Clem Whitaker and Leone Baxter were a husband-and-wife team that started Campaigns, Inc., the first political consulting firm in the United States. Based in California, the firm worked on a variety of political issues, mostly for Republican Party candidates. They both supported conservative ideals. During the 1934 California gubernatorial election, they engineered a smear campaign against socialist Upton Sinclair in an effort to prevent him from unseating incumbent Republican Frank Merriam. Sinclair ultimately lost. The couple developed strategies and tactics - such as media advertisement buys and direct-mail campaigns - that are still widely used in today's campaigns. Their public relations work not only revolutionized politics in the modern era, but also deeply impacted political issues that remain relevant today. Backgrounds Clem Whitaker Clem Whitaker was born in Tempe, Arizona, on May 1, 1899, the son of a Baptist minister. He was raised in Willits, California, where he submitted his first news story, for the Willits News, at age 13. He began working for the Sacramento Union at age 18. Following a brief stint in the Army during World War I, Whitaker became city editor for the Union before moving to the Sacramento Examiner at age 21. He was a political writer for the Examiner until 1921, when he founded the Capitol News Bureau. His company disseminated political news to eighty newspapers statewide. While living in Sacramento, he married Harriet Reynolds. The couple had four children: Clem Jr., Milton, Patricia and Burdett. Leone Baxter Much less is known about Leone Baxter than Whitaker. Baxter's Social Security application lists her birthdate as November 20, 1906, in Kelso, Washington. She briefly wrote for the Portland Oregonian. However, after becoming a widow at age 28, she moved to Redding, California. There she found work promoting a water carnival for the Chamber of Commerce. Baxter became the Chamber manager in 1929. Origin of the firm Lobbying After selling his business to United Press in 1930, a barber friend whose trade association was having trouble lobbying the state legislature caught Whitaker's attention. For $4,000, Whitaker organized the barbers into a potent lobbying group, leading to legislation creating the State Board of Barber Examiners. In 1933, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) lobbied to place Proposition 1 on the ballot for California's December 1933 special election. This measure was aimed at striking down recent legislation that would establish the Central Valley Project (CVP). The CVP