Week 9 EOC: Art & Copy Key Person

Rollins is best known for his work as National Campaign Director to Ronald Reagan in the 1984 presidential election. Rollins was personally selected for the job by White House Chief of Staff James A. Baker III, who had served as Gerald Ford's manager in 1976. Rollins's deputy and Political Director was Lee Atwater, continuing their teaming from the White House Office of Political Affairs.In 1989, Rollins became the only non-Member of Congress to head the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House Republicans' campaign wing.Rollins's goal was to attract top political talent to turn around a committee that had suffered four disappointing elections. He firmly believed the GOP could achieve the rare feat of gaining House seats while controlling the White House.Rollins worked as the campaign manager for Christine Todd Whitman in her 1993 New Jersey gubernatorial race. After organizing a campaign that led to Whitman's come-from-behind victory, Rollins claimed to TIME magazine that he secretly paid black ministers and Democratic campaign workers in order to suppress voter turnout. "We went into black churches and we basically said to ministers who had endorsed Florio, 'Do you have a special project?' And they said, 'We've already endorsed Florio.' We said, 'That's fine, don't get up on the Sunday pulpit and preach. We know you've endorsed him, but don't get up there and say it's your moral obligation that you go on Tuesday to vote for Jim Florio.'" After public outcry and calls for an investigation, Rollins partially retracted some of these claims telling People magazine (March 31, 1997, Vol. 47, No. 12) that his comments were "an exaggeration that turned out to be inaccurate."