Victor Gold (journalist)
Encyclopedia
Victor Gold (born 1928) is an American
journalist
, author
, and Republican
political consultant. His career as a political consultant spanned the period from the 1964 Presidential candidacy of Barry Goldwater
through George H. W. Bush
's 1992 re-election campaign, and he co-wrote Bush's 1987 autobiography.
, where he attended New Orleans public schools and Tulane University
. After his graduation from Tulane he worked as a reporter-correspondent for the Birmingham News (Birmingham, Alabama) before entering law school
at the University of Alabama
, where he received a law degree. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War
.
public relations
firm of Selvage & Lee. His interest in Republican politics began after the Bay of Pigs invasion
, which made him disillusioned with the Presidency
of Democrat
John F. Kennedy
, for whom he had voted in 1960. He was attracted to Senator Barry Goldwater
for his strong stance against Communism
, his libertarianism
, and his contrarian tendencies. In 1964 he became deputy press secretary
for Goldwater's unsuccessful presidential campaign. In his chronicle of the 1964 election, Theodore White
described Gold as having played a critical role in helping to overcome the press corps' hostility toward Goldwater. A 2007 article in the Washington Post quoted White as saying that Gold "carried [the journalists'] bags, got them to the trains on time, out-shouted policemen on their behalf, bedded them down and woke them up, and before they knew it, the correspondents, about 95 percent anti-Goldwater by conviction, had been won to a friendship with the diminutive intellectual which spilled over onto his hero."
In 1965 Gold opened his own political public relations
firm in Washington, serving Republican
clients including Gerald Ford
, Bob Dole
, Jim Folsom
, and Shirley Temple Black. At the Republican National Convention
s of 1968
and 1976
he worked with press secretary Lyn Nofziger
in support of the presidential candidacy of Ronald Reagan
, who was at the time governor of California
. During the Nixon administration he served as press secretary to Vice President
Spiro T. Agnew. Timothy Crouse
wrote in The Boys on the Bus
that while the reporters covering Agnew were occasionally amused by Gold's politics, much like the Goldwater reporters had they respected him as a "stickler for perfection. He made sure that everyone had a room, that everyone knew where the phones were, and that the Western Union
man was never more than a few feet away". He worked with Agnew in the Congressional election campaign of 1970, when Agnew made appearances around the country criticizing incumbent
Democratic Senators with epithets such as "nattering nabobs of negativism."
In 1980 Gold joined the staff of Republican presidential candidate George H. W. Bush
as a speechwriter
and senior advisor. He served on Bush's vice-presidential staff in 1981, was a speechwriter and advisor for the Reagan-Bush campaign in 1984
, and was an advisor to Bush in his 1988 and 1992 presidential campaigns.
In 1989 he was appointed to a delegation sent by President Bush to provide oversight of the first free election
s in Romania
after the ouster
of Nicolae Ceauşescu
. As a Bush appointee on the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
during the early 1990s, he criticized the CPB for its funding of Pacifica Radio
and other liberal media outlets.
magazine, for which he holds the position of national correspondent. He also has written articles on politics and sports for numerous other U.S. publications, has been a speaker for political audiences and on university campuses, and has appeared on television shows.
A personal friend of the Bush family, he co-wrote George H.W. Bush's 1987 autobiography
, Looking Forward, published the year before Bush's successful campaign for the U.S. presidency.
Together with Lynne Cheney
(who was a colleague at Washingtonian magazine before she became chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities
) he co-authored a satirical
political novel
entitled The Body Politic, published in 1988. The novel revolves around a Republican vice president who dies while making love
to a female television news
reporter.
He also is the author of several nonfiction books. I Don't Need You When I'm Right recounted his experience in Washington public relations. P-R As In President dealt with the influence of the news media and public relations in U.S. presidential political campaign
s.
In his 2007 book Invasion of the Party Snatchers: How the Neo-Cons and Holy Rollers Destroyed the GOP he attacked President George W. Bush
and Vice President Dick Cheney
. In the book he called the younger Bush "the weakest, most out of touch president in modern times." Of Cheney, who he called "Machiavellian," he said: "A vice president in control is bad enough. Worse yet is a vice president out of control." Under their leadership, he said that the Republican Party had abandoned its long-time principles of small government, prudent foreign policy, and keeping government out of people's private lives. He decried the influence of religious right
leaders such as Pat Robertson
and Jerry Falwell
, and said that the Republican Party had been transformed into "a party of pork-barrel ear-markers like Dennis Hastert
, of political hatchet men
like Karl Rove
, and of Bible-thumping hypocrites like Tom Delay
." The criticisms were considered particularly noteworthy in view of Gold's close relationships with the people he attacked.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and Republican
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...
political consultant. His career as a political consultant spanned the period from the 1964 Presidential candidacy of Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
through George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
's 1992 re-election campaign, and he co-wrote Bush's 1987 autobiography.
Early life and career
Victor Gold grew up in New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, where he attended New Orleans public schools and Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
. After his graduation from Tulane he worked as a reporter-correspondent for the Birmingham News (Birmingham, Alabama) before entering law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
at the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
, where he received a law degree. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
Political activities
In 1958 Gold joined the Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
firm of Selvage & Lee. His interest in Republican politics began after the Bay of Pigs invasion
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
, which made him disillusioned with the Presidency
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
of Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, for whom he had voted in 1960. He was attracted to Senator Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
for his strong stance against Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, his libertarianism
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
, and his contrarian tendencies. In 1964 he became deputy press secretary
Press secretary
A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage....
for Goldwater's unsuccessful presidential campaign. In his chronicle of the 1964 election, Theodore White
Theodore H. White
Theodore Harold White was an American political journalist, historian, and novelist, known for his wartime reporting from China and accounts of the 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1980 presidential elections.-Life and career:...
described Gold as having played a critical role in helping to overcome the press corps' hostility toward Goldwater. A 2007 article in the Washington Post quoted White as saying that Gold "carried [the journalists'] bags, got them to the trains on time, out-shouted policemen on their behalf, bedded them down and woke them up, and before they knew it, the correspondents, about 95 percent anti-Goldwater by conviction, had been won to a friendship with the diminutive intellectual which spilled over onto his hero."
In 1965 Gold opened his own political public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
firm in Washington, serving Republican
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...
clients including 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...
, Bob Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
, Jim Folsom
Jim Folsom
James Elisha Folsom, Sr. , commonly known as Jim Folsom or "Big Jim", was the 42nd Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama from 1947 to 1951, and again from 1955 to 1959. Born in Coffee County, Alabama, Folsom is perhaps best remembered as being among the first Southern governors to embrace...
, and Shirley Temple Black. At the Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
s of 1968
1968 Republican National Convention
The 1968 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held in at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Dade County, Florida, from August 5 to August 8, 1968....
and 1976
1976 Republican National Convention
The 1976 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States met at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, from August 16 to August 19, 1976. The convention nominated incumbent Gerald Ford for President, but only after narrowly defeating a strong challenge from former California...
he worked with press secretary 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...
in support of the presidential candidacy of 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 was at the time governor of California
Governor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
. During the Nixon administration he served as press secretary to Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Spiro T. Agnew. Timothy Crouse
Timothy Crouse
-Family:Timothy Crouse's affinity for campaign reporters and the theater took root thanks to his father, Russel Crouse, who was a career newspaperman and playwright. "The stories he told me of his newspaper days—especially traveling around the country with prankish sports teams—had a fatal tinge of...
wrote in The Boys on the Bus
The Boys on the Bus
The Boys on the Bus is author Timothy Crouse's seminal non-fiction book detailing life on the road for reporters covering the 1972 United States presidential campaign....
that while the reporters covering Agnew were occasionally amused by Gold's politics, much like the Goldwater reporters had they respected him as a "stickler for perfection. He made sure that everyone had a room, that everyone knew where the phones were, and that the Western Union
Western Union
The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...
man was never more than a few feet away". He worked with Agnew in the Congressional election campaign of 1970, when Agnew made appearances around the country criticizing incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Democratic Senators with epithets such as "nattering nabobs of negativism."
In 1980 Gold joined the staff of Republican presidential candidate George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
as a speechwriter
Speechwriter
A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches that will be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are used by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors.-Skills and training:...
and senior advisor. He served on Bush's vice-presidential staff in 1981, was a speechwriter and advisor for the Reagan-Bush campaign in 1984
United States presidential election, 1984
The United States presidential election of 1984 was a contest between the incumbent President Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate, and former Vice President Walter Mondale, the Democratic candidate. Reagan was helped by a strong economic recovery from the deep recession of 1981–1982...
, and was an advisor to Bush in his 1988 and 1992 presidential campaigns.
In 1989 he was appointed to a delegation sent by President Bush to provide oversight of the first free election
Romanian presidential election, 1990
These are the results of the Romanian presidential election of May 20, 1990:-Results:...
s in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
after the ouster
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
of Nicolae Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
. As a Bush appointee on the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a non-profit corporation created by an act of the United States Congress, funded by the United States’ federal government to promote public broadcasting...
during the early 1990s, he criticized the CPB for its funding of Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio is the oldest public radio network in the United States. It is a group of five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations that is known for its progressive/liberal political orientation. It is also a program service supplying over 100 affiliated...
and other liberal media outlets.
Journalism and book-writing career
Gold is a long-time contributor to WashingtonianWashingtonian (magazine)
Washingtonian is a monthly magazine distributed in the Washington, DC area since 1965. The magazine describes itself as "the magazine Washington lives by." The magazine's core focuses are local feature journalism, guide book-style articles, and real estate advice.-Editorial Content:Washingtonian...
magazine, for which he holds the position of national correspondent. He also has written articles on politics and sports for numerous other U.S. publications, has been a speaker for political audiences and on university campuses, and has appeared on television shows.
A personal friend of the Bush family, he co-wrote George H.W. Bush's 1987 autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, Looking Forward, published the year before Bush's successful campaign for the U.S. presidency.
Together with Lynne Cheney
Lynne Cheney
Lynne Ann Cheney is the wife of former United States Vice President Dick Cheney and served as the Second Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009...
(who was a colleague at Washingtonian magazine before she became chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...
) he co-authored a satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
political novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
entitled The Body Politic, published in 1988. The novel revolves around a Republican vice president who dies while making love
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
to a female television news
News broadcasting
News broadcasting is the broadcasting of various news events and other information via television, radio or internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or television studio newsroom, or by a broadcast network...
reporter.
He also is the author of several nonfiction books. I Don't Need You When I'm Right recounted his experience in Washington public relations. P-R As In President dealt with the influence of the news media and public relations in U.S. presidential political campaign
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
s.
In his 2007 book Invasion of the Party Snatchers: How the Neo-Cons and Holy Rollers Destroyed the GOP he attacked President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and Vice President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
. In the book he called the younger Bush "the weakest, most out of touch president in modern times." Of Cheney, who he called "Machiavellian," he said: "A vice president in control is bad enough. Worse yet is a vice president out of control." Under their leadership, he said that the Republican Party had abandoned its long-time principles of small government, prudent foreign policy, and keeping government out of people's private lives. He decried the influence of religious right
Religious right
The term religious right may refer to religiously motivated right wing movements such as:*Christian right*Hindu nationalism *Islamism*Jewish right*Theravada...
leaders such as Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
and Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...
, and said that the Republican Party had been transformed into "a party of pork-barrel ear-markers like Dennis Hastert
Dennis Hastert
John Dennis "Denny" Hastert was the 59th Speaker of the House serving from 1999 to 2007. He represented as a Republican for twenty years, 1987 to 2007.He is the longest-serving Republican Speaker in history...
, of political hatchet men
Hatchet man
A hatchet man was originally a pioneer or axeman serving in a US military unit. Towards the end of the 19th century, the phrase was used to describe a Chinese assassin who carried a handleless hatchet, which originated from New York's Doyers Street....
like Karl Rove
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
, and of Bible-thumping hypocrites like Tom Delay
Tom DeLay
Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...
." The criticisms were considered particularly noteworthy in view of Gold's close relationships with the people he attacked.
Recognitions
In 1992 Gold received the Distinguished Achievement Award for Political Communication from the University of Alabama.External links
- Victor Gold Knows How to Succeed in DC by Victor Gold, self-interview for Washingtonian magazine, October 1, 2008
- The Wayward Lemming, Victor Gold's blog