Rush Limbaugh profile: The Most Dangerous Man in America?








As well as the most popular, he is also the highest paid radio host in the country, having last year signed a record-breaking $400 million (£286 million) eight-year contract to continue to present his show.

Limbaugh has been credited with enormous political influence, particularly among grassroots Republican Party members. Ronald Reagan once sent him a letter, thanking Limbaugh "for all you're doing to promote Republican and conservative principles" and proclaiming him "the Number One voice for conservatism in our Country".

After the Republicans won the House of Representatives in 1994 for only the second time in 50 years, Limbaugh was declared an honorary member of Congress

The radio host was bitterly disappointed when John McCain was chosen as the Republican nominee to compete in the November 2008 presidential election, considering him not conservative enough.

But an even bigger opponent of Mr Obama's, he orchestrated Operation Chaos, a campaign urging Republican voters to back Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primaries in a bid to prolong the Democratic nomination race and discredit Mr Obama.

Its effectiveness has not been proven, but after Mrs Clinton clinched victories in several key states, she quipped: "Be careful what you wish for, Rush."

Limbaugh remained confident Mr Obama would not win the election, but after he did immediately linked the President-elect to the economic woes plaguing the nation.

"The Obama recession is in full swing, ladies and gentlemen," he told his audience. "Stocks are dying, which is a precursor of things to come. This is an Obama recession. Might turn into a depression."

After the inauguration, Limbaugh declared on his radio show "I want Barack Obama to fail".

"We are being told we have to hope he succeeds, that we have to bend over and grab our ankles... because his father was black, because he's the first black president, we've got to accept this."

He reiterated the comment to Fox News's Sean Hannity, saying: "I want him to fail. If his agenda is a far-left collectivism - some people say socialism - as a conservative heartfelt, deeply, why would I want socialism to succeed?"

His comments prompted Mr Obama to urge Republicans not to listen to his comments in the interests of bipartisan cooperation.

"You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," Mr Obama said.

Other controversial Limbaugh comments include a suggestion Michael J Fox had hammed up his Parkinson's disease for political purposes when appealing for embryonic stem-cell research and declaring global warming "a 100 per cent, full-fledged, undeniable hoax".