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Institutional
Affiliations
Hoover
Institution: Board member
Heritage
Foundation: Trustee
Scaife
Foundations: Chairman
Tribune-Review
Publishing Co., Inc.: Owner
Hoover
Institution: Member of the Board of Directors (1)
Heritage
Foundation: Trustee (1985-current) (1)
Committee
on the Present Danger: Funder (1985-1989) (2)
Sarah Scaife
Foundation: Chairman (1973-current) (1)
The Allegheny
Foundation: Chairman (1973-current) (1)
Carthage
Foundation: Chairman (1973-current) (1)
Pittsburgh
World Affairs Council: Member of the Board of Directors (1)
Pepperdine
University: Member of the Board of Directors (1)
Government
Posts/Panels/Commissions
U.S. Advisory
Commission for Public Diplomacy: Former Member (Reagan and George
H.W. Bush Administrations) (1)
Corporate
Connections/Business Interests
Tribune-Review
Publishing Co., Inc.: Vice-Chairman, Publisher and Owner (1)
Tribune-Review:
Owner and Chairman of the Board (1)
Education
Yale
University (3)
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Highlights
& Quotes
Called by James
Carville in 1999 "the archconservative godfather in [a] heavily
funded war against [Clinton]," Scaife has bankrolled the modern
conservative movement. According to a 1999 Washington Post investigation,
"Scaife and his family's charitable entities have given at
least $340 million to conservative causes and institutions--about
$620 million in current dollars, adjusted for inflation. The total
of Scaife's giving--to conservatives as well as many other beneficiaries--exceeds
$600 million, or $1.4 billion in current dollars, much more than
any previous estimate." "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."
(Washington Post, May 2, 1999)
In his hilarious
2003 book Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them), Al Franken argues
that the abusive tone of rightwing zealots like Bill O'Reilly and
Ann Coulter can be traced back to Scaife, and in particular to one
episode in 1981 when Scaife verbally assaulted a reporter. When
the reporter, Karen Rothmeyer of the Columbia Journalism Review,
asked Scaife about his funding of conservative groups, he replied,
"You fucking communist cunt, get out of here." Franken
writes that 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.'"
(4)
"That's
the funny thing about tone," Franken continues, "It's
so subjective. Usually, I find it's enough to call someone a 'fucking
communist cunt,' without having to gild the lily by disparaging
her teeth and issuing veiled threats." (4)
Scaife and
his foundations have supported some of the key elements of the conservative
movement, including the Heritage Foundation, the Free Congress Foundation,
the Hoover Institution, the Committee on the Present Danger, the
American Enterprise Institute, Public Interest, and the American
Spectator. (6)
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 (11/8/00). Tribune-Review managing editor Robert Fryer
'tried to dissuade Scaife but was overruled.'" |
