Morris and Clinton
Morris first worked with Bill and Hillary Clinton during Bill Clinton's successful 1978 bid for Governor of Arkansas. Morris is credited by many with engineering Clinton's re-election to the Arkansas governorship after a humiliating defeat at the end of Clinton's first term. Thus it is not surprising President Clinton turned to Morris after the mid-term elections of 1994, when Republicans gained control of the U.S. House and Senate and Clinton's own chances for a second presidential term seemed negligible. From the early months of 1995 until August of 1996, Morris was a principal architect of the Clinton-Gore re-election strategy. Morris did not have a role in Clinton's successful 1992 Presidential campaign, which instead was headed by David Wilhelm, James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, and Paul Begala. After the 1994 mid-term election where Republicans took control of both houses of the United States Congress and gained considerable power in the states, Clinton once again sought Morris' help to prepare for the 1996 Presidential election. It was Morris who proposed a strategy that is now referred to as "triangulation," where Bill Clinton would appeal to a diverse group of voters by distancing himself from both the Democratic and Republican parties. Many[attribution needed] perceived this as a move to the center of the political spectrum, and it disappointed some[attribution needed] who had hoped Clinton would pursue a more liberal policy.[citation needed]
In his 1997 book Behind the Oval Office, Morris wrote that, following an argument in the Arkansas Governor's Mansion, he strode towards the exit and was tackled by Bill Clinton. In 2003, Morris further stated that Bill Clinton cocked his arm back to throw a punch, but Hillary Clinton pulled her husband off Morris. In both versions of the story, she consoled Morris and apologized to him, stating that Bill only behaved such with those he cared for most. According to Morris, she did this to keep him quiet about the incident. He says the incident was the reason for denying Bill Clinton's request to work on the '92 campaign; Clinton's side of the story is not known.
Less sensationalistic but more relevant to political observers was Morris's use of polling data and his "triangulation" strategy in 1995 and early 1996 to outmaneuver Republicans Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole, who had won a decisive victory in the 1994 elections. Morris led Clinton to co-opt popular Republican initiatives and force the Republicans to justify their unpopular decisions leading to the 1995 government shutdown. Key to this effort was massive early TV advertising in swing states paid for by soft money raised through the Democratic National Committee, which gave Clinton a decisive advantage before Bob Dole won the Republican Presidential nomination.
Scandals
Time Magazine featured the scandal on September 9, 1996.
On August 29, 1996, Morris resigned from the Clinton campaign after reports surfaced that he had been involved with a prostitute named Sherry Rowlands. A tabloid newspaper had obtained and published a set of photographs of Morris and Rowlands on a Washington, D.C., hotel balcony. Accompanying the photo layout was Rowlands' story of the casual affair, including the revelation that Morris's favorite sexual fetish was toe-sucking. [4] The article also revealed that Morris had allowed Rowlands to listen in on phone calls with the President, and had given her a copy of a campaign speech before it was delivered. Rowlands stated that Morris had bragged about writing both Hillary Clinton's and Al Gore's 1996 convention speeches - a claim which Hillary Clinton denied in her 2003 autobiography Living History. Morris had been very casual about sharing his opinions of Bill and Hillary Clinton with Rowlands, and some very inside and personal information became available to the public.
Morris resigned on the same day that Bill Clinton spoke and accepted the nomination at the Democratic National Convention. In his resignation statement, he said that "while I served I sought to avoid the limelight because I did not want to become the message. Now, I resign so I will not become the issue." In his response, President Clinton praised Morris as a "friend" and thanked him for his years of service.
