In Top Cat, who was the voice of Choo Choo?

Amazon.com: Top Cat And The Beverly Hills Cats: Top Cat & The Beverly Hills Cats: Movies & TV Top Cat And The Beverly Hills Cats DVD $12.61 Sling Television: 7 days FREE Watch Live TV Programming Any Time and Anywhere. Simple monthly pricing, no long-term contracts or hidden fees. Watch now See all buying options $14.99 Free Shipping for Prime Members | Fast, FREE Shipping with Amazon Prime Only 6 left in stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Frequently Bought Together One of these items ships sooner than the other. Show details Buy the selected items together This item:Top Cat And The Beverly Hills Cats DVD $14.99 Only 6 left in stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. FREE Shipping on orders over $49. Details Top Cat by Rob Schneider DVD $6.95 Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. FREE Shipping on orders over $49. Details Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1 This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. Page 1 of 1 Start over Sponsored Products are advertisements for products sold by merchants on Amazon.com. When you click on a Sponsored Product ad, you will be taken to an Amazon detail page where you can learn more about the product and purchase it. To learn more about Amazon Sponsored Products, click here . Ad feedback Special Offers and Product Promotions Your cost could be $0.00 instead of $14.99! Get a $50 Amazon.com Gift Card instantly upon approval for the Amazon Rewards Visa Card Apply now Editorial Reviews How did alley cats Top Cat, Choo-Choo, Brain, Fancy-Fancy and Benny the Ball end up in the swanky mansion of Gertrude Vandergelt? What's Benny doing in a dog pound? And why are the conniving butler Snerdly and his mad wolfhound Rasputin out to get Benny? Get the breathless answers to these and other nutty questions in the fabulous feature-length animated caper Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats. What starts off as an another ordinary day in Hoagie Alley's turns into an adventurous romp through Beverly Hills, with Top Cat and the gang riding in limos, attending lavish costume parties and saving the heir to the Vandergelt fortune! Original Top Cat series voice actors Arnold Stang (T.C.), Marvin Kaplan (Choo-Choo), Leo De Lyon (Spook and Brain) and John Stephenson (Fancy-Fancy) memorably reprise their roles. When sold by Amazon.com, this product will be manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply. Special Features DVD Release Date: October 10, 2011 Run Time: 92 minutes


Who played Leroy Johnson in the movie Fame and on TV?

Gene Anthony Ray, 41, a Dancer in 'Fame' - The New York Times The New York Times Arts |Gene Anthony Ray, 41, a Dancer in 'Fame' Search Gene Anthony Ray, 41, a Dancer in 'Fame' By KIMETRIS N. BALTRIP Continue reading the main story Correction Appended Gene Anthony Ray, who starred as Leroy, a street-smart urban teenager, in the 1980 movie ''Fame'' and the later television series, died on Friday in Manhattan. He was 41. The cause was complications of a stroke he had in June, and he was also H.I.V. positive, said Jean E. Ray, his mother. Mr. Ray was a natural fit when he was cast as Leroy in the film, which won Academy Awards for best song and original score. Like his character in the film, Mr. Ray had never had professional dance training but had a raw talent that dazzled choreographers. The actors who performed in the movie and in the television series ''Fame'' portrayed students at New York's High School of the Performing Arts, which Mr. Ray attended for a year before being kicked out. ''It was too disciplined for this wild child of mine,'' Mrs. Ray said. His journey into the spotlight began at Julia Richmond High School. He performed in a dance class there and later auditioned for Louis Falco, the choreographer for the film ''Fame.'' He skipped school the day of the first tryout, and ''Leroy Johnson was born,'' Mrs. Ray said. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Mr. Ray also played Leroy in the NBC television series ''Fame,'' which made its debut in 1982. It was canceled by NBC because of poor ratings but was later picked up by MGM Television, which distributed it in syndication from 1983 to 1987. Born on May 24, 1962, in Harlem, Mr. Ray lived on on West 153rd Street. After he gained stardom for his roles in ''Fame,'' Mr. Ray left school to pursue his career. In 1982 he toured Britain, to perform with other ''Fame'' cast members in 10 concerts. ''The Kids From Fame,'' a television special about the tour, was broadcast in the United States a year later. His other film credits include ''Out of Sync'' (1995), which was directed by his ''Fame'' co-star Debbie Allen, and ''Eddie'' (1996), which starred Whoopi Goldberg. According to Selma Rubin, who managed Mr. Ray for 24 years, his last video project is a one-hour BBC ''Fame'' reunion documentary, ''Fame Remember My Name,'' which was taped in Los Angeles in April 2003 but has not yet been shown. Correction: November 22, 2003, Saturday An obituary on Wednesday about Gene Anthony Ray, featured dancer in the movie ''Fame,'' misspelled part of the name of the Manhattan high school where he auditioned. It was Julia Richman High School, now part of the Julia Richman Educational Complex (not Richmond).


"Who did Mrs. Thatcher describe as ""a man we can do business with?"""

TV Interview for BBC (“I like Mr Gorbachev. We can do business together”) | Margaret Thatcher Foundation TV Interview for BBC (“I like Mr Gorbachev. We can do business together”) Document type: 1200-1245. Film of the item can be seen here . Importance ranking: 3672 Themes: Conservative Party (organisation), Defence (arms control), Employment, Industry, Privatised and state industries, Foreign policy (Asia), Foreign policy (development, aid, etc), Foreign policy (USSR and successor states), Leadership, Terrorism, Strikes and other union action, Voluntary sector and charity, Famous statements by MT John  Cole Prime Minister, after meeting Mr. Gorbachev, are you more or less optimistic about detente and world peace in 1985? Prime Minister I am cautiously optimistic. I like Mr. Gorbachev. We can do business together. We both believe in our own political systems. He firmly believes in his; I firmly believe in mine. We are never going to change one another. So that is not in doubt, but we have two great interests in common: that we should both do everything we can to see that war never starts again, and therefore we go into the disarmament talks determined to make them succeed. And secondly, I think we both believe that they are the more likely to succeed if we can build up confidence in one another and trust in one another about each other's approach, and therefore, we believe in cooperating on trade matters, on cultural matters, on quite a lot of contacts between politicians from the two sides of the divide.[fo 1] John Cole Mr. Gorbachev has been mentioned as a possible successor to the present leadership and also as a more flexible and, in Soviet terms, a liberal man. Did you form any impression about him personally like that? Prime Minister [ Mikhail  Gorbachev] He was very ready to enter into full, detailed discussion; not to stick to prepared statements. So we had a genuine discussion. As a matter of fact, I also had a genuine discussion with Mr. Chernenko, President Chernenko, when I visited Moscow in February last year, and I also got on very well with President Chernenko, so the two things, really, were very very well worthwhile doing and I am very pleased he is here, and I hope he has an extremely successful visit. John Cole Now, you will be seeing President Reagan at the end of the week. Do you think there is any chance of a Summit meeting in the New Year between President Chernenko and President Reagan? Prime Minister I should not hurry along a Summit meeting too fast. I think the most important thing is to try to decide what[fo 2] form the disarmament talks shall take; what shall be discussed; in which group of Ministers; and to try to make progress there. I am sure that both sides want to make progress, because it is in both of our interests to do so, and I think it is important that some progress is made first and then perhaps to think of a Summit later. But I think it is wrong to raise expectations too high at the beginning, because then people might be disappointed. If they approach it in the framework that we both want to succeed and then take the progress steadily, that will be better in the longer run. John Cole So the arms talks first, and what about Star Wars? Prime Minister Well that, of course, is part of the disarmament talks. Obviously, you cannot stop research going ahead, but I think one does not want to go into a higher and higher level of armaments because between the two main power blocs, the Warsaw Pact countries and NATO, we have got to have balance if we are both to feel secure, but we are only going to feel secure on the basis of a balance of armaments, and obviously, it does not make sense to have balance at a higher and higher level. We want to get the level of balance down and that is why we are entering into the talks; because we want that level of balance down[fo 3] and also because I think both of us feel that more monies should be spent towards raising the standard of living of people and perhaps less on armaments, provided we can keep that balance and that mutual respect for one ano


Dalai_Lama - Running head: THE DALAI LAMA 1 The Dalai Lama a Humanistic Dalai_Lama Dalai_Lama - Running head: THE DALAI LAMA 1 The Dalai Lama... SCHOOL Running head: THE DALAI LAMA 1 The Dalai Lama a Humanistic Perspective Axxxxx Mxxxxx Colorado Technical University The Dalai Lama a Humanistic Perspective This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version. View Full                             Document THE DALAI LAMA 2 Biographical Sketch This study is of Tenzin Gyatso, better known as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, specifically the 14 th Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is both a religious and political leader as well as being known worldwide as a human rights activist. According to The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (2013),” He frequently states that his life is guided by three major commitments: the promotion of basic human values or secular ethics in the interest of human happiness, the fostering of inter-religious harmony and the preservation of Tibet's Buddhist culture, a culture of peace and non-violence.” On July 6 th , 1935 a baby was born to a Tibetan farming family in the village of Taktser. This child was named Lhamo Thondup, which means “wish fulfilling goddess” Tibetan officials had been sent on a journey to locate the 14 Dalai Lama,. By following a number of signs given This is the end of the preview. Sign up to                   access the rest of the document. TERM Running head: THE DALAI LAMA 1 The Dalai Lama a Case Study Axxxxx Mxxxxxxxx Colorado DalaiLamaStudy4


Rushford Report How Hanoi Buys Influence in Washington, D.C. posted by Greg Rushford on August 4, 2015  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Hanoi this Thursday for a two-day visit. Expect much talk of how the United States and Vietnam have been developing closer security and economic ties — and how Vietnam’s praiseworthy “progress” in improving its human-rights record is making this possible. Hopefully, Vietnam’s feared Ministry of Public Security will be on better behavior this week than back in May. Then, Kerry’s top human-rights advisor, Tom Malinowski, held what he characterized as “productive” meetings in Hanoi with senior Vietnamese officials. On May 11, two days after Malinowski’s visit, thugs wielding metal pipes bloodied a courageous Vietnamese political dissident named Anh Chi. Malinowski deplored the incident, while still insisting that Vietnam has been making commendable “progress” on human rights. Kerry’s Aug. 6-8 trip comes on the heels of a successful visit to Washington last month by Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of the Communist Party. Trong had a “productive” meeting with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office on July 7, after which the two leaders issued a joint “vision” statement that said each country recognized the importance of protecting human rights. The next day, Trong made a major speech at an influential U.S. think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (better known by its acronym, CSIS). “Protecting and promoting human rights is the main objective of our development,” Trong declared. “We want to ensure, promote and protect the rights of all people in Vietnam.” Well, maybe not all. Once again, a familiar pattern emerged: Shortly before Trong’s speech before a CSIS audience of mainly well-connected Washington insiders, there was another ugly incident behind the scenes. The incident illustrates what’s really going on when American and Vietnamese officials praise Vietnam’s “demonstrable” human-rights progress. Moreover, the CSIS embarrassment offers a glimpse into how the Communist Party has been quietly buying influence to advance its foreign policy agenda in Washington — a sophisticated lobby campaign that appears to be working. Hanoi, it appears, has learned that in Washington, money talks. But that’s getting ahead of this story, which begins with Trong’s July 8 historic speech — the first-ever such appearance for a senior Communist Party leader — at CSIS’ gleaming modern headquarters a few blocks from the White House. As the secretary general was preparing to speak about his deep interest in protecting human rights, Vietnamese security officials were quietly demonstrating otherwise, even on American soil. It seems that Hanoi’s intelligence operatives had a file on one of the invited CSIS guests — like Anh Chi, another enemy of the state. Persona Non Grata When Dr. Binh T. Nguyen, a prominent Vietnamese-born physician (and an American citizen) showed up to hear the secretary general’s speech, she was informed that she was persona non grata. Binh, an invited guest, cleared CSIS security at the entrance, as she had on several previous occasions. But when she went upstairs to join the audience, a CSIS senior fellow was waiting. Murray Hiebert, accompanied by a CSIS security guard, insisted that Binh leave the premises. An obviously uncomfortable Hiebert explained that he was so sorry, but the communist security operatives simply would not permit Binh to hear Trong’s speech. The apologetic Hiebert told Dr. Binh that he had tried his best to reason with the Vietnamese security officials, but to no avail. They were not interested in negotiating, and were adamant that Binh would not be allowed to hear Trong’s speech, Hiebert related. Hiebert apologized sincerely to Binh, admitting that it was wrong for CSIS to have given into the pressure. Ejecting her had ruined the event for him, Hiebert told the doctor. I spoke with Binh twice, for nearly an hour, going over the facts carefully, in great detail. Subsequently I was able to substantiate that the doctor’s acc


Who did the Americans recognize as ruler of Vietnam in 1950 when the Soviets acknowledged Ho Chi Min?

The History Place - Vietnam War 1945-1960 1945 - 1960 1941 Communist activist Ho Chi Minh secretly returns to Vietnam after 30 years in exile and organizes a nationalist organization known as the Viet Minh (Vietnam Independence League). After Japanese troops occupy Vietnam during World War II, the U.S. military intelligence agency Office of Strategic Services (OSS) allies with Ho Chi Minh and his Viet Minh guerrillas to harass Japanese troops in the jungles and to help rescue downed American pilots. 1945 March 9, 1945 - Amid rumors of a possible American invasion, Japanese oust the French colonial government which had been operating independently and seize control of Vietnam, installing Bao Dai as their puppet ruler. ADVERTISEMENT Summer - Severe famine strikes Hanoi and surrounding areas eventually resulting in two million deaths from starvation out of a population of ten million. The famine generates political unrest and peasant revolts against the Japanese and remnants of French colonial society. Ho Chi Minh capitalizes on the turmoil by successfully spreading his Viet Minh movement. July 1945 - Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, World War II Allies including the U.S., Britain, and Soviet Union, hold the Potsdam Conference in Germany to plan the post-war world. Vietnam is considered a minor item on the agenda. In order to disarm the Japanese in Vietnam, the Allies divide the country in half at the 16th parallel. Chinese Nationalists will move in and disarm the Japanese north of the parallel while the British will move in and do the same in the south. During the conference, representatives from France request the return of all French pre-war colonies in Southeast Asia (Indochina). Their request is granted. Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia will once again become French colonies following the removal of the Japanese. August 1945 - Japanese surrender unconditionally. Vietnam's puppet emperor, Bao Dai, abdicates. Ho Chi Minh's guerrillas occupy Hanoi and proclaim a provisional government. September 2, 1945 - Japanese sign the surrender agreement in Tokyo Bay formally ending World War II in the Pacific. On this same day, Ho Chi Minh proclaims the independence of Vietnam by quoting from the text of the American Declaration of Independence which had been supplied to him by the OSS -- "We hold the truth that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This immortal statement is extracted from the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. These are undeniable truths." Ho declares himself president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and pursues American recognition but is repeatedly ignored by President Harry Truman. September 13, 1945 - British forces arrive in Saigon, South Vietnam. In North Vietnam, 150,000 Chinese Nationalist soldiers, consisting mainly of poor peasants, arrive in Hanoi after looting Vietnamese villages during their entire march down from China. They then proceed to loot Hanoi. September 22, 1945 - In South Vietnam, 1400 French soldiers released by the British from former Japanese internment camps enter Saigon and go on a deadly rampage, attacking Viet Minh and killing innocent civilians including children, aided by French civilians who joined the rampage. An estimated 20,000 French civilians live in Saigon. September 24, 1945 - In Saigon, Viet Minh successfully organize a general strike shutting down all commerce along with electricity and water supplies. In a suburb of Saigon, members of Binh Xuyen, a Vietnamese criminal organization, massacre 150 French and Eurasian civilians, including children. September 26, 1945 - The first American death in Vietnam occurs, during the unrest in Saigon, as OSS officer Lt. Col. A. Peter Dewey is killed by Viet Minh guerrillas who mistook him for a French officer. Before his death, Dewey had filed a report on the deepening crisis in Vietnam, stating his opinion that the U.S. "ought to clear out of Southeast Asia." October 1945 - 35,000 F


Who was the defeated Presidential candidate in the 1900 US election?

United States presidential election of 1900 | United States government | Britannica.com United States presidential election of 1900 United States government United States presidential election of 1900, American presidential election held on November 6, 1900, in which Republican incumbent Pres. William McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan , winning 292 electoral votes to Bryan’s 155. Results of the American presidential election, 1900… Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. A question of imperialism In March 1898, two years into William McKinley’s first term as president, he gave Spain—which was in the midst of a brutal campaign of repression in Cuba—an ultimatum. Spain agreed to most of McKinley’s demands, including the cessation of hostilities against Cubans, but balked at giving up its last major New World colony. On April 25 Congress passed a formal declaration of war in the interest of securing Cuban independence. In the brief Spanish-American War —“a splendid little war,” in the words of Secretary of State John Hay —the United States easily defeated Spanish forces in the Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico . The subsequent Treaty of Paris , signed in December 1898 and ratified by the Senate in February 1899, ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States; Cuba became independent. William McKinley (holding broadsheet) with Vice Pres. Theodore Roosevelt in a campaign poster for … Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The conflict proved to be the defining issue of the election. McKinley—who was renominated by the Republicans at their national convention in Philadelphia in June 1900—continued to emphasize an expansionist foreign policy, arguing that the anti-American rebellion occurring in the Philippines had to be quelled and that American dominion there had to be “supreme.” He employed typical empire-building logic in justifying continued military intervention in the Philippine archipelago, claiming that the United States had a moral and religious obligation to “civilize and Christianize” its residents. His position was enhanced by the selection as his running mate of then New York governor Theodore Roosevelt , who won all but one vote on the first ballot. ( Garret Hobart , vice president during McKinley’s first term, had died in office the previous year.) Roosevelt had made his name during the war by leading a charge of Rough Riders that took Kettle Hill (frequently referred to as San Juan Hill, which was nearby) in Cuba; he had returned home a national hero. His rise to the nomination was assisted by New York’s political bosses, who were unhappy with his gubernatorial reform efforts—particularly in regard to patronage—and sought to rid themselves of his meddlesome influence. Campaign propaganda poster showing Republican presidential incumbent William McKinley and his vice … Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Campaign image of presidential incumbent William McKinley and his vice presidential candidate … Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. United States presidential election of 1988 William Jennings Bryan, McKinley’s Democratic opponent in 1896, was again nominated at the party’s convention in July in Kansas City , Missouri . Adlai Stevenson , who had served as vice president to Grover Cleveland , was selected as his running mate. The Democrats vehemently decried the Republican pursuit of empire and resurrected the contentious issue of freely coining silver at a 16:1 ratio to gold (at Bryan’s behest). The campaign and the election Ohio industrialist Mark Hanna , who had run McKinley’s campaign and filled his coffers during his first presidential bid in 1896 and whom McKinley had appointed to a vacant Senate seat in 1897, again stumped for the incumbent. Also actively campaigning was Roosevelt, who proved himself to be a powerful orator and formidable debater as he traveled throughout the country. The two men were the primary faces of the Republican ticket; McKinley absented himself from campaigning. In addition to defending and exhorting the policy of expansionism, the Republicans called for the maintenance of the


Who was the first leader of the Belgian Congo?

Congo, Democratic Republic of the: History Congo, Democratic Republic of the History Early History The indigenous inhabitants of the region of the Congo were probably Pygmies, who lived in small numbers in the equatorial forests of the north and northeast. By the end of the 1st millennium B.C., small numbers of Bantu-speaking people had migrated into the area from the northwest (present-day Nigeria and Cameroon) and settled in the savanna regions of the south. Aided by their knowledge of iron technology and agriculture, the Bantu-speakers migrated to other parts of the Congo and Africa, at the same time developing new, related languages. From about A.D. 700 the copper deposits of S Katanga were worked by the Bantu and traded over wide areas. By about 1000 the Bantu had settled most of the Congo, reducing the area occupied by the Pygmies. By the early 2d millennium the Bantu had increased considerably in number and were coalescing into states, some of which governed large areas and had complex administrative structures. Most of the states were ruled by a monarch, whose authority, although considerable, was checked by a council of high civil servants and elders. Notable among the states were the kingdom of Kongo (founded in the 14th cent.), centered in modern N Angola but including extreme W Congo and a Luba empire (founded in the early 16th cent.), centered around lakes Kisale and Upemba in central Katanga. Also included among these states were the Lunda kingdom of Mwata Yamo (founded in the 15th cent.), centered in SW Congo; the Kuba kingdom of the Shongo people (established in the early 17th cent.), located in the region of the Kasai and Sankuru rivers in S Congo; and the Lunda kingdom of Mwata Kazembe (founded in the 18th cent.), located near the Luapula River (which forms part of the present Congo-Zambia boundary). Through intermarriage and other contacts the Luba transmitted political ideas to the Lunda, and numerous small Luba-Lunda states (in addition to those of Mwata Yamo and Mwata Kazembe) were established in S Congo. The Kuba kingdom was noted for its sculpture and decorative arts. European and Arab Contacts In 1482, Diogo Cão, a Portuguese navigator, became the first European to visit the Congo when he reached the mouth of the Congo River and sailed a few miles upstream. Soon thereafter the Portuguese established ties with the king of Kongo, and in the early 16th cent. they established themselves on parts of the coast of modern Angola, especially at the court of the king of Ndongo (a vassal state of Kongo). The Portuguese had little influence on the Congo until the late 18th cent., when the African and mulatto traders (called pombeiros ), whom they backed, traveled far inland to the kingdom of Mwata Kazembe. In the mid-19th cent., Arab, Swahili, and Nyamwezi traders from present-day Tanzania penetrated into E Congo, where they traded and raided for slaves and ivory. Some of the traders established states with considerable power. Msiri (a Nyamwezi) established himself near Mwata Kazembe in 1856, soon enlarged his holdings (mainly at the expense of Mwata Kazembe), and was a major force until 1891, when he was killed by the Belgians. From the 1860s to the early 1890s, Muhammad bin Hamad (known as Tippu Tib), a Swahili Arab trader from Zanzibar, who was also part Nyamwezi, ruled a large portion of E Congo NW of Lake Tanganyika. In the 1870s, on the eve of the scramble for African territory among the European powers, the territory of the Congo had no overall political unity. The Congo Free State Beginning in the late 1870s the territory was colonized by Leopold II , king of the Belgians (reigned 1865–1909). Leopold believed that Belgium needed colonies to ensure its prosperity, and sensing that the Belgians would not support colonial ventures, he privately set about establishing a colonial empire. Between 1874 and 1877, Henry M. Stanley made a journey across central Africa during which he found the course of the Congo River. Intrigued by Stanley's findings (especially that the region had considerable economic poten


Who was Greece's first socialist Prime Minister?

The End of the Center-Left? Greece's Socialist Party Loses to Both Hard Left and Neo-Nazis - Breitbart by Frances Martel 26 Jan 2015 0 26 Jan, 2015 26 Jan, 2015 SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER The European left is in party mode. After the decisive victory of Greece’s Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) in parliamentary elections last night, Greek leftists took to the streets  and their analogs in Spain and the UK warned that their nations would be next. But while the hard left has much to celebrate, “moderate” socialists on the continent should take the news with a grain of salt, as the leftist party that ruled Greece as recently as 2011  appears to have lost almost all support. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER The BBC reports , using Greek government statistics, that, with 74% of the vote counted, Syriza won 36%. Such a victory is historic for the nascent party and its leader, Alexis Tsipras, now expected to be the nation’s next prime minister. Syriza decisively defeated the only party to pose a real challenge against them– the incumbent center-right New Democracy–which received 28.1% of the vote. One would expect that, given the enormous victory for the nation’s most prominent leftist party, that the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), the largest center-left party in the country, would have come in third. They did not. Golden Dawn, a neo-Nazi party whose leadership is almost entirely behind bars , took third place. Nor did Pasok make fourth place– that went to “ The River ,” a populist leftist experiment starved out of the competition by the growth of Syriza. Pasok was not in fifth place. That went to the Greek Communist Party. Pasok made a sixth-place showing in the Greek elections, with 4.7% of the vote. Even more marked for the party: George Papandreou, Pasok leader and former Prime Minister, will no longer be in Parliament. It will be the first time a Papandreou will not be in Parliament in 92 years , as the party’s founder and current leader’s father, Andreas Papandreou, also served a long tenure in Parliament. The younger Papandreou left the party to run for his seat with a new party, the Socialist Democrats Movement (KIDISO), after failing to reach agreements with other Pasok leaders on how to cooperate with New Democracy, the center-right party. Kidiso failed to garner a high enough percentage of the vote to keep Papandreou in office. The combined indignity of losing the elections to not one, but three other leftist groups– Syriza, The River, and the Greek Communist Party– as well as losing to Golden Dawn may have been the last nail in the coffin for Pasok. The party’s death knell had been ringing for years in the height of the debt crisis that Papandreou failed to solve. In an article in 2013, Greek supporters of the party told the BBC that uttering “Pasok” is “like a dirty word.” “Now the party has destroyed our national identity, our social and business environment. It has destroyed everything,” said one man who identified himself as a former loyal Pasok supporter in the port city of Patras. He now supports Syriza. Pasok is not a “center-left” party the way that the Democratic Party in America is. The younger Papandreou also served as president of the Socialist International during his tenure as Prime Minister. They are hard economic and political leftists– simply slightly less hard left than the radicals in Syriza, and, as establishment figures, less appealing than even Greek Communist Party. Observers of the January 25 elections may see a victory for left in Greece and only allow their analysis to reach a certain level of depth within the political organization of Greece: the far left has won, so the Greek people are moving left. But the Greek people have also by and large abandoned the dominant centrist leftist party of the past century, preferring to bank on the wildly unpredictable Syriza/Golden Dawn upstarts. The only establishment party to make a decent showing is the right-wing New Democracy. This is something to keep in mind in the coming months as other European nations face similar decisions. In Spai


Pius XII and the Jews during World War II Pius XII and the Jews during World War II on Wednesday, 01 May 2002. Posted in Other Popes Falsely accused of having remained silent during the Holocaust, Pope Pius XII did more than any other human being to save Jews False accusations Pius XII, Pope from 1939 to 1958, “rescued more Jews than all the Allies combined.” During and after World War II, and again upon his death in 1958, Pope Pius XII was praised by secular and Jewish leaders for his efforts to save Jews from the Nazi-induced Holocaust. During the last forty years, however, many people, including some Catholics, have accused the Pope of “silence” and even of criminal negligence, saying he could have said and done much more to lessen the genocide that claimed millions of Jews. These attacks against Pius XII require a false rewriting of history that does not survive honest scrutiny. Because of a defamatory work of fiction, “The Deputy”,  written in 1963 by a little-known German Protestant playwright, Rolf Hochhuth, Pius XII's wartime record has been unjustly tarnished. In this play, the main protagonist, the young Jesuit Riccardo Fontana, says: “A Vicar of Christ who sees these things before his eyes and still remains silent because of state policies, who delays even one day... such a pope is a criminal.” (Ironically, as a boy, Hochhuth was a member of the Hitler Youth, and his father, an officer in the German Army.) Pre-eminent Jews defend Pius XII Ever since the play by Hochhuth was staged, it has become part of conventional folklore to blame Pope Pius XII for being "silent" during the Holocaust. But that is certainly not what many were saying at the time, including the World Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Committee, Golda Meir, Albert Einstein, and many others — all of whom applauded the efforts of Pius XII to do what he could to save Jews. Mainly by providing false birth certificates, religious disguises, and safe keeping in cloistered monasteries and convents, the Pope oversaw efforts that helped save hundreds of thousands of Jews from deportation to Nazi death camps. The Israeli diplomat and scholar Pinchas Lapide concluded his careful review of Pius XII's wartime activities with the following words: “The Catholic Church, under the pontificate of Pius XII, was instrumental in saving the lives of as many as 860,000 Jews from certain death at Nazi hands.” He went on to add that this “figure far exceeds those saved by all other Churches and rescue organizations combined.” After recounting statements of appreciation from a variety of preeminent Jewish spokespersons, he noted. “No Pope in history has been thanked more heartily by Jews.” At the Eichmann Nazi War Crimes Trial in 1961, Jewish scholar Jeno Levai testified that the Bishops of the Catholic Church “intervened again and again on the instructions of the Pope.” In 1968, he wrote that “the one person (Pius XII) who did more than anyone else to halt the dreadful crime and alleviate its consequences, is today made the scapegoat for the failures of others.” In “The Secret War Against the Jews” in 1994, Jewish writers John Loftus and Mark Aarons write that “Pope Pius XII probably rescued more Jews than all the Allies combined.” The Pope's efforts did not go unrecognized by Jewish authorities, even during the War. The Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Isaac Herzog, sent the Pope a personal message of thanks on February 28, 1944, in which he said: “The people of Israel will never forget what His Holiness and his illustrious delegates, inspired by the eternal principles of religion which form the very foundations of true civilization, are doing for us unfortunate brothers and sisters in the most tragic hour of our history, which is living proof of Divine Providence in this world.” In September 1945, Dr. Joseph Nathan —who represented the Hebrew Commission —stated: “Above all, we acknowledge the Supreme Pontiff and the religious men and women who, executing the directives of the Holy Father, recognized the persecuted as their brothers and, with great abnegation, hastened


Who was the youngest US Vice President of the 20th century?

Presidents - The 20th century The 20th century The Presidents of the 1900's The facts and fun facts of the 20th century presidents. (This video does not include McKinley, but he IS a 20th century president. His last year as president was 1901.) The Facts If you don't feel like reading all the information below please watch our video! It only states the common information on the 20th century presidents and what they did during their presidency. William McKinley 25th President 1897-1901, Republican. Vice Presidents: Garret A. Hobart(1897-99) and Theodore Roosevelt(1901) Born: January 29, 1843 Occupation before President: Lawyer Married: Ida Saxton Early Years: He went to school in Ohio and attended Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. He left to teach in a country school, fought in the Civil War, studied law and opened an office in Ohio. His Presidency: He reluctantly agreed to declare war on Spain when the USS Maine was blown up in Havana Harbor and 260 Americans were killed. In less than four months, the United States won the war and gained control of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. Cuba gained its independence. McKinley was a popular president, but was assassinated after being reelected the second time. Died: September 14,1901 Fun Fact: McKinley could shake hands at the rate of 2,500 per hour. He may hold the record among the presidents for handshaking. Theodore Roosevelt 26th President 1901-1909, Republican Vice President: Charles Warren Fairbanks Born: October 27,1858 Occupation before President: Author, Public Official, Rancher  Married: Alice Hathaway Lee, Edith Kermit Carow Early Years: Roosevelt overcame poor health through sports and exercise. He was tutored at home until he went to Harvard where he was a Phi Beta Kappa honor student. He later became an author. His Presidency: Roosevelt's first term brought about the Square Deal to regulate big business and provide favorable conditions for workers. His second term brought the regulation of railroads, meat inspection, the Pure Food and Drug Act and employers' liability legislation. Roosevelt also made great progress in the conservation of natural resources. Died: January 6, 1919 Fun Fact: Roosevelt could read a page as quickly as someone else could read a sentence. He had a photographic memory. William Taft 27th President 1909-1913, Republican Vice President: James S. Sherman Born: September 15, 1857 Occupation before President: Lawyer, Public Official Married: Helen "Nellie" Herron Early Years: Taft's father was a judge whose family dated back to the Puritan settlers. Taft was an excellent student and second in his graduating class at Yale. He became a successful lawyer. His Presidency: Taft was able to accomplish several major reforms. The Postal Savings System provided safety for small depositors. The Interstate Commerce Commission gained greater control over the railroads. Taft expanded antitrust actions to break up large monopolies. He had excellent management skills and was a good administrator. Died: March 8, 1930 Fun Fact: Taft started the custom of the first baseball of the season being thrown by the president. Woodrow Wilson 28th President 1913-1921, Democrat Vice President: Thomas R. Marshall Born: December 28, 1856 Occupation before President: Teacher, Public Official Married: Ellen Louise Axson and Edith Bolling Galt Early Years: Wilson was educated in private schools and later went to the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University. He became lawyer but was unsuccessful. He then studied history and political science, earned a Ph.D. and became a teacher. His Presidency: Wilson pushed many bills through Congress which affected tariff rates, income tax, banking, business, child labor and other domestic public policies. He helped write the peace treaty after World War I and advocated establishing a League of Nations to help prevent wars in the future. Wilson won the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in creating a lasting peace following World War I. Fun Fact: Wilson enjoyed golf so much, he even played in the snow, using black balls. Warren


Who was mayor of New York during the race riots of 1996?

The Night New York Avoided a Riot - The Morning News The Morning News New York, April 1968. Credit: John VanderHaagen . The Night New York Avoided a Riot by Clay Risen In the days following Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, more than 100 cities experienced significant civil disturbance. In New York, everyone expected riots. What happened next. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis a little after 6 p.m., Central Standard Time, on April 4, 1968. As the news spread around the country, angry and grieving inner-city residents poured into the streets. In many places, marches and protests broke out; in some, the crowds turned violent. Scores of shops and restaurants along Washington’s 14th Street were looted that night, and several were set on fire, some only a few minutes’ drive from the White House. Over the following few days, more than 100 cities would experience significant civil disturbance. In many cases it took National Guard troops to bring peace, and in three—Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington—it took thousands of active Army and Marine units. Strangely, however, New York City almost completely avoided violence, despite widespread expectation during the previous year that the city was due for a massive riot. This is the story of how the city avoided conflagration on that first, tense night. The following is excerpted from Clay Risen’s book, A Nation on Fire: America in the Wake of the King Assassination .   The nation’s capital wasn’t the only place teetering on the edge of violence. Memphis remained surprisingly calm, but in the middle of the state, four thousand Tennessee National Guardsmen deployed in northern Nashville after reports of vandalism and looting began pouring into police headquarters. Farther east, in Raleigh, North Carolina, a march near predominantly black Shaw University descended into a window-smashing spree, and police sealed off the area. Cops used tear gas in Jackson, Mississippi, after a mob started breaking car windows and set a reporter’s car on fire. Molotov cocktails ignited a furniture store in Houston. Hartford, Connecticut, and Tallahassee, Florida, experienced minor riots, while police battled with youths throwing bottles and rocks in two separate sections of Newark. But with Memphis intact, the real concern shifted to New York. Ever since the 1965 Watts riot, the media, the public, and the city and federal governments had assumed that the Big Apple was in for a major conflagration—“the mother of confrontations between black youths and the police force,” as New York magazine later characterized it. Almost as soon as the news of King’s death hit the airwaves, Harlem residents were out in the streets. Music-store owners pointed speakers out their front doors, playing recordings of King’s speeches. Like the crowds in Washington, most people were looking for comfort, conversation, and more news. But others were expressing their anger in more direct ways, harassing motorists and roughing up pedestrians. When H. Rap Brown came to town talking about violent revolution, a drug dealer and his crew jumped him, saying, “If you ever come back here talking that sort of shit, we’ll kill you.” In midtown Manhattan, Mayor John Lindsay was at the Alvin Theater, sitting through the first act of a new Broadway musical, The Education of H*y*m*a*n K*a*p*l*a*n, starring his friend Tom Bosley. Lindsay was a liberal Republican, one of the most liberal in national politics. It was he who, as deputy chair, had pushed the Kerner Riot Commission to blame “white racism” for the riots, and it was he who had urged its members to call for massive new federal spending efforts. First elected in 1965, Lindsay had spent most of the previous summer dealing with minor and not-so-minor outbreaks of violence around northern Manhattan and Brooklyn, a few of which would have been classified as full-scale riots in other cities. A July 1967 disturbance involving several hundred people in East Harlem resulted in the looting of 25 stores and three deaths. But Lindsay ruled this merely an “anti-police demonstrat


Vaclav Havel and British King George VI both lost what part of their bodies?

Vaclav Havel who became Czech Republic's first elected president dies aged 75 | Daily Mail Online comments Vaclav Havel, pictured in 2005, died at his weekend this morning, according to his assistant Vaclav Havel, who became the first Czech president after leading the bloodless Velvet Revolution against communist rule, died yesterday aged 75. The dissident playwright was instrumental in opening the door to democracy in Eastern Europe by loosening the Soviet grip. Tributes flooded in from world leaders who hailed him as ‘the greatest European of our age’. Havel was invited by Margaret Thatcher to 10 Downing Street  during his first official visit to the UK after the collapse of communism in 1989. As well as steering his country towards freedom, he also oversaw the peaceful 1993 split of Czechoslovakia into two separate countries – the Czech Republic and Slovakia. David Cameron said he was ‘deeply saddened’ at his death. ‘Havel devoted his life to the cause of human freedom,’ said the Prime Minister. ‘For years, communism tried to crush him and to extinguish his voice. But Havel, the playwright and the dissident, could not be silenced. ‘No one of my generation will ever forget those powerful scenes from Wenceslas Square two decades ago. Havel led the Czech people out of tyranny. And he helped bring freedom and democracy to our entire continent. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share ‘Europe owes Vaclav Havel a profound debt. Today his voice has fallen silent. But his example and the cause to which he devoted his life will live on.’ Thousands of people gather in Venceslaw's Square in Prague as a flag is passed over the crowd of mourners Soldiers stand guard next to a portrait of Havel, set in his memory at the Prague Castle today A man takes in the news from a commemorative issue of DNES that was handed out to mourners Hundreds of candles have been lit this evening in tribute to Havel at Wenceslas Square in Prague this evening Foreign Secretary William Hague said: ‘Cold War hero, playwright and president. He opened the door to democracy in Eastern Europe and will always be remembered.’ He added: ‘He played a pivotal role in the development of freedom in Europe.’ Havel never won the Nobel Peace prize despite being nominated several times for the honour. But he was bestowed with America’s highest civilian award by then President George W. Bush who called him ‘one of liberty’s great heroes’. Revolutionary: Havel waves to massive crowds of demonstrators in Prague's Wenceslas Square in 1989, following the collapse of communism and introduction of a new government National hero: President Havel and his wife Dagmar wave from the balcony of Prague Castle after Havel was sworn in for a second term as president in 1998 The former chain smoker, who survived several operations for lung cancer and a burst intestine that nearly killed him, died at his country home north-east of the Czech capital Prague. He had a history of chronic respiratory problems dating back to his years locked in dank communist prisons. In recent public appearances recently he appeared thin and drawn. Born in 1936 to a wealthy family  in Czechoslovakia, he began co-writing plays during his military service in the 1950s. His first  solo play, The Garden Party, was staged in 1963. Respected: Havel in discussion with former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in April 2002 Rise to power: Pictured in his days as a dissident playwright, Havel, right, jokes with a member of the Polish dissident union 'Solidarity' in June 1989 A lover of jazz and theatre he famously ridiculed the communist state as ‘Absurdistan’. His revolutionary motto was: ‘Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred.’ But his works were banned after the 1968 uprising was crushed by a Soviet invasion when tanks rolled into Wenceslas Square.


Who was Oliver North's immediate boss who admitted authori8zing funding the Contra rebels in Nicaragua?

Walsh Iran / Contra Report - Chapter 2 United States v. Oliver L. North Chapter 2 United States v. Oliver L. North Oliver L. North, a Marine lieutenant colonel assigned to the National Security Council staff beginning in 1981 until he was fired on November 25, 1986, was the White House official most directly involved in secretly aiding the contras, selling arms to Iran, and diverting Iran arms sales proceeds to the contras. North, who was deputy director of political-military affairs, reported many of his activities to his superiors, National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane and later John M. Poindexter. He claimed to have taken much of his direction from Central Intelligence Agency Director William Casey.1 1 See Casey chapter. More significantly, North testified repeatedly that he believed President Reagan was aware and approving of his activities. North was unable to offer direct proof of presidential knowledge and authorization. Both McFarlane and Poindexter, who were North's channel to the President, have either claimed ignorance of certain of North's activities or said they deliberately shielded the President from such details. President Reagan in written interrogatory answers to Independent Counsel also denied knowledge of North's illegal conduct. Although the Office of Independent Counsel could not prove that President Reagan directly approved North's criminal actions, there is no doubt that he and his national security advisers allowed North to operate with unprecedented latitude in furtherance of Administration policies. North was indicted in March 1988 on 16 Iran/contra charges, along with Poindexter, retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord and Albert Hakim in a 23-count indictment. After the cases were severed and the central conspiracy charges were dropped due to classified-information problems, North stood trial beginning in February 1989 on 12 counts. On May 4, 1989, he was found guilty of three counts, including aiding and abetting obstruction of Congress, shredding and altering official documents, and accepting an illegal gratuity from Secord. North's convictions were vacated on July 20, 1990, after the appeals court found that witnesses in his trial might have been impermissibly affected by his immunized congressional testimony. The Decision to Prosecute It is no exaggeration to say that the North case was central to the investigation into the entire Iran/contra matter. This may be difficult to understand in view of North's middle-level position on the NSC staff. It gave him no statutory power to command and control activities within the NSC, much less other areas of the vast government bureaucracy such as the departments of State and Defense and the CIA. Despite these limiting factors, it was clear from the earliest stages of OIC's investigation that North had working control of the Secord-Hakim covert-action Enterprise. North amassed the authority to carry out his role through a combination of factors, including: (1) President Reagan's directive to McFarlane to keep the contra forces together ``body and soul,'' despite the Boland Amendment funding cut-off,2 and the President's determination to pursue the release of American hostages at whatever cost. 2 McFarlane, North Trial Testimony, 3/10/89, p. 3946. (2) An extraordinary delegation of authority to North by McFarlane and Poindexter in executing the contra and Iran operations. (3) The decision by President Reagan, Casey and others to run covert operations out of the NSC, where there was no institutional framework for conducting such operations and no system of accountability or oversight. (4) The designation of North as the secret point man for contra support after CIA assistance was cut off by the Boland prohibition. (5) The perception, promoted by North and his operational partners, that their activities were known to and authorized by the President, making others more willing to support and less eager to question them. (6) North's powerful, can-do persona, his enthusiastic commitment to both operations, and his ruthlessness to make t


Which ex-president died shortly after he death of Harry S. Truman?

President Truman's Obituary President Truman's Obituary [From page 1 of The New York Times, December 27, 1972] [With grateful thanks to Michael Elsner for transcription!] TRUMAN, 33D PRESIDENT IS DEAD; SERVED IN TIME OF FIRST A-BOMB, MARSHALL PLAN, NATO AND KOREA Funeral to Be Tomorrow In Independence Library By B. Drummond Ayers Jr. Special To The New York Times     KANSAS CITY, Mo., Dec 26 -- Harry S. Truman, the 33d President of the United States, died this morning. He was 88 years old.      Mr. Truman, an outspoken and decisive Missouri Democrat who served in the White House from 1945 to 1953, succumbed at 7:50 A.M., central standard time, in Kansas City's Research Hospital and Medical Center.      He had been a patient there for the last 22 days, struggling against lung congestion, heart irregularity, kidney blockages, failure of the digestive system and the afflictions of old age.      In the more than seven years he was President, from the time Franklin Delano Roosevelt's death suddenly elevated him from the Vice Presidency until he himself was succeeded by Dwight David Eisenhower, Mr. Truman left a major mark as a world leader.      He brought mankind face to face with the age of holocaust by ordering atomic bombs dropped on Japan, sent American troops into Korea to halt Communist aggession in Asia, helped contain Communism in Europe by forming the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and speeded the postwar recovery of Europe through the Marshall Plan.      His domestic record was somewhat less dramatic, for his proposals were often premature. He ended up on the losing sides of fights other Presidents later won -- Federal health care, equal rights legislation, low income housing.      His other legacies were perhaps less tangible but no less remembered -- the morning walk, the "Give 'em hell" campaign that nipped Thomas E. Dewey at the wire, the desk plaque that proclaimed "The Buck Stops Here!" and the word to the timid and indecisive "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."      Towards the end of his struggle for life, the former President weakened steadily. Early yesterday his doctors warned that death might come "within hours."      When it came, the doctors announced that the cause was "a complexity of organic failures causing a collapse of the cardiovascular system."      A state funeral will be held Thursday in nearby Independence, Mr. Truman's hometown, to mark his passing. Much of the ceremony will be subdued and private at the family's request.      State funerals are conducted only for former commanders in chief, although the President can direct that a state funeral be held for an individual. Modifications in state funerals, which usually cover 4 or 5 days with considerable ceremony, are made at the request of the family, as in this case.      President Nixon has declared the day of burial, Thursday, to be a day of national mourning. The American flag is to be flown at half-mast for thirty days.      The former President's body will lie in state at the Truman Library in Independence from 1:35 P. M. tomorrow until 11 A. M. Thursday. Burial will follow on the Library grounds at a spot chosen by Mr. Truman himself.      President Nixon will fly to Kansas City tomorrow afternoon, then go to the library to lie a wreath at the base of Mr. Truman's coffin. Although it was understood that the President's name was included on the official list of persons invited to attend the funeral, it was expected that, in keeping with the subdued and private nature of the ceremony, he would not stay overnight for the funeral service and burial.      Tomorrow morning the coffin will be transported to the Library on a route that will pass the Victorian Truman home on the way from the Carson Funeral Home a few blocks away.      The service, scheduled to begin at 2 P. M. Thursday, will be held in the Library's 250-seat auditorium. Attendance will be by invitation. Burial will follow immediately.      A memorial service for Mr. Truman here will be held at the National Cathedral in Washington for Federal and forei


Who was the first Democrat President of the 20th century?


Who was North Vietnam's chief negotiator at the '73 Paris peace talks?

American Experience | Return With Honor | People & Events People & Events: Paris Peace Talks In 1967, with American troop strength in Vietnam reaching 500,000, protest against U.S. participation in the Vietnam War had grown stronger as growing numbers of Americans questioned whether the U.S. war effort could succeed or was morally justifiable. They took their protests to the streets in peace marches, demonstrations, and acts of civil disobedience. Despite the country's polarization, the balance of American public opinion was beginning to sway toward "de-escalation" of the war. This was the backdrop as the United States and Hanoi agreed to enter into preliminary peace talks in Paris in 1968. However, almost as soon as the talks were started, they stalled. When President Lyndon Johnson turned over the presidency to Richard Nixon eight months into the talks, the only thing the two sides had agreed on was the shape of the conference table. Despite candidate Nixon's promise of "peace with honor," the deadlock would continue for three-and-one-half years of public and secret meetings in Paris. Two key issues had locked both parties. Washington wanted all northern troops out of South Vietnam; Hanoi refused any provisional South Vietnamese government that involved its leader, Nguyen Van Thieu. In June 1969 the first troop withdrawals were made by the U.S., as part of its "Vietnamization" plan, whereby the South Vietnamese would gradually assume complete military responsibilities in the war while continuing to be supplied by U.S. arms. In February 1970, national security advisor Henry Kissinger began secret one-on-one meetings with North Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho outside Paris while the formal peace process continued in the city. Still, little progress would be made until the summer of 1972. By then, Nixon was pursuing détente with both China and the Soviet Union and was eager to put Vietnam behind him before the next election. Both sides wanted peace. Hanoi feared political isolation if the U.S. had a rapprochement with China and the Soviet Union. They also knew that peace would end the fearsome U.S. bombing and might finally mean the complete withdrawal of the military giant. Nixon wanted to move to other foreign policy initiatives. Kissinger assured the North that their troops would be able to remain in the South after the cease-fire. Kissinger also backed down on the U.S. support of the Thieu regime by agreeing to an electoral commission made up of neutralists, Viet Cong and members of the Saigon government that would oversee the political settlement in the South. In return, the North withdrew its condition of Thieu's removal, and agreed the future flow of Vietnamese troops to the South would stop. By October 1972, a tentative cease-fire agreement was reached. The accord called for the simultaneous withdrawal of U.S. troops and freedom for American POWs , to be followed by a political settlement of South Vietnam's future. Washington would extend postwar economic assistance to help Vietnam rebuild its destroyed infrastructure. On October 22, Nixon suspended all bombing north of the twentieth parallel and four days later Kissinger proclaimed that "peace was at hand." The celebration was premature. Thieu, who had not been consulted during the secret negotiations, demanded changes that infuriated Hanoi, and talks broke off on December 13. Nixon, caught between a stubborn ally and a tough enemy, took action. He promised Thieu $1 billion in military equipment that would give South Vietnam the fourth largest air force in the world and assured Thieu that the United States would re-enter the war if North Vietnam did not abide by the peace. They were promises that Thieu had no reason to doubt; Nixon had just won a landslide election and the Watergate affair was nearly invisible on the political landscape. As for the stick, Nixon resolved to punish the North. During 12 days of the most concentrated bombing in world history, called the Christmas bombing, American planes flew nearly 2,000 sorties and dropped 35,000 tons of bombs aga


Who was the first president to be elected for a third four-year term?

FDR nominated for unprecedented third term - Jul 18, 1940 - HISTORY.com This Day in History: 07/18/1940 - FDR Nominated for a 3rd Term In a This Day in History video, learn that on July 18, 1986, the Titanic was finally seen under the sea. After sinking into the icy North Atlantic upon striking an iceberg, the Titanic hadn't been seen for seventy-four years. Jason Jr., J.J., dove 13,000 feet to explore the Titanic. A robotic arm tried to open the ship's safe but the door wouldn't budge; the Titanic would keep some secrets yet in her cold Atlantic grave. Lead Story FDR nominated for unprecedented third term Share this: FDR nominated for unprecedented third term Author FDR nominated for unprecedented third term URL Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who first took office in 1933 as America’s 32nd president, is nominated for an unprecedentedthird term. Roosevelt, a Democrat, would eventually be elected to a record four terms in office, the only U.S. president to serve more than two terms. Roosevelt was born January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York, and went on to serve as a New York state senator from 1911 to 1913, assistant secretary of the Navy from 1913 to 1920 and governor of New York from 1929 to 1932. In 1932, he defeated incumbent Herbert Hoover to be elected president for the first time. During his first term, Roosevelt enacted his New Deal social programs, which were aimed at lifting America out of the Great Depression. In 1936, he won his second term in office by defeating Kansas governor Alf Landon in a landslide. On July 18, 1940, Roosevelt was nominated for a third presidential term at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago. The president received some criticism for running again because there was an unwritten rule in American politics that no U.S. president should serve more than two terms. Thecustom dated back to the country’s first president, George Washington, who in 1796 declined to run for a third term in office. Nevertheless, Roosevelt believed it was his duty to continue serving and lead his country through the mounting crisis in Europe, where Hitler’s Nazi Germany was on the rise. The president went on to defeat Republican Wendell Wilkie in the general election, and his third term in office was dominated by America’s involvement in World War II. In 1944, with the war still in progress, Roosevelt defeated New York governor Thomas Dewey for a fourth term in office. However, the president was unable to complete the full term. On April 12, 1945, Roosevelt, who had suffered from various health problems for years, died at age 63 in Warm Springs, Georgia. He was succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman. On March 21, 1947, Congress passed the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which stated that no person could be elected to the office of president more than twice. The amendment was ratified by the required number of states in 1951. Related Videos


Which Secretary of State under Truman helped formulate the Marshall Plan?

US Stamp Gallery >> Dean Acheson Dean Acheson Dean Acheson Dean Acheson was U.S. secretary of state under President Harry Truman and a major architect of U.S. foreign policy after World War II. He helped formulate an active role for the United States in the postwar world, reversing early isolationist policies. During a period as undersecretary of state to George C. Marshall, Acheson helped develop a policy of containment toward communism and to secure aid for Turkey and Greece against Communist-back insurgents in 1947. Acheson also helped to draft the Marshall Plan to rebuild Western Europe. As secretary of state, he supported the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Relative to Asia, he helped distance the United States from the Chinese Nationalist regime on Taiwan, while rejecting recognition of the Communists regime on the mainland.


Senator Joe McCarthly representred which state?

Joseph R. McCarthy - Cold War - HISTORY.com Joseph R. McCarthy A+E Networks Introduction During the late 1940s and early 1950s, the prospect of communist subversion at home and abroad seemed frighteningly real to many people in the United States. These fears came to define–and, in some cases, corrode–the era’s political culture. For many Americans, the most enduring symbol of this “Red Scare” was Republican Senator Joseph P. McCarthy of Wisconsin. Senator McCarthy spent almost five years trying in vain to expose communists and other left-wing “loyalty risks” in the U.S. government. In the hyper-suspicious atmosphere of the Cold War, insinuations of disloyalty were enough to convince many Americans that their government was packed with traitors and spies. McCarthy’s accusations were so intimidating that few people dared to speak out against him. It was not until he attacked the Army in 1954 that his actions earned him the censure of the U.S. Senate. Google The Cold War In the years after World War II ended, events at home and abroad seemed to many Americans to prove that the “Red menace” was real. In August 1949, for instance, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb. Later that year, Communist forces declared victory in the Chinese Civil War and established the People’s Republic of China. In 1950, North Korea’s Soviet-backed army invaded its pro-Western neighbors to the South; in response, the United States entered the conflict on the side of South Korea. Did You Know? Along with the Army-McCarthy hearings, journalist Edward R. Murrow’s exposés of McCarthyism played an important role in the senator’s downfall. On March 9, 1954, millions of Americans watched as the national news program "See It Now" attacked McCarthy and his methods. At the same time, the Republican-led House Un-American Activities Committee (known as HUAC ) began a determined campaign to extirpate communist subversion at home. HUAC’s targets included left-wingers in Hollywood and liberals in the State Department. In 1950, Congress passed the McCarran Internal Security Act, which required that all “subversives” in the United States submit to government supervision. (President Truman vetoed the Act—he said it “would make a mockery of our Bill of Rights”—but a Congressional majority overrode his veto.) Joseph McCarthy and the Rise of McCarthyism All of these factors combined to create an atmosphere of fear and dread, which proved a ripe environment for the rise of a staunch anticommunist like Joseph McCarthy. At the time, McCarthy was a first-term senator from Wisconsin who had won election in 1946 after a campaign in which he criticized his opponent’s failure to enlist during World War II while emphasizing his own wartime heroics. In February 1950, appearing at the Ohio County Women’s Republican Club in Wheeling, West Virginia , McCarthy gave a speech that propelled him into the national spotlight. Waving a piece of paper in the air, he declared that he had a list of 205 known members of the Communist Party who were “working and shaping policy” in the State Department. The next month, a Senate subcommittee launched an investigation and found no proof of any subversive activity. Moreover, many of McCarthy’s Democratic and Republican colleagues, including President Dwight Eisenhower, disapproved of his tactics (“I will not get into the gutter with this guy,” the president told his aides). Still, the senator continued his so-called Red-baiting campaign. In 1953, at the beginning of his second term as senator, McCarthy was put in charge of the Committee on Government Operations, which allowed him to launch even more expansive investigations of the alleged communist infiltration of the federal government. In hearing after hearing, he aggressively interrogated witnesses in what many came to perceive as a blatant violation of their civil rights. Despite a lack of any proof of subversion, more than 2,000 government employees lost their jobs as a result of McCarthy’s investigations. “Have you no sense of decency, sir?” In April 1954, Senator McCarthy turned


Who did Roosevelt defeat when he won the 1932 election?

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Campaigns and Elections—Miller Center About the Administration The Campaign and Election of 1932: Political observers in the early 1930s were of decidedly mixed opinion about the possible presidential candidacy of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Many leaders of the Democratic Party saw in Roosevelt an attractive mixture of experience (as governor of New York and as a former vice presidential candidate) and appeal (the Roosevelt name itself, which immediately associated FDR with his remote cousin, former President Theodore Roosevelt.)FDR's record as governor of New York—and specifically his laudable, if initially conservative, efforts to combat the effects of the depression in his own state—only reinforced his place as the leading Democratic contender for the 1932 presidential nomination. Under the watchful eyes of his political advisers Louis Howe and James Farley, FDR patiently garnered support from Democrats around the country, but especially in the South and the West. In preparation for his presidential bid, Roosevelt consulted a group of college professors, dubbed the "Brains Trust" (later shortened to the "Brain Trust"), for policy advice. Other observers, however, were not so sanguine about his abilities or chances. Walter Lippmann, the dean of political commentators and a shaper of public opinion, observed acidly of Roosevelt: "He is a pleasant man who, without any important qualifications for the office, would very much like to be president." FDR's Democratic Party, moreover, was both factionalized and ideologically splintered. Several other candidates sought the nomination, including Speaker of the House John Nance Garner of Texas (who found support in the west) and the party's 1928 candidate, Alfred Smith (who ran strong in the urban northeast). The party further split on two key social issues: Catholicism and prohibition. Smith was a Catholic and wanted to end prohibition, which pleased Democrats in the Northeast, but angered those in the South and West. In 1932, though, the key issue was the Great Depression, not Catholicism or prohibition, which gave Democrats a great opportunity to take the White House back from the Republicans. While FDR did not enter the Democratic convention in Chicago with the necessary two-thirds of the delegates, he managed to secure them after promising Garner the vice-presidential nomination. FDR then broke with tradition and flew to Chicago by airplane to accept the nomination in person, promising delegates "a new deal for the American people." FDR's decision to go to Chicago was politically necessary: he needed to demonstrate to the country that even though his body had been ravaged by polio, he was robust, strong, and energetic. Roosevelt's campaign for president was necessarily cautious. His opponent, President Herbert Hoover, was so unpopular that FDR's main strategy was not to commit any gaffes that might take the public's attention away from Hoover's inadequacies and the nation's troubles. FDR traveled around the country attacking Hoover and promising better days ahead, but often without referring to any specific programs or policies. Roosevelt was so genial—and his prescriptions for the country so bland—that some commentators questioned his capabilities and his grasp of the serious challenges confronting the United States. On occasion, though, FDR hinted at the shape of the New Deal to come. FDR told Americans that only by working together could the nation overcome the economic crisis, a sharp contrast to Hoover's paeans to American individualism in the face of the depression. In a speech in San Francisco, FDR outlined the expansive role that the federal government should play in resuscitating the economy, in easing the burden of the suffering, and in insuring that all Americans had an opportunity to lead successful and rewarding lives. The outcome of the 1932 presidential contest between Roosevelt and Hoover was never greatly in doubt. Dispirited Americans swept the fifty-year-old FDR into office in a landslide in both the popular and electoral college votes.


Which President gave the go-ahead to build an H Bomb?

TRUMAN'S DECISION TO BUILD THE HYDROGEN BOMB TRUMAN'S DECISION TO BUILD THE HYDROGEN BOMB The decision as to whether the U.S. should make a hydrogen bomb, said Harry Truman,  is mine and nobody else's. But there were a lot of people looking over his shoulder, and they seemed remarkably  in agreement on how he should play his hand: they wanted the H-bomb-built."I am very unhappy," said Dr. Harold Clayton Urey, the Nobel Prizewinning atomic chemist, "to conclude that the hydrogen  bomb should be developed and built. I do not think we should intentionally lose the armaments race; to do  this will be to lose our liberties, and with Patrick Henry, I value my liberties more than I do my life."Should  the Russians win the race and build the first H-bomb, he added, they might decide that they did not even  have to use it. They might say: " 'We will build these bombs and issue ultimata to the western countries,  and the millenium of Communism will be with us immediately...' " Harold Urey, standing before the Roosevelt Day dinner of the Americans for Democratic Action in New York's  Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, had a right to be heard. His Nobel Prize had been won in 1934 for the discovery of  heavy hydrogen, a basic step toward the development both of the first atomic bomb and any hydrogen bomb  that may come. He had predicted the date of the Russian atomic bomb explosion far more accurately than had  U.S. military or political leaders. "I personally hope very much," he said, "that the [hydrogen] bombs will not explode . . .  However, nature does not behave in the way I should like at times, and so there is no use in engaging in  wishful thinking. I think we should assume that the bomb can be built." His estimate of the cost of  development: $100 million. Others joined in, urging the building of the H-bomb: Elder Statesman Bernard Baruch, Republican Senator  John Bricker, Eleanor Roosevelt, Senator Tom Connally. What, then or who was holding up the President's decision? If there were voices inside the Administration  counseling against the H-bomb, they did not make their arguments public. Many a Washington correspondent  pointed the finger at retiring Atom Boss David Lilienthal, who last week characterized all such stories  about him as "inaccurate," but was careful on security grounds not to say just where he did stand. This week the President made his decision. He ordered work on the H-bomb to go ahead. Harry Truman's announcement  had in it no sabre-rattling swagger, only the reluctant awareness of a duty that had to be done. He knew  that he was authorizing construction of the deadliest weapon ever known to man. White House aides on Tuesday afternoon summoned a dozen reporters, handed them this statement from the President: "It is part of my responsibility as commander-in-chief of the armed forces to see to it that our country  is able to defend itself against any possible aggressor. "Accordingly, I have directed the Atomic Energy Commission to continue its work on all forms of atomic  weapons, including the so-called hydrogen or superbomb. Like all other work in the field of atomic weapons,  it is being and will be carried forward on a basis consistent with the over-all objectives of our program  for peace and security. "This we shall continue to do until a satisfactory plan for International control of atomic energy  is achieved we shall also continue to examine all those factors that effect our program for peace and this  country's security". MacARTHUR RECEIVES DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL FROM PRESIDENT TRUMAN. The Democratic candidate for President of the U.S., campaigning in California, looked out at his Oakland   audience, drew a deep breath, and struck hard again last week for his proposal that the U.S. end its hydrogen-bomb   tests. To Adlai Stevenson the reaction was a heady surprise: his words triggered a burst of applause and   cheers in the crowd of 5,000. In a week when the Eisenhower tide was rising (see below) and Stevenson was   searching determinedly for a big issue, the H-bomb arg


Who was the oldest US President before Ronal Reagan?

Ronald Reagan: Life Before the Presidency—Miller Center About the Administration Ronald Wilson Reagan, the son of Jack and Nelle Reagan, was born in a small apartment above the Pitney General Store on February 6, 1911, in Tampico, Illinois, His family, which included older brother Neil, moved to a succession of Illinois towns as his salesman father searched for a well-paying job. In 1920, the Reagans settled in Dixon. Jack Reagan was a gregarious man with a grade-school education who made his way as a salesman, usually of shoes. He was a dreamer and also an alcoholic. Years later, Ronald Reagan recalled the searing experiences of being the child of an alcoholic father, including an incident where he dragged a "passed out" Jack Reagan into the house from the snow. Jack and Nelle were both Democrats; in religion he was a Roman Catholic, and she an active member of the Disciples of Christ. After Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President in 1932, Jack Reagan was rewarded for his Democratic activism by being named the local director of the Works Progress Administration, a federal agency created by Roosevelt to provide work for jobless Americans. Neil Reagan was also employed by the WPA. Ronald Reagan remembered his father as being fiercely opposed to racial and religious intolerance. He refused to allow his children to see the film Birth of a Nation, because it glorified the Ku Klux Klan. Jack Reagan died in 1941. Ronald's mother, Nelle Wilson Reagan, nurtured and encouraged her sons. She taught them that alcoholism was a disease and urged them not to blame their father for succumbing to it. She had married Jack Reagan in a Catholic ceremony, and the older son Neil was raised as a Catholic. Both boys believed that Neil took after his father and Ronald more after his mother. Nelle raised Ronald in her church, the Disciples of Christ. She was a relentless do-gooder, visiting prisoners, poorhouse inmates, and hospital patients. She also organized drama recitals—some of which featured her sons—and worked as a salesclerk and seamstress in the 1930s. As an adult, Ronald often reminisced fondly about his mother's compassion and generosity. He moved her to Hollywood after Jack died; she died in 1962. Youth and College Years As a boy, Reagan's life was filled with scrapes and adventures. He once narrowly escaped death while playing under a train that suddenly began moving. Reagan graduated from Dixon High School in 1928, where he played on the football and basketball teams, became president of the student body, acted in school plays, and wrote for the yearbook. Reagan, an accomplished swimmer since early boyhood, worked six summers as a lifeguard in Lowell Park in Dixon on the treacherous Rock River. According to newspaper reports of the time and later research, he saved 77 people from drowning. Reagan enrolled in 1928 at Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois. He majored in economics but was an indifferent student, graduating with a "C" average in 1932. At Eureka, he played football and was a member of the college swim team, performed with the drama club, joined the debate club, worked as a reporter on the school newspaper, edited the college yearbook, and served as president of the student council. Admitted to college on a partial football scholarship, Reagan washed dishes at his fraternity house, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and at a girl's dormitory, and worked as a lifeguard and a swimming coach to pay the rest of his college costs and sent money home to his economically hard-hit family. He also had an early taste of politics: while still a freshman he made a dramatic oration on behalf of Eureka students who were striking to restore classes that the school administration had eliminated because of financial strains caused by the Great Depression. After the strike, the college president resigned. Radio, Film, and Television Career After graduation, Reagan landed a job as a radio sportscaster at WOC in Davenport, Iowa, for $10 per game and transportation expenses. His lively imagination and resonant radio voice compensated for his inexperience


Dan Quayle was Senator form which state when he was chosen as George Bush's Vice President?

George H. W. Bush | whitehouse.gov Air Force One George H. W. Bush George H. W. Bush, as the 41st President (1989-1993), brought to the White House a dedication to traditional American values and a determination to direct them toward making the United States "a kinder and gentler nation" in the face of a dramatically changing world. George Bush brought to the White House a dedication to traditional American values and a determination to direct them toward making the United States "a kinder and gentler nation." In his Inaugural Address he pledged in "a moment rich with promise" to use American strength as "a force for good." Coming from a family with a tradition of public service, George Herbert Walker Bush felt the responsibility to make his contribution both in time of war and in peace. Born in Milton, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1924, he became a student leader at Phillips Academy in Andover. On his 18th birthday he enlisted in the armed forces. The youngest pilot in the Navy when he received his wings, he flew 58 combat missions during World War II. On one mission over the Pacific as a torpedo bomber pilot he was shot down by Japanese antiaircraft fire and was rescued from the water by a U. S. submarine. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery in action. Bush next turned his energies toward completing his education and raising a family. In January 1945 he married Barbara Pierce. They had six children-- George, Robin (who died as a child), John (known as Jeb), Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. At Yale University he excelled both in sports and in his studies; he was captain of the baseball team and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. After graduation Bush embarked on a career in the oil industry of West Texas. Like his father, Prescott Bush, who was elected a Senator from Connecticut in 1952, George became interested in public service and politics. He served two terms as a Representative to Congress from Texas. Twice he ran unsuccessfully for the Senate. Then he was appointed to a series of high-level positions: Ambassador to the United Nations, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Chief of the U. S. Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In 1980 Bush campaigned for the Republican nomination for President. He lost, but was chosen as a running mate by Ronald Reagan. As Vice President, Bush had responsibility in several domestic areas, including Federal deregulation and anti-drug programs, and visited scores of foreign countries. In 1988 Bush won the Republican nomination for President and, with Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana as his running mate, he defeated Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis in the general election. Bush faced a dramatically changing world, as the Cold War ended after 40 bitter years, the Communist empire broke up, and the Berlin Wall fell. The Soviet Union ceased to exist; and reformist President Mikhail Gorbachev, whom Bush had supported, resigned. While Bush hailed the march of democracy, he insisted on restraint in U. S. policy toward the group of new nations. In other areas of foreign policy, President Bush sent American troops into Panama to overthrow the corrupt regime of General Manuel Noriega, who was threatening the security of the canal and the Americans living there. Noriega was brought to the United States for trial as a drug trafficker. Bush's greatest test came when Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, then threatened to move into Saudi Arabia. Vowing to free Kuwait, Bush rallied the United Nations, the U. S. people, and Congress and sent 425,000 American troops. They were joined by 118,000 troops from allied nations. After weeks of air and missile bombardment, the 100-hour land battle dubbed Desert Storm routed Iraq's million-man army. Despite unprecedented popularity from this military and diplomatic triumph, Bush was unable to withstand discontent at home from a faltering economy, rising violence in inner cities, and continued high deficit spending. In 1992 he lost his bid for reelection to Democrat Wil


Where did Reagan and Gorbachev have their Star Wars summit in October 19865?

Reagan and Gorbachev: Warming of a Relationship - latimes Reagan and Gorbachev: Warming of a Relationship June 02, 1988 |STANLEY MEISLER | Times Staff Writer MOSCOW — A handclasp and a walk in the woods in Geneva. Frigid stares and tight lips in the blustery cold of Reykjavik. The signing in Washington of a historic treaty on medium-range nuclear weapons. And now in Moscow, a walk through the heart of the "evil empire." The moods and images of the four summits of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail S. Gorbachev have differed in ways both subtle and striking. And the pattern tells the tale of the evolving relationship between the two men and the long-antagonistic nations they lead. Both leaders proclaimed Wednesday that they have built up trust over four meetings in less than three years. Any doubt about this surely vanished when President Reagan put his arm around Gorbachev in Moscow's Red Square this week and told a group of Russians nearby, "I'm glad we are standing here together like this." Unsteady Growth But the line of trust has not grown steadily from summit to summit. The mood, in fact, turned so down and dark at the second summit, in Reykjavik, that anyone there could hardly imagine the two men meeting again, let alone embracing each other in genuine warmth less than two years later. President Reagan met Gorbachev for the first time on Nov. 19, 1985, the first day of their celebrated summit in Geneva. Reagan was 74 years old, a politician who had built his career on rigid, steadfast anti-communism. Four years earlier, in one of his first presidential speeches, he had described the Soviet Union as "the evil empire" and had never seemed to change his mind. But in his second term as President, he was hoping to fix a place in history for himself by starting a disarmament dialogue with America's most powerful antagonist. Gorbachev, then 54, had taken over half a year earlier as leader of the Soviet Union. Not much was known about him. He seemed more sophisticated than previous leaders. He had a shrewd sense of public relations, and he had pledged to transform Soviet society. American Kremlinologists believed he needed a breather in the arms race to salvage his economy. The image of that first meeting was etched by a handshake and a walk. Gorbachev, wearing a coat and clutching his hat on a wind-chilled morning, rushed to the portico of a mansion by Lake Geneva to take the outstretched hand of President Reagan. The President smiled and seemed to joke. Gorbachev pointed at Reagan, a show of polite wonder at the hardiness of the President standing in the cold without a topcoat. Later in the afternoon of the wintry, clouded day, Reagan led Gorbachev in a tranquil walk in the woods by the lake. Their sessions, it was learned later, sometimes bristled with sharpness and bite and produced little, but the cordial handshake and the peaceful walk seemed to tell the world that two very different men had made contact, a start, and that seemed to count for something. In Moscow on Wednesday, Gorbachev could not keep from reminding Reagan of one of those images. When photographers called on the two leaders to shake hands for the cameras, Gorbachev told the President: "This recalls our first handshake in Geneva. The spontaneous handshake. The photographers at that time captured the atmosphere. It was a very interesting photo." American officials billed the second meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev at Reykjavik, Iceland, in October, 1986, as a mini-summit, a kind of trial run for an expected major summit a few months later. But Gorbachev came to Reykjavik prepared to do major business. The two men, extending their talks for several hours, came close to a dramatic agreement to eliminate half their long-range nuclear weapons in five years and all of them by the end of the century. But the deal foundered on Reagan's refusal to give up testing for his Strategic Defense Initiative, his cherished plan for a space-based "Star Wars" defense against nuclear weapons. Two Glum Men Failure and anger lined their features as they stepped out of the Icelan


Who was Walter Mondale's running mate in the 1984 election?

Walter Mondale's presidential running mate Geraldine Ferraro dies aged 75 | US news | The Guardian US politics Walter Mondale's presidential running mate Geraldine Ferraro dies aged 75 Geraldine Ferraro leaves the legacy of being the first woman vice-presidential candidate on a major US party campaign Geraldine Ferraro campaigning in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1984 Photograph: Associated Press Associated Press Sunday 27 March 2011 16.57 EDT First published on Sunday 27 March 2011 16.57 EDT Close This article is 5 years old Geraldine Ferraro, who became the first woman vice-presidential candidate on a major US party ticket, has died, aged 75. Ferraro catapulted to national prominence in 1984 when she was chosen by presidential nominee Walter Mondale to run against incumbents Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr in 1984. In the end, Reagan won 49 of 50 states, the largest landslide since Franklin D Roosevelt's first re-election over Alf Landon in 1936. But Ferraro had forever sealed her place as trailblazer for women in national politics in 1984. She paved the way for Hillary Clinton's historic presidential bid in 2008 and Republican John McCain's choice of a once obscure Alaska governor, Sarah Palin, as his running mate. Mondale said she was "a remarkable woman and a dear human being". "She was a pioneer in our country for justice for women and a more open society. She broke a lot of moulds and it's a better country for what she did."


Ronald Reagan - Biography - IMDb Ronald Reagan Biography Showing all 174 items Jump to: Overview  (5) | Mini Bio  (1) | Spouse  (2) | Trivia  (96) | Personal Quotes  (66) | Salary  (4) Overview (5) 6' 1" (1.85 m) Mini Bio (1) Ronald Reagan is, arguably, the most successful actor in history, having catapulted from a career as a Warner Bros. contract player and television star, into serving as president of the Screen Actors Guild, the governorship of California (1967-1975), and lastly, two terms as President of the United States (1981-1989). Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois, to Nelle Clyde (Wilson) and John Edward "Jack" Reagan, who was a salesman and storyteller. His father was of Irish descent, and his mother was of half Scottish and half English ancestry. A successful actor beginning in the 1930s, the young Reagan was a staunch admirer of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (even after he evolved into a Republican), and was a Democrat in the 1940s, a self-described 'hemophilliac' liberal. He was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild in 1947 and served five years during the most tumultuous times to ever hit Hollywood. A committed anti-communist, Reagan not only fought more-militantly activist movie industry unions that he and others felt had been infiltrated by communists, but had to deal with the investigation into Hollywood's politics launched by the House Un-Amercan Activities Committee in 1947, an inquisition that lasted through the 1950s. The House Un-American Activities Committee investigations of Hollywood (which led to the jailing of the "Hollywood Ten" in the late '40s) sowed the seeds of the McCarthyism that racked Hollywood and America in the 1950s. In 1950, U.S. Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas (D-CA), the wife of "Dutch" Reagan's friend Melvyn Douglas , ran as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate and was opposed by the Republican nominee, the Red-bating Congresman from Whittier, Richard Nixon . While Nixon did not go so far as to accuse Gahagan Douglas of being a communist herself, he did charge her with being soft on communism due to her opposition to the House Un-Amercan Activities Committee. Nixon tarred her as a "fellow traveler" of communists, a "pinko" who was "pink right down to her underwear." Gahagan Douglas was defeated by the man she was the first to call "Tricky Dicky" because of his unethical behavior and dirty campaign tactics. Reagan was on the Douglases' side during that campaign. The Douglases, like Reagan and such other prominent actors as Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson , were liberal Democrats, supporters of the late Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal, a legacy that increasingly was under attack by the right after World War II. They were NOT fellow-travelers; Melyvn Douglas had actually been an active anti-communist and was someone the communists despised. Melvyn Douglas, Robinson and Henry Fonda - a registered Republican! - wound up "gray-listed." (They weren't explicitly black-listed, they just weren't offered any work.) Reagan, who it was later revealed had been an F.B.I. informant while a union leader (turning in suspected communists), was never hurt that way, as he made S.A.G. an accomplice of the black-listing. Reagan's career sagged after the late 1940s, and he started appearing in B-movies after he left Warners to go free-lance. However, he had a eminence grise par excellence in Lew Wasserman , his agent and the head of the Music Corp. of America. Wasserman, later called "The Pope of Hollywood," was the genius who figured out that an actor could make a killing via a tax windfall by turning himself into a corporation. The corporation, which would employ the actor, would own part of a motion picture the actor appeared in, and all monies would accrue to the corporation, which was taxed at a much lower rate than was personal income. Wasserman pioneered this tax avoidance scheme with his client James Stewart , beginning with the Anthony Mann western Winchester '73 (1950) (1950). It made Stewart enormously rich as he became a top box office draw in the 1950


Who was Ronald Regan's first Secretary of State?

Cabinet Members Under Reagan Cabinet Members Under Reagan Alexander M. Haig, Jr., 1981 George P. Shultz, 1982 James A. Baker 3rd, 1985 Nicholas F. Brady, 1988 C. William Verity, Jr., 1987 Secretary of Labor Secretary of Health and Human Services Richard S. Schweiker, 1981 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Samuel R. Pierce, Jr., 1981 Secretary of Transportation Andrew L. Lewis, Jr., 1981 Elizabeth H. Dole, 1983 James H. Burnley 4th, 1987 Secretary of Energy


How many 'points for peace' did President Wilson announce in 1918?

Wilson announces his 14 Points - Jan 08, 1918 - HISTORY.com Wilson announces his 14 Points Share this: Wilson announces his 14 Points Author Wilson announces his 14 Points URL Publisher A+E Networks In an address before a joint meeting of Congress, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson discusses the aims of the United States in World War I and outlines his “14 Points” for achieving a lasting peace in Europe. The peace proposal called for unselfish peace terms from the victorious Allies, the restoration of territories conquered during the war, the right to national self-determination, and the establishment of a postwar world body to resolve future conflict. The speech was translated and distributed to the soldiers and citizens of Germany and Austria-Hungary and contributed significantly to their agreeing to an armistice in November 1918. After the war ended, Wilson traveled to France, where he headed the American delegation to the conference at Versailles. Functioning as the moral leader of the Allies, Wilson struggled to orchestrate a just peace, though the other victorious Allies opposed most of his 14 Points. The final treaty called for stiff reparations payments from the former Central Powers and other demanding peace terms that would contribute to the outbreak of World War II two decades later. However, Wilson’s ideas on national self-determination and a postwar world body were embodied in the treaty. In 1920, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Price for his efforts. Related Videos