Roger Ailes (1940–2017)

Roger Eugene Ailes was born in Warren, Ohio on May 15, 1940. He graduated from Ohio University in 1962. After college, he started out as a production assistant on The Mike Douglas Show. He was an executive producer of the show at the age of 28. He left the show in 1968 to devote himself to vis mere political stagecraft. He devised media strategies for several dozen political campaigns including the winning presidential candidacies of Richard M. Nixon in 1968, Ronald Reagan in 1984 and George Bush in 1988. His book, You Are the Message, was published in 1988. In 1993, Ailes took charge of the CNBC business news network and turned it into a financial success. He left in 1995 after a falling out with NBC heads over programming control. Fox News debuted on October 7, 1996 with Ailes as the chairman and chief executive. He became a dominant force in American conservative politics. He was forced out in 2016 due to a sexual harassment scandal. He died from complications of a subdural hematoma on May 18, 2017 at the age of 77. (Bowker Author Biography) vis mindre