1.
Steven Spielberg
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Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE, OMRI is an American director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the pioneers of the New Hollywood era. He is also one of the co-founders of DreamWorks Studios, in a career spanning more than four decades, Spielbergs films have spanned many themes and genres. His other films include Jurassic Park, A. I, artificial Intelligence, and War of the Worlds. Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindlers List and Saving Private Ryan, three of Spielbergs films—Jaws, E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Jurassic Park—achieved box office records, originated and came to epitomize the blockbuster film. The unadjusted gross of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $9 billion worldwide and his personal net worth is estimated to be more than $3 billion. Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to an Orthodox Jewish family and his mother, Leah Posner, was a restaurateur and concert pianist, and his father, Arnold Spielberg, was an electrical engineer involved in the development of computers. His paternal grandparents were immigrants from Ukraine who settled in Cincinnati in the first decade of the 1900s, in 1950, his family moved to Haddon Township, New Jersey when his father took a job with RCA. Three years later, the moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Spielberg attended Hebrew school from 1953 to 1957, in classes taught by Rabbi Albert L. Lewis, as a child, Spielberg faced difficulty reconciling being an Orthodox Jew with the perception of him by other children he played with. It isnt something I enjoy admitting, he said, but when I was seven, eight, nine years old, God forgive me. I was embarrassed by the perception of my parents Jewish practices. I was never really ashamed to be Jewish, but I was uneasy at times, Spielberg also said he suffered from acts of anti-Semitic prejudice and bullying, In high school, I got smacked and kicked around. His first home movie was of a wreck involving his toy Lionel trains. Throughout his early teens, and after entering school, Spielberg continued to make amateur 8 mm adventure films. In 1958, he became a Boy Scout and fulfilled a requirement for the merit badge by making a nine-minute 8 mm film entitled The Last Gunfight. Years later, Spielberg recalled to an interviewer, My dads still-camera was broken. He said yes, and I got an idea to do a Western, I made it and got my merit badge
2.
Kathleen Kennedy (producer)
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Kathleen Kennedy is an American film producer. In 1981, she co-founded Amblin Entertainment with Steven Spielberg and husband Frank Marshall and she was a producer on the 1982 film E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial and the Jurassic Park franchise, the first two of which became two of the top ten highest-grossing films of the 1990s. Kennedy is third only to Spielberg and Stan Lee in domestic box office receipts, on October 30,2012, she became the president of Lucasfilm, and the brand manager of the Star Wars franchise, after The Walt Disney Company acquired the company for over $4 billion. Overall, Kennedys work has included over 60 films,120 Academy Award nominations, one of her most recent projects, Lincoln, also produced by Spielberg, was nominated for seven Golden Globes and twelve Academy Awards. Kennedy was born in Berkeley, California, the daughter of Dione Marie Dede, a theater actress, and Donald R. Kennedy. Her twin sister, Connie, formerly a location manager in British Columbia, Kennedy graduated from Shasta High School in Redding, California, in 1971. She continued her education at San Diego State University where she majored in telecommunications, after her employment with KCST, she went on to produce a local talk show entitled Youre On for the station for four years before moving to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, Kennedy secured her first film production job working as an assistant to John Milius, during the production of 1941, while working for screenwriter John Milius, Kennedy came to the attention of Steven Spielberg. Spielberg hired Kennedy as his secretary, but both she and he reported that she was a terrible typist who was kept on only because of her good production ideas. Kennedy was credited as associate to Mr. Spielberg on Raiders of the Lost Ark and she began receiving producer credit with Spielberg on the box-office smash E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which continued on most of his films for the next three decades. Following her work on the Indiana Jones films, she rose to one of Hollywoods leading producers. In 1981 she helped co-found and run the successful production company Amblin Entertainment, with Spielberg. She went on to collaborate with a large and important group of directors, including Martin Scorsese, Robert Zemeckis, Barry Levinson, and Clint Eastwood when they made films for Amblin. Kennedy took over a portion of the running of Amblin and served as president of the Amblin company until 1992. She became a partner with him in The Kennedy/Marshall Company, a Santa-Monica-based film-production company with a deal at DreamWorks. In 2007, she was the first recipient of Women in Films Paltrow Mentorship Award, for showing extraordinary commitment to mentoring and supporting the generation of filmmakers. In 2005 she was a producer on two of Spielbergs films, War of the Worlds and Munich, the latter of which earned her an Academy Award nomination. Marshall and Kennedy were producers for the US versions of two Studio Ghibli animated features, Ponyo released in 2009 and The Secret World of Arrietty, in May 2012, she stepped down from Kennedy/Marshall, leaving Marshall as sole principal of their eponymous film company
3.
Tony Kushner
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Anthony Robert Tony Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1993 for his play Angels in America and he co-authored with Eric Roth the screenplay for the 2005 film Munich, and he wrote the screenplay for the 2012 film Lincoln. Both movies were critically acclaimed, and he received Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, for his work, he received a National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2013. Kushner was born in Manhattan, New York, the son of Sylvia, a bassoonist, and William David Kushner and his family is Jewish, descended from immigrants from Russia/Poland. Shortly after his birth, Kushners parents moved to Lake Charles, Louisiana, during high school Kushner was active in policy debate. In 1974, Kushner moved to New York to begin his college education at Columbia University. He attended the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, graduating in 1984, Kushners best known work is Angels in America, a seven-hour epic about the AIDS epidemic in Reagan-era New York, which was later adapted into an HBO miniseries for which Kushner wrote the screenplay. His other plays include Hydriotaphia, Slavs, thinking About the Longstanding Problems of Virtue and Happiness, A Bright Room Called Day, Homebody/Kabul, and the book for the musical Caroline, or Change. His new translation of Bertolt Brechts Mother Courage and Her Children was performed at the Delacorte Theater in the summer of 2006, starring Meryl Streep, Kushner has also adapted Brechts The Good Person of Szechwan, Corneilles The Illusion, and S. Anskys play The Dybbuk. In the early 2000s, Kushner began writing for film and his co-written screenplay Munich was produced and directed by Steven Spielberg in 2005. In January 2006, a feature about Kushner entitled Wrestling With Angels debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was directed by Freida Lee Mock, in a 2015 interview actress/producer Viola Davis revealed she had hired him to write an as yet untitled biopic about the life of Barbara Jordan that she planned to star in. In 2016, Kushner worked on August Wilsons screenplay for Fences, scheduled for release in December 2016, the film is directed by Denzel Washington. Kushner is famous for frequent revisions and years-long gestations of his plays, both Angels in America, Perestroika and Homebody/Kabul were significantly revised even after they were first published. Kushner has admitted that the script version of Angels in America. His newest completed work, the play The Intelligent Homosexuals Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, said work finally opened on May 15,2009. The Zionist Organization of America unsuccessfully lobbied the university to rescind its invitation to Kushner, during the controversy, quotes critical of Zionism and Israel made by Kushner were circulated. Kushner said at the time that his quotes were grossly mischaracterized, in an interview with the Jewish Independent, Kushner commented, I want the state of Israel to continue to exist
4.
Team of Rivals
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Team of Rivals, The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln is a 2005 book by Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, published by Simon & Schuster. The book is a portrait of U. S. President Abraham Lincoln. Three of his Cabinet members had run against Lincoln in the 1860 election, Attorney General Edward Bates, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase. The book focuses on Lincolns mostly successful attempts to reconcile conflicting personalities and political factions on the path to abolition and victory in the American Civil War. Goodwins sixth book, Team of Rivals was well received by critics and won the 2006 Lincoln Prize, US President Barack Obama cited it as one of his favorite books and was said to have used it as a model for constructing his own cabinet. In 2012, a Steven Spielberg film based on the book was released to critical acclaim, Team of Rivals is the sixth book by American historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Goodwin spent ten years on the research and writing of Team of Rivals, during Goodwins work on Team of Rivals, a plagiarism scandal erupted over unmarked quotations in Goodwins 1987 book The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys. In a 2012 interview, Goodwin cited early 20th-century muckraker Ida Tarbell on the pleasures of writing about Lincoln, Somebody asked her, and she said, because he’s so companionable. And I think somehow thats been true for me, polk at the 1847 River and Harbor Convention, and Lincoln through a series of debates with Democratic rival Stephen A. Douglas in the 1858 Illinois Senate election. Determined both to hold the party together and to recruit the ablest men for his cabinet, Lincoln then persuaded each of his rivals to join his cabinet. Seward assumed the post of Secretary of State, Chase that of Secretary of the Treasury, the South secedes following Lincolns election, and the country falls into the American Civil War. During the war, Seward comes to respect and collaborate with Lincoln, Chase, on the other hand, schemes against Lincoln from within the cabinet, hoping to replace him as the Republican nominee in the 1864 presidential election. Lincoln nonetheless keeps Chase in the cabinet until 1864 for his skill at financing the war effort, Lincoln also recruits Chase ally Edwin M. Stanton to replace Pennsylvania political boss Simon Cameron as Secretary of War, like Seward, Stanton comes to respect and support Lincoln. While managing the disparate personalities of his cabinet, Lincoln also struggles to manage a series of generals including George B, mcClellan, Henry Halleck, and George Meade. The president finally finds success in 1864 by promoting Ulysses S. Grant to commander of the Union armies, Lincoln oversees the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolishes slavery, and sees the war to its successful conclusion. He also appoints Chase as the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, Team of Rivals closes with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 14,1865. Seward is also attacked by an assailant, though he survives. An epilogue traces the lives and deaths of Seward, Stanton, Bates, Chase, Mary Lincoln
5.
Doris Kearns Goodwin
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Doris Helen Kearns Goodwin is an American biographer, historian, and political commentator. She has authored biographies of several U. S. Doris Helen Kearns was born in Brooklyn, New York and she has a sister, Jene Kearns. Her paternal grandparents were Irish immigrants and she grew up in Rockville Centre, New York. She attended Colby College in Maine, where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta and Phi Beta Kappa and she was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship in 1964 to pursue doctoral studies. In 1968, she earned a Ph. D. in government from Harvard University, with a thesis titled Prayer and Reapportionment, in 1967, Kearns went to Washington, D. C. as a White House Fellow during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. The president discovered that I had been involved in the anti-Vietnam War movement and had written an article entitled. I thought for sure he would kick me out of the program, after Johnson decided not to run for reelection, he brought Kearns to the White House as a member of his staff, where she focused on domestic anti-poverty efforts. After Johnson left office in 1969, Kearns taught government at Harvard for 10 years, during this period, she also assisted Johnson in drafting his memoirs. A sports journalist as well, Goodwin was the first female journalist to enter the Boston Red Sox locker room and she consulted on and appeared in Ken Burnss 1994 documentary Baseball. Goodwin won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for History for No Ordinary Time, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Goodwin received an honorary L. H. D. from Bates College in 1998. She was awarded a doctorate from Westfield State College in 2008. Goodwin won the 2005 Lincoln Prize for Team of Rivals, The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, part of the book was adapted by Tony Kushner into the screenplay for Steven Spielbergs 2012 film Lincoln. She is a member of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission advisory board, the book also won the inaugural American History Book Prize given by the New-York Historical Society. Goodwin was a member of the board of directors for Northwest Airlines, Goodwin is a frequent guest commentator on Meet the Press, appearing many times, as well as a regular guest on Charlie Rose, appearing a total of forty-eight times since 1994. In 2014, Kearns won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction for The Bully Pulpit and it was also a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist and a Christian Science Monitor 15 best nonfiction. In 2016, she appeared as herself in the episode of American Horror Story. McTaggart remarked, If somebody takes a third of somebodys book, Goodwin had previously reached a private settlement with McTaggart over the issue. In an article she wrote for Time magazine, she said, Though my footnotes repeatedly cited Ms. McTaggarts work, the larger question for those of us who write history is to understand how citation mistakes can happen
6.
Daniel Day-Lewis
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Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor who holds both British and Irish citizenship. Born and raised in London, he excelled on stage at the National Youth Theatre, before being accepted at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which he attended for three years. Despite his traditional training at the Bristol Old Vic, he is considered to be a method actor, known for his constant devotion to. He often remains completely in character for the duration of the schedules of his films. He is one of the most selective actors in the industry, having starred in only five films since 1998. Protective of his life, he rarely gives interviews and makes very few public appearances. He starred in My Beautiful Laundrette, his first critically acclaimed role and he then assumed leading man status with The Unbearable Lightness of Being. He was also nominated in category for In the Name of the Father. He has also won four BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, in November 2012, Time named Day-Lewis the Worlds Greatest Actor. In June 2014, he received a knighthood at Buckingham Palace for services to drama, Day-Lewis was born in Kensington, London, the son of poet Cecil Day-Lewis and English actress Jill Balcon. Day-Lewiss mother was Jewish, and his maternal great-grandparents Jewish families emigrated to England from Latvia and his maternal grandfather, Sir Michael Balcon, was the head of Ealing Studios. Living in Greenwich, Day-Lewis found himself among tough South London children and he mastered the local accent and mannerisms and credits that as being his first convincing performance. Later in life, he has known to speak of himself as very much a disorderly character in his younger years, often in trouble for shoplifting. In 1968, Day-Lewiss parents, finding his behaviour to be too wild, at the school, he was introduced to his three most prominent interests, woodworking, acting, and fishing. The transfer led to his debut at the age of 14 in Sunday Bloody Sunday in which he played a vandal in an uncredited role. He described the experience as heaven, for getting paid £2 to vandalise expensive cars parked outside his local church, for a few weeks in 1972, he and his parents and sister lived at Lemmons, the north London home of Kingsley Amis and Elizabeth Jane Howard. Cecil Day-Lewis had cancer and Howard invited the family to Lemmons as a place they could use to rest, Cecil died there in May that year. Leaving Bedales in 1975, Day-Lewiss unruly attitude had diminished and he needed to make a career choice, although he had excelled on stage at the National Youth Theatre in London, he applied for a five-year apprenticeship as a cabinet-maker, but was rejected due to lack of experience
7.
Sally Field
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Sally Margaret Field is an American film and television actress and director. Field began her career in television, starring on the sitcoms Gidget and she ventured into film with Smokey and the Bandit and later Norma Rae, for which she received the Academy Award for Best Actress. She later received Golden Globe Award nominations for her performances in Absence of Malice and Kiss Me Goodbye, Field received further nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for Murphys Romance and Steel Magnolias. In the 2000s, she returned to television with a role on the NBC medical drama ER. She also appeared as Aunt May in The Amazing Spider-Man and reprised the role in the 2014 sequel. As a director, Field is known for the television film The Christmas Tree, in 2014, she was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Sally Field was born in Pasadena, California, to Margaret, mr. Field was an army officer. Following her parents 1950 divorce, her mother married actor and stuntman Jock Mahoney, through her maternal grandmothers genealogical line, Field is a descendant of a Mayflower passenger and colonial governor William Bradford, her 10 times great-grandfather. As a teen, Field attended Portola Middle School and Birmingham High School in Van Nuys and her classmates included financier Michael Milken, actress Cindy Williams, and talent agent Michael Ovitz. Field got her start on television as the surfer girl in the sitcom Gidget. The show was not a success and was canceled after a single season, however, summer reruns garnered respectable ratings. Wanting to find a new starring vehicle for Field, ABC next produced The Flying Nun with Field cast as Sister Bertrille for three seasons, from 1967 to 1970. In an interview included on the Season One DVD release, Field said that she thoroughly enjoyed Gidget, Field was then typecast, finding respectable roles difficult to come by. In 1971, Field starred in the ABC TV movie Maybe Ill Come Home in the Spring, playing a teen runaway who returns home with a bearded. She made several guest television appearances through the mid 1970s, including a role on the western Alias Smith and Jones and she also appeared in the episode Whisper on the TV thriller Night Gallery. In 1973, Field was cast in a role opposite John Davidson in the short-lived series The Girl with Something Extra from 1973 to 1974. Following the series cancellation, Field studied at the Actors Studio with the acting teacher Lee Strasberg, Strasberg became a mentor to the actress, helping her to move past her television image of the girl next door. It was during time period that Field divorced her first husband in 1975
8.
David Strathairn
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David Russell Strathairn is an American actor. Strathairn was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for portraying journalist Edward R. Murrow in Good Night and he is also recognized for his role as CIA Deputy Director Noah Vosen in the 2007 film The Bourne Ultimatum, a role he reprised in 2012s The Bourne Legacy. He played a prominent role as Dr. Lee Rosen on the Syfy series Alphas from 2011 to 2012 and he was nominated for an Emmy and Golden Globe for his role in the TV film Temple Grandin. Strathairn was born in San Francisco, California, the second of three children of Thomas Scott Strathairn, Jr. a physician and Mary Frances, a nurse. Strathairn attended Redwood High School in Larkspur, California, and graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts and he studied clowning at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College in Venice, Florida, and briefly worked as a clown in a traveling circus. Strathairn was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow in the 2005 biopic Good Night. The film explored Murrows clash with Senator Joseph McCarthy over McCarthys Communist witch-hunt in the 1950s, Strathairn also received Best Actor Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations for his performance. In 2010, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his portrayal of Dr. Carlock in the HBO television film Temple Grandin, Strathairn is a character actor, appearing in supporting roles in many independent and Hollywood films. In this capacity, he has co-starred in Twisted as a psychiatrist, in The River Wild as a husband and he has worked with his Williams College classmate and director John Sayles. He made his debut in Return of the Secaucus 7. Alongside Sayles, he played one of the men in black in the 1983 film The Brother from Another Planet, Strathairn created the role of Edwin Booth with Maryann Plunkett in a workshop production of Booth. A House Divided, by W. Stuart McDowell, at The Players in New York, Strathairn had a recurring role on the hit television drama The Sopranos. Strathairn starred in the episode, Out Where the Buses Dont Run. In 2006 he did an ad for then congressional candidate Kirsten Gillibrand. He reprised his role as Edward R. Murrow in a similar to the one from Good Night, and Good Luck. Strathairn plays the role in the 2007 independent film, Steel Toes. The film is based on Gows stage play Cherry Docs, in which Strathairn starred for its American premiere at the Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia and he played a role in the summer 2007 film The Bourne Ultimatum and appeared in Paramount Pictures childrens film The Spiderwick Chronicles as Arthur Spiderwick. Strathairn appeared in the American Experience PBS anthology series documentary, The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer and he first played Oppenheimer in the 1989 CBS TV movie Day One
9.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
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Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt is an American actor and filmmaker. As a child actor, he appeared in the films A River Runs Through It, Angels in the Outfield and 10 Things I Hate About You and he took a break from acting to study at Columbia University, but dropped out in 2004 to pursue acting again. He has since starred in 500 Days of Summer, Inception, Hesher, 50/50, Premium Rush, The Dark Knight Rises, Brick, Looper, The Lookout, Manic, Lincoln, Mysterious Skin and G. I. He starred as Philippe Petit in the Robert Zemeckis-directed film The Walk and he also founded the online production company hitRECord in 2004 and has hosted his own TV series, HitRecord on TV, since January 2014. In 2013, Gordon-Levitt made his film directing and screenwriting debut with Don Jon. He previously directed and edited two short films, both of which were released in 2010, Morgan M. Morgansens Date with Destiny and Morgan and Destinys Eleventeenth Date, Gordon-Levitt was born in Los Angeles, California, and was raised in its Sherman Oaks neighborhood. He is Jewish, from a family that is not strictly religious and his father, Dennis Levitt, was once the news director for the Pacifica Radio station, KPFK-FM. Gordon-Levitts maternal grandfather, Michael Gordon, was a Hollywood film director between the 1940s and 1970s, and directed the 1959 Doris Day/Rock Hudson film Pillow Talk, Gordon-Levitt attended Van Nuys High School and graduated in 1999. Gordon-Levitt joined a theater group at the age of four. Subsequently, he was approached by an agent and began appearing on television and in commercials for Sunny Jim peanut butter, Cocoa Puffs, Pop-Tarts, at age six, he starred in several made-for-television films. In 1991, he played both David Collins and Daniel Collins in the Dark Shadows television series, and appeared in the movie A River Runs Through It. During 1992–93, he played in The Powers That Be, a sitcom starring John Forsythe, also in 1992, he portrayed Gregory Kingsley in the made-for-TV film Switching Parents, based on Kingsleys real life case of divorcing his parents. In 1994, he starred in the Disney film Angels in the Outfield as an orphan who sees angels, in 1996, he began playing Tommy Solomon on the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. The series ran for six seasons, the San Francisco Chronicle noted that Gordon-Levitt was a Jewish kid playing an extraterrestrial pretending to be a Jewish kid. During the 1990s, he was featured in teenage magazines. In 2000, he began attending Columbia University School of General Studies and he studied history, literature, and French poetry. He became an avid Francophile and a French speaker and he said that moving to New York City from his hometown forced him to grow as a person. He dropped out in 2004 to concentrate on acting again, Gordon-Levitt has said that he made a conscious decision to be in good movies after returning to acting
10.
James Spader
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James Todd Spader is an American actor. His best-known television roles are those of attorney Alan Shore in The Practice and its spin-off Boston Legal and he currently stars as high-profile criminal-turned-FBI-informant Raymond Red Reddington in the NBC crime drama The Blacklist, for which he has earned two Golden Globe Award nominations. Spader was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and is the youngest of three children and his parents Jean and Stoddard Greenwood Todd Spader were both teachers. Spader grew up in a liberal and progressive home, saying regarding his mother and he later transferred to Phillips Academy before dropping out at the age of seventeen and moving to New York City to pursue his acting career. On his way to becoming an actor, Spader undertook jobs such as bartending, teaching yoga, driving a meat truck, loading railroad cars. Spaders first major role was in the film Endless Love. However, he did not rise to stardom until 1986, when he played the rich and he co-starred in Mannequin and the film adaptation of Less Than Zero, in which he played a drug dealer named Rip. For this performance, he received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival, in 1994, he starred as Egyptologist Daniel Jackson in the sci-fi film Stargate. In 1996, he played car accident fetishist James Ballard in the controversial Canadian film Crash, in 1997, Spader guest starred in the Seinfeld episode The Apology, as an angry recovering alcoholic who refuses to apologize to George for making fun of him. In 2000, he played a drug-addicted detective tracking down a killer in The Watcher. In 2002, he starred as a boss in Secretary. From 2004 to 2008, Spader starred as Alan Shore in the series Boston Legal and he won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2004 for his portrayal on The Practice and won it again in 2005 and 2007 for Boston Legal. With the 2005 win, he one of only a few actors to win an Emmy award while playing the same character in two different series. Even rarer, he won a second consecutive Emmy while playing the character in two different series. He also won the Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Series, in October 2006, Spader narrated China Revealed, the first episode of Discovery Channels documentary series Discovery Atlas. He has also done the voice-over in several commercials for Acura. He starred in Race, a written and directed by David Mamet. The show closed on August 21,2010 after 297 performances, in March 2011, he was named to star in the film By Virtue Fall, written and to be directed by Sheldon Turner
11.
Hal Holbrook
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Harold Rowe Hal Holbrook Jr. is an American film and stage actor and television director. Holbrook first received acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show he developed while studying at Denison University. He made his debut in Sidney Lumets The Group. He later gained fame for his performance as Deep Throat in the 1976 film All the Presidents Men. He was known for his role as Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 miniseries Lincoln and he has also appeared in such other films as Julia, The Fog, Creepshow, The Firm, Hercules, and Men of Honor. Holbrooks role as Ron Franz in Sean Penns Into the Wild earned him both Screen Actors Guild Award and Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor, until Robert Duvall was nominated for an Academy Award in 2015, Holbrook was the oldest actor to receive a Best Supporting Actor nomination. In 2009, Holbrook received critical acclaim for his performance as recently retired farmer, Abner Meecham, as a television actor, Holbrook is known for starring in and directing four episodes in Designing Women as Reese Watson, opposite his wife, Dixie Carter. Later in his career, he has starred in roles in Sons of Anarchy, The Event. He has guest-starred in many acclaimed television series such as NCIS, The West Wing, The Sopranos, ER, Bones, Greys Anatomy. Holbrook has won five Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award for his 1966 portrayal of Twain in Mark Twain Tonight, in 2003, Holbrook was honored with the National Humanities Medal by President George W. Bush. Holbrook was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Aileen Holbrook, a vaudeville dancer, and Harold Rowe Holbrook Sr. After being abandoned by his parents at age two, he and his two sisters were raised by his paternal grandparents first in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and then in the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood. From 1942 through 1946, Holbrook served in the United States Army in World War II and was stationed in Newfoundland, while stationed in Newfoundland, he performed in theater productions such as the play Madam Precious. Holbrooks first solo performance as Twain was at Lock Haven State Teachers College in Pennsylvania in 1954, Ed Sullivan saw him and gave Holbrook his first national exposure on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 12,1956. Holbrook was also a member of the Valley Players, a theater company based in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He joined The Lamns in 1955, where he began developing his one-man show and he was a member of the cast for several years and performed Mark Twain Tonight as the 1957 season opener. The State Department even sent him on a European tour, which included pioneering appearances behind the Iron Curtain, in 1959, Holbrook first played the role off-Broadway. Columbia Records recorded an LP of excerpts from the show, Holbrook performed in a special production for the New York Worlds Fair for the Bell Telephone Pavilion
12.
Tommy Lee Jones
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Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U. S, marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive. Early in his career, Jones first gained recognition for his role as Dr. Mark Toland on the soap opera One Life to Live for six years. Jones was born on September 15,1946, in San Saba and his mother, Lucille Marie, was a police officer, school teacher, and beauty shop owner, and his father, Clyde C. Jones, was an oil field worker, the two were married and divorced twice. He was raised in Midland, Texas and attended Robert E. Lee High School, Jones soon moved to Dallas and graduated from the St. Marks School of Texas in 1965, which he attended on scholarship and he attended Harvard College on a need-based scholarship. He stayed in Mower B-12 as a freshman, across the hall from future Vice President Al Gore, as an upperclassman, he stayed in Dunster House with roommates Gore and Bob Somerby, who later became editor of the media criticism site the Daily Howler. He recounts his memory of the most famous game in Ivy League history in the documentary Harvard Beats Yale 29-29. Jones graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1969, Jones moved to New York to become an actor, making his Broadway debut in 1969s A Patriot for Me in a number of supporting roles. In 1970 he landed his first film role, coincidentally playing a Harvard student in Love Story, in early 1971, he returned to Broadway in Abe Burrows Four on a Garden where he shared the stage with Carol Channing and Sid Caesar. Between 1971 and 1975 he portrayed Dr. Mark Toland on the ABC soap opera and he returned to the stage for a 1974 production of Ulysses in Nighttown with Zero Mostel. It was followed by the acclaimed TV movie The Amazing Howard Hughes, in 1981, he played a drifter opposite Sally Field in Back Roads, a comedy that received middling reviews. In 1983, he received an Emmy for Best Actor for his performance as murderer Gary Gilmore in a TV adaptation of Norman Mailers The Executioners Song and that same year he starred in a pirate adventure, Nate and Hayes, playing the heavily-bearded pirate Captain Bully Hayes. In 1989, he earned another Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Texas Ranger lawman Woodrow F, call in the acclaimed television mini-series Lonesome Dove, based on the best-seller by Larry McMurtry. Marshal Samuel Gerard in The Fugitive received broad acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, actually Im lucky to be working. Jones co-starred with director Clint Eastwood as astronauts in the 2000 film Space Cowboys, in 2005, the first theatrical feature film Jones directed, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, was presented at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. Joness character speaks both English and Spanish in the film and his performance won him the Best Actor Award
13.
John Williams
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John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. T. The Extra-Terrestrial, the Indiana Jones series, Jurassic Park, Schindlers List, Williams has been associated with director Steven Spielberg since 1974, composing music for all but two of his feature films. Williams has won five Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, with 50 Academy Award nominations, Williams is the second most-nominated individual, after Walt Disney. In 2005, the American Film Institute selected Williams score to 1977s Star Wars as the greatest American film score of all time. The soundtrack to Star Wars was additionally preserved by the Library of Congress into the National Recording Registry, for being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. Williams was inducted into the Hollywood Bowls Hall of Fame in 2000, and was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004, Williams composed the score for eight movies in the Top 20 highest-grossing films at the U. S. box office. John Towner Williams was born on February 8,1932 in Floral Park, New York, the son of Esther and Johnny Williams, Williams has said of his lineage, My father was a Maine man—we were very close. My fathers parents ran a department store in Bangor, Maine, people with those roots are not inclined to be lazy. In 1948, the Williams family moved to Los Angeles where John attended North Hollywood High School graduating in 1950 and he later attended the University of California, Los Angeles, and studied privately with the Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Williams had originally briefly attended Los Angeles City College for one semester as the school had a Studio Jazz Band. In 1952, Williams was drafted into the U. S. Air Force, in 1955, following his Air Force service, Williams moved to New York City and entered The Juilliard School where he studied piano with Rosina Lhévinne. During this time Williams worked as a jazz pianist in the many jazz clubs. After moving to Los Angeles he began working as a session musician, Williams has two brothers, Donald and Jerry, both of whom work as percussionists in Los Angeles. After his studies at Juilliard, and the Eastman School of Music, Williams returned to Los Angeles, among other composers, Williams worked with Franz Waxman, Bernard Herrmann, and Alfred Newman, and also with his fellow orchestrators Conrad Salinger and Bob Franklyn. Williams was also a studio pianist, performing on film scores by composers such as Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, Williams recorded with Henry Mancini the film scores of 1959s Peter Gunn, 1962s Days of Wine and Roses, and 1963s Charade. Williamss first film composition was for the 1958 B movie Daddy-O and he soon gained notice in Hollywood for his versatility in composing jazz, piano, and symphonic music. Williams received his first Academy Award nomination for his score for 1967s Valley of the Dolls. Williams broke through to win his first Academy Award for his score in the 1971 film Fiddler on the Roof
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DreamWorks
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DreamWorks Pictures is an American film production label of Amblin Partners. It was formerly distributing its own and third-party films by itself and it has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses of more than $100 million each. As of October 2016, DreamWorks films are marketed and distributed by Universal Pictures, DreamWorks began in 1994 as an attempt by media moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen to create a new Hollywood studio of which they owned 72%. Currently, DreamWorks operates out of offices at Universal Studios, in December 2005, the founders agreed to sell the studio to Viacom, parent of Paramount Pictures. The sale was completed in February 2006, in 2008, DreamWorks announced its intention to end its partnership with Paramount and signed a $1.5 billion deal to produce films with Indias Reliance ADA Group. Reliance provided $325M of equity to fund recreating DreamWorks SKG into DreamWorks Studios, after the formation of Amblin Partners in 2015, the studio entered into a distribution agreement with Universal Pictures. DreamWorks animation arm was spun off in 2004 into DreamWorks Animation SKG, which owns the DreamWorks trademarks. Spielbergs company continues to use the DreamWorks trademarks under license from Universal Studios, the original company was founded following Katzenbergs resignation from The Walt Disney Company in 1994. Katzenberg approached Spielberg and Geffen about forming a live-action and animation film studio, which had not been done in decades due to the risk and expense. They agreed on three conditions, They would make fewer than nine movies a year, they would be free to work for other studios if they chose, and they would go home in time for dinner. They officially founded DreamWorks SKG in October 1994, with backing of $33 million from each of the three partners and $500 million from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Their new studio was based at offices in the Universal Studios lot, despite access to sound stages and sets, DreamWorks preferred to film motion pictures on location. Usually, the company would film in a soundstage or set in a major studio, as of 2016, DreamWorks is still based in Universal. In 1995, traditional animation artists from Amblimation joined the new studio, which led to DreamWorks buying part of Pacific Data Images, both were software divisions, and would merge later on. For then, DreamWorks had the traditional animators working for their animation department. These films were distributed by DreamWorks Pictures, the same year, PDI/DreamWorks produced its first full-length animated features, Antz and The Prince of Egypt, which were also distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. DreamWorks SKG continued to distribute PDI/DreamWorks productions through their name until 2004. In 2000, DreamWorks was planning in building a studio backlot after buying 1,087 acres of land in the Playa Vista area in Los Angeles and it was to be complete with 18 sound stages, with many office buildings and a lake
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20th Century Fox
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Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation is an American film studio currently owned by 21st Century Fox. It is one of the Big Six major American film studios and is located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, the studio was formerly owned by News Corporation. 20th Century Fox is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, in 2015, 20th Century Fox celebrated its 80th anniversary as a studio. Spyros Skouras, then manager of the Fox West Coast Theaters, the studios biggest star, Will Rogers, died in a plane crash weeks after the merger. Its leading female star, Janet Gaynor, was fading in popularity and promising leading men James Dunn, at first, it was expected that the new company was originally to be called Fox-20th Century, even though 20th Century was the senior partner in the merger. However, 20th Century brought more to the bargaining table besides Schenck and Zanuck, the new company, 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation, began trading on May 31,1935, the hyphen was dropped in 1985. Schenck became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, while Kent remained as President, Zanuck became Vice President in Charge of Production, replacing Foxs longtime production chief Winfield Sheehan. The company established a training school. The contracts included an option for renewal for as long as seven years. For many years, 20th Century Fox claimed to have founded in 1915. For instance, it marked 1945 as its 30th anniversary, however, in recent years it has claimed the 1935 merger as its founding, even though most film historians agree it was founded in 1915. The companys films retained the 20th Century Pictures searchlight logo on their credits as well as its opening fanfare. Also on the Fox payroll he found two players who he built up into the studios leading assets, Alice Faye and seven-year-old Shirley Temple, favoring popular biographies and musicals, Zanuck built Fox back to profitability. Thanks to record attendance during World War II, Fox overtook RKO, while Zanuck went off for eighteen months war service, junior partner William Goetz kept profits high by going for light entertainment. The studios—indeed the industrys—biggest star was creamy blonde Betty Grable, in 1942, Spyros Skouras succeeded Kent as president of the studio. Together with Zanuck, who returned in 1943, they intended to make Foxs output more serious-minded. During the next few years, with pictures like The Razors Edge, Wilson, Gentlemans Agreement, The Snake Pit, Boomerang, and Pinky, Zanuck established a reputation for provocative, adult films. Fox also specialized in adaptations of best-selling books such as Ben Ames Williams Leave Her to Heaven, starring Gene Tierney and they also made the 1958 film version of South Pacific
16.
Participant Media
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Participant Media is an American film production company founded in 2004 by Jeffrey Skoll, dedicated to entertainment that inspires and compels social change. The company finances and co-produces films, and its hub, TakePart serves millions of socially conscious consumers each month with daily articles, videos. The companys name descriptively politicizes its basis on currently topical subjects presented to induce awareness in social aspects. The company has produced, financed, or co-produced over 75 films and its films have been nominated for 50 Academy Awards, and have won 11, including Best Picture for Spotlight. The company was founded in January 2004 as Participant Productions by Jeffrey Skoll, with $100 million in cash from Skolls personal funds, Skoll was the companys first chief executive officer, but stepped down from that position in August 2006. Participant Productions initial plans were to produce four to six films per year, the company focused on films in six areas – the environment, health care, human rights, institutional responsibility, peace and tolerance, and social and economic justice. It evaluated projects by running them past its creative executives first, assessing their cost and commercial viability second, once the decision was made to go ahead with production, the company reached out to non-profit organizations to ask them to build campaigns around the release. In some cases, the studio has spent years creating positive word-of-mouth with advocacy groups, the new company quickly announced an ambitious slate of productions. Its first film was the drama film American Gun, with equity partner IFC Films, two weeks later, the company announced a co-production deal with Warner Bros. on two films – the geopolitical thriller film Syriana and the drama film Class Action (later re-titled North Country. Participant Productions contributed half the budget of each film and its fourth production, a documentary film, was announced in November 2004. In 2005, the company suffered its first stumble and it again agreed to co-finance a picture with Warner Bros. this time Vadim Perelmans second feature, Truce. Although Perelman claimed he had never been moved by a script to such an extent, North Country did poorly at the box office despite having recent Academy Award-winner Charlize Theron in the lead. The World According to Sesame Street never found a distributor for theatrical release, the company announced in March 2005 that it would executive co-produce the Warner Bros. drama film Good Night, and Good Luck. A month later, it bought the rights to the documentary film Murderball in return for an equity stake in the film. It also executive produced and co-financed Al Gores global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, as heavier production scheduling grew, the company added staff. Ricky Strauss was named first president in March 2005, with oversight of production, marketing, diane Weyermann, director of the Sundance Institutes Documentary Film Program, joined the company in October 2005 as Executive Vice President of Documentary Production. The companys non-film-production efforts continued to grow as well, the company provided an undisclosed amount of financing in February 2005 to film distributor Emerging Pictures to finance that companys national network of digitally equipped cinemas. The company had a very successful 2005 awards season, with eleven Academy Award nominations, Good Night, and Good Luck garnered six nominations, including Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Original Screenplay
17.
Amblin Entertainment
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Amblin Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall in 1981. The companys headquarters are located on the backlot of Universal Studios in Universal City, Amblin is named after Spielbergs first commercially released film, Amblin, a short independent film about a man and woman hitchhiking through the desert. The film, which cost $15,000 to produce, was shown for Universal Studios, although Amblin is an independent production company, Universal distributes many Amblin productions, and Amblin operates out of a building on the Universal lot. Its logo features the silhouette of E. T. riding in the basket on Elliotts bicycle flying in front of the moon from the 1982 movie, J. Abrams, The Coen Brothers, and Simon Wells. Most of these directors are close friends of Spielberg, who has a producer or producer credit on many. Amblins most critically acclaimed production is Schindlers List, which was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, winning seven, a companion study guide for it, Facing History, was prepared through a grant from Amblin and Universal. Amblins television series credits include Amazing Stories, Tiny Toon Adventures, seaQuest DSV, Animaniacs, Earth 2, Pinky and the Brain, ER, Freakazoid. Back to the Future, Family Dog, The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, Fievels American Tails, The Land Before Time and Men in Black, the animated title Fievels American Tails and others were produced by Amblins animation division Amblimation, which was active from 1991 until 1995. Another studio which has distributed many Amblin productions is Warner Bros, dreamWorks has distributed a number of Amblin productions since 1994. Asterisked films indicate that Steven Spielberg is uncredited or uninvolved, back to the Future, The Ride, a simulator ride at Universal Studios Japan. Also existed at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood, gremlins Invasion, a ride at Warner Bros. Jurassic Park, The Ride, a ride at Universal Studios Hollywood. Men in Black, Alien Attack, a ride at Universal Studios Florida. Roger Rabbits Car Toon Spin, a ride in Mickeys Toontown. Twister. Ride it Out, a ride at Universal Studios Florida. E. T. Adventure, a ride at Universal Studios Florida. Also existed at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Japan, Amblin Entertainment at the Internet Movie Database
18.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
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Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor owned by The Walt Disney Company. The division took on its current name in late 2007, which before that had been Buena Vista Pictures Distribution since 1987, before 1953, Walt Disneys productions were distributed by Columbia Pictures, United Artists and RKO Radio Pictures. The name Buena Vista came from the street in Burbank, California, Buena Vistas first release was the Academy Award–winning live-action feature The Living Desert on November 10,1953 along with Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, Buena Vistas first animated release. Notable subsequent releases include the film, Yang Kwei Fei, released in US theaters in September 1956, The Missouri Traveler in March 1958. In April 1960, the company dropped Film from its name, in 1961, Disney incorporated Buena Vista International, distributing its first PG rated film, Take Down, in January 1979. The low-budget movie was not produced by the Disney studios and was acquired from an independent studio, in July 1987, Buena Vista changed its name to Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. Late in the 1980s, Disney purchased a stake in one of Pacific Theatres chain leading to Disneys Buena Vista Theaters and Pacific to renovate the El Capitan Theatre. The Crest was finished first while El Capitan opened with the premiere of The Rocketeer film on June 19,1991, the corporation purchased a 12. 8% share in Cinergi with its initial public offering in 1994. Soon, BVPD signed a 25 picture distribution deal with Cinergi, the Gaumont Film Company and Walt Disney formed Gaumont Buena Vista International, their joint venture French distribution company, in 1993. In August 1996, Disney and Tokuma Shoten Publishing agreed that Disney would distribute internationally Studio Ghibli animated films, in September 1996, following Disneys acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. was merged into ABC, Inc. the parent company of that group. In July 1998, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution purchased the Hollywood Masonic Temple building to continue using it as a promotional venue, by 1997, BVPDs share in Cinergi dropped to 5%.4 million and other loans. In 2002, Disney signed a four animated film deal with Vanguard Animation, however, since 2004, BVI and Gaumont dissolved their French distribution joint venture, Gaumont Buena Vista International. Buena Vista International agreed to a deal with MegaStar Joint Venture Company Limited in April 2006 for the Vietnam market. In April 2007, Disney discontinued using the Buena Vista brand in its distribution branding, the distribution deal ended in 2016, after DreamWorks and Disney decided to not renew their agreement in December 2015, with Universal replacing Disney as DreamWorks distributor. By the end of the deal, Disney had distributed 14 of DreamWorks original 30-picture agreement, Disney took complete ownership of the DreamWorks II film library in exchange for loans made to that company. In addition, Disney is the first of three studios that have released at least two billion-dollar films in the same year. Furthermore, Disney is the studio that has achieved this four times, in 2010,2013,2015, and 2016—that latter year of which included four $1 billion releases. Four of the top five highest-grossing animated films have been released by Disney, in addition, four of the top-five opening weekends were Disney releases
19.
Epic film
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Epic film is a style of filmmaking with large scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle. The usage of the term has shifted over time, sometimes designating a film genre, like epics in the classical literary sense it is often focused on a heroic character. An epics ambitious nature helps to set it apart from other types of such as the period piece or adventure film. The most common subjects of epic films are royalty, and important figures from various periods in world history, the term epic originally came from the poetic genre exemplified by such works as the Iliad, Epic of Gilgamesh, or the Odyssey. In classical literature, epics are considered works focused on deeds or journeys of heroes upon which the fate of a number of people depend. Similarly, films described as epic typically take a historical character, common subjects of epics are royalty, gladiators, great military leaders, or leading personalities from various periods in world history. Such films usually have a setting, although fantasy or science fiction settings have become common in recent decades. The central conflict of the film is seen as having far-reaching effects. The main characters actions are often central to the resolution of the societal conflict, in its classification of films by genre, the American Film Institute limits the genre to historical films such as Ben-Hur. However, film scholars such as Constantine Santas are willing to extend the label to science-fiction films such as 2001, A Space Odyssey and Star Wars. Stylistically, films classed as epic usually employ spectacular settings and specially designed costumes, often accompanied by a musical score. Epics are usually among the most expensive of films to produce and they often use on-location filming, authentic period costumes, and action scenes on a massive scale. Biographical films may be less lavish versions of this genre, many writers may refer to any film that is long as an epic, making the definition epic a matter of dispute, and raise questions as to whether it is a genre at all. As Roger Ebert put it, in his Great Movies article on Lawrence of Arabia, what you realize watching Lawrence of Arabia is that the word epic refers not to the cost or the elaborate production, but to the size of the ideas and vision. Werner Herzogs Aguirre, The Wrath of God didnt cost as much as the catering in Pearl Harbor, but it is an epic, the comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail had the joking tagline Makes Ben Hur look like an epic. This boom period of international co-productions is generally considered to have ended with Cleopatra, The Fall of the Roman Empire, Epic films continue to be produced, although since the development of CGI they typically use computer effects instead of an actual cast of thousands. Since the 1950s, such films have regularly been shot with an aspect ratio for a more immersive. Epic films were recognized in a montage at the 2006 Academy Awards, War epics are generally focused on specific battles in a war, P. O. W camps or the personal consequences of living in an invaded/occupied country
20.
President of the United States
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The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is considered to be one of the worlds most powerful political figures, the role includes being the commander-in-chief of the worlds most expensive military with the second largest nuclear arsenal and leading the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP. The office of President holds significant hard and soft power both in the United States and abroad, Constitution vests the executive power of the United States in the president. The president is empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves. The president is responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of the party to which the president is a member. The president also directs the foreign and domestic policy of the United States, since the office of President was established in 1789, its power has grown substantially, as has the power of the federal government as a whole. However, nine vice presidents have assumed the presidency without having elected to the office. The Twenty-second Amendment prohibits anyone from being elected president for a third term, in all,44 individuals have served 45 presidencies spanning 57 full four-year terms. On January 20,2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th, in 1776, the Thirteen Colonies, acting through the Second Continental Congress, declared political independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution. The new states, though independent of each other as nation states, desiring to avoid anything that remotely resembled a monarchy, Congress negotiated the Articles of Confederation to establish a weak alliance between the states. Out from under any monarchy, the states assigned some formerly royal prerogatives to Congress, only after all the states agreed to a resolution settling competing western land claims did the Articles take effect on March 1,1781, when Maryland became the final state to ratify them. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the former colonies, with peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs. Prospects for the convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washingtons attendance to Philadelphia as a delegate for Virginia. It was through the negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U. S. The first power the Constitution confers upon the president is the veto, the Presentment Clause requires any bill passed by Congress to be presented to the president before it can become law. Once the legislation has been presented, the president has three options, Sign the legislation, the bill becomes law. Veto the legislation and return it to Congress, expressing any objections, in this instance, the president neither signs nor vetoes the legislation
21.
Abraham Lincoln
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Abraham Lincoln was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and perhaps its greatest moral, constitutional, in doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy. Born in Hodgenville, Kentucky, Lincoln grew up on the frontier in Kentucky. Largely self-educated, he became a lawyer in Illinois, a Whig Party leader, elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1846, Lincoln promoted rapid modernization of the economy through banks, tariffs, and railroads. Reentering politics in 1854, he became a leader in building the new Republican Party, in 1860, Lincoln secured the Republican Party presidential nomination as a moderate from a swing state. Though he gained little support in the slaveholding states of the South. Subsequently, on April 12,1861, a Confederate attack on Fort Sumter inspired the North to enthusiastically rally behind the Union. Politically, Lincoln fought back by pitting his opponents against each other, by carefully planned political patronage and his Gettysburg Address became an iconic endorsement of the principles of nationalism, republicanism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy. Lincoln initially concentrated on the military and political dimensions of the war and his primary goal was to reunite the nation. He suspended habeas corpus, leading to the ex parte Merryman decision. Lincoln closely supervised the war effort, especially the selection of top generals, including his most successful general, Lincoln tried repeatedly to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, each time a general failed, Lincoln substituted another, until finally Grant succeeded. As the war progressed, his moves toward ending slavery included the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. On April 14,1865, five days after the surrender of Confederate commanding general Robert E. Lee, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton launched a manhunt for Booth, and 12 days later on April 26, Lincoln has been consistently ranked both by scholars and the public as among the greatest U. S. presidents. Abraham Lincoln was born February 12,1809, the child of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, in a one-room log cabin on the Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville. He was a descendant of Samuel Lincoln, an Englishman who migrated from Hingham, Norfolk to its namesake of Hingham, samuels grandson and great-grandson began the familys western migration, which passed through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Lincolns paternal grandfather and namesake, Captain Abraham Lincoln, moved the family from Virginia to Jefferson County, Captain Lincoln was killed in an Indian raid in 1786. His children, including eight-year-old Thomas, the presidents father
22.
United States House of Representatives
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The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the Senate, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the House are established by Article One of the United States Constitution, since its inception in 1789, all representatives are elected popularly. The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435, the House is charged with the passage of federal legislation, known as bills, which, after concurrence by the Senate, are sent to the President for consideration. The presiding officer is the Speaker of the House, who is elected by the members thereof and is traditionally the leader of the controlling party. He or she and other leaders are chosen by the Democratic Caucus or the Republican Conferences. The House meets in the wing of the United States Capitol. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was a body in which each state was equally represented. All states except Rhode Island agreed to send delegates, the issue of how to structure Congress was one of the most divisive among the founders during the Convention. The House is referred to as the house, with the Senate being the upper house. Both houses approval is necessary for the passage of legislation, the Virginia Plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population. The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan, the Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states in 1788, but its implementation was set for March 4,1789. The House began work on April 1,1789, when it achieved a quorum for the first time, during the first half of the 19th century, the House was frequently in conflict with the Senate over regionally divisive issues, including slavery. The North was much more populous than the South, and therefore dominated the House of Representatives, However, the North held no such advantage in the Senate, where the equal representation of states prevailed. Regional conflict was most pronounced over the issue of slavery, One example of a provision repeatedly supported by the House but blocked by the Senate was the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the land gained during the Mexican–American War. Conflict over slavery and other issues persisted until the Civil War, the war culminated in the Souths defeat and in the abolition of slavery. Because all southern senators except Andrew Johnson resigned their seats at the beginning of the war, the years of Reconstruction that followed witnessed large majorities for the Republican Party, which many Americans associated with the Unions victory in the Civil War and the ending of slavery. The Reconstruction period ended in about 1877, the ensuing era, the Democratic and the Republican Party held majorities in the House at various times. The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw an increase in the power of the Speaker of the House
23.
Touchstone Pictures
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Touchstone Pictures is an American film distribution label of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Previously, Touchstone operated as an film production banner of Walt Disney Studios. Touchstone Pictures merely serves as a brand, not a business operation. In 2009, Disney entered into a 5-year, 30-picture distribution deal with DreamWorks Pictures by which DreamWorks productions would be released through the Touchstone banner, Touchstone then distributed DreamWorks films from 2011 to 2016. Due to increased public assumption that Disney films were aimed at children and families, in late 1979, Disney Productions released The Black Hole, a science-fiction movie that was the studios first production to receive a PG rating. Over the next few years, Disney experimented with more PG-rated fare, tron was considered a potential Star Wars-level success film by the film division. A loss of $33 million was registered by the division in 1983 with the majority resulting from Something Wicked This Way Comes. Never Cry Wolf, a 1983 PG release that featured male nudity did well as the studio downplayed the films association with the Disney brand. Touchstone Films was started by then-Disney CEO Ron W. Miller on February 15,1984 as a label for their PG films with an expected 3 to 4 movies released under the label. Touchstones first film was Splash, a hit for grossing $68 million at the domestic box office was released that year. Incoming Disney CEO Michael Eisner and film chief Jeffrey Katzenberg considered renaming the label to Hollywood Pictures, following in 1986, Down and Out in Beverly Hills was another early success for Touchstone and is noted as Disneys first R-rated film. Allowing the momentum to increase with films with Ruthless People, Outrageous Fortune, Tin Men. In April 1985, Touchstone Films were licensed to Showtime/The Movie Channel for five years starting in 1986, Touchstone Films was renamed Touchstone Pictures after the film Ruthless People in 1986. With the Touchstone movies, Disney moved to the top of box office receipts beating out all the major film studios by 1988. In April 1988, Touchstone became a unit of Walt Disney Pictures with newly appointed president Ricardo Mestres, on October 23,1990, The Walt Disney Company formed Touchwood Pacific Partners I to supplant the Silver Screen Partnership series as their movie studios primary funding source. Mestres was appointed president of Hollywood, in 2006, Disney limited Touchstones output to 2 or 3 films in favor of Walt Disney Pictures titles due to an increase in film industry costs. Two Touchstone co-productions flopped at the box office minimized by its co-producers financial contributions to the movies, Disney revived Touchstone in 2009 to serve as a distribution label for DreamWorks Studios films. DreamWorks was expected to allow Disney to release additional family fare that could be used at its parks and on its channels, Disney has been financing DreamWorks productions with an $90 million more available under its agreement if DreamWorks cannot get additional equity funding
24.
Golden Globe Award
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Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign. The annual ceremony at which the awards are presented is a part of the film industrys awards season. The 74th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film, the 1st Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best achievements in 1943 filmmaking, was held in January 1944, at the 20th Century-Fox studios. Subsequent ceremonies were held at venues throughout the next decade, including the Beverly Hills Hotel. In 1950, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association made the decision to establish an honorary award to recognize outstanding contributions to the entertainment industry. Recognizing its subject as a figure within the entertainment industry. The official name of the award became the Cecil B. In 1963, the Miss Golden Globe concept was introduced, in its inaugural year, two Miss Golden Globes were named, one for film and one for television. The two Miss Golden Globes named that year were Eva Six and Donna Douglas, respectively, in 2009, the Golden Globe statuette was redesigned. It was unveiled at a conference at the Beverly Hilton prior to the show. The broadcast of the Golden Globe Awards, telecast to 167 countries worldwide, generally ranks as the third most-watched awards show each year, behind only the Oscars, gervais returned to host the 68th and 69th Golden Globe Awards the next two years. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted the 70th, 71st and 72nd Golden Globe Awards in 2015, the Golden Globe Awards theme song, which debuted in 2012, was written by Japanese musician and songwriter Yoshiki Hayashi. On January 7,2008, it was announced due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The ceremony was faced with a threat by striking writers to picket the event, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was forced to adopt another approach for the broadcast. In acting categories, Meryl Streep holds the record for the most competitive Golden Globe wins with eight, however, including honorary awards, such as the Henrietta Award, World Film Favorite Actor/Actress Award, or Cecil B. DeMille Award, Barbra Streisand leads with nine, additionally, Streisand won for composing the song Evergreen, producing the Best Picture, and directing Yentl in 1984. Jack Nicholson, Angela Lansbury, Alan Alda and Shirley MacLaine have six awards each, behind them are Rosalind Russell and Jessica Lange with five wins. Meryl Streep also holds the record for most nominations with thirty, at the 46th Golden Globe Awards an anomaly occurred, a three way-tie for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
25.
85th Academy Awards
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The ceremony was the first in the Academys 85-year history to adopt the phrase The Oscars as the ceremonys official name during the broadcast and marketing. During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24 categories, the ceremony was televised in the United States by ABC, and produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron and directed by Don Mischer. Actor Seth MacFarlane hosted the show for the first time, in related events, the Academy held its 4th annual Governors Awards ceremony at the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywood and Highland Center on December 1,2012. On February 9,2013, in a ceremony at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, Life of Pi won four awards including Best Director for Ang Lee. Argo won three awards, including Best Picture, the film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture without its director nominated. The telecast garnered more than 40 million viewers in the United States, the nominees for the 85th Academy Awards were announced on January 10,2013, at 5,38 a. m. PST at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Seth MacFarlane, host of the ceremony, Lincoln received the most nominations with twelve total, and Life of Pi came in second with eleven. The winners were announced during the ceremony on February 24,2013. Argo was the film to win Best Picture without a directing nomination, following 1927s Wings, 1932s Grand Hotel. As co-producer of Argo, George Clooney became the individual to win Oscars for both acting and producing. He was also the first singer nominee and also the first to host the show solo, silver Linings Playbook was the fourteenth film to earn nominations in all four acting categories, and the first since Reds in 1981. At age 22, Best Actress winner Jennifer Lawrence became the second-youngest winner in that category, with his third win for Best Lead Actor, Daniel Day-Lewis became the first three-time winner in that category. He also was the performer to win at least three acting Oscars. Amour was the fourth film nominated simultaneously for Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film in the same year, at age nine, Quvenzhané Wallis became the youngest nominee for Best Actress and the youngest female acting nominee overall. Meanwhile, Emmanuelle Riva was the oldest nominee for Best Actress and this marked the first time in Oscar history that all five nominees in an acting category were all previous winners. Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirtys joint win in the Best Sound Editing category was the occurrence of a tie in Oscar history. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger, the Academy held its 4th Annual Governors Awards ceremony on December 1,2012, during which the following awards were presented. Hal Needham — An innovator, mentor, and master technician who elevated his craft to an art, D. A. Pennebaker — Who redefined the language of film and taught a generation of filmmakers to look to reality for inspiration
26.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
27.
Academy Award for Best Director
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The Academy Award for Best Director is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of a director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in the film industry. However, these categories were merged for all subsequent ceremonies, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the directors branch of AMPAS, winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. For the first eleven years of the Academy Awards, directors were allowed to be nominated for multiple films in the same year, the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture have been very closely linked throughout their history. Of the 89 films that have been awarded Best Picture,63 have also been awarded Best Director, since its inception, the award has been given to 69 directors or directing teams. John Ford has received the most awards in this category with four, william Wyler was nominated on twelve occasions, more than any other individual. As of the 2017 ceremony, Damien Chazelle is the most recent winner in category for his work on La La Land. Chazelle also became the youngest director in history to receive this award, two directing teams have shared the award, Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story in 1961 and Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men in 2007. The Coen brothers are the siblings to have won the award. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months from August 1 to July 31, for the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1,1932 to December 31,1933. Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full calendar year from January 1 to December 31. org The Academy Awards Database Oscar. com
28.
Academy Award for Best Actor
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The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered a performance in a leading role while working within the film industry. The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929 with Emil Jannings receiving the award for his roles in The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh. Currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the branch of AMPAS. In the first three years of the awards, actors were nominated as the best in their categories, at that time, all of their work during the qualifying period was listed after the award. The following year, this unwieldy and confusing system was replaced by the current system in which an actor is nominated for a performance in a single film. Starting with the 9th ceremony held in 1937, the category was officially limited to five nominations per year, since its inception, the award has been given to 79 actors. Daniel Day-Lewis has received the most awards in this category with three Oscars, spencer Tracy and Laurence Olivier were nominated on nine occasions, more than any other actor. As of the 2017 ceremony, Casey Affleck is the most recent winner in category for his role as Lee Chandler in Manchester by the Sea. In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of release in Los Angeles County. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months from August 1 to July 31, for the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1,1932 to December 31,1933
29.
American Civil War
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The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
30.
Confederate States of America
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The Confederate States, officially the Confederate States of America, commonly referred to as the Confederacy, was a breakaway country of 11 secessionist slave states existing from 1861 to 1865. It was never recognized as an Independent country, although it achieved belligerent status by Britain. A new Confederate government was established in February 1861 before Lincoln took office in March, after the Civil War began in April, four slave states of the Upper South – Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina – also declared their secession and joined the Confederacy. The government of the United States rejected the claims of secession, the Civil War began with the April 12,1861, Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter, a Union fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. In spring 1865, after four years of fighting which led to an estimated 620,000 military deaths, all the Confederate forces surrendered. Jefferson Davis later lamented that the Confederacy had disappeared in 1865, Missouri and Kentucky were represented by partisan factions from those states, while the legitimate governments of those two states retained formal adherence to the Union. Also fighting for the Confederacy were two of the Five Civilized Tribes located in Indian Territory and a new, but uncontrolled, Confederate Territory of Arizona. Efforts by certain factions in Maryland to secede were halted by federal imposition of law, while Delaware, though of divided loyalty. A Unionist government in parts of Virginia organized the new state of West Virginia. With the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1,1863, the Union made abolition of slavery a war goal, as Union forces moved southward, large numbers of plantation slaves were freed. Many joined the Union lines, enrolling in service as soldiers, teamsters and laborers, the most notable advance was Shermans March to the Sea in late 1864. Much of the Confederacys infrastructure was destroyed, including telegraphs, railroads, plantations in the path of Shermans forces were severely damaged. Internal movement became increasingly difficult for Southerners, weakening the economy and these losses created an insurmountable disadvantage in men, materiel, and finance. Public support for Confederate President Jefferson Daviss administration eroded over time due to repeated military reverses, economic hardships, after four years of campaigning, Richmond was captured by Union forces in April 1865. Shortly afterward, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, President Davis was captured on May 10,1865, and jailed in preparation for a treason trial that was ultimately never held. The U. S. government began a process known as Reconstruction which attempted to resolve the political and constitutional issues of the Civil War. By 1877, the Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction in the former Confederate states, Confederate veterans had been temporarily disenfranchised by Reconstruction policy. The prewar South had many areas, the war left the entire region economically devastated by military action, ruined infrastructure
31.
Emancipation Proclamation
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The Emancipation Proclamation was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1,1863. It purported to change the legal status of more than 3 million enslaved people in the designated areas of the South from slave to free. It had the effect that as soon as a slave escaped the control of the Confederate government, by running away or through advances of federal troops. Eventually it reached and liberated all of the designated slaves and it was issued as a war measure during the American Civil War, directed to all of the areas in rebellion and all segments of the executive branch of the United States. It proclaimed the freedom of slaves in ten states, because it was issued under the Presidents authority to suppress rebellion, it necessarily excluded areas not in rebellion – it applied to more than 3 million of the 4 million slaves at the time. The Proclamation was based on the constitutional authority as commander in chief of the armed forces. The Proclamation was issued in January 1863 after U, the Proclamation did not compensate the owners, did not outlaw slavery, and did not grant citizenship to the ex-slaves. It made the eradication of slavery a war goal, in addition to the goal of reuniting the Union. Around 20,000 to 50,000 slaves in regions where rebellion had already been subdued were immediately emancipated. Prior to the Proclamation, in accordance with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, also specifically excluded were some regions already controlled by the Union army. On September 22,1862, Lincoln issued a warning that he would order the emancipation of all slaves in any state that did not end its rebellion against the Union by January 1,1863. None of the Confederate states restored themselves to the Union, and Lincolns order was signed, the Emancipation Proclamation outraged white Southerners who envisioned a race war. It angered some Northern Democrats, energized anti-slavery forces, and undermined elements in Europe that wanted to intervene to help the Confederacy, the Proclamation lifted the spirits of African Americans both free and slave. It led many slaves to escape from their masters and get to Union lines to obtain their freedom, the Emancipation Proclamation broadened the goals of the Civil War. While slavery had been an issue that led to the war. The Proclamation made freeing the slaves an explicit goal of the Union war effort, establishing the abolition of slavery as one of the two primary war goals served to deter intervention by Britain and France. The Emancipation Proclamation was never challenged in court, to ensure the abolition of slavery in all of the U. S. Lincoln pushed for passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. Congress passed it by the necessary two-thirds vote on January 31,1865, the United States Constitution of 1787 did not use the word slavery but included several provisions about unfree persons
32.
Slave states and free states
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Historically, slavery had been practiced in all the British colonies. The division between slave and free states began during the American Revolution, slavery was a divisive issue and was the primary cause of the American Civil War. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery throughout the United States, slavery was legal and practiced in each of the Thirteen Colonies that became the US. During British colonization, the population expanded, primarily drawn from the Atlantic slave trade. Organized political and social movements to end slavery began in the mid-18th century, the sentiments of the American Revolution and the equality evoked by the Declaration of Independence stood in contrast to the status of most black Americans. Despite this, thousands of black Americans fought against the British in hopes of a new order, thousands also joined the British army, encouraged by British offers of freedom in exchange for military service. In the 1770s, blacks throughout New England began sending petitions to northern legislatures demanding freedom, five of the Northern self-declared states adopted policies to at least gradually abolish slavery, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Vermont abolished slavery in 1777, while it was independent. These state jurisdictions enacted the first abolition laws in the Americas. By 1804, all of the states had abolished slavery or set measures in place to gradually reduce it. In the south, Kentucky was created a state from Virginia. By 1804, before the creation of new states from the western territories. In popular usage, the divide between the slave and free states was called the Mason–Dixon line. The 1787, United States Constitutional Convention debated slavery and for a time slavery was an impediment to passage of the new constitution. As a compromise the institution was acknowledged though never mentioned directly in the constitution, in 1808, the United States outlawed the international slave import trade but the domestic trade in half the states continued. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787, passed just before the U. S, Constitution was ratified, prohibited slavery in the federal Northwest Territory. The southern boundary of the territory was the Ohio River, which was regarded as a extension of the Mason–Dixon line. The territory was settled by New Englanders and American Revolutionary War veterans granted land there
33.
Radical Republican
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The Radical Republicans were a faction of American politicians within the Republican Party of the United States from around 1854 until the end of Reconstruction in 1877. During the war, Radical Republicans often opposed Lincoln in terms of selection of generals, Radicals pushed for the uncompensated abolition of slavery, while Lincoln wanted to pay slave owners who were loyal to the Union. After the war, the Radicals demanded civil rights for freedmen and they initiated the various Reconstruction Acts, and limited political and voting rights for ex-Confederate civil officials, military officers and soldiers. They bitterly fought President Andrew Johnson, they weakened his powers and attempted to remove him from office through impeachment, the term radical was in common use in the anti-slavery movement before the Civil War, referring not to abolitionists but to Northern politicians strongly opposed to Slave Power. There was movement in both directions, some of the pre-war radicals became more conservative during the war, while some prewar moderates became Radicals, some wartime radicals had been conservative Democrats before the war, often taking proslavery positions. The Radicals were never organized, and there was movement in. Their most successful and systematic leader was Pennsylvania Congressman Thaddeus Stevens in the House of Representatives, the Democrats were strongly opposed to the Radicals, but they were generally a weak minority in politics until they took control of the House in the 1874 congressional elections. The moderate and conservative Republican factions usually opposed the radicals, Lincoln tried to build a multi-faction coalition, including radicals, conservatives, moderates, and War Democrats, while he was often opposed by the Radicals, he never ostracized them. Andrew Johnson was thought to be a Radical when he became president in 1865, Johnson, however, was so inept as a politician he was unable to form a cohesive support network. Finally in 1872, the Liberal Republicans, most of them ex-radicals, ran a presidential campaign and they argued that Grant and the Radicals were corrupt, and had imposed Reconstruction far too long on the South. They were overwhelmingly defeated and collapsed as a movement, on issues not concerned with the Slave Power, the destruction of the Confederacy, the eradication of slavery and the rights of the Freedmen, Radicals took positions all over the political map. For example, Radicals who had once been Whigs generally supported high tariffs, some men were for hard money and no inflation, and others were for soft money and inflation. On foreign policy issues, the Radicals and moderates generally did not take distinctive positions, after the 1860 elections, moderate Republicans dominated the Congress. Radical Republicans were often critical of Lincoln, who believed was too slow in freeing slaves. Lincoln put all factions in his cabinet, including Radicals like Salmon P. Chase, Lincoln appointed many Radical Republicans, such as journalist James Shepherd Pike, to key diplomatic positions. Angry with Lincoln, in 1864 some Radicals briefly formed a party called the Radical Democracy Party with John C. Frémont as their candidate for president, until Frémont withdrew, an important Republican opponent of the Radical Republicans was Henry Jarvis Raymond. Raymond was both editor of the New York Times and also a chairman of the Republican National Committee, in Congress the most influential Radical Republicans were U. S
34.
Democratic Party (United States)
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The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The Democrats dominant worldview was once socially conservative and fiscally classical liberalism, while, especially in the rural South, since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social-liberal platform, supporting social justice. Today, the House Democratic caucus is composed mostly of progressives and centrists, the partys philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state. It seeks to provide government intervention and regulation in the economy, the party has united with smaller left-wing regional parties throughout the country, such as the Farmer–Labor Party in Minnesota and the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota. Well into the 20th century, the party had conservative pro-business, the New Deal Coalition of 1932–1964 attracted strong support from voters of recent European extraction—many of whom were Catholics based in the cities. After Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal of the 1930s, the pro-business wing withered outside the South, after the racial turmoil of the 1960s, most southern whites and many northern Catholics moved into the Republican Party at the presidential level. The once-powerful labor union element became smaller and less supportive after the 1970s, white Evangelicals and Southerners became heavily Republican at the state and local level in the 1990s. However, African Americans became a major Democratic element after 1964, after 2000, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian Americans, the LGBT community, single women and professional women moved towards the party as well. The Northeast and the West Coast became Democratic strongholds by 1990 after the Republicans stopped appealing to socially liberal voters there, overall, the Democratic Party has retained a membership lead over its major rival the Republican Party. The most recent was the 44th president Barack Obama, who held the office from 2009 to 2017, in the 115th Congress, following the 2016 elections, Democrats are the opposition party, holding a minority of seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a minority of governorships, and state legislatures, though they do control the mayoralty of cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Washington, D. C. The Democratic Party traces its origins to the inspiration of the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and that party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Organizationally, the modern Democratic Party truly arose in the 1830s, since the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in 1896, the party has generally positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic issues. They have been liberal on civil rights issues since 1948. On foreign policy both parties changed position several times and that party, the Democratic-Republican Party, came to power in the election of 1800. After the War of 1812 the Federalists virtually disappeared and the national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republican party still had its own factions, however. As Norton explains the transformation in 1828, Jacksonians believed the peoples will had finally prevailed, through a lavishly financed coalition of state parties, political leaders, and newspaper editors, a popular movement had elected the president
35.
Lame duck (politics)
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A lame duck, in politics, is an elected official whose successor has already been elected. The official is often seen as having less influence with other due to their limited time left in office. Conversely, a duck is free to make decisions that exercise their standard powers with little fear of consequence, such as issuing executive orders, pardons. Lame duck politicians result from term limits, planned retirement, or electoral losses, Lame duck officials tend to have less political power, as other elected officials are less inclined to cooperate with them. Examples include last-minute midnight regulations issued by agencies of outgoing US presidential administrations. The phrase lame duck was coined in the century at the London Stock Exchange. The first known mention of the term in writing was made by Horace Walpole, from a letter in 1761 to Sir Horace Mann, Do you know what a Bull and a Bear and Lame Duck are. In 1791 Mary Berry wrote of the Duchess of Devonshires loss of £50,000 in stocks, in the literal sense, the term refers to a duck which is unable to keep up with its flock, making it a target for predators. It was transferred to politicians in the century, the first recorded use being in the Congressional Globe of January 14,1863. Could be justly obnoxious to the charge of being a receptacle of lame ducks or broken down politicians. For example, after the 2004 election, it clear that the governing Liberal Party/National Party coalition would gain a majority in the new Senate. In U. S. politics, the period between elections in November and the inauguration of officials early in the year is commonly called the lame duck period. A president is a lame duck after a successor has been elected, during which time the outgoing president, until 1933, inaugurations occurred on March 4. Congress usually had two sessions, the second of which was held from the December after the election of the next Congress until March. This session was called the lame duck session. For this reason, it can be argued that a president in their term is not a lame duck at all. The term lame duck president traditionally is reserved for a president who is serving out the remainder of their term after having been defeated for re-election. Ford, who was defeated in 1976, Jimmy Carter, who was defeated for re-election in 1980, and George H. W. Bush, to date, he is the last sitting president to lose in a re-election bid
36.
38th United States Congress
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It met in Washington, D. C. from March 4,1863, to March 4,1865, during the last two years of the first administration of U. S. President Abraham Lincoln. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Eighth Census of the United States in 1860, the Senate had a Republican majority, and the House of Representatives had a Republican plurality. 66,13 Stat.54 June 30,1864, Yosemite Valley Grant Act,1,16 Stat.48 March 3,1865, Freedmens Bureau, Sess. Elections held in Missouri and Kentucky seated all members to the House, in rebellion 1862–64 according to the Emancipation Proclamation were Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. Tennessee was not held to be in rebellion as of the end of 1862, may 26,1864, Montana Territory organized, Sess. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the Changes in membership section, during this Congress, two seats were added for each of the new states of Nevada and West Virginia, thereby adding four new seats. Before this Congress, the 1860 United States Census and resulting reapportionment changed the size of the House to 241 members, during this Congress, one seat was added for the new state of Nevada, and three seats were reapportioned from Virginia to the new state of West Virginia. President, Hannibal Hamlin President pro tempore, Solomon Foot, until April 13,1864 Daniel Clark, elected April 26,1864 Republican Conference Chairman, Henry B. Anthony Speaker, Schuyler Colfax Republican Conference Chairman, Justin S. Morrill Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, Thaddeus Stevens This list is arranged by chamber, Senators are listed by class, and Representatives are listed by district. Skip to House of Representatives, below Senators were elected by the state legislatures every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress, preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election. The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress, todd Postmaster, William S. King Sergeant at Arms, Nehemiah G. The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, the Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts
37.
Francis Preston Blair
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Francis Preston Blair, Sr. was an American journalist, newspaper editor, and influential figure in national politics advising several U. S. presidents across the party lines. Blair was an member of the Democratic Party, and a strong supporter of President Andrew Jackson. From 1831 to 1845, Blair worked as Editor-in-Chief of the Washington Globe, which served as the primary instrument for the Democratic Party. Blair was an advisor to President Jackson, and served prominently in a group of unofficial advisors. Blair, despite being a slaveholder from Kentucky, eventually came to oppose the expansion of slavery and he supported the Free-Soil Party ticket of Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams in the 1848 presidential election. In 1854, in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, he left the Democratic Party, Blair served as an advisor to President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. In 1861, he was sent by Lincoln to offer command of a large Union army to Colonel Robert E. Lee, who declined, Blair also helped organize the Hampton Roads Conference of 1865, a failed attempt to end the war. After the Union victory, Blair became disillusioned with Radical Reconstruction and he eventually left the party and rejoined the Democrats. His son, Francis Preston Blair Jr. was the nominee for vice president on a losing ticket in the 1868 election. Blair died in 1876 at age 85, Blair was born at Abingdon, Virginia to James Blair, a lawyer who became an Attorney General of Kentucky, and Elizabeth Smith. Raised in Frankfort, Kentucky and referred to as Preston by the family members and he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1817 but did not practice due to a vocal defect. He took to journalism, and became a contributor to Amos Kendalls paper, during the social and financial turmoil caused by the Panic of 1819, Blair joined the so-called Relief Party of Kentucky. In 1824, Blair served as a clerk of new, alternative to existing state court of appeals vigorously establishing its authority, as an ardent follower of Andrew Jackson, he helped him to carry Kentucky during the 1828 presidential election. In 1830, he was editor of The Washington Globe. In this capacity, and as a member of Jackson’s unofficial advisory council, the Washington Globe newspaper was the administrations voice until 1841, and the chief Democratic organ until 1845, when Blair ceased to be its editor. In 1848, he actively supported Martin Van Buren, the Free Soil candidate, next, in 1852, Blair supported Franklin Pierce, but became disillusioned in his administration after Pierce backed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. He used his experience, influence and persuasion to create a momentum for a new party. At the 1856 Republican National Convention, he was influential in securing the nomination of John C, Frémont, who was married to Jessie Benton Frémont, a daughter of his old friend, Thomas Hart Benton, for the presidency
38.
United States Secretary of State
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Secretary of State is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule and thus earns the salary prescribed for that level. The current Secretary of State is former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson and those that remain include storage and use of the Great Seal of the United States, performance of protocol functions for the White House, and the drafting of certain proclamations. The Secretary also negotiates with the individual States over the extradition of fugitives to foreign countries, under Federal Law, the resignation of a President or of a Vice President is only valid if declared in writing, in an instrument delivered to the office of the Secretary of State. Accordingly, the resignations of President Nixon and of Vice-President Spiro Agnew, domestic issues, were formalized in instruments delivered to the Secretary of State, six Secretaries of State have gone on to be elected President. Former Secretaries of State retain the right to add the title Secretary to their surnames, as the head of the United States Foreign Service, the Secretary of State is responsible for management of the diplomatic service of the United States. The foreign service employs about 12,000 people domestically and internationally, the U. S. Secretary of State has the power to remove any foreign diplomat from U. S. soil for any reason. The nature of the means that Secretaries of State engage in travel around the world. The record for most countries visited in a secretarys tenure is 112, second is Madeleine Albright with 96. The record for most air miles traveled in a secretarys tenure is 1.380 million miles, second is Condoleezza Rices 1.059 million miles and third is Clintons 956,733 miles. S
