Jesse Ventura (born July 15, 1951 as James George Janos) was elected the 38th Governor of Minnesota on November 3, 1998, after a career as professional wrestler, actor, mayor and radio talk show host. He ran for the Reform Party and completely unexpectedly beat the major-party candidates: St. Paul mayor Norm Coleman (Republican) and Minnesota Attorney General "Skip" Humphrey (Democrat). He served as governor from January 4, 1999 to January 6, 2003.
Jesse Ventura was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ventura (then known by his legal name of Janos) graduated from Minneapolis's Theodore Roosevelt High School in 1969. He was in the United States Navy from 1969 to 1973, serving as a Navy SEAL. He returned to Minnesota and attended North Hennepin Community College in the mid 1970s at the same time he began weight lifting and wrestling. He began to use the stage name Jesse "The Body" Ventura. He was married in 1975 to his wife Terry. They have two children.
Ventura continued to wrestle until the mid 1980s when health problems forced him to retire from the ring. He began to do color commentary on television for wrestling. He also did color commentary on radio for a few National Football League teams. He ran for mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota in 1990 and served from 1991 to 1995. Between 1995 and his run for governor, Ventura had a radio call in show in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market.
Ventura's main campaign promise was a tax refund of the state's surplus. In debates, he often admitted that he hadn't formed an opinion on certain policy questions. Later as governor, he came to support a one-house legislature, light-rail public transport, a property tax reform, gay rights and abortion rights. While funding public school education generously, he opposed teacher's unions. Lacking a base in the Minnesota house and senate, his vetoes were often overridden.
When the Reform party was taken over by Pat Buchanan supporters before the presidential elections of 2000, Ventura left the party and joined the Independence Party of Minnesota.
Ventura has produced several controversial quotes. In one of his books, he relates his visit to a prostitute in Reno, Nevada and states that prostitution should be legal. During a protest of college students, he said:
Ventura vetoed a bill to promote recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools, saying:
Controversies as Governor
In a Playboy interview, he said:
Ventura endorsed equal rights for people who don't believe in God by declaring July 4, 2002, "Indivisible Day" through this proclamation:
Ventura accidently also proclaimed October 13 to 19 2002 as "Christian Heritage Week". Somehow he mistakenly signed this proclamation.
Ventura has been criticized for privately profiting from his heightened popularity. He was hired as host for the failed XFL football enterprise and published several books during his tenure as governor. On his weekly radio show, he often criticized the media for focusing on these deals rather than on his policy proposals.
After a trade mission to mainland China in 2002, he announced that he wouldn't run for a second term as governor. During another trade mission to Cuba in the summer of 2002, he denounced the economical sanctions of the US against that country.
On November 4, 2002, he was booed at a memorial service for the victims of the plane crash which had killed Senator Paul Wellstone. The first three-hours of the service were a tribute to the lives of the campaign-workers who had died. Then Wellstone's campaign treasurer gave a let's win this speech which some felt was overly partisan. Disgusted, Ventura changed his mind about appointing a Democrat to finish Wellstone's Senate term; on his radio show he solicited resumes for the Senator job and eventually appointed fellow independent Dean Barkley.
Ventura began a cable television show in October, 2003 on MSNBC called Jesse Ventura's America. The show is broadcast once-a-week, on Saturdays, unlike many MSNBC shows which are on five-nights-a-week (this show was originally planned for five-nights-a-week as well, but MSNBC executives changed their minds). Jesse Ventura's America is the only national television show filmed in Minnesota.Other Actions as Governor