title: William Pitt the Younger

text: In 1793, Pitt decided to take advantage of the Haitian Revolution to seize St. Domingue, the richest French colony in the world, believing this would strike a great blow at France while bringing St. Domingue into the British Empire and ensuring that the slaves in the British West Indies would not be inspired to revolt likewise. Many of those who owned slave plantations in the British West Indies had been greatly alarmed by the revolution, which began in 1791, and they were strongly pressing Pitt to restore slavery in St. Domingue, lest their own slaves be inspired to seek freedom. Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, who was Pitt's Secretary of State for War, instructed Sir Adam Williamson, the lieutenant-governor of Jamaica, to sign an agreement with representatives of the French colonists that promised to restore the ancien regime, slavery and discrimination against mixed-race colonists, a move that drew criticism from abolitionists William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: The British landed in St. Domingue on 20 September 1793, stating they had come to protect the white population from the blacks, and were able to seize some coastal enclaves. The fact that the British had come to restore slavery in St. Domingue inspired ferocious resistance from the Haitians, who had no desire to be forced into chains again. The heavy death toll caused by yellow fever, the much dreaded "black vomit", made conquering St. Domingue impossible, but an undeterred Pitt launched what he called the "great push" in 1795, sending out an even larger British expedition.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: In November 1795, some 218 ships left Portsmouth for St. Domingue. After the failure of the Quiberon expedition earlier in 1795, when the British landed a force of French royalists on the coast of France who were annihilated by the forces of the republic, Pitt had decided it was crucial for Britain to have St. Domingue, no matter what the cost in lives and money, to improve Britain's negotiating hand when it came time to make peace with the French republic. The British historian Michael Duffy argued that since Pitt committed far more manpower and money to the Caribbean expeditions, especially the one to St. Domingue, than he ever did to Europe in the years 1793–1798, it is proper to view the West Indies as Britain's main theatre of war and Europe as more of a sideshow. By 1795, 50% of the British Army was deployed in the West Indies (with the largest contingent in St. Domingue), whereas the rest of the British Army was divided among Britain, Europe, India, and North America.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: As the British death toll, largely caused by yellow fever, continued to climb, Pitt was criticised in the House of Commons. Several MPs suggested it might be better to abandon the expedition, but Pitt insisted that Britain had given its word of honour that it would protect the French planters from their former slaves, and the expedition to St. Domingue could not be abandoned. The British attempt to conquer St. Domingue in 1793 ended in disaster; the British pulled out on 31 August 1798 after having spent 4 million pounds (roughly £ million in today's money) and having lost about 100,000 men − dead or crippled for life, mostly from disease – over the preceding five years. The British historian Sir John William Fortescue wrote that Pitt and his cabinet had tried to destroy French power "in these pestilent islands ... only to discover, when it was too late, that they practically destroyed the British army". Fortescue concluded that Pitt's attempt to add St. Domingue to the British empire had killed off most of the British army, cost the British treasury a fortune and weakened British influence in Europe, making British power "fettered, numbered and paralyzed", all for nothing.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: In May 1798, the long-simmering unrest in Ireland exploded into outright rebellion with the United Irishmen Society launching a revolt to win independence for Ireland. Pitt took an extremely repressive approach to the United Irishmen with the Crown executing about 1,500 United Irishmen after the revolt. The revolt of 1798 destroyed Pitt's faith in the governing competence of the Dublin parliament (dominated by Protestant Ascendancy families). Thinking a less sectarian and more conciliatory approach would have avoided the uprising, Pitt sought an Act of Union that would make Ireland an official part of the United Kingdom and end the "Irish Question". The French expeditions to Ireland in 1796 and 1798 (to support the United Irishmen) were regarded by Pitt as near-misses that might have provided an Irish base for French attacks on Britain, thus making the "Irish Question" a national security matter. As the Dublin parliament did not wish to disband, Pitt made generous use of what would now be called "pork barrel politics" to bribe Irish MPs to vote for the Act of Union.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: Throughout the 1790s, the popularity of the Society of United Irishmen grew. Influenced by the American and French revolutions, this movement demanded independence and republicanism for Ireland. The United Irishmen Society was very anti-clerical, being equally opposed to the "superstitions" promoted by both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic church, which caused the latter to support the Crown. Realising that the Catholic church was an ally in the struggle against the French revolution, Pitt had tried fruitlessly to persuade the Dublin parliament to loosen the anti-Catholic laws to "keep things quiet in Ireland". Pitt's efforts to soften the anti-Catholic laws failed in the face of determined resistance from the families of the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland, who forced Pitt to recall Earl Fitzwilliam as Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1795, when the latter had indicated he would support a bill for Catholic relief. In much of rural Ireland, law and order had broken down as an economic crisis further impoverished the already poor Irish peasantry, and a sectarian war with many atrocities on both sides had begun in 1793 between Catholic "Defenders" versus Protestant "Peep o'Day Boys". A section of the Peep o'Day Boys who had renamed themselves the Loyal Orange Order in September 1795 were fanatically committed to upholding Protestant supremacy in Ireland at "almost any cost". In December 1796, a French invasion of Ireland led by General Lazare Hoche (scheduled to coordinate with a rising of the United Irishmen) was only thwarted by bad weather. To crush the United Irishmen, Pitt sent General Lake to Ulster in 1797 to call out Protestant Irish militiamen and organised an intelligence network of spies and informers.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: In April 1797, the mutiny of the entire Spithead fleet shook the government (sailors demanded a pay increase to match inflation). This mutiny occurred at the same moment that the Franco-Dutch alliance were preparing an invasion of Britain. To regain control of the fleet, Pitt agreed to navy pay increases and had George III pardon the mutineers. By contrast, the more political "floating republic" naval mutiny at the Nore in June 1797 led by Richard Parker was handled more repressively. Pitt refused to negotiate with Parker, whom he wanted to see hanged as a mutineer. In response to the 1797 mutinies, Pitt passed an act making it unlawful to advocate breaking oaths to the Crown. In 1798, he passed the Defence of the Realm act, which further restricted civil liberties.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: Despite Pitt's efforts, the French continued to defeat the First Coalition, which collapsed in 1798. A Second Coalition, consisting of Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire, was formed, but it, too, failed to overcome the French. The fall of the Second Coalition with the defeat of the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo (14 June 1800) and at the Battle of Hohenlinden (3 December 1800) left Great Britain facing France alone.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: Following the Acts of Union 1800, Pitt sought to inaugurate the new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland by granting concessions to Roman Catholics, who formed a 75% majority of the population in Ireland, by abolishing various political restrictions under which they suffered. The king was strongly opposed to Catholic Emancipation; he argued that to grant additional liberty would violate his coronation oath, in which he had promised to protect the established Church of England. Pitt, unable to change the king's strong views, resigned on 16 February 1801, so as to allow Henry Addington, his political friend, to form a new administration. At about the same time, however, the king suffered a renewed bout of madness, with the consequence that Addington could not receive his formal appointment. Though he had resigned, Pitt temporarily continued to discharge his duties; on 18 February 1801, he brought forward the annual budget. Power was transferred from Pitt to Addington on 14 March, when the king recovered.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: Pitt supported the new administration, but with little enthusiasm; he frequently absented himself from Parliament, preferring to remain in his Lord Warden's residence of Walmer Castle – before 1802 usually spending an annual late-summer holiday there, and later often present from the spring until the autumn.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: From the castle, he helped organise a local Volunteer Corps in anticipation of a French invasion, acted as colonel of a battalion raised by Trinity House – he was also a Master of Trinity House – and encouraged the construction of Martello towers and the Royal Military Canal in Romney Marsh. He rented land abutting the Castle to farm on which to lay out trees and walks. His niece Lady Hester Stanhope designed and managed the gardens and acted as his hostess.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: The Treaty of Amiens in 1802 between France and Britain marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars. Everyone expected it to be only a short truce. By 1803, war had broken out again with France under Napoleon Bonaparte. Although Addington had previously invited him to join the Cabinet, Pitt preferred to join the Opposition, becoming increasingly critical of the government's policies. Addington, unable to face the combined opposition of Pitt and Fox, saw his majority gradually evaporate and resigned in late April 1804.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: Pitt returned to the premiership on 10 May 1804. He had originally planned to form a broad coalition government, but faced the opposition of George III to the inclusion of Fox. Moreover, many of Pitt's former supporters, including the allies of Addington, joined the Opposition. Thus, Pitt's second ministry was considerably weaker than his first.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: The British government began placing pressure on the French Emperor, Napoleon I. Thanks to Pitt's efforts, the United Kingdom joined the Third Coalition, an alliance that included Austria, Russia, and Sweden. In October 1805, the British Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, won a crushing victory in the Battle of Trafalgar, ensuring British naval supremacy for the remainder of the war. At the annual Lord Mayor's Banquet toasting him as "the Saviour of Europe", Pitt responded in a few words that became the most famous speech of his life:


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: Nevertheless, the Coalition collapsed, having suffered significant defeats at the Battle of Ulm (October 1805) and the Battle of Austerlitz (December 1805). After hearing the news of Austerlitz Pitt referred to a map of Europe, "Roll up that map; it will not be wanted these ten years."


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: Pitt was an expert in finance and served as chancellor of the exchequer. Critical to his success in confronting Napoleon was using Britain's superior economic resources. He was able to mobilize the nation's industrial and financial resources and apply them to defeating France.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: With a population of 16 million, the United Kingdom was barely half the size of France, which had a population of 30 million. In terms of soldiers, however, the French numerical advantage was offset by British subsidies that paid for a large proportion of the Austrian and Russian soldiers, peaking at about 450,000 in 1813.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: Britain used its economic power to expand the Royal Navy, doubling the number of frigates and increasing the number of the larger ships of the line by 50%, while increasing the roster of sailors from 15,000 to 133,000 in eight years after the war began in 1793. The British national output remained strong, and the well-organized business sector channelled products into what the military needed. France, meanwhile, saw its navy shrink by more than half. The system of smuggling finished products into the continent undermined French efforts to ruin the British economy by cutting off markets.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: By 1814, the budget that Pitt in his last years had largely shaped had expanded to £66 million, including £10 million for the Navy, £40 million for the Army, £10 million for the Allies, and £38 million as interest on the national debt. The national debt soared to £679 million, more than double the GDP. It was willingly supported by hundreds of thousands of investors and tax payers, despite the higher taxes on land and a new income tax.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: The whole cost of the war came to £831 million. The French financial system was inadequate and Napoleon's forces had to rely in part on requisitions from conquered lands.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: The setbacks took a toll on Pitt's health. He had long suffered from poor health, beginning in childhood, and was plagued with gout and "biliousness", which was worsened by a fondness for port that began when he was advised to consume it to deal with his chronic ill-health. On 23 January 1806, Pitt died at Bowling Green House on Putney Heath, probably from peptic ulceration of his stomach or duodenum; he was unmarried and left no children.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: Pitt's debts amounted to £40,000 when he died, but Parliament agreed to pay them on his behalf. A motion was made to honour him with a public funeral and a monument; it passed despite some opposition. Pitt's body was buried in Westminster Abbey on 22 February, having lain in state for two days in the Palace of Westminster.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: Pitt was succeeded as Prime Minister by his first cousin William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, who headed the Ministry of All the Talents, a coalition which included Charles James Fox.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: Pitt became known as a "three-bottle man" in reference to his heavy consumption of port wine. Each of these bottles would be around in volume.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: At one point rumours emerged of an intended marriage to Eleanor Eden, to whom Pitt had grown close. Pitt broke off the potential marriage in 1797, writing to her father, Lord Auckland, "I am compelled to say that I find the obstacles to it decisive and insurmountable".


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: Of his social relationships, biographer William Hague writes: Pitt was happiest among his Cambridge companions or family. He had no social ambitions, and it was rare for him to set out to make a friend. The talented collaborators of his first 18 months in office—Beresford, Wyvil and Twining—passed in and out of his mind along with their areas of expertise. Pitt's lack of interest in enlarging his social circle meant that it did not grow to encompass any women outside his own family, a fact that produced a good deal of rumour. From late 1784, a series of satirical verses appeared in "The Morning Herald" drawing attention to Pitt's lack of knowledge of women: "Tis true, indeed, we oft abuse him,/Because he bends to no man;/But slander's self dares not accuse him/Of stiffness to a woman."


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: Others made snide references to Pitt's friendship with Tom Steele, Secretary to the Treasury. At the height of the constitutional crisis in 1784, Sheridan had compared Pitt to James I's favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, a clear reference to homosexuality. Socially, Pitt preferred the company of young men, and would continue to do so into his thirties and forties. It may be that Pitt had homosexual leanings but suppressed any urge to act on them for the sake of his ambitions. He could be charming to women, but it seems certain that he rejected intimacy whenever it was proffered—and would do so publicly at a later date. In practical terms it appears that Pitt was essentially asexual throughout his life, perhaps one example of how his rapid development as a politician stunted his growth as a man.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: William Pitt the Younger was a prime minister who consolidated the powers of his office. Though he was sometimes opposed by members of his Cabinet, he helped define the role of the Prime Minister as the supervisor and co-ordinator of the various government departments. After his death the conservatives embraced him as a great patriotic hero.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: One of Pitt's accomplishments was a rehabilitation of the nation's finances after the American War of Independence. Pitt helped manage the mounting national debt, and made changes to the tax system in order to improve its great capture of revenue.


title: William Pitt the Younger

text: Some of Pitt's domestic plans were not successful; he failed to secure parliamentary reform, emancipation, or the abolition of the slave trade although this last took place with the Slave Trade Act 1807, the year after his death. The 1792 Slave Trade Bill passed the House of Commons mangled and mutilated by the modifications and amendments of Pitt, it lay for years, in the House of Lords. Biographer William Hague considers the unfinished abolition of the slave trade to be Pitt's greatest failure. He notes that by the end of Pitt's career, conditions were in place that would have allowed a skillful attempt to pass an abolition bill to succeed, partly because of the long campaigning Pitt had encouraged with his friend William Wilberforce. Hague goes on to note that the failure was likely due to Pitt being a "spent force" by the time favourable conditions had arisen. In Hague's opinion, Pitt's long premiership, "tested the natural limits of how long it is possible to be at the top. From 1783 to 1792, he faced each fresh challenge with brilliance; from 1793 he showed determination but sometimes faltered; and from 1804 he was worn down by ... the combination of a narrow majority and war".


title: United States Department of Justice

text: The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United States. It is equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries. The department is headed by the U.S. attorney general, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet. The current attorney general is Merrick Garland, who was sworn in on March 11, 2021.


title: United States Department of Justice

text: The modern incarnation of the Justice Department was formed in 1870 during the Ulysses S. Grant presidency. The department comprises federal law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It also has eight major divisions of lawyers who represent the U.S. federal government in litigation: the Civil, Criminal, Civil Rights, Antitrust, Tax, Environment and Natural Resources, National Security, and Justice Management Divisions. The department also includes the U.S. Attorneys' Offices for each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts.


title: United States Department of Justice

text: The primary actions of the DOJ are representing the U.S. government in legal matters and running the federal prison system. The department is also responsible for reviewing the conduct of local law enforcement as directed by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.


title: United States Department of Justice

text: The office of the attorney general was established by the Judiciary Act of 1789 as a part-time job for one person, but grew with the bureaucracy. At one time, the attorney general gave legal advice to the U.S. Congress, as well as the president; however, in 1819, the attorney general began advising Congress alone to ensure a manageable workload. Until March 3, 1853, the salary of the attorney general was set by statute at less than the amount paid to other Cabinet members. Early attorneys general supplemented their salaries by running private law practices, often arguing cases before the courts as attorneys for paying litigants. The lightness of the office is exemplified by Edward Bates (1793–1869), Attorney General under Abraham Lincoln (1861 to 1864). Bates had only a small operation, with a staff of six. The main function was to generate legal opinions at the request of Lincoln and cabinet members, and handle occasional cases before the Supreme Court. Lincoln's cabinet was full of experienced lawyers who seldom felt the need to ask for his opinions. Bates had no authority over the US Attorneys around the country. The federal court system was handled by the Interior Department; the Treasury handled claims. Most of the opinions turned out by Bates's office were of minor importance. Lincoln gave him no special assignments and did not seek his advice on Supreme Court appointments. Bates did have an opportunity to comment on general policy as a cabinet member with a strong political base, but he seldom spoke up.


title: United States Department of Justice

text: Following unsuccessful efforts in 1830 and 1846 to make attorney general a full-time job, in 1867, the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, led by Congressman William Lawrence, conducted an inquiry into the creation of a "law department" headed by the attorney general and also composed of the various department solicitors and United States attorneys. On February 19, 1868, Lawrence introduced a bill in Congress to create the Department of Justice. President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill into law on June 22, 1870.


title: United States Department of Justice

text: Grant appointed Amos T. Akerman as attorney general and Benjamin H. Bristow as America's first solicitor general the same week that Congress created the Department of Justice. The department's immediate function was to preserve civil rights. It set about fighting against domestic terrorist groups who had been using both violence and litigation to oppose the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution.


title: United States Department of Justice

text: Both Akerman and Bristow used the Department of Justice to vigorously prosecute Ku Klux Klan members in the early 1870s. In the first few years of Grant's first term in office, there were 1000 indictments against Klan members, with over 550 convictions from the Department of Justice. By 1871, there were 3000 indictments and 600 convictions, with most only serving brief sentences, while the ringleaders were imprisoned for up to five years in the federal penitentiary in Albany, New York. The result was a dramatic decrease in violence in the South. Akerman gave credit to Grant and told a friend that no one was "better" or "stronger" than Grant when it came to prosecuting terrorists. George H. Williams, who succeeded Akerman in December 1871, continued to prosecute the Klan throughout 1872 until the spring of 1873, during Grant's second term in office. Williams then placed a moratorium on Klan prosecutions partially because the Justice Department, inundated by cases involving the Klan, did not have the manpower to continue prosecutions.


title: United States Department of Justice

text: The "Act to Establish the Department of Justice" drastically increased the attorney general's responsibilities to include the supervision of all United States attorneys, formerly under the Department of the Interior, the prosecution of all federal crimes, and the representation of the United States in all court actions, barring the use of private attorneys by the federal government. The law also created the office of Solicitor General to supervise and conduct government litigation in the Supreme Court of the United States.


title: United States Department of Justice

text: With the passage of the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887, the federal government took on some law enforcement responsibilities, and the Department of Justice was tasked with performing these.


title: United States Department of Justice

text: In 1884, control of federal prisons was transferred to the new department, from the Department of Interior. New facilities were built, including the penitentiary at Leavenworth in 1895, and a facility for women located in West Virginia, at Alderson was established in 1924.


title: United States Department of Justice

text: In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order which gave the Department of Justice responsibility for the "functions of prosecuting in the courts of the United States claims and demands by, and offsenses ["sic"] against, the Government of the United States, and of defending claims and demands against the Government, and of supervising the work of United States attorneys, marshals, and clerks in connection therewith, now exercised by any agency or officer..."


title: United States Department of Justice

text: The U.S. Department of Justice building was completed in 1935 from a design by Milton Bennett Medary. Upon Medary's death in 1929, the other partners of his Philadelphia firm Zantzinger, Borie and Medary took over the project. On a lot bordered by Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues and Ninth and Tenth Streets, Northwest, it holds over of space. The sculptor C. Paul Jennewein served as overall design consultant for the entire building, contributing more than 50 separate sculptural elements inside and outside.


title: United States Department of Justice

text: Various efforts, none entirely successful, have been made to determine the original intended meaning of the Latin motto appearing on the Department of Justice seal, "Qui Pro Domina Justitia Sequitur" (literally "Who For Lady Justice Strives"). It is not even known exactly when the original version of the DOJ seal itself was adopted, or when the motto first appeared on the seal. The most authoritative opinion of the DOJ suggests that the motto refers to the Attorney General (and thus, by extension, to the Department of Justice) "who prosecutes on behalf of justice (or the Lady Justice)".


title: United States Department of Justice

text: The motto's conception of the prosecutor (or government attorney) as being the servant of justice itself finds concrete expression in a similarly-ordered English-language inscription ("THE UNITED STATES WINS ITS POINT WHENEVER JUSTICE IS DONE ITS CITIZENS IN THE COURTS") in the above-door paneling in the ceremonial rotunda anteroom just outside the Attorney General's office in the Department of Justice Main Building in Washington, D.C. The building was renamed in honor of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in 2001. It is sometimes referred to as "Main Justice".


title: United States Department of Justice

text: The Justice Department also had a War Division during World War II. It was created in 1942 and disestablished in 1945.


title: United States Department of Justice

text: In March 2003, the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service was abolished and its functions transferred to the United States Department of Homeland Security. The Executive Office for Immigration Review and the Board of Immigration Appeals, which review decisions made by government officials under Immigration and Nationality law, remain under jurisdiction of the Department of Justice. Similarly the Office of Domestic Preparedness left the Justice Department for the Department of Homeland Security, but only for executive purposes. The Office of Domestic Preparedness is still centralized within the Department of Justice, since its personnel are still officially employed within the Department of Justice.


title: United States Department of Justice

text: In 2003, the Department of Justice created LifeAndLiberty.gov, a website that supported the USA PATRIOT Act. It was criticized by government watchdog groups for its alleged violation of U.S. Code Title 18 Section 1913, which forbids money appropriated by Congress to be used to lobby in favor of any law, actual or proposed. The website has since been taken offline.


title: United States Department of Justice

text: On October 5, 2021, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco has announced the formation of a "Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team" during the Aspen Cyber Summit.


title: Alex Smith

text: Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football at Utah, where he received first-team All-American honors and won the 2005 Fiesta Bowl. Following his collegiate success, he was selected first overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2005 NFL Draft.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith struggled with consistency and injuries until 2011 when he led the 49ers to their first division title and playoff win since 2002, along with their first NFC Championship Game appearance since 1997. The next year, however, a concussion resulted in Smith losing his starting position to backup Colin Kaepernick. He was subsequently traded to the Kansas City Chiefs, who he guided to four playoff runs between 2013 and 2017, their first consecutive division titles in franchise history, and their first playoff victory since 1993 in the 2015 season. Smith also received three Pro Bowl selections with the Chiefs and led the league in passer rating during his 2017 campaign. He was traded to the Washington Redskins in 2018 to make way for Kansas City's second-year quarterback Patrick Mahomes, but was considered instrumental in developing the future NFL MVP.


title: Alex Smith

text: During his first season with Washington, Smith suffered a life-threatening injury to his right leg that nearly resulted in amputation. Although expected to never play again, Smith completed a lengthy rehabilitation process that allowed him to play in 2020. He became Washington's starter midway through the season, leading the team to a division title and earning him NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Smith retired during the 2021 off-season after he was released by Washington. His return from injury is cited as among the greatest in NFL history.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith was born in Bremerton, Washington, on May 7, 1984, growing up in La Mesa, California. His father, Douglas D. Smith, was an executive director at Helix High School, which he attended.


title: Alex Smith

text: As a starter for the Helix Highlanders during his junior and senior years, Smith led his team to a record of 25–1, including two San Diego CIF section championships. He was named to the first-team all-conference and all-county squads in the San Diego CIF system. Smith also earned the conference offensive player of the year twice, and twice won the team MVP for Helix. During his time at Helix, Smith set a school record by throwing for six touchdowns in one game, and recorded the second-highest completion percentage in San Diego CIF history. While at Helix, he played with 2005 Heisman Trophy-winner (since vacated) Reggie Bush. Smith and Bush were later finalists for the 2004 Heisman, making it the first time a high school had two finalists at the same ceremony.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith was president of his senior class in high school, earned college credits through a program with San Diego State University and took a dozen Advanced Placement tests.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith attended the University of Utah and played for the Utah Utes, wearing number 11. He finished fourth in voting for the 2004 Heisman Trophy and was selected as the 2004 Mountain West Conference Player of the Year. Smith posted a 21–1 record as a starter in college, while leading a high-powered spread offense under head coach Urban Meyer. He led the Utes to victories in the 2003 Liberty Bowl and the 2005 Fiesta Bowl. Smith earned a bachelor's degree in economics in two years and began work on a master's degree before being drafted.


title: Alex Smith

text: At the NFL combine, Smith recorded a 4.7 time in the 40-yard dash, and had a 32-inch vertical leap. He also earned a score of 40 out of 50 on the Wonderlic exam.


title: Alex Smith

text: The San Francisco 49ers, who held the first overall pick, had hired a head coach with a strong personality in Mike Nolan. Nolan also evaluated California quarterback Aaron Rodgers, but did not believe that Rodgers's attitude could co-exist with him. Smith was the first overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, selected by the San Francisco 49ers. In July 2005, Smith agreed to a six-year, $49.5 million contract with the 49ers; the contract included $24 million in guaranteed money.


title: Alex Smith

text: Dealing with an injury and being taken in and out of the lineup by head coach Mike Nolan, Smith played in nine games in his rookie season, recording just one touchdown pass while throwing 11 interceptions.


title: Alex Smith

text: After the challenges faced by his rookie campaign, Smith went into the 2006 season with a new offensive coordinator (Norv Turner) and an improved set of offensive weapons around him. The 49ers used their top draft choice on tight end Vernon Davis. They also upgraded their offensive backfield, trading underachieving running back Kevan Barlow to the Jets, making Frank Gore the feature back.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith also spent the off-season working daily with his new coordinator, wide receivers and tight end, while working to improve his technique and add bulk. The improved offensive cast clearly helped Smith develop in his second year, especially early. Smith's first three games of the season saw him throw three touchdowns, no interceptions, and amass 814 yards. After struggling in Kansas City, he then threw for three touchdowns against the Oakland Raiders, setting a career-high. However, the next five games saw Smith resume his growing pains, averaging only 153 yards per game while throwing only six touchdowns and nine interceptions. Despite his difficulty, he led the 49ers on a three-game winning streak in November.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith met Joe Montana for the first time on November 5, 2006, during a game against the Vikings. The 49ers wore the throwback jerseys of the 1989 team which Joe Montana and teammates wore. The 49ers went on to win 9–3, upsetting the Minnesota Vikings.


title: Alex Smith

text: In need of a statement game, the 49ers traveled to Seattle for a "Thursday Night Football" game against their division rivals. During the broadcast on NFL Network, Cris Collinsworth noted that if he were starting an NFL franchise, he would have taken the Broncos rookie quarterback Jay Cutler before Alex Smith and fellow rookies Matt Leinart and Vince Young – and that Smith was not even close to the others. Going into the 4th quarter, the 49ers were trailing the Seahawks 7–3, and pulling out a win looked unlikely. Smith however performed brilliantly in the fourth quarter, and drove the 49ers on a long touchdown drive down the field early, taking a narrow 10–7 lead. Late in the quarter, with the same score, Smith struck again – shaking off an almost certain sack, rolling to the left and completing a pass to Frank Gore for a touchdown to give the 49ers a 10-point lead. On the next drive, Smith cemented the victory by leading yet another touchdown drive, and rushing for a touchdown on a naked bootleg. Collinsworth had earlier in the game observed that ""Alex Smith is the best I've ever seen him. That drive is the best I saw,"" and on seeing his touchdown run, commented ""What a second-half he has had!""


title: Alex Smith

text: After losing to the Cardinals the following week, the 49ers' final game of the 2006 season was against a Denver Broncos team looking for a playoff berth. In a major upset, the 49ers defeated the Broncos and knocked them out of the playoffs. During the game at INVESCO Field, Smith threw for 194 yards and a touchdown, leading the team to a come from behind victory for the second time in three weeks.


title: Alex Smith

text: Overall, Smith improved in his second year by throwing as many touchdowns as interceptions. He threw for 16 touchdowns, 16 interceptions, 2,890 yards, and a 74.8 quarterback rating, all improvements over his rookie year. He became the first 49ers quarterback in club history to take every snap from center over the course of a season in 2006.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith entered the 2007 season learning under a third offensive coordinator in three seasons. Norv Turner was hired as the head coach by the San Diego Chargers. Jim Hostler replaced Turner. Hostler's system involved a mixture of the offensive system installed by Turner with elements of the West Coast offense installed by Mike McCarthy for the 2005 season. During the off-season, the 49ers added wide receivers Darrell Jackson, Ashley Lelie, and rookie Jason Hill as new offensive targets for Smith.


title: Alex Smith

text: In the season opener on "Monday Night Football" against the Arizona Cardinals, Smith led the 49ers to a 20–17 win in a two-minute comeback. While down 17–13 with less than two minutes left, Smith drove down the field, highlighted by a 25-yard scramble. After the scramble, he threw a 22-yard pass to Arnaz Battle that was fumbled on the one-yard line, but recovered by a 49er so the ball was placed back on the one-yard line with 26 seconds left. The following play, Battle ran an end-around for the game-winning touchdown. Smith finished the game 15 for 31 with 126 yards and two rushes for 37 yards.


title: Alex Smith

text: On September 30 in the first quarter of a game against the Seattle Seahawks, Smith injured his right shoulder after getting sacked by Seahawks defensive tackle Rocky Bernard. Smith suffered a grade-three separation and the initial diagnosis was that surgery would not be required. Smith missed the next three games before returning to the 49ers' starting lineup on Sunday, October 28, 2007.


title: Alex Smith

text: The 49ers did not win another game until November 25. Among all NFL quarterbacks who qualify for league statistics, only the Jets' Kellen Clemens had a poorer passer rating than Smith (57.2), Smith completed under 50% of his passes, far below the league average of 60%. Smith was at odds with 49ers head coach Mike Nolan over the severity of his injury. Nolan publicly implied that Smith was not fighting through the injury, while Smith felt that the injury still affected his ability to throw accurately, an account that was supported by players from the Seahawks. Nolan decided to rest Smith following a loss in that game to the Seahawks on November 12 and start Trent Dilfer to allow Smith's shoulder to recover. Following the decision, orthopedic surgeon James Andrews said that upon further examination the shoulder did not heal as significantly as Andrews thought it would, and on December 11, 2007, Smith was placed on injured reserve to undergo surgery on the shoulder, ending his season.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith entered training camp competing for the starting quarterback job with Shaun Hill, who won both of the games he started in 2007, before suffering a back injury against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and journeyman J. T. O'Sullivan. Smith would be learning under a fourth different offensive coordinator in four seasons; Jim Hostler was fired and replaced by former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator and St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator/head coach Mike Martz. Unlike the previous three seasons, where offensive continuity was somewhat maintained, Martz's system was completely different. Smith lost the starting job in training camp to O'Sullivan, who was elevated to starting quarterback, partly due to his familiarity with Martz's offense when he was a member of the Detroit Lions.


title: Alex Smith

text: On September 10, the 49ers placed Smith on injured reserve after Dr. James Andrews confirmed the team's diagnosis of a broken bone in his shoulder, believed to have been caused by a wire left in his shoulder from the previous surgery, which had sawed through the bone. Regardless, the 49ers' general manager, Scot McCloughan, said that the 49ers expected to release Smith before the 2009 season, when they would owe him a salary of $9,625,000.


title: Alex Smith

text: After Nolan was fired on October 20, 2008, the 49ers expressed interest in having Smith remain for the 2009 season if he was willing to renegotiate his contract. On March 10, 2009, the 49ers announced that his contract had been successfully restructured and that he would stay with the team. He took a considerable pay cut to remain with the 49ers, with whom he would be under contract for the next two years. Smith was to make $4 million a season in 2009 and 2010, in addition to base salaries that were not immediately made known. In his previous contract, he was scheduled to make $24.6 million in the final two years.


title: Alex Smith

text: After the pay cut, Smith said that he was ready to compete for the starting quarterback spot, primarily against Shaun Hill.


title: Alex Smith

text: Mike Singletary became the head coach after a successful term as the interim head coach in 2008, and Martz was fired as offensive coordinator due to the huge differences in offensive philosophies between himself and Singletary. Jimmy Raye II was hired to replace him, marking Smith's fifth different offensive coordinator in five seasons. During the off-season, the 49ers drafted Michael Crabtree to be the featured receiver that Smith had been lacking throughout his NFL career. After restructuring his contract with San Francisco, Smith lost the battle for the starting quarterback position to Shaun Hill. However, in a Week 7 game against the Houston Texans, Smith replaced Hill in the third quarter, after Hill had performed poorly and the Niners faced a 21–0 first-half deficit. Smith led the team back with three touchdown passes, all to tight end Vernon Davis, but fell short of victory, 24–21. Singletary named Smith as the 49ers' starting quarterback the next day at his weekly press conference on October 26.


title: Alex Smith

text: After his return as the 49ers' starting quarterback, Smith displayed signs of progress, despite the team's 3–4 record in his first seven starts. He led the 49ers to a Week 12 victory, 20–3, against the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars, throwing for 232 yards with two touchdown passes while posting a 96.8 passer rating. In a Week 13 match-up against the NFC West division rival Seattle Seahawks, he recorded the first 300-yard passing game of his career, completing 27 of 45 throws with two touchdown passes. Overall, he finished the season with 2,350 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions as the 49ers finished with an 8–8 record.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith entered the 2010 season as the starting quarterback. For the first time in his career, he returned under the same offensive coordinator from the previous season, as Raye was retained. However, continuity in a poor system resulted in the team starting 0–5, and on September 27, Raye was fired and replaced by quarterbacks coach Mike Johnson. Under Johnson, Smith was expected to run a variation of the spread offense that he ran in college. The 49ers continued to build their team having now drafted Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati with their two first-round picks to provide more protection. On September 8, Coach Singletary announced that Smith was named one of the team's captains.


title: Alex Smith

text: In Week 5, Smith was booed at home and the crowd chanted for his backup, David Carr, before leading the 49ers to two scoring drives to close within three points. However, he was hit as he threw on the third drive attempt, resulting in an interception and a 24–27 loss, dropping the 49ers to 0–5. Smith once again suffered an injured shoulder in the 49ers week 7 game against the Carolina Panthers and was not available to play Week 8 against the Denver Broncos in London. He was replaced by Troy Smith, who had 14 games of experience in the NFL before joining the 49ers organization just before the start of the regular season. Troy Smith took Smith's position after winning two straight games against the St. Louis Rams and the Denver Broncos.


title: Alex Smith

text: However, following a loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 13 that left the 49ers with a 4–8 record, Troy Smith was demoted to backup in favor of Alex Smith. Smith would start against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 14 in a game the 49ers needed to win to stay in contention in the NFC West.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith acknowledged that his performances needed to be more consistent. On December 12, 2010, the 49ers played the Seahawks in San Francisco. Smith was booed by the Candlestick crowd after the first two plays. However, the boos turned to cheers after Smith helped lead the 49ers to a 40–21 victory over a division rival. The win moved the 49ers one game behind the division leaders (Rams and Seahawks) with three games left to play. However, the 49ers struggled the following Thursday night against the San Diego Chargers and Troy Smith started the following game against the Rams. Troy Smith struggled in the loss to the Rams and Alex relieved Troy Smith in that game. After the game, Singletary was fired and Alex finished the season starting against the Cardinals. The 49ers finished the season 6–10 and Smith became a free agent after the season. After his firing, Singletary said, "You gotta have a quarterback." Smith had won just 19 games in 50 career starts through 2010.


title: Alex Smith

text: The 49ers hired Jim Harbaugh as the new head coach, and Greg Roman replaced Johnson as the new offensive coordinator. Harbaugh, a former quarterback, was the best teacher the 49ers had since Norv Turner in Smith's second season. Harbaugh made it known to Smith that he was welcomed back on the team. Smith's family wanted him to leave San Francisco. Although he was unsigned, Smith organized the players' workouts during the 2011 NFL lockout and helped to install Harbaugh's new offense. After the lockout ended, Smith signed a one-year $5 million contract with the 49ers. Smith was named the starting quarterback heading into the regular season, and Harbaugh believed Smith could succeed in the coach's West Coast offense.


title: Alex Smith

text: During the season, Smith's game showed marked improvement, especially in his leadership and intangibles. While he did not put up big numbers, he helped the 49ers win games through efficient play, minimizing mistakes and controlling the clock. In a road game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4, Smith rallied the team from a 23–3 second-half deficit to win 24–23, completing 9 of 9 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns in the third quarter alone. Two weeks later, Smith led his third come-from-behind road victory of the year with a six-yard fourth and goal touchdown pass to tight end Delanie Walker, beating the Lions in Detroit 25–19. In a week 10 matchup against the New York Giants, he completed 19 out of 30 passes for 242 yards. The Giants shut down the 49ers' run game (Frank Gore was held to zero yards on six carries before leaving the game in the second half) and Smith was instrumental in the 27–20 victory.


title: Alex Smith

text: By the time the 2011 season was finished, Smith had helped lead the 49ers to a 13–3 record in the regular season, including five come-from-behind victories in which four were on the road, and the 49ers earned a first-round bye in the playoffs. After 3 head coaches, 7 offensive coordinators, and 17 different starting wide receivers in the span of 7 seasons with the 49ers, Smith would finally make his first playoff appearance.


title: Alex Smith

text: While the 49ers finished with their most wins since 1997, they did it while ranked 29th of 32 teams in the NFL in total passing yardage for 2011 (including yardage lost from sacks), and Smith was often cynically referred to as a "game manager". In this manner, "The New York Times" wrote that Smith was "a steady, if unspectacular, player surrounded by a solid team" in 2011, whose career year "underscored how much he struggled previously." It was his first season with over 3,000 yards passing, and he set personal single-season highs in virtually every relevant statistical category commonly cited for quarterbacks: in pass attempts with 445, in completions with 273, in completion percentage with 61.3 percent, in passing yards with 3,144, in average per pass with 7.1 yards per attempt, in overall passer rating with 90.7, in rushing attempts with 52, in rushing yards with 179, and in total touchdowns scored with 19 (17 passing & 2 rushing), all while being sacked a league-high 44 times. He also threw a league-low 5 interceptions in 2011, breaking a 49ers franchise record, and setting yet another personal single-season best in fewest passes intercepted per attempt with a 1.123 percent interception rate, likewise the lowest percentage in the league that year.


title: Alex Smith

text: In the of the playoffs, Smith led the 49ers to a win over the New Orleans Saints, with a final score of 36–32. Smith threw for 299 yards, three touchdown passes, and no interceptions while rushing for an additional touchdown. Smith led touchdown drives of 80 and 85 yards in the final 4:02. He scored on a 28-yard touchdown run, and he threw a game-winning 14-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis with nine seconds remaining, eschewing a more conservative open receiver that would have settled for a field goal and a tie. Analyst Ron Jaworski said "Alex Smith won the game, not Alex Smith by not making mistakes. His performance won the game for them." Smith also became the first quarterback in NFL playoff history to lead two go-ahead touchdowns in the final 3 minutes of a game. The 49ers lost 20–17 in overtime to the New York Giants in the . Smith completed 12 of 26 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns, but the team turned the ball over twice on special teams. Smith was chosen by teammates as winner of the Ed Block Courage Award, annually awarded to the player that exemplifies a commitment to sportsmanship and courage. Smith made the "USA Today" All-Joe Team, an award which is given to the best players not to make the Pro Bowl.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith became a free agent following the 2011 season. The 49ers were reported to be interested in signing Peyton Manning, who had just been released by the rebuilding Indianapolis Colts, leading Smith to visit the Miami Dolphins, reportedly with the intent to sign with the Dolphins if the 49ers signed Manning. Shortly after Manning made the decision to join the Denver Broncos, Smith signed a three-year contract worth $24 million to remain with the 49ers. During the off-season, the 49ers added wide receivers Randy Moss and Mario Manningham in free agency, and A. J. Jenkins in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft to improve a passing game that lacked production from the receivers the previous season. Smith began the 2012 season as the 49ers' starting quarterback. Smith completed 18-of-19 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns without an interception in a 24–3 Monday night win over Arizona, and San Francisco was 6–2 after eight games. In the following game against the St. Louis Rams, Smith suffered a concussion in the second quarter, throwing a touchdown with blurred vision before exiting the game. He was replaced by Colin Kaepernick, and the game ended in a 24–24 tie.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith missed the following game, and Kaepernick was 16 for 23 for 243 yards with two touchdowns in a 32–7 win over the Chicago Bears. Harbaugh was impressed with Kaepernick, and said "we have two quarterbacks that have a hot hand" while dismissing any rule that a player should not lose their starting job due to an injury. A quarterback controversy began. Smith was ranked third in the NFL in passer rating (104.1), led the league in completion percentage (70%), and had been 19–5–1 as a starter under Harbaugh, while Kaepernick was considered more dynamic with his scrambling ability and arm strength. Smith was medically cleared to play the day before the following game, but Harbaugh chose not to rush him back and again started Kaepernick, who threw and ran for a touchdown in a 31–21 win over the New Orleans Saints. The following week, Harbaugh announced that Kaepernick would start for the 8–2–1 49ers, while also stating that the assignment was week-to-week and not necessarily permanent. However, Kaepernick remained the starter as the 49ers again qualified for the playoffs. Harbaugh stated that Smith had been more of a coach to Kaepernick later into the 2012 season than even he was. Before losing the starting quarterback job, Smith was on pace to set career highs in completion percentage, passing yards, yards-per-attempt, passing touchdowns and rushing yards. Smith was named to the "USA Today" All Joe Team for the second year in a row, and was also named the captain of the team.


title: Alex Smith

text: On February 27, 2013, the 49ers agreed to trade Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs for the Chiefs' second round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft and a conditional pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. The deal became official at the beginning of the new league year on March 12.


title: Alex Smith

text: After the trade became official, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid stated that Smith would be the starting quarterback for the 2013 season. Smith's job as the starter was solidified during OTA's (Organized Team Activities, a term usually referring to NFL pre-season activities). According to coaches and teammates, Smith displayed a very high "football IQ," and his accuracy in passing was lauded as the best many had ever seen. According to Kansas City's quarterbacks coach, Smith was "super intelligent" and had all of the intangibles that he looked for in a quarterback. The Chiefs were the last unbeaten team in the 2013 NFL season with Smith winning his first nine regular-season starts, gaining 1,919 passing yards with nine touchdowns compared to four interceptions. Smith earned his first and only perfect passer rating on December 15, 2013. He was 17 of 20, with 287 yards and 5 touchdowns, four of them going to Jamaal Charles, in a victory over the Oakland Raiders. Alex Smith and the Chiefs lost to Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC - on January 4, 2014. Smith threw four touchdowns, completing 30 of his 46 pass attempts for 378 yards and no interceptions, while also carrying the ball 8 times for 57 yards. However, he did commit his team's only turnover, losing a fumble. The final score of the game was 45–44 in favor of the Colts.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith was elected to his first Pro Bowl at the end of the season as a replacement for Tom Brady. In the game, Smith led all quarterbacks in yards, tied for most touchdowns, and led the game-winning touchdown drive at the end of the game that resulted in him throwing a touchdown pass to DeMarco Murray for a 22–21 win.


title: Alex Smith

text: On August 31, 2014, Smith and the Chiefs agreed to a four-year contract extension. Smith appeared in 15 games and completed 65.3% of his passes in the 2014 season while throwing for 3,265 yards and 18 touchdowns to only six interceptions. However, the Chiefs finished with a 9-7 record and did not qualify for the playoffs.


title: Alex Smith

text: After another strong season in 2015, Smith was elected to the Pro Bowl as an alternate, but turned down the offer. He once again led the Chiefs to the playoffs, where the Chiefs defeated the Houston Texans 30–0 in the . Smith threw for 190 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in the victory over the Texans. He also rushed five times for 27 yards, and had a 64-yard scramble, which was called back due to a holding penalty. The Chiefs went on to lose 27–20 against the New England Patriots in the . The Chiefs became the first team ever to start the season 1–5 and win a playoff game. At the end of the season, "Sports Illustrated" named him the best looking quarterback in the NFL, an honor previously won by Tom Brady. He was named team MVP for 2015 alongside safety Eric Berry. In the regular season Smith threw for 3,486 yards, 20 touchdowns, and only seven interceptions, with a completion percentage of 65.3, passer rating of 95.4, and 7.4 yards per attempt. He also rushed 84 times for 498 yards, two touchdowns, and an average of 5.9 yards per carry. At the end of the season, he was recognized as the 81st best player by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.


title: Alex Smith

text: In Week 1, Smith led a fourth quarter comeback over the San Diego Chargers to win the game 33–27 in overtime after facing a 24–3 third quarter deficit. Smith won the game in overtime with a two-yard rushing touchdown. This became the largest comeback win in Chiefs history as the Chiefs started the 2016 season on a positive note. In 2016, Smith posted a career-high passing yards with 3,502 and a career-high 328 completions despite missing one game. In addition, he ran for a career-high five touchdowns, with three of them coming in the last three games. He helped lead the Chiefs to the postseason, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the . He was ranked 81st by his fellow players, for the second consecutive year, on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.


title: Alex Smith

text: During the season opener, Smith finished with 368 passing yards and four touchdowns as the Chiefs pulled off a 42–27 road victory over the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. Smith's 368 passing yards and four passing touchdowns were both the second most in a game in his career. Smith's performance in Week 1 led all eligible passers in yards and earned him AFC Offensive Player of the Week, marking the first time that he won the award. During Week 13 against the New York Jets, Smith finished with 366 passing yards and four touchdowns. After the first 2 minutes and 46 seconds had passed in the first quarter, Smith quickly threw two touchdown passes to Travis Kelce. However, the performance was overshadowed as defensive penalties and errors proved to be costly as the Chiefs lost on the road by a score of 38–31. With his performance against the Jets, Smith became the first player in the modern era to have both a 70-yard pass and a 70-yard run in the same game.


title: Alex Smith

text: With a playoff spot already secured, Smith was given a rest in Week 17, and Chiefs' 2017 first round pick Patrick Mahomes made his NFL debut against the Denver Broncos. Smith finished the 2017 regular season with 4,042 passing yards and 26 touchdowns, both career highs. He was named an alternate for the Pro Bowl, eventually replacing the injured Philip Rivers. Overall, in the 2017 season, Smith finished with 4,042 passing yards (8th in the NFL), 26 touchdowns, five interceptions, and a league-leading 104.7 passer rating. In the against the Tennessee Titans, Smith had 264 passing yards and two touchdowns in the narrow 22–21 defeat. He was also credited as being instrumental in the development of Mahomes.


title: Alex Smith

text: On January 30, 2018, Smith was traded to the Washington Redskins in exchange for cornerback Kendall Fuller and a third-round pick (78th overall) in the 2018 NFL Draft. The trade became official on March 14, the first day of the new league year. Smith subsequently signed a four-year, $94 million contract extension with them.


title: Alex Smith

text: In his Redskins debut, Smith threw for 255 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-6 road victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Through the first nine games of the season, he helped lead Washington to a 6–3 record.


title: Alex Smith

text: During a game against the Houston Texans on November 18, 2018, Smith suffered a spiral and compound fracture to his tibia and fibula in his right leg when he was sacked by Kareem Jackson and J. J. Watt. The injury drew parallels to former Washington quarterback Joe Theismann, who also broke his leg in a game 33 years to the day prior in 1985 and retired shortly thereafter. Theismann was also present during the game and witnessed the injury.


title: Alex Smith

text: Following the initial surgery, Smith developed life-threatening necrotizing fasciitis that resulted in sepsis which required him to undergo 17 surgeries, including eight debridements, across four separate hospital stays over a period of nine months. Doctors had suggested that an amputation above the knee might be his only option before performing skin grafts and an operation transferring muscle from his left quadriceps to save it.


title: Alex Smith

text: As a part of his recovery process, Smith wore an external fixation device for nearly a year. He was placed on the team's physically unable to perform (PUP) reserve list in 2019, missing the entire season. Despite the severity of the injury which many thought he would never come back from, in early 2020 he affirmed his intent to return. An "ESPN" documentary following his recovery, "Project 11", aired in May 2020. He was cleared by his doctors to resume football activities in July 2020, with the team placing him on the physically unable to perform list to begin training camp before being activated on August 16, 2020.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith's first game appearance since his injury occurred in 2020 against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 5. He entered the game after Kyle Allen left with an arm injury and finished with nine completions for 37 yards while being sacked six times as Washington lost 30–10. Smith made his next appearance in Week 9 after Allen left the game with a dislocated ankle, where he threw for 325 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions in a 23–20 loss against the New York Giants. Smith started against the Detroit Lions the following week, where he threw 55 times for 38 completions and 390 yards, all career highs, in a 30–27 road loss. The following week, Smith had his first win since the injury in a 20–9 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, in a game in which Bengals starting quarterback Joe Burrow also suffered a leg injury. During Week 13 against the 11–0 Pittsburgh Steelers, he helped lead Washington to a 23–17 upset victory with 296 passing yards and a touchdown. The following week, he was pulled out of a game against the San Francisco 49ers due to a bone bruise in his right leg, reported at the time as calf soreness, and subsequently missed the rest of that game and the next two.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith returned for the regular-season finale against the Philadelphia Eagles, throwing for 162 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in the 20–14 victory as Washington clinched the NFC East. However, he did not play in the 31–23 loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers due to lingering issues with his bone bruise. Following the season, Smith was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year by the Associated Press, "Sporting News", and Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA).


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith was released by the team on March 5, 2021. Despite garnering interest from several teams, he announced his retirement on April 19, 2021. In June, he was named the winner of the George Halas Award by the PFWA.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith joined ESPN in August 2021 to serve as an NFL analyst for "SportsCenter" and "Monday Night Countdown", among other programs for the network.


title: Alex Smith

text: Smith has a brother, Josh, and two sisters, Abbey and MacKenzie. One of Smith's great-grandfathers was an Austrian immigrant of Serbian descent who immigrated to the U.S. from the Austro-Hungarian Empire when he was 12 years old. To honor him, Smith, his brother, and his father are each tattooed with four firesteels, the traditional Serbian cross. Smith's uncle, John L. Smith, was a college football head coach until 2018, and his cousin, Chris Shelton, is a former Major League Baseball player. In 2014, Smith was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree by the University of Utah, where he also delivered the commencement speech for the graduating class. He married former Oakland Raiders cheerleader Elizabeth Barry in 2009. They have two sons and a daughter.


title: Alex Smith

text: In 2007, Smith founded the Alex Smith Foundation and the Alex Smith Guardian Scholars Program, which helps send foster teens to college. He started the program with $500,000, and continues to personally fund the majority of the charity. "The Boston Globe" held up Smith's foundation as a model charity that properly allocated its funding, noting that it raised over $800,000 from 2008 to 2010 and spent 91 percent of the funds on scholarships and grants.


title: Alex Smith

text: Since recovering from his injury, Smith has participated in a number of inspirational speaking events including TED, American Bankers Association's Emerging Leaders Forum, and to the Alabama Crimson Tide Football Team. Smith has also partnered with brands including Oofos Recovery Footwear and clothing brands like Linksoul and Attitude is Free, the latter of which he created his "Just Live" collection. 100% of the proceeds from the collection are donated to the Center for the Intrepid where he spent most of his rehabilitation process.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a clinical scale used to reliably measure a person's level of consciousness after a brain injury.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: The GCS assesses a person based on their ability to perform eye movements, speak, and move their body. These three behaviours make up the three elements of the scale: eye, verbal, and motor. A person's GCS score can range from 3 (completely unresponsive) to 15 (responsive). This score is used to guide immediate medical care after a brain injury (such as a car accident) and also to monitor hospitalised patients and track their level of consciousness.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: Lower GCS scores are correlated with higher risk of death. However, the GCS score alone should not be used on its own to predict the outcome for an individual person with brain injury.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: The Glasgow Coma Scale is used for people above the age of two and composed of three tests: eye, verbal, and motor responses. The scores for each of these tests are indicated in the table below.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: The Glasgow Coma Scale is reported as the combined score (which ranges from 3 to 15) and the score of each test (E for eye, V for Verbal, and M for Motor). For each test, the value should be based on the best response that the person being examined can provide.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: For example, if a person obeys commands only on their right side, they get a 6 for motor. The scale also accounts for situations that prevent appropriate testing (Not Testable). When specific tests cannot be performed, they must be reported as "NT" and the total score is not reported.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: The results are reported as the Glasgow Coma Score (the total points from the three tests) and the individual components. As an example, a person's score might be: GCS 12, E3 V4 M5. Alternatively, if a patient was intubated, their score could be GCS E2 V NT M3.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: NT (Not testable). Examples for this would include severe damage to the eyes, sedation from drugs, and paralysis.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: NT (Not testable). Examples for this would include intubation, deafness, language barrier, sedation from drugs, and paralysis.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: NT (Not testable). Examples for this would include spinal cord injury, sedation from drugs, and paralysis.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: Children below the age of two struggle with the tests necessary for assessment of the Glasgow Coma Scale. As a result, a version for children has been developed, and is outlined below.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: Individual elements as well as the sum of the score are important. Hence, the score is expressed in the form "GCS 9 = E2 V4 M3 at 07:35".


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: Tracheal intubation and severe facial/eye swelling or damage make it impossible to test the verbal and eye responses. In these circumstances, the score is given as 1 with a modifier attached (e.g. "E1c", where "c" = closed, or "V1t" where t = tube). Often the 1 is left out, so the scale reads Ec or Vt. A composite might be "GCS 5tc". This would mean, for example, eyes closed because of swelling = 1, intubated = 1, leaving a motor score of 3 for "abnormal flexion".


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: The GCS has limited applicability to children, especially below the age of 36 months (when the verbal performance of even a healthy child would be expected to be poor). Consequently, the Paediatric Glasgow Coma Scale was developed for assessing younger children.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: During the 1960s, assessment and management of head injuries became a topic of interest. The number of head injuries was rapidly increasing, in part because of increased use of motorised transport. Also, doctors recognised that after head trauma, many patients had poor recovery. This led to a concern that patients were not being assessed or medically managed correctly. Appropriate assessment is a critical step in medical management for several reasons. First, a reliable assessment allows doctors to provide the appropriate treatment. Second, assessments let doctors keep track of how a patient is doing, and intervene if the patient is doing worse. Finally, a system of assessment allows researchers to define categories of patients. This makes it possible to determine which treatments are best for different types of patients.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: A number of assessments for head injury (“coma scales”) were developed, though none were widely adopted. Of 13 scales that had been published by 1974, all involved linear scales that defined levels of consciousness. These scales posed two problems. First, levels of consciousness in these scales were often poorly defined. This made it difficult for doctors and nurses to evaluate head injury patients. Second, different scales used overlapping and obscure terms that made communication difficult.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: In this setting, Bryan Jennett and Graham Teasdale began work on what became the Glasgow Coma Scale. Based on their experiences, they aimed to make a scale satisfying several criteria. First, it needed to be simple, so that it could be performed without special training. Second, it needed to be reliable, so that doctors could be confident in the results of the scale. Third, the scale needed to provide important information for managing a patient with a head injury.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: Their work resulted in the 1974 publication of the first iteration of the GCS. The original scale involved three exam components (eye movement, motor control, and verbal control). These components were scored based on clearly defined behavioural responses. Clear instructions for administering the scale and interpreting results were also included. The original scale is identical to the current scale except for the motor assessment. The original motor assessment included only five levels, combining "flexion" and "abnormal flexion". This was done because Jennett and Teasdale found that many people struggled in distinguishing these two states.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: In 1976, Teasdale updated the motor component of the Glasgow Coma Scale to differentiate flexion movements. This was because trained personnel could reliably distinguish flexion movements. Further research also demonstrated that normal and abnormal flexion have different clinical outcomes. As a result, the six-point motor scale is now considered the standard.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: Teasdale did not originally intend to use the sum score of the GCS components. However, later work demonstrated that the sum of the GCS components, or the Glasgow Coma Score, had clinical significance. Specifically, the sum score was correlated with outcome (including death and disability). As a result, the Glasgow Coma Score is used in research to define patient groups. It is also used in clinical practice as shorthand for the full scale.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: The Glasgow Coma Scale was initially adopted by nursing staff in the Glasgow neurosurgical unit. Especially following a 1975 nursing publication, it was adopted by other medical centres. True widespread adoption of the GCS was attributed to two events in 1978. First, Tom Langfitt, a leading figure in neurological trauma, wrote an editorial in "Journal of Neurosurgery" strongly encouraging neurosurgical units to adopt the GCS score. Second, the GCS was included in the first version of Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), which expanded the number of centres where staff were trained in performing the GCS.


title: Glasgow Coma Scale

text: The GCS has come under pressure from some researchers who take issue with the scale's poor inter-rater reliability and lack of prognostic utility. Although there is no agreed-upon alternative, newer scores such as the simplified motor scale and FOUR score have also been developed as improvements to the GCS. Although the inter-rater reliability of these newer scores has been slightly higher than that of the GCS, they have not yet gained consensus as replacements.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: The 1953 Iranian coup d'état, known in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup d'état (), was the overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in favor of strengthening the monarchical rule of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, on 19 August 1953. It was aided by the United States (under the name TPAJAX Project or "Operation Ajax") and the United Kingdom (under the name "Operation Boot"). The clergy also played a considerable role.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: Mosaddegh had sought to audit the documents of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), a British corporation (now part of BP), in order to verify that AIOC was paying the contracted royalties to Iran, and to limit the company's control over Iranian oil reserves. Upon the AIOC's refusal to co-operate with the Iranian government, the parliament (Majlis) voted to nationalize Iran's oil industry and to expel foreign corporate representatives from the country. After this vote, Britain instigated a worldwide boycott of Iranian oil to pressure Iran economically. Initially, Britain mobilized its military to seize control of the British-built Abadan oil refinery, then the world's largest, but Prime Minister Clement Attlee (in power until 1951) opted instead to tighten the economic boycott while using Iranian agents to undermine Mosaddegh's government. Judging Mosaddegh to be unreliable and fearing a Communist takeover in Iran, UK prime minister Winston Churchill and the Eisenhower administration decided in early 1953 to overthrow Iran's government, though the preceding Truman administration had opposed a coup, fearing the precedent that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) involvement would set. British intelligence officials' conclusions and the UK government's solicitations were instrumental in initiating and planning the coup, despite the fact that the U.S. government in 1952 had been considering unilateral action (without UK support) to assist the Mosaddegh government.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: Following the coup in 1953, a government under General Fazlollah Zahedi was formed which allowed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran (Persian for 'king'), to rule more firmly as monarch. He relied heavily on United States support to hold on to power. According to the CIA's declassified documents and records, some of the most feared mobsters in Tehran were hired by the CIA to stage pro-Shah riots on 19 August. Other men paid by the CIA were brought into Tehran in buses and trucks, and took over the streets of the city. Between 200 and 300 people were killed because of the conflict. Mosaddegh was arrested, tried and convicted of treason by the Shah's military court. On 21 December 1953, he was sentenced to three years in jail, then placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life. Other Mosaddegh supporters were imprisoned, and several received the death penalty. After the coup, the Shah continued his rule as monarch for the next 26 years until he was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution in 1979.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: In August 2013 the U.S. government formally acknowledged the U.S. role in the coup by releasing a bulk of previously classified government documents that show it was in charge of both the planning and the execution of the coup, including the bribing of Iranian politicians, security and army high-ranking officials, as well as pro-coup propaganda. The CIA is quoted acknowledging the coup was carried out "under CIA direction" and "as an act of U.S. foreign policy, conceived and approved at the highest levels of government".


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: Throughout the 19th century, Iran was caught between two advancing imperial powers, Russia and Britain. In 1892, the British diplomat George Curzon described Iran as "pieces on a chessboard upon which is being played out a game for the dominion of the world." During the latter half of the 19th century, the concession policies of the monarchy faced increased opposition. In 1872, a representative of British entrepreneur Paul Reuter met with the Iranian monarch Naser al-Din Shah Qajar and agreed to fund the monarch's upcoming lavish visit to Europe in return for exclusive contracts for Iranian roads, telegraphs, mills, factories, extraction of resources, and other public works, in which Reuter would receive a stipulated sum for five years and 60% of all the net revenue for 20 years. However, the so-called "Reuter concession" was never put into effect because of violent opposition at home and from Russia. In 1892 the Shah was forced to revoke a tobacco monopoly given to Major G. F. Talbot, following protests and a widespread tobacco boycott.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: In 1901, Mozzafar al-Din Shah Qajar granted a 60-year petroleum search concession to William Knox D'Arcy. D'Arcy paid £20,000 (equivalent to £ million in ), according to journalist-turned-historian Stephen Kinzer, and promised equal ownership shares, with 16% of any future net profit, as calculated by the company. However, the historian L. P. Elwell-Sutton wrote, in 1955, that "Persia's share was 'hardly spectacular' and no money changed hands." On 31 July 1907, D'Arcy withdrew from his private holdings in Persia, and transferred them to the British-owned Burmah Oil Company. On 26 May 1908 the company struck oil at a depth of . The company grew slowly until World War I, when Persia's strategic importance led the British government to buy a controlling share in the company, essentially nationalizing British oil production in Iran.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: The British angered the Persians by intervening in their domestic affairs, including in the Persian Constitutional Revolution. Massive popular protests had forced Mozzafar al-Din Shah to allow for the Constitution of 1906, which limited his powers. It allowed for a democratically elected parliament Majlis to make the laws, and a prime minister to sign and carry them out. The Prime Minister would be appointed by the Shah after a vote of confidence from Parliament. Nevertheless, the new constitution gave the shah many executive powers as well. It allowed for the shah to issue royal decrees (Farman), gave him the power to appoint and dismiss prime ministers (upon votes of confidence from Parliament), appoint half of the members of the Senate (which was not convened until 1949), and introduce bills to and even dissolve Parliament. It abolished arbitrary rule, but the shah served as an executive, rather than in a ceremonial role; consequently when a shah was weak, the government was more democratic, but when the shah acted on his own, the democratic aspects of the government could be sidelined. The contradictory aspects of this constitution would cause conflicts in the future. The Constitutional Revolution was opposed by the British and Russians, who attempted to subvert it through the backing of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar (the son of Mozzafar-e-din Shah), who tried to break up the democratic government by force. A guerrilla movement led by Sattar Khan deposed him in 1910.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: In the aftermath of World War I there was widespread political dissatisfaction with the royalty terms of the British petroleum concession, under the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC), whereby Persia received 16% of "net profits". In 1921, after years of severe mismanagement under the Qajar dynasty, a coup d'état (allegedly backed by the British) brought a general, Reza Khan, into the government. By 1923, he had become prime minister, and gained a reputation as an effective politician with a lack of corruption. By 1925 under his influence, Parliament voted to remove Ahmad Shah Qajar from the throne, and Reza Khan was crowned Reza Shah Pahlavi, of the Pahlavi Dynasty. Reza Shah began a rapid and successful modernization program in Persia, which up until that point had been considered to be among the most impoverished countries in the world. Nevertheless, Reza Shah was also a very harsh ruler who did not tolerate dissent. By the 1930s, he had suppressed all opposition, and had sidelined the democratic aspects of the constitution. Opponents were jailed and in some cases even executed. While some agreed with his policies, arguing that it was necessary as Iran was in such turmoil, others argued that it was unjustified. One such opponent was a politician named Mohammad Mosaddegh, who was jailed in 1940. The experience gave him a lasting dislike for authoritarian rule and monarchy, and it helped make Mosaddegh a dedicated advocate of complete oil nationalization in Iran.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: Reza Shah attempted to attenuate the power of the colonial forces in Iran, and was successful to a large extent. However, he also needed them to help modernize the country. He did so by balancing the influence of various colonial powers, including that of Britain and Germany. In the 1930s, Reza Shah tried to terminate the APOC concession that the Qajar dynasty had granted, but Iran was still weak and Britain would not allow it. The concession was renegotiated on terms again favorable to the British (although the D'Arcy Concession was softened). On 21 March 1935, Reza Shah changed the name of the country from Persia to Iran. The Anglo-Persian Oil Company was then renamed the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC).


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: In 1941, after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, British and Soviet forces invaded and occupied Iran, which was largely unopposed by the Iranian government and military. After World War II had broken out, Reza Shah had declared Iran's neutrality, and attempted to appease the British, Soviets and Germans, all of whom maintained a degree of influence in Iran. The primary reasons behind the Anglo-Soviet invasion was to remove German influence in Iran and secure control over Iran's oil fields and the Trans-Iranian Railway in order to deliver supplies to the USSR. Reza Shah was deposed and exiled by the British to South Africa, and his 22-year-old son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was installed as the new Shah of Iran. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was supported by the Allies because they viewed him as being less able to act against their interests in Iran. The new Shah, unlike his father, was initially a mild leader and at times indecisive. During the 1940s he did not for most part take an independent role in the government, and much of Reza Shah's authoritarian policies were rolled back. Iranian democracy effectively was restored during this period as a result.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: The British occupational force withdrew from Iran after the end of the war. However, under Stalin, the Soviet Union partly remained by sponsoring two "People's Democratic Republics" within Iran's borders. The related conflict was ended when the US lobbied for the Iranian Army to reassert control over the two occupied territories. The earlier agreed-upon Soviet-Iranian oil agreement would never be honored. Nationalist leaders in Iran became influential by seeking a reduction in long-term foreign interventions in their country—especially the oil concession which was very profitable for the West and not very profitable for Iran. The British-controlled AIOC refused to allow its books to be audited to determine whether the Iranian government was being paid what had been promised. British intransigence irked the Iranian population.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: U.S. objectives in the Middle East remained the same between 1947 and 1952 but its strategy changed. Washington remained "publicly in solidarity and privately at odds" with Britain, its World War II ally. Britain's empire was steadily weakening, and with an eye on international crises, the U.S. re-appraised its interests and the risks of being identified with British colonial interests. "In Saudi Arabia, to Britain's extreme disapproval, Washington endorsed the arrangement between ARAMCO and Saudi Arabia in the 50/50 accord that had reverberations throughout the region."


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: Iran's oil had been discovered and later controlled by the British-owned AIOC. Popular discontent with the AIOC began in the late 1940s: a large segment of Iran's public and a number of politicians saw the company as exploitative and a central tool of continued British imperialism in Iran.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: In 1949, an assassin attempted to kill the Shah. Shocked by the experience and emboldened by public sympathy for his injury, the Shah began to take an increasingly active role in politics. He quickly organized the Iran Constituent Assembly to amend the constitution to increase his powers. He established the Senate of Iran, which had been a part of the Constitution of 1906 but had never been convened. The Shah had the right to appoint half the senators, and he chose men sympathetic to his aims. Mosaddegh thought this increase in the Shah's political power was not democratic; he believed that the Shah should "reign, but not rule" in a manner similar to Europe's constitutional monarchies. Led by Mosaddegh, political parties and opponents of the Shah's policies banded together to form a coalition known as the National Front. Oil nationalization was a major policy goal for the party.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: By 1951, the National Front had won majority seats for the popularly elected Majlis (Parliament of Iran). According to Iran's constitution, the majority elected party in the parliament would give a vote of confidence for its prime minister candidate, after which the Shah would appoint the candidate to power. The Prime Minister Haj Ali Razmara, who opposed the oil nationalization on technical grounds, was assassinated by the hardline Fadaiyan e-Islam (whose spiritual leader the Ayatollah Abol-Qassem Kashani, a mentor to the future Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, had been appointed Speaker of the Parliament by the National Front). After a vote of confidence from the National Front dominated Parliament, Mosaddegh was appointed prime minister of Iran by the Shah (replacing Hossein Ala, who had replaced Razmara). Under heavy pressure by the National Front, the assassin of Razmara (Khalil Tahmasebi) was released and pardoned, thus proving the movement's power in Iranian politics. For the time being, Mosaddegh and Kashani were allies of convenience, as Mosaddegh saw that Kashani could mobilize the "religious masses", while Kashani wanted Mosaddegh to drive out British and other foreign influence. Kashani's Fadaiyan mobs often violently attacked the opponents of nationalization and opponents of the National Front government, as well as "immoral objects", acting at times as unofficial "enforcers" for the movement. However, by late 1952 Mosaddegh was becoming increasingly opposed to Kashani, as the latter was contributing to mass political instability in Iran. Kashani in turn, berated Mosaddegh for not "Islamizing" Iran, as he was a firm believer in the separation of religion and state.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: The Shah and his prime minister had an antagonistic relationship. Part of the problem stemmed from the fact that Mosaddegh was connected by blood to the former royal Qajar dynasty, and saw the Pahlavi king as a usurper to the throne. But the real issue stemmed from the fact that Mosaddegh represented a pro-democratic force that wanted to temper the Shah's rule in Iranian politics. He wanted the Shah to be a ceremonial monarch rather than a ruling monarch, thus giving the elected government power over the un-elected Shah. While the constitution of Iran gave the Shah the power to rule directly, Mosaddegh used the united National Front bloc and the widespread popular support for the oil nationalization vote (the latter which the Shah supported as well) in order to block the Shah's ability to act. As a result, the oil nationalization issue became increasingly intertwined with Mosaddegh's pro-democracy movement. The dejected Shah was angered by Mosaddegh's "insolence" (according to Abbas Milani, he angrily paced in the rooms of his palace at the thought that he would be reduced to a figurehead). But Mosaddegh and the oil nationalization's popularity prevented the Shah from acting against his prime minister (which was allowed under Iran's constitution, something that Mosaddegh felt a king had no right to do). In 1952 the Shah dismissed Mosaddegh, replacing him with Ahmad Qavam (a veteran prime minister). But widespread protests by Mosaddegh supporters resulted in the Shah immediately reinstating him.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: In late 1951, Iran's Parliament in a near unanimous vote approved the oil nationalization agreement. The bill was widely popular among most Iranians, and generated a huge wave of nationalism, and immediately put Iran at loggerheads with Britain (the handful of MPs that disagreed with it voted for it as well in the face of overwhelming popular support, and the Fadaiyan's wrath). The nationalization made Mosaddegh instantly popular among millions of Iranians, cementing him as a national hero, and placing him and Iran at the centre of worldwide attention. Many Iranians felt that for the first time in centuries, they were taking control of the affairs of their country. Many also expected that nationalization would result in a massive increase of wealth for Iranians.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: Britain now faced the newly elected nationalist government in Iran where Mosaddegh, with strong backing of the Iranian parliament and people, demanded more favorable concessionary arrangements, which Britain vigorously opposed.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: The U.S. State Department not only rejected Britain's demand that it continue to be the primary beneficiary of Iranian oil reserves but "U.S. international oil interests were among the beneficiaries of the concessionary arrangements that followed nationalization."


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: Mohammad Mosaddegh attempted to negotiate with the AIOC, but the company rejected his proposed compromise. Mosaddegh's plan, based on the 1948 compromise between the Venezuelan Government of Romulo Gallegos and Creole Petroleum, would divide the profits from oil 50/50 between Iran and Britain. Against the recommendation of the United States, Britain refused this proposal and began planning to undermine and overthrow the Iranian government.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: In July 1951, the American diplomat Averell Harriman went to Iran to negotiate an Anglo-Iranian compromise, asking the Shah's help; his reply was that "in the face of public opinion, there was no way he could say a word against nationalisation". Harriman held a press conference in Tehran, calling for reason and enthusiasm in confronting the "nationalisation crisis". As soon as he spoke, a journalist rose and shouted: "We and the Iranian people all support Premier Mosaddegh and oil nationalisation!" Everyone present began cheering and then marched out of the room; the abandoned Harriman shook his head in dismay.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: On a visit to the United States in October 1951, Mosaddegh—in spite of the popularity of nationalization in Iran—agreed in talks with George C. McGhee to a complex settlement of the crisis involving the sale of the Abadan Refinery to a non-British company and Iranian control of the extraction of crude oil. The US waited until Winston Churchill became prime minister to present the deal, believing he would be more flexible, but the deal was rejected by the British.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: The National Iranian Oil Company suffered decreased production, because of Iranian inexperience and the AIOC's orders that British technicians not work with them, thus provoking the Abadan Crisis that was aggravated by the Royal Navy's blockading its export markets to pressure Iran to not nationalise its petroleum. The Iranian revenues were greater, because the profits went to Iran's national treasury rather than to private, foreign oil companies. By September 1951, the British had virtually ceased Abadan oil field production, forbidden British export to Iran of key British commodities (including sugar and steel), and had frozen Iran's hard currency accounts in British banks. British Prime Minister Clement Attlee considered seizing the Abadan Oil Refinery by force, but instead settled on an embargo by the Royal Navy, stopping any ship transporting Iranian oil for carrying so-called "stolen property". On his re-election as prime minister, Winston Churchill took an even harder stance against Iran.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: The United Kingdom took its anti-nationalization case against Iran to the International Court of Justice at The Hague; PM Mosaddegh said the world would learn of a "cruel and imperialistic country" stealing from a "needy and naked people". The court ruled that it had no jurisdiction over the case. Nevertheless, the British continued to enforce the embargo of Iranian oil. In August 1952, Iranian Prime Minister Mosaddegh invited an American oil executive to visit Iran and the Truman administration welcomed the invitation. However, the suggestion upset Churchill, who insisted that the U.S. not undermine his campaign to isolate Mosaddegh because of British support for the U.S. in the Korean War.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: In mid-1952, Britain's embargo of Iranian oil was devastatingly effective. British agents in Tehran "worked to subvert" the government of Mosaddegh, who sought help from President Truman and then the World Bank but to no avail. "Iranians were becoming poorer and unhappier by the day" and Mosaddegh's political coalition was fraying. To make matters worse, the Speaker of the Parliament Ayatollah Kashani, Mosaddegh's main clerical supporter, became increasingly opposed to the Prime Minister, because Mosaddegh was squeezing him out of power. By 1953, he had completely turned on him, and supported the coup, depriving Mosaddegh of religious support, while giving it to the Shah.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: In the Majlis election in the spring of 1952, Mosaddegh "had little to fear from a free vote, since despite the country's problems, he was widely admired as a hero. A free vote, however, was not what others were planning. British agents had fanned out across the country, bribing candidates, and the regional bosses who controlled them. Robert Zaehner alone spent over a £1,500,000, smuggled in biscuit tins, to bribe Iranians, and later his colleague Norman Darbyshire admitted that the actual coup cost the British government a further £700,000. They hoped to fill the Majlis with deputies who would vote to depose Mosaddegh. It would be a coup carried out by seemingly legal means."


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: While the National Front, which often supported Mosaddegh won handily in the big cities, there was no one to monitor voting in the rural areas. Violence broke out in Abadan and other parts of the country where elections were hotly contested. Faced with having to leave Iran for The Hague where Britain was suing for control of Iranian oil, Mosaddegh's cabinet voted to postpone the remainder of the election until after the return of the Iranian delegation from The Hague.


title: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

text: While Mosaddegh dealt with political challenge, he faced another that most Iranians considered far more urgent. The British blockade of Iranian seaports meant that Iran was left without access to markets where it could sell its oil. The embargo had the effect of causing Iran to spiral into bankruptcy. Tens of thousands had lost their jobs at the Abadan refinery, and although most understood and passionately supported the idea of nationalisation, they naturally hoped that Mosaddegh would find a way to put them back to work. The only way he could do that was to sell oil.