Clarke, Torie 1959-

(Victoria C. Clarke)

PERSONAL:

Born March, 1959, in Pittsburgh, PA; daughter of Charles (a doctor) and Cecilia Clarke; married Brian Graham; children: Colin, Charlie, and Devan. Education: George Washington University, B.A., 1982. Politics: Republican.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—Harry Walker Agency, Inc., 355 Lexington Ave., 21st floor, New York, NY 10017. E-mail—torie@torieclarke.com.

CAREER:

Washington Star, Washington, DC, photographer, 1979-82; press assistant for U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush, 1982; advisor to U.S. Senator John McCain, 1983-89; Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, Washington, DC, 1989-92; National Cable Telecommunications Association, Washington, DC, vice president, 1993-98; Bozell Eskew Advertising, Washington, DC, president, 1998-99; Hill & Knowlton, New York, NY, director of public relations, 1999-2001; Office of the Vice President of the United States, Washington, DC, public relations director, 2001; U.S. Department of Defense, Arlington, VA, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, 2001-03; Comcast Corporation, Philadelphia, PA, senior advisor, 2003—; CNN, Atlanta, GA, analyst, 2003—. Guest on television news programs, including 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, Equal Time, and The Daily Show.

WRITINGS:

Lipstick on a Pig: Winning in the No-Spin Era by Someone Who Knows the Game, Free Press (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Torie Clarke's first book, Lipstick on a Pig: Winning in the No-Spin Era by Someone Who Knows the Game, reveals the lessons she learned over twenty-five years in the upper echelons of power in Washington, DC. As a public relations advisor to senators, presidents, and ultimately as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs under Donald Rumsfeld, she played an active role in the Republican establishment, culminating in her very visible role as a Pentagon spokeswoman for both the War on Terror and the Iraq War.

In her book, Clarke stresses that the most important lesson is to be honest. Admitting mistakes—early and often—is the best way to steer clear of a career-ruining scandal. As an example, she cites the Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s, during which she urged Senator John McCain, for whom she worked at the time, to publicly explain his activities in the matter. Ultimately, his constituents exonerated him; other politicians were less forthcoming and did not survive reelection. Additionally, Clarke urges readers to take responsibility for blunders in person in order to maintain the upper hand when it comes to damage control. Some of her other lessons involve building alliances and maintaining the public trust.

Other parts of the book concentrate on Clarke's role as a Pentagon insider in the run up to the Iraq War. She helped institute the program to embed journalists with the military, a tactic that proved to be both popular and controversial. Lipstick on a Pig, according to Booklist reviewer Vanessa Bush, offers "useful" advice, but a reviewer for Publishers Weekly appreciated the book more as a memoir. Eric Dezenhall, writing in the Wall Street Journal, called the book "fascinating" for the way it "plucks spin control out of the realm of the mystical and puts it in the world of hardworking mortals who are colliding with fastmoving events."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Clarke, Torie, Lipstick on a Pig: Winning in the No- Spin Era by Someone Who Knows the Game, Free Press (New York, NY), 2006.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2006, Vanessa Bush, review of Lipstick on a Pig, p. 40.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 9, 2003, Mackenzie Carpenter, "Their Mother Admires the Five Clarke Sisters Equally."

PR Week, June 23, 2003, "Reporters Praise Clarke's Media Plan for War in Iraq," p. 3; November 17, 2003, "Five Years of Movers: Changing Lanes," p. 49.

Publishers Weekly, December 19, 2005, review of Lipstick on a Pig, p. 57.

Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2006, Eric Dezenhall, review of Lipstick on a Pig.

ONLINE

CBS News Web site,http://www.cbsnews.com/ (February 6, 2006), Hannah Storm, interview with Torie Clarke.

Torie Clarke Home Page, http://www.torieclarke.com (September 14, 2006).

Women in the Economy Web site, http://www.womenintheeconomy.org/ (February 1, 2004), "Woman of the Month for February 2004."