page_title: Roger Ailes
section_title: Political consulting
hierarchical_section_title: Roger Ailes / Career / Political consulting
caption_attribution_description: English: ●Frame(s): WHPO-0514-, President Nixon seated in the Oval office with REA Productions President Roger Ailes. 3/14/1969, Washington, D.C., White House, Oval Office. President Nixon, Roger E. Ailes
context_page_description: Roger Eugene Ailes was an American television executive and media consultant. He was the chairman and CEO of Fox News, Fox Television Stations and 20th Television, from which he resigned in July of 2016 after allegations of sexual assault were made by 23 women. Ailes was a media consultant for Republican presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, and for Rudy Giuliani's first mayoral campaign. In 2016, he became an adviser to the Donald Trump campaign, where he assisted with debate preparation.
  Ailes suffered from hemophilia, a medical condition in which the body is impaired in its ability to produce blood clots. He died on May 18, 2017 at the age of 77 after suffering a subdural hematoma that was aggravated by his hemophilia.
context_section_description: In 1984, Ailes worked on the campaign to reelect Ronald Reagan. In 1987 and 1988, Ailes was credited (along with Lee Atwater) with guiding George H. W. Bush to victory in the Republican primaries and the victory over Michael Dukakis.
  
  Ailes was credited with the "Orchestra Pit Theory" regarding sensationalist political coverage in the news media, which originated with his quip:
  If you have two guys on a stage and one guy says, "I have a solution to the Middle East problem," and the other guy falls in the orchestra pit, who do you think is going to be on the evening news?
  Ailes' last campaign was the unsuccessful effort of Richard Thornburgh for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania in November 1991. He announced his withdrawal from political consulting in 1991.
  Days after the 9/11 attacks, Ailes advised President George W. Bush that the American public would be patient as long as they were convinced that Bush was using the harshest measures possible. The correspondence was revealed in Bob Woodward's book Bush at War. Criticized for giving political advice, Ailes lashed out against Woodward, saying "Woodward got it all screwed up, as usual", and "The reason he's not as rich as Tom Clancy is that while he and Clancy both make stuff up, Clancy does his research first". Ailes refused to release a copy of the memo he sent to Bush.
caption: Ailes with President Richard Nixon in 1969
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