For many practical purposes, a simpler shape is used because that makes calculations easier. That shape is called a reference ellipsoid. In basic education, the shape of the Earth is described as being like an orange, a sphere but wider round the equator. This shape is produced by all celestial spinning spheres, such as stars and planets. The details differ somewhat in each individual case.
Phil Gramm
Phil Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician. He is a former United States Senator from Texas. He was a member of both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate. He unsuccessfully ran for President in 1996.
Gramm was born on July 8, 1942 in Fort Benning, Georgia. He graduated from the University of Georgia. He is married to Wendy Lee Gramm. They have two children.
Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Murkowski (born May 22, 1957) is an American politician. She is a member of the U.S. Republican Party. On December 20, 2002, she became a United States Senator from Alaska. In 2009, she became the senior senator from Alaska. She was in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1999 to 2002.
Murkowski was born on May 22, 1957 in Ketchikan, Alaska. She studied at Georgetown University and at Willamette University. She is married to Verne Martell. They have two children.
On February 13, 2021 Murkowski voted that former Republican President Donald Trump was guilty of starting the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol. She and six other Republican senators also voted that Trump was guilty. This was after the House of Representatives Second impeachment of Donald Trump.
George Voinovich
George Victor Voinovich () (July 15, 1936 – June 12, 2016) was an American politician. He was the former United States Senator from the state of Ohio serving from 1999 to 2011. Voinovich was a member of the Republican Party. He lastly served as the 65th Governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998. He was the 54th Mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989.
Voinovich was born on July 15, 1936 in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was of Croatian Serb descent. His mother was of Slovenian descent. He was raised in Collinwood, Ohio; a suburb of Cleveland. He studied at Ohio University and at Ohio State University. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in government from Ohio University and a Law degree from Ohio State.
Voinovich began his political career in 1963 as an Assistant Attorney General of Ohio. He then served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1967 to 1971. From 1971 to 1976, he served as County Auditor of Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
In 1971, he ran for the Republican nomination for Mayor of Cleveland. He lost to Ralph J. Perk. From 1977 to 1978, Voinovich served as a member of the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners.
In 1978, Voinovich was elected lieutenant governor on the ticket with James A. Rhodes (the first Ohio lieutenant governor not to be elected separately from the governor).
In 1979, the mayoral elections in Cleveland had become nonpartisan. Then-Mayor Dennis J. Kucinich (D) was about to enter a tough re-election campaign. Voinovich began to think running for mayor again. Finally, on July 26, he made "one of the most difficult decisions in [his] life" by running for mayor. He held his office as lieutenant governor until he won the election.
On October 8, 1979, a few days after the primary, Voinovich's nine-year-old daughter Molly was struck by a van and killed. The event brought the Voinovich campaign to a virtual halt and made it difficult for Kucinich to attack his opponent.
Voinovich went on to be re-elected twice by landslides. In 1981 he defeated former State Representative Patrick Sweeney, 107,472 to 32,940, to win Cleveland's first four-year mayoral term. In 1985 he defeated former councilman Gary Kucinich (brother of Dennis Kucinich), 82,840 to 32,185.
Voinovich was considered shy. Voinovich took an aggressive approach after many people thought Cleveland was a bad place to be in. He reversed a defensive attitude projected by the Cleveland media, going to "war...to save one of this country's greatest cities."
The New Cleveland Campaign, a promotion agency formed in 1978, began sending out news releases bragging about Cleveland's benefits. Many people thanked Voinovich for fixing the city. He even attracted presidential candidates Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan to debate in Cleveland. "Cleveland is making a comeback," "Time Magazine" declared at the close of 1980.
In order to accomplish more, Voinovich felt that the terms for mayor and Cleveland City Council to be extended. He offered a referendum to voters to extend them from two to four years and asked voters to approve cutting down the number of council members from 33 to 21 in order to help ease the city's bad economy. They approved both requests.
As mayor, Voinovich was a member of the National League of Cities and was elected President in 1985. In addition, the National Civic League awarded Cleveland the All-America City Award three times in five years,(1982, 1984, 1986), in addition to its first, won in 1950.
In 1988, he ran for the office of senator. He lost the election to Howard Metzenbaum. After the election, Vionovich left office as mayor in 1989.
In 1990, Voinovich was nominated by the Republicans to replace Governor Richard F. Celeste, a Democrat who could not run for a third term. He defeated Anthony J. Celebrezze, Jr. easily in what was considered a close to faultless campaign.
During his first four years he pulled Ohio out of a $1.5 billion deficit and was a national leader in welfare reform and removing unfunded mandates. In 1991 Voinovich served as the Chairman of the Midwestern Governors Association.
In 1994, Voinovich was re-elected to the governorship, defeating Democrat Robert L. Burch Jr. in a massive landslide.
Voinovich did many things in his second term. In 1995 he was named Public Official of the Year by the National Journal. He was thanked with giving leadership in creating a public voucher plan to improve student achievement by using public funds to pay tuition at church affiliated schools. When the state legislature wanted to close Central State University, Ohio's only historically black state supported college, Voinovich stepped in by appointing a new board and convincing John Garland to become president.
In 1996, Voinovich was the first governor to endorse U.S. Senator Robert J. Dole's bid for the Republican Presidential nomination. Later, Voinovich was among nine candidates as a potential vice presidential running mates with Dole. Voinovich said no to the offer to focus on running for senator.
In 1998, he could not run for a third term as governor due to term limits, Voinovich set his eyes on the U.S. Senate seat being left by long-time incumbent Democrat John Glenn. He resigned as governor on December 31, 1998 to focus on his senate race.
In the 1998 senate elections, Voinovich won the election with 56% to Democratic politician Mary Boyle's 44%.
He joined Democrats on tax issues and in 2000 was the only Republican in Congress to vote against a bill providing for relief from the "marriage penalty."
In November 2004, in his bid for re-election, Voinovich defeated the Democratic nominee, Ohio state senator and former U.S. Representative Eric D. Fingerhut. Voinovich won all 88 Ohio counties and won the largest amount of votes ever in a U.S. Senate race in Ohio – 3.5 million.
Voinovich gained national attention when he gave a speech tearfully opposing the nomination of John R. Bolton, who was selected for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Later, Voinovich has since changed his views and said that Bolton did a "good job" as U.N. Ambassador, praising him by saying "I spend a lot of time with John on the phone. I think he is really working very constructively to move forward."