Jesse Ventura

Who is he: James George Janos, AKA Jesse Ventura was born in 1951. He is a Slovak-American who has worked at many things including as a politician, governor, wrestling star, movie star, TV host and radio talk-show host. As a professional wrestler, Ventura's nickname was Jesse "The Body" Ventura. And, in the movie "The Running Man," his handle was "Captain Freedom." Jesse became governor of Minnesota in 1998 as part of a national slate of candidates offered by the Reform Party, but Ventura did not run for a second term.

Ventura's political views have trended libertarian (free market) and this can be seen in the books he has written recently. In April 2008, Ventura wrote a book called Don't Start the Revolution Without Me that has been characterized as anti-war and opposed to the two-party system in the US, which he considers corrupt. He has also emerged as big backer of libertarian-conservative Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) and has even indicated that he would consider running with Ron Paul as vice president on an independent ticket. Jesse Ventura will not run on a mainstream Republican platform.

Ventura, known for his increasing outspokenness on libertarian-oriented political issues, has stated that George Bush was the worst president of his lifetime (Larry King) and indicated disgust with certain policies adopted by the Bush administration including the use of torture. In interviews for Don't Start the Revolution Without Me, Ventura began to question the official story of 9/11 as well. It was at this point that Ventura began to appear on alternative Internet media programs.

In August 2009, Ventura announced a new program. Ventura said he would host TruTV's "Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura." It was a popular program and Ventura hosted a second season in 2010, traveling around the country to investigate conspiracies, many of which charged the government with wrongdoing. Ventura wrote a book on the topic as well, American Conspiracies with his co-author, Dick Russell. Other books written by Jesse Ventura include I Ain't Got Time to Bleed: Reworking the Body Politic from the Bottom Up (May 1999) and in 2011, 63 Documents the Government Doesn't Want You to Read, co-authored again with Dick Russell and released in 2011.

Background: Jesse Ventura grew up in Minnesota but later joined the Navy and traveled overseas. During the Vietnam war, Ventura trained as an underwater demolition specialist and his "Team 12 (UDT)" became part of the SEALS after went into civilian life. Ventura was later apparently part of the Mongol motorcycle club. Ventura also at this time started weight lifting and wrestling. For a while, Ventura was a Rolling Stones bodyguard.

As a wrestler, Jesse Ventura became known as Jesse "The Body" Ventura and specialized in being the "villain." Ventura's motto was, "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat!" Ventura also became a WWF commentator. During Ventura's time as a wrestler, he waived some video rights but later sued and won an $801,333 jury verdict. After this, Ventura ran for Governor of Minnesota.

As Minnesota Governor, Jesse Ventura returned surplus revenue to voters and was often willing to admit that he had not formed a view on certain issues, though he described himself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Ventura advocated medical marijuana and became steadily more anti-union during his tenure as governor. Ventura vetoed a bill requiring the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. Jesse also attracted controversy for refusing to live in the governor's mansion, preferring to live at home.

Both before and after Jesse Ventura's political career, he pursued an acting career and appeared in such movies as Predator, Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe, The Running Man, Predator, Thunderground, Demolition Man, Repossessed, Ricochet and Batman & Robin among others. Ventura appeared in various TV episodes as well and hosted various radio call-in programs in Minnesota.

In October 2003, Ventura began a program on MSNBC called Jesse Ventura's America. Ventura also began a teaching career at Harvard University and later became a spokesperson for BetUS, an online Sportsbook. Ventura also built a home in Baja, California in Mexico, where he now spends considerable time surfing.

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