Leone Baxter

Set against the changing and turbulent politics of California from the 1930s through the 1950s, Campaigns Inc.: Leone Baxter, Clem Whitaker, and the Invention of Political Consulting examines the life and work of Leone Baxter and her husband Clem Whitaker. During this era, Baxter and Whitaker invented and refined the field of campaign consulting, a form of public relations practice that manages reputation, image, and communication during a political campaign. This book details their work and the development of their successful political consulting firm Campaigns Inc. They worked for mainly conservative and Republican clients, and it was through this work that Campaigns Inc. set the standard for how campaigns would be structured and run through the next century. The book begins with an overview of Baxter and Whitaker's core philosophy of communication, campaigns, and politics. Cayce Myers details their early work in California's Central Valley and their first big campaign against Democratic nominee Upton Sinclair who ran for California Governor in 1934. The book then examines Baxter and Whitaker's campaign for the successful 1942 Gubernatorial candidacy of Earl Warren. The Warren campaign served as a template for building a campaign around a candidate and not a party. Following that election, Baxter and Whitaker's work transformed to focus on defeating compulsory health insurance reforms. They successfully defeated healthcare reform initiatives by California Governor Earl Warren and later President Harry Truman by shaping public sentiment against the specter of "socialized medicine."