title: Eagles (band)

text: In early 1976, the band released their first compilation album, "Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)". The album became the highest-selling album of the 20th century in the United States, and has since sold 38million copies in the U.S. (excluding streams and tracks) and 42million copies worldwide. It stayed the biggest seller of all time until it was taken over by Michael Jackson's "Thriller" following the artist's death in 2009. The album cemented the group's status as the most successful American band of the decade.


title: Eagles (band)

text: The following album, "Hotel California", released on December 8, 1976, was the band's fifth studio album and the first to feature Walsh. The album took a year and a half to complete, a process that, along with touring, drained the band. The album's first single, "New Kid in Town", became the Eagles' third number-one single.


title: Eagles (band)

text: The second single was the title track, which topped the charts in May 1977 and became the Eagles' signature song. It features Henley on lead vocals, with a guitar duet performed by Felder and Walsh. The song was co-written by Felder, Henley, and Frey. The mysterious lyrics have been interpreted in many ways, some of them controversial. Rumors even started in certain quarters that the song was about Satanism. The rumor was dismissed by the band and later by Henley in the documentary film "History of the Eagles". Henley told "60 Minutes" in 2007 that "it's basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American Dream and about excess in America, which was something we knew about."


title: Eagles (band)

text: With its hard rock sound, "Life in the Fast Lane" was also a major success that established Walsh's position in the band. The third and final single from "Hotel California", it reached number 11 on the charts. The ballad "Wasted Time" closes the first side of the album, while an instrumental reprise of it opens the second side. The album concludes with "The Last Resort", a song that Frey once referred to as "Henley's opus", but which Henley described as "fairly pedestrian" and "never fully realized, musically speaking".


title: Eagles (band)

text: The run-out groove on side two has the words "V.O.L. Is Five-Piece Live" etched into the vinyl, which means that the instrumental track for the song "Victim of Love" was recorded live in the studio, with no overdubs. Henley confirms this in the liner notes of "The Very Best Of." However, the song was a point of contention between Don Felder and the rest of the band. In the 2013 documentary, Felder claimed that he had been promised the lead vocal on "Victim of Love", for which he had written most of the music. After many unproductive attempts to record Felder's vocal, band manager Irving Azoff was delegated to take Felder out for a meal, removing him from the mix while Don Henley overdubbed his lead vocal. "Hotel California" appeared at number 37 on "Rolling Stone"s list of the best albums of all time, and is the band's best-selling studio album, with more than 26million copies sold in the U.S. alone and more than 32million copies worldwide.


title: Eagles (band)

text: The album won Grammys for "Record of the Year" ("Hotel California") and "Best Arrangement for Voices" ("New Kid in Town"). "Hotel California" topped the charts and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 1978 Grammy Awards, but lost to Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours." The huge worldwide tour in support of the album further drained the band members and strained their personal and creative relationships.


title: Eagles (band)

text: "Hotel California" is the last album to feature founding member Randy Meisner, who abruptly left the band after the 1977 tour. The Eagles had been touring continuously for eleven months; the band was suffering from the strain of the tour, and Meisner's stomach ulcers had flared up by the time they arrived in Knoxville in June 1977. Meisner had been struggling to hit the crucial high notes in his signature song, "Take It to the Limit", and was unwilling to perform the song, Frey and Meisner then became engaged in arguments about Meisner's reluctance to perform. Meisner decided to not sing the song as an encore at the Knoxville concert because he had been up late and caught the flu. Frey and Meisner then got into an angry physical confrontation backstage, and Meisner left the venue. After the incident, Meisner was frozen out from the band, and he decided to leave the group at the end of the tour and return to Nebraska to be with his family. His last performance was in East Troy, Wisconsin, on September 3, 1977. The band replaced Meisner with the same musician who had succeeded him in Poco, Timothy B. Schmit, after agreeing that Schmit was the only candidate.


title: Eagles (band)

text: In 1977, the group, minus Don Felder, performed instrumental work and backing vocals for Randy Newman's album "Little Criminals", including "Short People", which has backup vocals by Frey and Schmit.


title: Eagles (band)

text: The Eagles went into the recording studio in 1977 to begin work on their next album, "The Long Run". The album took two years to complete. It was originally intended to be a double album, but the band members were unable to write enough songs. "The Long Run" was released on September 24, 1979. Considered a disappointment by some critics for failing to live up to "Hotel California", it proved a huge commercial hit nonetheless; the album topped the charts and sold seven million copies. In addition, it included three Top 10 singles. "Heartache Tonight" became their last single to top the Hot 100, on November 10, 1979. The title track and "I Can't Tell You Why" both reached number 8. The band won their fourth Grammy for "Heartache Tonight". "In the City" by Walsh and "The Sad Cafe" became live staples. The band also recorded two Christmas songs during these sessions, "Funky New Year" and "Please Come Home for Christmas", which was released as a single in 1978 and reached number 18 on the charts.


title: Eagles (band)

text: Frey, Henley and Schmit contributed backup vocals for the single release of "Look What You've Done to Me" by Boz Scaggs. A different version with female backing vocals appears on the "Urban Cowboy" soundtrack, along with the Eagles' 1975 hit "Lyin' Eyes".


title: Eagles (band)

text: On July 31, 1980, in Long Beach, California, tempers boiled over into what has been described as the "Long Night at Wrong Beach". The animosity between Felder and Frey boiled over before the show began, when Felder said, "You're welcome – I guess" to California Senator Alan Cranston's wife as the politician was thanking the band backstage for performing a benefit for his re-election. Frey and Felder spent the entire show telling each other about the beating each planned to administer backstage. "Only three more songs until I kick your ass, pal," Frey recalled Felder telling him near the end of the band's set. Felder recalls Frey telling him during "Best of My Love", "I'm gonna kick your ass when we get off the stage."


title: Eagles (band)

text: It appeared to be the end of the Eagles, but the band still had a commitment with Elektra Records to make a live record from the tour. "Eagles Live" (released in November 1980) was mixed on opposite coasts. Frey had already left the band and would remain in Los Angeles, while the other band members each worked on their parts in Miami. "We were fixing three-part harmonies courtesy of Federal Express," said producer Bill Szymczyk. Frey refused to speak to the other Eagles, and he fired Irving Azoff as his manager. With credits that listed five attorneys, the album's liner notes simply said, "Thank you and goodnight." A single released from the album – "Seven Bridges Road" – had been a live concert staple for the band. It was written by Steve Young in an arrangement created by Iain Matthews for his "Valley Hi" album in 1973. The song reached number 21 on the charts in 1980, becoming the Eagles' last Top 40 single until 1994.


title: Eagles (band)

text: After the Eagles broke up, the former members pursued solo careers. Elektra, the band's long-time record label, initially owned the rights to solo albums created by members of the Eagles. Walsh had established himself as a solo artist in the 1970s, but it was uncharted waters for the others.


title: Eagles (band)

text: Walsh released a successful album in 1981, "There Goes the Neighborhood," but subsequent albums throughout the 1980s were less well received. During this period, Walsh performed as a session musician for Dan Fogelberg, Steve Winwood, John Entwistle, Richard Marx and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, among others, and produced and co-wrote Ringo Starr's "Old Wave" album.


title: Eagles (band)

text: Henley achieved commercial solo success. In 1981, he sang a duet with Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac), "Leather and Lace". In 1982, he released "I Can't Stand Still," featuring the hit "Dirty Laundry". The next album, "Building the Perfect Beast" (1984), featured "The Boys of Summer" (a "Billboard" number 5 hit), "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" (number 9), "Not Enough Love in the World" (number 34) and "Sunset Grill" (number 22). Henley's next album, "The End of the Innocence" (1989), was also a major success. It included "The End of the Innocence", "The Last Worthless Evening" and "The Heart of the Matter". His solo career was cut short due to a contract dispute with his record company, which was finally resolved when the Eagles reunited in 1994.


title: Eagles (band)

text: Frey achieved solo success in the 1980s. In 1982, he released his first album, "No Fun Aloud", which spawned the number 15 hit "The One You Love". "The Allnighter" (1984) featured the number 20 hit "Sexy Girl". He reached number 2 on the charts with "The Heat Is On" from the "Beverly Hills Cop" soundtrack. He had another number 2 single in 1985 with "You Belong to the City" from the "Miami Vice" soundtrack, which featured another Frey song, "Smuggler's Blues". He appeared as "Jimmy" in the episode titled after the song and contributed riffs to the episode's soundtrack. He also contributed the songs "Flip City" to the "Ghostbusters II" soundtrack and "Part of Me, Part of You" to the soundtrack for "Thelma & Louise."


title: Eagles (band)

text: Former music writer Cameron Crowe had written articles about Poco and the Eagles during his journalism career. In 1982, his first screenplay was produced as the feature-length movie "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." The film was co-produced by Eagles manager Azoff, who also co-produced the soundtrack album, released by Elektra. Henley, Walsh, Schmit and Felder all contributed solo songs to the film's soundtrack. The band playing at the dance toward the end of the movie covers the Eagles song "Life in the Fast Lane".


title: Eagles (band)

text: Felder released a solo album, and contributed two songs to the soundtrack of the movie "Heavy Metal": "Heavy Metal (Takin' a Ride)" (with Henley and Schmit providing backing vocals) and "All of You". He also had a minor hit, "Bad Girls", off his solo album "Airborne."


title: Eagles (band)

text: Schmit had a prolific solo career after the band's initial breakup. He had a hit song on the "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" soundtrack with "So Much in Love". He contributed vocals to the Crosby, Stills & Nash album "Daylight Again" on the songs "Southern Cross" and "Wasted on the Way" when that band needed an extra vocalist due to David Crosby's drug overindulgence. Schmit sang backup vocals on Toto's "Toto IV" album, including the song "I Won't Hold You Back" and appeared with the group on their 1982 European tour. He spent three years (1983–1985) as a member of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer band. He had a Top 40 solo hit in 1987 with "Boys' Night Out" and a top-30 Adult Contemporary hit with "Don't Give Up", both from his album "Timothy B." Schmit appeared with Meisner and Walsh on Richard Marx's debut single "Don't Mean Nothing". In 1992, Schmit and Walsh toured as members of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band and appeared on the live video from the Montreux Jazz Festival. Schmit released two solo albums, "Playin' It Cool" in 1984 and "Tell Me the Truth" in 1990. He was the only Eagle to appear on the 1993 Eagles tribute album "," singing backing vocals on Vince Gill's cover of "I Can't Tell You Why".


title: Eagles (band)

text: An Eagles country tribute album, titled "", was released in 1993, 13 years after the breakup. Travis Tritt insisted on having the "Long Run"-era Eagles in his video for "Take It Easy" and they agreed. Following years of public speculation, the band formally reunited the following year. The lineup comprised the five "Long Run"-era members—Frey, Henley, Walsh, Felder, and Schmit—supplemented by Scott Crago (drums), John Corey (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals), Timothy Drury (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals), and former Loggins and Messina sideman Al Garth (sax, violin) on stage.


title: Eagles (band)

text: "For the record, we never broke up, we just took a 14-year vacation," said Frey at their first live performance in April 1994. The ensuing tour spawned a live album titled "Hell Freezes Over" (named for Henley's recurring statement that the group would get back together "when hell freezes over"), which debuted at number 1 on the "Billboard" album chart. It included four new studio songs, with "Get Over It" and "Love Will Keep Us Alive" both becoming Top 40 hits. The album proved as successful as the tour, selling six million copies in the U.S. The tour was interrupted in September 1994 because of Frey's serious recurrence of diverticulitis, but it resumed in 1995 and continued into 1996. In 1998, the Eagles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the induction ceremony, all seven Eagles members (Frey, Henley, Felder, Walsh, Schmit, Leadon, and Meisner) played together for two songs, "Take It Easy" and "Hotel California". Several subsequent reunion tours followed (without Leadon or Meisner), notable for their record-setting ticket prices.


title: Eagles (band)

text: The Eagles performed at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on December 28 and 29, 1999, followed by a concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on December 31. These concerts marked the last time Felder played with the band and the shows (including a planned video release) would later form a part of a lawsuit filed by Felder against his former bandmates. The concert recordings were released on CD as part of the four-disc "" box set in November 2000. Along with the concert, this set included the band's hit singles, album tracks and outtakes from "The Long Run" sessions. "Selected Works" received platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2002. The group resumed touring in 2001, with a line-up consisting of Frey, Henley, Walsh, and Schmit, along with Steuart Smith (guitars, mandolin, keyboards, backing vocals; essentially taking over Felder's role), Michael Thompson (keyboards, trombone), Will Hollis (keyboards, backing vocals), Scott Crago (drums, percussion), Bill Armstrong (Horns), Al Garth (sax, violin), Christian Mostert (sax), and Greg Smith (sax, percussion).


title: Eagles (band)

text: On February 6, 2001, Don Felder was fired from the Eagles. He responded by filing two lawsuits against "Eagles, Ltd.", a California corporation; Don Henley, an individual; Glenn Frey, an individual; and "Does 1–50", alleging wrongful termination, breach of implied-in-fact contract and breach of fiduciary duty, reportedly seeking $50million in damages. Felder alleged that from the 1994 "Hell Freezes Over" tour onward, Henley and Frey had "...insisted that they each receive a higher percentage of the band's profits ...," whereas the money had previously been split in five equal portions. Felder accused them of coercing him into signing an agreement under which Henley and Frey would receive three times as much of the "Selected Works: 1972–1999" proceeds.


title: Eagles (band)

text: On behalf of Henley and Frey, attorney Daniel M. Petrocelli responded by saying "[Henley and Frey] felt—creatively, chemistry-wise and performance-wise—that he should no longer be part of the band ... They removed him, and they had every legal right to do so. This has been happening with rock 'n' roll bands since day one." Henley and Frey then countersued Felder for breach of contract, alleging that Felder had written a "tell-all" book, "". The initial U.S. release was canceled after publisher Hyperion Books backed out in September 2007, when an entire print run of the book had to be recalled for cuts and changes. The American edition was published by John Wiley & Sons on April 28, 2008, with Felder embarking on a full publicity campaign surrounding its release. The book was published in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2007.


title: Eagles (band)

text: On January 23, 2002, the Los Angeles County Superior Court consolidated the two complaints, set a trial date for September 2006, and the single case was dismissed on May 8, 2007, after being settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.


title: Eagles (band)

text: In 2003, the Eagles released a greatest hits album, "The Very Best Of". The two-disc compilation was the first that encompassed their entire career from "Eagles" to "Hell Freezes Over". It debuted at number 3 on the Billboard charts and eventually gained triple platinum status. The album included a new single, the September 11 attacks-themed "Hole in the World". Also in 2003, Warren Zevon, a longtime Eagles friend, began work on his final album, "The Wind", with the assistance of Henley, Walsh, and Schmit.


title: Eagles (band)

text: On June 14, 2005, the Eagles released a new 2-DVD set, "Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne", featuring two new songs: Frey's "No More Cloudy Days" and Walsh's "One Day at a Time." A special edition 2006 release, exclusive to Walmart and affiliated stores, includes a bonus audio CD with three new songs: a studio version of "No More Cloudy Days", "Fast Company", and "Do Something".


title: Eagles (band)

text: In 2007, the Eagles consisted of Frey, Henley, Walsh, and Schmit. On August 20, 2007, "How Long", written by J. D. Souther, was released as a single to radio with an accompanying online video at Yahoo! Music. It debuted on television on Country Music Television on August 23, 2007. The band had performed the song as part of their live sets in the early to mid-1970s, but did not record it at the time because Souther wanted to reserve it for use on his first solo album. Souther had previously worked with the Eagles, co-writing some of their biggest hits, including "Best of My Love", "Victim of Love", "Heartache Tonight", and "New Kid in Town".


title: Eagles (band)

text: On October 30, 2007, the Eagles released "Long Road Out of Eden", their first album of all-new material since 1979. For the first year after the album's release, it was available in the U.S. only via the band's website, at Walmart, and at Sam's Club stores. It was commercially available through traditional retail outlets in other countries. The album debuted at number 1 in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, and Norway. It became their third studio album and seventh release overall to be certified at least seven times platinum by the RIAA. Henley told CNN that "This is probably the last Eagles album that we'll ever make."


title: Eagles (band)

text: The Eagles made their awards show debut on November 7, 2007, when they performed "How Long" live at the Country Music Association Awards.


title: Eagles (band)

text: On January 28, 2008, the second single of "Long Road Out of Eden" was released. "Busy Being Fabulous" peaked at number 28 on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot Country Songs chart and at number 12 on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. The Eagles won their fifth Grammy in 2008, in the category Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "How Long".


title: Eagles (band)

text: On March 20, 2008, the Eagles launched their world tour in support of "Long Road Out of Eden" at The O2 Arena in London. The Long Road Out of Eden Tour concluded the American portion of the tour at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, on May 9, 2009. It was the first concert ever held in the new soccer stadium. The tour traveled to Europe, with its final concert date on July 22, 2009, in Lisbon. The band spent the summer of 2010 touring North American stadiums with the Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban. The tour expanded to England as the headline act of the Hop Farm Festival on July 1, 2011.


title: Eagles (band)

text: Asked in November 2010 whether the Eagles were planning a follow-up to "Long Road Out of Eden", Schmit replied, "My first reaction would be: no way. But I said that before the last one, so you never really know. Bands are a fragile entity and you never know what's going to happen. It took a long time to do that last album, over a span of years, really, and it took a lot out of us. We took a year off at one point. I'm not sure if we're able to do that again. I wouldn't close the door on it, but I don't know." Walsh said in 2010 that there might be one more album before the band "wraps it up". Frey later stated in a 2012 interview that the band has had discussions about releasing an EP of potentially 4–6 songs that may contain both original and cover material.


title: Eagles (band)

text: In February 2013, the Eagles released a career-spanning documentary called "History of the Eagles" and began the supporting tour with 11 US arena concerts in July. Henley said that the tour, which expanded internationally and continued until July 2015, "could very well be our last...we're gonna include at least one former band member in this tour and kinda go back to the roots, and how we created some of these songs. We're gonna break it down to the fundamentals and then take it up to where it is now." Original Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon also appeared on the tour. Walsh stated, "Bernie’s brilliant, I never really got a chance to play with him, but we've been in contact. We see him from time to time, and I'm really glad he's coming because it's going to take the show up a notch, and I'm really looking forward to playing with him, finally." Former members Randy Meisner and Don Felder did not appear. Meisner had been invited but could not participate for health reasons, while Felder was never asked. Though his lawsuits against the Eagles were settled in 2007, Henley claimed that Felder continued to "engage in legal action, of one kind or another" against the band, but did not state what those actions were.


title: Eagles (band)

text: The Eagles (Frey, Henley, Walsh, and Schmit) were slated to receive Kennedy Center Honors in 2015, but this was deferred to 2016 due to Frey's health problems.


title: Eagles (band)

text: On January 18, 2016, founding member Glenn Frey died at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York City at the age of 67. The causes of his death were rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis, and pneumonia while recovering from intestinal surgery.


title: Eagles (band)

text: At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards in February, the Eagles, joined by Leadon, touring guitarist Steuart Smith, and co-writer Jackson Browne, performed "Take It Easy" in honor of Frey. In subsequent interviews, Henley stated that he didn't think the band would perform again.


title: Eagles (band)

text: Despite Henley's statements the previous year, the band continued on and headlined the Classic West and Classic East concert in July 2017, which were organized by their manager Irving Azoff. Glenn Frey's son Deacon performed in his father's place, along with country musician Vince Gill. At the Classic West concert, the band was joined by Bob Seger who sang "Heartache Tonight", which he co-wrote. The band then continued to tour in the fall in the U.S.


title: Eagles (band)

text: The first and only studio recording by the band without Glenn Frey to date was released in autumn 2017, a cover of Dan Fogelberg's "Part of the Plan" for the album "A Tribute to Dan Fogelberg".


title: Eagles (band)

text: Further touring occurred again in North America with Gill and Deacon Frey, beginning in March 2018. Henley's son Will joined the touring band as a guitarist for this run of shows. The band also toured Europe and Oceania in early 2019. The first live release of the new lineup came in 2020, when footage of the band's 2018 leg was released as a concert TV special on ESPN with the soundtrack released in October, the first live release without Glenn Frey.


title: Eagles (band)

text: The band performed their 1976 album "Hotel California" in its entirety during three concerts at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in September and October 2019. The shows also included another set of the band's greatest hits. The line-up included a 46-piece orchestra and a 22-voice choir. Following the Las Vegas shows, the band announced the Hotel California 2020 Tour to take place in six cities between February 7 and April 18, 2020.


title: Eagles (band)

text: After just ten shows in early 2020, the remainder of the Hotel California Tour was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour resumed in 2021, with North American dates spanning August to November. The band then announced the tour would continue into 2022, with dates in both the U.S. and Europe. On April 6, 2022, the band announced on their Facebook page that Deacon Frey was leaving the group in order to pursue a solo career.


title: Eagles (band)

text: Influenced by 1960s rhythm and blues, soul, bluegrass, and rock bands such as the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield, the Eagles' overall sound has been described as "California rock". In the words of Sal Manna, author of the CD liner notes of the band's 1994 album "Hell Freezes Over", "no one knew quite what 'California rock' meant – except perhaps that, because in California anything was possible, music that came from that promising land was more free-spirited and free-ranging."


title: Eagles (band)

text: The group's sound has also been described as country rock, soft rock and folk rock, and in later years the band became associated with the album rock and arena rock labels.


title: Eagles (band)

text: On their early records, the group combined rock and roll, country, and folk music styles. For their third album "On the Border," the band widened their style to include a prominent hard rock sound, a genre the band had only touched upon previously. The 1975 follow-up album "One of These Nights" saw the group explore a softer sound, notably exemplified on the hit singles "Take It to the Limit", and "Lyin' Eyes". Leadon, who was the principal country influence, left the band after the album was released, and the band moved away from country rock to a more rock direction in "Hotel California". The band's 2007 comeback album "Long Road Out of Eden" saw them explore country rock, blues rock, and funk.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician, United States Army Reserve officer and political commentator who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. Gabbard was the first Hindu member of Congress and also the first Samoan-American voting member of Congress. She was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 United States presidential election, before leaving the party and becoming an independent in October 2022.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 2002, Gabbard was elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives at the age of 21. Gabbard served in a field medical unit of the Hawaii Army National Guard while deployed to Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and was stationed in Kuwait from 2008 to 2009 as an Army Military Police platoon leader. While a member of Congress, she served as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2013 to 2016, and resigned to endorse Bernie Sanders' campaign for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: During her time in Congress, she frequently appeared on Fox News to criticize the Barack Obama administration for refusing to say that the real enemy of the United States is radical Islam or Islamic extremism. During her presidential campaign, she highlighted an opposition to military interventionism, although she has called herself a "hawk" on terrorism. Her decision to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and her skepticism of claims that he had used chemical weapons gave rise to public disagreement from mainstream Democrats.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In March 2020, Gabbard ended her presidential candidacy to endorse Joe Biden, and was succeeded by Kai Kahele in the House of Representatives on January 3, 2021. Gabbard has since taken more conservative positions on issues such as abortion, transgender rights and border security. Gabbard endorsed Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act and was a featured speaker at the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). She continued her frequent presence on Fox News, including serving as a fill-in host for "Tucker Carlson Tonight" and eventually becoming a paid contributor to the network. In October 2022, Gabbard announced that she had left the Democratic Party altogether, citing their positions on foreign policy and social issues as the primary reasons for her departure, and is currently unaffiliated with any party. She followed her announcement by endorsing and campaigning for numerous Republican candidates in that year's midterm elections.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard was born on April 12, 1981, in Leloaloa, Maʻopūtasi County, on American Samoa's main island of Tutuila. She was the fourth of five children born to Carol (née Porter) Gabbard and her husband, Mike Gabbard. In 1983, when Gabbard was two years old, her family moved to Hawaii, where her family had lived in the late 1970s.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard has both European and Samoan ancestry, and was raised in a multicultural household. Her mother was born in Indiana and grew up in Michigan. Her father was born in American Samoa and lived in Hawaii and Florida as a child; he is of Samoan and European ancestry.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard was raised in accordance with the teachings of the Science of Identity Foundation (SIF) religious community and its spiritual leader, Chris Butler, and was sheltered from outside influences. She has said Butler's work still guides her. In 2015, Gabbard called Butler her "guru dev" (roughly, "spiritual teacher"). Gabbard's husband and ex-husband have also been members of the community. Gabbard has been reluctant to speak publicly about the SIF. Gabbard was homeschooled through high school, except for two years at an all-girls SIF boarding school in the Philippines. Her first name, Tulasi in Sanskrit, is the word for holy basil, which Hindus regard as an earthly manifestation of the goddess Tulasi. Her siblings also have Sanskrit-origin names.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 2002, while working as a self-employed martial arts instructor, Gabbard dropped out of Leeward Community College where she was studying television production to successfully run for election to the Hawaii House of Representatives.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 2009, Gabbard graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in International Business.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In April 2003, while serving in the Hawaii State Legislature, Gabbard enlisted in the Hawaii Army National Guard. In July 2004, she was deployed for a 12-month tour in Iraq, serving as a specialist with the Medical Company, 29th Support Battalion, 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. In Iraq, Gabbard served at Logistical Support Area Anaconda, completing her tour in 2005. Because of the deployment, she chose not to campaign for reelection to the state legislature.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In March 2007, she graduated from the Accelerated Officer Candidate School at the Alabama Military Academy. She was commissioned as a second lieutenant, and assigned to the 29th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Hawaii Army National Guard, this time to serve as an Army Military Police officer. She was stationed in Kuwait from 2008 to 2009. She was one of the first women to enter a Kuwaiti military facility, as well as the first woman to receive an award of appreciation from the Kuwait National Guard.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard is a recipient of the Combat Medical Badge and the Meritorious Service Medal. On October 12, 2015, she was promoted from the rank of captain to major at a ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. She continued to serve as a major in the Hawaii Army National Guard until her transfer to the 351st Civil Affairs Command, a California-based United States Army Reserve unit assigned to the United States Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command, in June 2020.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On August 7, 2018, the "Honolulu Star-Advertiser" reported that the Hawaii Army National Guard had instructed Gabbard that a video of her in uniform on her VoteTulsi Facebook page did not comply with military ethics rules. Gabbard's campaign removed the video and added a disclaimer to the website's banner image of Gabbard in uniform in a veterans' cemetery that the image does not imply an endorsement from the military. A similar situation had happened during a previous Gabbard congressional campaign. A spokeswoman for Gabbard said the campaign would work closely with the Department of Defense to ensure compliance with all regulations. In October 2020, Gabbard left the Hawaii Army National Guard to join the Army Reserves with a California-based unit. On July 4, 2021, Gabbard was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 2002, after redistricting, Gabbard won the four-candidate Democratic primary for the 42nd district of the Hawaii House of Representatives with a plurality of 43% of the vote. Gabbard then won the general election with 60.7% of the vote, defeating Republican Alfonso Jimenez. At the age of 21, Gabbard became the youngest legislator ever elected in Hawaii's history, and was at the time the youngest woman ever elected to a U.S. state legislature.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: During her term of office, Gabbard successfully led opposition to, and protests of, a state bill that would have legalized same-sex civil unions, and urged Hawaiians to support the Federal Marriage Amendment to prevent federal law from overriding state law with regard to same-sex marriage.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 2004, Gabbard filed for reelection, but then volunteered for Army National Guard service in Iraq. Rida Cabanilla, who filed to run against her, called on Gabbard to resign because she would not be able to represent her district from Iraq. Gabbard announced in August 2004 that she would not campaign for a second term, and Cabanilla won the Democratic primary with 58% of the vote. State law prevented the removal of Gabbard's name from the ballot.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: After returning home from her second deployment to the Middle East in 2009, Gabbard ran for a seat on the Honolulu City Council vacated by City Councilman Rod Tam, of the 6th district, who decided to retire in order to run for mayor of Honolulu. In the 10-candidate nonpartisan open primary in September 2010, Gabbard finished first with 26.8% of the vote. In the November 2 runoff election she defeated Sesnita Moepono with 49.5% of the vote.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard introduced a measure to help food truck vendors by loosening parking restrictions. She also introduced Bill 54, a measure that authorized city workers to confiscate personal belongings stored on public property with 24 hours' notice to its owner. After overcoming opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Occupy Hawai'i, Bill 54 passed and became City Ordinance 1129.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In early 2011, Mazie Hirono, the incumbent Democratic U.S. Representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district, announced that she would run for the United States Senate. In May 2011, Gabbard announced her candidacy for Hirono's House seat. The Democratic Mayor of Honolulu, Mufi Hannemann, was the best-known candidate in the six-way primary, but Gabbard won with 62,882 votes (55%); the "Honolulu Star-Advertiser" called her win an "improbable rise from a distant underdog to victory." After winning the primary, Gabbard resigned from the City Council on August 16 "in order to focus on her congressional campaign" and to prevent the cost of holding a special election.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: As the Democratic nominee, Gabbard spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the invitation of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who called Gabbard "an emerging star." As expected in heavily Democratic Hawaii, she won the general election on November 6, 2012, defeating Republican Kawika Crowley by 168,503 to 40,707 votes (80.6%–19.4%), becoming the first voting Samoan-American and first Hindu member of Congress.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In December 2012, Gabbard applied to be considered for appointment to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the death of Daniel Inouye. Despite support from some prominent mainland Democrats, she was not on the list of three candidates which the Democratic Party of Hawaii sent to the governor.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In March 2013, Gabbard introduced the Helping Heroes Fly Act, which sought to improve airport security screenings for severely wounded veterans. It passed Congress and was signed into law by President Barack Obama. She also introduced the House version of the Military Justice Improvement Act.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard was reelected on November 8, 2014, defeating Crowley again, by 142,010 to 33,630 votes (78.7%–18.6%); Libertarian candidate Joe Kent garnered 4,693 votes (2.6%).


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Along with Senator Hirono, Gabbard introduced a bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Filipinos and Filipino American veterans who had fought in World War II. The bill passed Congress and was signed into law by President Obama in December 2016.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard also introduced Talia's Law which sought to prevent child abuse and neglect on military bases. It was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama in December 2016.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard was reelected on November 8, 2016, defeating Republican nominee Angela Kaaihue by 170,848 to 39,668 votes (81.2%–18.8%).


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 2017, Gabbard introduced the Off Fossil Fuels (OFF) Act, which sought to "justly transition away from fossil fuel sources of energy to 100% clean energy by 2035, and for other purposes."


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 2018, Gabbard introduced the Securing America's Election Act, a bill that would require all districts to use paper ballots, which would yield an auditable paper trail in the event of a recount. Common Cause, a nonpartisan watchdog group, endorsed the bill.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard was reelected in November 2018, defeating Republican nominee Brian Evans by 153,271 to 44,850 votes (77.4%–22.6%).


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In September 2018, Gabbard and Representative Walter Jones (R-N.C.) co-sponsored the No More Presidential Wars Act, an effort to "reclaim the responsibility Congress has to be the body that declares war, to end these presidential wars that are being fought without the authorization of Congress."


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On October 25, 2019, Gabbard announced that she would not seek reelection to the House in 2020, citing her presidential campaign. Hawaii State Senator Kai Kahele had been challenging her for the congressional seat. Kahele and the co-chair of his campaign, former Hawaii governor Neil Abercrombie, criticized her for missing votes while campaigning for president—especially the vote on Syria; however, her absences were similar to other members of Congress running for president.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In October 2020, Tulsi Gabbard and Matt Gaetz introduced a bill calling for the United States to drop criminal charges against Edward Snowden. She introduced a similar bill, with Kentucky Republican congressman Thomas Massie, aimed at ensuring the release of Julian Assange from prison in the United Kingdom where he was being held pending resolution of extradition proceedings to the United States.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On January 22, 2013, Gabbard was unanimously elected to a four-year term as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. In September 2015, she criticized chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz's decision to hold only six debates during the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries, compared with 26 in 2008 and 15 in 2004, and to exclude any candidate who participated in a non-DNC sanctioned debate from all future DNC-sanctioned debates. Gabbard released a statement about the heated and public disagreements surrounding the debates in a Facebook post in 2015.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Following her public criticisms of the debate process, Gabbard was reported to have been either "disinvited" or asked to "consider not coming" to the October 13, 2015, Democratic debate in Las Vegas. In an interview with "The New York Times", she spoke of an unhealthy atmosphere, saying, "no one told me I would be relinquishing my freedom of speech and checking it at the door" in taking the job. Gabbard privately wrote to Wasserman Schultz, accusing her of violating the DNC's duty of neutrality by favoring Hillary Clinton. This letter later became public in leaked emails published by WikiLeaks.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard resigned as DNC vice chair on February 28, 2016, in order to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders for the nomination for President of the United States. On that same day, she appeared on "Meet the Press" and discussed why she was stepping down. She was the first congresswoman to endorse Sanders, and later gave the nominating speech putting his name forward at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In July 2016, Gabbard launched a petition to end the Democratic Party's process of appointing superdelegates in the nomination process. She endorsed Keith Ellison for DNC chair in the 2017 chairmanship elections.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard was assigned as Bernie Sanders's running mate in California for any write-in votes for him. Shortly after the election, she was mentioned as a possible presidential candidate for 2020. In the 2016 United States presidential election, a Minnesota elector voted for Gabbard for vice president, but had that vote invalidated and given to Tim Kaine.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In February 2019, Gabbard officially launched her 2020 presidential campaign. Gabbard was the first female combat veteran to run for president. CNN described her foreign policy platform as anti-interventionist and her economic platform as populist.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard was the most frequently Googled candidate after the first, second, and fourth 2020 Democratic debates.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard did not meet the polling threshold for the third presidential debate, prompting her to criticize the DNC's qualification criteria as not transparent. She did qualify for the fourth debate in Ohio in October 2019, but accused the media and the Democratic party of "rigging" the 2020 election, and briefly threatened to boycott the debate before deciding to participate. She skipped the LULAC Latino Town Hall to appear on Hannity's TV show, where she criticized the Democrats' impeachment process.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In July 2019, Gabbard was the only 2020 presidential candidate to visit Puerto Rico and join protests urging Governor Ricardo Rosselló to resign.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In October 2019, false and later corrected stories claimed that former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said that Russia was "grooming" a female Democrat to run as a third-party candidate, who would help President Donald Trump win reelection via a spoiler effect. The media understood Clinton to be referring to Gabbard, which Nick Merril, a Clinton spokesperson, seemed to confirm to CNN by saying: "If the nesting doll fits"; however, Gabbard repeatedly said she would not run as a third-party candidate in 2020 and did not do so. Gabbard was defended by a number of fellow 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, who rejected Clinton's suggestion that Gabbard was a Russian asset. Trump also defended Gabbard. Gabbard filed a defamation lawsuit against Clinton in January 2020, but dropped it five months later. To represent her in her lawsuit against Clinton, Gabbard retained two attorneys with the Los Angeles law firm Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht and Davidoff Hutcher & Citron which, during the Mueller probe into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, also had represented George Papadopoulos and Rudy Giuliani.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard's presidential campaign received endorsements from David Duke and Richard B. Spencer, which she disavowed.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On March 3, 2020, Gabbard, who is of Samoan descent and 26% Southeast Asian, earned two delegates in American Samoa, making her the second woman of color (after Shirley Chisholm) and the first Asian-American and Pacific-Islander presidential candidate to earn primary delegates. She was also the only non-white Democratic party candidate to earn delegates in the 2020 election cycle.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On March 19, 2020, Gabbard dropped out of the 2020 election and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard was the only candidate with primary delegates to not be invited to the 2020 Democratic National Convention.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In May 2020, Gabbard gave her sole 2020 down-ballot endorsement to Democratic candidate Isaac Wilson, who was running for election to the 63rd district of the South Carolina House of Representatives against incumbent Republican Rep. Jay Jordan. Wilson later lost in the general election, earning 35.3% to Jordan's 64.7%.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In June 2020, Gabbard donated about $4,400 to Direct Relief and the Semper Fi & America's Fund, fundraised using proceeds from sales of excess merchandise in April and May. As Gabbard had already suspended her campaign back in March, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) sent a letter notifying that the fundraising efforts were not permitted and that her campaign ought to refund all primary election contributions made after her campaign suspension.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In July 2020, the family of Vanessa Guillén, a U.S. Army soldier and victim of military sexual harassment who was found murdered after previously being reported missing, and their attorney Natalie Khawam met with Gabbard. She later spoke at their July 1 news conference, where she said that as a fellow service member in the U.S. Army, she was "stand[ing] here for Vanessa", "for her family", and "for every service member who has experienced sexual harassment or assault and did not feel safe reporting it out of fear of retaliation".


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In August 2020, Gabbard was a panelist on "Electability" during The 19th Represents Virtual Summit on the same day as Hillary Clinton but on a different panel. She spoke on the pre-recording, albeit not in the live recording made after Kamala Harris was announced as Joe Biden's running mate.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Later that same month, Gabbard and Dr. Scott Miscovich held a press conference lauding Dr. Jennifer Smith, the state's epidemiological specialist who blew the whistle regarding the Hawaii Department of Health's lack of contact tracers to deal with the COVID-19 crisis. Gabbard called for the Hawaii DOH Director Bruce Anderson and state epidemiologist Sarah Park to step down and alleged that Hawaii Governor David Ige is partly to blame. In the aftermath, Anderson retired from his position, whereas Park was later replaced and put on leave. However, Smith was also put on paid leave and Gabbard responded, saying that the action "further erodes the public trust" and that it "sends a dangerously chilling message to others in our government who are doing the right thing, that they better toe the line or they will be punished". On November 2, 2020, Smith returned to work from her paid leave. On February 1, 2021, Park left the Hawaii Department of Health.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard was a presenter at iHeartRadio Honolulu's virtual festival, Island Music Awards, and announced the winner of the "Female Artist of the Year" award.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In September 2020, Gabbard filed paperwork with the FEC to change her presidential campaign committee, Tulsi Now, into Tulsi Aloha, a leadership PAC, as well as a legal expense trust fund to pay off debts from the lawsuit against Clinton. Later that same month, she weighed into the public disagreement surrounding the Netflix film "Cuties", alleging that Netflix was "complicit" in "help[ing] fuel the child sex trafficking trade".


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In December 2020, Gabbard endorsed and her Tulsi Aloha PAC donated $2,800 to Nina Turner for the 2021 special election for Ohio's 11th congressional district.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In January 2021, Gabbard launched her own podcast: "This is Tulsi Gabbard". She has also made several appearances on Fox News programs since leaving Congress, such as "Tucker Carlson Tonight, The Five," and "The Ingraham Angle", where she criticized figures such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, calling the latter a "domestic terrorist" for what she deemed as his attempt to "undermin[e] our constitution by trying to take away our civil liberties and rights" in the aftermath of the 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol. In November 2021, she called the victory of Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin in the Virginia Gubernatorial election over Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe a victory for all Americans. In an appearance on Hannity in April 2022 she expressed support for Florida's publicly debated Parental Rights Bill, and said that in her opinion it did not go far enough.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 2022 Gabbard spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference, drawing criticism from Hawaii Democrats. In August 2022, Gabbard served as the fill-in host for "Tucker Carlson Tonight".


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On October 11, 2022, Gabbard announced on Twitter that she was leaving the Democratic Party, accusing its leadership of "cowardly wokeness, anti-white racism, (being) hostile to people of faith and spirituality, and dragging us closer to nuclear war".


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Shortly thereafter, Gabbard endorsed and campaigned for a number of mostly unsuccessful Republican candidates in that year's midterm elections, several of whom say that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Among the candidates she campaigned for were Senate candidates Don Bolduc, Adam Laxalt and J. D. Vance, and Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In November 2022, it was announced that she signed a deal with Fox News as a paid contributor after years of being a frequent guest on several of their programs.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard criticizes what she describes as a push by the "neoliberal/neoconservative war machine" for U.S. involvement in "counterproductive, wasteful foreign wars", saying they have not made the United States any safer and have started a New Cold War and nuclear arms race. She describes herself as a hawk “[w]hen it comes to the war against terrorists,” but "when it comes to counterproductive wars of regime change, I'm a dove."


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard's domestic policy platform in her 2020 presidential campaign was economically and socially progressive. After the presidential campaign, she agreed with Republicans on some cultural and social issues.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard has been outspoken against a "broken criminal justice system" that puts "people in prison for smoking marijuana" while allowing pharmaceutical corporations responsible for "opioid-related deaths of thousands to walk away scot-free with their coffers full". Gabbard has said that as president she would "end the failed war on drugs, legalize marijuana, end cash bail, and ban private prisons". Bills she has introduced include the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act and the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In June 2020, Gabbard introduced an amendment to the House version of the 2021 NDAA to allow members of Armed Services to use products containing CBD and other hemp derivatives. It was approved 336 to 71 as a package, although House leaders did not fight for its inclusion in the final bill.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In January 2020, Gabbard called for legalizing and regulating all drugs, citing Portugal's model for drug decriminalization, after having previously supported decriminalizing all drug possession in October 2019. Gabbard allegedly planned on introducing legislation to decriminalize drug possession at the federal level, until the COVID-19 pandemic came.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard has expressed support for increased border security and voted with Republicans for vetting of Iraqi and Syrian refugees. Gabbard also called for halting the visa waiver program after mass numbers of Syrian immigrants entered Germany, until the threat of terrorists attacks is resolved. However Gabbard has also expressed support for an easier path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, increasing skilled immigration, and granting work visas to immigrants. She said she would be open to a proposal to a border wall if experts say it's warranted.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard successfully passed an amendment to the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act that would require the Department of Energy to reexamine the safety of the Runit Dome, a leaking Cold War era nuclear waste site in the Marshall Islands. She later called for "fresh eyes" to ensure a more independent assessment of the waste site's safety.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard has spoken in favor of a Green New Deal but expressed concerns about vagueness in some proposed versions of the legislation and its inclusion of nuclear energy. She advocates her own "Off Fossil Fuels for a Better Future Act" ("OFF Act") as legislation to transition the United States to renewable energy.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On January 18, 2017, Gabbard went on a one-week "fact-finding mission" to Syria and Lebanon, during which Gabbard met various political and religious leaders from Syria and Lebanon—as well as regular citizens from both sides of the war—and also had two unplanned meetings with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In April 2017, Gabbard expressed skepticism about claims that Assad used chemical weapons against civilians in Khan Shaykhun, and which were followed by a military attack against Syria by the United States. Gabbard said, "a successful prosecution of Assad (at the International Criminal Court) w[ould] require collection of evidence from the scene of the incident", and that she "support[ed] the United Nations' efforts in this regard". In a 2018 interview with "The Nation", Gabbard said the United States had "been waging a regime change war in Syria since 2011". After getting scrutiny for her views on Assad, Gabbard called Assad "a brutal dictator. Just like Saddam Hussein".


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard criticized the Obama administration, in more than 20 appearances on the Fox News network between 2013 and 2017, for "refusing" to say that the "real enemy" of the United States is "radical Islam" or "Islamic extremism."


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On December 20, 2019, the Stop Arming Terrorists Act that she introduced in 2017 became law as part of National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, § 1228 to prohibit the Department of Defense from "knowingly providing weapons or any other form of support to Al Qaeda" or other terrorist groups or any individual or group affiliated with any such organization.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard criticized the U.S. military's 2020 Baghdad International Airport airstrike (which killed high-level Iranian General Qasem Soleimani) as an act of war by President Trump and a violation of the U.S. Constitution, arguing that the president did not have congressional authorization for this act.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 2017, Gabbard was blacklisted by Azerbaijan for taking part in a visit to Armenia and the disputed, breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is populated and governed by ethnic Armenians. In October 2020, she accused Turkey, a NATO ally, of encouraging and inciting the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, and co-signed a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that read: "We write to express our deep concern with Azerbaijan's renewed aggression against Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and the rising possibility of a wider conflict with Armenia." Gabbard stated that the United States "must urge Azerbaijan to immediately end their attacks, and Turkey to cease its involvement both directly through the use of its armed forces, and indirectly by sending Al-Qaeda associated proxies to wipe out Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenian population—a tactic Turkey used against Syrian Kurds." Gabbard has called on the U.S. Senate and President Donald Trump to officially recognize the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 as a genocide.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 2022, she blamed the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine on the Biden administration's foreign policy and argued against economic sanctions on Russia. Gabbard stated that the United States is trying to turn Ukraine into another Afghanistan.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In March 2022, she said media freedom in Russia is "not so different" to that of the United States. A number of academic sources described her claim as false, saying that in Russia the government represses independent media and free speech, which includes imprisoning critics of the invasion of Ukraine.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine placed Gabbard on a list of public figures whom it alleges promote Russian propaganda.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard supports a national healthcare insurance program that covers uninsured, as well as under-insured people, and allows supplemental but not duplicative private insurance. She has since advocated for a two-tier universal health care plan that she calls "Single Payer Plus", loosely modeled after Australia's system and allowing for both supplementary and duplicative private insurance.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard has previously pushed to reinstate Medicaid eligibility for people from the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau who are working and living in the United States. She has called for addressing the national nursing shortage and supports clear GMO labeling, voting in 2016 against a GMO-labeling bill she said was too weak.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard voted "present" when the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump in December 2019. In two video messages and a press release, she cited The Federalist Papers essay No. 65, and described her vote as a protest against "a political zero-sum game". Gabbard introduced H. Res. 766, which would censure Trump for several of his foreign policy decisions and "send a strong message to this president and future presidents that their abuses of power will not go unchecked, while leaving the question of removing Trump from office to the voters to decide". A week later, Gabbard said she had serious concerns that the impeachment would increase the likelihood that her party would lose the presidential election and its majority in the House of Representatives.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 1998, then-teenage Gabbard supported her father's successful campaign to amend the Constitution of Hawaii to give lawmakers the power to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples. The "Alliance for Traditional Marriage" spent more than $100,000 opposing same-sex marriage. In her campaign for the Hawaii legislature in 2002, when asked "What qualifies you to be a state representative?", Gabbard responded "Working with my father, Mike Gabbard, and others to pass a constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage, I learned that real leaders are willing to make personal sacrifices for the common good. I will bring that attitude of public service to the legislature." In 2019, CNN in a review of Gabbard's early career, said this showed "how closely she aligned herself with her father's mission at the time."


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 2004, then-adult Gabbard led a protest outside the Hawaii House Judiciary Committee objecting to the committee's decision to hold a hearing on a bill to establish legal parity between same-sex couples in civil unions and married straight couples after voters had, in 1998, approved the constitutional amendment not to support gay marriage by a margin of more than 2-to-1. In public testimony, she said: "To try to act as if there is a difference between 'civil unions' and same-sex marriage is dishonest, cowardly, and extremely disrespectful to the people of Hawaii who have already made overwhelmingly clear our position on this issue, … As Democrats, we should be representing the views of the people, not a small number of homosexual extremists."


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: That same year, she asserted that existing harassment figures showed Hawaii's schools were "not rampant with anti-gay harassment" and opposed a planned study that asked students about their sexuality.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 2012, Gabbard apologized for her "anti-gay advocacy" and said she would "fight for the repeal" of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In June 2013, she was an initial cosponsor of the legislation to repeal DOMA.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard was a member of the House LGBT Equality Caucus. She received ratings of 92%, 88%, 100%, and 84% for her four congressional terms for pro-LGBT legislation from the Human Rights Campaign, a group that advocates for LGBT rights.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: During a 2016 interview, while saying that her opinions on gay rights as a policy have changed, her personal views on gay people had not. After launching her presidential campaign in 2019, she apologized again and said that her views had been changed by her experience in the military "with LGBTQ service members, both here at home and while deployed". After criticism from Democrats over her past anti-gay remarks, she was defended by conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, journalist Glenn Greenwald, and openly gay representative Sean Patrick Maloney.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On December 10, 2020, Gabbard and Republican U.S. Representative Markwayne Mullin introduced a bill titled the "Protect Women's Sports Act" that would seek to define Title IX protections on the basis of an individual's biological sex, making it a violation for institutions that receive federal funding to "permit a person whose biological sex at birth is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls." If passed, this bill would effectively ban many transgender athletes from participating in programs corresponding with their gender identity. Gabbard received condemnation from LGBT organizations and activists after introducing the bill, including the Human Rights Campaign, saying: "Gabbard has lost all credibility as an ally."


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On April 4, 2022, Gabbard endorsed Florida's Parental Rights Bill which forbids discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in public school classrooms for kindergarten through third grade. Gabbard stated the bill "bans government and government schools from indoctrinating woke sexual values in our schools to a captive audience." She also suggested the bill should apply to all grades.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: Gabbard is vegan and, as a Hindu, follows Gaudiya Vaishnavism. She describes herself as a "karma yogi". She values the "Bhagavad Gita" as a spiritual guide and took the oath of office in 2013 using her personal copy, which she gave to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the latter's visit to the United States in 2014.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 2002, she married Eduardo Tamayo. They divorced in 2006, citing "the stresses war places on military spouses and families" as a reason for their divorce.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: In 2015, Gabbard married freelance cinematographer and editor Abraham Williams, the son of her Honolulu office manager, in a traditional Vedic wedding ceremony.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On November 25, 2013, Gabbard received the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award at a ceremony at the Institute of Politics at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government for her efforts on behalf of veterans.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On March 20, 2014, "Elle" magazine honored Gabbard, with others, at the Italian Embassy in the United States during its annual "Women in Washington Power List."


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On February 26, 2015, Gabbard received the National Association of Counties County Alumni Award for her "steadfast commitment to the nation's counties".


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On July 15, 2015, Gabbard received the Friend of the National Parks Award from the National Parks Conservation Association.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On September 30, 2018, Gabbard received the Ho'ola Na Pua Advocacy Award for "her dedication to serving and empowering human trafficking survivors in Hawaii" at their annual Pearl Gala.


title: Tulsi Gabbard

text: On October 16, 2018, Gabbard was honored as Hawai'i Pacific University's 2018 Paul T. C. Loo Distinguished Alumni.


title: Andorra

text: Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a sovereign landlocked microstate on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees, bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south. Believed to have been created by Charlemagne, Andorra was ruled by the count of Urgell until 988, when it was transferred to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell. The present principality was formed by a charter in 1278. It is headed by two co-princes: the bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain and the president of France. Its capital and largest city is Andorra la Vella.


title: Andorra

text: Andorra is the sixth-smallest state in Europe, with an area of and a population of approximately . The Andorran people are a Romance ethnic group of originally Catalan descent. Andorra is the world's 16th-smallest country by land and 11th-smallest by population. Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of above sea level. The official language is Catalan, but Spanish, Portuguese, and French are also commonly spoken.


title: Andorra

text: Tourism in Andorra brings an estimated 10.2 million visitors to the country annually. Andorra is not a member state of the European Union. It has been a member of the United Nations since 1993.


title: Andorra

text: The origin of the word Andorra is unknown, although several hypotheses have been proposed. The oldest is one put forward by the Greek historian Polybius ("The Histories" III, 35, 1), who describes the Andosins, an Iberian Pre-Roman tribe, as historically located in the valleys of Andorra and facing the Carthaginian army in its passage through the Pyrenees during the Punic Wars. The word Andosini or Andosins () may derive from the Basque ', meaning "big" or "giant". The Andorran toponymy shows evidence of Basque language in the area. Another theory suggests that the word Andorra may derive from the old word Anorra that contains the Basque word ' (water).


title: Andorra

text: Another theory suggests that Andorra may derive from , meaning "the thickly wooded place". When the Arabs and Moors conquered the Iberian Peninsula, the valleys of the High Pyrenees were covered by large tracts of forest. These regions were not administered by Muslims, because of the geographic difficulty of direct rule.


title: Andorra

text: Other theories suggest that the term derives from the Navarro-Aragonese "andurrial", which means "land covered with bushes" or "scrubland".


title: Andorra

text: The folk etymology holds that Charlemagne had named the region as a reference to the Biblical Canaanite valley of Endor or Andor (where the Midianites had been defeated), a name bestowed by his heir and son Louis the Pious after defeating the Moors in the "wild valleys of Hell".


title: Andorra

text: La Balma de la Margineda, found by archaeologists at Sant Julià de Lòria, was settled in 9,500 BCE as a passing place between the two sides of the Pyrenees. The seasonal camp was perfectly located for hunting and fishing by the groups of hunter-gatherers from Ariege and Segre.


title: Andorra

text: During the Neolithic Age, a group of people moved to the Valley of Madriu (the present-day Natural Park located in Escaldes-Engordany declared UNESCO World Heritage Site) as a permanent camp in 6640 BCE. The population of the valley grew cereals, raised domestic livestock, and developed a commercial trade with people from the Segre and Occitania.


title: Andorra

text: Other archaeological deposits include the Tombs of Segudet (Ordino) and Feixa del Moro (Sant Julià de Lòria), both dated in 4900–4300 BCE as an example of the Urn culture in Andorra. The model of small settlements began to evolve to a complex urbanism during the Bronze Age. Metallurgical items of iron, ancient coins, and relicaries can be found in the ancient sanctuaries scattered around the country.


title: Andorra

text: The sanctuary of Roc de les Bruixes (Stone of the Witches) is perhaps the most important archeological complex of this age in Andorra, located in the parish of Canillo, about the rituals of funerals, ancient scripture and engraved stone murals.


title: Andorra

text: The inhabitants of the valleys were traditionally associated with the Iberians and historically located in Andorra as the Iberian tribe Andosins or Andosini () during the 7th and 2nd centuries BC. Influenced by the Aquitanian, Basque and Iberian languages, the locals developed some current toponyms. Early writings and documents relating to this group of people goes back to the second century BC by the Greek writer Polybius in his "Histories" during the Punic Wars.


title: Andorra

text: Some of the most significant remains of this era are the Castle of the Roc d'Enclar (part of the early Marca Hispanica), l'Anxiu in Les Escaldes and Roc de L'Oral in Encamp.


title: Andorra

text: The presence of Roman influence is recorded from the 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE. The places with the most Roman presence are in Camp Vermell (Red Field) in Sant Julià de Lòria, and in some places in Encamp, as well as in the Roc d'Enclar. People continued trading, mainly with wine and cereals, with the Roman cities of Urgellet (the present-day La Seu d'Urgell) and all across Segre through the "via romana" Strata Ceretana (also known as Strata Confluetana).


title: Andorra

text: After the fall of the Roman Empire, Andorra came under the influence of the Visigoths, the Kingdom of Toledo, and the Diocese of Urgell. The Visigoths remained in the valleys for 200 years, during which time Christianity spread. When the Muslim Empire of Al-Andalus replaced the ruling Visigoths in most of the Iberian Peninsula, Andorra was sheltered from these Arab invaders by the Franks.


title: Andorra

text: Tradition holds that Charles the Great (Charlemagne) granted a charter to the Andorran people for a contingent of 5,000 soldiers under the command of Marc Almugaver, in return for fighting against the Moors near Porté-Puymorens (Cerdanya).


title: Andorra

text: Andorra remained part of the Frankish "Marca Hispanica", the buffer zone between the Frankish Empire and the Muslim territories, Andorra being part of the territory ruled by the Count of Urgell and eventually the bishop of the Diocese of Urgell. Tradition also holds that it was guaranteed by the son of Charlemagne, Louis the Pious, writing the "Carta de Poblament" or a local municipal charter circa 805.


title: Andorra

text: In 988, Count Borrell II of Urgell gave the Andorran valleys to the Diocese of Urgell in exchange for land in Cerdanya. Since then, the bishop of Urgell, based in Seu d'Urgell, has been co-prince of Andorra.


title: Andorra

text: The first document that mentions Andorra as a territory is the "Acta de Consagració i Dotació de la Catedral de la Seu d'Urgell" (Deed of Consecration and Endowment of the Cathedral of La Seu d'Urgell). The document, dated 839, depicts the six old parishes of the Andorran valleys that made up the country's administrative division.


title: Andorra

text: Before 1095, Andorra had no military protection, and the bishop of Urgell, who knew that the count of Urgell wanted to reclaim the Andorran valleys, asked the Lord of Caboet for help and protection. In 1095, the lord of Caboet and the bishop of Urgell signed under oath a declaration of their co-sovereignty over Andorra. Arnalda, daughter of Arnau of Caboet, married the viscount of Castellbò. Their daughter, Ermessenda, married the count of Foix, Roger-Bernard II. Roger-Bernard II and Ermessenda shared rule over Andorra with the bishop of Urgell.


title: Andorra

text: In the 13th century, a military dispute arose between the bishop of Urgell and the count of Foix as aftermath of the Cathar Crusade. The conflict was resolved in 1278 with the mediation of the king of Aragon, Peter III, between the bishop and the count, by the signing of the first paréage, which provided that Andorra's sovereignty be shared between the count of Foix (whose title would ultimately transfer to the French head of state) and the bishop of Urgell, in Catalonia. This gave the principality its territory and political form.


title: Andorra

text: A second paréage was signed in 1288 after a dispute when the count of Foix ordered the construction of a castle in Roc d'Enclar. The document was ratified by the noble notary Jaume Orig of Puigcerdà, and construction of military structures in the country was prohibited.


title: Andorra

text: In 1364, the political organization of the country named the figure of the syndic (now spokesman and president of the parliament) as representative of the Andorrans to their co-princes, making possible the creation of local departments (comuns, quarts and veïnats). After being ratified by Bishop Francesc Tovia and Count John I, the Consell de la Terra or Consell General de les Valls (General Council of the Valleys) was founded in 1419, the second oldest parliament in Europe. The syndic Andreu d'Alàs and the General Council organized the creation of the Justice Courts (La Cort de Justicia) in 1433 with the co-princes and the collection of taxes like foc i lloc (literally "fire and site", a national tax active since then).


title: Andorra

text: Although there are remains of ecclesiastical works dating before the 9th century (Sant Vicenç d'Enclar or Església de Santa Coloma), Andorra developed exquisite Romanesque Art during the 9th through 14th centuries, particularly in the construction of churches, bridges, religious murals and statues of the Virgin and Child (Our Lady of Meritxell being the most important). Nowadays, the Romanesque buildings that form part of Andorra's cultural heritage stand out in a remarkable way, with an emphasis on Església de Sant Esteve, Sant Joan de Caselles, Església de Sant Miquel d'Engolasters, Sant Martí de la Cortinada and the medieval bridges of Margineda and Escalls among many others.


title: Andorra

text: The Catalan Pyrenees were embryonic of the Catalan language at the end of the 11th century. Andorra was influenced by this language, which was adopted locally decades before it expanded to the rest of the Crown of Aragon.


title: Andorra

text: The local economy during the Middle Ages was based on livestock, agriculture, furs and weavers. Later, at the end of the 11th century, the first iron foundries began to appear in Northern Parishes like Ordino, much appreciated by the master artisans who developed the art of the forges, an important economic activity in the country from the 15th century.


title: Andorra

text: In 1601 the Tribunal de Corts (High Court of Justice) was created as a result of Huguenot rebellions in France, Inquisition courts coming from Spain and witchcraft-related beliefs native to the area, in the context of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation.


title: Andorra

text: With the passage of time, the co-title to Andorra passed to the kings of Navarre. After Henry III of Navarre became king of France, he issued an edict in 1607 that established the head of the French state and the bishop of Urgell as co-princes of Andorra, a political arrangement that still holds.


title: Andorra

text: During 1617, communal councils form the sometent (popular militia or army) to deal with the rise of bandolerisme (brigandage) and the Consell de la Terra was defined and structured in terms of its composition, organization and competences current today.


title: Andorra

text: Andorra continued with the same economic system that it had during the 12th–14th centuries with a large production of metallurgy (fargues, a system similar to Farga Catalana) and with the introduction of tobacco circa 1692 and import trade. In 1371 and 1448, the co-princes ratified the fair of Andorra la Vella, the most important annual national festival commercially ever since.


title: Andorra

text: The country had a unique and experienced guild of weavers, Confraria de Paraires i Teixidors, in Escaldes-Engordany. Founded in 1604, it took advantage of the local thermal waters. By this time, the country was characterized by the social system of prohoms (wealthy society) and casalers (rest of the population with smaller economic acquisition), deriving from the tradition of pubilla and hereu.


title: Andorra

text: Three centuries after its foundation, the Consell de la Terra located its headquarters and the Tribunal de Corts in Casa de la Vall in 1702. The manor house built in 1580 served as a noble fortress of the Busquets family. Inside the parliament was placed the Closet of the six keys (Armari de les sis claus), representative of each Andorran parish, where the Andorran constitution and other documents and laws were later kept.


title: Andorra

text: In both the Reapers' War and the War of the Spanish Succession, the Andorran people (while professing to be a neutral country) supported the Catalans who saw their rights reduced in 1716. The reaction was the promotion of Catalan writings in Andorra, with cultural works such as the "Book of Privileges" ("Llibre de Privilegis de 1674"), "Manual Digest" (1748) by Antoni Fiter i Rossell or the "Polità andorrà" (1763) by Antoni Puig.


title: Andorra

text: After the French Revolution, Napoleon I reestablished the Co-Principate in 1809 and removed the French medieval title. In 1812–1813, the First French Empire annexed Catalonia during the Peninsular War () and divided the region into four départements, with Andorra as a part of the district of Puigcerdà. In 1814, an imperial decree reestablished the independence and economy of Andorra.


title: Andorra

text: During this period, Andorra's late medieval institutions and rural culture remained largely unchanged. In 1866, the syndic Guillem d'Areny-Plandolit led the reformist group in a Council General of 24 members elected by suffrage limited to heads of families. The Council General replaced the aristocratic oligarchy that previously ruled the state.


title: Andorra

text: The New Reform () began after ratification by both Co-Princes and established the basis of the constitution and symbolssuch as the tricolour flagof Andorra. A new service economy arose as a demand of the valley inhabitants and began to build infrastructure such as hotels, spa resorts, roads and telegraph lines.


title: Andorra

text: The authorities of the Co-Princes banned casinos and betting houses throughout the country. The ban resulted in an economic conflict and the Revolution of 1881, which began when revolutionaries assaulted the house of the syndic on 8 December 1880, and established the Provisional Revolutionary Council led by Joan Pla i Calvo and Pere Baró i Mas. The Provisional Revolutionary Council allowed for the construction of casinos and spas by foreign companies. From 7 to 9 June 1881, the loyalists of Canillo and Encamp reconquered the parishes of Ordino and La Massana by establishing contact with the revolutionary forces in Escaldes-Engordany. After a day of combat the Treaty of the Bridge of Escalls was signed on 10 June. The council was replaced and new elections were held. The economic situation worsened, as the populace was divided over the  – the "Andorran Question" in relation to the Eastern Question. The struggles continued between pro-bishops, pro-French, and nationalists based on the troubles of Canillo in 1882 and 1885.


title: Andorra

text: Andorra participated in the cultural movement of the Catalan Renaixença. Between 1882 and 1887, the first academic schools were formed where trilingualism coexisted with the official language, Catalan. Romantic authors from France and Spain reported the awakening of the national consciousness of the country. Jacint Verdaguer lived in Ordino during the 1880s where he wrote and shared works related to the Renaixença with writer and photographer, Joaquim de Riba.


title: Andorra

text: In 1848, Fromental Halévy had premiered the opera "Le Val d'Andorre" to great success in Europe, where the national consciousness of the valleys was exposed in the romantic work during the Peninsular War.


title: Andorra

text: In 1933 France occupied Andorra following social unrest which occurred before elections due to the Revolution of 1933 and the FHASA strikes (Vagues de FHASA); the revolt led by Joves Andorrans (a labour union group related to the Spanish CNT and FAI) called for political reforms, the universal suffrage vote of all Andorrans and acted in defense of the rights of local and foreign workers during the construction of FHASA's hydroelectric power station in Encamp. On 5 April 1933 Joves Andorrans seized the Andorran Parliament. These actions were preceded by the arrival of Colonel René-Jules Baulard with 50 gendarmes and the mobilization of 200 local militias or sometent led by the Síndic Francesc Cairat.


title: Andorra

text: On 6 July 1934, adventurer and nobleman Boris Skossyreff, with his promise of freedoms and modernization of the country and wealth through the establishment of a tax haven and foreign investments, received the support of the members of the General Council to proclaim himself the sovereign of Andorra. On 8 July 1934 Boris issued a proclamation in Urgell, declaring himself Boris I, King of Andorra, simultaneously declaring war on the Bishop of Urgell and approving the King's constitution on 10 July. He was arrested by the Co-Prince and Bishop Justí Guitart i Vilardebó and their authorities on 20 July and ultimately expelled from Spain. From 1936 until 1940, a French military detachment of Garde Mobile led by well-known Colonel René-Jules Baulard was garrisoned in Andorra to secure the principality against disruption from the Spanish Civil War and Francoist Spain and also face the rise of Republicanism in the aftermath of the 1933 Revolution. During the Spanish Civil War, the inhabitants of Andorra welcomed refugees from both sides, and many of them settled permanently in the country thus contributing to the subsequent economic boom and the entry into the capitalist era of Andorra. Francoist troops reached the Andorran border in the later stages of the war.


title: Andorra

text: During World War II, Andorra remained neutral and was an important smuggling route between Vichy France and Francoist Spain, two fascist states. Many Andorrans criticized the passivity of the General Council for impeding both the entry and expulsion of foreigners and refugees, committing economic crimes, reducing the rights of citizens and sympathy with Francoism. General Council members justified the council's political and diplomatic actions as necessary for Andorra's survival and the protection of its sovereignty. Andorra was relatively unscathed by the two world wars and the Spanish Civil War. Certain groups formed to help victims of oppression in Nazi-occupied countries, while participating in smuggling to help Andorra survive. Among the most prominent was the Hostal Palanques Evasion Network Command, which, in contact with the British Mi6, helped almost 400 fugitives, among whom were Allied military personnel. The Command remained active between 1941 and 1944, although there were struggles with pro-Axis informers and Gestapo agents in Andorra.


title: Andorra

text: In the capital city there was a smuggling black market of propaganda, culture and cinematic art not favorable to totalitarian regimes, promulgated in such places as the Hotel Mirador or the Casino Hotel, as a meeting place for Free French forces and a route for escorting crashed Allied pilots out of Europe. The network was maintained after the war, when film societies were formed, where movies, music and books censored in Franco's Spain were imported, becoming an anti-censorship attraction for the Catalan or foreign public even within Andorra. Andorran Group (Agrupament Andorrà), an anti-fascist organization linked to the Occitanie's French Resistance, accused the French representative (veguer) of collaboration with Nazism.


title: Andorra

text: The Andorran opening to the capitalist economy resulted in two axes: mass tourism and the country's tax exemption. The first steps toward the capitalist boom date from the 1930s, with the construction of FHASA and the creation of professional banking with Banc Agrícol (1930) and Crèdit Andorrà (1949), later with Banca Mora (1952), Banca Cassany (1958) and SOBANCA (1960). Shortly after activities such as skiing and shopping become a tourist attraction, with the inauguration of ski resorts and cultural entities in the late 1930s. All in all, a renovated hotel industry has developed. In April 1968 a social health insurance system was created (CASS).


title: Andorra

text: The Andorran government necessarily involved planning, projection and forecasts for the future: with the official visit of the French co-prince Charles de Gaulle in 1967 and 1969, it was given approval for the economic boom and national demands within the framework of human rights and international openness.


title: Andorra

text: Andorra lived an era commonly known as "Andorran dream" (in relation to the American dream) along with the Trente Glorieuses: the mass culture rooted the country experiencing radical changes in the economy and culture. Proof of this was Ràdio Andorra, the top musical radio station in Europe in this period, with guests and speakers of great importance promoting musical hits of chanson française, swing, rhythm & blues, jazz, rock and roll and American country music. During this period Andorra achieved a GDP per capita and a life expectancy higher than the most standard countries of the current economy.


title: Andorra

text: Given its relative isolation, Andorra has existed outside the mainstream of European history, with few ties to countries other than France, Spain and Portugal. But in recent times its thriving tourist industry along with developments in transport and communications have removed the country from its isolation. Since 1976 the country has seen the need to reform Andorran institutions due to anachronisms in sovereignty, human rights and the balance of powers as well as the need to adapt legislation to modern demands. In 1982 a first separation of powers took place when instituting the Govern d'Andorra, under the name of Executive Board (Consell Executiu), chaired by the first prime minister Òscar Ribas Reig with the co-princes' approval. In 1989 the Principality signed an agreement with the European Economic Community to regularize trade relations.


title: Andorra

text: Its political system was modernized in 1993 after the Andorran constitutional referendum, when the constitution was drafted by the co-princes and the General Council and approved on 14 March by 74.2% of voters, with a 76% turnout. The first elections under the new constitution were held later in the year. The same year, Andorra became a member of the United Nations and the Council of Europe.


title: Andorra

text: Andorra formalized diplomatic relations with the United States in 1996, participating in the 51st UN General Assembly. First General Syndic Marc Forné took part on a speech in Catalan in the General Assembly to defend the reform of the organization, and after three days he took part in the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe to defend Andorra's linguistic rights and economy. In 2006 a monetary agreement with the European Union was formalized that allows Andorra to use the euro in an official way, as well as coin its own euro currency.


title: Andorra

text: Andorra is a parliamentary co-principality with the Bishop of Urgell and the president of France as co-princes. This peculiarity makes the president of France, in his capacity as prince of Andorra, an elected monarch, although he is not elected by a popular vote of the Andorran people. The politics of Andorra take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy with a unicameral legislature, and of a pluriform multi-party system. The prime minister is the chief executive.


title: Andorra

text: The current Prime Minister is Xavier Espot Zamora of the Democrats for Andorra (DA). Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both government and parliament.


title: Andorra

text: The Parliament of Andorra is known as the General Council. The General Council consists of between 28 and 42 councillors. The councillors serve for four-year terms, and elections are held between the 30th and 40th days following the dissolution of the previous Council.


title: Andorra

text: Half are elected in equal numbers by each of the seven administrative parishes, and the other half of the councillors are elected in a single national constituency. Fifteen days after the election, the councillors hold their inauguration. During this session, the General Syndic, who is the head of the General Council, and the Subsyndic General, his assistant, are elected. Eight days later, the Council convenes once more. During this session, the prime minister is chosen from among the councillors.


title: Andorra

text: Candidates can be proposed by a minimum of one-fifth of the councillors. The Council then elects the candidate with the absolute majority of votes to be prime minister. The Syndic General then notifies the co-princes, who in turn appoint the elected candidate as the prime minister of Andorra. The General Council is also responsible for proposing and passing laws. Bills may be presented to the council as Private Members' Bills by three of the local Parish Councils jointly or by at least one tenth of the citizens of Andorra.


title: Andorra

text: The council also approves the annual budget of the principality. The government must submit the proposed budget for parliamentary approval at least two months before the previous budget expires. If the budget is not approved by the first day of the next year, the previous budget is extended until a new one is approved. Once any bill is approved, the Syndic General is responsible for presenting it to the co-princes so that they may sign and enact it.


title: Andorra

text: If the prime minister is not satisfied with the council, he may request that the co-princes dissolve the council and order new elections. In turn, the councillors have the power to remove the prime minister from office. After a motion of censure is approved by at least one-fifth of the councillors, the council will vote and if it receives the absolute majority of votes, the prime minister is removed.


title: Andorra

text: The judiciary is composed of the Magistrates Court, the Criminal Law Court, the High Court of Andorra, and the Constitutional Court. The High Court of Justice is composed of five judges: one appointed by the prime minister, one each by the co-princes, one by the Syndic General, and one by the judges and magistrates. It is presided over by the member appointed by the Syndic General and the judges hold office for six-year terms.


title: Andorra

text: The magistrates and judges are appointed by the High Court, as is the president of the Criminal Law Court. The High Court also appoints members of the Office of the Attorney General. The Constitutional Court is responsible for interpreting the Constitution and reviewing all appeals of unconstitutionality against laws and treaties. It is composed of four judges, one appointed by each of the co-princes and two by the General Council. They serve eight-year terms. The Court is presided over by one of the judges on a two-year rotation so that each judge at one point will preside over the Court.


title: Andorra

text: Andorra does not have its own armed forces, although there is a small ceremonial army. Responsibility for defending the nation rests primarily with France and Spain. However, in case of emergencies or natural disasters, the Sometent (an alarm) is called and all able-bodied men between 21 and 60 of Andorran nationality must serve. This is why all Andorrans, and especially the head of each house (usually the eldest able-bodied man of a house) should, by law, keep a rifle, even though the law also states that the police will offer a firearm in case of need. Andorra is a full member of the United Nations (UN), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and has a special agreement with the European Union (EU), it also has observer status at the World Trade Organization (WTO). On 16 October 2020, Andorra became the 190th member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), during the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Andorra

text: Andorra has a small army, which has historically been raised or reconstituted at various dates, but has never in modern times amounted to a standing army. The basic principle of Andorran defence is that all able-bodied men are available to fight if called upon by the summoning of the Sometent (a civil defense organization of Andorra, made up of the heads of households). Being a landlocked country, Andorra has no navy.


title: Andorra

text: Before World War I, Andorra maintained an armed militia force of about 600 part-time militiamen under the supervision of a Captain (Capità or Cap de Sometent) and a Lieutenant (Desener or Lloctinent del Capità). This body was not liable for service outside the principality and was commanded by two officials (veguers) appointed by France and the Bishop of Urgell.


title: Andorra

text: In the modern era, the army has consisted of a very small body of volunteers willing to undertake ceremonial duties. Uniforms and weaponry were handed down from generation to generation within families and communities.


title: Andorra

text: The army's role in internal security was largely taken over by the formation of the Police Corps of Andorra in 1931. Brief civil disorder associated with the elections of 1933 led to assistance being sought from the French National Gendarmerie, with a detachment resident in Andorra for two months under the command of René-Jules Baulard. The Andorran Police was reformed in the following year, with eleven soldiers appointed to supervisory roles. The force consisted of six Corporals, one for each parish (although there are currently seven parishes, there were only six until 1978), plus four junior staff officers to co-ordinate action, and a commander with the rank of major. It was the responsibility of the six corporals, each in his own parish, to be able to raise a fighting force from among the able-bodied men of the parish.


title: Andorra

text: The only permanent section of the present-day Sometent is a twelve-man ceremonial unit. However, all able-bodied men are technically available for military service, with a requirement for each family to have access to a firearm. An area weapon such as a Shotgun per household is unregulated, however ranged weapons such as Pistols and Rifles require a license. The army has not fought for more than 700 years, and its main responsibility is to present the flag of Andorra at official ceremonial functions. According to Marc Forné Molné, Andorra's military budget is strictly from voluntary donations, and the availability of full-time volunteers.


title: Andorra

text: In more recent times there has only been a general emergency call to the popular army of Sometent during the floods of 1982 in the Catalan Pyrenees, where 12 citizens perished in Andorra, to help the population and establish a public order along with the Local Police units.


title: Andorra

text: Andorra maintains a small but modern and well-equipped internal police force, with around 240 police officers supported by civilian assistants. The principal services supplied by the corps are uniformed community policing, criminal detection, border control, and traffic policing. There are also small specialist units including police dogs, mountain rescue, and a bomb disposal team.


title: Andorra

text: The "Grup d'Intervenció Policia d'Andorra" (GIPA) is a small special forces squad trained in counter-terrorism, and hostage recovery tasks. Although it is the closest in style to an active military force, it is part of the Police Corps, and not the army. As terrorist and hostage situations are a rare threat to the country, the GIPA is commonly assigned to prisoner escort duties, and at other times to routine policing.


title: Andorra

text: The Andorran Fire Brigade, with headquarters at Santa Coloma, operates from four modern fire stations, and has a staff of around 120 firefighters. The service is equipped with 16 heavy appliances (fire tenders, turntable ladders, and specialist four-wheel drive vehicles), four light support vehicles (cars and vans) and four ambulances.


title: Andorra

text: Historically, the families of the six ancient parishes of Andorra maintained local arrangements to assist each other in fighting fires. The first fire pump purchased by the government was acquired in 1943. Serious fires which lasted for two days in December 1959 led to calls for a permanent fire service, and the Andorran Fire Brigade was formed on 21 April 1961.