William B. Lacy is a former political operative and business executive who was the director of the

Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, often shortened to the Dole Institute, is a nonpartisan political institution located at the University of Kansas and founded by the former U.S. Senator from Kansas and 1996 Republican presidential cand ...

, and was the campaign manager for

Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Tennessee f ...

's 2008 presidential campaign. He was also President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

's Political Director. He resides in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

Education

Lacy graduated from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

with a bachelor's degree in political science and history.

Professional career

From 1975 to 1982, Lacy served in various positions within the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...

. In 1982, Lacy left the RNC to become the White House deputy director of political affairs. In 1983, Lacy left the White House to become a senior account executive at Decision Making Information, a polling firm. In 1984, Lacy returned to the Republican National Committee to become the group's political director. From 1985 to 1986, Lacy returned to President

's administration to serve as White House director of political affairs. Lacy worked as a strategist for Kansas Senator

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

's 1988 presidential primary campaign, Dole's 1992 senatorial campaign and his

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

presidential campaign. Lacy also served as a strategist in President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

and

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

presidential campaigns. In 1994, Lacy worked as a strategist on

's senatorial campaign. Following the 1996 presidential election, Lacy left politics and worked for seven years as vice-chairman and CEO of the Sophie Mae Candy Co., a business operated by his family. The company was sold in 2004. On August 8, 2007, it was announced that Lacy would manage Thompson's 2008 campaign for the presidency.https://web.archive.org/web/20071008191741/http://politicalwire.com/archives/2007/08/08/thompson_picks_campaign_manager.html From 2004 until 2021, Lacy served as the director of the

, located at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

References

External links

Political Wire: Thompson Picks Campaign Manager
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lacy, Bill American political consultants Living people University of Kansas staff Vanderbilt University alumni 1954 births