Rush Limbaugh, an American radio personality, conservative political commentator, author, and television show host, best known as the host of his radio show The Rush Limbaugh Show, died at the age of 70 on February 17, 2021 of lung cancer. Limbaugh’s wife, Kathryn, made the announcement on his radio show. “Losing a loved one is terribly difficult, even more so when that loved one is larger than life,” she said. “Rush will forever be the greatest of all time.”

Limbaugh was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-President Trump at the State of the Union address after being diagnosed with cancer. First lady Melania Trump presented the honor to Limbaugh in an emotional moment.

At the address, President Trump declared, “Rush Limbaugh, Thank you for your decades of tireless devotion to our country.” Trump told Fox News “There aren’t too many legends around, but he is a legend.”

In an interview with NewsMax, Trump described Limbaugh as, “a great gentleman, a great man.” Professionally, Trump noted Limbaugh, “wouldn’t just take phone calls; he would just talk for 2 hours, for 3 hours, he would just talk, and that’s not an easy thing to do.”

Trump concluded “He was a fantastic talent. People, whether they loved him or not, they respected him, they really did…He was just a great gentleman, a great man.”

Limbaugh hosted a national television show from 1992 to 1996. Forbes listed his earnings at $84.5 million. In December 2019, Talkers Magazine estimated that Limbaugh’s show attracted a cumulative weekly audience of 15.5 million listeners to become the most-listened-to radio show in the United States. Limbaugh was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame and the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Limbaugh also wrote seven books; his first two, The Way Things Ought to Be (1992) and See, I Told You So (1993), made The New York Times Best Seller list. (Wikipedia)

Limbaugh was best known for his controversial viewpoints. Fox News quotes Limbaugh’s historical focus, “I’m aware that the United States is young compared to countries in Europe and Asia that have been around for hundreds of years. They’re thousand-year-old civilizations,” he told listeners in 2013. “How is it that we, who have only been around 200 years, are light-years ahead of people that have been alive a thousand? I started to think about all the other things that we led the world in: Manufacturing, technology, innovation, invention, creation, and it all led back to liberty and freedom and the pursuit of happiness and dreams coming true and working hard for whatever you want and being able to do what you love, not just have to dream about it.” From that point forward, Limbaugh believed that “American exceptionalism” shouldn’t be frowned upon, and his conservative views became more prominent. “We stood for the concepts that are in our Declaration of Independence: Right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. We stood for that, and we were the beacon for it, and to this day that is why the oppressed of the world still seek to come into this country.”

Limbaugh was born on January 12, 1951, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. His father was a lawyer and a United States fighter pilot who served in the China Burma India Theater of World War II. His mother was from Searcy, Arkansas. The name “Rush” was originally chosen for his grandfather to honor the maiden name of a family member, Edna Rush. (Wikipedia)

After learning of the passing, Former Ambassador Niki Haley posted, “Rush Limbaugh was one of the most influential conservative voices America has ever known. His legacy and the movement he created will live on for years to come. Rest in Peace, Rush.”

Congressman Lee Zeldin posted, “His voice inspired much of the American conservative movement, and through the golden microphone, changed the talk radio landscape forever.” n

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