"The worst thing that can happen to us in an ideological struggle is to become what we are fighting." -- Nick Clooney
Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Clooney (born January 13, 1934) is an America journalist, anchorman and game show host. He is the brother of singer Rosemary Clooney, and the father of actor and film director George Clooney.
"A salute from this corner to President Bush for saying he was willing to investigate raising or eliminating the cap on salaries subject to the Social Security tax.""America has faced much more difficult times, including potential national extinction, without flinching.""America, the temple of invention and industry, doesn't make things anymore.""As I listened, it occurred to me that interest in and affection for the animals that share the planet with us may be a more unifying force than any other.""Conventional wisdom holds that setting a timetable for getting American troops out of Iraq would be a mistake.""Currently, 94 out of 100 of us pay the Social Security tax all year round.""For some reason, on that sparkling afternoon last week, I actually saw the coal that was passing by and it set me to thinking how important coal was to our everyday lives when I was a little boy.""In economic panics throughout history, the wiping out of the savings accounts of lower earners and the middle class has often led to social revolution, sometimes violent upheavals.""In matters large and small, many people seemed concerned about churlishness, an ugliness in our relationships that appears to be increasing rather than decreasing.""In my opinion, the president is right to address future funding, even though Social Security will show a surplus through 2018 and will not run out of funds until 2042.""It is impossible to exaggerate the wide, and widening, gulf between the American attitude on the Iraq war and the view from our friends across the Atlantic.""It is statesmanlike for the administration and Congress to look to our nation's welfare beyond their terms in office.""No matter how many troops we have in place or how long they stay, we cannot impose a parliamentary democracy there any more than the insurgents can impose a theocracy.""One of the pleasant duties of America's most famous announcers during the relatively short swing era of the big bands was to host late-night remotes from some of the most famous ballrooms throughout the country.""Our actions in the Middle East over the last 15 years have already guaranteed radical Muslims quite enough ammunition to kill Americans for the next century, even if Guantanamo did not exist.""Our nest eggs, no matter how small, are safe.""Perhaps our Irish friends should not so completely turn their backs on their historical dishes, no matter how many jokes they might have to endure.""Respect and affection for animals, particularly those who share our homes, recognize no geographic borders.""Social Security is at last on the nation's front burner.""The kind of Iraq that emerges from all of this is ultimately out of our hands.""The quality that defines us as Americans is the courage to respond to being hit. The courage to root out and destroy the killers. And, most importantly, the courage to hold on to our values and protect our hard-won freedoms while doing it.""Those who actually hate animals to the point of being cruel to them are outcasts to the rest of us, no matter where in the world they live.""We decided that how we react to and treat those fellow mortals, wild and domestic, tells us more about ourselves than, perhaps, some of us want to know.""We didn't defeat the Nazis by becoming Nazis.""We don't defeat evil by becoming evil.""We like to believe that, in our lifetime, the human condition is improving.""What the F.D.I.C. does is to put the full faith and credit of the United States government behind every savings account in the nation, up to a limit that has changed over the years and stands now at $100,000.""Whatever its other limitations, the Big Apple and those who live there make room for their dogs and cats, take good care of them and abide by the rules made necessary by a huge population.""When runaway inflation and bank failures struck in Germany in the 1920s, the middle class was destroyed, which led directly to the rise of the Nazis."
Clooney was born Nicholas Joseph Clooney in Maysville, Kentucky, the son of Frances Marie (née Guilfoyle) and Andrew Joseph Clooney. Genealogy.com - Ancestry of George Clooney During a stint as a Corporal in the Army, he was a disc jockey in the American Forces Network in Germany, hosting very popular shows called "Music in the Air" and "Melody-Go-Round". He then moved to California for a try at show business. When that did not work out, Clooney moved to Ohio, where he met his wife, Nina, when she was a contestant in a beauty pageant he was judging.
Clooney had a five-year stint as a news anchor in Lexington, Kentucky, then went to Ohio to host his own TV show, the "Nick Clooney Show", first in Columbus, Ohio for WLWC television in the late 60s, then for Cincinnati's WCPO Channel 9 in 1969, and finally with its greatest degree of success for Cincinnati's WKRC-TV Channel 12 through the early 70s. The "Nick Clooney Show" was a local morning show, with a variety and talk-show format. In 1974, he gained his first national fame by hosting the short-lived ABC daytime game show The Money Maze. "The Money Maze" and the "Nick Clooney Show" aired back-to-back on WKRC-TV, at 10:30 and 11 a.m., respectively.
After the non-renewal of the Money Maze, Clooney became the news director and anchor for WKRC-TV, then an ABC affiliate, and the former home of his talk and variety show. As a journalist, he is probably best remembered for his hard-hitting coverage of the 1977 Beverly Hills Supper Club fire and its aftermath, which stretched for several years. Many people in the region first heard about the fire from Clooney when WKRC interrupted its Saturday night prime time schedule to broadcast news of the fire. Clooney pursued a hard news focus that was quite different from the sensationalism often seen on local TV. Under his leadership, WKRC-TV became a solid #1 in the local news ratings, dethroning CBS affiliate WCPO, which had controlled ratings for more than two decades under Al Schottelkotte's leadership. After leaving WKRC in 1984, Clooney worked in Los Angeles, California as the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. co-anchor at KNBC-TV, and Salt Lake City, Utah, as an anchor. He returned to WKRC-TV in the late 1980s, but by that time, Cincinnati's NBC affiliate, WLWT, was #1 in the late newscast with former mayor Jerry Springer as its main anchor; Clooney was not able to lead WKRC back to ratings leadership as he had done in the past.
Clooney entered print media in 1989 with a column in The Cincinnati Post, then in 1994 after a short stint as a local NBC affiliate's news anchor in Buffalo, New York on WGRZ, resurfaced nationally in television as a host and researcher for the cable channel American Movie Classics, where he introduced and presented backgrounds of classic movies, along with Bob Dorian. He also worked as a presenter on a Cincinnati oldies radio station, WSAI-AM.
Clooney ran as a Democrat in the 2004 election for a seat in the House of Representatives representing Kentucky's 4th Congressional District. His opponent for the open seat was Republican Geoff Davis. Clooney was highly recruited to run by Ken Lucas, the outgoing Democratic congressman who had held onto the conservative district with his moderate views. With his name recognition and well-publicized endorsement from Lucas, Clooney was a big favorite to keep the seat in Democratic hands.
Early in 2004, Davis fought through a (sometimes rough) three-way Republican primary to earn the chance to face off against Clooney.
Despite a commanding early lead, when the national media began to report on the electoral contest (due to his famous son George Clooney), the local and regional press began to use the phrase "Heartland vs. Hollywood" to describe the race. In the home stretch, Clooney's lead began to disappear. He was dealt a blow when both The Kentucky Enquirer and the Community Press newspapers endorsed Davis.
Clooney lost the election, winning only 44% of the vote, to Davis's 54%. At his concession speech on election day, he said his short career in politics was over. He went back to writing a column for The Cincinnati Post three times a week, covering a wide range of topics, until the Post's discontinuation in 2008.
In 2006, Clooney and his son George travelled to Darfur, Sudan and filmed a documentary, A Journey to Darfur, which was broadcast on American cable TV as well as in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and France. In 2008 it was released on DVD with the proceeds from its sale being donated to the International Rescue Committee to help the people of Darfur. .
Clooney became a strong activist for Darfur. He has done several open forums and speeches at local high schools in Ohio and Kentucky, and has participated in different rallies for Darfur. On March 16, 2007, following a Darfur rally, Clooney was awarded an honorary Class of 1952 diploma from St. Xavier High School, the high school he attended in Cincinnati before moving to California. On October 11, 2007, Clooney visited Turpin High School in Cincinnati to talk to students about Darfur. The University of Kentucky announced that it would present him with an honorary degree at its 2007 commencement.
Clooney served as the host of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize awards ceremony in both 2007 and 2008.
In fall 2008, Clooney joined the faculty at American University in Washington, D.C. as American University School of Communication and Newseum Distinguished Journalist in Residence. Clooney’s appointment is part of a long-term partnership between the School of Communication and the Newseum, the interactive museum of news in Washington, D.C.
Clooney taught Opinion Writing in fall 2008, and in spring 2009 he is teaching Films that Changed Us, a new course based on his book, The Movies That Changed Us: Reflections on the Screen (Atria, 2002). The book analyzes the significance of such iconic American films as The Birth of a Nation, The Jazz Singer, Dr. Strangelove, Stagecoach, The Graduate, Star Wars, and Saving Private Ryan.
As part of the school-Newseum partnership, Clooney will host the fifth annual AU School of Communication-Newseum Reel Journalism Film Festival and other events at the Newseum. The Newseum moved into its new $450 million home at 555 Pennsylvania Avemue in Northwest Washington in April 2006.
“After a news career that stretches back to the Eisenhower administration, I'm looking forward to joining American University’s School of Communication and the Newseum to work with a new generation of prospective journalists,” said Clooney.
