Victor "Vic" Gold (September 25, 1928 – June 5, 2017) was an American
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
,
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
, and
Republican political consultant. Gold began his career as a lawyer and advisor to the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
in
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
before switching to the Republican Party. He worked as deputy press secretary for Senator
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...
during the
1964 presidential election and press secretary for
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
Spiro T. Agnew
Spiro Theodore Agnew (November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th vice president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second vice president to resign the position, the other being John ...
from 1970 to 1973. Gold left politics for a time to work as a writer and political commentator, returning in 1979 as a speechwriter to the presidential campaign of
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 ...
and was an advisor to Bush's 1988 and 1992 campaigns. Later in life, Gold split with the Republicans over issues including the
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
and formally left the party in 2016.
He was the author of several published works of non-fiction. He co-wrote George H. W. Bush's 1987 autobiography and co-wrote a novel in 1988 with
Lynne Cheney.
Early life and career
Victor Gold was born in
East St. Louis
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
to Jewish immigrants,
[Washington Post Obituary, June 7, 2017]
/ref> and reared in , Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, where he attended public school
Public school may refer to:
* State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government
* Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
s and graduated in 1945 from the former Alcee Fortier High School in Uptown New Orleans, since superseded by Lusher Charter School
Lusher Charter School is a K-12 charter school in uptown New Orleans, Louisiana, in the university area. Lusher is chartered by Advocates for Arts Based Education (AABE), which acts as the board for the entire school. Lusher School has three u ...
. At Fortier, Gold was a classmate of David C. Treen
David Conner Treen Sr. (July 16, 1928 – October 29, 2009) was an American politician and attorney at law (United States), attorney from Louisiana. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Treen served as United State ...
, the Louisiana Republican lawyer who became the first member of his party in a century to gain election to the United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
, in his case Louisiana's 3rd congressional district in 1972, and as governor of Louisiana
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
in 1979. Gold encouraged Republicans in both Alabama and Louisiana as they sought with slow success to overcome the long-term dominance of the Democrats in their states. He graduated from Tulane University
Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...
and then worked as a reporter-correspondent for ''The Birmingham News
''The Birmingham News'' is the principal newspaper for Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The paper is owned by Advance Publications and was a daily newspaper from its founding through September 30, 2012. After that day, the ''News'' and its two ...
'' in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, Alabama. He then received a law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law in Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...
. He served in the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
during the Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
.[Victor Gold profile, June 29, 2007]
'' Bill Moyers Journal'' website.
Political activities
In 1958, Gold joined the Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
firm of Selvage & Lee.[ His interest in Republican politics began after the ]Bay of Pigs invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly fina ...
, which made him disillusioned with the presidency
A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...
of Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
, for whom he had voted in 1960. He was attracted to Senator Goldwater's strong stance against communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
and Goldwater's libertarianism
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...
and contrarian tendencies.[ In 1964 he became deputy press secretary for Goldwater's unsuccessful ]presidential campaign
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
.[ In his chronicle of the 1964 election, ]Theodore H. White
Theodore Harold White (, May 6, 1915 – May 15, 1986) was an American political journalist and historian, known for his reporting from China during World War II and the ''Making of the President'' series.
White started his career reporting for ...
described Gold as having played a critical role in helping to overcome the press corps' hostility toward Goldwater. A 2007 article in ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' quoted White as saying that Gold "carried he journalists'bags, got them to the trains on time, out-shouted policemen on their behalf, bedded them down and woke them up, and before they knew it, the correspondents, about 95 percent anti-Goldwater by conviction, had been won to a friendship with the diminutive intellectual which spilled over onto his hero."[
In 1965, Gold opened his own political ]public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
firm in Washington, serving Republican clients including Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
, 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 ...
, and Shirley Temple Black.[ At the ]Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...
s of 1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Januar ...
and 1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
he worked with press secretary Lyn Nofziger
Franklyn Curran "Lyn" Nofziger (June 8, 1924 – March 27, 2006) was an American journalist, conservative Republican political consultant and author. He served as press secretary in Ronald Reagan's administration as Governor of California, ...
in support of the presidential candidacy of Ronald W. 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 ...
, who was at the time governor of California
The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard.
Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...
. During the Nixon administration he served as press secretary to Vice President Agnew.[ Timothy Crouse wrote in '' The Boys on the Bus'' that while the reporters covering Agnew were occasionally amused by Gold's politics, much like the Goldwater reporters had they respected him as a "stickler for perfection. He made sure that everyone had a room, that everyone knew where the phones were, and that the ]Western Union
The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company chang ...
man was never more than a few feet away". He worked with Agnew in the Congressional election campaign of 1970, when Agnew made appearances around the country criticizing incumbent
The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...
Democratic Senators with epithets such as "nattering nabobs of negativism."[
In 1980, Gold joined the staff of Republican presidential candidate George H. W. Bush as a speechwriter and senior advisor. He served on Bush's vice-presidential staff in 1981, was a speechwriter and advisor for the Reagan-Bush campaign in ]1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
, and was an advisor to Bush in his 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 presidential campaigns.[
In 1989, he was appointed to a delegation sent by President Bush to provide oversight of the first free ]election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
s in Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
after the ouster of Nicolae Ceauşescu.[ (Gold's father had immigrated to the U.S. from Kishinev, ]Bessarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...
, which in the early 20th century was considered part of Romania.) As a Bush appointee on the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting during the early 1990s, he criticized the CPB for its funding of Pacifica Radio
Pacifica may refer to:
Art
* ''Pacifica'' (statue), a 1938 statue by Ralph Stackpole for the Golden Gate International Exposition
Places
* Pacifica, California, a city in the United States
** Pacifica Pier, a fishing pier
* Pacifica, a conceiv ...
and sought to terminate CPB funding of Pacifica, citing objections to program content that was considered anti-semitic.
In November 2014, Gold participated in a Heritage Foundation panel discussion on the legacy of Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign. Moderator Lee Edwards introduced him as follows: "Vic Gold is the wizard of wordsmiths, the prince of press secretaries, the man with the shortest temper in Washington routinely called Old Faithful because he blows up at least every 91 minutes, trusted adviser to vice presidents and presidents, a graduate of the University of Alabama Law School who loves to quote Bear Bryant and hoist high the Crimson Tide, indefatigable deputy press secretary for Barry Goldwater in 1964."
Journalism and book-writing career
Gold was a long-time contributor to '' Washingtonian'' magazine, for which he held the position of national correspondent. He also wrote articles on politics and sports for numerous other U.S. publications, was a speaker for political audiences and on university campuses, and appeared on television shows.[
A personal friend of the Bush family, he co-wrote George H.W. Bush's 1987 ]autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
It is a form of biography.
Definition
The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
, ''Looking Forward'', published the year before Bush's successful campaign for the U.S. presidency.[
Together with Lynne Cheney, who was a colleague at ''Washingtonian'' magazine before she became chairman of the ]National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
), Gold co-authored a satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...
political novel
Political fiction employs narrative to comment on political events, systems and theories. Works of political fiction, such as political novels, often "directly criticize an existing society or present an alternative, even fantast ...
entitled ''The Body Politic'', published in 1988. The novel revolves around a Republican vice president who dies while making love
''Making Love'' is a 1982 American drama film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Kate Jackson, Harry Hamlin and Michael Ontkean. The film tells the story of a married man coming to terms with his homosexuality and the love triangle that devel ...
to a female television news
News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or televis ...
reporter.[Michael Abramowitz]
Rightist Indignation: GOP Insider Vic Gold Launches a Broadside at the State of the Party
''The Washington Post'', April 2, 2007
He also was the author of several nonfiction
Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...
books. ''I Don't Need You When I'm Right'' recounted his experience in Washington public relations. ''P-R As In President'' dealt with the influence of the news media and public relations in U.S. presidential political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...
s.[
In his 2007 book ''Invasion of the Party Snatchers: How the Neo-Cons and Holy Rollers Destroyed the GOP'', he criticized President ]George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
and Vice President Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...
. In the book he called the younger Bush "the weakest, most out of touch president in modern times." Gold wrote of Cheney, whom he called "Machiavellian" and said that "a vice president in control is bad enough. Worse yet is a vice president out of control." Under their leadership, he said that the Republican Party had abandoned its long-time principles of small government, prudent foreign policy, and keeping government out of people's private lives.[ He decried the influence of religious right leaders such as Pat Robertson and ]Jerry Falwell
Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelism, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, ...
, and said that the Republican Party had been transformed into "a party of pork-barrel
''Pork barrel'', or simply ''pork'', is a metaphor for the appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative's district.
The usage originated in American English, and i ...
ear-markers like Dennis Hastert
John Dennis Hastert (; born January 2, 1942) is an American former politician and convicted felon who represented from 1987 to 2007 and served as the 51st speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. The longest-se ...
, of political hatchet men like Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on August 3 ...
, and of Bible-thumping
The following is a list of religious slurs or religious insults in the English language that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about adherents or non-believers of a given religion or irreligion, or to refer to them in a derogat ...
hypocrites like Tom DeLay
Thomas Dale DeLay (; born April 8, 1947) is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1985 until 2006. He was Republic ...
."[ The criticisms were considered particularly noteworthy in view of Gold's close relationships with the people he criticized.][
In July 2010 he began a blog, The Wayward Lemming, where in March 2016 he publicly announced his withdrawal from the Republican Party.An Open Letter To Barry Goldwater on Why I Am Leaving the Republican Party]
/ref>
Personal life
He and his wife, Dale, lived in northern Virginia from 1959 to the time of his death in 2017. He had three children, Stephen and two daughters, Paige and Jamie.[Invasion of the Party Snatchers]
description and reviews, Amazon.com website, accessed May 3, 2009
Recognitions
In 1992 Gold received the Distinguished Achievement Award for Political Communication from the University of Alabama.[
]
Bibliography
* ''I Don't Need You When I'm Right: The Confessions of a Washington PR Man'', by Victor Gold. Morrow, 1975. ,
* ''P-R as in President'', by Victor Gold. Doubleday, 1977. ,
* ''Looking Forward'', by George Bush with Victor Gold. Doubleday, 1987.
*
The Body Politic
' by Victor Gold and Lynne V. Cheney. Macmillan, 1988. ,
* ''Liberwocky: What Liberals Say and What They Really Mean'', by Victor Gold. Thomas Nelson, 2004. ,
* ''Invasion of the Party Snatchers: How the Neo-Cons and Holy Rollers Destroyed the GOP'', by Victor Gold. Sourcebooks Trade, 2007. ,
References
External links
Victor Gold Knows How to Succeed in DC
by Victor Gold, self-interview for ''Washingtonian'' magazine, October 1, 2008
The Wayward Lemming
Victor Gold's blog
*
Victor Gold papers
at the University of Maryland libraries
The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. The university's library system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an of ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gold, Victor
1928 births
2017 deaths
American political consultants
American male journalists
American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
Jewish American journalists
The American Spectator people
Alcee Fortier High School alumni
Tulane University alumni
University of Alabama alumni
People from East St. Louis, Illinois
Writers from New Orleans
United States Army soldiers
Military personnel from Illinois
United States Army personnel of the Korean War
Journalists from Illinois
Journalists from Louisiana
Alabama Democrats
Alabama Republicans
New Right (United States)
Lawyers from New Orleans
20th-century American lawyers
21st-century American Jews