title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Between 1915 and 1930 population growth slowed slightly as Somerville's industries consolidated rather than expanded, and the period's most important enterprises were meat packing, dairy processing, ice and food distribution. In 1920, 73% of meatpacking in Massachusetts occurred in Somerville. Construction of the McGrath Highway in 1925 marked the turning point of Somerville as an industrial city, which accelerated when the Ford Motor Company built a plant in Assembly Square in 1926. In the years that followed, Somerville would see itself transformed into a major industrial center as automobile assembly surpassed meat packing as Somerville's most important industry.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: By 1930, 70% of Somerville residents had either been born outside of the United States or had parents who were. The population was then estimated to be 60% Catholic.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Although Union Square and Davis Square continued to be the largest commercial areas during the first decades of the 20th century, smaller, less-developed squares grew as well. Ball Square, Magoun Square and Teele Square were developed with one- or two-story masonry commercial buildings, and the public green at Gilman Square was surrounded by multiple four-story commercial buildings. Retail development and banking facilities also spread. During this time of industrial prosperity, continuing through World War II, the city of Somerville reached its population apex at 105,883 residents in 1940. The building boom continued until the 1940s, creating the dense residential fabric the "city of homes" is known for.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: By mid-century, powerful social and economic forces precipitated a period of industrial and population decline that lasted into the 1980s. The postwar period was characterized by the ascent of the private automobile, which carried significant implications for Somerville. Streetcar lines that had crisscrossed the city since 1890 were systematically ripped out and commuter rail service was discontinued at the city's eight railway stations, one by one. Passenger rail service along the Fitchburg and Lowell lines had been declining for some time, and stations such as the Winter Hill station at Gilman Square were removed as early as the late 1940s. Passenger rail service stopped altogether by 1958.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The number of cars on Somerville's streets continued to rise, and road construction projects proliferated. The Alewife Brook Parkway, Mystic Valley Parkway and the Fells Connector Parkways, originally conceived in the 1890s as a means for city residents to reach the metropolitan parks, evolved into congested commuter routes for suburban drivers. Highway projects were advanced in the wake of the Federal Highway Aid Act (1956), in some instances displacing entire neighborhoods. The Brickbottom neighborhood was razed in 1950 to prepare for a proposed Inner Belt Expressway, and construction of Interstate 93 resulted in demolition of homes in The States neighborhood during the late 1960s.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Industry slowly moved outward to the metropolitan fringes, encouraged by highway access and cheap, undeveloped land. The Ford Motor Plant in Assembly Square, which had been one of the region's largest employers, closed its doors in 1958 with severe consequences for the local economy. From the late 1950s through the early 1970s, Finast Supermarkets used the building that had earlier housed the Ford assembly plant on Middlesex Avenue, but in 1976 it too closed its doors. By 1976, Assembly Square was becoming a ghost town: Finast Stores, the Boston and Maine Railroad, and Ford Motor Company, which had each paid the city over $1 million in annual taxes, were gone. By the late 1970s, Somerville was losing population, revenue and jobs.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville also has a history of racial tension. It only hired its first black police officer, a person named Francis Moore, in 1974. Moore subsequently won a suit charging that the police department was "blatantly discriminatory" against him, including an episode in which he was told to patrol the East Somerville neighborhood of Glen Park at night without his issued firearm, night stick, Mace, or communication devices. Moore's name had been written on a barrel in the neighborhood and used for target practice by local youth.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: In the last years of the 20th century, the situation in Somerville stabilized and growth returned—first to West Somerville, and then the rest of the city.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Almost thirty years after passenger rail service to Somerville was halted, the Red Line Northwest Extension reached Davis Square in 1984. The city and community used the creation of the new station as a catalyst for revitalizing the faded square, promoting new commercial development and sponsoring other physical and infrastructural improvements. However, when the new transit station opened, business around Davis Square did not immediately thrive. The number of retail stores in the area declined from 68 in 1977 to 56 in 1987.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: However many non-retail uses, such as beauty salons and real estate offices, had already begun to fill the empty retail spaces. With the Boston area's emergence from its long recession, the area truly began to revive. Clearly, the community's vision of a rebirth of commercial and retail activity has, in the past few years, been fully realized. All benefit from their proximity to the MBTA station, with connections to Cambridge and Boston. Retail vacancy rates around the square were close to zero as of 2013.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The telecommunication and biotechnology booms of the mid-to-late 1990s significantly contributed to Somerville's revitalization. As with the housing boom a century earlier, the sudden increase in the number of jobs available in the cities of Somerville, Boston, and particularly Cambridge—as well in as the other communities immediately surrounding Somerville—led to a new surge in the demand for housing. Additionally, the end of rent control in Cambridge coincided with the economic recovery in 1995, increasing demand for Somerville's affordable housing options.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The city also had a very high car theft rate, once being the car theft capital of the country, and its Assembly Square area was especially infamous for this. However, after the gentrification period the city went through in the 1990s, and an influx of artists to the area, this name has mostly faded from use and the city has instead gained a reputation for its active arts community and effective government, including being named the best-run city in Massachusetts in 2006. Nowadays lobbying by grassroots organizations is attempting to revive and preserve Somerville's "small-town" neighborhood environments by supporting local business, public transit and gardens.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, Somerville has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.61%, is water. Somerville is bordered by the cities of Cambridge, Medford, Everett, Arlington and the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown. It is located on the west bank of the Mystic River.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Millennia ago, glaciation left a series of drumlins running west to east across the landscape of what would become Somerville. These ridges would later become known as the "Seven Hills" of Somerville (like many other cities claiming to be built on seven hills, following the seven hills of Rome):


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: These hills rise from the floodplain of the Mystic River, and generally run west to east, providing for beautiful vistas of Boston to the south and Medford/Everett to the north. Physical boundaries are also defined by prominent waterways: the Mystic River to the north, its tributary Alewife Brook to the west, and the Miller's River to the southeast.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Land in early Somerville was used primarily as grazing commons and small farms. After the proliferation of the railroads in the area during the mid-1800s, industrialization transformed the landscape. In the 1800s, the Millers River was used as a sewer and dumping ground for local industry and would be ordered filled by the Commonwealth before the end of the century, for health reasons. As a result of landfill and the elimination of former Cobble Hill, the Millers River marsh was turned into railyards, slaughterhouses and other large-scale land uses.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville's commercial property is not concentrated in a recognized downtown central business district but instead is spread over many different nodes or corridors of business activity. The difference in character ranges from the vibrant nightlife, live music and theaters of Davis Square to the large scale retail and highway access of Assembly Square. This spatial allocation is directly related to the early influence of rail and streetcar systems which caused economic activity to occur at stops. The other key factor in the creation of commercial squares is the area's topography. The numerous hills making up Somerville's landscape determined where road networks would allow neighborhood commercial development.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville has a number of squares that are centers for business and entertainment, as well as a number of other neighborhoods:


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Sullivan Square, in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, is just over the border from East Somerville; Inman Square and Lechmere Square, both in Cambridge, are also just outside Somerville. Porter Square is in both Somerville and Cambridge.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville has experienced dramatic growth since the Red Line of Boston's MBTA subway system was extended through Somerville in 1985, especially in the area between Harvard and Tufts. This was especially accelerated by the dot-com bubble of the late 90s, rising incomes, and concomitant rises in demand for urban housing.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Tensions between long-time residents and recent arrivals exist, with many of the former accusing the latter of ignoring problems such as drugs and gang violence. Incidents such as anti-"yuppie" graffiti, appearing around town in 2005, highlighting this rift. The economic clash between several areas of the city of Somerville and its neighboring cities of Boston, and in particular Cambridge, has created an underlying tension between residents that has persisted for multiple generations.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Due to Somerville's proximity to various institutions of higher education, the city has a constant influx of college students and young professionals, who reside in sections near Cambridge where Harvard University, Lesley University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are located and near Tufts University, which straddles the Somerville-Medford city line. The city is inhabited by blue collar Irish American, Italian American, Greek American, and Portuguese American families, who are spread throughout the city.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: In November 1997, the "Utne Reader" named Davis Square in Somerville one of the 15 hippest places to live in the U.S.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville is home to a thriving arts community and boasts the second highest number of artists per capita in America.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: As of the 2010 census, there were 75,754 people, 33,720 households, and 14,673 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 32,105 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 73.92% White, 6.8% African American, 0.3% Native American, 8.7% Asian (2.7% Chinese, 2.3% Indian, 1.0% Nepalese, 0.6% Korean), 0.06% Pacific Islander, 6.67% from other races, and 3.6% were multiracial. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.6% of the population (4.2% Salvadoran, 1.2% Puerto Rican, 1.0% Mexican, 0.5% Guatemalan). The city regularly provides translation services and alerts into Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, and Nepali.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: There were 31,555 households, out of which 18.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.2% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 53.5% were non-families. 31% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 3.06.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The population was spread out, with 14.8% under the age of 18, 15.9% from 18 to 24, 42.6% from 25 to 44, 16.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.2 males.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The median income for a household in the city was $46,315, and the median income for a family was $51,243. Males had a median income of $36,333 versus $31,418 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,628. About 8.4% of families and 12.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.3% of those under age 18 and 13.6% of those age 65 or over.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: According to Somerville's 2013 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville's industrial past left behind many legacies, including the invention of Marshmallow Fluff by Archibald Query. In 1914, the city became the home of the original Economy Grocery Store, which later grew into the Stop & Shop grocery chain. Two related food service chains, Steve's Ice Cream and Bertucci's, sprung from adjacent lots in Davis Square.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Davis Square is home to the Somerville Theatre, which formerly housed the Museum of Bad Art and plays host to the Independent Film Festival of Boston each spring. Union Tavern and the Crystal Ballroom are live music venues in the city.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Two major art studios, the Brickbottom Artists Building and the Joy Street Studios, are located in former industrial buildings in the Brickbottom district. The Brickbottom Artists Association has been hosting annual open studio events in the fall since 1987. Starlab Studios, a multimedia artist studio space and the host of Somerville's annual Starlabfest, opened in Union Square in 2009. Additionally, Artisan's Asylum on Tyler Street between Union and Porter squares is a hackerspace, where 150 members and 200 students have been participating in the maker culture since 2011.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The Somerville Arts Council and Somerville Open Studios both host annual events involving the community in homegrown arts. The Boston chapter of the Dorkbot community meets in Somerville at the Willoughby & Baltic studio, in the Brickbottom district. Starting in 2006, an annual Fluff Festival has been held to celebrate the invention of Fluff in Somerville. "What the Fluff?" is produced by Union Square Main Streets and includes vendors, activities, entertainment and the crowning of the Pharaoh of Fluff. It has been described in food journal "Gastronomica" as an "orgiastic frenzy of all things fluffy--old-world village celebration meets American kitsch." Somerville mayor Joseph Curtatone attended in 2006 and declared, "My house always has been, and always will be, stocked with fluff."


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: George Dilboy Memorial Stadium is a multi-purpose public stadium in city. It is known as the home of the Boston Renegades women's tackle football team. It was also the home field of the Boston Militia women's tackle football team from 2008 to 2014. The Boston Breakers women's soccer club made Dilboy Stadium their home in 2012 and 2013. The stadium is named after George Dilboy, who was awarded the Medal of Honor during World War I.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville has eighty-three sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These places include various houses, libraries, parkways, churches, among other places, and have been declared landmarks within the city.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The Somerville Museum preserves memorabilia chronicling the city's roots, with historical and artistic exhibits. It is located at 1 Westwood Road, on the corner of Central Street.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The Somerville Community Path is a tree-lined rail trail that runs from Lowell Street to the Cambridge border near Davis Square. It connects with the Alewife Linear Park, which in turn connects with the Minuteman Bikeway and the Fitchburg Cutoff Path. Community activists hope to extend the path eastward to Lechmere Square, which would connect with the Charles River Bike Paths and the proposed East Coast Greenway. In May 2013, construction began on an extension of the path between Cedar and Lowell streets, which was completed in 2015. , the city has a total of 63 parks, playgrounds, playing fields, and community gardens.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: With the establishment of the Playground Association of America in 1906, many cities, including Somerville, began to sponsor supervised playgrounds for the children of the city during the summer months. Though the Recreation Department was not formally established in Somerville until 1917, supervised play, sponsored in part by the city and the Playground Association of America, began in 1909.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The Recreation Department provides many recreational and play activities for residents of all ages, including Summertime Playgrounds, outdoor games and sports leagues, theater groups, and an active Senior Citizens Club.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville has a mayor-city council form of municipal government. The City Council (formerly a Board of Aldermen) consists of four at-large (citywide) positions and seven ward representatives, where each ward is a specific section of the city. The change from Aldermen to Council came in 2018 when gender equity was honored. As of January 3, 2022, the City Council compromised the following councilors:


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The first Democratic mayor of the city was John J. Murphy in 1929. Every mayor prior, since 1872, had been unaffiliated with a party or Republican. Murphy succeeded on his seventh try by uniting the Irish, Italian, Greek, and Portuguese communities. There were candlelit processions with thousands marching in rallies in the middle of Union Square and other squares in the city. The current mayor of Somerville is Katjana Ballantyne.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: In July 2020, the Somerville City Council voted to recognize polyamorous domestic partnerships in the city, becoming the first city in the United States to do so. This measure was passed in order to allow those in a polyamorous relationship easier access to their partners' health insurance.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Alongside these, Somerville boasts a large subsidized housing program with 1400 units and 4,328 people (5% of the population) living in them. There are 13 developments, the largest being the Mystic River Projects and Clarendon Hill Apartments.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville is part of Massachusetts's 7th congressional district for purposes of elections to the United States House of Representatives. It is represented by Representative Ayanna Pressley.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: For representation to the Massachusetts Senate, Somerville is entirely within the Second Middlesex district. For representation to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Somerville is part of the 26th, 27th and 34th Middlesex districts. The 26th Middlesex district includes East Somerville, Brickbottom, and a portion of the Union Square area, as well as portions of Cambridge, The 34th Middlesex district includes Winter Hill and Teele Square, as well as portions of Medford. The remainder of the city, just over half, comprises the 27th Middlesex district, which does not extend outside Somerville.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The School Committee has seven independently elected officials as well as the Mayor and the President of the Board of Aldermen. The budget is approved by both the School Committee and the Board of Aldermen. The Chair is Adam Sweeting from Ward 3 and the Vice-Chair is Carrie Normand from Ward 7.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Also included in the school district is the Somerville Center for Adult Learning Experiences. The former Powder House Community School (which closed due to low enrollment in 2004) is being considered for redevelopment, either as a consolidated location for city offices if funding is obtained under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or as some other type of development.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Though formally listed as being located in Medford, Tufts University is also located in Somerville. The Somerville–Medford line runs through the Tufts campus, splitting the university's Tisch Library. The school employs many local residents and has many community service projects that benefit the city, especially those run through the Leonard Carmichael Society and the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville Public Schools (SPS) operates ten schools from pre-kindergarten to secondary schools. The majority of the schools in Somerville (with exception of Somerville High School, Benjamin G. Brown School, Capuano Early Childhood Center, and Next Wave/Full Circle) are schools that go from kindergarten through 8th grade. There are 4,691 students enrolled in Somerville Public Schools.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: East Somerville Community School, which was temporarily closed after a fire in 2007, was demolished and reconstructed, reopening in fall 2013. During its closure students were transferred to the nearby Edgerly and Capuano schools.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville High School underwent renovations after having been the oldest un-renovated high school in the nation. Its renovations lasted from early 2012 to January 2021.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville High School (SHS) is located right next to the Somerville City Hall at 81 Highland Avenue. It is in Winter Hill near the border of East Somerville and Union Square.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville High School offers a vocational program (CTE) as well as musical programs and athletics programs. It hosts roughly 1,215 students throughout 4 grades. Its student proficiency in math and science is at 73% and its proficiency for English and history is at 83%. Its student to teacher ratio is 10:1. It is in the top 20% of the state's schools composite averages. It has a graduation rate of 89.9%.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The school demographics as of 2021 are 45% Hispanic or Latino, 32% White, 14% African American, 8% Asian and 1% other. 54.6% of students in the school do not have English as their first language. 48.1% of students are economically disadvantaged. 16.9% of students have a disability.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Dilboy Stadium is where the SHS soccer, football, lacrosse, tennis and track teams compete. It is located on 110 Alewife Brook Parkway, roughly from the school itself. It is close to the Dilboy Pool (which is open solely in the summer), as well as the Clarendon Hill Towers and Clarendon Hill Projects (an installment of the Somerville Housing Authority). The SHS hockey team plays at Veterans Memorial Rink at 570 Somerville Avenue next to Conway Park and Playground.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The public radio show "Living on Earth" is recorded in Davis Square. In addition, Candlewick Press, a major children's book printing company, is operated in Somerville.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Bay State Newspaper Company, Highwater Books, and Radical America were all originally published in the city.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville, originally built as a streetcar suburb of Boston, has a framework and layout ideal for public transit. Its traditionally designed neighborhoods, set among grid-like street networks, connect in a walkable, transit-friendly system. Transit systems shrunk and all but disappeared as automobiles became the primary mode of transportation, however, and streetcars left the city several decades ago. The City of Somerville is serviced by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) transit service.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville is served by seven MBTA subway stations: Davis station on the Red Line, Assembly station on the Orange Line, and , , , , and on the Green Line. Davis opened in 1984, and Assembly in 2014. The Green Line stations opened in 2022 as part of the Green Line Extension, which the state was legally obligated to build since 1990. Sullivan Square station on the Orange Line and Porter station on the Red Line and Fitchburg Line are located just outside Somerville.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Although only 43.6% of Somerville commuters drove alone to work in 2013, several major arteries pass through the city.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: McGrath Highway is a major north–south route that represents the portion of Massachusetts Route 28 through the city of Somerville. McGrath is the continuation of Monsignor O'Brien Highway in Cambridge to the southeast and is known as the Fellsway north of the junction with Mystic Avenue and Interstate 93 in Medford. The highway has a long and complex history that hints to the changing nature of transportation throughout Somerville and the greater Boston metropolitan region. Originally constructed in 1928 to create a speedier connection for Route 28 between the Charles and Mystic Rivers, McGrath was elevated in the 1950s to further facilitate increased travel speed. The result was to cut off East Somerville and the Inner Belt District from Winter Hill and the rest of the city. When Route 28 was built, its primary purpose was to serve regional commuters traveling into Boston. However, it soon became clear that McGrath would need to be replaced by a larger and safer highway. The construction of the elevated Northern Expressway (Massachusetts), part of Interstate 93, was completed in the early 1970s and essentially rendered McGrath redundant. Today, the infrastructure of the two raised portions (the McCarthy Overpass, running from Somerville Avenue to Medford Street, and the Squires Bridge, running above the MBTA Fitchburg line near Twin City Plaza) are decaying and decrepit. In 2013, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation recommended that the McCarthy Overpass that crosses over several streets in Somerville be torn down, and proposed a boulevard-syle reconstruction with bike lanes and sidewalks for pedestrians. No date has been set for construction to begin.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Northern Expressway (Massachusetts) runs northwest and southeast through Somerville, separating Ten Hills and Assembly Square from the rest of the city. The massive elevated "Northern Expressway" was completed in the early 1970s and passes directly through Somerville running alongside and/or above Mystic Avenue (Massachusetts Route 38). Commonly referred to as the "upper and lower decks of 93", the Somerville-Charlestown section of the Northern Expressway carries three lanes of northbound traffic on the upper deck, and three lanes of southbound traffic on the lower deck. The highway also serves to cut off East Somerville from Charlestown.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville is considered to be a highly walkable and bikeable city. In 2013, 7.8% of all commutes were made by bicycle, ranking Somerville 5th among U.S. cities for its share of bicycling. In 2013, 49.8% of Somerville commuters either walked, biked or used public transit. Somerville launched its first Bluebikes (originally Hubway) stations during the summer of 2012 and now hosts 21 stations.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The Somerville Community Path is a mixed-use path that runs along the old Boston and Lowell Railroad right-of-way from Davis Square across Somerville to the Cambridge border near Lechmere Square. Roughly of the path is finished and in use. The two finished segments feature pavement interspersed with brick and surrounded by grass, trees, pedestrian connections to nearby streets, and a community garden. The path is lit at night and snowplowed in the winter.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: In 2013, the city broke ground on the first extension in almost twenty years that extended the path another east from its then-terminus at Cedar Street to Lowell Street.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville has among the highest bus ridership in the Boston metro area. Nearly 40,000 passengers board the buses that pass through Somerville each day, and 15 MBTA bus routes operate in Somerville.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville is protected by the 152 paid, professional firefighters of the city of Somerville Fire Department (SFD). The Somerville Fire Department currently operates out of five firehouses, located throughout the city, and operates five engine companies, three ladder companies, and one rescue company, commanded by an on-duty district chief and deputy chief each shift.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The city provides contracted trash, single-stream recycling, yard waste, and hazardous waste pickup for residents in buildings with six or fewer units, and textile recycling pickup for all residents. Single-stream recycling materials are sent to the Casella Waste Systems processing facility in neighboring Charlestown.


title: Child actor

text: The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated terms include teenage actor or teen actor, an actor who reached popularity as a teenager.


title: Child actor

text: Famous earlier examples include Elizabeth Taylor, who started as a child star in the early 1940s in productions like "National Velvet" before becoming a popular film star as an adult in movies.


title: Child actor

text: Many child actors find themselves struggling to adapt as they become adults, mainly due to typecasting. Macaulay Culkin and Lindsay Lohan are two particular famous child actors who eventually experienced much difficulty with the fame they acquired at a young age. Some child actors do go on to have successful acting careers as adults; notable actors who first gained fame as children include Mickey Rooney, Kurt Russell, Jodie Foster, Christian Bale, Elijah Wood, Natalie Portman, and Scarlett Johansson. Other child actors have gone on to successful careers in other fields, including director Ron Howard, politicians Lech and Jarosław Kaczyński, and singer Jenny Lewis.


title: Child actor

text: In the United States, the activities of child actors are regulated by the governing labor union, if any, and state laws. Some projects film in distant locations specifically to evade regulations intended to protect the child. Longer work hours or risky stunts prohibited by California, for example, might be permitted to a project filming in British Columbia. US federal law "specifically exempted minors working in the Entertainment Business from all provisions of the Child Labor Laws." Any regulation of child actors is governed by disparate state laws.


title: Child actor

text: Due to the large presence of the entertainment industry in Hollywood, the state of California has some of the most explicit laws protecting child actors. Being a minor, a child actor must secure an entertainment work permit before accepting any paid work. Compulsory education laws mandate that the education of the child actor not be disrupted while the child is working, whether the child actor is enrolled in public school, private school or even home school. The child does their schoolwork under the supervision of a studio teacher while on the set.


title: Child actor

text: In the United Kingdom, a child actor is defined as someone under school leaving age. Before a child can work, they require a performance license from their Local Education Authority as well as a licensed chaperone; a parent can only chaperone their own child, and a chaperone's duties include acting in loco parentis and record arrival and departure time from the work place, the time a child is working, their breaks and the amount of tutoring. A child requires three hours minimum of tutoring daily and a lesson must be a minimum of 30 minutes to count towards the total and with regards to 16 and 17-year-old in further education, considerations are made in regards to their studies.


title: Child actor

text: There are regulations and guidance to safeguard all actors under the age of 18; OFCOM guidance states a child's health and safety, well being and welfare is paramount in television production and factors such as their age, maturity and life experiences can affect their performance. OFCOM also advises that broadcasters undertake risk assessments, consider seeking expert advice and follow best practice.


title: Child actor

text: In the United States before the 1930s, many child actors never got to see the money they earned because they were not in charge of this money. Jackie Coogan earned millions of dollars from working as a child actor only to see most of it squandered by his parents. In 1939, California weighed in on this controversy and enacted the Coogan Bill, which requires a portion of the earnings of a child to be preserved in a special savings account called a blocked trust. A trust that is not actively monitored can also be problematic, however, as in the case of Gary Coleman, who after working from 1974, later sued his adoptive parents and former business advisor for $3.8 million over misappropriation of his trust fund.


title: Child actor

text: Some people also criticize the parents of child actors for allowing their children to work, believing that more "normal" activities should be the staple during the childhood years. Others observe that competition is present in all areas of a child's life—from sports to student newspaper to orchestra and band—and believe that the work ethic instilled or the talent developed accrues to the child's benefit.


title: Child actor

text: The child actor may experience unique and negative pressures when working under tight production schedules. Large projects which depend for their success on the ability of the child to deliver an effective performance add to the pressure.


title: Child actor

text: Ethel Merman, who several times worked in long-running stage productions with child actors, disliked what she eventually saw as their over-professionalization—"acting more like midgets than children"—and disapproved of parents pushing adulthood on them.


title: Child actor

text: There are many instances of troubled adult lives due to the stressful environment to which child actors are subjected. It is common to see a child actor grow up in front of the camera, whether in films, TV shows or both. However, it is not uncommon to see child actors continue their careers throughout as actors or in a different professional field.


title: Child actor

text: Jodie Foster started acting at age 3, becoming the quintessential child actor during the 1970's with roles in films such as "Tom Sawyer" (1973), "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (1974), "Taxi Driver" (1976), "Bugsy Malone" (1976), "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" (1976), and "Freaky Friday" (1976). A child prodigy, Foster received her first Academy Award nomination at age 13 and later took a sabbatical from films to attend Yale University. She made a successful transition to adult roles, winning two Academy Awards for Best Actress before the age of 30, and starring in several successful and acclaimed films such as "The Accused" (1988), "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991), "Nell" (1994), "Maverick" (1994), "Contact" (1997), and "The Brave One" (2007), thus establishing herself as one of the most accomplished and sought-after actresses of her generation. She has also ventured into directing and her directing credits include films such as "Little Man Tate" (1991), "Money Monster" (2016) and television shows such as "House of Cards", "Orange Is the New Black", and "Black Mirror".


title: Child actor

text: Now adults, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, the three leads of the acclaimed "Harry Potter" film series (2001–11), starred in every installment in the series, and have since continued to act in film, television, and theater in their early 30's.


title: Child actor

text: Dakota Fanning rose to prominence after her breakthrough performance at age 7 in the film "I Am Sam" (2001). Her performance earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination at age 8 in 2002, making her the youngest nominee in SAG history. She later appeared in major Hollywood productions, in such acclaimed blockbuster films as "Man on Fire" (2004), "War of the Worlds" (2005), "Charlotte's Web" (2006), "Hounddog" (2007), "The Secret Life of Bees" (2008), "Coraline" (2009), "The Twilight Saga" film series (2009–12), "The Runaways" (2010), and "The Motel Life" (2012). Fanning's younger sister, Elle Fanning also rose to prominence as a child actress, having appeared in many films since before she turned 3.


title: Child actor

text: Miranda Cosgrove, known mainly for her role on Nickelodeon's "Drake & Josh" as a child, gained more attention for her role as a teenager in the show "iCarly". Since the end of the show she has been featured in other roles, including as the voice of Margo in the "Despicable Me" franchise. Once she was of age, she decided to pursue a college degree in film at the University of Southern California.


title: Child actor

text: Late actress Shirley Temple became a public figure and diplomat, beginning in the 1960's. Some of her duties included representing the United Nations, and becoming a U.S. ambassador in countries such as Ghana and Czechoslovakia.


title: Child actor

text: Mary-Kate Olsen was treated for an eating disorder, deemed anorexia, but her twin sister remained less troubled. In an article with the magazine "Marie Claire", Mary-Kate expressed the bittersweet nature of the twins' childhood. "I look at old photos of me, and I don't feel connected to them at all," she said. "I would never wish my upbringing on anyone... but I wouldn't take it back for the world." The twins now have continued success in the fashion industry with an estimated net worth of approximately $100 million dollars.


title: Child actor

text: Drew Barrymore, a former child star, started acting at age 3. During her childhood she battled with drugs, but recovered and currently continues to act. Natalie Portman took a small break in acting to get a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Harvard University before continuing her career as an actress. Rider Strong, known as "Shawn Hunter" in "Boy Meets World", was educated at Columbia University and now runs a successful blog and has published a graphic novel. Neil Patrick Harris started his career as a child actor in "Doogie Howser, M.D." He continues to act in television, films and theater. Harris is now a cult figure icon.


title: Child actor

text: Jonathan Lipnicki, known mostly for the "Stuart Little" films, now successfully competes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Sara Gilbert is known for her role on "Roseanne" and later created and served as a co-host for CBS's "The Talk". Also from "Roseanne", Michael Fishman continued to work in film, but behind the scenes and has since been nominated for an Emmy for the work he did in "Sports Science". Both Gilbert and Fishman returned for the later series based on "Roseanne", "The Conners", with Gilbert also serving as an executive producer and guiding the series through its transition after Roseanne Barr was fired after the tenth season of the revived "Roseanne". Kirsten Dunst and Lacey Chabert both made the transition from a child actress to an adult actress with a rough patch including depression. After a stay in a rehabilitation center, Dunst was able to recover and continue her career. She proves that the pressures of growing up under the spotlight may not come without repercussions.


title: Child actor

text: Roddy McDowall, who had a long and outstanding career including as the regular star of the "Planet of the Apes" series; Micky Dolenz, who started his career as a child star in the 1950s, grew up to be a musician of the successful 1960s pop group The Monkees, which had its own successful television show; Ron Howard, who, in addition to being the star of both of the long running "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Happy Days" television series, became an Academy Award-winning director in adulthood; Elijah Wood, who continued his career successfully into adulthood, starring as Frodo Baggins in "The Lord of the Rings" film series and starring as Ryan Newman in the television series "Wilfred".


title: Child actor

text: Many actors and child actors careers are often quite short. Many actors, out of personal choice, that start their careers as child actors decide not to pursue the same careers as adults. Shirley Temple, for example became a public figure and diplomat. Peter Ostrum, appearing in his only role, the lead character of Charlie Bucket in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" became a large-scale veterinarian surgeon. While Jenny Lewis, formerly of film "Troop Beverly Hills" in 1989, is a well-known singer-songwriter indie rock musician.


title: Child actor

text: In Poland, former child actors and identical twin brothers Lech and Jarosław Kaczyński became successful politicians, at one time Lech being President and Jarosław the Prime Minister.


title: Vincent Bolloré

text: Vincent Bolloré (born 1 April 1952) is a French billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and CEO of the investment group Bolloré. As of September 2021, his net worth is estimated at US$9 billion.


title: Vincent Bolloré

text: Bolloré was born in Boulogne-Billancourt. He attended the Lycée Janson-de-Sailly, before graduating with a business degree from Université Paris X Nanterre. Bolloré started his career as an investment bank trainee at Edmond de Rothschild.


title: Vincent Bolloré

text: Bolloré's personal investment career began when he took over at his family-controlled conglomerate Bolloré, which deals in maritime freight and African trade, and paper manufacturing (cigarette and bible paper). Bolloré employs 33,000 people worldwide. He is a well-known corporate raider in France who has succeeded in making money by taking large stakes in French listed companies, in particular the building and construction group Bouygues, where he left with a sizeable capital gain after a power struggle. He pulled a similar move with French video game company Ubisoft, owning an approximate 27% stake in the company in 2016, before Ubisoft president Yves Guillemot maneuvered a deal to have a coalition of Tencent Games, among other companies, to buy out Bolloré's shares for about $2.45 billion.


title: Vincent Bolloré

text: In late 2004, his investment group started building a stake in advertising group Havas, becoming its largest single shareholder. He mounted a coup and replaced Alain de Pouzilhac as CEO in July 2005. In 2005, through his family company, he expanded his media interests by launching the Direct 8 television station. Towards the end of 2005, he began building a stake in independent British media planning and buying group, Aegis. As of July 2006, his stake in Aegis stood at 29%. "", a free newspaper, was launched in June 2006. In January 2008, he manifested interest in becoming a shareholder of famed, but troubled, Italian car manufacturer Pininfarina. In 2014, as Vivendi president he decided to invest in the Italian telecom company Telecom Italia and in the Italian broadcaster, Mediaset, controlled by Berlusconi family’s holding company Fininvest.


title: Vincent Bolloré

text: The Bolloré Group also has important positions in the economies of several former French colonies in Africa (in particular Ivory Coast, Gabon, Cameroon, and Congo).


title: Vincent Bolloré

text: On 24 April 2018, Bolloré was brought into custody for questioning concerning perceived links between discount rates for political consulting (through Havas) and port concessions in Lomé, Togo; and Conakry, Guinea. He was subsequently indicted for "corruption of foreign agents", "falsification of documents", and "complicity in breach of trust". If found guilty, he could face a maximum fine of €1 million and up to 10 years' imprisonment.


title: Vincent Bolloré

text: As a result of Universal Music Group IPO at Euronext Amsterdam, Bolloré now held 18 percent of UMG shares.


title: Vincent Bolloré

text: He has four children from his first union: Sébastien, Yannick, Cyrille, and Marie, and adopted one child during his current union. He is married to Anaïs Jeanneret, a French writer.


title: Vincent Bolloré

text: He is ranked 499th-richest person in the world, according to "Bloomberg", with an estimated fortune of US$5.27 billion.


title: Vincent Bolloré

text: He is a close personal friend of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. It has been said that their friendship goes back over 20 years. Sarkozy has been criticized for accepting vacations from Bolloré, as was president Georges Pompidou with his father, Michel Bolloré. They have both stated that no conflict of interest exists.


title: Vincent Bolloré

text: Bolloré has been investing massively in media for several years. He is the main shareholder of the Vivendi media group, which holds 18 percent of Universal Music Group in addition to numerous TV stations and newspapers. In 2022 he has also bought the largest private radio station in France, Europe 1 in time for the 2022 French presidential election.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Charles Timothy Hagel ( ; born October 4, 1946) is an American military veteran and former politician who served as a United States senator from Nebraska from 1997 to 2009 and as the 24th United States secretary of defense from 2013 to 2015 in the Obama administration.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: A recipient of two Purple Hearts while an infantry squad leader in the Vietnam War, Hagel returned home to start careers in business and politics. He co-founded Vanguard Cellular, the primary source of his personal wealth, and served as president of the McCarthy Group, an investment banking firm, and CEO of American Information Systems Inc., a computerized voting machine manufacturer. A member of the Republican Party, Hagel was first elected to the United States Senate in 1996. He was reelected in 2002, but did not run in 2008.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: On January 7, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Hagel to serve as Secretary of Defense. On February 12, 2013, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved Hagel's nomination by a vote of 14–11. On February 14, 2013, Senate Republicans did not vote with Democrats so there were not 60 votes needed to end the debate on Hagel's nomination and proceed to a final vote, citing the need for further review. It was the first time that a nominee for Secretary of Defense was filibustered, although candidates for other cabinet offices had been filibustered before. On February 26, 2013, the Senate voted for cloture on Hagel's nomination and confirmed him by a vote of 58–41. He took office on February 27, 2013, as his predecessor, Leon Panetta, stepped down.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel previously served as a professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, chairman of the Atlantic Council, and co-chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. Before his appointment as Secretary of Defense, Hagel served on a number of boards of directors, including that of Chevron Corporation.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: On November 24, 2014, it was announced that Hagel would resign following conflicts within the administration, particularly relating to issues concerning ISIL.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel was born in North Platte, Nebraska, a son of Charles Dean Hagel, and his wife Elizabeth (Betty) Dunn. His father was of German heritage, while his mother was of Irish and Polish ancestry. Growing up, Hagel lived across Nebraska; in Ainsworth, Rushville, Scottsbluff, Terrytown, York and Columbus. Hagel was the oldest of four brothers. His father, a veteran of World War II, died suddenly on Christmas morning, 1962, at the age of 39, when Hagel was 16. He graduated from St. Bonaventure High School (now Scotus Central Catholic High School) in Columbus, Nebraska, in 1964, attended Brown Institute for radio and TV through 1966, and earned a BGS degree with a concentration in history from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1971.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel volunteered to be drafted into the United States Army during the Vietnam War, rejecting a draft board recommendation that he go to college instead. He served in the United States Army infantry in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. As a sergeant (E-5), he served as an infantry squad leader in the 9th Infantry Division. Hagel served in the same infantry squad as his younger brother Tom, and they are thought to be the only American brothers to have done so during the Vietnam War. They also saved each other's lives on separate occasions. Hagel received the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, two Purple Hearts, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: After his discharge, he worked as a radio newscaster and talk show host in Omaha from 1969 to 1971 while finishing college on Veterans Administration (VA) assistance under the GI Bill.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In 1971, Hagel was hired as a staffer for Congressman John Y. McCollister (R-NE), serving until 1977. For the next four years, he worked as a lobbyist for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, and in 1980, he served as an organizer for the successful presidential campaign of former California Governor Ronald Reagan.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: After Reagan's inauguration as president, Hagel was named deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration. In 1982, however, he resigned over a disagreement with VA Administrator Robert P. Nimmo, who was intent on cutting funding for VA programs. Nimmo had referred to veterans groups as "greedy", and to Agent Orange as not much worse than a "little teenage acne."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: After leaving government employment, Hagel co-founded Vanguard Cellular, a mobile phone service carrier that made him a multi-millionaire. While working with Vanguard, he served as president and chief executive officer of the United Service Organizations and the Private Sector Council, as deputy director and chief operating officer of the 1990 G7 Summit, and on the board of directors or advisory committee of the American Red Cross, the Eisenhower World Affairs Institute, Bread for the World, and the Ripon Society. He also served as Chairman of the Agent Orange Settlement Fund and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Although he was pressured by some to run for Governor of Virginia, where he had lived for 20 years, in 1992 Hagel moved back to Nebraska to become president of the McCarthy Group, LLC, an investment banking firm. He also served as a chairman and was CEO of American Information Systems Inc. (AIS), later known as Election Systems & Software, a computerized voting machine manufacturer jointly owned by McCarthy Group, LLC and the Omaha World-Herald company. On March 15, 1995, Hagel resigned from the board of AIS as he intended to run for office. Michael McCarthy, the parent company's founder, was Hagel's campaign treasurer. Until at least 2003, he retained between $1 million and $5 million in stock in Election Systems & Software's parent company, the McCarthy Group.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In 1996, Hagel ran for the open US Senate seat created by the retirement of Democrat J. James Exon. Hagel's opponent was Ben Nelson, then the sitting governor of Nebraska. Hagel won and became the first Republican in twenty-four years to win a Senate seat in Nebraska. Six years later, in 2002, Hagel overwhelmingly won re-election with over 83% of the vote, the largest margin of victory in any statewide race in Nebraska history.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: According to David Boaz, of the Cato Institute, during the Bush administration, Hagel maintained a "traditionally Republican" voting record, receiving "a lifetime rating of 84 percent from the American Conservative Union and consistent A and B grades from the National Taxpayers Union." On the Issues describes Hagel as a "libertarian-leaning conservative." According to Boaz, among his most notable votes, Hagel:


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel co-sponsored the failed Kosovo Resolution, authorizing President Bill Clinton the use of U.S. military force against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hagel voted in favor of Senate Joint Resolution 23, authorizing "necessary and appropriate U.S. Military force" in Afghanistan against those who planned or aided the September 11 attacks. During his tenure in the Senate, Hagel continued his support for NATO involvement, and funding in the War in Afghanistan. In a 2009 "The Washington Post" op-ed after being nominated as Chairman of President Obama's Intelligence advisory board, Hagel said that "We cannot view U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan through a lens that sees only 'winning' or 'losing,' Iraq and Afghanistan are not America's to win or lose." And that "We can help them buy time or develop, but we cannot control their fates." In 2011, after he left office, Hagel stated that President Obama needs to start "looking for the exit in Afghanistan", and that "We need to start winding this down."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: On October 11, 2002, Hagel, along with 76 other senators, voted in favor of the Iraq Resolution. Hagel, a later critic of the war, commented on his vote authorizing the use of force against Iraq saying,


title: Chuck Hagel

text: How many of us really know and understand much about Iraq, the country, the history, the people, the role in the Arab world? I approach the issue of post-Saddam Iraq and the future of democracy and stability in the Middle East with more caution, realism, and a bit more humility.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In July 2007, Hagel was one of three Republican senators who supported Democratic-proposed legislation requiring a troop withdrawal from Iraq to begin within 120 days. He told Robert D. Novak "This thing is really coming undone quickly, and [Prime Minister] Maliki's government is weaker by the day. The police are corrupt, top to bottom. The oil problem is a huge problem. They still can't get anything through the parliament—no hydrocarbon law, no de-Baathification law, no provincial elections." In 2008, along with then-Senator (and presumptive Democratic nominee for president) Barack Obama, and Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Hagel visited Iraq in a congressional delegation trip, meeting with U.S. service members, General David Petraeus, and the Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki. While talking to reporters in Iraq, Hagel said, "Each one of us who has a responsibility of helping lead this country needs to reflect on what we think is in the interests of our country, not the interest of our party or our president."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In his first term in the Senate, Hagel voted in favor of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Threat Reduction Act, establishing criminal penalties for possession of Chemical or Biological weapons, and he cosponsored the American Missile Protection Act, deploying an effective National Missile Defense system capable of defending the U.S. against limited ballistic missile attacks. Hagel voted to establish the United States Department of Homeland Security, and supported increasing Defense Department spending, voting in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act every year he served in the Senate. Hagel voted for spending increases in preventing HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria funding, and voting against caps on the U.S.'s foreign aid budget.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In 2007, Hagel introduced Senate Amendment 2032, amending the Defense Authorization bill limiting the deployment of U.S. service members serving in Iraq 12 months. The amendment needed 60 votes in the Senate to pass, but was ultimately defeated in a 52–45 vote. In 2008, Hagel was a principal co-sponsor with two other veterans in the Senate of Senator Jim Webb's "21st Century GI Bill" which passed Congress as the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, expanding education assistance to veterans who served after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. During his tenure in the Senate, Hagel supported the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, barring openly LGBT members of the armed forces from serving, but was later described as "pro-ending don't ask, don't tell."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In 2001, Hagel voted in favor of the Patriot Act. Although Hagel originally indicated a "nay" vote in reauthorizing expiring provisions of the Patriot Act in 2006, Hagel voted in favor of reauthorization. After calls from the Bush Administration for the House and Senate to reform FISA, the House introduced the Protect America Act of 2007, expanding provisions allowing electronic surveillance of foreigners outside of the U.S. with a warrant. In a 68–29 vote, the Protect America Act of 2007 passed the Senate, with Hagel voting to expand FISA's provisions on warrantless surveillance.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel voted in favor of Senate Amendment 2022, restoring "habeas corpus", the right to due process, to American citizens detained at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, but voted against a similar resolution restoring it to all prisoners detained at Guantanamo. In response to the Bush Administration's intentions to keep Guantanamo Bay open permanently, Hagel said the military prison is why the U.S. is "losing the image war around the world," and that "It's identifiable with, for right or wrong, a part of America that people in the world believe is a power, an empire that pushes people around, we do it our way, we don't live up to our commitments to multilateral institutions."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel co-sponsored the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006. He supported the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 and, with Senator Bob Menendez proposed an amendment to allow immigration authorities to consider family-unification petitions submitted by people for an additional two years, which would have allowed approximately estimated 833,000 additional individuals to seek permanent residency. The proposal received 51 votes but was defeated by a procedural maneuver. The bill failed to pass. Hagel voted in favor of the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which aimed to build a double fence along the Mexico–United States border and appropriated $1.2 billion for the fence and a systematic surveillance system.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: On August 18, 2005, Hagel compared the Iraq War to Vietnam, and openly mocked Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion that the Iraqi insurgency was in its "last throes." In November 2005, Hagel defended his criticism of the Iraq war, stating "To question your government is not unpatriotic — to not question your government is unpatriotic." In December 2005, in reference to Bush, the Republican Party, and the Patriot Act, Hagel stated "I took an oath of office to the Constitution, I didn't take an oath of office to my party or my president."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In January 2006, Hagel took issue with Karl Rove's statement that the Republican and Democratic worldviews were "post-9/11" and "pre-9/11", respectively. Hagel stated, "I didn't like what Mr. Rove said, because it frames terrorism and the issue of terrorism and everything that goes with it, whether it's the renewal of the Patriot Act or the NSA wiretapping, in a political context."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In July 2006, Hagel criticized the Bush administration on its handling of the 2006 Lebanon War, saying "The sickening slaughter on both sides must end and it must end now. President Bush must call for an immediate cease-fire. This madness must stop." He also said "Our relationship with Israel is special and historic... But it need not and cannot be at the expense of our Arab and Muslim relationships. That is an irresponsible and dangerous false choice."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Following heavy Republican losses in the 2006 midterm election, Hagel penned an editorial in "The Washington Post" highly critical of military strategies both employed and proposed for Iraq. He wrote that "There will be no victory or defeat for the United States in Iraq," and called for a "phased troop withdrawal." According to a SurveyUSA poll, in August 2006 Hagel had a 10% higher approval rating among Nebraska Democrats than Republicans.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In January 2007, Hagel openly criticized President Bush's plan to send an additional 20,000 troops to Iraq. He called it "the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam, if it's carried out." Together with Democrats Joe Biden and Carl Levin, he proposed a non-binding resolution to the Democratic-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which rejected Bush's policy as "not in the national interest" in a 12–9 vote. After an April 2007 visit to Iraq with U.S. congressman Joe Sestak (D-PA), Hagel stated his belief that the occupation of Iraq should not continue indefinitely and expressed his intention to cooperate with Senate Democrats in voting for a bill that would set a timeline to get out of Iraq.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In November 2007, he rated the Bush administration "the lowest in capacity, in capability, in policy, in consensus—almost every area" of any presidency in the last forty years.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In the 2008 presidential election, Hagel was seen as a likely choice to hold a top cabinet position in a future John McCain or Barack Obama administration. In 2006, McCain told "The New York Times" that he would be "honored to have Chuck with me in any capacity. He'd make a great Secretary of State."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel was rumored to be a possible running mate for vice president for then Senator Barack Obama, in his 2008 presidential campaign. On June 20, 2008, Hagel said he would consider running with Obama if offered the VP spot, though he added that he did not believe that Obama would pick him for the position. At the time he also was mentioned as a potential United States Secretary of Defense to succeed incumbent Robert Gates in the Obama administration. Hagel said that he would consider serving if asked.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel and Senator John McCain were close friends until 2007 when they diverged regarding Iraq policy; Hagel did not endorse McCain for President in the 2008 Republican primaries or in the general election. Explaining his reason for not endorsing John McCain in the 2008 election, Hagel told "The New Yorker", "In good conscience, I could not enthusiastically—honestly—go out and endorse him, when we so fundamentally disagree on the future course of our foreign policy and our role in the world." In August 2008, Hagel indicated that he would not endorse either candidate or get involved in their campaigns.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: During his first campaign, Hagel indicated that, were he to be elected, he would retire in 2008 after two terms in the Senate. In August 2004 Hagel acknowledged that he was considering a presidential campaign in 2008. In 2006 he cooperated with Charlyne Berens who wrote a biography entitled "Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward". On September 10, 2007, Hagel announced that he would retire and not seek a third term. He also declined to run for president in 2008. He decided to go into academia.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In Hagel's 2008 book, "America: Our Next Chapter: Tough Questions, Straight Answers" (with Peter Kaminsky), he suggests that the United States should adopt independent leadership and possibly another political party. He also believes that the Iraq War is one of the five biggest blunders in U.S. history. Hagel is critical of George W. Bush's foreign policy, calling it "reckless." He has been a major critic of the war since it started, and has stated that the United States should learn from its mistakes in the Vietnam War. He considered Bush's foreign policy a "ping pong game with American lives."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Following Hagel's retirement from the Senate, in February 2009 he accepted a position as Distinguished Professor in National Governance at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He was chairman of the Atlantic Council, a foreign policy think tank; co-chairman of President Obama's Intelligence Advisory Board; a member of the Defense Department's Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee and the Energy Departments Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future; a member of The Washington Center's board of directors; and a member of the Public Broadcasting Service's board of directors. In the private sector, he served on the board of directors of Chevron Corporation, Deutsche Bank's Americas Advisory Board, and the advisory board of Corsair Capital, and was a director of the Zurich Holding Company of America and a senior advisor to McCarthy Capital Corporation. In October 2012, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta asked Hagel to chair an advisory committee for the Vietnam War 50th anniversary commemoration. While a Senator, Hagel co-sponsored the bill creating the commemoration committee.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel identifies with Ronald Reagan's nuclear disarmament policies and was an initial signatory to the Global Zero campaign which advocates the international elimination of nuclear weaponry. He also served on the board of the Ploughshares Fund, which pursues the elimination of weapons of mass destruction and seeks to prevent their use.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In 2010, Hagel endorsed Democratic Pennsylvania congressman Joe Sestak in his run for the United States Senate. In 2012 he endorsed Democrat Bob Kerrey in the race for an open U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: President Obama nominated Hagel to succeed Leon Panetta and serve as his second term Secretary of Defense on January 7, 2013. Hagel, who became, upon confirmation, the first former enlisted combat soldier to hold the office of Secretary of Defense, was interviewed by the Senate Armed Services Committee during a seven-and-a-half-hour hearing on January 31, 2013.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: According to Jon Swaine writing in "The Daily Telegraph", Hagel has been accused of having "views [that] verged on anti-Semitic" due to his stating in a 2006 interview with Aaron David Miller that "[t]he Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people [on Capitol Hill]", and "I'm not an Israeli senator. I'm a United States senator." Hagel later clarified these remarks saying he was referring to the Israel lobby. Hagel also has been criticized by the American Jewish Committee for an incident in 1999 where he was the only senator not to sign an open letter to Russian President Boris Yeltsin threatening to cut aid to Russia if it did not take action against rising anti-Semitism in the country. However, Hagel's refusal to sign the letter was consistent with his policy of never signing letters to foreign heads of state. Hagel, instead, wrote to Bill Clinton on this issue, saying "Anti-Semitism or any form of religious persecution should never be tolerated."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel was criticized by "The Christian Science Monitor" and many Republicans, including senator John McCain, for opposing some sanctions against Iran, and for calling for dialogue with Iran and Hamas.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Some of Hagel's policy positions became the subject of heated debate in the Senate, including support of defense cuts, opposition to preemptive action against Iran, and support of talks with Hamas and Hezbollah. However, "U.S. News & World Report" cited public opinion polls and foreign policy experts to suggest that Hagel's views were within the mainstream of American foreign policy thought. Opponents also complained of Hagel's 2011 call to have the Pentagon "pared down", saying that "[t]he Defense Department, I think in many ways, has been bloated."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: The Human Rights Campaign criticized Hagel for having a "consistent anti-LGBT" voting record in the Senate and for opposing President Bill Clinton's nomination of James Hormel as the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg, stating that Hormel was "openly, aggressively gay." The group demanded that Hagel apologize for this 1998 remark. The Log Cabin Republicans ran full-page newspaper ads opposing Hagel's nomination. Hagel apologized to Hormel in December 2012. On January 24, 2013, Senator Jeanne Shaheen stated that Hagel will oppose restrictions on LGBT military family benefits. Shortly thereafter, on February 13, 2013, the Senate's first openly LGBT member, Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) stated that after meeting with Hagel, she would support his nomination.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina predicted that Hagel would be "the most antagonistic Secretary of Defense toward the State of Israel in our nation's history" and called it an "in-your-face nomination."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: "The New York Times" reported that the media campaign opposing Hagel's appointment was financed by new groups including a conservative group, Americans for a Strong Defense and a gay rights group, Use Your Mandate. The donors of these groups were mostly anonymous and running advertisements on issues raised by critics. The "Times" described the campaign as "unmatched in the annals of modern presidential cabinet appointments".


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In December 2012, nine former United States ambassadors, including five former ambassadors to Israel, wrote a letter in support of nominating Hagel. Brent Scowcroft, Anthony Zinni and nine other retired senior military officers signed a separate letter of support. Robert Gates and Colin Powell also endorsed Hagel for the nomination, with Powell calling him "that kind of independent and bold leader who thinks in and out of the box" who can "deal with the strategic and resource challenges [the Department of Defense] will be facing over the next several years." Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, the senior rabbi at Temple Israel in Omaha, Nebraska since 1988, wrote in a CNN article that "[Hagel's] record shows strong support for Israel" and that Hagel understands "the Israeli people and their desire to live in peace and security." He added that "Recent efforts to smear Chuck ... ultimately that hurts the long-term security of the state of Israel."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Defenses of Hagel have included opinion pieces by writers Amy Davidson, Thomas Friedman, and Robert Wright, with Wright objecting to what he called "McCarthyite" smears against Hagel. Jeremy Ben-Ami, President of the liberal lobby group J Street, said: "The notion that Chuck Hagel is anti-Israel is ludicrous. The notion that he is anti-Semitic is slanderous." Harvard University Professor Stephen Walt, co-author of a 2007 book critical of the Israeli lobby wrote in "Foreign Policy" that "The real meaning of the Hagel affair is what it says about the climate inside Washington. Simply put, the question is whether supine and reflexive support for all things Israeli remains a prerequisite for important policy positions here in the Land of the Free."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Commentators at "The American Conservative" and Pat Buchanan endorsed Hagel. Hagel's nomination received support from Antiwar.com founder Justin Raimondo and the libertarian think tank Cato Institute; Justin Logan, director of foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, expressed the hope that Hagel's confirmation might "loosen the neoconservative stranglehold on the GOP."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: During his Senate hearing opening statement Hagel said that he endorsed use of American military power, supported Israel and supported using special operations forces and unmanned combat aerial vehicles ("drones") on terrorist groups in Yemen, Somalia and North Africa. He stated "I believe, and always have, that America must engage—not retreat—in the world". During the hearing he explained his 2001 and 2002 votes against unilateral American sanctions on Iran as being for strategic reasons. He said he supported President Obama's drawing down troops in Afghanistan and said he would do "everything possible under current law" to support gay and women service members equal benefits and combat roles.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel faced sharp questioning from Republicans. Senator John McCain berated him for refusing to give a yes or no answer to the question of whether the Iraq War troop surge of 2007 was a success. Senator Lindsey Graham demanded he "name one dumb thing we've been goaded into doing because of the pressure from the Israeli or Jewish lobby." Hagel stated "I've already said I regret referencing the Jewish lobby, I should have said, 'pro-Israel lobby. ... The use of 'intimidation'—I should have used 'influence.' I think that would have been more appropriate. I should not have said 'dumb' or 'stupid,' because I understand or appreciate there are other views on these things.". Senator Ted Cruz played video excerpts from a 2009 Al Jazeera interview and asserted that Hagel had agreed with a caller who suggested that Israel had committed war crimes. Hagel denied he agreed with that view. After the hearing, Cruz organized a letter from 25 Republican senators saying they would not vote until Hagel gave them copies of speeches given to organizations and told them the amount he was paid and whether the organizations received money from foreign sources. Lindsey Graham said they wanted to know if he spoke for any "anti-Israel" groups. Senate Committee chair Carl Levin said the demands were unprecedented, asking "for information no prior nominee has been asked for," and expressed confidence Hagel would be approved by the Senate.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Despite the committee's February 12, 2013, 14-to-11 vote to approve Hagel, committee member James Inhofe vowed to use procedural tactics to delay a full Senate confirmation vote. Inhofe told the "National Review" "Each day that goes by will make it more difficult for Democrats who say they are pro-Israel to hold out." On February 14 Republicans refused to close debate on Hagel's nomination, which would require 60 votes, even though the nomination was assured the simple majority of votes needed to pass. Reasons given included a demand for more White House information about the 2012 Benghazi attack, remaining questions about Hagel's views on Iran and Israel, and assertions two weeks after the hearings was insufficient time. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Republicans were politically motivated and that the vote would proceed after the recess.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Senate Republicans successfully filibustered his nomination after a cloture vote failed 58–40 with one present and one not voting. This filibuster marked the first time a nominee for Secretary of Defense was successfully filibustered.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: The Senate voted 71-27 for cloture on Hagel's nomination on February 26, 2013. Later that day the Senate voted to make Hagel the Secretary of Defense by a vote of 58–41.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: The hearings were criticized in the media. In "Time" magazine Brandon Friedman presented a chart showing that Israel was mentioned 106 times while Afghanistan was mentioned only 24 times; nuclear-armed Pakistan was barely mentioned. Friedman asked if the Senate committee was more concerned with Hagel's "relationship with Israel than with the future of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the fate of U.S. troops engaged in both locations." A Michael McGough Op-Ed in the "Los Angeles Times" was entitled "Hagel hearings: Is Israel more important than Afghanistan?" Gene Healy in "Reason" called the hearings "farcical" and wrote there was "plenty of bloviating, grandstanding and browbeating—but, apparently, not enough time for serious deliberation over key policy questions facing any new Pentagon chief."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Mark Mardell, the BBC News North America editor, criticized the "whole process, which has been used not to examine a candidate's fitness for high office, but to underline the rather obvious fact that the Obama administration does not share the world view of Republican senators, and they don't like their former colleague joining it." Mardell noted the senators repeatedly "insisted he gave a simple 'yes' or 'no' to complex questions. These are old men who hold themselves in high regard, but seem to see serious examination of difficult problems as a personal affront. They desperately want to play 'gotcha', but haven't the self-restraint to design effective questions." Mardell called Senator Hagel "equally unimpressive, almost unprepared, for a level of hostility that had been signalled long in advance. Neither smart, nor humble, his tactic seemed to be a kind of bumbling blandness." According to Mardell, only Cruz was effective and well-prepared, as "he ripped into the nominee with all the skill honed as a Texas solicitor general."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In May 2013, during a visit to Asian countries whose "main doubt" was American staying power in the region, Hagel called the decline of American military power a "good thing", because it forced American allies to share responsibilities.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: On July 31, 2013, Hagel announced the results of his Strategic Choices and Management Review, undertaken in response to the budget sequestration in 2013. One of the options he highlighted was to reduce the navy's aircraft carrier groups down from 11 to as little as eight.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: On August 27, 2013, Hagel told the BBC that the United States was ready to launch a strike against Syria if given the orders.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel has pushed National Guard leadership to provide benefits for same-sex domestic partnerships, as directed by the Department of Defense.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum in November 2013, Hagel announced the Pentagon's new Arctic strategy emphasizing the commitment of the United States to "detect, deter, prevent and defeat threats to the United States, and continue to exercise US sovereignty in and around Alaska". He also called for more international cooperation to protect the Arctic's environment and to keep the region "peaceful, stable and free of conflict".


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In December 2013, after the suspension of an Association Agreement with the EU by the Ukrainian Government of President Victor Yanukovych in November 2013 had led to massive protests, Hagel in a phone call warned the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Pavlo Lebedyev "not to use the armed forces of Ukraine against the civilian population in any fashion". After Yanukovych's impeachment and the beginning of the Crimean crisis in February 2014, Hagel warned Russia against military maneuvers "that could be misinterpreted, or lead to miscalculation during a very delicate time". In several phone calls with the Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu Hagel expressed deep concerns about Russian military activities near the Ukrainian border and called for an end of any "destabilizing influence inside Ukraine". He was assured by Shoygu that the Russian army would not invade Ukraine.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In May 2014, speaking at the Wilson Center on the future of NATO, Hagel focused on the alliance's imbalance in defense spending and called for "renewed financial commitments from all NATO members". According to Hagel, the alliance "should expect Russia to test our alliance's purpose, stamina and commitment":


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel was not insensitive to the European dependence on Russian natural gas and consequent exposure to "Russia’s coercive energy policies". In fact he saw even then an opportunity for North American producers. NATO's European allies were "positioned" to reduce their natural gas imports from Russia by more than 25% and the U.S. Department of Energy had conditionally approved export permits for American liquefied natural gas that add up to more than half of Europe’s gas imports from Russia.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel was instrumental in formulating the 2014 NATO Wales summit declaration, in which the Allies agreed to increase (over a period of ten years) their defence expenditures. The minimum of 2% GDP, formulated as a trial balloon at the 2006 NATO Riga summit by then-NATO Ambassador Victoria Nuland, had been scorned by most in Europe, for example Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Only three alliance members did so in 2014. In light of the crisis in Ukraine, the issue had assumed increased political relevance.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: During his time as Secretary of Defense, he was known for the close relationship he formed with Israeli defense officials, in particular Moshe Ya'alon, who described Hagel as a 'true friend'. Even as his relations with the White House deteriorated, Hagel was positively viewed by Israeli military officials, which was seen as a stark contrast to the way Hagel was perceived by some in Washington prior to his appointment.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: On November 24, 2014, "The New York Times" reported that Hagel would be resigning from his position as Secretary of Defense under pressure from the Obama administration, in particular because of a dispute with NSA Advisor Susan E. Rice over Syria policy. The administration under Hagel's watch had struggled to articulate a strategy to defeat ISIL in both Iraq and Syria. Later that day, President Obama announced Hagel's resignation and thanked him for his service. Hagel said in a statement, "You should know I did not make this decision lightly. But after much discussion, the President and I agreed that now was the right time for new leadership here at the Pentagon."


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel did not deny rumors that Obama asked for his resignation, but he explicitly contended that it was a "mutual decision" between him and President Obama. Senator John McCain offered his own insight: Hagel was frustrated with the White House decision-making process, national security policy, and "excessive micromanagement" within the White House. In December 2015, during an interview with "Foreign Policy", Hagel stated he was "backstabbed" and accused Obama administration officials of making anonymous comments after his resignation in an effort to destroy his reputation.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In 2001, Hagel was awarded the Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans. He was also granted the title of Nebraska Admiral by Nebraska's governor, an honorary title, considering Nebraska is a landlocked state.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: On June 7, 2001, Hagel gave the commencement address for North Central College and was given an honorary L.L.D. He was the keynote speaker at the College of William & Mary's Charter Day in 2007, at which he was awarded an honorary degree of Public Service. On March 3, 2008, he led a town meeting on domestic and foreign policy issues at the University of Maryland, at which the Center for American Politics and Citizenship (CAPC) gave him the Millard Tydings Award for Courage and Leadership in American Politics. Hagel served as the 2010 Clifford P. Case Professor of Public Affairs at Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute of Politics, speaking at public programs in New Brunswick and Newark, New Jersey.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel was also the featured speaker at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Chemistry Council at Colorado Springs.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel, along with more than 100 Republican former national security officials, signed a letter in November 2020 that stated that the delay of the presidential transition imperiled the security of the nation. The 9/11 Commission finding that the shortened transition to the administration of George W. Bush during the disputed 2000 presidential election "hampered the new administration in identifying, recruiting, clearing, and obtaining Senate confirmation of key appointees" was mentioned in the statement.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel, along with all other former secretaries of defense, nine in total, published a "Washington Post" op-ed piece in January 2021 telling President Trump not to involve the military in determining the outcome of the 2020 elections.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel has two younger brothers: Thomas, a professor at the University of Dayton School of Law, and Michael, an artist resident in Omaha, Nebraska. Hagel's third brother, James, died in an automobile accident at the age of 16. Hagel was raised in the Roman Catholic faith, but converted to Episcopalianism.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: In 1979, Hagel married Patricia Lloyd. The couple separated in 1981 and divorced a year later. He married his second wife, Lilibet Ziller, in April 1985. The couple live with their daughter, Allyn, and son, Ziller, in McLean, Virginia.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: While a Senator, Hagel had a tradition of wearing costumes to work on Halloween, usually masquerading as one of his colleagues or other notable political figures, including Joe Biden, John McCain, Colin Powell, and Pat Roberts in past years. He gave back a portion of his salary for the 2013 fiscal year in solidarity with his department's workers who were facing 14 days of furloughs.


title: Chuck Hagel

text: Hagel is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One. In October 2022, Hagel joined Issue One's Council for Responsible Social Media project to address the negative mental, civic, and public health impacts of social media in the United States co-chaired by former House Democratic Caucus Leader Dick Gephardt and former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey.


title: Smoking cessation

text: Smoking cessation, usually called quitting smoking or stopping smoking, is the process of discontinuing tobacco smoking. Tobacco smoke contains nicotine, which is addictive and can cause dependence. As a result, nicotine withdrawal often makes the process of quitting difficult.


title: Smoking cessation

text: Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and a global public health concern. Tobacco use leads most commonly to diseases affecting the heart and lungs, with smoking being a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), emphysema, and various types and subtypes of cancers (particularly lung cancer, cancers of the oropharynx, larynx, and mouth, esophageal and pancreatic cancer). Smoking cessation significantly reduces the risk of dying from smoking-related diseases.


title: Smoking cessation

text: In the United States, about 70% of smokers would like to quit smoking, and 50% report having made an attempt to do so in the past year. Many strategies can be used for smoking cessation, including abruptly quitting without assistance ("cold turkey"), cutting down then quitting, behavioral counseling, and medications such as bupropion, cytisine, nicotine replacement therapy, or varenicline. In recent years, especially in Canada and the United Kingdom, many smokers have switched to use electronic cigarettes in order to quit smoking tobacco.


title: Smoking cessation

text: Most smokers who try to quit do so without assistance. However, only 3–6% of quit attempts without assistance are successful long-term. Behavioral counseling and medications each increase the rate of successfully quitting smoking, and a combination of behavioral counseling with a medication such as bupropion is more effective than either intervention alone. A meta-analysis from 2018, conducted on 61 randomized controlled trials, showed that among people who quit smoking with a cessation medication (and some behavioral help), approximately 20% were still nonsmokers a year later, as compared to 12% who did not take medication.


title: Smoking cessation

text: In nicotine-dependent smokers, quitting smoking can lead to symptoms of nicotine withdrawal such as nicotine cravings, anxiety, irritability, depression, and weight gain. Professional smoking cessation support methods generally attempt to address nicotine withdrawal symptoms to help the person break free of nicotine addiction.


title: Smoking cessation

text: It is common for ex-smokers to have made a number of attempts (often using different approaches on each occasion) to stop smoking before achieving long-term abstinence. Over 74.7% of smokers attempt to quit without any assistance, otherwise known as "cold turkey", or with home remedies. Previous smokers make between an estimated 6 and 30 attempts before successfully quitting. Identifying which approach or technique is eventually most successful is difficult; it has been estimated, for example, that only about 4% to 7% of people are able to quit smoking on any given attempt without medicines or other help. The majority of quit attempts are still unassisted, though the trend seems to be shifting. In the U.S., for example, the rate of unassisted quitting fell from 91.8% in 1986 to 52.1% during 2006 to 2009. The most frequent unassisted methods were "cold turkey", a term that has been used to mean either unassisted quitting or abrupt quitting and "gradually decreased number" of cigarettes, or "cigarette reduction".


title: Smoking cessation

text: "Cold turkey" is a colloquial term indicating abrupt withdrawal from an addictive drug, and in this context indicates sudden and complete cessation of all nicotine use. In three studies, it was the quitting method cited by 76%, 85%, or 88% of long-term successful quitters. In a large British study of ex-smokers in the 1980s, before the advent of pharmacotherapy, 53% of the ex-smokers said that it was "not at all difficult" to stop, 27% said it was "fairly difficult", and the remaining 20% found it very difficult. Studies have found that two-thirds of recent quitters reported using the cold turkey method and found it helpful.


title: Smoking cessation

text: Gradual reduction involves slowly reducing one's daily intake of nicotine. This can theoretically be accomplished through repeated changes to cigarettes with lower levels of nicotine, by gradually reducing the number of cigarettes smoked each day, or by smoking only a fraction of a cigarette on each occasion. A 2009 systematic review by researchers at the University of Birmingham found that gradual nicotine replacement therapy could be effective in smoking cessation. There is no significant difference in quit rates between smokers who quit by gradual reduction or abrupt cessation as measured by abstinence from smoking of at least six months from the quit day. The same review also looked at five pharmacological aids to reduction. When reducing the number of smoked cigarettes, it found some evidence that additional varenicline or fast-acting nicotine replacement therapy can have positive effects on quitting for six months and longer.


title: Smoking cessation

text: The American Cancer Society notes that "Studies in medical journals have reported that about 25% of smokers who use medicines can stay smoke-free for over 6 months." Single medications include:


title: Smoking cessation

text: A meta-analysis from 2018, conducted on 61 RCTs, showed that during their first year of trying to quit, approximately 80% of the participants in the studies who got drug assistance (bupropion, NRT, or varenicline) returned to smoking while 20% continued to not smoke for the entire year (i.e.: remained sustained abstinent). In comparison, 12% the people who got placebo kept from smoking for (at least) an entire year. This makes the net benefit of the drug treatment to be 8% after the first 12 months. In other words, out of 100 people who will take medication, approximately 8 of them would remain non-smoking after one year thanks to the treatment. During the course of one year, the benefit from using smoking cessation medications (Bupropion, NRT, or varenicline) decreases from 17% in 3 months, to 12% in 6 months to 8% in 12 months.


title: Smoking cessation

text: Community interventions using "multiple channels to provide reinforcement, support and norms for not smoking" may have an effect on smoking cessation outcomes among adults. Specific methods used in the community to encourage smoking cessation among adults include:


title: Smoking cessation

text: Most smoking cessation resources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and The Mayo Clinic encourage smokers to create a quit plan, including setting a quit date, which helps them anticipate and plan ahead for smoking challenges. A quit plan can improve a smoker's chance of a successful quit as can setting Monday as the quit date, given that research has shown that Monday more than any other day is when smokers are seeking information online to quit smoking and calling state quit lines.


title: Smoking cessation

text: Self-help materials may produce a small increase in quit rates specially when there is no other supporting intervention form. "The effect of self-help was weak", and the number of types of self-help did not produce higher abstinence rates. Nevertheless, self-help modalities for smoking cessation include:


title: Smoking cessation

text: Various methods exist which allow a smoker to see the impact of their tobacco use, and the immediate effects of quitting. Using biochemical feedback methods can allow tobacco-users to be identified and assessed, and the use of monitoring throughout an effort to quit can increase motivation to quit. Evidence wise, little is known about the effects of using biomechanical tests to determine a person's risk related to smoking cessation.


title: Smoking cessation

text: While both measures offer high sensitivity and specificity, they differ in usage method and cost. As an example, breath CO monitoring is non-invasive, while cotinine testing relies on a bodily fluid. These two methods can be used either alone or together, for example, in a situation where abstinence verification needs additional confirmation.


title: Smoking cessation

text: Financial or material incentives to entice people to quit smoking improves smoking cessation while the incentive is in place. Competitions that require participants to deposit their own money, "betting" that they will succeed in their efforts to quit smoking, appear to be an effective incentive. However, in head-to-head comparisons with other incentive models such as giving participants NRT or placing them in a more typical rewards program, it is more difficult to recruit participants for this type of contest. There is evidence that incentive programs may be effective for pregnant mothers who smoke. As of 2019, there is an insufficient number of studies on "quit and win" and other competition-based interventions and results from the existing studies were inconclusive.


title: Smoking cessation

text: A 2008 Cochrane review of smoking cessation activities in work-places concluded that "interventions directed towards individual smokers increase the likelihood of quitting smoking". A 2010 systematic review determined that worksite incentives and competitions needed to be combined with additional interventions to produce significant increases in smoking cessation rates.


title: Smoking cessation

text: Interventions delivered via healthcare providers and healthcare systems have been shown to improve smoking cessation among people who visit those services.


title: Smoking cessation

text: Cochrane reviews, mainly of studies combining motivational enhancement and psychological support, concluded that "complex approaches" for smoking cessation among young people show promise. The 2008 US Guideline recommends counselling-style support for adolescent smokers on the basis of a meta-analysis of seven studies. Neither the Cochrane review nor the 2008 Guideline recommends medications for adolescents who smoke.


title: Smoking cessation

text: Smoking during pregnancy can cause adverse health effects in both the woman and the fetus. The 2008 US Guideline determined that "person-to-person psychosocial interventions" (typically including "intensive counseling") increased abstinence rates in pregnant women who smoke to 13.3%, compared with 7.6% in usual care. Mothers who smoke during pregnancy have a greater tendency towards premature births. Their babies are often underdeveloped, have smaller organs, and weigh much less than the normal baby. In addition, these babies have weaker immune systems, making them more susceptible to many diseases such as middle ear inflammations and asthmatic bronchitis as well as metabolic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, all of which can bring significant morbidity. Additionally, a study published by American Academy of Pediatrics shows that smoking during pregnancy increases the chance of sudden unexpected infant death (SUID). There is also an increased chance that the child will be a smoker in adulthood. A systematic review showed that psychosocial interventions help women to stop smoking in late pregnancy and can reduce the incidence of low birthweight infants.


title: Smoking cessation

text: It is a myth that a female smoker can cause harm to a fetus by quitting immediately upon discovering she is pregnant. This idea is not based on any medical study or fact.


title: Smoking cessation

text: In a UK study that included 1140 pregnant women, e-cigarettes were found to be as effective as nicotine patches at helping pregnant women to quit smoking. The safety of the two products was also similar.