Sam Brownback Tenure What is Sam's connection with Tenure? Brownback was a member of the Judiciary Committee, the Senate Appropriations Committee What did he do as a member of the Judiciaty Committee? Brownback and Congressman Chris Smith led the effort to enact the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Did this effort pay off? According to Christianity Today, the stronger enforcement increased the number of U.S. federal trafficking cases eightfold in the five years after enactment. What else did Sam do as a member of the committee? In 2006, Brownback blocked a confirmation vote on a George W. Bush federal appeals court nominee from Michigan, judge Janet T. Neff.
What was the ourcome of this block?
What was the ourcome of Sam Brownback's block of a confirmation vote for George W. Bush's nominee of judge Janet T. Neff?
Brownback was a member of the Judiciary Committee, the Senate Appropriations Committee (where he chaired the Subcommittee on District of Columbia when the Republicans were in the majority), the Joint Economic Committee, and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, which he at one time chaired. The Helsinki Commission monitors compliance with international agreements reached in cooperation with Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.  In 2000, Brownback and Congressman Chris Smith led the effort to enact the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. President Clinton signed the legislation in October 2000. According to Christianity Today, the stronger enforcement increased the number of U.S. federal trafficking cases eightfold in the five years after enactment.  As of August 12, 2007, in the 110th Session of Congress, Brownback had missed 123 votes due to campaigning (39.7 percent) - surpassed only by Tim Johnson (D) of South Dakota who due to a critical illness had missed 100% of the votes of the 110th Session, and John McCain (R) of Arizona with 149 votes missed due to campaigning (48.1 percent).  As of April 2012, Brownback had an approval rating of 34 percent according to a Survey USA Poll. A Republican polling company found his approval rating to be 51 percent in May 2012. In November 2015, Brownback had an approval rating of 26 percent according to a Morning Consult poll, the lowest among all governors in the United States.  In 2006, Brownback blocked a confirmation vote on a George W. Bush federal appeals court nominee from Michigan, judge Janet T. Neff. He objected to her joining the bench solely for her having attended a same-sex commitment ceremony in Massachusetts in 2002 which involved a next door neighbor who was a close childhood friend of Neff's daughters. His action had blocked confirmation votes on an entire slate of appointments that already had been approved by a bipartisan group of Senators. In July 2007, he finally lifted his block that had prevented the vote, and the Senate confirmed her by 83-4. Brownback was joined in opposition by just three other conservatives, then-Senators Jim Bunning, Jon Kyl, and Mel Martinez. CANNOTANSWER
In July 2007, he finally lifted his block that had prevented the vote, and the Senate confirmed her by 83-4.
Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, diplomat and member of the Republican Party who served as the United States Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom from 2018 to 2021. Brownback previously served as the Secretary of Agriculture of Kansas (1986–93), as the U.S. representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district (1995–96), as a United States senator from Kansas (1996–2011) and the 46th governor of Kansas (2011–18). He also ran for the Republican nomination for President in 2008.

Born in Garnett, Kansas, Brownback grew up on the family farm in Parker, Kansas. He graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in agricultural economics in 1978 and received a J.D. from the University of Kansas in 1982. He worked as an attorney in Manhattan, Kansas, before being appointed Secretary of Agriculture of Kansas in 1986 by Democratic Governor John W. Carlin. Brownback ran for Congress in 1994 and defeated Carlin in the general election in a landslide. He represented Kansas's 2nd congressional district for a single term before running in a 1996 special election for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Bob Dole. He won the special election and was reelected by large margins in 1998 and 2004. Brownback ran for president in 2008, but withdrew before the primaries began and endorsed eventual Republican nominee John McCain.

Brownback declined to run for reelection in 2010, instead running for governor. He was elected governor of Kansas in 2010 and took office in January 2011. As governor, Brownback initiated what he called a "red-state experiment"—dramatic cuts in income tax rates intended to bring economic growth. He signed into law one of the largest income tax cuts in Kansas history, known as the Kansas experiment. The tax cuts caused state revenues to fall by hundreds of millions of dollars and created large budget shortfalls. A major budget deficit led to cuts in areas including education and transportation. In a repudiation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, in 2013 Brownback turned down a $31.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to set up a public health insurance exchange for Kansas. Also in 2013, he signed a bill that blocked tax breaks for abortion providers, banned sex-selection abortions and declared that life begins at fertilization. In the run-up to the 2014 gubernatorial election, over 100 former and current Kansas Republican officials criticized Brownback's leadership and endorsed his Democratic opponent, Paul Davis. Despite this, Brownback was narrowly reelected. In June 2017, the Kansas Legislature repealed Brownback's tax cuts, overrode Brownback's veto of the repeal, and enacted tax increases. Brownback, who had a 66% disapproval rating after the repeal of his signature law, left office as one of the least popular governors in the country.

On July 26, 2017, the Trump administration issued a statement that Brownback would be nominated as the new U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. The nomination was forwarded by committee, on a party line vote, but expired at the end of 2017 in lieu of a Senate confirmation vote by the time of adjournment. The committee re-sent his nomination to the Senate on January 8, 2018, and he was confirmed two weeks later in a strict party-line vote with Vice President Mike Pence casting the necessary tie-breaking vote to end a filibuster and for his confirmation. On January 25, Brownback submitted his resignation as governor, effective January 31, and Lieutenant Governor Jeff Colyer was sworn in as governor. Brownback was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom on February 1.

Early life and education
Sam Brownback was born on September 12, 1956, in Garnett, Kansas to Nancy (Cowden) and Glen Robert Brownback. He was raised in a farming family in Parker, Kansas. Some of Brownback's German-American ancestors settled in Kansas after leaving Pennsylvania following the Civil War. Throughout his youth, Brownback was involved the FFA (formerly the Future Farmers of America), serving as president of his local and state FFA chapters, and as national FFA vice president from 1976 to 1977.

After graduating from Prairie View High School, Brownback attended Kansas State University, where was elected student body president and became a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho agricultural fraternity. After graduating from college in 1978 with a degree in Agricultural Economics in 1978, he spent about a year working as a radio broadcaster for the now-defunct KSAC farm department, hosting a weekly half-hour show. Brownback received his J.D. from the University of Kansas in 1982.

Early career
Brownback was an attorney in Manhattan, Kansas, before being appointed as Kansas Secretary of Agriculture by Governor John W. Carlin on September 18, 1986. In 1990, he was accepted into the White House Fellow program and detailed to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative from 1990 to 1991. Brownback then returned to Kansas to resume his position as Secretary of Agriculture. He left his post on July 30, 1993. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 and ran in the 1996 special election for the U.S. Senate seat recently vacated by Bob Dole, beating appointed Republican Sheila Frahm.

U.S. Senator (1996–2011)

Elections
Sheila Frahm was appointed to fill the seat of U.S. Senator Bob Dole when Dole resigned in 1996 to campaign for president. Brownback defeated Frahm in the 1996 Republican primary and went on to win the general election against Democrat Jill Docking. Later in 2001, the Federal Election Commission assessed fines and penalties against Brownback's campaign committee and against his in-laws for improper 1996 campaign contributions. As a result of these improper contributions, the campaign was ordered to give the government $19,000 in contributions and Brownback's in-laws, John and Ruth Stauffer, were ordered to pay a $9,000 civil penalty for improperly funneling contributions through Triad Management Services.

In 1998 Brownback was elected to a full six-year term, defeating Democrat Paul Feleciano. He won reelection in the 2004 Senate election with 69% of the vote, defeating his Democratic challenger, Lee Jones, a former Washington, D.C. lobbyist.

Throughout his Senate career, his principal campaign donors were the Koch Brothers and their enterprises, including Koch Industries.

Tenure

Brownback was a member of the Judiciary Committee, the Senate Appropriations Committee (where he chaired the Subcommittee on District of Columbia when the Republicans were in the majority), the Joint Economic Committee, and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, which he at one time chaired. The Helsinki Commission monitors compliance with international agreements reached in cooperation with Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

In 2000, Brownback and Congressman Chris Smith led the effort to enact the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. President Clinton signed the legislation in October 2000. According to Christianity Today, the stronger enforcement increased the number of U.S. federal trafficking cases eightfold in the five years after enactment.

As of August 12, 2007, in the 110th Session of Congress, Brownback had missed 123 votes due to campaigning (39.7 percent) – surpassed only by Tim Johnson (D) of South Dakota who due to a critical illness had missed 100% of the votes of the 110th Session, and John McCain (R) of Arizona with 149 votes missed due to campaigning (48.1 percent).

As of April 2012, Brownback had an approval rating of 34 percent according to a Survey USA Poll. A Republican polling company found his approval rating to be 51 percent in May 2012. In November 2015, Brownback had an approval rating of 26 percent according to a Morning Consult poll, the lowest among all governors in the United States.

In 2006, Brownback blocked a confirmation vote on a George W. Bush federal appeals court nominee from Michigan, judge Janet T. Neff. He objected to her joining the bench solely for her having attended a same-sex commitment ceremony in Massachusetts in 2002 which involved a next door neighbor who was a close childhood friend of Neff's daughters. His action had blocked confirmation votes on an entire slate of appointments that already had been approved by a bipartisan group of Senators. In July 2007, he finally lifted his block that had prevented the vote, and the Senate confirmed her by 83–4. Brownback was joined in opposition by just three other conservatives, then-Senators Jim Bunning, Jon Kyl, and Mel Martinez.

CREW complaints
In 2009, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed an ethics complaint in 2009 over a fundraising letter signed by Brownback for a conservative Catholic group which they alleged violated Senate rules by mimicking official Senate letterhead. The letter had targeted five senators for being both Catholic and pro-choice: Maria Cantwell, John Kerry, Robert Menendez, Barbara Mikulski and Patty Murray. A spokesman said Brownback had asked the group to stop sending the letter even before the complaint was filed.

In 2010, based on a complaint that was lodged by a Protestant group, CREW urged an ethics investigation into a possible violation of the Senate's gifts rule by four Republican Senators and a Republican and three Democratic House members lodging in a $1.8 million townhouse owned by C Street Center, Inc., which was in turn owned by Christian-advocacy group The Fellowship. The rent was $950 per month per person. CREW alleged that the property was being leased exclusively to congressional members, including Brownback, at under fair market value, based on the cost of hotel rooms nearby. Senator Tom Coburn's spokesman told The Hill there were Craigslist ads that demonstrated that $950 was fair market value for a room on Capitol Hill and that "Residents at the [C Street] boarding house have one bedroom. Most share a bathroom. All pay for their own meals and share communal space with the other residents and guests."

Committees
 Committee on Appropriations
 Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (Ranking Member)
 Subcommittee on Defense
 Subcommittee on Homeland Security
 Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
 Subcommittee on the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
 Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
 Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
 Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
 Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion
 Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
 Subcommittee on Energy
 Subcommittee on National Parks
 Subcommittee on Water and Power (Ranking Member)
Committee on Foreign Relations
 Special Committee on Aging
 Joint Economic Committee
 Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

Other notes

Brownback, while U.S. Senator in the mid-1990s, hired Paul Ryan as his chief legislative director. Ryan later became a member of Congress, vice-presidential candidate, and then Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Throughout his U.S. Senate career, his principal campaign donors were the Koch Brothers of Wichita-based Koch Industries, who donated more to Brownback than to any other political candidate during this period.

2008 presidential campaign

On December 4, 2006, Brownback formed an exploratory committee, the first step toward candidacy, and announced his presidential bid the next day. His views placed him in the social conservative wing of the Republican Party, and he stressed his fiscal conservatism. "I am an economic, a fiscal, a social and a compassionate conservative", he said in December 2006.
On January 20, 2007, in Topeka, he announced that he was running for President in 2008. On February 22, 2007, a poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports held that three percent of likely primary voters would support Brownback.

On August 11, 2007, Brownback finished third in the Ames Straw Poll with 15.3 percent of all votes cast. Fundraising and visits to his website declined dramatically after this event, as many supporters had predicted Brownback would do much better, and speculation began that the candidate was considering withdrawing from the campaign. This sentiment increased after his lackluster performance in the GOP presidential debate of September 5, broadcast from New Hampshire by Fox News Channel. He dropped out of the race on October 18, 2007, citing a lack of funds. He formally announced his decision on October 19. He later endorsed John McCain for president.

2010 gubernatorial campaign

In 2008, Brownback acknowledged he was considering running for governor in 2010. In January 2009, Brownback officially filed the paperwork to run for governor.

His principal Senate-career campaign donors, the Koch Brothers (and their Koch Industries), again backed Brownback's campaign.

Polling agency Rasmussen Reports found that Brownback led his then-likely Democratic opponent, Tom Holland, by 31 points in May 2010.

On June 1, 2010, Brownback named Kansas state Senator Jeff Colyer as his running mate.

On November 2, 2010, Brownback won over Holland with 63.3% of the vote, replacing Governor Mark Parkinson, who was sworn in after former Governor Kathleen Sebelius resigned from her position and accepted the appointment to US Secretary of Health and Human Services in 2009.

Governor of Kansas (2011–2018)

Brownback took office in January 2011, in the early years of national recovery from the Great Recession. Along with his victory, the Legislative Republicans resumed control of the Kansas House of Representatives with their largest majority in half a century (now largely members of the Tea Party movement sharing Brownback's views).

Two of Brownback's major stated goals were to reduce taxes and to increase spending on education.

Three separate polls between November 2015 and September 2016 ranked Brownback as the nation's least-popular governor—a September 2016 poll showing an approval rating of 23%. In the state elections of 2016—seen largely as a referendum on Brownback's policies and administration—Brownback's supporters in the legislature suffered major defeats. In 2017, after a protracted battle, the new Kansas Legislature overrode Brownback's vetoes, voting to repeal his tax cuts and enact tax increases.

In 2018 The Kansas City Star was named the only finalist in the Public Service category of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for a series "Why, so secret, Kansas?" which said that Kansas which had always been excessively secret in government reporting had only grown worse under Brownback.  Brownback's successor Jeff Colyer through executive order reversed some of the secrecy.

Legislative agenda
Brownback has proposed fundamental tax reform to encourage investment and generate wealth while creating new jobs. Consistent with those objectives, he also proposed structural reforms to the state's largest budget items, school finance, Medicaid, and Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS), which have unfunded liabilities of $8.3 billion. Brownback sought to follow a "red state model", passing conservative social and economic policies.

Taxes

In May 2012, Brownback signed into law one of the largest income tax cuts in Kansas' history—the nation's largest state income tax cut (in percentage) since the 1990s. Brownback described the tax cuts as a live experiment: 

The legislation was crafted with help from his Budget Director (former Koch brothers political consultant Steven Anderson); the Koch-sponsored American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC); and Arthur Laffer, a popular supply-side economist and former economic adviser for President Ronald Reagan.

The law eliminated non-wage income taxes for the owners of 191,000 businesses, and cut individuals' income tax rates. The first phase of his cuts reduced the top Kansas income-tax rate from 6.45 percent down to 4.9 percent, and immediately eliminated income tax on business profits from partnerships and limited liability corporations passed through to individuals. The income tax cuts would provide 231 million in tax reductions in its first year, growing to 934 million after six years. A forecast from the Legislature's research staff indicated that a budget shortfall will emerge by 2014 and will grow to nearly 2.5 billion by July 2018. The cuts were based on model legislation published by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

In an op-ed dated May 2014 in The Wall Street Journal, titled "A Midwest Renaissance Rooted in the Reagan Formula", Brownback compared his tax cut policies with those of Ronald Reagan, and announced a "prosperous future" for Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, by having elected the economic principles that Reagan laid out in 1964.

The act has received criticism for shifting the tax burden from wealthy Kansans to low- and moderate-income workers, with the top income tax rate dropping by 25%. Under Brownback, Kansas also lowered the sales tax and eliminated a tax on small businesses. The tax cuts helped contribute to Moody's downgrading of the state's bond rating in 2014. They also contributed to the S&P Ratings' credit downgrade from AA+ to AA in August 2014 due to a budget that analysts described as structurally unbalanced. As of June 2014, the state has fallen far short of projected tax collections, receiving $369 million instead of the planned-for $651 million.

The tax cuts and the effect on the economy of Kansas received considerable criticism in the media, including Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times, the editorial board of the Washington Post, The New Republic, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the New York Times who described Brownback's "conservative experiment" as a laboratory for policies that are "too far to the right" and that as a result more than 100 current and former Republican elected officials endorsed his opponent in the 2014 gubernatorial race, Democrat Paul Davis. Grover Norquist defended the tax cuts as a model for the nation.

In February 2017, a bi-partisan coalition presented a bill that would repeal most of Brownback's tax overhaul to make up for the budget shortfall. The Senate passed SB 30 (38–0, with 2 not voting) on February 2, 2017. The House passed SB 30 as amended (123–2) on February 22, 2017. The Conference Committee Report was adopted by both the House (69–52) and Senate (26–14) on June 5, 2017. On June 6, 2017, the bill was sent to Governor Brownback for signature, but he vetoed the bill. Later in the day both the House and Senate voted to override the veto. Senate Bill 30 repealed most of the tax cuts which had taken effect in January 2013.

Brownback's tax overhaul was described in a June 2017 article in The Atlantic as the United States' "most aggressive experiment in conservative economic policy". The drastic tax cuts had "threatened the viability of schools and infrastructure" in Kansas.

Education
In April 2014, Brownback signed a controversial school finance bill that eliminated mandatory due process hearings, which were previously required to fire experienced teachers. According to the Kansas City Star:  The resulting cuts in funding caused districts to shut down the school year early.

Economy
In 2015, the job growth rate in Kansas was 0.8 percent, among the lowest rate in America with only "10,900 total nonfarm jobs" added that year. Kansas had a $350 million budget shortfall in February 2017. In February 2017, S&P downgraded Kansas' credit rating to AA−.

Health care
In August 2011, over the objections of Republican Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, Brownback announced he was declining a $31.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to set up an insurance exchange as part of the federal health care reform law. In May 2011, Brownback had directed the state's insurance commissioner to slow the implementation timeline for the exchange development. Upon announcing the refusal of the budgeted grant money for the state, his office stated:  The move was unanimously supported by the delegates of the state party central committee at its August 2011 meeting, but a The New York Times editorial criticized Brownback for turning down the grant which could have helped ease the state's own budget: 

Brownback also signed into law the Health Care Freedom Act, based on model legislation published by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Abortion

Brownback signed three anti-abortion bills in 2011. In April 2011, he signed a bill banning abortion after 21 weeks, and a bill requiring that a doctor get a parent's notarized signature before providing an abortion to a minor. In May 2011, Brownback approved a bill prohibiting insurance companies from offering abortion coverage as part of general health plans unless the procedure is necessary to save a woman's life. The law also prohibits any health-insurance exchange in Kansas established under the federal Affordable Care Act from offering coverage for abortions other than to save a woman's life.

A Kansas budget passed with Brownback's approval in 2011 blocked Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri from receiving family planning funds from the state. The funding amounted to about $330,000 a year. A judge has blocked the budget provision, ordered Kansas to begin funding the organization again, and agreed with Planned Parenthood that it was being unfairly targeted. In response, the state filed an appeal seeking to overturn the judge's decision. Brownback has defended anti-abortion laws in Kansas, including the Planned Parenthood defunding. "You can't know for sure what all comes out of that afterwards, but it was the will of the Legislature and the people of the state of Kansas", Brownback said.

In May 2012, Brownback signed the Health Care Rights of Conscience Act, which "will allow pharmacists to refuse to provide drugs they believe might cause an abortion".

In April 2013, Brownback signed a bill that blocked tax breaks for abortion providers, banned sex-selection abortions and declared that life begins at fertilization. The law notes that any rights suggested by the language are limited by U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

On April 7, 2015, Brownback signed The Unborn Child Protection From Dismemberment Abortion Act, which bans the most common technique used for second-trimester abortions. This made Kansas the first state to do so.

Prayer rally
Brownback was the only other governor to attend Governor Rick Perry's prayer event in August 2011. About 22,000 people attended the rally, and Brownback and Perry were the only elected officials to speak. The decision resulted in some controversy and newspaper editorials demonstrating disappointment in his attendance of the rally.

2014 gubernatorial election

In October 2013, Kansas state representative Paul Davis, the Democratic minority leader of the Kansas House of Representatives, announced he would challenge Brownback in the 2014 Kansas gubernatorial election.

In July 2014, more than 100 current and former Kansas Republican officials (including former state party chairmen, Kansas Senate presidents, Kansas House speakers, and majority leaders) endorsed Democrat Davis over Republican Brownback—citing concern over Brownback's deep cuts in education and other government services, as well as the tax cuts that had left the state with a major deficit.

Tim Keck, chief of staff of Brownback's running mate, Lt. Governor Jeff Colyer, unearthed and publicized a 1998 police report that noted that Davis, 26 and unmarried at the time, had been briefly detained during the raid of a strip club, where he had been taken by his new boss at a law firm that represented the club. Davis was found to have no involvement in the cause for the raid and quickly allowed to leave. The incident and its publication were seen as particularly advantageous for Brownback (who, until then, had trailed badly in polling), as it could be expected to become the focus of a typical 30-second campaign ad used to characterize his opponent.

Responding to criticism of Keck's involvement in the campaign, Brownback spokesman Paul Milburn commented that it was legal to use taxpayer-paid staff to campaign, responding directly to the controversy, saying that "Paul Davis must have spent too much time in VIP rooms at strip clubs back in law school" because he "should know full well that the law allows personal staff of the governor's office to work on campaign issues." In Kansas, however, getting records about crimes that law enforcement has investigated is typically difficult. The Legislature closed those records to the public over three decades earlier: If members of the public desire incident reports and investigative files, they normally have to sue to obtain them, cases sometimes costing $25,000 or more. Media law experts were amazed after learning Montgomery County's sheriff released non-public investigative files from 1998 with just a records request. "That is unusual," said Mike Merriam, media lawyer for the Kansas Press Association. "They have denied releasing records routinely over and over and over again." Brownback's campaign capitalized on the 16-year-old incident.

Brownback was reelected with a plurality, defeating Davis by a 3.69 percent margin. His appointment of Tim Keck as Secretary of the Department of Aging and Disability was confirmed on January 18, 2017.

U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom

Nomination
In March 2017, it was reported that Brownback was being considered by President Donald Trump to be appointed either as his U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. for Food and Agriculture in Rome, or as the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom in Washington, DC. On July 26, 2017, the White House issued a statement that Brownback would be nominated as the new U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. As a senator in 1998, Brownback sponsored the legislation that first created the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Due to his positions and actions on Islam and LGBT issues, Brownback's nomination was criticized by figures such as Rabbi Moti Rieber, the executive director of Kansas Interfaith Action, Robert McCaw, director of government affairs for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), as well as the American Civil Liberties Union.

As of the end of the 2017 session, Brownback's Ambassadorial nomination had not come up for a confirmation vote. As it failed to receive unanimous support for it to carry over to 2018 for approval, it required renomination to come to a vote. He was renominated on January 8, 2018.

On January 24, 2018, the Senate voted along party lines, 49–49, with two Republicans absent, to advance his nomination to the floor, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote to end the Democrats' filibuster. With the Senate again locked at 49–49 later that day, Pence again cast the tie-breaking vote, confirming the nomination. On January 25, Brownback submitted his resignation as governor, effective January 31, 2018, on which date Lieutenant Governor Jeff Colyer was sworn in as governor.

Tenure
Brownback was sworn in on February 1, 2018. He became the first Catholic to serve in the role.

In July 2018, Brownback reportedly lobbied the UK government over the treatment of far-right British activist Tommy Robinson. Arizona Republican Representative Paul Gosar and five other congressmen invited Robinson to speak to United States Congress on November 14, 2018, on a trip sponsored by the U.S.-based, Middle East Forum. He was expected to get visa approval by the State Department despite his criminal convictions and use of fraudulent passports to enter and depart the U.S.

Issues 
As Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, Brownback has been vocal about global issues of religious persecution and actively promoting religious freedom as a means of promoting individual and economic flourishing and reducing terrorism and other types of religion-related violence.

Brownback has repeatedly condemned China's assault on religious freedom, saying, "China is at war with faith. It is a war they will not win." He has highlighted persecution of China's Uighur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners, and Chinese Christians. In remarks made at the United Nations, Brownback strongly condemned the Xinjiang re-education camps where more than 1 million Uighur Muslims are reported to have been detained in what the Chinese government has called "vocational training camps."

In his first trip as Ambassador, Brownback traveled to Bangladesh to meet with Rohingya refugees from Myanmar at the Kutupalong refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Brownback said the accounts of violence he heard as bad or worse than anything he has ever seen, including visits to Darfur in 2004. Following the trip the State Department highlighted Myanmar's intensification of violence against its ethnic minorities. In the 2017 International Religious Freedom Report, the State Department described the violence against the Rohingya that forced an estimated 688,000 people to flee Myanmar as "ethnic cleansing."

At the 2020 Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief in Poland, Brownback spoke about COVID-19's effect on freedom of religion.

Positions

Abortion
Brownback opposes abortion in all cases except when the life of the pregnant woman is in danger. He has a 100 percent pro-life voting record according to the National Right to Life Committee. Brownback also supports parental notification for minors who seek an abortion and opposes partial birth abortion. Brownback was personally anti-abortion though politically pro-choice during the early days of his career.
Brownback has more recently stated, "I see it as the lead moral issue of our day, just like slavery was the lead moral issue 150 years ago." On May 3, 2007, when asked his opinion of repealing Roe v. Wade, Brownback said, "It would be a glorious day of human liberty and freedom."

In 2007, Brownback stated he "could support a pro-choice nominee" to the presidency, because "this is a big coalition party."

Arts
In May 2011, Brownback eliminated by executive order and then subsequently vetoed government funding for the Kansas Arts Commission in response to state defiance of his executive order, making Kansas the first state to de-fund its arts commission. The National Endowment for the Arts informed Kansas that without a viable state arts agency, it would not receive a planned $700,000 federal grant. Brownback has said he believes private donations should fund arts and culture in the state. He created the Kansas Arts Foundation, an organization dedicated to private fundraising to make up the gap created by state budget cuts.

Capital punishment
Brownback said in an interview: "I am not a supporter of a death penalty, other than in cases where we cannot protect the society and have other lives at stake." In a speech on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he questioned the current use of the death penalty as potentially incongruent with the notion of a "culture of life", and suggested it be employed in a more limited fashion.

Darfur
Brownback visited refugee camps in Sudan in 2004 and returned to write a resolution labeling the Darfur conflict as genocide, and has been active on attempting to increase U.S. efforts to resolve the situation short of military intervention. He is an endorser of the Genocide Intervention Network, which called him a "champion of Darfur" in its Darfur scorecard, primarily for his early advocacy of the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act.

Economic issues

He was rated 100 percent by the US Chamber of Commerce, indicating a pro-business voting record.

He has consistently supported a low tax-and-spend policy for government. As governor he urged a flattening of the income tax to spur economic growth in Kansas. In December 2005, Brownback advocated using Washington, DC, as a laboratory for a flat tax. He voted Yes on a Balanced-budget constitutional amendment. He opposed the Estate Tax.

He was rated 100 percent by the Cato Institute, indicating a pro-free trade voting record.

Environmental protection
In 2005, the organization Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP) gave Brownback a grade of 7 percent for the 107th United States Congress, but in 2006, increased the rating to 26%. Senator Brownback supported an amendment to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, offered by Senator Jeff Bingaman, (D-NM), requiring at least 10 percent of electricity sold by utilities to originate from renewable resources. He has also supported conservation of rare felids & canids. He has voted for increased funding for international conservation of cranes. Brownback has supported oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in the Gulf of Mexico, as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil. He has promoted the use of renewable energy such as nuclear, wind, solar, and hydroelectric sources to achieve energy independence.

Evolution
Brownback has stated that he is a devout believer in a higher power and rejects macroevolution as an exclusive explanation for the development over time of new species from older ones. Brownback favors giving teachers the freedom to use intelligent design to critique evolutionary theory as part of the Teach the Controversy approach:

Brownback spoke out against the denial of tenure at Iowa State University to astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez, a proponent of intelligent design, saying "such an assault on academic freedom does not bode well for the advancement of true science."

Health care
Brownback opposes a single-payer, government-run health-care system. He supports increased health insurance portability, eliminating insurance rejection due to pre-existing medical conditions, a cap on frivolous malpractice lawsuits, the implementation of an electronic medical records system, an emphasis on preventive care, and tax benefits aimed at making health-care insurance more affordable for the uninsured and targeted to promote universal access. He opposes government-funded elective abortions in accordance with the Hyde Amendment. He has been a strong supporter of legislation to establish a national childhood cancer database and an increase in funding for autism research. Brownback supports negotiating bulk discounts on Medicare drug benefits to reduce prices. In 2007, Senators Brownback and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sponsored an amendment to the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007. The amendment created a prize as an incentive for companies to invest in new drugs and vaccines for neglected tropical diseases. It awards a transferable "Priority Review Voucher" to any company that obtains approval for a treatment for a neglected tropical disease. This provision adds to the market-based incentives available for the development of new medicines for developing world diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and African sleeping sickness. The prize was initially proposed by Duke University faculty Henry Grabowski, Jeffrey Moe, and David Ridley in their 2006 Health Affairs paper: "Developing Drugs for Developing Countries."

Brownback supports a bill that would introduce price transparency to the U.S. health care industry, as well as a bill which would require the disclosure of Medicare payment rate information.

On December 16, 2006, Brownback gave an interview to the Christian Post, stating: "We can get to this goal of eliminating deaths by cancer in ten years."

Immigration
Brownback had a Senate voting record that has tended to support higher legal immigration levels and strong refugee protection. Brownback was cosponsor of a 2005 bill of Ted Kennedy and John McCain's which would have created a legal path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already present. On June 26, 2007, Brownback voted in favor of S. 1639, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act. Brownback supports increasing numbers of legal immigrants, building a fence on Mexican border, and the reform bill "if enforced."
While he initially supported giving guest workers a path to citizenship, Brownback eventually voted "Nay" on June 28, 2007. Brownback has said that he supports immigration reform because the Bible says to welcome the stranger.

On April 25, 2016, Brownback issued executive orders barring state agencies from facilitating refugee resettlement from Syria and other majority Muslim countries, in concert with the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). He maintained they presented security risks. His decision entirely removed the state from the program. The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement served notice that it would instead work directly with local refugee resettlement organizations. Mark Greenberg of the federal Administration for Children and Families said, "If the state were to cease participating in the refugee resettlement program, it would have no effect on the placement of refugees by the State Department in Kansas, or the ORR-funded benefits they can receive." Although states are legally entitled to withdraw from the program, the initial withdrawal for claimed security reasons, is the first in the nation. Micah Kubic, the Kansas ACLU's executive director said Brownback's policy removed the state from the process of protecting those seeking safety jeopardized by their religious beliefs, despite such refugees receiving thorough screenings: "It's very sad and very unfortunate that the governor is allowing fear to get in the way of hospitality and traditional Kansas values." Earlier in 2016, Brownback directed state agencies to use the State Department's list of state-sponsors of terrorism to exclude refugees whose presence might constitute security risks. Refugees who were fleeing danger in Iran, Sudan and Syria were singled out for exclusion. Thanks to Brownback's initiative, Kansas would lose about $2.2 million annually that had been provided to support resettlement agencies. The state had been working with three such agencies, among them Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas, to in making appropriate placements. In the seven months preceding his order, 354 refugees from all countries have been resettled in Kansas, she said, with thirteen Syrians placed in the Wichita or Kansas City areas of the state in prior sixteen months. Democratic Representative Jim Ward, from Wichita, characterized Brownback's announcement as "a distraction," intended solely for political purposes, as Kansas faced a $290 million budget deficit.

Brownback's withdrawal from the federal refugee resettlement made Kansas the first state to do so.

Iraq

Brownback supported a political surge coupled with the military surge of 2007 in Iraq and opposed the Democratic Party's strategy of timed withdrawal:

In May 2007, Brownback stated: "We have not lost war; we can win by pulling together". He voted Yes on authorizing use of military force against Iraq, voted No on requiring on-budget funding for Iraq, not emergency funding and voted No on redeploying troops out of Iraq by July 2007. He has also condemned anti-Muslim bigotry in name of anti-terrorism.

On June 7, 2007, Brownback voted against the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007 when that bill came up for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which Brownback sits. (The bill was passed out of the committee by a vote of 11 to 8.) The bill aims to restore habeas corpus rights revoked by the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

Israel and the Palestinian Territories

In October 2007, Brownback announced his support for a plan designed by Benny Elon, then-chairman of Israel's far-right-wing National Union/National Religious Party (NU/NRP) alliance. Elon's positions included dismantling the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas and rejecting a two-state solution. The plan calls for the complete annexation of the West Bank by Israel, and the deportation of its massive majority Arab population to a new Palestinian state to be created within present-day Jordan, against that latter country's historic opposition.

LGBT issues
In 1996, as a member of the House of Representatives, Brownback voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage for purposes of federal law as the union between a man and a woman. Brownback has stated that he believes homosexuality to be immoral as a violation of both Catholic doctrine and natural law. He has voted against gay rights, receiving zeros in four of the last five scorecards as a U.S. senator from the Human Rights Campaign. He opposes both same-sex marriage and same-sex civil unions. He opposes adding sexual orientation and gender identity to federal hate crime laws. He has declined to state a position on homosexual adoption, although a candidate for chair of the Kansas Republican Party claims he was blackballed by political operatives affiliated with Brownback for not opposing homosexual adoption. Brownback supported "don't ask, don't tell," the U.S. government's ban on openly homosexual people in the military. Brownback has associated with organizations such as the Family Research Council and American Family Association. Both organizations are listed as anti-gay hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In 2003, Brownback worked with Alliance for Marriage and Traditional Values Coalition to introduce a Senate bill containing the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would federally prohibit same-sex marriage in the United States. The bill was a response to Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts state court decision finding that same-sex couples had the right to marry in Massachusetts. In reaction to the Goodridge decision, Brownback stated that same-sex marriage threatened the health of American families and culture.

In 2006, Brownback blocked the confirmation of federal judicial nominee Janet T. Neff because she had attended a same-sex commitment ceremony. At first, he agreed to lift the block only if Neff would recuse herself from all cases involving same-sex unions. Brownback later dropped his opposition. Neff was nominated to the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan by President George W. Bush on March 19, 2007 to a seat vacated David McKeague and was confirmed by a vote of 83-4 by the Senate on July 9, 2007. She received her commission on August 6, 2007.

In April 2011, Brownback began work on a Kansas government program to promote marriage, in part through grants to faith-based and secular social service organizations. In June 2011, the administration revised contract expectations for social work organizations to promote married mother-father families. It explained the change as benefiting children.

In January 2012, Brownback did not include Kansas's sodomy law in a list of unenforced and outdated laws that the legislature should repeal. Gay rights advocates had asked his administration to recommend its repeal because the law has been unenforceable since the Supreme Court's Lawrence v. Texas decision in 2003.

In February 2012, the Brownback administration supported a religious freedom bill that would have stopped cities, school districts, universities, and executive agencies from having nondiscrimination laws or policies that covered sexual orientation or gender identity.

In 2013, after oral arguments in United States v. Windsor, the U.S. Supreme Court case striking down part of the Defense of Marriage Act, Brownback publicly reaffirmed his opposition to same-sex marriage.

In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court denied petitions to review several federal appellate decisions overturning state bans on same-sex marriage. The court's actions favored repeal of Kansas's ban on same-sex marriage because two of the appeals (Kitchen v. Herbert and Bishop v. Oklahoma) originated in the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which includes Kansas. In response, Brownback defended Kansas's same-sex marriage ban as being supported by a majority of Kansas voters and criticized "activist judges" for "overruling" the people of Kansas.

On February 10, 2015, Brownback issued an executive order rescinding protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender state workers that was put into place by then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius eight years previously. In the February 11, 2015, edition of The Daily Show, comedian Jon Stewart suggested that an internet campaign similar to the campaign for the neologism "santorum", which had lampooned former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, could introduce a similarly sex-related neologism "brownbacking" in order to embarrass Brownback. The ACLU generally characterized his actions as being "religious freedom to discriminate."

Stem cell research
Brownback supports adult stem cell research and cord blood stem cells. Brownback appeared with three children adopted from in vitro fertilization clinics to coincide with a Senate debate over the Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2005 to show his support for the bill and adult stem cell research. The Religious Freedom Coalition refers to children conceived through the adopted in vitro process as "snowflake children." The term, as proponents explain, is an extension of the idea that the embryos are "frozen and unique," and in that way are similar to snowflakes. Brownback supports the use of cord blood stem cell research for research and treatment. He opposes the use of embryonic stem cells in research or treatments for human health conditions.

Other issues
On September 27, 2006, Brownback introduced a bill called the Truth in Video Game Rating Act (S.3935), which would regulate the rating system of computer and video games.

On June 15, 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 sponsored by Brownback, a former broadcaster himself. The new law stiffens the penalties for each violation of the Act. The Federal Communications Commission will be able to impose fines in the amount of $325,000 for each violation by each station that violates decency standards. The legislation raises the fine by tenfold.

On September 3, 1997, Meredith O'Rourke, an employee of Kansas firm Triad Management Services, was deposed by the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs regarding her activities and observations while providing services for the company relative to fund raising and advertising for Brownback. The deposition claims that Triad circumvented existing campaign finance laws by channeling donations through Triad, and also bypassed the campaign law with Triad running 'issue ads' during Brownback's first campaign for the Senate.

He has said he does not believe there is an inherent right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution. He has, however, expressed disapproval of George W. Bush's assertions on the legality of the NSA wiretapping program.

Brownback voted to maintain current gun laws: guns sold without trigger locks. He opposes gun control.

Brownback is a lead sponsor of the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 and frequently speaks out against the mail-order bride industry.

Brownback introduced into the Senate a resolution (Senate Joint Resolution 4) calling for the United States to apologize for past mistreatment of Native Americans.

Brownback's voting record on civil rights was rated 20 percent by the ACLU. He voted "yes" on ending special funding for minority and women-owned business and "yes" on recommending a Constitutional ban on flag desecration. He opposes quotas in admission to institutions of higher education. He voted "yes" on increasing penalties for drug offenses and voted "yes" on more penalties for gun and drug violations.

Brownback voted against banning chemical weapons. He voted "yes" on reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act and voted "yes" on extending the PATRIOT Act's wiretap provision. In May 2007, Brownback stated that "Iran is the lead sponsor of terrorism around the world." He supports talks and peaceful measures with Iran, but no formal diplomatic relations.

Relationship with Koch family

Throughout his Senate career, Brownback's principal campaign donors were the politically influential libertarian Koch brothers of Kansas, and their enterprises, including Kansas-based Koch Industries—and Brownback was one of the candidates most-heavily funded by the Kochs' campaign donations. Over the course of his political career, they donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaigns.

Brownback's signature tax and regulatory policies coincides tightly with the Kochs' position on those issues. It was crafted with the assistance of the Koch-backed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Brownback's first Budget Director, Steve Anderson. Anderson was a former Koch employee who previously worked at the Koch's principal political organization, the libertarian think-tank Americans for Prosperity (AFP), developing a "model budget" for Kansas, until his appointment as Brownback's first budget director. Anderson remained Brownback's budget director for three years, before returning to a Koch-linked think tank, the Kansas Policy Institute.

Brownback also hired the wife of a Koch-enterprise executive as his spokesperson.

Brownback, however, has denied that the Kochs have an undue influence in Kansas government, and analysts have noted key differences between Brownback and the Kochs in two of Brownback's main gubernatorial policy areas: 
 social issues: (on abortion, Brownback is pro-life, the Kochs pro-choice; Brownback opposes various LGBT rights, the libertarian Kochs accept them); and
 renewable energy standards for Kansas, which promote renewable energy (supported by Brownback; opposed by the Kochs, whose chief business is the fossil-fuel industry).

Personal life

Brownback is married to the former Mary Stauffer, whose family owned and operated Stauffer Communications until its sale in 1995. They have five children: Abby, Andy, Elizabeth, Mark, and Jenna. Two of their children are adopted. A former evangelical Christian, Brownback converted to Catholicism in 2002 and is associated with the conservative denominational organization, Opus Dei, but still sometimes attends an evangelical church with his family.

Electoral history

U.S. House of Representatives
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em; font-size:95%;"
|+ : 1994 results
!|Year
!
!|Democratic
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Republican
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Overall Turnout
|-
|1994
|
| |John Carlin
| align="right" |71,025
| |34.4%
|
| |Sam Brownback
| align="right" |135,725
| |65.6%
|
| style="text-align:right;"|206,750

U.S. Senator

In 1996, Bob Dole resigned from the U.S. Senate to focus on his campaign for U.S. President. Lieutenant Governor Sheila Frahm was appointed to Dole's Senate seat by Governor Bill Graves. Brownback defeated Frahm in the Republican primary and won the general election against Jill Docking to serve out the remainder of Dole's term.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em; font-size:95%;"
|+United States Senate special election in Kansas, 1996: Republican Primary Results
!|Year
!
!|Incumbent
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Challenger
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Challenger
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Overall Turnout
|-
|1996
|
| |Sheila Frahm
| align="right" |142,487
| |41.6%
|
| |Sam Brownback
| align="right" |187,914
| |54.8%
|
| |Christina Campbell-Cline
| align="right" |12,378
| |3.6%
|
| style="text-align:right;"|342,779

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em; font-size:95%;"
|+United States Senate special election in Kansas, 1996: General Election Results
!|Year
!
!|Democratic
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Republican
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Reform
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Overall Turnout
|-
|1996
|
| |Jill Docking
| align="right" |461,344
| |43.3%
|
| |Sam Brownback
| align="right" |574,021
| |53.9%
|
| |Donald R. Klaassen
| align="right" |29,351
| |2.8%
|
| style="text-align:right;"|1,064,716

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em; font-size:95%;"
|+ U.S. Senate elections in Kansas, (Class III): Results 1998–2004
!|Year
!
!|Democratic
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Republican
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Libertarian
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Reform
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Overall Turnout
|-
|1998
|
| |
| align="right" |229,718
| |31.6%
|
| |Sam Brownback
| align="right" |474,639
| |65.3%
|
| |Tom Oyler
| align="right" |11,545
| align="right" |1.6%
|
| |Alvin Bauman
| align="right" |11,334
| align="right" |1.6%
|
| style="text-align:right;"|727,236
|-
|2004
|
| |Lee Jones
| align="right" |310,337
| |27.5%
|
| |Sam Brownback
| align="right" |780,863
| |69.2%
|
| | Rosile
| align="right" |21,842
| align="right" |1.9%
|
| |George Cook
| align="right" |15,980
| align="right" |1.4%
|
| style="text-align:right;"|1,129,022

Governor of Kansas

See also
 United States immigration debate
 How Democracy Works Now: Twelve Stories

References

External links

 Governor Sam Brownback official government website (archived)
 Sam Brownback for Governor
 Genealogy of Sam Brownback
 

 Sam Brownback's presidential campaign finance reports and data at the FEC
 Sam Brownbeck's presidential campaign contributions
 Review of Brownback's book by OnTheIssues.org
 Ethics complaint against Sam Brownback
Publications concerning Kansas Governor Brownback's administration available via the KGI Online Library

1956 births
20th-century American lawyers
20th-century American politicians
20th-century Roman Catholics
21st-century American politicians
21st-century Roman Catholics
American people of German descent
American Christian creationists
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Evangelicalism
Governors of Kansas
Intelligent design advocates
Living people
Kansas lawyers
Kansas Republicans
Kansas Secretaries of Agriculture
Kansas State University alumni
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Kansas
People from Garnett, Kansas
People from Linn County, Kansas
Promise Keepers
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Republican Party United States senators
Roman Catholic activists
Trump administration personnel
United States Ambassadors-at-Large
Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election
United States senators from Kansas
University of Kansas alumni
White House Fellows
Catholics from Kansas
Conservatism in the United States
Harold Block (August 2, 1913 – June 16, 1981) was an American comedy writer, comedian, producer, songwriter and television personality. Although Block was a highly successful comedy writer for over 15 years, today he is most often remembered as an original panelist of the television game show What's My Line? who was fired from the show in  its third season, reportedly for inappropriate on-air behavior. Block is a controversial figure in the history of television, denounced by some, while praised by others as a writer and for contributing to the original success of What's My Line?

During the 1940s, Block was considered one of America's best comedy writers, having worked for many of the top comedians of the era, such as Bob Hope, Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, Milton Berle and Burns and Allen and in all major media, including radio, Hollywood movies, Broadway and print. Block also made  major contributions to the USO during World War II.

In March 1950, producers of the new game show What's My Line? hired Block for its fourth episode to add humor to the show's format. With a panel previously consisting of journalists, a politician and a poet, reviewers had criticized the show as bland. After a rocky start, What's My Line? became one of the top-rated shows on television. Critics praised his work; the Chicago Sun-Times called Block the "freshest new personality in TV."

However, his humor could be risqué, which antagonized some conservative 1950s viewers. He once risked the sponsor's wrath, referring to their deodorant with the line "Make your armpit a charmpit." In early 1953, Block was suspended and then fired. He left show business for the investment business a few years later, while What's My Line? continued on as a staple of Sunday night television for another 14 years.

Background
Block was born on August 2, 1913 in Chicago and raised in the Hyde Park area.

According to Gil Fates, executive producer of the What's My Line? television game show, there were rumors Block had come from a wealthy family.

Three comedy writing contemporaries of Block, Melvin Frank, Norman Panama, and Bob Weiskopf, also came from Hyde Park. Block attended the University of Chicago High School, graduating in 1930, and then the University of Chicago where he majored in law, graduating in 1935. At the University of Chicago he was co-captain of the university track team, running the 100 and 220 yard sprints, member of Zeta Beta Tau (Alpha Beta, Chicago) fraternity,  and editor of the university humor magazine.

Phil Baker
Block had paid his way through college selling material to comedian and radio emcee Phil Baker at $20 a joke ($300 in 2010 dollars).

While still in college, he was Baker's head writer. However, getting into Baker's employ had required persistence and some chicanery. Block originally met Baker when he and his then writing partner, Phil Cole, introduced themselves while Baker was performing in Chicago. Based upon Baker's dismissive "Sure, sure, next
time you're in New York look me up"  the two promptly followed him to New York. Informed by his agent that he didn't know where Baker was, they went to every likely restaurant leaving the message "When Mr. Baker comes in, tell him that Block and Cole are here."

Eventually discovering the suburb where Baker resided, but not the address, they devised the ruse of pretending to send him a wire from the local telegraph office. The attendant noticed the recipient and said "Why, Mr. Baker lives just a few blocks from here!" At Baker's home they told the maid, "Tell Mr. Baker that Block and Cole are here." Angered by all the restaurant messages, Baker charged to the door demanding "Who are Block and Cole, anyway?"

Amused by the response that they were "his new writers", Baker met them at his offices the next day. Reading the script, they suggested a joke for his show, but once again he sent them on their way. Despondent and halfway back to Chicago they listened to Baker's radio show which included their joke. They turned the car around and armed with a new comedy routine were subsequently hired. After two years of studying law, Block quit for the profession of comedy writing.

Writing career
Block was considered one of the best writers of comedic radio scripts of the 1940s. During his days as a comedy writer, Time magazine described Block as a "serious, curly-haired, stocky ... gag-factory" who "resembles actor Edward G. Robinson".

Radio, Broadway, Hollywood

The 1930s and 1940s were the Golden Age of radio and there were significant financial rewards to be made for those writing for radio comedy programs. Phil Baker, for whom Block was the head writer, reportedly spent $1,500 per week on his three writers, equivalent to $24,000 in 2010 dollars. However, the failure rate of those attempting to make it a career was high. Despite the risk, and against his father's expressed wishes, in 1935 Block abandoned  the study of law and moved to New York City. He was able to achieve immediate success, being hired by the  comedy team of Abbott and Costello. He also continued to write for Phil Baker, for whom he would write even into the 1940s, including Baker's hit game show, Take It or Leave It. By 1937, he was so busy as a writer that in September he had only three hours to stop off in Chicago for his parents' anniversary party before continuing by train to Hollywood, writing for Baker's radio show.

In the years that followed, Block would establish his reputation by writing for many of the top comedians in radio, including Bob Hope, Burns and Allen, Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and Milton Berle.

In the early 1940s, with the world at war and the Depression still a recent memory, light-hearted musical comedies were popular and Block found his humor skills in demand for Broadway musicals and Hollywood movies. As early as 1939, he contributed dialog and music to the film Charlie McCarthy, Detective. In 1940, he  wrote the low-budget Universal film musical I'm Nobody's Sweetheart Now and contributed to the script for 1943's Stage Door Canteen. He also made contributions to successful Broadway shows, such as By Jupiter,  Let's Face It!, and Follow the Girls.  In 1941, he was hired to write dialogue for the Broadway revue Sons O'Fun,  Olsen and Johnson's sequel to their hit show Hellzapoppin. Sons O'Fun ran for 742 performances.

Block also showed an instinct for financial opportunities. During the test run in Boston of Follow the Girls,  Fred Thompson, the show's principal writer, lost faith in the show and sold his shares to Block for $3,000. Starring a young comedian, Jackie Gleason, the show became a wartime hit and a huge financial success.

Block was also a columnist and wrote articles for various publications, including  Variety, Collier's and the Chicago Daily News.

USO
Late in 1942 and through most of 1943, Block's career was interrupted by his participation with the USO. Just prior to U.S. involvement in World War Two, President Roosevelt spearheaded the formation of the United Service Organizations to provide entertainment for American servicemen both at home and in war zones. In November 1942, Block wrote an all-star revue for the USO to be performed for the growing American Expeditionary Forces in England. Hollywood stars who volunteered to stay in England for two months to perform in the revue included Carole Landis, Kay Francis, Mitzi Mayfair, and Martha Raye. In December, the Office of War Information sent Block to London to prepare radio broadcasts  and write jokes for touring American stars who performed for the troops stationed in England.  He soon discovered that writing for soldiers, British and American, required a specialized technique and he studied British humor to understand how it differed from American humor both in language and taste. Also, a military audience required unique sensitivities as soldiers did not laugh at subjects such as strikes in wartime industries, shortages endured by civilians, or especially, cheating wives. He also wrote some American-slanted material for British comedian Tommy Trinder.

With the BBC
Block was then assigned to the staff at the BBC to add American comedic sensibility to the Anglo-American Hour and Yankee Doodle Doo radio programs. Maurice Gorham, BBC executive and journalist who had "seen a lot of Block" during his BBC days, gave his impressions of Block as "a real Broadway type who reminded me of a Damon Runyon character suddenly set down in a Broadcasting House." His contribution to the BBC was once singled out by the North American Representative of the BBC, Lindsay Wellington, to dispute Associated Press accusations of excessive British censorship. In a December 6, 1943 letter to the New York Times he wrote, "Nor would it have been possible for Hal Block, American scriptwriter, to write the highly popular London-produced program for combined U.S. and British soldier audiences Yankee Doodle Doo."

Block made use of his Broadway experience in musical comedy. Block and UPI correspondent and lyricist Bob Musel wrote the popular song The U.S.A. By Day And The R.A.F. By Night for the Eighth Air Force show. The song has been called "the most entertaining song about the war in Europe." The song was unique in taking the approach of praising US and British airmen indirectly by focusing on the horrified laments of members of the Nazi High Command. With a sardonic tone, it featured everyone from Hitler to Rommel bemoaning the effects of the Allied bombing.  On one occasion, Block sang the song over BBC radio and when trying to leave the building after the broadcast found himself in the middle of an actual air raid.
An excerpt:

Block also wrote the humorous song Baby, That's a Wolf, sung by Rosalind Russell. Russell wanted to do something beyond the ordinary to entertain the troops and Block wrote the song especially for her. With this song he has been credited with popularizing the term "wolf" in referring to a libidinous American male, An excerpt:

With Bob Hope's USO tour

Through most of 1943, Block was Bob Hope's writer for Hope's first USO overseas tour. They entertained troops through England, Africa and Italy. Initially, when Hope began his tour he had to write all the jokes, until the USO assigned Block as his comedy writer. Hope said that after Block joined him "the jokes got a lot less shaky."  Hope said Block had "learned to write funny in bomb shelters, jeeps, and on the backs of camels."

Working close to the war zone could be dangerous. Hope had followed General George Patton's 7th Army into Sicily and one time while Block and Hope were writing a script in a Palermo hotel, the Germans began a bombing raid. "We did a show and ran for our lives," said Block. Immediately after the incident, Patton sent Hope's troupe back to Algiers for their safety. On another occasion, Block was forced to travel alone in the storage compartment of a cargo plane and the crew tied him to the cargo for his own safety. It was only mid-flight when Block realized the boxes he was tied to were filled with live ammunition. There was also an unnerving episode where Block was taken by MPs to the OSS compound as a suspicious character. Block also escaped a real tragedy when he was originally to be a passenger on the ill-fated USO plane which crashed in February 1943, seriously injuring actress Jane Froman and killing 23 others.

The work was laborious and the conditions often spartan. Block and Hope would sometimes work until four in the morning writing and discussing material, only to head for a car or airfield at six to travel to another camp or hospital. On one occasion in Algiers, Block and Hope were contemplating their accommodations, wondering how they could spend the night sharing a room so small. John Steinbeck, at the time a war correspondent, overheard them complaining. "You'll think this is practically a bridal suite, when you compare it to my room," he told the two. They then followed Steinbeck downstairs to his room, which was half the size of theirs, and were introduced to  journalists Quentin Reynolds and H.R. Knickerbocker. Hope noticed even a third man sleeping and asked his identity. "He's the British vice-consul," Steinbeck replied. "This is his room. He invited us to spend the night two weeks ago."

One of the highlights of the USO tour for Block was meeting General Eisenhower in Algiers during the North African campaign. However, Block almost missed out on the meeting and required some assertive action on Block's part. Block was working on the rehearsal of a USO show when at one point realized the rest of Hope's group had disappeared. Block was enraged when he discovered they had left him behind while they went to meet General Eisenhower. Block rushed over to the hotel serving as Eisenhower's headquarters, only to see Hope's entire group descending the stairs, each with an autographed picture of the General. Block talked his way into meeting the General by telling Harry Butcher, at the time Naval Aide to Eisenhower, "Butch, the one keepsake I want out of this war is an autographed picture of the General for my grandkids." Block met General Eisenhower, introduced as "a man who helps make Bob Hope funny."

In August 1943, Block wrote and produced a unique version of Hope's radio show performed for Allied troops and Red Cross nurses from 'somewhere in North Africa'. So popular was the show, a recording was later broadcast twice over the BBC for British audiences.

Top of his profession

Returning from Europe in 1944, Block resumed his writing career. Block was the producer, as well as writer, of Milton Berle's radio show, Let Yourself Go. The show was described as a "zany, exhibitionist program" similar to the children's game Forfeits, in which audience members and famous guests acted out unusual behavior.  On one show, Berle promised to buy a $1,000 war bond if Opera Star Grace Moore would perform while standing on her head. With the help of Berle and announcer Kenneth Roberts holding her feet, she did a handstand as Block held the microphone while she sang. In September 1944, Block was the writer for Ed Wynn's program Happy Island, which was Wynn's return to radio after a decade's absence. Also in 1944, Block wrote the song Buy a Bond Today. Around 1948, Block wrote the material for an album for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis which was to be used as their audition for entry into television.  Block also attained what columnist Hedda Hopper described as a "cushy deal" at a major film studio.

By the late 1940s, Block was at the top of his profession. He was earning a four-figure weekly salary in a day when the average household income was just over $2,000 a year.  He resided at the posh Hampshire House in the Central Park South area of New York City, a hotel which was home to Hollywood notables such as Frank Sinatra, Ingrid Bergman, Ava Gardner, and William Wyler. He even dictated his jokes to a secretary.  However, Block's father remained unimpressed by his son's success. After attending a radio show Block had written, which ended with tumultuous applause from the studio audience, his father said, "Well, are you ready to go back to law school?"

The life of a comedy writer
Columnist Elsa Maxwell, commenting on Block's approach to writing, said he was "serious – almost academic – about being funny." Block was once asked what was the hardest material to write for a comedian. He quipped, "The ad libs!" While it was widely believed that emcee Phil Baker ad-libbed the popular game show Take It or Leave It (later renamed The $64 Question), most of the shows were actually written by Block. An example of what  appears to be casual conversation, but was actually a joke written by Block, was for entertainer Kenny Murray to say to his television studio audience: "I don't care whether you laugh at my jokes or not. But it will be pretty embarrassing for you if people all over the country find out you don't have a sense of humor."

Lamenting the amount of comedy material a writer needs to supply for a weekly radio show, Block said, "The only difference between us and white mice on a wheel, is that we have ulcers." In order to meet the demand, Block did employ, at least on one occasion, other writers to assist him. Norman Barasch described Block giving him his first writing job at $75 a week when he ghost-wrote jokes for him while Block was head writer for Milton Berle and Ed Wynn.

It was not only the volume of material that was a challenge in writing for radio, but the reality that they were writing for more than simply the audience. It was an era when radio and television shows often had only a single sponsor and since the sponsor paid the show's bills the writer had to please them as well. Block expressed this double-edged sword with his definition of a sponsor as: "A golden goose for whom we lay the eggs." It didn't end with the sponsor. "We have to make the sponsor laugh," Block wrote in Collier's magazine "And besides pleasing the sponsor, we have to please the sponsor's wife, the producer, the men from the advertising agency, the radio and television critics and the Federal Communications Commission." Then there was the issue of radio censorship. Block once quipped that if he tried to produce a radio version of It Happened One Night, a film famous for a scene of an unmarried couple sharing a bedroom, it would end up being called It Didn't Happen One Night. Even during his time with the BBC, Block later recalled the occasion when a cannibal sketch he'd written was rejected by the British Home Office. The note justifying the rejection explained they objected to his depicting cannibals because they were "loyal subjects of the king and many of them are now aiding in the fight against the enemy." However, in this case the rejection was reversed, apparently by an executive with a sense of humor, since the explanation for the reversal noted that the cannibals had also eaten many loyal subjects.

Block was also a critic of his profession. By the late 1940s, he'd become concerned about the state of comedy writing on the radio. In 1948, he wrote an article in Variety, which complained about the trend of game shows replacing comedy shows and specifically Fred Allen. In an article titled "You Can't Top a Refrigerator", he was disturbed that the high quality of the writing of Fred Allen's show could lose out to the chance to win prizes. He was also to argue for a comedy writer's rights. "Jokes are as hard to write as anything else, and anyone who wants to use them should be made to pay for them. The gag-writer should receive royalties in the same manner as the song writer", he said in 1951.

Performer and the advent of television
By the 1950s, television had begun to supplant radio as the main form of entertainment in American homes.

In her column of October 11, 1945, Hedda Hopper wrote that Block had "mastered" radio, would likely do the same with movies, and "he'll be in a perfect position for television." Although Block attempted performing as early as 1939, it was not until the early 1950s that he began in earnest. In 1951, Block was disk jockey for his own twice-a-week radio program Around the Clock on WJZ in New York City, was moderator for the short-lived television game show, Tag the Gag, and hosted the show Four to Go on WGN in Chicago.

However, it was as one of the original panelists on the television game show What's My Line? from 1950–53 which gave Block national fame. What's My Line?, a guessing game in which the show's panel tried to discover the unusual profession of guests, became one of the most popular shows on television in the 1950s and ran for 17 seasons, making it the longest-running game show in the history of prime-time American television.

What's My Line?

On February 2, 1950, What's My Line? premiered on CBS with a panel consisting of columnist Dorothy Kilgallen; author, poet and editor Louis Untermeyer; psychiatrist Richard H. Hoffmann; and politician Harold G. Hoffman. Journalist John Daly was host.

Some reviews of the first show criticized it as bland and colorless. Even Mark Goodson, one of the show's producers, said the early shows were "as dull as dishwater [sic]" and, years later, confessed to feeling at the time that the show wouldn't last more than six weeks. The producers quickly realized the problems lay with the casting and that the show needed some lighter elements.

Actress Arlene Francis was first brought onto the panel, and then on March 16, 1950, on the fourth show, Block replaced former New Jersey governor Harold Hoffman. Block continued as a regular panelist for the next three years.

Block brought humor to What's My Line? On one show, upon a contestant being revealed to be a skunk breeder, Block was surprised they hadn't been able to guess his occupation because, "After all, the fellow had a certain air about him."

Block was able to bring levity to what may otherwise have been serious, dry topics, such as with the appearance of Estes Kefauver, a U.S. Senator who was leading an investigation into organized crime. Much of the investigation was televised and Block suggested to Kefauver he change the name of his broadcast to "What's My Crime?"

Block created what became a tradition of the show's opening. At the beginning of the show each panelist would introduce the panelist sitting beside them, except for the last, who would introduce Daly, the host. It was Block's idea, as the last panelist, to break from the simple, straightforward introduction and instead introduce Daly with a joke. This was later taken up by Bennett Cerf after Block's departure. It also fell to Block as the comedian, then later Steve Allen and Fred Allen, to participate in what executive producer Gil Fates called his "Gambits".

Prior to the broadcast, Fates would hint to Block a line of questioning for one of the guests which he felt would generate the most laughs. Fates has said it required a comedian to sense from his clues what would generate laughter. For example, with a guest who manufactured girdles, Block was advised to ask questions about kitchen items. On the show Block asked, "Will it make ice-cubes?" To a professional sword swallower he asked, "Do you work outdoors–or is yours considered an inside job?" While technically not cheating, as the panelist was not told the guest's profession, the practice was eventually discontinued in light of the quiz show scandals.

Fame

By 1952, What's My Line? had become one of the highest-rated shows on television, and major publications praised Block's work. Irv Kupcinet of the Chicago Sun-Times called him the "freshest new personality in TV." Sid Shalit of the New York Daily News called Block "effervescent." Vogue magazine said, "People are laughing at Hal Block." The Chicago Tribune called Block "a golden boy on TV". The Philadelphia Inquirer called Block's humor "impish buffoonery."

Block had made the difficult leap from the obscurity of working as writer to becoming a hugely popular television figure in a very short period of time.

As a writer Block had worked in anonymity. "For years nobody recognized me, not even the comedians I wrote for," he said. The show had made Block famous overnight and he admitted enjoying it, "Don't think I mind this being recognized, for I love it." However, Bill Todman, the show's producer, said "Hal was never able to live with the idea of being a celebrity."

Popular, but problematic
During the first three years of What's My Line?, Block had gained popularity with a wide portion of the television viewing audience, but behind the scenes he was having problems with the sponsor and producer. According to publisher and fellow panelist Bennett Cerf, Block's personality and background set him apart from the other cast members. Cerf had joined the cast during the show's second year when Louis Untermeyer was dropped from the show because of accusations of being a communist.

Upon his first meeting with the panel members, Cerf thought of Block as "a clod. He wasn't in the same class as the others." Norman Barasch, who once wrote for Block, said "Suave, Hal Block wasn't." What's My Line? producer Gil Fates, in his 1978 book about the show, described Block as "a strange man", adding he was "stocky with curly black hair, heavy lips and, rather bulging eyes."

Block's humor at times could prove problematic as he sometimes seemed to lack a sense of propriety. He once risked the sponsor's wrath by referring to their deodorant with the line, "Make your armpit a charmpit." Cerf said that Block "had a style of humor none of us was too fond of." Block would also sometimes use risqué humor. However, he was not alone in this inclination, as other What's My Line? panelists often employed double entendres on the show. The issue occurred often enough that host John Daly had developed a surreptitious signal, the pulling of his right ear lobe, as a warning to panelists to desist. In these early days of television, many programs, including What's My Line?, were broadcast live and this type of humor became a concern of the sponsor. Although Block was not alone in such behavior, he became regarded as the chief offender.

Even prior to What's My Line?, Block's humor had always been inclined towards the sexual, as far back as a writer for Olsen and Johnson, whose bawdy shows usually involved at least one chorus girl losing her skirt. Once when addressing a group of businessmen and secretaries, Block told them, "Where would you men be without your secretaries? Probably home with your wives." This inclination continued onto the show. Once, when the guest was a female disk jockey, Block employed this line of questioning:

After receiving a positive response to each, Block concluded:

Block was also in the habit of asking an attractive contestant for her phone number, or in one case, even chasing a female contestant around the desk à la Harpo Marx. Although Block intended these faux pas as humor, What's My Line? had built a large segment of their audience which was conservative and regarded it as inappropriate.

While Block continued to receive positive press and his jokes during the show were often quoted in newspaper columns, there was also criticism. Journalist William S. Schlamm wrote in the June 2, 1952 issue of The Freeman that Block, "on the flimsy ground of being a gag writer, for more than a year has kept claiming dispensation from elementary rules of taste." By 1953, producers had given Block repeated warnings about his behavior which he was apparently ignoring.

Firing
In January 1953, Block was suspended for two weeks because the sponsor objected to one of his comments during the show. Steve Allen, at the time an up-and-coming comedian whose appearances on What's My Line? would springboard his career, took Block's place on the panel during the suspension. While Block vacationed in Miami for the duration of the suspension, the network was deluged with letters from his fans demanding his return.

Years later, in recollecting these days of What's My Line?, Bennett Cerf argued that by this time Block was no longer essential to the show.  According to Cerf, since he had begun to introduce his own jokes and puns into the show, he now had the more important role and Block "became second banana." Amidst this turmoil, on February 5, 1953, winners for television's Emmy Awards were announced and What's My Line? won the Emmy for "Best Audience Participation, Quiz or Panel Program".

Shortly after Block's return, on a Sunday night in early February, executive producer Gil Fates invited Block to a local bar for a drink. Block listened quietly for several minutes as Fates explained why his contract was not being renewed and was being let go after three more shows. According to Fates, when he finished talking, Block stood up, finished his drink, smashed the glass on the floor, said "You never did like me, you son-of-a-bitch", and walked out.

After three years on What's My Line?, Block appeared on three more shows, fully aware these were his last. Steve Allen also appeared on these shows, replacing Bennett Cerf who was away on a seven-week lecture tour. On Sunday, March 1, 1953, Block appeared on What's My Line? for the last time. The March 3, 1953 New York Times announced that Bennett Cerf was "displacing Hal Block" and that Steve Allen, who Fates later wrote "was standing in the wings", would be continuing on the panel.

Absent Block, What's My Line? continued on as a staple of Sunday night television in America for another 14 years.

While the firing of Block had the desired effect of toning down the sexual innuendoes, this aspect of the show would still draw occasional criticism. In 1957, four years after Block's departure from the show, Hearst columnist Bill Slocum wrote in his column accusing What's My Line? of "the carefully implanted double entendre." However, he went on to add, "Nobody on the panel leers since Hal Block left." In 1979, the book TV Gameshows proffered the opinion that Block was actually let go from What's My Line? because he "proved too overbearing."

Final years in show business

Block continued working in show business for a few more years. Immediately after being fired, he starred at Minsky's, a Detroit burlesque club. He was billed as "Dimples Block of 'What's My Line'?" Late in 1953, Block was hired as host of a television morning show directed towards women on WGN-TV in Chicago. He left the show after only two months due to an incident involving a group of paraplegics who had been invited to appear on the program. After traveling 20 miles, at great inconvenience, they were not used on the show. Block also "had difficulty with a doctor who accompanied them." In October 1953, Block was found guilty of speeding and driving without a license. In June of the same year, Block had been arrested in Chicago and charged with drunk driving. The drunk driving charge was dropped.  In 1954, Block wrote and performed the satirical song "Senator McCarthy Blues". The song's theme was about a man who had lost his girlfriend to her obsession with watching the McCarthy hearings on television. In 1955, Block was working on Ted Mack's television show. In 1956, Block wrote the rock and roll song "Hot Rod Henry" for the B-side of Lola Dee's 45 rpm recording of "Born to Be with You".

In early 1957, a sneak preview in Florida of Second Honeymoon, a new television show Block was producing, had to be cancelled because there were no prizes. Block explained to a local newspaper that he had bought prizes in a pawnshop across from the station, WTVJ, but the shop was closed before he could retrieve them for the show. Block also complained how the incident was reported by the Miami News columnist, Jack W. Roberts, including that he had described Block as a "former What's My Line? panelist." Block said he was better known as a producer and comedy writer. Block continued to write, having a story published in the Saturday Evening Post, "Hal Block's Inventions". In February 1957, Block was found guilty of drunk driving in Miami Beach, Florida, and for not having a valid driver's license. At the trial the arresting officer said Block, who had been staggering, refused to take a Drunkometer test (the original breathalyzer), was belligerent and told the officer he would regret arresting him because he was "a big man".

By 1960 it was reported Block had moved into the investment business, but hoped to eventually return to television.

Personal life
During his early writing days, Block was friends with fellow comedy writers Bill Morrow, a Jack Benny writer, and Don Quinn, who wrote for Fibber McGee and Molly.

During Block's years in radio and television, newspaper columns had linked him romantically to several actresses and singers including Nanette Fabray, Dorothea Pinto, and Joan Judson. Plans for marriage were reported between Block and Mitzi Green, and then later Kay Mallah, a showgirl. Green had been a childhood star and in 1941 was attempting to make a comeback at age twenty-one. Block, along with Herb Baker, was writing a Broadway show for her. When Block and Green split, he began seeing Dorothea Pinto, a chorus girl. Pinto once made some news while she was working at the Diamond Horseshoe nightclub in New York by punching one of the club's investors. Pinto appeared as a showgirl in Follow the Girls, which Block wrote. Block once explained he preferred being a bachelor because "wives were too expensive."

Death
On April 22, 1981, Block was seriously burned from a fire in his Chicago apartment. Block died in Edgewater Hospital, Chicago, on June 16, 1981, as a result of his injuries. He was survived by two sisters.

Legacy

Through the 1930s and 1940s, Block, while anonymous to the general public, was considered by many in the business as one of the best comedy writers working in network radio, Hollywood movies and Broadway shows. Block also made a major contribution to the USO during its early formative years and was Bob Hope's comedy writer on Hope's first USO tour. Block was also a critic of the entertainment business itself, writing articles for major publications in which he discussed the writing profession, censorship, the influence of advertisers, and the trend of deteriorating quality of radio programming.

In the early 1950s, Block joined the panel of the new television show What's My Line? after the first few shows were criticized as dull and the show was in danger of cancellation, adding a comedic element to the format. The show survived and by the time of Block's departure was rated as one of the top shows on U.S. television. Block had set the precedent of having a comedian on the panel as he was subsequently followed by Steve Allen and then Fred Allen.

Block remains a controversial figure in television history, denounced by some, while praised by others. Journalist Earl Wilson had once dubbed Block "a radio genius" and Bob Hope called Block "a great comedy writer." Then, in his book What's My Line? TV's Most Famous Panel Show, Gil Fates wrote, "You couldn't teach the meaning of good taste to Hal, any more than Star Kist could teach it to Charley the Tuna." Assessing Block's contribution to What's My Line?, Fates summed it up as "Hal had served his purpose when the program was young." However, writer and journalist Bob Considine wrote in 1969 that Block "was to mean so much to the early success of television's What's My Line?" What's My Line? was on the air for 17 years and became the longest running game show in U.S. primetime history, while Block returned to anonymity.

Notes

References

External links

Block's final What's My Line? appearance

1913 births
1981 deaths
Accidental deaths in Illinois
American radio writers
American television personalities
American male comedians
Deaths from fire in the United States
Writers from Chicago
University of Chicago alumni
Comedians from Illinois
20th-century American comedians Lethbridge's Chinatown is a small district in downtown Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. At the beginning of the 20th century, the district had a population of around 100 and businesses consisted of six laundries, four grocers and two restaurants. While the bulk of residences and businesses were focused along the 300 block of Ford Street — what is now modern Chinatown — this area was the centre of a much larger nine-block area.

History

Previous to the establishment of what is now Chinatown, the area was known as the Segregated Area. It was a red-light district frequented by prostitution, gambling and bootlegging, fueled mostly by coal miners. In 1911, the City of Lethbridge passed Bylaw 83, which restricted the location of Chinese laundries to the Segregated Area. The bylaw was a result of complaints from non-Chinese laundry owners who felt the Chinese laundries were too close to the town's centre. By the time the bylaw was rescinded in 1916, prejudice and racism had already isolated the Chinese to this area and led to the establishment of Chinatown.

By the 1960s, Chinese residents began moving out of the area, and by the end of the 20th century, all but one resident — Albert Leong, owner of Bow On Tong — had moved out, and Chinatown was reduced to one block with only a handful of buildings.

References

Asian-Canadian culture in Alberta
Neighbourhoods in Lethbridge
Lethbridge