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Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Henry Rumsfeld (born July 9, 1932) is an American politician and businessman who has served as the 21st Secretary of Defense of the United States since January 20, 2001, under President George W. Bush. He is the oldest person to have held that position, and was also the youngest when he served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. Rumsfeld also served four terms in the United States House of Representatives and as an official in numerous federal commissions and councils. Rumsfeld married the former Joyce Pierson in 1954. They have three children and six grandchildren.

Early Life

He was born in Evanston, Illinois to George Donald Rumsfeld and Jeannette Huster, of German descent (his grandfather was originally from Bremen in Northern Germany). Donald Rumsfeld graduated from New Trier High School and attended Princeton University on scholarship (BA, 1954) where he was an accomplished amateur wrestler and served in the United States Navy (1954-57) as a Naval aviator. While there, he was roommates with Frank Carlucci. He then went on to attend and subsequently drop out of Georgetown University Law Center (1957). That same year, during the Eisenhower Administration, he served as Administrative Assistant to a Congressman from Ohio. After a stint with investment banking firm A. G. Becker from 1960 to 1962, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Illinois in 1962, at the age of 30, and was re-elected in 1964, 1966, and 1968.

Career

Nixon Administration

Rumsfeld resigned from Congress in 1969 during his fourth term to serve in the Nixon Administration as Director of the United States Office of Economic Opportunity, Assistant to the President, and a member of the President's Cabinet (1969-1970); Counselor to the President, Director of the Economic Stabilization Program; and member of the President's Cabinet (1971-1972). In 1973, he left Washington, DC, to serve as U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels, Belgium (1973-1974).

Ford Administration

Belgium In August 1974, he was called back to Washington, DC, to serve in the Ford Administration successively as Chairman of the transition to the Presidency of Gerald R. Ford (1974); White House Chief of Staff member of the President's Cabinet (1974-1975); and the 13th U.S. Secretary of Defense (1975-1977). During this period he oversaw the transition to an all volunteer military and was instrumental in increasing the power of the military within the administration and at the expense of the CIA and Henry Kissinger. This was accomplished by promulgating the view that the Soviet Union was increasing defense spending and pursuing secret weapons programs, and that the proper response was a re-escalation of the arms race. This view was in direct contrast to CIA and generally accepted reports on the declining state of the Soviet economy, and the earlier success of Richard Nixon in establishing Detente (referring to a thawing of the Cold War) with the Soviet Union. Soviet Union As part of the Ford administration, Rumsfeld helped formulate the White House response to the death of CIA scientist Frank Olson. In 1976, a military recruit in New Jersey died from a flu that experts speculated might be the "swine flu". At Rumsfeld's urging, the Ford administration quickly produced and distributed large number of doses of the vaccine. However, some batches were contaminated and 52 people died while 600 fell ill. The program was stopped and nobody got swine flu. In 1977, Rumsfeld was awarded the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Private career

From 1977 to 1985 Rumsfeld served as Chief Executive Officer, President, and then Chairman of G.D. Searle & Company, a worldwide pharmaceutical company whose products included, among others, the oral contraceptive pill Enovid. It was under Rumsfeld that Searle got FDA approval for the controversial artificial sweetener, aspartame, which it marketed as NutraSweet. During his tenure at Searle, Rumsfeld led a financial turnaround of the company that earned him awards as the Outstanding Chief Executive Officer in the Pharmaceutical Industry from the Wall Street Transcript (1980) and Financial World (1981). Rumsfeld is believed to have earned around US$12 million from the sale of Searle to Monsanto. From 1985 to 1990 he was in private business. During his business career, Rumsfeld continued public service in a variety of posts, including: Monsanto Rudy Giuliani speak at the site of the World Trade Center disaster in lower Manhattan, on November 14, 2001.]]
- Member of the President's General Advisory Committee on Arms Control - Reagan Administration (1982 - 1986);
- President Reagan's Special Envoy on the Law of the Sea Treaty (1982 - 1983);
- Senior Advisor to President Reagan's Panel on Strategic Systems (1983 - 1984);
- Member of the U.S. Joint Advisory Commission on U.S./Japan Relations - Reagan Administration (1983 - 1984);
- President Reagan's Special Envoy to the Middle East (1983 - 1984);
- Member of the National Commission on the Public Service (1987 - 1990);
- Member of the National Economic Commission (1988 - 1989);
- Member of the Board of Visitors of the National Defense University (1988 - 1992);
- Member of the Commission on U.S./Japan Relations (1989 - 1991);
- Member of the Board of Directors for ABB Ltd (1990 - 2001);
- FCC's High Definition Television Advisory Committee (1992 - 1993);
- Chairman, Commission on the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States (1998 - 1999);
- Member of the U.S. Trade Deficit Review Commission (1999 - 2000);
- Member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and
- Chairman of the U.S. Commission to Assess National Security Space Management and Organization (2000). FCC, meeting with Saddam Hussein during a visit to Baghdad, Iraq in 1983. Video frame capture, see the [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/ complete video here] ]] Rumsfeld served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Instrument Corporation from 1990 to 1993. A leader in broadband transmission, distribution, and access control technologies for cable, satellite and terrestrial broadcasting applications, the company pioneered the development of the first all-digital high definition television (HDTV) technology. After taking the company public and returning it to profitability, Rumsfeld returned to private business in late 1993. From January 1997 until being sworn in as the 21st Secretary of Defense in January 2001, Rumsfeld served as Chairman of Gilead Sciences, Inc. He was also chair of the RAND Corporation. Rumsfeld sat on the board of a company which sold two light water nuclear reactors to North Korea in 2000- a country he now regards as part of the "axis of evil" and which has been targeted for regime change by Washington because of its efforts to build nuclear weapons. The sale of the nuclear technology was a high-profile contract. ABB's then chief executive, Goran Lindahl, visited North Korea in November 1999 to announce ABB's "wide-ranging, long-term cooperation agreement" with the communist government.Mr Rumsfeld's office said that the defence secretary did not "recall it being brought before the board at any time". A spokesman for ABB told the Guardian yesterday that "board members were informed about the project which would deliver systems and equipment for light water reactors".

Reagan Administration

During his period as Reagan's Special Envoy to the Middle East, Rumsfeld was the main conduit for crucial American military intelligence, hardware and strategic advice to Saddam Hussein, then fighting Iran in the Iran-Iraq war. During this period, US policy supported Iraq, believing it to be a useful buffer against Iran's new religious government, although the United States had originally been hesitant to work with a Soviet client state. When he visited on December 19-20, 1983, he and Saddam Hussein had a 90 minute discussion which covered Syria's occupation of Lebanon, preventing Syrian and Iranian expansion, preventing arms sales to Iran by foreign countries, increasing Iraqi oil production via a possible new oil pipeline across Jordan. Not mentioned was Iraqi production and use of chemical weapons. The Iranian government had cited several Iraqi air and ground chemical weapons attacks in the preceding two months, and the Iranian news agency had reported the use of chemical weapons as early as 1981. The US State Department first condemned the use of chemical weapons in the war on March 5, 1984, two days before the ICRC confirmed Iranian allegations. During his bid for the Republican nomination in 1988, Rumsfeld stated that restoring full relations to Iraq was one of his best achievements. Rumsfeld's civic activities included service as a member of the National Academy of Public Administration and a member of the boards of trustees of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation, the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and the National Park Foundation. He was also a member of the U.S./Russia Business Forum and Chairman of the Congressional Leadership's National Security Advisory Group. Stanford University listen to President George W. Bush speak.]] Rumsfeld was a founder and active member of the Project for the New American Century, whose goal is to "promote American global leadership" and which in September 2000 proposed to invade Iraq. He signed the 1998 [http://www.theindyvoice.com/index.blog?entry_id=417960 PNAC Letter] sent to President Bill Clinton advocating the use of force in Iraq to "protect our vital interests in the gulf". While Rumsfeld was on the board of directors of ABB, the global technology group, they issued a press release on January 20, 2000 that said they have signed contracts to deliver equipment and services for two nuclear power stations at Kumho, on the east coast of North Korea. The deal was part of the 1994 U.S.-North Korea nuclear pact. He has not made any public statements explaining the arrangement.

Second Bush Administration

Appointed defense secretary soon after President George W. Bush took office in 2001, Rumsfeld immediately announced a series of sweeping reviews intended to plot the transformation of the U.S. military into a lighter, more nimble force. These studies, led by Pentagon analyst Andrew Marshall, drew widespread resistance from the military services and members of Congress, who worried that Rumsfeld would cancel pet projects. (Eventually, he succeeded in killing the Army's Crusader howitzer and its Comanche armed scout helicopter.) Media reports in the summer of 2001 ran under headlines like "Will Rumsfeld Be The First Of Bush's Cabinet To Go?" Comanche] That changed with the military operations launched after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Rumsfeld led the military planning and execution of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Rumsfeld pushed hard to send as small a force as possible to both conflicts, a concept codified as the Rumsfeld doctrine. "We know EXACTLY where the WMDs are: North, South, East and West of Baghdad!" - Rummy Rumsfeld's plan resulted in a lightning invasion that took Baghdad in well under a month with very few American casualties. There were almost no preparations for the occupation of Iraq that followed. Many government buildings, plus major museums, electrical generation infrastructure, and even oil equipment were looted and vandalized during the transition from the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime to the establishment of the Coalition Provisional Authority. Critics further complained that there was no plan to deal with the existing Iraqi armed forces. They were disbanded, leaving hundreds of thousands of armed and unemployed men in the country. A violent insurrection began shortly after the occupation started. After the German and French governments voiced opposition to invading Iraq, Rumsfeld labeled these countries as part of "Old Europe", implying that countries which supported the war were part of a newer, modern Europe. Old Europe shake hands in Eritrea]] He gives more press conferences than his predecessors. The BBC Radio 4 current affairs program Broadcasting House had been so taken by Rumsfeld's various remarks that it once held a regular slot called "The Donald Rumsfeld Soundbite of the Week" in which they played his most amusing comment from that week. Rumsfeld himself is said to have found the slot "hilarious." Rumsfeld's penchant for talking with his hands also made him the butt of jokes, including [http://www.poe-news.com/features.php?feat=31845 a series] portraying him as a martial arts master. Bush retained Rumsfeld after his re-election, which raised eyebrows among Democrats and some Republicans. In December of that year, Rumsfeld came under fire after a town-hall meeting with U.S. troops where he responded to a soldier's comments about inferior military equipment by saying "you go to war with the army you have." The question was later discovered to be planted by Lee Pitts, a military reporter from the Chattanooga Times Free Press. That same month there was also criticism about his use of an Autopen signature machine to sign the condolence letters to the families of the soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan (rather than signing the letters personally, as President Bush does).

Controversies

Autopen As Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld has come under fire from critics who argue that his decision to detain alleged-enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay is a violation of the Geneva Convention and runs counter to American legal traditions. Some critics have also argued that Rumsfeld should be held responsible for alleged war crimes committed by the U.S. military in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Several publications, including [http://economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=2647493| The Economist] called for his resignation following the Abu Ghraib scandal. Some Republicans have called for Rumsfeld's replacement after Bush's re-election due to what many perceive as inadequate troop strength (Rumsfeld doctrine) used during the invasion of Iraq. He is also a co-founder of Project for the New American Century which some believe developed plans for attacking Iraq prior to the attacks occuring 9-11. Donald Rumsfeld was Chairman of the Board of Gilead Sciences who is the developer of Tamiflu which is used in the treatment of bird flu. Several articles including [http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-11-16-tamiflu-usat_x.htm USA Today], and [http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/31/news/newsmakers/fortune_rumsfeld/ CNN] have published information on how it is implied that Donald Rumsfeld profits from sales of Tamiflu.

Quotes


- "The goal is to be so capable of losing a war that you don't have to fight it over and over again in your nightmares which will haunt the Army of One forever."
- "We take the world like you find it; and Israel is a small state with a small population. It’s a democracy and it exists in a neighborhood that in many -- over a period of time has opined from time to time that they’d prefer it not be there and they’d like it to be put in the sea. And Israel has opined that it would prefer not to get put in the sea, and as a result, over a period of decades, it has arranged itself so it hasn’t been put in the sea."
- "Our task, your task... is to try to connect the dots before something happens. People say, 'Well, where's the smoking gun?' Well, we don't want to see a smoking gun from a weapon of mass destruction."
- "Learn to say "I don't know." If used when appropriate, it will be often."
- "If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much."
- "Beware when any idea is promoted primarily because it is "bold, exciting, innovative, and new." There are many ideas that are "bold, exciting, innovative and new," but also foolish."
- "(Cluster bombs are) being used on frontline al Qaeda and Taliban troops to try to kill them is why we're using them, to be perfectly blunt."
- "I'm hopeful that some will surrender. I suspect some won't, and I suspect the result from that will be that the opposition forces will kill them."
- "I think we ought to have a new rule: You can ask two questions, and then we can pick the one we want to answer."bird flu in 2004]]
- "Charlie, the answer to the question "Is he alive or dead" -- the answer is yes, he is alive or dead. (Laughter.)"(referring to bin Laden)
- "I mean, let's face it. They weren't exactly baking cookies in those caves." (In response to why U.S. bombers killed people hiding in caves.)
- "You go to war with the army you have. They’re not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time."
- "Well, Dick, calibrate me, but the first thing I'd say is I don't believe you have the war plan -- (laughter) -- a fact which does not make me unhappy. (Laughter.)"
- "Sometimes the truth is so precious, it must be accompanied by a bodyguard of lies"
- "Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know." (February 12, 2002)
- "Go massive. Sweep it all up. Things related and not." (September 11, 2001)
- "If you waited until you could do everything before you did anything, you probably would end up doing nothing."
- "Before long, I suspect that those responsible for these acts will encounter British steel. Their kind of steel has an uncommon strength. It does not bend or break." (Response to the 7 July 2005 London bombings)
- "Stuff happens." (April 2003, commenting on the looting, rioting and general mayhem that followed the fall of Baghdad)
- "...or the people who attacked the United States in New York, shot down the plane over Pennsylvania and attacked the Pentagon" (a possible slip up refering to the September 11, 2001 attacks[http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0412/24/nfcnn.01.html])
- (speaking about disorder in Iraq, April 2003) "It's untidy, and freedom's untidy. Free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things. They're also free to live their lives and do wonderful things." Guardian Unlimited, April 12, 2003

"You go to war with the army you have…"

September 11, 2001 attacks During a December 8, 2004, town-hall meeting with U.S. troops at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, Rumsfeld responded to a soldier's comments about inferior military equipment by saying "you go to war with the army you have," a comment some characterized as needlessly cold. Rumsfeld's full answer:
I talked to the General coming out here about the pace at which the vehicles are being armored. They have been brought from all over the world, wherever they’re not needed, to a place here where they are needed. I’m told that they are being – the Army is – I think it’s something like 400 a month are being done. And it’s essentially a matter of physics. It isn’t a matter of money. It isn’t a matter on the part of the Army of desire. It’s a matter of production and capability of doing it.
As you know, you go to war with the Army you have. They’re not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time. Since the Iraq conflict began, the Army has been pressing ahead to produce the armor necessary at a rate that they believe – it’s a greatly expanded rate from what existed previously, but a rate that they believe is the rate that is all that can be accomplished at this moment.
I can assure you that General "Dick" Schoomaker and the leadership in the Army and certainly General Whitcomb are sensitive to the fact that not every vehicle has the degree of armor that would be desirable for it to have, but that they’re working at it at a good clip. It’s interesting, I’ve talked a great deal about this with a team of people who’ve been working on it hard at the Pentagon. And if you think about it, you can have all the armor in the world on a tank and a tank can be blown up. And you can have an up-armored humvee and it can be blown up. And you can go down and, the vehicle, the goal we have is to have as many of those vehicles as is humanly possible with the appropriate level of armor available for the troops. And that is what the Army has been working on.
And General Whitcomb, is there anything you’d want to add to that?

Affiliation History

Kuwait

Institutional Affiliations


- Center for Security Policy: Longtime associate; winner of the CSP's 1998 "Keeper of the Flame" award (5)
- Hoover Institution: Member, board of trustees
- Project for the New American Century: Signed PNAC's founding statement of principles as well as two policy letters on Iraq
- Freedom House: Board member
- RAND Corporation: Board member
- Committee for the Free World: Former chairman

Government Posts/Panels/Commissions


- U.S. Commission to Assess National Security Space Management and Organization: Chairman (2000)
- U.S. Ballistic Missile Threat Commission: Chairman (1998)
- Secretary of Defense (1975-77)
- White House Chief of Staff in Ford administration (1974-75)
- U.S. Ambassador to NATO (1973-74)
- U.S. Congress: Representative from Illinois (1962-69)
- U.S. Navy: Various posts, including aviator (1954-57); reserves (1957-1975)

Corporate Connections/Business Interests


- Gilead Sciences pharmaceutical company: Chairman (1997-2001)
- General Instrument Corporation: Chairman and CEO (1990-93)
- G.D. Searle pharmaceutical company: CEO/Chairman/President (1977-1985)
- Bechtel Corporation: Was involved in Iraq-Bechtel negotiations in the 1980s on a pipeline project
- Gulfstream Aerospace: Former director
- Tribune Company: Former director
- Metricom, Inc.: Former director
- Sears, Roebuck and Co.: Former director
- ABB AB: Former director

Education


- Princeton University: A.B. (1954)

See also


- Agathidium rumsfeldi - a slime-mold beetle named after Rumsfeld
- U.S. Congressional Delegations from Illinois

External links


- Works
  - [http://www.defenselink.mil/speeches/secdef.html What the Secretary Has Been Saying] official speeches and transcripts
  - [http://www.opinionjournal.com/wsj/?id=85000505 Rumsfeld's Rules] advice on government, business and life, January 29 2001
  - Strategic Imperatives in East Asia by Donald Rumsfeld (Heritage Foundation, 1998) ISBN B0006FCPRU
  - [http://www.project-syndicate.org/contributors/contributor_comm.php4?id=722 Donald Rumsfeld's Project Syndicate op/eds]
  - [http://www.dod.gov/releases/2005/nr20050707-3921.html Statement by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld on London Bombings] July 7 2005
- Biographies
  - [http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/rumsfeld-bio.html White House Biography]
  - [http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/secdef_bio.html Department of Defense Biography]
  - Rumsfeld's War: The Untold Story of America's Anti-Terrorist Commander by Rowan Scarborough (Regnery Publishing, 2004) ISBN 0895260697
  - Rumsfeld: A Personal Portrait by Midge Decter (Regan Books, 2003) ISBN 0060560916
  - The Rumsfeld Way: The Leadership Wisdom of a Battle-Hardened Maverick by Jeffrey A. Krames (McGraw-Hill, 2002) ISBN 0071406417
- Documentaries and reports
- [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/ Shaking Hands With Saddam Hussein]
  - [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/pentagon/ PBS Frontline - Rumsfeld's War] October 2004 documentary
  - [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/partners/frontline.htm Washington Post - Rumsfeld's War] archives 2001-2004 with video and discussions
- Directories
  - [http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317828/us317851/us4225550/us1141249/us1141409/us1141463/ Looksmart - Donald Rumsfeld] directory category
  - [http://dir.yahoo.com/Government/U_S__Government/Executive_Branch/Departments_and_Agencies/Department_of_Defense__DOD_/Office_of_the_Secretary/Rumsfeld__Donald___Secretary_of_Defense/ Yahoo! - Donald Rumsfeld] directory category
- Articles
  - [http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=2177 The Saddam in Rumsfeld's Closet, Jeremy Scahill]
  - [http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2003/11/mann.htm Close-Up: Young Rumsfeld], James Mann, The Atlantic Monthly, November 2003
  - [http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040223-012306-4708r.htm 'This is war' Rumsfeld told Bush,] Washington Times, February 23 2004
  - [http://www.mabus.biz/who/rumsfeld Conspiracy theory about Rumsfeld]
  - [http://www.moveon.org/censure/caughtonvideo/ Donald Rumsfeld caught lying about weapons of mass destruction]
  - [http://www.medienanalyse-international.de/rumsfeld.html What did Rumsfeld do and what did he not do on 9/11] October 2002
  - [http://www.abb.com/global/abbzh/abbzh251.nsf!OpenDatabase&db=/global/abbzh/abbzh250.nsf&v=553E&e=&url=/global/seitp/seitp202.nsf/0/C1256C290031524B4125686C00433604!OpenDocument ABB to deliver systems, equipment to North Korean nuclear plants] ABB News Release, January 20 2000
- Quotations and humor
  - [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/bh/rumsfeld.shtml Broadcasting House's "Donald Rumsfeld Library of Quotations"]
  - [http://www.rightwingnews.com/quotes/rummyquotes.php More Donald Rumsfeld Quotes]
  - [http://www.poe-news.com/features.php?feat=31845 Rumsfeld Fighting Technique] - Rumsfeld's penchant for talking with his hands has made him the butt of jokes, including a series portraying him as a martial arts master.
  - [http://baboon.us/rumsfeld.html Rumsfeld Humor]
  - [http://www.unconfirmedsources.com/?itemid=964 UnconfirmedSources.com] - 'Rumsfeld Reaches Autistic Toddler', Ed E. Druckman
- [http://www.newsmeat.com/washington_political_donations/Donald_Rumsfeld.php Rumsfeld's political donations] Rumsfeld, Donald Rumsfeld, Donald Rumsfeld, Donald Rumsfeld, Donald Rumsfeld, Donald Rumsfeld, Donald Rumsfeld, Donald Rumsfeld, Donald Rumsfeld, Donald Rumsfeld, Donald Rumsfeld, Donald Rumsfeld, Donald ms:Donald Rumsfeld ja:ドナルド・ラムズフェルド

July 9

July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 175 days remaining.

Events


- 455 - Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
- 1357 5:31 AM - Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor assisted laying the foundation stone of Charles Bridge in Prague
- 1540 - Henry VIII of England annulled his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
- 1541 - Estevão da Gama departs Massawa, leaving behind 400 matchlockmen and 150 slaves under his brother Christovão da Gama, with orders to assist the Emperor of Ethiopia defeat Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi who has invaded his Empire.
- 1749 - Naval settlement of Halifax, Nova Scotia founded as British answer to Louisbourg.
- 1755 - French and Indian War: Braddock Expedition - British troops and colonial militiamen are ambushed and suffer a devastating defeat by French and Native American forces.
- 1789 - In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly and begins preparations for a French constitution.
- 1790 - Russo-Swedish War: Second Battle of Svensksund - In the Baltic Sea, the Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian fleet.
- 1793 - Act Against Slavery passed in Upper Canada and importation of slaves into Lower Canada is prohibited.
- 1815 - Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince de Benevente becomes Prime Minister of France
- 1816 - Argentina declares independence from Spain
- 1846 - By an Act of Congress, the Washington, DC area south of the Potomac River (39 mi² or about 100 km²) is returned to Virginia.
- 1850 - President Zachary Taylor dies and Millard Fillmore becomes the 13th President of the United States.
- 1896 - William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of gold speech.
- 1900 - Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom gives royal assent to an act creating the Commonwealth of Australia thus uniting separate colonies on the continent under one federal government.
- 1918 - Great train wreck of 1918: In Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express killing 101 and injuring 171 people, making it the deadliest rail accident in United States history.
- 1922 - Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking a world swimming record and the 'minute barrier'.
- 1942 - Holocaust: Anne Frank's family goes into hiding in an attic above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.
- 1943 - World War II: Operation Husky - Allied forces perform an amphibious invasion of Sicily.
- 1944 - World War II: Battle of Normandy - British and Canadian forces capture Caen, France.
- 1944 - World War II: Battle of Saipan - Americans take Saipan
- 1945 - A forest fire breaks out in the Tillamook Burn, the third fire in that area since 1933.
- 1955 - The Russell-Einstein Manifesto was released by Bertrand Russell in London.
- 1968 - Official opening of Hayward Gallery on London's South Bank.
- 1975 - The National Assembly of Senegal passes a law that will pave way for a (albeit highly restricted) multi-party system.
- 1979 - A car bomb destroys a Renault owned by famed "Nazi hunters" Serge and Beate Klarsfeld at their home in France. A note purportedly from ODESSA claims responsibility.
- 1981 - Senegalese political parties Party of Independence and Work (PIT) and Democratic League - Movement for the Labour Party (LD-MPT) legally recognized.
- 1982 - A Boeing 727 carrying Pan Am Flight 759 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana killing all 146 people on board and eight others on the ground.
- 1989 - Two bombs explode in Mecca, killing one pilgrim and wounding 16 others.
- 1991 - International Human Rights Federation cites human rights violations committed by police and military personnel during Oka crisis in Quebec, Canada.
- 1991 - South Africa is reintroduced into the Olympic movement after 30 years of exclusion.
- 1992 - Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton announces that Al Gore will be his running mate.
- 1995 - Musical group The Grateful Dead perform the last concert of their 30-year career at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
- 1997 - Mike Tyson's boxing license is suspended for at least a year and he is fined $3 million for biting Evander Holyfield's ear in a televised match.
- 1999 - Days of student protests begins after Iranian police and hardliners attack a student dormitory of University of Tehran
- 2002 - The African Union was established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The first chairman was Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.
- 2004 - After José Manuel Durão Barroso's appointment to the European Commission, Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio announces that he will invite the second-in-line leader of PSD, Pedro Santana Lopes to form government.

Births

1249 to 1899


- 1249 - Emperor Kameyama of Japan (d. 1305)
- 1577 - Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, English Jamestown colonist (d. 1618)
- 1578 - Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1637)
- 1654 - Emperor Reigen of Japan (d. 1732)
- 1686 - Philip Livingston, American politician (d. 1749)
- 1689 - Alexis Piron, French writer (d. 1773)
- 1721 - Johann Nikolaus Götz, German poet (d. 1781)
- 1753 - William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock, Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1825)
- 1764 - Ann Radcliffe, English writer (d. 1823)
- 1775 - Matthew Lewis, English novelist (d. 1818)
- 1808 - Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and soldier (d. 1887)
- 1848 - Robert I, Duke of Parma, last ruling Duke of Parma (d. 1907)
- 1908 - Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, German physician (d. 1885)
- 1819 - Elias Howe, American inventor (d. 1867)
- 1836 - Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1908)
- 1858 - Franz Boas, German anthropologist (d. 1942)
- 1879 - Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer (d. 1936)
- 1879 - Carlos Chagas, Brazilian physician (d. 1934)
- 1893 - George Geary, English cricketer (d. 1981)
- 1894 - Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)

1900 to 1999


- 1901 - Dame Barbara Cartland, English novelist (d. 2000)
- 1908 - Paul Brown, American football coach (d. 1991)
- 1911 - Mervyn Peake, British writer and illustrator (d. 1968)
- 1916 - Sir Dean Goffin, New Zealand composer (d. 1984)
- 1916 - Sir Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2005)
- 1926 - Ben Roy Mottelson, American-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1927 - Ed Ames, American singer and actor
- 1927 - Susan Cabot, American actress (d. 1986)
- 1929 - King Hassan II of Morocco, (d. 1999)
- 1929 - Jesse McReynolds, American singer and mandolinist
- 1932 - Donald Rumsfeld, United States Secretary of Defense
- 1935 - Wim Duisenberg, Dutch economist and politician (d. 2005)
- 1936 - June Jordan, American writer and teacher (d. 2002)
- 1937 - David Hockney, English artist
- 1938 - Brian Dennehy, American actor
- 1942 - Richard Roundtree, American actor
- 1942 - Edy Williams, American actress
- 1943 - John Casper, astronaut
- 1945 - Dean R. Koontz, American author
- 1946 - Bon Scott, Australian singer (AC/DC) (d. 1980)
- 1947 - O. J. Simpson, American football player and actor
- 1950 - Viktor Yanukovych, Prime Minister of Ukraine
- 1952 - John Tesh, American composer
- 1955 - Fred Norris, American radio personality
- 1955 - Jimmy Smits, Puerto Rican actor
- 1956 - Marc Almond, British singer
- 1956 - Tom Hanks, American actor
- 1957 - Kelly McGillis, American actress
- 1964 - Courtney Love, American musician
- 1965 - Frank Bello, American musician (Anthrax)
- 1965 - David O'Hara Scottish/Irish actor
- 1965 - Marc Mero, American professional wrestler
- 1971 - Marc Andreessen, American software developer
- 1973 - Kelly Holcomb, American football player
- 1974 - Nikola Sarcevic, Swedish bassist and singer (Millencolin)
- 1975 - Jack White, American musician (The White Stripes)
- 1976 - Shelton Benjamin, American professional wrestler
- 1976 - Fred Savage, American actor
- 1976 - Jochem Uytdehaage, Dutch speed skater
- 1978 - Linda Park, Korean-born actress
- 1983 - Henry Jaderlund, American actor
- 1984 - Andrew J Coyle, British professional wrestler

Deaths


- 518 - Anastasius I, Byzantine Emperor
- 1228 - Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1386 - Duke Leopold III of Austria (killed in battle) (b. 1351)
- 1553 - Maurice, Elector of Saxony (b. 1521)
- 1654 - Ferdinand IV of Germany (b. 1633)
- 1737 - Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1671)
- 1742 - John Oldmixon, English historian (b. 1673)
- 1746 - King Philip V of Spain (b. 1683)
- 1747 - Giovanni Bononcini, Italian composer (b. 1670)
- 1766 - Jonathan Mayhew, American minister and patriot (b. 1720)
- 1795 - Henry Seymour Conway, British general and statesman (b. 1721)
- 1797 - Edmund Burke, British philosopher and statesman (b. 1729)
- 1850 - Báb, Persian founder of the Bábi Faith (b. 1819)
- 1850 - Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States (b. 1784)
- 1856 - Amedeo Avogadro, Italian chemist (b. 1776)
- 1856 - James Strang, Mormon splinter group leader (assassinated) (b. 1813)
- 1880 - Paul Pierre Broca, French physician and anatomist (b. 1824)
- 1932 - King C. Gillette, American inventor (b. 1885)
- 1937 - Oliver Law, first African-American commander of U.S. troops, (killed in battle) (b. 1899)
- 1938 - Benjamin Cardozo, American jurist (b. 1870)
- 1949 - Fritz Bennicke Hart, English-born Australian composer (b. 1874)
- 1951 - Harry Heilmann, baseball player (b. 1894)
- 1974 - Earl Warren, Governor of California and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (b. 1891)
- 1979 - Cornelia Otis Skinner, American actress and author (b. 1899)
- 1985 - Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1896)
- 1985 - Jimmy Kinnon, Scottish founder of Narcotics Anonymous (b. 1911)
- 1992 - Eric Sevareid, American reporter (b. 1912)
- 1996 - Melvin Belli, American attorney (b. 1907)
- 2002 - Laurence Janifer, American writer (b. 1933)
- 2002 - Rod Steiger, American actor (b. 1925)
- 2003 - Winston Graham, English novelist (b. 1908)
- 2004 - Chuck Cadman, Canadian politician (b. 1948)
- 2004 - Paula Danziger, American author (b. 1944)
- 2004 - Paul Klebnikov, American journalist (b. 1963)
- 2004 - Isabel Sanford, American actress (b. 1917)
- 2005 - Yevgenij Grishin, Russian speed skater (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances


- Roman festival - Caprotinia, or feasts of Juno Caprotina.
- Argentina - Independence Day
- Palau - Constitution Day
- Bahá'í Faith - Holy Day: Martyrdom of the Báb
- Roman Catholic Church - Feast of Our Lady of Peace

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/9 BBC: On This Day] ---- July 8 - July 10 - June 9 - August 9 -- listing of all days ko:7월 9일 ms:9 Julai ja:7月9日 simple:July 9 th:9 กรกฎาคม

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

State and local governments

supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system. The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole. In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships. The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean. The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited. The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.

Foreign relations and military

sovereign] The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between. Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war. The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation. The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development. (For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)

Largest cities

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged. Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics. The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:

Economy

The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. gross domestic product The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others. Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry. Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars. The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries. In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000. Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years. The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 (2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually. Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws. America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s. America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.’s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."

Transportation

Alan Greenspan ]] Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states. Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world