Campaigns, Inc.: Government by Whitaker and Baxter
Today's political consultants operate in the long shadow cast by Campaigns. Inc., established in 1933 by Clem Whitaker and Leone Baxter. Often described as the inventors of modern political campaign management, they pioneered the marketing of candidates and issues as a full-service business. Their success can be credited to their shrewd strategy, thorough organization, and an imaginative and relentless exploitation of mass media. This exhibition highlights a variety of campaign materials that reveal how the firm paved the way for many campaign tactics and systems used today. One of the rare private collections at the State Archives, the records provide a unique view into an era of California's political history.
The Beginning
Clement "Clem" Whitaker and Leone Baxter met in 1933. Whitaker had just formed his own advertising company while Baxter was the manager of Redding's Chamber of Commerce. They ran their first campaign that same year.
Clem Whitaker Speaking at an American Medical Association Conference (1950) by Whitaker & Baxter Campaigns, Inc. RecordsCalifornia State Archives
Clement “Clem” Sherman Whitaker
(1899-1961)
Clem Whitaker (standing at the podium) was born in 1899 in Tempe, Arizona. His father was a Baptist minister, as was his uncle, Robert Whitaker, a well-known socialist. Raised in the small California town of Willits, Clem Whitaker started working for the Willits News at thirteen. Four years later he began covering the California State Legislature and State Capitol for the Sacramento Union. By nineteen he was the paper’s city editor. He also wrote for the San Francisco Examiner and in 1921 launched the Capitol News Bureau, a service that provided political news to newspapers throughout California.
Whitaker sold the Capitol News Bureau to the United Press in 1929. He then formed his own advertising company, headquartered on K Street in Sacramento. He ran a few minor campaigns before meeting Leone Baxter in 1933. He separated from his first wife, Harriet Reynolds, in 1935 before marrying Baxter three years later. He had three children with Reynolds: Clem, Jr., Milton, and Patricia. Clem Whitaker died of emphysema in 1961 at the age of 62.
Clem Whitaker and Leone Baxter (1950) by Whitaker & Baxter Campaigns, Inc. RecordsCalifornia State Archives
Leone Baxter
(1906-2001)
Born in 1906 in Kelso, Washington to parents Leon Smith and Grace Hayes, Leone G. Smith became Leone Baxter after marrying her first husband, Alexander. She spent some time writing newspaper copy for the Portland Oregonian before moving to Redding, California, where she secured a job promoting a water carnival for the city's Chamber of Commerce.
By 1933, when she met Clem Whitaker, Baxter was a 26-year-old widow and the manager of Redding’s Chamber of Commerce. Baxter and Whitaker (shown in this 1950 photograph) married in 1938, remaining married until his death in 1961. In 1958, after selling Campaigns, Inc. to Clem Whitaker, Jr. and his partners, the couple founded Whitaker & Baxter International, a public relations consulting firm. Upon Whitaker’s passing, Baxter continued to run Whitaker & Baxter International out of a penthouse apartment at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel. She died on March 13, 2001 at the age of 95.
"The Story of the Central Valley Project of California" (1933) by Over-sized Ephemera CollectionCalifornia State Archives
In 1933, the California State Legislature passed legislation authorizing the Central Valley Project (CVP), a massive public works project designed to develop, distribute, and sell water and electric energy in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. Concerned that the power generated by the CVP might be sold to public authorities, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company forced a referendum on the project, seeking to strike down the law with the support of the state’s voters.
To defeat the referendum (on the ballot as Proposition 1 of the Special Election held December 19, 1933), lawyer Sheridan Downey invited Clem Whitaker and Leone Baxter to help with the campaign. Whitaker and Baxter began work on their first campaign with a budget of less than $40,000.
"Central Valley Project of California: What It Will Do" (1933) by Over-sized Ephemera CollectionCalifornia State Archives
Together, the new team of Whitaker and Baxter developed a campaign that heavily used news media – including advertisements like the one shown here, editorials, cartoons, news releases, and radio scripts – to defeat the referendum by 33,603 votes.
Following up on their successful Central Valley Project campaign, Whitaker and Baxter established Campaigns, Inc., a first-of-its kind political campaign management firm. Initially operating out of Sacramento, the Campaigns, Inc. offices eventually settled in San Francisco, with temporary offices opened as required in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. The duo’s empire also included the Clem Whitaker Advertising Agency and the California Feature Service, a newspaper wire service that provided articles, editorials, and cartoons to hundreds of newspapers throughout California.
The Birth of the Modern Political Campaign
In 1934, Republican George J. Hatfield hired Whitaker and Baxter to run his campaign for lieutenant governor. Whitaker and Baxter signed on under the condition that they would manage the entire operation, from overall strategy and organization, to advertising, publicity, and financial supervision. Previously, political campaigns had generally been organized by party leaders who hired press agents, advertising firms, and speechwriters. Whitaker and Baxter invented an entirely new concept in political campaigning: politics as a full-service business.