On November 2, 2004, Leahy easily defeated his opponent, businessman Jack McMullen, with 70.6 percent of the vote. On January 5, 2005, Leahy was sworn in for his sixth term in the Senate by Cheney.
On September 21, 2005, Leahy announced his support for John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. On January 19, 2006, Leahy announced that he would vote against Judge Samuel Alito to be a justice on the Supreme Court.
On January 18, 2007, Leahy received widespread coverage for his cross-examination of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about the Maher Arar affair and the extraordinary rendition of Arar to Syria.
Upon the death of Senate President pro tempore Daniel Inouye on December 17, 2012, Leahy became the most senior senator in the majority party, and was elected as the new President pro tempore by unanimous consent.
On January 3, 2015, Orrin Hatch succeeded Leahy as President pro tempore of the United States Senate. He was honored with the title "President pro tempore emeritus" soon afterwards.
On January 20, 2021, Leahy became President pro tempore again since Democrats won control of the U.S. Senate.
On January 25, 2021, it was announced that Leahy would be the presiding officer at Donald Trump's second impeachment trial, becoming the first senator to preside over a president's impeachment trial.
Leahy married Marcelle Pomerleau in 1962. They live in a farmhouse in Middlesex, Vermont that they moved to from Burlington, and have three children. Leahy celebrated his fifty year anniversary with his wife, saying ‘‘We hate it when we’re apart from one another.’’ Leahy is legally blind in one eye. Leahy was targeted in an anthrax attack November 16, 2001.
On January 26, 2021, Leahy was hospitalized after feeling ill. He returned home later the same day.
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American movie director, producer and actor. He is known for his high-budget action movies which often use a lot of special effects, especially explosions. These include "Transformers", "", "", "", "Nightmare on Elm Street", "Friday the 13th", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Bad Boys", "Pearl Harbor", and "Armageddon".
Bay was born on February 17, 1965 in Los Angeles, California. He studied at Wesleyan University. His cousin-in-law is actor Leonard Nimoy.
Bay got his start in the film industry interning with George Lucas when he was fifteen, filing the storyboards for "Raiders of the Lost Ark", which he thought was going to be terrible. His opinion changed after seeing it in the theater and he was so impressed by the experience that he decided to become a film director. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1986, majoring in both English and Film. He was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity and a favorite student of film historian Jeanine Basinger. For his graduate work, he attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena where he also studied film.
Michael Bay began working at Propaganda Films, directing commercials and music videos, two weeks after finishing his post-graduate degree. His 90-second World War II-inspired Coca-Cola advertisement was picked up by Capitol Records. His first national commercial for the Red Cross won a Clio Award in 1992.
Bay's success in music videos gained the attention of producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, who selected him to direct his first feature-length film, "Bad Boys". The film was shot in Miami in 1994 and starred Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. The action film proved to be a break-out role for Smith, who was segueing from television to films at that time. Shooting in Miami was a good experience for Bay who would later own a home in the city and spend a great deal of time there. The film was completed for $19 million and grossed a remarkable $141 million at the box office in the summer of 1995. Bay's success led to a strong partnership and friendship with Jerry Bruckheimer.
His follow-up film, "The Rock" (1996), was an action movie set on Alcatraz Island, and in the San Francisco Bay area. It starred Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris. It was also produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, the latter of whom died five months before the film's release. The film is dedicated to him. Connery and Cage won 'Best On-Screen Duo' at the MTV Movie Awards in 1997 and the film was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Achievement in Sound category for the work of Greg P. Russell, Kevin O'Connell, and Keith A. Wester.
In 1998, Bay collaborated with Jerry Bruckheimer again, this time as a co-producer, as well as directing the action-adventure film "Armageddon". The film, about a group of tough oil drillers who are sent by NASA to deflect an asteroid away from a collision course with Earth, starred Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler. It was nominated for 4 Oscars at the 71st Academy Awards including Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, and Best Original Song. The film earned 9.6 million dollars on its opening day and a total of 36.5 million through the first weekend. The production budget, $140 million, was one of the highest of the summer of 1998. "Armageddon" went on to gross over $553 million worldwide.
In 2001, Bay directed "Pearl Harbor". It starred Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale and Cuba Gooding, Jr. The film was released on Memorial Day weekend in 2001. Again, Bay produced the film with Jerry Bruckheimer. The film received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing and Best Song. Again, Kevin O'Connell received another nomination for Best Sound, but he did not win. "Pearl Harbor" won in the category for Sound Editing. Michael Bay also directed the music video for nominated track "There You'll Be" by vocal artist Faith Hill. Despite all the criticisms that Michael Bay had received through the film, "Pearl Harbor" remained to be stagnant in the major blockbuster list, as it featured a plot which the viewers, especially young audiences, can relate with, and special effects which made the movie very realistic.
Bay reteamed with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence for "Bad Boys II", an event which also marked Bay's fifth collaboration with Jerry Bruckheimer. The film grossed $138 million domestically, enough to cover the production budget, and $273 million worldwide, almost twice as much as the first movie.
In 2005, Bay directed "The Island", a science-fiction film starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. It was the first film Michael Bay made without Jerry Bruckheimer. "The Island" cost $126 million to produce. It earned $46 million domestically and $172 million worldwide. Bay stated that he was not comfortable with the domestic marketing campaign as it confused the audience as to the true subject of the film.
In 2007, he directed and teamed up with Steven Spielberg to produce "Transformers", a live action film based on the Transformers franchise. The film was released in the U.S. and Canada on July 3, 2007, with 8 p.m. preview screenings on July 2. The previews earned $8.8 million, and in its first day of general release it grossed $27.8 million, a record for Tuesday box office attendance. It broke the record held by Spider-Man 2 for the biggest July 4 gross, making $29 million. On its opening weekend, "Transformers" grossed $70.5 million, amounting to a $155.4 million opening week, giving it the record for the biggest opening week for a non-sequel. As of November 2007, the film has made over $319 million domestically and over $708 million worldwide.