Voting Station

Murray Chotiner

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Politician

The Resume

    (October 4, 1909-January 30, 1974)
    Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
    American political strategist, attorney, and government official
    Close associate and advisor to Richard Nixon
    Managed Nixon's first congressional campaign against Jerry Voorhis (1946)
    Managed Nixon's 1952 Vice Presidential campaign
    Appointed to the White House Administration staff as an advisor (1970)
    Involved in a fatal automobile accident in McLean, Virginia (January 23, 1974)

Why he might be annoying:

    He married four times and divorced thrice.
    He worked on President Herbert Hoover's ill-fated 1932 reelection campaign.
    Under questioning by Bobby Kennedy, he admitted to having New Jersey crime boss Marco Regnelli as a client (1956).
    He also had ties to Joe McCarthy, whose defense of him probably saved his political career.
    He proceeded to run, unsuccessfully, for a seat in the House of Representatives, proclaiming himself to have been 'vindicated' and 'exonerated' (but Tricky Dick withheld his endorsement).
    He paved the way for 'Presidential brains' like Karl Rove. He also originated the modern campaign mentality that 'politics is war.'
    His most infamous tactics were used on Nixon's 1950 Senate opponent, Helen Gahagan Douglas, whom he painted as a radical Communist sympathizer, getting her nicknamed 'The Pink Lady' who was 'pink right down to her underwear.'
    He presided over Nixon's disastrous 1962 campaign for Governor of California, resulting in a 5-point loss to Pat Brown, and a lasting rift in his relationship with Nixon.
    He had only a minimal role in Nixon's 1968 Presidential campaign victory, largely symbolic and relegated to assistant roles out of public view.
    He shared a mutual antagonism with Pat Nixon,, whose advice to her husband he almost always succeeded in undermining.
    He had Jimmy Hoffa for a legal client in the 70s.
    He advised Republicans to use the Chappaquiddick incident to passive-aggressively attack Sen. Edward Kennedy in the 1970 midterm elections.
    He advised President Nixon to fire Archibald Cox, triggering the infamous 'Saturday Night Massacre,' as termed by the press (1973).
    His role in the Watergate break-in and subsequent cover-up is hotly debate to this day.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He looked like Lee J. Cobb.
    He was a High School drop out who had finished Law School by the age of 20.
    He was accused of being behind anti-Semitic attacks against Helen Gahagan's husband, but the fact that he was Jewish himself would make his culpability unlikely.
    It is widely believed that Nixon lost the 1962 race by disregarding his advice (but the Nixon camp threw him under the bus anyway).
    Authorities uncovered plans by a rival attorney to have him murdered (January, 1966).
    He successfully sued the 'Manchester Union Leader' for libel after the newspaper accused him of having organized the Watergate break-in.
    He described Watergate as 'a stupid, useless, inane experiment by people who have seen too many TV shows and especially too many productions of Mission: Impossible.'
    Does anyone else find it a strange coincidence that he died in a car accident less than half a mile away from Ted Kennedy's estate?
    He is the namesake for 'Chotiner's Law' which assesses that incumbent Presidents who endure primary challenges will fail to be reelected (which so far has proven to be accurate).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 17 Votes: 82.35% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 17 Votes: 5.88% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying