Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story

-ALL RIGHT, LET'S TAKE THE WHOLE THING.

-I, RONALD REAGAN, DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR...

-I, RONALD REAGAN, DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR...

-...THAT I WILL FAITHFULLY EXECUTE THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

-PRESERVE, PROTECT, AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

SO HELP ME GOD.

SO HELP ME GOD.

YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET.

-CAN YOU UNDERSTAND AMERICAN POLITICS IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND LEE ATWATER?

I BELIEVE NOT.

-HE COULDN'T TEACH ME RHYTHM, BUT HE DID TEACH THE DEMOCRATS

TO SING THE BLUES, AND I BELIEVE THEY'RE JUST STARTING.

-HE MATTERED IN AMERICAN POLITICS BECAUSE OF THE MAN HE

GOT ELECTED, BECAUSE OF THE PARTY HE SHAPED.

HE WAS VERY IMPORTANT, NOT ONLY TO GEORGE H.W.'S VICTORY BUT TO HIS SON'S VICTORY.

LEE ATWATER WAS PART MYTH,

PART SHOWMAN, AND PART POLITICAL MASTERMIND.

HE WAS ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE PEOPLE I'VE EVER MET IN MY LIFE.

-ROVE WAS THE PROTEGE OF LEE ATWATER.

HOW DO POLITICS REALLY WORK?

HOW DOES A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION REALLY WORK?

THE DEPTHS OF IT DESERVE TO BE EXAMINED CLOSELY.

-RACIST. -DISGUSTING.

-SCUMBAG POLITICS. -GARBAGE.

-AND I'M A VERY LOVABLE GUY. -

-GOSH, WHAT A PERSON MADE DUE FOR A LIVING.

NOW, HE PLAYED BLUES. HE MY MAN.

I LIKE HIM.

-IT WAS A GREAT STORY NOT BECAUSE OF POLITICS.

IT'S AMERICAN YEARNING AND STRIVING TO BE ACCEPTED, TO BE

POWERFUL, TO BE GREAT, AND THE PERSONAL RISKS OF DOING THAT.

LIFE GETS EVEN WITH YOU IN THE END.

-PRIDE. SIN.

REDEMPTION.

LEE WAS AT THE HEIGHT OF THE NATIONAL POLITICAL SCENE, AND

YOU HAD TO WONDER, WHAT NEXT?

I'VE HEARD IT DESCRIBED AS SOME KIND OF GREEK TRAGEDY.

LEE ATWATER GREW UP IN A STANDARD, SOUTHERN-LOOKING,

WHITE LIFE. HE PIERCED THROUGH ALL THAT.

I'D HAVE LOVED TO HAVE SEEN THIS GUY OPERATE AT THE GRADE-SCHOOL LEVEL.

I MEAN THAT'S WHERE YOU LEARN POLITICS.

-HE COULD JUST GET A CROWD INTO A FRENZY.

WE WERE JUST A SO-SO BAND, BUT WE HAD LEE, THE ONLY GUY I KNEW WHO COULD DO A SPLIT.

-JUST THINK IF YOU'D HAVE STAYED WITH THE UPSETTERS REVUE WHAT YOU COULD HAVE BECOME.

-YEAH, I COULD HAVE BEEN MAKING $65 A NIGHT.

-HE TOOK THIS ONE GUY AND RAN HIM AS PRESIDENT OF THE SCHOOL.

NOBODY HAD EVER HAD A CAMPAIGN MANAGER IN HIGH SCHOOL.

-AND THEY WON! YOU KNOW?

HE FIGURED OUT EARLY ON THAT MAYBE I DON'T WANT TO BE THE

CANDIDATE BUT THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES GUY.

-WELL, I'VE ALWAYS BEEN ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT.

IN SOUTH CAROLINA, I JUST SAY,

"WELL, IF THESE GUYS ARE THE DEMOCRATS, I'M A REPUBLICAN."

-I ASKED LEE, WHY DID YOU GO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, THE

FUDDY-DUD, COUNTRY-CLUB SET?

LEE SAID, "HEY, MAN, I HAVE A LOT BETTER CHANCE AT DOING

SOMETHING IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY."

-IF THE GRAND OLD PARTY STAYED KIND OF GRAND AND OLD, IT WASN'T

GONNA BE MUCH OF A PARTY. IT HAD TO GO YOUNG.

WITHOUT THAT, WE WOULD GO INTO THE WILDERNESS.

-THE POWER WAS JUST WAITING TO BE WIELDED, AND HE WAS GONNA WIELD IT.

-AT NEWBERRY COLLEGE, WHERE I ATTEND, WE SIGNED UP OVER

12,000 SUPPORTERS FOR PRESIDENT NIXON, WHICH IS A NATIONAL RECORD AT THIS POINT.

-ISN'T IT A SHAME THAT HE DIDN'T DECIDE TO BECOME A

DEMOCRAT BECAUSE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN JUST AS EASY FOR HIM.

HE DIDN'T REALLY BELIEVE ANY OF THOSE THINGS.

AND YOU THINK OF YOURSELF AS A REBEL.

AND ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU HAVE UNFETTERED ACCESS TO ENORMOUS RICHES.

IT MUST HAVE BEEN A LOT OF FUN.

-LEE BUILT AN ARMY OF COLLEGE REPUBLICANS ALL OVER THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

FIRST, HE TOOK OVER SOUTH CAROLINA AND THEN WENT NATIONAL.

NICE TO MEET YOU.

THE LIBERAL ALLEGATION HAS ALWAYS BEEN, COLLEGE REPUBLICANS

ONLY CARE ABOUT THE RICH OR WE'RE CLOSET FASCISTS OR WE'RE PEOPLE WHO HATE THE HUMAN RACE.

-FREE BOOK IF YOU SIGN UP FOR ISLAMO-FASCISM AWARENESS WEEK.

-LEE ATWATER SHOWED THAT YOU COULD BE A COLLEGE REPUBLICAN

AND BE COOL, HAVE MUSICAL INTERESTS.

YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO WEAR A PINSTRIPED SUIT OR A BOW TIE.

WE ARE THE GRASSROOTS FORCE.

YOU KNOW, THE LIBERALS MAY HAVE THE UNIONS, BUT WE ALSO HAVE THE COLLEGE REPUBLICANS.

AND WE'RE HIT WITH LIBERAL BIAS FROM EVERY SINGLE PROFESSOR, SO WE KNOW WHAT WE BELIEVE IN.

YOU CAN'T LEARN THESE TYPE OF THINGS IN THE CLASSROOM.

IT'S TOUGH AND IT'S DIRTY, OR IT APPEARS TO BE DIRTY.

AND KARL ROVE IS A SHINING EXAMPLE OF THE WORK THAT COLLEGE REPUBLICANS CAN DO.

THANK YOU.

1973 CONVENTION.

IT REALLY IS A SEMINAL MOMENT IN THIS LITTLE OUT-OF-THE-WAY PLACE

WITH A BUNCH OF COLLEGE REPUBLICANS WHO, AT THE TIME,

SEEMED LIKE THE MOST IRRELEVANT FIGURES IN AMERICAN POLITICS.

-COLLEGE REPUBLICANS WERE -- WHERE I ACTUALLY FIRST MET

ATWATER, WE WERE IN DIFFERENT FACTIONS.

HE WAS IN THE KARL ROVE FACTION.

-I REMEMBER ONE OF THE GREATEST WEEKS OF MY LIFE, ONE

OF THE WILDEST WEEKS OF MY LIFE WAS SPENT IN THE COMPANY OF LEE ATWATER IN A FORD PINTO.

-ROVE WAS THE PROTEGE OF LEE ATWATER.

HE THOUGHT THAT IT WAS HIS TURN TO TAKE OVER THE NATIONAL COLLEGE REPUBLICANS.

THE PROBLEM WAS THERE WAS ANOTHER GUY NAMED

ROBERT EDGEWORTH, WHO WAS ACTUALLY THE ONE IN LINE TO SUCCEED.

THEY GOT INTO A TREMENDOUS, NATIONWIDE BATTLE.

-THIS IS THE BIG SHOWDOWN IN MY RACE FOR CHAIRMAN.

ALL THE BAD GUYS ARE THE OTHER SIDE.

THE VOTE COUNT WAS EVENLY SPLIT. WE WERE GONNA LOSE.

-IT WAS PRETTY CLEAR THAT EDGEWORTH ACTUALLY DID HAVE MORE VOTES.

LEE ATWATER AND KARL ROVE USED EVERY CONCEIVABLE TRICK.

BALLOTS ARE THROWN AWAY UNFAIRLY.

-THERE'S NOTHING MORE VICIOUS THAN A YOUNG REPUBLICAN FIGHT --

NOTHING, NOTHING.

-THE ELECTION WAS APPEALED TO THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL

COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN, GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING, HE GAVE THE ELECTION TO ROVE.

YOU KNOW, ECHOES OF THE 2000 ELECTION IN FLORIDA WHERE THE

BALLOTS ARE DISPUTED AND THE SUPREME COURT MAKES THE DECISION ON A VERY DUBIOUS BASIS.

THAT WAS A PRETTY EARLY LESSON FOR KARL ROVE FROM LEE THAT YOU

COULD PLAY THE HARDEST OF HARDBALL AND GET AWAY WITH IT.

-I MAKE NO BONES ABOUT WHO I AM, WHAT I AM, AND WHAT I DO.

IF YOU'RE ON THE OTHER TEAM, I'M GONNA TRY TO BEAT YOU.

-LEE SOMETIMES REMINDED ME OF A WOLVERINE SORT OF CHEWING THROUGH THE PLYWOOD, AND HE HAD

A VAGUELY MARSUPIAL LOOK ABOUT HIM, ALWAYS SNIFFING THE AIR.

-I'VE WONDERED ABOUT WHERE LEE'S STRIVING CAME FROM.

LEE GREW UP IN THIS BREW OF RACIAL DIVIDES DRIVING THE COUNTRY.

THE ROLE OF THE CIVIL WAR, THE SOUTH'S RISE FROM THE ASHES.

AT ITS HEART, IT'S ABOUT LEARNING LESSONS OF DEFEAT.

-THE SOUTH IS THE ONLY PART OF THE UNITED STATES EVER

THOROUGHLY DEFEATED AND HUMILIATED IN A WAR.

IT DOES CREATE A VERY VISCERAL BACKLASH, AND ATWATER WAS ADEPT AT TAPPING INTO THAT.

IT WAS A BACKLASHING OF PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY'RE BETTER THAN YOU ARE.

-IT'S THIS CULTURAL RESENTMENT THAT PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH FEEL

BECAUSE THESE LIBERALS, THESE SMARTASSES RUN EVERYTHING, AND

WE HAVE NOTHING BUT CONTEMPT FOR THEM.

LEE'S FRIENDS SAID, "YOU GUYS ALL THINK WE'RE DUMB.

YOU HAVE THE SAME KIND OF PREJUDICE AGAINST US THAT YOU

ACCUSE US OF HAVING AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE."

-THE BIG BOYS TRYING TO PUSH US AROUND, TRYING TO REMIND US HOW MUCH GREATER THEY ARE.

"WE'LL SHOW THEM."

WELL, LEE HAD A "WE'LL SHOW THEM" KIND OF STRENGTH TO HIM.

IT WAS ABOUT AS WIDE AS HIS BACKBONE.

RESENTMENT BECAME THE DESTINY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

-I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE NEVER EVEN GOTTEN INTO POLITICS IF IT WEREN'T FOR STROM THURMOND.

THE PERSONAL INTEREST HE TOOK IN ME AND MY CAREER...

-BEFORE STROM, HE WAS, YOU KNOW, "WHERE IS THE NEXT PARTY COMING?

LET'S GET DRUNK TONIGHT."

WORKING FOR THURMOND TRANSFORMED LEE.

-MY GRANDFATHER HATED STROM THURMOND WITH A PASSION.

AND I GREW UP WITH THAT SAME HATE.

AND WHEN I MET LEE, I KNEW LEE WAS CONNECTED TO HIM.

HE'S A PART OF THE SYSTEM THAT HATES US.

GOOD OLD STROM.

GOLLY -- 21 YEARS OLD, HAS SEX WITH A 15-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER OF A

MAID THERE AT HIS HOUSE, AND PRODUCES A CHILD.

AND TO COME OUT AND SAY "THE BLOOD WILL RUN BEFORE WE

INTEGRATE" -- IT PERSONIFIES WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE HYPOCRISY OF RACISM.

THE SOUTH IS AFRO-CELTIC.

IT'S WHERE YOU FIND THE CELTS SETTLE AND WHERE THE AFRICANS ARE.

IT'S A PLACE WHERE THE SAME PERSON WHO'S SAYING, "YES, SIR"

AND "YES, MA'AM" TO YOU CAN GO AND GET LYNCH ROPE THE NEXT DAY.

SO, I MEAN, THE SOUTH IS COMPLICATED.

-THE SOUTH HAS GOT THE SAME THING AMERICA'S GOT, A COMPLICATED HISTORY ON RACE.

THERE ARE REASONS TO HATE THINGS ABOUT THE SOUTH AND STILL LOVE

THE REGION AND ITS PEOPLE.

I'M NOT AWARE OF ANY DEMOCRAT PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT LEE

REALLY LEARNED IN HIS EARLY RACES.

THEY EXISTED UP IN SOME ELITE LAYER OF THE CLOUDS THAT HAD

NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT MOVED PEOPLE TO FEEL.

THEY SLEPT WHILE LEE OUTMANEUVERED.

-IT WAS A CONGRESSIONAL RACE. I WAS A DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE.

HE CAME OUT AND, IN ACCOUNT OF AN UNDERHANDED WAY, IN A SENSE,

HE GOT A REPORTER TO ASK HIM A QUESTION ABOUT, WELL, "ISN'T IT

TRUE THAT TOM TURNIPSEED HAD SOME KIND OF PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEM AS A KID?"

HE WAS THE MASTER AT CREATING LITTLE JUICY TIDBITS FOR THE MEDIA.

-WELL, I SAID THAT HE HAD BEEN HOOKED UP TO JUMPER CABLES IN

REFERENCE TO A BOUT HE HAD HAD WITH MENTAL ILLNESS IN COLLEGE,

WHICH HAD BEEN MADE PUBLIC TWO YEARS BEFORE, SO I WASN'T BREAKING ANY NEW GROUND.

-THAT GOT QUOTED ALL OVER FROM KINGDOM COME DOWN HERE,

LEE ATWATER SAYING THAT --

ACCUSING TOM TURNIPSEED OF BEING HOOKED UP TO JUMPER CABLES.

-HOOKED UP TO JUMPER CABLES. I'M LAUGHING NOW, BUT IT AIN'T FUNNY.

ATWATER'S CANDIDATE WON.

-IT'S SO MUCH EASIER TO BLAME DIRTY TRICKS THAN IT IS TO ACKNOWLEDGE HARD WORK.

DID HE GIVE HIS OPPONENTS AMMUNITION TO CRITICIZE HIM FOR NEGATIVE TACTICS?

YES. DOES THAT OBSCURE THE FACT THAT

HE OUTFOXED THEM AT NEARLY EVERY TURN?

NOT TO THOSE OF US WATCHING CLOSELY.

-SOUTHERNERS LIKE A GOOD, HARD-FOUGHT POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.

HE FIRST MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF ON A RACE BETWEEN

CARROLL CAMPBELL AND A DEMOCRAT BY THE NAME OF MAX HELLER.

-MAX HELLER HAD BEEN A IMMIGRANT.

HE WAS, AS A JEWISH TEENAGER ESCAPING HITLER, AND HE WAS A POPULAR MAYOR.

-LEE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST ADVOCATES OF THE PUSH-PULL.

THE FIRST FEW QUESTIONS ARE ROUTINE.

THE NEXT QUESTION IS, "WELL, IF YOU CAME TO BELIEVE THAT GOVERNOR 'X' WAS A PEDOPHILE,

WOULD THAT CHANGE YOUR OPINION?"

NOW, THE POLLER HASN'T SAID THAT GOVERNOR "X" IS A PEDOPHILE,

SIMPLY PLANTED THE IDEA THAT IF HE WERE...

THEY DID A POLL WHICH ASKED,

"WOULD YOU VOTE FOR A JEW WHO DID NOT BELIEVE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST?"

NO, THEY WOULDN'T.

-LEE WAS ACCUSED OF RECRUITING A THIRD-PARTY CANDIDATE, SORT OF

A REDNECK-TYPE CANDIDATE, WHO MADE RELIGION AN ISSUE IN THAT RACE.

HE SAID HE ENTERED THE RACE ON HIS OWN, BUT NONE OF US REALLY BELIEVE THAT.

-HE HAD A PRESS CONFERENCE, AND HE ATTACKED MAX HELLER.