55. The video was Ailes’s brainchild Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
56. Fox pulled the clip “What the Fox,” Hotline, May 31, 2012.
57. “Roger was not aware” Brian Stelter, “Obama Video on Fox Criticized as Attack Ad,” “Media Decoder” (blog), New York Times, May 30, 2012, http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/obama-video-on-fox-news-criticized-as-attack-ad/.
58. Senior adviser David Axelrod Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
59. “Fox is watched” Michael D. Shear, “Aides Play Down Romney’s Talk on Taxes for Wealthy,” New York Times, April 17, 2012.
60. In the year after Jeremy W. Peters, “Enemies and Allies for ‘Friends,’ ” New York Times, June 21, 2012.
61. So when Gretchen Carlson Fox News interview with Mitt Romney (transcript), Federal News Service, May 24, 2012.
62. In August Solange Uwimana, “Fox Runs Montage Splicing Together Quotes from Paul Ryan and Ronald Reagan,” Media Matters for America, Aug. 14, 2012, http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/08/14/fox-runs-montage-splicing-together-quotes-from/189345.
63. Behind the scenes Author interview with a person familiar with the matter. In an email, a spokesperson for Ryan said, “Congressman Ryan has known Jon Kraushar for a couple of years but he didn’t recall Mr. Ailes introducing the two of them.”
64. After the 1968 campaign Nyan, “Roger Ailes: He Doctors a Politician’s TV Image.”
65. “Roger is Fox News” Author interview with Newsmax editor in chief Christopher Ruddy.
66. “Every single element” Author interview with consultant Ed Rollins.
67. Not long before the 2012 Junod, “Why Does Roger Ailes Hate America?”
68. “I built this channel” Carr and Arango, “A Fox Chief at the Pinnacle of Media and Politics.”
69. “At his daily 8:00 a.m.” Author interview with an executive who has attended the meetings.
ACT I
ONE: “JUMP ROGER, JUMP”
1. The town Henry Howe, Historical Collections of Ohio: An Encyclopedia of the State, Vol. 2, (Cincinnati: C. J. Krehbiel and Company, 1908), 669–70.
2. In 1890, two sons Dennis Adler, Packard (St. Paul, Minn.: Motorbooks International, 2004), 11–15. Also: http://packardmuseum.org/ed1.aspx.
3. In 1932, the General Motors “A. Wolcott Dies, Auto Parts Maker; Head of Packard Electric Co., Manufacturers of Cables,” New York Times, Oct. 14, 1933.
4. Roger’s father, who had been Entry for Robert Eugene Ailes, created by his son, Robert Ailes Jr., on Findagrave.com.
5. In 1936, Neil Armstrong James R. Hansen, First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012), 45–46.
6. That was the world Roger’s birth date is given in his parents’ divorce papers: Donna M. Ailes v. Robert E. Ailes, Trumbull County (Ohio) Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations, Case 5396, Oct. 7, 1959.
7. Warren residents Warren (Ohio) Tribune Chronicle, April 20, 1954.
8. “There were no slums” Author interview with television executive Launa Newman-Minson. At the time she went to school and worked with Ailes, she went by her maiden name, Launa Newman.
9. Packard “Employment Hits New High of 6000: All-Time Mark Exceeds Both War-Time and Post-War Peaks, Further Growth Expected,” Cablegram, March 23, 1953, National Packard Museum.
10. sponsored annual picnics See, for instance, “Packard Family Picnic Program” and “18,000 Attend Picnic; Ruth Drenski Wins Top Prize,” Cablegram, July 1955, National Packard Museum.
11. The career of Roger’s father Author interview with Robert Ailes Jr. Cablegram also identifies Robert Ailes as “foreman, Maintenance Dept” in an article mentioning Roger Ailes, “Employes’ [sic] Sons Get Collegiate Honors,” ca. 1959–1960.
12. He raised his children Author interview with Robert Ailes Jr.
13. He worked for forty years Entry for Robert Eugene Ailes, created by his son, Robert Ailes Jr., on Findagrave.com.
14. Growing up in the 1920s Author interview with Robert Ailes Jr.
15. “I never could understand” Ibid.
16. Rapid industrialization William D. Jenkins, Steel Valley Klan: The Ku Klux Klan in Ohio’s Mahoning Valley (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1990), 57–58.
17. One minister Ibid., 58.
18. As an adult Entry for Robert Eugene Ailes, created by his son Robert Ailes Jr., on Findagrave.com.
19. As a Master Mason The full title of the affiliated body is Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of Enchanted Realm, Ali Baba Grotto.
20. His wife complained Donna M. Ailes v. Robert E. Ailes, Trumbull County (Ohio) Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations, Case 5396, March 18, 1960.
21. “One of his disappointments” Author interview with Robert Ailes Jr.
22. Robert Sr. and his wife Ibid.
23. She had come to Warren Entry for Donna Marie Cunningham [Ailes] Urban, created by her son, Robert Ailes Jr., on Findagrave.com.
24. Her father Entry for James Arley Cunningham, created by his grandson Robert Ailes Jr., on Findagrave.com.
25. He was a religious man Author interview with Robert Ailes Jr.
26. “They didn’t believe in movies or dancing” Deroy Murdock, “This Is the Most Powerful Man in News,” Newsmax, Nov. 2011.
27. Robert and Donna had a swift Author interview with Robert Ailes Jr.
28. At the age of two Ibid.
29. “Well, you died” Junod, “Why Does Roger Ailes Hate America?”
30. “The treatment” Author interview with Robert Ailes Jr.
31. The average life Robert A. Zaiden, MD, “Hemophilia A,” http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/779322-overview#aw2aab6b2b6aa.
32. In grade school Tom Junod, “Roger Ailes on Roger Ailes: The Interview Transcripts, Part 2,” The Politics Blog, Esquire, Jan. 27, 2011, http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/roger-ailes-quotes-5072437.
33. His father rushed him Author interview with Robert Ailes Jr.
34. “I heard the doctor say” Ibid.
35. Robert Jr. Author interview with Robert Ailes Jr.
36. “Look, my son’s bleeding” Junod, “Roger Ailes on Roger Ailes: The Interview Transcripts, Part 2.”
37. “Get behind me” Ibid.
38. Dirty Neck Watson Ibid.
39. “Well, son” Ibid.
40. “Roger told me” Author interview with Launa Newman-Minson.