Process
Status Items Highlights Done See section below Claims None Questions None Output None
Highlights
Time 0:03:02
Philip Morris Celebrates Powell
- Philip Morris celebrated Lewis Powell’s Supreme Court appointment with a lavish luncheon at the 21 Club in Manhattan.
- The event featured a spoof of Walter Cronkite’s “You Are There,” with Cronkite himself and a cast of actors.
- The skit recounted key moments in Powell’s life and career.
- Philip Morris’ CEO, Joseph Coleman, called Powell’s appointment the greatest honor ever bestowed upon anyone connected with the company.
- Powell was on the boards of several major companies, including Philip Morris, and had helped them navigate public health concerns about smoking. Transcript: Speaker 1 He was there in person at the event with a cast of actors performing scripted skits recounting key moments in Lewis Powell’s life and career. It starts with him growing up in Richmond, Virginia. Mr. Speaker 3 Powell! Mr. Powell! I just come from your house! Congratulations! Your wife just give birth to a baby boy. Well, that’s really good news. Speaker 1 Then the program spotlights Powell being asked by President Nixon to fill a Supreme Court seat. Speaker 3 We will now continue our committee hearings on Mr. Lewis Powell’s nomination. Speaker 1 So why was Powell being celebrated by Philip Morris? Because when he was nominated, he was on the boards of several major companies, including Wait For It. Yes,
Time 0:03:34
Philip Morris Celebrates Powell
- Philip Morris celebrated Lewis Powell’s Supreme Court nomination with a ‘You Are There’ spoof at their annual Christmas luncheon.
- Walter Cronkite and actors reenacted Powell’s life.
- Philip Morris presented Powell with a Supreme Court robe emblazoned with Marlboro and other brand logos.
- Powell thanked Coleman for the gifts, saying he liked the Philip Morris robe best. Transcript: Speaker 1 So why was Powell being celebrated by Philip Morris? Because when he was nominated, he was on the boards of several major companies, including Wait For It. Yes, Morris In fact, he’d been crucial in helping the cigarette maker navigate the growing legal and regulatory Scrutiny over public health concerns about smoking and now Philip Morris his own guy Lewis Powell was going to be on the Supreme Court. The live show in Manhattan concluded, I shit you not, with the head of Philip Morris presenting Lewis Powell with a black Supreme Court justice robe emblazoned with giant logos for Marlboro cigarettes and other Philip Morris brands, just like a NASCAR driver. It almost seems too hard to believe, but we found pictures of the robe to prove it. There’s a link in our show notes. Obviously, this was a pretty strange event and the robe was likely a gag gift. But still, the following day, Powell wrote a heartfelt thank you letter to Coleman for the gifts to him
Time 0:08:55
Powell’s True Nature
- Publicly, Lewis Powell was seen as a moderate and affable figure during his time on the Supreme Court.
- Digging deeper reveals a different picture: Powell was a key architect of a plan for corporate dominance in America.
- Powell’s private writings, particularly the Powell Memo, expose a more aggressive and strategic side.
- The Powell Memo became a viral manifesto outlining a corporate takeover of America. Transcript: Speaker 1 But here’s the thing. If you dig deeper into Lewis Powell’s life, you find something much different than these descriptions. You find one of the original master planners meticulously outlining a blueprint for the corporate takeover of America. This wasn’t a moderate milk toast guy. This was an angry man
Time 0:10:33
The Powell Memo’s Obscurity
- Despite its significant influence on American politics, the Powell Memo is often omitted from official histories.
- Media mentions of the memo sometimes portray it as a conspiracy theory.
- Even Powell’s extensive biography, written by a former clerk, omits any mention of the memo.
- Powell was seen as a moderate swing vote on social issues but consistently sided with corporations on campaign finance and corporate rights issues.
- The long-term consequences of his decisions regarding the economy and the environment weren’t immediately apparent. Transcript: Speaker 3 Are you familiar with the Lewis Powell memorandum? No, here a fellow who ended up in the Supreme Court. He wrote a memorandum to the National Chamber of Commerce in which he said, there’s too much democracy and there’s a threat to capitalism. That’s Dick Van Dyke. And he might sound like he’s exaggerating, but he’s not. Speaker 1 And yet the Powell memo seems to have been scrubbed out of America’s memory. Okay, here’s what I don’t understand, David. That’s master plan producer Jared Jukang-Mayer, who spent the last two years digging deep into Lewis Powell. Speaker 2 I read the entire official biography of Lewis F. Powell. It’s like 700 pages long. It was written by a legal scholar who was once one of Powell’s clerks at the Supreme Court, and it does not mention the memo once. As a justice, Powell cast important votes on some very key cases. Abortion, school prayer, the death penalty, affirmative action was probably the biggest one where he was the fifth vote to allow it. These were the big social issues of the 80s and 90s, and he was seen as a swing vote or a moderate. Speaker 3 I think Lewis Powell has never been a man with a mission, as it were, or an agenda. Speaker 2 Justice Powell has been a healer on the court. But meanwhile, in cases dealing with the rights of corporations and about campaign finance laws, Powell took positions that weren’t so moderate. And the long-term effects of those court decisions on the economy and the environment, for example, didn’t become obvious until decades later.
Time 0:21:55
Philip Morris’s Defense Strategy
- In the mid-1960s, Lewis Powell defended Marlboro when the Surgeon General linked smoking to cancer.
- Philip Morris didn’t accept regulations; they created alternative organizations and pushed their own scientific reports.
- CEO Joseph Coleman defended smoking on TV, even suggesting smaller babies from smoking mothers were just as healthy.
- Philip Morris attacked the American Cancer Society using front groups, a strategy now known as astroturfing.
- While Powell was on the board, Philip Morris invented this strategy. Transcript: Speaker 2 The mid-60s, Powell was one of the big defenders of Marlboro country. And when the Surgeon General began issuing reports that linked smoking to cancer and other health problems, Philip Morris saw itself as under attack. But Philip Morris and the tobacco industry didn’t just sit back and accept regulations. They went on the offensive, creating alternative organizations and pushing their own scientific reports to support their arguments to the media and in the courts. Its CEO, Joseph Coleman, was actively defending their product on programs like Face the Nation. Speaker 3 And I concluded from that report that it’s true that babies born from women who smoke are smaller, but they’re just as healthy as the babies born from women who do not smoke. What about the higher-weight babies? And some women would prefer having smaller babies. Speaker 1 Wait, wait, wait, wait. Women would prefer underweight babies? Yeah, that didn’t age well. Speaker 2 Oh, it didn’t go over well at the time either. But Philip Morris didn’t back down. In March 1970, Coleman and Philip Morris started using front groups to attack the American Cancer Society, which was spotlighting the link between tobacco and cancer. This is like what’s now known as astroturfing. Speaker 1 Corporations fake citizens groups to muddle the debate and basically lie to the public. Speaker 2 Yeah, and when
Time 0:23:50
Powell’s PR Strategy for Philip Morris
- Lewis Powell, while working as legal counsel for Philip Morris, crafted programs to protect profits and sow doubts about adverse health claims related to tobacco.
- Powell wrote a letter to Philip Morris’ CEO in 1970, criticizing the American Cancer Society’s ‘extremism and lack of regard for the truth’.
- Powell stated that the American Cancer Society would likely be more restrained in the future.
- Powell’s campaign involved lobbying, media relations, litigation, and industry groups to prevent anything that would hinder Philip Morris’ profits.
- In 1971, Philip Morris saw record revenues after employing Powell’s strategies. Transcript: Speaker 2 May 1970. Speaker 1 Powell wrote to Coleman, Wait a minute, wait a minute. Make it sound like you’re talking into Lewis Powell’s dictaphone. Speaker 2 As you know, I have long thought that the tobacco industry could not continue indefinitely to ignore the extremism and lack of regard for the truth manifested by the American Cancer Society and others. I believe your recent moves have been justified and constructive. At the very least, the American Cancer Society is likely to be more restrained in the future. Speaker 1 And to be clear, Powell is writing this to Philip Morris, his CEO, even though he and the tobacco industry knew based on their own studies that cigarettes were killing people. Speaker 2 Yeah, and you have to understand this campaign that Powell was involved in, this was a sophisticated PR effort that mixed lobbying, media relations, litigation, and industry groups To prevent anything that would hinder their profits. Speaker 1 And they were extremely successful. In 1971, Philip Morris saw record revenues. By the way, this was the same year they hosted the Walter Cronkite radio party for Lewis Powell. But while Powell was helping Philip Morris cover up tobacco’s health risks, he also had a side obsession. Speaker 2 Which leads us to our third and final major influence on Powell, one that we were shocked to find. While digging around the Powell archives, I found letters showing that starting in the 1960s, Powell began a regular correspondence with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who infamously used the agency to target
Time 0:35:05
Powell’s Deliberate Language
- Powell deliberately chose explosive language to express his ideas in the memo.
- He described the American economic system as being under broad attack.
- He used terms like ‘shotgun attack’ and ‘rifle shots’ to undermine confidence and confuse the public.
- His language was designed to stir emotions and define a common enemy.
- He portrays Ralph Nader as a significant antagonist to American business. Transcript: Speaker 2 As you’ll hear in his memo, Powell was a man who was extremely deliberate in his choice of words. Speaker 3 No thoughtful person can question that the American economic system, variously called the free enterprise system, capitalism, and the profit system, is under broad attack. Speaker 2 And for this, Powell chose language that was explosive. Speaker 3 The broad shotgun attack on the system itself. There are constant rifle shots, which undermine confidence and confuse the public. This is language meant to stir emotions. Business has been the favorite whipping boy of many politicians for many years. This is language that defined a common enemy. Perhaps the single most effective antagonist of American businesses, Ralph Nader, who, thanks largely to the media, has become a legend in his own time and an idol of millions of Americans. Speaker 1 Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. What happened to the Lewis Powell that everyone described as Mr. Nice Guy? Speaker 3 I can’t imagine him ever saying a harsh word to anyone. Speaker 2 Well, this is Mr. Angry. Powell is basically sounding an alarm about hippie barbarians at the gate. Speaker 3 If our system is to survive, top management must be equally concerned with protecting and preserving the system itself. Speaker 2 This wasn’t just a
Time 0:36:25
Powell’s Plan
- Spread conservative ideals in higher education by funding programs, scholars, and speakers.
- Change the media landscape by monitoring television and infiltrating radio, scholarly journals, books, and pamphlets.
- These steps formed part of Powell’s plan to address what he perceived as an attack on the American economic system. Transcript: Speaker 2 This wasn’t just a rant though Powell had a plan to address the problem, a plan that could be executed by corporate America. It had just a few simple steps. Step one, spread conservative ideals in higher education. Speaker 3 The campus, as these bright young men from campuses across the country seek opportunities to change a system which they have been taught to distrust, if not indeed despise. They seek employment in the centers of real power and influence in our country. Speaker 1 I see. Just bright young men, huh? Yeah. Speaker 2 This is peak Mad Men era. Speaker 1 Powell said the chamber can change the campus by funding various programs, including a staff of scholars, staff of speakers, speakers bureau, evaluation of textbooks. Speaker 3 Then we get to step two, change the media. Television. The national television network should be monitored
Time 0:38:10
Powell’s Plan: Taking Over the Courts
- Powell outlined a plan for corporate America with simple steps.
- The fourth and most important step was to take over the courts.
- He viewed the judiciary as the most important instrument for social, economic, and political change.
- Powell saw the legal system, especially the Supreme Court, as an underutilized front for business. Transcript: Speaker 1 Chamber of Commerce should consider assuming a broader and more vigorous role in the political arena. Speaker 2 And finally, step four, the most important section by far, an area where Powell had unique expertise, take over the courts. Speaker 3 The judiciary may be the most important instrument for social, economic, and political change. Speaker 1 Powell saw the legal system, especially the Supreme Court, as an underutilized front where business could be much more assertive. Speaker 3 Perhaps the most active
Time 0:38:50
Offensive Use of Courts
- Powell advised businesses to use the courts offensively to create a legal environment favorable to their interests.
- He suggested they emulate consumer advocates like Ralph Nader by pursuing lawsuits.
- He also recommended filing amicus briefs to influence judicial rulings, even when not directly involved in lawsuits.
- Powell emphasized the need for long-term commitment, staffing, and significant financial resources from American corporations. Transcript: Speaker 1 Left. Powell wanted businesses to use the courts offensively to create a legal environment that was more favorable to their interests. Powell told business leaders to rip a page from the playbook of consumer advocates like his nemesis, Ralph Nader, who made his name filing public interest lawsuits. The Powell memo advised corporate executives to pursue their own lawsuits to challenge regulations and decisions that they felt were harmful to business interests. Speaker 3 The American Civil Liberties Union is one example. It initiates or intervenes in scores of clauses each year, and it files briefs, amicus curiae, in the Supreme Court in a number of cases during each term of that court. Speaker 1 Even if the chamber wasn’t directly involved in the lawsuits, Powell suggested that business groups should be more active in filing amicus briefs, special legal documents submitted By outside parties who want to influence judicial rulings. Speaker 3 The greatest care should be exercised in selecting the cases in which to participate or the suits to institute. But the opportunity merits the necessary effort. Speaker 2 And then, like any good business plan, Powell brought up the most important factor, money. Speaker 3 And lots of it. This is a vast opportunity for the chamber if it is willing to undertake the role of spokesman for American business. And if, in turn, business is willing to provide the funds. Speaker 1 Powell wrote that for a massive program like this to be successful, it must be a long-term undertaking, with significant staffing and resources which would require far more generous Speaker 3 Financial support from American corporations than the chamber has ever received in the past. Speaker 1 He concludes the memo doing his own version of Karl Marx’s Workers of the World Unite sign-off. Only he implores corporate leaders to get on board and start cutting checks or face extinction. Speaker 2 Really it’s more of CEOs of the world unite. Speaker 3 But this would be an exercise in futility unless the board of directors of the chamber accepts the fundamental premise of this paper, namely, that business and the enterprise system Are in deep trouble and the hour is late.
Time 0:41:58
Nixon’s Call to Powell
- Richard Nixon and Lewis Powell had a history of shared anti-communist and anti-leftist sentiments.
- Nixon called Powell to offer him a Supreme Court appointment, knowing exactly who Powell was and what he represented.
- In a private call with Ronald Reagan, Nixon described Powell as a ‘corporation lawyer’.
- Powell’s moderate facade allowed him to be nominated by a Republican president and potentially accepted by a Democratic Congress.
- Nixon believed that confirming Powell would place a pro-business advocate on the Supreme Court. Transcript: Speaker 1 Richard Nixon and Lewis Powell had known each other for many years they corresponded about their shared hatred of commies and campus leftists. But this wasn’t a random social call to shoot the shit. Nixon had a very important question for Powell. I determined that your appointment at this time is what the court needs. Would you undertake it if I were to ask you to do it? I think the answer is affirmative, Mr. Speaker 3 President. I’m a very patriotic guy. Oh I know that. I know what you’ve done through the years. Speaker 1 That last line by Nixon is really important. I know what you’ve done through the years. Nixon knew exactly who Powell was and exactly what Powell represented. In a private phone call with California Governor Ronald Reagan, Nixon characterized Powell as, quote, a corporation lawyer. For Nixon, nominating Powell was a political masterstroke. Powell was conservative enough to get nominated by a Republican president, but seemed on the surface to be moderate enough to be accepted by a Democratic Congress. But the bottom line was, if Powell was confirmed, big business would get its man, man with the plan, on the highest court in the land.