Editing Rush Limbaugh (section)

==Early life==

Limbaugh was born on January 12, 1951, in [[Cape Girardeau, Missouri]],<ref name=Biography.com>{{cite web|url= https://www.biography.com/media-figure/rush-limbaugh|title=Rush Limbaugh Biography: Radio Talk Show Host (1951–)| publisher=[[Biography.com]]|access-date=November 24, 2020|archive-date=November 20, 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201120175728/https://www.biography.com/media-figure/rush-limbaugh|url-status=live}}</ref> to parents Rush Hudson Limbaugh II<ref name=Biography.com /> and Mildred Carolyn ({{nee|Armstrong}}) Limbaugh. He and his younger brother [[David Limbaugh|David]] were born into the prominent political [[Limbaugh family]]; 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.{{sfn|Colford|1994}}

Limbaugh was partly of [[German American|German ancestry]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wargs.com/other/limbaugh.html |title=Ancestry of Rush Limbaugh |publisher=Wargs.com |access-date=September 22, 2013 |archive-date=September 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927075906/http://www.wargs.com/other/limbaugh.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The family includes many lawyers, including his grandfather, father and brother; his uncle, [[Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr.]], was a federal judge in the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri]]. His cousin, [[Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr.]], is a judge in the same court, appointed by [[George W. Bush]]. Limbaugh's grandfather, [[Rush Limbaugh Sr.]], was a Missouri prosecutor, judge, special commissioner, member of the [[Missouri House of Representatives]] in the 1930s, and longtime president of the [[Missouri Historical Society]].<ref>{{cite news|title=The loudest limb on the family tree, radio's Rush Limbaugh is the 'big mouth'; branch of a solid old Cape Girardeau family|newspaper=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]|date=September 27, 1992}}</ref>

In 1969, Limbaugh graduated from [[Central High School (Cape Girardeau, Missouri)|Cape Girardeau Central High School]], where he played [[High school football|football]] and was a [[Boys State]] delegate.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Frankel |first1=Todd |title="Quran-burning" Fla. pastor is Cape Girardeau native, ex-classmate of Rush Limbaugh |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/quran-burning-fla-pastor-is-cape-girardeau-native-ex-classmate/article_af07ac96-bcf9-11df-be26-0017a4a78c22.html |website=stltoday.com |date=September 10, 2010 |access-date=February 10, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-date=February 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221033600/https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/quran-burning-fla-pastor-is-cape-girardeau-native-ex-classmate/article_af07ac96-bcf9-11df-be26-0017a4a78c22.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Q&A with Rush Limbaugh |author=Richard Deitsch |date=August 7, 2003 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/QandA/2003/0811/ |access-date=January 7, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030815090507/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/QandA/2003/0811/ |archive-date=August 15, 2003 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.snopes.com/military/limbaugh.asp |title=Draft Notice |last1=Mikkelson |first1=Barbara |last2=Mikkelson |first2=David P. |date=October 4, 2007 |work=Military |publisher=Snopes.com |access-date=January 5, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.al291.com/boys-state |title=Boys State|publisher=www.al291.com |access-date=February 24, 2022}}</ref>  At age 16, he worked his first radio job at [[KAPE|KGMO]], a local radio station. He used the airname Rusty Sharpe having found "Sharpe" in a telephone book.{{sfn|Colford|1994}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Rush Limbaugh Gives Sean a Rare Interview |date=October 19, 2005 |publisher=[[Fox News Channel]] |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/rush-limbaugh-gives-sean-a-rare-interview |access-date=January 14, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221063957/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,172675,00.html |archive-date=December 21, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Limbaugh later cited Chicago DJ [[Larry Lujack]] as a major influence on him, saying Lujack was "the only person I ever copied."<ref name=NYT90 /> In deference to his parents' desire that he attend college, he enrolled at [[Southeast Missouri State University]] but dropped out after two semesters. According to his mother, "he flunked everything [...] he just didn't seem interested in anything except radio."{{sfn|Colford|1994}}<ref>"Rush is Always Right." ''USA Weekend'', January 24–26, 1992, p. 7</ref> Biographer [[Zev Chafets]] asserts that Limbaugh's life was in large part dedicated to gaining his father's respect.<ref>{{cite web |title=Interview with Zev Chafets, Author of Rush Limbaugh |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=August 3, 2010 |work=All Right Magazine |url=http://www.allrightmagazine.com/exclusive-interviews/interview-with-zev-chafets-author-of-rush-limbaugh-army-of-one-4662/ |access-date=May 20, 2013 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=April 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413010651/http://www.allrightmagazine.com/exclusive-interviews/interview-with-zev-chafets-author-of-rush-limbaugh-army-of-one-4662/}}</ref>