Pro Politics with Zac McCrary Ann Lewis, Legendary Democratic Communicator
Ann Lewis has had a legendary career as a Democratic strategist...from her time as Communications Director in the Clinton White House...as a Senior Advisor to Hillary Clinton's 2000 Senate run and both 08 & 16 Presidentials...to her time as a Senate Chief of Staff and working at institutions like Planned Parenthood, the DNC, ADA, & more. In this conversation...Ann talks growing up in New Jersey in the shadow of the Hudson County Democratic machine, key moments in her career path as a woman in politics in the 1970s and 80s, intersecting with Bill and Hillary Clinton in the 80s, her work in both the Clinton White House and Clinton campaigns for 20+ years, and her best practices for smart communication strategies.
IN THIS EPISODE…
Ann grows up in New Jersey in a family who instilled in her the importance of politics…
Ann’s early political memories of Harry Truman’s upset win in 1948…
Ann talks the Hudson County, NJ political machine of her youth…
A political light-bulb goes off for Ann when canvassing for JFK…
Ann talks the challenges of working up the political ladder as a woman in the 1970s and 80s…
Ann goes deep on the her time working for Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senate race…
Ann on the importance of Americans for Democratic Action…
Ann talks her time as campaign manager and Chief of Staff for Senator Barbara Mikulski…
Ann first crosses path with Bill & Hillary Clinton in the early 1980s…
Ann gets to know then-First Lady Hillary Clinton in 1994…
Ann gets pulled into the 1996 Clinton Presidential…
Ann’s time as Communication Directions in the White House, including during the Clinton Impeachment saga…
Ann’s communications best practices…
Ann’s involvement in the ’08 and ’16 Hillary Clinton Presidentials…
Ann talks Bill Clinton’s legendary retail skills and Hillary Clinton’s intellect…
Ann talks growing up with her brother, and fellow legendary political figure, Congressman Barney Frank…
Ann’s advice to the next generation of political operatives…
AND Aunt Fanny, the Baltimore Museum of Art, basement offices, battlefield promotions, Bayonne, blankety-blank campaigns, George H.W. Bush, chattering classes, childish bullies, the Clinton Library, cocktail parties, the Colossus of Rhodes, Democratic Majority for Israel, Thomas Dewey, Bob Dole, Facebook, Fells Point, flaming parachutes, Boss Hague, the George Washington Bridge, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Margaret Hague, Jesse Helms, Harold Ickes, Jewish Women for Hillary, Junior Advisors, John Kennedy, Rick Lazio, Nita Lowey, Chuck Manatt, Mac Mathias, moderate ethnics, Pat Moynihan, the New York Post, Richard Nixon, NOW, one-and-a-half computers, Norm Ornstein, George Pataki, Planned Parenthood, Charlie Rangel, Joe Rauh, Walter Reuther, Eleanor Roosevelt, Adlai Stevenson, sturdy women, third wives, tugboats, the Unpleasantness, upstate winegrowers, Henry Wallace, Anne Wexler, Maggie Williams, the Women’s Political Caucus & more!