Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Muammar al-Gaddafi

2013-08-09T00:03:12Z

AhmedB:

[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"Leader and Guide of the 1969 Revolution."]]
Colonel '''Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: معمر القذافي, b. 1942 - d. October 20, 2011) was the Head of State of [[Libya]], a [[socialist]] and [[leader]] until the 2011 [[Libyan War|Libyan civil war]]. He rose to power through a coup that he led in 1969, and he ruled Libya for more than forty years ending with his capture and death. Once he became the leader of Libya, he renamed all the months in the calendar and published the Green Book, which was a series of pamphlets on democracy, economics, and sociology.

==Rise to power==
In the 1970s, Gaddafi attempted to assume the leadership of a pan-Arabic movement, a position left open by the death of President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] of [[Egypt]]; however, other Arab nations mostly ignored him. He attempted to extend his influence in Africa by supporting [[Uganda]]'s [[Idi Amin]] in the [[Uganda-Tanzania War]] with military aid and equipment, including [[Tupolev Tu-22|Tu-22]] jet bombers. In the 1980s, Gaddafi became a sponsor of [[terrorism]] and President [[Ronald Reagan]] ordered a retaliatory bombing of his palace and key Libyan targets (Operation El Dorado Canyon). (In August 2003, Libya agreed to pay $2.7 billion to families of the 270 killed on board flight 103, when it blew up in December 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Just six months after the settlement, Gaddafi was visited by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Tripoli.) <ref> [http://www.nndb.com/people/641/000026563/ Muammar Qaddafi.] </ref>

==Relations with Israel and Palestinians==
Gaddafi was a lifelong enemy of [[Israel]] and under his reign Israel was not recognized by Libya. He also expelled Palestinian Arabs from Libya.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/05/world/libya-s-leader-urges-other-arab-countries-to-expel-palestinians.html</ref>

==Renounces terrorism and restoration to the international community==
[[File:Cockpit Nose section of Clipper Maid of the Seas.jpg|thumb|250px|Cockpit of Clipper "Maid of the Seas" (Pan Am 103).]]
In the 1990s, Gaddafi changed course and severed all ties with terrorism to normalize relations with the West. He formally renounced terrorism in a letter to the UN Security Council in August 2003 and publicly condemned [[al Qaeda]] for the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]].<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=P95pldoe_hgC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=muammar+qaddafi+religious+tolerance&source=bl&ots=We02LNtRVy&sig=ICqlN8kClfhziphrdOZASO9DQeU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Lq8rUYe8CIn7igLh9YBo&ved=0CDMQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=muammar%20qaddafi%20religious%20tolerance&f=false Islamic Peacemaking Since 9/11,] Volume 31 (Google eBook), David R. Smock, Qamar-ul Huda, DIANE Publishing, 2009.</ref>

In 1999, the Libyan government surrendered two Libyans suspected of involvement in the Pan Am 103 bombing, leading to the suspension of UN sanctions. On January 31, 2001, a Scottish court seated in the Netherlands found one of the suspects, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, guilty of murder in connection with the bombing, and acquitted the second suspect, Al-Amin Khalifa Fhima. Megrahi's conviction was upheld on March 14, 2002, but an appeals hearing was granted in June 2007 by the Scottish High Court.

UN sanctions were lifted on September 12, 2003 following Libyan compliance with its remaining UNSCR requirements on Pan Am 103, including acceptance of responsibility for the actions of its officials and payment of appropriate compensation. Libya paid compensation in 1999 for the death of British policewoman Yvonne Fletcher, a move that preceded the reopening of the British Embassy in Tripoli, and paid damages to the families of the victims in the bombing of UTA Flight 772. With the lifting of UN sanctions in September 2003, each of the families of the victims of Pan Am 103 received $4 million of a maximum $10 million in compensation. After the lifting of U.S. IEEPA-based sanctions on September 20, 2004, the families received a further $4 million.

On November 13, 2001, a German court found four persons, including a former employee of the Libyan embassy in East Berlin, guilty in connection with the 1986 La Belle disco bombing, in which two U.S. servicemen were killed. The court also established a connection to the Libyan government. The German Government demanded that Libya accept responsibility for the La Belle bombing and pay appropriate compensation. A compensation deal for non-U.S. victims was agreed to in August 2004. U.S. victims continue to pursue their claims in federal court.

By 2003, Libya appeared to have curtailed its support for international terrorism, although it may have retained residual contacts with some of its former terrorist clients. In August 2004, the Department of Justice entered into a plea agreement with Abdulrahman Alamoudi, in which he stated that he had been part of a 2003 plot to assassinate Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah (now King Abdallah) at the behest of Libyan government officials.

In 2005, the Saudi Government pardoned the individuals accused in the assassination plot. During the 2005 UN General Assembly session, Foreign Minister Shalgam issued a statement that reaffirmed Libya's commitment to the statements made in its letter addressed to the Security Council on August 15, 2003, renouncing terrorism in all its forms and pledging that Libya will not support acts of international terrorism or other acts of violence targeting civilians, whatever their political views or positions. Libya also expressed its commitment to continue cooperating in the international fight against terrorism. On June 30, 2006, the U.S. rescinded Libya's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.

In 2006 the BBC reported, the "decision of the US to restore full diplomatic relations with Libya marks the crowning success of his efforts to have his country accepted back into the international community." <ref> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3336059.stm</ref>

U.S. [[Secretary of State]] [[Condoleezza Rice]] praised Libya for its "excellent co-operation" in the US-led war on terror. <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4773617.stm] (BBC News).</ref> Full diplomatic relations with the United States were restored in 2006, and the Gaddafi regime's turnaround has been heralded by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a model for others to follow.
[[File:Gaddafi and Mandela 1.JPG|thumb|300px|Nobel Peace Prize winner [[Nelson Mandela]] greets an old friend and ally, Muammar Gaddafi.]]

==Relations with Africa==
===Brother in arms with Nelson Mandela===
[[Nobel Peace Prize]] recipient [[Nelson Mandela]] speaking of the values he shares with Gaddafi, said,
{{Cquote|In a world where the strong may seek to impose upon the more vulnerable; and where particular nations or groups of nations may still seek to decide the fate of the planet - in such a world respect for multilateralism, moderation of public discourse and a patient search for compromise become even more imperative to save the world from debilitating conflict and enduring inequality. When we dismissed criticism of our friendship with yourself, My Brother Leader, and of the relationship between South Africa and Libya, it was precisely in defence of those values.<ref>http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71656?oid=222537&sn=Detail</ref>}}

===African Satellite Control Center===
An observer spelled out one of Gaddafi’s motivations for proposing an African Union:
{{Cquote|It began in 1992, when 45 African nations established RASCOM (Regional African Satellite Communication Organization) so that Africa would have its own satellite and slash communication costs in the continent. This was a time when phone calls to and from Africa were the most expensive in the world because of the annual US$500 million fee pocketed by Europe for the use of its satellites like Intelsat for phone conversations, including those within the same country.

An African satellite only cost a one-time payment of $400 million and the continent no longer had to pay a $500 million annual lease. Which banker wouldn't finance such a project? But the problem remained – how can [[slave]]s, seeking to free themselves from their master’s exploitation ask the master’s help to achieve that freedom? Not surprisingly, the [[World Bank]], the [[International Monetary Fund]], the USA, Europe only made vague promises for 14 years. Gaddafi put an end to these futile pleas to the western ‘benefactors’ with their exorbitant interest rates. The Libyan guide put $300 million on the table; the African Development Bank added $50 million more and the West African Development Bank a further $27 million – and that’s how Africa got its first communications satellite on 26 December 2007.<ref>http://www.vtcommons.org/blog/2011/04/21/ethan-allen-qaddafi</ref>}}

==Domestic affairs==
[[File:Schoolboys chant pro-Gaddafi slogans Reuters.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Schoolboys chant pro-Gaddafi slogans, Photograph: Reuters.]]
The Libyan people thrived under his leadership. A delegation of medical professionals from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus wrote in an appeal "Russian President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin that after becoming acquainted with Libyan life, it was their view that in few nations did people live in such comfort".

"China is a different kind of competitor. It is a rising economic power and America is unable to stop it. It has an unprecedented human wealth. In addition, it is a nuclear-weapon state and a permanent member of the Security Council. Everywhere in the world, China is making economic, human and political inroads. Unlike America which unwisely has chosen the harsh military approach, China is making those inroads using soft power. America continues its brazen interference in the internal affairs of states in the name of democracy and human rights. Africom is a case in point. Such interference is no longer acceptable. America itself is condemned in the field of human rights. It makes a habit of taking losers as allies... America is aware of the danger China poses. [http://www.algathafi.org/html-english/cat_1_11.htm China..America..The inevitable Confrontation.]"

===Libyan Central Bank===
In an article posted on the Market Oracle, Eric Encina observed:
{{Cquote|One seldom mentioned fact by western politicians and media pundits: the Central Bank of Libya is 100% State Owned.... Currently, the Libyan government creates its own money, the Libyan Dinar, through the facilities of its own central bank. Few can argue that Libya is a [[sovereign]] nation with its own great resources, able to sustain its own economic destiny. One major problem for globalist banking cartels is that in order to do business with Libya, they must go through the Libyan Central Bank and its national currency, a place where they have absolutely zero dominion or power-broking ability. Hence, taking down the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) may not appear in the speeches of Obama, Cameron and Sarkozy but this is certainly at the top of the globalist agenda for absorbing Libya into its hive of compliant nations.<ref>Eric Encina,''[http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article27208.html Globalists Target 100% State Owned Central Bank of Libya,]'' Market Oracle.</ref>}}
Ellen Brown adds,
{{Cquote|Libya not only has oil. According to the IMF, its central bank has nearly 144 tons of gold in its vaults. With that sort of asset base, who needs the BIS (Bank of International Settlements), the IMF and their rules.<ref>Ellen Brown, ''[http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/289-134/5625-libya-all-about-oil-or-all-about-banking Libya: All About Oil, or All About Banking,]'' Reader Supported News, April 15, 2011.</ref>}}
Gaddafi’s proposal to introduce a gold dinar for Africa contravenes IMF rules and is designed to bypass them.

==Capture and murder==
Gadafi was brutally murdered by [[NATO]]-armed and -equipped [[jihad]]i rebels during [[President Obama]]'s "humanitarian intervention" in the [[Libyan War of 2011]].<ref>http://socioecohistory.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/corbett-gaddafi-murder-shows-hypocrisy-of-nato-humanitarian-intervention/</ref>

== External links ==
*[http://www.nndb.com/people/641/000026563/ Muammar Qaddafi.]
*[http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/dictators/muammar-qaddafi/ Muammar Qaddafi.]
*[http://israelstreams.com/?israelinsider.html?http://israelinsider.com/Articles1/Diplomacy/4062.htm Gadhafi ready to compensate Jews who fled Libya.] Israel Insider.
*[http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142593 Qaddafi is Jewish and I'm His Cousin.]

== References ==

<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Al-Gadafi, Muammar}}

[[Category:Libya]]
[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:Sunnis]]
[[Category:Heads of State]]
[[Category:Muslims]]
[[Category:Socialists]]

Augusto Pinochet

2013-08-08T23:59:50Z

AhmedB:

[[Image:342px-Pinochet de Civil.jpg|right|thumb|Augusto Pinochet]]
General '''Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte''' (1915–2006) was a [[Chile]]an [[soldier]] and [[politician]] who became Chile's head of state from 1973 to 1990. He came to power as a member of a council of military leaders after the overthrow of the government of President [[Salvador Allende]]. US intelligence reports implicated Allende in the assassination of several opponents,<ref>http://nixontapeaudio.org/chile/517-004.pdf</ref> while KGB files smuggled out of Russia by Vasily Mitrokhin indicate that Allende received funds from the Soviet Union.<ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/219461/pinochet-history/nro-symposium</ref> Allende was formally condemned by Chile's parliament for systematically destroying democracy in Chile.<ref>“Declaration of the Breakdown of Chile’s Democracy,” Resolution of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile, August 22, 1973.</ref> The Chilean Chamber of Deputies Resolution of August 22, 1973, accused Allende of support of armed groups, torture, illegal arrests, muzzling the press, confiscating private property, and not allowing people to leave the country. In the infamous "Cuban Packages Scandal" that precipitated the coup, large quantities of weapons were sent from Castro's Cuba to arm pro-Allende terrorists in Chile.<ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/219461/pinochet-history/nro-symposium</ref> Kissinger privately told Nixon that Allende might declare martial law.<ref>http://nixontapeaudio.org/chile/517-004.pdf</ref> By 1973, as a result of covert US aid to Chilean dissidents and financing of pro-democracy protestors, US intelligence indicated Allende would likely lose the next Chilean election if it was held.<ref>http://archive.frontpagemag.com/Printable.aspx?ArtId=15648</ref> According to ''The Wall Street Journal,'' faced with illegal seizures of farms and factories, of defiance of judicial orders, unchecked street violence and death threats against the judges themselves, the Supreme Court warned on May 26, 1973, in a unanimous and unprecedented message, that Chile faced "a peremptory or imminent breakdown of legality."<ref>http://www.lyd.com/noticias/violencia/what_really.html</ref> Volodia Teitelboim, the chief ideologue of the Communist Party in Chile, declared that if civil war came, "it probably would signify immense loss of human lives, between half a million and one million."<ref>http://www.lyd.com/noticias/violencia/what_really.html</ref> On September 11, 1973, Allende committed suicide during a military coup launched by Pinochet, who became President.

General Pinochet headed a military government for 17 years (1973-1990), suppressed [[communist]] revolutionaries in Chile, and got a new Constitution approved in 1980 that established a gradual and legal path for the return to full democracy.

General Pinochet instituted free market reforms in Chile in the 1970s that resulted in lower [[inflation]] and an economic boom. During this period, he held a [[plebiscite]] on his rule and 75% of the people affirmed their support for his emergency government.

During his time in power, including the 1973 coup, at least 1,200 people were killed or vanished. The most common estimate is that 3,000 were killed,<ref>BBC profile http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6167237.stm</ref> while other estimates go as high as 10,000. In addition, over a quarter million Chileans were arrested. Universities were purged of terrorist sympathizers, Marxist books were burned, and rival political parties banned. Thousands of members of the Socialist Party of Chile and the Communist Party of Chile fled the country out of fear of the [[secret police]], which allegedly tortured citizens.<ref>Augusto Pinochet Biography http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/pinochet.html</ref>

A new constitution was adopted in Chile in 1981, which authorized General Pinochet to serve as president for another eight-year term, to be followed by a plebiscite on his presidency.

Pinochet moved Chile into a market economy, privatizing many inefficient government businesses, and opening the country to foreign investment. The stability that his government gave encouraged foreign investors to come to Chile. He also started one of the first [[private pension accounts]] pension systems in the world, which has been highly successful.

Using its leverage over Pinochet to curtail Chilean human rights abuses, the US simultaneously pressured Chile to introduce a series of economic reforms, a process that escalated sharply in the eighties. This led to a period of rapid economic expansion and development without precedent in Latin America, in which growth averaged 7% annually, that came to be known as the "''miracle of Chile''" (it also included the region's greatest reductions in infant mortality<ref>Nick Eberstadt, The Poverty of Communism (Transaction Publishers, 1990), pp188,
196-206, 240-6, in which he discusses living standards in [[Communist]] [[Cuba]] versus Pinochet's Chile.</ref>). In turn, this allowed Chile to make a long-term transition to sustainable democratic rule that would likely have been otherwise inconceivable.<ref>http://www.lyd.com/noticias/violencia/what_really.html</ref>

As promised, President Pinochet held another plebiscite in October 1988 on the issue of whether he should continue as president. He was defeated by a vote of 55-43%, and subsequent free elections were won by the [[Christian]] Democrat Patricio Aylwin, who was installed as president on March 11, 1990.

General Pinochet was a graduate of the [[School of the Americas]] at Fort Benning, [[Georgia]].

In 1998, the [[leftists]] who had long hated Pinochet arranged for his arrest while he was in [[London]] receiving medical treatment. An unprecedented arrest warrant was issued in [[Spain]] for alleged [[human rights]] violations that occurred in Chile while he was president. The stunt failed, and Pinochet was subsequently returned to Chile due to his ill health. He was later indicted and charged with [[kidnapping]] 19 supporters of Salvador Allende during the 1973 coup in which Pinochet took power. The Chilean [[Supreme Court]] suspended the prosecution in July 2002, again due to Pinochet's continuing poor health.

Pinochet died of a heart attack on December 10, 2006.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/world/americas/10cnd-pinochet-timeline.html?ex=1174449600&en=7b24f9d3e63ff60a&ei=5070 NYTimes</ref>

== References ==
<references />

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinochet, Augusto}}

[[Category:Heads of State]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]

Abraham Lincoln

2013-06-14T01:56:23Z

AhmedB:

{{Officeholder
|name=Abraham Lincoln
|image=Ncoln2.jpg
|party=[[Republican]] [[National Union]]
|spouse=[[Mary Todd Lincoln]]
|religion=[[Christian]]
|offices=
{{Officeholder/president
|country=the United States
|number=16th
|terms=March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865
|vp=[[Hannibal Hamlin]] (1861–1865) [[Andrew Johnson]] (1865)
|preceded=[[James Buchanan]]
|former=y
|succeeded=[[Andrew Johnson]]
}}
{{Officeholder/representative
|state=Illinois
|district=7th
|terms=March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1849
|preceded=John Henry
|former=y
|succeeded=Thomas L. Harris
}}
|military=y
|allegiance=Illinois Militia
|serviceyears=1832
|battles=Black Hawk War
}}
'''Abraham Lincoln''' was the 16th [[President of the United States of America]] serving from 1861 to 1865. He led his country through its greatest crisis, the [[American Civil War]], abolished [[slavery]] and built a [[Republican Party]] coalition that dominated the [[Third Party System]].

Lincoln, along with George Washington, is the chief icon of conservative American values. With a profound sense of American history, unswerving commitment to [[Republicanism|republican ideals]] of democracy and civic virtue, and an almost Shakespearean command of the language, Lincoln articulated a vision of a new birth of freedom for the American nation. The destruction of the [[Confederacy]], and of the [[Slave Power|slave power]] that menaced conservative American values, affirmed Lincoln's vision in the [[Gettysburg Address]] (1863) and guaranteed that "government of the people by the people for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

He was [[homeschooled]] and almost completely self-taught, which likely gave him independent thinking, reliance on logic, and a desire to continue to learn as an adult.<ref>For example, Lincoln successfully proved all of Euclid's theorems while serving in Congress.</ref> He is considered the most eloquent writer of any American president in history thus far. He is also one of the very few whose [[faith]] developed and grew while holding high public office.

==Early life==
Lincoln grew up in a hard-luck, hard-scrabble environment on
the middle border. His paternal ancestors were English; they migrated from Hingham, England, to Hingham Massachusetts, in 1637. In the 1730s they moved to backwoods Pennsylvania and Virginia. His grandfather moved to Kentucky in 1782, where he was scalped by Indians raiding his farm in 1786. His father Thomas owned some farmland near Elizabethtown, where he farmed and worked as a carpenter.

Abe later wrote:
:''“I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families-- second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks, some of whom now reside in Adams, and others in Macon Counties, Illinois.”''<ref> See [http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/autobiog.htm Speeches]</ref>

Abe was born in a backwoods cabin some three miles south of Hodgenville, Kentucky. His father Thomas Lincoln was a sturdy man, committed to pioneering in the new lands of Kentucky and Indiana. He married Nancy Hanks on June 12, 1806, and together they had three children: Sarah, Abraham, and Thomas, who did not survive infancy. The family belonged to a Hardshell Baptist church; Abe ridiculed the preachers and never joined their church, or any other church.

Young Abraham’s earliest memories of his days in Kentucky involved helping his father plant some seeds of corn and sunflower, and a flood that washed them away.
[[Image:Young abraham lincoln.jpg|thumb|200px|left|The oldest-known photograph of Lincoln, about 1847.]]
In December 1816 Thomas had to pack up his family and leave for southwestern Indiana after a slaveowner with a better lawyer won title to his Kentucky property.

Penniless, the family in Indiana lived in a “half-faced” camp; a crude log structure with one side open to the elements, and there the family stayed as squatters on public land until Thomas had finished a permanent cabin; he later bought the land outright on which it stood. Helping Thomas clear the land and plowing the fields was Abe, who in sharp contrast to other boys developed a strong aversion to hunting. The poverty, Lincoln recalled, was “pretty pinching” at times, and by the age of nine he was a tall, lanky boy dressed rather ragged and unkempt.

Then the fall of 1818 brought the hardest blow: Nancy had died of the “milk sickness”, leaving Abraham without the mother whom he deeply loved. Some time later, Thomas had taken the buckboard and the mule, and left Abraham and Sarah on their own for two weeks; when he returned, he was with a new wife, Sarah Bush Johnson; she immediately made up for the absence of Nancy by replacing Abraham’s corn husk mattress with one of down, winning him over the first day. The new step-mother treated both children with an even hand (she herself was a widow with three children, whom she had brought), but she became very fond of Abraham, and he in turn was fond of her, referring to her as his “angel mother” for the rest of his life.

===Education===
Both of Abraham’s parents were nearly completely illiterate, and he himself had not much more than one year of formal education. When he did go to school, it was by “littles” – a little here, a little there – and he would call it “blab” school, which meant that they had to recite their lessons constantly due to lack of paper, pencils, and chalk. “Of course, when I came of age I did not know much. Still, somehow, I could read, write, and cipher to the rule of three; but that was all.” The rule of three means up to one thousand.

His step-mother encouraged his reading as much as possible, and although Abraham did not have access to a large number of books, he would read as much of what was there, and read voraciously. He read John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, ''Aesop’s Fables'', Daniel DeFoe’s ''Robinson Crusoe'', Parson Weems's ''Life and Memorable Actions of George Washington'', Edward Gibbon’s ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', and undoubtedly he read many times the only book his family actually owned, the Bible. He would walk for miles to borrow a book he heard about, and after his chores he would collapse into a heap in front of the fire and read for hours. He would say years later that his best friend was the man who let him borrow a book he hadn’t read yet.

===The Rail-Splitter===
[[Image:Railsplitter.jpg|thumb|200px|right|An artist's impression of a young Abe Lincoln, the ''Rail-Splitter''.]]
The Lincolns moved to Illinois in March, 1830, with Abraham driving the team of oxen himself, a young man of 21, rawboned and lanky at six feet four inches tall. But the years working on the Indiana farm also made him physically powerful, and on his arrival in Illinois he was soon to demonstrate the skill with which he could wield an axe, putting it to good use by clearing the trees and laying the fence on his father’s new farm; the speed with which he could take tree trunks and split them into the rails needed for the fencing just by using his axe earned him the nickname “rail-splitter.” He could make an axe flash and bite deep; one neighbor saying “He could sink an axe deeper into wood than any man I ever saw.” After a good deal of chopping, he could take the axe by its handle and hold it straight out away from his body, without a single quiver. (Sandburg, pg. 14) Good-natured as well, he would make friends easily, despite his awkward-looking stride and backwoods language.
[[Image:Lincoln hair.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Fearing that his friends wouldn't recognize him "without a bad tousle", Lincoln messed his hair up in this picture before the photographer closed the shutter.]]
Soon, he signed on as a deckhand on a flatboat, and made a voyage down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. When he returned he settled in a small town on the Sangamon River called New Salem, working as a store keeper, surveyor, or a postmaster, the later of which allowed him to be the first to read the arriving newspapers. Then talk went about town of Lincoln’s utter honesty, how he would walk six miles to return a few cents to a customer he had accidentally overcharged, or the woman that had bought some tea, and having used the wrong weight for the purchase, Lincoln made the correction and walked the many miles to her house to ensure she got the right order (Sandburg, pp 24-25).

In 1832 he enlisted in the Black Hawk War, and was elected captain of his company, but the only fighting he admitted seeing action in was the “many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes.” After he was mustered out of his company, he aspired for the state legislature, losing the contest the first time he ran, then getting elected and re-elected several times afterward. He had briefly thought about practicing the trade of blacksmithing, but his craving of reading led him to law books, which caused some serious studying. Lincoln passed the bar in 1836, and began a new career practicing law.

===Insulting letters===

In the early 1840s, Lincoln had a habit of writing critical letters that skewered his political opponents unmercifully. In 1842, after the default of the state bank, Lincoln wrote a letter to the editor of the ''Sangamo Journal'' about Illinois' governor, treasurer and auditor's refusal to accept the state's own paper money for payment of debts. The letter directly attacked James Shields, the state auditor, who then challenged Lincoln to a duel. After taking lessons in swordsmanship, Lincoln met Shields on September 22, 1842 on a Missouri sandbar. Two mutual friends rushed to the scene and talked the two combatants into cancelling the duel.<ref>[http://www.historynet.com/abraham-lincoln-prepares-to-fight-a-saber-duel.htm Abraham Lincoln prepares to fight a saber duel]</ref>

==Springfield==
The following year he moved to the new state capital of Illinois, Springfield, becoming law partners with John T. Stuart, Stephan T. Logan, and finally William H. Herndon in 1844, who, although junior in age to Lincoln by a decade, made a good, balanced partner. Few records exist of their law business, and when they got paid for their services they split the cash, no matter who was paid. Lincoln would earn $1,200 - $1,500 annually within just a few years; by comparison circuit judges earned $750. But to earn it he kept busy and worked hard; often he would climb into his buggy and travel the circuit of neighboring counties and practice before the courts there. And often the cases he would be involved in were petty

Years before he had tried, and failed, to push legislation through the state assembly to have the Sangamon River made navigable to New Salem; by 1850 the railroads were bringing business and prosperity to Illinois, and Lincoln, by virtue of the ease the railroad made in traveling to his courts, profited more. He had served as a lobbyist for the Illinois Central Railroad, enabling it to get a state charter; he would defend the company against McClean County’s unsuccessful efforts to tax it. He handles cases for other railroads, banks, manufacturing, and other large companies in the state; he handled some patent suits and a few criminal trials. And he also saved the first bridge to cross the Mississippi River from demolition, when river interests demanded the bridge be taken down.

===The moonlight murder===
In Lincoln’s New Salem days he was introduced to the Clary’s Grove Boys, a group of rowdy men from a nearby town who came into New Salem to bully some of the townsmen. The leader of the group was Jack Armstrong, whose challenge to wrestle the New Salem men usually resulted in Armstrong quickly throwing the unfortunate man to the ground. When he saw Lincoln, Armstrong dismissed the lanky young man as a pushover. When they fought, neither man was able to throw the other. The battle ended in a draw, and the good-natured Lincoln made a new friend. Armstrong would later be one of the men to elect Lincoln to lead the company of volunteers in the Black Hawk War.<ref>[http://www.mrlincolnandfriends.org/inside.asp?pageID=32&subjectID=2 Jack Armstrong]</ref>

In 1856, Jack Armstrong’s son, William (or "Duff"), was charged with murder. A witness claimed he had seen Duff and another kill a New Salem man late at night by the light of full moon. Lincoln pulled out an almanac and proved that the witness could not have seen anything at all, as the moon was at its quarter and had actually set over an hour before. Duff was acquitted, and Lincoln won the case.<ref>[http://www.mrlincolnandfriends.org/inside.asp?pageID=32&subjectID=2 Jack Armstrong]</ref>

==Politics==
[[Andrew Jackson]], the hero of New Orleans in the [[War of 1812]] and a Democrat from Tennessee, was in the White House when Lincoln first entered politics. He shared with Jackson the sympathies for the common man, but differed in the role of government as related to it; Jackson stated the government should be separated from the economic enterprise, while Lincoln was of the view that “the legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot do so well, for themselves, in their separate and individual capacities.” Lincoln most associated himself with the Whig Party, as among their members Henry Clay and Daniel Webster both advocated a government should be encouraging business, and the development of the country to that end. It was an easy choice for Lincoln: he saw Illinois as needing such aid to improve the development of its own economy.

In the Illinois State Legislature Lincoln found that politics could be detrimental and harsh, as well as rewarding. An example of the former occurred in 1836, just as he gave a speech in support of his re-election. Democrat John Forquer, also seeking election, used his response and acid tounge to denounce him. "This young man needs to be taken down" he said, pointing to Lincoln, "and I'm afraid the task devolves upon me." The success of Forquer's speech convinced some of Lincoln's own allies that his career was over.

But when Lincoln rose to make his rebuttal, he thought of Forquer, and what he had done recently in conniving with President Jackson to change parties; in reward for doing so he was made Government Land Register with a $3,000 annual salary. Forquer was then able to construct a fine new house in Springfield, complete with a curiosity residents had heard about from science but had never seen before: a lightning rod. Before he entered the state house building that day, Lincoln spent a few minutes at Forquer's house staring at the thing, and having heard Forquer's speech later on, he thought of what he saw. Lincoln's reply was blistering, and sealed Forquer's fate.

:''"Among other things he said, the gentleman commenced his speech by saying that 'this young man,' alluding to me, 'must be taken down.' I am not so young in years as I am in the tricks and the trades of a politician, but, live long or die young, I would rather die now than, like the gentleman, change my politics, and with the change receive an office worth $3,000 a year, and then feel obliged to erect a lightning-rod over my house to protect a guilty conscience from an offended God!"'' (Sandburg, pg.49)

Lincoln also proposed state funding to construct a network of roads, railroads, and canals. Both Whigs and Democrats would join in for the passing of this omnibus bill, but a business depression was created by the [[panic of 1837]], and as a result most of the provisions in the bill were abandoned. 1837 was also marked by the murder of Elijah Lovejoy, a newspaperman from Alton who was killed by a mob due to his anti-slavery views. The legislature introduced resolutions defending Southern slavery while condemning abolitionist societies, as per the U.S. Constitution. In protest of the resolutions Lincoln, with a fellow legislator, drew up a declaration which stated that slavery was “founded on both injustice and bad policy,” while also declaring that “the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than to abate its evils.”
[[Image:Lawyer Lincoln.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Lincoln in the late 1850's, about to debate his rival Stephen A. Douglas.]]
He only served one term in the United States Congress, 1847 to 1849, during which time he did little on legislative matters. He did introduce a bill calling for a gradual emancipation of slaves within the District of Columbia, but since it hinged on the approval of the white citizens there, it only caused mild anger from abolitionists as well as slave holders, and was quietly dropped. His one main issue was over the Mexican War, in which he condemned the American entry into it on false pretenses, particularly blaming current president James K. Polk. He worked toward the nomination of Zachary Taylor for the presidency, and when Taylor had won, Lincoln expected to be rewarded with the job of land commissioner, but failed. He was voted out of office by his constituents, as they felt he was too critical of the war. Disillusioned, he left politics and reentered his law practice.

==Return to politics==
He stayed out for five years, winning several cases before the courts, then in 1854 he had read in the papers that Stephan A. Douglas, his political rival and Democratic senator from Illinois, had placed before Congress a bill which would reopen the territory of the Louisiana Purchase to slavery, as well as allow settlers in the Kansas and Nebraska territories to vote for themselves whether or not they wanted it, a concept which was called “[[popular sovereignty]]” by Douglas. The resulting [[Kansas-Nebraska Act]] would do nothing more than provoke violent opposition; a border war would result between Kansas and Missouri as both pro and anti-slavery forces would cause much bloodshed; and voters in the Old Northwest, Illinois among them, would react vehemently against it, resulting in the destruction of the Whigs as a political party, and the birth of the Republicans, of which Lincoln quickly became a member.<ref>Yervand Kochar. [http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/i_am_a_lincoln_republican_1.html I Am a Lincoln Republican], ''American Thinker'', November 14, 2009.</ref> The [[Dred Scott]] decision of 1856, in which a black man who sued for his freedom only to be told that he was never a citizen and had to remain a slave, only added more fuel to the fire, as the states were aligning slave versus free, North versus South.

As the leading member of the Republican Party in Illinois, Lincoln was nominated for the Senate seat held by Douglas at the Republican State Convention in Springfield on June 16, 1858. The acceptance speech he gave has been called the [[Lincoln's "House Divided" Speech|House Divided]] speech, after the opening lines, which were based upon Matthew 12:25:

:''If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was initiated with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. "A house divided against itself cannot stand."  I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new -- North as well as South.''<ref>[http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/divided.htm "House Divided" Speech], ''The History Place'', June 16, 1858.</ref>

August through October, 1858 saw seven Illinois towns witnessing the [[Lincoln-Douglas debates]]; Douglas the national figure defending the choice of voters whether to accept slavery or not, and the little-known Lincoln taking a stand against slavery on political, social, and moral grounds. Douglas never wavered from defending popular sovereignty, and he also played on the voters' fears of [[black integration]]. Stating blacks were inferior to whites, he appealed to racists by declaring that the government was "established upon the white basis. It was made by white men, for the benefit of white men." (TL 1, pg 106). Lincoln on the other hand knew Douglas was in a war of his own with President [[James Buchanan]]'s administration over acceptance of the Kansas constitution which barred slavery from the state, further alienating Southern Democratic support; the fear was that Douglas would be more appealing to moderate Republicans in the east. Lincoln's strategy therefore was to point out and use the vast difference between the moral indifference to slavery as embodied by Douglas's popular sovereignty, and the moral wrong that slavery actually was as embodied by Republican opposition to it. Douglas was, Lincoln insisted, a man who did not care whether slavery was "voted up or voted down." By his last debate, Lincoln would narrow the differences between himself and Douglas as the basic principle of right and wrong.

:''"That is the real issue. That is the issue that will continue in this country when these poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. It is the eternal struggle between these two principles -- right and wrong -- throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time; and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity and the other the [[divine right of kings]]. It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same spirit that says, "You work and toil and earn bread, and I'll eat it." No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle."''

Douglas for his part knew how formidable his foe was, and declared that if he won, “it would be a hollow victory.” He did win, retaining his Senate seat, but by a narrow margin.

==The 1860 Election==
[[Image:Lincoln and beard.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Soon after his election, a little girl named Grace Bedell wrote to Lincoln, telling him his face would be softened by the addition of a beard; here he just started on her advice.]]
:''My friends, no one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of the Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell.'' Lincoln's Farewell Speech to the citizens of Springfield, February 11, 1861.

On May 18, 1860 at the Republican National Convention held in Chicago, Lincoln was nominated on the third ballot. He then set aside his law practice and gave full time to the direction of his campaign, with the object of first uniting the Republicans from anything with which the party could disagree over. The Democrats were already divided, having nominated Douglas in Baltimore on the Northern platform of popular sovereignty, and John C. Breckenridge who was elected on a platform of states’ rights and slavery by Southern Democrats. Lincoln won the [[United States presidential election of 1860]], winning a clear majority in popular votes as well as electoral votes, despite winning no votes in the South.
==Presidency==
For the social, political, economic and diplomatic history see [[American Civil War homefront]]

The state of South Carolina proclaimed its secession from the Union in December, 1860, soon after Lincoln’s victory. To try to prevent other states from following, compromises were hurriedly pushed through Congress, one of which, the [[Corwin Amendment]], guaranteed the existence of slavery in perpetuity where it already existed. The failed [[Crittenden Compromise]] would have gone even further and permanently divided the territories between slave and free. Lincoln publicly supported the Corwin Amendment, believing that it was already implicit in the Constitution; however, he opposed the Crittenden Compromise because it would have given slavery additional protections beyond what the Constitution already gave it. Despite these attempted compromises, six more states seceded and joined with South Carolina to form the [[Confederate States of America]].

A crisis was thus forced upon Lincoln before he even entered the White House. The Confederacy claimed [[Fort Sumter]], in South Carolina’s [[Charleston]] Harbor, and ordered its commander, Major [[Robert Anderson]] to turn it over. He refused. Lincoln, still in Springfield, asked [[Winfield Scott]], general in chief of the U.S. Army, to be prepared “to either hold, or retake, the forts, as the case may require, at, and after the inauguration.”

On the 4th of March, 1861, a few weeks after [[Jefferson Davis]] was inaugurated as president of the Confederacy, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the nation's 16th president. In his address he reiterated his stance: to not interfere with slavery where it existed, to prevent slavery from spreading in the territories, but above all to preserve the Union. The substance of what he said was conciliatory, but it also mentioned the obvious

{{quotebox|In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it.<ref>Historical Document. [http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/war/lincoln_address1.html Lincoln's First Inaugural Address], ''PBS'', March 4, 1861.</ref>}}

However, communications between the fort and Charleston broke down, and Confederate general [[P.G.T. Beauregard]], believing Fort Sumter had a supply ship on the way, ordered the fort shelled on April 14, 1865. The Civil War had begun.

==Civil War==

[[File:Abraham Lincoln 1863 LOC.jpg|thumb|240px|left|Abraham Lincoln at the front.]]
Lincoln’s goal was to preserve the Union; he would have been happy to preserve the peace as well, but he was willing to engage in a war to preserve it as well, a war he thought would be short. After Fort Sumter he proclaimed a blockade of Southern ports and called for thousands of volunteers to enlist for ninety days. He also believed that an overland war was inevitable, and he ordered forces on a march on the Virginia front, resulting in the first great defeat for the Union at [[Bull Run]] (July 21, 1861). Shortly afterward, Lincoln issued a set of memoranda for the military, of which his basic thought was that armies in the field must advance concurrently and on several fronts.

 
<blockquote>
''“I expect to maintain this contest until successful, or till I die, or am conquered. Or my term expires, or Congress or the country forsakes me.” ''

– Abraham Lincoln, 1862.
</blockquote>

Finding himself as the leader of a country now at war, Lincoln used a description of himself in which he let events control him, and then react to the problem. It was something of himself that was used with success as a politician. In this sense he was being practical, ready to employ an action or decision which would help the cause, and ready to abandon it and use another if the first failed. But his first insight with which he held fast to, that of taking the fight to the enemy’s army, failed many times when successive generals tried to take the fight to the enemy’s capitol and failed, or failed in following up on a rare victory. He had [[George McClellan]] on the Peninsula, but was beaten back during the Seven Days battles. His replacement, [[John Pope]], lost in a repeat of Bull Run. McClellan was back again, winning a victory at [[Antietam]], but failed to follow through in capturing the enemy’s army afterwards. Then [[Ambrose Burnside]], followed by [[Joseph Hooker]], led the [[Army of the Potomac]] to massive defeats at [[Fredericksburg]] and [[Chancellorsville]], respectively. Then [[George Gordon Meade]] was put in, just in time for the [[Battle of Gettysburg]]; Meade would not finish off the enemy either. [[Robert E. Lee]], the commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commented on the frequent changes in generals. “I’m afraid they’re going to find a general I cannot understand.”

Having seen what he done at [[Donelson]], [[Shiloh]], [[Vicksburg]], and [[Chattanooga]], Lincoln found the fighting general he was looking for in [[Ulysses S. Grant]]. In March 1864 he promoted Grant to lieutenant general and gave him command of all Federal armies. Grant would have his headquarters in the field with Meade’s Army of the Potomac, and his subordinates William T. Sherman, Philip Sheridan, and George H. Thomas would each lead an army to take the fight to the enemy. Halleck would be given a new title, chief of staff, and remain in Washington as the presidential liaison. Secretary of War [[Edwin M. Stanton]] would be responsible for the procurement of men and supplies. By this reorganization Lincoln created the structure of the high command in which all the energies of and resources of the country were mobilized into a grand strategy for the completion of the war. It was all the more remarkable as prior to 1861, he had no knowledge of military theory or affairs; he threw himself into studying the subject that by 1864, he was considered to be something of a military genius.

==Personal life==

Ann Rutledge played a part in stories as being the first woman Lincoln may have fallen in love with. However, evidence is scant, and what surviving letters and documents there are indicate they were close friends. She died in 1835 at the age of 22, and the entire community grieved with Lincoln.
[[Image:Lincoln and tad.jpg|thumb|200px|left|The irrepressible Tad Lincoln, striking a typical pose next to his father, who could barely restrain a smile.]]
The one true love of Lincoln’s life was a well-educated woman with a quick wit, [[Mary Todd]], from a well-to-do family in Springfield. Lincoln endured a courtship that lasted two years (and was broken once), before they were married on November 4, 1842. Together they would have four boys: Robert Todd, Edward Baker (“Eddie”, who died at age 4), William Wallace (“Willie”), and Thomas (“Tad”). Willie and Tad were the first children in the White House, and the halls and gardens were filled with childish romps, especially from the rambunctious, uncontrollable Tad, who once took a group of office seekers there to see the president on a trip through a confusing maze of hanging laundry; drove a herd of goats inside; got into the attic and rang the servants’ bells for hours; and succeeded in getting his doll executed for sleeping on watch.
[[Image:Mary Todd Lincoln.jpg|thumb|200px|Mary Todd Lincoln]]
The Lincolns also had their share of quarrels, and stories passed through the years tended to exaggerate them, but existing letters between the two indicate they were like any other married couple. They were devoted to each other’s company, and when apart they missed each other. "I have fallen in love with her," Lincoln would write to a friend about Mary, "and have never fallen out." Mary did have fits of temper and a sense of insecurity; while in the White House she had spells of simple jealousy which she staged in front of guests; sometimes the scene would be quite embarrassing. She also rang up large bills for her personal wardrobe and redecorating the White House; Lincoln, when he found out one such bill which totaled near $20,000 and coupled with a request for Congress to appropriate the money needed to pay for it, displayed a rare occurrence of pure anger:

:''"It would stink in the nostrils of the American people to have it said the President of the United States had approved a bill overrunning an appropriation of $20,000 for flub dubs, for this damned old house, when the soldiers cannot have blankets!"'' [http://www.historyswomen.com/1stWomen/marytoddlincoln.htm]

The early deaths of Eddie in 1850 and Willie in 1863 may have played a role in Mary’s eccentricity. Lincoln did what he could to support her, even pointing out the presence of a nearby building which housed a sanitarium, hinting that Mary could be placed there if she didn't control herself over Willie's death.

==On slavery==
In 1841, Lincoln had a flatboat trip down the Mississippi, and he saw sitting on board another boat a group of slaves chained together. He described the sight in a letter to Joshua Speed in 1855: “You may remember, as I well do, that from Louisville to the mouth of the Ohio there were, on board, ten or a dozen slaves, shackled together with irons. That sight was a continual torment to me; and I see something like it every time I touch the Ohio, or any other slave-border.”

Though a gradualist, Lincoln hated slavery. “I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself,” he declared. “I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world; enables the enemies of free institutions with plausibility to taunt us as hypocrites.” Lincoln often penned fragments on slavery. He would begin it by starting a hypothetical vested interest in slavery, and end it with the only logical conclusion, that is was a great moral wrong.

:''If A. can prove, however conclusively, that he may, of right, enslave B.—why may not B. snatch the same argument, and prove equally, that he may enslave A?''

:''You say A. is white, and B. is black. It is color, then; the lighter, having the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with a fairer skin than your own.''

:''You do not mean color exactly? You mean the whites are intellectually the superiors of the blacks, and, therefore have the right to enslave them? Take care again. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with an intellect superior to your own.''

:''But, say you, it is a question of interest; and, if you can make it your interest; you have the right to enslave another. Very well. And if he can make it his interest, he has the right to enslave you.'' (Fragment on Slavery, April, 1854)

Lincoln was elected on a platform which pledged no interference with slavery where it had already existed, and he was hesitant to adopt an abolitionist policy. He was concerned about the reaction of the border states should such a policy be enacted. He was concerned about four million newly-freed blacks being incorporated into the country’s social, economic, and political life. Some individuals, such as General John C. Freemont, made it a point to proclaim freedom in districts which they had conquered; Lincoln revoked those proclamations. In a letter to Horace Greely, Lincoln plainly stated
:''"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that."''

Lincoln was willing to play a major part in removing slavery altogether during the war. He first proposed an idea in which slaves were to be freed gradually by the actions of the states, with the federal government sharing the cost of compensation. None of the border states were willing to implement it, and no prominent African-American leader was willing to see newly-freed blacks sent to Africa, as part of the idea called for.

But with the victory at Antietam in September 1862, Lincoln brought out an idea which he read before his cabinet, that slaves held in the Confederate States were declared to be free. He would declare it formally with his [[Emancipation Proclamation]] on January 1, 1863. Although it did not include those areas under Union control, and officially it was a war measure, it had a great deal of significance as a symbol, and European countries who had toyed with the idea of recognizing the Confederacy abandoned it and supported the Union.

Lincoln also felt that the freed slaves would be put back in chains at war's end, as the Proclamation itself was not constitutional. But Lincoln was prepared for something else: he drafted the [[Thirteenth Amendment]] to the Constitution, which stated slavery was illegal except for crimes committed. He also urged the Republican Party to add the proposed amendment as a plank to the 1864 presidential campaign, stating slavery was the cause of the war, and that the Proclamation had aimed “a death blow at this gigantic evil;” only by a constitutional amendment could slavery be rendered extinct. After the election, Lincoln did not wait for the new Congress. He got the two-thirds needed for ratification before the year was over, and rejoiced when his state of Illinois led the way.

:''"In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free - honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just - a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless."'' Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862.

==Religion==
Abraham Lincoln, like many other people of his day, believed, at least initially, that "Religion is a private affair between a man and his God." Doubts about Lincoln's faith have arisen mainly because he never officially joined a church, which his political opponents used sometimes to accuse him. He had a love of the Bible and memorized parts of the Bible, and used biblical allusions later on in political speech. Lincoln said once that:
''"I doubt the possibility or propriety of settling the religion of Jesus Christ in the models of man-made [[creed]]s and [[dogma]]s. I cannot without mental reservations assent to long and complicated creeds and [[catechism]]s."''

He also said on another occasion:
:''"That I am not a member of any [[Christian church]] is true, but I have never denied the truth of the [[Scriptures]], and I have never spoken with intentional disrespect of religion in general or of any [[denomination]] of Christians in particular."''

He also made statements that suggest a strong faith, such as when his father was ill:
:''"Tell father to remember to call upon and confide in our great, and good, and merciful Maker who will not turn away from him in any extremity. He notes the fall of a sparrow and numbers the hairs of our heads; and he will not forget the dying man who puts his trust in him. If it is to be his lot to go now, he will soon have a joyous meeting with many loved ones gone before; and where the rest of us, through the help of God, hope ere long to join them."''

As a supporter of the Christian religion and who recognized its beneficial effects, Lincoln stated to a Methodist delegation,

:''"Nobly sustained, as the Government has been, by all the churches, I would utter nothing which might in the least appear invidious against any. Yet without this, it may fairly be said, that the Methodist Episcopal Church, not less devoted than the best, is by its greatest numbers the most important of all. It is no fault in others that the Methodist Church sends more soldiers to the field, more nurses to the hospitals, and more prayers to Heaven than--any other. God bless the Methodist Church Bless all the churches; and blessed be God, who in this our great trial giveth us the churches."''<ref>[http://www.classic-literature.co.uk/american-authors/19th-century/abraham-lincoln/the-writings-of-abraham-lincoln-07/ebook-page-41.aspAbraham Lincoln, "The Writings of Abraham Lincoln"] VO7, p. 41</ref>

Regardless of Lincoln's views on faith as a youth, it seemed to grow as President. Lincoln penciled in "under God" after "one nation" for his [[Gettysburg Address]] delivered on November 19, 1863. The phrase "under God" was not in the early drafts. Mrs. Lincoln recalled her husband's last words just prior to his assassination in Ford's Theater: "He said he wanted to visit the Holy Land and see those places hallowed by the footprints of the [[Savior]]. He was saying there was no city he so much desired to see as Jerusalem."<ref>http://www.amerisearch.net/index.php?date=2004-09-08&view=View</ref>

In 1864, a close friend of Lincoln's, Joshua Speed, confided in Lincoln that he did not accept the Bible as true. Lincoln famously replied, "Take all this book upon reason that you can, and the balance on faith, and you will live and die a happier and better man".
After Lincoln was shot at Ford's theater two clergy claimed that he had made a secret trip from Washington to be baptized. Also a Roman Catholic Priest claimed that Lincoln received the sacrament of baptism in secret. Neither of these claims have any proof in White House records or his personal diary.<ref> [[God and the Oval Office]], by John C. McCollister, W Publishing, 2005. </ref>

==Lincoln's conservatism==
In his [[Lincoln's Cooper Union Speech|Cooper Union Address]], Lincoln spoke of the sectionalism which was fracturing the country as a result of slavery; the Republican Party was new in 1859, and a serious threat to slavery's existence. Lincoln and his party were called radical and destructive, but he counted himself among the earliest defenders of conservative principles, which was in essence a defense of time-honored, traditional values. Lincoln said that out of the 39 framers of the Constitution, 23 of the 39 voted on whether to prevent the spread of slavery, and that 21 of the 23 voted in favor of doing so. Lincoln therefore said that it was the pro-slavery South that was radically breaking with the tradition begun by those that created the Constitution. As Lincoln said:

:''But you say you are conservative - eminently conservative - while we are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the sort. What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried? We stick to, contend for, the identical old policy on the point in controversy which was adopted by "our fathers who framed the Government under which we live;" while you with one accord reject, and scout, and spit upon that old policy, and insist upon substituting something new. True, you disagree among yourselves as to what that substitute shall be. You are divided on new propositions and plans, but you are unanimous in rejecting and denouncing the old policy of the fathers. Some of you are for reviving the foreign slave trade; some for a Congressional Slave-Code for the Territories; some for Congress forbidding the Territories to prohibit Slavery within their limits; some for maintaining Slavery in the Territories through the judiciary; some for the "gur-reat pur-rinciple" that "if one man would enslave another, no third man should object," fantastically called "Popular Sovereignty;" but never a man among you is in favor of federal prohibition of slavery in federal territories, according to the practice of "our fathers who framed the Government under which we live.''

==Lincoln's style of writing==
[[Image:Lincoln seated.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Lincoln in November, 1863, about to leave for Pennsylvania. The reason for his confident look may have been within the envelope lying on the table, believed to contain his draft of the Gettysburg Address]]
A White House visitor, Orville Browning, told Lincoln's personal secretary John Nicolay one day that he had spoke to Lincoln sometime in 1861 on the subject of slavery; that if the right thing about slavery wasn't done, God just couldn't be on the side of the Union. Browning remembered Lincoln's reply: "What if the Almighty takes a different view of slavery than we do?", and right then and there Browning realized that Lincoln had thought very deeply on the subject, much deeper than Browning did.<ref>Douglas L. Wilson. [http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/books/wilson.htm Lincoln's Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words], ''Lincoln's Sword''.</ref>

Lincoln was known to think long and deeply on various topics, and often he would take notes, write them on little scraps of paper, and stuff them into his tall stovepipe hat for later use. When it was time for use, such as his "House Divided" speech, he pulled them out, laid them on a table, and would commence to writing. He would sift through the subject, adding this, removing that, and sometimes he would stand in his empty room and deliver it out loud to an imaginary audience, testing the effects of what he spoke, and altering it as needed. According to author Garry Wills, Lincoln brought to bear the rhetorical tone of the Greek Revival and Transcendental movements, in which spoken oratory was practiced in government and on the stage. The leading speakers of this time, and whom Lincoln looked upon, were Danial Webster and Henry Clay, both of the Senate, and Edward Everett, a speaker much in demand.

The training he had given himself also enabled him to write a simple letter or a speech on the spot. Words would flow clear when Lincoln wrote in his later years, and he didn't have to do twice one of his finest personal letters, one of consolation to Mrs. Bixby of Boston, who had lost five sons in the war.

:''Executive Mansion,''
:''Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.''

:''Dear Madam,''

:''I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.''
:''I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.''
:''I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.''

:''Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,''

:''A. Lincoln''

What many consider his masterpiece is the [[Gettysburg Address]]. Here Lincoln, going through perhaps a dozen writes and re-writes of what he had thought on the subject, entirely changed the meaning of the war itself in a mere 272 words, and in so doing, according to Wills, remaking America.

==Politics in war==
That there had to be a certain degree of support to win the war was a given, and Lincoln strove to have unity for that effort in the North. Politics was required, and Lincoln had a special knack for appealing to his fellows and talking to them at their own level and language. He would smooth over lingering differences, and held the loyalty of those who were antagonistic to one another.

But the Democrats remained strong, and frequently clashed. Its member included both war and peace Democrats; the peace side was called “Copperheads”, after the snake which strikes without warning while hidden. Lincoln tried conciliating with both, but with the latter he had to resort to arrest at times, most famously to an Ohio Congressman, Clement L. Valandigham, who was arrested after he had repeatedly exhorted soldiers to desert. He justified his actions on the grounds that the suspension of ''habeas corpus'' was necessary only in times of rebellion, insurrection, or when the public safety may require it, as stated in the Constitution; certainly the Civil War had met those specific conditions. Many would dissent, and openly criticize Lincoln for arbitrarily violating the Constitution that he had sworn to preserve. In response to the criticism in general, and the case of Valandigham in particular, Lincoln wrote:
:''"Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of a wiley agitator who induces him to desert? This is none the less injurious when effected by getting a father, or brother, or friend, into a public meeting, and there working upon his feeling, till he is persuaded to write the soldier boy, that he is fighting in a bad cause, for a wicked administration of a contemptable government, too weak to arrest and punish him if he shall desert. I think that in such a case, to silence the agitator, and save the boy, is not only constitutional, but, withal, a great mercy."''<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=lincoln;cc=lincoln;type=boolean;rgn=div1;q1=soldier;op2=and;q2=deserts;op3=and;q3=agitator;singlegenre=All;view=text;subview=detail;sort=occur;idno=lincoln6;node=lincoln6%3A569 Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 6.], Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.</ref>
Lincoln faced reelection against Democrat George McClellan in 1864, who promised a restoration of the Union, but waffled on many of its points, even abandoning the Democratic platform of armistice and peaceful separation. Lincoln was able to beat him in the election, assisted by the timely victories of Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and Sherman in Georgia. Overtures of peace from Confederates were not wholly rejected. On February 3, 1865, Lincoln met with Confederate commissioners, among them Vice President Alexander Stephens, on a steamship in Hampton Roads, Virginia. There would be peace, he insisted, if the South would quit the war, abandon slavery, and accept re-unification, and once these conditions were met he would be gracious with pardons. But his terms satisfied neither the Confederacy nor the Radical Republicans in Congress.

His postwar policy was one of compassion. As he explained to his top leaders on board a riverboat, the City Queen, he wanted peace above all else. His Second Inaugural Address expressed his point of healing the wounds caused by the war.
:''With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."''

When asked specifically, he related the following, according to General Sherman, one of those present:
:''Mr. Lincoln was full and frank in his conversation, assuring me that in his mind he was all ready for the civil reorganization of affairs at the South as soon as the war was over; and he distinctly authorized me to assure Governor Vance and the people of North Carolina that, as soon as the rebel armies laid down their arms, and resumed their civil pursuits, they would at once be guaranteed all their rights as citizens of a common country; and that to avoid anarchy the State governments then in existence, with their civil functionaries, would be recognized by him as the government de facto till Congress could provide others.''
:''I know, when I left him, that I was more than ever impressed by his kindly nature, his deep and earnest sympathy with the afflictions of the whole people, resulting from the war, and by the march of hostile armies through the South; and that his earnest desire seemed to be to end the war speedily, without more bloodshed or devastation, and to restore all the men of both sections to their homes. In the language of his second inaugural address, he seemed to have "charity for all, malice toward none," and, above all, an absolute faith in the courage, manliness, and integrity of the armies in the field.''<ref>[http://www.sonshi.com/sherman24.html General William T. Sherman "Memoirs"], Volume 2, Chapter XXIV, April and May, 1865.</ref>

==Final curtain==

''See also: [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln]]'' 

Lincoln received the news of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Virginia, on April 9, and he was called out to the balcony of the White House that night by a large crowd gathered in celebration. When asked to make a speech, Lincoln noticed a band among them, and made an unusual request.
:''"I have always thought ‘Dixie’ one of the best tunes I have ever heard. Our adversaries over the way attempted to appropriate it, but I insisted that we fairly captured it. I presented it to the Attorney General, and he gave it as his legal opinion that it is our lawful prize. I now request the band to favor me with its performance."''
He entered Richmond the following day, to the joyous delight of free blacks, who welcomed the arrival of "Father Abraham" as they called him, and he paid a visit to the Confederate White House, and sat at the desk of Jefferson Davis. The only thing he asked for was a glass of water.

Just four days later on April 14 he attended a play at Ford's Theater. It was called ''Our American Cousin'', with well-known stage actress Laura Keane and comedian Harry Hawke in the title role. Unseen to the audience was another actor making his way quietly up the stairs to the president's private box, [[John Wilkes Booth]], a Southern sympathizer who had hatched a conspiracy with a few others to kill the president and other leading officials. Booth entered the box, shot Lincoln in the head, stabbed a guest, and dropped to the stage, escaping behind the curtains. Taken across the street to a boarding house, the mortally-wounded Lincoln was laid across a small bed in humble surroundings, similar it seemed, to where he was born. He died at sunrise a few hours later.

"Now he belongs to the ages" Edwin Stanton was heard to say.

<blockquote>
''Dying as he did die, by the red hand of violence, killed, assassinated, taken off without warning, not because of personal hate…but because of his fidelity to union and liberty, he is doubly dear to us, and his memory will be precious forever.'' [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/today.html]
</blockquote>

==Quotes==
* "A friend is a man who has the same enemies you have." <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=HgM4tztnJFcC&pg=PA275&dq=lincoln+A+friend+is+man+who+has+the+same+enemies+you+have&ei=lV4fSuv8N5TyzQS1yq21Dw Civilization's quotations P.275] by Richard Alan Krieger</ref>

* "Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it" <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=_-WNU7VapFAC&pg=PA187&dq=Those+who+deny+freedom+to+others+deserve+it+not+for+themselves&ei=NBA8SsSUCp-EzATw0cW6BQ Black Belt Patriotism: How to Reawaken America‎ - Page 187] by Chuck Norris</ref>

* "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=Mc-aRv_xCpMC&pg=PA11&dq=Nearly+all+men+can+stand+adversity,+but+if+you+want+to+test+a+man%27s+character,+give+him+power&ei=jJFBSo7nHZbozATAipVi Law school 101: survival techniques from pre-law to being an attorney‎ - Page 11] by R. Stephanie Good</ref>

==Basic Further reading==
* Carwardine, Richard. ''Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power'' (2003), sophisticated biography emphasizing religion and politics [http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Purpose-Power-Richard-Carwardine/dp/1400096022/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249336315&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
*Donald, David Herbert. ''Lincoln'', (1995), by a conservative historian; the best scholarly biography [http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-David-Herbert-Donald/dp/068482535X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249336403&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Gienapp, William E. ''Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography'' (2002), short bio by scholar; stress on politics [http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-Civil-War-America/dp/0195151003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249336352&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]; also [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=103538783 online edition]
*Goodwin, Doris Kearns. ''Team of Rivals: the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln'', (2005) well written popular narrative of Lincoln and his cabinet
* McPherson, James. ''Abraham Lincoln'' (2009), 96pp; very short overview by leading expert [http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-James-M-McPherson/dp/0195374525/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249335698&sr=1-6 excerpt and text search]
* Neely, Mark E. ''The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia'' (1984), detailed articles on many men and movements associated with AL
* Thomas, Benjamin P. ''Abraham Lincoln: A Biography'' (1952; 2nd ed. 2008) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=25051697 online edition], very well written biography by leading scholar
*White, Ronald C. Jr. ''The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words'', (2005)
* White, A. Ronald C. ''A. Lincoln: A Biography'' (2009), good recent biography [http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Biography-Ronald-White-Jr/dp/1400064996/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249335698&sr=1-7 excerpt and text search]
* Wilentz, Sean. "Who Lincoln Was" ''New Republic'' (July 15, 2009) leading scholar rips apart liberal distortions [http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=2634954a-b287-480e-9fbd-8a4663174031 online edition]
===For children===
* Stone, Tanya. ''Abraham Lincoln'' (DK Biography, 2005) [http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-Biography-Tanya-Stone/dp/0756608341/ref=pd_ts_b_12?ie=UTF8&s=books excerpt and text search]

== Bibliography ==
=== Biographies ===
* Beveridge, Albert J. ''Abraham Lincoln: 1809-1858'' (1928). 2 vol. to 1858; notable for strong, unbiased political coverage [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=3925146 online edition]
* Burlingame, Michael. "Abraham Lincoln: A Life" (2008), 2v 2024 pp, the most highly detailed scholarly biography [http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-Life-Michael-Burlingame/dp/0801889936/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249336108&sr=1-18 excerpt and text search]
* Carwardine, Richard. ''Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power'' (2003), sophisticated biography emphasizing religion and politics [http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Purpose-Power-Richard-Carwardine/dp/1400096022/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249336315&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
*Donald, David Herbert. ''Lincoln'', (1995), by a conservative historian; the best scholarly biography [http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-David-Herbert-Donald/dp/068482535X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249336403&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search];
* Guelzo, Allen C. ''Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President'' (1999) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=99466893 online edition], conservative religious approach
* Harris William C. ''Lincoln's Rise to the Presidency'' (2007) conservative author argues Lincoln was basically conservative [http://www.amazon.com/Lincolns-Rise-Presidency-William-Harris/dp/0700615202/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196164706&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Nicolay, John George and John Hay. ''Abraham Lincoln: a History'' (1890); online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/6812 Volume 1] and [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11708 Volume 2] [http://books.google.com/books?id=bDEOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=inauthor:nicolay+inauthor:hay&num=30&as_brr=1#PPP19,M1 vol 6] 10 volumes in all; highly detailed narrative of era written by Lincoln's top aides
* Luthin, Reinhard H. ''The Real Abraham Lincoln'' (1960), emphasis on politics
* Neely, Mark E. ''The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia'' (1984), detailed articles on many men and movements associated with AL
* Neely, Mark E. ''The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America'' (1993), Pulitzer prize winning author
* Oates, Stephen B. ''With Malice Toward None: The Life of Abraham Lincoln'' (1994) [http://www.amazon.com/Malice-Toward-None-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/0060924713/ref=pd_sim_b_img_7 excerpt and text search], good biography by liberal historian
* Randall, James G. ''Lincoln the President'' (4 vol., 1945–55; reprint 2000.) analytic biography by leading conservative scholar
** ''Mr. Lincoln'' excerpts ed. by Richard N. Current (1957) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5993790 online edition]
* Sandburg, Carl. ''Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years'' (2 vol 1926); ''The War Years'' (4 vol 1939). Pulitzer Prize winning biography by famous liberal poet [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=82392773 vol. 1 online] [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=97896367 vol 2 online]
* Thomas, Benjamin P. ''Abraham Lincoln: A Biography'' (1952; 2nd ed. 2008) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=25051697 online edition], very well written biography by leading scholar
* White, A. Ronald C. ''A. Lincoln: A Biography'' (2009), good recent biography [http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Biography-Ronald-White-Jr/dp/1400064996/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249335698&sr=1-7 excerpt and text search]

=== Specialty topics ===
===Prewar===
* Angle, Paul M., ''Here I Have Lived: A History of Lincoln's Springfield, 1821-1865,'' (1935) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=210869 online edition]
* Baker, Jean H. ''Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography'' (1987) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=102075782 online edition]
* Boritt, Gabor S. ''Lincoln and the Economics of the American Dream'' (1994). Lincoln's economic theory and policies, by conservative historian
* Fehrenbacher, Don E. "The Origins and Purpose of Lincoln's "House-Divided" Speech," ''The Mississippi Valley Historical Review,'' Vol. 46, No. 4. (Mar., 1960), pp. 615-643. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0161-391X%28196003%2946%3A4%3C615%3ATOAPOL%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I in JSTOR]
* Foner, Eric. ''Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War'' (1970) intellectual history of different prewar faction's in AL's party
* Holzer, Harold. ''Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President'' (2004). [http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Cooper-Union-President-Schuster/dp/0743299647/ref=pd_sim_b_img_44 excerpt and text search]
* Jaffa, Harry V. ''A New Birth of Freedom: Abraham Lincoln and the Coming of the Civil War'' (2000) by leading conservative
* Jaffa, Harry V. ''Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates'' (1999) [http://www.amazon.com/Crisis-House-Divided-Interpretation-Lincoln-Douglas/dp/0226391132/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196166006&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search] by leading conservative
* Nevins, Allan. ''Ordeal of the Union'' 8-volume (1947-1971). 1. Fruits of Manifest Destiny, 1847-1852; 2. A House Dividing, 1852-1857; 3. Douglas, Buchanan, and Party Chaos, 1857-1859. most thorough coverage of the era, with Lincoln at center
* Schneider, Thomas E. ''Lincoln's Defense of Politics: The Public Man and His Opponents in the Crisis over Slavery.'' (2006). 224 pp.

===Wartime===
===Lincoln Administration===
* Burton, Orville Vernon. ''The Age of Lincoln'' (2007), sweeping history from 1840 to 1900. [http://www.amazon.com/Age-Lincoln-Orville-Vernon-Burton/dp/0809095130/ref=pd_bbs_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196112530&sr=8-9 excerpt and text search]
* Carwardine, Richard. "Abraham Lincoln and the Fourth Estate: the White House and the Press During the American Civil War." ''American Nineteenth Century History'' 2006 7(1): 1-27. Issn: 1466-4658 Fulltext: Ebsco
* Ford, Lacy K., ed. ''A Companion to the Civil War and Reconstruction.'' Blackwell, 2005. 518 pp.
* Hendrick, Burton J. ''Lincoln's War Cabinet'' (1946) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=790159 online edition]
* Goodwin, Doris Kearns. ''Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln'' (2005)
* McPherson, James M. ''Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era'' (1988). Pulitzer Prize winner surveys all aspects of the war [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=64327148 online edition]
* Marvel, William. ''Mr. Lincoln Goes to War'' (2006), neo-Confederate attack that blames Lincoln for defeating the Confederacy and freeing the slaves by stretching the Constitution
* Nevins, Allan. ''Ordeal of the Union'' 8-volume (1947-1971). vol 5. The Improvised War, 1861-1862; 6. War Becomes Revolution, 1862-1863; 7. The Organized War, 1863-1864; 8. The Organized War to Victory, 1864-1865; most thorough coverage of the era, with Lincoln at center
* Paludan, Phillip S. ''A People's Contest: The Union and Civil War 1861-1865'' (1996), outstanding history of the homefront [http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-Contest-1861-1865-Modern-Studies/dp/0700608125/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249336636&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* Paludan, Phillip S. ''The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln'' (1994), thorough treatment of Lincoln's administration [http://www.amazon.com/Presidency-Abraham-Lincoln-American/dp/0700607455/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249336636&sr=1-4 excerpt and text search]
* Richardson, Heather Cox. ''The Greatest Nation of the Earth: Republican Economic Policies during the Civil War'' (1997)
* Williams, Kenneth P. ''Lincoln Finds a General: A Military Study of the Civil War'' (1959) 5 volumes on Lincoln's control of the war

===Lincolnia===
* Belz, Herman. ''Abraham Lincoln, Constitutionalism, and Equal Rights in the Civil War Era'' (1998)
* Belz, Herman. "Lincoln's Construction of the Executive Power in the Secession Crisis," ''Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association'' 27.1 (2006):[http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jala/27.1/belz.html online edition]
* Boritt, Gabor S. ed. ''Lincoln the War President'' (1994)
* Briggs, John Channing. ''Lincoln's Speeches Reconsidered.'' (2005). 370 pp.
* Bruce, Robert V. ''Lincoln and the Tools of War'' (1956) on weapons development during the war [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=978110 online edition]
* DiLorenzo, Thomas. ''Lincoln Unmasked: What You're Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest Abe'' (2007) poorly written diatribe by a neo-Confederate
* Donald, David Herbert. ''Lincoln Reconsidered: Essays on the Civil War Era'' (1960)
* Donald, David Herbert. ''We Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends'' (2003), on Lincoln's friends and associates; by leading conservative scholar
* Goodwin, Doris Kearns. "'My Whole Soul Is in It.'" ''Smithsonian'' 2006 36(10): 48+ Fulltext: at Ebsco, essay on the writing of the Emancipation Proclamation
*Hanchett, William. ''The Lincoln Murder Conspiracies'', (1983)
* Harris, William C. ''With Charity for All: Lincoln and the Restoration of the Union'' (1997). AL's plans for Reconstruction; by conservative historian
* Hofstadter, Richard. ''The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made It'' (1948) ch 5: "Abraham Lincoln and the Self-Made Myth."
* McPherson, James M. ''Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution'' (1992) [http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-Second-American-Revolution/dp/0195076060/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196164807&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Neely, Mark E. ''The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties'' (1992). Pulitzer Prize winner. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=79055694 online version]; [http://www.amazon.com/Fate-Liberty-Abraham-Lincoln-Liberties/dp/0195080327/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196164768&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Perret, Geoffrey. ''Lincoln's War: The Untold Story of America's Greatest President as Commander in Chief'' (2004). well-written but has many factual errors and questionable interpretations [http://www.amazon.com/Lincolns-War-Americas-President-Commander/dp/0375507388/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196164840&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Polsky, Andrew J. "'Mr. Lincoln's Army' Revisited: Partisanship, Institutional Position, and Union Army Command, 1861–1865." ''Studies in American Political Development'' (2002), 16: 176-207
* Potter, David M. ''Lincoln and His Party in the Secession Crisis'' (1942)
* Randall, James G. ''Lincoln the Liberal Statesman'' (1947).
* Schmitz, Neil. "Refiguring Lincoln: Speeches and Writings, 1832-1865," ''American Literary History'', Vol. 6, No. 1. (Spring, 1994), pp. 103-118 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0896-7148(199421)6%3A1%3C103%3ARLSAW1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-4 in JSTOR]
* Striner, Richard. ''Father Abraham: Lincoln's Relentless Struggle to End Slavery.'' (2006). 295 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Father-Abraham-Lincolns-Relentless-Struggle/dp/0195325397/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196164883&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* White Jr., Ronald C. ''Lincoln's Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural'' (2001) Pp. 234. [http://www.amazon.com/Lincolns-Greatest-Speech-Second-Inaugural/dp/0743212991/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196164921&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Williams, T. Harry. ''Lincoln and His Generals'' (1967).
* Wills, Garry. ''Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America'' (1993) [http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Gettysburg-America-Schuster-Library/dp/0743299639/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196164981&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Wilson, Douglas L. ''Honor's Voice: The Transformation of Abraham Lincoln'' by (1999).
* Wilson, Douglas L. ''Lincoln's Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words'' (2007)
===Historiography and Memory===
* Boritt, Gabor S., ed. ''The Historian's Lincoln'' U. of Illinois Press, 1988, historiography [http://www.amazon.com/Historians-Lincoln-Pseudohistory-Psychohistory-History/dp/0252065441/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196165019&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Braeman, John. "Albert J. Beveridge and Demythologizing Lincoln." ''Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association'' 2004 25(2): 1-24. Issn: 0898-4212 Fulltext: online in History Cooperative. Albert J. Beveridge (1862-1927), former US senator from Indiana began work on a multivolume biography of Abraham Lincoln in 1922. His goal was to demolish the myths surrounding Lincoln and present the facts. Beveridge tended to sympathize with the South and admire Stephen A. Douglas, as well as rely on information collected by William H. Herndon. But, he did more intense research on Lincoln's pre-presidential career than any previous biographer. Beveridge died as he reached 1858.
* Cross, Roland R. "Edgar Lee Masters's Peculiar Biographies of Abraham Lincoln and Vachel Lindsay." ''Journal of Illinois History'' 2004 7(4): 281-296. Issn: 1522-0532. The poet Edgar Lee Masters in 1931 wrote the only hostile biography of Lincoln; he debunks the "myth of Honest Abe." In Masters's view, Lincoln's actions as president was a corruption of true American ideals. The theme has occasionally resurfaced among neoconfederates and extreme libertarians who tolerate slavery but not strong government.
* Fields, Kevin. "Historiographical Trends and Interpretations of President Abraham Lincoln's Reputation and the Morality on the Slavery Question: Part I and II." ''Lincoln Herald'' Lincoln Herald 2004 106(4): 150-167 and 2005 107(1): 11-30. Issn: 0024-3671; Part 1 siscusses William Herndon, John Nicolay, and John Hay.; Part 2 notes the civil rights movement prompted historians to reevaluate Lincoln's attitude toward race and emancipation. Many continued to portray him as the pragmatic, essentially conservative, "reluctant emancipator." However, by the 1980s a postrevisionist consensus had emerged, which emphasized the evolution of Lincoln's attitudes and asserted that freedom for black slaves, and not merely the preservation of the Union, became one of his key objectives.
* McPherson, James M. "No Peace Without Victory, 1861-1865." ''American Historical Review'' 2004 109(1): Xvi, 1-18. Issn: 0002-8762 Fulltext: in History Cooperative and Ebsco.
* Peterson, Merrill D. ''Lincoln in American Memory'' (1994). how Lincoln was remembered after 1865
* Schwartz, Barry and Schuman, Howard. "History, Commemoration, and Belief: Abraham Lincoln in American Memory, 1945-2001." ''American Sociological Review'' 2005 70(2): 183-203. Issn: 0003-1224 Fulltext: in Ingenta
*Trefousse, Hans L. ''"First among Equals?" Abraham Lincoln's Reputation during His Administration.'' 2005. 199 pp.

=== Primary sources ===
* Basler, Roy P. ed. ''Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln,'' 9 vol Rutgers Univ. Press 1953–55
* Basler, Roy P. ed. ''Abraham Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings, '' (1946) [http://www.questia.com/library/book/abraham-lincoln-his-speeches-and-writings-by-abraham-lincoln-roy-p-basler.jsp online edition]
* Lincoln, Abraham. ''Lincoln: Speeches and Writings'' 2 vol Library of America edition, 1989

===Memoirs and interviews===
* Chittenden, Lucius E., [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC00587058&id=b-N27vdmIt4C&printsec=titlepage&dq=%22Recollections+of+President+Lincoln+and+His+Administration%22 ''Recollections of President Lincoln and His Administration''], (1891). – [[Google Books]]
* Holzer, Harold, ed. ''Dear Mr. Lincoln: Letters to the President.'' (1993). 380 pp.
* Nicolay, John G. ed. ''Oral History of Abraham Lincoln: John G. Nicolay's Interviews and Essays.'' Michael Burlingame, ed. (1996). 186 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-Observations-John-Nicolay/dp/0809327384/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196165058&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* ''Herndon's Informants: Letters, Interviews, and Statements about Abraham Lincoln'' edited by Douglas L. Wilson and Rodney O. Davis. (1998) 864pp, with over 600 interviews and letters about Lincoln [http://durer.press.illinois.edu/wilson/ complete text online ??] [http://books.google.com/books?id=s2gilcp4yYQC&source=gbs_navlinks_s excerpt and text search]

==References==
<references/>

==Links==
*[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/ Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln]
*[http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln.html Abraham Lincoln Online]
*[http://www.abrahamlincolnarchive.com/Home.aspx Lincoln Archive of original newspaper articles]
*[http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/ History Place: Lincoln timeline]
*[http://www.nps.gov/liho/index.htm Lincoln's Home National Historic Site]
*[http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/al16.html White House site; short bio on Lincoln]
*[http://www.mrlincolnandfriends.org/inside.asp?pageID=112&subjectID=1 Mr. Lincoln and Friends]
*[http://www.nps.gov/archive/liho/slavery/al02.htm Declaration against slavery, Illinois State Legislature, March 3, 1837]
*[http://www.nps.gov/archive/liho/slavery/al03.htm Lincoln's letter to Joshua Speed, August 24, 1855]
*[http://www.nps.gov/archive/liho/slavery/al05.htm Speech in Peoria, Illinois, October 16, 1854]
*[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=lincoln;cc=lincoln;q1=erastus;q2=corning;op2=and;op3=and;rgn=works;idno=ACK7441.0001.001;didno=ACK7441.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000227 Letter to Erastus Corning and Others, June 13, 1863, in which Lincoln explains his suspention of ''habeas corpus'']
*[http://www.sonshi.com/sherman.html Memoirs of William T. Sherman ]
*[http://www.swartzentrover.com/cotor/E-Books/misc/Lincoln/ALindex.htm The Life, Public Services and State Papers of Abraham Lincoln by Henry J. Raymond]
*[http://bertschlossberg.blogspot.com/ A. Lincoln, few words/E.Everett, many words]

[[Image:DcLincMor.JPG|right|thumb]]

== See also ==
*[[American Civil War homefront]]
*[[Gallery of American Heroes]]

{{USPresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lincoln, Abraham}}

[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:People who were Educated at Home]]
[[category:United States History]]
[[category:American Civil War]]
[[category:Reconstruction]]
[[category:Politicians]]
[[Category:diplomacy]]
[[category:Abolitionists]]
[[Category:Whig Party]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]

Benjamin Disraeli

2013-06-14T01:53:55Z

AhmedB:

[[Image:Disraeli.jpg|left|160px]]
'''Benjamin Disraeli''', 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG (1804–1881), was an early founder of the [[Conservative Party]] in Britain who served twice as prime minister of the [[United Kingdom]] (1868 and 1874-1880). He had an intense rivalry with the leader of the Liberal party, [[William Gladstone]].

Disraeli, a [[Christian]] ([[Anglican]]) of [[Jew]]ish ancestry, succeeded [[Lord Derby]] in leadership of the Conservative Party. Disraeli was noted as a prominent figure in the protectionist wing of the conservative party. His position on economic and imperial issues led to a straining of the relationship between himself and the then leader [[Lord Derby]].

Disraeli’s friendship with [[Queen Victoria]] was a significant influence on his political career, most notably when he passed the 1876 Royal titles which elevated her to the position of Empress of [[India]], thus giving her equal prestige to the [[tsar]] of the [[Russia]]n empire.

Disraeli’s foreign policy was clearly shaped by his belief, as he was notably hostile to relations with the [[Ottoman Empire]] due to its ongoing massacre of Bulgarian [[Christians]].

Disraeli was also an accomplished writer who penned romances.

{{cquote|
''The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it.''
}}

== Works ==
[[Image:Bust of Disraeli.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Bust of Disraeli, Hotel Russell, London.]]
Novels: (Most well known)

* ''Vivien Grey'' 1826
* ''Coningsby, or the Younger Generation'' 1844
* ''Sybil, or the Two Nations'' 1845
* ''Tancred, or the New Crusade'' 1847

{{DEFAULTSORT:Disraeli, Benjamin}}

[[Category:United Kingdom Prime Ministers]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]

San Francisco

2013-02-05T22:15:28Z

AhmedB: /* See also */

'''San Francisco''' is a city in [[California]] and is generally considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world. <ref>http://www.globosapiens.net/travel-information/San+Francisco-638.html</ref> It is well known for its excellent public transit systems, including Muni subway and streetcars, BART ([[Bay Area Rapid Transit]]) trains to suburbs, and the famous San Francisco cable cars. <ref>http://www.reserve-hotel.com/HBOImages/destinations/usa/sanfran/transportation.asp</ref> The city has survived two extremely damaging earthquakes, one in 1906 and another one about 75 miles away in 1989 <ref>http://www.sfmuseum.org/1906/89.html</ref><ref>http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/1906/18april/index.php</ref> known as the [[Loma Prieta Earthquake]]. Fear of another earthquake is the reason that no freeway through the city exists. Indeed, it is impossible to access the [[Golden Gate Bridge]] without driving on city streets.

The downtown area of the city is laid out on two grids, with a 45 degree offset between them. Market Street separates the two grids. Many tourists come to visit the Civic Center, Embarcadero, and Union Square areas, all of which are north of Market. Famous San Francisco landmarks include the [[Golden Gate Bridge]], [[Fisherman's Wharf]], and [[Alcatraz Island]].
[[Image:GoldenGateBridge02.jpg|right|220px]]
San Francisco, with a large [[Homosexuality|homosexual]] population, is also considered to be one of the most [[liberal]] cities in America. Its mayor, [[Gavin Newsom]] ordered the city clerk to issue marriage licenses [[same-sex marriage | to same-sex couples]] despite the practice being explicitly illegal under California law. The marriages were nullified by the courts shortly thereafter, as the mayor and clerk were violating California state law.<ref>http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07020106.html</ref>

In 2001, the city of San Francisco extended its workers health insurance to cover sex change operations for municipal employees. <ref>http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2001-05-01/article/4630?headline=Sex-change-benefits-approved-in-San-Francisco</ref> <ref>http://www.brentmorrison.com/0102Sex_change.htm</ref>
The Board of Supervisors and Mayor approved the measure which extended up to $50,000 in benefits to city workers who want to switch their gender. <ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9801E0D71130F93BA25751C0A9679C8B63</ref>

San Francisco is also a "city of refuge", which means they have passed an ordinance that it is against the law to report illegal immigrants to the United States authorities as they are required to legally do. In other words anyone upholding the federal law will get in trouble with the city. This has led to a culture of under aged drug dealers continuing their trade with impunity.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,374803,00.html</ref>

San Francisco is part of the [[San Francisco Bay]] Area, which includes [[Oakland]], [[San Jose]], [[Berkeley]], and other smaller towns like Cupertino, Palo Alto, Mountain View, San Mateo, Saratoga, and Menlo Park. The city is home to several large companies, including Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Cnet. San Francisco has been overtaken in population and economic significance by [[San Jose]] and the rest of [[Silicon Valley]].

==History==
The Yelamu tribe of American Indians lived in the San Francisco peninsula prior to European arrival in the area, with settlements dating to as late as 3000 BC<ref>http://www.nps.gov/history/seac/sfprehis.htm</ref>; however, it should be noted that [[carbon dating]] is likely flawed.

San Francisco was founded as a mission by Franciscan monks in 1776. Within only a few years, several natives had been converted to Christianity<ref>http://www.islaiscreek.org/ohlonehistorybackground.html</ref>. A census conducted at the time showed a total of 814 people living in and around the mission<ref>The Annals of San Francisco Part I Chapter 3</ref>.

The San Francisco Bay, as well as its central location, and position on the California mission trail played heavily into the growth of the city during the California Gold Rush.
===Major Earthquakes===
In 1906, a large earthquake struck San Francisco, killing approximately 3000 people and starting a fire which burned about 4.7 square miles of cityscape. <ref>http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/1906/18april/casualties.php</ref>. The earthquake originated on the [[San Andreas]] fault, which continues to threaten major Californian cities.
The second largest earthquake to affect San Francisco, the [[Loma Prieta Earthquake]], struck in 1989, causing damage to the city and surrounding areas.

===Boosters===
In the first half of the 20th century, business interests in San Francisco, organized into the Chamber of Commerce, asserted themselves as the only legitimate leaders of the community, asserting that labor unions were only a disruptive special interest. However the voters and the overall political culture of the city were much more sympathetic to the working class and to labor unions as their representatives in civic decision making. After conflict between business and unions, including strikes sometimes requiring federal troops, business finally accepted the legitimacy of labor unions after the bitter strike in 1934. The resulting business-labor partnership aided San Francisco's postwar expansion.<ref> William Issel, "Business Power and Political Culture in San Francisco, 1900-1940," ''Journal of Urban History,'' 1989 16(1): 52-77</ref>

The Golden Gate International Exposition of 1939-40 boosted San Francisco. The exposition's board was dominated by members of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce who had the support of major area corporations, other western states, and federal agencies. The Exposition departed from the tradition of world fairs in its eclectic organization of exhibits, which included productions, displays, lectures, films, demonstrations, and bazaars. These exhibits reflected a transitional phase in American culture, characterized by the process of fragmentation and recombination. The tensions of American society on the eve of World War II were manifested in exhibitions expressing both desires for peace and simplicity, and fascination with expansion and technology. <ref> Lisa Rubens, "Re-presenting the Nation: The Golden Gate International Exposition," ''European Contributions to American Studies'' 1994 27: 121-139.</ref>

== Bill O'Reilly and San Francisco Values ==
[[Image:Wicked.jpg|thumb|right|150px|The book ''When the Wicked Seize a City'' by Dr. [[Chuck McIlhenny]] recounts he and his church were terrorized by [[homosexuality|homosexual]] activists in San Francisco.]]
There is much antipathy between the liberal San Franciscans and [[Bill O'Reilly]], who has made many comments about [[San Francisco values]]. For example, the [[San Francisco Chronicle]] devoted two-thirds of its front page to a picture of Bill O'Reilly and had a extremely large story about him when he stated that San Francisco should secede from the [[United States]] and form its own country.<ref>http://www.chronwatch-america.com/blogs/363/Bill-OReillys-comments-upset-the-liberal-San-Francisco-crowd.html</ref>

Mr. O'Reilly has stated the following regarding San Francisco values:
{{cquote|But back to San Francisco values, as listed in my book, [[Culture Warrior]]. Here they are. Cradle-to-grave entitlements for the poor, with a punishing tax rate to pay for them. Legalized drugs. Unfettered [[abortion]] rights. No parental notification for minors having abortions, and rehab, not punishment, for many dangerous criminals.

No restrictions on the Southern border. San Francisco welcomes all illegal aliens. An anti-Christian attitude. Remember last March? The supervisors condemned a rally by a conservative Christian youth group – kids. The supervisors called it anti-gay and anti-choice. But the city apparently is comfortable with militant gays dressing up as nuns in a public parade and mocking said nuns. No proclamation condemning that.

This is just a few of the "values" San Franciscans embrace in their [[Secular progressive movement|secular progressive]] paradise.<ref>http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2006/11/10/01</ref>}}

A notable incident involving the issue of San Francisco values was the [[Hamilton Square Baptist Church riot]] and the persecution of [[Chuck McIlhenny|Dr. Chuck McIlhenny]].

=== Homosexual Public Indecency Tolerated in San Francisco ===
[[Image:HamSquare.jpg|thumbnail|150px|left|[[Hamilton Square Baptist Church Riot|Hamilton Square Baptist Church]]]]
''For more on this topic see:'' [[Homosexual Public Indecency Tolerated in San Francisco]]

In San Francisco there have been notable cases of [[homosexual]] public indecency that has been tolerated. [[Christianity Today]] states the following regarding Pastor David Innes regarding the [[Hamilton Square Baptist Church Riot|Hamilton Square Baptist Church riot]]:
{{cquote|Innes says he blames not police, but those in political control of the city, particularly the board of supervisors. "You really can't compare San Francisco with any other city," says Innes. "Homosexual advocates infiltrate and dominate the political structures here. Police are in straitjackets. They can't do their job. They've been instructed not to arrest homosexuals."<ref>Christianity Today, Nov 8, 1993 v37 p57</ref>}}

Pastor Innes then cites a September 30, 1993 letter published in the [[San Francisco Chronicle]] from a veteran police officer who was "highly embarrassed" when people asked him why he was not making any arrests in regards to totally naked males engaging in lewd behavior at the San Francisco Folsom Street Fair. The officer stated that "At least a dozen times I had to painstakingly explain that we were to take a position of 'high tolerance' and not to create an incident." <ref>Christianity Today, Nov 8, 1993 v37 page 57</ref>

In 1990 and 1991 extreme public lewdness was exhibited at the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Parades and when police authorities were asked why there were no arrests they offered various excuses such as the primary responsibility was to "reflect community standards and maintain crowd control."<ref>http://www.leaderu.com/marco/special/spc12.html</ref>

The city at that time had no rule outlawing being naked in public; on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted on if they would change the law that allowed public nudity. <ref>http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/san-francisco-lawmakers-set-vote-nudity-ban-17765727#.UKuzA1JK1kg</ref> The nudity ban passed 6 votes to 5. <ref>http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/SF-Supes-Approve-Nudity-Ban-180252481.html</ref>.

==Walk For Life West Coast==
In January 2011, San Francisco held the 7th Annual Walk for Life West Coast, a pro-life rally. Up to 50,000 people took part, a record turnout for the event.<ref>Hale, M. "Record-breaking 50,000 attend Walk for Life West Coast"; ''LifeSiteNews.com''; January 24, 2011 [http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/recordbreaking-turnout-for-walk-for-life-west-coast-in-san-francisco/]</ref> The counter-protest "was deafened by the sheer size of Walk for Life".<ref>Moreno, G. "Anti-abortion supporters rally thousands in San Francisco"; ''Golden Gate [X]press''; January 21, 2011 [http://xpress.sfsu.edu/archives/news/015972.html]</ref>

==Sports==

San Francisco is home to two major professional sports teams: the [[San Francisco Giants]] [[baseball]] team and the [[San Francisco 49ers]] [[football]] team.

== See also ==
* [[Emperor Norton]]
*[[Grace Cathedral]]
*[[Golden Gate Bridge]]
* [[San Francisco values]]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:California Cities and Towns]]
[[Category:San Francisco]]
[[Category:Western United States]]

United States presidential election, 2012

2012-02-09T00:51:46Z

AhmedB:

'''''The next elections are caucuses that conclude on Saturday, February 11, in [[Maine]], and then not until February 28 in Arizona and Michigan'''''.<ref>For the primary schedule, see http://www.2012presidentialelectionnews.com/2012-republican-primary-schedule/</ref> The next '''''debate''''' is scheduled for February 22. '''''The latest delegate totals can be viewed [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/republican_delegate_count.html here]''''' - but beware of tallies that show the Florida delegates as winner-take-all when [[Republican Party]] rules prohibited that prior to April 1 and Gingrich has indicated he will challenge it.

The '''Presidential Election 2012''' is on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. No incumbent has won reelection in the past 70 years with unemployment above 7.2%; reported unemployment is over 8% (and real unemployment much higher) only 9 months before the election. [[Barack Obama]] also cannot win reelection unless he carries [[Florida]], where he has a high disapproval rating; he is likewise polling poorly in the key swing states of [[Ohio]], [[Virginia]] and [[North Carolina]].

'''It is virtually impossible for a candidate to win a majority of delegates before June 2012''', and no candidate has yet been able to win more than 50% in a single primary. About 1,144 delegates<ref>http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/republicanracelateentry/</ref> are needed to win the nomination. Primaries held before April 1, 2012, will award delegates based on the proportionality of the votes (except Florida claimed to award winner-take-all, at half the delegate count, for its primary on Jan. 31). Beginning on April 1, the traditional winner-take-all system may be used by states, but the second biggest state, Texas (155 delegates), will be proportional, and the biggest state, California (172 delegates), will be winner-take-all by each of its 53 congressional districts.<ref>http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_19843184</ref> '''Only seven primaries totalling a small number of delegates are winner-take-all'''; New York will only be winner take all if one candidate wins more than 50% of the vote.<ref>http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/DC-Decoder/2012/0131/Florida-primary-Why-it-s-one-of-the-last-few-winner-take-all-states</ref> The dates of the primaries are [http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/events.phtml?s=c here].
__NOTOC__
== Ranking by Likelihood of Winning Republican Nomination ==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Candidate
!Pros
!Cons
!Trending ...
|-
|[[Jeb Bush]]
|Jeb is the most likely to win if neither Mitt nor Newt can gain a majority of the delegates; in the general election, Jeb is sure to win Florida and Obama cannot win reelection without Florida; [[George W. Bush]]'s book sold far better than expectations, making the name an asset again; Jeb could unite the Republican Party with a late candidacy; is more conservative than his brother [[George W. Bush]]; Jeb has already criticized Palin as a rival candidate might;<ref>In a Newsmax interview in February 2010, Jeb criticized Palin by saying, "my belief is in 2010 and 2012, public leaders need to have intellectual curiosity." [http://www.newser.com/story/81720/jeb-bush-sarah-palin-not-intellectual-enough.html]</ref> Jeb published an editorial on Jan. 3, 2011 taking credit for saving Florida [[public schools]] with vouchers.<ref>http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2011/jan/03/jeb-bush/jeb-bush-touts-education-gains-wall-street-journal/</ref>
|Jeb's only chance is if there is a deadlock at the [[Republican National Convention]]. Jeb says he does not intend to run in 2012, although it is common for politicians to say that but decide differently later. Jeb knows that he would be viewed negatively by some as the "third" Bush, but everyone expects him to run at some point and he's not getting any younger. Jeb is disliked by some Tea Partiers, but not as disliked as Romney.
|Moved to #1 with the inability of any other candidate to win a majority, thereby increasing the likelihood of the winner being chosen after several ballots at the convention. Romney's weak performance on Feb. 7th make him look less formidable than he did earlier in the race. Jeb will not want to wait until 2020 to run, which may be his next opportunity if a Republican wins in 2012 amid the persistent high unemployment.
|-
|[[Mitt Romney]]
|Preferred by [[RINO]]s and heavily favored by the Establishment; has business experience and was a Republican governor of a Democratic state who cut taxes and the deficit. Big money backs Romney in a big way, enabling him to benefit from millions of dollars in negative ads against his opponent Newt Gingrich. Mitt came in second in Iowa, first in New Hampshire, a distant second in South Carolina, and first in Florida. Has received endorsements from moderate-to-liberal Republicans, such as [[Bob Dole]], [[John McCain]], [[Kelly Ayotte]], [[John Thune]], [[Jon Huntsman]], [[Chris Christie]],<ref>[http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Chris-Christie-Mitt-Romney-Endorse-GOP-Republicans-2012-131530343.html http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Chris-Christie-Mitt-Romney-Endorse-GOP-Republicans-2012-131530343.html]</ref> [[Dan Quayle]], [[Nikki Haley]] and [[Tim Pawlenty]].
|Has big weaknesses with "[[Reagan Democrats]]," making it unlikely Romney can win the general election: Romney has a pro-[[abortion]] record and favors big corporations; Romney also continues to believe in [[liberal]] propaganda claiming [[global warming]] and is criticized for standing behind his [[ObamaCare]]-like health plan in [[Massachusetts]], which featured "the mandate" and taxpayer-funded abortion. The lack of criticism of Romney by the [[lamestream media]] suggests that they want him to win so that they can defeat him in the general election.
|Was defeated by a landslide in [[South Carolina]], despite being endorsed by foreign policy [[hawks]] [[John McCain]] and [[John Bolton]], and despite having finished a close second in the Iowa caucuses and first in the [[New Hampshire]] Primary. Romney has been strong in most of the debates and in national polling but weak in almost every straw poll. The majority of [[Republican]] voters are apparently still looking for an alternative.
|-
|[[Newt Gingrich]]
|The [[pro-life]] candidate most opposed by [[liberal]]s, due to his political effectiveness in accomplishing [[conservative]] goals. Newt is the only contender who stands up to liberals and to the [[lamestream media]]. His debate performances have earned him a reputation as the Republican most capable of winning debates against Obama. Newt had the early backing of Fox News before [[John McCain]] backed [[Mitt Romney]] instead, which caused Fox News to switch sides. Newt has by far the strongest record of achievements of any candidate, including passing [[conservative]] legislation that included welfare reform, [[DOMA]], the [[Solomon Amendment]], and even [[term limits]]. Newt also had the courage to shut down the government. His story of overcoming being orphaned is inspirational. Has been endorsed by conservatives such as [[Fred Thompson]], [[Rick Perry]], [[Michael Reagan]], and [[Herman Cain]].
|His long record of many decades in public life makes him vulnerable to negative political ads. His personal life has been criticized: he divorced twice and married three times. Ron Paul is particularly critical of Newt, although many of Dr. Paul's supporters are likely to prefer Newt rather than Mitt Romney.
|Rousing debate performances the week of Jan. 17th in South Carolina led to a landslide victory for Gingrich in the South Carolina primary. Prior to that, his strong debate performances and the weaknesses of other rivals to Romney had already pushed Gingrich up to #2. Despite having led in most polls conducted in late 2011, he lost the #1 spot on Dec. 24th due to the toll taken by attacks from the media and other candidates and his failure to qualify for the ballot in Virginia even though he lives there and is in first place in its polling. His strategy of criticizing the media in the debates has been brilliant. With Romney unable to gain 50% support in any State there remains an opportunity for conservatives to rally behind Newt. See: [[Gingrich Administration]] for an analysis of his assumed Cabinet.
|-
|[[Sarah Palin]]
|The second most likely to win if neither Mitt nor Newt can win a majority of delegates. Sarah is empathetic, attracts crowds, personally [[pro-life]], fiscal conservative, popular, track record of supporting upset victories in primaries; had a popular television series and book tour that emphasized the grassroots rather than the "inside the Beltway" mentality. Relies heavily on [[Facebook]].
|Her taxation policies were somewhat liberal.<ref>http://community.adn.com/node/112712</ref> Appointed a former [[Planned Parenthood]] board member to the [[Alaska]] Supreme Court and inexplicably resigned early as governor; lagged in fundraising despite publicity, came in a disappointing fifth in the [[Values Voter Summit]] in September 2010 and fared badly at [[CPAC]]. Several of her prominent 2010 candidates (Ken Buck, Joe Miller, Christine O'Donnell) struck out on Nov. 2nd, and many Republicans from [[George W. Bush]] (allegedly) to [[Peggy Noonan]] have been critical of her running for president.<ref>http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Election-2010/Vox-News/2010/1106/Republican-establishment-takes-on-Sarah-Palin</ref> Frequently mocked by the [[liberal media]].
|Announced on October 5 that she would not be a candidate for president in 2012. Marist poll conducted September 13-14, 2011 showed gains for her but also that a large majority of Republicans still didn't want her to run.
|-
|[[Rick Santorum]]
|Outspoken supporter of conservative values as a senator, well-received by evangelicals, strongly conservative across the board.
|Almost certainly a [[stalking horse]] for [[Mitt Romney]], hoping Mitt will appoint him to a government position. Rick's all-out support of [[RINO]] and now-Democrat [[Arlen Specter]] prevented [[Pat Toomey]] from defeating him in 2002, although he regretted it at CPAC 2010; endorsed Romney in 2008. His tax plan has been criticized for adding even more people to the number not required to pay federal income taxes.
|Won an upset victory in the [[Iowa Caucuses]], is fabulous in debates and television interviews, but has been near the bottom in polling in some key states. Campaigned relentlessly in Iowa and succeeded in picking up several important endorsements. Then sagged to only 9% of the vote in the New Hampshire primary and was an also-ran behind Gingrich and Romney in the South Carolina and Florida primaries.
|-
|[[Ron Paul]]
|Terrific on economic issues, can raise the money needed to win; people may look to an anti-war Republican; Won the [[CPAC]] Poll. Appeals to many social liberals. Runs [[pro-life]] ads while Romney says little about the issue. Also, Obama's support in polls is lowest when Paul is his opponent.
|Voted twice to repeal [[DADT|Don't Ask, Don't Tell]], which the vast majority of Republican primary voters support; his age (76 in 2012) will be used against him; has never won statewide office; his views on the war on drugs and the military also alienate many Republicans. Other candidates have adopted some of his economic ideas. The media in general treats him as a non-contender despite his performance in polls and the early voting.
|Finished a strong third in Iowa and second in New Hampshire, and is the only candidate other than [[Mitt Romney]] to qualify for the ballot in Virginia; Paul has won at least fifteen regional straw polls and online polls and, surprisingly, won the Values Voter Summit [[straw poll]] in a landslide in Oct. 2011.
|-
|[[Rick Perry]]
|Announced his candidacy late, on August 13. He is a conservative-talking governor who has run [[Texas]] for a decade (since [[George W. Bush]] became president); crushed [[RINO]] [[Kay Bailey Hutchison]] in the 2010 primary and then won a landslide in the general election, carrying others to victory on his strong coattails; has an excellent jobs record in his State and which he can contrast with liberal-run states. Strong religious faith that he is not afraid to show. Understands the concept of [[states' rights]]. Is a formidable fundraiser with plenty of funds on hand.
|Pulled out on the even of the South Carolina primary, so his only chance is to be selected at the [[Republican National Convention]]. But he may be more conservative in his rhetoric than his policies; endorsed [[RINO]] [[Rudy Giuliani]] in 2008; tried by executive order to force all schoolgirls (except for parental opt-outs) to receive the [[HPV vaccine]]; raised business taxes while governor; supports exceptions for allowing [[abortion]]; and continues to champion a Texas policy that allows in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. Did poorly in the Values Voter Summit [[straw poll]].
|Stumbled in his first major statements on [[abortion]], [[same-sex marriage]], and the question of building a fence to reduce illegal immigration. Was ahead in national polls after his declaration of candidacy, then fell dramatically following a series of poor debate performances that raised doubts about his electability. Suspended his campaign on January 19, two days prior to the South Carolina primary, and endorsed Gingrich..
|-
|[[Michele Bachmann]]
|A [[movement conservative]] who "knocked the ball out of the park" with her nationally televised response to Obama's [[State of the Union]] address in January 2011, Bachmann is popular with the [[Tea Party movement]]; she is a strong fundraiser and won a stunning 52-40% landslide in 2010 in a liberal-leaning district in [[Minnesota]]. Did very well at [[CPAC]] in Feb. 2011. Bachmann's beliefs are similar to [[Ron Paul]]'s, but she is more of a conservative than a libertarian and is trying to appeal to Ron Paul fans who agree with him on domestic matters but still want a strong military.<ref>http://www.lewrockwell.com/politicaltheatre/2011/06/dont-read-that-dangerous-mises/</ref> Thus, a Bachmann candidacy had the potential to unite Tea Party conservatives.
|Stopped her campaign on Jan. 4, 2011, one day after the [[Iowa Caucuses]]. When she was a contender in the polls, [[liberal bias]] was at its worst against her.
|Had done extremely well in the debates, particularly the first one, and held #1 in Zogby poll of primary voters at one point. Won the [[Ames Straw Poll]] but was upstaged by Rick Perry's declaration of candidacy on the same day. Slipped badly in the polls thereafter. Tireless campaigning and strong debate performances earned her renewed respect but only small gains in the polls. Bachman withdrew from the race after a poor finish in Iowa.
|-
|[[Jon Huntsman, Jr.]]
|Has foreign policy and executive experience. Appealing to moderates, although this is because he holds numerous liberal stances.
|Quit in mid-January 2012. Other negatives include how he worked in the Obama administration; criticized the [[economic stimulus package]] as not being big enough, favors Comprehensive Immigration Reform, supports civil unions, and is a believer in man-made global warming; the "civility" candidate adored by the media for being more willing to attack his fellow Republicans than the Democrats.
|Getting little support nationally, except among the media and multiple Democrats. Bypassing Iowa, Huntsman put his all into the New Hampshire primary and finished third. Claiming that there are three tickets out of New Hampshire (the usual observation made about Iowa, not New Hampshire), he originally announced that his candidacy would continue, but dropped out of the race less than a week later.
|-
|[[Herman Cain]]
|Seems less scripted than other candidates. A former successful Godfathers Pizza CEO, conservative radio host, Tea Party favorite, tremendous speaker, triumphed over a health problem. Won a stunning landslide victory in the Florida [[straw poll]] on September 24 that led to an October surge. Finished second in the Values Voter Summit in Oct. 2011 and took the lead in several national polls.
|His 9-9-9 plan for tax reform and economic recovery helped him gain a nationwide following but also drew fire for introducing a new federal tax resembling the tax of the left-wing [[European Union]]. Cain has had few staff and little organization in the early primary and caucus states. Has never held elected office. Stated on CNN that abortion should be a [[Pro-abortion|decision of the family and not the government]].<ref>http://www.mediaite.com/tv/herman-cain-tells-piers-morgan-that-he-is-anti-abortion-yet-pro-choice/</ref>
|Cain suspended his campaign on December 3, 2011, several days after stating his wife was unaware of gifts and money he had given to a woman who had alleged a 13-year long sexual affair with him. He denied any wrongdoing.<ref>[http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/herman-cain-suspends-his-presidential-campaign/ Herman Cain Suspends His Presidential Campaign] Susan Saulny and Robbie Brown, December 3, 2011, The Caucus: The Political and Government Blog of the Times, NYTimes.com, retrieved December 3, 2011</ref> His candidacy may have been damaged by inexplicable lapses during televised interviews as well as by charges of sexual impropriety.
|-
|[[Thad McCotter]]
|Congressman from Michigan who is sometimes promoted by [[Fox News]], and does not need to read from a [[teleprompter]] to give a speech.
|''Thad who?'' Not enough people know who he is. Twice this year voted against ending the preference for union labor in government construction projects. Could have been seeking name recognition rather than the Republican nomination.<ref>http://apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/watercooler/index.php </ref>
|Never rose above 1% in polls. Ended his campaign on September 22, 2011 and endorsed Romney.
|-
|[[Tim Pawlenty]]
|Young; popular in his home state of [[Minnesota]]; Had a surprisingly good record on immigration.
|Still not well known outside of Minnesota; signed $893 million in meddlesome fees/taxes including a "health fee" for cigarette smokers (which was ruled unconstitutional), a harvest fee for farmers, a 9-1-1 fee on all telephone lines, a fee for traditional marriage, and large increase in parking fees;<ref>[http://tinyurl.com/3k4p8jf ''Duluth News Tribune'': Fees soar as state taxes hold steady] (2006)</ref> supported the liberal [[cap and trade]]; accepted stimulus funds after arguing against them; lacks a socially conservative base; arranged a meeting with a liberal medical society in 2003 in order to cave into the pro-[[abortion]] side by downplaying medical harm caused by abortion,<ref>http://www.lifenews.com/2003/12/30/state-281/</ref> despite hard-fought passage of the Woman's Right to Know Act mandating disclosure. Came off as drab and uncompelling. He endorsed Mitt Romney after he ended his own bid.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/12/pawlenty-endorses-romney-for-president/</ref>
|Lost ground after a perception of underachieving in the first debate June 13; then his criticism of Michele Bachmann seemed to backfire with her rebuttal in the second debate. Pawlenty finished third in the Iowa Straw Poll and quickly announced that he was ending his bid for the nomination.
|-
|[[Marco Rubio]]
|A [[movement conservative]] who could unite the Party, he is the most charismatic speaker in politics today; in the general election he would pull [[Florida]] and many Hispanic voters away from the Democrats. Both of his parents were Cuban exiles at the time of his birth in Miami, making him an inspiring, uniquely American success story. Many Republican voters think he would be the ideal candidate for Vice President.
|Could face the liberal [[double standard]] on three fronts: 1) what's OK for Obama (e.g., inexperience) is somehow not OK for a [[conservative]]. 2) Liberals who have been deriding the strict definition of "natural born citizen" which some conservatives have been applying to Obama might also turn around and use the same logic with Rubio, claiming that his non-citizen parents invalidate his natural-born status. 3) Rubio's restatement of the exact year in which his parents arrived in the USA has been seized upon by Democrats hoping to hurt him with Hispanic voters and also get even with Conservatives for questioning Obama's place of birth. 
|Declared on October 5 that he will not be a candidate for Vice President
|-
|[[Mike Huckabee]]
|Pro-life in rhetoric, pro-Second Amendment and pro-Bible; strong in polling, particularly among evangelicals
|Announced on May 14th that he's not running; was stuck at 20-30%; as governor raised taxes and state spending; released man who later killed officers; disliked by [[CPAC]]-types and by [[Club for Growth]]; supported the cave-in by the Republican leadership to continue funding [[Planned Parenthood]] (the nation's largest [[abortion]] provider) as part of the budget deal in April 2011. Has ruled himself out of contention.<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2011-05-15-republican-huckabee-president_n.htm</ref>
|Losing relevancy
|-
|[[Rand Paul]]
|Could be the next [[Ronald Reagan]]; is the heir-apparent to massive support for [[Ron Paul]]; won the [[U.S. Senate]] seat by a 56-44% landslide in 2010, despite an intense effort by [[liberals]] to smear and defeat him; is 100% [[pro-life]]. Failure of Congress to cut spending enhances likelihood that voters will turn to someone strong on reducing government.
|Rand, immensely popular after his landslide victory for Senate, will not run for president unless his dad drops his own campaign for the same office. Time is running out for Rand to assert himself as the candidate in 2012.
|Supporting his dad's run for President.
|-
|[[Allen West]]
|'America First' conservative patriot, Lt. Col West knows leadership from experience. He won the Florida [[U.S. House of Representatives]] seat in the [[2010 Midterm Elections]], and kept a high profile ever since. Sports a crew cut, usually rises above petty [[inside the Beltway]] bickering, and carries a camouflage bag rather than a briefcase
|New to national politics, not well known and maybe a future presidential candidate beyond 2012.
|A terrific congressman
|-
|[[Jim DeMint]]
|Strong support by social conservatives, libertarians,<ref>Jim Demint has the best favorable-unfavorable rating of anyone at CPAC 2010.</ref> Tea Party, and evangelicals; a tenacious advocate willing to criticize Obama
|Stated at a conservative conference in July 2010 that he is not running for president, but after [[Mike Pence]] pulled out in Jan. 2011 Jim DeMint is showing interest again, before announcing again in late March that he is not running; as a Southern conservative, he would need to work hard to gain support in Iowa and New Hampshire, the key early primary states<ref>http://politics.theatlantic.com/2010/02/the_2012_dark_horse_is.php</ref>
|Definitely not running now.
|-
|[[Ken Cuccinelli]]
|Has won statewide office. Leader in challenging [[ObamaCare]], advancing [[pro-life]] principles, and opposing the [[global warming]] hoax, including investigating Liberal [[University of Virginia]]'s involvement in the [[Climategate]] scandal. Wants to stop the homosexual agenda prevalent at the University of Virginia and other Virginia universities.
|Only 42 years old, he'll probably become governor of Virginia before running for president. Not as frequent a speaker at Tea Party events as others, such as Steve King and Michele Bachmann. Also, Cuccinelli may be more influential on domestic policy in his current position than a president is.
|Running for governor in 2013.<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/davidcatanese/1211/Cuccinelli_I_have_decided_to_run_for_governor.html</ref>
|-
|[[Bobby Jindal]]
|Conservative Governor of [[Louisiana]], strong critic of [[Obama]]'s handling of the [[Gulf oil spill]] in the summer of 2010.
|Says he's not running for president. Has endorsed Perry.
|Made a good statement on birth certificate issue
|-
|[[Mitch Daniels]]
|Signed a law that defunds [[Planned Parenthood]], has been an effective [[Rust Belt]] governor and critic of the Obama administration, promoted heavily by [[neoconservatives]]
|Stated in May 2011 that he's not running for president. Sided with [[Democrats]] in 2011 in opposing [[right-to-work laws|right-to-work legislation]], is little known nationally, was criticized when he tried to downplay significance of social issues, is not telegenic, lacks a socially conservative base, and his state budget relies heavily on [[gambling]] revenue. Has chastised conservatives for calling Obama a [[socialist]].
|Although not a candidate for President, he has declined to rule out accepting the nomination for Vice President.
|-
|[[Steve King]]
|A conservative Iowa congressman who could win the [[Iowa caucuses]]; resonates well with independents; recommended by Bachmann<ref name="Bachmann">http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/app/blogs/politically_speaking/?p=1205</ref>
|Not well known yet; has never won statewide office.
|Once thought likely to endorse Michele Bachmann, he has declined to endorse anyone. Will stay in the House.
|-
|[[Mike Pence]]
|Communicates a very strong conservative message: "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order." Won straw poll held at the [[Values Voter Summit]] in September 2010. On Nov. 3rd, gave up his House leadership position. Has since announced a run for Governor of Indiana in 2012.
|Announced on Jan. 27, 2011 that he's not running for president; previously he unsuccessfully proposed a "comprehensive" immigration plan that was widely criticized by conservatives; lacks legislative achievements; not well-known and has never won statewide office; either he or Huckabee could become a stalking horse for Newt Gingrich with respect to evangelical voters in Iowa
|Focusing on the Indiana governorship
|-
|[[Todd Akin]]
|A [[movement conservative]] from Missouri, which he serves as a congressman
|Running to win a [[U.S. Senate]] seat from a [[liberal]] instead
|Gaining in ability to defeat an incumbent liberal senator
|-
|[[Bob McDonnell]]
|Won landslide election as [[Virginia]] governor; has Obama's height
|Not widely known yet, but gave Republican response to State of the Union in 2010; seemed more conservative as a candidate than as governor
|Falling into obscurity but may re-emerge as a Vice Presidential contender because of Virginia's importance as a swing state that Obama won in 2008.
|-
|[[Rudy Giuliani]]
|Widely respected for his post-9/11 leadership in New York City
|Struck out completely as a candidate in 2008; very weak on important social issues; cross-dressing for comedic purposes when it suited him
|A throwback to an era and issues that matter less now
|-
|[[Dick Cheney]]
|Prominent and consistent opposition to Obama
|Of dubious health; has explicitly disavowed interest in running
|Not running
|-
|[[John Bolton]]
|Expert on foreign policy and national security issues <ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9I4TTT82&show_article=1 POLITICAL INSIDER: John Bolton weighs a WH run, Breitbart, September 10, 2010]</ref>
|Polarizing figure that Democrats refused to appoint to permanent UN position
|Has ruled out running.
|-
|[[Fred Thompson]]
|Former Republican Senator from [[Tennessee]], former presidential candidate, has a loyal following
|Hollywood type, sided with McCain in campaign finance laws that the Supreme Court overturned.
|Not running
|-
|[[Scott Brown]]
|Proven ability to appeal to moderate voters even in a blue state
|Inexperience; already voting with the Democrats in the Senate; voted to repeal [[DADT]], will not repeal [[Obamacare]].
|Is running for re-election to the Senate
|-
|[[Haley Barbour]]
|Rose in ranking based on the victory of his choice as the new [[RNC]] chairman;<ref>http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jan/14/barbour-defeats-boehner-proxy-battle-control-rnc-s/</ref> has a [[conservative]] record as governor of [[Mississippi]] but is rarely seen at conservative conferences. He was a consummate lobbyist and could raise many tens of millions for a campaign.
|A [[Deep South]] Republican, Barbour seemed unable to attract independent voters. He announced in late April 2011 that he is not running.
|Isn't running
|-
|[[John Thune]]
|Defeated [[Tom Daschle]], relatively conservative voting record for a senator; also taller than Obama, and enjoys broad support
|Announced on Feb. 22, 2011 that he's not running; may lack an essential "fire in the belly";<ref>http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/eye-on-2012/assessing-john-thunes-2012-cha.html?referrer=emaillink</ref> voted for TARP financial bailout<ref>http://hoghouseblog.com/2009/09/01/thune-wants-to-end-bailout-he-voted-for/</ref> and McCain-Feingold campaign finance; no-show at some conservative events; hasn't effectively criticized Obama; could simply become a stalking horse candidate for Gingrich, brought 100 million worth of earmarks in a spending bill, then awkwardly claimed he backed the projects but opposed the bill.
|Not running
|-
|[[Jan Brewer]]
|In 2010, stood up to [[Hillary Clinton]] and [[Barack Obama]] on issue of [[illegal aliens]]
|Caved in to the [[liberals]] in vetoing legislation requiring a birth certificate to get on the presidential ballot for Arizona in 2012; if Brewer ever was conservative, she seems increasingly less so
|Not even conservatives support her after all her vetoes of good bills this year
|-
|[[George Pataki]]
|Well known former 3-term Gov. of New York. Has a track record of tax cuts
|[[RINO]] candidate, [[Pro-abortion]], had health issues in the past, not very compelling
|Not running
|-
|[[Peter King]]
|Conservative congressman from New York that supports [[Pro-life]], energy independence, free trade, expand border fence, battles Muslim extremists in the USA by Homeland Security position.
|Fiscal conservatism lacking: voted for TARP, Cash for Clunkers, CHIP. He is also a co-sponsor of [[SOPA]]. King tends to support bills that enable the federal government to become larger and more intrusive.
|Seems more focused on his Homeland Security position in the House than any Presidential aspirations
|-
|}

=== The Chess Game for the Republican Party ===

====Short form====

The short form analysis is this: it probably requires a minimum of $25 million in campaign funds to win the nomination, and more if the candidate lacks a strong [[conservative]] base. Many of the candidates are probably looking to big fundraisers for support, but they are unsure of whom to back. Karl Rove, with all of his contacts from the Bush years, may be able to raise $20 million for a candidate; Haley Barbour might be able to raise even more. Fox News and its allies can raise eight figures also, as they helped reelect [[John McCain]] as senator in 2010.

The fundraising obstacle is no problem for Mitt Romney. Ron Paul could sustain his campaign as he did in 2008, relying heavily on the internet. Rick Perry has some fundraising strength. Newt Gingrich may be able to raise funds if promoted by the [[Fox News Channel]]. But others lacking in a strong base will struggle unless they can obtain the support of either the Bush/Rove group, or Barbour's network, or Fox News and its allies.

====Long form====

There are three key steps to the Republican nomination: Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Mitt Romney won both the Iowa caucus (although Rick Santorum nearly tied him) and the New Hampshire primary. Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary.

There are four basic components of the Republican Party. '''To win the nomination, a candidate needs to obtain the support of at least two out of four''':<ref>Traditionally commentators have referred to the three legs of the Republican Party: the values voters, the small businessmen, and the national security supporters. While that model still has support, it fails to account for recent shifts (such as the Tea Party Movement) and the impact of new media (such as FoxNews).</ref>

#social conservatives (pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-Republican Party platform)
#libertarians (lower taxes, less government, pro-market, anti-union)
#religious voters (Baptists, Presbyterians, Catholics, evangelicals, Mormons)
#neoconservatives (foreign intervention, "better" government)

In 2008, John McCain won the nomination by capturing the support of 1 and 4 above. Ron Paul had the support of 2. Mitt Romney enjoyed support by 2 and part of 3. Mike Huckabee had support of 1 and part of 3. The division of 3 by Romney and Huckabee caused them to block each other: Huckabee blocked Romney in Iowa, and Romney returned the favor in New Hampshire. This dynamic prevented either from winning the nomination.

In 2000, George Bush won with the support of 1 and 3. But John McCain enjoyed the support from 2 and 4 and this enabled him to win the New Hampshire and Michigan primaries, giving Bush a close contest. Some felt McCain mishandled his victory in Michigan.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan had the support of 1 and 2.

== Potential Democratic Candidates ==

While shortly after the [[2010 Midterm elections]] a McClatchy-Marist survey revealed 46% of Democrats and Democratic leaning independent voters said they don't want President Obama to face a Democratic primary challenge, with 45% saying they do want such a challenge to occur, no serious challenge has emerged. As of early 2012, it is too late for another Democrat to launch a campaign for the Presidency. Nevertheless, 40% of Democrats and independents who lean towards the Democrats say they prefer a more conservative challenger, while 39% say they want a challenger who is more liberal.

The most likely thing that would remove Obama from the 2012 ticket would a court ruling ineligibility due to not being a natural born citizen. However, as Obama will use all his political power to delay this as long as possible, it is unlikely such a decision would come before the November election. Depending on the timing of this, it is likely he would automatically be replaced by his successor, Vice President Joe Biden.

===Popularity of Obama===

A Quinnipiac University survey released after the [[2010 Midterm elections]] indicated that a plurality of Americans don't think Obama deserves to be re-elected to a second term, and an Associated Press-GfK survey in the same time span indicates that 54% believe Obama should be voted out of office in 2012.<ref>http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/24/poll-democrats-split-on-2012-obama-primary-challenge/</ref> Former DNC chairman [[Ed Rendell]] suggested on [[MSNBC]], liberal anger over Obama's escalation of the war in Afghanistan could lead to a primary challenge.<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20011923-503544.html</ref>

More recent polls show Obama running close to even with his most likely opponents. <ref>[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll]</ref>

The ''[[New York Times]]'' reported many [[liberal]]s are so upset over recommendations by the Deficit Reduction Commission which President Obama himself created after the Democratic controlled Congress voted the idea down,<ref>http://peoplesworld.org/senate-defeats-deficit-commission/</ref> "if Mr. Obama were to embrace its major parts, he would invite a primary challenge in 2012."<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/12/us/politics/12fiscal.html</ref> Clarence B. Jones, who was a personal advisor, legal counsel, and close friend of Dr. [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]], has called for a primary challenge to President Obama.<ref>http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/former-mlk-advisor-calls-primary-chal</ref>

Also Obama's [[Libya#Libyan_uprising_2011|Libyan intervention]] has raised the ire of many prominent leftists who question the [[wisdom]] and [[legal]]ity of the president's actions.<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51595.html</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Candidate
!Pros
!Cons
![[MSNBC]] exposure
|-
|[[Barack Obama]]
|Ability to compromise and act in a spirit of bi-partisanship when his back's against the wall and career on the line; he's not Hillary Clinton, and he receives enduring support from the media. Has the historical benefit of being the incumbent.
|He depends on a teleprompter to speak, and has run the nation into the ground. Numerous broken<ref>http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/rulings/promise-broken/</ref> and unfulfilled<ref>http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/rulings/stalled/</ref> campaign promises, implementation of socialist [[Obamacare]] program. Maybe uphill without help from [[ACORN]].
|Heavily promoted on MSNBC.
|}

===Others who might have run, but have decided not to===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Candidate
!Pros
!Cons
![[MSNBC]] exposure
|-
|[[Hillary Clinton]]
|Her criticism of Obama's massive deficits hinted at a possible run against him in 2012, and [[Ted Kennedy]] cannot interfere with her nomination this time; moreover, waiting until 2016 is unattractive because she will be 71 then. A recent Bloomberg poll shows she has a 64% approval rating, higher than any other national political figure.<ref>[http://yourjewishnews.com/11198.aspx Hillary Clinton approval rating jumps to 64%.], September 17, 2011. October 1, 2011.</ref> Tested the waters with Bill backing a challenger to Obama's Colorado Senate candidate (who then lost), and by Hillary saying she won't serve a second term as Obama's Secretary of State. The chances of Hillary running and winning the nomination increase with every decline in Obama's approval ratings.
|Has stated numerous times that she will not seek an elected position once she leaves her current position as Secretary of State. Her [[feminism]] is disliked by conservatives, but is popular with liberal women. She'd lose the general election as [[Martha Coakley]] did.
|Disfavored on MSNBC.
|-
|[[Randall Terry]]
|Pro-life, and ardently so, unlike most Democrats. Will make this issue, which most Americans agree with, the cornerstone of his campaign. Is a conservative, and argued in favor of Terri Schavio's family in the case to allow her to live.
|Only recently joined the Democrats, in order to run against Obama in the primary; largely seen as a 'joke' candidate by most people; no media attention, and he likely will never get a chance to go up against Obama in a debate.
|Disfavored on MSNBC, when he's mentioned
|-
|[[Russ Feingold]]
|His dedication to [[progressive]] causes rivals that of Obama, Feingold now has the time to run since his defeat in the 2010 midterms.<ref>http://usforruss.com/?p=55</ref>
|Considered a maverick and [[reform]]er within the Democratic party.
|Disfavored on MSNBC.
|-
|[[Howard Dean]]
|Liberal media personality, politician with physician's license and a former Vermont governor. Opposed [[Obamacare]] in its current form, and declared that government cannot force people to buy health insurance.
|Progressive/Socialist/Marxist philosophy combined with numerous public gaffes. Dean ran in the 2004 presidential elections.
|Heavily promoted on MSNBC.
|-
|[[Bernie Sanders]]
|Has pledged to "do whatever I can" to thwart compromise and thinks the President's legislative proposals are "an absolute disaster and an insult to the vast majority of the American people."
|Genuine out-of-the-closet [[Socialist]], will need to formally register as a Democrat.
|Has appeared on MSNBC.<ref>http://www.thestatecolumn.com/blog/2010/12/sen-bernie-sanders-issues-a-challenge-to-president-obama/</ref>
|-
|[[Evan Bayh]]
|Democratic base sees Bayh's retirement from the Senate as "a symbol of what's wrong with the party" as moderates are increasingly marginalized. <ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/15/evan-bayh-for-president-s_n_463202.html?view=screen Evan Bayh For President? Senator May Be Eyeing White House Run,] Ryan Grim, ''Huffington Post'', 02-15-10.</ref>
|Lags behind Obama in fundraising. [http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00003762&cycle=2010]
|Has appeared on MSNBC.
|-
|[[Dennis Kucinich]]
|Outspoken critic of Obama's escalation of the War in Afghanistan, sellout of the public option and tax cuts for the rich.
|Perennial favorite of special interests, particularly [[AFSCME]], lacks popular support and a wider appeal.
|Promoted on MSNBC.
|-
|[[Alan Grayson]]
|Could do well to rally the progressive base in the anti-war early primary and caucus states of Iowa and New Hampshire.<ref>[http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/12/28/an-anti-war-challenge-to-obama-in-2012-the-case-for-alan-grayso/ "An Anti-War Challenge to Obama in 2012: The Case for Alan Grayson"], ''Politics Daily'', 12-28-2010.</ref>
|Ethical concerns over his 2010 failed reelection bid for the House.
|Heavily favored on MSNBC.
|}

== Independent Candidacies -- Mike Bloomberg or Donald Trump ==

The man who spent $185 per vote to garner 51% of the vote to remain as Mayor of [[New York City]] in 2009, [[Mike Bloomberg]], is increasingly looking like an independent, self-funded candidate for president in 2012.

$185 per vote times 50 million voters equals $9.25 billion, which Bloomberg can easily afford as one of the richest men in the world. The catch is that 50 million Americans are not as likely to be persuaded by self-funded campaign ads as 51% of New Yorkers were. Also, it is possible that money is becoming ''less influential'' in campaigns, not more so. The most likely result from a Bloomberg candidacy would be a split in the [[pro-abortion]], pro-[[homosexual agenda]] vote with the [[Democratic]] nominee, facilitating election of the Republican nominee.

Donald Trump is also considering an independent bid for president, particularly after he changed is party affiliation in December 2011 to "unaffiliated". What a difference a few months make. In April 2011, Trump was tied for first in the [[Gallup Poll]] among Republican contenders.<ref>As of April 22, 2011.</ref> He forced Obama to take seriously voters' concerns over his birth certificate, and was willing to criticize liberal media; he has business savvy and resources as a billionaire and is well-known.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/05/trump-seriously-considering-presidential-bid/?test=latestnews Trump 'Seriously Considering' 2012 Presidential Bid, FOXNews, October 5, 2010]</ref> His unscripted, abrasive and arrogant style may be just what voters want, and not being a career politician helps his cause. But he is rightly criticized for his ego and has never held elected office. He would needs to explain his previous support of liberal policies such as socialized medicine,<ref>http://www.slate.com/id/2291263/</ref> as well as donating to various Democrats including [[Harry Reid]] in the past.

== Minor Parties ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Party
!Candidate
!Comments
|-
|[[Green Party]]
|[[Roseanne Barr]]
|Was critical of [[Barack Obama]] in 2008 while she supported [[Hillary Clinton]] for the [[Democrat Party]] nomination.
|-
|[[Libertarian Party]]
|[[Gary Johnson]]
|The former [[Republican]] two-term governor of [[New Mexico]], Johnson favors legalizing marijuana, expanding legal [[immigration]] and allowing same-sex unions. Given Ron Paul's libertarian campaign for the Republican nomination and the exclusion of Johnson from most of the debates, there was little room for Johnson as a Republican this election cycle. He announced his candidacy for the Libertarian Party's nomination on December 28, 2011.
|-
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== See also ==

*[[Endorsements 2012]]
*[[Swing States 2012]]
*[[Presidential Election 2012 (disambiguation)]]'' for other presidential elections
*[[Gubernatorial elections, 2010]]

[[Category: United States]]
[[Category: United States Presidential Elections]]
[[Category: United States Presidential Election, 2012]]

Open homosexual

2011-08-12T16:32:03Z

AhmedB:

An '''open homosexual''' is a [[homosexual]] who has publicly revealed his [[homosexuality]] (contrast "[[closet gay]]").

[[Category:Homosexuality]]

Herman Cain

2011-07-21T03:56:44Z

AhmedB:

[[File:HCain4.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Herman Cain]]
'''Herman Cain''' (born December 13, 1945) is an American journalist, businessman, politician, and broadcaster. He is a prominent [[African American]] conservative.

Cain was born in [[Georgia]] and grew up there. He earned a bachelor's degree in Mathematics at Morehouse College in 1967, and a master's degree in computer science from Purdue University. He married his wife, Gloria, in 1968. They have two children.

Cain worked for the [[United States Navy]], then as a business analyst for the [[Coca-Cola Company]] and [[Pillsbury Company]] in 1977. While there, Cain moved to Pillsbury's [[Burger King]] division, eventually overseeing 400 Philadelphia franchises. He then moved to their Godfather's Pizza chain in 1986 and returned it to profitability. He then served on the National Restaurant Association board, becoming President and CEO in 1996.

Cain was a senior advisor to the 1996 [[Bob Dole|Dole]]/[[Jack Kemp|Kemp]] campaign for the Presidency. In 2004, he ran for the United States Senate in Georgia as a Republican, facing Congressmen Johnny Isakson and Mac Collins for the seat formerly held by [[Zell Miller]]. Collins got 20% of the vote, Cain got 26%, and Isakson avoided a runoff by getting 53%.<ref name="senate">[[Associated Press]] (July 21, 2004). [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,126389,00.html Ga. Dems Forced Into Senate Runoff.] ''[[Fox News]]''</ref>

''The Herman Cain Show'' radio program is based in Atlanta. Cain founded the leadership consulting company T*H*E New Voice, Inc. He has authored four books on leadership and self-empowerment, including ''Leadership is Common Sense'' and ''CEO of Self''.

==2012 Presidential Run==
Herman Cain officially announced his decision to enter the presidential race of 2012. He has a decent following courtesy of the [[Tea Party movement]], [[Op-Ed]] articles and a radio program through [[Conservative media]] outlets.

Cain is widely believed to have won the [[South Carolina]] debates, though the potential field of candidates was limited.<ref name="debate">[[CBS News]] [http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504943_162-20060614-10391715.html How Herman Cain won the GOP debate.]'</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.hermancain.com/ Herman Cain: Official website]
*[http://www.newvoicefoundation.org/ T*H*E New Voice Foundation]
*[http://www.northstarwriters.com/ North Star Writers Group]
*[http://www.newvotersalliance.org/ New Voters Alliance]

[[category:Conservatives]]

Political cards

2011-07-18T07:17:56Z

AhmedB: Fixing spelling error

'''Political cards''' are tactics used by [[liberals]] in politics, the media, and other adversarial settings in order to appeal to emotion or even prejudice rather than reason. The term is a metaphor for what happens in the card game of [[bridge]], where one card can be played to "trump" (defeat) all other cards.

In contrast with most card games, however, a political card can be played at any time, no matter how irrational or irrelevant to the topic. Many liberal articles and commentaries consist of little more than playing one or more political cards.

A card is "played" when one side relies on a particular issue in order to gain an often-unjustified upper hand in the debate or controversy.

Liberals have had a difficult time playing a [[political card]] against the [[Tea Party Movement]], due to its amorphous nature.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Political card
!Meaning
!Example
!Advantage
!Disadvantage
|-
|sexist card
|allegations men are ignorant slobs and women need a protected status as a voting block within the Democratic party.
|[[Lawrence Summers]] was driven from his presidency of [[Harvard]] for merely mentioning the possibility that women may not have as much aptitude for math as men.
|safe haven for angry liberals and [[feminists]]
|implies women are helpless unless they receive special treatment from the government
|-
|[[race card]]
|Bringing race into a debate by suggesting that criticism is racially motivated or that one's opponent is racist
|Used effectively to silence criticism of Obama in 2008
|prove you're not a racist is like saying, "when did you stop beating your wife?"
|the boy who cried wolf.
|-
| Mediscare card
| Scare grandpa and grandma into thinking their government benefits will be cut off
| Used in a recent special congressional election for a [[Democrat]] in a [[Republican]]-leaning district in [[New York]] in 2011.
| fear sells
| people aren't stupid.
|-
|Third rail card
|Proposals to reform [[Social Security]] result in political suicide.
|Under President Obama, Social Security for the first time in its history, has a negative cash flow and has been paying out more in benefits than the cash it demands from younger workers.<ref>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/03/15/6273181-obama-agenda-social-security-still-the-third-rail</ref>
|Slander your opponent for proposing solutions.
|Political and economic stagnation.
|-
|hate speech card
|Anything that highlights or is critical of the historical record of liberal governance.
|The [[Obama administration]] has used the [[FCC]] to harass and intimidate what it considers its media critics. <ref>http://spectator.org/archives/2009/10/20/fcc-church-conspiracy-to-silen/print#</ref>
|programmed response for liberal failures.
|mimics liberal talking points
|-
|[[Xenophobia]] card
|Bringing country of origin into a debate by suggesting that criticism is motivated by a fear of foreigners (eg. Australians)
|
|At first seems to be an effective way to pose the opponent as racist.
|Ultimately fails when both debaters are of the same country or when the person making the original claim is from the country of the claim.
|-
|anti-gay card
|Calling opponents of the [[homosexual agenda]] intolerant instead of focusing on the immorality of homosexuality.
|Used against [[Rick Santorum]] leading up to his defeat for reelection in 2006
|assumes the posture of [[civil rights]] advocacy.
|African-Americans oppose the promotion of gay rights in greater numbers than the general population of the United States as a whole.<ref>http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2008/10/30/proposition_8</ref>
|-
|intolerant card
|demonstrating inconsistencies in liberal ideology.
|
|in a democracy, the voice of opposition can always be labeled intolerant
|
|-
|"Responsible" Republican card
|Used to imply a few Republicans, mostly [[RINO]]s, are "responsible."
|"During the health care battle, President Obama was unable to find a single Responsible Republican." <ref>http://www.slate.com/id/2251101/</ref>
|Who killed Responsible Republicans? [[Bill Kristol]], of course. <ref>Ibid.</ref>
|In 1990 President [[George H.W. Bush]] was hailed as a Responsible Republican for breaking his "read my lips" pledge.
|-
|extreme card
|in typical [[MSM]] [[newspeak]], anything right of center or not liberal.
|Bill and [[Hillary Clinton]] persistently referred to the Republican [[Newt Gingrich|Contract with America]] as extreme; [[President Clinton]] ultimately signed 7 of 10 Contract items in to law.
|Prior to the [[9/11 attacks]], was used interchangeably with "[[terrorist]]" by mainstream media sources.
|Polls show mainstream journalists are more liberal than the American public.<ref>[http://www.mrc.org/specialreports/2004/pdf/liberal_media.pdf The Liberal Media, ''Every Poll Shows Journalists Are More Liberal than the American Public — And the Public Knows It''], Rich Noyes, Director of Research, Media Research Center, June 30, 2004.</ref>
|-
|greedy card
|Portraying [[capitalist]]ic ideas or actions as greedy
|Attacking oil companies for their profits, even though oil companies create jobs and pay into the federal Treasury, and profits make up a reasonable portion of total revenue.
|Most people care about money and fairness.
|Seems hypocritical if the person using the strategy is wealthy (like most liberal politicians) or benefits from capitalism (like all Americans)
|-
|millionaires and billionaires card
|[[class warfare]]
|[[President Obama]] said on June 29, 2011, "I'm proposing we get rid of tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires." <ref>The ''[[Washington Post]]'' Fact Checker column said, "in the context of a $4 trillion goal, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-missing-facts-in-president-obamas-news-conference/2011/06/29/AGpQMPrH_blog.html it is essentially meaningless]. The item is so small the White House could not even provide an estimate of the revenue that would be raised, but other estimates suggest it would amount to $3 billion over 10 years."</ref>
|appeals to voters motivated by [[envy]]
|politicians that use it are dependent on campaign contributions from millionaires and billionaires.
|-
|conspiracy theory card
|the one making the charge cannot explain facts.
|Hillary Clinton charged that her husband's behavior was the result of a "vast right-wing conspiracy".
|provides plausible reasons for the simple minded.
|contradictory evidence leads to more conspiracy theories.
|-
|[[homophobia]] card
|an irrational fear.
|Opposition to the radical redefinition of marriage as expressed in California's [[Proposition 8]] was deemed homophobia.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/26/AR2010082605233.html</ref>
|Old stand-by in the arsenal of liberal slander attacks.
|Attempts to ostracize and criminalize an emotional disorder. Many if not most homophobes are gay.
|-
| trickle down card
| anti-free market agitprop
| [[Nobel Laureate]] [[Paul Krugman]] claims GOP zombies will eat Obama's brain for extending the Bush tax cuts. <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2010/12/20/paul-krugman-says-gop-zombies-are-going-eat-obamas-brain Paul Krugman Says GOP 'Zombies' Are Going to Eat Obama's Brain], ''Newsbusters.</ref>
| apparently there is a ready market for hyperbole and fear among leftists.
| Ignores the fact the Reagan reforms gave birth to the longest, most extended era of peacetime prosperity in U.S. history.<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574344230339019304.html</ref>
|-
|global warming denier card
|opposition to using [[junk science]] to promote political [[activism]].
|[[Global warming]] activists have likened climate change to Nazi atrocities. <ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-roberts/global-warming-and-the-ho_b_74210.html</ref>
|equates moderates with ignorant fascists.
|belittles and denigrates victims of the [[Nazi]] [[holocaust]].<ref>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/02/on_comparing_global_warming_de.html</ref>
|-
| anti-environment card
| A claim that tries to portray the opponent badly by placing them as someone who "hates the environment".
| "The GOP wants babies to be fed poison from the environment" <ref>http://www.uncoverage.net/2011/03/new-tv-ad-for-epa-republicans-poison-babies/</ref> [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSTnoeNNbzQ Watch the Video]
| The simple-minded will swallow any line of garbage.
| purview of extremists
|-
| over-sensitive card
| failure to behave in a realistic manner and being afraid to upset people
|
|
|
|-
|uneducated card
|Because a person is stupid, they are unqualified to be president.
|Reading from a prop, Dan Quayle once misspelled "potato", and [[liberals]] destroyed him by playing this card.
|A momentary lapse is seized upon to make a person look like an idiot.
|Works well until a liberal candidate utters a statement like the United States is made up of 57 states.
|-
|fundamentalist card
|seeks to link Islamic fundamentalism with Christian fundamentalism.
|[[Richard Dawkins]] screed, ''[[The God Delusion]]''.
|puts [[Billy Graham]] and [[bin Laden]] in the same boat.
|A majority of Americans are neither atheist nor [[secular humanist]]s.
|-
|[[Dominionist]] card
|implies [[evangelical]] [[Christian]]s want to impose an [[Iran]]ian style [[theocracy]] on the United States.
|Used by [[misogynist]]s to attack [[Michelle Bachmann]]. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/KeepLeft/michele-bachmann-john-quincy-adams_n_885868_94606213.html]
|appeals to the fears of [[atheist]]s and religious bigots.
|based on social [[pseudoscience]], [[propaganda]], and journalistic hacks.
|-
|free speech card
|cry "free speech," "free speech" for everything offensive to Christianity, while censoring the truth and limiting political speech
| [[Supreme Court]] ruled exotic dancing protected free expression but disallowed a high school football team's pregame prayer under the same grounds.
|Legally it is technically correct
|Just because something is "free speech" does not mean it is not wrong
|-
| creationist card
|
|
|
|
|-
| birther card
| claims those asking unanswered questions are conspiracy kooks
| ''Truthers vs. Birthers: Not All Conspiracy Theories Are Created Equal'' <ref>[http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/truthers-vs-birthers-not-all-conspiracy-theories-are-created-equal/?singlepage=true ''Truthers vs. Birthers: Not All Conspiracy Theories Are Created Equal; Birthers aren't remotely as crazy — and dangerous — as Truthers'']. September 23, 2009 by Arthur Chrenkoff. Pajama's Media.</ref>
| hides the question of [[natural born citizen]]
| exposes the original meaning of [[natural born citizen]].
|-
| abortion card
| a defense of feminism
| Senator [[Ted Kennedy]] implied that Justice Bork would turn back Roe V. Wade forcing women to have back-alley abortions.
| fear Republican laws and personal responsibility
| you can't run from your conscience and consequence of actions can lead to a lifetime of suffering
|-
| liberal mocking card
| mocking a conservative opponent rather than dealing with substantive issues
| ''The Daily Show''
| often pleases supporters
| makes person look petty
|-
|snark card
|Using snarky (sometimes even offensive) humor to attack the opponent.
|Rachael Maddow, Jon Stewart, etc.
|Often a [[laugh track|cue]] for other liberals to "join in" the laughter
|Nobody else is laughing (or they are laughing at the snark attempt-er).
|-
|Jesus card
|Claiming "What would Jesus do" to try to paint the opponent as not a true Christian (a common liberal tactic when cornered on a religious issue, such as [[homosexuality]])
|As noted above, liberals often use this to defend homosexuality <ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-shore/what-would-jesus-do-if-in_b_480013.html</ref> by claiming that Jesus never specifically mentioned it.
|Certain Bible passages can easily be [[quote mine]]d.
|A true Christian can easily find the flaws in such an argument by pointing our how it is taken out of context.
|-
|gun nut card
|slurs anyone who wants to take away defensive weapons
|
|
|angers those with guns
|-
|[[Liberal redefinition]] card
| changing the definition of a word to suit one's purposes
|
|
|
|-
| misuse of statistics card
| Liberals often use certain "trends" to support their claims.
| Citing the Clinton surplus vs the Bush deficit
| At first makes the user look like they have done their research
| Often taken out of context (for example the Clinton surplus was largely due to a Republican congress and the end of the Cold War, while the Bush deficit was caused greatly by two wars and need for Homeland Security.
|-
| cherry picking data card
| selectively picking out cases that support one's arguments from a wide variety of material and ignoring all the cases that don't
|
|
| dishonest and easy to point out counterexamples
|-
| never-admitting-a-mistake card
| inability to admit a mistake; lack of [[Essay:Quantifying Openmindedness|openmindness]]
| [[Thomas Sowell]] writes, (a) goals are redefined after the fact to give the public the illusion of success; (b) bad motives are ascribed to the opposition or society in general; (c) good intentions of the anointed are highlighted; and (d) they attack the accuracy of the data showing failure. <ref>Thomas Sowell, [http://nobsblog.blogspot.com/2002/12/vision-of-anointed-by-thomas-sowell.html ''The Vision of the Anointed]'', Chap. 2.</ref>
|
|
|-
| denying [[Biblical scientific foreknowledge]] card
|
|
|
|
|-
| [[Anti-Americanism|Anti-American]] card
| Denying [[ American exceptionalism|American exceptionalism]]. Trouts out false examples of how European countries have better standard of living.
|
|
|
|-
| [[Deceit|deceit]] card
| Lies or distorts truth in order to win argument.
|
|
|
|-
| [[Poe's law|Poe's]] card
| Impersonation of [[Conservatives]] to discredit their positions.Liberals often create straw men during this impersonation.
|
|
|
|-
| Elite card
| claiming that a policy benefits the rich and powerful
|
|
|
|-
| Compassion card
| arguing someone must be right because he has more compassion
|
|
|
|-
| Hypocrite card
| claiming some inconsistency in positions
| The idea that a pro-lifer must oppose death penalty
| Some people actually buy it.
| Often the people making the Hypocrite claim exhibit hypocrisy themselves (see [[Liberal hypocrisy]])
|-
| Guilt by association card
| insinuating that someone is bad because he was once in the same room with some extremist
| "shaking hands with [[Saddam Hussein]]." <ref>[http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=ie7&q=shaking+hands+with+Saddam+Hussein&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-ContextMenu&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7ACAW_enUS425US426 Google Search Results].</ref>
| slander at will
| look who's calling the kettle back.
|-
| Google bomb card
| sabotaging Google searches
| [[Rick Santorum]]
|
|
|-
|working families card
|class warfare
|See Democratic Talking Points, [[2008_Democratic_National_Convention#Democratic_National_Convention|2008 Presidential Nominating Convention]], from the ''[[New York Times]]''. [http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/democrats-talking-points-on-the-convention/]
|Postures [[Democrat]]s as advocates for people who hold jobs and have children.
|Politicians who employ such rhetoric invariably work to pass legislation that destroys jobs and undermines families.
|-
| nativist card
| the idea people born in a given country are xenophobic exclusionary bigots.
| Opposition to the Ground Zero mosque.
| divides the people against themselves
| hard to prove in a [[melting pot]]
|-
|[[Godwin's Law|Godwin]] card
|invoking the name of Hitler.
|Liberal [[George_Soros#2004_Presidential_Elections_in_the_United_States|George Soros]] likened the Bush administration to the Nazi regime.
|appeals to emotion and extremists, and less educated leftists.
|typical [[totalitarian]] tactic.
|-
|Patriot card
|Seeks to paint loyal Americans as racist.
| "patriotism is little more than a disguised form of racism"<ref>http://atheism.about.com/od/politicspoliticalissues/a/problempride_2.htm</ref>
|Some "Patriot movement" groups call for tighter immigration control.
|Democrats can be sensitive to the charge of being unpatriotic.
|-
|Immigration card
|implies Democrats are sympathetic to a person's immigration status, despite the fact there is no historical record of legislative achievements in this area.
|The promised [[DREAM Act|Obama Dream Act]], a "cynical exercise in political charades", failed to pass the Democratic controlled Senate, 55-41.
|Seeks to pit voters against each other along racial and ethnic lines, which Democrats view as a win.
|Most immigrants come to America seeking conservative values, such as a [[right to work]], lower taxes, being free of big government oppression, etc.
|-
|Nixon's Southern Strategy card
|implies Richard Nixon appealed to Southern Democrats and racists after Lyndon Johnson passed the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]].
| "probably the biggest lie that's been told to the blacks since Woodrow Wilson segregated the federal government" <ref>[http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8123561/nixons_southern_strategy.html Nixon's Southern Strategy: The Democrat-Lie Keeping Their Control Over the Black Community], Ken Raymond, June 6, 2011. associatedcontent from Yahoo.</ref>
|labels Southerners as racist.
|ignores the fact that (1) Richard Nixon did not carry the South; a Democrat, [[George Wallace]] received 49 [[electoral votes]] exclusively from the South; and (2) passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was entirely dependent on Republican votes with Democrats in both houses voting against passage.<ref>Final tally in the House among Republicans was 138 to 34; Democrats 152-96; in the Senate 21 Democrats voted against passage while only 6 Republicans opposed. [http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/12/13/194350.shtml]</ref>
|-
|neo-confederate card
|implies [[Civil War]] buffs want to bring back [[segregation]] and [[slavery]].
|On the 150th anniversary of start of the Civil War, [[MSNBC]]'s liberal hosts never missed an opportunity to associate today's conservative movement with the [[Confederacy]], [[secession]], [[slavery]] and racism.<ref>http://www.mrc.org/cmi/eyeonculture/2011/_MSNBCs_UnCivil_War_on_the_Right.html</ref>
|intimidating to conservative Bluedog Democrats.
|may backfire and evoke [[bipartisanship]].
|-
|redneck card
|implication rural inhabitants are uneducated and possibly racist
|most often applied to [[Ron Paul]] supporters
|pejorative aimed at Bluedog Democrats, [[Red State]] dwellers, and others in flyover country.
|When motivated, this group forms an important part of a center-right majority.
|-
| bitter and cling to guns or religion card
| Why don't common people vote Democrat?
| Used by Obama and [[Howard Dean]].
| Attempts to justify Democrat's failure to coffeehouse liberals, and persuade hick voters by belittling them.
| Insulting to average voters.
|-
|[[NASCAR]] card
|insinuates NASCAR fans are uneducated and racist
|NASCAR fans tend to vote Republican,<ref>http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/04/24/109269/-Why-do-NASCAR-Fans-Vote-Republican</ref> more so than fans of most others sports.
|Republicans failed to balance the budget by cutting $7.4 million from the [[Pentagon]]'s sponsorship of NASCAR for Army recruiting. <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/19/sports/autoracing/19nascar.html</ref>
|NASCAR has an estimated 75 million fans.
|-
| insensitive card
| failure to behave in a [[politically correct]] manner.
| a former Miss California was stripped of her crown for saying she thought marriage was between a man and a woman. <ref>http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2009/04/20/carrie-prejean-says-answer-gay-marriage-question-cost-miss-usa-crown/</ref>
| ostracizing others among the unenlightened masses leads to feelings of superiority.
| not everyone keeps up to date on the lastest liberal [[tripe]].
|-
|[[McCarthyism]] card
|accuse someone of being like the (false) liberal portrayal of [[Joseph McCarthy]]
|''"Racist!" as an Epithet of Repression'' <ref>[http://robertlindsay.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/racist/ ''“Racist!” as an Epithet of Repression''], Dr. Paul Trout, Montana Professor Journal, Fall 1995.</ref>
|baseless smear, such as calling someone a racist. Extremely flexible, and with great glee you can ruin someone's life just for fun.
|Requires no morals or conscience.
|}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:political cards]]

Massachusetts

2011-07-03T20:29:26Z

AhmedB: /* Politics */ Fixing tense; it happened over a year ago, after all

{{USState
|name=Massachusetts
|flag=Massachusetts_State_Flag.gif
|motto="Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem" (By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty)
|nick=The Bay State
|capital=Boston
|language=English
|governor=Deval Patrick
|gparty=Democrat
|senator1=John Kerry
|s1party=Democrat
|s1phone=(202) 224-2742
|s1email=http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/contact/email.html Contact
|senator2=Scott Brown
|s2party=Republican
|s2phone=(202) 224-4543
|s2email=http://scottbrown.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/emailscottbrown Contact
|population=
|date=February 6, 1788 (6th)
}}

The '''Commonwealth of Massachusetts''' is a state<ref>It is one of four states officially known as "commonwealths"; there are no practical differences between a "commonwealth" and a "state".
</ref> in the [[New England]] region of the northeastern [[United States]]. Its capital city is [[Boston]]. The name is derived from the Indian tribe that lived there, the "Massachusett". It is one of four states officially known as "commonwealths"; there are no practical differences between a "commonwealth" and a "state". It is well noted for being a bastion of American leftism.

==History==

Massachusetts was first settled by the [[Pilgrims]] who emigrated from [[England]] on the ''[[Mayflower]]'' in 1620 and founded a settlement at [[Plymouth Colony|Plymouth]], and soon afterward by the much larger group the [[Puritans]], who founded the "Massachusetts Bay Colony". Both groups came to America seeking religious freedom.
[[File:Col-mass.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Harvard College was founded in 1638 making Boston the intellectual center of New England]]
The colony was a major center of the [[American Revolution]], as events such as the [[Boston Massacre]] and [[Boston Tea Party]] helped to create a desire for national independence among the Americans. The first battle of the war was fought at [[Lexington]] and [[Concord]]; the first great American victory was the expulsion of the British from Boston on "Evacuation Day," March 17, 1776.

Shortly after the war ended, tax protesters in the western part of the state revolted in [[Shays' Rebellion]], a major factor leading to demands for a stronger national government at the [[Constitutional Convention]] in 1787. Massachusetts abolished slavery in 1783 and ratified the Constitution on February 6, 1788.

During the 1800s, Massachusetts was marked by increasing industrialization, including the founding of textile mills in towns such as Lowell. Important historical figures during this time included [[Horace Mann]], an important educational reformer, and [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] and [[Henry David Thoreau]], two of the main contributors to the [[Transcendentalism|Transcendental]] movement.

In the 1900s, Massachusetts moved from a factory-based economy to a more service-based economy, sparked by growth in its local colleges and universities as well as by a collapse in the textile industry during the 1920s. This encouraged increased suburbanization, leading to the current demographic situation in which the population is concentrated in suburbs around the city of [[Boston]]. In 1987, the state received federal highway funding for the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, known colloquially as the [[Big Dig]]. The $14.7 billion grant is the largest federal highway project ever approved.

==Politics==
Liberal icon [[Ted Kennedy]], the third longest-serving Senator in U.S. history, died from a brain tumor in August 2009, marking the end of an era. During the [[2004 Presidential Election]] the Democratic super-majority in the state legislature blocked the Republican Governor [[Mitt Romney]] from appointing an interim senator should [[John Kerry]] be elected President. The legislature changed the law back again after Kennedy's death, allowing Governor [[Deval Patrick]], a Democrat, to appoint a temporary replacement for Kennedy. He chose former Democratic National Committee chairman [[Paul Kirk]]. Kirk did not seek a full term of his own, and a special election was held on January 19, 2010.

Republican State Senator [[Scott Brown]] pulled a major upset, defeating Democrat Attorney General [[Martha Coakley]] in the election. Brown rode on a wave of voter anger at President Obama and his [[health care]] overhaul and won by a 52%-47% margin.<ref> See [http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/01/19/us/politics/massachusetts-election-map.html?hp statistical analysis of 2010 vote]</ref>

Although once a bastion of social conservatism (the term "Banned in Boston" is still in widespread use)<ref>http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Massachusetts/id/1896007</ref> Massachusetts is known as one of the most Catholic and most liberal states. It is the most populous state to have all-Democratic congressional representation (before Brown won in 2010). It was called "Taxachusetts" because of its high tax rate, which has since been lowered by a series of Republican governors in the 1990s and 2000s ([[William Weld]], [[Paul Cellucci]], [[Jane Swift]] and [[Mitt Romney]]); they were among the most liberal Republican governors in the country.<ref>http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Massachusetts/id/1896007</ref>

Its current [[United States Senate|U.S. Senators]] are [[John Kerry]] (who unsuccessfully ran for [[President]] in 2004) and [[Scott Brown]].

The current governor, elected in 2006 over Republican and former Lieutenant Governor Kerry Murphy Healey,<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/candidates/governor/patrick/</ref> is [[Deval Patrick|Deval L. Patrick]], who was the first Democrat to take the office in 16 years, and the first African American to win the post.<ref>http://www.mass.gov/</ref><ref>http://www.nndb.com/gov/911/000051758/</ref> A strong liberal in the state that legalized [[homosexual marriage]], Patrick signed a bill which allowed out-of-state gay couples to marry in Massachusetts. In a speech afterward, Patrick was recorded openly mocking conservatives and the Bible by stating, "In five years now, ... the sky has not fallen, the earth has not opened to swallow us all up."<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/07/31/massachusetts-gov-patrick-signs-allowing-gay-marriage-non-residents</ref>

Patrick is faring poorly in polls, as he has been ineffective in getting his own priorities enacted, and in dealing with the [[recession of 2008]].

Massachusetts is the home of Presidents [[John Adams]], [[John Quincy Adams]], and [[John F. Kennedy]].

Massachusetts has been a [[blue state]] in presidential elections since 1928 except when it favored [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] and [[Ronald Wilson Reagan]] both terms.

==Elected Officials==

===Federal===
*Sen. [[John Kerry]] (D)
*Sen. [[Scott Brown]] (R)
*Rep. [[John Olver]] [D, MA-01]
*Rep. [[Richard Neal]] [D, MA-02]
*Rep. [[Jim McGovern]] [D, MA-03]
*Rep. [[Barney Frank]] [D, MA-04]
*Rep. [[Niki Tsongas]] [D, MA-05]
*Rep. [[John Tierney]] [D, MA-06]
*Rep. [[Ed Markey]] [D, MA-07]
*Rep. [[Michael Capuano]] [D, MA-08]
*Rep. [[Stephen Lynch]] [D, MA-09]
*Rep. [[William Keating]] [D, MA-10]

===Statewide===
*Governor [[Deval Patrick]] (D)
*Lt. Governor [[Tim Murray]] (D)
*State Auditor [[Suzanne Bump]] (D)
*Secretary of State [[Bill Galvin]] (D)
*Attorney General [[Martha Coakley]] (D)
*State Treasurer [[Steve Grossman]] (D)

==Notes and references==
<references/>

{{USstates}}
[[Category:States of the United States]]
[[Category:Massachusetts]]
[[Category:New England]]

Scott Walker

2011-06-27T11:51:52Z

AhmedB:

{{Officeholder
|name=Scott Walker
|image=Scott walker.jpg
|party=[[Republican]]
|spouse=Tonette Walker
|religion=Evangelical Christian
|offices=
{{Officeholder/governor
|state=Wisconsin
|terms=January 3, 2011 - Present
|preceded=Jim Doyle
|former=n
|succeeded=
}}
}}

'''Scott Kevin Walker''' (born November 2, 1967 in Colorado Springs, Colorado) currently serves as Governor of [[Wisconsin]], and is a member of the [[Republican Party]]. Previously he was Executive of Milwaukee County and a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Scott Walker became a leader of [[conservatives]] nationwide when he supported and then signed into law a repeal of the collective bargaining rights of most government workers. Walker took this historic step to prevent the state from continuing on a path of financial ruin.

==Budget Deficit==
Wisconsin has a budget deficit of more than $3 billion. Instead of raising taxes, the governor has set out on a mission to reduce costs across the board and to make Wisconsin a business-friendly state. The state's labor union are in an uproar and are protesting Walker's decision to end union collective bargaining and force employees to fund part of their pensions, as well as contribute to their own health and life insurance.
==External Links==
*[http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/ Governor of Wisconsin Official Site]
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:Wisconsin Governors]]
[[category:Conservatives]]

Rick Santorum

2011-06-05T05:05:48Z

AhmedB:

[[Image:Rick Santorum.jpg|right|thumb|Rick Santorum]]
'''Rick Santorum''' served as [[United States]] [[Senator]] from [[Pennsylvania]] from January, 1995 through January, 2007. During that time, Santorum was known for his [[conservative]] political views. A [[cult]]-like movement among [[liberals]], and particularly [[homosexual]] activists, vilified Santorum for his forthright and truthful statements. In the Senate, Santorum stood for traditional values, and fought for [[traditional marriage]]. His "Santorum Amendment" to the No Child Left Behind Act sought (albeit unsuccessfully) to support the teaching of [[intelligent design]] in [[public school]]s as a legitimate scientific theory.

In 2006 [[Bob Casey, Jr.]], the [[liberal]] son of a popular former Pennsylvania governor who had been [[pro-life]], defeated Santorum as part of a [[Democratic]] sweep in that election. Casey subsequently endorsed pro-[[abortion]] [[Barack Obama]] for president in 2008.

Currently Senator Santorum is on a lecture circuit decrying the dangers of terrorism and pointing out the obvious flaws of President Barack Hussein Obama's policy of negotiation with rogue states such as Libya or Iran.

==Liberal Obsession with Santorum==

[[Liberals]] became obsessed with Santorum, particularly after he stood up for traditional marriage and drew an analogy between support for [[homosexual marriage]] and other illegal forms of marriage and conduct. Rather than dispute the analogy, liberals were quick to [[liberal tricks|feign offense]]. They argued that because the other kinds of conduct are so universally repulsive, pointing out the parallels with [[homosexual act]]s and homosexual marriage unduly disparages homosexuals. But they knew the ugly truth -- that homosexuality is just one step away on the slippery slope towards many other disgustingly immoral proclivities. Since they had no legitimate arguments, they could only resort to [[liberal namecalling]] and personal attacks.

==2012 Presidential Race==

One June 6, Santorum will announce his intentions to run for President in 2012.<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55772.html</ref>

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT: Santorum, Rick}}
[[Category:Former United States Senators]]
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]

Talk:American History Final Exam

2011-05-30T04:08:52Z

AhmedB: /* Post your answers here for grading */

Here are the top scores for the [[American History Final Exam]]. Feel free to post your own answers for grading!

==Top scores==

*39 ([[homeschooler]])
*37 (homeschooler)
*36 (two homeschoolers tied at this score)
*34 (two homeschoolers tied at this score)
*33 (two exams, one by a homeschooler and one by a public visitor below)
*32 (homeschooler)
*31 (public visitor below)
*30 (homeschooler)

(Total number of papers left to grade: 9)

== Top scores after multiple other answers were posted ==

*44 (public visitor below)

==Post your answers here for grading==
1. C
2. C
3. A
4. C
5. C
6. D
7. B
8. D
9. C
10. B
11. A
12. D
13. A
14. C
15. B
16. C
17. D
18. B
19. C
20. B
21. C
22. A
23. B
24. B
25. C
26. C
27. B
28. C
29. C
30. D
31. D
32. C
33. B
34. D
35. D
36. B (As great as ''Conservapedia'' is, I would hardly call its founding an important event in American history)
37. D
38. B
39. D
40. B
41. A
42. C
43. C
44. D
45. B

Extra credit
1.D
3. A.

--[[User:Esmith543|Esmith543]] 23:16, 26 May 2011 (EDT)

: Correct score: 33. Good!--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 10:11, 27 May 2011 (EDT)

Why would you have separate extra credit questions for girls and boys? Are girls not supposed to be interested in baseball? Do boys not care about chivalry?

Andy, would it be too much trouble for you to message me the answers that I got wrong with the corrections?--[[User:Esmith543|Esmith543]] 21:08, 27 May 2011 (EDT)

:Several students have not yet taken the exam and I'd like to wait longer before indicating what was correct or incorrect. Thanks in advance for your patience!--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 21:28, 27 May 2011

1C 2C 3A 4C 5C 6B 7B 8D 9C 10B 11A 12D 13B 14A 15B 16C 17D 18B 19A 20A 21A 22A 23B 24B 25C 26C 27B 28C 29C 30D 31A 32A 33C 34D 35A 36C 37D 38C 39D 40D 41D 42C 43C 44B 45B 46D 47B
--[[User:JustinD|JustinD]] 12:42, 28 May 2011 (EDT)

: Correct score: 31. Good effort!--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 16:17, 28 May 2011 (EDT)

1. c
2. c
3. a
4. c
5. c
6. d
7. b
8. d
9. c
10. b
11. a
12. d
13. c
14. a
15. c
16. c
17. d
18. b
19. a
20. b
21. a
22. a
23. b
24. b
25. c
26. c
27. b
28. c
29. c
30. d
31. d
32. b
33. b
34. b
35. c
36. b
37. d
38. b
39. b
40. b
41. d
42. c
43. d
44. d
45. a
extra credit
46. d
47. c (guys bonus question though I would not have minded answering the girl's bonus question which is c)--[[User:Harrymd|Harrymd]] 18:09, 29 May 2011 (EDT)Harrison M Dorobek

: Correct score: 44! Terrific!!!--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 18:24, 29 May 2011 (EDT)

1. C
2. B
3. A
4. C
5. C
6. D
7. B
8. D
9. C
10. B
11. A
12. D
13. C
14. A
15. B
16. C
17. D
18. B
19. A
20. B
21. C
22. A
23. B
24. B
25. C
26. C
27. B
28. D
29. C
30. D
S1. A
32. C
33. A
34. D
35. A
36. B
37. D (I did chuckle at IV, though)
38. C
39. D
40. C
41. C
42. C
43. A
44. D
45. B

EC-1. D
EC-2. C

Hope I did alright! --[[User:AhmedB|AhmedB]] 00:08, 30 May 2011 (EDT)

Winston Churchill

2011-05-22T23:29:25Z

AhmedB:

{{Prime Minister
|image=Solidgold.jpg
|seq=
|party=Conservative Party
|term_start=May 10, 1940
|term_end=1945
|previous=Neville Chamberlain
|next=Clement Attlee
|term_start2=1950
|term_end2=1955
|previous2=Clement Attlee
|next2=Anthony Eden
|birth_date=1874
|birth_place=
|death_date=1965
|death_place=
|spouse=
|spouse2=
|religion=[[Anglican]]
}}
The Right Honourable '''Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill''' (1874-1965) was an English statesman, orator, soldier and historian who served as Conservative [[Prime Minister]] of the [[United Kingdom]] for most of the [[Second World War]] and again from 1951-55. He was one of the few leaders to achieve high office in both World Wars and to write profusely about his experiences. Best known for his courageous leadership as British prime minister standing alone against Hitler's Germany, Churchill was a formidable politician over a half-century, as well as the historian whose interpretations shaped English language studies of both world wars. He was a leader of the Liberal party before it collapsed in the 1920s; then he rejoined the Conservative party. Although he supported the beginning of the welfare state around 1910, he was temperamentally and culturally a conservative, and he became a leading opponent of socialism after 1945, as well as an opponent of Gandhi's movement for the independence of India after 1930. Throughout his career he was pro-business and hostile to labour unions.
{{cquote|'''Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.'''}}
A larger-than-life character, famous for his trademark cigar and his reputation as a drinker (which he joyfully exaggerated), Churchill was also a talented amateur landscape painter and pilot, soldier, farmer, and even bricklayer. When he retired from the House of Commons in 1964, he had spent over six decades in public life, a career that ran from the last great British cavalry charge to the nuclear age.

==Career==
===Early life===
Churchill was a younger son of the top aristocracy. He was born in 1874 to Lord [[Randolph Churchill]] and an American mother.
Winston's father, Lord Randolph Churchill (1849–1895) was a third son of a poor English duke with a very famous family name; Randolph became a prominent Conservative politician. He married Jennie Jerome (1854–1921), the daughter of American millionaire Leonard Jerome. She was of colonial American stock of English ancestry and brought a dowry of £50,000. Churchill was born in [[Blenheim Palace]], the palace of the dukes of Marlborough. He had one brother, John Strange Churchill (1880–1947). The parents' marriage faltered, in part because of Lord Randolph's debilitating disease (which resembled syphilis); Lady Randolph became notorious for her romantic attachments, becoming known as "Lady Jane Snatcher." She liked Winston, but largely ignored him.<ref>. H. L. Le May, "Churchill, Jeanette (Lady Randolph Churchill) (1854–1921)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,'' 2004; [http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.cc.uic.edu/view/article/37282, online] </ref> His mother later became his ardent ally, helping him achieve key assignments as a war reporter and smoothing his career in politics. The son idealized his always-absent mother. "She shone for me like the Evening Star," Churchill later wrote. "I loved her dearly—but at a distance." <ref> Jenkins, ''Churchill,'' p. 8</ref>

Winston spent a typical upper-class childhood in the hands of nurses and headmasters at a succession of private schools from the age of eight. While he was no more neglected than most boys of his age and class, his sensitive nature suffered as a result of his parents' aloofness and he always regretted his failure to achieve a close relationship with his father, who died in 1895 at the age of only 45 and Winston was 21. Churchill rarely spoke with his father, who served as Secretary of state for India, Leader of the House and chancellor of the exchequer. However the son systematically adopted his father's ideas and political positions, and thereby became well known in political circles.

He entered Harrow School in 1888 with a track for the Army. Churchill had an independent and rebellious nature; he lacked self-discipline and displayed slovenly or unruly behaviour. His grades were poor apart from English and history; he avoided team sports but was a fencing champion. His father did not think he was smart enough for Oxford, so he went to the military academy at Sandhurst in 1893. He excelled at tactics, fortifications and horsemanship, graduating twentieth out of a class of 130 in 1894; he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant cavalry officer in the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, where he excelled at polo.

===Military experience===
Posted to Bangalore, India, in 1896, he ignored local conditions. His duties were done well before noon; apart from polo he did not socialize with his peers, who considered the slender, short, highly ambitious young man to be pushy, bumptious and not a proper gentleman.In 1902 the intellectual Beatrice Webb found him "egotistical, bumptious, shallow-minded and reactionary, but with a certain personal magnetism, great pluck and some originality, not of intellect but of character. More of the American speculator than the English aristocrat." <ref> Jenkins, ''Churchill,'' p. 148</ref> Churchill became an intellectual, as he immersed himself in the classics, devouring the works of Adam Smith, Gibbon, Macaulay, Hallam, Lecky, and Darwin. He carefully studied the parliamentary debates of the 1870s to 1890s, adding to them his own imaginary speeches. He never learned Latin or Greek so he fashioned a prose style modeled on the two finest writers among English historians, Gibbon and Macaulay. A book on the evolution of civilization that ridiculed Christianity<ref>Winwood Reade ''Martyrdom of Man'' (1872)</ref> led to his loss of religious faith; he believed in evolution and the inevitability of progress.

Between 1897 and 1900, with the aid of his mother's lobbying in London, Churchill fought in three imperial wars while doubling as a war correspondent and writing three books. In 1897 he joined three brigades in fighting a Pathan tribe. His lively account of the skirmishes proved he could write for the popular press; he received £5 per column from the ''Daily Telegraph'' and soon became the highest paid war correspondent in the world.

[[File:Churchill The River War.jpg|thumb|''The River War,'' one of Churchill's first books]]

In late 1899 Churchill went to South Africa as a war correspondent to cover the [[Second Boer War]]; his salary was a remarkable £250 per month plus expenses. Caught in an ambush Churchill was captured and held in a POW camp in Pretoria; he escaped--an adventure that made him a minor national hero. He rejoined General Redvers Buller's army on its march to relieve [[Ladysmith]] and take Pretoria. Churchill was one of the first British troops into Ladysmith and Pretoria. In 1900, he published two books on the Boer war, ''London to Ladysmith via Pretoria''<ref> online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14426]</ref> and ''Ian Hamilton's March''<ref> online at [http://books.google.com/books?id=27yKxqljk4gC&dq=inauthor:winston+inauthor:churchill&num=30].</ref>

Churchill's mother used her connections with the prince of Wales to get the her son assigned to the force commanded by Lord Kitchener for the reconquest of the [[Sudan]]. Churchill arrived just in time to join the cavalry charge at the battle of Omdurman (2 September 1898), in which his regiment galloped by accident into a ravine crammed with armed men. Churchill, who shot and killed at least three of the enemy, was cool, courageous and lucky.<ref> Over 30,000 Sudanese were killed, compared with 28 British soldiers. </ref> The ''Morning Post'' ran his stories, and the public snatched up his two-volume ''The River War: An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan'' (1899)<ref> online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4943]</ref>. It displayed a remarkably sympathetic history of the Sudanese revolt against Egyptian rule. A speaking tour of Britain, the U.S. and Canada in 1900 netted £10,000, proving the funding he needed for a political-literary career.<ref> Churchill met [[Theodore Roosevelt]]; they resembled each other in many ways but never became friends.</ref>

===Early politics===
In late 1900, Churchill was elected to Parliament as a Conservative. His independent nature soon saw him at odds with his party, and in 1904 he "crossed the floor" to the Liberals, who won a landslide election in early 1906. He served the Liberal government as President of the Board of Trade and Home Secretary, where he helped pass social reform legislation that laid the foundations of the British welfare state.

When [[Herbert Henry Asquith]] became Prime Minister in 1908, Churchill was promoted to the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade. Working closely with [[David Lloyd George]] he helped pass major social welfare legislation, called the "New Liberalism.". Churchill focused on the "Trade Boards Bill," a scheme to end the sweatshops in the garment industry; on labour exchanges, designed to reduce unemployment by making job searches easier; and unemployment insurance for 3 million workers in cyclical industries. He supported Lloyd George's highly controversial "People's Budget" of 1909-10 (with spending increase of 11% and multiple tax increases that especially targeted rich landowners), even as it caused a constitutional crisis with the House of Lords.<ref> Jenkins, ''Churchill'' 157-66; Bruce K. Murray, "The Politics of the 'People's Budget'" ''The Historical Journal'', Vol. 16, No. 3 (Sep., 1973), pp. 555-570 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0018-246X(197309)16%3A3%3C555%3ATPOT'B%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W in JSTOR]</ref>

Churchill in 1910 denied that war with Germany was a threat and opposed the tripling of the warship budget proposed by the Admiralty.<ref>Jenkins, ''Churchill,'' 154-56 </ref> Churchill generally was on the winning side, though he was beaten on the warships.<ref> Jenkins, ''Churchill, ch 8</ref>

In 1910, Churchill was promoted to [[Home Secretary]]. Regarding a dispute at the Cambrian Colliery coal mine in Tonypandy, initially Churchill blocked the use of troops fearing a repeat of the 1887 "bloody Sunday" in Trafalgar Square. Nevertheless, he deployed soldiers to protect the mines and to avoid riots when thirteen strikers were tried for minor offences, an action that broke the tradition of not involving the military in civil affairs and led to lingering dislike for Churchill in Wales.

In 1911, he became First Lord of the Admiralty (civilian head of the Royal Navy), working especially to complete the conversion of ships from coal to oil. Together with his two First Sea Lords, Prince Louis of Battenberg and Admiral Lord Fisher, Churchill promoted fast, powerful battleships and outproduced the Germans to maintain British naval supremacy. He founded the Naval Air Service, and made numerous visits to ships and navy bases, where he was admired for his efforts to improve conditions for officers and crews.

===First World War===
At Churchill's direction, the fleet was at its war station before war broke out in 1914, but it was never able to engage the Germans in a decisive early sea battle. Churchill designed and supervised the Gallipoli campaign to force a route to [[Constantinople]] (now [[Istanbul]]). It was a unmitigated failure, and led to his removal from the Admiralty in May 1915. Reporting to his regiment in the trenches of Belgium, he was under fire for three months before returning to Parliament. In 1917, he was appointed Minister of Munitions and in 1919, Secretary for War and Air. He wrote a major 4-volume history of the war that added to his literary reputation.

===1920s===
As Colonial Secretary in 1921-22, he advocated the dropping of poison gas on rebellious tribes of Iraqi Arabs [http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHU407A.html]and during this period Churchill enjoyed two notable diplomatic achievements. At the 1921 Cairo conference, he helped establish the borders of the modern [[Middle East]], though he failed in his attempt to set up a Kurdish homeland "to protect the Kurds against some future bully in [[Iraq]]." Closer to home, he helped to forge the Irish Treaty, which kept the peace in Ireland for 50 years. Michael Collins, the IRA revolutionary with whom Churchill negotiated, said from his deathbed: "Tell Winston we could have done nothing without him."

In 1924, Churchill rejoined the Conservatives, serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer through spring 1929. He returned Britain to the gold standard and ran a government newspaper, ''The British Gazette'', during the general strike of 1926, and is still remembered in South Wales as the politician who sent tanks onto the streets to force striking miners back to work.
===Political exile in 1930s===
[[File:Churchill Sunset over Atlas Mountains, Marrakech 1935.jpg|thumb|Sunset over Atlas Mountains, Marrakesh, 1935.]]
He became increasingly separated from the Conservatives in the 1930s, first over the plan to grant India dominion status; later over Britain's slow rearmament in the face of Hitler's aggression; and finally when he championed King Edward VIII, who abdicated in 1936.

{{Clear}}

===Second World War===
Not until war had broken out again in 1939 was he asked to rejoin the Government, again becoming First Lord of the Admiralty, which according to legend, signaled to its ships: "Winston is Back." He renewed his energetic naval policies but was repulsed in an attempt to wrest Norway from the invading Germans in April 1940, having first had to drop ambitious plans to invade neutral Sweden.

With the Nazi blitzkrieg pouring into the [[Low Countries]] in May, 1940, The British Prime Minister [[Neville Chamberlain]] resigned and Churchill was appointed Prime Minister as head of in an all-party coalition government with Labour and the Liberals. Although Britain continued to be defeated elsewhere, in the [[Battle of Britain]] the German Air Force was unable to gain the air superiority required for an invasion of Britain. In those months, as Edward R. Murrow said, "he mobilized the English language and sent it into battle." Some of Churchill's most famous speeches were given at this time. The Germans turned their attention east, to their ally the Soviet Union.

After Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Churchill saw the chance to defeat Hitler using Soviet manpower. He vowed to help the Soviets, declaring, "If Hitler invaded hell I would at least make a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons."

By 1940 Churchill had developed close ties with U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], he secured American military aid and financial support, but his ultimate goal was to have America fighting at Britain's side. Together they proclaimed the "[[Atlantic Charter]]" in 1941. The U.S. became the "Arsenal of Democracy," using [[Lend Lease]] to send $50 billion in military supplies to the Allies; most went to Britain, which in turn sent munitions to Russia.<ref>Lend Lease was free and did not have to be repaid, although transport ships were to be returned after the war, and some were.</ref> When the United States declared war after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, Churchill admitted that he "slept the sleep of the saved and the thankful."

Europe was the centre of his attention; the Australians complained about his neglect of their interests (and turned to the U.S. for protection). Recalling the horrible death tolls of 1914-1918, he was reluctant to invade France, proposing instead invasions of North Africa and Italy (which took place in 1942-43) and the Balkans (which did not happen). Churchill strongly supported the strategic air campaign that bombed enemy cities, railyards and oil refineries. He worked very well with [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], the American general in overall command of the invasion of France that was launched successfully in June 1944. Despite complaints by senior generals and admirals that Churchill interfered too much in military matters, he was successful in balancing the economic, manpower, diplomatic, psychological and military dimensions of the war.

===Defeat in 1945===
Churchill was disappointed by the failure to control an expansionist Soviet Union toward the end of the war, and watched with mounting concern another totalitarian state rise dominant in Europe. To the amazement of many outside Britain, his party was routed in the 1945 general election and he became Leader of the Opposition. His famous "Iron Curtain" speech at Fulton, Missouri, in 1946 was the opening salvo and warning of the Cold War, unpopular at the time but later considered prophetic. In 1949, he predicted the demise of Communism, "ignited by a spark coming from God knows where, and in a moment the whole system of lies and oppression is on trial for its life."
===Return in 1951===
In 1951 the Conservatives regained an electoral majority and Churchill became prime minister again, but he was disappointed in his effort to achieve a peaceful settlement of cold war antagonisms, and his domestic record was indifferent. He became a Knight of the Garter, acquiring the title "Sir Winston" in 1953.

Suffering from age and poor health, he retired in April 1955, but remained a Member of Parliament for another nine years. He declined a peerage in order to remain in Commons. In 1963 he was declared an Honorary Citizen of the United States by President [[John F. Kennedy]]. He died at age 90 on January 24, 1965. [http://www.churchill.navy.mil/site%20pages/history.aspx]
==Churchill as historian==
Churchill was a prolific historian with a lively style and a very wide audience. won the 1953 [[Nobel Prize]] for [[Literature]], bestowed for his numerous books on history, biography and politics. His greatest biography was ''Marlborough'' (4 volumes, 1933-38); his best-known historical work was ''A History of the English-Speaking Peoples'' (4 volumes, 1956-1958). His personal memoirs, ''My Early Life'' (1930), ''The World Crisis'' (5 volumes, 1923-31) and ''The Second World War'' (6 volumes, 1948-53) are readable personal accounts of his Victorian youth and the two world wars. In all, Churchill wrote over 40 titles in over 60 volumes, nearly 1,000 articles and uncounted speeches.

Churchill wrote ''Lord Randolph Churchill'', a two-volume biography of his father which was published in 1906 and received much critical acclaim. Some historians suggest Churchill used the book in part to vindicate his own career and in particular to justify crossing the floor.<ref>James, ''Churchill a study in failure'' p34-35</ref> His ''The World Crisis'' (six volumes, 1923–31) was a broad-scale history of the First World War, with Churchill never far offstage. His greatest work was , ''The Second World War'' (six volumes, 1948–53), using secret papers not available to other for many years; he did not reveal the prime secret of breaking the German codes (which was revealed in the early 1970s). Churchill's highly detailed narrative structured much of the historiography for the first decade or two after the war, especially in his analysis and denunciation of the appeasement policy of the late 1930s.<ref> See Reynolds (2001) and Reynolds (2005)</ref>

===Evaluation===
Asked to summarize Churchill in one sentence, his biographer Martin Gilbert said: "He was a great humanitarian who was himself distressed that the accidents of history gave him his greatest power at a time when everything had to be focused on defending the country from destruction, rather than achieving his goals of a fairer society."

To Martin Gilbert also we owe these last lines from Sir Winston's biography: "When at last his life's great impulses were fading, Churchill's daughter Mary paid him perhaps the most eloquent tribute of all: 'In addition to all the feelings a daughter has for a loving, generous father, I owe you what every Englishman, woman & child does--Liberty itself.'"

Margot Asquith said it was not his mind or uneven judgment Britons respected but rather "his courage and colour — his amazing mixture of industry and enterprise." "He never shirks, hedges or protects himself; he takes huge risks."<ref> quoted in David Fromkin, ''A Peace to End All Peace'' (2001) p. 54</ref>

[[Image:Sir Winston Churchill.jpg|right]]

== Famous Quotes ==

*Winston Churchill, election broadcast (May, 1945) '''"I must tell you that a socialist policy is abhorrent to British ideas on freedom. There is to be one State, to which all are to be obedient in every act of their lives. This State, once in power, will prescribe for everyone: where they are to work, what they are to work at, where they may go and what they may say, what views they are to hold, where their wives are to queue up for the State ration, and what education their children are to receive. A socialist state could not afford to suffer opposition - ''no socialist system can be established without a political police''. They (the Labour government) would have to fall back on some form of Gestapo."'''

*"Never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."

*"Delight in smooth-sounding platitudes, refusal to face unpleasant facts, desire for popularity and electoral success irrespective of the vital interests of the State, genuine love of peace and pathetic belief that love can be its sole foundation, obvious lack of intellectual vigor in both leaders of the British coalition government,… the strong and violent pacifism which at this time dominated the Labour-Socialist Party, the utter devotion of the Liberals to sentiment apart from reality … constituted a picture of British fatuity and fecklessness which, though devoid of guile, was not devoid of guilt, and, though free from wickedness or evil design, played a definite part in unleashing upon the world of horrors and miseries which even so far as they have unfolded, are already beyond comparison in human experience." (Referring to Britain's culpability in the rise of Hitler's Germany and its results.) <ref>Winston S. Churchill, ''The Second World War: The gathering storm'', p. 80</ref>

*"Winston, if I were married to you I'd put poison in your coffee"...."Nancy, if I were married to you I'd drink it." ''(Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess Astor, b.1879, speaking to Sir Winston, and his reply, this occurred during a weekend house party at Blenheim Palace in the early 1930's)''

*"'''I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realized; no survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages, that mankind will move forward towards its goal. But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say, "come then, let us go forward together with our united strength."'''[http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=435]

*The power of the Executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist" -- Winston Churchill, November 21, 1943.

*We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender! ''Speech in the House of Commons, 4 June 1940, following the evacuation of British and French armies from Dunkirk, as the German tide swept through France.[http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=388#Never_give_in]

*What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may more forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their Finest Hour." ''Speech in the House of Commons, 18 June 1940, following the collapse of France. Many thought Britain would follow. [http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=388#Finest]

*The gratitude of every home in our island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the world war by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. ''Tribute to the Royal Air Force, House of Commons, 20 August 1940. He had worked out the phrase about "The Few" in his mind as he visited the Fighter Command airfields in Southern England.'' [http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=388#so_much_owed]

==See also==
* [[Yalta conference]]
* [[Charles de Gaulle]]
* [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]

==Bibliography==
===Biographies===
* Addison, Paul. "Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer (1874–1965)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,'' [http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.cc.uic.edu/view/article/32413, online]
* Addison, Paul. ''Churchill: The Unexpected Hero.'' (2005). 320 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Churchill-Unexpected-Hero-Paul-Addison/dp/0199297436/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226209264&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Best, Geoffrey. ''Churchill: A Study in Greatness'' (2003), 400pp; very well received biography
* Blake, Robert. ''Winston Churchill. Pocket Biographies'' (1997), 110 pages
* Charmley, John. ''Churchill, The End of Glory: A Political Biography'' (1993). revisionist; favors Chamberlain; says Churchill weakened Britain
* D'Este, Carlo. ''Warlord: A Life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874-1945'' (2008), stresses his many military roles.
* Gilbert, Martin. ''Churchill: A Life'' (1992); one volume version of 8-volume life (8900 pp); amazing detail but as Rasor complains, "no background, no context, no comment, no analysis, no judgments, no evaluation, and no insights." [http://www.amazon.com/Churchill-Life-Martin-Gilbert/dp/0805023968/ref=pd_bbs_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226208898&sr=8-11 excerpt and text search]
* Heywood, Samantha. ''Churchill'' (2003) 162 pp, [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=104529861 online edition]
* James, Robert Rhodes. ''Churchill: A Study in Failure, 1900-1939'' (1970), 400 pp.
* Jenkins, Roy. ''Churchill: A Biography'' (2001), 1000 pp; strong on Parliamentary roles [http://www.amazon.com/Churchill-Roy-Jenkins/dp/0452283523/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226209134&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Keegan, John. ''Winston Churchill'' (2002) 208 pp [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0670030791/ref=sib_dp_pop_ex/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&p=S00F#reader-link online excerpt]
* Manchester, William. ''The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Visions of Glory 1874-1932'', 1983; vol 2 is ''The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Alone 1932-1940'', 1988,; no more published [http://www.amazon.com/Last-Lion-Winston-Spencer-Churchill/dp/0316545031/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226208898&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Pelling, Henry. ''Winston Churchill'' (1974), 736pp; comprehensive biography
* Rose, Norman. ''Churchill: An Unruly Life'' (1994), full-length biography [http://www.amazon.com/Churchill-Unruly-Giant-Norman-Rose/dp/0028740092/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226209166&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Wrigley, Chris. ''Winston Churchill: A Biographical Companion.'' ABC-CLIO, 2002. 367 pp.; online at some libraries

===Specialized studies===
* Addison, Paul. ''Churchill on the Home Front 1900-1955'' (1992)
* Ball, Stuart. "Churchill and the Conservative Party," ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'' 6th Ser., Vol. 11 (2001), pp. 307-330 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0080-4401%282001%296%3A11%3C307%3ACATCP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-D in JSTOR]
* Bell, Christopher M. "Winston Churchill, Pacific Security, and the Limits of British Power, 1921-41," in John H. Maurer, ed. ''Churchill and Strategic Dilemmas before the World Wars'' (2003) pp 51-120 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108530166# online edition]
* Ben-Moshe, Tuvia. ''Churchill, Strategy and History.'' 1992, covers world wars [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=98438222 online edition]
* Beschloss, Michael R. ''The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945'' (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/Conquerors-Roosevelt-Destruction-Hitlers-1941-1945/dp/0743244540/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226208863&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Best, Geoffrey. ''Churchill and War.'' 2005. 353 pp.
* Blake, Robert and Louis William Roger, eds. ''Churchill: A Major New Reassessment of His Life in Peace and War'' Oxford UP, 1992, 581 pp; 29 essays by scholars on specialized topics[http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=26340770 online edition]
* Callahan, Raymond. ''Churchill and His Generals,'' (2007) 310pp
* Cannadine, David. "Churchill and the British Monarchy," ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'' 6th Ser., Vol. 11 (2001), pp. 249-272 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0080-4401%282001%296%3A11%3C249%3ACATBM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G in JSTOR]
* Charmley, John. ''Churchill's Grand Alliance: The Anglo-American Special Relationship 1940-57'' (1996)
* Charmley, John. "Churchill and the American Alliance," ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'' 6th Ser., Vol. 11 (2001), pp. 353-371 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0080-4401%282001%296%3A11%3C353%3ACATAA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-U in JSTOR]
* Danchev, Alex. "'Dilly-Dally', or Having the Last Word: Field Marshal Sir John Dill and Prime Minister Winston Churchill," ''Journal of Contemporary History'' Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jan., 1987), pp. 21-44 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-0094%28198701%2922%3A1%3C21%3A%27OHTLW%3E2.0.CO%3B2-E in JSTOR]
* Delaney, Douglas E. "Churchill and the Mediterranean Strategy: December 1941 to January 1943." ''Defence Studies'' 2002 2(3): 1-26. Issn: 1470-2436 Fulltext: in Ebsco
* Gilbert, Martin. ''Churchill and America'' 2005. 352 pp.
* Gorodetsky, Gabriel. "The Origins of the Cold War: Stalin, Churchill and the Formation of the Grand Alliance," ''Russian Review'' Vol. 47, No. 2 (Apr., 1988), pp. 145-170 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0036-0341%28198804%2947%3A2%3C145%3ATOOTCW%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5 in JSTOR] 7
* Jablonsky, David. "Churchill and Technology," in John H. Maurer, ed. ''Churchill and Strategic Dilemmas before the World Wars'' (2003) pp 121-158 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108530166# online edition]
* Keegan, John, ed. ''Churchill's Generals'' (1991) 17 essays by experts
* Kersaudy, François. ''Churchill and De Gaulle'' 1981
* Kimball, Warren. ''Forged in war: Churchill, Roosevelt and the Second World War'' (1997)
* Lambakis, Steven James. ''Winston Churchill, Architect of Peace: A Study of Statesmanship and the Cold War'' (1994) 194 pp. [http://www.questia.com/library/book/winston-churchill-architect-of-peace-a-study-of-statesmanship-and-the-cold-war-by-steven-james-lambakis.jsp online edition]
* Larres, Klaus. ''Churchill's Cold War: The Politics of Personal Diplomacy.'' Yale U. Press, 2002. 569 pp.
* Lawlor, Sheila. ''Churchill and the politics of war, 1940–1941'' (1993)
* Lewin, Ronald. ''Churchill as warlord'' (1973)
* Lukacs, John. ''Churchill: Visionary, Statesman, Historian'' 2002. 202pp, interpretive essays
* Marder, Arthur. ''Winston is back: Churchill at the admiralty, 1939–1940'' (1973)
* Massie, Robert ''Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War''; ch 40-41 on Churchill at Admiralty
* Maurer, John H. "The 'Ever-Present Danger': Winston Churchill's Assessment of the German Naval Challenge before the First World War" in John H. Maurer, ed. ''Churchill and Strategic Dilemmas before the World Wars'' (2003) pp 7-50 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108530166# online edition]
* Miner, Steven Merritt. ''Between Churchill and Stalin: The Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the Origins of the Grand Alliance'' (1988) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=3063617 online edition]
* Parker, R. A. C. ed. ''Winston Churchill: studies in statesmanship'' (1995), scholarly studies
* Parker, R. A. C. ''Churchill and appeasement'' (2000)
* Wrigley, Chris. "Churchill and the Trade Unions," ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'' 6th Ser., Vol. 11 (2001), pp. 273-293 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0080-4401%282001%296%3A11%3C273%3ACATTU%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q in JSTOR]
* Young, John W. ''Winston Churchill's Last Campaign: Britain and the Cold War, 1951-5'' 1996 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9663209 online edition]
* Young, John W. "Churchill and East-West Detente," ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'' 6th Ser., Vol. 11 (2001), pp. 373-392 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0080-4401%282001%296%3A11%3C373%3ACAED%3E2.0.CO%3B2-1 in JSTOR]

===Historiography===
* Ashley, Maurice. "Churchill and History," ''International Affairs'' Vol. 42, No. 1. (Jan., 1966), pp. 87-94. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0020-5850%28196601%2942%3A1%3C87%3ACAH%3E2.0.CO%3B2-D in JSTOR], Churchill as author
* Ramsden, John. ''Man of the Century: Winston Churchill and His Legend since 1945.'' Columbia U. Press, 2003. 672 pp.
* Rasor, Eugene L. ''Winston S. Churchill, 1874-1965: A Comprehensive Historiography and Annotated Bibliography.'' Greenwood Press. 2000. 710 pp. describes several thousand books and scholarly articles. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=71893658 online edition]
* Reynolds, David. ''In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War.'' 2005. 631 pp.
* Reynolds, David. "Churchill's writing of history: appeasement, autobiography and ''The Gathering Storm''", ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'', 6th ser., 11 (2001), 221–48 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0080-4401(2001)6%3A11%3C221%3ACWOHAA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2 online edition]
* Stansky, Peter, ed. ''Churchill: A Profile'' 1973, 270 pp. essays for and against Churchill by leading scholars
* Wood, Ian S. ''Churchill'' 2000. 209pp evaluates numerous studies

===Primary sources===
* Churchill, Winston. ''Lord Randolph Churchill'' (1906) [http://books.google.com/books?id=u_PW93hcmBAC&pg=PA1&dq=inauthor:winston+inauthor:churchill&num=30#PPR13,M1 online edition]
* Churchill, Winston. ''The World Crisis'' (six volumes, 1923–31), 1-vol edition (2005); on World War I. Vol. I, 1911-1914; Vol. II, 1915; Vol. III, 1916-1918 Part I; Vol. IV, 1916-1918 Part II; and Vol. V: The Aftermath.
* Churchill, Winston. ''The Second World War'' (six volumes, 1948–53); ''Vol. I, The Gathering Storm; Vol. II, Their Finest Hour; Vol. III, The Grand Alliance; Vol. IV, The Hinge of Fate; Vol. V, Closing the Ring; and Vol. VI, Triumph and Tragedy;'' [http://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-Second-World-Abridgement-Volumes/dp/0395599687/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226208898&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search from 1-vol. abridged edition (1991)]; [http://www.amazon.com/Second-World-War-Six-Boxed/dp/039541685X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226208898&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search complete edition]
* Churchill, Winston. ''Lord Randolph Churchill'' (1907) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5477600 online edition], biography of his father
* Gilbert, Martin, ed. ''Winston S. Churchill: Companion'' 15 vol (14,000 pages) of Churchill and other official and unofficial documents. Part 1: I. Youth, 1874-1900, 1966, 654 pp. (2 vol); II. Young Statesman, 1901-1914, 1967, 796 pp. (3 vol); III. The Challenge of War, 1914-1916, 1971, 1024 pp. (3 vol); IV. The Stricken World, 1916-1922, 1975, 984 pp. (2 vol); Part 2: The Prophet of Truth, 1923-1939, 1977, 1195 pp. (3 vol); II. Finest Hour, 1939-1941, 1983, 1328 pp. (2 vol entitled The Churchill War Papers); III. Road to Victory, 1941-1945, 1986, 1437 pp. (not published, 4 volumes are anticipated); IV. Never Despair, 1945-1965, 1988, 1438 pp. (not published, 3 volumes anticipated, See the editor's memoir, Martin Gilbert, ''In Search of Churchill: A Historian's Journey,'' (1994).
* James, Robert Rhodes, ed. ''Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches, 1897-1963.'' 8 vols. London: Chelsea, 1974, 8917 pp.
*David Coombs, ''Sir Winston Churchill, His life through his paintings,'' Pegasus, 2003
* Winston Churchill. ''Victory: War Speeches by the Right Hon. Winston S. Churchill,'' (1946) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=13536012 online edition]
* Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. ''Roosevelt and Churchill: Their Secret Wartime Correspondence'' ed by Francis L. Loewenheim, Harold D. Langley and Manfred Jonas (1975) 807 pgs [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=7896020 online edition]
* Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower. ''The Churchill-Eisenhower Correspondence, 1953-1955'' ed by Peter G. Boyle; University of North Carolina Press, 1990 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=35246690 online edition]
* Winston Churchill and Harry S. Truman. ''Defending the West: The Truman-Churchill Correspondence, 1945-1960'' ed by G. W. Sand; (2004) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=106807897 online edition]

==External links==
*[http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/archives/churchill_papers/biography/churchill_chronology.php Churchill College Biography of Winston Churchill]
*[http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=452 Books written by Churchill]
* [http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=110 online Winston S. Churchill, "Churchill's American Heritage'' ], essay by his grandson
*[http://www.iwm.org.uk Imperial War Museum]: [[Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms]]. Comprising the original underground War Rooms perfectly preserved since 1945, from which Churchill ran the War, including the Cabinet Room, the Map Room and Churchill's bedroom, and the new Museum dedicated to Churchill's life.
*[http://www.badley.info/history/Churchill-Winston-Leonard-Spencer-Great-Britain.biog.html Winston Churchill Chronology World History Database]
*[http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/archives/home.shtml Churchill Archives Centre, based at Churchill College, Cambridge]
* [http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/churchill/interactive Churchill and the Great Republic]. WC'a lifelong relationship with the United States.
* [http://www.churchill.nls.ac.uk documents edited by the National Library of Scotland]
*[http://speakingofhistory.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_speakingofhistory_archive.html Audio about the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri from the Speaking of History podcast #17 - site also includes video slideshow of the museum]
*'''War Cabinet Minutes''' [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/cab_195_1_transcript.pdf (1942 - 42)], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/cab_195_2_transcript.pdf (1942 - 43)], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/cab_195_3_transcript.pdf (1945 - 46)], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/cab_195_4_transcript.pdf (1946 - 46)]
*[http://www.ena.lu MCE European NAvigator] European Union History tool, contains a number of Churchill recordings etc.
===Speeches===
*[http://www.churchill-speeches.com/ http://www.churchill-speeches.com/]
*[http://www.historychannel.com/broadband/clipview/index.jsp?id=v3t4 Audio of Churchill's "finest hour" speech]
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20050206200958/http://www.blenheimpalace.com/Time_line_the_family.htm Timeline of the Spencer-Churchill family]
*[http://www.soundboard.com/sb/winston.aspx Winston Churchill Audio Soundboard]

====notes====
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Churchill, Winston}}
[[Category:United Kingdom Prime Ministers]]
[[Category:World War I]]
[[Category:World War II]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Cold War]]
[[Category:Historians]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Literature]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:Diplomacy]]
[[Category:Painters]]

Libya

2011-05-06T23:50:23Z

AhmedB:

{{country
|name=''الجماهيرية العربية الليبية الشعبية الاشتراكية العظمى '''al-jamāhīriyyatu l-`arabiyyatu l-lībiyyatu š-ša`biyyatu l-ištirākiyyatu l-`uZmà''
|map=Libya rel 93.JPG
|map2=Libya location.png
|flag=Flag of Libya.png
|arms=Arms of Libya.png
|capital=Tripoli
|government=Authoritarian
|language=Arabic, Italian, English
|president-raw=[[Muammar al-Gaddafi|Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi]]
|area=679,359 sq. mi.
|pop=6,036,914
|pop-basis=(2007 estimate)
|gdp=72.7 billion
|gdp-year=(2007 estimate)
|gdp-pc=$12,300
}}
'''Libya''' (Arabic الجماهيرية العربية الليبية الشعبية الإشتراكية العظم ''Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya'') is a country in northern [[Africa]]. The country is officially a [[Democracy]], has been described as a [[Socialism|Socialist state]], and is in practice a Military Junta. The country borders the [[Mediterranean Sea]] to the north, [[Egypt]] to the east, [[Sudan]] to the southeast, [[Chad]] and [[Niger]] to the south, [[Algeria]] to the west, and [[Tunisia]] to the northwest. The country has been led by [[Muammar al-Gaddafi]] since 1969, who seized power in a military coup.

==People==
[[File:Libyan people.jpg|left|280px]]
Libya has a small population in a large land area. Population density is about 50 persons per sq. km. (80/sq. mi.) in the two northern regions of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, but falls to less than one person per sq. km. (1.6/sq. mi.) elsewhere. Ninety percent of the people live in less than 10% of the area, primarily along the coast. More than half the population is urban, mostly concentrated in the two largest cities, Tripoli and Benghazi. Thirty-three percent of the population is estimated to be under age 15.

Native Libyans are primarily a mixture of Arabs and Berbers. Small Tebou and Touareg tribal groups in southern Libya are nomadic or semi-nomadic. Among foreign residents, the largest groups are citizens of other African nations, including North Africans (primarily Egyptians and Tunisians), West Africans and Sub-Saharan Africans.
*Population (July 2007 est.): 6,036,914 (includes non-nationals, of which an estimated 500,000 or more are sub-Saharan Africans living in Libya).
*Annual growth rate (2007 est.): 2.262%. Birth rate (2007 est.)--26.09 births/1,000 population. Death rate (2007 est.)--3.47 deaths/1,000 population.
*Ethnic groups: Berber and Arab 97%; Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, and Tunisians.
*Religion: Sunni Muslim 97%.
*Languages: Arabic is the primary language. English, French, and Italian are understood in major cities.
*Education: Years compulsory--9. Attendance--90%. Literacy (age 15 and over who can read and write)--total population 82.6%; female 72% (2003 est.).
*Health (2007 est.): Infant mortality rate--22.82 deaths/1,000 live births. Life expectancy--total population 76.88 yrs.; male 74.1 yrs.; female 78.58 yrs.
*Work force (2006 est.): 1.787 million, an estimated 500,000 of whom are sub-Saharan African foreign workers.

==Government and Political Conditions==
Libya's political system is in theory based on the political philosophy in Gaddafi's Green Book, which combines socialist and Islamic theories and rejects parliamentary democracy and political parties. In reality, Gaddafi exercises near total control over major government decisions. For the first seven years following the revolution, Colonel Gaddafi and 12 fellow army officers, the Revolutionary Command Council, began a complete overhaul of Libya's political system, society and economy. In 1973, he announced the start of a "cultural revolution" in schools, businesses, industries, and public institutions to oversee administration of those organizations in the public interest. On March 2, 1977, Gaddafi convened a General People's Congress (GPC) to proclaim the establishment of "people's power," change the country's name to the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, and to vest, theoretically, primary authority in the GPC.
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|thumb|left|Muammar Gaddafi.]]
The GPC is the legislative forum that interacts with the General People's Committee, whose members are secretaries of Libyan ministries. It serves as the intermediary between the masses and the leadership and is composed of the secretariats of some 600 local "basic popular congresses." The GPC secretariat and the cabinet secretaries are appointed by the GPC secretary general and confirmed by the annual GPC congress. These cabinet secretaries are responsible for the routine operation of their ministries, but Gaddafi exercises real authority directly or through manipulation of the peoples and revolutionary committees.

Gaddafi remained the de facto chief of state and secretary general of the GPC until 1980, when he gave up his office. Although he holds no formal office, Gaddafi exercises power with the assistance of a small group of trusted advisers, who include relatives from his home base in the Sirte region, which lies between the traditional commercial and political power centers in Benghazi and Tripoli.

In the 1980s, competition grew between the official Libyan Government and military hierarchies and the revolutionary committees. An abortive coup attempt in May 1984, apparently mounted by Libyan exiles with internal support, led to a short-lived reign of terror in which thousands were imprisoned and interrogated. An unknown number were executed. Gaddafi used the revolutionary committees to search out alleged internal opponents following the coup attempt, thereby accelerating the rise of more radical elements inside the Libyan power hierarchy.

In 1988, faced with rising public dissatisfaction with shortages in consumer goods and setbacks in Libya's war with Chad, Gaddafi began to curb the power of the revolutionary committees and to institute some domestic reforms. The regime released many political prisoners and eased restrictions on foreign travel by Libyans. Private businesses were again permitted to operate.

In the late 1980s, Gaddafi began to pursue an anti-Islamic fundamentalist policy domestically, viewing fundamentalism as a potential rallying point for opponents of the regime. Gaddafi's security forces launched a preemptive strike at alleged coup plotters in the military and among the Warfallah tribe in October 1993. Widespread arrests and government reshufflings followed, accompanied by public "confessions" from regime opponents and allegations of torture and executions. The military, once Gaddafi's strongest supporters, became a potential threat in the 1990s. In 1993, following a failed coup attempt that implicated senior military officers, Gaddafi began to purge the military periodically, eliminating potential rivals and inserting his own loyal followers in their place.

The Libyan court system consists of three levels: the courts of first instance; the courts of appeals; and the Supreme Court, which is the final appellate level. The GPC appoints justices to the Supreme Court. Special "revolutionary courts" and military courts operate outside the court system to try political offenses and crimes against the state. "People's courts," another example of extrajudicial authority, were abolished in January 2005. Libya's justice system is nominally based on Sharia law.

===Principal Government Officials===
*De facto Head of State--Mu'ammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi ("the Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution")
*Secretary General of the General People's Committee (Prime Minister)--Dr. Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmudi
*Secretary of the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation (Foreign Minister)--Abd al-Rahman Shalgham
*Charge d'Affaires, Libyan Embassy, Washington, DC--Ambassador Ali Aujali

===Foreign Relations===
Libya was the first nation to recognize the [[United States]] in 1790.

Since 1969, Gaddafi has determined Libya's foreign policy. His principal foreign policy goals have been Arab unity, elimination of Israel, advancement of Islam, support for Palestinians, elimination of outside--particularly Western--influence in the Middle East and Africa, and support for a range of "revolutionary" causes.

After the 1969 coup, Gaddafi closed American and British bases on Libyan territory and partially nationalized all foreign oil and commercial interests in Libya. He also played a key role in promoting the use of oil embargoes as a political weapon for challenging the West, hoping that an oil price rise and embargo in 1973 would persuade the West--especially the United States--to end support for Israel. Gaddafi rejected both Soviet communism and Western capitalism, and claimed he was charting a middle course.
[[File:Oasis in Libya.JPG|left|280px]]
Libya's relationship with the former Soviet Union involved massive Libyan arms purchases from the Soviet bloc and the presence of thousands of east bloc advisers. Libya's use--and heavy loss--of Soviet-supplied weaponry in its war with Chad was a notable breach of an apparent Soviet-Libyan understanding not to use the weapons for activities inconsistent with Soviet objectives. As a result, Soviet-Libyan relations reached a nadir in mid-1987.

After the fall of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, Libya concentrated on expanding diplomatic ties with Third World countries and increasing its commercial links with Europe and East Asia. Following the imposition of UN sanctions in 1992, these ties significantly diminished. Following a 1998 Arab League meeting in which fellow Arab states decided not to challenge UN sanctions, Gaddafi announced that he was turning his back on pan-Arab ideas, which had been one of the fundamental tenets of his philosophy.

Instead, Libya pursued closer bilateral ties, particularly with North African neighbors Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco. It has also sought to develop its relations with Sub-Saharan Africa, leading to Libyan involvement in several internal African disputes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Central African Republic, Eritrea and Ethiopia. Libya has also sought to expand its influence in Africa through financial assistance, ranging from aid donations to impoverished neighbors such as Niger to oil subsidies to Zimbabwe, and through participation in the African Union. Gaddafi has proposed a borderless "United States of Africa" to transform the continent into a single nation-state ruled by a single government. This plan has been greeted with skepticism. Libya has played a helpful role in facilitating the provision of humanitarian assistance to Darfur refugees in Chad.

One of the longest-standing issues in Libya's relationship with the European Union and the international community was resolved in July 2007 with the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who had been convicted in 1999 of deliberately infecting over 400 children in a Benghazi hospital with the HIV virus. The six medics were sentenced to death in 2004, a sentence that was upheld by the Libyan Supreme Court but commuted in July 2007 by the Higher Judicial Council to life in prison. Under a previous agreement with the Bulgarian Government on the repatriation of prisoners, the medics were allowed to return to Bulgaria to finish their sentence, where upon arrival the Bulgarian president pardoned all six. The Benghazi International Fund, established by the United States and its European allies, raised $460 million to distribute to the families of the children infected with HIV, each of whom received $1 million.

====Terrorism====
[[File:Cockpit Nose section of Clipper Maid of the Seas.jpg|thumb|250px|Cockpit of Clipper "Maid of the Seas" (Pan Am 103).]]
Libya has taken significant steps to mend its international image and formally renounced terrorism in a letter to the UN Security Council in August 2003. In 1999, the Libyan government surrendered two Libyans suspected of involvement in the Pan Am 103 bombing, leading to the suspension of UN sanctions. On January 31, 2001, a Scottish court seated in the Netherlands found one of the suspects, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, guilty of murder in connection with the bombing, and acquitted the second suspect, Al-Amin Khalifa Fhima. Megrahi's conviction was upheld on March 14, 2002, but an appeals hearing was granted in June 2007 by the Scottish High Court.

UN sanctions were lifted on September 12, 2003 following Libyan compliance with its remaining UNSCR requirements on Pan Am 103, including acceptance of responsibility for the actions of its officials and payment of appropriate compensation. Libya paid compensation in 1999 for the death of British policewoman Yvonne Fletcher, a move that preceded the reopening of the British Embassy in Tripoli, and paid damages to the families of the victims in the bombing of UTA Flight 772. With the lifting of UN sanctions in September 2003, each of the families of the victims of Pan Am 103 received $4 million of a maximum $10 million in compensation. After the lifting of U.S. IEEPA-based sanctions on September 20, 2004, the families received a further $4 million.

On November 13, 2001, a German court found four persons, including a former employee of the Libyan embassy in East Berlin, guilty in connection with the 1986 La Belle disco bombing, in which two U.S. servicemen were killed. The court also established a connection to the Libyan government. The German Government demanded that Libya accept responsibility for the La Belle bombing and pay appropriate compensation. A compensation deal for non-U.S. victims was agreed to in August 2004. U.S. victims continue to pursue their claims in federal court.

By 2003, Libya appeared to have curtailed its support for international terrorism, although it may have retained residual contacts with some of its former terrorist clients. In August 2004, the Department of Justice entered into a plea agreement with Abdulrahman Alamoudi, in which he stated that he had been part of a 2003 plot to assassinate Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah (now King Abdallah) at the behest of Libyan government officials.

In 2005, the Saudi Government pardoned the individuals accused in the assassination plot. During the 2005 UN General Assembly session, Foreign Minister Shalgam issued a statement that reaffirmed Libya's commitment to the statements made in its letter addressed to the Security Council on August 15, 2003, renouncing terrorism in all its forms and pledging that Libya will not support acts of international terrorism or other acts of violence targeting civilians, whatever their political views or positions. Libya also expressed its commitment to continue cooperating in the international fight against terrorism. On June 30, 2006, the U.S. rescinded Libya's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.

===Relations with the United States===

The United States supported the UN resolution providing for Libyan independence in 1951 and raised the status of its office at Tripoli from a consulate general to a legation. Libya opened a legation in Washington, DC, in 1954. Both countries subsequently raised their missions to embassy level.
[[File:Tripoli Libya.JPG|thumb|left|300px|Tripoli.]]
After Gaddafi's 1969 coup, U.S.-Libyan relations became increasingly strained because of Libya's foreign policies supporting international terrorism and subversion against moderate Arab and African governments. In 1972, the United States withdrew its ambassador. Export controls on military equipment and civil aircraft were imposed during the 1970s, and U.S. embassy staff members were withdrawn from Tripoli after a mob attacked and set fire to the embassy in December 1979. The U.S. Government designated Libya a "state sponsor of terrorism" on December 29, 1979.

In May 1981, the U.S. Government closed the Libyan "people's bureau" (embassy) in Washington, DC, and expelled the Libyan staff in response to a general pattern of conduct by the people's bureau contrary to internationally accepted standards of diplomatic behavior.

In August 1981, two Libyan jets fired on U.S. aircraft participating in a routine naval exercise over international waters of the Mediterranean claimed by Libya. The U.S. planes returned fire and shot down the attacking Libyan aircraft. In December 1981, the State Department invalidated U.S. passports for travel to Libya and, for purposes of safety, advised all U.S. citizens in Libya to leave. In March 1982, the U.S. Government prohibited imports of Libyan crude oil into the United States and expanded the controls on U.S.-origin goods intended for export to Libya. Licenses were required for all transactions, except food and medicine. In March 1984, U.S. export controls were expanded to prohibit future exports to the Ras Lanuf petrochemical complex. In April 1985, all Export-Import Bank financing was prohibited.

Due to Libya's continuing support for terrorism, the United States adopted additional economic sanctions against Libya in January 1986, including a total ban on direct import and export trade, commercial contracts, and travel-related activities. In addition, Libyan Government assets in the United States were frozen. When evidence of Libyan complicity was discovered in the Berlin discotheque terrorist bombing that killed two American servicemen, the United States responded by launching an aerial bombing attack against targets near Tripoli and Benghazi in April 1986 (Operation El Dorado Canyon).<ref>Historical Atlas of the U.S. Navy, by Craig L. Symonds, the Naval Institute, 1995</ref> Subsequently, the United States maintained its trade and travel embargoes and brought diplomatic and economic pressure to bear against Libya. This pressure helped to bring about the Lockerbie settlement and Libya's renunciation of WMD and MTCR-class missiles.
[[File:Libya Muammar-Gaddafi-and-President-Obama.jpg|right]]
In 1991, two Libyan intelligence agents were indicted by federal prosecutors in the U.S. and Scotland for their involvement in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103. In January 1992, the UN Security Council approved Resolution 731 demanding that Libya surrender the suspects, cooperate with the Pan Am 103 and UTA 772 investigations, pay compensation to the victims' families, and cease all support for terrorism. Libya's refusal to comply led to the approval of UNSC Resolution 748 on March 31, 1992, imposing sanctions designed to bring about Libyan compliance. Continued Libyan defiance led to passage of UNSC Resolution 883--a limited assets freeze and an embargo on selected oil equipment--in November 1993. UN sanctions were lifted on September 12, 2003, after Libya fulfilled all remaining UNSCR requirements, including renunciation of terrorism, acceptance of responsibility for the actions of its officials, and payment of appropriate compensation to the victims' families.

On December 19, 2003, Libya announced its intention to rid itself of WMD and MTCR-class missile programs. Since that time, it has cooperated with the U.S., the U.K., the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons toward these objectives. Libya has also signed the IAEA Additional Protocol and has become a State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

In recognition of these actions, the U.S. began the process of normalizing relations with Libya. The U.S. terminated the applicability of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act to Libya and the President signed an Executive Order on September 20, 2004 terminating the national emergency with respect to Libya and ending IEEPA-based economic sanctions. This action had the effect of unblocking assets blocked under the Executive Order sanctions. Restrictions on cargo aviation and third-party code-sharing have been lifted, as have restrictions on passenger aviation. Certain export controls remain in place.

U.S. diplomatic personnel reopened the U.S. Interest Section in Tripoli on February 8, 2004. The mission was upgraded to a U.S. Liaison Office on June 28, 2004, and to a full embassy on May 31, 2006. The establishment in 2005 of an American School in Tripoli demonstrates the increased presence of Americans in Libya, and the continuing normalization of bilateral relations. Libya re-established its diplomatic presence in Washington with the opening of an Interest Section on July 8, 2004, which was subsequently upgraded to a Liaison Office in December 2004 and to a full embassy on May 31, 2006.

On May 15, 2006, the State Department announced its intention to rescind Libya's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism in recognition of the fact that Libya had met the statutory requirements for such a move: it had not provided any support for acts of international terrorism in the preceding six-month period, and had provided assurances that it would not do so in the future. On June 30, 2006, the U.S. rescinded Libya's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. In July 2007, Mr. Gene Cretz was nominated by President Bush as ambassador to Libya.

=== Libyan uprising 2011 ===
:''Main article : [[Libyan uprising 2011]]''

==Economy==
The government dominates Libya's socialist-oriented economy through complete control of the country's oil resources, which account for approximately 97% of export earnings, 75% of government receipts, and 54% of the gross domestic product. Oil revenues constitute the principal source of foreign exchange. Much of the country's income has been lost to waste, corruption, conventional armaments purchases, and attempts to develop weapons of mass destruction, as well as to large donations made to developing countries in attempts to increase Gaddafi's influence in Africa and elsewhere. Although oil revenues and a small population give Libya one of the highest per capita GDPs in Africa, the government's mismanagement of the economy has led to high inflation and increased import prices. These factors resulted in a decline in the standard of living from the late 1990s through 2003.
*Real GDP (2000$, 2006): $46.451 billion.
*GDP per capita (PPP, 2006): $12,204.
*Real GDP growth rate (2006): 5.6%.
*Natural resources: Petroleum, natural gas, gypsum.
*Agriculture: Products--wheat, barley, olives, dates, citrus, vegetables, peanuts, soybeans; cattle; approximately 75% of Libya's food is imported.
*Industry: Types--petroleum, food processing, textiles, handicrafts, cement.
*Trade: Exports (2006 est.)--$37.02 billion f.o.b.: crude oil, refined petroleum products. Major markets (2005)--Italy (38%), Germany (15.1%), Spain (9.3%), Turkey (6.2%), France (6.2%), U.S. (5.2%). Imports (2006 est.)--$14.47 billion f.o.b.: machinery, transport equipment, food, manufactured goods. Major suppliers (2003)--Italy (21.2%), Germany (10.2%), Tunisia (5.9%), Turkey (4.8%), U.K. (4.8%), France (4.7%), South Korea (4.6%), China (4.5%).
[[File:Home in Lybia.jpg|right|200px|Habitat.]]
Despite efforts to diversify the economy and encourage private sector participation, extensive controls of prices, credit, trade, and foreign exchange constrain growth. Import restrictions and inefficient resource allocations have caused periodic shortages of basic goods and foodstuffs.

Although agriculture is the second-largest sector in the economy, Libya imports most foods. Climatic conditions and poor soils severely limit output, while higher incomes and a growing population have caused food consumption to rise. Domestic food production meets about 25% of demand.

On September 20, 2004, President Bush signed an Executive Order ending economic sanctions imposed under the authority of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). U.S. persons are no longer prohibited from working in Libya, and many American companies are actively seeking investment opportunities in Libya. The government has announced ambitious plans to increase foreign investment in the oil and gas sectors to significantly boost production capacity. The government is also pursuing a number of infrastructure projects such as highways, railways, telecommunications backbones, and irrigation.

==History==
[[File:Leptis Magna Lybia.jpg|thumb|290px|Roman circus at Leptis Magna.]]
For most of their history, the peoples of Libya have been subjected to varying degrees of foreign control. The Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Vandals, and Byzantines ruled all or parts of Libya. Although the Greeks and Romans left impressive ruins at Cyrene, Leptis Magna, and Sabratha, little else remains today to testify to the presence of these ancient cultures.

The Arabs conquered Libya in the seventh century A.D. In the following centuries, most of the indigenous peoples adopted Islam and the Arabic language and culture. The Ottoman Turks conquered the country in the mid-16th century. Libya remained part of their empire--although at times virtually autonomous--until Italy invaded in 1911 and, in the face of years of resistance, made Libya a colony.

In 1934, Italy adopted the name "Libya" (used by the Greeks for all of North Africa, except Egypt) as the official name of the colony, which consisted of the Provinces of Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, and Fezzan. King Idris I, Emir of Cyrenaica, led Libyan resistance to Italian occupation between the two World Wars. From 1943 to 1951, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were under British administration, while the French controlled Fezzan. In 1944, Idris returned from exile in Cairo but declined to resume permanent residence in Cyrenaica until the removal in 1947 of some aspects of foreign control. Under the terms of the 1947 peace treaty with the Allies, Italy relinquished all claims to Libya.

On November 21, 1949, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution stating that Libya should become independent before January 1, 1952. King Idris I represented Libya in the subsequent UN negotiations. When Libya declared its independence on December 24, 1951, it was the first country to achieve independence through the United Nations and one of the first former European possessions in Africa to gain independence. Libya was proclaimed a constitutional and a hereditary monarchy under King Idris.

The discovery of significant oil reserves in 1959 and the subsequent income from petroleum sales enabled what had been one of the world's poorest countries to become extremely wealthy, as measured by per capita GDP. Although oil drastically improved Libya's finances, popular resentment grew as wealth was increasingly concentrated in the hands of the elite. This discontent continued to mount with the rise throughout the Arab world of Nasserism and the idea of Arab unity.

On September 1, 1969, a small group of military officers led by then 28-year-old army officer Mu'ammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi staged a coup d'état against King Idris, who was exiled to Egypt. The new regime, headed by the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the new Libyan Arab Republic. Gaddafi emerged as leader of the RCC and eventually as de facto chief of state, a political role he still plays. The Libyan government asserts that Gaddafi currently holds no official position, although he is referred to in government statements and the official press as the "Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution."

The new RCC's motto became "freedom, socialism, and unity." It pledged itself to remedy "backwardness", take an active role in the Palestinian Arab cause, promote Arab unity, and encourage domestic policies based on social justice, non-exploitation, and an equitable distribution of wealth.

An early objective of the new government was withdrawal of all foreign military installations from Libya. Following negotiations, British military installations at Tobruk and nearby El Adem were closed in March 1970, and U.S. facilities at Wheelus Air Force Base near Tripoli were closed in June 1970. That July, the Libyan Government ordered the expulsion of several thousand Italian residents. By 1971, libraries and cultural centers operated by foreign governments were ordered closed.

In the 1970s, Libya claimed leadership of Arab and African revolutionary forces and sought active roles in international organizations. Late in the 1970s, Libyan embassies were redesignated as "people's bureaus," as Gaddafi sought to portray Libyan foreign policy as an expression of the popular will. The people's bureaus, aided by Libyan religious, political, educational, and business institutions overseas, exported Gaddafi's revolutionary philosophy abroad.

Gaddafi's confrontational foreign policies and use of terrorism, as well as Libya's growing friendship with the U.S.S.R., led to increased tensions with the West in the 1980s. Following a terrorist bombing at a discotheque in West Berlin frequented by American military personnel, in 1986 the U.S. retaliated militarily against targets in Libya, and imposed broad unilateral economic sanctions.
[[File:Benghazi University Libya.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Benghazi, where mass protests against Gaddafi occurred in February 2011.]]
After Libya was implicated in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, UN sanctions were imposed in 1992. UN Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs) passed in 1992 and 1993 obliged Libya to fulfill requirements related to the Pan Am 103 bombing before sanctions could be lifted. Gaddafi initially refused to comply with these requirements, leading to Libya's political and economic isolation for most of the 1990s.

In 1999, Libya fulfilled one of the UNSCR requirements by surrendering two Libyans suspected in connection with the bombing for trial before a Scottish court in the Netherlands. One of these suspects, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, was found guilty; the other was acquitted. Al-Megrahi's conviction was upheld on appeal in 2002. In August 2003, Libya fulfilled the remaining UNSCR requirements, including acceptance of responsibility for the actions of its officials and payment of appropriate compensation to the victims' families. UN sanctions were lifted on September 12, 2003. U.S. International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)-based sanctions were lifted September 20, 2004.

On December 19, 2003, Libya publicly announced its intention to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)-class missile programs. Since that time, it has cooperated with the U.S., the U.K., the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons toward these objectives. Libya has also signed the IAEA Additional Protocol and has become a State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention. These were important steps toward full diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Libya.

== External links ==

*[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/americas-secret-plan-to-arm-libyas-rebels-2234227.html America's secret plan to arm Libya's rebels.] ''The Independent'', UK.
*[http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2055251,00.html Why Libya's Uprising Is Bad for the World Economy.]
*[http://articles.boston.com/2011-04-14/bostonglobe/29418371_1_rebel-stronghold-civilians-rebel-positions False pretense for war in Libya?]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:African Countries]]
[[Category:Libya]]
[[category:Muslim-Majority Countries]]

Hosni Mubarak

2011-04-19T19:51:04Z

AhmedB:

[[File:Obama Netanyahu and Mubarak.jpg|thumb|Sept. 1, 2010, during the Middle East negotiations; The Oval Office.]]
'''Hosni Mubarak''' was the longtime president of [[Egypt]] from 1981-2011, and the fourth man to hold the office. He assumed office in October 1981 after the assassination of [[Anwar Sadat]] and has maintained the peace with [[Israel]] established under his predecessor. The [[Muslim]] [[terrorist]] organization [[CAIR]] actively lobbied against Mubarak.<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=259409</ref>

Mubarak has been criticized for his persecution of the [[Coptic Church]], and for his government's twenty nine year state of emergency, which allows him to imprison and hold his political opponents indefinitely without trial and cancel elections. During the presidency of [[George Bush]], Secretary of State [[Condoleeza Rice]] called for the state of emergency to be lifted and and the Mubarak regime to commit itself to democracy.

Since [[Barack Obama]] has become president, the United States has been less willing to criticize Egypt's lack of democracy.

==2011 Protests==

Since January 25, 2011, protests against Mubarak's rule have continued. Although the forces behind the movement are not entirely clear, it is likely that the protest is led by groups such as the radical [[Islamist]] [[Muslim Brotherhood]] and [[Iran]]. [[Liberal]]s claim that [[Mohammed ElBaradei]], one of the protest leaders, is a moderate, but many experts agree that the rebellion aims to install [[Sharia]] law and a government opposed to [[Israel]] and the [[United States]]. Although the Brotherhood's terrorist military wing, al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, has recently begun taking part in the protests, U.S. Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] has still given speeches supporting the protests. <ref>http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=261069</ref>

[[George Soros]]' [[International Crisis Group]] and [[Barack Obama]] may have had a hand in the beginning of the protests, and Obama's unwillingness to support U.S. ally Mubarak's government may show that, in private, Obama supports the radical Islamist protestors. In fact, Obama and Soros may even be attempting to install pro-Iran Muslim regimes in the Middle East and destabilize Israel, "[ceding] the power of the
Judaeo-Christian west to Islamic tyrants". <ref>http://www.michaelsavage.wnd.com/files/filesSavage/Savage-ObamaGivingMiddleEastToIslamistRadicals-Rev03.pdf"</ref>

The ICG, which also supports dialogue with terrorist organization [[Hamas]], in 2008 urged Mubarak to allow the radicals in the Muslim Brotherhood to establish a political party. <ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=261337</ref> Clearly, it is likely that Soros' goal is to legitimize radical Islam and make it the main political force in the Middle East, destabilizing the region and removing Western influence.

On 10 February, the protesters succeeded in toppling Mubarak. Egypy is now ruled by a military junta.

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mubarak, Hosni}}

[[Category:Heads of State]]
[[Category:Egypt]]

User:AhmedB

2011-04-19T19:45:06Z

AhmedB: Created page with "Proud to be an American! File:50 star flag.png GOD BLESS AMERICA!"

Proud to be an American!

[[File:50 star flag.png]]

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Liberalism

2011-04-19T19:42:27Z

AhmedB:

'''Liberalism''' can refer to a number of political philosophies derived from [[Classical liberalism]]. In this article the [[United States of America|American]] political platform referred to as "liberal" within the United States is contrasted with other meanings of the word, particularly in [[Europe]] and in other [[Parliamentary democracy|parliamentary democratic]] systems.

* "Whereas Liberalism is the triumph of emotion over [[reason]] (as defined historically), [[Conservatism]] is an applied intellectual process; based on observation, deduction, and the study of provable historical fact." [http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/26552 Sandy Stringfellow]
* "One of liberalism's many problems is that once an idea or program is proved wrong and unworkable, liberals rarely acknowledge their mistake and examine the root cause of their error so they don't repeat it." [http://townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/2011/02/11/told_you_so Cal Thomas]

== United States ==

[[Image:Liberal Brain.jpg|thumb|350px|top|<center>A satirical conception of the liberal brain.</center>]]

In the U.S. the word ''liberal'' is usually used to describe the platform espoused by the [[Democratic Party]], that is, support of [[social welfare]] systems, redistribution of wealth, and government regulation of the economy - combined with a certain brand of individual [[libertarianism]], emphasizing social equality, and (to a certain extent) rejection of traditional [[Judaism|Judeo]]-[[Christianity|Christian]] standards of [[morality]] as a proper foundation for [[law]].

The [[economic]] aspects of this ideology are to a large extent a product of the [[New Deal]] policies of the [[Great Depression]] era, as well as [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]'s "[[Great Society]]." The Democratic Party's idea of social liberty and equality, though, came much later, partly as a result of the [[Civil rights movement|civil rights]] and [[counterculture]] movements of the late 20th century. It continues to be fueled by various youth movements and the interests of numerous special interest groups.

== Europe and elsewhere ==

In Europe, ''liberalism'' refers to a political position that leans toward greater individual liberties and less government intervention in general. In short, this is the philosophy closest to [[classical liberalism]], and is commonly referred to in the United States as [[libertarianism]]. In Europe and elsewhere, then, the opposite of liberalism is not [[conservatism]], but [[authoritarianism]].

Because of this, the terms "conservative liberalism" and "liberal conservatism", which are seen as contradictory in the U.S., are not so in Europe. "Conservative liberalism" simply refers to a less radical libertarian philosophy, and is often referred to as "law-and-order liberalism." Liberal conservatism is simply a variant of conservatism willing to allow for individual liberties, and, in a way, describes the ideology of the American [[Republican Party]]. Such examples of this obvious line of thought include the [[civil rights movement]], when the Republican Party (and a few southern Democrats) just wanted to maintain the African American's right to have the choice of forced segregation.

The Liberal Party of Australia is the right-leaning party, in opposition to the [[liberal]] Labor Party, and is not to be confused with liberalism as an ideology.

== Nazism and socialism ==

''For more information please see:'' [[Nazism and socialism]]

[[Image:Hitler.jpg|thumb|250px|right|One of the most well known political parties of the 20th century which was [[socialism|socialistic]] was the [[National Socialist German Workers Party]] (NAZI) which was headed by the [[evolution|evolutionary racist]] [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref>http://mises.org/daily/1937</ref><ref>http://creation.com/darwinism-and-the-nazi-race-holocaust</ref><ref>http://www.hourofthetime.com/socialist.htm</ref> ]]
The [[Ludwig von Mises Institute]] declares:
{{cquote|The identification of [[Nazi]] [[Germany]] as a [[socialism|socialist]] state was one of the many great contributions of [[Ludwig von Mises]]...

The basis of the claim that Nazi Germany was capitalist was the fact that most industries in Nazi Germany appeared to be left in private hands.

What Mises identified was that private ownership of the means of production existed in name only under the Nazis and that the actual substance of ownership of the means of production resided in the German government. For it was the German government and not the nominal private owners that exercised all of the substantive powers of ownership: it, not the nominal private owners, decided what was to be produced, in what quantity, by what methods, and to whom it was to be distributed, as well as what prices would be charged and what wages would be paid, and what dividends or other income the nominal private owners would be permitted to receive. The position of the alleged private owners, Mises showed, was reduced essentially to that of government pensioners.

De facto government ownership of the means of production, as Mises termed it, was logically implied by such fundamental collectivist principles embraced by the Nazis as that the common good comes before the private good and the individual exists as a means to the ends of the State. If the individual is a means to the ends of the State, so too, of course, is his property. Just as he is owned by the State, his property is also owned by the State.<ref>http://mises.org/daily/1937</ref>}}

== See also ==
*[[Progressivism]]
*[[Laissez faire]]

{{liberalism}}
==References==
<references />
[[Category:Liberalism]]
[[category:Anti-American]]