Dick
Morris, one of the nation's most
prominent political
consultants, is almost
universally credited with
piloting Bill Clinton to a
stunning comeback
re-election victory in 1996,
after the president lost
Congress to the Republicans
two years before. Called
“the most influential
private citizen in America”
by Time magazine, Morris
helped steer Clinton to
the center and away from the
liberal policies he had
pursued in his first two
years in office. Morris is
also credited with
advising Clinton to sign the
welfare reform bill of 1996
and getting him to back a
balanced budget, both key
centrist positions.
Morris began his relationship with Clinton in 1977, when he handled the
Arkansas attorney general's
successful campaign to become
the youngest governor
in the nation. Morris did
not work on Clinton's
defeat for re-election in
1980, but he did oversee
his comeback victory in
1982, as well as his
re-election victories in 1984, 1986
and 1990.
In addition to Clinton, Morris has handled the winning campaigns for
more than 30 senators and governors,
including Republican
Senator and former
Majority Leader Trent Lott and
former Govs. Bill Weld of
Massachusetts and Pete
Wilson of California.
In recent years, Morris has turned to foreign campaigns and served as
chief strategist for Mexico's
reformer Vicente Fox in his
upset victory in July
2000 over the PRI, after
that party had ruled the
nation for 71 years. He
also was the chief
strategist for the winning
campaigns of Fernando de la
Rua (Argentina), Jorge
Battle (Uruguay), Chen
Shui-bian (Taiwan) and, most
recently, for Viktor
Yushchenko, the Ukrainian
presidential candidate who was
poisoned during his
campaign. He also handled the
winning campaign for the
new president of Mexico,
Felipe Calderon.
In the United States,
Morris has become a familiar
figure as a commentator for
Fox News. He is well
known for hard-hitting,
nonpartisan, objective
commentary about the U.S.
political scene. He writes a
weekly column for the
New York Post, another for The
Hill newspaper in
Washington, D.C., and another
for Fox News.
Morris has written 10 books, including six New York Times best sellers.
His most recent, written with his
wife, Eileen McGann, is
"Outrage: How Illegal
Immigration, the U.N.,
Congressional Ripoffs, Student Loan Overcharges, Tobacco Companies, Trade Protection and Drug Companies Are Ripping Us Off ... and What to Do About It."
The other best-sellers are: "Behind the Oval Office" (his memoir about
the Clinton years), "Off With Their
Heads" (about the war
on terror),
"Rewriting History" (a biography of
Hillary Clinton he
wrote with his wife, McGann),
"Because He Could" (about
Bill Clinton, also with
McGann) and "Condi vs.
Hillary" (promoting
Condoleezza Rice for president,
written with Mcgann). His
other books are: "Power
Plays," "Vote.com," "The
New Prince" and "Bum Rap on American Cities," which he wrote in the '70s.
In November 1999, Morris founded a website in the United States called
Vote.com, where people may log on
to vote on the major
issues of the day. Their
opinions are then e-mailed to
their senators and
representatives and to other
significant decision-makers.
Over 3 million
people have used this site to
express their opinions.
As part of his work with Vote.com, Dick — along with McGann — founded
Legalvote.com, an online jury
focus group service. They
have conducted online
focus groups in over 100
cases, and their clients
include two of the top
insurance companies in the
United States, as well as many
of the major plaintiff
lawyers in the nation.
Morris lives with McGann, his wife of 30 years, in Florida.
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