Lee Atwater

Lee Atwater (February 26, 1951 - March 29, 1991) was a Republican National Committee chairman during the latter part of the 1980s. Atwater was a trusted advisor of both President Ronald Reagan and President George H. W. Bush. Atwater's skills at promoting the negative aspects of his opponents, (such as the tactic of bounce polling, which he invented) brought him and his candidates success.

His greatest achievement came in the presidential campaign of 1988. A particularly aggressive television advertisement concentrating on a prison paroleé who subsequently committed a rape, along with other campaign tactics against Michael S. Dukakis, allowed George H.W. Bush to overcome Dukakis's 17% lead in early polls and win the 1988 election for President.

During that election, Atwater was assigned a "minder" by the Bush campaign, George W. Bush. The younger Bush would later employ Atwater's tactics against John McCain in the 2000 Republican primary.

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, a book by liberal American humorist Al Franken, mentions some of his other exploits. One recent biography is Bad Boy: The Life and Politics of Lee Atwater, which was written by John Joseph Brady in 1997.

At the height of his success in 1991, Atwater was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He said he had found Jesus, renounced dirty tricks, and announced his intention to make amends with those he had ruined.

Atwater died a month later.

Those who opposed him described Atwater as "the Darth Vader of the Republican party", "the happy hatchet man", and "the guy who went negative for the sheer joy of it." At the same time, there is little doubt Atwater knew the politics of his generation, and how to act upon them.