American author and talk show host, considered by the political left as “the most dangerous man in America” with his ridicule of liberals. He started his national radio show with 56 stations in 1982 and slowly grew in massive popularity in the next decade. By March 1994, over 634 radio stations carried his show, plus some overseas. His late night talk show ran from September 1992 until 1996, when it was canceled. He took calls on his show but never guests as any noted person might deflect attention from himself. He went from a fat, powerless, lonely little boy to a big fat boy worth $25 million and with the power to influence national elections.
His first book, “The Way Things Ought To Be,” was published in September 1992 and sold over 2.4 million copies. His second book, “See I Told You So,” released in 1993, had a record first printing of two million, which sold out in two years. From October 1992 he also published the “Limbaugh Letter.”
The older of two sons born to an attorney and a Republican committeewoman, Rush developed a flair for extemporaneous oratory that he learned from his dad and a sense of humor that he learned from his mother. His massive ego needed no coaching, it grew as immerse as his girth. A pudgy loner as a kid, he did not have the popularity he longed for and was drawn to radio broadcast rather than law, for its broader audience. At 16, he obtained his radio broadcasting license. Working at the local station, he became a D.J.
Limbaugh flunked out of speech in college and dropped out of school after a year. He tried various broadcasting jobs and after being fired a few times, dropped out of radio to go into sales. After five years, he tried once more to break into radio with a news-reading job in Kansas City. In late 1984 he moved on to Sacramento, California to replace Morton Downey, Jr., working for managers who were delighted with his irreverent and controversial ad-libs. On 4 July 1988, he began his New York two-hour live broadcast. He went national in less than a month, on 8 August 1988.
Limbaugh was intoxicated by words, especially those from his own mouth. His vocabulary was extensive and his diction grandiose. His nervous energy played out through his hands, which were seldom still and he obviously loved his work. On 14 September 1992, his TV show made a debut and by the middle of January 1993, he was seen on 206 stations in 98% of the country. A weekly audience of over twenty million listeners (mostly conservative, white, middle-class men) soaked up his conservative, white middle-class diatribes on radio and TV’s syndicated show.
No less an authority than the Times credited Limbaugh’s influence with passing N.A.F.T.A., damaging Clinton’s crime bill, destroying his lobbying bill, and sweeping the Republicans to congressional victory in 1994. His fans called themselves “dittoheads,” apparently because he relieved them of the responsibility of thinking for themselves and they need only to add “ditto” to what Rush said. According to Rush, it was because he was “the epitome of morality and virtue . . . with talent on loan from God.” Mainly, though, it was his distaste for blue jeans, feminism, affirmative action, welfare, and all other liberal cant that struck a deep chord with millions of dittoheads.
Twice married and divorced, he made a third marriage to journalist Marta Fitzgerald, 35, on 27 May 1994, whom he met through the Internet. Limbaugh’s first marriage lasted eighteen months, and his second wife was a Kansas City Royals usherette. He met the third Mrs. Limbaugh via CompuServe in 1990, when Marta, a University of North Florida student, sent him an e-mail note asking how to deal with a Reagan-bashing professor. Four years later, the couple was married at the Virginia home of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who also officiated. Soon afterward, Rush declared himself a new man: “I loved myself too much to love anybody else, but that’s no longer operative.”
Limbaugh was a clever comedian and a very good entertainer. But he used his status as an entertainer as a way to avoid responsibility for the ridiculous and inaccurate things he said. He tried to tell his audience that he was always accurate and always right. Yet whenever he was shown to be wrong about something, he contended that he was an entertainer not a journalist and that as such, what he said was never meant to be taken seriously.
He was constantly attacking people he didn’t agree with and tried to point out where they were wrong or inaccurate (as he had every right to do). Yet whenever someone bothered to point any kind of inaccuracy on his show he whined that “the media is ganging up on me.” Apparently he could dish it out but he couldn’t take it.
Probably the best examples of the kinds of deceit that Rush used were listed in a book called “The Way Things Aren’t: Rush Limbaugh’s Reign of Error” written by the organization FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting). This book lists over 100 statements that Rush made either on the air or in print and shows how Rush misstated the facts or just plain invented so-called facts to support his views. The authors give the sources of their information (something that Rush almost never did in his books) and in many cases, they demonstrate that Rush knew the truth but chose to lie about many issues. They point out in their book that they had no trouble finding 100 lies and distortions that Rush had told. If fact, their only problem was in selecting only 100 out of the multitude of lies he told.
His weight, once over 300 lbs, went up and down several times with diets or binges. In late 2001, he lost so much weight that his moon-face took form and he came out actually good-looking. On 8 October 2001, he announced on his show that he was virtually deaf. He had awakened on 29 May to find that he was losing hearing in his left ear and now had no hearing in his left ear and little in his right. On 19 December 2001, he had an electronic hearing device implanted in his left ear that should regain 30 to 40% of his hearing in that ear.
On 1 October 2003, the outspoken conservative commentator resigned as ESPN sports analyst after he made inappropriate comments about a black football player, when he remarked on the previous Sunday’s show that Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles was overrated because the media wanted a black quarterback to succeed. In addition, according to media reports that began airing on 1 October, he was under investigation in Florida for allegedly illegally obtaining and abusing prescription painkillers and possibly money-laundering. On 10 October 2003, he announced that he was indeed addicted to prescription pain medication, stemming from unsuccessful spinal surgery several years prior but denied any illegal activities. He completed a rehab program.
In addition to his legal and addiction problems, the conservative talk show host reportedly experienced marital difficulty. He and his third wife separated in late spring 2004 with intent to divorce “amicably.” They had been married for ten years. By Thanksgiving in November that year he was seen with 42-year-old CNN anchor Daryn Kagan, and the relationship seemed to be serious. His divorce from his third wife became final on 21 December 2004. Just after 2:30 PM on 30 December 2009 he was rushed to a Honolulu hospital suffering chest pains. After a brief hospitalization he announced that he had not suffered a heart attack.
Limbaugh married for the fourth time on 5 June 2010 in Palm Beach, Florida, taking as his bride 33-year-old Kathryn Elizabeth Rogers (born 19 December 1976 according to a website). They had met six years prior while he was in the process of divorcing his third wife.
Limbaugh was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer on 20 January 2020, after first experiencing shortness of breath on 12 January. He announced the diagnosis on air during his radio show on 3 February; conceding that he would miss airtime to undergo treatment, he stated that he planned to continue the program “as normally and competently” as he could while undergoing treatment. Rush Limbaugh died in Palm Beach, Florida on 17 February 2021 at the age of 70 from lung cancer.
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