Willie Horton(II)
A homicidal career criminal, Willie Horton briefly became, through
improbable circumstances, a national villain and a symbol of everything
that was wrong with the American criminal justice system. Also, in the
eyes of many liberals, his moment of prominence was a symbol of what
was wrong with American political campaigns. This began on October 26,
1974, in Lawrence, Massachusetts, when he led two accomplices in the
robbery of a gas station. Horton murdered the teenage station
attendant, stabbing him 19 times and dumping him in a garbage can. He
was caught and convicted, receiving a life sentence. He was expected to
languish in prison. But it turned out that at the time, the
Massachusetts prison system allowed weekend furloughs for all inmates,
including those sentenced to life without parole. In 1976, the state
legislature attempted to end that, but could not overcome opposition
from then Governor Michael Dukakis, who
pocket-vetoed the measure. Horton received one such furlough in
mid-1986, and proceeded to become a fugitive. Successfully evading
capture, Horton committed another crime in Maryland, breaking into a
couple's home and brutalized them at gunpoint, sexually assaulting the
woman. In October of that year, he was caught by Maryland authorities
and sentenced to two life terms. When the state of Massachusetts sought
his return, it was refused, on the grounds that Horton could be
furloughed again to commit more crimes. The victims attempted to meet
with Dukakis to persuade him to eliminate the furlough program, but he
refused the meeting. Amid the crime wave going on in the United States
at the time, that was thought to be the end of the matter.
However, a combination of investigative journalism and political
ambition eventually brought the case to the nation's attention and
made the case about far more than Horton himself and his crimes. It was
an open secret that Dukakis harbored ambitions to become President of
the United States. But that same year, a local newspaper from the city of
Horton's original crime, the Lawrence Eagle Tribune, published an
extensive series of articles investigating both the Horton case and the
Massachusetts criminal justice system in general, and the articles
reflected very badly on it. The articles won the paper a Pulitzer
Prize. The articles found the attention of Readers Digest, which
published its own damaging account of the incident. Dukakis's advisers
brought this to his attention, leading him to quietly end the furlough
program. Then Dukakis launched his Presidential campaign in 1988.
The furlough issue was initially brought up in April of that year by
U.S. Senator Al Gore, though he never
mentioned the Horton case specifically. Dukakis brushed off the
criticism and proceeded to win the Democratic Party's nomination. He
started the general election well ahead in the polls. But conservative
activists and Republican officials in Massachusetts brought this case
to the attention of officials of the Presidential campaign of then Vice
President George Bush, and it caught the
full attention of his top aides, Campaign Manager
Lee Atwater and Campaign Communications
Director Roger Ailes, who were astonished
and saw the issue as a way to completely discredit Dukakis. Atwater
vowed, "By the time this election is over, Willie Horton will
be a household name." In June of 1988, Bush himself started bringing up
the topic in campaign speeches, and in the Summer of that year, the
issue was clearly damaging the Dukakis effort. Horton himself got into
the act when he did an interview with the liberal newspaper "The
Nation," and proclaimed his innocence, against all the evidence. And in
early October, the Bush campaign released a TV commercial cut by Ailes,
portraying criminals entering and exiting a prison through a turnstile,
while the voice-over accused Dukakis of running a "revolving door
prison policy," adding that "Michael Dukakis says he wants to do
for America what he's done for Massachusetts." The ad was run thousands
of times around the country and is believed to have been the most
effective political ad since the famed "Daisy Girl" ad run by
Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Near the
campaign's end, Democrats accused Bush of exploiting racial fears,
pointing out that Horton was African-American while his victims were
white. Bush proceeded to win the election.
Democrats were resentful of the tactics that the Bush campaign used,
and in political circles, Horton's name is considered symbolic of using
inflammatory symbols to wage negative campaigns. Horton himself remains
in prison, where he will spend the rest of his life.
improbable circumstances, a national villain and a symbol of everything
that was wrong with the American criminal justice system. Also, in the
eyes of many liberals, his moment of prominence was a symbol of what
was wrong with American political campaigns. This began on October 26,
1974, in Lawrence, Massachusetts, when he led two accomplices in the
robbery of a gas station. Horton murdered the teenage station
attendant, stabbing him 19 times and dumping him in a garbage can. He
was caught and convicted, receiving a life sentence. He was expected to
languish in prison. But it turned out that at the time, the
Massachusetts prison system allowed weekend furloughs for all inmates,
including those sentenced to life without parole. In 1976, the state
legislature attempted to end that, but could not overcome opposition
from then Governor Michael Dukakis, who
pocket-vetoed the measure. Horton received one such furlough in
mid-1986, and proceeded to become a fugitive. Successfully evading
capture, Horton committed another crime in Maryland, breaking into a
couple's home and brutalized them at gunpoint, sexually assaulting the
woman. In October of that year, he was caught by Maryland authorities
and sentenced to two life terms. When the state of Massachusetts sought
his return, it was refused, on the grounds that Horton could be
furloughed again to commit more crimes. The victims attempted to meet
with Dukakis to persuade him to eliminate the furlough program, but he
refused the meeting. Amid the crime wave going on in the United States
at the time, that was thought to be the end of the matter.
However, a combination of investigative journalism and political
ambition eventually brought the case to the nation's attention and
made the case about far more than Horton himself and his crimes. It was
an open secret that Dukakis harbored ambitions to become President of
the United States. But that same year, a local newspaper from the city of
Horton's original crime, the Lawrence Eagle Tribune, published an
extensive series of articles investigating both the Horton case and the
Massachusetts criminal justice system in general, and the articles
reflected very badly on it. The articles won the paper a Pulitzer
Prize. The articles found the attention of Readers Digest, which
published its own damaging account of the incident. Dukakis's advisers
brought this to his attention, leading him to quietly end the furlough
program. Then Dukakis launched his Presidential campaign in 1988.
The furlough issue was initially brought up in April of that year by
U.S. Senator Al Gore, though he never
mentioned the Horton case specifically. Dukakis brushed off the
criticism and proceeded to win the Democratic Party's nomination. He
started the general election well ahead in the polls. But conservative
activists and Republican officials in Massachusetts brought this case
to the attention of officials of the Presidential campaign of then Vice
President George Bush, and it caught the
full attention of his top aides, Campaign Manager
Lee Atwater and Campaign Communications
Director Roger Ailes, who were astonished
and saw the issue as a way to completely discredit Dukakis. Atwater
vowed, "By the time this election is over, Willie Horton will
be a household name." In June of 1988, Bush himself started bringing up
the topic in campaign speeches, and in the Summer of that year, the
issue was clearly damaging the Dukakis effort. Horton himself got into
the act when he did an interview with the liberal newspaper "The
Nation," and proclaimed his innocence, against all the evidence. And in
early October, the Bush campaign released a TV commercial cut by Ailes,
portraying criminals entering and exiting a prison through a turnstile,
while the voice-over accused Dukakis of running a "revolving door
prison policy," adding that "Michael Dukakis says he wants to do
for America what he's done for Massachusetts." The ad was run thousands
of times around the country and is believed to have been the most
effective political ad since the famed "Daisy Girl" ad run by
Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Near the
campaign's end, Democrats accused Bush of exploiting racial fears,
pointing out that Horton was African-American while his victims were
white. Bush proceeded to win the election.
Democrats were resentful of the tactics that the Bush campaign used,
and in political circles, Horton's name is considered symbolic of using
inflammatory symbols to wage negative campaigns. Horton himself remains
in prison, where he will spend the rest of his life.