Joe Scarborough Biography

Charles Joseph "Joe" Scarborough (born April 9, 1963) is an American cable news and talk radio host, lawyer, author, and former politician. He is currently the host of Morning Joe on MSNBC, and previously hosted Scarborough Country on the same channel. Scarborough served in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001 as a Republican from the 1st district of Florida. He was named in the 2011 Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world.

Early life, education and early legal career

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, he is the son of George F. Scarborough, a businessman, and has two other siblings. When his father died in May 2011, his life story appeared in the Congressional Record and in Politico's Playbook. Scarborough even wrote a eulogy op-ed online.

Joe Scarborough graduated from Pensacola Catholic High School in Pensacola, Florida. He received a B.A. from the University of Alabama in 1985 and a J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law in 1990. During this time he wrote and produced CDs with his band, Dixon Mills, and taught high school. He was admitted to the The Florida Bar in 1991, and practiced law in Pensacola.

Scarborough's most famous case was representing Michael F. Griffin, the accused killer of abortion doctor David Gunn, in early to mid-1993. He made several court appearances for Griffin. "There was 'no way in hell I could sit in at a civil trial, let alone a capital trial,' he claims now, referring to the prospect of prosecutors seeking the death penalty against Griffin." Scarborough assisted Griffin in choosing a trial lawyer from the many who offered their services, and he also shielded the family from the media exposure, pro bono.

Scarborough also helped to raise his political profile and made numerous contacts by assisting with a petition drive in late 1993 to oppose a 65 percent increase in the City of Pensacola's property taxes.

Political career

Congress

In 1994, Scarborough won the Republican Party primary for Florida's 1st congressional district, which came open after eight-term Democratic incumbent Earl Hutto announced his retirement. In the general election he defeated the Democratic candidate, Pensacola attorney Vinnie Whibbs, with 61 percent of the vote. Whibbs was the son of well respected, former Pensacola mayor, Vince Whibbs. The win was not considered an upset, since the 1st was traditionally a conservative district. The district had not supported a Democratic candidate for U.S. president since 1960. While Democratic candidates continued to win most local offices well into the 1990s, they tended to be conservative even, by Southern Democratic standards. It had been widely believed that Hutto would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired. .

Scarborough was reelected with 72 percent of the vote in 1996. In 1998 and 2000, he was opposed by only a write-in candidate..

He received a 95 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union. He signed the Contract with America. Scarborough served on the Armed Services, Judiciary, Government Reform, and Education committees. In 1998, he was named Chairman of the Civil Service Committee..

Scarborough was one of a group of about 40 freshmen Republican legislators who dubbed themselves the "New Federalists" after the Federalist Papers. Scarborough was elected Political Director of the incoming legislators. The New Federalists called for sweeping cuts in the U.S. government, including plans to "privatize, localize, consolidate, [or] eliminate" the Departments of Commerce, Education, Energy and Housing and Urban Development, but were largely unsuccessful in their goals. Gingrich tapped Scarborough to head a Republican task force on education, and Scarborough declared, "Our goal is to get as much money, power and authority out of Washington and get as much money, power and authority into the classroom as possible." Rep. John Kasich (R-Ohio), then Chairman of the House Budget Committee, adopted Scarborough's language eliminating the federal Department of Education in the 1996 House Budget Resolution. That budget would pass the House by a vote of 238-193.

Scarborough supported a number of pro-life positions while in Congress, including the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, that made it a crime to harm a fetus during the commission of other crimes, though he did not vote for the passage of the final bill.

Scarborough sponsored a bill to force the U.S. to withdraw from the United Nations after a four-year transition and voted to make the Corporation for Public Broadcasting "self-sufficient" by eliminating federal funding. He also voted for the "Medicare Preservation act of 1995," which cut the projected growth of Medicare by $270 billion over ten years, and against the "Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996," which raised the minimum wage to $5.15. Scarborough had a conservative voting record on economic, social, and foreign policy issues, but was seen as moderate on environmental issues and human rights causes, including closing the School of the Americas and Lori Berenson.

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While in Congress, Scarborough received a number of awards, including the "Friend of the Taxpayer Award" from Americans for Tax Reform; the "Guardian of Small Business Award" from the National Federation of Independent Business; the "Spirit of Enterprise Award" from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; the "Taxpayer's Hero Award" from the Citizens Against Government Waste; and the "Guardian of Seniors' Rights Award" from the 60 Plus Association.

Committee memberships

• 104th Congress --Committee on Government Reform and Oversight --Committee on National Security (formerly Committee on Armed Services)
• 105th Congress"?Committee on National Security—Committee on Government Reform and Oversight--Committee on Education and the Workforce
• 106th Congress-- Committee on Armed Services"?Committee on Government Reform-- Committee on the Judiciary
• 107th Congress"?Committee on Government Reform-- Committee on the Judiciary

Electoral history

 : Results 1994"2000

Year	Democratic	Votes	Pct	Republican	Votes	Pct
1994		70,416	38%		112,974	62%	*
1996		66,495	27%		175,946	73%	*
1998		663	0%		140,525	100%	*
2000		N/A	0%	Joe Scarborough	226,473	100%	*

Resignation

Scarborough announced his intent to resign to spend more time with his children five months into his fourth term in Congress. "The realization has come home to me that they're at a critical stage of their lives and I would rather be judged at the end of my life as a father than as a congressman," Scarborough said. A special election was held to replace him.

Controversy

On July 20, 2001, one of Scarborough's aides died after hitting her head on a desk when she fainted while in Scarborough's Fort Walton Beach, Florida, office. According to Scarborough, soon after the death, allegations "spread all over the Internet" that he had been involved,. There was no evidence of foul play. In 2003, he joked about the incident with Don Imus on Imus's radio program. In 2004, it was the subject of a public spat between Scarborough and filmmaker Michael Moore.

Post-Congressional politics

After leaving Congress, he joined the law firm of prominent Florida attorney Fred Levin. He practiced law with the firm Beggs and Lane, the oldest firm in Florida. He was appointed to the President's Council on the 21st Century Workforce in 2002.

In August 2005, Scarborough confirmed reports that he had been asked to consider a challenge to U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris for the Republican nomination to challenge Senator Bill Nelson's reelection bid. However, he announced later that month that he was renewing his contract with NBC.

In July 2006, former aides to Harris's 2006 Senate campaign claimed that Harris had called potential Scarborough supporters and raised the death of an aide in his home district office as a means to prevent his entry into the race. Scarborough, who had never intended to enter the race, initially considered suing Harris but decided to let the incident pass. He later told Nelson that drawing Harris as an opponent in the race made Nelson "the luckiest man in Washington."

In early 2009, Scarborough confirmed reports that he had been approached by Florida Republicans who wanted him to run for the Senate seat vacated by Republican Mel Martinez. Scarborough said he was not likely to run as he believes he can have more influence over public policy as the host of Morning Joe than as a U.S. Senator. However, he has not ruled out a political career in the future. In October 2010, Scarborough called former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich "cartoonish" and said that Gingrich engages in "hate speech."

On a Meet The Press interview on January 21, 2013, Scarborough talked about how he believes that the GOP is getting smaller and going farther to the right with each election. He mentioned how many Republicans had already spoken out against their party and tried to push for the party to become more involved with mainstream issues. He also talked about how the GOP really did not win the house but only maintained it due to the use of gerrymandering."

Media career

Scarborough is the host of MSNBC's Morning Joe, which features interviews with top newsmakers and politicians and analysis of the day's biggest stories. Previously, he hosted Scarborough Country, a primetime news show. He and Mika Brzezinski also briefly hosted a syndicated talk radio show called the Joe Scarborough Show on ABC Radio Network.

While still serving in Congress, Scarborough founded the free weekly Pensacola-area newspaper The Florida Sun in 1999. The paper later merged in 2001 and is now known as the "Independent News."

In April 2003, he embarked upon a television career with the launch of Scarborough Country on MSNBC, until he began hosting Morning Joe full-time.

Scarborough briefly hosted a three-hour radio show in 2005. The show aired in a competitive time slot (10am–1pm US ET) and struggled to gain affiliates; those few that did carry the show usually carried it in the noon"3pm US ET slot or in late nights instead. After a few months, Scarborough left the show to focus his time on other priorities.

Morning Joe

In May, 2007, Scarborough became one of the rotating hosts auditioning for the slot vacated by Imus in the Morning on MSNBC. Scarborough, with his morning show, won the slot permanently in July 2007. According to Nielsen Ratings, Morning Joe consistently beats CNN and Headline News in total viewers. Morning Joe has beaten CNN in total viewers every month since April 2011 and for 9 consecutive quarters. Morning Joe has also beaten Headline News in total viewers for 27 straight months. This is the first time in MSNBC history that its morning show has consistently out-rated both CNN and Headline News. Scarborough also is a regular guest on NBC news programs, MSNBC news programs, and has appeared on Meet the Press numerous times. In April 2012, Scarborough guest hosted Meet the Press.

On November 10, 2008, Scarborough made headlines when he said 'fuck' live on his show. In discussing Barack Obama's transition team, Scarborough contrasted the reputation of Clinton-era staffers with Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel by saying "These were decent steady men who don't go around flipping people off or screaming 'fuck you' at the top of their lungs." The comment was not bleeped out, and while Scarborough's guests and cohosts reacted with amusement, he continued with his point, apparently oblivious to what he had said, until co-host Mika Brzezinski broke in and informed him of his mistake. Scarborough apologized, saying that he thought he had only "said the letter, not the word" and commented that "my wife's going to kill me." Morning Joe has subsequently been broadcast with a 7-second broadcast delay.

MSNBC suspended Scarborough without pay for two days on November 19, 2010, for violating NBC News' policy against making contributions to political candidates without prior notification and approval, two weeks after NBC suspended then MSNBC host Keith Olbermann for the same offense. Scarborough had donated $4,000 to Republican candidates in Florida.

On July 23, 2012 Joe Scarborough speculated on The Morning Joe that James Eagan Holmes, the Aurora Colorado shooter suspect, could be on the autism spectrum. The National Autistic Advocacy Organization expressed "deep concern" over Scarborough's comment.

Radio

On December 8, 2008, Scarborough and Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski began hosting a two-hour late-morning radio show on WABC (770 AM) in New York City, replacing 12-year veteran host John Gambling. As of April 26, 2010, the radio show has been put on "hiatus" to redevelop its format into a new three-hour show. Many, including Don Imus, have speculated that the show has actually been canceled by Citadel Media. It has been noted that the schedule of WABC would not allow for the program to be expanded an additional hour.

Books

In his book The Last Best Hope, released on June 9, 2009, Scarborough outlines a plan to help guide conservatives back to a political majority after their defeats in the 2006 midterm elections and the 2008 Presidential election.

He is also the author of Rome Wasn't Burnt in a Day: the Real Deal on how Politicians, Bureaucrats, and other Washington Barbarians are Bankrupting America..

Personal life

In 1986, Scarborough married Melanie Hinton. They had two sons, Joey and Andrew, and divorced in 1999. His younger child was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. While interviewing Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in June 2005, Scarborough expressed concerns about the possibility that one of his sons may have suffered vaccine damage, perhaps attributable to the sharp increase during the 1980s in the amount of thimerosal injected into infants: "My son, born in 1991, has a slight form of autism called Asperger's. When I was practicing law and also when I was in Congress, parents would constantly come to me and they would bring me videotapes of their children, and they were all around the age of my son or younger. So, something happened in 1989."

In October 2001, Scarborough married Susan Waren, a former aide to Florida Governor Jeb Bush and a former congressional committee staffer. Their daughter Katherine was b. Aug.8, 2003. Their son Jack was b. May 2008. He has homes on the Upper West Side of New York City and in Pensacola, FL.

Scarborough's love for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team and head coach, Nick Saban is well known to his viewers. He often talks about the Crimson Tide and will show video clips of Alabama games on his television show. His show has even been broadcast from the University's campus in Tuscaloosa on numerous occasions. On his January 10, 2012, telecast on MSNBC, the show's opening began with the playing of the famous Lynyrd Skynyrd song 'Sweet Home Alabama', as well as highlights of Alabama's 21-0 victory in the national title game over Louisiana State University from the previous evening.

Scarborough is an avid association football fan. As mentioned on ESPN's "Off The Ball" podcast, Scarborough details his dedication to Liverpool FC, a football team that competes in the English Premier League.