Rush Limbaugh

Rush Hudson Limbaugh III was born on January 12, 1951. He dropped out of college to work as a disc jockey for a Top 40 station in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. During the 1970 s he moved around from station to station across the country before accepting a position as promotions director for the Kansas City Royals baseball team in 1979.

Limbaugh returned to radio in 1984 in Sacramento, California as a replacement for talk show host Morton Downey, Jr. The repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 was a big boon to his career, as it ended the requirement for a balancing counterpoint to be presented on airwaves. His show did not include any guests and consisted solely of his discussion and conservative analysis of politics and current events.

In 1988, he moved to New York City and began broadcasting the nationally syndicated three-hour The Rush Limbaugh Show, which is still on the air. The show s popularity helped to pave the way for many other conservative radio commentators.

During the 1990 s, Limbaugh gained popularity as a fierce critic of the Clinton Administration and the Clintons themselves. Republicans gave him credit as an aid in their regaining control of Congress in the 1994 midterm elections, confirming him as an influential political figure.

The early 2000 s saw times of personal difficulty for Limbaugh. He was beset by criminal probes resulting from the disclosure of his addiction to and illegal use of painkillers. He also received cochlear implants to correct a hearing loss that had resulted in almost total deafness. A short 2003 stint as a pro football commentator for ESPN was ended by some controversial comments that were perceived as racist.

Despite his difficulties, by the end of the decade Limbaugh was back on top. He is regularly touted as the most influential host in talk radio. His show has been broadcast by over 650 stations nationwide, with an estimated weekly audience of over 13 million people.

In 2008, during the Democratic presidential nomination campaign, Limbaugh launched ‘Operation Chaos.’ In it, he encouraged listeners to vote for whoever was behind in the race. He also encouraged listeners to register Democrat and to vote for Hillary Clinton in the primaries. In Ohio alone, 16,000 registered voters switched parties for the election. He stated, ‘The dream end of [Operation Chaos] is that this keeps up to the Convention, and that we have a recreation of Chicago 1968 with burning cars, protests, fire, and literal riots and all of that, that is the objective here.’

In spring of 2009, Limbaugh was asked to give a keynote speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, whose controversial nature attracted attention and was criticized by the Chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele.

The White House also commented on the affair, with the assertion made that Limbaugh was the titular head of the Republican Party. Limbaugh refuted the assertion on air and garnered a public apology by Michael Steele.