Harvey LeRoy "Lee" Atwater (February 27, 1951 – March 29, 1991) was an American
political consultant
Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tel ...
and strategist for the
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
*Republican Party (Liberia)
* Republican Part ...
. He was an adviser to US presidents
Ronald Reagan and
George H. W. Bush and chairman of the
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in f ...
. Atwater aroused controversy through his aggressive campaign tactics, especially the
Southern strategy
In American politics, the Southern strategy was a Republican Party electoral strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to racism against African Americans. As the civil rights movement and dismantling o ...
.
Early life
Atwater was born in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to t ...
, the son of Alma "Toddy" (Page), a school teacher, and Harvey Dillard Atwater, an insurance adjustor. He had two siblings, Ann and Joe.
He grew up in
Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Aiken County, in western South Carolina. It is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. Founded in 1835, Aiken was named after William Aiken, the president of the S ...
. When Lee was five, his three-year-old brother, Joe (who bore apparent little young resemblance to him besides "striking
blue eyes"), died of
third-degree burns when he pulled a
deep fryer
A deep fryer (also referred to as a deep fat fryer), is a kitchen appliance used for deep frying. Deep frying is a method of cooking by submerging food into oil at high heat, typically between temperatures of .
While commonly used in commercial ...
full of hot oil onto himself.
As a teenager in
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the ci ...
, Atwater played guitar in a rock band, The Upsetters Revue. Even at the height of his political power, he would often play concerts in clubs and church basements, solo or with
B.B. King, in the Washington, D.C., area. He released an album called ''
Red Hot & Blue'' on
Curb Records
Curb Records (also known as Asylum-Curb and formerly known as MCG Curb) is an American record label started by Mike Curb, originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963. From 1969 to 1973, Curb merged with MGM Records where Curb served as President of M ...
, featuring
Carla Thomas
Carla Venita Thomas (born December 21, 1942) is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. Thomas is best known for her 1960s recordings for Atlantic and Stax including the hits " Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)" (1 ...
,
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songw ...
,
Sam Moore,
Chuck Jackson, and King.
Robert Hilburn wrote about the album in the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' on April 5, 1990: "The most entertaining thing about this ensemble salute to spicy
Memphis-style 1950s and 1960s R&B is the way it lets you surprise your friends. Play a selection such as 'Knock on Wood' or 'Bad Boy' for someone without identifying the singer, then watch their eyes bulge when you reveal that it's the controversial national chairman of the Republican Party, Lee Atwater."
During the 1960s, Atwater briefly played backup guitar for
Percy Sledge.
Atwater attended
A.C. Flora High School.
In 1973, Atwater graduated from
Newberry College, a small private
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
institution in
Newberry, South Carolina
Newberry is a city in Newberry County, South Carolina, United States, in the Piedmont northwest of Columbia. The charter was adopted in 1894. The population was 10,277 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Newberry County; at one time it ...
, where he was a member of the
Alpha Tau Omega
Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United Stat ...
fraternity. At Newberry, Atwater served as the governor of the South Carolina Student Legislature. He earned a
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...
degree in communications from the
University of South Carolina in 1977.
Political career
During the 1970s and the 1980 election, Atwater rose to prominence in the
South Carolina Republican Party
The South Carolina Republican Party (SCGOP) is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in South Carolina. It is one of two major political parties in the state, along with the South Carolina Democratic Party, and is the dominant part ...
, actively participating in the campaigns of Governor
Carroll Campbell and Senator
Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902June 26, 2003) was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Prior to his 48 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South Caro ...
. During his years in South Carolina, Atwater became well known for managing hard-edged campaigns based on emotional
wedge issues.
1980 and 1984 elections

Atwater's aggressive tactics were first demonstrated during the 1980 Congressional campaigns. He was a campaign consultant to Republican incumbent
Floyd Spence in his campaign for Congress against
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
nominee
Tom Turnipseed
George Thomas Turnipseed (August 27, 1936 – March 6, 2020) was an attorney and Democratic member of the South Carolina State Senate known for his liberal activism. Beginning in the late 1970s, he became active within the civil rights movement ...
. Atwater's tactics in that campaign included
push polling in the form of fake surveys by so-called independent pollsters to inform white suburbanites that Turnipseed was a member of the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
. He also sent out last-minute letters from Senator Thurmond telling voters that Turnipseed would disarm the United States, and turn it over to liberals and
Communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
. At a press briefing, Atwater planted a fake reporter who rose and said, "We understand that Turnipseed has had psychiatric treatment". Atwater later told reporters off the record that Turnipseed "got hooked up to jumper cables", referring to
electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive t ...
that Turnipseed underwent as a teenager.
Spence went on to win the race.

After the 1980 election, Atwater went to Washington and became an aide in the
Ronald Reagan administration, working under political director
Ed Rollins. In 1984, Rollins managed Reagan's re-election campaign, and Atwater became the campaign's deputy director and political director. Rollins mentions Atwater's work several times in his 1996 book ''Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms''. He states that Atwater ran a dirty tricks operation against Democratic vice-presidential nominee
Geraldine Ferraro
Geraldine Anne Ferraro (August 26, 1935 March 26, 2011) was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney. She served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985, and was the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee ...
, including publicizing the fact that Ferraro's parents had been indicted on
numbers running in the 1940s. Rollins also described Atwater as "ruthless", "
Ollie North in civilian clothes", and someone who "just had to drive in one more stake".
Atwater became a senior partner at the political consulting firm of
Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly the day after the 1984 presidential election.
During his years in Washington, Atwater became aligned with Vice President
George H. W. Bush, who chose Atwater to manage his 1988 presidential campaign.
"Southern strategy"
As a member of the Reagan administration in 1981, Atwater gave an anonymous interview to political scientist Alexander P. Lamis. Part of the interview was printed in Lamis' book ''The Two-Party South'', then reprinted in ''Southern Politics in the 1990s'' with Atwater's name revealed.
Bob Herbert reported on the interview in the October 6, 2005, issue of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. On November 13, 2012, ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's ''The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'' magazine released a 42-minute audio recording of the interview. James Carter IV, grandson of former president
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 19 ...
, had asked and been granted access to these tapes by Lamis' widow. Atwater talked about the Republican Southern strategy:
''Atwater'': As to the whole Southern strategy that Harry S. Dent, Sr.
Harry Shuler Dent Sr. (February 21, 1930 – October 2, 2007) was an American political strategist considered one of the architects of the Republican Southern Strategy
In American politics, the Southern strategy was a Republican Party elector ...
and others put together in 1968, opposition to the Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...
would have been a central part of keeping the South. Now you don't have to do that. All that you need to do to keep the South is for Reagan to run in place on the issues that he's campaigned on since 1964, and that's fiscal conservatism, balancing the budget, cut taxes, you know, the whole cluster.
''Questioner'': But the fact is, isn't it, that Reagan does get to the Wallace voter and to the racist side of the Wallace voter by doing away with legal services, by cutting down on food stamps?
''Atwater:'' Y'all don't quote me on this. You start out in 1954 by saying, "Nigger, nigger, nigger". By 1968, you can't say "nigger"—that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights
In American political discourse, states' rights are political powers held for the state governments rather than the federal government according to the United States Constitution, reflecting especially the enumerated powers of Congress and ...
and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...
you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...
blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me—because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut this", is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "Nigger, nigger". So, any way you look at it, race is coming on the back-burner.
Atwater also argued that Reagan did not need to make racial appeals, suggesting that Reagan's issues transcended the racial prism of the "Southern Strategy":
''Atwater:'' But Reagan did not have to do a southern strategy for two reasons. Number one, race was not a dominant issue. And number two, the mainstream issues in this campaign had been, quote, southern issues since way back in the sixties. So Reagan goes out and campaigns on the issues of economics and of national defense. The whole campaign was devoid of any kind of racism, any kind of reference. And I'll tell you another thing you all need to think about, that even surprised me, is the lack of interest, really, the lack of knowledge right now in the South among white voters about the Voting Rights Act.
1988 election

Atwater's most noteworthy campaign was the
1988 presidential election, when he served as the campaign manager for Republican nominee
George H. W. Bush.

Dukakis supported a felon furlough program originally begun under Republican Governor
Francis Sargent in 1972. In 1976, the
legislature passed a measure to ban furloughs for first-degree murderers. Governor Dukakis vetoed the bill. Soon afterward,
Willie Horton, who was serving a life sentence for first-degree murder for stabbing a boy to death during a robbery, was released on weekend furlough, during which he kidnapped a young couple, tortured the man, and repeatedly raped the woman. Horton then became the centerpiece of Atwater's ad campaign against Dukakis.
The issue of furlough for first-degree murderers was originally brought up by Democratic candidate
Al Gore during a presidential primary debate. However, Gore never referred specifically to Horton. Dukakis had tried to portray himself as a moderate politician from the liberal state of Massachusetts. The Horton ad campaign only reinforced the public's general opinion that Dukakis was too liberal, which helped Bush overcome Dukakis' 17-percent lead in early public opinion polls, and win both the electoral and popular vote by landslide margins.
Although Atwater clearly approved of the use of the Willie Horton issue, the Bush campaign never ran any commercial with Horton's picture; instead they ran a similar but generic ad. The original commercial was produced by Americans for Bush, an independent group managed by
Larry McCarthy, and Republicans benefited from the coverage it attracted in the national media. Referring to Dukakis, Atwater declared that he would "strip the bark off the little bastard" and "make Willie Horton his running mate".
Atwater's challenge was to counter the "where was George?" campaign slogan Democrats were using as a rallying cry in an effort to create an impression that Bush was a relatively inexperienced and unaccomplished candidate. Furthermore, Bush had critics in the Republican base, who remembered his pro-choice positions in the 1980 primary, and that the harder the campaign pursued Dukakis's liberal positions, the bigger his base turnout would be.
During the election, a number of allegations were made in the media about Dukakis' personal life, including the unsubstantiated claim that his wife
Kitty had burned a United States flag to protest the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
, and that Dukakis had been treated for a mental illness. In the film ''
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story'',
Robert Novak
Robert David Sanders Novak (February 26, 1931 – August 18, 2009) was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving in the ...
reveals for the first time that Atwater personally tried, but failed, to get him to spread these mental-health rumors.
The 1988 Bush campaign overcame a 17-point deficit in midsummer polls to win 40 states.
During that campaign, future President
George W. Bush took an office across the hall from Atwater's, where his job was to serve as his father's eyes and ears. Bush wrote in his autobiography, "I was an allegiance enforcer and a listening ear." In her memoir,
Barbara Bush
Barbara Pierce Bush (June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of President George H. W. Bush, and the founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. She previously w ...
said the younger Bush (whom Atwater called "Junior") and Atwater became "great friends."
RNC Chairman
After the election, Atwater was named chairman of the
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in f ...
. Shortly after Atwater took over the RNC,
Jim Wright
James Claude Wright Jr. (December 22, 1922 – May 6, 2015) was an American politician who served as the 48th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1989. He represented Texas's 12th congressional district as a ...
, a Democrat, was forced to resign as
Speaker of the House
The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England.
Usage
The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...
and was succeeded by
Tom Foley
Thomas Stephen Foley (March 6, 1929 – October 18, 2013) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 49th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1989 to 1995. A member of the Democratic Party, Foley represent ...
.
On the day that Foley officially became speaker, the RNC began circulating a memo to Republican congresspeople and state party chairpeople called "Tom Foley: Out of the Liberal Closet". The memo compared Foley's voting record with that of openly gay Congressman
Barney Frank
Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a former American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democrat, Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committ ...
, with a subtle implication that Foley, too, was gay. It had been crafted by RNC communications director Mark Goodin and by
House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich. In fact, Gingrich had been attempting to convince several reporters to print it.
The memo was harshly condemned by both political parties. Republican Senate leader
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his ...
, for instance, said in a speech in the Senate chamber, "This is not politics. This is garbage".
Atwater initially defended the memo, calling it "no big deal" and "factually accurate". However, some days later, he claimed that he had not approved the memo.
Under pressure from Bush, Atwater fired Goodin, replacing him with B. Jay Cooper.
Following Bush's victory, Atwater focused on organizing a public relations campaign against Arkansas Governor
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...
.
Atwater viewed Clinton as a serious potential threat to Bush in the
1992 presidential election.
At the time of Atwater's illness, he was supporting the bid of Representative
Tommy Robinson for the Republican gubernatorial nomination to oppose Clinton in the fall. Robinson lost the primary to former Arkla Gas CEO
Sheffield Nelson.
In 1989, Atwater became a member of the
historically black Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...
Board of Trustees. The university gained national attention when students rose up in protest against Atwater's appointment. Student activists disrupted Howard's 122nd anniversary celebrations and eventually occupied the university's administration building. Within days, both Atwater and Howard President
James E. Cheek
James Edward Cheek (December 4, 1932 – January 8, 2010) was president emeritus of Howard University. He was born in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina.
Howard University President (1968–1989)
In 1989, Cheek appointed Republican National Committee ...
resigned.
Also in 1989, Atwater strongly criticized the candidacy of
David Duke for the
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 re ...
. He said: "David Duke is not a Republican as far as I am concerned...He is a pretender, a charlatan, and a political opportunist who is looking for any organization he can find to legitimate his views of racial and religious bigotry and intolerance...We repudiate him and his views and we are taking steps to see that he is disenfranchised from our party."
Musical career
In 1988, Atwater and several friends founded a restaurant named
Red Hot & Blue in
Arlington, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county i ...
. The restaurant, which has since grown into a chain, served Memphis BBQ and played Memphis blues music in the dining room.
Atwater recorded a 1990 album with
B.B. King and others on
Curb Records
Curb Records (also known as Asylum-Curb and formerly known as MCG Curb) is an American record label started by Mike Curb, originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963. From 1969 to 1973, Curb merged with MGM Records where Curb served as President of M ...
, titled ''Red Hot & Blue''.
He also performed with
Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian singer, composer, actor, author, comedian, and multi-instrumentalist who served as David Letterman's musical director, band leader, and sidekick on the entire run of both ''Late Ni ...
and his band in an episode of ''
Late Night with David Letterman
''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production company ...
''.
[''Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story''](_blank)
transcript, Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educa ...
, director: Stefan Forbes, 2008.
Personal life
Marriage and children

Atwater married Sally Dunbar (1951–2021) in 1978. They had three children, Sara Lee, Ashley Page, and Sally Theodosia.
His widow ran for
Superintendent of Education for South Carolina in
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
. She was endorsed by former
President George H.W. Bush.
Illness
On March 5, 1990, Atwater suffered a seizure during a fundraising breakfast for Senator
Phil Gramm
William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched to the Republican Party in 1983. Gramm was a ...
.
Doctors discovered a grade 3
astrocytoma
Astrocytomas are a type of brain tumor. They originate in a particular kind of glial cells, star-shaped brain cells in the cerebrum called astrocytes. This type of tumor does not usually spread outside the brain and spinal cord and it does not us ...
, an aggressive form of
brain cancer
A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secon ...
, in his right
parietal lobe
The parietal lobe is one of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex in the brain of mammals. The parietal lobe is positioned above the temporal lobe and behind the frontal lobe and central sulcus.
The parietal lobe integrates sensory informa ...
. He underwent interstitial
implant radiationthen a new treatmentat
Montefiore Medical Center
Montefiore Medical Center is a premier academic medical center and the primary teaching hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York City. Its main campus, the Henry and Lucy Moses Division, is located in the Norwoo ...
in New York City, followed by conventional
radiation therapy
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Rad ...
at
George Washington University Hospital
The George Washington University Hospital is a for-profit hospital, located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is affiliated with the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. The current facility opened o ...
in Washington, D.C. The treatment left him
paralyzed
Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...
on his left side, disabled his
tone discrimination, and swelled his face and body.
Conversion to Catholicism and repentance
In the months after the severity of his illness became apparent, Atwater said he had converted to
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, through the help of Fr
John Hardon. In an act of
repentance, Atwater issued a number of public and written letters to individuals to whom he had been opposed during his political career. In a June 28, 1990, letter to
Tom Turnipseed
George Thomas Turnipseed (August 27, 1936 – March 6, 2020) was an attorney and Democratic member of the South Carolina State Senate known for his liberal activism. Beginning in the late 1970s, he became active within the civil rights movement ...
, he stated, "It is very important to me that I let you know that out of everything that has happened in my career, one of the low points remains the so-called 'jumper cable' episode", adding, "My illness has taught me something about the nature of humanity, love, brotherhood, and relationships that I never understood, and probably never would have. So, from that standpoint, there is some truth and good in everything."
In a February 1991 article for ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
'', Atwater wrote:
In the article Atwater apologized to
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history a ...
for the "naked cruelty" of the 1988 presidential election campaign.
Ed Rollins stated in the 2008 documentary ''
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story'':
Death
Atwater died on March 29, 1991, from a brain tumor. He was 40 years old.
Funeral services were held at the
Trinity Cathedral Church in Atwater's final residence,
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the ci ...
. A memorial service was held at the
Washington National Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the ca ...
on April 4, 1991.
Legacy
Sidney Blumenthal has speculated that, had Atwater lived, he would have run a stronger re-election campaign for Bush than the President's unsuccessful 1992 effort against
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...
and
Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot (; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an inde ...
.
[Blumenthal, Sidney (October 19, 1992]
"Atwater's Legacy"
''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...
'', "The Talk of the Town", p. 40.
Atwater's political career is the subject of the 2008 feature-length documentary film ''
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story''.
Atwater appears in the second season of the 2019
alternate history web television series ''
For All Mankind'', where he is played by Dustin Seavey.
See also
*
Starve the beast (Policy)
*
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on Augu ...
References
Further reading
* Lee Atwater and T. Brewster, "Lee Atwater's Last Campaign," ''Life'' magazine, February 1991, p. 67.
*
* John Joseph Brady, ''Bad Boy: The Life and Politics of Lee Atwater'', 1997, .
* Alexander P. Lamis, ed., ''Southern Politics in the 1990s'', 1999, .
* Alexander P. Lamis, ''The Two-Party South'', 1990, .
* ''American National Biography''. Supplement 1, pp. 18–19. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
* ''The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives''. Volume 3, 1991–1993, pp. 37–38. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001.
''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
''.
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Atwater, Lee
1951 births
1991 deaths
20th-century Roman Catholics
American campaign managers
American political consultants
Catholics from Georgia (U.S. state)
Catholics from South Carolina
College Republicans
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism
Deaths from brain cancer in Washington, D.C.
Former Lutherans
Newberry College alumni
People from Aiken, South Carolina
People from Atlanta
Republican National Committee chairs
South Carolina Republicans
United States presidential advisors
University of South Carolina alumni
20th-century American guitarists
Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state)
American rock guitarists
American rhythm and blues guitarists
A.C. Flora High School alumni