Presidents and their Advisers: Bill Clinton and James Carville
Bill Clinton's victory in the 1992 presidential election was quite an amazing accomplishment. He was running against an incumbent president (George H. W. Bush) who, just a year before, had an approval rating of almost 90% and who had served as commander in chief in a very short and successful war. All the popular Democrats like New York Governor Mario Cuomo were scared to run against Bush because they didn't think their party stood a chance of winning. Meanwhile, Clinton was a relatively unknown Governor of a small state who was running a campaign that was severely handicapped by scandal after a woman named Gennifer Flowers alleged an extra-marital affair with Clinton. Clinton's unexpected David vs. Goliath election victory was due in large measure to the brilliant campaign that was engineered by Clinton's campaign manager James Carville.
Carville was born in Carville, Louisiana on October 25, 1944. He was the oldest in a family of eight children. He received his undergraduate and Juris Doctor (law) degrees from Louisiana State University and served for two years in the United States Marine Corps, attaining the rank of corporal. Carville worked as a litigation lawyer at a Baton Rouge law firm from 1973 to 1979. Carville learned his trade as a political consultant from Gus Weill, who opened the first advertising firm which specialized in political campaigns in the state capital in Baton Rouge in 1958.
Prior to the Clinton campaign, Carville and consulting partner Paul Begala worked on other successful political campaigns for Democratic candidates, including those of Governor Robert Casey of Pennsylvania in 1986, and Governor Zell Miller of Georgia in 1990. In 1991 Carville and Begala rose to national attention, leading incumbent Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania back from a 40-point poll deficit over White House hand-picked candidate Dick Thornburgh. It was during Wofford's campaign that the "it's the economy, stupid" strategy used by Bill Clinton in 1992 was first implemented.
In 1992, Carville joined Bill Clinton's campaign and guided his candidate to a win against George H. W. Bush in the presidential election. It looked like an impossible task. After the successful performance by U.S. and coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War, President George H.W. Bush's approval rating was 89%. His re-election was considered a sure thing. Several high profile candidates such as New York Governor Mario Cuomo and Tennessee Senator Al Gore Jr. refused to seek the Democratic nomination. .
U.S. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa ran as a populist liberal with labor union support. Former U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts ran as a fiscal conservative. Former California Governor Jerry Brown, who had run for the Democratic nomination in 1976 and 1980 while he was still Governor, declared a significant reform agenda, including Congressional term limits, campaign finance reform, and the adoption of a flat income tax. Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey was also a popular candidate based on his business and military background. But it was Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton who ran the smartest campaign. At Carville's suggestion, Clinton positioned himself as a centrist. He was still relatively unknown nationally before the primary season, but that changed quickly after Gennifer Flowers appeared in the press to reveal allegations of an affair. Carville recommended damage control and had Clinton appear on 60 Minutes with his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton to deny the allegation.
Harkin won his native Iowa caucuses as expected and Tsongas won the New Hampshire primary on February 18 but Clinton's second place finish caused the media to dub him "The Comeback Kid" and it energized his campaign. Jerry Brown won the Maine caucus and Bob Kerrey won South Dakota. Clinton won his first primary in Georgia and he also won the South Carolina and Wyoming primaries. Clinton swept nearly all of the Super Tuesday primaries on March 10 making him the solid front runner. He followed up with wins in Michigan and Illinois primaries. Tsongas dropped out after finishing 3rd in Michigan. Jerry Brown scored surprising wins in Connecticut, Vermont and Alaska. As the race moved to the primaries in New York and Wisconsin, Brown had taken the lead in polls in both states. But he made a serious gaffe by announcing to an audience of New York City's Jewish community that, if nominated, he would consider Reverend Jesse Jackson as a Vice Presidential candidate. Clinton won in New York by a margin of 41% to 26% and eked out a narrow win in Wisconsin. Clinton then proceeded to win in Brown's home state of California and secured enough delegates needed to clinch the nomination.
After Bill Clinton secured the Democratic Party's nomination in the spring of 1992, polls showed third party candidate Ross Perot leading the race, followed by President Bush and Clinton in third. But as the economy continued to grow sour and the President's approval rating continued to slide, the Democrats began to rally around their nominee. Carville, whose role in the Clinton campaign was documented in the feature-length Academy Award-nominated film The War Room, composed a list he posted in the war room to help focus himself and his staff. It stressed three themes:
1. Change vs. more of the same.
2. It's The economy, stupid.
3. Don't forget health care.
On July 9, 1992, Clinton chose Al Gore to be his running mate and Ross Perot dropped out of the race, because he worried that staying in the race with a "revitalized Democratic Party" would cause the race to be decided by the United States House of Representatives. Clinton gave his acceptance speech on July 17, 1992, promising to bring a "new covenant" to America, and to work to heal the gap that had developed between the rich and the poor during the Reagan/Bush years. The Clinton campaign received the biggest convention "bounce" in history which brought him from 25 percent in the spring, behind Bush and Perot, to 55 percent versus Bush's 31 percent.
After the convention, the Bush/Quayle campaign began to criticize Clinton's character, highlighting accusations of infidelity and draft dodging. The Bush campaign emphasized its foreign policy successes such as Desert Storm, and the end of the Cold War. But as the economy became the issue most voters were concerned with, Carville's strategy that "it's the economy stupid" proved to be a winning one which made voters forget about Clinton's personal shortcomings. Bush's campaign floundered.
Ross Perot decided to re-enter the race in September, and the race narrowed. As Perot's numbers significantly improved as Clinton's numbers declined. Bush and Perot both attached Clinton, accusing him of dodging the draft during the Vietnam War, and for his use of marijuana. Clinton claimed he had pretended to smoke, but "didn't inhale."
The attacks on Clinton's character failed to supplant voters' concerns about the economy. On November 3, Bill Clinton won the election to be the 42nd President of the United States by a wide margin in the Electoral College, receiving 43 percent of the popular vote against Bush's 37 percent and Perot's 19%.
In 1993, Carville was honored as Campaign District Manager of the Year by the American Association of Political Consultants. After 1992 Carville stopped working on domestic campaigns, but he worked on a number of foreign campaigns, including those of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Ehud Barak of Israel's Labor Party. In 2004, he was brought in for last-minute consulting on Senator John Kerry's Presidential campaign, but he did not play a major role. Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani hired Carville as a campaign advisor in July 2009. In 2010, Carville worked as senior advisor for the campaign of Colombian presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos.
Carville was born in Carville, Louisiana on October 25, 1944. He was the oldest in a family of eight children. He received his undergraduate and Juris Doctor (law) degrees from Louisiana State University and served for two years in the United States Marine Corps, attaining the rank of corporal. Carville worked as a litigation lawyer at a Baton Rouge law firm from 1973 to 1979. Carville learned his trade as a political consultant from Gus Weill, who opened the first advertising firm which specialized in political campaigns in the state capital in Baton Rouge in 1958.
Prior to the Clinton campaign, Carville and consulting partner Paul Begala worked on other successful political campaigns for Democratic candidates, including those of Governor Robert Casey of Pennsylvania in 1986, and Governor Zell Miller of Georgia in 1990. In 1991 Carville and Begala rose to national attention, leading incumbent Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania back from a 40-point poll deficit over White House hand-picked candidate Dick Thornburgh. It was during Wofford's campaign that the "it's the economy, stupid" strategy used by Bill Clinton in 1992 was first implemented.
In 1992, Carville joined Bill Clinton's campaign and guided his candidate to a win against George H. W. Bush in the presidential election. It looked like an impossible task. After the successful performance by U.S. and coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War, President George H.W. Bush's approval rating was 89%. His re-election was considered a sure thing. Several high profile candidates such as New York Governor Mario Cuomo and Tennessee Senator Al Gore Jr. refused to seek the Democratic nomination. .
U.S. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa ran as a populist liberal with labor union support. Former U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts ran as a fiscal conservative. Former California Governor Jerry Brown, who had run for the Democratic nomination in 1976 and 1980 while he was still Governor, declared a significant reform agenda, including Congressional term limits, campaign finance reform, and the adoption of a flat income tax. Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey was also a popular candidate based on his business and military background. But it was Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton who ran the smartest campaign. At Carville's suggestion, Clinton positioned himself as a centrist. He was still relatively unknown nationally before the primary season, but that changed quickly after Gennifer Flowers appeared in the press to reveal allegations of an affair. Carville recommended damage control and had Clinton appear on 60 Minutes with his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton to deny the allegation.
Harkin won his native Iowa caucuses as expected and Tsongas won the New Hampshire primary on February 18 but Clinton's second place finish caused the media to dub him "The Comeback Kid" and it energized his campaign. Jerry Brown won the Maine caucus and Bob Kerrey won South Dakota. Clinton won his first primary in Georgia and he also won the South Carolina and Wyoming primaries. Clinton swept nearly all of the Super Tuesday primaries on March 10 making him the solid front runner. He followed up with wins in Michigan and Illinois primaries. Tsongas dropped out after finishing 3rd in Michigan. Jerry Brown scored surprising wins in Connecticut, Vermont and Alaska. As the race moved to the primaries in New York and Wisconsin, Brown had taken the lead in polls in both states. But he made a serious gaffe by announcing to an audience of New York City's Jewish community that, if nominated, he would consider Reverend Jesse Jackson as a Vice Presidential candidate. Clinton won in New York by a margin of 41% to 26% and eked out a narrow win in Wisconsin. Clinton then proceeded to win in Brown's home state of California and secured enough delegates needed to clinch the nomination.
After Bill Clinton secured the Democratic Party's nomination in the spring of 1992, polls showed third party candidate Ross Perot leading the race, followed by President Bush and Clinton in third. But as the economy continued to grow sour and the President's approval rating continued to slide, the Democrats began to rally around their nominee. Carville, whose role in the Clinton campaign was documented in the feature-length Academy Award-nominated film The War Room, composed a list he posted in the war room to help focus himself and his staff. It stressed three themes:
1. Change vs. more of the same.
2. It's The economy, stupid.
3. Don't forget health care.
On July 9, 1992, Clinton chose Al Gore to be his running mate and Ross Perot dropped out of the race, because he worried that staying in the race with a "revitalized Democratic Party" would cause the race to be decided by the United States House of Representatives. Clinton gave his acceptance speech on July 17, 1992, promising to bring a "new covenant" to America, and to work to heal the gap that had developed between the rich and the poor during the Reagan/Bush years. The Clinton campaign received the biggest convention "bounce" in history which brought him from 25 percent in the spring, behind Bush and Perot, to 55 percent versus Bush's 31 percent.
After the convention, the Bush/Quayle campaign began to criticize Clinton's character, highlighting accusations of infidelity and draft dodging. The Bush campaign emphasized its foreign policy successes such as Desert Storm, and the end of the Cold War. But as the economy became the issue most voters were concerned with, Carville's strategy that "it's the economy stupid" proved to be a winning one which made voters forget about Clinton's personal shortcomings. Bush's campaign floundered.
Ross Perot decided to re-enter the race in September, and the race narrowed. As Perot's numbers significantly improved as Clinton's numbers declined. Bush and Perot both attached Clinton, accusing him of dodging the draft during the Vietnam War, and for his use of marijuana. Clinton claimed he had pretended to smoke, but "didn't inhale."
The attacks on Clinton's character failed to supplant voters' concerns about the economy. On November 3, Bill Clinton won the election to be the 42nd President of the United States by a wide margin in the Electoral College, receiving 43 percent of the popular vote against Bush's 37 percent and Perot's 19%.
In 1993, Carville was honored as Campaign District Manager of the Year by the American Association of Political Consultants. After 1992 Carville stopped working on domestic campaigns, but he worked on a number of foreign campaigns, including those of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Ehud Barak of Israel's Labor Party. In 2004, he was brought in for last-minute consulting on Senator John Kerry's Presidential campaign, but he did not play a major role. Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani hired Carville as a campaign advisor in July 2009. In 2010, Carville worked as senior advisor for the campaign of Colombian presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos.