James George Janos better known as
Jesse Ventura, is an American politician, the
38th Governor of MinnesotaThe Governor of Minnesota is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty different people have been governors of the state, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory. Alexander Ramsey, the first territorial...
from 1999 to 2003,
Navy UDTThe Underwater Demolition Teams were an elite special-purpose force established by the United States Navy during World War II. They also served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War...
veteranA veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
, former
SEALThe United States Navy's Sea, Air and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command as well as the maritime component of the United States Special Operations Command.The acronym is derived from their...
reservistThe United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...
,
actorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, and former
radioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
talk showA talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
host. As a professional wrestler, he is best known for his nickname,
Jesse "The Body" Ventura, and tenure in the
World Wrestling FederationWorld Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
as a combatant and
color commentatorA color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
. In 2004, he was inducted into the company's
Hall of FameThe WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw television program...
.
In the
Minnesota gubernatorial election of 1998The 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1998. Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura defeated Republican Party challenger Norm Coleman and Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party challenger Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III...
, running as a member of the
Reform PartyThe Reform Party of the United States of America is a political party in the United States, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot...
, he was elected the
38th Governor of Minnesota and served from January 4, 1999, to January 6, 2003, without seeking a second term.
Early life
Ventura was born James George Janos in Minneapolis, the son of Bernice Martha (
néeA married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Lenz) and George William Janos, both of whom were
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
veterans. His father's parents were from what is today
SlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, and his mother was of
German descentGerman Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
. Ventura has described himself as
SlovakSlovak Americans are Americans of Slovak descent. In the 1990 Census Slovak Americans made up the second-largest portion of Slavic ethnic groups. There are currently about 790,000 people of Slovak descent living in the United States. -Eighteenth century:...
. Ventura was raised a Lutheran, although on April 5, 2011 Ventura declared himself an atheist on the
The Howard Stern Show. Ventura (then still using his legal name of Janos) attended the now-closed Cooper Elementary School and graduated from Minneapolis'
Roosevelt High SchoolRoosevelt High School is a public school located in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is part of the Minneapolis Public Schools. The school is named after US President Theodore Roosevelt...
in 1969.
Navy career
From September 11, 1969, to September 10, 1975, during the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
era, Ventura served in the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. Ventura graduated with BUD/S class 58 in December 1970 and was part of
Underwater Demolition TeamThe Underwater Demolition Teams were an elite special-purpose force established by the United States Navy during World War II. They also served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War...
12 (UDT). The UDTs were merged with the
US Navy SEALsThe United States Navy's Sea, Air and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command as well as the maritime component of the United States Special Operations Command.The acronym is derived from their...
in 1983, 8 years after Ventura had left the Navy.
Bill Salisbury, an attorney in San Diego and a former Navy SEAL officer, accused Ventura of "pretending" to be a SEAL and wrote that Ventura would be blurring an important distinction by claiming to be a SEAL when he was actually a frogman with the UDT. Compared to SEAL Teams, UDTs saw less combat and took fewer casualties. Following that, Governor Ventura's office confirmed that Ventura was a member of the UDTs. His spokesman stated that Ventura has never tried to convince people otherwise. Ventura stated: "Today we refer to all of us as SEALs; that's all it is," and described the accusations of lying about being a SEAL as "[m]uch ado about nothing."
Ventura has frequently referred to his military career in public statements and debates. He was criticized by hunters and conservationists for stating in an interview with the Minneapolis StarTribune in April 2001, "Until you have hunted men, you haven't hunted yet."
In January 2002, Ventura, who had never specifically claimed to have
fought in Vietnam, disclosed for the first time that he did not see combat. He did not receive the
Combat Action RibbonThe Combat Action Ribbon is a personal military decoration of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard which is awarded to those who, in any grade including and below that of a Captain in the Navy and Coast Guard , have actively participated in ground or...
, which was awarded to those involved in a firefight or who went on clandestine or special operations where the risk of enemy fire was great or expected.
Post Navy
In 1973, Ventura was released from
active dutyActive duty refers to a full-time occupation as part of a military force, as opposed to reserve duty.-Pakistan:The Pakistan Armed Forces are one of the largest active service forces in the world with almost 610,000 full time personnel due to the complex and volatile nature of Pakistan's...
and enlisted with the
Navy ReserveThe United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...
, at which point he was assigned to SEAL Team 1. This renders any accusations from Bill Salisbury, former Navy SEAL officer who accused Ventura of falsley claiming to be a Navy SEAL moot. He was, indeed, a Navy Seal. Near the end of his service in the Navy Ventura began to spend time with the "Dago" chapter of the outlaw motorcycle club the
MongolsThe Mongols Motorcycle Club, sometimes called the Mongol Nation or Mongol Brotherhood, is a "one-percenter" motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate. The club is headquartered in southern California and was originally formed in Montebello, California in 1969 by Hispanic Vietnam War veterans...
, in San Diego. He would ride onto
Naval Base CoronadoNaval Base Coronado is a consolidated Navy installation encompassing eight military facilities stretching from San Clemente Island, located seventy miles west of San Diego, California, to the La Posta Mountain Warfare Training Facility and Camp Morena, located sixty miles east of San...
on his
Harley-DavidsonHarley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...
wearing his Mongol colors. According to Ventura he was a full-patch member of the club and even third in command of his chapter. While the club may have been involved in some criminal activity Ventura avoided any problems with the authorities.
In the fall of 1974, Ventura left the bike club to return to Minnesota. Shortly after his leaving, the Mongols entered into open warfare with their rivals the
Hells AngelsThe Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Their primary motto...
.
In
MinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
Ventura attended
North Hennepin Community CollegeNorth Hennepin Community College is a two-year college located in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, primarily serving the communities of the northwestern portion of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. Established in 1966 as North Hennepin State Junior College with 414 students , the college...
in the mid-1970s. At the same time, he began weightlifting and
wrestlingWrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
. He was a bodyguard for
The Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
for a short time before he ventured into professional wrestling and changed his name.
Early career
He created the stage name Jesse "The Body" Ventura to go with the persona of a bully-ish beach bodybuilder, picking the name "
VenturaVentura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...
" from a map as part of his "bleach
blondBlond or blonde or fair-hair is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some sort of yellowish color...
from
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
" character. As a wrestler, Ventura performed as a
villainIn professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
and often used the motto "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat!" Much of his flamboyant persona was adapted from "Superstar" Billy Graham, a charismatic and popular performer during the 1970s and '80s. Years later, as a broadcaster, Ventura made a running joke out of it claiming that Graham stole all of his ring attire ideas from him.
Singles and tag team success
In 1975, Ventura made his debut in the Central States territory, before moving to the Pacific Northwest, where he wrestled for promoter Don Owen as Jesse "The Great" Ventura. Sometime later, he adopted the more permanent nickname, "The Body". During his stay in
Portland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, he had notable feuds with
Dutch SavageFrank Stewart is a former professional wrestler and wrestling promoter, best known for his time spent competing in Pacific Northwest Wrestling under the ring name Dutch Savage.-Career:...
and
Jimmy SnukaJames William "Jimmy" Reiher is a semi-retired Fijian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Originally from the Fiji Islands, Snuka wrestled for several promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. Snuka is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having been a...
and won the Pacific Northwest Wrestling title twice (once from each wrestler), and the tag team title five times (twice each with
Bull RamosManuel Ramos , better known as Apache Bull Ramos, was an American professional wrestler from his debut in 1956 until the 1970s who primarily worked as a heel. He had notable feuds with Bruno Sammartino, Dutch Savage, Jimmy Snuka, Terry Funk and Mil Máscaras...
and
"Playboy" Buddy RosePaul Perschmann was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Playboy" Buddy Rose.-Career:Paul Perschmann was trained by Verne Gagne and Billy Robinson in the early 1970s...
, and once with Jerry Oates). He later moved to his hometown promotion, the
American Wrestling AssociationThe American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
in Minnesota, and began teaming with
Adrian AdonisKeith A. Franke was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Adorable" Adrian Adonis.-Career:Franke trained under Fred Atkins and debuted in 1974, wrestling under his own name...
as the "East-West Connection" in 1979. The duo won the promotion's
World Tag Team ChampionshipThe American Wrestling Association World Tag Team Championship was professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991.-History :...
on July 20, 1980 on a forfeit when
Verne GagneLaverne Clarence "Verne" Gagne , is a retired American professional wrestler, football player, and professional wrestling trainer and promoter. He was the former owner/promoter of the American Wrestling Association , based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which was the predominant promotion throughout...
, one-half of the tag team champions along with
Mad Dog VachonMaurice Vachon is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, best known by his ring name "Mad Dog" Vachon. He is the brother of wrestlers Paul and Vivian Vachon, and the uncle of wrestler Luna Vachon...
, failed to show up for a title defense in Denver,
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. The duo held the belts for nearly a year, losing to "The High Flyers" (
Greg GagneGregory Alan "Greg" Gagne is a former professional wrestler and the son of Verne Gagne. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he achieved his biggest success as one half of the tag team The High Flyers with Jim Brunzell...
and Jim Brunzell).
Retirement and commentary
Shortly after losing the belts, the duo moved on to the
World Wrestling FederationWorld Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
, where they were managed by "Classy" Freddie Blassie. Although the duo was unable to capture the World Tag Team Championship, both Adonis and Ventura became singles title contenders, each earning several title shots at
World Heavyweight ChampionThe WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
Bob BacklundRobert Lee "Bob" Backlund is an American professional wrestler with an in ring career that spanned over 30 years. Over that time, he went on to become a two-time WWWF/WWF Champion...
.
Ventura continued to wrestle until September 1984, when blood clots in his lungs ended his in-ring career. Ventura claimed the blood clots were a result of his exposure to
Agent OrangeAgent Orange is the code name for one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth...
during his time in Vietnam. Ventura did return to the ring in 1985 forming a tag-team with "Macho Man"
Randy SavageRandall Mario Poffo , better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler, best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling .Savage held twenty championships during his professional wrestling career and was a...
& Savage's manager
Miss ElizabethElizabeth Ann Hulette , best known as Miss Elizabeth, was an American professional wrestling manager. She gained international fame from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation, and the mid-1990s in World Championship Wrestling in her role as the manager to the late...
. Often after their televised matches Ventura would taunt and challenge fellow commentator
Bruno SammartinoBruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino is an Italian-American former professional wrestler, best known for being the longest-running champion of the World Wide Wrestling Federation , holding the title across two reigns for over 11 years in total, as well as the longest single WWE Championship reign...
but nothing ever came of this. He also participated in a six-man tag team match in December 1985 as he,
Roddy PiperRoderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE...
, and "Cowboy"
Bob OrtonRobert Dale "Bob" Orton was an American professional wrestler. He was also known as Bob Orton, Sr. to distinguish him from his son, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, Jr...
defeated
Hillbilly JimJim Morris , best known to fans as Hillbilly Jim, is an American professional wrestler and disc jockey. He was one of the World Wrestling Federation's most popular wrestlers of the mid-to-late 1980s.-Career:...
,
Uncle ElmerStanley C. Fraizer was a professional wrestler from Pascagoula, Mississippi, better known as Uncle Elmer and Plowboy Frazier ....
, and
Cousin LukeGene Petit is a retired American professional wrestler best known for his portrayal of Cousin Luke in the World Wrestling Federation. He also competed under several other gimmicks and competed for several promotions in the United States as well as Australia, Japan, and Nigeria.-Early career:Petit...
in a match which was broadcast on
Saturday Night's Main Event. After a failed comeback bid, he began to do color commentary on television for
All-Star Wrestling (replacing
Angelo MoscaAngelo Mosca is a former Canadian Football League player and professional wrestler. He is also known by the wrestling nicknames King Kong Mosca and The Mighty Hercules...
) and later
Superstars of WrestlingWWF Superstars of Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It debuted on September 6, 1986...
(initially alongside
Vince McMahonVincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
and Sammartino, and with McMahon after Sammartino's departure from the WWF in 1988), hosted his own talk segment on the WWF's
Superstars of Wrestling called "The Body Shop", and did color commentary on radio for a few
National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
teams (among them, the
Minnesota VikingsThe Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
and
Tampa Bay BuccaneersThe Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
). Ventura most notably co-hosted
Saturday Night's Main Event with Vince McMahon and the first six
WrestleManiaWrestleMania is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced annually in late March or early April by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut...
s (1985–1990) and most of the WWF's pay-per-views at the time with
Gorilla MonsoonRobert James "Gino" Marella , better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play announcer, and booker...
(the lone exception for Ventura being the
first SummerSlamSummerSlam was the first annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event. It was produced by the World Wrestling Federation and took place on August 29, 1988 in Madison Square Garden, located in New York, New York. The pay-per-view was created to help the company compete against rival...
, in which Ventura served as the guest referee during the main event). Following a dispute with Vince McMahon over the use of his image for promoting a
Sega, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
product, McMahon—who had a contract with rival company
Nintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
at the time—released Ventura from the company in August 1990.
In February 1992 at SuperBrawl II, Ventura joined
World Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
as a commentator. His professional wrestling commentary style was an extension of his wrestling persona, as he was partial to the villains, which was something new and different at the time, but would still occasionally give credit where it was due, praising the athleticism of
Dynamite KidThomas Wilton Billington , best known by the ring name Dynamite Kid, is a retired British professional wrestler who competed in the World Wrestling Federation, Stampede Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling in the mid- to late-1980s...
and
Randy SavageRandall Mario Poffo , better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler, best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling .Savage held twenty championships during his professional wrestling career and was a...
(who was championed by Ventura for years, even when he was a
fan favoriteIn professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
). The lone exception to this rule was the
WrestleMania VIWrestleMania VI was the World Wrestling Federation's sixth WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event and the first to be held outside of the U.S...
match between Hulk Hogan and the
Ultimate WarriorAlso see Warrior .Warrior is an American retired professional wrestler who notably performed under the ring names The Ultimate Warrior and Warrior...
. Since they were both crowd favorites, Ventura took a neutral position in his commentary; even praising Hogan's display of sportsmanship at the end of the match when he handed over the WWF Championship to the Warrior after he lost the title. The praise of Hogan's action was unusual for Ventura because he regularly rooted against Hogan during his matches. Hogan and Ventura were, at one point, close friends. Ventura, however, abruptly ended the friendship after he discovered, during his lawsuit against Vince McMahon, that Hogan was the one who had told Vince about Ventura's attempt to form a labor union in 1984. Ventura was released by WCW President Eric Bishoff for allegedly falling asleep during a
WCW Worldwide TV taping at Disney MGM Studios in July 1994, though its been speculated the move may have had more to do with Hulk Hogan's arrival shortly before.
Litigation
In 1987, while negotiating his contract as a
WWFWorld Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
commentator, Ventura waived his rights to royalties on videotape sales when he was falsely told that only feature performers received such royalties. In 1991, having discovered that other non-feature performers received
royaltiesRoyalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
, Ventura brought an action for
fraudIn criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
, misappropriation of
publicityPublicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public's perception of a subject. The subjects of publicity include people , goods and services, organizations of all kinds, and works of art or entertainment.From a marketing perspective, publicity is one component of promotion which is one...
rights, and
quantum meruitQuantum meruit is a Latin phrase meaning "what one has earned". In the context of contract law, it means something along the lines of "reasonable value of services".In the United States, the elements of quantum meruit are determined by state common law...
in
MinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
state court against Titan Sports. Titan removed the case to
federal courtThe United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
, and Ventura won an $801,333
juryA jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
verdictIn law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. The term, from the Latin veredictum, literally means "to say the truth" and is derived from Middle English verdit, from Anglo-Norman: a compound of ver and dit In law, a verdict...
on the last claim. The judgment was affirmed on
appealAn appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
, and the case,
65 F.3d 725 (8th Cir.1995), is an important result in the law of
restitutionThe law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery. It is to be contrasted with the law of compensation, which is the law of loss-based recovery. Obligations to make restitution and obligations to pay compensation are each a type of legal response to events in the real world. When a court...
.
Return to the World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment
In mid-1999, Ventura reappeared on WWF television during his term as Governor of Minnesota, acting as the special guest referee for main event of
SummerSlamSummerSlam was the twelfth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on August 22, 1999 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.-Results:Tag Team Turmoil...
held in Minneapolis. Ventura would continue his relationship with the WWF by performing commentary for Vince McMahon's short-lived
XFLThe XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
. On the March 20, 2003 episode of
SmackDown!, Ventura appeared in a taped interview to talk about the match between McMahon and
Hulk HoganTerrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
at
WrestleMania XIXWrestleMania XIX was the nineteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on March 30, 2003 at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington. The event was the first WrestleMania held in the state of Washington, and the first...
. Less than a year later, he would be inducted into the
WWE Hall of FameThe WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw television program...
on March 13, 2004 and the following night at
WrestleMania XXWrestleMania XX was the twentieth WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on March 14, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York....
, he approached the ring to interview
Donald TrumpDonald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
, who had a front row seat at the event. Trump affirmed that Ventura would receive his moral and financial support were he to ever reenter the world of politics. Alluding to the
2008 electionThe United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
, Ventura boldly announced that "In 2008, maybe we oughta put a wrestler in the
White HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
". On the June 11, 2007 episode of
RawWWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
, Ventura appeared to give comments about Vince McMahon.
Ventura was guest host on the November 23, 2009 episode of
Raw during which he retained his
villainousIn professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
persona by siding with the number one contender, Sheamus over WWE Champion
John CenaJohn Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand....
. This happened while he confronted Cena about how it was unfair that Cena always got a title shot in the WWE while Ventura didn't during his WWE career. After that Sheamus attacked Cena and put him through a table. Ventura then made the match a Table match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. During the show, for the first time in nearly 20 years, Vince McMahon joined Ventura at ringside to provide match commentary together.
In wrestling
Finishing moves
- Body Breaker (WWF
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
) / Inverted bearhug (AWAThe American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
)
NicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
- "The Great",
- "The Body",
- "The Governor"
Title History
- American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
: AWA World Tag Team ChampionshipThe American Wrestling Association World Tag Team Championship was professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991.-History :...
(1 time) – with Adrian AdonisKeith A. Franke was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Adorable" Adrian Adonis.-Career:Franke trained under Fred Atkins and debuted in 1974, wrestling under his own name...
- Cauliflower Alley Club
The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America....
: Iron Mike Mazurki Award (1999)
- Central States Wrestling
Heart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa...
: NWA World Tag Team Championship (Central States version)The Central States version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship existed from 1958 to 1960, 1962 to 1963 and then from 1973 until 1979 which was promoted by Central States Wrestling...
(1 time) – with Tank Patton
- Continental Wrestling Association
The Continental Wrestling Association was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling...
: AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- International Wrestling Institute and Museum: Frank Gotch
Frank Alvin Gotch was an American professional wrestler of German ancestry, the first American to win the world heavyweight free-style championship, and credited for popularizing professional wrestling in the United States...
Award (2003)
- NWA Mid-Pacific Promotions: NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship
The NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title of NWA Mid-Pacific Promotions and was defended between 1952 until 1978 when it was abandoned. The title was later revived by the current incarnation of NWA Hawaii in 2000...
(1 time) – with Steve Strong
- Pacific Northwest Wrestling
Pacific Northwest Wrestling is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. The first such company was founded by Herb Owen in 1925...
: NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S...
(2 times),NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team ChampionshipThe NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S...
(5 times) – with Bull Ramos (2), Buddy RosePaul Perschmann was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Playboy" Buddy Rose.-Career:Paul Perschmann was trained by Verne Gagne and Billy Robinson in the early 1970s...
(2) and Jerry Oates (1)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Pro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
: PWI ranked him #239 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003, PWI ranked him #67 of the 100 best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Adrian AdonisKeith A. Franke was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Adorable" Adrian Adonis.-Career:Franke trained under Fred Atkins and debuted in 1974, wrestling under his own name...
Mayor of Brooklyn Park
Following his departure from the WWF, Ventura took advice from a former high school teacher and ran for
mayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of
Brooklyn Park, MinnesotaAccording to the 2010 census, there were 75,781 people residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 52% White, 24% African American, 1% Native American, 15% Asian, 42 residents identifying themselves as Pacific Islander, 4% from other races, and 4% from two or more races...
in 1990. Ventura defeated the city's 25-year incumbent mayor and served from 1991 to 1995.
Governor of Minnesota
Ventura ran for Governor of Minnesota in 1998 as the nominee for the Reform Party of Minnesota (he later joined the
Independence Party of MinnesotaThe Independence Party of Minnesota , formerly the Reform Party of Minnesota, is the third largest political party in Minnesota, behind the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and Republican Party . It is the political party of former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura , and endorsed former U.S...
when the Reform Party broke from its association with the
Reform Party of the United States of AmericaThe Reform Party of the United States of America is a political party in the United States, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot...
). His campaign consisted of a combination of aggressive
grassrootsA grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
events and original television spots, designed by quirky adman
Bill HillsmanWilliam Gerard Hillsman, Jr. is an American political consultant and advertising executive. He works and lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota...
, using the phrase "Don't vote for politics as usual." He spent considerably less than his opponents (about $300,000) and was a pioneer in his using the
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
as a medium of reaching out to voters in a political campaign.
He won the election in November 1998, narrowly (and unexpectedly) defeating the major-party candidates,
St. PaulSaint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
mayor
Norm ColemanNorman Bertram Coleman, Jr. is an American attorney and politician. He was a United States senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2009. Coleman was elected in 2002 and served in the 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses. Before becoming a senator, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1994 to 2002...
(
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
) and Minnesota
Attorney GeneralThe state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states and territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer. In some states, the attorney general serves as the head of a state department of justice, with responsibilities similar to those...
Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey IIIHubert Horatio "Skip" Humphrey III is a former Minnesota politician who served as attorney general of the state from 1983 to 1999. Prior to that, he was a state senator from 1973 to 1983...
(
Democratic-Farmer-LaborThe Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party is a major political party in the state of Minnesota and the state affiliate of the Democratic Party. It was created on April 15, 1944, with the merger of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Farmer–Labor Party...
). After his victory, bumper stickers and T-shirts bearing the slogan "My governor can beat up your governor" appeared in Minnesota. The nickname "Jesse 'The Mind (from a last-minute Hillsman ad featuring Ventura posing as Rodin's
Thinker) began to resurface sarcastically in reference to his frequently controversial remarks. Ventura's old stage name "Jesse 'The Body (sometimes adapted to "Jesse 'The Governing Body) also continued to appear with some regularity.
After a
tradeTrade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
mission to
ChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
in 2002, he announced that he would not run for a second term. He accused the media of hounding him and his family for personal behavior and belief while neglecting coverage of important policy issues. Ventura later told a reporter for
The Boston GlobeThe Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
that he would have run for a second term if he had been single, citing the media's effect on his family life.
Governor Ventura sparked media criticism when, nearing the end of his term, he suggested that he might resign from office early to allow his lieutenant governor,
Mae SchunkMae A. Schunk served as the 45th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003...
, an opportunity to serve as governor. He further stated that he wanted her to be the state's first female governor and have her portrait painted and hung in the Capitol along with the other governors. Ventura quickly retreated from the comments, saying he was just floating an idea.
Political positions
As Minnesota Governor, Ventura succeeded in several initiatives. One of the most notable was the rebate on
Sales taxA sales tax is a tax, usually paid by the consumer at the point of purchase, itemized separately from the base price, for certain goods and services. The tax amount is usually calculated by applying a percentage rate to the taxable price of a sale....
. In each year of his administration, Minnesotans received a tax-free check in the late summer. The state was running a
budgetA budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...
surplus at the time, and Ventura believed that the money should be given back to the public. In
political debateIn jurisdictions which use the parliamentary system of government or a similar system, leaders debates are often held, usually during a general election campaign. These debates are normally televised and are often organized by one or more television stations....
s, he often admitted that he had not formed an opinion on certain
policyA policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...
questions. Ventura frequently described himself as "fiscally
conservativeConservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
and socially
liberalLiberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
." He selected teacher
Mae SchunkMae A. Schunk served as the 45th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003...
as his running mate.
Later, he came to support a
unicameralIn government, unicameralism is the practice of having one legislative or parliamentary chamber. Thus, a unicameral parliament or unicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of one chamber or house...
(one-house)
legislatureA legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
,
property taxA property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
reform,
gay rightsLesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender social movements share inter-related goals of social acceptance of sexual and gender minorities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies have a long history of campaigning for what is generally called LGBT rights, also called gay...
, and
abortionAbortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
rights. In an interview on
The Howard Stern Show, he affirmed his support of gay rights, including gay marriage and gays in the military, humorously stating he would've gladly served alongside homosexuals when he was in the Navy as they would've provided less competition for women. While funding public school education generously, he opposed the teachers' union, and did not have a high regard for the public funding of
higher educationHigher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
institutions. Additionally, Ventura supported the use of
medicinalMedicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
marijuanaCannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
, advocated a higher role for
third partiesThe term third party is used in the United States for any and all political parties in the United States other than one of the two major parties . The term can also refer to independent politicians not affiliated with any party at all and to write-in candidates.The United States has had a...
in national politics, and favored the concept of
instant-runoff votingInstant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...
.
Ventura was elected on a Reform party ticket, but he never received support from
Ross PerotHenry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
's Texas faction. When the Reform party was taken over by
Pat BuchananPatrick Joseph "Pat" Buchanan is an American paleoconservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior adviser to American Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, and was an original host on CNN's Crossfire. He sought...
supporters before the
presidential elections of 2000The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....
, Ventura left the party in February 2000, referring to it as "hopelessly dysfunctional". However, he maintained close ties to the
Independence Party of MinnesotaThe Independence Party of Minnesota , formerly the Reform Party of Minnesota, is the third largest political party in Minnesota, behind the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and Republican Party . It is the political party of former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura , and endorsed former U.S...
, which also broke from the Reform party around the same time.
Despite being a supporter of
third partiesThe term third party is used in the United States for any and all political parties in the United States other than one of the two major parties . The term can also refer to independent politicians not affiliated with any party at all and to write-in candidates.The United States has had a...
in the past, in 2010 Ventura advocated that all political parties, including third parties, be abolished. Feeling that the two-party system has corrupted the government, Ventura has expressed concern that if a third party became as successful as the Republicans and Democrats, it "will likewise have to corrupt itself. If you already have a two-headed monster, why would you need three?"
Lacking a
partyA political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
base in the
Minnesota HouseThe Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house in the Minnesota State Legislature. There are 134 members elected to two-year terms, twice the number of members in the Minnesota Senate. Each senate district is divided in half and given the suffix A or B...
and
SenateThe Minnesota Senate is the upper house in the Minnesota Legislature. There are 67 members, half as many as are in the Minnesota House of Representatives. In terms of membership, it is the largest upper house of any state legislature. Each Senate district in the state includes an A and B House...
, Ventura's policy ambitions had little chance of being introduced as bills. Initially, the residents of Minnesota feared Ventura's
vetoA veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
es would be overturned. He vetoed 45 bills in his first year, and only three of those vetoes were overridden. The reputation for having his vetoes overridden comes from his fourth and final year, where six of his nine vetoes were overturned. He vetoed a bill to require
recitationA recitation is a presentation made by a student to demonstrate knowledge of a subject or to provide instruction to others. In some academic institutions the term is used for a presentation by a teaching assistant or instructor, under the guidance of a senior faculty member, that supplements...
of the
Pledge of AllegianceThe Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an expression of loyalty to the federal flag and the republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Christian Socialist Francis Bellamy in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942...
in public schools.
During the first part of his administration, Ventura strongly advocated for land-use reform and substantial
mass transitPublic transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
improvements, such as
light railLight rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
. He made the light rail project a priority, obtaining additional funding from the Minnesota state legislature to keep the project moving. The
Hiawatha LineThe Hiawatha Line is a light rail corridor in Hennepin County, Minnesota that extends from downtown Minneapolis to the southern suburb of Bloomington. It was formerly known as the Hiawatha Line named after Hiawatha Avenue. Major connections on the line include the Minneapolis-St...
was completed in 2004.
During another trade mission to
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
in the summer of 2002, he denounced the economic sanctions of the US against that country.
Wellstone memorial
Ventura greatly disapproved of some of the actions that took place at the 2002 memorial for
SenatorThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Paul WellstonePaul David Wellstone was a two-term U.S. Senator from the state of Minnesota and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party. Before being elected to the Senate in 1990, he was a professor of political science at Carleton College...
, his family, and others who died in a plane crash on October 25, 2002. Ventura said, "I feel used. I feel violated and duped over the fact that [the memorial ceremony] turned into a
political rallyA demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
". He left halfway through the controversial speech made by Wellstone's best friend, Rick Kahn. Ventura had initially planned to appoint a Democrat to Wellstone's seat, but he instead appointed
Dean BarkleyDean Malcolm Barkley is a politician who briefly served as a member of the United States Senate from Minnesota following the death of Paul Wellstone...
to represent
MinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
in the Senate until Wellstone's term expired in January 2003.
Political criticisms
After the legislature refused to increase spending for security, Ventura attracted criticism when he decided not to live in the governor's mansion during his tenure, choosing instead to shut it down and stay at his home in
Maple GroveAs of the census of 2000, there were 50,365 people , 17,532 households, and 13,955 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,532.3 people per square mile . There were 17,745 housing units at an average density of 539.9 per square mile...
. Critics pointed to the loss of jobs for several working-class people at the mansion and the extra cost of reopening the mansion later.
In 1999, a group of disgruntled citizens petitioned to recall Governor Ventura, alleging, among other things, that "the use of state security personnel to protect the governor on a book promotion tour constituted illegal use of state property for personal gain." The petition was denied.
During his tenure as Governor, Ventura drew frequent fire from the press in the Twin Cities. He referred to reporters as "media jackals," a term that even appeared on the press passes required to enter the governor's press area. Shortly after Ventura's election as governor, author and
humorist Garrison KeillorGary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality. He is known as host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio...
wrote a
satiricalSatire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
book about the event, spoofing Ventura as "Jimmy (Big Boy) Valente," a self-aggrandizing former "Navy W.A.L.R.U.S. (Water Air Land Rising Up Suddenly)" turned professional wrestler turned politician. Initially, Ventura responded angrily to the satire, but later, in a conciliatory vein, said that Keillor "makes Minnesota proud". During his term, Ventura appeared on
The Late Show withLate Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
David LettermanDavid Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
, in which he responded controversially to the following question: "So which is the better city of the Twin Cities, Minneapolis or St. Paul?". Ventura responded, "Minneapolis. Those streets in St. Paul must have been designed by drunken Irishmen". He later apologized for the remark, adding that it was not intended to be taken seriously.
Political future
While Ventura has not held public office since the end of his term as governor in 2003, there was speculation that Ventura would run for the
SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and represent Minnesota in 2008. However, in July 2008, Ventura decided he would not run for the Senate, citing a potential lack of privacy for his family, a concern that contributed to Ventura's refusal to seek a second term as governor. However, Ventura has expressed interest in running with
Ron PaulRonald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
for the
2012 presidential electionsThe United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United States presidential election, to be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which presidential electors, who will actually elect the President and the Vice President of the United...
should the latter decide to run as an
independentIn politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
.
On November 4, 2011, Ventura said at a press conference about the dismissal of his court case against the
Transportation Security AdministrationThe Transportation Security Administration is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that exercises authority over the safety and security of the traveling public in the United States....
for what he claims are illegal searches of air travelers, that he is "thinking about" running for President. David Gewirtz of ZDNet wrote that he thinks Ventura has a chance of winning, if he declares his intention now (November 2011) and runs a serious campaign, but that it would be a long shot.
Acting career
Ventura acted in the 1987 movie
PredatorPredator is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by John McTiernan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and Kevin Peter Hall. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox....
, whose cast included future
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
Governor Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
and future
KentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
GubernatorialThe Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of government in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Fifty-six men and one woman have served as Governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once...
candidate
Sonny LandhamWilliam M. "Sonny" Landham is an American movie actor and political candidate.-Acting career:At the beginning of his acting career, Landham was an actor in pornographic films...
. He appeared in two episodes of
ZorroZorro, also known as The New Zorro, New World Zorro, and Zorro 1990, is an American action-adventure drama series featuring Duncan Regehr as the character of Zorro. Regehr portrayed the fearless Latino hero and fencer on The Family Channel from 1990 to 1993...
filmed in Madrid, Spain, in 1991. He had a starring role in the 1990 sci-fi movie
Abraxas, Guardian of the UniverseAbraxas, Guardian of the Universe is a 1990 science-fiction/action film written and directed by Damian Lee and starring Jesse "The Body" Ventura and Sven-Ole Thorsen, with a cameo by James Belushi...
, and supporting roles in
The Running ManThe Running Man is a 1987 American action film loosely based on Stephen King's 1982 novel of the same name. Directed by Paul Michael Glaser, the film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, María Conchita Alonso, Jesse Ventura, Jim Brown, and Richard Dawson....
,
Thunderground-Plot summary:A con-artist meets a tough fighter and sees him as her ticket to a better life. The two make an agreement and head off to New Orleans to arrange a match with "the man" - the mysterious king of bare-knuckled boxing...
,
Demolition ManDemolition Man is a 1993 American, science fiction action film directed by Marco Brambilla, and starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes. Sandra Bullock, Nigel Hawthorne, and Denis Leary co-star....
,
RepossessedRepossessed is a 1990 comedy film that spoofs the 1973 horror film The Exorcist. It was written and directed by Bob Logan. The film features the original star of The Exorcist, Linda Blair, as well as Leslie Nielsen and Anthony Starke...
,
RicochetRicochet is a 1991 crime-thriller film, directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Denzel Washington, John Lithgow, Ice-T, Kevin Pollak, and Lindsay Wagner...
,
The Master of DisguiseThe Master of Disguise is a family fantasy comedy film released in 2002 starring actors Dana Carvey, Jennifer Esposito, James Brolin and Brent Spiner...
(in which he steals the
Liberty BellThe Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American Independence, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formerly placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House , the bell was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and Pack in 1752, and was cast with the lettering "Proclaim LIBERTY...
), and
Batman & Robin – the first two and last of these also starring Schwarzenegger. Ventura also made a cameo appearance in
Major League IIMajor League II is a 1994 sequel to the 1989 film Major League. Major League II stars most of the same cast from the original, including Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, and Corbin Bernsen. Absent from this film is Wesley Snipes, who played Willie Mays Hayes in the first film and who by 1994 had become...
, as "White Lightning". He also appeared as a self help guru (voice only) in
The Ringer trying to turn
Johnny KnoxvillePhilip John Clapp , better known by his stage name Johnny Knoxville, is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, stunt performer, best known for being the co-creator and principal star of the MTV reality series Jackass, with the catchphrase "I'm Johnny Knoxville, and welcome to Jackass."-Early...
into a more confident worker. Ventura also had a cameo in
The X-FilesThe X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
episode "
Jose Chung's From Outer Space"Jose Chung's From Outer Space" is the 20th episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on April 12, 1996, on FOX. It was written by Darin Morgan and directed by Rob Bowman...
" as a
Man in BlackIn The X-Files television show, the Men in Black refer, unofficially, to a group of enforcers employed by the Syndicate to execute assassinations, cover ups and other covert operations. It is implied that most, if not all, of them are former members of special operations units...
alongside fellow 'MiB'
Alex TrebekGeorge Alexander "Alex" Trebek is a Canadian American game show host who has been the host of the game show Jeopardy! since 1984, and prior to that, he hosted game shows such as Pitfall and High Rollers. He has appeared in numerous television series, usually as himself...
. In 2008, Ventura filmed the independent comedy
WoodshopWoodshop is an independent film written and directed by Peter Coggan that will be released on DVD on September 7, 2010. Produced by Colorado-based 42 Productions, the film originally premiered at the University of Colorado ATLAS Institute in Boulder, CO on February 15, 2009.While in pre-production...
, starring as a high school shop teacher named Mr. Madson. The film was released September 7, 2010.
Other media
In 1989 Ventura co-hosted the four episodes of the
DiC EntertainmentDIC Entertainment was an international film and television production company. In addition to animated television shows such as Ulysses 31 , Inspector Gadget , The Littles , The Real Ghostbusters , Captain Planet and the Planeteers , and the first two seasons of the English adaptation of...
children's program
Record Breakers along with Gary Apple. In 1991, the pilot episode for "Tag Team", a television program about two ex-professional wrestlers turned police officers, starred Ventura and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.
Between 1995 and his run for governor in 1998, Ventura had
radio call-in showsTalk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
on (
KFAN* See also KFXN-FMKTCN —branded News/Talk 1130—is a commercial radio station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, broadcasting a conservative news/talk format. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications, and serves the Twin Cities market. KTCN's main studios are in St...
1130) and (
KSTP 1500) in Minneapolis – Saint Paul. Jesse had a brief role on the television soap opera
The Young and the RestlessThe Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
in 1999.
Ventura has been criticized for privately profiting from his heightened popularity. He was hired as a television analyst for the failed
XFLThe XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
enterprise,
served as a referee at a World Wrestling Federation matchSummerSlam was the twelfth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on August 22, 1999 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.-Results:Tag Team Turmoil...
, and published several books during his tenure as governor. On his weekly radio show, he often criticized the media for focusing on these deals rather than on his
policyA policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...
proposals.
Media parodies
Ventura has been portrayed frequently by comedian
James AdomianJames Adomian is an Armenian-American actor and stand-up comedian. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska and currently lives in New York City...
since 2009 on the popular
EarwolfEarwolf is a comedy podcasting network founded by Scott Aukerman and Jeff Ullrich during the summer of 2010. It started with the preexisting show Comedy Death-Ray Radio but has since grown to include several other podcasts, with the intention of adding even more.In 2011, they announced a...
podcasts Comedy Bang Bang and Sklarbro Country, with the "Ventura" character uncovering a wide range of absurd conspiracies. Adomian also played Ventura in a YouTube parody of Conspiracy Theory, investigating the secret truth behind professional wrestling.
Ventura has been parodied on the
KXXRKXXR is an active rock radio station broadcasting to the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. It is owned by Cumulus Media, which also owns KQRS-FM and the three station trimulcast known as "Love 105"...
(93X) "Half assed morning show" by hosts Nick Born and Josh in segments called the "Fish Police" and "Pics with Bits" in both he is described with his famous deep voice saying non-sense phrases like, "I'm busy carrying these two sacks".
Post-gubernatorial life
Ventura was succeeded in his office by Republican
Tim PawlentyTimothy James "Tim" Pawlenty , also known affectionately among supporters as T-Paw, is an American politician who served as the 39th Governor of Minnesota . He was a Republican candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 election from May to August 2011...
. He began a cable television show in October 2003, on
MSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
called
Jesse Ventura's America. The show was broadcast once a week, on Saturdays, unlike many MSNBC shows which are on five nights a week (this show was originally planned for five nights a week as well, but MSNBC executives changed their minds). At the time of its airing,
Jesse Ventura's America was the only national
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
show filmed in
MinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. Among his guests were
Charles BarkleyCharles Wade Barkley is a former American professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Sir Charles" and "The Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's most dominating power forwards...
,
Gray DavisJoseph Graham "Gray" Davis, Jr. is an American Democratic politician who served as California's 37th Governor from 1999 until being recalled in 2003...
,
Arianna HuffingtonArianna Huffington is a Greek American author and syndicated columnist. She is best known as co-founder of the news website The Huffington Post. A popular conservative commentator in the mid-1990s, she adopted more liberal political beliefs in the late 1990s...
,
Rob KampiaRob Kampia is co-founder and executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, the largest 501 nonprofit organization in the U.S. that is solely dedicated to ending cannabis prohibition.-Formative years:...
, and Kathy McKee.
In 2004,
HarvardHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
graduate student and fellow Navy veteran Christopher Mora promoted the idea that the academic establishment had failed to reach out to citizens experienced in public service, but who did not fit the traditional idea of a politician. He successfully lobbied for the selection of Ventura, who started teaching a study group at Harvard University for the Spring 2004 semester as a visiting
fellowA fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
at the
Kennedy School of GovernmentThe John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
's Institute of Politics (IOP). His 90-minute study group focused on third party politics, campaign finance, the war on drugs, and other relevant political issues. Ventura scheduled multiple famous friends to appear for his seminars including
Dean BarkleyDean Malcolm Barkley is a politician who briefly served as a member of the United States Senate from Minnesota following the death of Paul Wellstone...
and
Richard MarcinkoRichard "Dick" Marcinko , is a retired Commander in the United States Navy and a former Navy SEAL. He was the first Commanding Officer of SEAL Team Six and Red Cell...
.
On October 22, 2004, with Ventura by his side, former
MaineMaine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
Governor
Angus KingAngus S. King, Jr. served two terms as the 72nd Governor of Maine from 1995 to 2003. Since 2004, King has been a distinguished lecturer at Bowdoin College teaching a course called "Leaders and Leadership"; in the fall of 2009, he also taught a similar course at Bates College...
endorsed
John KerryJohn Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
for President at the Minnesota state capitol building. Ventura did not speak at the press conference. When prodded for a statement, Governor King responded, "He plans to vote for
John KerryJohn Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
, but he doesn't want to make a statement and subject himself to the tender mercies of the Minnesota press".
In November 2004, an advertisement began airing in
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
featuring Ventura. In it, Ventura voices his opposition to Governor
Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
's policies regarding
Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
casinoIn modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
s. Ventura is serving as an advisory board member for a new group called
Operation TruthIraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America , is an advocacy group dedicated to United States veterans of the War in Iraq and War in Afghanistan. The group claims to be the nation's first and largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for veterans of the wars and has more than 200,000 Member Veterans...
, a
non-profit organizationNonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
set up "to give voice to troops who served in Iraq." “The current use of the National Guard is wrong....These are men who did not sign up to go occupy foreign nations”.
In August 2005, Ventura became the spokesperson for
BetUSBetUS.com is a privately held online gaming company offering sports betting, casino games, poker and horse racing.-Products:The company accepts bets on sports and horse racing, and operates a casino and poker room.-Proposition wagers:...
, an online
SportsbookIn the United States a sportsbook or a race and sports book is a place where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, including golf, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, horse racing, boxing, and mixed martial arts. The method of betting varies with the sport and the type of...
. In 2005, Ventura repeatedly discussed leaving the United States. In September 2005, Ventura announced on
The Mike Malloy ShowThe Mike Malloy Show is a syndicated progressive radio talk show hosted by long-time radio personality Mike Malloy. Malloy came to talk radio in 1987, moving from his position as a writer and producer at CNN. He is married to producer Kathy Bay, with whom he has a daughter born in July, 2004...
that he was leaving the U.S. and planned to "have an adventure". In late October 2005, he went on
The Big Idea withThe Big Idea with Donny Deutsch was a talk show on CNBC hosted by Donny Deutsch. The show offered success stories that outlined a "roadmap to the American Dream." Every weeknight at 10pm, Donny Deutsch, the CEO of advertising and media business Deutsch Inc., introduced the audience to successful...
Donny DeutschDonald “Donny” Deutsch is an American television personality and advertising executive. He is also the former host of the CNBC talk show The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. The television audience first became familiar with him on February 11, 2005 when he appeared on NBC's The Apprentice with Donald...
and reiterated that he was leaving the U.S. due to, among other things,
censorshipthumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
. He has since moved to
Baja California, MexicoBaja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
.
In September 2006, Ventura endorsed and campaigned with independent Texas gubernatorial candidate
Kinky FriedmanRichard S. "Kinky" Friedman is an American Texas Country singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician and former columnist for Texas Monthly who styles himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mark Twain. He was one of two independent candidates in the 2006 election...
, and Independence Party of Minnesota's gubernatorial candidate
Peter HutchinsonPeter Hutchinson is an American politician, businessman and philanthropy executive from the U.S. state of Minnesota. He ran as the Independence Party of Minnesota candidate for Governor of Minnesota in 2006....
and Team Minnesota. He revealed he now spends much of his time
surfingSurfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
near his home in
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
In April 2008, a book authored by Ventura, titled
Don't Start the Revolution Without Me, was released. In it, Ventura describes a hypothetical campaign in which he is a candidate for
President of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
in
2008The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
, running as an
independentIn politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
. In an interview with the
Associated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
at the time of the book's release, however, Ventura denied any plans for a presidential bid, stating that the scenario is only imaginary and not indicative of a "secret plan to run". On
MinnPost.comMinnPost.com also known as MinnPost is a non-profit news website in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a focus on Minnesota news. Its mission is "to provide high-quality journalism for news-intense people who care about Minnesota."...
, Ventura's agent, Steve Schwartz, describes the book thus:
"[Ventura is revealing] why he left politics and discussing the disastrous war in Iraq, why he sees our two-party system as corrupt, and what
Fidel CastroFidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
told him about who was really behind the assassination of
President KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
."
However, in an interview on
CNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
's
The Situation RoomThe Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer is an afternoon/early evening newscast on CNN and CNN International hosted by Wolf Blitzer that first aired on August 8, 2005. The show replaces three politics and hard news programs: Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics, Crossfire and Wolf Blitzer Reports.At first,...
on April 7, Ventura hinted that he was considering entering the
race forThe 2008 United States Senate election in Minnesota took place on November 4, 2008. After a legal battle lasting over eight months, Al Franken from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party defeated Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in one of the closest elections in the history of the Senate...
the
United States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seat then held by Norm Coleman, his Republican opponent in the 1998 Gubernatorial race. A poll commissioned by Twin Cities station
Fox 9KMSP-TV, channel 9, is the Fox-owned-and-operated television station serving the Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota designated market area, owned in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WFTC...
put him at 24 percent, behind
Al FrankenAlan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....
at 32 percent and
Norm ColemanNorman Bertram Coleman, Jr. is an American attorney and politician. He was a United States senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2009. Coleman was elected in 2002 and served in the 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses. Before becoming a senator, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1994 to 2002...
at 39 percent in a hypothetical three-way race. However, Ventura announced on
Larry King LiveLarry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
on July 14, 2008 that he would not run.
He spoke at former Republican presidential candidate
Ron PaulRonald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
's "Rally for the Republic", organized by the Campaign for Liberty, on September 2, 2008. At the event, Ventura implied a possible future run at the U.S. Presidency. Ventura stated before a live audience that "If America proves itself worthy, in
2012The United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United States presidential election, to be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which presidential electors, who will actually elect the President and the Vice President of the United...
we'll give them a race they'll never forget!"
Bush/Cheney administration and torture
In a May 11, 2009 interview with
Larry KingLawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
, Ventura twice stated that
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
was the worst president of his lifetime, adding "
President ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
inherited something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. You know? Two wars, an economy that's borderline depression." On the issue of waterboarding, Ventura added:
Ventura then stated that he had no respect for Dick Cheney because he is "a guy who got five deferments from the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Clearly, he's a coward. He wouldn't go when it was his time to go. And now he is a
chickenhawkChickenhawk is a political epithet used in the United States to criticize a politician, bureaucrat, or commentator who strongly supports a war or other military action, yet who actively avoided military service when of age.The term is meant to indicate that the person in question is cowardly or...
. Now he is this big tough guy who wants this hardcore policy. And he's the guy that sanctioned all this torture by calling it 'enhanced interrogation'." Ventura also expressed interest in being appointed ambassador to Cuba should U.S. relations with Cuba continue to improve.
On a May 18, 2009 appearance on
The View, Ventura asked
Elisabeth HasselbeckElisabeth Hasselbeck is an American television talk show host and television personality. She was a contestant on Survivor: The Australian Outback and is a current co-host on the daytime talk show The View .-Early life:...
if waterboarding is acceptable, why were the
Oklahoma City bombersThe Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19...
,
Timothy McVeighTimothy James McVeigh was a United States Army veteran and security guard who detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995...
and
Terry NicholsTerry Lynn Nichols is a convicted bomber's accomplice. Prior to his incarceration, he held a variety of short-term jobs, working as a farmer, grain elevator manager, real estate salesman, ranch hand, and house husband. He met his future co-conspirator, Timothy McVeigh, during a brief stint in the...
, not waterboarded. "We only seem to waterboard Muslims." Comparing the waterboarding of detainees to the
North VietnamThe Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
ese torture of American
P.O.W.sA prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
, Ventura asserted, "We created our own
Hanoi HiltonHỏa Lò Prison, later sarcastically known to American prisoners of war as the "Hanoi Hilton", was a prison used by the French colonists in Vietnam for political prisoners and later by North Vietnam for prisoners of war during the Vietnam War....
in Guantánamo. That's our Hanoi Hilton." "'Enhanced interrogation' is Dick Cheney changing a word. Dick Cheney comes up with a new word to cover his ass."
On May 20, 2009, Ventura appeared on
Fox & FriendsFox & Friends is an American morning television show on the Fox News Channel.-History:The show begins at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time with the latest Fox News Live headlines and analyzes the news of the morning...
. When
Brian KilmeadeBrian Kilmeade a Fox News Channel television personality. Weekdays, he co-hosts Fox's morning show, Fox & Friends, along with Steve Doocy and Gretchen Carlson. Kilmeade also co-hosts Brian and the Judge, a talk-news radio show on Fox News Radio, with Judge Andrew P. Napolitano...
told Ventura that he would stop supporting waterboarding when "they're dead", Ventura responded, "Really? Have you enlisted? Have you enlisted or are you just talking?... Go walk the walk, don't talk the talk."
Questions regarding 9/11
In April and May 2008, Jesse Ventura, in several radio interviews for his new book,
Don't Start the Revolution Without Me, expressed concerns about what he described as some of the unanswered questions of the September 11 attacks. His remarks about the possibility that the World Trade Center was demolished with explosives were also repeated in newspaper and television stories following some of the interviews.
Ventura was interviewed on the
Alex JonesAlexander Emerick "Alex" Jones is an American talk radio host, actor and filmmaker. His syndicated news/talk show The Alex Jones Show, based in Austin, Texas, airs via the Genesis Communication Network over 60 AM, FM, and shortwave radio stations across the United States and on the Internet...
radio show on April 2, 2008 where he said that he felt that many unanswered questions remain, and he believes that
World Trade CenterThe original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
Building 7, which was not struck by a plane, collapsed on the afternoon of 9/11 in a manner which resembled a controlled demolition Ventura stated:
He also states the Twin Towers appeared to be pulverized to dust, that they fell at virtually free-fall speed, and that no other massive steel-framed buildings had ever collapsed in this manner due to fire before.
On May 18, 2009, when asked by
Sean HannitySean Hannity is an American radio and television host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. Hannity also hosts a cable news show, Hannity,...
of Fox News, how George W. Bush could have avoided the attacks of September 11, 2001, Ventura answered, "Well, you pay attention to memos on August 6th that tell you exactly what
bin LadenOsama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
's gonna do."
On December 2, 2009, when
Jim NortonJames Joseph "Jim" Norton, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, radio personality, author, and actor. He is an on-air personality, often dubbed the 'third mic' on The Opie and Anthony Show, which airs on Sirius XM Radio...
of the Opie and Anthony Show accused Ventura of believing that the Government was behind 9/11, Ventura denied the accusation and stated that he simply believed that "we have not been told the truth" regarding the events on 9/11.
Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura
In August 2009, it was announced that Ventura would host TruTV's new show
Conspiracy Theory with Jesse VenturaConspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura is an American television series hosted by Jesse Ventura and broadcast on truTV . It premiered on December 2, 2009, and is produced by A. Smith & Co. Productions. A second season premiered on October 15, 2010...
. "Ventura will hunt down answers, plunging viewers into a world of secret meetings, midnight surveillance, shifty characters and dark forces," truTV said in a statement. On the program, which debuted on December 2, 2009, Ventura travels the country, investigating cases and getting input from believers and skeptics before passing judgment on a theory's validity. According to TruTV, the first episode drew 1.6 million viewers, a record for a new series on the network.
The second season of the series debuted in October 2010 and aired 8 episodes through December 2010. A third season is in the process of being made and will air sometime in 2012.
American Conspiracies
American Conspiracies is a book Ventura wrote with Dick Russell, published by
Skyhorse PublishingSkyhorse Publishing, Inc., known as Skyhorse Publishing, was founded in 2006 and is located in New York, NY. It is an American independent book publishing company, and is distributed by W. W. Norton & Company. The current president and publisher is founder Tony Lyons, who named it after Brando...
in 2010 which discusses conspiracy theories related to several notable events in United States history.
Lawsuit Against the TSA
In January 2011, Jesse Ventura filed a lawsuit against the
Transportation Security AdministrationThe Transportation Security Administration is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that exercises authority over the safety and security of the traveling public in the United States....
for being subject to controversial pat-downs. Ventura has asserted that these pat-downs violate citizens'
Fourth AmendmentThe Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause...
rights. Ventura's attorney has claimed that while he is not seeking any monetary compensation, Ventura wants an acknowledgment from the court that his rights were violated and that the TSA halt future pat-downs on him. Ventura stated that as a former politician and a military veteran and posing no threat, it is inappropriate for him to be subject to pat-downs. Since filing the lawsuit, Ventura has been flying in a private jet. The lawsuit was tossed in November 2011, to Ventura's fury. In comments to the media, he stated he believed America had become "fascist" for the secret ruling and subsequent mainstream media blackout. The former Governor said he would seek dual citizenship in both the United States and Mexico, having already resided in
Baja CaliforniaBaja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
for a number of years. He also said he would lower his head in shame for the national anthem at public events. Jesse has repeatedly stated "I love my country, not my government" in post-press-release interviews. The ultimate outcome of the TSA constitutional matter remains undetermined.
Family
In 1975, Ventura married his wife Terry. The couple have two grown children: a son, Tyrel (b. 1980), who is a film and television director and producer, and a daughter, Jade (b. 1983).
Ventura and his wife split their time living in Minnesota and near
Cabo San LucasCabo San Lucas , commonly called Cabo, is a city at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, in the municipality of Los Cabos in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. As of the 2010 census, the population was 68,463 people...
,
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, "There are no newspapers down where I live. Where I live, I'm an hour from pavement and an hour from electricity. I'm completely
off-the-gridThe term off-the-grid or off-grid refers to living in a self-sufficient manner without reliance on one or more public utilities....
." Ventura has also expressed interest in applying for dual citizenship.
Steroid use
During his wrestling days, Ventura used
anabolic steroidAnabolic steroids, technically known as anabolic-androgen steroids or colloquially simply as "steroids", are drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in the body. They increase protein synthesis within cells, which results in the buildup of cellular tissue ,...
s. He admitted this after retiring from competition, and went on to make public service announcements and appear in printed ads and on posters warning young people about the potential dangers and potential health risks of abusing steroids.
Health problems
In 2002, Ventura was hospitalized for a severe blood clot in his lungs, the same kind of injury that ended his wrestling career.
Religion
In a
PlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
interview, he said, "Organized
religionReligion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
is a
shamCriticism of religion is criticism of the concepts, validity, and/or practices of religion, including associated political and social implications....
and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people's business." In his 1999 best-selling
memoirA memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
I Ain't Got Time to Bleed, Ventura responded to the controversy sparked by these remarks by elaborating on his views concerning religion: "I’d like to clarify [my comments published in
Playboy] about religious people being weak-minded. I didn’t mean all religious people. I don’t have any problem with the vast majority of religious folks. I count myself among them, more or less. But I believe because it makes sense to me, not because I think it can be proven. There are lots of people out there who think they know the truth about God and religion, but does anybody really know for sure? That’s why the Founding Fathers built freedom of religious belief into the structure of this nation, so that everybody could make up their minds for themselves. But I do have a problem with the people who think they have some right to try to impose their beliefs on others. I hate what the fundamentalist fanatics are doing to our country. It seems as though, if everybody doesn’t accept their version of reality, that somehow invalidates it for them. Everybody must believe the same things they do. That’s what I find weak and destructive."
Ventura endorsed
equal rightsSocial equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
for
religious minoritiesA minority religion is a religion held by a minority of the population of a country, state, or region. Minority religions may be subject to stigma or discrimination. An example of a stigma is using the term cult with its extremely negative connotations for certain new religious movements...
, as well as people who
do not believe in GodNontheism is a term that covers a range of both religious and nonreligious attitudes characterized by the absence of — or the rejection of — theism or any belief in a personal god or gods...
, by declaring July 4, 2002, "Indivisible Day". Ventura proclaimed October 13–19, 2002 as "Christian Heritage Week" in Minnesota.
In an interview with
Joy BeharJosephina Victoria "Joy" Behar is an American comedian, writer, actress, and a co-host of the talk show The View. Behar has a commentary program, entitled The Joy Behar Show, on CNN's sister network, HLN...
, Ventura gave his support to the controversial Ground Zero Mosque, arguing, "Let me say this about the mosque: Excuse me, the Constitution says they can do it, it ends there! You cannot subject the Constitution to a
popularity pollAn opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
," in reference to polls suggesting most Americans opposed the mosque. In a separate interview with
Don LemonDon Lemon is a reporter for CNN and news anchor on the prime-time weekend version of CNN Newsroom, based in Atlanta.-Life and career :Lemon was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana...
Ventura argued that opposition to the mosque should be ignored as, "the Constitution and the
Bill of RightsA bill of rights is a list of the most important rights of the citizens of a country. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement. The term "bill of rights" originates from England, where it referred to the Bill of Rights 1689. Bills of rights may be entrenched or...
should be written in stone. You cannot subject them to the popularity. They are there to protect unpopular things, like the
First AmendmentThe First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
. The First Amendment is to protect unpopular speech simply because popular speech doesn't need to be protected. It's as simple as that. And you can't, you know, bend the Constitution to the blowing winds of whatever polls might say, otherwise it's a worthless, useless document which in many ways they're turning it into that anyway." When Lemon suggested that the victims' families needed to be respected, Ventura replied, "But what's the problem? I mean --
Timothy McVeighTimothy James McVeigh was a United States Army veteran and security guard who detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995...
, I assume, was a
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and
he did an act of terrorismThe Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19...
. Would they then remove all Christian churches from around
Oklahoma CityOklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
because it happened to have been a Christian that did it? You know, it's ridiculous. The majority of Muslim people are law abiding, pacifist people who are not out to kill everybody. But every group of people has extremists. They're outlaws. They're criminals. And you can't lump everybody in to a specific religion. Hey, I have enough trouble with religion anyway. I think religion in its own way is the root of all evil. You notice every war is fought over religion."
Ventura identified himself as an atheist on April 5, 2011, on The Howard Stern Show. Ventura stated he had been a Lutheran before.
Electoral history
- 1998 election for Governor
- Jesse Ventura (Ref.), 37%
- Norm Coleman
Norman Bertram Coleman, Jr. is an American attorney and politician. He was a United States senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2009. Coleman was elected in 2002 and served in the 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses. Before becoming a senator, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1994 to 2002...
(R), 34%
- Hubert H. Humphrey III
Hubert Horatio "Skip" Humphrey III is a former Minnesota politician who served as attorney general of the state from 1983 to 1999. Prior to that, he was a state senator from 1973 to 1983...
(DFLThe Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party is a major political party in the state of Minnesota and the state affiliate of the Democratic Party. It was created on April 15, 1944, with the merger of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Farmer–Labor Party...
), 28%
Books
- I Ain't Got Time to Bleed: Reworking the Body Politic from the Bottom Up (May 1999) ISBN 978-0-375-50332-0
- Do I Stand Alone? Going to the Mat Against Political Pawns and Media Jackals (September 2000) ISBN 978-0-7434-0586-7
- Jesse Ventura Tells it Like it Is: America's Most Outspoken Governor Speaks Out About Government (September 2002, co-authored with Heron Marquez) ISBN 978-0-8225-0385-9
- Don't Start the Revolution Without Me! (March 2008, co-authored with Dick Russell) ISBN 978-1-60239-273-1
- American Conspiracies
American Conspiracies is a book written by former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura, together with Dick Russell. It was published by Skyhorse Publishing in 2010...
(March 2010, co-authored with Dick Russell) ISBN 978-1-60239-802-3
- 63 Documents the Government Doesn't Want You to Read (April 2011, co-authored with Dick Russell) ISBN 978-1-61608-226-0
External links
- WWE Hall of Fame Profile
- Ventura "on the issues"
- Analysis of Jesse Ventura's Playboy interview by Aubrey Immelman
- Jesse Ventura – Media Man Australia profile
- Election Of Bonapartist Figure Ventura In Minnesota Is Danger To Working People – article in The Militant
The Militant is an international Socialist newsweekly connected to the Socialist Workers Party and the Pathfinder Tendency. It is published in the United States and distributed in other countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Sweden, Iceland, and New...
1998.
- Radiotapes.com Recordings of Jesse Ventura for Governor commercials from 1998 (scroll down to Misc Recordings).
- Larry King Live: Jesse Ventura CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
April 1, 2008
- "Jesse's back! New Ventura book 'Revolution' will cover political waterfront" from Minnpost.com
- The Jesse Ventura Forums
- Jesse Ventura on Wrestling-Radio.com
- Jesse Ventura interview, Diaday.com
- Jesse Ventura on The Young Turks Show.