Ed Rollins
Encyclopedia
Edward John "Ed" Rollins (born March 19, 1943) is a Republican
campaign consultant and advisor who has worked on several high-profile political campaigns in the United States. In 1983-84, he was National Campaign Director for the Reagan-Bush '84 campaign, winning 49 of 50 states. In December 2007, he was named the national campaign chairman for the Mike Huckabee
campaign for President.
, where his father (previously stationed there) found work as an electrician at the city's Mare Island Navy Yard, primarily in New Ship Construction building submarines.
. For a year, at age 14, he attended St. Joseph's, a junior seminary in Mountain View, before returning to Vallejo.
He also fought as a boxer from ages 13 to 23, winning several West Coast amateur titles while an undergraduate. "My dreams of being an Olympic boxer were snuffed out in 1967, when I lost my last fight by a TKO," he wrote in his 1996 autobiography. Rollins recalls his record as 164 victories and just 2 defeats -- "the wins are all a blur . . . but I remember every detail -- every punch, every pain, every mistake -- of my two losses." His last bout was with National AAU Champion (and Olympic Bronze medal winner) Bob Christopherson; Rollins recalled later that he was leading on points, when he threw out his back in the 3rd round, and the referee stopped the fight.
Rollins also played football as a fullback, but suffered a serious back injury his senior year (requiring six surgeries over the next 35 years). Graduating from high school in 1961, he tried to enlist in the Marines, but failed the physical. Shortly thereafter, Rollins spent most of a year in the hospital dealing with his back problems. Once healthy, in 1962, he began undergraduate studies at Vallejo Junior College, eventually earned his Associates' degree and transferred to San Jose State University
in 1965. Unable to pass the physical exam because of his continuing back problems (required for a sports scholarship), Rollins transferred after one semester to California State University, Chico
, where he was hired as boxing coach. There, he finally earned his BA in Political Science, with a second major in Physical Education, in 1968.
, the first of the LBJ Great Society
social welfare agencies. Student government proved his entry into politics, serving as Student Body President of his junior college, then again at Chico State (where he tried to attract an ROTC unit to the campus—unusual, during the Vietnam War). Rollins's activism led to his being selected to intern in Sacramento
for California's legendary Democratic leader, Assembly Speaker Jesse Unruh in 1967. Unruh introduced Rollins to Sen. Robert F. Kennedy
; in early 1968 he worked for Kennedy as a campus coordinator, then later as a paid operative for his primary campaign in Northern California.
After graduating, Rollins served briefly as an assistant to the President at Chico State, then in Sacramento as a state budget analyst. After the 1968 election and the GOP takeover of the California Assembly, he was hired by Republican Assemblyman Ray Johnson
as his Chief of Staff, despite his prior service under the Democrats. Later, he left California for Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri
. From 1969 to 1972, Rollins served assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, also teaching political science and public administration. There, he personally witnessed violent student protests, including the burning of an ROTC building.
In the summer of 1972, Rollins was hired by Robert T. Monagan
, former speaker of the California Assembly, to work as a paid operative for the California campaign to re-elect President Richard Nixon
. This gave Rollins his first close contact with Governor Ronald Reagan
, who chaired Nixon's California campaign, and Lyn Nofziger
, who ran the West Coast Nixon political operation. It was at this time that "blue-collar Democrat" Rollins made his permanent switch to the GOP.
After Nixon's sweep in California failed to result in a GOP-controlled legislature, Rollins moved to Washington in 1973, to serve as principal assistant to Monagan overseeing congressional relations at the Department of Transportation. Ultimately, he continued as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs through the end of the Ford
administration.
From 1977 to 1979, he served as dean of the faculty and deputy superintendent at the National Fire Academy
in Washington. In early 1979, Rollins returned to Sacramento as chief of staff for the Assembly Republican Caucus. During this period, he was offered but ultimately declined the position of chief of staff to former President Nixon
. Under Rollins, the Assembly Republicans netted a three-seat gain in the 1980 legislative elections.
Ed Rollins appears in the 2008 award-winning documentary film Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
. In the film, he says "Strom Thurmond was trying to get Lee a job in the White House. And you know, here's this young kid without a real resume. He came into my office. He was fidgety — hands, legs, everything moving — but there was something about his eyes. He had these piercing eyes that— you know, and as I've always thought, those— those are the eyes of a killer. This was someone who was going to get what he wanted..”
in Detroit. After the landslide GOP victory in November 1980, Rollins was hired to serve as Deputy Assistant to the President for Political Affairs under Nofziger. When Nofziger resigned in November 1981, Rollins was appointed as Assistant to the President for Political Affairs and Director of the Office of Political Affairs.
Rising unemployment rates and other economic indicators dominated the 1982 midterm elections, as the Republicans argued for voters to "Stay the course" by continuing Reagan's economic policies of lower taxes and holding down the growth of spending. Rollins was responsible for coordinating the White House's political operations, and President Reagan's schedule, with party committees, campaigns and candidates. In the November 1982 balloting, the GOP had a 26-seat loss in the House, but gained one seat in the Senate, averting a Democratic landslide.
A week before the election, on October 25, Rollins suffered two strokes, the result of a deteriorating neck artery that had been injured during his final boxing match in 1967. He recovered and returned to his White House job in December 1982, holding the position until resigning in October 1983 to lead Reagan
's re-election campaign.http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/resource/findaid/rollins.htm In the second term, he rejoined the Reagan Administration for several months in 1985 as Assistant to the President for Political and Governmental Affairs.
. Rollins was personally selected for the job by White House Chief of Staff James A. Baker III, who had served as Gerald Ford
's manager in 1976. Rollins's deputy and Political Director was Lee Atwater
, who was also his deputy at the White House Office of Political Affairs.
Reagan-Bush '84 was the first GOP re-election campaign since Richard Nixon
s notorious Committee to Re-Elect the President
(CREEP) in 1972, and from the outset Rollins sought a sharp contrast from the past. He paid particular attention to the tone and attitude of his operation, staffing the Capitol Hill headquarters with idealistic young Reaganites while unifying his command with top operatives of all Reagan's 1980 primary foes. Unlike Nixon in 1972, Reagan in 1984 ran completely unopposed for renomination, leaving Rollins and his team free to focus all funds and attention on getting out the vote for Reagan and holding off the Democrats.
Despite a vigorous Democratic campaign by Walter Mondale
and nomination of the first female for national office, Geraldine Ferraro
, the Reagan-Bush ticket was never behind in opinion surveys after August 1, and ultimately won 49 of the 50 states. However, Reagan's re-election campaign was not without its potential for disaster. In Rollin's memoir he states that he later learned "that a well-known lobbyist who was involved in the 1984 Reagan campaign - a campaign I'd managed - had pocketed an illegal $10 million campaign contribution from a foreign government".
After the election, Rollins agreed in January 1985 to return to the White House Office of Political Affairs, under new Chief of Staff Donald Regan
. However, he grew disenchanted after Regan passed him over for the post of Secretary of Labor following the resignation of Raymond Donovan, and with the abrasive chief's staff and style. On October 1, 1985, Rollins joined the Sacramento-based political consulting firm of Russo & Watts.
, Reagan's longtime close friend. In an early 1986 meeting with Vice President George H.W. Bush, he had stated this, to Bush's displeasure, but had indicated he would likely support him if Laxalt declined to run. However, by early 1987, he had decided to manage the campaign of former New York Congressman Jack Kemp
, convinced that Bush was not the true conservative heir to Reagan. This earned Bush's enmity.
Rollins favored a "guerilla campaign" for the nomination, "conserving our money and picking our shots carefully while Bush and [Senator Robert J.] Dole beat the hell out of each other early on," then prevailing in the delegate-rich, winner-take-all primary in California. "I lost the argument . . . Kemp, the third choice of party faithful in all the polls, would wage a front-runner, incumbent-style campaign." Kemp ultimately won no primaries.
The upshot for Rollins was that Laxalt did run, briefly, for the GOP nomination in May-August 1987. "I should have gone over the cliff with him in 1988 because he would have gone over the cliff with me anytime . . . I was too anxious to play the game, and I forgot what friendship was all about."
, the House Republicans' campaign wing.http://www.leadingauthorities.com/3817/Edward_Rollins.htm Rollins's goal was to attract top political talent to turn around a committee that had suffered four disappointing elections. He firmly believed the GOP could achieve the rare feat of gaining House seats while controlling the White House.
The NRCC was housed in the same building as the Republican National Committee
, whose new chairman in 1989 was Lee Atwater
, Rollins's former deputy and President Bush's top operative. They worked together through the turbulent Washington climate of 1989, which saw the resignation of House Speaker Jim Wright
and Democratic Whip Tony Coelho
, as well as an unusually large number of contentious, highly expensive special elections for House seats.
When Atwater was felled by a series in brain tumors beginning in March 1990, Rollins was thrust in the unfamiliar position of party spokesman, especially on the burgeoning savings-and-loan crisis. In a July 1990 speech in Chicago, Rollins placed the blame firmly on the longstanding Democratic leaders in Congress.
That October, Rollins got into a highly visible feud with the President over the 1990 budget deal, in which Bush broke his 1988 campaign promise not to raise taxes. Rollins wrote a memo to GOP candidates, telling them unequivocally, "Do not hesitate to distance yourself from the President." Bush demanded Rollins's firing at a congressional leadership meeting; the leaders demurred, as they had originally asked Rollins to write the memo.
He later wrote, "My job was electing Republicans to the House. George Bush and his tax deal made that impossible. Now my job was to see how many we could save . . . Guys who didn't think they had a race were all of a sudden fighting for their lives, including Newt Gingrich
." In the 1990 election, the GOP lost 9 seats in the House. "I'm convinced that my memo and the heroic salvage operation of my staff saved 15 incumbent seats that otherwise would have gone down the drain. (Gingrich survived by 974 votes.)"
In 1989, Rollins had negotiated a four-year, $1-million contract, but he resigned in April 1991. He later wrote that Gingrich and Vin Weber
had told him in January 1991 that President Bush was withholding all help for GOP House candidates, even form letters, unless Rollins left the NRCC. Bush was quoted as saying, "I'll never do anything for you guys as long as Rollins is up there."
After resigning from the NRCC -- "the biggest service I could do for my party" -- Rollins began working as Washington managing partner for the Sawyer/Miller consulting firm.
's 1992 presidential campaign
. He resigned in July and initially suggested that disagreements with other campaign officials about the nature and timing of an advertising campaign led him to quit. Later, he suggested that Perot was not emotionally suited to be President. Perot initially ended his campaign the day after Rollins resigned, only to resume his campaign after the Democratic National Convention.
in her 1993 New Jersey
gubernatorial race. After organizing a campaign that led to Whitman's come-from-behind victory, Rollins claimed to TIME magazine that he secretly paid black ministers and Democratic campaign workers in order to suppress voter turnout.
"We went into black churches and we basically said to ministers who had endorsed Florio, 'Do you have a special project?' And they said, 'We've already endorsed Florio.' We said, 'That's fine, don't get up on the Sunday pulpit and preach. We know you've endorsed him, but don't get up there and say it's your moral obligation that you go on Tuesday to vote for Jim Florio.'" After public outcry and calls for an investigation, Rollins partially retracted some of these claims telling People magazine (March 31, 1997, Vol. 47, No. 12) that his comments were "an exaggeration that turned out to be inaccurate."
's victory over Tom Foley
in Washington State's eastern congressional district in November 1994. That year, he was also general consultant to the Michael Huffington
campaign for U.S. Senate in California, who ran a surprisingly close race in losing to incumbent Democrat Dianne Feinstein
, and also helped direct the Bruce D. Benson
campaign for Governor of Colorado.
. Khoury was running in the Republican primary against incumbent Representative Ken Calvert
. Khoury was an economics professor at University of California Riverside and is of Lebanese descent.
In the turbulent 2002 campaign for Governor of California, Rollins consulted for his long-time friend, and then-Secretary of State Bill Jones, who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination, losing to Bill Simon. Rollins was then hired by Simon for the fall gubernatorial campaign, suffering a narrow loss to incumbent Democrat Gray Davis
.
In 2006, Rollins consulted on the campaign of Republican New York State Senate contender Kathleen Troia "KT" McFarland
. He also worked for the campaign of United States Representative Katherine Harris
for the U.S. Senate from Florida. According to a Wall Street Journal article, the two had a falling-out, with Rollins not attending a staff meeting in Tampa
and quitting a few days later after he questioned the viability of her campaign.
announced he had hired Rollins as his national campaign chairman and senior advisor. Rollins was later overheard saying that he wanted to "knock out" Mitt Romney
's teeth.
(R), U.S. Representative for Minnesota's 6th district. At the time of his appointment, Bachmann had not yet announced her candidacy but was expected to make her intentions known in June 2011. Rollins "stepped down from running day-to-day operations of the Bachmann campaign" as of Sept 05, 2011. A Bachmann aide said he'd continue with the campaign as "senior advisor" and cited health reasons for the "abrupt change in his role."
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
campaign consultant and advisor who has worked on several high-profile political campaigns in the United States. In 1983-84, he was National Campaign Director for the Reagan-Bush '84 campaign, winning 49 of 50 states. In December 2007, he was named the national campaign chairman for the Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
campaign for President.
Early life
Rollins was born in Boston, Massachusetts, into an Irish Catholic blue-collar household. At the time, his father was stationed with the U.S. Army in the Aleutians. After the war, his parents returned with him to Vallejo, CaliforniaVallejo, California
Vallejo is the largest city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 115,942 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the northeastern shore of San Pablo Bay...
, where his father (previously stationed there) found work as an electrician at the city's Mare Island Navy Yard, primarily in New Ship Construction building submarines.
School and sports
Rollins grew up in the Federal Terrace housing project, attending St. Vincent Ferrer Grammar and High SchoolSt. Patrick-St. Vincent High School
St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Vallejo, California. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento.-Background:...
. For a year, at age 14, he attended St. Joseph's, a junior seminary in Mountain View, before returning to Vallejo.
He also fought as a boxer from ages 13 to 23, winning several West Coast amateur titles while an undergraduate. "My dreams of being an Olympic boxer were snuffed out in 1967, when I lost my last fight by a TKO," he wrote in his 1996 autobiography. Rollins recalls his record as 164 victories and just 2 defeats -- "the wins are all a blur . . . but I remember every detail -- every punch, every pain, every mistake -- of my two losses." His last bout was with National AAU Champion (and Olympic Bronze medal winner) Bob Christopherson; Rollins recalled later that he was leading on points, when he threw out his back in the 3rd round, and the referee stopped the fight.
Rollins also played football as a fullback, but suffered a serious back injury his senior year (requiring six surgeries over the next 35 years). Graduating from high school in 1961, he tried to enlist in the Marines, but failed the physical. Shortly thereafter, Rollins spent most of a year in the hospital dealing with his back problems. Once healthy, in 1962, he began undergraduate studies at Vallejo Junior College, eventually earned his Associates' degree and transferred to San Jose State University
San José State University
San Jose State University is a public university located in San Jose, California, United States...
in 1965. Unable to pass the physical exam because of his continuing back problems (required for a sports scholarship), Rollins transferred after one semester to California State University, Chico
California State University, Chico
California State University, Chico is the second-oldest campus in the twenty-three-campus California State University system. It is located in Chico, California, about ninety miles north of Sacramento...
, where he was hired as boxing coach. There, he finally earned his BA in Political Science, with a second major in Physical Education, in 1968.
Early career
Rollins's college years were interrupted by health and money problems. For a year (1964-65), he worked in Oakland, running a program for disadvantaged kids under the new federal Office of Economic OpportunityOffice of Economic Opportunity
The Office of Economic Opportunity was the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs created as part of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society legislative agenda.- History :...
, the first of the LBJ Great Society
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States promoted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and fellow Democrats in Congress in the 1960s. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice...
social welfare agencies. Student government proved his entry into politics, serving as Student Body President of his junior college, then again at Chico State (where he tried to attract an ROTC unit to the campus—unusual, during the Vietnam War). Rollins's activism led to his being selected to intern in Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
for California's legendary Democratic leader, Assembly Speaker Jesse Unruh in 1967. Unruh introduced Rollins to Sen. Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
; in early 1968 he worked for Kennedy as a campus coordinator, then later as a paid operative for his primary campaign in Northern California.
After graduating, Rollins served briefly as an assistant to the President at Chico State, then in Sacramento as a state budget analyst. After the 1968 election and the GOP takeover of the California Assembly, he was hired by Republican Assemblyman Ray Johnson
Ray Johnson
Raymond Edward Johnson , known primarily as a collagist and correspondence artist, was a seminal figure in the history of Neo-Dada and early Pop art...
as his Chief of Staff, despite his prior service under the Democrats. Later, he left California for Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. From 1969 to 1972, Rollins served assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, also teaching political science and public administration. There, he personally witnessed violent student protests, including the burning of an ROTC building.
In the summer of 1972, Rollins was hired by Robert T. Monagan
Robert T. Monagan
Robert Timothy Monagan, Jr. was a California politician and a member of the Republican Party, who was Speaker of the California State Assembly from 1969–1970...
, former speaker of the California Assembly, to work as a paid operative for the California campaign to re-elect President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. This gave Rollins his first close contact with Governor Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, who chaired Nixon's California campaign, and Lyn Nofziger
Lyn Nofziger
Franklyn Curran "Lyn" Nofziger was an American journalist, political consultant and author. He served as press secretary in Ronald Reagan's administration as Governor of California, and as a White House advisor during the Richard Nixon administration and again during the Reagan...
, who ran the West Coast Nixon political operation. It was at this time that "blue-collar Democrat" Rollins made his permanent switch to the GOP.
After Nixon's sweep in California failed to result in a GOP-controlled legislature, Rollins moved to Washington in 1973, to serve as principal assistant to Monagan overseeing congressional relations at the Department of Transportation. Ultimately, he continued as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs through the end of the Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
administration.
From 1977 to 1979, he served as dean of the faculty and deputy superintendent at the National Fire Academy
National Fire Academy
The National Fire Academy is one of two schools in the United States operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Operated and governed by the United States Fire Administration as part of the U.S...
in Washington. In early 1979, Rollins returned to Sacramento as chief of staff for the Assembly Republican Caucus. During this period, he was offered but ultimately declined the position of chief of staff to former President Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. Under Rollins, the Assembly Republicans netted a three-seat gain in the 1980 legislative elections.
Ed Rollins appears in the 2008 award-winning documentary film Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story is a 2008 U.S. documentary on the campaign tactics used by Lee Atwater while working on the George H.W. Bush 1988 presidential campaign, and how those tactics have transformed presidential campaigns in the United States....
. In the film, he says "Strom Thurmond was trying to get Lee a job in the White House. And you know, here's this young kid without a real resume. He came into my office. He was fidgety — hands, legs, everything moving — but there was something about his eyes. He had these piercing eyes that— you know, and as I've always thought, those— those are the eyes of a killer. This was someone who was going to get what he wanted..”
Reagan Administration, 1981-83
Rollins had been reunited briefly with Reagan when Nofziger asked him to help with communications at the 1980 Republican National Convention1980 Republican National Convention
The 1980 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States convened at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, from July 14 to July 17, 1980. The 32nd Republican National Convention nominated former Governor Ronald W. Reagan of California for President of the United States and former...
in Detroit. After the landslide GOP victory in November 1980, Rollins was hired to serve as Deputy Assistant to the President for Political Affairs under Nofziger. When Nofziger resigned in November 1981, Rollins was appointed as Assistant to the President for Political Affairs and Director of the Office of Political Affairs.
Rising unemployment rates and other economic indicators dominated the 1982 midterm elections, as the Republicans argued for voters to "Stay the course" by continuing Reagan's economic policies of lower taxes and holding down the growth of spending. Rollins was responsible for coordinating the White House's political operations, and President Reagan's schedule, with party committees, campaigns and candidates. In the November 1982 balloting, the GOP had a 26-seat loss in the House, but gained one seat in the Senate, averting a Democratic landslide.
A week before the election, on October 25, Rollins suffered two strokes, the result of a deteriorating neck artery that had been injured during his final boxing match in 1967. He recovered and returned to his White House job in December 1982, holding the position until resigning in October 1983 to lead Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
's re-election campaign.http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/resource/findaid/rollins.htm In the second term, he rejoined the Reagan Administration for several months in 1985 as Assistant to the President for Political and Governmental Affairs.
1984 presidential campaign
Rollins is best known for his work as National Campaign Director to Ronald Reagan in the 1984 presidential electionPresidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is president.- United States :The United States has elections on the state and local levels...
. Rollins was personally selected for the job by White House Chief of Staff James A. Baker III, who had served as Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
's manager in 1976. Rollins's deputy and Political Director was Lee Atwater
Lee Atwater
Harvey LeRoy "Lee" Atwater was an American political consultant and strategist to the Republican Party. He was an advisor of U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and Chairman of the Republican National Committee.-Childhood and early life:...
, who was also his deputy at the White House Office of Political Affairs.
Reagan-Bush '84 was the first GOP re-election campaign since Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
s notorious Committee to Re-Elect the President
Committee to Re-elect the President
The Committee for the Re-Election of the President, abbreviated CRP but often mocked by the acronym CREEP, was a fundraising organization of United States President Richard Nixon's administration...
(CREEP) in 1972, and from the outset Rollins sought a sharp contrast from the past. He paid particular attention to the tone and attitude of his operation, staffing the Capitol Hill headquarters with idealistic young Reaganites while unifying his command with top operatives of all Reagan's 1980 primary foes. Unlike Nixon in 1972, Reagan in 1984 ran completely unopposed for renomination, leaving Rollins and his team free to focus all funds and attention on getting out the vote for Reagan and holding off the Democrats.
Despite a vigorous Democratic campaign by Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...
and nomination of the first female for national office, Geraldine Ferraro
Geraldine Ferraro
Geraldine Anne Ferraro was an American attorney, a Democratic Party politician, and a member of the United States House of Representatives. She was the first female Vice Presidential candidate representing a major American political party....
, the Reagan-Bush ticket was never behind in opinion surveys after August 1, and ultimately won 49 of the 50 states. However, Reagan's re-election campaign was not without its potential for disaster. In Rollin's memoir he states that he later learned "that a well-known lobbyist who was involved in the 1984 Reagan campaign - a campaign I'd managed - had pocketed an illegal $10 million campaign contribution from a foreign government".
After the election, Rollins agreed in January 1985 to return to the White House Office of Political Affairs, under new Chief of Staff Donald Regan
Donald Regan
Donald Thomas Regan ,was the 66th United States Secretary of the Treasury, from 1981 to 1985, and Chief of Staff from 1985 to 1987 in the Ronald Reagan Administration, where he advocated "Reaganomics" and tax cuts to create jobs and stimulate production.-Early life:Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts,...
. However, he grew disenchanted after Regan passed him over for the post of Secretary of Labor following the resignation of Raymond Donovan, and with the abrasive chief's staff and style. On October 1, 1985, Rollins joined the Sacramento-based political consulting firm of Russo & Watts.
1988 presidential campaign
Because of his success as Reagan's 1984 manager, Rollins's support and involvement was in demand for the 1988 election. Rollins wrote later that his first loyalty was to Sen. Paul LaxaltPaul Laxalt
Paul Dominique Laxalt of Nevada was a former Republican District Attorney, Lieutenant Governor, Governor and U.S. Senator. In the media, the words "son of a Basque sheepherder" often accompanied his name. He was one of Ronald Reagan's closest friends in politics...
, Reagan's longtime close friend. In an early 1986 meeting with Vice President George H.W. Bush, he had stated this, to Bush's displeasure, but had indicated he would likely support him if Laxalt declined to run. However, by early 1987, he had decided to manage the campaign of former New York Congressman Jack Kemp
Jack Kemp
Jack French Kemp was an American politician and a collegiate and professional football player. A Republican, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1993, having previously served nine terms as a congressman for Western New York's 31st...
, convinced that Bush was not the true conservative heir to Reagan. This earned Bush's enmity.
Rollins favored a "guerilla campaign" for the nomination, "conserving our money and picking our shots carefully while Bush and [Senator Robert J.] Dole beat the hell out of each other early on," then prevailing in the delegate-rich, winner-take-all primary in California. "I lost the argument . . . Kemp, the third choice of party faithful in all the polls, would wage a front-runner, incumbent-style campaign." Kemp ultimately won no primaries.
The upshot for Rollins was that Laxalt did run, briefly, for the GOP nomination in May-August 1987. "I should have gone over the cliff with him in 1988 because he would have gone over the cliff with me anytime . . . I was too anxious to play the game, and I forgot what friendship was all about."
1990 congressional campaign
In 1989, Rollins became the only non-Member of Congress to head the National Republican Congressional CommitteeNational Republican Congressional Committee
The National Republican Congressional Committee is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives....
, the House Republicans' campaign wing.http://www.leadingauthorities.com/3817/Edward_Rollins.htm Rollins's goal was to attract top political talent to turn around a committee that had suffered four disappointing elections. He firmly believed the GOP could achieve the rare feat of gaining House seats while controlling the White House.
The NRCC was housed in the same building as the Republican National Committee
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
, whose new chairman in 1989 was Lee Atwater
Lee Atwater
Harvey LeRoy "Lee" Atwater was an American political consultant and strategist to the Republican Party. He was an advisor of U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and Chairman of the Republican National Committee.-Childhood and early life:...
, Rollins's former deputy and President Bush's top operative. They worked together through the turbulent Washington climate of 1989, which saw the resignation of House Speaker Jim Wright
Jim Wright
James Claude Wright, Jr. , usually known as Jim Wright, is a former Democratic U.S. Congressman from Texas who served 34 years in the U.S. House of Representatives and was the Speaker of the House from 1987 to 1989.-Early life:...
and Democratic Whip Tony Coelho
Tony Coelho
Anthony "Tony" Coelho is a former United States congressman from California, and primary sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act...
, as well as an unusually large number of contentious, highly expensive special elections for House seats.
When Atwater was felled by a series in brain tumors beginning in March 1990, Rollins was thrust in the unfamiliar position of party spokesman, especially on the burgeoning savings-and-loan crisis. In a July 1990 speech in Chicago, Rollins placed the blame firmly on the longstanding Democratic leaders in Congress.
That October, Rollins got into a highly visible feud with the President over the 1990 budget deal, in which Bush broke his 1988 campaign promise not to raise taxes. Rollins wrote a memo to GOP candidates, telling them unequivocally, "Do not hesitate to distance yourself from the President." Bush demanded Rollins's firing at a congressional leadership meeting; the leaders demurred, as they had originally asked Rollins to write the memo.
He later wrote, "My job was electing Republicans to the House. George Bush and his tax deal made that impossible. Now my job was to see how many we could save . . . Guys who didn't think they had a race were all of a sudden fighting for their lives, including Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
." In the 1990 election, the GOP lost 9 seats in the House. "I'm convinced that my memo and the heroic salvage operation of my staff saved 15 incumbent seats that otherwise would have gone down the drain. (Gingrich survived by 974 votes.)"
In 1989, Rollins had negotiated a four-year, $1-million contract, but he resigned in April 1991. He later wrote that Gingrich and Vin Weber
Vin Weber
John Vincent Weber is a former Republican Congressman from Minnesota. Weber attended the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities from 1970 to 1974. He had been the co-publisher of Murray County newspaper and the president of Weber Publishing Company...
had told him in January 1991 that President Bush was withholding all help for GOP House candidates, even form letters, unless Rollins left the NRCC. Bush was quoted as saying, "I'll never do anything for you guys as long as Rollins is up there."
After resigning from the NRCC -- "the biggest service I could do for my party" -- Rollins began working as Washington managing partner for the Sawyer/Miller consulting firm.
1992 presidential campaign
Rollins was hired in June 1992 as co-manager of Ross PerotRoss Perot
Henry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
's 1992 presidential campaign
United States presidential election, 1992
The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George Bush; Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot....
. He resigned in July and initially suggested that disagreements with other campaign officials about the nature and timing of an advertising campaign led him to quit. Later, he suggested that Perot was not emotionally suited to be President. Perot initially ended his campaign the day after Rollins resigned, only to resume his campaign after the Democratic National Convention.
1993 gubernatorial campaign
Rollins worked as the campaign manager for Christine Todd WhitmanChristine Todd Whitman
Christine Todd "Christie" Whitman is an American Republican politician and author who served as the 50th Governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001, and was the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the administration of President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003. She was New...
in her 1993 New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
gubernatorial race. After organizing a campaign that led to Whitman's come-from-behind victory, Rollins claimed to TIME magazine that he secretly paid black ministers and Democratic campaign workers in order to suppress voter turnout.
"We went into black churches and we basically said to ministers who had endorsed Florio, 'Do you have a special project?' And they said, 'We've already endorsed Florio.' We said, 'That's fine, don't get up on the Sunday pulpit and preach. We know you've endorsed him, but don't get up there and say it's your moral obligation that you go on Tuesday to vote for Jim Florio.'" After public outcry and calls for an investigation, Rollins partially retracted some of these claims telling People magazine (March 31, 1997, Vol. 47, No. 12) that his comments were "an exaggeration that turned out to be inaccurate."
1994 campaigns
Rollins recovered quickly from the New Jersey furor. He led the first successful bid to unseat a sitting Speaker of the House when he orchestrated George NethercuttGeorge Nethercutt
George R. Nethercutt, Jr. is an American politician, and is the founder and chairman of The George Nethercutt Foundation. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2005, representing ....
's victory over Tom Foley
Tom Foley
Thomas Stephen Foley was the 57th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1989 to 1995. He represented Washington's 5th congressional district for 30 years as a Democratic member from 1965 to 1995....
in Washington State's eastern congressional district in November 1994. That year, he was also general consultant to the Michael Huffington
Michael Huffington
Michael Huffington is an American politician, bisexual activist, and film producer. He was a member of the Republican Party, and a member of the United States House of Representatives for one term, 1993–1995, from California...
campaign for U.S. Senate in California, who ran a surprisingly close race in losing to incumbent Democrat Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein is the senior U.S. Senator from California. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served in the Senate since 1992. She also served as 38th Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988....
, and also helped direct the Bruce D. Benson
Bruce D. Benson
Bruce D. Benson became the 22nd President of the University of Colorado in March 2008. He is an alumnus of the university, having earned a bachelor’s degree in Geology in 1964. Benson leads a university system with four campuses: Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs and the Anschutz Medical Campus...
campaign for Governor of Colorado.
Other campaigns, 1998-2006
In 1998, Rollins consulted on the campaign of Joe Khoury, a Republican candidate in Southern California's Inland EmpireInland Empire (California)
The Inland Empire is a region in Southern California. The region sits directly east of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Inland Empire most commonly is used in reference to the U.S. Census Bureau's federally-defined Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area, which covers more than...
. Khoury was running in the Republican primary against incumbent Representative Ken Calvert
Ken Calvert
Kenneth Stanton "Ken" Calvert is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 43rd, serving since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district is part of the Inland Empire and south Orange County areas of Southern California.-Early life, education and career:Calvert was born in...
. Khoury was an economics professor at University of California Riverside and is of Lebanese descent.
In the turbulent 2002 campaign for Governor of California, Rollins consulted for his long-time friend, and then-Secretary of State Bill Jones, who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination, losing to Bill Simon. Rollins was then hired by Simon for the fall gubernatorial campaign, suffering a narrow loss to incumbent Democrat Gray Davis
Gray Davis
Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis, Jr. is an American Democratic politician who served as California's 37th Governor from 1999 until being recalled in 2003...
.
In 2006, Rollins consulted on the campaign of Republican New York State Senate contender Kathleen Troia "KT" McFarland
Kathleen Troia McFarland
Kathleen Troia "KT" McFarland was the deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs at The Pentagon from 1982 to 1985 under President Ronald Reagan and speech writer to Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger...
. He also worked for the campaign of United States Representative Katherine Harris
Katherine Harris
Katherine Harris is an American Republican politician, former Secretary of State of Florida, and former member of the United States House of Representatives. Harris won the 2002 election to represent Florida's 13th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. She held that post...
for the U.S. Senate from Florida. According to a Wall Street Journal article, the two had a falling-out, with Rollins not attending a staff meeting in Tampa
Tâmpa
Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...
and quitting a few days later after he questioned the viability of her campaign.
2008 presidential campaign
On December 14, 2007, Republican Mike HuckabeeMike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
announced he had hired Rollins as his national campaign chairman and senior advisor. Rollins was later overheard saying that he wanted to "knock out" Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
's teeth.
2012 presidential campaign
Rollins signed on to plan the campaign of Michele BachmannMichele Bachmann
Michele Marie Bachmann is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing , a post she has held since 2007. The district includes several of the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities, such as Woodbury, and Blaine as well as Stillwater and St. Cloud.She is currently a...
(R), U.S. Representative for Minnesota's 6th district. At the time of his appointment, Bachmann had not yet announced her candidacy but was expected to make her intentions known in June 2011. Rollins "stepped down from running day-to-day operations of the Bachmann campaign" as of Sept 05, 2011. A Bachmann aide said he'd continue with the campaign as "senior advisor" and cited health reasons for the "abrupt change in his role."
Personal life
Rollins has been married three times; the first two marriages ended in divorce. He wed Shari Lois Scharfer, a former CBS television executive, in 2003. He has an adopted daughter, Lily, from his second marriage to Sherrie Rollins Westin.External links
- Biography details at SourceWatch
- Biography details at NNDB
- Boogie Man:The Lee Atwater Story film trailer and reviews