Baxter, Leone, and Whitaker, Clem

The California-based husband and wife team of Clem Whitaker (1899–1961) and Leone Baxter [Page 71](1906–) opened the first professional political campaign management agency in the United States in 1933. Their clients included Earl Warren, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Richard Nixon, and the American Medical Association.

Whitaker and Baxter met while working on a campaign to promote California's Central Valley Water Project in 1933. Whitaker, a former journalist, was working as a lobbyist when he was hired by supporters of the water project to convince voters to approve the project in an upcoming referendum. Baxter, a 26-year-old widow, was manager of the Redding, California, Chamber of Commerce, which had a vested interest in passage of the project. Finding they worked well together, the two opened Campaigns, Incorporated, a public relations agency specializing in political campaigns for candidates and propositions, that same year. They also formed an advertising agency to handle the advertising used in campaigns run by Campaigns, Inc. Three years later, they established the California Feature Service, which sent out a weekly clipsheet of editorials and feature stories to the state's small daily and weekly newspapers. They formalized their partnership on a personal level by marrying in 1938.

Political campaigning and the hiring of publicists to manage media coverage were not new when Whitaker and Baxter came on the scene. What they brought to the table was the concept of experts managing the entire campaign. In addition to the usual publicity and advertising functions, Whitaker and Baxter provided overall strategy, campaign organization, and even financial supervision. They insisted on having complete control over the entire operation.

California served as a particularly ready market for the kind of services the two provided. Party identity in the state had been undercut by the crossfiling system, which allowed Republicans and Democrats to run in each other's primaries. In addition, progressive reforms in the first two decades of the twentieth century granted more power to California citizens through initiatives and referendums. The reforms were intended to break the stronghold of the old party machines, and they did. But by the 1930s, the number of initiatives and referendums in each election meant electors were constantly asked to make decisions about complex issues. Reaching individual voters via the mass media, therefore, became a political necessity in California.

Whitaker and Baxter were experts at using all of the communication media available to them. In a typical campaign, they would use thousands, if not tens of thousands, of leaflets, letters to opinion leaders, advertisements, film trailers, billboards, and posters to promote their client. They were among the first to recognize the value of radio and newsreels to reach voters.

The two enjoyed remarkable success. Between 1933 and 1959, for example, Whitaker and Baxter managed 80 campaigns and won all but six of those. Their success can be credited to the way they approached their business and to their understanding of the American electorate. According to Whitaker and Baxter, a successful campaign depended on having the best candidate or the best cause. In fact, they were known to refuse candidates whom they did not feel had a chance of winning. According to the pair, there were two kinds of winning candidates: those who were fighting for a cause, because Americans love a good fight, and those who could put on a show, because Americans like to be entertained. Most often, the pair combined the two, presenting a fight in an entertaining way. But they would never allow their clients to wage a defensive fight. Candidates always had to appear to be on the offensive, even if they were not.

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