92-412: William R. Horton (born August 12, 1951), commonly referred to as " Willie Horton ", is an American convicted murderer who was the subject of a major political controversy in the 1988 presidential election . Horton had committed violent crimes while on furlough from prison, where he was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for murder . Released for a weekend as the beneficiary of
184-455: A Massachusetts furlough program, he failed to return, and was later recaptured and convicted of committing assault , armed robbery , and rape in Maryland , where he remains incarcerated. During the 1988 presidential election , US Vice President and Republican nominee George H. W. Bush brought Horton up frequently during his campaign against Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis who
276-464: A populist and his numbers surged. Illinois Senator Paul M. Simon finished a surprising second, and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis finished third. In the New Hampshire primary , Dukakis came in first, Gephardt fell to second, and Simon came in third. In an effort to weaken Gephardt's candidacy, both Dukakis and Gore ran negative television ads against Gephardt. The ads convinced
368-462: A union . As part of a move to beef up The Eagle-Tribune 's presence in New Hampshire , the paper reassigned several staff members to a satellite bureau in Derry, New Hampshire – days after a union vote. Some of the workers said they were being punished for being on a union organizing committee; they said other members of the committee were switched to less desirable night beats. Spokesmen for CNHI said
460-561: A "card-carrying member of the ACLU " (a statement Dukakis made early in the primary campaign to appeal to liberal voters). Dukakis responded by saying that he was a "proud liberal" and that the phrase should not be a bad word in America. Bush pledged to continue Reagan's policies, but also vowed a "kinder and gentler nation" in an attempt to win over more moderate voters. The duties delegated to him during Reagan's second term (mostly because of
552-627: A 17-year-old gas station attendant, and then fatally stabbed Fournier 19 times after he had cooperated by handing over all of the money in the cash register. His body was stuffed in a trash can, so his feet were jammed up against his chin. Fournier died from blood loss. Horton was convicted of murder , sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, and incarcerated at the Northeastern Correctional Center in Massachusetts . On June 6, 1986, Horton
644-531: A 3-by-5-inch (8 cm × 13 cm) index card , telling him, "I'm giving you one thing: You can use both sides of the 3×5 card." Pinkerton discovered the furlough issue by watching the Felt Forum debate. On May 25, 1988, Republican consultants met in Paramus, New Jersey , holding a focus group of " Reagan Democrats " who had voted for Ronald Reagan in 1984. These focus groups convinced Atwater and
736-459: A candidate won over 400 electoral votes. Conversely, it began an ongoing streak of presidential elections that were decided by a single-digit popular vote margin. It was the first time since 1948 , the first time for the Republicans since 1928 , and the most recent presidential election in which a party won more than two consecutive presidential terms. Additionally, it was the last time that
828-630: A general question about the program. Republicans eagerly picked up the Horton issue after Dukakis won the Democratic nomination. In June 1988, Republican candidate George H.W. Bush seized on the Horton case, bringing it up repeatedly in campaign speeches. Bush's campaign manager Lee Atwater said: "By the time we're finished, they're going to wonder whether Willie Horton is Dukakis's running mate." Campaign staffer James Pinkerton returned with reams of material that Atwater told him to reduce to
920-654: A heartbeat away." Despite much press about the Kennedy comments, this did not reduce Bush's lead in the polls. Quayle had sought to use the debate to criticize Dukakis as too liberal rather than go point for point with the more seasoned Bentsen. Bentsen's attempts to defend Dukakis received little recognition, with greater attention on the Kennedy comparison. During the course of the campaign, Dukakis fired his deputy field director Donna Brazile after she spread unsubstantiated rumors that Bush had had an affair with his assistant Jennifer Fitzgerald. Bush and Fitzgerald's relationship
1012-400: A major public relations blunder, with many mocking Dukakis's appearance as he waved to the crowd from the tank. The Bush campaign used the footage in an attack ad, accompanied by a rolling text listing Dukakis's vetoes of military-related bills. The incident remains a commonly cited example of backfired public relations. One reason for Bush's choice of Senator Dan Quayle as his running mate
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#17327752723851104-540: A mixture of White nationalist and separatist policies with more traditionally conservative positions, such as opposition to most immigration from Latin America and to affirmative action . [1] During the election, the Bush campaign sought to portray Dukakis as an unreasonable " Massachusetts liberal ." Dukakis was attacked for such positions as opposing mandatory recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, and being
1196-492: A person talking about a loved one's rape and murder. Tom Brokaw of NBC reported on his October 14 newscast, "The consensus tonight is that Vice President George Bush won last night's debate and made it all the harder for Governor Michael Dukakis to catch and pass him in the 25 days remaining. In all of the Friday morning quarterbacking, there was common agreement that Dukakis failed to seize the debate and make it his night." In
1288-561: A pregnant mother of two after escaping from a federal correctional halfway house . In 1990, the Ohio Democratic Party and a group called "Black Elected Democrats of Ohio" filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that NSPAC had coordinated or cooperated with the Bush campaign in airing the ad, which would make it an illegal in-kind campaign contribution. The investigation by
1380-573: A separate investigation, the Miami Herald had received an anonymous tip from a friend of Donna Rice that Rice was involved with Hart. After his affair emerged, the Herald reporters found Hart's quote in a pre-print of The New York Times magazine. After the Herald' s findings were publicized, many other media outlets picked up the story and Hart's ratings in the polls plummeted. On May 8, 1987,
1472-472: A separate plagiarism charge, leveled for plagiarizing an article during his law school. This ultimately led him to drop out of the race. Dukakis later revealed that his campaign had leaked the tape, and two members of his staff resigned. (Biden later ran twice more for the Democratic nomination, unsuccessfully in 2008 and successfully in 2020 . He was elected the 47th vice president in 2008 , serving two terms under President Barack Obama . In 2021 , he became
1564-752: A spokesman. In September 2008, the company laid off 52 employees in a cost-cutting move. With its acquisition of the Eagle-Tribune, CNHI also assumed a 49 percent stake in Costa-Eagle Radio Ventures Ltd. and its three radio stations, WCCM, WCEC (formerly WHAV ) and WNNW . Continuing its deemphasis of its home town, the company moved WCCM, a long-time Lawrence radio station to a smaller signal in Haverhill and then to its smallest signal in Salem, New Hampshire . The former owners of
1656-440: A statement against the U.S. Electoral College . Fulani's running mate varied from state to state. Among the six vice presidential candidates were Joyce Dattner, Harold Moore, and Wynonia Burke. Maine allowed its electoral votes to be split between candidates. Two electoral votes were awarded to the winner of the statewide race and one electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district. Bush won all four votes. This
1748-418: A strong showing in the 1984 presidential primaries and, after Mondale's defeat, had positioned himself as the moderate centrist many Democrats felt their party would need to win. But questions and rumors about extramarital affairs and past debts dogged Hart's campaign. Hart had told New York Times reporters who questioned him about these rumors that, if they followed him around, they would "be bored". In
1840-525: A week after the Rice story broke, Hart dropped out of the race. His campaign chair, Representative Patricia Schroeder , tested the waters for about four months after Hart's withdrawal, but decided in September 1987 that she would not run. In December 1987, Hart surprised many pundits by resuming his campaign, but the allegations of adultery had delivered a fatal blow to his candidacy, and he did poorly in
1932-475: Is also the last Republican candidate to win rural Vermont , which was historically Republican but by this time shifting away from the party, as well as the last Republican candidate to win Maine in its entirety, though Donald Trump won one electoral vote from the state in 2016, 2020, and 2024. Bush lost New York state by just over 4%. Bush is the first Republican to win the presidency without Iowa. In contrast to
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#17327752723852024-406: Is not 'Willie.' It's part of the myth of the case. The name irks me. It was created to play on racial stereotypes: big, ugly, dumb, violent, black — 'Willie.' I resent that. They created a fictional character — who seemed believable but did not exist. They stripped me of my identity, distorted the facts, and robbed me of my constitutional rights. On October 5, 1988, a day after the "Weekend Passes" ad
2116-548: Is that both are full of rich, fancy, stuck-up and possibly dangerous intellectuals who never sit down to supper in their undershirt no matter how hot the weather gets." Dukakis was badly damaged by the Republicans' campaign commercials, including "Boston Harbor", which attacked his failure to clean up environmental pollution in the harbor , and especially by two commercials that were accused of being racially charged, " Revolving Door " and "Weekend Passes" (also known as "Willie Horton") , that portrayed him as soft on crime. Dukakis
2208-540: Is the largest-circulation daily newspaper owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., and the lead property in a regional chain of four dailies and several weekly newspapers in Essex County and southern New Hampshire. Although The Eagle-Tribune is historically tied to Lawrence, Massachusetts , the largest city in its circulation area, it has been based since the 1960s in suburban North Andover, Massachusetts , and has not included "Lawrence" in its nameplate since
2300-465: Is the last election where no state was decided by a margin under 1%. In Illinois, Bush lost a number of downstate counties that previously went for Reagan, and he lost Iowa by a wide margin, even losing in traditionally Republican areas. Bush also performed weaker in Missouri's northern counties, narrowly winning that state. In three typically solid Republican states, Kansas, South Dakota, and Montana,
2392-606: The Lawrence Eagle-Tribune had run 175 stories about the furlough program and won a Pulitzer Prize . The first person to mention the Massachusetts furlough program in the 1988 presidential campaign was Democratic Senator Al Gore . During a debate before the New York primary, Gore took issue with the furlough program. However, he did not mention the Horton incident or even his name, instead asking
2484-837: The Andover Townsman , circulating 6,900 copies per week in Andover ; the Haverhill Gazette , 6,400 in Haverhill ; and Town Crossings , 14,700 in Boxford and North Andover . Bordering The Eagle-Tribune 's circulation area in southern New Hampshire , the company publishes the Carriage Towne News in Exeter and nine other towns; and the weekly Derry News in Derry and five other towns. In 2002,
2576-633: The District of Columbia , Georgia , Louisiana , Mississippi , Puerto Rico and Virginia ) and four caucuses ( Delaware , Michigan , South Carolina and Vermont ). He also scored March victories in Alaska 's caucuses and Texas's local conventions, despite losing the Texas primary. Briefly, after he won 55% of the vote in the Michigan Democratic caucus, he had more pledged delegates than all
2668-611: The Hockey Hall of Fame of former NHLPA president Alan Eagleson . The newspaper's sports editor, Russ Conway, who led the investigation, was a nominated finalist for the 1992 Pulitzer Prize in Beat Reporting for his work and earned the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award in 1999. The newspaper’s staff was also a nominated finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Reporting in 1996, for coverage of
2760-618: The Malden Mills fire and its impact on the community. The paper won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for its coverage of the drowning deaths of four Lawrence boys in the Merrimack River . In the late 1980s through the 1990s, The Eagle-Tribune was consistently named New England Newspaper of the Year and earned a reputation for quality journalism. Before its 2005 sale to CNHI, The Eagle-Tribune and its predecessors had been owned by
2852-667: The United Auto Workers , which had endorsed Gephardt, to withdraw their endorsement; this crippled Gephardt, as he relied heavily on the support of labor unions. In the Super Tuesday races, Dukakis won six primaries, to Gore's five, Jesse Jackson five and Gephardt one, with Gore and Jackson splitting the Southern states. The next week, Simon won Illinois with Jackson finishing second. Jackson captured 6.9 million votes and won 11 contests: seven primaries ( Alabama ,
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2944-604: The United States on November 8, 1988. The Republican Party 's ticket of incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush and Indiana senator Dan Quayle defeated the Democratic ticket of Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis and Texas senator Lloyd Bentsen . The election was the third consecutive and most recent landslide victory for the Republican Party. It remains the most recent election in which
3036-585: The collar counties of Chicago (winning over 60% in DuPage and Lake counties), Philadelphia (sweeping the Main Line counties), Baltimore, Los Angeles (winning over 60% in the Republican bastions of Orange and San Diego counties) and New York. As of 2020, Bush is the last Republican to win the heavily suburban states of California , Connecticut , Delaware , Illinois , Maryland , and New Jersey . He
3128-546: The "Revolving Door" ad racist , a charge which was denied by Bush and campaign staff. Throughout most of the campaign, the Horton ad was seen as focusing on criminal justice issues, with neither the candidates nor journalists mentioning a racial component. However, near the end of the presidential campaign—on October 21, 1988—Democratic primary runner-up Jesse Jackson accused the ad's creators of playing upon presumed fears of some voters, in particular those harboring stereotyped fears of blacks as criminals. From that point on, race
3220-483: The 45th Vice President of the United States under Bill Clinton , then the Democratic presidential nominee in 2000 , losing to George W. Bush , George H.W.'s son. After Hart withdrew from the race, no clear frontrunner emerged before the primaries and caucuses began. The Iowa caucus was won by Dick Gephardt , who had been sagging heavily in the polls until, three weeks before the vote, he began campaigning as
3312-473: The 46th president, over 33 years after his first campaign for the office ended.) Al Gore , a senator from Tennessee , also chose to run for the nomination. Turning 40 in 1988, he would have been the youngest man to contest the presidency on a major party ticket since William Jennings Bryan in 1896, and the youngest president ever if elected, younger than John F. Kennedy at election age and Theodore Roosevelt at age of assumption of office. He eventually became
3404-627: The Democrats had nominated Walter Mondale , a traditional New Deal -type liberal, who advocated for those constituencies that Franklin Roosevelt forged into a majority coalition, as their candidate. When Mondale was defeated in a landslide, party leaders became eager to find a new approach to get away from the 1980 and 1984 debacles. After Bush's image was affected by his involvement on the Iran-Contra scandal much more than Reagan's, and after
3496-484: The Democrats won back control of the U.S. Senate in the 1986 congressional elections following an economic downturn, the party's leaders felt optimistic about having a closer race with the GOP in 1988, although probabilities of winning the presidency were still marginal given the climate of prosperity. One goal of the party was to find a new, fresh candidate who could move beyond the traditional New Deal-Great Society ideas of
3588-561: The FEC, including deposition of officials from both organizations, revealed indirect connections between McCarthy and the Bush campaign (such as his having previously worked for Ailes) but found no direct evidence of wrongdoing. The investigation reached an impasse and was eventually closed with no finding of any violation of campaign finance laws. Robin Toner of The New York Times wrote in 1990 that Republicans and Democrats, while disagreeing on
3680-723: The July issue of Reader's Digest . Atwater joined them without mentioning who he was. Later that night, a focus group in Alabama had turned completely against Dukakis when presented the information about Horton's furlough. Atwater used this occurrence to argue the necessity of pounding Dukakis about the furlough issue. Beginning on September 21, 1988, the Americans for Bush arm of the National Security Political Action Committee (NSPAC), under
3772-628: The November 8 election, Bush won a majority of the popular vote and the Electoral College. Neither his popular vote percentage (53.4%), his total electoral votes (426), nor his number of states won (40) have been surpassed in any subsequent presidential election. This is the most recent election whereby both major party candidates shared the same birth state, which in this case, was Massachusetts. Like Reagan in 1980 and 1984, Bush performed very strongly among suburban voters, in areas such as
Willie Horton - Misplaced Pages Continue
3864-545: The President's advanced age, Reagan turning 78 just after he left office) gave him an unusually high level of experience for a vice president. A graduate of Yale University , Bush derided Dukakis for having "foreign-policy views born in Harvard Yard 's boutique." New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd asked, "Wasn't this a case of the pot calling the kettle elite?" Bush said that, unlike Harvard, Yale's reputation
3956-443: The Republican primaries as the frontrunner, defeating Kansas Senator Bob Dole and televangelist Pat Robertson . He selected Indiana Senator Dan Quayle as his running mate. Dukakis won the Democratic primaries after Democratic leaders Gary Hart and Ted Kennedy withdrew or declined to run. He selected Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen as his running mate. It was the first election since 1968 to lack an incumbent president on
4048-413: The Republicans won the popular vote in consecutive elections, and the last that a Republican who had not already served as President won the popular vote. This remains the last presidential election in which an incumbent vice president was elected president, which had last occurred in 1836 . President Ronald Reagan was ineligible to seek a third term because of the 22nd Amendment . Instead, Bush entered
4140-585: The Rogers family for more than 100 years, dating back to the purchase of the Lawrence Daily Eagle (founded as a morning paper in 1868) and Evening Tribune (founded in Lawrence in 1890) by Eagle reporter Alexander H. Rogers in 1898. Rogers passed the role of publisher to his son, Irving E. Rogers Sr., in 1942; he passed it along to his son, Irving Jr., 40 years later. After his death in 1998,
4232-519: The Rogers family, which had owned The Eagle-Tribune for generations, sold the newspaper and its subsidiaries—including three other Massachusetts dailies and several weeklies—to Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. of Alabama, for an undisclosed amount of money. Rogers initially stayed on as publisher, but was replaced as publisher later that year. The paper went through a minor labor dispute in January 2006, after several staff members attempted to start
4324-563: The Senate and twice successfully for the House of Representatives in the 1960s, had not done enough to establish himself as a candidate in his own right. Others who wished to further continue the shift towards social conservatism that had begun during Reagan's presidency supported Robertson. Bush unexpectedly came in third in the Iowa caucus , which he had won in 1980, behind Dole and Robertson. Dole
4416-571: The auspices of Floyd Brown , began running a campaign ad entitled "Weekend Passes," using the Horton case to attack Dukakis. The ad was produced by media consultant Larry McCarthy, who had previously worked for Roger Ailes . After clearing the ad with television stations , McCarthy added a mug shot of Horton. The ad was run as an independent expenditure , separate from the Bush campaign, which claimed not to have had any role in its production. The ad referred to Horton as "Willie", although he later said he had always gone by William: The fact is, my name
4508-416: The ballot. President Reagan was also the first incumbent since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1960 to be barred from seeking reelection. Bush ran an aggressive campaign that concentrated mainly on the strong economy, reduction in crime, and continuance with Reagan's policies. He attacked Dukakis as an elitist " Massachusetts liberal ", to which Dukakis ineffectively responded. Despite Dukakis initially leading in
4600-490: The creation of a regional news organization; they also laid off some 45 staffers at the Essex County papers, including some editors of the Newburyport and Salem papers. Since then, the four dailies and the weeklies have made several cost-saving consolidations, cutting down to one printing facility and combining advertising staffs. In 2005, the company employed 700 and reached 341,000 readers in 55 communities, according to
4692-433: The debate by asking Dukakis whether he would support the death penalty if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered; Dukakis said "no" and discussed the statistical ineffectiveness of capital punishment. Some commentators thought the question itself was unfair, in that it injected an overly emotional element into the discussion of a policy issue, but many observers felt Dukakis's answer lacked the normal emotions one would expect of
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#17327752723854784-654: The federal government's involvement with education, and criticized Reagan's "bailout" of the Soviet Union . Paul was a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives , first elected as a Republican from Texas in an April 1976 special election. He was known as an opponent of the war on drugs . Lenora Fulani ran for the New Alliance Party , and focused on issues concerning unemployment, healthcare, and homelessness. The party had full ballot access , meaning Fulani and her running mate, Joyce Dattner, were
4876-601: The first pair of women to receive ballot access in all 50 states. Fulani was the first African American to do so. Willa Kenoyer and Ron Ehrenreich ran for the Socialist Party , advocating a decentralist government approach with policies determined by the needs of the workers. David E. Duke stood for the Populist Party . A former leader of the Louisiana Ku Klux Klan , he advocated
4968-542: The fourth and last generation of Rogers owners took over, in the person of Irving E. "Chip" Rogers III. During the first Irving Rogers' tenure, the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune was founded in 1959 by finally merging the company's two newspapers into one afternoon paper. Irving Rogers Sr. was also the publisher who moved the company to new headquarters in North Andover. During Rogers family ownership,
5060-449: The last time that a Republican has carried California , Connecticut , Delaware , Illinois , Maine , Maryland , New Jersey , and Vermont . Arkansas , Kentucky , Louisiana , Missouri , Nevada , New Hampshire , Ohio , and Tennessee would not vote Republican again until 2000 , while New Mexico would not vote Republican again until 2004 . Michigan and Pennsylvania would not vote Republican again until 2016 . This remains
5152-445: The late 1980s. Despite being a small-town publication, The Eagle-Tribune has run some extremely notable stories publicizing scandals inside and outside politics. During the late 1980s, The Eagle-Tribune ran nearly 200 articles on Michael Dukakis and the Massachusetts prison furlough program, with a special focus on Willie Horton . The series was widely credited for ending furlough for first-degree murderers in Massachusetts, and
5244-402: The latest presidential election in which the Democrats did not win at least 200 electoral votes. As of 2024, this is also the last presidential election in which the Republican nominee won the female vote, as well as the last presidential election in which Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin did not vote for the same candidate. While Bush had long been seen as Reagan's natural successor, there
5336-506: The law specifically did not exclude them. The Massachusetts legislature quickly passed a bill prohibiting furloughs for such inmates. However, in 1976, Dukakis vetoed this bill, arguing it would "cut the heart out of efforts at inmate rehabilitation." The program remained in effect through the intervening term of Governor Edward J. King , and was abolished during Dukakis's final term of office on April 28, 1988, after Dukakis had decided to run for president. This abolition occurred only after
5428-517: The media to dub the ticket the "Boston-Austin" axis, and to compare it to the pairing of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960 presidential campaign. Like Dukakis and Bentsen, Kennedy and Johnson were from Massachusetts and Texas respectively. Ron Paul and Andre Marrou formed the ticket for the Libertarian Party . Their campaign called for the adoption of a global policy on military nonintervention , advocated an end to
5520-608: The media, including Idaho Republican Senator Steve Symms 's claim that Dukakis's wife Kitty had burned an American flag to protest the Vietnam War , as well as the claim that Dukakis himself had been treated for mental illness. Dukakis attempted to quell criticism that he was ignorant on military matters by staging a photo op in which he rode in an M1 Abrams tank outside a General Dynamics plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan . The move ended up being regarded as
5612-490: The merits of the ad itself, agreed it was "devastating to Dukakis." Dukakis said in 2012 that while he initially tried to ignore the ad during the 1988 campaign, two months later he "realized that I was getting killed with this stuff." In December 2018, after Bush's death, the ad was again highlighted by political commentators. Ann Coulter described his Willie Horton ad as "the greatest campaign commercial in political history," claiming that it "clearly and forcefully highlighted
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#17327752723855704-454: The moves were unrelated to the union vote, which failed. March 2006 brought the daily paper's conversion from an afternoon to a morning newspaper. As part of The Eagle-Tribune 's push into the suburbs—a move which has left some bitterness in the city – the paper has acquired several weekly newspapers within and bordering its coverage area. Weeklies published within the paper's circulation area by Eagle-Tribune Publishing Company include
5796-518: The other Republican consultants that they should ' go negative ' against Dukakis. Further information regarding the furlough came from aide Andrew Card , a Massachusetts native whom President George W. Bush later named as his Chief of Staff . Over the Fourth of July weekend in 1988, Atwater attended a motorcyclists' convention in Luray, Virginia . Two couples talked about the Horton story featured in
5888-465: The other candidates to match, and the nomination was his. The Republican Party convention was held in New Orleans, Louisiana . Bush was nominated unanimously and selected U.S. Senator Dan Quayle from Indiana as his running mate. In his acceptance speech, Bush made the pledge " Read my lips: No new taxes ," which contributed to his loss in the 1992 election . In the 1984 presidential election
5980-830: The other candidates. Jackson's campaign suffered a significant setback less than two weeks later when he was defeated in the Wisconsin primary by Dukakis. Dukakis's win in New York and then in Pennsylvania effectively ended Jackson's hopes for the nomination. The Democratic Party Convention was held in Atlanta , Georgia from July 18–21. Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton placed Dukakis's name in nomination, and delivered his speech, scheduled to be 15 minutes long, but lasting so long that some delegates began booing to get him to finish; he received great cheering when he said, "In closing...". Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards , who
6072-402: The paper dropped "Lawrence" from its nameplate. Former Lawrence Mayor John J. Buckley, in 1990, lauded The Eagle-Tribune for helping the city bounce back from the closure of several mills in the 1950s. He said the paper championed economic redevelopment in its editorials and news articles, and persuaded companies such as Avco , Honeywell and Raytheon to open plants in Lawrence. In 2005,
6164-574: The paper made its largest acquisition, scooping up some of its chief daily competitors for US$ 64 million. The purchase of the Essex County Newspapers chain from Ottaway Community Newspapers , a division of Dow Jones & Company , brought three neighboring afternoon dailies into the fold: the Gloucester Daily Times , The Daily News of Newburyport and The Salem Evening News . Eagle-Tribune executives touted
6256-431: The past and offer a new image of the Democrats to the public. To this end party leaders tried to recruit New York Governor Mario Cuomo to be a candidate. Cuomo had impressed many Democrats with his keynote speech at the 1984 Democratic Convention, and they believed he would be a strong candidate. After Cuomo chose not to run, the Democratic frontrunner for most of 1987 was former Colorado Senator Gary Hart . He had made
6348-477: The polls, Bush pulled ahead after the Republican National Convention and extended his lead after two strong debate performances. Bush won a decisive victory over Dukakis, winning the Electoral College and the popular vote by sizable margins. Bush became the first sitting vice president to be elected president since Martin Van Buren in 1836 , and the first vice president to be elected president since Richard Nixon (as former vice president) in 1968 . This remains
6440-417: The primaries before dropping out again. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts had been considered a potential candidate, but he ruled himself out of the race in the fall of 1985. Two other politicians mentioned as possible candidates, both from Arkansas, did not join the race: Senator Dale Bumpers and Governor and future President Bill Clinton . Joe Biden 's campaign also ended in controversy after he
6532-438: The same department after a pursuit. On October 20, Horton was sentenced in Maryland to two consecutive life terms plus 85 years. The sentencing judge, Vincent J. Femia, refused to return Horton to Massachusetts, saying, "I'm not prepared to take the chance that Mr. Horton might again be furloughed or otherwise released. This man should never draw a breath of free air again." Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis
6624-911: The states of the Pacific Northwest but narrowly held California in the Republican column for the sixth straight time. As of 2024, this was the last election in which the Republican candidate won the support of a majority or plurality of women voters. Source (popular vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996" . National Archives and Records Administration . Retrieved August 7, 2005 . , Leip, David. "1988 Presidential Election Results" . Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections . Retrieved August 7, 2005 . Source (electoral vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996" . National Archives and Records Administration . Retrieved August 7, 2005 . West Virginia faithless elector Margarette Leach voted for Bentsen as president and Dukakis as vice president in order to make
6716-502: The suburbs, a solidly Republican constituency, Bush received a significantly lower level of support than Reagan in rural regions. Farm states had fared poorly during the Reagan administration, and Dukakis was the beneficiary. This is the last election where Michigan and Pennsylvania voted Republican until 2016, New Mexico until 2004, and Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Tennessee until 2000. This
6808-572: The two presidential candidates' diametrically opposed views" on crime. Many other commentators have remarked that the Bush presidency, back to the campaign's Horton advertisement, stoked racial animosity, and suggested the ad itself was race-baiting , as Horton's race is still a key part of public awareness of the ad. Later, Horton apologized to Dukakis for “the role I played in him losing the election.” 1988 United States presidential election Ronald Reagan Republican George H. W. Bush Republican Presidential elections were held in
6900-557: The vice presidential debate, Quayle attempted to dispel such allegations by comparing his experience with that of pre-1960 John F. Kennedy , who had also been a young politician when running for the presidency (Kennedy had served 13 years in Congress to Quayle's 12). Quayle said, "I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency." "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy," Dukakis's running mate, Lloyd Bentsen, responded. "Jack Kennedy
6992-469: The vote was much closer than usual. The rural state of West Virginia, though not an agricultural economy, narrowly flipped back into the Democratic column. As of 2024, this is the only election since 1916 where Blaine County, Montana did not vote for the winning candidate. Bush performed strongest in the South and West. Despite Bentsen's presence on the Democratic ticket, Bush won Texas by 12 points. He lost
7084-484: Was "so diffuse, there isn't a symbol, I don't think, in the Yale situation, any symbolism in it... Harvard boutique to me has the connotation of liberalism and elitism," and said he intended Harvard to represent "a philosophical enclave", not a statement about class. Columnist Russell Baker wrote, "Voters inclined to loathe and fear elite Ivy League schools rarely make fine distinctions between Yale and Harvard. All they know
7176-488: Was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy ." Quayle responded, "That was really uncalled for, Senator," to which Bentsen said, "You are the one that was making the comparison, Senator, and I'm one who knew him well. And frankly I think you are so far apart in the objectives you choose for your country that I did not think the comparison was well-taken." Democrats replayed Quayle's reaction to Bentsen's comment in subsequent ads as an announcer intoned, "Quayle: just
7268-515: Was a strong supporter of Massachusetts's prison furlough program, which had begun before he was governor. As governor, Dukakis vetoed a 1976 plan to bar inmates convicted of first-degree murder from the furlough program. In 1986, the program had resulted in the release of convicted murderer Willie Horton, an African American man who committed a rape and assault in Maryland while out on furlough. A number of false rumors about Dukakis were reported in
7360-453: Was a substantial part of the media coverage of the ad itself and the campaign. Some candidates continued to deny it, and most commentators at the time felt it was not. Academics have noted that the alleged racial overtone of the ad was a key aspect of the way the ad was remembered and later studied. On October 22, in an attempt to counter-attack, Dukakis's campaign ran an ad about a convicted heroin dealer named Angel Medrano who raped and killed
7452-564: Was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock , then-leader of the British Labour Party . The Dukakis campaign secretly released a video in which Biden was filmed repeating a Kinnock stump speech with only minor modifications. Biden later called his failure to attribute the quotes an oversight, and in related proceedings the Delaware Supreme Court 's Board on Professional Responsibility cleared him of
7544-457: Was also leading in the polls of the New Hampshire primary , and the Bush camp responded by running television commercials portraying Dole as a tax raiser, while Governor John H. Sununu campaigned for Bush. Dole did nothing to counter these ads and Bush won, thereby gaining crucial momentum, which he called "Big Mo". Once the multiple-state primaries such as Super Tuesday began, Bush's organizational strength and fundraising lead were impossible for
7636-564: Was awarded a Pulitzer Prize . During the 1990s, The Eagle Tribune ran a series of articles titled Cracking the Ice: Intrigue and Conflict in the World of Big-Time Hockey , interviewing nearly 400 current and former players and officials, uncovering corruption inside the NHL , its players' association , and Hockey Canada , which would lead to the conviction, disbarment, and resignation from
7728-452: Was briefly rehashed in the 1992 campaign. There were two presidential debates and one vice-presidential debate. Voters were split as to who won the first presidential debate. Bush improved in the second debate. Before the second debate, Dukakis had been suffering from the flu and spent much of the day in bed. His performance was generally seen as poor and played to his reputation of being intellectually cold. Reporter Bernard Shaw opened
7820-530: Was elected the state governor two years later, gave a speech attacking George Bush, including the line "Poor George, he can't help it, he was born with a silver foot in his mouth." With only Jackson remaining as an active candidate to oppose Dukakis, the tally for president was: Jackson's supporters said that since their candidate had finished in second place, he was entitled to the vice presidential nomination. Dukakis disagreed, and instead selected Senator Lloyd Bentsen from Texas. Bentsen's selection led many in
7912-526: Was released as part of a weekend furlough program but did not return. On April 3, 1987, in Oxon Hill, Maryland , Horton twice raped a woman after pistol-whipping, stabbing, binding, and gagging her fiancé. He then stole the car belonging to the man he had assaulted. He was later shot by Corporal Paul J. Lopez of the Prince George's County Police Department and captured by Corporal Yusuf A. Muhammad of
8004-462: Was still a degree of opposition within the party to his candidacy. Historical precedent was not seen to favor Bush's chances, as no incumbent vice president had been elected as president since Martin Van Buren some 152 years prior. Dole attracted support among those who were concerned that Bush, whose electoral experience outside of his campaigns with Reagan was limited to running unsuccessfully for
8096-568: Was taken off the airwaves and the day of the Bentsen – Quayle debate, the Bush campaign ran its ad, " Revolving Door ," which also attacked Dukakis over the weekend furlough program. While the advertisement did not mention Horton or feature his photograph, it depicted a variety of men walking in and out of prison through a revolving door. The controversy escalated when vice presidential candidate Lloyd Bentsen and former Democratic presidential candidate and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson called
8188-548: Was the governor of Massachusetts at the time of Horton's release. While he did not start the furlough program, he had supported it as a method of criminal rehabilitation . The state inmate furlough program, originally signed into law by Republican governor Francis Sargent in 1972, excluded convicted first-degree murderers. However, in 1973, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that this right extended to first-degree murderers because
8280-590: Was the governor of Massachusetts. He was commonly referred to as "Willie" Horton, despite never having gone by the nickname. The renaming of the African-American Horton has been speculated to be the product of racist stereotyping . A prominent PAC ad for Bush about Horton has been widely characterized as a textbook example of dog-whistle politics . On October 26, 1974, in Lawrence, Massachusetts , Horton and two accomplices robbed Joseph Fournier,
8372-500: Was the last election in which Nebraska awarded its electors in a winner-take-all format before switching to the congressional district method. States with margin of victory less than 5% (195 electoral votes) The Eagle-Tribune The Eagle-Tribune (and Sunday Eagle-Tribune ) is a seven-day morning daily newspaper covering the Merrimack Valley and Essex County, Massachusetts , and southern New Hampshire . It
8464-425: Was to appeal to younger Americans identified with the " Reagan Revolution ." Quayle's looks were praised by Senator John McCain : "I can't believe a guy that handsome wouldn't have some impact." But Quayle was not a seasoned politician, and made a number of embarrassing statements. The Dukakis team attacked Quayle's credentials, saying he was "dangerously inexperienced to be first-in-line to the presidency." During
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