Harvey LeRoy "Lee" Atwater

Harvey LeRoy "Lee" Atwater was an American political strategist and self-described “ardent practitioner” of negative campaign tactics who directed George H.W. Bush’s successful 1988 presidential campaign and later served as chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC)

He was born on February 27, 1951, in Atlanta, Georgia, in the US. His father was Harvey Diallard Atwater, who was an insurance adjuster, and his mother was Alma Atwater, who was a schoolteacher. The Atwater family moved to Columbia, South Carolina, when LeRoy Lee was 10, where he attended A.C. Flora High School. Although he was a poor student, his mother was able to arrange his admission to Newberry College, a Lutheran school near Columbia, from which he graduated in 1973.

In 1977, Lee Atwater earned a master’s degree in communications from the University of South Carolina. During his time at Newberry College, he secured an internship—arranged by his mother—in the Washington, D.C., office of U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond. While there, he also became the chair of the South Carolina branch of the College Republicans, a national organization for conservative college students.

Between 1973 and 1974, Atwater served as director of the College Republicans’ national office. He later founded a political consulting firm in Columbia, South Carolina, through which he directed numerous Republican campaigns for local offices.

In 1978, he led Senator Thurmond’s reelection campaign, crafting adverts that painted Thurmond’s Democratic opponent as unfaithful to South Carolina and more aligned with the liberal values of New York. Thurmond won the race decisively.

Atwater played a major role in Ronald Reagan’s 1980 South Carolina primary win by misleadingly portraying rival George H.W. Bush as a proponent of gun control. He then served as the Southern coordinator for the Reagan-Bush campaign.

Republican political operatives: Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, and Lee Atwater (Photo: Harry Naltchayan / The Washington Post / Getty

That same year, he helped a Republican candidate win South Carolina’s 2nd congressional district by drawing attention to the Democratic opponent’s history of electroshock therapy, which he crudely likened to being “hooked up to jumper cables.” Following Reagan’s election, Atwater became deputy political director in the White House and, in 1984, deputy manager for Reagan’s reelection campaign.

During the 1988 presidential race, Atwater was the campaign director for George H.W. Bush. He orchestrated a harsh, negative campaign that portrayed Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis as unpatriotic and lenient on crime. One infamous advertisement linked Dukakis to Willie Horton, a Black man who committed rape while on furlough from prison.

This advertisement drew widespread criticism for its racial overtones, but the aggressive strategy helped Bush win in a landslide, taking 40 states.

Atwater married Sally Dunbar in 1978, and they had three daughters: Sara Lee, Ashley Page, and Sally Theodosia. Years later, after Atwater's death, Sally Dunbar ran for South Carolina Superintendent of Education in 2014, receiving an endorsement from former President George H.W. Bush.

In March 1990, Atwater collapsed during a speech at a political fundraiser and was soon diagnosed with a fast-growing brain tumor. As his condition worsened, Life magazine published an article he co-wrote in February 1991, in which he reflected on his career and apologized for the harsh and racially charged rhetoric used during the 1988 campaign.

Outside of politics, Atwater was also a talented rhythm and blues guitarist. In 1991, he earned a Grammy nomination with blues legend B.B. King for Best Contemporary Blues Recording.

Atwater died on March 29, 1991, after battling brain cancer for a year. He was 40 years old.