1001 People Who Made America - Alan Axelrod [90]
Miranda, Ernesto (1941–1976) Miranda was a career criminal who, in 1963, was arrested for a series of rapes in Phoenix, Arizona. On the basis of his confession, he was convicted; however, the U.S. Supreme Court on June 13, 1966, overturned the conviction because the police had failed to inform Miranda of his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination by refusing to answer police questions without the presence of legal counsel. As a result of this decision, arresting officers now read suspects their “Miranda rights,” informing them that they have the right to remain silent and to have an attorney present before any questioning is conducted. (Miranda was later retried and convicted on new evidence.)
Mitchell, Margaret (1900–1949) In 1926, Atlanta journalist Mitchell began writing an epic Civil War novel told from the Southern point of view. It took her a decade to complete, but when Gone with the Wind was published in 1936, it became a runaway bestseller—a million copies flying off the shelves within six months of publication and its heroine and hero, Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler, becoming household names. It was made into a movie in 1939, starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, which, for twenty years after its release was the top-earning movie in cinema history.
Mitchell, John (1913–1988) Richard M. Nixon appointed Mitchell attorney general in 1969. He made himself controversial—even widely despised—for endorsing two Supreme Court nominees rejected by the Senate as unqualified, for approving wiretaps not authorized by any court, for vigorously prosecuting anti-Vietnam War protesters, and for attempting to block publication of the “Pentagon Papers.” In March 1972, Mitchell stepped down as attorney general to become head of Nixon’s reelection committee but resigned in July during the early phases of the Watergate scandal. Convicted in 1975 of conspiring in the Watergate break-in, obstructing justice, and perjury, he entered prison in 1977 and was paroled in 1979.
Monk, Thelonious (1917–1982) Monk was a jazz pianist at Minton’s Play House, a major modern jazz venue in New York City during the early 1940s. He was a prime mover of bebop, which took the era’s “swing” style in new and adventurous directions. An enormously prolific composer, he created works of jagged, angular complexity, full of odd harmonies and “wrong” notes, with strangely accented rhythms, and always supremely inventive and intriguing. His best-known compositions—including “Well, You Needn’t,” “Straight, No Chaser,” “Mysterioso,” “Epistrophy,” “Blue Monk,” and “‘Round Midnight”—are considered monuments of modern jazz.
Monroe, James (1758–1831) Monroe fought alongside General George Washington during the American Revolution and, afterward, studied law with Thomas Jefferson. He was elected the fifth president of the United States in 1816 and served from 1817 to 1825. Despite economic hardship during this period, Monroe’s administration was dubbed the “Era of Good Feelings.” Monroe’s most famous contribution to American history was his promulgation on December 2, 1823, of the so-called “Monroe Doctrine,” which put European powers on notice that the United States would resist any attempt to establish colonies in the Western Hemisphere or otherwise interfere in the affairs of the region. The doctrine further stated the intention of the United States to hold itself aloof from European affairs. The Monroe Doctrine has exerted a powerful influence on U.S. foreign policy ever since.
Monroe, Marilyn (1926–1962) Born Norma Jean Mortenson in Los Angeles, she later took her mother’s name, Baker, but became known to world by her screen name, Marilyn Monroe. She struggled in bit parts until one of these—an uncredited appearance in The Asphalt Jungle (1950)—elicited an avalanche of fan mail, and she soon climbed to top billing