Why is Dole Talkin’ ’bout Tobacco?

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


When it comes to tobacco, it seems Bob Dole can’t help but put his mouth where the money is.

Since the beginning of 1995, Bob Dole has received $25,500 from tobacco companies, according to the New York Times. The San Francisco Examiner puts the industry’s lifetime contribution to Dole at $477,000.

On the “Today” show, Dole downplayed the significance of contributions from tobacco interests, emphasizing that Democrats had also accepted such contributions.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch , tobacco contributions to the Democratic Party from 1993 to 1995 totalled $800,000, while the industry’s contributions to the Republican Party weighed in at $4.5 million.

But there’s more to it than money. MoJo’s May/June exposé, Tobacco Dole, outlines the long-standing relationship between Bob Dole and the tobacco industry. Many bigwigs in Bob Dole’s campaign pull double duty by working for Big Tobacco.


May/June ’96 Mother Jones Cover Story:

Tobacco Dole
What Bob Dole’s telemarketer, his chief California strategist, and one of his national co-chairs have in common.

The Tobacco Election
How our republic can kick the habit.

Tobacco Strikes Back
A Mother Jones special report on the cigarette makers’ secret comeback strategy.

Censored: The Leaked ABC Tape
The full transcript and QuickTime video clips of “Tobacco Under Fire,” the provocative TV documentary ABC chose not to let you see.

See for yourself the spiked PSA
The anti-smoking public service announcement that aired in Caifornia until it was pulled by governor Pete Wilson.

Additional Resources:
Smoking-related readings from the MoJo wire and beyond.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate