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According to a 1999 Washington Post report, Scaife’s funding work has been central to the success of the conservative agenda in recent years:

According to a 1999 Washington Post report, Scaife’s funding work has been central to the success of the conservative agenda in recent years:

    In the world of big-time philanthropy, there are many bigger givers. The Ford Foundation gave away $491 million in 1998 alone. But by concentrating his giving on a specific ideological objective for nearly 40 years, and making most of his grants with no strings attached, Scaife’s philanthropy has had a disproportionate impact on the rise of the right, perhaps the biggest story in American politics in the last quarter of the 20th century.

 

In the world of big-time philanthropy, there are many bigger givers. The Ford Foundation gave away $491 million in 1998 alone. But by concentrating his giving on a specific ideological objective for nearly 40 years, and making most of his grants with no strings attached, Scaife’s philanthropy has had a disproportionate impact on the rise of the right, perhaps the biggest story in American politics in the last quarter of the 20th century."

 

The Post credits Robert Duggan with getting Scaife interested in politics while he was a student at the University of Pittsburgh in the mid-1950s. Duggan, who was then dating Scaife’s sister Cordelia, apparently convinced Scaife to run for the post of committeeman in Allegheny County. Relations between the two soured when, as the county’s third-term district attorney, Duggan was accused of making deals with “criminal elements” and accepting bribes. Duggan was eventually indicted on tax fraud in 1974. The day the ruling against Duggan came out, he was found dead from a shotgun wound. Cordelia initially suspected that her brother was involved in the death and permanently severed relations with him. (4)

The Post credits Robert Duggan with getting Scaife interested in politics while he was a student at the University of Pittsburgh in the mid-1950s. Duggan, who was then dating Scaife’s sister Cordelia, apparently convinced Scaife to run for the post of committeeman in Allegheny County. Relations between the two soured when, as the county’s third-term district attorney, Duggan was accused of making deals with “criminal elements” and accepting bribes. Duggan was eventually indicted on tax fraud in 1974. The day the ruling against Duggan came out, he was found dead from a shotgun wound. Cordelia initially suspected that her brother was involved in the death and permanently severed relations with him. (4)

Reports the Post:

Reports the Post:

    His experience with Nixon, according to several associates, persuaded him to invest his hopes and his money in conservative institutions and ideas, not politicians. Though he has continued to give thousands to political campaigns and political action committees, his interest in electoral politics receded. (4)

 

"His experience with Nixon, according to several associates, persuaded him to invest his hopes and his money in conservative institutions and ideas, not politicians. Though he has continued to give thousands to political campaigns and political action committees, his interest in electoral politics receded." (4)

 

The organizations and publications Scaife has funded include the American Enterprise Institute, the American Spectator, the Center for Immigration Studies, the Center for Security Policy, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Committee for the Free World, the Committee on the Present Danger, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the Federalist Society, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Freedom House, the Heritage Foundation, the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, the Hudson Institute, the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies, the Institute on Religion and Democracy, the Institute on Religion and Public Life, the Jamestown Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, the National Endowment for Democracy, the National Institute for Public Policy, The National Interest, and the Philanthropy Roundtable. (7)

The organizations and publications Scaife has funded include the American Enterprise Institute, the American Spectator, the Center for Immigration Studies, the Center for Security Policy, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Committee for the Free World, the Committee on the Present Danger, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the Federalist Society, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Freedom House, the Heritage Foundation, the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, the Hudson Institute, the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies, the Institute on Religion and Democracy, the Institute on Religion and Public Life, the Jamestown Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, the National Endowment for Democracy, the National Institute for Public Policy, The National Interest, and the Philanthropy Roundtable. (7)

Some observers have argued that Scaife is prone to conspiracy theories, which might account in part for his support of the Arkansas Project, the right-wing campaign to “uncover” the covert activities of Bill Clinton while he was governor and president. Scaife told John F. Kennedy Jr., former owner and publisher of George magazine:

Some observers have argued that Scaife is prone to conspiracy theories, which might account in part for his support of the Arkansas Project, the right-wing campaign to “uncover” the covert activities of Bill Clinton while he was governor and president. Scaife told John F. Kennedy Jr., former owner and publisher of George magazine:

    Listen, [Clinton] can order people done away with at his will. He’s got the entire federal government behind him. … God, there must be 60 people [associated with Bill Clinton] who have died mysteriously. (3)

 

"Listen, [Clinton] can order people done away with at his will. He’s got the entire federal government behind him. … God, there must be 60 people [associated with Bill Clinton] who have died mysteriously." (3)

 

Scaife has traditionally shunned the media and typically declines to be interviewed. His few run-ins with the media have been ugly, like for example his notorious interview with Karen Rothmeyer in 1981. When she asked Scaife about his conservative funding practices, he called Rothmeyer a “fucking Communist cunt.” (6)

Scaife has traditionally shunned the media and typically declines to be interviewed. His few run-ins with the media have been ugly, like for example his notorious interview with Karen Rothmeyer in 1981. When she asked Scaife about his conservative funding practices, he called Rothmeyer a “fucking Communist cunt.” (6)

Reporting on this episode in his 2003 book Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them), liberal comedian Al Franken writes:

Reporting on this episode in his 2003 book Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them), liberal comedian Al Franken writes:

    [Scaife] went on to tell her that she was ugly and that her teeth were ‘terrible.’ Of Ms. Rothmeyer’s mother, who was not present, he said, ‘She’s ugly, too.’ Sensing that it was time to wrap up the interview, Ms. Rothmeyer thanked Scaife for his time. He bade her farewell with a cheery ‘Don’t look behind you.’ (9)  

 

"[Scaife] went on to tell her that she was ugly and that her teeth were ‘terrible.’ Of Ms. Rothmeyer’s mother, who was not present, he said, ‘She’s ugly, too.’ Sensing that it was time to wrap up the interview, Ms. Rothmeyer thanked Scaife for his time. He bade her farewell with a cheery ‘Don’t look behind you.’" (9)  

 

Scaife has not been shy to use his minor media empire for political ends. According to Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting:

Scaife has not been shy to use his minor media empire for political ends. According to Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting:

    In the final days of the 2000 presidential campaign, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review publisher Richard Mellon Scaife, a longtime conservative activist, ordered all photographs and prominent mentions of Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore removed from the front page of the paper. As a result, the paper’s pre-election Sunday edition had a front page featuring George W. Bush in every campaign-related headline and photograph. A story about a Gore rally held in Pittsburgh, originally slated to run alongside a Bush piece on the front page, was moved to the inside of the paper. According to an account in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tribune-Review managing editor Robert Fryer ‘tried to dissuade Scaife but was overruled.’ (10) (11)  

 

"In the final days of the 2000 presidential campaign, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review publisher Richard Mellon Scaife, a longtime conservative activist, ordered all photographs and prominent mentions of Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore removed from the front page of the paper. As a result, the paper’s pre-election Sunday edition had a front page featuring George W. Bush in every campaign-related headline and photograph. A story about a Gore rally held in Pittsburgh, originally slated to run alongside a Bush piece on the front page, was moved to the inside of the paper. According to an account in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tribune-Review managing editor Robert Fryer ‘tried to dissuade Scaife but was overruled.’" (10) (11)