University alumna and political strategist Donna Brazile visited campus Friday to discuss her book, “Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House.” The event was sponsored by the LSU Libraries Special Collections.
Brazile’s book is an account of her second time as the interim chair of the Democratic National Committee and the events surrounding the 2016 election, including Russian hacking and the disorder within the Democratic party. Brazile is an adjunct Professor of Women and Gender Studies at Georgetown University and serves as a fellow in the Shorenstein Center at Harvard.
Brazile said “Hacks” is the story of a political operative, political analyst and devoted Louisianian, but most importantly “the story of a woman who has stepped up twice in my adult life to serve as chair of the Democratic National Committee.” Brazile said for her, there is no such thing as “third time’s the charm.”
“I don’t want to be charmed into doing this ever, ever again,” Brazile said. “After being hacked by the Chinese through the office of personnel management and now the Russians through the 2016 campaign, ladies and gentlemen, I don’t want to wait around for anybody else to come after me. I’ve had enough.”
Brazile described the day she was asked to become interim chair of the DNC, saying it felt as if she had been punched in the gut. She said she had no idea what a solution to the hacking problem would look like when she took on the role of DNC chair.
She recalled her time investigating the hacking of the DNC, saying she had to go department by department to figure out what was going on within the party. She said she found “no evidence whatsoever” that the election had been rigged in favor of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, but that there were some dealings with monetary donations to the party she had problems with.
“When I started raising my own money I still faced a lot of obstacles. Which angered me because it prevented me from helping Hillary…and some other down ballot Democrats,” Brazile said. “I had to go to Brooklyn, the Clinton campaign headquarters, and I said ‘gentlemen, let us all put our dicks on the table.’ I was tired.”
Brazile said she wants readers to focus on the last part of her book.
“Those last ten chapters…when you read them, read them twice,” Brazile said. “Those chapters really talk about how we protect ourselves.”
Attendees, including mayor Sharon Weston-Broome, gathered at Hill Memorial Library to listen to Brazile speak, purchase her book and waited after the event for her book signing.
Dean of Libraries Stanley Wilder said the donation of Brazile’s papers to the LSU Libraries Special Collections follows a long tradition of political activists, journalists and elected officials from Louisiana donating their collections and he hopes that tradition continues.
“Donna is a proud LSU graduate as we all know,” said University professor Robert Mann. “She joins a pantheon of political greats who’ve come through this University. Donna is at the top of the list of the greats.”
Mann said if you read the book, you can tell Brazile remains deeply connected to Louisiana and the University.
Brazile is a seasoned political analyst, having worked on campaigns for Jesse Jackson, Michael Dukakis, former President Jimmy Carter, former President Bill Clinton and “scores of other campaigns around the country,” Mann said. In 2000, she became the first African-American woman to manage a major party presidential campaign when she was appointed campaign manager to former Vice-President Al Gore.
“Her name will live her in perpetuity as her papers are up in the reading room right above this room,” Mann said. “Historians for years, will come to LSU and research her contributions to Louisiana and American political history.”
Brazile said coming back to the campus reminded her of her first year at the University. She lived in Evangeline Hall, which she said had no air conditioning in the fall of 1977. Brazile said in her first semester she was elected dormitory president.
“I won with no opposition,” Brazile said. “That was the only time I’ve stood for election, and because my record is 1-0, I have not stood again.”
Brazile said she talks about the University everywhere she goes, not only because of how well her time her prepared her for “the most tumultuous years ever in American politics,” but because of the friendships and wisdom she gained.
Brazile said she was happy to donate her papers to the University, which include some documents from her time as an opinions columnist for The Daily Reveille, a student athlete and a member of Student Government. Also included are her records from over 40 years of local, state and national political campaigns.
After her speech, several audience members asked Brazile questions about her thoughts on the state of politics in America and whether she thought there was any “hope.”
“Hope? The hope comes from you. It springs from something we all believe in,” Brazile said. “The hope never dies…I sound like Teddy Kennedy. You never give up. You lose one and then you go back out there.”
Brazile capped her speech by discussing her love for Louisiana, and the United States.
“I am a partisan, I’m a democrat because I believe in justice and equality for all,” Brazile said. “More than that I am an American because I love my country and I want to do my very best to protect it.”
Donna Brazile speaks on Friday, Nov. 17, 2017, in the Memorial Hill Library on LSU campus.
