document_title: The Walking Dead (season 7)

question_text: who did negan kill on the walking dead season 7 episode 1

text: The Walking Dead (season 7)

text: Cast[edit]

text: Main cast[edit]

text: The seventh season features twenty series regulars overall. For the season premiere, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Austin Amelio were promoted to series regular status, with Morgan added to the opening credits and Amelio listed under "Also starring". After the first episode aired, the cast faced numerous changes: Steven Yeun and Michael Cudlitz were removed from the opening credits, while Alanna Masterson, Josh McDermitt and Christian Serratos were added to the opening credits, respectively, after previously being credited as "Also starring", in the second episode onwards. Tom Payne and Xander Berkeley were also promoted to series regulars in the second episode and beyond.

text: Starring[edit]

text:
Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, the series' protagonist and leader of Alexandria, who is forced to adapt under the rule of Negan.[5]
Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, the group's primary hunter and a recruiter for Alexandria.[5]
Steven Yeun as Glenn Rhee, Maggie's resourceful husband, who stands as the group's moral compass.[5]1
Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee, Glenn's strong-willed and pregnant wife.[5]
Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes, Rick's teenage son, who struggles to maintain his renewed morality that he achieved from residing in Alexandria.[5]
Danai Gurira as Michonne, a katana-wielding warrior, who has opened up from her previous solitary life and has recently begun a relationship with Rick.[5]
Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, an empowered member of the group, whose several tragedies force her to question her ruthless methods.[5]
Michael Cudlitz as Sgt. Abraham Ford, a former military sergeant, whose reevaluation of his life led him to break up with Rosita and pursue Sasha.[5]1
Lennie James as Morgan Jones, the first survivor Rick had ever encountered, who is questioning the pacifist philosophy he had adopted.[5]
Sonequa Martin-Green as Sasha Williams, a former firefighter, Abraham's girlfriend and a guard of Alexandria, who has overcome various traumas.[5]
Alanna Masterson as Tara Chambler, a caring member of the group, who found a community named Oceanside and struggles to keep it a secret.[5]
Josh McDermitt as Eugene Porter, a survivor who struggles to prove his worth to the group after lying to them about knowing a possible cure to the walker virus.[5]
Christian Serratos as Rosita Espinosa, a pragmatic and protective member of the group, and ex-girlfriend of Abraham.[5]
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan, the manipulative and totalitarian leader of the Saviors who served as the primary antagonist of the season.[5]

text: Also starring[edit]

text:
Seth Gilliam as Gabriel Stokes, a priest, who has managed to earn the group's trust after previously betraying them.[5]
Ross Marquand as Aaron, an Alexandrian recruiter, who brought Rick's group to Alexandria and serves as a bridge between the two factions.[5]
Austin Nichols as Spencer Monroe, a guard of Alexandria and the only surviving member of his family.[5]
Austin Amelio as Dwight, a ruthless but reluctant member of the Saviors and one of Negan's top lieutenants, who forms a violent hostile rivalry with Daryl.[5]
Tom Payne as Paul "Jesus" Rovia, a scout for the Hilltop, who introduced Rick's group to their compound.[5]
Xander Berkeley as Gregory, the selfish and arrogant leader of the Hilltop.[5]

text: Supporting cast[edit]

text: Alexandria Safe-Zone[edit]

text:
Katelyn Nacon as Enid, an isolated teenager residing in Alexandria, who forms a special bond with Maggie and is starting to show feelings for Carl.[5]
Jason Douglas as Tobin, the foreman of Alexandria's construction crew, who had a brief relationship with Carol.[1]
Corey Hawkins as Heath, a supply runner for Alexandria who went missing.[6]
Ann Mahoney as Olivia, an Alexandria resident, who is in charge of the community's food and armory.[6]
Kenric Green as Scott, a supply runner for Alexandria.
Jordan Woods-Robinson as Eric Raleigh, Aaron's husband and former Alexandria recruiter.

text: The Hilltop[edit]

text:
R. Keith Harris as Harlan Carson, The Hilltop's doctor.
James Chen as Kal, a Hilltop guard.
Peter Zimmerman as Eduardo, a Hilltop guard.

text: The Saviors[edit]

text:
Christine Evangelista as Sherry, Dwight's ex-wife and now one of Negan's harem.[7]
Steven Ogg as Simon, Negan's right-hand man.[8]
Jayson Warner Smith as Gavin, a Savior lieutenant who deal directly with The Kingdom.
Joshua Mikel as Jared, a volatile Savior who works with Gavin.
Elizabeth Ludlow as Arat, a high ranking Savior.
Mike Seal as Gary, one of Negan's top lieutenants.
Martinez as David, a sexually deviant Savior.
Lindsey Register as Laura, one of Negan's top lieutenants.
Joshua Hoover as Fat Joey, a Savior who guards Daryl's prison cell.
Ricky Russert as Chris, one of Negan's soldiers.
Tim Parati as Emmett Carson, a Savior doctor and brother of Harlan Carson.

text: The Kingdom[edit]

text:
Khary Payton as King Ezekiel, a former zookeeper and the flamboyant leader of the Kingdom.[9]
Cooper Andrews as Jerry, Ezekiel's wise-cracking personal bodyguard.
Karl Makinen as Richard, Ezekiel's right-hand-man.
Logan Miller as Benjamin, a young member of The Kingdom who Morgan takes under his wing.
Kerry Cahill as Dianne, a bow-wielding member of The Kingdom.
Daniel Newman as Daniel, the first member of The Kingdom encountered.

text: Oceanside[edit]

text:
Deborah May as Natania, the leader of Oceanside.
Sydney Park as Cyndie, Natania's granddaughter.
Mimi Kirkland as Rachel, Natania's granddaughter and Cyndie's younger sister.

text: The Scavengers[edit]

text:
Pollyanna McIntosh as Jadis, the unusual leader of The Scavengers.
Thomas Francis Murphy as Brion, a high ranking member of The Scavengers.
Sabrina Gennarino as Tamiel, a high ranking member of The Scavengers.

text: Production[edit]

text: The Walking Dead was renewed by AMC for a 16-episode seventh season on October 30, 2015.[10] Filming for season 7 began in Georgia on May 2, 2016 and concluded on November 18, 2016.[11][12] Actors Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Xander Berkeley, Tom Payne, and Austin Amelio were all promoted to series regulars for the seventh season, after having recurring roles in the sixth season.[5] The seventh season has featured several extended episodes, running longer than its usual 43-minute running time (without commercials). Extended episodes have ranged from 46 to 62 minutes in length.[13][14]

text: The finale was dedicated in memory of American comic artist Bernie Wrightson, who died on March 18, 2017.[15]

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
No.
overall
No. in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
U.S. viewers
(millions)

84
1
"The Day Will Come When You Won't Be"
Greg Nicotero
Scott M. Gimple
October 23, 2016 (2016-10-23)
17.03[16]

Negan's victim is revealed to be Abraham, who is beaten to death in front of Rick's group. Daryl punches Negan out of anger, prompting Negan to also murder Glenn. After several tests, Negan ultimately breaks Rick's resolve by nearly forcing him to hack off Carl's arm. Negan and his crew then leave with Daryl as hostage, while Sasha volunteers to take Maggie to Hilltop to recover, along with the bodies of Glenn and Abraham.

85
2
"The Well"
Greg Nicotero
Matthew Negrete
October 30, 2016 (2016-10-30)
12.46[17]

Carol and Morgan arrive at the Kingdom, a well-established community run by flamboyant former zookeeper "King" Ezekiel. The Kingdom, like Hilltop, has been producing for the Saviors under the threat of violence, although Ezekiel has kept this arrangement secret from most residents of the Kingdom. Carol recuperates and eagerly prepares to abandon the community, but opts to stay in an isolated house nearby after bonding with Ezekiel.

86
3
"The Cell"
Alrick Riley
Angela Kang
November 6, 2016 (2016-11-06)
11.72[18]

Daryl is locked in a cell at the Sanctuary, where Negan and Dwight constantly torture him in an effort to break him down to obedience. Negan sends Dwight on a mission to retrieve an escaped Savior, who says he would rather die than return to the Sanctuary. Dwight, therefore, ultimately mercy-kills the man. Daryl is given the opportunity to become a Savior but adamantly refuses.

87
4
"Service"
David Boyd
Corey Reed
November 13, 2016 (2016-11-13)
11.40[19]

As the grieving survivors struggle to come to terms with life under Negan's rule, Negan and the Saviors arrive at Alexandria days ahead of schedule for their first offering and take most of Alexandria's furniture and medicine, and all their firearms. Feeling powerless, Rick informs the survivors that he is no longer in charge and they must learn to live by Negan's terms. Rosita finds an empty cartridge case and brings it to Eugene, tasking him to craft a live, usable cartridge for a gun she found in the woods.

88
5
"Go Getters"
Darnell Martin
Channing Powell
November 20, 2016 (2016-11-20)
11.00[20]

Carl accompanies Enid to Hilltop to visit Maggie, who is recovering there with Sasha. Gregory is furious with Maggie and Sasha for not fulfilling their deal to kill the Saviors, and demands they leave. However, after they help defend Hilltop from a walker attack, Jesus convinces Gregory to let them stay. While the Saviors raid Hilltop's supplies, Sasha asks Jesus if he can find where Negan lives, which he agrees to do. Jesus then sneaks onto one of the Saviors' trucks, where he finds Carl hiding.

89
6
"Swear"
Michael E. Satrazemis
David Leslie Johnson
November 27, 2016 (2016-11-27)
10.40[21]

Two weeks after the attack at the Saviors' satellite station outpost, Tara is separated from Heath when she falls off a bridge during a walker attack. She washes up on a beach, where she is revived by a girl named Cyndie. Tara follows Cyndie to her community, Oceanside, a secluded group consisting of heavily-armed women and children; any men in the group had been slaughtered by the Saviors. Cyndie helps Tara find her way back to Alexandria and makes her swear to never mention Oceanside to anyone.

90
7
"Sing Me a Song"
Rosemary Rodriguez
Angela Kang & Corey Reed
December 4, 2016 (2016-12-04)
10.48[22]

Upon nearing the Sanctuary, Jesus jumps off the Saviors' truck to recon the area, but Carl stays behind to kill Negan on his own. Dwight subdues Carl, but Negan is impressed by Carl's bravery and tours him around Sanctuary. Rosita and Eugene manage to craft a live cartridge, while Spencer scavenges for supplies in the woods. Upon returning to Alexandria, the trio finds Negan and the Saviors are there.

91
8
"Hearts Still Beating"
Michael E. Satrazemis
Matthew Negrete & Channing Powell
December 11, 2016 (2016-12-11)
10.58[23]

With help from Jesus and an anonymous source, Daryl finally escapes from the Sanctuary. During a discussion about Rick's leadership, Negan guts and kills Spencer, enraging Rosita, who shoots at Negan but hits Lucille instead. As punishment, Arat kills Olivia. Negan and the Saviors then leave with Eugene as hostage. After a talk with Michonne, Rick is finally motivated to fight the Saviors. Rick's group travels to Hilltop to reunite with Maggie, Sasha, and Enid; Daryl and Jesus emerge, and the group embraces.

92
9
"Rock in the Road"
Greg Nicotero
Angela Kang
February 12, 2017 (2017-02-12)
12.00[24]

After Hilltop rallies behind Rick's group in the fight against the Saviors, Jesus introduces the group to the Kingdom, where they meet "King" Ezekiel and reunite with Morgan. Although Ezekiel hesitates to join the proposed alliance, he offers Daryl asylum at the Kingdom. In Alexandria, a group of Saviors raids the community in search of Daryl but leaves after they are unable to find him. Rick's group pursues Father Gabriel, who had taken the group's supplies and left clues leading to a dilapidated yard. Upon their arrival, the group is surrounded by the Scavengers.

93
10
"New Best Friends"
Jeffrey F. January
Channing Powell
February 19, 2017 (2017-02-19)
11.08[25]

Rick manages to convince the Scavengers to join Alexandria in the fight against the Saviors, but their leader, Jadis, demands Rick's group deliver them guns in exchange for their assistance. Richard plans to have Carol killed by the Saviors, believing that her death would motivate Ezekiel to fight. When Daryl learns of Richard's plans, he threatens to kill him should Carol be harmed in any way. After reuniting with Carol and lying to her about Glenn and Abraham's fates, Daryl travels to Hilltop to prepare for battle against the Saviors.

94
11
"Hostiles and Calamities"
Kari Skogland
David Leslie Johnson
February 26, 2017 (2017-02-26)
10.42[26]

Eugene settles in quickly at the Sanctuary, as he's rewarded for his intelligence and willingness to submit to Negan's demands. Eugene bonds with two of Negan's wives. At their request, he makes poison capsules; however, he refuses to give them the capsules after learning of their intentions to kill Negan. Dwight discovers a note from Sherry that reveals she helped Daryl escape from the Sanctuary and then fled to parts unknown. Dwight frames Dr. Emmett Carson for Daryl and Sherry's disappearances, leading Negan to murder Carson by hurling him into a furnace.

95
12
"Say Yes"
Greg Nicotero
Matthew Negrete
March 5, 2017 (2017-03-05)
10.16[27]

Rick and Michonne embark on a hunt for guns to bring to the Scavengers and find an abandoned school carnival, where they acquire dozens of guns. They bring the guns back to the Scavengers, but Jadis is unsatisfied and demands more. Tara contemplates whether or not to tell Rick about Oceanside, knowing Rick's group's need for weapons and reinforcements. Frustrated with the delay, Rosita travels to Hilltop and meets with Sasha; they make a pact to kill Negan together.

96
13
"Bury Me Here"
Alrick Riley
Scott M. Gimple
March 12, 2017 (2017-03-12)
10.68[28]

Ezekiel and his group meet the Saviors for the Kingdom's weekly tribute. After the Saviors notice a single cantaloupe is missing, Jared shoots Benjamin, who bleeds to death. Morgan, who finds the missing cantaloupe hidden in the street and learns that Richard sabotaged the drop-off in an effort to get himself killed and become a martyr for war, Morgan strangles Richard to death for causing Benjamin's murder. Morgan reveals the truth about Glenn, Abraham, Spencer, and Olivia to Carol, leading her to return to the Kingdom prepared to fight the Saviors alongside Ezekiel.

97
14
"The Other Side"
Michael E. Satrazemis
Angela Kang
March 19, 2017 (2017-03-19)
10.32[29]

The Saviors raid Hilltop unexpectedly, forcing Daryl and Maggie into hiding; the Saviors leave with Dr. Harlan Carson in tow to replace his now-deceased brother as their doctor. While sneaking into the Sanctuary on a secret mission, Sasha and Rosita encounter Eugene and urge him to escape, but he refuses. Sasha then locks Rosita out, telling her to go back to Alexandria because the group needs her. As Sasha breaks into the Sanctuary to kill Negan herself, Rosita flees and notices someone watching her.

98
15
"Something They Need"
Michael Slovis
Corey Reed
March 26, 2017 (2017-03-26)
10.54[30]

Tara leads the group to Oceanside in hopes of convincing that community to join the fight against the Saviors. Natania refuses to have her people fight but ultimately capitulates to Rick's group's demands to take their guns. After imprisoning Sasha, Negan reveals he is aware of Rick's plans to fight him and encourages Sasha to join him. She confides in Eugene and asks him for a weapon, then a way to kill herself; in response, he gives her one of the poison capsules he had made. Upon their return to Alexandria, Rick's group is greeted by Rosita, who after running into Dwight while fleeing the Sanctuary, reveals Dwight's intentions of helping take down Negan.

99
16
"The First Day of the Rest of Your Life"
Greg Nicotero
Scott M. Gimple & Angela Kang & Matthew Negrete
April 2, 2017 (2017-04-02)
11.31[31]

Negan and the Saviors travel to Alexandria with Sasha in a coffin as a gimmick to confront Rick. On the way, Sasha commits suicide with the poison capsule Eugene had given her. At Alexandria, the Scavengers double-cross Rick's group, revealing they've been dealing with Negan all along. After a standoff, a gun fight ensues, with the unexpected arrival of Kingdom and Hilltop fighters forcing Negan and the Saviors and the Scavengers to retreat. Alexandria, the Kingdom, and Hilltop are hit badly, but are prepared for all-out war against their enemies, while the undead Sasha is put down by Maggie and Jesus.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The seventh season of The Walking Dead has received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season holds a score of 60% with an average rating of 6.97 out of 10, based on 11 reviews, and an average episode score of 76%. The site's critical consensus reads: "Increased character depth and effective world-building helps The Walking Dead overcome a tiresome reliance on excessive, gratuitous violence."[32]

text: The first episode of the season, "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be", received criticism for the amount of violence depicted in the episode, with one writer calling it the equivalent of "torture porn".[33] Subsequently, the first half of the seventh season has seen some of the show's lowest critical ratings. The show's executive producer Gale Anne Hurd claimed that in light of the negative feedback, they tamed some of the more gruesome scenes that were in episodes being filmed for the second half of the season. Hurd said that "this is not a show that's torture porn...Let's make sure we don't cross that line".[34] However, this claim was countered by executive producers Scott M. Gimple and Greg Nicotero. Gimple said that the violence used in the episode was "pronounced for a reason", specifically that "there was a purpose of traumatizing these characters to a point where maybe they would have been docile for the rest of their lives", but noted that he felt that this episode shouldn't represent "the base level of violence that necessarily should be on the show".[35] On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 66% with an average rating of 7.03 out of 10, based on 50 reviews. The site's consensus reads: The flashback-laden "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be" is slow to deliver the payoff from last season's finale -- but ultimately delivers with sadistic acts of gut-wrenching violence that will push Walking Dead fans to their limit.[36]

text:
The Walking Dead (season 7): Critical reception by episode

Season 7 (2016–17): Percentage of positive reviews tracked by the website Rotten Tomatoes[32]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: For the 43rd Saturn Awards, the seventh season of The Walking Dead received seven nominations and three wins. The wins were for Best Horror Television Series, Best Actor on Television (Andrew Lincoln), and Best Guest Starring Role on Television (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).[3] The nominations were for Best Supporting Actor on Television (Norman Reedus), Best Supporting Actress on Television (Danai Gurira and Melissa McBride), and Best Performance by a Younger Actor in a Television Series (Chandler Riggs).[37]

text: The first half of the season was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series at the 23rd Screen Actors Guild Awards.[38] Additionally, for his portrayal of Negan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan earned himself a nomination and win for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series at the 7th Critics' Choice Television Awards for the first half of the season, in addition to his guest appearance in the season six finale, "Last Day on Earth".[39][40] Morgan was also nominated at the 26th MTV Movie & TV Awards for Best Actor in a TV Show and Best Villain, winning the latter.[41][42]

text: Ratings[edit]

text: The Walking Dead's seventh-season premiere ("The Day Will Come When You Won't Be") received 17.03 million viewers in its initial broadcast on AMC in the United States. The viewership steadily declined every week after the premiere, until the seventh episode ("Sing Me a Song"), with the sixth episode ("Swear") of the season dropping to 10.40 million viewers, the lowest rating the show has had since season three. Viewing increased to 12 million viewers in the ninth episode ("Rock in the Road"), following this viewing decreased with the twelfth episode ("Say Yes") reaching a season low with 10.16 million viewers.[43]

text:
No.
Title
Air date
Rating/share
(18–49)
Viewers
(millions)
DVR
(18–49)
DVR viewers
(millions)
Total
(18–49)
Total viewers
(millions)

1
"The Day Will Come When You Won't Be"
October 23, 2016
8.4
17.03[16]
2.3
4.50
10.7
21.53[44]

2
"The Well"
October 30, 2016
6.1
12.46[17]
2.9
5.49
9.0
17.95[45]

3
"The Cell"
November 6, 2016
5.7
11.72[18]
2.9
5.49
8.6
17.21[46]

4
"Service"
November 13, 2016
5.4
11.40[19]
2.3
4.32
7.7
15.72[47]1

5
"Go Getters"
November 20, 2016
5.2
11.00[20]
2.7
5.31
7.9
16.31[48]

6
"Swear"
November 27, 2016
4.9
10.40[21]
2.5
4.69
7.4
15.10[49]

7
"Sing Me a Song"
December 4, 2016
5.0
10.48[22]
2.7
5.29
7.7
15.78[50]

8
"Hearts Still Beating"
December 11, 2016
5.1
10.58[23]
2.8
5.42
7.9
16.02[51]

9
"Rock in the Road"
February 12, 2017
5.7
12.00[24]
2.5
4.82
8.2
16.84[52]

10
"New Best Friends"
February 19, 2017
5.3
11.08[25]
2.6
5.08
7.9
16.17[53]

11
"Hostiles and Calamities"
February 26, 2017
5.0
10.43[26]
2.7
5.32
7.7
15.76[54]

12
"Say Yes"
March 5, 2017
4.7
10.16[27]
1.9
3.50
6.6
13.67[55]1

13
"Bury Me Here"
March 12, 2017
4.9
10.68[28]
2.0
3.74
6.9
14.43[56]

14
"The Other Side"
March 19, 2017
4.7
10.32[29]
2.3
4.45
7.0
14.78[57]

15
"Something They Need"
March 26, 2017
4.9
10.54[30]
2.1
4.22
7.0
14.77[58]

16
"The First Day of the Rest of Your Life"
April 2, 2017
5.4
11.31[31]
2.6
5.09
8.0
16.42[59]

text: ^1 Live +7 ratings were not available, so Live +3 ratings have been used instead.

text: Home media[edit]

text: The season was released on Blu-ray and DVD in region 1 on August 22, 2017,[60] in region 2 on September 25, 2017,[61] and in region 4 on September 27, 2017.[62] The "Limited Edition Spike Walker Statue" set, which is exclusive to Amazon.com was released on October 24, 2017, and was created by McFarlane Toys to pay homage to the zombie character featured in the "New Best Friends" episode in season 7.[63]


document_title: A Christmas Story

question_text: what kind of bb gun did ralphie want

question_tokens: what kind of bb gun did ralphie want

root

text: A Christmas Story

text: Plot[edit]

text: Nine-year-old Ralphie Parker wants only one thing for Christmas: a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and "this thing which tells time" (a sundial). Ralphie's desire is rejected by his mother, his teacher Miss Shields, and even a Santa Claus at Higbee's department store, all giving him the same warning: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."

tag: p

text: Christmas morning arrives and Ralphie dives into his presents. Although he does receive some presents he enjoys, Ralphie ultimately is disappointed that he did not receive the one thing he wanted more than anything. After it appears all of the presents have been opened, Ralphie's father, who is referred to throughout the film as "The Old Man," directs Ralphie to look at one last present that he had hidden. Ralphie opens it to reveal the Red Ryder gun he wanted.

text: Ralphie takes the gun outside and fires it at a target perched on a metal sign in the backyard. However, the BB ricochets back at Ralphie and knocks his glasses off. While searching for them, thinking he has indeed shot his eye out, Ralphie accidentally steps on his glasses and breaks them. In order to cover for the fact that he accidentally broke his glasses, Ralphie tells his mother that a falling icicle was responsible for the accident. His mother, not having seen what actually happened, believes him.

text: The film ends with Ralphie lying in bed on Christmas night with his gun by his side. A voiceover by an adult Ralphie states that this was the best present he had ever received or would ever receive.

text: Subplots[edit]

text: Although Ralphie's BB gun desire is the main plot point of the film, there are several other stories contained in the film. Among them:

text:
The Old Man wins a "major award" in a contest, but does not know what it is until it is delivered to the Parker home. The prize is a lamp in the shape of a woman's leg wearing a fishnet stocking, which was derived from the logo for Nehi (pronounced "knee-high") pop, a popular soft drink of the period.[3] The Old Man is overjoyed by the lamp, but Mrs. Parker does not like it and a feud over it — referred to by adult Ralphie as "The Battle of the Lamp" — develops and results in the lamp's "accidental" destruction.[4]
The Old Man also fights a never-ending battle with the malfunctioning furnace in the Parker home. His frustrations cause him to swear quite often, including one profanity-laden rant that the adult Ralphie says "is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan."[5]
Still another source of frustration for The Old Man is the dogs that belong to the next door neighbors, the Bumpuses. The Bumpuses own "at least 785 smelly hound dogs" that harass The Old Man whenever he comes home from work. On Christmas Day, the dogs ruin the family's Christmas dinner by romping through their kitchen and eating their turkey. This results in the family having dinner at a Chinese restaurant instead.[6]
Ralphie and his friends Flick and Schwartz are tormented by the neighborhood bullies Scut Farkus and Grover Dill. Ralphie eventually snaps and beats up Farkus.[7]

tag: ul

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Peter Billingsley as Ralphie Parker

Jean Shepherd as adult Ralphie (voice)

Ian Petrella as Randy Parker
Melinda Dillon as Mrs. Parker
Darren McGavin as Mr. Parker (The Old Man)
Scott Schwartz as Flick
R. D. Robb as Schwartz
Zack Ward as Scut Farkus
Yano Anaya as Grover Dill
Tedde Moore as Miss Shields
Jeff Gillen as Santa Claus

text: In the DVD commentary, director Bob Clark mentions that Jack Nicholson was considered for the role of the Old Man; Clark expresses gratitude that he ended up with Darren McGavin instead, who later appeared in several other Clark films. He cast Melinda Dillon on the basis of her similar role in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Peter Billingsley was already a minor star from appearing in many commercials and co-hosting the TV series Real People; Clark initially wanted him for the role of Ralphie, but decided he was "too obvious" a choice and auditioned many other young actors before realizing that Billingsley was the right choice after all. Ian Petrella was cast immediately before filming began. Tedde Moore had previously appeared in Clark's film Murder by Decree and was the only onscreen character from A Christmas Story who was played by the same actor in the sequel, My Summer Story. Jeff Gillen was an old friend of Clark's who had been in one of his earliest films.[8]

text: The screenplay was written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown, and Bob Clark. Several subplots are incorporated into the body of the film, based on other separate short stories by Shepherd. Shepherd provides the film's narration from the perspective of an adult Ralphie, a narrative style later used in the dramedy television series The Wonder Years. Shepherd, Brown and Clark all have cameo appearances in the film: Shepherd plays the man who directs Ralphie and Randy to the back of the Santa line at the department store; Brown – Shepherd's wife in real life – plays the woman in the Santa line with Shepherd; Clark plays Swede, the neighbor the Old Man talks to outside during the Leg Lamp scene.

text: Production[edit]

text: Origin[edit]

text: The screenplay for A Christmas Story is based on material from author Jean Shepherd's collection of short stories, In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. Three of the semi-autobiographical short stories on which the film is based were originally published in Playboy magazine between 1964 and 1966.[9] Shepherd later read "Duel in the Snow, or Red Ryder nails the Cleveland Street Kid" and told the otherwise unpublished story "Flick's Tongue" on his WOR Radio talk show, as can be heard in one of the DVD extras.[10] Bob Clark states on the DVD commentary that he became interested in Shepherd's work when he heard "Flick's Tongue" on the radio in 1968. Additional source material for the film, according to Clark, came from unpublished anecdotes that Shepherd told live audiences "on the college circuit."[8]

text: Locations[edit]

text: The film is set in Hohman, Indiana, a fictionalized version of Shepherd's hometown of Hammond, named for Hohman Avenue, which runs through downtown Hammond.[11] Local references in the film include Warren G. Harding Elementary School and Cleveland Street (where Shepherd spent his childhood). Other local references include mention of a person "swallowing a yo-yo" in nearby Griffith,[12] the Old Man being one of the fiercest "furnace fighters in northern Indiana" and that his obscenities were "hanging in space over Lake Michigan," a mention of the Indianapolis 500, and the line to Santa Claus "stretching all the way to Terre Haute, Indiana." The Old Man is also revealed to be a fan of the Bears (whom he jokingly calls the "Chicago Chipmunks") and White Sox, consistent with living in northwest Indiana.

text: Director Bob Clark reportedly sent scouts to twenty cities before selecting Cleveland for exterior filming. Cleveland was chosen because of Higbee's Department Store in downtown Cleveland. (Since Higbee's was exclusive to northeast Ohio,[13] the department store referenced in Shepherd's book and the film is most likely Goldblatt's, located in downtown Hammond [with the Cam-Lan Chinese Restaurant three doors down on Sibley Ave].) Until they connected with Higbee's, location scouts had been unsuccessful in finding a department store that was willing to be part of the film. Higbee's vice president Bruce Campbell agreed to take part in the project on the condition he be allowed to edit the script for cursing. Ultimately, Higbee's was the stage for three scenes in the film:

text:
The opening scene in which Ralphie first spies the Red Ryder BB Gun in the store's Christmas window display. Higbee's was known for its elaborate, child-centered Christmas themes and decorations, with Santa as the centerpiece.
The parade scene, filmed just outside Higbee’s on Public Square at 3 AM. The parade was filmed at night because during the daytime the 1960s Erieview Tower and Federal Building were visible from the Public Square, as was the BP Tower, which was under construction at the time.
Ralphie and Randy’s visit to see Santa, which was filmed inside Higbee’s. The store kept the Santa slide that was made for the film and used it for several years after the film's release.

text: Higbee's became Dillard's in 1992 and closed for good in 2002.[14]

text: In addition to the scenes involving Higbee's, the exterior shots (and select interior shots where Ralphie lived, including the opening of the leg lamp) of the house and neighborhood, were filmed in the Tremont section of Cleveland's West Side. The house used as the Parker home in these scenes has been restored, reconfigured inside to match the soundstage interiors, and opened to the public as "A Christmas Story House". Appropriately, the fictional boyhood home of Ralphie Parker is on Cleveland Street, the name of the actual street where Shepherd grew up.

text: However, Cleveland was only one of several locations used. The school scenes were shot at the Victoria School in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.[15] The Christmas tree-purchasing scene was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, as was the sound stage filming of interior shots of the Parker home.[16] The "...only I didn't say fudge" scene was filmed at the foot of Cherry Street in Toronto; several lake freighters are visible in the background spending the winter at Toronto's port, which lends authenticity to the time of year when the film was produced.

text: In 2008, two fans from Canada released a documentary that visits every location used in the film. Their film, Road Trip for Ralphie, was shot over two years and includes footage of the filmmakers saving Miss Shields' blackboard from the garbage bin on the day the old Victoria School was gutted for renovation, discovering the antique fire truck that saved Flick, locating all the original costumes from the film, and tracking down the real-life location of the film's Chop Suey Palace in Toronto.[17]

text: Red Ryder BB gun[edit]

text: The Red Ryder BB gun was available beginning in 1938 and remains available today, but never in the exact configuration mentioned in the film. The Daisy "Buck Jones" model did have a compass and a sundial in the stock, but these features were not included in the Red Ryder model.[18] The compass and sundial were placed on Ralphie's BB gun, but on the opposite side of the stock due to Peter Billingsley being left-handed.[19]

text: Dating the story[edit]

text: Director Bob Clark stated in the film's DVD commentary that he and author Shepherd wished for the film to be seen as "amorphously late-'30s, early-'40s".[20] A specific year is never mentioned in the film; however, numerous sources including The New York Times and CBS News have dated the film variously at 1940 to the early 1940s.[21][22][23][24]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
A Christmas Story

Soundtrack album by Various artists

Released
November 10, 2009

Recorded
1983

Genre
Instrumental, holiday

Label
Rhino Records

tag: table

text:
Professional ratings

Review scores

Source
Rating

Allmusic
[25]

text: Release and reception[edit]

text: Initially overlooked as a sleeper film,[26] A Christmas Story was released a week before Thanksgiving 1983 to moderate success, earning about $2 million in its first weekend.[27] Vincent Canby's mostly negative New York Times review[28] echoed the more common response.[citation needed] Roger Ebert suggested the film had only modest success because holiday-themed films were not popular at the time.[29] The film would go on to win two Genie Awards, for Bob Clark's screenplay and direction.[30]

text: By Christmas 1983 the film was no longer playing at most venues, but remained in about a hundred theaters until January 1984.[8] Gross earnings were just over $19.2 million.[27] In the years since, due to television airings and home video release, A Christmas Story has become widely popular and is now an annual Christmas special. The film was produced and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The rights to the film were acquired by Turner Entertainment Co. after Ted Turner's purchase of MGM's pre-1986 film library. Subsequently, Time Warner purchased Turner Entertainment, and currently holds rights to the film.

text: Over the years, the film's critical reputation has grown considerably and it is considered by some to be one of the best films of 1983.[31] Based on 52 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating from critics of 89%, with an average score of 8.5/10. The site's consensus reads: "Both warmly nostalgic and darkly humorous, A Christmas Story deserves its status as a holiday perennial."[32] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 77 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[33] In his movie guide, Leonard Maltin awarded the film a rare[citation needed] four-star rating, calling the film "Delightful" and "Truly funny for kids and grown-ups alike" with "Wonderful period flavor."[34]

text: On December 24, 2007, AOL ranked the film their #1 Christmas film of all time.[35] IGN ranked the film the top holiday-themed film of all time.[36] In 2012, a Marist Poll named the film the favorite holiday film in the U.S.[37]

text: American Film Institute lists

text:
AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – Nominated[38]
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:

"You'll shoot your eye out." – Nominated[39]

AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – Nominated[40]

text: Broadcasting and home video release[edit]

text: Television[edit]

text: The film first aired on television on HBO in 1985, and quickly attracted a growing following. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the film began airing quietly on SuperStation WTBS and Superstation WGN.[41] In 1988, then-fledgling Fox aired the film the night after Thanksgiving.[41] In 1989–1990, TBS showed it Thanksgiving night, while in 1991–1992, they aired it the night after.[41]

text: 24 Hours of A Christmas Story[edit]

text: Turner Broadcasting has maintained ownership of the broadcast rights, and since the mid-1990s, aired the film increasingly on TBS, TNT, and TCM. By 1995, it was aired on those networks a combined six times on December 24–26,[41] and in 1996, it was aired eight times over those three days.[41]

text: Due to the increasing popularity of the film, in 1997, TNT began airing a 24-hour marathon dubbed "24 Hours of A Christmas Story," consisting of the film shown twelve consecutive times beginning at 7 or 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve and ending Christmas Day.[41] This was in addition to various other airings earlier in the month of December. In 2004, after TNT switched to a predominantly drama format, sister network TBS, under its comedy-based "Very Funny" moniker, took over the marathon. Clark stated that, in 2002, an estimated 38.4 million people tuned into the marathon at one point or another, nearly one sixth of the country.[8] TBS reported 45.4 million viewers in 2005,[42] and 45.5 million in 2006.[43] In 2007, new all-time ratings records were set,[44] with the highest single showing (8 p.m. Christmas Eve) drawing 4.4 million viewers.[44] Viewership increased again in 2008, with 8 p.m. Christmas Eve drawing 4.5 million viewers, and 10 p.m. drawing 4.3 million,[45] and 54.4 million total.[46] As of 2009, the film had been shown 250 times on the Turner family of networks.[46]

text: In 2007, the marathon continued, and the original tradition was revived. TNT also aired the film twice the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend (November 25). In 2009, the 24-hour marathon continued on TBS, for the 13th overall year, starting at 8 p.m. eastern on Christmas Eve.[47]

text: In 2009, the film aired on TBS during a 24-hour marathon on Christmas Eve. The first viewing at 8 p.m. Eastern on December 24 earned a 1.6 rating (18–49) and beat the major broadcast networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox).[48] In 2010, the marathon averaged 3 million viewers, up 2% from the previous year, ranking TBS as the top cable network for the 24-hour period. The 10 a.m. airing on December 25 was seen by 4.4 million viewers, and the 8 p.m. airing on December 24 was close behind with 4.3 million viewers.[49] The marathons in 2011[50] and 2012 [51] continued to see increases in ratings.

text: For the 2014 and 2015 editions of the marathon, Turner Broadcasting elected to simulcast it on both TNT and TBS, marking the first time since 2003 that TNT aired it as well as the first time the marathon is being carried by multiple stations; the two networks set their airings one hour apart (so that the TNT airings began while TBS was at the middle of the film).[52][53]

text: Subsequent and earlier works[edit]

text: A sequel involving Ralphie and his family, titled My Summer Story (originally released as It Runs in the Family), was made in 1994. With the exceptions of Tedde Moore as Ralphie's teacher (Miss Shields) and Jean Shepherd as the narrator (the voice of the adult Ralphie), it features an entirely different cast. A series of television films involving the Parker family, also from Shepherd stories, were made by PBS, including Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss (1988), The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski (1985), The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters (1982), and The Phantom of the Open Hearth (1976).

text: Another sequel, A Christmas Story 2, a direct sequel to the original film and ignores the references and events of My Summer Story. The film was released direct-to-video in 2012[54] and directed by Brian Levant. It was filmed in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.[55]

text: Stage adaptations[edit]

text: In 2000, a stage play adaptation of A Christmas Story was written by Philip Grecian.[56]

text: In November 2012, A Christmas Story: The Musical, based on the film, opened on Broadway. Written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (music and lyrics) and Joseph Robinette (book), the musical opened to positive reviews.[57] The run ended December 30, 2012.[58] The musical was directed by John Rando with choreography by Warren Carlyle and featured Dan Lauria as Jean Shepherd.[59] The musical received Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (Robinette), and Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre.[60]

text: Home video releases[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text:
Betamax (1985)
VHS (1984, 1985, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000)
LaserDisc (1985): pan and scan
LaserDisc (1993): deluxe letterbox edition
DVD (1997, reissued by Warner Home Video in 1999): fullscreen, includes original theatrical trailer
DVD (2003) 20th Anniversary 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2003): Widescreen & Fullscreen; includes cast interviews, audio commentary, and featurettes.
HD DVD (2006)[61]
Blu-ray (2006)[62]
DVD (2008) Ultimate Collector's Edition: Metal tin case features the same 2003 two-disc special edition, but includes special memorabilia.[63]
Blu-ray (2008) Ultimate Collector's Edition: Metal tin which features the same 2006 Blu-ray disc, but also includes a strand of Leg Lamp Christmas lights.[64]
Blu-ray (2013) 30th Anniversary Edition: Steelbook with Blu-ray in 1080p (like the previous Blu-ray and HD-DVD) with a DTS-HD Master Audio mono track (whereas the previous releases had Dolby Digital mono), and more special features than the previous Blu-ray and HD-DVD.


document_title: Nomad (motorcycle club membership)

question_text: what is a nomad in the mc world

question_tokens: what is a nomad in the mc world

text: Nomad (motorcycle club membership)

text: This article may be confusing or unclear to readers. Please help us clarify the article. There might be a discussion about this on the talk page. (November 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: A Nomad is an individual who may or may not be a member of a motorcycle club, and not bound by geographic territory, or perhaps one which has not yet established one. There are exceptions to Nomads being members of clubs. One instance is military veterans' clubs, whose members may be scattered across the U.S., but yet do not have enough members in a particular area to form a club chapter.

text: Most motorcycle club members wear a territorial rocker (i.e., the bottom patch on the back of the jacket) which signifies what city/locale, state, or province their chapter is located in. A Nomad's territorial rocker, however, will simply say "Nomad" or "Nomads". This means that they hold no particular allegiance to a specific club chapter or area but should be respected and accepted widely by the club as a full member.

text: Whilst a Nomad has the right to be hosted by any chapter he appears at, he cannot direct a chapter as each one acts as an autonomous unit within the rules of the parent club.[1] Nomads sometimes live in geographical areas which had fewer than the required numbers to form a chapter.[2] They may have chosen to live somewhat solitary lives, or they may have been sent to an area with a mandate to establish a chapter.

text: Nomads Motorcycle Club[edit]

text:
Nomads MC

Type
motorcycle club

Region
Australia

text: A number of countries have motorcycle clubs called "Nomads Motorcycle Club" in their own right, e.g. Australia,[3][4][5] South Africa [6] and Germany.[7]


document_title: William F. Semple

question_text: who received a patent for the manufacture of chewing gum

text: William F. Semple

text:
The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. Please help to establish notability by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond its mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be established, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted.
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text: William Finley Semple (1832-1923) was a dentist from Mount Vernon, Ohio, commonly referred to as the first person anywhere to patent a chewing gum. On December 28, 1869, Semple filed Patent No. 98,304 with the U.S. Commissioner of Patents. However, Amos Tyler of Toledo, Ohio, patented his chewing gum on July 27 of the same year.[1] John B. Curtis successfully sold his "State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum" in 1848, though he did not patent it.

text: Semple's gum was intended to clean the teeth and strengthen the chewer's jaw.[1] It was not a sweet treat; ingredients included chalk and powdered licorice root. Charcoal was also suggested as a "suitable" ingredient in the patent.

text: Patent No. 98,304[edit]

text: “To all whom it may concern: Be it know that, I, WILLIAM F. SEMPLE, of Mount Vernon, county of Knox, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and improved Chewing-Gum; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same. The nature of my invention consists in compounding with rubber, in any proportions, other suitable substances, so as to form not only an agreeable chewing-gum, but also, that from the scouring-properties of the same, it will subserve the purpose of a dentifrice. It is well known that rubber itself is too hard to be used as a chewing-gum, but in combination with non-adhesive earths may be rendered capable of kneading into any shape under the teeth. In the manufacture of this improved chewing-gum, no vulcanizing-process is employed. It is produced by simply dissolving the rubber in naphtha and alcohol, and when of the consistence of jelly, mixing with it prepared chalk, powdered licorice-root, or any other suitable material, in the desired proportions, and subsequently evaporating the solvents. I do not, however, confine myself to this method alone for the manufacture of the gum. For commercial purposes, other equally effectual processes maybe used for the uniting of the rubber with suitable substances. Instead of the solvents named, any other that will soften the rubber, without being offensive, may be employed, such as paraffine, spermaceti, wax, gums, resins, and the like. Any of the materials commonly used for the manufacture of dentifrices may be combined with the rubber, such as orris-root, myrrh, licorice-root, sugar, barytes, charcoal, &c. By the term "rubber," I wish to include the allied vegetable gums, which are ordinarily known as the equivalents of caoutchouc. Having thus fully described my invention, What I claim as new, and, desire to secure by Letters Patent, is— The combination of rubber with other articles, in any proportions adapted to the formation of an acceptable chewing-gum.

text: W. F. SEMPLE.

text: Witnesses: C. MAGERS, T. V. PARKE.”


document_title: Pearl Harbor (film)

question_text: who played fdr in the movie pearl harbor

text: Pearl Harbor (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: In 1923 Tennessee, two best friends, Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker, play together in the back of an old biplane, pretending to be soldiers fighting the Germans in World War I. After Rafe's father lands his biplane and leaves, Rafe and Danny climb into the plane. Rafe accidentally starts it, but manages to stop the plane at the end of the runway. Enraged, Danny's father beats his son. Rafe stands up to him, calling him a "dirty German". However, Danny's father reveals that he fought the Germans in World War I.

text: Eighteen years later, in January 1941, with World War II raging, Danny and Rafe are both first lieutenants under the command of Major Jimmy Doolittle. Doolittle informs Rafe that he has been accepted into the Eagle Squadron (a RAF outfit for American pilots during the Battle of Britain). A nurse named Evelyn meets Rafe, who passes his medical exam despite his dyslexia. That night, Rafe and Evelyn enjoy an evening of dancing at a nightclub and later a jaunt in the New York harbor in a borrowed police boat. Rafe shocks Evelyn by saying that he has joined the Eagle Squadron and is leaving the next day.

text: Danny, Evelyn and their fellow pilots and nurses are transferred to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Meanwhile, Rafe becomes a flying ace, but is shot down over the English Channel and presumed to be killed in action. Danny gives Evelyn the news and she is devastated. Three months later, Evelyn and Danny begin a romantic relationship.

text: On the night of December 6, Evelyn is shocked to discover Rafe standing outside her door, having survived his drowning. He goes to the Hula bar where he is welcomed back by his overjoyed fellow pilots. Danny finds Rafe in the bar with the intention of making things right, but the two get into a fight. They drive away, avoiding being put in the brig when the military police arrive at the bar. The two later fall asleep in Danny's car.

text: Next morning, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese navy begins its attack on Pearl Harbor. The USS Arizona is obliterated when an armor-piercing bomb detonates the ship's forward ammunition magazine, literally lifting the bow out of the water. The USS Oklahoma capsizes after several torpedoes strike her, trapping hundreds of men inside. The USS West Virginia suffers severe damage. One bomb mortally wounds Captain Mervyn S. Bennion. Cook Dorie Miller, mans a .50 caliber machine gun and shoots down a Japanese plane. The USS Nevada makes a run for the sea, becoming a primary target during the second wave. Danny and Rafe drive away in search of a still standing airfield, while Evelyn and the other nurses struggle to assist hundreds of wounded. Rafe and Danny manage to get in the air in P-40s, managing to down several Zeroes. Landing, they assist in the rescue of the capsized USS Oklahoma, but are too late to save the crew of the USS Arizona.

text: The next day, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivers his Day of Infamy Speech to the nation and requests the US Congress declare a state of war with the Empire of Japan. The survivors attend a memorial service to honor the numerous dead. Later, Danny and Rafe are both assigned to travel stateside under newly promoted Lt. Colonel Doolittle for a secret mission. Before they leave, Evelyn reveals to Rafe that she is pregnant with Danny's child, and intends to stay with Danny.

text: Upon their arrival in California, Danny and Rafe are both promoted to Captain and awarded the Silver Star, and volunteer for a secret mission under Doolittle. During the next three months, Rafe, Danny and other pilots train with specially modified B-25 Mitchell bombers. In April, the raiders are sent towards Japan on board the USS Hornet. Their mission: bombing Tokyo, landing in China. However, the Japanese discover them early, forcing the raiders to launch from a longer distance than planned. After a successful bombing run, the raiders crash-land in a rice paddy in Japanese-controlled China. The Japanese Army pin down Rafe's plane, but Danny's crew manages to destroy a patrol before crashing. Danny is shot during the attack by Japanese patrols while the other pilots, Red and Gooz, kill the remaining Japanese patrolmen. Rafe tells Danny that Evelyn is pregnant and he must live to be the baby's father. Danny then tells Rafe that he will have to be the father and dies. Back in California, a pregnant Evelyn sees Rafe getting off the aircraft, carrying Danny's coffin. Afterward, Evelyn and Miller are awarded medals and Rafe is awarded his medal by President Roosevelt. After the war, Rafe and Evelyn, now married, visit Danny's grave with Danny and Evelyn's son, also named Danny. Rafe then asks his stepson if he would like to go flying, and they fly off into the sunset in the old biplane that his father once had.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Ben Affleck as the First Lieutenant (later Captain) Rafe McCawley

Jesse James as young Rafe McCawley

Josh Hartnett as First Lieutenant (later Captain) Daniel "Danny" Walker

Reiley McClendon as young Danny Walker

Kate Beckinsale as Lieutenant Evelyn Johnson McCawley
Cuba Gooding Jr. as Petty Officer Second Class Dorie Miller
Tom Sizemore as Earl
Jon Voight as President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Colm Feore as Admiral Husband E. Kimmel
Mako as Kaigun Taishō (Admiral) Isoroku Yamamoto
Alec Baldwin as Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) Jimmy Doolittle

text: Supporting characters[edit]

text:
William Lee Scott as First Lieutenant Billy Thompson
Greg Zola as First Lieutenant Anthony Fusco
Ewen Bremner as First Lieutenant Red Winkle
Jaime King as Nurse Betty Bayer
Catherine Kellner as Nurse Barbara
Jennifer Garner as Nurse Sandra
Michael Shannon as First Lieutenant Gooz Wood
Matt Davis as Joe
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Kaigun Chūsa (Commander) Minoru Genda
Dan Aykroyd as Captain Thurman
Scott Wilson as General George Marshall
Graham Beckel as Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
Tom Everett as Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox
Tomas Arana as Rear-Admiral Frank J. 'Jack' Fletcher
Peter Firth as Captain Mervyn S. Bennion
Glenn Morshower as Vice Admiral William F. 'Bull' Halsey Jr.
Madison Mason as Admiral Raymond A. Spruance
Sara Rue as Nurse Martha
Kim Coates as Lieutenant Jack Richards
Michael Shamus Wiles as Captain Marc Andrew "Pete" Mitscher
William Fichtner as Mr. Walker (Danny's father)
Steve Rankin as Mr. McCawley (Rafe's Father)
Andrew Bryniarski as Joe the Boxer
Leland Orser as Major Jackson
Michael Milhoan as Army Commander
Eric Christian Olsen as gunner to Captain McCawley
David Kaufman as young nervous doctor
Brandon Lozano as Baby Danny McCawley (Danny and Evelyn's son)

text: Production[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: The proposed budget of $208 million that Bay and Bruckheimer wanted was an area of contention with Disney executives, since a great deal of the budget was to be expended on production aspects. Also controversial was the effort to change the film's rating from R to PG-13. Bay wanted to graphically portray the horrors of war and was not interested in primarily marketing the final product to a teen and young adult audience. Budget fights continued throughout the planning of the film, with Bay "walking" on several occasions.

text: In order to recreate the atmosphere of pre-war Pearl Harbor, the producers staged the film in Hawaii and used current naval facilities. Many active duty military members stationed in Hawaii and members of the local population served as extras during the filming. The set at Rosarito Beach in the Mexican state of Baja California was used for scale model work as required. Formerly the set of Titanic (1997), Rosarito was the ideal location to recreate the death throes of the battleships in the Pearl Harbor attack. A large-scale model of the bow section of USS Oklahoma mounted on a gimbal produced an authentic rolling and submerging of the doomed battleship. Production Engineer Nigel Phelps stated that the sequence of the ship rolling out of the water and slapping down would involve one of the "biggest set elements" to be staged. Matched with computer generated imagery, the action had to reflect precision and accuracy throughout.[4] In addition, to simulate the ocean, the film crew used a massive stadium-like "bowl" filled with water. The bowl was built in Honolulu, Hawaii and cost nearly $8 million. Today the bowl is used for scuba training and deep water fishing tournaments.

text: The vessel most seen in the movie was USS Lexington, representing both USS Hornet and a Japanese carrier. All aircraft take-offs during the movie were filmed on board the Lexington, a museum ship in Corpus Christi, Texas. The aircraft on display were removed for filming and were replaced with film aircraft as well as World War II anti-aircraft turrets. Other ships used in filler scenes included USS Hornet,[5] and USS Constellation during filming for the carrier sequences. Filming was also done on board the museum battleship USS Texas located near Houston, Texas.

text: Release[edit]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: The first trailer was released in 2000 and was shown alongside screenings of Cast Away and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, with another trailer released in Spring 2001, shown before Pokémon 3: The Movie.

text: Box office[edit]

text: Pearl Harbor grossed $198,542,554 at the domestic box office and $250,678,391 overseas for a worldwide total of $449,220,945, ahead of Shrek. The film was ranked the sixth highest-earning picture of 2001.[2] It is also the third highest-grossing romantic drama film of all time, as of January 2013, behind Titanic and Ghost.[6]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The film received generally negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, The film holds an approval rating of 25% based on 190 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Pearl Harbor tries to be the Titanic of war movies, but it's just a tedious romance filled with laughably bad dialogue. The 40-minute action sequence is spectacular, though."[7] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 44 out of 100 based on 35 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[8]

text: Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one and a half stars, writing: "Pearl Harbor is a two-hour movie squeezed into three hours, about how, on Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese staged a surprise attack on an American love triangle. Its centerpiece is 40 minutes of redundant special effects, surrounded by a love story of stunning banality. The film has been directed without grace, vision, or originality, and although you may walk out quoting lines of dialogue, it will not be because you admire them". Ebert also criticized the liberties the film took with historical facts: "There is no sense of history, strategy or context; according to this movie, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because America cut off its oil supply, and they were down to an 18-month reserve. Would going to war restore the fuel sources? Did they perhaps also have imperialist designs? Movie doesn't say".[9]

text: A. O. Scott of the New York Times wrote, "Nearly every line of the script drops from the actors' mouths with the leaden clank of exposition, timed with bad sitcom beats".[10] USA Today gave the film two out of four stars and wrote, "Ships, planes and water combust and collide in Pearl Harbor, but nothing else does in one of the wimpiest wartime romances ever filmed."[11]

text: In his review for The Washington Post, Desson Howe wrote, "although this Walt Disney movie is based, inspired and even partially informed by a real event referred to as Pearl Harbor, the movie is actually based on the movies Top Gun, Titanic and Saving Private Ryan. Don't get confused."[12] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine wrote, "Affleck, Hartnett and Beckinsale – a British actress without a single worthy line to wrap her credible American accent around – are attractive actors, but they can't animate this moldy romantic triangle".[13] Time magazine's Richard Schickel criticized the love triangle: "It requires a lot of patience for an audience to sit through the dithering. They're nice kids and all that, but they don't exactly claw madly at one another. It's as if they know that someday they're going to be part of "the Greatest Generation" and don't want to offend Tom Brokaw. Besides, megahistory and personal history never integrate here".[14]

text: Entertainment Weekly was more positive, giving the film a "B−" rating, and Owen Gleiberman praised the Pearl Harbor attack sequence: "Bay's staging is spectacular but also honorable in its scary, hurtling exactitude. ... There are startling point-of-view shots of torpedoes dropping into the water and speeding toward their targets, and though Bay visualizes it all with a minimum of graphic carnage, he invites us to register the terror of the men standing helplessly on deck, the horrifying split-second deliverance as bodies go flying and explosions reduce entire battleships to liquid walls of collapsing metal".[15]

text: In his review for The New York Observer, Andrew Sarris wrote, "here is the ironic twist in my acceptance of Pearl Harbor – the parts I liked most are the parts before and after the digital destruction of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese carrier planes" and felt that "Pearl Harbor is not so much about World War II as it is about movies about World War II. And what's wrong with that?"[16]

text: Historical accuracy[edit]

text: Like many historical dramas, Pearl Harbor provoked debate about the artistic license taken by its producers and director. National Geographic Channel produced a documentary called Beyond the Movie: Pearl Harbor[18] detailing some of the ways that "the film's final cut didn't reflect all the attacks' facts, or represent them all accurately".[19]

text: Many Pearl Harbor survivors dismissed the film as grossly inaccurate and pure Hollywood. In an interview done by Frank Wetta, producer Jerry Bruckheimer was quoted saying: "We tried to be accurate, but it's certainly not meant to be a history lesson".[20] Historian Lawrence Suid's review is particularly detailed as to the major factual misrepresentations of the film and the negative impact they have even on an entertainment film.[21] Some other historical inaccuracies found in the film include the early childhood scenes depicting a Stearman biplane crop duster in 1923; the aircraft was not accurate for the period, as the first commercial crop-dusting company did not begin operation until 1924,[22] and the U.S. Department of Agriculture did not purchase its first cotton-dusting aircraft until April 16, 1926.[23][Note 1]

text: The inclusion of Affleck's character in the Eagle Squadron is another jarring aspect of the film, since active-duty U.S. airmen were prohibited from joining the squadron, though some American civilians did join the RAF.[24][Note 2] Yet another flaw: Ben Affleck's Spitfire has insignia "RF" – this is an insignia of No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron. Countless other technical lapses rankled film critics, such as Bay's decision to paint the Japanese Zero fighters green (most of the aircraft in the attack being painted light gray/white), even though he knew that was historically inaccurate, because he liked the way the aircraft looked and because it would help audiences differentiate the "good guys from the bad guys".[25]

text: One of the film's scenes show Japanese aircraft targeting medical staff and the base's hospital. Although it was damaged in the attack, the Japanese did not deliberately target the U.S. naval hospital and only a single member of its medical staff was killed as he crossed the navy yard to report for duty.[26]

text: Critics decried the use of fictional replacements for real people, declaring that Pearl Harbor was an "abuse of artistic license".[27] The roles the two male leads have in the attack sequence are analogous to the real historical deeds of U.S. Army Air Forces Second Lieutenants George Welch and Kenneth M. Taylor, who took to the skies in P-40 Warhawk aircraft during the Japanese attack and, together, claimed six Japanese aircraft and a few probables. Taylor, who died in November 2006, called the film adaptation "a piece of trash... over-sensationalized and distorted".[28]

text: The harshest criticism was aimed at instances in the film where actual historical events were altered for dramatic purposes. For example, Admiral Kimmel did not receive the report that an enemy midget submarine was being attacked until after the bombs began falling, and did not receive the first official notification of the attack until several hours after the attack ended.[29][Note 3]

text: The scene following the attack on Pearl Harbor, where President Roosevelt demands an immediate retaliatory strike on the soil of Japan, did not happen as portrayed in the film. Admiral Chester Nimitz and General George Marshall are seen denying the possibility of an aerial attack on Japan, but in real life they actually advocated such a strike. Another inconsistency in this scene is when President Roosevelt (who was at this time in his life, stricken and bound to a wheelchair due to Polio) is able to stand up to challenge his staff's distrust in a strike on Japan. This too, never happened in real life.[31] In the film Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto says “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant”, a quote which was copied from the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!.[21]

text: The portrayal of the planning of the Doolittle Raid, the air raid itself, and the raid's aftermath, is considered one of the most historically inaccurate portions of the film. In the film, Jimmy Doolittle and the rest of the Doolittle raiders had to launch from USS Hornet 624 miles off the Japanese coast and after being spotted by a few Japanese patrol boats. In actuality, the Doolittle raiders had to launch 650 miles off the Japanese coast and after being spotted by only one Japanese patrol boat. The aircraft were launched from USS Constellation, standing in for USS Hornet from which the Doolittle Raid was launched. In the film, all of the raiders are depicted as dropping their bombs on Tokyo, with some of the bomb blasts obliterating entire buildings. In actuality, the Doolittle raiders did bomb Tokyo but also targeted three other industrial cities, and the damage inflicted was minimal.[32][33] The film shows the Doolittle raider personnel in China overcoming the Japanese soldiers in a short gun battle with help from a strafing B-25, which never happened in real life.[21] Also, there was no acknowledgement given in the film to the fact that approximately 250,000 Chinese civilians were massacred by the Japanese Army in eastern China in retaliation for Chinese assistance of the attacking American aviators, who participated in the Doolittle Raid.

text: Actor Kim Coates criticized the film[34] for choosing not to portray historically accurate smoking habits and men's hairstyles.

text: An establishing shot of the United States Department of War building is clearly a shot of the exterior of the U.S. Capitol Building. In 1941, the War Department was housed in the War Department Building in Washington's Foggy Bottom neighborhood (renamed the Harry S Truman Building in 2000) and in the Munitions Building on the National Mall. Neither structure bears any architectural resemblance to the edifice shown in the film.

text: Anachronisms[edit]

text: Numerous other inconsistencies and anachronisms are present in the film. A sailor has a pack of Marlboro Light cigarettes in his pocket, not introduced until 1972. In the beginning of the movie, a newsreel of 1940 is presented with combat footage in Europe, showing a M-26 Pershing tank fighting in the city of Cologne, which did not happen until March 1945.[35]

text: The crop duster in the first scene set in 1923 was not commercially available until the late 1930s.[31]

text: Actor Michael Milhoan is seen as an army major advising Admiral Kimmel about island air defenses on Oahu. On the morning of the attack, he is seen commanding a radar station. While playing chess he is addressed as "lieutenant" but, in a further inconsistency, is seen wearing the insignia of an army captain.

text: Three Spruance destroyers tied abreast of each other at their pier are seen being bombed by the Japanese planes, although this class of ship only entered service with the US Navy in the 1970s. The retired Iowa-class battleship USS Missouri was used to represent USS West Virginia for Dorie Miller's boxing match. The West Virginia did not have the modernized World War II-era bridge and masts found on newer U.S. battleships until her reconstruction was finished in 1943, while the Iowa-class did not enter service until 1943 onwards.[36] In one shot, the USS Arizona memorial is briefly visible in the background during a scene taking place several months before the attack.

text: One of Doolittle's trophies in a display case depicts a model of an F-86 Sabre, which was not flown until 1947. Late production models of the B-25J were used instead of the early B-25B. Several shots of the USS Hornet aircraft carrier depicted it as having an angled flight deck, a technology that was not implemented until after the war. While Hornet was portrayed by a World War II era vessel (USS Lexington), Hornet was a Yorktown-class carrier, whereas Lexington was a modernized Essex-class carrier.[37] The takeoff sequences for the Doolittle Raid were filmed on USS Constellation, a Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier which did not enter service until 1961. As a supercarrier, the Constellation has a much longer flight deck than the Yorktown or Essex class carriers, giving the B-25s a substantially longer (and safer) takeoff run.[38] The Japanese carriers are portrayed more correctly by comparison—, the Akagi and Hiryu did have their bridge/conning tower superstructure on the port side rather than the more common starboard configuration. In the movie it was done by maneuvering an Essex class aircraft carrier backwards to act as the Akagi.

text: Honors and awards[edit]

text:
Award
Category
Subject
Result

Academy Award
Best Sound Editing
George Watters II and Christopher Boyes
Won

Best Sound
Greg P. Russell, Peter J. Devlin, and Kevin O'Connell
Nominated

Best Visual Effects
Eric Brevig, John Frazier, Ben Snow, and Ed Hirsh
Nominated

Best Original Song[39]
Diane Warren ("There You'll Be")
Nominated

Golden Globe Award
Best Original Song
Nominated

Best Original Score
Hans Zimmer
Nominated

MTV Movie Award
Best Action Sequence
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Won

Golden Raspberry Award
Worst Actor
Ben Affleck
Nominated

Worst Screen Couple
Nominated

Josh Hartnett
Nominated

Kate Beckinsale
Nominated

Worst Screenplay
Randall Wallace
Nominated

Worst Picture
Jerry Bruckheimer
Nominated

Michael Bay
Nominated

Worst Director
Nominated

Worst Remake or Sequel
Nominated

World Stunt Taurus Award[40]
Best Aerial Work
Nominated

text: In popular culture[edit]

text: The soundtrack for the 2004 film Team America: World Police contains a song entitled "End of an Act". The song's chorus recounts, "Pearl Harbor sucked, and I miss you" equating the singer's longing to how much "Michael Bay missed the mark when he made Pearl Harbor" which is "an awful lot, girl". The ballad contains other common criticisms of the film, concluding with the rhetorical question "Why does Michael Bay get to keep on making movies?"[41]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text:
Pearl Harbor: Music From The Motion Picture

Soundtrack album by Hans Zimmer

Released
May 22, 2001 (2001-05-22)

Genre
Film score

Length
46:21

Label
Hollywood

Producer

Bob Badami
"There You'll Be":
Trevor Horn
Byron Gallimore

Hans Zimmer chronology

Riding in Cars with Boys
(2001)Riding in Cars with Boys2001
Pearl Harbor
(2001)
Hannibal
(2001)Hannibal2001

text: The soundtrack to Pearl Harbor on Hollywood Records was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score (lost to the score of Moulin Rouge!). The original score was composed by Hans Zimmer. The song "There You'll Be" was nominated for the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

text:
"There You'll Be" – song performed by Faith Hill
Tennessee – 3:40
Brothers – 4:04
...And Then I Kissed Him – 5:37
I Will Come Back – 2:54
Attack – 8:56
December 7 – 5:08
War – 5:15
Heart of a Volunteer – 7:05

tag: ol


document_title: United States presidential line of succession

question_text: when was the presidential line of succession created

text: Current order[edit]

text: The current presidential order of succession is as follows:[4]

text:
Key
Eligible Democrat (D)

Eligible Republican (R)

Eligible Independent (I)

Eligible Unknown

Not eligible

text:
No.
Office
Current officer

1
Vice President
Mike Pence (R)

2
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Paul Ryan (R)

3
President pro tempore of the Senate
Orrin Hatch (R)

4
Secretary of State
Rex Tillerson (R)

5
Secretary of the Treasury
Steven Mnuchin (R)

6
Secretary of Defense
James Mattis (I)

7
Attorney General
Jeff Sessions (R)

8
Secretary of the Interior
Ryan Zinke (R)

9
Secretary of Agriculture
Sonny Perdue (R)

10
Secretary of Commerce
Wilbur Ross (R)

11
Secretary of Labor
Alex Acosta (R)

12
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Tom Price (R)

13
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Ben Carson (R)

–
Secretary of Transportation
Elaine Chao (R)[a]

14
Secretary of Energy
Rick Perry (R)

15
Secretary of Education
Betsy DeVos (R)

16
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
David Shulkin (I)

17
Secretary of Homeland Security
Elaine Duke (I)[b]

Jump up ^ Not a natural-born citizen (acquired U.S. citizenship by naturalization)
and thus ineligible for the Presidency.
Jump up ^ This listing assumes that acting officers whose prior appointment required
Senate confirmation are eligible for the line of succession. See Acting officers below.

text: Cabinet officers are in line according to the chronological order of their department's creation or the department of which their department is the successor (the Department of Defense being successor to the Department of War, and the Department of Health and Human Services being successor to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare).[a]

text: Eligibility[edit]

text: Eligibility requirements[edit]

text: To be eligible to serve as President, a person must be a natural-born U.S. citizen, at least 35 years of age, and a resident within the United States for at least 14 years. These eligibility requirements are specified both in the U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 1, Clause 5, and in the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 (3 U.S.C. § 19(e)).

text: Acting officers[edit]

text: Acting officers may be eligible. In 2009, the Continuity of Government Commission, a private non-partisan think tank, reported,

text: The language in the current Presidential Succession Act is less clear than that of the 1886 Act with respect to Senate confirmation. The 1886 Act refers to "such officers as shall have been appointed by the advice and consent of the Senate to the office therein named..." The current act merely refers to "officers appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate." Read literally, this means that the current act allows for acting secretaries to be in the line of succession as long as they are confirmed by the Senate for a post (even for example, the second or third in command within a department). It is common for a second in command to become acting secretary when the secretary leaves office. Though there is some dispute over this provision, the language clearly permits acting secretaries to be placed in the line of succession. (We have spoken to acting secretaries who told us they had been placed in the line of succession.)[5]

text: Motivation for changes to the succession in 1945[edit]

text: Two months after succeeding Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Harry S. Truman proposed that the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate be granted priority in the line of succession over the Cabinet so as to ensure the President would not be able to appoint his successor to the Presidency.[6]

text: The Secretary of State and the other Cabinet officials are appointed by the President, while the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate are elected officials. The Speaker is chosen by the U.S. House of Representatives, and every Speaker has been a member of that body for the duration of their term as Speaker, though this is not technically a requirement; the President pro tempore is chosen by the U.S. Senate and customarily the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service fills this position. The Congress approved this change and inserted the Speaker and President pro tempore in line, ahead of the members of the Cabinet in the order in which their positions were established.

text: In his speech supporting the changes, Truman noted that the House of Representatives is more likely to be in political agreement with the President and Vice President than the Senate. The succession of a Republican to a Democratic Presidency would further complicate an already unstable political situation. However, when the changes to the succession were signed into law, they placed Republican House Speaker Joseph W. Martin first in the line of succession after the Vice President.[7]

text: Some of Truman's critics said that his ordering of the Speaker before the President pro tempore was motivated by his dislike of the then-current holder of the latter rank, Senator Kenneth McKellar.[8] Further motivation may have been provided by Truman's preference for House Speaker Sam Rayburn to be next in the line of succession, rather than Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, Jr.[7]

text: Constitutional provisions[edit]

text: The line of succession is mentioned in three places in the Constitution:

text:
Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 makes the Vice President first in the line of succession and allows the Congress to provide by law for cases in which neither the President nor Vice President can serve. The current such law governing succession is the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 (3 U.S.C. § 19).
Section 3 of the 20th Amendment provides that if the President-elect dies before his term begins, the Vice President-elect becomes President on Inauguration Day and serves for the full term to which the President-elect was elected. The section also provides that if, on Inauguration Day, a president has not been chosen or the President-elect does not qualify for the presidency, the Vice President-elect acts as president until a president is chosen or the President-elect qualifies. Finally, Section 3 allows the Congress to provide by law for cases in which neither a President-elect nor a Vice President-elect is eligible or available to serve.
The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967, clarified Article II, Section 1: that the Vice President is the direct successor of the President. He or she becomes President if the President dies, resigns or is removed from office. The amendment also provides for the situation where the President is temporarily disabled, such as if the President has a surgical procedure or becomes mentally unstable.
The amendment also provides for Vice Presidential succession, by requiring Vice Presidential vacancies to be filled by the President and confirmed by both houses of the Congress. Previously, whenever a Vice President had succeeded to the Presidency or had otherwise left the office empty (through death, resignation, or removal from office), the Vice Presidency remained vacant until the next Presidential and Vice Presidential terms began.

text: Acting President and President[edit]

text: Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution provides that:

text: In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President ... until the disability be removed, or a President elected.

text: This originally left open the question whether "the same" refers to "the said office" or only "the powers and duties of the said office." Some historians, including Edward Corwin[9] and John D. Feerick,[9] have argued that the framers' intention was that the Vice President would remain Vice President while executing the powers and duties of the Presidency; however, there is also much evidence to the contrary, the most compelling of which is Article I, section 3, of the Constitution itself, the relevant text of which reads:

text:
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall chuse  [sic] their other officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United States.

text: This text appears to answer the hypothetical question of whether the office or merely the powers of the Presidency devolved upon the Vice President on his succession. Thus, the 25th Amendment merely restates and reaffirms the validity of existing precedent, apart from adding new protocols for Presidential disability.[original research?] Not everyone agreed with this interpretation when it was first actually tested, and it was left to Vice President John Tyler, the first presidential successor in U.S. history, to establish the precedent that was respected in the absence of the 25th Amendment.

text: Upon the death of President William Henry Harrison in 1841 and after a brief hesitation, Tyler took the position that he was the President and not merely acting President upon taking the presidential oath of office. However, some contempories—including John Quincy Adams,[9][10] Henry Clay[11] and other members of Congress[10][11] Whig party leaders[11] and even Tyler's own cabinet[10][11]—believed that he was only acting as President and did not have the office itself.

text: Nonetheless, Tyler adhered to his position, even returning, unopened, mail addressed to the "Acting President of the United States" sent by his detractors.[12] Tyler's view ultimately prevailed when the Senate voted to accept the title "President,"[11] and this precedent was followed thereafter. The question was finally resolved by Section 1 of the 25th Amendment, which specifies that "In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President." The Amendment does not specify whether officers other than the Vice President can become President rather than Acting President in the same set of circumstances. The Presidential Succession Act refers only to other officers acting as President rather than becoming President.

text: History of succession law set by Congress[edit]

text: Presidential Succession Act 1792[edit]

text:
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Presidential Succession Act 1792

text: The Presidential Succession Act of 1792 was the first succession law passed by Congress. The act was contentious because the Federalists did not want the then Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, who had become the leader of the Democratic-Republicans, to follow the Vice President in the succession. There were also separation of powers concerns over including the Chief Justice of the United States in the line. The compromise they worked out established the President pro tempore of the Senate as next in line after the Vice President, followed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

text: In either case, these officers were to "act as President of the United States until the disability be removed or a president be elected." The Act called for a special election to be held in November of the year in which dual vacancies occurred (unless the vacancies occurred after the first Wednesday in October, in which case the election would occur the following year; or unless the vacancies occurred within the last year of the presidential term, in which case the next election would take place as regularly scheduled). The people elected President and Vice President in such a special election would have served a full four-year term beginning on March 4 of the next year, but no such election ever took place.

text: Presidential Succession Act 1886[edit]

text:
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Presidential Succession Act 1886

text: In 1881, after the death of President Garfield, and in 1885, after the death of Vice President Hendricks, there had been no President pro tempore in office, and as the new House of Representatives had yet to convene, no Speaker either,[13] leaving no one at all in the line of succession after the vice president. When Congress convened in December 1885, President Cleveland asked for a revision of the 1792 act, which was passed in 1886. Congress replaced the President pro tempore and Speaker with officers of the President's Cabinet with the Secretary of State first in line. In the first 100 years of the United States, six former Secretaries of State had gone on to be elected President, while only two congressional leaders had advanced to that office. As a result, changing the order of the line of succession seemed reasonable.[citation needed]

text: Presidential Succession Act 1947[edit]

text:
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Presidential Succession Act 1947

text: The Presidential Succession Act of 1947, signed into law by President Harry S. Truman, added the Speaker of the House and President pro tempore back in the line, but switched the two from the 1792 order. It remains the sequence used today[update]. Since the reorganization of the military in 1947 had merged the War Department (which governed the Army) with the Department of the Navy into the Department of Defense, the Secretary of Defense took the place in the order of succession previously held by the Secretary of War. The office of Secretary of the Navy, which had existed as a Cabinet-level position since 1798, had become subordinate to the Secretary of Defense in the military reorganization, and so was dropped from the line of succession in the 1947 Succession Act.

text: Postmaster General removed 1971[edit]

text: Until 1971, the Postmaster General, the head of the Post Office Department, was a member of the Cabinet, initially the last in the presidential line of succession before new officers were added. Once the Post Office Department was re-organized into the United States Postal Service, a special agency independent of the executive branch, the Postmaster General ceased to be a member of the Cabinet and was thus removed from the line of succession.[14]

text: Secretary of Homeland Security added 2006[edit]

text: The United States Department of Homeland Security was created in 2002. On March 9, 2006, pursuant to the renewal of the Patriot Act as Pub.L. 109–177, the Secretary of Homeland Security was added to the line of succession. The order of Cabinet members in the line has always been the same as the order in which their respective departments were established. Despite custom, many in Congress had wanted the Secretary to be placed at number eight on the list – below the Attorney General, above the Secretary of the Interior, and in the position held by the Secretary of the Navy prior to the creation of the Secretary of Defense – because the Secretary, already in charge of disaster relief and security, would presumably be more prepared to take over the presidency than some of the other Cabinet secretaries.[citation needed] Despite this, the 2006 law explicitly specifies that the "Secretary of Homeland Security" follows the "Secretary of Veterans Affairs" in the succession, effectively at the end of the list.[15]

text: Successions beyond Vice President[edit]

text: While nine Vice Presidents have succeeded to the office upon the death or resignation of the President, and two Vice Presidents have temporarily served as acting President, no other officer has ever been called upon to act as President. On March 4, 1849, President Zachary Taylor's term began, but he declined to be sworn in on a Sunday, citing religious beliefs, and the Vice President was not sworn either. As the last President pro tempore of the Senate, David Rice Atchison was thought by some to be next in line after the Vice President, and his tombstone claims that he was US President for the day. However, Atchison took no oath of office to the presidency either, and his term as Senate President pro tempore had by then expired.[16][17]

text: In 1865, when Andrew Johnson assumed the Presidency on the death of Abraham Lincoln, the office of Vice President became vacant. At that time, the Senate President pro tempore was next in line to the presidency. In 1868, Johnson was impeached by the House of Representatives and subjected to impeachment trial in the Senate, and if he had been convicted and thereby removed from office, Senate President pro tempore Benjamin Wade would have become acting President. This posed a conflict of interest, as Wade's own vote on removal could have helped to determine whether he would have assumed the presidential powers and duties.

text: In his book The Shadow Presidents, which he published in 1979, Michael Medved describes a situation that arose prior to the 1916 election, when the First World War was raging in Europe. In view of the current international turmoil, President Woodrow Wilson thought that if he lost the election it would be better for his opponent to begin his administration straight away, instead of waiting through the lame duck period, which at that time had a duration of almost four months. President Wilson and his aides formed a plan to exploit the rule of succession so that his rival Charles Evans Hughes could take over the Presidency as soon as the result of the election was clear. The plan was that Wilson would appoint Hughes to the post of Secretary of State. Wilson and his Vice President Thomas R. Marshall would then resign, and as the Secretary of State was at that time designated next in line of succession, Hughes would become President immediately. As it happened, President Wilson won re-election, so the plan was never put into action.[18]

text: Since the 25th Amendment's ratification, its Second Section, which addresses Vice Presidential succession as noted above, has been invoked twice.

text: During the 1973 Vice Presidential vacancy, House Speaker Carl Albert was first in line. As the Watergate scandal made President Nixon's removal or resignation possible, Albert would have become Acting President and—under Title 3, Section 19(c) of the U.S. Code—would have been able to "act as President until the expiration of the then current Presidential term" on January 20, 1977. Albert openly questioned whether it was appropriate for him, a Democrat, to assume the powers and duties of the presidency when there was a public mandate for the Presidency to be held by a Republican. Albert announced that should he need to assume the Presidential powers and duties, he would do so only as a caretaker. However, with the nomination and confirmation of Gerald Ford to the Vice Presidency, which marked the first time the Second Section of the Twenty-fifth Amendment was invoked, these series of events were never tested. Albert again became first-in-line during the first four months of Ford's Presidency, before the confirmation of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller,[citation needed] which marked the second time Section 2 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment was invoked.

text: In 1981, when President Ronald Reagan was shot, Vice President George H. W. Bush was traveling in Texas. Secretary of State Alexander Haig responded to a reporter's question regarding who was running the government by stating:

text: "Constitutionally, gentlemen, you have the President, the Vice President and the Secretary of State in that order, and should the President decide he wants to transfer the helm to the Vice President, he will do so. He has not done that. As of now, I am in control here, in the White House, pending return of the Vice President and in close touch with him. If something came up, I would check with him, of course."[19]

text: A bitter dispute ensued over the meaning of Haig's remarks. Most people believed that Haig was referring to the line of succession and erroneously claimed to have temporary Presidential authority, due to his implied reference to the Constitution. Haig and his supporters, noting his familiarity with the line of succession from his time as White House Chief of Staff during Richard Nixon's resignation, said he only meant that he was the highest-ranking officer of the Executive branch on-site, managing things temporarily until the Vice President returned to Washington.[citation needed]

text: Constitutional concerns[edit]

text: Several constitutional law experts have raised questions as to the constitutionality of the provisions that the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate succeed to the presidency.[20] James Madison, one of the authors of the Constitution, raised similar constitutional questions about the Presidential Succession Act of 1792 in a 1792 letter to Edmund Pendleton.[21] Two of these issues can be summarized:

text:
The term "Officer" in the relevant clause of the Constitution is most plausibly interpreted to mean an "Officer of the United States", who must be a member of the Executive or Judicial Branch. The Speaker and the President pro tempore are not officers in this sense.
Under the principle of separation of powers, the Constitution specifically disallows legislative officials from also serving in the executive branch. For the Speaker or the Senate President pro tempore to become Acting President, they must resign their position, at which point they are no longer in the line of succession. This is seen by some to form a constitutional paradox. However, the current Act specifies that the Speaker becomes President "upon his resignation as Speaker" and as a member of Congress,[22] allowing for a seamless transition.

text: In 2003 the Continuity of Government Commission suggested that the current law has "at least seven significant issues ... that warrant attention", specifically:[23]

text:
The reality that all figures in the current line of succession work and reside in the vicinity of Washington, D.C. In the event of a nuclear, chemical, or biological attack, it is possible that everyone on the list would be killed or incapacitated.
Doubt (such as those expressed above by James Madison) that congressional leaders are eligible to act as President.
A concern about the wisdom of including the President pro tempore in the line of succession as the "largely honorific post traditionally held by the longest-serving Senator of the majority party". For example, from January 20, 2001, to June 6, 2001, the President pro tempore was then-98-year-old Strom Thurmond of South Carolina.
A concern that the current line of succession can force the presidency to abruptly switch parties mid-term, as the President, Speaker, and the President pro tempore are not necessarily of the same party as each other.
A concern that the succession line is ordered by the dates of creation of the various executive departments, without regard to the skills or capacities of the persons serving as their Secretary.
The fact that, should a Cabinet member begin to act as President, the law allows the House to elect a new Speaker (or the Senate, a new President pro tempore), who could in effect remove the Cabinet member and assume the office themselves at any time.
The absence of a provision where a President is disabled and the vice presidency is vacant (for example, if an assassination attempt simultaneously wounded the President and killed the Vice President).