4. “Al was a great guy” Author interview with Robert Wright.
5. “One of the things” Ibid.
6. But when Ailes’s name Author interview with CNBC producers.
7. In interviews, he called Liz Trotta, “Roger Ailes Still Has Snap in His Political Jabs,” Washington Times, May 11, 1993.
8. “He always craved” Author interview with a former colleague of Roger Ailes.
9. On July 8 Letter from Roger Ailes to former NBC Cable president Tom Rogers, July 8, 1993.
10. On July 25 Ken Parish Perkins, “Exploring the Mystery of Comedy,” Dallas Morning News, July 22, 1993.
11. Later that week Deirdre Donahue, “Chronicling Kennedy,” USA Today, July 29, 1993. In early July, Ailes offered McGinniss three days of private media training to help him combat the negative press reaction to the book. McGinniss and Ailes had been out of touch for years, but the controversy over his Kennedy book brought them back together. McGinniss called his old friend to commiserate about the Kennedys’ aggressive response to The Last Brother. McGinniss’s personal publicist had quit on him, explaining that Caroline Kennedy, who was also a client, threatened to pull all of her business if she stuck with him. “I was calling Roger up, asking for sympathy. He was always bitching about the Kennedys playing dirty and the Kennedys doing this and Kennedys doing that,” McGinniss recalled. “So I said, ‘Boy, I just had an experience with the Kennedys.’ Roger said, ‘Well, fuck them. You know what, here’s what I can do.’ He said, ‘You can come into my studio for three days and we’ll just work with the video cameras and the tape machines and I’ll be the prick host asking you all these terrible questions, and you’ll answer them and we’ll sit there and I’ll point out where your answers can be improved.’ ” McGinniss took Ailes up on his offer and camped out in Ailes’s Park Avenue South office. The two ordered in sandwiches for lunch as they worked on his responses. “No interview came close to being as penetrating, as hostile, and as pointed as Roger’s,” McGinniss later recalled. “Roger could have been Mike Wallace plus Tom Snyder. If he had gotten into that business, he could have been the nastiest interviewer on television.” When McGinniss offered to pay Ailes for his services or for dinner at Patsy’s, Ailes declined. “I said, ‘Roger, this is unbelievable of you.’ He said, ‘We can’t let the Kennedys push you around.’ Whether Simon & Schuster paid him, I don’t know. It never came up between him and me. He said, ‘I’m doing good right now, I’ll pick up the check.’ ” Author interview with Joe McGinniss.
12. on July 21 Daniel LeDuc, “Whitman Hires Ad Man Who Raised Ire with Willie Horton,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 21, 1993. See also Daniel LeDuc, “Controversial Ad Man Quits Whitman Camp,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 22, 1993.
13. In an interview Dan Balz, “Dispute over ‘Horton’ Ad Adds More Heat to Race for New Jersey Governor,” Washington Post, Aug. 1, 1993.
14. He tried reaching Whitman Author interview with Carl Golden, a former press secretary to Governor Christine Todd Whitman.
15. “Ailes went off” Ibid.
16. On the afternoon of July 27 Ailes Communications, “Ailes Labels Whitman ‘Slick Christie’ ” (press release), July 27, 1993.
17. Whitman’s apology Chris Conway, “GOP Ad Man Gets Apology,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 29, 1993; Jerry Gray, “A Republican Attacks Whitman, Too,” New York Times, Aug. 1, 1993.
18. He flew to Nantucket Brock, “Roger Ailes Is Mad as Hell.”
19. “Roger had a really good relationship” Author interview with a colleague of Roger Ailes.
20. “I was all for it” Author interview with former General Electric CEO Jack Welch.
21. Ailes downplayed Peter Johnson and Brian Donlon, “GOP Strategist Ailes Wooed to Run CNBC,” USA Today, Aug. 16, 1993.
22. three-year contract Letter from Robert Wright to Roger Ailes, Aug. 23, 1993.
23. “Tom’s role was pushed back” Author interview with Jack Welch.
24. “Roger had enemies” Ibid.
25. When Wright made the announcement Hass, “Embracing the Enemy.”
26. Ailes did not inspire Author interview with a former CNBC staffer.
27. “A lot of us were leery” Author interview with former CNBC host Doug Ramsey.
28. “Look, there’s one way” Author interview with a former CNBC producer.
29. In a cost-cutting move Linda Moss, “NBC’s Cable Gambit Sends Out a Signal,” Crain’s New York Business, April 10, 1989.
30. “We’re going to knock” Author interview with a former CNBC producer.
31. He recruited Author interview with a former CNBC staffer.
32. “It used to be” Author interview with a former CNBC senior producer.
33. “He was there” Author interview with Bob Wright.
34. Early on, Ailes summoned Author interview with a former CNBC anchor.
35. “Some said it was vicious” Author interview with a former CNBC executive.
36. As a campaign operative Richard Ben Cramer, What It Takes: The Way to the White House (New York: Open Road Integrated Media ebook, 2011), 565.
37. presidential tie clip David Lieberman, “Taking to New Stump: CNBC’s Ailes Dares to Raise Cable Stakes,” USA Today, April 28, 1994.
38. Ailes became a regular Author interview with Jack Welch. “He and Ebersol would come in together,” Welch recalled. “They’d love to order cheeseburgers and French fries. That’s part of Roger. He’s the most entertaining person to hang out with. He’s funny and quick.”
39. He attended parties Hass, “Embracing the Enemy.”
40. Positioning himself Author interview with a former CNBC anchor.
41. To celebrate the marriage Author interview with Jane Wallace, who attended the party.
42. “My wife called it” Author interview with a former CNBC host.
43. “I’ll never forget” Author interview with a former CNBC executive.
44. At GE budget meetings Author interview with a former NBC executive.
45. “I saw that” Author interview with Robert Wright.
46. Eight months into his run David Lieberman, “Taking to New Stump/CNBC’s Ailes Dares to Raise Cable Stakes,” USA Today, April 28, 1994.
47. “Markets were becoming a huge story” Author interview with a former CNBC producer.
48. Ailes thought CNBC Lieberman, “Taking to New Stump.”
49. “The Dow plummets” Rebecca Johnson, “The Correction, or Whatever It Is, Will Be Televised,” New Yorker, April 18, 1994.
50. “We talked about the feel” Author interview with a former CNBC senior producer.
51. “Chet was his father” Author interview with former CNBC producer Glenn Meehan.