X-Nico

100 unusual facts about United States


1976 WTA Westchester Invitational

The 1976 WTA Westchester Invitational was a tennis tournament that took place in Westchester, New York in the United States.

A More Perfect Constitution

The twenty-three proposals run the gamut from changing the length of the U.S. President's term in office and the number and terms of Supreme Court justices to altering the structure of Congress, modifying the Electoral College, and introducing universal national service.

Adrenaline Family Entertainment

The company originally had plans to expand by building a portfolio of regional amusement and water parks across the United States.

AIDS Project Los Angeles

APLA is one of the largest non-profit AIDS service organizations in the United States.

Albert L. Myer

General Nelson A. Miles had been installed by the President of the United States as the first American military governor of the Island, and Francisco Porrata Doria had been elected mayor by the people of Ponce as was the custom for many decades under the old Spanish system.

Alberton School

Alberton School is a three-story brick school located in Alberton, Montana, United States which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 13, 1997.

Alexander S. Gross

Rabbi Alexander S. Gross (1917 – March 10, 1980), was an American Orthodox rabbi who established the Hebrew Academy of Greater Miami, the first Jewish day school in the south.

Allison Island

Allison Island is an island within the city of Miami Beach in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States.

Alvin Simon

Alvin Simon (1928-Feb 23, 2010 in Mount Washington, California) was an American restaurateur who played a leading role in the development and revitalization of Pasadena, California in the 1980s.

Amelia Stone Quinton

Amelia Stone Quinton (July 31, 1833 – June 23, 1926) was an American social activist and advocate for Native American rights.

Army Intelligence

In the United States, Army Intelligence is usually referred to as Military Intelligence (see main article: Military Intelligence Corps (United States Army)).

Bayan, Kuwait

Bayan also houses several international embassies, including that of the United States of America, Belgium, and Thailand.

Beijing United Family Hospital

The hospital is staffed by a team of over 100 doctors from 20 different countries, including the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Australia.

Benjamin Clemens

His Works during his life were exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art regularly as well as all over the world including Paris, Rome, Brussels and the United States.

Bertram Lichtenstein

Bertram Lichtenstein (28 October 1918 – 7 June 1989) was an American clothing manufacturer.

BookExpo America

BookExpo America (commonly referred to within the book publishing industry as BEA) is the largest annual book trade fair in the United States.

Boutique hotel

In the United States, New York remains an important centre of the boutique hotel phenomenon, as the original Schrager-era boutique hotels remain relevant and are joined by scores of independent and small-chain competitors, mainly clustered about Midtown and downtown Manhattan.

Burra Burra Mine

The Burra Burra Mine (Tennessee) — a copper mine located in Ducktown, Tennessee, United States, and named after the Australian mine

Cindy Duehring

Cindy Duehring (August 10, 1962 – June 29, 1999) was an American activist and researcher.

Clifford Clinton

During the next ten years, 6.5 million pounds of MPF were distributed to relief agencies in 129 countries, including the United States.

Dallas B. Phemister

Dallas Burton Phemister (July 15, 1882 – December 28, 1951) was a U.S. surgeon.

Deena Burton

Deena Burton (September 23, 1948—April 3, 2005) was an American dancer, specializing in the field of Javanese and Balinese dance.

DeKalb massacre

DeKalb is a name given to several cities and counties in the United States.

Eagle Academy

Eagle Academy is the name of several schools in the United States and other countries.

Election Defense Alliance

It was established as a national coordinating body to promote and support citizen activism at the local and state level to restore integrity and public accountability to the electoral processes of the United States.

First Earth Battalion

The First Earth Battalion was the name proposed by Lieutenant Colonel Jim Channon, a U.S. soldier who had served in Vietnam, for his idea of a new military of supersoldiers to be organized along New Age lines.

Foreign relations of Peru

The United States Government, as one of four guarantor states, was actively involved in facilitating the 1998 peace accord between Peru and Ecuador and remains committed to its implementation.

Fort Miami

Fort Miami was the name of several forts in what is now the United States.

Gay Republicans

Gay Republicans are LGBT members and supporters of the Republican Party in the United States.

George Reinke

George Reinke (December 27, 1914 – September 22, 2009) was the first elected County Executive of Dane County, Wisconsin, United States.

Global China Connection

GCC's main activities include hosting delegations of university students, coordinating community service initiatives, and hosting annual conferences in China and the United States.

Graduate student unionization

As of 2007 there are 28 graduate student employee local unions in the United States.

Hanover Community School Corporation

Hanover Community School Corporation is a school district in Lake County, IN, United States

Hartshorne, Oklahoma

Hartshorne (pronounced "Hearts-orn") is a city in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, United States.

Homer Doliver House

Homer Doliver House (July 21, 1878 - December 21, 1949) was an American botanist from New York State.

Immigration Restriction Act

Immigration Restriction Act of 1924 (also known as the National Origins Act or the Johnston-Reed Act) in the United States

International Air-Coach

The International F-18 Air Coach was a 1920s American biplane transport designed and manufactured by the International Aircraft Corporation in Long Beach California.

Isle of Normandy

Isle of Normandy or Normandy Island or Normandy Isles or Normandy Isle is a neighborhood of North Beach in the city of Miami Beach, Florida, United States.

J Street U

J Street U is the college and university campus organizing arm of J Street, the pro-Israel, pro-peace advocacy organization working towards United States diplomatic leadership for a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine.

Jen-Ai Hospital

Its Director, Dr. Shih-Huang Chao, the Chief Consultant, is a surgeon also known for inventing the gastric clipping weight loss method (a surgical procedure that can be done within 30 minutes), which has been granted patent in the United States, Japan, and Taiwan.

Jewish Bakers' Voice

The Jewish Bakers' Voice (in Yiddish: Idishe Bekers Shtime) was a trade paper for Jewish bakers published from New York City, the United States.

Joe Graydon

Joe Graydon (February 6, 1919 – May 19, 2001), was an American big band vocalist, television host, personal manager and concert producer.

Kabir Mohabbat

Mohabbat acted as a temporary extraordinary envoy of the United States to the Taliban in the negotiations for the delivery of Osama bin Laden.

Kleercut

The Kleercut campaign claims that Kimberly-Clark support the clearcutting of such forests in Canada and the United States, including forests habitat for wolverine and threatened wildlife the woodland caribou.

KLSV

KLSV-LP, a low-power television station (channel 50) licensed to Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit

Before the meeting, the United States intercepted a telephone call to Yemen by al-Mihdhar concerning arrangements for the trip.

Little Wizards

Little Wizards is a American animated series, created by Len Janson and Chuck Menville and produced by Marvel Productions, that ran from 1987 to 1988.

Luis Porrata-Doría

General Nelson A. Miles had been installed by the President of the United States as the first American military governor of the Island, and Porrata-Doría had been elected mayor by the people of Ponce as was the electoral practice for many decades under the old Spanish system.

Lummus Park, Miami

On October 25, 2006, the park and the buildings on its northern boundary were added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as Lummus Park Historic District.

Melvin Alvah Traylor

He went on to oversee several banks around the United States and became president of the American Bankers Association in 1926 and later the first president of the First Union Trust and Savings Bank in 1928 which would go on to become Chicago's largest bank under his leadership in 1931.

Mercury Kitten

The Mercury Kitten (also known as the Aerial Kitten) was an American three-seat cabin monoplane designed and built by Mercury Aircraft Inc. in the late 1920s.

Metro Maryland Youth For Christ

Metro Maryland Youth For Christ is a religious organization for young people in Maryland, United States.

Metropolitan School District of Martinsville

The Metropolitan School District of Martinsville is a school district in Morgan County, Indiana, United States.

MLS Defender of the Year Award

In the United States, Major League Soccer (MLS) has handed out a Defender of the Year award since its inception in 1996.

Mountain House School District

Mountain House Elem Sch is a public school district based in Alameda County, California, United States.

Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae

In July 2007 it was discovered that this species of Mycoplasma was responsible for the deaths of bighorn sheep in the Western United States.

N2 Publishing

N2 Publishing is a publishing company that specializes in neighborhood publications for communities across the United States.

Nathan Korn

Nathan Korn (1893-1941) was an American architect and builder in New York City.

Norberto Longo

Norberto Longo (February 15, 1942 - April 19, 2003) was a Spanish-language sportscaster in the United States.

Northeast, Washington, D.C.

Northeast (NE or N.E.) is the northeastern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located north of East Capitol Street and east of North Capitol Street.

Numerican Nation: A Self Portrait

The story is a mainly autobiographical work and commentary on U.S. politics.

Offshore oil and gas in the US Gulf of Mexico

Offshore oil and gas in the US Gulf of Mexico is a major source of oil and natural gas in the United States.

Osbat al-Nour

Osbat al-Nour is said to be an offshoot of a larger Osbat al-Ansar, which is on the United States' list of terrorist organizations because of its alleged links to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda.

Parks P-2

The Parks P-2 , powered by a 150 hp Axelson-Floco B engine was a biplane designed and built at the Parks Air College in the United States circa 1929.

People of the Whale

People of the Whale is a 2008 novel by Linda Hogan about a Native American man named Thomas Just who is forced to come to terms with his experiences in Vietnam during the war.

Peter Feller

Peter Feller is a Tony Award winning American theatrical set builder who worked primarily on Broadway.

Popular Health Movement

The Popular Health Movement of the 1830s–1850s was an aspect of Jacksonian-era politics and society in the United States.

Rena Golden

Rena Golden (30 March 1961 – 20 March 2013) was an Indian born American journalist working for CNN and the Weather Channel.

Republican period

# Any of several periods in the United States where the Republican Party controlled the federal government, or within individual US states or local governments when Republicans controlled those governments.

Reservation poverty

Currently, almost a third of American Indians in the United States live on reservations, totaling approximately 700,000 individuals.

Richard Davisson

Professor Richard Joseph "Dick" Davisson (December 29, 1922 – June 15, 2004) was an American physicist.

Ridgewood Park, Dallas

Ridgewood Park is a neighborhood in east Dallas Texas (USA).

Roy Alexander Weagant

Roy Alexander Weagant (March 29, 1881 - August 23, 1942) was a noted Canadian-American radio pioneer.

Roy Helton

Roy Helton (1886–1977) was an American poet.

Royal Flying Corps Canada

Training was provided both by the Curtiss Aviation School at Long Branch near Toronto (land plane training) and Hanlan's Point on Toronto Island (for flying boat training), and in the United States.

Sidor Belarsky

Sidor Belarsky, born Isidor Livshitz (February 12, 1898 – June 7, 1975), was a Ukrainian-American singer born to a Jewish family in Kryzhopol, Ukraine.

Silver Mount Cemetery

Silver Mount Cemetery is located at 918 Victory Boulevard on Staten Island, New York, United States.

Sizing Up the Senate

Sizing Up the Senate: The Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation, by Frances E. Lee and Bruce I. Oppenheimer, is a book that analyzes the behavior of United States Senators based on the size of the states they represent.

Sizing Up the Senate also empirically demonstrates that small states receive more money per capita from the U.S. federal government due to the spending formula for block grants.

Sydney Taylor

Sydney Taylor (October 30, 1904 – February 12, 1978) was an American author.

Talking Right

Nunberg argues that the problem runs much deeper, in that the entire political discourse in the United States today has been shaped heavily by conservatives.

Taman Tun Dr Ismail

The township was named after Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first ambassador to the United States and a Malaysian representative to the United Nations, before becoming Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister in 1970.

Telegram messenger

In the United Kingdom, Ireland, United States and other countries around the world, a telegram messenger, more often known as a telegram delivery boy or simply a telegram boy was a young male employed to deliver telegrams, usually on bicycle.

The African-American Historical News Journal

The articles contained in the publication highlight the positive impact African-Americans made toward the founding of the United States.

The Committee of 200

The Committee of 200's more than 450 members represent over 100 industries in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada and Latin America and its members generate more than $200 billion in annual revenues.

The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm

The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm is a classic feminist work on women's sexuality, written by Anne Koedt, an American feminist, in 1968.

The Right Nation

The Right Nation (ISBN 1-59420-020-3) is a book published in 2004 which charts the rise of the Republican Party in the United States since Barry Goldwater's defeat in 1964.

Third Way

In the United States, "Third Way" adherents embrace fiscal conservatism to a greater extent than traditional social liberals, and advocate some replacement of welfare with workfare, and sometimes have a stronger preference for market solutions to traditional problems (as in pollution markets), while rejecting pure laissez-faire economics and other libertarian positions.

Thomas Heyward, Jr.

(July 28, 1746 – March 6, 1809) was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and of the Articles of Confederation as a representative of South Carolina.

Thomas Wakeman

Thomas Wakeman (Sioux: Wawinape) (1846 – January 13, 1886) was a Native American who organized the first Sioux Indian YMCA.

Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War

In the Eastern United States, the fighting dragged on for three more years, but in the Southwest the war against the Confederacy was over, but the war against the Apache, Navaho and Comanche continued for the California garrisons until they were replaced by U. S. Army troops after the Civil War ended.

Tricoastal records

Tricoastal Records is an American record label, founded in 1986 by Jacomo Versani The label's focus has been developing and branding artists by capitalizing on the Internet, as well as unique marketing tactics that reach into the areas of

Tymnet

Tymnet was also connected to dozens of other public networks in the United States and internationally via X.25/X.75 gateways.

United States Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs

The Subcommittee on African Affairs is responsible for United States relations with countries in Africa, with the exception of countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea from Egypt to Morocco, which are under the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs.

United States Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere and Global Narcotics Affairs

The Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere and Narcotics Affairs is responsible for United States relations with the nations of the Western Hemisphere, including Canada and the nations of the Caribbean.

United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce

The United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce was a special committee of the United States Senate which existed from 1950 to 1951 and which investigated organized crime which crossed state borders in the United States.

Waterville Valley BBTS

The Waterville Valley BBTS Ski Educational Foundation is a ski and snowboard club based out of Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, United States.

When the Corn Is Waving, Annie Dear

It was printed by a number of publishing houses in the United States in 1860 and also eventually became popular in England.

Wholesale District

Wholesale District may refer to some city districts in the United States

Zachariah Connell

Zachariah Connell (1741–1815) was the founder of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, United States.


Adelaide Ristori

In 1857 she visited Madrid, playing in Spanish to enthusiastic audiences, and in 1866 she paid the first of four visits to the United States, where she won much applause, particularly in Paolo Giacometti's Elisabeth, an Italian study of the English sovereign.

American Teenage Rock 'n' Roll Machine

American Teenage Rock 'n' Roll Machine is the second studio album by American rock band band The Donnas, released in 1998 (See 1998 in music) on Lookout!.

Bigger Than the Beatles

"Bigger Than The Beatles" is a song written by Jeb Stuart Anderson and Steve Dukes, and recorded by American country music artist Joe Diffie.

Brokedown Cadillac

Brokedown Cadillac is an American country music band fronted by actress Corri English.

Byrne Piven

Byrne Piven (September 24, 1929 – February 18, 2002) was an influential American stage actor, director, and co-founder of the Playwrights Theatre Club, a forerunner of The Second City.

Daniel Siebert

In 2002, Siebert wrote a letter to the United States Congress in which he objected to bill H.R. 5607 introduced by Rep. Joe Baca (D-California) which sought to place Salvia divinorum in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.

DZRJ-FM

On October 15, 2010, HP Philippines, a unit of United States-based information technology firm Hewlett-Packard Company, have entered an agreement with RJ 100.3 FM as part of radio commercials.

Eunice Rosen

Eunice Marya Rosen (born September 6, 1930) is an American bridge player.

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

Members of the IAG included: Azerbaijan, France, Nigeria, Norway, Peru and the United States; Anglo-American, BP, Chevron and Petrobras; the Azerbaijan EITI Coalition, Global Witness, Revenue Watch Institute, West African Catholic Bishops Conference; and F&C Asset Management.

George H. Utter

Utter was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-second Congress and served from March 4, 1911, until his death from liver cancer in Westerly, Rhode Island, November 3, 1912.

Guillermo Aubone

Before turning pro, Aubone played college tennis in the United States, at the University of Corpus Christi and University of South Carolina.

Hans Lineweaver

Hans Lineweaver (December 25, 1907 – June 10, 2009) was an American physical chemist, who developed the Lineweaver–Burk plot.

Heritage Park Aquatic Center

Heritage Park Aquatic Center is an aquatics venue located in Irvine, California, United States.

I. German/Dutch Corps

Due to its role as a NATO High Readiness Forces Headquarters, soldiers from other NATO member states, the United States, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom amongst others, are also stationed at Münster.

J. J. Barnes

J. Barnes (born James Jay Barnes, November 30, 1943, Detroit, Michigan) is an American R&B singer.

Jeff Groscost

In 2000, Groscost was defeated by Democrat Jay Blanchard in the historically Republican District 30 of Mesa.

Jimmy Cox

Jimmy Cox (July 28, 1882 – March 1925) was an American songwriter famous for his Depression-era hit "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out".

Joe Dial

Joe Dial (born 26 October 1962 in Marlow, Oklahoma) is a retired American pole vaulter, best known for winning the bronze medal at the 1989 World Indoor Championships in Budapest.

John Rugee

He was also a Presidential Elector for the 1884 United States Presidential Election.

John W. Langley

Langley was elected in March 4, 1907 as a Republican to the Sixtieth and to the nine succeeding Congresses where he became known as "Pork Barrel John." He served as chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds (Sixty-sixth through Sixty-eighth Congresses).

Jonathan Kwitny

His book jacket biographies record that his reporting forced J. Lynn Helms, chief of the Federal Aviation Administration, to resign, and dogged President Ronald Reagan's National Security Advisor Richard V. Allen for conflicts of interest.

Jonathan Winter

Jonathan Winter (born August 18, 1971 in Masterton) is a member of the Ngai Tahu Maori tribe and a former backstroke swimmer from New Zealand, who competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States, for his native country.

Joshua Kadison

It peaked at #19 on the U.S. Billboard charts, and Filipino actor/singer Jericho Rosales recorded and released a version of it on his own 2009 album Change. Painted Desert Serenade went platinum in the US and Germany, and went multi-platinum in Australia and New Zealand.

Katherine Washington

Katherine Washington is a former American women's basketball player, who played on the first two U.S. women's national teams, earning world championships in 1953 and 1957.

Kentucky Oaks top three finishers

This is a listing of the horses that finished in either first, second, or third place and the number of starters in the Kentucky Oaks, the first leg of the defacto American Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing, an American Grade 1 race for three year-old fillies at 1-1/8 miles (9 furlongs) on the dirt held at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.

Leo T. McCarthy

McCarthy was first elected to statewide office to the first of three consecutive four-year terms as lieutenant governor of California in 1982, at the same time that Republican George Deukmejian was elected governor.

MacGillivray's Warbler

MacGillivray's Warblers are migratory and spend their summers in temporate forests located in the western United States, and in boreal forests of west Canada.

Margaret Vanderhye

She was the Democratic nominee in the 2007 Virginia general election to fill the seat held by retiring incumbent Republican Vince Callahan, defeating Republican businessman Dave Hunt in the general election on November 6, 2007.

Mark Schatz

Mark Schatz (born April 23, 1955) is an American bassist, banjoist, mandolinist, and clogger who has recorded and toured with artists such as albums for artists such as Bela Fleck, Nickel Creek, Jerry Douglas, Maura O'Connell, Tony Rice, John Hartford, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, and Tim O'Brien.

Maynard Harrison Smith

Staff Sergeant Smith quickly gained a reputation as a stubborn and obnoxious airman who did not get along well with the other airmen stationed there, hence his nickname "Snuffy Smith", possibly from the popular comic strip of the era.

Mexopolis

Mexopolis (also known as Mexopolis Animation Studio) is an American production company founded in 1999 by Jorge R. Gutierrez and Sandra Equihua.

Moné

She scored three hits on the US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart: "We Can Make It" (#1, 1995), "Movin'" (#2, 1996) and "Partay Feeling" (As B-Crew featuring Barbara Tucker, Dajae, Ultra Nate and Moné) (#22, 1997).

Mountain Village, Colorado

Mountain Village is a Home Rule Municipality in San Miguel County, Colorado, United States.

Nat Hickey

A 5'11" guard/forward, Hickey played during the 1920s through 1940s as a member of multiple professional teams, including the Cleveland Rosenblums of the American Basketball League and the Pittsburgh Raiders, Indianapolis Kautskys, and Tri-Cities Blackhawks of the National Basketball League.

Norman Tate

Norman ("Norm") W. Tate (born January 2, 1942 in Oswald, West Virginia) is a retired long jumper from the United States, who set the world's best year performance in 1971 by jumping 8.23 metres on 1971-05-22 at a meet in El Paso.

Pierce M. B. Young

Returning home in early 1861, he was appointed second lieutenant in the 1st Georgia Infantry regiment, but declined that commission for the same rank in the artillery.

Pierre Bellocq

Pierre Camille Lucien Hilaire Jean Bellocq (born November 25, 1926 in Bedenac, Charente-Maritime, France) is a French-American artist and horse racing cartoonist known as "Peb".

Republican Party presidential primaries, 1960

The 1960 Republican presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1960 U.S. presidential election.

Richard Paul Pavlick

Pavlick's enmity toward John F. Kennedy boiled over after the close of the 1960 U.S. Presidential election, in which Kennedy had defeated Republican Richard Nixon.

Roy O. Woodruff

In 1912, Woodruff defeated incumbent Republican U.S. Representative George A. Loud to be elected as the candidate of the Progressive Party from Michigan's 10th congressional district to the 63rd Congress, serving from March 4, 1913 to March 3, 1915.

San Germán, Puerto Rico

He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor, by General George S. Patton, thus becoming the first Puerto Rican recipient of said military decoration.

Silver Creek, Lake County, Minnesota

Silver Creek is an unincorporated community in Silver Creek Township, Lake County, Minnesota, United States.

South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1892

Tillman had forced the state Democratic party to adopt the entire Ocala Platform in order to avoid a challenge from the Populist Party.

The Lakes, Minnesota

The lake and the community are located in parts of four townships in Murray County: Lake Sarah, Shetek, Murray, and Mason Townships.

Thomas R. Cobb

Cobb was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fifth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1877-March 3, 1887).

Tim Willoughby

Having left Goldman Sachs in late 2007, Willoughby was due to start work at the firm of Citi Smith Barney on 10 January 2008, but died suddenly on 9 January 2008 after suffering a heart attack on board a flight from the United States to Singapore, returning home from a family holiday in New Mexico.

United States Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy and Global Women's Issues

This includes the general oversight responsibility for the U.S. State Department, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the U.S. Foreign Service, and public diplomacy and United States participation in the United Nations, its affiliated organizations, and other international organizations not under the jurisdiction of other subcommittees.

Watsonville Riots

In September 4, 2011, California apologized to Filipinos and Filipino Americans in an Assembly resolution authored by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Salinas.

Ze'ev Chafets

After the first primaries of the 2010 U.S. election season, Chafets identified Rush Limbaugh as "the brains and the spirit behind" the Republican Party's "resurgence" in the wake of the 2008 election of President Barack Obama.