurrent accesses to the state of the flip-flop operator can lead to undefined behavior, or at least surprising results, depending on the programming language.\nFor example, in Perl each flip-flop operator has its own state, shared among all the threads, the other programming languages do the same.\n\nTo work around this limitation, the flip-flop operator would have to be modeled as an abstract data type, parameterized with:\n\n a predicate that tells whether to switch the flip-flop on,\n a predicate that tells whether to switch the flip-flop off.\n\nThis flip-flop data type would provide a function that queries and updates its state at the same time.\nThis function gets the actual data on which the switching predicates depend and passes that data to the two predicates, if necessary.\n\nDue to this inherent complexity, only few programming languages have adopted the flip-flop operator.\n\nReferences\n\nOperators (programming)",
"Flop or FLOP may refer to:\n\nArts, entertainment and media\n Box-office flop or commercial flop, in the entertainment world\n\nFilm and television\n Flop (film), from Argentina\n Flop Show, an Indian TV sitcom\n The Flop House, a film podcast\n\nMusic\n Flop (band), a defunct 1990s era pop-punk group from Seattle, Washington, US\n Flop!, an industrial and synthpop album by the band And One\n Flop (album), by Maurizio Pisciottu\n\nScience and technology\n Flop (algebraic geometry), a birational transformation\n Flop-transition, in the string theory of physics\n FLOPS (floating point operations per second), in computing\n Flopped image, a type of mirror image in photography, graphic design, and printing\n Wheel flop, a consequence of some bicycle and motorcycle geometries\n\nSports\n Flop (basketball), an intentional fall to claim a foul\n Diving (association football), intentional fall sometimes called flop in the US\n Diving (ice hockey)\n Flop shot, in golf\n Fosbury Flop, in high jump\n\nOther uses\n Flop (poker), a poker term describing the first three cards dealt to the board\n Flophouse or flop house, a cheap transients' rooming house\n\nSee also\n Flip (disambiguation)\n Flip-flop (disambiguation)"
] |
[
"Joaquin Phoenix",
"1995-1999: Return to acting",
"what made him return to acting?",
"During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side.",
"did he like doing these roles?",
"In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder.",
"what else happened in 1995",
"the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million.",
"what else did he do in 1995?",
"Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing \"So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for,",
"what significant event happened in 1996?",
"In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts.",
"how did this movie perform at the box office?",
"The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office.",
"what happened in 1998?",
"The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons (1998) as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer.",
"how did the clay pigeons do?",
"Budgeted at $8 million, the film became a box office flop, grossing only $1 million and was, like Phoenix's previous projects, not well received by critics.",
"what followed this flop?",
"In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) penetrate the underworld of illegal pornography."
] | C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_1 | how did this film do? | 10 | how did 8mm do? | Joaquin Phoenix | During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side. In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million. New York Times critic Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all." In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons (1998) as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. Budgeted at $8 million, the film became a box office flop, grossing only $1 million and was, like Phoenix's previous projects, not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) penetrate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics. CANNOTANSWER | The film turned out be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics. | Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners | false | [
"How Do You Do may refer to:\n\nHow Do You Do (Miyuki Nakajima album)\nHow Do You Do (Mayer Hawthorne album)\n\"How Do You Do!\", a song by Roxette\n\"How Do You Do?\" (beFour song)\n\"How Do You Do\" (Mouth & MacNeal song)\n\"How Do You Do\" (Shakira song)\n\"How Do You Do?\", a song by the Boomtown Rats released as the B-side to \"Like Clockwork\"\n\"How Do You Do?\", a song from the Disney film Song of the South\n\"How Do You Do?\", a song from the Wee Sing film The Marvelous Musical Mansion\n\nSee also\n How Are You (disambiguation)\n How Have You Been (disambiguation)\n How You Been (disambiguation)",
"How Do You Live? may refer to:\n\n How Do You Live? (novel), a 1937 novel by Yoshino Genzaburo\n How Do You Live? (film), an upcoming Japanese animated film directed by Hayao Miyazaki"
] |
[
"Cross Road Blues",
"Lyrics and interpretation"
] | C_42f8f5f180984e98bc33de556691d167_0 | What are the lyrics? | 1 | What are the lyrics of Cross Road Blues? | Cross Road Blues | A crossroads or an intersection of rural roads is one of the few landmarks in the Mississippi Delta, a flat featureless plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is part of the local iconography and various businesses use the name, such as gas stations, banks, and retail shops. A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker. In the simplest reading, Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets. However, many see different levels of meaning and some have attached a supernatural significance to the song. Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tells of his failed attempts to hitch a ride. In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress. The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. The lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain, but they have been interpreted as a description of the singer's fear of losing his soul to the Devil (presumably in exchange for his talent). Music historian Elijah Wald believes that Johnson's verses do not support the idea. Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson promoted himself as having made a deal with the Devil and Southern folklore identifies a crossroads or graveyard as the site of such a pact, which Wald identifies as likely sources of the myth. However, musicologist Robert Palmer points out that Johnson was "fascinated with and probably obsessed by supernatural imagery." His song "Hellhound on My Trail" tells of trying to stay ahead of the demon hound which is pursuing him and in "Me and the Devil Blues" he sings, "Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door, and I said 'Hello Satan I believe it's time to go'". These songs contribute to the Faustian myth; how much Johnson promoted the idea is debated, although many agree "the 'devil angle' made for good marketing". Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary. The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States. Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here". Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place. Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness. Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman". CANNOTANSWER | Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, | "Cross Road Blues" (also known as "Crossroads") is a blues song written and recorded by American blues artist Robert Johnson in 1936. Johnson performed it as a solo piece with his vocal and acoustic slide guitar in the Delta blues-style. The song has become part of the Robert Johnson mythology as referring to the place where he supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his musical talents, although the lyrics do not contain any specific references.
Bluesman Elmore James revived the song with recordings in 1954 and 1960–1961. English guitarist Eric Clapton with Cream popularized the song as "Crossroads" in the late 1960s. Their blues rock interpretation inspired many cover versions and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included it as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Rolling Stone placed it at number three on the magazine's list of the "Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" in recognition of Clapton's guitar work.
Recording
In October 1936, Johnson auditioned for music store owner and sometime talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi; Speir passed on Johnson's contact information to Ernie Oertle, who was a representative for ARC Records. After a second audition, Oertle arranged for Johnson to travel to San Antonio, Texas, for a recording session. Johnson recorded 22 songs for ARC over three days from November 23 to 27, 1936. During the first session, he recorded his most commercially appealing songs. They mostly represented his original pieces and reflected current, piano-influenced musical trends. The songs include "Terraplane Blues" (his first single and most popular record) along with "Sweet Home Chicago" and "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom", which became blues standards after others recorded them.
A second and third recording date took place in San Antonio after a two-day break. The material Johnson chose shows more variety than that for his first date and he reached back into his long-standing repertoire for songs to record. The material reflects the styles of country blues performers Charley Patton and Son House, who influenced Johnson in his youth and are among Johnson's most heartfelt and forceful.
"Cross Road Blues" was recorded during Johnson's third session in San Antonio, on Friday, November 27, 1936. The sessions continued at an improvised studio in Room 414 at the Gunter Hotel. ARC producer Don Law supervised the recording and used a portable disc cutting machine. It is unknown what input, if any, Law had into Johnson's selection of material to record or how to present it. Two similar takes of the song were recorded.
Lyrics and interpretation
A crossroads or an intersection of rural roads is one of the few landmarks in the Mississippi Delta, a flat featureless plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is part of the local iconography and various businesses use the name, such as gas stations, banks, and retail shops. A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker. In the simplest reading, Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets. However, many see different levels of meaning and some have attached a supernatural significance to the song.
Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tells of his failed attempts to hitch a ride. In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress.
The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. The lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain, but they have been interpreted as a description of the singer's fear of losing his soul to the Devil (presumably in exchange for his talent). Music historians believe that Johnson's verses do not support the idea. Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson promoted himself as having made a deal with the Devil and Southern folklore identifies a crossroads or graveyard as the site of such a pact, which Wald identifies as likely sources of the myth. However, Johnson later recorded two songs that include Satanic references: in "Hellhound on My Trail" tells of trying to stay ahead of the demon hound which is pursuing him and in "Me and the Devil Blues" he sings, "Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door, and I said 'Hello Satan I believe it's time to go'". These songs contribute to the Faustian myth; how much Johnson promoted the idea is debated, although many agree "the 'devil angle' made for good marketing".
Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary. The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States. Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here". Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place. Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness. Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman".
Composition
"Cross Road Blues" reflects Johnson's Delta blues roots and may have been in his repertoire since 1932. It is the first recording to show his mastery of his mentor Son House's style, particularly in his slide guitar work. Music historian Edward Komara identifies parts of "Straight Alky Blues" by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell (1929) along with Roosevelt Sykes' subsequent adaptation as "Black River Blues" (1930) as melodic precedents. However, Johnson infuses their relaxed urban approach with a more forceful rural one. Komara terms Johnson's guitar playing a "blues harp style". It contrasts with Johnson's finger-picking "piano style", which uses a boogie-style accompaniment on the bass strings while playing melody and harmonies on the higher strings. Harp-style playing employs sharp percussive accents on the bass strings (an imitation of the sharp draw used by harmonica players) and allows Johnson to explore different chordings and fills. Johnson uses this technique for "Terraplane Blues", which shares many common elements with "Cross Road Blues".
The song's structure differs from a well-defined twelve-bar blues. The verses are not consistent and range from fourteen to fifteen bars in length. Additionally, the harmonic progression is often implied rather than stated (full IV and V chords are not used). Johnson uses a Spanish or open G tuning with the guitar tuned up to the key of B. This facilitates Johnson's use of a slide, which features as prominently in the song as the vocal. The slide parts function more as a second "answer" vocal than accompaniment, with the tension underscoring the dark turmoil of the lyrics. Charters characterizes the song's rhythm as ambiguous, imparting both a 4/4 time and 8/8 feel. Music writer Dave Headlam elaborates on Johnson's rhythm:
The two takes of the song are performed at moderate, but somewhat different tempos. Both begin slower and speed up; the first is about 106 beats per minute (bpm), while the second is about 96 bpm. Johnson prepares to go into the fifth section for the slower second take, but the engineer apparently cut him off because of the time limits of ten-inch 78 rpm records. In addition to the slower tempo, Johnson sings the verses at a lower pitch, although both takes are in the same key. This allows for greater variation and nuance in the vocal. Together with refinements to some guitar parts, the differences serve to help further distinguish the second take from "Terraplane Blues" and give it more of its own character.
Releases
ARC and Vocalion Records issued the first take of "Cross Road Blues" in May 1937 on the then standard 78 rpm record. With the flip side "Ramblin' on My Mind", it was the third of eleven singles released during Johnson's lifetime. Vocalion's budget labels Perfect Records and Romeo Records also released the single for sale by dime stores. Although sales figures are not available, the record was "widely heard in the Delta" and Johnson's tunes were found in jukeboxes in the region.
As with most of Johnson's recordings, "Cross Road Blues" remained out of print after its initial release until The Complete Recordings box set in 1990. The second take was released in 1961, when producer Frank Driggs substituted it for the original on Johnson's first long-playing record album compilation King of the Delta Blues Singers. This take was also included on the 1990 Complete Recordings (at 2:29, it is 10 seconds shorter than the original 2:39 single version).
Elmore James versions
American blues singer and guitarist Elmore James, who popularized Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom", recorded two variations on "Cross Road Blues". Both titled "Standing at the Crossroads", they feature James' trademark "Dust My Broom" amplified slide-guitar figure and a backing ensemble. James' lyrics focus on the lost-love aspect of the song:
James first recorded the song in August 1954 at Modern Records' new studio in Culver City, California. Maxwell Davis supervised the session and a group of professional studio musicians provided the backup. The song was produced in a newer style that Modern used successfully for B.B. King and James' slide guitar was placed further back in the mix. Flair Records, another of the Bihari brothers' Modern labels, released the single, backed with "Sunny Land". The song became a regional hit, but did not reach the national charts. Labels associated with Modern included "Standing at the Crossroads" on several James compilation albums, such as Blues After Hours (Crown), The Blues in My Heart – The Rhythm in My Soul (Custom Records), and Original Folk Blues (Kent Records).
In 1959, producer Bobby Robinson signed James to his Fury/Fire/Enjoy group of labels. In addition to new material, Robinson had James revisit several of his older songs, including "Standing at the Crossroads". James re-recorded it at Beltone Studios in New York City in late 1960 or early 1961 during one of his last sessions. Studio musicians again provided the backup and the horn section included baritone saxophone by Paul Williams. Bell Records' subsidiary labels released the song after James' death in 1965 – Flashback Records released a single with a reissue of "The Sky Is Crying" and Sphere Sound Records included it on a James compilation album also titled The Sky Is Crying. Both the 1954 and 1960–1961 versions appear on numerous later James compilations.
Homesick James, who recorded and toured with his cousin Elmore, also recorded a rendition titled "Crossroads". Homesick derived his guitar style from Elmore, which music critic Bill Dahl describes as "aggressive, sometimes chaotic slide work". Unlike Elmore, however, he uses most of the lyrics from Johnson's second take, which had been first issued in 1961. The July 23, 1963, recording session produced Homesick's only single for Chicago-based USA Records, "Crossroads" backed with "My Baby's Sweet".
Eric Clapton/Cream interpretation
Background
In early 1966, while still with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Eric Clapton adapted the song for a recording session with an ad hoc studio group, dubbed Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse. Elektra Records producer Joe Boyd brought together Steve Winwood on vocals, Clapton on guitar, Jack Bruce on bass guitar, Paul Jones on harmonica, Ben Palmer on piano, and Pete York on drums for the project. Boyd recalled that he and Clapton reviewed potential songs; Clapton wanted to record Albert King's "Crosscut Saw", but Boyd preferred to adapt an older country blues. Their attention turned to Robert Johnson songs and Boyd proposed "Crossroads" and Clapton chose "Traveling Riverside Blues".
For the recording, Clapton developed an arrangement using lyrics from both songs with an adaption of the guitar line from the latter. Biographer Michael Schumacher describes the Powerhouse's performance as slower and more blues-based than Cream's. Elektra released the 2:32 recording, titled "Crossroads", on the compilation album What's Shakin' in June 1966. After the Powerhouse session, Clapton continued playing with Mayall. Author Marc Roberty lists "Crossroads" in a typical set for the Bluesbreakers in the spring of 1966.
Cream version
"Crossroads" became a part of Cream's repertoire when Clapton began performing with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in July 1966. Their version features a prominent guitar riff with hard-driving, upbeat instrumental backing and soloing. Clapton previously recorded "Ramblin' on My Mind" with Mayall and "From Four Until Late" with Cream using arrangements that followed Johnson's original songs more closely. However, he envisioned "Crossroads" as a rock song:
Clapton simplifies Johnson's guitar line and sets it to a straight eighth-note or rock rhythm. He and Bruce on bass continuously emphasize the riff throughout the song to give it a strong and regular metric drive combined with Baker's drumming. Johnson's irregular measures are also standardized to typical twelve-bar sections in which the I–IV–V blues progression is clearly stated. Clapton does not adapt Johnson's slide guitar technique or open tuning; instead he follows the electric guitar soloing approach of B.B. King and Albert King. However, he employs a Johnson guitar innovation, the duple shuffle pattern or boogie bass line, while singing (Johnson only used it for two bars in "Cross Road Blues").
Clapton also simplifies and standardizes Johnson's vocal lines. Schumacher calls Clapton's vocal on "Crossroads" his best and most assured with Cream. In addition to Johnson's opening and closing lyrics, he twice adds the same section from "Traveling Riverside Blues":
During the instrumental break, Cream takes an improvisational approach characteristic of their later live performances. Bruce's bass lines blend rhythm and harmony and Baker adds fills and more complex techniques typical of drummers in jazz trios. However, the momentum is never allowed to dissipate and is constantly reinforced.
Cash Box described it as "a new winner" for Cream, stating that "the blazing instrumental break gives this track a luster which will bring home the sales."
Recording and releases
Cream recorded the song on November 28, 1966, for broadcast on the BBC Guitar Club radio program. At less than two minutes in length, Clapton only sings the first and last sections, with his guitar solo replacing the middle "Traveling Riverside Blues" verse. It appeared on bootleg albums before finally being released in 2003 on BBC Sessions. On March 10, 1968, Cream recorded it again during a concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The song became the opening number on the live half of Cream's Wheels of Fire double album, released in August 1968 by Polydor Records in the UK and Atco Records in the US. After the group's breakup, Atco issued the song as a single in January 1969, which reached number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 pop chart and 17 on Cashbox. Both the original album and single credit the songwriter as Robert Johnson or R. Johnson, although Clapton and Cream extensively reworked the song.
Cream played "Crossroads" during their final concert at the Royal Albert Hall on November 26, 1968. The expanded version of Cream's Farewell Concert film released in 1977 contains the performance. During their 2005 reunion, Cream revisited the song at the Royal Albert Hall and it is included on the Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005 album and video. After Cream's breakup in 1968, Clapton continued to perform "Crossroads" in a variety of settings. Live recordings appear on Live at the Fillmore (with Derek and the Dominos), Crossroads 2: Live in the Seventies, The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, and other albums. Clapton has also used the name for the Crossroads Centre, a drug rehabilitation facility he founded, and for the Crossroads Guitar Festivals to benefit it.
Editing on album version
Clapton biographer Schumacher notes "Given the passion of the solo performances on 'Crossroads,' it seems almost miraculous that Cream is able to return to the song itself." Several music writers have explained that Cream's recording for Wheels of Fire was edited from a much longer performance that was typical for the trioin the notes for Clapton's Crossroads box set, Anthony DeCurtis credits the trimming to engineer Tom Dowd, while critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine attributes the editing to producer Felix Pappalardi, who "cut together the best bits of a winding improvisation to a tight four minutes", to allow the song's drive more continuity. In a 1985 interview, Clapton was asked if the song had been edited. He replied:
However, Barry Levenson, who produced Cream's 1997 box set Those Were the Days, asserts:
Recognition and influence
In 1986, Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues" was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. Writing for the foundation, Jim O'Neal noted that "regardless of mythology and rock 'n' roll renditions, Johnson's record was indeed a powerful one, a song that would stand the test of time on its own". In 1998, it received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award to acknowledge its quality and place in recording history. In 1995, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed Cream's "Crossroads" as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Rolling Stone magazine placed it at number three on its "Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time".
AllMusic's Richard Gilliam identifies Cream's "Crossroads" as the first recording to bring Robert Johnson to the attention of popular music audiences and allow reissues of his original recordings to sell over a million copies. By combining elements of hard rock and blues, he adds it inspired "a new generation of blues-influenced artists". Rock musicians have recorded numerous renditions based on Cream's arrangement.
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References
1936 songs
1937 singles
Robert Johnson songs
Blues songs
Songs written by Robert Johnson
Songs about roads
Songs about the Devil
1954 singles
Elmore James songs
1969 singles
Cream (band) songs
Song recordings produced by Felix Pappalardi
Atco Records singles
Polydor Records singles
Vocalion Records singles
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Song recordings produced by Don Law | true | [
"\"What Can the Matter Be?\", also known as \"Johnny's So Long at the Fair\" is a traditional nursery rhyme that can be traced back as far as the 1770s in England. There are several variations on its lyrics.\n\nHistory\nThe Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes by Iona and Peter Opie traces this song back to an earlier folk ballad, recorded between 1770 and 1780, whose lyrics are:\n\nO what can the matter be\nAnd what can the matter be\nO what can the matter be\nJohnny bydes lang at the fair\n\nHe'll buy me a twopenny whistle\nHe'll buy me a threepenny fair\nHe'll buy me a Bunch o' Blue Ribbons\nTo tye up my bonny Brown Hair\n\nO saw ye him coming\nAnd saw ye him coming\nO saw ye him coming\nHame frae the Newcastle fair\n\nLyrics\nThe following are given as the traditional lyrics (being chorus and verse) in Cuddon's and Preston's A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory:\n\nO dear, what can the matter be?\nDear, dear, what can the matter be?\nO dear, what can the matter be?\nJohnny's so long at the fair.\n\nHe promised he'd buy me a fairing should please me,\nAnd then for a kiss, oh! he vowed he would tease me,\nHe promised he'd bring me a bunch of blue ribbons,\nTo tie up my bonny brown hair.\n\nCohen's Folk Music gives a different version of the lyrics:\n\nO dear, what can the matter be?\nO dear, what can the matter be?\nO dear, what can the matter be?\nJohnny's so long at the fair.\n\nHe promised he'd bring me a bunch of blue ribbons.\nHe promised he'd bring me a bunch of blue ribbons.\nHe promised he'd bring me a bunch of blue ribbons.\nTo tie up my bonny brown hair.\n\nRaph's American Song Treasury uses the traditional lyrics and adds a second verse:\n\nHe promised he'd buy me a basket of posies\nA garland of lilies, a garland of roses;\nA little straw hat to set off the blue ribbons\nThat tie up my bonny brown hair, and it's\n\nRaph dates this version of the song to 1795, and notes that while it has been popular in the United States for over 200 years, having made its way across the Atlantic shortly after American Independence, it is really English, having achieved widespread popularity in England around 1792, from being performed as a duet at Samuel Harrison concerts. It was performed in concerts in New York and Philadelphia within a decade of arriving in the U.S.\n\nThe Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes dates the song to a manuscript compiled some time between 1770 and 1780. Chappell's Popular Music dates the song to 1792, when it was first published as sheet music. The notes by Stenhouse in the second volume of Johnson's Scots Musical Museum record a concurrent Anglo-Scottish publication.\n\nParodies\nThe song has been parodied several times, the best known of which is the American bawdy song \"Seven Old Ladies\", sung to the same tune but with different lyrics. Here are the chorus and the first two verses, of seven, as published in Ed Cray's The Erotic Muse:\n\nOh, dear, what can the matter be,\nSeven old ladies were locked in the lavatory,\nThey were there from Monday till Saturday,\nAnd nobody knew they were there.\n\nThe first old lady was 'Lizabeth Porter,\nShe was the deacon of Dorchester's daughter,\nWent there to relieve a slight pressure of water,\nAnd nobody knew she was there.\n\nThe second old lady was Abigail Splatter.\nShe went there 'cause something was definitely the matter.\nBut when she got there, it was only her bladder,\nAnd nobody knew she was there.\n\nOne suggested precursor to the bawdy song, recorded in William's Upper Thames collection is the following \"old morris fragment\":\n\nOh, dear, what can the matter be?\nThree old women tied to an apple tree!\nOne ran away, the others stopped till Saturday.\nOh, dear, what can the matter be?\n\nAs with many folk songs and tall tales each verse exaggerates one common trait (one so thin she falls through a knot-hole). Suggested alternate lyrics include:\nOh, dear, what can the matter be,\nSix old maids were stuck in the lavatory,\nThey were there from Sunday till Saturday,\nNobody knew they were there\nThe first one in was fat lady Humphreys - squeezed herself down and she said \"it's quite comfy\"\nbut when she was through she could not get her bum free – and nobody knew she was there.\nRefrain\nThe next one there was old lady Grayson – she couldn't get in so she peed in the basin\nit was the same water the next washed her face in – and nobody knew they were there.\nSeven Old Ladies was not the first parody, however. Long before that parody, the song had been parodied for political purposes. One such parody can be found in the Wisconsin State Journal of 1 March 1864. It was written to exhort parents, who during the U.S. Civil War had not taken much interest in public schooling in Madison, to visit the schools of their children. Its lyrics were:\n\nOh, dear, what can the matter be?\nOh, dear, what can the matter be?\nOh, dear, what can the matter be?\nParents don't visit the school.\n\nThey visit the circus, they visit their neighbors;\nThey visit their flocks and the servant who labors;\nThey visit the soldiers with murderours sabers;\nNow, why don't they visit the school?\n\n(Chorus)\n\nThey care for their horses, they care for their dollars;\nThey care for their parties and fancy fine collars;\nBut little, we think, do they care for their scholars;\nBecause they don't visit the school.\n\n(Chorus)\n\nWe know we from hunger and cold are protected;\nIn virtue and knowledge our minds are directed;\nBut still we do think that we are sadly neglected;\nBecause they don't visit the school.\n\n(Chorus)\n\nOther uses\nIn the 1950 film So Long at the Fair a man called Johnny and his sister are visiting the 1889 World's Fair in Paris when he fails to return to their hotel.\n\n\"Oh dear what can the matter be?\" are the opening lyrics on \"Disaster\", the first composition on The Residents' ep of nursery rhymes, Goosebumps.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links \n — the traditional tune for the songs\n\n18th-century songs\nEnglish nursery rhymes\nEnglish folk songs\nEnglish children's songs\nTraditional children's songs",
"The Anger and the Truth is the third full-length album by the Boston street punk band The Unseen.\n\nTrack listing\n \"Live in Fear\" (lyrics: Mark / music: Scott) (2:15)\n \"Something to Say\" (lyrics & music: Paul) (1:52)\n \"Give In to Hate\" (lyrics: Tripp / music: Paul) (2:06)\n \"1,000 Miles\" (Lyrics: Mark, Paul, & Tripp / Music: Scott) (1:24)\n \"The Anger and the Truth\" (lyrics & music: Paul) (2:18)\n \"No Turning Back\" (lyrics & music: Tripp) (1:32)\n \"What Happened?\" (lyrics: Paul / music: Paul & Tripp) (2:45)\n \"No Master Race\" (lyrics: Mark / music: Scott) (2:23)\n \"Never Forget\" (lyrics & music: Tripp) (1:55)\n \"Where Have You Gone?\" (lyrics: Mark / music: Scott) (2:38)\n \"Fight for a Better Life\" (lyrics & music: Paul) (2:20)\n \"No Evacuation\" (Lyrics & Music: Brian \"Chainsaw\" Reily) (2:16)\n\nPersonnel\nMark – Drums, Vocals\nPaul – Guitar, Drums, Vocals\nTripp – Bass, Vocals\nScott – Guitar\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nThe Anger and The Truth @ discogs.com\n\nThe Unseen (band) albums\n2001 albums\nBYO Records albums"
] |
[
"Cross Road Blues",
"Lyrics and interpretation",
"What are the lyrics?",
"Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy,"
] | C_42f8f5f180984e98bc33de556691d167_0 | What happens after he asks? | 2 | What happens after the protagonist of Cross Road Blues asks God's mercy? | Cross Road Blues | A crossroads or an intersection of rural roads is one of the few landmarks in the Mississippi Delta, a flat featureless plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is part of the local iconography and various businesses use the name, such as gas stations, banks, and retail shops. A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker. In the simplest reading, Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets. However, many see different levels of meaning and some have attached a supernatural significance to the song. Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tells of his failed attempts to hitch a ride. In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress. The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. The lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain, but they have been interpreted as a description of the singer's fear of losing his soul to the Devil (presumably in exchange for his talent). Music historian Elijah Wald believes that Johnson's verses do not support the idea. Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson promoted himself as having made a deal with the Devil and Southern folklore identifies a crossroads or graveyard as the site of such a pact, which Wald identifies as likely sources of the myth. However, musicologist Robert Palmer points out that Johnson was "fascinated with and probably obsessed by supernatural imagery." His song "Hellhound on My Trail" tells of trying to stay ahead of the demon hound which is pursuing him and in "Me and the Devil Blues" he sings, "Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door, and I said 'Hello Satan I believe it's time to go'". These songs contribute to the Faustian myth; how much Johnson promoted the idea is debated, although many agree "the 'devil angle' made for good marketing". Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary. The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States. Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here". Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place. Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness. Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman". CANNOTANSWER | The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. | "Cross Road Blues" (also known as "Crossroads") is a blues song written and recorded by American blues artist Robert Johnson in 1936. Johnson performed it as a solo piece with his vocal and acoustic slide guitar in the Delta blues-style. The song has become part of the Robert Johnson mythology as referring to the place where he supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his musical talents, although the lyrics do not contain any specific references.
Bluesman Elmore James revived the song with recordings in 1954 and 1960–1961. English guitarist Eric Clapton with Cream popularized the song as "Crossroads" in the late 1960s. Their blues rock interpretation inspired many cover versions and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included it as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Rolling Stone placed it at number three on the magazine's list of the "Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" in recognition of Clapton's guitar work.
Recording
In October 1936, Johnson auditioned for music store owner and sometime talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi; Speir passed on Johnson's contact information to Ernie Oertle, who was a representative for ARC Records. After a second audition, Oertle arranged for Johnson to travel to San Antonio, Texas, for a recording session. Johnson recorded 22 songs for ARC over three days from November 23 to 27, 1936. During the first session, he recorded his most commercially appealing songs. They mostly represented his original pieces and reflected current, piano-influenced musical trends. The songs include "Terraplane Blues" (his first single and most popular record) along with "Sweet Home Chicago" and "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom", which became blues standards after others recorded them.
A second and third recording date took place in San Antonio after a two-day break. The material Johnson chose shows more variety than that for his first date and he reached back into his long-standing repertoire for songs to record. The material reflects the styles of country blues performers Charley Patton and Son House, who influenced Johnson in his youth and are among Johnson's most heartfelt and forceful.
"Cross Road Blues" was recorded during Johnson's third session in San Antonio, on Friday, November 27, 1936. The sessions continued at an improvised studio in Room 414 at the Gunter Hotel. ARC producer Don Law supervised the recording and used a portable disc cutting machine. It is unknown what input, if any, Law had into Johnson's selection of material to record or how to present it. Two similar takes of the song were recorded.
Lyrics and interpretation
A crossroads or an intersection of rural roads is one of the few landmarks in the Mississippi Delta, a flat featureless plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is part of the local iconography and various businesses use the name, such as gas stations, banks, and retail shops. A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker. In the simplest reading, Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets. However, many see different levels of meaning and some have attached a supernatural significance to the song.
Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tells of his failed attempts to hitch a ride. In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress.
The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. The lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain, but they have been interpreted as a description of the singer's fear of losing his soul to the Devil (presumably in exchange for his talent). Music historians believe that Johnson's verses do not support the idea. Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson promoted himself as having made a deal with the Devil and Southern folklore identifies a crossroads or graveyard as the site of such a pact, which Wald identifies as likely sources of the myth. However, Johnson later recorded two songs that include Satanic references: in "Hellhound on My Trail" tells of trying to stay ahead of the demon hound which is pursuing him and in "Me and the Devil Blues" he sings, "Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door, and I said 'Hello Satan I believe it's time to go'". These songs contribute to the Faustian myth; how much Johnson promoted the idea is debated, although many agree "the 'devil angle' made for good marketing".
Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary. The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States. Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here". Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place. Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness. Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman".
Composition
"Cross Road Blues" reflects Johnson's Delta blues roots and may have been in his repertoire since 1932. It is the first recording to show his mastery of his mentor Son House's style, particularly in his slide guitar work. Music historian Edward Komara identifies parts of "Straight Alky Blues" by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell (1929) along with Roosevelt Sykes' subsequent adaptation as "Black River Blues" (1930) as melodic precedents. However, Johnson infuses their relaxed urban approach with a more forceful rural one. Komara terms Johnson's guitar playing a "blues harp style". It contrasts with Johnson's finger-picking "piano style", which uses a boogie-style accompaniment on the bass strings while playing melody and harmonies on the higher strings. Harp-style playing employs sharp percussive accents on the bass strings (an imitation of the sharp draw used by harmonica players) and allows Johnson to explore different chordings and fills. Johnson uses this technique for "Terraplane Blues", which shares many common elements with "Cross Road Blues".
The song's structure differs from a well-defined twelve-bar blues. The verses are not consistent and range from fourteen to fifteen bars in length. Additionally, the harmonic progression is often implied rather than stated (full IV and V chords are not used). Johnson uses a Spanish or open G tuning with the guitar tuned up to the key of B. This facilitates Johnson's use of a slide, which features as prominently in the song as the vocal. The slide parts function more as a second "answer" vocal than accompaniment, with the tension underscoring the dark turmoil of the lyrics. Charters characterizes the song's rhythm as ambiguous, imparting both a 4/4 time and 8/8 feel. Music writer Dave Headlam elaborates on Johnson's rhythm:
The two takes of the song are performed at moderate, but somewhat different tempos. Both begin slower and speed up; the first is about 106 beats per minute (bpm), while the second is about 96 bpm. Johnson prepares to go into the fifth section for the slower second take, but the engineer apparently cut him off because of the time limits of ten-inch 78 rpm records. In addition to the slower tempo, Johnson sings the verses at a lower pitch, although both takes are in the same key. This allows for greater variation and nuance in the vocal. Together with refinements to some guitar parts, the differences serve to help further distinguish the second take from "Terraplane Blues" and give it more of its own character.
Releases
ARC and Vocalion Records issued the first take of "Cross Road Blues" in May 1937 on the then standard 78 rpm record. With the flip side "Ramblin' on My Mind", it was the third of eleven singles released during Johnson's lifetime. Vocalion's budget labels Perfect Records and Romeo Records also released the single for sale by dime stores. Although sales figures are not available, the record was "widely heard in the Delta" and Johnson's tunes were found in jukeboxes in the region.
As with most of Johnson's recordings, "Cross Road Blues" remained out of print after its initial release until The Complete Recordings box set in 1990. The second take was released in 1961, when producer Frank Driggs substituted it for the original on Johnson's first long-playing record album compilation King of the Delta Blues Singers. This take was also included on the 1990 Complete Recordings (at 2:29, it is 10 seconds shorter than the original 2:39 single version).
Elmore James versions
American blues singer and guitarist Elmore James, who popularized Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom", recorded two variations on "Cross Road Blues". Both titled "Standing at the Crossroads", they feature James' trademark "Dust My Broom" amplified slide-guitar figure and a backing ensemble. James' lyrics focus on the lost-love aspect of the song:
James first recorded the song in August 1954 at Modern Records' new studio in Culver City, California. Maxwell Davis supervised the session and a group of professional studio musicians provided the backup. The song was produced in a newer style that Modern used successfully for B.B. King and James' slide guitar was placed further back in the mix. Flair Records, another of the Bihari brothers' Modern labels, released the single, backed with "Sunny Land". The song became a regional hit, but did not reach the national charts. Labels associated with Modern included "Standing at the Crossroads" on several James compilation albums, such as Blues After Hours (Crown), The Blues in My Heart – The Rhythm in My Soul (Custom Records), and Original Folk Blues (Kent Records).
In 1959, producer Bobby Robinson signed James to his Fury/Fire/Enjoy group of labels. In addition to new material, Robinson had James revisit several of his older songs, including "Standing at the Crossroads". James re-recorded it at Beltone Studios in New York City in late 1960 or early 1961 during one of his last sessions. Studio musicians again provided the backup and the horn section included baritone saxophone by Paul Williams. Bell Records' subsidiary labels released the song after James' death in 1965 – Flashback Records released a single with a reissue of "The Sky Is Crying" and Sphere Sound Records included it on a James compilation album also titled The Sky Is Crying. Both the 1954 and 1960–1961 versions appear on numerous later James compilations.
Homesick James, who recorded and toured with his cousin Elmore, also recorded a rendition titled "Crossroads". Homesick derived his guitar style from Elmore, which music critic Bill Dahl describes as "aggressive, sometimes chaotic slide work". Unlike Elmore, however, he uses most of the lyrics from Johnson's second take, which had been first issued in 1961. The July 23, 1963, recording session produced Homesick's only single for Chicago-based USA Records, "Crossroads" backed with "My Baby's Sweet".
Eric Clapton/Cream interpretation
Background
In early 1966, while still with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Eric Clapton adapted the song for a recording session with an ad hoc studio group, dubbed Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse. Elektra Records producer Joe Boyd brought together Steve Winwood on vocals, Clapton on guitar, Jack Bruce on bass guitar, Paul Jones on harmonica, Ben Palmer on piano, and Pete York on drums for the project. Boyd recalled that he and Clapton reviewed potential songs; Clapton wanted to record Albert King's "Crosscut Saw", but Boyd preferred to adapt an older country blues. Their attention turned to Robert Johnson songs and Boyd proposed "Crossroads" and Clapton chose "Traveling Riverside Blues".
For the recording, Clapton developed an arrangement using lyrics from both songs with an adaption of the guitar line from the latter. Biographer Michael Schumacher describes the Powerhouse's performance as slower and more blues-based than Cream's. Elektra released the 2:32 recording, titled "Crossroads", on the compilation album What's Shakin' in June 1966. After the Powerhouse session, Clapton continued playing with Mayall. Author Marc Roberty lists "Crossroads" in a typical set for the Bluesbreakers in the spring of 1966.
Cream version
"Crossroads" became a part of Cream's repertoire when Clapton began performing with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in July 1966. Their version features a prominent guitar riff with hard-driving, upbeat instrumental backing and soloing. Clapton previously recorded "Ramblin' on My Mind" with Mayall and "From Four Until Late" with Cream using arrangements that followed Johnson's original songs more closely. However, he envisioned "Crossroads" as a rock song:
Clapton simplifies Johnson's guitar line and sets it to a straight eighth-note or rock rhythm. He and Bruce on bass continuously emphasize the riff throughout the song to give it a strong and regular metric drive combined with Baker's drumming. Johnson's irregular measures are also standardized to typical twelve-bar sections in which the I–IV–V blues progression is clearly stated. Clapton does not adapt Johnson's slide guitar technique or open tuning; instead he follows the electric guitar soloing approach of B.B. King and Albert King. However, he employs a Johnson guitar innovation, the duple shuffle pattern or boogie bass line, while singing (Johnson only used it for two bars in "Cross Road Blues").
Clapton also simplifies and standardizes Johnson's vocal lines. Schumacher calls Clapton's vocal on "Crossroads" his best and most assured with Cream. In addition to Johnson's opening and closing lyrics, he twice adds the same section from "Traveling Riverside Blues":
During the instrumental break, Cream takes an improvisational approach characteristic of their later live performances. Bruce's bass lines blend rhythm and harmony and Baker adds fills and more complex techniques typical of drummers in jazz trios. However, the momentum is never allowed to dissipate and is constantly reinforced.
Cash Box described it as "a new winner" for Cream, stating that "the blazing instrumental break gives this track a luster which will bring home the sales."
Recording and releases
Cream recorded the song on November 28, 1966, for broadcast on the BBC Guitar Club radio program. At less than two minutes in length, Clapton only sings the first and last sections, with his guitar solo replacing the middle "Traveling Riverside Blues" verse. It appeared on bootleg albums before finally being released in 2003 on BBC Sessions. On March 10, 1968, Cream recorded it again during a concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The song became the opening number on the live half of Cream's Wheels of Fire double album, released in August 1968 by Polydor Records in the UK and Atco Records in the US. After the group's breakup, Atco issued the song as a single in January 1969, which reached number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 pop chart and 17 on Cashbox. Both the original album and single credit the songwriter as Robert Johnson or R. Johnson, although Clapton and Cream extensively reworked the song.
Cream played "Crossroads" during their final concert at the Royal Albert Hall on November 26, 1968. The expanded version of Cream's Farewell Concert film released in 1977 contains the performance. During their 2005 reunion, Cream revisited the song at the Royal Albert Hall and it is included on the Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005 album and video. After Cream's breakup in 1968, Clapton continued to perform "Crossroads" in a variety of settings. Live recordings appear on Live at the Fillmore (with Derek and the Dominos), Crossroads 2: Live in the Seventies, The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, and other albums. Clapton has also used the name for the Crossroads Centre, a drug rehabilitation facility he founded, and for the Crossroads Guitar Festivals to benefit it.
Editing on album version
Clapton biographer Schumacher notes "Given the passion of the solo performances on 'Crossroads,' it seems almost miraculous that Cream is able to return to the song itself." Several music writers have explained that Cream's recording for Wheels of Fire was edited from a much longer performance that was typical for the trioin the notes for Clapton's Crossroads box set, Anthony DeCurtis credits the trimming to engineer Tom Dowd, while critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine attributes the editing to producer Felix Pappalardi, who "cut together the best bits of a winding improvisation to a tight four minutes", to allow the song's drive more continuity. In a 1985 interview, Clapton was asked if the song had been edited. He replied:
However, Barry Levenson, who produced Cream's 1997 box set Those Were the Days, asserts:
Recognition and influence
In 1986, Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues" was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. Writing for the foundation, Jim O'Neal noted that "regardless of mythology and rock 'n' roll renditions, Johnson's record was indeed a powerful one, a song that would stand the test of time on its own". In 1998, it received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award to acknowledge its quality and place in recording history. In 1995, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed Cream's "Crossroads" as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Rolling Stone magazine placed it at number three on its "Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time".
AllMusic's Richard Gilliam identifies Cream's "Crossroads" as the first recording to bring Robert Johnson to the attention of popular music audiences and allow reissues of his original recordings to sell over a million copies. By combining elements of hard rock and blues, he adds it inspired "a new generation of blues-influenced artists". Rock musicians have recorded numerous renditions based on Cream's arrangement.
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References
1936 songs
1937 singles
Robert Johnson songs
Blues songs
Songs written by Robert Johnson
Songs about roads
Songs about the Devil
1954 singles
Elmore James songs
1969 singles
Cream (band) songs
Song recordings produced by Felix Pappalardi
Atco Records singles
Polydor Records singles
Vocalion Records singles
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Song recordings produced by Don Law | true | [
"What Happens Next may refer to:\n\n What Happens Next? (film), 2012 documentary film about Dan Mangan\nWhat Happens Next? (band), American thrashcore band\n What Happens Next (Gang of Four album), 2015\nWhat Happens Next (Joe Satriani album), 2018\nWhat Happens Next (What Happened Then?), a 1984 album by American hardcore punk band Ill Repute\n\nOther uses\n What Happens Next?: A History of Hollywood Screenwriting, a book by Marc Norman\n\nSee also\n What Comes Next (disambiguation)",
"Watch What Happens may refer to:\n\n \"Watch What Happens\", the English-language version of the song \"Recit de Cassard\" by Michel Legrand from the 1964 film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg\n Watch What Happens, a 1967 jazz album by Harold Vick\n Watch What Happens!, a 1968 jazz album by Steve Kuhn\n Watch What Happens, a 1968 album by Chris Montez\n Watch What Happens, a 1978 jazz album by The L.A. Four\n The Jazz Album: Watch What Happens, a 2006 album by Thomas Quasthoff\n Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, an American talk show"
] |
[
"Cross Road Blues",
"Lyrics and interpretation",
"What are the lyrics?",
"Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy,",
"What happens after he asks?",
"The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability."
] | C_42f8f5f180984e98bc33de556691d167_0 | What does he say in the song to give this idea? | 3 | What does Johnson say in the song to give the idea of selling his soul to the Devil? | Cross Road Blues | A crossroads or an intersection of rural roads is one of the few landmarks in the Mississippi Delta, a flat featureless plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is part of the local iconography and various businesses use the name, such as gas stations, banks, and retail shops. A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker. In the simplest reading, Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets. However, many see different levels of meaning and some have attached a supernatural significance to the song. Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tells of his failed attempts to hitch a ride. In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress. The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. The lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain, but they have been interpreted as a description of the singer's fear of losing his soul to the Devil (presumably in exchange for his talent). Music historian Elijah Wald believes that Johnson's verses do not support the idea. Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson promoted himself as having made a deal with the Devil and Southern folklore identifies a crossroads or graveyard as the site of such a pact, which Wald identifies as likely sources of the myth. However, musicologist Robert Palmer points out that Johnson was "fascinated with and probably obsessed by supernatural imagery." His song "Hellhound on My Trail" tells of trying to stay ahead of the demon hound which is pursuing him and in "Me and the Devil Blues" he sings, "Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door, and I said 'Hello Satan I believe it's time to go'". These songs contribute to the Faustian myth; how much Johnson promoted the idea is debated, although many agree "the 'devil angle' made for good marketing". Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary. The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States. Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here". Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place. Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness. Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman". CANNOTANSWER | he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". | "Cross Road Blues" (also known as "Crossroads") is a blues song written and recorded by American blues artist Robert Johnson in 1936. Johnson performed it as a solo piece with his vocal and acoustic slide guitar in the Delta blues-style. The song has become part of the Robert Johnson mythology as referring to the place where he supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his musical talents, although the lyrics do not contain any specific references.
Bluesman Elmore James revived the song with recordings in 1954 and 1960–1961. English guitarist Eric Clapton with Cream popularized the song as "Crossroads" in the late 1960s. Their blues rock interpretation inspired many cover versions and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included it as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Rolling Stone placed it at number three on the magazine's list of the "Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" in recognition of Clapton's guitar work.
Recording
In October 1936, Johnson auditioned for music store owner and sometime talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi; Speir passed on Johnson's contact information to Ernie Oertle, who was a representative for ARC Records. After a second audition, Oertle arranged for Johnson to travel to San Antonio, Texas, for a recording session. Johnson recorded 22 songs for ARC over three days from November 23 to 27, 1936. During the first session, he recorded his most commercially appealing songs. They mostly represented his original pieces and reflected current, piano-influenced musical trends. The songs include "Terraplane Blues" (his first single and most popular record) along with "Sweet Home Chicago" and "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom", which became blues standards after others recorded them.
A second and third recording date took place in San Antonio after a two-day break. The material Johnson chose shows more variety than that for his first date and he reached back into his long-standing repertoire for songs to record. The material reflects the styles of country blues performers Charley Patton and Son House, who influenced Johnson in his youth and are among Johnson's most heartfelt and forceful.
"Cross Road Blues" was recorded during Johnson's third session in San Antonio, on Friday, November 27, 1936. The sessions continued at an improvised studio in Room 414 at the Gunter Hotel. ARC producer Don Law supervised the recording and used a portable disc cutting machine. It is unknown what input, if any, Law had into Johnson's selection of material to record or how to present it. Two similar takes of the song were recorded.
Lyrics and interpretation
A crossroads or an intersection of rural roads is one of the few landmarks in the Mississippi Delta, a flat featureless plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is part of the local iconography and various businesses use the name, such as gas stations, banks, and retail shops. A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker. In the simplest reading, Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets. However, many see different levels of meaning and some have attached a supernatural significance to the song.
Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tells of his failed attempts to hitch a ride. In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress.
The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. The lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain, but they have been interpreted as a description of the singer's fear of losing his soul to the Devil (presumably in exchange for his talent). Music historians believe that Johnson's verses do not support the idea. Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson promoted himself as having made a deal with the Devil and Southern folklore identifies a crossroads or graveyard as the site of such a pact, which Wald identifies as likely sources of the myth. However, Johnson later recorded two songs that include Satanic references: in "Hellhound on My Trail" tells of trying to stay ahead of the demon hound which is pursuing him and in "Me and the Devil Blues" he sings, "Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door, and I said 'Hello Satan I believe it's time to go'". These songs contribute to the Faustian myth; how much Johnson promoted the idea is debated, although many agree "the 'devil angle' made for good marketing".
Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary. The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States. Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here". Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place. Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness. Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman".
Composition
"Cross Road Blues" reflects Johnson's Delta blues roots and may have been in his repertoire since 1932. It is the first recording to show his mastery of his mentor Son House's style, particularly in his slide guitar work. Music historian Edward Komara identifies parts of "Straight Alky Blues" by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell (1929) along with Roosevelt Sykes' subsequent adaptation as "Black River Blues" (1930) as melodic precedents. However, Johnson infuses their relaxed urban approach with a more forceful rural one. Komara terms Johnson's guitar playing a "blues harp style". It contrasts with Johnson's finger-picking "piano style", which uses a boogie-style accompaniment on the bass strings while playing melody and harmonies on the higher strings. Harp-style playing employs sharp percussive accents on the bass strings (an imitation of the sharp draw used by harmonica players) and allows Johnson to explore different chordings and fills. Johnson uses this technique for "Terraplane Blues", which shares many common elements with "Cross Road Blues".
The song's structure differs from a well-defined twelve-bar blues. The verses are not consistent and range from fourteen to fifteen bars in length. Additionally, the harmonic progression is often implied rather than stated (full IV and V chords are not used). Johnson uses a Spanish or open G tuning with the guitar tuned up to the key of B. This facilitates Johnson's use of a slide, which features as prominently in the song as the vocal. The slide parts function more as a second "answer" vocal than accompaniment, with the tension underscoring the dark turmoil of the lyrics. Charters characterizes the song's rhythm as ambiguous, imparting both a 4/4 time and 8/8 feel. Music writer Dave Headlam elaborates on Johnson's rhythm:
The two takes of the song are performed at moderate, but somewhat different tempos. Both begin slower and speed up; the first is about 106 beats per minute (bpm), while the second is about 96 bpm. Johnson prepares to go into the fifth section for the slower second take, but the engineer apparently cut him off because of the time limits of ten-inch 78 rpm records. In addition to the slower tempo, Johnson sings the verses at a lower pitch, although both takes are in the same key. This allows for greater variation and nuance in the vocal. Together with refinements to some guitar parts, the differences serve to help further distinguish the second take from "Terraplane Blues" and give it more of its own character.
Releases
ARC and Vocalion Records issued the first take of "Cross Road Blues" in May 1937 on the then standard 78 rpm record. With the flip side "Ramblin' on My Mind", it was the third of eleven singles released during Johnson's lifetime. Vocalion's budget labels Perfect Records and Romeo Records also released the single for sale by dime stores. Although sales figures are not available, the record was "widely heard in the Delta" and Johnson's tunes were found in jukeboxes in the region.
As with most of Johnson's recordings, "Cross Road Blues" remained out of print after its initial release until The Complete Recordings box set in 1990. The second take was released in 1961, when producer Frank Driggs substituted it for the original on Johnson's first long-playing record album compilation King of the Delta Blues Singers. This take was also included on the 1990 Complete Recordings (at 2:29, it is 10 seconds shorter than the original 2:39 single version).
Elmore James versions
American blues singer and guitarist Elmore James, who popularized Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom", recorded two variations on "Cross Road Blues". Both titled "Standing at the Crossroads", they feature James' trademark "Dust My Broom" amplified slide-guitar figure and a backing ensemble. James' lyrics focus on the lost-love aspect of the song:
James first recorded the song in August 1954 at Modern Records' new studio in Culver City, California. Maxwell Davis supervised the session and a group of professional studio musicians provided the backup. The song was produced in a newer style that Modern used successfully for B.B. King and James' slide guitar was placed further back in the mix. Flair Records, another of the Bihari brothers' Modern labels, released the single, backed with "Sunny Land". The song became a regional hit, but did not reach the national charts. Labels associated with Modern included "Standing at the Crossroads" on several James compilation albums, such as Blues After Hours (Crown), The Blues in My Heart – The Rhythm in My Soul (Custom Records), and Original Folk Blues (Kent Records).
In 1959, producer Bobby Robinson signed James to his Fury/Fire/Enjoy group of labels. In addition to new material, Robinson had James revisit several of his older songs, including "Standing at the Crossroads". James re-recorded it at Beltone Studios in New York City in late 1960 or early 1961 during one of his last sessions. Studio musicians again provided the backup and the horn section included baritone saxophone by Paul Williams. Bell Records' subsidiary labels released the song after James' death in 1965 – Flashback Records released a single with a reissue of "The Sky Is Crying" and Sphere Sound Records included it on a James compilation album also titled The Sky Is Crying. Both the 1954 and 1960–1961 versions appear on numerous later James compilations.
Homesick James, who recorded and toured with his cousin Elmore, also recorded a rendition titled "Crossroads". Homesick derived his guitar style from Elmore, which music critic Bill Dahl describes as "aggressive, sometimes chaotic slide work". Unlike Elmore, however, he uses most of the lyrics from Johnson's second take, which had been first issued in 1961. The July 23, 1963, recording session produced Homesick's only single for Chicago-based USA Records, "Crossroads" backed with "My Baby's Sweet".
Eric Clapton/Cream interpretation
Background
In early 1966, while still with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Eric Clapton adapted the song for a recording session with an ad hoc studio group, dubbed Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse. Elektra Records producer Joe Boyd brought together Steve Winwood on vocals, Clapton on guitar, Jack Bruce on bass guitar, Paul Jones on harmonica, Ben Palmer on piano, and Pete York on drums for the project. Boyd recalled that he and Clapton reviewed potential songs; Clapton wanted to record Albert King's "Crosscut Saw", but Boyd preferred to adapt an older country blues. Their attention turned to Robert Johnson songs and Boyd proposed "Crossroads" and Clapton chose "Traveling Riverside Blues".
For the recording, Clapton developed an arrangement using lyrics from both songs with an adaption of the guitar line from the latter. Biographer Michael Schumacher describes the Powerhouse's performance as slower and more blues-based than Cream's. Elektra released the 2:32 recording, titled "Crossroads", on the compilation album What's Shakin' in June 1966. After the Powerhouse session, Clapton continued playing with Mayall. Author Marc Roberty lists "Crossroads" in a typical set for the Bluesbreakers in the spring of 1966.
Cream version
"Crossroads" became a part of Cream's repertoire when Clapton began performing with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in July 1966. Their version features a prominent guitar riff with hard-driving, upbeat instrumental backing and soloing. Clapton previously recorded "Ramblin' on My Mind" with Mayall and "From Four Until Late" with Cream using arrangements that followed Johnson's original songs more closely. However, he envisioned "Crossroads" as a rock song:
Clapton simplifies Johnson's guitar line and sets it to a straight eighth-note or rock rhythm. He and Bruce on bass continuously emphasize the riff throughout the song to give it a strong and regular metric drive combined with Baker's drumming. Johnson's irregular measures are also standardized to typical twelve-bar sections in which the I–IV–V blues progression is clearly stated. Clapton does not adapt Johnson's slide guitar technique or open tuning; instead he follows the electric guitar soloing approach of B.B. King and Albert King. However, he employs a Johnson guitar innovation, the duple shuffle pattern or boogie bass line, while singing (Johnson only used it for two bars in "Cross Road Blues").
Clapton also simplifies and standardizes Johnson's vocal lines. Schumacher calls Clapton's vocal on "Crossroads" his best and most assured with Cream. In addition to Johnson's opening and closing lyrics, he twice adds the same section from "Traveling Riverside Blues":
During the instrumental break, Cream takes an improvisational approach characteristic of their later live performances. Bruce's bass lines blend rhythm and harmony and Baker adds fills and more complex techniques typical of drummers in jazz trios. However, the momentum is never allowed to dissipate and is constantly reinforced.
Cash Box described it as "a new winner" for Cream, stating that "the blazing instrumental break gives this track a luster which will bring home the sales."
Recording and releases
Cream recorded the song on November 28, 1966, for broadcast on the BBC Guitar Club radio program. At less than two minutes in length, Clapton only sings the first and last sections, with his guitar solo replacing the middle "Traveling Riverside Blues" verse. It appeared on bootleg albums before finally being released in 2003 on BBC Sessions. On March 10, 1968, Cream recorded it again during a concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The song became the opening number on the live half of Cream's Wheels of Fire double album, released in August 1968 by Polydor Records in the UK and Atco Records in the US. After the group's breakup, Atco issued the song as a single in January 1969, which reached number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 pop chart and 17 on Cashbox. Both the original album and single credit the songwriter as Robert Johnson or R. Johnson, although Clapton and Cream extensively reworked the song.
Cream played "Crossroads" during their final concert at the Royal Albert Hall on November 26, 1968. The expanded version of Cream's Farewell Concert film released in 1977 contains the performance. During their 2005 reunion, Cream revisited the song at the Royal Albert Hall and it is included on the Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005 album and video. After Cream's breakup in 1968, Clapton continued to perform "Crossroads" in a variety of settings. Live recordings appear on Live at the Fillmore (with Derek and the Dominos), Crossroads 2: Live in the Seventies, The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, and other albums. Clapton has also used the name for the Crossroads Centre, a drug rehabilitation facility he founded, and for the Crossroads Guitar Festivals to benefit it.
Editing on album version
Clapton biographer Schumacher notes "Given the passion of the solo performances on 'Crossroads,' it seems almost miraculous that Cream is able to return to the song itself." Several music writers have explained that Cream's recording for Wheels of Fire was edited from a much longer performance that was typical for the trioin the notes for Clapton's Crossroads box set, Anthony DeCurtis credits the trimming to engineer Tom Dowd, while critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine attributes the editing to producer Felix Pappalardi, who "cut together the best bits of a winding improvisation to a tight four minutes", to allow the song's drive more continuity. In a 1985 interview, Clapton was asked if the song had been edited. He replied:
However, Barry Levenson, who produced Cream's 1997 box set Those Were the Days, asserts:
Recognition and influence
In 1986, Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues" was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. Writing for the foundation, Jim O'Neal noted that "regardless of mythology and rock 'n' roll renditions, Johnson's record was indeed a powerful one, a song that would stand the test of time on its own". In 1998, it received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award to acknowledge its quality and place in recording history. In 1995, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed Cream's "Crossroads" as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Rolling Stone magazine placed it at number three on its "Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time".
AllMusic's Richard Gilliam identifies Cream's "Crossroads" as the first recording to bring Robert Johnson to the attention of popular music audiences and allow reissues of his original recordings to sell over a million copies. By combining elements of hard rock and blues, he adds it inspired "a new generation of blues-influenced artists". Rock musicians have recorded numerous renditions based on Cream's arrangement.
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References
1936 songs
1937 singles
Robert Johnson songs
Blues songs
Songs written by Robert Johnson
Songs about roads
Songs about the Devil
1954 singles
Elmore James songs
1969 singles
Cream (band) songs
Song recordings produced by Felix Pappalardi
Atco Records singles
Polydor Records singles
Vocalion Records singles
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Song recordings produced by Don Law | true | [
"\"Say Hello 2 Heaven\" is a song by the American rock band Temple of the Dog. Written by vocalist Chris Cornell, \"Say Hello 2 Heaven\" was released in 1991 as the second single from the band's sole studio album, Temple of the Dog (1991). The song reached number five on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.\n\nCornell wrote \"Say Hello 2 Heaven\" as a tribute to his roommate, Mother Love Bone vocalist Andrew Wood, who at the time had recently died of a heroin overdose.\n\nOrigin and recording\n\"Say Hello 2 Heaven\" was one of two songs, the other being \"Reach Down\", to be written by vocalist Chris Cornell when he was on tour with Soundgarden in Europe prior to approaching former Mother Love Bone members Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard to record the songs. The recordings were originally planned to be released merely as a single before Temple of the Dog formed and decided to write more music. Cornell stated:\nRight after Andy died, we [Soundgarden] went to Europe, and it was horrible, because I couldn't talk about it, and there was no one who had loved him around. I wrote two songs, \"Reach Down\" and \"Say Hello 2 Heaven\". That was pretty much how I dealt with it. When we came back, I recorded them right away. They seemed different from what Soundgarden naturally does, and they seemed to fit together. They seemed like music he would like. I got the idea to release them as a single, and to get at least Stone and Jeff, or all of Love Bone, to play on it. I had the idea for a couple days, then, with an artist's lack of self-confidence, I decided it was a stupid idea. Somehow those guys heard the tape, and they were really, really excited. Stone and Jeff and our drummer, Matt, had been working on a demo for what ended up being Pearl Jam, so we had the idea that we would make an EP or a record, and maybe even do some of Andy's solo songs.\n\nIn a 2016 interview, Cornell stated:\nWith all that’s been written about Temple of the Dog recently, it’s reminded me of the original meanings of those songs. Say Hello 2 Heaven, for example, was one of the songs I wrote directly for Andy Wood and the amount of times someone has requested I play that song for someone else who’s died have been numerous. That’s great that it’s become this anthem that makes somebody feel some comfort when they’ve lost someone, but recently I’ve become a little more possessive of the idea that this song was actually written for a specific guy and I haven’t forgotten that person. So I’ve been reminding myself and those in the audience where that song came from.\n\nRelease and reception\n\"Say Hello 2 Heaven\" peaked at number five on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Outside the United States, the single was released commercially in Germany and the United Kingdom. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly called the song \"something of an alternative-rock power ballad.\"\n\nLive performances\n\"Say Hello 2 Heaven\" was first performed live at the band's November 13, 1990, concert in Seattle, Washington at the Off Ramp Café. Cornell added \"Say Hello 2 Heaven\" to his solo live set in 2007.\n\nTrack listing\nAll songs written by Chris Cornell.\n7\" Vinyl (Germany)\n\"Say Hello 2 Heaven\" – 6:22\n\"Wooden Jesus\" – 4:09\n\nCD (Germany and UK)\n\"Say Hello 2 Heaven\" (edit) - 4:25\n\"Say Hello 2 Heaven\" – 6:22\n\"Wooden Jesus\" – 4:09\n\nPromotional CD (US)\n\"Say Hello 2 Heaven\" (edit) - 4:25\n\"Say Hello 2 Heaven\" – 6:22\n\nChart positions\n\nReferences\n\n1991 singles\nSongs in memory of deceased persons\nSongs inspired by deaths\nTemple of the Dog songs\nSongs written by Chris Cornell\nSong recordings produced by Matt Cameron\nSong recordings produced by Jeff Ament\nSong recordings produced by Stone Gossard\nSong recordings produced by Mike McCready\nSong recordings produced by Eddie Vedder\nSong recordings produced by Chris Cornell\nSong recordings produced by Rick Parashar\nRock ballads\n1991 songs\nA&M Records singles",
"Mugimama Is This Monkey Music? is an album by Mugison, released in 2004. The name of the song \"What I Would Say in Your Funeral\" has been misspelled at the back of the cover as \"What I Would Say in Your Funiral\".\n\nTrack listing\n\"I Want You\" - 3:53\n\"The Chicken Song\" - 3:04\n\"Never Give Up\" - 0:50\n\"2 Birds\" - 5:06\n\"What I Would Say In Your Funeral\" - 3:53\n\"Sad as a Truck\" - 3:16\n\"Swing Ding\" - 0:28\n\"I'd Ask\" 2:48\n\"Murr Murr\" - 2:52\n\"Salt\" - 3:50\n\"Hold on to Happiness\" - 4:30\n\"Afi minn\" - 9:07\n\n2004 albums\nMugison albums\nIpecac Recordings albums"
] |
[
"Cross Road Blues",
"Lyrics and interpretation",
"What are the lyrics?",
"Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy,",
"What happens after he asks?",
"The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability.",
"What does he say in the song to give this idea?",
"he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that \"I'm sinkin' down\"."
] | C_42f8f5f180984e98bc33de556691d167_0 | What else does he say in the song? | 4 | Besides "I'm sinkin' down", what else does Johnson say in the song Cross Road Blues? | Cross Road Blues | A crossroads or an intersection of rural roads is one of the few landmarks in the Mississippi Delta, a flat featureless plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is part of the local iconography and various businesses use the name, such as gas stations, banks, and retail shops. A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker. In the simplest reading, Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets. However, many see different levels of meaning and some have attached a supernatural significance to the song. Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tells of his failed attempts to hitch a ride. In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress. The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. The lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain, but they have been interpreted as a description of the singer's fear of losing his soul to the Devil (presumably in exchange for his talent). Music historian Elijah Wald believes that Johnson's verses do not support the idea. Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson promoted himself as having made a deal with the Devil and Southern folklore identifies a crossroads or graveyard as the site of such a pact, which Wald identifies as likely sources of the myth. However, musicologist Robert Palmer points out that Johnson was "fascinated with and probably obsessed by supernatural imagery." His song "Hellhound on My Trail" tells of trying to stay ahead of the demon hound which is pursuing him and in "Me and the Devil Blues" he sings, "Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door, and I said 'Hello Satan I believe it's time to go'". These songs contribute to the Faustian myth; how much Johnson promoted the idea is debated, although many agree "the 'devil angle' made for good marketing". Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary. The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States. Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here". Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place. Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness. Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman". CANNOTANSWER | The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. | "Cross Road Blues" (also known as "Crossroads") is a blues song written and recorded by American blues artist Robert Johnson in 1936. Johnson performed it as a solo piece with his vocal and acoustic slide guitar in the Delta blues-style. The song has become part of the Robert Johnson mythology as referring to the place where he supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his musical talents, although the lyrics do not contain any specific references.
Bluesman Elmore James revived the song with recordings in 1954 and 1960–1961. English guitarist Eric Clapton with Cream popularized the song as "Crossroads" in the late 1960s. Their blues rock interpretation inspired many cover versions and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included it as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Rolling Stone placed it at number three on the magazine's list of the "Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" in recognition of Clapton's guitar work.
Recording
In October 1936, Johnson auditioned for music store owner and sometime talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi; Speir passed on Johnson's contact information to Ernie Oertle, who was a representative for ARC Records. After a second audition, Oertle arranged for Johnson to travel to San Antonio, Texas, for a recording session. Johnson recorded 22 songs for ARC over three days from November 23 to 27, 1936. During the first session, he recorded his most commercially appealing songs. They mostly represented his original pieces and reflected current, piano-influenced musical trends. The songs include "Terraplane Blues" (his first single and most popular record) along with "Sweet Home Chicago" and "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom", which became blues standards after others recorded them.
A second and third recording date took place in San Antonio after a two-day break. The material Johnson chose shows more variety than that for his first date and he reached back into his long-standing repertoire for songs to record. The material reflects the styles of country blues performers Charley Patton and Son House, who influenced Johnson in his youth and are among Johnson's most heartfelt and forceful.
"Cross Road Blues" was recorded during Johnson's third session in San Antonio, on Friday, November 27, 1936. The sessions continued at an improvised studio in Room 414 at the Gunter Hotel. ARC producer Don Law supervised the recording and used a portable disc cutting machine. It is unknown what input, if any, Law had into Johnson's selection of material to record or how to present it. Two similar takes of the song were recorded.
Lyrics and interpretation
A crossroads or an intersection of rural roads is one of the few landmarks in the Mississippi Delta, a flat featureless plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is part of the local iconography and various businesses use the name, such as gas stations, banks, and retail shops. A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker. In the simplest reading, Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets. However, many see different levels of meaning and some have attached a supernatural significance to the song.
Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tells of his failed attempts to hitch a ride. In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress.
The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. The lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain, but they have been interpreted as a description of the singer's fear of losing his soul to the Devil (presumably in exchange for his talent). Music historians believe that Johnson's verses do not support the idea. Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson promoted himself as having made a deal with the Devil and Southern folklore identifies a crossroads or graveyard as the site of such a pact, which Wald identifies as likely sources of the myth. However, Johnson later recorded two songs that include Satanic references: in "Hellhound on My Trail" tells of trying to stay ahead of the demon hound which is pursuing him and in "Me and the Devil Blues" he sings, "Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door, and I said 'Hello Satan I believe it's time to go'". These songs contribute to the Faustian myth; how much Johnson promoted the idea is debated, although many agree "the 'devil angle' made for good marketing".
Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary. The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States. Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here". Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place. Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness. Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman".
Composition
"Cross Road Blues" reflects Johnson's Delta blues roots and may have been in his repertoire since 1932. It is the first recording to show his mastery of his mentor Son House's style, particularly in his slide guitar work. Music historian Edward Komara identifies parts of "Straight Alky Blues" by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell (1929) along with Roosevelt Sykes' subsequent adaptation as "Black River Blues" (1930) as melodic precedents. However, Johnson infuses their relaxed urban approach with a more forceful rural one. Komara terms Johnson's guitar playing a "blues harp style". It contrasts with Johnson's finger-picking "piano style", which uses a boogie-style accompaniment on the bass strings while playing melody and harmonies on the higher strings. Harp-style playing employs sharp percussive accents on the bass strings (an imitation of the sharp draw used by harmonica players) and allows Johnson to explore different chordings and fills. Johnson uses this technique for "Terraplane Blues", which shares many common elements with "Cross Road Blues".
The song's structure differs from a well-defined twelve-bar blues. The verses are not consistent and range from fourteen to fifteen bars in length. Additionally, the harmonic progression is often implied rather than stated (full IV and V chords are not used). Johnson uses a Spanish or open G tuning with the guitar tuned up to the key of B. This facilitates Johnson's use of a slide, which features as prominently in the song as the vocal. The slide parts function more as a second "answer" vocal than accompaniment, with the tension underscoring the dark turmoil of the lyrics. Charters characterizes the song's rhythm as ambiguous, imparting both a 4/4 time and 8/8 feel. Music writer Dave Headlam elaborates on Johnson's rhythm:
The two takes of the song are performed at moderate, but somewhat different tempos. Both begin slower and speed up; the first is about 106 beats per minute (bpm), while the second is about 96 bpm. Johnson prepares to go into the fifth section for the slower second take, but the engineer apparently cut him off because of the time limits of ten-inch 78 rpm records. In addition to the slower tempo, Johnson sings the verses at a lower pitch, although both takes are in the same key. This allows for greater variation and nuance in the vocal. Together with refinements to some guitar parts, the differences serve to help further distinguish the second take from "Terraplane Blues" and give it more of its own character.
Releases
ARC and Vocalion Records issued the first take of "Cross Road Blues" in May 1937 on the then standard 78 rpm record. With the flip side "Ramblin' on My Mind", it was the third of eleven singles released during Johnson's lifetime. Vocalion's budget labels Perfect Records and Romeo Records also released the single for sale by dime stores. Although sales figures are not available, the record was "widely heard in the Delta" and Johnson's tunes were found in jukeboxes in the region.
As with most of Johnson's recordings, "Cross Road Blues" remained out of print after its initial release until The Complete Recordings box set in 1990. The second take was released in 1961, when producer Frank Driggs substituted it for the original on Johnson's first long-playing record album compilation King of the Delta Blues Singers. This take was also included on the 1990 Complete Recordings (at 2:29, it is 10 seconds shorter than the original 2:39 single version).
Elmore James versions
American blues singer and guitarist Elmore James, who popularized Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom", recorded two variations on "Cross Road Blues". Both titled "Standing at the Crossroads", they feature James' trademark "Dust My Broom" amplified slide-guitar figure and a backing ensemble. James' lyrics focus on the lost-love aspect of the song:
James first recorded the song in August 1954 at Modern Records' new studio in Culver City, California. Maxwell Davis supervised the session and a group of professional studio musicians provided the backup. The song was produced in a newer style that Modern used successfully for B.B. King and James' slide guitar was placed further back in the mix. Flair Records, another of the Bihari brothers' Modern labels, released the single, backed with "Sunny Land". The song became a regional hit, but did not reach the national charts. Labels associated with Modern included "Standing at the Crossroads" on several James compilation albums, such as Blues After Hours (Crown), The Blues in My Heart – The Rhythm in My Soul (Custom Records), and Original Folk Blues (Kent Records).
In 1959, producer Bobby Robinson signed James to his Fury/Fire/Enjoy group of labels. In addition to new material, Robinson had James revisit several of his older songs, including "Standing at the Crossroads". James re-recorded it at Beltone Studios in New York City in late 1960 or early 1961 during one of his last sessions. Studio musicians again provided the backup and the horn section included baritone saxophone by Paul Williams. Bell Records' subsidiary labels released the song after James' death in 1965 – Flashback Records released a single with a reissue of "The Sky Is Crying" and Sphere Sound Records included it on a James compilation album also titled The Sky Is Crying. Both the 1954 and 1960–1961 versions appear on numerous later James compilations.
Homesick James, who recorded and toured with his cousin Elmore, also recorded a rendition titled "Crossroads". Homesick derived his guitar style from Elmore, which music critic Bill Dahl describes as "aggressive, sometimes chaotic slide work". Unlike Elmore, however, he uses most of the lyrics from Johnson's second take, which had been first issued in 1961. The July 23, 1963, recording session produced Homesick's only single for Chicago-based USA Records, "Crossroads" backed with "My Baby's Sweet".
Eric Clapton/Cream interpretation
Background
In early 1966, while still with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Eric Clapton adapted the song for a recording session with an ad hoc studio group, dubbed Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse. Elektra Records producer Joe Boyd brought together Steve Winwood on vocals, Clapton on guitar, Jack Bruce on bass guitar, Paul Jones on harmonica, Ben Palmer on piano, and Pete York on drums for the project. Boyd recalled that he and Clapton reviewed potential songs; Clapton wanted to record Albert King's "Crosscut Saw", but Boyd preferred to adapt an older country blues. Their attention turned to Robert Johnson songs and Boyd proposed "Crossroads" and Clapton chose "Traveling Riverside Blues".
For the recording, Clapton developed an arrangement using lyrics from both songs with an adaption of the guitar line from the latter. Biographer Michael Schumacher describes the Powerhouse's performance as slower and more blues-based than Cream's. Elektra released the 2:32 recording, titled "Crossroads", on the compilation album What's Shakin' in June 1966. After the Powerhouse session, Clapton continued playing with Mayall. Author Marc Roberty lists "Crossroads" in a typical set for the Bluesbreakers in the spring of 1966.
Cream version
"Crossroads" became a part of Cream's repertoire when Clapton began performing with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in July 1966. Their version features a prominent guitar riff with hard-driving, upbeat instrumental backing and soloing. Clapton previously recorded "Ramblin' on My Mind" with Mayall and "From Four Until Late" with Cream using arrangements that followed Johnson's original songs more closely. However, he envisioned "Crossroads" as a rock song:
Clapton simplifies Johnson's guitar line and sets it to a straight eighth-note or rock rhythm. He and Bruce on bass continuously emphasize the riff throughout the song to give it a strong and regular metric drive combined with Baker's drumming. Johnson's irregular measures are also standardized to typical twelve-bar sections in which the I–IV–V blues progression is clearly stated. Clapton does not adapt Johnson's slide guitar technique or open tuning; instead he follows the electric guitar soloing approach of B.B. King and Albert King. However, he employs a Johnson guitar innovation, the duple shuffle pattern or boogie bass line, while singing (Johnson only used it for two bars in "Cross Road Blues").
Clapton also simplifies and standardizes Johnson's vocal lines. Schumacher calls Clapton's vocal on "Crossroads" his best and most assured with Cream. In addition to Johnson's opening and closing lyrics, he twice adds the same section from "Traveling Riverside Blues":
During the instrumental break, Cream takes an improvisational approach characteristic of their later live performances. Bruce's bass lines blend rhythm and harmony and Baker adds fills and more complex techniques typical of drummers in jazz trios. However, the momentum is never allowed to dissipate and is constantly reinforced.
Cash Box described it as "a new winner" for Cream, stating that "the blazing instrumental break gives this track a luster which will bring home the sales."
Recording and releases
Cream recorded the song on November 28, 1966, for broadcast on the BBC Guitar Club radio program. At less than two minutes in length, Clapton only sings the first and last sections, with his guitar solo replacing the middle "Traveling Riverside Blues" verse. It appeared on bootleg albums before finally being released in 2003 on BBC Sessions. On March 10, 1968, Cream recorded it again during a concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The song became the opening number on the live half of Cream's Wheels of Fire double album, released in August 1968 by Polydor Records in the UK and Atco Records in the US. After the group's breakup, Atco issued the song as a single in January 1969, which reached number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 pop chart and 17 on Cashbox. Both the original album and single credit the songwriter as Robert Johnson or R. Johnson, although Clapton and Cream extensively reworked the song.
Cream played "Crossroads" during their final concert at the Royal Albert Hall on November 26, 1968. The expanded version of Cream's Farewell Concert film released in 1977 contains the performance. During their 2005 reunion, Cream revisited the song at the Royal Albert Hall and it is included on the Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005 album and video. After Cream's breakup in 1968, Clapton continued to perform "Crossroads" in a variety of settings. Live recordings appear on Live at the Fillmore (with Derek and the Dominos), Crossroads 2: Live in the Seventies, The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, and other albums. Clapton has also used the name for the Crossroads Centre, a drug rehabilitation facility he founded, and for the Crossroads Guitar Festivals to benefit it.
Editing on album version
Clapton biographer Schumacher notes "Given the passion of the solo performances on 'Crossroads,' it seems almost miraculous that Cream is able to return to the song itself." Several music writers have explained that Cream's recording for Wheels of Fire was edited from a much longer performance that was typical for the trioin the notes for Clapton's Crossroads box set, Anthony DeCurtis credits the trimming to engineer Tom Dowd, while critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine attributes the editing to producer Felix Pappalardi, who "cut together the best bits of a winding improvisation to a tight four minutes", to allow the song's drive more continuity. In a 1985 interview, Clapton was asked if the song had been edited. He replied:
However, Barry Levenson, who produced Cream's 1997 box set Those Were the Days, asserts:
Recognition and influence
In 1986, Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues" was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. Writing for the foundation, Jim O'Neal noted that "regardless of mythology and rock 'n' roll renditions, Johnson's record was indeed a powerful one, a song that would stand the test of time on its own". In 1998, it received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award to acknowledge its quality and place in recording history. In 1995, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed Cream's "Crossroads" as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Rolling Stone magazine placed it at number three on its "Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time".
AllMusic's Richard Gilliam identifies Cream's "Crossroads" as the first recording to bring Robert Johnson to the attention of popular music audiences and allow reissues of his original recordings to sell over a million copies. By combining elements of hard rock and blues, he adds it inspired "a new generation of blues-influenced artists". Rock musicians have recorded numerous renditions based on Cream's arrangement.
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References
1936 songs
1937 singles
Robert Johnson songs
Blues songs
Songs written by Robert Johnson
Songs about roads
Songs about the Devil
1954 singles
Elmore James songs
1969 singles
Cream (band) songs
Song recordings produced by Felix Pappalardi
Atco Records singles
Polydor Records singles
Vocalion Records singles
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Song recordings produced by Don Law | true | [
"The discography of Ira Losco, a Maltese singer, contains five studio albums and forty-three singles. She represented Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 in Tallinn, Estonia with the song \"7th Wonder\", the song went on to finish second in the Final which was won by Marie N from Latvia with the song \"I Wanna\". She represented her country for the second time at Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden with the song \"Walk on Water\" and finished 11th (Ties with The Netherlands) in the grand final.\n\nHer debut studio album, Someone Else, was released in April 2004. The album includes the singles \"Love Me Or Hate Me\", \"Who I Am\", \"Someone Else\", \"Say Hey\", \"I'm In Love Again\" and \"Must've Been Good\". Her first Remix album, Blends & Remixes of Someone Else, was released in January 2005. Her second studio album, Accident Prone, was released in November 2005. The album includes the singles \"Everyday\", \"Get Out\", \"Don't Wanna Talk About It\", \"Driving One Of Your Cars\", \"Accident Prone\", \"Uh-Oh\" and \"Waking Up To The Light\". Her third studio album, Unmasked, was released in December 2006. The album includes the singles \"Winter Day\" and \"Arms Of The Ones...\". Her fourth studio album, Fortune Teller, was released in June 2008. The album includes the singles \"Something To Talk About\", \"Don't Look Down\", \"Idle Motion\", \"Promises\", \"Elvis Can You Hear Me?\", \"Shoulders of Giants\", \"What's The Matter With You?\" and \"Fortune Teller\". Her second Remix album, Mixed Beats, was released in August 2009. The album includes the singles \"What's The Matter With Your Cabrio\", \"Shoulders of Giants\" and \"Love Song\". Her fifth studio album, The Fire, was released in March 2013. The album includes the singles \"What I'd Give\", \"The Person I Am\", \"Me Luv U Long Time\" and \"The Way It's Meant To Be\".\n\nAlbums\n\nStudio albums\n\nRemix albums\n\nCompilation albums\n\nSingles\n\nAs lead artist\n\nOther appearances\n\nCovers & Re-Makes\n Ira re-made the track \"Say Hey\" featuring aspiring singer Caroline Stapley in 2004. The track was just a radio hit and is not featured in any album or single.\n Michelle Hunziker covered the tracks \"Get Out\", \"Love Me Or Hate Me\" and \"Someone Else\" for her debut album \"Lole\" in 2006.\n \"Accident Prone\" was remixed by DJ Ruby, Thomas Penton & Alex Armes, but wasn't featured in any album.\n Riffs from \"Uh Oh\" were sampled on Kelly Clarkson's track \"Don't Waste Your Time\".\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official Website\n\nDiscographies of Maltese artists\nPop music discographies",
"\"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga, from her debut album, The Fame (2008). It was released as the third single from the album in Australia, New Zealand and selected European countries, and the fourth single in France. The song is a calypso-styled, mid-tempo ballad, and is about breaking up with one's old partner and finding someone new. \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" received mixed reviews from US-based critics, who denoted it as \"dry and lifeless\", blaming it for halting the \"bad-girl party atmosphere\" of The Fame.\n\nFailing to match the popularity of her previous singles, the song peaked at number fifteen on the Australian ARIA Charts and at number nine on the RIANZ charts of New Zealand. It proved to be successful in Sweden, where it managed to peak at number two on the Sverigetopplistan chart, as well as in the Czech Republic, France, and Hungary, where it reached the top-ten of their respective charts. \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" received Gold certifications for its sales in Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, and the United States.\n\nThe accompanying Italian-American 1950s-themed music video portrayed Gaga and her friends roaming around the streets of the Little Italy neighborhood of New York City, Gaga riding a Vespa and also singing the song while at home with her boyfriend. The video was noted for its contrasting portrayal of Gaga doing feminine work, as compared to her previous endeavours. She performed \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" on her first headlining concert tour, The Fame Ball Tour, wearing a black-and-white leotard, and during the first legs of The Monster Ball Tour, while standing inside a giant gyroscope.\n\nBackground and composition\n\"Eh, Eh\" was written by Gaga with Martin Kierszenbaum, who also produced the track. It was recorded at Cherrytree Recording Studios in Santa Monica, California. In 2005, Kierszenbaum founded Cherrytree Records along with Jimmy Iovine, then chairman of Interscope Records. After signing a number of artists, he worked with then-unknown Gaga on her debut album, The Fame, producing and writing four songs with her, including the title track. One of these songs was \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\". During recording the track, Gaga fashioned a nickname for Kierszenbaum, called \"Cherry Cherry Boom Boom\". They kept the nickname in all the four songs they had worked on. Kierszenbaum later carried on the nickname in all his future projects. Other personnel working on the song included Tony Ugval, who did the audio engineering, Robert Orton for audio mixing and Gene Grimaldi, who mastered the song at Oasis Mastering Studios in Burbank, California.\n\nMusically, \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" is credited as a ballad compared to the rest of the dance-fuelled tracks from The Fame. It is a 1980s-influenced synth-pop and bubblegum pop song, while incorporating the \"Eh, Eh\" hook from Rihanna's single \"Umbrella\", according to Freedom du Lac from The Washington Post. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is set in the time signature of common time with a moderate tempo of 94 beats per minute. Gaga's vocal range spans from B3 to C5 with the main key in which the song is set being E major. The song follows in the chord progression of E–B–Fm–E–B–Fm. Gaga stated that the lyrics of \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" are about love and she explained that \"'Eh, Eh' is my simple pop song about finding someone new and breaking up with the old boyfriend.\" Writer James E. Perone mentioned in his book The Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential, and Important Creations that with the lyrics, Gaga maintained a focus on transitory relationships. Although the lyrics explained her former lover that she had found someone new and did not mean to hurt him with the news, the continuous repetition of the phrase \"nothing else I can say\" solidifies the transient nature of the relationship portrayed.\n\nCritical reception\n\nAlexis Petridis from The Guardian noted that \"Eh, Eh\" bears the influence of early 1990s Europop and \"is the first song in a long time that warrants comparison to the œuvre of Ace of Base. Matthew Chisling of AllMusic gave a negative review of the song saying \"The Fame has 'ballad,' however the breezy 'Eh, Eh' doesn't hold water on this album; rather, it feels dry and lifeless, something which holds this album back\". Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine said that \"the breezy island vibe and soft demeanor of 'Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)' is hard to buy when sandwiched between songs like 'Poker Face' and 'Beautiful, Dirty, Rich.'\" In another article analyzing about the music videos released by Gaga, Oscar Moralde from Slant Magazine noted that \"Eh, Eh\" as a track \"is an intriguing case: rather than the tech-assisted sexy-androgynous dance pop that dominates a good chunk of The Fame, it and its sister tracks 'Brown Eyes' and 'Again Again' are evidence of a stripped-down, simpler, sincere Gaga.\n\nEvan Sawdey of PopMatters said that the song is the most embarrassing moment of the album and as a result makes the album come to an intermediate halt thus ruining the \"bad-girl party atmosphere\". Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle said that \"Eh, Eh\" is a bouncy standout with some vocal personality. He also added that \"[It] would have made a killer Spice Girls single.\" Genevieve Koski of The A.V. Club called the track scaled-back and criticized Gaga's vocal abilities in the song. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called the song listless. Catherine P. Lewis from The Washington Post called the song a chirpy ballad. Christina Martin from The Meridian Star felt that the song, along with \"Summerboy\" from The Fame, is breezy and upbeat in nature. Matt Busekroos from Quinnipiac Chronicle said that the song seemed like filler.\n\nRelease and chart performance\n\"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" was first released in New Zealand on January 10, 2009, and later in Australia on January 30, 2009. \"Eh, Eh\" was the second most added song on Australian radio on the week beginning December 15, 2008. It first began to receive airplay on all Today Network stations. The song was confirmed as an Australian single on Lady Gaga's official website on January 15, 2009. An official remix was also posted on her website that day followed by another one featuring the official cover art. On March 5, 2009, a Pet Shop Boys remix—named as \"Random Soul Synthetic Mix\"—became available for free download on Gaga's Australian website. Synth-pop musician Frankmusik remixed the track for Gaga's 2010 album, The Remix, where he manipulated Gaga's vocals and created a dreamy quality with them, as noted by Nicki Escuedo from Phoenix New Times.\n\n\"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 38 on the issue of January 18, 2009. The following week it climbed to number 32 and ultimately peaked at number 15, on the issue of March 1, 2009, making it Gaga's third single to hit the top twenty there. After thirteen weeks on the chart, \"Eh, Eh\" was certified gold for shipment of 35,000 copies by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). In New Zealand, \"Eh, Eh\" debuted at number 40 on the issue dated January 19, 2009. The following weeks it continued its rise on the chart and ultimately peaked at number nine, spending three weeks there, and becoming her third consecutive top ten hit in New Zealand. The song was certified gold on May 24, 2009, by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ), for shipment of 7,500 copies. The single reached a peak of number seven in France, and sold a total of 52,000 copies according to the SNEP.\n\nOn the Billboard issue dated February 21, 2009, \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 chart at number 68, despite not being released as a single, but dropped off the chart the following week. It entered the chart again for two weeks in August 2010. Although \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" was not released in the United States, it received a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over 500,000 equivalent units. The song also debuted at number 20 on the Swedish Singles Chart for the issue dated April 2, 2009, and peaked at number two. On the Digital Songs chart of Sweden, it peaked at the top in its fourth week. The song debuted on the Danish Singles Chart at number 28 on May 15, 2009, and peaked at number 14. Due to the moderate chart performance in the European markets, \"Eh, Eh\" only reached a peak of number 40 on Billboards European Hot 100 Singles chart.\n\nMusic video\n\nBackground and synopsis\nThe Italian-American 1950s-inspired music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, was shot back to back with the video for the song \"LoveGame\" on the weekend of January 9–10, 2009 in Los Angeles. About the video, Gaga explained: \"I wanted to show a different side of myself — perhaps a more domestic girly side. And I wanted to create beautiful, stunning '50s futuristic fashion imagery that would burn holes in everyone's brains.\" She further clarified that for the fashion aspects in the video she wanted to go in an opposite direction to her usual image. She wanted a yellow based wardrobe believing the color to become a big hit in the fashion world in 2009.\n\nThe video starts out showing Little Italy, an icon of the Madonna and Child, and then Gaga riding a Vespa. The first twenty seconds are mainly full of camera shots of different men, Gaga, and the city. The singer roams around with some friends, laughing and joking in a restaurant, while she stands on the seat. Gaga then comes from around the block walking with her friends in pace and singing in the camera. Next, she is shown sleeping in a bed, and waking up to reveal pink high-heeled shoes. She sings and cooks for a man in a house while dancing. She irons clothes while the man is on the phone screaming at someone. The two harlequin Great Danes who appear at the start of her \"Poker Face\" music video, also appear in this one. Finally she lies on a sofa with her legs up on the man. One of the last scenes shows her in a yellow dress made of flowers and wearing a yellow watch while singing to the song with a unique hairstyle which shows her hair pulled up and folded over. Then the camera quickly goes back to her in bed.\n\nReception\nDavid Balls from Digital Spy noted Gaga's homage to her Italian-American roots in the video, but wondered if Gaga would \"overexpose herself\" with the video. Like his review of the single, Moralde found the video to be complementing the simplistic composition of the song. He believed that with the videos for previous singles, \"Just Dance\" and \"Poker Face\", Gaga's persona was established, but with the video for \"Eh, Eh\" she traversed her persona from the original Stefani Germanotta that she was born, to the character Lady Gaga. He explained: \"What's striking about it is how much it feels like Lady Gaga is playacting: the video has a nostalgic, dreamlike tone. Set in a stylized pastel 1950s Little Italy, the video plays heavily with stereotypical and historical shorthand as it displays moustached chefs, macho men in wife beaters, cute Vespas, and spaghetti and meatballs.\" He noted that with all of these activities, Gaga created an essential fashion dollhouse, by playing feminine characters.\n\nBut Gaga addressed the viewer directly in the video while singing the song, which led Moralde to deduce that \"She's not in the moment, but is instead playing a feminized role in a dreamlike space; this quality is accentuated by the bright and blown-out color palette, and the numerous shots of Gaga in bed or sleeping. The cumulative effect is that it asserts the Lady Gaga of the previous videos to be the real one, and the Gaga in 'Eh, Eh' is a character that she is playing.\" His view was shared by Chris Kingston from The Harvard Crimson who noted during the release of the music video for Gaga's 2010 single \"Telephone\", that the video shows \"the crazy party girl we know [...] actually has a weirdly girlish, domestic side.\" In The Oxford Handbook of Sound and Image in Digital Media, author Carol Vernallis divided Gaga's persona into three categories. The personality portrayed in the \"Eh, Eh\" video was named as \"Friendly Peer\" archetype; someone with a girl-next-door image and approachable behavior.\n\nLive performances\n\n\"Eh, Eh\" was first performed in a beatbox version at the Cherrytree Studios and was released on Gaga's first EP, The Cherrytree Sessions. \"Eh, Eh\" was majorly performed at Gaga's The Fame Ball Tour in the second segment. Gaga was dressed in a white body plate leotard with black lightning shaped stripes and wore a hat made of toppled dominoes. As the performance of previous song \"Money Honey\" ended Gaga appeared on the stage beside Space Cowboy on a Vespa whence the music for \"Eh, Eh\" starts. The backdrops change to reveal lightning shapes in contrast to the sunny nature of the song. Gaga sang the song in its actual form backed by vocals from DJ Space Cowboy who spun the music from a corner of the stage. As the song reached the chorus Gaga asked the crowd to join her while singing and wave their arms. The New York Times called the live performance listless. However, The Hollywood Reporter said of the performance that, \"In an age of too much information, one of the most refreshing things about Gaga is her mystery. She often hid behind shades, and her mostly incomprehensible, coy and semi-robotic stage patter did little to tell us who's that Lady.\"\n\nGaga also performed the song at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival. Although the show was part of The Fame Ball Tour, many elements were different from on usual tour dates. For \"Eh Eh\", Gaga wore a pyrotechnic bra that fired sparkle-flames from her breast area while singing the chorus. In September 2009, Gaga appeared in French television show Taratata, where she performed \"Eh, Eh\" on the piano, while wearing a red mask. \"Eh, Eh\" was also performed during the original version of The Monster Ball Tour, where the song signified the singer's rebirth as she descended from the top amidst white lights and mechanical fog. She wore a giant human sized gyroscope around her, which was developed by the Haus of Gaga and was named \"The Orbit\". The song was removed from the setlist in early 2010.\n\nTrack listing and formats\n\nAustralian CD Single (Extra Limited Edition)\n \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" – 2:57\n \"Poker Face\" (Space Cowboy Remix) – 4:56\n\nFrench CD Single (Limited Edition)\n \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" – 2:56\n \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" [Pet Shop Boys Radio Mix] – 2:49\n \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" [Random Soul Synthetic Club Remix] – 5:27\n\niTunes Remix Single\n \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" [Random Soul Synthetic Club Remix] – 5:29\n \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" [Pet Shop Boys Radio Mix] – 2:53\n\nItalian iTunes download\n \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" [Electric Piano & Human Beatbox Version] – 3:03\n\niTunes Remix EP\n \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" – 2:57\n \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" [Pet Shop Boys Radio Mix] – 2:53\n \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" [Bollywood Remix] – 3:29\n \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" [FrankMusik 'Cut Snare Edit' Remix] – 3:50\n \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" [Electric Piano & Human Beat Box Version] – 3:03\n \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" [Mattafix Remix] – 3:21\n \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" [Random Soul Synthetic Club Remix] – 5:29\n \"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)\" [Pet Shop Boys Club Remix] – 6:31\n\nCredits and personnel\nCredits adapted from the liner notes of The Fame.\n\nLady Gaga – vocals, songwriting\nMartin Kierszenbaum – songwriting, production\nTony Ugval – audio engineering\nRobert Orton – audio mixing\nGene Grimaldi – audio mastering at Oasis Mastering, Burbank, California\nRecorded at Cherrytree Recording Studios, Santa Monica, California\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2000s ballads\n2008 songs\n2009 singles\nBubblegum pop songs\nInterscope Records singles\nLady Gaga songs\nMusic videos directed by Joseph Kahn\nSongs written by Lady Gaga\nSongs written by Martin Kierszenbaum\nSynth-pop ballads\nbubblegum pop songs"
] |
[
"Cross Road Blues",
"Lyrics and interpretation",
"What are the lyrics?",
"Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy,",
"What happens after he asks?",
"The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability.",
"What does he say in the song to give this idea?",
"he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that \"I'm sinkin' down\".",
"What else does he say in the song?",
"The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take."
] | C_42f8f5f180984e98bc33de556691d167_0 | What was the fifth verse? | 5 | What was the fifth verse of Cross Road Blues? | Cross Road Blues | A crossroads or an intersection of rural roads is one of the few landmarks in the Mississippi Delta, a flat featureless plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is part of the local iconography and various businesses use the name, such as gas stations, banks, and retail shops. A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker. In the simplest reading, Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets. However, many see different levels of meaning and some have attached a supernatural significance to the song. Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tells of his failed attempts to hitch a ride. In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress. The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. The lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain, but they have been interpreted as a description of the singer's fear of losing his soul to the Devil (presumably in exchange for his talent). Music historian Elijah Wald believes that Johnson's verses do not support the idea. Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson promoted himself as having made a deal with the Devil and Southern folklore identifies a crossroads or graveyard as the site of such a pact, which Wald identifies as likely sources of the myth. However, musicologist Robert Palmer points out that Johnson was "fascinated with and probably obsessed by supernatural imagery." His song "Hellhound on My Trail" tells of trying to stay ahead of the demon hound which is pursuing him and in "Me and the Devil Blues" he sings, "Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door, and I said 'Hello Satan I believe it's time to go'". These songs contribute to the Faustian myth; how much Johnson promoted the idea is debated, although many agree "the 'devil angle' made for good marketing". Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary. The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States. Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here". Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place. Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness. Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman". CANNOTANSWER | In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress. | "Cross Road Blues" (also known as "Crossroads") is a blues song written and recorded by American blues artist Robert Johnson in 1936. Johnson performed it as a solo piece with his vocal and acoustic slide guitar in the Delta blues-style. The song has become part of the Robert Johnson mythology as referring to the place where he supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his musical talents, although the lyrics do not contain any specific references.
Bluesman Elmore James revived the song with recordings in 1954 and 1960–1961. English guitarist Eric Clapton with Cream popularized the song as "Crossroads" in the late 1960s. Their blues rock interpretation inspired many cover versions and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included it as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Rolling Stone placed it at number three on the magazine's list of the "Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" in recognition of Clapton's guitar work.
Recording
In October 1936, Johnson auditioned for music store owner and sometime talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi; Speir passed on Johnson's contact information to Ernie Oertle, who was a representative for ARC Records. After a second audition, Oertle arranged for Johnson to travel to San Antonio, Texas, for a recording session. Johnson recorded 22 songs for ARC over three days from November 23 to 27, 1936. During the first session, he recorded his most commercially appealing songs. They mostly represented his original pieces and reflected current, piano-influenced musical trends. The songs include "Terraplane Blues" (his first single and most popular record) along with "Sweet Home Chicago" and "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom", which became blues standards after others recorded them.
A second and third recording date took place in San Antonio after a two-day break. The material Johnson chose shows more variety than that for his first date and he reached back into his long-standing repertoire for songs to record. The material reflects the styles of country blues performers Charley Patton and Son House, who influenced Johnson in his youth and are among Johnson's most heartfelt and forceful.
"Cross Road Blues" was recorded during Johnson's third session in San Antonio, on Friday, November 27, 1936. The sessions continued at an improvised studio in Room 414 at the Gunter Hotel. ARC producer Don Law supervised the recording and used a portable disc cutting machine. It is unknown what input, if any, Law had into Johnson's selection of material to record or how to present it. Two similar takes of the song were recorded.
Lyrics and interpretation
A crossroads or an intersection of rural roads is one of the few landmarks in the Mississippi Delta, a flat featureless plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is part of the local iconography and various businesses use the name, such as gas stations, banks, and retail shops. A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker. In the simplest reading, Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets. However, many see different levels of meaning and some have attached a supernatural significance to the song.
Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tells of his failed attempts to hitch a ride. In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress.
The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. The lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain, but they have been interpreted as a description of the singer's fear of losing his soul to the Devil (presumably in exchange for his talent). Music historians believe that Johnson's verses do not support the idea. Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson promoted himself as having made a deal with the Devil and Southern folklore identifies a crossroads or graveyard as the site of such a pact, which Wald identifies as likely sources of the myth. However, Johnson later recorded two songs that include Satanic references: in "Hellhound on My Trail" tells of trying to stay ahead of the demon hound which is pursuing him and in "Me and the Devil Blues" he sings, "Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door, and I said 'Hello Satan I believe it's time to go'". These songs contribute to the Faustian myth; how much Johnson promoted the idea is debated, although many agree "the 'devil angle' made for good marketing".
Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary. The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States. Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here". Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place. Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness. Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman".
Composition
"Cross Road Blues" reflects Johnson's Delta blues roots and may have been in his repertoire since 1932. It is the first recording to show his mastery of his mentor Son House's style, particularly in his slide guitar work. Music historian Edward Komara identifies parts of "Straight Alky Blues" by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell (1929) along with Roosevelt Sykes' subsequent adaptation as "Black River Blues" (1930) as melodic precedents. However, Johnson infuses their relaxed urban approach with a more forceful rural one. Komara terms Johnson's guitar playing a "blues harp style". It contrasts with Johnson's finger-picking "piano style", which uses a boogie-style accompaniment on the bass strings while playing melody and harmonies on the higher strings. Harp-style playing employs sharp percussive accents on the bass strings (an imitation of the sharp draw used by harmonica players) and allows Johnson to explore different chordings and fills. Johnson uses this technique for "Terraplane Blues", which shares many common elements with "Cross Road Blues".
The song's structure differs from a well-defined twelve-bar blues. The verses are not consistent and range from fourteen to fifteen bars in length. Additionally, the harmonic progression is often implied rather than stated (full IV and V chords are not used). Johnson uses a Spanish or open G tuning with the guitar tuned up to the key of B. This facilitates Johnson's use of a slide, which features as prominently in the song as the vocal. The slide parts function more as a second "answer" vocal than accompaniment, with the tension underscoring the dark turmoil of the lyrics. Charters characterizes the song's rhythm as ambiguous, imparting both a 4/4 time and 8/8 feel. Music writer Dave Headlam elaborates on Johnson's rhythm:
The two takes of the song are performed at moderate, but somewhat different tempos. Both begin slower and speed up; the first is about 106 beats per minute (bpm), while the second is about 96 bpm. Johnson prepares to go into the fifth section for the slower second take, but the engineer apparently cut him off because of the time limits of ten-inch 78 rpm records. In addition to the slower tempo, Johnson sings the verses at a lower pitch, although both takes are in the same key. This allows for greater variation and nuance in the vocal. Together with refinements to some guitar parts, the differences serve to help further distinguish the second take from "Terraplane Blues" and give it more of its own character.
Releases
ARC and Vocalion Records issued the first take of "Cross Road Blues" in May 1937 on the then standard 78 rpm record. With the flip side "Ramblin' on My Mind", it was the third of eleven singles released during Johnson's lifetime. Vocalion's budget labels Perfect Records and Romeo Records also released the single for sale by dime stores. Although sales figures are not available, the record was "widely heard in the Delta" and Johnson's tunes were found in jukeboxes in the region.
As with most of Johnson's recordings, "Cross Road Blues" remained out of print after its initial release until The Complete Recordings box set in 1990. The second take was released in 1961, when producer Frank Driggs substituted it for the original on Johnson's first long-playing record album compilation King of the Delta Blues Singers. This take was also included on the 1990 Complete Recordings (at 2:29, it is 10 seconds shorter than the original 2:39 single version).
Elmore James versions
American blues singer and guitarist Elmore James, who popularized Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom", recorded two variations on "Cross Road Blues". Both titled "Standing at the Crossroads", they feature James' trademark "Dust My Broom" amplified slide-guitar figure and a backing ensemble. James' lyrics focus on the lost-love aspect of the song:
James first recorded the song in August 1954 at Modern Records' new studio in Culver City, California. Maxwell Davis supervised the session and a group of professional studio musicians provided the backup. The song was produced in a newer style that Modern used successfully for B.B. King and James' slide guitar was placed further back in the mix. Flair Records, another of the Bihari brothers' Modern labels, released the single, backed with "Sunny Land". The song became a regional hit, but did not reach the national charts. Labels associated with Modern included "Standing at the Crossroads" on several James compilation albums, such as Blues After Hours (Crown), The Blues in My Heart – The Rhythm in My Soul (Custom Records), and Original Folk Blues (Kent Records).
In 1959, producer Bobby Robinson signed James to his Fury/Fire/Enjoy group of labels. In addition to new material, Robinson had James revisit several of his older songs, including "Standing at the Crossroads". James re-recorded it at Beltone Studios in New York City in late 1960 or early 1961 during one of his last sessions. Studio musicians again provided the backup and the horn section included baritone saxophone by Paul Williams. Bell Records' subsidiary labels released the song after James' death in 1965 – Flashback Records released a single with a reissue of "The Sky Is Crying" and Sphere Sound Records included it on a James compilation album also titled The Sky Is Crying. Both the 1954 and 1960–1961 versions appear on numerous later James compilations.
Homesick James, who recorded and toured with his cousin Elmore, also recorded a rendition titled "Crossroads". Homesick derived his guitar style from Elmore, which music critic Bill Dahl describes as "aggressive, sometimes chaotic slide work". Unlike Elmore, however, he uses most of the lyrics from Johnson's second take, which had been first issued in 1961. The July 23, 1963, recording session produced Homesick's only single for Chicago-based USA Records, "Crossroads" backed with "My Baby's Sweet".
Eric Clapton/Cream interpretation
Background
In early 1966, while still with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Eric Clapton adapted the song for a recording session with an ad hoc studio group, dubbed Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse. Elektra Records producer Joe Boyd brought together Steve Winwood on vocals, Clapton on guitar, Jack Bruce on bass guitar, Paul Jones on harmonica, Ben Palmer on piano, and Pete York on drums for the project. Boyd recalled that he and Clapton reviewed potential songs; Clapton wanted to record Albert King's "Crosscut Saw", but Boyd preferred to adapt an older country blues. Their attention turned to Robert Johnson songs and Boyd proposed "Crossroads" and Clapton chose "Traveling Riverside Blues".
For the recording, Clapton developed an arrangement using lyrics from both songs with an adaption of the guitar line from the latter. Biographer Michael Schumacher describes the Powerhouse's performance as slower and more blues-based than Cream's. Elektra released the 2:32 recording, titled "Crossroads", on the compilation album What's Shakin' in June 1966. After the Powerhouse session, Clapton continued playing with Mayall. Author Marc Roberty lists "Crossroads" in a typical set for the Bluesbreakers in the spring of 1966.
Cream version
"Crossroads" became a part of Cream's repertoire when Clapton began performing with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in July 1966. Their version features a prominent guitar riff with hard-driving, upbeat instrumental backing and soloing. Clapton previously recorded "Ramblin' on My Mind" with Mayall and "From Four Until Late" with Cream using arrangements that followed Johnson's original songs more closely. However, he envisioned "Crossroads" as a rock song:
Clapton simplifies Johnson's guitar line and sets it to a straight eighth-note or rock rhythm. He and Bruce on bass continuously emphasize the riff throughout the song to give it a strong and regular metric drive combined with Baker's drumming. Johnson's irregular measures are also standardized to typical twelve-bar sections in which the I–IV–V blues progression is clearly stated. Clapton does not adapt Johnson's slide guitar technique or open tuning; instead he follows the electric guitar soloing approach of B.B. King and Albert King. However, he employs a Johnson guitar innovation, the duple shuffle pattern or boogie bass line, while singing (Johnson only used it for two bars in "Cross Road Blues").
Clapton also simplifies and standardizes Johnson's vocal lines. Schumacher calls Clapton's vocal on "Crossroads" his best and most assured with Cream. In addition to Johnson's opening and closing lyrics, he twice adds the same section from "Traveling Riverside Blues":
During the instrumental break, Cream takes an improvisational approach characteristic of their later live performances. Bruce's bass lines blend rhythm and harmony and Baker adds fills and more complex techniques typical of drummers in jazz trios. However, the momentum is never allowed to dissipate and is constantly reinforced.
Cash Box described it as "a new winner" for Cream, stating that "the blazing instrumental break gives this track a luster which will bring home the sales."
Recording and releases
Cream recorded the song on November 28, 1966, for broadcast on the BBC Guitar Club radio program. At less than two minutes in length, Clapton only sings the first and last sections, with his guitar solo replacing the middle "Traveling Riverside Blues" verse. It appeared on bootleg albums before finally being released in 2003 on BBC Sessions. On March 10, 1968, Cream recorded it again during a concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The song became the opening number on the live half of Cream's Wheels of Fire double album, released in August 1968 by Polydor Records in the UK and Atco Records in the US. After the group's breakup, Atco issued the song as a single in January 1969, which reached number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 pop chart and 17 on Cashbox. Both the original album and single credit the songwriter as Robert Johnson or R. Johnson, although Clapton and Cream extensively reworked the song.
Cream played "Crossroads" during their final concert at the Royal Albert Hall on November 26, 1968. The expanded version of Cream's Farewell Concert film released in 1977 contains the performance. During their 2005 reunion, Cream revisited the song at the Royal Albert Hall and it is included on the Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005 album and video. After Cream's breakup in 1968, Clapton continued to perform "Crossroads" in a variety of settings. Live recordings appear on Live at the Fillmore (with Derek and the Dominos), Crossroads 2: Live in the Seventies, The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, and other albums. Clapton has also used the name for the Crossroads Centre, a drug rehabilitation facility he founded, and for the Crossroads Guitar Festivals to benefit it.
Editing on album version
Clapton biographer Schumacher notes "Given the passion of the solo performances on 'Crossroads,' it seems almost miraculous that Cream is able to return to the song itself." Several music writers have explained that Cream's recording for Wheels of Fire was edited from a much longer performance that was typical for the trioin the notes for Clapton's Crossroads box set, Anthony DeCurtis credits the trimming to engineer Tom Dowd, while critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine attributes the editing to producer Felix Pappalardi, who "cut together the best bits of a winding improvisation to a tight four minutes", to allow the song's drive more continuity. In a 1985 interview, Clapton was asked if the song had been edited. He replied:
However, Barry Levenson, who produced Cream's 1997 box set Those Were the Days, asserts:
Recognition and influence
In 1986, Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues" was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. Writing for the foundation, Jim O'Neal noted that "regardless of mythology and rock 'n' roll renditions, Johnson's record was indeed a powerful one, a song that would stand the test of time on its own". In 1998, it received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award to acknowledge its quality and place in recording history. In 1995, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed Cream's "Crossroads" as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Rolling Stone magazine placed it at number three on its "Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time".
AllMusic's Richard Gilliam identifies Cream's "Crossroads" as the first recording to bring Robert Johnson to the attention of popular music audiences and allow reissues of his original recordings to sell over a million copies. By combining elements of hard rock and blues, he adds it inspired "a new generation of blues-influenced artists". Rock musicians have recorded numerous renditions based on Cream's arrangement.
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References
1936 songs
1937 singles
Robert Johnson songs
Blues songs
Songs written by Robert Johnson
Songs about roads
Songs about the Devil
1954 singles
Elmore James songs
1969 singles
Cream (band) songs
Song recordings produced by Felix Pappalardi
Atco Records singles
Polydor Records singles
Vocalion Records singles
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Song recordings produced by Don Law | true | [
"Matthew 5:47 is the forty-seventh verse of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount. This is the third verse of the final antithesis, that on the commandment: \"Love thy neighbour as thyself\". Jesus here gives another example of why one must love one's enemies.\n\nContent\nIn the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:\nAnd if ye salute your brethren \nonly, what do ye more than others? \ndo not even the publicans so?\n\nThe New American Standard Bible translates the passage as:\nIf you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? \nDo not even the Gentiles do the same?\n\nThe Novum Testamentum Graece text is:\nκαὶ ἐὰν ἀσπάσησθε τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ὑμῶν μόνον, τί περισσὸν ποιεῖτε; \nοὐχὶ καὶ οἱ ἐθνικοὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ποιοῦσιν;\n\nFor a collection of other versions see BibleRef Matthew 5:47\n\nAnalysis\nThis verse has the same basic structure and argument as the previous one. Here Jesus is stating that even the wicked greet their friends, so if you only greet your friends you are no better than they are in this regard.\n\nThe Greek text uses the word brothers but this is more accurately interpreted as a reference to friends or to members of the same religious community. The disciples are asked ti perisson poieite?, literally \"what superiority do ye?\". There are two different versions of this verse. The one both the WEB and KJV use has the word for tax collector, the same as the previous verse. Other ancient manuscripts have the word for gentile or in this verse. Many scholars believe this second version is correct, and the double reference to tax collectors was a copying error that occurred at some point.\n\nThe act of greeting or saluting was an important one in Jewish culture of this period. It is far more than a simple greeting, and would generally involve an embrace and an exchange of pleasantries. The individual with greater prestige was expected to initiate the exchange. A greeting implied more than simple acknowledgement, also expressing goodwill and warmth.\n\nReferences\n\n05:47",
"Stanley John Forrest (1904–1977) was a Church of England priest and popular poet. He was a friend and collaborator of John Betjeman. Forrest was vicar of St John's Church, Watford from 1954 to 1961.\n\nWorks \nThe Church in Reconstruction (1945)\nAnglican Noah's Ark (1947)\nBuzzards at Play (1947)\nWhat the Vicar Likes (1952)\nTime for a Rhyme (1954)\nWhat's the Use? (1955)\nChapter and Verse (1959)\nA Town Parson's Day (1960)\nOrders in Orbit (1962)\nOur Man at St. Withit's (1964)\nVerse from the Vestry (1966)\nParson's Play-pen (1968)\nSaints and Sinods (1971)\nThe Church Bizarre: Light Verse for Heavy Weather (1973)\n\nReferences \nAn Affectionate Portrait\nThe Anglican Poetry of S.J. Forrest, by Richard J. Mammana\n\nExternal links \nBibliographic directory from Project Canterbury\n\n1904 births\n1977 deaths\nAnglican poets"
] |
[
"Cross Road Blues",
"Lyrics and interpretation",
"What are the lyrics?",
"Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy,",
"What happens after he asks?",
"The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability.",
"What does he say in the song to give this idea?",
"he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that \"I'm sinkin' down\".",
"What else does he say in the song?",
"The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take.",
"What was the fifth verse?",
"In it he laments not having a \"sweet woman\" in his distress."
] | C_42f8f5f180984e98bc33de556691d167_0 | What else does the song say? | 6 | Other than "I'm sinking down" and wanting a "sweet woman", what else does the song Cross Road Blues say? | Cross Road Blues | A crossroads or an intersection of rural roads is one of the few landmarks in the Mississippi Delta, a flat featureless plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is part of the local iconography and various businesses use the name, such as gas stations, banks, and retail shops. A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker. In the simplest reading, Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets. However, many see different levels of meaning and some have attached a supernatural significance to the song. Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tells of his failed attempts to hitch a ride. In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress. The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. The lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain, but they have been interpreted as a description of the singer's fear of losing his soul to the Devil (presumably in exchange for his talent). Music historian Elijah Wald believes that Johnson's verses do not support the idea. Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson promoted himself as having made a deal with the Devil and Southern folklore identifies a crossroads or graveyard as the site of such a pact, which Wald identifies as likely sources of the myth. However, musicologist Robert Palmer points out that Johnson was "fascinated with and probably obsessed by supernatural imagery." His song "Hellhound on My Trail" tells of trying to stay ahead of the demon hound which is pursuing him and in "Me and the Devil Blues" he sings, "Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door, and I said 'Hello Satan I believe it's time to go'". These songs contribute to the Faustian myth; how much Johnson promoted the idea is debated, although many agree "the 'devil angle' made for good marketing". Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary. The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States. Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here". Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place. Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness. Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman". CANNOTANSWER | The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. | "Cross Road Blues" (also known as "Crossroads") is a blues song written and recorded by American blues artist Robert Johnson in 1936. Johnson performed it as a solo piece with his vocal and acoustic slide guitar in the Delta blues-style. The song has become part of the Robert Johnson mythology as referring to the place where he supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his musical talents, although the lyrics do not contain any specific references.
Bluesman Elmore James revived the song with recordings in 1954 and 1960–1961. English guitarist Eric Clapton with Cream popularized the song as "Crossroads" in the late 1960s. Their blues rock interpretation inspired many cover versions and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included it as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Rolling Stone placed it at number three on the magazine's list of the "Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" in recognition of Clapton's guitar work.
Recording
In October 1936, Johnson auditioned for music store owner and sometime talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi; Speir passed on Johnson's contact information to Ernie Oertle, who was a representative for ARC Records. After a second audition, Oertle arranged for Johnson to travel to San Antonio, Texas, for a recording session. Johnson recorded 22 songs for ARC over three days from November 23 to 27, 1936. During the first session, he recorded his most commercially appealing songs. They mostly represented his original pieces and reflected current, piano-influenced musical trends. The songs include "Terraplane Blues" (his first single and most popular record) along with "Sweet Home Chicago" and "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom", which became blues standards after others recorded them.
A second and third recording date took place in San Antonio after a two-day break. The material Johnson chose shows more variety than that for his first date and he reached back into his long-standing repertoire for songs to record. The material reflects the styles of country blues performers Charley Patton and Son House, who influenced Johnson in his youth and are among Johnson's most heartfelt and forceful.
"Cross Road Blues" was recorded during Johnson's third session in San Antonio, on Friday, November 27, 1936. The sessions continued at an improvised studio in Room 414 at the Gunter Hotel. ARC producer Don Law supervised the recording and used a portable disc cutting machine. It is unknown what input, if any, Law had into Johnson's selection of material to record or how to present it. Two similar takes of the song were recorded.
Lyrics and interpretation
A crossroads or an intersection of rural roads is one of the few landmarks in the Mississippi Delta, a flat featureless plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is part of the local iconography and various businesses use the name, such as gas stations, banks, and retail shops. A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker. In the simplest reading, Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets. However, many see different levels of meaning and some have attached a supernatural significance to the song.
Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tells of his failed attempts to hitch a ride. In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress.
The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. The lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain, but they have been interpreted as a description of the singer's fear of losing his soul to the Devil (presumably in exchange for his talent). Music historians believe that Johnson's verses do not support the idea. Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson promoted himself as having made a deal with the Devil and Southern folklore identifies a crossroads or graveyard as the site of such a pact, which Wald identifies as likely sources of the myth. However, Johnson later recorded two songs that include Satanic references: in "Hellhound on My Trail" tells of trying to stay ahead of the demon hound which is pursuing him and in "Me and the Devil Blues" he sings, "Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door, and I said 'Hello Satan I believe it's time to go'". These songs contribute to the Faustian myth; how much Johnson promoted the idea is debated, although many agree "the 'devil angle' made for good marketing".
Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary. The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States. Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here". Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place. Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness. Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman".
Composition
"Cross Road Blues" reflects Johnson's Delta blues roots and may have been in his repertoire since 1932. It is the first recording to show his mastery of his mentor Son House's style, particularly in his slide guitar work. Music historian Edward Komara identifies parts of "Straight Alky Blues" by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell (1929) along with Roosevelt Sykes' subsequent adaptation as "Black River Blues" (1930) as melodic precedents. However, Johnson infuses their relaxed urban approach with a more forceful rural one. Komara terms Johnson's guitar playing a "blues harp style". It contrasts with Johnson's finger-picking "piano style", which uses a boogie-style accompaniment on the bass strings while playing melody and harmonies on the higher strings. Harp-style playing employs sharp percussive accents on the bass strings (an imitation of the sharp draw used by harmonica players) and allows Johnson to explore different chordings and fills. Johnson uses this technique for "Terraplane Blues", which shares many common elements with "Cross Road Blues".
The song's structure differs from a well-defined twelve-bar blues. The verses are not consistent and range from fourteen to fifteen bars in length. Additionally, the harmonic progression is often implied rather than stated (full IV and V chords are not used). Johnson uses a Spanish or open G tuning with the guitar tuned up to the key of B. This facilitates Johnson's use of a slide, which features as prominently in the song as the vocal. The slide parts function more as a second "answer" vocal than accompaniment, with the tension underscoring the dark turmoil of the lyrics. Charters characterizes the song's rhythm as ambiguous, imparting both a 4/4 time and 8/8 feel. Music writer Dave Headlam elaborates on Johnson's rhythm:
The two takes of the song are performed at moderate, but somewhat different tempos. Both begin slower and speed up; the first is about 106 beats per minute (bpm), while the second is about 96 bpm. Johnson prepares to go into the fifth section for the slower second take, but the engineer apparently cut him off because of the time limits of ten-inch 78 rpm records. In addition to the slower tempo, Johnson sings the verses at a lower pitch, although both takes are in the same key. This allows for greater variation and nuance in the vocal. Together with refinements to some guitar parts, the differences serve to help further distinguish the second take from "Terraplane Blues" and give it more of its own character.
Releases
ARC and Vocalion Records issued the first take of "Cross Road Blues" in May 1937 on the then standard 78 rpm record. With the flip side "Ramblin' on My Mind", it was the third of eleven singles released during Johnson's lifetime. Vocalion's budget labels Perfect Records and Romeo Records also released the single for sale by dime stores. Although sales figures are not available, the record was "widely heard in the Delta" and Johnson's tunes were found in jukeboxes in the region.
As with most of Johnson's recordings, "Cross Road Blues" remained out of print after its initial release until The Complete Recordings box set in 1990. The second take was released in 1961, when producer Frank Driggs substituted it for the original on Johnson's first long-playing record album compilation King of the Delta Blues Singers. This take was also included on the 1990 Complete Recordings (at 2:29, it is 10 seconds shorter than the original 2:39 single version).
Elmore James versions
American blues singer and guitarist Elmore James, who popularized Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom", recorded two variations on "Cross Road Blues". Both titled "Standing at the Crossroads", they feature James' trademark "Dust My Broom" amplified slide-guitar figure and a backing ensemble. James' lyrics focus on the lost-love aspect of the song:
James first recorded the song in August 1954 at Modern Records' new studio in Culver City, California. Maxwell Davis supervised the session and a group of professional studio musicians provided the backup. The song was produced in a newer style that Modern used successfully for B.B. King and James' slide guitar was placed further back in the mix. Flair Records, another of the Bihari brothers' Modern labels, released the single, backed with "Sunny Land". The song became a regional hit, but did not reach the national charts. Labels associated with Modern included "Standing at the Crossroads" on several James compilation albums, such as Blues After Hours (Crown), The Blues in My Heart – The Rhythm in My Soul (Custom Records), and Original Folk Blues (Kent Records).
In 1959, producer Bobby Robinson signed James to his Fury/Fire/Enjoy group of labels. In addition to new material, Robinson had James revisit several of his older songs, including "Standing at the Crossroads". James re-recorded it at Beltone Studios in New York City in late 1960 or early 1961 during one of his last sessions. Studio musicians again provided the backup and the horn section included baritone saxophone by Paul Williams. Bell Records' subsidiary labels released the song after James' death in 1965 – Flashback Records released a single with a reissue of "The Sky Is Crying" and Sphere Sound Records included it on a James compilation album also titled The Sky Is Crying. Both the 1954 and 1960–1961 versions appear on numerous later James compilations.
Homesick James, who recorded and toured with his cousin Elmore, also recorded a rendition titled "Crossroads". Homesick derived his guitar style from Elmore, which music critic Bill Dahl describes as "aggressive, sometimes chaotic slide work". Unlike Elmore, however, he uses most of the lyrics from Johnson's second take, which had been first issued in 1961. The July 23, 1963, recording session produced Homesick's only single for Chicago-based USA Records, "Crossroads" backed with "My Baby's Sweet".
Eric Clapton/Cream interpretation
Background
In early 1966, while still with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Eric Clapton adapted the song for a recording session with an ad hoc studio group, dubbed Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse. Elektra Records producer Joe Boyd brought together Steve Winwood on vocals, Clapton on guitar, Jack Bruce on bass guitar, Paul Jones on harmonica, Ben Palmer on piano, and Pete York on drums for the project. Boyd recalled that he and Clapton reviewed potential songs; Clapton wanted to record Albert King's "Crosscut Saw", but Boyd preferred to adapt an older country blues. Their attention turned to Robert Johnson songs and Boyd proposed "Crossroads" and Clapton chose "Traveling Riverside Blues".
For the recording, Clapton developed an arrangement using lyrics from both songs with an adaption of the guitar line from the latter. Biographer Michael Schumacher describes the Powerhouse's performance as slower and more blues-based than Cream's. Elektra released the 2:32 recording, titled "Crossroads", on the compilation album What's Shakin' in June 1966. After the Powerhouse session, Clapton continued playing with Mayall. Author Marc Roberty lists "Crossroads" in a typical set for the Bluesbreakers in the spring of 1966.
Cream version
"Crossroads" became a part of Cream's repertoire when Clapton began performing with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in July 1966. Their version features a prominent guitar riff with hard-driving, upbeat instrumental backing and soloing. Clapton previously recorded "Ramblin' on My Mind" with Mayall and "From Four Until Late" with Cream using arrangements that followed Johnson's original songs more closely. However, he envisioned "Crossroads" as a rock song:
Clapton simplifies Johnson's guitar line and sets it to a straight eighth-note or rock rhythm. He and Bruce on bass continuously emphasize the riff throughout the song to give it a strong and regular metric drive combined with Baker's drumming. Johnson's irregular measures are also standardized to typical twelve-bar sections in which the I–IV–V blues progression is clearly stated. Clapton does not adapt Johnson's slide guitar technique or open tuning; instead he follows the electric guitar soloing approach of B.B. King and Albert King. However, he employs a Johnson guitar innovation, the duple shuffle pattern or boogie bass line, while singing (Johnson only used it for two bars in "Cross Road Blues").
Clapton also simplifies and standardizes Johnson's vocal lines. Schumacher calls Clapton's vocal on "Crossroads" his best and most assured with Cream. In addition to Johnson's opening and closing lyrics, he twice adds the same section from "Traveling Riverside Blues":
During the instrumental break, Cream takes an improvisational approach characteristic of their later live performances. Bruce's bass lines blend rhythm and harmony and Baker adds fills and more complex techniques typical of drummers in jazz trios. However, the momentum is never allowed to dissipate and is constantly reinforced.
Cash Box described it as "a new winner" for Cream, stating that "the blazing instrumental break gives this track a luster which will bring home the sales."
Recording and releases
Cream recorded the song on November 28, 1966, for broadcast on the BBC Guitar Club radio program. At less than two minutes in length, Clapton only sings the first and last sections, with his guitar solo replacing the middle "Traveling Riverside Blues" verse. It appeared on bootleg albums before finally being released in 2003 on BBC Sessions. On March 10, 1968, Cream recorded it again during a concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The song became the opening number on the live half of Cream's Wheels of Fire double album, released in August 1968 by Polydor Records in the UK and Atco Records in the US. After the group's breakup, Atco issued the song as a single in January 1969, which reached number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 pop chart and 17 on Cashbox. Both the original album and single credit the songwriter as Robert Johnson or R. Johnson, although Clapton and Cream extensively reworked the song.
Cream played "Crossroads" during their final concert at the Royal Albert Hall on November 26, 1968. The expanded version of Cream's Farewell Concert film released in 1977 contains the performance. During their 2005 reunion, Cream revisited the song at the Royal Albert Hall and it is included on the Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005 album and video. After Cream's breakup in 1968, Clapton continued to perform "Crossroads" in a variety of settings. Live recordings appear on Live at the Fillmore (with Derek and the Dominos), Crossroads 2: Live in the Seventies, The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, and other albums. Clapton has also used the name for the Crossroads Centre, a drug rehabilitation facility he founded, and for the Crossroads Guitar Festivals to benefit it.
Editing on album version
Clapton biographer Schumacher notes "Given the passion of the solo performances on 'Crossroads,' it seems almost miraculous that Cream is able to return to the song itself." Several music writers have explained that Cream's recording for Wheels of Fire was edited from a much longer performance that was typical for the trioin the notes for Clapton's Crossroads box set, Anthony DeCurtis credits the trimming to engineer Tom Dowd, while critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine attributes the editing to producer Felix Pappalardi, who "cut together the best bits of a winding improvisation to a tight four minutes", to allow the song's drive more continuity. In a 1985 interview, Clapton was asked if the song had been edited. He replied:
However, Barry Levenson, who produced Cream's 1997 box set Those Were the Days, asserts:
Recognition and influence
In 1986, Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues" was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. Writing for the foundation, Jim O'Neal noted that "regardless of mythology and rock 'n' roll renditions, Johnson's record was indeed a powerful one, a song that would stand the test of time on its own". In 1998, it received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award to acknowledge its quality and place in recording history. In 1995, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed Cream's "Crossroads" as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Rolling Stone magazine placed it at number three on its "Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time".
AllMusic's Richard Gilliam identifies Cream's "Crossroads" as the first recording to bring Robert Johnson to the attention of popular music audiences and allow reissues of his original recordings to sell over a million copies. By combining elements of hard rock and blues, he adds it inspired "a new generation of blues-influenced artists". Rock musicians have recorded numerous renditions based on Cream's arrangement.
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References
1936 songs
1937 singles
Robert Johnson songs
Blues songs
Songs written by Robert Johnson
Songs about roads
Songs about the Devil
1954 singles
Elmore James songs
1969 singles
Cream (band) songs
Song recordings produced by Felix Pappalardi
Atco Records singles
Polydor Records singles
Vocalion Records singles
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Song recordings produced by Don Law | true | [
"Say Anything may refer to:\n\nFilm and television\n Say Anything..., a 1989 American film by Cameron Crowe\n \"Say Anything\" (BoJack Horseman), a television episode\n\nMusic\n Say Anything (band), an American rock band\n Say Anything (album), a 2009 album by the band\n \"Say Anything\", a 2012 song by Say Anything from Anarchy, My Dear\n \"Say Anything\" (Marianas Trench song), 2006\n \"Say Anything\" (X Japan song), 1991\n \"Say Anything\", a song by Aimee Mann from Whatever, 1993\n \"Say Anything\", a song by the Bouncing Souls from The Bouncing Souls, 1997\n \"Say Anything\", a song by Good Charlotte from The Young and the Hopeless, 2002\n \"Say Anything\", a song by Girl in Red, 2018\n \"Say Anything\", a song by Will Young from Lexicon, 2019\n \"Say Anything (Else)\", a song by Cartel from Chroma, 2005\n\nOther uses\n Say Anything (party game), a 2008 board game published by North Star Games\n \"Say Anything\", a column in YM magazine\n\nSee also\n Say Something (disambiguation)",
"The discography of Ira Losco, a Maltese singer, contains five studio albums and forty-three singles. She represented Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 in Tallinn, Estonia with the song \"7th Wonder\", the song went on to finish second in the Final which was won by Marie N from Latvia with the song \"I Wanna\". She represented her country for the second time at Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden with the song \"Walk on Water\" and finished 11th (Ties with The Netherlands) in the grand final.\n\nHer debut studio album, Someone Else, was released in April 2004. The album includes the singles \"Love Me Or Hate Me\", \"Who I Am\", \"Someone Else\", \"Say Hey\", \"I'm In Love Again\" and \"Must've Been Good\". Her first Remix album, Blends & Remixes of Someone Else, was released in January 2005. Her second studio album, Accident Prone, was released in November 2005. The album includes the singles \"Everyday\", \"Get Out\", \"Don't Wanna Talk About It\", \"Driving One Of Your Cars\", \"Accident Prone\", \"Uh-Oh\" and \"Waking Up To The Light\". Her third studio album, Unmasked, was released in December 2006. The album includes the singles \"Winter Day\" and \"Arms Of The Ones...\". Her fourth studio album, Fortune Teller, was released in June 2008. The album includes the singles \"Something To Talk About\", \"Don't Look Down\", \"Idle Motion\", \"Promises\", \"Elvis Can You Hear Me?\", \"Shoulders of Giants\", \"What's The Matter With You?\" and \"Fortune Teller\". Her second Remix album, Mixed Beats, was released in August 2009. The album includes the singles \"What's The Matter With Your Cabrio\", \"Shoulders of Giants\" and \"Love Song\". Her fifth studio album, The Fire, was released in March 2013. The album includes the singles \"What I'd Give\", \"The Person I Am\", \"Me Luv U Long Time\" and \"The Way It's Meant To Be\".\n\nAlbums\n\nStudio albums\n\nRemix albums\n\nCompilation albums\n\nSingles\n\nAs lead artist\n\nOther appearances\n\nCovers & Re-Makes\n Ira re-made the track \"Say Hey\" featuring aspiring singer Caroline Stapley in 2004. The track was just a radio hit and is not featured in any album or single.\n Michelle Hunziker covered the tracks \"Get Out\", \"Love Me Or Hate Me\" and \"Someone Else\" for her debut album \"Lole\" in 2006.\n \"Accident Prone\" was remixed by DJ Ruby, Thomas Penton & Alex Armes, but wasn't featured in any album.\n Riffs from \"Uh Oh\" were sampled on Kelly Clarkson's track \"Don't Waste Your Time\".\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official Website\n\nDiscographies of Maltese artists\nPop music discographies"
] |
[
"Oklahoma!",
"Casting and development"
] | C_ed36a7675964410f80970a3e03be2c41_1 | When did Rodgers and Hammerstein start developing the show? | 1 | When did Rodgers and Hammerstein start developing the show Oklahoma!? | Oklahoma! | Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act. Though Theresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggested Shirley Temple as Laurey and Groucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with director Rouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. The production was choreographed by Agnes de Mille (her first time choreographing a musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act ballet finale (often referred to as the dream ballet) depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly. The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943. Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. Producer Mike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No legs, no jokes, no chance." But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven and Boston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma!" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number. Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won a special Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable." The New York Post was the only major paper to give Oklahoma! a mixed review. Its critic felt that while the songs were pleasant enough, they sounded much alike. The show's creativity stimulated Rodgers and Hammerstein's contemporaries and ushered in the "Golden Age" of American musical theatre. CANNOTANSWER | The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943. | Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud Fry. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.
The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943. It was a box office hit and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances, later enjoying award-winning revivals, national tours, foreign productions and an Oscar-winning 1955 film adaptation. It has long been a popular choice for school and community productions. Rodgers and Hammerstein won a special Pulitzer Prize for Oklahoma! in 1944.
This musical, building on the innovations of the earlier Show Boat, epitomized the development of the "book musical", a musical play where the songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story, with serious dramatic goals, that is able to evoke genuine emotions other than amusement. In addition, Oklahoma! features musical themes, or motifs, that recur throughout the work to connect the music and story. A fifteen-minute "dream ballet" reflects Laurey's struggle with her feelings about two men, Curly and Jud.
Background
By the early 1940s, Rodgers and Hammerstein were each well known for creating Broadway hits with other collaborators. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced over two dozen musicals since the 1920s, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940). Among other successes, Hammerstein had written the words for Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote musicals, songs and films, sharing an Academy Award for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good. By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, and he became unreliable, prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him.
Conception
In 1931, the Theatre Guild produced Lynn Riggs's Green Grow the Lilacs, a play about settlers in Oklahoma Indian Territory. Though the play was not successful, ten years later in 1941, Theresa Helburn, one of the Guild's producers, saw a summer-stock production supplemented with traditional folk songs and square dances and decided the play could be the basis of a musical that might revive the struggling Guild. She contacted Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, whose first successful collaboration, The Garrick Gaieties, had been produced by the Theatre Guild in 1925. Rodgers wanted to work on the project and obtained the rights for himself and Hart. Rodgers had asked Oscar Hammerstein II to collaborate with him and Hart. During the tryouts of Rodgers and Hart's By Jupiter in 1941, Hammerstein had assured Rodgers that if Hart was ever unable to work, he would be willing to take his place. Coincidentally in 1942, Hammerstein had thought of musicalizing Green Grow the Lilacs, but when he had approached Jerome Kern about it, the latter declined. Hammerstein learned that Rodgers was seeking someone to write the book, and he eagerly took the opportunity. Hart lost interest in the musical; he preferred contemporary, urbane shows that would showcase his witty lyric writing, and he found the farmers and cowhands in Green Grow the Lilacs corny and uninspiring. Moreover, spiraling downward, consumed by his longstanding alcoholism, Hart no longer felt like writing. He embarked on a vacation to Mexico, advising Rodgers that Hammerstein would be a good choice of a new collaborator.
This partnership allowed both Rodgers and Hammerstein to follow their preferred writing methods: Hammerstein preferred to write a complete lyric before it was set to music, and Rodgers preferred to set completed lyrics to music. In Rodgers' previous collaborations with Hart, Rodgers had always written the music first, since the unfocused Hart needed something on which to base his lyrics. Hammerstein's previous collaborators included composers Rudolf Friml, Herbert Stothart, Vincent Youmans, and Kern, who all wrote music first, for which Hammerstein then wrote lyrics. The role reversal in the Rodgers and Hammerstein partnership permitted Hammerstein to craft the lyrics into a fundamental part of the story so that the songs could amplify and intensify the story instead of diverting it. As Rodgers and Hammerstein began developing the new musical, they agreed that their musical and dramatic choices would be dictated by the source material, Green Grow the Lilacs, not by musical comedy conventions. Musicals of that era featured big production numbers, novelty acts, and show-stopping specialty dances; the libretti typically focused on humor, with little dramatic development, punctuated with songs that effectively halted the story for their duration.
Casting and development
Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act. Though Theresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggested Shirley Temple as Laurey and Groucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with director Rouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. The production was choreographed by Agnes de Mille (her first time choreographing a musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act ballet finale (often referred to as the dream ballet) depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly.
The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943. Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. Producer Mike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No girls, no gags, no chance." But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven and Boston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number.
Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won a special Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable."
2009 Chichester Theatre Festival
In the summer of 2009, British director John Doyle directed the musical at the Chichester Festival Theatre. The production was dark in concept and featured new orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. On a spare stage, decorated only with blue sheets, "Confetti of rose petals stains the floor like drops of blood, and a nightmarish dream-dance sequence has Freudian overtones as Laurey's bridal gown becomes her shroud." It received mixed reviews. The Times reviewer wrote: "This is a very stylised, overdrilled production, no friend of intimate moments or quiet depth of emotion." The Guardian liked it the most, stating that "it's a delight, with one brilliant tippy-tappy-toed song after another and a nugget of darkness lodged in its sweet heart." Whats On Stage, like most of the papers, gave the show three out of five stars and wrote that this is a "downbeat vision" and that "all told it's a somewhat disappointing show", but their "average reader rating" was four stars. A review in The Telegraph commented, "Doyle uses shadow and silhouette to bring out the musical's nightmarish aspects but doesn't over-labour them. There are enough sunny spots – no more so than in Act 2's rousing title song – to keep the tone evenly textured."
2010 UK tour
The show toured England for nine months in 2010 in a new staging by Julian Woolford, with Marti Webb as Aunt Eller and Mark Evans as Curly.
2010 Washington, DC Arena Stage
Oklahoma! opened in October 2010 at the Arena Stage to critical acclaim. Artistic Director Molly Smith cast African-American actresses as Laurey and Aunt Eller to mirror both modern Washington, D.C. demographics and the diverse population of the musical's 1906 Oklahoma territory setting. The production received ten 2011 Helen Hayes Award nominations, winning as Outstanding Resident Musical (tying with Shakespeare Theatre's Candide) and for choreography (Parker Esse), lead actor (Nicholas Rodriguez as Curly) and musical direction (George Fulginiti-Shakar). The production returned to the Arena Stage for a second run in 2011.
2012, Seattle, Washington, 5th Avenue Theatre
The 5th Avenue Theatre's 2012 production, directed by Peter Rothstein, included African-American dancers and an African-American actor as Jud. The choice was intended, as in the Arena Stage production, to reflect the historical presence of African Americans in the Oklahoma territory, but it "has some audience members squirming in their seats ... they're seeing on stage one of the ugliest stereotypes in our history: an imposing black man ravaging a petite white woman [and] the white hero ... all but urges Jud to hang himself – and even pantomimes the act. Some see a clear reference to lynching." The "Dream Ballet" had a sinister, sexual tone and ended with Jud dragging Laurey away to be raped. One critic noted the historical "license taken when an African-American farmhand is allowed to escort a white woman to the box dance. ... Maybe some people ... left with not so much a song in their head, but a question in their heart. And isn't that part of what theater is supposed to do?" Another wrote: "Rothstein's Oklahoma! is now the story of a crazy, sex obsessed black man ... lusting violently after his white mistress, who ends up murdered at the hands of a white man, who gets off scot free after a mock trial."
2015 UK tour
A UK tour ran from February to August 2015, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and starring Ashley Day as Curly, Charlotte Wakefield as Laurey, Belinda Lang as Aunt Eller and Gary Wilmot as Ali Hakim.
1955 film adaptation
The 1955 film adaptation starred Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones (in her film debut), Rod Steiger, Charlotte Greenwood, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, James Whitmore and Eddie Albert. It was the only musical film directed by Fred Zinnemann, and Agnes de Mille choreographed. It was the first feature film photographed in the Todd-AO 70 mm widescreen process.
Rodgers and Hammerstein personally oversaw the film to prevent the studio from making the changes that were then typical of stage-to-film musical adaptations, such as interpolating new songs by others. The film followed the stage version more closely than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein stage-to-film adaptation, although it divided the long first scene into several shorter scenes, changing the locations of several of the songs. For example, "Kansas City" is performed at the train station, where Aunt Eller and other cowboys meet Will Parker just after he returns from Kansas City. Lyrics in the song about a burlesque stripteaser were slightly changed to pass film censorship. In a nod to Green Grow the Lilacs, which was the basis of the musical, Jud attempts revenge on Curly and Laurey by burning a haystack they stand on, before Curly jumps down, landing on Jud and causing him to fall on his own knife. The film omits only "It's a Scandal, It's a Outrage" and "Lonely Room". The film won Academy Awards for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Sound, Recording.
Recordings
Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra both recorded versions of "People Will Say We’re In Love" and "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" in 1943. Due to the 1942–1944 musicians' strike, however, these recordings featured no instrumental accompaniment and instead "were lugubriously weighed down by a cappella backup." Producers of Oklahoma! lamented the lack of high-quality official recordings, with Theresa Helburn writing to a colleague in August 1943: "There are no records of Oklahoma! that we can send you. As you know, the Petrillo ban on the union musicians still holds. They cannot play for broadcasting so the only record that has been made is a singing of "People Will Say We’re in Love" with Frank Sinatra, which if it sounds anything like his radio singing of the same must be terrible." Decca Records president Jack Kapp settled with the union in September 1943, and three weeks later he hastily booked the original cast and orchestra of Oklahoma! into a recording studio.
At a time when Broadway numbers were typically recorded by popular singers with smaller bands, it was unique for Oklahoma! to record its original cast with full orchestration. Although some tunes were not included due to time and cost constraints, most of the songs from Oklahoma! were released on a record album by Decca Records in 1943 containing six 10-inch double-sided discs in 78 RPM format. It sold more than one million copies, prompting the label to call the cast back into the studio to record three additional selections that had been left out of the first set. These were issued as Oklahoma! Volume Two. In 1949, Decca re-released the first set on LP but not the second set, which soon became a very rare collectors' item. All subsequent LP releases were similarly incomplete. Finally in 2000, Decca Broadway went back to the original glass masters to generate a new high fidelity transfer of the complete song program and released it on CD, utilizing the original 78 album artwork.
The success of the original Oklahoma! cast album set a precedent for the production of original cast recordings of Broadway musicals, which became an essential part of a musical's dissemination and endurance in popular culture. Later cast recordings of Oklahoma! include the 1979 Broadway cast recording, the 1980 London cast recording, the 1998 Royal National Theatre cast recording, the 2019 Broadway cast recording, and a soundtrack album of the 1955 film. There have also been more than 20 studio cast recordings of the show, featuring stars such as Nelson Eddy, John Raitt and Florence Henderson in the leading roles.
Reception
The original production of Oklahoma! was an unprecedented critical and popular success. John Anderson of the New York Journal American pronounced the musical "a beautiful and delightful show, fresh and imaginative, as enchanting to the eye as Richard Rodgers's music is to the ear. It has, at a rough estimate, practically everything". In the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote, "Songs, dances, and a story have been triumphantly blended. ... The Richard Rodgers score is one of his best, and that is saying plenty. Oscar Hammerstein 2nd has written a dramatically imaginative libretto and a string of catchy lyrics; Agnes de Mille has worked small miracles in devising original dances to fit the story and the tunes, while Rouben Mamoulian has directed an excellent company with great taste and craftsmanship." Louis Kronenberger of PM opined that "Mr. Hammerstein's lyrics have less crispness and wit than Lorenz Hart's at their best, but the songs in Oklahoma! call for less sophisticated words, and Mr. Hammerstein has found very likeable ones."
In the New York Daily News, Burns Mantle declared that "Oklahoma! really is different – beautifully different. With the songs that Richard Rodgers has fitted to a collection of unusually atmospheric and intelligible lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein 2nd, Oklahoma! seems to me to be the most thoroughly and attractively American musical comedy since Edna Ferber's Show Boat". New York World-Telegram critic Burton Rascoe particularly emphasized the groundbreaking choreography, stating that "Richard Rodgers has written for the show one of the finest musical scores any musical play ever had. Next to Mr. Rodgers, however, must stand the amazing Agnes de Mille, whose choreography, carried out to perfection by her ballet [corps], is actually the biggest hit of the show. The "Out of My Dreams" and "All Er Nuthin'" dances are such supreme aesthetic delights. ... They are spinetingling, out of this world." In The New York Sun, Ward Morehouse commented that "Oklahoma! is charming and leisurely. And tunely. And certainly not topical," as other shows had been in the early years of World War II. "It reveals Mr. Rodgers, shorn only for the moment of Larry Hart, in good form indeed. And nobody in last night's audience seemed to have a better time than Mr. Hart himself, who applauded the proceedings from a seat in Row B." Lorenz Hart himself "pushed his way through the crowd at the after-show party in Sardi's restaurant and threw his arms around his ex-partner, grinning from ear to ear. He told Rodgers he had never had a better evening at the theater in his life."
The only negative review of the musical appeared in the New York Post: The critic wrote that "it all seemed just a trifle too cute", stating that the score consisted of "a flock of Mr. Rodgers's songs that are pleasant enough, but still manage to sound quite a bit alike ... without much variety in the presentation." She concluded that the show was "very picturesque in a studied fashion, reminding us that life on a farm is apt to become a little tiresome."
Antecedents and influence
According to playwright and theatre writer Thomas Hischak, "Not only is Oklahoma! the most important of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, it is also the single most influential work in the American musical theatre. ... It is the first fully integrated musical play and its blending of song, character, plot and even dance would serve as the model for Broadway shows for decades." William Zinsser observed that Oklahoma! broke the old "musical comedy conventions", with the songs "delving into character" and advancing the plot. The show "became a milestone, so that later historians writing about important moments in twentieth-century theatre would begin to identify eras according to their relationship to Oklahoma!" Oklahoma! made Rodgers and Hammerstein "the most important contributors to the musical-play form. ... The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social thought, provided the necessary encouragement for other gifted writers to create musical plays of their own".
Theater historian Ethan Mordden points out that, although Oklahoma! has been called "the first integrated musical, the first American folk musical", Show Boat "got there first on both counts." Even earlier, the Princess Theatre musicals, following Gilbert and Sullivan and French opéra bouffe, began the reintegration of song and story after decades of thinly plotted British and American musicals, paving the way for Show Boat and Oklahoma! by showing that a musical could combine popular entertainment with continuity between its story and songs. These Princess Theatre shows, which featured modern American settings, "built and polished the mold from which almost all later major musical comedies evolved. ... The characters and situations were, within the limitations of musical comedy license, believable and the humor came from the situations or the nature of the characters. Kern's exquisitely flowing melodies were employed to further the action or develop characterization." Mordden also notes that Oklahoma! was called the first great dance musical, but other musicals had earlier focused on dance, among them Gay Divorce and On Your Toes. He concludes: "But Oklahoma! was the first American musical with an ethnic sound, words and music entirely in the folk idiom."
Critic Andrea Most argues that the musical reflected author's and composer's Jewish heritage and desires for Jewish Americans. Most asserts that the musical was written at a time when America presented Jews with an opportunity to gain privileged status by assimilating into mainstream American culture and passing as white Americans. Most claims that although there were rarely any identifiably Jewish characters in plays of this time period, characters such as Ali and Jud allowed for subtle Jewish representation, Ali embodying an accepted and friendly ideal for Jewish-Americans and Jud embodying Jewish-Americans' fear of becoming a marginalized minority like black Americans.
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
1979 Broadway revival
1980 West End revival
1998 West End revival
2002 Broadway revival
2019 Broadway revival
In popular culture
Oklahoma! has frequently been quoted or parodied in films, television and other media. The following list includes some of the more notable references.
Films
The songs "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "Oklahoma!" were spoofed in the animated film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. One of the spoofs is the song "Uncle Fucka", which parodies the spelled-out O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A of the musical's title song. A similar spoof is heard in the musical Curtains, concerning the title song of the Oklahoma!-like musical performed within the show.
In the film When Harry Met Sally..., Harry and Sally sing a karaoke version of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top".
In the film Twister, Beltzer is heard singing the song "Oklahoma!" when he is introduced.
In the film Dave, the title character sings the song "Oklahoma!"
In the film I Can Only Imagine, Bart Millard performs "Oklahoma!" for his school play. Meanwhile, at a diner, his father blacks out and was sent to a hospital.
The 2020 film I'm Thinking of Ending Things contains several references to Oklahoma! and a performance of the song "Lonely Room".
Television
In The Simpsons episode "Milhouse of Sand and Fog", the character Milhouse imagines himself and Bart singing "The Farmer and the Cowman". Another episode, "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh", begins with Llewellyn Sinclair directing a production of Oklahoma! with Marge as Ado Annie. Llewellyn is frustrated every time Marge tells him "no", since Ado Annie "cain't say no".
Sesame Street featured Kermit the Frog directing the film "Oklahoma" and Forgetful Jones singing the title song but forgetting how it begins. In 1977, Ray Charles performed "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" on Sesame Street, while Oscar the grouch sang to himself "Oh what a rotten old morning/Oh what a rotten old day".
On episode 317 of The Muppet Show, Fozzie Bear, dressed as a cowboy, begins to sing "Oklahoma", but large Muppets dressed as Samurai warriors turn the number into a parody called "Yokohama".
Tiny Toon Adventures spoofed the musical as "Ducklahoma", which heavily featured anvils.
In an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, "Frozen Dick", Dick sings a rendition of "Oklahoma!" in a diner, sparking the patrons in the diner to sing along with him.
In the Fawlty Towers episode "Gourmet Night", Polly serenades the guests with a rendition of "I Cain't Say No".
In episode 9 of Band of Brothers, "Why We Fight" (2001), Captain Nixon mentions that Oklahoma! was still on Broadway, causing the soldiers to break out in song.
On an episode of Friends, "The One Where Emma Cries", when Chandler accidentally accepts a job in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his wife Monica says that she does not want to move to Oklahoma or see the musical Oklahoma! Chandler responds by listing the songs from the musical, and Monica asks whether he is telling her that he got a job in Oklahoma or that he is gay.
The HBO series Watchmen, set in Tulsa, frequently references the musical through the score, character names, lyrics, and even integrates its music, themes and plot points in the episodes, once including a fully-staged performance of the song "Oklahoma!"
Other media
In the mid-1940s, radio comedian Fred Allen wrote and performed parody lyrics to the tune of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top": "Union Suit with the Hinge on the Back." The parody was repeated on subsequent programs.
The title song became the official state song of Oklahoma in 1953. (Oklahoma became a state on November 16, 1907.)
In the song "Oklahoma, U.S.A." by The Kinks, on their album Muswell Hillbillies, the protagonist dreams of "riding in the surrey with the fringe on top".
In Truman Capote's 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly sings music from Oklahoma! while accompanying herself on her guitar.
See also
Sheep Wars
Notes
References
Carter, Tim. Oklahoma!: the making of an American musical. Yale University Press, 2007,
Everett, William A. and Paul R. Laird. The Cambridge Companion to the Musical, Cambridge University Press, 2002,
Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007,
Jones, John B. Our Musicals, Ourselves. Hanover: University Press of New England, 2003
Kantor, Michael and Maslon, Laurence. Broadway: The American Musical. New York: Bullfinch Press, 2004.
Mordden, Ethan. Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical, Oxford University Press (1988)
Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. New York: Applause Books, 2002,
Stempel, Larry. Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010,
Further reading
Block, Geoffrey. The Richard Rodgers Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Ewen, David. With a Song in His Heart (Richard Rodgers). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963.
Fordin, Hugh. Getting To Know Him: The Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. New York: Random House, 1977; Decapo Press, 1995.
Green, Stanley. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Fact Book. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, 1980.
Mordden, Ethan. Rodgers & Hammerstein. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992.
Purdum, Todd S. Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2018.
External links
Information from the Theatre History website
RNH Theatricals site
Plot and production information, guidetomusicaltheatre.com
Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #8 – Excerpts sung by original cast; commentary by Rodgers and Hammerstein
1943 musicals
Broadway musicals
Fiction set in 1906
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Laurence Olivier Award-winning musicals
Musicals based on plays
Plays set in Oklahoma
Plays set in the United States
Pulitzer Prize-winning works
Tony Award-winning musicals
United States National Recording Registry recordings
West End musicals
Western (genre) plays | true | [
"Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theatre-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popular Broadway productions in the 1940s and 1950s initiated what is considered the \"golden age\" of musical theatre.<ref name=Heritage>Gordon, John Steele. [http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1993/1/1993_1_58.shtml Oklahoma'!'] . Retrieved June 13, 2010</ref> Five of their Broadway shows, Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music, were outstanding successes, as was the television broadcast of Cinderella (1957). Of the other four shows that the team produced on Broadway during their lifetimes, Flower Drum Song was well-received, and none was an outright flop. Most of their shows have received frequent revivals around the world, both professional and amateur. Among the many accolades their shows (and film versions) garnered were thirty-four Tony Awards, fifteen Academy Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes (for Oklahoma!, 1944, and South Pacific, 1950) and two Grammy Awards.\n\nTheir musical theatre writing partnership has been called the greatest of the 20th century.\n\nPrevious work and partnerships\n\nAt Columbia University, Rodgers and Hammerstein collaborated on the 1920 Varsity Show, Fly With Me. The songs for the show were originally written by Rodgers (a freshman) and Lorenz Hart. Hammerstein, who was on the judging committee, added two songs in the revising stage. Although Rodgers did not work with Hammerstein again until Oklahoma!, they achieved success independently from each other. Rodgers continued to collaborate for more than two decades with Hart. Among their many Broadway hits were the shows A Connecticut Yankee (1927), Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938), Pal Joey (1940), and By Jupiter (1942), as well as many successful film projects.\n\nHammerstein, a co-writer of the popular Rudolf Friml 1924 operetta Rose-Marie, and Sigmund Romberg operettas The Desert Song (1926) and The New Moon (1928), began a successful collaboration with composer Jerome Kern on Sunny (1925), which was a hit. Their 1927 musical Show Boat is considered to be one of the masterpieces of the American musical theatre. Other Hammerstein/Kern collaborations include Sweet Adeline (1929) and Very Warm for May (1939). Although the last of these was panned by critics, it contains one of Kern and Hammerstein's best-loved songs, \"All the Things You Are\".\n\nBy the early 1940s, Hart had sunk deeper into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, and he became unreliable, prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him.\n\nEarly work\n\nOklahoma!\n\nIndependently of each other, Rodgers and Hammerstein had been attracted to making a musical based on Lynn Riggs' stage play Green Grow the Lilacs. When Jerome Kern declined Hammerstein's offer to work on such a project and Hart refused Rodgers' offer to do the same, Rodgers and Hammerstein began their first collaboration. The result, Oklahoma! (1943), marked a revolution in musical drama. Although not the first musical to tell a story of emotional depth and psychological complexity, Oklahoma! introduced a number of new storytelling elements and techniques. These included its use of song and dance to convey and advance both plot and character, rather than act as a diversion from the story, and the firm integration of every song into the plot-line.Oklahoma! was originally called Away We Go! and opened at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven in March 1943. Only a few changes were made before it opened on Broadway, but three would prove significant: the addition of a show-stopping number, \"Oklahoma!\"; the deletion of the musical number \"Boys and Girls Like You and Me\", which would soon after be replaced with a reprise of \"People Will Say We're in Love\"; and the decision to re-title the musical after the song.\n\nThe original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943, at the St. James Theatre. Although the typical musical of the time was usually written around the talents of a specific performer, such as Ethel Merman or Fred Astaire, no stars were used in the production. Ultimately the original cast included Alfred Drake (Curly), Joan Roberts (Laurey), Celeste Holm (Ado Annie), Howard Da Silva (Jud Fry), Betty Garde (Aunt Eller), Lee Dixon (Will Parker) and Joseph Bulloff (Ali Hakim). Marc Platt danced the role of \"Dream Curly\", and Katharine Sergava danced the part of \"Dream Laurey\". In Oklahoma!, the story and the songs were considered more important than sheer star power. Nevertheless, the production ran for a then-unprecedented 2,212 performances, finally closing on May 29, 1948. Many enduring musical standards come from this show, among them \"Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'\", \"The Surrey with the Fringe on Top\", \"I Cain't Say No\", the aforementioned \"People Will Say We're in Love\", and \"Oklahoma!\". The popularity of these songs prompted Decca Records to have the original cast record the music from the show with the original orchestrations. This became the first musical to have an original cast recording, which is now a standard practice.\n\nIn 1955 it was made into an Academy Award-winning musical film, the first feature shot with the Todd-AO 70 mm widescreen process. The film starred Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, and its soundtrack was No. 1 on the 1956 album charts.The film was shot in two versions, the Todd-AO one, distributed by Mike Todd's Magna productions, and a Cinemascope version for theatres that were not, at that time, able to handle Todd-AO. The Cinemascope version was released by RKO a year after the Todd-AO version and is the one that most audiences have seen.\n\nAfter their initial success with Oklahoma!, the pair took a break from working together and Hammerstein concentrated on the musical Carmen Jones, a Broadway version of Bizet's Carmen with the characters changed to African Americans in the contemporary South, for which he wrote the book and lyrics. The musical was adapted to the screen in 1954, and scored a Best Actress Oscar nomination for leading lady Dorothy Dandridge. Rodgers and Hammerstein also received a special Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for Oklahoma!.\n\nCarousel\n\nThe original production of Carousel was directed by Rouben Mamoulian and opened at Broadway's Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945, running for 890 performances and closing on May 24, 1947. The cast included John Raitt, Jan Clayton, Jean Darling, Christine Johnson and Bambi Linn. From this show came the hit musical numbers \"The Carousel Waltz\" (an instrumental), \"If I Loved You\", \"June Is Bustin' Out All Over\", and \"You'll Never Walk Alone\".Carousel was also revolutionary for its time – adapted from Ferenc Molnár's play Liliom, it was one of the first musicals to contain a tragic plot about an antihero; it also contained an extended ballet that was crucial to the plot, and several extended musical scenes containing both sung and spoken material, as well as dance. The 1956 film version of Carousel, made in CinemaScope 55, again starred Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, the same leads as the film version of Oklahoma!Carousel is also unique among the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals for not having an overture; both the stage and film versions began with the familiar Carousel Waltz. This music was included in John Mauceri's Philips Records CD of the complete overtures of Rodgers and Hammerstein with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. It was also included in Rodgers' rare 1954 album for Columbia Records with the composer conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.\n\nState Fair\n\nIn 1945, a Technicolor musical film version of Phil Stong's novel State Fair, with songs and script by Rodgers and Hammerstein, was released. The film, a remake of a 1933 non-musical Will Rogers film of the same name, starred Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, and Vivian Blaine. This was the only time the pair ever wrote a score directly for film. It was a great success, winning Rodgers and Hammerstein their lone Oscar together, for the song \"It Might as Well Be Spring\", but it was also unadventurous material for them, compared with several of their Broadway shows. In 1962, an unsuccessful remake of the musical film was released.\n\nIn 1969, the St. Louis Municipal Opera presented the world stage premiere of State Fair starring Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. The production was directed by James Hammerstein, supervised by Richard Rodgers and choreographed by Tommy Tune. State Fair finally arrived on Broadway on March 27, 1996, with Donna McKechnie and Andrea McArdle, produced by David Merrick, and received five Tony Award nominations.\n\nSouth Pacific and important subsequent works\n\nSouth PacificSouth Pacific opened on Broadway on April 7, 1949, and ran for over five years. Its songs \"Bali Ha'i\", \"Younger Than Springtime\", and \"Some Enchanted Evening\" have become standards. The play is based upon two short stories by James A. Michener from his book Tales of the South Pacific, which itself was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1948. For their adaptation, Rodgers and Hammerstein, along with co-writer Joshua Logan, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950. The song \"You've Got to Be Carefully Taught\" was controversial due to its support of interracial marriage. Rogers and Hammerstein refused to remove it from the show, even if it meant the show failing. When the show was touring in Atlanta, Georgia, it offended some Georgian lawmakers, who proposed a bill to outlaw any entertainment they deemed to be inspired by Moscow.\n\nIn the original production, Mary Martin starred as the heroine Nellie Forbush, and opera star Ezio Pinza starred as Emile de Becque, the French plantation owner. Also in the cast were Juanita Hall, Myron McCormick and Betta St. John. The 1958 film version, also directed by Logan, starred Mitzi Gaynor, Rossano Brazzi, John Kerr, Ray Walston, and Juanita Hall. Brazzi, Kerr, and Hall had their singing dubbed by others.\n\nThe King and I\n\nBased on Margaret Landon's Anna and the King of Siam—the story of Anna Leonowens, governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s—Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical The King and I opened on Broadway on March 29, 1951, starring Gertrude Lawrence as Anna and the mostly unknown Yul Brynner as the king. This musical featured the hit songs \"I Whistle a Happy Tune\", \"Hello, Young Lovers\", \"Getting to Know You\", \"We Kiss in a Shadow\", \"Something Wonderful\", \"I Have Dreamed\", and \"Shall We Dance?\"\n\nIt was adapted for film in 1956 with Brynner re-creating his role opposite Deborah Kerr (whose singing was largely dubbed by Marni Nixon). Brynner won an Oscar as Best Actor for his portrayal, and Kerr was nominated as Best Actress. Brynner reprised the role twice on Broadway in 1977 and 1985 and in a short-lived TV sitcom in 1972, Anna and the King.\n\nCinderella\n\nBased on the fairytale character and story of Cinderella, Rodgers and Hammerstein created their only collaborative effort written for television. Cinderella aired on March 31, 1957, on CBS. More than 107 million viewers saw the broadcast, and Julie Andrews was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the title role.Julie Andrews: Awards & Nominees, Emmys.com, accessed December 22, 2012 Rodgers and Hammerstein originally signed to work with NBC, but CBS approached them, offering the chance to work with Julie Andrews, and the two quickly agreed. Rodgers stated, \"What won us over was the chance to work with Julie.\" Andrews played Cinderella, with Edith Adams as the Fairy Godmother, Kaye Ballard and Alice Ghostley as stepsisters Joy and Portia, and Jon Cypher as Prince Christopher. Though it was broadcast in color, and the major networks all had the new (B&W) videotape recorders from Ampex, a black and white kinescope is all that remains. It featured songs still treasured today, \"In My Own Little Corner\", \"Ten Minutes Ago\" and \"Impossible: It's Possible.\" After the success of the 1957 production, another version was presented in 1965 and shown annually on CBS, starring Lesley Ann Warren, Celeste Holm and Walter Pidgeon, and yet another television version in 1997 on ABC, produced by Walt Disney Television, starring Brandy, Whitney Houston, Bernadette Peters, and Whoopi Goldberg. Stage versions were also presented in London and elsewhere, and the musical finally was given a Broadway production, with a revised book by Douglas Carter Beane, and incorporating four songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein catalogue, in 2013.\n\nFlower Drum Song\n\nBased on a 1957 novel by C. Y. Lee, Flower Drum Song takes place in San Francisco's Chinatown in the late 1950s. The original 1958 production was directed by dancer/singer/actor Gene Kelly. The story deals with a young Chinese woman who illegally comes to America in hopes of marrying a wealthy young Chinese-American man, who is already in love with a Chinatown nightclub dancer. The young man's parents are traditional Chinese and want him to marry the new Chinese immigrant, but he is hesitant until he falls in love with her. Though this musical did not achieve the popularity of the team's five most famous musicals, it was nevertheless a success and broke new ground by using a mostly Asian cast. The 1961 film adaptation was a lavish, but much criticized, Ross Hunter production released by Universal Studios. A Broadway revival in 2002 starring Lea Salonga had a rewritten plot by playwright David Henry Hwang but retained the inter-generational and immigrant themes as well as most of the original songs.\n\nThe Sound of MusicThe Sound of Music, Rodgers and Hammerstein's last work together, is based on the story of the Austrian Von Trapp Family. Starring Mary Martin as Maria and Theodore Bikel as Captain von Trapp, it opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 16, 1959, garnering much praise and numerous awards. It has been frequently revived ever since. The show was made into a film in 1965 starring Julie Andrews as Maria and Christopher Plummer as the Captain. It won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, Robert Wise. Hammerstein died in August 1960, before the film was made, so when Rodgers was asked to create two new songs for the film (\"I Have Confidence\" and \"Something Good\"), he wrote the lyrics as well as the music. The Sound of Music contains more hit songs than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, and the film version was the most financially successful film adaptation of a Broadway musical ever made. The most enduring of these include the title song, \"Do-Re-Mi\", \"My Favorite Things\", \"Climb Ev'ry Mountain\", \"So Long, Farewell\" and \"Sixteen Going on Seventeen\". \"Edelweiss\" was the last song that Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote together.\n\nLegacy\nRodgers and Hammerstein re-worked the musical theatre genre. Early 20th-century musicals, except for the Princess Theatre musicals and a few important examples like Hammerstein and Jerome Kern's Show Boat, were usually whimsical or farcical, and typically built around a star. Because the efforts of Rodgers and Hammerstein were so successful, many musicals that followed contained thought-provoking plots with mature themes, and in which all the aspects of the play, dance, song, and drama, were combined in an integrated whole. Stephen Sondheim has cited Rodgers and Hammerstein as having had a crucial influence on his work.\n\nRodgers and Hammerstein also use the technique of what some call the \"formula musical\". While some hail this approach, others criticize it for its predictability. The term \"formula musical\" may refer to a musical with a predictable plot, but it also refers to the casting requirements of Rodgers & Hammerstein characters. Typically, any musical from this team will have the casting of a strong baritone lead, a dainty and light soprano lead, a supporting lead tenor, and a supporting alto lead. Although there are exceptions to this generalization, it simplifies the audition process and gives audiences an idea of what to expect vocally from a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. However, this formula had been used in Viennese operetta, such as The Merry Widow.\n\nWilliam A. Everett and Paul R. Laird wrote that Oklahoma!, \"like Show Boat, became a milestone, so that later historians writing about important moments in twentieth-century theatre would begin to identify eras according to their relationship to Oklahoma!\" In The Complete Book of Light Opera, Mark Lubbock adds, \"After Oklahoma!, Rodgers and Hammerstein were the most important contributors to the musical-play form – with such masterworks as Carousel, The King and I and South Pacific. The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social thought, provided the necessary encouragement for other gifted writers to create musical plays of their own.\"\n\nIn 1950, the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award \"in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York.\" They were also honored in 1999 with a United States Postal Service stamp commemorating their partnership. The Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City is named after Rodgers. Forbes named Rodgers and Hammerstein second on its list of top-earning dead celebrities in 2009 at $235 million. In 2010, the original film arrangements of the team's music were restored and performed at the Proms concerts in London's Royal Albert Hall by the John Wilson Orchestra.\n\nOn television and film\nRodgers and Hammerstein appeared on live telecasts several times. They were guests on the very first broadcast of Toast of the Town, the original name of The Ed Sullivan Show, when it debuted on CBS in June 1948. In 1954, they appeared on a memorable TV musical special, General Foods 25th Anniversary Show: A Salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein. They were the mystery guests on episode number 298 of What's My Line, which first aired on February 19, 1956; blindfolded panelist Arlene Francis was able to correctly identify them.\n\nThe pair made a rare feature film appearance in MGM's 1953 production Main Street to Broadway, in which Rodgers played the piano and Hammerstein sang a song they had written. They also appeared in the trailer for the film version of South Pacific in 1958.\n\nSocial issues\nWhile Rodgers and Hammerstein's work contains cheerful and often uplifting songs, they departed from the comic and sentimental tone of early 20th century musicals by seriously addressing issues such as racism, sexism and classism in many of their works.Rousuck, J. Wynn. \"Rodgers and Hammerstein remembered for their art and their emotional impact: The Sound of Their Music\", Baltimore Sun, December 18, 1994, accessed August 15, 2015 For example, Carousel concerns domestic violence, while South Pacific addresses racism. Based on the true story of the von Trapp family, The Sound of Music explores the views of Austrians on the takeover of Austria by the Third Reich.\n\nWork\n\n 1943 Oklahoma! 1955 film version\n 1945 Carousel 1956 film version\n 1967 TV version\n 1945 State Fair (film)\n 1962 remake\n 1996 stage version\n 1947 Allegro 1949 South Pacific 1958 film version\n 2001 TV version\n 1951 The King and I 1956 film version\n 1999 animation\n\n 1953 Me and Juliet 1955 Pipe Dream 1957 Cinderella (television)\n 1958 West End version (pantomime-style adaptation)\n 1965 TV remake\n 1997 TV remake\n 2013 Broadway version (rewritten book with added songs)\n 1958 Flower Drum Song 1961 film version\n 2002 revival (rewritten book with one new song)\n 1959 The Sound of Music 1965 film version\n 2013 live television version\n 2015 live television version (UK)\n 1993 A Grand Night for Singing (revue)\n\nSee also\nRodgers and Hart\nConcord Music, owner of the Rodgers and Hammerstein copyrights\nList of songwriter tandems\n\nReferences\n\nSources\n \n \n \n\nFurther reading\n \n \n\nExternal links\n Rodgers and Hammerstein\n Rodgers and Hammerstein Discography at Discogs\n Rodgers and Hammerstein Time'' magazine's \"100 most influential artists\"\n Rodgers and Hammerstein Columbia University Encyclopedia\n Theodore S. Chapin, of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, discusses their copyright license philosophy at Jacob's Pillow PillowTalk, August 29, 2009\n\n \nAmerican musical duos\nAmerican male songwriters\nSongwriting duos\nGrammy Award winners",
"Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Many of his songs are standard repertoire for vocalists and jazz musicians. He co-wrote 850 songs.\n\nHe is best known for his collaborations with composer Richard Rodgers, as the duo Rodgers and Hammerstein, whose musicals include Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. Described by Stephen Sondheim as an \"experimental playwright\", Hammerstein helped bring the American musical to new maturity by popularizing musicals that focused on stories and character rather than the lighthearted entertainment that the musical had been known for beforehand.\n\nHe also collaborated with Jerome Kern (with whom he wrote Show Boat), Vincent Youmans, Rudolf Friml, Richard A. Whiting, and Sigmund Romberg.\n\nEarly life\nOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was born in New York City, the son of Alice Hammerstein ( Nimmo) and theatrical manager William Hammerstein. His grandfather was the German theater impresario Oscar Hammerstein I. His father was from a Jewish family, and his mother was the daughter of British parents. He attended the Church of the Divine Paternity, now the Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York.\n\nAlthough Hammerstein's father managed the Victoria Theatre and was a producer of vaudeville shows, he was opposed to his son's desire to participate in the arts.\n\nHammerstein attended Columbia University (1912–1916) and studied at Columbia Law School until 1917. As a student, he maintained high grades and engaged in numerous extracurricular activities. These included playing first base on the baseball team, performing in the Varsity Show and becoming an active member of Pi Lambda Phi, a mostly Jewish fraternity.\n\nAfter his father's death, in June 1914, when he was 19, he participated in his first play with the Varsity Show, entitled On Your Way. Throughout the rest of his college career, Hammerstein wrote and performed in several Varsity Shows.\n\nEarly career\nAfter quitting law school to pursue theater, Hammerstein began his first professional collaboration, with Herbert Stothart, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. He began as an apprentice and went on to form a 20-year collaboration with Harbach. Out of this collaboration came his first musical, Always You, for which he wrote the book and lyrics. It opened on Broadway in 1920. In 1921 Hammerstein joined The Lambs club.\n\nThroughout the next forty years, Hammerstein teamed up with many other composers, including Jerome Kern, with whom Hammerstein enjoyed a highly successful collaboration. In 1927, Kern and Hammerstein wrote their biggest hit based on Edna Ferber's bestselling eponymous novel, Show Boat, which is often revived, as it is considered one of the masterpieces of American musical theater. \"Here we come to a completely new genre—the musical play as distinguished from musical comedy. Now ... the play was the thing, and everything else was subservient to that play. Now ... came complete integration of song, humor and production numbers into a single and inextricable artistic entity.\" Many years later, Hammerstein's wife Dorothy bristled when she overheard someone remark that Jerome Kern had written \"Ol' Man River\". \"Indeed not\", she retorted. \"Jerome Kern wrote 'dum, dum, dum-dum'. My husband wrote 'Ol' Man River'.\"\n\nOther Kern–Hammerstein musicals include Sweet Adeline, Music in the Air, Three Sisters, and Very Warm for May. Hammerstein also collaborated with Vincent Youmans (Wildflower), Rudolf Friml (Rose-Marie), and Sigmund Romberg (The Desert Song and The New Moon).\n\nRodgers and Hammerstein\n\nHammerstein's most successful and sustained collaboration began when he teamed up with Richard Rodgers to write a musical adaptation of the play Green Grow the Lilacs. Rodgers' first partner, Lorenz Hart, originally planned to collaborate with Rodgers on this piece, but his alcoholism had spiraled out of control, rendering him incapacitated. Hart was also not certain that the idea had much merit, and the two therefore separated. The adaptation became the first Rodgers and Hammerstein collaboration, entitled Oklahoma!, which opened on Broadway in 1943. It furthered the revolution begun by Show Boat, by thoroughly integrating all the aspects of musical theater, with the songs and dances arising out of and further developing the plot and characters.\n\nWilliam A. Everett and Paul R. Laird wrote that this was a \"show, that, like Show Boat, became a milestone, such that that subsequent historians writing about important moments in twentieth-century theater began to identify eras according to their relationship to Oklahoma!\" After Oklahoma!, Rodgers and Hammerstein were the most important contributors to the musical-play form—with such masterworks as Carousel, The King and I and South Pacific. The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social thought, provided the necessary encouragement for other gifted writers to create musical plays of their own\".\n\nThe partnership went on to produce not only the aforementioned, but also other Broadway musicals such as Allegro, Me and Juliet, Pipe Dream, Flower Drum Song, and The Sound of Music, as well as the musical film State Fair (and its stage adaptation of the same name), and the television musical Cinderella, all featured in the revue A Grand Night for Singing. Hammerstein also wrote the book and lyrics for Carmen Jones, an adaptation of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen, with an all-black cast that became a 1943 Broadway musical and a 1954 film, starring Dorothy Dandridge.\n\nAdvocacy\nAn active advocate for writers' rights within the theater industry, Hammerstein was a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. In 1956, he was elected as the eleventh president of the nonprofit organization. He continued his presidency at the Guild until 1960; he was succeeded by Alan Jay Lerner.\n\nPersonal life\n\nHammerstein married his first wife, Myra Finn, in 1917; the couple divorced in 1929. He married his second wife, the Australian-born Dorothy (Blanchard) Jacobson (1899–1987), in 1929. He had three children: William Hammerstein (1918–2001) and Alice Hammerstein Mathias (1922–2015) by his first wife, and James Hammerstein (1931–1999) by his second wife, with whom he also had a stepson, Henry Jacobson, and a stepdaughter, Susan Blanchard.\n\nOscar Hammerstein died of stomach cancer on August 23, 1960, at his home Highland Farm in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, aged 65, nine months after the opening of The Sound of Music on Broadway. The final song he wrote was \"Edelweiss\", which was added near the end of the second act during rehearsal. The lights of Times Square were turned off for one minute, and London's West End lights were dimmed in recognition of his contribution to the musical. He was cremated, and his ashes were buried at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. A memorial plaque was unveiled at Southwark Cathedral, England, on May 24, 1961.\n\nAfter Hammerstein's death, The Sound of Music was adapted as a 1965 film, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.\n\nReputation\nHammerstein was one of the most important \"book writers\" in Broadway history—he made the story, not the songs or the stars, central to the musical and brought musical theater to full maturity as an art form. According to Stephen Sondheim, \"What few people understand is that Oscar's big contribution to the theater was as a theoretician, as a Peter Brook, as an innovator. People don't understand how experimental Show Boat and Oklahoma! felt at the time they were done. Oscar is not about the 'lark that is learning to pray'—that's easy to make fun of. He's about Allegro\", Hammerstein's most experimental musical.\n\nHis reputation for being sentimental is based largely on the movie versions of the musicals, especially The Sound of Music, in which a song sung by those in favor of reaching an accommodation with the Nazis, \"No Way to Stop It\", was cut. As recent revivals of Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Carousel, and The King and I in London and New York show, Hammerstein was one of the more tough-minded and socially conscious American musical theater artists. According to Richard Kislan, \"The shows of Rodgers and Hammerstein were the product of sincerity. In the light of criticism directed against them and their universe of sweetness and light, it is important to understand that they believed sincerely in what they wrote.\" According to Marc Bauch, \"The Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals are romantic musical plays. Love is important.\"\n\nAccording to The Rodgers and Hammerstein Story by Stanley Green, \"For three minutes, on the night of September first, the entire Times Square area in New York City was blacked out in honor of the man who had done so much to light up that particular part of the world. From 8:57 to 9:00 p.m., every neon sign and every light bulb was turned off and all traffic was halted between 42nd Street and 53rd Street, and between eighth Ave and the Avenue of the Americas. A crowd of 5,000 people, many with heads bowed, assembled at the base of the statue of Father Duffy on Times Square where two trumpeters blew taps. It was the most complete blackout on Broadway since World War II, and the greatest tribute of its kind ever paid to one man.\"\n\nSongs\nAccording to The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II, edited by Amy Asch, Hammerstein contributed the lyrics to 850 songs, including \"Ol' Man River\", \"Can't Help Lovin' That Man\" and \"Make Believe\" from Show Boat; \"Indian Love Call\" from Rose-Marie; \"People Will Say We're in Love\" and \"Oklahoma\" (which has been the official state song of Oklahoma since 1953) from Oklahoma!; \"Some Enchanted Evening\", from South Pacific; \"Getting to Know You\" and \"Shall We Dance\" from The King and I; and the title song as well as \"Climb Ev'ry Mountain\" from The Sound of Music.\n\nSeveral albums of Hammerstein's musicals were named to the \"Songs of the Century\" list as compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Corporation:\nThe Sound of Music — # 36\nOklahoma! — # 66\nSouth Pacific — # 224\nThe King and I — # 249\nShow Boat — # 312\n\nAwards and nominations\nHammerstein won two Oscars for best original song—in 1941 for \"The Last Time I Saw Paris\" in the film Lady Be Good, and in 1945 for \"It Might as Well Be Spring\" in State Fair. In 1950, the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award \"in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York.\"\n\nHammerstein won eight Tony Awards, six for lyrics or book, and two as producer of the Best Musical (South Pacific and The Sound of Music). Rodgers and Hammerstein began writing together before the era of the Tonys: Oklahoma! opened in 1943 and Carousel in 1945, and the Tony Awards were not awarded until 1947. They won a special Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for Oklahoma! and, with Joshua Logan, the annual Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950 for South Pacific. The Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theater Studies at Columbia University was established in 1981 with a $1 million gift from his family.\n\nLegacy \nHis advice and work influenced Stephen Sondheim, a friend of the Hammerstein family from childhood. Sondheim has attributed his success in theater, and especially as a lyricist, directly to Hammerstein's influence and guidance.\n\nThe Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theater is presented annually. The York Theatre Company of New York City is the administrator of the award. Past awardees are composers such as Stephen Sondheim and performers such as Carol Channing.\n\nOscar Hammerstein was a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links\n\nMusicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein\nBiography of Oscar Hammerstein II at RNH Official Site\nOscar Hammerstein II interviewed by Mike Wallace on The Mike Wallace Interview March 15, 1958\nOscar Hammerstein II Collection at the Library of Congress\n \n Oscar Hammerstein II recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.\n\n \n20th-century American dramatists and playwrights\nAmerican musical theatre lyricists\nAmerican musical theatre librettists\nAmerican theatre managers and producers\nBroadway composers and lyricists\nBroadway theatre producers\nBest Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters\nBurials at Ferncliff Cemetery\nDeaths from cancer in Pennsylvania\nColumbia College (New York) alumni\nColumbia Law School alumni\nDeaths from stomach cancer\nAmerican people of English descent\nAmerican people of German-Jewish descent\nGrammy Award winners\nHammerstein family (show business)\nPulitzer Prize for Drama winners\nPulitzer Prize winners\nTony Award winners\nAmerican people of Scottish descent\nSongwriters from New York (state)\nJewish American songwriters\nAmerican Episcopalians\n1895 births\n1960 deaths\nColumbia University alumni"
] |
[
"Oklahoma!",
"Casting and development",
"When did Rodgers and Hammerstein start developing the show?",
"The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943."
] | C_ed36a7675964410f80970a3e03be2c41_1 | How were the reviews at the New Haven tryout? | 2 | How were the reviews at the New Haven tryout for the show Oklahoma!? | Oklahoma! | Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act. Though Theresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggested Shirley Temple as Laurey and Groucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with director Rouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. The production was choreographed by Agnes de Mille (her first time choreographing a musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act ballet finale (often referred to as the dream ballet) depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly. The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943. Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. Producer Mike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No legs, no jokes, no chance." But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven and Boston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma!" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number. Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won a special Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable." The New York Post was the only major paper to give Oklahoma! a mixed review. Its critic felt that while the songs were pleasant enough, they sounded much alike. The show's creativity stimulated Rodgers and Hammerstein's contemporaries and ushered in the "Golden Age" of American musical theatre. CANNOTANSWER | the reviews were only fair. | Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud Fry. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.
The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943. It was a box office hit and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances, later enjoying award-winning revivals, national tours, foreign productions and an Oscar-winning 1955 film adaptation. It has long been a popular choice for school and community productions. Rodgers and Hammerstein won a special Pulitzer Prize for Oklahoma! in 1944.
This musical, building on the innovations of the earlier Show Boat, epitomized the development of the "book musical", a musical play where the songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story, with serious dramatic goals, that is able to evoke genuine emotions other than amusement. In addition, Oklahoma! features musical themes, or motifs, that recur throughout the work to connect the music and story. A fifteen-minute "dream ballet" reflects Laurey's struggle with her feelings about two men, Curly and Jud.
Background
By the early 1940s, Rodgers and Hammerstein were each well known for creating Broadway hits with other collaborators. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced over two dozen musicals since the 1920s, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940). Among other successes, Hammerstein had written the words for Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote musicals, songs and films, sharing an Academy Award for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good. By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, and he became unreliable, prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him.
Conception
In 1931, the Theatre Guild produced Lynn Riggs's Green Grow the Lilacs, a play about settlers in Oklahoma Indian Territory. Though the play was not successful, ten years later in 1941, Theresa Helburn, one of the Guild's producers, saw a summer-stock production supplemented with traditional folk songs and square dances and decided the play could be the basis of a musical that might revive the struggling Guild. She contacted Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, whose first successful collaboration, The Garrick Gaieties, had been produced by the Theatre Guild in 1925. Rodgers wanted to work on the project and obtained the rights for himself and Hart. Rodgers had asked Oscar Hammerstein II to collaborate with him and Hart. During the tryouts of Rodgers and Hart's By Jupiter in 1941, Hammerstein had assured Rodgers that if Hart was ever unable to work, he would be willing to take his place. Coincidentally in 1942, Hammerstein had thought of musicalizing Green Grow the Lilacs, but when he had approached Jerome Kern about it, the latter declined. Hammerstein learned that Rodgers was seeking someone to write the book, and he eagerly took the opportunity. Hart lost interest in the musical; he preferred contemporary, urbane shows that would showcase his witty lyric writing, and he found the farmers and cowhands in Green Grow the Lilacs corny and uninspiring. Moreover, spiraling downward, consumed by his longstanding alcoholism, Hart no longer felt like writing. He embarked on a vacation to Mexico, advising Rodgers that Hammerstein would be a good choice of a new collaborator.
This partnership allowed both Rodgers and Hammerstein to follow their preferred writing methods: Hammerstein preferred to write a complete lyric before it was set to music, and Rodgers preferred to set completed lyrics to music. In Rodgers' previous collaborations with Hart, Rodgers had always written the music first, since the unfocused Hart needed something on which to base his lyrics. Hammerstein's previous collaborators included composers Rudolf Friml, Herbert Stothart, Vincent Youmans, and Kern, who all wrote music first, for which Hammerstein then wrote lyrics. The role reversal in the Rodgers and Hammerstein partnership permitted Hammerstein to craft the lyrics into a fundamental part of the story so that the songs could amplify and intensify the story instead of diverting it. As Rodgers and Hammerstein began developing the new musical, they agreed that their musical and dramatic choices would be dictated by the source material, Green Grow the Lilacs, not by musical comedy conventions. Musicals of that era featured big production numbers, novelty acts, and show-stopping specialty dances; the libretti typically focused on humor, with little dramatic development, punctuated with songs that effectively halted the story for their duration.
Casting and development
Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act. Though Theresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggested Shirley Temple as Laurey and Groucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with director Rouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. The production was choreographed by Agnes de Mille (her first time choreographing a musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act ballet finale (often referred to as the dream ballet) depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly.
The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943. Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. Producer Mike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No girls, no gags, no chance." But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven and Boston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number.
Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won a special Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable."
2009 Chichester Theatre Festival
In the summer of 2009, British director John Doyle directed the musical at the Chichester Festival Theatre. The production was dark in concept and featured new orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. On a spare stage, decorated only with blue sheets, "Confetti of rose petals stains the floor like drops of blood, and a nightmarish dream-dance sequence has Freudian overtones as Laurey's bridal gown becomes her shroud." It received mixed reviews. The Times reviewer wrote: "This is a very stylised, overdrilled production, no friend of intimate moments or quiet depth of emotion." The Guardian liked it the most, stating that "it's a delight, with one brilliant tippy-tappy-toed song after another and a nugget of darkness lodged in its sweet heart." Whats On Stage, like most of the papers, gave the show three out of five stars and wrote that this is a "downbeat vision" and that "all told it's a somewhat disappointing show", but their "average reader rating" was four stars. A review in The Telegraph commented, "Doyle uses shadow and silhouette to bring out the musical's nightmarish aspects but doesn't over-labour them. There are enough sunny spots – no more so than in Act 2's rousing title song – to keep the tone evenly textured."
2010 UK tour
The show toured England for nine months in 2010 in a new staging by Julian Woolford, with Marti Webb as Aunt Eller and Mark Evans as Curly.
2010 Washington, DC Arena Stage
Oklahoma! opened in October 2010 at the Arena Stage to critical acclaim. Artistic Director Molly Smith cast African-American actresses as Laurey and Aunt Eller to mirror both modern Washington, D.C. demographics and the diverse population of the musical's 1906 Oklahoma territory setting. The production received ten 2011 Helen Hayes Award nominations, winning as Outstanding Resident Musical (tying with Shakespeare Theatre's Candide) and for choreography (Parker Esse), lead actor (Nicholas Rodriguez as Curly) and musical direction (George Fulginiti-Shakar). The production returned to the Arena Stage for a second run in 2011.
2012, Seattle, Washington, 5th Avenue Theatre
The 5th Avenue Theatre's 2012 production, directed by Peter Rothstein, included African-American dancers and an African-American actor as Jud. The choice was intended, as in the Arena Stage production, to reflect the historical presence of African Americans in the Oklahoma territory, but it "has some audience members squirming in their seats ... they're seeing on stage one of the ugliest stereotypes in our history: an imposing black man ravaging a petite white woman [and] the white hero ... all but urges Jud to hang himself – and even pantomimes the act. Some see a clear reference to lynching." The "Dream Ballet" had a sinister, sexual tone and ended with Jud dragging Laurey away to be raped. One critic noted the historical "license taken when an African-American farmhand is allowed to escort a white woman to the box dance. ... Maybe some people ... left with not so much a song in their head, but a question in their heart. And isn't that part of what theater is supposed to do?" Another wrote: "Rothstein's Oklahoma! is now the story of a crazy, sex obsessed black man ... lusting violently after his white mistress, who ends up murdered at the hands of a white man, who gets off scot free after a mock trial."
2015 UK tour
A UK tour ran from February to August 2015, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and starring Ashley Day as Curly, Charlotte Wakefield as Laurey, Belinda Lang as Aunt Eller and Gary Wilmot as Ali Hakim.
1955 film adaptation
The 1955 film adaptation starred Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones (in her film debut), Rod Steiger, Charlotte Greenwood, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, James Whitmore and Eddie Albert. It was the only musical film directed by Fred Zinnemann, and Agnes de Mille choreographed. It was the first feature film photographed in the Todd-AO 70 mm widescreen process.
Rodgers and Hammerstein personally oversaw the film to prevent the studio from making the changes that were then typical of stage-to-film musical adaptations, such as interpolating new songs by others. The film followed the stage version more closely than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein stage-to-film adaptation, although it divided the long first scene into several shorter scenes, changing the locations of several of the songs. For example, "Kansas City" is performed at the train station, where Aunt Eller and other cowboys meet Will Parker just after he returns from Kansas City. Lyrics in the song about a burlesque stripteaser were slightly changed to pass film censorship. In a nod to Green Grow the Lilacs, which was the basis of the musical, Jud attempts revenge on Curly and Laurey by burning a haystack they stand on, before Curly jumps down, landing on Jud and causing him to fall on his own knife. The film omits only "It's a Scandal, It's a Outrage" and "Lonely Room". The film won Academy Awards for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Sound, Recording.
Recordings
Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra both recorded versions of "People Will Say We’re In Love" and "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" in 1943. Due to the 1942–1944 musicians' strike, however, these recordings featured no instrumental accompaniment and instead "were lugubriously weighed down by a cappella backup." Producers of Oklahoma! lamented the lack of high-quality official recordings, with Theresa Helburn writing to a colleague in August 1943: "There are no records of Oklahoma! that we can send you. As you know, the Petrillo ban on the union musicians still holds. They cannot play for broadcasting so the only record that has been made is a singing of "People Will Say We’re in Love" with Frank Sinatra, which if it sounds anything like his radio singing of the same must be terrible." Decca Records president Jack Kapp settled with the union in September 1943, and three weeks later he hastily booked the original cast and orchestra of Oklahoma! into a recording studio.
At a time when Broadway numbers were typically recorded by popular singers with smaller bands, it was unique for Oklahoma! to record its original cast with full orchestration. Although some tunes were not included due to time and cost constraints, most of the songs from Oklahoma! were released on a record album by Decca Records in 1943 containing six 10-inch double-sided discs in 78 RPM format. It sold more than one million copies, prompting the label to call the cast back into the studio to record three additional selections that had been left out of the first set. These were issued as Oklahoma! Volume Two. In 1949, Decca re-released the first set on LP but not the second set, which soon became a very rare collectors' item. All subsequent LP releases were similarly incomplete. Finally in 2000, Decca Broadway went back to the original glass masters to generate a new high fidelity transfer of the complete song program and released it on CD, utilizing the original 78 album artwork.
The success of the original Oklahoma! cast album set a precedent for the production of original cast recordings of Broadway musicals, which became an essential part of a musical's dissemination and endurance in popular culture. Later cast recordings of Oklahoma! include the 1979 Broadway cast recording, the 1980 London cast recording, the 1998 Royal National Theatre cast recording, the 2019 Broadway cast recording, and a soundtrack album of the 1955 film. There have also been more than 20 studio cast recordings of the show, featuring stars such as Nelson Eddy, John Raitt and Florence Henderson in the leading roles.
Reception
The original production of Oklahoma! was an unprecedented critical and popular success. John Anderson of the New York Journal American pronounced the musical "a beautiful and delightful show, fresh and imaginative, as enchanting to the eye as Richard Rodgers's music is to the ear. It has, at a rough estimate, practically everything". In the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote, "Songs, dances, and a story have been triumphantly blended. ... The Richard Rodgers score is one of his best, and that is saying plenty. Oscar Hammerstein 2nd has written a dramatically imaginative libretto and a string of catchy lyrics; Agnes de Mille has worked small miracles in devising original dances to fit the story and the tunes, while Rouben Mamoulian has directed an excellent company with great taste and craftsmanship." Louis Kronenberger of PM opined that "Mr. Hammerstein's lyrics have less crispness and wit than Lorenz Hart's at their best, but the songs in Oklahoma! call for less sophisticated words, and Mr. Hammerstein has found very likeable ones."
In the New York Daily News, Burns Mantle declared that "Oklahoma! really is different – beautifully different. With the songs that Richard Rodgers has fitted to a collection of unusually atmospheric and intelligible lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein 2nd, Oklahoma! seems to me to be the most thoroughly and attractively American musical comedy since Edna Ferber's Show Boat". New York World-Telegram critic Burton Rascoe particularly emphasized the groundbreaking choreography, stating that "Richard Rodgers has written for the show one of the finest musical scores any musical play ever had. Next to Mr. Rodgers, however, must stand the amazing Agnes de Mille, whose choreography, carried out to perfection by her ballet [corps], is actually the biggest hit of the show. The "Out of My Dreams" and "All Er Nuthin'" dances are such supreme aesthetic delights. ... They are spinetingling, out of this world." In The New York Sun, Ward Morehouse commented that "Oklahoma! is charming and leisurely. And tunely. And certainly not topical," as other shows had been in the early years of World War II. "It reveals Mr. Rodgers, shorn only for the moment of Larry Hart, in good form indeed. And nobody in last night's audience seemed to have a better time than Mr. Hart himself, who applauded the proceedings from a seat in Row B." Lorenz Hart himself "pushed his way through the crowd at the after-show party in Sardi's restaurant and threw his arms around his ex-partner, grinning from ear to ear. He told Rodgers he had never had a better evening at the theater in his life."
The only negative review of the musical appeared in the New York Post: The critic wrote that "it all seemed just a trifle too cute", stating that the score consisted of "a flock of Mr. Rodgers's songs that are pleasant enough, but still manage to sound quite a bit alike ... without much variety in the presentation." She concluded that the show was "very picturesque in a studied fashion, reminding us that life on a farm is apt to become a little tiresome."
Antecedents and influence
According to playwright and theatre writer Thomas Hischak, "Not only is Oklahoma! the most important of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, it is also the single most influential work in the American musical theatre. ... It is the first fully integrated musical play and its blending of song, character, plot and even dance would serve as the model for Broadway shows for decades." William Zinsser observed that Oklahoma! broke the old "musical comedy conventions", with the songs "delving into character" and advancing the plot. The show "became a milestone, so that later historians writing about important moments in twentieth-century theatre would begin to identify eras according to their relationship to Oklahoma!" Oklahoma! made Rodgers and Hammerstein "the most important contributors to the musical-play form. ... The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social thought, provided the necessary encouragement for other gifted writers to create musical plays of their own".
Theater historian Ethan Mordden points out that, although Oklahoma! has been called "the first integrated musical, the first American folk musical", Show Boat "got there first on both counts." Even earlier, the Princess Theatre musicals, following Gilbert and Sullivan and French opéra bouffe, began the reintegration of song and story after decades of thinly plotted British and American musicals, paving the way for Show Boat and Oklahoma! by showing that a musical could combine popular entertainment with continuity between its story and songs. These Princess Theatre shows, which featured modern American settings, "built and polished the mold from which almost all later major musical comedies evolved. ... The characters and situations were, within the limitations of musical comedy license, believable and the humor came from the situations or the nature of the characters. Kern's exquisitely flowing melodies were employed to further the action or develop characterization." Mordden also notes that Oklahoma! was called the first great dance musical, but other musicals had earlier focused on dance, among them Gay Divorce and On Your Toes. He concludes: "But Oklahoma! was the first American musical with an ethnic sound, words and music entirely in the folk idiom."
Critic Andrea Most argues that the musical reflected author's and composer's Jewish heritage and desires for Jewish Americans. Most asserts that the musical was written at a time when America presented Jews with an opportunity to gain privileged status by assimilating into mainstream American culture and passing as white Americans. Most claims that although there were rarely any identifiably Jewish characters in plays of this time period, characters such as Ali and Jud allowed for subtle Jewish representation, Ali embodying an accepted and friendly ideal for Jewish-Americans and Jud embodying Jewish-Americans' fear of becoming a marginalized minority like black Americans.
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
1979 Broadway revival
1980 West End revival
1998 West End revival
2002 Broadway revival
2019 Broadway revival
In popular culture
Oklahoma! has frequently been quoted or parodied in films, television and other media. The following list includes some of the more notable references.
Films
The songs "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "Oklahoma!" were spoofed in the animated film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. One of the spoofs is the song "Uncle Fucka", which parodies the spelled-out O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A of the musical's title song. A similar spoof is heard in the musical Curtains, concerning the title song of the Oklahoma!-like musical performed within the show.
In the film When Harry Met Sally..., Harry and Sally sing a karaoke version of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top".
In the film Twister, Beltzer is heard singing the song "Oklahoma!" when he is introduced.
In the film Dave, the title character sings the song "Oklahoma!"
In the film I Can Only Imagine, Bart Millard performs "Oklahoma!" for his school play. Meanwhile, at a diner, his father blacks out and was sent to a hospital.
The 2020 film I'm Thinking of Ending Things contains several references to Oklahoma! and a performance of the song "Lonely Room".
Television
In The Simpsons episode "Milhouse of Sand and Fog", the character Milhouse imagines himself and Bart singing "The Farmer and the Cowman". Another episode, "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh", begins with Llewellyn Sinclair directing a production of Oklahoma! with Marge as Ado Annie. Llewellyn is frustrated every time Marge tells him "no", since Ado Annie "cain't say no".
Sesame Street featured Kermit the Frog directing the film "Oklahoma" and Forgetful Jones singing the title song but forgetting how it begins. In 1977, Ray Charles performed "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" on Sesame Street, while Oscar the grouch sang to himself "Oh what a rotten old morning/Oh what a rotten old day".
On episode 317 of The Muppet Show, Fozzie Bear, dressed as a cowboy, begins to sing "Oklahoma", but large Muppets dressed as Samurai warriors turn the number into a parody called "Yokohama".
Tiny Toon Adventures spoofed the musical as "Ducklahoma", which heavily featured anvils.
In an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, "Frozen Dick", Dick sings a rendition of "Oklahoma!" in a diner, sparking the patrons in the diner to sing along with him.
In the Fawlty Towers episode "Gourmet Night", Polly serenades the guests with a rendition of "I Cain't Say No".
In episode 9 of Band of Brothers, "Why We Fight" (2001), Captain Nixon mentions that Oklahoma! was still on Broadway, causing the soldiers to break out in song.
On an episode of Friends, "The One Where Emma Cries", when Chandler accidentally accepts a job in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his wife Monica says that she does not want to move to Oklahoma or see the musical Oklahoma! Chandler responds by listing the songs from the musical, and Monica asks whether he is telling her that he got a job in Oklahoma or that he is gay.
The HBO series Watchmen, set in Tulsa, frequently references the musical through the score, character names, lyrics, and even integrates its music, themes and plot points in the episodes, once including a fully-staged performance of the song "Oklahoma!"
Other media
In the mid-1940s, radio comedian Fred Allen wrote and performed parody lyrics to the tune of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top": "Union Suit with the Hinge on the Back." The parody was repeated on subsequent programs.
The title song became the official state song of Oklahoma in 1953. (Oklahoma became a state on November 16, 1907.)
In the song "Oklahoma, U.S.A." by The Kinks, on their album Muswell Hillbillies, the protagonist dreams of "riding in the surrey with the fringe on top".
In Truman Capote's 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly sings music from Oklahoma! while accompanying herself on her guitar.
See also
Sheep Wars
Notes
References
Carter, Tim. Oklahoma!: the making of an American musical. Yale University Press, 2007,
Everett, William A. and Paul R. Laird. The Cambridge Companion to the Musical, Cambridge University Press, 2002,
Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007,
Jones, John B. Our Musicals, Ourselves. Hanover: University Press of New England, 2003
Kantor, Michael and Maslon, Laurence. Broadway: The American Musical. New York: Bullfinch Press, 2004.
Mordden, Ethan. Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical, Oxford University Press (1988)
Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. New York: Applause Books, 2002,
Stempel, Larry. Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010,
Further reading
Block, Geoffrey. The Richard Rodgers Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Ewen, David. With a Song in His Heart (Richard Rodgers). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963.
Fordin, Hugh. Getting To Know Him: The Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. New York: Random House, 1977; Decapo Press, 1995.
Green, Stanley. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Fact Book. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, 1980.
Mordden, Ethan. Rodgers & Hammerstein. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992.
Purdum, Todd S. Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2018.
External links
Information from the Theatre History website
RNH Theatricals site
Plot and production information, guidetomusicaltheatre.com
Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #8 – Excerpts sung by original cast; commentary by Rodgers and Hammerstein
1943 musicals
Broadway musicals
Fiction set in 1906
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Laurence Olivier Award-winning musicals
Musicals based on plays
Plays set in Oklahoma
Plays set in the United States
Pulitzer Prize-winning works
Tony Award-winning musicals
United States National Recording Registry recordings
West End musicals
Western (genre) plays | true | [
"A tryout is the staging of performances of a theatrical production (i.e., a play or musical) at an out-of-town venue for evaluation and possible revision before the production premieres on Broadway or the West End (i.e., the highest level of live theater in the English-speaking world). A tryout is similar to a workshop production in that the point is to identify and eliminate embarrassing flaws before the production is put on before highly demanding New York or London audiences. Unlike a workshop, it is usually much more developed, less rough, and close to the intended final product. If a tryout goes well and irons out the last few bugs, then that assures the project's investors of its eventual success—namely, when the production debuts on Broadway or the West End, it will already be fully polished and more likely to receive favorable reviews and play to sold-out houses for several years, so they can recoup their investment. Conversely, tryouts enable theatrical audiences in less prestigious markets to preview potential future hits and get bragging rights that they saw those works first.\n\nThe Schubert Theatre is an example of a theatre specializing in such tryouts for Broadway.\n\nPopular tryout locations\n\nNew Haven, Connecticut: Oklahoma!, The King and I, My Fair Lady, 1776\nPhiladelphia: Street Scene, Kiss Me, Kate, A Raisin in the Sun\nBoston: Porgy and Bess, Follies, La Cage aux Folles, High Fidelity (musical), Moulin Rouge! (musical)\nDetroit: Hello, Dolly!, Sweet Charity, Seesaw\nWashington, D.C.: Show Boat, West Side Story, 42nd Street\nSan Diego: Rumors, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Jersey Boys\nLos Angeles: Peter Pan, The Happy Time, Brighton Beach Memoirs\nSeattle: Hairspray, The Light in the Piazza, Catch Me If You Can\nAtlanta: Bring It On: The Musical, Tuck Everlasting (musical), The Prom (musical)\n\nReferences\n\nStage terminology",
"Bond Clinic, P.A. is the largest outpatient clinic system in Winter Haven, Florida. It is one of two large clinic systems in the city, the other being Gessler Clinic, P.A. Bond Clinic has four locations in Winter Haven and one in nearby Lake Wales, Florida. Patients from a large area use the services of Bond Clinic.\n\nHistory\nBond Clinic was founded in 1948 by four physicians, one being Dr. Benjamin Bond. The first office was established in June 1949 at the corner of Avenue A N.W. and 3rd Street. On the first floor was a local drugstore and Bond's office was on the second floor. By 1954 the clinic expanded from four to six physicians. At that time a new building was constructed for Bond Clinic on First Street, across from Winter Haven Hospital.\n\nIn 1978 Bond moved to its current main campus location, which was expanded over the years. The building now there runs the length of the block. In 2007, the clinic opened a satellite location at 199 Avenue B, NW, in downtown Winter Haven. Many services are now housed at that location. Bond opened clinics in several other locations through the years.\n\nServices\nBond Clinic has the following medical providers:\n\nDoctors of Medicine (M.D.) - 40\nDoctors of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) - 2\nDoctor of Physical Therapy - 1\nNurse practitioners - 7 ARNPs\n\nBond Clinic offers a large range of outpatient services, including primary care, various radiology services, urgent care and a full-service medical laboratory.\n\nClinic locations\nBond Clinic lists five locations in its website. These are located at these addresses and geographical coordinates:\n\nMain Campus - 500 E. Central Avenue, Winter Haven, FL 33880 \nPediatrics - 45 Lake Elbert Drive, Winter Haven, FL 33880 \nOphthamology and Vision Center - 506 Avenue A, SE, Winter Haven, FL 33880 \nDowntown Satellite Office - 199 Avenue B, NW, Winter Haven, FL 33881 \nFirst Street Campus & Urgent Care, 325 First Street N, Winter Haven, FL 33881 \nLake Wales Office - 1342 State Route 60 East (in the Orange Grove Plaza), Lake Wales, FL 33853 \n\nThe pediatrics and ophthamology units are adjacent to the main campus, as is the purchasing center, next to the ophthalmology unit. The purchasing center has the following coordinates: . The downtown satellite locations contains an anti-coagulation clinic, a diabetes clinic, a satellite laboratory, a physician's practice, an accounting office and the Women's Health Center. The Lake Wales location provides some of the services that are at the Winter Haven locations.\n\nRatings\nThe Healthgrades website provides very little information on Bond Clinic. However, the Vitals website provides patient reviews of physicians and wait times for physician visits. Bond Clinic as a whole is not rated by patient reviews. The patient reviews numbered 107 completed surveys as of August 2012. The reviews gave the doctors at the Clinic three of four possible stars. The overall wait time to see a physician at the Clinic, as provided by the patient reviews as of August 2012, was seventeen minutes. The national average wait time was twenty-one minutes.\n\nReferences\n\nClinics in Florida\nBuildings and structures in Winter Haven, Florida\nMedical and health organizations based in Florida"
] |
[
"Oklahoma!",
"Casting and development",
"When did Rodgers and Hammerstein start developing the show?",
"The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943.",
"How were the reviews at the New Haven tryout?",
"the reviews were only fair."
] | C_ed36a7675964410f80970a3e03be2c41_1 | What changes were made based on the reviews. | 3 | What changes were made based on the reviews to the show Oklahoma!. | Oklahoma! | Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act. Though Theresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggested Shirley Temple as Laurey and Groucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with director Rouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. The production was choreographed by Agnes de Mille (her first time choreographing a musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act ballet finale (often referred to as the dream ballet) depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly. The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943. Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. Producer Mike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No legs, no jokes, no chance." But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven and Boston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma!" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number. Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won a special Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable." The New York Post was the only major paper to give Oklahoma! a mixed review. Its critic felt that while the songs were pleasant enough, they sounded much alike. The show's creativity stimulated Rodgers and Hammerstein's contemporaries and ushered in the "Golden Age" of American musical theatre. CANNOTANSWER | two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma!" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number. | Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud Fry. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.
The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943. It was a box office hit and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances, later enjoying award-winning revivals, national tours, foreign productions and an Oscar-winning 1955 film adaptation. It has long been a popular choice for school and community productions. Rodgers and Hammerstein won a special Pulitzer Prize for Oklahoma! in 1944.
This musical, building on the innovations of the earlier Show Boat, epitomized the development of the "book musical", a musical play where the songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story, with serious dramatic goals, that is able to evoke genuine emotions other than amusement. In addition, Oklahoma! features musical themes, or motifs, that recur throughout the work to connect the music and story. A fifteen-minute "dream ballet" reflects Laurey's struggle with her feelings about two men, Curly and Jud.
Background
By the early 1940s, Rodgers and Hammerstein were each well known for creating Broadway hits with other collaborators. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced over two dozen musicals since the 1920s, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940). Among other successes, Hammerstein had written the words for Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote musicals, songs and films, sharing an Academy Award for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good. By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, and he became unreliable, prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him.
Conception
In 1931, the Theatre Guild produced Lynn Riggs's Green Grow the Lilacs, a play about settlers in Oklahoma Indian Territory. Though the play was not successful, ten years later in 1941, Theresa Helburn, one of the Guild's producers, saw a summer-stock production supplemented with traditional folk songs and square dances and decided the play could be the basis of a musical that might revive the struggling Guild. She contacted Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, whose first successful collaboration, The Garrick Gaieties, had been produced by the Theatre Guild in 1925. Rodgers wanted to work on the project and obtained the rights for himself and Hart. Rodgers had asked Oscar Hammerstein II to collaborate with him and Hart. During the tryouts of Rodgers and Hart's By Jupiter in 1941, Hammerstein had assured Rodgers that if Hart was ever unable to work, he would be willing to take his place. Coincidentally in 1942, Hammerstein had thought of musicalizing Green Grow the Lilacs, but when he had approached Jerome Kern about it, the latter declined. Hammerstein learned that Rodgers was seeking someone to write the book, and he eagerly took the opportunity. Hart lost interest in the musical; he preferred contemporary, urbane shows that would showcase his witty lyric writing, and he found the farmers and cowhands in Green Grow the Lilacs corny and uninspiring. Moreover, spiraling downward, consumed by his longstanding alcoholism, Hart no longer felt like writing. He embarked on a vacation to Mexico, advising Rodgers that Hammerstein would be a good choice of a new collaborator.
This partnership allowed both Rodgers and Hammerstein to follow their preferred writing methods: Hammerstein preferred to write a complete lyric before it was set to music, and Rodgers preferred to set completed lyrics to music. In Rodgers' previous collaborations with Hart, Rodgers had always written the music first, since the unfocused Hart needed something on which to base his lyrics. Hammerstein's previous collaborators included composers Rudolf Friml, Herbert Stothart, Vincent Youmans, and Kern, who all wrote music first, for which Hammerstein then wrote lyrics. The role reversal in the Rodgers and Hammerstein partnership permitted Hammerstein to craft the lyrics into a fundamental part of the story so that the songs could amplify and intensify the story instead of diverting it. As Rodgers and Hammerstein began developing the new musical, they agreed that their musical and dramatic choices would be dictated by the source material, Green Grow the Lilacs, not by musical comedy conventions. Musicals of that era featured big production numbers, novelty acts, and show-stopping specialty dances; the libretti typically focused on humor, with little dramatic development, punctuated with songs that effectively halted the story for their duration.
Casting and development
Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act. Though Theresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggested Shirley Temple as Laurey and Groucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with director Rouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. The production was choreographed by Agnes de Mille (her first time choreographing a musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act ballet finale (often referred to as the dream ballet) depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly.
The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943. Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. Producer Mike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No girls, no gags, no chance." But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven and Boston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number.
Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won a special Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable."
2009 Chichester Theatre Festival
In the summer of 2009, British director John Doyle directed the musical at the Chichester Festival Theatre. The production was dark in concept and featured new orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. On a spare stage, decorated only with blue sheets, "Confetti of rose petals stains the floor like drops of blood, and a nightmarish dream-dance sequence has Freudian overtones as Laurey's bridal gown becomes her shroud." It received mixed reviews. The Times reviewer wrote: "This is a very stylised, overdrilled production, no friend of intimate moments or quiet depth of emotion." The Guardian liked it the most, stating that "it's a delight, with one brilliant tippy-tappy-toed song after another and a nugget of darkness lodged in its sweet heart." Whats On Stage, like most of the papers, gave the show three out of five stars and wrote that this is a "downbeat vision" and that "all told it's a somewhat disappointing show", but their "average reader rating" was four stars. A review in The Telegraph commented, "Doyle uses shadow and silhouette to bring out the musical's nightmarish aspects but doesn't over-labour them. There are enough sunny spots – no more so than in Act 2's rousing title song – to keep the tone evenly textured."
2010 UK tour
The show toured England for nine months in 2010 in a new staging by Julian Woolford, with Marti Webb as Aunt Eller and Mark Evans as Curly.
2010 Washington, DC Arena Stage
Oklahoma! opened in October 2010 at the Arena Stage to critical acclaim. Artistic Director Molly Smith cast African-American actresses as Laurey and Aunt Eller to mirror both modern Washington, D.C. demographics and the diverse population of the musical's 1906 Oklahoma territory setting. The production received ten 2011 Helen Hayes Award nominations, winning as Outstanding Resident Musical (tying with Shakespeare Theatre's Candide) and for choreography (Parker Esse), lead actor (Nicholas Rodriguez as Curly) and musical direction (George Fulginiti-Shakar). The production returned to the Arena Stage for a second run in 2011.
2012, Seattle, Washington, 5th Avenue Theatre
The 5th Avenue Theatre's 2012 production, directed by Peter Rothstein, included African-American dancers and an African-American actor as Jud. The choice was intended, as in the Arena Stage production, to reflect the historical presence of African Americans in the Oklahoma territory, but it "has some audience members squirming in their seats ... they're seeing on stage one of the ugliest stereotypes in our history: an imposing black man ravaging a petite white woman [and] the white hero ... all but urges Jud to hang himself – and even pantomimes the act. Some see a clear reference to lynching." The "Dream Ballet" had a sinister, sexual tone and ended with Jud dragging Laurey away to be raped. One critic noted the historical "license taken when an African-American farmhand is allowed to escort a white woman to the box dance. ... Maybe some people ... left with not so much a song in their head, but a question in their heart. And isn't that part of what theater is supposed to do?" Another wrote: "Rothstein's Oklahoma! is now the story of a crazy, sex obsessed black man ... lusting violently after his white mistress, who ends up murdered at the hands of a white man, who gets off scot free after a mock trial."
2015 UK tour
A UK tour ran from February to August 2015, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and starring Ashley Day as Curly, Charlotte Wakefield as Laurey, Belinda Lang as Aunt Eller and Gary Wilmot as Ali Hakim.
1955 film adaptation
The 1955 film adaptation starred Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones (in her film debut), Rod Steiger, Charlotte Greenwood, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, James Whitmore and Eddie Albert. It was the only musical film directed by Fred Zinnemann, and Agnes de Mille choreographed. It was the first feature film photographed in the Todd-AO 70 mm widescreen process.
Rodgers and Hammerstein personally oversaw the film to prevent the studio from making the changes that were then typical of stage-to-film musical adaptations, such as interpolating new songs by others. The film followed the stage version more closely than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein stage-to-film adaptation, although it divided the long first scene into several shorter scenes, changing the locations of several of the songs. For example, "Kansas City" is performed at the train station, where Aunt Eller and other cowboys meet Will Parker just after he returns from Kansas City. Lyrics in the song about a burlesque stripteaser were slightly changed to pass film censorship. In a nod to Green Grow the Lilacs, which was the basis of the musical, Jud attempts revenge on Curly and Laurey by burning a haystack they stand on, before Curly jumps down, landing on Jud and causing him to fall on his own knife. The film omits only "It's a Scandal, It's a Outrage" and "Lonely Room". The film won Academy Awards for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Sound, Recording.
Recordings
Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra both recorded versions of "People Will Say We’re In Love" and "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" in 1943. Due to the 1942–1944 musicians' strike, however, these recordings featured no instrumental accompaniment and instead "were lugubriously weighed down by a cappella backup." Producers of Oklahoma! lamented the lack of high-quality official recordings, with Theresa Helburn writing to a colleague in August 1943: "There are no records of Oklahoma! that we can send you. As you know, the Petrillo ban on the union musicians still holds. They cannot play for broadcasting so the only record that has been made is a singing of "People Will Say We’re in Love" with Frank Sinatra, which if it sounds anything like his radio singing of the same must be terrible." Decca Records president Jack Kapp settled with the union in September 1943, and three weeks later he hastily booked the original cast and orchestra of Oklahoma! into a recording studio.
At a time when Broadway numbers were typically recorded by popular singers with smaller bands, it was unique for Oklahoma! to record its original cast with full orchestration. Although some tunes were not included due to time and cost constraints, most of the songs from Oklahoma! were released on a record album by Decca Records in 1943 containing six 10-inch double-sided discs in 78 RPM format. It sold more than one million copies, prompting the label to call the cast back into the studio to record three additional selections that had been left out of the first set. These were issued as Oklahoma! Volume Two. In 1949, Decca re-released the first set on LP but not the second set, which soon became a very rare collectors' item. All subsequent LP releases were similarly incomplete. Finally in 2000, Decca Broadway went back to the original glass masters to generate a new high fidelity transfer of the complete song program and released it on CD, utilizing the original 78 album artwork.
The success of the original Oklahoma! cast album set a precedent for the production of original cast recordings of Broadway musicals, which became an essential part of a musical's dissemination and endurance in popular culture. Later cast recordings of Oklahoma! include the 1979 Broadway cast recording, the 1980 London cast recording, the 1998 Royal National Theatre cast recording, the 2019 Broadway cast recording, and a soundtrack album of the 1955 film. There have also been more than 20 studio cast recordings of the show, featuring stars such as Nelson Eddy, John Raitt and Florence Henderson in the leading roles.
Reception
The original production of Oklahoma! was an unprecedented critical and popular success. John Anderson of the New York Journal American pronounced the musical "a beautiful and delightful show, fresh and imaginative, as enchanting to the eye as Richard Rodgers's music is to the ear. It has, at a rough estimate, practically everything". In the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote, "Songs, dances, and a story have been triumphantly blended. ... The Richard Rodgers score is one of his best, and that is saying plenty. Oscar Hammerstein 2nd has written a dramatically imaginative libretto and a string of catchy lyrics; Agnes de Mille has worked small miracles in devising original dances to fit the story and the tunes, while Rouben Mamoulian has directed an excellent company with great taste and craftsmanship." Louis Kronenberger of PM opined that "Mr. Hammerstein's lyrics have less crispness and wit than Lorenz Hart's at their best, but the songs in Oklahoma! call for less sophisticated words, and Mr. Hammerstein has found very likeable ones."
In the New York Daily News, Burns Mantle declared that "Oklahoma! really is different – beautifully different. With the songs that Richard Rodgers has fitted to a collection of unusually atmospheric and intelligible lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein 2nd, Oklahoma! seems to me to be the most thoroughly and attractively American musical comedy since Edna Ferber's Show Boat". New York World-Telegram critic Burton Rascoe particularly emphasized the groundbreaking choreography, stating that "Richard Rodgers has written for the show one of the finest musical scores any musical play ever had. Next to Mr. Rodgers, however, must stand the amazing Agnes de Mille, whose choreography, carried out to perfection by her ballet [corps], is actually the biggest hit of the show. The "Out of My Dreams" and "All Er Nuthin'" dances are such supreme aesthetic delights. ... They are spinetingling, out of this world." In The New York Sun, Ward Morehouse commented that "Oklahoma! is charming and leisurely. And tunely. And certainly not topical," as other shows had been in the early years of World War II. "It reveals Mr. Rodgers, shorn only for the moment of Larry Hart, in good form indeed. And nobody in last night's audience seemed to have a better time than Mr. Hart himself, who applauded the proceedings from a seat in Row B." Lorenz Hart himself "pushed his way through the crowd at the after-show party in Sardi's restaurant and threw his arms around his ex-partner, grinning from ear to ear. He told Rodgers he had never had a better evening at the theater in his life."
The only negative review of the musical appeared in the New York Post: The critic wrote that "it all seemed just a trifle too cute", stating that the score consisted of "a flock of Mr. Rodgers's songs that are pleasant enough, but still manage to sound quite a bit alike ... without much variety in the presentation." She concluded that the show was "very picturesque in a studied fashion, reminding us that life on a farm is apt to become a little tiresome."
Antecedents and influence
According to playwright and theatre writer Thomas Hischak, "Not only is Oklahoma! the most important of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, it is also the single most influential work in the American musical theatre. ... It is the first fully integrated musical play and its blending of song, character, plot and even dance would serve as the model for Broadway shows for decades." William Zinsser observed that Oklahoma! broke the old "musical comedy conventions", with the songs "delving into character" and advancing the plot. The show "became a milestone, so that later historians writing about important moments in twentieth-century theatre would begin to identify eras according to their relationship to Oklahoma!" Oklahoma! made Rodgers and Hammerstein "the most important contributors to the musical-play form. ... The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social thought, provided the necessary encouragement for other gifted writers to create musical plays of their own".
Theater historian Ethan Mordden points out that, although Oklahoma! has been called "the first integrated musical, the first American folk musical", Show Boat "got there first on both counts." Even earlier, the Princess Theatre musicals, following Gilbert and Sullivan and French opéra bouffe, began the reintegration of song and story after decades of thinly plotted British and American musicals, paving the way for Show Boat and Oklahoma! by showing that a musical could combine popular entertainment with continuity between its story and songs. These Princess Theatre shows, which featured modern American settings, "built and polished the mold from which almost all later major musical comedies evolved. ... The characters and situations were, within the limitations of musical comedy license, believable and the humor came from the situations or the nature of the characters. Kern's exquisitely flowing melodies were employed to further the action or develop characterization." Mordden also notes that Oklahoma! was called the first great dance musical, but other musicals had earlier focused on dance, among them Gay Divorce and On Your Toes. He concludes: "But Oklahoma! was the first American musical with an ethnic sound, words and music entirely in the folk idiom."
Critic Andrea Most argues that the musical reflected author's and composer's Jewish heritage and desires for Jewish Americans. Most asserts that the musical was written at a time when America presented Jews with an opportunity to gain privileged status by assimilating into mainstream American culture and passing as white Americans. Most claims that although there were rarely any identifiably Jewish characters in plays of this time period, characters such as Ali and Jud allowed for subtle Jewish representation, Ali embodying an accepted and friendly ideal for Jewish-Americans and Jud embodying Jewish-Americans' fear of becoming a marginalized minority like black Americans.
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
1979 Broadway revival
1980 West End revival
1998 West End revival
2002 Broadway revival
2019 Broadway revival
In popular culture
Oklahoma! has frequently been quoted or parodied in films, television and other media. The following list includes some of the more notable references.
Films
The songs "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "Oklahoma!" were spoofed in the animated film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. One of the spoofs is the song "Uncle Fucka", which parodies the spelled-out O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A of the musical's title song. A similar spoof is heard in the musical Curtains, concerning the title song of the Oklahoma!-like musical performed within the show.
In the film When Harry Met Sally..., Harry and Sally sing a karaoke version of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top".
In the film Twister, Beltzer is heard singing the song "Oklahoma!" when he is introduced.
In the film Dave, the title character sings the song "Oklahoma!"
In the film I Can Only Imagine, Bart Millard performs "Oklahoma!" for his school play. Meanwhile, at a diner, his father blacks out and was sent to a hospital.
The 2020 film I'm Thinking of Ending Things contains several references to Oklahoma! and a performance of the song "Lonely Room".
Television
In The Simpsons episode "Milhouse of Sand and Fog", the character Milhouse imagines himself and Bart singing "The Farmer and the Cowman". Another episode, "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh", begins with Llewellyn Sinclair directing a production of Oklahoma! with Marge as Ado Annie. Llewellyn is frustrated every time Marge tells him "no", since Ado Annie "cain't say no".
Sesame Street featured Kermit the Frog directing the film "Oklahoma" and Forgetful Jones singing the title song but forgetting how it begins. In 1977, Ray Charles performed "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" on Sesame Street, while Oscar the grouch sang to himself "Oh what a rotten old morning/Oh what a rotten old day".
On episode 317 of The Muppet Show, Fozzie Bear, dressed as a cowboy, begins to sing "Oklahoma", but large Muppets dressed as Samurai warriors turn the number into a parody called "Yokohama".
Tiny Toon Adventures spoofed the musical as "Ducklahoma", which heavily featured anvils.
In an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, "Frozen Dick", Dick sings a rendition of "Oklahoma!" in a diner, sparking the patrons in the diner to sing along with him.
In the Fawlty Towers episode "Gourmet Night", Polly serenades the guests with a rendition of "I Cain't Say No".
In episode 9 of Band of Brothers, "Why We Fight" (2001), Captain Nixon mentions that Oklahoma! was still on Broadway, causing the soldiers to break out in song.
On an episode of Friends, "The One Where Emma Cries", when Chandler accidentally accepts a job in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his wife Monica says that she does not want to move to Oklahoma or see the musical Oklahoma! Chandler responds by listing the songs from the musical, and Monica asks whether he is telling her that he got a job in Oklahoma or that he is gay.
The HBO series Watchmen, set in Tulsa, frequently references the musical through the score, character names, lyrics, and even integrates its music, themes and plot points in the episodes, once including a fully-staged performance of the song "Oklahoma!"
Other media
In the mid-1940s, radio comedian Fred Allen wrote and performed parody lyrics to the tune of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top": "Union Suit with the Hinge on the Back." The parody was repeated on subsequent programs.
The title song became the official state song of Oklahoma in 1953. (Oklahoma became a state on November 16, 1907.)
In the song "Oklahoma, U.S.A." by The Kinks, on their album Muswell Hillbillies, the protagonist dreams of "riding in the surrey with the fringe on top".
In Truman Capote's 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly sings music from Oklahoma! while accompanying herself on her guitar.
See also
Sheep Wars
Notes
References
Carter, Tim. Oklahoma!: the making of an American musical. Yale University Press, 2007,
Everett, William A. and Paul R. Laird. The Cambridge Companion to the Musical, Cambridge University Press, 2002,
Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007,
Jones, John B. Our Musicals, Ourselves. Hanover: University Press of New England, 2003
Kantor, Michael and Maslon, Laurence. Broadway: The American Musical. New York: Bullfinch Press, 2004.
Mordden, Ethan. Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical, Oxford University Press (1988)
Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. New York: Applause Books, 2002,
Stempel, Larry. Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010,
Further reading
Block, Geoffrey. The Richard Rodgers Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Ewen, David. With a Song in His Heart (Richard Rodgers). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963.
Fordin, Hugh. Getting To Know Him: The Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. New York: Random House, 1977; Decapo Press, 1995.
Green, Stanley. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Fact Book. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, 1980.
Mordden, Ethan. Rodgers & Hammerstein. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992.
Purdum, Todd S. Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2018.
External links
Information from the Theatre History website
RNH Theatricals site
Plot and production information, guidetomusicaltheatre.com
Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #8 – Excerpts sung by original cast; commentary by Rodgers and Hammerstein
1943 musicals
Broadway musicals
Fiction set in 1906
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Laurence Olivier Award-winning musicals
Musicals based on plays
Plays set in Oklahoma
Plays set in the United States
Pulitzer Prize-winning works
Tony Award-winning musicals
United States National Recording Registry recordings
West End musicals
Western (genre) plays | false | [
"Lemonjelly.ky is the debut album by the British duo Lemon Jelly, released on 23 October 2000. It compiles all nine tracks originally released on the duo's first three limited edition EPs: The Bath, The Yellow and The Midnight, although minor changes were made for the album release.\n\nCritical reception\nLemonjelly.ky received a score of 79 out of 100 based on nine reviews on review aggregator Metacritic, including \"generally favorable reviews\" from critics.\n\nTrack listing\n\nThe recording details are in the EP articles:\n The Bath EP (1998)\n The Yellow EP (1999)\n The Midnight EP (2000)\n\nReferences\n\n2000 debut albums\nLemon Jelly albums\nXL Recordings albums\nAlbums produced by Nick Franglen\n2000 compilation albums",
"This Changes Everything is a 2015 documentary film directed by Avi Lewis. It is based on the book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate by Naomi Klein.\n\nThe film is a Canada-United States coproduction.\n\nAt the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, the film was first runner-up for the People's Choice Award: Documentaries.\n\nSynopsis \nThe film surveys a number of environmental activists around the world:\n\n Alberta, Canada— Crystal, a young indigenous Beaver Lake Cree Nation leader in Athabasca oil sands country, fights for access to a restricted military base.\n Powder River Basin, Montana— Mike and Alexis, a goat ranching couple impacted by oil from a broken pipeline. They organize against fossil fuel extraction and form an alliance with the Northern Cheyenne tribe to bring solar power to the nearby reservation.\n Halkidiki, Greece— Melachrini, a housewife opposed to mining and drilling projects by Canadian corporation Eldorado Gold; against the backdrop of Greece in crisis,\n Andhra Pradesh, India— Jyothi, a matriarch fighting a proposed coal-fired power plant that will destroy a wetland. \n China— Smog-choked Beijing.\n\nReception\n\nBox office\nThe domestic box office total as of 2020 is $16,692.\n\nReviews\nThe film received a mixed reaction from film critics. It garnered a 56% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 16 reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an mixed or average score of 59, based on seven reviews.\n\nWriting for the Los Angeles Times, critic Michael Rechtshaffen wrote: \"They may not do enough to alter the climate change film landscape, but Klein and those impassioned protesters provide something that has been in short supply in the predecessors — namely, a modicum of hope for the future.\"\n\nWriting for The Guardian, reviewer Henry Barnes stated that the \"implication [of the film's opening confession from the author that she's 'always kind of hated films about climate change'] is that This Changes Everything is going to excite and inspire in a way that climate change documentaries have failed to before. It really doesn’t. It gives those of us in the affluent parts of the world more reason to feel bad and only a suggestion of what to do with that feeling.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official website\n \n Official Facebook\n Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis on their documentary This Changes Everything, an interview on Day 6 (CBC Radio; 18 September 2015) \n This Changes Everything: Naomi Klein & Avi Lewis Film Re-imagines Vast Challenge of Climate Change (Pt. 1) and (Pt. 2), an interview on Democracy Now! (2 October 2015)\n Excerpt from the film, on YouTube\n\nDocumentary films about global warming\nAmerican documentary films\nAmerican films\nCanadian documentary films\n2015 films\n2015 documentary films\nNaomi Klein\nCanadian films\nFilms based on non-fiction books"
] |
[
"Oklahoma!",
"Casting and development",
"When did Rodgers and Hammerstein start developing the show?",
"The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943.",
"How were the reviews at the New Haven tryout?",
"the reviews were only fair.",
"What changes were made based on the reviews.",
"two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, \"Oklahoma!\" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number."
] | C_ed36a7675964410f80970a3e03be2c41_1 | Were any songs cut before Oklahoma! opened on broadway? | 4 | Were any songs cut before Oklahoma! opened on broadway because of the reviews? | Oklahoma! | Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act. Though Theresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggested Shirley Temple as Laurey and Groucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with director Rouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. The production was choreographed by Agnes de Mille (her first time choreographing a musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act ballet finale (often referred to as the dream ballet) depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly. The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943. Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. Producer Mike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No legs, no jokes, no chance." But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven and Boston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma!" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number. Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won a special Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable." The New York Post was the only major paper to give Oklahoma! a mixed review. Its critic felt that while the songs were pleasant enough, they sounded much alike. The show's creativity stimulated Rodgers and Hammerstein's contemporaries and ushered in the "Golden Age" of American musical theatre. CANNOTANSWER | the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma!" | Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud Fry. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.
The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943. It was a box office hit and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances, later enjoying award-winning revivals, national tours, foreign productions and an Oscar-winning 1955 film adaptation. It has long been a popular choice for school and community productions. Rodgers and Hammerstein won a special Pulitzer Prize for Oklahoma! in 1944.
This musical, building on the innovations of the earlier Show Boat, epitomized the development of the "book musical", a musical play where the songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story, with serious dramatic goals, that is able to evoke genuine emotions other than amusement. In addition, Oklahoma! features musical themes, or motifs, that recur throughout the work to connect the music and story. A fifteen-minute "dream ballet" reflects Laurey's struggle with her feelings about two men, Curly and Jud.
Background
By the early 1940s, Rodgers and Hammerstein were each well known for creating Broadway hits with other collaborators. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced over two dozen musicals since the 1920s, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940). Among other successes, Hammerstein had written the words for Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote musicals, songs and films, sharing an Academy Award for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good. By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, and he became unreliable, prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him.
Conception
In 1931, the Theatre Guild produced Lynn Riggs's Green Grow the Lilacs, a play about settlers in Oklahoma Indian Territory. Though the play was not successful, ten years later in 1941, Theresa Helburn, one of the Guild's producers, saw a summer-stock production supplemented with traditional folk songs and square dances and decided the play could be the basis of a musical that might revive the struggling Guild. She contacted Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, whose first successful collaboration, The Garrick Gaieties, had been produced by the Theatre Guild in 1925. Rodgers wanted to work on the project and obtained the rights for himself and Hart. Rodgers had asked Oscar Hammerstein II to collaborate with him and Hart. During the tryouts of Rodgers and Hart's By Jupiter in 1941, Hammerstein had assured Rodgers that if Hart was ever unable to work, he would be willing to take his place. Coincidentally in 1942, Hammerstein had thought of musicalizing Green Grow the Lilacs, but when he had approached Jerome Kern about it, the latter declined. Hammerstein learned that Rodgers was seeking someone to write the book, and he eagerly took the opportunity. Hart lost interest in the musical; he preferred contemporary, urbane shows that would showcase his witty lyric writing, and he found the farmers and cowhands in Green Grow the Lilacs corny and uninspiring. Moreover, spiraling downward, consumed by his longstanding alcoholism, Hart no longer felt like writing. He embarked on a vacation to Mexico, advising Rodgers that Hammerstein would be a good choice of a new collaborator.
This partnership allowed both Rodgers and Hammerstein to follow their preferred writing methods: Hammerstein preferred to write a complete lyric before it was set to music, and Rodgers preferred to set completed lyrics to music. In Rodgers' previous collaborations with Hart, Rodgers had always written the music first, since the unfocused Hart needed something on which to base his lyrics. Hammerstein's previous collaborators included composers Rudolf Friml, Herbert Stothart, Vincent Youmans, and Kern, who all wrote music first, for which Hammerstein then wrote lyrics. The role reversal in the Rodgers and Hammerstein partnership permitted Hammerstein to craft the lyrics into a fundamental part of the story so that the songs could amplify and intensify the story instead of diverting it. As Rodgers and Hammerstein began developing the new musical, they agreed that their musical and dramatic choices would be dictated by the source material, Green Grow the Lilacs, not by musical comedy conventions. Musicals of that era featured big production numbers, novelty acts, and show-stopping specialty dances; the libretti typically focused on humor, with little dramatic development, punctuated with songs that effectively halted the story for their duration.
Casting and development
Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act. Though Theresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggested Shirley Temple as Laurey and Groucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with director Rouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. The production was choreographed by Agnes de Mille (her first time choreographing a musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act ballet finale (often referred to as the dream ballet) depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly.
The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943. Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. Producer Mike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No girls, no gags, no chance." But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven and Boston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number.
Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won a special Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable."
2009 Chichester Theatre Festival
In the summer of 2009, British director John Doyle directed the musical at the Chichester Festival Theatre. The production was dark in concept and featured new orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. On a spare stage, decorated only with blue sheets, "Confetti of rose petals stains the floor like drops of blood, and a nightmarish dream-dance sequence has Freudian overtones as Laurey's bridal gown becomes her shroud." It received mixed reviews. The Times reviewer wrote: "This is a very stylised, overdrilled production, no friend of intimate moments or quiet depth of emotion." The Guardian liked it the most, stating that "it's a delight, with one brilliant tippy-tappy-toed song after another and a nugget of darkness lodged in its sweet heart." Whats On Stage, like most of the papers, gave the show three out of five stars and wrote that this is a "downbeat vision" and that "all told it's a somewhat disappointing show", but their "average reader rating" was four stars. A review in The Telegraph commented, "Doyle uses shadow and silhouette to bring out the musical's nightmarish aspects but doesn't over-labour them. There are enough sunny spots – no more so than in Act 2's rousing title song – to keep the tone evenly textured."
2010 UK tour
The show toured England for nine months in 2010 in a new staging by Julian Woolford, with Marti Webb as Aunt Eller and Mark Evans as Curly.
2010 Washington, DC Arena Stage
Oklahoma! opened in October 2010 at the Arena Stage to critical acclaim. Artistic Director Molly Smith cast African-American actresses as Laurey and Aunt Eller to mirror both modern Washington, D.C. demographics and the diverse population of the musical's 1906 Oklahoma territory setting. The production received ten 2011 Helen Hayes Award nominations, winning as Outstanding Resident Musical (tying with Shakespeare Theatre's Candide) and for choreography (Parker Esse), lead actor (Nicholas Rodriguez as Curly) and musical direction (George Fulginiti-Shakar). The production returned to the Arena Stage for a second run in 2011.
2012, Seattle, Washington, 5th Avenue Theatre
The 5th Avenue Theatre's 2012 production, directed by Peter Rothstein, included African-American dancers and an African-American actor as Jud. The choice was intended, as in the Arena Stage production, to reflect the historical presence of African Americans in the Oklahoma territory, but it "has some audience members squirming in their seats ... they're seeing on stage one of the ugliest stereotypes in our history: an imposing black man ravaging a petite white woman [and] the white hero ... all but urges Jud to hang himself – and even pantomimes the act. Some see a clear reference to lynching." The "Dream Ballet" had a sinister, sexual tone and ended with Jud dragging Laurey away to be raped. One critic noted the historical "license taken when an African-American farmhand is allowed to escort a white woman to the box dance. ... Maybe some people ... left with not so much a song in their head, but a question in their heart. And isn't that part of what theater is supposed to do?" Another wrote: "Rothstein's Oklahoma! is now the story of a crazy, sex obsessed black man ... lusting violently after his white mistress, who ends up murdered at the hands of a white man, who gets off scot free after a mock trial."
2015 UK tour
A UK tour ran from February to August 2015, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and starring Ashley Day as Curly, Charlotte Wakefield as Laurey, Belinda Lang as Aunt Eller and Gary Wilmot as Ali Hakim.
1955 film adaptation
The 1955 film adaptation starred Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones (in her film debut), Rod Steiger, Charlotte Greenwood, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, James Whitmore and Eddie Albert. It was the only musical film directed by Fred Zinnemann, and Agnes de Mille choreographed. It was the first feature film photographed in the Todd-AO 70 mm widescreen process.
Rodgers and Hammerstein personally oversaw the film to prevent the studio from making the changes that were then typical of stage-to-film musical adaptations, such as interpolating new songs by others. The film followed the stage version more closely than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein stage-to-film adaptation, although it divided the long first scene into several shorter scenes, changing the locations of several of the songs. For example, "Kansas City" is performed at the train station, where Aunt Eller and other cowboys meet Will Parker just after he returns from Kansas City. Lyrics in the song about a burlesque stripteaser were slightly changed to pass film censorship. In a nod to Green Grow the Lilacs, which was the basis of the musical, Jud attempts revenge on Curly and Laurey by burning a haystack they stand on, before Curly jumps down, landing on Jud and causing him to fall on his own knife. The film omits only "It's a Scandal, It's a Outrage" and "Lonely Room". The film won Academy Awards for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Sound, Recording.
Recordings
Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra both recorded versions of "People Will Say We’re In Love" and "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" in 1943. Due to the 1942–1944 musicians' strike, however, these recordings featured no instrumental accompaniment and instead "were lugubriously weighed down by a cappella backup." Producers of Oklahoma! lamented the lack of high-quality official recordings, with Theresa Helburn writing to a colleague in August 1943: "There are no records of Oklahoma! that we can send you. As you know, the Petrillo ban on the union musicians still holds. They cannot play for broadcasting so the only record that has been made is a singing of "People Will Say We’re in Love" with Frank Sinatra, which if it sounds anything like his radio singing of the same must be terrible." Decca Records president Jack Kapp settled with the union in September 1943, and three weeks later he hastily booked the original cast and orchestra of Oklahoma! into a recording studio.
At a time when Broadway numbers were typically recorded by popular singers with smaller bands, it was unique for Oklahoma! to record its original cast with full orchestration. Although some tunes were not included due to time and cost constraints, most of the songs from Oklahoma! were released on a record album by Decca Records in 1943 containing six 10-inch double-sided discs in 78 RPM format. It sold more than one million copies, prompting the label to call the cast back into the studio to record three additional selections that had been left out of the first set. These were issued as Oklahoma! Volume Two. In 1949, Decca re-released the first set on LP but not the second set, which soon became a very rare collectors' item. All subsequent LP releases were similarly incomplete. Finally in 2000, Decca Broadway went back to the original glass masters to generate a new high fidelity transfer of the complete song program and released it on CD, utilizing the original 78 album artwork.
The success of the original Oklahoma! cast album set a precedent for the production of original cast recordings of Broadway musicals, which became an essential part of a musical's dissemination and endurance in popular culture. Later cast recordings of Oklahoma! include the 1979 Broadway cast recording, the 1980 London cast recording, the 1998 Royal National Theatre cast recording, the 2019 Broadway cast recording, and a soundtrack album of the 1955 film. There have also been more than 20 studio cast recordings of the show, featuring stars such as Nelson Eddy, John Raitt and Florence Henderson in the leading roles.
Reception
The original production of Oklahoma! was an unprecedented critical and popular success. John Anderson of the New York Journal American pronounced the musical "a beautiful and delightful show, fresh and imaginative, as enchanting to the eye as Richard Rodgers's music is to the ear. It has, at a rough estimate, practically everything". In the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote, "Songs, dances, and a story have been triumphantly blended. ... The Richard Rodgers score is one of his best, and that is saying plenty. Oscar Hammerstein 2nd has written a dramatically imaginative libretto and a string of catchy lyrics; Agnes de Mille has worked small miracles in devising original dances to fit the story and the tunes, while Rouben Mamoulian has directed an excellent company with great taste and craftsmanship." Louis Kronenberger of PM opined that "Mr. Hammerstein's lyrics have less crispness and wit than Lorenz Hart's at their best, but the songs in Oklahoma! call for less sophisticated words, and Mr. Hammerstein has found very likeable ones."
In the New York Daily News, Burns Mantle declared that "Oklahoma! really is different – beautifully different. With the songs that Richard Rodgers has fitted to a collection of unusually atmospheric and intelligible lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein 2nd, Oklahoma! seems to me to be the most thoroughly and attractively American musical comedy since Edna Ferber's Show Boat". New York World-Telegram critic Burton Rascoe particularly emphasized the groundbreaking choreography, stating that "Richard Rodgers has written for the show one of the finest musical scores any musical play ever had. Next to Mr. Rodgers, however, must stand the amazing Agnes de Mille, whose choreography, carried out to perfection by her ballet [corps], is actually the biggest hit of the show. The "Out of My Dreams" and "All Er Nuthin'" dances are such supreme aesthetic delights. ... They are spinetingling, out of this world." In The New York Sun, Ward Morehouse commented that "Oklahoma! is charming and leisurely. And tunely. And certainly not topical," as other shows had been in the early years of World War II. "It reveals Mr. Rodgers, shorn only for the moment of Larry Hart, in good form indeed. And nobody in last night's audience seemed to have a better time than Mr. Hart himself, who applauded the proceedings from a seat in Row B." Lorenz Hart himself "pushed his way through the crowd at the after-show party in Sardi's restaurant and threw his arms around his ex-partner, grinning from ear to ear. He told Rodgers he had never had a better evening at the theater in his life."
The only negative review of the musical appeared in the New York Post: The critic wrote that "it all seemed just a trifle too cute", stating that the score consisted of "a flock of Mr. Rodgers's songs that are pleasant enough, but still manage to sound quite a bit alike ... without much variety in the presentation." She concluded that the show was "very picturesque in a studied fashion, reminding us that life on a farm is apt to become a little tiresome."
Antecedents and influence
According to playwright and theatre writer Thomas Hischak, "Not only is Oklahoma! the most important of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, it is also the single most influential work in the American musical theatre. ... It is the first fully integrated musical play and its blending of song, character, plot and even dance would serve as the model for Broadway shows for decades." William Zinsser observed that Oklahoma! broke the old "musical comedy conventions", with the songs "delving into character" and advancing the plot. The show "became a milestone, so that later historians writing about important moments in twentieth-century theatre would begin to identify eras according to their relationship to Oklahoma!" Oklahoma! made Rodgers and Hammerstein "the most important contributors to the musical-play form. ... The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social thought, provided the necessary encouragement for other gifted writers to create musical plays of their own".
Theater historian Ethan Mordden points out that, although Oklahoma! has been called "the first integrated musical, the first American folk musical", Show Boat "got there first on both counts." Even earlier, the Princess Theatre musicals, following Gilbert and Sullivan and French opéra bouffe, began the reintegration of song and story after decades of thinly plotted British and American musicals, paving the way for Show Boat and Oklahoma! by showing that a musical could combine popular entertainment with continuity between its story and songs. These Princess Theatre shows, which featured modern American settings, "built and polished the mold from which almost all later major musical comedies evolved. ... The characters and situations were, within the limitations of musical comedy license, believable and the humor came from the situations or the nature of the characters. Kern's exquisitely flowing melodies were employed to further the action or develop characterization." Mordden also notes that Oklahoma! was called the first great dance musical, but other musicals had earlier focused on dance, among them Gay Divorce and On Your Toes. He concludes: "But Oklahoma! was the first American musical with an ethnic sound, words and music entirely in the folk idiom."
Critic Andrea Most argues that the musical reflected author's and composer's Jewish heritage and desires for Jewish Americans. Most asserts that the musical was written at a time when America presented Jews with an opportunity to gain privileged status by assimilating into mainstream American culture and passing as white Americans. Most claims that although there were rarely any identifiably Jewish characters in plays of this time period, characters such as Ali and Jud allowed for subtle Jewish representation, Ali embodying an accepted and friendly ideal for Jewish-Americans and Jud embodying Jewish-Americans' fear of becoming a marginalized minority like black Americans.
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
1979 Broadway revival
1980 West End revival
1998 West End revival
2002 Broadway revival
2019 Broadway revival
In popular culture
Oklahoma! has frequently been quoted or parodied in films, television and other media. The following list includes some of the more notable references.
Films
The songs "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "Oklahoma!" were spoofed in the animated film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. One of the spoofs is the song "Uncle Fucka", which parodies the spelled-out O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A of the musical's title song. A similar spoof is heard in the musical Curtains, concerning the title song of the Oklahoma!-like musical performed within the show.
In the film When Harry Met Sally..., Harry and Sally sing a karaoke version of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top".
In the film Twister, Beltzer is heard singing the song "Oklahoma!" when he is introduced.
In the film Dave, the title character sings the song "Oklahoma!"
In the film I Can Only Imagine, Bart Millard performs "Oklahoma!" for his school play. Meanwhile, at a diner, his father blacks out and was sent to a hospital.
The 2020 film I'm Thinking of Ending Things contains several references to Oklahoma! and a performance of the song "Lonely Room".
Television
In The Simpsons episode "Milhouse of Sand and Fog", the character Milhouse imagines himself and Bart singing "The Farmer and the Cowman". Another episode, "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh", begins with Llewellyn Sinclair directing a production of Oklahoma! with Marge as Ado Annie. Llewellyn is frustrated every time Marge tells him "no", since Ado Annie "cain't say no".
Sesame Street featured Kermit the Frog directing the film "Oklahoma" and Forgetful Jones singing the title song but forgetting how it begins. In 1977, Ray Charles performed "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" on Sesame Street, while Oscar the grouch sang to himself "Oh what a rotten old morning/Oh what a rotten old day".
On episode 317 of The Muppet Show, Fozzie Bear, dressed as a cowboy, begins to sing "Oklahoma", but large Muppets dressed as Samurai warriors turn the number into a parody called "Yokohama".
Tiny Toon Adventures spoofed the musical as "Ducklahoma", which heavily featured anvils.
In an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, "Frozen Dick", Dick sings a rendition of "Oklahoma!" in a diner, sparking the patrons in the diner to sing along with him.
In the Fawlty Towers episode "Gourmet Night", Polly serenades the guests with a rendition of "I Cain't Say No".
In episode 9 of Band of Brothers, "Why We Fight" (2001), Captain Nixon mentions that Oklahoma! was still on Broadway, causing the soldiers to break out in song.
On an episode of Friends, "The One Where Emma Cries", when Chandler accidentally accepts a job in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his wife Monica says that she does not want to move to Oklahoma or see the musical Oklahoma! Chandler responds by listing the songs from the musical, and Monica asks whether he is telling her that he got a job in Oklahoma or that he is gay.
The HBO series Watchmen, set in Tulsa, frequently references the musical through the score, character names, lyrics, and even integrates its music, themes and plot points in the episodes, once including a fully-staged performance of the song "Oklahoma!"
Other media
In the mid-1940s, radio comedian Fred Allen wrote and performed parody lyrics to the tune of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top": "Union Suit with the Hinge on the Back." The parody was repeated on subsequent programs.
The title song became the official state song of Oklahoma in 1953. (Oklahoma became a state on November 16, 1907.)
In the song "Oklahoma, U.S.A." by The Kinks, on their album Muswell Hillbillies, the protagonist dreams of "riding in the surrey with the fringe on top".
In Truman Capote's 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly sings music from Oklahoma! while accompanying herself on her guitar.
See also
Sheep Wars
Notes
References
Carter, Tim. Oklahoma!: the making of an American musical. Yale University Press, 2007,
Everett, William A. and Paul R. Laird. The Cambridge Companion to the Musical, Cambridge University Press, 2002,
Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007,
Jones, John B. Our Musicals, Ourselves. Hanover: University Press of New England, 2003
Kantor, Michael and Maslon, Laurence. Broadway: The American Musical. New York: Bullfinch Press, 2004.
Mordden, Ethan. Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical, Oxford University Press (1988)
Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. New York: Applause Books, 2002,
Stempel, Larry. Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010,
Further reading
Block, Geoffrey. The Richard Rodgers Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Ewen, David. With a Song in His Heart (Richard Rodgers). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963.
Fordin, Hugh. Getting To Know Him: The Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. New York: Random House, 1977; Decapo Press, 1995.
Green, Stanley. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Fact Book. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, 1980.
Mordden, Ethan. Rodgers & Hammerstein. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992.
Purdum, Todd S. Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2018.
External links
Information from the Theatre History website
RNH Theatricals site
Plot and production information, guidetomusicaltheatre.com
Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #8 – Excerpts sung by original cast; commentary by Rodgers and Hammerstein
1943 musicals
Broadway musicals
Fiction set in 1906
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Laurence Olivier Award-winning musicals
Musicals based on plays
Plays set in Oklahoma
Plays set in the United States
Pulitzer Prize-winning works
Tony Award-winning musicals
United States National Recording Registry recordings
West End musicals
Western (genre) plays | false | [
"The Muskogee Hotel, at 26 W. Broadway St. in Muskogee, Oklahoma, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. It was listed as Hotel Muskogee.\n\nIt was built during 1922-1923 and opened in 1923.\n\nIt later became apartments for low-income residents. It was ordered closed by the city in 1992 due to disrepair, and it was in fact closed in 1996. It fell further into disrepair during subsequent years.\n\nIt is located on the northeast corner of West Broadway and North Main Street in Muskogee.\n\nReferences\n\nHotels in Oklahoma\nNational Register of Historic Places in Muskogee County, Oklahoma\nBuildings and structures completed in 1923",
"\"Oklahoma\" is the title song from the 1943 Broadway musical Oklahoma!, named for the setting of the musical play. The music and lyrics were written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The melody is reprised in the main title of the 1955 film version and in the overtures of both film and musical productions.\n\nIn 1953, the Oklahoma legislature chose it as the state song of Oklahoma, replacing a less well-known song, \"Oklahoma - A Toast\", that had been adopted in 1935.\n\nRodgers and Hammerstein song\nMidway through the second act of the play, after the principals Curly and Laurey are married, Curly begins to sing the song and is soon joined by the entire cast as a chorus. The lyric, which briefly depicts the Midwestern twang phonetically, describes the landscape and prairie weather in positive language. It further emphasizes the wholesome aspects of rural life, and the steadfast dedication of the region's inhabitants, against the overtly stated formal backdrop of the territory's impending admission to the Union in 1907.\n\nHammerstein's lyric is also notable and memorable for its trochaic re-iteration of its title as a chant, and the final iambic eight-letter spelling of the title as a play on the colloquial English word \"Okay\". Orchestrator Robert Russell Bennett's massive 8-part chorale near the end of the song extends it to include a spelling of the name, ending with an epic ritardando leading into one last iteration of \"Oklahoma.\"\n\nThe state of Oklahoma officially adopted the song as its state song in 1953. It is the only official state song from a Broadway musical. State Representative George Nigh, who later served as the state's Governor, was the principal author of the legislation designating the state song.\n\nThe song also serves as one of the key songs of the University of Oklahoma. The song plays as one of the hourly tunes from the bell tower on campus. The song is also played by the Pride of Oklahoma at various Oklahoma Sooners athletic events and other campus events.\n\nPrevious state song\nAccording to the Oklahoma Historical Society, the first state song was \"Oklahoma - A Toast\". It was written in 1905 by Mrs. Harriett Parker Camden, a resident of Kingfisher, Oklahoma. It became a hit within the state, and was adopted as the state song by the legislature on March 26, 1935. The lyrics of the refrain are:\n\"I give you a land of sun and flowers, and summer a whole year long, I give you a land where the golden hours roll by to the mockingbird's song, Where the cotton blooms 'neath the southern sun, where the vintage hangs thick on the vine. A land whose story has just begun. This wonderful land of mine.\"\n\nAward\nMembers of the Western Writers of America chose \"Oklahoma\" as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Title 25 Oklahoma Statutes - Chapter 3: §. 94.3 Words of State Song (which comprise a portion of actual Oklahoma state legislation)\nVoices of Oklahoma interview with George Nigh, Chapter 6 of his interview. First person interview conducted on May 1, 2009 with George Nigh, principal author of the bill designating \"Oklahoma\" the state song of Oklahoma.\nLyrics of \"Oklahoma - A Toast\"\n\nShirley Jones songs\nSongs from Oklahoma!\nUnited States state songs\nMusic of Oklahoma\nSongs with music by Richard Rodgers\nSongs with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II\n1943 songs\nSymbols of Oklahoma\nSongs about Oklahoma"
] |
[
"Oklahoma!",
"Casting and development",
"When did Rodgers and Hammerstein start developing the show?",
"The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943.",
"How were the reviews at the New Haven tryout?",
"the reviews were only fair.",
"What changes were made based on the reviews.",
"two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, \"Oklahoma!\" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number.",
"Were any songs cut before Oklahoma! opened on broadway?",
"the addition of the show-stopping musical number, \"Oklahoma!\""
] | C_ed36a7675964410f80970a3e03be2c41_1 | What was the casting process? | 5 | What was the casting process for Oklahoma!? | Oklahoma! | Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act. Though Theresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggested Shirley Temple as Laurey and Groucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with director Rouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. The production was choreographed by Agnes de Mille (her first time choreographing a musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act ballet finale (often referred to as the dream ballet) depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly. The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943. Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. Producer Mike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No legs, no jokes, no chance." But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven and Boston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma!" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number. Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won a special Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable." The New York Post was the only major paper to give Oklahoma! a mixed review. Its critic felt that while the songs were pleasant enough, they sounded much alike. The show's creativity stimulated Rodgers and Hammerstein's contemporaries and ushered in the "Golden Age" of American musical theatre. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud Fry. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.
The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943. It was a box office hit and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances, later enjoying award-winning revivals, national tours, foreign productions and an Oscar-winning 1955 film adaptation. It has long been a popular choice for school and community productions. Rodgers and Hammerstein won a special Pulitzer Prize for Oklahoma! in 1944.
This musical, building on the innovations of the earlier Show Boat, epitomized the development of the "book musical", a musical play where the songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story, with serious dramatic goals, that is able to evoke genuine emotions other than amusement. In addition, Oklahoma! features musical themes, or motifs, that recur throughout the work to connect the music and story. A fifteen-minute "dream ballet" reflects Laurey's struggle with her feelings about two men, Curly and Jud.
Background
By the early 1940s, Rodgers and Hammerstein were each well known for creating Broadway hits with other collaborators. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced over two dozen musicals since the 1920s, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940). Among other successes, Hammerstein had written the words for Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote musicals, songs and films, sharing an Academy Award for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good. By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, and he became unreliable, prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him.
Conception
In 1931, the Theatre Guild produced Lynn Riggs's Green Grow the Lilacs, a play about settlers in Oklahoma Indian Territory. Though the play was not successful, ten years later in 1941, Theresa Helburn, one of the Guild's producers, saw a summer-stock production supplemented with traditional folk songs and square dances and decided the play could be the basis of a musical that might revive the struggling Guild. She contacted Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, whose first successful collaboration, The Garrick Gaieties, had been produced by the Theatre Guild in 1925. Rodgers wanted to work on the project and obtained the rights for himself and Hart. Rodgers had asked Oscar Hammerstein II to collaborate with him and Hart. During the tryouts of Rodgers and Hart's By Jupiter in 1941, Hammerstein had assured Rodgers that if Hart was ever unable to work, he would be willing to take his place. Coincidentally in 1942, Hammerstein had thought of musicalizing Green Grow the Lilacs, but when he had approached Jerome Kern about it, the latter declined. Hammerstein learned that Rodgers was seeking someone to write the book, and he eagerly took the opportunity. Hart lost interest in the musical; he preferred contemporary, urbane shows that would showcase his witty lyric writing, and he found the farmers and cowhands in Green Grow the Lilacs corny and uninspiring. Moreover, spiraling downward, consumed by his longstanding alcoholism, Hart no longer felt like writing. He embarked on a vacation to Mexico, advising Rodgers that Hammerstein would be a good choice of a new collaborator.
This partnership allowed both Rodgers and Hammerstein to follow their preferred writing methods: Hammerstein preferred to write a complete lyric before it was set to music, and Rodgers preferred to set completed lyrics to music. In Rodgers' previous collaborations with Hart, Rodgers had always written the music first, since the unfocused Hart needed something on which to base his lyrics. Hammerstein's previous collaborators included composers Rudolf Friml, Herbert Stothart, Vincent Youmans, and Kern, who all wrote music first, for which Hammerstein then wrote lyrics. The role reversal in the Rodgers and Hammerstein partnership permitted Hammerstein to craft the lyrics into a fundamental part of the story so that the songs could amplify and intensify the story instead of diverting it. As Rodgers and Hammerstein began developing the new musical, they agreed that their musical and dramatic choices would be dictated by the source material, Green Grow the Lilacs, not by musical comedy conventions. Musicals of that era featured big production numbers, novelty acts, and show-stopping specialty dances; the libretti typically focused on humor, with little dramatic development, punctuated with songs that effectively halted the story for their duration.
Casting and development
Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act. Though Theresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggested Shirley Temple as Laurey and Groucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with director Rouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. The production was choreographed by Agnes de Mille (her first time choreographing a musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act ballet finale (often referred to as the dream ballet) depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly.
The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943. Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. Producer Mike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No girls, no gags, no chance." But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven and Boston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number.
Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won a special Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable."
2009 Chichester Theatre Festival
In the summer of 2009, British director John Doyle directed the musical at the Chichester Festival Theatre. The production was dark in concept and featured new orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. On a spare stage, decorated only with blue sheets, "Confetti of rose petals stains the floor like drops of blood, and a nightmarish dream-dance sequence has Freudian overtones as Laurey's bridal gown becomes her shroud." It received mixed reviews. The Times reviewer wrote: "This is a very stylised, overdrilled production, no friend of intimate moments or quiet depth of emotion." The Guardian liked it the most, stating that "it's a delight, with one brilliant tippy-tappy-toed song after another and a nugget of darkness lodged in its sweet heart." Whats On Stage, like most of the papers, gave the show three out of five stars and wrote that this is a "downbeat vision" and that "all told it's a somewhat disappointing show", but their "average reader rating" was four stars. A review in The Telegraph commented, "Doyle uses shadow and silhouette to bring out the musical's nightmarish aspects but doesn't over-labour them. There are enough sunny spots – no more so than in Act 2's rousing title song – to keep the tone evenly textured."
2010 UK tour
The show toured England for nine months in 2010 in a new staging by Julian Woolford, with Marti Webb as Aunt Eller and Mark Evans as Curly.
2010 Washington, DC Arena Stage
Oklahoma! opened in October 2010 at the Arena Stage to critical acclaim. Artistic Director Molly Smith cast African-American actresses as Laurey and Aunt Eller to mirror both modern Washington, D.C. demographics and the diverse population of the musical's 1906 Oklahoma territory setting. The production received ten 2011 Helen Hayes Award nominations, winning as Outstanding Resident Musical (tying with Shakespeare Theatre's Candide) and for choreography (Parker Esse), lead actor (Nicholas Rodriguez as Curly) and musical direction (George Fulginiti-Shakar). The production returned to the Arena Stage for a second run in 2011.
2012, Seattle, Washington, 5th Avenue Theatre
The 5th Avenue Theatre's 2012 production, directed by Peter Rothstein, included African-American dancers and an African-American actor as Jud. The choice was intended, as in the Arena Stage production, to reflect the historical presence of African Americans in the Oklahoma territory, but it "has some audience members squirming in their seats ... they're seeing on stage one of the ugliest stereotypes in our history: an imposing black man ravaging a petite white woman [and] the white hero ... all but urges Jud to hang himself – and even pantomimes the act. Some see a clear reference to lynching." The "Dream Ballet" had a sinister, sexual tone and ended with Jud dragging Laurey away to be raped. One critic noted the historical "license taken when an African-American farmhand is allowed to escort a white woman to the box dance. ... Maybe some people ... left with not so much a song in their head, but a question in their heart. And isn't that part of what theater is supposed to do?" Another wrote: "Rothstein's Oklahoma! is now the story of a crazy, sex obsessed black man ... lusting violently after his white mistress, who ends up murdered at the hands of a white man, who gets off scot free after a mock trial."
2015 UK tour
A UK tour ran from February to August 2015, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and starring Ashley Day as Curly, Charlotte Wakefield as Laurey, Belinda Lang as Aunt Eller and Gary Wilmot as Ali Hakim.
1955 film adaptation
The 1955 film adaptation starred Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones (in her film debut), Rod Steiger, Charlotte Greenwood, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, James Whitmore and Eddie Albert. It was the only musical film directed by Fred Zinnemann, and Agnes de Mille choreographed. It was the first feature film photographed in the Todd-AO 70 mm widescreen process.
Rodgers and Hammerstein personally oversaw the film to prevent the studio from making the changes that were then typical of stage-to-film musical adaptations, such as interpolating new songs by others. The film followed the stage version more closely than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein stage-to-film adaptation, although it divided the long first scene into several shorter scenes, changing the locations of several of the songs. For example, "Kansas City" is performed at the train station, where Aunt Eller and other cowboys meet Will Parker just after he returns from Kansas City. Lyrics in the song about a burlesque stripteaser were slightly changed to pass film censorship. In a nod to Green Grow the Lilacs, which was the basis of the musical, Jud attempts revenge on Curly and Laurey by burning a haystack they stand on, before Curly jumps down, landing on Jud and causing him to fall on his own knife. The film omits only "It's a Scandal, It's a Outrage" and "Lonely Room". The film won Academy Awards for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Sound, Recording.
Recordings
Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra both recorded versions of "People Will Say We’re In Love" and "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" in 1943. Due to the 1942–1944 musicians' strike, however, these recordings featured no instrumental accompaniment and instead "were lugubriously weighed down by a cappella backup." Producers of Oklahoma! lamented the lack of high-quality official recordings, with Theresa Helburn writing to a colleague in August 1943: "There are no records of Oklahoma! that we can send you. As you know, the Petrillo ban on the union musicians still holds. They cannot play for broadcasting so the only record that has been made is a singing of "People Will Say We’re in Love" with Frank Sinatra, which if it sounds anything like his radio singing of the same must be terrible." Decca Records president Jack Kapp settled with the union in September 1943, and three weeks later he hastily booked the original cast and orchestra of Oklahoma! into a recording studio.
At a time when Broadway numbers were typically recorded by popular singers with smaller bands, it was unique for Oklahoma! to record its original cast with full orchestration. Although some tunes were not included due to time and cost constraints, most of the songs from Oklahoma! were released on a record album by Decca Records in 1943 containing six 10-inch double-sided discs in 78 RPM format. It sold more than one million copies, prompting the label to call the cast back into the studio to record three additional selections that had been left out of the first set. These were issued as Oklahoma! Volume Two. In 1949, Decca re-released the first set on LP but not the second set, which soon became a very rare collectors' item. All subsequent LP releases were similarly incomplete. Finally in 2000, Decca Broadway went back to the original glass masters to generate a new high fidelity transfer of the complete song program and released it on CD, utilizing the original 78 album artwork.
The success of the original Oklahoma! cast album set a precedent for the production of original cast recordings of Broadway musicals, which became an essential part of a musical's dissemination and endurance in popular culture. Later cast recordings of Oklahoma! include the 1979 Broadway cast recording, the 1980 London cast recording, the 1998 Royal National Theatre cast recording, the 2019 Broadway cast recording, and a soundtrack album of the 1955 film. There have also been more than 20 studio cast recordings of the show, featuring stars such as Nelson Eddy, John Raitt and Florence Henderson in the leading roles.
Reception
The original production of Oklahoma! was an unprecedented critical and popular success. John Anderson of the New York Journal American pronounced the musical "a beautiful and delightful show, fresh and imaginative, as enchanting to the eye as Richard Rodgers's music is to the ear. It has, at a rough estimate, practically everything". In the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote, "Songs, dances, and a story have been triumphantly blended. ... The Richard Rodgers score is one of his best, and that is saying plenty. Oscar Hammerstein 2nd has written a dramatically imaginative libretto and a string of catchy lyrics; Agnes de Mille has worked small miracles in devising original dances to fit the story and the tunes, while Rouben Mamoulian has directed an excellent company with great taste and craftsmanship." Louis Kronenberger of PM opined that "Mr. Hammerstein's lyrics have less crispness and wit than Lorenz Hart's at their best, but the songs in Oklahoma! call for less sophisticated words, and Mr. Hammerstein has found very likeable ones."
In the New York Daily News, Burns Mantle declared that "Oklahoma! really is different – beautifully different. With the songs that Richard Rodgers has fitted to a collection of unusually atmospheric and intelligible lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein 2nd, Oklahoma! seems to me to be the most thoroughly and attractively American musical comedy since Edna Ferber's Show Boat". New York World-Telegram critic Burton Rascoe particularly emphasized the groundbreaking choreography, stating that "Richard Rodgers has written for the show one of the finest musical scores any musical play ever had. Next to Mr. Rodgers, however, must stand the amazing Agnes de Mille, whose choreography, carried out to perfection by her ballet [corps], is actually the biggest hit of the show. The "Out of My Dreams" and "All Er Nuthin'" dances are such supreme aesthetic delights. ... They are spinetingling, out of this world." In The New York Sun, Ward Morehouse commented that "Oklahoma! is charming and leisurely. And tunely. And certainly not topical," as other shows had been in the early years of World War II. "It reveals Mr. Rodgers, shorn only for the moment of Larry Hart, in good form indeed. And nobody in last night's audience seemed to have a better time than Mr. Hart himself, who applauded the proceedings from a seat in Row B." Lorenz Hart himself "pushed his way through the crowd at the after-show party in Sardi's restaurant and threw his arms around his ex-partner, grinning from ear to ear. He told Rodgers he had never had a better evening at the theater in his life."
The only negative review of the musical appeared in the New York Post: The critic wrote that "it all seemed just a trifle too cute", stating that the score consisted of "a flock of Mr. Rodgers's songs that are pleasant enough, but still manage to sound quite a bit alike ... without much variety in the presentation." She concluded that the show was "very picturesque in a studied fashion, reminding us that life on a farm is apt to become a little tiresome."
Antecedents and influence
According to playwright and theatre writer Thomas Hischak, "Not only is Oklahoma! the most important of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, it is also the single most influential work in the American musical theatre. ... It is the first fully integrated musical play and its blending of song, character, plot and even dance would serve as the model for Broadway shows for decades." William Zinsser observed that Oklahoma! broke the old "musical comedy conventions", with the songs "delving into character" and advancing the plot. The show "became a milestone, so that later historians writing about important moments in twentieth-century theatre would begin to identify eras according to their relationship to Oklahoma!" Oklahoma! made Rodgers and Hammerstein "the most important contributors to the musical-play form. ... The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social thought, provided the necessary encouragement for other gifted writers to create musical plays of their own".
Theater historian Ethan Mordden points out that, although Oklahoma! has been called "the first integrated musical, the first American folk musical", Show Boat "got there first on both counts." Even earlier, the Princess Theatre musicals, following Gilbert and Sullivan and French opéra bouffe, began the reintegration of song and story after decades of thinly plotted British and American musicals, paving the way for Show Boat and Oklahoma! by showing that a musical could combine popular entertainment with continuity between its story and songs. These Princess Theatre shows, which featured modern American settings, "built and polished the mold from which almost all later major musical comedies evolved. ... The characters and situations were, within the limitations of musical comedy license, believable and the humor came from the situations or the nature of the characters. Kern's exquisitely flowing melodies were employed to further the action or develop characterization." Mordden also notes that Oklahoma! was called the first great dance musical, but other musicals had earlier focused on dance, among them Gay Divorce and On Your Toes. He concludes: "But Oklahoma! was the first American musical with an ethnic sound, words and music entirely in the folk idiom."
Critic Andrea Most argues that the musical reflected author's and composer's Jewish heritage and desires for Jewish Americans. Most asserts that the musical was written at a time when America presented Jews with an opportunity to gain privileged status by assimilating into mainstream American culture and passing as white Americans. Most claims that although there were rarely any identifiably Jewish characters in plays of this time period, characters such as Ali and Jud allowed for subtle Jewish representation, Ali embodying an accepted and friendly ideal for Jewish-Americans and Jud embodying Jewish-Americans' fear of becoming a marginalized minority like black Americans.
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
1979 Broadway revival
1980 West End revival
1998 West End revival
2002 Broadway revival
2019 Broadway revival
In popular culture
Oklahoma! has frequently been quoted or parodied in films, television and other media. The following list includes some of the more notable references.
Films
The songs "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "Oklahoma!" were spoofed in the animated film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. One of the spoofs is the song "Uncle Fucka", which parodies the spelled-out O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A of the musical's title song. A similar spoof is heard in the musical Curtains, concerning the title song of the Oklahoma!-like musical performed within the show.
In the film When Harry Met Sally..., Harry and Sally sing a karaoke version of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top".
In the film Twister, Beltzer is heard singing the song "Oklahoma!" when he is introduced.
In the film Dave, the title character sings the song "Oklahoma!"
In the film I Can Only Imagine, Bart Millard performs "Oklahoma!" for his school play. Meanwhile, at a diner, his father blacks out and was sent to a hospital.
The 2020 film I'm Thinking of Ending Things contains several references to Oklahoma! and a performance of the song "Lonely Room".
Television
In The Simpsons episode "Milhouse of Sand and Fog", the character Milhouse imagines himself and Bart singing "The Farmer and the Cowman". Another episode, "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh", begins with Llewellyn Sinclair directing a production of Oklahoma! with Marge as Ado Annie. Llewellyn is frustrated every time Marge tells him "no", since Ado Annie "cain't say no".
Sesame Street featured Kermit the Frog directing the film "Oklahoma" and Forgetful Jones singing the title song but forgetting how it begins. In 1977, Ray Charles performed "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" on Sesame Street, while Oscar the grouch sang to himself "Oh what a rotten old morning/Oh what a rotten old day".
On episode 317 of The Muppet Show, Fozzie Bear, dressed as a cowboy, begins to sing "Oklahoma", but large Muppets dressed as Samurai warriors turn the number into a parody called "Yokohama".
Tiny Toon Adventures spoofed the musical as "Ducklahoma", which heavily featured anvils.
In an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, "Frozen Dick", Dick sings a rendition of "Oklahoma!" in a diner, sparking the patrons in the diner to sing along with him.
In the Fawlty Towers episode "Gourmet Night", Polly serenades the guests with a rendition of "I Cain't Say No".
In episode 9 of Band of Brothers, "Why We Fight" (2001), Captain Nixon mentions that Oklahoma! was still on Broadway, causing the soldiers to break out in song.
On an episode of Friends, "The One Where Emma Cries", when Chandler accidentally accepts a job in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his wife Monica says that she does not want to move to Oklahoma or see the musical Oklahoma! Chandler responds by listing the songs from the musical, and Monica asks whether he is telling her that he got a job in Oklahoma or that he is gay.
The HBO series Watchmen, set in Tulsa, frequently references the musical through the score, character names, lyrics, and even integrates its music, themes and plot points in the episodes, once including a fully-staged performance of the song "Oklahoma!"
Other media
In the mid-1940s, radio comedian Fred Allen wrote and performed parody lyrics to the tune of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top": "Union Suit with the Hinge on the Back." The parody was repeated on subsequent programs.
The title song became the official state song of Oklahoma in 1953. (Oklahoma became a state on November 16, 1907.)
In the song "Oklahoma, U.S.A." by The Kinks, on their album Muswell Hillbillies, the protagonist dreams of "riding in the surrey with the fringe on top".
In Truman Capote's 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly sings music from Oklahoma! while accompanying herself on her guitar.
See also
Sheep Wars
Notes
References
Carter, Tim. Oklahoma!: the making of an American musical. Yale University Press, 2007,
Everett, William A. and Paul R. Laird. The Cambridge Companion to the Musical, Cambridge University Press, 2002,
Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007,
Jones, John B. Our Musicals, Ourselves. Hanover: University Press of New England, 2003
Kantor, Michael and Maslon, Laurence. Broadway: The American Musical. New York: Bullfinch Press, 2004.
Mordden, Ethan. Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical, Oxford University Press (1988)
Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. New York: Applause Books, 2002,
Stempel, Larry. Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010,
Further reading
Block, Geoffrey. The Richard Rodgers Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Ewen, David. With a Song in His Heart (Richard Rodgers). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963.
Fordin, Hugh. Getting To Know Him: The Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. New York: Random House, 1977; Decapo Press, 1995.
Green, Stanley. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Fact Book. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, 1980.
Mordden, Ethan. Rodgers & Hammerstein. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992.
Purdum, Todd S. Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2018.
External links
Information from the Theatre History website
RNH Theatricals site
Plot and production information, guidetomusicaltheatre.com
Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #8 – Excerpts sung by original cast; commentary by Rodgers and Hammerstein
1943 musicals
Broadway musicals
Fiction set in 1906
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Laurence Olivier Award-winning musicals
Musicals based on plays
Plays set in Oklahoma
Plays set in the United States
Pulitzer Prize-winning works
Tony Award-winning musicals
United States National Recording Registry recordings
West End musicals
Western (genre) plays | false | [
"Evaporative-pattern casting is a type of casting process that uses a pattern made from a material that will evaporate when the molten metal is poured into the molding cavity. The most common evaporative-pattern material used is polystyrene foam.\n\nThe two major evaporative-pattern casting processes are:\nLost-foam casting\nFull-mold casting\n\nThe main difference is that lost-foam casting uses an unbonded sand and full-mold casting uses a bonded sand (or green sand). Because this difference is quite small there is much overlap in the terminology. Non-proprietary terms that have been used to describe these processes include: cavityless casting, evaporative foam casting, foam vaporization casting, lost pattern casting, the castral process, and expanded polystyrene molding. Proprietary terms included Styro-cast, Foam Cast, Replicast, Policast. and Lost Foam Sintered Shell (LFSS)\n\nHistory\nThe first patent for an evaporative-pattern casting process was filed in April 1956, by Harold F. Shroyer. He patented the use of foam patterns embedded in traditional green sand for metal casting. In his patent, a pattern was machined from a block of expanded polystyrene (EPS), and supported by bonded sand during pouring. This process is now known as the full mold process.\n\nIn 1964, M.C. Flemmings used unbonded sand for the process. The first North American foundry to use evaporative-pattern casting was the Robinson Foundry at Alexander City, Alabama. General Motors' first product using these processes was the 4.3 L, V-6 diesel cylinder head, which were made in 1981 at Massena, New York.\n\nA study found in 1997 that evaporative-pattern casting processes accounted for approximately 140,000 tons of aluminium casting in the United States. The same survey forecast that evaporative-pattern casting processes would account for 29% of the aluminium, and 14% of the ferrous casting markets by 2010.\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n.\n.\n.\n\nCasting (manufacturing)\n\nru:Литьё по газифицируемым моделям",
"Type casting is a technique for casting the individual letters known as sorts used in hot metal typesetting by pouring molten metal into brass moulds called matrices.\n\nGutenberg\nWoodblock printing had been known in China for centuries. It was innovations in type casting that made for Gutenberg's breakthrough of commercially printing. Although using matrices was a technique known well before his time, Johannes Gutenberg adapted their use to a conveniently adjustable hand mould, enabling one to easily and accurately cast identical multiple instances of any character.\n\nThe ultimate product of manual typecasting were fonts for letterpress printing, and the process starts with the installation of a matrix with the impression of a particular glyph into the bottom of the hand mould which is adjusted for the width of the body and locked in preparation for casting. Molten type metal alloy would be carefully poured into a straight-sided vertical cavity at the top of the mould. The type caster would then give the mould a quick shake to aid the flow of type metal into every cavity of the matrix. In practice it was discovered that different glyphs would require different shakes to cast the characters properly. As the casting cooled down and solidified, the mould would be unlocked and the sort removed, ready for later finishing operations and locked again ready for the next character.\n\nManual casting was a long drawn-out process, but was able to produce precise and consistent excellent results.\n\nAutomation\nIn 1805 Henri Didot of Paris, France patented a type casting machine.\n\nDavid Bruce invented the first automated type casting machine in 1838, but it was the Monotype and Linotype machines that first effectively speeded up the process. \n\nIn 1887, Tolbert Lanston invented the Monotype mechanical typesetting machine. This was a type casting system that produced individual characters, in which a matrix case is used for holding all the font's matrices. In a manner somewhat reminiscent to hand type casting, every time a character is to be cast, the selection mechanism would position the matrix case so that the correct matrix is over the mould, hot metal would be injected, the sort removed and the process repeated until the job is finished.\n\nAlthough the Linotype (1886) and Intertype (1914) approach to mechanical typesetting produced cast slugs that usually represent the complete line instead of individual characters, it still made use of individual bronze matrices stored in a magazine at the top of the machine, dispensed one per keystroke, assembled, sent to the caster where the slug was cast and the matrices re-distributed using a clever V-shaped keying mechanism.\n\nThe Ludlow display typecasting system is similar, in that it is also a linecasting process, although all the typesetting operations (matrix assembly and later distribution) are executed manually by a compositor.\n\nSubsequent typesetting technologies made use of glyphs represented as photographic negatives or digital descriptions.\n\nSee also \nMovable type\nType foundry\n\nReferences\n\nTypography\nPrinting"
] |
[
"Oklahoma!",
"Casting and development",
"When did Rodgers and Hammerstein start developing the show?",
"The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943.",
"How were the reviews at the New Haven tryout?",
"the reviews were only fair.",
"What changes were made based on the reviews.",
"two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, \"Oklahoma!\" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number.",
"Were any songs cut before Oklahoma! opened on broadway?",
"the addition of the show-stopping musical number, \"Oklahoma!\"",
"What was the casting process?",
"I don't know."
] | C_ed36a7675964410f80970a3e03be2c41_1 | Were the leads known actors or new faces? | 6 | Were the leads known actors or new faces for Oklahoma!? | Oklahoma! | Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act. Though Theresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggested Shirley Temple as Laurey and Groucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with director Rouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. The production was choreographed by Agnes de Mille (her first time choreographing a musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act ballet finale (often referred to as the dream ballet) depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly. The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943. Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. Producer Mike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No legs, no jokes, no chance." But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven and Boston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma!" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number. Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won a special Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable." The New York Post was the only major paper to give Oklahoma! a mixed review. Its critic felt that while the songs were pleasant enough, they sounded much alike. The show's creativity stimulated Rodgers and Hammerstein's contemporaries and ushered in the "Golden Age" of American musical theatre. CANNOTANSWER | As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. | Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud Fry. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.
The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943. It was a box office hit and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances, later enjoying award-winning revivals, national tours, foreign productions and an Oscar-winning 1955 film adaptation. It has long been a popular choice for school and community productions. Rodgers and Hammerstein won a special Pulitzer Prize for Oklahoma! in 1944.
This musical, building on the innovations of the earlier Show Boat, epitomized the development of the "book musical", a musical play where the songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story, with serious dramatic goals, that is able to evoke genuine emotions other than amusement. In addition, Oklahoma! features musical themes, or motifs, that recur throughout the work to connect the music and story. A fifteen-minute "dream ballet" reflects Laurey's struggle with her feelings about two men, Curly and Jud.
Background
By the early 1940s, Rodgers and Hammerstein were each well known for creating Broadway hits with other collaborators. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced over two dozen musicals since the 1920s, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940). Among other successes, Hammerstein had written the words for Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote musicals, songs and films, sharing an Academy Award for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good. By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, and he became unreliable, prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him.
Conception
In 1931, the Theatre Guild produced Lynn Riggs's Green Grow the Lilacs, a play about settlers in Oklahoma Indian Territory. Though the play was not successful, ten years later in 1941, Theresa Helburn, one of the Guild's producers, saw a summer-stock production supplemented with traditional folk songs and square dances and decided the play could be the basis of a musical that might revive the struggling Guild. She contacted Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, whose first successful collaboration, The Garrick Gaieties, had been produced by the Theatre Guild in 1925. Rodgers wanted to work on the project and obtained the rights for himself and Hart. Rodgers had asked Oscar Hammerstein II to collaborate with him and Hart. During the tryouts of Rodgers and Hart's By Jupiter in 1941, Hammerstein had assured Rodgers that if Hart was ever unable to work, he would be willing to take his place. Coincidentally in 1942, Hammerstein had thought of musicalizing Green Grow the Lilacs, but when he had approached Jerome Kern about it, the latter declined. Hammerstein learned that Rodgers was seeking someone to write the book, and he eagerly took the opportunity. Hart lost interest in the musical; he preferred contemporary, urbane shows that would showcase his witty lyric writing, and he found the farmers and cowhands in Green Grow the Lilacs corny and uninspiring. Moreover, spiraling downward, consumed by his longstanding alcoholism, Hart no longer felt like writing. He embarked on a vacation to Mexico, advising Rodgers that Hammerstein would be a good choice of a new collaborator.
This partnership allowed both Rodgers and Hammerstein to follow their preferred writing methods: Hammerstein preferred to write a complete lyric before it was set to music, and Rodgers preferred to set completed lyrics to music. In Rodgers' previous collaborations with Hart, Rodgers had always written the music first, since the unfocused Hart needed something on which to base his lyrics. Hammerstein's previous collaborators included composers Rudolf Friml, Herbert Stothart, Vincent Youmans, and Kern, who all wrote music first, for which Hammerstein then wrote lyrics. The role reversal in the Rodgers and Hammerstein partnership permitted Hammerstein to craft the lyrics into a fundamental part of the story so that the songs could amplify and intensify the story instead of diverting it. As Rodgers and Hammerstein began developing the new musical, they agreed that their musical and dramatic choices would be dictated by the source material, Green Grow the Lilacs, not by musical comedy conventions. Musicals of that era featured big production numbers, novelty acts, and show-stopping specialty dances; the libretti typically focused on humor, with little dramatic development, punctuated with songs that effectively halted the story for their duration.
Casting and development
Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act. Though Theresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggested Shirley Temple as Laurey and Groucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with director Rouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. The production was choreographed by Agnes de Mille (her first time choreographing a musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act ballet finale (often referred to as the dream ballet) depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly.
The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943. Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. Producer Mike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No girls, no gags, no chance." But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven and Boston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number.
Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won a special Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable."
2009 Chichester Theatre Festival
In the summer of 2009, British director John Doyle directed the musical at the Chichester Festival Theatre. The production was dark in concept and featured new orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. On a spare stage, decorated only with blue sheets, "Confetti of rose petals stains the floor like drops of blood, and a nightmarish dream-dance sequence has Freudian overtones as Laurey's bridal gown becomes her shroud." It received mixed reviews. The Times reviewer wrote: "This is a very stylised, overdrilled production, no friend of intimate moments or quiet depth of emotion." The Guardian liked it the most, stating that "it's a delight, with one brilliant tippy-tappy-toed song after another and a nugget of darkness lodged in its sweet heart." Whats On Stage, like most of the papers, gave the show three out of five stars and wrote that this is a "downbeat vision" and that "all told it's a somewhat disappointing show", but their "average reader rating" was four stars. A review in The Telegraph commented, "Doyle uses shadow and silhouette to bring out the musical's nightmarish aspects but doesn't over-labour them. There are enough sunny spots – no more so than in Act 2's rousing title song – to keep the tone evenly textured."
2010 UK tour
The show toured England for nine months in 2010 in a new staging by Julian Woolford, with Marti Webb as Aunt Eller and Mark Evans as Curly.
2010 Washington, DC Arena Stage
Oklahoma! opened in October 2010 at the Arena Stage to critical acclaim. Artistic Director Molly Smith cast African-American actresses as Laurey and Aunt Eller to mirror both modern Washington, D.C. demographics and the diverse population of the musical's 1906 Oklahoma territory setting. The production received ten 2011 Helen Hayes Award nominations, winning as Outstanding Resident Musical (tying with Shakespeare Theatre's Candide) and for choreography (Parker Esse), lead actor (Nicholas Rodriguez as Curly) and musical direction (George Fulginiti-Shakar). The production returned to the Arena Stage for a second run in 2011.
2012, Seattle, Washington, 5th Avenue Theatre
The 5th Avenue Theatre's 2012 production, directed by Peter Rothstein, included African-American dancers and an African-American actor as Jud. The choice was intended, as in the Arena Stage production, to reflect the historical presence of African Americans in the Oklahoma territory, but it "has some audience members squirming in their seats ... they're seeing on stage one of the ugliest stereotypes in our history: an imposing black man ravaging a petite white woman [and] the white hero ... all but urges Jud to hang himself – and even pantomimes the act. Some see a clear reference to lynching." The "Dream Ballet" had a sinister, sexual tone and ended with Jud dragging Laurey away to be raped. One critic noted the historical "license taken when an African-American farmhand is allowed to escort a white woman to the box dance. ... Maybe some people ... left with not so much a song in their head, but a question in their heart. And isn't that part of what theater is supposed to do?" Another wrote: "Rothstein's Oklahoma! is now the story of a crazy, sex obsessed black man ... lusting violently after his white mistress, who ends up murdered at the hands of a white man, who gets off scot free after a mock trial."
2015 UK tour
A UK tour ran from February to August 2015, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and starring Ashley Day as Curly, Charlotte Wakefield as Laurey, Belinda Lang as Aunt Eller and Gary Wilmot as Ali Hakim.
1955 film adaptation
The 1955 film adaptation starred Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones (in her film debut), Rod Steiger, Charlotte Greenwood, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, James Whitmore and Eddie Albert. It was the only musical film directed by Fred Zinnemann, and Agnes de Mille choreographed. It was the first feature film photographed in the Todd-AO 70 mm widescreen process.
Rodgers and Hammerstein personally oversaw the film to prevent the studio from making the changes that were then typical of stage-to-film musical adaptations, such as interpolating new songs by others. The film followed the stage version more closely than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein stage-to-film adaptation, although it divided the long first scene into several shorter scenes, changing the locations of several of the songs. For example, "Kansas City" is performed at the train station, where Aunt Eller and other cowboys meet Will Parker just after he returns from Kansas City. Lyrics in the song about a burlesque stripteaser were slightly changed to pass film censorship. In a nod to Green Grow the Lilacs, which was the basis of the musical, Jud attempts revenge on Curly and Laurey by burning a haystack they stand on, before Curly jumps down, landing on Jud and causing him to fall on his own knife. The film omits only "It's a Scandal, It's a Outrage" and "Lonely Room". The film won Academy Awards for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Sound, Recording.
Recordings
Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra both recorded versions of "People Will Say We’re In Love" and "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" in 1943. Due to the 1942–1944 musicians' strike, however, these recordings featured no instrumental accompaniment and instead "were lugubriously weighed down by a cappella backup." Producers of Oklahoma! lamented the lack of high-quality official recordings, with Theresa Helburn writing to a colleague in August 1943: "There are no records of Oklahoma! that we can send you. As you know, the Petrillo ban on the union musicians still holds. They cannot play for broadcasting so the only record that has been made is a singing of "People Will Say We’re in Love" with Frank Sinatra, which if it sounds anything like his radio singing of the same must be terrible." Decca Records president Jack Kapp settled with the union in September 1943, and three weeks later he hastily booked the original cast and orchestra of Oklahoma! into a recording studio.
At a time when Broadway numbers were typically recorded by popular singers with smaller bands, it was unique for Oklahoma! to record its original cast with full orchestration. Although some tunes were not included due to time and cost constraints, most of the songs from Oklahoma! were released on a record album by Decca Records in 1943 containing six 10-inch double-sided discs in 78 RPM format. It sold more than one million copies, prompting the label to call the cast back into the studio to record three additional selections that had been left out of the first set. These were issued as Oklahoma! Volume Two. In 1949, Decca re-released the first set on LP but not the second set, which soon became a very rare collectors' item. All subsequent LP releases were similarly incomplete. Finally in 2000, Decca Broadway went back to the original glass masters to generate a new high fidelity transfer of the complete song program and released it on CD, utilizing the original 78 album artwork.
The success of the original Oklahoma! cast album set a precedent for the production of original cast recordings of Broadway musicals, which became an essential part of a musical's dissemination and endurance in popular culture. Later cast recordings of Oklahoma! include the 1979 Broadway cast recording, the 1980 London cast recording, the 1998 Royal National Theatre cast recording, the 2019 Broadway cast recording, and a soundtrack album of the 1955 film. There have also been more than 20 studio cast recordings of the show, featuring stars such as Nelson Eddy, John Raitt and Florence Henderson in the leading roles.
Reception
The original production of Oklahoma! was an unprecedented critical and popular success. John Anderson of the New York Journal American pronounced the musical "a beautiful and delightful show, fresh and imaginative, as enchanting to the eye as Richard Rodgers's music is to the ear. It has, at a rough estimate, practically everything". In the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote, "Songs, dances, and a story have been triumphantly blended. ... The Richard Rodgers score is one of his best, and that is saying plenty. Oscar Hammerstein 2nd has written a dramatically imaginative libretto and a string of catchy lyrics; Agnes de Mille has worked small miracles in devising original dances to fit the story and the tunes, while Rouben Mamoulian has directed an excellent company with great taste and craftsmanship." Louis Kronenberger of PM opined that "Mr. Hammerstein's lyrics have less crispness and wit than Lorenz Hart's at their best, but the songs in Oklahoma! call for less sophisticated words, and Mr. Hammerstein has found very likeable ones."
In the New York Daily News, Burns Mantle declared that "Oklahoma! really is different – beautifully different. With the songs that Richard Rodgers has fitted to a collection of unusually atmospheric and intelligible lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein 2nd, Oklahoma! seems to me to be the most thoroughly and attractively American musical comedy since Edna Ferber's Show Boat". New York World-Telegram critic Burton Rascoe particularly emphasized the groundbreaking choreography, stating that "Richard Rodgers has written for the show one of the finest musical scores any musical play ever had. Next to Mr. Rodgers, however, must stand the amazing Agnes de Mille, whose choreography, carried out to perfection by her ballet [corps], is actually the biggest hit of the show. The "Out of My Dreams" and "All Er Nuthin'" dances are such supreme aesthetic delights. ... They are spinetingling, out of this world." In The New York Sun, Ward Morehouse commented that "Oklahoma! is charming and leisurely. And tunely. And certainly not topical," as other shows had been in the early years of World War II. "It reveals Mr. Rodgers, shorn only for the moment of Larry Hart, in good form indeed. And nobody in last night's audience seemed to have a better time than Mr. Hart himself, who applauded the proceedings from a seat in Row B." Lorenz Hart himself "pushed his way through the crowd at the after-show party in Sardi's restaurant and threw his arms around his ex-partner, grinning from ear to ear. He told Rodgers he had never had a better evening at the theater in his life."
The only negative review of the musical appeared in the New York Post: The critic wrote that "it all seemed just a trifle too cute", stating that the score consisted of "a flock of Mr. Rodgers's songs that are pleasant enough, but still manage to sound quite a bit alike ... without much variety in the presentation." She concluded that the show was "very picturesque in a studied fashion, reminding us that life on a farm is apt to become a little tiresome."
Antecedents and influence
According to playwright and theatre writer Thomas Hischak, "Not only is Oklahoma! the most important of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, it is also the single most influential work in the American musical theatre. ... It is the first fully integrated musical play and its blending of song, character, plot and even dance would serve as the model for Broadway shows for decades." William Zinsser observed that Oklahoma! broke the old "musical comedy conventions", with the songs "delving into character" and advancing the plot. The show "became a milestone, so that later historians writing about important moments in twentieth-century theatre would begin to identify eras according to their relationship to Oklahoma!" Oklahoma! made Rodgers and Hammerstein "the most important contributors to the musical-play form. ... The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social thought, provided the necessary encouragement for other gifted writers to create musical plays of their own".
Theater historian Ethan Mordden points out that, although Oklahoma! has been called "the first integrated musical, the first American folk musical", Show Boat "got there first on both counts." Even earlier, the Princess Theatre musicals, following Gilbert and Sullivan and French opéra bouffe, began the reintegration of song and story after decades of thinly plotted British and American musicals, paving the way for Show Boat and Oklahoma! by showing that a musical could combine popular entertainment with continuity between its story and songs. These Princess Theatre shows, which featured modern American settings, "built and polished the mold from which almost all later major musical comedies evolved. ... The characters and situations were, within the limitations of musical comedy license, believable and the humor came from the situations or the nature of the characters. Kern's exquisitely flowing melodies were employed to further the action or develop characterization." Mordden also notes that Oklahoma! was called the first great dance musical, but other musicals had earlier focused on dance, among them Gay Divorce and On Your Toes. He concludes: "But Oklahoma! was the first American musical with an ethnic sound, words and music entirely in the folk idiom."
Critic Andrea Most argues that the musical reflected author's and composer's Jewish heritage and desires for Jewish Americans. Most asserts that the musical was written at a time when America presented Jews with an opportunity to gain privileged status by assimilating into mainstream American culture and passing as white Americans. Most claims that although there were rarely any identifiably Jewish characters in plays of this time period, characters such as Ali and Jud allowed for subtle Jewish representation, Ali embodying an accepted and friendly ideal for Jewish-Americans and Jud embodying Jewish-Americans' fear of becoming a marginalized minority like black Americans.
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
1979 Broadway revival
1980 West End revival
1998 West End revival
2002 Broadway revival
2019 Broadway revival
In popular culture
Oklahoma! has frequently been quoted or parodied in films, television and other media. The following list includes some of the more notable references.
Films
The songs "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "Oklahoma!" were spoofed in the animated film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. One of the spoofs is the song "Uncle Fucka", which parodies the spelled-out O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A of the musical's title song. A similar spoof is heard in the musical Curtains, concerning the title song of the Oklahoma!-like musical performed within the show.
In the film When Harry Met Sally..., Harry and Sally sing a karaoke version of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top".
In the film Twister, Beltzer is heard singing the song "Oklahoma!" when he is introduced.
In the film Dave, the title character sings the song "Oklahoma!"
In the film I Can Only Imagine, Bart Millard performs "Oklahoma!" for his school play. Meanwhile, at a diner, his father blacks out and was sent to a hospital.
The 2020 film I'm Thinking of Ending Things contains several references to Oklahoma! and a performance of the song "Lonely Room".
Television
In The Simpsons episode "Milhouse of Sand and Fog", the character Milhouse imagines himself and Bart singing "The Farmer and the Cowman". Another episode, "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh", begins with Llewellyn Sinclair directing a production of Oklahoma! with Marge as Ado Annie. Llewellyn is frustrated every time Marge tells him "no", since Ado Annie "cain't say no".
Sesame Street featured Kermit the Frog directing the film "Oklahoma" and Forgetful Jones singing the title song but forgetting how it begins. In 1977, Ray Charles performed "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" on Sesame Street, while Oscar the grouch sang to himself "Oh what a rotten old morning/Oh what a rotten old day".
On episode 317 of The Muppet Show, Fozzie Bear, dressed as a cowboy, begins to sing "Oklahoma", but large Muppets dressed as Samurai warriors turn the number into a parody called "Yokohama".
Tiny Toon Adventures spoofed the musical as "Ducklahoma", which heavily featured anvils.
In an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, "Frozen Dick", Dick sings a rendition of "Oklahoma!" in a diner, sparking the patrons in the diner to sing along with him.
In the Fawlty Towers episode "Gourmet Night", Polly serenades the guests with a rendition of "I Cain't Say No".
In episode 9 of Band of Brothers, "Why We Fight" (2001), Captain Nixon mentions that Oklahoma! was still on Broadway, causing the soldiers to break out in song.
On an episode of Friends, "The One Where Emma Cries", when Chandler accidentally accepts a job in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his wife Monica says that she does not want to move to Oklahoma or see the musical Oklahoma! Chandler responds by listing the songs from the musical, and Monica asks whether he is telling her that he got a job in Oklahoma or that he is gay.
The HBO series Watchmen, set in Tulsa, frequently references the musical through the score, character names, lyrics, and even integrates its music, themes and plot points in the episodes, once including a fully-staged performance of the song "Oklahoma!"
Other media
In the mid-1940s, radio comedian Fred Allen wrote and performed parody lyrics to the tune of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top": "Union Suit with the Hinge on the Back." The parody was repeated on subsequent programs.
The title song became the official state song of Oklahoma in 1953. (Oklahoma became a state on November 16, 1907.)
In the song "Oklahoma, U.S.A." by The Kinks, on their album Muswell Hillbillies, the protagonist dreams of "riding in the surrey with the fringe on top".
In Truman Capote's 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly sings music from Oklahoma! while accompanying herself on her guitar.
See also
Sheep Wars
Notes
References
Carter, Tim. Oklahoma!: the making of an American musical. Yale University Press, 2007,
Everett, William A. and Paul R. Laird. The Cambridge Companion to the Musical, Cambridge University Press, 2002,
Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007,
Jones, John B. Our Musicals, Ourselves. Hanover: University Press of New England, 2003
Kantor, Michael and Maslon, Laurence. Broadway: The American Musical. New York: Bullfinch Press, 2004.
Mordden, Ethan. Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical, Oxford University Press (1988)
Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. New York: Applause Books, 2002,
Stempel, Larry. Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010,
Further reading
Block, Geoffrey. The Richard Rodgers Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Ewen, David. With a Song in His Heart (Richard Rodgers). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963.
Fordin, Hugh. Getting To Know Him: The Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. New York: Random House, 1977; Decapo Press, 1995.
Green, Stanley. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Fact Book. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, 1980.
Mordden, Ethan. Rodgers & Hammerstein. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992.
Purdum, Todd S. Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2018.
External links
Information from the Theatre History website
RNH Theatricals site
Plot and production information, guidetomusicaltheatre.com
Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #8 – Excerpts sung by original cast; commentary by Rodgers and Hammerstein
1943 musicals
Broadway musicals
Fiction set in 1906
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Laurence Olivier Award-winning musicals
Musicals based on plays
Plays set in Oklahoma
Plays set in the United States
Pulitzer Prize-winning works
Tony Award-winning musicals
United States National Recording Registry recordings
West End musicals
Western (genre) plays | true | [
"Chang Chen-kuang (; born 1956) is a Taiwanese actor. He is also known by the names Jack Chang, Morning Chang, or Morni Chang. Chang was shortlisted several times for the Golden Bell Award for Best Actor, winning the honor in 1992 and 2004. He is of Mainland Chinese descent.\n\nSelected filmography\nQing Yi Wu Jia (1988)\nCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001)\nLetter 1949 (2008)\nKnock Knock Loving You (2009)\nNight Market Life (2009–2011)\nBeauty World (2011)\nSealed with a Kiss (2011)\nBack to 1942 (2012)\nNational Treasure (2017)Nothing Gold Can Stay (2017)Ode to Joy (2017)Entering a New Era (2018)The Faces of My Gene (2018)Our Glamorous Time (2018)All Is Well (2019) My Best Friend's Story (2020–2021)Soul Snatcher'' (2020)\n\nReferences\n\n1956 births\nLiving people\nTaiwanese male television actors\n20th-century Taiwanese male actors\n21st-century Taiwanese male actors\nTaiwanese male film actors",
"Bonaventura Ibáñez (18 February 1876 – 1 May 1932) was a Spanish film actor of the silent and early sound eras.\n\nSelected filmography\n Wanda Warenine (1917)\n Romola (1924)\n The Faces of Love (1924)\n The Last Lord (1926)\n Croquette (1927)\n The Carnival of Venice (1928)\n Karina the Dancer (1928)\n Kiss Me (1929)\n L'Age d'Or (1930)\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n\nExternal links\n\n1876 births\n1932 deaths\nSpanish male film actors\nSpanish male silent film actors\nMale actors from Barcelona\n20th-century Spanish male actors"
] |
[
"Oklahoma!",
"Casting and development",
"When did Rodgers and Hammerstein start developing the show?",
"The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943.",
"How were the reviews at the New Haven tryout?",
"the reviews were only fair.",
"What changes were made based on the reviews.",
"two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, \"Oklahoma!\" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number.",
"Were any songs cut before Oklahoma! opened on broadway?",
"the addition of the show-stopping musical number, \"Oklahoma!\"",
"What was the casting process?",
"I don't know.",
"Were the leads known actors or new faces?",
"As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step."
] | C_ed36a7675964410f80970a3e03be2c41_1 | How did they find the actors for the show? | 7 | How did Rodgers and Hammerstein find the actors for the show Oklahoma!? | Oklahoma! | Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act. Though Theresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggested Shirley Temple as Laurey and Groucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with director Rouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. The production was choreographed by Agnes de Mille (her first time choreographing a musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act ballet finale (often referred to as the dream ballet) depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly. The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943. Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. Producer Mike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No legs, no jokes, no chance." But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven and Boston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma!" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number. Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won a special Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable." The New York Post was the only major paper to give Oklahoma! a mixed review. Its critic felt that while the songs were pleasant enough, they sounded much alike. The show's creativity stimulated Rodgers and Hammerstein's contemporaries and ushered in the "Golden Age" of American musical theatre. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud Fry. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.
The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943. It was a box office hit and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances, later enjoying award-winning revivals, national tours, foreign productions and an Oscar-winning 1955 film adaptation. It has long been a popular choice for school and community productions. Rodgers and Hammerstein won a special Pulitzer Prize for Oklahoma! in 1944.
This musical, building on the innovations of the earlier Show Boat, epitomized the development of the "book musical", a musical play where the songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story, with serious dramatic goals, that is able to evoke genuine emotions other than amusement. In addition, Oklahoma! features musical themes, or motifs, that recur throughout the work to connect the music and story. A fifteen-minute "dream ballet" reflects Laurey's struggle with her feelings about two men, Curly and Jud.
Background
By the early 1940s, Rodgers and Hammerstein were each well known for creating Broadway hits with other collaborators. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced over two dozen musicals since the 1920s, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940). Among other successes, Hammerstein had written the words for Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote musicals, songs and films, sharing an Academy Award for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good. By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, and he became unreliable, prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him.
Conception
In 1931, the Theatre Guild produced Lynn Riggs's Green Grow the Lilacs, a play about settlers in Oklahoma Indian Territory. Though the play was not successful, ten years later in 1941, Theresa Helburn, one of the Guild's producers, saw a summer-stock production supplemented with traditional folk songs and square dances and decided the play could be the basis of a musical that might revive the struggling Guild. She contacted Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, whose first successful collaboration, The Garrick Gaieties, had been produced by the Theatre Guild in 1925. Rodgers wanted to work on the project and obtained the rights for himself and Hart. Rodgers had asked Oscar Hammerstein II to collaborate with him and Hart. During the tryouts of Rodgers and Hart's By Jupiter in 1941, Hammerstein had assured Rodgers that if Hart was ever unable to work, he would be willing to take his place. Coincidentally in 1942, Hammerstein had thought of musicalizing Green Grow the Lilacs, but when he had approached Jerome Kern about it, the latter declined. Hammerstein learned that Rodgers was seeking someone to write the book, and he eagerly took the opportunity. Hart lost interest in the musical; he preferred contemporary, urbane shows that would showcase his witty lyric writing, and he found the farmers and cowhands in Green Grow the Lilacs corny and uninspiring. Moreover, spiraling downward, consumed by his longstanding alcoholism, Hart no longer felt like writing. He embarked on a vacation to Mexico, advising Rodgers that Hammerstein would be a good choice of a new collaborator.
This partnership allowed both Rodgers and Hammerstein to follow their preferred writing methods: Hammerstein preferred to write a complete lyric before it was set to music, and Rodgers preferred to set completed lyrics to music. In Rodgers' previous collaborations with Hart, Rodgers had always written the music first, since the unfocused Hart needed something on which to base his lyrics. Hammerstein's previous collaborators included composers Rudolf Friml, Herbert Stothart, Vincent Youmans, and Kern, who all wrote music first, for which Hammerstein then wrote lyrics. The role reversal in the Rodgers and Hammerstein partnership permitted Hammerstein to craft the lyrics into a fundamental part of the story so that the songs could amplify and intensify the story instead of diverting it. As Rodgers and Hammerstein began developing the new musical, they agreed that their musical and dramatic choices would be dictated by the source material, Green Grow the Lilacs, not by musical comedy conventions. Musicals of that era featured big production numbers, novelty acts, and show-stopping specialty dances; the libretti typically focused on humor, with little dramatic development, punctuated with songs that effectively halted the story for their duration.
Casting and development
Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act. Though Theresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggested Shirley Temple as Laurey and Groucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with director Rouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. The production was choreographed by Agnes de Mille (her first time choreographing a musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act ballet finale (often referred to as the dream ballet) depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly.
The first title given to the work was Away We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts in New Haven's Shubert Theatre on March 11, 1943. Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. Producer Mike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No girls, no gags, no chance." But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven and Boston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the addition of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number.
Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won a special Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable."
2009 Chichester Theatre Festival
In the summer of 2009, British director John Doyle directed the musical at the Chichester Festival Theatre. The production was dark in concept and featured new orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. On a spare stage, decorated only with blue sheets, "Confetti of rose petals stains the floor like drops of blood, and a nightmarish dream-dance sequence has Freudian overtones as Laurey's bridal gown becomes her shroud." It received mixed reviews. The Times reviewer wrote: "This is a very stylised, overdrilled production, no friend of intimate moments or quiet depth of emotion." The Guardian liked it the most, stating that "it's a delight, with one brilliant tippy-tappy-toed song after another and a nugget of darkness lodged in its sweet heart." Whats On Stage, like most of the papers, gave the show three out of five stars and wrote that this is a "downbeat vision" and that "all told it's a somewhat disappointing show", but their "average reader rating" was four stars. A review in The Telegraph commented, "Doyle uses shadow and silhouette to bring out the musical's nightmarish aspects but doesn't over-labour them. There are enough sunny spots – no more so than in Act 2's rousing title song – to keep the tone evenly textured."
2010 UK tour
The show toured England for nine months in 2010 in a new staging by Julian Woolford, with Marti Webb as Aunt Eller and Mark Evans as Curly.
2010 Washington, DC Arena Stage
Oklahoma! opened in October 2010 at the Arena Stage to critical acclaim. Artistic Director Molly Smith cast African-American actresses as Laurey and Aunt Eller to mirror both modern Washington, D.C. demographics and the diverse population of the musical's 1906 Oklahoma territory setting. The production received ten 2011 Helen Hayes Award nominations, winning as Outstanding Resident Musical (tying with Shakespeare Theatre's Candide) and for choreography (Parker Esse), lead actor (Nicholas Rodriguez as Curly) and musical direction (George Fulginiti-Shakar). The production returned to the Arena Stage for a second run in 2011.
2012, Seattle, Washington, 5th Avenue Theatre
The 5th Avenue Theatre's 2012 production, directed by Peter Rothstein, included African-American dancers and an African-American actor as Jud. The choice was intended, as in the Arena Stage production, to reflect the historical presence of African Americans in the Oklahoma territory, but it "has some audience members squirming in their seats ... they're seeing on stage one of the ugliest stereotypes in our history: an imposing black man ravaging a petite white woman [and] the white hero ... all but urges Jud to hang himself – and even pantomimes the act. Some see a clear reference to lynching." The "Dream Ballet" had a sinister, sexual tone and ended with Jud dragging Laurey away to be raped. One critic noted the historical "license taken when an African-American farmhand is allowed to escort a white woman to the box dance. ... Maybe some people ... left with not so much a song in their head, but a question in their heart. And isn't that part of what theater is supposed to do?" Another wrote: "Rothstein's Oklahoma! is now the story of a crazy, sex obsessed black man ... lusting violently after his white mistress, who ends up murdered at the hands of a white man, who gets off scot free after a mock trial."
2015 UK tour
A UK tour ran from February to August 2015, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and starring Ashley Day as Curly, Charlotte Wakefield as Laurey, Belinda Lang as Aunt Eller and Gary Wilmot as Ali Hakim.
1955 film adaptation
The 1955 film adaptation starred Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones (in her film debut), Rod Steiger, Charlotte Greenwood, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, James Whitmore and Eddie Albert. It was the only musical film directed by Fred Zinnemann, and Agnes de Mille choreographed. It was the first feature film photographed in the Todd-AO 70 mm widescreen process.
Rodgers and Hammerstein personally oversaw the film to prevent the studio from making the changes that were then typical of stage-to-film musical adaptations, such as interpolating new songs by others. The film followed the stage version more closely than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein stage-to-film adaptation, although it divided the long first scene into several shorter scenes, changing the locations of several of the songs. For example, "Kansas City" is performed at the train station, where Aunt Eller and other cowboys meet Will Parker just after he returns from Kansas City. Lyrics in the song about a burlesque stripteaser were slightly changed to pass film censorship. In a nod to Green Grow the Lilacs, which was the basis of the musical, Jud attempts revenge on Curly and Laurey by burning a haystack they stand on, before Curly jumps down, landing on Jud and causing him to fall on his own knife. The film omits only "It's a Scandal, It's a Outrage" and "Lonely Room". The film won Academy Awards for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Sound, Recording.
Recordings
Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra both recorded versions of "People Will Say We’re In Love" and "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" in 1943. Due to the 1942–1944 musicians' strike, however, these recordings featured no instrumental accompaniment and instead "were lugubriously weighed down by a cappella backup." Producers of Oklahoma! lamented the lack of high-quality official recordings, with Theresa Helburn writing to a colleague in August 1943: "There are no records of Oklahoma! that we can send you. As you know, the Petrillo ban on the union musicians still holds. They cannot play for broadcasting so the only record that has been made is a singing of "People Will Say We’re in Love" with Frank Sinatra, which if it sounds anything like his radio singing of the same must be terrible." Decca Records president Jack Kapp settled with the union in September 1943, and three weeks later he hastily booked the original cast and orchestra of Oklahoma! into a recording studio.
At a time when Broadway numbers were typically recorded by popular singers with smaller bands, it was unique for Oklahoma! to record its original cast with full orchestration. Although some tunes were not included due to time and cost constraints, most of the songs from Oklahoma! were released on a record album by Decca Records in 1943 containing six 10-inch double-sided discs in 78 RPM format. It sold more than one million copies, prompting the label to call the cast back into the studio to record three additional selections that had been left out of the first set. These were issued as Oklahoma! Volume Two. In 1949, Decca re-released the first set on LP but not the second set, which soon became a very rare collectors' item. All subsequent LP releases were similarly incomplete. Finally in 2000, Decca Broadway went back to the original glass masters to generate a new high fidelity transfer of the complete song program and released it on CD, utilizing the original 78 album artwork.
The success of the original Oklahoma! cast album set a precedent for the production of original cast recordings of Broadway musicals, which became an essential part of a musical's dissemination and endurance in popular culture. Later cast recordings of Oklahoma! include the 1979 Broadway cast recording, the 1980 London cast recording, the 1998 Royal National Theatre cast recording, the 2019 Broadway cast recording, and a soundtrack album of the 1955 film. There have also been more than 20 studio cast recordings of the show, featuring stars such as Nelson Eddy, John Raitt and Florence Henderson in the leading roles.
Reception
The original production of Oklahoma! was an unprecedented critical and popular success. John Anderson of the New York Journal American pronounced the musical "a beautiful and delightful show, fresh and imaginative, as enchanting to the eye as Richard Rodgers's music is to the ear. It has, at a rough estimate, practically everything". In the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote, "Songs, dances, and a story have been triumphantly blended. ... The Richard Rodgers score is one of his best, and that is saying plenty. Oscar Hammerstein 2nd has written a dramatically imaginative libretto and a string of catchy lyrics; Agnes de Mille has worked small miracles in devising original dances to fit the story and the tunes, while Rouben Mamoulian has directed an excellent company with great taste and craftsmanship." Louis Kronenberger of PM opined that "Mr. Hammerstein's lyrics have less crispness and wit than Lorenz Hart's at their best, but the songs in Oklahoma! call for less sophisticated words, and Mr. Hammerstein has found very likeable ones."
In the New York Daily News, Burns Mantle declared that "Oklahoma! really is different – beautifully different. With the songs that Richard Rodgers has fitted to a collection of unusually atmospheric and intelligible lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein 2nd, Oklahoma! seems to me to be the most thoroughly and attractively American musical comedy since Edna Ferber's Show Boat". New York World-Telegram critic Burton Rascoe particularly emphasized the groundbreaking choreography, stating that "Richard Rodgers has written for the show one of the finest musical scores any musical play ever had. Next to Mr. Rodgers, however, must stand the amazing Agnes de Mille, whose choreography, carried out to perfection by her ballet [corps], is actually the biggest hit of the show. The "Out of My Dreams" and "All Er Nuthin'" dances are such supreme aesthetic delights. ... They are spinetingling, out of this world." In The New York Sun, Ward Morehouse commented that "Oklahoma! is charming and leisurely. And tunely. And certainly not topical," as other shows had been in the early years of World War II. "It reveals Mr. Rodgers, shorn only for the moment of Larry Hart, in good form indeed. And nobody in last night's audience seemed to have a better time than Mr. Hart himself, who applauded the proceedings from a seat in Row B." Lorenz Hart himself "pushed his way through the crowd at the after-show party in Sardi's restaurant and threw his arms around his ex-partner, grinning from ear to ear. He told Rodgers he had never had a better evening at the theater in his life."
The only negative review of the musical appeared in the New York Post: The critic wrote that "it all seemed just a trifle too cute", stating that the score consisted of "a flock of Mr. Rodgers's songs that are pleasant enough, but still manage to sound quite a bit alike ... without much variety in the presentation." She concluded that the show was "very picturesque in a studied fashion, reminding us that life on a farm is apt to become a little tiresome."
Antecedents and influence
According to playwright and theatre writer Thomas Hischak, "Not only is Oklahoma! the most important of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, it is also the single most influential work in the American musical theatre. ... It is the first fully integrated musical play and its blending of song, character, plot and even dance would serve as the model for Broadway shows for decades." William Zinsser observed that Oklahoma! broke the old "musical comedy conventions", with the songs "delving into character" and advancing the plot. The show "became a milestone, so that later historians writing about important moments in twentieth-century theatre would begin to identify eras according to their relationship to Oklahoma!" Oklahoma! made Rodgers and Hammerstein "the most important contributors to the musical-play form. ... The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social thought, provided the necessary encouragement for other gifted writers to create musical plays of their own".
Theater historian Ethan Mordden points out that, although Oklahoma! has been called "the first integrated musical, the first American folk musical", Show Boat "got there first on both counts." Even earlier, the Princess Theatre musicals, following Gilbert and Sullivan and French opéra bouffe, began the reintegration of song and story after decades of thinly plotted British and American musicals, paving the way for Show Boat and Oklahoma! by showing that a musical could combine popular entertainment with continuity between its story and songs. These Princess Theatre shows, which featured modern American settings, "built and polished the mold from which almost all later major musical comedies evolved. ... The characters and situations were, within the limitations of musical comedy license, believable and the humor came from the situations or the nature of the characters. Kern's exquisitely flowing melodies were employed to further the action or develop characterization." Mordden also notes that Oklahoma! was called the first great dance musical, but other musicals had earlier focused on dance, among them Gay Divorce and On Your Toes. He concludes: "But Oklahoma! was the first American musical with an ethnic sound, words and music entirely in the folk idiom."
Critic Andrea Most argues that the musical reflected author's and composer's Jewish heritage and desires for Jewish Americans. Most asserts that the musical was written at a time when America presented Jews with an opportunity to gain privileged status by assimilating into mainstream American culture and passing as white Americans. Most claims that although there were rarely any identifiably Jewish characters in plays of this time period, characters such as Ali and Jud allowed for subtle Jewish representation, Ali embodying an accepted and friendly ideal for Jewish-Americans and Jud embodying Jewish-Americans' fear of becoming a marginalized minority like black Americans.
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
1979 Broadway revival
1980 West End revival
1998 West End revival
2002 Broadway revival
2019 Broadway revival
In popular culture
Oklahoma! has frequently been quoted or parodied in films, television and other media. The following list includes some of the more notable references.
Films
The songs "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "Oklahoma!" were spoofed in the animated film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. One of the spoofs is the song "Uncle Fucka", which parodies the spelled-out O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A of the musical's title song. A similar spoof is heard in the musical Curtains, concerning the title song of the Oklahoma!-like musical performed within the show.
In the film When Harry Met Sally..., Harry and Sally sing a karaoke version of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top".
In the film Twister, Beltzer is heard singing the song "Oklahoma!" when he is introduced.
In the film Dave, the title character sings the song "Oklahoma!"
In the film I Can Only Imagine, Bart Millard performs "Oklahoma!" for his school play. Meanwhile, at a diner, his father blacks out and was sent to a hospital.
The 2020 film I'm Thinking of Ending Things contains several references to Oklahoma! and a performance of the song "Lonely Room".
Television
In The Simpsons episode "Milhouse of Sand and Fog", the character Milhouse imagines himself and Bart singing "The Farmer and the Cowman". Another episode, "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh", begins with Llewellyn Sinclair directing a production of Oklahoma! with Marge as Ado Annie. Llewellyn is frustrated every time Marge tells him "no", since Ado Annie "cain't say no".
Sesame Street featured Kermit the Frog directing the film "Oklahoma" and Forgetful Jones singing the title song but forgetting how it begins. In 1977, Ray Charles performed "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" on Sesame Street, while Oscar the grouch sang to himself "Oh what a rotten old morning/Oh what a rotten old day".
On episode 317 of The Muppet Show, Fozzie Bear, dressed as a cowboy, begins to sing "Oklahoma", but large Muppets dressed as Samurai warriors turn the number into a parody called "Yokohama".
Tiny Toon Adventures spoofed the musical as "Ducklahoma", which heavily featured anvils.
In an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, "Frozen Dick", Dick sings a rendition of "Oklahoma!" in a diner, sparking the patrons in the diner to sing along with him.
In the Fawlty Towers episode "Gourmet Night", Polly serenades the guests with a rendition of "I Cain't Say No".
In episode 9 of Band of Brothers, "Why We Fight" (2001), Captain Nixon mentions that Oklahoma! was still on Broadway, causing the soldiers to break out in song.
On an episode of Friends, "The One Where Emma Cries", when Chandler accidentally accepts a job in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his wife Monica says that she does not want to move to Oklahoma or see the musical Oklahoma! Chandler responds by listing the songs from the musical, and Monica asks whether he is telling her that he got a job in Oklahoma or that he is gay.
The HBO series Watchmen, set in Tulsa, frequently references the musical through the score, character names, lyrics, and even integrates its music, themes and plot points in the episodes, once including a fully-staged performance of the song "Oklahoma!"
Other media
In the mid-1940s, radio comedian Fred Allen wrote and performed parody lyrics to the tune of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top": "Union Suit with the Hinge on the Back." The parody was repeated on subsequent programs.
The title song became the official state song of Oklahoma in 1953. (Oklahoma became a state on November 16, 1907.)
In the song "Oklahoma, U.S.A." by The Kinks, on their album Muswell Hillbillies, the protagonist dreams of "riding in the surrey with the fringe on top".
In Truman Capote's 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly sings music from Oklahoma! while accompanying herself on her guitar.
See also
Sheep Wars
Notes
References
Carter, Tim. Oklahoma!: the making of an American musical. Yale University Press, 2007,
Everett, William A. and Paul R. Laird. The Cambridge Companion to the Musical, Cambridge University Press, 2002,
Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007,
Jones, John B. Our Musicals, Ourselves. Hanover: University Press of New England, 2003
Kantor, Michael and Maslon, Laurence. Broadway: The American Musical. New York: Bullfinch Press, 2004.
Mordden, Ethan. Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical, Oxford University Press (1988)
Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. New York: Applause Books, 2002,
Stempel, Larry. Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010,
Further reading
Block, Geoffrey. The Richard Rodgers Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Ewen, David. With a Song in His Heart (Richard Rodgers). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963.
Fordin, Hugh. Getting To Know Him: The Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. New York: Random House, 1977; Decapo Press, 1995.
Green, Stanley. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Fact Book. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, 1980.
Mordden, Ethan. Rodgers & Hammerstein. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992.
Purdum, Todd S. Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2018.
External links
Information from the Theatre History website
RNH Theatricals site
Plot and production information, guidetomusicaltheatre.com
Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #8 – Excerpts sung by original cast; commentary by Rodgers and Hammerstein
1943 musicals
Broadway musicals
Fiction set in 1906
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Laurence Olivier Award-winning musicals
Musicals based on plays
Plays set in Oklahoma
Plays set in the United States
Pulitzer Prize-winning works
Tony Award-winning musicals
United States National Recording Registry recordings
West End musicals
Western (genre) plays | false | [
"Shyam Pathak (born 12 June 1976) is an Indian actor and comedian. He is known for portraying Popatlal Pandey in the popular Hindi television sitcom Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. He also did an episodic role (episode 186 as Raddiwala) in Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin.\n\nPersonal life \nPathak married Reshami who was his classmate at the National School of Drama. They have a daughter and two sons.\n\nPathak started his studies at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, but dropped out to join the National School of Drama.\n\nCareer \nHe has been part of the comedy show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah which airs on the SAB TV channel. He plays the role of Patrakar Popatlal or Popu, an aging bachelor who works as a crime reporter for a newspaper called \"Toofan Express\". His constant efforts to find a bride for himself results in funny situations on the show.\n\nFilmography\n 1997 Ghoonghat(Debut Movie)\n 2007 Lust, Caution as Jewelry Shopkeeper\n 2008-2009 Jasuben Jayantilaal Joshi Ki Joint Family as Rajendra Jayantilal Joshi.\n 2009-2010 Sukh By Chance as Dheeraj Mehta.\n2009 - Cadbury halls (polar bear ad)\n 2009–present Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah as Patrakar Popatlal Pandey\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nLiving people\nIndian male television actors\nNational School of Drama alumni\n1976 births\nMale actors from Gujarat\nIndian male comedians\n21st-century Indian male actors",
"Mark Scott (February 21, 1915 – July 13, 1960) was an actor and broadcaster. He is probably best known for hosting the Home Run Derby television show that originally aired in 1960. Scott, who was a native of Chicago, died of a heart attack in Burbank, California, shortly after the first season of the show aired. Rather than find a replacement for him, the producers decided to cancel the series.\n\nDuring the Home Run Derby show, he both announced the action and interviewed each contestant when his opponent was batting. His most well known line from the show was, \"It's a home run or nothing here on Home Run Derby.\"\n\nPrior to Home Run Derby, he had been an announcer for the Cincinnati Redlegs and for the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League, which transferred out of the city after the 1957 season due to the arrival of the Los Angeles Dodgers.\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1915 births\n1960 deaths\n20th-century American male actors\nAmerican game show hosts\nAmerican male television actors\nAmerican sports announcers\nCincinnati Reds announcers\nMajor League Baseball broadcasters\nMale actors from Chicago\nMinor League Baseball broadcasters\nNational Football League announcers"
] |
[
"Richard Rogers",
"Honours and awards"
] | C_29cb86d6a0b14ea393275abf46b0f033_0 | When did Richard Rogers get his first award | 1 | When did Richard Rogers get his first award | Richard Rogers | Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sits as a Labour peer in the House of Lords. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list. Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur in 1986. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. He was also appointed as a Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize - architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork - the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover - to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades. Rogers has been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath. CANNOTANSWER | Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier, | Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside, (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was an Italian-born British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs in high-tech architecture. He was a senior partner at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, previously known as the Richard Rogers Partnership, until June 2020.
Rogers was perhaps best known for his work on the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Lloyd's building and Millennium Dome, both in London, the Senedd building, in Cardiff, and the European Court of Human Rights building, in Strasbourg. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal, the Thomas Jefferson Medal, the RIBA Stirling Prize, the Minerva Medal, and the Pritzker Prize.
Early life and career
Richard Rogers was born in Florence, Tuscany, in 1933 into an Anglo-Italian family. His father, William Nino Rogers (1906–1993), was Jewish, and was the cousin of Italian Jewish architect Ernesto Nathan Rogers. His Jewish ancestors moved from Sunderland to Venice in about 1800, later settling in Trieste, Milan and Florence. In October 1938, William Nino Rogers came back to England, having fled Fascist Italy and anti-Jewish laws under Mussolini.
Upon moving to England, Richard Rogers went to St John's School, Leatherhead. Rogers did not excel academically, which made him believe that he was "stupid because he could not read or memorise his school work" and as a consequence, he said, he became "very depressed". He couldn't read until he was 11, and it was not until after he had his first child that Rogers realised he was dyslexic. After leaving St Johns School, he undertook a foundation course at Epsom School of Art (now the University for the Creative Arts) before going into National Service between 1951 and 1953.
He then attended the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, where he gained the Architectural Association's Diploma (AA Dipl) from 1954 until 1959, subsequently graduating with a master's degree (M Arch) from the Yale School of Architecture in 1962 on a Fulbright Scholarship. While studying at Yale, Rogers met fellow architecture student Norman Foster and planning student Su Brumwell.
After leaving Yale he joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York. On returning to England in 1963, he, Norman Foster and Brumwell set up architectural practice as Team 4 with Wendy Cheesman (Brumwell later married Rogers, Cheesman married Foster). Rogers and Foster earned a reputation for what was later termed by the media high-tech architecture.
By 1967, Team 4 had split up, but Rogers continued to collaborate with Su Rogers, along with John Young and Laurie Abbott. In early 1968 he was commissioned to design a house and studio for Humphrey Spender near Maldon, Essex, a glass cube framed with I-beams. He continued to develop his ideas of prefabrication and structural simplicity to design a Wimbledon house for his parents. This was based on ideas from his conceptual Zip-Up House.
Rogers subsequently joined forces with Italian architect Renzo Piano, a partnership that was to prove fruitful. His career leapt forward when he, Piano and Gianfranco Franchini won the design competition for the Pompidou Centre in July 1971, alongside a team from Ove Arup that included Irish engineer Peter Rice.
Later career
After working with Piano, Rogers established the Richard Rogers Partnership along with Marco Goldschmied, Mike Davies, and John Young in 1977. This became Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007. The firm maintains offices in London, Shanghai, and Sydney.
Rogers devoted much of his later career to wider issues surrounding architecture, urbanism, sustainability, and the ways in which cities are used. One early illustration of his thinking was an exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1986, entitled "London As It Could Be", which also featured the work of James Stirling and Rogers' former partner Norman Foster. This exhibition made public a series of proposals for transforming a large area of central London, subsequently dismissed as impractical by the city's authorities.
In 1995, he became the first architect to deliver the BBC's annual Reith Lectures. This series of five talks, titled Sustainable City, were later adapted into the book Cities for a Small Planet (Faber and Faber: London 1997, ). The BBC made these lectures available to the public for download in July 2011.
In 1998, he set up the Urban Task Force at the invitation of the British government, to help identify causes of urban decline and establish a vision of safety, vitality, and beauty for Britain's cities. This work resulted in a white paper, Towards an Urban Renaissance, outlining recommendations for future city designers. Rogers also served for several years as chair of the Greater London Authority panel for Architecture and Urbanism. He was chair of the board of Trustees of The Architecture Foundation.
From 2001 to 2008, he was chief advisor on architecture and urbanism to the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. In 2008, he was asked to continue on in his role as an advisor by the then new mayor Boris Johnson. He stood down from the post in October 2009. Rogers also served as an advisor to two mayors of Barcelona on urban strategies.
Amidst this extra-curricular activity, Rogers continued to create controversial and iconic works. Perhaps the most famous of these, the Millennium Dome, was designed by the Rogers practice in conjunction with engineering firm Buro Happold and completed in 1999. It was the subject of fierce political and public debate over the cost and contents of the exhibition it contained; the building itself cost £43 million.
In May 2006, Rogers' practice was chosen as the architect of Tower 3 of the new World Trade Center in New York City, replacing the old World Trade Center which was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
Rogers resigned his directorship of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners on 30 June 2020. The Rogers name will be removed from the practice by 2022 as the founding constitution requires.
Selected projects
Team 4
Creek Vean, Cornwall, UK (1963–1966)
Reliance Controls factory, Swindon, UK (1967)
Jaffe House (also known as Skybreak House), Humphrey Spender's house, Maldon, UK (1965–1966)
Wates Housing, Coulsdon, Surrey, UK (1965)
Murray Mews, Camden, London, UK (1966)
Richard and Su Rogers Architects (with John Young and Laurie Abbott)
22 Parkside (Dr. Nino and Dada Rogers' house), Wimbledon, London, UK (1967)
Zip-Up House (1967–69)
Piano + Rogers
Universal Oil Products, Tadworth, UK (1969–1974)
B&B Italia headquarters, Como, Italy (1972–1973)
Pompidou Centre, Paris, France (1971–77)
IRCAM, Paris, France (1971–1977)
Patscentre Research Laboratory, Melbourn, UK (1976–1983)
The Richard Rogers Partnership
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Criticisms
Like Le Corbusier, the designs of some of Rogers's buildings have not proved as functionally efficient as claimed, suffering from leaks and maintenance problems. The Lloyds Buildings's much-vaunted design innovation of having the service pipes, etc outside the walls, in fact led to such costs caused by weathering and maintenance that Lloyds considered vacating the building in 2014. Lloyd's former chief executive Richard Ward stated: "There is a fundamental problem with this building. Everything is exposed to the elements, and that makes it very costly."
In 2014 Rogers faced a £5m legal claim over problems at the Oxley Woods estate designed by the firm. Residents complained of water seepage through cladding panels and windows on the prefabricated terraced housing.
Palestine controversy
In February 2006, Rogers hosted the inaugural meeting of the campaigning organisation Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine (APJP) in his London offices. At that time his practice had secured a number of projects in New York, including the redevelopment of the Silvercup Studios site, a masterplan for the East River Waterfront and a commission for a $1.7 billion expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre in Manhattan. Rogers however publicly dissociated himself from the group within weeks, following an outcry from generally pro-Israeli New York voters and politicians, which threatened him with the loss of prestigious commissions including projects in New York and abroad. He announced his withdrawal with the statement, "I unequivocally renounce Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine and have withdrawn my relationship with them."
Personal life
Rogers was married to Ruth Rogers, also Jewish, chef and owner of The River Café restaurant in west London. They had two sons together, Roo and Bo (deceased 2011). Rogers also had three sons, Ben, Zad and Ab, from his first marriage to Su Brumwell. He had fourteen grandchildren and a younger brother, Peter William Rogers, a property developer and co-founder of Stanhope. In 2015, he was named one of the "50 best-dressed British men" by GQ magazine.
He died in London on 18 December 2021, at the age of 88.
Honours and awards
Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sat as a Labour peer in the House of Lords; having not attended a proceeding in the 2019–21 session, his membership expired on 11 May 2021. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list.
Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985. He was twice honoured by France, first as a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Légion d'honneur in 1986, and later as an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1995. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. Rogers won the Gold Medal for Architecture at the National Eisteddfod of Wales of 2006 for his work on the Senedd building of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament). He was also appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize – architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades.
Rogers was awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath.
In popular culture
Rogers is mentioned (along with fellow architect Philip Johnson) in the song "Thru These Architect's Eyes" on the album Outside (1995) by David Bowie.
Rogers is mentioned in the song "Anti-Everything" by British band Mansun, from the album Six (1998).
Publications
Rogers wrote several books during his career, including:
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (1991)
A New London (co-author Mark Fisher and the Labour Party), Penguin (1992)
Cities for a Small Planet, Faber and Faber (1997)
Towards an Urban Renaissance, Urban Task Force (1999)
Cities for a Small Country, Faber and Faber (2000)
Richard Rogers and Architects: From the House to the City, Fiell Publishing (2010)
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (2013)
References
External links
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners website
Large list of major Richard Rogers skyscrapers with data and images
Rogers, Stirk, Harbour and Partners projects portfolio
Pritzker Prize 2007
Richard Rogers presents the 2007 Annual Discourse at the Royal Institute of British Architects (video)
The 1995 BBC Reith Lectures: Sustainable City by Richard Rogers
Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
Richard Rogers buildings
1933 births
2021 deaths
20th-century English architects
English people of Italian descent
Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Italian people of English descent
Knights Bachelor
Rogers of Riverside
Members of the Académie d'architecture
Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
Modernist architects from England
People educated at Kingswood House School
People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead
Pritzker Architecture Prize winners
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal
Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Rogers family
Royal Academicians
Stirling Prize laureates
Welsh Eisteddfod Gold Medal winners
Yale School of Architecture alumni
Honorary Fellows of the American Institute of Architects | false | [
"Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners LLP (RSHP) is a British architectural firm, founded in 1977 and originally known as the Richard Rogers Partnership. Its main offices are located in the Leadenhall Building, London. Previously they were at the Thames Wharf Studios. In its various incarnations it is known for many important buildings including Lloyd's building and the Millennium Dome in London and the National Assembly for Wales building in Cardiff.\n\nDescription\nThe firm's principal offices are located at Leadenhall Building in London. It also maintains offices in Shanghai and Sydney. the firm has thirteen partners, including Richard Rogers, Graham Stirk and Ivan Harbour. The practice is run with a profit-share scheme and a limit on the directors' salaries in comparison with those of the lowest paid in the office.\n\nThe practice is strongly focused on sustainability, urban regeneration and social awareness, themes that have long been a feature of Rogers' work. Celebration of public space and the encouragement of public activities is also a recurring theme.\n\nIt is owned by a charitable trust, ensuring that no individual owns any share in its value and preventing private trading and inheritance of shares. The practice divides its profits between all of the staff and their chosen charities, according to publicly declared principles.\n\nHistory \n\nSoon after the Pompidou Centre in Paris was opened in 1977, Richard Rogers formed the Richard Rogers Partnership and started work on the Lloyd's building in London. Richard Rogers explained the reason for the change of the practice name from the Richard Rogers Partnership to Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007 was because \"We wanted to avoid the situation where the name of the practice is someone who died 100 years ago. Architecture is a living thing. If I want to leave something to the future, it has to be able to change – but retain something of the ethos that we built up over 50 years.\"\n\nIn November 2015 Rogers Stirk Harbour created five new partners including Tracy Meller who became their first woman partner. Founding partner Mike Davies stepped down.\n\nAwards \nIn 2006 the practice was awarded the Stirling Prize for their Madrid-Barajas Airport, Terminal 4.\n\nIn 2008, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners was awarded the Manser Medal for Houses and Housing, given for the best one-off house (Oxley Woods) designed by an architect in the UK.\n\nIn 2009 it was awarded the Stirling Prize for Maggie's Centre in London. It won the RIBA National Award 2015 for NEO Bankside luxury apartments in London and was subsequently shortlisted for the Stirling Prize for the second time.\n\nNotable projects \n\nThis list contains projects from the beginning of the partnership in 1977 through to the present day. For earlier work by Richard Rogers, Team 4, Richard and Su Rogers and Piano + Rogers, see the Richard Rogers page.\n\nThe Richard Rogers Partnership\n\nRogers Stirk Harbour + Partners\n\nKey personnel \n\nPartners of the firm were Richard Rogers, Mike Davies, Graham Stirk, Ivan Harbour, Andrew Morris, Lennart Grut, Richard Paul, Ian Birtles and Simon Smithson\n\nCurrent personnel\n\n Ivan Harbour \n\nIvan Harbour joined Richard Rogers Partnership in 1985, in 1993 he was made a senior director. In 2007 the practice changed from Richard Rogers Partnership to Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Harbour led the design team for the Senedd (National Assembly for Wales building), Terminal 4 Barajas Airport, Madrid (winner of the 2006 Stirling Prize), the Law Courts in Antwerp and Bordeaux and the European Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg.\n\nHarbour was lead architect for the Madrid Airport Terminal 4 project and Project Director for the first Maggie's Cancer Centre in London (winner of the 2009 Stirling Prize), and 300 New Jersey Avenue, an office building in Washington DC (due for completion in Summer 2009).\n\n Graham Stirk \n\nGraham Stirk joined Richard Rogers Partnership in 1983 and was made a senior director in 1995. In 2007 the practice changed from Richard Rogers Partnership to Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. He has been involved in the design of a number of projects in the UK as well as projects worldwide, including Japan, USA, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Ireland.\n\nStirk is the Design Director of several major projects, including a 48-storey office tower at 122 Leadenhall Street that could become the tallest tower in the City of London and NEO Bankside in London, a residential scheme consisting of 229 apartments and an extension to the British Museum. Stirk also contributed to the design of several key masterplanning projects including Potsdamer Platz, Berlin and Paddington Basin, London. Stirk was Director in Charge of the expansion to the Lloyds Register of Shipping building at 71 Fenchurch Street, One Hyde Park and 88 Wood Street.\n\n Mike Davies \n\nMike Davies was a founding partner of the Richard Rogers Partnership and a senior partner in Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. He joined the partnership between Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano in 1971, shortly after they won the commission to design the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and later became one of the founding directors of the Richard Rogers Partnership in 1977.\n\nDavies was the project director for the Millennium Dome in London and for Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport and is currently project director for Grand Paris. He stepped down from his role in the company at the end of 2015.\n\nRogers Stirk Harbour reorganised the business at the end of 2015 and Davies stepped down from his role as a partner in the company. He was to continue working for them in a part-time capacity.\n\nPrevious personnel\n\n Richard Rogers \n\n \nRichard Rogers was the 2007 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate and was knighted in 1991 and made a life peer in 1996.\n\nRogers' first work came when he co-founded Team 4 in 1963 with Su Brumwell, Wendy Cheesman and Norman Foster. Team 4's first project was Creek Vean, a residential property in Cornwall. Team 4 dissolved in 1967. He then established a partnership with Su Rogers (née Brumwell), John Young and Laurie Abbott in 1967. By July 1971 Rogers had won a design competition to build the Pompidou Centre in Paris with co-partner with Italian architect Renzo Piano.\n\nIn 1977 he established the Richard Rogers Partnership with Marco Goldschmied and Mike Davies, where they went on to design the Lloyd's building and Millennium Dome both in London, the Senedd in Cardiff, and the European Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg. He was a winner of the RIBA Gold Medal, the Thomas Jefferson Medal, the RIBA Stirling Prize, the Minerva Medal and Pritzker Prize.\n\nIn September 2020, Rogers announced that he had stepped down from the practice and that his name would be removed from the firm's in due course. He formally retired from the board earlier in June of the same year.\n\n Marco Goldschmied \n\nMarco Goldschmied first joined Richard Rogers in 1969.\n\nHe was co-founder of the Richard Rogers Partnership along with Mike Davies and John Young in 1977 became its managing director in 1984. He left the practice on 30 June 2004. Rogers and Goldschmied were involved in a £10 million lawsuit, which was settled out of court in 2006, where the Richard Rogers Partnership would remain in the property along with River Café.\n\n Amanda Levete \n\nAmanda Levete was born 17 November 1955. She joined the Richard Rogers Partnership in 1984, and left in 1989 to join Jan Kaplický as a partner in Future Systems.\n\nNotes\n\nExternal links\n \n \n Profile of Richard Rogers, Graham Stirk and Ivan Harbour\n\nArchitecture firms based in London\nBritish companies established in 2007\nRichard Rogers\n2007 in London\n2007 establishments in England",
"Richard Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside (1933–2021) was a British architect.\n\nRichard Rogers may also refer to:\nRichard Rogers (bishop) (1532/33–1597), British religious leader\nRichard Birdsall Rogers (1857–1927), Canadian civil & mechanical engineer\nRichard Reid Rogers (1867–1949), American jurist & military governor of Panama Canal Zone\nRichard Dean Rogers (1921–2016), American jurist\nRichard Rogers (psychologist) (born 1950), American psychologist & academic\nRichard Rogers (sound engineer), American sound engineer\nRichard Rogers (died 1643) (c. 1611–1643), English soldier who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1642\nRichard Rogers (theologian) (1550–1618), English nonconformist clergyman\nDick Rogers (1912–1970), American jazz musician, composer, comedian\nRichard Saltonstall Rogers (1790–1873), East Indies merchant & Salem politician\nRichard Sanders Rogers (1861–1942), Australian medical doctor and authority on Australasian orchids\n\nSee also \nRichard Rodgers (disambiguation)"
] |
[
"Richard Rogers",
"Honours and awards",
"When did Richard Rogers get his first award",
"Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier,"
] | C_29cb86d6a0b14ea393275abf46b0f033_0 | Can you tell me what honours did he receive | 2 | Can you tell me what honours Richard Rogers received? | Richard Rogers | Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sits as a Labour peer in the House of Lords. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list. Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur in 1986. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. He was also appointed as a Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize - architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork - the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover - to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades. Rogers has been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath. CANNOTANSWER | Rogers has been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, | Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside, (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was an Italian-born British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs in high-tech architecture. He was a senior partner at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, previously known as the Richard Rogers Partnership, until June 2020.
Rogers was perhaps best known for his work on the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Lloyd's building and Millennium Dome, both in London, the Senedd building, in Cardiff, and the European Court of Human Rights building, in Strasbourg. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal, the Thomas Jefferson Medal, the RIBA Stirling Prize, the Minerva Medal, and the Pritzker Prize.
Early life and career
Richard Rogers was born in Florence, Tuscany, in 1933 into an Anglo-Italian family. His father, William Nino Rogers (1906–1993), was Jewish, and was the cousin of Italian Jewish architect Ernesto Nathan Rogers. His Jewish ancestors moved from Sunderland to Venice in about 1800, later settling in Trieste, Milan and Florence. In October 1938, William Nino Rogers came back to England, having fled Fascist Italy and anti-Jewish laws under Mussolini.
Upon moving to England, Richard Rogers went to St John's School, Leatherhead. Rogers did not excel academically, which made him believe that he was "stupid because he could not read or memorise his school work" and as a consequence, he said, he became "very depressed". He couldn't read until he was 11, and it was not until after he had his first child that Rogers realised he was dyslexic. After leaving St Johns School, he undertook a foundation course at Epsom School of Art (now the University for the Creative Arts) before going into National Service between 1951 and 1953.
He then attended the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, where he gained the Architectural Association's Diploma (AA Dipl) from 1954 until 1959, subsequently graduating with a master's degree (M Arch) from the Yale School of Architecture in 1962 on a Fulbright Scholarship. While studying at Yale, Rogers met fellow architecture student Norman Foster and planning student Su Brumwell.
After leaving Yale he joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York. On returning to England in 1963, he, Norman Foster and Brumwell set up architectural practice as Team 4 with Wendy Cheesman (Brumwell later married Rogers, Cheesman married Foster). Rogers and Foster earned a reputation for what was later termed by the media high-tech architecture.
By 1967, Team 4 had split up, but Rogers continued to collaborate with Su Rogers, along with John Young and Laurie Abbott. In early 1968 he was commissioned to design a house and studio for Humphrey Spender near Maldon, Essex, a glass cube framed with I-beams. He continued to develop his ideas of prefabrication and structural simplicity to design a Wimbledon house for his parents. This was based on ideas from his conceptual Zip-Up House.
Rogers subsequently joined forces with Italian architect Renzo Piano, a partnership that was to prove fruitful. His career leapt forward when he, Piano and Gianfranco Franchini won the design competition for the Pompidou Centre in July 1971, alongside a team from Ove Arup that included Irish engineer Peter Rice.
Later career
After working with Piano, Rogers established the Richard Rogers Partnership along with Marco Goldschmied, Mike Davies, and John Young in 1977. This became Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007. The firm maintains offices in London, Shanghai, and Sydney.
Rogers devoted much of his later career to wider issues surrounding architecture, urbanism, sustainability, and the ways in which cities are used. One early illustration of his thinking was an exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1986, entitled "London As It Could Be", which also featured the work of James Stirling and Rogers' former partner Norman Foster. This exhibition made public a series of proposals for transforming a large area of central London, subsequently dismissed as impractical by the city's authorities.
In 1995, he became the first architect to deliver the BBC's annual Reith Lectures. This series of five talks, titled Sustainable City, were later adapted into the book Cities for a Small Planet (Faber and Faber: London 1997, ). The BBC made these lectures available to the public for download in July 2011.
In 1998, he set up the Urban Task Force at the invitation of the British government, to help identify causes of urban decline and establish a vision of safety, vitality, and beauty for Britain's cities. This work resulted in a white paper, Towards an Urban Renaissance, outlining recommendations for future city designers. Rogers also served for several years as chair of the Greater London Authority panel for Architecture and Urbanism. He was chair of the board of Trustees of The Architecture Foundation.
From 2001 to 2008, he was chief advisor on architecture and urbanism to the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. In 2008, he was asked to continue on in his role as an advisor by the then new mayor Boris Johnson. He stood down from the post in October 2009. Rogers also served as an advisor to two mayors of Barcelona on urban strategies.
Amidst this extra-curricular activity, Rogers continued to create controversial and iconic works. Perhaps the most famous of these, the Millennium Dome, was designed by the Rogers practice in conjunction with engineering firm Buro Happold and completed in 1999. It was the subject of fierce political and public debate over the cost and contents of the exhibition it contained; the building itself cost £43 million.
In May 2006, Rogers' practice was chosen as the architect of Tower 3 of the new World Trade Center in New York City, replacing the old World Trade Center which was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
Rogers resigned his directorship of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners on 30 June 2020. The Rogers name will be removed from the practice by 2022 as the founding constitution requires.
Selected projects
Team 4
Creek Vean, Cornwall, UK (1963–1966)
Reliance Controls factory, Swindon, UK (1967)
Jaffe House (also known as Skybreak House), Humphrey Spender's house, Maldon, UK (1965–1966)
Wates Housing, Coulsdon, Surrey, UK (1965)
Murray Mews, Camden, London, UK (1966)
Richard and Su Rogers Architects (with John Young and Laurie Abbott)
22 Parkside (Dr. Nino and Dada Rogers' house), Wimbledon, London, UK (1967)
Zip-Up House (1967–69)
Piano + Rogers
Universal Oil Products, Tadworth, UK (1969–1974)
B&B Italia headquarters, Como, Italy (1972–1973)
Pompidou Centre, Paris, France (1971–77)
IRCAM, Paris, France (1971–1977)
Patscentre Research Laboratory, Melbourn, UK (1976–1983)
The Richard Rogers Partnership
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Criticisms
Like Le Corbusier, the designs of some of Rogers's buildings have not proved as functionally efficient as claimed, suffering from leaks and maintenance problems. The Lloyds Buildings's much-vaunted design innovation of having the service pipes, etc outside the walls, in fact led to such costs caused by weathering and maintenance that Lloyds considered vacating the building in 2014. Lloyd's former chief executive Richard Ward stated: "There is a fundamental problem with this building. Everything is exposed to the elements, and that makes it very costly."
In 2014 Rogers faced a £5m legal claim over problems at the Oxley Woods estate designed by the firm. Residents complained of water seepage through cladding panels and windows on the prefabricated terraced housing.
Palestine controversy
In February 2006, Rogers hosted the inaugural meeting of the campaigning organisation Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine (APJP) in his London offices. At that time his practice had secured a number of projects in New York, including the redevelopment of the Silvercup Studios site, a masterplan for the East River Waterfront and a commission for a $1.7 billion expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre in Manhattan. Rogers however publicly dissociated himself from the group within weeks, following an outcry from generally pro-Israeli New York voters and politicians, which threatened him with the loss of prestigious commissions including projects in New York and abroad. He announced his withdrawal with the statement, "I unequivocally renounce Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine and have withdrawn my relationship with them."
Personal life
Rogers was married to Ruth Rogers, also Jewish, chef and owner of The River Café restaurant in west London. They had two sons together, Roo and Bo (deceased 2011). Rogers also had three sons, Ben, Zad and Ab, from his first marriage to Su Brumwell. He had fourteen grandchildren and a younger brother, Peter William Rogers, a property developer and co-founder of Stanhope. In 2015, he was named one of the "50 best-dressed British men" by GQ magazine.
He died in London on 18 December 2021, at the age of 88.
Honours and awards
Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sat as a Labour peer in the House of Lords; having not attended a proceeding in the 2019–21 session, his membership expired on 11 May 2021. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list.
Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985. He was twice honoured by France, first as a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Légion d'honneur in 1986, and later as an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1995. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. Rogers won the Gold Medal for Architecture at the National Eisteddfod of Wales of 2006 for his work on the Senedd building of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament). He was also appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize – architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades.
Rogers was awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath.
In popular culture
Rogers is mentioned (along with fellow architect Philip Johnson) in the song "Thru These Architect's Eyes" on the album Outside (1995) by David Bowie.
Rogers is mentioned in the song "Anti-Everything" by British band Mansun, from the album Six (1998).
Publications
Rogers wrote several books during his career, including:
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (1991)
A New London (co-author Mark Fisher and the Labour Party), Penguin (1992)
Cities for a Small Planet, Faber and Faber (1997)
Towards an Urban Renaissance, Urban Task Force (1999)
Cities for a Small Country, Faber and Faber (2000)
Richard Rogers and Architects: From the House to the City, Fiell Publishing (2010)
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (2013)
References
External links
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners website
Large list of major Richard Rogers skyscrapers with data and images
Rogers, Stirk, Harbour and Partners projects portfolio
Pritzker Prize 2007
Richard Rogers presents the 2007 Annual Discourse at the Royal Institute of British Architects (video)
The 1995 BBC Reith Lectures: Sustainable City by Richard Rogers
Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
Richard Rogers buildings
1933 births
2021 deaths
20th-century English architects
English people of Italian descent
Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Italian people of English descent
Knights Bachelor
Rogers of Riverside
Members of the Académie d'architecture
Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
Modernist architects from England
People educated at Kingswood House School
People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead
Pritzker Architecture Prize winners
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal
Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Rogers family
Royal Academicians
Stirling Prize laureates
Welsh Eisteddfod Gold Medal winners
Yale School of Architecture alumni
Honorary Fellows of the American Institute of Architects | false | [
"\"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",
"\"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"
] |
[
"Richard Rogers",
"Honours and awards",
"When did Richard Rogers get his first award",
"Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier,",
"Can you tell me what honours did he receive",
"Rogers has been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid,"
] | C_29cb86d6a0b14ea393275abf46b0f033_0 | What awards has he won | 3 | What awards has Richard Rogers won? | Richard Rogers | Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sits as a Labour peer in the House of Lords. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list. Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur in 1986. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. He was also appointed as a Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize - architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork - the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover - to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades. Rogers has been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath. CANNOTANSWER | He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, | Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside, (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was an Italian-born British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs in high-tech architecture. He was a senior partner at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, previously known as the Richard Rogers Partnership, until June 2020.
Rogers was perhaps best known for his work on the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Lloyd's building and Millennium Dome, both in London, the Senedd building, in Cardiff, and the European Court of Human Rights building, in Strasbourg. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal, the Thomas Jefferson Medal, the RIBA Stirling Prize, the Minerva Medal, and the Pritzker Prize.
Early life and career
Richard Rogers was born in Florence, Tuscany, in 1933 into an Anglo-Italian family. His father, William Nino Rogers (1906–1993), was Jewish, and was the cousin of Italian Jewish architect Ernesto Nathan Rogers. His Jewish ancestors moved from Sunderland to Venice in about 1800, later settling in Trieste, Milan and Florence. In October 1938, William Nino Rogers came back to England, having fled Fascist Italy and anti-Jewish laws under Mussolini.
Upon moving to England, Richard Rogers went to St John's School, Leatherhead. Rogers did not excel academically, which made him believe that he was "stupid because he could not read or memorise his school work" and as a consequence, he said, he became "very depressed". He couldn't read until he was 11, and it was not until after he had his first child that Rogers realised he was dyslexic. After leaving St Johns School, he undertook a foundation course at Epsom School of Art (now the University for the Creative Arts) before going into National Service between 1951 and 1953.
He then attended the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, where he gained the Architectural Association's Diploma (AA Dipl) from 1954 until 1959, subsequently graduating with a master's degree (M Arch) from the Yale School of Architecture in 1962 on a Fulbright Scholarship. While studying at Yale, Rogers met fellow architecture student Norman Foster and planning student Su Brumwell.
After leaving Yale he joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York. On returning to England in 1963, he, Norman Foster and Brumwell set up architectural practice as Team 4 with Wendy Cheesman (Brumwell later married Rogers, Cheesman married Foster). Rogers and Foster earned a reputation for what was later termed by the media high-tech architecture.
By 1967, Team 4 had split up, but Rogers continued to collaborate with Su Rogers, along with John Young and Laurie Abbott. In early 1968 he was commissioned to design a house and studio for Humphrey Spender near Maldon, Essex, a glass cube framed with I-beams. He continued to develop his ideas of prefabrication and structural simplicity to design a Wimbledon house for his parents. This was based on ideas from his conceptual Zip-Up House.
Rogers subsequently joined forces with Italian architect Renzo Piano, a partnership that was to prove fruitful. His career leapt forward when he, Piano and Gianfranco Franchini won the design competition for the Pompidou Centre in July 1971, alongside a team from Ove Arup that included Irish engineer Peter Rice.
Later career
After working with Piano, Rogers established the Richard Rogers Partnership along with Marco Goldschmied, Mike Davies, and John Young in 1977. This became Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007. The firm maintains offices in London, Shanghai, and Sydney.
Rogers devoted much of his later career to wider issues surrounding architecture, urbanism, sustainability, and the ways in which cities are used. One early illustration of his thinking was an exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1986, entitled "London As It Could Be", which also featured the work of James Stirling and Rogers' former partner Norman Foster. This exhibition made public a series of proposals for transforming a large area of central London, subsequently dismissed as impractical by the city's authorities.
In 1995, he became the first architect to deliver the BBC's annual Reith Lectures. This series of five talks, titled Sustainable City, were later adapted into the book Cities for a Small Planet (Faber and Faber: London 1997, ). The BBC made these lectures available to the public for download in July 2011.
In 1998, he set up the Urban Task Force at the invitation of the British government, to help identify causes of urban decline and establish a vision of safety, vitality, and beauty for Britain's cities. This work resulted in a white paper, Towards an Urban Renaissance, outlining recommendations for future city designers. Rogers also served for several years as chair of the Greater London Authority panel for Architecture and Urbanism. He was chair of the board of Trustees of The Architecture Foundation.
From 2001 to 2008, he was chief advisor on architecture and urbanism to the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. In 2008, he was asked to continue on in his role as an advisor by the then new mayor Boris Johnson. He stood down from the post in October 2009. Rogers also served as an advisor to two mayors of Barcelona on urban strategies.
Amidst this extra-curricular activity, Rogers continued to create controversial and iconic works. Perhaps the most famous of these, the Millennium Dome, was designed by the Rogers practice in conjunction with engineering firm Buro Happold and completed in 1999. It was the subject of fierce political and public debate over the cost and contents of the exhibition it contained; the building itself cost £43 million.
In May 2006, Rogers' practice was chosen as the architect of Tower 3 of the new World Trade Center in New York City, replacing the old World Trade Center which was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
Rogers resigned his directorship of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners on 30 June 2020. The Rogers name will be removed from the practice by 2022 as the founding constitution requires.
Selected projects
Team 4
Creek Vean, Cornwall, UK (1963–1966)
Reliance Controls factory, Swindon, UK (1967)
Jaffe House (also known as Skybreak House), Humphrey Spender's house, Maldon, UK (1965–1966)
Wates Housing, Coulsdon, Surrey, UK (1965)
Murray Mews, Camden, London, UK (1966)
Richard and Su Rogers Architects (with John Young and Laurie Abbott)
22 Parkside (Dr. Nino and Dada Rogers' house), Wimbledon, London, UK (1967)
Zip-Up House (1967–69)
Piano + Rogers
Universal Oil Products, Tadworth, UK (1969–1974)
B&B Italia headquarters, Como, Italy (1972–1973)
Pompidou Centre, Paris, France (1971–77)
IRCAM, Paris, France (1971–1977)
Patscentre Research Laboratory, Melbourn, UK (1976–1983)
The Richard Rogers Partnership
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Criticisms
Like Le Corbusier, the designs of some of Rogers's buildings have not proved as functionally efficient as claimed, suffering from leaks and maintenance problems. The Lloyds Buildings's much-vaunted design innovation of having the service pipes, etc outside the walls, in fact led to such costs caused by weathering and maintenance that Lloyds considered vacating the building in 2014. Lloyd's former chief executive Richard Ward stated: "There is a fundamental problem with this building. Everything is exposed to the elements, and that makes it very costly."
In 2014 Rogers faced a £5m legal claim over problems at the Oxley Woods estate designed by the firm. Residents complained of water seepage through cladding panels and windows on the prefabricated terraced housing.
Palestine controversy
In February 2006, Rogers hosted the inaugural meeting of the campaigning organisation Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine (APJP) in his London offices. At that time his practice had secured a number of projects in New York, including the redevelopment of the Silvercup Studios site, a masterplan for the East River Waterfront and a commission for a $1.7 billion expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre in Manhattan. Rogers however publicly dissociated himself from the group within weeks, following an outcry from generally pro-Israeli New York voters and politicians, which threatened him with the loss of prestigious commissions including projects in New York and abroad. He announced his withdrawal with the statement, "I unequivocally renounce Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine and have withdrawn my relationship with them."
Personal life
Rogers was married to Ruth Rogers, also Jewish, chef and owner of The River Café restaurant in west London. They had two sons together, Roo and Bo (deceased 2011). Rogers also had three sons, Ben, Zad and Ab, from his first marriage to Su Brumwell. He had fourteen grandchildren and a younger brother, Peter William Rogers, a property developer and co-founder of Stanhope. In 2015, he was named one of the "50 best-dressed British men" by GQ magazine.
He died in London on 18 December 2021, at the age of 88.
Honours and awards
Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sat as a Labour peer in the House of Lords; having not attended a proceeding in the 2019–21 session, his membership expired on 11 May 2021. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list.
Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985. He was twice honoured by France, first as a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Légion d'honneur in 1986, and later as an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1995. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. Rogers won the Gold Medal for Architecture at the National Eisteddfod of Wales of 2006 for his work on the Senedd building of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament). He was also appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize – architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades.
Rogers was awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath.
In popular culture
Rogers is mentioned (along with fellow architect Philip Johnson) in the song "Thru These Architect's Eyes" on the album Outside (1995) by David Bowie.
Rogers is mentioned in the song "Anti-Everything" by British band Mansun, from the album Six (1998).
Publications
Rogers wrote several books during his career, including:
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (1991)
A New London (co-author Mark Fisher and the Labour Party), Penguin (1992)
Cities for a Small Planet, Faber and Faber (1997)
Towards an Urban Renaissance, Urban Task Force (1999)
Cities for a Small Country, Faber and Faber (2000)
Richard Rogers and Architects: From the House to the City, Fiell Publishing (2010)
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (2013)
References
External links
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners website
Large list of major Richard Rogers skyscrapers with data and images
Rogers, Stirk, Harbour and Partners projects portfolio
Pritzker Prize 2007
Richard Rogers presents the 2007 Annual Discourse at the Royal Institute of British Architects (video)
The 1995 BBC Reith Lectures: Sustainable City by Richard Rogers
Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
Richard Rogers buildings
1933 births
2021 deaths
20th-century English architects
English people of Italian descent
Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Italian people of English descent
Knights Bachelor
Rogers of Riverside
Members of the Académie d'architecture
Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
Modernist architects from England
People educated at Kingswood House School
People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead
Pritzker Architecture Prize winners
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal
Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Rogers family
Royal Academicians
Stirling Prize laureates
Welsh Eisteddfod Gold Medal winners
Yale School of Architecture alumni
Honorary Fellows of the American Institute of Architects | true | [
"Italian singer, songwriter, DJ and record producer Giorgio Moroder is one of the originators of Italo disco and electronic dance music, and his work with synthesizers heavily influenced several music genres such as house, techno and trance music. He has also been dubbed the \"Father of Disco\".\n\nIn the course of his career, Moroder has won three Academy Awards: Best Original Score for Midnight Express (1978), and two Best Original Song awards for \"Flashdance...What a Feeling\", from the film Flashdance (1983), and for \"Take My Breath Away\", from Top Gun (1986). Moroder also won two of his four Grammy Awards for Flashdance: Best Album or Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special, and Best Instrumental Composition for the track \"Love Theme from Flashdance\". His other two awards were for Donna Summer's single \"Carry On\" and for Daft Punk's album Random Access Memories, which won Album of the Year. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards that resulted in four wins: Best Original Score for Midnight Express and Flashdance, and Best Original Song for \"Flashdance... What a Feeling\" and \"Take My Breath Away\".\n\nOn 20 September 2004 Moroder was honored at the Dance Music Hall of Fame ceremony, held in New York, when he was inducted for his achievements and contributions as a producer. In 2005, Moroder was named a Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, and in 2010, the Italian city of Bolzano awarded him the Grande Ordine al Merito della Provincia autonoma di Bolzano. In 2011, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award by the World Soundtrack Academy.\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nHonors\n\nState and local honors\n\nOther accolades\n\nFootnotes\n\nReferences \n\nMoroder, Giorgio",
"Ben Fielding is an Australian contemporary Christian music and worship songwriter, and one of several worship leaders in Hillsong Worship group. He has written many songs for the group, winning three Dove Awards and one Grammy Award.\n\nFielding and Reuben Morgan wrote the song \"Mighty to Save\". It won the Worship Song of the Year at the 40th GMA Dove Awards (it was also nominated in the Song of the Year category).\n\n\"What a Beautiful Name\", a song he co-wrote with Brooke Ligertwood, won the 2018 Grammy award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song, and won the Song of the Year award at the 2017 Dove Awards.\n\n\"Who You Say I Am\", written with Morgan, won the 2019 Dove Award for Worship Song of the Year.\n\nReferences \n\nLiving people\nHillsong musicians\nGrammy Award winners\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
] |
[
"Richard Rogers",
"Honours and awards",
"When did Richard Rogers get his first award",
"Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier,",
"Can you tell me what honours did he receive",
"Rogers has been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid,",
"What awards has he won",
"He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006,"
] | C_29cb86d6a0b14ea393275abf46b0f033_0 | did he win anything else | 4 | Other than an RIBA Royal Gold Medal and a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, did Richard Rogers win anything else? | Richard Rogers | Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sits as a Labour peer in the House of Lords. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list. Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur in 1986. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. He was also appointed as a Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize - architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork - the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover - to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades. Rogers has been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath. CANNOTANSWER | Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur in 1986. | Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside, (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was an Italian-born British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs in high-tech architecture. He was a senior partner at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, previously known as the Richard Rogers Partnership, until June 2020.
Rogers was perhaps best known for his work on the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Lloyd's building and Millennium Dome, both in London, the Senedd building, in Cardiff, and the European Court of Human Rights building, in Strasbourg. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal, the Thomas Jefferson Medal, the RIBA Stirling Prize, the Minerva Medal, and the Pritzker Prize.
Early life and career
Richard Rogers was born in Florence, Tuscany, in 1933 into an Anglo-Italian family. His father, William Nino Rogers (1906–1993), was Jewish, and was the cousin of Italian Jewish architect Ernesto Nathan Rogers. His Jewish ancestors moved from Sunderland to Venice in about 1800, later settling in Trieste, Milan and Florence. In October 1938, William Nino Rogers came back to England, having fled Fascist Italy and anti-Jewish laws under Mussolini.
Upon moving to England, Richard Rogers went to St John's School, Leatherhead. Rogers did not excel academically, which made him believe that he was "stupid because he could not read or memorise his school work" and as a consequence, he said, he became "very depressed". He couldn't read until he was 11, and it was not until after he had his first child that Rogers realised he was dyslexic. After leaving St Johns School, he undertook a foundation course at Epsom School of Art (now the University for the Creative Arts) before going into National Service between 1951 and 1953.
He then attended the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, where he gained the Architectural Association's Diploma (AA Dipl) from 1954 until 1959, subsequently graduating with a master's degree (M Arch) from the Yale School of Architecture in 1962 on a Fulbright Scholarship. While studying at Yale, Rogers met fellow architecture student Norman Foster and planning student Su Brumwell.
After leaving Yale he joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York. On returning to England in 1963, he, Norman Foster and Brumwell set up architectural practice as Team 4 with Wendy Cheesman (Brumwell later married Rogers, Cheesman married Foster). Rogers and Foster earned a reputation for what was later termed by the media high-tech architecture.
By 1967, Team 4 had split up, but Rogers continued to collaborate with Su Rogers, along with John Young and Laurie Abbott. In early 1968 he was commissioned to design a house and studio for Humphrey Spender near Maldon, Essex, a glass cube framed with I-beams. He continued to develop his ideas of prefabrication and structural simplicity to design a Wimbledon house for his parents. This was based on ideas from his conceptual Zip-Up House.
Rogers subsequently joined forces with Italian architect Renzo Piano, a partnership that was to prove fruitful. His career leapt forward when he, Piano and Gianfranco Franchini won the design competition for the Pompidou Centre in July 1971, alongside a team from Ove Arup that included Irish engineer Peter Rice.
Later career
After working with Piano, Rogers established the Richard Rogers Partnership along with Marco Goldschmied, Mike Davies, and John Young in 1977. This became Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007. The firm maintains offices in London, Shanghai, and Sydney.
Rogers devoted much of his later career to wider issues surrounding architecture, urbanism, sustainability, and the ways in which cities are used. One early illustration of his thinking was an exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1986, entitled "London As It Could Be", which also featured the work of James Stirling and Rogers' former partner Norman Foster. This exhibition made public a series of proposals for transforming a large area of central London, subsequently dismissed as impractical by the city's authorities.
In 1995, he became the first architect to deliver the BBC's annual Reith Lectures. This series of five talks, titled Sustainable City, were later adapted into the book Cities for a Small Planet (Faber and Faber: London 1997, ). The BBC made these lectures available to the public for download in July 2011.
In 1998, he set up the Urban Task Force at the invitation of the British government, to help identify causes of urban decline and establish a vision of safety, vitality, and beauty for Britain's cities. This work resulted in a white paper, Towards an Urban Renaissance, outlining recommendations for future city designers. Rogers also served for several years as chair of the Greater London Authority panel for Architecture and Urbanism. He was chair of the board of Trustees of The Architecture Foundation.
From 2001 to 2008, he was chief advisor on architecture and urbanism to the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. In 2008, he was asked to continue on in his role as an advisor by the then new mayor Boris Johnson. He stood down from the post in October 2009. Rogers also served as an advisor to two mayors of Barcelona on urban strategies.
Amidst this extra-curricular activity, Rogers continued to create controversial and iconic works. Perhaps the most famous of these, the Millennium Dome, was designed by the Rogers practice in conjunction with engineering firm Buro Happold and completed in 1999. It was the subject of fierce political and public debate over the cost and contents of the exhibition it contained; the building itself cost £43 million.
In May 2006, Rogers' practice was chosen as the architect of Tower 3 of the new World Trade Center in New York City, replacing the old World Trade Center which was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
Rogers resigned his directorship of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners on 30 June 2020. The Rogers name will be removed from the practice by 2022 as the founding constitution requires.
Selected projects
Team 4
Creek Vean, Cornwall, UK (1963–1966)
Reliance Controls factory, Swindon, UK (1967)
Jaffe House (also known as Skybreak House), Humphrey Spender's house, Maldon, UK (1965–1966)
Wates Housing, Coulsdon, Surrey, UK (1965)
Murray Mews, Camden, London, UK (1966)
Richard and Su Rogers Architects (with John Young and Laurie Abbott)
22 Parkside (Dr. Nino and Dada Rogers' house), Wimbledon, London, UK (1967)
Zip-Up House (1967–69)
Piano + Rogers
Universal Oil Products, Tadworth, UK (1969–1974)
B&B Italia headquarters, Como, Italy (1972–1973)
Pompidou Centre, Paris, France (1971–77)
IRCAM, Paris, France (1971–1977)
Patscentre Research Laboratory, Melbourn, UK (1976–1983)
The Richard Rogers Partnership
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Criticisms
Like Le Corbusier, the designs of some of Rogers's buildings have not proved as functionally efficient as claimed, suffering from leaks and maintenance problems. The Lloyds Buildings's much-vaunted design innovation of having the service pipes, etc outside the walls, in fact led to such costs caused by weathering and maintenance that Lloyds considered vacating the building in 2014. Lloyd's former chief executive Richard Ward stated: "There is a fundamental problem with this building. Everything is exposed to the elements, and that makes it very costly."
In 2014 Rogers faced a £5m legal claim over problems at the Oxley Woods estate designed by the firm. Residents complained of water seepage through cladding panels and windows on the prefabricated terraced housing.
Palestine controversy
In February 2006, Rogers hosted the inaugural meeting of the campaigning organisation Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine (APJP) in his London offices. At that time his practice had secured a number of projects in New York, including the redevelopment of the Silvercup Studios site, a masterplan for the East River Waterfront and a commission for a $1.7 billion expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre in Manhattan. Rogers however publicly dissociated himself from the group within weeks, following an outcry from generally pro-Israeli New York voters and politicians, which threatened him with the loss of prestigious commissions including projects in New York and abroad. He announced his withdrawal with the statement, "I unequivocally renounce Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine and have withdrawn my relationship with them."
Personal life
Rogers was married to Ruth Rogers, also Jewish, chef and owner of The River Café restaurant in west London. They had two sons together, Roo and Bo (deceased 2011). Rogers also had three sons, Ben, Zad and Ab, from his first marriage to Su Brumwell. He had fourteen grandchildren and a younger brother, Peter William Rogers, a property developer and co-founder of Stanhope. In 2015, he was named one of the "50 best-dressed British men" by GQ magazine.
He died in London on 18 December 2021, at the age of 88.
Honours and awards
Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sat as a Labour peer in the House of Lords; having not attended a proceeding in the 2019–21 session, his membership expired on 11 May 2021. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list.
Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985. He was twice honoured by France, first as a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Légion d'honneur in 1986, and later as an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1995. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. Rogers won the Gold Medal for Architecture at the National Eisteddfod of Wales of 2006 for his work on the Senedd building of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament). He was also appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize – architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades.
Rogers was awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath.
In popular culture
Rogers is mentioned (along with fellow architect Philip Johnson) in the song "Thru These Architect's Eyes" on the album Outside (1995) by David Bowie.
Rogers is mentioned in the song "Anti-Everything" by British band Mansun, from the album Six (1998).
Publications
Rogers wrote several books during his career, including:
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (1991)
A New London (co-author Mark Fisher and the Labour Party), Penguin (1992)
Cities for a Small Planet, Faber and Faber (1997)
Towards an Urban Renaissance, Urban Task Force (1999)
Cities for a Small Country, Faber and Faber (2000)
Richard Rogers and Architects: From the House to the City, Fiell Publishing (2010)
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (2013)
References
External links
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners website
Large list of major Richard Rogers skyscrapers with data and images
Rogers, Stirk, Harbour and Partners projects portfolio
Pritzker Prize 2007
Richard Rogers presents the 2007 Annual Discourse at the Royal Institute of British Architects (video)
The 1995 BBC Reith Lectures: Sustainable City by Richard Rogers
Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
Richard Rogers buildings
1933 births
2021 deaths
20th-century English architects
English people of Italian descent
Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Italian people of English descent
Knights Bachelor
Rogers of Riverside
Members of the Académie d'architecture
Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
Modernist architects from England
People educated at Kingswood House School
People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead
Pritzker Architecture Prize winners
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal
Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Rogers family
Royal Academicians
Stirling Prize laureates
Welsh Eisteddfod Gold Medal winners
Yale School of Architecture alumni
Honorary Fellows of the American Institute of Architects | false | [
"\"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",
"Say Anything may refer to:\n\nFilm and television\n Say Anything..., a 1989 American film by Cameron Crowe\n \"Say Anything\" (BoJack Horseman), a television episode\n\nMusic\n Say Anything (band), an American rock band\n Say Anything (album), a 2009 album by the band\n \"Say Anything\", a 2012 song by Say Anything from Anarchy, My Dear\n \"Say Anything\" (Marianas Trench song), 2006\n \"Say Anything\" (X Japan song), 1991\n \"Say Anything\", a song by Aimee Mann from Whatever, 1993\n \"Say Anything\", a song by the Bouncing Souls from The Bouncing Souls, 1997\n \"Say Anything\", a song by Good Charlotte from The Young and the Hopeless, 2002\n \"Say Anything\", a song by Girl in Red, 2018\n \"Say Anything\", a song by Will Young from Lexicon, 2019\n \"Say Anything (Else)\", a song by Cartel from Chroma, 2005\n\nOther uses\n Say Anything (party game), a 2008 board game published by North Star Games\n \"Say Anything\", a column in YM magazine\n\nSee also\n Say Something (disambiguation)"
] |
[
"Richard Rogers",
"Honours and awards",
"When did Richard Rogers get his first award",
"Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier,",
"Can you tell me what honours did he receive",
"Rogers has been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid,",
"What awards has he won",
"He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006,",
"did he win anything else",
"Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur in 1986."
] | C_29cb86d6a0b14ea393275abf46b0f033_0 | What was his most recognized award for | 5 | What was Richard Rogers most recognized award for? | Richard Rogers | Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sits as a Labour peer in the House of Lords. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list. Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur in 1986. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. He was also appointed as a Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize - architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork - the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover - to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades. Rogers has been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath. CANNOTANSWER | In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize - architecture's highest honour. | Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside, (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was an Italian-born British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs in high-tech architecture. He was a senior partner at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, previously known as the Richard Rogers Partnership, until June 2020.
Rogers was perhaps best known for his work on the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Lloyd's building and Millennium Dome, both in London, the Senedd building, in Cardiff, and the European Court of Human Rights building, in Strasbourg. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal, the Thomas Jefferson Medal, the RIBA Stirling Prize, the Minerva Medal, and the Pritzker Prize.
Early life and career
Richard Rogers was born in Florence, Tuscany, in 1933 into an Anglo-Italian family. His father, William Nino Rogers (1906–1993), was Jewish, and was the cousin of Italian Jewish architect Ernesto Nathan Rogers. His Jewish ancestors moved from Sunderland to Venice in about 1800, later settling in Trieste, Milan and Florence. In October 1938, William Nino Rogers came back to England, having fled Fascist Italy and anti-Jewish laws under Mussolini.
Upon moving to England, Richard Rogers went to St John's School, Leatherhead. Rogers did not excel academically, which made him believe that he was "stupid because he could not read or memorise his school work" and as a consequence, he said, he became "very depressed". He couldn't read until he was 11, and it was not until after he had his first child that Rogers realised he was dyslexic. After leaving St Johns School, he undertook a foundation course at Epsom School of Art (now the University for the Creative Arts) before going into National Service between 1951 and 1953.
He then attended the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, where he gained the Architectural Association's Diploma (AA Dipl) from 1954 until 1959, subsequently graduating with a master's degree (M Arch) from the Yale School of Architecture in 1962 on a Fulbright Scholarship. While studying at Yale, Rogers met fellow architecture student Norman Foster and planning student Su Brumwell.
After leaving Yale he joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York. On returning to England in 1963, he, Norman Foster and Brumwell set up architectural practice as Team 4 with Wendy Cheesman (Brumwell later married Rogers, Cheesman married Foster). Rogers and Foster earned a reputation for what was later termed by the media high-tech architecture.
By 1967, Team 4 had split up, but Rogers continued to collaborate with Su Rogers, along with John Young and Laurie Abbott. In early 1968 he was commissioned to design a house and studio for Humphrey Spender near Maldon, Essex, a glass cube framed with I-beams. He continued to develop his ideas of prefabrication and structural simplicity to design a Wimbledon house for his parents. This was based on ideas from his conceptual Zip-Up House.
Rogers subsequently joined forces with Italian architect Renzo Piano, a partnership that was to prove fruitful. His career leapt forward when he, Piano and Gianfranco Franchini won the design competition for the Pompidou Centre in July 1971, alongside a team from Ove Arup that included Irish engineer Peter Rice.
Later career
After working with Piano, Rogers established the Richard Rogers Partnership along with Marco Goldschmied, Mike Davies, and John Young in 1977. This became Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007. The firm maintains offices in London, Shanghai, and Sydney.
Rogers devoted much of his later career to wider issues surrounding architecture, urbanism, sustainability, and the ways in which cities are used. One early illustration of his thinking was an exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1986, entitled "London As It Could Be", which also featured the work of James Stirling and Rogers' former partner Norman Foster. This exhibition made public a series of proposals for transforming a large area of central London, subsequently dismissed as impractical by the city's authorities.
In 1995, he became the first architect to deliver the BBC's annual Reith Lectures. This series of five talks, titled Sustainable City, were later adapted into the book Cities for a Small Planet (Faber and Faber: London 1997, ). The BBC made these lectures available to the public for download in July 2011.
In 1998, he set up the Urban Task Force at the invitation of the British government, to help identify causes of urban decline and establish a vision of safety, vitality, and beauty for Britain's cities. This work resulted in a white paper, Towards an Urban Renaissance, outlining recommendations for future city designers. Rogers also served for several years as chair of the Greater London Authority panel for Architecture and Urbanism. He was chair of the board of Trustees of The Architecture Foundation.
From 2001 to 2008, he was chief advisor on architecture and urbanism to the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. In 2008, he was asked to continue on in his role as an advisor by the then new mayor Boris Johnson. He stood down from the post in October 2009. Rogers also served as an advisor to two mayors of Barcelona on urban strategies.
Amidst this extra-curricular activity, Rogers continued to create controversial and iconic works. Perhaps the most famous of these, the Millennium Dome, was designed by the Rogers practice in conjunction with engineering firm Buro Happold and completed in 1999. It was the subject of fierce political and public debate over the cost and contents of the exhibition it contained; the building itself cost £43 million.
In May 2006, Rogers' practice was chosen as the architect of Tower 3 of the new World Trade Center in New York City, replacing the old World Trade Center which was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
Rogers resigned his directorship of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners on 30 June 2020. The Rogers name will be removed from the practice by 2022 as the founding constitution requires.
Selected projects
Team 4
Creek Vean, Cornwall, UK (1963–1966)
Reliance Controls factory, Swindon, UK (1967)
Jaffe House (also known as Skybreak House), Humphrey Spender's house, Maldon, UK (1965–1966)
Wates Housing, Coulsdon, Surrey, UK (1965)
Murray Mews, Camden, London, UK (1966)
Richard and Su Rogers Architects (with John Young and Laurie Abbott)
22 Parkside (Dr. Nino and Dada Rogers' house), Wimbledon, London, UK (1967)
Zip-Up House (1967–69)
Piano + Rogers
Universal Oil Products, Tadworth, UK (1969–1974)
B&B Italia headquarters, Como, Italy (1972–1973)
Pompidou Centre, Paris, France (1971–77)
IRCAM, Paris, France (1971–1977)
Patscentre Research Laboratory, Melbourn, UK (1976–1983)
The Richard Rogers Partnership
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Criticisms
Like Le Corbusier, the designs of some of Rogers's buildings have not proved as functionally efficient as claimed, suffering from leaks and maintenance problems. The Lloyds Buildings's much-vaunted design innovation of having the service pipes, etc outside the walls, in fact led to such costs caused by weathering and maintenance that Lloyds considered vacating the building in 2014. Lloyd's former chief executive Richard Ward stated: "There is a fundamental problem with this building. Everything is exposed to the elements, and that makes it very costly."
In 2014 Rogers faced a £5m legal claim over problems at the Oxley Woods estate designed by the firm. Residents complained of water seepage through cladding panels and windows on the prefabricated terraced housing.
Palestine controversy
In February 2006, Rogers hosted the inaugural meeting of the campaigning organisation Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine (APJP) in his London offices. At that time his practice had secured a number of projects in New York, including the redevelopment of the Silvercup Studios site, a masterplan for the East River Waterfront and a commission for a $1.7 billion expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre in Manhattan. Rogers however publicly dissociated himself from the group within weeks, following an outcry from generally pro-Israeli New York voters and politicians, which threatened him with the loss of prestigious commissions including projects in New York and abroad. He announced his withdrawal with the statement, "I unequivocally renounce Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine and have withdrawn my relationship with them."
Personal life
Rogers was married to Ruth Rogers, also Jewish, chef and owner of The River Café restaurant in west London. They had two sons together, Roo and Bo (deceased 2011). Rogers also had three sons, Ben, Zad and Ab, from his first marriage to Su Brumwell. He had fourteen grandchildren and a younger brother, Peter William Rogers, a property developer and co-founder of Stanhope. In 2015, he was named one of the "50 best-dressed British men" by GQ magazine.
He died in London on 18 December 2021, at the age of 88.
Honours and awards
Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sat as a Labour peer in the House of Lords; having not attended a proceeding in the 2019–21 session, his membership expired on 11 May 2021. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list.
Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985. He was twice honoured by France, first as a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Légion d'honneur in 1986, and later as an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1995. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. Rogers won the Gold Medal for Architecture at the National Eisteddfod of Wales of 2006 for his work on the Senedd building of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament). He was also appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize – architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades.
Rogers was awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath.
In popular culture
Rogers is mentioned (along with fellow architect Philip Johnson) in the song "Thru These Architect's Eyes" on the album Outside (1995) by David Bowie.
Rogers is mentioned in the song "Anti-Everything" by British band Mansun, from the album Six (1998).
Publications
Rogers wrote several books during his career, including:
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (1991)
A New London (co-author Mark Fisher and the Labour Party), Penguin (1992)
Cities for a Small Planet, Faber and Faber (1997)
Towards an Urban Renaissance, Urban Task Force (1999)
Cities for a Small Country, Faber and Faber (2000)
Richard Rogers and Architects: From the House to the City, Fiell Publishing (2010)
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (2013)
References
External links
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners website
Large list of major Richard Rogers skyscrapers with data and images
Rogers, Stirk, Harbour and Partners projects portfolio
Pritzker Prize 2007
Richard Rogers presents the 2007 Annual Discourse at the Royal Institute of British Architects (video)
The 1995 BBC Reith Lectures: Sustainable City by Richard Rogers
Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
Richard Rogers buildings
1933 births
2021 deaths
20th-century English architects
English people of Italian descent
Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Italian people of English descent
Knights Bachelor
Rogers of Riverside
Members of the Académie d'architecture
Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
Modernist architects from England
People educated at Kingswood House School
People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead
Pritzker Architecture Prize winners
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal
Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Rogers family
Royal Academicians
Stirling Prize laureates
Welsh Eisteddfod Gold Medal winners
Yale School of Architecture alumni
Honorary Fellows of the American Institute of Architects | false | [
"Business magnate and industrial designer Elon Musk is recognized for his efforts to combat global warming. According to Bill Gates, \"what Elon did with Tesla is one of the greatest contributions to climate change anyone's ever made\". Al Gore called himself \"a big fan of Tesla and of Elon Musk\". For his renewable energy work and advocacy, Musk has received several environmentalist awards, including the National Wildlife Federation's Connie Award and a Global Green award.\n\nMusk has also received acclaim for his work on making space exploration more affordable. Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian space agency, praised Musk's contributions in the field and stated that he \"treats [Musk's] work with respect\". In part for his contributions to space travel, Musk was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 2018.\n\nHe was listed among the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2010, 2013, 2018 and 2021, and was ranked joint-first on the Forbes list of the \"Most Innovative Leaders of 2019\".\n\nAwards and honors\n In 2006, Musk was a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board.\n Inc. magazine Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2007 for his work on Tesla and SpaceX.\n 2007 Index Design award for his design of the Tesla Roadster. Global Green 2006 product design award for his design of the Tesla Roadster, presented by Mikhail Gorbachev.\n American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics George Low award for \"the most outstanding contribution in the field of space transportation in 2007/2008\". Musk was recognized for his design of the Falcon 1, the first privately developed liquid-fuel rocket to reach orbit.\n National Wildlife Federation 2008 National Conservation Achievement award for Tesla and SolarCity. Other 2008 recipients include journalist Thomas Friedman, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Florida Governor Charlie Crist.\n National Space Society's Von Braun Trophy in 2008/2009, given for leadership of \"the most significant achievement in space\". Prior recipients include Burt Rutan and Steve Squyres.\n Listed as one of Times 100 people who most affected the world in 2010.\n The world governing body for aerospace records, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, presented Musk in 2010 with the highest award in air and space, the FAI Gold Space Medal, for designing the first privately developed rocket to reach orbit. Prior recipients include Neil Armstrong, Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites and John Glenn.\n Named as one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century by Esquire magazine.\n Recognized as a Living Legend of Aviation in 2010 by the Kitty Hawk Foundation for creating the successor to the Space Shuttle (Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft). Other recipients include Buzz Aldrin and Richard Branson.\n In February 2011, Forbes listed Musk as one of \"America's 20 Most Powerful CEOs 40 And Under.\"\n In June 2011, Musk was awarded the Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization\n In 2012, Musk was awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society's highest award: a Gold Medal.\n In 2013, Musk was named the Fortune Businessperson of the year for SpaceX, SolarCity, and Tesla.\n Awarded the President's award for Exploration and Technology of the Explorers Club at the annual gala on March 16, 2014.\n In 2014, Elon Musk was honored with an Edison Achievement Award for his \"commitment to innovation throughout his career\".\n 2015 at Yale's 314th Commencement Ceremony, received Honorary Doctorate in Engineering and Technology.\n In 2015, he was awarded IEEE Honorary Membership.\n In June 2016, Business Insider named Musk one of the \"Top 10 Business Visionaries Creating Value for the World\" along with Mark Zuckerberg and Sal Khan.\n In May 2017, Musk was awarded the Oslo Business for Peace Award.\n In 2018, Musk was ranked 25th on Forbes list of The World's Most Powerful People.\n Musk was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2018.\n Listed among the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2010, 2013, 2018 and 2021.\n Musk was awarded as member (fifth class) of the Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn on March 4, 2019 for his contribution in the rescue at Tham Luang cave, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand.\n In 2019, Musk was awarded the Starmus Festival's Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication\n Musk was listed joint first on the Forbes list of the \"Most Innovative Leaders of 2019\".\n Musk was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2020.\n On December 1, 2020, Musk was awarded the Axel Springer Award.\n Musk ranked No.1 on Businessperson Of The Year 2020 List By Fortune Magazine.\n On January 7, 2021, Musk was ranked as the wealthiest person in the world according to Bloomberg.\n On January 10, 2021, Musk was ranked #1 on Forbes' Billionaires List\n Financial Times named Musk Person of the Year for his contribution to accelerate the world’s auto industry towards EVs.\n Musk added to Newsweek Hall of fame for his disruption in Auto and Space Industry \n On December 13, 2021 Time magazine named Musk Person of the Year.\n On February 9, 2022 National Academy of Engineering announced that Elon Musk was among their newly, peer-elected members, an award considered to be among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer, \"for breakthroughs in the design, engineering, manufacturing, and operation of reusable launch vehicles and sustainable transportation and energy systems\".\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nElon Musk",
"The Alice James Award, formerly the Beatrice Hawley Award, is given annually by Alice James Books. The award includes publication of a book-length poetry manuscript and a cash prize (currently $2,000).\n\nThe award was established by the press in 1986 to honor cooperative member author Beatrice Hawley (Making the House Fall Down, 1977) who died in 1985 at forty-one years of age from lung cancer. The Award was renamed, like its sponsoring publisher, after Alice James \"whose extraordinary gift for writing went unrecognized in her lifetime.\" The Award is a nationally-offered publication prize open to poets at any stage of their careers.\n\nThe first award recipient was Linnea Johnson, for The Chicago Home. Winners of the award have often gone on to receive national attention and further honors for their winning works, most notably, Brian Turner for Here, Bullet, which received national and international media attention. Turner also received numerous further awards and honors for his work, including a 2006 Lannan Literary Fellowship, the 2006 Northern California Book Award in Poetry, the 2006 PEN Center USA \"Best in the West\" Literary Award in Poetry, a 2007 NEA Literature Fellowship in Poetry, the 2007 Poets' Prize, and the 2009 Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Scholarship.\n\nCatherine Barnett (Into Perfect Spheres Such Holes Are Pierced, 2003) was further recognized with the 2004 Glasgow Prize for Emerging Writers, a Whiting Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Mary Szybist (Granted, 2003) was further recognized with the 2004 Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award, and was a 2003 National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist. B.H. Fairchild (The Art of the Lathe, 1997) was 1998 National Book Award Finalist, and won the 1999 William Carlos Williams Award, the 1999 PEN Center West Poetry Award, the 1999 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, and the 1999 California Book Award.\n\nThe 2008 winner, Slamming Open the Door, by Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno, was reviewed by The New York Times Sunday Book Review, and Bonanno was interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air by Terri Gross.\n\nBeatrice Hawley / Alice James Award Winners\n\n 1986: Linnea Johnson, for The Chicago Home\n 1987: Laurel Trivelpiece, for Blue Holes\n 1988: Jean Valentine, for Home Deep Blue\n 1992: Alice Jones, for The Knot\n 1994: Richard McCann, for Ghost Letters\n 1995: Forrest Hamer, for Call & Response\n 1996: Cynthia Huntington, for We Have Gone to the Beach\n 1997: B.H. Fairchild, for The Art of the Lathe\n 1998: Laura Kasischke, for Fire and Flower\n 1999: Amy Newman, for Camera Lyrica\n 2000: Claudia Keelan, for Utopic\n 2001: Liz Waldner, for Self and Simulacra\n 2002: Mary Szybist, for Granted\n 2003: Catherine Barnett, for Into Perfect Spheres Such Holes Are Pierced\n 2004: Dobby Gibson, for Polar\n 2005: Brian Turner, for Here, Bullet\n 2006: Henrietta Goodman, for Take What You Want\n 2007: Lia Purpura, for King Baby\n 2008: Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno for Slamming Open the Door\n 2009: Reginald Dwayne Betts, for Shahid Reads His Own Palm\n 2010: Lesle Lewis, for lie down too\n 2011: Jane Springer, for Murder Ballad\n 2012: Jamaal May for Hum\n 2013: Philip Metres for Sand Opera\n 2014: Richie Hofmann for Second Empire\n 2015: Elizabeth Lyons for The Blessing of Dark Water\n 2016: Anna Rose Welch for Noah's Woods\n 2017: Mia Malhotra for When I See You Again It Will Be With a Different Face\n 2018: Amy Woolard for Neck of the Woods\n 2019: Rosebud Ben-Oni for If This is the Age We End Discovery\n 2020: Aldo Amparán for Brother Sleep\n\nReferences\n\nSources \n Alice James Books Website > Various Pages\n\nAwards established in 1986\nAmerican poetry awards\n1986 establishments in Maine"
] |
[
"Richard Rogers",
"Honours and awards",
"When did Richard Rogers get his first award",
"Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier,",
"Can you tell me what honours did he receive",
"Rogers has been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid,",
"What awards has he won",
"He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006,",
"did he win anything else",
"Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur in 1986.",
"What was his most recognized award for",
"In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize - architecture's highest honour."
] | C_29cb86d6a0b14ea393275abf46b0f033_0 | what building got him that honour | 6 | What building made Richard Rogers a Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize? | Richard Rogers | Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sits as a Labour peer in the House of Lords. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list. Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur in 1986. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. He was also appointed as a Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize - architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork - the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover - to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades. Rogers has been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside, (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was an Italian-born British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs in high-tech architecture. He was a senior partner at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, previously known as the Richard Rogers Partnership, until June 2020.
Rogers was perhaps best known for his work on the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Lloyd's building and Millennium Dome, both in London, the Senedd building, in Cardiff, and the European Court of Human Rights building, in Strasbourg. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal, the Thomas Jefferson Medal, the RIBA Stirling Prize, the Minerva Medal, and the Pritzker Prize.
Early life and career
Richard Rogers was born in Florence, Tuscany, in 1933 into an Anglo-Italian family. His father, William Nino Rogers (1906–1993), was Jewish, and was the cousin of Italian Jewish architect Ernesto Nathan Rogers. His Jewish ancestors moved from Sunderland to Venice in about 1800, later settling in Trieste, Milan and Florence. In October 1938, William Nino Rogers came back to England, having fled Fascist Italy and anti-Jewish laws under Mussolini.
Upon moving to England, Richard Rogers went to St John's School, Leatherhead. Rogers did not excel academically, which made him believe that he was "stupid because he could not read or memorise his school work" and as a consequence, he said, he became "very depressed". He couldn't read until he was 11, and it was not until after he had his first child that Rogers realised he was dyslexic. After leaving St Johns School, he undertook a foundation course at Epsom School of Art (now the University for the Creative Arts) before going into National Service between 1951 and 1953.
He then attended the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, where he gained the Architectural Association's Diploma (AA Dipl) from 1954 until 1959, subsequently graduating with a master's degree (M Arch) from the Yale School of Architecture in 1962 on a Fulbright Scholarship. While studying at Yale, Rogers met fellow architecture student Norman Foster and planning student Su Brumwell.
After leaving Yale he joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York. On returning to England in 1963, he, Norman Foster and Brumwell set up architectural practice as Team 4 with Wendy Cheesman (Brumwell later married Rogers, Cheesman married Foster). Rogers and Foster earned a reputation for what was later termed by the media high-tech architecture.
By 1967, Team 4 had split up, but Rogers continued to collaborate with Su Rogers, along with John Young and Laurie Abbott. In early 1968 he was commissioned to design a house and studio for Humphrey Spender near Maldon, Essex, a glass cube framed with I-beams. He continued to develop his ideas of prefabrication and structural simplicity to design a Wimbledon house for his parents. This was based on ideas from his conceptual Zip-Up House.
Rogers subsequently joined forces with Italian architect Renzo Piano, a partnership that was to prove fruitful. His career leapt forward when he, Piano and Gianfranco Franchini won the design competition for the Pompidou Centre in July 1971, alongside a team from Ove Arup that included Irish engineer Peter Rice.
Later career
After working with Piano, Rogers established the Richard Rogers Partnership along with Marco Goldschmied, Mike Davies, and John Young in 1977. This became Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007. The firm maintains offices in London, Shanghai, and Sydney.
Rogers devoted much of his later career to wider issues surrounding architecture, urbanism, sustainability, and the ways in which cities are used. One early illustration of his thinking was an exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1986, entitled "London As It Could Be", which also featured the work of James Stirling and Rogers' former partner Norman Foster. This exhibition made public a series of proposals for transforming a large area of central London, subsequently dismissed as impractical by the city's authorities.
In 1995, he became the first architect to deliver the BBC's annual Reith Lectures. This series of five talks, titled Sustainable City, were later adapted into the book Cities for a Small Planet (Faber and Faber: London 1997, ). The BBC made these lectures available to the public for download in July 2011.
In 1998, he set up the Urban Task Force at the invitation of the British government, to help identify causes of urban decline and establish a vision of safety, vitality, and beauty for Britain's cities. This work resulted in a white paper, Towards an Urban Renaissance, outlining recommendations for future city designers. Rogers also served for several years as chair of the Greater London Authority panel for Architecture and Urbanism. He was chair of the board of Trustees of The Architecture Foundation.
From 2001 to 2008, he was chief advisor on architecture and urbanism to the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. In 2008, he was asked to continue on in his role as an advisor by the then new mayor Boris Johnson. He stood down from the post in October 2009. Rogers also served as an advisor to two mayors of Barcelona on urban strategies.
Amidst this extra-curricular activity, Rogers continued to create controversial and iconic works. Perhaps the most famous of these, the Millennium Dome, was designed by the Rogers practice in conjunction with engineering firm Buro Happold and completed in 1999. It was the subject of fierce political and public debate over the cost and contents of the exhibition it contained; the building itself cost £43 million.
In May 2006, Rogers' practice was chosen as the architect of Tower 3 of the new World Trade Center in New York City, replacing the old World Trade Center which was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
Rogers resigned his directorship of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners on 30 June 2020. The Rogers name will be removed from the practice by 2022 as the founding constitution requires.
Selected projects
Team 4
Creek Vean, Cornwall, UK (1963–1966)
Reliance Controls factory, Swindon, UK (1967)
Jaffe House (also known as Skybreak House), Humphrey Spender's house, Maldon, UK (1965–1966)
Wates Housing, Coulsdon, Surrey, UK (1965)
Murray Mews, Camden, London, UK (1966)
Richard and Su Rogers Architects (with John Young and Laurie Abbott)
22 Parkside (Dr. Nino and Dada Rogers' house), Wimbledon, London, UK (1967)
Zip-Up House (1967–69)
Piano + Rogers
Universal Oil Products, Tadworth, UK (1969–1974)
B&B Italia headquarters, Como, Italy (1972–1973)
Pompidou Centre, Paris, France (1971–77)
IRCAM, Paris, France (1971–1977)
Patscentre Research Laboratory, Melbourn, UK (1976–1983)
The Richard Rogers Partnership
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Criticisms
Like Le Corbusier, the designs of some of Rogers's buildings have not proved as functionally efficient as claimed, suffering from leaks and maintenance problems. The Lloyds Buildings's much-vaunted design innovation of having the service pipes, etc outside the walls, in fact led to such costs caused by weathering and maintenance that Lloyds considered vacating the building in 2014. Lloyd's former chief executive Richard Ward stated: "There is a fundamental problem with this building. Everything is exposed to the elements, and that makes it very costly."
In 2014 Rogers faced a £5m legal claim over problems at the Oxley Woods estate designed by the firm. Residents complained of water seepage through cladding panels and windows on the prefabricated terraced housing.
Palestine controversy
In February 2006, Rogers hosted the inaugural meeting of the campaigning organisation Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine (APJP) in his London offices. At that time his practice had secured a number of projects in New York, including the redevelopment of the Silvercup Studios site, a masterplan for the East River Waterfront and a commission for a $1.7 billion expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre in Manhattan. Rogers however publicly dissociated himself from the group within weeks, following an outcry from generally pro-Israeli New York voters and politicians, which threatened him with the loss of prestigious commissions including projects in New York and abroad. He announced his withdrawal with the statement, "I unequivocally renounce Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine and have withdrawn my relationship with them."
Personal life
Rogers was married to Ruth Rogers, also Jewish, chef and owner of The River Café restaurant in west London. They had two sons together, Roo and Bo (deceased 2011). Rogers also had three sons, Ben, Zad and Ab, from his first marriage to Su Brumwell. He had fourteen grandchildren and a younger brother, Peter William Rogers, a property developer and co-founder of Stanhope. In 2015, he was named one of the "50 best-dressed British men" by GQ magazine.
He died in London on 18 December 2021, at the age of 88.
Honours and awards
Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sat as a Labour peer in the House of Lords; having not attended a proceeding in the 2019–21 session, his membership expired on 11 May 2021. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list.
Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985. He was twice honoured by France, first as a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Légion d'honneur in 1986, and later as an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1995. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. Rogers won the Gold Medal for Architecture at the National Eisteddfod of Wales of 2006 for his work on the Senedd building of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament). He was also appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize – architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades.
Rogers was awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath.
In popular culture
Rogers is mentioned (along with fellow architect Philip Johnson) in the song "Thru These Architect's Eyes" on the album Outside (1995) by David Bowie.
Rogers is mentioned in the song "Anti-Everything" by British band Mansun, from the album Six (1998).
Publications
Rogers wrote several books during his career, including:
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (1991)
A New London (co-author Mark Fisher and the Labour Party), Penguin (1992)
Cities for a Small Planet, Faber and Faber (1997)
Towards an Urban Renaissance, Urban Task Force (1999)
Cities for a Small Country, Faber and Faber (2000)
Richard Rogers and Architects: From the House to the City, Fiell Publishing (2010)
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (2013)
References
External links
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners website
Large list of major Richard Rogers skyscrapers with data and images
Rogers, Stirk, Harbour and Partners projects portfolio
Pritzker Prize 2007
Richard Rogers presents the 2007 Annual Discourse at the Royal Institute of British Architects (video)
The 1995 BBC Reith Lectures: Sustainable City by Richard Rogers
Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
Richard Rogers buildings
1933 births
2021 deaths
20th-century English architects
English people of Italian descent
Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Italian people of English descent
Knights Bachelor
Rogers of Riverside
Members of the Académie d'architecture
Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
Modernist architects from England
People educated at Kingswood House School
People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead
Pritzker Architecture Prize winners
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal
Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Rogers family
Royal Academicians
Stirling Prize laureates
Welsh Eisteddfod Gold Medal winners
Yale School of Architecture alumni
Honorary Fellows of the American Institute of Architects | false | [
"\"What I Got\" is a song from American band Sublime's self-titled third album (1996). It was the band's biggest radio hit, posthumously after singer Bradley Nowell's death in 1996 from a heroin overdose. It was the second single to be released by the band, following \"Date Rape\" (1991). The song's chorus is a lift from \"Loving\" by Half Pint. The song's melody is similar to the Beatles' \"Lady Madonna\".\n\n\"What I Got\" reached the number-one spot on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and was also a radio hit, peaking at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. In New Zealand, \"What I Got\" peaked at number 34 on the RIANZ Singles Chart; What I Got: The Seven Song EP was slightly more successful, reaching number 33 on the same chart. Elsewhere, the single reached number two on the Canadian RPM Alternative 30 chart and number 19 in Iceland. It is ranked on the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine at number 83.\n\nMusic video\nThe video for \"What I Got\", shot after Nowell's death, mainly contains a collage of archive videos and photos of him, as a tribute to the singer. The video includes images of Long Beach, CA, where the band met their success, as well as live footage from a Sublime show at The Capitol Ballroom in Washington, DC.\n\nTrack listings\n\nUS promo CD\n \"What I Got\" (Leary Reprise radio edit) – 3:02\n \"What I Got\" (Kahne radio edit) – 2:51\n\nEuropean and Australian CD single\n \"What I Got\" – 2:51\n \"Saw Red\" – 1:57\n \"Jailhouse\" (live) – 4:40\n \"What I Got\" (demo version) – 2:39\n\nUK CD single\n \"What I Got\" (Super No Mofo edit) – 2:51\n \"Rivers of Babylon\" – 2:29\n \"All You Need\" – 2:45\n \"What I Got\" (reprise) – 3:02\n\nUK 7-inch single\nA. \"What I Got\" (Super No Mofo edit) – 2:51\nB. \"Rivers of Babylon\" – 2:29\n\nWhat I Got: The Seven Song EP\n \"What I Got\" (Kahne radio edit) – 2:48\n \"40 oz. to Freedom\" – 3:18\n \"D.J.s\" – 3:05\n \"All You Need\" – 2:45\n \"Same in the End\" – 2:38\n \"Work That We Do\" – 2:37\n \"Doin' Time\" (Marshall Arts Remix featuring the Pharcyde) – 4:12\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nRelease history\n\nIn popular culture\nThe song is featured in Saints Row: The Third, during a mission in where the main character and Pierce sing along to the lyrics. The song was also used in Guitar Hero 5. It also featured on Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX.\n\nReferences\n\n1996 singles\n1996 songs\nBret Michaels songs\nMCA Records singles\nSong recordings produced by David Kahne\nSongs written by Bradley Nowell\nSublime (band) songs",
"Gelenkhüü (, 1877–1938), full name Khainzangiin Gelenkhüü (Хайнзангийн Гэлэнхүү), also known as Gelenkhüü Shükherch (Гэлэнхүү Шүхэрч - Parachute-Gelenkhüü), is a semi-legendary figure from Northern Mongolia. There are numerous tales about him, but the deed he is most remembered for is his attempt to fly by using self-made wings.\n\nEarly life \n\nGelenkhüü was born around 1877 in the Sain Noyon Khan Aimag's Dalai Choinkhor Khoshuu, in what belongs today to Jargalant sum in Khövsgöl aimag. He is said to have been a lively and bright kid. Spending some years as a novice in a local monastery, he seems to have developed technical and creative attempts early on. After having been expelled from the monastery for rejecting certain religious teachings, he became a herder.\n\nThe quest for a male heir \n\nAlthough being married and father to six daughters, Gelenkhüü's desire for a son eventually grew so strong that he left his home for two years and travelled to the Darkhad areas in northwestern Khövsgöl in order to consult the shamans living there. When he returned, he brought a female shaman as second wife. She got pregnant, but only to give birth to yet another daughter.\n\nBeing an outcast in a community both fearful and suspicious of shamanism, she left Gelenkhüü soon afterwards and returned home. Gelenkhüü, afraid of her possible revenge and evil spirits, erected a suvarga close to his home, using a white-spotted black yak to collect the building material and burning incense sticks and butter lights upon its completion.\n\nThe northward-facing suvarga still can be found some 20 km north-east of Jargalant's sum center. In the late 1920s, Gelenkhüü finally adopted a son from a local woman. As of 2000, the son lived in Mörön.\n\nThe flight attempt \n\nDuring the lama uprising of 1932, Gelenkhüü saw airplanes for the first time. He became so fascinated that he began to secretly make a pair of wings from sheepskin and eagle wings. He chose a 170m high cliff as the site for his first flight attempt. Fortunately he had been prudent enough to drive his sheep to the foot of the cliff before jumping into the abyss and got away unharmed.\n\nGelenkhüü died in 1938. A statue in his honour has been erected in front of Mörön's airport building.\n\n20th-century Mongolian people\nPeople from Khövsgöl Province\n1877 births\n1938 deaths"
] |
[
"Richard Rogers",
"Honours and awards",
"When did Richard Rogers get his first award",
"Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier,",
"Can you tell me what honours did he receive",
"Rogers has been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid,",
"What awards has he won",
"He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006,",
"did he win anything else",
"Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur in 1986.",
"What was his most recognized award for",
"In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize - architecture's highest honour.",
"what building got him that honour",
"I don't know."
] | C_29cb86d6a0b14ea393275abf46b0f033_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 7 | Aside from Richard Rogers' honours and awards, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Richard Rogers | Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sits as a Labour peer in the House of Lords. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list. Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur in 1986. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. He was also appointed as a Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize - architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork - the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover - to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades. Rogers has been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath. CANNOTANSWER | In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath. | Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside, (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was an Italian-born British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs in high-tech architecture. He was a senior partner at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, previously known as the Richard Rogers Partnership, until June 2020.
Rogers was perhaps best known for his work on the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Lloyd's building and Millennium Dome, both in London, the Senedd building, in Cardiff, and the European Court of Human Rights building, in Strasbourg. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal, the Thomas Jefferson Medal, the RIBA Stirling Prize, the Minerva Medal, and the Pritzker Prize.
Early life and career
Richard Rogers was born in Florence, Tuscany, in 1933 into an Anglo-Italian family. His father, William Nino Rogers (1906–1993), was Jewish, and was the cousin of Italian Jewish architect Ernesto Nathan Rogers. His Jewish ancestors moved from Sunderland to Venice in about 1800, later settling in Trieste, Milan and Florence. In October 1938, William Nino Rogers came back to England, having fled Fascist Italy and anti-Jewish laws under Mussolini.
Upon moving to England, Richard Rogers went to St John's School, Leatherhead. Rogers did not excel academically, which made him believe that he was "stupid because he could not read or memorise his school work" and as a consequence, he said, he became "very depressed". He couldn't read until he was 11, and it was not until after he had his first child that Rogers realised he was dyslexic. After leaving St Johns School, he undertook a foundation course at Epsom School of Art (now the University for the Creative Arts) before going into National Service between 1951 and 1953.
He then attended the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, where he gained the Architectural Association's Diploma (AA Dipl) from 1954 until 1959, subsequently graduating with a master's degree (M Arch) from the Yale School of Architecture in 1962 on a Fulbright Scholarship. While studying at Yale, Rogers met fellow architecture student Norman Foster and planning student Su Brumwell.
After leaving Yale he joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York. On returning to England in 1963, he, Norman Foster and Brumwell set up architectural practice as Team 4 with Wendy Cheesman (Brumwell later married Rogers, Cheesman married Foster). Rogers and Foster earned a reputation for what was later termed by the media high-tech architecture.
By 1967, Team 4 had split up, but Rogers continued to collaborate with Su Rogers, along with John Young and Laurie Abbott. In early 1968 he was commissioned to design a house and studio for Humphrey Spender near Maldon, Essex, a glass cube framed with I-beams. He continued to develop his ideas of prefabrication and structural simplicity to design a Wimbledon house for his parents. This was based on ideas from his conceptual Zip-Up House.
Rogers subsequently joined forces with Italian architect Renzo Piano, a partnership that was to prove fruitful. His career leapt forward when he, Piano and Gianfranco Franchini won the design competition for the Pompidou Centre in July 1971, alongside a team from Ove Arup that included Irish engineer Peter Rice.
Later career
After working with Piano, Rogers established the Richard Rogers Partnership along with Marco Goldschmied, Mike Davies, and John Young in 1977. This became Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007. The firm maintains offices in London, Shanghai, and Sydney.
Rogers devoted much of his later career to wider issues surrounding architecture, urbanism, sustainability, and the ways in which cities are used. One early illustration of his thinking was an exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1986, entitled "London As It Could Be", which also featured the work of James Stirling and Rogers' former partner Norman Foster. This exhibition made public a series of proposals for transforming a large area of central London, subsequently dismissed as impractical by the city's authorities.
In 1995, he became the first architect to deliver the BBC's annual Reith Lectures. This series of five talks, titled Sustainable City, were later adapted into the book Cities for a Small Planet (Faber and Faber: London 1997, ). The BBC made these lectures available to the public for download in July 2011.
In 1998, he set up the Urban Task Force at the invitation of the British government, to help identify causes of urban decline and establish a vision of safety, vitality, and beauty for Britain's cities. This work resulted in a white paper, Towards an Urban Renaissance, outlining recommendations for future city designers. Rogers also served for several years as chair of the Greater London Authority panel for Architecture and Urbanism. He was chair of the board of Trustees of The Architecture Foundation.
From 2001 to 2008, he was chief advisor on architecture and urbanism to the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. In 2008, he was asked to continue on in his role as an advisor by the then new mayor Boris Johnson. He stood down from the post in October 2009. Rogers also served as an advisor to two mayors of Barcelona on urban strategies.
Amidst this extra-curricular activity, Rogers continued to create controversial and iconic works. Perhaps the most famous of these, the Millennium Dome, was designed by the Rogers practice in conjunction with engineering firm Buro Happold and completed in 1999. It was the subject of fierce political and public debate over the cost and contents of the exhibition it contained; the building itself cost £43 million.
In May 2006, Rogers' practice was chosen as the architect of Tower 3 of the new World Trade Center in New York City, replacing the old World Trade Center which was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
Rogers resigned his directorship of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners on 30 June 2020. The Rogers name will be removed from the practice by 2022 as the founding constitution requires.
Selected projects
Team 4
Creek Vean, Cornwall, UK (1963–1966)
Reliance Controls factory, Swindon, UK (1967)
Jaffe House (also known as Skybreak House), Humphrey Spender's house, Maldon, UK (1965–1966)
Wates Housing, Coulsdon, Surrey, UK (1965)
Murray Mews, Camden, London, UK (1966)
Richard and Su Rogers Architects (with John Young and Laurie Abbott)
22 Parkside (Dr. Nino and Dada Rogers' house), Wimbledon, London, UK (1967)
Zip-Up House (1967–69)
Piano + Rogers
Universal Oil Products, Tadworth, UK (1969–1974)
B&B Italia headquarters, Como, Italy (1972–1973)
Pompidou Centre, Paris, France (1971–77)
IRCAM, Paris, France (1971–1977)
Patscentre Research Laboratory, Melbourn, UK (1976–1983)
The Richard Rogers Partnership
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Criticisms
Like Le Corbusier, the designs of some of Rogers's buildings have not proved as functionally efficient as claimed, suffering from leaks and maintenance problems. The Lloyds Buildings's much-vaunted design innovation of having the service pipes, etc outside the walls, in fact led to such costs caused by weathering and maintenance that Lloyds considered vacating the building in 2014. Lloyd's former chief executive Richard Ward stated: "There is a fundamental problem with this building. Everything is exposed to the elements, and that makes it very costly."
In 2014 Rogers faced a £5m legal claim over problems at the Oxley Woods estate designed by the firm. Residents complained of water seepage through cladding panels and windows on the prefabricated terraced housing.
Palestine controversy
In February 2006, Rogers hosted the inaugural meeting of the campaigning organisation Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine (APJP) in his London offices. At that time his practice had secured a number of projects in New York, including the redevelopment of the Silvercup Studios site, a masterplan for the East River Waterfront and a commission for a $1.7 billion expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre in Manhattan. Rogers however publicly dissociated himself from the group within weeks, following an outcry from generally pro-Israeli New York voters and politicians, which threatened him with the loss of prestigious commissions including projects in New York and abroad. He announced his withdrawal with the statement, "I unequivocally renounce Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine and have withdrawn my relationship with them."
Personal life
Rogers was married to Ruth Rogers, also Jewish, chef and owner of The River Café restaurant in west London. They had two sons together, Roo and Bo (deceased 2011). Rogers also had three sons, Ben, Zad and Ab, from his first marriage to Su Brumwell. He had fourteen grandchildren and a younger brother, Peter William Rogers, a property developer and co-founder of Stanhope. In 2015, he was named one of the "50 best-dressed British men" by GQ magazine.
He died in London on 18 December 2021, at the age of 88.
Honours and awards
Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sat as a Labour peer in the House of Lords; having not attended a proceeding in the 2019–21 session, his membership expired on 11 May 2021. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list.
Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985. He was twice honoured by France, first as a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Légion d'honneur in 1986, and later as an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1995. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. Rogers won the Gold Medal for Architecture at the National Eisteddfod of Wales of 2006 for his work on the Senedd building of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament). He was also appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize – architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades.
Rogers was awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath.
In popular culture
Rogers is mentioned (along with fellow architect Philip Johnson) in the song "Thru These Architect's Eyes" on the album Outside (1995) by David Bowie.
Rogers is mentioned in the song "Anti-Everything" by British band Mansun, from the album Six (1998).
Publications
Rogers wrote several books during his career, including:
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (1991)
A New London (co-author Mark Fisher and the Labour Party), Penguin (1992)
Cities for a Small Planet, Faber and Faber (1997)
Towards an Urban Renaissance, Urban Task Force (1999)
Cities for a Small Country, Faber and Faber (2000)
Richard Rogers and Architects: From the House to the City, Fiell Publishing (2010)
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (2013)
References
External links
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners website
Large list of major Richard Rogers skyscrapers with data and images
Rogers, Stirk, Harbour and Partners projects portfolio
Pritzker Prize 2007
Richard Rogers presents the 2007 Annual Discourse at the Royal Institute of British Architects (video)
The 1995 BBC Reith Lectures: Sustainable City by Richard Rogers
Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
Richard Rogers buildings
1933 births
2021 deaths
20th-century English architects
English people of Italian descent
Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Italian people of English descent
Knights Bachelor
Rogers of Riverside
Members of the Académie d'architecture
Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
Modernist architects from England
People educated at Kingswood House School
People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead
Pritzker Architecture Prize winners
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal
Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Rogers family
Royal Academicians
Stirling Prize laureates
Welsh Eisteddfod Gold Medal winners
Yale School of Architecture alumni
Honorary Fellows of the American Institute of Architects | 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"
] |
[
"Richard Rogers",
"Honours and awards",
"When did Richard Rogers get his first award",
"Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier,",
"Can you tell me what honours did he receive",
"Rogers has been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid,",
"What awards has he won",
"He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006,",
"did he win anything else",
"Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur in 1986.",
"What was his most recognized award for",
"In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize - architecture's highest honour.",
"what building got him that honour",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath."
] | C_29cb86d6a0b14ea393275abf46b0f033_0 | What other honour did he receive after that | 8 | Besides an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) from the University of Bath, what other honour did Richard Rogers receive after that honorary degree? | Richard Rogers | Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sits as a Labour peer in the House of Lords. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list. Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and made a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur in 1986. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. He was also appointed as a Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize - architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork - the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover - to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades. Rogers has been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath. CANNOTANSWER | He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. | Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside, (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was an Italian-born British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs in high-tech architecture. He was a senior partner at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, previously known as the Richard Rogers Partnership, until June 2020.
Rogers was perhaps best known for his work on the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Lloyd's building and Millennium Dome, both in London, the Senedd building, in Cardiff, and the European Court of Human Rights building, in Strasbourg. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal, the Thomas Jefferson Medal, the RIBA Stirling Prize, the Minerva Medal, and the Pritzker Prize.
Early life and career
Richard Rogers was born in Florence, Tuscany, in 1933 into an Anglo-Italian family. His father, William Nino Rogers (1906–1993), was Jewish, and was the cousin of Italian Jewish architect Ernesto Nathan Rogers. His Jewish ancestors moved from Sunderland to Venice in about 1800, later settling in Trieste, Milan and Florence. In October 1938, William Nino Rogers came back to England, having fled Fascist Italy and anti-Jewish laws under Mussolini.
Upon moving to England, Richard Rogers went to St John's School, Leatherhead. Rogers did not excel academically, which made him believe that he was "stupid because he could not read or memorise his school work" and as a consequence, he said, he became "very depressed". He couldn't read until he was 11, and it was not until after he had his first child that Rogers realised he was dyslexic. After leaving St Johns School, he undertook a foundation course at Epsom School of Art (now the University for the Creative Arts) before going into National Service between 1951 and 1953.
He then attended the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, where he gained the Architectural Association's Diploma (AA Dipl) from 1954 until 1959, subsequently graduating with a master's degree (M Arch) from the Yale School of Architecture in 1962 on a Fulbright Scholarship. While studying at Yale, Rogers met fellow architecture student Norman Foster and planning student Su Brumwell.
After leaving Yale he joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York. On returning to England in 1963, he, Norman Foster and Brumwell set up architectural practice as Team 4 with Wendy Cheesman (Brumwell later married Rogers, Cheesman married Foster). Rogers and Foster earned a reputation for what was later termed by the media high-tech architecture.
By 1967, Team 4 had split up, but Rogers continued to collaborate with Su Rogers, along with John Young and Laurie Abbott. In early 1968 he was commissioned to design a house and studio for Humphrey Spender near Maldon, Essex, a glass cube framed with I-beams. He continued to develop his ideas of prefabrication and structural simplicity to design a Wimbledon house for his parents. This was based on ideas from his conceptual Zip-Up House.
Rogers subsequently joined forces with Italian architect Renzo Piano, a partnership that was to prove fruitful. His career leapt forward when he, Piano and Gianfranco Franchini won the design competition for the Pompidou Centre in July 1971, alongside a team from Ove Arup that included Irish engineer Peter Rice.
Later career
After working with Piano, Rogers established the Richard Rogers Partnership along with Marco Goldschmied, Mike Davies, and John Young in 1977. This became Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007. The firm maintains offices in London, Shanghai, and Sydney.
Rogers devoted much of his later career to wider issues surrounding architecture, urbanism, sustainability, and the ways in which cities are used. One early illustration of his thinking was an exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1986, entitled "London As It Could Be", which also featured the work of James Stirling and Rogers' former partner Norman Foster. This exhibition made public a series of proposals for transforming a large area of central London, subsequently dismissed as impractical by the city's authorities.
In 1995, he became the first architect to deliver the BBC's annual Reith Lectures. This series of five talks, titled Sustainable City, were later adapted into the book Cities for a Small Planet (Faber and Faber: London 1997, ). The BBC made these lectures available to the public for download in July 2011.
In 1998, he set up the Urban Task Force at the invitation of the British government, to help identify causes of urban decline and establish a vision of safety, vitality, and beauty for Britain's cities. This work resulted in a white paper, Towards an Urban Renaissance, outlining recommendations for future city designers. Rogers also served for several years as chair of the Greater London Authority panel for Architecture and Urbanism. He was chair of the board of Trustees of The Architecture Foundation.
From 2001 to 2008, he was chief advisor on architecture and urbanism to the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. In 2008, he was asked to continue on in his role as an advisor by the then new mayor Boris Johnson. He stood down from the post in October 2009. Rogers also served as an advisor to two mayors of Barcelona on urban strategies.
Amidst this extra-curricular activity, Rogers continued to create controversial and iconic works. Perhaps the most famous of these, the Millennium Dome, was designed by the Rogers practice in conjunction with engineering firm Buro Happold and completed in 1999. It was the subject of fierce political and public debate over the cost and contents of the exhibition it contained; the building itself cost £43 million.
In May 2006, Rogers' practice was chosen as the architect of Tower 3 of the new World Trade Center in New York City, replacing the old World Trade Center which was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
Rogers resigned his directorship of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners on 30 June 2020. The Rogers name will be removed from the practice by 2022 as the founding constitution requires.
Selected projects
Team 4
Creek Vean, Cornwall, UK (1963–1966)
Reliance Controls factory, Swindon, UK (1967)
Jaffe House (also known as Skybreak House), Humphrey Spender's house, Maldon, UK (1965–1966)
Wates Housing, Coulsdon, Surrey, UK (1965)
Murray Mews, Camden, London, UK (1966)
Richard and Su Rogers Architects (with John Young and Laurie Abbott)
22 Parkside (Dr. Nino and Dada Rogers' house), Wimbledon, London, UK (1967)
Zip-Up House (1967–69)
Piano + Rogers
Universal Oil Products, Tadworth, UK (1969–1974)
B&B Italia headquarters, Como, Italy (1972–1973)
Pompidou Centre, Paris, France (1971–77)
IRCAM, Paris, France (1971–1977)
Patscentre Research Laboratory, Melbourn, UK (1976–1983)
The Richard Rogers Partnership
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Criticisms
Like Le Corbusier, the designs of some of Rogers's buildings have not proved as functionally efficient as claimed, suffering from leaks and maintenance problems. The Lloyds Buildings's much-vaunted design innovation of having the service pipes, etc outside the walls, in fact led to such costs caused by weathering and maintenance that Lloyds considered vacating the building in 2014. Lloyd's former chief executive Richard Ward stated: "There is a fundamental problem with this building. Everything is exposed to the elements, and that makes it very costly."
In 2014 Rogers faced a £5m legal claim over problems at the Oxley Woods estate designed by the firm. Residents complained of water seepage through cladding panels and windows on the prefabricated terraced housing.
Palestine controversy
In February 2006, Rogers hosted the inaugural meeting of the campaigning organisation Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine (APJP) in his London offices. At that time his practice had secured a number of projects in New York, including the redevelopment of the Silvercup Studios site, a masterplan for the East River Waterfront and a commission for a $1.7 billion expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre in Manhattan. Rogers however publicly dissociated himself from the group within weeks, following an outcry from generally pro-Israeli New York voters and politicians, which threatened him with the loss of prestigious commissions including projects in New York and abroad. He announced his withdrawal with the statement, "I unequivocally renounce Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine and have withdrawn my relationship with them."
Personal life
Rogers was married to Ruth Rogers, also Jewish, chef and owner of The River Café restaurant in west London. They had two sons together, Roo and Bo (deceased 2011). Rogers also had three sons, Ben, Zad and Ab, from his first marriage to Su Brumwell. He had fourteen grandchildren and a younger brother, Peter William Rogers, a property developer and co-founder of Stanhope. In 2015, he was named one of the "50 best-dressed British men" by GQ magazine.
He died in London on 18 December 2021, at the age of 88.
Honours and awards
Rogers was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was created Baron Rogers of Riverside, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 October 1996. He sat as a Labour peer in the House of Lords; having not attended a proceeding in the 2019–21 session, his membership expired on 11 May 2021. Rogers was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2008 Birthday Honours list.
Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985. He was twice honoured by France, first as a Chevalier, L'Ordre National de la Légion d'honneur in 1986, and later as an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1995. He received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 10th Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. In 2006, the Richard Rogers Partnership was awarded the Stirling Prize for Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, and again in 2009 for Maggie's Centre in London. Rogers won the Gold Medal for Architecture at the National Eisteddfod of Wales of 2006 for his work on the Senedd building of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament). He was also appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007 Rogers was made Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize – architecture's highest honour. He was awarded the Minerva Medal by the Chartered Society of Designers in the same year. In 2012, Rogers was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades.
Rogers was awarded honorary degrees from several universities, including Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid, Oxford Brookes University, the University of Kent, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Open University. In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath.
In popular culture
Rogers is mentioned (along with fellow architect Philip Johnson) in the song "Thru These Architect's Eyes" on the album Outside (1995) by David Bowie.
Rogers is mentioned in the song "Anti-Everything" by British band Mansun, from the album Six (1998).
Publications
Rogers wrote several books during his career, including:
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (1991)
A New London (co-author Mark Fisher and the Labour Party), Penguin (1992)
Cities for a Small Planet, Faber and Faber (1997)
Towards an Urban Renaissance, Urban Task Force (1999)
Cities for a Small Country, Faber and Faber (2000)
Richard Rogers and Architects: From the House to the City, Fiell Publishing (2010)
Architecture: A Modern View, Thames & Hudson (2013)
References
External links
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners website
Large list of major Richard Rogers skyscrapers with data and images
Rogers, Stirk, Harbour and Partners projects portfolio
Pritzker Prize 2007
Richard Rogers presents the 2007 Annual Discourse at the Royal Institute of British Architects (video)
The 1995 BBC Reith Lectures: Sustainable City by Richard Rogers
Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
Richard Rogers buildings
1933 births
2021 deaths
20th-century English architects
English people of Italian descent
Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Italian people of English descent
Knights Bachelor
Rogers of Riverside
Members of the Académie d'architecture
Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
Modernist architects from England
People educated at Kingswood House School
People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead
Pritzker Architecture Prize winners
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal
Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Rogers family
Royal Academicians
Stirling Prize laureates
Welsh Eisteddfod Gold Medal winners
Yale School of Architecture alumni
Honorary Fellows of the American Institute of Architects | true | [
"Matthew 10:40 is a verse in the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament.\n\nContent\nIn the original Greek according to Westcott-Hort for this verse is:\nὉ δεχόμενος ὑμᾶς ἐμὲ δέχεται· καὶ ὁ ἐμὲ δεχόμενος δέχεται τὸν ἀποστείλαντά με. \n\nIn the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:\nHe that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.\n\nThe New International Version translates the passage as:\n\"He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.\n\nAnalysis\nLapide likens the apostles to ambassadors, saying that the one who receives an ambassador of a king, receives the king who sent him. St. Paul uses similar language in 2 Cor 5:20, \"We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us.\" Also Gal 4:14, \"though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.\" MacEvilly notes that Christ here proposes a reward for those that receive the apostles, which would help mitigate the poverty of the apostles.\n\nCommentary from the Church Fathers\nJerome: \" The Lord when He sends forth His disciples to preach, teaches them that dangers are not to be feared, that natural affection is to be postponed to religion—gold He had above taken from them, brass He had shaken out of their purses—hard then surely the condition of the preachers! Whence their living? Whence their food and necessaries? Therefore He tempers the rigour of His precepts by the following promises, that in entertaining the Apostles each believer may consider that he entertains the Lord.\"\n\nChrysostom: \" Enough had been said above to persuade those who should have to entertain the Apostles. For who would not with all willingness take in to his house men who were so courageous, that they despised all dangers that others might be saved? Above He had threatened punishment to those who should not receive them, He now promises reward to such as should receive them. And first He holds out to those who should entertain them the honour, that in so doing they were entertaining Christ, and even the Father; He who receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me. What honour to be compared to this of receiving the Father and the Son?\"\n\nHilary of Poitiers: \" These words show that He has a Mediator’s office, and since He came from God, when He is received by us, through Him God is transfused into us; and by this disposition of grace to have received the Apostles is no other than to have received God; for Christ dwells in them, and God in Christ.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOther translations of Matthew 10:40 at BibleHub\n\n010:40",
"Taça de Honra (Honour Cup) is a Portuguese friendly football tournament played between teams of the Lisbon Football Association (AFL). It is the third oldest competition in Portugal after the championships of Lisbon and Porto. The format has varied, and before the 1959–60 season, the trophy was mostly given to the winner of the Lisbon championship. Afterwards, it was played as a four-team elimination tournament during pre-season, between the best-placed Lisbon teams in championships disputed in the previous season. After 20 years of inactivity, the competition returned for two years: 2014 and 2015.\n\nHistory \nDuring the 1920–21 and 1946–47 seasons, the Lisbon Football Association indexed the conquest of the Lisbon regional championship to the conquest of the Honour Cup. It was decided a club that had won the regional championship would receive an Honour Cup, even if the Cup had not been played. In 1920–21, Casa Pia got a place in the winners list (even though they did not compete) because they won the regional championship. In 1921–22, S.L. Benfica won the cup, but it was Sporting CP that got a place in the winners list by winning the regional championship.\n\nWinners \nA list of all the Honour Cup finals is shown below with the final results, without the indexation of the regional championship.\n\nReferences:\n\nPerformance by club \n\nSource:\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAFL Honour Cup\n\nSport in Lisbon"
] |
[
"Alexander Graham Bell",
"First experiments with sound"
] | C_439812ed14a04303b818b189d6815ec3_0 | What was his first experiment with sound? | 1 | What was Alexander Graham Bell first experiment with sound? | Alexander Graham Bell | His father encouraged Bell's interest in speech and, in 1863, took his sons to see a unique automaton developed by Sir Charles Wheatstone based on the earlier work of Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen. The rudimentary "mechanical man" simulated a human voice. Bell was fascinated by the machine and after he obtained a copy of von Kempelen's book, published in German, and had laboriously translated it, he and his older brother Melville built their own automaton head. Their father, highly interested in their project, offered to pay for any supplies and spurred the boys on with the enticement of a "big prize" if they were successful. While his brother constructed the throat and larynx, Bell tackled the more difficult task of recreating a realistic skull. His efforts resulted in a remarkably lifelike head that could "speak", albeit only a few words. The boys would carefully adjust the "lips" and when a bellows forced air through the windpipe, a very recognizable "Mama" ensued, to the delight of neighbours who came to see the Bell invention. Intrigued by the results of the automaton, Bell continued to experiment with a live subject, the family's Skye Terrier, "Trouve". After he taught it to growl continuously, Bell would reach into its mouth and manipulate the dog's lips and vocal cords to produce a crude-sounding "Ow ah oo ga ma ma". With little convincing, visitors believed his dog could articulate "How are you, grandma?" Indicative of his playful nature, his experiments convinced onlookers that they saw a "talking dog". These initial forays into experimentation with sound led Bell to undertake his first serious work on the transmission of sound, using tuning forks to explore resonance. At age 19, Bell wrote a report on his work and sent it to philologist Alexander Ellis, a colleague of his father (who would later be portrayed as Professor Henry Higgins in Pygmalion). Ellis immediately wrote back indicating that the experiments were similar to existing work in Germany, and also lent Bell a copy of Hermann von Helmholtz's work, The Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music. Dismayed to find that groundbreaking work had already been undertaken by Helmholtz who had conveyed vowel sounds by means of a similar tuning fork "contraption", Bell pored over the German scientist's book. Working from his own erroneous mistranslation of a French edition, Bell fortuitously then made a deduction that would be the underpinning of all his future work on transmitting sound, reporting: "Without knowing much about the subject, it seemed to me that if vowel sounds could be produced by electrical means, so could consonants, so could articulate speech." He also later remarked: "I thought that Helmholtz had done it ... and that my failure was due only to my ignorance of electricity. It was a valuable blunder ... If I had been able to read German in those days, I might never have commenced my experiments!" CANNOTANSWER | a remarkably lifelike head that could "speak", albeit only a few words. | Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885.
Bell's father, grandfather, and brother had all been associated with work on elocution and speech and both his mother and wife were deaf; profoundly influencing Bell's life's work. His research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices which eventually culminated in Bell being awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone, on March 7, 1876. Bell considered his invention an intrusion on his real work as a scientist and refused to have a telephone in his study.
Many other inventions marked Bell's later life, including groundbreaking work in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils, and aeronautics. Although Bell was not one of the 33 founders of the National Geographic Society, he had a strong influence on the magazine while serving as the second president from January 7, 1898, until 1903.
Beyond his work in engineering, Bell had a deep interest in the emerging science of heredity.
Early life
Alexander Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3, 1847. The family home was at South Charlotte Street, and has a stone inscription marking it as Alexander Graham Bell's birthplace. He had two brothers: Melville James Bell (1845–1870) and Edward Charles Bell (1848–1867), both of whom would die of tuberculosis. His father was Professor Alexander Melville Bell, a phonetician, and his mother was Eliza Grace Bell (née Symonds). Born as just "Alexander Bell", at age 10, he made a plea to his father to have a middle name like his two brothers. For his 11th birthday, his father acquiesced and allowed him to adopt the name "Graham", chosen out of respect for Alexander Graham, a Canadian being treated by his father who had become a family friend. To close relatives and friends he remained "Aleck".
First invention
As a child, young Bell displayed a curiosity about his world; he gathered botanical specimens and ran experiments at an early age. His best friend was Ben Herdman, a neighbour whose family operated a flour mill. At the age of 12, Bell built a homemade device that combined rotating paddles with sets of nail brushes, creating a simple dehusking machine that was put into operation at the mill and used steadily for a number of years. In return, Ben's father John Herdman gave both boys the run of a small workshop in which to "invent".
From his early years, Bell showed a sensitive nature and a talent for art, poetry, and music that was encouraged by his mother. With no formal training, he mastered the piano and became the family's pianist. Despite being normally quiet and introspective, he revelled in mimicry and "voice tricks" akin to ventriloquism that continually entertained family guests during their occasional visits. Bell was also deeply affected by his mother's gradual deafness (she began to lose her hearing when he was 12), and learned a manual finger language so he could sit at her side and tap out silently the conversations swirling around the family parlour. He also developed a technique of speaking in clear, modulated tones directly into his mother's forehead wherein she would hear him with reasonable clarity. Bell's preoccupation with his mother's deafness led him to study acoustics.
His family was long associated with the teaching of elocution: his grandfather, Alexander Bell, in London, his uncle in Dublin, and his father, in Edinburgh, were all elocutionists. His father published a variety of works on the subject, several of which are still well known, especially his The Standard Elocutionist (1860), which appeared in Edinburgh in 1868. The Standard Elocutionist appeared in 168 British editions and sold over a quarter of a million copies in the United States alone. In this treatise, his father explains his methods of how to instruct deaf-mutes (as they were then known) to articulate words and read other people's lip movements to decipher meaning. Bell's father taught him and his brothers not only to write Visible Speech but to identify any symbol and its accompanying sound. Bell became so proficient that he became a part of his father's public demonstrations and astounded audiences with his abilities. He could decipher Visible Speech representing virtually every language, including Latin, Scottish Gaelic, and even Sanskrit, accurately reciting written tracts without any prior knowledge of their pronunciation.
Education
As a young child, Bell, like his brothers, received his early schooling at home from his father. At an early age, he was enrolled at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, Scotland, which he left at the age of 15, having completed only the first four forms. His school record was undistinguished, marked by absenteeism and lacklustre grades. His main interest remained in the sciences, especially biology, while he treated other school subjects with indifference, to the dismay of his father. Upon leaving school, Bell travelled to London to live with his grandfather, Alexander Bell, on Harrington Square. During the year he spent with his grandfather, a love of learning was born, with long hours spent in serious discussion and study. The elder Bell took great efforts to have his young pupil learn to speak clearly and with conviction, the attributes that his pupil would need to become a teacher himself. At the age of 16, Bell secured a position as a "pupil-teacher" of elocution and music, in Weston House Academy at Elgin, Moray, Scotland. Although he was enrolled as a student in Latin and Greek, he instructed classes himself in return for board and £10 per session. The following year, he attended the University of Edinburgh, joining his older brother Melville who had enrolled there the previous year. In 1868, not long before he departed for Canada with his family, Bell completed his matriculation exams and was accepted for admission to University College London.
First experiments with sound
His father encouraged Bell's interest in speech and, in 1863, took his sons to see a unique automaton developed by Sir Charles Wheatstone based on the earlier work of Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen. The rudimentary "mechanical man" simulated a human voice. Bell was fascinated by the machine and after he obtained a copy of von Kempelen's book, published in German, and had laboriously translated it, he and his older brother Melville built their own automaton head. Their father, highly interested in their project, offered to pay for any supplies and spurred the boys on with the enticement of a "big prize" if they were successful. While his brother constructed the throat and larynx, Bell tackled the more difficult task of recreating a realistic skull. His efforts resulted in a remarkably lifelike head that could "speak", albeit only a few words. The boys would carefully adjust the "lips" and when a bellows forced air through the windpipe, a very recognizable "Mama" ensued, to the delight of neighbours who came to see the Bell invention.
Intrigued by the results of the automaton, Bell continued to experiment with a live subject, the family's Skye Terrier, "Trouve". After he taught it to growl continuously, Bell would reach into its mouth and manipulate the dog's lips and vocal cords to produce a crude-sounding "Ow ah oo ga ma ma". With little convincing, visitors believed his dog could articulate "How are you, grandmama?" Indicative of his playful nature, his experiments convinced onlookers that they saw a "talking dog". These initial forays into experimentation with sound led Bell to undertake his first serious work on the transmission of sound, using tuning forks to explore resonance.
At age 19, Bell wrote a report on his work and sent it to philologist Alexander Ellis, a colleague of his father. Ellis immediately wrote back indicating that the experiments were similar to existing work in Germany, and also lent Bell a copy of Hermann von Helmholtz's work, The Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music.
Dismayed to find that groundbreaking work had already been undertaken by Helmholtz who had conveyed vowel sounds by means of a similar tuning fork "contraption", Bell pored over the German scientist's book. Working from his own erroneous mistranslation of a French edition, Bell fortuitously then made a deduction that would be the underpinning of all his future work on transmitting sound, reporting: "Without knowing much about the subject, it seemed to me that if vowel sounds could be produced by electrical means, so could consonants, so could articulate speech." He also later remarked: "I thought that Helmholtz had done it ... and that my failure was due only to my ignorance of electricity. It was a valuable blunder ... If I had been able to read German in those days, I might never have commenced my experiments!"
Family tragedy
In 1865, when the Bell family moved to London, Bell returned to Weston House as an assistant master and, in his spare hours, continued experiments on sound using a minimum of laboratory equipment. Bell concentrated on experimenting with electricity to convey sound and later installed a telegraph wire from his room in Somerset College to that of a friend. Throughout late 1867, his health faltered mainly through exhaustion. His younger brother, Edward "Ted," was similarly bed-ridden, suffering from tuberculosis. While Bell recovered (by then referring to himself in correspondence as "A. G. Bell") and served the next year as an instructor at Somerset College, Bath, England, his brother's condition deteriorated. Edward would never recover. Upon his brother's death, Bell returned home in 1867. His older brother Melville had married and moved out. With aspirations to obtain a degree at University College London, Bell considered his next years as preparation for the degree examinations, devoting his spare time at his family's residence to studying.
Helping his father in Visible Speech demonstrations and lectures brought Bell to Susanna E. Hull's private school for the deaf in South Kensington, London. His first two pupils were deaf-mute girls who made remarkable progress under his tutelage. While his older brother seemed to achieve success on many fronts including opening his own elocution school, applying for a patent on an invention, and starting a family, Bell continued as a teacher. However, in May 1870, Melville died from complications due to tuberculosis, causing a family crisis. His father had also suffered a debilitating illness earlier in life and had been restored to health by a convalescence in Newfoundland. Bell's parents embarked upon a long-planned move when they realized that their remaining son was also sickly. Acting decisively, Alexander Melville Bell asked Bell to arrange for the sale of all the family property, conclude all of his brother's affairs (Bell took over his last student, curing a pronounced lisp), and join his father and mother in setting out for the "New World". Reluctantly, Bell also had to conclude a relationship with Marie Eccleston, who, as he had surmised, was not prepared to leave England with him.
Canada
In 1870, 23-year-old Bell travelled with his parents and his brother's widow, Caroline Margaret Ottaway, to Paris, Ontario, to stay with Thomas Henderson, a Baptist minister and family friend. The Bell family soon purchased a farm of at Tutelo Heights (now called Tutela Heights), near Brantford, Ontario. The property consisted of an orchard, large farmhouse, stable, pigsty, hen-house, and a carriage house, which bordered the Grand River.
At the homestead, Bell set up his own workshop in the converted carriage house near to what he called his "dreaming place", a large hollow nestled in trees at the back of the property above the river. Despite his frail condition upon arriving in Canada, Bell found the climate and environs to his liking, and rapidly improved. He continued his interest in the study of the human voice and when he discovered the Six Nations Reserve across the river at Onondaga, he learned the Mohawk language and translated its unwritten vocabulary into Visible Speech symbols. For his work, Bell was awarded the title of Honorary Chief and participated in a ceremony where he donned a Mohawk headdress and danced traditional dances.
After setting up his workshop, Bell continued experiments based on Helmholtz's work with electricity and sound. He also modified a melodeon (a type of pump organ) so that it could transmit its music electrically over a distance. Once the family was settled in, both Bell and his father made plans to establish a teaching practice and in 1871, he accompanied his father to Montreal, where Melville was offered a position to teach his System of Visible Speech.
Work with the deaf
Bell's father was invited by Sarah Fuller, principal of the Boston School for Deaf Mutes (which continues today as the public Horace Mann School for the Deaf), in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, to introduce the Visible Speech System by providing training for Fuller's instructors, but he declined the post in favour of his son. Travelling to Boston in April 1871, Bell proved successful in training the school's instructors. He was subsequently asked to repeat the programme at the American Asylum for Deaf-mutes in Hartford, Connecticut, and the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Returning home to Brantford after six months abroad, Bell continued his experiments with his "harmonic telegraph". The basic concept behind his device was that messages could be sent through a single wire if each message was transmitted at a different pitch, but work on both the transmitter and receiver was needed.
Unsure of his future, he first contemplated returning to London to complete his studies, but decided to return to Boston as a teacher. His father helped him set up his private practice by contacting Gardiner Greene Hubbard, the president of the Clarke School for the Deaf for a recommendation. Teaching his father's system, in October 1872, Alexander Bell opened his "School of Vocal Physiology and Mechanics of Speech" in Boston, which attracted a large number of deaf pupils, with his first class numbering 30 students. While he was working as a private tutor, one of his pupils was Helen Keller, who came to him as a young child unable to see, hear, or speak. She was later to say that Bell dedicated his life to the penetration of that "inhuman silence which separates and estranges". In 1893, Keller performed the sod-breaking ceremony for the construction of Bell's new Volta Bureau, dedicated to "the increase and diffusion of knowledge relating to the deaf".
Throughout his lifetime, Bell sought to integrate the deaf and hard of hearing with the hearing world. To achieve complete assimilation in society, Bell encouraged speech therapy and lip reading as well as sign language. He outlined this in a 1898 paper detailing his belief that with resources and effort, the deaf could be taught to read lips and speak (known as oralism) thus enabling their integration within the wider society from which many were often being excluded. Owing to his efforts to balance oralism with the teaching of sign language, Bell is often viewed negatively by those embracing Deaf culture. Ironically, Bell's last words to his deaf wife, Mabell, were signed.
Continuing experimentation
In 1872, Bell became professor of Vocal Physiology and Elocution at the Boston University School of Oratory. During this period, he alternated between Boston and Brantford, spending summers in his Canadian home. At Boston University, Bell was "swept up" by the excitement engendered by the many scientists and inventors residing in the city. He continued his research in sound and endeavored to find a way to transmit musical notes and articulate speech, but although absorbed by his experiments, he found it difficult to devote enough time to experimentation. While days and evenings were occupied by his teaching and private classes, Bell began to stay awake late into the night, running experiment after experiment in rented facilities at his boarding house. Keeping "night owl" hours, he worried that his work would be discovered and took great pains to lock up his notebooks and laboratory equipment. Bell had a specially made table where he could place his notes and equipment inside a locking cover. Worse still, his health deteriorated as he suffered severe headaches. Returning to Boston in fall 1873, Bell made a far-reaching decision to concentrate on his experiments in sound.
Deciding to give up his lucrative private Boston practice, Bell retained only two students, six-year-old "Georgie" Sanders, deaf from birth, and 15-year-old Mabel Hubbard. Each pupil would play an important role in the next developments. George's father, Thomas Sanders, a wealthy businessman, offered Bell a place to stay in nearby Salem with Georgie's grandmother, complete with a room to "experiment". Although the offer was made by George's mother and followed the year-long arrangement in 1872 where her son and his nurse had moved to quarters next to Bell's boarding house, it was clear that Mr. Sanders was backing the proposal. The arrangement was for teacher and student to continue their work together, with free room and board thrown in. Mabel was a bright, attractive girl who was ten years Bell's junior but became the object of his affection. Having lost her hearing after a near-fatal bout of scarlet fever close to her fifth birthday, she had learned to read lips but her father, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, Bell's benefactor and personal friend, wanted her to work directly with her teacher.
The telephone
By 1874, Bell's initial work on the harmonic telegraph had entered a formative stage, with progress made both at his new Boston "laboratory" (a rented facility) and at his family home in Canada a big success. While working that summer in Brantford, Bell experimented with a "phonautograph", a pen-like machine that could draw shapes of sound waves on smoked glass by tracing their vibrations. Bell thought it might be possible to generate undulating electrical currents that corresponded to sound waves. Bell also thought that multiple metal reeds tuned to different frequencies like a harp would be able to convert the undulating currents back into sound. But he had no working model to demonstrate the feasibility of these ideas.
In 1874, telegraph message traffic was rapidly expanding and in the words of Western Union President William Orton, had become "the nervous system of commerce". Orton had contracted with inventors Thomas Edison and Elisha Gray to find a way to send multiple telegraph messages on each telegraph line to avoid the great cost of constructing new lines. When Bell mentioned to Gardiner Hubbard and Thomas Sanders that he was working on a method of sending multiple tones on a telegraph wire using a multi-reed device, the two wealthy patrons began to financially support Bell's experiments. Patent matters would be handled by Hubbard's patent attorney, Anthony Pollok.
In March 1875, Bell and Pollok visited the scientist Joseph Henry, who was then director of the Smithsonian Institution, and asked Henry's advice on the electrical multi-reed apparatus that Bell hoped would transmit the human voice by telegraph. Henry replied that Bell had "the germ of a great invention". When Bell said that he did not have the necessary knowledge, Henry replied, "Get it!" That declaration greatly encouraged Bell to keep trying, even though he did not have the equipment needed to continue his experiments, nor the ability to create a working model of his ideas. However, a chance meeting in 1874 between Bell and Thomas A. Watson, an experienced electrical designer and mechanic at the electrical machine shop of Charles Williams, changed all that.
With financial support from Sanders and Hubbard, Bell hired Thomas Watson as his assistant, and the two of them experimented with acoustic telegraphy. On June 2, 1875, Watson accidentally plucked one of the reeds and Bell, at the receiving end of the wire, heard the overtones of the reed; overtones that would be necessary for transmitting speech. That demonstrated to Bell that only one reed or armature was necessary, not multiple reeds. This led to the "gallows" sound-powered telephone, which could transmit indistinct, voice-like sounds, but not clear speech.
The race to the patent office
In 1875, Bell developed an acoustic telegraph and drew up a patent application for it. Since he had agreed to share U.S. profits with his investors Gardiner Hubbard and Thomas Sanders, Bell requested that an associate in Ontario, George Brown, attempt to patent it in Britain, instructing his lawyers to apply for a patent in the U.S. only after they received word from Britain (Britain would issue patents only for discoveries not previously patented elsewhere).
Meanwhile, Elisha Gray was also experimenting with acoustic telegraphy and thought of a way to transmit speech using a water transmitter. On February 14, 1876, Gray filed a caveat with the U.S. Patent Office for a telephone design that used a water transmitter. That same morning, Bell's lawyer filed Bell's application with the patent office. There is considerable debate about who arrived first and Gray later challenged the primacy of Bell's patent. Bell was in Boston on February 14 and did not arrive in Washington until February 26.
Bell's patent 174,465, was issued to Bell on March 7, 1876, by the U.S. Patent Office. Bell's patent covered "the method of, and apparatus for, transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically ... by causing electrical undulations, similar in form to the vibrations of the air accompanying the said vocal or other sound" Bell returned to Boston the same day and the next day resumed work, drawing in his notebook a diagram similar to that in Gray's patent caveat.
On March 10, 1876, three days after his patent was issued, Bell succeeded in getting his telephone to work, using a liquid transmitter similar to Gray's design. Vibration of the diaphragm caused a needle to vibrate in the water, varying the electrical resistance in the circuit. When Bell spoke the sentence "Mr. Watson—Come here—I want to see you" into the liquid transmitter, Watson, listening at the receiving end in an adjoining room, heard the words clearly.
Although Bell was, and still is, accused of stealing the telephone from Gray, Bell used Gray's water transmitter design only after Bell's patent had been granted, and only as a proof of concept scientific experiment, to prove to his own satisfaction that intelligible "articulate speech" (Bell's words) could be electrically transmitted. After March 1876, Bell focused on improving the electromagnetic telephone and never used Gray's liquid transmitter in public demonstrations or commercial use.
The question of priority for the variable resistance feature of the telephone was raised by the examiner before he approved Bell's patent application. He told Bell that his claim for the variable resistance feature was also described in Gray's caveat. Bell pointed to a variable resistance device in his previous application in which he described a cup of mercury, not water. He had filed the mercury application at the patent office a year earlier on February 25, 1875, long before Elisha Gray described the water device. In addition, Gray abandoned his caveat, and because he did not contest Bell's priority, the examiner approved Bell's patent on March 3, 1876. Gray had reinvented the variable resistance telephone, but Bell was the first to write down the idea and the first to test it in a telephone.
The patent examiner, Zenas Fisk Wilber, later stated in an affidavit that he was an alcoholic who was much in debt to Bell's lawyer, Marcellus Bailey, with whom he had served in the Civil War. He claimed he showed Gray's patent caveat to Bailey. Wilber also claimed (after Bell arrived in Washington D.C. from Boston) that he showed Gray's caveat to Bell and that Bell paid him $100 (). Bell claimed they discussed the patent only in general terms, although in a letter to Gray, Bell admitted that he learned some of the technical details. Bell denied in an affidavit that he ever gave Wilber any money.
Later developments
On March 10, 1876, Bell used "the instrument" in Boston to call Thomas Watson who was in another room but out of earshot. He said, "Mr. Watson, come here – I want to see you" and Watson soon appeared at his side.
Continuing his experiments in Brantford, Bell brought home a working model of his telephone. On August 3, 1876, from the telegraph office in Brantford, Ontario, Bell sent a tentative telegram to the village of Mount Pleasant distant, indicating that he was ready. He made a telephone call via telegraph wires and faint voices were heard replying. The following night, he amazed guests as well as his family with a call between the Bell Homestead and the office of the Dominion Telegraph Company in Brantford along an improvised wire strung up along telegraph lines and fences, and laid through a tunnel. This time, guests at the household distinctly heard people in Brantford reading and singing. The third test on August 10, 1876, was made via the telegraph line between Brantford and Paris, Ontario, distant. This test was said by many sources to be the "world's first long-distance call". The final test certainly proved that the telephone could work over long distances, at least as a one-way call.
The first two-way (reciprocal) conversation over a line occurred between Cambridge and Boston (roughly 2.5 miles) on October 9, 1876. During that conversation, Bell was on Kilby Street in Boston and Watson was at the offices of the Walworth Manufacturing Company.
Bell and his partners, Hubbard and Sanders, offered to sell the patent outright to Western Union for $100,000. The president of Western Union balked, countering that the telephone was nothing but a toy. Two years later, he told colleagues that if he could get the patent for $25 million he would consider it a bargain. By then, the Bell company no longer wanted to sell the patent. Bell's investors would become millionaires while he fared well from residuals and at one point had assets of nearly one million dollars.
Bell began a series of public demonstrations and lectures to introduce the new invention to the scientific community as well as the general public. A short time later, his demonstration of an early telephone prototype at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia brought the telephone to international attention. Influential visitors to the exhibition included Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. One of the judges at the Exhibition, Sir William Thomson (later, Lord Kelvin), a renowned Scottish scientist, described the telephone as "the greatest by far of all the marvels of the electric telegraph".
On January 14, 1878, at Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight, Bell demonstrated the device to Queen Victoria, placing calls to Cowes, Southampton and London. These were the first publicly witnessed long-distance telephone calls in the UK. The queen considered the process to be "quite extraordinary" although the sound was "rather faint". She later asked to buy the equipment that was used, but Bell offered to make "a set of telephones" specifically for her.
The Bell Telephone Company was created in 1877, and by 1886, more than 150,000 people in the U.S. owned telephones. Bell Company engineers made numerous other improvements to the telephone, which emerged as one of the most successful products ever. In 1879, the Bell company acquired Edison's patents for the carbon microphone from Western Union. This made the telephone practical for longer distances, and it was no longer necessary to shout to be heard at the receiving telephone.
Emperor Pedro II of Brazil was the first person to buy stock in Bell's company, the Bell Telephone Company. One of the first telephones in a private residence was installed in his palace in Petrópolis, his summer retreat from Rio de Janeiro.
In January 1915, Bell made the first ceremonial transcontinental telephone call. Calling from the AT&T head office at 15 Dey Street in New York City, Bell was heard by Thomas Watson at 333 Grant Avenue in San Francisco. The New York Times reported:
Competitors
As is sometimes common in scientific discoveries, simultaneous developments can occur, as evidenced by a number of inventors who were at work on the telephone. Over a period of 18 years, the Bell Telephone Company faced 587 court challenges to its patents, including five that went to the U.S. Supreme Court, but none was successful in establishing priority over the original Bell patent and the Bell Telephone Company never lost a case that had proceeded to a final trial stage. Bell's laboratory notes and family letters were the key to establishing a long lineage to his experiments. The Bell company lawyers successfully fought off myriad lawsuits generated initially around the challenges by Elisha Gray and Amos Dolbear. In personal correspondence to Bell, both Gray and Dolbear had acknowledged his prior work, which considerably weakened their later claims.
On January 13, 1887, the U.S. Government moved to annul the patent issued to Bell on the grounds of fraud and misrepresentation. After a series of decisions and reversals, the Bell company won a decision in the Supreme Court, though a couple of the original claims from the lower court cases were left undecided. By the time that the trial wound its way through nine years of legal battles, the U.S. prosecuting attorney had died and the two Bell patents (No. 174,465 dated March 7, 1876, and No. 186,787 dated January 30, 1877) were no longer in effect, although the presiding judges agreed to continue the proceedings due to the case's importance as a precedent. With a change in administration and charges of conflict of interest (on both sides) arising from the original trial, the US Attorney General dropped the lawsuit on November 30, 1897, leaving several issues undecided on the merits.
During a deposition filed for the 1887 trial, Italian inventor Antonio Meucci also claimed to have created the first working model of a telephone in Italy in 1834. In 1886, in the first of three cases in which he was involved, Meucci took the stand as a witness in the hope of establishing his invention's priority. Meucci's testimony in this case was disputed due to a lack of material evidence for his inventions, as his working models were purportedly lost at the laboratory of American District Telegraph (ADT) of New York, which was later incorporated as a subsidiary of Western Union in 1901. Meucci's work, like many other inventors of the period, was based on earlier acoustic principles and despite evidence of earlier experiments, the final case involving Meucci was eventually dropped upon Meucci's death. However, due to the efforts of Congressman Vito Fossella, the U.S. House of Representatives on June 11, 2002, stated that Meucci's "work in the invention of the telephone should be acknowledged". This did not put an end to the still-contentious issue. Some modern scholars do not agree with the claims that Bell's work on the telephone was influenced by Meucci's inventions.
The value of the Bell patent was acknowledged throughout the world, and patent applications were made in most major countries, but when Bell delayed the German patent application, the electrical firm of Siemens & Halske set up a rival manufacturer of Bell telephones under their own patent. The Siemens company produced near-identical copies of the Bell telephone without having to pay royalties. The establishment of the International Bell Telephone Company in Brussels, Belgium in 1880, as well as a series of agreements in other countries eventually consolidated a global telephone operation. The strain put on Bell by his constant appearances in court, necessitated by the legal battles, eventually resulted in his resignation from the company.
Family life
On July 11, 1877, a few days after the Bell Telephone Company was established, Bell married Mabel Hubbard (1857–1923) at the Hubbard estate in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His wedding present to his bride was to turn over 1,487 of his 1,497 shares in the newly formed Bell Telephone Company. Shortly thereafter, the newlyweds embarked on a year-long honeymoon in Europe. During that excursion, Bell took a handmade model of his telephone with him, making it a "working holiday". The courtship had begun years earlier; however, Bell waited until he was more financially secure before marrying. Although the telephone appeared to be an "instant" success, it was not initially a profitable venture and Bell's main sources of income were from lectures until after 1897. One unusual request exacted by his fiancée was that he use "Alec" rather than the family's earlier familiar name of "Aleck". From 1876, he would sign his name "Alec Bell". They had four children:
Elsie May Bell (1878–1964) who married Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor of National Geographic fame.
Marian Hubbard Bell (1880–1962) who was referred to as "Daisy". Married David Fairchild.
Two sons who died in infancy (Edward in 1881 and Robert in 1883).
The Bell family home was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, until 1880 when Bell's father-in-law bought a house in Washington, D.C.; in 1882 he bought a home in the same city for Bell's family, so they could be with him while he attended to the numerous court cases involving patent disputes.
Bell was a British subject throughout his early life in Scotland and later in Canada until 1882 when he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In 1915, he characterized his status as: "I am not one of those hyphenated Americans who claim allegiance to two countries." Despite this declaration, Bell has been proudly claimed as a "native son" by all three countries he resided in: the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
By 1885, a new summer retreat was contemplated. That summer, the Bells had a vacation on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, spending time at the small village of Baddeck. Returning in 1886, Bell started building an estate on a point across from Baddeck, overlooking Bras d'Or Lake. By 1889, a large house, christened The Lodge was completed and two years later, a larger complex of buildings, including a new laboratory, were begun that the Bells would name Beinn Bhreagh (Gaelic: Beautiful Mountain) after Bell's ancestral Scottish highlands. Bell also built the Bell Boatyard on the estate, employing up to 40 people building experimental craft as well as wartime lifeboats and workboats for the Royal Canadian Navy and pleasure craft for the Bell family. He was an enthusiastic boater, and Bell and his family sailed or rowed a long series of vessels on Bras d'Or Lake, ordering additional vessels from the H.W. Embree and Sons boatyard in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia. In his final, and some of his most productive years, Bell split his residency between Washington, D.C., where he and his family initially resided for most of the year, and Beinn Bhreagh, where they spent increasing amounts of time.
Until the end of his life, Bell and his family would alternate between the two homes, but Beinn Bhreagh would, over the next 30 years, become more than a summer home as Bell became so absorbed in his experiments that his annual stays lengthened. Both Mabel and Bell became immersed in the Baddeck community and were accepted by the villagers as "their own". The Bells were still in residence at Beinn Bhreagh when the Halifax Explosion occurred on December 6, 1917. Mabel and Bell mobilized the community to help victims in Halifax.
Later inventions
Although Alexander Graham Bell is most often associated with the invention of the telephone, his interests were extremely varied. According to one of his biographers, Charlotte Gray, Bell's work ranged "unfettered across the scientific landscape" and he often went to bed voraciously reading the Encyclopædia Britannica, scouring it for new areas of interest. The range of Bell's inventive genius is represented only in part by the 18 patents granted in his name alone and the 12 he shared with his collaborators. These included 14 for the telephone and telegraph, four for the photophone, one for the phonograph, five for aerial vehicles, four for "hydroairplanes", and two for selenium cells. Bell's inventions spanned a wide range of interests and included a metal jacket to assist in breathing, the audiometer to detect minor hearing problems, a device to locate icebergs, investigations on how to separate salt from seawater, and work on finding alternative fuels.
Bell worked extensively in medical research and invented techniques for teaching speech to the deaf. During his Volta Laboratory period, Bell and his associates considered impressing a magnetic field on a record as a means of reproducing sound. Although the trio briefly experimented with the concept, they could not develop a workable prototype. They abandoned the idea, never realizing they had glimpsed a basic principle which would one day find its application in the tape recorder, the hard disc and floppy disc drive, and other magnetic media.
Bell's own home used a primitive form of air conditioning, in which fans blew currents of air across great blocks of ice. He also anticipated modern concerns with fuel shortages and industrial pollution. Methane gas, he reasoned, could be produced from the waste of farms and factories. At his Canadian estate in Nova Scotia, he experimented with composting toilets and devices to capture water from the atmosphere. In a magazine interview published shortly before his death, he reflected on the possibility of using solar panels to heat houses.
Photophone
Bell and his assistant Charles Sumner Tainter jointly invented a wireless telephone, named a photophone, which allowed for the transmission of both sounds and normal human conversations on a beam of light. Both men later became full associates in the Volta Laboratory Association.
On June 21, 1880, Bell's assistant transmitted a wireless voice telephone message a considerable distance, from the roof of the Franklin School in Washington, D.C., to Bell at the window of his laboratory, some away, 19 years before the first voice radio transmissions.
Bell believed the photophone's principles were his life's "greatest achievement", telling a reporter shortly before his death that the photophone was "the greatest invention [I have] ever made, greater than the telephone". The photophone was a precursor to the fiber-optic communication systems which achieved popular worldwide usage in the 1980s. Its master patent was issued in December 1880, many decades before the photophone's principles came into popular use.
Metal detector
Bell is also credited with developing one of the early versions of a metal detector through the use of an induction balance, after the shooting of U.S. President James A. Garfield in 1881. According to some accounts, the metal detector worked flawlessly in tests but did not find Guiteau's bullet, partly because the metal bed frame on which the President was lying disturbed the instrument, resulting in static. Garfield's surgeons, led by self-appointed chief physician Doctor Willard Bliss, were skeptical of the device, and ignored Bell's requests to move the President to a bed not fitted with metal springs. Alternatively, although Bell had detected a slight sound on his first test, the bullet may have been lodged too deeply to be detected by the crude apparatus.
Bell's own detailed account, presented to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1882, differs in several particulars from most of the many and varied versions now in circulation, by concluding that extraneous metal was not to blame for failure to locate the bullet. Perplexed by the peculiar results he had obtained during an examination of Garfield, Bell "proceeded to the Executive Mansion the next morning ... to ascertain from the surgeons whether they were perfectly sure that all metal had been removed from the neighborhood of the bed. It was then recollected that underneath the horse-hair mattress on which the President lay was another mattress composed of steel wires. Upon obtaining a duplicate, the mattress was found to consist of a sort of net of woven steel wires, with large meshes. The extent of the [area that produced a response from the detector] having been so small, as compared with the area of the bed, it seemed reasonable to conclude that the steel mattress had produced no detrimental effect." In a footnote, Bell adds, "The death of President Garfield and the subsequent post-mortem examination, however, proved that the bullet was at too great a distance from the surface to have affected our apparatus."
Hydrofoils
The March 1906 Scientific American article by American pioneer William E. Meacham explained the basic principle of hydrofoils and hydroplanes. Bell considered the invention of the hydroplane as a very significant achievement. Based on information gained from that article, he began to sketch concepts of what is now called a hydrofoil boat. Bell and assistant Frederick W. "Casey" Baldwin began hydrofoil experimentation in the summer of 1908 as a possible aid to airplane takeoff from water. Baldwin studied the work of the Italian inventor Enrico Forlanini and began testing models. This led him and Bell to the development of practical hydrofoil watercraft.
During his world tour of 1910–11, Bell and Baldwin met with Forlanini in France. They had rides in the Forlanini hydrofoil boat over Lake Maggiore. Baldwin described it as being as smooth as flying. On returning to Baddeck, a number of initial concepts were built as experimental models, including the Dhonnas Beag (Scottish Gaelic for little devil), the first self-propelled Bell-Baldwin hydrofoil. The experimental boats were essentially proof-of-concept prototypes that culminated in the more substantial HD-4, powered by Renault engines. A top speed of was achieved, with the hydrofoil exhibiting rapid acceleration, good stability, and steering, along with the ability to take waves without difficulty. In 1913, Dr. Bell hired Walter Pinaud, a Sydney yacht designer and builder as well as the proprietor of Pinaud's Yacht Yard in Westmount, Nova Scotia, to work on the pontoons of the HD-4. Pinaud soon took over the boatyard at Bell Laboratories on Beinn Bhreagh, Bell's estate near Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Pinaud's experience in boat-building enabled him to make useful design changes to the HD-4. After the First World War, work began again on the HD-4. Bell's report to the U.S. Navy permitted him to obtain two engines in July 1919. On September 9, 1919, the HD-4 set a world marine speed record of , a record which stood for ten years.
Aeronautics
In 1891, Bell had begun experiments to develop motor-powered heavier-than-air aircraft. The AEA was first formed as Bell shared the vision to fly with his wife, who advised him to seek "young" help as Bell was at the age of 60.
In 1898, Bell experimented with tetrahedral box kites and wings constructed of multiple compound tetrahedral kites covered in maroon silk. The tetrahedral wings were named Cygnet I, II, and III, and were flown both unmanned and manned (Cygnet I crashed during a flight carrying Selfridge) in the period from 1907 to 1912. Some of Bell's kites are on display at the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site.
Bell was a supporter of aerospace engineering research through the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA), officially formed at Baddeck, Nova Scotia, in October 1907 at the suggestion of his wife Mabel and with her financial support after the sale of some of her real estate. The AEA was headed by Bell and the founding members were four young men: American Glenn H. Curtiss, a motorcycle manufacturer at the time and who held the title "world's fastest man", having ridden his self-constructed motor bicycle around in the shortest time, and who was later awarded the Scientific American Trophy for the first official one-kilometre flight in the Western hemisphere, and who later became a world-renowned airplane manufacturer; Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge, an official observer from the U.S. Federal government and one of the few people in the army who believed that aviation was the future; Frederick W. Baldwin, the first Canadian and first British subject to pilot a public flight in Hammondsport, New York; and J. A. D. McCurdy–Baldwin and McCurdy being new engineering graduates from the University of Toronto.
The AEA's work progressed to heavier-than-air machines, applying their knowledge of kites to gliders. Moving to Hammondsport, the group then designed and built the Red Wing, framed in bamboo and covered in red silk and powered by a small air-cooled engine. On March 12, 1908, over Keuka Lake, the biplane lifted off on the first public flight in North America. The innovations that were incorporated into this design included a cockpit enclosure and tail rudder (later variations on the original design would add ailerons as a means of control). One of the AEA's inventions, a practical wingtip form of the aileron, was to become a standard component on all aircraft. The White Wing and June Bug were to follow and by the end of 1908, over 150 flights without mishap had been accomplished. However, the AEA had depleted its initial reserves and only a $15,000 grant from Mrs. Bell allowed it to continue with experiments. Lt. Selfridge had also become the first person killed in a powered heavier-than-air flight in a crash of the Wright Flyer at Fort Myer, Virginia, on September 17, 1908.
Their final aircraft design, the Silver Dart, embodied all of the advancements found in the earlier machines. On February 23, 1909, Bell was present as the Silver Dart flown by J. A. D. McCurdy from the frozen ice of Bras d'Or made the first aircraft flight in Canada. Bell had worried that the flight was too dangerous and had arranged for a doctor to be on hand. With the successful flight, the AEA disbanded and the Silver Dart would revert to Baldwin and McCurdy, who began the Canadian Aerodrome Company and would later demonstrate the aircraft to the Canadian Army.
Heredity and genetics
Bell, along with many members of the scientific community at the time, took an interest in the popular science of heredity which grew out of the publication of Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species in 1859. On his estate in Nova Scotia, Bell conducted meticulously recorded breeding experiments with rams and ewes. Over the course of more than 30 years, Bell sought to produce a breed of sheep with multiple nipples that would bear twins. He specifically wanted to see if selective breeding could produce sheep with four functional nipples with enough milk for twin lambs. This interest in animal breeding caught the attention of scientists focused on the study of heredity and genetics in humans.
In November 1883, Bell presented a paper at a meeting of the National Academy of Sciences titled "Upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race". The paper is a compilation of data on the hereditary aspects of deafness. Bell's research indicated that a hereditary tendency toward deafness, as indicated by the possession of deaf relatives, was an important element in determining the production of deaf offspring. He noted that the proportion of deaf children born to deaf parents was many times greater than the proportion of deaf children born to the general population. In the paper, Bell delved into social commentary and discussed hypothetical public policies to bring an end to deafness. He also criticized educational practices that segregated deaf children rather than integrated them fulling into mainstream classrooms. The paper did not propose sterilization of deaf people or prohibition on intermarriage, noting that “We cannot dictate to men and women whom they should marry and natural selection no longer influences mankind to any great extent.”
A review of Bell's "Memoir upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race" appearing in an 1885 issue of the "American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb" states that "Dr. Bell does not advocate legislative interference with the marriages of the deaf for several reasons one of which is that the results of such marriages have not yet been sufficiently investigated." The article goes on to say that "the editorial remarks based thereon did injustice to the author." The paper's author concludes by saying “A wiser way to prevent the extension of hereditary deafness, it seems to us, would be to continue the investigations which Dr. Bell has so admirable begun until the laws of the transmission of the tendency to deafness are fully understood, and then by explaining those laws to the pupils of our schools to lead them to choose their partners in marriage in such a way that deaf-mute offspring will not be the result."
Historians have noted that Bell explicitly opposed laws regulating marriage, and never mentioned sterilization in any of his writings. Even after Bell agreed to engage with scientists conducting eugenic research, he consistently refused to support public policy that limited the rights or privileges of the deaf.
Bell's interest and research on heredity attracted the interest of Charles Davenport, a Harvard professor and head of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. In 1906, Davenport, who was also the founder of the American Breeder's Association, approached Bell about joining a new committee on eugenics chaired by David Starr Jordan. In 1910, Davenport opened the Eugenics Records office at Cold Spring Harbor. To give the organization scientific credibility, Davenport set up a Board of Scientific Directors naming Bell as chairman. Other members of the board included Luther Burbank, Roswell H. Johnson, Vernon L. Kellogg, and William E. Castle.
In 1921, a Second International Congress of Eugenics was held in New York at the Museum of Natural History and chaired by Davenport. Although Bell did not present any research or speak as part of the proceedings, he was named as honorary president as a means to attract other scientists to attend the event. A summary of the event notes that Bell was a "pioneering investigator in the field of human heredity".
Death
Bell died of complications arising from diabetes on August 2, 1922, at his private estate in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, at age 75. Bell had also been afflicted with pernicious anemia. His last view of the land he had inhabited was by moonlight on his mountain estate at 2:00 a.m. While tending to him after his long illness, Mabel, his wife, whispered, "Don't leave me." By way of reply, Bell signed "no...", lost consciousness, and died shortly after.
On learning of Bell's death, the Canadian Prime Minister, Mackenzie King, cabled Mrs. Bell, saying:
Bell's coffin was constructed of Beinn Bhreagh pine by his laboratory staff, lined with the same red silk fabric used in his tetrahedral kite experiments. To help celebrate his life, his wife asked guests not to wear black (the traditional funeral color) while attending his service, during which soloist Jean MacDonald sang a verse of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Requiem":
Upon the conclusion of Bell's funeral, for one minute at 6:25 p.m. Eastern Time, "every phone on the continent of North America was silenced in honor of the man who had given to mankind the means for direct communication at a distance".
Alexander Graham Bell was buried atop Beinn Bhreagh mountain, on his estate where he had resided increasingly for the last 35 years of his life, overlooking Bras d'Or Lake. He was survived by his wife Mabel, his two daughters, Elsie May and Marian, and nine of his grandchildren.
Legacy and honors
Honors and tributes flowed to Bell in increasing numbers as his invention became ubiquitous and his personal fame grew. Bell received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities to the point that the requests almost became burdensome. During his life, he also received dozens of major awards, medals, and other tributes. These included statuary monuments to both him and the new form of communication his telephone created, including the Bell Telephone Memorial erected in his honor in Alexander Graham Bell Gardens in Brantford, Ontario, in 1917.
A large number of Bell's writings, personal correspondence, notebooks, papers, and other documents reside in both the United States Library of Congress Manuscript Division (as the Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers), and at the Alexander Graham Bell Institute, Cape Breton University, Nova Scotia; major portions of which are available for online viewing.
A number of historic sites and other marks commemorate Bell in North America and Europe, including the first telephone companies in the United States and Canada. Among the major sites are:
The Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, maintained by Parks Canada, which incorporates the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, close to the Bell estate Beinn Bhreagh
The Bell Homestead National Historic Site, includes the Bell family home, "Melville House", and farm overlooking Brantford, Ontario and the Grand River. It was their first home in North America;
Canada's first telephone company building, the "Henderson Home" of the late 1870s, a predecessor of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada (officially chartered in 1880). In 1969, the building was carefully moved to the historic Bell Homestead National Historic Site in Brantford, Ontario, and was refurbished to become a telephone museum. The Bell Homestead, the Henderson Home telephone museum, and the National Historic Site's reception centre are all maintained by the Bell Homestead Society;
The Alexander Graham Bell Memorial Park, which features a broad neoclassical monument built in 1917 by public subscription. The monument depicts mankind's ability to span the globe through telecommunications;
The Alexander Graham Bell Museum (opened in 1956), part of the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site which was completed in 1978 in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Many of the museum's artifacts were donated by Bell's daughters;
In 1880, Bell received the Volta Prize with a purse of 50,000 French francs (approximately US$ in today's dollars) for the invention of the telephone from the French government. Among the luminaries who judged were Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas, fils. The Volta Prize was conceived by Napoleon III in 1852, and named in honor of Alessandro Volta, with Bell becoming the second recipient of the grand prize in its history. Since Bell was becoming increasingly affluent, he used his prize money to create endowment funds (the 'Volta Fund') and institutions in and around the United States capital of Washington, D.C.. These included the prestigious 'Volta Laboratory Association' (1880), also known as the Volta Laboratory and as the 'Alexander Graham Bell Laboratory', and which eventually led to the Volta Bureau (1887) as a center for studies on deafness which is still in operation in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. The Volta Laboratory became an experimental facility devoted to scientific discovery, and the very next year it improved Edison's phonograph by substituting wax for tinfoil as the recording medium and incising the recording rather than indenting it, key upgrades that Edison himself later adopted. The laboratory was also the site where he and his associate invented his "proudest achievement", "the photophone", the "optical telephone" which presaged fibre optical telecommunications while the Volta Bureau would later evolve into the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (the AG Bell), a leading center for the research and pedagogy of deafness.
In partnership with Gardiner Greene Hubbard, Bell helped establish the publication Science during the early 1880s. In 1898, Bell was elected as the second president of the National Geographic Society, serving until 1903, and was primarily responsible for the extensive use of illustrations, including photography, in the magazine. He also served for many years as a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution (1898–1922). The French government conferred on him the decoration of the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honor); the Royal Society of Arts in London awarded him the Albert Medal in 1902; the University of Würzburg, Bavaria, granted him a PhD, and he was awarded the Franklin Institute's Elliott Cresson Medal in 1912. He was one of the founders of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1884 and served as its president from 1891 to 1892. Bell was later awarded the AIEE's Edison Medal in 1914 "For meritorious achievement in the invention of the telephone".
The bel (B) and the smaller decibel (dB) are units of measurement of sound pressure level (SPL) invented by Bell Labs and named after him. Since 1976, the IEEE's Alexander Graham Bell Medal has been awarded to honor outstanding contributions in the field of telecommunications.
In 1936, the US Patent Office declared Bell first on its list of the country's greatest inventors, leading to the US Post Office issuing a commemorative stamp honoring Bell in 1940 as part of its 'Famous Americans Series'. The First Day of Issue ceremony was held on October 28 in Boston, Massachusetts, the city where Bell spent considerable time on research and working with the deaf. The Bell stamp became very popular and sold out in little time. The stamp became, and remains to this day, the most valuable one of the series.
The 150th anniversary of Bell's birth in 1997 was marked by a special issue of commemorative £1 banknotes from the Royal Bank of Scotland. The illustrations on the reverse of the note include Bell's face in profile, his signature, and objects from Bell's life and career: users of the telephone over the ages; an audio wave signal; a diagram of a telephone receiver; geometric shapes from engineering structures; representations of sign language and the phonetic alphabet; the geese which helped him to understand flight; and the sheep which he studied to understand genetics. Additionally, the Government of Canada honored Bell in 1997 with a C$100 gold coin, in tribute also to the 150th anniversary of his birth, and with a silver dollar coin in 2009 in honor of the 100th anniversary of flight in Canada. That first flight was made by an airplane designed under Dr. Bell's tutelage, named the Silver Dart. Bell's image, and also those of his many inventions have graced paper money, coinage, and postal stamps in numerous countries worldwide for many dozens of years.
Alexander Graham Bell was ranked 57th among the 100 Greatest Britons (2002) in an official BBC nationwide poll, and among the Top Ten Greatest Canadians (2004), and the 100 Greatest Americans (2005). In 2006, Bell was also named as one of the 10 greatest Scottish scientists in history after having been listed in the National Library of Scotland's 'Scottish Science Hall of Fame'. Bell's name is still widely known and used as part of the names of dozens of educational institutes, corporate namesakes, street and place names around the world.
Honorary degrees
Alexander Graham Bell, who could not complete the university program of his youth, received at least a dozen honorary degrees from academic institutions, including eight honorary LL.D.s (Doctorate of Laws), two Ph.D.s, a D.Sc., and an M.D.:
Gallaudet College (then named National Deaf-Mute College) in Washington, D.C. (Ph.D.) in 1880
University of Würzburg in Würzburg, Bavaria (Ph.D.) in 1882
Heidelberg University in Heidelberg, Germany (M.D.) in 1886
Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts (LL.D.) in 1896
Illinois College, in Jacksonville, Illinois (LL.D.) in 1896, possibly 1881
Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts (LL.D.) in 1901
St. Andrew's University in St Andrews, Scotland (LL.D) in 1902
University of Oxford in Oxford, England (D.Sc.) in 1906
University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland (LL.D.) in 1906
George Washington University in Washington, D.C. (LL.D.) in 1913
Queen's University at Kingston in Kingston, Ontario, Canada (LL.D.) in 1908
Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire (LL.D.) in 1913, possibly 1914
Portrayal in film and television
The 1939 film The Story of Alexander Graham Bell was based on his life and works.
The 1992 film The Sound and the Silence was a TV film.
Biography aired an episode Alexander Graham Bell: Voice of Invention on August 6, 1996.
Eyewitness No. 90 A Great Inventor Is Remembered, a 1957 NFB short about Bell.
Bibliography
Also published as:
See also
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site
Bell Boatyard
Bell Homestead National Historic Site
Bell Telephone Memorial
Berliner, Emile
Bourseul, Charles
IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal
John Peirce, submitted telephone ideas to Bell
Manzetti, Innocenzo
Meucci, Antonio
Oriental Telephone Company
People on Scottish banknotes
Pioneers, a Volunteer Network
Reis, Philipp
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell, a 1939 movie of his life
The Telephone Cases
Volta Laboratory and Bureau
William Francis Channing, submitted telephone ideas to Bell
References
Notes
Citations
Further reading
Mullett, Mary B. The Story of A Famous Inventor. New York: Rogers and Fowle, 1921.
Walters, Eric. The Hydrofoil Mystery. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Puffin Books, 1999. .
Winzer, Margret A. The History Of Special Education: From Isolation To Integration. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press, 1993. .
External links
Alexander and Mabel Bell Legacy Foundation
Alexander Graham Bell Institute at Cape Breton University
Bell Telephone Memorial, Brantford, Ontario
Bell Homestead National Historic Site, Brantford, Ontario
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site of Canada, Baddeck, Nova Scotia
Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers at the Library of Congress
Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
Science.ca profile: Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell's notebooks at the Internet Archive
"Téléphone et photophone : les contributions indirectes de Graham Bell à l'idée de la vision à distance par l'électricité" at the Histoire de la télévision
Multimedia
Alexander Graham Bell at The Biography Channel
Shaping The Future, from the Heritage Minutes and Radio Minutes collection at HistoricaCanada.ca (1:31 audio drama, Adobe Flash required)
1847 births
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19th-century Scottish scientists
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Alumni of University College London
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19th-century Canadian inventors
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History of telecommunications
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People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh
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Scottish agnostics
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Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame inductees | true | [
"The Homestake experiment (sometimes referred to as the Davis experiment or Solar Neutrino Experiment and in original literature called Brookhaven Solar Neutrino Experiment or Brookhaven 37Cl (Chlorine) Experiment ) was an experiment headed by astrophysicists Raymond Davis, Jr. and John N. Bahcall in the late 1960s. Its purpose was to collect and count neutrinos emitted by nuclear fusion taking place in the Sun. Bahcall performed the theoretical calculations and Davis designed the experiment. After Bahcall calculated the rate at which the detector should capture neutrinos, Davis's experiment turned up only one third of this figure. The experiment was the first to successfully detect and count solar neutrinos, and the discrepancy in results created the solar neutrino problem. The experiment operated continuously from 1970 until 1994. The University of Pennsylvania took it over in 1984. The discrepancy between the predicted and measured rates of neutrino detection was later found to be due to neutrino \"flavour\" oscillations.\n\nMethodology\nThe experiment took place in the Homestake Gold Mine in Lead, South Dakota. Davis placed a 380 cubic meter (100,000 gallon) tank of perchloroethylene, a common dry-cleaning fluid, 1,478 meters (4,850 feet) underground. A big target deep underground was needed to prevent interference from cosmic rays, taking into account the very small probability of a successful neutrino capture, and, therefore, very low effect rate even with the huge mass of the target. Perchloroethylene was chosen because it is rich in chlorine. Upon interaction with an electron neutrino, a 37Cl atom transforms into a radioactive isotope of 37Ar, which can then be extracted and counted. The reaction of the neutrino capture is\n\nThe reaction threshold is 0.814 MeV, i.e. the neutrino should have at least this energy to be captured by the 37Cl nucleus.\n\nBecause 37Ar has a half-life of 35 days, every few weeks, Davis bubbled helium through the tank to collect the argon that had formed. A small (few cubic cm) gas counter was filled by the collected few tens of atoms of 37Ar (together with the stable argon) to detect its decays. In such a way, Davis was able to determine how many neutrinos had been captured.\n\nConclusions\nDavis' figures were consistently very close to one-third of Bahcall's calculations. The first response from the scientific community was that either Bahcall or Davis had made a mistake. Bahcall's calculations were checked repeatedly, with no errors found. Davis scrutinized his own experiment and insisted there was nothing wrong with it. The Homestake experiment was followed by other experiments with the same purpose, such as Kamiokande in Japan, SAGE in the former Soviet Union, GALLEX in Italy, Super Kamiokande, also in Japan, and SNO (Sudbury Neutrino Observatory) in Ontario, Canada. SNO was the first detector able to detect neutrino oscillation, solving the solar neutrino problem. The results of the experiment, published in 2001, revealed that of the three \"flavours\" between which neutrinos are able to oscillate, Davis's detector was sensitive to only one. After it had been proven that his experiment was sound, Davis shared the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics. Among those sharing the prize was Masatoshi Koshiba of Japan, who worked on the Kamiokande and the Super Kamiokande.\n\nSee also\nCowan–Reines neutrino experiment (a previous experiment by Reines and Cowan which discovered the antineutrino)\nSanford Underground Research Facility\n\nReferences\n\nRaymond Davis Jr.'s Solar Neutrino Experiments (at BNL.gov)\n\nPhysics experiments\nNeutrino observatories",
"Iniabasi Samuel Henshaw, professionally known as Samm Henshaw (born 22 February 1994), is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. Henshaw has garnered mainstream radio support from BBC Radio 1 and was handpicked by James Bay, Chance the Rapper, and Allen Stone for tour support. His debut album, Untidy Soul, was released on January 28, 2022.\n\nEarly life\nHenshaw was born in London, England and was raised by Nigerian parents in South London. Henshaw grew up with music but not in the conventional sense. Nobody in his household played an instrument but there was always sound running through the house, which highly influenced his musical nature. Samm essentially found his love for music and learned to play instruments in his church pastored by his father, where he developed his abilities further. Henshaw spent his secondary years at Cleeve Park School, then went on to study a popular music performance degree at Southampton Solent.\n\nCareer\n\n2014–2015: Debut EP The Sound Experiment\nHenshaw began work on his debut EP The Sound Experiment which was released in 2015 and featured production and songwriting input from Wayne Hector and Fred Cox amongst others.\n\n2016: The Sound Experiment 2\nHenshaw proceeded to follow up from his debut release with his second EP, The Sound Experiment 2 in the summer of 2016. Henshaw released music videos for \"Our Love\" and \"Night Calls\", promotional singles from The Sound Experiment 2.\n\n2022: Untidy Soul \nAfter releasing the singles Still Broke (featuring Keyon Harrold), Grow, and Chicken Wings, Henshaw released his debut album Untidy Soul. Critics said that the album has its basis in \"rootsy, old-school soul, 90s hip-hop, bluesy jazz and gospel,\" with Henshaw himself calling it \"a reflection of his own 'scatterbrain,'\" each song telling a different story.\n\nArtistry\n\nAlongside gospel artists Helen Baylor, Fred Hammond, Israel Houghton and Alvin Slaughter, Henshaw is said to have spent his childhood devouring mainstream pop music, from Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson to Usher and N*Sync. Henshaw pinpoints his biggest vocal inspirations as D’Angelo, Paolo Nutini, Lauryn Hill as well finding songwriting inspiration in Grammy award winner Frank Ocean.\n\nTours\nSupporting\nJames Bay – Chaos and the Calm Tour (2015)\nTori Kelly – Where I Belong Tour (2016)\nChance the Rapper – Magnificent Coloring World Tour (2016)\nAllen Stone – Building Balance Tour (2020)\n\nDiscography\n\nStudio albums\n\nExtended plays\n\nSingles\n2018: \"How Does It Feel?\"\n2018: \"Broke\"\n2018: \"Doubt\" (feat. Wretch 32)\n2019: \"Church\" (feat. EarthGang)\n2019: \"The World Is Mine\"\n2019: \"Only One to Blame\"\n2020\" \"Change for Me\" (with Brasstracks)\n2020: \"All Good\"\n2021: \"Still Broke\" (feat. Keyon Harrold)\n2021: \"Grow\"\n2021: \"Chicken Wings\"\n\nGuest appearances\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \n\n1994 births\nLiving people\n21st-century Black British male singers\nAlumni of Solent University\nBlack British male rappers\nBritish contemporary R&B singers\nEnglish people of Nigerian descent\nSingers from London\nColumbia Records artists"
] |
[
"Alexander Graham Bell",
"First experiments with sound",
"What was his first experiment with sound?",
"a remarkably lifelike head that could \"speak\", albeit only a few words."
] | C_439812ed14a04303b818b189d6815ec3_0 | How old was he when he made the head? | 2 | How old was Alexander Graham Bell when he made the head? | Alexander Graham Bell | His father encouraged Bell's interest in speech and, in 1863, took his sons to see a unique automaton developed by Sir Charles Wheatstone based on the earlier work of Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen. The rudimentary "mechanical man" simulated a human voice. Bell was fascinated by the machine and after he obtained a copy of von Kempelen's book, published in German, and had laboriously translated it, he and his older brother Melville built their own automaton head. Their father, highly interested in their project, offered to pay for any supplies and spurred the boys on with the enticement of a "big prize" if they were successful. While his brother constructed the throat and larynx, Bell tackled the more difficult task of recreating a realistic skull. His efforts resulted in a remarkably lifelike head that could "speak", albeit only a few words. The boys would carefully adjust the "lips" and when a bellows forced air through the windpipe, a very recognizable "Mama" ensued, to the delight of neighbours who came to see the Bell invention. Intrigued by the results of the automaton, Bell continued to experiment with a live subject, the family's Skye Terrier, "Trouve". After he taught it to growl continuously, Bell would reach into its mouth and manipulate the dog's lips and vocal cords to produce a crude-sounding "Ow ah oo ga ma ma". With little convincing, visitors believed his dog could articulate "How are you, grandma?" Indicative of his playful nature, his experiments convinced onlookers that they saw a "talking dog". These initial forays into experimentation with sound led Bell to undertake his first serious work on the transmission of sound, using tuning forks to explore resonance. At age 19, Bell wrote a report on his work and sent it to philologist Alexander Ellis, a colleague of his father (who would later be portrayed as Professor Henry Higgins in Pygmalion). Ellis immediately wrote back indicating that the experiments were similar to existing work in Germany, and also lent Bell a copy of Hermann von Helmholtz's work, The Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music. Dismayed to find that groundbreaking work had already been undertaken by Helmholtz who had conveyed vowel sounds by means of a similar tuning fork "contraption", Bell pored over the German scientist's book. Working from his own erroneous mistranslation of a French edition, Bell fortuitously then made a deduction that would be the underpinning of all his future work on transmitting sound, reporting: "Without knowing much about the subject, it seemed to me that if vowel sounds could be produced by electrical means, so could consonants, so could articulate speech." He also later remarked: "I thought that Helmholtz had done it ... and that my failure was due only to my ignorance of electricity. It was a valuable blunder ... If I had been able to read German in those days, I might never have commenced my experiments!" CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885.
Bell's father, grandfather, and brother had all been associated with work on elocution and speech and both his mother and wife were deaf; profoundly influencing Bell's life's work. His research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices which eventually culminated in Bell being awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone, on March 7, 1876. Bell considered his invention an intrusion on his real work as a scientist and refused to have a telephone in his study.
Many other inventions marked Bell's later life, including groundbreaking work in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils, and aeronautics. Although Bell was not one of the 33 founders of the National Geographic Society, he had a strong influence on the magazine while serving as the second president from January 7, 1898, until 1903.
Beyond his work in engineering, Bell had a deep interest in the emerging science of heredity.
Early life
Alexander Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3, 1847. The family home was at South Charlotte Street, and has a stone inscription marking it as Alexander Graham Bell's birthplace. He had two brothers: Melville James Bell (1845–1870) and Edward Charles Bell (1848–1867), both of whom would die of tuberculosis. His father was Professor Alexander Melville Bell, a phonetician, and his mother was Eliza Grace Bell (née Symonds). Born as just "Alexander Bell", at age 10, he made a plea to his father to have a middle name like his two brothers. For his 11th birthday, his father acquiesced and allowed him to adopt the name "Graham", chosen out of respect for Alexander Graham, a Canadian being treated by his father who had become a family friend. To close relatives and friends he remained "Aleck".
First invention
As a child, young Bell displayed a curiosity about his world; he gathered botanical specimens and ran experiments at an early age. His best friend was Ben Herdman, a neighbour whose family operated a flour mill. At the age of 12, Bell built a homemade device that combined rotating paddles with sets of nail brushes, creating a simple dehusking machine that was put into operation at the mill and used steadily for a number of years. In return, Ben's father John Herdman gave both boys the run of a small workshop in which to "invent".
From his early years, Bell showed a sensitive nature and a talent for art, poetry, and music that was encouraged by his mother. With no formal training, he mastered the piano and became the family's pianist. Despite being normally quiet and introspective, he revelled in mimicry and "voice tricks" akin to ventriloquism that continually entertained family guests during their occasional visits. Bell was also deeply affected by his mother's gradual deafness (she began to lose her hearing when he was 12), and learned a manual finger language so he could sit at her side and tap out silently the conversations swirling around the family parlour. He also developed a technique of speaking in clear, modulated tones directly into his mother's forehead wherein she would hear him with reasonable clarity. Bell's preoccupation with his mother's deafness led him to study acoustics.
His family was long associated with the teaching of elocution: his grandfather, Alexander Bell, in London, his uncle in Dublin, and his father, in Edinburgh, were all elocutionists. His father published a variety of works on the subject, several of which are still well known, especially his The Standard Elocutionist (1860), which appeared in Edinburgh in 1868. The Standard Elocutionist appeared in 168 British editions and sold over a quarter of a million copies in the United States alone. In this treatise, his father explains his methods of how to instruct deaf-mutes (as they were then known) to articulate words and read other people's lip movements to decipher meaning. Bell's father taught him and his brothers not only to write Visible Speech but to identify any symbol and its accompanying sound. Bell became so proficient that he became a part of his father's public demonstrations and astounded audiences with his abilities. He could decipher Visible Speech representing virtually every language, including Latin, Scottish Gaelic, and even Sanskrit, accurately reciting written tracts without any prior knowledge of their pronunciation.
Education
As a young child, Bell, like his brothers, received his early schooling at home from his father. At an early age, he was enrolled at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, Scotland, which he left at the age of 15, having completed only the first four forms. His school record was undistinguished, marked by absenteeism and lacklustre grades. His main interest remained in the sciences, especially biology, while he treated other school subjects with indifference, to the dismay of his father. Upon leaving school, Bell travelled to London to live with his grandfather, Alexander Bell, on Harrington Square. During the year he spent with his grandfather, a love of learning was born, with long hours spent in serious discussion and study. The elder Bell took great efforts to have his young pupil learn to speak clearly and with conviction, the attributes that his pupil would need to become a teacher himself. At the age of 16, Bell secured a position as a "pupil-teacher" of elocution and music, in Weston House Academy at Elgin, Moray, Scotland. Although he was enrolled as a student in Latin and Greek, he instructed classes himself in return for board and £10 per session. The following year, he attended the University of Edinburgh, joining his older brother Melville who had enrolled there the previous year. In 1868, not long before he departed for Canada with his family, Bell completed his matriculation exams and was accepted for admission to University College London.
First experiments with sound
His father encouraged Bell's interest in speech and, in 1863, took his sons to see a unique automaton developed by Sir Charles Wheatstone based on the earlier work of Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen. The rudimentary "mechanical man" simulated a human voice. Bell was fascinated by the machine and after he obtained a copy of von Kempelen's book, published in German, and had laboriously translated it, he and his older brother Melville built their own automaton head. Their father, highly interested in their project, offered to pay for any supplies and spurred the boys on with the enticement of a "big prize" if they were successful. While his brother constructed the throat and larynx, Bell tackled the more difficult task of recreating a realistic skull. His efforts resulted in a remarkably lifelike head that could "speak", albeit only a few words. The boys would carefully adjust the "lips" and when a bellows forced air through the windpipe, a very recognizable "Mama" ensued, to the delight of neighbours who came to see the Bell invention.
Intrigued by the results of the automaton, Bell continued to experiment with a live subject, the family's Skye Terrier, "Trouve". After he taught it to growl continuously, Bell would reach into its mouth and manipulate the dog's lips and vocal cords to produce a crude-sounding "Ow ah oo ga ma ma". With little convincing, visitors believed his dog could articulate "How are you, grandmama?" Indicative of his playful nature, his experiments convinced onlookers that they saw a "talking dog". These initial forays into experimentation with sound led Bell to undertake his first serious work on the transmission of sound, using tuning forks to explore resonance.
At age 19, Bell wrote a report on his work and sent it to philologist Alexander Ellis, a colleague of his father. Ellis immediately wrote back indicating that the experiments were similar to existing work in Germany, and also lent Bell a copy of Hermann von Helmholtz's work, The Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music.
Dismayed to find that groundbreaking work had already been undertaken by Helmholtz who had conveyed vowel sounds by means of a similar tuning fork "contraption", Bell pored over the German scientist's book. Working from his own erroneous mistranslation of a French edition, Bell fortuitously then made a deduction that would be the underpinning of all his future work on transmitting sound, reporting: "Without knowing much about the subject, it seemed to me that if vowel sounds could be produced by electrical means, so could consonants, so could articulate speech." He also later remarked: "I thought that Helmholtz had done it ... and that my failure was due only to my ignorance of electricity. It was a valuable blunder ... If I had been able to read German in those days, I might never have commenced my experiments!"
Family tragedy
In 1865, when the Bell family moved to London, Bell returned to Weston House as an assistant master and, in his spare hours, continued experiments on sound using a minimum of laboratory equipment. Bell concentrated on experimenting with electricity to convey sound and later installed a telegraph wire from his room in Somerset College to that of a friend. Throughout late 1867, his health faltered mainly through exhaustion. His younger brother, Edward "Ted," was similarly bed-ridden, suffering from tuberculosis. While Bell recovered (by then referring to himself in correspondence as "A. G. Bell") and served the next year as an instructor at Somerset College, Bath, England, his brother's condition deteriorated. Edward would never recover. Upon his brother's death, Bell returned home in 1867. His older brother Melville had married and moved out. With aspirations to obtain a degree at University College London, Bell considered his next years as preparation for the degree examinations, devoting his spare time at his family's residence to studying.
Helping his father in Visible Speech demonstrations and lectures brought Bell to Susanna E. Hull's private school for the deaf in South Kensington, London. His first two pupils were deaf-mute girls who made remarkable progress under his tutelage. While his older brother seemed to achieve success on many fronts including opening his own elocution school, applying for a patent on an invention, and starting a family, Bell continued as a teacher. However, in May 1870, Melville died from complications due to tuberculosis, causing a family crisis. His father had also suffered a debilitating illness earlier in life and had been restored to health by a convalescence in Newfoundland. Bell's parents embarked upon a long-planned move when they realized that their remaining son was also sickly. Acting decisively, Alexander Melville Bell asked Bell to arrange for the sale of all the family property, conclude all of his brother's affairs (Bell took over his last student, curing a pronounced lisp), and join his father and mother in setting out for the "New World". Reluctantly, Bell also had to conclude a relationship with Marie Eccleston, who, as he had surmised, was not prepared to leave England with him.
Canada
In 1870, 23-year-old Bell travelled with his parents and his brother's widow, Caroline Margaret Ottaway, to Paris, Ontario, to stay with Thomas Henderson, a Baptist minister and family friend. The Bell family soon purchased a farm of at Tutelo Heights (now called Tutela Heights), near Brantford, Ontario. The property consisted of an orchard, large farmhouse, stable, pigsty, hen-house, and a carriage house, which bordered the Grand River.
At the homestead, Bell set up his own workshop in the converted carriage house near to what he called his "dreaming place", a large hollow nestled in trees at the back of the property above the river. Despite his frail condition upon arriving in Canada, Bell found the climate and environs to his liking, and rapidly improved. He continued his interest in the study of the human voice and when he discovered the Six Nations Reserve across the river at Onondaga, he learned the Mohawk language and translated its unwritten vocabulary into Visible Speech symbols. For his work, Bell was awarded the title of Honorary Chief and participated in a ceremony where he donned a Mohawk headdress and danced traditional dances.
After setting up his workshop, Bell continued experiments based on Helmholtz's work with electricity and sound. He also modified a melodeon (a type of pump organ) so that it could transmit its music electrically over a distance. Once the family was settled in, both Bell and his father made plans to establish a teaching practice and in 1871, he accompanied his father to Montreal, where Melville was offered a position to teach his System of Visible Speech.
Work with the deaf
Bell's father was invited by Sarah Fuller, principal of the Boston School for Deaf Mutes (which continues today as the public Horace Mann School for the Deaf), in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, to introduce the Visible Speech System by providing training for Fuller's instructors, but he declined the post in favour of his son. Travelling to Boston in April 1871, Bell proved successful in training the school's instructors. He was subsequently asked to repeat the programme at the American Asylum for Deaf-mutes in Hartford, Connecticut, and the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Returning home to Brantford after six months abroad, Bell continued his experiments with his "harmonic telegraph". The basic concept behind his device was that messages could be sent through a single wire if each message was transmitted at a different pitch, but work on both the transmitter and receiver was needed.
Unsure of his future, he first contemplated returning to London to complete his studies, but decided to return to Boston as a teacher. His father helped him set up his private practice by contacting Gardiner Greene Hubbard, the president of the Clarke School for the Deaf for a recommendation. Teaching his father's system, in October 1872, Alexander Bell opened his "School of Vocal Physiology and Mechanics of Speech" in Boston, which attracted a large number of deaf pupils, with his first class numbering 30 students. While he was working as a private tutor, one of his pupils was Helen Keller, who came to him as a young child unable to see, hear, or speak. She was later to say that Bell dedicated his life to the penetration of that "inhuman silence which separates and estranges". In 1893, Keller performed the sod-breaking ceremony for the construction of Bell's new Volta Bureau, dedicated to "the increase and diffusion of knowledge relating to the deaf".
Throughout his lifetime, Bell sought to integrate the deaf and hard of hearing with the hearing world. To achieve complete assimilation in society, Bell encouraged speech therapy and lip reading as well as sign language. He outlined this in a 1898 paper detailing his belief that with resources and effort, the deaf could be taught to read lips and speak (known as oralism) thus enabling their integration within the wider society from which many were often being excluded. Owing to his efforts to balance oralism with the teaching of sign language, Bell is often viewed negatively by those embracing Deaf culture. Ironically, Bell's last words to his deaf wife, Mabell, were signed.
Continuing experimentation
In 1872, Bell became professor of Vocal Physiology and Elocution at the Boston University School of Oratory. During this period, he alternated between Boston and Brantford, spending summers in his Canadian home. At Boston University, Bell was "swept up" by the excitement engendered by the many scientists and inventors residing in the city. He continued his research in sound and endeavored to find a way to transmit musical notes and articulate speech, but although absorbed by his experiments, he found it difficult to devote enough time to experimentation. While days and evenings were occupied by his teaching and private classes, Bell began to stay awake late into the night, running experiment after experiment in rented facilities at his boarding house. Keeping "night owl" hours, he worried that his work would be discovered and took great pains to lock up his notebooks and laboratory equipment. Bell had a specially made table where he could place his notes and equipment inside a locking cover. Worse still, his health deteriorated as he suffered severe headaches. Returning to Boston in fall 1873, Bell made a far-reaching decision to concentrate on his experiments in sound.
Deciding to give up his lucrative private Boston practice, Bell retained only two students, six-year-old "Georgie" Sanders, deaf from birth, and 15-year-old Mabel Hubbard. Each pupil would play an important role in the next developments. George's father, Thomas Sanders, a wealthy businessman, offered Bell a place to stay in nearby Salem with Georgie's grandmother, complete with a room to "experiment". Although the offer was made by George's mother and followed the year-long arrangement in 1872 where her son and his nurse had moved to quarters next to Bell's boarding house, it was clear that Mr. Sanders was backing the proposal. The arrangement was for teacher and student to continue their work together, with free room and board thrown in. Mabel was a bright, attractive girl who was ten years Bell's junior but became the object of his affection. Having lost her hearing after a near-fatal bout of scarlet fever close to her fifth birthday, she had learned to read lips but her father, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, Bell's benefactor and personal friend, wanted her to work directly with her teacher.
The telephone
By 1874, Bell's initial work on the harmonic telegraph had entered a formative stage, with progress made both at his new Boston "laboratory" (a rented facility) and at his family home in Canada a big success. While working that summer in Brantford, Bell experimented with a "phonautograph", a pen-like machine that could draw shapes of sound waves on smoked glass by tracing their vibrations. Bell thought it might be possible to generate undulating electrical currents that corresponded to sound waves. Bell also thought that multiple metal reeds tuned to different frequencies like a harp would be able to convert the undulating currents back into sound. But he had no working model to demonstrate the feasibility of these ideas.
In 1874, telegraph message traffic was rapidly expanding and in the words of Western Union President William Orton, had become "the nervous system of commerce". Orton had contracted with inventors Thomas Edison and Elisha Gray to find a way to send multiple telegraph messages on each telegraph line to avoid the great cost of constructing new lines. When Bell mentioned to Gardiner Hubbard and Thomas Sanders that he was working on a method of sending multiple tones on a telegraph wire using a multi-reed device, the two wealthy patrons began to financially support Bell's experiments. Patent matters would be handled by Hubbard's patent attorney, Anthony Pollok.
In March 1875, Bell and Pollok visited the scientist Joseph Henry, who was then director of the Smithsonian Institution, and asked Henry's advice on the electrical multi-reed apparatus that Bell hoped would transmit the human voice by telegraph. Henry replied that Bell had "the germ of a great invention". When Bell said that he did not have the necessary knowledge, Henry replied, "Get it!" That declaration greatly encouraged Bell to keep trying, even though he did not have the equipment needed to continue his experiments, nor the ability to create a working model of his ideas. However, a chance meeting in 1874 between Bell and Thomas A. Watson, an experienced electrical designer and mechanic at the electrical machine shop of Charles Williams, changed all that.
With financial support from Sanders and Hubbard, Bell hired Thomas Watson as his assistant, and the two of them experimented with acoustic telegraphy. On June 2, 1875, Watson accidentally plucked one of the reeds and Bell, at the receiving end of the wire, heard the overtones of the reed; overtones that would be necessary for transmitting speech. That demonstrated to Bell that only one reed or armature was necessary, not multiple reeds. This led to the "gallows" sound-powered telephone, which could transmit indistinct, voice-like sounds, but not clear speech.
The race to the patent office
In 1875, Bell developed an acoustic telegraph and drew up a patent application for it. Since he had agreed to share U.S. profits with his investors Gardiner Hubbard and Thomas Sanders, Bell requested that an associate in Ontario, George Brown, attempt to patent it in Britain, instructing his lawyers to apply for a patent in the U.S. only after they received word from Britain (Britain would issue patents only for discoveries not previously patented elsewhere).
Meanwhile, Elisha Gray was also experimenting with acoustic telegraphy and thought of a way to transmit speech using a water transmitter. On February 14, 1876, Gray filed a caveat with the U.S. Patent Office for a telephone design that used a water transmitter. That same morning, Bell's lawyer filed Bell's application with the patent office. There is considerable debate about who arrived first and Gray later challenged the primacy of Bell's patent. Bell was in Boston on February 14 and did not arrive in Washington until February 26.
Bell's patent 174,465, was issued to Bell on March 7, 1876, by the U.S. Patent Office. Bell's patent covered "the method of, and apparatus for, transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically ... by causing electrical undulations, similar in form to the vibrations of the air accompanying the said vocal or other sound" Bell returned to Boston the same day and the next day resumed work, drawing in his notebook a diagram similar to that in Gray's patent caveat.
On March 10, 1876, three days after his patent was issued, Bell succeeded in getting his telephone to work, using a liquid transmitter similar to Gray's design. Vibration of the diaphragm caused a needle to vibrate in the water, varying the electrical resistance in the circuit. When Bell spoke the sentence "Mr. Watson—Come here—I want to see you" into the liquid transmitter, Watson, listening at the receiving end in an adjoining room, heard the words clearly.
Although Bell was, and still is, accused of stealing the telephone from Gray, Bell used Gray's water transmitter design only after Bell's patent had been granted, and only as a proof of concept scientific experiment, to prove to his own satisfaction that intelligible "articulate speech" (Bell's words) could be electrically transmitted. After March 1876, Bell focused on improving the electromagnetic telephone and never used Gray's liquid transmitter in public demonstrations or commercial use.
The question of priority for the variable resistance feature of the telephone was raised by the examiner before he approved Bell's patent application. He told Bell that his claim for the variable resistance feature was also described in Gray's caveat. Bell pointed to a variable resistance device in his previous application in which he described a cup of mercury, not water. He had filed the mercury application at the patent office a year earlier on February 25, 1875, long before Elisha Gray described the water device. In addition, Gray abandoned his caveat, and because he did not contest Bell's priority, the examiner approved Bell's patent on March 3, 1876. Gray had reinvented the variable resistance telephone, but Bell was the first to write down the idea and the first to test it in a telephone.
The patent examiner, Zenas Fisk Wilber, later stated in an affidavit that he was an alcoholic who was much in debt to Bell's lawyer, Marcellus Bailey, with whom he had served in the Civil War. He claimed he showed Gray's patent caveat to Bailey. Wilber also claimed (after Bell arrived in Washington D.C. from Boston) that he showed Gray's caveat to Bell and that Bell paid him $100 (). Bell claimed they discussed the patent only in general terms, although in a letter to Gray, Bell admitted that he learned some of the technical details. Bell denied in an affidavit that he ever gave Wilber any money.
Later developments
On March 10, 1876, Bell used "the instrument" in Boston to call Thomas Watson who was in another room but out of earshot. He said, "Mr. Watson, come here – I want to see you" and Watson soon appeared at his side.
Continuing his experiments in Brantford, Bell brought home a working model of his telephone. On August 3, 1876, from the telegraph office in Brantford, Ontario, Bell sent a tentative telegram to the village of Mount Pleasant distant, indicating that he was ready. He made a telephone call via telegraph wires and faint voices were heard replying. The following night, he amazed guests as well as his family with a call between the Bell Homestead and the office of the Dominion Telegraph Company in Brantford along an improvised wire strung up along telegraph lines and fences, and laid through a tunnel. This time, guests at the household distinctly heard people in Brantford reading and singing. The third test on August 10, 1876, was made via the telegraph line between Brantford and Paris, Ontario, distant. This test was said by many sources to be the "world's first long-distance call". The final test certainly proved that the telephone could work over long distances, at least as a one-way call.
The first two-way (reciprocal) conversation over a line occurred between Cambridge and Boston (roughly 2.5 miles) on October 9, 1876. During that conversation, Bell was on Kilby Street in Boston and Watson was at the offices of the Walworth Manufacturing Company.
Bell and his partners, Hubbard and Sanders, offered to sell the patent outright to Western Union for $100,000. The president of Western Union balked, countering that the telephone was nothing but a toy. Two years later, he told colleagues that if he could get the patent for $25 million he would consider it a bargain. By then, the Bell company no longer wanted to sell the patent. Bell's investors would become millionaires while he fared well from residuals and at one point had assets of nearly one million dollars.
Bell began a series of public demonstrations and lectures to introduce the new invention to the scientific community as well as the general public. A short time later, his demonstration of an early telephone prototype at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia brought the telephone to international attention. Influential visitors to the exhibition included Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. One of the judges at the Exhibition, Sir William Thomson (later, Lord Kelvin), a renowned Scottish scientist, described the telephone as "the greatest by far of all the marvels of the electric telegraph".
On January 14, 1878, at Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight, Bell demonstrated the device to Queen Victoria, placing calls to Cowes, Southampton and London. These were the first publicly witnessed long-distance telephone calls in the UK. The queen considered the process to be "quite extraordinary" although the sound was "rather faint". She later asked to buy the equipment that was used, but Bell offered to make "a set of telephones" specifically for her.
The Bell Telephone Company was created in 1877, and by 1886, more than 150,000 people in the U.S. owned telephones. Bell Company engineers made numerous other improvements to the telephone, which emerged as one of the most successful products ever. In 1879, the Bell company acquired Edison's patents for the carbon microphone from Western Union. This made the telephone practical for longer distances, and it was no longer necessary to shout to be heard at the receiving telephone.
Emperor Pedro II of Brazil was the first person to buy stock in Bell's company, the Bell Telephone Company. One of the first telephones in a private residence was installed in his palace in Petrópolis, his summer retreat from Rio de Janeiro.
In January 1915, Bell made the first ceremonial transcontinental telephone call. Calling from the AT&T head office at 15 Dey Street in New York City, Bell was heard by Thomas Watson at 333 Grant Avenue in San Francisco. The New York Times reported:
Competitors
As is sometimes common in scientific discoveries, simultaneous developments can occur, as evidenced by a number of inventors who were at work on the telephone. Over a period of 18 years, the Bell Telephone Company faced 587 court challenges to its patents, including five that went to the U.S. Supreme Court, but none was successful in establishing priority over the original Bell patent and the Bell Telephone Company never lost a case that had proceeded to a final trial stage. Bell's laboratory notes and family letters were the key to establishing a long lineage to his experiments. The Bell company lawyers successfully fought off myriad lawsuits generated initially around the challenges by Elisha Gray and Amos Dolbear. In personal correspondence to Bell, both Gray and Dolbear had acknowledged his prior work, which considerably weakened their later claims.
On January 13, 1887, the U.S. Government moved to annul the patent issued to Bell on the grounds of fraud and misrepresentation. After a series of decisions and reversals, the Bell company won a decision in the Supreme Court, though a couple of the original claims from the lower court cases were left undecided. By the time that the trial wound its way through nine years of legal battles, the U.S. prosecuting attorney had died and the two Bell patents (No. 174,465 dated March 7, 1876, and No. 186,787 dated January 30, 1877) were no longer in effect, although the presiding judges agreed to continue the proceedings due to the case's importance as a precedent. With a change in administration and charges of conflict of interest (on both sides) arising from the original trial, the US Attorney General dropped the lawsuit on November 30, 1897, leaving several issues undecided on the merits.
During a deposition filed for the 1887 trial, Italian inventor Antonio Meucci also claimed to have created the first working model of a telephone in Italy in 1834. In 1886, in the first of three cases in which he was involved, Meucci took the stand as a witness in the hope of establishing his invention's priority. Meucci's testimony in this case was disputed due to a lack of material evidence for his inventions, as his working models were purportedly lost at the laboratory of American District Telegraph (ADT) of New York, which was later incorporated as a subsidiary of Western Union in 1901. Meucci's work, like many other inventors of the period, was based on earlier acoustic principles and despite evidence of earlier experiments, the final case involving Meucci was eventually dropped upon Meucci's death. However, due to the efforts of Congressman Vito Fossella, the U.S. House of Representatives on June 11, 2002, stated that Meucci's "work in the invention of the telephone should be acknowledged". This did not put an end to the still-contentious issue. Some modern scholars do not agree with the claims that Bell's work on the telephone was influenced by Meucci's inventions.
The value of the Bell patent was acknowledged throughout the world, and patent applications were made in most major countries, but when Bell delayed the German patent application, the electrical firm of Siemens & Halske set up a rival manufacturer of Bell telephones under their own patent. The Siemens company produced near-identical copies of the Bell telephone without having to pay royalties. The establishment of the International Bell Telephone Company in Brussels, Belgium in 1880, as well as a series of agreements in other countries eventually consolidated a global telephone operation. The strain put on Bell by his constant appearances in court, necessitated by the legal battles, eventually resulted in his resignation from the company.
Family life
On July 11, 1877, a few days after the Bell Telephone Company was established, Bell married Mabel Hubbard (1857–1923) at the Hubbard estate in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His wedding present to his bride was to turn over 1,487 of his 1,497 shares in the newly formed Bell Telephone Company. Shortly thereafter, the newlyweds embarked on a year-long honeymoon in Europe. During that excursion, Bell took a handmade model of his telephone with him, making it a "working holiday". The courtship had begun years earlier; however, Bell waited until he was more financially secure before marrying. Although the telephone appeared to be an "instant" success, it was not initially a profitable venture and Bell's main sources of income were from lectures until after 1897. One unusual request exacted by his fiancée was that he use "Alec" rather than the family's earlier familiar name of "Aleck". From 1876, he would sign his name "Alec Bell". They had four children:
Elsie May Bell (1878–1964) who married Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor of National Geographic fame.
Marian Hubbard Bell (1880–1962) who was referred to as "Daisy". Married David Fairchild.
Two sons who died in infancy (Edward in 1881 and Robert in 1883).
The Bell family home was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, until 1880 when Bell's father-in-law bought a house in Washington, D.C.; in 1882 he bought a home in the same city for Bell's family, so they could be with him while he attended to the numerous court cases involving patent disputes.
Bell was a British subject throughout his early life in Scotland and later in Canada until 1882 when he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In 1915, he characterized his status as: "I am not one of those hyphenated Americans who claim allegiance to two countries." Despite this declaration, Bell has been proudly claimed as a "native son" by all three countries he resided in: the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
By 1885, a new summer retreat was contemplated. That summer, the Bells had a vacation on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, spending time at the small village of Baddeck. Returning in 1886, Bell started building an estate on a point across from Baddeck, overlooking Bras d'Or Lake. By 1889, a large house, christened The Lodge was completed and two years later, a larger complex of buildings, including a new laboratory, were begun that the Bells would name Beinn Bhreagh (Gaelic: Beautiful Mountain) after Bell's ancestral Scottish highlands. Bell also built the Bell Boatyard on the estate, employing up to 40 people building experimental craft as well as wartime lifeboats and workboats for the Royal Canadian Navy and pleasure craft for the Bell family. He was an enthusiastic boater, and Bell and his family sailed or rowed a long series of vessels on Bras d'Or Lake, ordering additional vessels from the H.W. Embree and Sons boatyard in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia. In his final, and some of his most productive years, Bell split his residency between Washington, D.C., where he and his family initially resided for most of the year, and Beinn Bhreagh, where they spent increasing amounts of time.
Until the end of his life, Bell and his family would alternate between the two homes, but Beinn Bhreagh would, over the next 30 years, become more than a summer home as Bell became so absorbed in his experiments that his annual stays lengthened. Both Mabel and Bell became immersed in the Baddeck community and were accepted by the villagers as "their own". The Bells were still in residence at Beinn Bhreagh when the Halifax Explosion occurred on December 6, 1917. Mabel and Bell mobilized the community to help victims in Halifax.
Later inventions
Although Alexander Graham Bell is most often associated with the invention of the telephone, his interests were extremely varied. According to one of his biographers, Charlotte Gray, Bell's work ranged "unfettered across the scientific landscape" and he often went to bed voraciously reading the Encyclopædia Britannica, scouring it for new areas of interest. The range of Bell's inventive genius is represented only in part by the 18 patents granted in his name alone and the 12 he shared with his collaborators. These included 14 for the telephone and telegraph, four for the photophone, one for the phonograph, five for aerial vehicles, four for "hydroairplanes", and two for selenium cells. Bell's inventions spanned a wide range of interests and included a metal jacket to assist in breathing, the audiometer to detect minor hearing problems, a device to locate icebergs, investigations on how to separate salt from seawater, and work on finding alternative fuels.
Bell worked extensively in medical research and invented techniques for teaching speech to the deaf. During his Volta Laboratory period, Bell and his associates considered impressing a magnetic field on a record as a means of reproducing sound. Although the trio briefly experimented with the concept, they could not develop a workable prototype. They abandoned the idea, never realizing they had glimpsed a basic principle which would one day find its application in the tape recorder, the hard disc and floppy disc drive, and other magnetic media.
Bell's own home used a primitive form of air conditioning, in which fans blew currents of air across great blocks of ice. He also anticipated modern concerns with fuel shortages and industrial pollution. Methane gas, he reasoned, could be produced from the waste of farms and factories. At his Canadian estate in Nova Scotia, he experimented with composting toilets and devices to capture water from the atmosphere. In a magazine interview published shortly before his death, he reflected on the possibility of using solar panels to heat houses.
Photophone
Bell and his assistant Charles Sumner Tainter jointly invented a wireless telephone, named a photophone, which allowed for the transmission of both sounds and normal human conversations on a beam of light. Both men later became full associates in the Volta Laboratory Association.
On June 21, 1880, Bell's assistant transmitted a wireless voice telephone message a considerable distance, from the roof of the Franklin School in Washington, D.C., to Bell at the window of his laboratory, some away, 19 years before the first voice radio transmissions.
Bell believed the photophone's principles were his life's "greatest achievement", telling a reporter shortly before his death that the photophone was "the greatest invention [I have] ever made, greater than the telephone". The photophone was a precursor to the fiber-optic communication systems which achieved popular worldwide usage in the 1980s. Its master patent was issued in December 1880, many decades before the photophone's principles came into popular use.
Metal detector
Bell is also credited with developing one of the early versions of a metal detector through the use of an induction balance, after the shooting of U.S. President James A. Garfield in 1881. According to some accounts, the metal detector worked flawlessly in tests but did not find Guiteau's bullet, partly because the metal bed frame on which the President was lying disturbed the instrument, resulting in static. Garfield's surgeons, led by self-appointed chief physician Doctor Willard Bliss, were skeptical of the device, and ignored Bell's requests to move the President to a bed not fitted with metal springs. Alternatively, although Bell had detected a slight sound on his first test, the bullet may have been lodged too deeply to be detected by the crude apparatus.
Bell's own detailed account, presented to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1882, differs in several particulars from most of the many and varied versions now in circulation, by concluding that extraneous metal was not to blame for failure to locate the bullet. Perplexed by the peculiar results he had obtained during an examination of Garfield, Bell "proceeded to the Executive Mansion the next morning ... to ascertain from the surgeons whether they were perfectly sure that all metal had been removed from the neighborhood of the bed. It was then recollected that underneath the horse-hair mattress on which the President lay was another mattress composed of steel wires. Upon obtaining a duplicate, the mattress was found to consist of a sort of net of woven steel wires, with large meshes. The extent of the [area that produced a response from the detector] having been so small, as compared with the area of the bed, it seemed reasonable to conclude that the steel mattress had produced no detrimental effect." In a footnote, Bell adds, "The death of President Garfield and the subsequent post-mortem examination, however, proved that the bullet was at too great a distance from the surface to have affected our apparatus."
Hydrofoils
The March 1906 Scientific American article by American pioneer William E. Meacham explained the basic principle of hydrofoils and hydroplanes. Bell considered the invention of the hydroplane as a very significant achievement. Based on information gained from that article, he began to sketch concepts of what is now called a hydrofoil boat. Bell and assistant Frederick W. "Casey" Baldwin began hydrofoil experimentation in the summer of 1908 as a possible aid to airplane takeoff from water. Baldwin studied the work of the Italian inventor Enrico Forlanini and began testing models. This led him and Bell to the development of practical hydrofoil watercraft.
During his world tour of 1910–11, Bell and Baldwin met with Forlanini in France. They had rides in the Forlanini hydrofoil boat over Lake Maggiore. Baldwin described it as being as smooth as flying. On returning to Baddeck, a number of initial concepts were built as experimental models, including the Dhonnas Beag (Scottish Gaelic for little devil), the first self-propelled Bell-Baldwin hydrofoil. The experimental boats were essentially proof-of-concept prototypes that culminated in the more substantial HD-4, powered by Renault engines. A top speed of was achieved, with the hydrofoil exhibiting rapid acceleration, good stability, and steering, along with the ability to take waves without difficulty. In 1913, Dr. Bell hired Walter Pinaud, a Sydney yacht designer and builder as well as the proprietor of Pinaud's Yacht Yard in Westmount, Nova Scotia, to work on the pontoons of the HD-4. Pinaud soon took over the boatyard at Bell Laboratories on Beinn Bhreagh, Bell's estate near Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Pinaud's experience in boat-building enabled him to make useful design changes to the HD-4. After the First World War, work began again on the HD-4. Bell's report to the U.S. Navy permitted him to obtain two engines in July 1919. On September 9, 1919, the HD-4 set a world marine speed record of , a record which stood for ten years.
Aeronautics
In 1891, Bell had begun experiments to develop motor-powered heavier-than-air aircraft. The AEA was first formed as Bell shared the vision to fly with his wife, who advised him to seek "young" help as Bell was at the age of 60.
In 1898, Bell experimented with tetrahedral box kites and wings constructed of multiple compound tetrahedral kites covered in maroon silk. The tetrahedral wings were named Cygnet I, II, and III, and were flown both unmanned and manned (Cygnet I crashed during a flight carrying Selfridge) in the period from 1907 to 1912. Some of Bell's kites are on display at the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site.
Bell was a supporter of aerospace engineering research through the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA), officially formed at Baddeck, Nova Scotia, in October 1907 at the suggestion of his wife Mabel and with her financial support after the sale of some of her real estate. The AEA was headed by Bell and the founding members were four young men: American Glenn H. Curtiss, a motorcycle manufacturer at the time and who held the title "world's fastest man", having ridden his self-constructed motor bicycle around in the shortest time, and who was later awarded the Scientific American Trophy for the first official one-kilometre flight in the Western hemisphere, and who later became a world-renowned airplane manufacturer; Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge, an official observer from the U.S. Federal government and one of the few people in the army who believed that aviation was the future; Frederick W. Baldwin, the first Canadian and first British subject to pilot a public flight in Hammondsport, New York; and J. A. D. McCurdy–Baldwin and McCurdy being new engineering graduates from the University of Toronto.
The AEA's work progressed to heavier-than-air machines, applying their knowledge of kites to gliders. Moving to Hammondsport, the group then designed and built the Red Wing, framed in bamboo and covered in red silk and powered by a small air-cooled engine. On March 12, 1908, over Keuka Lake, the biplane lifted off on the first public flight in North America. The innovations that were incorporated into this design included a cockpit enclosure and tail rudder (later variations on the original design would add ailerons as a means of control). One of the AEA's inventions, a practical wingtip form of the aileron, was to become a standard component on all aircraft. The White Wing and June Bug were to follow and by the end of 1908, over 150 flights without mishap had been accomplished. However, the AEA had depleted its initial reserves and only a $15,000 grant from Mrs. Bell allowed it to continue with experiments. Lt. Selfridge had also become the first person killed in a powered heavier-than-air flight in a crash of the Wright Flyer at Fort Myer, Virginia, on September 17, 1908.
Their final aircraft design, the Silver Dart, embodied all of the advancements found in the earlier machines. On February 23, 1909, Bell was present as the Silver Dart flown by J. A. D. McCurdy from the frozen ice of Bras d'Or made the first aircraft flight in Canada. Bell had worried that the flight was too dangerous and had arranged for a doctor to be on hand. With the successful flight, the AEA disbanded and the Silver Dart would revert to Baldwin and McCurdy, who began the Canadian Aerodrome Company and would later demonstrate the aircraft to the Canadian Army.
Heredity and genetics
Bell, along with many members of the scientific community at the time, took an interest in the popular science of heredity which grew out of the publication of Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species in 1859. On his estate in Nova Scotia, Bell conducted meticulously recorded breeding experiments with rams and ewes. Over the course of more than 30 years, Bell sought to produce a breed of sheep with multiple nipples that would bear twins. He specifically wanted to see if selective breeding could produce sheep with four functional nipples with enough milk for twin lambs. This interest in animal breeding caught the attention of scientists focused on the study of heredity and genetics in humans.
In November 1883, Bell presented a paper at a meeting of the National Academy of Sciences titled "Upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race". The paper is a compilation of data on the hereditary aspects of deafness. Bell's research indicated that a hereditary tendency toward deafness, as indicated by the possession of deaf relatives, was an important element in determining the production of deaf offspring. He noted that the proportion of deaf children born to deaf parents was many times greater than the proportion of deaf children born to the general population. In the paper, Bell delved into social commentary and discussed hypothetical public policies to bring an end to deafness. He also criticized educational practices that segregated deaf children rather than integrated them fulling into mainstream classrooms. The paper did not propose sterilization of deaf people or prohibition on intermarriage, noting that “We cannot dictate to men and women whom they should marry and natural selection no longer influences mankind to any great extent.”
A review of Bell's "Memoir upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race" appearing in an 1885 issue of the "American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb" states that "Dr. Bell does not advocate legislative interference with the marriages of the deaf for several reasons one of which is that the results of such marriages have not yet been sufficiently investigated." The article goes on to say that "the editorial remarks based thereon did injustice to the author." The paper's author concludes by saying “A wiser way to prevent the extension of hereditary deafness, it seems to us, would be to continue the investigations which Dr. Bell has so admirable begun until the laws of the transmission of the tendency to deafness are fully understood, and then by explaining those laws to the pupils of our schools to lead them to choose their partners in marriage in such a way that deaf-mute offspring will not be the result."
Historians have noted that Bell explicitly opposed laws regulating marriage, and never mentioned sterilization in any of his writings. Even after Bell agreed to engage with scientists conducting eugenic research, he consistently refused to support public policy that limited the rights or privileges of the deaf.
Bell's interest and research on heredity attracted the interest of Charles Davenport, a Harvard professor and head of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. In 1906, Davenport, who was also the founder of the American Breeder's Association, approached Bell about joining a new committee on eugenics chaired by David Starr Jordan. In 1910, Davenport opened the Eugenics Records office at Cold Spring Harbor. To give the organization scientific credibility, Davenport set up a Board of Scientific Directors naming Bell as chairman. Other members of the board included Luther Burbank, Roswell H. Johnson, Vernon L. Kellogg, and William E. Castle.
In 1921, a Second International Congress of Eugenics was held in New York at the Museum of Natural History and chaired by Davenport. Although Bell did not present any research or speak as part of the proceedings, he was named as honorary president as a means to attract other scientists to attend the event. A summary of the event notes that Bell was a "pioneering investigator in the field of human heredity".
Death
Bell died of complications arising from diabetes on August 2, 1922, at his private estate in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, at age 75. Bell had also been afflicted with pernicious anemia. His last view of the land he had inhabited was by moonlight on his mountain estate at 2:00 a.m. While tending to him after his long illness, Mabel, his wife, whispered, "Don't leave me." By way of reply, Bell signed "no...", lost consciousness, and died shortly after.
On learning of Bell's death, the Canadian Prime Minister, Mackenzie King, cabled Mrs. Bell, saying:
Bell's coffin was constructed of Beinn Bhreagh pine by his laboratory staff, lined with the same red silk fabric used in his tetrahedral kite experiments. To help celebrate his life, his wife asked guests not to wear black (the traditional funeral color) while attending his service, during which soloist Jean MacDonald sang a verse of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Requiem":
Upon the conclusion of Bell's funeral, for one minute at 6:25 p.m. Eastern Time, "every phone on the continent of North America was silenced in honor of the man who had given to mankind the means for direct communication at a distance".
Alexander Graham Bell was buried atop Beinn Bhreagh mountain, on his estate where he had resided increasingly for the last 35 years of his life, overlooking Bras d'Or Lake. He was survived by his wife Mabel, his two daughters, Elsie May and Marian, and nine of his grandchildren.
Legacy and honors
Honors and tributes flowed to Bell in increasing numbers as his invention became ubiquitous and his personal fame grew. Bell received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities to the point that the requests almost became burdensome. During his life, he also received dozens of major awards, medals, and other tributes. These included statuary monuments to both him and the new form of communication his telephone created, including the Bell Telephone Memorial erected in his honor in Alexander Graham Bell Gardens in Brantford, Ontario, in 1917.
A large number of Bell's writings, personal correspondence, notebooks, papers, and other documents reside in both the United States Library of Congress Manuscript Division (as the Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers), and at the Alexander Graham Bell Institute, Cape Breton University, Nova Scotia; major portions of which are available for online viewing.
A number of historic sites and other marks commemorate Bell in North America and Europe, including the first telephone companies in the United States and Canada. Among the major sites are:
The Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, maintained by Parks Canada, which incorporates the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, close to the Bell estate Beinn Bhreagh
The Bell Homestead National Historic Site, includes the Bell family home, "Melville House", and farm overlooking Brantford, Ontario and the Grand River. It was their first home in North America;
Canada's first telephone company building, the "Henderson Home" of the late 1870s, a predecessor of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada (officially chartered in 1880). In 1969, the building was carefully moved to the historic Bell Homestead National Historic Site in Brantford, Ontario, and was refurbished to become a telephone museum. The Bell Homestead, the Henderson Home telephone museum, and the National Historic Site's reception centre are all maintained by the Bell Homestead Society;
The Alexander Graham Bell Memorial Park, which features a broad neoclassical monument built in 1917 by public subscription. The monument depicts mankind's ability to span the globe through telecommunications;
The Alexander Graham Bell Museum (opened in 1956), part of the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site which was completed in 1978 in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Many of the museum's artifacts were donated by Bell's daughters;
In 1880, Bell received the Volta Prize with a purse of 50,000 French francs (approximately US$ in today's dollars) for the invention of the telephone from the French government. Among the luminaries who judged were Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas, fils. The Volta Prize was conceived by Napoleon III in 1852, and named in honor of Alessandro Volta, with Bell becoming the second recipient of the grand prize in its history. Since Bell was becoming increasingly affluent, he used his prize money to create endowment funds (the 'Volta Fund') and institutions in and around the United States capital of Washington, D.C.. These included the prestigious 'Volta Laboratory Association' (1880), also known as the Volta Laboratory and as the 'Alexander Graham Bell Laboratory', and which eventually led to the Volta Bureau (1887) as a center for studies on deafness which is still in operation in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. The Volta Laboratory became an experimental facility devoted to scientific discovery, and the very next year it improved Edison's phonograph by substituting wax for tinfoil as the recording medium and incising the recording rather than indenting it, key upgrades that Edison himself later adopted. The laboratory was also the site where he and his associate invented his "proudest achievement", "the photophone", the "optical telephone" which presaged fibre optical telecommunications while the Volta Bureau would later evolve into the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (the AG Bell), a leading center for the research and pedagogy of deafness.
In partnership with Gardiner Greene Hubbard, Bell helped establish the publication Science during the early 1880s. In 1898, Bell was elected as the second president of the National Geographic Society, serving until 1903, and was primarily responsible for the extensive use of illustrations, including photography, in the magazine. He also served for many years as a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution (1898–1922). The French government conferred on him the decoration of the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honor); the Royal Society of Arts in London awarded him the Albert Medal in 1902; the University of Würzburg, Bavaria, granted him a PhD, and he was awarded the Franklin Institute's Elliott Cresson Medal in 1912. He was one of the founders of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1884 and served as its president from 1891 to 1892. Bell was later awarded the AIEE's Edison Medal in 1914 "For meritorious achievement in the invention of the telephone".
The bel (B) and the smaller decibel (dB) are units of measurement of sound pressure level (SPL) invented by Bell Labs and named after him. Since 1976, the IEEE's Alexander Graham Bell Medal has been awarded to honor outstanding contributions in the field of telecommunications.
In 1936, the US Patent Office declared Bell first on its list of the country's greatest inventors, leading to the US Post Office issuing a commemorative stamp honoring Bell in 1940 as part of its 'Famous Americans Series'. The First Day of Issue ceremony was held on October 28 in Boston, Massachusetts, the city where Bell spent considerable time on research and working with the deaf. The Bell stamp became very popular and sold out in little time. The stamp became, and remains to this day, the most valuable one of the series.
The 150th anniversary of Bell's birth in 1997 was marked by a special issue of commemorative £1 banknotes from the Royal Bank of Scotland. The illustrations on the reverse of the note include Bell's face in profile, his signature, and objects from Bell's life and career: users of the telephone over the ages; an audio wave signal; a diagram of a telephone receiver; geometric shapes from engineering structures; representations of sign language and the phonetic alphabet; the geese which helped him to understand flight; and the sheep which he studied to understand genetics. Additionally, the Government of Canada honored Bell in 1997 with a C$100 gold coin, in tribute also to the 150th anniversary of his birth, and with a silver dollar coin in 2009 in honor of the 100th anniversary of flight in Canada. That first flight was made by an airplane designed under Dr. Bell's tutelage, named the Silver Dart. Bell's image, and also those of his many inventions have graced paper money, coinage, and postal stamps in numerous countries worldwide for many dozens of years.
Alexander Graham Bell was ranked 57th among the 100 Greatest Britons (2002) in an official BBC nationwide poll, and among the Top Ten Greatest Canadians (2004), and the 100 Greatest Americans (2005). In 2006, Bell was also named as one of the 10 greatest Scottish scientists in history after having been listed in the National Library of Scotland's 'Scottish Science Hall of Fame'. Bell's name is still widely known and used as part of the names of dozens of educational institutes, corporate namesakes, street and place names around the world.
Honorary degrees
Alexander Graham Bell, who could not complete the university program of his youth, received at least a dozen honorary degrees from academic institutions, including eight honorary LL.D.s (Doctorate of Laws), two Ph.D.s, a D.Sc., and an M.D.:
Gallaudet College (then named National Deaf-Mute College) in Washington, D.C. (Ph.D.) in 1880
University of Würzburg in Würzburg, Bavaria (Ph.D.) in 1882
Heidelberg University in Heidelberg, Germany (M.D.) in 1886
Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts (LL.D.) in 1896
Illinois College, in Jacksonville, Illinois (LL.D.) in 1896, possibly 1881
Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts (LL.D.) in 1901
St. Andrew's University in St Andrews, Scotland (LL.D) in 1902
University of Oxford in Oxford, England (D.Sc.) in 1906
University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland (LL.D.) in 1906
George Washington University in Washington, D.C. (LL.D.) in 1913
Queen's University at Kingston in Kingston, Ontario, Canada (LL.D.) in 1908
Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire (LL.D.) in 1913, possibly 1914
Portrayal in film and television
The 1939 film The Story of Alexander Graham Bell was based on his life and works.
The 1992 film The Sound and the Silence was a TV film.
Biography aired an episode Alexander Graham Bell: Voice of Invention on August 6, 1996.
Eyewitness No. 90 A Great Inventor Is Remembered, a 1957 NFB short about Bell.
Bibliography
Also published as:
See also
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site
Bell Boatyard
Bell Homestead National Historic Site
Bell Telephone Memorial
Berliner, Emile
Bourseul, Charles
IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal
John Peirce, submitted telephone ideas to Bell
Manzetti, Innocenzo
Meucci, Antonio
Oriental Telephone Company
People on Scottish banknotes
Pioneers, a Volunteer Network
Reis, Philipp
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell, a 1939 movie of his life
The Telephone Cases
Volta Laboratory and Bureau
William Francis Channing, submitted telephone ideas to Bell
References
Notes
Citations
Further reading
Mullett, Mary B. The Story of A Famous Inventor. New York: Rogers and Fowle, 1921.
Walters, Eric. The Hydrofoil Mystery. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Puffin Books, 1999. .
Winzer, Margret A. The History Of Special Education: From Isolation To Integration. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press, 1993. .
External links
Alexander and Mabel Bell Legacy Foundation
Alexander Graham Bell Institute at Cape Breton University
Bell Telephone Memorial, Brantford, Ontario
Bell Homestead National Historic Site, Brantford, Ontario
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site of Canada, Baddeck, Nova Scotia
Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers at the Library of Congress
Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
Science.ca profile: Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell's notebooks at the Internet Archive
"Téléphone et photophone : les contributions indirectes de Graham Bell à l'idée de la vision à distance par l'électricité" at the Histoire de la télévision
Multimedia
Alexander Graham Bell at The Biography Channel
Shaping The Future, from the Heritage Minutes and Radio Minutes collection at HistoricaCanada.ca (1:31 audio drama, Adobe Flash required)
1847 births
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Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame inductees | false | [
"Walter Ernest How (25 December 1885 – 5 August 1972) was an English sailor, known for taking part in the Ernest Shackleton-led Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition from 1914 to 1917.\n\nBorn in Bermondsey, London, he became a sailor when he was 12 years old. He married Helen Varey in 1913, and his first daughter was born only six weeks before his departure on the .\n\nWhen the Endurance made a stop at Buenos Aires en route to the Antarctica, How, along with William Bakewell, helped smuggle Perce Blackborow on board as a stowaway. After the Endurance sank, trapped in the sea ice around Antarctica, How was forced to survive upon the icebergs along with the rest of the crew. When they later used the three wooden lifeboats to row to Elephant Island, How was in the Stancomb Wills.\n\nOn return to England after their eventual rescue, How was awarded the Polar Medal and joined the Merchant Navy during the Great War.\n\nFootnotes\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1885 births\n1972 deaths\nEnglish explorers\nSailors from London\nImperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition\nPeople from Bermondsey\nRecipients of the Polar Medal",
"The eighth season of the Spanish reality television series Gran Hermano was broadcast over 15 episodes in 2006. The season started on 7 September and finished on the 21st of December of 2006.\n\nThe winner was Brazilian-born Naiala Melo, becoming the first foreigner to win Gran Hermano. In addition, for the first time ever the final 3 were all females.\n\nOverall\n\nThis season of Gran Hermano made Telecinco the first broadcaster to reach the eighth season of the Big Brother.\n\nThe house was divided into four apartments that were assigned by drawing lots: an individual apartment (Daniel L.); one for two people (Laura F. and Javier); one for five (Laura S., Gemma, Mahme, Daniel R. and Pulpillo); and one for six (Kiko, Marusky, Greta, Kiran, Miriam and Naiala). In this edition the competitors were able to use the immediate nomination, meaning that competitors could nominate at any time of the day and were given six points to distribute as they wished. A competitor could use immediate nomination only once, with no other competitor aware that they had used it. If the competitors did not manage to pass a test they could obtain the budget by winning a \"Panic Room\" challenge.\n\nThe last competitor was chosen at random from among all the initial competitors. The chosen one was Romina, with the number 133, though a mistake was discovered in the drawing since the royal extracted number was 733, number belonging to Laura Sevillano, whom they could locate some days later. Since the mistake had been of the program and not of the competitors, Mercedes Milá said in the following show that there was given to both girls the opportunity to spend the tests both to turn into competitors of the house 8. Romina did not manage to enter the house because it gave positive in the analysis of cánnabis and because the number was not his but that of his mother since they exchanged them when it was extracted.\n\nThe slogan of this edition was: \"you will see everything\".\n\n Naiala and Gemma appeared naked in Interviú (a popular magazine that publishes naked artistic photography featuring famous people).\n Daniel López started to do porn films.\n In 2010, Marusky and Daniel Rubio entered as a couple on \"Gran Hermano: El Reencuentro\" (All Stars). They were evicted one week later.\n\nHousemates\n\nDani Lo./Drovi \nDaniel López (who they all called DaniLo or Drovi) was 26 years old and he was a gardener. He was from Mallorca. He entered the house on Day 1 and lived always in the individual room. Sometimes he was sharing the room with Naiala, with whom he had a relation of love. Initially he said that they were couple to win the contest, but then he assured that he was in love. He was forming a part of the group of oranges because it was convenient for him, but as the contest advanced he and Naiala formed an own group. He was considered to be a traitor. He used the immediate nomination on week 13 and was head of household two weeks. In the house he broke a finger. He was evicted on Day 92 with the 55,5 %.\n\nDani R.\nDaniel Rubio (who they all called \"El Sucio\" (The Dirty one)) was studying journalism when he entered Big Brother. He was 24 years old and he was from Barcelona. He entered the house on Day 1 and lived always in the brown room. He was very friend of Javi and Pulpillo, and he had a relationship with Laura F. in his last weeks on house. He was a leader of the orange group, and he was gliding often how to nominate. He was a very good player but he was rude, bad-mannered and politically incorrect. He was trying always to extract of hinge his housemates to try that they were leaving the contest by their own decision. He was never head of household. He was evicted on Day 85 with the 41,2% and he was received in set by booings. He declared that in Big Brother was not possible to know the people and confirmed that he had made a personage all the time. He also said that the program had manipulated the contest in favour of the blue ones.\n\nGemma\nGemma Guzmán was 25 years old and she was from Sevilla. She entered the house on Day 1. She lived always in the orange room. She developed a hatred with Naiala. Also she developed a relationship with Kiko. She was seeming to be the leader of one of both groups of the house until she was eliminated on Day 29 by 57,8 % of the votes. She was never head of household.\n\nGreta\nGreta de Anta was from Madrid. She was the younger contestant of the edition. She entered the house on Day 1 and lived always in the blue room. She had a look rocker and punk. Initially, Javi shammed that he loved her. She was head of household on the third week and saved Laura F. to be nominated. Greta was first to the Diary Room on week 8, and was allowed to exercise the special Nomination twist. She chose to give 3 points each to Daniel R. and Javier. She developed a nice friendship with Kiran, though sometimes she was distrusting him through the fault of the pressure of the contest. Often she had problems with Naiala and Laura F. She was eliminated on Day 64 by 36,8 % of the votes in her second nomination.\n\nJavier\nJavier Robles was 29 years old and he was from Madrid. He entered the house on Day 1 and lived always in the orange room. He was very friend of Laura F., Dani Rubio and Pulpillo. He was a leader of the orange group, and he was gliding often how to nominate. He was rude, bad-mannered and politically incorrect. He was trying always to extract of hinge his housemates to try that they were leaving the contest by their own decision. He was never head of household. Javier was the first to use the immediate nomination. He was allowed to appoint all six of his points to Laura S. Javier again made it to the Diary Room first on the second week and was allowed to split his six points any way he liked. He gave Greta 5 points and Kiko 1 point. He was eliminated by 61,4 % on Day 70. He declared that in Big Brother was not possible to know the people and confirmed that he had made a personage all the time. He also said that the program had manipulated the contest in favour of the blue ones.\n\nKiko\nKiko Rodríguez was 29 years old and he was from Pontevedra. He was a businessman and had look of millionaire. He entered the house on Day 1 and lived always in the blue room. He developed a loving relation with Gemma. After she was eliminated, he assumed the leadership of the so-called group \"the blue ones\". He was protecting Mimi, Mahme and Greta of the enemies. He had many problems with \"the orange ones\" (Javi, Naiala, Pulpillo, Dani Lopez, Dani Rubio and Laura F..) Sometimes he seemed to be aggressive. He was eliminated on Day 42 by 39,8 % of the votes. He was never head of household.\n\nKiran\nKiran Wolbeek was from Ireland but he was living in Madrid. He was 33 years old. He entered the house on the Day 1 and he lived in the blue room until he was expelled on Day 78 by 43,5 % of the votes. During the time that he was in the contest he had problems with Javier and Dani Rubio. After the evictions of Gemma, Kiko and Marusky, he assumed the leadership of the blue room. He was protecting from the enemies Mimi and Mahme and specially Greta, with whom he had a good friendship. He declared that he was giving him disgust how his rivals were competing. He was head of household on week 4 and saved himself from the nomination. He uses the immediate nomination on week 11 and was allowed to split his points anyway he liked. He awarded four points to Pulpillo, and one point each to Daniel López and Laura F. in an attempt of saving what was staying of his group\n\nLaura F.\nLaura Fernández was from Cantabria and was 23 years old when she entered on Big Brother 8. She was a single mother. She entered the house on Day 1 and lived always in the orange room. She was very friend of Javi, Dani Rubio and Pulpillo. She was calling herself The Prima donna. She was the member more warrior of the orange group, but she also was the most coherent and sensible. For a long time it seemed that she was going to gain the contest, but she remained second. She had a relationship with Dani Rubio in his last weeks on house. She said that the program had manipulated the contest in favour of the blue ones.\n\nLaura S.\nLaura Sevillano was 27 years old when she entered on Big Brother 8. She was from Cáceres. She was chosen by drawing by the number 733. After the program was recognizing the mistake on having extracted the winning ball, Laura was located and entered the house on the Day 4. She lived in the brown room until she was expelled on the Day 15 by 54,9 % of the votes. She was the first head of household. She could be saved from the nomination, but she decided to save Mahme declaring that she was not prepared to support the pressure of the contest.\n\nMiriam/Mimi \nMiriam Constantí was from Barcelona. She was 24 years old when she entered on Big Brother 8 and she was licensed in right. She was defined like otaku. She entered on Day 1 and the blue room was assigned to her, where she lived until the end of the contest. She remained third with 17,5 % She always was protected by his friends and she never had direct clashes with anybody. She developed a great friendship with Mahme, and when Mahme was expelled she cried very much. She was head of household on week 10 after having chosen the same flag that Greta chose in the set during her eviction interview. The orange group declared that the program had manipulated the game on having known in advance that Greta would choose the flag of Japan, the favorite country of his friend Mimi.\n\nMarusky\nMarusky Perdomo was from Las Palmas and she was 35 years old when she entered on Big Brother 8. She entered the house on Day 1 and lived always in the blue room until she was expelled on the Day 57 by 53,2 % of the votes in her first nomination. She was never head of household. After the eviction of Kiko and Gemma she assumed the leadership of the blue grup and she started protecting Mimi, Mahme and Greta. She said that often she was feeling alone and that she was not bearing well the pressure of the contest. Her enemies tried that she was losing the nerves stealing clothes and food from her. She demonstrated to be hypochondriac enough.\n\nMahme\nMahme Garrido was from Jaén and she was 25 years old when she entered on Big Brother 8. She entered the house on Day 1 and the brown room was assigned to her, though often she was sleeping in the blue room. Mahme was forming a part of the group of the blue ones, but she was trying to remove well with all. After the eliminations of Kiko, Marusky and Kiran, she assumed the post of protecting Mimi of the enemies. She was a mature person and for a long time it seemed that she was going to gain the contest. She was never head of household. She was eliminated on Day 99 in her third nomination by 47% of the votes. She said goodbye of Mimi of dramatic form.\n\nNaiala\nNaiala Melo was born in Brazil but she was living in Tenerife. She entered on Day 1 and the blue room was assigned to her, but dometimes she slept in the individual room with Daniel Lo, with whom she had a relation of love. Initially she said that they were couple to win the contest, but then she assured that she was in love. She was head of household two times and she used the immediate nomination two times to. At the first time, she gave four points to Dani Rubio and two to Laura F. by strategy. The second time, she gave three points to Mahme and other three points to Mimi. She was forming a part of the group of oranges because it was convenient for him, but as the contest advanced she and Daniel L. formed an own group because she was saying to feel insulted by his \"friends\", who were racist. She was considered to be a traitor. Nonetheless, she won with 54.6%.\n\nPulpillo\nMiguel Ángel Pulpillo, whom they all called Pulpillo, was 29 years old and he was from Jaén. He was a farmer. He was an extremely ugly person. He entered the house on Day 1 and the brown room was assigned to him, where he lived until he was evictedone day before the final (Day 104). He was very friend of Laura F., Dani Rubio and Javi. He was head of household on week 9 and 12. He was recognized as the mole of the blue group: he was spying on them to spend information to the orange group. He was more polite than his friends, but equally rude. He said that the program had manipulated the contest in favour of the blue ones.\n\nNomination table\n\nNotes\n\n2006 Spanish television seasons\nGH 8"
] |
[
"Alexander Graham Bell",
"First experiments with sound",
"What was his first experiment with sound?",
"a remarkably lifelike head that could \"speak\", albeit only a few words.",
"How old was he when he made the head?",
"I don't know."
] | C_439812ed14a04303b818b189d6815ec3_0 | What inspired him to make the head? | 3 | What inspired Alexander Graham Bell to make the head? | Alexander Graham Bell | His father encouraged Bell's interest in speech and, in 1863, took his sons to see a unique automaton developed by Sir Charles Wheatstone based on the earlier work of Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen. The rudimentary "mechanical man" simulated a human voice. Bell was fascinated by the machine and after he obtained a copy of von Kempelen's book, published in German, and had laboriously translated it, he and his older brother Melville built their own automaton head. Their father, highly interested in their project, offered to pay for any supplies and spurred the boys on with the enticement of a "big prize" if they were successful. While his brother constructed the throat and larynx, Bell tackled the more difficult task of recreating a realistic skull. His efforts resulted in a remarkably lifelike head that could "speak", albeit only a few words. The boys would carefully adjust the "lips" and when a bellows forced air through the windpipe, a very recognizable "Mama" ensued, to the delight of neighbours who came to see the Bell invention. Intrigued by the results of the automaton, Bell continued to experiment with a live subject, the family's Skye Terrier, "Trouve". After he taught it to growl continuously, Bell would reach into its mouth and manipulate the dog's lips and vocal cords to produce a crude-sounding "Ow ah oo ga ma ma". With little convincing, visitors believed his dog could articulate "How are you, grandma?" Indicative of his playful nature, his experiments convinced onlookers that they saw a "talking dog". These initial forays into experimentation with sound led Bell to undertake his first serious work on the transmission of sound, using tuning forks to explore resonance. At age 19, Bell wrote a report on his work and sent it to philologist Alexander Ellis, a colleague of his father (who would later be portrayed as Professor Henry Higgins in Pygmalion). Ellis immediately wrote back indicating that the experiments were similar to existing work in Germany, and also lent Bell a copy of Hermann von Helmholtz's work, The Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music. Dismayed to find that groundbreaking work had already been undertaken by Helmholtz who had conveyed vowel sounds by means of a similar tuning fork "contraption", Bell pored over the German scientist's book. Working from his own erroneous mistranslation of a French edition, Bell fortuitously then made a deduction that would be the underpinning of all his future work on transmitting sound, reporting: "Without knowing much about the subject, it seemed to me that if vowel sounds could be produced by electrical means, so could consonants, so could articulate speech." He also later remarked: "I thought that Helmholtz had done it ... and that my failure was due only to my ignorance of electricity. It was a valuable blunder ... If I had been able to read German in those days, I might never have commenced my experiments!" CANNOTANSWER | Their father, highly interested in their project, offered to pay for any supplies and spurred the boys on with the enticement of a "big prize" if they were successful. | Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885.
Bell's father, grandfather, and brother had all been associated with work on elocution and speech and both his mother and wife were deaf; profoundly influencing Bell's life's work. His research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices which eventually culminated in Bell being awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone, on March 7, 1876. Bell considered his invention an intrusion on his real work as a scientist and refused to have a telephone in his study.
Many other inventions marked Bell's later life, including groundbreaking work in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils, and aeronautics. Although Bell was not one of the 33 founders of the National Geographic Society, he had a strong influence on the magazine while serving as the second president from January 7, 1898, until 1903.
Beyond his work in engineering, Bell had a deep interest in the emerging science of heredity.
Early life
Alexander Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3, 1847. The family home was at South Charlotte Street, and has a stone inscription marking it as Alexander Graham Bell's birthplace. He had two brothers: Melville James Bell (1845–1870) and Edward Charles Bell (1848–1867), both of whom would die of tuberculosis. His father was Professor Alexander Melville Bell, a phonetician, and his mother was Eliza Grace Bell (née Symonds). Born as just "Alexander Bell", at age 10, he made a plea to his father to have a middle name like his two brothers. For his 11th birthday, his father acquiesced and allowed him to adopt the name "Graham", chosen out of respect for Alexander Graham, a Canadian being treated by his father who had become a family friend. To close relatives and friends he remained "Aleck".
First invention
As a child, young Bell displayed a curiosity about his world; he gathered botanical specimens and ran experiments at an early age. His best friend was Ben Herdman, a neighbour whose family operated a flour mill. At the age of 12, Bell built a homemade device that combined rotating paddles with sets of nail brushes, creating a simple dehusking machine that was put into operation at the mill and used steadily for a number of years. In return, Ben's father John Herdman gave both boys the run of a small workshop in which to "invent".
From his early years, Bell showed a sensitive nature and a talent for art, poetry, and music that was encouraged by his mother. With no formal training, he mastered the piano and became the family's pianist. Despite being normally quiet and introspective, he revelled in mimicry and "voice tricks" akin to ventriloquism that continually entertained family guests during their occasional visits. Bell was also deeply affected by his mother's gradual deafness (she began to lose her hearing when he was 12), and learned a manual finger language so he could sit at her side and tap out silently the conversations swirling around the family parlour. He also developed a technique of speaking in clear, modulated tones directly into his mother's forehead wherein she would hear him with reasonable clarity. Bell's preoccupation with his mother's deafness led him to study acoustics.
His family was long associated with the teaching of elocution: his grandfather, Alexander Bell, in London, his uncle in Dublin, and his father, in Edinburgh, were all elocutionists. His father published a variety of works on the subject, several of which are still well known, especially his The Standard Elocutionist (1860), which appeared in Edinburgh in 1868. The Standard Elocutionist appeared in 168 British editions and sold over a quarter of a million copies in the United States alone. In this treatise, his father explains his methods of how to instruct deaf-mutes (as they were then known) to articulate words and read other people's lip movements to decipher meaning. Bell's father taught him and his brothers not only to write Visible Speech but to identify any symbol and its accompanying sound. Bell became so proficient that he became a part of his father's public demonstrations and astounded audiences with his abilities. He could decipher Visible Speech representing virtually every language, including Latin, Scottish Gaelic, and even Sanskrit, accurately reciting written tracts without any prior knowledge of their pronunciation.
Education
As a young child, Bell, like his brothers, received his early schooling at home from his father. At an early age, he was enrolled at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, Scotland, which he left at the age of 15, having completed only the first four forms. His school record was undistinguished, marked by absenteeism and lacklustre grades. His main interest remained in the sciences, especially biology, while he treated other school subjects with indifference, to the dismay of his father. Upon leaving school, Bell travelled to London to live with his grandfather, Alexander Bell, on Harrington Square. During the year he spent with his grandfather, a love of learning was born, with long hours spent in serious discussion and study. The elder Bell took great efforts to have his young pupil learn to speak clearly and with conviction, the attributes that his pupil would need to become a teacher himself. At the age of 16, Bell secured a position as a "pupil-teacher" of elocution and music, in Weston House Academy at Elgin, Moray, Scotland. Although he was enrolled as a student in Latin and Greek, he instructed classes himself in return for board and £10 per session. The following year, he attended the University of Edinburgh, joining his older brother Melville who had enrolled there the previous year. In 1868, not long before he departed for Canada with his family, Bell completed his matriculation exams and was accepted for admission to University College London.
First experiments with sound
His father encouraged Bell's interest in speech and, in 1863, took his sons to see a unique automaton developed by Sir Charles Wheatstone based on the earlier work of Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen. The rudimentary "mechanical man" simulated a human voice. Bell was fascinated by the machine and after he obtained a copy of von Kempelen's book, published in German, and had laboriously translated it, he and his older brother Melville built their own automaton head. Their father, highly interested in their project, offered to pay for any supplies and spurred the boys on with the enticement of a "big prize" if they were successful. While his brother constructed the throat and larynx, Bell tackled the more difficult task of recreating a realistic skull. His efforts resulted in a remarkably lifelike head that could "speak", albeit only a few words. The boys would carefully adjust the "lips" and when a bellows forced air through the windpipe, a very recognizable "Mama" ensued, to the delight of neighbours who came to see the Bell invention.
Intrigued by the results of the automaton, Bell continued to experiment with a live subject, the family's Skye Terrier, "Trouve". After he taught it to growl continuously, Bell would reach into its mouth and manipulate the dog's lips and vocal cords to produce a crude-sounding "Ow ah oo ga ma ma". With little convincing, visitors believed his dog could articulate "How are you, grandmama?" Indicative of his playful nature, his experiments convinced onlookers that they saw a "talking dog". These initial forays into experimentation with sound led Bell to undertake his first serious work on the transmission of sound, using tuning forks to explore resonance.
At age 19, Bell wrote a report on his work and sent it to philologist Alexander Ellis, a colleague of his father. Ellis immediately wrote back indicating that the experiments were similar to existing work in Germany, and also lent Bell a copy of Hermann von Helmholtz's work, The Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music.
Dismayed to find that groundbreaking work had already been undertaken by Helmholtz who had conveyed vowel sounds by means of a similar tuning fork "contraption", Bell pored over the German scientist's book. Working from his own erroneous mistranslation of a French edition, Bell fortuitously then made a deduction that would be the underpinning of all his future work on transmitting sound, reporting: "Without knowing much about the subject, it seemed to me that if vowel sounds could be produced by electrical means, so could consonants, so could articulate speech." He also later remarked: "I thought that Helmholtz had done it ... and that my failure was due only to my ignorance of electricity. It was a valuable blunder ... If I had been able to read German in those days, I might never have commenced my experiments!"
Family tragedy
In 1865, when the Bell family moved to London, Bell returned to Weston House as an assistant master and, in his spare hours, continued experiments on sound using a minimum of laboratory equipment. Bell concentrated on experimenting with electricity to convey sound and later installed a telegraph wire from his room in Somerset College to that of a friend. Throughout late 1867, his health faltered mainly through exhaustion. His younger brother, Edward "Ted," was similarly bed-ridden, suffering from tuberculosis. While Bell recovered (by then referring to himself in correspondence as "A. G. Bell") and served the next year as an instructor at Somerset College, Bath, England, his brother's condition deteriorated. Edward would never recover. Upon his brother's death, Bell returned home in 1867. His older brother Melville had married and moved out. With aspirations to obtain a degree at University College London, Bell considered his next years as preparation for the degree examinations, devoting his spare time at his family's residence to studying.
Helping his father in Visible Speech demonstrations and lectures brought Bell to Susanna E. Hull's private school for the deaf in South Kensington, London. His first two pupils were deaf-mute girls who made remarkable progress under his tutelage. While his older brother seemed to achieve success on many fronts including opening his own elocution school, applying for a patent on an invention, and starting a family, Bell continued as a teacher. However, in May 1870, Melville died from complications due to tuberculosis, causing a family crisis. His father had also suffered a debilitating illness earlier in life and had been restored to health by a convalescence in Newfoundland. Bell's parents embarked upon a long-planned move when they realized that their remaining son was also sickly. Acting decisively, Alexander Melville Bell asked Bell to arrange for the sale of all the family property, conclude all of his brother's affairs (Bell took over his last student, curing a pronounced lisp), and join his father and mother in setting out for the "New World". Reluctantly, Bell also had to conclude a relationship with Marie Eccleston, who, as he had surmised, was not prepared to leave England with him.
Canada
In 1870, 23-year-old Bell travelled with his parents and his brother's widow, Caroline Margaret Ottaway, to Paris, Ontario, to stay with Thomas Henderson, a Baptist minister and family friend. The Bell family soon purchased a farm of at Tutelo Heights (now called Tutela Heights), near Brantford, Ontario. The property consisted of an orchard, large farmhouse, stable, pigsty, hen-house, and a carriage house, which bordered the Grand River.
At the homestead, Bell set up his own workshop in the converted carriage house near to what he called his "dreaming place", a large hollow nestled in trees at the back of the property above the river. Despite his frail condition upon arriving in Canada, Bell found the climate and environs to his liking, and rapidly improved. He continued his interest in the study of the human voice and when he discovered the Six Nations Reserve across the river at Onondaga, he learned the Mohawk language and translated its unwritten vocabulary into Visible Speech symbols. For his work, Bell was awarded the title of Honorary Chief and participated in a ceremony where he donned a Mohawk headdress and danced traditional dances.
After setting up his workshop, Bell continued experiments based on Helmholtz's work with electricity and sound. He also modified a melodeon (a type of pump organ) so that it could transmit its music electrically over a distance. Once the family was settled in, both Bell and his father made plans to establish a teaching practice and in 1871, he accompanied his father to Montreal, where Melville was offered a position to teach his System of Visible Speech.
Work with the deaf
Bell's father was invited by Sarah Fuller, principal of the Boston School for Deaf Mutes (which continues today as the public Horace Mann School for the Deaf), in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, to introduce the Visible Speech System by providing training for Fuller's instructors, but he declined the post in favour of his son. Travelling to Boston in April 1871, Bell proved successful in training the school's instructors. He was subsequently asked to repeat the programme at the American Asylum for Deaf-mutes in Hartford, Connecticut, and the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Returning home to Brantford after six months abroad, Bell continued his experiments with his "harmonic telegraph". The basic concept behind his device was that messages could be sent through a single wire if each message was transmitted at a different pitch, but work on both the transmitter and receiver was needed.
Unsure of his future, he first contemplated returning to London to complete his studies, but decided to return to Boston as a teacher. His father helped him set up his private practice by contacting Gardiner Greene Hubbard, the president of the Clarke School for the Deaf for a recommendation. Teaching his father's system, in October 1872, Alexander Bell opened his "School of Vocal Physiology and Mechanics of Speech" in Boston, which attracted a large number of deaf pupils, with his first class numbering 30 students. While he was working as a private tutor, one of his pupils was Helen Keller, who came to him as a young child unable to see, hear, or speak. She was later to say that Bell dedicated his life to the penetration of that "inhuman silence which separates and estranges". In 1893, Keller performed the sod-breaking ceremony for the construction of Bell's new Volta Bureau, dedicated to "the increase and diffusion of knowledge relating to the deaf".
Throughout his lifetime, Bell sought to integrate the deaf and hard of hearing with the hearing world. To achieve complete assimilation in society, Bell encouraged speech therapy and lip reading as well as sign language. He outlined this in a 1898 paper detailing his belief that with resources and effort, the deaf could be taught to read lips and speak (known as oralism) thus enabling their integration within the wider society from which many were often being excluded. Owing to his efforts to balance oralism with the teaching of sign language, Bell is often viewed negatively by those embracing Deaf culture. Ironically, Bell's last words to his deaf wife, Mabell, were signed.
Continuing experimentation
In 1872, Bell became professor of Vocal Physiology and Elocution at the Boston University School of Oratory. During this period, he alternated between Boston and Brantford, spending summers in his Canadian home. At Boston University, Bell was "swept up" by the excitement engendered by the many scientists and inventors residing in the city. He continued his research in sound and endeavored to find a way to transmit musical notes and articulate speech, but although absorbed by his experiments, he found it difficult to devote enough time to experimentation. While days and evenings were occupied by his teaching and private classes, Bell began to stay awake late into the night, running experiment after experiment in rented facilities at his boarding house. Keeping "night owl" hours, he worried that his work would be discovered and took great pains to lock up his notebooks and laboratory equipment. Bell had a specially made table where he could place his notes and equipment inside a locking cover. Worse still, his health deteriorated as he suffered severe headaches. Returning to Boston in fall 1873, Bell made a far-reaching decision to concentrate on his experiments in sound.
Deciding to give up his lucrative private Boston practice, Bell retained only two students, six-year-old "Georgie" Sanders, deaf from birth, and 15-year-old Mabel Hubbard. Each pupil would play an important role in the next developments. George's father, Thomas Sanders, a wealthy businessman, offered Bell a place to stay in nearby Salem with Georgie's grandmother, complete with a room to "experiment". Although the offer was made by George's mother and followed the year-long arrangement in 1872 where her son and his nurse had moved to quarters next to Bell's boarding house, it was clear that Mr. Sanders was backing the proposal. The arrangement was for teacher and student to continue their work together, with free room and board thrown in. Mabel was a bright, attractive girl who was ten years Bell's junior but became the object of his affection. Having lost her hearing after a near-fatal bout of scarlet fever close to her fifth birthday, she had learned to read lips but her father, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, Bell's benefactor and personal friend, wanted her to work directly with her teacher.
The telephone
By 1874, Bell's initial work on the harmonic telegraph had entered a formative stage, with progress made both at his new Boston "laboratory" (a rented facility) and at his family home in Canada a big success. While working that summer in Brantford, Bell experimented with a "phonautograph", a pen-like machine that could draw shapes of sound waves on smoked glass by tracing their vibrations. Bell thought it might be possible to generate undulating electrical currents that corresponded to sound waves. Bell also thought that multiple metal reeds tuned to different frequencies like a harp would be able to convert the undulating currents back into sound. But he had no working model to demonstrate the feasibility of these ideas.
In 1874, telegraph message traffic was rapidly expanding and in the words of Western Union President William Orton, had become "the nervous system of commerce". Orton had contracted with inventors Thomas Edison and Elisha Gray to find a way to send multiple telegraph messages on each telegraph line to avoid the great cost of constructing new lines. When Bell mentioned to Gardiner Hubbard and Thomas Sanders that he was working on a method of sending multiple tones on a telegraph wire using a multi-reed device, the two wealthy patrons began to financially support Bell's experiments. Patent matters would be handled by Hubbard's patent attorney, Anthony Pollok.
In March 1875, Bell and Pollok visited the scientist Joseph Henry, who was then director of the Smithsonian Institution, and asked Henry's advice on the electrical multi-reed apparatus that Bell hoped would transmit the human voice by telegraph. Henry replied that Bell had "the germ of a great invention". When Bell said that he did not have the necessary knowledge, Henry replied, "Get it!" That declaration greatly encouraged Bell to keep trying, even though he did not have the equipment needed to continue his experiments, nor the ability to create a working model of his ideas. However, a chance meeting in 1874 between Bell and Thomas A. Watson, an experienced electrical designer and mechanic at the electrical machine shop of Charles Williams, changed all that.
With financial support from Sanders and Hubbard, Bell hired Thomas Watson as his assistant, and the two of them experimented with acoustic telegraphy. On June 2, 1875, Watson accidentally plucked one of the reeds and Bell, at the receiving end of the wire, heard the overtones of the reed; overtones that would be necessary for transmitting speech. That demonstrated to Bell that only one reed or armature was necessary, not multiple reeds. This led to the "gallows" sound-powered telephone, which could transmit indistinct, voice-like sounds, but not clear speech.
The race to the patent office
In 1875, Bell developed an acoustic telegraph and drew up a patent application for it. Since he had agreed to share U.S. profits with his investors Gardiner Hubbard and Thomas Sanders, Bell requested that an associate in Ontario, George Brown, attempt to patent it in Britain, instructing his lawyers to apply for a patent in the U.S. only after they received word from Britain (Britain would issue patents only for discoveries not previously patented elsewhere).
Meanwhile, Elisha Gray was also experimenting with acoustic telegraphy and thought of a way to transmit speech using a water transmitter. On February 14, 1876, Gray filed a caveat with the U.S. Patent Office for a telephone design that used a water transmitter. That same morning, Bell's lawyer filed Bell's application with the patent office. There is considerable debate about who arrived first and Gray later challenged the primacy of Bell's patent. Bell was in Boston on February 14 and did not arrive in Washington until February 26.
Bell's patent 174,465, was issued to Bell on March 7, 1876, by the U.S. Patent Office. Bell's patent covered "the method of, and apparatus for, transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically ... by causing electrical undulations, similar in form to the vibrations of the air accompanying the said vocal or other sound" Bell returned to Boston the same day and the next day resumed work, drawing in his notebook a diagram similar to that in Gray's patent caveat.
On March 10, 1876, three days after his patent was issued, Bell succeeded in getting his telephone to work, using a liquid transmitter similar to Gray's design. Vibration of the diaphragm caused a needle to vibrate in the water, varying the electrical resistance in the circuit. When Bell spoke the sentence "Mr. Watson—Come here—I want to see you" into the liquid transmitter, Watson, listening at the receiving end in an adjoining room, heard the words clearly.
Although Bell was, and still is, accused of stealing the telephone from Gray, Bell used Gray's water transmitter design only after Bell's patent had been granted, and only as a proof of concept scientific experiment, to prove to his own satisfaction that intelligible "articulate speech" (Bell's words) could be electrically transmitted. After March 1876, Bell focused on improving the electromagnetic telephone and never used Gray's liquid transmitter in public demonstrations or commercial use.
The question of priority for the variable resistance feature of the telephone was raised by the examiner before he approved Bell's patent application. He told Bell that his claim for the variable resistance feature was also described in Gray's caveat. Bell pointed to a variable resistance device in his previous application in which he described a cup of mercury, not water. He had filed the mercury application at the patent office a year earlier on February 25, 1875, long before Elisha Gray described the water device. In addition, Gray abandoned his caveat, and because he did not contest Bell's priority, the examiner approved Bell's patent on March 3, 1876. Gray had reinvented the variable resistance telephone, but Bell was the first to write down the idea and the first to test it in a telephone.
The patent examiner, Zenas Fisk Wilber, later stated in an affidavit that he was an alcoholic who was much in debt to Bell's lawyer, Marcellus Bailey, with whom he had served in the Civil War. He claimed he showed Gray's patent caveat to Bailey. Wilber also claimed (after Bell arrived in Washington D.C. from Boston) that he showed Gray's caveat to Bell and that Bell paid him $100 (). Bell claimed they discussed the patent only in general terms, although in a letter to Gray, Bell admitted that he learned some of the technical details. Bell denied in an affidavit that he ever gave Wilber any money.
Later developments
On March 10, 1876, Bell used "the instrument" in Boston to call Thomas Watson who was in another room but out of earshot. He said, "Mr. Watson, come here – I want to see you" and Watson soon appeared at his side.
Continuing his experiments in Brantford, Bell brought home a working model of his telephone. On August 3, 1876, from the telegraph office in Brantford, Ontario, Bell sent a tentative telegram to the village of Mount Pleasant distant, indicating that he was ready. He made a telephone call via telegraph wires and faint voices were heard replying. The following night, he amazed guests as well as his family with a call between the Bell Homestead and the office of the Dominion Telegraph Company in Brantford along an improvised wire strung up along telegraph lines and fences, and laid through a tunnel. This time, guests at the household distinctly heard people in Brantford reading and singing. The third test on August 10, 1876, was made via the telegraph line between Brantford and Paris, Ontario, distant. This test was said by many sources to be the "world's first long-distance call". The final test certainly proved that the telephone could work over long distances, at least as a one-way call.
The first two-way (reciprocal) conversation over a line occurred between Cambridge and Boston (roughly 2.5 miles) on October 9, 1876. During that conversation, Bell was on Kilby Street in Boston and Watson was at the offices of the Walworth Manufacturing Company.
Bell and his partners, Hubbard and Sanders, offered to sell the patent outright to Western Union for $100,000. The president of Western Union balked, countering that the telephone was nothing but a toy. Two years later, he told colleagues that if he could get the patent for $25 million he would consider it a bargain. By then, the Bell company no longer wanted to sell the patent. Bell's investors would become millionaires while he fared well from residuals and at one point had assets of nearly one million dollars.
Bell began a series of public demonstrations and lectures to introduce the new invention to the scientific community as well as the general public. A short time later, his demonstration of an early telephone prototype at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia brought the telephone to international attention. Influential visitors to the exhibition included Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. One of the judges at the Exhibition, Sir William Thomson (later, Lord Kelvin), a renowned Scottish scientist, described the telephone as "the greatest by far of all the marvels of the electric telegraph".
On January 14, 1878, at Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight, Bell demonstrated the device to Queen Victoria, placing calls to Cowes, Southampton and London. These were the first publicly witnessed long-distance telephone calls in the UK. The queen considered the process to be "quite extraordinary" although the sound was "rather faint". She later asked to buy the equipment that was used, but Bell offered to make "a set of telephones" specifically for her.
The Bell Telephone Company was created in 1877, and by 1886, more than 150,000 people in the U.S. owned telephones. Bell Company engineers made numerous other improvements to the telephone, which emerged as one of the most successful products ever. In 1879, the Bell company acquired Edison's patents for the carbon microphone from Western Union. This made the telephone practical for longer distances, and it was no longer necessary to shout to be heard at the receiving telephone.
Emperor Pedro II of Brazil was the first person to buy stock in Bell's company, the Bell Telephone Company. One of the first telephones in a private residence was installed in his palace in Petrópolis, his summer retreat from Rio de Janeiro.
In January 1915, Bell made the first ceremonial transcontinental telephone call. Calling from the AT&T head office at 15 Dey Street in New York City, Bell was heard by Thomas Watson at 333 Grant Avenue in San Francisco. The New York Times reported:
Competitors
As is sometimes common in scientific discoveries, simultaneous developments can occur, as evidenced by a number of inventors who were at work on the telephone. Over a period of 18 years, the Bell Telephone Company faced 587 court challenges to its patents, including five that went to the U.S. Supreme Court, but none was successful in establishing priority over the original Bell patent and the Bell Telephone Company never lost a case that had proceeded to a final trial stage. Bell's laboratory notes and family letters were the key to establishing a long lineage to his experiments. The Bell company lawyers successfully fought off myriad lawsuits generated initially around the challenges by Elisha Gray and Amos Dolbear. In personal correspondence to Bell, both Gray and Dolbear had acknowledged his prior work, which considerably weakened their later claims.
On January 13, 1887, the U.S. Government moved to annul the patent issued to Bell on the grounds of fraud and misrepresentation. After a series of decisions and reversals, the Bell company won a decision in the Supreme Court, though a couple of the original claims from the lower court cases were left undecided. By the time that the trial wound its way through nine years of legal battles, the U.S. prosecuting attorney had died and the two Bell patents (No. 174,465 dated March 7, 1876, and No. 186,787 dated January 30, 1877) were no longer in effect, although the presiding judges agreed to continue the proceedings due to the case's importance as a precedent. With a change in administration and charges of conflict of interest (on both sides) arising from the original trial, the US Attorney General dropped the lawsuit on November 30, 1897, leaving several issues undecided on the merits.
During a deposition filed for the 1887 trial, Italian inventor Antonio Meucci also claimed to have created the first working model of a telephone in Italy in 1834. In 1886, in the first of three cases in which he was involved, Meucci took the stand as a witness in the hope of establishing his invention's priority. Meucci's testimony in this case was disputed due to a lack of material evidence for his inventions, as his working models were purportedly lost at the laboratory of American District Telegraph (ADT) of New York, which was later incorporated as a subsidiary of Western Union in 1901. Meucci's work, like many other inventors of the period, was based on earlier acoustic principles and despite evidence of earlier experiments, the final case involving Meucci was eventually dropped upon Meucci's death. However, due to the efforts of Congressman Vito Fossella, the U.S. House of Representatives on June 11, 2002, stated that Meucci's "work in the invention of the telephone should be acknowledged". This did not put an end to the still-contentious issue. Some modern scholars do not agree with the claims that Bell's work on the telephone was influenced by Meucci's inventions.
The value of the Bell patent was acknowledged throughout the world, and patent applications were made in most major countries, but when Bell delayed the German patent application, the electrical firm of Siemens & Halske set up a rival manufacturer of Bell telephones under their own patent. The Siemens company produced near-identical copies of the Bell telephone without having to pay royalties. The establishment of the International Bell Telephone Company in Brussels, Belgium in 1880, as well as a series of agreements in other countries eventually consolidated a global telephone operation. The strain put on Bell by his constant appearances in court, necessitated by the legal battles, eventually resulted in his resignation from the company.
Family life
On July 11, 1877, a few days after the Bell Telephone Company was established, Bell married Mabel Hubbard (1857–1923) at the Hubbard estate in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His wedding present to his bride was to turn over 1,487 of his 1,497 shares in the newly formed Bell Telephone Company. Shortly thereafter, the newlyweds embarked on a year-long honeymoon in Europe. During that excursion, Bell took a handmade model of his telephone with him, making it a "working holiday". The courtship had begun years earlier; however, Bell waited until he was more financially secure before marrying. Although the telephone appeared to be an "instant" success, it was not initially a profitable venture and Bell's main sources of income were from lectures until after 1897. One unusual request exacted by his fiancée was that he use "Alec" rather than the family's earlier familiar name of "Aleck". From 1876, he would sign his name "Alec Bell". They had four children:
Elsie May Bell (1878–1964) who married Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor of National Geographic fame.
Marian Hubbard Bell (1880–1962) who was referred to as "Daisy". Married David Fairchild.
Two sons who died in infancy (Edward in 1881 and Robert in 1883).
The Bell family home was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, until 1880 when Bell's father-in-law bought a house in Washington, D.C.; in 1882 he bought a home in the same city for Bell's family, so they could be with him while he attended to the numerous court cases involving patent disputes.
Bell was a British subject throughout his early life in Scotland and later in Canada until 1882 when he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In 1915, he characterized his status as: "I am not one of those hyphenated Americans who claim allegiance to two countries." Despite this declaration, Bell has been proudly claimed as a "native son" by all three countries he resided in: the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
By 1885, a new summer retreat was contemplated. That summer, the Bells had a vacation on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, spending time at the small village of Baddeck. Returning in 1886, Bell started building an estate on a point across from Baddeck, overlooking Bras d'Or Lake. By 1889, a large house, christened The Lodge was completed and two years later, a larger complex of buildings, including a new laboratory, were begun that the Bells would name Beinn Bhreagh (Gaelic: Beautiful Mountain) after Bell's ancestral Scottish highlands. Bell also built the Bell Boatyard on the estate, employing up to 40 people building experimental craft as well as wartime lifeboats and workboats for the Royal Canadian Navy and pleasure craft for the Bell family. He was an enthusiastic boater, and Bell and his family sailed or rowed a long series of vessels on Bras d'Or Lake, ordering additional vessels from the H.W. Embree and Sons boatyard in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia. In his final, and some of his most productive years, Bell split his residency between Washington, D.C., where he and his family initially resided for most of the year, and Beinn Bhreagh, where they spent increasing amounts of time.
Until the end of his life, Bell and his family would alternate between the two homes, but Beinn Bhreagh would, over the next 30 years, become more than a summer home as Bell became so absorbed in his experiments that his annual stays lengthened. Both Mabel and Bell became immersed in the Baddeck community and were accepted by the villagers as "their own". The Bells were still in residence at Beinn Bhreagh when the Halifax Explosion occurred on December 6, 1917. Mabel and Bell mobilized the community to help victims in Halifax.
Later inventions
Although Alexander Graham Bell is most often associated with the invention of the telephone, his interests were extremely varied. According to one of his biographers, Charlotte Gray, Bell's work ranged "unfettered across the scientific landscape" and he often went to bed voraciously reading the Encyclopædia Britannica, scouring it for new areas of interest. The range of Bell's inventive genius is represented only in part by the 18 patents granted in his name alone and the 12 he shared with his collaborators. These included 14 for the telephone and telegraph, four for the photophone, one for the phonograph, five for aerial vehicles, four for "hydroairplanes", and two for selenium cells. Bell's inventions spanned a wide range of interests and included a metal jacket to assist in breathing, the audiometer to detect minor hearing problems, a device to locate icebergs, investigations on how to separate salt from seawater, and work on finding alternative fuels.
Bell worked extensively in medical research and invented techniques for teaching speech to the deaf. During his Volta Laboratory period, Bell and his associates considered impressing a magnetic field on a record as a means of reproducing sound. Although the trio briefly experimented with the concept, they could not develop a workable prototype. They abandoned the idea, never realizing they had glimpsed a basic principle which would one day find its application in the tape recorder, the hard disc and floppy disc drive, and other magnetic media.
Bell's own home used a primitive form of air conditioning, in which fans blew currents of air across great blocks of ice. He also anticipated modern concerns with fuel shortages and industrial pollution. Methane gas, he reasoned, could be produced from the waste of farms and factories. At his Canadian estate in Nova Scotia, he experimented with composting toilets and devices to capture water from the atmosphere. In a magazine interview published shortly before his death, he reflected on the possibility of using solar panels to heat houses.
Photophone
Bell and his assistant Charles Sumner Tainter jointly invented a wireless telephone, named a photophone, which allowed for the transmission of both sounds and normal human conversations on a beam of light. Both men later became full associates in the Volta Laboratory Association.
On June 21, 1880, Bell's assistant transmitted a wireless voice telephone message a considerable distance, from the roof of the Franklin School in Washington, D.C., to Bell at the window of his laboratory, some away, 19 years before the first voice radio transmissions.
Bell believed the photophone's principles were his life's "greatest achievement", telling a reporter shortly before his death that the photophone was "the greatest invention [I have] ever made, greater than the telephone". The photophone was a precursor to the fiber-optic communication systems which achieved popular worldwide usage in the 1980s. Its master patent was issued in December 1880, many decades before the photophone's principles came into popular use.
Metal detector
Bell is also credited with developing one of the early versions of a metal detector through the use of an induction balance, after the shooting of U.S. President James A. Garfield in 1881. According to some accounts, the metal detector worked flawlessly in tests but did not find Guiteau's bullet, partly because the metal bed frame on which the President was lying disturbed the instrument, resulting in static. Garfield's surgeons, led by self-appointed chief physician Doctor Willard Bliss, were skeptical of the device, and ignored Bell's requests to move the President to a bed not fitted with metal springs. Alternatively, although Bell had detected a slight sound on his first test, the bullet may have been lodged too deeply to be detected by the crude apparatus.
Bell's own detailed account, presented to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1882, differs in several particulars from most of the many and varied versions now in circulation, by concluding that extraneous metal was not to blame for failure to locate the bullet. Perplexed by the peculiar results he had obtained during an examination of Garfield, Bell "proceeded to the Executive Mansion the next morning ... to ascertain from the surgeons whether they were perfectly sure that all metal had been removed from the neighborhood of the bed. It was then recollected that underneath the horse-hair mattress on which the President lay was another mattress composed of steel wires. Upon obtaining a duplicate, the mattress was found to consist of a sort of net of woven steel wires, with large meshes. The extent of the [area that produced a response from the detector] having been so small, as compared with the area of the bed, it seemed reasonable to conclude that the steel mattress had produced no detrimental effect." In a footnote, Bell adds, "The death of President Garfield and the subsequent post-mortem examination, however, proved that the bullet was at too great a distance from the surface to have affected our apparatus."
Hydrofoils
The March 1906 Scientific American article by American pioneer William E. Meacham explained the basic principle of hydrofoils and hydroplanes. Bell considered the invention of the hydroplane as a very significant achievement. Based on information gained from that article, he began to sketch concepts of what is now called a hydrofoil boat. Bell and assistant Frederick W. "Casey" Baldwin began hydrofoil experimentation in the summer of 1908 as a possible aid to airplane takeoff from water. Baldwin studied the work of the Italian inventor Enrico Forlanini and began testing models. This led him and Bell to the development of practical hydrofoil watercraft.
During his world tour of 1910–11, Bell and Baldwin met with Forlanini in France. They had rides in the Forlanini hydrofoil boat over Lake Maggiore. Baldwin described it as being as smooth as flying. On returning to Baddeck, a number of initial concepts were built as experimental models, including the Dhonnas Beag (Scottish Gaelic for little devil), the first self-propelled Bell-Baldwin hydrofoil. The experimental boats were essentially proof-of-concept prototypes that culminated in the more substantial HD-4, powered by Renault engines. A top speed of was achieved, with the hydrofoil exhibiting rapid acceleration, good stability, and steering, along with the ability to take waves without difficulty. In 1913, Dr. Bell hired Walter Pinaud, a Sydney yacht designer and builder as well as the proprietor of Pinaud's Yacht Yard in Westmount, Nova Scotia, to work on the pontoons of the HD-4. Pinaud soon took over the boatyard at Bell Laboratories on Beinn Bhreagh, Bell's estate near Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Pinaud's experience in boat-building enabled him to make useful design changes to the HD-4. After the First World War, work began again on the HD-4. Bell's report to the U.S. Navy permitted him to obtain two engines in July 1919. On September 9, 1919, the HD-4 set a world marine speed record of , a record which stood for ten years.
Aeronautics
In 1891, Bell had begun experiments to develop motor-powered heavier-than-air aircraft. The AEA was first formed as Bell shared the vision to fly with his wife, who advised him to seek "young" help as Bell was at the age of 60.
In 1898, Bell experimented with tetrahedral box kites and wings constructed of multiple compound tetrahedral kites covered in maroon silk. The tetrahedral wings were named Cygnet I, II, and III, and were flown both unmanned and manned (Cygnet I crashed during a flight carrying Selfridge) in the period from 1907 to 1912. Some of Bell's kites are on display at the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site.
Bell was a supporter of aerospace engineering research through the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA), officially formed at Baddeck, Nova Scotia, in October 1907 at the suggestion of his wife Mabel and with her financial support after the sale of some of her real estate. The AEA was headed by Bell and the founding members were four young men: American Glenn H. Curtiss, a motorcycle manufacturer at the time and who held the title "world's fastest man", having ridden his self-constructed motor bicycle around in the shortest time, and who was later awarded the Scientific American Trophy for the first official one-kilometre flight in the Western hemisphere, and who later became a world-renowned airplane manufacturer; Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge, an official observer from the U.S. Federal government and one of the few people in the army who believed that aviation was the future; Frederick W. Baldwin, the first Canadian and first British subject to pilot a public flight in Hammondsport, New York; and J. A. D. McCurdy–Baldwin and McCurdy being new engineering graduates from the University of Toronto.
The AEA's work progressed to heavier-than-air machines, applying their knowledge of kites to gliders. Moving to Hammondsport, the group then designed and built the Red Wing, framed in bamboo and covered in red silk and powered by a small air-cooled engine. On March 12, 1908, over Keuka Lake, the biplane lifted off on the first public flight in North America. The innovations that were incorporated into this design included a cockpit enclosure and tail rudder (later variations on the original design would add ailerons as a means of control). One of the AEA's inventions, a practical wingtip form of the aileron, was to become a standard component on all aircraft. The White Wing and June Bug were to follow and by the end of 1908, over 150 flights without mishap had been accomplished. However, the AEA had depleted its initial reserves and only a $15,000 grant from Mrs. Bell allowed it to continue with experiments. Lt. Selfridge had also become the first person killed in a powered heavier-than-air flight in a crash of the Wright Flyer at Fort Myer, Virginia, on September 17, 1908.
Their final aircraft design, the Silver Dart, embodied all of the advancements found in the earlier machines. On February 23, 1909, Bell was present as the Silver Dart flown by J. A. D. McCurdy from the frozen ice of Bras d'Or made the first aircraft flight in Canada. Bell had worried that the flight was too dangerous and had arranged for a doctor to be on hand. With the successful flight, the AEA disbanded and the Silver Dart would revert to Baldwin and McCurdy, who began the Canadian Aerodrome Company and would later demonstrate the aircraft to the Canadian Army.
Heredity and genetics
Bell, along with many members of the scientific community at the time, took an interest in the popular science of heredity which grew out of the publication of Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species in 1859. On his estate in Nova Scotia, Bell conducted meticulously recorded breeding experiments with rams and ewes. Over the course of more than 30 years, Bell sought to produce a breed of sheep with multiple nipples that would bear twins. He specifically wanted to see if selective breeding could produce sheep with four functional nipples with enough milk for twin lambs. This interest in animal breeding caught the attention of scientists focused on the study of heredity and genetics in humans.
In November 1883, Bell presented a paper at a meeting of the National Academy of Sciences titled "Upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race". The paper is a compilation of data on the hereditary aspects of deafness. Bell's research indicated that a hereditary tendency toward deafness, as indicated by the possession of deaf relatives, was an important element in determining the production of deaf offspring. He noted that the proportion of deaf children born to deaf parents was many times greater than the proportion of deaf children born to the general population. In the paper, Bell delved into social commentary and discussed hypothetical public policies to bring an end to deafness. He also criticized educational practices that segregated deaf children rather than integrated them fulling into mainstream classrooms. The paper did not propose sterilization of deaf people or prohibition on intermarriage, noting that “We cannot dictate to men and women whom they should marry and natural selection no longer influences mankind to any great extent.”
A review of Bell's "Memoir upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race" appearing in an 1885 issue of the "American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb" states that "Dr. Bell does not advocate legislative interference with the marriages of the deaf for several reasons one of which is that the results of such marriages have not yet been sufficiently investigated." The article goes on to say that "the editorial remarks based thereon did injustice to the author." The paper's author concludes by saying “A wiser way to prevent the extension of hereditary deafness, it seems to us, would be to continue the investigations which Dr. Bell has so admirable begun until the laws of the transmission of the tendency to deafness are fully understood, and then by explaining those laws to the pupils of our schools to lead them to choose their partners in marriage in such a way that deaf-mute offspring will not be the result."
Historians have noted that Bell explicitly opposed laws regulating marriage, and never mentioned sterilization in any of his writings. Even after Bell agreed to engage with scientists conducting eugenic research, he consistently refused to support public policy that limited the rights or privileges of the deaf.
Bell's interest and research on heredity attracted the interest of Charles Davenport, a Harvard professor and head of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. In 1906, Davenport, who was also the founder of the American Breeder's Association, approached Bell about joining a new committee on eugenics chaired by David Starr Jordan. In 1910, Davenport opened the Eugenics Records office at Cold Spring Harbor. To give the organization scientific credibility, Davenport set up a Board of Scientific Directors naming Bell as chairman. Other members of the board included Luther Burbank, Roswell H. Johnson, Vernon L. Kellogg, and William E. Castle.
In 1921, a Second International Congress of Eugenics was held in New York at the Museum of Natural History and chaired by Davenport. Although Bell did not present any research or speak as part of the proceedings, he was named as honorary president as a means to attract other scientists to attend the event. A summary of the event notes that Bell was a "pioneering investigator in the field of human heredity".
Death
Bell died of complications arising from diabetes on August 2, 1922, at his private estate in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, at age 75. Bell had also been afflicted with pernicious anemia. His last view of the land he had inhabited was by moonlight on his mountain estate at 2:00 a.m. While tending to him after his long illness, Mabel, his wife, whispered, "Don't leave me." By way of reply, Bell signed "no...", lost consciousness, and died shortly after.
On learning of Bell's death, the Canadian Prime Minister, Mackenzie King, cabled Mrs. Bell, saying:
Bell's coffin was constructed of Beinn Bhreagh pine by his laboratory staff, lined with the same red silk fabric used in his tetrahedral kite experiments. To help celebrate his life, his wife asked guests not to wear black (the traditional funeral color) while attending his service, during which soloist Jean MacDonald sang a verse of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Requiem":
Upon the conclusion of Bell's funeral, for one minute at 6:25 p.m. Eastern Time, "every phone on the continent of North America was silenced in honor of the man who had given to mankind the means for direct communication at a distance".
Alexander Graham Bell was buried atop Beinn Bhreagh mountain, on his estate where he had resided increasingly for the last 35 years of his life, overlooking Bras d'Or Lake. He was survived by his wife Mabel, his two daughters, Elsie May and Marian, and nine of his grandchildren.
Legacy and honors
Honors and tributes flowed to Bell in increasing numbers as his invention became ubiquitous and his personal fame grew. Bell received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities to the point that the requests almost became burdensome. During his life, he also received dozens of major awards, medals, and other tributes. These included statuary monuments to both him and the new form of communication his telephone created, including the Bell Telephone Memorial erected in his honor in Alexander Graham Bell Gardens in Brantford, Ontario, in 1917.
A large number of Bell's writings, personal correspondence, notebooks, papers, and other documents reside in both the United States Library of Congress Manuscript Division (as the Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers), and at the Alexander Graham Bell Institute, Cape Breton University, Nova Scotia; major portions of which are available for online viewing.
A number of historic sites and other marks commemorate Bell in North America and Europe, including the first telephone companies in the United States and Canada. Among the major sites are:
The Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, maintained by Parks Canada, which incorporates the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, close to the Bell estate Beinn Bhreagh
The Bell Homestead National Historic Site, includes the Bell family home, "Melville House", and farm overlooking Brantford, Ontario and the Grand River. It was their first home in North America;
Canada's first telephone company building, the "Henderson Home" of the late 1870s, a predecessor of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada (officially chartered in 1880). In 1969, the building was carefully moved to the historic Bell Homestead National Historic Site in Brantford, Ontario, and was refurbished to become a telephone museum. The Bell Homestead, the Henderson Home telephone museum, and the National Historic Site's reception centre are all maintained by the Bell Homestead Society;
The Alexander Graham Bell Memorial Park, which features a broad neoclassical monument built in 1917 by public subscription. The monument depicts mankind's ability to span the globe through telecommunications;
The Alexander Graham Bell Museum (opened in 1956), part of the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site which was completed in 1978 in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Many of the museum's artifacts were donated by Bell's daughters;
In 1880, Bell received the Volta Prize with a purse of 50,000 French francs (approximately US$ in today's dollars) for the invention of the telephone from the French government. Among the luminaries who judged were Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas, fils. The Volta Prize was conceived by Napoleon III in 1852, and named in honor of Alessandro Volta, with Bell becoming the second recipient of the grand prize in its history. Since Bell was becoming increasingly affluent, he used his prize money to create endowment funds (the 'Volta Fund') and institutions in and around the United States capital of Washington, D.C.. These included the prestigious 'Volta Laboratory Association' (1880), also known as the Volta Laboratory and as the 'Alexander Graham Bell Laboratory', and which eventually led to the Volta Bureau (1887) as a center for studies on deafness which is still in operation in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. The Volta Laboratory became an experimental facility devoted to scientific discovery, and the very next year it improved Edison's phonograph by substituting wax for tinfoil as the recording medium and incising the recording rather than indenting it, key upgrades that Edison himself later adopted. The laboratory was also the site where he and his associate invented his "proudest achievement", "the photophone", the "optical telephone" which presaged fibre optical telecommunications while the Volta Bureau would later evolve into the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (the AG Bell), a leading center for the research and pedagogy of deafness.
In partnership with Gardiner Greene Hubbard, Bell helped establish the publication Science during the early 1880s. In 1898, Bell was elected as the second president of the National Geographic Society, serving until 1903, and was primarily responsible for the extensive use of illustrations, including photography, in the magazine. He also served for many years as a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution (1898–1922). The French government conferred on him the decoration of the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honor); the Royal Society of Arts in London awarded him the Albert Medal in 1902; the University of Würzburg, Bavaria, granted him a PhD, and he was awarded the Franklin Institute's Elliott Cresson Medal in 1912. He was one of the founders of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1884 and served as its president from 1891 to 1892. Bell was later awarded the AIEE's Edison Medal in 1914 "For meritorious achievement in the invention of the telephone".
The bel (B) and the smaller decibel (dB) are units of measurement of sound pressure level (SPL) invented by Bell Labs and named after him. Since 1976, the IEEE's Alexander Graham Bell Medal has been awarded to honor outstanding contributions in the field of telecommunications.
In 1936, the US Patent Office declared Bell first on its list of the country's greatest inventors, leading to the US Post Office issuing a commemorative stamp honoring Bell in 1940 as part of its 'Famous Americans Series'. The First Day of Issue ceremony was held on October 28 in Boston, Massachusetts, the city where Bell spent considerable time on research and working with the deaf. The Bell stamp became very popular and sold out in little time. The stamp became, and remains to this day, the most valuable one of the series.
The 150th anniversary of Bell's birth in 1997 was marked by a special issue of commemorative £1 banknotes from the Royal Bank of Scotland. The illustrations on the reverse of the note include Bell's face in profile, his signature, and objects from Bell's life and career: users of the telephone over the ages; an audio wave signal; a diagram of a telephone receiver; geometric shapes from engineering structures; representations of sign language and the phonetic alphabet; the geese which helped him to understand flight; and the sheep which he studied to understand genetics. Additionally, the Government of Canada honored Bell in 1997 with a C$100 gold coin, in tribute also to the 150th anniversary of his birth, and with a silver dollar coin in 2009 in honor of the 100th anniversary of flight in Canada. That first flight was made by an airplane designed under Dr. Bell's tutelage, named the Silver Dart. Bell's image, and also those of his many inventions have graced paper money, coinage, and postal stamps in numerous countries worldwide for many dozens of years.
Alexander Graham Bell was ranked 57th among the 100 Greatest Britons (2002) in an official BBC nationwide poll, and among the Top Ten Greatest Canadians (2004), and the 100 Greatest Americans (2005). In 2006, Bell was also named as one of the 10 greatest Scottish scientists in history after having been listed in the National Library of Scotland's 'Scottish Science Hall of Fame'. Bell's name is still widely known and used as part of the names of dozens of educational institutes, corporate namesakes, street and place names around the world.
Honorary degrees
Alexander Graham Bell, who could not complete the university program of his youth, received at least a dozen honorary degrees from academic institutions, including eight honorary LL.D.s (Doctorate of Laws), two Ph.D.s, a D.Sc., and an M.D.:
Gallaudet College (then named National Deaf-Mute College) in Washington, D.C. (Ph.D.) in 1880
University of Würzburg in Würzburg, Bavaria (Ph.D.) in 1882
Heidelberg University in Heidelberg, Germany (M.D.) in 1886
Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts (LL.D.) in 1896
Illinois College, in Jacksonville, Illinois (LL.D.) in 1896, possibly 1881
Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts (LL.D.) in 1901
St. Andrew's University in St Andrews, Scotland (LL.D) in 1902
University of Oxford in Oxford, England (D.Sc.) in 1906
University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland (LL.D.) in 1906
George Washington University in Washington, D.C. (LL.D.) in 1913
Queen's University at Kingston in Kingston, Ontario, Canada (LL.D.) in 1908
Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire (LL.D.) in 1913, possibly 1914
Portrayal in film and television
The 1939 film The Story of Alexander Graham Bell was based on his life and works.
The 1992 film The Sound and the Silence was a TV film.
Biography aired an episode Alexander Graham Bell: Voice of Invention on August 6, 1996.
Eyewitness No. 90 A Great Inventor Is Remembered, a 1957 NFB short about Bell.
Bibliography
Also published as:
See also
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site
Bell Boatyard
Bell Homestead National Historic Site
Bell Telephone Memorial
Berliner, Emile
Bourseul, Charles
IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal
John Peirce, submitted telephone ideas to Bell
Manzetti, Innocenzo
Meucci, Antonio
Oriental Telephone Company
People on Scottish banknotes
Pioneers, a Volunteer Network
Reis, Philipp
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell, a 1939 movie of his life
The Telephone Cases
Volta Laboratory and Bureau
William Francis Channing, submitted telephone ideas to Bell
References
Notes
Citations
Further reading
Mullett, Mary B. The Story of A Famous Inventor. New York: Rogers and Fowle, 1921.
Walters, Eric. The Hydrofoil Mystery. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Puffin Books, 1999. .
Winzer, Margret A. The History Of Special Education: From Isolation To Integration. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press, 1993. .
External links
Alexander and Mabel Bell Legacy Foundation
Alexander Graham Bell Institute at Cape Breton University
Bell Telephone Memorial, Brantford, Ontario
Bell Homestead National Historic Site, Brantford, Ontario
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site of Canada, Baddeck, Nova Scotia
Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers at the Library of Congress
Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
Science.ca profile: Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell's notebooks at the Internet Archive
"Téléphone et photophone : les contributions indirectes de Graham Bell à l'idée de la vision à distance par l'électricité" at the Histoire de la télévision
Multimedia
Alexander Graham Bell at The Biography Channel
Shaping The Future, from the Heritage Minutes and Radio Minutes collection at HistoricaCanada.ca (1:31 audio drama, Adobe Flash required)
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Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame inductees | true | [
"Same Old Story: A Trip Back 20 Years is a 2008 Japanese documentary film about a Japanese musician, Cheep Hiroishi (チープ広石) who takes a look back at his life over the last 20 years. Traveling back to the place he had been two decades ago, he realizes how much time changes so many things. During the film, Hiroishi travels throughout Japan and even to New York to interview people who had known him or of him and what kind of affect his music had on their lives.\n\nHiroishi travels back to New York to visit the Cove City Sound Studios (CCSS), the place he recorded with his band 20 years before. He meets, once again, Richie Cannata the owner of CCSS. Richie invites him to a live jam session at The Cutting Room in Manhattan where they both \"cut it up\" with their saxophones.\n\nThe film was directed by Kunio Yato, a Japanese graphic designer whose love for music and independent musicians, inspired him to make this documentary. The film had its international premiere in September at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival on September 22, 2008. It won the Best International Music Documentary at the festival.\n\nExternal links \n \n \n\n2008 films\n2008 documentary films\nJapanese films\nJapanese documentary films\nDocumentary films about music and musicians",
"Lovelorn Leghorn is a 1951 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Robert McKimson. The cartoon was released on September 8, 1951, and features Foghorn Leghorn, Miss Prissy and the Barnyard Dawg.\n\nPlot\nMiss Prissy is trying to land a husband. All the other hens laugh, and make fun of her, saying she couldn't catch a husband with a bear trap. When they ask Prissy if she has something to clunk him on the head with, Prissy hears them says \"Yes\", and reveals a rolling pin. And with that, she leaves the coop ignoring the other hens laughing.\n\nMeanwhile, Foghorn Leghorn is taking a nap in the sun. The Barnyard Dawg sees his chance, and splashes cold water, thus waking the rooster up with a shock and scream. When he demands who's responsible, the dog reveals himself by poking him in the shoulder. Just when the rooster's about to catch him, he closes Foggy's umbrella on him. Foghorn then says the popular line as the dog walks away, \"'Course ya know, this means war!\" meaning their battle has already started.\n\nMiss Prissy then catches up to Foghorn as he is sharpening an axe on a wheel. She whacks him on the head with her rolling pin, which causes him to yell at her, \"Now what, I say, what's the big idea bashing me on the noggin with a rolling pin? Clunk enough people and we'll have a nation of lumpheads!\". After Prissy cries, Foghorn consoles her and ropes her into thinking the Dawg is a rooster in disguise.\n\nTaking a melon over to the Dawg, Prissy then entices him to chase her, resulting in the dog getting the melon smashed on his head and kicked like a football by Foghorn. When Prissy tries to get the 'dog suit' off of Dawg (\"Hey, wait a minute! What are ya tryin' to do? Pull my skin offa me?!\"), he explains to her that she needs to trap Foghorn, and he whispers to her how to build a trap. When trying to help Prissy put a bowling ball in a ramp, Foghorn inadvertently triggers the trap, which turns into out to be a Rube Goldberg machine, eventually knocking Foghorn out cold with a cannonball.\n\nPrissy then returns to the other hens with Foghorn in a market basket, where he is still knocked silly. The cartoon irises out with Prissy hugging her new 'husband' after he says his usual catchphrase, when the hens ask Prissy if she has a husband in the basket.\n\nReferences\n\n1951 animated films\n1951 films\n1951 short films\nAmerican films\nLooney Tunes shorts\nWarner Bros. Cartoons animated short films\nFilms directed by Robert McKimson\nFilms scored by Eugene Poddany\n1950s American animated films"
] |
[
"Alexander Graham Bell",
"First experiments with sound",
"What was his first experiment with sound?",
"a remarkably lifelike head that could \"speak\", albeit only a few words.",
"How old was he when he made the head?",
"I don't know.",
"What inspired him to make the head?",
"Their father, highly interested in their project, offered to pay for any supplies and spurred the boys on with the enticement of a \"big prize\" if they were successful."
] | C_439812ed14a04303b818b189d6815ec3_0 | What year did they make the head? | 4 | What year did Alexander Graham Bell make the head? | Alexander Graham Bell | His father encouraged Bell's interest in speech and, in 1863, took his sons to see a unique automaton developed by Sir Charles Wheatstone based on the earlier work of Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen. The rudimentary "mechanical man" simulated a human voice. Bell was fascinated by the machine and after he obtained a copy of von Kempelen's book, published in German, and had laboriously translated it, he and his older brother Melville built their own automaton head. Their father, highly interested in their project, offered to pay for any supplies and spurred the boys on with the enticement of a "big prize" if they were successful. While his brother constructed the throat and larynx, Bell tackled the more difficult task of recreating a realistic skull. His efforts resulted in a remarkably lifelike head that could "speak", albeit only a few words. The boys would carefully adjust the "lips" and when a bellows forced air through the windpipe, a very recognizable "Mama" ensued, to the delight of neighbours who came to see the Bell invention. Intrigued by the results of the automaton, Bell continued to experiment with a live subject, the family's Skye Terrier, "Trouve". After he taught it to growl continuously, Bell would reach into its mouth and manipulate the dog's lips and vocal cords to produce a crude-sounding "Ow ah oo ga ma ma". With little convincing, visitors believed his dog could articulate "How are you, grandma?" Indicative of his playful nature, his experiments convinced onlookers that they saw a "talking dog". These initial forays into experimentation with sound led Bell to undertake his first serious work on the transmission of sound, using tuning forks to explore resonance. At age 19, Bell wrote a report on his work and sent it to philologist Alexander Ellis, a colleague of his father (who would later be portrayed as Professor Henry Higgins in Pygmalion). Ellis immediately wrote back indicating that the experiments were similar to existing work in Germany, and also lent Bell a copy of Hermann von Helmholtz's work, The Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music. Dismayed to find that groundbreaking work had already been undertaken by Helmholtz who had conveyed vowel sounds by means of a similar tuning fork "contraption", Bell pored over the German scientist's book. Working from his own erroneous mistranslation of a French edition, Bell fortuitously then made a deduction that would be the underpinning of all his future work on transmitting sound, reporting: "Without knowing much about the subject, it seemed to me that if vowel sounds could be produced by electrical means, so could consonants, so could articulate speech." He also later remarked: "I thought that Helmholtz had done it ... and that my failure was due only to my ignorance of electricity. It was a valuable blunder ... If I had been able to read German in those days, I might never have commenced my experiments!" CANNOTANSWER | 1863, | Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885.
Bell's father, grandfather, and brother had all been associated with work on elocution and speech and both his mother and wife were deaf; profoundly influencing Bell's life's work. His research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices which eventually culminated in Bell being awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone, on March 7, 1876. Bell considered his invention an intrusion on his real work as a scientist and refused to have a telephone in his study.
Many other inventions marked Bell's later life, including groundbreaking work in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils, and aeronautics. Although Bell was not one of the 33 founders of the National Geographic Society, he had a strong influence on the magazine while serving as the second president from January 7, 1898, until 1903.
Beyond his work in engineering, Bell had a deep interest in the emerging science of heredity.
Early life
Alexander Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3, 1847. The family home was at South Charlotte Street, and has a stone inscription marking it as Alexander Graham Bell's birthplace. He had two brothers: Melville James Bell (1845–1870) and Edward Charles Bell (1848–1867), both of whom would die of tuberculosis. His father was Professor Alexander Melville Bell, a phonetician, and his mother was Eliza Grace Bell (née Symonds). Born as just "Alexander Bell", at age 10, he made a plea to his father to have a middle name like his two brothers. For his 11th birthday, his father acquiesced and allowed him to adopt the name "Graham", chosen out of respect for Alexander Graham, a Canadian being treated by his father who had become a family friend. To close relatives and friends he remained "Aleck".
First invention
As a child, young Bell displayed a curiosity about his world; he gathered botanical specimens and ran experiments at an early age. His best friend was Ben Herdman, a neighbour whose family operated a flour mill. At the age of 12, Bell built a homemade device that combined rotating paddles with sets of nail brushes, creating a simple dehusking machine that was put into operation at the mill and used steadily for a number of years. In return, Ben's father John Herdman gave both boys the run of a small workshop in which to "invent".
From his early years, Bell showed a sensitive nature and a talent for art, poetry, and music that was encouraged by his mother. With no formal training, he mastered the piano and became the family's pianist. Despite being normally quiet and introspective, he revelled in mimicry and "voice tricks" akin to ventriloquism that continually entertained family guests during their occasional visits. Bell was also deeply affected by his mother's gradual deafness (she began to lose her hearing when he was 12), and learned a manual finger language so he could sit at her side and tap out silently the conversations swirling around the family parlour. He also developed a technique of speaking in clear, modulated tones directly into his mother's forehead wherein she would hear him with reasonable clarity. Bell's preoccupation with his mother's deafness led him to study acoustics.
His family was long associated with the teaching of elocution: his grandfather, Alexander Bell, in London, his uncle in Dublin, and his father, in Edinburgh, were all elocutionists. His father published a variety of works on the subject, several of which are still well known, especially his The Standard Elocutionist (1860), which appeared in Edinburgh in 1868. The Standard Elocutionist appeared in 168 British editions and sold over a quarter of a million copies in the United States alone. In this treatise, his father explains his methods of how to instruct deaf-mutes (as they were then known) to articulate words and read other people's lip movements to decipher meaning. Bell's father taught him and his brothers not only to write Visible Speech but to identify any symbol and its accompanying sound. Bell became so proficient that he became a part of his father's public demonstrations and astounded audiences with his abilities. He could decipher Visible Speech representing virtually every language, including Latin, Scottish Gaelic, and even Sanskrit, accurately reciting written tracts without any prior knowledge of their pronunciation.
Education
As a young child, Bell, like his brothers, received his early schooling at home from his father. At an early age, he was enrolled at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, Scotland, which he left at the age of 15, having completed only the first four forms. His school record was undistinguished, marked by absenteeism and lacklustre grades. His main interest remained in the sciences, especially biology, while he treated other school subjects with indifference, to the dismay of his father. Upon leaving school, Bell travelled to London to live with his grandfather, Alexander Bell, on Harrington Square. During the year he spent with his grandfather, a love of learning was born, with long hours spent in serious discussion and study. The elder Bell took great efforts to have his young pupil learn to speak clearly and with conviction, the attributes that his pupil would need to become a teacher himself. At the age of 16, Bell secured a position as a "pupil-teacher" of elocution and music, in Weston House Academy at Elgin, Moray, Scotland. Although he was enrolled as a student in Latin and Greek, he instructed classes himself in return for board and £10 per session. The following year, he attended the University of Edinburgh, joining his older brother Melville who had enrolled there the previous year. In 1868, not long before he departed for Canada with his family, Bell completed his matriculation exams and was accepted for admission to University College London.
First experiments with sound
His father encouraged Bell's interest in speech and, in 1863, took his sons to see a unique automaton developed by Sir Charles Wheatstone based on the earlier work of Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen. The rudimentary "mechanical man" simulated a human voice. Bell was fascinated by the machine and after he obtained a copy of von Kempelen's book, published in German, and had laboriously translated it, he and his older brother Melville built their own automaton head. Their father, highly interested in their project, offered to pay for any supplies and spurred the boys on with the enticement of a "big prize" if they were successful. While his brother constructed the throat and larynx, Bell tackled the more difficult task of recreating a realistic skull. His efforts resulted in a remarkably lifelike head that could "speak", albeit only a few words. The boys would carefully adjust the "lips" and when a bellows forced air through the windpipe, a very recognizable "Mama" ensued, to the delight of neighbours who came to see the Bell invention.
Intrigued by the results of the automaton, Bell continued to experiment with a live subject, the family's Skye Terrier, "Trouve". After he taught it to growl continuously, Bell would reach into its mouth and manipulate the dog's lips and vocal cords to produce a crude-sounding "Ow ah oo ga ma ma". With little convincing, visitors believed his dog could articulate "How are you, grandmama?" Indicative of his playful nature, his experiments convinced onlookers that they saw a "talking dog". These initial forays into experimentation with sound led Bell to undertake his first serious work on the transmission of sound, using tuning forks to explore resonance.
At age 19, Bell wrote a report on his work and sent it to philologist Alexander Ellis, a colleague of his father. Ellis immediately wrote back indicating that the experiments were similar to existing work in Germany, and also lent Bell a copy of Hermann von Helmholtz's work, The Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music.
Dismayed to find that groundbreaking work had already been undertaken by Helmholtz who had conveyed vowel sounds by means of a similar tuning fork "contraption", Bell pored over the German scientist's book. Working from his own erroneous mistranslation of a French edition, Bell fortuitously then made a deduction that would be the underpinning of all his future work on transmitting sound, reporting: "Without knowing much about the subject, it seemed to me that if vowel sounds could be produced by electrical means, so could consonants, so could articulate speech." He also later remarked: "I thought that Helmholtz had done it ... and that my failure was due only to my ignorance of electricity. It was a valuable blunder ... If I had been able to read German in those days, I might never have commenced my experiments!"
Family tragedy
In 1865, when the Bell family moved to London, Bell returned to Weston House as an assistant master and, in his spare hours, continued experiments on sound using a minimum of laboratory equipment. Bell concentrated on experimenting with electricity to convey sound and later installed a telegraph wire from his room in Somerset College to that of a friend. Throughout late 1867, his health faltered mainly through exhaustion. His younger brother, Edward "Ted," was similarly bed-ridden, suffering from tuberculosis. While Bell recovered (by then referring to himself in correspondence as "A. G. Bell") and served the next year as an instructor at Somerset College, Bath, England, his brother's condition deteriorated. Edward would never recover. Upon his brother's death, Bell returned home in 1867. His older brother Melville had married and moved out. With aspirations to obtain a degree at University College London, Bell considered his next years as preparation for the degree examinations, devoting his spare time at his family's residence to studying.
Helping his father in Visible Speech demonstrations and lectures brought Bell to Susanna E. Hull's private school for the deaf in South Kensington, London. His first two pupils were deaf-mute girls who made remarkable progress under his tutelage. While his older brother seemed to achieve success on many fronts including opening his own elocution school, applying for a patent on an invention, and starting a family, Bell continued as a teacher. However, in May 1870, Melville died from complications due to tuberculosis, causing a family crisis. His father had also suffered a debilitating illness earlier in life and had been restored to health by a convalescence in Newfoundland. Bell's parents embarked upon a long-planned move when they realized that their remaining son was also sickly. Acting decisively, Alexander Melville Bell asked Bell to arrange for the sale of all the family property, conclude all of his brother's affairs (Bell took over his last student, curing a pronounced lisp), and join his father and mother in setting out for the "New World". Reluctantly, Bell also had to conclude a relationship with Marie Eccleston, who, as he had surmised, was not prepared to leave England with him.
Canada
In 1870, 23-year-old Bell travelled with his parents and his brother's widow, Caroline Margaret Ottaway, to Paris, Ontario, to stay with Thomas Henderson, a Baptist minister and family friend. The Bell family soon purchased a farm of at Tutelo Heights (now called Tutela Heights), near Brantford, Ontario. The property consisted of an orchard, large farmhouse, stable, pigsty, hen-house, and a carriage house, which bordered the Grand River.
At the homestead, Bell set up his own workshop in the converted carriage house near to what he called his "dreaming place", a large hollow nestled in trees at the back of the property above the river. Despite his frail condition upon arriving in Canada, Bell found the climate and environs to his liking, and rapidly improved. He continued his interest in the study of the human voice and when he discovered the Six Nations Reserve across the river at Onondaga, he learned the Mohawk language and translated its unwritten vocabulary into Visible Speech symbols. For his work, Bell was awarded the title of Honorary Chief and participated in a ceremony where he donned a Mohawk headdress and danced traditional dances.
After setting up his workshop, Bell continued experiments based on Helmholtz's work with electricity and sound. He also modified a melodeon (a type of pump organ) so that it could transmit its music electrically over a distance. Once the family was settled in, both Bell and his father made plans to establish a teaching practice and in 1871, he accompanied his father to Montreal, where Melville was offered a position to teach his System of Visible Speech.
Work with the deaf
Bell's father was invited by Sarah Fuller, principal of the Boston School for Deaf Mutes (which continues today as the public Horace Mann School for the Deaf), in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, to introduce the Visible Speech System by providing training for Fuller's instructors, but he declined the post in favour of his son. Travelling to Boston in April 1871, Bell proved successful in training the school's instructors. He was subsequently asked to repeat the programme at the American Asylum for Deaf-mutes in Hartford, Connecticut, and the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Returning home to Brantford after six months abroad, Bell continued his experiments with his "harmonic telegraph". The basic concept behind his device was that messages could be sent through a single wire if each message was transmitted at a different pitch, but work on both the transmitter and receiver was needed.
Unsure of his future, he first contemplated returning to London to complete his studies, but decided to return to Boston as a teacher. His father helped him set up his private practice by contacting Gardiner Greene Hubbard, the president of the Clarke School for the Deaf for a recommendation. Teaching his father's system, in October 1872, Alexander Bell opened his "School of Vocal Physiology and Mechanics of Speech" in Boston, which attracted a large number of deaf pupils, with his first class numbering 30 students. While he was working as a private tutor, one of his pupils was Helen Keller, who came to him as a young child unable to see, hear, or speak. She was later to say that Bell dedicated his life to the penetration of that "inhuman silence which separates and estranges". In 1893, Keller performed the sod-breaking ceremony for the construction of Bell's new Volta Bureau, dedicated to "the increase and diffusion of knowledge relating to the deaf".
Throughout his lifetime, Bell sought to integrate the deaf and hard of hearing with the hearing world. To achieve complete assimilation in society, Bell encouraged speech therapy and lip reading as well as sign language. He outlined this in a 1898 paper detailing his belief that with resources and effort, the deaf could be taught to read lips and speak (known as oralism) thus enabling their integration within the wider society from which many were often being excluded. Owing to his efforts to balance oralism with the teaching of sign language, Bell is often viewed negatively by those embracing Deaf culture. Ironically, Bell's last words to his deaf wife, Mabell, were signed.
Continuing experimentation
In 1872, Bell became professor of Vocal Physiology and Elocution at the Boston University School of Oratory. During this period, he alternated between Boston and Brantford, spending summers in his Canadian home. At Boston University, Bell was "swept up" by the excitement engendered by the many scientists and inventors residing in the city. He continued his research in sound and endeavored to find a way to transmit musical notes and articulate speech, but although absorbed by his experiments, he found it difficult to devote enough time to experimentation. While days and evenings were occupied by his teaching and private classes, Bell began to stay awake late into the night, running experiment after experiment in rented facilities at his boarding house. Keeping "night owl" hours, he worried that his work would be discovered and took great pains to lock up his notebooks and laboratory equipment. Bell had a specially made table where he could place his notes and equipment inside a locking cover. Worse still, his health deteriorated as he suffered severe headaches. Returning to Boston in fall 1873, Bell made a far-reaching decision to concentrate on his experiments in sound.
Deciding to give up his lucrative private Boston practice, Bell retained only two students, six-year-old "Georgie" Sanders, deaf from birth, and 15-year-old Mabel Hubbard. Each pupil would play an important role in the next developments. George's father, Thomas Sanders, a wealthy businessman, offered Bell a place to stay in nearby Salem with Georgie's grandmother, complete with a room to "experiment". Although the offer was made by George's mother and followed the year-long arrangement in 1872 where her son and his nurse had moved to quarters next to Bell's boarding house, it was clear that Mr. Sanders was backing the proposal. The arrangement was for teacher and student to continue their work together, with free room and board thrown in. Mabel was a bright, attractive girl who was ten years Bell's junior but became the object of his affection. Having lost her hearing after a near-fatal bout of scarlet fever close to her fifth birthday, she had learned to read lips but her father, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, Bell's benefactor and personal friend, wanted her to work directly with her teacher.
The telephone
By 1874, Bell's initial work on the harmonic telegraph had entered a formative stage, with progress made both at his new Boston "laboratory" (a rented facility) and at his family home in Canada a big success. While working that summer in Brantford, Bell experimented with a "phonautograph", a pen-like machine that could draw shapes of sound waves on smoked glass by tracing their vibrations. Bell thought it might be possible to generate undulating electrical currents that corresponded to sound waves. Bell also thought that multiple metal reeds tuned to different frequencies like a harp would be able to convert the undulating currents back into sound. But he had no working model to demonstrate the feasibility of these ideas.
In 1874, telegraph message traffic was rapidly expanding and in the words of Western Union President William Orton, had become "the nervous system of commerce". Orton had contracted with inventors Thomas Edison and Elisha Gray to find a way to send multiple telegraph messages on each telegraph line to avoid the great cost of constructing new lines. When Bell mentioned to Gardiner Hubbard and Thomas Sanders that he was working on a method of sending multiple tones on a telegraph wire using a multi-reed device, the two wealthy patrons began to financially support Bell's experiments. Patent matters would be handled by Hubbard's patent attorney, Anthony Pollok.
In March 1875, Bell and Pollok visited the scientist Joseph Henry, who was then director of the Smithsonian Institution, and asked Henry's advice on the electrical multi-reed apparatus that Bell hoped would transmit the human voice by telegraph. Henry replied that Bell had "the germ of a great invention". When Bell said that he did not have the necessary knowledge, Henry replied, "Get it!" That declaration greatly encouraged Bell to keep trying, even though he did not have the equipment needed to continue his experiments, nor the ability to create a working model of his ideas. However, a chance meeting in 1874 between Bell and Thomas A. Watson, an experienced electrical designer and mechanic at the electrical machine shop of Charles Williams, changed all that.
With financial support from Sanders and Hubbard, Bell hired Thomas Watson as his assistant, and the two of them experimented with acoustic telegraphy. On June 2, 1875, Watson accidentally plucked one of the reeds and Bell, at the receiving end of the wire, heard the overtones of the reed; overtones that would be necessary for transmitting speech. That demonstrated to Bell that only one reed or armature was necessary, not multiple reeds. This led to the "gallows" sound-powered telephone, which could transmit indistinct, voice-like sounds, but not clear speech.
The race to the patent office
In 1875, Bell developed an acoustic telegraph and drew up a patent application for it. Since he had agreed to share U.S. profits with his investors Gardiner Hubbard and Thomas Sanders, Bell requested that an associate in Ontario, George Brown, attempt to patent it in Britain, instructing his lawyers to apply for a patent in the U.S. only after they received word from Britain (Britain would issue patents only for discoveries not previously patented elsewhere).
Meanwhile, Elisha Gray was also experimenting with acoustic telegraphy and thought of a way to transmit speech using a water transmitter. On February 14, 1876, Gray filed a caveat with the U.S. Patent Office for a telephone design that used a water transmitter. That same morning, Bell's lawyer filed Bell's application with the patent office. There is considerable debate about who arrived first and Gray later challenged the primacy of Bell's patent. Bell was in Boston on February 14 and did not arrive in Washington until February 26.
Bell's patent 174,465, was issued to Bell on March 7, 1876, by the U.S. Patent Office. Bell's patent covered "the method of, and apparatus for, transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically ... by causing electrical undulations, similar in form to the vibrations of the air accompanying the said vocal or other sound" Bell returned to Boston the same day and the next day resumed work, drawing in his notebook a diagram similar to that in Gray's patent caveat.
On March 10, 1876, three days after his patent was issued, Bell succeeded in getting his telephone to work, using a liquid transmitter similar to Gray's design. Vibration of the diaphragm caused a needle to vibrate in the water, varying the electrical resistance in the circuit. When Bell spoke the sentence "Mr. Watson—Come here—I want to see you" into the liquid transmitter, Watson, listening at the receiving end in an adjoining room, heard the words clearly.
Although Bell was, and still is, accused of stealing the telephone from Gray, Bell used Gray's water transmitter design only after Bell's patent had been granted, and only as a proof of concept scientific experiment, to prove to his own satisfaction that intelligible "articulate speech" (Bell's words) could be electrically transmitted. After March 1876, Bell focused on improving the electromagnetic telephone and never used Gray's liquid transmitter in public demonstrations or commercial use.
The question of priority for the variable resistance feature of the telephone was raised by the examiner before he approved Bell's patent application. He told Bell that his claim for the variable resistance feature was also described in Gray's caveat. Bell pointed to a variable resistance device in his previous application in which he described a cup of mercury, not water. He had filed the mercury application at the patent office a year earlier on February 25, 1875, long before Elisha Gray described the water device. In addition, Gray abandoned his caveat, and because he did not contest Bell's priority, the examiner approved Bell's patent on March 3, 1876. Gray had reinvented the variable resistance telephone, but Bell was the first to write down the idea and the first to test it in a telephone.
The patent examiner, Zenas Fisk Wilber, later stated in an affidavit that he was an alcoholic who was much in debt to Bell's lawyer, Marcellus Bailey, with whom he had served in the Civil War. He claimed he showed Gray's patent caveat to Bailey. Wilber also claimed (after Bell arrived in Washington D.C. from Boston) that he showed Gray's caveat to Bell and that Bell paid him $100 (). Bell claimed they discussed the patent only in general terms, although in a letter to Gray, Bell admitted that he learned some of the technical details. Bell denied in an affidavit that he ever gave Wilber any money.
Later developments
On March 10, 1876, Bell used "the instrument" in Boston to call Thomas Watson who was in another room but out of earshot. He said, "Mr. Watson, come here – I want to see you" and Watson soon appeared at his side.
Continuing his experiments in Brantford, Bell brought home a working model of his telephone. On August 3, 1876, from the telegraph office in Brantford, Ontario, Bell sent a tentative telegram to the village of Mount Pleasant distant, indicating that he was ready. He made a telephone call via telegraph wires and faint voices were heard replying. The following night, he amazed guests as well as his family with a call between the Bell Homestead and the office of the Dominion Telegraph Company in Brantford along an improvised wire strung up along telegraph lines and fences, and laid through a tunnel. This time, guests at the household distinctly heard people in Brantford reading and singing. The third test on August 10, 1876, was made via the telegraph line between Brantford and Paris, Ontario, distant. This test was said by many sources to be the "world's first long-distance call". The final test certainly proved that the telephone could work over long distances, at least as a one-way call.
The first two-way (reciprocal) conversation over a line occurred between Cambridge and Boston (roughly 2.5 miles) on October 9, 1876. During that conversation, Bell was on Kilby Street in Boston and Watson was at the offices of the Walworth Manufacturing Company.
Bell and his partners, Hubbard and Sanders, offered to sell the patent outright to Western Union for $100,000. The president of Western Union balked, countering that the telephone was nothing but a toy. Two years later, he told colleagues that if he could get the patent for $25 million he would consider it a bargain. By then, the Bell company no longer wanted to sell the patent. Bell's investors would become millionaires while he fared well from residuals and at one point had assets of nearly one million dollars.
Bell began a series of public demonstrations and lectures to introduce the new invention to the scientific community as well as the general public. A short time later, his demonstration of an early telephone prototype at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia brought the telephone to international attention. Influential visitors to the exhibition included Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. One of the judges at the Exhibition, Sir William Thomson (later, Lord Kelvin), a renowned Scottish scientist, described the telephone as "the greatest by far of all the marvels of the electric telegraph".
On January 14, 1878, at Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight, Bell demonstrated the device to Queen Victoria, placing calls to Cowes, Southampton and London. These were the first publicly witnessed long-distance telephone calls in the UK. The queen considered the process to be "quite extraordinary" although the sound was "rather faint". She later asked to buy the equipment that was used, but Bell offered to make "a set of telephones" specifically for her.
The Bell Telephone Company was created in 1877, and by 1886, more than 150,000 people in the U.S. owned telephones. Bell Company engineers made numerous other improvements to the telephone, which emerged as one of the most successful products ever. In 1879, the Bell company acquired Edison's patents for the carbon microphone from Western Union. This made the telephone practical for longer distances, and it was no longer necessary to shout to be heard at the receiving telephone.
Emperor Pedro II of Brazil was the first person to buy stock in Bell's company, the Bell Telephone Company. One of the first telephones in a private residence was installed in his palace in Petrópolis, his summer retreat from Rio de Janeiro.
In January 1915, Bell made the first ceremonial transcontinental telephone call. Calling from the AT&T head office at 15 Dey Street in New York City, Bell was heard by Thomas Watson at 333 Grant Avenue in San Francisco. The New York Times reported:
Competitors
As is sometimes common in scientific discoveries, simultaneous developments can occur, as evidenced by a number of inventors who were at work on the telephone. Over a period of 18 years, the Bell Telephone Company faced 587 court challenges to its patents, including five that went to the U.S. Supreme Court, but none was successful in establishing priority over the original Bell patent and the Bell Telephone Company never lost a case that had proceeded to a final trial stage. Bell's laboratory notes and family letters were the key to establishing a long lineage to his experiments. The Bell company lawyers successfully fought off myriad lawsuits generated initially around the challenges by Elisha Gray and Amos Dolbear. In personal correspondence to Bell, both Gray and Dolbear had acknowledged his prior work, which considerably weakened their later claims.
On January 13, 1887, the U.S. Government moved to annul the patent issued to Bell on the grounds of fraud and misrepresentation. After a series of decisions and reversals, the Bell company won a decision in the Supreme Court, though a couple of the original claims from the lower court cases were left undecided. By the time that the trial wound its way through nine years of legal battles, the U.S. prosecuting attorney had died and the two Bell patents (No. 174,465 dated March 7, 1876, and No. 186,787 dated January 30, 1877) were no longer in effect, although the presiding judges agreed to continue the proceedings due to the case's importance as a precedent. With a change in administration and charges of conflict of interest (on both sides) arising from the original trial, the US Attorney General dropped the lawsuit on November 30, 1897, leaving several issues undecided on the merits.
During a deposition filed for the 1887 trial, Italian inventor Antonio Meucci also claimed to have created the first working model of a telephone in Italy in 1834. In 1886, in the first of three cases in which he was involved, Meucci took the stand as a witness in the hope of establishing his invention's priority. Meucci's testimony in this case was disputed due to a lack of material evidence for his inventions, as his working models were purportedly lost at the laboratory of American District Telegraph (ADT) of New York, which was later incorporated as a subsidiary of Western Union in 1901. Meucci's work, like many other inventors of the period, was based on earlier acoustic principles and despite evidence of earlier experiments, the final case involving Meucci was eventually dropped upon Meucci's death. However, due to the efforts of Congressman Vito Fossella, the U.S. House of Representatives on June 11, 2002, stated that Meucci's "work in the invention of the telephone should be acknowledged". This did not put an end to the still-contentious issue. Some modern scholars do not agree with the claims that Bell's work on the telephone was influenced by Meucci's inventions.
The value of the Bell patent was acknowledged throughout the world, and patent applications were made in most major countries, but when Bell delayed the German patent application, the electrical firm of Siemens & Halske set up a rival manufacturer of Bell telephones under their own patent. The Siemens company produced near-identical copies of the Bell telephone without having to pay royalties. The establishment of the International Bell Telephone Company in Brussels, Belgium in 1880, as well as a series of agreements in other countries eventually consolidated a global telephone operation. The strain put on Bell by his constant appearances in court, necessitated by the legal battles, eventually resulted in his resignation from the company.
Family life
On July 11, 1877, a few days after the Bell Telephone Company was established, Bell married Mabel Hubbard (1857–1923) at the Hubbard estate in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His wedding present to his bride was to turn over 1,487 of his 1,497 shares in the newly formed Bell Telephone Company. Shortly thereafter, the newlyweds embarked on a year-long honeymoon in Europe. During that excursion, Bell took a handmade model of his telephone with him, making it a "working holiday". The courtship had begun years earlier; however, Bell waited until he was more financially secure before marrying. Although the telephone appeared to be an "instant" success, it was not initially a profitable venture and Bell's main sources of income were from lectures until after 1897. One unusual request exacted by his fiancée was that he use "Alec" rather than the family's earlier familiar name of "Aleck". From 1876, he would sign his name "Alec Bell". They had four children:
Elsie May Bell (1878–1964) who married Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor of National Geographic fame.
Marian Hubbard Bell (1880–1962) who was referred to as "Daisy". Married David Fairchild.
Two sons who died in infancy (Edward in 1881 and Robert in 1883).
The Bell family home was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, until 1880 when Bell's father-in-law bought a house in Washington, D.C.; in 1882 he bought a home in the same city for Bell's family, so they could be with him while he attended to the numerous court cases involving patent disputes.
Bell was a British subject throughout his early life in Scotland and later in Canada until 1882 when he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In 1915, he characterized his status as: "I am not one of those hyphenated Americans who claim allegiance to two countries." Despite this declaration, Bell has been proudly claimed as a "native son" by all three countries he resided in: the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
By 1885, a new summer retreat was contemplated. That summer, the Bells had a vacation on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, spending time at the small village of Baddeck. Returning in 1886, Bell started building an estate on a point across from Baddeck, overlooking Bras d'Or Lake. By 1889, a large house, christened The Lodge was completed and two years later, a larger complex of buildings, including a new laboratory, were begun that the Bells would name Beinn Bhreagh (Gaelic: Beautiful Mountain) after Bell's ancestral Scottish highlands. Bell also built the Bell Boatyard on the estate, employing up to 40 people building experimental craft as well as wartime lifeboats and workboats for the Royal Canadian Navy and pleasure craft for the Bell family. He was an enthusiastic boater, and Bell and his family sailed or rowed a long series of vessels on Bras d'Or Lake, ordering additional vessels from the H.W. Embree and Sons boatyard in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia. In his final, and some of his most productive years, Bell split his residency between Washington, D.C., where he and his family initially resided for most of the year, and Beinn Bhreagh, where they spent increasing amounts of time.
Until the end of his life, Bell and his family would alternate between the two homes, but Beinn Bhreagh would, over the next 30 years, become more than a summer home as Bell became so absorbed in his experiments that his annual stays lengthened. Both Mabel and Bell became immersed in the Baddeck community and were accepted by the villagers as "their own". The Bells were still in residence at Beinn Bhreagh when the Halifax Explosion occurred on December 6, 1917. Mabel and Bell mobilized the community to help victims in Halifax.
Later inventions
Although Alexander Graham Bell is most often associated with the invention of the telephone, his interests were extremely varied. According to one of his biographers, Charlotte Gray, Bell's work ranged "unfettered across the scientific landscape" and he often went to bed voraciously reading the Encyclopædia Britannica, scouring it for new areas of interest. The range of Bell's inventive genius is represented only in part by the 18 patents granted in his name alone and the 12 he shared with his collaborators. These included 14 for the telephone and telegraph, four for the photophone, one for the phonograph, five for aerial vehicles, four for "hydroairplanes", and two for selenium cells. Bell's inventions spanned a wide range of interests and included a metal jacket to assist in breathing, the audiometer to detect minor hearing problems, a device to locate icebergs, investigations on how to separate salt from seawater, and work on finding alternative fuels.
Bell worked extensively in medical research and invented techniques for teaching speech to the deaf. During his Volta Laboratory period, Bell and his associates considered impressing a magnetic field on a record as a means of reproducing sound. Although the trio briefly experimented with the concept, they could not develop a workable prototype. They abandoned the idea, never realizing they had glimpsed a basic principle which would one day find its application in the tape recorder, the hard disc and floppy disc drive, and other magnetic media.
Bell's own home used a primitive form of air conditioning, in which fans blew currents of air across great blocks of ice. He also anticipated modern concerns with fuel shortages and industrial pollution. Methane gas, he reasoned, could be produced from the waste of farms and factories. At his Canadian estate in Nova Scotia, he experimented with composting toilets and devices to capture water from the atmosphere. In a magazine interview published shortly before his death, he reflected on the possibility of using solar panels to heat houses.
Photophone
Bell and his assistant Charles Sumner Tainter jointly invented a wireless telephone, named a photophone, which allowed for the transmission of both sounds and normal human conversations on a beam of light. Both men later became full associates in the Volta Laboratory Association.
On June 21, 1880, Bell's assistant transmitted a wireless voice telephone message a considerable distance, from the roof of the Franklin School in Washington, D.C., to Bell at the window of his laboratory, some away, 19 years before the first voice radio transmissions.
Bell believed the photophone's principles were his life's "greatest achievement", telling a reporter shortly before his death that the photophone was "the greatest invention [I have] ever made, greater than the telephone". The photophone was a precursor to the fiber-optic communication systems which achieved popular worldwide usage in the 1980s. Its master patent was issued in December 1880, many decades before the photophone's principles came into popular use.
Metal detector
Bell is also credited with developing one of the early versions of a metal detector through the use of an induction balance, after the shooting of U.S. President James A. Garfield in 1881. According to some accounts, the metal detector worked flawlessly in tests but did not find Guiteau's bullet, partly because the metal bed frame on which the President was lying disturbed the instrument, resulting in static. Garfield's surgeons, led by self-appointed chief physician Doctor Willard Bliss, were skeptical of the device, and ignored Bell's requests to move the President to a bed not fitted with metal springs. Alternatively, although Bell had detected a slight sound on his first test, the bullet may have been lodged too deeply to be detected by the crude apparatus.
Bell's own detailed account, presented to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1882, differs in several particulars from most of the many and varied versions now in circulation, by concluding that extraneous metal was not to blame for failure to locate the bullet. Perplexed by the peculiar results he had obtained during an examination of Garfield, Bell "proceeded to the Executive Mansion the next morning ... to ascertain from the surgeons whether they were perfectly sure that all metal had been removed from the neighborhood of the bed. It was then recollected that underneath the horse-hair mattress on which the President lay was another mattress composed of steel wires. Upon obtaining a duplicate, the mattress was found to consist of a sort of net of woven steel wires, with large meshes. The extent of the [area that produced a response from the detector] having been so small, as compared with the area of the bed, it seemed reasonable to conclude that the steel mattress had produced no detrimental effect." In a footnote, Bell adds, "The death of President Garfield and the subsequent post-mortem examination, however, proved that the bullet was at too great a distance from the surface to have affected our apparatus."
Hydrofoils
The March 1906 Scientific American article by American pioneer William E. Meacham explained the basic principle of hydrofoils and hydroplanes. Bell considered the invention of the hydroplane as a very significant achievement. Based on information gained from that article, he began to sketch concepts of what is now called a hydrofoil boat. Bell and assistant Frederick W. "Casey" Baldwin began hydrofoil experimentation in the summer of 1908 as a possible aid to airplane takeoff from water. Baldwin studied the work of the Italian inventor Enrico Forlanini and began testing models. This led him and Bell to the development of practical hydrofoil watercraft.
During his world tour of 1910–11, Bell and Baldwin met with Forlanini in France. They had rides in the Forlanini hydrofoil boat over Lake Maggiore. Baldwin described it as being as smooth as flying. On returning to Baddeck, a number of initial concepts were built as experimental models, including the Dhonnas Beag (Scottish Gaelic for little devil), the first self-propelled Bell-Baldwin hydrofoil. The experimental boats were essentially proof-of-concept prototypes that culminated in the more substantial HD-4, powered by Renault engines. A top speed of was achieved, with the hydrofoil exhibiting rapid acceleration, good stability, and steering, along with the ability to take waves without difficulty. In 1913, Dr. Bell hired Walter Pinaud, a Sydney yacht designer and builder as well as the proprietor of Pinaud's Yacht Yard in Westmount, Nova Scotia, to work on the pontoons of the HD-4. Pinaud soon took over the boatyard at Bell Laboratories on Beinn Bhreagh, Bell's estate near Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Pinaud's experience in boat-building enabled him to make useful design changes to the HD-4. After the First World War, work began again on the HD-4. Bell's report to the U.S. Navy permitted him to obtain two engines in July 1919. On September 9, 1919, the HD-4 set a world marine speed record of , a record which stood for ten years.
Aeronautics
In 1891, Bell had begun experiments to develop motor-powered heavier-than-air aircraft. The AEA was first formed as Bell shared the vision to fly with his wife, who advised him to seek "young" help as Bell was at the age of 60.
In 1898, Bell experimented with tetrahedral box kites and wings constructed of multiple compound tetrahedral kites covered in maroon silk. The tetrahedral wings were named Cygnet I, II, and III, and were flown both unmanned and manned (Cygnet I crashed during a flight carrying Selfridge) in the period from 1907 to 1912. Some of Bell's kites are on display at the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site.
Bell was a supporter of aerospace engineering research through the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA), officially formed at Baddeck, Nova Scotia, in October 1907 at the suggestion of his wife Mabel and with her financial support after the sale of some of her real estate. The AEA was headed by Bell and the founding members were four young men: American Glenn H. Curtiss, a motorcycle manufacturer at the time and who held the title "world's fastest man", having ridden his self-constructed motor bicycle around in the shortest time, and who was later awarded the Scientific American Trophy for the first official one-kilometre flight in the Western hemisphere, and who later became a world-renowned airplane manufacturer; Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge, an official observer from the U.S. Federal government and one of the few people in the army who believed that aviation was the future; Frederick W. Baldwin, the first Canadian and first British subject to pilot a public flight in Hammondsport, New York; and J. A. D. McCurdy–Baldwin and McCurdy being new engineering graduates from the University of Toronto.
The AEA's work progressed to heavier-than-air machines, applying their knowledge of kites to gliders. Moving to Hammondsport, the group then designed and built the Red Wing, framed in bamboo and covered in red silk and powered by a small air-cooled engine. On March 12, 1908, over Keuka Lake, the biplane lifted off on the first public flight in North America. The innovations that were incorporated into this design included a cockpit enclosure and tail rudder (later variations on the original design would add ailerons as a means of control). One of the AEA's inventions, a practical wingtip form of the aileron, was to become a standard component on all aircraft. The White Wing and June Bug were to follow and by the end of 1908, over 150 flights without mishap had been accomplished. However, the AEA had depleted its initial reserves and only a $15,000 grant from Mrs. Bell allowed it to continue with experiments. Lt. Selfridge had also become the first person killed in a powered heavier-than-air flight in a crash of the Wright Flyer at Fort Myer, Virginia, on September 17, 1908.
Their final aircraft design, the Silver Dart, embodied all of the advancements found in the earlier machines. On February 23, 1909, Bell was present as the Silver Dart flown by J. A. D. McCurdy from the frozen ice of Bras d'Or made the first aircraft flight in Canada. Bell had worried that the flight was too dangerous and had arranged for a doctor to be on hand. With the successful flight, the AEA disbanded and the Silver Dart would revert to Baldwin and McCurdy, who began the Canadian Aerodrome Company and would later demonstrate the aircraft to the Canadian Army.
Heredity and genetics
Bell, along with many members of the scientific community at the time, took an interest in the popular science of heredity which grew out of the publication of Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species in 1859. On his estate in Nova Scotia, Bell conducted meticulously recorded breeding experiments with rams and ewes. Over the course of more than 30 years, Bell sought to produce a breed of sheep with multiple nipples that would bear twins. He specifically wanted to see if selective breeding could produce sheep with four functional nipples with enough milk for twin lambs. This interest in animal breeding caught the attention of scientists focused on the study of heredity and genetics in humans.
In November 1883, Bell presented a paper at a meeting of the National Academy of Sciences titled "Upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race". The paper is a compilation of data on the hereditary aspects of deafness. Bell's research indicated that a hereditary tendency toward deafness, as indicated by the possession of deaf relatives, was an important element in determining the production of deaf offspring. He noted that the proportion of deaf children born to deaf parents was many times greater than the proportion of deaf children born to the general population. In the paper, Bell delved into social commentary and discussed hypothetical public policies to bring an end to deafness. He also criticized educational practices that segregated deaf children rather than integrated them fulling into mainstream classrooms. The paper did not propose sterilization of deaf people or prohibition on intermarriage, noting that “We cannot dictate to men and women whom they should marry and natural selection no longer influences mankind to any great extent.”
A review of Bell's "Memoir upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race" appearing in an 1885 issue of the "American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb" states that "Dr. Bell does not advocate legislative interference with the marriages of the deaf for several reasons one of which is that the results of such marriages have not yet been sufficiently investigated." The article goes on to say that "the editorial remarks based thereon did injustice to the author." The paper's author concludes by saying “A wiser way to prevent the extension of hereditary deafness, it seems to us, would be to continue the investigations which Dr. Bell has so admirable begun until the laws of the transmission of the tendency to deafness are fully understood, and then by explaining those laws to the pupils of our schools to lead them to choose their partners in marriage in such a way that deaf-mute offspring will not be the result."
Historians have noted that Bell explicitly opposed laws regulating marriage, and never mentioned sterilization in any of his writings. Even after Bell agreed to engage with scientists conducting eugenic research, he consistently refused to support public policy that limited the rights or privileges of the deaf.
Bell's interest and research on heredity attracted the interest of Charles Davenport, a Harvard professor and head of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. In 1906, Davenport, who was also the founder of the American Breeder's Association, approached Bell about joining a new committee on eugenics chaired by David Starr Jordan. In 1910, Davenport opened the Eugenics Records office at Cold Spring Harbor. To give the organization scientific credibility, Davenport set up a Board of Scientific Directors naming Bell as chairman. Other members of the board included Luther Burbank, Roswell H. Johnson, Vernon L. Kellogg, and William E. Castle.
In 1921, a Second International Congress of Eugenics was held in New York at the Museum of Natural History and chaired by Davenport. Although Bell did not present any research or speak as part of the proceedings, he was named as honorary president as a means to attract other scientists to attend the event. A summary of the event notes that Bell was a "pioneering investigator in the field of human heredity".
Death
Bell died of complications arising from diabetes on August 2, 1922, at his private estate in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, at age 75. Bell had also been afflicted with pernicious anemia. His last view of the land he had inhabited was by moonlight on his mountain estate at 2:00 a.m. While tending to him after his long illness, Mabel, his wife, whispered, "Don't leave me." By way of reply, Bell signed "no...", lost consciousness, and died shortly after.
On learning of Bell's death, the Canadian Prime Minister, Mackenzie King, cabled Mrs. Bell, saying:
Bell's coffin was constructed of Beinn Bhreagh pine by his laboratory staff, lined with the same red silk fabric used in his tetrahedral kite experiments. To help celebrate his life, his wife asked guests not to wear black (the traditional funeral color) while attending his service, during which soloist Jean MacDonald sang a verse of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Requiem":
Upon the conclusion of Bell's funeral, for one minute at 6:25 p.m. Eastern Time, "every phone on the continent of North America was silenced in honor of the man who had given to mankind the means for direct communication at a distance".
Alexander Graham Bell was buried atop Beinn Bhreagh mountain, on his estate where he had resided increasingly for the last 35 years of his life, overlooking Bras d'Or Lake. He was survived by his wife Mabel, his two daughters, Elsie May and Marian, and nine of his grandchildren.
Legacy and honors
Honors and tributes flowed to Bell in increasing numbers as his invention became ubiquitous and his personal fame grew. Bell received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities to the point that the requests almost became burdensome. During his life, he also received dozens of major awards, medals, and other tributes. These included statuary monuments to both him and the new form of communication his telephone created, including the Bell Telephone Memorial erected in his honor in Alexander Graham Bell Gardens in Brantford, Ontario, in 1917.
A large number of Bell's writings, personal correspondence, notebooks, papers, and other documents reside in both the United States Library of Congress Manuscript Division (as the Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers), and at the Alexander Graham Bell Institute, Cape Breton University, Nova Scotia; major portions of which are available for online viewing.
A number of historic sites and other marks commemorate Bell in North America and Europe, including the first telephone companies in the United States and Canada. Among the major sites are:
The Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, maintained by Parks Canada, which incorporates the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, close to the Bell estate Beinn Bhreagh
The Bell Homestead National Historic Site, includes the Bell family home, "Melville House", and farm overlooking Brantford, Ontario and the Grand River. It was their first home in North America;
Canada's first telephone company building, the "Henderson Home" of the late 1870s, a predecessor of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada (officially chartered in 1880). In 1969, the building was carefully moved to the historic Bell Homestead National Historic Site in Brantford, Ontario, and was refurbished to become a telephone museum. The Bell Homestead, the Henderson Home telephone museum, and the National Historic Site's reception centre are all maintained by the Bell Homestead Society;
The Alexander Graham Bell Memorial Park, which features a broad neoclassical monument built in 1917 by public subscription. The monument depicts mankind's ability to span the globe through telecommunications;
The Alexander Graham Bell Museum (opened in 1956), part of the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site which was completed in 1978 in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Many of the museum's artifacts were donated by Bell's daughters;
In 1880, Bell received the Volta Prize with a purse of 50,000 French francs (approximately US$ in today's dollars) for the invention of the telephone from the French government. Among the luminaries who judged were Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas, fils. The Volta Prize was conceived by Napoleon III in 1852, and named in honor of Alessandro Volta, with Bell becoming the second recipient of the grand prize in its history. Since Bell was becoming increasingly affluent, he used his prize money to create endowment funds (the 'Volta Fund') and institutions in and around the United States capital of Washington, D.C.. These included the prestigious 'Volta Laboratory Association' (1880), also known as the Volta Laboratory and as the 'Alexander Graham Bell Laboratory', and which eventually led to the Volta Bureau (1887) as a center for studies on deafness which is still in operation in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. The Volta Laboratory became an experimental facility devoted to scientific discovery, and the very next year it improved Edison's phonograph by substituting wax for tinfoil as the recording medium and incising the recording rather than indenting it, key upgrades that Edison himself later adopted. The laboratory was also the site where he and his associate invented his "proudest achievement", "the photophone", the "optical telephone" which presaged fibre optical telecommunications while the Volta Bureau would later evolve into the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (the AG Bell), a leading center for the research and pedagogy of deafness.
In partnership with Gardiner Greene Hubbard, Bell helped establish the publication Science during the early 1880s. In 1898, Bell was elected as the second president of the National Geographic Society, serving until 1903, and was primarily responsible for the extensive use of illustrations, including photography, in the magazine. He also served for many years as a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution (1898–1922). The French government conferred on him the decoration of the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honor); the Royal Society of Arts in London awarded him the Albert Medal in 1902; the University of Würzburg, Bavaria, granted him a PhD, and he was awarded the Franklin Institute's Elliott Cresson Medal in 1912. He was one of the founders of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1884 and served as its president from 1891 to 1892. Bell was later awarded the AIEE's Edison Medal in 1914 "For meritorious achievement in the invention of the telephone".
The bel (B) and the smaller decibel (dB) are units of measurement of sound pressure level (SPL) invented by Bell Labs and named after him. Since 1976, the IEEE's Alexander Graham Bell Medal has been awarded to honor outstanding contributions in the field of telecommunications.
In 1936, the US Patent Office declared Bell first on its list of the country's greatest inventors, leading to the US Post Office issuing a commemorative stamp honoring Bell in 1940 as part of its 'Famous Americans Series'. The First Day of Issue ceremony was held on October 28 in Boston, Massachusetts, the city where Bell spent considerable time on research and working with the deaf. The Bell stamp became very popular and sold out in little time. The stamp became, and remains to this day, the most valuable one of the series.
The 150th anniversary of Bell's birth in 1997 was marked by a special issue of commemorative £1 banknotes from the Royal Bank of Scotland. The illustrations on the reverse of the note include Bell's face in profile, his signature, and objects from Bell's life and career: users of the telephone over the ages; an audio wave signal; a diagram of a telephone receiver; geometric shapes from engineering structures; representations of sign language and the phonetic alphabet; the geese which helped him to understand flight; and the sheep which he studied to understand genetics. Additionally, the Government of Canada honored Bell in 1997 with a C$100 gold coin, in tribute also to the 150th anniversary of his birth, and with a silver dollar coin in 2009 in honor of the 100th anniversary of flight in Canada. That first flight was made by an airplane designed under Dr. Bell's tutelage, named the Silver Dart. Bell's image, and also those of his many inventions have graced paper money, coinage, and postal stamps in numerous countries worldwide for many dozens of years.
Alexander Graham Bell was ranked 57th among the 100 Greatest Britons (2002) in an official BBC nationwide poll, and among the Top Ten Greatest Canadians (2004), and the 100 Greatest Americans (2005). In 2006, Bell was also named as one of the 10 greatest Scottish scientists in history after having been listed in the National Library of Scotland's 'Scottish Science Hall of Fame'. Bell's name is still widely known and used as part of the names of dozens of educational institutes, corporate namesakes, street and place names around the world.
Honorary degrees
Alexander Graham Bell, who could not complete the university program of his youth, received at least a dozen honorary degrees from academic institutions, including eight honorary LL.D.s (Doctorate of Laws), two Ph.D.s, a D.Sc., and an M.D.:
Gallaudet College (then named National Deaf-Mute College) in Washington, D.C. (Ph.D.) in 1880
University of Würzburg in Würzburg, Bavaria (Ph.D.) in 1882
Heidelberg University in Heidelberg, Germany (M.D.) in 1886
Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts (LL.D.) in 1896
Illinois College, in Jacksonville, Illinois (LL.D.) in 1896, possibly 1881
Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts (LL.D.) in 1901
St. Andrew's University in St Andrews, Scotland (LL.D) in 1902
University of Oxford in Oxford, England (D.Sc.) in 1906
University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland (LL.D.) in 1906
George Washington University in Washington, D.C. (LL.D.) in 1913
Queen's University at Kingston in Kingston, Ontario, Canada (LL.D.) in 1908
Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire (LL.D.) in 1913, possibly 1914
Portrayal in film and television
The 1939 film The Story of Alexander Graham Bell was based on his life and works.
The 1992 film The Sound and the Silence was a TV film.
Biography aired an episode Alexander Graham Bell: Voice of Invention on August 6, 1996.
Eyewitness No. 90 A Great Inventor Is Remembered, a 1957 NFB short about Bell.
Bibliography
Also published as:
See also
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site
Bell Boatyard
Bell Homestead National Historic Site
Bell Telephone Memorial
Berliner, Emile
Bourseul, Charles
IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal
John Peirce, submitted telephone ideas to Bell
Manzetti, Innocenzo
Meucci, Antonio
Oriental Telephone Company
People on Scottish banknotes
Pioneers, a Volunteer Network
Reis, Philipp
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell, a 1939 movie of his life
The Telephone Cases
Volta Laboratory and Bureau
William Francis Channing, submitted telephone ideas to Bell
References
Notes
Citations
Further reading
Mullett, Mary B. The Story of A Famous Inventor. New York: Rogers and Fowle, 1921.
Walters, Eric. The Hydrofoil Mystery. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Puffin Books, 1999. .
Winzer, Margret A. The History Of Special Education: From Isolation To Integration. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press, 1993. .
External links
Alexander and Mabel Bell Legacy Foundation
Alexander Graham Bell Institute at Cape Breton University
Bell Telephone Memorial, Brantford, Ontario
Bell Homestead National Historic Site, Brantford, Ontario
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site of Canada, Baddeck, Nova Scotia
Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers at the Library of Congress
Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
Science.ca profile: Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell's notebooks at the Internet Archive
"Téléphone et photophone : les contributions indirectes de Graham Bell à l'idée de la vision à distance par l'électricité" at the Histoire de la télévision
Multimedia
Alexander Graham Bell at The Biography Channel
Shaping The Future, from the Heritage Minutes and Radio Minutes collection at HistoricaCanada.ca (1:31 audio drama, Adobe Flash required)
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Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame inductees | true | [
"The 2008 Miami FC season was the third season of the team in the USL First Division.\nThis year, the team finished in ninth place for the regular season. They did not make the playoffs.\n\nUSL First Division Regular season\n\nStandings\n\nFirst Division\n\nTie-breaker order: 1. Head-to-head points; 2. Total wins; 3. Goal difference; 4. Goals for; 5. Lottery\n† Rochester deducted 1 point for use of an ineligible player on August 10, 2008\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n2008\nFort Lauderdale Strikers\nUSL First Division\nMiami FC",
"Frederick William Boye was an American basketball coach. He served as the head basketball coach at University of North Carolina from 1919 to 1921.\n\nCoaching at North Carolina\nPrior to Boye, Howell Peacock was the head coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team. Peacock had managed to make the Tar Heels one of the best teams in the South in the 1917–18 season, earning a record of 9–3, but he failed to repeat his success in the 1918–19 season, with the Tar Heels earning a record of 9–7. \n\nAfter Peacock's departure, Boye was hired to coach the team. Boye, a former World War I veteran, took over an experienced Tar Heel squad, but even so, he only managed to obtain a 7–9 record his first year, including one loss to the Durham YMCA. In his second year, he was more successful, earning a 12–8 record and going undefeated at home. \n\nDuring the 1920–21 season, North Carolina — along with thirteen other universities — split from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association to create the Southern Conference on February 25, 1921, in Atlanta. Although the new conference was established during the 1920–21 season, North Carolina did not play basketball games in the conference until the following year. \n\nBoye left as head coach after the conclusion of the 1920–21 season. The Tar Heels did not secure a replacement for head coach for the next two seasons. Nevertheless, they managed to be more successful than they were under Boye. In the 1921–22 season, the team went 15–6 and won the Southern Conference Tournament. In the 1922–23 season, they had even more success going 15–1, undefeated in conference play, and tying for first in the Southern Conference. Boye was also professor of military training at the university.\n\nHead coaching record\n\nSources\n\nReferences\n\nBasketball coaches from North Carolina\nAmerican military personnel of World War I\nNorth Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball coaches\nYear of birth missing\nYear of death missing"
] |
[
"James O'Keefe",
"Senator Mary Landrieu (2010)"
] | C_db0856153b7d4364b3156b34bd97dae1_0 | What is is connection with Mary Landrieu? | 1 | What is James O'keefe's connection with Mary Landrieu? | James O'Keefe | O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, at the office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat. His three fellow activists, who were dressed as telephone repairmen when apprehended, included Robert Flanagan, the son of William Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Louisiana. The four men were charged with malicious intent to damage the phone system. O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents during the debate over President Barack Obama's health care bill. The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty on May 26. O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The other three men received lesser sentences. In August 2013, O'Keefe revisited the incident by releasing a video entitled: "a confrontation with former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten on the campus of Tulane University". Letten is a former Republican U.S. Attorney who recused himself from the Landrieu incident because he knew the father of one of the men involved. The video shows Letten accusing O'Keefe of "terrorizing" Letten's wife at their home, of harassing him, and trespassing on the Tulane campus. He called O'Keefe a "coward" and a "spud", and referred to O'Keefe and his companions as "hobbits" and "scum". CANNOTANSWER | O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents | James Edward O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is an American political activist and provocateur who founded Project Veritas, a far-right activist group that uses deceptive editing techniques to attack mainstream media organizations and progressive groups. Both O'Keefe and Project Veritas have produced secretly recorded undercover audio and video encounters in academic, governmental, and social service organizations, purporting to show abusive or illegal behavior by representatives of those organizations; the recordings are often selectively edited to misrepresent the context of the conversations and the subjects' responses.
O’Keefe gained national attention for his selectively edited video recordings of workers at Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) offices in 2009, his arrest and guilty plea in 2010 for entering the federal office of then-U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) under false pretenses, and the release of misleading videos of conversations with two high-ranking, now former, NPR executives in 2011.
When his videos – heavily edited to portray ACORN workers seemingly aiding a couple in criminal planning – were publicized, the U.S. Congress voted to freeze funds for the non-profit. The national controversy resulted in the non-profit also losing most of its private funding before investigations of the videos concluded no illegal activity occurred. In March 2010, ACORN was close to bankruptcy and had to close or rename most of its offices. Shortly thereafter, the California State Attorney General's Office and the US Government Accountability Office released their related investigative reports. The Attorney General's Office found that O'Keefe had misrepresented the actions of ACORN workers in California and that the workers had not broken any laws. A preliminary probe by the GAO found that ACORN had managed its federal funds appropriately. One of the fired ACORN workers sued O'Keefe for invasion of privacy; O'Keefe issued an apology and agreed to pay $100,000 in a settlement.
O'Keefe has gained support from right-wing and conservative media and interest groups, as well as the far right. In 2009, Andrew Breitbart commissioned him for the option to publish new videos exclusively on BigGovernment.com.
Early life and education
James Edward O'Keefe III was born in Bergen County, New Jersey, the elder of two children of James, a materials engineer, and Deborah O'Keefe, a physical therapist. He has a younger sister.
O'Keefe grew up in Westwood, New Jersey. His home was politically "conservative but not rigidly so", according to his father. He graduated from Westwood High School, where he showed an early interest in the arts, theater and journalism. He attained Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America. O'Keefe started at Rutgers University in 2002 and majored in philosophy. Beginning in his sophomore year, he wrote a bi-weekly opinion column for The Daily Targum, the university's student paper. He left the Targum and founded the Rutgers Centurion, a conservative student paper supported by a $500 "Balance in the Media" grant from The Leadership Institute.
For his first video, he and other Centurion writers met with Rutgers dining staff to demand the banning of the cereal Lucky Charms from dining halls because of its offense to Irish Americans. O'Keefe said the leprechaun mascot presented a stereotype. He intended to have officials lose either way: to appear insensitive to an ethnic group, or to look silly by agreeing to ban Lucky Charms. They expected to be thrown out of school, but the Rutgers official was courteous, took notes, and said their concerns would be considered. Rutgers staff say the cereal was never taken off the menu.
Career
After graduating from Rutgers, O'Keefe worked for a year at the Leadership Institute (LI) in Arlington, Virginia, under media specialist Ben Wetmore, whom O'Keefe calls his mentor. The institute sent him to colleges to train students to start conservative independent newspapers, but, after a year LI officials asked him to leave. According to LI president and founder Morton Blackwell, O'Keefe was "very effective and very enthusiastic" but after a year he was asked to leave because officials felt his activist work threatened the group's nonprofit status by trying to influence legislation.
O'Keefe has produced and distributed secretly recorded and misleadingly edited videos and audio files made during staged encounters with targeted entities or individuals. His work takes the form of undercover stings targeted at liberal groups and politicians. He sought to "embarrass" and "damage" his targets, such as Landrieu and ACORN.
He has sought to maximize publicity by releasing secretly recorded videos over several days or months, often in relation to funding authorizations or significant political actions related to the subject organization. Many videos received widespread media coverage sparking significant reactions, most notably videos of ACORN that resulted in the Congress quickly freezing funds, two executive agencies canceling contracts, and several ACORN workers being fired, and videos of National Public Radio (NPR) executives that led to the resignation of CEO Vivian Schiller, shortly before Congressional funding hearings involving NPR.
In January 2010, O'Keefe began a column on Breitbarts website, BigGovernment.com. Andrew Breitbart stated in an interview that he paid O'Keefe a salary for his "life rights" to gain release of O'Keefe's videos first on his website. In 2010, O'Keefe formed his a new organization, Project Veritas, whose stated mission is "to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society."
Much of the funding for Project Veritas comes from anonymous donations through Donors Trust, a conservative, American nonprofit donor-advised fund, which according to its promotional materials, says that it will "keep your charitable giving private, especially gifts funding sensitive or controversial issues." Prominent donors include the Trump Foundation, which, in May 2015, donated $10,000.
O'Keefe is a conservative activist with mainstream conservative pro-market and anti-government views, although he has described himself as a "progressive radical", because he wants to change things, "not conserve them". He considers himself a muckraker. O'Keefe has expressed admiration for the philosophy of G. K. Chesterton and for a free press.
Major activities
Planned Parenthood recordings (2008)
In 2006, O'Keefe met Lila Rose, the founder of an anti-abortion group on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus. They secretly recorded encounters in Planned Parenthood clinics in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, in which Rose posed as a 15-year-old girl impregnated by a 23-year-old male. Rose and O'Keefe made two videos incorporating heavily edited versions of the recordings and released them on YouTube. the video omitted the portions of the full conversation in which a Planned Parenthood employee asked Rose to consult her mother about the pregnancy and another employee told Rose, "We have to follow the laws". Rose took down the videos after Planned Parenthood sent her a cease and desist letter in May 2007 asserting that the videos violated California's voice recording laws, which required consent from all recorded parties.
In 2007, O'Keefe phoned several Planned Parenthood clinics and secretly recorded the conversations. He posed as a donor, asking if his donations would be applied to needs of minority women, accompanied by race-related remarks such as "there's way too many black people in Ohio". The recordings portrayed Planned Parenthood clinic workers in six states agreeing to accept his donation under his conditions. After the release of the recordings, African-American leaders called for withdrawal of public financing of the organization. The Idaho clinic responded with an apology for "the manner in which this offensive call was handled". Planned Parenthood issued an official statement emphasizing that "97 percent of its services are focused on providing contraceptives, breast and cervical cancer screenings and sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment — not abortions".
ACORN videos (2009)
In September 2009, O'Keefe and his associate, Hannah Giles, published edited hidden camera recordings in which Giles posed as a prostitute and O'Keefe as her boyfriend, a law student, in an attempt to elicit damaging responses from employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), an advocacy organization for people of low and moderate income.
Washington Post correspondents Darryl Fears and Carol D. Leonnig reported that O'Keefe "said he targeted ACORN for the same reasons that the political right does: its massive voter registration drives" and that "[p]oliticians are getting elected single-handedly due to this organization." According to The Washington Post, ACORN registered people mostly from the Latino and African American groups.
The videos were recorded during the summer of 2009 and appeared to show low-level ACORN employees in six cities providing advice to Giles and O'Keefe on how to avoid detection by authorities of tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution. He framed the undercover recordings with a preface of him dressed in a "pimp" outfit, which he also wore in TV media interviews. This gave viewers, including the media, the impression that he had dressed that way when speaking to ACORN workers. However, he actually entered the ACORN offices in conservative street clothes (the sleeve of his dress shirt is visible on camera). Furthermore, the ACORN employees involved reported his activities to the police after he left. O'Keefe selectively edited and manipulated his recordings of ACORN employees, as well as distorted the chronologies. Several journalists and media outlets have expressed regret for not properly scrutinizing and vetting his work.
Reception and lawsuit
After the videos were released through the fall of 2009, the U.S. Congress quickly voted to freeze federal funding to ACORN. The Census Bureau and the IRS terminated their contract relationships with ACORN. By December 2009, an external investigation of ACORN was published which cleared the organization of any illegality, while noting that its poor management practices contributed to unprofessional actions by some low-level employees. In March 2010, ACORN announced it would dissolve due to loss of funding from government and especially private sources.
On March 1, 2010, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes found there was no criminal wrongdoing by the ACORN staff in New York.
The California Attorney General's Office granted O'Keefe and Giles limited immunity from prosecution in exchange for providing the full, unedited videotapes related to ACORN offices in California. On the basis of the edited videotape which O'Keefe released, Vera appeared to be a willing participant in helping with O'Keefe's plan to smuggle young women into the United States illegally. However, authorities confirmed that Vera immediately contacted them about O'Keefe and that he had also encouraged O'Keefe to share as much information as possible about his scheme and gather further evidence of O'Keefe's purported illegal activities, which could then be used by prosecutors to bring charges against O'Keefe for attempted human trafficking. Due to O'Keefe's release of the dubiously edited video, intentionally designed to "prove" that ACORN employees were ready and willing to engage in illicit activities, Vera lost his job and was falsely accused of being engaged in human trafficking. O'Keefe said that he "regrets any pain" caused by his actions, though O'Keefe's lawyer dismissed any claimed injury incurred by Vera and stated that the payment was a "nuisance settlement".
O'Keefe moved for summary judgment in his favor, arguing that the plaintiff had no reasonable expectation that the conversation would be private. In August 2012, the federal judge hearing the case denied O'Keefe's motion for summary judgment. The judge ruled that O'Keefe had "misled plaintiff to believe that the conversation would remain confidential by posing as a client seeking services from ACORN and asking whether their conversation was confidential." On March 5, 2013, O'Keefe agreed to pay $100,000 to former California ACORN employee Juan Carlos Vera for breaking state law prohibiting surreptitious recording, and acknowledged in the settlement that at the time he published his video he was unaware that Vera had notified the police about the incident. The settlement contained the following apology: "O'Keefe regrets any pain suffered by Mr. Vera or his family."
On June 14, 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published its report finding no evidence that ACORN, or any of its related organizations, had mishandled any of the $40 million in federal money which they had received in recent years.
Senator Mary Landrieu (2010)
O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in the Hale Boggs Federal Complex in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, at the office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat. His three fellow activists, who were dressed as telephone repairmen when apprehended, included Robert Flanagan, the son of William Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Louisiana. The four men were charged with malicious intent to damage the phone system. O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents during the debate over President Barack Obama's health care bill.
The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty on May 26. O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The three other men received lesser sentences. Another consequence is that O'Keefe is barred from soliciting donations from Florida residents, because of state law applicable to people found guilty of fraud.
In August 2013, O'Keefe revisited the incident by releasing a video entitled: "a confrontation with former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten on the campus of Tulane University". Letten is a former Republican U.S. Attorney who recused himself from the Landrieu incident because he knew the father of one of the men involved. The video shows Letten accusing O'Keefe of "terrorizing" Letten's wife at their home, of harassing him, and trespassing on the Tulane campus. He called O'Keefe a "coward" and a "spud", and referred to O'Keefe and his companions as "hobbits" and "scum".
NPR video (2011)
On March 8, 2011, shortly before the US Congress was to vote on funding for National Public Radio (NPR), O'Keefe released a heavily edited video of a discussion with Ronald Schiller, NPR's senior vice president for fundraising, and associate Betsy Liley. Raw content was secretly recorded by O'Keefe's partners Ken Larrey and Shaughn Adeleye.
NPR responded by stating that Schiller's remarks were presented out of sequence and that he said that he would speak personally, and not for NPR. Schiller said some highly placed Republicans believed the Republican Party had been hijacked by a radical group (the Tea Party) that they characterized as "Islamophobic" and "seriously racist, racist people", and while Schiller did not disagree, according to NPR, O'Keefe's editing made it appear those were Schiller's opinions. Schiller then says that unlike establishment Republicans, the growing Tea Party movement in the party "is fanatically involved in people's personal lives and very fundamental Christian — I wouldn't even call it Christian. It's this weird evangelical kind of move."
Later in the edited video, Schiller seems to say he believes NPR "would be better off in the long run without federal funding", explaining that removal of federal funding would allow NPR more independence and remove the widely held misconception that NPR is significantly funded by the public. But on the raw tape, Schiller also said that withdrawing federal funding would cause local stations to go under and that NPR is doing "everything we can" to keep it.
In a statement released before analysis of the longer raw video, NPR said, "Schiller's comments are in direct conflict with NPR's official position ... The fraudulent organization represented in this video repeatedly pressed us to accept a $5 million check with no strings attached, which we repeatedly refused to accept." After reviewing the unedited video, Scott Baker, editor-in-chief of TheBlaze, said the NPR executives "seem to be fairly balanced people."
Journalists Ben Smith, James Poniewozik, and Dave Weigel have expressed regret for giving O'Keefe's NPR videos wider circulation without scrutinizing them for themselves.
Reception
Comparison of the raw video with the released one revealed editing that was characterized as "selective" and "deceptive" by Michael Gerson, opinion writer for The Washington Post, who wrote, "O'Keefe did not merely leave a false impression; he manufactured an elaborate, alluring lie." Time magazine wrote that the video "transposed remarks from a different part of the meeting", was "manipulative" and "a partisan hit-job."
The raw video shows Schiller told the two men "that donors cannot expect to influence news coverage." On the longer tape, he says, "There is such a big firewall between funding and reporting: Reporters will not be swayed in any way, shape or form." Broadcast journalist Al Tompkins, who now teaches at the Poynter Institute, noted that Ron Schiller was a fundraiser, not an official affecting the newsroom. He commented on the raw tape: "The message that he said most often—I counted six times: He told these two people that he had never met before that you cannot buy coverage", Tompkins said. "He says it over and over and over again."
On March 17, Martha T. Moore of USA Today reported: "According to The Blaze analysis, Ron Schiller's most inflammatory remarks, that Tea Party members are 'seriously racist', were made as he was recounting the views of Republicans he has spoken with—although he does not appear to disagree. It also shows Schiller appearing to laugh about the potential spread of Islamic sharia law, when the longer version shows he laughed in reaction to something completely different."
Two days later, O'Keefe released a video in which Betsy Liley, senior director of institutional giving at NPR, appeared to have checked with senior management and said MEAC was cleared to make donations anonymously and NPR could help shield donations from government audits, but added that, in order to proceed, additional background information would be required, including an IRS Form 990. Liley advised the caller that NPR executives would investigate them before accepting any large donation, examining tax records and checking out other organizations that have received donations from them. Liley raises the possibility of NPR's turning down substantial gifts and stresses the "firewall" between the revenue-generating part of NPR and its news operation. NPR put Liley on administrative leave. In emails released following the publication of the Liley video, NPR confirmed that the official had consulted appropriately with top management and notified the purported donors of problems with their desired method of donation.
The video, which was released directly before a congressional vote on funding, caused immediate reaction from NPR critics in Congress. Ronald Schiller, who had already submitted his resignation in January so that he could join the Aspen Institute, moved up his resignation after the video release when NPR put him on administrative leave. NPR CEO Vivian Schiller (no relation to Ronald Schiller), who had not been implicated in the Project Veritas video, quickly resigned. Vivian Schiller's resignation, mutually decided with the NPR board, was in part an attempt to show Congressional funders that NPR could hold itself accountable.
U.S. presidential elections (2016)
A month before the launch of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, the Trump Foundation donated $10,000 to O'Keefe's Project Veritas. O'Keefe attended, as a guest of the Trump campaign, the final presidential debate, and was later available in the spin room following the Las Vegas event.
Americans United for Change videos
On October 18, 2016, O'Keefe released a series of videos on Project Veritas' YouTube channel titled "Rigging the Election" that apparently showed former national field director Scott Foval of Americans United for Change discussing ensuring that they have people at the front of the rope lines at rallies in order to ask questions, a common practice known as "bird dogging". The accuracy of the videos has been questioned for possibly omitting context, and the unedited raw footage has not been made available. The GOP-appointed Attorney General of Wisconsin, Brad Schimel, investigated the claims made in the video twice, both times finding no evidence that Foval broke any voting laws.
DNC Chair Donna Brazile said the video footage omitted necessary context. Scott Foval was fired by Americans United for Change after the first video was released. Foval later said he had been set up. Robert Creamer, a DNC consultant and husband of U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, D-IL, said, "We regret the unprofessional and careless hypothetical conversations that were captured on hidden cameras of a regional contractor for our firm, and he is no longer working with us," he said. "While none of the schemes described in the conversations ever took place, these conversations do not at all reflect the values of Democracy Partners." Shortly afterwards, Creamer, who was also featured in the video, said he would end his consulting arrangement with the DNC to avoid becoming a "distraction".
Following the publication of his videos, O'Keefe filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and the DNC, alleging "a criminal conspiracy" involving the Clinton campaign, the DNC and three left-leaning super PACs. On June 1, 2017, Creamer's firm, Democracy Partners, filed a $1 million lawsuit against Project Veritas, claiming Project Veritas had lied to gain access to the firm and violating anti-wiretapping laws.
In response to a third video, in which O'Keefe stated that Clinton was behind an illegal public relations gimmick to punish Trump for not releasing his tax returns, the Clinton campaign denied any wrongdoing. Independent campaign finance experts posited the video doesn't support O'Keefe's claims. Clinton said she was aware of the activists dressed as Donald Duck, who were following Trump while asking about his tax returns, and said she was amused.
On October 26, 2016, O'Keefe posted a fourth video on his Project Veritas Action YouTube channel. The video alleged that liberal groups supporting Hillary Clinton were illegally taking foreign money. The targeted group, Americans United for Change foundation, is a 501(c)4 organization and is allowed to legally accept foreign contributions. However, AUC returned the money shortly after the video was released. The group's chief stated, "We returned the money because the last thing we want to be associated with is a character like O'Keefe who has been convicted and successfully sued for his illegal tactics and fraudulent activities."
On November 8, 2016 (Election Day), O'Keefe spent some time following vans that were allegedly "bussing people around to polls in Philadelphia".
On January 9, 2017, Project Veritas operative Allison Maass was filmed attempting to bribe members of Americans Take Action into inciting a riot at Trump's inauguration. On January 16, 2017, Project Veritas uploaded a video showing DC Antifascist Coalition members of Disrupt J20 plotting to use "stink bombs" at the DeploraBall. After the video's release, Disrupt J20 denied the statements, saying that the members deliberately gave false information to Veritas. The video led to the arrest of one man allegedly involved in the plan, as well as two associates. All three individuals pleaded guilty.
Other activities
Abbie Boudreau (2010)
In August 2010, O'Keefe planned a staged encounter with CNN correspondent Abbie Boudreau, who was working on a documentary on the young conservative movement. He set up an appointment at his office in Maryland to discuss a video shoot. Izzy Santa, executive director of Project Veritas, warned Boudreau that O'Keefe was planning to "punk" her on the boat by trying to seduce her—which he would film on hidden cameras. Boudreau did not board the boat and soon left the area.
CNN later published a 13-page plan written by O'Keefe mentor Ben Wetmore. It listed props for the boat scheme, including pornography, sexual aids, condoms, a blindfold and "fuzzy" handcuffs. When questioned by CNN, O'Keefe denied he was going to follow the Wetmore plan, as he found parts of it inappropriate. Boudreau commented "that does not appear to be true, according to a series of emails we obtained from Izzy Santa, who says the e-mails reveal James' true intentions."
Following the Boudreau incident, Project Veritas paid Izzy Santa a five-figure settlement after she threatened to sue, which included a non-disclosure agreement. Funding decreased from conservative political organizations following this CNN incident.
New Jersey Teachers' Union video (2010)
Starting October 25, 2010, O'Keefe posted a series of videos on the Internet entitled Teachers Unions Gone Wild. At the time, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) was in negotiations with Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor, over teacher pay benefits and tenure. O'Keefe obtained one video from recordings made by "citizen journalists", whom he recruited to attend the NJEA's leadership conference. They secretly recorded meetings and conversations with teacher participants. It featured teachers discussing the difficulty of firing a tenured teacher.
A second video featured a staged phone conversation by O'Keefe with Lawrence E. Everett, assistant superintendent of the Passaic, New Jersey city schools, in which Everett refused to commit to firing a teacher based upon the purported claim by a parent that the teacher had used the "n-word" with his child. The third video (October 26, 2010) featured audio of a voice, identified as NJEA Associate Director Wayne Dibofsky, who alleged voter fraud during the 1997 Jersey City mayoral election. The voice of Robert Byrne, Jersey City municipal clerk, was recorded on the same video; he noted that the election was monitored by lawyers for both candidates.
New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie stated at the time that nothing on the videos surprised him. NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer said the union and its attorneys were discussing their options regarding possible legal action, although no action was ever taken. Wollmer called the videos "a calculated attack on this organization and its members", and described O'Keefe as "flat-out sleazy".
Medicaid videos (2011)
In the summer of 2011, O'Keefe released videos of his colleagues' staged encounters purportedly showing Medicaid fraud in offices in six states, including Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia. Following his previous strategy, he sent the releases to conservative outlets over a period of weeks. In July 2011, two conservative groups released a secretly recorded video of an encounter in Maine's Department of Health and Human Services.
In the video, an actor attempted to apply for benefits while hinting that he was a drug smuggler. Americans for Prosperity and O'Keefe said he had similar recorded videos from offices in Ohio, Virginia and South Carolina, and believed that there was a systemic problem. In Maine, Governor Paul LePage concluded upon further examination of the videos that there was no fraud or intent to commit fraud.
A similar O'Keefe video posted on the Project Veritas web site purported to show workers at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services assisting actors posing as drug dealers in applying for benefits. His fourth Medicaid video, apparently filmed in Richmond, Virginia, was released in July 2011. The New York Times reported: "[As 'Sean Murphy'], dressed in the same regalia he wore on the New Jersey shoot, [O'Keefe] presented himself to a Medicaid worker in Charleston, South Carolina, as an Irish drug importer and Irish Republican Army member who wanted coverage for 25 wounded comrades who entered the U.S. illegally. The kindly worker spent time photocopying applications and dealing with this improbable applicant." She explained to him that only U.S. citizens are eligible for Medicaid and informed him she was not making any promises that the 25 purported IRA members would qualify. She said he had to abide by the law and told him that she didn't want to know details, because federal law protects patient privacy: "Like I said, someone would have to come here and subpoena our information in order for us to divulge any information, because like I said there's something called the Health Insurance Accountability and Affordability Act—or portability—and anyway it went into effect several years ago, and that's what we follow. It is federal law, and they do threaten high fines—which they don't pay me as much per year as they threaten to fine me—so it is definitely not in my own best interest to divulge anything to anyone because I cannot afford it, I do not want to go to jail."
Reception
The videos received less media attention than earlier O'Keefe efforts. Generally, the state officials and representatives acknowledged potential problems but also took a measured tone in response, to allow time to fully investigate and evaluate the incidents. After viewing the video, Governor LePage thanked the individual who took the video and noted: "The video in its entirety does not show a person willfully helping someone de-fraud the welfare system. It does show a need for further job knowledge and continuous and improved staff training." He also stated that "we would be six months further along in fixing the problem" if he had received the video when it was filmed. LePage directed his agency director to work on correcting the problem.
Ohio media initially reported that "a Franklin County Jobs and Family Service worker was placed on administrative leave and at least one other person was out of work" as a result of the video's release. Ben Johnson of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services noted that benefits were never granted in the case, and that the made-up story would have been caught if the application process had proceeded. He said his office would use the video to strengthen staff training. Mike DeWine, Attorney General of Ohio, described the Ohio video as "outrageous" and intended to instruct his state's Medicaid fraud unit to look into the incident. The director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Michael Colbert, notified county leaders of a mandatory retraining, "to ensure they can identify people trying to defraud the government". Upon investigation by state officials, the Medicaid worker who coached O'Keefe's operative seeking Medicaid for his father and claimed to own a yacht as well as a helipad, on how to hide their (also claimed) ownership of an $800,000 automobile had been placed on paid administrative leave. A spokesman for Virginia governor Bob McDonnell said that he had asked state police to review the video and take whatever actions are appropriate.
In Charleston, South Carolina, the director of that state's Department of Health and Human Services, Anthony Kreck, said the video filmed in his state "raises concerns about how well trained and supported our staff are to handle outrageous situations." He also expressed concern for the safety of the state employee with the figure ["Sean Murphy"] in the video "who could be interpreted as intimidating" and questioned why security wasn't called.
New Hampshire primary video (2012)
In January 2012, O'Keefe released a video of associates obtaining a number of ballots for the New Hampshire Primary by using the names of recently deceased voters. He stated that the video showed "the integrity of the elections process is severely comprised ." His team culled names from published obituaries, which were checked against public voter roll information. O'Keefe said his team broke no laws, as they did not pretend to be the deceased persons when they asked for the ballots, and they did not cast votes after receiving ballots. One of his associates' attempts was caught by a voting supervisor at the polling station who recognized that the name he gave was of a deceased individual; the associate in question left before police arrived.
Reception
Sarah Parnass of ABC News reported that the video "either exposes why voting laws are too lax or comes close to itself being voter fraud (or both)". One media account referred to it as a stunt. New Hampshire Governor John Lynch said, "I think it is outrageous that we have out-of-staters coming into New Hampshire, coming into our polling places and misrepresenting themselves to the election officials, and I hope that they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, if in fact they're found guilty of some criminal act." The New Hampshire Attorney General and the US Attorney's Office announced investigations into the video.
New Hampshire Associate Attorney General Richard Head said he would investigate the possible weaknesses in the voting system, but noted the state did not have a history of known fraud related to person[s] seeking ballot[s] in the name of a dead person or persons. Head announced he would investigate the possibility that the filmmakers committed crimes while producing the videos.
Hamline University law professor David Schultz said, "If they [O'Keefe's group] were intentionally going in and trying to fraudulently obtain a ballot, they violated the law", referring to Title 42, which prohibits procuring ballots fraudulently. The New Hampshire Attorney General's office later dropped its investigation of O'Keefe for potential voter fraud in 2013.
Patrick Moran (2012)
On October 24, 2012, a video was released showing Patrick Moran, son of then-U.S. Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA), and a field director with his father's campaign, discussing a plan to cast fraudulent ballots, which was proposed to him by someone who posed as a fervent supporter of the campaign. The person he was speaking with was a conservative activist with O'Keefe's Project Veritas, and was secretly recording the conversation. Patrick Moran resigned from the campaign, saying he did not want to be a distraction during the election, stating:
[A]t no point have I, or will I ever endorse any sort of illegal or unethical behavior. At no point did I take this person seriously. He struck me as being unstable and joking, and for only that reason did I humor him. In hindsight, I should have immediately walked away, making it clear that there is no place in the electoral process for even the suggestion of illegal behavior, joking or not.
The Arlington County, Virginia Police Department was made aware of the video and opened a criminal investigation into "every component" of the matter.
On January 31, 2013, Arlington County announced that the investigation, by its police department in collaboration with the Offices of the Virginia Attorney General and the Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney, had concluded and that no charges would be brought. The County stated: "Patrick Moran and the Jim Moran for Congress campaign provided full cooperation throughout the investigation. Despite repeated attempts to involve the party responsible for producing the video, they failed to provide any assistance."
US–Mexico border-crossing (2014)
In August 2014, O'Keefe dressed up as Osama bin Laden (who had died 3 years previously) and crossed the US–Mexico border in Texas in both directions to "show that our elected officials were lying to the American people" about border security. The incident was cited by U.S. Senator John McCain in Congressional hearings.
Attempt to solicit voter fraud (2014)
In October 2014, O'Keefe and his two colleagues attempted to bait staffers for Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) and then-U.S. Senator Mark Udall, as well as independent expenditure organizations, into approving voter fraud, according to several staffers who interacted with O'Keefe and his colleagues. Staffers began photographing O'Keefe's crew and advising them that what they were advocating was illegal; one nonprofit said they contacted police.
Attempted sting of Open Society Foundations (2016)
On March 16, 2016, O'Keefe attempted to call Open Society Foundations under the assumed name of "Victor Kesh", describing himself as attached to "a, uh, foundation" seeking to "get involved with you and aid what you do in fighting for, um, European values." O'Keefe forgot to hang up after recording the voicemail, and several more minutes of audio were recorded, revealing that he was attached to Discover the Networks and planning a series of attempts to create embarrassing videos or other recordings of targeted groups.
CNN undercover videos (2017)
On June 26, 2017, O'Keefe released a video on the YouTube channel of Project Veritas that showed John Bonifield, a producer of health and medical stories for CNN, saying CNN's coverage of the Russia investigation was "Because it's ratings" and that the coverage was "mostly bullshit". The video identified Bonifield as a supervising producer for CNN but not specifically for CNN Health. CNN said it was standing by "our medical producer John Bonifield. Diversity of personal opinion is what makes CNN strong". During a White House press briefing, deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of the video "whether it's accurate or not, I don't know, but I would encourage everybody... across the country to take a look at it".
On June 28, 2017, O'Keefe released the second part of the series of undercover videos, by then dubbed "American Pravda". In the video, CNN anchor Van Jones said, "The Russia thing is just a big nothingburger." When asked about the video in an email, CNN responded "lol". During that same day, the videos were posted on Donald Trump's Instagram account. Jones said that O'Keefe had deceptively edited the video to take his remarks out of context and was attempting to "pull off a hoax." Jones added that he believed that there probably was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
On June 30, 2017, O'Keefe released the third part of the undercover videos. Part 3 of the series showed CNN associate producer Jimmy Carr saying that Trump is "fucking crazy" and that "on the inside, we all recognize he is a clown, that he is hilariously unqualified for this, he's really bad at this, and that he does not have America's best interests". Carr also said "This is a man who's not actually a Republican, he just adopted that because that was the party he thought he could win in. He doesn't believe anything that these people believe." Additionally, he said American voters are "stupid as shit." He also made comments about Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, calling her an "awful woman" and stating that she "looks like she got hit with a shovel". In a fourth video published by Project Veritas on July 5, Carr criticized CNN co-anchor Chris Cuomo.
Failed attempt to sting The Washington Post (2017)
Starting in July 2017, Project Veritas operative Jaime Phillips attempted to infiltrate The Washington Post and other media outlets by joining networking groups related to journalism and left-leaning politics. She and a male companion attended events related to the Post, and their conversations with journalists were sometimes covertly recorded.
In November 2017, The Washington Post reported that several women accused Republican Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of pursuing them while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. Later that same month, Jaime Phillips approached The Washington Post and falsely claimed that Moore had impregnated her as a teenager and that she had an abortion. In conducting its usual fact-checking, the Post discovered multiple red flags in her story. They found a GoFundMe page in her name that said, "I've accepted a job to work in the conservative media movement to combat the lies and deceipt of the liberal MSM." After a Post reporter confronted her with the inconsistencies during a video-recorded interview, Phillips denied that she was working with an organization that targets journalists, and said that she no longer wanted to do the story. She was seen outside Project Veritas' office in Mamaroneck, New York, with her car remaining at the office's parking lot for more than an hour. O'Keefe declined to comment about the woman's apparent connection to Project Veritas. Instead of running a story about Phillips' supposed pregnancy, the Post published an article about the attempted sting operation. The Post decided to disclose Phillips' original discussions made off the record, saying they were not obligated to keep them confidential because she had deceived them.
Hours after the Post published this story, O'Keefe released a video which he claimed exposed the newspaper's liberal bias. The video includes undercover footage of conversations with two Post employees, national security reporter Dan Lamothe and product director Joey Marburger. These employees explained to undercover Project Veritas operatives the difference between the news reporting of The Washington Post (which calls out the Trump administration's missteps while giving "him credit where there's credit" due) and the Post's opinion editorials; O'Keefe said that this exposed the Washington Post's "hidden agenda."
O'Keefe was criticized for his failed sting, and The Washington Post was praised. Rod Dreher of The American Conservative praised the Post and called on conservative donors to stop giving money to O'Keefe's outfit. Dan McLaughlin of the conservative National Review said that O'Keefe's sting was an "own goal" and that O'Keefe was doing a disservice to the conservative movement; Jim Geraghty of the National Review made a similar assessment. Byron York of The Washington Examiner said that O'Keefe's "idiocy" was "beyond boneheaded," and that "O'Keefe really ought to hang it up." Ben Shapiro, the conservative editor in chief of The Daily Wire, said that the botched sting was "horrible, both morally and effectively." Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic wrote, "If James O'Keefe respected the right-wing populists who make up the audience of Project Veritas ... he would tell them the truth about all of the organizations that he targets. Instead, Project Veritas operates in bad faith, an attribute it demonstrated again this week in the aftermath of its bungled attempt to trick The Washington Post." Noah Rothman of the conservative magazine Commentary chastised O'Keefe for being exploitative of his audience: "No longer are institutions like Veritas dedicated to combating ignorance in their audience. They're actively courting it."
Jonathan Chait of New York magazine said that O'Keefe, having set out prove that the Post was fake news, ended up disproving it. O'Keefe's plot collapsed because it was premised on a ludicrously false worldview, wrote Chait. "The Washington Post does not, in fact, publish unverified accusations just because they're against Republicans." O'Keefe's attempts to prove rampant voter fraud have failed "because voter fraud is not rampant."
New Jersey Education Association videos (2018)
On May 2, 2018, Project Veritas posted on YouTube a video allegedly showing a union administrator from the New Jersey Education Association, a teachers union, discussing a teacher alleged to have struck a student. The following day, O'Keefe released a second video allegedly showing another union administrator speaking to students about a different alleged incident of a teacher pushing and injuring a student. In the video, the administrator allegedly boasted of her effort to retain a pension for a teacher who allegedly had sex with a student. Both teachers were suspended pending an investigation, and resigned from their union roles after the release of the videos. During a New Jersey Senate meeting on May 31, the New Jersey Education Association announced that a law firm would investigate the incidents.
Twitter suspension (2021)
On April 15, 2021, O'Keefe was suspended from Twitter for "operating fake accounts". On April 19, he filed a lawsuit against Twitter in state court in Westchester County, New York, claiming that Twitter’s reason for suspending him is "false and defamatory".
FBI search warrants and allegedly stolen Biden diary (2021)
On November 6, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed an early morning court-ordered search of O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, New York two days after searching the homes of two of O'Keefe's associates in connection with the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, in 2020. Excerpts allegedly from the diary were posted two weeks before the 2020 US presidential election.
Reception
Project Veritas uses methods not employed by reputable journalists, including misrepresenting its operatives' identities. O'Keefe refers to himself as a "guerrilla journalist". Such methods have stirred debate about what it means to be a journalist and what constitutes good journalistic practice, especially with respect to undercover work.
Tim Kenneally and Daniel Frankel reporting for TheWrap in 2011 noted that some of O'Keefe's supporters referred to him as the right wing's answer to a long line of left-leaning "hybrid troublemakers who get put on the cover of Rolling Stone, like Paul Krassner and Abbie Hoffman". In that same 2011 report, Marty Kaplan, director of the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, was quoted as saying:
What [O'Keefe] does isn't journalism. It's agitpop, politi-punking, entrapment-entertainment. There is no responsible definition of journalism that includes what he does or how he does it. His success at luring his prey into harming themselves is a measure of how fallible and foolish anyone, including good people, can sometimes be.
In reporting on allegations that O'Keefe had attempted in 2010 to tamper with Senator Landrieu's office phone system, Jim Rutenberg and Campbell Robertson of the New York Times posited that O'Keefe practiced a kind of "gonzo journalism" and his tactic is to "caricature the political and social values of his enemies by carrying them to outlandish extremes."
In a March 2011 interview with O'Keefe, NPR journalist Bob Garfield asked, referring to the ACORN videos, "If your journalistic technique is the lie, why should we believe anything you have to say?" O'Keefe responded that his techniques should be characterized as a form of guerrilla theater rather than "lying" – "you're posing as something you're not, in order to capture candid conversations from your subject. But I wouldn't characterize it as, as lying."
In July 2011, Dean Mills, the dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, compared O'Keefe to Michael Moore and said, "Some ethicists say it is never right for a journalist to deceive for any reason, but there are wrongs in the world that will never be exposed without some kind of subterfuge." The Atlantic journalist Conor Friedersdorf responded that O'Keefe's "mortal sin" wasn't that he misled his subjects, but that he misled his audience by presenting his videos to the public in "less than honest ways that go far beyond normal 'selectivity.'"
On February 11, 2021, the Twitter account for Project Veritas was “permanently suspended for repeated violations of Twitter’s private information policy.” At the same time, O'Keefe's account was “temporarily locked” for violating the policy pending the deletion of a tweet. On April 15, Twitter permanently suspended O'Keefe's personal account for violating the Twitter's policy against "platform manipulation and spam", which disallows the use of fake accounts to "artificially amplify or disrupt conversations". O'Keefe denied that he used fake Twitter accounts and said that he would sue Twitter in response.
On November 6, 2021, the FBI executed an early morning court-ordered search of O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, New York two days after searching the homes of two of O'Keefe's associates in connection with the theft of a diary belonging to President Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, in 2020. Excerpts allegedly from the diary were posted two weeks before the 2020 US presidential election.
Works
References
External links
Project Veritas website
Interview of O'Keefe by NPR's On the Media (audio with transcript)
1984 births
Living people
American activist journalists
American alternative journalists
American anti–illegal immigration activists
American conspiracy theorists
American critics of Islam
American filmmakers
American people of Irish descent
People from Westwood, New Jersey
Rutgers University alumni
American anti-abortion activists | true | [
"The Louisiana State Treasurer is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the state government of Louisiana responsible for overseeing the financial operations of state government. The state treasurer is an elected position, with four year terms. The Louisiana State Treasurer is John Schroder, a Republican.\n\nPast state treasurers Mary Landrieu and John Kennedy were subsequently elected to the United States Senate.\n\nPartial list\nAntoine Dubuclet, 1868-1878\nEdward A. Burke, 1878-1888\nA. P. Tugwell, 1936–1968\nMary Evelyn Parker, 1968–1987\nMary Landrieu, 1987–1996\nKen Duncan, 1996–2000\nJohn Kennedy, 2000–2017\nRon Henson, 2017\nJohn Schroder, 2017–present\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links",
"Mary Loretta Landrieu ( ; born November 23, 1955) is an American politician, entrepreneur, and former U.S. Senator for the state of Louisiana. She is a member of the Democratic Party.\n\nBorn in Arlington, Virginia, Landrieu was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is the daughter of Moon Landrieu, former New Orleans mayor and Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the sister of Mitch Landrieu, a former Mayor of New Orleans and Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana. She received her baccalaureate degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. After working as a real estate agent for several years, she was elected as a state representative (1980–1988) and state treasurer (1988–1996). She won a close race for the U.S. Senate in 1996; she was re-elected by increasing margins in competitive races in 2002 and 2008, but was defeated in 2014 by U.S. Representative Bill Cassidy.\n\nLandrieu came to national attention in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 after she publicly criticized the federal response to the natural disaster. Her opposition to the public option played a major role in the crafting of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as she did not agree to support it until additional concessions were granted to support Louisiana's Medicaid system. In 2011, she became a cardinal (chair) of the Senate's Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. She chaired the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship from 2009 to 2014, and chaired the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources from 2014 to 2015.\n\nEarly life, education, and real estate career\nLandrieu was born in Arlington, Virginia, the daughter of Verna (née Satterlee) and Moon Landrieu, who served as mayor of New Orleans. She is the sister of Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans and lieutenant governor of Louisiana. She was raised in New Orleans as a Catholic and attended Ursuline Academy of New Orleans. While a student at Ursuline, Landrieu participated in the Close Up Washington civic education program. She graduated from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 1977, where she was a member of Delta Gamma sorority. \n\nBefore entering politics, she worked as a real estate agent. She is Italian on her mother side and her family was among the large wave of Sicilian immigrants that came to Louisiana during the nineteenth century. Her mother, Verna Satterlee Landrieu, was the daughter of Kent Satterlee and Olga Helen Macheca. Mary has been repeatedly highlighted by the Order Sons of Italy in America as the first woman of Italian-American heritage to become a US senator. Her paternal great-grandmother Cerentha Mackey was the illegitimate child of a mixed-race black woman and an unknown father.\n\nEarly political career\n\nState legislature\nLandrieu was first elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1979, serving from 1980 to 1988 and representing a New Orleans district. She was re-elected to the 90th district in October 1983 with 78% of the vote. In October 1987, she was succeeded in the 90th district by her brother Mitch.\n\nOn July 25, 1995, The Times-Picayune revealed that as a state representative, Landrieu awarded Tulane University tuition waivers to a former campaign manager.\n\nState Treasurer\nOn January 1, 1987, State Treasurer Mary Evelyn Parker, the longtime Democratic incumbent, resigned with nearly a year and a half left in her fifth term. Landrieu ran to succeed her in both the special and regularly scheduled elections, both held in October 1987. No Republican filed to run, so Landrieu faced only Democratic opponents. She came first on both ballots with 44%. She defeated two legislative colleagues, State Rep. Kevin P. Reilly, Sr., at the time chief executive officer of Lamar Advertising Company in Baton Rouge, who came second in the special and regular elections, with 33% and 32%, respectively, and State Rep. Claude \"Buddy\" Leach, a former U.S. Representative, who came third in both elections with 15%. Tom Burbank, son of Thomas D. Burbank Sr., former head of the state police, came in last in both elections with 9% of the vote. Reilly decided not to contest a runoff election, known in Louisiana as a \"general election\", and Landrieu won the treasurer's position by default. In 1991, Landrieu was unopposed for re-election.\n\n1995 gubernatorial election\nLandrieu declined to run for a third term as Treasurer, giving up the office to run for governor in the 1995 election. The other major candidates in the race were Democratic U.S. Representative Cleo Fields; State Senator Murphy J. Foster, Jr., who switched his party affiliation from Democratic to Republican when he filed; Democratic attorney Phil Preis; Republican former Governor Buddy Roemer; and Democratic Lieutenant Governor Melinda Schwegmann. Landrieu finished third in the state's nonpartisan blanket primary with 18% of the vote, finishing 8,983 votes behind Fields, who came second with 19% of the vote. Roemer came fourth with 18%, Preis was fifth with 9% and Schwegmann came sixth with 5%. Foster came first with 26% and went on to defeat Fields in the runoff with 64% of the vote. Landrieu was succeeded as state treasurer by her fellow Democrat Ken Duncan, a Baton Rouge attorney and businessman.\n\nU.S. Senate\n\nElections\n\nLandrieu was elected in 1996 to the U.S. Senate seat previously held by John Bennett Johnston, Jr. of Shreveport after winning a close and controversial runoff election. (The runoff election is what other states would call \"the general election\" of a federal seat.) She defeated state Representative Woody Jenkins of Baton Rouge. Landrieu narrowly won re-election in the 2002. She defeated state Election Commissioner Suzanne Haik Terrell of New Orleans. Some experts and pundits had considered Landrieu as a possible running mate for presidential candidate John Kerry in the 2004 election before he selected then- Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. In 2004 Landrieu became Louisiana's senior senator upon the retirement of John Breaux, who was replaced by Republican David Vitter.\n\nIn 2008, she won a relatively comfortable 52% to 46% re-election to a third term in a race against her challenger, state Treasurer John Neely Kennedy. He was a former Democrat who switched to the Republican Party in 2007.\n\nLandrieu sought re-election in 2014. Former President Bill Clinton campaigned on her behalf in Louisiana. While Landrieu garnered 42% of the vote she fell short of the 50.1% required for re-election. She was defeated in the December 6, 2014 runoff election by her Republican opponent, Congressman Bill Cassidy, by a 56% to 44% margin.\n\nTenure\nIn 2002, she voted for the Iraq Resolution, and in 2003, she issued a statement indicating that, \"The time for diplomacy has ended.\" She voted for the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 and the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.\n\nIn 2005, Landrieu sponsored a resolution, which the Senate passed in an unprecedented action, to formally apologize for its repeated failure in the early twentieth century to pass anti-lynching legislation. The Senate Southern white Democrats had filibustered the Dyer bill in 1922 and two other bills that passed the House. She held high-profile hearings on the mistakes of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.\n\nSubsequent to the 2006 mid-term elections, in which the Democratic Party gained control of both houses of Congress, Landrieu announced (along with Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine) the formation of the \"Common Ground Coalition\", a group of moderate senators of both parties, with the goal of finding bipartisan consensus on legislative matters.\n\nLandrieu voted to raise the estate tax exemption to $5 million in 2008, but voted against repeal of the estate tax in 2006.\n\nOn December 15, 2008, it was announced that Landrieu would become Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship for the 111th Congress when former Chairman John Kerry left to lead the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, previously headed by Vice President-elect Joe Biden.\n\nIn September 2010, Landrieu announced she would hold up OMB director Jacob Lew’s confirmation until the administration lifted or eased a federal freeze on deepwater oil-and-gas drilling. Her delay of Lew's nomination came despite broad bipartisan support for appointing him to OMB. The Senate Budget Committee recommended that Lew be confirmed on a 22–1 vote.\n\nAccording to the Washington Post, Landrieu \"is one of the lawmakers leading for more natural gas exports\".\n\nOn December 18, 2010, Landrieu voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010. In 2011, she became Chairman of the Senate's Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, giving her significant influence in the funding of federal agencies like the U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security and FEMA. On April 17, 2013, Landrieu voted to expand background checks for gun purchases.\n\nIn April 2014, the United States Senate debated the Minimum Wage Fairness Act (S. 1737; 113th Congress). The bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to increase the federal minimum wage for employees to $10.10 per hour over the course of a two-year period. The bill was strongly supported by President Barack Obama and many of the Democratic Senators, but strongly opposed by Republicans in the Senate and House. She wanted additional debate on the timeline and the raise for tipped workers. Landrieu said that \"I do not believe that $10.10 an hour is too high to aspire to, but how quickly we get there and what increments, the tipped wage, how that should be handled, who should get paid the tipped wage, and who shouldn't. There are a lot of questions about that, and some of those discussions are going on.\"\n\nHealth care\nLandrieu opposed the public health insurance option in the America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (HR 3200) until the bill was rewritten to send a $300,000,000 payment to Medicaid for her home state. When two pages were added to the bill to place $300 million in Louisiana's Medicaid system, she changed her web page in order to reflect her support of the program. Conservative figures referred to the deal as the \"Louisiana Purchase\". A typographical error in the bill resulted in $4.3 billion in additional funds for Medicaid for Louisiana. As a result, prominent conservative figures Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh called her a \"high-priced prostitute\".\n\nOn November 21, 2009, Landrieu voted with fifty-nine other Senators to bring the health care bill up for debate. On December 8, 2009, she voted against the Nelson–Hatch–Casey amendment which proposed to ban federal funding for private plans that covered elective abortions but would have allowed individuals to purchase separate individual riders that would cover abortions. Prior to a concession of $300 million being added to the bill, Landrieu responded to a question on popular support of the public option, and asserted that the option has popular support because \"when people hear 'public option' they hear 'free health care'. Everybody wants free health care. Everybody wants health care they don't have to pay for.\"\n\nLandrieu voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (known as \"Obamacare\") in December 2009. In September 2013, Landrieu voted to restore funding for the ACA that House Republicans had eliminated in their version of the funding bill.\n\nOn March 1, 2012, Landrieu voted against a measure that would have repealed a birth control mandate in the health care bill. In October 2013, she introduced a bill to force health insurance companies to re-issue plans which they have cancelled.\n\nHurricane Katrina\n\nIn the weeks following Hurricane Katrina, Landrieu and fellow Senator David Vitter co-sponsored the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief and Economic Recovery Act of 2005 (S.1765), a 440-page aid package worth an estimated $250 billion The bill was read twice by Congress, then referred to the United States Senate Committee on Finance.\n\nSeparate legislation was passed to provide $1 billion in loans to communities affected by Katrina despite Landrieu's objection to the provision insisted on by Republicans that prohibited the loans from being forgiven. In 2007, when Democrats took control of the House and Senate, they passed legislation written by Landrieu that authorized FEMA to forgive the loans.\nHowever, 40% of the loans were not forgiven by FEMA, which led Landrieu to insert addition provisions into the 2013 federal spending bill to forgive the remainder of these loans.\n\nLandrieu's national name recognition rose in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as she made multiple TV appearances to discuss the response effort. Landrieu was noted in The New York Times as becoming \"a national spokeswoman for victims of the hurricane\" as she complained of \"the staggering incompetence of the national government.\" She was particularly critical of President George W. Bush, who, in turn, was critical of her in his 2010 memoir Decision Points, in which he related telling her to be quiet after she interrupted him in a meeting with what he called an \"unproductive emotional outburst\".\n\nJudicial nominations\nLandrieu voted for the confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts in 2005, but in 2006, she opposed Samuel Alito; she voted in favor of cloture to send the nomination to an up-or-down vote. She voted for both Sonia Sotomayor in 2009 and Elena Kagan in 2010.\n\nUSA PATRIOT Act\nOn August 3, 2007, Landrieu broke ranks with Democrats when she and Louisiana Rep. Charlie Melancon sided with Republicans and the Bush Administration in voting for the Protect America Act, an amendment to the USA Patriot Act further expanding wiretap powers.\n\nIn 2011, she was the inadvertent Senate sponsor of the four-year extension to the Patriot Act when Senator Reid amended a small business bill introduced by Landrieu as a means of avoiding a threatened filibuster by Senator Rand Paul. Landrieu joined the majority in voting for the extension, which passed 72–23.\n\nConservative activists convicted in failed sting attempt\nOn January 25, 2010, four Republican conservative activists, including Stan Dai, Joseph Basel, both 24; Robert Flanagan, son of Bill Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney in Louisiana; and conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe, were arrested by US Marshals and subsequently charged with entering a federal facility under false pretenses for entering Landrieu's New Orleans office under the guise of being telephone repairmen. The crew intended to record their interactions with Landrieu's staff. Two of the activists posed as telephone repair technicians in order to gain access to the telephone system. O'Keefe admitted to secretly \"recording\" the interactions with the staff with his cell phone and aiding in the \"planning, coordination, and preparation of the operation.\"\n\nOn March 27, 2010, the U.S. Attorney reduced the charges to entering federal property under false pretenses, a misdemeanor charge. On May 26, 2010 all four pleaded guilty before Magistrate Daniel Knowles III in a New Orleans federal court. Three of the four received two years' probation, 75 hours of community service and $1,500 fines; while James O'Keefe received a sentence of three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine.\n\n\"Air Mary\" controversy\nThere was a controversy over Landrieu's payment of airline flights with Senate money, some of which may have violated campaign finance law. Landrieu's opponents called attention to the controversy, launching a campaign called \"Air Mary\". Activists dressed as pilots, flight attendants, and ground crew workers greeted her at her campaign appearances.\n\nIn August 2014 after it was reported that Landrieu violated federal law by using taxpayer dollars to charter at least four private flights to campaign events Landrieu announced that she had ordered an internal investigation into all of her flights during her time in the Senate. In September 2014, Landrieu revealed that the internal investigation into her flights had concluded that since she had entered the Senate she had improperly charged her Senate office $33,700 for private flights to campaign events. Landrieu originally said the charter company mistakenly billed Landrieu's Senate office instead of her re-election campaign.\n\nCommittee assignments\n Committee on Appropriations\n Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development\n Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government\n Subcommittee on Homeland Security (Chair)\n Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies\n Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans' Affairs, and Related Agencies\n Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs\n Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (Chair)\n Subcommittee on Energy\n Subcommittee on National Parks\n Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests\n Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs\n Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia\n Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration\n Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery (Chair)\n Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship\n\nCaucus memberships\n Senate Oceans Caucus\n Senate Natural Gas Caucus, co-chair\n Congressional Coalition on Adoption, co-chair\n Senate Caucus on Foster Youth, co-chair\n\nPolitical positions\n\nLandrieu was one of the more conservative Democrats in the U.S. Senate. The American Conservative Union rated Landrieu as 40% conservative in 2007, which was the highest score of any sitting Democrat and higher than the scores of two Republicans. As of 2012, her lifetime rating is 21%, which is the fourth highest rating among Democrats in the Senate. For 2012 votes, National Journal ranked Landrieu as the 47th-most conservative member of the Senate, while the Times-Picayune found that she voted in support of President Obama's positions 97% of the time.\n\nAbortion\nLandrieu supports abortion rights. She has a 100% rating from the pro-choice group NARAL and a 0% rating from the pro-life group Louisiana Right to Life Federation.\n\nEnergy\nLandrieu voted to confirm Gina McCarthy as the administrator of the EPA Landrieu supports the Keystone Pipeline and has called for President Obama to approve its construction.\n\nGuns\nLandrieu has a \"C\" rating from the National Rifle Association. The NRA endorsed her opponent, Bill Cassidy, in the 2014 Louisiana Senate race.\n\nInternet sales tax\nLandrieu voted in favor of an Internet sales tax.\n\nAffordable Care Act\nLandrieu voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as \"Obamacare\". But she withheld her vote until she had secured what is now referred to as the \"Louisiana Purchase\" originally for up to $300,000,000 in additional Medicaid funds to Louisiana, which, due to a typographical error in the healthcare bill, became an additional $4.3 billion for Louisiana's Medicaid program. When asked by reporters in 2013, Sen. Landrieu said that she would vote for it again if she were given a chance.\n\nSame-sex marriage\nLandrieu personally supports same-sex marriage, but defended the state's constitutional ban on the grounds that a majority of Louisianans voted for it.\n\nPersonal life\nLandrieu and her husband, attorney Frank Snellings, have two children, Connor and Mary Shannon, and one grandson, Maddox. In December 2014 Frank was the subject of an article in The Irish Times, having rediscovered his Irish family 44 years after he was adopted in Ireland by the Snellings family from Louisiana.\n\nElectoral history\n\n1995 gubernatorial election\n\n1996 Senate election\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n|-\n| \n| colspan=5 |Democratic hold\n|-\n\n2002 Senate election\n\n \n \n\n|-\n| \n| colspan=5 |Democratic hold\n|-\n\n2008 Senate election\n\n|-\n| \n| colspan=5 |Democratic hold\n|-\n\n2014 Senate election\n\nBill Cassidy ran for the Senate in 2014 against three term incumbent Mary Landrieu. Cassidy was endorsed by Republican Senator David Vitter. Cassidy defeated Landrieu in the run-off election held on December 6, 2014, winning 56% of the vote while Landrieu received 44% of the vote. Cassidy thus became the first Republican to occupy the seat since William P. Kellogg left it in 1883.\n\nPost-Senate career\nLandrieu is a Senior Policy Advisor for Van Ness Feldman, a DC Law Firm. She became a strategic adviser to the Walton Family Foundation in April 2015. Landrieu is also a member of the pro-Israel group American Israel Public Affairs Committee.\n\nIn December 2018, Landrieu and a bipartisan group of former U.S. Senators co-authored an opinion piece in The Washington Post urging the Senate to protect the Special Counsel Investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller.\n\nSee also\n Women in the United States Senate\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links\n\n \n \n\n|-\n\n|-\n\n|-\n\n|-\n\n|-\n\n1955 births\n1992 United States presidential electors\n20th-century American politicians\n20th-century American women politicians\n21st-century American politicians\n21st-century American women politicians\nDemocratic Party United States senators\nFemale United States senators\nMary\nLiving people\nLouisiana Democrats\nLouisiana State University alumni\nMembers of the Louisiana House of Representatives\nPeople from Arlington County, Virginia\nPoliticians from New Orleans\nState treasurers of Louisiana\nThe Graduate School of Political Management faculty\nUnited States senators from Louisiana\nWomen state legislators in Louisiana\nAmerican politicians of Italian descent\nAfrican-American Catholics"
] |
[
"James O'Keefe",
"Senator Mary Landrieu (2010)",
"What is is connection with Mary Landrieu?",
"O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents"
] | C_db0856153b7d4364b3156b34bd97dae1_0 | What did he do once he entered the office? | 2 | What did O'keefe do once he entered Mary Landrieu's office? | James O'Keefe | O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, at the office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat. His three fellow activists, who were dressed as telephone repairmen when apprehended, included Robert Flanagan, the son of William Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Louisiana. The four men were charged with malicious intent to damage the phone system. O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents during the debate over President Barack Obama's health care bill. The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty on May 26. O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The other three men received lesser sentences. In August 2013, O'Keefe revisited the incident by releasing a video entitled: "a confrontation with former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten on the campus of Tulane University". Letten is a former Republican U.S. Attorney who recused himself from the Landrieu incident because he knew the father of one of the men involved. The video shows Letten accusing O'Keefe of "terrorizing" Letten's wife at their home, of harassing him, and trespassing on the Tulane campus. He called O'Keefe a "coward" and a "spud", and referred to O'Keefe and his companions as "hobbits" and "scum". CANNOTANSWER | O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses | James Edward O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is an American political activist and provocateur who founded Project Veritas, a far-right activist group that uses deceptive editing techniques to attack mainstream media organizations and progressive groups. Both O'Keefe and Project Veritas have produced secretly recorded undercover audio and video encounters in academic, governmental, and social service organizations, purporting to show abusive or illegal behavior by representatives of those organizations; the recordings are often selectively edited to misrepresent the context of the conversations and the subjects' responses.
O’Keefe gained national attention for his selectively edited video recordings of workers at Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) offices in 2009, his arrest and guilty plea in 2010 for entering the federal office of then-U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) under false pretenses, and the release of misleading videos of conversations with two high-ranking, now former, NPR executives in 2011.
When his videos – heavily edited to portray ACORN workers seemingly aiding a couple in criminal planning – were publicized, the U.S. Congress voted to freeze funds for the non-profit. The national controversy resulted in the non-profit also losing most of its private funding before investigations of the videos concluded no illegal activity occurred. In March 2010, ACORN was close to bankruptcy and had to close or rename most of its offices. Shortly thereafter, the California State Attorney General's Office and the US Government Accountability Office released their related investigative reports. The Attorney General's Office found that O'Keefe had misrepresented the actions of ACORN workers in California and that the workers had not broken any laws. A preliminary probe by the GAO found that ACORN had managed its federal funds appropriately. One of the fired ACORN workers sued O'Keefe for invasion of privacy; O'Keefe issued an apology and agreed to pay $100,000 in a settlement.
O'Keefe has gained support from right-wing and conservative media and interest groups, as well as the far right. In 2009, Andrew Breitbart commissioned him for the option to publish new videos exclusively on BigGovernment.com.
Early life and education
James Edward O'Keefe III was born in Bergen County, New Jersey, the elder of two children of James, a materials engineer, and Deborah O'Keefe, a physical therapist. He has a younger sister.
O'Keefe grew up in Westwood, New Jersey. His home was politically "conservative but not rigidly so", according to his father. He graduated from Westwood High School, where he showed an early interest in the arts, theater and journalism. He attained Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America. O'Keefe started at Rutgers University in 2002 and majored in philosophy. Beginning in his sophomore year, he wrote a bi-weekly opinion column for The Daily Targum, the university's student paper. He left the Targum and founded the Rutgers Centurion, a conservative student paper supported by a $500 "Balance in the Media" grant from The Leadership Institute.
For his first video, he and other Centurion writers met with Rutgers dining staff to demand the banning of the cereal Lucky Charms from dining halls because of its offense to Irish Americans. O'Keefe said the leprechaun mascot presented a stereotype. He intended to have officials lose either way: to appear insensitive to an ethnic group, or to look silly by agreeing to ban Lucky Charms. They expected to be thrown out of school, but the Rutgers official was courteous, took notes, and said their concerns would be considered. Rutgers staff say the cereal was never taken off the menu.
Career
After graduating from Rutgers, O'Keefe worked for a year at the Leadership Institute (LI) in Arlington, Virginia, under media specialist Ben Wetmore, whom O'Keefe calls his mentor. The institute sent him to colleges to train students to start conservative independent newspapers, but, after a year LI officials asked him to leave. According to LI president and founder Morton Blackwell, O'Keefe was "very effective and very enthusiastic" but after a year he was asked to leave because officials felt his activist work threatened the group's nonprofit status by trying to influence legislation.
O'Keefe has produced and distributed secretly recorded and misleadingly edited videos and audio files made during staged encounters with targeted entities or individuals. His work takes the form of undercover stings targeted at liberal groups and politicians. He sought to "embarrass" and "damage" his targets, such as Landrieu and ACORN.
He has sought to maximize publicity by releasing secretly recorded videos over several days or months, often in relation to funding authorizations or significant political actions related to the subject organization. Many videos received widespread media coverage sparking significant reactions, most notably videos of ACORN that resulted in the Congress quickly freezing funds, two executive agencies canceling contracts, and several ACORN workers being fired, and videos of National Public Radio (NPR) executives that led to the resignation of CEO Vivian Schiller, shortly before Congressional funding hearings involving NPR.
In January 2010, O'Keefe began a column on Breitbarts website, BigGovernment.com. Andrew Breitbart stated in an interview that he paid O'Keefe a salary for his "life rights" to gain release of O'Keefe's videos first on his website. In 2010, O'Keefe formed his a new organization, Project Veritas, whose stated mission is "to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society."
Much of the funding for Project Veritas comes from anonymous donations through Donors Trust, a conservative, American nonprofit donor-advised fund, which according to its promotional materials, says that it will "keep your charitable giving private, especially gifts funding sensitive or controversial issues." Prominent donors include the Trump Foundation, which, in May 2015, donated $10,000.
O'Keefe is a conservative activist with mainstream conservative pro-market and anti-government views, although he has described himself as a "progressive radical", because he wants to change things, "not conserve them". He considers himself a muckraker. O'Keefe has expressed admiration for the philosophy of G. K. Chesterton and for a free press.
Major activities
Planned Parenthood recordings (2008)
In 2006, O'Keefe met Lila Rose, the founder of an anti-abortion group on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus. They secretly recorded encounters in Planned Parenthood clinics in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, in which Rose posed as a 15-year-old girl impregnated by a 23-year-old male. Rose and O'Keefe made two videos incorporating heavily edited versions of the recordings and released them on YouTube. the video omitted the portions of the full conversation in which a Planned Parenthood employee asked Rose to consult her mother about the pregnancy and another employee told Rose, "We have to follow the laws". Rose took down the videos after Planned Parenthood sent her a cease and desist letter in May 2007 asserting that the videos violated California's voice recording laws, which required consent from all recorded parties.
In 2007, O'Keefe phoned several Planned Parenthood clinics and secretly recorded the conversations. He posed as a donor, asking if his donations would be applied to needs of minority women, accompanied by race-related remarks such as "there's way too many black people in Ohio". The recordings portrayed Planned Parenthood clinic workers in six states agreeing to accept his donation under his conditions. After the release of the recordings, African-American leaders called for withdrawal of public financing of the organization. The Idaho clinic responded with an apology for "the manner in which this offensive call was handled". Planned Parenthood issued an official statement emphasizing that "97 percent of its services are focused on providing contraceptives, breast and cervical cancer screenings and sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment — not abortions".
ACORN videos (2009)
In September 2009, O'Keefe and his associate, Hannah Giles, published edited hidden camera recordings in which Giles posed as a prostitute and O'Keefe as her boyfriend, a law student, in an attempt to elicit damaging responses from employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), an advocacy organization for people of low and moderate income.
Washington Post correspondents Darryl Fears and Carol D. Leonnig reported that O'Keefe "said he targeted ACORN for the same reasons that the political right does: its massive voter registration drives" and that "[p]oliticians are getting elected single-handedly due to this organization." According to The Washington Post, ACORN registered people mostly from the Latino and African American groups.
The videos were recorded during the summer of 2009 and appeared to show low-level ACORN employees in six cities providing advice to Giles and O'Keefe on how to avoid detection by authorities of tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution. He framed the undercover recordings with a preface of him dressed in a "pimp" outfit, which he also wore in TV media interviews. This gave viewers, including the media, the impression that he had dressed that way when speaking to ACORN workers. However, he actually entered the ACORN offices in conservative street clothes (the sleeve of his dress shirt is visible on camera). Furthermore, the ACORN employees involved reported his activities to the police after he left. O'Keefe selectively edited and manipulated his recordings of ACORN employees, as well as distorted the chronologies. Several journalists and media outlets have expressed regret for not properly scrutinizing and vetting his work.
Reception and lawsuit
After the videos were released through the fall of 2009, the U.S. Congress quickly voted to freeze federal funding to ACORN. The Census Bureau and the IRS terminated their contract relationships with ACORN. By December 2009, an external investigation of ACORN was published which cleared the organization of any illegality, while noting that its poor management practices contributed to unprofessional actions by some low-level employees. In March 2010, ACORN announced it would dissolve due to loss of funding from government and especially private sources.
On March 1, 2010, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes found there was no criminal wrongdoing by the ACORN staff in New York.
The California Attorney General's Office granted O'Keefe and Giles limited immunity from prosecution in exchange for providing the full, unedited videotapes related to ACORN offices in California. On the basis of the edited videotape which O'Keefe released, Vera appeared to be a willing participant in helping with O'Keefe's plan to smuggle young women into the United States illegally. However, authorities confirmed that Vera immediately contacted them about O'Keefe and that he had also encouraged O'Keefe to share as much information as possible about his scheme and gather further evidence of O'Keefe's purported illegal activities, which could then be used by prosecutors to bring charges against O'Keefe for attempted human trafficking. Due to O'Keefe's release of the dubiously edited video, intentionally designed to "prove" that ACORN employees were ready and willing to engage in illicit activities, Vera lost his job and was falsely accused of being engaged in human trafficking. O'Keefe said that he "regrets any pain" caused by his actions, though O'Keefe's lawyer dismissed any claimed injury incurred by Vera and stated that the payment was a "nuisance settlement".
O'Keefe moved for summary judgment in his favor, arguing that the plaintiff had no reasonable expectation that the conversation would be private. In August 2012, the federal judge hearing the case denied O'Keefe's motion for summary judgment. The judge ruled that O'Keefe had "misled plaintiff to believe that the conversation would remain confidential by posing as a client seeking services from ACORN and asking whether their conversation was confidential." On March 5, 2013, O'Keefe agreed to pay $100,000 to former California ACORN employee Juan Carlos Vera for breaking state law prohibiting surreptitious recording, and acknowledged in the settlement that at the time he published his video he was unaware that Vera had notified the police about the incident. The settlement contained the following apology: "O'Keefe regrets any pain suffered by Mr. Vera or his family."
On June 14, 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published its report finding no evidence that ACORN, or any of its related organizations, had mishandled any of the $40 million in federal money which they had received in recent years.
Senator Mary Landrieu (2010)
O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in the Hale Boggs Federal Complex in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, at the office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat. His three fellow activists, who were dressed as telephone repairmen when apprehended, included Robert Flanagan, the son of William Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Louisiana. The four men were charged with malicious intent to damage the phone system. O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents during the debate over President Barack Obama's health care bill.
The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty on May 26. O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The three other men received lesser sentences. Another consequence is that O'Keefe is barred from soliciting donations from Florida residents, because of state law applicable to people found guilty of fraud.
In August 2013, O'Keefe revisited the incident by releasing a video entitled: "a confrontation with former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten on the campus of Tulane University". Letten is a former Republican U.S. Attorney who recused himself from the Landrieu incident because he knew the father of one of the men involved. The video shows Letten accusing O'Keefe of "terrorizing" Letten's wife at their home, of harassing him, and trespassing on the Tulane campus. He called O'Keefe a "coward" and a "spud", and referred to O'Keefe and his companions as "hobbits" and "scum".
NPR video (2011)
On March 8, 2011, shortly before the US Congress was to vote on funding for National Public Radio (NPR), O'Keefe released a heavily edited video of a discussion with Ronald Schiller, NPR's senior vice president for fundraising, and associate Betsy Liley. Raw content was secretly recorded by O'Keefe's partners Ken Larrey and Shaughn Adeleye.
NPR responded by stating that Schiller's remarks were presented out of sequence and that he said that he would speak personally, and not for NPR. Schiller said some highly placed Republicans believed the Republican Party had been hijacked by a radical group (the Tea Party) that they characterized as "Islamophobic" and "seriously racist, racist people", and while Schiller did not disagree, according to NPR, O'Keefe's editing made it appear those were Schiller's opinions. Schiller then says that unlike establishment Republicans, the growing Tea Party movement in the party "is fanatically involved in people's personal lives and very fundamental Christian — I wouldn't even call it Christian. It's this weird evangelical kind of move."
Later in the edited video, Schiller seems to say he believes NPR "would be better off in the long run without federal funding", explaining that removal of federal funding would allow NPR more independence and remove the widely held misconception that NPR is significantly funded by the public. But on the raw tape, Schiller also said that withdrawing federal funding would cause local stations to go under and that NPR is doing "everything we can" to keep it.
In a statement released before analysis of the longer raw video, NPR said, "Schiller's comments are in direct conflict with NPR's official position ... The fraudulent organization represented in this video repeatedly pressed us to accept a $5 million check with no strings attached, which we repeatedly refused to accept." After reviewing the unedited video, Scott Baker, editor-in-chief of TheBlaze, said the NPR executives "seem to be fairly balanced people."
Journalists Ben Smith, James Poniewozik, and Dave Weigel have expressed regret for giving O'Keefe's NPR videos wider circulation without scrutinizing them for themselves.
Reception
Comparison of the raw video with the released one revealed editing that was characterized as "selective" and "deceptive" by Michael Gerson, opinion writer for The Washington Post, who wrote, "O'Keefe did not merely leave a false impression; he manufactured an elaborate, alluring lie." Time magazine wrote that the video "transposed remarks from a different part of the meeting", was "manipulative" and "a partisan hit-job."
The raw video shows Schiller told the two men "that donors cannot expect to influence news coverage." On the longer tape, he says, "There is such a big firewall between funding and reporting: Reporters will not be swayed in any way, shape or form." Broadcast journalist Al Tompkins, who now teaches at the Poynter Institute, noted that Ron Schiller was a fundraiser, not an official affecting the newsroom. He commented on the raw tape: "The message that he said most often—I counted six times: He told these two people that he had never met before that you cannot buy coverage", Tompkins said. "He says it over and over and over again."
On March 17, Martha T. Moore of USA Today reported: "According to The Blaze analysis, Ron Schiller's most inflammatory remarks, that Tea Party members are 'seriously racist', were made as he was recounting the views of Republicans he has spoken with—although he does not appear to disagree. It also shows Schiller appearing to laugh about the potential spread of Islamic sharia law, when the longer version shows he laughed in reaction to something completely different."
Two days later, O'Keefe released a video in which Betsy Liley, senior director of institutional giving at NPR, appeared to have checked with senior management and said MEAC was cleared to make donations anonymously and NPR could help shield donations from government audits, but added that, in order to proceed, additional background information would be required, including an IRS Form 990. Liley advised the caller that NPR executives would investigate them before accepting any large donation, examining tax records and checking out other organizations that have received donations from them. Liley raises the possibility of NPR's turning down substantial gifts and stresses the "firewall" between the revenue-generating part of NPR and its news operation. NPR put Liley on administrative leave. In emails released following the publication of the Liley video, NPR confirmed that the official had consulted appropriately with top management and notified the purported donors of problems with their desired method of donation.
The video, which was released directly before a congressional vote on funding, caused immediate reaction from NPR critics in Congress. Ronald Schiller, who had already submitted his resignation in January so that he could join the Aspen Institute, moved up his resignation after the video release when NPR put him on administrative leave. NPR CEO Vivian Schiller (no relation to Ronald Schiller), who had not been implicated in the Project Veritas video, quickly resigned. Vivian Schiller's resignation, mutually decided with the NPR board, was in part an attempt to show Congressional funders that NPR could hold itself accountable.
U.S. presidential elections (2016)
A month before the launch of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, the Trump Foundation donated $10,000 to O'Keefe's Project Veritas. O'Keefe attended, as a guest of the Trump campaign, the final presidential debate, and was later available in the spin room following the Las Vegas event.
Americans United for Change videos
On October 18, 2016, O'Keefe released a series of videos on Project Veritas' YouTube channel titled "Rigging the Election" that apparently showed former national field director Scott Foval of Americans United for Change discussing ensuring that they have people at the front of the rope lines at rallies in order to ask questions, a common practice known as "bird dogging". The accuracy of the videos has been questioned for possibly omitting context, and the unedited raw footage has not been made available. The GOP-appointed Attorney General of Wisconsin, Brad Schimel, investigated the claims made in the video twice, both times finding no evidence that Foval broke any voting laws.
DNC Chair Donna Brazile said the video footage omitted necessary context. Scott Foval was fired by Americans United for Change after the first video was released. Foval later said he had been set up. Robert Creamer, a DNC consultant and husband of U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, D-IL, said, "We regret the unprofessional and careless hypothetical conversations that were captured on hidden cameras of a regional contractor for our firm, and he is no longer working with us," he said. "While none of the schemes described in the conversations ever took place, these conversations do not at all reflect the values of Democracy Partners." Shortly afterwards, Creamer, who was also featured in the video, said he would end his consulting arrangement with the DNC to avoid becoming a "distraction".
Following the publication of his videos, O'Keefe filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and the DNC, alleging "a criminal conspiracy" involving the Clinton campaign, the DNC and three left-leaning super PACs. On June 1, 2017, Creamer's firm, Democracy Partners, filed a $1 million lawsuit against Project Veritas, claiming Project Veritas had lied to gain access to the firm and violating anti-wiretapping laws.
In response to a third video, in which O'Keefe stated that Clinton was behind an illegal public relations gimmick to punish Trump for not releasing his tax returns, the Clinton campaign denied any wrongdoing. Independent campaign finance experts posited the video doesn't support O'Keefe's claims. Clinton said she was aware of the activists dressed as Donald Duck, who were following Trump while asking about his tax returns, and said she was amused.
On October 26, 2016, O'Keefe posted a fourth video on his Project Veritas Action YouTube channel. The video alleged that liberal groups supporting Hillary Clinton were illegally taking foreign money. The targeted group, Americans United for Change foundation, is a 501(c)4 organization and is allowed to legally accept foreign contributions. However, AUC returned the money shortly after the video was released. The group's chief stated, "We returned the money because the last thing we want to be associated with is a character like O'Keefe who has been convicted and successfully sued for his illegal tactics and fraudulent activities."
On November 8, 2016 (Election Day), O'Keefe spent some time following vans that were allegedly "bussing people around to polls in Philadelphia".
On January 9, 2017, Project Veritas operative Allison Maass was filmed attempting to bribe members of Americans Take Action into inciting a riot at Trump's inauguration. On January 16, 2017, Project Veritas uploaded a video showing DC Antifascist Coalition members of Disrupt J20 plotting to use "stink bombs" at the DeploraBall. After the video's release, Disrupt J20 denied the statements, saying that the members deliberately gave false information to Veritas. The video led to the arrest of one man allegedly involved in the plan, as well as two associates. All three individuals pleaded guilty.
Other activities
Abbie Boudreau (2010)
In August 2010, O'Keefe planned a staged encounter with CNN correspondent Abbie Boudreau, who was working on a documentary on the young conservative movement. He set up an appointment at his office in Maryland to discuss a video shoot. Izzy Santa, executive director of Project Veritas, warned Boudreau that O'Keefe was planning to "punk" her on the boat by trying to seduce her—which he would film on hidden cameras. Boudreau did not board the boat and soon left the area.
CNN later published a 13-page plan written by O'Keefe mentor Ben Wetmore. It listed props for the boat scheme, including pornography, sexual aids, condoms, a blindfold and "fuzzy" handcuffs. When questioned by CNN, O'Keefe denied he was going to follow the Wetmore plan, as he found parts of it inappropriate. Boudreau commented "that does not appear to be true, according to a series of emails we obtained from Izzy Santa, who says the e-mails reveal James' true intentions."
Following the Boudreau incident, Project Veritas paid Izzy Santa a five-figure settlement after she threatened to sue, which included a non-disclosure agreement. Funding decreased from conservative political organizations following this CNN incident.
New Jersey Teachers' Union video (2010)
Starting October 25, 2010, O'Keefe posted a series of videos on the Internet entitled Teachers Unions Gone Wild. At the time, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) was in negotiations with Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor, over teacher pay benefits and tenure. O'Keefe obtained one video from recordings made by "citizen journalists", whom he recruited to attend the NJEA's leadership conference. They secretly recorded meetings and conversations with teacher participants. It featured teachers discussing the difficulty of firing a tenured teacher.
A second video featured a staged phone conversation by O'Keefe with Lawrence E. Everett, assistant superintendent of the Passaic, New Jersey city schools, in which Everett refused to commit to firing a teacher based upon the purported claim by a parent that the teacher had used the "n-word" with his child. The third video (October 26, 2010) featured audio of a voice, identified as NJEA Associate Director Wayne Dibofsky, who alleged voter fraud during the 1997 Jersey City mayoral election. The voice of Robert Byrne, Jersey City municipal clerk, was recorded on the same video; he noted that the election was monitored by lawyers for both candidates.
New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie stated at the time that nothing on the videos surprised him. NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer said the union and its attorneys were discussing their options regarding possible legal action, although no action was ever taken. Wollmer called the videos "a calculated attack on this organization and its members", and described O'Keefe as "flat-out sleazy".
Medicaid videos (2011)
In the summer of 2011, O'Keefe released videos of his colleagues' staged encounters purportedly showing Medicaid fraud in offices in six states, including Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia. Following his previous strategy, he sent the releases to conservative outlets over a period of weeks. In July 2011, two conservative groups released a secretly recorded video of an encounter in Maine's Department of Health and Human Services.
In the video, an actor attempted to apply for benefits while hinting that he was a drug smuggler. Americans for Prosperity and O'Keefe said he had similar recorded videos from offices in Ohio, Virginia and South Carolina, and believed that there was a systemic problem. In Maine, Governor Paul LePage concluded upon further examination of the videos that there was no fraud or intent to commit fraud.
A similar O'Keefe video posted on the Project Veritas web site purported to show workers at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services assisting actors posing as drug dealers in applying for benefits. His fourth Medicaid video, apparently filmed in Richmond, Virginia, was released in July 2011. The New York Times reported: "[As 'Sean Murphy'], dressed in the same regalia he wore on the New Jersey shoot, [O'Keefe] presented himself to a Medicaid worker in Charleston, South Carolina, as an Irish drug importer and Irish Republican Army member who wanted coverage for 25 wounded comrades who entered the U.S. illegally. The kindly worker spent time photocopying applications and dealing with this improbable applicant." She explained to him that only U.S. citizens are eligible for Medicaid and informed him she was not making any promises that the 25 purported IRA members would qualify. She said he had to abide by the law and told him that she didn't want to know details, because federal law protects patient privacy: "Like I said, someone would have to come here and subpoena our information in order for us to divulge any information, because like I said there's something called the Health Insurance Accountability and Affordability Act—or portability—and anyway it went into effect several years ago, and that's what we follow. It is federal law, and they do threaten high fines—which they don't pay me as much per year as they threaten to fine me—so it is definitely not in my own best interest to divulge anything to anyone because I cannot afford it, I do not want to go to jail."
Reception
The videos received less media attention than earlier O'Keefe efforts. Generally, the state officials and representatives acknowledged potential problems but also took a measured tone in response, to allow time to fully investigate and evaluate the incidents. After viewing the video, Governor LePage thanked the individual who took the video and noted: "The video in its entirety does not show a person willfully helping someone de-fraud the welfare system. It does show a need for further job knowledge and continuous and improved staff training." He also stated that "we would be six months further along in fixing the problem" if he had received the video when it was filmed. LePage directed his agency director to work on correcting the problem.
Ohio media initially reported that "a Franklin County Jobs and Family Service worker was placed on administrative leave and at least one other person was out of work" as a result of the video's release. Ben Johnson of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services noted that benefits were never granted in the case, and that the made-up story would have been caught if the application process had proceeded. He said his office would use the video to strengthen staff training. Mike DeWine, Attorney General of Ohio, described the Ohio video as "outrageous" and intended to instruct his state's Medicaid fraud unit to look into the incident. The director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Michael Colbert, notified county leaders of a mandatory retraining, "to ensure they can identify people trying to defraud the government". Upon investigation by state officials, the Medicaid worker who coached O'Keefe's operative seeking Medicaid for his father and claimed to own a yacht as well as a helipad, on how to hide their (also claimed) ownership of an $800,000 automobile had been placed on paid administrative leave. A spokesman for Virginia governor Bob McDonnell said that he had asked state police to review the video and take whatever actions are appropriate.
In Charleston, South Carolina, the director of that state's Department of Health and Human Services, Anthony Kreck, said the video filmed in his state "raises concerns about how well trained and supported our staff are to handle outrageous situations." He also expressed concern for the safety of the state employee with the figure ["Sean Murphy"] in the video "who could be interpreted as intimidating" and questioned why security wasn't called.
New Hampshire primary video (2012)
In January 2012, O'Keefe released a video of associates obtaining a number of ballots for the New Hampshire Primary by using the names of recently deceased voters. He stated that the video showed "the integrity of the elections process is severely comprised ." His team culled names from published obituaries, which were checked against public voter roll information. O'Keefe said his team broke no laws, as they did not pretend to be the deceased persons when they asked for the ballots, and they did not cast votes after receiving ballots. One of his associates' attempts was caught by a voting supervisor at the polling station who recognized that the name he gave was of a deceased individual; the associate in question left before police arrived.
Reception
Sarah Parnass of ABC News reported that the video "either exposes why voting laws are too lax or comes close to itself being voter fraud (or both)". One media account referred to it as a stunt. New Hampshire Governor John Lynch said, "I think it is outrageous that we have out-of-staters coming into New Hampshire, coming into our polling places and misrepresenting themselves to the election officials, and I hope that they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, if in fact they're found guilty of some criminal act." The New Hampshire Attorney General and the US Attorney's Office announced investigations into the video.
New Hampshire Associate Attorney General Richard Head said he would investigate the possible weaknesses in the voting system, but noted the state did not have a history of known fraud related to person[s] seeking ballot[s] in the name of a dead person or persons. Head announced he would investigate the possibility that the filmmakers committed crimes while producing the videos.
Hamline University law professor David Schultz said, "If they [O'Keefe's group] were intentionally going in and trying to fraudulently obtain a ballot, they violated the law", referring to Title 42, which prohibits procuring ballots fraudulently. The New Hampshire Attorney General's office later dropped its investigation of O'Keefe for potential voter fraud in 2013.
Patrick Moran (2012)
On October 24, 2012, a video was released showing Patrick Moran, son of then-U.S. Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA), and a field director with his father's campaign, discussing a plan to cast fraudulent ballots, which was proposed to him by someone who posed as a fervent supporter of the campaign. The person he was speaking with was a conservative activist with O'Keefe's Project Veritas, and was secretly recording the conversation. Patrick Moran resigned from the campaign, saying he did not want to be a distraction during the election, stating:
[A]t no point have I, or will I ever endorse any sort of illegal or unethical behavior. At no point did I take this person seriously. He struck me as being unstable and joking, and for only that reason did I humor him. In hindsight, I should have immediately walked away, making it clear that there is no place in the electoral process for even the suggestion of illegal behavior, joking or not.
The Arlington County, Virginia Police Department was made aware of the video and opened a criminal investigation into "every component" of the matter.
On January 31, 2013, Arlington County announced that the investigation, by its police department in collaboration with the Offices of the Virginia Attorney General and the Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney, had concluded and that no charges would be brought. The County stated: "Patrick Moran and the Jim Moran for Congress campaign provided full cooperation throughout the investigation. Despite repeated attempts to involve the party responsible for producing the video, they failed to provide any assistance."
US–Mexico border-crossing (2014)
In August 2014, O'Keefe dressed up as Osama bin Laden (who had died 3 years previously) and crossed the US–Mexico border in Texas in both directions to "show that our elected officials were lying to the American people" about border security. The incident was cited by U.S. Senator John McCain in Congressional hearings.
Attempt to solicit voter fraud (2014)
In October 2014, O'Keefe and his two colleagues attempted to bait staffers for Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) and then-U.S. Senator Mark Udall, as well as independent expenditure organizations, into approving voter fraud, according to several staffers who interacted with O'Keefe and his colleagues. Staffers began photographing O'Keefe's crew and advising them that what they were advocating was illegal; one nonprofit said they contacted police.
Attempted sting of Open Society Foundations (2016)
On March 16, 2016, O'Keefe attempted to call Open Society Foundations under the assumed name of "Victor Kesh", describing himself as attached to "a, uh, foundation" seeking to "get involved with you and aid what you do in fighting for, um, European values." O'Keefe forgot to hang up after recording the voicemail, and several more minutes of audio were recorded, revealing that he was attached to Discover the Networks and planning a series of attempts to create embarrassing videos or other recordings of targeted groups.
CNN undercover videos (2017)
On June 26, 2017, O'Keefe released a video on the YouTube channel of Project Veritas that showed John Bonifield, a producer of health and medical stories for CNN, saying CNN's coverage of the Russia investigation was "Because it's ratings" and that the coverage was "mostly bullshit". The video identified Bonifield as a supervising producer for CNN but not specifically for CNN Health. CNN said it was standing by "our medical producer John Bonifield. Diversity of personal opinion is what makes CNN strong". During a White House press briefing, deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of the video "whether it's accurate or not, I don't know, but I would encourage everybody... across the country to take a look at it".
On June 28, 2017, O'Keefe released the second part of the series of undercover videos, by then dubbed "American Pravda". In the video, CNN anchor Van Jones said, "The Russia thing is just a big nothingburger." When asked about the video in an email, CNN responded "lol". During that same day, the videos were posted on Donald Trump's Instagram account. Jones said that O'Keefe had deceptively edited the video to take his remarks out of context and was attempting to "pull off a hoax." Jones added that he believed that there probably was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
On June 30, 2017, O'Keefe released the third part of the undercover videos. Part 3 of the series showed CNN associate producer Jimmy Carr saying that Trump is "fucking crazy" and that "on the inside, we all recognize he is a clown, that he is hilariously unqualified for this, he's really bad at this, and that he does not have America's best interests". Carr also said "This is a man who's not actually a Republican, he just adopted that because that was the party he thought he could win in. He doesn't believe anything that these people believe." Additionally, he said American voters are "stupid as shit." He also made comments about Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, calling her an "awful woman" and stating that she "looks like she got hit with a shovel". In a fourth video published by Project Veritas on July 5, Carr criticized CNN co-anchor Chris Cuomo.
Failed attempt to sting The Washington Post (2017)
Starting in July 2017, Project Veritas operative Jaime Phillips attempted to infiltrate The Washington Post and other media outlets by joining networking groups related to journalism and left-leaning politics. She and a male companion attended events related to the Post, and their conversations with journalists were sometimes covertly recorded.
In November 2017, The Washington Post reported that several women accused Republican Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of pursuing them while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. Later that same month, Jaime Phillips approached The Washington Post and falsely claimed that Moore had impregnated her as a teenager and that she had an abortion. In conducting its usual fact-checking, the Post discovered multiple red flags in her story. They found a GoFundMe page in her name that said, "I've accepted a job to work in the conservative media movement to combat the lies and deceipt of the liberal MSM." After a Post reporter confronted her with the inconsistencies during a video-recorded interview, Phillips denied that she was working with an organization that targets journalists, and said that she no longer wanted to do the story. She was seen outside Project Veritas' office in Mamaroneck, New York, with her car remaining at the office's parking lot for more than an hour. O'Keefe declined to comment about the woman's apparent connection to Project Veritas. Instead of running a story about Phillips' supposed pregnancy, the Post published an article about the attempted sting operation. The Post decided to disclose Phillips' original discussions made off the record, saying they were not obligated to keep them confidential because she had deceived them.
Hours after the Post published this story, O'Keefe released a video which he claimed exposed the newspaper's liberal bias. The video includes undercover footage of conversations with two Post employees, national security reporter Dan Lamothe and product director Joey Marburger. These employees explained to undercover Project Veritas operatives the difference between the news reporting of The Washington Post (which calls out the Trump administration's missteps while giving "him credit where there's credit" due) and the Post's opinion editorials; O'Keefe said that this exposed the Washington Post's "hidden agenda."
O'Keefe was criticized for his failed sting, and The Washington Post was praised. Rod Dreher of The American Conservative praised the Post and called on conservative donors to stop giving money to O'Keefe's outfit. Dan McLaughlin of the conservative National Review said that O'Keefe's sting was an "own goal" and that O'Keefe was doing a disservice to the conservative movement; Jim Geraghty of the National Review made a similar assessment. Byron York of The Washington Examiner said that O'Keefe's "idiocy" was "beyond boneheaded," and that "O'Keefe really ought to hang it up." Ben Shapiro, the conservative editor in chief of The Daily Wire, said that the botched sting was "horrible, both morally and effectively." Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic wrote, "If James O'Keefe respected the right-wing populists who make up the audience of Project Veritas ... he would tell them the truth about all of the organizations that he targets. Instead, Project Veritas operates in bad faith, an attribute it demonstrated again this week in the aftermath of its bungled attempt to trick The Washington Post." Noah Rothman of the conservative magazine Commentary chastised O'Keefe for being exploitative of his audience: "No longer are institutions like Veritas dedicated to combating ignorance in their audience. They're actively courting it."
Jonathan Chait of New York magazine said that O'Keefe, having set out prove that the Post was fake news, ended up disproving it. O'Keefe's plot collapsed because it was premised on a ludicrously false worldview, wrote Chait. "The Washington Post does not, in fact, publish unverified accusations just because they're against Republicans." O'Keefe's attempts to prove rampant voter fraud have failed "because voter fraud is not rampant."
New Jersey Education Association videos (2018)
On May 2, 2018, Project Veritas posted on YouTube a video allegedly showing a union administrator from the New Jersey Education Association, a teachers union, discussing a teacher alleged to have struck a student. The following day, O'Keefe released a second video allegedly showing another union administrator speaking to students about a different alleged incident of a teacher pushing and injuring a student. In the video, the administrator allegedly boasted of her effort to retain a pension for a teacher who allegedly had sex with a student. Both teachers were suspended pending an investigation, and resigned from their union roles after the release of the videos. During a New Jersey Senate meeting on May 31, the New Jersey Education Association announced that a law firm would investigate the incidents.
Twitter suspension (2021)
On April 15, 2021, O'Keefe was suspended from Twitter for "operating fake accounts". On April 19, he filed a lawsuit against Twitter in state court in Westchester County, New York, claiming that Twitter’s reason for suspending him is "false and defamatory".
FBI search warrants and allegedly stolen Biden diary (2021)
On November 6, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed an early morning court-ordered search of O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, New York two days after searching the homes of two of O'Keefe's associates in connection with the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, in 2020. Excerpts allegedly from the diary were posted two weeks before the 2020 US presidential election.
Reception
Project Veritas uses methods not employed by reputable journalists, including misrepresenting its operatives' identities. O'Keefe refers to himself as a "guerrilla journalist". Such methods have stirred debate about what it means to be a journalist and what constitutes good journalistic practice, especially with respect to undercover work.
Tim Kenneally and Daniel Frankel reporting for TheWrap in 2011 noted that some of O'Keefe's supporters referred to him as the right wing's answer to a long line of left-leaning "hybrid troublemakers who get put on the cover of Rolling Stone, like Paul Krassner and Abbie Hoffman". In that same 2011 report, Marty Kaplan, director of the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, was quoted as saying:
What [O'Keefe] does isn't journalism. It's agitpop, politi-punking, entrapment-entertainment. There is no responsible definition of journalism that includes what he does or how he does it. His success at luring his prey into harming themselves is a measure of how fallible and foolish anyone, including good people, can sometimes be.
In reporting on allegations that O'Keefe had attempted in 2010 to tamper with Senator Landrieu's office phone system, Jim Rutenberg and Campbell Robertson of the New York Times posited that O'Keefe practiced a kind of "gonzo journalism" and his tactic is to "caricature the political and social values of his enemies by carrying them to outlandish extremes."
In a March 2011 interview with O'Keefe, NPR journalist Bob Garfield asked, referring to the ACORN videos, "If your journalistic technique is the lie, why should we believe anything you have to say?" O'Keefe responded that his techniques should be characterized as a form of guerrilla theater rather than "lying" – "you're posing as something you're not, in order to capture candid conversations from your subject. But I wouldn't characterize it as, as lying."
In July 2011, Dean Mills, the dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, compared O'Keefe to Michael Moore and said, "Some ethicists say it is never right for a journalist to deceive for any reason, but there are wrongs in the world that will never be exposed without some kind of subterfuge." The Atlantic journalist Conor Friedersdorf responded that O'Keefe's "mortal sin" wasn't that he misled his subjects, but that he misled his audience by presenting his videos to the public in "less than honest ways that go far beyond normal 'selectivity.'"
On February 11, 2021, the Twitter account for Project Veritas was “permanently suspended for repeated violations of Twitter’s private information policy.” At the same time, O'Keefe's account was “temporarily locked” for violating the policy pending the deletion of a tweet. On April 15, Twitter permanently suspended O'Keefe's personal account for violating the Twitter's policy against "platform manipulation and spam", which disallows the use of fake accounts to "artificially amplify or disrupt conversations". O'Keefe denied that he used fake Twitter accounts and said that he would sue Twitter in response.
On November 6, 2021, the FBI executed an early morning court-ordered search of O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, New York two days after searching the homes of two of O'Keefe's associates in connection with the theft of a diary belonging to President Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, in 2020. Excerpts allegedly from the diary were posted two weeks before the 2020 US presidential election.
Works
References
External links
Project Veritas website
Interview of O'Keefe by NPR's On the Media (audio with transcript)
1984 births
Living people
American activist journalists
American alternative journalists
American anti–illegal immigration activists
American conspiracy theorists
American critics of Islam
American filmmakers
American people of Irish descent
People from Westwood, New Jersey
Rutgers University alumni
American anti-abortion activists | false | [
"Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742 (1970), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court refused to hold that large sentencing discounts and threats of the death penalty are sufficient evidence of coercion.\n\nBackground\n\nTrial \nRobert Brady was indicted in 1959 for kidnapping and failing to release the hostage without harm, which under 18 U.S.C. § 1201(a) imposed a maximum penalty of death if the jury recommended it. When he learned that his co-defendant had confessed to the crime and agreed to testify against him Brady changed his plea from not guilty to guilty. The trial judge twice questioned him on whether the plea was made voluntarily. \nThe Court: …Having read the presentence report and the statement you made to the probation office, I want to be certain that you know what you are doing and you did know that when you entered a plea of guilty the other day. Do you want to let that plea of guilty stand, or do you want to withdraw it and plead not guilty?\n\nDefendant Brady: I want to let that plea stand, sir\n\nThe Court: You understand that, in doing that, you are admitting and confessing the truth of the charge contained in the indictment and that you enter a plea of guilty voluntarily, without persuasion, coercion of any kind? Is that right?\n\nDefendant Brady: Yes, your Honor.\n\nThe Court: And you do do that?\n\nDefendant Brady: Yes, I do.\n\nThe Court: You plead guilty to the charge?\n\nDefendant Brady: Yes, I do.\n\nUpon his acceptance of his plea the trial judge imposed sentence of fifty years imprisonment, later reduced to thirty.\n\nAppeal \nIn 1967 Brady sought post-conviction relief arguing that 18 U.S.C. § 1201(a) was coercive in nature and impermissible under United States v. Jackson which was decided after his conviction. In United States v. Jackson, the court ruled that 18 U.S.C. § 1201(a) was unconstitutional because the death sentence could only be imposed by a jury. The court concluded that the statute made death the risk of a jury trial and that this was impermissible. Brady argued that every guilty plea entered under § 1201 was invalid when the fear of death is shown to have been a factor. The District Court for the District of New Mexico denied relief. The District Court concluded that Brady changed his plea to guilty after learning that his codefendant would plead guilty, not due to the threat of death under § 1201. The Appeals Court for the Tenth Circuit agreed with the District Court and denied relief.\n\nOpinion of the Court \nJustice White delivered the unanimous opinion of the court. He quotes from United States v. Jackson \"the fact that the Federal Kidnapping Act tends to discourage defendants from insisting upon their innocence and demanding a jury trial by jury hardly implies that every defendant who enters a guilty plea to a charge under the Act does so involuntarily.” By ruling that all guilty pleas entered under § 1201 “would rob the criminal process of much of its flexibility.\" The court ruled that Brady was not coerced by § 1201. He entered his guilty plea with full knowledge and willingness; it was not the court's fault that the defendant did not anticipate United States v. Jackson.\n\nSee also \n Federal Kidnapping Act\n United States v. Jackson\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \nCase summary at Quimbee\n\nUnited States plea bargaining case law\nUnited States Supreme Court cases\nUnited States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court\n1970 in United States case law",
"\"What Will You Do (When the Money Goes)?\" is a song by Sheffield indie rock band Milburn. It was released on 17 September 2007, as the first single released from their second album, These Are the Facts. On 23 September 2007 it entered the UK Singles Chart at #44 from digital download purchases alone.\n\nTrack listing\nCD\nWhat Will You Do (When the Money Goes)? \nBridges & Bicycles \nLittle White Lies\n\n7\" side one\nWhat Will You Do (When the Money Goes)?\nAlarm Bells\n7\" side two\nWhat Will You Do (When the Money Goes)?\nBridges & Bicycles\n\n2007 singles\nMilburn (band) songs\n2007 songs\nMercury Records singles"
] |
[
"James O'Keefe",
"Senator Mary Landrieu (2010)",
"What is is connection with Mary Landrieu?",
"O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents",
"What did he do once he entered the office?",
"O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses"
] | C_db0856153b7d4364b3156b34bd97dae1_0 | Did they take video recordings of the office? | 3 | Did O'keefe take video recordings of the office of Mary Landrieu? | James O'Keefe | O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, at the office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat. His three fellow activists, who were dressed as telephone repairmen when apprehended, included Robert Flanagan, the son of William Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Louisiana. The four men were charged with malicious intent to damage the phone system. O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents during the debate over President Barack Obama's health care bill. The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty on May 26. O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The other three men received lesser sentences. In August 2013, O'Keefe revisited the incident by releasing a video entitled: "a confrontation with former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten on the campus of Tulane University". Letten is a former Republican U.S. Attorney who recused himself from the Landrieu incident because he knew the father of one of the men involved. The video shows Letten accusing O'Keefe of "terrorizing" Letten's wife at their home, of harassing him, and trespassing on the Tulane campus. He called O'Keefe a "coward" and a "spud", and referred to O'Keefe and his companions as "hobbits" and "scum". CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | James Edward O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is an American political activist and provocateur who founded Project Veritas, a far-right activist group that uses deceptive editing techniques to attack mainstream media organizations and progressive groups. Both O'Keefe and Project Veritas have produced secretly recorded undercover audio and video encounters in academic, governmental, and social service organizations, purporting to show abusive or illegal behavior by representatives of those organizations; the recordings are often selectively edited to misrepresent the context of the conversations and the subjects' responses.
O’Keefe gained national attention for his selectively edited video recordings of workers at Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) offices in 2009, his arrest and guilty plea in 2010 for entering the federal office of then-U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) under false pretenses, and the release of misleading videos of conversations with two high-ranking, now former, NPR executives in 2011.
When his videos – heavily edited to portray ACORN workers seemingly aiding a couple in criminal planning – were publicized, the U.S. Congress voted to freeze funds for the non-profit. The national controversy resulted in the non-profit also losing most of its private funding before investigations of the videos concluded no illegal activity occurred. In March 2010, ACORN was close to bankruptcy and had to close or rename most of its offices. Shortly thereafter, the California State Attorney General's Office and the US Government Accountability Office released their related investigative reports. The Attorney General's Office found that O'Keefe had misrepresented the actions of ACORN workers in California and that the workers had not broken any laws. A preliminary probe by the GAO found that ACORN had managed its federal funds appropriately. One of the fired ACORN workers sued O'Keefe for invasion of privacy; O'Keefe issued an apology and agreed to pay $100,000 in a settlement.
O'Keefe has gained support from right-wing and conservative media and interest groups, as well as the far right. In 2009, Andrew Breitbart commissioned him for the option to publish new videos exclusively on BigGovernment.com.
Early life and education
James Edward O'Keefe III was born in Bergen County, New Jersey, the elder of two children of James, a materials engineer, and Deborah O'Keefe, a physical therapist. He has a younger sister.
O'Keefe grew up in Westwood, New Jersey. His home was politically "conservative but not rigidly so", according to his father. He graduated from Westwood High School, where he showed an early interest in the arts, theater and journalism. He attained Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America. O'Keefe started at Rutgers University in 2002 and majored in philosophy. Beginning in his sophomore year, he wrote a bi-weekly opinion column for The Daily Targum, the university's student paper. He left the Targum and founded the Rutgers Centurion, a conservative student paper supported by a $500 "Balance in the Media" grant from The Leadership Institute.
For his first video, he and other Centurion writers met with Rutgers dining staff to demand the banning of the cereal Lucky Charms from dining halls because of its offense to Irish Americans. O'Keefe said the leprechaun mascot presented a stereotype. He intended to have officials lose either way: to appear insensitive to an ethnic group, or to look silly by agreeing to ban Lucky Charms. They expected to be thrown out of school, but the Rutgers official was courteous, took notes, and said their concerns would be considered. Rutgers staff say the cereal was never taken off the menu.
Career
After graduating from Rutgers, O'Keefe worked for a year at the Leadership Institute (LI) in Arlington, Virginia, under media specialist Ben Wetmore, whom O'Keefe calls his mentor. The institute sent him to colleges to train students to start conservative independent newspapers, but, after a year LI officials asked him to leave. According to LI president and founder Morton Blackwell, O'Keefe was "very effective and very enthusiastic" but after a year he was asked to leave because officials felt his activist work threatened the group's nonprofit status by trying to influence legislation.
O'Keefe has produced and distributed secretly recorded and misleadingly edited videos and audio files made during staged encounters with targeted entities or individuals. His work takes the form of undercover stings targeted at liberal groups and politicians. He sought to "embarrass" and "damage" his targets, such as Landrieu and ACORN.
He has sought to maximize publicity by releasing secretly recorded videos over several days or months, often in relation to funding authorizations or significant political actions related to the subject organization. Many videos received widespread media coverage sparking significant reactions, most notably videos of ACORN that resulted in the Congress quickly freezing funds, two executive agencies canceling contracts, and several ACORN workers being fired, and videos of National Public Radio (NPR) executives that led to the resignation of CEO Vivian Schiller, shortly before Congressional funding hearings involving NPR.
In January 2010, O'Keefe began a column on Breitbarts website, BigGovernment.com. Andrew Breitbart stated in an interview that he paid O'Keefe a salary for his "life rights" to gain release of O'Keefe's videos first on his website. In 2010, O'Keefe formed his a new organization, Project Veritas, whose stated mission is "to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society."
Much of the funding for Project Veritas comes from anonymous donations through Donors Trust, a conservative, American nonprofit donor-advised fund, which according to its promotional materials, says that it will "keep your charitable giving private, especially gifts funding sensitive or controversial issues." Prominent donors include the Trump Foundation, which, in May 2015, donated $10,000.
O'Keefe is a conservative activist with mainstream conservative pro-market and anti-government views, although he has described himself as a "progressive radical", because he wants to change things, "not conserve them". He considers himself a muckraker. O'Keefe has expressed admiration for the philosophy of G. K. Chesterton and for a free press.
Major activities
Planned Parenthood recordings (2008)
In 2006, O'Keefe met Lila Rose, the founder of an anti-abortion group on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus. They secretly recorded encounters in Planned Parenthood clinics in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, in which Rose posed as a 15-year-old girl impregnated by a 23-year-old male. Rose and O'Keefe made two videos incorporating heavily edited versions of the recordings and released them on YouTube. the video omitted the portions of the full conversation in which a Planned Parenthood employee asked Rose to consult her mother about the pregnancy and another employee told Rose, "We have to follow the laws". Rose took down the videos after Planned Parenthood sent her a cease and desist letter in May 2007 asserting that the videos violated California's voice recording laws, which required consent from all recorded parties.
In 2007, O'Keefe phoned several Planned Parenthood clinics and secretly recorded the conversations. He posed as a donor, asking if his donations would be applied to needs of minority women, accompanied by race-related remarks such as "there's way too many black people in Ohio". The recordings portrayed Planned Parenthood clinic workers in six states agreeing to accept his donation under his conditions. After the release of the recordings, African-American leaders called for withdrawal of public financing of the organization. The Idaho clinic responded with an apology for "the manner in which this offensive call was handled". Planned Parenthood issued an official statement emphasizing that "97 percent of its services are focused on providing contraceptives, breast and cervical cancer screenings and sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment — not abortions".
ACORN videos (2009)
In September 2009, O'Keefe and his associate, Hannah Giles, published edited hidden camera recordings in which Giles posed as a prostitute and O'Keefe as her boyfriend, a law student, in an attempt to elicit damaging responses from employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), an advocacy organization for people of low and moderate income.
Washington Post correspondents Darryl Fears and Carol D. Leonnig reported that O'Keefe "said he targeted ACORN for the same reasons that the political right does: its massive voter registration drives" and that "[p]oliticians are getting elected single-handedly due to this organization." According to The Washington Post, ACORN registered people mostly from the Latino and African American groups.
The videos were recorded during the summer of 2009 and appeared to show low-level ACORN employees in six cities providing advice to Giles and O'Keefe on how to avoid detection by authorities of tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution. He framed the undercover recordings with a preface of him dressed in a "pimp" outfit, which he also wore in TV media interviews. This gave viewers, including the media, the impression that he had dressed that way when speaking to ACORN workers. However, he actually entered the ACORN offices in conservative street clothes (the sleeve of his dress shirt is visible on camera). Furthermore, the ACORN employees involved reported his activities to the police after he left. O'Keefe selectively edited and manipulated his recordings of ACORN employees, as well as distorted the chronologies. Several journalists and media outlets have expressed regret for not properly scrutinizing and vetting his work.
Reception and lawsuit
After the videos were released through the fall of 2009, the U.S. Congress quickly voted to freeze federal funding to ACORN. The Census Bureau and the IRS terminated their contract relationships with ACORN. By December 2009, an external investigation of ACORN was published which cleared the organization of any illegality, while noting that its poor management practices contributed to unprofessional actions by some low-level employees. In March 2010, ACORN announced it would dissolve due to loss of funding from government and especially private sources.
On March 1, 2010, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes found there was no criminal wrongdoing by the ACORN staff in New York.
The California Attorney General's Office granted O'Keefe and Giles limited immunity from prosecution in exchange for providing the full, unedited videotapes related to ACORN offices in California. On the basis of the edited videotape which O'Keefe released, Vera appeared to be a willing participant in helping with O'Keefe's plan to smuggle young women into the United States illegally. However, authorities confirmed that Vera immediately contacted them about O'Keefe and that he had also encouraged O'Keefe to share as much information as possible about his scheme and gather further evidence of O'Keefe's purported illegal activities, which could then be used by prosecutors to bring charges against O'Keefe for attempted human trafficking. Due to O'Keefe's release of the dubiously edited video, intentionally designed to "prove" that ACORN employees were ready and willing to engage in illicit activities, Vera lost his job and was falsely accused of being engaged in human trafficking. O'Keefe said that he "regrets any pain" caused by his actions, though O'Keefe's lawyer dismissed any claimed injury incurred by Vera and stated that the payment was a "nuisance settlement".
O'Keefe moved for summary judgment in his favor, arguing that the plaintiff had no reasonable expectation that the conversation would be private. In August 2012, the federal judge hearing the case denied O'Keefe's motion for summary judgment. The judge ruled that O'Keefe had "misled plaintiff to believe that the conversation would remain confidential by posing as a client seeking services from ACORN and asking whether their conversation was confidential." On March 5, 2013, O'Keefe agreed to pay $100,000 to former California ACORN employee Juan Carlos Vera for breaking state law prohibiting surreptitious recording, and acknowledged in the settlement that at the time he published his video he was unaware that Vera had notified the police about the incident. The settlement contained the following apology: "O'Keefe regrets any pain suffered by Mr. Vera or his family."
On June 14, 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published its report finding no evidence that ACORN, or any of its related organizations, had mishandled any of the $40 million in federal money which they had received in recent years.
Senator Mary Landrieu (2010)
O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in the Hale Boggs Federal Complex in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, at the office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat. His three fellow activists, who were dressed as telephone repairmen when apprehended, included Robert Flanagan, the son of William Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Louisiana. The four men were charged with malicious intent to damage the phone system. O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents during the debate over President Barack Obama's health care bill.
The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty on May 26. O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The three other men received lesser sentences. Another consequence is that O'Keefe is barred from soliciting donations from Florida residents, because of state law applicable to people found guilty of fraud.
In August 2013, O'Keefe revisited the incident by releasing a video entitled: "a confrontation with former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten on the campus of Tulane University". Letten is a former Republican U.S. Attorney who recused himself from the Landrieu incident because he knew the father of one of the men involved. The video shows Letten accusing O'Keefe of "terrorizing" Letten's wife at their home, of harassing him, and trespassing on the Tulane campus. He called O'Keefe a "coward" and a "spud", and referred to O'Keefe and his companions as "hobbits" and "scum".
NPR video (2011)
On March 8, 2011, shortly before the US Congress was to vote on funding for National Public Radio (NPR), O'Keefe released a heavily edited video of a discussion with Ronald Schiller, NPR's senior vice president for fundraising, and associate Betsy Liley. Raw content was secretly recorded by O'Keefe's partners Ken Larrey and Shaughn Adeleye.
NPR responded by stating that Schiller's remarks were presented out of sequence and that he said that he would speak personally, and not for NPR. Schiller said some highly placed Republicans believed the Republican Party had been hijacked by a radical group (the Tea Party) that they characterized as "Islamophobic" and "seriously racist, racist people", and while Schiller did not disagree, according to NPR, O'Keefe's editing made it appear those were Schiller's opinions. Schiller then says that unlike establishment Republicans, the growing Tea Party movement in the party "is fanatically involved in people's personal lives and very fundamental Christian — I wouldn't even call it Christian. It's this weird evangelical kind of move."
Later in the edited video, Schiller seems to say he believes NPR "would be better off in the long run without federal funding", explaining that removal of federal funding would allow NPR more independence and remove the widely held misconception that NPR is significantly funded by the public. But on the raw tape, Schiller also said that withdrawing federal funding would cause local stations to go under and that NPR is doing "everything we can" to keep it.
In a statement released before analysis of the longer raw video, NPR said, "Schiller's comments are in direct conflict with NPR's official position ... The fraudulent organization represented in this video repeatedly pressed us to accept a $5 million check with no strings attached, which we repeatedly refused to accept." After reviewing the unedited video, Scott Baker, editor-in-chief of TheBlaze, said the NPR executives "seem to be fairly balanced people."
Journalists Ben Smith, James Poniewozik, and Dave Weigel have expressed regret for giving O'Keefe's NPR videos wider circulation without scrutinizing them for themselves.
Reception
Comparison of the raw video with the released one revealed editing that was characterized as "selective" and "deceptive" by Michael Gerson, opinion writer for The Washington Post, who wrote, "O'Keefe did not merely leave a false impression; he manufactured an elaborate, alluring lie." Time magazine wrote that the video "transposed remarks from a different part of the meeting", was "manipulative" and "a partisan hit-job."
The raw video shows Schiller told the two men "that donors cannot expect to influence news coverage." On the longer tape, he says, "There is such a big firewall between funding and reporting: Reporters will not be swayed in any way, shape or form." Broadcast journalist Al Tompkins, who now teaches at the Poynter Institute, noted that Ron Schiller was a fundraiser, not an official affecting the newsroom. He commented on the raw tape: "The message that he said most often—I counted six times: He told these two people that he had never met before that you cannot buy coverage", Tompkins said. "He says it over and over and over again."
On March 17, Martha T. Moore of USA Today reported: "According to The Blaze analysis, Ron Schiller's most inflammatory remarks, that Tea Party members are 'seriously racist', were made as he was recounting the views of Republicans he has spoken with—although he does not appear to disagree. It also shows Schiller appearing to laugh about the potential spread of Islamic sharia law, when the longer version shows he laughed in reaction to something completely different."
Two days later, O'Keefe released a video in which Betsy Liley, senior director of institutional giving at NPR, appeared to have checked with senior management and said MEAC was cleared to make donations anonymously and NPR could help shield donations from government audits, but added that, in order to proceed, additional background information would be required, including an IRS Form 990. Liley advised the caller that NPR executives would investigate them before accepting any large donation, examining tax records and checking out other organizations that have received donations from them. Liley raises the possibility of NPR's turning down substantial gifts and stresses the "firewall" between the revenue-generating part of NPR and its news operation. NPR put Liley on administrative leave. In emails released following the publication of the Liley video, NPR confirmed that the official had consulted appropriately with top management and notified the purported donors of problems with their desired method of donation.
The video, which was released directly before a congressional vote on funding, caused immediate reaction from NPR critics in Congress. Ronald Schiller, who had already submitted his resignation in January so that he could join the Aspen Institute, moved up his resignation after the video release when NPR put him on administrative leave. NPR CEO Vivian Schiller (no relation to Ronald Schiller), who had not been implicated in the Project Veritas video, quickly resigned. Vivian Schiller's resignation, mutually decided with the NPR board, was in part an attempt to show Congressional funders that NPR could hold itself accountable.
U.S. presidential elections (2016)
A month before the launch of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, the Trump Foundation donated $10,000 to O'Keefe's Project Veritas. O'Keefe attended, as a guest of the Trump campaign, the final presidential debate, and was later available in the spin room following the Las Vegas event.
Americans United for Change videos
On October 18, 2016, O'Keefe released a series of videos on Project Veritas' YouTube channel titled "Rigging the Election" that apparently showed former national field director Scott Foval of Americans United for Change discussing ensuring that they have people at the front of the rope lines at rallies in order to ask questions, a common practice known as "bird dogging". The accuracy of the videos has been questioned for possibly omitting context, and the unedited raw footage has not been made available. The GOP-appointed Attorney General of Wisconsin, Brad Schimel, investigated the claims made in the video twice, both times finding no evidence that Foval broke any voting laws.
DNC Chair Donna Brazile said the video footage omitted necessary context. Scott Foval was fired by Americans United for Change after the first video was released. Foval later said he had been set up. Robert Creamer, a DNC consultant and husband of U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, D-IL, said, "We regret the unprofessional and careless hypothetical conversations that were captured on hidden cameras of a regional contractor for our firm, and he is no longer working with us," he said. "While none of the schemes described in the conversations ever took place, these conversations do not at all reflect the values of Democracy Partners." Shortly afterwards, Creamer, who was also featured in the video, said he would end his consulting arrangement with the DNC to avoid becoming a "distraction".
Following the publication of his videos, O'Keefe filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and the DNC, alleging "a criminal conspiracy" involving the Clinton campaign, the DNC and three left-leaning super PACs. On June 1, 2017, Creamer's firm, Democracy Partners, filed a $1 million lawsuit against Project Veritas, claiming Project Veritas had lied to gain access to the firm and violating anti-wiretapping laws.
In response to a third video, in which O'Keefe stated that Clinton was behind an illegal public relations gimmick to punish Trump for not releasing his tax returns, the Clinton campaign denied any wrongdoing. Independent campaign finance experts posited the video doesn't support O'Keefe's claims. Clinton said she was aware of the activists dressed as Donald Duck, who were following Trump while asking about his tax returns, and said she was amused.
On October 26, 2016, O'Keefe posted a fourth video on his Project Veritas Action YouTube channel. The video alleged that liberal groups supporting Hillary Clinton were illegally taking foreign money. The targeted group, Americans United for Change foundation, is a 501(c)4 organization and is allowed to legally accept foreign contributions. However, AUC returned the money shortly after the video was released. The group's chief stated, "We returned the money because the last thing we want to be associated with is a character like O'Keefe who has been convicted and successfully sued for his illegal tactics and fraudulent activities."
On November 8, 2016 (Election Day), O'Keefe spent some time following vans that were allegedly "bussing people around to polls in Philadelphia".
On January 9, 2017, Project Veritas operative Allison Maass was filmed attempting to bribe members of Americans Take Action into inciting a riot at Trump's inauguration. On January 16, 2017, Project Veritas uploaded a video showing DC Antifascist Coalition members of Disrupt J20 plotting to use "stink bombs" at the DeploraBall. After the video's release, Disrupt J20 denied the statements, saying that the members deliberately gave false information to Veritas. The video led to the arrest of one man allegedly involved in the plan, as well as two associates. All three individuals pleaded guilty.
Other activities
Abbie Boudreau (2010)
In August 2010, O'Keefe planned a staged encounter with CNN correspondent Abbie Boudreau, who was working on a documentary on the young conservative movement. He set up an appointment at his office in Maryland to discuss a video shoot. Izzy Santa, executive director of Project Veritas, warned Boudreau that O'Keefe was planning to "punk" her on the boat by trying to seduce her—which he would film on hidden cameras. Boudreau did not board the boat and soon left the area.
CNN later published a 13-page plan written by O'Keefe mentor Ben Wetmore. It listed props for the boat scheme, including pornography, sexual aids, condoms, a blindfold and "fuzzy" handcuffs. When questioned by CNN, O'Keefe denied he was going to follow the Wetmore plan, as he found parts of it inappropriate. Boudreau commented "that does not appear to be true, according to a series of emails we obtained from Izzy Santa, who says the e-mails reveal James' true intentions."
Following the Boudreau incident, Project Veritas paid Izzy Santa a five-figure settlement after she threatened to sue, which included a non-disclosure agreement. Funding decreased from conservative political organizations following this CNN incident.
New Jersey Teachers' Union video (2010)
Starting October 25, 2010, O'Keefe posted a series of videos on the Internet entitled Teachers Unions Gone Wild. At the time, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) was in negotiations with Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor, over teacher pay benefits and tenure. O'Keefe obtained one video from recordings made by "citizen journalists", whom he recruited to attend the NJEA's leadership conference. They secretly recorded meetings and conversations with teacher participants. It featured teachers discussing the difficulty of firing a tenured teacher.
A second video featured a staged phone conversation by O'Keefe with Lawrence E. Everett, assistant superintendent of the Passaic, New Jersey city schools, in which Everett refused to commit to firing a teacher based upon the purported claim by a parent that the teacher had used the "n-word" with his child. The third video (October 26, 2010) featured audio of a voice, identified as NJEA Associate Director Wayne Dibofsky, who alleged voter fraud during the 1997 Jersey City mayoral election. The voice of Robert Byrne, Jersey City municipal clerk, was recorded on the same video; he noted that the election was monitored by lawyers for both candidates.
New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie stated at the time that nothing on the videos surprised him. NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer said the union and its attorneys were discussing their options regarding possible legal action, although no action was ever taken. Wollmer called the videos "a calculated attack on this organization and its members", and described O'Keefe as "flat-out sleazy".
Medicaid videos (2011)
In the summer of 2011, O'Keefe released videos of his colleagues' staged encounters purportedly showing Medicaid fraud in offices in six states, including Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia. Following his previous strategy, he sent the releases to conservative outlets over a period of weeks. In July 2011, two conservative groups released a secretly recorded video of an encounter in Maine's Department of Health and Human Services.
In the video, an actor attempted to apply for benefits while hinting that he was a drug smuggler. Americans for Prosperity and O'Keefe said he had similar recorded videos from offices in Ohio, Virginia and South Carolina, and believed that there was a systemic problem. In Maine, Governor Paul LePage concluded upon further examination of the videos that there was no fraud or intent to commit fraud.
A similar O'Keefe video posted on the Project Veritas web site purported to show workers at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services assisting actors posing as drug dealers in applying for benefits. His fourth Medicaid video, apparently filmed in Richmond, Virginia, was released in July 2011. The New York Times reported: "[As 'Sean Murphy'], dressed in the same regalia he wore on the New Jersey shoot, [O'Keefe] presented himself to a Medicaid worker in Charleston, South Carolina, as an Irish drug importer and Irish Republican Army member who wanted coverage for 25 wounded comrades who entered the U.S. illegally. The kindly worker spent time photocopying applications and dealing with this improbable applicant." She explained to him that only U.S. citizens are eligible for Medicaid and informed him she was not making any promises that the 25 purported IRA members would qualify. She said he had to abide by the law and told him that she didn't want to know details, because federal law protects patient privacy: "Like I said, someone would have to come here and subpoena our information in order for us to divulge any information, because like I said there's something called the Health Insurance Accountability and Affordability Act—or portability—and anyway it went into effect several years ago, and that's what we follow. It is federal law, and they do threaten high fines—which they don't pay me as much per year as they threaten to fine me—so it is definitely not in my own best interest to divulge anything to anyone because I cannot afford it, I do not want to go to jail."
Reception
The videos received less media attention than earlier O'Keefe efforts. Generally, the state officials and representatives acknowledged potential problems but also took a measured tone in response, to allow time to fully investigate and evaluate the incidents. After viewing the video, Governor LePage thanked the individual who took the video and noted: "The video in its entirety does not show a person willfully helping someone de-fraud the welfare system. It does show a need for further job knowledge and continuous and improved staff training." He also stated that "we would be six months further along in fixing the problem" if he had received the video when it was filmed. LePage directed his agency director to work on correcting the problem.
Ohio media initially reported that "a Franklin County Jobs and Family Service worker was placed on administrative leave and at least one other person was out of work" as a result of the video's release. Ben Johnson of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services noted that benefits were never granted in the case, and that the made-up story would have been caught if the application process had proceeded. He said his office would use the video to strengthen staff training. Mike DeWine, Attorney General of Ohio, described the Ohio video as "outrageous" and intended to instruct his state's Medicaid fraud unit to look into the incident. The director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Michael Colbert, notified county leaders of a mandatory retraining, "to ensure they can identify people trying to defraud the government". Upon investigation by state officials, the Medicaid worker who coached O'Keefe's operative seeking Medicaid for his father and claimed to own a yacht as well as a helipad, on how to hide their (also claimed) ownership of an $800,000 automobile had been placed on paid administrative leave. A spokesman for Virginia governor Bob McDonnell said that he had asked state police to review the video and take whatever actions are appropriate.
In Charleston, South Carolina, the director of that state's Department of Health and Human Services, Anthony Kreck, said the video filmed in his state "raises concerns about how well trained and supported our staff are to handle outrageous situations." He also expressed concern for the safety of the state employee with the figure ["Sean Murphy"] in the video "who could be interpreted as intimidating" and questioned why security wasn't called.
New Hampshire primary video (2012)
In January 2012, O'Keefe released a video of associates obtaining a number of ballots for the New Hampshire Primary by using the names of recently deceased voters. He stated that the video showed "the integrity of the elections process is severely comprised ." His team culled names from published obituaries, which were checked against public voter roll information. O'Keefe said his team broke no laws, as they did not pretend to be the deceased persons when they asked for the ballots, and they did not cast votes after receiving ballots. One of his associates' attempts was caught by a voting supervisor at the polling station who recognized that the name he gave was of a deceased individual; the associate in question left before police arrived.
Reception
Sarah Parnass of ABC News reported that the video "either exposes why voting laws are too lax or comes close to itself being voter fraud (or both)". One media account referred to it as a stunt. New Hampshire Governor John Lynch said, "I think it is outrageous that we have out-of-staters coming into New Hampshire, coming into our polling places and misrepresenting themselves to the election officials, and I hope that they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, if in fact they're found guilty of some criminal act." The New Hampshire Attorney General and the US Attorney's Office announced investigations into the video.
New Hampshire Associate Attorney General Richard Head said he would investigate the possible weaknesses in the voting system, but noted the state did not have a history of known fraud related to person[s] seeking ballot[s] in the name of a dead person or persons. Head announced he would investigate the possibility that the filmmakers committed crimes while producing the videos.
Hamline University law professor David Schultz said, "If they [O'Keefe's group] were intentionally going in and trying to fraudulently obtain a ballot, they violated the law", referring to Title 42, which prohibits procuring ballots fraudulently. The New Hampshire Attorney General's office later dropped its investigation of O'Keefe for potential voter fraud in 2013.
Patrick Moran (2012)
On October 24, 2012, a video was released showing Patrick Moran, son of then-U.S. Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA), and a field director with his father's campaign, discussing a plan to cast fraudulent ballots, which was proposed to him by someone who posed as a fervent supporter of the campaign. The person he was speaking with was a conservative activist with O'Keefe's Project Veritas, and was secretly recording the conversation. Patrick Moran resigned from the campaign, saying he did not want to be a distraction during the election, stating:
[A]t no point have I, or will I ever endorse any sort of illegal or unethical behavior. At no point did I take this person seriously. He struck me as being unstable and joking, and for only that reason did I humor him. In hindsight, I should have immediately walked away, making it clear that there is no place in the electoral process for even the suggestion of illegal behavior, joking or not.
The Arlington County, Virginia Police Department was made aware of the video and opened a criminal investigation into "every component" of the matter.
On January 31, 2013, Arlington County announced that the investigation, by its police department in collaboration with the Offices of the Virginia Attorney General and the Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney, had concluded and that no charges would be brought. The County stated: "Patrick Moran and the Jim Moran for Congress campaign provided full cooperation throughout the investigation. Despite repeated attempts to involve the party responsible for producing the video, they failed to provide any assistance."
US–Mexico border-crossing (2014)
In August 2014, O'Keefe dressed up as Osama bin Laden (who had died 3 years previously) and crossed the US–Mexico border in Texas in both directions to "show that our elected officials were lying to the American people" about border security. The incident was cited by U.S. Senator John McCain in Congressional hearings.
Attempt to solicit voter fraud (2014)
In October 2014, O'Keefe and his two colleagues attempted to bait staffers for Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) and then-U.S. Senator Mark Udall, as well as independent expenditure organizations, into approving voter fraud, according to several staffers who interacted with O'Keefe and his colleagues. Staffers began photographing O'Keefe's crew and advising them that what they were advocating was illegal; one nonprofit said they contacted police.
Attempted sting of Open Society Foundations (2016)
On March 16, 2016, O'Keefe attempted to call Open Society Foundations under the assumed name of "Victor Kesh", describing himself as attached to "a, uh, foundation" seeking to "get involved with you and aid what you do in fighting for, um, European values." O'Keefe forgot to hang up after recording the voicemail, and several more minutes of audio were recorded, revealing that he was attached to Discover the Networks and planning a series of attempts to create embarrassing videos or other recordings of targeted groups.
CNN undercover videos (2017)
On June 26, 2017, O'Keefe released a video on the YouTube channel of Project Veritas that showed John Bonifield, a producer of health and medical stories for CNN, saying CNN's coverage of the Russia investigation was "Because it's ratings" and that the coverage was "mostly bullshit". The video identified Bonifield as a supervising producer for CNN but not specifically for CNN Health. CNN said it was standing by "our medical producer John Bonifield. Diversity of personal opinion is what makes CNN strong". During a White House press briefing, deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of the video "whether it's accurate or not, I don't know, but I would encourage everybody... across the country to take a look at it".
On June 28, 2017, O'Keefe released the second part of the series of undercover videos, by then dubbed "American Pravda". In the video, CNN anchor Van Jones said, "The Russia thing is just a big nothingburger." When asked about the video in an email, CNN responded "lol". During that same day, the videos were posted on Donald Trump's Instagram account. Jones said that O'Keefe had deceptively edited the video to take his remarks out of context and was attempting to "pull off a hoax." Jones added that he believed that there probably was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
On June 30, 2017, O'Keefe released the third part of the undercover videos. Part 3 of the series showed CNN associate producer Jimmy Carr saying that Trump is "fucking crazy" and that "on the inside, we all recognize he is a clown, that he is hilariously unqualified for this, he's really bad at this, and that he does not have America's best interests". Carr also said "This is a man who's not actually a Republican, he just adopted that because that was the party he thought he could win in. He doesn't believe anything that these people believe." Additionally, he said American voters are "stupid as shit." He also made comments about Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, calling her an "awful woman" and stating that she "looks like she got hit with a shovel". In a fourth video published by Project Veritas on July 5, Carr criticized CNN co-anchor Chris Cuomo.
Failed attempt to sting The Washington Post (2017)
Starting in July 2017, Project Veritas operative Jaime Phillips attempted to infiltrate The Washington Post and other media outlets by joining networking groups related to journalism and left-leaning politics. She and a male companion attended events related to the Post, and their conversations with journalists were sometimes covertly recorded.
In November 2017, The Washington Post reported that several women accused Republican Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of pursuing them while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. Later that same month, Jaime Phillips approached The Washington Post and falsely claimed that Moore had impregnated her as a teenager and that she had an abortion. In conducting its usual fact-checking, the Post discovered multiple red flags in her story. They found a GoFundMe page in her name that said, "I've accepted a job to work in the conservative media movement to combat the lies and deceipt of the liberal MSM." After a Post reporter confronted her with the inconsistencies during a video-recorded interview, Phillips denied that she was working with an organization that targets journalists, and said that she no longer wanted to do the story. She was seen outside Project Veritas' office in Mamaroneck, New York, with her car remaining at the office's parking lot for more than an hour. O'Keefe declined to comment about the woman's apparent connection to Project Veritas. Instead of running a story about Phillips' supposed pregnancy, the Post published an article about the attempted sting operation. The Post decided to disclose Phillips' original discussions made off the record, saying they were not obligated to keep them confidential because she had deceived them.
Hours after the Post published this story, O'Keefe released a video which he claimed exposed the newspaper's liberal bias. The video includes undercover footage of conversations with two Post employees, national security reporter Dan Lamothe and product director Joey Marburger. These employees explained to undercover Project Veritas operatives the difference between the news reporting of The Washington Post (which calls out the Trump administration's missteps while giving "him credit where there's credit" due) and the Post's opinion editorials; O'Keefe said that this exposed the Washington Post's "hidden agenda."
O'Keefe was criticized for his failed sting, and The Washington Post was praised. Rod Dreher of The American Conservative praised the Post and called on conservative donors to stop giving money to O'Keefe's outfit. Dan McLaughlin of the conservative National Review said that O'Keefe's sting was an "own goal" and that O'Keefe was doing a disservice to the conservative movement; Jim Geraghty of the National Review made a similar assessment. Byron York of The Washington Examiner said that O'Keefe's "idiocy" was "beyond boneheaded," and that "O'Keefe really ought to hang it up." Ben Shapiro, the conservative editor in chief of The Daily Wire, said that the botched sting was "horrible, both morally and effectively." Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic wrote, "If James O'Keefe respected the right-wing populists who make up the audience of Project Veritas ... he would tell them the truth about all of the organizations that he targets. Instead, Project Veritas operates in bad faith, an attribute it demonstrated again this week in the aftermath of its bungled attempt to trick The Washington Post." Noah Rothman of the conservative magazine Commentary chastised O'Keefe for being exploitative of his audience: "No longer are institutions like Veritas dedicated to combating ignorance in their audience. They're actively courting it."
Jonathan Chait of New York magazine said that O'Keefe, having set out prove that the Post was fake news, ended up disproving it. O'Keefe's plot collapsed because it was premised on a ludicrously false worldview, wrote Chait. "The Washington Post does not, in fact, publish unverified accusations just because they're against Republicans." O'Keefe's attempts to prove rampant voter fraud have failed "because voter fraud is not rampant."
New Jersey Education Association videos (2018)
On May 2, 2018, Project Veritas posted on YouTube a video allegedly showing a union administrator from the New Jersey Education Association, a teachers union, discussing a teacher alleged to have struck a student. The following day, O'Keefe released a second video allegedly showing another union administrator speaking to students about a different alleged incident of a teacher pushing and injuring a student. In the video, the administrator allegedly boasted of her effort to retain a pension for a teacher who allegedly had sex with a student. Both teachers were suspended pending an investigation, and resigned from their union roles after the release of the videos. During a New Jersey Senate meeting on May 31, the New Jersey Education Association announced that a law firm would investigate the incidents.
Twitter suspension (2021)
On April 15, 2021, O'Keefe was suspended from Twitter for "operating fake accounts". On April 19, he filed a lawsuit against Twitter in state court in Westchester County, New York, claiming that Twitter’s reason for suspending him is "false and defamatory".
FBI search warrants and allegedly stolen Biden diary (2021)
On November 6, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed an early morning court-ordered search of O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, New York two days after searching the homes of two of O'Keefe's associates in connection with the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, in 2020. Excerpts allegedly from the diary were posted two weeks before the 2020 US presidential election.
Reception
Project Veritas uses methods not employed by reputable journalists, including misrepresenting its operatives' identities. O'Keefe refers to himself as a "guerrilla journalist". Such methods have stirred debate about what it means to be a journalist and what constitutes good journalistic practice, especially with respect to undercover work.
Tim Kenneally and Daniel Frankel reporting for TheWrap in 2011 noted that some of O'Keefe's supporters referred to him as the right wing's answer to a long line of left-leaning "hybrid troublemakers who get put on the cover of Rolling Stone, like Paul Krassner and Abbie Hoffman". In that same 2011 report, Marty Kaplan, director of the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, was quoted as saying:
What [O'Keefe] does isn't journalism. It's agitpop, politi-punking, entrapment-entertainment. There is no responsible definition of journalism that includes what he does or how he does it. His success at luring his prey into harming themselves is a measure of how fallible and foolish anyone, including good people, can sometimes be.
In reporting on allegations that O'Keefe had attempted in 2010 to tamper with Senator Landrieu's office phone system, Jim Rutenberg and Campbell Robertson of the New York Times posited that O'Keefe practiced a kind of "gonzo journalism" and his tactic is to "caricature the political and social values of his enemies by carrying them to outlandish extremes."
In a March 2011 interview with O'Keefe, NPR journalist Bob Garfield asked, referring to the ACORN videos, "If your journalistic technique is the lie, why should we believe anything you have to say?" O'Keefe responded that his techniques should be characterized as a form of guerrilla theater rather than "lying" – "you're posing as something you're not, in order to capture candid conversations from your subject. But I wouldn't characterize it as, as lying."
In July 2011, Dean Mills, the dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, compared O'Keefe to Michael Moore and said, "Some ethicists say it is never right for a journalist to deceive for any reason, but there are wrongs in the world that will never be exposed without some kind of subterfuge." The Atlantic journalist Conor Friedersdorf responded that O'Keefe's "mortal sin" wasn't that he misled his subjects, but that he misled his audience by presenting his videos to the public in "less than honest ways that go far beyond normal 'selectivity.'"
On February 11, 2021, the Twitter account for Project Veritas was “permanently suspended for repeated violations of Twitter’s private information policy.” At the same time, O'Keefe's account was “temporarily locked” for violating the policy pending the deletion of a tweet. On April 15, Twitter permanently suspended O'Keefe's personal account for violating the Twitter's policy against "platform manipulation and spam", which disallows the use of fake accounts to "artificially amplify or disrupt conversations". O'Keefe denied that he used fake Twitter accounts and said that he would sue Twitter in response.
On November 6, 2021, the FBI executed an early morning court-ordered search of O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, New York two days after searching the homes of two of O'Keefe's associates in connection with the theft of a diary belonging to President Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, in 2020. Excerpts allegedly from the diary were posted two weeks before the 2020 US presidential election.
Works
References
External links
Project Veritas website
Interview of O'Keefe by NPR's On the Media (audio with transcript)
1984 births
Living people
American activist journalists
American alternative journalists
American anti–illegal immigration activists
American conspiracy theorists
American critics of Islam
American filmmakers
American people of Irish descent
People from Westwood, New Jersey
Rutgers University alumni
American anti-abortion activists | false | [
"\"Hotride\" (sometimes written as \"Hot Ride\") is the fifteenth single released by the British electronic music trio the Prodigy on 1 November 2004. It was the second single from the album Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned and did not enter the UK Singles Chart as the CD was released in EP format with 3 additional B-sides and so did not conform to chart regulations. In Ireland, however, the song was eligible to chart, debuting and peaking at number 40 on the week dated 11 November.\n\nThe track featured vocals by Juliette Lewis and borrowed lyrics from Jimmy Webb's \"Up, Up and Away (In My Beautiful Balloon)\".\n\nMusic video\nThe single's music video was directed by Daniel Levi, but was rejected by Liam Howlett due to the amount of pointless violence.\n\nThe video concentrates on a group of Japanese children going on a rampage. The kids first vandalize a nearby automobile, take pills of an unknown substance (possibly drugs), beat up a policeman and put him in the trunk of the car, and subsequently kidnap a woman before heading to an office building, where they knock out the guards and destroy the offices. The kidnapped woman then escapes and calls the police. An anti-terrorist squad enters the building and catches the kids.\n\nTrack listings\nXL recordings CD single\n \"Hotride\" (4:32)\n \"Who U Foolin\" (3:40)\n \"Girls\" (six minute Remix) (6:33)\n \"Hotride\" (El Batori Mix) (4:44)\n\nUS promo\n \"Hotride\" (Radio Edit) (3:38)\n \"Hotride\" (El Batori Mix 3) (4:44)\n \"Hotride\" (El Batori Mix 2) (5:23)\n \"Hotride\" (El Batori Mix 1) (4:55)\n \"Hotride\" (Album Version) (4:36)\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nThe Prodigy songs\n2004 singles\n2004 songs\nElectronic rock songs\nSongs written by Liam Howlett\nXL Recordings singles",
"\"The Beauty in Ugly\" is a song recorded by Jason Mraz in support of the \"Be Ugly '07\" campaign that was created for the television show Ugly Betty. The music video was made to promote the show and the campaign. Mraz also did a Spanish version called \"La Nueva Belleza\".\n\nTrack listing\nDigital download\n \"The Beauty in Ugly\" – 2:30\n\nMusic video\nThe video starts with Jason Mraz singing with his guitar in a vacant office level while showing different shots of the television show Ugly Betty. The video then progresses to show \"normal\" people auditioning to be a model. Also seen is writing on the screen telling the audience what needs to be \"fixed\" with their image and style. The video then continues to show clips from the show and Mraz singing in the vacant office level. Toward the end of the video we get to see the before and after pictures of the people auditioning to be a model, until the people revert to what they really look like. The video continues to show the clips of the show and Mraz singing until the video fades to black.\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\n2007 singles\nJason Mraz songs\nSong recordings produced by Jason Mraz\nSongs written by Jason Mraz\n2007 songs\nAtlantic Records singles"
] |
[
"James O'Keefe",
"Senator Mary Landrieu (2010)",
"What is is connection with Mary Landrieu?",
"O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents",
"What did he do once he entered the office?",
"O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses",
"Did they take video recordings of the office?",
"I don't know."
] | C_db0856153b7d4364b3156b34bd97dae1_0 | Was he found guilty? | 4 | Was O'keefe found guilty of entering federal property under false pretenses ? | James O'Keefe | O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, at the office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat. His three fellow activists, who were dressed as telephone repairmen when apprehended, included Robert Flanagan, the son of William Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Louisiana. The four men were charged with malicious intent to damage the phone system. O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents during the debate over President Barack Obama's health care bill. The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty on May 26. O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The other three men received lesser sentences. In August 2013, O'Keefe revisited the incident by releasing a video entitled: "a confrontation with former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten on the campus of Tulane University". Letten is a former Republican U.S. Attorney who recused himself from the Landrieu incident because he knew the father of one of the men involved. The video shows Letten accusing O'Keefe of "terrorizing" Letten's wife at their home, of harassing him, and trespassing on the Tulane campus. He called O'Keefe a "coward" and a "spud", and referred to O'Keefe and his companions as "hobbits" and "scum". CANNOTANSWER | The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty | James Edward O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is an American political activist and provocateur who founded Project Veritas, a far-right activist group that uses deceptive editing techniques to attack mainstream media organizations and progressive groups. Both O'Keefe and Project Veritas have produced secretly recorded undercover audio and video encounters in academic, governmental, and social service organizations, purporting to show abusive or illegal behavior by representatives of those organizations; the recordings are often selectively edited to misrepresent the context of the conversations and the subjects' responses.
O’Keefe gained national attention for his selectively edited video recordings of workers at Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) offices in 2009, his arrest and guilty plea in 2010 for entering the federal office of then-U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) under false pretenses, and the release of misleading videos of conversations with two high-ranking, now former, NPR executives in 2011.
When his videos – heavily edited to portray ACORN workers seemingly aiding a couple in criminal planning – were publicized, the U.S. Congress voted to freeze funds for the non-profit. The national controversy resulted in the non-profit also losing most of its private funding before investigations of the videos concluded no illegal activity occurred. In March 2010, ACORN was close to bankruptcy and had to close or rename most of its offices. Shortly thereafter, the California State Attorney General's Office and the US Government Accountability Office released their related investigative reports. The Attorney General's Office found that O'Keefe had misrepresented the actions of ACORN workers in California and that the workers had not broken any laws. A preliminary probe by the GAO found that ACORN had managed its federal funds appropriately. One of the fired ACORN workers sued O'Keefe for invasion of privacy; O'Keefe issued an apology and agreed to pay $100,000 in a settlement.
O'Keefe has gained support from right-wing and conservative media and interest groups, as well as the far right. In 2009, Andrew Breitbart commissioned him for the option to publish new videos exclusively on BigGovernment.com.
Early life and education
James Edward O'Keefe III was born in Bergen County, New Jersey, the elder of two children of James, a materials engineer, and Deborah O'Keefe, a physical therapist. He has a younger sister.
O'Keefe grew up in Westwood, New Jersey. His home was politically "conservative but not rigidly so", according to his father. He graduated from Westwood High School, where he showed an early interest in the arts, theater and journalism. He attained Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America. O'Keefe started at Rutgers University in 2002 and majored in philosophy. Beginning in his sophomore year, he wrote a bi-weekly opinion column for The Daily Targum, the university's student paper. He left the Targum and founded the Rutgers Centurion, a conservative student paper supported by a $500 "Balance in the Media" grant from The Leadership Institute.
For his first video, he and other Centurion writers met with Rutgers dining staff to demand the banning of the cereal Lucky Charms from dining halls because of its offense to Irish Americans. O'Keefe said the leprechaun mascot presented a stereotype. He intended to have officials lose either way: to appear insensitive to an ethnic group, or to look silly by agreeing to ban Lucky Charms. They expected to be thrown out of school, but the Rutgers official was courteous, took notes, and said their concerns would be considered. Rutgers staff say the cereal was never taken off the menu.
Career
After graduating from Rutgers, O'Keefe worked for a year at the Leadership Institute (LI) in Arlington, Virginia, under media specialist Ben Wetmore, whom O'Keefe calls his mentor. The institute sent him to colleges to train students to start conservative independent newspapers, but, after a year LI officials asked him to leave. According to LI president and founder Morton Blackwell, O'Keefe was "very effective and very enthusiastic" but after a year he was asked to leave because officials felt his activist work threatened the group's nonprofit status by trying to influence legislation.
O'Keefe has produced and distributed secretly recorded and misleadingly edited videos and audio files made during staged encounters with targeted entities or individuals. His work takes the form of undercover stings targeted at liberal groups and politicians. He sought to "embarrass" and "damage" his targets, such as Landrieu and ACORN.
He has sought to maximize publicity by releasing secretly recorded videos over several days or months, often in relation to funding authorizations or significant political actions related to the subject organization. Many videos received widespread media coverage sparking significant reactions, most notably videos of ACORN that resulted in the Congress quickly freezing funds, two executive agencies canceling contracts, and several ACORN workers being fired, and videos of National Public Radio (NPR) executives that led to the resignation of CEO Vivian Schiller, shortly before Congressional funding hearings involving NPR.
In January 2010, O'Keefe began a column on Breitbarts website, BigGovernment.com. Andrew Breitbart stated in an interview that he paid O'Keefe a salary for his "life rights" to gain release of O'Keefe's videos first on his website. In 2010, O'Keefe formed his a new organization, Project Veritas, whose stated mission is "to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society."
Much of the funding for Project Veritas comes from anonymous donations through Donors Trust, a conservative, American nonprofit donor-advised fund, which according to its promotional materials, says that it will "keep your charitable giving private, especially gifts funding sensitive or controversial issues." Prominent donors include the Trump Foundation, which, in May 2015, donated $10,000.
O'Keefe is a conservative activist with mainstream conservative pro-market and anti-government views, although he has described himself as a "progressive radical", because he wants to change things, "not conserve them". He considers himself a muckraker. O'Keefe has expressed admiration for the philosophy of G. K. Chesterton and for a free press.
Major activities
Planned Parenthood recordings (2008)
In 2006, O'Keefe met Lila Rose, the founder of an anti-abortion group on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus. They secretly recorded encounters in Planned Parenthood clinics in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, in which Rose posed as a 15-year-old girl impregnated by a 23-year-old male. Rose and O'Keefe made two videos incorporating heavily edited versions of the recordings and released them on YouTube. the video omitted the portions of the full conversation in which a Planned Parenthood employee asked Rose to consult her mother about the pregnancy and another employee told Rose, "We have to follow the laws". Rose took down the videos after Planned Parenthood sent her a cease and desist letter in May 2007 asserting that the videos violated California's voice recording laws, which required consent from all recorded parties.
In 2007, O'Keefe phoned several Planned Parenthood clinics and secretly recorded the conversations. He posed as a donor, asking if his donations would be applied to needs of minority women, accompanied by race-related remarks such as "there's way too many black people in Ohio". The recordings portrayed Planned Parenthood clinic workers in six states agreeing to accept his donation under his conditions. After the release of the recordings, African-American leaders called for withdrawal of public financing of the organization. The Idaho clinic responded with an apology for "the manner in which this offensive call was handled". Planned Parenthood issued an official statement emphasizing that "97 percent of its services are focused on providing contraceptives, breast and cervical cancer screenings and sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment — not abortions".
ACORN videos (2009)
In September 2009, O'Keefe and his associate, Hannah Giles, published edited hidden camera recordings in which Giles posed as a prostitute and O'Keefe as her boyfriend, a law student, in an attempt to elicit damaging responses from employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), an advocacy organization for people of low and moderate income.
Washington Post correspondents Darryl Fears and Carol D. Leonnig reported that O'Keefe "said he targeted ACORN for the same reasons that the political right does: its massive voter registration drives" and that "[p]oliticians are getting elected single-handedly due to this organization." According to The Washington Post, ACORN registered people mostly from the Latino and African American groups.
The videos were recorded during the summer of 2009 and appeared to show low-level ACORN employees in six cities providing advice to Giles and O'Keefe on how to avoid detection by authorities of tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution. He framed the undercover recordings with a preface of him dressed in a "pimp" outfit, which he also wore in TV media interviews. This gave viewers, including the media, the impression that he had dressed that way when speaking to ACORN workers. However, he actually entered the ACORN offices in conservative street clothes (the sleeve of his dress shirt is visible on camera). Furthermore, the ACORN employees involved reported his activities to the police after he left. O'Keefe selectively edited and manipulated his recordings of ACORN employees, as well as distorted the chronologies. Several journalists and media outlets have expressed regret for not properly scrutinizing and vetting his work.
Reception and lawsuit
After the videos were released through the fall of 2009, the U.S. Congress quickly voted to freeze federal funding to ACORN. The Census Bureau and the IRS terminated their contract relationships with ACORN. By December 2009, an external investigation of ACORN was published which cleared the organization of any illegality, while noting that its poor management practices contributed to unprofessional actions by some low-level employees. In March 2010, ACORN announced it would dissolve due to loss of funding from government and especially private sources.
On March 1, 2010, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes found there was no criminal wrongdoing by the ACORN staff in New York.
The California Attorney General's Office granted O'Keefe and Giles limited immunity from prosecution in exchange for providing the full, unedited videotapes related to ACORN offices in California. On the basis of the edited videotape which O'Keefe released, Vera appeared to be a willing participant in helping with O'Keefe's plan to smuggle young women into the United States illegally. However, authorities confirmed that Vera immediately contacted them about O'Keefe and that he had also encouraged O'Keefe to share as much information as possible about his scheme and gather further evidence of O'Keefe's purported illegal activities, which could then be used by prosecutors to bring charges against O'Keefe for attempted human trafficking. Due to O'Keefe's release of the dubiously edited video, intentionally designed to "prove" that ACORN employees were ready and willing to engage in illicit activities, Vera lost his job and was falsely accused of being engaged in human trafficking. O'Keefe said that he "regrets any pain" caused by his actions, though O'Keefe's lawyer dismissed any claimed injury incurred by Vera and stated that the payment was a "nuisance settlement".
O'Keefe moved for summary judgment in his favor, arguing that the plaintiff had no reasonable expectation that the conversation would be private. In August 2012, the federal judge hearing the case denied O'Keefe's motion for summary judgment. The judge ruled that O'Keefe had "misled plaintiff to believe that the conversation would remain confidential by posing as a client seeking services from ACORN and asking whether their conversation was confidential." On March 5, 2013, O'Keefe agreed to pay $100,000 to former California ACORN employee Juan Carlos Vera for breaking state law prohibiting surreptitious recording, and acknowledged in the settlement that at the time he published his video he was unaware that Vera had notified the police about the incident. The settlement contained the following apology: "O'Keefe regrets any pain suffered by Mr. Vera or his family."
On June 14, 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published its report finding no evidence that ACORN, or any of its related organizations, had mishandled any of the $40 million in federal money which they had received in recent years.
Senator Mary Landrieu (2010)
O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in the Hale Boggs Federal Complex in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, at the office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat. His three fellow activists, who were dressed as telephone repairmen when apprehended, included Robert Flanagan, the son of William Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Louisiana. The four men were charged with malicious intent to damage the phone system. O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents during the debate over President Barack Obama's health care bill.
The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty on May 26. O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The three other men received lesser sentences. Another consequence is that O'Keefe is barred from soliciting donations from Florida residents, because of state law applicable to people found guilty of fraud.
In August 2013, O'Keefe revisited the incident by releasing a video entitled: "a confrontation with former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten on the campus of Tulane University". Letten is a former Republican U.S. Attorney who recused himself from the Landrieu incident because he knew the father of one of the men involved. The video shows Letten accusing O'Keefe of "terrorizing" Letten's wife at their home, of harassing him, and trespassing on the Tulane campus. He called O'Keefe a "coward" and a "spud", and referred to O'Keefe and his companions as "hobbits" and "scum".
NPR video (2011)
On March 8, 2011, shortly before the US Congress was to vote on funding for National Public Radio (NPR), O'Keefe released a heavily edited video of a discussion with Ronald Schiller, NPR's senior vice president for fundraising, and associate Betsy Liley. Raw content was secretly recorded by O'Keefe's partners Ken Larrey and Shaughn Adeleye.
NPR responded by stating that Schiller's remarks were presented out of sequence and that he said that he would speak personally, and not for NPR. Schiller said some highly placed Republicans believed the Republican Party had been hijacked by a radical group (the Tea Party) that they characterized as "Islamophobic" and "seriously racist, racist people", and while Schiller did not disagree, according to NPR, O'Keefe's editing made it appear those were Schiller's opinions. Schiller then says that unlike establishment Republicans, the growing Tea Party movement in the party "is fanatically involved in people's personal lives and very fundamental Christian — I wouldn't even call it Christian. It's this weird evangelical kind of move."
Later in the edited video, Schiller seems to say he believes NPR "would be better off in the long run without federal funding", explaining that removal of federal funding would allow NPR more independence and remove the widely held misconception that NPR is significantly funded by the public. But on the raw tape, Schiller also said that withdrawing federal funding would cause local stations to go under and that NPR is doing "everything we can" to keep it.
In a statement released before analysis of the longer raw video, NPR said, "Schiller's comments are in direct conflict with NPR's official position ... The fraudulent organization represented in this video repeatedly pressed us to accept a $5 million check with no strings attached, which we repeatedly refused to accept." After reviewing the unedited video, Scott Baker, editor-in-chief of TheBlaze, said the NPR executives "seem to be fairly balanced people."
Journalists Ben Smith, James Poniewozik, and Dave Weigel have expressed regret for giving O'Keefe's NPR videos wider circulation without scrutinizing them for themselves.
Reception
Comparison of the raw video with the released one revealed editing that was characterized as "selective" and "deceptive" by Michael Gerson, opinion writer for The Washington Post, who wrote, "O'Keefe did not merely leave a false impression; he manufactured an elaborate, alluring lie." Time magazine wrote that the video "transposed remarks from a different part of the meeting", was "manipulative" and "a partisan hit-job."
The raw video shows Schiller told the two men "that donors cannot expect to influence news coverage." On the longer tape, he says, "There is such a big firewall between funding and reporting: Reporters will not be swayed in any way, shape or form." Broadcast journalist Al Tompkins, who now teaches at the Poynter Institute, noted that Ron Schiller was a fundraiser, not an official affecting the newsroom. He commented on the raw tape: "The message that he said most often—I counted six times: He told these two people that he had never met before that you cannot buy coverage", Tompkins said. "He says it over and over and over again."
On March 17, Martha T. Moore of USA Today reported: "According to The Blaze analysis, Ron Schiller's most inflammatory remarks, that Tea Party members are 'seriously racist', were made as he was recounting the views of Republicans he has spoken with—although he does not appear to disagree. It also shows Schiller appearing to laugh about the potential spread of Islamic sharia law, when the longer version shows he laughed in reaction to something completely different."
Two days later, O'Keefe released a video in which Betsy Liley, senior director of institutional giving at NPR, appeared to have checked with senior management and said MEAC was cleared to make donations anonymously and NPR could help shield donations from government audits, but added that, in order to proceed, additional background information would be required, including an IRS Form 990. Liley advised the caller that NPR executives would investigate them before accepting any large donation, examining tax records and checking out other organizations that have received donations from them. Liley raises the possibility of NPR's turning down substantial gifts and stresses the "firewall" between the revenue-generating part of NPR and its news operation. NPR put Liley on administrative leave. In emails released following the publication of the Liley video, NPR confirmed that the official had consulted appropriately with top management and notified the purported donors of problems with their desired method of donation.
The video, which was released directly before a congressional vote on funding, caused immediate reaction from NPR critics in Congress. Ronald Schiller, who had already submitted his resignation in January so that he could join the Aspen Institute, moved up his resignation after the video release when NPR put him on administrative leave. NPR CEO Vivian Schiller (no relation to Ronald Schiller), who had not been implicated in the Project Veritas video, quickly resigned. Vivian Schiller's resignation, mutually decided with the NPR board, was in part an attempt to show Congressional funders that NPR could hold itself accountable.
U.S. presidential elections (2016)
A month before the launch of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, the Trump Foundation donated $10,000 to O'Keefe's Project Veritas. O'Keefe attended, as a guest of the Trump campaign, the final presidential debate, and was later available in the spin room following the Las Vegas event.
Americans United for Change videos
On October 18, 2016, O'Keefe released a series of videos on Project Veritas' YouTube channel titled "Rigging the Election" that apparently showed former national field director Scott Foval of Americans United for Change discussing ensuring that they have people at the front of the rope lines at rallies in order to ask questions, a common practice known as "bird dogging". The accuracy of the videos has been questioned for possibly omitting context, and the unedited raw footage has not been made available. The GOP-appointed Attorney General of Wisconsin, Brad Schimel, investigated the claims made in the video twice, both times finding no evidence that Foval broke any voting laws.
DNC Chair Donna Brazile said the video footage omitted necessary context. Scott Foval was fired by Americans United for Change after the first video was released. Foval later said he had been set up. Robert Creamer, a DNC consultant and husband of U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, D-IL, said, "We regret the unprofessional and careless hypothetical conversations that were captured on hidden cameras of a regional contractor for our firm, and he is no longer working with us," he said. "While none of the schemes described in the conversations ever took place, these conversations do not at all reflect the values of Democracy Partners." Shortly afterwards, Creamer, who was also featured in the video, said he would end his consulting arrangement with the DNC to avoid becoming a "distraction".
Following the publication of his videos, O'Keefe filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and the DNC, alleging "a criminal conspiracy" involving the Clinton campaign, the DNC and three left-leaning super PACs. On June 1, 2017, Creamer's firm, Democracy Partners, filed a $1 million lawsuit against Project Veritas, claiming Project Veritas had lied to gain access to the firm and violating anti-wiretapping laws.
In response to a third video, in which O'Keefe stated that Clinton was behind an illegal public relations gimmick to punish Trump for not releasing his tax returns, the Clinton campaign denied any wrongdoing. Independent campaign finance experts posited the video doesn't support O'Keefe's claims. Clinton said she was aware of the activists dressed as Donald Duck, who were following Trump while asking about his tax returns, and said she was amused.
On October 26, 2016, O'Keefe posted a fourth video on his Project Veritas Action YouTube channel. The video alleged that liberal groups supporting Hillary Clinton were illegally taking foreign money. The targeted group, Americans United for Change foundation, is a 501(c)4 organization and is allowed to legally accept foreign contributions. However, AUC returned the money shortly after the video was released. The group's chief stated, "We returned the money because the last thing we want to be associated with is a character like O'Keefe who has been convicted and successfully sued for his illegal tactics and fraudulent activities."
On November 8, 2016 (Election Day), O'Keefe spent some time following vans that were allegedly "bussing people around to polls in Philadelphia".
On January 9, 2017, Project Veritas operative Allison Maass was filmed attempting to bribe members of Americans Take Action into inciting a riot at Trump's inauguration. On January 16, 2017, Project Veritas uploaded a video showing DC Antifascist Coalition members of Disrupt J20 plotting to use "stink bombs" at the DeploraBall. After the video's release, Disrupt J20 denied the statements, saying that the members deliberately gave false information to Veritas. The video led to the arrest of one man allegedly involved in the plan, as well as two associates. All three individuals pleaded guilty.
Other activities
Abbie Boudreau (2010)
In August 2010, O'Keefe planned a staged encounter with CNN correspondent Abbie Boudreau, who was working on a documentary on the young conservative movement. He set up an appointment at his office in Maryland to discuss a video shoot. Izzy Santa, executive director of Project Veritas, warned Boudreau that O'Keefe was planning to "punk" her on the boat by trying to seduce her—which he would film on hidden cameras. Boudreau did not board the boat and soon left the area.
CNN later published a 13-page plan written by O'Keefe mentor Ben Wetmore. It listed props for the boat scheme, including pornography, sexual aids, condoms, a blindfold and "fuzzy" handcuffs. When questioned by CNN, O'Keefe denied he was going to follow the Wetmore plan, as he found parts of it inappropriate. Boudreau commented "that does not appear to be true, according to a series of emails we obtained from Izzy Santa, who says the e-mails reveal James' true intentions."
Following the Boudreau incident, Project Veritas paid Izzy Santa a five-figure settlement after she threatened to sue, which included a non-disclosure agreement. Funding decreased from conservative political organizations following this CNN incident.
New Jersey Teachers' Union video (2010)
Starting October 25, 2010, O'Keefe posted a series of videos on the Internet entitled Teachers Unions Gone Wild. At the time, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) was in negotiations with Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor, over teacher pay benefits and tenure. O'Keefe obtained one video from recordings made by "citizen journalists", whom he recruited to attend the NJEA's leadership conference. They secretly recorded meetings and conversations with teacher participants. It featured teachers discussing the difficulty of firing a tenured teacher.
A second video featured a staged phone conversation by O'Keefe with Lawrence E. Everett, assistant superintendent of the Passaic, New Jersey city schools, in which Everett refused to commit to firing a teacher based upon the purported claim by a parent that the teacher had used the "n-word" with his child. The third video (October 26, 2010) featured audio of a voice, identified as NJEA Associate Director Wayne Dibofsky, who alleged voter fraud during the 1997 Jersey City mayoral election. The voice of Robert Byrne, Jersey City municipal clerk, was recorded on the same video; he noted that the election was monitored by lawyers for both candidates.
New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie stated at the time that nothing on the videos surprised him. NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer said the union and its attorneys were discussing their options regarding possible legal action, although no action was ever taken. Wollmer called the videos "a calculated attack on this organization and its members", and described O'Keefe as "flat-out sleazy".
Medicaid videos (2011)
In the summer of 2011, O'Keefe released videos of his colleagues' staged encounters purportedly showing Medicaid fraud in offices in six states, including Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia. Following his previous strategy, he sent the releases to conservative outlets over a period of weeks. In July 2011, two conservative groups released a secretly recorded video of an encounter in Maine's Department of Health and Human Services.
In the video, an actor attempted to apply for benefits while hinting that he was a drug smuggler. Americans for Prosperity and O'Keefe said he had similar recorded videos from offices in Ohio, Virginia and South Carolina, and believed that there was a systemic problem. In Maine, Governor Paul LePage concluded upon further examination of the videos that there was no fraud or intent to commit fraud.
A similar O'Keefe video posted on the Project Veritas web site purported to show workers at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services assisting actors posing as drug dealers in applying for benefits. His fourth Medicaid video, apparently filmed in Richmond, Virginia, was released in July 2011. The New York Times reported: "[As 'Sean Murphy'], dressed in the same regalia he wore on the New Jersey shoot, [O'Keefe] presented himself to a Medicaid worker in Charleston, South Carolina, as an Irish drug importer and Irish Republican Army member who wanted coverage for 25 wounded comrades who entered the U.S. illegally. The kindly worker spent time photocopying applications and dealing with this improbable applicant." She explained to him that only U.S. citizens are eligible for Medicaid and informed him she was not making any promises that the 25 purported IRA members would qualify. She said he had to abide by the law and told him that she didn't want to know details, because federal law protects patient privacy: "Like I said, someone would have to come here and subpoena our information in order for us to divulge any information, because like I said there's something called the Health Insurance Accountability and Affordability Act—or portability—and anyway it went into effect several years ago, and that's what we follow. It is federal law, and they do threaten high fines—which they don't pay me as much per year as they threaten to fine me—so it is definitely not in my own best interest to divulge anything to anyone because I cannot afford it, I do not want to go to jail."
Reception
The videos received less media attention than earlier O'Keefe efforts. Generally, the state officials and representatives acknowledged potential problems but also took a measured tone in response, to allow time to fully investigate and evaluate the incidents. After viewing the video, Governor LePage thanked the individual who took the video and noted: "The video in its entirety does not show a person willfully helping someone de-fraud the welfare system. It does show a need for further job knowledge and continuous and improved staff training." He also stated that "we would be six months further along in fixing the problem" if he had received the video when it was filmed. LePage directed his agency director to work on correcting the problem.
Ohio media initially reported that "a Franklin County Jobs and Family Service worker was placed on administrative leave and at least one other person was out of work" as a result of the video's release. Ben Johnson of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services noted that benefits were never granted in the case, and that the made-up story would have been caught if the application process had proceeded. He said his office would use the video to strengthen staff training. Mike DeWine, Attorney General of Ohio, described the Ohio video as "outrageous" and intended to instruct his state's Medicaid fraud unit to look into the incident. The director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Michael Colbert, notified county leaders of a mandatory retraining, "to ensure they can identify people trying to defraud the government". Upon investigation by state officials, the Medicaid worker who coached O'Keefe's operative seeking Medicaid for his father and claimed to own a yacht as well as a helipad, on how to hide their (also claimed) ownership of an $800,000 automobile had been placed on paid administrative leave. A spokesman for Virginia governor Bob McDonnell said that he had asked state police to review the video and take whatever actions are appropriate.
In Charleston, South Carolina, the director of that state's Department of Health and Human Services, Anthony Kreck, said the video filmed in his state "raises concerns about how well trained and supported our staff are to handle outrageous situations." He also expressed concern for the safety of the state employee with the figure ["Sean Murphy"] in the video "who could be interpreted as intimidating" and questioned why security wasn't called.
New Hampshire primary video (2012)
In January 2012, O'Keefe released a video of associates obtaining a number of ballots for the New Hampshire Primary by using the names of recently deceased voters. He stated that the video showed "the integrity of the elections process is severely comprised ." His team culled names from published obituaries, which were checked against public voter roll information. O'Keefe said his team broke no laws, as they did not pretend to be the deceased persons when they asked for the ballots, and they did not cast votes after receiving ballots. One of his associates' attempts was caught by a voting supervisor at the polling station who recognized that the name he gave was of a deceased individual; the associate in question left before police arrived.
Reception
Sarah Parnass of ABC News reported that the video "either exposes why voting laws are too lax or comes close to itself being voter fraud (or both)". One media account referred to it as a stunt. New Hampshire Governor John Lynch said, "I think it is outrageous that we have out-of-staters coming into New Hampshire, coming into our polling places and misrepresenting themselves to the election officials, and I hope that they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, if in fact they're found guilty of some criminal act." The New Hampshire Attorney General and the US Attorney's Office announced investigations into the video.
New Hampshire Associate Attorney General Richard Head said he would investigate the possible weaknesses in the voting system, but noted the state did not have a history of known fraud related to person[s] seeking ballot[s] in the name of a dead person or persons. Head announced he would investigate the possibility that the filmmakers committed crimes while producing the videos.
Hamline University law professor David Schultz said, "If they [O'Keefe's group] were intentionally going in and trying to fraudulently obtain a ballot, they violated the law", referring to Title 42, which prohibits procuring ballots fraudulently. The New Hampshire Attorney General's office later dropped its investigation of O'Keefe for potential voter fraud in 2013.
Patrick Moran (2012)
On October 24, 2012, a video was released showing Patrick Moran, son of then-U.S. Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA), and a field director with his father's campaign, discussing a plan to cast fraudulent ballots, which was proposed to him by someone who posed as a fervent supporter of the campaign. The person he was speaking with was a conservative activist with O'Keefe's Project Veritas, and was secretly recording the conversation. Patrick Moran resigned from the campaign, saying he did not want to be a distraction during the election, stating:
[A]t no point have I, or will I ever endorse any sort of illegal or unethical behavior. At no point did I take this person seriously. He struck me as being unstable and joking, and for only that reason did I humor him. In hindsight, I should have immediately walked away, making it clear that there is no place in the electoral process for even the suggestion of illegal behavior, joking or not.
The Arlington County, Virginia Police Department was made aware of the video and opened a criminal investigation into "every component" of the matter.
On January 31, 2013, Arlington County announced that the investigation, by its police department in collaboration with the Offices of the Virginia Attorney General and the Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney, had concluded and that no charges would be brought. The County stated: "Patrick Moran and the Jim Moran for Congress campaign provided full cooperation throughout the investigation. Despite repeated attempts to involve the party responsible for producing the video, they failed to provide any assistance."
US–Mexico border-crossing (2014)
In August 2014, O'Keefe dressed up as Osama bin Laden (who had died 3 years previously) and crossed the US–Mexico border in Texas in both directions to "show that our elected officials were lying to the American people" about border security. The incident was cited by U.S. Senator John McCain in Congressional hearings.
Attempt to solicit voter fraud (2014)
In October 2014, O'Keefe and his two colleagues attempted to bait staffers for Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) and then-U.S. Senator Mark Udall, as well as independent expenditure organizations, into approving voter fraud, according to several staffers who interacted with O'Keefe and his colleagues. Staffers began photographing O'Keefe's crew and advising them that what they were advocating was illegal; one nonprofit said they contacted police.
Attempted sting of Open Society Foundations (2016)
On March 16, 2016, O'Keefe attempted to call Open Society Foundations under the assumed name of "Victor Kesh", describing himself as attached to "a, uh, foundation" seeking to "get involved with you and aid what you do in fighting for, um, European values." O'Keefe forgot to hang up after recording the voicemail, and several more minutes of audio were recorded, revealing that he was attached to Discover the Networks and planning a series of attempts to create embarrassing videos or other recordings of targeted groups.
CNN undercover videos (2017)
On June 26, 2017, O'Keefe released a video on the YouTube channel of Project Veritas that showed John Bonifield, a producer of health and medical stories for CNN, saying CNN's coverage of the Russia investigation was "Because it's ratings" and that the coverage was "mostly bullshit". The video identified Bonifield as a supervising producer for CNN but not specifically for CNN Health. CNN said it was standing by "our medical producer John Bonifield. Diversity of personal opinion is what makes CNN strong". During a White House press briefing, deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of the video "whether it's accurate or not, I don't know, but I would encourage everybody... across the country to take a look at it".
On June 28, 2017, O'Keefe released the second part of the series of undercover videos, by then dubbed "American Pravda". In the video, CNN anchor Van Jones said, "The Russia thing is just a big nothingburger." When asked about the video in an email, CNN responded "lol". During that same day, the videos were posted on Donald Trump's Instagram account. Jones said that O'Keefe had deceptively edited the video to take his remarks out of context and was attempting to "pull off a hoax." Jones added that he believed that there probably was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
On June 30, 2017, O'Keefe released the third part of the undercover videos. Part 3 of the series showed CNN associate producer Jimmy Carr saying that Trump is "fucking crazy" and that "on the inside, we all recognize he is a clown, that he is hilariously unqualified for this, he's really bad at this, and that he does not have America's best interests". Carr also said "This is a man who's not actually a Republican, he just adopted that because that was the party he thought he could win in. He doesn't believe anything that these people believe." Additionally, he said American voters are "stupid as shit." He also made comments about Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, calling her an "awful woman" and stating that she "looks like she got hit with a shovel". In a fourth video published by Project Veritas on July 5, Carr criticized CNN co-anchor Chris Cuomo.
Failed attempt to sting The Washington Post (2017)
Starting in July 2017, Project Veritas operative Jaime Phillips attempted to infiltrate The Washington Post and other media outlets by joining networking groups related to journalism and left-leaning politics. She and a male companion attended events related to the Post, and their conversations with journalists were sometimes covertly recorded.
In November 2017, The Washington Post reported that several women accused Republican Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of pursuing them while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. Later that same month, Jaime Phillips approached The Washington Post and falsely claimed that Moore had impregnated her as a teenager and that she had an abortion. In conducting its usual fact-checking, the Post discovered multiple red flags in her story. They found a GoFundMe page in her name that said, "I've accepted a job to work in the conservative media movement to combat the lies and deceipt of the liberal MSM." After a Post reporter confronted her with the inconsistencies during a video-recorded interview, Phillips denied that she was working with an organization that targets journalists, and said that she no longer wanted to do the story. She was seen outside Project Veritas' office in Mamaroneck, New York, with her car remaining at the office's parking lot for more than an hour. O'Keefe declined to comment about the woman's apparent connection to Project Veritas. Instead of running a story about Phillips' supposed pregnancy, the Post published an article about the attempted sting operation. The Post decided to disclose Phillips' original discussions made off the record, saying they were not obligated to keep them confidential because she had deceived them.
Hours after the Post published this story, O'Keefe released a video which he claimed exposed the newspaper's liberal bias. The video includes undercover footage of conversations with two Post employees, national security reporter Dan Lamothe and product director Joey Marburger. These employees explained to undercover Project Veritas operatives the difference between the news reporting of The Washington Post (which calls out the Trump administration's missteps while giving "him credit where there's credit" due) and the Post's opinion editorials; O'Keefe said that this exposed the Washington Post's "hidden agenda."
O'Keefe was criticized for his failed sting, and The Washington Post was praised. Rod Dreher of The American Conservative praised the Post and called on conservative donors to stop giving money to O'Keefe's outfit. Dan McLaughlin of the conservative National Review said that O'Keefe's sting was an "own goal" and that O'Keefe was doing a disservice to the conservative movement; Jim Geraghty of the National Review made a similar assessment. Byron York of The Washington Examiner said that O'Keefe's "idiocy" was "beyond boneheaded," and that "O'Keefe really ought to hang it up." Ben Shapiro, the conservative editor in chief of The Daily Wire, said that the botched sting was "horrible, both morally and effectively." Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic wrote, "If James O'Keefe respected the right-wing populists who make up the audience of Project Veritas ... he would tell them the truth about all of the organizations that he targets. Instead, Project Veritas operates in bad faith, an attribute it demonstrated again this week in the aftermath of its bungled attempt to trick The Washington Post." Noah Rothman of the conservative magazine Commentary chastised O'Keefe for being exploitative of his audience: "No longer are institutions like Veritas dedicated to combating ignorance in their audience. They're actively courting it."
Jonathan Chait of New York magazine said that O'Keefe, having set out prove that the Post was fake news, ended up disproving it. O'Keefe's plot collapsed because it was premised on a ludicrously false worldview, wrote Chait. "The Washington Post does not, in fact, publish unverified accusations just because they're against Republicans." O'Keefe's attempts to prove rampant voter fraud have failed "because voter fraud is not rampant."
New Jersey Education Association videos (2018)
On May 2, 2018, Project Veritas posted on YouTube a video allegedly showing a union administrator from the New Jersey Education Association, a teachers union, discussing a teacher alleged to have struck a student. The following day, O'Keefe released a second video allegedly showing another union administrator speaking to students about a different alleged incident of a teacher pushing and injuring a student. In the video, the administrator allegedly boasted of her effort to retain a pension for a teacher who allegedly had sex with a student. Both teachers were suspended pending an investigation, and resigned from their union roles after the release of the videos. During a New Jersey Senate meeting on May 31, the New Jersey Education Association announced that a law firm would investigate the incidents.
Twitter suspension (2021)
On April 15, 2021, O'Keefe was suspended from Twitter for "operating fake accounts". On April 19, he filed a lawsuit against Twitter in state court in Westchester County, New York, claiming that Twitter’s reason for suspending him is "false and defamatory".
FBI search warrants and allegedly stolen Biden diary (2021)
On November 6, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed an early morning court-ordered search of O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, New York two days after searching the homes of two of O'Keefe's associates in connection with the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, in 2020. Excerpts allegedly from the diary were posted two weeks before the 2020 US presidential election.
Reception
Project Veritas uses methods not employed by reputable journalists, including misrepresenting its operatives' identities. O'Keefe refers to himself as a "guerrilla journalist". Such methods have stirred debate about what it means to be a journalist and what constitutes good journalistic practice, especially with respect to undercover work.
Tim Kenneally and Daniel Frankel reporting for TheWrap in 2011 noted that some of O'Keefe's supporters referred to him as the right wing's answer to a long line of left-leaning "hybrid troublemakers who get put on the cover of Rolling Stone, like Paul Krassner and Abbie Hoffman". In that same 2011 report, Marty Kaplan, director of the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, was quoted as saying:
What [O'Keefe] does isn't journalism. It's agitpop, politi-punking, entrapment-entertainment. There is no responsible definition of journalism that includes what he does or how he does it. His success at luring his prey into harming themselves is a measure of how fallible and foolish anyone, including good people, can sometimes be.
In reporting on allegations that O'Keefe had attempted in 2010 to tamper with Senator Landrieu's office phone system, Jim Rutenberg and Campbell Robertson of the New York Times posited that O'Keefe practiced a kind of "gonzo journalism" and his tactic is to "caricature the political and social values of his enemies by carrying them to outlandish extremes."
In a March 2011 interview with O'Keefe, NPR journalist Bob Garfield asked, referring to the ACORN videos, "If your journalistic technique is the lie, why should we believe anything you have to say?" O'Keefe responded that his techniques should be characterized as a form of guerrilla theater rather than "lying" – "you're posing as something you're not, in order to capture candid conversations from your subject. But I wouldn't characterize it as, as lying."
In July 2011, Dean Mills, the dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, compared O'Keefe to Michael Moore and said, "Some ethicists say it is never right for a journalist to deceive for any reason, but there are wrongs in the world that will never be exposed without some kind of subterfuge." The Atlantic journalist Conor Friedersdorf responded that O'Keefe's "mortal sin" wasn't that he misled his subjects, but that he misled his audience by presenting his videos to the public in "less than honest ways that go far beyond normal 'selectivity.'"
On February 11, 2021, the Twitter account for Project Veritas was “permanently suspended for repeated violations of Twitter’s private information policy.” At the same time, O'Keefe's account was “temporarily locked” for violating the policy pending the deletion of a tweet. On April 15, Twitter permanently suspended O'Keefe's personal account for violating the Twitter's policy against "platform manipulation and spam", which disallows the use of fake accounts to "artificially amplify or disrupt conversations". O'Keefe denied that he used fake Twitter accounts and said that he would sue Twitter in response.
On November 6, 2021, the FBI executed an early morning court-ordered search of O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, New York two days after searching the homes of two of O'Keefe's associates in connection with the theft of a diary belonging to President Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, in 2020. Excerpts allegedly from the diary were posted two weeks before the 2020 US presidential election.
Works
References
External links
Project Veritas website
Interview of O'Keefe by NPR's On the Media (audio with transcript)
1984 births
Living people
American activist journalists
American alternative journalists
American anti–illegal immigration activists
American conspiracy theorists
American critics of Islam
American filmmakers
American people of Irish descent
People from Westwood, New Jersey
Rutgers University alumni
American anti-abortion activists | true | [
"This list includes American politicians at the state and local levels who have been convicted of felony or misdemeanor crimes committed while in office.\n\nAt the bottom of the article are links to related articles which deal with politicians who are involved in federal scandals (political and sexual), as well as differentiating among federal, state and local convictions. Also excluded are crimes which occur outside the politician's tenure in office unless they specifically stem from acts during his time of service.\n\nEntries are arranged by date, from most current to less recent, and by state.\n\n2020–present\n\nAlabama \nState Senator David Burkette (D) convicted of campaign violations. (2020)\n\nCalifornia\n\nLocal \nLos Angeles Councilman Mitchell Englander (R) was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for obstructing a probe into his alleged corruption. (2021)\n\nIdaho \nState Representative John Green (R) convicted of fraud. (2020)\n\nIllinois \nState Representative Eddie Acevedo (D) convicted of tax evasion. (2021)\nState Senator Terry Link (D) was convicted of tax evasion. (2020)\nState Senator Martin Sandoval (D) convicted of bribery. (2020).\n\nLouisiana \nState Senator Wesley T. Bishop (D) pleaded guilty to making false statements. (2020)\n\nMaryland \nState Delegate Cheryl Glenn (D) pleaded guilty to accepting $33,000 in bribes. (2020).\nState Delegate Tawanna P. Gaines (D) pleaded guilty to misuse of campaign funds (2020)\n\nLocal \nMayor of Baltimore Catherine Pugh (D) convicted of fraud and perjury. (2020)\n\nMassachusetts \nState Representative David Nangle (D) convicted of wire fraud. (2020)\n\nMichigan \n State Representative Bryan Posthumus (R) was sentenced to 15 days in jail for \"operating while intoxicated\". (2021)\n\nLocal \nDetroit City Councillor Andre Spivey (D) convicted of bribery. (2022)\nDetroit City Councillor Gabe Leland (D) convicted of misconduct. (2021)\n\nMissouri \nState Representative Courtney Allen Curtis (D) convicted of fraud. (2020)\n\nNew Hampshire \nState Senator Jeff Woodburn (D) convicted of domestic violence and criminal mischief. (2021)\nState Representative Robert Forsythe (R) pleaded guilty to two counts of assault. (2021)\n\nNew York\n\nLocal \nNew York City Council member Chaim Deutsch (D) convicted of fraud. (2021)\n\nNorth Carolina \nState Representative David R. Lewis (R) convicted of making false statements to a bank. (2020)\n\nOhio\n\nLocal \nCouncilman Kenneth Johnson (D) convicted of tax violations and federal conspiracy to defraud the government. Johnson's aide, Garnell Jamison, was convicted of 11 charges as well. (2021)\nPorter Township trustee Edward Snodgrass (R) pleaded guilty to falsification. (2021)\nCincinnati City Council President Tamaya Dennard (D) convicted of fraud. (2020)\n\nOregon \nState Representative Mike Nearman (R) pleaded guilty to official misconduct for allowing rioters to enter the Oregon State Capitol. (2021)\n\nPennsylvania \nState Representative Margo L. Davidson (D) convicted of theft. (2021)\nState Senator Mike Folmer (R) was convicted of possession of child pornography and served one year in prison. (2020)\n\nTennessee \nState Senator Katrina Robinson (D) convicted of wired fraud. (2021)\n\n2010–2019\n\nAlabama \nState Senator Zeb Little (D) convicted of theft of client funds. (2019)\nState Representative Ed Henry (R) convicted of fraud. (2019)\nState Representative Micky Hammon (R) was convicted of fraud (2017)\nState Representative Oliver Robinson (D) was convicted of bribery. (2017)\nGovernor of Alabama Robert J. Bentley (R) resigned after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges: failing to file a major contribution report, in violation of Code of Alabama § 17-5-8.1(c); and knowingly converting campaign contributions to personal use, in violation of Code of Alabama § 36-25-6.\" (2017)\nSpeaker of the Alabama House of Representatives Mike Hubbard (R) was convicted on 12 of 23 felony charges. (2016)\nState Representative Greg Wren (R) pleaded guilty to an ethics violation. He resigned from the Alabama Legislature as a condition of his plea deal and was given a 12-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay $24,000. (2014)\nState Representative Terry Spicer (D) pleaded guilty to accepting more than $3,000 per month in bribes. (2011)\n\nArizona \nState Senator Frank Antenori (R) convicted of trespassing. (2016)\nState Representative Ceci Velasquez (D) was convicted of theft. (2016)\nState Representative Richard Miranda (D) pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion. (2012)\nState Representative Ben Arredondo (D) was charged with bribery, fraud and extortion. He was sentenced to 18 months of house arrest. (2012)\nState Senator Scott Bundgaard (R) agreed to participate in domestic violence classes for six months after assaulting his girlfriend. (2011)\n\nLocal \nSheriff of Maricopa County Joe Arpaio (R) was convicted of contempt of court. He was pardoned by President Donald Trump before his sentencing. (2017)\n\nArkansas \nState Senator Jeremy Hutchinson (R) convicted of bribery. (2019)\nState Representative Hank Wilkins (D) convicted of bribery. (2018)\nState Senator Jake Files (R) was convicted of fraud. (2018)\nState Representative Jon Woods (R) convicted of bribery. (2018)\nState Representative Eddie Cooper (D) convicted of embezzlement. (2018)\nState Representative Micah Neal (R) was convicted of bribery. (2017)\nState Representative Steven B. Jones (D) convicted of bribery. (2015)\nState Senator Paul Bookout (D) pleaded guilty to mail fraud. (2014)\nState Treasurer Martha Shoffner (D) convicted on the charges of extortion and bribery and sentenced to 30 months. (2014)\nState Representative Hudson Hallum (D) pleaded guilty to voter bribing. (2012)\n\nCalifornia \nState Senator Roy Ashburn (R) pleaded no contest to driving under the influence and was sentenced to two days in prison. (2010)\nState Senator Ron Calderon (D), brother of Tom, was convicted of money laundering. (2016)\nState Assemblyman Tom Calderon (D), brother of Ron, was convicted of money laundering. (2016)\nState Senator Leland Yee (D) pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering (2015) and was sentenced to five years in prison. (2016)\nState Senator Roderick Wright (D) was convicted of eight counts of perjury and voter fraud. He was sentenced to 90 days and barred him from ever holding public office again and will be required to perform 1,500 hours of community service and three years' probation under the terms of his conviction. (2014) Wright was pardoned in 2018.\nState Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi (D) was charged with felony grand theft after being caught on video surveillance allegedly shoplifting $2,445 worth of merchandise from San Francisco's Neiman Marcus store. She was sentenced to $180 fine and three years' probation and was ordered to stay more than 50 feet from the store. (2011)\n\nLocal \nDistrict Attorney for Contra Costa County Mark Peterson (D) convicted of perjury. (2017)\nLos Angeles County Sheriff of Los Angeles Lee Baca (D) convicted of obstructing the FBI. (2017)\nMayor of Gardena Paul Tanaka (R) convicted of civil rights abuses. (2016)\nSheriff of San Francisco Ross Mirkarimi (D) convicted of false imprisonment. (2013)\nMayor of San Diego Bob Filner (D) given three months of house arrest, three years' probation, and partial loss of his mayoral pension after pleading guilty to state charges of false imprisonment and battery. (2013)\n\nColorado \nState Representative Timothy J. Leonard (R) was found guilty of Contempt of Court and sentenced to 14 days in jail. (2016)\nState Senator Steve King (R) pleaded guilty to embezzlement of public property and misdemeanor first-degree official misconduct. Sentenced to serve two years' probation and complete 80 hours of useful public service. (2015)\nState Representative Douglas Bruce (R), was convicted on four counts of felony criminal activity including, money laundering, attempted improper influence of a public official, and tax fraud. He was sentenced on February 13, 2012, to a total of 180 days in jail, $49,000 in fines, and six months of probation which included extensive disclosure requirements. (2011)\nSecretary of State Scott Gessler (R) was found guilty of violating Colorado's ethics laws by using state money to attend a Republican event in Florida (2012)\n\nConnecticut \nState Representative Victor Cuevas (D) convicted of bank fraud. (2016)\nState Senator Ernie Newton (D) was sentenced to six months in prison for three counts of illegal practices in campaign financing. Newton had also been sentenced to four years for federal charges of accepting a $5,000 bribe, evading taxes and pilfering campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses. (2015)\nState Representative Christina Ayala (D) convicted of election fraud. (2014)\nState Senator Thomas Gaffey (D) convicted of larceny. (2011)\n\nLocal \nMayor of Hartford, Connecticut Eddie Perez (D), was sentenced to eight years, suspended after three years, with three years in prison, to be followed by three years of probation for corruption. (2010)\n\nFlorida \nState Representative Daisy Baez (D) convicted of perjury. (2017)\nState Representative Erik Fresen (R) convicted of tax evasion. (2017)\nState Representative Dwayne L. Taylor (D) convicted of fraud. (2017)\nState Representative Reggie Fullwood (D) convicted of fraud. (2016)\nState Senator M. Mandy Dawson (D) convicted of fraud. (2011)\n\nLocal \nTallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox (D) convicted of corruption. (2019)\n\nGeorgia \nState Representative Tyrone Brooks (D) convicted of tax fraud. (2015)\n\nHawaii \nState Senator Rod Tam (D) convicted of theft. (2011)\n\nIdaho \nState Senator John McGee (R) pleaded guilty to probation violation and a disturbing the peace charge related to sexual harassment that had occurred at the Idaho State Capital Building and was jailed for 44 days. (2012) He had previously been arrested for grand theft auto and driving under the influence. McGee pleaded guilty to DUI and was sentenced to 180 days, serving 5 in jail, plus community service, 175 days' probation, plus fines and restitution. (2011)\n\nIllinois \nState Representative Keith Farnham (D) convicted of distributing child pornography. (2014)\nState Representative Derrick Smith (D) was arrested and convicted of accepting a $7,000 bribe. (2014)\nState Representative Constance A. Howard (D) convicted of mail fraud. (2013)\nState Representative La Shawn Ford (D) convicted of fraud. (2012)\nState Representative Ron Stephens (R) was found guilty of repeated drug abuse and DUI (2010)\n\nLocal \n Alderman of Chicago Willie Cochran (D) convicted of fraud. (2019)\n Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools Barbara Byrd-Bennett (D) convicted of bribery. (2015)\n Alderman of Chicago William Beavers (D) convicted of tax fraud. (2013)\n Alderman of Chicago Sandi Jackson (D) pleaded guilty to one count of filing false tax returns. (2013)\n Comptroller and Treasurer of Dixon, Rita Crundwell (D) was sentenced to 19 years and 7 months in prison for fraud, having embezzled $53 million. (2013)\nAlderman of Chicago Isaac Carothers (D) convicted of corruption. (2010)\n\nIndiana \nSecretary of State Charlie White (R) was convicted on 6 of 7 felony charges including perjury, theft and voter fraud. (2012)\n\nLocal \nMayor of East Chicago George Pabey (D) was convicted by a federal court jury on September 24, 2010, of conspiracy and theft of government funds. (2010)\n\nIowa \nState Senator Kent Sorenson (R) pleaded guilty to one count of falsely reporting expenditures and one count of obstruction of justice. (2013)\n\nKansas \nState Representative Trent K. LeDoux (R) pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud. He was sentenced Monday to 18 months in federal prison for defrauding Farmers and Merchants Bank of Colby, Kan., of more than $460,000. (2014)\n\nLocal\n\nKentucky \nState Representative Keith Hall (D) was convicted of bribery and sentenced to seven years in prison. (2016)\nState Representative Ben Waide (R) convicted of campaign violations. (2016)\nCommissioner of Agriculture Richie Farmer (R) was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 27 months in prison. (2014)\n\nLouisiana \nState Representative Girod Jackson, III (D) convicted of tax evasion. (2013)\n\nLocal \nMayor of New Orleans Ray Nagin (D) was found guilty on 20 counts of bribery and was sentenced to ten years in federal prison. (2014)\nMayor of Mandeville Eddie Price III (R) was sentenced to 60 months on charges of income tax evasion and corruption. (2010)\n\nMaine \nState Representative David R. Burns (R) pleaded guilty to misdemeanor forgery and theft charges and was sentenced to six months. (2012)\nState Representative Frederick Wintle (R), pleaded guilty to a concealed weapons charge (2011)\n\nMaryland \nState Delegate Cheryl Glenn (D) convicted of fraud. (2019)\nState Senator Nathaniel T. Oaks (D) was convicted of corruption and sentenced to years. (2018)\nState Delegate Michael L. Vaughn (D) was convicted of bribery. (2017)\nState Delegate Will Campos (D) was convicted of bribery. (2015)\nState Delegate Tiffany T. Alston (D) was convicted of embezzlement. (2013)\nState Delegate Don H. Dwyer Jr. (R) was operating a motorboat when it collided with another vessel injuring five others. Dwyer pleaded guilty, but appealed his 30-day jail sentence. The sentence was ultimately upheld after another incident in which Dwyer was stopped and arrested for a DUI and received an additional 30-day sentence, for a total of 60 days. (2012)\n\nLocal \nPolice Commissioner of Baltimore Darryl De Sousa (D) convicted of tax crimes. (2019)\nAnne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold (R) convicted of misconduct in office. (2013)\nPrince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) pleaded guilty to extortion and, witness and evidence tampering. He was sentenced to seven years and three months in Butner federal prison in North Carolina. He was also fined $100,000. (2011)\nPrince George's County Councillor Leslie Johnson (D), was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for political corruption. (2011)\nMayor of Baltimore Sheila Dixon (D) was convicted of fraudulent misappropriation and was sentenced to four years of probation. (2010)\n\nMassachusetts \nState Representative Carlos Henriquez (D) was convicted of two counts assault and battery charges and sentenced to 2½ years, with six months to be served in the Middlesex County House of Correction and Jail in Billerica, Massachusetts and the remaining two years to be spent on probation. (2014)\nState Representative Stephen Stat Smith (D) pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of deprivation of rights under color of law for his role in a voter fraud scheme. (2012)\nSpeaker of the House Salvatore DiMasi (D) was found guilty of using his position to secure multimillion-dollar state contracts for Cognos, a business intelligence software company, in exchange for kickbacks. (2011)\nState Senator Anthony D. Galluccio (D) was given one year in prison after failing a sobriety test and violating his probation from a previous hit and run accident. (2010)\n\nLocal \nBoston Councillor Chuck Turner (G) was expelled from the Boston City Council on December 1, 2010, following his conviction on federal bribery charges. (2010)\n\nMichigan \nState Senator Bert Johnson (D) was convicted of fraud. (2018)\nState Representative Brian Banks (D) was convicted of fraud for filing false financial statements (2017)\nState Senator Virgil Smith, Jr. (D) was convicted of assault and was sentenced to 10 months in jail, five years of probation and not be allowed to hold public office. (2015)\nJustice of the Michigan Supreme Court Diane Hathaway (D) was sentenced to 366 days in prison for criminal mortgage fraud. (2013)\n\nLocal \nDetroit City Councillor Charles Pugh (D) was sentenced to 5 1/2 to 15 years for sex with a teenage boy under the age of 16. (2016)\nFlint City Councilman Eric Mays was sentenced to 28 days in jail for impaired driving. (2016)\nIngham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III (D) convicted of misconduct. (2016)\nMayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick (D) was sentenced to 18 months to 5 years in prison for violating his probation in 2010. In 2013 he was sentenced to 28 years in prison for federal charges including racketeering and extortion. (2013)\nDetroit City Councillor Monica Conyers (D) pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bribery and served just over 27 months at the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia. (2010)\n\nMississippi \nState Senator Chris Massey (R) was arrested for aggravated assault with a shovel for an argument with two maintenance workers. He was found guilty and given six months' probation. (2016)\nState Representative Greg Davis (R) was indicted on state charges of embezzlement, false pretense and making fraudulent statements. He was convicted and sentenced to serve 2½ years in state prison. (2012)\nJudge Bobby DeLaughter (D) pleaded guilty of one count of lying to the FBI and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. (2010)\n\nMissouri \nState Representative Steve Webb (D) convicted of theft. (2013)\nGovernor of Missouri Roger B. Wilson (D) was fined $2,000 by the Missouri Ethics Commission. In July he was sentenced to two years of probation on the money laundering charge. (2012)\nState Representative Ray Salva (D) convicted of fraud. (2011)\nState Representative Talibdin El-Amin (D) convicted of bribery. (2010)\nSpeaker of the Missouri House of Representatives Rod Jetton (R) was arrested for \"recklessly causing serious physical injury\" to an unnamed woman during sadomasochistic sex and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. He was sentenced to probation and fined. (2010)\n\nLocal\nCounty Executive of St. Louis County Steve Stenger (D) convicted of bribery. (2019)\nCounty Executive of Jackson County, Missouri Mike Sanders (D) convicted of fraud. (2018)\n\nMontana \nState Senator Jason Priest (R) pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and resisting arrest. (2014)\nState Representative Tony Belcourt (D) was convicted of four federal corruption charges involving projects on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation. He was sentenced to 7½ years in prison. (2014)\nState Representative Joel Boniek (R) was found guilty of \"quid pro quo corruption\" in taking $9,060 in contributions from the Western Tradition Partnership. (2010)\nState Representative Mike Miller (R) admitted to accepting \"unlawful corporate contributions\" from Western Tradition Partnership, was found guilty, was fined $4K and agreed not run for public office for four years. (2010)\nState Senator Scott Sales (R) from Bozeman, was accused of accepting unlawful contributions from Western Traditions Partnership. He pled guilty, was fined and forced to \"express regret\" in settling the accusations. (2010)\nState Senator Art Wittich (R) was found guilty of campaign violations by coordinating with and taking illegal corporate contributions from, the Western Tradition Partnership. (2014)\n\nNevada \nState Senator Kelvin Atkinson (D) convicted of fraud. (2019)\nState Assemblyman Steven Brooks (D) convicted of making threats to kill. (2013)\n\nNew Jersey \nDeputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Bill Baroni (R) convicted over the Fort Lee lane closure controversy (2016)\nState Assemblyman Alberto Coutinho (D) convicted of theft and falsifying records. (2013)\nState Assemblyman Robert Schroeder (R) pled guilty to misconduct and theft (2012)\nState Assemblyman Neil M. Cohen (D) jailed for child pornography. (2010)\nState Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone (D) jailed for filing false campaign finance reports. (2010)\n\nLocal \nMayor of Atlantic City Frank Gilliam (D) was convicted of wire fraud (2019)\n Mayor of Trenton Tony F. Mack (D) was indicted for bribery, fraud, extortion and money laundering on February 7, 2014, he was convicted on all counts. (2014) He was sentenced to nearly five years in prison.\n Mayor of Hamilton John Bencivengo (R) was sentenced to 38 months in prison for corruption (2013)\nMayor of Perth Amboy Joseph Vas (D) and his longtime top mayoral aide, Melvin Ramos, were indicted by a federal grand jury for mail fraud, misapplication of funds, and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission. sentenced to six-and-a-half years for federal corruption. (2011)\n\nNew Hampshire \nState Representative Thomas Katsiantonis (D) convicted of tax evasion. (2018)\nState Representative Kyle Tasker (R) was charged with three drug offenses and one count of using a computer to lure a teen. The teen was actually a police officer working undercover. He was sentenced to 3–10 years. (2016)\nState Representative Albert 'Max' Abramson (R) was found guilty of one felony count of reckless conduct for shooting a firearm. He received a suspended jail sentence and was ordered to pay a fine and complete community service. (2012)\nState Representative Gary Wheaton (R) was arrested for a second offense of speeding and driving on a suspended license. He pled guilty to recklessly endangerment. (2011)\nState Representative James E. Ryan (D) stole checks from contributors that were intended for the Committee to Elect House Democrats. He pled guilty to felony charges of theft, forgery and issuing bad checks. (2009)\n\nNew Mexico \nState Senator Phil Griego (D) was convicted of corruption. (2017)\nSecretary of State Dianna Duran (R) was convicted of fraud. (2015)\n\nNew York \nState Senator George D. Maziarz (R) pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for offering a false instrument for filing to avoid five felony counts and a trial for filing false campaign expenditure reports. (2018)\nState Senator Marc Panepinto (D) convicted of sexual harassment. (2018)\nState Assemblywoman Pamela Harris (D) pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, one count of making false statements to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and one count of witness tampering. Sentenced to $10,000 restitution, six months in jail followed by three years of supervised release, 400 hours of community service, and restitution of $70,400. (2018)\nMajority Leader of the New York State Senate Dean Skelos (R) convicted of federal corruption. (2018)\nMinority Leader of the State Senate John L. Sampson (D) was convicted of obstructing justice and making false statement. (2015)\nSpeaker of the New York State Assembly Sheldon Silver (D) was convicted on federal corruption charges. (2015)\nMajority Leader of the State Senate Malcolm Smith (D) was found guilty in federal court of conspiracy, wire fraud, bribery and extortion for trying to bribe a Republican Party official to let him onto the Republican ballot in the 2013 New York City mayoral race. (2014)\nState Assemblywoman Gabriela Rosa (D) sentenced to a year in jail for entering into a sham marriage in order to gain U.S. citizenship. (2014)\nState Assemblyman William Boyland, Jr. (D) convicted of bribery (2014)\nState Assemblyman Eric Stevenson (D) found guilty of bribery, conspiracy and other related charges. (2014)\nState Assemblyman Nelson Castro (D) convicted of perjury (2013)\nState Senator Shirley Huntley (D) convicted of mail fraud. She was sentenced to one year and a day in prison. (2013)\nMajority Leader of the State Senate Pedro Espada Jr. (D) On May 14, 2012, a federal jury found Espada guilty of embezzling money from federally funded healthcare clinics, after 11 days of deliberation he was sentenced to five years in prison. (2012)\nState Senator Vincent Leibell (R) found guilty of felony bribery, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice charges related to $43,000 in cash kickbacks he took from 2003 to 2006. (2012)\nState Senator Nicholas Spano (R), Spano pleaded guilty to a single count of tax evasion. He was sentenced to 12 to 18 months in federal prison. (2012)\nNew York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi (D), was convicted on charges surrounding a \"pay to play\" scheme regarding the New York State Pension Fund, and was sentenced to 1–4 years. (2011)\nState Senator Carl Kruger (D) resigned his seat and pleaded guilty to charges of corruption and bribery. (2011)\nState Senator Efrain Gonzalez Jr. (D) was convicted of fraud and embezzling $400,000 from the West Bronx Neighborhood Association Inc. and was sentenced to seven years in federal prison (2010)\n\nLocal \nCounty Executive of Nassau County Ed Mangano (R) convicted of bribery and fraud. (2019)\nNew York City Council member Ruben Wills (D) convicted of fraud. (2017)\nNew York City Council member Dan Halloran (R) convicted of taking bribes and orchestrating payoffs. (2014)\nNew York City Council member Larry Seabrook (D) On February 9, 2010, a federal grand jury indicted Seabrook on 13 counts of money laundering, extortion, and fraud. Seabrook was convicted on nine charges. (2012)\nPresident of the New York City Council Andrew Stein (D) was convicted of tax evasion regarding a Ponzi scheme. (2010)\n\nNorth Carolina \nState Representative Rodney W. Moore (D) pleaded guilty to making false statements (2019)\nState Senator Fletcher L. Hartsell, Jr. (R) convicted of fraud for misusing campaign contributions and falsely labeling them as expenses. Sentenced to eight months. (2016)\nState Representative Deb McManus (D) resigned her State House seat and pleaded guilty to a tax charge. (2013)\nState Representative Stephen LaRoque (R) convicted on 12 counts including theft, money laundering and filing false tax returns. (2013)\nGovernor Mike Easley (D) was convicted of a federal campaign law felony. (2010)\n\nLocal \nMayor of Charlotte Patrick Cannon (D) charged with accepting bribes. (2014)\nMayor of High Point Bernita Sims (D) convicted of a worthless check charge. (2014)\n\nOhio \nState Representative Ron Gerberry (D) found guilty of charge of unlawful compensation of a public official. (2015)\nState Representative Steve Kraus (R) convicted of a fifth-degree felony. (2015)\nState Representative Peter Beck (R) convicted of perjury. (2015)\nState Representative Dale Mallory (D) found guilty to a first-degree misdemeanor count of filing a false disclosure form and a fourth-degree misdemeanor charge of improper gratuities and was sentenced to a total of $600 in fines and a year of probation. (2014)\nState Representative Sandra Williams (D) convicted of filing a false report. (2014)\nState Representative Clayton Luckie (D) convicted of corruption. (2013)\nState Representative W. Carlton Weddington (D) was convicted on bribery charges and sentenced to three years in prison. (2012)\n\nLocal \nCuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Lance Mason (D) convicted of domestic abuse and assault. He was sentenced to two years in prison. (2015)\n\nOklahoma \nState Senator Ralph Shortey (R) convicted of child sex trafficking. (2018)\nState Representative Gus Blackwell (R) was accused of perjury and embezzlement for using both state funds and campaign funds to pay for the same trips. In a plea bargain he pled guilty and agreed to pay restitution. (2017)\nState Senator Bryce Marlatt (R) convicted of sexual battery and was sentenced to 90 days' probation, fined $500, plus court costs. (2017)\nState Senator Kyle Loveless (R) was sentenced to three years of probation and restitution after pleading guilty to embezzling campaign funds. (2017)\nState Representative Rick Brinkley (R) was convicted of fraud. (2015)\nState Senator Debbe Leftwich (D) was found guilty of bribery in connection with the 2010 Oklahoma political corruption investigation. (2013)\nState Representative Randy Terrill (R) was found guilty of bribery in connection with the 2010 Oklahoma political corruption investigation. Terrill was sentenced to one year in prison. (2013)\nPresident pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate Mike Morgan (D) was found guilty of accepting $12,000 in bribes (2012)\n\nPennsylvania \nState Representative Movita Johnson-Harrell (D) convicted of felony theft. (2019)\nState Representative Vanessa L. Brown (D) convicted of bribery. (2018)\nTreasurer of Pennsylvania Barbara Hafer (D) convicted of lying to the FBI. (2017)\nState Representative Marc Gergely (D) convicted of conspiracy. (2017)\nState Representative Leslie Acosta (D) convicted of embezzlement. (2016)\nAttorney General of Pennsylvania Kathleen Kane (D) was convicted of perjury. (2016)\nState Representative Louise Bishop (D) was convicted of corruption. (2016)\nState Representative Michelle Brownlee (D) was convicted of a conflict of interest. (2015)\nState Representative Harold James (D) was convicted of corruption. (2015)\nState Representative Ronald Waters (D) was convicted of bribery. (2015)\nTreasurer of Pennsylvania Rob McCord (D) pleaded guilty to two counts of extortion. (2015)\nState Senator LeAnna Washington (D) was convicted of conflict of interest. (2014)\nTurnpike Commission CEO Joe Brimmeier (D) pleaded guilty to felony conflict of interest charges. (2014)\nTurnpike Commission Chief Operating Officer George Hatalowich (D) pleaded guilty to felony conflict of interest charges. (2014)\nTurnpike Commission Chairman Mitchell Rubin (D) was sentenced to 24 months of probation for his plea to commercial bribery. (2014)\nState Representative Jose Miranda (D) was convicted of fraud. (2013)\nPennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin (R) was convicted in February 2013, on six of seven corruption charges including theft of services, criminal conspiracy, and misappropriation of state property. (2013)\nState Senator and Republican Majority Whip Jane Orie (R) was convicted in March 2012, of 14 counts of forgery, conflict of interest and theft of services, which included five felonies. (2012)\nState Senator and Democratic Minority Floor Leader of the Pennsylvania Senate Bob Mellow (D) pleaded guilty to using Senate staffers for campaigns. (2012)\nState Representative Joseph F. Brennan (D) announced that he was withdrawing his reelection bid after allegations that he assaulted his wife and then drove drunk from the scene of the incident. He was later convicted on both the DUI and assault charges. (2012)\nSecretary of Revenue of Pennsylvania Stephen Stetler (D) convicted of using state resources. (2012)\nState Representative John M. Perzel (R), pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges, including two counts of conflict of interest, two counts of theft, and four counts of conspiracy, concerning a scheme to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on computer technology from Aristotle, Inc. for the benefit of Republican political campaigns. (2011)\nState Representative Brett Feese (R) sentenced to 4 to 12 years in state prison, an additional 2 years of probation, a $25,000 fine, and $1 million in restitution for his role in the Computergate state government corruption scandal. (2011)\n\nLocal \nSheriff of Philadelphia John Green (D) convicted of bribery. (2019)\nMayor of Allentown Ed Pawlowski (D) convicted of corruption. (2018)\nMayor of Reading Vaughn Spencer (D) convicted of corruption, bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy. (2018)\nUpland Borough City Councilman Edward M. Mitchell (R) convicted of bribery, conspiracy, theft by deception, and restricted activities. (2018)\nAssistant City Solicitor, Allentown Dale Wiles convicted of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. (2018)\nDistrict Attorney of Philadelphia R. Seth Williams (D) convicted of bribery. (2017)\nMayor of Harrisburg Steven R. Reed (D) pleaded guilty to theft of public funds. (2017)\nTax Collector, York County Melissa Ann Arnold convicted of theft of public funds. (2015)\nTax Collector, Delaware County, Robert Henry Park (R) pleaded guilty to theft. (2014)\nTax Collector, Berks County, Jodie Mae Keller pleaded guilty to two counts of theft. (2013)\nMayor of Chester, John H. Nacrelli convicted on federal bribery and racketeering charges. (1979)\n\nRhode Island \nState Senator James Doyle II (D) from the 8th district, was being investigated for a check kiting scheme to defraud three local banks of more than $74 million. He was charged and pled guilty to 31 counts of bank fraud and tax evasion. (2018)\nState Representative John Carnevale (D) convicted of perjury. (2018)\nState Representative Raymond Gallison (D) was convicted of fraud. (2017)\nState Representative Gordon Fox (D) and Speaker of the House, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, bribery and filing a false tax return. Fox used $108,000 from his campaign account for personal expenses, accepted a $52,000 bribe to push for the issuance of a liquor license for a Providence restaurant in his role as a member of the Board of Licenses, and failed to declare these illegal sources income on his tax returns. (2015)\nState Representative Joseph Almeida (D) was given a $1,000 fine and a year on probation for mis-using funds. (2015)\nState Senator Patrick McDonald (D) convicted of embezzlement. (2014)\nState Representative John McCauley Jr (D) convicted of tax evasion. (2013)\nState Representative Leo Medina (D) convicted of stealing life insurance. (2013)\nState Senator Christopher Maselli (D) convicted of bank fraud. (2010)\n\nSouth Carolina \nState Senator John E. Courson (R) was convicted of misconduct and illegal use of campaign funds. Courson had paid Richard Quinn & Associates $247,829 of campaign money over six years and got back $132,802 for personal use. (2017)\nState Representative James \"Jim\" Harrison (R) convicted of corruption. (2018)\nState Representative Rick Quinn (R) convicted of corruption. (2018)\nState Representative Jim Merrill (R) convicted of corruption. (2017)\nState Representative Chris Corley (R) pled guilty to first-degree domestic violence for beating his wife and threatening to kill her with a gun. (2017)\nSpeaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives Bobby Harrell (R) pleaded guilty to illegally using campaign funds for his own use. He was sentenced to a one-year prison term. (2014)\nState Representative Nelson Hardwick (R) pled guilty to assault and battery in the third degree for sexual harassment of a female employee. He was ordered to resign and fined. (2015)\nState Representative Thad Viers (R) convicted of money laundering, sentenced to three years in federal prison. (2015) Previously arrested in 2012 on charges of harassing a 28-year-old woman described as an ex-girlfriend. He subsequently withdrew his bid for GOP nomination to the US Congress from South Carolina's 7th congressional district, citing \"personal reasons\". He was sentenced in 2014 to 60 days in jail for second-degree harassment.\nState Secretary of the Department of Transportation, Robert St. Onge (R) arrested and convicted of having twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system. He was forced to resign due to the state's no tolerance laws. (2014)\nLieutenant Governor of South Carolina Ken Ard (R) resigned his position and pleaded guilty to seven counts of misuse of campaign funds. He was sentenced to five years' probation, fined $5,000 and required to work 300 hours of community service. (2011)\nState Representative Kris Crawford (R) from Florence County, was charged with seven counts of willfully failing to pay taxes and found guilty. (2010)\n\nTennessee \nState Representative Joe E. Armstrong (D) convicted of falsifying tax returns. (2016)\nState Representative Curry Todd (R) from Collierville, pled guilty to possessing a loaded gun while DUI. He was sentenced to 48 hours in jail, one year of probation, fined, given community service, alcohol training, alcohol car locking device and ordered to participate in MADD. (2011)\n\nLocal \n Mayor of Nashville Megan Barry (D) pleaded guilty to felony theft related to an affair she had with the police officer who ran her security detail. (2018)\nSheriff of Rutherford County Robert F. Arnold (R) pleaded guilty to wire fraud, honest services fraud, and extortion in a scheme to distribute cigarettes to jailed prisoners. (2016)\n\nTexas \nState Representative Carlos Uresti (D) convicted of fraud and money laundering. (2017)\nState Representative Ron Reynolds (D) was convicted of battery and was sentenced to one year in jail. (2015)\nState Representative Joe Driver (R) pleaded guilty to using tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to reimburse himself for travel expenses that his campaign had already funded. (2011)\n\nLocal \nMayor of Dallas Dwaine Caraway (D) convicted of corruption (2019)\nCity Councillor of Dallas Carolyn Davis (D) was convicted of bribery. (2019)\nState District Judge Angus Kelly McGinty (R) was arrested because he solicited and accepted bribes in exchange for favorable rulings. He pleaded guilty to a charge of honest services fraud and was given a two-year prison sentence (2014)\n\nVermont \nState Senator Norman McAllister (R) pleaded guilty to a violation of a prohibited act of prostitution. He was sentenced to a work crew for 25 days and served nine to twelve months on probation. (2015)\n\nVirginia \nState Delegate Ron Villanueva (R) was convicted of fraud and sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison. (2019)\nState Delegate Phil Hamilton (R) sentenced to 9½ years in prison for federal bribery and extortion. (2010)\n\nWashington, D.C. \nDistrict of Columbia Councillor Michael Brown (D) was convicted of bribery and sentenced to 39 months. (2013)\nChairman of the Council of the District of Columbia Kwame R. Brown (D) was convicted of bank fraud. (2012)\nDistrict of Columbia Councillor Harry Thomas, Jr. (D) was convicted of felony counts of theft of government funds and falsifying tax returns. (2012)\n\nWashington \nAuditor of Washington Troy Kelley (D) was convicted of fraud. (2018)\n\nWisconsin \nState Representative Bill Kramer (R) was sentenced to five months in jail, after pleading no contest to two charges of sexual assault with three years' probation. (2014)\nState Representative Jeff Wood, (R), has pleaded no contest to fifth-offense OWI charge which is a felony. He has been sentenced to spend nine months in jail, with three years' probation. (2011)\n\nWest Virginia \nJustice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia Allen Loughry (R) pleaded guilty to fraud. (2019)\nJustice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia Menis Ketchum (D) pleaded guilty to wire fraud. (2018)\n\n2000–2009\n\nAlabama \nState Representative Suzanne L. Schmitz (D) was found guilty on 7 out of 8 counts of federal fraud charges. (2009)\nState Senator Edward McClain (D) was convicted on 48 counts of money laundering, mail fraud, bribery and conspiracy. (2009)\nGovernor of Alabama Don Siegelman (D) was found guilty of bribery, mail fraud and obstruction of justice on June 29, 2006, and sentenced to 88 months. (2006)\n\nLocal \nMayor of Birmingham Larry Langford (D) was sentenced on March 5, 2010, to 15 years in prison for conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering, and filing false tax returns in connection with a long-running bribery scheme. (2010) He was also fined more than $119,000.\n\nAlaska \nAlaska political corruption probe in which VECO Corporation an oilfield service corporation, was investigated by the IRS, FBI and Department of Justice. Veco executives Bill Allen and VP Rick Smith pleaded guilty to federal charges of extortion, bribery, and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service. The charges involved bribing Alaska lawmakers who came to be known as the \"Corrupt Bastards Club\" to vote in favor of an oil tax law favored by VECO that was the subject of vigorous debate in 2006, and were part of a larger probe of political corruption in Alaska by federal authorities.\nState Representative Thomas Anderson (R), Found guilty of seven felony counts of extortion, bribery, conspiracy, and money laundering. Sentenced on October 15, 2007, to a term of 60 months in prison.\nState Representative Pete Kott (R), found guilty on three charges of bribery and sentenced to six years in prison and fined $10,000. (2007)\nState Representative Vic Kohring (R), convicted on November 1, 2007, of three counts of bribery by the Veco Corporation. In May 2008, he was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.\nState Representative Bruce Weyhrauch (R), main charges dismissed by Supreme Court, given probation on state charges\nState Senator John Cowdery (R), pleaded guilty to lesser charges. (2009) Sentenced to six months' house arrest and a $25,000 fine.\nState Representative Beverly Masek (R), was sentenced to six months on September 23, 2009.\n\nArizona \nCorporation Commissioner Jim Irvin (R) was found guilty of trying to influence a corporate bidding war and fined $60K. (2003)\n\nCalifornia \nState Senator Tom Berryhill (R) was found guilty of money laundering by Judge Jonathan Lew and the California Fair Practices Commission of deliberately trying to conceal, deceive or mislead the transfer of $40,000 to the Republican Central Committee of Stanislaus County and the Republican Central Committee of San Joaquin County, which then passed it to the campaign of Bill Berryhill, his brother, thus circumventing California's contribution limits of $3,600 per donation. (2008)\n\nLocal \nSheriff of Orange County Mike Carona (R) convicted of witness tampering. (2008)\nMember of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Ed Jew (D), was sentenced to 64 months in federal prison for extortion, and a year in county jail for perjury. (2008)\nMember of San Diego City Council Ralph Inzunza (D) was convicted of corruption. (2005)\n\nConnecticut \nGovernor of Connecticut John G. Rowland (R) was convicted of one-count of deprevation of honest services. (2004) He served ten months in a federal prison followed by four months' house arrest, ending in June 2006.\nState Treasurer of Connecticut Paul J. Silvester (R) was convicted of fraud. (2004)\n\nLocal \nMayor of Bridgeport Joseph Ganim (D), was convicted of leveraging his position to receive kickbacks from city contractors for more than $500,000 in cash, meals, clothing, wine and home renovations. (2003)\nMayor of Waterbury Philip Giordano (R) While investigating municipal corruption, the FBI discovered phone records and pictures of Giordano with a prostitute, as well as with her 10-year-old niece and her eight-year-old daughter. He was arrested on July 26, 2001, and, in March 2003, was convicted of 14 counts of using an interstate device, his cellphone, to arrange sexual contact with children. He was also convicted of violating the girls' civil rights. He was sentenced to 37 years in prison.\n\nFlorida \nState Representative Bob Allen (R) was convicted of soliciting a sex act from an undercover police officer. (2007)\nState Senator Alberto Gutman (R), was convicted of corruption in a Medicare fraud scheme. Gutman, his wife and 23 others were sentenced to five years in federal prison, three years' probation and fined $50,000. (2000)\n\nLocal \nSheriff of Broward County Ken Jenne (D) convicted of fraud. (2007)\nMayor of Orlando Ernest Page (D) was convicted of bribery and official misconduct during a temporary stint as mayor. He was subsequently sentenced to 42 months in prison. (2006)\n\nGeorgia \nState Senator Walter Ronnie Sailor Jr. (D) pled guilty to laundering money (2007)\nState Senator Charles Walker (D) convicted of charges including tax evasion, mail fraud and conspiracy (127 counts, in all). He was sentenced to 10 years. (2005)\nSchools Superintendent Linda Schrenko (R) sentenced to eight years in prison for embezzlement of federal education funds. (2004)\nState Representative Robin L. Williams (R) was convicted of campaign fraud. (2004)\n\nLocal\nMayor of Atlanta Bill Campbell (D) convicted of tax evasion. (2006)\n\nHawaii \nState Representative Galen Fox (R) was convicted of sexual misconduct when he improperly touched a woman flying next to him. (2006)\nState Representative Nathan Suzuki (D) was found guilty of tax fraud. (2004)\nState Senator Marshall Ige (D) convicted of corruption. (2002)\n\nIllinois \nGovernor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich (D) was charged with conspiracy to commit mail, wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. He was impeached and removed from office by 59–0 votes of the Illinois Senate. On August 17, 2010, he was convicted on just one of 24 federal charges. In a retrial in 2011, he was found guilty on 17 other counts and sentenced to 14 years in prison. (2011)\nGovernor of Illinois George H. Ryan (R) was convicted of 18 counts of corruption and sentenced to six years and six months. (2006)\nState Representative Patricia Bailey (D) was convicted of perjury and fraud. (2005)\n\nLocal \nAlderman of Chicago Arenda Troutman (D) was convicted of bribery. (2005)\nAlderman of Chicago Edward Vrdolyak (D) was convicted of fraud. (2008)\nCity Clerk of Chicago James Laski (D) was convicted of fraud. (2006)\nMayor of Cicero, Betty Loren-Maltese (R) was convicted of an insurance fraud. She was sentenced to eight years in prison (2002)\n\nIndiana \nState Representative Dennie Oxley (D) convicted of impersonating a public servant. (2009)\n\nLocal \nCity Clerk of Gary Katie Hall (D) pleaded guilty to mail fraud. (2003)\n\nKansas \nState Representative Phil Hermanson (R) while being investigated, Hermanson pled guilty to a charge of driving under the influence of prescription drugs. (2009)\n\nLouisiana \nState Senator Derrick Shepherd (D), sentenced to 37 months for corruption. (2008)\nGovernor of Louisiana Edwin Edwards (D) convicted of extortion, mail fraud and money laundering. (2000)\nInsurance Commissioner James H. \"Jim\" Brown (D) convicted of lying to FBI investigators. (2000)\n\nMassachusetts \nState Senator J. James Marzilli, Jr. (D) pleaded guilty to all charges against him, including resisting arrest and disorderly conduct and was sentenced to three months in prison. (2008)\nState Senator Dianne Wilkerson (D) was video taped by the FBI stuffing bribe money into her bra. Wilkerson pleaded guilty to eight counts of attempted extortion. (2008)\nSpeaker of the House Thomas Finneran (D) pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice and received 18 months' probation. (2004)\n\nMaryland \nState Senator Thomas L. Bromwell (D) was sentenced to seven years in prison for racketeering, corruption and fraud to benefit construction company Poole and Kent. (2007)\nState Delegate Robert A. McKee (R) pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and was sentenced to a 37-month term. (2006)\n\nMichigan \n State Representative Kevin Green (R) pleaded guilty to driving while impaired by alcohol. (2008)\n\nMissouri \nState Senator Jeff Smith (D) convicted of two counts of obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to one year and a day of prison and was fined $50,000. (2009)\nState Representative Nathan Cooper (R) convicted on two felony counts of immigration fraud. (2007)\n\nNebraska \nState Treasurer Lorelee Byrd (R) pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of misconduct. (2003)\nState Senator Ray Mossey (R) was found guilty and pled no contest to prescription drug charges and was sentenced to two years' probation. He was also sentenced to one year's probation for drunken driving when Mossey's blood-alcohol level tested at twice the legal limit. In addition, he was fined $14,000 for using campaign finance funds to pay an online dating service and a tattoo parlor. (2005)\nRegent David Hergert (R) of the University of Nebraska was arrested soon after his election for violating campaign finance laws. He pled guilty to false reporting and obstruction and was sentenced to five years' probation and fined $654,000 (2005)\n\nNevada \nState Controller Kathy Augustine (R) was impeached and convicted of using state personnel and property for her re-election campaign, but not removed from office. She was fined $15,000. (2004)\nState Representative Brent Parker (R) pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a male undercover police officer. He was ordered to attend a 10-week therapy class or face up to 180 days in jail. (2003)\n\nLocal \nOperation G-Sting or Strippergate was an FBI probe into bribes taken by County Commissioners in Clark County, Nevada and City Council members in San Diego, California. It was the result of strip club owners Rick Rizzolo and Mike Galardi trying to remove a \"no touch\" law affecting the girls in their clubs. The investigation resulted in the convictions of 17 defendants including:\nClark county Commissioner Lynette Boggs McDonald (R) pled no contest to filing a false statement and campaign funding irregularities (2009)\nClark County Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey (D) was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, fined $7,600 and ordered to forfeit $19,000 in assets (2006)\nClark County Commissioner Dario Herrera (D) was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison, fined $15,000 and ordered to forfeit $60,000 in assets (2006)\nClark County Commissioner Erin Kenny (D) was sentenced to 2½ years in prison (2006)\nClark County Commissioner Lance Matthew Malone (R) pleaded guilty to violating federal racketeering laws for bribing commissioners(2006)\n\nNew Jersey \nNew Jersey Operation Bid Rig: An FBI sting operation indicted 44 New Jersey officials and several Rabbis, mainly for bribery, counterfeiting of intellectual property, money laundering, organ harvesting, and political corruption. Arrested were:\nAssemblyman Daniel M. Van Pelt (R) Resigned after indictment for bribery.\nState Senator Wayne R. Bryant (D) was convicted of bribery. (2007)\nState Senator Joseph Coniglio (D) indicted for abusing state grants, mail fraud and extortion. (2008)\nState Senator Sharpe James (D) On April 16, 2008, James was convicted of five counts of fraud by a federal jury. On July 29, 2008, he was sentenced by Judge William J. Martini to 27 months in prison.\nState Senator John A. Lynch, Jr. (D) convicted of mail fraud and tax evasion. (2006)\nAssemblyman Anthony Impreveduto (D) convicted of corruption. (2004)\n\nLocal \nNew Jersey Operation Bid Rig:\nMayor of Hoboken Peter Cammarano (D) was convicted of corruption. (2009)\nMayor of Secaucus Dennis Elwell (D) was convicted of corruption. (2009)\nCommissioner and Chairwoman of the Jersey City Housing Authority Lori Serrano (D) was convicted of corruption. (2009)\nMayor of Passaic Samuel Rivera (D) convicted of bribery. (2008) Rivera was sentenced to 21 months in prison.\nCounty Executive of Hudson County Robert C. Janiszewski (D) was convicted of bribery. (2005)\nChief Executive of Essex County James W. Treffinger (R) was convicted of corruption and fraud and ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution and serve 13 months in jail. (2003)\nMayor of Camden Milton Milan (D) was convicted of corruption. (2000)\nMayor of Marlboro Matthew Scannapieco (R) pled guilty to tax evasion and corruption involving $245K in bribes paid by a real estate developer (2005)\n\nNew Mexico \nState Treasurer Robert Virgil (D) was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to 37 months in prison and fined $97,000. (2007)\nState Treasurer Michael Montoya (D) was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to 40 months in prison and a $40,000 fine. (2007)\n\nNew York \n State Health Commissioner Antonia Novello (R) pled guilty to misuse of staff by spending $48,000 of public money making them carry out her personal chores, such as taking her shopping and picking up her dry cleaning. She was convicted and ordered to perform 250 hours of community service, pay $22,500 in restitution plus a $5,000 fine. (2009)\nState Senator Kevin Parker (D) was charged with felony assaulting and menacing and two misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief for attacking a New York Post photographer. He was found guilty and served three years' probation for the misdemeanors but was acquitted of the felony charge. (2009)\nState Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio (D) pleaded guilty to taking large sums of money from hospitals through a consulting firm while still a member of the New York State Assembly. His appeal was never heard but his conviction was abated due to death. (2009)\nSupreme Court Justice Thomas J. Spargo (R), was convicted by a federal jury of attempted extortion and attempted soliciting of a bribe for pressuring a lawyer to give $10,000 to his defense fund. (2009)\nState Senator Efrain Gonzalez (D) was sentenced to 84 months (7 years) in prison, followed by two years' supervised release, following pleading guilty to two conspiracy counts and two wire fraud counts. (2009)\nState Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin (D) was arrested in 2008 and sentenced to ten years in prison for racketeering. (2009)\nState Senator Hiram Monserrate (D), convicted of one count of misdemeanor assault, and acquitted of two counts of felony assault and one other count of misdemeanor assault. (2009)\nState Senator Diane Gordon (D) was convicted of receiving bribes. (2008)\nState Assemblyman Chris Ortloff (R) while serving on the State Parole Board, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of online enticement of minors. He was sentenced to 150 months in federal prison (2008)\nSupreme Court Justice Gerald Garson (D) was sentenced to 3.5 to 10 years in prison for accepting expensive gifts in exchange for fixing divorce cases. (2005)\nState Assemblyman Clarence Norman Jr. (D) was sentenced to nine years in jail for falsifying records. (2005)\nState Assemblywoman Gloria Davis (D) was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years' probation for bribery. (2003)\nState Senator Guy Velella (R) was indicted for bribery and conspiracy for accepting at least $137,000 in exchange for steering public-works contracts to the paying parties. He ultimately pleaded guilty to one count and received a year in jail. He served 182 days. (2002)\n\nLocal \nNew York City Councillor Miguel Martinez (D) pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy two days later. He admitted to stealing $106,000 that was for children's art programs and low-income housing. He was convicted on three felonies, and was sentenced to five years in prison. (2009)\nNY City Councilman Dennis P. Gallagher (R) resigned from office and pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a woman in his district office while he was intoxicated. (2007)\n\nNorth Carolina \nState Representative James B. Black (D) pleaded guilty to a federal charge of public corruption and was sentenced to five years in prison. (2007)\nState Representative Paul Miller (D), was sentenced to a year's probation and fined $1,000 for fraud. (2006)\nCommissioner of Agriculture Meg Scott Phipps (D) pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges and served three years in prison. (2003)\nState Representative Michael P. Decker (R) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, honest services mail fraud, and money laundering. Decker, a Republican, solicited Democrats and agreed to accept $50,000 and other gifts in return for switching parties. (2002)\nState Representative Thomas Wright (R), was found guilty of three counts of felony fraud. He was sentenced to 6 to 8 years(2007)\n\nLocal \nCabarrus County Commissioner Coy C. Privette, (R) pled guilty to aiding and abetting prostitution. (2007)\n\nNorthern Marianas Islands \nLieutenant Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands Timothy Villagomez (CP) was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison for misuse of government funds. (2009)\nNorthern Marianas Islands Commerce Secretary James A. Santos (R) was sentenced to 87 months in prison for misuse of government funds. (2009)\n\nOklahoma \nState Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan (D) convicted of accepting bribes. (2008)\nInsurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher (D) convicted for corruption and sentenced to 14 months. (2006)\nState Senator Gene Stipe (D) pleaded guilty to federal charges of perjury, conspiracy to obstruct a Federal Election Commission investigation, and conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act. (2003)\n\nOhio \nGovernor of Ohio Bob Taft (R) pleads no contest and is convicted on four misdemeanor ethics violations. He was fined $4,000 and ordered to apologize to the people of Ohio. (2005)\n\nOregon \nState Representative Dan Doyle (R) resigned from office and was sentenced to 15 months in jail for finance violations. (2005)\nState Senator John Mabrey (R) was convicted of insurance fraud. (2002)\n\nPennsylvania \nState Senator Vince Fumo (D) was found guilty of 139 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and filing a false tax return. Two staffers were also arrested and indicted on charges of destroying electronic evidence, including e-mail related to the investigation. (2009)\nSecretary of Revenue of Pennsylvania Stephen Stetler (D) sentenced to 1½–5 years in prison, fined $35,000, order to pay $466,621 restitution for multiple corruption convictions. (2009)\nState Representative Milton Street (D) convicted of tax evasion and was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison. (2008) Street appealed, but his conviction was affirmed by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.\nState Representative Linda Bebko-Jones (D) and her chief-of-staff were charged with forging some of the signatures on their nominating petitions. They were both sentenced to 12 months' probation and fined $1,500 with community service. (2007)\nState Representative & Democratic Whip of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Mike Veon (D), convicted of misusing state funds and sentenced to 6–14 years in jail. (2007)\nState Representative and Democratic Leader of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Bill DeWeese (D) found guilty of five of the six felony counts with which he was charged and sentenced to 30–60 months. (2007)\nState Representative Jeffrey Habay (R) was convicted of 21 counts of harassment, solicitation for perjury and intimidation. (2007)\nState Representative Frank LaGrotta (D) pleaded guilty to two counts of corruption for giving away $26,000 of state funds in the 2006 Pennsylvania General Assembly bonus controversy. Sentenced to six months' house arrest, probation, and fines. (2007)\nState Representative Thomas W. Druce (R) was convicted in 2000 of a 1999 hit and run that killed a man. (2000)\nState Representative R. Tracy Seyfert (R) pleaded guilty to Theft of Federal Property by acquiring a $160,000 dollar, 10 ton generator for her own use if the power grid had failed on the Millennium. She was sentenced to five years in federal prison and assessed a $5,000 fine. (2001)\nState Senator Bill Slocum (R) pleaded guilty to six criminal misdemeanor charges for filing false reports to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and discharging 3.5 million gallons of raw sewage into Brokenstraw Creek while he was a sewage plant manager in Youngsville, Pennsylvania. (2000)\nState Representative Frank Gigliotti (D) was convicted and sentenced in 2000 to 46 months' incarceration for extortion, mail fraud, and filing a false income tax return. (2000)\nState Representative Jeffrey Habay (R) was found guilty on December 12, 2005, of conflict of interest. he resigned and was sentenced to 6 to 12 months of prison followed by four years of probation.\nState Senator F. Joseph Loeper (R) pleaded guilty in federal court of falsifying tax-related documents to conceal more than $330,000 in income he received from a private consulting firm while serving in the Senate. He resigned his senate seat on December 31, 2000, and was later released from federal prison at Fort Dix, New Jersey, after serving six months. (2000)\n\nLocal \nPresident Judge of the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Mark Ciavarella (D) sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for his involvement in the kids for cash scandal. (2009)\nSenior Judge Michael Conahan (D) sentenced to 17½ years in federal prison for his involvement in the Kids for cash scandal. (2009)\n\nPuerto Rico \nSpeaker of the House Edison Misla Aldarondo (R) was convicted of extortion, money laundering and witness tampering and sentenced to 71 months in prison. See sex scandals. (2007)\nJose Omar Cruz-Mercado was the Associate Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Education when he aided an extortion and kickback scheme that involved fraudulent payments of more than $4.3 million in cash and property from PRDE contractors.\nDeputy Secretary of State Angel Ocasio Ramos received 18 months in prison for making illegal payments to Rangel in exchange for government contracts.\nPuerto Rico Senator Freddy Valentin, Puerto Rican was sentenced to 33 months in prison for money laundering and extortion in a corruption case involving public-housing contracts in the U.S. territory, a former pro-statehood senator, pleaded guilty in March to the two charges. (2002)\n\nRhode Island \nState Representative and House Majority Leader Gerard M. Martineau (D) was given 37 months in prison for influence peddling in Operation Dollar Bill. (2008)\nState Senator John A. Celona (D) was found guilty of accepting $320,000 in bribes from the Roger Williams Medical Center and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison. (2007)\nState Representative Thomas W. Pearlman (R) was charged with fee-gouging and providing incompetent counsel. He was found guilty of misconduct, suspended and ordered to pay restitution. (2004)\n\nLocal \nMayor of Providence Buddy Cianci (R). His first administration ended in 1984 when he pleaded guilty to assault. His second stint as mayor ended when he was forced to resign following his conviction for racketeering conspiracy named Operation Plunder Dome served four years in federal prison.\n\nSouth Carolina \nState Treasurer Thomas Ravenel (R) convicted on cocaine charges. (2007)\nState Senator Charles Tyrone \"Ty\" Courtney (R) was convicted of bank fraud, mail fraud and making false statements on a loan application. (2000)\nAgriculture Commissioner Charles Sharpe (R) was found guilty of charges of extortion, money laundering and lying to federal investigators, stemming from an illegal cockfighting ring. He served two years in prison. (2004)\n\nSouth Dakota \nState Representative Ted Klaudt (R) was found guilty on all four counts of second-degree rape as well as witness tampering. He was sentenced to 54 years in prison. (2008)\n\nTennessee \nOperation Tennessee Waltz: an FBI sting operation between 2003 and 2007 in which a number of state and local representatives were arrested including;\nState Senator John Ford (D) Sentenced to 66 months for bribery.\nState Senator Kathryn Bowers (D) pleaded guilty to one count of bribery.\nState Senator Ward Crutchfield (D) pleaded guilty to one count of bribery.\nState Senator Roscoe Dixon (D) pleaded guilty to bribery\nState Representative J. Chris Newton (R) pleaded guilty to bribery.\nState Representative Ronald 'Ronnie' Davis (R) pled guilty to four felony charges of conspiring to sell fake passports and to supplying drugs to his girlfriend (2002)\n\nLocal \nTax Assessor of Putnam County Byron Looper (R), was convicted of the murder of State Senator Tommy Burks (D). (2000)\n Juvenile Court Judge, Darrell Catron (R) was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to 18 months' probation. (2007)\n\nUtah \nState Representative Brent Parker (R) pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a male undercover police officer. (2003)\n Judge of the 3rd State District Ray M. Harding Jr. (R) was found guilty of possession of cocaine and heroin and sentenced to 120 days in jail, 2 years' probation, community service and fined. (2002)\n\nVirginia \nState Secretary of Finance John Forbes (R) was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he admitted embezzling $4 million in tobacco-region economic development money. He was sentenced to 120 months in prison (2009)\nState Delegate Fenton Bland (D) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud; sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution (2005)\nState Republican Party Director Edmund Matricardi III (R) pled guilty to one count of interception of a wire communication by illegally eavesdropping on a protected Democratic phone call. During sentencing Matricardi was forced to resign, spend three years on probation and fined $10,000. (2003)\n\nWest Virginia \nState Representative Lisa D. Smith (R) pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of mail fraud. She was sentenced to two years in prison, three years of probation and fined $1,000,000.\n\nWisconsin \nState Assemblyman Scott Jensen (R) convicted of misuse of public workers. (2006)\nState Assemblyman Steven Foti (R) convicted of ethics violations. (2006)\nState Senator Gary George (D) was convicted of fraud. (2004)\nState Assemblywoman Bonnie Ladwig (R) convicted of ethics violations. (2004)\nState Senator Brian Burke (D) was sentenced to six months in county jail for misconduct in office and obstructing an officer for using state workers for his campaign. (2003)\nState Senator Charles Chvala (D) sentenced to serve nine months in prison for campaign violations including coordination violations. (2002)\n\nLocal \nMember of the Milwaukee Common Council Michael McGee, Jr. (D) was convicted of corruption. (2008)\n\n1990–1999\n\nAlabama \nGovernor of Alabama H. Guy Hunt (R) was convicted of improperly using campaign money and was sentenced to five years' probation and fined $211,000. (1993)\n\nAlaska \nState Senator George Jacko (D) was found guilty of sexual harassment of a 17-year-old page (1993)\n\nArizona \nState Representative Sue Laybe (D) was found guilty of bribery and given six months during the AZSCAM investigation (1990)\nState Representative Donald Kenney (R), was convicted in the AZSCAM investigation for taking a bribe of $55,000 in a gym bag and was sentenced to five years in prison. (1990)\nState Representative James Hartdegen (R), pleaded guilty to violating three campaign laws and was forced to resign as part of the AZSCAM investigation. (1990)\nState Representative James Meredith (R), was found guilty of making false campaign contributions during the AZSCAM investigation (1990)\nState Representative Bobby Raymond (D), investigated in the AZSCAM investigation, stated his favorite line was, \"What's in it for me?\" Found guilty of conspiracy and bribery and sentenced to two years in prison, with seven years of probation (1990)\n State Senator Jesus Chuy Higuera (D), guilty of taking a $4,000 bribe and demanding a shrimp and fax concession in all future casinos. Sentenced to two months in prison and four years' probation (1990)\n\nArkansas \nGovernor of Arkansas Jim Guy Tucker. (D) As part of the Whitewater investigation run by Kenneth Starr, Tucker was convicted of fraud and conspiracy and sentenced to four years' probation. (1996)\nSecretary of State Bill McCuen (D) pleaded guilty to bribery, kickbacks, tax evasion and trading in public office. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison and fined (1996)\n State Senator Carolyn Walker (D) was convicted of accepting payoffs for pledging to support gambling legislation as part of the AZSCAM Investigation. Sentenced to four years in prison (1991)\n\nCalifornia \nState Representative Brian Setencich (R) was convicted of tax evasion connected to his 1996 re-election campaign. (2000)\n The FBI's Bribery and Special Interest sting operation (BRISPEC, or \"Shrimpscam\") targeted corruption in the California legislature. Five convictions were obtained.\nState Senator Alan Robbins (D) resigned on November 21, 1991, in advance of pleading guilty to federal racketeering charges in connection with insurance-industry bribes.\nState Senator Joseph Montoya (D) was convicted in April 1990 of rackeetering, extortion and money laundering and was sentenced to 6½ years in prison.\nState Senator Frank Hill (R) and his aid were found guilty of corruption and money laundering and sentenced to 46 months in prison. (1994)\nCalifornia Board of Equalization member Paul B. Carpenter (D) was found guilty of 11 counts of obstruction of justice and money laundering. (1993)\nState Assemblyman Pat Nolan (R) served 29 months for bribery in the FBI's BRISPEC sting operation.\n\nLocal \nTreasurer-Tax Collector of Orange County, California Robert Citron (D) convicted of fraud. (1995)\n\nConnecticut \nState Treasurer Paul J. Silvester (R) was sentenced to 21 months in prison for racketeering and money laundering. (1999)\n\nLocal \nMayor of Waterbury Joseph J. Santopietro (R) was found guilty of taking a $25,000 payoff in return for $1 million in city pension funds. (1991)\n\nFlorida\nSpeaker of the Florida House of Representatives Bolley Johnson (D) was convicted of tax evasion. (1999)\nState Representative Marvin Couch (R) was arrested in Orlando for soliciting sex and pled guilty to unnatural or lascivious acts and exposure of his sexual organs. (1996)\n\nLocal \nMayor of Miami Beach Alex Daoud (D) convicted of bribery. (1991)\n\nGeorgia \nState Senator Ralph David Abernathy III (D) convicted of fraud. (1997)\n\nGuam \nGovernor of Guam Ricardo Bordallo (D) was convicted on ten counts of corruption and was sentenced to nine years in prison and fined more than $100,000, but committed suicide the day before he was scheduled to begin serving his prison sentence (1990)\n\nIllinois \nState Senator Bruce A. Farley (D) sentenced to 18 months in prison for mail fraud (1999)\nState Senator John A. D'Arco, Jr. (D) served about three years in prison for bribery and extortion (1995)\nState Representative James DeLeo (D) caught in the \"Operation Greylord\" investigation of corruption in Cook County. He was indicted by a federal grand jury for taking bribes and negotiated guilty plea on a misdemeanor tax offense, and was placed on probation (1992)\nState Representative Joe Kotlarz (D) convicted and sentenced to jail for theft and conspiracy for pocketing in about $200,000 for a sale of state land to a company he once served as legal counsel (1997)\nState Treasurer Jerome Cosentino (D) was convicted of bank fraud and sentenced to nine months' home confinement. (1991)\n\nLocal\nMayor of Markham, Illinois, Roger Agpawa (D) was convicted of mail fraud (1999)\nAlderman of Chicago Percy Giles (D) convicted of bribery. (1999)\nAlderman of Chicago Virgil Jones (D) convicted of bribery. (1998)\nAlderman of Chicago Lawrence Bloom (D) convicted of fraud. (1998)\nAlderman of Chicago John Madryzk (D) convicted of fraud. (1998)\nAlderman of Chicago Jesse Evans (D) convicted of racketeering. (1997)\nAlderman of Chicago Joseph Martinez (D) convicted of fraud. (1997)\nAlderman of Chicago Alan Streeter (D) convicted of bribery. (1996)\nAlderman of Chicago Ambrosio Medrano (D) convicted of bribery. (1996)\nAlderman of Chicago Fred Roti (D) convicted of bribery. (1996)\nMayor of Chicago Heights Charles Panici (R) guilty of racketeering, bribery and extortion. Sentenced to 10 years. (1992)\n\nHawaii \nState Representative Daniel J. Kihano (D) was sentenced to one year for one count of mail fraud. (1992)\n\nKentucky \nFBI Operation Boptrot was an investigation into bribery and the horse racing industry. Approximately 10% of Kentucky's legislature, both the house and senate, was implicated in this scandal, some taking bribes for as little as $100. (1992) Legislators convicted as a result of Operation Boptrot included:\nHouse Speaker Don Blandford (D) pleaded guilty after 1992 indictment on charges of extortion, racketeering and lying. He was sentenced to 64 months in prison and was fined $10,000.\nState Representative Jerry Bronger (D) was indicted in 1992 and later pleaded guilty to charges that he accepted $2,000 in exchange for blocking legislation that would hurt harness race tracks. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison.\nState Representative Clay Crupper (D) pleaded guilty after 1992 indictment and was fined $10,000 on charges of interstate travel in aide of racketeering.\nState Senator Helen Garrett (D) was charged in 1992 with taking a $2,000 bribe from a track in exchange for helping pass legislation. She pleaded guilty and received four years' probation.\nState Senator John Hall (D) pleaded guilty to conspiracy and other charges stemming from 1992 indictment in Operation BopTrot.\nState Representative Ronny Layman (R) was indicted in 1992 on charges of conspiracy to commit extortion and making false statements to the FBI. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three months of home detention and community service.\nState Senator David LeMaster (D) was indicted in 1993, and acquitted of extortion and racketeering, but convicted of lying. He was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $30,000, but served just one day after resigning from the legislature.\nState Representative Bill McBee (D) was sentenced to a 15-month prison term for his role in Operation BopTrot.\nState Senator Virgil Pearman (D) pleaded guilty after 1993 indictment charging that he took an illegal $3,000 campaign contribution. He was sentenced to three months in a halfway house, probation and was fined $5,000.\nState Senator John Rogers (R), then the Minority Leader in the Kentucky Senate, was sentenced in 1994 to 42 months in prison after conviction on charges of extortion, conspiracy, attempted extortion, mail fraud and lying to the FBI.\nState Senator Art Schmidt (R) pleaded guilty to a 1993 indictment for withholding the fact that he took a $20 cash payment from another senator tied to Operation BopTrot. He was sentenced to probation and fined $2,500.\nState Senator Landon Sexton (R) pleaded guilty after 1994 indictment charging that he took an illegal $5,000 cash campaign contribution. He was sentenced to 15 consecutive weekends in jail, home detention for two months and probation for two years. In addition he was fined $5,000.\nState Representative Bill Strong (D) pleaded guilty after 1993 indictment charges that he took an illegal $3,000 campaign contribution and did not deposit the money into his campaign fund. He was sentenced to three months in a halfway house, probation and was fined $3,000.\nState Representative Richard Turner (R) pleaded guilty to a 1993 charge that he filed a false campaign finance report. Charges that he took an illegal $3,000 cash campaign contribution were dropped.\nState Senator Patti Weaver (D) pleaded guilty after 1993 indictment charging that she was promised help finding a job in exchange for support of legislation. She was sentenced to weekend incarceration, probation and community service and was fined $10,000.\n\nLouisiana \nState Senator Melvin Irvin (D) convicted of bribery. (1991)\nInsurance Commissioner Doug Green (D) convicted of fraud and money laundering. (1991)\n\nMassachusetts \nState Representative Charles Flaherty (D) pleaded guilty to felony tax evasion for submitting false receipts regarding his business expenses and to violations of the state conflict of interests law. (1996)\n\nLocal \nMiddlesex County Sheriff John P. McGonigle (D) was convicted of tax evasion and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering for demanding kickbacks from two of his deputies. (1994)\nEssex County Sheriff Charles Reardon (D) pleaded guilty to taking kickbacks from process servers. (1996)\n\nMinnesota \nState Representative Robert Johnson (R) was convicted of three drunk driving arrests in a seven-week period. He was sentenced to a year in prison. (1995)\nState Representative Randy Staten (DFL) pled guilty to writing bad checks and was given a suspended sentence of 90 days, then probation. (1986)\nState Senator Harold Finn (DFL) was found guilty of stealing $1KK from the Leech Lake Band of Chippewa. Sentenced to five years. (1995)\n\nMissouri \nSecretary of State Judith Moriarty (D) was impeached for misconduct involving back-dating of her son's election paperwork to hide a missed filing deadline, and convicted by the state supreme court.\nSpeaker of the Missouri House of Representatives Bob F. Griffin (D), Griffin pleaded guilty on the second day of the second trial, to two counts of bribery and mail fraud in conjunction with the original highway scheme. He was sentenced to 48 months in prison, a $7,500 fine, and a $100 special penalty assessment. (1995)\nMissouri Attorney General William L. Webster (R) pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges and was sentenced to two years in prison. (1993)\n\nNebraska \nState Treasurer Frank Marsh (R) was convicted of misdemeanor charges for making personal, long-distance telephone calls. (1991)\n\nNew York \nChief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals Sol Wachtler (R), was investigated for extortion and harassment. He pleaded guilty to one charge of threatening to kidnap a teenage girl and served 15 months. (1993)\nState Senator Andrew Jenkins (D) was convicted of illegal banking, sentenced to one year and one day. (1990)\n\nNorth Carolina \nLieutenant Governor of North Carolina James C. Green (D), was convicted of income tax fraud and was sentenced to 33 months of house arrest. (1997)\n\nOhio \nState Senator Jeff Johnson (D), was convicted of three counts of extortion. (1990)\n\nOklahoma \nGovernor of Oklahoma David Lee Walters (D) pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor election law violation. (1993)\n\nPennsylvania \nState Representative Frank Serafini (R), was convicted of perjury (1999)\nSupreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen (D) convicted of conspiracy. (1992)\nAttorney General Ernie Preate (R) pleaded guilty to mail fraud. (1995)\nState Senator William G. Stinson (D) was found guilty of voter fraud and his election was reversed. (1994)\nState Senator William Lee Slocum, Jr. (R) pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating the Clean Water Act between 1983 and 1995, when he operated the Youngsville Sewage Treatment Plant and allowed repeated pollution discharges of raw sewage. Sentenced to one month in jail, five months of home detention, and fined $15,000.\nState Senator Dan S. Delp (R), pleaded guilty to buying a 19-year-old prostitute liquor and food using state money (1998)\n\nRhode Island \nGovernor of Rhode Island Edward Daniel DiPrete (R) pleaded guilty to bribery and racketeering charges and served one year in prison. (1998)\n\nSouth Carolina \nState Representative Paul Wayne Derrick (R) was convicted of accepting $1,000 in cash for his support of a gambling proposal being investigated in the FBI Operation, Lost Trust. (1991)\nState Representative Rick Lee (R) pleaded guilty to violating the Hobbs Act during the FBI Operation, Lost Trust. (1990)\n State Representative Daniel E. Winstead (R) from Charleston, pled guilty to accepting bribes. (1990)\nState Senator Robert Albert Kohn (R) State Senator from Charleston, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and bribery, and served seven months in prison.\n\nTexas \nAttorney General of Texas Dan Morales (D) pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion in relation to a $17 million tobacco industry settlement with the State of Texas in 1998. He was sentenced to four years in a federal prison for mail fraud and tax evasion in a case involving Texas' $17 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998. He was released in 2007.\nState Senator Drew Nixon (R) was arrested on a charge of soliciting sex from an undercover Austin police officer which led to another charge of carrying an unlicensed, loaded gun for which he did not have a proper permit. The jury recommended probation on the prostitution charge, but jail time on the weapons charge. He was sentenced to six months in prison and fined $6,000. (1997)\n\nVermont \nLieutenant Governor of Vermont Brian D. Burns (D), was convicted of three counts of fraud for having claimed to be working full-time for a public policy association while he also claimed to be attending Harvard University full-time. He appealed but his conviction was affirmed. (1995)\n\nVirginia \nState Senator Robert E. Russell Sr. (R) was convicted of embezzling $6,750 from a nonprofit cycling club. (1995)\n\nWest Virginia \nGovernor of West Virginia Arch A. Moore Jr (R) guilty of mail fraud, tax fraud, extortion and obstruction of justice. (1990)\n\nDistrict of Columbia \nMayor of the District of Columbia Marion Barry (D) caught on videotape using drugs in an FBI sting (1990)\n\n1980–1989\n\nAlaska \nState Senator Paul Fischer (R), pled guilty to misuse of state funds and taking illegal campaign contributions from an oil-field construction company. (1989)\nState Senator George Hohman (D) State Senator, bribed to obtain a water-bomber aircraft for the state. Sentenced to 3 years and fined $30,000. (1982)\n\nArizona \nGovernor of Arizona Evan Mecham (R) was found guilty of obstruction of justice and misuse of government funds. (1988)\n\nArkansas \nState Representative Preston Bynum (R) convicted of bribery. (1980)\n\nCalifornia \nChief Administrative Officer of San Francisco Roger Boas (D) convicted of rape. (1988)\n\nFlorida \nState Representative Don Gaffney (D) convicted of extortion. (1989)\n\nHawaii \nState Representative Clifford Uwaine (D) convicted of conspiracy. (1982)\n\nIllinois \nGovernor of Illinois Dan Walker (D) was convicted of improprieties stemming from loans from a Savings and Loan. He served 18 months in prison. (1987)\nState Senator Edward Nedza (D) convicted of fraud. (1987)\nAttorney General of Illinois William J. Scott (R) was convicted of tax fraud and sentenced to a year in prison. (1980)\n\nLocal \nAlderman of Chicago Marian Humes (D) convicted of bribery. (1989)\nAlderman of Chicago Perry Hutchinson (D) convicted of bribery. (1988)\nAlderman of Chicago Chester Kuta (D) convicted of bribery. (1987)\nAlderman of Chicago Wallace David Jr (D) convicted of bribery. (1987)\nAlderman of Chicago Clifford Kelley (D) convicted of corruption. (1987)\nAlderman of Chicago Louis Farina (D) convicted of extortion. (1983)\nAlderman of Chicago Tyrone Kenner (D) convicted of bribery. (1983)\nAlderman of Chicago William Carothers (D) convicted of extortion. (1983)\nAlderman of Chicago Stanley Zydlo (D) convicted of extortion. (1980)\n\nLouisiana \nPresident of the Louisiana State Senate Michael Hanley O'Keefe, Sr. (D) jailed for mail fraud. (1983) In February 1983, he was convicted of mail fraud and two counts of obstruction of justice.\nState Agriculture Commissioner Gil Dozier (D) was convicted of extortion and racketeering and jury tampering. (1982)\nState Senator Gaston Gerald (D) convicted of bribery. (1981)\n\nMaine \nState Representative Donald F. Sproul (R) was sentenced to 10 days in prison for ballot tampering.\n\nMassachusetts \nTransportation Secretary Barry Locke (D) was convicted of conspiring to take payoffs as part of a kickback scheme at the MBTA. (1982)\n\nMichigan \nState Senator Jerry C. Diggs (D) accepting bribes to kill taxes on race track revenue; He was tried, convicted, and sentenced (1983)\n\nNebraska \nAttorney General Paul L. Douglas (R) was convicted of perjury and resigned. (1984)\nState Senator James Pappas (R) from North Platte was charged with circulating a petition in a county in which he was not qualified and lying about it. He was found guilty, fined and placed on probation for two years. (1986)\n\nNew Hampshire \nState Representative Vincent Palumbo (R) pled guilty to bank fraud and tax evasion. He was sentenced to more than a year (1989)\n\nNew Jersey\n\nLocal \nMayor of Newark Kenneth A. Gibson (D) was convicted of bribery and for stealing funds from a school construction. (1986)\n\nNew York \nState Senator Richard E. Schermerhorn (R) was convicted of income-tax evasion, obstruction of justice and filing a false statement. Sentenced to 18 months in prison. (1989)\nState Senator William C. Brennan (D) convicted of bribery. (1984)\nState Senator Joseph R. Pisani (R) was convicted of multiple counts of fraud and tax evasion, most of which were overturned on appeal. The Appeals Court upheld one conviction for taking money from an escrow account from his client. (1983) In 1986, Pisani pleaded guilty to other charges of tax evasion, and was sentenced to one year in prison.\n\nOregon \nState Senator Bill Olson (R) pleaded guilty to second-degree sex abuse with a 13-year-old female. (1988)\n\nPennsylvania \nPennsylvania Auditor General Al Benedict (D) convicted of racketeering. (1988)\nState Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer (R) was convicted of bribery. (1987)\n\nLocal \nPresident of the Philadelphia City Council George X. Schwartz (D) was convicted of taking bribes. (1985)\nMember of the Philadelphia City Council Harry Jannotti (D) was convicted of taking bribes. (1985)\nMember of the Philadelphia City Council Louis Johanson (D) was convicted of taking bribes. (1985)\n\nTennessee \nFBI investigation Operation Rocky Top concerned the illegal sale of charity bingo licenses which resulted in over 50 convictions. Two targets of the investigation committed suicide: Tennessee Secretary of State Gentry Crowell (D) (in December 1989, just before he was scheduled to testify for a third time before a federal grand jury) and long-time State Representative Ted Ray Miller (D) (after being charged with bribery). (1986)\nGovernor Leonard Ray Blanton (D) was convicted of mail fraud, conspiracy and extortion for selling liquor licenses. (1982) He served 22 months in a federal penitentiary.\nState Representative Emmitt Ford (D) was convicted of fraud. (1981)\nState Representative Tommy Burnett (D) jailed for 10 months for tax evasion. (1983)\nState Representative Robert J. Fisher (R), was convicted of soliciting a $1,000 bribe from Carter County Sheriff George Papantoniou to kill a state bill the sheriff opposed. Fisher was given a $500 fine and a 30-day suspended sentence and was expelled from the State Senate by a vote of 92–1 (1980)\n\nTexas \nState Representative Mike Martin (R) from Longview, hired his cousin to shoot him as a publicity stunt. He pleaded guilty to perjury and paid a $2,000 fine on the condition that he also resign. (1982)\n\nVermont\n\nLocal\nAssistant Judge Jane Wheel of Chittenden County was convicted of three counts of falsifying court records so she could claim pay for days she had not actually worked. She was sentenced to one to three years in prison on each count, with all but 45 days suspended, plus 1,500 hours of community service. (1987) Wheel's investigation was part of a larger investigation into possible corruption among members of the Vermont Supreme Court. (1988) (See also Vermont vs Hunt (1982).)\n\nWashington \nState Senator Gordon Walgren (D) convicted of violating the Travel Act during the investigation called GAMSCAM. (1980)\nState Representative John A. Bagnariol (D) was convicted of racketeering charges during the investigation called GAMSCAM. (1980\n\nWisconsin \nState Senator Richard Shoemaker (D) convicted of receiving illegal money. (1988)\nState Assemblyman Walter L. Ward, Jr. (D) convicted of sexual assault. (1980)\n\nWest Virginia \nState Senator Dan R. Tonkovich (D) pleaded guilty to extorting $5,000 from gambling interests. He was sentenced to five years in prison. (1989)\nState Senate Larry Tucker (D) extorted $10,000 from a lobbyist, resigned and pleaded guilty. (1989)\n\n1970–1979\n\nAlabama \nState Treasurer Melba Till Allen (D) was convicted of using her office to obtain bank loans to build a theme park and of failing to make full disclosure of her personal finances. She was sentenced to six years in jail and three-and-a-half years of probation. (1978)\n\nArkansas \nState Senator Guy H. Jones (D) convicted of tax evasion in 1973, he was expelled from the senate in 1974.\n\nIllinois \nState Representative Walter C. McAvoy (R) convicted of taking a bribe. (1978)\nThe Illinois concrete industry was investigated for bribery and six politicians were found guilty. (1976)\nState Rep. Pete Pappas (R), the chief conspirator who turned government informant and pleaded guilty; got probation.\nState Rep. Louis F, Capuzi (R) – (Chicago) guilty\nState Rep, Robert Craig (D), guilty, 3-year sentence, $5,000 fine.\nState Sen. Kenneth W. Course (D), guilty, 3-year sentence, $5,000 fine.\nState Rep. Frank P. (Pat) North (R), guilty, 3-year sentence, $5,000 fine.\nState Sen. Jack E. Walker (R), guilty, 3-year sentence, $5,000 fine.\nState Sen. Donald D. Carpentier (R), guilty, 3-year sentence, $5,000 fine.\nState Representative John Wall (R) was convicted of conspiracy to extort money from employees of Crown Personnel, Inc., connected with the labor department's program to find jobs for Vietnam veterans through private employment agencies. (1971)\nGovernor Otto Kerner, Jr. (D) After serving two terms, Kerner was appointed to the Seventh District Court when he was convicted on 17 counts of bribery, conspiracy, perjury and related charges. He was sentenced to three years in federal prison. (1973)\nSecretary of State Edward Barrett (D) was convicted of bribery, mail fraud, and income tax evasion. (1973)\n\nLocal \nAlderman of Chicago Edward Scholl (D) convicted of bribery. (1975)\nAlderman of Chicago Donald Swinarski (D) convicted of bribery. (1975)\nAlderman of Chicago Paul Wigoda (D) convicted of bribery. (1974)\nAlderman of Chicago Thomas Keane (D) convicted of fraud. (1974)\nAlderman of Chicago Frank Kuta (D) convicted of bribery. (1974)\nAlderman of Chicago Joseph Potempa (D) convicted of bribery. (1973)\nAlderman of Chicago Casimir Staszcuk (D) convicted of bribery. (1973)\nAlderman of Chicago Joseph Jambrone (D) convicted of bribery. (1973)\nAlderman of Chicago Fred Hubbard (D) convicted of embezzlement. (1972)\n\nLouisiana \nAttorney General Jack P. F. Gremillion (D) was sentenced to three years in prison for perjury for covering up his dealings with a failed savings and loan. (1972)\n\nMaryland \nState Representative George Santoni (D) was convicted of extortion and served 43 months in prison. (1977)\nGovernor Marvin Mandel (D) was convicted of mail fraud and racketeering. (1977) He served nineteen months of his sentence in a federal prison before being pardoned by President Ronald Reagan. On November 12, 1987, Judge Frederic N. Smalkin overturned Mandel's conviction.\nAnne Arundel County Executive Joseph Alton Jr. (R) pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit extortion. He served seven months of an eighteen-month sentence in Allenwood Federal Correctional Complex. (1974)\n\nMassachusetts \nState Senator George Rogers (D) was convicted of conspiracy to steal and bribe. He was sentenced to two years in prison and fined $5,000. (1978)\nState Senators Joseph DiCarlo (D) and Ronald MacKenzie (R) were convicted of violating the Hobbs Act, which forbids extortion by public officials, and the Travel Act, which forbids crossing state lines for the purpose of extortion. They were sentenced to one year in prison and fined $5,000. (1977)\nState Representative David J. O'Connor (D) was convicted of willful failure to file Federal income tax returns. He was sentenced five months in jail and fined $10,000. (1970)\n\nMichigan\nState Representative Monte Geralds (D) was expelled from the State House of Representatives, after he was convicted of embezzling $24,000 from a client. (1978)\n\nNew Jersey \n State Assemblyman Arnold D'Ambrosa (D) sentenced to nine months in jail after admitting to charges of embezzlement, bribery, perjury and official misconduct. (1976)\nState Senator Jerome M. Epstein (R) was convicted of stealing $4 million worth of oil between 1969 and 1975 while he was in office. He was sentenced to nine years in prison (1975)\nSecretary of the Treasury Joseph H. McCrane Jr. (R) was convicted of four counts of preparing false and fraudulent tax returns to hide political donations (1974)\nState Senator James Turner (R) was convicted on charges of planting drugs in the home of his Democratic opponent, Assemblyman Kenneth Gewertz in an attempt to frame and ruin him. Senator Turner got five years in prison. (1974)\nSecretary of State Robert J. Burkhardt (D) convicted of accepting $30,000 in bribes to 'fix' a bridge construction contract in 1964. He was given a suspended sentence and three years' probation. (1972)\nSecretary of State Paul J. Sherwin (D) was convicted of trying to fix a $600,000 state highway contract for a contractor who then kicked back $10,000 to Republican fund-raisers (1971)\nState Assemblyman Peter Moraites (R) pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of fraud and was given a 16-month sentence. (1970)\n\nLocal \nMayor of Jersey City, Thomas J. Whelan (D) was indicted as a member of the \"Hudson County Eight\", and convicted of conspiracy and extortion concerning kickbacks for city and county contracts. (1971)\nMayor of Jersey City, John V. Kenny (D) In 1971, he was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey and convicted, along with the then-mayor Whelan and former City Council president Thomas Flaherty, in federal court of conspiracy and extortion in a multimillion-dollar political kickback scheme on city and county contracts.\n\nNew York \nState Assemblyman Martin S. Auer (R) was convicted of a kickback scheme with insurance agencies (1979)\nState Senator Lloyd H. Paterson (R) convicted of 20 counts of grand larceny and five counts of falsifying business records, having embezzled more than $68,000 from private estates. He was forced to give up his seat, sentenced to five years' probation and fined $18,500 (1978)\n\nLocal \nNew York City Councilman Matthew Troy (D) pleaded guilty to a federal charge of filing a 1972 income tax return that failed to include $37,000 stolen from clients of his law practice (1976)\n\nOklahoma \nGovernor David Hall (D), was convicted of extortion and conspiracy and served 19 months of a three-year sentence. (1975)\n\nPennsylvania \nState Senator William E. Duffield (D) was sentenced to six months in prison for 11 counts of mail fraud. (1975)\nState Senator Henry Cianfrani (D) convicted on federal charges of racketeering and mail fraud, Cianfrani was sentenced to five years in federal prison. After serving for twenty-seven months, he was released in 1980.\n\nLocal \nMayor of Chester, Pennsylvania John H. Nacrelli convicted of federal bribery and racketeering. (1979)\n\nTennessee \n Governor of Tennessee Ray Blanton (D) convicted of wire fraud and sentenced to 22 months. (1979)\n\nWisconsin \nState Representative James Lewis (R) attempted to persuade scientist Myron Muckerheide to create a laser gun \"designed to blind people\", and to sell it to Guatemalan Colonel Federico Fuentes. Lewis pleaded guilty to perjury for lying to a federal grand jury investigating the scheme and was removed from office. (1979)\nState Senator James Devitt (R) was found guilty of giving felony false testimony by attempting to conceal a campaign contribution. He was also removed from office. (1974)\n\nWest Virginia \nGovernor of West Virginia Wally Barron (D) was convicted of jury tampering. (1971)\n\n1960–1969\n\nAlabama \nAttorney General of Alabama Richmond Flowers, Sr. (D) In 1969, Flowers was sentenced to eight years in prison for conspiring to extort payments from companies.\n\nCalifornia\n\nLocal \n Mayor of Oakland John C. Houlihan (R) was sent to prison for more than two years after pleading guilty to stealing nearly $100,000 from an estate he was handling as an attorney. (1966)\n\nMaryland \nState Delegate A. Gordon Boone (D) served 13 months in federal prison after his conviction on charges of mail fraud in connection with the state's savings and loan scandal. (1967)\n\nMassachusetts \nGovernor's Councilors Joseph Ray Crimmins (D) and Raymond F. Sullivan (D) and former councilors Michael Favulli (D) and Ernest C. Stasiun (D) were found guilty of conspiracy for requesting bribes from Governor Foster Furcolo in exchange for their votes in favor of reappointing state public works commissioner Anthony N. DiNatale. (1965)\n\nMichigan\n\nLocal\nMayor of Detroit Louis Miriani (R) convicted of tax evasion. (1969)\n\nNew Jersey \nState Senator Jerome Epstein (R) was found guilty and sentenced to nine years for stealing $4KK of fuel oil. (1968)\n\nNew York \nState Assemblyman Hyman E. Mintz (R) was convicted of bribery and perjury charges for trying to get insider information on a grand jury probe of the Finger Lakes Race Track. Mintz was sentenced to one year in prison. (1965)\nState Assemblyman Stanley J. Bauer (R) pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and was fined $5,000. (1962)\n\nOklahoma\nAssociate Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court N. S. Corn (D) accepted bribes of $150K delivered in $100 bills in an armored car and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. (1964)\n\n1950–1959\n\nIllinois \nState Auditor Orville Hodge (R) embezzled more than $6 million and was indicted on 54 counts including conspiracy, forgery and embezzling. He was sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison. (1956)\n\nMaine \nState Senator Earle Albee (R), was found guilty of accepting money under false pretenses for working to have a drunk driving charge dismissed. He was sentenced to prison and an appeal was dismissed. (1957)\n\nTexas \nTexas Land Commissioner Bascom Giles (D) convicted of fraud and bribery and served three years of a six-year prison term.\n\n1940–1949\n\nMassachusetts\n\nLocal \nMayor of Lowell George T. Ashe (D) was convicted by a jury on charges of conspiracy involving city purchases. (1942) He was sentenced to a year in prison.\nSheriff of Suffolk County John F. Dowd (D) pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and soliciting and accepting gratuities. He was sentenced to two concurrent sentences of six to eight years in prison. (1941)\nMarlborough, Massachusetts city solicitor John J. Ginnetti pled guilty to bribery for selling two jobs in the Marlborough Fire Department. Mayor Louis Ingalls, who was indicted alongside Ginnetti, committed suicide before the trial began. Ginnetti was sentenced to six months in jail and resigned from the bar. (1940)\n\nMichigan \nState Representative Carl F. DeLano (R) was convicted of accepting bribes from naturopathic physicians, sentenced to three to five years in prison (1945)\nState Senator William C. Birk (R) was convicted of accepting a bribe and sentenced to four years in prison. (1945)\nState Senator Jerry T. Logie (R) was tried, convicted, and sentenced to 3–5 years in prison for bribery. (1944)\nState Representative William Green (R) indicted on bribery charges, tried in 1945 and convicted; sentenced to three to five years in prison (1945)\nState Representative Warren Green Hooper (R) pleaded guilty to taking bribes and was given immunity from prosecution in return for turning state's evidence. Four days later he was shot and killed. (1945)\n\nNew Jersey\n\nLocal\nAtlantic County Treasurer Enoch L. Johnson \"Nucky\" (R) was involved in racketeering, gambling, prostitution and bootlegging. He was arrested for failure to file income taxes. He was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years. (1941)\n\nNew York \nAssemblyman Lawrence J. Murray, Jr. (D) was charged with embezzling over some time a total amount of $49,102 from the accounts of a mentally incompetent client which he subsequently lost betting on horses. On April 4, 1940, he was convicted of theft, and the next day sentenced to 5 to 10 years in prison.\n\n1930–1939\n\nConnecticut \nState Senator Nathan Spiro (R), pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe and was fined $1,500 (1938)\n\nLouisiana \nGovernor Richard W. Leche (D) sentenced to 10 years in prison for fraud. (1939)\n\nMichigan \nState Representative Miles M. Callaghan (R) resigned his seat after pleading guilty to charges of legislative graft and conspiracy. (1939)\n\nPennsylvania \nState Senator John J. McClure (R) was convicted of vice and rum running but was overturned on appeal.\n\n1920–1929\n\nIndiana \nGovernor of Indiana Warren McCray (R) convicted of mail fraud and served three years. (1924)\n\nLocal \nMayor of Indianapolis John Duvall (R) was convicted of bribery and jailed. (1928)\nMayor of Indianapolis Claude E. Negley (R) pled guilty to accepting bribes, fined. (1927)\n\nMassachusetts \nState Representative C. F. Nelson Pratt (R) was found guilty of simple assault after being charged with attempted felonious assault. He was fined $100. (1928)\n\nOklahoma\n\nWisconsin\nState Assemblyman Clark M. Perry (R) pleaded guilty to a charge of liquor conspiracy and was sentenced to three years in prison. (1926)\n\n1910–1919\n\nArkansas \nState Senator Samuel C. Sims (D) was paid a bribe of $900 about legislation to regulate trading stamps and coupons. He was arrested, charged with bribery and convicted, and then expelled from the Senate. (1917)\nState Senator Ivison C. Burgess (R) introduced legislation to regulate trading stamps and coupons and then accepted a bribe of $2,000 from trading-stamp interests. Guilty of bribery, then expelled from the Senate. (1917)\n\nCalifornia \nState Senator Marshall Black, (R) was convicted for embezzlement of funds (1918)\n\nIllinois\n\nLocal\nMayor of Rock Island, Harry M. Schriver (R) was convicted of vice protection and conspiracy. (1923)\n\nMassachusetts \nLawrence, Massachusetts Mayor William P. White (R) was found guilty of bribery. (1910)\nState Representative Harry C. Foster (R) was found guilty of conduct unbecoming a representative for collecting money for pending legislation (1916)\n\nLocal\n\nNew Hampshire \nState Representative Clifford L. Snow (R) found guilty of selling his votes to other legislators(1913)\n\nOklahoma \nState Insurance Commissioner Perry A. Ballard (D) was found guilty of moral turpitude and corruption. (1913)\n\nPennsylvania \nAuditor General of Pennsylvania William Preston Snyder (R) was convicted of conspiracy to defraud and was given a sentence of two years in jail. (1909)\nState Superintendent of Public Grounds and Buildings James M. Shumaker (R) was convicted of conspiracy to defraud. Sentenced to two years in prison. (1908)\n\nVermont \nHorace F. Graham (R) State Auditor, had just been elected governor, when he was accused of having embezzled $25,000. At trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to prison. A new governor was elected, Republican Percival W. Clement. Though Graham still denied the crime, he repaid the missing funds. He was then pardoned by Governor Clement. (1917)\n\nWisconsin \nState Assemblyman Edmund J. Labuwi (R) was convicted of obtaining money under false pretenses. (1916)\n\n1900–1909\n\nKentucky \nState Auditor Henry Eckert Youtsey (R) State Auditor, was found guilty of conspiracy in the assassination of Governor William J. Goebel (D) and was sentenced to life in prison (1900)\nSecretary of State Caleb Powers (R) was convicted as an accessory to the assassination of Democratic Governor William J. Goebel. Powers served eight years in jail. (1900) He was pardoned in 1908.\n\nMassachusetts\n\nLocal \nBoston Alderman George H. Battis (R) was convicted of larceny for overcharging the city of Boston $334.25 for trophies he purchased for the East Boston's Fourth of July celebrations in 1906 and 1907. He received a three-year sentence, but was pardoned by Governor Eben Sumner Draper and the Massachusetts Governor's Council after a year-and-a-half. (1909)\n\nMichigan \nState Representative D. Judson Hammond (R) from Oakland County, convicted of soliciting a bribe of $500 to defeat a bill opposed by wholesale grocers; sentenced to two years in prison. (1903)\nState Treasurer Frank Porter Glazier (R) convicted of embezzlement; served two years in prison (1908)\n\nMissouri \n State Senator William P. Sullivan (R) convicted of accepting a bribe concerning his vote on the \"pure food law\" and fined $100. (1905)\n\nNew York \n State Assemblyman Max Eckmann (R) found guilty of conspiracy to manufacture false voting petitions, fined $500 (1906)\n\nPennsylvania \nTreasurer of Pennsylvania, William L. Mathues (R) Mathues was convicted in connection to the Pennsylvania State Capitol graft scandal and sentenced to two years in prison. He died before incarceration. (1908)\n\n1890–1899\n\nMaryland \nState Treasurer Stevenson Archer (D) was found guilty of embezzling $132,000 and sentenced to five years. (1890)\n\nMissouri \nState Treasurer Edward T. Noland (D), following reports of his drunkenness and gambling, an investigation found a shortage in state funds of about $32,000. He was suspended from office and resigned. He was then arrested, charged with embezzlement, tried, convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. (1890)\n\n1880–1889\n\nKentucky \nState Treasurer James \"Honest Dick\" Tate (D) was convicted of fraud and theft. (1888)\n\nLouisiana \nState Treasurer Edward A. Burke (D) was convicted of fraud and theft. (1888)\n\n1870–1879\n\nMississippi \nLieutenant Governor Alexander K. Davis (R) was found guilty of accepting a bribe for aid in obtaining a pardon. (1876)\n\nNebraska \nGovernor David C. Butler (R) was found guilty of using $16,000 from the sale of public lands for his own private use. He was then impeached and removed from office. (1871)\n\nNorth Carolina \nGovernor William Woods Holden (R) was convicted of \"unlawful\" arrests and recruitment of troops to quell the activities of the Ku Klux Klan in what became known as the Kirk-Holden war. Impeached, found guilty and removed from office. (1870)\n\nSouth Carolina \n State Treasurer Francis Lewis Cardozo (R) was convicted of fraud, and spent seven months in prison. (1876)\n\n1850–1859\n\nIllinois \nGovernor of Illinois Joel Aldrich Matteson (D), was found to have redeemed Michigan and Illinois Canal script, which had already been redeemed. He was found guilty and forced to repay $238K. (1859)\n\nSee also \nList of federal political scandals in the United States\nList of federal political sex scandals in the United States\n2017–18 United States political sexual scandals\n\nFederal politicians:\nList of American federal politicians convicted of crimes\nList of United States representatives expelled, censured, or reprimanded\nList of United States senators expelled or censured\n\nReferences \n\n \nConvicted of crimes\nLists of criminals\nPoliticians convicted of crimes",
"On 28 May 2021, Scottish pensioner Esther Brown was raped and murdered at her flat in Woodlands, Glasgow.\n\nJason Graham, a registered sex offender, who was unknown to her, was found guilty of her rape and murder on 12 November 2021, and sentenced to 19 years in jail.\n\nPerpetrator \nJason Graham did not know Brown, and was a registered sex offender. He was aged 30 at the time he murdered and raped Brown.\n\nMurder \nBrown was kicked, punched and stamped on by Graham on 28 May 2021.\n\nShe was reported missing the same day and found dead on 1 June at her flat in Glasgow's Woodlands on West Princes Street. \n\nOn 7 June an arrest was made, Graham was charged, suspected of brutally killing the elderly woman in her own home. After killing her, he allegedly used Brown's bankcard to purchase cigarettes.\n\nResponse \nA memorial is planned for Brown, in recognition of her community activism.\n\nTrial \nOn 15 October 2021, Jason Graham pleaded guilty to the murder at Glasgow High Court. Sentencing was due by 12 November 2021. On 17 November, he was found guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 19 years.\n\nSee also\nList of solved missing person cases\n\nReferences \n\n2020s missing person cases\n2021 in Scotland\n2021 murders in the United Kingdom\nFemale murder victims\nFormerly missing people\nMay 2021 events in the United Kingdom\nMissing person cases in Scotland\nMurder in Glasgow\nRape in Scotland\nViolence against women in Scotland"
] |
[
"James O'Keefe",
"Senator Mary Landrieu (2010)",
"What is is connection with Mary Landrieu?",
"O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents",
"What did he do once he entered the office?",
"O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses",
"Did they take video recordings of the office?",
"I don't know.",
"Was he found guilty?",
"The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty"
] | C_db0856153b7d4364b3156b34bd97dae1_0 | What was the sentence? | 5 | What was the sentence given to O'keefe for entering a federal building under false pretense? | James O'Keefe | O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, at the office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat. His three fellow activists, who were dressed as telephone repairmen when apprehended, included Robert Flanagan, the son of William Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Louisiana. The four men were charged with malicious intent to damage the phone system. O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents during the debate over President Barack Obama's health care bill. The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty on May 26. O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The other three men received lesser sentences. In August 2013, O'Keefe revisited the incident by releasing a video entitled: "a confrontation with former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten on the campus of Tulane University". Letten is a former Republican U.S. Attorney who recused himself from the Landrieu incident because he knew the father of one of the men involved. The video shows Letten accusing O'Keefe of "terrorizing" Letten's wife at their home, of harassing him, and trespassing on the Tulane campus. He called O'Keefe a "coward" and a "spud", and referred to O'Keefe and his companions as "hobbits" and "scum". CANNOTANSWER | O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The other three men received lesser sentences. | James Edward O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is an American political activist and provocateur who founded Project Veritas, a far-right activist group that uses deceptive editing techniques to attack mainstream media organizations and progressive groups. Both O'Keefe and Project Veritas have produced secretly recorded undercover audio and video encounters in academic, governmental, and social service organizations, purporting to show abusive or illegal behavior by representatives of those organizations; the recordings are often selectively edited to misrepresent the context of the conversations and the subjects' responses.
O’Keefe gained national attention for his selectively edited video recordings of workers at Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) offices in 2009, his arrest and guilty plea in 2010 for entering the federal office of then-U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) under false pretenses, and the release of misleading videos of conversations with two high-ranking, now former, NPR executives in 2011.
When his videos – heavily edited to portray ACORN workers seemingly aiding a couple in criminal planning – were publicized, the U.S. Congress voted to freeze funds for the non-profit. The national controversy resulted in the non-profit also losing most of its private funding before investigations of the videos concluded no illegal activity occurred. In March 2010, ACORN was close to bankruptcy and had to close or rename most of its offices. Shortly thereafter, the California State Attorney General's Office and the US Government Accountability Office released their related investigative reports. The Attorney General's Office found that O'Keefe had misrepresented the actions of ACORN workers in California and that the workers had not broken any laws. A preliminary probe by the GAO found that ACORN had managed its federal funds appropriately. One of the fired ACORN workers sued O'Keefe for invasion of privacy; O'Keefe issued an apology and agreed to pay $100,000 in a settlement.
O'Keefe has gained support from right-wing and conservative media and interest groups, as well as the far right. In 2009, Andrew Breitbart commissioned him for the option to publish new videos exclusively on BigGovernment.com.
Early life and education
James Edward O'Keefe III was born in Bergen County, New Jersey, the elder of two children of James, a materials engineer, and Deborah O'Keefe, a physical therapist. He has a younger sister.
O'Keefe grew up in Westwood, New Jersey. His home was politically "conservative but not rigidly so", according to his father. He graduated from Westwood High School, where he showed an early interest in the arts, theater and journalism. He attained Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America. O'Keefe started at Rutgers University in 2002 and majored in philosophy. Beginning in his sophomore year, he wrote a bi-weekly opinion column for The Daily Targum, the university's student paper. He left the Targum and founded the Rutgers Centurion, a conservative student paper supported by a $500 "Balance in the Media" grant from The Leadership Institute.
For his first video, he and other Centurion writers met with Rutgers dining staff to demand the banning of the cereal Lucky Charms from dining halls because of its offense to Irish Americans. O'Keefe said the leprechaun mascot presented a stereotype. He intended to have officials lose either way: to appear insensitive to an ethnic group, or to look silly by agreeing to ban Lucky Charms. They expected to be thrown out of school, but the Rutgers official was courteous, took notes, and said their concerns would be considered. Rutgers staff say the cereal was never taken off the menu.
Career
After graduating from Rutgers, O'Keefe worked for a year at the Leadership Institute (LI) in Arlington, Virginia, under media specialist Ben Wetmore, whom O'Keefe calls his mentor. The institute sent him to colleges to train students to start conservative independent newspapers, but, after a year LI officials asked him to leave. According to LI president and founder Morton Blackwell, O'Keefe was "very effective and very enthusiastic" but after a year he was asked to leave because officials felt his activist work threatened the group's nonprofit status by trying to influence legislation.
O'Keefe has produced and distributed secretly recorded and misleadingly edited videos and audio files made during staged encounters with targeted entities or individuals. His work takes the form of undercover stings targeted at liberal groups and politicians. He sought to "embarrass" and "damage" his targets, such as Landrieu and ACORN.
He has sought to maximize publicity by releasing secretly recorded videos over several days or months, often in relation to funding authorizations or significant political actions related to the subject organization. Many videos received widespread media coverage sparking significant reactions, most notably videos of ACORN that resulted in the Congress quickly freezing funds, two executive agencies canceling contracts, and several ACORN workers being fired, and videos of National Public Radio (NPR) executives that led to the resignation of CEO Vivian Schiller, shortly before Congressional funding hearings involving NPR.
In January 2010, O'Keefe began a column on Breitbarts website, BigGovernment.com. Andrew Breitbart stated in an interview that he paid O'Keefe a salary for his "life rights" to gain release of O'Keefe's videos first on his website. In 2010, O'Keefe formed his a new organization, Project Veritas, whose stated mission is "to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society."
Much of the funding for Project Veritas comes from anonymous donations through Donors Trust, a conservative, American nonprofit donor-advised fund, which according to its promotional materials, says that it will "keep your charitable giving private, especially gifts funding sensitive or controversial issues." Prominent donors include the Trump Foundation, which, in May 2015, donated $10,000.
O'Keefe is a conservative activist with mainstream conservative pro-market and anti-government views, although he has described himself as a "progressive radical", because he wants to change things, "not conserve them". He considers himself a muckraker. O'Keefe has expressed admiration for the philosophy of G. K. Chesterton and for a free press.
Major activities
Planned Parenthood recordings (2008)
In 2006, O'Keefe met Lila Rose, the founder of an anti-abortion group on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus. They secretly recorded encounters in Planned Parenthood clinics in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, in which Rose posed as a 15-year-old girl impregnated by a 23-year-old male. Rose and O'Keefe made two videos incorporating heavily edited versions of the recordings and released them on YouTube. the video omitted the portions of the full conversation in which a Planned Parenthood employee asked Rose to consult her mother about the pregnancy and another employee told Rose, "We have to follow the laws". Rose took down the videos after Planned Parenthood sent her a cease and desist letter in May 2007 asserting that the videos violated California's voice recording laws, which required consent from all recorded parties.
In 2007, O'Keefe phoned several Planned Parenthood clinics and secretly recorded the conversations. He posed as a donor, asking if his donations would be applied to needs of minority women, accompanied by race-related remarks such as "there's way too many black people in Ohio". The recordings portrayed Planned Parenthood clinic workers in six states agreeing to accept his donation under his conditions. After the release of the recordings, African-American leaders called for withdrawal of public financing of the organization. The Idaho clinic responded with an apology for "the manner in which this offensive call was handled". Planned Parenthood issued an official statement emphasizing that "97 percent of its services are focused on providing contraceptives, breast and cervical cancer screenings and sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment — not abortions".
ACORN videos (2009)
In September 2009, O'Keefe and his associate, Hannah Giles, published edited hidden camera recordings in which Giles posed as a prostitute and O'Keefe as her boyfriend, a law student, in an attempt to elicit damaging responses from employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), an advocacy organization for people of low and moderate income.
Washington Post correspondents Darryl Fears and Carol D. Leonnig reported that O'Keefe "said he targeted ACORN for the same reasons that the political right does: its massive voter registration drives" and that "[p]oliticians are getting elected single-handedly due to this organization." According to The Washington Post, ACORN registered people mostly from the Latino and African American groups.
The videos were recorded during the summer of 2009 and appeared to show low-level ACORN employees in six cities providing advice to Giles and O'Keefe on how to avoid detection by authorities of tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution. He framed the undercover recordings with a preface of him dressed in a "pimp" outfit, which he also wore in TV media interviews. This gave viewers, including the media, the impression that he had dressed that way when speaking to ACORN workers. However, he actually entered the ACORN offices in conservative street clothes (the sleeve of his dress shirt is visible on camera). Furthermore, the ACORN employees involved reported his activities to the police after he left. O'Keefe selectively edited and manipulated his recordings of ACORN employees, as well as distorted the chronologies. Several journalists and media outlets have expressed regret for not properly scrutinizing and vetting his work.
Reception and lawsuit
After the videos were released through the fall of 2009, the U.S. Congress quickly voted to freeze federal funding to ACORN. The Census Bureau and the IRS terminated their contract relationships with ACORN. By December 2009, an external investigation of ACORN was published which cleared the organization of any illegality, while noting that its poor management practices contributed to unprofessional actions by some low-level employees. In March 2010, ACORN announced it would dissolve due to loss of funding from government and especially private sources.
On March 1, 2010, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes found there was no criminal wrongdoing by the ACORN staff in New York.
The California Attorney General's Office granted O'Keefe and Giles limited immunity from prosecution in exchange for providing the full, unedited videotapes related to ACORN offices in California. On the basis of the edited videotape which O'Keefe released, Vera appeared to be a willing participant in helping with O'Keefe's plan to smuggle young women into the United States illegally. However, authorities confirmed that Vera immediately contacted them about O'Keefe and that he had also encouraged O'Keefe to share as much information as possible about his scheme and gather further evidence of O'Keefe's purported illegal activities, which could then be used by prosecutors to bring charges against O'Keefe for attempted human trafficking. Due to O'Keefe's release of the dubiously edited video, intentionally designed to "prove" that ACORN employees were ready and willing to engage in illicit activities, Vera lost his job and was falsely accused of being engaged in human trafficking. O'Keefe said that he "regrets any pain" caused by his actions, though O'Keefe's lawyer dismissed any claimed injury incurred by Vera and stated that the payment was a "nuisance settlement".
O'Keefe moved for summary judgment in his favor, arguing that the plaintiff had no reasonable expectation that the conversation would be private. In August 2012, the federal judge hearing the case denied O'Keefe's motion for summary judgment. The judge ruled that O'Keefe had "misled plaintiff to believe that the conversation would remain confidential by posing as a client seeking services from ACORN and asking whether their conversation was confidential." On March 5, 2013, O'Keefe agreed to pay $100,000 to former California ACORN employee Juan Carlos Vera for breaking state law prohibiting surreptitious recording, and acknowledged in the settlement that at the time he published his video he was unaware that Vera had notified the police about the incident. The settlement contained the following apology: "O'Keefe regrets any pain suffered by Mr. Vera or his family."
On June 14, 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published its report finding no evidence that ACORN, or any of its related organizations, had mishandled any of the $40 million in federal money which they had received in recent years.
Senator Mary Landrieu (2010)
O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in the Hale Boggs Federal Complex in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, at the office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat. His three fellow activists, who were dressed as telephone repairmen when apprehended, included Robert Flanagan, the son of William Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Louisiana. The four men were charged with malicious intent to damage the phone system. O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents during the debate over President Barack Obama's health care bill.
The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty on May 26. O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The three other men received lesser sentences. Another consequence is that O'Keefe is barred from soliciting donations from Florida residents, because of state law applicable to people found guilty of fraud.
In August 2013, O'Keefe revisited the incident by releasing a video entitled: "a confrontation with former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten on the campus of Tulane University". Letten is a former Republican U.S. Attorney who recused himself from the Landrieu incident because he knew the father of one of the men involved. The video shows Letten accusing O'Keefe of "terrorizing" Letten's wife at their home, of harassing him, and trespassing on the Tulane campus. He called O'Keefe a "coward" and a "spud", and referred to O'Keefe and his companions as "hobbits" and "scum".
NPR video (2011)
On March 8, 2011, shortly before the US Congress was to vote on funding for National Public Radio (NPR), O'Keefe released a heavily edited video of a discussion with Ronald Schiller, NPR's senior vice president for fundraising, and associate Betsy Liley. Raw content was secretly recorded by O'Keefe's partners Ken Larrey and Shaughn Adeleye.
NPR responded by stating that Schiller's remarks were presented out of sequence and that he said that he would speak personally, and not for NPR. Schiller said some highly placed Republicans believed the Republican Party had been hijacked by a radical group (the Tea Party) that they characterized as "Islamophobic" and "seriously racist, racist people", and while Schiller did not disagree, according to NPR, O'Keefe's editing made it appear those were Schiller's opinions. Schiller then says that unlike establishment Republicans, the growing Tea Party movement in the party "is fanatically involved in people's personal lives and very fundamental Christian — I wouldn't even call it Christian. It's this weird evangelical kind of move."
Later in the edited video, Schiller seems to say he believes NPR "would be better off in the long run without federal funding", explaining that removal of federal funding would allow NPR more independence and remove the widely held misconception that NPR is significantly funded by the public. But on the raw tape, Schiller also said that withdrawing federal funding would cause local stations to go under and that NPR is doing "everything we can" to keep it.
In a statement released before analysis of the longer raw video, NPR said, "Schiller's comments are in direct conflict with NPR's official position ... The fraudulent organization represented in this video repeatedly pressed us to accept a $5 million check with no strings attached, which we repeatedly refused to accept." After reviewing the unedited video, Scott Baker, editor-in-chief of TheBlaze, said the NPR executives "seem to be fairly balanced people."
Journalists Ben Smith, James Poniewozik, and Dave Weigel have expressed regret for giving O'Keefe's NPR videos wider circulation without scrutinizing them for themselves.
Reception
Comparison of the raw video with the released one revealed editing that was characterized as "selective" and "deceptive" by Michael Gerson, opinion writer for The Washington Post, who wrote, "O'Keefe did not merely leave a false impression; he manufactured an elaborate, alluring lie." Time magazine wrote that the video "transposed remarks from a different part of the meeting", was "manipulative" and "a partisan hit-job."
The raw video shows Schiller told the two men "that donors cannot expect to influence news coverage." On the longer tape, he says, "There is such a big firewall between funding and reporting: Reporters will not be swayed in any way, shape or form." Broadcast journalist Al Tompkins, who now teaches at the Poynter Institute, noted that Ron Schiller was a fundraiser, not an official affecting the newsroom. He commented on the raw tape: "The message that he said most often—I counted six times: He told these two people that he had never met before that you cannot buy coverage", Tompkins said. "He says it over and over and over again."
On March 17, Martha T. Moore of USA Today reported: "According to The Blaze analysis, Ron Schiller's most inflammatory remarks, that Tea Party members are 'seriously racist', were made as he was recounting the views of Republicans he has spoken with—although he does not appear to disagree. It also shows Schiller appearing to laugh about the potential spread of Islamic sharia law, when the longer version shows he laughed in reaction to something completely different."
Two days later, O'Keefe released a video in which Betsy Liley, senior director of institutional giving at NPR, appeared to have checked with senior management and said MEAC was cleared to make donations anonymously and NPR could help shield donations from government audits, but added that, in order to proceed, additional background information would be required, including an IRS Form 990. Liley advised the caller that NPR executives would investigate them before accepting any large donation, examining tax records and checking out other organizations that have received donations from them. Liley raises the possibility of NPR's turning down substantial gifts and stresses the "firewall" between the revenue-generating part of NPR and its news operation. NPR put Liley on administrative leave. In emails released following the publication of the Liley video, NPR confirmed that the official had consulted appropriately with top management and notified the purported donors of problems with their desired method of donation.
The video, which was released directly before a congressional vote on funding, caused immediate reaction from NPR critics in Congress. Ronald Schiller, who had already submitted his resignation in January so that he could join the Aspen Institute, moved up his resignation after the video release when NPR put him on administrative leave. NPR CEO Vivian Schiller (no relation to Ronald Schiller), who had not been implicated in the Project Veritas video, quickly resigned. Vivian Schiller's resignation, mutually decided with the NPR board, was in part an attempt to show Congressional funders that NPR could hold itself accountable.
U.S. presidential elections (2016)
A month before the launch of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, the Trump Foundation donated $10,000 to O'Keefe's Project Veritas. O'Keefe attended, as a guest of the Trump campaign, the final presidential debate, and was later available in the spin room following the Las Vegas event.
Americans United for Change videos
On October 18, 2016, O'Keefe released a series of videos on Project Veritas' YouTube channel titled "Rigging the Election" that apparently showed former national field director Scott Foval of Americans United for Change discussing ensuring that they have people at the front of the rope lines at rallies in order to ask questions, a common practice known as "bird dogging". The accuracy of the videos has been questioned for possibly omitting context, and the unedited raw footage has not been made available. The GOP-appointed Attorney General of Wisconsin, Brad Schimel, investigated the claims made in the video twice, both times finding no evidence that Foval broke any voting laws.
DNC Chair Donna Brazile said the video footage omitted necessary context. Scott Foval was fired by Americans United for Change after the first video was released. Foval later said he had been set up. Robert Creamer, a DNC consultant and husband of U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, D-IL, said, "We regret the unprofessional and careless hypothetical conversations that were captured on hidden cameras of a regional contractor for our firm, and he is no longer working with us," he said. "While none of the schemes described in the conversations ever took place, these conversations do not at all reflect the values of Democracy Partners." Shortly afterwards, Creamer, who was also featured in the video, said he would end his consulting arrangement with the DNC to avoid becoming a "distraction".
Following the publication of his videos, O'Keefe filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and the DNC, alleging "a criminal conspiracy" involving the Clinton campaign, the DNC and three left-leaning super PACs. On June 1, 2017, Creamer's firm, Democracy Partners, filed a $1 million lawsuit against Project Veritas, claiming Project Veritas had lied to gain access to the firm and violating anti-wiretapping laws.
In response to a third video, in which O'Keefe stated that Clinton was behind an illegal public relations gimmick to punish Trump for not releasing his tax returns, the Clinton campaign denied any wrongdoing. Independent campaign finance experts posited the video doesn't support O'Keefe's claims. Clinton said she was aware of the activists dressed as Donald Duck, who were following Trump while asking about his tax returns, and said she was amused.
On October 26, 2016, O'Keefe posted a fourth video on his Project Veritas Action YouTube channel. The video alleged that liberal groups supporting Hillary Clinton were illegally taking foreign money. The targeted group, Americans United for Change foundation, is a 501(c)4 organization and is allowed to legally accept foreign contributions. However, AUC returned the money shortly after the video was released. The group's chief stated, "We returned the money because the last thing we want to be associated with is a character like O'Keefe who has been convicted and successfully sued for his illegal tactics and fraudulent activities."
On November 8, 2016 (Election Day), O'Keefe spent some time following vans that were allegedly "bussing people around to polls in Philadelphia".
On January 9, 2017, Project Veritas operative Allison Maass was filmed attempting to bribe members of Americans Take Action into inciting a riot at Trump's inauguration. On January 16, 2017, Project Veritas uploaded a video showing DC Antifascist Coalition members of Disrupt J20 plotting to use "stink bombs" at the DeploraBall. After the video's release, Disrupt J20 denied the statements, saying that the members deliberately gave false information to Veritas. The video led to the arrest of one man allegedly involved in the plan, as well as two associates. All three individuals pleaded guilty.
Other activities
Abbie Boudreau (2010)
In August 2010, O'Keefe planned a staged encounter with CNN correspondent Abbie Boudreau, who was working on a documentary on the young conservative movement. He set up an appointment at his office in Maryland to discuss a video shoot. Izzy Santa, executive director of Project Veritas, warned Boudreau that O'Keefe was planning to "punk" her on the boat by trying to seduce her—which he would film on hidden cameras. Boudreau did not board the boat and soon left the area.
CNN later published a 13-page plan written by O'Keefe mentor Ben Wetmore. It listed props for the boat scheme, including pornography, sexual aids, condoms, a blindfold and "fuzzy" handcuffs. When questioned by CNN, O'Keefe denied he was going to follow the Wetmore plan, as he found parts of it inappropriate. Boudreau commented "that does not appear to be true, according to a series of emails we obtained from Izzy Santa, who says the e-mails reveal James' true intentions."
Following the Boudreau incident, Project Veritas paid Izzy Santa a five-figure settlement after she threatened to sue, which included a non-disclosure agreement. Funding decreased from conservative political organizations following this CNN incident.
New Jersey Teachers' Union video (2010)
Starting October 25, 2010, O'Keefe posted a series of videos on the Internet entitled Teachers Unions Gone Wild. At the time, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) was in negotiations with Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor, over teacher pay benefits and tenure. O'Keefe obtained one video from recordings made by "citizen journalists", whom he recruited to attend the NJEA's leadership conference. They secretly recorded meetings and conversations with teacher participants. It featured teachers discussing the difficulty of firing a tenured teacher.
A second video featured a staged phone conversation by O'Keefe with Lawrence E. Everett, assistant superintendent of the Passaic, New Jersey city schools, in which Everett refused to commit to firing a teacher based upon the purported claim by a parent that the teacher had used the "n-word" with his child. The third video (October 26, 2010) featured audio of a voice, identified as NJEA Associate Director Wayne Dibofsky, who alleged voter fraud during the 1997 Jersey City mayoral election. The voice of Robert Byrne, Jersey City municipal clerk, was recorded on the same video; he noted that the election was monitored by lawyers for both candidates.
New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie stated at the time that nothing on the videos surprised him. NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer said the union and its attorneys were discussing their options regarding possible legal action, although no action was ever taken. Wollmer called the videos "a calculated attack on this organization and its members", and described O'Keefe as "flat-out sleazy".
Medicaid videos (2011)
In the summer of 2011, O'Keefe released videos of his colleagues' staged encounters purportedly showing Medicaid fraud in offices in six states, including Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia. Following his previous strategy, he sent the releases to conservative outlets over a period of weeks. In July 2011, two conservative groups released a secretly recorded video of an encounter in Maine's Department of Health and Human Services.
In the video, an actor attempted to apply for benefits while hinting that he was a drug smuggler. Americans for Prosperity and O'Keefe said he had similar recorded videos from offices in Ohio, Virginia and South Carolina, and believed that there was a systemic problem. In Maine, Governor Paul LePage concluded upon further examination of the videos that there was no fraud or intent to commit fraud.
A similar O'Keefe video posted on the Project Veritas web site purported to show workers at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services assisting actors posing as drug dealers in applying for benefits. His fourth Medicaid video, apparently filmed in Richmond, Virginia, was released in July 2011. The New York Times reported: "[As 'Sean Murphy'], dressed in the same regalia he wore on the New Jersey shoot, [O'Keefe] presented himself to a Medicaid worker in Charleston, South Carolina, as an Irish drug importer and Irish Republican Army member who wanted coverage for 25 wounded comrades who entered the U.S. illegally. The kindly worker spent time photocopying applications and dealing with this improbable applicant." She explained to him that only U.S. citizens are eligible for Medicaid and informed him she was not making any promises that the 25 purported IRA members would qualify. She said he had to abide by the law and told him that she didn't want to know details, because federal law protects patient privacy: "Like I said, someone would have to come here and subpoena our information in order for us to divulge any information, because like I said there's something called the Health Insurance Accountability and Affordability Act—or portability—and anyway it went into effect several years ago, and that's what we follow. It is federal law, and they do threaten high fines—which they don't pay me as much per year as they threaten to fine me—so it is definitely not in my own best interest to divulge anything to anyone because I cannot afford it, I do not want to go to jail."
Reception
The videos received less media attention than earlier O'Keefe efforts. Generally, the state officials and representatives acknowledged potential problems but also took a measured tone in response, to allow time to fully investigate and evaluate the incidents. After viewing the video, Governor LePage thanked the individual who took the video and noted: "The video in its entirety does not show a person willfully helping someone de-fraud the welfare system. It does show a need for further job knowledge and continuous and improved staff training." He also stated that "we would be six months further along in fixing the problem" if he had received the video when it was filmed. LePage directed his agency director to work on correcting the problem.
Ohio media initially reported that "a Franklin County Jobs and Family Service worker was placed on administrative leave and at least one other person was out of work" as a result of the video's release. Ben Johnson of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services noted that benefits were never granted in the case, and that the made-up story would have been caught if the application process had proceeded. He said his office would use the video to strengthen staff training. Mike DeWine, Attorney General of Ohio, described the Ohio video as "outrageous" and intended to instruct his state's Medicaid fraud unit to look into the incident. The director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Michael Colbert, notified county leaders of a mandatory retraining, "to ensure they can identify people trying to defraud the government". Upon investigation by state officials, the Medicaid worker who coached O'Keefe's operative seeking Medicaid for his father and claimed to own a yacht as well as a helipad, on how to hide their (also claimed) ownership of an $800,000 automobile had been placed on paid administrative leave. A spokesman for Virginia governor Bob McDonnell said that he had asked state police to review the video and take whatever actions are appropriate.
In Charleston, South Carolina, the director of that state's Department of Health and Human Services, Anthony Kreck, said the video filmed in his state "raises concerns about how well trained and supported our staff are to handle outrageous situations." He also expressed concern for the safety of the state employee with the figure ["Sean Murphy"] in the video "who could be interpreted as intimidating" and questioned why security wasn't called.
New Hampshire primary video (2012)
In January 2012, O'Keefe released a video of associates obtaining a number of ballots for the New Hampshire Primary by using the names of recently deceased voters. He stated that the video showed "the integrity of the elections process is severely comprised ." His team culled names from published obituaries, which were checked against public voter roll information. O'Keefe said his team broke no laws, as they did not pretend to be the deceased persons when they asked for the ballots, and they did not cast votes after receiving ballots. One of his associates' attempts was caught by a voting supervisor at the polling station who recognized that the name he gave was of a deceased individual; the associate in question left before police arrived.
Reception
Sarah Parnass of ABC News reported that the video "either exposes why voting laws are too lax or comes close to itself being voter fraud (or both)". One media account referred to it as a stunt. New Hampshire Governor John Lynch said, "I think it is outrageous that we have out-of-staters coming into New Hampshire, coming into our polling places and misrepresenting themselves to the election officials, and I hope that they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, if in fact they're found guilty of some criminal act." The New Hampshire Attorney General and the US Attorney's Office announced investigations into the video.
New Hampshire Associate Attorney General Richard Head said he would investigate the possible weaknesses in the voting system, but noted the state did not have a history of known fraud related to person[s] seeking ballot[s] in the name of a dead person or persons. Head announced he would investigate the possibility that the filmmakers committed crimes while producing the videos.
Hamline University law professor David Schultz said, "If they [O'Keefe's group] were intentionally going in and trying to fraudulently obtain a ballot, they violated the law", referring to Title 42, which prohibits procuring ballots fraudulently. The New Hampshire Attorney General's office later dropped its investigation of O'Keefe for potential voter fraud in 2013.
Patrick Moran (2012)
On October 24, 2012, a video was released showing Patrick Moran, son of then-U.S. Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA), and a field director with his father's campaign, discussing a plan to cast fraudulent ballots, which was proposed to him by someone who posed as a fervent supporter of the campaign. The person he was speaking with was a conservative activist with O'Keefe's Project Veritas, and was secretly recording the conversation. Patrick Moran resigned from the campaign, saying he did not want to be a distraction during the election, stating:
[A]t no point have I, or will I ever endorse any sort of illegal or unethical behavior. At no point did I take this person seriously. He struck me as being unstable and joking, and for only that reason did I humor him. In hindsight, I should have immediately walked away, making it clear that there is no place in the electoral process for even the suggestion of illegal behavior, joking or not.
The Arlington County, Virginia Police Department was made aware of the video and opened a criminal investigation into "every component" of the matter.
On January 31, 2013, Arlington County announced that the investigation, by its police department in collaboration with the Offices of the Virginia Attorney General and the Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney, had concluded and that no charges would be brought. The County stated: "Patrick Moran and the Jim Moran for Congress campaign provided full cooperation throughout the investigation. Despite repeated attempts to involve the party responsible for producing the video, they failed to provide any assistance."
US–Mexico border-crossing (2014)
In August 2014, O'Keefe dressed up as Osama bin Laden (who had died 3 years previously) and crossed the US–Mexico border in Texas in both directions to "show that our elected officials were lying to the American people" about border security. The incident was cited by U.S. Senator John McCain in Congressional hearings.
Attempt to solicit voter fraud (2014)
In October 2014, O'Keefe and his two colleagues attempted to bait staffers for Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) and then-U.S. Senator Mark Udall, as well as independent expenditure organizations, into approving voter fraud, according to several staffers who interacted with O'Keefe and his colleagues. Staffers began photographing O'Keefe's crew and advising them that what they were advocating was illegal; one nonprofit said they contacted police.
Attempted sting of Open Society Foundations (2016)
On March 16, 2016, O'Keefe attempted to call Open Society Foundations under the assumed name of "Victor Kesh", describing himself as attached to "a, uh, foundation" seeking to "get involved with you and aid what you do in fighting for, um, European values." O'Keefe forgot to hang up after recording the voicemail, and several more minutes of audio were recorded, revealing that he was attached to Discover the Networks and planning a series of attempts to create embarrassing videos or other recordings of targeted groups.
CNN undercover videos (2017)
On June 26, 2017, O'Keefe released a video on the YouTube channel of Project Veritas that showed John Bonifield, a producer of health and medical stories for CNN, saying CNN's coverage of the Russia investigation was "Because it's ratings" and that the coverage was "mostly bullshit". The video identified Bonifield as a supervising producer for CNN but not specifically for CNN Health. CNN said it was standing by "our medical producer John Bonifield. Diversity of personal opinion is what makes CNN strong". During a White House press briefing, deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of the video "whether it's accurate or not, I don't know, but I would encourage everybody... across the country to take a look at it".
On June 28, 2017, O'Keefe released the second part of the series of undercover videos, by then dubbed "American Pravda". In the video, CNN anchor Van Jones said, "The Russia thing is just a big nothingburger." When asked about the video in an email, CNN responded "lol". During that same day, the videos were posted on Donald Trump's Instagram account. Jones said that O'Keefe had deceptively edited the video to take his remarks out of context and was attempting to "pull off a hoax." Jones added that he believed that there probably was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
On June 30, 2017, O'Keefe released the third part of the undercover videos. Part 3 of the series showed CNN associate producer Jimmy Carr saying that Trump is "fucking crazy" and that "on the inside, we all recognize he is a clown, that he is hilariously unqualified for this, he's really bad at this, and that he does not have America's best interests". Carr also said "This is a man who's not actually a Republican, he just adopted that because that was the party he thought he could win in. He doesn't believe anything that these people believe." Additionally, he said American voters are "stupid as shit." He also made comments about Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, calling her an "awful woman" and stating that she "looks like she got hit with a shovel". In a fourth video published by Project Veritas on July 5, Carr criticized CNN co-anchor Chris Cuomo.
Failed attempt to sting The Washington Post (2017)
Starting in July 2017, Project Veritas operative Jaime Phillips attempted to infiltrate The Washington Post and other media outlets by joining networking groups related to journalism and left-leaning politics. She and a male companion attended events related to the Post, and their conversations with journalists were sometimes covertly recorded.
In November 2017, The Washington Post reported that several women accused Republican Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of pursuing them while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. Later that same month, Jaime Phillips approached The Washington Post and falsely claimed that Moore had impregnated her as a teenager and that she had an abortion. In conducting its usual fact-checking, the Post discovered multiple red flags in her story. They found a GoFundMe page in her name that said, "I've accepted a job to work in the conservative media movement to combat the lies and deceipt of the liberal MSM." After a Post reporter confronted her with the inconsistencies during a video-recorded interview, Phillips denied that she was working with an organization that targets journalists, and said that she no longer wanted to do the story. She was seen outside Project Veritas' office in Mamaroneck, New York, with her car remaining at the office's parking lot for more than an hour. O'Keefe declined to comment about the woman's apparent connection to Project Veritas. Instead of running a story about Phillips' supposed pregnancy, the Post published an article about the attempted sting operation. The Post decided to disclose Phillips' original discussions made off the record, saying they were not obligated to keep them confidential because she had deceived them.
Hours after the Post published this story, O'Keefe released a video which he claimed exposed the newspaper's liberal bias. The video includes undercover footage of conversations with two Post employees, national security reporter Dan Lamothe and product director Joey Marburger. These employees explained to undercover Project Veritas operatives the difference between the news reporting of The Washington Post (which calls out the Trump administration's missteps while giving "him credit where there's credit" due) and the Post's opinion editorials; O'Keefe said that this exposed the Washington Post's "hidden agenda."
O'Keefe was criticized for his failed sting, and The Washington Post was praised. Rod Dreher of The American Conservative praised the Post and called on conservative donors to stop giving money to O'Keefe's outfit. Dan McLaughlin of the conservative National Review said that O'Keefe's sting was an "own goal" and that O'Keefe was doing a disservice to the conservative movement; Jim Geraghty of the National Review made a similar assessment. Byron York of The Washington Examiner said that O'Keefe's "idiocy" was "beyond boneheaded," and that "O'Keefe really ought to hang it up." Ben Shapiro, the conservative editor in chief of The Daily Wire, said that the botched sting was "horrible, both morally and effectively." Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic wrote, "If James O'Keefe respected the right-wing populists who make up the audience of Project Veritas ... he would tell them the truth about all of the organizations that he targets. Instead, Project Veritas operates in bad faith, an attribute it demonstrated again this week in the aftermath of its bungled attempt to trick The Washington Post." Noah Rothman of the conservative magazine Commentary chastised O'Keefe for being exploitative of his audience: "No longer are institutions like Veritas dedicated to combating ignorance in their audience. They're actively courting it."
Jonathan Chait of New York magazine said that O'Keefe, having set out prove that the Post was fake news, ended up disproving it. O'Keefe's plot collapsed because it was premised on a ludicrously false worldview, wrote Chait. "The Washington Post does not, in fact, publish unverified accusations just because they're against Republicans." O'Keefe's attempts to prove rampant voter fraud have failed "because voter fraud is not rampant."
New Jersey Education Association videos (2018)
On May 2, 2018, Project Veritas posted on YouTube a video allegedly showing a union administrator from the New Jersey Education Association, a teachers union, discussing a teacher alleged to have struck a student. The following day, O'Keefe released a second video allegedly showing another union administrator speaking to students about a different alleged incident of a teacher pushing and injuring a student. In the video, the administrator allegedly boasted of her effort to retain a pension for a teacher who allegedly had sex with a student. Both teachers were suspended pending an investigation, and resigned from their union roles after the release of the videos. During a New Jersey Senate meeting on May 31, the New Jersey Education Association announced that a law firm would investigate the incidents.
Twitter suspension (2021)
On April 15, 2021, O'Keefe was suspended from Twitter for "operating fake accounts". On April 19, he filed a lawsuit against Twitter in state court in Westchester County, New York, claiming that Twitter’s reason for suspending him is "false and defamatory".
FBI search warrants and allegedly stolen Biden diary (2021)
On November 6, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed an early morning court-ordered search of O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, New York two days after searching the homes of two of O'Keefe's associates in connection with the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, in 2020. Excerpts allegedly from the diary were posted two weeks before the 2020 US presidential election.
Reception
Project Veritas uses methods not employed by reputable journalists, including misrepresenting its operatives' identities. O'Keefe refers to himself as a "guerrilla journalist". Such methods have stirred debate about what it means to be a journalist and what constitutes good journalistic practice, especially with respect to undercover work.
Tim Kenneally and Daniel Frankel reporting for TheWrap in 2011 noted that some of O'Keefe's supporters referred to him as the right wing's answer to a long line of left-leaning "hybrid troublemakers who get put on the cover of Rolling Stone, like Paul Krassner and Abbie Hoffman". In that same 2011 report, Marty Kaplan, director of the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, was quoted as saying:
What [O'Keefe] does isn't journalism. It's agitpop, politi-punking, entrapment-entertainment. There is no responsible definition of journalism that includes what he does or how he does it. His success at luring his prey into harming themselves is a measure of how fallible and foolish anyone, including good people, can sometimes be.
In reporting on allegations that O'Keefe had attempted in 2010 to tamper with Senator Landrieu's office phone system, Jim Rutenberg and Campbell Robertson of the New York Times posited that O'Keefe practiced a kind of "gonzo journalism" and his tactic is to "caricature the political and social values of his enemies by carrying them to outlandish extremes."
In a March 2011 interview with O'Keefe, NPR journalist Bob Garfield asked, referring to the ACORN videos, "If your journalistic technique is the lie, why should we believe anything you have to say?" O'Keefe responded that his techniques should be characterized as a form of guerrilla theater rather than "lying" – "you're posing as something you're not, in order to capture candid conversations from your subject. But I wouldn't characterize it as, as lying."
In July 2011, Dean Mills, the dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, compared O'Keefe to Michael Moore and said, "Some ethicists say it is never right for a journalist to deceive for any reason, but there are wrongs in the world that will never be exposed without some kind of subterfuge." The Atlantic journalist Conor Friedersdorf responded that O'Keefe's "mortal sin" wasn't that he misled his subjects, but that he misled his audience by presenting his videos to the public in "less than honest ways that go far beyond normal 'selectivity.'"
On February 11, 2021, the Twitter account for Project Veritas was “permanently suspended for repeated violations of Twitter’s private information policy.” At the same time, O'Keefe's account was “temporarily locked” for violating the policy pending the deletion of a tweet. On April 15, Twitter permanently suspended O'Keefe's personal account for violating the Twitter's policy against "platform manipulation and spam", which disallows the use of fake accounts to "artificially amplify or disrupt conversations". O'Keefe denied that he used fake Twitter accounts and said that he would sue Twitter in response.
On November 6, 2021, the FBI executed an early morning court-ordered search of O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, New York two days after searching the homes of two of O'Keefe's associates in connection with the theft of a diary belonging to President Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, in 2020. Excerpts allegedly from the diary were posted two weeks before the 2020 US presidential election.
Works
References
External links
Project Veritas website
Interview of O'Keefe by NPR's On the Media (audio with transcript)
1984 births
Living people
American activist journalists
American alternative journalists
American anti–illegal immigration activists
American conspiracy theorists
American critics of Islam
American filmmakers
American people of Irish descent
People from Westwood, New Jersey
Rutgers University alumni
American anti-abortion activists | false | [
"Word guessing refers to a method of reading where a beginner reader doesn't know what a word is in a sentence, so he/she guesses what the word is and reads the rest of the sentence to confirm their guess, e.g. The fox jumped over the dog. If you didn't know the word \"jumped\" then you might read it as: \"joo-mp-ed\" then you would read the rest of the sentence and realise that it was actually \"jumped\".\n\nReferences\n\nReading (process)",
"Noura Hussein Hammad () is a Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death by hanging on 10 May 2018 for killing her husband after he raped her. Hussein's legal team was given two weeks to appeal the sentence. In June 2018, Sudan commuted her sentence to five years in prison and a restitution payment of 337,000 Sudanese pounds (US $18,700).\n\nShe was forced into marriage at age 16; the marriage was arranged when she was 15. The defendant claimed the rape occurred while she was restrained by her husband's family members immediately after her marriage. The husband's family declined opportunities to pardon Hussein or accept financial compensation in lieu of her execution. The case caused worldwide outrage.\n\nProtests against her sentence \nMore than a million people, as of 24 May 2018, signed a petition \"Justice for Noura\" against her execution. Amnesty International issued a statement, according to which Noura is a victim and the sentence \"an intolerable act of cruelty\". The death penalty highlights the failure of the Sudanese authorities to tackle child marriage, forced marriage and marital rape, AI said. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Women, the United Nations Population Fund and the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa have all called for clemency while Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres voiced his opposition to the sentence through a spokesman. More recently, the court in Sudan overturned Noura's death sentence, instead subjecting her to a 5 year prison sentence and a fine.\n\nIn Literature:\nThis issue was written about by Emtithal Mahmoud in her chapter 'Sharia state (of mind)' in the book 'Feminists don't wear pink and other lies' by Scarlett Curtis. She described in a poem that what Hussein did was \"an act of bravery of self-defence of desperation\".\n\nReferences\n\nSudanese women\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nWomen sentenced to death\nForced marriage\nMarital rape\nViolence against women in Africa\nVictims of human rights abuses\nHuman rights abuses in Sudan\nSudanese prisoners sentenced to death"
] |
[
"James O'Keefe",
"Senator Mary Landrieu (2010)",
"What is is connection with Mary Landrieu?",
"O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents",
"What did he do once he entered the office?",
"O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses",
"Did they take video recordings of the office?",
"I don't know.",
"Was he found guilty?",
"The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty",
"What was the sentence?",
"O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The other three men received lesser sentences."
] | C_db0856153b7d4364b3156b34bd97dae1_0 | Did Sen. Landrieu issue a statement about the incident? | 6 | Did Sen. Landrieu issue a statement about O'keefe being charged with entering a federal building under false pretense? | James O'Keefe | O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, at the office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat. His three fellow activists, who were dressed as telephone repairmen when apprehended, included Robert Flanagan, the son of William Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Louisiana. The four men were charged with malicious intent to damage the phone system. O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents during the debate over President Barack Obama's health care bill. The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty on May 26. O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The other three men received lesser sentences. In August 2013, O'Keefe revisited the incident by releasing a video entitled: "a confrontation with former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten on the campus of Tulane University". Letten is a former Republican U.S. Attorney who recused himself from the Landrieu incident because he knew the father of one of the men involved. The video shows Letten accusing O'Keefe of "terrorizing" Letten's wife at their home, of harassing him, and trespassing on the Tulane campus. He called O'Keefe a "coward" and a "spud", and referred to O'Keefe and his companions as "hobbits" and "scum". CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | James Edward O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is an American political activist and provocateur who founded Project Veritas, a far-right activist group that uses deceptive editing techniques to attack mainstream media organizations and progressive groups. Both O'Keefe and Project Veritas have produced secretly recorded undercover audio and video encounters in academic, governmental, and social service organizations, purporting to show abusive or illegal behavior by representatives of those organizations; the recordings are often selectively edited to misrepresent the context of the conversations and the subjects' responses.
O’Keefe gained national attention for his selectively edited video recordings of workers at Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) offices in 2009, his arrest and guilty plea in 2010 for entering the federal office of then-U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) under false pretenses, and the release of misleading videos of conversations with two high-ranking, now former, NPR executives in 2011.
When his videos – heavily edited to portray ACORN workers seemingly aiding a couple in criminal planning – were publicized, the U.S. Congress voted to freeze funds for the non-profit. The national controversy resulted in the non-profit also losing most of its private funding before investigations of the videos concluded no illegal activity occurred. In March 2010, ACORN was close to bankruptcy and had to close or rename most of its offices. Shortly thereafter, the California State Attorney General's Office and the US Government Accountability Office released their related investigative reports. The Attorney General's Office found that O'Keefe had misrepresented the actions of ACORN workers in California and that the workers had not broken any laws. A preliminary probe by the GAO found that ACORN had managed its federal funds appropriately. One of the fired ACORN workers sued O'Keefe for invasion of privacy; O'Keefe issued an apology and agreed to pay $100,000 in a settlement.
O'Keefe has gained support from right-wing and conservative media and interest groups, as well as the far right. In 2009, Andrew Breitbart commissioned him for the option to publish new videos exclusively on BigGovernment.com.
Early life and education
James Edward O'Keefe III was born in Bergen County, New Jersey, the elder of two children of James, a materials engineer, and Deborah O'Keefe, a physical therapist. He has a younger sister.
O'Keefe grew up in Westwood, New Jersey. His home was politically "conservative but not rigidly so", according to his father. He graduated from Westwood High School, where he showed an early interest in the arts, theater and journalism. He attained Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America. O'Keefe started at Rutgers University in 2002 and majored in philosophy. Beginning in his sophomore year, he wrote a bi-weekly opinion column for The Daily Targum, the university's student paper. He left the Targum and founded the Rutgers Centurion, a conservative student paper supported by a $500 "Balance in the Media" grant from The Leadership Institute.
For his first video, he and other Centurion writers met with Rutgers dining staff to demand the banning of the cereal Lucky Charms from dining halls because of its offense to Irish Americans. O'Keefe said the leprechaun mascot presented a stereotype. He intended to have officials lose either way: to appear insensitive to an ethnic group, or to look silly by agreeing to ban Lucky Charms. They expected to be thrown out of school, but the Rutgers official was courteous, took notes, and said their concerns would be considered. Rutgers staff say the cereal was never taken off the menu.
Career
After graduating from Rutgers, O'Keefe worked for a year at the Leadership Institute (LI) in Arlington, Virginia, under media specialist Ben Wetmore, whom O'Keefe calls his mentor. The institute sent him to colleges to train students to start conservative independent newspapers, but, after a year LI officials asked him to leave. According to LI president and founder Morton Blackwell, O'Keefe was "very effective and very enthusiastic" but after a year he was asked to leave because officials felt his activist work threatened the group's nonprofit status by trying to influence legislation.
O'Keefe has produced and distributed secretly recorded and misleadingly edited videos and audio files made during staged encounters with targeted entities or individuals. His work takes the form of undercover stings targeted at liberal groups and politicians. He sought to "embarrass" and "damage" his targets, such as Landrieu and ACORN.
He has sought to maximize publicity by releasing secretly recorded videos over several days or months, often in relation to funding authorizations or significant political actions related to the subject organization. Many videos received widespread media coverage sparking significant reactions, most notably videos of ACORN that resulted in the Congress quickly freezing funds, two executive agencies canceling contracts, and several ACORN workers being fired, and videos of National Public Radio (NPR) executives that led to the resignation of CEO Vivian Schiller, shortly before Congressional funding hearings involving NPR.
In January 2010, O'Keefe began a column on Breitbarts website, BigGovernment.com. Andrew Breitbart stated in an interview that he paid O'Keefe a salary for his "life rights" to gain release of O'Keefe's videos first on his website. In 2010, O'Keefe formed his a new organization, Project Veritas, whose stated mission is "to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society."
Much of the funding for Project Veritas comes from anonymous donations through Donors Trust, a conservative, American nonprofit donor-advised fund, which according to its promotional materials, says that it will "keep your charitable giving private, especially gifts funding sensitive or controversial issues." Prominent donors include the Trump Foundation, which, in May 2015, donated $10,000.
O'Keefe is a conservative activist with mainstream conservative pro-market and anti-government views, although he has described himself as a "progressive radical", because he wants to change things, "not conserve them". He considers himself a muckraker. O'Keefe has expressed admiration for the philosophy of G. K. Chesterton and for a free press.
Major activities
Planned Parenthood recordings (2008)
In 2006, O'Keefe met Lila Rose, the founder of an anti-abortion group on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus. They secretly recorded encounters in Planned Parenthood clinics in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, in which Rose posed as a 15-year-old girl impregnated by a 23-year-old male. Rose and O'Keefe made two videos incorporating heavily edited versions of the recordings and released them on YouTube. the video omitted the portions of the full conversation in which a Planned Parenthood employee asked Rose to consult her mother about the pregnancy and another employee told Rose, "We have to follow the laws". Rose took down the videos after Planned Parenthood sent her a cease and desist letter in May 2007 asserting that the videos violated California's voice recording laws, which required consent from all recorded parties.
In 2007, O'Keefe phoned several Planned Parenthood clinics and secretly recorded the conversations. He posed as a donor, asking if his donations would be applied to needs of minority women, accompanied by race-related remarks such as "there's way too many black people in Ohio". The recordings portrayed Planned Parenthood clinic workers in six states agreeing to accept his donation under his conditions. After the release of the recordings, African-American leaders called for withdrawal of public financing of the organization. The Idaho clinic responded with an apology for "the manner in which this offensive call was handled". Planned Parenthood issued an official statement emphasizing that "97 percent of its services are focused on providing contraceptives, breast and cervical cancer screenings and sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment — not abortions".
ACORN videos (2009)
In September 2009, O'Keefe and his associate, Hannah Giles, published edited hidden camera recordings in which Giles posed as a prostitute and O'Keefe as her boyfriend, a law student, in an attempt to elicit damaging responses from employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), an advocacy organization for people of low and moderate income.
Washington Post correspondents Darryl Fears and Carol D. Leonnig reported that O'Keefe "said he targeted ACORN for the same reasons that the political right does: its massive voter registration drives" and that "[p]oliticians are getting elected single-handedly due to this organization." According to The Washington Post, ACORN registered people mostly from the Latino and African American groups.
The videos were recorded during the summer of 2009 and appeared to show low-level ACORN employees in six cities providing advice to Giles and O'Keefe on how to avoid detection by authorities of tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution. He framed the undercover recordings with a preface of him dressed in a "pimp" outfit, which he also wore in TV media interviews. This gave viewers, including the media, the impression that he had dressed that way when speaking to ACORN workers. However, he actually entered the ACORN offices in conservative street clothes (the sleeve of his dress shirt is visible on camera). Furthermore, the ACORN employees involved reported his activities to the police after he left. O'Keefe selectively edited and manipulated his recordings of ACORN employees, as well as distorted the chronologies. Several journalists and media outlets have expressed regret for not properly scrutinizing and vetting his work.
Reception and lawsuit
After the videos were released through the fall of 2009, the U.S. Congress quickly voted to freeze federal funding to ACORN. The Census Bureau and the IRS terminated their contract relationships with ACORN. By December 2009, an external investigation of ACORN was published which cleared the organization of any illegality, while noting that its poor management practices contributed to unprofessional actions by some low-level employees. In March 2010, ACORN announced it would dissolve due to loss of funding from government and especially private sources.
On March 1, 2010, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes found there was no criminal wrongdoing by the ACORN staff in New York.
The California Attorney General's Office granted O'Keefe and Giles limited immunity from prosecution in exchange for providing the full, unedited videotapes related to ACORN offices in California. On the basis of the edited videotape which O'Keefe released, Vera appeared to be a willing participant in helping with O'Keefe's plan to smuggle young women into the United States illegally. However, authorities confirmed that Vera immediately contacted them about O'Keefe and that he had also encouraged O'Keefe to share as much information as possible about his scheme and gather further evidence of O'Keefe's purported illegal activities, which could then be used by prosecutors to bring charges against O'Keefe for attempted human trafficking. Due to O'Keefe's release of the dubiously edited video, intentionally designed to "prove" that ACORN employees were ready and willing to engage in illicit activities, Vera lost his job and was falsely accused of being engaged in human trafficking. O'Keefe said that he "regrets any pain" caused by his actions, though O'Keefe's lawyer dismissed any claimed injury incurred by Vera and stated that the payment was a "nuisance settlement".
O'Keefe moved for summary judgment in his favor, arguing that the plaintiff had no reasonable expectation that the conversation would be private. In August 2012, the federal judge hearing the case denied O'Keefe's motion for summary judgment. The judge ruled that O'Keefe had "misled plaintiff to believe that the conversation would remain confidential by posing as a client seeking services from ACORN and asking whether their conversation was confidential." On March 5, 2013, O'Keefe agreed to pay $100,000 to former California ACORN employee Juan Carlos Vera for breaking state law prohibiting surreptitious recording, and acknowledged in the settlement that at the time he published his video he was unaware that Vera had notified the police about the incident. The settlement contained the following apology: "O'Keefe regrets any pain suffered by Mr. Vera or his family."
On June 14, 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published its report finding no evidence that ACORN, or any of its related organizations, had mishandled any of the $40 million in federal money which they had received in recent years.
Senator Mary Landrieu (2010)
O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in the Hale Boggs Federal Complex in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, at the office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat. His three fellow activists, who were dressed as telephone repairmen when apprehended, included Robert Flanagan, the son of William Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Louisiana. The four men were charged with malicious intent to damage the phone system. O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents during the debate over President Barack Obama's health care bill.
The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty on May 26. O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The three other men received lesser sentences. Another consequence is that O'Keefe is barred from soliciting donations from Florida residents, because of state law applicable to people found guilty of fraud.
In August 2013, O'Keefe revisited the incident by releasing a video entitled: "a confrontation with former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten on the campus of Tulane University". Letten is a former Republican U.S. Attorney who recused himself from the Landrieu incident because he knew the father of one of the men involved. The video shows Letten accusing O'Keefe of "terrorizing" Letten's wife at their home, of harassing him, and trespassing on the Tulane campus. He called O'Keefe a "coward" and a "spud", and referred to O'Keefe and his companions as "hobbits" and "scum".
NPR video (2011)
On March 8, 2011, shortly before the US Congress was to vote on funding for National Public Radio (NPR), O'Keefe released a heavily edited video of a discussion with Ronald Schiller, NPR's senior vice president for fundraising, and associate Betsy Liley. Raw content was secretly recorded by O'Keefe's partners Ken Larrey and Shaughn Adeleye.
NPR responded by stating that Schiller's remarks were presented out of sequence and that he said that he would speak personally, and not for NPR. Schiller said some highly placed Republicans believed the Republican Party had been hijacked by a radical group (the Tea Party) that they characterized as "Islamophobic" and "seriously racist, racist people", and while Schiller did not disagree, according to NPR, O'Keefe's editing made it appear those were Schiller's opinions. Schiller then says that unlike establishment Republicans, the growing Tea Party movement in the party "is fanatically involved in people's personal lives and very fundamental Christian — I wouldn't even call it Christian. It's this weird evangelical kind of move."
Later in the edited video, Schiller seems to say he believes NPR "would be better off in the long run without federal funding", explaining that removal of federal funding would allow NPR more independence and remove the widely held misconception that NPR is significantly funded by the public. But on the raw tape, Schiller also said that withdrawing federal funding would cause local stations to go under and that NPR is doing "everything we can" to keep it.
In a statement released before analysis of the longer raw video, NPR said, "Schiller's comments are in direct conflict with NPR's official position ... The fraudulent organization represented in this video repeatedly pressed us to accept a $5 million check with no strings attached, which we repeatedly refused to accept." After reviewing the unedited video, Scott Baker, editor-in-chief of TheBlaze, said the NPR executives "seem to be fairly balanced people."
Journalists Ben Smith, James Poniewozik, and Dave Weigel have expressed regret for giving O'Keefe's NPR videos wider circulation without scrutinizing them for themselves.
Reception
Comparison of the raw video with the released one revealed editing that was characterized as "selective" and "deceptive" by Michael Gerson, opinion writer for The Washington Post, who wrote, "O'Keefe did not merely leave a false impression; he manufactured an elaborate, alluring lie." Time magazine wrote that the video "transposed remarks from a different part of the meeting", was "manipulative" and "a partisan hit-job."
The raw video shows Schiller told the two men "that donors cannot expect to influence news coverage." On the longer tape, he says, "There is such a big firewall between funding and reporting: Reporters will not be swayed in any way, shape or form." Broadcast journalist Al Tompkins, who now teaches at the Poynter Institute, noted that Ron Schiller was a fundraiser, not an official affecting the newsroom. He commented on the raw tape: "The message that he said most often—I counted six times: He told these two people that he had never met before that you cannot buy coverage", Tompkins said. "He says it over and over and over again."
On March 17, Martha T. Moore of USA Today reported: "According to The Blaze analysis, Ron Schiller's most inflammatory remarks, that Tea Party members are 'seriously racist', were made as he was recounting the views of Republicans he has spoken with—although he does not appear to disagree. It also shows Schiller appearing to laugh about the potential spread of Islamic sharia law, when the longer version shows he laughed in reaction to something completely different."
Two days later, O'Keefe released a video in which Betsy Liley, senior director of institutional giving at NPR, appeared to have checked with senior management and said MEAC was cleared to make donations anonymously and NPR could help shield donations from government audits, but added that, in order to proceed, additional background information would be required, including an IRS Form 990. Liley advised the caller that NPR executives would investigate them before accepting any large donation, examining tax records and checking out other organizations that have received donations from them. Liley raises the possibility of NPR's turning down substantial gifts and stresses the "firewall" between the revenue-generating part of NPR and its news operation. NPR put Liley on administrative leave. In emails released following the publication of the Liley video, NPR confirmed that the official had consulted appropriately with top management and notified the purported donors of problems with their desired method of donation.
The video, which was released directly before a congressional vote on funding, caused immediate reaction from NPR critics in Congress. Ronald Schiller, who had already submitted his resignation in January so that he could join the Aspen Institute, moved up his resignation after the video release when NPR put him on administrative leave. NPR CEO Vivian Schiller (no relation to Ronald Schiller), who had not been implicated in the Project Veritas video, quickly resigned. Vivian Schiller's resignation, mutually decided with the NPR board, was in part an attempt to show Congressional funders that NPR could hold itself accountable.
U.S. presidential elections (2016)
A month before the launch of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, the Trump Foundation donated $10,000 to O'Keefe's Project Veritas. O'Keefe attended, as a guest of the Trump campaign, the final presidential debate, and was later available in the spin room following the Las Vegas event.
Americans United for Change videos
On October 18, 2016, O'Keefe released a series of videos on Project Veritas' YouTube channel titled "Rigging the Election" that apparently showed former national field director Scott Foval of Americans United for Change discussing ensuring that they have people at the front of the rope lines at rallies in order to ask questions, a common practice known as "bird dogging". The accuracy of the videos has been questioned for possibly omitting context, and the unedited raw footage has not been made available. The GOP-appointed Attorney General of Wisconsin, Brad Schimel, investigated the claims made in the video twice, both times finding no evidence that Foval broke any voting laws.
DNC Chair Donna Brazile said the video footage omitted necessary context. Scott Foval was fired by Americans United for Change after the first video was released. Foval later said he had been set up. Robert Creamer, a DNC consultant and husband of U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, D-IL, said, "We regret the unprofessional and careless hypothetical conversations that were captured on hidden cameras of a regional contractor for our firm, and he is no longer working with us," he said. "While none of the schemes described in the conversations ever took place, these conversations do not at all reflect the values of Democracy Partners." Shortly afterwards, Creamer, who was also featured in the video, said he would end his consulting arrangement with the DNC to avoid becoming a "distraction".
Following the publication of his videos, O'Keefe filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and the DNC, alleging "a criminal conspiracy" involving the Clinton campaign, the DNC and three left-leaning super PACs. On June 1, 2017, Creamer's firm, Democracy Partners, filed a $1 million lawsuit against Project Veritas, claiming Project Veritas had lied to gain access to the firm and violating anti-wiretapping laws.
In response to a third video, in which O'Keefe stated that Clinton was behind an illegal public relations gimmick to punish Trump for not releasing his tax returns, the Clinton campaign denied any wrongdoing. Independent campaign finance experts posited the video doesn't support O'Keefe's claims. Clinton said she was aware of the activists dressed as Donald Duck, who were following Trump while asking about his tax returns, and said she was amused.
On October 26, 2016, O'Keefe posted a fourth video on his Project Veritas Action YouTube channel. The video alleged that liberal groups supporting Hillary Clinton were illegally taking foreign money. The targeted group, Americans United for Change foundation, is a 501(c)4 organization and is allowed to legally accept foreign contributions. However, AUC returned the money shortly after the video was released. The group's chief stated, "We returned the money because the last thing we want to be associated with is a character like O'Keefe who has been convicted and successfully sued for his illegal tactics and fraudulent activities."
On November 8, 2016 (Election Day), O'Keefe spent some time following vans that were allegedly "bussing people around to polls in Philadelphia".
On January 9, 2017, Project Veritas operative Allison Maass was filmed attempting to bribe members of Americans Take Action into inciting a riot at Trump's inauguration. On January 16, 2017, Project Veritas uploaded a video showing DC Antifascist Coalition members of Disrupt J20 plotting to use "stink bombs" at the DeploraBall. After the video's release, Disrupt J20 denied the statements, saying that the members deliberately gave false information to Veritas. The video led to the arrest of one man allegedly involved in the plan, as well as two associates. All three individuals pleaded guilty.
Other activities
Abbie Boudreau (2010)
In August 2010, O'Keefe planned a staged encounter with CNN correspondent Abbie Boudreau, who was working on a documentary on the young conservative movement. He set up an appointment at his office in Maryland to discuss a video shoot. Izzy Santa, executive director of Project Veritas, warned Boudreau that O'Keefe was planning to "punk" her on the boat by trying to seduce her—which he would film on hidden cameras. Boudreau did not board the boat and soon left the area.
CNN later published a 13-page plan written by O'Keefe mentor Ben Wetmore. It listed props for the boat scheme, including pornography, sexual aids, condoms, a blindfold and "fuzzy" handcuffs. When questioned by CNN, O'Keefe denied he was going to follow the Wetmore plan, as he found parts of it inappropriate. Boudreau commented "that does not appear to be true, according to a series of emails we obtained from Izzy Santa, who says the e-mails reveal James' true intentions."
Following the Boudreau incident, Project Veritas paid Izzy Santa a five-figure settlement after she threatened to sue, which included a non-disclosure agreement. Funding decreased from conservative political organizations following this CNN incident.
New Jersey Teachers' Union video (2010)
Starting October 25, 2010, O'Keefe posted a series of videos on the Internet entitled Teachers Unions Gone Wild. At the time, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) was in negotiations with Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor, over teacher pay benefits and tenure. O'Keefe obtained one video from recordings made by "citizen journalists", whom he recruited to attend the NJEA's leadership conference. They secretly recorded meetings and conversations with teacher participants. It featured teachers discussing the difficulty of firing a tenured teacher.
A second video featured a staged phone conversation by O'Keefe with Lawrence E. Everett, assistant superintendent of the Passaic, New Jersey city schools, in which Everett refused to commit to firing a teacher based upon the purported claim by a parent that the teacher had used the "n-word" with his child. The third video (October 26, 2010) featured audio of a voice, identified as NJEA Associate Director Wayne Dibofsky, who alleged voter fraud during the 1997 Jersey City mayoral election. The voice of Robert Byrne, Jersey City municipal clerk, was recorded on the same video; he noted that the election was monitored by lawyers for both candidates.
New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie stated at the time that nothing on the videos surprised him. NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer said the union and its attorneys were discussing their options regarding possible legal action, although no action was ever taken. Wollmer called the videos "a calculated attack on this organization and its members", and described O'Keefe as "flat-out sleazy".
Medicaid videos (2011)
In the summer of 2011, O'Keefe released videos of his colleagues' staged encounters purportedly showing Medicaid fraud in offices in six states, including Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia. Following his previous strategy, he sent the releases to conservative outlets over a period of weeks. In July 2011, two conservative groups released a secretly recorded video of an encounter in Maine's Department of Health and Human Services.
In the video, an actor attempted to apply for benefits while hinting that he was a drug smuggler. Americans for Prosperity and O'Keefe said he had similar recorded videos from offices in Ohio, Virginia and South Carolina, and believed that there was a systemic problem. In Maine, Governor Paul LePage concluded upon further examination of the videos that there was no fraud or intent to commit fraud.
A similar O'Keefe video posted on the Project Veritas web site purported to show workers at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services assisting actors posing as drug dealers in applying for benefits. His fourth Medicaid video, apparently filmed in Richmond, Virginia, was released in July 2011. The New York Times reported: "[As 'Sean Murphy'], dressed in the same regalia he wore on the New Jersey shoot, [O'Keefe] presented himself to a Medicaid worker in Charleston, South Carolina, as an Irish drug importer and Irish Republican Army member who wanted coverage for 25 wounded comrades who entered the U.S. illegally. The kindly worker spent time photocopying applications and dealing with this improbable applicant." She explained to him that only U.S. citizens are eligible for Medicaid and informed him she was not making any promises that the 25 purported IRA members would qualify. She said he had to abide by the law and told him that she didn't want to know details, because federal law protects patient privacy: "Like I said, someone would have to come here and subpoena our information in order for us to divulge any information, because like I said there's something called the Health Insurance Accountability and Affordability Act—or portability—and anyway it went into effect several years ago, and that's what we follow. It is federal law, and they do threaten high fines—which they don't pay me as much per year as they threaten to fine me—so it is definitely not in my own best interest to divulge anything to anyone because I cannot afford it, I do not want to go to jail."
Reception
The videos received less media attention than earlier O'Keefe efforts. Generally, the state officials and representatives acknowledged potential problems but also took a measured tone in response, to allow time to fully investigate and evaluate the incidents. After viewing the video, Governor LePage thanked the individual who took the video and noted: "The video in its entirety does not show a person willfully helping someone de-fraud the welfare system. It does show a need for further job knowledge and continuous and improved staff training." He also stated that "we would be six months further along in fixing the problem" if he had received the video when it was filmed. LePage directed his agency director to work on correcting the problem.
Ohio media initially reported that "a Franklin County Jobs and Family Service worker was placed on administrative leave and at least one other person was out of work" as a result of the video's release. Ben Johnson of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services noted that benefits were never granted in the case, and that the made-up story would have been caught if the application process had proceeded. He said his office would use the video to strengthen staff training. Mike DeWine, Attorney General of Ohio, described the Ohio video as "outrageous" and intended to instruct his state's Medicaid fraud unit to look into the incident. The director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Michael Colbert, notified county leaders of a mandatory retraining, "to ensure they can identify people trying to defraud the government". Upon investigation by state officials, the Medicaid worker who coached O'Keefe's operative seeking Medicaid for his father and claimed to own a yacht as well as a helipad, on how to hide their (also claimed) ownership of an $800,000 automobile had been placed on paid administrative leave. A spokesman for Virginia governor Bob McDonnell said that he had asked state police to review the video and take whatever actions are appropriate.
In Charleston, South Carolina, the director of that state's Department of Health and Human Services, Anthony Kreck, said the video filmed in his state "raises concerns about how well trained and supported our staff are to handle outrageous situations." He also expressed concern for the safety of the state employee with the figure ["Sean Murphy"] in the video "who could be interpreted as intimidating" and questioned why security wasn't called.
New Hampshire primary video (2012)
In January 2012, O'Keefe released a video of associates obtaining a number of ballots for the New Hampshire Primary by using the names of recently deceased voters. He stated that the video showed "the integrity of the elections process is severely comprised ." His team culled names from published obituaries, which were checked against public voter roll information. O'Keefe said his team broke no laws, as they did not pretend to be the deceased persons when they asked for the ballots, and they did not cast votes after receiving ballots. One of his associates' attempts was caught by a voting supervisor at the polling station who recognized that the name he gave was of a deceased individual; the associate in question left before police arrived.
Reception
Sarah Parnass of ABC News reported that the video "either exposes why voting laws are too lax or comes close to itself being voter fraud (or both)". One media account referred to it as a stunt. New Hampshire Governor John Lynch said, "I think it is outrageous that we have out-of-staters coming into New Hampshire, coming into our polling places and misrepresenting themselves to the election officials, and I hope that they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, if in fact they're found guilty of some criminal act." The New Hampshire Attorney General and the US Attorney's Office announced investigations into the video.
New Hampshire Associate Attorney General Richard Head said he would investigate the possible weaknesses in the voting system, but noted the state did not have a history of known fraud related to person[s] seeking ballot[s] in the name of a dead person or persons. Head announced he would investigate the possibility that the filmmakers committed crimes while producing the videos.
Hamline University law professor David Schultz said, "If they [O'Keefe's group] were intentionally going in and trying to fraudulently obtain a ballot, they violated the law", referring to Title 42, which prohibits procuring ballots fraudulently. The New Hampshire Attorney General's office later dropped its investigation of O'Keefe for potential voter fraud in 2013.
Patrick Moran (2012)
On October 24, 2012, a video was released showing Patrick Moran, son of then-U.S. Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA), and a field director with his father's campaign, discussing a plan to cast fraudulent ballots, which was proposed to him by someone who posed as a fervent supporter of the campaign. The person he was speaking with was a conservative activist with O'Keefe's Project Veritas, and was secretly recording the conversation. Patrick Moran resigned from the campaign, saying he did not want to be a distraction during the election, stating:
[A]t no point have I, or will I ever endorse any sort of illegal or unethical behavior. At no point did I take this person seriously. He struck me as being unstable and joking, and for only that reason did I humor him. In hindsight, I should have immediately walked away, making it clear that there is no place in the electoral process for even the suggestion of illegal behavior, joking or not.
The Arlington County, Virginia Police Department was made aware of the video and opened a criminal investigation into "every component" of the matter.
On January 31, 2013, Arlington County announced that the investigation, by its police department in collaboration with the Offices of the Virginia Attorney General and the Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney, had concluded and that no charges would be brought. The County stated: "Patrick Moran and the Jim Moran for Congress campaign provided full cooperation throughout the investigation. Despite repeated attempts to involve the party responsible for producing the video, they failed to provide any assistance."
US–Mexico border-crossing (2014)
In August 2014, O'Keefe dressed up as Osama bin Laden (who had died 3 years previously) and crossed the US–Mexico border in Texas in both directions to "show that our elected officials were lying to the American people" about border security. The incident was cited by U.S. Senator John McCain in Congressional hearings.
Attempt to solicit voter fraud (2014)
In October 2014, O'Keefe and his two colleagues attempted to bait staffers for Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) and then-U.S. Senator Mark Udall, as well as independent expenditure organizations, into approving voter fraud, according to several staffers who interacted with O'Keefe and his colleagues. Staffers began photographing O'Keefe's crew and advising them that what they were advocating was illegal; one nonprofit said they contacted police.
Attempted sting of Open Society Foundations (2016)
On March 16, 2016, O'Keefe attempted to call Open Society Foundations under the assumed name of "Victor Kesh", describing himself as attached to "a, uh, foundation" seeking to "get involved with you and aid what you do in fighting for, um, European values." O'Keefe forgot to hang up after recording the voicemail, and several more minutes of audio were recorded, revealing that he was attached to Discover the Networks and planning a series of attempts to create embarrassing videos or other recordings of targeted groups.
CNN undercover videos (2017)
On June 26, 2017, O'Keefe released a video on the YouTube channel of Project Veritas that showed John Bonifield, a producer of health and medical stories for CNN, saying CNN's coverage of the Russia investigation was "Because it's ratings" and that the coverage was "mostly bullshit". The video identified Bonifield as a supervising producer for CNN but not specifically for CNN Health. CNN said it was standing by "our medical producer John Bonifield. Diversity of personal opinion is what makes CNN strong". During a White House press briefing, deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of the video "whether it's accurate or not, I don't know, but I would encourage everybody... across the country to take a look at it".
On June 28, 2017, O'Keefe released the second part of the series of undercover videos, by then dubbed "American Pravda". In the video, CNN anchor Van Jones said, "The Russia thing is just a big nothingburger." When asked about the video in an email, CNN responded "lol". During that same day, the videos were posted on Donald Trump's Instagram account. Jones said that O'Keefe had deceptively edited the video to take his remarks out of context and was attempting to "pull off a hoax." Jones added that he believed that there probably was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
On June 30, 2017, O'Keefe released the third part of the undercover videos. Part 3 of the series showed CNN associate producer Jimmy Carr saying that Trump is "fucking crazy" and that "on the inside, we all recognize he is a clown, that he is hilariously unqualified for this, he's really bad at this, and that he does not have America's best interests". Carr also said "This is a man who's not actually a Republican, he just adopted that because that was the party he thought he could win in. He doesn't believe anything that these people believe." Additionally, he said American voters are "stupid as shit." He also made comments about Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, calling her an "awful woman" and stating that she "looks like she got hit with a shovel". In a fourth video published by Project Veritas on July 5, Carr criticized CNN co-anchor Chris Cuomo.
Failed attempt to sting The Washington Post (2017)
Starting in July 2017, Project Veritas operative Jaime Phillips attempted to infiltrate The Washington Post and other media outlets by joining networking groups related to journalism and left-leaning politics. She and a male companion attended events related to the Post, and their conversations with journalists were sometimes covertly recorded.
In November 2017, The Washington Post reported that several women accused Republican Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of pursuing them while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. Later that same month, Jaime Phillips approached The Washington Post and falsely claimed that Moore had impregnated her as a teenager and that she had an abortion. In conducting its usual fact-checking, the Post discovered multiple red flags in her story. They found a GoFundMe page in her name that said, "I've accepted a job to work in the conservative media movement to combat the lies and deceipt of the liberal MSM." After a Post reporter confronted her with the inconsistencies during a video-recorded interview, Phillips denied that she was working with an organization that targets journalists, and said that she no longer wanted to do the story. She was seen outside Project Veritas' office in Mamaroneck, New York, with her car remaining at the office's parking lot for more than an hour. O'Keefe declined to comment about the woman's apparent connection to Project Veritas. Instead of running a story about Phillips' supposed pregnancy, the Post published an article about the attempted sting operation. The Post decided to disclose Phillips' original discussions made off the record, saying they were not obligated to keep them confidential because she had deceived them.
Hours after the Post published this story, O'Keefe released a video which he claimed exposed the newspaper's liberal bias. The video includes undercover footage of conversations with two Post employees, national security reporter Dan Lamothe and product director Joey Marburger. These employees explained to undercover Project Veritas operatives the difference between the news reporting of The Washington Post (which calls out the Trump administration's missteps while giving "him credit where there's credit" due) and the Post's opinion editorials; O'Keefe said that this exposed the Washington Post's "hidden agenda."
O'Keefe was criticized for his failed sting, and The Washington Post was praised. Rod Dreher of The American Conservative praised the Post and called on conservative donors to stop giving money to O'Keefe's outfit. Dan McLaughlin of the conservative National Review said that O'Keefe's sting was an "own goal" and that O'Keefe was doing a disservice to the conservative movement; Jim Geraghty of the National Review made a similar assessment. Byron York of The Washington Examiner said that O'Keefe's "idiocy" was "beyond boneheaded," and that "O'Keefe really ought to hang it up." Ben Shapiro, the conservative editor in chief of The Daily Wire, said that the botched sting was "horrible, both morally and effectively." Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic wrote, "If James O'Keefe respected the right-wing populists who make up the audience of Project Veritas ... he would tell them the truth about all of the organizations that he targets. Instead, Project Veritas operates in bad faith, an attribute it demonstrated again this week in the aftermath of its bungled attempt to trick The Washington Post." Noah Rothman of the conservative magazine Commentary chastised O'Keefe for being exploitative of his audience: "No longer are institutions like Veritas dedicated to combating ignorance in their audience. They're actively courting it."
Jonathan Chait of New York magazine said that O'Keefe, having set out prove that the Post was fake news, ended up disproving it. O'Keefe's plot collapsed because it was premised on a ludicrously false worldview, wrote Chait. "The Washington Post does not, in fact, publish unverified accusations just because they're against Republicans." O'Keefe's attempts to prove rampant voter fraud have failed "because voter fraud is not rampant."
New Jersey Education Association videos (2018)
On May 2, 2018, Project Veritas posted on YouTube a video allegedly showing a union administrator from the New Jersey Education Association, a teachers union, discussing a teacher alleged to have struck a student. The following day, O'Keefe released a second video allegedly showing another union administrator speaking to students about a different alleged incident of a teacher pushing and injuring a student. In the video, the administrator allegedly boasted of her effort to retain a pension for a teacher who allegedly had sex with a student. Both teachers were suspended pending an investigation, and resigned from their union roles after the release of the videos. During a New Jersey Senate meeting on May 31, the New Jersey Education Association announced that a law firm would investigate the incidents.
Twitter suspension (2021)
On April 15, 2021, O'Keefe was suspended from Twitter for "operating fake accounts". On April 19, he filed a lawsuit against Twitter in state court in Westchester County, New York, claiming that Twitter’s reason for suspending him is "false and defamatory".
FBI search warrants and allegedly stolen Biden diary (2021)
On November 6, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed an early morning court-ordered search of O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, New York two days after searching the homes of two of O'Keefe's associates in connection with the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, in 2020. Excerpts allegedly from the diary were posted two weeks before the 2020 US presidential election.
Reception
Project Veritas uses methods not employed by reputable journalists, including misrepresenting its operatives' identities. O'Keefe refers to himself as a "guerrilla journalist". Such methods have stirred debate about what it means to be a journalist and what constitutes good journalistic practice, especially with respect to undercover work.
Tim Kenneally and Daniel Frankel reporting for TheWrap in 2011 noted that some of O'Keefe's supporters referred to him as the right wing's answer to a long line of left-leaning "hybrid troublemakers who get put on the cover of Rolling Stone, like Paul Krassner and Abbie Hoffman". In that same 2011 report, Marty Kaplan, director of the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, was quoted as saying:
What [O'Keefe] does isn't journalism. It's agitpop, politi-punking, entrapment-entertainment. There is no responsible definition of journalism that includes what he does or how he does it. His success at luring his prey into harming themselves is a measure of how fallible and foolish anyone, including good people, can sometimes be.
In reporting on allegations that O'Keefe had attempted in 2010 to tamper with Senator Landrieu's office phone system, Jim Rutenberg and Campbell Robertson of the New York Times posited that O'Keefe practiced a kind of "gonzo journalism" and his tactic is to "caricature the political and social values of his enemies by carrying them to outlandish extremes."
In a March 2011 interview with O'Keefe, NPR journalist Bob Garfield asked, referring to the ACORN videos, "If your journalistic technique is the lie, why should we believe anything you have to say?" O'Keefe responded that his techniques should be characterized as a form of guerrilla theater rather than "lying" – "you're posing as something you're not, in order to capture candid conversations from your subject. But I wouldn't characterize it as, as lying."
In July 2011, Dean Mills, the dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, compared O'Keefe to Michael Moore and said, "Some ethicists say it is never right for a journalist to deceive for any reason, but there are wrongs in the world that will never be exposed without some kind of subterfuge." The Atlantic journalist Conor Friedersdorf responded that O'Keefe's "mortal sin" wasn't that he misled his subjects, but that he misled his audience by presenting his videos to the public in "less than honest ways that go far beyond normal 'selectivity.'"
On February 11, 2021, the Twitter account for Project Veritas was “permanently suspended for repeated violations of Twitter’s private information policy.” At the same time, O'Keefe's account was “temporarily locked” for violating the policy pending the deletion of a tweet. On April 15, Twitter permanently suspended O'Keefe's personal account for violating the Twitter's policy against "platform manipulation and spam", which disallows the use of fake accounts to "artificially amplify or disrupt conversations". O'Keefe denied that he used fake Twitter accounts and said that he would sue Twitter in response.
On November 6, 2021, the FBI executed an early morning court-ordered search of O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, New York two days after searching the homes of two of O'Keefe's associates in connection with the theft of a diary belonging to President Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, in 2020. Excerpts allegedly from the diary were posted two weeks before the 2020 US presidential election.
Works
References
External links
Project Veritas website
Interview of O'Keefe by NPR's On the Media (audio with transcript)
1984 births
Living people
American activist journalists
American alternative journalists
American anti–illegal immigration activists
American conspiracy theorists
American critics of Islam
American filmmakers
American people of Irish descent
People from Westwood, New Jersey
Rutgers University alumni
American anti-abortion activists | false | [
"The 2002 United States Senate election in Louisiana was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu won re-election to a second term, although she did not earn 50% of the vote in the first round and was therefore forced into a runoff election with Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell, the Louisiana Elections Commissioner.\n\nDuring the runoff, Landrieu was outspent three-to-one by Terrell, who also had prominent Republicans including President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney visit Louisiana to campaign on her behalf. Republicans, confident of victory having gained seats in the elections to the House of Representatives and to the Senate, solidifying control of the former and taking control of the latter, publicly called the election \"Operation Icing on the Cake\". Some Democrats responded by calling their efforts \"Operation Wipe that Smirk off of Bush's Face\" and dubbed Landrieu's subsequent run-off victory, \"Operation Pie in the Face\".\n\nCandidates\n\nDemocratic \n Raymond Brown\n Mary Landrieu, incumbent U.S. Senator\n\nRepublican \n John Cooksey, U.S. Representative\n Tony Perkins, State Representative\n Ernest Edward Skillman\n Suzanne Haik Terrell, Louisiana Elections Commissioner\n\nIndependents \n Live Wire Landry\n James Lemann\n Gary D. Robbins\n\nInitial results\n\nDebates (Jungle primary & runoff)\nComplete video of debate, October 24, 2002\nComplete video of debate, October 28, 2002\nComplete video of debate, October 29, 2002\nComplete video of debate, November 17, 2002\nComplete video of debate, November 21, 2002\nComplete video of debate, November 25, 2002\nComplete video of debate, December 2, 2002\n\nPredictions\n\nResults\nLandrieu pulled off what many considered to be an upset victory. The Republicans believed they would most likely win the race. Before the election many Republicans called the race operation icing on the cake. After Landrieu won the runoff Democrats dubbed her victory operation pie in the face. The race was close. In terms of rural parishes the vote was split fairly evenly. Landrieu did well in Caddo Parish home of Shreveport, and in East Baton Rouge Parish home of Baton Rouge. Ultimately though it was Landrieu's huge win in Orleans Parish home of New Orleans that pushed her over the finish line. Haik Terrell conceded defeat to Landrieu at 12:38 P.M. EST, congratulating Landrieu on her victory. Landrieu would go on to be reelected to a third term in 2008, but ultimately defeated in her bid for a fourth term in 2014.\n\nSee also \n 2002 United States Senate election\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Elections Division from the Louisiana Secretary of State\n\n2002 Louisiana elections\nLouisiana\n2002",
"Moon is a given name. Notable people with the name include:\n\n Moon Bloodgood, actress and model\n Moon Landrieu, politician and former Mayor of New Orleans\n Moon Martin, singer and songwriter\n Moon Moon Sen, Indian actress\n Moon Zappa, actress and writer\n Moon Wen, destination \n Moon, supporting character in Star vs. the Forces of Evil and is Queen of the planet Mewni"
] |
[
"James O'Keefe",
"Senator Mary Landrieu (2010)",
"What is is connection with Mary Landrieu?",
"O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents",
"What did he do once he entered the office?",
"O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses",
"Did they take video recordings of the office?",
"I don't know.",
"Was he found guilty?",
"The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty",
"What was the sentence?",
"O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The other three men received lesser sentences.",
"Did Sen. Landrieu issue a statement about the incident?",
"I don't know."
] | C_db0856153b7d4364b3156b34bd97dae1_0 | Did he target any other politicians for similar incidents? | 7 | Did O'keefe target any other politicians for similar incidents other than Landrieu? | James O'Keefe | O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, at the office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat. His three fellow activists, who were dressed as telephone repairmen when apprehended, included Robert Flanagan, the son of William Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Louisiana. The four men were charged with malicious intent to damage the phone system. O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents during the debate over President Barack Obama's health care bill. The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty on May 26. O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The other three men received lesser sentences. In August 2013, O'Keefe revisited the incident by releasing a video entitled: "a confrontation with former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten on the campus of Tulane University". Letten is a former Republican U.S. Attorney who recused himself from the Landrieu incident because he knew the father of one of the men involved. The video shows Letten accusing O'Keefe of "terrorizing" Letten's wife at their home, of harassing him, and trespassing on the Tulane campus. He called O'Keefe a "coward" and a "spud", and referred to O'Keefe and his companions as "hobbits" and "scum". CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | James Edward O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is an American political activist and provocateur who founded Project Veritas, a far-right activist group that uses deceptive editing techniques to attack mainstream media organizations and progressive groups. Both O'Keefe and Project Veritas have produced secretly recorded undercover audio and video encounters in academic, governmental, and social service organizations, purporting to show abusive or illegal behavior by representatives of those organizations; the recordings are often selectively edited to misrepresent the context of the conversations and the subjects' responses.
O’Keefe gained national attention for his selectively edited video recordings of workers at Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) offices in 2009, his arrest and guilty plea in 2010 for entering the federal office of then-U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) under false pretenses, and the release of misleading videos of conversations with two high-ranking, now former, NPR executives in 2011.
When his videos – heavily edited to portray ACORN workers seemingly aiding a couple in criminal planning – were publicized, the U.S. Congress voted to freeze funds for the non-profit. The national controversy resulted in the non-profit also losing most of its private funding before investigations of the videos concluded no illegal activity occurred. In March 2010, ACORN was close to bankruptcy and had to close or rename most of its offices. Shortly thereafter, the California State Attorney General's Office and the US Government Accountability Office released their related investigative reports. The Attorney General's Office found that O'Keefe had misrepresented the actions of ACORN workers in California and that the workers had not broken any laws. A preliminary probe by the GAO found that ACORN had managed its federal funds appropriately. One of the fired ACORN workers sued O'Keefe for invasion of privacy; O'Keefe issued an apology and agreed to pay $100,000 in a settlement.
O'Keefe has gained support from right-wing and conservative media and interest groups, as well as the far right. In 2009, Andrew Breitbart commissioned him for the option to publish new videos exclusively on BigGovernment.com.
Early life and education
James Edward O'Keefe III was born in Bergen County, New Jersey, the elder of two children of James, a materials engineer, and Deborah O'Keefe, a physical therapist. He has a younger sister.
O'Keefe grew up in Westwood, New Jersey. His home was politically "conservative but not rigidly so", according to his father. He graduated from Westwood High School, where he showed an early interest in the arts, theater and journalism. He attained Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America. O'Keefe started at Rutgers University in 2002 and majored in philosophy. Beginning in his sophomore year, he wrote a bi-weekly opinion column for The Daily Targum, the university's student paper. He left the Targum and founded the Rutgers Centurion, a conservative student paper supported by a $500 "Balance in the Media" grant from The Leadership Institute.
For his first video, he and other Centurion writers met with Rutgers dining staff to demand the banning of the cereal Lucky Charms from dining halls because of its offense to Irish Americans. O'Keefe said the leprechaun mascot presented a stereotype. He intended to have officials lose either way: to appear insensitive to an ethnic group, or to look silly by agreeing to ban Lucky Charms. They expected to be thrown out of school, but the Rutgers official was courteous, took notes, and said their concerns would be considered. Rutgers staff say the cereal was never taken off the menu.
Career
After graduating from Rutgers, O'Keefe worked for a year at the Leadership Institute (LI) in Arlington, Virginia, under media specialist Ben Wetmore, whom O'Keefe calls his mentor. The institute sent him to colleges to train students to start conservative independent newspapers, but, after a year LI officials asked him to leave. According to LI president and founder Morton Blackwell, O'Keefe was "very effective and very enthusiastic" but after a year he was asked to leave because officials felt his activist work threatened the group's nonprofit status by trying to influence legislation.
O'Keefe has produced and distributed secretly recorded and misleadingly edited videos and audio files made during staged encounters with targeted entities or individuals. His work takes the form of undercover stings targeted at liberal groups and politicians. He sought to "embarrass" and "damage" his targets, such as Landrieu and ACORN.
He has sought to maximize publicity by releasing secretly recorded videos over several days or months, often in relation to funding authorizations or significant political actions related to the subject organization. Many videos received widespread media coverage sparking significant reactions, most notably videos of ACORN that resulted in the Congress quickly freezing funds, two executive agencies canceling contracts, and several ACORN workers being fired, and videos of National Public Radio (NPR) executives that led to the resignation of CEO Vivian Schiller, shortly before Congressional funding hearings involving NPR.
In January 2010, O'Keefe began a column on Breitbarts website, BigGovernment.com. Andrew Breitbart stated in an interview that he paid O'Keefe a salary for his "life rights" to gain release of O'Keefe's videos first on his website. In 2010, O'Keefe formed his a new organization, Project Veritas, whose stated mission is "to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society."
Much of the funding for Project Veritas comes from anonymous donations through Donors Trust, a conservative, American nonprofit donor-advised fund, which according to its promotional materials, says that it will "keep your charitable giving private, especially gifts funding sensitive or controversial issues." Prominent donors include the Trump Foundation, which, in May 2015, donated $10,000.
O'Keefe is a conservative activist with mainstream conservative pro-market and anti-government views, although he has described himself as a "progressive radical", because he wants to change things, "not conserve them". He considers himself a muckraker. O'Keefe has expressed admiration for the philosophy of G. K. Chesterton and for a free press.
Major activities
Planned Parenthood recordings (2008)
In 2006, O'Keefe met Lila Rose, the founder of an anti-abortion group on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus. They secretly recorded encounters in Planned Parenthood clinics in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, in which Rose posed as a 15-year-old girl impregnated by a 23-year-old male. Rose and O'Keefe made two videos incorporating heavily edited versions of the recordings and released them on YouTube. the video omitted the portions of the full conversation in which a Planned Parenthood employee asked Rose to consult her mother about the pregnancy and another employee told Rose, "We have to follow the laws". Rose took down the videos after Planned Parenthood sent her a cease and desist letter in May 2007 asserting that the videos violated California's voice recording laws, which required consent from all recorded parties.
In 2007, O'Keefe phoned several Planned Parenthood clinics and secretly recorded the conversations. He posed as a donor, asking if his donations would be applied to needs of minority women, accompanied by race-related remarks such as "there's way too many black people in Ohio". The recordings portrayed Planned Parenthood clinic workers in six states agreeing to accept his donation under his conditions. After the release of the recordings, African-American leaders called for withdrawal of public financing of the organization. The Idaho clinic responded with an apology for "the manner in which this offensive call was handled". Planned Parenthood issued an official statement emphasizing that "97 percent of its services are focused on providing contraceptives, breast and cervical cancer screenings and sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment — not abortions".
ACORN videos (2009)
In September 2009, O'Keefe and his associate, Hannah Giles, published edited hidden camera recordings in which Giles posed as a prostitute and O'Keefe as her boyfriend, a law student, in an attempt to elicit damaging responses from employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), an advocacy organization for people of low and moderate income.
Washington Post correspondents Darryl Fears and Carol D. Leonnig reported that O'Keefe "said he targeted ACORN for the same reasons that the political right does: its massive voter registration drives" and that "[p]oliticians are getting elected single-handedly due to this organization." According to The Washington Post, ACORN registered people mostly from the Latino and African American groups.
The videos were recorded during the summer of 2009 and appeared to show low-level ACORN employees in six cities providing advice to Giles and O'Keefe on how to avoid detection by authorities of tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution. He framed the undercover recordings with a preface of him dressed in a "pimp" outfit, which he also wore in TV media interviews. This gave viewers, including the media, the impression that he had dressed that way when speaking to ACORN workers. However, he actually entered the ACORN offices in conservative street clothes (the sleeve of his dress shirt is visible on camera). Furthermore, the ACORN employees involved reported his activities to the police after he left. O'Keefe selectively edited and manipulated his recordings of ACORN employees, as well as distorted the chronologies. Several journalists and media outlets have expressed regret for not properly scrutinizing and vetting his work.
Reception and lawsuit
After the videos were released through the fall of 2009, the U.S. Congress quickly voted to freeze federal funding to ACORN. The Census Bureau and the IRS terminated their contract relationships with ACORN. By December 2009, an external investigation of ACORN was published which cleared the organization of any illegality, while noting that its poor management practices contributed to unprofessional actions by some low-level employees. In March 2010, ACORN announced it would dissolve due to loss of funding from government and especially private sources.
On March 1, 2010, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes found there was no criminal wrongdoing by the ACORN staff in New York.
The California Attorney General's Office granted O'Keefe and Giles limited immunity from prosecution in exchange for providing the full, unedited videotapes related to ACORN offices in California. On the basis of the edited videotape which O'Keefe released, Vera appeared to be a willing participant in helping with O'Keefe's plan to smuggle young women into the United States illegally. However, authorities confirmed that Vera immediately contacted them about O'Keefe and that he had also encouraged O'Keefe to share as much information as possible about his scheme and gather further evidence of O'Keefe's purported illegal activities, which could then be used by prosecutors to bring charges against O'Keefe for attempted human trafficking. Due to O'Keefe's release of the dubiously edited video, intentionally designed to "prove" that ACORN employees were ready and willing to engage in illicit activities, Vera lost his job and was falsely accused of being engaged in human trafficking. O'Keefe said that he "regrets any pain" caused by his actions, though O'Keefe's lawyer dismissed any claimed injury incurred by Vera and stated that the payment was a "nuisance settlement".
O'Keefe moved for summary judgment in his favor, arguing that the plaintiff had no reasonable expectation that the conversation would be private. In August 2012, the federal judge hearing the case denied O'Keefe's motion for summary judgment. The judge ruled that O'Keefe had "misled plaintiff to believe that the conversation would remain confidential by posing as a client seeking services from ACORN and asking whether their conversation was confidential." On March 5, 2013, O'Keefe agreed to pay $100,000 to former California ACORN employee Juan Carlos Vera for breaking state law prohibiting surreptitious recording, and acknowledged in the settlement that at the time he published his video he was unaware that Vera had notified the police about the incident. The settlement contained the following apology: "O'Keefe regrets any pain suffered by Mr. Vera or his family."
On June 14, 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published its report finding no evidence that ACORN, or any of its related organizations, had mishandled any of the $40 million in federal money which they had received in recent years.
Senator Mary Landrieu (2010)
O'Keefe and colleagues were arrested in the Hale Boggs Federal Complex in New Orleans in January 2010 and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, at the office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat. His three fellow activists, who were dressed as telephone repairmen when apprehended, included Robert Flanagan, the son of William Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Louisiana. The four men were charged with malicious intent to damage the phone system. O'Keefe stated that he had entered Landrieu's office to investigate complaints that she was ignoring phone calls from constituents during the debate over President Barack Obama's health care bill.
The charges in the case were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses. O'Keefe and the others pleaded guilty on May 26. O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The three other men received lesser sentences. Another consequence is that O'Keefe is barred from soliciting donations from Florida residents, because of state law applicable to people found guilty of fraud.
In August 2013, O'Keefe revisited the incident by releasing a video entitled: "a confrontation with former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten on the campus of Tulane University". Letten is a former Republican U.S. Attorney who recused himself from the Landrieu incident because he knew the father of one of the men involved. The video shows Letten accusing O'Keefe of "terrorizing" Letten's wife at their home, of harassing him, and trespassing on the Tulane campus. He called O'Keefe a "coward" and a "spud", and referred to O'Keefe and his companions as "hobbits" and "scum".
NPR video (2011)
On March 8, 2011, shortly before the US Congress was to vote on funding for National Public Radio (NPR), O'Keefe released a heavily edited video of a discussion with Ronald Schiller, NPR's senior vice president for fundraising, and associate Betsy Liley. Raw content was secretly recorded by O'Keefe's partners Ken Larrey and Shaughn Adeleye.
NPR responded by stating that Schiller's remarks were presented out of sequence and that he said that he would speak personally, and not for NPR. Schiller said some highly placed Republicans believed the Republican Party had been hijacked by a radical group (the Tea Party) that they characterized as "Islamophobic" and "seriously racist, racist people", and while Schiller did not disagree, according to NPR, O'Keefe's editing made it appear those were Schiller's opinions. Schiller then says that unlike establishment Republicans, the growing Tea Party movement in the party "is fanatically involved in people's personal lives and very fundamental Christian — I wouldn't even call it Christian. It's this weird evangelical kind of move."
Later in the edited video, Schiller seems to say he believes NPR "would be better off in the long run without federal funding", explaining that removal of federal funding would allow NPR more independence and remove the widely held misconception that NPR is significantly funded by the public. But on the raw tape, Schiller also said that withdrawing federal funding would cause local stations to go under and that NPR is doing "everything we can" to keep it.
In a statement released before analysis of the longer raw video, NPR said, "Schiller's comments are in direct conflict with NPR's official position ... The fraudulent organization represented in this video repeatedly pressed us to accept a $5 million check with no strings attached, which we repeatedly refused to accept." After reviewing the unedited video, Scott Baker, editor-in-chief of TheBlaze, said the NPR executives "seem to be fairly balanced people."
Journalists Ben Smith, James Poniewozik, and Dave Weigel have expressed regret for giving O'Keefe's NPR videos wider circulation without scrutinizing them for themselves.
Reception
Comparison of the raw video with the released one revealed editing that was characterized as "selective" and "deceptive" by Michael Gerson, opinion writer for The Washington Post, who wrote, "O'Keefe did not merely leave a false impression; he manufactured an elaborate, alluring lie." Time magazine wrote that the video "transposed remarks from a different part of the meeting", was "manipulative" and "a partisan hit-job."
The raw video shows Schiller told the two men "that donors cannot expect to influence news coverage." On the longer tape, he says, "There is such a big firewall between funding and reporting: Reporters will not be swayed in any way, shape or form." Broadcast journalist Al Tompkins, who now teaches at the Poynter Institute, noted that Ron Schiller was a fundraiser, not an official affecting the newsroom. He commented on the raw tape: "The message that he said most often—I counted six times: He told these two people that he had never met before that you cannot buy coverage", Tompkins said. "He says it over and over and over again."
On March 17, Martha T. Moore of USA Today reported: "According to The Blaze analysis, Ron Schiller's most inflammatory remarks, that Tea Party members are 'seriously racist', were made as he was recounting the views of Republicans he has spoken with—although he does not appear to disagree. It also shows Schiller appearing to laugh about the potential spread of Islamic sharia law, when the longer version shows he laughed in reaction to something completely different."
Two days later, O'Keefe released a video in which Betsy Liley, senior director of institutional giving at NPR, appeared to have checked with senior management and said MEAC was cleared to make donations anonymously and NPR could help shield donations from government audits, but added that, in order to proceed, additional background information would be required, including an IRS Form 990. Liley advised the caller that NPR executives would investigate them before accepting any large donation, examining tax records and checking out other organizations that have received donations from them. Liley raises the possibility of NPR's turning down substantial gifts and stresses the "firewall" between the revenue-generating part of NPR and its news operation. NPR put Liley on administrative leave. In emails released following the publication of the Liley video, NPR confirmed that the official had consulted appropriately with top management and notified the purported donors of problems with their desired method of donation.
The video, which was released directly before a congressional vote on funding, caused immediate reaction from NPR critics in Congress. Ronald Schiller, who had already submitted his resignation in January so that he could join the Aspen Institute, moved up his resignation after the video release when NPR put him on administrative leave. NPR CEO Vivian Schiller (no relation to Ronald Schiller), who had not been implicated in the Project Veritas video, quickly resigned. Vivian Schiller's resignation, mutually decided with the NPR board, was in part an attempt to show Congressional funders that NPR could hold itself accountable.
U.S. presidential elections (2016)
A month before the launch of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, the Trump Foundation donated $10,000 to O'Keefe's Project Veritas. O'Keefe attended, as a guest of the Trump campaign, the final presidential debate, and was later available in the spin room following the Las Vegas event.
Americans United for Change videos
On October 18, 2016, O'Keefe released a series of videos on Project Veritas' YouTube channel titled "Rigging the Election" that apparently showed former national field director Scott Foval of Americans United for Change discussing ensuring that they have people at the front of the rope lines at rallies in order to ask questions, a common practice known as "bird dogging". The accuracy of the videos has been questioned for possibly omitting context, and the unedited raw footage has not been made available. The GOP-appointed Attorney General of Wisconsin, Brad Schimel, investigated the claims made in the video twice, both times finding no evidence that Foval broke any voting laws.
DNC Chair Donna Brazile said the video footage omitted necessary context. Scott Foval was fired by Americans United for Change after the first video was released. Foval later said he had been set up. Robert Creamer, a DNC consultant and husband of U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, D-IL, said, "We regret the unprofessional and careless hypothetical conversations that were captured on hidden cameras of a regional contractor for our firm, and he is no longer working with us," he said. "While none of the schemes described in the conversations ever took place, these conversations do not at all reflect the values of Democracy Partners." Shortly afterwards, Creamer, who was also featured in the video, said he would end his consulting arrangement with the DNC to avoid becoming a "distraction".
Following the publication of his videos, O'Keefe filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and the DNC, alleging "a criminal conspiracy" involving the Clinton campaign, the DNC and three left-leaning super PACs. On June 1, 2017, Creamer's firm, Democracy Partners, filed a $1 million lawsuit against Project Veritas, claiming Project Veritas had lied to gain access to the firm and violating anti-wiretapping laws.
In response to a third video, in which O'Keefe stated that Clinton was behind an illegal public relations gimmick to punish Trump for not releasing his tax returns, the Clinton campaign denied any wrongdoing. Independent campaign finance experts posited the video doesn't support O'Keefe's claims. Clinton said she was aware of the activists dressed as Donald Duck, who were following Trump while asking about his tax returns, and said she was amused.
On October 26, 2016, O'Keefe posted a fourth video on his Project Veritas Action YouTube channel. The video alleged that liberal groups supporting Hillary Clinton were illegally taking foreign money. The targeted group, Americans United for Change foundation, is a 501(c)4 organization and is allowed to legally accept foreign contributions. However, AUC returned the money shortly after the video was released. The group's chief stated, "We returned the money because the last thing we want to be associated with is a character like O'Keefe who has been convicted and successfully sued for his illegal tactics and fraudulent activities."
On November 8, 2016 (Election Day), O'Keefe spent some time following vans that were allegedly "bussing people around to polls in Philadelphia".
On January 9, 2017, Project Veritas operative Allison Maass was filmed attempting to bribe members of Americans Take Action into inciting a riot at Trump's inauguration. On January 16, 2017, Project Veritas uploaded a video showing DC Antifascist Coalition members of Disrupt J20 plotting to use "stink bombs" at the DeploraBall. After the video's release, Disrupt J20 denied the statements, saying that the members deliberately gave false information to Veritas. The video led to the arrest of one man allegedly involved in the plan, as well as two associates. All three individuals pleaded guilty.
Other activities
Abbie Boudreau (2010)
In August 2010, O'Keefe planned a staged encounter with CNN correspondent Abbie Boudreau, who was working on a documentary on the young conservative movement. He set up an appointment at his office in Maryland to discuss a video shoot. Izzy Santa, executive director of Project Veritas, warned Boudreau that O'Keefe was planning to "punk" her on the boat by trying to seduce her—which he would film on hidden cameras. Boudreau did not board the boat and soon left the area.
CNN later published a 13-page plan written by O'Keefe mentor Ben Wetmore. It listed props for the boat scheme, including pornography, sexual aids, condoms, a blindfold and "fuzzy" handcuffs. When questioned by CNN, O'Keefe denied he was going to follow the Wetmore plan, as he found parts of it inappropriate. Boudreau commented "that does not appear to be true, according to a series of emails we obtained from Izzy Santa, who says the e-mails reveal James' true intentions."
Following the Boudreau incident, Project Veritas paid Izzy Santa a five-figure settlement after she threatened to sue, which included a non-disclosure agreement. Funding decreased from conservative political organizations following this CNN incident.
New Jersey Teachers' Union video (2010)
Starting October 25, 2010, O'Keefe posted a series of videos on the Internet entitled Teachers Unions Gone Wild. At the time, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) was in negotiations with Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor, over teacher pay benefits and tenure. O'Keefe obtained one video from recordings made by "citizen journalists", whom he recruited to attend the NJEA's leadership conference. They secretly recorded meetings and conversations with teacher participants. It featured teachers discussing the difficulty of firing a tenured teacher.
A second video featured a staged phone conversation by O'Keefe with Lawrence E. Everett, assistant superintendent of the Passaic, New Jersey city schools, in which Everett refused to commit to firing a teacher based upon the purported claim by a parent that the teacher had used the "n-word" with his child. The third video (October 26, 2010) featured audio of a voice, identified as NJEA Associate Director Wayne Dibofsky, who alleged voter fraud during the 1997 Jersey City mayoral election. The voice of Robert Byrne, Jersey City municipal clerk, was recorded on the same video; he noted that the election was monitored by lawyers for both candidates.
New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie stated at the time that nothing on the videos surprised him. NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer said the union and its attorneys were discussing their options regarding possible legal action, although no action was ever taken. Wollmer called the videos "a calculated attack on this organization and its members", and described O'Keefe as "flat-out sleazy".
Medicaid videos (2011)
In the summer of 2011, O'Keefe released videos of his colleagues' staged encounters purportedly showing Medicaid fraud in offices in six states, including Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia. Following his previous strategy, he sent the releases to conservative outlets over a period of weeks. In July 2011, two conservative groups released a secretly recorded video of an encounter in Maine's Department of Health and Human Services.
In the video, an actor attempted to apply for benefits while hinting that he was a drug smuggler. Americans for Prosperity and O'Keefe said he had similar recorded videos from offices in Ohio, Virginia and South Carolina, and believed that there was a systemic problem. In Maine, Governor Paul LePage concluded upon further examination of the videos that there was no fraud or intent to commit fraud.
A similar O'Keefe video posted on the Project Veritas web site purported to show workers at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services assisting actors posing as drug dealers in applying for benefits. His fourth Medicaid video, apparently filmed in Richmond, Virginia, was released in July 2011. The New York Times reported: "[As 'Sean Murphy'], dressed in the same regalia he wore on the New Jersey shoot, [O'Keefe] presented himself to a Medicaid worker in Charleston, South Carolina, as an Irish drug importer and Irish Republican Army member who wanted coverage for 25 wounded comrades who entered the U.S. illegally. The kindly worker spent time photocopying applications and dealing with this improbable applicant." She explained to him that only U.S. citizens are eligible for Medicaid and informed him she was not making any promises that the 25 purported IRA members would qualify. She said he had to abide by the law and told him that she didn't want to know details, because federal law protects patient privacy: "Like I said, someone would have to come here and subpoena our information in order for us to divulge any information, because like I said there's something called the Health Insurance Accountability and Affordability Act—or portability—and anyway it went into effect several years ago, and that's what we follow. It is federal law, and they do threaten high fines—which they don't pay me as much per year as they threaten to fine me—so it is definitely not in my own best interest to divulge anything to anyone because I cannot afford it, I do not want to go to jail."
Reception
The videos received less media attention than earlier O'Keefe efforts. Generally, the state officials and representatives acknowledged potential problems but also took a measured tone in response, to allow time to fully investigate and evaluate the incidents. After viewing the video, Governor LePage thanked the individual who took the video and noted: "The video in its entirety does not show a person willfully helping someone de-fraud the welfare system. It does show a need for further job knowledge and continuous and improved staff training." He also stated that "we would be six months further along in fixing the problem" if he had received the video when it was filmed. LePage directed his agency director to work on correcting the problem.
Ohio media initially reported that "a Franklin County Jobs and Family Service worker was placed on administrative leave and at least one other person was out of work" as a result of the video's release. Ben Johnson of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services noted that benefits were never granted in the case, and that the made-up story would have been caught if the application process had proceeded. He said his office would use the video to strengthen staff training. Mike DeWine, Attorney General of Ohio, described the Ohio video as "outrageous" and intended to instruct his state's Medicaid fraud unit to look into the incident. The director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Michael Colbert, notified county leaders of a mandatory retraining, "to ensure they can identify people trying to defraud the government". Upon investigation by state officials, the Medicaid worker who coached O'Keefe's operative seeking Medicaid for his father and claimed to own a yacht as well as a helipad, on how to hide their (also claimed) ownership of an $800,000 automobile had been placed on paid administrative leave. A spokesman for Virginia governor Bob McDonnell said that he had asked state police to review the video and take whatever actions are appropriate.
In Charleston, South Carolina, the director of that state's Department of Health and Human Services, Anthony Kreck, said the video filmed in his state "raises concerns about how well trained and supported our staff are to handle outrageous situations." He also expressed concern for the safety of the state employee with the figure ["Sean Murphy"] in the video "who could be interpreted as intimidating" and questioned why security wasn't called.
New Hampshire primary video (2012)
In January 2012, O'Keefe released a video of associates obtaining a number of ballots for the New Hampshire Primary by using the names of recently deceased voters. He stated that the video showed "the integrity of the elections process is severely comprised ." His team culled names from published obituaries, which were checked against public voter roll information. O'Keefe said his team broke no laws, as they did not pretend to be the deceased persons when they asked for the ballots, and they did not cast votes after receiving ballots. One of his associates' attempts was caught by a voting supervisor at the polling station who recognized that the name he gave was of a deceased individual; the associate in question left before police arrived.
Reception
Sarah Parnass of ABC News reported that the video "either exposes why voting laws are too lax or comes close to itself being voter fraud (or both)". One media account referred to it as a stunt. New Hampshire Governor John Lynch said, "I think it is outrageous that we have out-of-staters coming into New Hampshire, coming into our polling places and misrepresenting themselves to the election officials, and I hope that they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, if in fact they're found guilty of some criminal act." The New Hampshire Attorney General and the US Attorney's Office announced investigations into the video.
New Hampshire Associate Attorney General Richard Head said he would investigate the possible weaknesses in the voting system, but noted the state did not have a history of known fraud related to person[s] seeking ballot[s] in the name of a dead person or persons. Head announced he would investigate the possibility that the filmmakers committed crimes while producing the videos.
Hamline University law professor David Schultz said, "If they [O'Keefe's group] were intentionally going in and trying to fraudulently obtain a ballot, they violated the law", referring to Title 42, which prohibits procuring ballots fraudulently. The New Hampshire Attorney General's office later dropped its investigation of O'Keefe for potential voter fraud in 2013.
Patrick Moran (2012)
On October 24, 2012, a video was released showing Patrick Moran, son of then-U.S. Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA), and a field director with his father's campaign, discussing a plan to cast fraudulent ballots, which was proposed to him by someone who posed as a fervent supporter of the campaign. The person he was speaking with was a conservative activist with O'Keefe's Project Veritas, and was secretly recording the conversation. Patrick Moran resigned from the campaign, saying he did not want to be a distraction during the election, stating:
[A]t no point have I, or will I ever endorse any sort of illegal or unethical behavior. At no point did I take this person seriously. He struck me as being unstable and joking, and for only that reason did I humor him. In hindsight, I should have immediately walked away, making it clear that there is no place in the electoral process for even the suggestion of illegal behavior, joking or not.
The Arlington County, Virginia Police Department was made aware of the video and opened a criminal investigation into "every component" of the matter.
On January 31, 2013, Arlington County announced that the investigation, by its police department in collaboration with the Offices of the Virginia Attorney General and the Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney, had concluded and that no charges would be brought. The County stated: "Patrick Moran and the Jim Moran for Congress campaign provided full cooperation throughout the investigation. Despite repeated attempts to involve the party responsible for producing the video, they failed to provide any assistance."
US–Mexico border-crossing (2014)
In August 2014, O'Keefe dressed up as Osama bin Laden (who had died 3 years previously) and crossed the US–Mexico border in Texas in both directions to "show that our elected officials were lying to the American people" about border security. The incident was cited by U.S. Senator John McCain in Congressional hearings.
Attempt to solicit voter fraud (2014)
In October 2014, O'Keefe and his two colleagues attempted to bait staffers for Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) and then-U.S. Senator Mark Udall, as well as independent expenditure organizations, into approving voter fraud, according to several staffers who interacted with O'Keefe and his colleagues. Staffers began photographing O'Keefe's crew and advising them that what they were advocating was illegal; one nonprofit said they contacted police.
Attempted sting of Open Society Foundations (2016)
On March 16, 2016, O'Keefe attempted to call Open Society Foundations under the assumed name of "Victor Kesh", describing himself as attached to "a, uh, foundation" seeking to "get involved with you and aid what you do in fighting for, um, European values." O'Keefe forgot to hang up after recording the voicemail, and several more minutes of audio were recorded, revealing that he was attached to Discover the Networks and planning a series of attempts to create embarrassing videos or other recordings of targeted groups.
CNN undercover videos (2017)
On June 26, 2017, O'Keefe released a video on the YouTube channel of Project Veritas that showed John Bonifield, a producer of health and medical stories for CNN, saying CNN's coverage of the Russia investigation was "Because it's ratings" and that the coverage was "mostly bullshit". The video identified Bonifield as a supervising producer for CNN but not specifically for CNN Health. CNN said it was standing by "our medical producer John Bonifield. Diversity of personal opinion is what makes CNN strong". During a White House press briefing, deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of the video "whether it's accurate or not, I don't know, but I would encourage everybody... across the country to take a look at it".
On June 28, 2017, O'Keefe released the second part of the series of undercover videos, by then dubbed "American Pravda". In the video, CNN anchor Van Jones said, "The Russia thing is just a big nothingburger." When asked about the video in an email, CNN responded "lol". During that same day, the videos were posted on Donald Trump's Instagram account. Jones said that O'Keefe had deceptively edited the video to take his remarks out of context and was attempting to "pull off a hoax." Jones added that he believed that there probably was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
On June 30, 2017, O'Keefe released the third part of the undercover videos. Part 3 of the series showed CNN associate producer Jimmy Carr saying that Trump is "fucking crazy" and that "on the inside, we all recognize he is a clown, that he is hilariously unqualified for this, he's really bad at this, and that he does not have America's best interests". Carr also said "This is a man who's not actually a Republican, he just adopted that because that was the party he thought he could win in. He doesn't believe anything that these people believe." Additionally, he said American voters are "stupid as shit." He also made comments about Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, calling her an "awful woman" and stating that she "looks like she got hit with a shovel". In a fourth video published by Project Veritas on July 5, Carr criticized CNN co-anchor Chris Cuomo.
Failed attempt to sting The Washington Post (2017)
Starting in July 2017, Project Veritas operative Jaime Phillips attempted to infiltrate The Washington Post and other media outlets by joining networking groups related to journalism and left-leaning politics. She and a male companion attended events related to the Post, and their conversations with journalists were sometimes covertly recorded.
In November 2017, The Washington Post reported that several women accused Republican Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of pursuing them while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. Later that same month, Jaime Phillips approached The Washington Post and falsely claimed that Moore had impregnated her as a teenager and that she had an abortion. In conducting its usual fact-checking, the Post discovered multiple red flags in her story. They found a GoFundMe page in her name that said, "I've accepted a job to work in the conservative media movement to combat the lies and deceipt of the liberal MSM." After a Post reporter confronted her with the inconsistencies during a video-recorded interview, Phillips denied that she was working with an organization that targets journalists, and said that she no longer wanted to do the story. She was seen outside Project Veritas' office in Mamaroneck, New York, with her car remaining at the office's parking lot for more than an hour. O'Keefe declined to comment about the woman's apparent connection to Project Veritas. Instead of running a story about Phillips' supposed pregnancy, the Post published an article about the attempted sting operation. The Post decided to disclose Phillips' original discussions made off the record, saying they were not obligated to keep them confidential because she had deceived them.
Hours after the Post published this story, O'Keefe released a video which he claimed exposed the newspaper's liberal bias. The video includes undercover footage of conversations with two Post employees, national security reporter Dan Lamothe and product director Joey Marburger. These employees explained to undercover Project Veritas operatives the difference between the news reporting of The Washington Post (which calls out the Trump administration's missteps while giving "him credit where there's credit" due) and the Post's opinion editorials; O'Keefe said that this exposed the Washington Post's "hidden agenda."
O'Keefe was criticized for his failed sting, and The Washington Post was praised. Rod Dreher of The American Conservative praised the Post and called on conservative donors to stop giving money to O'Keefe's outfit. Dan McLaughlin of the conservative National Review said that O'Keefe's sting was an "own goal" and that O'Keefe was doing a disservice to the conservative movement; Jim Geraghty of the National Review made a similar assessment. Byron York of The Washington Examiner said that O'Keefe's "idiocy" was "beyond boneheaded," and that "O'Keefe really ought to hang it up." Ben Shapiro, the conservative editor in chief of The Daily Wire, said that the botched sting was "horrible, both morally and effectively." Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic wrote, "If James O'Keefe respected the right-wing populists who make up the audience of Project Veritas ... he would tell them the truth about all of the organizations that he targets. Instead, Project Veritas operates in bad faith, an attribute it demonstrated again this week in the aftermath of its bungled attempt to trick The Washington Post." Noah Rothman of the conservative magazine Commentary chastised O'Keefe for being exploitative of his audience: "No longer are institutions like Veritas dedicated to combating ignorance in their audience. They're actively courting it."
Jonathan Chait of New York magazine said that O'Keefe, having set out prove that the Post was fake news, ended up disproving it. O'Keefe's plot collapsed because it was premised on a ludicrously false worldview, wrote Chait. "The Washington Post does not, in fact, publish unverified accusations just because they're against Republicans." O'Keefe's attempts to prove rampant voter fraud have failed "because voter fraud is not rampant."
New Jersey Education Association videos (2018)
On May 2, 2018, Project Veritas posted on YouTube a video allegedly showing a union administrator from the New Jersey Education Association, a teachers union, discussing a teacher alleged to have struck a student. The following day, O'Keefe released a second video allegedly showing another union administrator speaking to students about a different alleged incident of a teacher pushing and injuring a student. In the video, the administrator allegedly boasted of her effort to retain a pension for a teacher who allegedly had sex with a student. Both teachers were suspended pending an investigation, and resigned from their union roles after the release of the videos. During a New Jersey Senate meeting on May 31, the New Jersey Education Association announced that a law firm would investigate the incidents.
Twitter suspension (2021)
On April 15, 2021, O'Keefe was suspended from Twitter for "operating fake accounts". On April 19, he filed a lawsuit against Twitter in state court in Westchester County, New York, claiming that Twitter’s reason for suspending him is "false and defamatory".
FBI search warrants and allegedly stolen Biden diary (2021)
On November 6, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed an early morning court-ordered search of O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, New York two days after searching the homes of two of O'Keefe's associates in connection with the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, in 2020. Excerpts allegedly from the diary were posted two weeks before the 2020 US presidential election.
Reception
Project Veritas uses methods not employed by reputable journalists, including misrepresenting its operatives' identities. O'Keefe refers to himself as a "guerrilla journalist". Such methods have stirred debate about what it means to be a journalist and what constitutes good journalistic practice, especially with respect to undercover work.
Tim Kenneally and Daniel Frankel reporting for TheWrap in 2011 noted that some of O'Keefe's supporters referred to him as the right wing's answer to a long line of left-leaning "hybrid troublemakers who get put on the cover of Rolling Stone, like Paul Krassner and Abbie Hoffman". In that same 2011 report, Marty Kaplan, director of the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, was quoted as saying:
What [O'Keefe] does isn't journalism. It's agitpop, politi-punking, entrapment-entertainment. There is no responsible definition of journalism that includes what he does or how he does it. His success at luring his prey into harming themselves is a measure of how fallible and foolish anyone, including good people, can sometimes be.
In reporting on allegations that O'Keefe had attempted in 2010 to tamper with Senator Landrieu's office phone system, Jim Rutenberg and Campbell Robertson of the New York Times posited that O'Keefe practiced a kind of "gonzo journalism" and his tactic is to "caricature the political and social values of his enemies by carrying them to outlandish extremes."
In a March 2011 interview with O'Keefe, NPR journalist Bob Garfield asked, referring to the ACORN videos, "If your journalistic technique is the lie, why should we believe anything you have to say?" O'Keefe responded that his techniques should be characterized as a form of guerrilla theater rather than "lying" – "you're posing as something you're not, in order to capture candid conversations from your subject. But I wouldn't characterize it as, as lying."
In July 2011, Dean Mills, the dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, compared O'Keefe to Michael Moore and said, "Some ethicists say it is never right for a journalist to deceive for any reason, but there are wrongs in the world that will never be exposed without some kind of subterfuge." The Atlantic journalist Conor Friedersdorf responded that O'Keefe's "mortal sin" wasn't that he misled his subjects, but that he misled his audience by presenting his videos to the public in "less than honest ways that go far beyond normal 'selectivity.'"
On February 11, 2021, the Twitter account for Project Veritas was “permanently suspended for repeated violations of Twitter’s private information policy.” At the same time, O'Keefe's account was “temporarily locked” for violating the policy pending the deletion of a tweet. On April 15, Twitter permanently suspended O'Keefe's personal account for violating the Twitter's policy against "platform manipulation and spam", which disallows the use of fake accounts to "artificially amplify or disrupt conversations". O'Keefe denied that he used fake Twitter accounts and said that he would sue Twitter in response.
On November 6, 2021, the FBI executed an early morning court-ordered search of O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, New York two days after searching the homes of two of O'Keefe's associates in connection with the theft of a diary belonging to President Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, in 2020. Excerpts allegedly from the diary were posted two weeks before the 2020 US presidential election.
Works
References
External links
Project Veritas website
Interview of O'Keefe by NPR's On the Media (audio with transcript)
1984 births
Living people
American activist journalists
American alternative journalists
American anti–illegal immigration activists
American conspiracy theorists
American critics of Islam
American filmmakers
American people of Irish descent
People from Westwood, New Jersey
Rutgers University alumni
American anti-abortion activists | false | [
"On 15 August 2013, a car bomb exploded in Beirut, Lebanon killing 27 people and injuring over 200 people. The car bomb was intended for the stronghold of Hezbollah. It was reportedly the \"worst explosion in south Beirut\" since a 1985 truck bomb assassination attempt targeting top Shiite cleric Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah. \nThe Islamist group Aisha Umm-al Mouemeneen, also known as Brigades of Aisha, were responsible for the explosion. In their statement the group accused Hezbollah of being Iranian agents and threatened more attacks. \"This is the second time that we decide the time and place of the battle ... And you will see more, God willing,\" However Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and other politicians blamed Israel for the attack.\n\nThe bombing came \"amid sectarian tensions\" over the intervention of Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah against Sunni rebels in the Syrian civil war.\nA month earlier a car bomb injured more than 50 people in the same district. A week later two mosques were bombed in Tripoli killing over 40 and injuring hundreds. The Tripoli bombing were thought to be in retaliation for the Beirut bombing.\n\nPolitical analyst Anno Bunnik has warned that Sunni militants would likely target Hezbollah areas in response to its role in the Syrian Civil War.\n\nReferences\n\n2013 murders in Asia\nAugust 2013\n2010s murders in Lebanon\nAugust 2013 crimes in Asia\nAugust 2013 events in Asia\nCar and truck bombings in Lebanon\nExplosions in 2013\nIslamic terrorist incidents in 2013\nMass murder in 2013\nAugust 2013\nAugust 2013\nTerrorist incidents in Lebanon during the Syrian civil war\nTerrorist incidents in Lebanon in 2013\nViolence against Shia Muslims in Lebanon",
"The 1988 Oshakati bomb blast was a bombing in Oshakati, Ovamboland, South West Africa (now Oshana Region, Namibia) which killed 27 people and left 70 others injured on 19 February 1988. The target of the bombing was the Barclay's Bank in the town. The perpetrators were never identified or convicted. Both the South African police and South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), the major independence movement in Namibia, were blamed. At the time of the blast, both SWAPO and the South African authorities blamed each other.\n\nBackground\n19 February, the day of the blast, was a Wednesday at the end of the month, which is the traditional time when state employees were paid. At approximately noon, a car bomb exploded. Oshakati in the 1980s was a major hub for both the South African military as well as the bantustan Ovamboland government.\n\nCommemorations\nIn the years since the bombing, the day has been marked by commemorations by many Namibians, including prominent religious leaders and politicians. They called for national reconciliation in honour of the victims.\n\nReferences\n\nOshakati\n1988 in South West Africa\nCar and truck bombings in Africa\nTerrorist incidents in Africa in 1988\nMass murder in 1988\nTerrorist incidents in Namibia\n1988 murders in Africa"
] |
[
"Bipasha Basu",
"Early life and modelling careerEdit"
] | C_9e4f474728d84e99b44cb315f5c7b726_1 | When did Basu start modeling? | 1 | When did Bipasha Basu start modeling? | Bipasha Basu | Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name. She added "Due to my dusky skin, I was considered ugly in my younger years." In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter. In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress. CANNOTANSWER | In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, | Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades, including one Filmfare Award. Particularly known for her work in the thriller and horror film genres, she is frequently cited in the media as a sex symbol.
Born in Delhi and raised in Kolkata, Basu won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest in 1996, and later pursued a successful career as a fashion model. She then began receiving offers for film roles, and made her acting debut with a negative role in the moderately successful thriller Ajnabee (2001), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Basu's first leading role was in the blockbuster horror film Raaz (2002), which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She subsequently received worldwide critical recognition and several awards for her portrayals of a seductress in the 2003 erotic thriller Jism and the 2006 drama Corporate. Basu achieved further success with starring roles in six of India's annually top-grossing productions—the comedies No Entry (2005), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), and All the Best: Fun Begins (2009), the action adventure Dhoom 2 (2006), the action thriller Race (2008) and the horror thriller Raaz 3D (2012). She also received praise for her performances in the romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), and the horror films Aatma (2013), Creature 3D (2014) and Alone (2015). Her other notable work includes item numbers in several films.
In addition to acting in films, Basu is a fitness enthusiast and has featured in several fitness videos. Following a high-profile relationship with actor John Abraham, Basu married actor Karan Singh Grover in 2016.
Early life and modelling career
Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name.
In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter.
In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.
Acting career
Debut: 2001–02
One of the judges of the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest in which Basu participated, Vinod Khanna, wanted to launch her alongside his son Akshaye Khanna in Himalay Putra, but she felt she was too young and declined the role, which eventually went to Anjala Zaveri. After returning home, she was convinced by Jaya Bachchan to star opposite her son Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta's Aakhari Mughal. However, the film was cancelled, and Dutta instead changed the script and made Refugee with Kareena Kapoor. Basu was also offered a role in Refugee opposite Sunil Shetty, which she declined.
In 2001, Basu finally made her debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Vijay Galani's Ajnabee. The film, directed by Abbas-Mustan, was inspired by the American film Consenting Adults. It was a moderate box-office success and attracted unfavorable reviews from critics. However, Basu's performance in a negative role was appreciated by critics and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
In 2002, Basu starred in the year's most successful thriller, Raaz. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, it established Basu in the Hindi film industry. Her portrayal of a woman who is pursued by a spirit received positive reviews. One review in The Tribune noted, "... it is Bipasha Basu who steals the show with her fine performance." She was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Raaz. She was appreciated in a supporting role in Sanjay Gadhvi's Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, a moderate critical and commercial success. However, in David Dhawan's Chor Machaaye Shor, was her first commercial failure. She appeared in a supporting role opposite Mahesh Babu and Lisa Ray in the Telugu film, Takkari Donga. Gunaah, which released later that year, was also a box-office failure. She played the role of a cop who loves a convict and tries to reform him. Derek Elley of Variety observed that Basu was a miscast as the "idealistic cop".
2003–05
In 2003, Basu starred in Pooja Bhatt's erotic thriller film, Jism alongside John Abraham, which was well received by critics and fared well at the box office. She played the role of seductive, ambitious wife of a millionaire who indulges in an extramarital affair with an alcoholic lawyer and plots to kill her husband. The film ranked 92 in the top 100 sexiest movie scenes poll conducted by Channel 4. Film critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented, "... the real show stealer is Bipasha Basu; her sexy look and seductive deep voice, in contrast with her cold and calculating personality, makes her the most impressive femme fatale since Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi." She received a Filmfare Best Villain Award nomination for Jism. Her next release, Zameen, failed to make impact among audiences.
Basu had four releases in 2004, all of which performed moderately and drew mixed reviews. She collaborated for the second time with Vikram Bhatt in her first release Aetbaar. She played the role of a young woman who falls in love with a psychopath. Rediff.com noted that "... The characters are not convincing, the plot is not fast-paced or interesting." Her next film was Mani Shankar's Rudraksh, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. The film was a disaster at the box office and was panned by the critics. She then starred in Rakht as a tarot card reader trying to solve a murder mystery. Critic Shruti Bhasin of Planetbollywood wrote, "Bipasha Basu impresses in a different look and role." Her final release that year was Anil Sharma's Madhoshi opposite John Abraham. Her performance of a mentally unstable woman was generally well received.
In 2005, she appeared in the love triangle Barsaat alongside Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra. Taran Adarsh commented, "As an actor, she [Bipasha Basu] does show sparks only towards the end." She starred in the Tamil film, Sachein, which was a hit and then in Prakash Jha's Apaharan, which won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. In this period, she refused to act in art films due to salary problems.
Besides acting, Basu did the video "Tu" for Sonu Nigam's album, Kismat. She made a guest appearance in Jay Sean's music video "Stolen".
2005–09
Basu established herself as an actress with the success of No Entry, Corporate and Dhoom 2. No Entry grossed 750 million at the box office and was the highest-grossing film of 2005. Basu played the role of a bargirl who acts as wife of two men. She earned a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film. 2006 saw her star in four major releases — Phir Hera Pheri, Corporate, Omkara and Dhoom 2 — performing well critically and commercially. Phir Hera Pheri became the ninth highest-grossing film of the year. She was featured opposite Akshay Kumar in a significant role of a con woman who steals 10 million from the protagonists. In Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, she gave up her glamorous look for the role of a businesswoman who has no qualms in taking advantage of her sexuality to con the CEO of a rival company. She won accolades from critics for her performance. Critic Aparna wrote, "[...] she has done a fabulous job as an ambitious woman. The kind of shrewdness in a woman that she plays has never been seen before in India films." She was nominated for the second time for Filmfare Best Actress Award.
In Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of Othello, Omkara, Basu played the role of Bianca and was a cameo. She caught the attention of public with her dance number "Beedi", which was highly popular in India and overseas. Critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN wrote, "... Bipasha Basu is brought in to lend oomph and she succeeds in doing just that." Basu became the talk of the town for donning a bikini in Aditya Chopra's Dhoom 2. She reportedly ate only oranges for three days and trained hard to shoot the scene. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Aah Bipasha! Looks great, brings back the bikini to Bollywood, and gently slips into the shadows as a pretty accessory."
In 2007, Ronnie Screwvala's Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal performed below average at the box-office. The song picturised on John Abraham and Basu, "Billo Rani", became quite popular and earned her the nickname "Billo Rani", though equal credit must be given to Omkara in which her name was Billo Chamanbahar. In 2008, she teamed up once again with Abbas-Mustan for Race. She played the role of Sonia who is stuck in a love-triangle between two brothers (played by Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna) and, through the course, she murders one of them. The film grossed 680 million at the box office and was the fourth-biggest hit that year in India; it performed good enough overseas as well. Her performance was appreciated by critics with Taran Adarsh citing it as "her best work so far. She's superb." Basu's work in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno as a successful supermodel who finds it hard to forgive her ex-lover for betraying her earned her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the film was a commercial success with it becoming a "Hit". She completed 2008 by appearing during the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
Her first release in 2009, Aa Dekhen Zara failed to do well at the box office. Rohit Shetty's All The Best: Fun Begins performed well and her comic role was appreciated by fans. Later that year, Basu surprised everybody with Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film, Shob Charitro Kalponik. "I love saris and I'm wearing a lot of them in Ritu's film," she said. She gave up her glamorous look and was praised by critics for her performance. Critic Subhash K. Jha spoke high of her. He said, "Bipasha [Basu] pulls out all stops to deliver her career's best performance. Her moments of anguish before and after her screen-husband's death are expressed in tones of cathartic conviction that we never knew existed within Bipasha." He also compared her with the multiple-award-winning actress, Shabana Azmi, commenting that Basu's anguished portrayal of bereavement can be equalled by Azmi only.
Recent work: 2010–present
With the 2010 film Pankh, Basu returned as an imaginary character who exists in the protagonist's mind. She was then featured as a Kashmiri girl in Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa, which explored socio-political problems in Kashmir. Principal photography of Lamhaa was disrupted many times by the locals due to the controversial theme. During the shooting of Lamhaa, she left the sets at Anantnag and headed back to Mumbai citing she was afraid of the crowd there. Producer Bunty Walia thought of replacing her with Vidya Balan, but she returned for the shoot later with necessary security arrangements. NDTV Movies wrote, "Bipasha sinks herself into her character imparting a dramatic resonance into the role without resorting to stock expressions. The sequence where she gets mauled by militant women is as traumatic to watch as it must have been for Bipasha to shoot." Basu then appeared as the wife of a ruthless cop in Priyadarshan's Aakrosh who helps the police with investigation on honour killings in their village. She met with mixed reviews for the film. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Bipasha actually doesn't have much to do and does seem to be miscast as the much-abused, bruised and battered wife of Paresh Rawal".
Her only release in 2011 was Dum Maaro Dum, which performed reasonably well at the box office and met with good reviews from critics. Talking of the film, she said, "My next release is DMD Dum Maaro Dum, in which I play a lively, colourful, happy-go-lucky girl called Zoey, who is the representation of Goa as we see it." Basu collaborated with Abbas-Mustan for the third time in Players, which became the first release of 2012. The film was an official remake of The Italian Job. Players was heavily compared to The Italian Job and was criticised for its execution and performances, including that of Basu.
Her next release was Raaz 3, a supernatural horror thriller directed by Vikram Bhatt, upon release met with favourable response and emerging as a box office success after a period of relatively low phase for Basu. The movie not only became the highest grossing horror film, but also emerged a "blockbuster" with revenues of in India alone. Her performance in the film garnered acclaim from critics with Subhash K. Jha of IANS saying, "It's Bipasha who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance."
After appearing in a guest appearance in Race 2, where she reprised her role from the prequel, Basu was seen in the horror film Aatma which was directed by Suparn Verma and produced by Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak. She received mixed reviews for the movie. Bipasha performed live alongside Atif Aslam, Shaan & Malaika Arora Khan for the first time in series of concerts in Birmingham & London in the summer 2013.
In 2014 Bipasha Basu was seen on numerous roles in different types of movies. She appeared in Humshakals, a comedy movie directed by Sajid Khan opposite Saif Ali Khan. Humshakals was a box office disaster. She even didn't participate in the film's promotions because she was "extremely disturbed by the end result" and stated, "Humshakals was the worst experience of my life". She was also seen in a horror film Creature 3D, which was again a box office failure. Basu had completed work on her first English film, Roland Joffé's epic drama The Lovers in which she portrayed a Maratha warrior. The film was released on 13 March 2015. In 2015, Basu featured in Bhushan Patel's romance horror film Alone opposite her future husband Karan Singh Grover. India TV reviewed the movie and wrote that, "With some genuine scary moments and Bipasha-Karan's scorching chemistry, Alone stands apart from numerous horrible horror flicks made in the past." and also stated that, "Bipasha just takes her act to another level." The film performed moderately well at the box office.
As of 2020, Basu is committed to star opposite her husband Karan Singh Grover for the second time in crime drama web series Dangerous.
Media image
Basu ranked 8 in The Times of India 50 most desirable women in 2011, ranked 13 in 2012, and ranked 7 in 2013. UK magazine Eastern Eye named her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" in 2005 and 2007.
Other ventures
Fitness DVD launch
Aside from films, Basu is an advocate of physical fitness. In 2005 she released her first fitness DVD jointly with John Abraham, titled Bollywood Bodies. In 2010 she released her first solo fitness DVD called Love Yourself: Fit & Fabulous You, which emphasised on being strong, healthy, and loving one's self. The DVD consisted of a 60-day routine for weight-loss, including a beginner's workout, an advanced workout and an "easy tone" workout. She was also the brand ambassador of Sugar Free, which helped her promoting the DVD. Hiren Gada, director of Shemaroo Entertainment said, "A celebrity like Bipasha Basu, genuinely believes in staying healthy. She is also passionate about fitness." Basu later launched her second fitness DVD in September 2011 named Break Free, a 30-minute dance routine, and the follow up to Bipasha Basu's first workout video, continuing the Love Yourself series. In January 2014 Bipasha Basu launched her much awaited third instalment of her Love Yourself DVD fitness series, Unleash, an advanced training routine that includes plyometrics and focuses more on power and speed, while strengthening the bones and improving muscle coordination. Later in 2014, many of her fitness workout videos were released for free on distributor Shemaroo Entertainment's health-focussed YouTube channel, Shemaroo Good Health 24/7.
She is also the face of Delhi Marathon, which has been inspired by her interest in fitness.
Personal life
Basu was in a relationship with actor Dino Morea from 1996 to 2002 and a very high-profile one with John Abraham from 2002 to 2011. In 2015, Basu met co-star Karan Singh Grover on the sets of Alone and they fell in love. The couple got married on 30 April 2016.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Bipasha Basu on IMDb
1979 births
Living people
Indian film actresses
Female models from Delhi
Apeejay School alumni
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools alumni
Actresses from Kolkata
Filmfare Awards winners
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Bengali cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Bengali actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
20th-century Bengalis
21st-century Bengalis
Female models from Kolkata
People from New Alipore | true | [
"Supermodel of the World (Ford Supermodel of the Year, formerly Face of the 80s) is an international modeling contest established by Eileen Ford in 1980. The contest showcases young fashion model entrants from over 50 countries in order to discover new talent for the fashion industry. The winner of the international final event receives a $250,000 modeling contract with Ford Models. The two runners up receive contracts of $150,000 and $100,000 respectively.\n\nTitleholders\n\n No event was held in 2003.\n\nNotable participants\nNotable participants that did not win the contest were Adriana Lima, Chanel Iman, Kendra Spears, Marie-Christine Gessinger, Nadege Herrera, Magdalena Fiolka, Charo Ronquillo, Magdalena Wróbel, Liliane Ferrarezi, Ingrid Schram, Bianca Chiminello, Bipasha Basu, Caron Bernstein, Zana Krasniqi, Paloma Lago, Malin Akerman, Elsa Benítez, Keity Mendieta, Nicole Trunfio, Shiraz Tal, Michelle Behennah, Melanie Marquez, Michelle Robles and Ly Jonaitis\n\nHosts\n1982 - Lee Majors\n1990 - Christie Brinkley\n1992 - Walt Willey, Ashley Richardson\n1993 - Walt Willey, Rachel Hunter\n1996 - Richard Steinmetz\n2004 - Billy Bush\n\nSee also\n Ford Models\n Elite Model Look\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official website\n Official MySpace and Application\n \n\nRecurring events established in 1980\nFashion events in the United States\nModeling competitions",
"Nina Basu is a lawyer and the president of the Inner Arbor Trust, the organization that manages Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods. She is a resident of Columbia, Maryland, and native of Howard County.\n\nBiography\n\nBasu studied history and government at Dartmouth College and earned her law degree in 2008 from the University of Maryland School of Law. After graduating from law school, Basu worked for McGuireWoods for four years before leaving to start her own practice.\n\nPublic service\n\nBasu has served on the Long Reach Village Board since first elected in 2003. Her focus has been on renewing the village and eliminating crime. Since 2017, Basu has led the villages efforts to rebuild the Long Reach village center. The village center had been in decline for years and following the village center's purchase by the Howard County government, Basu has worked with the county and developers to improve the health and safety of the area.\n\nBasu became president of the Inner Arbor Trust at the start of its inaugural year with the Chrysalis, a new multipurpose stage and outdoor amphitheater. During that year, she organized ballet, big band, and classical concerts, and a park-wide haunted woods feature. Basu also led new collaborative efforts with the neighboring Merriweather Post Pavillion.\n\nIn 2017, Basu led legal teams at the Baltimore–Washington International Airport and the Washington Dulles International Airport. Her teams provided legal advice and protection to individuals entering the United States.\n\nAwards\n\n Maryland's Leading Women, 2015\n The Daily Record VIP List, 2019\n\nReferences \n\n \n\n1980 births\nAmerican arts administrators\nAmerican lawyers\nBengali Hindus\nColumbia, Maryland\nDartmouth College alumni\nHoward County, Maryland\nLiving people\nUniversity of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law alumni\nWomen lawyers"
] |
[
"Bipasha Basu",
"Early life and modelling careerEdit",
"When did Basu start modeling?",
"In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal,"
] | C_9e4f474728d84e99b44cb315f5c7b726_1 | What was her first modeling job? | 2 | What was Bipasha Basu's first modeling job? | Bipasha Basu | Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name. She added "Due to my dusky skin, I was considered ugly in my younger years." In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter. In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress. CANNOTANSWER | she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel | Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades, including one Filmfare Award. Particularly known for her work in the thriller and horror film genres, she is frequently cited in the media as a sex symbol.
Born in Delhi and raised in Kolkata, Basu won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest in 1996, and later pursued a successful career as a fashion model. She then began receiving offers for film roles, and made her acting debut with a negative role in the moderately successful thriller Ajnabee (2001), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Basu's first leading role was in the blockbuster horror film Raaz (2002), which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She subsequently received worldwide critical recognition and several awards for her portrayals of a seductress in the 2003 erotic thriller Jism and the 2006 drama Corporate. Basu achieved further success with starring roles in six of India's annually top-grossing productions—the comedies No Entry (2005), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), and All the Best: Fun Begins (2009), the action adventure Dhoom 2 (2006), the action thriller Race (2008) and the horror thriller Raaz 3D (2012). She also received praise for her performances in the romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), and the horror films Aatma (2013), Creature 3D (2014) and Alone (2015). Her other notable work includes item numbers in several films.
In addition to acting in films, Basu is a fitness enthusiast and has featured in several fitness videos. Following a high-profile relationship with actor John Abraham, Basu married actor Karan Singh Grover in 2016.
Early life and modelling career
Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name.
In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter.
In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.
Acting career
Debut: 2001–02
One of the judges of the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest in which Basu participated, Vinod Khanna, wanted to launch her alongside his son Akshaye Khanna in Himalay Putra, but she felt she was too young and declined the role, which eventually went to Anjala Zaveri. After returning home, she was convinced by Jaya Bachchan to star opposite her son Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta's Aakhari Mughal. However, the film was cancelled, and Dutta instead changed the script and made Refugee with Kareena Kapoor. Basu was also offered a role in Refugee opposite Sunil Shetty, which she declined.
In 2001, Basu finally made her debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Vijay Galani's Ajnabee. The film, directed by Abbas-Mustan, was inspired by the American film Consenting Adults. It was a moderate box-office success and attracted unfavorable reviews from critics. However, Basu's performance in a negative role was appreciated by critics and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
In 2002, Basu starred in the year's most successful thriller, Raaz. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, it established Basu in the Hindi film industry. Her portrayal of a woman who is pursued by a spirit received positive reviews. One review in The Tribune noted, "... it is Bipasha Basu who steals the show with her fine performance." She was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Raaz. She was appreciated in a supporting role in Sanjay Gadhvi's Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, a moderate critical and commercial success. However, in David Dhawan's Chor Machaaye Shor, was her first commercial failure. She appeared in a supporting role opposite Mahesh Babu and Lisa Ray in the Telugu film, Takkari Donga. Gunaah, which released later that year, was also a box-office failure. She played the role of a cop who loves a convict and tries to reform him. Derek Elley of Variety observed that Basu was a miscast as the "idealistic cop".
2003–05
In 2003, Basu starred in Pooja Bhatt's erotic thriller film, Jism alongside John Abraham, which was well received by critics and fared well at the box office. She played the role of seductive, ambitious wife of a millionaire who indulges in an extramarital affair with an alcoholic lawyer and plots to kill her husband. The film ranked 92 in the top 100 sexiest movie scenes poll conducted by Channel 4. Film critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented, "... the real show stealer is Bipasha Basu; her sexy look and seductive deep voice, in contrast with her cold and calculating personality, makes her the most impressive femme fatale since Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi." She received a Filmfare Best Villain Award nomination for Jism. Her next release, Zameen, failed to make impact among audiences.
Basu had four releases in 2004, all of which performed moderately and drew mixed reviews. She collaborated for the second time with Vikram Bhatt in her first release Aetbaar. She played the role of a young woman who falls in love with a psychopath. Rediff.com noted that "... The characters are not convincing, the plot is not fast-paced or interesting." Her next film was Mani Shankar's Rudraksh, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. The film was a disaster at the box office and was panned by the critics. She then starred in Rakht as a tarot card reader trying to solve a murder mystery. Critic Shruti Bhasin of Planetbollywood wrote, "Bipasha Basu impresses in a different look and role." Her final release that year was Anil Sharma's Madhoshi opposite John Abraham. Her performance of a mentally unstable woman was generally well received.
In 2005, she appeared in the love triangle Barsaat alongside Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra. Taran Adarsh commented, "As an actor, she [Bipasha Basu] does show sparks only towards the end." She starred in the Tamil film, Sachein, which was a hit and then in Prakash Jha's Apaharan, which won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. In this period, she refused to act in art films due to salary problems.
Besides acting, Basu did the video "Tu" for Sonu Nigam's album, Kismat. She made a guest appearance in Jay Sean's music video "Stolen".
2005–09
Basu established herself as an actress with the success of No Entry, Corporate and Dhoom 2. No Entry grossed 750 million at the box office and was the highest-grossing film of 2005. Basu played the role of a bargirl who acts as wife of two men. She earned a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film. 2006 saw her star in four major releases — Phir Hera Pheri, Corporate, Omkara and Dhoom 2 — performing well critically and commercially. Phir Hera Pheri became the ninth highest-grossing film of the year. She was featured opposite Akshay Kumar in a significant role of a con woman who steals 10 million from the protagonists. In Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, she gave up her glamorous look for the role of a businesswoman who has no qualms in taking advantage of her sexuality to con the CEO of a rival company. She won accolades from critics for her performance. Critic Aparna wrote, "[...] she has done a fabulous job as an ambitious woman. The kind of shrewdness in a woman that she plays has never been seen before in India films." She was nominated for the second time for Filmfare Best Actress Award.
In Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of Othello, Omkara, Basu played the role of Bianca and was a cameo. She caught the attention of public with her dance number "Beedi", which was highly popular in India and overseas. Critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN wrote, "... Bipasha Basu is brought in to lend oomph and she succeeds in doing just that." Basu became the talk of the town for donning a bikini in Aditya Chopra's Dhoom 2. She reportedly ate only oranges for three days and trained hard to shoot the scene. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Aah Bipasha! Looks great, brings back the bikini to Bollywood, and gently slips into the shadows as a pretty accessory."
In 2007, Ronnie Screwvala's Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal performed below average at the box-office. The song picturised on John Abraham and Basu, "Billo Rani", became quite popular and earned her the nickname "Billo Rani", though equal credit must be given to Omkara in which her name was Billo Chamanbahar. In 2008, she teamed up once again with Abbas-Mustan for Race. She played the role of Sonia who is stuck in a love-triangle between two brothers (played by Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna) and, through the course, she murders one of them. The film grossed 680 million at the box office and was the fourth-biggest hit that year in India; it performed good enough overseas as well. Her performance was appreciated by critics with Taran Adarsh citing it as "her best work so far. She's superb." Basu's work in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno as a successful supermodel who finds it hard to forgive her ex-lover for betraying her earned her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the film was a commercial success with it becoming a "Hit". She completed 2008 by appearing during the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
Her first release in 2009, Aa Dekhen Zara failed to do well at the box office. Rohit Shetty's All The Best: Fun Begins performed well and her comic role was appreciated by fans. Later that year, Basu surprised everybody with Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film, Shob Charitro Kalponik. "I love saris and I'm wearing a lot of them in Ritu's film," she said. She gave up her glamorous look and was praised by critics for her performance. Critic Subhash K. Jha spoke high of her. He said, "Bipasha [Basu] pulls out all stops to deliver her career's best performance. Her moments of anguish before and after her screen-husband's death are expressed in tones of cathartic conviction that we never knew existed within Bipasha." He also compared her with the multiple-award-winning actress, Shabana Azmi, commenting that Basu's anguished portrayal of bereavement can be equalled by Azmi only.
Recent work: 2010–present
With the 2010 film Pankh, Basu returned as an imaginary character who exists in the protagonist's mind. She was then featured as a Kashmiri girl in Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa, which explored socio-political problems in Kashmir. Principal photography of Lamhaa was disrupted many times by the locals due to the controversial theme. During the shooting of Lamhaa, she left the sets at Anantnag and headed back to Mumbai citing she was afraid of the crowd there. Producer Bunty Walia thought of replacing her with Vidya Balan, but she returned for the shoot later with necessary security arrangements. NDTV Movies wrote, "Bipasha sinks herself into her character imparting a dramatic resonance into the role without resorting to stock expressions. The sequence where she gets mauled by militant women is as traumatic to watch as it must have been for Bipasha to shoot." Basu then appeared as the wife of a ruthless cop in Priyadarshan's Aakrosh who helps the police with investigation on honour killings in their village. She met with mixed reviews for the film. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Bipasha actually doesn't have much to do and does seem to be miscast as the much-abused, bruised and battered wife of Paresh Rawal".
Her only release in 2011 was Dum Maaro Dum, which performed reasonably well at the box office and met with good reviews from critics. Talking of the film, she said, "My next release is DMD Dum Maaro Dum, in which I play a lively, colourful, happy-go-lucky girl called Zoey, who is the representation of Goa as we see it." Basu collaborated with Abbas-Mustan for the third time in Players, which became the first release of 2012. The film was an official remake of The Italian Job. Players was heavily compared to The Italian Job and was criticised for its execution and performances, including that of Basu.
Her next release was Raaz 3, a supernatural horror thriller directed by Vikram Bhatt, upon release met with favourable response and emerging as a box office success after a period of relatively low phase for Basu. The movie not only became the highest grossing horror film, but also emerged a "blockbuster" with revenues of in India alone. Her performance in the film garnered acclaim from critics with Subhash K. Jha of IANS saying, "It's Bipasha who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance."
After appearing in a guest appearance in Race 2, where she reprised her role from the prequel, Basu was seen in the horror film Aatma which was directed by Suparn Verma and produced by Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak. She received mixed reviews for the movie. Bipasha performed live alongside Atif Aslam, Shaan & Malaika Arora Khan for the first time in series of concerts in Birmingham & London in the summer 2013.
In 2014 Bipasha Basu was seen on numerous roles in different types of movies. She appeared in Humshakals, a comedy movie directed by Sajid Khan opposite Saif Ali Khan. Humshakals was a box office disaster. She even didn't participate in the film's promotions because she was "extremely disturbed by the end result" and stated, "Humshakals was the worst experience of my life". She was also seen in a horror film Creature 3D, which was again a box office failure. Basu had completed work on her first English film, Roland Joffé's epic drama The Lovers in which she portrayed a Maratha warrior. The film was released on 13 March 2015. In 2015, Basu featured in Bhushan Patel's romance horror film Alone opposite her future husband Karan Singh Grover. India TV reviewed the movie and wrote that, "With some genuine scary moments and Bipasha-Karan's scorching chemistry, Alone stands apart from numerous horrible horror flicks made in the past." and also stated that, "Bipasha just takes her act to another level." The film performed moderately well at the box office.
As of 2020, Basu is committed to star opposite her husband Karan Singh Grover for the second time in crime drama web series Dangerous.
Media image
Basu ranked 8 in The Times of India 50 most desirable women in 2011, ranked 13 in 2012, and ranked 7 in 2013. UK magazine Eastern Eye named her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" in 2005 and 2007.
Other ventures
Fitness DVD launch
Aside from films, Basu is an advocate of physical fitness. In 2005 she released her first fitness DVD jointly with John Abraham, titled Bollywood Bodies. In 2010 she released her first solo fitness DVD called Love Yourself: Fit & Fabulous You, which emphasised on being strong, healthy, and loving one's self. The DVD consisted of a 60-day routine for weight-loss, including a beginner's workout, an advanced workout and an "easy tone" workout. She was also the brand ambassador of Sugar Free, which helped her promoting the DVD. Hiren Gada, director of Shemaroo Entertainment said, "A celebrity like Bipasha Basu, genuinely believes in staying healthy. She is also passionate about fitness." Basu later launched her second fitness DVD in September 2011 named Break Free, a 30-minute dance routine, and the follow up to Bipasha Basu's first workout video, continuing the Love Yourself series. In January 2014 Bipasha Basu launched her much awaited third instalment of her Love Yourself DVD fitness series, Unleash, an advanced training routine that includes plyometrics and focuses more on power and speed, while strengthening the bones and improving muscle coordination. Later in 2014, many of her fitness workout videos were released for free on distributor Shemaroo Entertainment's health-focussed YouTube channel, Shemaroo Good Health 24/7.
She is also the face of Delhi Marathon, which has been inspired by her interest in fitness.
Personal life
Basu was in a relationship with actor Dino Morea from 1996 to 2002 and a very high-profile one with John Abraham from 2002 to 2011. In 2015, Basu met co-star Karan Singh Grover on the sets of Alone and they fell in love. The couple got married on 30 April 2016.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Bipasha Basu on IMDb
1979 births
Living people
Indian film actresses
Female models from Delhi
Apeejay School alumni
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools alumni
Actresses from Kolkata
Filmfare Awards winners
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Bengali cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Bengali actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
20th-century Bengalis
21st-century Bengalis
Female models from Kolkata
People from New Alipore | true | [
"Aparna Sharma (born 23 July) is an Indian model-turned-actress. She was born in Lucknow and brought up in several parts of India. Sharma completed her secondary education from The Air Force School, Delhi, and her graduation from Delhi University.\n\nSharma was signed by the Elite model management company, which was the start of her modeling career. After her stint in the modeling industry she did her first film, Rum Pum Posshh, produced by Shailesh R. Singh. The movie was slated to release in 2015. However, her debut film was Guddu Ki Gun, directed by Shantanu and Sheershak and produced by Eminox Media, slated to release on 30 October 2015. The trailer was released on 5 October 2015.\n\nPersonal life\nSharma has lived in several parts of India including Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Mumbai due to her father's job in the Indian Air Force. She pursued her higher education while living in Delhi. When her father's job brought the family to Mumbai, Sharma decided to try modeling.\n\nCareer \nDuring her modeling tenure, Sharma did TV commercials for Parle Monaco with Aamir Khan, ESPN Brand Film with John Abraham, Coke with Imran Khan, Chik Satin Shampoo, Samsung Mobile, and more. \n\nThe upcoming movie Guddu Ki Gun is Sharma's debut feature film. She has also signed a three-movie contract with Balaji Motion Pictures.\n\nShe acted in the 2017 erotic web series Equal Sin with Adnan Khan, and the Alt Balaji web series XXX in its first-season episode 2 Sumitra G as a Hindi tele soap actress Sumitra.\n\nReferences\n\nActresses from Lucknow\nFemale models from Uttar Pradesh\nIndian film actresses\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)",
"Colleen Corby (born August 3, 1947) is an American retired model. She is best known for her work as a teen in the 1960s, as well as for her modeling work in department store catalogs from the 1960s and 1970s, including those of Sears, JC Penney, Montgomery Ward, and others. Corby's modeling career began in 1959 when she was eleven years old.\n\nEarly career\nTwo weeks after walking into Eileen Ford's modeling agency (ostensibly to look for a summer job), Corby was sent on her first modeling assignment. By the end of that first summer, she was steadily booking assignments and her parents enrolled her in Manhattan's Professional Children's School, which allows for the irregular schedules of actors and models. By her last year of high school, she was so busy she hardly ever attended classes.\n\nCorby in the 1960s \nBy the mid-1960s, Corby's popularity was at its peak. In 1963, she signed a multi-year movie contract with Universal Pictures, and had every intention of making acting her new career. However, her acting career never got off the ground. Her popularity as a model, however, was still strong; she appeared in TV commercials, magazines and catalogs. Corby was most closely associated with Seventeen magazine, appearing on an unprecedented 15 covers in the 1960s (five times in 1964 alone) and in the magazine's fashion spreads almost every month.\n\n1970s career \nBy the 1970s, Corby's teen market was gone, but she continued to appear in magazines like Glamour and Mademoiselle and was a fixture in the catalogs of major retailers like Sears and JCPenney. She initially retired from modeling in 1979, when she married businessman Peter Bernuth. Corby briefly returned to modeling in the early 1980s, but after her second child was born she left New York and the fashion world for good. She currently lives in Florida (where her husband's business was located). Her last public appearance was on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Currently, Corby works in Alumni Relations and Development at the University of Miami School of Business in Coral Gables, Florida.\n\nNotes \n\n1947 births\nFemale models from Pennsylvania\nLiving people\nPeople from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania\n21st-century American women"
] |
[
"Bipasha Basu",
"Early life and modelling careerEdit",
"When did Basu start modeling?",
"In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal,",
"What was her first modeling job?",
"she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel"
] | C_9e4f474728d84e99b44cb315f5c7b726_1 | What other modeling competitions has she appeared in? | 3 | What other modeling competitions has Bipasha Basu appeared in aside from the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest? | Bipasha Basu | Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name. She added "Due to my dusky skin, I was considered ugly in my younger years." In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter. In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress. CANNOTANSWER | She later appeared in the Calida commercial | Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades, including one Filmfare Award. Particularly known for her work in the thriller and horror film genres, she is frequently cited in the media as a sex symbol.
Born in Delhi and raised in Kolkata, Basu won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest in 1996, and later pursued a successful career as a fashion model. She then began receiving offers for film roles, and made her acting debut with a negative role in the moderately successful thriller Ajnabee (2001), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Basu's first leading role was in the blockbuster horror film Raaz (2002), which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She subsequently received worldwide critical recognition and several awards for her portrayals of a seductress in the 2003 erotic thriller Jism and the 2006 drama Corporate. Basu achieved further success with starring roles in six of India's annually top-grossing productions—the comedies No Entry (2005), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), and All the Best: Fun Begins (2009), the action adventure Dhoom 2 (2006), the action thriller Race (2008) and the horror thriller Raaz 3D (2012). She also received praise for her performances in the romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), and the horror films Aatma (2013), Creature 3D (2014) and Alone (2015). Her other notable work includes item numbers in several films.
In addition to acting in films, Basu is a fitness enthusiast and has featured in several fitness videos. Following a high-profile relationship with actor John Abraham, Basu married actor Karan Singh Grover in 2016.
Early life and modelling career
Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name.
In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter.
In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.
Acting career
Debut: 2001–02
One of the judges of the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest in which Basu participated, Vinod Khanna, wanted to launch her alongside his son Akshaye Khanna in Himalay Putra, but she felt she was too young and declined the role, which eventually went to Anjala Zaveri. After returning home, she was convinced by Jaya Bachchan to star opposite her son Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta's Aakhari Mughal. However, the film was cancelled, and Dutta instead changed the script and made Refugee with Kareena Kapoor. Basu was also offered a role in Refugee opposite Sunil Shetty, which she declined.
In 2001, Basu finally made her debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Vijay Galani's Ajnabee. The film, directed by Abbas-Mustan, was inspired by the American film Consenting Adults. It was a moderate box-office success and attracted unfavorable reviews from critics. However, Basu's performance in a negative role was appreciated by critics and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
In 2002, Basu starred in the year's most successful thriller, Raaz. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, it established Basu in the Hindi film industry. Her portrayal of a woman who is pursued by a spirit received positive reviews. One review in The Tribune noted, "... it is Bipasha Basu who steals the show with her fine performance." She was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Raaz. She was appreciated in a supporting role in Sanjay Gadhvi's Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, a moderate critical and commercial success. However, in David Dhawan's Chor Machaaye Shor, was her first commercial failure. She appeared in a supporting role opposite Mahesh Babu and Lisa Ray in the Telugu film, Takkari Donga. Gunaah, which released later that year, was also a box-office failure. She played the role of a cop who loves a convict and tries to reform him. Derek Elley of Variety observed that Basu was a miscast as the "idealistic cop".
2003–05
In 2003, Basu starred in Pooja Bhatt's erotic thriller film, Jism alongside John Abraham, which was well received by critics and fared well at the box office. She played the role of seductive, ambitious wife of a millionaire who indulges in an extramarital affair with an alcoholic lawyer and plots to kill her husband. The film ranked 92 in the top 100 sexiest movie scenes poll conducted by Channel 4. Film critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented, "... the real show stealer is Bipasha Basu; her sexy look and seductive deep voice, in contrast with her cold and calculating personality, makes her the most impressive femme fatale since Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi." She received a Filmfare Best Villain Award nomination for Jism. Her next release, Zameen, failed to make impact among audiences.
Basu had four releases in 2004, all of which performed moderately and drew mixed reviews. She collaborated for the second time with Vikram Bhatt in her first release Aetbaar. She played the role of a young woman who falls in love with a psychopath. Rediff.com noted that "... The characters are not convincing, the plot is not fast-paced or interesting." Her next film was Mani Shankar's Rudraksh, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. The film was a disaster at the box office and was panned by the critics. She then starred in Rakht as a tarot card reader trying to solve a murder mystery. Critic Shruti Bhasin of Planetbollywood wrote, "Bipasha Basu impresses in a different look and role." Her final release that year was Anil Sharma's Madhoshi opposite John Abraham. Her performance of a mentally unstable woman was generally well received.
In 2005, she appeared in the love triangle Barsaat alongside Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra. Taran Adarsh commented, "As an actor, she [Bipasha Basu] does show sparks only towards the end." She starred in the Tamil film, Sachein, which was a hit and then in Prakash Jha's Apaharan, which won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. In this period, she refused to act in art films due to salary problems.
Besides acting, Basu did the video "Tu" for Sonu Nigam's album, Kismat. She made a guest appearance in Jay Sean's music video "Stolen".
2005–09
Basu established herself as an actress with the success of No Entry, Corporate and Dhoom 2. No Entry grossed 750 million at the box office and was the highest-grossing film of 2005. Basu played the role of a bargirl who acts as wife of two men. She earned a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film. 2006 saw her star in four major releases — Phir Hera Pheri, Corporate, Omkara and Dhoom 2 — performing well critically and commercially. Phir Hera Pheri became the ninth highest-grossing film of the year. She was featured opposite Akshay Kumar in a significant role of a con woman who steals 10 million from the protagonists. In Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, she gave up her glamorous look for the role of a businesswoman who has no qualms in taking advantage of her sexuality to con the CEO of a rival company. She won accolades from critics for her performance. Critic Aparna wrote, "[...] she has done a fabulous job as an ambitious woman. The kind of shrewdness in a woman that she plays has never been seen before in India films." She was nominated for the second time for Filmfare Best Actress Award.
In Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of Othello, Omkara, Basu played the role of Bianca and was a cameo. She caught the attention of public with her dance number "Beedi", which was highly popular in India and overseas. Critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN wrote, "... Bipasha Basu is brought in to lend oomph and she succeeds in doing just that." Basu became the talk of the town for donning a bikini in Aditya Chopra's Dhoom 2. She reportedly ate only oranges for three days and trained hard to shoot the scene. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Aah Bipasha! Looks great, brings back the bikini to Bollywood, and gently slips into the shadows as a pretty accessory."
In 2007, Ronnie Screwvala's Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal performed below average at the box-office. The song picturised on John Abraham and Basu, "Billo Rani", became quite popular and earned her the nickname "Billo Rani", though equal credit must be given to Omkara in which her name was Billo Chamanbahar. In 2008, she teamed up once again with Abbas-Mustan for Race. She played the role of Sonia who is stuck in a love-triangle between two brothers (played by Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna) and, through the course, she murders one of them. The film grossed 680 million at the box office and was the fourth-biggest hit that year in India; it performed good enough overseas as well. Her performance was appreciated by critics with Taran Adarsh citing it as "her best work so far. She's superb." Basu's work in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno as a successful supermodel who finds it hard to forgive her ex-lover for betraying her earned her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the film was a commercial success with it becoming a "Hit". She completed 2008 by appearing during the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
Her first release in 2009, Aa Dekhen Zara failed to do well at the box office. Rohit Shetty's All The Best: Fun Begins performed well and her comic role was appreciated by fans. Later that year, Basu surprised everybody with Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film, Shob Charitro Kalponik. "I love saris and I'm wearing a lot of them in Ritu's film," she said. She gave up her glamorous look and was praised by critics for her performance. Critic Subhash K. Jha spoke high of her. He said, "Bipasha [Basu] pulls out all stops to deliver her career's best performance. Her moments of anguish before and after her screen-husband's death are expressed in tones of cathartic conviction that we never knew existed within Bipasha." He also compared her with the multiple-award-winning actress, Shabana Azmi, commenting that Basu's anguished portrayal of bereavement can be equalled by Azmi only.
Recent work: 2010–present
With the 2010 film Pankh, Basu returned as an imaginary character who exists in the protagonist's mind. She was then featured as a Kashmiri girl in Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa, which explored socio-political problems in Kashmir. Principal photography of Lamhaa was disrupted many times by the locals due to the controversial theme. During the shooting of Lamhaa, she left the sets at Anantnag and headed back to Mumbai citing she was afraid of the crowd there. Producer Bunty Walia thought of replacing her with Vidya Balan, but she returned for the shoot later with necessary security arrangements. NDTV Movies wrote, "Bipasha sinks herself into her character imparting a dramatic resonance into the role without resorting to stock expressions. The sequence where she gets mauled by militant women is as traumatic to watch as it must have been for Bipasha to shoot." Basu then appeared as the wife of a ruthless cop in Priyadarshan's Aakrosh who helps the police with investigation on honour killings in their village. She met with mixed reviews for the film. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Bipasha actually doesn't have much to do and does seem to be miscast as the much-abused, bruised and battered wife of Paresh Rawal".
Her only release in 2011 was Dum Maaro Dum, which performed reasonably well at the box office and met with good reviews from critics. Talking of the film, she said, "My next release is DMD Dum Maaro Dum, in which I play a lively, colourful, happy-go-lucky girl called Zoey, who is the representation of Goa as we see it." Basu collaborated with Abbas-Mustan for the third time in Players, which became the first release of 2012. The film was an official remake of The Italian Job. Players was heavily compared to The Italian Job and was criticised for its execution and performances, including that of Basu.
Her next release was Raaz 3, a supernatural horror thriller directed by Vikram Bhatt, upon release met with favourable response and emerging as a box office success after a period of relatively low phase for Basu. The movie not only became the highest grossing horror film, but also emerged a "blockbuster" with revenues of in India alone. Her performance in the film garnered acclaim from critics with Subhash K. Jha of IANS saying, "It's Bipasha who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance."
After appearing in a guest appearance in Race 2, where she reprised her role from the prequel, Basu was seen in the horror film Aatma which was directed by Suparn Verma and produced by Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak. She received mixed reviews for the movie. Bipasha performed live alongside Atif Aslam, Shaan & Malaika Arora Khan for the first time in series of concerts in Birmingham & London in the summer 2013.
In 2014 Bipasha Basu was seen on numerous roles in different types of movies. She appeared in Humshakals, a comedy movie directed by Sajid Khan opposite Saif Ali Khan. Humshakals was a box office disaster. She even didn't participate in the film's promotions because she was "extremely disturbed by the end result" and stated, "Humshakals was the worst experience of my life". She was also seen in a horror film Creature 3D, which was again a box office failure. Basu had completed work on her first English film, Roland Joffé's epic drama The Lovers in which she portrayed a Maratha warrior. The film was released on 13 March 2015. In 2015, Basu featured in Bhushan Patel's romance horror film Alone opposite her future husband Karan Singh Grover. India TV reviewed the movie and wrote that, "With some genuine scary moments and Bipasha-Karan's scorching chemistry, Alone stands apart from numerous horrible horror flicks made in the past." and also stated that, "Bipasha just takes her act to another level." The film performed moderately well at the box office.
As of 2020, Basu is committed to star opposite her husband Karan Singh Grover for the second time in crime drama web series Dangerous.
Media image
Basu ranked 8 in The Times of India 50 most desirable women in 2011, ranked 13 in 2012, and ranked 7 in 2013. UK magazine Eastern Eye named her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" in 2005 and 2007.
Other ventures
Fitness DVD launch
Aside from films, Basu is an advocate of physical fitness. In 2005 she released her first fitness DVD jointly with John Abraham, titled Bollywood Bodies. In 2010 she released her first solo fitness DVD called Love Yourself: Fit & Fabulous You, which emphasised on being strong, healthy, and loving one's self. The DVD consisted of a 60-day routine for weight-loss, including a beginner's workout, an advanced workout and an "easy tone" workout. She was also the brand ambassador of Sugar Free, which helped her promoting the DVD. Hiren Gada, director of Shemaroo Entertainment said, "A celebrity like Bipasha Basu, genuinely believes in staying healthy. She is also passionate about fitness." Basu later launched her second fitness DVD in September 2011 named Break Free, a 30-minute dance routine, and the follow up to Bipasha Basu's first workout video, continuing the Love Yourself series. In January 2014 Bipasha Basu launched her much awaited third instalment of her Love Yourself DVD fitness series, Unleash, an advanced training routine that includes plyometrics and focuses more on power and speed, while strengthening the bones and improving muscle coordination. Later in 2014, many of her fitness workout videos were released for free on distributor Shemaroo Entertainment's health-focussed YouTube channel, Shemaroo Good Health 24/7.
She is also the face of Delhi Marathon, which has been inspired by her interest in fitness.
Personal life
Basu was in a relationship with actor Dino Morea from 1996 to 2002 and a very high-profile one with John Abraham from 2002 to 2011. In 2015, Basu met co-star Karan Singh Grover on the sets of Alone and they fell in love. The couple got married on 30 April 2016.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Bipasha Basu on IMDb
1979 births
Living people
Indian film actresses
Female models from Delhi
Apeejay School alumni
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools alumni
Actresses from Kolkata
Filmfare Awards winners
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Bengali cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Bengali actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
20th-century Bengalis
21st-century Bengalis
Female models from Kolkata
People from New Alipore | true | [
"Holly Weber (born September 20, 1984) is an American glamour model and actress. As a model, she has appeared in magazines such as Maxim, FHM, Muscle & Fitness and Glamour; and in website AskMen's Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2009. She has made uncredited appearances in a number of movies and TV series.\n\nEarly life\nHolly Weber was born in Loma Linda, California and spent the majority of her formative years in Southern California. She lived in Costa Rica for three months as a child.\n\nWhile pursuing an orthodontics degree in college, Weber supported herself by waiting tables at a local restaurant.\n\nModeling career\nWeber was discovered at a nightclub in Las Vegas, and was invited to work as a go-go dancer in Las Vegas and Hollywood. Afterwards she auditioned for various modeling opportunities, and started modeling at the age of 18. She appeared in magazines such as Maxim, FHM, Muscle & Fitness and Glamour.\n\nWeber appeared at no. 66 on AskMen's Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2009.\n\nFilmography\nAside from her career in modeling, she has appeared in the following movies and TV series:\n\nFrost/Nixon (2008, uncredited)\nTropic Thunder (2008, uncredited)\nYou Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008, uncredited)\nCriminal Minds (2008, uncredited)\nThe Ugly Truth (2009, uncredited)\nCrank: High Voltage (2009, uncredited)\nFast & Furious (2009, uncredited)\nMiss March (2009, uncredited)\nThe Devil's Tomb (2009, uncredited)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \n\nLiving people\nFemale models from California\nGlamour models\nAmerican film actresses\nAmerican television actresses\n1984 births\nPeople from Loma Linda, California\n21st-century American women",
"Ingrid Romero (born July 10, 1985) is an international fitness model, fitness competitor, and fitness coach. Training & Fitness Magazine called her \"one of the most recognized faces in the fitness industry,\" and \"one of the most accomplished female fitness stars ever.\"\n\nEarly life\nIngrid Romero was born and raised in a poor part of Tarragona, Spain and began modeling when she was eleven years old. She has two sisters and a brother who live in Spain: Sara, Marian and Nico. At seventeen, she moved to London, England with aspirations of being a model, but only worked in a restaurant for a year because her English was not very good.\nRomero returned to Spain and gained fifty pounds. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Dublin, Ireland where she worked in retail, lost all the weight that she had gained and resumed her modeling career.\n\nAfter three years in Ireland, Romero moved to Cancun, Mexico—where she worked as a model. She then moved to Los, Angeles, California. While in LA—when she was looking for a personal trainer—she met her future husband, Joe Discuillo, a personal trainer. After seeing her progress in training, she decided to enter fitness competitions.\n\nFitness & modeling career\nIn 2010, Romero appeared in her first National Physique Committee fitness competition, in which she took 1st place (and the overall). After her first competition, she went on to win several National Physique Committee fitness competitions. In 2011, Romero won the Arnold Classic (bikini). After winning the Arnold Classic, she earned a WBFF pro-card from Paul Dillett, but quickly left the WBFF and returned to IFBB/NPC because Romero felt that Dillett mislead her with false promises.\n\nDuring Romero's last show, which she won, she was pregnant with twin boys. Romero had a difficult pregnancy. She was on bed rest for several months in order to carry the babies. With the help of her husband—in seven months—Romero was back in shape.\n\nIn 2012, Romero and her husband, Joe Discuillo founded Team Edge, which helps women prepare for bikini competitions. Romero started the team while she was pregnant. The Edge program covers everything from nutrition, to supplementation, to training, to posing and everything in between. Since 2012, Romero makes and sells custom-designed fitness bikinis. After having success with Team Edge, Romero produced a video about shaping and building the buttocks called Edge Booty Extreme.\n\nIngrid Romero regularly works as a fitness model. Romero has been on many magazine covers including Oxygen Magazine, Glam Today Magazine, Training & Fitness, Olympian's Mind & Body News, and Wheels & Heels Magazine. She has been featured as model in Oxygen Magazine, for Trimmed and Toned, and many other publications. She also writes about fitness.\n\nPersonal life\nRomero is married to Joe Discuillo who is also her trainer. They have twin boys.\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\n1985 births\nSpanish female models\nFitness and figure competitors\nPeople from Tarragona"
] |
[
"Bipasha Basu",
"Early life and modelling careerEdit",
"When did Basu start modeling?",
"In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal,",
"What was her first modeling job?",
"she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel",
"What other modeling competitions has she appeared in?",
"She later appeared in the Calida commercial"
] | C_9e4f474728d84e99b44cb315f5c7b726_1 | What other jobs has she had? | 4 | What other jobs has Bipasha Basu had in addition to modeling? | Bipasha Basu | Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name. She added "Due to my dusky skin, I was considered ugly in my younger years." In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter. In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress. CANNOTANSWER | With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress. | Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades, including one Filmfare Award. Particularly known for her work in the thriller and horror film genres, she is frequently cited in the media as a sex symbol.
Born in Delhi and raised in Kolkata, Basu won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest in 1996, and later pursued a successful career as a fashion model. She then began receiving offers for film roles, and made her acting debut with a negative role in the moderately successful thriller Ajnabee (2001), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Basu's first leading role was in the blockbuster horror film Raaz (2002), which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She subsequently received worldwide critical recognition and several awards for her portrayals of a seductress in the 2003 erotic thriller Jism and the 2006 drama Corporate. Basu achieved further success with starring roles in six of India's annually top-grossing productions—the comedies No Entry (2005), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), and All the Best: Fun Begins (2009), the action adventure Dhoom 2 (2006), the action thriller Race (2008) and the horror thriller Raaz 3D (2012). She also received praise for her performances in the romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), and the horror films Aatma (2013), Creature 3D (2014) and Alone (2015). Her other notable work includes item numbers in several films.
In addition to acting in films, Basu is a fitness enthusiast and has featured in several fitness videos. Following a high-profile relationship with actor John Abraham, Basu married actor Karan Singh Grover in 2016.
Early life and modelling career
Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name.
In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter.
In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.
Acting career
Debut: 2001–02
One of the judges of the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest in which Basu participated, Vinod Khanna, wanted to launch her alongside his son Akshaye Khanna in Himalay Putra, but she felt she was too young and declined the role, which eventually went to Anjala Zaveri. After returning home, she was convinced by Jaya Bachchan to star opposite her son Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta's Aakhari Mughal. However, the film was cancelled, and Dutta instead changed the script and made Refugee with Kareena Kapoor. Basu was also offered a role in Refugee opposite Sunil Shetty, which she declined.
In 2001, Basu finally made her debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Vijay Galani's Ajnabee. The film, directed by Abbas-Mustan, was inspired by the American film Consenting Adults. It was a moderate box-office success and attracted unfavorable reviews from critics. However, Basu's performance in a negative role was appreciated by critics and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
In 2002, Basu starred in the year's most successful thriller, Raaz. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, it established Basu in the Hindi film industry. Her portrayal of a woman who is pursued by a spirit received positive reviews. One review in The Tribune noted, "... it is Bipasha Basu who steals the show with her fine performance." She was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Raaz. She was appreciated in a supporting role in Sanjay Gadhvi's Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, a moderate critical and commercial success. However, in David Dhawan's Chor Machaaye Shor, was her first commercial failure. She appeared in a supporting role opposite Mahesh Babu and Lisa Ray in the Telugu film, Takkari Donga. Gunaah, which released later that year, was also a box-office failure. She played the role of a cop who loves a convict and tries to reform him. Derek Elley of Variety observed that Basu was a miscast as the "idealistic cop".
2003–05
In 2003, Basu starred in Pooja Bhatt's erotic thriller film, Jism alongside John Abraham, which was well received by critics and fared well at the box office. She played the role of seductive, ambitious wife of a millionaire who indulges in an extramarital affair with an alcoholic lawyer and plots to kill her husband. The film ranked 92 in the top 100 sexiest movie scenes poll conducted by Channel 4. Film critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented, "... the real show stealer is Bipasha Basu; her sexy look and seductive deep voice, in contrast with her cold and calculating personality, makes her the most impressive femme fatale since Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi." She received a Filmfare Best Villain Award nomination for Jism. Her next release, Zameen, failed to make impact among audiences.
Basu had four releases in 2004, all of which performed moderately and drew mixed reviews. She collaborated for the second time with Vikram Bhatt in her first release Aetbaar. She played the role of a young woman who falls in love with a psychopath. Rediff.com noted that "... The characters are not convincing, the plot is not fast-paced or interesting." Her next film was Mani Shankar's Rudraksh, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. The film was a disaster at the box office and was panned by the critics. She then starred in Rakht as a tarot card reader trying to solve a murder mystery. Critic Shruti Bhasin of Planetbollywood wrote, "Bipasha Basu impresses in a different look and role." Her final release that year was Anil Sharma's Madhoshi opposite John Abraham. Her performance of a mentally unstable woman was generally well received.
In 2005, she appeared in the love triangle Barsaat alongside Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra. Taran Adarsh commented, "As an actor, she [Bipasha Basu] does show sparks only towards the end." She starred in the Tamil film, Sachein, which was a hit and then in Prakash Jha's Apaharan, which won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. In this period, she refused to act in art films due to salary problems.
Besides acting, Basu did the video "Tu" for Sonu Nigam's album, Kismat. She made a guest appearance in Jay Sean's music video "Stolen".
2005–09
Basu established herself as an actress with the success of No Entry, Corporate and Dhoom 2. No Entry grossed 750 million at the box office and was the highest-grossing film of 2005. Basu played the role of a bargirl who acts as wife of two men. She earned a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film. 2006 saw her star in four major releases — Phir Hera Pheri, Corporate, Omkara and Dhoom 2 — performing well critically and commercially. Phir Hera Pheri became the ninth highest-grossing film of the year. She was featured opposite Akshay Kumar in a significant role of a con woman who steals 10 million from the protagonists. In Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, she gave up her glamorous look for the role of a businesswoman who has no qualms in taking advantage of her sexuality to con the CEO of a rival company. She won accolades from critics for her performance. Critic Aparna wrote, "[...] she has done a fabulous job as an ambitious woman. The kind of shrewdness in a woman that she plays has never been seen before in India films." She was nominated for the second time for Filmfare Best Actress Award.
In Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of Othello, Omkara, Basu played the role of Bianca and was a cameo. She caught the attention of public with her dance number "Beedi", which was highly popular in India and overseas. Critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN wrote, "... Bipasha Basu is brought in to lend oomph and she succeeds in doing just that." Basu became the talk of the town for donning a bikini in Aditya Chopra's Dhoom 2. She reportedly ate only oranges for three days and trained hard to shoot the scene. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Aah Bipasha! Looks great, brings back the bikini to Bollywood, and gently slips into the shadows as a pretty accessory."
In 2007, Ronnie Screwvala's Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal performed below average at the box-office. The song picturised on John Abraham and Basu, "Billo Rani", became quite popular and earned her the nickname "Billo Rani", though equal credit must be given to Omkara in which her name was Billo Chamanbahar. In 2008, she teamed up once again with Abbas-Mustan for Race. She played the role of Sonia who is stuck in a love-triangle between two brothers (played by Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna) and, through the course, she murders one of them. The film grossed 680 million at the box office and was the fourth-biggest hit that year in India; it performed good enough overseas as well. Her performance was appreciated by critics with Taran Adarsh citing it as "her best work so far. She's superb." Basu's work in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno as a successful supermodel who finds it hard to forgive her ex-lover for betraying her earned her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the film was a commercial success with it becoming a "Hit". She completed 2008 by appearing during the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
Her first release in 2009, Aa Dekhen Zara failed to do well at the box office. Rohit Shetty's All The Best: Fun Begins performed well and her comic role was appreciated by fans. Later that year, Basu surprised everybody with Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film, Shob Charitro Kalponik. "I love saris and I'm wearing a lot of them in Ritu's film," she said. She gave up her glamorous look and was praised by critics for her performance. Critic Subhash K. Jha spoke high of her. He said, "Bipasha [Basu] pulls out all stops to deliver her career's best performance. Her moments of anguish before and after her screen-husband's death are expressed in tones of cathartic conviction that we never knew existed within Bipasha." He also compared her with the multiple-award-winning actress, Shabana Azmi, commenting that Basu's anguished portrayal of bereavement can be equalled by Azmi only.
Recent work: 2010–present
With the 2010 film Pankh, Basu returned as an imaginary character who exists in the protagonist's mind. She was then featured as a Kashmiri girl in Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa, which explored socio-political problems in Kashmir. Principal photography of Lamhaa was disrupted many times by the locals due to the controversial theme. During the shooting of Lamhaa, she left the sets at Anantnag and headed back to Mumbai citing she was afraid of the crowd there. Producer Bunty Walia thought of replacing her with Vidya Balan, but she returned for the shoot later with necessary security arrangements. NDTV Movies wrote, "Bipasha sinks herself into her character imparting a dramatic resonance into the role without resorting to stock expressions. The sequence where she gets mauled by militant women is as traumatic to watch as it must have been for Bipasha to shoot." Basu then appeared as the wife of a ruthless cop in Priyadarshan's Aakrosh who helps the police with investigation on honour killings in their village. She met with mixed reviews for the film. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Bipasha actually doesn't have much to do and does seem to be miscast as the much-abused, bruised and battered wife of Paresh Rawal".
Her only release in 2011 was Dum Maaro Dum, which performed reasonably well at the box office and met with good reviews from critics. Talking of the film, she said, "My next release is DMD Dum Maaro Dum, in which I play a lively, colourful, happy-go-lucky girl called Zoey, who is the representation of Goa as we see it." Basu collaborated with Abbas-Mustan for the third time in Players, which became the first release of 2012. The film was an official remake of The Italian Job. Players was heavily compared to The Italian Job and was criticised for its execution and performances, including that of Basu.
Her next release was Raaz 3, a supernatural horror thriller directed by Vikram Bhatt, upon release met with favourable response and emerging as a box office success after a period of relatively low phase for Basu. The movie not only became the highest grossing horror film, but also emerged a "blockbuster" with revenues of in India alone. Her performance in the film garnered acclaim from critics with Subhash K. Jha of IANS saying, "It's Bipasha who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance."
After appearing in a guest appearance in Race 2, where she reprised her role from the prequel, Basu was seen in the horror film Aatma which was directed by Suparn Verma and produced by Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak. She received mixed reviews for the movie. Bipasha performed live alongside Atif Aslam, Shaan & Malaika Arora Khan for the first time in series of concerts in Birmingham & London in the summer 2013.
In 2014 Bipasha Basu was seen on numerous roles in different types of movies. She appeared in Humshakals, a comedy movie directed by Sajid Khan opposite Saif Ali Khan. Humshakals was a box office disaster. She even didn't participate in the film's promotions because she was "extremely disturbed by the end result" and stated, "Humshakals was the worst experience of my life". She was also seen in a horror film Creature 3D, which was again a box office failure. Basu had completed work on her first English film, Roland Joffé's epic drama The Lovers in which she portrayed a Maratha warrior. The film was released on 13 March 2015. In 2015, Basu featured in Bhushan Patel's romance horror film Alone opposite her future husband Karan Singh Grover. India TV reviewed the movie and wrote that, "With some genuine scary moments and Bipasha-Karan's scorching chemistry, Alone stands apart from numerous horrible horror flicks made in the past." and also stated that, "Bipasha just takes her act to another level." The film performed moderately well at the box office.
As of 2020, Basu is committed to star opposite her husband Karan Singh Grover for the second time in crime drama web series Dangerous.
Media image
Basu ranked 8 in The Times of India 50 most desirable women in 2011, ranked 13 in 2012, and ranked 7 in 2013. UK magazine Eastern Eye named her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" in 2005 and 2007.
Other ventures
Fitness DVD launch
Aside from films, Basu is an advocate of physical fitness. In 2005 she released her first fitness DVD jointly with John Abraham, titled Bollywood Bodies. In 2010 she released her first solo fitness DVD called Love Yourself: Fit & Fabulous You, which emphasised on being strong, healthy, and loving one's self. The DVD consisted of a 60-day routine for weight-loss, including a beginner's workout, an advanced workout and an "easy tone" workout. She was also the brand ambassador of Sugar Free, which helped her promoting the DVD. Hiren Gada, director of Shemaroo Entertainment said, "A celebrity like Bipasha Basu, genuinely believes in staying healthy. She is also passionate about fitness." Basu later launched her second fitness DVD in September 2011 named Break Free, a 30-minute dance routine, and the follow up to Bipasha Basu's first workout video, continuing the Love Yourself series. In January 2014 Bipasha Basu launched her much awaited third instalment of her Love Yourself DVD fitness series, Unleash, an advanced training routine that includes plyometrics and focuses more on power and speed, while strengthening the bones and improving muscle coordination. Later in 2014, many of her fitness workout videos were released for free on distributor Shemaroo Entertainment's health-focussed YouTube channel, Shemaroo Good Health 24/7.
She is also the face of Delhi Marathon, which has been inspired by her interest in fitness.
Personal life
Basu was in a relationship with actor Dino Morea from 1996 to 2002 and a very high-profile one with John Abraham from 2002 to 2011. In 2015, Basu met co-star Karan Singh Grover on the sets of Alone and they fell in love. The couple got married on 30 April 2016.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Bipasha Basu on IMDb
1979 births
Living people
Indian film actresses
Female models from Delhi
Apeejay School alumni
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools alumni
Actresses from Kolkata
Filmfare Awards winners
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Bengali cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Bengali actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
20th-century Bengalis
21st-century Bengalis
Female models from Kolkata
People from New Alipore | true | [
"Chrisann Brennan (born September 29, 1954) is an American painter and memoirist. She is the author of The Bite in the Apple, an autobiography about her relationship with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. They had one child, Lisa Brennan-Jobs.\n\nEarly life\nBrennan was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1954, one of four daughters of James Richard Brennan and Virginia Lavern Rickey. Chrisann was named after the flower chrysanthemum. Brennan notes in her memoir that she is \"dyslexic, which has had the effect of making me differently wired, creative, and a voracious problem solver— bright, but more than slightly clueless to convention.\"\n\nHer father worked for Sylvania and the family lived in a number of places including Colorado Springs and Nebraska. They eventually settled in Sunnyvale, California. Her parents divorced after their move to Buffalo, New York. Brennan attended Homestead High School in Cupertino, California, where she met Steve Jobs during the early months of 1972.\n\nRelationship with Steve Jobs\nBrennan and Jobs's relationship began in 1972 while they were students in high school together. Brennan remained involved with Jobs while he was at Reed College. Brennan (who was now a senior at Homestead High School) did not have plans to attend college, and was supportive of Jobs when he told her he planned to drop out of Reed. He continued to attend by auditing classes, but Brennan stopped visiting him. Jobs later asked her to come and live with him in a house he rented near the Reed campus, but she refused. He had started seeing other women, and she was interested in someone she met in her art class. Brennan speculates that the house was Jobs' attempt to make their relationship monogamous again.\n\nIn mid-1973, Jobs moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area. Brennan states by this point that their \"relationship was complicated. I couldn't break the connection and I couldn't commit. Steve couldn't either.\" Jobs hitchhiked and worked around the West Coast and Brennan would occasionally join him. At the same time, Brennan notes, \"little by little, Steve and I separated. But we were never able to fully let go. We never talked about breaking up or going our separate ways and we didn't have that conversation where one person says it's over.\" They continued to grow apart, but Jobs would still seek her out and visit her. They remained involved with each other while continuing to see other people.\n\nBy early 1974, Jobs was living what Brennan describes as a \"simple life\" in a Los Gatos cabin, working at Atari, and saving money for his impending trip to India. Brennan visited him twice at the cabin. Brennan's memories of this cabin consist of Jobs reading Be Here Now (and giving her a copy), listening to South Indian music, and using a Japanese meditation pillow. Brennan felt that he was more distant and negative towards her. Brennan states in her memoir that she met with Jobs right before he left for India and that he tried to give her $100 that he had earned at Atari. She initially refused to accept it but eventually accepted the money.\n\nAfter Brennan graduated from high school Jobs invited her to come and see him at the All One Farm, a commune in Oregon. While she did not spend much time with Jobs (who was recovering from an illness), Brennan was deeply influenced by the experience of meeting and working with the people that she met there.\n\nIn early 1975, Brennan became involved with a Zen Buddhist community in Los Altos, where she accidentally bumped into Jobs (whom she had not seen since the All One Farm). It was through this community that they would both meet and work with the Zen master Kobun. Jobs and Brennan began to spend more time together, although she noted that his behavior with her was more aloof than in the past. Brennan notes their lives were on different paths as she was deeply involved in her art program at Foothill College where she studied under Gordon Holler while Jobs was working with \"Kobun and Woz.\" She also fell in love with Greg Calhoun (Jobs' former Reed classmate) who had come to visit from the All One Farm. Brennan moved to the All One Farm and lived for a while with Calhoun in a renovated chicken coop. They eventually moved back to the Bay Area to earn money for a trek to India. Jobs helped them find a home to rent, though he was opposed to their traveling together to India. After Brennan and Calhoun had earned enough money to go, Jobs drove them to the airport and gave them advice about how to survive in India. Brennan traveled for a year through India with Calhoun, though their relationship ended by the time she returned to the United States.\n\nApple (1977)\nAfter her return from India, Brennan visited Jobs, whom she now considered just a friend, at his parents' home, where he was still living. It was during this period that Jobs and Brennan fell in love again, as Brennan noted changes in him that she attributes to Kōbun Chino Otogawa, whom she was also still following. It was also at this time that Jobs displayed a prototype Apple computer for Brennan and his parents in their living room. Brennan notes a shift in this time period, where the two main influences on Jobs were Apple and Kobun. By the early 1977, she and Jobs would spend time together at her home at Duveneck Ranch in Los Altos, which served as a hostel and environmental education center. Brennan also worked there as a teacher for inner city children who came to learn about the farm.\n\nAs Jobs and Apple became more successful, his relationship with Brennan grew more complex. In 1977 Brennan, Daniel Kottke, and Jobs moved into a house near the Apple office in Cupertino. Brennan notes that Jobs wanted the three of them to live together because, \"Steve told me that he didn't want to get a house with just the two of us because it felt insufficient to him. Steve wanted his buddy Daniel to live with him because he believed it would break up the intensity of what wasn't working between us. Our relationship was running hot and cold. We were completely crazy about each other and utterly bored in turns. I had suggested to Steve that we separate, but he told me that he just couldn't bring himself to say good-bye.\" In addition, Jobs initially suggested that all three of them each have separate rooms. They were still involved with each other, but even then Brennan states that in her memory of the time, \"I recalled how awful he was becoming and how I was starting to flounder.\" When she moved into the house, she had initially planned to commit to becoming an artist. However, she also needed to find work and eventually took a position at Apple in the Shipping Department (where she was part of a team that tested, assembled, and shipped Apple IIs with Mark Johnson and Bob Martinengo whom she enjoyed working with). She also took art classes at nearby De Anza College.\n\nBrennan's relationship with Jobs was deteriorating as his position with Apple grew and she began to consider ending the relationship. In October 1977, Brennan was approached by Apple employee #5, Rod Holt, who asked her to take \"a paid apprenticeship designing blueprints for the Apples.\" Both Holt and Jobs felt that it would be a good position for her, given her artistic abilities. Brennan's decision, however, was overshadowed by the fact that she realized she was pregnant and that Jobs was the father. It took her a few days to tell Jobs, whose face, according to Brennan \"turned ugly\" at the news. According to Brennan, at the beginning of her third trimester, Jobs said to her: \"I never wanted to ask that you get an abortion. I just didn't want to do that.\" He also refused to discuss the pregnancy with her. Brennan, herself, felt confused about what to do. She was estranged from her mother and afraid to discuss the matter with her father. She also did not feel comfortable with the idea of having an abortion. She chose instead to discuss the matter with Kobun, who encouraged her to have and keep the baby as he would lend his support. Meanwhile, Holt was waiting for her decision on the internship. Brennan states that Jobs continued to encourage her to take the internship, stating that she could \"be pregnant and work at Apple, you can take the job. I don't get what the problem is.\" Brennan however notes that she \"felt so ashamed: the thought of my growing belly in the professional environment at Apple, with the child being his, while he was unpredictable, in turn being punishing and sentimentally ridiculous. I could not have endured it.\" Brennan thus turned down the internship and decided to leave Apple. She states that Jobs told her \"If you give up this baby for adoption, you will be sorry\" and \"I am never going to help you.\"\n\nLisa Brennan-Jobs\nNow alone, Brennan was on welfare and cleaning houses to earn money. She would sometimes ask Jobs for money but he always refused. Brennan hid her pregnancy for as long as she could, living in a variety of homes, and continuing her work with Zen meditation. At the same time, according to Brennan, Jobs \"started to seed people with the notion that I slept around and he was infertile, which meant that this could not be his child.\" A few weeks before she was due, Brennan was invited to have her baby at the All One Farm in Oregon and Brennan accepted the offer.\n\nAt the age of 23, Brennan gave birth to her daughter, Lisa Brennan, on May 17, 1978. Jobs did not attend the birth. He eventually visited after he was contacted by Robert Friedland, their mutual friend and owner of the All One Farm. While distant, Jobs worked with Brennan on a name for the baby. She suggested the name \"Lisa\" and says that Jobs was very attached to the name \"Lisa\" while he \"was also publicly denying paternity.\" She would discover later that Jobs was preparing to unveil a new kind of computer that he wanted to give a female name. She states that she never gave him permission to use the baby's name for a computer and he hid the plans from her. Jobs also worked with his team to come up with the phrase, \"Local Integrated System Architecture\" as an alternative explanation for the Apple Lisa (decades later, however, Jobs admitted to his biographer Walter Isaacson that \"obviously, it was named for my daughter\").\n\nBrennan explored adoption both before and after Lisa's birth but ultimately decided to become a single parent. Once, while staying with friends in the Bay Area, Jobs stopped by to see her. Brennan states that they went for a walk when Jobs said to her, \"I am really sorry. I'll be back, this thing with Apple will be over when I'm about thirty. I am really, really sorry.\" Around the same time, she met with Kobun who distanced himself from her and did not fulfill his promise to help her once the baby was born.\n\nBrennan would come under intense criticism from Jobs, who claimed that \"she doesn't want money, she just wants me.\" According to Brennan, Apple's Mike Scott wanted Jobs to give her money, while other Apple executives \"advised him to ignore me or fight if I tried to go after a paternity settlement.\" Brennan also notes that later, after Jobs was forced out of Apple, \"he apologized many times over for this behavior. He said that he never took responsibility when he should have and that he was sorry.\" By this time, Jobs had developed a strong relationship with Lisa, who wanted her name changed and Jobs agreed. So he had her name on her birth certificate changed from Lisa Brennan to Lisa Brennan-Jobs.\n\nWhen Lisa was a baby and Jobs continued to deny paternity, a DNA paternity test was given that established him as Lisa's father. He was required to give Brennan $385 a month and return the money she had received from welfare. Jobs gave her $500 a month at the time when Apple went public, and Jobs became a millionaire. Brennan worked as a waitress in Palo Alto. Later, Brennan agreed to give an interview with Michael Moritz for Time magazine. It would be for its 1982 Person of the Year special (released on January 3, 1983). She decided to be honest about her relationship with Jobs. The Time magazine issue had a lifelong impact on Brennan. Rather than give Jobs the \"Person of the Year\" award, Time offered the award of \"Machine of the Year: The Computer Moves In\". In the issue, Jobs questioned the reliability of the paternity test (which stated that the \"probability of paternity for Jobs, Steven ... is 94.1%\"). Jobs responded by arguing that \"28% of the male population of the United States could be the father.\" Time also noted that \"the baby girl and the machine on which Apple has placed so much hope for the future share the same name: Lisa.\" After this issue, Brennan \"didn't pay much attention to Steve's career again.\"\n\nOver the years, however, Brennan and Jobs developed a working relationship to co-parent Lisa, particularly after he was forced out of Apple. Brennan credits the change in him to the influence of his newly found biological sister, Mona Simpson, who worked to repair the relationship between Lisa and Jobs.\n\nAccording to Fortune, Brennan wrote a letter to Jobs in 2005, and another in 2009, in which she said she would abandon writing her memoirs if Jobs would supply her with financial compensation of US$28 million for the suffering she went through as a single mother.\n\nPainter\nDuring the late 1980s, Brennan decided to finish her formal education and began to study at the California College of Arts and Crafts (where she was able to transfer her units from Foothill College). She asked Jobs to pay her tuition. He agreed to this request and according to Brennan was quite happy to do so, as part of his developing relationship with Lisa. In 1989, she transferred to the San Francisco Art Institute.\n\nBrennan has lived in Monterey, California, while working as a professional painter. She describes her art as \"light encoded paintings\" and works mostly on commission for either private or corporate parties. She has also created murals for the Ronald McDonald House, Los Angeles County Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and Packard Children's Hospital. Brennan stated that painting is \"a language for me. Letters are form, and paintings are documents for information. When I mix those two, I'm happy. It gets me out of the normal way, which is what I want to do.\"\n\nWorks\n Brennan, Chrisann. The Bite in the Apple. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2013.\n The Brennan piece is a sidebar (Scroll down the page) of the main article: \"The Steve Jobs Nobody Knew\"\n\nPortrayals\nBrennan was portrayed by Gema Zamprogna in Pirates of Silicon Valley, by Ahna O'Reilly in Jobs and by Katherine Waterston in Steve Jobs.\n\nReferences\n\n1954 births\n20th-century American women artists\n21st-century American women artists\nAmerican essayists\nAmerican women essayists\nAmerican women painters\nAmerican Zen Buddhists\nApple Inc. employees\nArtists from the San Francisco Bay Area\nCalifornia College of the Arts alumni\nCulture of the Pacific Northwest\nDyslexic writers\nFamily of Steve Jobs\nFoothill College alumni\nLiving people\nPeople from Sunnyvale, California\nSan Francisco Art Institute alumni",
"Lisa Nicole Brennan-Jobs ( Brennan; born May 17, 1978) is an American writer. She is the daughter of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Chrisann Brennan. Jobs initially denied paternity for several years, which led to a legal case and various media reports in the early days of Apple. Lisa and Steve Jobs eventually reconciled, and he accepted his paternity. Brennan-Jobs later worked as a journalist and magazine writer. An early Apple business computer, the Apple Lisa, is named after Brennan-Jobs, and she has been depicted in a number of biographies and films, including the biopics Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999), Jobs (2013), and Steve Jobs (2015). A fictionalized version of her is a major character in her aunt Mona Simpson's novel A Regular Guy.\n\nBirth\nLisa Nicole Brennan was born on May 17, 1978, on Robert Friedland's All One Farm commune outside Portland, Oregon. Her mother, Chrisann Brennan, and her father, Steve Jobs, first met at Homestead High School in Cupertino, California, in 1972 and had an on-off relationship for the next five years. In 1977, after Jobs had co-founded Apple Inc., he and Brennan moved into a house with their friend Daniel Kottke near the company's office in Cupertino, where they all worked. It was during this period that Brennan became pregnant with Lisa. Jobs, however, did not assume responsibility for the pregnancy, which led Brennan to end the relationship, leave their shared home, and support herself by cleaning houses.\n\nIn 1978, Brennan moved to the All One Farm commune to have the baby. Jobs was not present for the baby's birth and only came up three days later after Robert Friedland, the farm's owner and a friend of Jobs from Reed College, persuaded him to do so. Brennan and Jobs named the baby Lisa. Jobs named the computer project he was working on, the Apple Lisa, after her. Shortly after, Jobs publicly denied that he was the child's father. He claimed that the Apple Lisa was not named for her, and his team had come up with the phrase \"Local Integrated System Architecture\" as an alternative explanation for the project's name. Decades later, Jobs admitted that \"obviously, it was named for my daughter\".\n\nPaternity case and reconciliation\nAfter Lisa was born, Jobs publicly denied paternity, which led to a legal case. Even after a DNA paternity test established him as her father, he maintained his position. The resolution of the legal case required him to provide Brennan with $385 per month and to reimburse the state for the money she had received from welfare. After Apple went public and Jobs became a multimillionaire, he increased the payment to $500 a month. Michael Moritz interviewed Jobs, Brennan, and a number of others for the 1982 Time Person of the Year special issue, released on January 3, 1983. In his interview, Jobs questioned the reliability of the paternity test, which had found that the \"probability of paternity for Jobs, Steven... is 94.1%\". Jobs responded by arguing that \"28% of the male population of the United States could be the father\". Rather than name him \"Person of the Year\", as he and many others expected while giving the interviews, the issue was instead titled \"Machine of the Year: The Computer Moves In\". The thematic change occurred after Moritz heard about Brennan-Jobs as well as Jobs' management style.\n\nYears later, after Jobs left Apple, he acknowledged Lisa and attempted to reconcile with her. Chrisann Brennan wrote that \"he apologized many times over for his behavior\" to her and Lisa and \"said that he never took responsibility when he should have, and that he was sorry\". After reconciling with her, nine-year-old Lisa wanted to change her last name and Jobs was happy and relieved to agree to it. Jobs legally altered her birth certificate, changing her name from Lisa Brennan to Lisa Brennan-Jobs. Brennan credits the change in Jobs to the influence of Brennan-Jobs' newly found biological aunt, author Mona Simpson, who worked to repair the relationship between Brennan-Jobs and her father.\n\nNevertheless, despite the reconciliation between Jobs and Lisa their relationship remained difficult. In her autobiography Lisa recounted many episodes of Jobs failing to be an appropriate parent. He remained mostly distant, cold and made her feel unwanted; even going as far as refusing to pay her college fees initially.\n\nAccording to Fortune magazine, in his will, Jobs left Lisa a multi-million dollar inheritance.\n\nEducation and career\nWhen Brennan-Jobs was living with her mother, she attended The Nueva School and Lick Wilmerding High School. Later, after she had moved in with her father, she attended Palo Alto High School. She enrolled at Harvard University in 1996 and studied overseas for one year at King's College London. While a student at Harvard, she wrote for The Harvard Crimson. She graduated in 2000 and subsequently moved to Manhattan to work as a writer. She has written for The Southwest Review, The Massachusetts Review, The Harvard Advocate, Spiked, Vogue, and O, The Oprah Magazine.\n\nPublications\n\nIn 2018, Brennan-Jobs published Small Fry, a memoir detailing her childhood and the complex and sometimes difficult relationship she had with her father.\n\nIn media\nBrennan-Jobs has been portrayed in several biographies of her father, including Walter Isaacson's 2011 authorized biography Steve Jobs. Mona Simpson's 1996 novel A Regular Guy is a fictionalized account based on the story of Brennan-Jobs and her parents. She has been depicted in three biopic films: Brooke Radding portrayed her in the 1999 TNT TV film Pirates of Silicon Valley, while she is played as a child by Ava Acres, and as an adult by Annika Bertea, in the 2013 film Jobs. In the 2015 film Steve Jobs, directed by Danny Boyle, Brennan-Jobs is portrayed at different ages by Perla Haney-Jardine, Ripley Sobo, and Makenzie Moss. Steve Jobs screenwriter Aaron Sorkin said that he discussed the screenplay with Brennan-Jobs in advance and that she is the \"heroine of the film\".\n\nPersonal life\nBrennan-Jobs resides in Brooklyn, New York City with her husband, Bill, their son, and her two stepdaughters.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \n \n\n1978 births\n21st-century American essayists\n21st-century American memoirists\n21st-century American women writers\nAlumni of King's College London\nAmerican people of Syrian descent\nAmerican expatriates in England\nAmerican women essayists\nAmerican women memoirists\nFamily of Steve Jobs\nLiving people\nNueva School alumni\nPalo Alto High School alumni\nThe Harvard Crimson people\nWriters from Brooklyn\nWriters from Palo Alto, California\nWriters from Portland, Oregon"
] |
[
"Bipasha Basu",
"Early life and modelling careerEdit",
"When did Basu start modeling?",
"In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal,",
"What was her first modeling job?",
"she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel",
"What other modeling competitions has she appeared in?",
"She later appeared in the Calida commercial",
"What other jobs has she had?",
"With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress."
] | C_9e4f474728d84e99b44cb315f5c7b726_1 | When did she become an actress? | 5 | When did Bipasha Basu become an actress? | Bipasha Basu | Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name. She added "Due to my dusky skin, I was considered ugly in my younger years." In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter. In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades, including one Filmfare Award. Particularly known for her work in the thriller and horror film genres, she is frequently cited in the media as a sex symbol.
Born in Delhi and raised in Kolkata, Basu won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest in 1996, and later pursued a successful career as a fashion model. She then began receiving offers for film roles, and made her acting debut with a negative role in the moderately successful thriller Ajnabee (2001), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Basu's first leading role was in the blockbuster horror film Raaz (2002), which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She subsequently received worldwide critical recognition and several awards for her portrayals of a seductress in the 2003 erotic thriller Jism and the 2006 drama Corporate. Basu achieved further success with starring roles in six of India's annually top-grossing productions—the comedies No Entry (2005), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), and All the Best: Fun Begins (2009), the action adventure Dhoom 2 (2006), the action thriller Race (2008) and the horror thriller Raaz 3D (2012). She also received praise for her performances in the romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), and the horror films Aatma (2013), Creature 3D (2014) and Alone (2015). Her other notable work includes item numbers in several films.
In addition to acting in films, Basu is a fitness enthusiast and has featured in several fitness videos. Following a high-profile relationship with actor John Abraham, Basu married actor Karan Singh Grover in 2016.
Early life and modelling career
Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name.
In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter.
In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.
Acting career
Debut: 2001–02
One of the judges of the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest in which Basu participated, Vinod Khanna, wanted to launch her alongside his son Akshaye Khanna in Himalay Putra, but she felt she was too young and declined the role, which eventually went to Anjala Zaveri. After returning home, she was convinced by Jaya Bachchan to star opposite her son Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta's Aakhari Mughal. However, the film was cancelled, and Dutta instead changed the script and made Refugee with Kareena Kapoor. Basu was also offered a role in Refugee opposite Sunil Shetty, which she declined.
In 2001, Basu finally made her debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Vijay Galani's Ajnabee. The film, directed by Abbas-Mustan, was inspired by the American film Consenting Adults. It was a moderate box-office success and attracted unfavorable reviews from critics. However, Basu's performance in a negative role was appreciated by critics and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
In 2002, Basu starred in the year's most successful thriller, Raaz. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, it established Basu in the Hindi film industry. Her portrayal of a woman who is pursued by a spirit received positive reviews. One review in The Tribune noted, "... it is Bipasha Basu who steals the show with her fine performance." She was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Raaz. She was appreciated in a supporting role in Sanjay Gadhvi's Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, a moderate critical and commercial success. However, in David Dhawan's Chor Machaaye Shor, was her first commercial failure. She appeared in a supporting role opposite Mahesh Babu and Lisa Ray in the Telugu film, Takkari Donga. Gunaah, which released later that year, was also a box-office failure. She played the role of a cop who loves a convict and tries to reform him. Derek Elley of Variety observed that Basu was a miscast as the "idealistic cop".
2003–05
In 2003, Basu starred in Pooja Bhatt's erotic thriller film, Jism alongside John Abraham, which was well received by critics and fared well at the box office. She played the role of seductive, ambitious wife of a millionaire who indulges in an extramarital affair with an alcoholic lawyer and plots to kill her husband. The film ranked 92 in the top 100 sexiest movie scenes poll conducted by Channel 4. Film critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented, "... the real show stealer is Bipasha Basu; her sexy look and seductive deep voice, in contrast with her cold and calculating personality, makes her the most impressive femme fatale since Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi." She received a Filmfare Best Villain Award nomination for Jism. Her next release, Zameen, failed to make impact among audiences.
Basu had four releases in 2004, all of which performed moderately and drew mixed reviews. She collaborated for the second time with Vikram Bhatt in her first release Aetbaar. She played the role of a young woman who falls in love with a psychopath. Rediff.com noted that "... The characters are not convincing, the plot is not fast-paced or interesting." Her next film was Mani Shankar's Rudraksh, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. The film was a disaster at the box office and was panned by the critics. She then starred in Rakht as a tarot card reader trying to solve a murder mystery. Critic Shruti Bhasin of Planetbollywood wrote, "Bipasha Basu impresses in a different look and role." Her final release that year was Anil Sharma's Madhoshi opposite John Abraham. Her performance of a mentally unstable woman was generally well received.
In 2005, she appeared in the love triangle Barsaat alongside Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra. Taran Adarsh commented, "As an actor, she [Bipasha Basu] does show sparks only towards the end." She starred in the Tamil film, Sachein, which was a hit and then in Prakash Jha's Apaharan, which won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. In this period, she refused to act in art films due to salary problems.
Besides acting, Basu did the video "Tu" for Sonu Nigam's album, Kismat. She made a guest appearance in Jay Sean's music video "Stolen".
2005–09
Basu established herself as an actress with the success of No Entry, Corporate and Dhoom 2. No Entry grossed 750 million at the box office and was the highest-grossing film of 2005. Basu played the role of a bargirl who acts as wife of two men. She earned a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film. 2006 saw her star in four major releases — Phir Hera Pheri, Corporate, Omkara and Dhoom 2 — performing well critically and commercially. Phir Hera Pheri became the ninth highest-grossing film of the year. She was featured opposite Akshay Kumar in a significant role of a con woman who steals 10 million from the protagonists. In Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, she gave up her glamorous look for the role of a businesswoman who has no qualms in taking advantage of her sexuality to con the CEO of a rival company. She won accolades from critics for her performance. Critic Aparna wrote, "[...] she has done a fabulous job as an ambitious woman. The kind of shrewdness in a woman that she plays has never been seen before in India films." She was nominated for the second time for Filmfare Best Actress Award.
In Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of Othello, Omkara, Basu played the role of Bianca and was a cameo. She caught the attention of public with her dance number "Beedi", which was highly popular in India and overseas. Critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN wrote, "... Bipasha Basu is brought in to lend oomph and she succeeds in doing just that." Basu became the talk of the town for donning a bikini in Aditya Chopra's Dhoom 2. She reportedly ate only oranges for three days and trained hard to shoot the scene. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Aah Bipasha! Looks great, brings back the bikini to Bollywood, and gently slips into the shadows as a pretty accessory."
In 2007, Ronnie Screwvala's Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal performed below average at the box-office. The song picturised on John Abraham and Basu, "Billo Rani", became quite popular and earned her the nickname "Billo Rani", though equal credit must be given to Omkara in which her name was Billo Chamanbahar. In 2008, she teamed up once again with Abbas-Mustan for Race. She played the role of Sonia who is stuck in a love-triangle between two brothers (played by Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna) and, through the course, she murders one of them. The film grossed 680 million at the box office and was the fourth-biggest hit that year in India; it performed good enough overseas as well. Her performance was appreciated by critics with Taran Adarsh citing it as "her best work so far. She's superb." Basu's work in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno as a successful supermodel who finds it hard to forgive her ex-lover for betraying her earned her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the film was a commercial success with it becoming a "Hit". She completed 2008 by appearing during the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
Her first release in 2009, Aa Dekhen Zara failed to do well at the box office. Rohit Shetty's All The Best: Fun Begins performed well and her comic role was appreciated by fans. Later that year, Basu surprised everybody with Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film, Shob Charitro Kalponik. "I love saris and I'm wearing a lot of them in Ritu's film," she said. She gave up her glamorous look and was praised by critics for her performance. Critic Subhash K. Jha spoke high of her. He said, "Bipasha [Basu] pulls out all stops to deliver her career's best performance. Her moments of anguish before and after her screen-husband's death are expressed in tones of cathartic conviction that we never knew existed within Bipasha." He also compared her with the multiple-award-winning actress, Shabana Azmi, commenting that Basu's anguished portrayal of bereavement can be equalled by Azmi only.
Recent work: 2010–present
With the 2010 film Pankh, Basu returned as an imaginary character who exists in the protagonist's mind. She was then featured as a Kashmiri girl in Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa, which explored socio-political problems in Kashmir. Principal photography of Lamhaa was disrupted many times by the locals due to the controversial theme. During the shooting of Lamhaa, she left the sets at Anantnag and headed back to Mumbai citing she was afraid of the crowd there. Producer Bunty Walia thought of replacing her with Vidya Balan, but she returned for the shoot later with necessary security arrangements. NDTV Movies wrote, "Bipasha sinks herself into her character imparting a dramatic resonance into the role without resorting to stock expressions. The sequence where she gets mauled by militant women is as traumatic to watch as it must have been for Bipasha to shoot." Basu then appeared as the wife of a ruthless cop in Priyadarshan's Aakrosh who helps the police with investigation on honour killings in their village. She met with mixed reviews for the film. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Bipasha actually doesn't have much to do and does seem to be miscast as the much-abused, bruised and battered wife of Paresh Rawal".
Her only release in 2011 was Dum Maaro Dum, which performed reasonably well at the box office and met with good reviews from critics. Talking of the film, she said, "My next release is DMD Dum Maaro Dum, in which I play a lively, colourful, happy-go-lucky girl called Zoey, who is the representation of Goa as we see it." Basu collaborated with Abbas-Mustan for the third time in Players, which became the first release of 2012. The film was an official remake of The Italian Job. Players was heavily compared to The Italian Job and was criticised for its execution and performances, including that of Basu.
Her next release was Raaz 3, a supernatural horror thriller directed by Vikram Bhatt, upon release met with favourable response and emerging as a box office success after a period of relatively low phase for Basu. The movie not only became the highest grossing horror film, but also emerged a "blockbuster" with revenues of in India alone. Her performance in the film garnered acclaim from critics with Subhash K. Jha of IANS saying, "It's Bipasha who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance."
After appearing in a guest appearance in Race 2, where she reprised her role from the prequel, Basu was seen in the horror film Aatma which was directed by Suparn Verma and produced by Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak. She received mixed reviews for the movie. Bipasha performed live alongside Atif Aslam, Shaan & Malaika Arora Khan for the first time in series of concerts in Birmingham & London in the summer 2013.
In 2014 Bipasha Basu was seen on numerous roles in different types of movies. She appeared in Humshakals, a comedy movie directed by Sajid Khan opposite Saif Ali Khan. Humshakals was a box office disaster. She even didn't participate in the film's promotions because she was "extremely disturbed by the end result" and stated, "Humshakals was the worst experience of my life". She was also seen in a horror film Creature 3D, which was again a box office failure. Basu had completed work on her first English film, Roland Joffé's epic drama The Lovers in which she portrayed a Maratha warrior. The film was released on 13 March 2015. In 2015, Basu featured in Bhushan Patel's romance horror film Alone opposite her future husband Karan Singh Grover. India TV reviewed the movie and wrote that, "With some genuine scary moments and Bipasha-Karan's scorching chemistry, Alone stands apart from numerous horrible horror flicks made in the past." and also stated that, "Bipasha just takes her act to another level." The film performed moderately well at the box office.
As of 2020, Basu is committed to star opposite her husband Karan Singh Grover for the second time in crime drama web series Dangerous.
Media image
Basu ranked 8 in The Times of India 50 most desirable women in 2011, ranked 13 in 2012, and ranked 7 in 2013. UK magazine Eastern Eye named her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" in 2005 and 2007.
Other ventures
Fitness DVD launch
Aside from films, Basu is an advocate of physical fitness. In 2005 she released her first fitness DVD jointly with John Abraham, titled Bollywood Bodies. In 2010 she released her first solo fitness DVD called Love Yourself: Fit & Fabulous You, which emphasised on being strong, healthy, and loving one's self. The DVD consisted of a 60-day routine for weight-loss, including a beginner's workout, an advanced workout and an "easy tone" workout. She was also the brand ambassador of Sugar Free, which helped her promoting the DVD. Hiren Gada, director of Shemaroo Entertainment said, "A celebrity like Bipasha Basu, genuinely believes in staying healthy. She is also passionate about fitness." Basu later launched her second fitness DVD in September 2011 named Break Free, a 30-minute dance routine, and the follow up to Bipasha Basu's first workout video, continuing the Love Yourself series. In January 2014 Bipasha Basu launched her much awaited third instalment of her Love Yourself DVD fitness series, Unleash, an advanced training routine that includes plyometrics and focuses more on power and speed, while strengthening the bones and improving muscle coordination. Later in 2014, many of her fitness workout videos were released for free on distributor Shemaroo Entertainment's health-focussed YouTube channel, Shemaroo Good Health 24/7.
She is also the face of Delhi Marathon, which has been inspired by her interest in fitness.
Personal life
Basu was in a relationship with actor Dino Morea from 1996 to 2002 and a very high-profile one with John Abraham from 2002 to 2011. In 2015, Basu met co-star Karan Singh Grover on the sets of Alone and they fell in love. The couple got married on 30 April 2016.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Bipasha Basu on IMDb
1979 births
Living people
Indian film actresses
Female models from Delhi
Apeejay School alumni
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools alumni
Actresses from Kolkata
Filmfare Awards winners
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Bengali cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Bengali actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
20th-century Bengalis
21st-century Bengalis
Female models from Kolkata
People from New Alipore | false | [
"Zareen Panna, also known as Panna or Zarrin (Urdu; زرین; born 1947) is a Pakistani actress and former classical dancer. She acted in both Urdu and Punjabi films.\n\nEarly life\nZareen was born on 1947 in Shimla, India. She along with her family migrated to Pakistan in Karachi. Zareen was interested in arts and dancing from a young age. Comdeian Sultan Khoosat father of actor Irfan Khoosat was a friend of her family, he introduced her to Ghulam Hussain (Patiala Gharana) and stad Shado Maharaj (Dehli Gharana). They trained her in classical dancing and later Sabiha Khanum sister of Farida Khanum helped her in dancing and at that time she was taught by Rafi Anwar, Siddique Samrat and Madam Azuri. \n\nShe attended a school to become a doctor to help her family her mother supported her decision to become a doctor because she wanted her to become an doctor but she also took dancing classes as she loved dancing and decided to become an dancer. Later Zareen attended Islamia Girs College in Karachi from there she completed her studies.\n\nZareen's father Nawab Khalil was an adviser in the court of Maharaja of Patiala and her mother was a housewife.\n\nCareer\nZareen started as an child actress. She first did advertisements for leading brands of that time. After she learned Bharatanatyam, Khattak and Katha Kali dancing. She achieving national and international recognition at a very young age and in 1958 she was awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz by the President of Pakistan Ayub Khan. In 1960 she made her debut as an actress in 1960 in film Gharib and had a successful career, she worked in multiple films Insaan Badalta Hai, Lakhon Fasanay, Sukh Ka Sapna, Insaan Badalta Hai and Taj Aur Talwar. She also performed in front of Pakistan President Iskander Mirza, he appreciated her and she also did live performances in front of former prime ministers Feroz Khan Noon and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In 1959, she also did a performance for President of United States Dwight D. Eisenhower during his visit to Pakistan at The Palace Hotel.\n\nIn 1961, she also did a classical performance for Queen Elizabeth II when she visited Pakistan with her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.\n\nShe was invited by former prime minister Feroz Khan Noon to perform in front of King of Afghanistan Mohammed Zahir Shah. When president Sukarno visited Pakistan in 1963, she performed a live dance show for him. \n\nShe also went to China, she performed in the Palace of Mao Zedong and she went to Russia participated in a cultural festival at Moscow.\n\nIn 2018 she a did a live dance performance for prince Aga Khan IV when he visited Pakistan. For her contributions towards the television and film industry, she was honored by the Government of Pakistan with the Pride of Performance in 2018.\n\nPersonal life\nIn 1960s Zareen married actor and director S. Suleman brother of actors Santosh Kumar, Mansoor and Darpan. She was a close relative of actresses Sabiha Khanum, Farida Khanum and Nayyar Sultana. She has three children one daughter and two sons. After 25 years she and S. Suleman separated but they did not divorced and she took the custody of her children.\n\nFilmography\n\nFilm\n\nAwards and recognition\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1947 births\nLiving people\n20th-century Pakistani actresses\nPakistani film actresses\n21st-century Pakistani actresses\nPakistani television actresses\nRecipients of the Pride of Performance",
"Kim Su-an (; born January 27, 2006) is a South Korean actress. She debuted in the entertainment industry when she was five years old, and has since featured in films and television series, eventually gaining wider recognition with her role in the international hit film Train to Busan (2016).\n\nCareer\n\n2011–2015: Beginnings\nKim debuted as an actress in the film Sorry, Thanks in 2011. Since then, she has become an in-demand child actress in both independent and big-budget films like Sprout (2013) Mad Sad Bad (2014) and Coin Locker Girl (2015).\n\n2016–present: Rising popularity\nIn 2016, she gained wider recognition for playing the daughter of Gong Yoo's character in the box-office zombie hit Train to Busan. The same year, she signed an exclusive contract with talent management agency Blossom Entertainment.\n\nIn 2017, she starred in the action film The Battleship Island, playing Hwang Jung-min's daughter. She was awarded the Best Supporting Actress award at the Buil Film Awards. She also appeared in Along With The Gods: The Two Worlds (2017).\n\nFilmography\n\nFilm\n\nTelevision series\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n Kim Su-an at Blossom Entertainment\n \n \n \n \n\n2006 births\nLiving people\nSouth Korean child actresses\nSouth Korean television actresses\nSouth Korean film actresses\n21st-century South Korean actresses"
] |
[
"Bipasha Basu",
"Early life and modelling careerEdit",
"When did Basu start modeling?",
"In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal,",
"What was her first modeling job?",
"she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel",
"What other modeling competitions has she appeared in?",
"She later appeared in the Calida commercial",
"What other jobs has she had?",
"With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.",
"When did she become an actress?",
"I don't know."
] | C_9e4f474728d84e99b44cb315f5c7b726_1 | What else did she experience in her early career? | 6 | What else did Bipasha Basu experience in her early career other than fashion modeling? | Bipasha Basu | Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name. She added "Due to my dusky skin, I was considered ugly in my younger years." In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter. In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress. CANNOTANSWER | which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. | Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades, including one Filmfare Award. Particularly known for her work in the thriller and horror film genres, she is frequently cited in the media as a sex symbol.
Born in Delhi and raised in Kolkata, Basu won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest in 1996, and later pursued a successful career as a fashion model. She then began receiving offers for film roles, and made her acting debut with a negative role in the moderately successful thriller Ajnabee (2001), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Basu's first leading role was in the blockbuster horror film Raaz (2002), which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She subsequently received worldwide critical recognition and several awards for her portrayals of a seductress in the 2003 erotic thriller Jism and the 2006 drama Corporate. Basu achieved further success with starring roles in six of India's annually top-grossing productions—the comedies No Entry (2005), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), and All the Best: Fun Begins (2009), the action adventure Dhoom 2 (2006), the action thriller Race (2008) and the horror thriller Raaz 3D (2012). She also received praise for her performances in the romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), and the horror films Aatma (2013), Creature 3D (2014) and Alone (2015). Her other notable work includes item numbers in several films.
In addition to acting in films, Basu is a fitness enthusiast and has featured in several fitness videos. Following a high-profile relationship with actor John Abraham, Basu married actor Karan Singh Grover in 2016.
Early life and modelling career
Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name.
In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter.
In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.
Acting career
Debut: 2001–02
One of the judges of the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest in which Basu participated, Vinod Khanna, wanted to launch her alongside his son Akshaye Khanna in Himalay Putra, but she felt she was too young and declined the role, which eventually went to Anjala Zaveri. After returning home, she was convinced by Jaya Bachchan to star opposite her son Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta's Aakhari Mughal. However, the film was cancelled, and Dutta instead changed the script and made Refugee with Kareena Kapoor. Basu was also offered a role in Refugee opposite Sunil Shetty, which she declined.
In 2001, Basu finally made her debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Vijay Galani's Ajnabee. The film, directed by Abbas-Mustan, was inspired by the American film Consenting Adults. It was a moderate box-office success and attracted unfavorable reviews from critics. However, Basu's performance in a negative role was appreciated by critics and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
In 2002, Basu starred in the year's most successful thriller, Raaz. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, it established Basu in the Hindi film industry. Her portrayal of a woman who is pursued by a spirit received positive reviews. One review in The Tribune noted, "... it is Bipasha Basu who steals the show with her fine performance." She was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Raaz. She was appreciated in a supporting role in Sanjay Gadhvi's Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, a moderate critical and commercial success. However, in David Dhawan's Chor Machaaye Shor, was her first commercial failure. She appeared in a supporting role opposite Mahesh Babu and Lisa Ray in the Telugu film, Takkari Donga. Gunaah, which released later that year, was also a box-office failure. She played the role of a cop who loves a convict and tries to reform him. Derek Elley of Variety observed that Basu was a miscast as the "idealistic cop".
2003–05
In 2003, Basu starred in Pooja Bhatt's erotic thriller film, Jism alongside John Abraham, which was well received by critics and fared well at the box office. She played the role of seductive, ambitious wife of a millionaire who indulges in an extramarital affair with an alcoholic lawyer and plots to kill her husband. The film ranked 92 in the top 100 sexiest movie scenes poll conducted by Channel 4. Film critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented, "... the real show stealer is Bipasha Basu; her sexy look and seductive deep voice, in contrast with her cold and calculating personality, makes her the most impressive femme fatale since Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi." She received a Filmfare Best Villain Award nomination for Jism. Her next release, Zameen, failed to make impact among audiences.
Basu had four releases in 2004, all of which performed moderately and drew mixed reviews. She collaborated for the second time with Vikram Bhatt in her first release Aetbaar. She played the role of a young woman who falls in love with a psychopath. Rediff.com noted that "... The characters are not convincing, the plot is not fast-paced or interesting." Her next film was Mani Shankar's Rudraksh, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. The film was a disaster at the box office and was panned by the critics. She then starred in Rakht as a tarot card reader trying to solve a murder mystery. Critic Shruti Bhasin of Planetbollywood wrote, "Bipasha Basu impresses in a different look and role." Her final release that year was Anil Sharma's Madhoshi opposite John Abraham. Her performance of a mentally unstable woman was generally well received.
In 2005, she appeared in the love triangle Barsaat alongside Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra. Taran Adarsh commented, "As an actor, she [Bipasha Basu] does show sparks only towards the end." She starred in the Tamil film, Sachein, which was a hit and then in Prakash Jha's Apaharan, which won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. In this period, she refused to act in art films due to salary problems.
Besides acting, Basu did the video "Tu" for Sonu Nigam's album, Kismat. She made a guest appearance in Jay Sean's music video "Stolen".
2005–09
Basu established herself as an actress with the success of No Entry, Corporate and Dhoom 2. No Entry grossed 750 million at the box office and was the highest-grossing film of 2005. Basu played the role of a bargirl who acts as wife of two men. She earned a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film. 2006 saw her star in four major releases — Phir Hera Pheri, Corporate, Omkara and Dhoom 2 — performing well critically and commercially. Phir Hera Pheri became the ninth highest-grossing film of the year. She was featured opposite Akshay Kumar in a significant role of a con woman who steals 10 million from the protagonists. In Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, she gave up her glamorous look for the role of a businesswoman who has no qualms in taking advantage of her sexuality to con the CEO of a rival company. She won accolades from critics for her performance. Critic Aparna wrote, "[...] she has done a fabulous job as an ambitious woman. The kind of shrewdness in a woman that she plays has never been seen before in India films." She was nominated for the second time for Filmfare Best Actress Award.
In Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of Othello, Omkara, Basu played the role of Bianca and was a cameo. She caught the attention of public with her dance number "Beedi", which was highly popular in India and overseas. Critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN wrote, "... Bipasha Basu is brought in to lend oomph and she succeeds in doing just that." Basu became the talk of the town for donning a bikini in Aditya Chopra's Dhoom 2. She reportedly ate only oranges for three days and trained hard to shoot the scene. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Aah Bipasha! Looks great, brings back the bikini to Bollywood, and gently slips into the shadows as a pretty accessory."
In 2007, Ronnie Screwvala's Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal performed below average at the box-office. The song picturised on John Abraham and Basu, "Billo Rani", became quite popular and earned her the nickname "Billo Rani", though equal credit must be given to Omkara in which her name was Billo Chamanbahar. In 2008, she teamed up once again with Abbas-Mustan for Race. She played the role of Sonia who is stuck in a love-triangle between two brothers (played by Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna) and, through the course, she murders one of them. The film grossed 680 million at the box office and was the fourth-biggest hit that year in India; it performed good enough overseas as well. Her performance was appreciated by critics with Taran Adarsh citing it as "her best work so far. She's superb." Basu's work in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno as a successful supermodel who finds it hard to forgive her ex-lover for betraying her earned her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the film was a commercial success with it becoming a "Hit". She completed 2008 by appearing during the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
Her first release in 2009, Aa Dekhen Zara failed to do well at the box office. Rohit Shetty's All The Best: Fun Begins performed well and her comic role was appreciated by fans. Later that year, Basu surprised everybody with Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film, Shob Charitro Kalponik. "I love saris and I'm wearing a lot of them in Ritu's film," she said. She gave up her glamorous look and was praised by critics for her performance. Critic Subhash K. Jha spoke high of her. He said, "Bipasha [Basu] pulls out all stops to deliver her career's best performance. Her moments of anguish before and after her screen-husband's death are expressed in tones of cathartic conviction that we never knew existed within Bipasha." He also compared her with the multiple-award-winning actress, Shabana Azmi, commenting that Basu's anguished portrayal of bereavement can be equalled by Azmi only.
Recent work: 2010–present
With the 2010 film Pankh, Basu returned as an imaginary character who exists in the protagonist's mind. She was then featured as a Kashmiri girl in Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa, which explored socio-political problems in Kashmir. Principal photography of Lamhaa was disrupted many times by the locals due to the controversial theme. During the shooting of Lamhaa, she left the sets at Anantnag and headed back to Mumbai citing she was afraid of the crowd there. Producer Bunty Walia thought of replacing her with Vidya Balan, but she returned for the shoot later with necessary security arrangements. NDTV Movies wrote, "Bipasha sinks herself into her character imparting a dramatic resonance into the role without resorting to stock expressions. The sequence where she gets mauled by militant women is as traumatic to watch as it must have been for Bipasha to shoot." Basu then appeared as the wife of a ruthless cop in Priyadarshan's Aakrosh who helps the police with investigation on honour killings in their village. She met with mixed reviews for the film. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Bipasha actually doesn't have much to do and does seem to be miscast as the much-abused, bruised and battered wife of Paresh Rawal".
Her only release in 2011 was Dum Maaro Dum, which performed reasonably well at the box office and met with good reviews from critics. Talking of the film, she said, "My next release is DMD Dum Maaro Dum, in which I play a lively, colourful, happy-go-lucky girl called Zoey, who is the representation of Goa as we see it." Basu collaborated with Abbas-Mustan for the third time in Players, which became the first release of 2012. The film was an official remake of The Italian Job. Players was heavily compared to The Italian Job and was criticised for its execution and performances, including that of Basu.
Her next release was Raaz 3, a supernatural horror thriller directed by Vikram Bhatt, upon release met with favourable response and emerging as a box office success after a period of relatively low phase for Basu. The movie not only became the highest grossing horror film, but also emerged a "blockbuster" with revenues of in India alone. Her performance in the film garnered acclaim from critics with Subhash K. Jha of IANS saying, "It's Bipasha who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance."
After appearing in a guest appearance in Race 2, where she reprised her role from the prequel, Basu was seen in the horror film Aatma which was directed by Suparn Verma and produced by Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak. She received mixed reviews for the movie. Bipasha performed live alongside Atif Aslam, Shaan & Malaika Arora Khan for the first time in series of concerts in Birmingham & London in the summer 2013.
In 2014 Bipasha Basu was seen on numerous roles in different types of movies. She appeared in Humshakals, a comedy movie directed by Sajid Khan opposite Saif Ali Khan. Humshakals was a box office disaster. She even didn't participate in the film's promotions because she was "extremely disturbed by the end result" and stated, "Humshakals was the worst experience of my life". She was also seen in a horror film Creature 3D, which was again a box office failure. Basu had completed work on her first English film, Roland Joffé's epic drama The Lovers in which she portrayed a Maratha warrior. The film was released on 13 March 2015. In 2015, Basu featured in Bhushan Patel's romance horror film Alone opposite her future husband Karan Singh Grover. India TV reviewed the movie and wrote that, "With some genuine scary moments and Bipasha-Karan's scorching chemistry, Alone stands apart from numerous horrible horror flicks made in the past." and also stated that, "Bipasha just takes her act to another level." The film performed moderately well at the box office.
As of 2020, Basu is committed to star opposite her husband Karan Singh Grover for the second time in crime drama web series Dangerous.
Media image
Basu ranked 8 in The Times of India 50 most desirable women in 2011, ranked 13 in 2012, and ranked 7 in 2013. UK magazine Eastern Eye named her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" in 2005 and 2007.
Other ventures
Fitness DVD launch
Aside from films, Basu is an advocate of physical fitness. In 2005 she released her first fitness DVD jointly with John Abraham, titled Bollywood Bodies. In 2010 she released her first solo fitness DVD called Love Yourself: Fit & Fabulous You, which emphasised on being strong, healthy, and loving one's self. The DVD consisted of a 60-day routine for weight-loss, including a beginner's workout, an advanced workout and an "easy tone" workout. She was also the brand ambassador of Sugar Free, which helped her promoting the DVD. Hiren Gada, director of Shemaroo Entertainment said, "A celebrity like Bipasha Basu, genuinely believes in staying healthy. She is also passionate about fitness." Basu later launched her second fitness DVD in September 2011 named Break Free, a 30-minute dance routine, and the follow up to Bipasha Basu's first workout video, continuing the Love Yourself series. In January 2014 Bipasha Basu launched her much awaited third instalment of her Love Yourself DVD fitness series, Unleash, an advanced training routine that includes plyometrics and focuses more on power and speed, while strengthening the bones and improving muscle coordination. Later in 2014, many of her fitness workout videos were released for free on distributor Shemaroo Entertainment's health-focussed YouTube channel, Shemaroo Good Health 24/7.
She is also the face of Delhi Marathon, which has been inspired by her interest in fitness.
Personal life
Basu was in a relationship with actor Dino Morea from 1996 to 2002 and a very high-profile one with John Abraham from 2002 to 2011. In 2015, Basu met co-star Karan Singh Grover on the sets of Alone and they fell in love. The couple got married on 30 April 2016.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Bipasha Basu on IMDb
1979 births
Living people
Indian film actresses
Female models from Delhi
Apeejay School alumni
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools alumni
Actresses from Kolkata
Filmfare Awards winners
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Bengali cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Bengali actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
20th-century Bengalis
21st-century Bengalis
Female models from Kolkata
People from New Alipore | true | [
"Else Frenkel-Brunswik (August 18, 1908 in Lemberg – March 31, 1958 in Berkeley, California, USA) was a Polish-Austrian Jewish psychologist. She was forced to leave Poland and later Austria as a result of anti-Jewish persecution. She is best known for her contributions to The Authoritarian Personality (1950), her collaboration with Theodor W. Adorno, Daniel Levinson, and Nevitt Sanford. It is considered a milestone work in personality theory and social psychology.\n\nEarly life in Europe\nElse Frenkel was born August 18, 1908 in Lemberg, in the western part of today's Ukraine, the second of three daughters of Jewish department store owner Abraham Frenkel and his wife Helene Frenkel. In 1914, her family moved from Poland to Austria to escape the pogrom.\n\nThey went to Vienna, where Else completed her Doctorate dissertation under supervision of Karl Bühler at the University of Vienna in 1930. Her thesis topic was Das Associationsprinzip in der Psychologie. She held an associate professorship at the Psychological Institute from 1931 to 1938, working as a research assistant to Charlotte Bühler. She went through psychoanalysis with Ernst Kris.\n\nIn 1938, after the Anschluss, she had to leave Austria.\n\nLife in America\nLike many of her peers of Jewish origin, Else made her way to the USA, where she became a citizen in 1938. In the same year she married Egon Brunswik, Bühler's former student who had joined the faculty of Berkeley in 1937.\n\nFrom 1939 to 1958 Else Frenkel-Brunswik worked as a research associate at the Institute of Child Welfare, Department of Psychology of the University of California at Berkeley. Else Frenkel initially worked in the area of personality studies. Mechanisms of Self-Deception (1939) explained the tenets of psychoanalysis to an American audience.\n\nAs part of the Berkeley Public Opinion Study (University of California), she studied antisemitism, working with Theodor W. Adorno, social psychologist R. Nevitt Sanford and the psychiatrist and psychologist Daniel J. Levinson, who had been one of her students. The work was supported by the American Jewish Committee. Their research identified anti-Semitism as the outcome of a more general ethnocentrism characterized by an authoritarian personality structure that was intolerant of ambiguity. Such individuals were unable to genuinely experience the self and others, instead seeking power and success and relying on rigid stereotypes to ensure order and safety.\n\nIn 1950, as product of her collaboration with Theodor W. Adorno, Daniel Levinson, and Nevitt Sanford, The Authoritarian Personality appeared. It is a milestone work in social psychology. Her experience in psychoanalysis and personality studies were crucial to the research project.\n\nIn 1950, she went to the University of Oslo as a visiting lecturer and research consultant. In 1954–1955 she held a fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.\n\nIn 1955, her husband Egon committed suicide after a long illness. This deeply impacted Else' professional and personal life. Although she was unanimously elected to a full professorship in the psychology department at Berkeley, after her husband no longer was employed there, the recognition brought her little comfort. She suffered from severe depression and committed suicide 31 March 1958 by overdose of barbital.\n\nHer biography is included into prestigious Notable American Women collection.\n\nWritings \n Else Frenkel, Edith Weisskopf: Desire and Duty in the Structure of Human Life. Gerold & Co., Vienna 1937 (Psychological research on the CV. Edited by Charlotte Bühler and Else Frenkel. Volume 1).\n Else Frenkel-Brunswik: Motivation and Behavior. Genetic Psychology Monographs. Vol. 26, 1942, pp 121–265.\n Theodor W. Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson, R. Nevitt Sanford: The Authoritarian Personality . New Harper and Brothers, New York the 1950s.\n Else Frenkel-Brunswik: Selected Papers. Edited by Nanette Heiman and Joan Grant. International Universities Press, New York 1974th\n Else Frenkel-Brunswik: Studies the Authoritarian Personality. Selected Writings (edited and introduced by Dietmar Paier). Library of social science emigrants. Vol. 3. Nausner and Nausner, Wien 1996. \n Else Frenkel-Brunswik, R. Nevitt Sanford: \"The anti-Semitic personality. A research report\". In: Erich Simmel (ed.): Anti-Semitism. Fischer, Frankfurt a.M., 1993, S, 119–147. (An earlier version of the Journal of Psychology, Vol. 20, 1945, pp 271–291). \n Nathan W. Ackerman, Theodor W. Adorno, Bruno Bettelheim, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Marie Jahoda, Morris Janowitz, Daniel J. Levinson, R. Nevitt Sanford: The Authoritarian Character. Volume 2: Studies on Authority and Prejudice. Amsterdam: De Munter, Amsterdam 1969. \n Dietmar Paier: \"Else Frenkel-Brunswik 1908–1958\". Archive for the History of Sociology in Austria. Newsletter (Graz), no. 13, June 1996 pp 9–11. (see[1] )\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n https://web.archive.org/web/20050226091336/http://www.kfunigraz.ac.at/sozwww/agsoe/bestand/25_agsoe/25bio.htm \n https://web.archive.org/web/20060719210557/http://www.kfunigraz.ac.at/sozwww/agsoe/archiv/arch_3c.htm \n http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/frenkel.htm\n https://feministvoices.com/profiles/else-frenkel-brunswik\n Literature from Else Frenkel-Brunswik in the German National Library catalog\n\n1908 births\n1958 deaths\nAustrian psychologists\nAmerican women psychologists\nAmerican psychologists\nAmerican women social scientists\nJewish American social scientists\nJews from Galicia (Eastern Europe)\nJewish emigrants from Austria to the United States after the Anschluss\n20th-century American women scientists\nPolish women academics\nJewish women scientists\n20th-century psychologists\n20th-century American Jews",
"Else Regensteiner (April 21, 1906 – January 18, 2003) was a German weaver, textile designer, author, and teacher who was primarily based in Chicago, Illinois. She is known for founding and heading the Weaving Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and for the creation of the reg/wick Hand Woven Originals weaving studio with Julia McVickers.\n\nPersonal life and education \nElse Regensteiner was born in Munich, Germany on April 21, 1906 to Ludwig and Hilda Friedsam. She studied at the Duetsche Frauenschule in Munich and received a teaching degree in 1925. In 1926 she married Bertold Regensteiner and her only child, Helga Regensteiner was born later that year. In 1936, \nElse and her husband immigrated to the United States. In Chicago, Else was introduced to Marli Ehrman, the head of the weaving department at the School of Design in Chicago. Ehrman offered Else a job as her assistant, and Else accepted the offer but chose to take classes instead of a salary. From 1940 to 1941, Marli Ehrman, a graduate of the Bauhaus, taught Else drafting and weaving on a fly-shuttle loom and introduced her to the ideals of the Bauhaus movement. Following Ehrman's advice, Else went to Black Mountain College in 1942 to take weaving classes under Anni Albers and design classes taught by Joseph Albers.\n\nCareer\n\nTeaching \nIn 1942, upon her return to Chicago from Black Mountain College, Else Regensteiner began her career as an instructor, teaching weaving at the Jane Addams Hull House until 1945. That year, she taught evening classes at the Chicago Institute of Design at the request of Marli Ehrman, and was hired as an assistant professor in the art department of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1947 she was made a full professor at the school, and in 1957 she founded its Weaving Department. She was the head of this department until her retirement in 1971 when she was granted the title of professor emeritus. After her retirement, Else became a weaving and design consultant at the American Farm School in Thessaloniki, Greece until 1978. During her career as a teacher, Else travelled throughout the United States and Canada giving workshops and lectures on weaving.\n\nreg/wick Hand Woven Originals \nIn 1945, Else Regensteiner partnered with Julia Woodruff Von Bergen McVicker to form reg/wick Hand Woven Originals weaving studio. The studio provided custom ordered handwoven fabrics to architects and interior designers, and designed sample weavings as prototypes for industrial production lines. The studio's fabrics were featured in many exhibitions and won national design awards.\n\nBooks \nElse wrote several successful books on the subject of weaving including, The Art of Weaving (1970), Program for a Weaving Study Group (1974), Weaver's Study Course: Sourcebook for Ideas and Techniques (1982), and Geometric Design in Weaving (1986).\n\nDeath \nElse Regensteiner died on January 18, 2003 of heart failure in her Chicago home.\n\nReferences \n\n1906 births\n2003 deaths\nAmerican weavers\n20th-century women textile artists\n20th-century textile artists\n20th-century German women writers"
] |
[
"Bipasha Basu",
"Early life and modelling careerEdit",
"When did Basu start modeling?",
"In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal,",
"What was her first modeling job?",
"she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel",
"What other modeling competitions has she appeared in?",
"She later appeared in the Calida commercial",
"What other jobs has she had?",
"With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.",
"When did she become an actress?",
"I don't know.",
"What else did she experience in her early career?",
"which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that."
] | C_9e4f474728d84e99b44cb315f5c7b726_1 | What was controversial? | 7 | What was controversial about Bipasha Basu's modeling career? | Bipasha Basu | Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name. She added "Due to my dusky skin, I was considered ugly in my younger years." In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter. In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress. CANNOTANSWER | which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; | Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades, including one Filmfare Award. Particularly known for her work in the thriller and horror film genres, she is frequently cited in the media as a sex symbol.
Born in Delhi and raised in Kolkata, Basu won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest in 1996, and later pursued a successful career as a fashion model. She then began receiving offers for film roles, and made her acting debut with a negative role in the moderately successful thriller Ajnabee (2001), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Basu's first leading role was in the blockbuster horror film Raaz (2002), which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She subsequently received worldwide critical recognition and several awards for her portrayals of a seductress in the 2003 erotic thriller Jism and the 2006 drama Corporate. Basu achieved further success with starring roles in six of India's annually top-grossing productions—the comedies No Entry (2005), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), and All the Best: Fun Begins (2009), the action adventure Dhoom 2 (2006), the action thriller Race (2008) and the horror thriller Raaz 3D (2012). She also received praise for her performances in the romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), and the horror films Aatma (2013), Creature 3D (2014) and Alone (2015). Her other notable work includes item numbers in several films.
In addition to acting in films, Basu is a fitness enthusiast and has featured in several fitness videos. Following a high-profile relationship with actor John Abraham, Basu married actor Karan Singh Grover in 2016.
Early life and modelling career
Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name.
In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter.
In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.
Acting career
Debut: 2001–02
One of the judges of the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest in which Basu participated, Vinod Khanna, wanted to launch her alongside his son Akshaye Khanna in Himalay Putra, but she felt she was too young and declined the role, which eventually went to Anjala Zaveri. After returning home, she was convinced by Jaya Bachchan to star opposite her son Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta's Aakhari Mughal. However, the film was cancelled, and Dutta instead changed the script and made Refugee with Kareena Kapoor. Basu was also offered a role in Refugee opposite Sunil Shetty, which she declined.
In 2001, Basu finally made her debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Vijay Galani's Ajnabee. The film, directed by Abbas-Mustan, was inspired by the American film Consenting Adults. It was a moderate box-office success and attracted unfavorable reviews from critics. However, Basu's performance in a negative role was appreciated by critics and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
In 2002, Basu starred in the year's most successful thriller, Raaz. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, it established Basu in the Hindi film industry. Her portrayal of a woman who is pursued by a spirit received positive reviews. One review in The Tribune noted, "... it is Bipasha Basu who steals the show with her fine performance." She was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Raaz. She was appreciated in a supporting role in Sanjay Gadhvi's Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, a moderate critical and commercial success. However, in David Dhawan's Chor Machaaye Shor, was her first commercial failure. She appeared in a supporting role opposite Mahesh Babu and Lisa Ray in the Telugu film, Takkari Donga. Gunaah, which released later that year, was also a box-office failure. She played the role of a cop who loves a convict and tries to reform him. Derek Elley of Variety observed that Basu was a miscast as the "idealistic cop".
2003–05
In 2003, Basu starred in Pooja Bhatt's erotic thriller film, Jism alongside John Abraham, which was well received by critics and fared well at the box office. She played the role of seductive, ambitious wife of a millionaire who indulges in an extramarital affair with an alcoholic lawyer and plots to kill her husband. The film ranked 92 in the top 100 sexiest movie scenes poll conducted by Channel 4. Film critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented, "... the real show stealer is Bipasha Basu; her sexy look and seductive deep voice, in contrast with her cold and calculating personality, makes her the most impressive femme fatale since Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi." She received a Filmfare Best Villain Award nomination for Jism. Her next release, Zameen, failed to make impact among audiences.
Basu had four releases in 2004, all of which performed moderately and drew mixed reviews. She collaborated for the second time with Vikram Bhatt in her first release Aetbaar. She played the role of a young woman who falls in love with a psychopath. Rediff.com noted that "... The characters are not convincing, the plot is not fast-paced or interesting." Her next film was Mani Shankar's Rudraksh, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. The film was a disaster at the box office and was panned by the critics. She then starred in Rakht as a tarot card reader trying to solve a murder mystery. Critic Shruti Bhasin of Planetbollywood wrote, "Bipasha Basu impresses in a different look and role." Her final release that year was Anil Sharma's Madhoshi opposite John Abraham. Her performance of a mentally unstable woman was generally well received.
In 2005, she appeared in the love triangle Barsaat alongside Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra. Taran Adarsh commented, "As an actor, she [Bipasha Basu] does show sparks only towards the end." She starred in the Tamil film, Sachein, which was a hit and then in Prakash Jha's Apaharan, which won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. In this period, she refused to act in art films due to salary problems.
Besides acting, Basu did the video "Tu" for Sonu Nigam's album, Kismat. She made a guest appearance in Jay Sean's music video "Stolen".
2005–09
Basu established herself as an actress with the success of No Entry, Corporate and Dhoom 2. No Entry grossed 750 million at the box office and was the highest-grossing film of 2005. Basu played the role of a bargirl who acts as wife of two men. She earned a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film. 2006 saw her star in four major releases — Phir Hera Pheri, Corporate, Omkara and Dhoom 2 — performing well critically and commercially. Phir Hera Pheri became the ninth highest-grossing film of the year. She was featured opposite Akshay Kumar in a significant role of a con woman who steals 10 million from the protagonists. In Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, she gave up her glamorous look for the role of a businesswoman who has no qualms in taking advantage of her sexuality to con the CEO of a rival company. She won accolades from critics for her performance. Critic Aparna wrote, "[...] she has done a fabulous job as an ambitious woman. The kind of shrewdness in a woman that she plays has never been seen before in India films." She was nominated for the second time for Filmfare Best Actress Award.
In Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of Othello, Omkara, Basu played the role of Bianca and was a cameo. She caught the attention of public with her dance number "Beedi", which was highly popular in India and overseas. Critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN wrote, "... Bipasha Basu is brought in to lend oomph and she succeeds in doing just that." Basu became the talk of the town for donning a bikini in Aditya Chopra's Dhoom 2. She reportedly ate only oranges for three days and trained hard to shoot the scene. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Aah Bipasha! Looks great, brings back the bikini to Bollywood, and gently slips into the shadows as a pretty accessory."
In 2007, Ronnie Screwvala's Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal performed below average at the box-office. The song picturised on John Abraham and Basu, "Billo Rani", became quite popular and earned her the nickname "Billo Rani", though equal credit must be given to Omkara in which her name was Billo Chamanbahar. In 2008, she teamed up once again with Abbas-Mustan for Race. She played the role of Sonia who is stuck in a love-triangle between two brothers (played by Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna) and, through the course, she murders one of them. The film grossed 680 million at the box office and was the fourth-biggest hit that year in India; it performed good enough overseas as well. Her performance was appreciated by critics with Taran Adarsh citing it as "her best work so far. She's superb." Basu's work in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno as a successful supermodel who finds it hard to forgive her ex-lover for betraying her earned her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the film was a commercial success with it becoming a "Hit". She completed 2008 by appearing during the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
Her first release in 2009, Aa Dekhen Zara failed to do well at the box office. Rohit Shetty's All The Best: Fun Begins performed well and her comic role was appreciated by fans. Later that year, Basu surprised everybody with Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film, Shob Charitro Kalponik. "I love saris and I'm wearing a lot of them in Ritu's film," she said. She gave up her glamorous look and was praised by critics for her performance. Critic Subhash K. Jha spoke high of her. He said, "Bipasha [Basu] pulls out all stops to deliver her career's best performance. Her moments of anguish before and after her screen-husband's death are expressed in tones of cathartic conviction that we never knew existed within Bipasha." He also compared her with the multiple-award-winning actress, Shabana Azmi, commenting that Basu's anguished portrayal of bereavement can be equalled by Azmi only.
Recent work: 2010–present
With the 2010 film Pankh, Basu returned as an imaginary character who exists in the protagonist's mind. She was then featured as a Kashmiri girl in Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa, which explored socio-political problems in Kashmir. Principal photography of Lamhaa was disrupted many times by the locals due to the controversial theme. During the shooting of Lamhaa, she left the sets at Anantnag and headed back to Mumbai citing she was afraid of the crowd there. Producer Bunty Walia thought of replacing her with Vidya Balan, but she returned for the shoot later with necessary security arrangements. NDTV Movies wrote, "Bipasha sinks herself into her character imparting a dramatic resonance into the role without resorting to stock expressions. The sequence where she gets mauled by militant women is as traumatic to watch as it must have been for Bipasha to shoot." Basu then appeared as the wife of a ruthless cop in Priyadarshan's Aakrosh who helps the police with investigation on honour killings in their village. She met with mixed reviews for the film. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Bipasha actually doesn't have much to do and does seem to be miscast as the much-abused, bruised and battered wife of Paresh Rawal".
Her only release in 2011 was Dum Maaro Dum, which performed reasonably well at the box office and met with good reviews from critics. Talking of the film, she said, "My next release is DMD Dum Maaro Dum, in which I play a lively, colourful, happy-go-lucky girl called Zoey, who is the representation of Goa as we see it." Basu collaborated with Abbas-Mustan for the third time in Players, which became the first release of 2012. The film was an official remake of The Italian Job. Players was heavily compared to The Italian Job and was criticised for its execution and performances, including that of Basu.
Her next release was Raaz 3, a supernatural horror thriller directed by Vikram Bhatt, upon release met with favourable response and emerging as a box office success after a period of relatively low phase for Basu. The movie not only became the highest grossing horror film, but also emerged a "blockbuster" with revenues of in India alone. Her performance in the film garnered acclaim from critics with Subhash K. Jha of IANS saying, "It's Bipasha who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance."
After appearing in a guest appearance in Race 2, where she reprised her role from the prequel, Basu was seen in the horror film Aatma which was directed by Suparn Verma and produced by Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak. She received mixed reviews for the movie. Bipasha performed live alongside Atif Aslam, Shaan & Malaika Arora Khan for the first time in series of concerts in Birmingham & London in the summer 2013.
In 2014 Bipasha Basu was seen on numerous roles in different types of movies. She appeared in Humshakals, a comedy movie directed by Sajid Khan opposite Saif Ali Khan. Humshakals was a box office disaster. She even didn't participate in the film's promotions because she was "extremely disturbed by the end result" and stated, "Humshakals was the worst experience of my life". She was also seen in a horror film Creature 3D, which was again a box office failure. Basu had completed work on her first English film, Roland Joffé's epic drama The Lovers in which she portrayed a Maratha warrior. The film was released on 13 March 2015. In 2015, Basu featured in Bhushan Patel's romance horror film Alone opposite her future husband Karan Singh Grover. India TV reviewed the movie and wrote that, "With some genuine scary moments and Bipasha-Karan's scorching chemistry, Alone stands apart from numerous horrible horror flicks made in the past." and also stated that, "Bipasha just takes her act to another level." The film performed moderately well at the box office.
As of 2020, Basu is committed to star opposite her husband Karan Singh Grover for the second time in crime drama web series Dangerous.
Media image
Basu ranked 8 in The Times of India 50 most desirable women in 2011, ranked 13 in 2012, and ranked 7 in 2013. UK magazine Eastern Eye named her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" in 2005 and 2007.
Other ventures
Fitness DVD launch
Aside from films, Basu is an advocate of physical fitness. In 2005 she released her first fitness DVD jointly with John Abraham, titled Bollywood Bodies. In 2010 she released her first solo fitness DVD called Love Yourself: Fit & Fabulous You, which emphasised on being strong, healthy, and loving one's self. The DVD consisted of a 60-day routine for weight-loss, including a beginner's workout, an advanced workout and an "easy tone" workout. She was also the brand ambassador of Sugar Free, which helped her promoting the DVD. Hiren Gada, director of Shemaroo Entertainment said, "A celebrity like Bipasha Basu, genuinely believes in staying healthy. She is also passionate about fitness." Basu later launched her second fitness DVD in September 2011 named Break Free, a 30-minute dance routine, and the follow up to Bipasha Basu's first workout video, continuing the Love Yourself series. In January 2014 Bipasha Basu launched her much awaited third instalment of her Love Yourself DVD fitness series, Unleash, an advanced training routine that includes plyometrics and focuses more on power and speed, while strengthening the bones and improving muscle coordination. Later in 2014, many of her fitness workout videos were released for free on distributor Shemaroo Entertainment's health-focussed YouTube channel, Shemaroo Good Health 24/7.
She is also the face of Delhi Marathon, which has been inspired by her interest in fitness.
Personal life
Basu was in a relationship with actor Dino Morea from 1996 to 2002 and a very high-profile one with John Abraham from 2002 to 2011. In 2015, Basu met co-star Karan Singh Grover on the sets of Alone and they fell in love. The couple got married on 30 April 2016.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Bipasha Basu on IMDb
1979 births
Living people
Indian film actresses
Female models from Delhi
Apeejay School alumni
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools alumni
Actresses from Kolkata
Filmfare Awards winners
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Bengali cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Bengali actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
20th-century Bengalis
21st-century Bengalis
Female models from Kolkata
People from New Alipore | true | [
"The will and testament of clerics is a controversial issue for a number of Christian denominations.\n\nMany churches have rules on the way in which property that is owned by a cleric can be distributed on death. These rules can change according to what stage the property was gained (before or after ordination), what the office that was held and whether the priest was in a religious institute.\n\nReferences\n\nRoman Catholic clergy",
"Social Service: Its Place in the Society of Friends was the title of the controversial Swarthmore Lecture given by Joshua Rowntree, a Liberal politician, in 1913. The principal subject was the question of what would be the appropriate Friends' view on industrial schools and other institutions providing free secondary education. Conservative members of the society were discontent with the strong pro-industrial school sentiment of the lecture. The lecture was published as a book by Headley Brothers in 1913.\n\nReferences \n\nHistory of Quakerism\n1913 speeches"
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[
"Bipasha Basu",
"Early life and modelling careerEdit",
"When did Basu start modeling?",
"In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal,",
"What was her first modeling job?",
"she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel",
"What other modeling competitions has she appeared in?",
"She later appeared in the Calida commercial",
"What other jobs has she had?",
"With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.",
"When did she become an actress?",
"I don't know.",
"What else did she experience in her early career?",
"which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that.",
"What was controversial?",
"which was controversial for picturing them sultrily;"
] | C_9e4f474728d84e99b44cb315f5c7b726_1 | What did she do in her early life? | 8 | What did Bipasha Basu do in her early life? | Bipasha Basu | Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name. She added "Due to my dusky skin, I was considered ugly in my younger years." In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter. In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress. CANNOTANSWER | In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. | Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades, including one Filmfare Award. Particularly known for her work in the thriller and horror film genres, she is frequently cited in the media as a sex symbol.
Born in Delhi and raised in Kolkata, Basu won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest in 1996, and later pursued a successful career as a fashion model. She then began receiving offers for film roles, and made her acting debut with a negative role in the moderately successful thriller Ajnabee (2001), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Basu's first leading role was in the blockbuster horror film Raaz (2002), which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She subsequently received worldwide critical recognition and several awards for her portrayals of a seductress in the 2003 erotic thriller Jism and the 2006 drama Corporate. Basu achieved further success with starring roles in six of India's annually top-grossing productions—the comedies No Entry (2005), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), and All the Best: Fun Begins (2009), the action adventure Dhoom 2 (2006), the action thriller Race (2008) and the horror thriller Raaz 3D (2012). She also received praise for her performances in the romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), and the horror films Aatma (2013), Creature 3D (2014) and Alone (2015). Her other notable work includes item numbers in several films.
In addition to acting in films, Basu is a fitness enthusiast and has featured in several fitness videos. Following a high-profile relationship with actor John Abraham, Basu married actor Karan Singh Grover in 2016.
Early life and modelling career
Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name.
In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter.
In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.
Acting career
Debut: 2001–02
One of the judges of the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest in which Basu participated, Vinod Khanna, wanted to launch her alongside his son Akshaye Khanna in Himalay Putra, but she felt she was too young and declined the role, which eventually went to Anjala Zaveri. After returning home, she was convinced by Jaya Bachchan to star opposite her son Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta's Aakhari Mughal. However, the film was cancelled, and Dutta instead changed the script and made Refugee with Kareena Kapoor. Basu was also offered a role in Refugee opposite Sunil Shetty, which she declined.
In 2001, Basu finally made her debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Vijay Galani's Ajnabee. The film, directed by Abbas-Mustan, was inspired by the American film Consenting Adults. It was a moderate box-office success and attracted unfavorable reviews from critics. However, Basu's performance in a negative role was appreciated by critics and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
In 2002, Basu starred in the year's most successful thriller, Raaz. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, it established Basu in the Hindi film industry. Her portrayal of a woman who is pursued by a spirit received positive reviews. One review in The Tribune noted, "... it is Bipasha Basu who steals the show with her fine performance." She was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Raaz. She was appreciated in a supporting role in Sanjay Gadhvi's Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, a moderate critical and commercial success. However, in David Dhawan's Chor Machaaye Shor, was her first commercial failure. She appeared in a supporting role opposite Mahesh Babu and Lisa Ray in the Telugu film, Takkari Donga. Gunaah, which released later that year, was also a box-office failure. She played the role of a cop who loves a convict and tries to reform him. Derek Elley of Variety observed that Basu was a miscast as the "idealistic cop".
2003–05
In 2003, Basu starred in Pooja Bhatt's erotic thriller film, Jism alongside John Abraham, which was well received by critics and fared well at the box office. She played the role of seductive, ambitious wife of a millionaire who indulges in an extramarital affair with an alcoholic lawyer and plots to kill her husband. The film ranked 92 in the top 100 sexiest movie scenes poll conducted by Channel 4. Film critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented, "... the real show stealer is Bipasha Basu; her sexy look and seductive deep voice, in contrast with her cold and calculating personality, makes her the most impressive femme fatale since Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi." She received a Filmfare Best Villain Award nomination for Jism. Her next release, Zameen, failed to make impact among audiences.
Basu had four releases in 2004, all of which performed moderately and drew mixed reviews. She collaborated for the second time with Vikram Bhatt in her first release Aetbaar. She played the role of a young woman who falls in love with a psychopath. Rediff.com noted that "... The characters are not convincing, the plot is not fast-paced or interesting." Her next film was Mani Shankar's Rudraksh, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. The film was a disaster at the box office and was panned by the critics. She then starred in Rakht as a tarot card reader trying to solve a murder mystery. Critic Shruti Bhasin of Planetbollywood wrote, "Bipasha Basu impresses in a different look and role." Her final release that year was Anil Sharma's Madhoshi opposite John Abraham. Her performance of a mentally unstable woman was generally well received.
In 2005, she appeared in the love triangle Barsaat alongside Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra. Taran Adarsh commented, "As an actor, she [Bipasha Basu] does show sparks only towards the end." She starred in the Tamil film, Sachein, which was a hit and then in Prakash Jha's Apaharan, which won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. In this period, she refused to act in art films due to salary problems.
Besides acting, Basu did the video "Tu" for Sonu Nigam's album, Kismat. She made a guest appearance in Jay Sean's music video "Stolen".
2005–09
Basu established herself as an actress with the success of No Entry, Corporate and Dhoom 2. No Entry grossed 750 million at the box office and was the highest-grossing film of 2005. Basu played the role of a bargirl who acts as wife of two men. She earned a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film. 2006 saw her star in four major releases — Phir Hera Pheri, Corporate, Omkara and Dhoom 2 — performing well critically and commercially. Phir Hera Pheri became the ninth highest-grossing film of the year. She was featured opposite Akshay Kumar in a significant role of a con woman who steals 10 million from the protagonists. In Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, she gave up her glamorous look for the role of a businesswoman who has no qualms in taking advantage of her sexuality to con the CEO of a rival company. She won accolades from critics for her performance. Critic Aparna wrote, "[...] she has done a fabulous job as an ambitious woman. The kind of shrewdness in a woman that she plays has never been seen before in India films." She was nominated for the second time for Filmfare Best Actress Award.
In Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of Othello, Omkara, Basu played the role of Bianca and was a cameo. She caught the attention of public with her dance number "Beedi", which was highly popular in India and overseas. Critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN wrote, "... Bipasha Basu is brought in to lend oomph and she succeeds in doing just that." Basu became the talk of the town for donning a bikini in Aditya Chopra's Dhoom 2. She reportedly ate only oranges for three days and trained hard to shoot the scene. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Aah Bipasha! Looks great, brings back the bikini to Bollywood, and gently slips into the shadows as a pretty accessory."
In 2007, Ronnie Screwvala's Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal performed below average at the box-office. The song picturised on John Abraham and Basu, "Billo Rani", became quite popular and earned her the nickname "Billo Rani", though equal credit must be given to Omkara in which her name was Billo Chamanbahar. In 2008, she teamed up once again with Abbas-Mustan for Race. She played the role of Sonia who is stuck in a love-triangle between two brothers (played by Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna) and, through the course, she murders one of them. The film grossed 680 million at the box office and was the fourth-biggest hit that year in India; it performed good enough overseas as well. Her performance was appreciated by critics with Taran Adarsh citing it as "her best work so far. She's superb." Basu's work in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno as a successful supermodel who finds it hard to forgive her ex-lover for betraying her earned her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the film was a commercial success with it becoming a "Hit". She completed 2008 by appearing during the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
Her first release in 2009, Aa Dekhen Zara failed to do well at the box office. Rohit Shetty's All The Best: Fun Begins performed well and her comic role was appreciated by fans. Later that year, Basu surprised everybody with Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film, Shob Charitro Kalponik. "I love saris and I'm wearing a lot of them in Ritu's film," she said. She gave up her glamorous look and was praised by critics for her performance. Critic Subhash K. Jha spoke high of her. He said, "Bipasha [Basu] pulls out all stops to deliver her career's best performance. Her moments of anguish before and after her screen-husband's death are expressed in tones of cathartic conviction that we never knew existed within Bipasha." He also compared her with the multiple-award-winning actress, Shabana Azmi, commenting that Basu's anguished portrayal of bereavement can be equalled by Azmi only.
Recent work: 2010–present
With the 2010 film Pankh, Basu returned as an imaginary character who exists in the protagonist's mind. She was then featured as a Kashmiri girl in Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa, which explored socio-political problems in Kashmir. Principal photography of Lamhaa was disrupted many times by the locals due to the controversial theme. During the shooting of Lamhaa, she left the sets at Anantnag and headed back to Mumbai citing she was afraid of the crowd there. Producer Bunty Walia thought of replacing her with Vidya Balan, but she returned for the shoot later with necessary security arrangements. NDTV Movies wrote, "Bipasha sinks herself into her character imparting a dramatic resonance into the role without resorting to stock expressions. The sequence where she gets mauled by militant women is as traumatic to watch as it must have been for Bipasha to shoot." Basu then appeared as the wife of a ruthless cop in Priyadarshan's Aakrosh who helps the police with investigation on honour killings in their village. She met with mixed reviews for the film. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Bipasha actually doesn't have much to do and does seem to be miscast as the much-abused, bruised and battered wife of Paresh Rawal".
Her only release in 2011 was Dum Maaro Dum, which performed reasonably well at the box office and met with good reviews from critics. Talking of the film, she said, "My next release is DMD Dum Maaro Dum, in which I play a lively, colourful, happy-go-lucky girl called Zoey, who is the representation of Goa as we see it." Basu collaborated with Abbas-Mustan for the third time in Players, which became the first release of 2012. The film was an official remake of The Italian Job. Players was heavily compared to The Italian Job and was criticised for its execution and performances, including that of Basu.
Her next release was Raaz 3, a supernatural horror thriller directed by Vikram Bhatt, upon release met with favourable response and emerging as a box office success after a period of relatively low phase for Basu. The movie not only became the highest grossing horror film, but also emerged a "blockbuster" with revenues of in India alone. Her performance in the film garnered acclaim from critics with Subhash K. Jha of IANS saying, "It's Bipasha who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance."
After appearing in a guest appearance in Race 2, where she reprised her role from the prequel, Basu was seen in the horror film Aatma which was directed by Suparn Verma and produced by Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak. She received mixed reviews for the movie. Bipasha performed live alongside Atif Aslam, Shaan & Malaika Arora Khan for the first time in series of concerts in Birmingham & London in the summer 2013.
In 2014 Bipasha Basu was seen on numerous roles in different types of movies. She appeared in Humshakals, a comedy movie directed by Sajid Khan opposite Saif Ali Khan. Humshakals was a box office disaster. She even didn't participate in the film's promotions because she was "extremely disturbed by the end result" and stated, "Humshakals was the worst experience of my life". She was also seen in a horror film Creature 3D, which was again a box office failure. Basu had completed work on her first English film, Roland Joffé's epic drama The Lovers in which she portrayed a Maratha warrior. The film was released on 13 March 2015. In 2015, Basu featured in Bhushan Patel's romance horror film Alone opposite her future husband Karan Singh Grover. India TV reviewed the movie and wrote that, "With some genuine scary moments and Bipasha-Karan's scorching chemistry, Alone stands apart from numerous horrible horror flicks made in the past." and also stated that, "Bipasha just takes her act to another level." The film performed moderately well at the box office.
As of 2020, Basu is committed to star opposite her husband Karan Singh Grover for the second time in crime drama web series Dangerous.
Media image
Basu ranked 8 in The Times of India 50 most desirable women in 2011, ranked 13 in 2012, and ranked 7 in 2013. UK magazine Eastern Eye named her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" in 2005 and 2007.
Other ventures
Fitness DVD launch
Aside from films, Basu is an advocate of physical fitness. In 2005 she released her first fitness DVD jointly with John Abraham, titled Bollywood Bodies. In 2010 she released her first solo fitness DVD called Love Yourself: Fit & Fabulous You, which emphasised on being strong, healthy, and loving one's self. The DVD consisted of a 60-day routine for weight-loss, including a beginner's workout, an advanced workout and an "easy tone" workout. She was also the brand ambassador of Sugar Free, which helped her promoting the DVD. Hiren Gada, director of Shemaroo Entertainment said, "A celebrity like Bipasha Basu, genuinely believes in staying healthy. She is also passionate about fitness." Basu later launched her second fitness DVD in September 2011 named Break Free, a 30-minute dance routine, and the follow up to Bipasha Basu's first workout video, continuing the Love Yourself series. In January 2014 Bipasha Basu launched her much awaited third instalment of her Love Yourself DVD fitness series, Unleash, an advanced training routine that includes plyometrics and focuses more on power and speed, while strengthening the bones and improving muscle coordination. Later in 2014, many of her fitness workout videos were released for free on distributor Shemaroo Entertainment's health-focussed YouTube channel, Shemaroo Good Health 24/7.
She is also the face of Delhi Marathon, which has been inspired by her interest in fitness.
Personal life
Basu was in a relationship with actor Dino Morea from 1996 to 2002 and a very high-profile one with John Abraham from 2002 to 2011. In 2015, Basu met co-star Karan Singh Grover on the sets of Alone and they fell in love. The couple got married on 30 April 2016.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Bipasha Basu on IMDb
1979 births
Living people
Indian film actresses
Female models from Delhi
Apeejay School alumni
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools alumni
Actresses from Kolkata
Filmfare Awards winners
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Bengali cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Bengali actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
20th-century Bengalis
21st-century Bengalis
Female models from Kolkata
People from New Alipore | true | [
"Ilene Beckerman (born 1935) is an American writer, who was not published until she was 60 years old, and a former advertising agency executive. She is best known for her first book Love, Loss, and What I Wore, published in 1995, which in 2008 became a successful play written by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron based on her book.\n\nEarly life\nIlene Beckerman was born in 1935, and grew up in Manhattan in the 1940s and 1950s.\n\nCareer\nBeckerman did not start her career as a writer until she was almost 60 years old, after having risen to become vice-president of an advertising agency. Her journalism has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times', and Ladies' Home Journal.\n\nIn 1995, at the age of 60, Beckerman published Love, Loss, and What I Wore, which Publishers Weekly called a \" \"captivating little pictorial autobiography for adults ... a wry commentary on the pressures women constantly face to look good\".\n\nIn 2011, she published, The Smartest Woman I Know, an account of her life with her grandmother, Ettie Goldberg, who she lived with after her mother died.\n\nSelected publications\n Love, Loss, and What I Wore (1995)\n The Smartest Woman I Know (2011)\n Mother of the Bride Makeovers at the Beauty Counter of Happiness What We Do for Love''\n\nPersonal life\nWhen she was 12 years old, her mother died, and she went to live in Manhattan with her grandparents, who ran a candy store on Madison Avenue between 64th and 65th Streets.\n\nIn 1955, aged 20 years, Beckerman married her Boston sociology professor, 17 years her senior. The marriage was short-lived and ended in divorce. She married again, and had six children, one of whom died in infancy, and eventually divorced.\n\nBeckerman lives in Bethlehem Township, New Jersey, with her husband Stanley.\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nAmerican memoirists\nAmerican women memoirists\n1935 births\n21st-century American women",
"Elena Bianchini-Cappelli (1873 – September 19, 1919) was an Italian dramatic soprano opera singer.\n\nEarly life\nElena Bianchini-Cappelli was from Rome. She studied voice with Guglielmo Vergine in Naples, while he was also teaching Enrico Caruso.\n\nCareer\n\nShe appeared with Caruso in 1895, in Cavalleria Rusticana at Caserta. The pair also appeared together in Puccini's Manon Lescaut in Cairo in 1895; the two were only given five days to learn the show before opening night, so Caruso fastened the score to Bianchini-Cappelli's back, limiting her stage movement: \"I was helpless to do more than hold as still as possible, serving as a human music rack for my comrade,\" she recalled. \"And what did the rascal do? He was bursting to laugh!\"\n\nIn 1899 she was in the cast of Wagner's Siegfried at La Scala. She was in the cast of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera when it was conducted by Arturo Toscanini at Trento. She first performed in the United States in 1902, the year she sang \"Sylvia\" in Zanetto at the Metropolitan Opera House, under the direction of composer Pietro Mascagni.\n\nIn her forties she taught voice in New York City, endorsed by her old friend Caruso.\n\nPersonal life and legacy\nElena Bianchini-Cappelli died in 1919, at her villa in Rimini, aged 46 years.\nThere is a street named for Elena Bianchini-Cappelli in Rimini.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Elena Bianchini-Cappelli's page at La Voce Antica, including a chronology of her career. (In Italian)\n\n1873 births\n1919 deaths\nItalian opera singers"
] |
[
"Bipasha Basu",
"Early life and modelling careerEdit",
"When did Basu start modeling?",
"In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal,",
"What was her first modeling job?",
"she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel",
"What other modeling competitions has she appeared in?",
"She later appeared in the Calida commercial",
"What other jobs has she had?",
"With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.",
"When did she become an actress?",
"I don't know.",
"What else did she experience in her early career?",
"which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that.",
"What was controversial?",
"which was controversial for picturing them sultrily;",
"What did she do in her early life?",
"In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School."
] | C_9e4f474728d84e99b44cb315f5c7b726_1 | Did she go to college? | 9 | Did Bipasha Basu go to college? | Bipasha Basu | Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name. She added "Due to my dusky skin, I was considered ugly in my younger years." In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter. In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress. CANNOTANSWER | Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. | Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades, including one Filmfare Award. Particularly known for her work in the thriller and horror film genres, she is frequently cited in the media as a sex symbol.
Born in Delhi and raised in Kolkata, Basu won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest in 1996, and later pursued a successful career as a fashion model. She then began receiving offers for film roles, and made her acting debut with a negative role in the moderately successful thriller Ajnabee (2001), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Basu's first leading role was in the blockbuster horror film Raaz (2002), which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She subsequently received worldwide critical recognition and several awards for her portrayals of a seductress in the 2003 erotic thriller Jism and the 2006 drama Corporate. Basu achieved further success with starring roles in six of India's annually top-grossing productions—the comedies No Entry (2005), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), and All the Best: Fun Begins (2009), the action adventure Dhoom 2 (2006), the action thriller Race (2008) and the horror thriller Raaz 3D (2012). She also received praise for her performances in the romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), and the horror films Aatma (2013), Creature 3D (2014) and Alone (2015). Her other notable work includes item numbers in several films.
In addition to acting in films, Basu is a fitness enthusiast and has featured in several fitness videos. Following a high-profile relationship with actor John Abraham, Basu married actor Karan Singh Grover in 2016.
Early life and modelling career
Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name.
In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter.
In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.
Acting career
Debut: 2001–02
One of the judges of the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest in which Basu participated, Vinod Khanna, wanted to launch her alongside his son Akshaye Khanna in Himalay Putra, but she felt she was too young and declined the role, which eventually went to Anjala Zaveri. After returning home, she was convinced by Jaya Bachchan to star opposite her son Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta's Aakhari Mughal. However, the film was cancelled, and Dutta instead changed the script and made Refugee with Kareena Kapoor. Basu was also offered a role in Refugee opposite Sunil Shetty, which she declined.
In 2001, Basu finally made her debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Vijay Galani's Ajnabee. The film, directed by Abbas-Mustan, was inspired by the American film Consenting Adults. It was a moderate box-office success and attracted unfavorable reviews from critics. However, Basu's performance in a negative role was appreciated by critics and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
In 2002, Basu starred in the year's most successful thriller, Raaz. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, it established Basu in the Hindi film industry. Her portrayal of a woman who is pursued by a spirit received positive reviews. One review in The Tribune noted, "... it is Bipasha Basu who steals the show with her fine performance." She was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Raaz. She was appreciated in a supporting role in Sanjay Gadhvi's Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, a moderate critical and commercial success. However, in David Dhawan's Chor Machaaye Shor, was her first commercial failure. She appeared in a supporting role opposite Mahesh Babu and Lisa Ray in the Telugu film, Takkari Donga. Gunaah, which released later that year, was also a box-office failure. She played the role of a cop who loves a convict and tries to reform him. Derek Elley of Variety observed that Basu was a miscast as the "idealistic cop".
2003–05
In 2003, Basu starred in Pooja Bhatt's erotic thriller film, Jism alongside John Abraham, which was well received by critics and fared well at the box office. She played the role of seductive, ambitious wife of a millionaire who indulges in an extramarital affair with an alcoholic lawyer and plots to kill her husband. The film ranked 92 in the top 100 sexiest movie scenes poll conducted by Channel 4. Film critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented, "... the real show stealer is Bipasha Basu; her sexy look and seductive deep voice, in contrast with her cold and calculating personality, makes her the most impressive femme fatale since Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi." She received a Filmfare Best Villain Award nomination for Jism. Her next release, Zameen, failed to make impact among audiences.
Basu had four releases in 2004, all of which performed moderately and drew mixed reviews. She collaborated for the second time with Vikram Bhatt in her first release Aetbaar. She played the role of a young woman who falls in love with a psychopath. Rediff.com noted that "... The characters are not convincing, the plot is not fast-paced or interesting." Her next film was Mani Shankar's Rudraksh, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. The film was a disaster at the box office and was panned by the critics. She then starred in Rakht as a tarot card reader trying to solve a murder mystery. Critic Shruti Bhasin of Planetbollywood wrote, "Bipasha Basu impresses in a different look and role." Her final release that year was Anil Sharma's Madhoshi opposite John Abraham. Her performance of a mentally unstable woman was generally well received.
In 2005, she appeared in the love triangle Barsaat alongside Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra. Taran Adarsh commented, "As an actor, she [Bipasha Basu] does show sparks only towards the end." She starred in the Tamil film, Sachein, which was a hit and then in Prakash Jha's Apaharan, which won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. In this period, she refused to act in art films due to salary problems.
Besides acting, Basu did the video "Tu" for Sonu Nigam's album, Kismat. She made a guest appearance in Jay Sean's music video "Stolen".
2005–09
Basu established herself as an actress with the success of No Entry, Corporate and Dhoom 2. No Entry grossed 750 million at the box office and was the highest-grossing film of 2005. Basu played the role of a bargirl who acts as wife of two men. She earned a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film. 2006 saw her star in four major releases — Phir Hera Pheri, Corporate, Omkara and Dhoom 2 — performing well critically and commercially. Phir Hera Pheri became the ninth highest-grossing film of the year. She was featured opposite Akshay Kumar in a significant role of a con woman who steals 10 million from the protagonists. In Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, she gave up her glamorous look for the role of a businesswoman who has no qualms in taking advantage of her sexuality to con the CEO of a rival company. She won accolades from critics for her performance. Critic Aparna wrote, "[...] she has done a fabulous job as an ambitious woman. The kind of shrewdness in a woman that she plays has never been seen before in India films." She was nominated for the second time for Filmfare Best Actress Award.
In Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of Othello, Omkara, Basu played the role of Bianca and was a cameo. She caught the attention of public with her dance number "Beedi", which was highly popular in India and overseas. Critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN wrote, "... Bipasha Basu is brought in to lend oomph and she succeeds in doing just that." Basu became the talk of the town for donning a bikini in Aditya Chopra's Dhoom 2. She reportedly ate only oranges for three days and trained hard to shoot the scene. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Aah Bipasha! Looks great, brings back the bikini to Bollywood, and gently slips into the shadows as a pretty accessory."
In 2007, Ronnie Screwvala's Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal performed below average at the box-office. The song picturised on John Abraham and Basu, "Billo Rani", became quite popular and earned her the nickname "Billo Rani", though equal credit must be given to Omkara in which her name was Billo Chamanbahar. In 2008, she teamed up once again with Abbas-Mustan for Race. She played the role of Sonia who is stuck in a love-triangle between two brothers (played by Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna) and, through the course, she murders one of them. The film grossed 680 million at the box office and was the fourth-biggest hit that year in India; it performed good enough overseas as well. Her performance was appreciated by critics with Taran Adarsh citing it as "her best work so far. She's superb." Basu's work in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno as a successful supermodel who finds it hard to forgive her ex-lover for betraying her earned her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the film was a commercial success with it becoming a "Hit". She completed 2008 by appearing during the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
Her first release in 2009, Aa Dekhen Zara failed to do well at the box office. Rohit Shetty's All The Best: Fun Begins performed well and her comic role was appreciated by fans. Later that year, Basu surprised everybody with Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film, Shob Charitro Kalponik. "I love saris and I'm wearing a lot of them in Ritu's film," she said. She gave up her glamorous look and was praised by critics for her performance. Critic Subhash K. Jha spoke high of her. He said, "Bipasha [Basu] pulls out all stops to deliver her career's best performance. Her moments of anguish before and after her screen-husband's death are expressed in tones of cathartic conviction that we never knew existed within Bipasha." He also compared her with the multiple-award-winning actress, Shabana Azmi, commenting that Basu's anguished portrayal of bereavement can be equalled by Azmi only.
Recent work: 2010–present
With the 2010 film Pankh, Basu returned as an imaginary character who exists in the protagonist's mind. She was then featured as a Kashmiri girl in Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa, which explored socio-political problems in Kashmir. Principal photography of Lamhaa was disrupted many times by the locals due to the controversial theme. During the shooting of Lamhaa, she left the sets at Anantnag and headed back to Mumbai citing she was afraid of the crowd there. Producer Bunty Walia thought of replacing her with Vidya Balan, but she returned for the shoot later with necessary security arrangements. NDTV Movies wrote, "Bipasha sinks herself into her character imparting a dramatic resonance into the role without resorting to stock expressions. The sequence where she gets mauled by militant women is as traumatic to watch as it must have been for Bipasha to shoot." Basu then appeared as the wife of a ruthless cop in Priyadarshan's Aakrosh who helps the police with investigation on honour killings in their village. She met with mixed reviews for the film. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Bipasha actually doesn't have much to do and does seem to be miscast as the much-abused, bruised and battered wife of Paresh Rawal".
Her only release in 2011 was Dum Maaro Dum, which performed reasonably well at the box office and met with good reviews from critics. Talking of the film, she said, "My next release is DMD Dum Maaro Dum, in which I play a lively, colourful, happy-go-lucky girl called Zoey, who is the representation of Goa as we see it." Basu collaborated with Abbas-Mustan for the third time in Players, which became the first release of 2012. The film was an official remake of The Italian Job. Players was heavily compared to The Italian Job and was criticised for its execution and performances, including that of Basu.
Her next release was Raaz 3, a supernatural horror thriller directed by Vikram Bhatt, upon release met with favourable response and emerging as a box office success after a period of relatively low phase for Basu. The movie not only became the highest grossing horror film, but also emerged a "blockbuster" with revenues of in India alone. Her performance in the film garnered acclaim from critics with Subhash K. Jha of IANS saying, "It's Bipasha who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance."
After appearing in a guest appearance in Race 2, where she reprised her role from the prequel, Basu was seen in the horror film Aatma which was directed by Suparn Verma and produced by Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak. She received mixed reviews for the movie. Bipasha performed live alongside Atif Aslam, Shaan & Malaika Arora Khan for the first time in series of concerts in Birmingham & London in the summer 2013.
In 2014 Bipasha Basu was seen on numerous roles in different types of movies. She appeared in Humshakals, a comedy movie directed by Sajid Khan opposite Saif Ali Khan. Humshakals was a box office disaster. She even didn't participate in the film's promotions because she was "extremely disturbed by the end result" and stated, "Humshakals was the worst experience of my life". She was also seen in a horror film Creature 3D, which was again a box office failure. Basu had completed work on her first English film, Roland Joffé's epic drama The Lovers in which she portrayed a Maratha warrior. The film was released on 13 March 2015. In 2015, Basu featured in Bhushan Patel's romance horror film Alone opposite her future husband Karan Singh Grover. India TV reviewed the movie and wrote that, "With some genuine scary moments and Bipasha-Karan's scorching chemistry, Alone stands apart from numerous horrible horror flicks made in the past." and also stated that, "Bipasha just takes her act to another level." The film performed moderately well at the box office.
As of 2020, Basu is committed to star opposite her husband Karan Singh Grover for the second time in crime drama web series Dangerous.
Media image
Basu ranked 8 in The Times of India 50 most desirable women in 2011, ranked 13 in 2012, and ranked 7 in 2013. UK magazine Eastern Eye named her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" in 2005 and 2007.
Other ventures
Fitness DVD launch
Aside from films, Basu is an advocate of physical fitness. In 2005 she released her first fitness DVD jointly with John Abraham, titled Bollywood Bodies. In 2010 she released her first solo fitness DVD called Love Yourself: Fit & Fabulous You, which emphasised on being strong, healthy, and loving one's self. The DVD consisted of a 60-day routine for weight-loss, including a beginner's workout, an advanced workout and an "easy tone" workout. She was also the brand ambassador of Sugar Free, which helped her promoting the DVD. Hiren Gada, director of Shemaroo Entertainment said, "A celebrity like Bipasha Basu, genuinely believes in staying healthy. She is also passionate about fitness." Basu later launched her second fitness DVD in September 2011 named Break Free, a 30-minute dance routine, and the follow up to Bipasha Basu's first workout video, continuing the Love Yourself series. In January 2014 Bipasha Basu launched her much awaited third instalment of her Love Yourself DVD fitness series, Unleash, an advanced training routine that includes plyometrics and focuses more on power and speed, while strengthening the bones and improving muscle coordination. Later in 2014, many of her fitness workout videos were released for free on distributor Shemaroo Entertainment's health-focussed YouTube channel, Shemaroo Good Health 24/7.
She is also the face of Delhi Marathon, which has been inspired by her interest in fitness.
Personal life
Basu was in a relationship with actor Dino Morea from 1996 to 2002 and a very high-profile one with John Abraham from 2002 to 2011. In 2015, Basu met co-star Karan Singh Grover on the sets of Alone and they fell in love. The couple got married on 30 April 2016.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Bipasha Basu on IMDb
1979 births
Living people
Indian film actresses
Female models from Delhi
Apeejay School alumni
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools alumni
Actresses from Kolkata
Filmfare Awards winners
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Bengali cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Bengali actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
20th-century Bengalis
21st-century Bengalis
Female models from Kolkata
People from New Alipore | true | [
"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"
] |
[
"Bipasha Basu",
"Early life and modelling careerEdit",
"When did Basu start modeling?",
"In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal,",
"What was her first modeling job?",
"she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel",
"What other modeling competitions has she appeared in?",
"She later appeared in the Calida commercial",
"What other jobs has she had?",
"With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.",
"When did she become an actress?",
"I don't know.",
"What else did she experience in her early career?",
"which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that.",
"What was controversial?",
"which was controversial for picturing them sultrily;",
"What did she do in her early life?",
"In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School.",
"Did she go to college?",
"Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar."
] | C_9e4f474728d84e99b44cb315f5c7b726_1 | When did she graduate? | 10 | When did Bipasha Basu graduate? | Bipasha Basu | Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name. She added "Due to my dusky skin, I was considered ugly in my younger years." In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter. In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades, including one Filmfare Award. Particularly known for her work in the thriller and horror film genres, she is frequently cited in the media as a sex symbol.
Born in Delhi and raised in Kolkata, Basu won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest in 1996, and later pursued a successful career as a fashion model. She then began receiving offers for film roles, and made her acting debut with a negative role in the moderately successful thriller Ajnabee (2001), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Basu's first leading role was in the blockbuster horror film Raaz (2002), which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She subsequently received worldwide critical recognition and several awards for her portrayals of a seductress in the 2003 erotic thriller Jism and the 2006 drama Corporate. Basu achieved further success with starring roles in six of India's annually top-grossing productions—the comedies No Entry (2005), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), and All the Best: Fun Begins (2009), the action adventure Dhoom 2 (2006), the action thriller Race (2008) and the horror thriller Raaz 3D (2012). She also received praise for her performances in the romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), and the horror films Aatma (2013), Creature 3D (2014) and Alone (2015). Her other notable work includes item numbers in several films.
In addition to acting in films, Basu is a fitness enthusiast and has featured in several fitness videos. Following a high-profile relationship with actor John Abraham, Basu married actor Karan Singh Grover in 2016.
Early life and modelling career
Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name.
In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter.
In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.
Acting career
Debut: 2001–02
One of the judges of the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest in which Basu participated, Vinod Khanna, wanted to launch her alongside his son Akshaye Khanna in Himalay Putra, but she felt she was too young and declined the role, which eventually went to Anjala Zaveri. After returning home, she was convinced by Jaya Bachchan to star opposite her son Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta's Aakhari Mughal. However, the film was cancelled, and Dutta instead changed the script and made Refugee with Kareena Kapoor. Basu was also offered a role in Refugee opposite Sunil Shetty, which she declined.
In 2001, Basu finally made her debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Vijay Galani's Ajnabee. The film, directed by Abbas-Mustan, was inspired by the American film Consenting Adults. It was a moderate box-office success and attracted unfavorable reviews from critics. However, Basu's performance in a negative role was appreciated by critics and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
In 2002, Basu starred in the year's most successful thriller, Raaz. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, it established Basu in the Hindi film industry. Her portrayal of a woman who is pursued by a spirit received positive reviews. One review in The Tribune noted, "... it is Bipasha Basu who steals the show with her fine performance." She was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Raaz. She was appreciated in a supporting role in Sanjay Gadhvi's Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, a moderate critical and commercial success. However, in David Dhawan's Chor Machaaye Shor, was her first commercial failure. She appeared in a supporting role opposite Mahesh Babu and Lisa Ray in the Telugu film, Takkari Donga. Gunaah, which released later that year, was also a box-office failure. She played the role of a cop who loves a convict and tries to reform him. Derek Elley of Variety observed that Basu was a miscast as the "idealistic cop".
2003–05
In 2003, Basu starred in Pooja Bhatt's erotic thriller film, Jism alongside John Abraham, which was well received by critics and fared well at the box office. She played the role of seductive, ambitious wife of a millionaire who indulges in an extramarital affair with an alcoholic lawyer and plots to kill her husband. The film ranked 92 in the top 100 sexiest movie scenes poll conducted by Channel 4. Film critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented, "... the real show stealer is Bipasha Basu; her sexy look and seductive deep voice, in contrast with her cold and calculating personality, makes her the most impressive femme fatale since Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi." She received a Filmfare Best Villain Award nomination for Jism. Her next release, Zameen, failed to make impact among audiences.
Basu had four releases in 2004, all of which performed moderately and drew mixed reviews. She collaborated for the second time with Vikram Bhatt in her first release Aetbaar. She played the role of a young woman who falls in love with a psychopath. Rediff.com noted that "... The characters are not convincing, the plot is not fast-paced or interesting." Her next film was Mani Shankar's Rudraksh, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. The film was a disaster at the box office and was panned by the critics. She then starred in Rakht as a tarot card reader trying to solve a murder mystery. Critic Shruti Bhasin of Planetbollywood wrote, "Bipasha Basu impresses in a different look and role." Her final release that year was Anil Sharma's Madhoshi opposite John Abraham. Her performance of a mentally unstable woman was generally well received.
In 2005, she appeared in the love triangle Barsaat alongside Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra. Taran Adarsh commented, "As an actor, she [Bipasha Basu] does show sparks only towards the end." She starred in the Tamil film, Sachein, which was a hit and then in Prakash Jha's Apaharan, which won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. In this period, she refused to act in art films due to salary problems.
Besides acting, Basu did the video "Tu" for Sonu Nigam's album, Kismat. She made a guest appearance in Jay Sean's music video "Stolen".
2005–09
Basu established herself as an actress with the success of No Entry, Corporate and Dhoom 2. No Entry grossed 750 million at the box office and was the highest-grossing film of 2005. Basu played the role of a bargirl who acts as wife of two men. She earned a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film. 2006 saw her star in four major releases — Phir Hera Pheri, Corporate, Omkara and Dhoom 2 — performing well critically and commercially. Phir Hera Pheri became the ninth highest-grossing film of the year. She was featured opposite Akshay Kumar in a significant role of a con woman who steals 10 million from the protagonists. In Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, she gave up her glamorous look for the role of a businesswoman who has no qualms in taking advantage of her sexuality to con the CEO of a rival company. She won accolades from critics for her performance. Critic Aparna wrote, "[...] she has done a fabulous job as an ambitious woman. The kind of shrewdness in a woman that she plays has never been seen before in India films." She was nominated for the second time for Filmfare Best Actress Award.
In Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of Othello, Omkara, Basu played the role of Bianca and was a cameo. She caught the attention of public with her dance number "Beedi", which was highly popular in India and overseas. Critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN wrote, "... Bipasha Basu is brought in to lend oomph and she succeeds in doing just that." Basu became the talk of the town for donning a bikini in Aditya Chopra's Dhoom 2. She reportedly ate only oranges for three days and trained hard to shoot the scene. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Aah Bipasha! Looks great, brings back the bikini to Bollywood, and gently slips into the shadows as a pretty accessory."
In 2007, Ronnie Screwvala's Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal performed below average at the box-office. The song picturised on John Abraham and Basu, "Billo Rani", became quite popular and earned her the nickname "Billo Rani", though equal credit must be given to Omkara in which her name was Billo Chamanbahar. In 2008, she teamed up once again with Abbas-Mustan for Race. She played the role of Sonia who is stuck in a love-triangle between two brothers (played by Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna) and, through the course, she murders one of them. The film grossed 680 million at the box office and was the fourth-biggest hit that year in India; it performed good enough overseas as well. Her performance was appreciated by critics with Taran Adarsh citing it as "her best work so far. She's superb." Basu's work in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno as a successful supermodel who finds it hard to forgive her ex-lover for betraying her earned her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the film was a commercial success with it becoming a "Hit". She completed 2008 by appearing during the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
Her first release in 2009, Aa Dekhen Zara failed to do well at the box office. Rohit Shetty's All The Best: Fun Begins performed well and her comic role was appreciated by fans. Later that year, Basu surprised everybody with Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film, Shob Charitro Kalponik. "I love saris and I'm wearing a lot of them in Ritu's film," she said. She gave up her glamorous look and was praised by critics for her performance. Critic Subhash K. Jha spoke high of her. He said, "Bipasha [Basu] pulls out all stops to deliver her career's best performance. Her moments of anguish before and after her screen-husband's death are expressed in tones of cathartic conviction that we never knew existed within Bipasha." He also compared her with the multiple-award-winning actress, Shabana Azmi, commenting that Basu's anguished portrayal of bereavement can be equalled by Azmi only.
Recent work: 2010–present
With the 2010 film Pankh, Basu returned as an imaginary character who exists in the protagonist's mind. She was then featured as a Kashmiri girl in Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa, which explored socio-political problems in Kashmir. Principal photography of Lamhaa was disrupted many times by the locals due to the controversial theme. During the shooting of Lamhaa, she left the sets at Anantnag and headed back to Mumbai citing she was afraid of the crowd there. Producer Bunty Walia thought of replacing her with Vidya Balan, but she returned for the shoot later with necessary security arrangements. NDTV Movies wrote, "Bipasha sinks herself into her character imparting a dramatic resonance into the role without resorting to stock expressions. The sequence where she gets mauled by militant women is as traumatic to watch as it must have been for Bipasha to shoot." Basu then appeared as the wife of a ruthless cop in Priyadarshan's Aakrosh who helps the police with investigation on honour killings in their village. She met with mixed reviews for the film. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Bipasha actually doesn't have much to do and does seem to be miscast as the much-abused, bruised and battered wife of Paresh Rawal".
Her only release in 2011 was Dum Maaro Dum, which performed reasonably well at the box office and met with good reviews from critics. Talking of the film, she said, "My next release is DMD Dum Maaro Dum, in which I play a lively, colourful, happy-go-lucky girl called Zoey, who is the representation of Goa as we see it." Basu collaborated with Abbas-Mustan for the third time in Players, which became the first release of 2012. The film was an official remake of The Italian Job. Players was heavily compared to The Italian Job and was criticised for its execution and performances, including that of Basu.
Her next release was Raaz 3, a supernatural horror thriller directed by Vikram Bhatt, upon release met with favourable response and emerging as a box office success after a period of relatively low phase for Basu. The movie not only became the highest grossing horror film, but also emerged a "blockbuster" with revenues of in India alone. Her performance in the film garnered acclaim from critics with Subhash K. Jha of IANS saying, "It's Bipasha who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance."
After appearing in a guest appearance in Race 2, where she reprised her role from the prequel, Basu was seen in the horror film Aatma which was directed by Suparn Verma and produced by Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak. She received mixed reviews for the movie. Bipasha performed live alongside Atif Aslam, Shaan & Malaika Arora Khan for the first time in series of concerts in Birmingham & London in the summer 2013.
In 2014 Bipasha Basu was seen on numerous roles in different types of movies. She appeared in Humshakals, a comedy movie directed by Sajid Khan opposite Saif Ali Khan. Humshakals was a box office disaster. She even didn't participate in the film's promotions because she was "extremely disturbed by the end result" and stated, "Humshakals was the worst experience of my life". She was also seen in a horror film Creature 3D, which was again a box office failure. Basu had completed work on her first English film, Roland Joffé's epic drama The Lovers in which she portrayed a Maratha warrior. The film was released on 13 March 2015. In 2015, Basu featured in Bhushan Patel's romance horror film Alone opposite her future husband Karan Singh Grover. India TV reviewed the movie and wrote that, "With some genuine scary moments and Bipasha-Karan's scorching chemistry, Alone stands apart from numerous horrible horror flicks made in the past." and also stated that, "Bipasha just takes her act to another level." The film performed moderately well at the box office.
As of 2020, Basu is committed to star opposite her husband Karan Singh Grover for the second time in crime drama web series Dangerous.
Media image
Basu ranked 8 in The Times of India 50 most desirable women in 2011, ranked 13 in 2012, and ranked 7 in 2013. UK magazine Eastern Eye named her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" in 2005 and 2007.
Other ventures
Fitness DVD launch
Aside from films, Basu is an advocate of physical fitness. In 2005 she released her first fitness DVD jointly with John Abraham, titled Bollywood Bodies. In 2010 she released her first solo fitness DVD called Love Yourself: Fit & Fabulous You, which emphasised on being strong, healthy, and loving one's self. The DVD consisted of a 60-day routine for weight-loss, including a beginner's workout, an advanced workout and an "easy tone" workout. She was also the brand ambassador of Sugar Free, which helped her promoting the DVD. Hiren Gada, director of Shemaroo Entertainment said, "A celebrity like Bipasha Basu, genuinely believes in staying healthy. She is also passionate about fitness." Basu later launched her second fitness DVD in September 2011 named Break Free, a 30-minute dance routine, and the follow up to Bipasha Basu's first workout video, continuing the Love Yourself series. In January 2014 Bipasha Basu launched her much awaited third instalment of her Love Yourself DVD fitness series, Unleash, an advanced training routine that includes plyometrics and focuses more on power and speed, while strengthening the bones and improving muscle coordination. Later in 2014, many of her fitness workout videos were released for free on distributor Shemaroo Entertainment's health-focussed YouTube channel, Shemaroo Good Health 24/7.
She is also the face of Delhi Marathon, which has been inspired by her interest in fitness.
Personal life
Basu was in a relationship with actor Dino Morea from 1996 to 2002 and a very high-profile one with John Abraham from 2002 to 2011. In 2015, Basu met co-star Karan Singh Grover on the sets of Alone and they fell in love. The couple got married on 30 April 2016.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Bipasha Basu on IMDb
1979 births
Living people
Indian film actresses
Female models from Delhi
Apeejay School alumni
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools alumni
Actresses from Kolkata
Filmfare Awards winners
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Bengali cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Bengali actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
20th-century Bengalis
21st-century Bengalis
Female models from Kolkata
People from New Alipore | false | [
"Ana Rita Contreras Sosa (born July 31, 1984), also known as Dominicana Prestigiosa, is a Dominican beauty pageant titleholder.\n\nShe was born in and grew up in Bayaguana, Monte Plata, Dominican Republic. In Miss Dominican Republic 2006 she represented the province of Barahona, placing 13th in the preliminaries. Although she failed to make the top ten, she won the special Miss Communication award. She represented Monte Plata in Miss Dominican Republic 2009, placing as 1st runner-up. When Miss Mundo Dominicana 2009 was cancelled due to lack of funds and sponsors, she was selected to be the representative of the Dominican Republic at Miss World 2009, where she did not place.\n\nContreras is a summa cum laude graduate with honors in Architecture from the Universidad Iberoamericana de Santo Domingo, and a graduate of the modeling academy \"The Femme Elegant\". She studied for her master's degree at Columbia University of New York City.\n\nSee also\nMiss Dominican Republic 2009\nMiss Mundo Dominicana 2009\nMiss Dominican Republic 2006\n\nReferences \n\n1984 births\nLiving people\nPeople from Monte Plata Province\nDominican Republic beauty pageant winners\nMiss Dominican Republic\nMiss World 2009 delegates\nColumbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni",
"Tezer Özlü (September 10, 1943, Kütahya – February 18, 1986, Zurich), Turkish writer.\n\nBiography\nBorn in Kütahya, she spent her childhood in Simav, Ödemiş, and Gerede where her parents were on duty. She came to İstanbul when she was 10 years old. She went to St. George's Austrian High School but she did not graduate from that high school. She went outside Turkey in 1961 and went on to hitchhike around Europe.\n\nBibliography\nEski Bahçe (1978)\nÇocukluğun Soğuk Geceleri (1980)\nAuf den Spuren eines Selbstmords (1983)\nYaşamın Ucuna Yolculuk (1984)\nEski Bahçe - Eski Sevgi (1987)\nKalanlar (1995)\nZaman Dışı Yaşam (2000).\n\nReferences\n\n1943 births\n1986 deaths\nTurkish women writers\nPeople from Kütahya\n20th-century Turkish women writers\n20th-century Turkish writers\nTurkish autobiographers\nWomen autobiographers"
] |
[
"Bipasha Basu",
"Early life and modelling careerEdit",
"When did Basu start modeling?",
"In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal,",
"What was her first modeling job?",
"she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel",
"What other modeling competitions has she appeared in?",
"She later appeared in the Calida commercial",
"What other jobs has she had?",
"With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.",
"When did she become an actress?",
"I don't know.",
"What else did she experience in her early career?",
"which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that.",
"What was controversial?",
"which was controversial for picturing them sultrily;",
"What did she do in her early life?",
"In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School.",
"Did she go to college?",
"Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar.",
"When did she graduate?",
"I don't know."
] | C_9e4f474728d84e99b44cb315f5c7b726_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 11 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article other than Bipasha Basu's fashion career? | Bipasha Basu | Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name. She added "Due to my dusky skin, I was considered ugly in my younger years." In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter. In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress. CANNOTANSWER | She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. | Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades, including one Filmfare Award. Particularly known for her work in the thriller and horror film genres, she is frequently cited in the media as a sex symbol.
Born in Delhi and raised in Kolkata, Basu won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest in 1996, and later pursued a successful career as a fashion model. She then began receiving offers for film roles, and made her acting debut with a negative role in the moderately successful thriller Ajnabee (2001), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Basu's first leading role was in the blockbuster horror film Raaz (2002), which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She subsequently received worldwide critical recognition and several awards for her portrayals of a seductress in the 2003 erotic thriller Jism and the 2006 drama Corporate. Basu achieved further success with starring roles in six of India's annually top-grossing productions—the comedies No Entry (2005), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), and All the Best: Fun Begins (2009), the action adventure Dhoom 2 (2006), the action thriller Race (2008) and the horror thriller Raaz 3D (2012). She also received praise for her performances in the romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), and the horror films Aatma (2013), Creature 3D (2014) and Alone (2015). Her other notable work includes item numbers in several films.
In addition to acting in films, Basu is a fitness enthusiast and has featured in several fitness videos. Following a high-profile relationship with actor John Abraham, Basu married actor Karan Singh Grover in 2016.
Early life and modelling career
Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name.
In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter.
In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.
Acting career
Debut: 2001–02
One of the judges of the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest in which Basu participated, Vinod Khanna, wanted to launch her alongside his son Akshaye Khanna in Himalay Putra, but she felt she was too young and declined the role, which eventually went to Anjala Zaveri. After returning home, she was convinced by Jaya Bachchan to star opposite her son Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta's Aakhari Mughal. However, the film was cancelled, and Dutta instead changed the script and made Refugee with Kareena Kapoor. Basu was also offered a role in Refugee opposite Sunil Shetty, which she declined.
In 2001, Basu finally made her debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Vijay Galani's Ajnabee. The film, directed by Abbas-Mustan, was inspired by the American film Consenting Adults. It was a moderate box-office success and attracted unfavorable reviews from critics. However, Basu's performance in a negative role was appreciated by critics and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
In 2002, Basu starred in the year's most successful thriller, Raaz. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, it established Basu in the Hindi film industry. Her portrayal of a woman who is pursued by a spirit received positive reviews. One review in The Tribune noted, "... it is Bipasha Basu who steals the show with her fine performance." She was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Raaz. She was appreciated in a supporting role in Sanjay Gadhvi's Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, a moderate critical and commercial success. However, in David Dhawan's Chor Machaaye Shor, was her first commercial failure. She appeared in a supporting role opposite Mahesh Babu and Lisa Ray in the Telugu film, Takkari Donga. Gunaah, which released later that year, was also a box-office failure. She played the role of a cop who loves a convict and tries to reform him. Derek Elley of Variety observed that Basu was a miscast as the "idealistic cop".
2003–05
In 2003, Basu starred in Pooja Bhatt's erotic thriller film, Jism alongside John Abraham, which was well received by critics and fared well at the box office. She played the role of seductive, ambitious wife of a millionaire who indulges in an extramarital affair with an alcoholic lawyer and plots to kill her husband. The film ranked 92 in the top 100 sexiest movie scenes poll conducted by Channel 4. Film critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented, "... the real show stealer is Bipasha Basu; her sexy look and seductive deep voice, in contrast with her cold and calculating personality, makes her the most impressive femme fatale since Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi." She received a Filmfare Best Villain Award nomination for Jism. Her next release, Zameen, failed to make impact among audiences.
Basu had four releases in 2004, all of which performed moderately and drew mixed reviews. She collaborated for the second time with Vikram Bhatt in her first release Aetbaar. She played the role of a young woman who falls in love with a psychopath. Rediff.com noted that "... The characters are not convincing, the plot is not fast-paced or interesting." Her next film was Mani Shankar's Rudraksh, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. The film was a disaster at the box office and was panned by the critics. She then starred in Rakht as a tarot card reader trying to solve a murder mystery. Critic Shruti Bhasin of Planetbollywood wrote, "Bipasha Basu impresses in a different look and role." Her final release that year was Anil Sharma's Madhoshi opposite John Abraham. Her performance of a mentally unstable woman was generally well received.
In 2005, she appeared in the love triangle Barsaat alongside Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra. Taran Adarsh commented, "As an actor, she [Bipasha Basu] does show sparks only towards the end." She starred in the Tamil film, Sachein, which was a hit and then in Prakash Jha's Apaharan, which won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. In this period, she refused to act in art films due to salary problems.
Besides acting, Basu did the video "Tu" for Sonu Nigam's album, Kismat. She made a guest appearance in Jay Sean's music video "Stolen".
2005–09
Basu established herself as an actress with the success of No Entry, Corporate and Dhoom 2. No Entry grossed 750 million at the box office and was the highest-grossing film of 2005. Basu played the role of a bargirl who acts as wife of two men. She earned a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film. 2006 saw her star in four major releases — Phir Hera Pheri, Corporate, Omkara and Dhoom 2 — performing well critically and commercially. Phir Hera Pheri became the ninth highest-grossing film of the year. She was featured opposite Akshay Kumar in a significant role of a con woman who steals 10 million from the protagonists. In Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, she gave up her glamorous look for the role of a businesswoman who has no qualms in taking advantage of her sexuality to con the CEO of a rival company. She won accolades from critics for her performance. Critic Aparna wrote, "[...] she has done a fabulous job as an ambitious woman. The kind of shrewdness in a woman that she plays has never been seen before in India films." She was nominated for the second time for Filmfare Best Actress Award.
In Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of Othello, Omkara, Basu played the role of Bianca and was a cameo. She caught the attention of public with her dance number "Beedi", which was highly popular in India and overseas. Critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN wrote, "... Bipasha Basu is brought in to lend oomph and she succeeds in doing just that." Basu became the talk of the town for donning a bikini in Aditya Chopra's Dhoom 2. She reportedly ate only oranges for three days and trained hard to shoot the scene. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Aah Bipasha! Looks great, brings back the bikini to Bollywood, and gently slips into the shadows as a pretty accessory."
In 2007, Ronnie Screwvala's Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal performed below average at the box-office. The song picturised on John Abraham and Basu, "Billo Rani", became quite popular and earned her the nickname "Billo Rani", though equal credit must be given to Omkara in which her name was Billo Chamanbahar. In 2008, she teamed up once again with Abbas-Mustan for Race. She played the role of Sonia who is stuck in a love-triangle between two brothers (played by Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna) and, through the course, she murders one of them. The film grossed 680 million at the box office and was the fourth-biggest hit that year in India; it performed good enough overseas as well. Her performance was appreciated by critics with Taran Adarsh citing it as "her best work so far. She's superb." Basu's work in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno as a successful supermodel who finds it hard to forgive her ex-lover for betraying her earned her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the film was a commercial success with it becoming a "Hit". She completed 2008 by appearing during the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
Her first release in 2009, Aa Dekhen Zara failed to do well at the box office. Rohit Shetty's All The Best: Fun Begins performed well and her comic role was appreciated by fans. Later that year, Basu surprised everybody with Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film, Shob Charitro Kalponik. "I love saris and I'm wearing a lot of them in Ritu's film," she said. She gave up her glamorous look and was praised by critics for her performance. Critic Subhash K. Jha spoke high of her. He said, "Bipasha [Basu] pulls out all stops to deliver her career's best performance. Her moments of anguish before and after her screen-husband's death are expressed in tones of cathartic conviction that we never knew existed within Bipasha." He also compared her with the multiple-award-winning actress, Shabana Azmi, commenting that Basu's anguished portrayal of bereavement can be equalled by Azmi only.
Recent work: 2010–present
With the 2010 film Pankh, Basu returned as an imaginary character who exists in the protagonist's mind. She was then featured as a Kashmiri girl in Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa, which explored socio-political problems in Kashmir. Principal photography of Lamhaa was disrupted many times by the locals due to the controversial theme. During the shooting of Lamhaa, she left the sets at Anantnag and headed back to Mumbai citing she was afraid of the crowd there. Producer Bunty Walia thought of replacing her with Vidya Balan, but she returned for the shoot later with necessary security arrangements. NDTV Movies wrote, "Bipasha sinks herself into her character imparting a dramatic resonance into the role without resorting to stock expressions. The sequence where she gets mauled by militant women is as traumatic to watch as it must have been for Bipasha to shoot." Basu then appeared as the wife of a ruthless cop in Priyadarshan's Aakrosh who helps the police with investigation on honour killings in their village. She met with mixed reviews for the film. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Bipasha actually doesn't have much to do and does seem to be miscast as the much-abused, bruised and battered wife of Paresh Rawal".
Her only release in 2011 was Dum Maaro Dum, which performed reasonably well at the box office and met with good reviews from critics. Talking of the film, she said, "My next release is DMD Dum Maaro Dum, in which I play a lively, colourful, happy-go-lucky girl called Zoey, who is the representation of Goa as we see it." Basu collaborated with Abbas-Mustan for the third time in Players, which became the first release of 2012. The film was an official remake of The Italian Job. Players was heavily compared to The Italian Job and was criticised for its execution and performances, including that of Basu.
Her next release was Raaz 3, a supernatural horror thriller directed by Vikram Bhatt, upon release met with favourable response and emerging as a box office success after a period of relatively low phase for Basu. The movie not only became the highest grossing horror film, but also emerged a "blockbuster" with revenues of in India alone. Her performance in the film garnered acclaim from critics with Subhash K. Jha of IANS saying, "It's Bipasha who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance."
After appearing in a guest appearance in Race 2, where she reprised her role from the prequel, Basu was seen in the horror film Aatma which was directed by Suparn Verma and produced by Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak. She received mixed reviews for the movie. Bipasha performed live alongside Atif Aslam, Shaan & Malaika Arora Khan for the first time in series of concerts in Birmingham & London in the summer 2013.
In 2014 Bipasha Basu was seen on numerous roles in different types of movies. She appeared in Humshakals, a comedy movie directed by Sajid Khan opposite Saif Ali Khan. Humshakals was a box office disaster. She even didn't participate in the film's promotions because she was "extremely disturbed by the end result" and stated, "Humshakals was the worst experience of my life". She was also seen in a horror film Creature 3D, which was again a box office failure. Basu had completed work on her first English film, Roland Joffé's epic drama The Lovers in which she portrayed a Maratha warrior. The film was released on 13 March 2015. In 2015, Basu featured in Bhushan Patel's romance horror film Alone opposite her future husband Karan Singh Grover. India TV reviewed the movie and wrote that, "With some genuine scary moments and Bipasha-Karan's scorching chemistry, Alone stands apart from numerous horrible horror flicks made in the past." and also stated that, "Bipasha just takes her act to another level." The film performed moderately well at the box office.
As of 2020, Basu is committed to star opposite her husband Karan Singh Grover for the second time in crime drama web series Dangerous.
Media image
Basu ranked 8 in The Times of India 50 most desirable women in 2011, ranked 13 in 2012, and ranked 7 in 2013. UK magazine Eastern Eye named her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" in 2005 and 2007.
Other ventures
Fitness DVD launch
Aside from films, Basu is an advocate of physical fitness. In 2005 she released her first fitness DVD jointly with John Abraham, titled Bollywood Bodies. In 2010 she released her first solo fitness DVD called Love Yourself: Fit & Fabulous You, which emphasised on being strong, healthy, and loving one's self. The DVD consisted of a 60-day routine for weight-loss, including a beginner's workout, an advanced workout and an "easy tone" workout. She was also the brand ambassador of Sugar Free, which helped her promoting the DVD. Hiren Gada, director of Shemaroo Entertainment said, "A celebrity like Bipasha Basu, genuinely believes in staying healthy. She is also passionate about fitness." Basu later launched her second fitness DVD in September 2011 named Break Free, a 30-minute dance routine, and the follow up to Bipasha Basu's first workout video, continuing the Love Yourself series. In January 2014 Bipasha Basu launched her much awaited third instalment of her Love Yourself DVD fitness series, Unleash, an advanced training routine that includes plyometrics and focuses more on power and speed, while strengthening the bones and improving muscle coordination. Later in 2014, many of her fitness workout videos were released for free on distributor Shemaroo Entertainment's health-focussed YouTube channel, Shemaroo Good Health 24/7.
She is also the face of Delhi Marathon, which has been inspired by her interest in fitness.
Personal life
Basu was in a relationship with actor Dino Morea from 1996 to 2002 and a very high-profile one with John Abraham from 2002 to 2011. In 2015, Basu met co-star Karan Singh Grover on the sets of Alone and they fell in love. The couple got married on 30 April 2016.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Bipasha Basu on IMDb
1979 births
Living people
Indian film actresses
Female models from Delhi
Apeejay School alumni
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools alumni
Actresses from Kolkata
Filmfare Awards winners
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Bengali cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Bengali actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
20th-century Bengalis
21st-century Bengalis
Female models from Kolkata
People from New Alipore | 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"
] |
[
"Bipasha Basu",
"Early life and modelling careerEdit",
"When did Basu start modeling?",
"In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal,",
"What was her first modeling job?",
"she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel",
"What other modeling competitions has she appeared in?",
"She later appeared in the Calida commercial",
"What other jobs has she had?",
"With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.",
"When did she become an actress?",
"I don't know.",
"What else did she experience in her early career?",
"which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that.",
"What was controversial?",
"which was controversial for picturing them sultrily;",
"What did she do in her early life?",
"In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School.",
"Did she go to college?",
"Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar.",
"When did she graduate?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"She remarked \"As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty."
] | C_9e4f474728d84e99b44cb315f5c7b726_1 | Did she get in trouble? | 12 | Did Bipasha Basu get in trouble? | Bipasha Basu | Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name. She added "Due to my dusky skin, I was considered ugly in my younger years." In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter. In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress. CANNOTANSWER | Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. | Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades, including one Filmfare Award. Particularly known for her work in the thriller and horror film genres, she is frequently cited in the media as a sex symbol.
Born in Delhi and raised in Kolkata, Basu won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest in 1996, and later pursued a successful career as a fashion model. She then began receiving offers for film roles, and made her acting debut with a negative role in the moderately successful thriller Ajnabee (2001), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Basu's first leading role was in the blockbuster horror film Raaz (2002), which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She subsequently received worldwide critical recognition and several awards for her portrayals of a seductress in the 2003 erotic thriller Jism and the 2006 drama Corporate. Basu achieved further success with starring roles in six of India's annually top-grossing productions—the comedies No Entry (2005), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), and All the Best: Fun Begins (2009), the action adventure Dhoom 2 (2006), the action thriller Race (2008) and the horror thriller Raaz 3D (2012). She also received praise for her performances in the romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), and the horror films Aatma (2013), Creature 3D (2014) and Alone (2015). Her other notable work includes item numbers in several films.
In addition to acting in films, Basu is a fitness enthusiast and has featured in several fitness videos. Following a high-profile relationship with actor John Abraham, Basu married actor Karan Singh Grover in 2016.
Early life and modelling career
Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family in Delhi. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "dark deep desire", and is also a river's name.
In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place, till the age of eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then shifted to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, located in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality. She remarked "As a child, I was a tomboy and I was pampered a lot, due to which I became very naughty. I used to keep a stick in my hand and straighten out all the colony boys if they acted smart. I used to be very short as a child and I was the monitor in school. When the tall boys would be up to mischief, I'd jump on their back during breaks and pull their hair and beat them up". Basu was enrolled in medical science studies until twelfth standard, but switched to commerce thereafter.
In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in the Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them sultrily; she had some protesters outside her house after that. With appearance on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.
Acting career
Debut: 2001–02
One of the judges of the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest in which Basu participated, Vinod Khanna, wanted to launch her alongside his son Akshaye Khanna in Himalay Putra, but she felt she was too young and declined the role, which eventually went to Anjala Zaveri. After returning home, she was convinced by Jaya Bachchan to star opposite her son Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta's Aakhari Mughal. However, the film was cancelled, and Dutta instead changed the script and made Refugee with Kareena Kapoor. Basu was also offered a role in Refugee opposite Sunil Shetty, which she declined.
In 2001, Basu finally made her debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Vijay Galani's Ajnabee. The film, directed by Abbas-Mustan, was inspired by the American film Consenting Adults. It was a moderate box-office success and attracted unfavorable reviews from critics. However, Basu's performance in a negative role was appreciated by critics and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
In 2002, Basu starred in the year's most successful thriller, Raaz. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, it established Basu in the Hindi film industry. Her portrayal of a woman who is pursued by a spirit received positive reviews. One review in The Tribune noted, "... it is Bipasha Basu who steals the show with her fine performance." She was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Raaz. She was appreciated in a supporting role in Sanjay Gadhvi's Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, a moderate critical and commercial success. However, in David Dhawan's Chor Machaaye Shor, was her first commercial failure. She appeared in a supporting role opposite Mahesh Babu and Lisa Ray in the Telugu film, Takkari Donga. Gunaah, which released later that year, was also a box-office failure. She played the role of a cop who loves a convict and tries to reform him. Derek Elley of Variety observed that Basu was a miscast as the "idealistic cop".
2003–05
In 2003, Basu starred in Pooja Bhatt's erotic thriller film, Jism alongside John Abraham, which was well received by critics and fared well at the box office. She played the role of seductive, ambitious wife of a millionaire who indulges in an extramarital affair with an alcoholic lawyer and plots to kill her husband. The film ranked 92 in the top 100 sexiest movie scenes poll conducted by Channel 4. Film critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented, "... the real show stealer is Bipasha Basu; her sexy look and seductive deep voice, in contrast with her cold and calculating personality, makes her the most impressive femme fatale since Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi." She received a Filmfare Best Villain Award nomination for Jism. Her next release, Zameen, failed to make impact among audiences.
Basu had four releases in 2004, all of which performed moderately and drew mixed reviews. She collaborated for the second time with Vikram Bhatt in her first release Aetbaar. She played the role of a young woman who falls in love with a psychopath. Rediff.com noted that "... The characters are not convincing, the plot is not fast-paced or interesting." Her next film was Mani Shankar's Rudraksh, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. The film was a disaster at the box office and was panned by the critics. She then starred in Rakht as a tarot card reader trying to solve a murder mystery. Critic Shruti Bhasin of Planetbollywood wrote, "Bipasha Basu impresses in a different look and role." Her final release that year was Anil Sharma's Madhoshi opposite John Abraham. Her performance of a mentally unstable woman was generally well received.
In 2005, she appeared in the love triangle Barsaat alongside Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra. Taran Adarsh commented, "As an actor, she [Bipasha Basu] does show sparks only towards the end." She starred in the Tamil film, Sachein, which was a hit and then in Prakash Jha's Apaharan, which won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. In this period, she refused to act in art films due to salary problems.
Besides acting, Basu did the video "Tu" for Sonu Nigam's album, Kismat. She made a guest appearance in Jay Sean's music video "Stolen".
2005–09
Basu established herself as an actress with the success of No Entry, Corporate and Dhoom 2. No Entry grossed 750 million at the box office and was the highest-grossing film of 2005. Basu played the role of a bargirl who acts as wife of two men. She earned a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film. 2006 saw her star in four major releases — Phir Hera Pheri, Corporate, Omkara and Dhoom 2 — performing well critically and commercially. Phir Hera Pheri became the ninth highest-grossing film of the year. She was featured opposite Akshay Kumar in a significant role of a con woman who steals 10 million from the protagonists. In Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, she gave up her glamorous look for the role of a businesswoman who has no qualms in taking advantage of her sexuality to con the CEO of a rival company. She won accolades from critics for her performance. Critic Aparna wrote, "[...] she has done a fabulous job as an ambitious woman. The kind of shrewdness in a woman that she plays has never been seen before in India films." She was nominated for the second time for Filmfare Best Actress Award.
In Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of Othello, Omkara, Basu played the role of Bianca and was a cameo. She caught the attention of public with her dance number "Beedi", which was highly popular in India and overseas. Critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN wrote, "... Bipasha Basu is brought in to lend oomph and she succeeds in doing just that." Basu became the talk of the town for donning a bikini in Aditya Chopra's Dhoom 2. She reportedly ate only oranges for three days and trained hard to shoot the scene. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Aah Bipasha! Looks great, brings back the bikini to Bollywood, and gently slips into the shadows as a pretty accessory."
In 2007, Ronnie Screwvala's Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal performed below average at the box-office. The song picturised on John Abraham and Basu, "Billo Rani", became quite popular and earned her the nickname "Billo Rani", though equal credit must be given to Omkara in which her name was Billo Chamanbahar. In 2008, she teamed up once again with Abbas-Mustan for Race. She played the role of Sonia who is stuck in a love-triangle between two brothers (played by Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna) and, through the course, she murders one of them. The film grossed 680 million at the box office and was the fourth-biggest hit that year in India; it performed good enough overseas as well. Her performance was appreciated by critics with Taran Adarsh citing it as "her best work so far. She's superb." Basu's work in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno as a successful supermodel who finds it hard to forgive her ex-lover for betraying her earned her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the film was a commercial success with it becoming a "Hit". She completed 2008 by appearing during the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
Her first release in 2009, Aa Dekhen Zara failed to do well at the box office. Rohit Shetty's All The Best: Fun Begins performed well and her comic role was appreciated by fans. Later that year, Basu surprised everybody with Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film, Shob Charitro Kalponik. "I love saris and I'm wearing a lot of them in Ritu's film," she said. She gave up her glamorous look and was praised by critics for her performance. Critic Subhash K. Jha spoke high of her. He said, "Bipasha [Basu] pulls out all stops to deliver her career's best performance. Her moments of anguish before and after her screen-husband's death are expressed in tones of cathartic conviction that we never knew existed within Bipasha." He also compared her with the multiple-award-winning actress, Shabana Azmi, commenting that Basu's anguished portrayal of bereavement can be equalled by Azmi only.
Recent work: 2010–present
With the 2010 film Pankh, Basu returned as an imaginary character who exists in the protagonist's mind. She was then featured as a Kashmiri girl in Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa, which explored socio-political problems in Kashmir. Principal photography of Lamhaa was disrupted many times by the locals due to the controversial theme. During the shooting of Lamhaa, she left the sets at Anantnag and headed back to Mumbai citing she was afraid of the crowd there. Producer Bunty Walia thought of replacing her with Vidya Balan, but she returned for the shoot later with necessary security arrangements. NDTV Movies wrote, "Bipasha sinks herself into her character imparting a dramatic resonance into the role without resorting to stock expressions. The sequence where she gets mauled by militant women is as traumatic to watch as it must have been for Bipasha to shoot." Basu then appeared as the wife of a ruthless cop in Priyadarshan's Aakrosh who helps the police with investigation on honour killings in their village. She met with mixed reviews for the film. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Bipasha actually doesn't have much to do and does seem to be miscast as the much-abused, bruised and battered wife of Paresh Rawal".
Her only release in 2011 was Dum Maaro Dum, which performed reasonably well at the box office and met with good reviews from critics. Talking of the film, she said, "My next release is DMD Dum Maaro Dum, in which I play a lively, colourful, happy-go-lucky girl called Zoey, who is the representation of Goa as we see it." Basu collaborated with Abbas-Mustan for the third time in Players, which became the first release of 2012. The film was an official remake of The Italian Job. Players was heavily compared to The Italian Job and was criticised for its execution and performances, including that of Basu.
Her next release was Raaz 3, a supernatural horror thriller directed by Vikram Bhatt, upon release met with favourable response and emerging as a box office success after a period of relatively low phase for Basu. The movie not only became the highest grossing horror film, but also emerged a "blockbuster" with revenues of in India alone. Her performance in the film garnered acclaim from critics with Subhash K. Jha of IANS saying, "It's Bipasha who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance."
After appearing in a guest appearance in Race 2, where she reprised her role from the prequel, Basu was seen in the horror film Aatma which was directed by Suparn Verma and produced by Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak. She received mixed reviews for the movie. Bipasha performed live alongside Atif Aslam, Shaan & Malaika Arora Khan for the first time in series of concerts in Birmingham & London in the summer 2013.
In 2014 Bipasha Basu was seen on numerous roles in different types of movies. She appeared in Humshakals, a comedy movie directed by Sajid Khan opposite Saif Ali Khan. Humshakals was a box office disaster. She even didn't participate in the film's promotions because she was "extremely disturbed by the end result" and stated, "Humshakals was the worst experience of my life". She was also seen in a horror film Creature 3D, which was again a box office failure. Basu had completed work on her first English film, Roland Joffé's epic drama The Lovers in which she portrayed a Maratha warrior. The film was released on 13 March 2015. In 2015, Basu featured in Bhushan Patel's romance horror film Alone opposite her future husband Karan Singh Grover. India TV reviewed the movie and wrote that, "With some genuine scary moments and Bipasha-Karan's scorching chemistry, Alone stands apart from numerous horrible horror flicks made in the past." and also stated that, "Bipasha just takes her act to another level." The film performed moderately well at the box office.
As of 2020, Basu is committed to star opposite her husband Karan Singh Grover for the second time in crime drama web series Dangerous.
Media image
Basu ranked 8 in The Times of India 50 most desirable women in 2011, ranked 13 in 2012, and ranked 7 in 2013. UK magazine Eastern Eye named her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" in 2005 and 2007.
Other ventures
Fitness DVD launch
Aside from films, Basu is an advocate of physical fitness. In 2005 she released her first fitness DVD jointly with John Abraham, titled Bollywood Bodies. In 2010 she released her first solo fitness DVD called Love Yourself: Fit & Fabulous You, which emphasised on being strong, healthy, and loving one's self. The DVD consisted of a 60-day routine for weight-loss, including a beginner's workout, an advanced workout and an "easy tone" workout. She was also the brand ambassador of Sugar Free, which helped her promoting the DVD. Hiren Gada, director of Shemaroo Entertainment said, "A celebrity like Bipasha Basu, genuinely believes in staying healthy. She is also passionate about fitness." Basu later launched her second fitness DVD in September 2011 named Break Free, a 30-minute dance routine, and the follow up to Bipasha Basu's first workout video, continuing the Love Yourself series. In January 2014 Bipasha Basu launched her much awaited third instalment of her Love Yourself DVD fitness series, Unleash, an advanced training routine that includes plyometrics and focuses more on power and speed, while strengthening the bones and improving muscle coordination. Later in 2014, many of her fitness workout videos were released for free on distributor Shemaroo Entertainment's health-focussed YouTube channel, Shemaroo Good Health 24/7.
She is also the face of Delhi Marathon, which has been inspired by her interest in fitness.
Personal life
Basu was in a relationship with actor Dino Morea from 1996 to 2002 and a very high-profile one with John Abraham from 2002 to 2011. In 2015, Basu met co-star Karan Singh Grover on the sets of Alone and they fell in love. The couple got married on 30 April 2016.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Bipasha Basu on IMDb
1979 births
Living people
Indian film actresses
Female models from Delhi
Apeejay School alumni
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools alumni
Actresses from Kolkata
Filmfare Awards winners
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Bengali cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Bengali actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
20th-century Bengalis
21st-century Bengalis
Female models from Kolkata
People from New Alipore | true | [
"\"Come & Get in Trouble with Me\" is a song recorded by Australian singer and songwriter Ricki-Lee Coulter. It was released as a digital download on 30 August 2013. The song was written by Coulter, Stuart Crichton and Amie Miriello, and produced by Crichton. Backed by a heavy bass, \"Come & Get in Trouble with Me\" is a dance-pop song that contains influences of disco, electro and house music. The song received positive reviews from most critics, who praised its composition and sound.\n\n\"Come & Get in Trouble with Me\" debuted and peaked at number 28 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The accompanying music video was directed by Marc Furmie and Coulter, and features scenes of Coulter in a Studio 54-inspired nightclub. The video received a positive reception from critics, but a mixed reaction from fans due to its overtly sexual content. Coulter promoted the song with performances on The X Factor Australia and Australia's Next Top Model.\n\nWriting and production\n\"Come & Get in Trouble with Me\" is a dance-pop song that features disco, electro and house music influences, and a heavy bass. The song was written by Ricki-Lee Coulter, Stuart Crichton and Amie Miriello at the Universal Music/APRA Invitational Bali Songwriting Camp in May 2013. It was produced by Crichton and mixed by Trevor Muzzy. In a radio interview with Nova FM, Coulter spoke of the inspiration behind the lyrics, saying that she is not the type of \"girl that sits at home on a Saturday night plaiting her girlfriend's hair, drinking tea and watching romantic comedies. I'm a strip club-going, champagne-spraying party girl and I wanted to write a song about that.\" Coulter also revealed that she was inspired by 1970s disco music. \"I'd been listening to some old 70s disco, soul stuff and I thought lets go into the studio and do something different. Lets do something that's super unashamedly pop and fun and danceable. Trouble is what we did.\"\n\n\"Come & Get in Trouble with Me\" was made available for digital purchase on 30 August 2013. Two remixes of the song were released digitally on 25 October 2013. \"Come & Get in Trouble with Me\" was originally released as the lead single from Coulter's fourth studio album Dance in the Rain, but was later excluded from the album track listing and \"All We Need Is Love\" was released as its new lead single.\n\nReception\nSam Lansky from Idolator wrote that \"Come & Get in Trouble with Me\" is \"the finest summer dance-pop song that just missed the season, and practically a Kylie Minogue tribute (in the best possible way).\" Lansky also noted that it features \"a monster Guetta-style beat that leads into a huge pop chorus.\" Adam Bub from MusicFix described the track as a \"disco stomper\", while Brettney from Scoopla called it an \"electro-infused anthemic pop gem.\" Take 40 Australia noted that \"Come & Get in Trouble with Me\" is \"much more club ready\" than Coulter's previous singles, and wrote that \"her vocals are still showcased beautifully\" in the song. They concluded, \"We can see this song being a proper party starter, perfect for livening up a BBQ or a dance floor.\"\n\nThe Australian Recording Industry Association called it a \"club-friendly\" track that \"is a step in a different direction from Ricki's pop past.\" Jacques Peterson from Popdust wrote that \"Come & Get in Trouble with Me\" is \"easily the biggest and best thing she's done to date.\" Poprepublic.tv gave the song a mixed review, writing that it sounds \"rather flat lined\" and \"not really lyrically fabulous.\" Upon its release, \"Come & Get in Trouble with Me\" debuted and peaked at number 28 on the ARIA Singles Chart dated 9 September 2013. The following week, the song dropped to number 49 and in its third week, fell to number 95.\n\nPromotion\nCoulter performed \"Come & Get in Trouble with Me\" on The X Factor Australia (2 September 2013), Australia's Next Top Model (24 September 2013), and during a free concert by Channel V Australia at Federation Square, Melbourne (25 September 2013). In April–May 2014, Coulter was the supporting act for Jason Derulo's Australian leg of his Tattoos World Tour, where she performed the song as part of her set list.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video was directed by Marc Furmie and Coulter, and filmed in Sydney on 25–26 July 2013. On 16 August 2013, Coulter released a 16-second teaser of the video showing her pouring a bottle of champagne down the chest of another woman before leaning in to kiss her. That same day, an image from the video was posted on Coulter's Instagram account showing her wearing a blonde wig and riding on a white horse naked. The image received a mixed reaction from her fans. The official video clip was released on 3 September 2013 with an explicit warning on YouTube. It takes place in a Studio 54-inspired nightclub and features scenes of Coulter dancing with several people, surrounded by topless women, kissing another woman, riding a horse naked (a reference to Lady Godiva's naked protest), and covered in gold paint topless.\n\nThe video received positive reviews from critics, but a mixed reaction from fans due to its overtly sexual content. MusicFix wrote that Coulter looked \"better than ever\" in the video and that she \"is now a bona fide Aussie pop queen ... and she is out to prove it!.\" Jacques Peterson from Popdust called it Australia's answer to Robin Thicke's \"Blurred Lines\" video, while Dan Hill from Scoopla wrote that it is \"The best Aussie dance video since Sophie Ellis-Bextor's 'Murder on the Dancefloor'.\" Take 40 Australia praised Coulter for \"showing a more edgy side to herself.\" Within 24 hours of its release, the video had already received over 30,000 views on YouTube.\n\nTrack listing\nDigital download\n \"Come & Get in Trouble with Me\" – 3:05\n\nDigital download – Remixes\n \"Come & Get in Trouble with Me\" (John Dahlbäck Remix) – 5:47\n \"Come & Get in Trouble with Me\" (Zoolanda Remix) – 5:51\n\nCredits and personnel\nRicki-Lee Coulter – vocals, songwriter, executive producer\nStuart Crichton – songwriter, producer\nAmie Miriello – songwriter\nTrevor Muzzy – audio mixer\n\nSource:\n\nCharts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2013 songs\n2013 singles\nRicki-Lee Coulter songs\nEMI Records singles\nSongs written by Ricki-Lee Coulter\nSongs written by Stuart Crichton",
"LaTasha Sheron Rogers (July 30, 1970 – June 4, 1991), better known as MC Trouble, was a rap artist and the first female rapper signed to Motown Records.\n\nMC Trouble had a minor hit with the song \"(I Wanna) Make You Mine\" featuring the Good Girls, released on May 25, 1990. \"Make You Mine\" peaked at number 15 on Billboard magazine's Hot Rap Singles chart. The title track of her debut album Gotta Get a Grip was released as the second single on September 14, 1990. Gotta Get a Grip was a mix of hardcore rap and more commercial R&B.\n\nIllness, death, and dedications\nRogers was born with epilepsy and received daily treatment to prevent seizures; she was in production of her second album when she died in her sleep on June 4, 1991, while at a friend's house in Los Angeles shortly after suffering an epileptic seizure brought on from complications from a brain tumor, which resulted in heart failure. Her death impacted on rappers across the country. Phife Dawg, of A Tribe Called Quest, paid tribute to MC Trouble in the single \"Vibes and Stuff\" from The Low End Theory. Nefertiti bemoaned the loss of MC Trouble in her song, \"Trouble in Paradise.\" P.E.A.C.E. of Freestyle Fellowship gave MC Trouble a shout-out in their song \"Dedication\" on their album, To Whom It May Concern.... Boyz II Men dedicated the music video of their cover, \"It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday,\" to MC Trouble.\n\nRogers was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in the center of the Pinecrest section. Her tombstone incorrectly lists 1992 as the year of death.\n\nDiscography\n Highroller's Girl EP (1988)\n Gotta Get a Grip (1990)\n\nThe posthumous track \"Big Ol' Jazz\" appeared on the House Party 2 soundtrack in the fall of 1991. It resulted in a second and final hit for MC Trouble on the Billboard Rap Singles chart.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n1970 births\n1991 deaths\nAfrican-American women rappers\nWest Coast hip hop musicians\nAmerican women rappers\nRappers from Los Angeles\nNeurological disease deaths in California\nDeaths from epilepsy\n20th-century American women singers\n20th-century American rappers\nBurials at Inglewood Park Cemetery\n20th-century American singers\n20th-century African-American women\n20th-century African-American women singers\nDeaths from brain tumor\nDeaths from cancer in California"
] |
[
"Rogers Morton",
"Congressional career"
] | C_bdc91809ffa545fb9a0d62d0fb3432d3_0 | When did Morton start his career in congress? | 1 | When did Rogers Morton start his career in congress? | Rogers Morton | In 1947, Morton spent a great deal of time helping his brother Thruston in his ultimately successful campaign for election to the House of Representatives in Kentucky. After this initial exposure to politics, Morton moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the early 1950s, where he set up a 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) cattle farm along the Wye River in Talbot County. In 1962, Morton decided to challenge Democratic incumbent Thomas Francis Johnson of Maryland's 1st congressional district. Johnson, who was reeling from a political scandal, lost to Morton in the general election. Morton was lauded for not making Johnson's legal troubles his primary campaign issue. Morton was re-elected to Congress four more times, and served from 1963 until 1971. In Congress, Morton worked to enact legislation that would preserve the Chesapeake Bay, including laws reducing pollution into the Bay, working for the creation of a national park on Assateague Island, and providing funds to the Army Corps of Engineers to model how the Bay functions as an estuary. Concerning civil rights, Morton voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but not the Act of 1968. During the 1968 Republican National Convention, Morton served as the floor manager for eventual presidential nominee Richard Nixon. Morton also delivered the speech nominating Spiro Agnew, then-Governor of Maryland, as the vice presidential candidate. Due to his role in Nixon's election campaign and his environmental advocacy, Morton expected to be appointed as Secretary of the Interior in 1969. However, he was passed over for the position in favor of a westerner. He had also been considered for Nixon's vice presidential running mate, but lost out to Agnew. In January 1969, to recognize his efforts, Nixon appointed Morton as chairman of the Republican National Committee. As chairman, Morton was granted ex officio Cabinet rank by Nixon, an unprecedented practice that ultimately continued through the administration of Gerald Ford. CANNOTANSWER | In 1962, | Rogers Clark Ballard Morton (September 19, 1914 – April 19, 1979) was an American politician who served as the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Commerce during the administrations of Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford, Jr., respectively. He also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland.
Though he was born in Louisville, Kentucky, Morton moved to a farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the early 1950s. In 1962, he was elected to the House of Representatives, in which capacity he established an environmental record. Morton would joke that his two middle initials stood for "Chesapeake Bay". In 1968, Morton played a major role in Richard Nixon's campaign for president, and was chosen by Nixon in 1969 to serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
In the elections of 1970, Morton was considered a strong candidate to challenge Joseph Tydings for his U.S. Senate seat from Maryland, but he chose instead to remain as chairman of the RNC. In 1971, President Nixon tapped Morton to serve as Secretary of the Interior, during which time he oversaw the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and the 1973 oil crisis. Morton was the only person from the East Coast to serve as head of the Interior Department in the 20th century.
Following Nixon's resignation due to the Watergate Scandal, Morton continued in his post in the Gerald Ford administration until 1975, when he was nominated to serve as Secretary of Commerce. From April to August 1976, Morton served as Ford's campaign manager in his bid for election. Morton retired from politics following Ford's election defeat. Three years later, he died of cancer at his home in Easton on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Early life and career
Morton was born in Louisville, the son of David Clark Morton, a physician, and his wife, Mary Harris Ballard Morton, an heiress to a flour milling business. He was related to George Rogers Clark, a military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. Morton was one of three children; his brother Thruston B. Morton also had a career in politics, serving as chairman of the Republican National Committee and representing Kentucky in both the United States House of Representatives and then the United States Senate.
Morton received his early education from the Woodberry Forest School near Orange, Virginia, and in 1937 graduated from Yale University, where he was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi chapter). Like his father, Morton worked to become a physician and entered the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. However, he dropped out after only one year. In 1939, Morton married the former Anne Jones. They had two children, David Clark and Anne Morton.
In 1938, Morton was commissioned in the United States Navy but only served for a short time due to problems with his back. Afterwards, he entered his family's flour business, Ballard & Ballard. In 1941, at the outset of World War II, Morton enlisted in the Armored Field Artillery of the United States Army as a private and served in the European Theater. He received a commission during the war and left the army as a captain in 1945.
After the war, Morton returned to the family business, where he served as president from 1947 to 1951. In 1952, the business was merged into the Pillsbury Flour Company, where Morton went on to serve as a director and a member of the executive committee for several more years.
Congressional career
In 1947, Morton spent a great deal of time helping his brother Thruston in his ultimately successful campaign for election to the House of Representatives in Kentucky. After this initial exposure to politics, Morton moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the early 1950s, where he set up a cattle farm along the Wye River in Talbot County. In 1962, Morton decided to challenge Democratic incumbent Thomas Francis Johnson of . Johnson, who was reeling from a political scandal, lost to Morton in the general election. Morton was lauded for not making Johnson's legal troubles his primary campaign issue.
Morton was re-elected to Congress four more times, and served from 1963 until 1971. In Congress, Morton worked to enact legislation that would preserve the Chesapeake Bay, including laws reducing pollution into the Bay, working for the creation of a national park on Assateague Island, and providing funds to the Army Corps of Engineers to model how the Bay functions as an estuary. Concerning civil rights, Morton voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but cast no vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
During the 1968 Republican National Convention, Morton served as the floor manager for eventual presidential nominee Richard Nixon. Morton also delivered the speech nominating Spiro Agnew, then-Governor of Maryland, as the vice presidential candidate.
Due to his role in Nixon's election campaign and his environmental advocacy, Morton expected to be appointed as Secretary of the Interior in 1969. However, he was passed over for the position in favor of a westerner. He had also been considered for Nixon's vice presidential running mate, but lost out to Agnew. In January 1969, to recognize his efforts, Nixon appointed Morton as chairman of the Republican National Committee. As chairman, Morton was granted ex officio Cabinet rank by Nixon, an unprecedented practice that ultimately continued through the administration of Gerald Ford.
1970 United States Senate election
In 1969, leading up to the 1970 elections, Morton was considered one of the strongest potential candidates to challenge incumbent Democratic senator Joseph Tydings. Morton had sought the Republican nomination for Maryland's other U.S. Senate seat in the 1968 elections, but bowed out in favor of Congressman Charles Mathias to prevent a primary battle.
Speculation that Morton would seek election to Tydings' seat increased after an editorial in the Baltimore Sun encouraged him to challenge Tydings. Sources within the administration of Vice President Spiro Agnew, who was formerly governor of Maryland, were also commenting that Morton would make a strong candidate and would likely run. When Morton stated he would be making an important announcement with President Nixon in December 1969, it seemed all but certain at the time that it would be to declare his candidacy.
However, Republicans around the country were concerned that Morton, who had just been appointed chairman of the RNC in January 1969, would resign during the election season to better handle the battle with Tydings. President Nixon shared their concerns, and encouraged Morton to remain as chairman. On December 16, 1969, with Nixon by his side, Morton announced that his priorities were with the national committee, and that he would not seek Tydings' seat. Morton also threw his full support for the nomination behind J. Glenn Beall Jr., a freshman member of the House from Cumberland, Mathias's successor in the House, and son of former senator James Glenn Beall.
Morton's decision not to challenge Tydings initially worried Maryland Republicans, who saw Morton as one of their best candidates. National Republican strategists had also begun to write off Tydings' seat as unwinnable for the 1970 election because of Tydings's wealth and popularity in the dense urban areas of Montgomery County and Baltimore. However, despite initial misgivings by state republicans, Beall defeated Tydings on November 3, 1970, by a margin of more than 30,000 votes.
Secretary of the Interior
Morton continued to serve in the House and as chairman of the RNC until 1971, when he was nominated to be Secretary of the Interior by President Nixon. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate Subcommittee on the Interior, though some concerns regarding Morton's record of environmental protection were raised by Phillip Berry, then-President of the Sierra Club. Morton's predecessor, Walter Joseph Hickel, had been chosen over Morton to fill the job in 1969, but was fired by Nixon in late 1970 for criticizing White House policy. Morton was the only person from the east coast to serve as Interior Secretary in the 20th century.
Upon assuming the office of Secretary of the Interior, Morton promised he would seek to "purify the environment". However, as his tenure progressed, he was gradually isolated from the proceedings of the White House and lost several major divisions to other departments. During the 1973 oil crisis, for example, the oil and natural gas divisions of the department were transferred to the Office of Emergency Preparedness. Furthermore, though Morton was the one who announced the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, speculation was put forward that he did not play a major role in determining its route.
As he was leaving his post in 1975, further criticism was directed at Morton for his overseeing the partial dismantling of the Interior Department. He was also criticized for lacking the vigor necessary to serve as head of a cabinet department, and for failing to see through the proposed creation of a new, stronger cabinet department that would have replaced the Interior.
Secretary of Commerce and the Ford Administration
Following the resignation of President Nixon in the Watergate scandal, Morton continued in his position as Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Gerald Ford. In March 1975, while still serving as the head of the Interior Department, Morton was nominated by Ford to serve as the next Secretary of Commerce. Ford cited Morton's extensive business experience as the primary factor for selecting him and expressed the hope that Morton would be able to "encourage American business to expand energy development and conservation efforts".
In January 1976, Ford announced Morton would be resigning as Commerce Secretary to instead serve as Counselor to the President with Cabinet rank. Morton's new position was to advise the president on domestic and economic policy. In addition, Morton was to serve as the special liaison to the political committee to elect President Ford. Morton's duties blurred the line between his public and political duties, and caused controversy concerning how Morton would divide his time between the White House and Ford's election campaign, and how much of his salary would be supplied by taxpayers versus the Ford election committee. In rebuttal, Morton stated "you can't separate government from politics", and that Presidential aides should be allowed to offer political advice.
In April 1976, Morton was named campaign manager for President Ford leading up to the 1976 presidential election. He replaced former U.S. Representative Howard Callaway of Georgia, who was forced to resign following allegations of improper use of authority while he was Secretary of the Army. Morton directed Ford's campaign until August 25, 1976, when he was reassigned as chairman of a steering committee and was replaced by James Baker of Houston, Texas. Morton's demotion was at his own request; he said that he no longer wished to bear "the responsibility and accountability of the chairmanship". However, former Nixon aide Harry S. Dent, Sr., of South Carolina claimed that Ford had relieved Morton as campaign manager because of a remark that Morton had made about the need for the GOP to "write off the Cotton South" in formulating the general election strategy against Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter, the former governor of Georgia who unseated President Ford.
After the 1976 campaign, Morton retired from politics to his farm, "Presqu'isle", near Easton, Maryland, where he operated a boat construction business.
Morton had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1973, but he said that the disease was in its early phase and was still treatable. In 1979, however, Morton died of the cancer at his home in Easton. He is interred in Old Wye Cemetery in Wye Mills, Maryland.
References
External links
Guide to the Angela Raisch Collection on Rogers C.B. Morton housed at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
1914 births
1979 deaths
20th-century American politicians
American Episcopalians
United States Army personnel of World War II
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni
Deaths from prostate cancer
Deaths from cancer in Maryland
Ford administration cabinet members
Maryland Republicans
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland
Military personnel from Louisville, Kentucky
Nixon administration cabinet members
People from Easton, Maryland
Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky
Republican National Committee chairs
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
United States Army officers
United States Navy officers
United States Secretaries of Commerce
United States Secretaries of the Interior
Woodberry Forest School alumni
Yale University alumni | true | [
"John Morton (1725 – April 1, 1777) was a farmer, surveyor, and jurist from the Province of Pennsylvania and a Founding Father of the United States. As a delegate to the Continental Congress during the American Revolution, he was a signatory to the Continental Association and the United States Declaration of Independence. Morton provided the swing vote that allowed Pennsylvania to vote in favor of the Declaration of Independence. Morton chaired the committee that wrote the Articles of Confederation.\n\nEarly life\n\nMorton was born in Ridley Township, in Chester County, present-day Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in 1725, the exact month is unknown. His father, John Morton (Senior), was Finnish and emigrated from Finland, then a part of the Realm of Sweden, with his great-grandfather, Martti Marttinen, or Måns Mårtensson (name alternated for Swedish military records, later anglicized as Morton), himself a native of Juva, Finland, who had arrived in the Swedish colony of New Sweden in 1654. His mother, Mary Archer, was also of Finnish descent. Morton was the only son of his father who died in 1724 before Morton was born. When Morton was about seven years old, his mother married John Sketchley, a farmer of English ancestry, who educated Morton.\n\nPolitical career\nMorton was elected to the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly in 1756. The following year he was also appointed justice of the peace, an office he held until 1764. He served as a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765. He resigned from the Assembly in 1766 to serve as sheriff of Chester County. He returned to the Assembly in 1769 and was elected speaker in 1775. Meanwhile, his judicial career reached its pinnacle with his appointment as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1774.\n\nMorton was elected to the First Continental Congress in 1774 and the Second Continental Congress in 1775. He cautiously helped move Pennsylvania towards independence, though he opposed the radical Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776. When in June 1776 Congress began the debate on a resolution of independence, the Pennsylvania delegation was split, with Benjamin Franklin and James Wilson in favor of declaring independence, and John Dickinson and Robert Morris opposed. Morton was uncommitted until July 1, when he sided with Franklin and Wilson. When the final vote was taken on July 2, Dickinson and Morris abstained, allowing the Pennsylvania delegation to support the resolution of independence. Morton signed the Declaration on August 2 with most of the other delegates.\n\nMorton was chairman of the committee that wrote the Articles of Confederation, although he died, probably from tuberculosis, before the Articles were ratified.\n\nLegacy\n\nMorton was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence to die and was buried in Old St. Paul's Church Burial Ground (also known as the Old Swedish Burial Ground) in Chester, Pennsylvania. Morton's grave remained unmarked until October, 1845, when the present-day 11-foot marble obelisk was erected by his descendants.\n\nThe inscription on the west side of the memorial reads:\n\nThe inscription of the east side of the memorial reads:\n\nThe inscription on the south side of the memorial reads:\n\nThe inscription on the north side of the memorial reads:\n\nIn 2013 University of Turku established the John Morton Center for North American Studies, after it was concluded that the field of studies regarding North America was fragmented and a national institute was needed.\n\nPersonal life\nMorton married Ann Justis of Chester County, and together they had three sons and five daughters; Aaron, Sketchley, John, Mary, Sarah, Lydia, Ann and Elizabeth. Morton's second son, Sketchley, was a major in the Pennsylvania Militia of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Morton was an active member of the Anglican Church in Chester County.\n\nSee also\n Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence\n\nNotes\n\nReferences \nPurcell, L. Edward. Who Was Who in the American Revolution. New York: Facts on File, 1993. .\n Warden, Rosemary. \"Morton, John\". American National Biography Online, February 2000.\n\nFurther reading\n Morton, John S. A History of the Origin of the Apellation Keystone State as Applied to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Together with Extracts from Many Authorities Relative to the Adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress, July 4, 1776; To Which is Appended the New Constitution of Pennsylvania with an Alphabetical Contents. Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, 1874.\n\nExternal links\n Historical Marker and Biography\n\n Mårten Mårtensson and his Morton Family by Dr. Peter Stebbins Craig\n John Morton Prize\n\n1725 births\n1777 deaths\nPeople from Ridley Township, Pennsylvania\nAmerican Anglicans\nAmerican people of Finnish descent\nMembers of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly\nContinental Congressmen from Pennsylvania\n18th-century American politicians\nSigners of the United States Declaration of Independence\nJustices of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania\nBurials in Pennsylvania\nPeople of colonial Pennsylvania\nPeople from Delaware County, Pennsylvania\nPatriots in the American Revolution\nSigners of the Continental Association",
"Jackson Morton (August 10, 1794 – November 20, 1874) was an American politician. A member of the Whig Party, he represented Florida as a U.S. Senator from 1849 to 1855. He also served as a Deputy from Florida to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862.\n\nEarly life and education\nMorton was born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. He was the brother of Jeremiah Morton, a U.S. Representative from Virginia. Jackson Morton attended Washington College (present-day Washington and Lee University) and the College of William and Mary. He moved to Santa Rosa County, Florida, in 1820 and engaged in the lumber business.\n\nPolitical career\nIn 1836, Morton became a member of the Florida Territorial Legislative Council and served as its president in 1837. In 1838, he was a delegate to the state constitutional convention for the first Florida Constitution. He was a United States Navy agent in Pensacola from 1841 to 1845. In 1848, he was a presidential elector on the Whig Party ticket. Morton was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1848. He served in the Senate from 1849 to 1855 when he was no longer a candidate for reelection and resumed his lumber business.\n\nAs the division over slavery grew between northern and southern states, Morton became active in the development of the Confederacy. On November 30, 1860, he was chosen to represent Santa Rosa County as a delegate of the Florida Secession Convention in Tallahassee. On January 7, 1861, he was appointed to be part of a twelve-person committee to prepare an Ordinance of Secession for Florida. Morton and George Taliaferro Ward attempted to have the ordinance amended so that Florida would not secede until Georgia and Alabama seceded and so that popular ratification would be required. They were overruled on January 8, 1861, and the ordinance went to a vote as planned. Morton voted in favor of secession and, on January 10, 1861, by a vote of 62–7, Florida became the third state to leave the United States.\n\nOn January 17, 1861, Morton was appointed to be a delegate to the Montgomery Convention for constructing a provisional Confederate government. On February 4, 1861, the delegates met and drafted the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States which was signed by Morton and the rest of the delegates four days later. The delegates at this convention became the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States. He served for the duration of the Provisional Congress and, in the month following the Provisional Constitution, he also signed its successor, the Confederate States Constitution. Morton and Augustus Maxwell were the only people to represent Florida in both the United States Congress and the Confederate States Congress.\n\nLater life and death\nJackson Morton returned to Santa Rosa County and died at his home, \"Mortonia\", on November 22, 1874. He was interred there in a private cemetery.\n\nSee also\n List of slave owners\n List of United States senators from Florida\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n .\n\nExternal links\n \n Jackson Morton at The Political Graveyard\n \n\n1794 births\n1874 deaths\n19th-century American politicians\nAmerican slave owners\nBurials in Florida\nCollege of William & Mary alumni\nDeputies and delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States\nFlorida Whigs\nMembers of the Florida Territorial Legislature\nPeople from Spotsylvania County, Virginia\nPeople of Florida in the American Civil War\nSigners of the Confederate States Constitution\nSigners of the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States\nUnited States senators from Florida\nWashington and Lee University alumni\nWhig Party United States senators"
] |
[
"Rogers Morton",
"Congressional career",
"When did Morton start his career in congress?",
"In 1962,"
] | C_bdc91809ffa545fb9a0d62d0fb3432d3_0 | What state was he elected to congress from? | 2 | What state was Rogers Morton elected to congress from? | Rogers Morton | In 1947, Morton spent a great deal of time helping his brother Thruston in his ultimately successful campaign for election to the House of Representatives in Kentucky. After this initial exposure to politics, Morton moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the early 1950s, where he set up a 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) cattle farm along the Wye River in Talbot County. In 1962, Morton decided to challenge Democratic incumbent Thomas Francis Johnson of Maryland's 1st congressional district. Johnson, who was reeling from a political scandal, lost to Morton in the general election. Morton was lauded for not making Johnson's legal troubles his primary campaign issue. Morton was re-elected to Congress four more times, and served from 1963 until 1971. In Congress, Morton worked to enact legislation that would preserve the Chesapeake Bay, including laws reducing pollution into the Bay, working for the creation of a national park on Assateague Island, and providing funds to the Army Corps of Engineers to model how the Bay functions as an estuary. Concerning civil rights, Morton voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but not the Act of 1968. During the 1968 Republican National Convention, Morton served as the floor manager for eventual presidential nominee Richard Nixon. Morton also delivered the speech nominating Spiro Agnew, then-Governor of Maryland, as the vice presidential candidate. Due to his role in Nixon's election campaign and his environmental advocacy, Morton expected to be appointed as Secretary of the Interior in 1969. However, he was passed over for the position in favor of a westerner. He had also been considered for Nixon's vice presidential running mate, but lost out to Agnew. In January 1969, to recognize his efforts, Nixon appointed Morton as chairman of the Republican National Committee. As chairman, Morton was granted ex officio Cabinet rank by Nixon, an unprecedented practice that ultimately continued through the administration of Gerald Ford. CANNOTANSWER | working for the creation of a national park on Assateague Island, | Rogers Clark Ballard Morton (September 19, 1914 – April 19, 1979) was an American politician who served as the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Commerce during the administrations of Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford, Jr., respectively. He also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland.
Though he was born in Louisville, Kentucky, Morton moved to a farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the early 1950s. In 1962, he was elected to the House of Representatives, in which capacity he established an environmental record. Morton would joke that his two middle initials stood for "Chesapeake Bay". In 1968, Morton played a major role in Richard Nixon's campaign for president, and was chosen by Nixon in 1969 to serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
In the elections of 1970, Morton was considered a strong candidate to challenge Joseph Tydings for his U.S. Senate seat from Maryland, but he chose instead to remain as chairman of the RNC. In 1971, President Nixon tapped Morton to serve as Secretary of the Interior, during which time he oversaw the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and the 1973 oil crisis. Morton was the only person from the East Coast to serve as head of the Interior Department in the 20th century.
Following Nixon's resignation due to the Watergate Scandal, Morton continued in his post in the Gerald Ford administration until 1975, when he was nominated to serve as Secretary of Commerce. From April to August 1976, Morton served as Ford's campaign manager in his bid for election. Morton retired from politics following Ford's election defeat. Three years later, he died of cancer at his home in Easton on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Early life and career
Morton was born in Louisville, the son of David Clark Morton, a physician, and his wife, Mary Harris Ballard Morton, an heiress to a flour milling business. He was related to George Rogers Clark, a military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. Morton was one of three children; his brother Thruston B. Morton also had a career in politics, serving as chairman of the Republican National Committee and representing Kentucky in both the United States House of Representatives and then the United States Senate.
Morton received his early education from the Woodberry Forest School near Orange, Virginia, and in 1937 graduated from Yale University, where he was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi chapter). Like his father, Morton worked to become a physician and entered the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. However, he dropped out after only one year. In 1939, Morton married the former Anne Jones. They had two children, David Clark and Anne Morton.
In 1938, Morton was commissioned in the United States Navy but only served for a short time due to problems with his back. Afterwards, he entered his family's flour business, Ballard & Ballard. In 1941, at the outset of World War II, Morton enlisted in the Armored Field Artillery of the United States Army as a private and served in the European Theater. He received a commission during the war and left the army as a captain in 1945.
After the war, Morton returned to the family business, where he served as president from 1947 to 1951. In 1952, the business was merged into the Pillsbury Flour Company, where Morton went on to serve as a director and a member of the executive committee for several more years.
Congressional career
In 1947, Morton spent a great deal of time helping his brother Thruston in his ultimately successful campaign for election to the House of Representatives in Kentucky. After this initial exposure to politics, Morton moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the early 1950s, where he set up a cattle farm along the Wye River in Talbot County. In 1962, Morton decided to challenge Democratic incumbent Thomas Francis Johnson of . Johnson, who was reeling from a political scandal, lost to Morton in the general election. Morton was lauded for not making Johnson's legal troubles his primary campaign issue.
Morton was re-elected to Congress four more times, and served from 1963 until 1971. In Congress, Morton worked to enact legislation that would preserve the Chesapeake Bay, including laws reducing pollution into the Bay, working for the creation of a national park on Assateague Island, and providing funds to the Army Corps of Engineers to model how the Bay functions as an estuary. Concerning civil rights, Morton voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but cast no vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
During the 1968 Republican National Convention, Morton served as the floor manager for eventual presidential nominee Richard Nixon. Morton also delivered the speech nominating Spiro Agnew, then-Governor of Maryland, as the vice presidential candidate.
Due to his role in Nixon's election campaign and his environmental advocacy, Morton expected to be appointed as Secretary of the Interior in 1969. However, he was passed over for the position in favor of a westerner. He had also been considered for Nixon's vice presidential running mate, but lost out to Agnew. In January 1969, to recognize his efforts, Nixon appointed Morton as chairman of the Republican National Committee. As chairman, Morton was granted ex officio Cabinet rank by Nixon, an unprecedented practice that ultimately continued through the administration of Gerald Ford.
1970 United States Senate election
In 1969, leading up to the 1970 elections, Morton was considered one of the strongest potential candidates to challenge incumbent Democratic senator Joseph Tydings. Morton had sought the Republican nomination for Maryland's other U.S. Senate seat in the 1968 elections, but bowed out in favor of Congressman Charles Mathias to prevent a primary battle.
Speculation that Morton would seek election to Tydings' seat increased after an editorial in the Baltimore Sun encouraged him to challenge Tydings. Sources within the administration of Vice President Spiro Agnew, who was formerly governor of Maryland, were also commenting that Morton would make a strong candidate and would likely run. When Morton stated he would be making an important announcement with President Nixon in December 1969, it seemed all but certain at the time that it would be to declare his candidacy.
However, Republicans around the country were concerned that Morton, who had just been appointed chairman of the RNC in January 1969, would resign during the election season to better handle the battle with Tydings. President Nixon shared their concerns, and encouraged Morton to remain as chairman. On December 16, 1969, with Nixon by his side, Morton announced that his priorities were with the national committee, and that he would not seek Tydings' seat. Morton also threw his full support for the nomination behind J. Glenn Beall Jr., a freshman member of the House from Cumberland, Mathias's successor in the House, and son of former senator James Glenn Beall.
Morton's decision not to challenge Tydings initially worried Maryland Republicans, who saw Morton as one of their best candidates. National Republican strategists had also begun to write off Tydings' seat as unwinnable for the 1970 election because of Tydings's wealth and popularity in the dense urban areas of Montgomery County and Baltimore. However, despite initial misgivings by state republicans, Beall defeated Tydings on November 3, 1970, by a margin of more than 30,000 votes.
Secretary of the Interior
Morton continued to serve in the House and as chairman of the RNC until 1971, when he was nominated to be Secretary of the Interior by President Nixon. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate Subcommittee on the Interior, though some concerns regarding Morton's record of environmental protection were raised by Phillip Berry, then-President of the Sierra Club. Morton's predecessor, Walter Joseph Hickel, had been chosen over Morton to fill the job in 1969, but was fired by Nixon in late 1970 for criticizing White House policy. Morton was the only person from the east coast to serve as Interior Secretary in the 20th century.
Upon assuming the office of Secretary of the Interior, Morton promised he would seek to "purify the environment". However, as his tenure progressed, he was gradually isolated from the proceedings of the White House and lost several major divisions to other departments. During the 1973 oil crisis, for example, the oil and natural gas divisions of the department were transferred to the Office of Emergency Preparedness. Furthermore, though Morton was the one who announced the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, speculation was put forward that he did not play a major role in determining its route.
As he was leaving his post in 1975, further criticism was directed at Morton for his overseeing the partial dismantling of the Interior Department. He was also criticized for lacking the vigor necessary to serve as head of a cabinet department, and for failing to see through the proposed creation of a new, stronger cabinet department that would have replaced the Interior.
Secretary of Commerce and the Ford Administration
Following the resignation of President Nixon in the Watergate scandal, Morton continued in his position as Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Gerald Ford. In March 1975, while still serving as the head of the Interior Department, Morton was nominated by Ford to serve as the next Secretary of Commerce. Ford cited Morton's extensive business experience as the primary factor for selecting him and expressed the hope that Morton would be able to "encourage American business to expand energy development and conservation efforts".
In January 1976, Ford announced Morton would be resigning as Commerce Secretary to instead serve as Counselor to the President with Cabinet rank. Morton's new position was to advise the president on domestic and economic policy. In addition, Morton was to serve as the special liaison to the political committee to elect President Ford. Morton's duties blurred the line between his public and political duties, and caused controversy concerning how Morton would divide his time between the White House and Ford's election campaign, and how much of his salary would be supplied by taxpayers versus the Ford election committee. In rebuttal, Morton stated "you can't separate government from politics", and that Presidential aides should be allowed to offer political advice.
In April 1976, Morton was named campaign manager for President Ford leading up to the 1976 presidential election. He replaced former U.S. Representative Howard Callaway of Georgia, who was forced to resign following allegations of improper use of authority while he was Secretary of the Army. Morton directed Ford's campaign until August 25, 1976, when he was reassigned as chairman of a steering committee and was replaced by James Baker of Houston, Texas. Morton's demotion was at his own request; he said that he no longer wished to bear "the responsibility and accountability of the chairmanship". However, former Nixon aide Harry S. Dent, Sr., of South Carolina claimed that Ford had relieved Morton as campaign manager because of a remark that Morton had made about the need for the GOP to "write off the Cotton South" in formulating the general election strategy against Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter, the former governor of Georgia who unseated President Ford.
After the 1976 campaign, Morton retired from politics to his farm, "Presqu'isle", near Easton, Maryland, where he operated a boat construction business.
Morton had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1973, but he said that the disease was in its early phase and was still treatable. In 1979, however, Morton died of the cancer at his home in Easton. He is interred in Old Wye Cemetery in Wye Mills, Maryland.
References
External links
Guide to the Angela Raisch Collection on Rogers C.B. Morton housed at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center
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|-
1914 births
1979 deaths
20th-century American politicians
American Episcopalians
United States Army personnel of World War II
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni
Deaths from prostate cancer
Deaths from cancer in Maryland
Ford administration cabinet members
Maryland Republicans
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland
Military personnel from Louisville, Kentucky
Nixon administration cabinet members
People from Easton, Maryland
Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky
Republican National Committee chairs
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
United States Army officers
United States Navy officers
United States Secretaries of Commerce
United States Secretaries of the Interior
Woodberry Forest School alumni
Yale University alumni | true | [
"A. Chithambaranathan Nadar was an Indian politician and five times Member of the Legislative Assembly. He was elected twice to Travancore-Cochin assembly and three times to Madras State assembly. He was a cabinet minister for Travancore-Cochin during 1952–53.\n\nHe was elected to Travancore-Cochin assembly from Eraniel constituency as a Tamil Nadu Congress candidate in 1952 election. Eraniel was a two-member constituency and the other winner was A. K. Chelliah from the same party. In the A. J. John, Anaparambil cabinet, he served as minister of Land revenue and Forests.\n\nHe was again elected to Travancore-Cochin assembly from Neendakara constituency as a Tamil Nadu Congress candidate in 1952 election. He was elected to Madras State assembly from Nagercoil constituency in 1957 and 1962 elections as an Indian National Congress candidate. He was elected from Colachel constituency in 1967 election.\n\nReferences \n\nTamil Nadu politicians",
"Daniel Joseph Riordan (July 7, 1870 – April 28, 1923) was a U.S. Representative from New York from 1899 to 1901 and from 1906 to 1923. He was a Democrat and a member of Tammany Hall.\n\nRiordan was born in New York City and attended public schools until 1886, when he entered Manhattan College, from which he graduated in 1890. He engaged in the real-estate business.\n\nRiordan was elected as a Democrat to the 56th United States Congress, holding office from March 4, 1899, to March 3, 1901. He was a member of the New York State Senate (10th D.) from 1903 to 1906, sitting in the 126th, 127th, 128th and 129th New York State Legislatures.\n\nRiordan was elected to the 59th United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Timothy D. Sullivan and on the same day was elected to the 60th United States Congress. He was re-elected to the 61st and to the seven succeeding Congresses, holding office from November 6, 1906, until his death in Washington, D.C. on April 28, 1923. He was buried at the Calvary Cemetery in Queens.\n\nSee also\nList of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–49)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1870 births\n1923 deaths\nBurials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens)\nManhattan College alumni\nMembers of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)\nNew York (state) Democrats\nNew York (state) state senators\nPoliticians from New York City\nDemocratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives\nCatholics from New York (state)"
] |
[
"Rogers Morton",
"Congressional career",
"When did Morton start his career in congress?",
"In 1962,",
"What state was he elected to congress from?",
"working for the creation of a national park on Assateague Island,"
] | C_bdc91809ffa545fb9a0d62d0fb3432d3_0 | What state is the Assateague Island national park located? | 3 | What state is the Assateague Island national park located? | Rogers Morton | In 1947, Morton spent a great deal of time helping his brother Thruston in his ultimately successful campaign for election to the House of Representatives in Kentucky. After this initial exposure to politics, Morton moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the early 1950s, where he set up a 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) cattle farm along the Wye River in Talbot County. In 1962, Morton decided to challenge Democratic incumbent Thomas Francis Johnson of Maryland's 1st congressional district. Johnson, who was reeling from a political scandal, lost to Morton in the general election. Morton was lauded for not making Johnson's legal troubles his primary campaign issue. Morton was re-elected to Congress four more times, and served from 1963 until 1971. In Congress, Morton worked to enact legislation that would preserve the Chesapeake Bay, including laws reducing pollution into the Bay, working for the creation of a national park on Assateague Island, and providing funds to the Army Corps of Engineers to model how the Bay functions as an estuary. Concerning civil rights, Morton voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but not the Act of 1968. During the 1968 Republican National Convention, Morton served as the floor manager for eventual presidential nominee Richard Nixon. Morton also delivered the speech nominating Spiro Agnew, then-Governor of Maryland, as the vice presidential candidate. Due to his role in Nixon's election campaign and his environmental advocacy, Morton expected to be appointed as Secretary of the Interior in 1969. However, he was passed over for the position in favor of a westerner. He had also been considered for Nixon's vice presidential running mate, but lost out to Agnew. In January 1969, to recognize his efforts, Nixon appointed Morton as chairman of the Republican National Committee. As chairman, Morton was granted ex officio Cabinet rank by Nixon, an unprecedented practice that ultimately continued through the administration of Gerald Ford. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Rogers Clark Ballard Morton (September 19, 1914 – April 19, 1979) was an American politician who served as the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Commerce during the administrations of Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford, Jr., respectively. He also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland.
Though he was born in Louisville, Kentucky, Morton moved to a farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the early 1950s. In 1962, he was elected to the House of Representatives, in which capacity he established an environmental record. Morton would joke that his two middle initials stood for "Chesapeake Bay". In 1968, Morton played a major role in Richard Nixon's campaign for president, and was chosen by Nixon in 1969 to serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
In the elections of 1970, Morton was considered a strong candidate to challenge Joseph Tydings for his U.S. Senate seat from Maryland, but he chose instead to remain as chairman of the RNC. In 1971, President Nixon tapped Morton to serve as Secretary of the Interior, during which time he oversaw the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and the 1973 oil crisis. Morton was the only person from the East Coast to serve as head of the Interior Department in the 20th century.
Following Nixon's resignation due to the Watergate Scandal, Morton continued in his post in the Gerald Ford administration until 1975, when he was nominated to serve as Secretary of Commerce. From April to August 1976, Morton served as Ford's campaign manager in his bid for election. Morton retired from politics following Ford's election defeat. Three years later, he died of cancer at his home in Easton on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Early life and career
Morton was born in Louisville, the son of David Clark Morton, a physician, and his wife, Mary Harris Ballard Morton, an heiress to a flour milling business. He was related to George Rogers Clark, a military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. Morton was one of three children; his brother Thruston B. Morton also had a career in politics, serving as chairman of the Republican National Committee and representing Kentucky in both the United States House of Representatives and then the United States Senate.
Morton received his early education from the Woodberry Forest School near Orange, Virginia, and in 1937 graduated from Yale University, where he was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi chapter). Like his father, Morton worked to become a physician and entered the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. However, he dropped out after only one year. In 1939, Morton married the former Anne Jones. They had two children, David Clark and Anne Morton.
In 1938, Morton was commissioned in the United States Navy but only served for a short time due to problems with his back. Afterwards, he entered his family's flour business, Ballard & Ballard. In 1941, at the outset of World War II, Morton enlisted in the Armored Field Artillery of the United States Army as a private and served in the European Theater. He received a commission during the war and left the army as a captain in 1945.
After the war, Morton returned to the family business, where he served as president from 1947 to 1951. In 1952, the business was merged into the Pillsbury Flour Company, where Morton went on to serve as a director and a member of the executive committee for several more years.
Congressional career
In 1947, Morton spent a great deal of time helping his brother Thruston in his ultimately successful campaign for election to the House of Representatives in Kentucky. After this initial exposure to politics, Morton moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the early 1950s, where he set up a cattle farm along the Wye River in Talbot County. In 1962, Morton decided to challenge Democratic incumbent Thomas Francis Johnson of . Johnson, who was reeling from a political scandal, lost to Morton in the general election. Morton was lauded for not making Johnson's legal troubles his primary campaign issue.
Morton was re-elected to Congress four more times, and served from 1963 until 1971. In Congress, Morton worked to enact legislation that would preserve the Chesapeake Bay, including laws reducing pollution into the Bay, working for the creation of a national park on Assateague Island, and providing funds to the Army Corps of Engineers to model how the Bay functions as an estuary. Concerning civil rights, Morton voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but cast no vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
During the 1968 Republican National Convention, Morton served as the floor manager for eventual presidential nominee Richard Nixon. Morton also delivered the speech nominating Spiro Agnew, then-Governor of Maryland, as the vice presidential candidate.
Due to his role in Nixon's election campaign and his environmental advocacy, Morton expected to be appointed as Secretary of the Interior in 1969. However, he was passed over for the position in favor of a westerner. He had also been considered for Nixon's vice presidential running mate, but lost out to Agnew. In January 1969, to recognize his efforts, Nixon appointed Morton as chairman of the Republican National Committee. As chairman, Morton was granted ex officio Cabinet rank by Nixon, an unprecedented practice that ultimately continued through the administration of Gerald Ford.
1970 United States Senate election
In 1969, leading up to the 1970 elections, Morton was considered one of the strongest potential candidates to challenge incumbent Democratic senator Joseph Tydings. Morton had sought the Republican nomination for Maryland's other U.S. Senate seat in the 1968 elections, but bowed out in favor of Congressman Charles Mathias to prevent a primary battle.
Speculation that Morton would seek election to Tydings' seat increased after an editorial in the Baltimore Sun encouraged him to challenge Tydings. Sources within the administration of Vice President Spiro Agnew, who was formerly governor of Maryland, were also commenting that Morton would make a strong candidate and would likely run. When Morton stated he would be making an important announcement with President Nixon in December 1969, it seemed all but certain at the time that it would be to declare his candidacy.
However, Republicans around the country were concerned that Morton, who had just been appointed chairman of the RNC in January 1969, would resign during the election season to better handle the battle with Tydings. President Nixon shared their concerns, and encouraged Morton to remain as chairman. On December 16, 1969, with Nixon by his side, Morton announced that his priorities were with the national committee, and that he would not seek Tydings' seat. Morton also threw his full support for the nomination behind J. Glenn Beall Jr., a freshman member of the House from Cumberland, Mathias's successor in the House, and son of former senator James Glenn Beall.
Morton's decision not to challenge Tydings initially worried Maryland Republicans, who saw Morton as one of their best candidates. National Republican strategists had also begun to write off Tydings' seat as unwinnable for the 1970 election because of Tydings's wealth and popularity in the dense urban areas of Montgomery County and Baltimore. However, despite initial misgivings by state republicans, Beall defeated Tydings on November 3, 1970, by a margin of more than 30,000 votes.
Secretary of the Interior
Morton continued to serve in the House and as chairman of the RNC until 1971, when he was nominated to be Secretary of the Interior by President Nixon. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate Subcommittee on the Interior, though some concerns regarding Morton's record of environmental protection were raised by Phillip Berry, then-President of the Sierra Club. Morton's predecessor, Walter Joseph Hickel, had been chosen over Morton to fill the job in 1969, but was fired by Nixon in late 1970 for criticizing White House policy. Morton was the only person from the east coast to serve as Interior Secretary in the 20th century.
Upon assuming the office of Secretary of the Interior, Morton promised he would seek to "purify the environment". However, as his tenure progressed, he was gradually isolated from the proceedings of the White House and lost several major divisions to other departments. During the 1973 oil crisis, for example, the oil and natural gas divisions of the department were transferred to the Office of Emergency Preparedness. Furthermore, though Morton was the one who announced the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, speculation was put forward that he did not play a major role in determining its route.
As he was leaving his post in 1975, further criticism was directed at Morton for his overseeing the partial dismantling of the Interior Department. He was also criticized for lacking the vigor necessary to serve as head of a cabinet department, and for failing to see through the proposed creation of a new, stronger cabinet department that would have replaced the Interior.
Secretary of Commerce and the Ford Administration
Following the resignation of President Nixon in the Watergate scandal, Morton continued in his position as Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Gerald Ford. In March 1975, while still serving as the head of the Interior Department, Morton was nominated by Ford to serve as the next Secretary of Commerce. Ford cited Morton's extensive business experience as the primary factor for selecting him and expressed the hope that Morton would be able to "encourage American business to expand energy development and conservation efforts".
In January 1976, Ford announced Morton would be resigning as Commerce Secretary to instead serve as Counselor to the President with Cabinet rank. Morton's new position was to advise the president on domestic and economic policy. In addition, Morton was to serve as the special liaison to the political committee to elect President Ford. Morton's duties blurred the line between his public and political duties, and caused controversy concerning how Morton would divide his time between the White House and Ford's election campaign, and how much of his salary would be supplied by taxpayers versus the Ford election committee. In rebuttal, Morton stated "you can't separate government from politics", and that Presidential aides should be allowed to offer political advice.
In April 1976, Morton was named campaign manager for President Ford leading up to the 1976 presidential election. He replaced former U.S. Representative Howard Callaway of Georgia, who was forced to resign following allegations of improper use of authority while he was Secretary of the Army. Morton directed Ford's campaign until August 25, 1976, when he was reassigned as chairman of a steering committee and was replaced by James Baker of Houston, Texas. Morton's demotion was at his own request; he said that he no longer wished to bear "the responsibility and accountability of the chairmanship". However, former Nixon aide Harry S. Dent, Sr., of South Carolina claimed that Ford had relieved Morton as campaign manager because of a remark that Morton had made about the need for the GOP to "write off the Cotton South" in formulating the general election strategy against Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter, the former governor of Georgia who unseated President Ford.
After the 1976 campaign, Morton retired from politics to his farm, "Presqu'isle", near Easton, Maryland, where he operated a boat construction business.
Morton had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1973, but he said that the disease was in its early phase and was still treatable. In 1979, however, Morton died of the cancer at his home in Easton. He is interred in Old Wye Cemetery in Wye Mills, Maryland.
References
External links
Guide to the Angela Raisch Collection on Rogers C.B. Morton housed at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center
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1914 births
1979 deaths
20th-century American politicians
American Episcopalians
United States Army personnel of World War II
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni
Deaths from prostate cancer
Deaths from cancer in Maryland
Ford administration cabinet members
Maryland Republicans
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland
Military personnel from Louisville, Kentucky
Nixon administration cabinet members
People from Easton, Maryland
Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky
Republican National Committee chairs
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
United States Army officers
United States Navy officers
United States Secretaries of Commerce
United States Secretaries of the Interior
Woodberry Forest School alumni
Yale University alumni | false | [
"Assateague State Park is a public recreation area in Worcester County, Maryland, USA,, located at the north end of Assateague Island, a barrier island bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and Sinepuxent Bay on the west. The state park is bordered on both its north and south sides by Assateague Island National Seashore and is reached via the Verrazano Bridge which carries Maryland Route 611 across Sinepuxent Bay. The park offers wildlife viewing, beach activities, and camping facilities. It is managed by the Maryland Park Service of the larger Maryland Department of Natural Resources with the support of volunteers working under the auspices of the non-profit Friends of Assateague State Park.\n\nHistory\nState planners suggested establishing a state park on Assateague Island in 1940 and again in 1952. The park was finally created in 1956 when the state Board of Public Works accepted a gift of 540 acres from North Ocean Beach, Incorporated. Funds for further acquisitions were allocated by the General Assembly of Maryland in 1959 and 1962, with funding for facility development allocated in 1965.\n\nA tradition of New Year's Day walks in the park began on January 1, 1980, the same year President Jimmy Carter proclaimed \"Year of the Coast.\" The walk was started by two women, Ilea Fehrer and Judy Johnson, founder of the Committee to Preserve Assateague Island (now known as the Assateague Coastal Trust), who sought to celebrate the beauty of the island and rally against plans to develop areas around it. It subsequently became an annual tradition, with the 40th iteration taking place in 2020, and became very popular over time, with people driving from various other parts of the state to join in with up to 300 others. The Ilia Fehrer / Judy Johnson Memorial Beach Walk, named after the two women who started it, is now part of Maryland's roster of the nationwide offering of First Day Hikes in state parks.\n\nWildlife\nWildlife found in the park's marsh areas include deer, waterfowl, and feral Assateague horses.\n\nActivities and amenities\nRackliffe House, which overlooks Sinepuxent Bay, is a restored 18th-century coastal plantation building that houses the Coastal Maryland Heritage Center. The park campground has 350 sites.\n\nSee also\nChincoteague National Wildlife Refuge\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nAssateague State Park Maryland Department of Natural Resources\nAssateague Island National Seashore National Park Service\n\nAssateague Island\nState parks of Maryland\nParks in Worcester County, Maryland\nBeaches of Maryland\n1956 establishments in Maryland\nProtected areas established in 1965",
"Assateague Island is a long barrier island located off the eastern coast of the Delmarva Peninsula facing the Atlantic Ocean. The northern two-thirds of the island is in Maryland while the southern third is in Virginia. The Maryland section contains the majority of Assateague Island National Seashore and Assateague State Park. The Virginia section contains Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and a one-mile stretch of land containing the lifeguarded recreational beach and interpretive facilities managed by the National Park Service (or NPS). It is best known for its herds of feral horses, pristine beaches and the Assateague Lighthouse. The island also contains numerous marshes, bays, and coves, including Toms Cove. Bridge access for cars is possible from both Maryland and Virginia, though no road runs the full north/south length of the island.\n\nHistory\nLike all barrier islands, Assateague has changed in form over the years. The structure of barrier islands is determined by movement of sand in the littoral zone, the land-facing side of the island. At one time, the island was connected to the lowest point of Fenwick Island. However, the 1933 Chesapeake–Potomac hurricane created an inlet south of Ocean City, Maryland. This inlet separated the two landforms. Normally, it would have silted back due to the littoral drift that ran from north to south. However, after the storm, between 1933 and 1935 a permanent system of artificial jetties was built to preserve the inlet as a navigation channel. it caused erosion problems on Assateague.\n\nBetween 1933 and the early 1960s, federal interest in creating a national seashore on the island alternated with periodic pushes for development. In 1950, a 15-mile section of the Maryland side of Assateague was plotted for development, and a paved road, Baltimore Boulevard, was constructed to traverse the new development. The Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 destroyed or covered most of Baltimore Boulevard, and many of the structures on the island were destroyed. Although some private landowners on the island supported re-development, by this time the state of Maryland generally supported a national seashore and legislation was introduced in the United States Congress. After Congressional efforts did not produce final legislation in 1964, new legislation in 1965 was successful and Assateague Island National Seashore was formed.\n\nParks and Refuge\nThe entirety of Assateague Island is owned and operated by three different agencies: the NPS, Maryland State Parks, and United States Fish and Wildlife Service. All of the land on the island north of the Maryland-Virginia state line is the Assateague Island National Seashore, with the exception of the smaller Assateague State Park. The national seashore was established in 1965 to preserve the barrier island and surrounding waters, and provide recreational opportunities. All of the island south of the state border in Virginia is the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, with the exception of a one-mile stretch of land including the recreational beach and interpretive facilities managed by the NPS. The Refuge was established in 1943 to provide habitat for migratory birds, primarily snow geese. The U.S. Geological Survey has initiated studies aimed at mitigating the potential sea-level rise on this barrier island complex.\n\nHuman use of the island\nThe National Park Service allows off-road vehicles with permits in certain areas. Car camping sites are available in both the National Seashore and Assateague State Park by reservation. Backcountry sites are also available from the National Seashore. There is no camping available from the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. Pets are prohibited in all areas except certain parts of the National Seashore and parts of the state park. Kayak touring is a popular way to see the wildlife, especially on the calmer bay side. Summer months are known for heavy mosquito populations, particularly on the bay side.\n\nAssateague State Park comprises almost and lies in Maryland within the National Seashore. The state park is the most developed area on the island with 350 campsites. Most of the water around the island is within the boundaries of the national seashore. The island has a land area of and has no resident population in either Maryland or Virginia, though a few retained property rights until 2006. These were mainly hunting camps.\n\nFauna\n\nLarge populations of birds inhabit the island, including American oystercatcher, great blue heron, and snowy egret. There are over 320 species that are known to inhabit the island during some portion of the year. These include gulls, terns, and other shorebirds along with raptors, waterbirds, and waterfowl. The piping plover is a threatened species that nests on Assateague.\n\nThe feral horse population of Assateague Island is alternately known as the Assateague horse in Maryland and the Chincoteague Pony in Virginia. This distinction, made both on per-breed and per-individual basis, is sometimes a matter of disagreement. The traditional definition of a horse or a pony is based on whether the animal in question falls over or under . The equines on the island tend to be under 14.2, but have a horse phenotype. It is argued that their relatively small size is primarily due to environmental, rather than genetic conditions. The National Park Service provides information about these animals through brochures and the internet.\n\nThe Maryland and Virginia horses are kept apart by fencing at the border between the two states. Though commonly called \"wild,\" these horses had domesticated ancestors. Legend states their original herdsmen were survivors of a Spanish galleon that shipwrecked along the coast, though they were more likely late 17th century mainland owners who brought their horses to the barrier islands to avoid fencing laws and taxation. When excess numbers are removed from the island and they are placed into human ownership, they adapt quickly to domestication. Made famous by Marguerite Henry in her children's book Misty of Chincoteague, the animals are popular tourist attractions and subjects for photography.\n\nThe Maryland horses are owned and managed by the NPS, who have carefully followed the population over generations. In Virginia, the Chincoteague ponies are owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. Once a year in July, the local \"salt water cowboys\" round them up and sort a number of animals to be removed from the island, which are put up for auction on Pony Penning Day.\n\nTo keep their numbers under control on the Maryland side, a federal contraceptive program has been in place since 1994. In Virginia, the Pony Penning Days auction keeps the horse population at levels required by agreement with the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.\n\nClimate\nAssateague Island has a humid subtropical climate and is the only part of Maryland with the southern tip of the Delmarva peninsula in hardiness Zone 8a.\n\nGallery\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nAssateague Island National Seashore\nAssateague State Park\nAssateague photos\nPhilip E. Hartman papers at the University of Maryland library contain letters, reports, and publications, which document environmental activities relating to Assateague Island.\n\n \nBarrier islands of Maryland\nBarrier islands of Virginia\nIslands of Accomack County, Virginia\nLandforms of Worcester County, Maryland\nBeaches of Maryland\nBeaches of Virginia\nTourist attractions in Accomack County, Virginia\nTourist attractions in Worcester County, Maryland"
] |
[
"Rogers Morton",
"Congressional career",
"When did Morton start his career in congress?",
"In 1962,",
"What state was he elected to congress from?",
"working for the creation of a national park on Assateague Island,",
"What state is the Assateague Island national park located?",
"I don't know."
] | C_bdc91809ffa545fb9a0d62d0fb3432d3_0 | How long has he been in congress? | 4 | How long has Rogers Morton been in congress? | Rogers Morton | In 1947, Morton spent a great deal of time helping his brother Thruston in his ultimately successful campaign for election to the House of Representatives in Kentucky. After this initial exposure to politics, Morton moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the early 1950s, where he set up a 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) cattle farm along the Wye River in Talbot County. In 1962, Morton decided to challenge Democratic incumbent Thomas Francis Johnson of Maryland's 1st congressional district. Johnson, who was reeling from a political scandal, lost to Morton in the general election. Morton was lauded for not making Johnson's legal troubles his primary campaign issue. Morton was re-elected to Congress four more times, and served from 1963 until 1971. In Congress, Morton worked to enact legislation that would preserve the Chesapeake Bay, including laws reducing pollution into the Bay, working for the creation of a national park on Assateague Island, and providing funds to the Army Corps of Engineers to model how the Bay functions as an estuary. Concerning civil rights, Morton voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but not the Act of 1968. During the 1968 Republican National Convention, Morton served as the floor manager for eventual presidential nominee Richard Nixon. Morton also delivered the speech nominating Spiro Agnew, then-Governor of Maryland, as the vice presidential candidate. Due to his role in Nixon's election campaign and his environmental advocacy, Morton expected to be appointed as Secretary of the Interior in 1969. However, he was passed over for the position in favor of a westerner. He had also been considered for Nixon's vice presidential running mate, but lost out to Agnew. In January 1969, to recognize his efforts, Nixon appointed Morton as chairman of the Republican National Committee. As chairman, Morton was granted ex officio Cabinet rank by Nixon, an unprecedented practice that ultimately continued through the administration of Gerald Ford. CANNOTANSWER | and served from 1963 until 1971. | Rogers Clark Ballard Morton (September 19, 1914 – April 19, 1979) was an American politician who served as the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Commerce during the administrations of Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford, Jr., respectively. He also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland.
Though he was born in Louisville, Kentucky, Morton moved to a farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the early 1950s. In 1962, he was elected to the House of Representatives, in which capacity he established an environmental record. Morton would joke that his two middle initials stood for "Chesapeake Bay". In 1968, Morton played a major role in Richard Nixon's campaign for president, and was chosen by Nixon in 1969 to serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
In the elections of 1970, Morton was considered a strong candidate to challenge Joseph Tydings for his U.S. Senate seat from Maryland, but he chose instead to remain as chairman of the RNC. In 1971, President Nixon tapped Morton to serve as Secretary of the Interior, during which time he oversaw the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and the 1973 oil crisis. Morton was the only person from the East Coast to serve as head of the Interior Department in the 20th century.
Following Nixon's resignation due to the Watergate Scandal, Morton continued in his post in the Gerald Ford administration until 1975, when he was nominated to serve as Secretary of Commerce. From April to August 1976, Morton served as Ford's campaign manager in his bid for election. Morton retired from politics following Ford's election defeat. Three years later, he died of cancer at his home in Easton on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Early life and career
Morton was born in Louisville, the son of David Clark Morton, a physician, and his wife, Mary Harris Ballard Morton, an heiress to a flour milling business. He was related to George Rogers Clark, a military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. Morton was one of three children; his brother Thruston B. Morton also had a career in politics, serving as chairman of the Republican National Committee and representing Kentucky in both the United States House of Representatives and then the United States Senate.
Morton received his early education from the Woodberry Forest School near Orange, Virginia, and in 1937 graduated from Yale University, where he was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi chapter). Like his father, Morton worked to become a physician and entered the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. However, he dropped out after only one year. In 1939, Morton married the former Anne Jones. They had two children, David Clark and Anne Morton.
In 1938, Morton was commissioned in the United States Navy but only served for a short time due to problems with his back. Afterwards, he entered his family's flour business, Ballard & Ballard. In 1941, at the outset of World War II, Morton enlisted in the Armored Field Artillery of the United States Army as a private and served in the European Theater. He received a commission during the war and left the army as a captain in 1945.
After the war, Morton returned to the family business, where he served as president from 1947 to 1951. In 1952, the business was merged into the Pillsbury Flour Company, where Morton went on to serve as a director and a member of the executive committee for several more years.
Congressional career
In 1947, Morton spent a great deal of time helping his brother Thruston in his ultimately successful campaign for election to the House of Representatives in Kentucky. After this initial exposure to politics, Morton moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the early 1950s, where he set up a cattle farm along the Wye River in Talbot County. In 1962, Morton decided to challenge Democratic incumbent Thomas Francis Johnson of . Johnson, who was reeling from a political scandal, lost to Morton in the general election. Morton was lauded for not making Johnson's legal troubles his primary campaign issue.
Morton was re-elected to Congress four more times, and served from 1963 until 1971. In Congress, Morton worked to enact legislation that would preserve the Chesapeake Bay, including laws reducing pollution into the Bay, working for the creation of a national park on Assateague Island, and providing funds to the Army Corps of Engineers to model how the Bay functions as an estuary. Concerning civil rights, Morton voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but cast no vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
During the 1968 Republican National Convention, Morton served as the floor manager for eventual presidential nominee Richard Nixon. Morton also delivered the speech nominating Spiro Agnew, then-Governor of Maryland, as the vice presidential candidate.
Due to his role in Nixon's election campaign and his environmental advocacy, Morton expected to be appointed as Secretary of the Interior in 1969. However, he was passed over for the position in favor of a westerner. He had also been considered for Nixon's vice presidential running mate, but lost out to Agnew. In January 1969, to recognize his efforts, Nixon appointed Morton as chairman of the Republican National Committee. As chairman, Morton was granted ex officio Cabinet rank by Nixon, an unprecedented practice that ultimately continued through the administration of Gerald Ford.
1970 United States Senate election
In 1969, leading up to the 1970 elections, Morton was considered one of the strongest potential candidates to challenge incumbent Democratic senator Joseph Tydings. Morton had sought the Republican nomination for Maryland's other U.S. Senate seat in the 1968 elections, but bowed out in favor of Congressman Charles Mathias to prevent a primary battle.
Speculation that Morton would seek election to Tydings' seat increased after an editorial in the Baltimore Sun encouraged him to challenge Tydings. Sources within the administration of Vice President Spiro Agnew, who was formerly governor of Maryland, were also commenting that Morton would make a strong candidate and would likely run. When Morton stated he would be making an important announcement with President Nixon in December 1969, it seemed all but certain at the time that it would be to declare his candidacy.
However, Republicans around the country were concerned that Morton, who had just been appointed chairman of the RNC in January 1969, would resign during the election season to better handle the battle with Tydings. President Nixon shared their concerns, and encouraged Morton to remain as chairman. On December 16, 1969, with Nixon by his side, Morton announced that his priorities were with the national committee, and that he would not seek Tydings' seat. Morton also threw his full support for the nomination behind J. Glenn Beall Jr., a freshman member of the House from Cumberland, Mathias's successor in the House, and son of former senator James Glenn Beall.
Morton's decision not to challenge Tydings initially worried Maryland Republicans, who saw Morton as one of their best candidates. National Republican strategists had also begun to write off Tydings' seat as unwinnable for the 1970 election because of Tydings's wealth and popularity in the dense urban areas of Montgomery County and Baltimore. However, despite initial misgivings by state republicans, Beall defeated Tydings on November 3, 1970, by a margin of more than 30,000 votes.
Secretary of the Interior
Morton continued to serve in the House and as chairman of the RNC until 1971, when he was nominated to be Secretary of the Interior by President Nixon. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate Subcommittee on the Interior, though some concerns regarding Morton's record of environmental protection were raised by Phillip Berry, then-President of the Sierra Club. Morton's predecessor, Walter Joseph Hickel, had been chosen over Morton to fill the job in 1969, but was fired by Nixon in late 1970 for criticizing White House policy. Morton was the only person from the east coast to serve as Interior Secretary in the 20th century.
Upon assuming the office of Secretary of the Interior, Morton promised he would seek to "purify the environment". However, as his tenure progressed, he was gradually isolated from the proceedings of the White House and lost several major divisions to other departments. During the 1973 oil crisis, for example, the oil and natural gas divisions of the department were transferred to the Office of Emergency Preparedness. Furthermore, though Morton was the one who announced the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, speculation was put forward that he did not play a major role in determining its route.
As he was leaving his post in 1975, further criticism was directed at Morton for his overseeing the partial dismantling of the Interior Department. He was also criticized for lacking the vigor necessary to serve as head of a cabinet department, and for failing to see through the proposed creation of a new, stronger cabinet department that would have replaced the Interior.
Secretary of Commerce and the Ford Administration
Following the resignation of President Nixon in the Watergate scandal, Morton continued in his position as Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Gerald Ford. In March 1975, while still serving as the head of the Interior Department, Morton was nominated by Ford to serve as the next Secretary of Commerce. Ford cited Morton's extensive business experience as the primary factor for selecting him and expressed the hope that Morton would be able to "encourage American business to expand energy development and conservation efforts".
In January 1976, Ford announced Morton would be resigning as Commerce Secretary to instead serve as Counselor to the President with Cabinet rank. Morton's new position was to advise the president on domestic and economic policy. In addition, Morton was to serve as the special liaison to the political committee to elect President Ford. Morton's duties blurred the line between his public and political duties, and caused controversy concerning how Morton would divide his time between the White House and Ford's election campaign, and how much of his salary would be supplied by taxpayers versus the Ford election committee. In rebuttal, Morton stated "you can't separate government from politics", and that Presidential aides should be allowed to offer political advice.
In April 1976, Morton was named campaign manager for President Ford leading up to the 1976 presidential election. He replaced former U.S. Representative Howard Callaway of Georgia, who was forced to resign following allegations of improper use of authority while he was Secretary of the Army. Morton directed Ford's campaign until August 25, 1976, when he was reassigned as chairman of a steering committee and was replaced by James Baker of Houston, Texas. Morton's demotion was at his own request; he said that he no longer wished to bear "the responsibility and accountability of the chairmanship". However, former Nixon aide Harry S. Dent, Sr., of South Carolina claimed that Ford had relieved Morton as campaign manager because of a remark that Morton had made about the need for the GOP to "write off the Cotton South" in formulating the general election strategy against Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter, the former governor of Georgia who unseated President Ford.
After the 1976 campaign, Morton retired from politics to his farm, "Presqu'isle", near Easton, Maryland, where he operated a boat construction business.
Morton had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1973, but he said that the disease was in its early phase and was still treatable. In 1979, however, Morton died of the cancer at his home in Easton. He is interred in Old Wye Cemetery in Wye Mills, Maryland.
References
External links
Guide to the Angela Raisch Collection on Rogers C.B. Morton housed at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center
|-
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|-
1914 births
1979 deaths
20th-century American politicians
American Episcopalians
United States Army personnel of World War II
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni
Deaths from prostate cancer
Deaths from cancer in Maryland
Ford administration cabinet members
Maryland Republicans
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland
Military personnel from Louisville, Kentucky
Nixon administration cabinet members
People from Easton, Maryland
Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky
Republican National Committee chairs
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
United States Army officers
United States Navy officers
United States Secretaries of Commerce
United States Secretaries of the Interior
Woodberry Forest School alumni
Yale University alumni | true | [
"\"How Long, How Long Blues\" (also known as \"How Long Blues\" or \"How Long How Long\") is a blues song recorded by the American blues duo Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell in 1928. It became an early blues standard and its melody inspired many later songs.\n\nOriginal song\n\"How Long, How Long Blues\" is based on \"How Long Daddy\", recorded in 1925 by Ida Cox with Papa Charlie Jackson. On June 19, 1928, Leroy Carr, who sang and played piano, and guitarist Scrapper Blackwell recorded the song in Indianapolis, Indiana, for Vocalion Records, shortly after they began performing together. It is a moderately slow-tempo blues with an eight-bar structure. Carr is credited with the lyrics and music for the song, which uses a departed train as a metaphor for a lover who has left:\n\nCarr's and Blackwell's songs reflected a more urban and sophisticated blues, in contrast to the music of rural bluesmen of the time. Carr's blues were \"expressive and evocative\", although his vocals have also been described as emotionally detached, high-pitched and smooth, with clear diction.\n\n\"How Long, How Long Blues\" was Carr and Scrapwell's biggest hit. They subsequently recorded six more versions of the song (two of them, unissued at the time), as \"How Long, How Long Blues, Part 2\", \"Part 3\", \"How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone\", \"The New How Long, How Long Blues\", etc. There are considerable variations in the lyrics, but most versions begin with the lyric \"How long, how long, has that evening train been gone?\"\n\nLegacy\n\"How Long, How Long Blues\" became an early blues standard and \"its lilting melody inspired hundreds of later compositions\", including the Mississippi Sheiks' \"Sitting on Top of the World\" and Robert Johnson's \"Come On in My Kitchen\". Although his later style would not suggest it, Muddy Waters recalled that it was the first song he learned to play \"off the Leroy Carr record\".\n\nIn 1988, Carr's \"How Long, How Long Blues\" was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in the category \"Classics of Blues Recordings – Singles or Album Tracks\". Blues historian Jim O'Neal commented in the induction statement, \"'How Long, How Long Blues' was a massive hit in the prewar blues era, a song that every blues singer and piano player had to know, and one that has continued to inspire dozens of cover versions.\" In 2012, the song received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, which \"honor[s] recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance\".\n\nSee also\nList of train songs\n\nReferences\n\nBlues songs\n1928 songs\nGrammy Hall of Fame Award recipients\nVocalion Records singles\nSongs about trains",
"Legislative elections were held in New Caledonia on 12 May 2019.\n\nElectoral system \nVoters elect 76 members to the assemblies of the three provinces of New Caledonia. In turn, 54 also become members of the Congress of New Caledonia. The elections used a restricted roll, which restricts voting depending on how long someone has lived in New Caledonia.\n\nResults\n\nReferences \n\nNew Caledonia\n2019 in New Caledonia\nElections in New Caledonia\nNew Caledonia\nNew Caledonia"
] |
[
"Matt Hardy",
"Version 1 (2002-2004)"
] | C_8bf9dcbf1a034e02873104f08a75bf5d_1 | What is Version 1? | 1 | What is Version 1 by Matt Hardy? | Matt Hardy | At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the brand extension, however, Hardy was relegated to Heat while Jeff wrestled on the main show, Raw. On the August 12 episode of Raw, Hardy turned against Jeff during Jeff's match against Rob Van Dam, because Hardy was frustrated at not receiving a match against Van Dam for the number one contendership for the Intercontinental Championship. A short time later, Hardy joined the SmackDown! roster, and began dubbing himself "Matt Hardy: Version 1", complete with a "version 1" hand signal. Hardy defeated The Undertaker on the September 12 and October 3 episodes of the show, due to interference from Brock Lesnar. Along with his MF'er (Mattitude Follower) Shannon Moore in his corner, 2003 began with Hardy frantically trying to lose weight to get under the 215 lb (98 kg) weight limit to compete for the Cruiserweight Championship. After just barely making weight, Hardy defeated Billy Kidman at No Way Out to win the Cruiserweight title. At WrestleMania XIX, he successfully defended it against Rey Mysterio. Hardy lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Mysterio in the main event of the June 5 edition of SmackDown - the first and only time a Cruiserweight Championship match main evented a show. After dropping the Cruiserweight Championship, Hardy briefly feuded with Eddie Guerrero, but was unsuccessful in capturing Guerrero's United States Championship or Tag Team Championship. The Mattitude faction then expanded to include Crash Holly as Moore's "Moore-on" (apprentice). He later disbanded the group in November and returned to Raw in order to be able to travel and work with his then girlfriend Lita, who just returned from an injury. On his first night back, he turned on Lita in storyline after teasing a proposal to her. He defeated Christian, who was vying for Lita's affections, on the following edition of Raw. In April 2004, Hardy saved Lita from getting attacked by Kane. Hardy defeated Kane at Vengeance, but lost a match against Kane at SummerSlam. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Hardy was chokeslamed off the stage by Kane. Hardy then spent almost a year off from wrestling due to a severe knee injury. CANNOTANSWER | At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the brand extension, however, Hardy was relegated to Heat while Jeff wrestled | Matthew Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his time with WWE, Impact Wrestling, and Ring of Honor (ROH).
With his real life brother Jeff, Hardy gained notoriety in WWF's tag team division during the 2000s due to his participation in TLC matches. He is a 14-time world tag team champion, having held the WWE World Tag Team Championship six times, the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship three times, the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship, ROH World Tag Team Championship, and WCW Tag Team Championship once each, and the TNA World Tag Team Championships twice.
Wrestling through four separate decades, Hardy has kept himself relevant partially through a variety of different gimmicks and his use of social media. In 2002, Hardy began a solo career in WWE. His subsequent "Version 1" persona was named Best Gimmick by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Hardy's eccentric "Broken" gimmick, which he debuted in 2016 (and which was renamed "Woken" following his subsequent WWE return), garnered praise from wrestling critics and earned him multiple awards, including a second Best Gimmick award, becoming one of the most talked about characters in all of wrestling. As a singles wrestler, Hardy has won three world championships (one ECW Championship, and two TNA World Heavyweight Championships). All totaled between WWE, TNA/Impact, and ROH, Hardy has held 21 total championships.
Early life
Hardy was born in Cameron, North Carolina, the son of Gilbert and Ruby Moore Hardy. He is the older brother of Jeff Hardy. Their mother died of brain cancer in 1987. Hardy played baseball as a child and throughout high school, but had stopped by his senior year. He also played football, either as a linebacker or a defensive end. Hardy was a good student at Union Pines High School in North Carolina, and was a nominee for the "Morehead Award", a scholarship to any university in North Carolina. Hardy attended University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he majored in engineering; after a year, however, he dropped out due to his father being ill. He then attended Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst to gain his associate degree.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1992–2001)
Hardy, along with his brother Jeff and friends, started their own federation, the Trampoline Wrestling Federation (TWF) and mimicked the moves they saw on television. Shortly after Hardy sent in a tape for the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Amateur Challenge using the ring name High Voltage, a tag team named High Voltage began competing in WCW, causing Hardy to change his name to Surge. A few years later, it was revealed to him by Chris Kanyon that the tape had been kept in the WCW Power Plant, watched multiple times, and that the name High Voltage was blatantly stolen from it. Beginning in 1994, The Hardys wrestled for several North Carolina-based independent circuit promotions and adapted a number of alter-egos. As The Wolverine, Hardy captured the New England Wrestling Alliance (NEWA) Championship in May 1994. As High Voltage, he teamed with Venom to claim the New Frontier Wrestling Association (NFWA) Tag Team Championship in March 1995. A month later, High Voltage defeated the Willow for the NFWA Championship.
In 1997, Matt and Jeff created their own wrestling promotion, The Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (frequently abbreviated to OMEGA Championship Wrestling, or simply OMEGA), in which Matt competed under the name High Voltage. Both Matt and Jeff took apart the ring and put it back together at every event they had, while Matt sewed all the costumes worn in OMEGA. The promotion folded in October 1999, after both Matt and Jeff signed with the World Wrestling Federation.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
Early years (1994–1998)
Hardy worked as a jobber for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1994 up until he signed a full-time contract in 1998. His first WWF match was against Nikolai Volkoff on the May 23, 1994 episode of Monday Night Raw, which he lost by submission. A night later at a taping of WWF Wrestling Challenge, he lost a match against Owen Hart. He continued to wrestle sporadically in the WWF throughout 1994 and 1995, losing matches against Crush, Razor Ramon, Hakushi, Owen Hart, the imposter Undertaker, Hunter Hearst Helmsley and "The Ringmaster" Steve Austin.
Hardy teamed with Jeff for the first time in the WWF in 1996, losing to teams such as The Smoking Gunns and The Grimm Twins on WWF television. Matt and Jeff had a short lived feud with The Headbangers (Thrasher and Mosh), losing to the duo twice in 1997. It was during this time that Matt and Jeff experimented with different ring names, at one stage being called Ingus (Matt) and Wildo Jinx (Jeff). In Matt's final singles match for the promotion before signing a full-time contract he lost to Val Venis on a taping of Shotgun in 1998.
The Hardy Boyz (1998–2001)
It was not until 1998, however, (at the height of The Attitude Era) that the Hardy brothers were given full-time WWF contracts and sent to train with former wrestler Dory Funk, Jr. The Hardy Boyz used a cruiserweight, fast-paced high flying style in their matches, often leaping from great heights to do damage to their opponents (and themselves in the process). In 1999, while feuding with Edge and Christian, the duo briefly picked up Michael Hayes as a manager.
At King of the Ring, The Hardyz defeated Edge and Christian to earn the #1 contendership for the WWF Tag Team Championship. On July 5, they defeated The APA to win their first Tag Team Championship. They soon dumped Hayes and briefly picked up Gangrel as a manager, after Gangrel turned on Edge and Christian. At No Mercy, The Hardyz defeated Edge and Christian in the first ever tag team ladder match. At the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, The Hardyz defeated The Dudley Boyz in the first ever tag team tables match. They competed against The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian for the Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 2000 in the first ever Triangle Ladder match, but were unsuccessful.
Hardy won the Hardcore Championship on April 24, 2000, on Raw Is War, by defeating Crash Holly, but lost it back to Holly three days later on SmackDown!, when Holly applied the "24/7 rule" during Hardy's title defense against Jeff. The Hardy Boyz then found a new manager in Matt's real-life girlfriend Lita. Together, the three became known as "Team Xtreme".
The Hardy Boyz competed in the first ever Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, for the WWF Tag Team Championship against The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian, but were unsuccessful. At Unforgiven, The Hardyz defeated Edge and Christian in a steel cage match to win the tag team championship, and successfully retained it the following night on Raw Is War against Edge and Christian in a ladder match.
In April 2001, The Hardyz began feuding with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H (known as The Power Trip), which also led to a singles push for both Matt and Jeff. Hardy helped Jeff defeat Triple H for the Intercontinental Championship, and shortly after Hardy defeated Eddie Guerrero to win the European Championship on SmackDown!. At Backlash he retained the title against Guerrero and Christian in a triple threat, and against Edge the following night on Raw.
Throughout the year, the Hardy Boyz continued to win as a tag team, winning the WWF Tag Team Titles two more times, and the WCW Tag Team Championship during the Invasion. By the end of the year, the Hardy Boyz began a storyline where they were having trouble co-existing. This culminated in a match between the two, with Lita as the guest referee, at the Vengeance pay-per-view, which Jeff won. Hardy defeated Jeff and Lita the following night on Raw in a two-on-one handicap match.
Version 1 gimmick and feud with Kane (2002–2004)
At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the brand extension, however, Matt was relegated to Heat while Jeff wrestled on the main show, Raw. On the August 12 episode of Raw, Hardy turned heel by attacking Jeff during Jeff's match against Rob Van Dam, because Hardy was frustrated at not receiving a match against Van Dam for the number one contendership for the Intercontinental Championship. A short time later, Hardy joined the SmackDown! roster, and began dubbing himself "Matt Hardy: Version 1", complete with a "version 1" hand signal. Hardy defeated The Undertaker on the September 12 and October 3 episodes of the show, due to interference from Brock Lesnar.
Along with his Mattitude Follower Shannon Moore in his corner, 2003 began with Hardy frantically trying to lose weight to get under the weight limit to compete for the Cruiserweight Championship. After just barely making weight, Hardy defeated Billy Kidman at No Way Out to win the Cruiserweight title. At WrestleMania XIX, he successfully defended it against Rey Mysterio. Hardy lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Mysterio in the main event of the June 5 episode of SmackDown! - the first and only time a Cruiserweight Championship match main evented a show.
After dropping the Cruiserweight Championship, Hardy briefly feuded with Eddie Guerrero, but was unsuccessful in capturing Guerrero's United States Championship or WWE Tag Team Championship. The Mattitude faction then expanded to include Crash Holly as Moore's "Moore-on" (apprentice). He later disbanded the group in November and returned to Raw in order to be able to travel and work with his then girlfriend Lita, who just returned from an injury. On his first night back, he turned on Lita in storyline after teasing a proposal to her. He defeated Christian, who was vying for Lita's affections, on the following edition of Raw.
In April 2004, Hardy saved Lita from getting attacked by Kane, turning face in the process. Hardy defeated Kane in a no disqualification match at Vengeance, but lost a "Till Death To Us Part" match against Kane at SummerSlam, resulting in Lita being forced to marry Kane. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Hardy was chokeslamed off the stage by Kane during the wedding. Hardy then spent almost a year off from wrestling due to a severe knee injury.
Departure and sporadic appearances (2005)
Along with his friend Rhyno, Hardy was released by WWE on April 11, 2005. Hardy's release was largely due to unprofessional conduct with social media after discovering that Lita was having a real-life affair with his best friend Edge. The public knowledge of the affair and Hardy's release led to Edge and Lita receiving jeers from the crowds at WWE events, often resulting in chants of "You screwed Matt!", and, "We want Matt!", which meant kayfabe storylines being affected considering that Lita was married to Kane at the time in kayfabe. Edge and Lita used the affair and fan backlash to become a hated on-screen couple, which led to Lita turning heel for the first time in over five years.
Fans began a petition on the internet, wanting WWE to re-sign Hardy, and amassed over fifteen thousand signatures. Hardy released two character promotional vignettes, that he was planning to use before he was offered a new contract by WWE. Hardy called himself The Angelic Diablo with the tagline "the scar will become a symbol" in reference to the way in which he had been treated by Lita and WWE. On the June 20 episode of Raw, during the storyline wedding of Edge and Lita, Hardy's entrance music and video were played when the priest asked if anyone had a reason why Edge and Lita should not be wed.
Independent circuit and Ring of Honor (2005)
Following his WWE release, Matt returned to the independent circuit and wrestled several matches for the Allied Powers Wrestling Federation (APWF), International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) and Big Time Wrestling (BTW).
Hardy appeared at a scheduled Ring of Honor (ROH) event on July 16, 2005, in Woodbridge, Connecticut where he defeated Christopher Daniels via submission. Hardy also cut a brief worked shoot promo where he criticized WWE and John Laurinaitis. Following his official return to WWE, Hardy was met with backlash following a match with Homicide from the fans at a subsequent ROH event, which Hardy won. The next day at his final ROH appearance, he lost to Roderick Strong.
Return to WWE
Feud with Edge (2005–2006)
On July 11, 2005, on Raw, Hardy attacked Edge backstage and again later during Edge's match with Kane. Before being escorted out of the building by security, Hardy stated that Edge (calling him by his real name of "Adam") and Lita would pay for their actions and told fans that they could see him at Ring of Honor while security officials and event staff were trying to restrain him. Hardy also called out Johnny Ace as security had him in handcuffs taking him out of the arena. This caused an uproar amongst fans, who were confused and wondered if the whole thing was a work or a shoot. Similar occurrences repeated during the following two weeks.
On the August 1 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon officially announced Hardy's return to WWE, adding that Hardy would face Edge at SummerSlam. Hardy made his in-ring return, defeating Snitsky on the August 8 Raw. Seconds after the victory, Hardy was attacked by Edge, and as he was being carried backstage, Matt counterattacked Edge in the locker room. On August 21 at SummerSlam, their match came to a premature end when Edge dropped Hardy onto the top of a ring post, causing him to bleed heavily. The referee ended the match on the grounds that Hardy could not continue, and Edge was declared the winner. After SummerSlam, the two continued feuding on Raw, including a Street Fight on August 29 that resulted in Hardy performing a Side Effect on Edge off the entrance stage and into electrical equipment below; the match ended in a no contest. At Unforgiven, Edge faced Hardy in a steel cage match. Hardy caught an interfering Lita with the Twist of Fate and won the match with a leg drop off the top of the cage. Hardy and Edge faced each other on October 3 at WWE Raw Homecoming in a Loser Leaves Raw ladder match. Edge's briefcase holding his Money in the Bank contract for his WWE Championship opportunity was suspended above the ring. The winner of the match received the contract and the loser was forced to leave Raw. Edge tied Hardy's arms in the ropes, and Lita trapped Hardy in a crucifix hold, leaving Hardy only able to watch Edge win.
With his defeat at the hands of Edge, Hardy was moved to the SmackDown! brand where he re-debuted with a win over Simon Dean on October 21 in Reno, Nevada. One week later, Hardy won the fan vote to represent Team SmackDown! (alongside Rey Mysterio) to challenge Team Raw (Edge and Chris Masters) at Taboo Tuesday. Edge, however, refused to wrestle and sent Snitsky in place of him in the match, which Hardy and Mysterio won.
Back on SmackDown!, Hardy started an angle with MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) and their manager Melina when Melina approached Hardy, seemingly wanting Hardy to join with her team. Hardy refused the offer, which led to him facing the tag team on several occasions with a variety of partners. On July 25, after the SmackDown! taping, Hardy was taken out of action after doctors found the remnants of the staph infection that had plagued him the previous year. He was sidelined until August 25 while he healed.
Upon his return to action, Hardy feuded against childhood friend and reigning Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms. At No Mercy, in their home state, Hardy beat Helms in a non-title match. The two met again at Survivor Series, where Hardy's team won in a clean sweep. They wrestled one final match, a one time appearance in Booker T's Pro Wrestling Alliance (PWA) promotion, where Hardy defeated Helms in a North Carolina Street Fight.
The Hardy Boyz reunion (2006–2007)
On the November 21, 2006 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Hardy and Jeff competed in a match together for the first time in almost five years, defeating The Full Blooded Italians. At December to Dismember, the Hardy Boyz issued an open challenge to any tag team who wanted to face them. MNM answered their challenge by reuniting at December to Dismember, a match won by the Hardy Boyz. At Armageddon, Hardy and Jeff competed against Paul London and Brian Kendrick, MNM, and Dave Taylor and William Regal in a Ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship but lost. Subsequently, he and Jeff feuded with MNM after the legitimate incident where they injured Mercury's face at Armageddon. This led to a long term rivalry, and at the Royal Rumble, Hardy and Jeff defeated MNM. Mercury and Hardy continued to feud on SmackDown! until Mercury was released from WWE on March 26.
The night after WrestleMania 23 on Raw, the Hardys competed in a 10-team battle royal for the World Tag Team Championship. They won the titles for the sixth time from then WWE Champion John Cena and Shawn Michaels after last eliminating Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. This started a feud with Cade and Murdoch, and the Hardys successfully retained their World Tag Team Championship in their first title defense at Backlash. The Hardy Boyz also successfully retained their titles at Judgment Day against Cade and Murdoch. One month later at One Night Stand, they defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team to retain the titles in a Ladder match. The following night on Raw, Vince McMahon demanded that The Hardys once again defend their championships against Cade and Murdoch. The Hardys were defeated after Murdoch pushed Jeff's foot off the bottom rope during Cade's pinfall, causing the three count to continue. They invoked their rematch clause against Cade and Murdoch at Vengeance: Night of Champions, but were unsuccessful.
Feud with MVP and championship reigns (2007–2009)
On the July 6, 2007 episode of SmackDown!, Hardy won a non-title match against United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), which resulted in a feud between the two. Hardy was defeated by MVP at The Great American Bash for the United States Championship. MVP then claimed that he was "better than Hardy at everything", which led to a series of contests between Hardy and MVP, such as a basketball game, an arm wrestling contest, and a chess match which MVP "sneezed" on and ruined when Hardy put him in check. MVP challenged Hardy to a boxing match at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXV, however MVP was legitimately diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Since MVP was unable to compete, Hardy faced his replacement, former world champion boxer, Evander Holyfield. The match ended in a no contest after MVP entered the ring to verbally abuse Holyfield, who then knocked him out. MVP also challenged Hardy to a beer drinking contest at SummerSlam, but as revenge for what happened at SNME, Hardy allowed Stone Cold Steve Austin to replace him; Austin simply performed a stunner on MVP then kept drinking.
After a segment involving MVP inadvertently choosing Hardy as his tag-team partner, Theodore Long promptly set up a match against Deuce 'n Domino for the WWE Tag Team Championship on the August 31 episode of SmackDown! which Hardy and MVP were able to win, therefore setting up Hardy's first reign as WWE Tag Team Champion. Hardy and MVP retained the titles at Unforgiven in a rematch against former champions Deuce 'n Domino. Hardy was scheduled to face MVP at Cyber Sunday, but due to a real-life head injury sustained on the October 26 episode of SmackDown!, he was not medically cleared to compete. As part of the storyline, Hardy continually asked MVP for a shot at the United States Championship but MVP refused stating that he was more focused on the Tag Team Championship.
On the November 16 episode of SmackDown!, Hardy and MVP dropped the WWE Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz. Despite the fact that Hardy was hurt, MVP immediately invoked the rematch clause. After the rematch, in which Hardy was forced to tap out, MVP attacked Hardy, repeatedly targeting his knee. It was later confirmed by WWE.com that Hardy had suffered an injury at his former partner's hands and that he might not be able to compete at Survivor Series. Despite Hardy's absence at Survivor Series, his team was able to win the match. On November 21, WWE's official website reported that Hardy underwent an emergency appendectomy in Tampa, Florida after his appendix burst. Hardy made an appearance at the December 31 episode of Raw supporting his brother Jeff. To further Jeff's storyline with Randy Orton, however, Hardy was attacked by Orton. Hardy made his return at a live event in Muncie, Indiana on March 1, 2008.
On March 30, 2008, at WrestleMania XXIV, during the Money in the Bank ladder match Hardy cut through the crowd and attacked MVP to prevent him from winning the match. He made his official in-ring return the next night on Raw, losing a singles match to WWE Champion Randy Orton. On the April 4 episode of SmackDown, Hardy faced MVP in a non-title match, which he won, re-igniting their storyline rivalry. On April 27, 2008, Hardy defeated MVP to win the United States Championship at Backlash, and successfully retained his title against MVP five days later on SmackDown.
Hardy declared himself as a fighting champion that would take on all challenges, defending the United States championship against Shelton Benjamin, Elijah Burke, Chuck Palumbo, Mr. Kennedy, Chavo Guerrero and Umaga. Hardy was drafted to the ECW brand on the June 23, 2008 episode of Raw during the 2008 WWE Draft, in the process making the United States Championship exclusive to ECW. He dropped the United States Championship to Shelton Benjamin at the Great American Bash pay-per-view on July 20, 2008, which meant that the title returned to SmackDown.
On the July 22 episode of ECW, Hardy became the number one contender to Mark Henry's ECW Championship after defeating John Morrison, The Miz and Finlay in a fatal four-way match. He won the title match at SummerSlam by disqualification due to interference from Henry's manager, Tony Atlas, thus he failed to win the title. Due to the ending of the pay-per-view match, Hardy received a rematch for the title on the next episode of ECW, but again failed to win the title when Henry pinned him after a distraction by Atlas. At Unforgiven, Hardy won the ECW Championship during the Championship scramble match, defeating then-champion Henry, The Miz, Finlay and Chavo Guerrero by pinning the Miz with three minutes left, marking his first world heavyweight championship win. He continued to feud with Henry until No Mercy, where Hardy successfully retained the title. Hardy lost the title to Jack Swagger on the January 13, 2009 episode of ECW, which was taped on January 12.
Feud with Jeff Hardy and departure (2009–2010)
At the 2009 Royal Rumble pay-per-view, after losing an ECW Championship rematch to Swagger, Hardy turned on his brother when he hit Jeff with a steel chair, allowing Edge to win the WWE Championship, turning heel in the process. On the January 27, 2009 episode of ECW, it was announced by General Manager Theodore Long that Hardy had requested, and been granted, his release from ECW and had re-signed with the SmackDown brand. As part of the buildup to this feud, Matt strongly implied that he was responsible for all of Jeff's accidents leading back to November, including an assault in a hotel stairwell that prevented Jeff from appearing at Survivor Series, an automobile accident where Jeff's car was run off the road, and a pyrotechnics malfunction where part of the pyro from Jeff's entrance was fired directly at Jeff, in an attempt to stop Jeff holding the WWE Championship. Despite Hardy's attempts to goad Jeff into fighting him, Jeff refused to fight his brother, but, on the March 6 episode of SmackDown, Jeff attacked him during a promo where Matt implied that he was also responsible for the fire that burned down Jeff's house, going so far as to reveal that he had in his possession a dog collar that supposedly belonged to Jeff's dog, Jack (who died in the fire), that he claimed to have salvaged from the wreckage of the house. At WrestleMania 25, Matt defeated Jeff in an Extreme Rules match, and in a stretcher match on the following episode of SmackDown.
On the April 13 episode of Raw, Hardy was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the WWE draft. Despite the fact that the two were on different brands, he continued his feud with Jeff. Two weeks later, in a rematch from WrestleMania, Hardy lost to Jeff in an "I Quit" match at Backlash, in which he legitimately broke his hand.
Hardy continued to wrestle with his hand in a cast, incorporating it into his persona and claiming that he was wrestling under protest. He reignited his feud with MVP on Raw for the United States Championship. He also formed a tag team with William Regal, and the two acted as henchmen for General Manager Vickie Guerrero. At the June 22 taping of WWE Superstars, Hardy suffered yet another injury, when his intestines went through his abdominal wall, during a triple threat match against MVP and Kofi Kingston. Hardy had suffered a tear in his abdominal muscle two years previously, but had not needed surgery until it worsened, and became a danger to his health.
He was then traded back to the SmackDown brand on June 29, and underwent surgery for the torn abdominal muscle on July 2. He made his return on the August 7 episode of SmackDown as the special guest referee in the World Heavyweight Championship match between his brother, Jeff, and CM Punk, and helped Jeff retain the championship by counting the pinfall. The following week Hardy turned face again when he saved his brother when CM Punk and The Hart Dynasty attacked both Jeff and John Morrison. On the August 21 episode of SmackDown, after apologizing for his past actions towards Jeff and admitting that he was not behind any of Jeff's accidents, he had his first match back after his injury when he teamed with Jeff and John Morrison to defeat The Hart Dynasty and CM Punk, when Matt pinned Punk.
In early 2010, Hardy began an on-screen relationship with Maria; but was brief and the relationship ended when Maria was released from her WWE contract. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown, Hardy qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI by defeating Drew McIntyre, but was unsuccessful at WrestleMania, as the match was won by Jack Swagger. Hardy was suspended by Vince McMahon because he attacked McIntyre after McIntyre lost to Kofi Kingston at Over the Limit. He was able to get his revenge on McIntyre during the Viewer's Choice episode of Raw when chosen as the opponent for McIntyre, with General Manager Theodore Long stating that Hardy was suspended from SmackDown, but not from Raw. On the following episode of SmackDown, however, Vickie Guerrero announced that, per orders of Vince McMahon, Hardy had been suspended from all WWE programming. However, at Fatal 4-Way, Hardy prevented McIntyre from regaining the Intercontinental Championship, thus continuing their feud. On the following edition of SmackDown, he was reinstated by Long and had a match with McIntyre, which Hardy won. After the match, it was announced that McIntyre's visa had legitimately expired and was sent back to Scotland, thus ending their feud. Hardy was featured in the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match but was unsuccessful in winning with Kane coming out victorious.
On September 12, WWE confirmed they had sent Hardy home from a European tour. Following this, Hardy began posting videos on his YouTube channel expressing his disinterest in the WWE product and insisting that he wanted to be released from the company. On October 15, 2010, WWE announced that Hardy had been released from his contract. Hardy later stated that his release had been in effect two weeks before WWE made the announcement.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2011)
On January 9, 2011, Hardy made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) at the Genesis pay-per-view, as part of the stable Immortal. He was the surprise opponent for Rob Van Dam, and defeated him to prevent Van Dam from receiving a match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, held by Hardy's brother Jeff. In the main event, Hardy attempted to interfere in Jeff's World Heavyweight Championship match with Mr. Anderson, but was stopped by Van Dam, which led to Jeff losing both the match and the championship. On the January 13 episode of Impact!, the Hardy Boyz reunited to defeat Anderson and Van Dam in a tag team match, following interference from Beer Money, Inc. On February 13 at Against All Odds, Van Dam defeated Hardy in a rematch.
On the following episode of Impact!, Hardy, along with the rest of Immortal and Ric Flair, betrayed Fortune. On March 13 at Victory Road, Hardy was defeated by Flair's previous protégé, A.J. Styles. On April 17 at Lockdown, Immortal, represented by Hardy, Abyss, Bully Ray and Ric Flair, were defeated by Fortune members James Storm, Kazarian and Robert Roode and Christopher Daniels, who replaced an injured A.J. Styles, in a Lethal Lockdown match. On the April 21 episode of Impact!, Hardy faced Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, Hardy's first World Title match in TNA, but was defeated. The following month, Hardy was granted a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship against Beer Money, Inc. (James Storm and Robert Roode). While the champions looked to defend the title against the Hardy Boyz, Matt instead introduced the returning Chris Harris, Storm's old tag team partner, as his partner for the title match. The match took place at Sacrifice, where Storm and Roode retained their titles.
On June 21, it was reported that TNA had suspended Hardy. On August 20, Hardy was released from TNA following a DUI arrest that occurred earlier that same day.
Return to the independent circuit (2011–2017)
Hardy announced his retirement from full-time professional wrestling due to injuries on September 1, 2011. He issued a challenge to his long-time rival MVP, who was wrestling in Japan at the time, to one final match at "Crossfire Live!" in Nashville. The event was held May 19, 2012 and benefited the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Hardy won the match.
Throughout 2012, Hardy wrestled sporadically on the independent circuit, working with promotions such as Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Syndicate and Northeast Wrestling. On October 5, Hardy was defeated by Kevin Steen at Pro Wrestling Xperience's An Evil Twist of Fate. On November 11, Hardy, as the masked wrestler Rahway Reaper, defeated the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Kevin Matthews, winning the championship. On February 9, 2013, Hardy lost the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Championship back to Matthews.
On February 16, 2013, at Family Wrestling Entertainment's No Limit, Hardy wrestled a TLC match for the FWE Heavyweight Championship against the champion Carlito and Tommy Dreamer, but he was defeated. On November 30, 2013, at WrestleCade, Hardy defeated Carlito to become the first ever WrestleCade Champion.
On May 3, 2014, following a match between Christian York and Drolix, Hardy defeated Drolix to become the new MCW Heavyweight Champion. At Maryland Championship Wrestling's Shane Shamrock Cup, Hardy defeated Luke Hawx in a TLC match for Hardy's title and Hawx's Extreme Rising World title. Hardy won the match, but he gave back the title to Hawx. On October 4, Hardy lost the MCW Heavyweight Championship back to Drolix, following outside interference from Kevin Eck.
On February 9, 2015, Hardy appeared on FWE's "No Limits 2015" iPPV, challenging Drew Galloway for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated.
On November 28, 2015, Hardy lost the WrestleCade Championship to Jeff Jarrett at WrestleCade IV in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Hardy regained the title in a triple-threat cage match against Jarrett and Ethan Carter III in Hickory, North Carolina on May 20, 2016. He appeared at the #DELETEWCPW event for What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) in Nottingham, England on November 30. Hardy, billed as "Broken" Matt Hardy, lost a no-disqualification match to Bully Ray, with Ray proposing the no-disqualification stipulation at the last minute, and Hardy accepting there and then.
Return to ROH (2012–2014)
At Death Before Dishonor X: State of Emergency in 2012, Hardy returned to Ring of Honor, confronting Adam Cole and challenging him to a match for the ROH World Television Championship. On December 16 at Final Battle 2012: Doomsday, Hardy defeated Cole in a non-title match.
At the following iPPV, 11th Anniversary Show on March 2, 2013, Hardy joined the villainous S.C.U.M. stable. On April 5 at the Supercard of Honor VII iPPV, Hardy unsuccessfully challenged Matt Taven for the ROH World Television Championship in a three-way elimination match, which also included Adam Cole. On June 22 at Best in the World 2013, Hardy defeated former S.C.U.M. stablemate Kevin Steen in a No Disqualification match to become the number one contender to the ROH World Championship. Hardy received his title shot at the following day's Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings, but was defeated by the defending champion, Jay Briscoe. Later that same day, S.C.U.M. was forced to disband after losing a Steel Cage Warfare match against Team ROH. On December 14, 2013, at Final Battle 2013, Hardy defeated Adam Page in a singles match; later on in the main event, Hardy aided Adam Cole in retaining his title and forming a tag team with him. After aiding Cole at Supercard of Honor VIII, Hardy was given Jay Briscoe's unofficial "Real World Title" belt, which he renamed the "ROH Iconic Championship". In July, Hardy opted out of his ROH contract and went back to TNA.
Return to OMEGA (2013–2018)
Matt announced that OMEGA would return in January 2013 with an event titled "Chinlock For Chuck". The main event featured Matt, Jeff, Shane "Hurricane" Helms and "Cowboy" James Storm defeating Gunner, Steve Corino, CW Anderson and Lodi. On October 12, 2013, at "Chapel Thrill", Hardy announced a Tournament for the OMEGA Heavyweight Championship which featured himself vs. CW Anderson and Shane "Hurricane" Helms vs. "The King" Shane Williams. After Hardy's qualifying match he was attacked by CW but was saved by the returning Willow the Whisp. Hardy won that match and advanced to the finals.
On November 21, 2015, Matt won the OMEGA Heavyweight Championship for the second time, defeating former student Trevor Lee. Following this, Matt (upon regaining the TNA world title as part of his villainous egotistical "Iconic" gimmick) began proclaiming himself to be the only world champion that matters, and the only "true" world champion in wrestling, as he held both the TNA and OMEGA Championships, which (according to him) put him above any other promotions' world champions. Throughout 2016, Hardy defended the TNA and OMEGA titles jointly at OMEGA events as part of his "only true world champion" gimmick.
On January 29, The Hardys won the OMEGA Tag Team Championships.
Return to TNA
The Hardys third reunion (2014–2015)
On July 24, 2014, Hardy returned to TNA and reunited with Jeff to reform The Hardys for the third time. At the Destination X episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys were defeated by The Wolves in a match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the August 14 episode of Impact Wrestling, Team 3D (formerly the Dudley Boyz) challenged The Hardys to a match, which Team 3D won. At the Hardcore Justice episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys and Team 3D talked about a match involving themselves and The Wolves. When The Wolves were asked by the two teams, they agreed. Later that night, Kurt Angle announced all three teams would compete in a best of three series for the TNA World Tag Team Championship with the winners of the first match choosing the stipulation of the next one. The Hardys won the second match of the series on the September 10 episode of Impact Wrestling in a tables match and choose a ladder match for the third match of the series. The Hardys were unsuccessful in winning that match on the September 17 episode of Impact Wrestling, as the Wolves won that match. The Wolves then went on to pick the final match of the series to be a Full Metal Mayhem match to take place on the October 8 episode of Impact Wrestling. The Hardys were unsuccessful in that match as the Wolves won that match.
On October 22, The Hardys entered a number one contenders tournament for the TNA World Tag Team Championship defeating The BroMans (Jessie Godderz and DJ Z) in the first round of the tournament. On the October 29 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys defeated Team Dixie (Ethan Carter III and Tyrus) in the semifinals to advance to the finals of the tournament, where they defeated Samoa Joe and Low Ki to become number one contenders for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the January 16, 2015 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys defeated the Wolves. At the Lockdown episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys were defeated by The Revolution in a six sides of steel cage match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the February 20 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy and The Wolves defeated The Revolution in a six-man tag team match. In March, The Hardys participated in a tournament for the vacant TNA World Tag Team Championship. On March 16, 2015, Matt and Jeff won an Ultimate X match for the titles. On May 8, 2015, Hardy vacated the TNA World Tag Team Championship due to his brother Jeff being injured.
World Heavyweight Champion (2015–2016)
On June 28, 2015, Hardy was among the five wrestlers who competed for the TNA King of the Mountain Championship at Slammiversary, with Jeff Jarrett ultimately emerging victorious. On the July 8 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy requested a world title shot against Ethan Carter III, but was denied and forced to face the Dirty Heels (Austin Aries and Bobby Roode) in a handicap match, which he lost. On the July 22 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy defeated Roode in a Tables match to become the #1 contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On the August 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy got his shot at the title against EC3 in a Full Metal Mayhem match, but failed to win the title. On the September 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy got another shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against EC3, but again failed to win the title; as part of the storyline, Jeff Hardy was forced to act as Ethan Carter's personal assistant. On the September 30 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy was added to the Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway main event match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Bound for Glory after he and Galloway defeated Carter and Tyrus, making it a three-way match, following which Jeff, who EC3 had just "fired" in the previous episode, was revealed to be the special guest referee.
On October 4 at Bound for Glory, Matt won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship by pinning Galloway. However, EC3 filed an injunction (kayfabe) that banned Hardy from appearing on Impact Wrestling for a month, which forced Hardy to relinquish the title in order to stay on the show. However, Hardy had been participating in the TNA World Title Series for the vacant title. He qualified to the round of 16 by defeating Davey Richards, Robbie E and Eddie Edwards. He then advanced to the round of 8 by defeating the King of the Mountain Champion Bobby Roode and then to Jessie Godderz to continue his winning streak. The semifinals and finals were held on the January 5, 2016, live episode of Impact Wrestling during its debut on Pop TV, in which he defeated Eric Young to advance to the final round. Hardy faced EC3 in the TNA World Title Series finals, but lost the match via pinfall.
Hardy won the TNA World Title from EC3 on the January 19, 2016 episode of Impact Wrestling, becoming the first man to defeat him in a one-on-one match in TNA. During the match a double turn took place; Hardy turned heel after Tyrus betrayed EC3. The following week on Impact Wrestling, Jeff Hardy had confronted him about last week and issued a challenge to Matt for the World Heavyweight title in the main event and Matt accepted. However, later before the main event could begin, Eric Young and Bram attacked Jeff from behind. Kurt Angle then came out to try save Jeff, and Matt had Tyrus attack Angle from behind. While Matt watched from the ramp, Young attacked Jeff with the Piledriver off the apron through a table. The following week, he successfully retained his title against Angle. At Lockdown, he retained his title in a Six-side of steel match against Ethan Carter III, with the help of Rockstar Spud. He lost his title against Drew Galloway on the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, after a match featuring EC3 and Jeff Hardy.
Two weeks later he received a rematch for the title on Impact Wrestling, but was again defeated by Galloway. After losing the title he started a feud with Jeff. On the April 19 episode of Impact Wrestling, and an I Quit match ended in a no-contest as both Matt and Jeff were badly injured and Matt was taken out to the hospital on a stretcher.
The Broken Universe (2016–2017)
Hardy returned on May 17 episode of Impact Wrestling, revealing himself to be one of the impostor Willows behind the attacks on Jeff. Later that night, he attacked Jeff. In the following weeks, Hardy debuted a new persona as a "Broken" man with part of his hair bleached blonde along with a strange sophisticated accent, blaming Jeff (who he began referring to as "Brother Nero", Nero being Jeff's middle name) for breaking him and becoming obsessed with "deleting" him. His line “Delete”, is mostly inspired by the Death Note manga/anime series character Teru Mikami. On June 12, at Slammiversary, Matt was defeated by Jeff in a Full Metal Mayhem match. On the June 21 episode of Impact Wrestling, Matt was once again defeated by Jeff in a Six Sides of Steel match. On the June 28 episode of Impact Wrestling, Matt challenged Jeff to a final battle with the Hardy brand on the line, to take place at their home in Cameron, North Carolina the next week. On July 5, during special episode "The Final Deletion", Matt defeated Jeff in the match to become sole owner of the Hardy brand, forcing Jeff to drop his last name and become referred to as "Brother Nero".
On the August 18 episode of Impact Wrestling, Matt and Brother Nero defeated The Tribunal, The BroMans and The Helms Dynasty in an "Ascension To Hell" match for an opportunity to challenge Decay for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On September 8, during special episode "Delete or Decay", the Hardys faced Decay in a match held at the Hardy compound, where Brother Nero sacrificed himself to save Matt from Abyss. Thanks to Brother Nero's sacrifice, Hardy was able to confront Rosemary and prevent his son Maxel from being abducted, which turned Hardy babyface as a result, and he furthered the face turn by healing Brother Nero in the Lake of Reincarnation. At Bound for Glory, the Hardys defeated Decay in "The Great War" to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship for the second time. On the October 6 episode of Impact Wrestling, they successfully defended their titles against Decay, in a Wolf Creek match.
On the November 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, the Hardys successfully defended the titles against The Tribunal. After the match, the Hardys were attacked by the masked trio known as Death Crew Council (DCC). After accepting DCC's title challenge, The Hardys faced Bram and Kingston, and Matt pinned Kingston to retain the titles. On December 15, during special episode "Total Nonstop Deletion", they were once again successful in retaining. Brother Nero attacked Crazzy Steve with the Twist of Fate, who then fell into a volcano (that had appeared on the compound in the weeks leading up the event), and was shot up into the sky, landing in the ring. Matt then covered him to win the match.
On the January 12, 2017 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys successfully defended their titles against The Wolves. At Genesis, The Hardys retained their titles against the DCC and Decay in a three-way tag team match. On Open Fight Night, the Hardys began a storyline where they would teleport to different promotions and win that promotions' tag team championship gold, which was referred to by Matt as their "Expedition of Gold". On February 27, Hardy announced that both he and Jeff had finally left TNA, following years of speculation, with their contracts expiring that week. Though the two sides were reportedly close to a contract agreement, talks began to break down and changes in management prompted their departure from the company. The TNA World Tag Team Championships were vacated due to the Hardys' departure and was explained on TNA television in a segment where The Hardys teleported to their next Expedition of Gold destination, but a technicality resulted in them disappearing and the belts appearing in the arms of Decay.
Broken gimmick legal battle
Shortly after the departure of Matt and Jeff from TNA was made public, Matt's wife, Reby, went on a social media tirade in which she repeatedly slammed TNA, the company's new management and the way in which contract negotiations between the company and the Hardy family were conducted. A few weeks following this, the bad blood between the two sides intensified, so much so that the new management of TNA (now renamed Impact Wrestling) Anthem Sports & Entertainment issued a cease and desist letter to The Hardys' new promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), in which Anthem essentially ordered ROH as well as any broadcasting company airing ROH's 15th Anniversary pay–per–view show (on which The Hardys were to participate in a match) to not in any way speak of, indicate or acknowledge the existence of the Broken Matt and Brother Nero characters and instead to refer to The Hardys as simply Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy. The issue with this is that while The Hardys were in TNA, they had full creative control over the Broken gimmick, with them even filming their own segments to air on TNA programming in some circumstances, thus making the Hardy family (in their belief) the owners of the Broken gimmick. It is believed that civil litigation will follow and a potential court hearing will take place regarding the outcome on who owns the Broken gimmick: Anthem or the Hardy family. Until then, the status of the Broken gimmick remains undecided. Despite this, Matt continues to use the Broken gimmick through his social media accounts, but neither he nor Jeff uses the Broken gimmick at any professional wrestling shows for ROH or on the independent circuit, presumably until the results of the expected legal proceedings have been finalized.
Newly–appointed Impact Wrestling President Ed Nordholm credits the invention of and the vision behind the Broken gimmick to Jeremy Borash, Dave Lagana and Billy Corgan, and while Borash specifically had the most input into the gimmick of the three aside from Matt, the Hardy family deny that Borash was the sole person behind the gimmick. In November 2017, Impact Wrestling changed their policy, allowing all talent to retain complete ownership over their intellectual property, essentially forfeiting ownership of the "Broken" character to Hardy.
On January 31, 2018, the legal battle officially concluded when Matt legally acquired ownership of all trademarks related to the Broken universe and the Broken gimmick, which includes 'Broken Matt', 'Brother Nero', 'Broken Brilliance' and 'Vanguard1'.
International matches (2014–2015)
On November 1, 2014, Hardy traveled to Japan to compete for Wrestle-1 at the promotions Keiji Muto 30th Anniversary Hold Out show in a triple threat match against Seiya Sanada and Tajiri, which he lost.
On May 24, 2015, Hardy traveled to Mexico to compete as a team captain for Team TNA/Lucha Underground with teammates Mr. Anderson and Johnny Mundo at Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide's 2015 Lucha Libre World Cup pay–per–view show. In the quarter–final round, Team TNA/Lucha Underground faced Team Rest of the World (Drew Galloway, Angélico and El Mesías) to a 15-minute time limit draw, with Team TNA/Lucha Underground winning in overtime and advancing to the semi–final round. In the semi–final round, Team TNA/Lucha Underground defeated Team MexLeyendas (Blue Demon Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr. and El Solar) to advance to the final round. In the final round, Team TNA/Lucha Underground faced Dream Team (El Patrón Alberto, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.) to a 15–minute time limit draw, with Dream Team winning both the match and the tournament in overtime with Hardy on the losing end of the final pinfall.
Second return to ROH (2016–2017)
On December 2, 2016, Hardy returned to ROH for the second time while still under contract with TNA, appearing at the promotions Final Battle pay-per-view show as Broken Matt, where a video message showed him addressing The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) and The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe).
On March 4, 2017, in the same week that both Matt and Jeff were released from TNA, The Hardys defeated The Young Bucks in an impromptu match at ROH's 2017 installment of the company's Manhattan Mayhem show series to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions for the first time. Moments after winning the titles, Hardy announced in a post-match promo that both he and Brother Nero (Jeff) had signed "the biggest ROH contracts in (the company's) history". It was later confirmed that the contracts were short-term, only for the "immediate future". On March 10, The Hardys successfully defended the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the first time at ROH's 15th Anniversary pay-per-view show against The Young Bucks and Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) in a three-way Las Vegas tag team street fight match. Prior to the event, the Hardys had been sent a legal threat by Impact Wrestling regarding the use of the Broken Matt and Brother Nero gimmicks. The following night on March 11, The Hardys (not billed but using the Broken gimmicks anyway) once again retained the titles, this time against The Briscoes at a set of Ring of Honor Wrestling television tapings. The Hardys lost the titles back to The Young Bucks in a ladder match on April 1 at ROH's Supercard of Honor XI pay-per-view show, which would be the final ROH appearances for both Hardys in this tenure with the promotion.
Second return to WWE (2017–2020)
Feud with The Bar (2017)
At the WrestleMania 33 pay-per-view on April 2, 2017, Hardy made his surprise return to WWE, along with his brother Jeff Hardy, being added as last-minute participants in the ladder match for the Raw Tag Team Championship, defeating Gallows and Anderson, Cesaro and Sheamus, and Enzo and Cass to win the Raw Tag Team Championship. Afterwards on Raw Talk, Hardy mentioned that The Hardy Boyz had successfully completed the Expedition of Gold, after winning the Raw Tag Team Championship. At Payback, The Hardy Boyz retained their championships against Cesaro and Sheamus, who attacked them after the match. The next night on Raw, Cesaro and Sheamus explained their actions, claiming the fans were more supportive of 'novelty acts' from the past like The Hardy Boyz, who they feel did not deserve to be in the match at WrestleMania 33. Subsequently, at Extreme Rules, The Hardy Boyz lost the titles against Cesaro and Sheamus in a steel cage match, and failed to regain it back the following month at the Great Balls of Fire event. Afterwards, it was revealed that Jeff had gotten injured and would be out for an estimated six months, thus Hardy began wrestling in singles matches.
Woken Universe and storyline with Bray Wyatt (2017–2018)
During his feud with Bray Wyatt, Hardy introduced his "Woken" gimmick, after Impact Wrestling dropped their claim to the gimmick and Hardy gained full ownership of it. Wyatt defeated Hardy at Raw 25 on January 22, 2018, and Hardy defeated Wyatt at Elimination Chamber on February 25. Their final match happened on the March 19 episode of Raw, dubbed The Ultimate Deletion, with Hardy winning after distractions from Señor Benjamin. Wyatt then disappeared after being thrown into the Lake of Reincarnation. At WrestleMania 34 on April 7, Hardy competed in the annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and won the match due to a distraction by the returning Wyatt. After WrestleMania, Hardy and Wyatt performed as a tag team, sometimes referred to as The Deleters of Worlds. They won a tournament for the vacant Raw Tag Team Championship, defeating Cesaro and Sheamus at the Greatest Royal Rumble event to win the title. However, they lost the titles at Extreme Rules to The B-Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel). On the July 23 episode of Raw, Hardy and Wyatt received a rematch for the titles, but was again defeated by The B-Team. Following this, Hardy revealed that he was taking time off due to his back fusing with his pelvis, effectively disbanding the team. According to Hardy, the reason WWE disbanded the team was because he and Wyatt pitched several ideas to WWE to work with their characters.
The Hardys fourth reunion and departure (2019–2020)
After more than seven months of absence from television, Hardy returned on the February 26, 2019 episode of SmackDown Live, teaming with his brother Jeff to defeat The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus). At WrestleMania 35 on April 7, Hardy competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was eliminated by eventual winner, Braun Strowman. Two days later on SmackDown Live, The Hardy Boyz defeated The Usos to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. The reign only lasted 21 days (recognized as 20 days by WWE), as they had to vacate the title due to Jeff injuring his knee, this was explained in storyline as injuries afflicted by Lars Sullivan. After his brother Jeff's injury, Hardy began to appear on WWE programming less frequently. At Super ShowDown on June 7, Hardy competed in the 51-man Battle Royal, which was eventually won by Mansoor. From November to December, Hardy occasionally appeared on Raw, losing matches against superstars like Buddy Murphy, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet and Erick Rowan.
On the February 10, 2020 episode of Raw, Hardy confronted Randy Orton about Orton's attack on Edge two weeks earlier. Hardy then got himself into a brawl with him moments after, and was viciously attacked by Orton. The following week on Raw, an injured Hardy appeared and was once again assaulted by Orton, which would be his final appearance in WWE. On March 2, Hardy announced his departure from WWE through his official YouTube channel, where Hardy said that while he's grateful towards the people behind the scenes, he said he is also on different pages with WWE as he feels he needs to have creative input and still has more to give. Later that day, WWE announced that his contract had expired.
All Elite Wrestling
Multiple personalities (2020–2021)
Hardy made his All Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut on the March 18, 2020 episode of Dynamite, reverting to his "Broken" gimmick and being announced as the replacement for the kayfabe injured Nick Jackson on The Elite's team at Blood and Guts. However, the event was postponed to the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the May 6 episode of Dynamite, Hardy wrestled his first match with AEW, teaming up with Kenny Omega for a street fight against The Inner Circle's Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara, and Hardy and Omega lost when Jericho pinned Omega. During this period, due to the lack of live audience, Hardy felt that the Broken character needs public, so he began to include several of his gimmicks, including Broken Matt Hardy, Big Money Matt, Matt Hardy V1, and Unkillable Matt Hardy, being referred to as "Multifarious" Matt Hardy. AEW president Tony Khan later admitted that he "wasn't a fan" of the Broken gimmick and much preferred more realistic presentations in wrestling.
At Double or Nothing, Hardy teamed with The Elite to defeat The Inner Circle in the first ever Stadium Stampede match. During the match, Santana and Ortiz dunked Hardy in the stadium pool, which acted as a version of the Lake of Reincarnation, as Hardy kept cycling through his various gimmicks throughout his career when he surfaced. Hardy then feuded with Sammy Guevara, and after Hardy defeated Guevara in a Broken Rules match at All Out, Hardy took time off until he was cleared to return, due to an injury sustained during the match. On the September 16 episode of Dynamite, Hardy aligned with Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) as their manager, but was attacked backstage before their match. The attacker was later revealed as Guevara and The Elite Deletion match was announced, which took place at The Hardy Compound in Cameron, North Carolina, where Hardy won.
The Hardy Family Office (2021–present)
Hardy then switched to his Big Money persona as he focused on managing Private Party. Over the following weeks, Hardy would display villainous tactics as he began cheating during matches much to Private Party's dismay. On the January 20, 2021 episode of Dynamite, Hardy and Private Party defeated Matt Sydal and Top Flight (Dante Martin and Darius Martin) after using a steel chair before attacking Sydal and Top Flight afterwards, thus turning heel. Hardy then approached Adam Page to accompany and befriend him, and during tag team matches, Hardy would always tag himself in and pick up the victory for his team to Page's behest. After Page set up a match between Hardy and himself, Hardy double-crossed Page, with Private Party and The Hybrid 2 (Angélico and Jack Evans) attacking Page until The Dark Order came out to save him. At the Revolution event, Hardy lost to Page despite multiple interferences from Private Party.
Following Revolution, Hardy became the manager for The Butcher and The Blade (with their valet The Bunny in tow), and along with Private Party, the stable became known as the Matt Hardy Empire before settling on the name Hardy Family Office. Hardy also added The Hybrid 2 to his group in July having previously hiring them on a mercenary basis. At Double or Nothing, Hardy competed in Casino Battle Royale but was eliminated by Christian Cage. This led to a match between the two at Fyter Fest, where Hardy lost to Cage. In August, Matt Hardy and HFO began a feud with Orange Cassidy and Best Friends, which led to a match on the August 25 episode of Dynamite, where Hardy was defeated by Cassidy. However, on the November 12 episode of Rampage, Hardy defeated Cassidy in a Lumberjack match, thanks to an interference from HFO and the heel lumberjacks. Their feud ended on the November 17 episode of Dynamite where his team of The Butcher and The Blade lost to the team of Cassidy and Tomohiro Ishii, where Cassidy gave a crossbody to the interfering Hardy and The Blade during the match.
Professional wrestling style and persona
After the creation of his Broken character, Hardy was praised by several wrestlers and critics for reinventing himself several times during his career. During his career, Hardy has won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Best Gimmick award two times under two different characters, once in 2002 and again in 2016.
Personal life
Hardy was in a six-year relationship with wrestler Amy Dumas, better known as Lita. They first met in January 1999 at a NWA Mid-Atlantic show but did not begin dating until a few months later. They broke up in February 2005 when he discovered that she was having an affair with one of Hardy's close friends, fellow wrestler Adam Copeland, better known as Edge. Hardy also dated WWE wrestler Ashley Massaro.
Hardy married wrestler Rebecca Reyes, better known as Reby Sky, on October 5, 2013. They have three sons and one daughter. Hardy had previously been an addict, and credits his wife for helping him get clean.
Hardy is good friends with fellow wrestlers Marty Garner, Shannon Moore, and Gregory Helms. In December 2020, he claimed to have Native American ancestry.
Legal issues
Hardy was arrested for a DUI on August 20, 2011. Two days later, he was arrested on felony drug charges when police found steroids in his home. In November 2011, Hardy was removed from court-ordered rehab and sent back to jail for drinking.
In January 2014, Hardy and his wife were both arrested after a fight at a hotel.
Other media
In 1999, Matt, along with his brother Jeff, appeared as an uncredited wrestler on That '70s Show episode "That Wrestling Show". Matt and Jeff also appeared on Tough Enough in early 2001, talking to and wrestling the contestants. He appeared in the February 25, 2002 episode of Fear Factor competing against five other World Wrestling Federation wrestlers, including his brother. He won $50,000 for the American Cancer Society. Hardy also appeared on the October 13, 2009 episode of Scare Tactics, as a mental patient who threatens to attack the prank's victim.
In 2001, Matt, Jeff, and Lita appeared in Rolling Stone magazine's 2001 Sports Hall of Fame issue. In 2003, Matt and Jeff, with the help of Michael Krugman, wrote and published their autobiography The Hardy Boyz: Exist 2 Inspire. As part of WWE, Matt appeared in their DVD, The Hardy Boyz: Leap of Faith in 2001. On April 29, 2008, WWE released Twist of Fate: The Matt and Jeff Hardy Story. The DVD featured footage of the brothers in OMEGA and WWE. Hardy also appears on The Hardy Show, an Internet web show which features the Hardys, Shannon Moore, and many of their friends.
Hardy plays himself in the 2013 film Pro Wrestlers vs Zombies in which he and his real-life wife Reby Sky battle the undead.
Hardy's first WWE video game was WWF WrestleMania 2000 in 1999 on the Nintendo 64 shortly followed by WWF SmackDown! in early 2000 on the PlayStation. He made several appearances later in WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role, WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It, WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw. He later returned to the series in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, which was his last WWE video game before his departure to TNA. Following his return to WWE in 2017, he was revealed as a DLC character in WWE 2K18 on September 25 that year alongside tag team partner and brother, Jeff Hardy. Hardy was revealed as a playable character in WWE 2K19 on August 30, 2018. His final appearance in a WWE video game came with WWE 2K20 in 2019.
Filmography
Championships and accomplishments
All Elite Wrestling
Dynamite Award (1 time)
"Bleacher Report PPV Moment of the Year" (2021) – Stadium Stampede match (The Elite vs. The Inner Circle) – Double or Nothing (May 23)
All Star Wrestling (West Virginia)
ASW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brother Nero
CBS Sports
Worst Moment of the Year (2020) vs. Sammy Guevara at All Out (2020)
The Crash
The Crash Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brother Nero
Future Stars of Wrestling
FSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
House of Glory
HOG Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
Maryland Championship Wrestling/MCW Pro Wrestling
MCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
MCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
Extreme Rising World Championship (1 time)
National Championship Wrestling
NCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NCW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
New Dimension Wrestling
NDW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NDW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
New England Wrestling Alliance
NEWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NEWA Hall of Fame (class of 2012)
New Frontier Wrestling Association
NFWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NFWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Venom
NWA 2000
NWA 2000 Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
OMEGA Championship Wrestling
OMEGA Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
OMEGA Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Brother Nero/Jeff Hardy
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Comeback of the Year (2017) with Jeff Hardy
Feud of the Year (2005) vs. Edge and Lita
Match of the Year (2000) with Jeff Hardy vs. The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian in a triangle ladder match at WrestleMania 2000
Match of the Year (2001) with Jeff Hardy vs. The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at WrestleMania X-Seven
Tag Team of the Year (2000) with Jeff Hardy
Ranked No. 17 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2003
Pro Wrestling Syndicate
PWS Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Remix Pro Wrestling
Remix Pro Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Facade
Ring of Honor
ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
Holy S*** Moment of the Decade (2010s) – – with Jeff Hardy
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
TNA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
TNA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Jeff Hardy/Brother Nero
TNA World Tag Team Championship Tournament (2015) – with Jeff Hardy
TNA World Tag Team Championship #1 Contender Tournament (2014) – with Jeff Hardy
WrestleCade
WrestleCade Championship (2 times)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Best Gimmick (2002, 2016)
Worst Feud of the Year (2004) with Lita vs. Kane
Wrestling Superstar
Wrestling Superstar Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment/Federation
ECW Championship (1 time)
WWF Hardcore Championship (1 time)
WWF European Championship (1 time)
WWE United States Championship (1 time)
WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
WWF/World Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Montel Vontavious Porter (1) Jeff Hardy (1) and Bray Wyatt (1)
WCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
André the Giant Memorial Trophy (2018)
Bragging Rights Trophy (2009) – with Team SmackDown
Terri Invitational Tournament (1999) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE Tag Team Eliminator (2018) - with Bray Wyatt
Luchas de Apuestas record
Notes
References
Sources
External links
1974 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American bloggers
American male professional wrestlers
American YouTubers
Male YouTubers
ECW champions
ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions
Living people
NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions
Participants in American reality television series
Professional wrestlers from North Carolina
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Reality show winners
Sportspeople from Raleigh, North Carolina
TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions
TNA/Impact World Tag Team Champions
Twitch (service) streamers
University of North Carolina at Charlotte alumni
WWF European Champions
WWF/WWE Hardcore Champions | false | [
"\"You Know What It Is\" is a song by American hip hop recording artist T.I., released July 10, 2007, as the second single from his fifth studio album T.I. vs. T.I.P. (2007). The song was produced by Jerry \"Wonda\" Duplessis and Wyclef Jean, the latter of whom contributes vocals throughout the hip hop track. The single peaked at number 34 on the US Billboard Hot 100.\n\nMusic video\nThe song's music video was filmed in Miami, by director and friend Chris Robinson. On June 12, the video was made available on iTunes. The video premiered MTV's TRL on June 14, 2007. The video features cameo appearances from B.G., Kymani Marley, and P$C.\n\nChart performance\n\"You Know What It Is\" debuted at number 73 on the US Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs on the chart dated June 28, 2007. The song later managed to peak at number 11. On the chart dated July 21, 2007, the single debuted at number 68 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song eventually peaked at number 34 on the chart and spent a total of 18 weeks.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPromo CD single\n \"You Know What It Is\" (Clean Version)\n \"You Know What It Is\" (Dirty Version)\n \"You Know What It Is\" (Instrumental)\n\nVinyl single\n\"You Know What It Is\" (Radio Version)\n\"You Know What It Is\" (Amended Version)\n\"You Know What It Is\" (Instrumental)\n\"You Know What It Is\" (Explicit version)\n\"You Know What It Is\" (Acapella)\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nVideo shooting in Miami.\n\"You Know What It Is\" on VH1 confirmed by T.I.\nSneak Peek from video \"You Know What It Is\".\n\"You Know What It Is\" Lyrics\n\n2007 singles\nGrand Hustle Records singles\nMusic videos directed by Chris Robinson (director)\nT.I. songs\nWyclef Jean songs\nSongs written by Wyclef Jean\nSongs written by Jerry Duplessis\nSong recordings produced by Jerry Duplessis\nSongs written by T.I.\nSong recordings produced by Wyclef Jean\n2007 songs\nAtlantic Records singles",
"\"What's Easy for Two Is Hard for One\" (also known as \"What's Easy for Two Is So Hard for One\") is a song written and produced by Smokey Robinson and released as a single by singer Mary Wells for the Motown label.\n\nSong information\nIn this song, the narrator is longing for a longtime partnership with a suitor and constantly begs the man to \"take her to the preacher man\" in hopes the couple does \"what should be done\" because \"what two can easily do is so hard to be done by one\".\n\nRelease and reaction\nReleased in mid-1963, the song returned Wells to the top 30 where it peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and #8 R&B). Wells covered the song at least two more times.\n\nCovers\n\"What's Easy for Two Is Hard For One\" is one of the most covered Motown songs within the company.\n The Temptations recorded a version in 1965. Remained unreleased until 1999.\n The Marvelettes recorded a version in 1966. It was released in 1968 (#114 U.S. Pop).\n Connie Haines released a version in 1966.\n Barbara Randolph recorded a version in 1966.\n Lulu recorded a version for Decca Records in 1964.\n The Intruders recorded a version for their 1974 album, Energy of Love.\n\nPersonnel\n\nMary Wells' version\nLead vocals by Mary Wells\nBacking vocals by The Andantes: Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps\nInstrumentation by The Funk Brothers\n\nTemptations' version\nLead vocals by Paul Williams\nBacking vocals by Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin, Otis Williams, and Melvin Franklin\nInstrumentation by The Funk Brothers\n\nConnie Haines' version\nLead vocals by Connie Haines\nBacking vocals by The Andantes\nInstrumentation by The Funk Brothers and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra\n\nMarvelettes' version\nLead vocals by Wanda Young\nBacking vocals by The Andantes\nInstrumentation by The Funk Brothers\n\nReferences\n\n1963 singles\nMary Wells songs\nThe Marvelettes songs\nSongs written by Smokey Robinson\nMotown singles\nSong recordings produced by Smokey Robinson\n1963 songs"
] |
[
"Matt Hardy",
"Version 1 (2002-2004)",
"What is Version 1?",
"At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the brand extension, however, Hardy was relegated to Heat while Jeff wrestled"
] | C_8bf9dcbf1a034e02873104f08a75bf5d_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 2 | Are there any other interesting aspects about Matt Hardy besides Version 1? | Matt Hardy | At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the brand extension, however, Hardy was relegated to Heat while Jeff wrestled on the main show, Raw. On the August 12 episode of Raw, Hardy turned against Jeff during Jeff's match against Rob Van Dam, because Hardy was frustrated at not receiving a match against Van Dam for the number one contendership for the Intercontinental Championship. A short time later, Hardy joined the SmackDown! roster, and began dubbing himself "Matt Hardy: Version 1", complete with a "version 1" hand signal. Hardy defeated The Undertaker on the September 12 and October 3 episodes of the show, due to interference from Brock Lesnar. Along with his MF'er (Mattitude Follower) Shannon Moore in his corner, 2003 began with Hardy frantically trying to lose weight to get under the 215 lb (98 kg) weight limit to compete for the Cruiserweight Championship. After just barely making weight, Hardy defeated Billy Kidman at No Way Out to win the Cruiserweight title. At WrestleMania XIX, he successfully defended it against Rey Mysterio. Hardy lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Mysterio in the main event of the June 5 edition of SmackDown - the first and only time a Cruiserweight Championship match main evented a show. After dropping the Cruiserweight Championship, Hardy briefly feuded with Eddie Guerrero, but was unsuccessful in capturing Guerrero's United States Championship or Tag Team Championship. The Mattitude faction then expanded to include Crash Holly as Moore's "Moore-on" (apprentice). He later disbanded the group in November and returned to Raw in order to be able to travel and work with his then girlfriend Lita, who just returned from an injury. On his first night back, he turned on Lita in storyline after teasing a proposal to her. He defeated Christian, who was vying for Lita's affections, on the following edition of Raw. In April 2004, Hardy saved Lita from getting attacked by Kane. Hardy defeated Kane at Vengeance, but lost a match against Kane at SummerSlam. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Hardy was chokeslamed off the stage by Kane. Hardy then spent almost a year off from wrestling due to a severe knee injury. CANNOTANSWER | Along with his MF'er (Mattitude Follower) Shannon Moore in his corner, 2003 began with Hardy frantically trying to lose weight to get under | Matthew Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his time with WWE, Impact Wrestling, and Ring of Honor (ROH).
With his real life brother Jeff, Hardy gained notoriety in WWF's tag team division during the 2000s due to his participation in TLC matches. He is a 14-time world tag team champion, having held the WWE World Tag Team Championship six times, the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship three times, the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship, ROH World Tag Team Championship, and WCW Tag Team Championship once each, and the TNA World Tag Team Championships twice.
Wrestling through four separate decades, Hardy has kept himself relevant partially through a variety of different gimmicks and his use of social media. In 2002, Hardy began a solo career in WWE. His subsequent "Version 1" persona was named Best Gimmick by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Hardy's eccentric "Broken" gimmick, which he debuted in 2016 (and which was renamed "Woken" following his subsequent WWE return), garnered praise from wrestling critics and earned him multiple awards, including a second Best Gimmick award, becoming one of the most talked about characters in all of wrestling. As a singles wrestler, Hardy has won three world championships (one ECW Championship, and two TNA World Heavyweight Championships). All totaled between WWE, TNA/Impact, and ROH, Hardy has held 21 total championships.
Early life
Hardy was born in Cameron, North Carolina, the son of Gilbert and Ruby Moore Hardy. He is the older brother of Jeff Hardy. Their mother died of brain cancer in 1987. Hardy played baseball as a child and throughout high school, but had stopped by his senior year. He also played football, either as a linebacker or a defensive end. Hardy was a good student at Union Pines High School in North Carolina, and was a nominee for the "Morehead Award", a scholarship to any university in North Carolina. Hardy attended University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he majored in engineering; after a year, however, he dropped out due to his father being ill. He then attended Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst to gain his associate degree.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1992–2001)
Hardy, along with his brother Jeff and friends, started their own federation, the Trampoline Wrestling Federation (TWF) and mimicked the moves they saw on television. Shortly after Hardy sent in a tape for the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Amateur Challenge using the ring name High Voltage, a tag team named High Voltage began competing in WCW, causing Hardy to change his name to Surge. A few years later, it was revealed to him by Chris Kanyon that the tape had been kept in the WCW Power Plant, watched multiple times, and that the name High Voltage was blatantly stolen from it. Beginning in 1994, The Hardys wrestled for several North Carolina-based independent circuit promotions and adapted a number of alter-egos. As The Wolverine, Hardy captured the New England Wrestling Alliance (NEWA) Championship in May 1994. As High Voltage, he teamed with Venom to claim the New Frontier Wrestling Association (NFWA) Tag Team Championship in March 1995. A month later, High Voltage defeated the Willow for the NFWA Championship.
In 1997, Matt and Jeff created their own wrestling promotion, The Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (frequently abbreviated to OMEGA Championship Wrestling, or simply OMEGA), in which Matt competed under the name High Voltage. Both Matt and Jeff took apart the ring and put it back together at every event they had, while Matt sewed all the costumes worn in OMEGA. The promotion folded in October 1999, after both Matt and Jeff signed with the World Wrestling Federation.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
Early years (1994–1998)
Hardy worked as a jobber for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1994 up until he signed a full-time contract in 1998. His first WWF match was against Nikolai Volkoff on the May 23, 1994 episode of Monday Night Raw, which he lost by submission. A night later at a taping of WWF Wrestling Challenge, he lost a match against Owen Hart. He continued to wrestle sporadically in the WWF throughout 1994 and 1995, losing matches against Crush, Razor Ramon, Hakushi, Owen Hart, the imposter Undertaker, Hunter Hearst Helmsley and "The Ringmaster" Steve Austin.
Hardy teamed with Jeff for the first time in the WWF in 1996, losing to teams such as The Smoking Gunns and The Grimm Twins on WWF television. Matt and Jeff had a short lived feud with The Headbangers (Thrasher and Mosh), losing to the duo twice in 1997. It was during this time that Matt and Jeff experimented with different ring names, at one stage being called Ingus (Matt) and Wildo Jinx (Jeff). In Matt's final singles match for the promotion before signing a full-time contract he lost to Val Venis on a taping of Shotgun in 1998.
The Hardy Boyz (1998–2001)
It was not until 1998, however, (at the height of The Attitude Era) that the Hardy brothers were given full-time WWF contracts and sent to train with former wrestler Dory Funk, Jr. The Hardy Boyz used a cruiserweight, fast-paced high flying style in their matches, often leaping from great heights to do damage to their opponents (and themselves in the process). In 1999, while feuding with Edge and Christian, the duo briefly picked up Michael Hayes as a manager.
At King of the Ring, The Hardyz defeated Edge and Christian to earn the #1 contendership for the WWF Tag Team Championship. On July 5, they defeated The APA to win their first Tag Team Championship. They soon dumped Hayes and briefly picked up Gangrel as a manager, after Gangrel turned on Edge and Christian. At No Mercy, The Hardyz defeated Edge and Christian in the first ever tag team ladder match. At the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, The Hardyz defeated The Dudley Boyz in the first ever tag team tables match. They competed against The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian for the Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 2000 in the first ever Triangle Ladder match, but were unsuccessful.
Hardy won the Hardcore Championship on April 24, 2000, on Raw Is War, by defeating Crash Holly, but lost it back to Holly three days later on SmackDown!, when Holly applied the "24/7 rule" during Hardy's title defense against Jeff. The Hardy Boyz then found a new manager in Matt's real-life girlfriend Lita. Together, the three became known as "Team Xtreme".
The Hardy Boyz competed in the first ever Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, for the WWF Tag Team Championship against The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian, but were unsuccessful. At Unforgiven, The Hardyz defeated Edge and Christian in a steel cage match to win the tag team championship, and successfully retained it the following night on Raw Is War against Edge and Christian in a ladder match.
In April 2001, The Hardyz began feuding with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H (known as The Power Trip), which also led to a singles push for both Matt and Jeff. Hardy helped Jeff defeat Triple H for the Intercontinental Championship, and shortly after Hardy defeated Eddie Guerrero to win the European Championship on SmackDown!. At Backlash he retained the title against Guerrero and Christian in a triple threat, and against Edge the following night on Raw.
Throughout the year, the Hardy Boyz continued to win as a tag team, winning the WWF Tag Team Titles two more times, and the WCW Tag Team Championship during the Invasion. By the end of the year, the Hardy Boyz began a storyline where they were having trouble co-existing. This culminated in a match between the two, with Lita as the guest referee, at the Vengeance pay-per-view, which Jeff won. Hardy defeated Jeff and Lita the following night on Raw in a two-on-one handicap match.
Version 1 gimmick and feud with Kane (2002–2004)
At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the brand extension, however, Matt was relegated to Heat while Jeff wrestled on the main show, Raw. On the August 12 episode of Raw, Hardy turned heel by attacking Jeff during Jeff's match against Rob Van Dam, because Hardy was frustrated at not receiving a match against Van Dam for the number one contendership for the Intercontinental Championship. A short time later, Hardy joined the SmackDown! roster, and began dubbing himself "Matt Hardy: Version 1", complete with a "version 1" hand signal. Hardy defeated The Undertaker on the September 12 and October 3 episodes of the show, due to interference from Brock Lesnar.
Along with his Mattitude Follower Shannon Moore in his corner, 2003 began with Hardy frantically trying to lose weight to get under the weight limit to compete for the Cruiserweight Championship. After just barely making weight, Hardy defeated Billy Kidman at No Way Out to win the Cruiserweight title. At WrestleMania XIX, he successfully defended it against Rey Mysterio. Hardy lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Mysterio in the main event of the June 5 episode of SmackDown! - the first and only time a Cruiserweight Championship match main evented a show.
After dropping the Cruiserweight Championship, Hardy briefly feuded with Eddie Guerrero, but was unsuccessful in capturing Guerrero's United States Championship or WWE Tag Team Championship. The Mattitude faction then expanded to include Crash Holly as Moore's "Moore-on" (apprentice). He later disbanded the group in November and returned to Raw in order to be able to travel and work with his then girlfriend Lita, who just returned from an injury. On his first night back, he turned on Lita in storyline after teasing a proposal to her. He defeated Christian, who was vying for Lita's affections, on the following edition of Raw.
In April 2004, Hardy saved Lita from getting attacked by Kane, turning face in the process. Hardy defeated Kane in a no disqualification match at Vengeance, but lost a "Till Death To Us Part" match against Kane at SummerSlam, resulting in Lita being forced to marry Kane. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Hardy was chokeslamed off the stage by Kane during the wedding. Hardy then spent almost a year off from wrestling due to a severe knee injury.
Departure and sporadic appearances (2005)
Along with his friend Rhyno, Hardy was released by WWE on April 11, 2005. Hardy's release was largely due to unprofessional conduct with social media after discovering that Lita was having a real-life affair with his best friend Edge. The public knowledge of the affair and Hardy's release led to Edge and Lita receiving jeers from the crowds at WWE events, often resulting in chants of "You screwed Matt!", and, "We want Matt!", which meant kayfabe storylines being affected considering that Lita was married to Kane at the time in kayfabe. Edge and Lita used the affair and fan backlash to become a hated on-screen couple, which led to Lita turning heel for the first time in over five years.
Fans began a petition on the internet, wanting WWE to re-sign Hardy, and amassed over fifteen thousand signatures. Hardy released two character promotional vignettes, that he was planning to use before he was offered a new contract by WWE. Hardy called himself The Angelic Diablo with the tagline "the scar will become a symbol" in reference to the way in which he had been treated by Lita and WWE. On the June 20 episode of Raw, during the storyline wedding of Edge and Lita, Hardy's entrance music and video were played when the priest asked if anyone had a reason why Edge and Lita should not be wed.
Independent circuit and Ring of Honor (2005)
Following his WWE release, Matt returned to the independent circuit and wrestled several matches for the Allied Powers Wrestling Federation (APWF), International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) and Big Time Wrestling (BTW).
Hardy appeared at a scheduled Ring of Honor (ROH) event on July 16, 2005, in Woodbridge, Connecticut where he defeated Christopher Daniels via submission. Hardy also cut a brief worked shoot promo where he criticized WWE and John Laurinaitis. Following his official return to WWE, Hardy was met with backlash following a match with Homicide from the fans at a subsequent ROH event, which Hardy won. The next day at his final ROH appearance, he lost to Roderick Strong.
Return to WWE
Feud with Edge (2005–2006)
On July 11, 2005, on Raw, Hardy attacked Edge backstage and again later during Edge's match with Kane. Before being escorted out of the building by security, Hardy stated that Edge (calling him by his real name of "Adam") and Lita would pay for their actions and told fans that they could see him at Ring of Honor while security officials and event staff were trying to restrain him. Hardy also called out Johnny Ace as security had him in handcuffs taking him out of the arena. This caused an uproar amongst fans, who were confused and wondered if the whole thing was a work or a shoot. Similar occurrences repeated during the following two weeks.
On the August 1 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon officially announced Hardy's return to WWE, adding that Hardy would face Edge at SummerSlam. Hardy made his in-ring return, defeating Snitsky on the August 8 Raw. Seconds after the victory, Hardy was attacked by Edge, and as he was being carried backstage, Matt counterattacked Edge in the locker room. On August 21 at SummerSlam, their match came to a premature end when Edge dropped Hardy onto the top of a ring post, causing him to bleed heavily. The referee ended the match on the grounds that Hardy could not continue, and Edge was declared the winner. After SummerSlam, the two continued feuding on Raw, including a Street Fight on August 29 that resulted in Hardy performing a Side Effect on Edge off the entrance stage and into electrical equipment below; the match ended in a no contest. At Unforgiven, Edge faced Hardy in a steel cage match. Hardy caught an interfering Lita with the Twist of Fate and won the match with a leg drop off the top of the cage. Hardy and Edge faced each other on October 3 at WWE Raw Homecoming in a Loser Leaves Raw ladder match. Edge's briefcase holding his Money in the Bank contract for his WWE Championship opportunity was suspended above the ring. The winner of the match received the contract and the loser was forced to leave Raw. Edge tied Hardy's arms in the ropes, and Lita trapped Hardy in a crucifix hold, leaving Hardy only able to watch Edge win.
With his defeat at the hands of Edge, Hardy was moved to the SmackDown! brand where he re-debuted with a win over Simon Dean on October 21 in Reno, Nevada. One week later, Hardy won the fan vote to represent Team SmackDown! (alongside Rey Mysterio) to challenge Team Raw (Edge and Chris Masters) at Taboo Tuesday. Edge, however, refused to wrestle and sent Snitsky in place of him in the match, which Hardy and Mysterio won.
Back on SmackDown!, Hardy started an angle with MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) and their manager Melina when Melina approached Hardy, seemingly wanting Hardy to join with her team. Hardy refused the offer, which led to him facing the tag team on several occasions with a variety of partners. On July 25, after the SmackDown! taping, Hardy was taken out of action after doctors found the remnants of the staph infection that had plagued him the previous year. He was sidelined until August 25 while he healed.
Upon his return to action, Hardy feuded against childhood friend and reigning Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms. At No Mercy, in their home state, Hardy beat Helms in a non-title match. The two met again at Survivor Series, where Hardy's team won in a clean sweep. They wrestled one final match, a one time appearance in Booker T's Pro Wrestling Alliance (PWA) promotion, where Hardy defeated Helms in a North Carolina Street Fight.
The Hardy Boyz reunion (2006–2007)
On the November 21, 2006 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Hardy and Jeff competed in a match together for the first time in almost five years, defeating The Full Blooded Italians. At December to Dismember, the Hardy Boyz issued an open challenge to any tag team who wanted to face them. MNM answered their challenge by reuniting at December to Dismember, a match won by the Hardy Boyz. At Armageddon, Hardy and Jeff competed against Paul London and Brian Kendrick, MNM, and Dave Taylor and William Regal in a Ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship but lost. Subsequently, he and Jeff feuded with MNM after the legitimate incident where they injured Mercury's face at Armageddon. This led to a long term rivalry, and at the Royal Rumble, Hardy and Jeff defeated MNM. Mercury and Hardy continued to feud on SmackDown! until Mercury was released from WWE on March 26.
The night after WrestleMania 23 on Raw, the Hardys competed in a 10-team battle royal for the World Tag Team Championship. They won the titles for the sixth time from then WWE Champion John Cena and Shawn Michaels after last eliminating Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. This started a feud with Cade and Murdoch, and the Hardys successfully retained their World Tag Team Championship in their first title defense at Backlash. The Hardy Boyz also successfully retained their titles at Judgment Day against Cade and Murdoch. One month later at One Night Stand, they defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team to retain the titles in a Ladder match. The following night on Raw, Vince McMahon demanded that The Hardys once again defend their championships against Cade and Murdoch. The Hardys were defeated after Murdoch pushed Jeff's foot off the bottom rope during Cade's pinfall, causing the three count to continue. They invoked their rematch clause against Cade and Murdoch at Vengeance: Night of Champions, but were unsuccessful.
Feud with MVP and championship reigns (2007–2009)
On the July 6, 2007 episode of SmackDown!, Hardy won a non-title match against United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), which resulted in a feud between the two. Hardy was defeated by MVP at The Great American Bash for the United States Championship. MVP then claimed that he was "better than Hardy at everything", which led to a series of contests between Hardy and MVP, such as a basketball game, an arm wrestling contest, and a chess match which MVP "sneezed" on and ruined when Hardy put him in check. MVP challenged Hardy to a boxing match at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXV, however MVP was legitimately diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Since MVP was unable to compete, Hardy faced his replacement, former world champion boxer, Evander Holyfield. The match ended in a no contest after MVP entered the ring to verbally abuse Holyfield, who then knocked him out. MVP also challenged Hardy to a beer drinking contest at SummerSlam, but as revenge for what happened at SNME, Hardy allowed Stone Cold Steve Austin to replace him; Austin simply performed a stunner on MVP then kept drinking.
After a segment involving MVP inadvertently choosing Hardy as his tag-team partner, Theodore Long promptly set up a match against Deuce 'n Domino for the WWE Tag Team Championship on the August 31 episode of SmackDown! which Hardy and MVP were able to win, therefore setting up Hardy's first reign as WWE Tag Team Champion. Hardy and MVP retained the titles at Unforgiven in a rematch against former champions Deuce 'n Domino. Hardy was scheduled to face MVP at Cyber Sunday, but due to a real-life head injury sustained on the October 26 episode of SmackDown!, he was not medically cleared to compete. As part of the storyline, Hardy continually asked MVP for a shot at the United States Championship but MVP refused stating that he was more focused on the Tag Team Championship.
On the November 16 episode of SmackDown!, Hardy and MVP dropped the WWE Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz. Despite the fact that Hardy was hurt, MVP immediately invoked the rematch clause. After the rematch, in which Hardy was forced to tap out, MVP attacked Hardy, repeatedly targeting his knee. It was later confirmed by WWE.com that Hardy had suffered an injury at his former partner's hands and that he might not be able to compete at Survivor Series. Despite Hardy's absence at Survivor Series, his team was able to win the match. On November 21, WWE's official website reported that Hardy underwent an emergency appendectomy in Tampa, Florida after his appendix burst. Hardy made an appearance at the December 31 episode of Raw supporting his brother Jeff. To further Jeff's storyline with Randy Orton, however, Hardy was attacked by Orton. Hardy made his return at a live event in Muncie, Indiana on March 1, 2008.
On March 30, 2008, at WrestleMania XXIV, during the Money in the Bank ladder match Hardy cut through the crowd and attacked MVP to prevent him from winning the match. He made his official in-ring return the next night on Raw, losing a singles match to WWE Champion Randy Orton. On the April 4 episode of SmackDown, Hardy faced MVP in a non-title match, which he won, re-igniting their storyline rivalry. On April 27, 2008, Hardy defeated MVP to win the United States Championship at Backlash, and successfully retained his title against MVP five days later on SmackDown.
Hardy declared himself as a fighting champion that would take on all challenges, defending the United States championship against Shelton Benjamin, Elijah Burke, Chuck Palumbo, Mr. Kennedy, Chavo Guerrero and Umaga. Hardy was drafted to the ECW brand on the June 23, 2008 episode of Raw during the 2008 WWE Draft, in the process making the United States Championship exclusive to ECW. He dropped the United States Championship to Shelton Benjamin at the Great American Bash pay-per-view on July 20, 2008, which meant that the title returned to SmackDown.
On the July 22 episode of ECW, Hardy became the number one contender to Mark Henry's ECW Championship after defeating John Morrison, The Miz and Finlay in a fatal four-way match. He won the title match at SummerSlam by disqualification due to interference from Henry's manager, Tony Atlas, thus he failed to win the title. Due to the ending of the pay-per-view match, Hardy received a rematch for the title on the next episode of ECW, but again failed to win the title when Henry pinned him after a distraction by Atlas. At Unforgiven, Hardy won the ECW Championship during the Championship scramble match, defeating then-champion Henry, The Miz, Finlay and Chavo Guerrero by pinning the Miz with three minutes left, marking his first world heavyweight championship win. He continued to feud with Henry until No Mercy, where Hardy successfully retained the title. Hardy lost the title to Jack Swagger on the January 13, 2009 episode of ECW, which was taped on January 12.
Feud with Jeff Hardy and departure (2009–2010)
At the 2009 Royal Rumble pay-per-view, after losing an ECW Championship rematch to Swagger, Hardy turned on his brother when he hit Jeff with a steel chair, allowing Edge to win the WWE Championship, turning heel in the process. On the January 27, 2009 episode of ECW, it was announced by General Manager Theodore Long that Hardy had requested, and been granted, his release from ECW and had re-signed with the SmackDown brand. As part of the buildup to this feud, Matt strongly implied that he was responsible for all of Jeff's accidents leading back to November, including an assault in a hotel stairwell that prevented Jeff from appearing at Survivor Series, an automobile accident where Jeff's car was run off the road, and a pyrotechnics malfunction where part of the pyro from Jeff's entrance was fired directly at Jeff, in an attempt to stop Jeff holding the WWE Championship. Despite Hardy's attempts to goad Jeff into fighting him, Jeff refused to fight his brother, but, on the March 6 episode of SmackDown, Jeff attacked him during a promo where Matt implied that he was also responsible for the fire that burned down Jeff's house, going so far as to reveal that he had in his possession a dog collar that supposedly belonged to Jeff's dog, Jack (who died in the fire), that he claimed to have salvaged from the wreckage of the house. At WrestleMania 25, Matt defeated Jeff in an Extreme Rules match, and in a stretcher match on the following episode of SmackDown.
On the April 13 episode of Raw, Hardy was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the WWE draft. Despite the fact that the two were on different brands, he continued his feud with Jeff. Two weeks later, in a rematch from WrestleMania, Hardy lost to Jeff in an "I Quit" match at Backlash, in which he legitimately broke his hand.
Hardy continued to wrestle with his hand in a cast, incorporating it into his persona and claiming that he was wrestling under protest. He reignited his feud with MVP on Raw for the United States Championship. He also formed a tag team with William Regal, and the two acted as henchmen for General Manager Vickie Guerrero. At the June 22 taping of WWE Superstars, Hardy suffered yet another injury, when his intestines went through his abdominal wall, during a triple threat match against MVP and Kofi Kingston. Hardy had suffered a tear in his abdominal muscle two years previously, but had not needed surgery until it worsened, and became a danger to his health.
He was then traded back to the SmackDown brand on June 29, and underwent surgery for the torn abdominal muscle on July 2. He made his return on the August 7 episode of SmackDown as the special guest referee in the World Heavyweight Championship match between his brother, Jeff, and CM Punk, and helped Jeff retain the championship by counting the pinfall. The following week Hardy turned face again when he saved his brother when CM Punk and The Hart Dynasty attacked both Jeff and John Morrison. On the August 21 episode of SmackDown, after apologizing for his past actions towards Jeff and admitting that he was not behind any of Jeff's accidents, he had his first match back after his injury when he teamed with Jeff and John Morrison to defeat The Hart Dynasty and CM Punk, when Matt pinned Punk.
In early 2010, Hardy began an on-screen relationship with Maria; but was brief and the relationship ended when Maria was released from her WWE contract. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown, Hardy qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI by defeating Drew McIntyre, but was unsuccessful at WrestleMania, as the match was won by Jack Swagger. Hardy was suspended by Vince McMahon because he attacked McIntyre after McIntyre lost to Kofi Kingston at Over the Limit. He was able to get his revenge on McIntyre during the Viewer's Choice episode of Raw when chosen as the opponent for McIntyre, with General Manager Theodore Long stating that Hardy was suspended from SmackDown, but not from Raw. On the following episode of SmackDown, however, Vickie Guerrero announced that, per orders of Vince McMahon, Hardy had been suspended from all WWE programming. However, at Fatal 4-Way, Hardy prevented McIntyre from regaining the Intercontinental Championship, thus continuing their feud. On the following edition of SmackDown, he was reinstated by Long and had a match with McIntyre, which Hardy won. After the match, it was announced that McIntyre's visa had legitimately expired and was sent back to Scotland, thus ending their feud. Hardy was featured in the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match but was unsuccessful in winning with Kane coming out victorious.
On September 12, WWE confirmed they had sent Hardy home from a European tour. Following this, Hardy began posting videos on his YouTube channel expressing his disinterest in the WWE product and insisting that he wanted to be released from the company. On October 15, 2010, WWE announced that Hardy had been released from his contract. Hardy later stated that his release had been in effect two weeks before WWE made the announcement.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2011)
On January 9, 2011, Hardy made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) at the Genesis pay-per-view, as part of the stable Immortal. He was the surprise opponent for Rob Van Dam, and defeated him to prevent Van Dam from receiving a match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, held by Hardy's brother Jeff. In the main event, Hardy attempted to interfere in Jeff's World Heavyweight Championship match with Mr. Anderson, but was stopped by Van Dam, which led to Jeff losing both the match and the championship. On the January 13 episode of Impact!, the Hardy Boyz reunited to defeat Anderson and Van Dam in a tag team match, following interference from Beer Money, Inc. On February 13 at Against All Odds, Van Dam defeated Hardy in a rematch.
On the following episode of Impact!, Hardy, along with the rest of Immortal and Ric Flair, betrayed Fortune. On March 13 at Victory Road, Hardy was defeated by Flair's previous protégé, A.J. Styles. On April 17 at Lockdown, Immortal, represented by Hardy, Abyss, Bully Ray and Ric Flair, were defeated by Fortune members James Storm, Kazarian and Robert Roode and Christopher Daniels, who replaced an injured A.J. Styles, in a Lethal Lockdown match. On the April 21 episode of Impact!, Hardy faced Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, Hardy's first World Title match in TNA, but was defeated. The following month, Hardy was granted a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship against Beer Money, Inc. (James Storm and Robert Roode). While the champions looked to defend the title against the Hardy Boyz, Matt instead introduced the returning Chris Harris, Storm's old tag team partner, as his partner for the title match. The match took place at Sacrifice, where Storm and Roode retained their titles.
On June 21, it was reported that TNA had suspended Hardy. On August 20, Hardy was released from TNA following a DUI arrest that occurred earlier that same day.
Return to the independent circuit (2011–2017)
Hardy announced his retirement from full-time professional wrestling due to injuries on September 1, 2011. He issued a challenge to his long-time rival MVP, who was wrestling in Japan at the time, to one final match at "Crossfire Live!" in Nashville. The event was held May 19, 2012 and benefited the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Hardy won the match.
Throughout 2012, Hardy wrestled sporadically on the independent circuit, working with promotions such as Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Syndicate and Northeast Wrestling. On October 5, Hardy was defeated by Kevin Steen at Pro Wrestling Xperience's An Evil Twist of Fate. On November 11, Hardy, as the masked wrestler Rahway Reaper, defeated the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Kevin Matthews, winning the championship. On February 9, 2013, Hardy lost the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Championship back to Matthews.
On February 16, 2013, at Family Wrestling Entertainment's No Limit, Hardy wrestled a TLC match for the FWE Heavyweight Championship against the champion Carlito and Tommy Dreamer, but he was defeated. On November 30, 2013, at WrestleCade, Hardy defeated Carlito to become the first ever WrestleCade Champion.
On May 3, 2014, following a match between Christian York and Drolix, Hardy defeated Drolix to become the new MCW Heavyweight Champion. At Maryland Championship Wrestling's Shane Shamrock Cup, Hardy defeated Luke Hawx in a TLC match for Hardy's title and Hawx's Extreme Rising World title. Hardy won the match, but he gave back the title to Hawx. On October 4, Hardy lost the MCW Heavyweight Championship back to Drolix, following outside interference from Kevin Eck.
On February 9, 2015, Hardy appeared on FWE's "No Limits 2015" iPPV, challenging Drew Galloway for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated.
On November 28, 2015, Hardy lost the WrestleCade Championship to Jeff Jarrett at WrestleCade IV in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Hardy regained the title in a triple-threat cage match against Jarrett and Ethan Carter III in Hickory, North Carolina on May 20, 2016. He appeared at the #DELETEWCPW event for What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) in Nottingham, England on November 30. Hardy, billed as "Broken" Matt Hardy, lost a no-disqualification match to Bully Ray, with Ray proposing the no-disqualification stipulation at the last minute, and Hardy accepting there and then.
Return to ROH (2012–2014)
At Death Before Dishonor X: State of Emergency in 2012, Hardy returned to Ring of Honor, confronting Adam Cole and challenging him to a match for the ROH World Television Championship. On December 16 at Final Battle 2012: Doomsday, Hardy defeated Cole in a non-title match.
At the following iPPV, 11th Anniversary Show on March 2, 2013, Hardy joined the villainous S.C.U.M. stable. On April 5 at the Supercard of Honor VII iPPV, Hardy unsuccessfully challenged Matt Taven for the ROH World Television Championship in a three-way elimination match, which also included Adam Cole. On June 22 at Best in the World 2013, Hardy defeated former S.C.U.M. stablemate Kevin Steen in a No Disqualification match to become the number one contender to the ROH World Championship. Hardy received his title shot at the following day's Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings, but was defeated by the defending champion, Jay Briscoe. Later that same day, S.C.U.M. was forced to disband after losing a Steel Cage Warfare match against Team ROH. On December 14, 2013, at Final Battle 2013, Hardy defeated Adam Page in a singles match; later on in the main event, Hardy aided Adam Cole in retaining his title and forming a tag team with him. After aiding Cole at Supercard of Honor VIII, Hardy was given Jay Briscoe's unofficial "Real World Title" belt, which he renamed the "ROH Iconic Championship". In July, Hardy opted out of his ROH contract and went back to TNA.
Return to OMEGA (2013–2018)
Matt announced that OMEGA would return in January 2013 with an event titled "Chinlock For Chuck". The main event featured Matt, Jeff, Shane "Hurricane" Helms and "Cowboy" James Storm defeating Gunner, Steve Corino, CW Anderson and Lodi. On October 12, 2013, at "Chapel Thrill", Hardy announced a Tournament for the OMEGA Heavyweight Championship which featured himself vs. CW Anderson and Shane "Hurricane" Helms vs. "The King" Shane Williams. After Hardy's qualifying match he was attacked by CW but was saved by the returning Willow the Whisp. Hardy won that match and advanced to the finals.
On November 21, 2015, Matt won the OMEGA Heavyweight Championship for the second time, defeating former student Trevor Lee. Following this, Matt (upon regaining the TNA world title as part of his villainous egotistical "Iconic" gimmick) began proclaiming himself to be the only world champion that matters, and the only "true" world champion in wrestling, as he held both the TNA and OMEGA Championships, which (according to him) put him above any other promotions' world champions. Throughout 2016, Hardy defended the TNA and OMEGA titles jointly at OMEGA events as part of his "only true world champion" gimmick.
On January 29, The Hardys won the OMEGA Tag Team Championships.
Return to TNA
The Hardys third reunion (2014–2015)
On July 24, 2014, Hardy returned to TNA and reunited with Jeff to reform The Hardys for the third time. At the Destination X episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys were defeated by The Wolves in a match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the August 14 episode of Impact Wrestling, Team 3D (formerly the Dudley Boyz) challenged The Hardys to a match, which Team 3D won. At the Hardcore Justice episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys and Team 3D talked about a match involving themselves and The Wolves. When The Wolves were asked by the two teams, they agreed. Later that night, Kurt Angle announced all three teams would compete in a best of three series for the TNA World Tag Team Championship with the winners of the first match choosing the stipulation of the next one. The Hardys won the second match of the series on the September 10 episode of Impact Wrestling in a tables match and choose a ladder match for the third match of the series. The Hardys were unsuccessful in winning that match on the September 17 episode of Impact Wrestling, as the Wolves won that match. The Wolves then went on to pick the final match of the series to be a Full Metal Mayhem match to take place on the October 8 episode of Impact Wrestling. The Hardys were unsuccessful in that match as the Wolves won that match.
On October 22, The Hardys entered a number one contenders tournament for the TNA World Tag Team Championship defeating The BroMans (Jessie Godderz and DJ Z) in the first round of the tournament. On the October 29 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys defeated Team Dixie (Ethan Carter III and Tyrus) in the semifinals to advance to the finals of the tournament, where they defeated Samoa Joe and Low Ki to become number one contenders for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the January 16, 2015 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys defeated the Wolves. At the Lockdown episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys were defeated by The Revolution in a six sides of steel cage match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the February 20 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy and The Wolves defeated The Revolution in a six-man tag team match. In March, The Hardys participated in a tournament for the vacant TNA World Tag Team Championship. On March 16, 2015, Matt and Jeff won an Ultimate X match for the titles. On May 8, 2015, Hardy vacated the TNA World Tag Team Championship due to his brother Jeff being injured.
World Heavyweight Champion (2015–2016)
On June 28, 2015, Hardy was among the five wrestlers who competed for the TNA King of the Mountain Championship at Slammiversary, with Jeff Jarrett ultimately emerging victorious. On the July 8 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy requested a world title shot against Ethan Carter III, but was denied and forced to face the Dirty Heels (Austin Aries and Bobby Roode) in a handicap match, which he lost. On the July 22 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy defeated Roode in a Tables match to become the #1 contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On the August 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy got his shot at the title against EC3 in a Full Metal Mayhem match, but failed to win the title. On the September 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy got another shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against EC3, but again failed to win the title; as part of the storyline, Jeff Hardy was forced to act as Ethan Carter's personal assistant. On the September 30 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy was added to the Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway main event match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Bound for Glory after he and Galloway defeated Carter and Tyrus, making it a three-way match, following which Jeff, who EC3 had just "fired" in the previous episode, was revealed to be the special guest referee.
On October 4 at Bound for Glory, Matt won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship by pinning Galloway. However, EC3 filed an injunction (kayfabe) that banned Hardy from appearing on Impact Wrestling for a month, which forced Hardy to relinquish the title in order to stay on the show. However, Hardy had been participating in the TNA World Title Series for the vacant title. He qualified to the round of 16 by defeating Davey Richards, Robbie E and Eddie Edwards. He then advanced to the round of 8 by defeating the King of the Mountain Champion Bobby Roode and then to Jessie Godderz to continue his winning streak. The semifinals and finals were held on the January 5, 2016, live episode of Impact Wrestling during its debut on Pop TV, in which he defeated Eric Young to advance to the final round. Hardy faced EC3 in the TNA World Title Series finals, but lost the match via pinfall.
Hardy won the TNA World Title from EC3 on the January 19, 2016 episode of Impact Wrestling, becoming the first man to defeat him in a one-on-one match in TNA. During the match a double turn took place; Hardy turned heel after Tyrus betrayed EC3. The following week on Impact Wrestling, Jeff Hardy had confronted him about last week and issued a challenge to Matt for the World Heavyweight title in the main event and Matt accepted. However, later before the main event could begin, Eric Young and Bram attacked Jeff from behind. Kurt Angle then came out to try save Jeff, and Matt had Tyrus attack Angle from behind. While Matt watched from the ramp, Young attacked Jeff with the Piledriver off the apron through a table. The following week, he successfully retained his title against Angle. At Lockdown, he retained his title in a Six-side of steel match against Ethan Carter III, with the help of Rockstar Spud. He lost his title against Drew Galloway on the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, after a match featuring EC3 and Jeff Hardy.
Two weeks later he received a rematch for the title on Impact Wrestling, but was again defeated by Galloway. After losing the title he started a feud with Jeff. On the April 19 episode of Impact Wrestling, and an I Quit match ended in a no-contest as both Matt and Jeff were badly injured and Matt was taken out to the hospital on a stretcher.
The Broken Universe (2016–2017)
Hardy returned on May 17 episode of Impact Wrestling, revealing himself to be one of the impostor Willows behind the attacks on Jeff. Later that night, he attacked Jeff. In the following weeks, Hardy debuted a new persona as a "Broken" man with part of his hair bleached blonde along with a strange sophisticated accent, blaming Jeff (who he began referring to as "Brother Nero", Nero being Jeff's middle name) for breaking him and becoming obsessed with "deleting" him. His line “Delete”, is mostly inspired by the Death Note manga/anime series character Teru Mikami. On June 12, at Slammiversary, Matt was defeated by Jeff in a Full Metal Mayhem match. On the June 21 episode of Impact Wrestling, Matt was once again defeated by Jeff in a Six Sides of Steel match. On the June 28 episode of Impact Wrestling, Matt challenged Jeff to a final battle with the Hardy brand on the line, to take place at their home in Cameron, North Carolina the next week. On July 5, during special episode "The Final Deletion", Matt defeated Jeff in the match to become sole owner of the Hardy brand, forcing Jeff to drop his last name and become referred to as "Brother Nero".
On the August 18 episode of Impact Wrestling, Matt and Brother Nero defeated The Tribunal, The BroMans and The Helms Dynasty in an "Ascension To Hell" match for an opportunity to challenge Decay for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On September 8, during special episode "Delete or Decay", the Hardys faced Decay in a match held at the Hardy compound, where Brother Nero sacrificed himself to save Matt from Abyss. Thanks to Brother Nero's sacrifice, Hardy was able to confront Rosemary and prevent his son Maxel from being abducted, which turned Hardy babyface as a result, and he furthered the face turn by healing Brother Nero in the Lake of Reincarnation. At Bound for Glory, the Hardys defeated Decay in "The Great War" to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship for the second time. On the October 6 episode of Impact Wrestling, they successfully defended their titles against Decay, in a Wolf Creek match.
On the November 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, the Hardys successfully defended the titles against The Tribunal. After the match, the Hardys were attacked by the masked trio known as Death Crew Council (DCC). After accepting DCC's title challenge, The Hardys faced Bram and Kingston, and Matt pinned Kingston to retain the titles. On December 15, during special episode "Total Nonstop Deletion", they were once again successful in retaining. Brother Nero attacked Crazzy Steve with the Twist of Fate, who then fell into a volcano (that had appeared on the compound in the weeks leading up the event), and was shot up into the sky, landing in the ring. Matt then covered him to win the match.
On the January 12, 2017 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys successfully defended their titles against The Wolves. At Genesis, The Hardys retained their titles against the DCC and Decay in a three-way tag team match. On Open Fight Night, the Hardys began a storyline where they would teleport to different promotions and win that promotions' tag team championship gold, which was referred to by Matt as their "Expedition of Gold". On February 27, Hardy announced that both he and Jeff had finally left TNA, following years of speculation, with their contracts expiring that week. Though the two sides were reportedly close to a contract agreement, talks began to break down and changes in management prompted their departure from the company. The TNA World Tag Team Championships were vacated due to the Hardys' departure and was explained on TNA television in a segment where The Hardys teleported to their next Expedition of Gold destination, but a technicality resulted in them disappearing and the belts appearing in the arms of Decay.
Broken gimmick legal battle
Shortly after the departure of Matt and Jeff from TNA was made public, Matt's wife, Reby, went on a social media tirade in which she repeatedly slammed TNA, the company's new management and the way in which contract negotiations between the company and the Hardy family were conducted. A few weeks following this, the bad blood between the two sides intensified, so much so that the new management of TNA (now renamed Impact Wrestling) Anthem Sports & Entertainment issued a cease and desist letter to The Hardys' new promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), in which Anthem essentially ordered ROH as well as any broadcasting company airing ROH's 15th Anniversary pay–per–view show (on which The Hardys were to participate in a match) to not in any way speak of, indicate or acknowledge the existence of the Broken Matt and Brother Nero characters and instead to refer to The Hardys as simply Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy. The issue with this is that while The Hardys were in TNA, they had full creative control over the Broken gimmick, with them even filming their own segments to air on TNA programming in some circumstances, thus making the Hardy family (in their belief) the owners of the Broken gimmick. It is believed that civil litigation will follow and a potential court hearing will take place regarding the outcome on who owns the Broken gimmick: Anthem or the Hardy family. Until then, the status of the Broken gimmick remains undecided. Despite this, Matt continues to use the Broken gimmick through his social media accounts, but neither he nor Jeff uses the Broken gimmick at any professional wrestling shows for ROH or on the independent circuit, presumably until the results of the expected legal proceedings have been finalized.
Newly–appointed Impact Wrestling President Ed Nordholm credits the invention of and the vision behind the Broken gimmick to Jeremy Borash, Dave Lagana and Billy Corgan, and while Borash specifically had the most input into the gimmick of the three aside from Matt, the Hardy family deny that Borash was the sole person behind the gimmick. In November 2017, Impact Wrestling changed their policy, allowing all talent to retain complete ownership over their intellectual property, essentially forfeiting ownership of the "Broken" character to Hardy.
On January 31, 2018, the legal battle officially concluded when Matt legally acquired ownership of all trademarks related to the Broken universe and the Broken gimmick, which includes 'Broken Matt', 'Brother Nero', 'Broken Brilliance' and 'Vanguard1'.
International matches (2014–2015)
On November 1, 2014, Hardy traveled to Japan to compete for Wrestle-1 at the promotions Keiji Muto 30th Anniversary Hold Out show in a triple threat match against Seiya Sanada and Tajiri, which he lost.
On May 24, 2015, Hardy traveled to Mexico to compete as a team captain for Team TNA/Lucha Underground with teammates Mr. Anderson and Johnny Mundo at Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide's 2015 Lucha Libre World Cup pay–per–view show. In the quarter–final round, Team TNA/Lucha Underground faced Team Rest of the World (Drew Galloway, Angélico and El Mesías) to a 15-minute time limit draw, with Team TNA/Lucha Underground winning in overtime and advancing to the semi–final round. In the semi–final round, Team TNA/Lucha Underground defeated Team MexLeyendas (Blue Demon Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr. and El Solar) to advance to the final round. In the final round, Team TNA/Lucha Underground faced Dream Team (El Patrón Alberto, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.) to a 15–minute time limit draw, with Dream Team winning both the match and the tournament in overtime with Hardy on the losing end of the final pinfall.
Second return to ROH (2016–2017)
On December 2, 2016, Hardy returned to ROH for the second time while still under contract with TNA, appearing at the promotions Final Battle pay-per-view show as Broken Matt, where a video message showed him addressing The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) and The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe).
On March 4, 2017, in the same week that both Matt and Jeff were released from TNA, The Hardys defeated The Young Bucks in an impromptu match at ROH's 2017 installment of the company's Manhattan Mayhem show series to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions for the first time. Moments after winning the titles, Hardy announced in a post-match promo that both he and Brother Nero (Jeff) had signed "the biggest ROH contracts in (the company's) history". It was later confirmed that the contracts were short-term, only for the "immediate future". On March 10, The Hardys successfully defended the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the first time at ROH's 15th Anniversary pay-per-view show against The Young Bucks and Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) in a three-way Las Vegas tag team street fight match. Prior to the event, the Hardys had been sent a legal threat by Impact Wrestling regarding the use of the Broken Matt and Brother Nero gimmicks. The following night on March 11, The Hardys (not billed but using the Broken gimmicks anyway) once again retained the titles, this time against The Briscoes at a set of Ring of Honor Wrestling television tapings. The Hardys lost the titles back to The Young Bucks in a ladder match on April 1 at ROH's Supercard of Honor XI pay-per-view show, which would be the final ROH appearances for both Hardys in this tenure with the promotion.
Second return to WWE (2017–2020)
Feud with The Bar (2017)
At the WrestleMania 33 pay-per-view on April 2, 2017, Hardy made his surprise return to WWE, along with his brother Jeff Hardy, being added as last-minute participants in the ladder match for the Raw Tag Team Championship, defeating Gallows and Anderson, Cesaro and Sheamus, and Enzo and Cass to win the Raw Tag Team Championship. Afterwards on Raw Talk, Hardy mentioned that The Hardy Boyz had successfully completed the Expedition of Gold, after winning the Raw Tag Team Championship. At Payback, The Hardy Boyz retained their championships against Cesaro and Sheamus, who attacked them after the match. The next night on Raw, Cesaro and Sheamus explained their actions, claiming the fans were more supportive of 'novelty acts' from the past like The Hardy Boyz, who they feel did not deserve to be in the match at WrestleMania 33. Subsequently, at Extreme Rules, The Hardy Boyz lost the titles against Cesaro and Sheamus in a steel cage match, and failed to regain it back the following month at the Great Balls of Fire event. Afterwards, it was revealed that Jeff had gotten injured and would be out for an estimated six months, thus Hardy began wrestling in singles matches.
Woken Universe and storyline with Bray Wyatt (2017–2018)
During his feud with Bray Wyatt, Hardy introduced his "Woken" gimmick, after Impact Wrestling dropped their claim to the gimmick and Hardy gained full ownership of it. Wyatt defeated Hardy at Raw 25 on January 22, 2018, and Hardy defeated Wyatt at Elimination Chamber on February 25. Their final match happened on the March 19 episode of Raw, dubbed The Ultimate Deletion, with Hardy winning after distractions from Señor Benjamin. Wyatt then disappeared after being thrown into the Lake of Reincarnation. At WrestleMania 34 on April 7, Hardy competed in the annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and won the match due to a distraction by the returning Wyatt. After WrestleMania, Hardy and Wyatt performed as a tag team, sometimes referred to as The Deleters of Worlds. They won a tournament for the vacant Raw Tag Team Championship, defeating Cesaro and Sheamus at the Greatest Royal Rumble event to win the title. However, they lost the titles at Extreme Rules to The B-Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel). On the July 23 episode of Raw, Hardy and Wyatt received a rematch for the titles, but was again defeated by The B-Team. Following this, Hardy revealed that he was taking time off due to his back fusing with his pelvis, effectively disbanding the team. According to Hardy, the reason WWE disbanded the team was because he and Wyatt pitched several ideas to WWE to work with their characters.
The Hardys fourth reunion and departure (2019–2020)
After more than seven months of absence from television, Hardy returned on the February 26, 2019 episode of SmackDown Live, teaming with his brother Jeff to defeat The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus). At WrestleMania 35 on April 7, Hardy competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was eliminated by eventual winner, Braun Strowman. Two days later on SmackDown Live, The Hardy Boyz defeated The Usos to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. The reign only lasted 21 days (recognized as 20 days by WWE), as they had to vacate the title due to Jeff injuring his knee, this was explained in storyline as injuries afflicted by Lars Sullivan. After his brother Jeff's injury, Hardy began to appear on WWE programming less frequently. At Super ShowDown on June 7, Hardy competed in the 51-man Battle Royal, which was eventually won by Mansoor. From November to December, Hardy occasionally appeared on Raw, losing matches against superstars like Buddy Murphy, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet and Erick Rowan.
On the February 10, 2020 episode of Raw, Hardy confronted Randy Orton about Orton's attack on Edge two weeks earlier. Hardy then got himself into a brawl with him moments after, and was viciously attacked by Orton. The following week on Raw, an injured Hardy appeared and was once again assaulted by Orton, which would be his final appearance in WWE. On March 2, Hardy announced his departure from WWE through his official YouTube channel, where Hardy said that while he's grateful towards the people behind the scenes, he said he is also on different pages with WWE as he feels he needs to have creative input and still has more to give. Later that day, WWE announced that his contract had expired.
All Elite Wrestling
Multiple personalities (2020–2021)
Hardy made his All Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut on the March 18, 2020 episode of Dynamite, reverting to his "Broken" gimmick and being announced as the replacement for the kayfabe injured Nick Jackson on The Elite's team at Blood and Guts. However, the event was postponed to the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the May 6 episode of Dynamite, Hardy wrestled his first match with AEW, teaming up with Kenny Omega for a street fight against The Inner Circle's Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara, and Hardy and Omega lost when Jericho pinned Omega. During this period, due to the lack of live audience, Hardy felt that the Broken character needs public, so he began to include several of his gimmicks, including Broken Matt Hardy, Big Money Matt, Matt Hardy V1, and Unkillable Matt Hardy, being referred to as "Multifarious" Matt Hardy. AEW president Tony Khan later admitted that he "wasn't a fan" of the Broken gimmick and much preferred more realistic presentations in wrestling.
At Double or Nothing, Hardy teamed with The Elite to defeat The Inner Circle in the first ever Stadium Stampede match. During the match, Santana and Ortiz dunked Hardy in the stadium pool, which acted as a version of the Lake of Reincarnation, as Hardy kept cycling through his various gimmicks throughout his career when he surfaced. Hardy then feuded with Sammy Guevara, and after Hardy defeated Guevara in a Broken Rules match at All Out, Hardy took time off until he was cleared to return, due to an injury sustained during the match. On the September 16 episode of Dynamite, Hardy aligned with Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) as their manager, but was attacked backstage before their match. The attacker was later revealed as Guevara and The Elite Deletion match was announced, which took place at The Hardy Compound in Cameron, North Carolina, where Hardy won.
The Hardy Family Office (2021–present)
Hardy then switched to his Big Money persona as he focused on managing Private Party. Over the following weeks, Hardy would display villainous tactics as he began cheating during matches much to Private Party's dismay. On the January 20, 2021 episode of Dynamite, Hardy and Private Party defeated Matt Sydal and Top Flight (Dante Martin and Darius Martin) after using a steel chair before attacking Sydal and Top Flight afterwards, thus turning heel. Hardy then approached Adam Page to accompany and befriend him, and during tag team matches, Hardy would always tag himself in and pick up the victory for his team to Page's behest. After Page set up a match between Hardy and himself, Hardy double-crossed Page, with Private Party and The Hybrid 2 (Angélico and Jack Evans) attacking Page until The Dark Order came out to save him. At the Revolution event, Hardy lost to Page despite multiple interferences from Private Party.
Following Revolution, Hardy became the manager for The Butcher and The Blade (with their valet The Bunny in tow), and along with Private Party, the stable became known as the Matt Hardy Empire before settling on the name Hardy Family Office. Hardy also added The Hybrid 2 to his group in July having previously hiring them on a mercenary basis. At Double or Nothing, Hardy competed in Casino Battle Royale but was eliminated by Christian Cage. This led to a match between the two at Fyter Fest, where Hardy lost to Cage. In August, Matt Hardy and HFO began a feud with Orange Cassidy and Best Friends, which led to a match on the August 25 episode of Dynamite, where Hardy was defeated by Cassidy. However, on the November 12 episode of Rampage, Hardy defeated Cassidy in a Lumberjack match, thanks to an interference from HFO and the heel lumberjacks. Their feud ended on the November 17 episode of Dynamite where his team of The Butcher and The Blade lost to the team of Cassidy and Tomohiro Ishii, where Cassidy gave a crossbody to the interfering Hardy and The Blade during the match.
Professional wrestling style and persona
After the creation of his Broken character, Hardy was praised by several wrestlers and critics for reinventing himself several times during his career. During his career, Hardy has won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Best Gimmick award two times under two different characters, once in 2002 and again in 2016.
Personal life
Hardy was in a six-year relationship with wrestler Amy Dumas, better known as Lita. They first met in January 1999 at a NWA Mid-Atlantic show but did not begin dating until a few months later. They broke up in February 2005 when he discovered that she was having an affair with one of Hardy's close friends, fellow wrestler Adam Copeland, better known as Edge. Hardy also dated WWE wrestler Ashley Massaro.
Hardy married wrestler Rebecca Reyes, better known as Reby Sky, on October 5, 2013. They have three sons and one daughter. Hardy had previously been an addict, and credits his wife for helping him get clean.
Hardy is good friends with fellow wrestlers Marty Garner, Shannon Moore, and Gregory Helms. In December 2020, he claimed to have Native American ancestry.
Legal issues
Hardy was arrested for a DUI on August 20, 2011. Two days later, he was arrested on felony drug charges when police found steroids in his home. In November 2011, Hardy was removed from court-ordered rehab and sent back to jail for drinking.
In January 2014, Hardy and his wife were both arrested after a fight at a hotel.
Other media
In 1999, Matt, along with his brother Jeff, appeared as an uncredited wrestler on That '70s Show episode "That Wrestling Show". Matt and Jeff also appeared on Tough Enough in early 2001, talking to and wrestling the contestants. He appeared in the February 25, 2002 episode of Fear Factor competing against five other World Wrestling Federation wrestlers, including his brother. He won $50,000 for the American Cancer Society. Hardy also appeared on the October 13, 2009 episode of Scare Tactics, as a mental patient who threatens to attack the prank's victim.
In 2001, Matt, Jeff, and Lita appeared in Rolling Stone magazine's 2001 Sports Hall of Fame issue. In 2003, Matt and Jeff, with the help of Michael Krugman, wrote and published their autobiography The Hardy Boyz: Exist 2 Inspire. As part of WWE, Matt appeared in their DVD, The Hardy Boyz: Leap of Faith in 2001. On April 29, 2008, WWE released Twist of Fate: The Matt and Jeff Hardy Story. The DVD featured footage of the brothers in OMEGA and WWE. Hardy also appears on The Hardy Show, an Internet web show which features the Hardys, Shannon Moore, and many of their friends.
Hardy plays himself in the 2013 film Pro Wrestlers vs Zombies in which he and his real-life wife Reby Sky battle the undead.
Hardy's first WWE video game was WWF WrestleMania 2000 in 1999 on the Nintendo 64 shortly followed by WWF SmackDown! in early 2000 on the PlayStation. He made several appearances later in WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role, WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It, WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw. He later returned to the series in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, which was his last WWE video game before his departure to TNA. Following his return to WWE in 2017, he was revealed as a DLC character in WWE 2K18 on September 25 that year alongside tag team partner and brother, Jeff Hardy. Hardy was revealed as a playable character in WWE 2K19 on August 30, 2018. His final appearance in a WWE video game came with WWE 2K20 in 2019.
Filmography
Championships and accomplishments
All Elite Wrestling
Dynamite Award (1 time)
"Bleacher Report PPV Moment of the Year" (2021) – Stadium Stampede match (The Elite vs. The Inner Circle) – Double or Nothing (May 23)
All Star Wrestling (West Virginia)
ASW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brother Nero
CBS Sports
Worst Moment of the Year (2020) vs. Sammy Guevara at All Out (2020)
The Crash
The Crash Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brother Nero
Future Stars of Wrestling
FSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
House of Glory
HOG Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
Maryland Championship Wrestling/MCW Pro Wrestling
MCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
MCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
Extreme Rising World Championship (1 time)
National Championship Wrestling
NCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NCW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
New Dimension Wrestling
NDW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NDW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
New England Wrestling Alliance
NEWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NEWA Hall of Fame (class of 2012)
New Frontier Wrestling Association
NFWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NFWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Venom
NWA 2000
NWA 2000 Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
OMEGA Championship Wrestling
OMEGA Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
OMEGA Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Brother Nero/Jeff Hardy
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Comeback of the Year (2017) with Jeff Hardy
Feud of the Year (2005) vs. Edge and Lita
Match of the Year (2000) with Jeff Hardy vs. The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian in a triangle ladder match at WrestleMania 2000
Match of the Year (2001) with Jeff Hardy vs. The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at WrestleMania X-Seven
Tag Team of the Year (2000) with Jeff Hardy
Ranked No. 17 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2003
Pro Wrestling Syndicate
PWS Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Remix Pro Wrestling
Remix Pro Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Facade
Ring of Honor
ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
Holy S*** Moment of the Decade (2010s) – – with Jeff Hardy
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
TNA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
TNA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Jeff Hardy/Brother Nero
TNA World Tag Team Championship Tournament (2015) – with Jeff Hardy
TNA World Tag Team Championship #1 Contender Tournament (2014) – with Jeff Hardy
WrestleCade
WrestleCade Championship (2 times)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Best Gimmick (2002, 2016)
Worst Feud of the Year (2004) with Lita vs. Kane
Wrestling Superstar
Wrestling Superstar Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment/Federation
ECW Championship (1 time)
WWF Hardcore Championship (1 time)
WWF European Championship (1 time)
WWE United States Championship (1 time)
WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
WWF/World Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Montel Vontavious Porter (1) Jeff Hardy (1) and Bray Wyatt (1)
WCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
André the Giant Memorial Trophy (2018)
Bragging Rights Trophy (2009) – with Team SmackDown
Terri Invitational Tournament (1999) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE Tag Team Eliminator (2018) - with Bray Wyatt
Luchas de Apuestas record
Notes
References
Sources
External links
1974 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American bloggers
American male professional wrestlers
American YouTubers
Male YouTubers
ECW champions
ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions
Living people
NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions
Participants in American reality television series
Professional wrestlers from North Carolina
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Reality show winners
Sportspeople from Raleigh, North Carolina
TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions
TNA/Impact World Tag Team Champions
Twitch (service) streamers
University of North Carolina at Charlotte alumni
WWF European Champions
WWF/WWE Hardcore Champions | 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"
] |
[
"Matt Hardy",
"Version 1 (2002-2004)",
"What is Version 1?",
"At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the brand extension, however, Hardy was relegated to Heat while Jeff wrestled",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Along with his MF'er (Mattitude Follower) Shannon Moore in his corner, 2003 began with Hardy frantically trying to lose weight to get under"
] | C_8bf9dcbf1a034e02873104f08a75bf5d_1 | Did Hardy end up loosing weight? | 3 | Did Matt Hardy end up loosing weight? | Matt Hardy | At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the brand extension, however, Hardy was relegated to Heat while Jeff wrestled on the main show, Raw. On the August 12 episode of Raw, Hardy turned against Jeff during Jeff's match against Rob Van Dam, because Hardy was frustrated at not receiving a match against Van Dam for the number one contendership for the Intercontinental Championship. A short time later, Hardy joined the SmackDown! roster, and began dubbing himself "Matt Hardy: Version 1", complete with a "version 1" hand signal. Hardy defeated The Undertaker on the September 12 and October 3 episodes of the show, due to interference from Brock Lesnar. Along with his MF'er (Mattitude Follower) Shannon Moore in his corner, 2003 began with Hardy frantically trying to lose weight to get under the 215 lb (98 kg) weight limit to compete for the Cruiserweight Championship. After just barely making weight, Hardy defeated Billy Kidman at No Way Out to win the Cruiserweight title. At WrestleMania XIX, he successfully defended it against Rey Mysterio. Hardy lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Mysterio in the main event of the June 5 edition of SmackDown - the first and only time a Cruiserweight Championship match main evented a show. After dropping the Cruiserweight Championship, Hardy briefly feuded with Eddie Guerrero, but was unsuccessful in capturing Guerrero's United States Championship or Tag Team Championship. The Mattitude faction then expanded to include Crash Holly as Moore's "Moore-on" (apprentice). He later disbanded the group in November and returned to Raw in order to be able to travel and work with his then girlfriend Lita, who just returned from an injury. On his first night back, he turned on Lita in storyline after teasing a proposal to her. He defeated Christian, who was vying for Lita's affections, on the following edition of Raw. In April 2004, Hardy saved Lita from getting attacked by Kane. Hardy defeated Kane at Vengeance, but lost a match against Kane at SummerSlam. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Hardy was chokeslamed off the stage by Kane. Hardy then spent almost a year off from wrestling due to a severe knee injury. CANNOTANSWER | After just barely making weight, | Matthew Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his time with WWE, Impact Wrestling, and Ring of Honor (ROH).
With his real life brother Jeff, Hardy gained notoriety in WWF's tag team division during the 2000s due to his participation in TLC matches. He is a 14-time world tag team champion, having held the WWE World Tag Team Championship six times, the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship three times, the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship, ROH World Tag Team Championship, and WCW Tag Team Championship once each, and the TNA World Tag Team Championships twice.
Wrestling through four separate decades, Hardy has kept himself relevant partially through a variety of different gimmicks and his use of social media. In 2002, Hardy began a solo career in WWE. His subsequent "Version 1" persona was named Best Gimmick by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Hardy's eccentric "Broken" gimmick, which he debuted in 2016 (and which was renamed "Woken" following his subsequent WWE return), garnered praise from wrestling critics and earned him multiple awards, including a second Best Gimmick award, becoming one of the most talked about characters in all of wrestling. As a singles wrestler, Hardy has won three world championships (one ECW Championship, and two TNA World Heavyweight Championships). All totaled between WWE, TNA/Impact, and ROH, Hardy has held 21 total championships.
Early life
Hardy was born in Cameron, North Carolina, the son of Gilbert and Ruby Moore Hardy. He is the older brother of Jeff Hardy. Their mother died of brain cancer in 1987. Hardy played baseball as a child and throughout high school, but had stopped by his senior year. He also played football, either as a linebacker or a defensive end. Hardy was a good student at Union Pines High School in North Carolina, and was a nominee for the "Morehead Award", a scholarship to any university in North Carolina. Hardy attended University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he majored in engineering; after a year, however, he dropped out due to his father being ill. He then attended Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst to gain his associate degree.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1992–2001)
Hardy, along with his brother Jeff and friends, started their own federation, the Trampoline Wrestling Federation (TWF) and mimicked the moves they saw on television. Shortly after Hardy sent in a tape for the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Amateur Challenge using the ring name High Voltage, a tag team named High Voltage began competing in WCW, causing Hardy to change his name to Surge. A few years later, it was revealed to him by Chris Kanyon that the tape had been kept in the WCW Power Plant, watched multiple times, and that the name High Voltage was blatantly stolen from it. Beginning in 1994, The Hardys wrestled for several North Carolina-based independent circuit promotions and adapted a number of alter-egos. As The Wolverine, Hardy captured the New England Wrestling Alliance (NEWA) Championship in May 1994. As High Voltage, he teamed with Venom to claim the New Frontier Wrestling Association (NFWA) Tag Team Championship in March 1995. A month later, High Voltage defeated the Willow for the NFWA Championship.
In 1997, Matt and Jeff created their own wrestling promotion, The Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (frequently abbreviated to OMEGA Championship Wrestling, or simply OMEGA), in which Matt competed under the name High Voltage. Both Matt and Jeff took apart the ring and put it back together at every event they had, while Matt sewed all the costumes worn in OMEGA. The promotion folded in October 1999, after both Matt and Jeff signed with the World Wrestling Federation.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
Early years (1994–1998)
Hardy worked as a jobber for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1994 up until he signed a full-time contract in 1998. His first WWF match was against Nikolai Volkoff on the May 23, 1994 episode of Monday Night Raw, which he lost by submission. A night later at a taping of WWF Wrestling Challenge, he lost a match against Owen Hart. He continued to wrestle sporadically in the WWF throughout 1994 and 1995, losing matches against Crush, Razor Ramon, Hakushi, Owen Hart, the imposter Undertaker, Hunter Hearst Helmsley and "The Ringmaster" Steve Austin.
Hardy teamed with Jeff for the first time in the WWF in 1996, losing to teams such as The Smoking Gunns and The Grimm Twins on WWF television. Matt and Jeff had a short lived feud with The Headbangers (Thrasher and Mosh), losing to the duo twice in 1997. It was during this time that Matt and Jeff experimented with different ring names, at one stage being called Ingus (Matt) and Wildo Jinx (Jeff). In Matt's final singles match for the promotion before signing a full-time contract he lost to Val Venis on a taping of Shotgun in 1998.
The Hardy Boyz (1998–2001)
It was not until 1998, however, (at the height of The Attitude Era) that the Hardy brothers were given full-time WWF contracts and sent to train with former wrestler Dory Funk, Jr. The Hardy Boyz used a cruiserweight, fast-paced high flying style in their matches, often leaping from great heights to do damage to their opponents (and themselves in the process). In 1999, while feuding with Edge and Christian, the duo briefly picked up Michael Hayes as a manager.
At King of the Ring, The Hardyz defeated Edge and Christian to earn the #1 contendership for the WWF Tag Team Championship. On July 5, they defeated The APA to win their first Tag Team Championship. They soon dumped Hayes and briefly picked up Gangrel as a manager, after Gangrel turned on Edge and Christian. At No Mercy, The Hardyz defeated Edge and Christian in the first ever tag team ladder match. At the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, The Hardyz defeated The Dudley Boyz in the first ever tag team tables match. They competed against The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian for the Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 2000 in the first ever Triangle Ladder match, but were unsuccessful.
Hardy won the Hardcore Championship on April 24, 2000, on Raw Is War, by defeating Crash Holly, but lost it back to Holly three days later on SmackDown!, when Holly applied the "24/7 rule" during Hardy's title defense against Jeff. The Hardy Boyz then found a new manager in Matt's real-life girlfriend Lita. Together, the three became known as "Team Xtreme".
The Hardy Boyz competed in the first ever Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, for the WWF Tag Team Championship against The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian, but were unsuccessful. At Unforgiven, The Hardyz defeated Edge and Christian in a steel cage match to win the tag team championship, and successfully retained it the following night on Raw Is War against Edge and Christian in a ladder match.
In April 2001, The Hardyz began feuding with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H (known as The Power Trip), which also led to a singles push for both Matt and Jeff. Hardy helped Jeff defeat Triple H for the Intercontinental Championship, and shortly after Hardy defeated Eddie Guerrero to win the European Championship on SmackDown!. At Backlash he retained the title against Guerrero and Christian in a triple threat, and against Edge the following night on Raw.
Throughout the year, the Hardy Boyz continued to win as a tag team, winning the WWF Tag Team Titles two more times, and the WCW Tag Team Championship during the Invasion. By the end of the year, the Hardy Boyz began a storyline where they were having trouble co-existing. This culminated in a match between the two, with Lita as the guest referee, at the Vengeance pay-per-view, which Jeff won. Hardy defeated Jeff and Lita the following night on Raw in a two-on-one handicap match.
Version 1 gimmick and feud with Kane (2002–2004)
At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the brand extension, however, Matt was relegated to Heat while Jeff wrestled on the main show, Raw. On the August 12 episode of Raw, Hardy turned heel by attacking Jeff during Jeff's match against Rob Van Dam, because Hardy was frustrated at not receiving a match against Van Dam for the number one contendership for the Intercontinental Championship. A short time later, Hardy joined the SmackDown! roster, and began dubbing himself "Matt Hardy: Version 1", complete with a "version 1" hand signal. Hardy defeated The Undertaker on the September 12 and October 3 episodes of the show, due to interference from Brock Lesnar.
Along with his Mattitude Follower Shannon Moore in his corner, 2003 began with Hardy frantically trying to lose weight to get under the weight limit to compete for the Cruiserweight Championship. After just barely making weight, Hardy defeated Billy Kidman at No Way Out to win the Cruiserweight title. At WrestleMania XIX, he successfully defended it against Rey Mysterio. Hardy lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Mysterio in the main event of the June 5 episode of SmackDown! - the first and only time a Cruiserweight Championship match main evented a show.
After dropping the Cruiserweight Championship, Hardy briefly feuded with Eddie Guerrero, but was unsuccessful in capturing Guerrero's United States Championship or WWE Tag Team Championship. The Mattitude faction then expanded to include Crash Holly as Moore's "Moore-on" (apprentice). He later disbanded the group in November and returned to Raw in order to be able to travel and work with his then girlfriend Lita, who just returned from an injury. On his first night back, he turned on Lita in storyline after teasing a proposal to her. He defeated Christian, who was vying for Lita's affections, on the following edition of Raw.
In April 2004, Hardy saved Lita from getting attacked by Kane, turning face in the process. Hardy defeated Kane in a no disqualification match at Vengeance, but lost a "Till Death To Us Part" match against Kane at SummerSlam, resulting in Lita being forced to marry Kane. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Hardy was chokeslamed off the stage by Kane during the wedding. Hardy then spent almost a year off from wrestling due to a severe knee injury.
Departure and sporadic appearances (2005)
Along with his friend Rhyno, Hardy was released by WWE on April 11, 2005. Hardy's release was largely due to unprofessional conduct with social media after discovering that Lita was having a real-life affair with his best friend Edge. The public knowledge of the affair and Hardy's release led to Edge and Lita receiving jeers from the crowds at WWE events, often resulting in chants of "You screwed Matt!", and, "We want Matt!", which meant kayfabe storylines being affected considering that Lita was married to Kane at the time in kayfabe. Edge and Lita used the affair and fan backlash to become a hated on-screen couple, which led to Lita turning heel for the first time in over five years.
Fans began a petition on the internet, wanting WWE to re-sign Hardy, and amassed over fifteen thousand signatures. Hardy released two character promotional vignettes, that he was planning to use before he was offered a new contract by WWE. Hardy called himself The Angelic Diablo with the tagline "the scar will become a symbol" in reference to the way in which he had been treated by Lita and WWE. On the June 20 episode of Raw, during the storyline wedding of Edge and Lita, Hardy's entrance music and video were played when the priest asked if anyone had a reason why Edge and Lita should not be wed.
Independent circuit and Ring of Honor (2005)
Following his WWE release, Matt returned to the independent circuit and wrestled several matches for the Allied Powers Wrestling Federation (APWF), International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) and Big Time Wrestling (BTW).
Hardy appeared at a scheduled Ring of Honor (ROH) event on July 16, 2005, in Woodbridge, Connecticut where he defeated Christopher Daniels via submission. Hardy also cut a brief worked shoot promo where he criticized WWE and John Laurinaitis. Following his official return to WWE, Hardy was met with backlash following a match with Homicide from the fans at a subsequent ROH event, which Hardy won. The next day at his final ROH appearance, he lost to Roderick Strong.
Return to WWE
Feud with Edge (2005–2006)
On July 11, 2005, on Raw, Hardy attacked Edge backstage and again later during Edge's match with Kane. Before being escorted out of the building by security, Hardy stated that Edge (calling him by his real name of "Adam") and Lita would pay for their actions and told fans that they could see him at Ring of Honor while security officials and event staff were trying to restrain him. Hardy also called out Johnny Ace as security had him in handcuffs taking him out of the arena. This caused an uproar amongst fans, who were confused and wondered if the whole thing was a work or a shoot. Similar occurrences repeated during the following two weeks.
On the August 1 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon officially announced Hardy's return to WWE, adding that Hardy would face Edge at SummerSlam. Hardy made his in-ring return, defeating Snitsky on the August 8 Raw. Seconds after the victory, Hardy was attacked by Edge, and as he was being carried backstage, Matt counterattacked Edge in the locker room. On August 21 at SummerSlam, their match came to a premature end when Edge dropped Hardy onto the top of a ring post, causing him to bleed heavily. The referee ended the match on the grounds that Hardy could not continue, and Edge was declared the winner. After SummerSlam, the two continued feuding on Raw, including a Street Fight on August 29 that resulted in Hardy performing a Side Effect on Edge off the entrance stage and into electrical equipment below; the match ended in a no contest. At Unforgiven, Edge faced Hardy in a steel cage match. Hardy caught an interfering Lita with the Twist of Fate and won the match with a leg drop off the top of the cage. Hardy and Edge faced each other on October 3 at WWE Raw Homecoming in a Loser Leaves Raw ladder match. Edge's briefcase holding his Money in the Bank contract for his WWE Championship opportunity was suspended above the ring. The winner of the match received the contract and the loser was forced to leave Raw. Edge tied Hardy's arms in the ropes, and Lita trapped Hardy in a crucifix hold, leaving Hardy only able to watch Edge win.
With his defeat at the hands of Edge, Hardy was moved to the SmackDown! brand where he re-debuted with a win over Simon Dean on October 21 in Reno, Nevada. One week later, Hardy won the fan vote to represent Team SmackDown! (alongside Rey Mysterio) to challenge Team Raw (Edge and Chris Masters) at Taboo Tuesday. Edge, however, refused to wrestle and sent Snitsky in place of him in the match, which Hardy and Mysterio won.
Back on SmackDown!, Hardy started an angle with MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) and their manager Melina when Melina approached Hardy, seemingly wanting Hardy to join with her team. Hardy refused the offer, which led to him facing the tag team on several occasions with a variety of partners. On July 25, after the SmackDown! taping, Hardy was taken out of action after doctors found the remnants of the staph infection that had plagued him the previous year. He was sidelined until August 25 while he healed.
Upon his return to action, Hardy feuded against childhood friend and reigning Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms. At No Mercy, in their home state, Hardy beat Helms in a non-title match. The two met again at Survivor Series, where Hardy's team won in a clean sweep. They wrestled one final match, a one time appearance in Booker T's Pro Wrestling Alliance (PWA) promotion, where Hardy defeated Helms in a North Carolina Street Fight.
The Hardy Boyz reunion (2006–2007)
On the November 21, 2006 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Hardy and Jeff competed in a match together for the first time in almost five years, defeating The Full Blooded Italians. At December to Dismember, the Hardy Boyz issued an open challenge to any tag team who wanted to face them. MNM answered their challenge by reuniting at December to Dismember, a match won by the Hardy Boyz. At Armageddon, Hardy and Jeff competed against Paul London and Brian Kendrick, MNM, and Dave Taylor and William Regal in a Ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship but lost. Subsequently, he and Jeff feuded with MNM after the legitimate incident where they injured Mercury's face at Armageddon. This led to a long term rivalry, and at the Royal Rumble, Hardy and Jeff defeated MNM. Mercury and Hardy continued to feud on SmackDown! until Mercury was released from WWE on March 26.
The night after WrestleMania 23 on Raw, the Hardys competed in a 10-team battle royal for the World Tag Team Championship. They won the titles for the sixth time from then WWE Champion John Cena and Shawn Michaels after last eliminating Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. This started a feud with Cade and Murdoch, and the Hardys successfully retained their World Tag Team Championship in their first title defense at Backlash. The Hardy Boyz also successfully retained their titles at Judgment Day against Cade and Murdoch. One month later at One Night Stand, they defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team to retain the titles in a Ladder match. The following night on Raw, Vince McMahon demanded that The Hardys once again defend their championships against Cade and Murdoch. The Hardys were defeated after Murdoch pushed Jeff's foot off the bottom rope during Cade's pinfall, causing the three count to continue. They invoked their rematch clause against Cade and Murdoch at Vengeance: Night of Champions, but were unsuccessful.
Feud with MVP and championship reigns (2007–2009)
On the July 6, 2007 episode of SmackDown!, Hardy won a non-title match against United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), which resulted in a feud between the two. Hardy was defeated by MVP at The Great American Bash for the United States Championship. MVP then claimed that he was "better than Hardy at everything", which led to a series of contests between Hardy and MVP, such as a basketball game, an arm wrestling contest, and a chess match which MVP "sneezed" on and ruined when Hardy put him in check. MVP challenged Hardy to a boxing match at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXV, however MVP was legitimately diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Since MVP was unable to compete, Hardy faced his replacement, former world champion boxer, Evander Holyfield. The match ended in a no contest after MVP entered the ring to verbally abuse Holyfield, who then knocked him out. MVP also challenged Hardy to a beer drinking contest at SummerSlam, but as revenge for what happened at SNME, Hardy allowed Stone Cold Steve Austin to replace him; Austin simply performed a stunner on MVP then kept drinking.
After a segment involving MVP inadvertently choosing Hardy as his tag-team partner, Theodore Long promptly set up a match against Deuce 'n Domino for the WWE Tag Team Championship on the August 31 episode of SmackDown! which Hardy and MVP were able to win, therefore setting up Hardy's first reign as WWE Tag Team Champion. Hardy and MVP retained the titles at Unforgiven in a rematch against former champions Deuce 'n Domino. Hardy was scheduled to face MVP at Cyber Sunday, but due to a real-life head injury sustained on the October 26 episode of SmackDown!, he was not medically cleared to compete. As part of the storyline, Hardy continually asked MVP for a shot at the United States Championship but MVP refused stating that he was more focused on the Tag Team Championship.
On the November 16 episode of SmackDown!, Hardy and MVP dropped the WWE Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz. Despite the fact that Hardy was hurt, MVP immediately invoked the rematch clause. After the rematch, in which Hardy was forced to tap out, MVP attacked Hardy, repeatedly targeting his knee. It was later confirmed by WWE.com that Hardy had suffered an injury at his former partner's hands and that he might not be able to compete at Survivor Series. Despite Hardy's absence at Survivor Series, his team was able to win the match. On November 21, WWE's official website reported that Hardy underwent an emergency appendectomy in Tampa, Florida after his appendix burst. Hardy made an appearance at the December 31 episode of Raw supporting his brother Jeff. To further Jeff's storyline with Randy Orton, however, Hardy was attacked by Orton. Hardy made his return at a live event in Muncie, Indiana on March 1, 2008.
On March 30, 2008, at WrestleMania XXIV, during the Money in the Bank ladder match Hardy cut through the crowd and attacked MVP to prevent him from winning the match. He made his official in-ring return the next night on Raw, losing a singles match to WWE Champion Randy Orton. On the April 4 episode of SmackDown, Hardy faced MVP in a non-title match, which he won, re-igniting their storyline rivalry. On April 27, 2008, Hardy defeated MVP to win the United States Championship at Backlash, and successfully retained his title against MVP five days later on SmackDown.
Hardy declared himself as a fighting champion that would take on all challenges, defending the United States championship against Shelton Benjamin, Elijah Burke, Chuck Palumbo, Mr. Kennedy, Chavo Guerrero and Umaga. Hardy was drafted to the ECW brand on the June 23, 2008 episode of Raw during the 2008 WWE Draft, in the process making the United States Championship exclusive to ECW. He dropped the United States Championship to Shelton Benjamin at the Great American Bash pay-per-view on July 20, 2008, which meant that the title returned to SmackDown.
On the July 22 episode of ECW, Hardy became the number one contender to Mark Henry's ECW Championship after defeating John Morrison, The Miz and Finlay in a fatal four-way match. He won the title match at SummerSlam by disqualification due to interference from Henry's manager, Tony Atlas, thus he failed to win the title. Due to the ending of the pay-per-view match, Hardy received a rematch for the title on the next episode of ECW, but again failed to win the title when Henry pinned him after a distraction by Atlas. At Unforgiven, Hardy won the ECW Championship during the Championship scramble match, defeating then-champion Henry, The Miz, Finlay and Chavo Guerrero by pinning the Miz with three minutes left, marking his first world heavyweight championship win. He continued to feud with Henry until No Mercy, where Hardy successfully retained the title. Hardy lost the title to Jack Swagger on the January 13, 2009 episode of ECW, which was taped on January 12.
Feud with Jeff Hardy and departure (2009–2010)
At the 2009 Royal Rumble pay-per-view, after losing an ECW Championship rematch to Swagger, Hardy turned on his brother when he hit Jeff with a steel chair, allowing Edge to win the WWE Championship, turning heel in the process. On the January 27, 2009 episode of ECW, it was announced by General Manager Theodore Long that Hardy had requested, and been granted, his release from ECW and had re-signed with the SmackDown brand. As part of the buildup to this feud, Matt strongly implied that he was responsible for all of Jeff's accidents leading back to November, including an assault in a hotel stairwell that prevented Jeff from appearing at Survivor Series, an automobile accident where Jeff's car was run off the road, and a pyrotechnics malfunction where part of the pyro from Jeff's entrance was fired directly at Jeff, in an attempt to stop Jeff holding the WWE Championship. Despite Hardy's attempts to goad Jeff into fighting him, Jeff refused to fight his brother, but, on the March 6 episode of SmackDown, Jeff attacked him during a promo where Matt implied that he was also responsible for the fire that burned down Jeff's house, going so far as to reveal that he had in his possession a dog collar that supposedly belonged to Jeff's dog, Jack (who died in the fire), that he claimed to have salvaged from the wreckage of the house. At WrestleMania 25, Matt defeated Jeff in an Extreme Rules match, and in a stretcher match on the following episode of SmackDown.
On the April 13 episode of Raw, Hardy was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the WWE draft. Despite the fact that the two were on different brands, he continued his feud with Jeff. Two weeks later, in a rematch from WrestleMania, Hardy lost to Jeff in an "I Quit" match at Backlash, in which he legitimately broke his hand.
Hardy continued to wrestle with his hand in a cast, incorporating it into his persona and claiming that he was wrestling under protest. He reignited his feud with MVP on Raw for the United States Championship. He also formed a tag team with William Regal, and the two acted as henchmen for General Manager Vickie Guerrero. At the June 22 taping of WWE Superstars, Hardy suffered yet another injury, when his intestines went through his abdominal wall, during a triple threat match against MVP and Kofi Kingston. Hardy had suffered a tear in his abdominal muscle two years previously, but had not needed surgery until it worsened, and became a danger to his health.
He was then traded back to the SmackDown brand on June 29, and underwent surgery for the torn abdominal muscle on July 2. He made his return on the August 7 episode of SmackDown as the special guest referee in the World Heavyweight Championship match between his brother, Jeff, and CM Punk, and helped Jeff retain the championship by counting the pinfall. The following week Hardy turned face again when he saved his brother when CM Punk and The Hart Dynasty attacked both Jeff and John Morrison. On the August 21 episode of SmackDown, after apologizing for his past actions towards Jeff and admitting that he was not behind any of Jeff's accidents, he had his first match back after his injury when he teamed with Jeff and John Morrison to defeat The Hart Dynasty and CM Punk, when Matt pinned Punk.
In early 2010, Hardy began an on-screen relationship with Maria; but was brief and the relationship ended when Maria was released from her WWE contract. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown, Hardy qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI by defeating Drew McIntyre, but was unsuccessful at WrestleMania, as the match was won by Jack Swagger. Hardy was suspended by Vince McMahon because he attacked McIntyre after McIntyre lost to Kofi Kingston at Over the Limit. He was able to get his revenge on McIntyre during the Viewer's Choice episode of Raw when chosen as the opponent for McIntyre, with General Manager Theodore Long stating that Hardy was suspended from SmackDown, but not from Raw. On the following episode of SmackDown, however, Vickie Guerrero announced that, per orders of Vince McMahon, Hardy had been suspended from all WWE programming. However, at Fatal 4-Way, Hardy prevented McIntyre from regaining the Intercontinental Championship, thus continuing their feud. On the following edition of SmackDown, he was reinstated by Long and had a match with McIntyre, which Hardy won. After the match, it was announced that McIntyre's visa had legitimately expired and was sent back to Scotland, thus ending their feud. Hardy was featured in the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match but was unsuccessful in winning with Kane coming out victorious.
On September 12, WWE confirmed they had sent Hardy home from a European tour. Following this, Hardy began posting videos on his YouTube channel expressing his disinterest in the WWE product and insisting that he wanted to be released from the company. On October 15, 2010, WWE announced that Hardy had been released from his contract. Hardy later stated that his release had been in effect two weeks before WWE made the announcement.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2011)
On January 9, 2011, Hardy made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) at the Genesis pay-per-view, as part of the stable Immortal. He was the surprise opponent for Rob Van Dam, and defeated him to prevent Van Dam from receiving a match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, held by Hardy's brother Jeff. In the main event, Hardy attempted to interfere in Jeff's World Heavyweight Championship match with Mr. Anderson, but was stopped by Van Dam, which led to Jeff losing both the match and the championship. On the January 13 episode of Impact!, the Hardy Boyz reunited to defeat Anderson and Van Dam in a tag team match, following interference from Beer Money, Inc. On February 13 at Against All Odds, Van Dam defeated Hardy in a rematch.
On the following episode of Impact!, Hardy, along with the rest of Immortal and Ric Flair, betrayed Fortune. On March 13 at Victory Road, Hardy was defeated by Flair's previous protégé, A.J. Styles. On April 17 at Lockdown, Immortal, represented by Hardy, Abyss, Bully Ray and Ric Flair, were defeated by Fortune members James Storm, Kazarian and Robert Roode and Christopher Daniels, who replaced an injured A.J. Styles, in a Lethal Lockdown match. On the April 21 episode of Impact!, Hardy faced Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, Hardy's first World Title match in TNA, but was defeated. The following month, Hardy was granted a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship against Beer Money, Inc. (James Storm and Robert Roode). While the champions looked to defend the title against the Hardy Boyz, Matt instead introduced the returning Chris Harris, Storm's old tag team partner, as his partner for the title match. The match took place at Sacrifice, where Storm and Roode retained their titles.
On June 21, it was reported that TNA had suspended Hardy. On August 20, Hardy was released from TNA following a DUI arrest that occurred earlier that same day.
Return to the independent circuit (2011–2017)
Hardy announced his retirement from full-time professional wrestling due to injuries on September 1, 2011. He issued a challenge to his long-time rival MVP, who was wrestling in Japan at the time, to one final match at "Crossfire Live!" in Nashville. The event was held May 19, 2012 and benefited the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Hardy won the match.
Throughout 2012, Hardy wrestled sporadically on the independent circuit, working with promotions such as Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Syndicate and Northeast Wrestling. On October 5, Hardy was defeated by Kevin Steen at Pro Wrestling Xperience's An Evil Twist of Fate. On November 11, Hardy, as the masked wrestler Rahway Reaper, defeated the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Kevin Matthews, winning the championship. On February 9, 2013, Hardy lost the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Championship back to Matthews.
On February 16, 2013, at Family Wrestling Entertainment's No Limit, Hardy wrestled a TLC match for the FWE Heavyweight Championship against the champion Carlito and Tommy Dreamer, but he was defeated. On November 30, 2013, at WrestleCade, Hardy defeated Carlito to become the first ever WrestleCade Champion.
On May 3, 2014, following a match between Christian York and Drolix, Hardy defeated Drolix to become the new MCW Heavyweight Champion. At Maryland Championship Wrestling's Shane Shamrock Cup, Hardy defeated Luke Hawx in a TLC match for Hardy's title and Hawx's Extreme Rising World title. Hardy won the match, but he gave back the title to Hawx. On October 4, Hardy lost the MCW Heavyweight Championship back to Drolix, following outside interference from Kevin Eck.
On February 9, 2015, Hardy appeared on FWE's "No Limits 2015" iPPV, challenging Drew Galloway for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated.
On November 28, 2015, Hardy lost the WrestleCade Championship to Jeff Jarrett at WrestleCade IV in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Hardy regained the title in a triple-threat cage match against Jarrett and Ethan Carter III in Hickory, North Carolina on May 20, 2016. He appeared at the #DELETEWCPW event for What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) in Nottingham, England on November 30. Hardy, billed as "Broken" Matt Hardy, lost a no-disqualification match to Bully Ray, with Ray proposing the no-disqualification stipulation at the last minute, and Hardy accepting there and then.
Return to ROH (2012–2014)
At Death Before Dishonor X: State of Emergency in 2012, Hardy returned to Ring of Honor, confronting Adam Cole and challenging him to a match for the ROH World Television Championship. On December 16 at Final Battle 2012: Doomsday, Hardy defeated Cole in a non-title match.
At the following iPPV, 11th Anniversary Show on March 2, 2013, Hardy joined the villainous S.C.U.M. stable. On April 5 at the Supercard of Honor VII iPPV, Hardy unsuccessfully challenged Matt Taven for the ROH World Television Championship in a three-way elimination match, which also included Adam Cole. On June 22 at Best in the World 2013, Hardy defeated former S.C.U.M. stablemate Kevin Steen in a No Disqualification match to become the number one contender to the ROH World Championship. Hardy received his title shot at the following day's Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings, but was defeated by the defending champion, Jay Briscoe. Later that same day, S.C.U.M. was forced to disband after losing a Steel Cage Warfare match against Team ROH. On December 14, 2013, at Final Battle 2013, Hardy defeated Adam Page in a singles match; later on in the main event, Hardy aided Adam Cole in retaining his title and forming a tag team with him. After aiding Cole at Supercard of Honor VIII, Hardy was given Jay Briscoe's unofficial "Real World Title" belt, which he renamed the "ROH Iconic Championship". In July, Hardy opted out of his ROH contract and went back to TNA.
Return to OMEGA (2013–2018)
Matt announced that OMEGA would return in January 2013 with an event titled "Chinlock For Chuck". The main event featured Matt, Jeff, Shane "Hurricane" Helms and "Cowboy" James Storm defeating Gunner, Steve Corino, CW Anderson and Lodi. On October 12, 2013, at "Chapel Thrill", Hardy announced a Tournament for the OMEGA Heavyweight Championship which featured himself vs. CW Anderson and Shane "Hurricane" Helms vs. "The King" Shane Williams. After Hardy's qualifying match he was attacked by CW but was saved by the returning Willow the Whisp. Hardy won that match and advanced to the finals.
On November 21, 2015, Matt won the OMEGA Heavyweight Championship for the second time, defeating former student Trevor Lee. Following this, Matt (upon regaining the TNA world title as part of his villainous egotistical "Iconic" gimmick) began proclaiming himself to be the only world champion that matters, and the only "true" world champion in wrestling, as he held both the TNA and OMEGA Championships, which (according to him) put him above any other promotions' world champions. Throughout 2016, Hardy defended the TNA and OMEGA titles jointly at OMEGA events as part of his "only true world champion" gimmick.
On January 29, The Hardys won the OMEGA Tag Team Championships.
Return to TNA
The Hardys third reunion (2014–2015)
On July 24, 2014, Hardy returned to TNA and reunited with Jeff to reform The Hardys for the third time. At the Destination X episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys were defeated by The Wolves in a match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the August 14 episode of Impact Wrestling, Team 3D (formerly the Dudley Boyz) challenged The Hardys to a match, which Team 3D won. At the Hardcore Justice episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys and Team 3D talked about a match involving themselves and The Wolves. When The Wolves were asked by the two teams, they agreed. Later that night, Kurt Angle announced all three teams would compete in a best of three series for the TNA World Tag Team Championship with the winners of the first match choosing the stipulation of the next one. The Hardys won the second match of the series on the September 10 episode of Impact Wrestling in a tables match and choose a ladder match for the third match of the series. The Hardys were unsuccessful in winning that match on the September 17 episode of Impact Wrestling, as the Wolves won that match. The Wolves then went on to pick the final match of the series to be a Full Metal Mayhem match to take place on the October 8 episode of Impact Wrestling. The Hardys were unsuccessful in that match as the Wolves won that match.
On October 22, The Hardys entered a number one contenders tournament for the TNA World Tag Team Championship defeating The BroMans (Jessie Godderz and DJ Z) in the first round of the tournament. On the October 29 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys defeated Team Dixie (Ethan Carter III and Tyrus) in the semifinals to advance to the finals of the tournament, where they defeated Samoa Joe and Low Ki to become number one contenders for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the January 16, 2015 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys defeated the Wolves. At the Lockdown episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys were defeated by The Revolution in a six sides of steel cage match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the February 20 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy and The Wolves defeated The Revolution in a six-man tag team match. In March, The Hardys participated in a tournament for the vacant TNA World Tag Team Championship. On March 16, 2015, Matt and Jeff won an Ultimate X match for the titles. On May 8, 2015, Hardy vacated the TNA World Tag Team Championship due to his brother Jeff being injured.
World Heavyweight Champion (2015–2016)
On June 28, 2015, Hardy was among the five wrestlers who competed for the TNA King of the Mountain Championship at Slammiversary, with Jeff Jarrett ultimately emerging victorious. On the July 8 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy requested a world title shot against Ethan Carter III, but was denied and forced to face the Dirty Heels (Austin Aries and Bobby Roode) in a handicap match, which he lost. On the July 22 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy defeated Roode in a Tables match to become the #1 contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On the August 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy got his shot at the title against EC3 in a Full Metal Mayhem match, but failed to win the title. On the September 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy got another shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against EC3, but again failed to win the title; as part of the storyline, Jeff Hardy was forced to act as Ethan Carter's personal assistant. On the September 30 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy was added to the Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway main event match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Bound for Glory after he and Galloway defeated Carter and Tyrus, making it a three-way match, following which Jeff, who EC3 had just "fired" in the previous episode, was revealed to be the special guest referee.
On October 4 at Bound for Glory, Matt won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship by pinning Galloway. However, EC3 filed an injunction (kayfabe) that banned Hardy from appearing on Impact Wrestling for a month, which forced Hardy to relinquish the title in order to stay on the show. However, Hardy had been participating in the TNA World Title Series for the vacant title. He qualified to the round of 16 by defeating Davey Richards, Robbie E and Eddie Edwards. He then advanced to the round of 8 by defeating the King of the Mountain Champion Bobby Roode and then to Jessie Godderz to continue his winning streak. The semifinals and finals were held on the January 5, 2016, live episode of Impact Wrestling during its debut on Pop TV, in which he defeated Eric Young to advance to the final round. Hardy faced EC3 in the TNA World Title Series finals, but lost the match via pinfall.
Hardy won the TNA World Title from EC3 on the January 19, 2016 episode of Impact Wrestling, becoming the first man to defeat him in a one-on-one match in TNA. During the match a double turn took place; Hardy turned heel after Tyrus betrayed EC3. The following week on Impact Wrestling, Jeff Hardy had confronted him about last week and issued a challenge to Matt for the World Heavyweight title in the main event and Matt accepted. However, later before the main event could begin, Eric Young and Bram attacked Jeff from behind. Kurt Angle then came out to try save Jeff, and Matt had Tyrus attack Angle from behind. While Matt watched from the ramp, Young attacked Jeff with the Piledriver off the apron through a table. The following week, he successfully retained his title against Angle. At Lockdown, he retained his title in a Six-side of steel match against Ethan Carter III, with the help of Rockstar Spud. He lost his title against Drew Galloway on the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, after a match featuring EC3 and Jeff Hardy.
Two weeks later he received a rematch for the title on Impact Wrestling, but was again defeated by Galloway. After losing the title he started a feud with Jeff. On the April 19 episode of Impact Wrestling, and an I Quit match ended in a no-contest as both Matt and Jeff were badly injured and Matt was taken out to the hospital on a stretcher.
The Broken Universe (2016–2017)
Hardy returned on May 17 episode of Impact Wrestling, revealing himself to be one of the impostor Willows behind the attacks on Jeff. Later that night, he attacked Jeff. In the following weeks, Hardy debuted a new persona as a "Broken" man with part of his hair bleached blonde along with a strange sophisticated accent, blaming Jeff (who he began referring to as "Brother Nero", Nero being Jeff's middle name) for breaking him and becoming obsessed with "deleting" him. His line “Delete”, is mostly inspired by the Death Note manga/anime series character Teru Mikami. On June 12, at Slammiversary, Matt was defeated by Jeff in a Full Metal Mayhem match. On the June 21 episode of Impact Wrestling, Matt was once again defeated by Jeff in a Six Sides of Steel match. On the June 28 episode of Impact Wrestling, Matt challenged Jeff to a final battle with the Hardy brand on the line, to take place at their home in Cameron, North Carolina the next week. On July 5, during special episode "The Final Deletion", Matt defeated Jeff in the match to become sole owner of the Hardy brand, forcing Jeff to drop his last name and become referred to as "Brother Nero".
On the August 18 episode of Impact Wrestling, Matt and Brother Nero defeated The Tribunal, The BroMans and The Helms Dynasty in an "Ascension To Hell" match for an opportunity to challenge Decay for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On September 8, during special episode "Delete or Decay", the Hardys faced Decay in a match held at the Hardy compound, where Brother Nero sacrificed himself to save Matt from Abyss. Thanks to Brother Nero's sacrifice, Hardy was able to confront Rosemary and prevent his son Maxel from being abducted, which turned Hardy babyface as a result, and he furthered the face turn by healing Brother Nero in the Lake of Reincarnation. At Bound for Glory, the Hardys defeated Decay in "The Great War" to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship for the second time. On the October 6 episode of Impact Wrestling, they successfully defended their titles against Decay, in a Wolf Creek match.
On the November 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, the Hardys successfully defended the titles against The Tribunal. After the match, the Hardys were attacked by the masked trio known as Death Crew Council (DCC). After accepting DCC's title challenge, The Hardys faced Bram and Kingston, and Matt pinned Kingston to retain the titles. On December 15, during special episode "Total Nonstop Deletion", they were once again successful in retaining. Brother Nero attacked Crazzy Steve with the Twist of Fate, who then fell into a volcano (that had appeared on the compound in the weeks leading up the event), and was shot up into the sky, landing in the ring. Matt then covered him to win the match.
On the January 12, 2017 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys successfully defended their titles against The Wolves. At Genesis, The Hardys retained their titles against the DCC and Decay in a three-way tag team match. On Open Fight Night, the Hardys began a storyline where they would teleport to different promotions and win that promotions' tag team championship gold, which was referred to by Matt as their "Expedition of Gold". On February 27, Hardy announced that both he and Jeff had finally left TNA, following years of speculation, with their contracts expiring that week. Though the two sides were reportedly close to a contract agreement, talks began to break down and changes in management prompted their departure from the company. The TNA World Tag Team Championships were vacated due to the Hardys' departure and was explained on TNA television in a segment where The Hardys teleported to their next Expedition of Gold destination, but a technicality resulted in them disappearing and the belts appearing in the arms of Decay.
Broken gimmick legal battle
Shortly after the departure of Matt and Jeff from TNA was made public, Matt's wife, Reby, went on a social media tirade in which she repeatedly slammed TNA, the company's new management and the way in which contract negotiations between the company and the Hardy family were conducted. A few weeks following this, the bad blood between the two sides intensified, so much so that the new management of TNA (now renamed Impact Wrestling) Anthem Sports & Entertainment issued a cease and desist letter to The Hardys' new promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), in which Anthem essentially ordered ROH as well as any broadcasting company airing ROH's 15th Anniversary pay–per–view show (on which The Hardys were to participate in a match) to not in any way speak of, indicate or acknowledge the existence of the Broken Matt and Brother Nero characters and instead to refer to The Hardys as simply Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy. The issue with this is that while The Hardys were in TNA, they had full creative control over the Broken gimmick, with them even filming their own segments to air on TNA programming in some circumstances, thus making the Hardy family (in their belief) the owners of the Broken gimmick. It is believed that civil litigation will follow and a potential court hearing will take place regarding the outcome on who owns the Broken gimmick: Anthem or the Hardy family. Until then, the status of the Broken gimmick remains undecided. Despite this, Matt continues to use the Broken gimmick through his social media accounts, but neither he nor Jeff uses the Broken gimmick at any professional wrestling shows for ROH or on the independent circuit, presumably until the results of the expected legal proceedings have been finalized.
Newly–appointed Impact Wrestling President Ed Nordholm credits the invention of and the vision behind the Broken gimmick to Jeremy Borash, Dave Lagana and Billy Corgan, and while Borash specifically had the most input into the gimmick of the three aside from Matt, the Hardy family deny that Borash was the sole person behind the gimmick. In November 2017, Impact Wrestling changed their policy, allowing all talent to retain complete ownership over their intellectual property, essentially forfeiting ownership of the "Broken" character to Hardy.
On January 31, 2018, the legal battle officially concluded when Matt legally acquired ownership of all trademarks related to the Broken universe and the Broken gimmick, which includes 'Broken Matt', 'Brother Nero', 'Broken Brilliance' and 'Vanguard1'.
International matches (2014–2015)
On November 1, 2014, Hardy traveled to Japan to compete for Wrestle-1 at the promotions Keiji Muto 30th Anniversary Hold Out show in a triple threat match against Seiya Sanada and Tajiri, which he lost.
On May 24, 2015, Hardy traveled to Mexico to compete as a team captain for Team TNA/Lucha Underground with teammates Mr. Anderson and Johnny Mundo at Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide's 2015 Lucha Libre World Cup pay–per–view show. In the quarter–final round, Team TNA/Lucha Underground faced Team Rest of the World (Drew Galloway, Angélico and El Mesías) to a 15-minute time limit draw, with Team TNA/Lucha Underground winning in overtime and advancing to the semi–final round. In the semi–final round, Team TNA/Lucha Underground defeated Team MexLeyendas (Blue Demon Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr. and El Solar) to advance to the final round. In the final round, Team TNA/Lucha Underground faced Dream Team (El Patrón Alberto, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.) to a 15–minute time limit draw, with Dream Team winning both the match and the tournament in overtime with Hardy on the losing end of the final pinfall.
Second return to ROH (2016–2017)
On December 2, 2016, Hardy returned to ROH for the second time while still under contract with TNA, appearing at the promotions Final Battle pay-per-view show as Broken Matt, where a video message showed him addressing The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) and The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe).
On March 4, 2017, in the same week that both Matt and Jeff were released from TNA, The Hardys defeated The Young Bucks in an impromptu match at ROH's 2017 installment of the company's Manhattan Mayhem show series to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions for the first time. Moments after winning the titles, Hardy announced in a post-match promo that both he and Brother Nero (Jeff) had signed "the biggest ROH contracts in (the company's) history". It was later confirmed that the contracts were short-term, only for the "immediate future". On March 10, The Hardys successfully defended the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the first time at ROH's 15th Anniversary pay-per-view show against The Young Bucks and Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) in a three-way Las Vegas tag team street fight match. Prior to the event, the Hardys had been sent a legal threat by Impact Wrestling regarding the use of the Broken Matt and Brother Nero gimmicks. The following night on March 11, The Hardys (not billed but using the Broken gimmicks anyway) once again retained the titles, this time against The Briscoes at a set of Ring of Honor Wrestling television tapings. The Hardys lost the titles back to The Young Bucks in a ladder match on April 1 at ROH's Supercard of Honor XI pay-per-view show, which would be the final ROH appearances for both Hardys in this tenure with the promotion.
Second return to WWE (2017–2020)
Feud with The Bar (2017)
At the WrestleMania 33 pay-per-view on April 2, 2017, Hardy made his surprise return to WWE, along with his brother Jeff Hardy, being added as last-minute participants in the ladder match for the Raw Tag Team Championship, defeating Gallows and Anderson, Cesaro and Sheamus, and Enzo and Cass to win the Raw Tag Team Championship. Afterwards on Raw Talk, Hardy mentioned that The Hardy Boyz had successfully completed the Expedition of Gold, after winning the Raw Tag Team Championship. At Payback, The Hardy Boyz retained their championships against Cesaro and Sheamus, who attacked them after the match. The next night on Raw, Cesaro and Sheamus explained their actions, claiming the fans were more supportive of 'novelty acts' from the past like The Hardy Boyz, who they feel did not deserve to be in the match at WrestleMania 33. Subsequently, at Extreme Rules, The Hardy Boyz lost the titles against Cesaro and Sheamus in a steel cage match, and failed to regain it back the following month at the Great Balls of Fire event. Afterwards, it was revealed that Jeff had gotten injured and would be out for an estimated six months, thus Hardy began wrestling in singles matches.
Woken Universe and storyline with Bray Wyatt (2017–2018)
During his feud with Bray Wyatt, Hardy introduced his "Woken" gimmick, after Impact Wrestling dropped their claim to the gimmick and Hardy gained full ownership of it. Wyatt defeated Hardy at Raw 25 on January 22, 2018, and Hardy defeated Wyatt at Elimination Chamber on February 25. Their final match happened on the March 19 episode of Raw, dubbed The Ultimate Deletion, with Hardy winning after distractions from Señor Benjamin. Wyatt then disappeared after being thrown into the Lake of Reincarnation. At WrestleMania 34 on April 7, Hardy competed in the annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and won the match due to a distraction by the returning Wyatt. After WrestleMania, Hardy and Wyatt performed as a tag team, sometimes referred to as The Deleters of Worlds. They won a tournament for the vacant Raw Tag Team Championship, defeating Cesaro and Sheamus at the Greatest Royal Rumble event to win the title. However, they lost the titles at Extreme Rules to The B-Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel). On the July 23 episode of Raw, Hardy and Wyatt received a rematch for the titles, but was again defeated by The B-Team. Following this, Hardy revealed that he was taking time off due to his back fusing with his pelvis, effectively disbanding the team. According to Hardy, the reason WWE disbanded the team was because he and Wyatt pitched several ideas to WWE to work with their characters.
The Hardys fourth reunion and departure (2019–2020)
After more than seven months of absence from television, Hardy returned on the February 26, 2019 episode of SmackDown Live, teaming with his brother Jeff to defeat The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus). At WrestleMania 35 on April 7, Hardy competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was eliminated by eventual winner, Braun Strowman. Two days later on SmackDown Live, The Hardy Boyz defeated The Usos to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. The reign only lasted 21 days (recognized as 20 days by WWE), as they had to vacate the title due to Jeff injuring his knee, this was explained in storyline as injuries afflicted by Lars Sullivan. After his brother Jeff's injury, Hardy began to appear on WWE programming less frequently. At Super ShowDown on June 7, Hardy competed in the 51-man Battle Royal, which was eventually won by Mansoor. From November to December, Hardy occasionally appeared on Raw, losing matches against superstars like Buddy Murphy, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet and Erick Rowan.
On the February 10, 2020 episode of Raw, Hardy confronted Randy Orton about Orton's attack on Edge two weeks earlier. Hardy then got himself into a brawl with him moments after, and was viciously attacked by Orton. The following week on Raw, an injured Hardy appeared and was once again assaulted by Orton, which would be his final appearance in WWE. On March 2, Hardy announced his departure from WWE through his official YouTube channel, where Hardy said that while he's grateful towards the people behind the scenes, he said he is also on different pages with WWE as he feels he needs to have creative input and still has more to give. Later that day, WWE announced that his contract had expired.
All Elite Wrestling
Multiple personalities (2020–2021)
Hardy made his All Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut on the March 18, 2020 episode of Dynamite, reverting to his "Broken" gimmick and being announced as the replacement for the kayfabe injured Nick Jackson on The Elite's team at Blood and Guts. However, the event was postponed to the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the May 6 episode of Dynamite, Hardy wrestled his first match with AEW, teaming up with Kenny Omega for a street fight against The Inner Circle's Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara, and Hardy and Omega lost when Jericho pinned Omega. During this period, due to the lack of live audience, Hardy felt that the Broken character needs public, so he began to include several of his gimmicks, including Broken Matt Hardy, Big Money Matt, Matt Hardy V1, and Unkillable Matt Hardy, being referred to as "Multifarious" Matt Hardy. AEW president Tony Khan later admitted that he "wasn't a fan" of the Broken gimmick and much preferred more realistic presentations in wrestling.
At Double or Nothing, Hardy teamed with The Elite to defeat The Inner Circle in the first ever Stadium Stampede match. During the match, Santana and Ortiz dunked Hardy in the stadium pool, which acted as a version of the Lake of Reincarnation, as Hardy kept cycling through his various gimmicks throughout his career when he surfaced. Hardy then feuded with Sammy Guevara, and after Hardy defeated Guevara in a Broken Rules match at All Out, Hardy took time off until he was cleared to return, due to an injury sustained during the match. On the September 16 episode of Dynamite, Hardy aligned with Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) as their manager, but was attacked backstage before their match. The attacker was later revealed as Guevara and The Elite Deletion match was announced, which took place at The Hardy Compound in Cameron, North Carolina, where Hardy won.
The Hardy Family Office (2021–present)
Hardy then switched to his Big Money persona as he focused on managing Private Party. Over the following weeks, Hardy would display villainous tactics as he began cheating during matches much to Private Party's dismay. On the January 20, 2021 episode of Dynamite, Hardy and Private Party defeated Matt Sydal and Top Flight (Dante Martin and Darius Martin) after using a steel chair before attacking Sydal and Top Flight afterwards, thus turning heel. Hardy then approached Adam Page to accompany and befriend him, and during tag team matches, Hardy would always tag himself in and pick up the victory for his team to Page's behest. After Page set up a match between Hardy and himself, Hardy double-crossed Page, with Private Party and The Hybrid 2 (Angélico and Jack Evans) attacking Page until The Dark Order came out to save him. At the Revolution event, Hardy lost to Page despite multiple interferences from Private Party.
Following Revolution, Hardy became the manager for The Butcher and The Blade (with their valet The Bunny in tow), and along with Private Party, the stable became known as the Matt Hardy Empire before settling on the name Hardy Family Office. Hardy also added The Hybrid 2 to his group in July having previously hiring them on a mercenary basis. At Double or Nothing, Hardy competed in Casino Battle Royale but was eliminated by Christian Cage. This led to a match between the two at Fyter Fest, where Hardy lost to Cage. In August, Matt Hardy and HFO began a feud with Orange Cassidy and Best Friends, which led to a match on the August 25 episode of Dynamite, where Hardy was defeated by Cassidy. However, on the November 12 episode of Rampage, Hardy defeated Cassidy in a Lumberjack match, thanks to an interference from HFO and the heel lumberjacks. Their feud ended on the November 17 episode of Dynamite where his team of The Butcher and The Blade lost to the team of Cassidy and Tomohiro Ishii, where Cassidy gave a crossbody to the interfering Hardy and The Blade during the match.
Professional wrestling style and persona
After the creation of his Broken character, Hardy was praised by several wrestlers and critics for reinventing himself several times during his career. During his career, Hardy has won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Best Gimmick award two times under two different characters, once in 2002 and again in 2016.
Personal life
Hardy was in a six-year relationship with wrestler Amy Dumas, better known as Lita. They first met in January 1999 at a NWA Mid-Atlantic show but did not begin dating until a few months later. They broke up in February 2005 when he discovered that she was having an affair with one of Hardy's close friends, fellow wrestler Adam Copeland, better known as Edge. Hardy also dated WWE wrestler Ashley Massaro.
Hardy married wrestler Rebecca Reyes, better known as Reby Sky, on October 5, 2013. They have three sons and one daughter. Hardy had previously been an addict, and credits his wife for helping him get clean.
Hardy is good friends with fellow wrestlers Marty Garner, Shannon Moore, and Gregory Helms. In December 2020, he claimed to have Native American ancestry.
Legal issues
Hardy was arrested for a DUI on August 20, 2011. Two days later, he was arrested on felony drug charges when police found steroids in his home. In November 2011, Hardy was removed from court-ordered rehab and sent back to jail for drinking.
In January 2014, Hardy and his wife were both arrested after a fight at a hotel.
Other media
In 1999, Matt, along with his brother Jeff, appeared as an uncredited wrestler on That '70s Show episode "That Wrestling Show". Matt and Jeff also appeared on Tough Enough in early 2001, talking to and wrestling the contestants. He appeared in the February 25, 2002 episode of Fear Factor competing against five other World Wrestling Federation wrestlers, including his brother. He won $50,000 for the American Cancer Society. Hardy also appeared on the October 13, 2009 episode of Scare Tactics, as a mental patient who threatens to attack the prank's victim.
In 2001, Matt, Jeff, and Lita appeared in Rolling Stone magazine's 2001 Sports Hall of Fame issue. In 2003, Matt and Jeff, with the help of Michael Krugman, wrote and published their autobiography The Hardy Boyz: Exist 2 Inspire. As part of WWE, Matt appeared in their DVD, The Hardy Boyz: Leap of Faith in 2001. On April 29, 2008, WWE released Twist of Fate: The Matt and Jeff Hardy Story. The DVD featured footage of the brothers in OMEGA and WWE. Hardy also appears on The Hardy Show, an Internet web show which features the Hardys, Shannon Moore, and many of their friends.
Hardy plays himself in the 2013 film Pro Wrestlers vs Zombies in which he and his real-life wife Reby Sky battle the undead.
Hardy's first WWE video game was WWF WrestleMania 2000 in 1999 on the Nintendo 64 shortly followed by WWF SmackDown! in early 2000 on the PlayStation. He made several appearances later in WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role, WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It, WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw. He later returned to the series in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, which was his last WWE video game before his departure to TNA. Following his return to WWE in 2017, he was revealed as a DLC character in WWE 2K18 on September 25 that year alongside tag team partner and brother, Jeff Hardy. Hardy was revealed as a playable character in WWE 2K19 on August 30, 2018. His final appearance in a WWE video game came with WWE 2K20 in 2019.
Filmography
Championships and accomplishments
All Elite Wrestling
Dynamite Award (1 time)
"Bleacher Report PPV Moment of the Year" (2021) – Stadium Stampede match (The Elite vs. The Inner Circle) – Double or Nothing (May 23)
All Star Wrestling (West Virginia)
ASW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brother Nero
CBS Sports
Worst Moment of the Year (2020) vs. Sammy Guevara at All Out (2020)
The Crash
The Crash Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brother Nero
Future Stars of Wrestling
FSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
House of Glory
HOG Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
Maryland Championship Wrestling/MCW Pro Wrestling
MCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
MCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
Extreme Rising World Championship (1 time)
National Championship Wrestling
NCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NCW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
New Dimension Wrestling
NDW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NDW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
New England Wrestling Alliance
NEWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NEWA Hall of Fame (class of 2012)
New Frontier Wrestling Association
NFWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NFWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Venom
NWA 2000
NWA 2000 Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
OMEGA Championship Wrestling
OMEGA Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
OMEGA Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Brother Nero/Jeff Hardy
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Comeback of the Year (2017) with Jeff Hardy
Feud of the Year (2005) vs. Edge and Lita
Match of the Year (2000) with Jeff Hardy vs. The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian in a triangle ladder match at WrestleMania 2000
Match of the Year (2001) with Jeff Hardy vs. The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at WrestleMania X-Seven
Tag Team of the Year (2000) with Jeff Hardy
Ranked No. 17 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2003
Pro Wrestling Syndicate
PWS Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Remix Pro Wrestling
Remix Pro Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Facade
Ring of Honor
ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
Holy S*** Moment of the Decade (2010s) – – with Jeff Hardy
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
TNA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
TNA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Jeff Hardy/Brother Nero
TNA World Tag Team Championship Tournament (2015) – with Jeff Hardy
TNA World Tag Team Championship #1 Contender Tournament (2014) – with Jeff Hardy
WrestleCade
WrestleCade Championship (2 times)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Best Gimmick (2002, 2016)
Worst Feud of the Year (2004) with Lita vs. Kane
Wrestling Superstar
Wrestling Superstar Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment/Federation
ECW Championship (1 time)
WWF Hardcore Championship (1 time)
WWF European Championship (1 time)
WWE United States Championship (1 time)
WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
WWF/World Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Montel Vontavious Porter (1) Jeff Hardy (1) and Bray Wyatt (1)
WCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
André the Giant Memorial Trophy (2018)
Bragging Rights Trophy (2009) – with Team SmackDown
Terri Invitational Tournament (1999) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE Tag Team Eliminator (2018) - with Bray Wyatt
Luchas de Apuestas record
Notes
References
Sources
External links
1974 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American bloggers
American male professional wrestlers
American YouTubers
Male YouTubers
ECW champions
ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions
Living people
NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions
Participants in American reality television series
Professional wrestlers from North Carolina
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Reality show winners
Sportspeople from Raleigh, North Carolina
TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions
TNA/Impact World Tag Team Champions
Twitch (service) streamers
University of North Carolina at Charlotte alumni
WWF European Champions
WWF/WWE Hardcore Champions | true | [
"Andre Elton Hardy Jr. (born March 18, 1987) is an American football tight end who is currently a free agent.\n\nEarly life and college basketball career\nHardy was born in San Diego. His father, Andre Hardy, was a running back who played in the NFL from 1984 to 1987. Hardy played basketball at St. Augustine High School in San Diego. While an all-state and all-county player, Hardy did not earn GPA and SAT scores high enough for NCAA eligibility. Thus, his family decided to have Hardy miss one credit for graduation from St. Augustine and transfer to the New Hampton School. Although Hardy committed to the University of San Francisco while at New Hampton, the university ultimately did not admit Hardy, so Hardy enrolled at Oral Roberts University the summer after graduating from New Hampton in 2007.\n\nWith the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, Hardy averaged 4.1 points and 3.6 rebounds as a freshman in 2007–08. That season, Oral Roberts won the Summit League Tournament and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Hardy then averaged and 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds as a sophomore in 2008–09.\n\nHe then transferred to Cal State Fullerton and sat out the 2009–10 season per NCAA transfer rules. Hardy missed the first 12 games of the season due to ankle surgery but led the team in rebounding with 8.5 per game, in addition to averaging 10.6 points per game. Hardy was elected Big West Newcomer of the Year by conference coaches. As a senior, Hardy averaged 4.9 points and 4.5 rebounds; he left the team in January 2012 for personal reasons.\n\nNFL career\nHardy signed with the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent on April 12, 2012 and was released on May 14, 2012.\n\nOn January 7, 2014, Hardy signed with the Arizona Cardinals on a futures contract. During the preseason, Hardy made 2 receptions for 24 yards. He was placed on the practice squad on August 31. On December 30, Hardy was placed on the practice squad injured reserve after a calf injury.\n\nReferences\n\n1987 births\nLiving people\nAmerican football tight ends\nBasketball players from San Diego\nArizona Cardinals players\nOakland Raiders players\nOral Roberts Golden Eagles men's basketball players\nCal State Fullerton Titans men's basketball players\nForwards (basketball)\nBrooklyn Bolts players\nAmerican men's basketball players",
"Robert Byron \"Bob\" Hardy (born 16 August 1980) is an English musician and the bassist for the Glasgow-based band Franz Ferdinand.\n\nBiography\nHardy grew up in the outskirts of Bradford and attended Bradford Grammar School. Hardy is an artist with an interest in music while Alex Kapranos is a musician interested in art; this helped the two of them become 'firm' friends. Through Hardy's friends from the Glasgow School of Art, Kapranos developed an interest in the work of the Dadaists and the Russian Constructivists. After Hardy had met Nick McCarthy, whose girlfriend was also at the art school, the two began to date members of Hardy's year. Many of the earlier shows of the band would come about thanks to the band's art world contacts.\n\nKapranos was provided with one bass guitar by his friend Mick Cooke, a member of the cult Glaswegian popsters, Belle & Sebastian on the condition that he \"did something useful with it\". Some time around the end of 2001, Bob Hardy received this one bass guitar from Alex Kapranos as Hardy leisured in Kapranos' kitchen in Glasgow. Kapranos conversed with Hardy about mastering the bass guitar. Kapranos asked Hardy, \"Do you want to learn to play the bass then, Bob?\". Hardy replied, \"No, I'm an artist, not a musician.\" Alex then responded in saying, \"It's the same thing,\" which amused Hardy at that moment in time. Bob Hardy is also a painter, a vegan, and likes grammar.\n\nEquipment\nHardy plays a 1974 and a 1978 Rickenbacker 4001s / Hagström / Fender Precision. He previously used an SWR Goliath bass cabinet but now uses an Ampeg SVT Pro head and Ampeg 8x10 cabs. He uses Ernie Ball strings – roundwounds, medium gauge. His plectrum is a custom .60 mm magnesium/teflon amalgam.\n\nReferences\n\n1980 births\nLiving people\nMusicians from Dewsbury\nPeople educated at Bradford Grammar School\nEnglish rock bass guitarists\nMale bass guitarists\nFranz Ferdinand (band) members\nAlumni of the Glasgow School of Art\nIvor Novello Award winners\nPeople from Dennistoun\n21st-century English bass guitarists\nFFS (band) members"
] |
[
"Matt Hardy",
"Version 1 (2002-2004)",
"What is Version 1?",
"At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the brand extension, however, Hardy was relegated to Heat while Jeff wrestled",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Along with his MF'er (Mattitude Follower) Shannon Moore in his corner, 2003 began with Hardy frantically trying to lose weight to get under",
"Did Hardy end up loosing weight?",
"After just barely making weight,"
] | C_8bf9dcbf1a034e02873104f08a75bf5d_1 | Did he fight against someone after accomplishing this weight loss goal? | 4 | Did Matt Hardy fight against someone after accomplishing the weight loss goal? | Matt Hardy | At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the brand extension, however, Hardy was relegated to Heat while Jeff wrestled on the main show, Raw. On the August 12 episode of Raw, Hardy turned against Jeff during Jeff's match against Rob Van Dam, because Hardy was frustrated at not receiving a match against Van Dam for the number one contendership for the Intercontinental Championship. A short time later, Hardy joined the SmackDown! roster, and began dubbing himself "Matt Hardy: Version 1", complete with a "version 1" hand signal. Hardy defeated The Undertaker on the September 12 and October 3 episodes of the show, due to interference from Brock Lesnar. Along with his MF'er (Mattitude Follower) Shannon Moore in his corner, 2003 began with Hardy frantically trying to lose weight to get under the 215 lb (98 kg) weight limit to compete for the Cruiserweight Championship. After just barely making weight, Hardy defeated Billy Kidman at No Way Out to win the Cruiserweight title. At WrestleMania XIX, he successfully defended it against Rey Mysterio. Hardy lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Mysterio in the main event of the June 5 edition of SmackDown - the first and only time a Cruiserweight Championship match main evented a show. After dropping the Cruiserweight Championship, Hardy briefly feuded with Eddie Guerrero, but was unsuccessful in capturing Guerrero's United States Championship or Tag Team Championship. The Mattitude faction then expanded to include Crash Holly as Moore's "Moore-on" (apprentice). He later disbanded the group in November and returned to Raw in order to be able to travel and work with his then girlfriend Lita, who just returned from an injury. On his first night back, he turned on Lita in storyline after teasing a proposal to her. He defeated Christian, who was vying for Lita's affections, on the following edition of Raw. In April 2004, Hardy saved Lita from getting attacked by Kane. Hardy defeated Kane at Vengeance, but lost a match against Kane at SummerSlam. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Hardy was chokeslamed off the stage by Kane. Hardy then spent almost a year off from wrestling due to a severe knee injury. CANNOTANSWER | Hardy defeated Billy Kidman at No Way Out to win the Cruiserweight title. | Matthew Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his time with WWE, Impact Wrestling, and Ring of Honor (ROH).
With his real life brother Jeff, Hardy gained notoriety in WWF's tag team division during the 2000s due to his participation in TLC matches. He is a 14-time world tag team champion, having held the WWE World Tag Team Championship six times, the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship three times, the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship, ROH World Tag Team Championship, and WCW Tag Team Championship once each, and the TNA World Tag Team Championships twice.
Wrestling through four separate decades, Hardy has kept himself relevant partially through a variety of different gimmicks and his use of social media. In 2002, Hardy began a solo career in WWE. His subsequent "Version 1" persona was named Best Gimmick by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Hardy's eccentric "Broken" gimmick, which he debuted in 2016 (and which was renamed "Woken" following his subsequent WWE return), garnered praise from wrestling critics and earned him multiple awards, including a second Best Gimmick award, becoming one of the most talked about characters in all of wrestling. As a singles wrestler, Hardy has won three world championships (one ECW Championship, and two TNA World Heavyweight Championships). All totaled between WWE, TNA/Impact, and ROH, Hardy has held 21 total championships.
Early life
Hardy was born in Cameron, North Carolina, the son of Gilbert and Ruby Moore Hardy. He is the older brother of Jeff Hardy. Their mother died of brain cancer in 1987. Hardy played baseball as a child and throughout high school, but had stopped by his senior year. He also played football, either as a linebacker or a defensive end. Hardy was a good student at Union Pines High School in North Carolina, and was a nominee for the "Morehead Award", a scholarship to any university in North Carolina. Hardy attended University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he majored in engineering; after a year, however, he dropped out due to his father being ill. He then attended Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst to gain his associate degree.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1992–2001)
Hardy, along with his brother Jeff and friends, started their own federation, the Trampoline Wrestling Federation (TWF) and mimicked the moves they saw on television. Shortly after Hardy sent in a tape for the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Amateur Challenge using the ring name High Voltage, a tag team named High Voltage began competing in WCW, causing Hardy to change his name to Surge. A few years later, it was revealed to him by Chris Kanyon that the tape had been kept in the WCW Power Plant, watched multiple times, and that the name High Voltage was blatantly stolen from it. Beginning in 1994, The Hardys wrestled for several North Carolina-based independent circuit promotions and adapted a number of alter-egos. As The Wolverine, Hardy captured the New England Wrestling Alliance (NEWA) Championship in May 1994. As High Voltage, he teamed with Venom to claim the New Frontier Wrestling Association (NFWA) Tag Team Championship in March 1995. A month later, High Voltage defeated the Willow for the NFWA Championship.
In 1997, Matt and Jeff created their own wrestling promotion, The Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (frequently abbreviated to OMEGA Championship Wrestling, or simply OMEGA), in which Matt competed under the name High Voltage. Both Matt and Jeff took apart the ring and put it back together at every event they had, while Matt sewed all the costumes worn in OMEGA. The promotion folded in October 1999, after both Matt and Jeff signed with the World Wrestling Federation.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
Early years (1994–1998)
Hardy worked as a jobber for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1994 up until he signed a full-time contract in 1998. His first WWF match was against Nikolai Volkoff on the May 23, 1994 episode of Monday Night Raw, which he lost by submission. A night later at a taping of WWF Wrestling Challenge, he lost a match against Owen Hart. He continued to wrestle sporadically in the WWF throughout 1994 and 1995, losing matches against Crush, Razor Ramon, Hakushi, Owen Hart, the imposter Undertaker, Hunter Hearst Helmsley and "The Ringmaster" Steve Austin.
Hardy teamed with Jeff for the first time in the WWF in 1996, losing to teams such as The Smoking Gunns and The Grimm Twins on WWF television. Matt and Jeff had a short lived feud with The Headbangers (Thrasher and Mosh), losing to the duo twice in 1997. It was during this time that Matt and Jeff experimented with different ring names, at one stage being called Ingus (Matt) and Wildo Jinx (Jeff). In Matt's final singles match for the promotion before signing a full-time contract he lost to Val Venis on a taping of Shotgun in 1998.
The Hardy Boyz (1998–2001)
It was not until 1998, however, (at the height of The Attitude Era) that the Hardy brothers were given full-time WWF contracts and sent to train with former wrestler Dory Funk, Jr. The Hardy Boyz used a cruiserweight, fast-paced high flying style in their matches, often leaping from great heights to do damage to their opponents (and themselves in the process). In 1999, while feuding with Edge and Christian, the duo briefly picked up Michael Hayes as a manager.
At King of the Ring, The Hardyz defeated Edge and Christian to earn the #1 contendership for the WWF Tag Team Championship. On July 5, they defeated The APA to win their first Tag Team Championship. They soon dumped Hayes and briefly picked up Gangrel as a manager, after Gangrel turned on Edge and Christian. At No Mercy, The Hardyz defeated Edge and Christian in the first ever tag team ladder match. At the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, The Hardyz defeated The Dudley Boyz in the first ever tag team tables match. They competed against The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian for the Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 2000 in the first ever Triangle Ladder match, but were unsuccessful.
Hardy won the Hardcore Championship on April 24, 2000, on Raw Is War, by defeating Crash Holly, but lost it back to Holly three days later on SmackDown!, when Holly applied the "24/7 rule" during Hardy's title defense against Jeff. The Hardy Boyz then found a new manager in Matt's real-life girlfriend Lita. Together, the three became known as "Team Xtreme".
The Hardy Boyz competed in the first ever Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, for the WWF Tag Team Championship against The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian, but were unsuccessful. At Unforgiven, The Hardyz defeated Edge and Christian in a steel cage match to win the tag team championship, and successfully retained it the following night on Raw Is War against Edge and Christian in a ladder match.
In April 2001, The Hardyz began feuding with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H (known as The Power Trip), which also led to a singles push for both Matt and Jeff. Hardy helped Jeff defeat Triple H for the Intercontinental Championship, and shortly after Hardy defeated Eddie Guerrero to win the European Championship on SmackDown!. At Backlash he retained the title against Guerrero and Christian in a triple threat, and against Edge the following night on Raw.
Throughout the year, the Hardy Boyz continued to win as a tag team, winning the WWF Tag Team Titles two more times, and the WCW Tag Team Championship during the Invasion. By the end of the year, the Hardy Boyz began a storyline where they were having trouble co-existing. This culminated in a match between the two, with Lita as the guest referee, at the Vengeance pay-per-view, which Jeff won. Hardy defeated Jeff and Lita the following night on Raw in a two-on-one handicap match.
Version 1 gimmick and feud with Kane (2002–2004)
At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the brand extension, however, Matt was relegated to Heat while Jeff wrestled on the main show, Raw. On the August 12 episode of Raw, Hardy turned heel by attacking Jeff during Jeff's match against Rob Van Dam, because Hardy was frustrated at not receiving a match against Van Dam for the number one contendership for the Intercontinental Championship. A short time later, Hardy joined the SmackDown! roster, and began dubbing himself "Matt Hardy: Version 1", complete with a "version 1" hand signal. Hardy defeated The Undertaker on the September 12 and October 3 episodes of the show, due to interference from Brock Lesnar.
Along with his Mattitude Follower Shannon Moore in his corner, 2003 began with Hardy frantically trying to lose weight to get under the weight limit to compete for the Cruiserweight Championship. After just barely making weight, Hardy defeated Billy Kidman at No Way Out to win the Cruiserweight title. At WrestleMania XIX, he successfully defended it against Rey Mysterio. Hardy lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Mysterio in the main event of the June 5 episode of SmackDown! - the first and only time a Cruiserweight Championship match main evented a show.
After dropping the Cruiserweight Championship, Hardy briefly feuded with Eddie Guerrero, but was unsuccessful in capturing Guerrero's United States Championship or WWE Tag Team Championship. The Mattitude faction then expanded to include Crash Holly as Moore's "Moore-on" (apprentice). He later disbanded the group in November and returned to Raw in order to be able to travel and work with his then girlfriend Lita, who just returned from an injury. On his first night back, he turned on Lita in storyline after teasing a proposal to her. He defeated Christian, who was vying for Lita's affections, on the following edition of Raw.
In April 2004, Hardy saved Lita from getting attacked by Kane, turning face in the process. Hardy defeated Kane in a no disqualification match at Vengeance, but lost a "Till Death To Us Part" match against Kane at SummerSlam, resulting in Lita being forced to marry Kane. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Hardy was chokeslamed off the stage by Kane during the wedding. Hardy then spent almost a year off from wrestling due to a severe knee injury.
Departure and sporadic appearances (2005)
Along with his friend Rhyno, Hardy was released by WWE on April 11, 2005. Hardy's release was largely due to unprofessional conduct with social media after discovering that Lita was having a real-life affair with his best friend Edge. The public knowledge of the affair and Hardy's release led to Edge and Lita receiving jeers from the crowds at WWE events, often resulting in chants of "You screwed Matt!", and, "We want Matt!", which meant kayfabe storylines being affected considering that Lita was married to Kane at the time in kayfabe. Edge and Lita used the affair and fan backlash to become a hated on-screen couple, which led to Lita turning heel for the first time in over five years.
Fans began a petition on the internet, wanting WWE to re-sign Hardy, and amassed over fifteen thousand signatures. Hardy released two character promotional vignettes, that he was planning to use before he was offered a new contract by WWE. Hardy called himself The Angelic Diablo with the tagline "the scar will become a symbol" in reference to the way in which he had been treated by Lita and WWE. On the June 20 episode of Raw, during the storyline wedding of Edge and Lita, Hardy's entrance music and video were played when the priest asked if anyone had a reason why Edge and Lita should not be wed.
Independent circuit and Ring of Honor (2005)
Following his WWE release, Matt returned to the independent circuit and wrestled several matches for the Allied Powers Wrestling Federation (APWF), International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) and Big Time Wrestling (BTW).
Hardy appeared at a scheduled Ring of Honor (ROH) event on July 16, 2005, in Woodbridge, Connecticut where he defeated Christopher Daniels via submission. Hardy also cut a brief worked shoot promo where he criticized WWE and John Laurinaitis. Following his official return to WWE, Hardy was met with backlash following a match with Homicide from the fans at a subsequent ROH event, which Hardy won. The next day at his final ROH appearance, he lost to Roderick Strong.
Return to WWE
Feud with Edge (2005–2006)
On July 11, 2005, on Raw, Hardy attacked Edge backstage and again later during Edge's match with Kane. Before being escorted out of the building by security, Hardy stated that Edge (calling him by his real name of "Adam") and Lita would pay for their actions and told fans that they could see him at Ring of Honor while security officials and event staff were trying to restrain him. Hardy also called out Johnny Ace as security had him in handcuffs taking him out of the arena. This caused an uproar amongst fans, who were confused and wondered if the whole thing was a work or a shoot. Similar occurrences repeated during the following two weeks.
On the August 1 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon officially announced Hardy's return to WWE, adding that Hardy would face Edge at SummerSlam. Hardy made his in-ring return, defeating Snitsky on the August 8 Raw. Seconds after the victory, Hardy was attacked by Edge, and as he was being carried backstage, Matt counterattacked Edge in the locker room. On August 21 at SummerSlam, their match came to a premature end when Edge dropped Hardy onto the top of a ring post, causing him to bleed heavily. The referee ended the match on the grounds that Hardy could not continue, and Edge was declared the winner. After SummerSlam, the two continued feuding on Raw, including a Street Fight on August 29 that resulted in Hardy performing a Side Effect on Edge off the entrance stage and into electrical equipment below; the match ended in a no contest. At Unforgiven, Edge faced Hardy in a steel cage match. Hardy caught an interfering Lita with the Twist of Fate and won the match with a leg drop off the top of the cage. Hardy and Edge faced each other on October 3 at WWE Raw Homecoming in a Loser Leaves Raw ladder match. Edge's briefcase holding his Money in the Bank contract for his WWE Championship opportunity was suspended above the ring. The winner of the match received the contract and the loser was forced to leave Raw. Edge tied Hardy's arms in the ropes, and Lita trapped Hardy in a crucifix hold, leaving Hardy only able to watch Edge win.
With his defeat at the hands of Edge, Hardy was moved to the SmackDown! brand where he re-debuted with a win over Simon Dean on October 21 in Reno, Nevada. One week later, Hardy won the fan vote to represent Team SmackDown! (alongside Rey Mysterio) to challenge Team Raw (Edge and Chris Masters) at Taboo Tuesday. Edge, however, refused to wrestle and sent Snitsky in place of him in the match, which Hardy and Mysterio won.
Back on SmackDown!, Hardy started an angle with MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) and their manager Melina when Melina approached Hardy, seemingly wanting Hardy to join with her team. Hardy refused the offer, which led to him facing the tag team on several occasions with a variety of partners. On July 25, after the SmackDown! taping, Hardy was taken out of action after doctors found the remnants of the staph infection that had plagued him the previous year. He was sidelined until August 25 while he healed.
Upon his return to action, Hardy feuded against childhood friend and reigning Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms. At No Mercy, in their home state, Hardy beat Helms in a non-title match. The two met again at Survivor Series, where Hardy's team won in a clean sweep. They wrestled one final match, a one time appearance in Booker T's Pro Wrestling Alliance (PWA) promotion, where Hardy defeated Helms in a North Carolina Street Fight.
The Hardy Boyz reunion (2006–2007)
On the November 21, 2006 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Hardy and Jeff competed in a match together for the first time in almost five years, defeating The Full Blooded Italians. At December to Dismember, the Hardy Boyz issued an open challenge to any tag team who wanted to face them. MNM answered their challenge by reuniting at December to Dismember, a match won by the Hardy Boyz. At Armageddon, Hardy and Jeff competed against Paul London and Brian Kendrick, MNM, and Dave Taylor and William Regal in a Ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship but lost. Subsequently, he and Jeff feuded with MNM after the legitimate incident where they injured Mercury's face at Armageddon. This led to a long term rivalry, and at the Royal Rumble, Hardy and Jeff defeated MNM. Mercury and Hardy continued to feud on SmackDown! until Mercury was released from WWE on March 26.
The night after WrestleMania 23 on Raw, the Hardys competed in a 10-team battle royal for the World Tag Team Championship. They won the titles for the sixth time from then WWE Champion John Cena and Shawn Michaels after last eliminating Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. This started a feud with Cade and Murdoch, and the Hardys successfully retained their World Tag Team Championship in their first title defense at Backlash. The Hardy Boyz also successfully retained their titles at Judgment Day against Cade and Murdoch. One month later at One Night Stand, they defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team to retain the titles in a Ladder match. The following night on Raw, Vince McMahon demanded that The Hardys once again defend their championships against Cade and Murdoch. The Hardys were defeated after Murdoch pushed Jeff's foot off the bottom rope during Cade's pinfall, causing the three count to continue. They invoked their rematch clause against Cade and Murdoch at Vengeance: Night of Champions, but were unsuccessful.
Feud with MVP and championship reigns (2007–2009)
On the July 6, 2007 episode of SmackDown!, Hardy won a non-title match against United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), which resulted in a feud between the two. Hardy was defeated by MVP at The Great American Bash for the United States Championship. MVP then claimed that he was "better than Hardy at everything", which led to a series of contests between Hardy and MVP, such as a basketball game, an arm wrestling contest, and a chess match which MVP "sneezed" on and ruined when Hardy put him in check. MVP challenged Hardy to a boxing match at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXV, however MVP was legitimately diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Since MVP was unable to compete, Hardy faced his replacement, former world champion boxer, Evander Holyfield. The match ended in a no contest after MVP entered the ring to verbally abuse Holyfield, who then knocked him out. MVP also challenged Hardy to a beer drinking contest at SummerSlam, but as revenge for what happened at SNME, Hardy allowed Stone Cold Steve Austin to replace him; Austin simply performed a stunner on MVP then kept drinking.
After a segment involving MVP inadvertently choosing Hardy as his tag-team partner, Theodore Long promptly set up a match against Deuce 'n Domino for the WWE Tag Team Championship on the August 31 episode of SmackDown! which Hardy and MVP were able to win, therefore setting up Hardy's first reign as WWE Tag Team Champion. Hardy and MVP retained the titles at Unforgiven in a rematch against former champions Deuce 'n Domino. Hardy was scheduled to face MVP at Cyber Sunday, but due to a real-life head injury sustained on the October 26 episode of SmackDown!, he was not medically cleared to compete. As part of the storyline, Hardy continually asked MVP for a shot at the United States Championship but MVP refused stating that he was more focused on the Tag Team Championship.
On the November 16 episode of SmackDown!, Hardy and MVP dropped the WWE Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz. Despite the fact that Hardy was hurt, MVP immediately invoked the rematch clause. After the rematch, in which Hardy was forced to tap out, MVP attacked Hardy, repeatedly targeting his knee. It was later confirmed by WWE.com that Hardy had suffered an injury at his former partner's hands and that he might not be able to compete at Survivor Series. Despite Hardy's absence at Survivor Series, his team was able to win the match. On November 21, WWE's official website reported that Hardy underwent an emergency appendectomy in Tampa, Florida after his appendix burst. Hardy made an appearance at the December 31 episode of Raw supporting his brother Jeff. To further Jeff's storyline with Randy Orton, however, Hardy was attacked by Orton. Hardy made his return at a live event in Muncie, Indiana on March 1, 2008.
On March 30, 2008, at WrestleMania XXIV, during the Money in the Bank ladder match Hardy cut through the crowd and attacked MVP to prevent him from winning the match. He made his official in-ring return the next night on Raw, losing a singles match to WWE Champion Randy Orton. On the April 4 episode of SmackDown, Hardy faced MVP in a non-title match, which he won, re-igniting their storyline rivalry. On April 27, 2008, Hardy defeated MVP to win the United States Championship at Backlash, and successfully retained his title against MVP five days later on SmackDown.
Hardy declared himself as a fighting champion that would take on all challenges, defending the United States championship against Shelton Benjamin, Elijah Burke, Chuck Palumbo, Mr. Kennedy, Chavo Guerrero and Umaga. Hardy was drafted to the ECW brand on the June 23, 2008 episode of Raw during the 2008 WWE Draft, in the process making the United States Championship exclusive to ECW. He dropped the United States Championship to Shelton Benjamin at the Great American Bash pay-per-view on July 20, 2008, which meant that the title returned to SmackDown.
On the July 22 episode of ECW, Hardy became the number one contender to Mark Henry's ECW Championship after defeating John Morrison, The Miz and Finlay in a fatal four-way match. He won the title match at SummerSlam by disqualification due to interference from Henry's manager, Tony Atlas, thus he failed to win the title. Due to the ending of the pay-per-view match, Hardy received a rematch for the title on the next episode of ECW, but again failed to win the title when Henry pinned him after a distraction by Atlas. At Unforgiven, Hardy won the ECW Championship during the Championship scramble match, defeating then-champion Henry, The Miz, Finlay and Chavo Guerrero by pinning the Miz with three minutes left, marking his first world heavyweight championship win. He continued to feud with Henry until No Mercy, where Hardy successfully retained the title. Hardy lost the title to Jack Swagger on the January 13, 2009 episode of ECW, which was taped on January 12.
Feud with Jeff Hardy and departure (2009–2010)
At the 2009 Royal Rumble pay-per-view, after losing an ECW Championship rematch to Swagger, Hardy turned on his brother when he hit Jeff with a steel chair, allowing Edge to win the WWE Championship, turning heel in the process. On the January 27, 2009 episode of ECW, it was announced by General Manager Theodore Long that Hardy had requested, and been granted, his release from ECW and had re-signed with the SmackDown brand. As part of the buildup to this feud, Matt strongly implied that he was responsible for all of Jeff's accidents leading back to November, including an assault in a hotel stairwell that prevented Jeff from appearing at Survivor Series, an automobile accident where Jeff's car was run off the road, and a pyrotechnics malfunction where part of the pyro from Jeff's entrance was fired directly at Jeff, in an attempt to stop Jeff holding the WWE Championship. Despite Hardy's attempts to goad Jeff into fighting him, Jeff refused to fight his brother, but, on the March 6 episode of SmackDown, Jeff attacked him during a promo where Matt implied that he was also responsible for the fire that burned down Jeff's house, going so far as to reveal that he had in his possession a dog collar that supposedly belonged to Jeff's dog, Jack (who died in the fire), that he claimed to have salvaged from the wreckage of the house. At WrestleMania 25, Matt defeated Jeff in an Extreme Rules match, and in a stretcher match on the following episode of SmackDown.
On the April 13 episode of Raw, Hardy was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the WWE draft. Despite the fact that the two were on different brands, he continued his feud with Jeff. Two weeks later, in a rematch from WrestleMania, Hardy lost to Jeff in an "I Quit" match at Backlash, in which he legitimately broke his hand.
Hardy continued to wrestle with his hand in a cast, incorporating it into his persona and claiming that he was wrestling under protest. He reignited his feud with MVP on Raw for the United States Championship. He also formed a tag team with William Regal, and the two acted as henchmen for General Manager Vickie Guerrero. At the June 22 taping of WWE Superstars, Hardy suffered yet another injury, when his intestines went through his abdominal wall, during a triple threat match against MVP and Kofi Kingston. Hardy had suffered a tear in his abdominal muscle two years previously, but had not needed surgery until it worsened, and became a danger to his health.
He was then traded back to the SmackDown brand on June 29, and underwent surgery for the torn abdominal muscle on July 2. He made his return on the August 7 episode of SmackDown as the special guest referee in the World Heavyweight Championship match between his brother, Jeff, and CM Punk, and helped Jeff retain the championship by counting the pinfall. The following week Hardy turned face again when he saved his brother when CM Punk and The Hart Dynasty attacked both Jeff and John Morrison. On the August 21 episode of SmackDown, after apologizing for his past actions towards Jeff and admitting that he was not behind any of Jeff's accidents, he had his first match back after his injury when he teamed with Jeff and John Morrison to defeat The Hart Dynasty and CM Punk, when Matt pinned Punk.
In early 2010, Hardy began an on-screen relationship with Maria; but was brief and the relationship ended when Maria was released from her WWE contract. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown, Hardy qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI by defeating Drew McIntyre, but was unsuccessful at WrestleMania, as the match was won by Jack Swagger. Hardy was suspended by Vince McMahon because he attacked McIntyre after McIntyre lost to Kofi Kingston at Over the Limit. He was able to get his revenge on McIntyre during the Viewer's Choice episode of Raw when chosen as the opponent for McIntyre, with General Manager Theodore Long stating that Hardy was suspended from SmackDown, but not from Raw. On the following episode of SmackDown, however, Vickie Guerrero announced that, per orders of Vince McMahon, Hardy had been suspended from all WWE programming. However, at Fatal 4-Way, Hardy prevented McIntyre from regaining the Intercontinental Championship, thus continuing their feud. On the following edition of SmackDown, he was reinstated by Long and had a match with McIntyre, which Hardy won. After the match, it was announced that McIntyre's visa had legitimately expired and was sent back to Scotland, thus ending their feud. Hardy was featured in the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match but was unsuccessful in winning with Kane coming out victorious.
On September 12, WWE confirmed they had sent Hardy home from a European tour. Following this, Hardy began posting videos on his YouTube channel expressing his disinterest in the WWE product and insisting that he wanted to be released from the company. On October 15, 2010, WWE announced that Hardy had been released from his contract. Hardy later stated that his release had been in effect two weeks before WWE made the announcement.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2011)
On January 9, 2011, Hardy made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) at the Genesis pay-per-view, as part of the stable Immortal. He was the surprise opponent for Rob Van Dam, and defeated him to prevent Van Dam from receiving a match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, held by Hardy's brother Jeff. In the main event, Hardy attempted to interfere in Jeff's World Heavyweight Championship match with Mr. Anderson, but was stopped by Van Dam, which led to Jeff losing both the match and the championship. On the January 13 episode of Impact!, the Hardy Boyz reunited to defeat Anderson and Van Dam in a tag team match, following interference from Beer Money, Inc. On February 13 at Against All Odds, Van Dam defeated Hardy in a rematch.
On the following episode of Impact!, Hardy, along with the rest of Immortal and Ric Flair, betrayed Fortune. On March 13 at Victory Road, Hardy was defeated by Flair's previous protégé, A.J. Styles. On April 17 at Lockdown, Immortal, represented by Hardy, Abyss, Bully Ray and Ric Flair, were defeated by Fortune members James Storm, Kazarian and Robert Roode and Christopher Daniels, who replaced an injured A.J. Styles, in a Lethal Lockdown match. On the April 21 episode of Impact!, Hardy faced Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, Hardy's first World Title match in TNA, but was defeated. The following month, Hardy was granted a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship against Beer Money, Inc. (James Storm and Robert Roode). While the champions looked to defend the title against the Hardy Boyz, Matt instead introduced the returning Chris Harris, Storm's old tag team partner, as his partner for the title match. The match took place at Sacrifice, where Storm and Roode retained their titles.
On June 21, it was reported that TNA had suspended Hardy. On August 20, Hardy was released from TNA following a DUI arrest that occurred earlier that same day.
Return to the independent circuit (2011–2017)
Hardy announced his retirement from full-time professional wrestling due to injuries on September 1, 2011. He issued a challenge to his long-time rival MVP, who was wrestling in Japan at the time, to one final match at "Crossfire Live!" in Nashville. The event was held May 19, 2012 and benefited the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Hardy won the match.
Throughout 2012, Hardy wrestled sporadically on the independent circuit, working with promotions such as Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Syndicate and Northeast Wrestling. On October 5, Hardy was defeated by Kevin Steen at Pro Wrestling Xperience's An Evil Twist of Fate. On November 11, Hardy, as the masked wrestler Rahway Reaper, defeated the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Kevin Matthews, winning the championship. On February 9, 2013, Hardy lost the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Championship back to Matthews.
On February 16, 2013, at Family Wrestling Entertainment's No Limit, Hardy wrestled a TLC match for the FWE Heavyweight Championship against the champion Carlito and Tommy Dreamer, but he was defeated. On November 30, 2013, at WrestleCade, Hardy defeated Carlito to become the first ever WrestleCade Champion.
On May 3, 2014, following a match between Christian York and Drolix, Hardy defeated Drolix to become the new MCW Heavyweight Champion. At Maryland Championship Wrestling's Shane Shamrock Cup, Hardy defeated Luke Hawx in a TLC match for Hardy's title and Hawx's Extreme Rising World title. Hardy won the match, but he gave back the title to Hawx. On October 4, Hardy lost the MCW Heavyweight Championship back to Drolix, following outside interference from Kevin Eck.
On February 9, 2015, Hardy appeared on FWE's "No Limits 2015" iPPV, challenging Drew Galloway for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated.
On November 28, 2015, Hardy lost the WrestleCade Championship to Jeff Jarrett at WrestleCade IV in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Hardy regained the title in a triple-threat cage match against Jarrett and Ethan Carter III in Hickory, North Carolina on May 20, 2016. He appeared at the #DELETEWCPW event for What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) in Nottingham, England on November 30. Hardy, billed as "Broken" Matt Hardy, lost a no-disqualification match to Bully Ray, with Ray proposing the no-disqualification stipulation at the last minute, and Hardy accepting there and then.
Return to ROH (2012–2014)
At Death Before Dishonor X: State of Emergency in 2012, Hardy returned to Ring of Honor, confronting Adam Cole and challenging him to a match for the ROH World Television Championship. On December 16 at Final Battle 2012: Doomsday, Hardy defeated Cole in a non-title match.
At the following iPPV, 11th Anniversary Show on March 2, 2013, Hardy joined the villainous S.C.U.M. stable. On April 5 at the Supercard of Honor VII iPPV, Hardy unsuccessfully challenged Matt Taven for the ROH World Television Championship in a three-way elimination match, which also included Adam Cole. On June 22 at Best in the World 2013, Hardy defeated former S.C.U.M. stablemate Kevin Steen in a No Disqualification match to become the number one contender to the ROH World Championship. Hardy received his title shot at the following day's Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings, but was defeated by the defending champion, Jay Briscoe. Later that same day, S.C.U.M. was forced to disband after losing a Steel Cage Warfare match against Team ROH. On December 14, 2013, at Final Battle 2013, Hardy defeated Adam Page in a singles match; later on in the main event, Hardy aided Adam Cole in retaining his title and forming a tag team with him. After aiding Cole at Supercard of Honor VIII, Hardy was given Jay Briscoe's unofficial "Real World Title" belt, which he renamed the "ROH Iconic Championship". In July, Hardy opted out of his ROH contract and went back to TNA.
Return to OMEGA (2013–2018)
Matt announced that OMEGA would return in January 2013 with an event titled "Chinlock For Chuck". The main event featured Matt, Jeff, Shane "Hurricane" Helms and "Cowboy" James Storm defeating Gunner, Steve Corino, CW Anderson and Lodi. On October 12, 2013, at "Chapel Thrill", Hardy announced a Tournament for the OMEGA Heavyweight Championship which featured himself vs. CW Anderson and Shane "Hurricane" Helms vs. "The King" Shane Williams. After Hardy's qualifying match he was attacked by CW but was saved by the returning Willow the Whisp. Hardy won that match and advanced to the finals.
On November 21, 2015, Matt won the OMEGA Heavyweight Championship for the second time, defeating former student Trevor Lee. Following this, Matt (upon regaining the TNA world title as part of his villainous egotistical "Iconic" gimmick) began proclaiming himself to be the only world champion that matters, and the only "true" world champion in wrestling, as he held both the TNA and OMEGA Championships, which (according to him) put him above any other promotions' world champions. Throughout 2016, Hardy defended the TNA and OMEGA titles jointly at OMEGA events as part of his "only true world champion" gimmick.
On January 29, The Hardys won the OMEGA Tag Team Championships.
Return to TNA
The Hardys third reunion (2014–2015)
On July 24, 2014, Hardy returned to TNA and reunited with Jeff to reform The Hardys for the third time. At the Destination X episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys were defeated by The Wolves in a match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the August 14 episode of Impact Wrestling, Team 3D (formerly the Dudley Boyz) challenged The Hardys to a match, which Team 3D won. At the Hardcore Justice episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys and Team 3D talked about a match involving themselves and The Wolves. When The Wolves were asked by the two teams, they agreed. Later that night, Kurt Angle announced all three teams would compete in a best of three series for the TNA World Tag Team Championship with the winners of the first match choosing the stipulation of the next one. The Hardys won the second match of the series on the September 10 episode of Impact Wrestling in a tables match and choose a ladder match for the third match of the series. The Hardys were unsuccessful in winning that match on the September 17 episode of Impact Wrestling, as the Wolves won that match. The Wolves then went on to pick the final match of the series to be a Full Metal Mayhem match to take place on the October 8 episode of Impact Wrestling. The Hardys were unsuccessful in that match as the Wolves won that match.
On October 22, The Hardys entered a number one contenders tournament for the TNA World Tag Team Championship defeating The BroMans (Jessie Godderz and DJ Z) in the first round of the tournament. On the October 29 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys defeated Team Dixie (Ethan Carter III and Tyrus) in the semifinals to advance to the finals of the tournament, where they defeated Samoa Joe and Low Ki to become number one contenders for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the January 16, 2015 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys defeated the Wolves. At the Lockdown episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys were defeated by The Revolution in a six sides of steel cage match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the February 20 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy and The Wolves defeated The Revolution in a six-man tag team match. In March, The Hardys participated in a tournament for the vacant TNA World Tag Team Championship. On March 16, 2015, Matt and Jeff won an Ultimate X match for the titles. On May 8, 2015, Hardy vacated the TNA World Tag Team Championship due to his brother Jeff being injured.
World Heavyweight Champion (2015–2016)
On June 28, 2015, Hardy was among the five wrestlers who competed for the TNA King of the Mountain Championship at Slammiversary, with Jeff Jarrett ultimately emerging victorious. On the July 8 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy requested a world title shot against Ethan Carter III, but was denied and forced to face the Dirty Heels (Austin Aries and Bobby Roode) in a handicap match, which he lost. On the July 22 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy defeated Roode in a Tables match to become the #1 contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On the August 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy got his shot at the title against EC3 in a Full Metal Mayhem match, but failed to win the title. On the September 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy got another shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against EC3, but again failed to win the title; as part of the storyline, Jeff Hardy was forced to act as Ethan Carter's personal assistant. On the September 30 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy was added to the Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway main event match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Bound for Glory after he and Galloway defeated Carter and Tyrus, making it a three-way match, following which Jeff, who EC3 had just "fired" in the previous episode, was revealed to be the special guest referee.
On October 4 at Bound for Glory, Matt won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship by pinning Galloway. However, EC3 filed an injunction (kayfabe) that banned Hardy from appearing on Impact Wrestling for a month, which forced Hardy to relinquish the title in order to stay on the show. However, Hardy had been participating in the TNA World Title Series for the vacant title. He qualified to the round of 16 by defeating Davey Richards, Robbie E and Eddie Edwards. He then advanced to the round of 8 by defeating the King of the Mountain Champion Bobby Roode and then to Jessie Godderz to continue his winning streak. The semifinals and finals were held on the January 5, 2016, live episode of Impact Wrestling during its debut on Pop TV, in which he defeated Eric Young to advance to the final round. Hardy faced EC3 in the TNA World Title Series finals, but lost the match via pinfall.
Hardy won the TNA World Title from EC3 on the January 19, 2016 episode of Impact Wrestling, becoming the first man to defeat him in a one-on-one match in TNA. During the match a double turn took place; Hardy turned heel after Tyrus betrayed EC3. The following week on Impact Wrestling, Jeff Hardy had confronted him about last week and issued a challenge to Matt for the World Heavyweight title in the main event and Matt accepted. However, later before the main event could begin, Eric Young and Bram attacked Jeff from behind. Kurt Angle then came out to try save Jeff, and Matt had Tyrus attack Angle from behind. While Matt watched from the ramp, Young attacked Jeff with the Piledriver off the apron through a table. The following week, he successfully retained his title against Angle. At Lockdown, he retained his title in a Six-side of steel match against Ethan Carter III, with the help of Rockstar Spud. He lost his title against Drew Galloway on the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, after a match featuring EC3 and Jeff Hardy.
Two weeks later he received a rematch for the title on Impact Wrestling, but was again defeated by Galloway. After losing the title he started a feud with Jeff. On the April 19 episode of Impact Wrestling, and an I Quit match ended in a no-contest as both Matt and Jeff were badly injured and Matt was taken out to the hospital on a stretcher.
The Broken Universe (2016–2017)
Hardy returned on May 17 episode of Impact Wrestling, revealing himself to be one of the impostor Willows behind the attacks on Jeff. Later that night, he attacked Jeff. In the following weeks, Hardy debuted a new persona as a "Broken" man with part of his hair bleached blonde along with a strange sophisticated accent, blaming Jeff (who he began referring to as "Brother Nero", Nero being Jeff's middle name) for breaking him and becoming obsessed with "deleting" him. His line “Delete”, is mostly inspired by the Death Note manga/anime series character Teru Mikami. On June 12, at Slammiversary, Matt was defeated by Jeff in a Full Metal Mayhem match. On the June 21 episode of Impact Wrestling, Matt was once again defeated by Jeff in a Six Sides of Steel match. On the June 28 episode of Impact Wrestling, Matt challenged Jeff to a final battle with the Hardy brand on the line, to take place at their home in Cameron, North Carolina the next week. On July 5, during special episode "The Final Deletion", Matt defeated Jeff in the match to become sole owner of the Hardy brand, forcing Jeff to drop his last name and become referred to as "Brother Nero".
On the August 18 episode of Impact Wrestling, Matt and Brother Nero defeated The Tribunal, The BroMans and The Helms Dynasty in an "Ascension To Hell" match for an opportunity to challenge Decay for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On September 8, during special episode "Delete or Decay", the Hardys faced Decay in a match held at the Hardy compound, where Brother Nero sacrificed himself to save Matt from Abyss. Thanks to Brother Nero's sacrifice, Hardy was able to confront Rosemary and prevent his son Maxel from being abducted, which turned Hardy babyface as a result, and he furthered the face turn by healing Brother Nero in the Lake of Reincarnation. At Bound for Glory, the Hardys defeated Decay in "The Great War" to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship for the second time. On the October 6 episode of Impact Wrestling, they successfully defended their titles against Decay, in a Wolf Creek match.
On the November 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, the Hardys successfully defended the titles against The Tribunal. After the match, the Hardys were attacked by the masked trio known as Death Crew Council (DCC). After accepting DCC's title challenge, The Hardys faced Bram and Kingston, and Matt pinned Kingston to retain the titles. On December 15, during special episode "Total Nonstop Deletion", they were once again successful in retaining. Brother Nero attacked Crazzy Steve with the Twist of Fate, who then fell into a volcano (that had appeared on the compound in the weeks leading up the event), and was shot up into the sky, landing in the ring. Matt then covered him to win the match.
On the January 12, 2017 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys successfully defended their titles against The Wolves. At Genesis, The Hardys retained their titles against the DCC and Decay in a three-way tag team match. On Open Fight Night, the Hardys began a storyline where they would teleport to different promotions and win that promotions' tag team championship gold, which was referred to by Matt as their "Expedition of Gold". On February 27, Hardy announced that both he and Jeff had finally left TNA, following years of speculation, with their contracts expiring that week. Though the two sides were reportedly close to a contract agreement, talks began to break down and changes in management prompted their departure from the company. The TNA World Tag Team Championships were vacated due to the Hardys' departure and was explained on TNA television in a segment where The Hardys teleported to their next Expedition of Gold destination, but a technicality resulted in them disappearing and the belts appearing in the arms of Decay.
Broken gimmick legal battle
Shortly after the departure of Matt and Jeff from TNA was made public, Matt's wife, Reby, went on a social media tirade in which she repeatedly slammed TNA, the company's new management and the way in which contract negotiations between the company and the Hardy family were conducted. A few weeks following this, the bad blood between the two sides intensified, so much so that the new management of TNA (now renamed Impact Wrestling) Anthem Sports & Entertainment issued a cease and desist letter to The Hardys' new promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), in which Anthem essentially ordered ROH as well as any broadcasting company airing ROH's 15th Anniversary pay–per–view show (on which The Hardys were to participate in a match) to not in any way speak of, indicate or acknowledge the existence of the Broken Matt and Brother Nero characters and instead to refer to The Hardys as simply Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy. The issue with this is that while The Hardys were in TNA, they had full creative control over the Broken gimmick, with them even filming their own segments to air on TNA programming in some circumstances, thus making the Hardy family (in their belief) the owners of the Broken gimmick. It is believed that civil litigation will follow and a potential court hearing will take place regarding the outcome on who owns the Broken gimmick: Anthem or the Hardy family. Until then, the status of the Broken gimmick remains undecided. Despite this, Matt continues to use the Broken gimmick through his social media accounts, but neither he nor Jeff uses the Broken gimmick at any professional wrestling shows for ROH or on the independent circuit, presumably until the results of the expected legal proceedings have been finalized.
Newly–appointed Impact Wrestling President Ed Nordholm credits the invention of and the vision behind the Broken gimmick to Jeremy Borash, Dave Lagana and Billy Corgan, and while Borash specifically had the most input into the gimmick of the three aside from Matt, the Hardy family deny that Borash was the sole person behind the gimmick. In November 2017, Impact Wrestling changed their policy, allowing all talent to retain complete ownership over their intellectual property, essentially forfeiting ownership of the "Broken" character to Hardy.
On January 31, 2018, the legal battle officially concluded when Matt legally acquired ownership of all trademarks related to the Broken universe and the Broken gimmick, which includes 'Broken Matt', 'Brother Nero', 'Broken Brilliance' and 'Vanguard1'.
International matches (2014–2015)
On November 1, 2014, Hardy traveled to Japan to compete for Wrestle-1 at the promotions Keiji Muto 30th Anniversary Hold Out show in a triple threat match against Seiya Sanada and Tajiri, which he lost.
On May 24, 2015, Hardy traveled to Mexico to compete as a team captain for Team TNA/Lucha Underground with teammates Mr. Anderson and Johnny Mundo at Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide's 2015 Lucha Libre World Cup pay–per–view show. In the quarter–final round, Team TNA/Lucha Underground faced Team Rest of the World (Drew Galloway, Angélico and El Mesías) to a 15-minute time limit draw, with Team TNA/Lucha Underground winning in overtime and advancing to the semi–final round. In the semi–final round, Team TNA/Lucha Underground defeated Team MexLeyendas (Blue Demon Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr. and El Solar) to advance to the final round. In the final round, Team TNA/Lucha Underground faced Dream Team (El Patrón Alberto, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.) to a 15–minute time limit draw, with Dream Team winning both the match and the tournament in overtime with Hardy on the losing end of the final pinfall.
Second return to ROH (2016–2017)
On December 2, 2016, Hardy returned to ROH for the second time while still under contract with TNA, appearing at the promotions Final Battle pay-per-view show as Broken Matt, where a video message showed him addressing The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) and The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe).
On March 4, 2017, in the same week that both Matt and Jeff were released from TNA, The Hardys defeated The Young Bucks in an impromptu match at ROH's 2017 installment of the company's Manhattan Mayhem show series to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions for the first time. Moments after winning the titles, Hardy announced in a post-match promo that both he and Brother Nero (Jeff) had signed "the biggest ROH contracts in (the company's) history". It was later confirmed that the contracts were short-term, only for the "immediate future". On March 10, The Hardys successfully defended the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the first time at ROH's 15th Anniversary pay-per-view show against The Young Bucks and Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) in a three-way Las Vegas tag team street fight match. Prior to the event, the Hardys had been sent a legal threat by Impact Wrestling regarding the use of the Broken Matt and Brother Nero gimmicks. The following night on March 11, The Hardys (not billed but using the Broken gimmicks anyway) once again retained the titles, this time against The Briscoes at a set of Ring of Honor Wrestling television tapings. The Hardys lost the titles back to The Young Bucks in a ladder match on April 1 at ROH's Supercard of Honor XI pay-per-view show, which would be the final ROH appearances for both Hardys in this tenure with the promotion.
Second return to WWE (2017–2020)
Feud with The Bar (2017)
At the WrestleMania 33 pay-per-view on April 2, 2017, Hardy made his surprise return to WWE, along with his brother Jeff Hardy, being added as last-minute participants in the ladder match for the Raw Tag Team Championship, defeating Gallows and Anderson, Cesaro and Sheamus, and Enzo and Cass to win the Raw Tag Team Championship. Afterwards on Raw Talk, Hardy mentioned that The Hardy Boyz had successfully completed the Expedition of Gold, after winning the Raw Tag Team Championship. At Payback, The Hardy Boyz retained their championships against Cesaro and Sheamus, who attacked them after the match. The next night on Raw, Cesaro and Sheamus explained their actions, claiming the fans were more supportive of 'novelty acts' from the past like The Hardy Boyz, who they feel did not deserve to be in the match at WrestleMania 33. Subsequently, at Extreme Rules, The Hardy Boyz lost the titles against Cesaro and Sheamus in a steel cage match, and failed to regain it back the following month at the Great Balls of Fire event. Afterwards, it was revealed that Jeff had gotten injured and would be out for an estimated six months, thus Hardy began wrestling in singles matches.
Woken Universe and storyline with Bray Wyatt (2017–2018)
During his feud with Bray Wyatt, Hardy introduced his "Woken" gimmick, after Impact Wrestling dropped their claim to the gimmick and Hardy gained full ownership of it. Wyatt defeated Hardy at Raw 25 on January 22, 2018, and Hardy defeated Wyatt at Elimination Chamber on February 25. Their final match happened on the March 19 episode of Raw, dubbed The Ultimate Deletion, with Hardy winning after distractions from Señor Benjamin. Wyatt then disappeared after being thrown into the Lake of Reincarnation. At WrestleMania 34 on April 7, Hardy competed in the annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and won the match due to a distraction by the returning Wyatt. After WrestleMania, Hardy and Wyatt performed as a tag team, sometimes referred to as The Deleters of Worlds. They won a tournament for the vacant Raw Tag Team Championship, defeating Cesaro and Sheamus at the Greatest Royal Rumble event to win the title. However, they lost the titles at Extreme Rules to The B-Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel). On the July 23 episode of Raw, Hardy and Wyatt received a rematch for the titles, but was again defeated by The B-Team. Following this, Hardy revealed that he was taking time off due to his back fusing with his pelvis, effectively disbanding the team. According to Hardy, the reason WWE disbanded the team was because he and Wyatt pitched several ideas to WWE to work with their characters.
The Hardys fourth reunion and departure (2019–2020)
After more than seven months of absence from television, Hardy returned on the February 26, 2019 episode of SmackDown Live, teaming with his brother Jeff to defeat The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus). At WrestleMania 35 on April 7, Hardy competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was eliminated by eventual winner, Braun Strowman. Two days later on SmackDown Live, The Hardy Boyz defeated The Usos to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. The reign only lasted 21 days (recognized as 20 days by WWE), as they had to vacate the title due to Jeff injuring his knee, this was explained in storyline as injuries afflicted by Lars Sullivan. After his brother Jeff's injury, Hardy began to appear on WWE programming less frequently. At Super ShowDown on June 7, Hardy competed in the 51-man Battle Royal, which was eventually won by Mansoor. From November to December, Hardy occasionally appeared on Raw, losing matches against superstars like Buddy Murphy, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet and Erick Rowan.
On the February 10, 2020 episode of Raw, Hardy confronted Randy Orton about Orton's attack on Edge two weeks earlier. Hardy then got himself into a brawl with him moments after, and was viciously attacked by Orton. The following week on Raw, an injured Hardy appeared and was once again assaulted by Orton, which would be his final appearance in WWE. On March 2, Hardy announced his departure from WWE through his official YouTube channel, where Hardy said that while he's grateful towards the people behind the scenes, he said he is also on different pages with WWE as he feels he needs to have creative input and still has more to give. Later that day, WWE announced that his contract had expired.
All Elite Wrestling
Multiple personalities (2020–2021)
Hardy made his All Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut on the March 18, 2020 episode of Dynamite, reverting to his "Broken" gimmick and being announced as the replacement for the kayfabe injured Nick Jackson on The Elite's team at Blood and Guts. However, the event was postponed to the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the May 6 episode of Dynamite, Hardy wrestled his first match with AEW, teaming up with Kenny Omega for a street fight against The Inner Circle's Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara, and Hardy and Omega lost when Jericho pinned Omega. During this period, due to the lack of live audience, Hardy felt that the Broken character needs public, so he began to include several of his gimmicks, including Broken Matt Hardy, Big Money Matt, Matt Hardy V1, and Unkillable Matt Hardy, being referred to as "Multifarious" Matt Hardy. AEW president Tony Khan later admitted that he "wasn't a fan" of the Broken gimmick and much preferred more realistic presentations in wrestling.
At Double or Nothing, Hardy teamed with The Elite to defeat The Inner Circle in the first ever Stadium Stampede match. During the match, Santana and Ortiz dunked Hardy in the stadium pool, which acted as a version of the Lake of Reincarnation, as Hardy kept cycling through his various gimmicks throughout his career when he surfaced. Hardy then feuded with Sammy Guevara, and after Hardy defeated Guevara in a Broken Rules match at All Out, Hardy took time off until he was cleared to return, due to an injury sustained during the match. On the September 16 episode of Dynamite, Hardy aligned with Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) as their manager, but was attacked backstage before their match. The attacker was later revealed as Guevara and The Elite Deletion match was announced, which took place at The Hardy Compound in Cameron, North Carolina, where Hardy won.
The Hardy Family Office (2021–present)
Hardy then switched to his Big Money persona as he focused on managing Private Party. Over the following weeks, Hardy would display villainous tactics as he began cheating during matches much to Private Party's dismay. On the January 20, 2021 episode of Dynamite, Hardy and Private Party defeated Matt Sydal and Top Flight (Dante Martin and Darius Martin) after using a steel chair before attacking Sydal and Top Flight afterwards, thus turning heel. Hardy then approached Adam Page to accompany and befriend him, and during tag team matches, Hardy would always tag himself in and pick up the victory for his team to Page's behest. After Page set up a match between Hardy and himself, Hardy double-crossed Page, with Private Party and The Hybrid 2 (Angélico and Jack Evans) attacking Page until The Dark Order came out to save him. At the Revolution event, Hardy lost to Page despite multiple interferences from Private Party.
Following Revolution, Hardy became the manager for The Butcher and The Blade (with their valet The Bunny in tow), and along with Private Party, the stable became known as the Matt Hardy Empire before settling on the name Hardy Family Office. Hardy also added The Hybrid 2 to his group in July having previously hiring them on a mercenary basis. At Double or Nothing, Hardy competed in Casino Battle Royale but was eliminated by Christian Cage. This led to a match between the two at Fyter Fest, where Hardy lost to Cage. In August, Matt Hardy and HFO began a feud with Orange Cassidy and Best Friends, which led to a match on the August 25 episode of Dynamite, where Hardy was defeated by Cassidy. However, on the November 12 episode of Rampage, Hardy defeated Cassidy in a Lumberjack match, thanks to an interference from HFO and the heel lumberjacks. Their feud ended on the November 17 episode of Dynamite where his team of The Butcher and The Blade lost to the team of Cassidy and Tomohiro Ishii, where Cassidy gave a crossbody to the interfering Hardy and The Blade during the match.
Professional wrestling style and persona
After the creation of his Broken character, Hardy was praised by several wrestlers and critics for reinventing himself several times during his career. During his career, Hardy has won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Best Gimmick award two times under two different characters, once in 2002 and again in 2016.
Personal life
Hardy was in a six-year relationship with wrestler Amy Dumas, better known as Lita. They first met in January 1999 at a NWA Mid-Atlantic show but did not begin dating until a few months later. They broke up in February 2005 when he discovered that she was having an affair with one of Hardy's close friends, fellow wrestler Adam Copeland, better known as Edge. Hardy also dated WWE wrestler Ashley Massaro.
Hardy married wrestler Rebecca Reyes, better known as Reby Sky, on October 5, 2013. They have three sons and one daughter. Hardy had previously been an addict, and credits his wife for helping him get clean.
Hardy is good friends with fellow wrestlers Marty Garner, Shannon Moore, and Gregory Helms. In December 2020, he claimed to have Native American ancestry.
Legal issues
Hardy was arrested for a DUI on August 20, 2011. Two days later, he was arrested on felony drug charges when police found steroids in his home. In November 2011, Hardy was removed from court-ordered rehab and sent back to jail for drinking.
In January 2014, Hardy and his wife were both arrested after a fight at a hotel.
Other media
In 1999, Matt, along with his brother Jeff, appeared as an uncredited wrestler on That '70s Show episode "That Wrestling Show". Matt and Jeff also appeared on Tough Enough in early 2001, talking to and wrestling the contestants. He appeared in the February 25, 2002 episode of Fear Factor competing against five other World Wrestling Federation wrestlers, including his brother. He won $50,000 for the American Cancer Society. Hardy also appeared on the October 13, 2009 episode of Scare Tactics, as a mental patient who threatens to attack the prank's victim.
In 2001, Matt, Jeff, and Lita appeared in Rolling Stone magazine's 2001 Sports Hall of Fame issue. In 2003, Matt and Jeff, with the help of Michael Krugman, wrote and published their autobiography The Hardy Boyz: Exist 2 Inspire. As part of WWE, Matt appeared in their DVD, The Hardy Boyz: Leap of Faith in 2001. On April 29, 2008, WWE released Twist of Fate: The Matt and Jeff Hardy Story. The DVD featured footage of the brothers in OMEGA and WWE. Hardy also appears on The Hardy Show, an Internet web show which features the Hardys, Shannon Moore, and many of their friends.
Hardy plays himself in the 2013 film Pro Wrestlers vs Zombies in which he and his real-life wife Reby Sky battle the undead.
Hardy's first WWE video game was WWF WrestleMania 2000 in 1999 on the Nintendo 64 shortly followed by WWF SmackDown! in early 2000 on the PlayStation. He made several appearances later in WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role, WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It, WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw. He later returned to the series in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, which was his last WWE video game before his departure to TNA. Following his return to WWE in 2017, he was revealed as a DLC character in WWE 2K18 on September 25 that year alongside tag team partner and brother, Jeff Hardy. Hardy was revealed as a playable character in WWE 2K19 on August 30, 2018. His final appearance in a WWE video game came with WWE 2K20 in 2019.
Filmography
Championships and accomplishments
All Elite Wrestling
Dynamite Award (1 time)
"Bleacher Report PPV Moment of the Year" (2021) – Stadium Stampede match (The Elite vs. The Inner Circle) – Double or Nothing (May 23)
All Star Wrestling (West Virginia)
ASW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brother Nero
CBS Sports
Worst Moment of the Year (2020) vs. Sammy Guevara at All Out (2020)
The Crash
The Crash Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brother Nero
Future Stars of Wrestling
FSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
House of Glory
HOG Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
Maryland Championship Wrestling/MCW Pro Wrestling
MCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
MCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
Extreme Rising World Championship (1 time)
National Championship Wrestling
NCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NCW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
New Dimension Wrestling
NDW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NDW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
New England Wrestling Alliance
NEWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NEWA Hall of Fame (class of 2012)
New Frontier Wrestling Association
NFWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NFWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Venom
NWA 2000
NWA 2000 Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
OMEGA Championship Wrestling
OMEGA Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
OMEGA Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Brother Nero/Jeff Hardy
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Comeback of the Year (2017) with Jeff Hardy
Feud of the Year (2005) vs. Edge and Lita
Match of the Year (2000) with Jeff Hardy vs. The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian in a triangle ladder match at WrestleMania 2000
Match of the Year (2001) with Jeff Hardy vs. The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at WrestleMania X-Seven
Tag Team of the Year (2000) with Jeff Hardy
Ranked No. 17 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2003
Pro Wrestling Syndicate
PWS Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Remix Pro Wrestling
Remix Pro Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Facade
Ring of Honor
ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
Holy S*** Moment of the Decade (2010s) – – with Jeff Hardy
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
TNA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
TNA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Jeff Hardy/Brother Nero
TNA World Tag Team Championship Tournament (2015) – with Jeff Hardy
TNA World Tag Team Championship #1 Contender Tournament (2014) – with Jeff Hardy
WrestleCade
WrestleCade Championship (2 times)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Best Gimmick (2002, 2016)
Worst Feud of the Year (2004) with Lita vs. Kane
Wrestling Superstar
Wrestling Superstar Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment/Federation
ECW Championship (1 time)
WWF Hardcore Championship (1 time)
WWF European Championship (1 time)
WWE United States Championship (1 time)
WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
WWF/World Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Montel Vontavious Porter (1) Jeff Hardy (1) and Bray Wyatt (1)
WCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
André the Giant Memorial Trophy (2018)
Bragging Rights Trophy (2009) – with Team SmackDown
Terri Invitational Tournament (1999) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE Tag Team Eliminator (2018) - with Bray Wyatt
Luchas de Apuestas record
Notes
References
Sources
External links
1974 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American bloggers
American male professional wrestlers
American YouTubers
Male YouTubers
ECW champions
ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions
Living people
NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions
Participants in American reality television series
Professional wrestlers from North Carolina
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Reality show winners
Sportspeople from Raleigh, North Carolina
TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions
TNA/Impact World Tag Team Champions
Twitch (service) streamers
University of North Carolina at Charlotte alumni
WWF European Champions
WWF/WWE Hardcore Champions | true | [
"John-Olav Einemo (born 10 December 1975) is a retired Norwegian mixed martial artist. He is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, with the highlight of his career being the win in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in 2003 (88–98 kg weight class). He is the only man to defeat multiple-time BJJ champion Roger Gracie in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship tournament. He holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.\n\nMixed martial arts career\n\nEarly career\nEinemo made his professional MMA debut in the year 2000. He fought for a number of promotions in Finland and the Netherlands, quickly amassing an undefeated record of 4-0. He made his Japanese debut in 2003 for the Shooto promotion in 2003.\n\nEinemo did not compete from 2003-2006 due to complications of contracting a flesh-eating bacterial infection on his left foot following surgery. He completely recovered and returned to fighting in early 2006. He experienced his first professional loss in PRIDE Fighting Championships where he lost to Fabrício Werdum by unanimous decision at Pride 31.\n\nUltimate Fighting Championship\nOn March 7, 2011, Einemo signed with the UFC to join their Heavyweight Division. \n\nEinemo was scheduled to make his UFC debut against Shane Carwin on June 11, 2011 at UFC 131. However, once Brock Lesnar pulled out of his fight against Junior dos Santos after again suffering with diverticulitis, Carwin stepped in to take Lesnar's place in the main event. Einemo instead fought fellow UFC newcomer Dave Herman. Einemo lost via TKO (punches) at 3:19 of round 2. This fight earned him Fight of the Night honors.\n\nOn August 3, 2011, Golden Glory announced that Einemo had been released from his contract by the UFC. The UFC later reversed the decision, reinstating Einemo.\n\nIn his second UFC fight, Einemo faced Mike Russow on January 28, 2012 at UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. He was subsequently released from the promotion.\n\nRetirement\nEinemo announced his retirement from mixed martial arts on April 3, 2012. He said he would continue to stay involved in the sport as a coach and help the sport grow in his native Norway.\n\nChampionships and accomplishments\n\nADCC career\n2007 Superfight – Lost against Roger Gracie\n2005 88–98 kg weight class – Quarter Finals – Won against Vitor Vianna\n2003 88–98 kg weight class – Final – Won against Alexandre Ferreira\n2003 88–98 kg weight class – Won against Roger Gracie\n2001 88–98 kg weight class – Quarter Finals – Won against Rolles Gracie<br/ >\n2001 Under 99 kg weight class - Semi-Finals - Lost against Ricardo Arona\n\nMMA career\nUltimate Fighting Championship\nFight of the Night (One time) vs. Dave Herman\n\nMixed martial arts record\n\n|-\n| Loss\n| align=center| 6–3\n| Mike Russow\n| Decision (unanimous)\n| UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis\n| \n| align=center| 3\n| align=center| 5:00\n| Chicago, Illinois, United States\n| \n|-\n| Loss\n| align=center| 6–2\n| Dave Herman\n| TKO (knee and punches)\n| UFC 131\n| \n| align=center| 2\n| align=center| 3:19\n| Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada\n| \n|-\n| Win\n| align=center| 6–1\n| James Thompson\n| Submission (armbar)\n| 2H2H: Pride & Honor\n| \n| align=center| 1\n| align=center| 4:18\n| Rotterdam, Netherlands\n| \n|-\n| Loss\n| align=center| 5–1\n| Fabrício Werdum\n| Decision (unanimous)\n| PRIDE 31\n| \n| align=center| 3\n| align=center| 5:00\n| Saitama, Japan\n| \n|-\n| Win\n| align=center| 5–0\n| Mindaugas Kulikauskas\n| Submission (armbar)\n| Shooto: Wanna Shooto 2003\n| \n| align=center| 1\n| align=center| 0:47\n| Tokyo, Japan\n| \n|-\n| Win\n| align=center| 4–0\n| Evert Fyeet\n| TKO (submission to punches)\n| Shooto Finland\n| \n| align=center| 1\n| align=center| 1:54\n| Turku, Finland\n| \n|-\n| Win\n| align=center| 3–0\n| Olaf in 't Veld\n| TKO (submission to punches)\n| Shooto Holland\n| \n| align=center| 1\n| align=center| 1:07\n| Deventer, Netherlands\n| \n|-\n| Win\n| align=center| 2–0\n| Erkka Shalstrom\n| TKO (punches)\n| Finnfight 4\n| \n| align=center| 1\n| align=center| 2:22\n| Turku, Finland\n| \n|-\n| Win\n| align=center| 1–0\n| Jan Jarvensivu\n| Submission (armbar)\n| Focus Fight Night 4\n| \n| align=center| 1\n| align=center| 4:20\n| Hämeenlinna, Finland\n|\n\nSubmission grappling record \n{| class=\"wikitable sortable\" style=\"font-size:80%; text-align:left;\"\n|-\n| colspan=8 style=\"text-align:center;\" | 13 Matches, 8 Wins, 5 Losses\n|-\n! Result\n! style=\"text-align:center;\"| Rec.\n! Opponent\n! Method\n! Event\n! Division\n! Date\n! Location\n|-\n|Loss||style=\"text-align:center;\"|8-5|| Roger Gracie || Points || ADCC World Championship ||Superfight|| 2007 || Newark, NJ\n|-\n|Loss||style=\"text-align:center;\"|8-4|| Alexandre Ribeiro || Points || rowspan=4|ADCC World Championship || rowspan=4|-99kg|| rowspan=4|2005 || rowspan=4| Los Angeles\n|-\n|Loss||style=\"text-align:center;\"|8-3|| Alexandre Ferreira || Points\n|-\n|Win||style=\"text-align:center;\"|8-2|| Vitor Vianna || Points \n|-\n|Win||style=\"text-align:center;\"|7-2|| Rick Macauley || Submission \n|-\n|Win||style=\"text-align:center;\"|6-2|| Alexandre Ferreira || Points || rowspan=4|ADCC World Championship||rowspan=4|-99kg || rowspan=4|2003 ||rowspan=4| São Paulo\n|-\n|Win||style=\"text-align:center;\"|5-2|| Roger Gracie || Points \n|-\n|Win||style=\"text-align:center;\"|4-2|| Larry Papadopoulos || Points\n|-\n|Win||style=\"text-align:center;\"|3-2|| Brandon Vera || Points\n|-\n|Loss||style=\"text-align:center;\"|2-2|| Alexandre Ferreira || Points || rowspan=4|ADCC World Championship || rowspan=4|-99kg|| rowspan=4|2001 || rowspan=4| Abu Dhabi\n|-\n|Loss||style=\"text-align:center;\"|2-1|| Ricardo Arona || Points\n|-\n|Win||style=\"text-align:center;\"|2-0|| Rolles Gracie || Points \n|-\n|Win||style=\"text-align:center;\"|1-0|| Rigan Machado || Points \n|-\n\nSee also \nList of male mixed martial artists\n\nReferences\n\nTournament Results – Official Homepages\n ADCC 2005 Results\n ADCC 2003 Results\n ADCC 2001 Results\n\nExternal links\n\nOfficial UFC Profile\n\n1975 births\nLiving people\nNorwegian male mixed martial artists\nHeavyweight mixed martial artists\nMixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu\nNorwegian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu\nPeople awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu\nNorwegian submission wrestlers\nSportspeople from Oslo\nNorwegian people of Finnish descent\nUltimate Fighting Championship male fighters",
"{{Infobox boxing match\n| fight date = May 15, 2004\n| Fight Name = More Than Personal\n| location = Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Paradise, Nevada, US\n| image = \n| fighter1 = Roy Jones Jr.\n| nickname1 = Junior\n| record1 = 49–1 (38 KO)\n| height1 = 5 ft 11 in\n| weight1 = 174 lb\n| style1 = Orthodox\n| hometown1 = Pensacola, Florida, US\n| recognition1 = WBA (Unified), WBC, IBA, IBO, and The Ring light heavyweight champion[[The Ring (magazine)|The Ring]] No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter4-division world champion\n| fighter2 = Antonio Tarver\n| nickname2 = The Magic Man\n| record2 = 21–2 (17 KO)\n| hometown2 = Orlando, Florida, US\n| height2 = 6 ft 2 in\n| weight2 = 175 lb\n| style2 = Southpaw\n| recognition2 = Former WBC light heavyweight champion\n| titles = WBA (Unified), WBC, IBA, IBO, The Ring, and vacant WBF (Foundation), light heavyweight titles\n|result= Tarver wins via 2nd-round TKO \n}}\n\nRoy Jones Jr. vs. Antonio Tarver II, billed as More Than Personal, was a professional boxing match contested for the WBA (Unified), WBC, IBA, IBO, The Ring, and vacant WBF light heavyweight titles.\n\nBackground\nThe two men had previously fought each other on November 8, 2003. Jones, in his previous fight at heavyweight against John Ruiz on March 1, 2003, had weighed in at 193 pounds and was at 199 pounds on the night of the fight against Ruiz. In his following fight, which was Jones' first fight against Tarver, Jones was clearly weakened and slower in the ring after losing 24 pounds to get back down to the 175 pound light heavyweight limit, while Tarver, who had captured the WBC and IBF titles Jones had vacated after his WBA heavyweight title win against John Ruiz in March, was able to land several punching combinations through the course of his first fight against Jones and fought a closely contested fight. However, while one judge scored the bout a draw (114–114), the other two judges had Jones clearly ahead by scores of 117–111 and 116–112, giving Jones the win by majority decision. Following his victory, Jones initially talked about returning to the heavyweight division to take on Mike Tyson in what would be his final fight. The planned Jones–Tyson superfight never came into fruition and Jones eventually decided to meet Tarver in a rematch on May 15, 2004.\n\nThe fight\nJones got off to a good start and served as the aggressor of the first round using his trademark quickness to his advantage and easily won the first round of the fight on all three of the judges' scorecards. Jones attempted to repeat his success in the second round as Tarver held back, seemingly waiting for Jones to make a mistake. Just over midway through the round, Jones attempted to hit Tarver with a right hand, Tarver however countered with a quick left hook that dropped Jones to the canvas for only the second time in his professional career (Lou Del Valle scored a knockdown against Jones in 1998). Jones struggled to get back up but eventually made it back to his feet, however referee Jay Nady deemed Jones too hurt to continue and quickly ended the fight and Tarver was rewarded with the knockout victory. It was the second loss of Jones' professional career and the first time that he had been knocked out. Jones' previous loss had come via disqualification against Montell Griffin in 1997, a loss which was avenged by Jones with a first round knockout of Griffin in the rematch later that year. The manner of Jones' loss to Tarver was arguably the biggest surprise in boxing since James \"Buster\" Douglas had knocked out Mike Tyson on February 11, 1990 as a 42/1 outsider. Jones' loss ended his near decade reign at the top in boxing's pound for pound list.\n\nAftermath\nA little over four months later, Jones returned to face Glen Johnson in an attempt to regain the IBF light heavyweight title (Johnson had defeated Clinton Woods to capture the title after Tarver vacated it just prior to the first fight with Jones). Though Jones came into the fight as a heavy favorite, he trailed Johnson on all three scorecards (75–77, 75–77, 74–78) before he was knocked out for the second consecutive time, this time in the ninth round by an overhand right to the head from Johnson which saw Jones laying down on the canvas for some minutes afterwards, producing an even more shocking knockout loss for Jones than against Tarver in his previous fight. After Jones' loss, it was Tarver who fought Johnson next. However, prior to the fight both the WBA and WBC stripped Tarver of their titles while the IBF stripped Johnson of their title after the two men decided to face each other rather than the organizations' mandatory challengers. As a result only Tarver's IBO and The Ring'' titles were on the line. For the second straight fight, Johnson picked up the upset win after defeating Tarver by split decision (one judge scored the fight 116–112 in favor of Tarver while the other two judges scored the fight 115–113 for Johnson). After Tarver defeated Johnson by unanimous decision in a rematch to recapture his titles, a rubbermatch with Jones was set for October 1, 2005.\n\nReferences\n\nTarver 2\n2004 in boxing\nBoxing in Las Vegas\n2004 in sports in Nevada\nMay 2004 sports events in the United States"
] |
[
"Matt Hardy",
"Version 1 (2002-2004)",
"What is Version 1?",
"At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the brand extension, however, Hardy was relegated to Heat while Jeff wrestled",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Along with his MF'er (Mattitude Follower) Shannon Moore in his corner, 2003 began with Hardy frantically trying to lose weight to get under",
"Did Hardy end up loosing weight?",
"After just barely making weight,",
"Did he fight against someone after accomplishing this weight loss goal?",
"Hardy defeated Billy Kidman at No Way Out to win the Cruiserweight title."
] | C_8bf9dcbf1a034e02873104f08a75bf5d_1 | Did he kept the Cruiserweight title for a long time? | 5 | Did Matt Hardy kept the Cruiserweight title for a long time? | Matt Hardy | At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the brand extension, however, Hardy was relegated to Heat while Jeff wrestled on the main show, Raw. On the August 12 episode of Raw, Hardy turned against Jeff during Jeff's match against Rob Van Dam, because Hardy was frustrated at not receiving a match against Van Dam for the number one contendership for the Intercontinental Championship. A short time later, Hardy joined the SmackDown! roster, and began dubbing himself "Matt Hardy: Version 1", complete with a "version 1" hand signal. Hardy defeated The Undertaker on the September 12 and October 3 episodes of the show, due to interference from Brock Lesnar. Along with his MF'er (Mattitude Follower) Shannon Moore in his corner, 2003 began with Hardy frantically trying to lose weight to get under the 215 lb (98 kg) weight limit to compete for the Cruiserweight Championship. After just barely making weight, Hardy defeated Billy Kidman at No Way Out to win the Cruiserweight title. At WrestleMania XIX, he successfully defended it against Rey Mysterio. Hardy lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Mysterio in the main event of the June 5 edition of SmackDown - the first and only time a Cruiserweight Championship match main evented a show. After dropping the Cruiserweight Championship, Hardy briefly feuded with Eddie Guerrero, but was unsuccessful in capturing Guerrero's United States Championship or Tag Team Championship. The Mattitude faction then expanded to include Crash Holly as Moore's "Moore-on" (apprentice). He later disbanded the group in November and returned to Raw in order to be able to travel and work with his then girlfriend Lita, who just returned from an injury. On his first night back, he turned on Lita in storyline after teasing a proposal to her. He defeated Christian, who was vying for Lita's affections, on the following edition of Raw. In April 2004, Hardy saved Lita from getting attacked by Kane. Hardy defeated Kane at Vengeance, but lost a match against Kane at SummerSlam. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Hardy was chokeslamed off the stage by Kane. Hardy then spent almost a year off from wrestling due to a severe knee injury. CANNOTANSWER | At WrestleMania XIX, he successfully defended it against Rey Mysterio. | Matthew Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his time with WWE, Impact Wrestling, and Ring of Honor (ROH).
With his real life brother Jeff, Hardy gained notoriety in WWF's tag team division during the 2000s due to his participation in TLC matches. He is a 14-time world tag team champion, having held the WWE World Tag Team Championship six times, the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship three times, the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship, ROH World Tag Team Championship, and WCW Tag Team Championship once each, and the TNA World Tag Team Championships twice.
Wrestling through four separate decades, Hardy has kept himself relevant partially through a variety of different gimmicks and his use of social media. In 2002, Hardy began a solo career in WWE. His subsequent "Version 1" persona was named Best Gimmick by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Hardy's eccentric "Broken" gimmick, which he debuted in 2016 (and which was renamed "Woken" following his subsequent WWE return), garnered praise from wrestling critics and earned him multiple awards, including a second Best Gimmick award, becoming one of the most talked about characters in all of wrestling. As a singles wrestler, Hardy has won three world championships (one ECW Championship, and two TNA World Heavyweight Championships). All totaled between WWE, TNA/Impact, and ROH, Hardy has held 21 total championships.
Early life
Hardy was born in Cameron, North Carolina, the son of Gilbert and Ruby Moore Hardy. He is the older brother of Jeff Hardy. Their mother died of brain cancer in 1987. Hardy played baseball as a child and throughout high school, but had stopped by his senior year. He also played football, either as a linebacker or a defensive end. Hardy was a good student at Union Pines High School in North Carolina, and was a nominee for the "Morehead Award", a scholarship to any university in North Carolina. Hardy attended University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he majored in engineering; after a year, however, he dropped out due to his father being ill. He then attended Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst to gain his associate degree.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1992–2001)
Hardy, along with his brother Jeff and friends, started their own federation, the Trampoline Wrestling Federation (TWF) and mimicked the moves they saw on television. Shortly after Hardy sent in a tape for the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Amateur Challenge using the ring name High Voltage, a tag team named High Voltage began competing in WCW, causing Hardy to change his name to Surge. A few years later, it was revealed to him by Chris Kanyon that the tape had been kept in the WCW Power Plant, watched multiple times, and that the name High Voltage was blatantly stolen from it. Beginning in 1994, The Hardys wrestled for several North Carolina-based independent circuit promotions and adapted a number of alter-egos. As The Wolverine, Hardy captured the New England Wrestling Alliance (NEWA) Championship in May 1994. As High Voltage, he teamed with Venom to claim the New Frontier Wrestling Association (NFWA) Tag Team Championship in March 1995. A month later, High Voltage defeated the Willow for the NFWA Championship.
In 1997, Matt and Jeff created their own wrestling promotion, The Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (frequently abbreviated to OMEGA Championship Wrestling, or simply OMEGA), in which Matt competed under the name High Voltage. Both Matt and Jeff took apart the ring and put it back together at every event they had, while Matt sewed all the costumes worn in OMEGA. The promotion folded in October 1999, after both Matt and Jeff signed with the World Wrestling Federation.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
Early years (1994–1998)
Hardy worked as a jobber for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1994 up until he signed a full-time contract in 1998. His first WWF match was against Nikolai Volkoff on the May 23, 1994 episode of Monday Night Raw, which he lost by submission. A night later at a taping of WWF Wrestling Challenge, he lost a match against Owen Hart. He continued to wrestle sporadically in the WWF throughout 1994 and 1995, losing matches against Crush, Razor Ramon, Hakushi, Owen Hart, the imposter Undertaker, Hunter Hearst Helmsley and "The Ringmaster" Steve Austin.
Hardy teamed with Jeff for the first time in the WWF in 1996, losing to teams such as The Smoking Gunns and The Grimm Twins on WWF television. Matt and Jeff had a short lived feud with The Headbangers (Thrasher and Mosh), losing to the duo twice in 1997. It was during this time that Matt and Jeff experimented with different ring names, at one stage being called Ingus (Matt) and Wildo Jinx (Jeff). In Matt's final singles match for the promotion before signing a full-time contract he lost to Val Venis on a taping of Shotgun in 1998.
The Hardy Boyz (1998–2001)
It was not until 1998, however, (at the height of The Attitude Era) that the Hardy brothers were given full-time WWF contracts and sent to train with former wrestler Dory Funk, Jr. The Hardy Boyz used a cruiserweight, fast-paced high flying style in their matches, often leaping from great heights to do damage to their opponents (and themselves in the process). In 1999, while feuding with Edge and Christian, the duo briefly picked up Michael Hayes as a manager.
At King of the Ring, The Hardyz defeated Edge and Christian to earn the #1 contendership for the WWF Tag Team Championship. On July 5, they defeated The APA to win their first Tag Team Championship. They soon dumped Hayes and briefly picked up Gangrel as a manager, after Gangrel turned on Edge and Christian. At No Mercy, The Hardyz defeated Edge and Christian in the first ever tag team ladder match. At the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, The Hardyz defeated The Dudley Boyz in the first ever tag team tables match. They competed against The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian for the Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 2000 in the first ever Triangle Ladder match, but were unsuccessful.
Hardy won the Hardcore Championship on April 24, 2000, on Raw Is War, by defeating Crash Holly, but lost it back to Holly three days later on SmackDown!, when Holly applied the "24/7 rule" during Hardy's title defense against Jeff. The Hardy Boyz then found a new manager in Matt's real-life girlfriend Lita. Together, the three became known as "Team Xtreme".
The Hardy Boyz competed in the first ever Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, for the WWF Tag Team Championship against The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian, but were unsuccessful. At Unforgiven, The Hardyz defeated Edge and Christian in a steel cage match to win the tag team championship, and successfully retained it the following night on Raw Is War against Edge and Christian in a ladder match.
In April 2001, The Hardyz began feuding with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H (known as The Power Trip), which also led to a singles push for both Matt and Jeff. Hardy helped Jeff defeat Triple H for the Intercontinental Championship, and shortly after Hardy defeated Eddie Guerrero to win the European Championship on SmackDown!. At Backlash he retained the title against Guerrero and Christian in a triple threat, and against Edge the following night on Raw.
Throughout the year, the Hardy Boyz continued to win as a tag team, winning the WWF Tag Team Titles two more times, and the WCW Tag Team Championship during the Invasion. By the end of the year, the Hardy Boyz began a storyline where they were having trouble co-existing. This culminated in a match between the two, with Lita as the guest referee, at the Vengeance pay-per-view, which Jeff won. Hardy defeated Jeff and Lita the following night on Raw in a two-on-one handicap match.
Version 1 gimmick and feud with Kane (2002–2004)
At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the brand extension, however, Matt was relegated to Heat while Jeff wrestled on the main show, Raw. On the August 12 episode of Raw, Hardy turned heel by attacking Jeff during Jeff's match against Rob Van Dam, because Hardy was frustrated at not receiving a match against Van Dam for the number one contendership for the Intercontinental Championship. A short time later, Hardy joined the SmackDown! roster, and began dubbing himself "Matt Hardy: Version 1", complete with a "version 1" hand signal. Hardy defeated The Undertaker on the September 12 and October 3 episodes of the show, due to interference from Brock Lesnar.
Along with his Mattitude Follower Shannon Moore in his corner, 2003 began with Hardy frantically trying to lose weight to get under the weight limit to compete for the Cruiserweight Championship. After just barely making weight, Hardy defeated Billy Kidman at No Way Out to win the Cruiserweight title. At WrestleMania XIX, he successfully defended it against Rey Mysterio. Hardy lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Mysterio in the main event of the June 5 episode of SmackDown! - the first and only time a Cruiserweight Championship match main evented a show.
After dropping the Cruiserweight Championship, Hardy briefly feuded with Eddie Guerrero, but was unsuccessful in capturing Guerrero's United States Championship or WWE Tag Team Championship. The Mattitude faction then expanded to include Crash Holly as Moore's "Moore-on" (apprentice). He later disbanded the group in November and returned to Raw in order to be able to travel and work with his then girlfriend Lita, who just returned from an injury. On his first night back, he turned on Lita in storyline after teasing a proposal to her. He defeated Christian, who was vying for Lita's affections, on the following edition of Raw.
In April 2004, Hardy saved Lita from getting attacked by Kane, turning face in the process. Hardy defeated Kane in a no disqualification match at Vengeance, but lost a "Till Death To Us Part" match against Kane at SummerSlam, resulting in Lita being forced to marry Kane. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Hardy was chokeslamed off the stage by Kane during the wedding. Hardy then spent almost a year off from wrestling due to a severe knee injury.
Departure and sporadic appearances (2005)
Along with his friend Rhyno, Hardy was released by WWE on April 11, 2005. Hardy's release was largely due to unprofessional conduct with social media after discovering that Lita was having a real-life affair with his best friend Edge. The public knowledge of the affair and Hardy's release led to Edge and Lita receiving jeers from the crowds at WWE events, often resulting in chants of "You screwed Matt!", and, "We want Matt!", which meant kayfabe storylines being affected considering that Lita was married to Kane at the time in kayfabe. Edge and Lita used the affair and fan backlash to become a hated on-screen couple, which led to Lita turning heel for the first time in over five years.
Fans began a petition on the internet, wanting WWE to re-sign Hardy, and amassed over fifteen thousand signatures. Hardy released two character promotional vignettes, that he was planning to use before he was offered a new contract by WWE. Hardy called himself The Angelic Diablo with the tagline "the scar will become a symbol" in reference to the way in which he had been treated by Lita and WWE. On the June 20 episode of Raw, during the storyline wedding of Edge and Lita, Hardy's entrance music and video were played when the priest asked if anyone had a reason why Edge and Lita should not be wed.
Independent circuit and Ring of Honor (2005)
Following his WWE release, Matt returned to the independent circuit and wrestled several matches for the Allied Powers Wrestling Federation (APWF), International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) and Big Time Wrestling (BTW).
Hardy appeared at a scheduled Ring of Honor (ROH) event on July 16, 2005, in Woodbridge, Connecticut where he defeated Christopher Daniels via submission. Hardy also cut a brief worked shoot promo where he criticized WWE and John Laurinaitis. Following his official return to WWE, Hardy was met with backlash following a match with Homicide from the fans at a subsequent ROH event, which Hardy won. The next day at his final ROH appearance, he lost to Roderick Strong.
Return to WWE
Feud with Edge (2005–2006)
On July 11, 2005, on Raw, Hardy attacked Edge backstage and again later during Edge's match with Kane. Before being escorted out of the building by security, Hardy stated that Edge (calling him by his real name of "Adam") and Lita would pay for their actions and told fans that they could see him at Ring of Honor while security officials and event staff were trying to restrain him. Hardy also called out Johnny Ace as security had him in handcuffs taking him out of the arena. This caused an uproar amongst fans, who were confused and wondered if the whole thing was a work or a shoot. Similar occurrences repeated during the following two weeks.
On the August 1 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon officially announced Hardy's return to WWE, adding that Hardy would face Edge at SummerSlam. Hardy made his in-ring return, defeating Snitsky on the August 8 Raw. Seconds after the victory, Hardy was attacked by Edge, and as he was being carried backstage, Matt counterattacked Edge in the locker room. On August 21 at SummerSlam, their match came to a premature end when Edge dropped Hardy onto the top of a ring post, causing him to bleed heavily. The referee ended the match on the grounds that Hardy could not continue, and Edge was declared the winner. After SummerSlam, the two continued feuding on Raw, including a Street Fight on August 29 that resulted in Hardy performing a Side Effect on Edge off the entrance stage and into electrical equipment below; the match ended in a no contest. At Unforgiven, Edge faced Hardy in a steel cage match. Hardy caught an interfering Lita with the Twist of Fate and won the match with a leg drop off the top of the cage. Hardy and Edge faced each other on October 3 at WWE Raw Homecoming in a Loser Leaves Raw ladder match. Edge's briefcase holding his Money in the Bank contract for his WWE Championship opportunity was suspended above the ring. The winner of the match received the contract and the loser was forced to leave Raw. Edge tied Hardy's arms in the ropes, and Lita trapped Hardy in a crucifix hold, leaving Hardy only able to watch Edge win.
With his defeat at the hands of Edge, Hardy was moved to the SmackDown! brand where he re-debuted with a win over Simon Dean on October 21 in Reno, Nevada. One week later, Hardy won the fan vote to represent Team SmackDown! (alongside Rey Mysterio) to challenge Team Raw (Edge and Chris Masters) at Taboo Tuesday. Edge, however, refused to wrestle and sent Snitsky in place of him in the match, which Hardy and Mysterio won.
Back on SmackDown!, Hardy started an angle with MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) and their manager Melina when Melina approached Hardy, seemingly wanting Hardy to join with her team. Hardy refused the offer, which led to him facing the tag team on several occasions with a variety of partners. On July 25, after the SmackDown! taping, Hardy was taken out of action after doctors found the remnants of the staph infection that had plagued him the previous year. He was sidelined until August 25 while he healed.
Upon his return to action, Hardy feuded against childhood friend and reigning Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms. At No Mercy, in their home state, Hardy beat Helms in a non-title match. The two met again at Survivor Series, where Hardy's team won in a clean sweep. They wrestled one final match, a one time appearance in Booker T's Pro Wrestling Alliance (PWA) promotion, where Hardy defeated Helms in a North Carolina Street Fight.
The Hardy Boyz reunion (2006–2007)
On the November 21, 2006 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Hardy and Jeff competed in a match together for the first time in almost five years, defeating The Full Blooded Italians. At December to Dismember, the Hardy Boyz issued an open challenge to any tag team who wanted to face them. MNM answered their challenge by reuniting at December to Dismember, a match won by the Hardy Boyz. At Armageddon, Hardy and Jeff competed against Paul London and Brian Kendrick, MNM, and Dave Taylor and William Regal in a Ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship but lost. Subsequently, he and Jeff feuded with MNM after the legitimate incident where they injured Mercury's face at Armageddon. This led to a long term rivalry, and at the Royal Rumble, Hardy and Jeff defeated MNM. Mercury and Hardy continued to feud on SmackDown! until Mercury was released from WWE on March 26.
The night after WrestleMania 23 on Raw, the Hardys competed in a 10-team battle royal for the World Tag Team Championship. They won the titles for the sixth time from then WWE Champion John Cena and Shawn Michaels after last eliminating Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. This started a feud with Cade and Murdoch, and the Hardys successfully retained their World Tag Team Championship in their first title defense at Backlash. The Hardy Boyz also successfully retained their titles at Judgment Day against Cade and Murdoch. One month later at One Night Stand, they defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team to retain the titles in a Ladder match. The following night on Raw, Vince McMahon demanded that The Hardys once again defend their championships against Cade and Murdoch. The Hardys were defeated after Murdoch pushed Jeff's foot off the bottom rope during Cade's pinfall, causing the three count to continue. They invoked their rematch clause against Cade and Murdoch at Vengeance: Night of Champions, but were unsuccessful.
Feud with MVP and championship reigns (2007–2009)
On the July 6, 2007 episode of SmackDown!, Hardy won a non-title match against United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), which resulted in a feud between the two. Hardy was defeated by MVP at The Great American Bash for the United States Championship. MVP then claimed that he was "better than Hardy at everything", which led to a series of contests between Hardy and MVP, such as a basketball game, an arm wrestling contest, and a chess match which MVP "sneezed" on and ruined when Hardy put him in check. MVP challenged Hardy to a boxing match at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXV, however MVP was legitimately diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Since MVP was unable to compete, Hardy faced his replacement, former world champion boxer, Evander Holyfield. The match ended in a no contest after MVP entered the ring to verbally abuse Holyfield, who then knocked him out. MVP also challenged Hardy to a beer drinking contest at SummerSlam, but as revenge for what happened at SNME, Hardy allowed Stone Cold Steve Austin to replace him; Austin simply performed a stunner on MVP then kept drinking.
After a segment involving MVP inadvertently choosing Hardy as his tag-team partner, Theodore Long promptly set up a match against Deuce 'n Domino for the WWE Tag Team Championship on the August 31 episode of SmackDown! which Hardy and MVP were able to win, therefore setting up Hardy's first reign as WWE Tag Team Champion. Hardy and MVP retained the titles at Unforgiven in a rematch against former champions Deuce 'n Domino. Hardy was scheduled to face MVP at Cyber Sunday, but due to a real-life head injury sustained on the October 26 episode of SmackDown!, he was not medically cleared to compete. As part of the storyline, Hardy continually asked MVP for a shot at the United States Championship but MVP refused stating that he was more focused on the Tag Team Championship.
On the November 16 episode of SmackDown!, Hardy and MVP dropped the WWE Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz. Despite the fact that Hardy was hurt, MVP immediately invoked the rematch clause. After the rematch, in which Hardy was forced to tap out, MVP attacked Hardy, repeatedly targeting his knee. It was later confirmed by WWE.com that Hardy had suffered an injury at his former partner's hands and that he might not be able to compete at Survivor Series. Despite Hardy's absence at Survivor Series, his team was able to win the match. On November 21, WWE's official website reported that Hardy underwent an emergency appendectomy in Tampa, Florida after his appendix burst. Hardy made an appearance at the December 31 episode of Raw supporting his brother Jeff. To further Jeff's storyline with Randy Orton, however, Hardy was attacked by Orton. Hardy made his return at a live event in Muncie, Indiana on March 1, 2008.
On March 30, 2008, at WrestleMania XXIV, during the Money in the Bank ladder match Hardy cut through the crowd and attacked MVP to prevent him from winning the match. He made his official in-ring return the next night on Raw, losing a singles match to WWE Champion Randy Orton. On the April 4 episode of SmackDown, Hardy faced MVP in a non-title match, which he won, re-igniting their storyline rivalry. On April 27, 2008, Hardy defeated MVP to win the United States Championship at Backlash, and successfully retained his title against MVP five days later on SmackDown.
Hardy declared himself as a fighting champion that would take on all challenges, defending the United States championship against Shelton Benjamin, Elijah Burke, Chuck Palumbo, Mr. Kennedy, Chavo Guerrero and Umaga. Hardy was drafted to the ECW brand on the June 23, 2008 episode of Raw during the 2008 WWE Draft, in the process making the United States Championship exclusive to ECW. He dropped the United States Championship to Shelton Benjamin at the Great American Bash pay-per-view on July 20, 2008, which meant that the title returned to SmackDown.
On the July 22 episode of ECW, Hardy became the number one contender to Mark Henry's ECW Championship after defeating John Morrison, The Miz and Finlay in a fatal four-way match. He won the title match at SummerSlam by disqualification due to interference from Henry's manager, Tony Atlas, thus he failed to win the title. Due to the ending of the pay-per-view match, Hardy received a rematch for the title on the next episode of ECW, but again failed to win the title when Henry pinned him after a distraction by Atlas. At Unforgiven, Hardy won the ECW Championship during the Championship scramble match, defeating then-champion Henry, The Miz, Finlay and Chavo Guerrero by pinning the Miz with three minutes left, marking his first world heavyweight championship win. He continued to feud with Henry until No Mercy, where Hardy successfully retained the title. Hardy lost the title to Jack Swagger on the January 13, 2009 episode of ECW, which was taped on January 12.
Feud with Jeff Hardy and departure (2009–2010)
At the 2009 Royal Rumble pay-per-view, after losing an ECW Championship rematch to Swagger, Hardy turned on his brother when he hit Jeff with a steel chair, allowing Edge to win the WWE Championship, turning heel in the process. On the January 27, 2009 episode of ECW, it was announced by General Manager Theodore Long that Hardy had requested, and been granted, his release from ECW and had re-signed with the SmackDown brand. As part of the buildup to this feud, Matt strongly implied that he was responsible for all of Jeff's accidents leading back to November, including an assault in a hotel stairwell that prevented Jeff from appearing at Survivor Series, an automobile accident where Jeff's car was run off the road, and a pyrotechnics malfunction where part of the pyro from Jeff's entrance was fired directly at Jeff, in an attempt to stop Jeff holding the WWE Championship. Despite Hardy's attempts to goad Jeff into fighting him, Jeff refused to fight his brother, but, on the March 6 episode of SmackDown, Jeff attacked him during a promo where Matt implied that he was also responsible for the fire that burned down Jeff's house, going so far as to reveal that he had in his possession a dog collar that supposedly belonged to Jeff's dog, Jack (who died in the fire), that he claimed to have salvaged from the wreckage of the house. At WrestleMania 25, Matt defeated Jeff in an Extreme Rules match, and in a stretcher match on the following episode of SmackDown.
On the April 13 episode of Raw, Hardy was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the WWE draft. Despite the fact that the two were on different brands, he continued his feud with Jeff. Two weeks later, in a rematch from WrestleMania, Hardy lost to Jeff in an "I Quit" match at Backlash, in which he legitimately broke his hand.
Hardy continued to wrestle with his hand in a cast, incorporating it into his persona and claiming that he was wrestling under protest. He reignited his feud with MVP on Raw for the United States Championship. He also formed a tag team with William Regal, and the two acted as henchmen for General Manager Vickie Guerrero. At the June 22 taping of WWE Superstars, Hardy suffered yet another injury, when his intestines went through his abdominal wall, during a triple threat match against MVP and Kofi Kingston. Hardy had suffered a tear in his abdominal muscle two years previously, but had not needed surgery until it worsened, and became a danger to his health.
He was then traded back to the SmackDown brand on June 29, and underwent surgery for the torn abdominal muscle on July 2. He made his return on the August 7 episode of SmackDown as the special guest referee in the World Heavyweight Championship match between his brother, Jeff, and CM Punk, and helped Jeff retain the championship by counting the pinfall. The following week Hardy turned face again when he saved his brother when CM Punk and The Hart Dynasty attacked both Jeff and John Morrison. On the August 21 episode of SmackDown, after apologizing for his past actions towards Jeff and admitting that he was not behind any of Jeff's accidents, he had his first match back after his injury when he teamed with Jeff and John Morrison to defeat The Hart Dynasty and CM Punk, when Matt pinned Punk.
In early 2010, Hardy began an on-screen relationship with Maria; but was brief and the relationship ended when Maria was released from her WWE contract. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown, Hardy qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI by defeating Drew McIntyre, but was unsuccessful at WrestleMania, as the match was won by Jack Swagger. Hardy was suspended by Vince McMahon because he attacked McIntyre after McIntyre lost to Kofi Kingston at Over the Limit. He was able to get his revenge on McIntyre during the Viewer's Choice episode of Raw when chosen as the opponent for McIntyre, with General Manager Theodore Long stating that Hardy was suspended from SmackDown, but not from Raw. On the following episode of SmackDown, however, Vickie Guerrero announced that, per orders of Vince McMahon, Hardy had been suspended from all WWE programming. However, at Fatal 4-Way, Hardy prevented McIntyre from regaining the Intercontinental Championship, thus continuing their feud. On the following edition of SmackDown, he was reinstated by Long and had a match with McIntyre, which Hardy won. After the match, it was announced that McIntyre's visa had legitimately expired and was sent back to Scotland, thus ending their feud. Hardy was featured in the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match but was unsuccessful in winning with Kane coming out victorious.
On September 12, WWE confirmed they had sent Hardy home from a European tour. Following this, Hardy began posting videos on his YouTube channel expressing his disinterest in the WWE product and insisting that he wanted to be released from the company. On October 15, 2010, WWE announced that Hardy had been released from his contract. Hardy later stated that his release had been in effect two weeks before WWE made the announcement.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2011)
On January 9, 2011, Hardy made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) at the Genesis pay-per-view, as part of the stable Immortal. He was the surprise opponent for Rob Van Dam, and defeated him to prevent Van Dam from receiving a match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, held by Hardy's brother Jeff. In the main event, Hardy attempted to interfere in Jeff's World Heavyweight Championship match with Mr. Anderson, but was stopped by Van Dam, which led to Jeff losing both the match and the championship. On the January 13 episode of Impact!, the Hardy Boyz reunited to defeat Anderson and Van Dam in a tag team match, following interference from Beer Money, Inc. On February 13 at Against All Odds, Van Dam defeated Hardy in a rematch.
On the following episode of Impact!, Hardy, along with the rest of Immortal and Ric Flair, betrayed Fortune. On March 13 at Victory Road, Hardy was defeated by Flair's previous protégé, A.J. Styles. On April 17 at Lockdown, Immortal, represented by Hardy, Abyss, Bully Ray and Ric Flair, were defeated by Fortune members James Storm, Kazarian and Robert Roode and Christopher Daniels, who replaced an injured A.J. Styles, in a Lethal Lockdown match. On the April 21 episode of Impact!, Hardy faced Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, Hardy's first World Title match in TNA, but was defeated. The following month, Hardy was granted a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship against Beer Money, Inc. (James Storm and Robert Roode). While the champions looked to defend the title against the Hardy Boyz, Matt instead introduced the returning Chris Harris, Storm's old tag team partner, as his partner for the title match. The match took place at Sacrifice, where Storm and Roode retained their titles.
On June 21, it was reported that TNA had suspended Hardy. On August 20, Hardy was released from TNA following a DUI arrest that occurred earlier that same day.
Return to the independent circuit (2011–2017)
Hardy announced his retirement from full-time professional wrestling due to injuries on September 1, 2011. He issued a challenge to his long-time rival MVP, who was wrestling in Japan at the time, to one final match at "Crossfire Live!" in Nashville. The event was held May 19, 2012 and benefited the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Hardy won the match.
Throughout 2012, Hardy wrestled sporadically on the independent circuit, working with promotions such as Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Syndicate and Northeast Wrestling. On October 5, Hardy was defeated by Kevin Steen at Pro Wrestling Xperience's An Evil Twist of Fate. On November 11, Hardy, as the masked wrestler Rahway Reaper, defeated the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Kevin Matthews, winning the championship. On February 9, 2013, Hardy lost the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Championship back to Matthews.
On February 16, 2013, at Family Wrestling Entertainment's No Limit, Hardy wrestled a TLC match for the FWE Heavyweight Championship against the champion Carlito and Tommy Dreamer, but he was defeated. On November 30, 2013, at WrestleCade, Hardy defeated Carlito to become the first ever WrestleCade Champion.
On May 3, 2014, following a match between Christian York and Drolix, Hardy defeated Drolix to become the new MCW Heavyweight Champion. At Maryland Championship Wrestling's Shane Shamrock Cup, Hardy defeated Luke Hawx in a TLC match for Hardy's title and Hawx's Extreme Rising World title. Hardy won the match, but he gave back the title to Hawx. On October 4, Hardy lost the MCW Heavyweight Championship back to Drolix, following outside interference from Kevin Eck.
On February 9, 2015, Hardy appeared on FWE's "No Limits 2015" iPPV, challenging Drew Galloway for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated.
On November 28, 2015, Hardy lost the WrestleCade Championship to Jeff Jarrett at WrestleCade IV in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Hardy regained the title in a triple-threat cage match against Jarrett and Ethan Carter III in Hickory, North Carolina on May 20, 2016. He appeared at the #DELETEWCPW event for What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) in Nottingham, England on November 30. Hardy, billed as "Broken" Matt Hardy, lost a no-disqualification match to Bully Ray, with Ray proposing the no-disqualification stipulation at the last minute, and Hardy accepting there and then.
Return to ROH (2012–2014)
At Death Before Dishonor X: State of Emergency in 2012, Hardy returned to Ring of Honor, confronting Adam Cole and challenging him to a match for the ROH World Television Championship. On December 16 at Final Battle 2012: Doomsday, Hardy defeated Cole in a non-title match.
At the following iPPV, 11th Anniversary Show on March 2, 2013, Hardy joined the villainous S.C.U.M. stable. On April 5 at the Supercard of Honor VII iPPV, Hardy unsuccessfully challenged Matt Taven for the ROH World Television Championship in a three-way elimination match, which also included Adam Cole. On June 22 at Best in the World 2013, Hardy defeated former S.C.U.M. stablemate Kevin Steen in a No Disqualification match to become the number one contender to the ROH World Championship. Hardy received his title shot at the following day's Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings, but was defeated by the defending champion, Jay Briscoe. Later that same day, S.C.U.M. was forced to disband after losing a Steel Cage Warfare match against Team ROH. On December 14, 2013, at Final Battle 2013, Hardy defeated Adam Page in a singles match; later on in the main event, Hardy aided Adam Cole in retaining his title and forming a tag team with him. After aiding Cole at Supercard of Honor VIII, Hardy was given Jay Briscoe's unofficial "Real World Title" belt, which he renamed the "ROH Iconic Championship". In July, Hardy opted out of his ROH contract and went back to TNA.
Return to OMEGA (2013–2018)
Matt announced that OMEGA would return in January 2013 with an event titled "Chinlock For Chuck". The main event featured Matt, Jeff, Shane "Hurricane" Helms and "Cowboy" James Storm defeating Gunner, Steve Corino, CW Anderson and Lodi. On October 12, 2013, at "Chapel Thrill", Hardy announced a Tournament for the OMEGA Heavyweight Championship which featured himself vs. CW Anderson and Shane "Hurricane" Helms vs. "The King" Shane Williams. After Hardy's qualifying match he was attacked by CW but was saved by the returning Willow the Whisp. Hardy won that match and advanced to the finals.
On November 21, 2015, Matt won the OMEGA Heavyweight Championship for the second time, defeating former student Trevor Lee. Following this, Matt (upon regaining the TNA world title as part of his villainous egotistical "Iconic" gimmick) began proclaiming himself to be the only world champion that matters, and the only "true" world champion in wrestling, as he held both the TNA and OMEGA Championships, which (according to him) put him above any other promotions' world champions. Throughout 2016, Hardy defended the TNA and OMEGA titles jointly at OMEGA events as part of his "only true world champion" gimmick.
On January 29, The Hardys won the OMEGA Tag Team Championships.
Return to TNA
The Hardys third reunion (2014–2015)
On July 24, 2014, Hardy returned to TNA and reunited with Jeff to reform The Hardys for the third time. At the Destination X episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys were defeated by The Wolves in a match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the August 14 episode of Impact Wrestling, Team 3D (formerly the Dudley Boyz) challenged The Hardys to a match, which Team 3D won. At the Hardcore Justice episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys and Team 3D talked about a match involving themselves and The Wolves. When The Wolves were asked by the two teams, they agreed. Later that night, Kurt Angle announced all three teams would compete in a best of three series for the TNA World Tag Team Championship with the winners of the first match choosing the stipulation of the next one. The Hardys won the second match of the series on the September 10 episode of Impact Wrestling in a tables match and choose a ladder match for the third match of the series. The Hardys were unsuccessful in winning that match on the September 17 episode of Impact Wrestling, as the Wolves won that match. The Wolves then went on to pick the final match of the series to be a Full Metal Mayhem match to take place on the October 8 episode of Impact Wrestling. The Hardys were unsuccessful in that match as the Wolves won that match.
On October 22, The Hardys entered a number one contenders tournament for the TNA World Tag Team Championship defeating The BroMans (Jessie Godderz and DJ Z) in the first round of the tournament. On the October 29 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys defeated Team Dixie (Ethan Carter III and Tyrus) in the semifinals to advance to the finals of the tournament, where they defeated Samoa Joe and Low Ki to become number one contenders for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the January 16, 2015 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys defeated the Wolves. At the Lockdown episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys were defeated by The Revolution in a six sides of steel cage match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the February 20 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy and The Wolves defeated The Revolution in a six-man tag team match. In March, The Hardys participated in a tournament for the vacant TNA World Tag Team Championship. On March 16, 2015, Matt and Jeff won an Ultimate X match for the titles. On May 8, 2015, Hardy vacated the TNA World Tag Team Championship due to his brother Jeff being injured.
World Heavyweight Champion (2015–2016)
On June 28, 2015, Hardy was among the five wrestlers who competed for the TNA King of the Mountain Championship at Slammiversary, with Jeff Jarrett ultimately emerging victorious. On the July 8 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy requested a world title shot against Ethan Carter III, but was denied and forced to face the Dirty Heels (Austin Aries and Bobby Roode) in a handicap match, which he lost. On the July 22 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy defeated Roode in a Tables match to become the #1 contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On the August 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy got his shot at the title against EC3 in a Full Metal Mayhem match, but failed to win the title. On the September 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy got another shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against EC3, but again failed to win the title; as part of the storyline, Jeff Hardy was forced to act as Ethan Carter's personal assistant. On the September 30 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hardy was added to the Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway main event match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Bound for Glory after he and Galloway defeated Carter and Tyrus, making it a three-way match, following which Jeff, who EC3 had just "fired" in the previous episode, was revealed to be the special guest referee.
On October 4 at Bound for Glory, Matt won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship by pinning Galloway. However, EC3 filed an injunction (kayfabe) that banned Hardy from appearing on Impact Wrestling for a month, which forced Hardy to relinquish the title in order to stay on the show. However, Hardy had been participating in the TNA World Title Series for the vacant title. He qualified to the round of 16 by defeating Davey Richards, Robbie E and Eddie Edwards. He then advanced to the round of 8 by defeating the King of the Mountain Champion Bobby Roode and then to Jessie Godderz to continue his winning streak. The semifinals and finals were held on the January 5, 2016, live episode of Impact Wrestling during its debut on Pop TV, in which he defeated Eric Young to advance to the final round. Hardy faced EC3 in the TNA World Title Series finals, but lost the match via pinfall.
Hardy won the TNA World Title from EC3 on the January 19, 2016 episode of Impact Wrestling, becoming the first man to defeat him in a one-on-one match in TNA. During the match a double turn took place; Hardy turned heel after Tyrus betrayed EC3. The following week on Impact Wrestling, Jeff Hardy had confronted him about last week and issued a challenge to Matt for the World Heavyweight title in the main event and Matt accepted. However, later before the main event could begin, Eric Young and Bram attacked Jeff from behind. Kurt Angle then came out to try save Jeff, and Matt had Tyrus attack Angle from behind. While Matt watched from the ramp, Young attacked Jeff with the Piledriver off the apron through a table. The following week, he successfully retained his title against Angle. At Lockdown, he retained his title in a Six-side of steel match against Ethan Carter III, with the help of Rockstar Spud. He lost his title against Drew Galloway on the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, after a match featuring EC3 and Jeff Hardy.
Two weeks later he received a rematch for the title on Impact Wrestling, but was again defeated by Galloway. After losing the title he started a feud with Jeff. On the April 19 episode of Impact Wrestling, and an I Quit match ended in a no-contest as both Matt and Jeff were badly injured and Matt was taken out to the hospital on a stretcher.
The Broken Universe (2016–2017)
Hardy returned on May 17 episode of Impact Wrestling, revealing himself to be one of the impostor Willows behind the attacks on Jeff. Later that night, he attacked Jeff. In the following weeks, Hardy debuted a new persona as a "Broken" man with part of his hair bleached blonde along with a strange sophisticated accent, blaming Jeff (who he began referring to as "Brother Nero", Nero being Jeff's middle name) for breaking him and becoming obsessed with "deleting" him. His line “Delete”, is mostly inspired by the Death Note manga/anime series character Teru Mikami. On June 12, at Slammiversary, Matt was defeated by Jeff in a Full Metal Mayhem match. On the June 21 episode of Impact Wrestling, Matt was once again defeated by Jeff in a Six Sides of Steel match. On the June 28 episode of Impact Wrestling, Matt challenged Jeff to a final battle with the Hardy brand on the line, to take place at their home in Cameron, North Carolina the next week. On July 5, during special episode "The Final Deletion", Matt defeated Jeff in the match to become sole owner of the Hardy brand, forcing Jeff to drop his last name and become referred to as "Brother Nero".
On the August 18 episode of Impact Wrestling, Matt and Brother Nero defeated The Tribunal, The BroMans and The Helms Dynasty in an "Ascension To Hell" match for an opportunity to challenge Decay for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On September 8, during special episode "Delete or Decay", the Hardys faced Decay in a match held at the Hardy compound, where Brother Nero sacrificed himself to save Matt from Abyss. Thanks to Brother Nero's sacrifice, Hardy was able to confront Rosemary and prevent his son Maxel from being abducted, which turned Hardy babyface as a result, and he furthered the face turn by healing Brother Nero in the Lake of Reincarnation. At Bound for Glory, the Hardys defeated Decay in "The Great War" to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship for the second time. On the October 6 episode of Impact Wrestling, they successfully defended their titles against Decay, in a Wolf Creek match.
On the November 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, the Hardys successfully defended the titles against The Tribunal. After the match, the Hardys were attacked by the masked trio known as Death Crew Council (DCC). After accepting DCC's title challenge, The Hardys faced Bram and Kingston, and Matt pinned Kingston to retain the titles. On December 15, during special episode "Total Nonstop Deletion", they were once again successful in retaining. Brother Nero attacked Crazzy Steve with the Twist of Fate, who then fell into a volcano (that had appeared on the compound in the weeks leading up the event), and was shot up into the sky, landing in the ring. Matt then covered him to win the match.
On the January 12, 2017 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys successfully defended their titles against The Wolves. At Genesis, The Hardys retained their titles against the DCC and Decay in a three-way tag team match. On Open Fight Night, the Hardys began a storyline where they would teleport to different promotions and win that promotions' tag team championship gold, which was referred to by Matt as their "Expedition of Gold". On February 27, Hardy announced that both he and Jeff had finally left TNA, following years of speculation, with their contracts expiring that week. Though the two sides were reportedly close to a contract agreement, talks began to break down and changes in management prompted their departure from the company. The TNA World Tag Team Championships were vacated due to the Hardys' departure and was explained on TNA television in a segment where The Hardys teleported to their next Expedition of Gold destination, but a technicality resulted in them disappearing and the belts appearing in the arms of Decay.
Broken gimmick legal battle
Shortly after the departure of Matt and Jeff from TNA was made public, Matt's wife, Reby, went on a social media tirade in which she repeatedly slammed TNA, the company's new management and the way in which contract negotiations between the company and the Hardy family were conducted. A few weeks following this, the bad blood between the two sides intensified, so much so that the new management of TNA (now renamed Impact Wrestling) Anthem Sports & Entertainment issued a cease and desist letter to The Hardys' new promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), in which Anthem essentially ordered ROH as well as any broadcasting company airing ROH's 15th Anniversary pay–per–view show (on which The Hardys were to participate in a match) to not in any way speak of, indicate or acknowledge the existence of the Broken Matt and Brother Nero characters and instead to refer to The Hardys as simply Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy. The issue with this is that while The Hardys were in TNA, they had full creative control over the Broken gimmick, with them even filming their own segments to air on TNA programming in some circumstances, thus making the Hardy family (in their belief) the owners of the Broken gimmick. It is believed that civil litigation will follow and a potential court hearing will take place regarding the outcome on who owns the Broken gimmick: Anthem or the Hardy family. Until then, the status of the Broken gimmick remains undecided. Despite this, Matt continues to use the Broken gimmick through his social media accounts, but neither he nor Jeff uses the Broken gimmick at any professional wrestling shows for ROH or on the independent circuit, presumably until the results of the expected legal proceedings have been finalized.
Newly–appointed Impact Wrestling President Ed Nordholm credits the invention of and the vision behind the Broken gimmick to Jeremy Borash, Dave Lagana and Billy Corgan, and while Borash specifically had the most input into the gimmick of the three aside from Matt, the Hardy family deny that Borash was the sole person behind the gimmick. In November 2017, Impact Wrestling changed their policy, allowing all talent to retain complete ownership over their intellectual property, essentially forfeiting ownership of the "Broken" character to Hardy.
On January 31, 2018, the legal battle officially concluded when Matt legally acquired ownership of all trademarks related to the Broken universe and the Broken gimmick, which includes 'Broken Matt', 'Brother Nero', 'Broken Brilliance' and 'Vanguard1'.
International matches (2014–2015)
On November 1, 2014, Hardy traveled to Japan to compete for Wrestle-1 at the promotions Keiji Muto 30th Anniversary Hold Out show in a triple threat match against Seiya Sanada and Tajiri, which he lost.
On May 24, 2015, Hardy traveled to Mexico to compete as a team captain for Team TNA/Lucha Underground with teammates Mr. Anderson and Johnny Mundo at Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide's 2015 Lucha Libre World Cup pay–per–view show. In the quarter–final round, Team TNA/Lucha Underground faced Team Rest of the World (Drew Galloway, Angélico and El Mesías) to a 15-minute time limit draw, with Team TNA/Lucha Underground winning in overtime and advancing to the semi–final round. In the semi–final round, Team TNA/Lucha Underground defeated Team MexLeyendas (Blue Demon Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr. and El Solar) to advance to the final round. In the final round, Team TNA/Lucha Underground faced Dream Team (El Patrón Alberto, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.) to a 15–minute time limit draw, with Dream Team winning both the match and the tournament in overtime with Hardy on the losing end of the final pinfall.
Second return to ROH (2016–2017)
On December 2, 2016, Hardy returned to ROH for the second time while still under contract with TNA, appearing at the promotions Final Battle pay-per-view show as Broken Matt, where a video message showed him addressing The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) and The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe).
On March 4, 2017, in the same week that both Matt and Jeff were released from TNA, The Hardys defeated The Young Bucks in an impromptu match at ROH's 2017 installment of the company's Manhattan Mayhem show series to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions for the first time. Moments after winning the titles, Hardy announced in a post-match promo that both he and Brother Nero (Jeff) had signed "the biggest ROH contracts in (the company's) history". It was later confirmed that the contracts were short-term, only for the "immediate future". On March 10, The Hardys successfully defended the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the first time at ROH's 15th Anniversary pay-per-view show against The Young Bucks and Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) in a three-way Las Vegas tag team street fight match. Prior to the event, the Hardys had been sent a legal threat by Impact Wrestling regarding the use of the Broken Matt and Brother Nero gimmicks. The following night on March 11, The Hardys (not billed but using the Broken gimmicks anyway) once again retained the titles, this time against The Briscoes at a set of Ring of Honor Wrestling television tapings. The Hardys lost the titles back to The Young Bucks in a ladder match on April 1 at ROH's Supercard of Honor XI pay-per-view show, which would be the final ROH appearances for both Hardys in this tenure with the promotion.
Second return to WWE (2017–2020)
Feud with The Bar (2017)
At the WrestleMania 33 pay-per-view on April 2, 2017, Hardy made his surprise return to WWE, along with his brother Jeff Hardy, being added as last-minute participants in the ladder match for the Raw Tag Team Championship, defeating Gallows and Anderson, Cesaro and Sheamus, and Enzo and Cass to win the Raw Tag Team Championship. Afterwards on Raw Talk, Hardy mentioned that The Hardy Boyz had successfully completed the Expedition of Gold, after winning the Raw Tag Team Championship. At Payback, The Hardy Boyz retained their championships against Cesaro and Sheamus, who attacked them after the match. The next night on Raw, Cesaro and Sheamus explained their actions, claiming the fans were more supportive of 'novelty acts' from the past like The Hardy Boyz, who they feel did not deserve to be in the match at WrestleMania 33. Subsequently, at Extreme Rules, The Hardy Boyz lost the titles against Cesaro and Sheamus in a steel cage match, and failed to regain it back the following month at the Great Balls of Fire event. Afterwards, it was revealed that Jeff had gotten injured and would be out for an estimated six months, thus Hardy began wrestling in singles matches.
Woken Universe and storyline with Bray Wyatt (2017–2018)
During his feud with Bray Wyatt, Hardy introduced his "Woken" gimmick, after Impact Wrestling dropped their claim to the gimmick and Hardy gained full ownership of it. Wyatt defeated Hardy at Raw 25 on January 22, 2018, and Hardy defeated Wyatt at Elimination Chamber on February 25. Their final match happened on the March 19 episode of Raw, dubbed The Ultimate Deletion, with Hardy winning after distractions from Señor Benjamin. Wyatt then disappeared after being thrown into the Lake of Reincarnation. At WrestleMania 34 on April 7, Hardy competed in the annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and won the match due to a distraction by the returning Wyatt. After WrestleMania, Hardy and Wyatt performed as a tag team, sometimes referred to as The Deleters of Worlds. They won a tournament for the vacant Raw Tag Team Championship, defeating Cesaro and Sheamus at the Greatest Royal Rumble event to win the title. However, they lost the titles at Extreme Rules to The B-Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel). On the July 23 episode of Raw, Hardy and Wyatt received a rematch for the titles, but was again defeated by The B-Team. Following this, Hardy revealed that he was taking time off due to his back fusing with his pelvis, effectively disbanding the team. According to Hardy, the reason WWE disbanded the team was because he and Wyatt pitched several ideas to WWE to work with their characters.
The Hardys fourth reunion and departure (2019–2020)
After more than seven months of absence from television, Hardy returned on the February 26, 2019 episode of SmackDown Live, teaming with his brother Jeff to defeat The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus). At WrestleMania 35 on April 7, Hardy competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was eliminated by eventual winner, Braun Strowman. Two days later on SmackDown Live, The Hardy Boyz defeated The Usos to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. The reign only lasted 21 days (recognized as 20 days by WWE), as they had to vacate the title due to Jeff injuring his knee, this was explained in storyline as injuries afflicted by Lars Sullivan. After his brother Jeff's injury, Hardy began to appear on WWE programming less frequently. At Super ShowDown on June 7, Hardy competed in the 51-man Battle Royal, which was eventually won by Mansoor. From November to December, Hardy occasionally appeared on Raw, losing matches against superstars like Buddy Murphy, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet and Erick Rowan.
On the February 10, 2020 episode of Raw, Hardy confronted Randy Orton about Orton's attack on Edge two weeks earlier. Hardy then got himself into a brawl with him moments after, and was viciously attacked by Orton. The following week on Raw, an injured Hardy appeared and was once again assaulted by Orton, which would be his final appearance in WWE. On March 2, Hardy announced his departure from WWE through his official YouTube channel, where Hardy said that while he's grateful towards the people behind the scenes, he said he is also on different pages with WWE as he feels he needs to have creative input and still has more to give. Later that day, WWE announced that his contract had expired.
All Elite Wrestling
Multiple personalities (2020–2021)
Hardy made his All Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut on the March 18, 2020 episode of Dynamite, reverting to his "Broken" gimmick and being announced as the replacement for the kayfabe injured Nick Jackson on The Elite's team at Blood and Guts. However, the event was postponed to the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the May 6 episode of Dynamite, Hardy wrestled his first match with AEW, teaming up with Kenny Omega for a street fight against The Inner Circle's Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara, and Hardy and Omega lost when Jericho pinned Omega. During this period, due to the lack of live audience, Hardy felt that the Broken character needs public, so he began to include several of his gimmicks, including Broken Matt Hardy, Big Money Matt, Matt Hardy V1, and Unkillable Matt Hardy, being referred to as "Multifarious" Matt Hardy. AEW president Tony Khan later admitted that he "wasn't a fan" of the Broken gimmick and much preferred more realistic presentations in wrestling.
At Double or Nothing, Hardy teamed with The Elite to defeat The Inner Circle in the first ever Stadium Stampede match. During the match, Santana and Ortiz dunked Hardy in the stadium pool, which acted as a version of the Lake of Reincarnation, as Hardy kept cycling through his various gimmicks throughout his career when he surfaced. Hardy then feuded with Sammy Guevara, and after Hardy defeated Guevara in a Broken Rules match at All Out, Hardy took time off until he was cleared to return, due to an injury sustained during the match. On the September 16 episode of Dynamite, Hardy aligned with Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) as their manager, but was attacked backstage before their match. The attacker was later revealed as Guevara and The Elite Deletion match was announced, which took place at The Hardy Compound in Cameron, North Carolina, where Hardy won.
The Hardy Family Office (2021–present)
Hardy then switched to his Big Money persona as he focused on managing Private Party. Over the following weeks, Hardy would display villainous tactics as he began cheating during matches much to Private Party's dismay. On the January 20, 2021 episode of Dynamite, Hardy and Private Party defeated Matt Sydal and Top Flight (Dante Martin and Darius Martin) after using a steel chair before attacking Sydal and Top Flight afterwards, thus turning heel. Hardy then approached Adam Page to accompany and befriend him, and during tag team matches, Hardy would always tag himself in and pick up the victory for his team to Page's behest. After Page set up a match between Hardy and himself, Hardy double-crossed Page, with Private Party and The Hybrid 2 (Angélico and Jack Evans) attacking Page until The Dark Order came out to save him. At the Revolution event, Hardy lost to Page despite multiple interferences from Private Party.
Following Revolution, Hardy became the manager for The Butcher and The Blade (with their valet The Bunny in tow), and along with Private Party, the stable became known as the Matt Hardy Empire before settling on the name Hardy Family Office. Hardy also added The Hybrid 2 to his group in July having previously hiring them on a mercenary basis. At Double or Nothing, Hardy competed in Casino Battle Royale but was eliminated by Christian Cage. This led to a match between the two at Fyter Fest, where Hardy lost to Cage. In August, Matt Hardy and HFO began a feud with Orange Cassidy and Best Friends, which led to a match on the August 25 episode of Dynamite, where Hardy was defeated by Cassidy. However, on the November 12 episode of Rampage, Hardy defeated Cassidy in a Lumberjack match, thanks to an interference from HFO and the heel lumberjacks. Their feud ended on the November 17 episode of Dynamite where his team of The Butcher and The Blade lost to the team of Cassidy and Tomohiro Ishii, where Cassidy gave a crossbody to the interfering Hardy and The Blade during the match.
Professional wrestling style and persona
After the creation of his Broken character, Hardy was praised by several wrestlers and critics for reinventing himself several times during his career. During his career, Hardy has won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Best Gimmick award two times under two different characters, once in 2002 and again in 2016.
Personal life
Hardy was in a six-year relationship with wrestler Amy Dumas, better known as Lita. They first met in January 1999 at a NWA Mid-Atlantic show but did not begin dating until a few months later. They broke up in February 2005 when he discovered that she was having an affair with one of Hardy's close friends, fellow wrestler Adam Copeland, better known as Edge. Hardy also dated WWE wrestler Ashley Massaro.
Hardy married wrestler Rebecca Reyes, better known as Reby Sky, on October 5, 2013. They have three sons and one daughter. Hardy had previously been an addict, and credits his wife for helping him get clean.
Hardy is good friends with fellow wrestlers Marty Garner, Shannon Moore, and Gregory Helms. In December 2020, he claimed to have Native American ancestry.
Legal issues
Hardy was arrested for a DUI on August 20, 2011. Two days later, he was arrested on felony drug charges when police found steroids in his home. In November 2011, Hardy was removed from court-ordered rehab and sent back to jail for drinking.
In January 2014, Hardy and his wife were both arrested after a fight at a hotel.
Other media
In 1999, Matt, along with his brother Jeff, appeared as an uncredited wrestler on That '70s Show episode "That Wrestling Show". Matt and Jeff also appeared on Tough Enough in early 2001, talking to and wrestling the contestants. He appeared in the February 25, 2002 episode of Fear Factor competing against five other World Wrestling Federation wrestlers, including his brother. He won $50,000 for the American Cancer Society. Hardy also appeared on the October 13, 2009 episode of Scare Tactics, as a mental patient who threatens to attack the prank's victim.
In 2001, Matt, Jeff, and Lita appeared in Rolling Stone magazine's 2001 Sports Hall of Fame issue. In 2003, Matt and Jeff, with the help of Michael Krugman, wrote and published their autobiography The Hardy Boyz: Exist 2 Inspire. As part of WWE, Matt appeared in their DVD, The Hardy Boyz: Leap of Faith in 2001. On April 29, 2008, WWE released Twist of Fate: The Matt and Jeff Hardy Story. The DVD featured footage of the brothers in OMEGA and WWE. Hardy also appears on The Hardy Show, an Internet web show which features the Hardys, Shannon Moore, and many of their friends.
Hardy plays himself in the 2013 film Pro Wrestlers vs Zombies in which he and his real-life wife Reby Sky battle the undead.
Hardy's first WWE video game was WWF WrestleMania 2000 in 1999 on the Nintendo 64 shortly followed by WWF SmackDown! in early 2000 on the PlayStation. He made several appearances later in WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role, WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It, WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw. He later returned to the series in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, which was his last WWE video game before his departure to TNA. Following his return to WWE in 2017, he was revealed as a DLC character in WWE 2K18 on September 25 that year alongside tag team partner and brother, Jeff Hardy. Hardy was revealed as a playable character in WWE 2K19 on August 30, 2018. His final appearance in a WWE video game came with WWE 2K20 in 2019.
Filmography
Championships and accomplishments
All Elite Wrestling
Dynamite Award (1 time)
"Bleacher Report PPV Moment of the Year" (2021) – Stadium Stampede match (The Elite vs. The Inner Circle) – Double or Nothing (May 23)
All Star Wrestling (West Virginia)
ASW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brother Nero
CBS Sports
Worst Moment of the Year (2020) vs. Sammy Guevara at All Out (2020)
The Crash
The Crash Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brother Nero
Future Stars of Wrestling
FSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
House of Glory
HOG Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
Maryland Championship Wrestling/MCW Pro Wrestling
MCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
MCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
Extreme Rising World Championship (1 time)
National Championship Wrestling
NCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NCW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
New Dimension Wrestling
NDW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NDW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
New England Wrestling Alliance
NEWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NEWA Hall of Fame (class of 2012)
New Frontier Wrestling Association
NFWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NFWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Venom
NWA 2000
NWA 2000 Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
OMEGA Championship Wrestling
OMEGA Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
OMEGA Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Brother Nero/Jeff Hardy
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Comeback of the Year (2017) with Jeff Hardy
Feud of the Year (2005) vs. Edge and Lita
Match of the Year (2000) with Jeff Hardy vs. The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian in a triangle ladder match at WrestleMania 2000
Match of the Year (2001) with Jeff Hardy vs. The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at WrestleMania X-Seven
Tag Team of the Year (2000) with Jeff Hardy
Ranked No. 17 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2003
Pro Wrestling Syndicate
PWS Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Remix Pro Wrestling
Remix Pro Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Facade
Ring of Honor
ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
Holy S*** Moment of the Decade (2010s) – – with Jeff Hardy
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
TNA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
TNA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Jeff Hardy/Brother Nero
TNA World Tag Team Championship Tournament (2015) – with Jeff Hardy
TNA World Tag Team Championship #1 Contender Tournament (2014) – with Jeff Hardy
WrestleCade
WrestleCade Championship (2 times)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Best Gimmick (2002, 2016)
Worst Feud of the Year (2004) with Lita vs. Kane
Wrestling Superstar
Wrestling Superstar Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment/Federation
ECW Championship (1 time)
WWF Hardcore Championship (1 time)
WWF European Championship (1 time)
WWE United States Championship (1 time)
WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
WWF/World Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Montel Vontavious Porter (1) Jeff Hardy (1) and Bray Wyatt (1)
WCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy
André the Giant Memorial Trophy (2018)
Bragging Rights Trophy (2009) – with Team SmackDown
Terri Invitational Tournament (1999) – with Jeff Hardy
WWE Tag Team Eliminator (2018) - with Bray Wyatt
Luchas de Apuestas record
Notes
References
Sources
External links
1974 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American bloggers
American male professional wrestlers
American YouTubers
Male YouTubers
ECW champions
ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions
Living people
NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions
Participants in American reality television series
Professional wrestlers from North Carolina
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Reality show winners
Sportspeople from Raleigh, North Carolina
TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions
TNA/Impact World Tag Team Champions
Twitch (service) streamers
University of North Carolina at Charlotte alumni
WWF European Champions
WWF/WWE Hardcore Champions | true | [
"Denton Eric Daley (born March 18, 1982) is a Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 2010 to 2017. He challenged for the WBA interim cruiserweight title in 2014 and at regional level held the WBC-NABF, Canadian, and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles between 2013 and 2016.\n\nEarly career\nDaley, also known as the \"Brampton Bomber\" won 26 amateur fights before turning pro while running his own businesses.\n\nProfessional career\nDaley won the North American Boxing Federation cruiserweight title by defeating Richard Hall.\n\nDenton defeated Jean Marc Monrose to retain the WBA-NABA Cruiserweight Title.\n\nDaley lost to Youri Kayembre Kalenga for the interim World Boxing Association cruiserweight title.\n\nIn 2016, Denton defeated Sylvera Louis winning the NCC cruiserweight and the vacant Commonwealth cruiserweight titles, Daley became the second Canadian to win the Commonwealth cruiserweight title with the first being Troy Ross when he won it in 2007.\n\nChampionships and accomplishments\nNational Championship of Canada\nNCC Cruiserweight Championship (One time)\nCommonwealth Boxing Council\nCommonwealth Cruiserweight Championship (One time)\nNorth American Boxing Federation\nNABF Cruiserweight Championship (One time)\nWorld Boxing Association/North American Boxing Association\nWBA-NABA Cruiserweight Championship (One time)\n\nProfessional boxing record\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nLiving people\nCruiserweight boxers\nCanadian male boxers\nCommonwealth Boxing Council champions\n1982 births",
"Jai Opetaia (born 30 June 1995) is an Australian professional boxer who has held the WBA Oceania cruiserweight title since 2019. As an amateur he won a bronze medal at the 2012 Youth World Championships and represented Australia at the 2012 Olympics and 2014 Commonwealth Games.\n\nPersonal life \n\nHe is related to Australian football player Tim Cahill and rugby league player Ben Roberts of Parramatta Eels.\n\nAmateur career \nIn Opetaia's amateur career, he won the Light Heavyweight title at the 2011 Junior World Championships then qualified for the 2012 Olympics as a Heavyweight at the age of 16, making him the youngest ever Australian Olympic boxer.\n\nOpetaia won the Junior World title in Kazakhstan in July 2011.\n\nAt the Olympic qualifier in Canberra 2012 he had a tough final against New Zealander David Light but prevailed 15:10.\n\nIn 2012, Opetaia got the bronze medal at the AIBA World Youth Championships in the heavyweight division. Later that year, Opetaia competed at the 2012 Olympics, however did not pass the first round of the tournament.\n\nProfessional career\nOpetaia was scheduled to face Daniel Ammann for the vacant WBC-OPBF and Australian cruiserweight titles on July 15, 2017. He won the fight by a ninth-round technical knockout. Opetaia was next scheduled to face Frankie Lopez for the vacant IBF Youth cruiserweight title on October 21, 2017. He won the fight by a first-round technical knockout.\n\nOpetaia made his first Australian Cruiserweight title defense against Benjamin Kelleher on January 17, 2018. He won the fight by a third-round technical knockout. Opetaia fought for yet another regional title on April 7, 2018, when he was set to face Lukas Paszkowsky for the vacant WBO Asia-Pacific cruiserweight title. He won the fight by a second-round technical knockout. Opetaia made his first WBO Asia-Pacific cruiserweight title defense against Kurtis Pegoraro on June 29, 2018. The fight was simultaneously a fight for the vacant IBF Pan-Pacific cruiserweight title. He won the fight by a second-round knockout.\n\nOpetaia fought Navosa Ioata for the vacant WBA Oceania interim cruiserweight title on May 15, 2019, and won the fight by an eight-round technical knockout. Opetaia made his first title defense two months later, on July 27, 2019, against Nikolas Charalampous, while also fighting for the vacant WBO Global cruiserweight title. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Opetaia made the first defense of these two titles, and fought for the inaugural IBF Asia-Oceania cruiserweight title, against Mark Flanagan on November 16, 2019. He won the fight by an eight-round technical knockout.\n\nOpetaia was scheduled to defend his IBF Asia-Oceania and WBO Global cruiserweight titles in a rematch with Benjamin Kelleher on October 22, 2020. He won the fight by a sixth-round technical knockout.\n\nOpetaia is scheduled to challenge the reigning IBF and The Ring cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis on 6 April 2022.\n\nProfessional boxing record\n\nReferences \n\n1995 births\nAustralian people of Samoan descent\nBoxers from Sydney\nHeavyweight boxers\nBoxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics\nOlympic boxers of Australia\nBoxers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games\nCommonwealth Games competitors for Australia\nAustralian male boxers\nLiving people"
] |
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