His father was a lawyer and there were a number of other lawyers in his family, including his grandfather, who practiced law until the age of 102. Rush Hudson Limbaugh III was born in Cape Girardeau, Mo., on Jan. Every other entertainer who has discovered a political mission - from Ronald Reagan to Sonny Bono to Al Franken - has had to quit show business and run for office. Wolff added: “The extraordinary thing Rush has done, something arguably never before accomplished in the history of the co-dependent relationship of media and politics, is manage to keep his media day job while assuming something rather close to direct political power. “The most elemental fact about the Limbaugh career might be that, outside of seriously corrupt dictatorships, nobody has made as much money from politics as Rush Limbaugh,”Michael Wolff wrote in Vanity Fair in 2009. Others portrayed him as a smart opportunist who used his political exhortations to build an infotainment empire. “He has discovered that he possesses the uniquely treasured modern gift of saying exactly the worst possible thing,” Alexandra Petri wrote in The Washington Post in 2012. To the left, Limbaugh was the ultimate bogeyman, derided as racist and sexist and homophobic and cruel, a time bomb of tastelessness.
For in that universe are Limbaugh’s favorite enemies: black activists, gay activists, abortion rights activists, homeless activists, animal rights activists, militant vegetarians, environmentalists, artists with erotic tendencies and, above all, ‘the NOW Gang.’ Such people he sees as crackpot oddball weirdos yet somehow, at the same time, a growing menace.” In seconds, he can move an awesome tide, unleashing email, telephone calls, and scary Web-site rage.”Ī 1996 New York Times profile described his approach this way: “When he contemplates the universe of liberal activists and protesters, lecturer gives way to lampoonist and out pours the broad, bruising humor. “Nothing in politics, or the news cycle, is as direct and powerful as this. And if Republicans were in power and he didn’t like how they were using it, Limbaugh would attempt to redirect their aim. His rhetoric during the 1994 election has been credited with helping sell Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America to the nation, and thereby lifting Republicans to majorities in the House and Senate. He was particularly influential during the presidencies of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both of whom he treated with undisguised loathing. Keep up the good work,” former President Ronald Reagan wrote to him in 1992.įor decades, Limbaugh offered himself up as the holy terror of American conservatism, condemning liberalism day after day. They used to say the same thing about me. “I know the liberals call you the most dangerous man in America, but don’t worry about it. His loyal followers called themselves “Dittoheads,” to indicate they agreed with everything he said, without even needing to think his statements through. “With talent on loan from God, this is Rush Limbaugh,” he would say as he introduced himself.
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Limbaugh became a national radio figure in 1988 and soon extended his brand with best-selling books, speaking appearances, and a syndicated TV show in the 1990s. In doing so, he earned the enmity of millions of Americans who found him incendiary, ridiculous or just plain mean. Relentlessly, he sold a conservative viewpoint with braggadocio, complete with name-calling and insults. “You have no idea what you all have meant to me and my family,” he said.Īs talk radio was transformed after the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, no figure made better use of it than Limbaugh, building an audience of millions that tuned in daily. On Christmas Eve, he thanked his listeners for sticking with him. “I never thought I would see October 1st. 20, Limbaugh said his cancer had progressed.
“He is the greatest fighter and winner that you will ever meet,” Trump said in his final State of the Union address, heaping praise on the man whose on-air outbursts were akin to the former president’s own caustic style on Twitter. Trump, speaking to Fox News on Wednesday in his first TV interview since leaving office last month, disclosed that Limbaugh knew in advance that he would receive the medal because his health had deteriorated to the point where attending the State of the Union address was difficult for him. One day after that disclosure, then-President Donald Trump appeared to surprise Limbaugh by awarding him a Presidential Medal of Freedom at the State of the Union address. Limbaugh disclosed last February that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer.
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