The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News--And Divided a Country (76 page)

207.
the FEC was deadlocked
Demick, “Bush Campaign Role in Ads Probed.”

208.
“I’m not the candidate”
Baer, “Roger Rabid.”

209.
On Tuesday, October 9
Ed White, “Martin Media Adviser Calls Simon ‘Slimy,’ ‘Weenie,’ ” Associated Press, Oct. 9, 1990.

210.
Martin lost
U.S. Government Printing Office, “Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 1990,” April 29, 1991,
http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1990election.pdf
.

211.
In 1988
Ailes and Kraushar,
You Are the Message
.

212.
“When you control”
Ibid., 111.

213.
“You
can
learn”
Ibid., 112.

214.
In the summer of 1988
Californians Against Unfair Tax Increases, agreement with Ailes Communications Inc., July 1, 1988,
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/gri44a00
, Bates no. 87699641.

215.
last at least for five years
Thomas Collamore, email conversation with Craig Fuller, June 29, 1994,
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/upq91a00/pdf
, Bates. no. 2047915175A.

216.
His first assignment
“Tobacco Group on Hotseat for Failure to Honor Advertising Contract,” Business Wire, Sept. 6, 1988.

217.
At the time, it represented
David S. Wilson, “2 Ballot Issues Raise Question: Is Smoking Becoming Taboo?,”
New York Times
, Oct. 25, 1988.

218.
In one memo, Ailes wrote
Ailes Communications Inc., “Creative Strategy to Defeat the Tobacco Tax Initiative,” June 29, 1988,
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/jsy44b00/pdf
, Bates no. TI02450986.

219.
“We have no obligation”
Ibid., Bates no. TI02450989.

220.
One ad portrayed
Ailes Communications Inc., “Medical School,” script, Aug. 30, 1988, available at
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ljz54c00/pdf
, Bates no. 87700232.

221.
One commercial portrayed
David S. Wilson, “2 Ballot Issues Raise Question: Is Smoking Becoming Taboo?,”
New York Times
, Oct. 25, 1988.

222.
Prop 99 supporters’
Mark A. Stein, “Deception Seen in Anti-Cigarette Tax Ads,”
Los Angeles Times
, Sept. 28, 1988.

223.
His biggest role
Ibid.

224.
In November 1988
“Final Election Vote Returns,”
Los Angeles Times
, Nov. 9, 1988.

225.
“The antismoking zealots”
Andy Plattner, “Big Tobacco’s Toughest Road: Invigorated Activists and Lawmakers Launch New Attacks on Smoking,”
U.S. News & World Report
, April 17, 1989.

226.
In 1987, Reagan’s FCC
Steve Rendall, “Rough Road to Liberal Talk Success: A Short History of Radio Bias,”
Extra!
, Jan./Feb. 2007.

227.
More than seven million
Catherine Hinman, “Rush to Judgment: Radio Talk
Show Host Rush Limbaugh Has Opinions on Just About Everything, Including a Big One of Himself,”
Orlando Sentinel
, June 15, 1991.

228.
In 1991
, after bumping into each other Chafets,
Roger Ailes
, 61–62.

229.
The GOP paid him
Baer, “Roger Rabid.”

230.
In August 1990
Roger Ailes, letter to New Hampshire Governor John Sununu, Aug. 17, 1990,
http://edge-cache.gawker.com/gawker/ailesfiles/ailes11.html
, accessed Sept. 26, 2013.

231.
“In the field”
Rogers Ailes, letter to New Hampshire Governor John Sununu, Nov. 16, 1990,
http://edge-cache.gawker.com/gawker/ailesfiles/ailes12.html
, accessed Sept. 26, 2013.

232.
Bushworld put out feelers
Author interview with a member of the Bush campaign team.

233.
“He was thinking about”
Author interview with a source familiar with the conversation.

234.
On December 6, 1991
“Financial News,” PR Newswire, Dec. 6, 1991.

235.
consulting for Paramount Television
See, generally, the Bradley Prizes, “2013 Recipients: Roger Ailes,”
Bradleyprizes.org
,
http://bradleyprizes.org/recipients/roger-ailes
, accessed Oct. 22, 2013.

236.
At the 1992 Democratic convention
Author interview with Bob LaPorta.

237.
One writer who ran into
Author interview with an associate of Roger Ailes.

238.
In 1992, he lined up
Thomas Hardy, “Election-Year Board Games Try to Capture the Real Thing,”
Chicago Tribune
, May 18, 1992.

239.
In August, he traveled
Harry Berkowitz, “GOP Pit Bull Roaming Convention; Adman Ailes Says He’s There for Fun,”
Newsday
, Aug. 20, 1992.

240.
To advance around the board
Golden Games, “Risky Strategy: The Game of Campaign Capers,” board game, Jim Bear Enterprises, Inc., 1991.

241.
“Politics was a 20
-
year habit”
Berkowitz, “GOP Pit Bull Roaming Convention.”

242.
“By that time”
Author interview with James Baker III.

243.
On the night of June 2
Paul D. Colford,
The Rush Limbaugh Story: The Unauthorized Biography
(New York: St. Martin’s, 1993).

244.
Bill Clinton’s campaign
Michael Kelly, “The 1992 Campaign: The Democrats: Clinton’s Staff Sees Campaign as a Real War,”
New York Times
, Aug. 11, 1992.

245.
During the 1988
GOP convention Author interview with former NBC News producer Joe Angotti.

246.
In the spring of 1990
Naftali Bendavid, “GOP Campaign Adviser Tries Broadcasting,”
Miami Herald
, May 18, 1990.

247.
“It was an oldies station”
Author interview with radio personality Greg Wyatt.

248.
Ailes came up with
Ibid.

249.
“It’s just a fun thing”
Bendavid, “GOP Campaign Adviser Tries Broadcasting.”

250.
“He wanted to do”
Author interview with Sig Rogich.

    
1.
In early 1993
Author interview with former NBC chairman Robert Wright.

    
2.
he wanted to resign
Geraldine Fabrikant, “Ex-Consultant to Bush Named to Head NBC,”
New York Times
, Aug. 31, 1993.

    
3.
After NBC launched
Bill Carter, “The Media Business: Television; NBC Walks into a Cable Minefield,”
New York Times
, April 10, 1989. See also Geraldine Fabrikant,
“Surprise Pact by G.E. Unit to Buy FNN,”
New York Times
, Feb. 27, 1991; PR Newswire, “Court Approves CNBC’s $154.3 Million Bid for FNN Media Business,” May 9, 1991.

    
4.
“Al was a great guy”
Author interview with Robert Wright.

    
5.
“One of the things”
Ibid.

    
6.
But when Ailes’s name
Author interview with CNBC producers.

    
7.
In interviews, he called
Liz Trotta, “Roger Ailes Still Has Snap in His Political Jabs,”
Washington Times
, May 11, 1993.

    
8.
“He always craved”
Author interview with a former colleague of Roger Ailes.

    
9.
On July 8
Letter from Roger Ailes to former NBC Cable president Tom Rogers, July 8, 1993.

  
10.
On July 25
Ken Parish Perkins, “Exploring the Mystery of Comedy,”
Dallas Morning News
, July 22, 1993.

  
11.
Later that week
Deirdre Donahue, “Chronicling Kennedy,”
USA Today
, July 29, 1993. In early July, Ailes offered McGinniss three days of private media training to help him combat the negative press reaction to the book. McGinniss and Ailes had been out of touch for years, but the controversy over his Kennedy book brought them back together. McGinniss called his old friend to commiserate about the Kennedys’ aggressive response to
The Last Brother
. McGinniss’s personal publicist had quit on him, explaining that Caroline Kennedy, who was also a client, threatened to pull all of her business if she stuck with him. “I was calling Roger up, asking for sympathy. He was always bitching about the Kennedys playing dirty and the Kennedys doing this and Kennedys doing that,” McGinniss recalled. “So I said, ‘Boy, I just had an experience with the Kennedys.’ Roger said,
‘Well, fuck them
. You know what, here’s what I can do.’ He said, ‘You can come into my studio for three days and we’ll just work with the video cameras and the tape machines and I’ll be the prick host asking you all these terrible questions, and you’ll answer them and we’ll sit there and I’ll point out where your answers can be improved.’ ” McGinniss took Ailes up on his offer and camped out in Ailes’s Park Avenue South office. The two ordered in sandwiches for lunch as they worked on his responses. “No interview came close to being as penetrating, as hostile, and as pointed as Roger’s,” McGinniss later recalled. “Roger could have been Mike Wallace plus Tom Snyder. If he had gotten into that business, he could have been the nastiest interviewer on television.” When McGinniss offered to pay Ailes for his services or for dinner at Patsy’s, Ailes declined. “I said, ‘Roger, this is unbelievable of you.’ He said, ‘We can’t let the Kennedys push you around.’ Whether Simon & Schuster paid him, I don’t know. It never came up between him and me. He said, ‘I’m doing good right now, I’ll pick up the check.’ ” Author interview with Joe McGinniss.

  
12.
on July 21
Daniel LeDuc, “Whitman Hires Ad Man Who Raised Ire with Willie Horton,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, July 21, 1993. See also Daniel LeDuc, “Controversial Ad Man Quits Whitman Camp,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, July 22, 1993.

  
13.
In an interview
Dan Balz, “Dispute over ‘Horton’ Ad Adds More Heat to Race for New Jersey Governor,”
Washington Post
, Aug. 1, 1993.

  
14.
He tried reaching Whitman
Author interview with Carl Golden, a former press secretary to Governor Christine Todd Whitman.

  
15.
“Ailes went off”
Ibid.

  
16.
On the afternoon of July 27
Ailes Communications, “Ailes Labels Whitman ‘Slick Christie’ ” (press release), July 27, 1993.

  
17.
Whitman’s apology
Chris Conway, “GOP Ad Man Gets Apology,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, July 29, 1993; Jerry Gray, “A Republican Attacks Whitman, Too,”
New York Times
, Aug. 1, 1993.

  
18.
He flew to Nantucket
Brock, “Roger Ailes Is Mad as Hell.”

  
19.
“Roger had a really good relationship”
Author interview with a colleague of Roger Ailes.

  
20.
“I was all for it”
Author interview with former General Electric CEO Jack Welch.

  
21.
Ailes downplayed
Peter Johnson and Brian Donlon, “GOP Strategist Ailes Wooed to Run CNBC,”
USA Today
, Aug. 16, 1993.

  
22.
three-year contract
Letter from Robert Wright to Roger Ailes, Aug. 23, 1993.

  
23.
“Tom’s role was pushed back”
Author interview with Jack Welch.

  
24.
“Roger had enemies”
Ibid.

  
25.
When Wright made the announcement
Hass, “Embracing the Enemy.”

  
26.
Ailes did not inspire
Author interview with a former CNBC staffer.

  
27.
“A lot of us were leery”
Author interview with former CNBC host Doug Ramsey.

  
28.
“Look, there’s one way”
Author interview with a former CNBC producer.

  
29.
In a cost-cutting move
Linda Moss, “NBC’s Cable Gambit Sends Out a Signal,”
Crain’s New York Business
, April 10, 1989.

  
30.
“We’re going to knock”
Author interview with a former CNBC producer.

  
31.
He recruited
Author interview with a former CNBC staffer.

  
32.
“It used to be”
Author interview with a former CNBC senior producer.

  
33.
“He was there”
Author interview with Bob Wright.

  
34.
Early on, Ailes summoned
Author interview with a former CNBC anchor.

  
35.
“Some said it was vicious”
Author interview with a former CNBC executive.

  
36.
As a campaign operative
Richard Ben Cramer,
What It Takes: The Way to the White House
(New York: Open Road Integrated Media ebook, 2011), 565.

  
37.
presidential tie clip
David Lieberman, “Taking to New Stump: CNBC’s Ailes Dares to Raise Cable Stakes,”
USA Today
, April 28, 1994.

  
38.
Ailes became a regular
Author interview with Jack Welch. “He and Ebersol would come in together,” Welch recalled. “They’d love to order cheeseburgers and French fries. That’s part of Roger. He’s the most entertaining person to hang out with. He’s funny and quick.”

  
39.
He attended parties
Hass, “Embracing the Enemy.”

  
40.
Positioning himself
Author interview with a former CNBC anchor.

  
41.
To celebrate the marriage
Author interview with Jane Wallace, who attended the party.

  
42.
“My wife called it”
Author interview with a former CNBC host.

  
43.
“I’ll never forget”
Author interview with a former CNBC executive.

  
44.
At GE budget meetings
Author interview with a former NBC executive.

  
45.
“I saw that”
Author interview with Robert Wright.

  
46.
Eight months into his run
David Lieberman, “Taking to New Stump/CNBC’s Ailes Dares to Raise Cable Stakes,”
USA Today
, April 28, 1994.

  
47.
“Markets were becoming a huge story”
Author interview with a former CNBC producer.

  
48.
Ailes thought CNBC
Lieberman, “Taking to New Stump.”

  
49.
“The Dow plummets”
Rebecca Johnson, “The Correction, or Whatever It Is, Will Be Televised,”
New Yorker
, April 18, 1994.

  
50.
“We talked about the feel”
Author interview with a former CNBC senior producer.

  
51.
“Chet was his father”
Author interview with former CNBC producer Glenn Meehan.

  
52.
Lingering over a scotch
Author interview with a former CNBC employee.

  
53.
Paul Rittenberg
Richard Linnett, “Media Mavens: Paul Rittenberg,”
Advertising Age
, Sept. 29, 2003.

  
54.
David Zaslav
Biography of David Zaslav at
Businessweek.com
,
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=612978&ticker=DISCA
.

  
55.
Brian Lewis
Biography of Brian Lewis at
http://view.fdu.edu/?id=1963
.

  
56.
In the fall of 1993
Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.

  
57.
Jeanine Pirro
Jacques Steinberg, “Rancor in District Attorney’s Race; Cherkasky-Pirro Campaign Pits Newcomer Against Veteran,”
New York Times
, Oct. 19, 1993. In 2006, Ailes hired Pirro at Fox News,
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/personalities/jeanine-pirro/bio/#s=m-q
.

  
58.
On his first day
Author interview with a former CNBC staffer.

  
59.
“She lived and breathed CNBC”
Author interview with a former CNBC producer.

  
60.
One weekend, Ailes came into
Author interview with a former CNBC staffer.

  
61.
“Roger demanded loyalty”
Author interview with a former CNBC producer.

  
62.
Her boss, Peter Sturtevant
See
Broadcasting & Cable
, Oct. 24, 1994, 63.

  
63.
In December, he made her
“Tilson’s Talking,”
Broadcasting & Cable
, Dec. 13, 1993.

  
64.
Producers would often see her
Author interview with a former CNBC producer.

  
65.
“I used to have lunch”
Author interview with a former CNBC producer.

  
66.
“As someone”
Jane Hall, “CNBC Chief No Stranger to the Tube,”
Los Angeles Times
, Oct. 18, 1993.

  
67.
“I figure there are”
Frazier Moore, “Trying to Cure What Ailes You,” Associated Press, Aug. 6, 1995.

  
68.
“His idea was”
Author interview with Robert Wright.

  
69.
“The first day”
Author interview with former A-T executive producer Renata Joy.

  
70.
The lineup
Joe Flint,
Daily Variety
, May 5, 1994.

  
71.
In late June 1994
NBC contract with Belmont Street Broadcasting, June 20, 1994.

  
72.
“He very much believed”
Author interview with former A-T producer Dennis Sullivan.

  
73.
“When you work with Roger”
Author interview with a former A-T assistant producer.

  
74.
“He’s very good”
Author interview with Dennis Sullivan.

  
75.
“They were like a pep rally”
Author interview with a former A-T producer.

  
76.
At around 4:30
“Fire Knocks Out CNBC,”
Boston Globe
, May 11, 1994.

  
77.
“Roger went back”
Author interview with a former CNBC staffer.

  
78.
In one early session
Author interview with a former CNBC staffer.

  
79.
“He called it”
Author interview with a former CNBC producer.

  
80.
“We’d get newspapers”
Author interview with Glenn Meehan.

  
81.
The network signed a deal
“America’s Talking is nation’s first interactive live television network—exclusive deal with Prodigy; Prodigy simultaneously begins chat for television interactivity,” Business Wire, June 15, 1994.

  
82.
“They were struggling”
Author interview with former A-T producer Tony Morelli.

  
83.
During his first year
Hass, “Embracing the Enemy.”

  
84.
he drew a $5,000-a-month
Email from former Philip Morris executive Thomas Collamore to Craig Fuller,
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/upq91a00/pdf
.

  
85.
The goal, according to
Philip Morris internal document,
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/wnc97g00/pdf
.

  
86.
He went after
Collins,
Crazy Like a Fox
, 19, citing Kurt Andersen as the source. Andersen’s story, “Big Mouths,” appeared in the Nov. 1, 1993, issue of
Time
.