Richard Viguerie/Definition

Perhaps the best-known political advertising specialist in the United States, who pioneered highly automated direct mail; effect on conservative causes earned him The Washington Post designation of “the Conservatives’ Voice of America,” and the Washington Times' of 13 “Conservatives of the Century.” Richard Viguerie started an advertising agency in 1965 with one employee. In 40 years of combining computer technology with political direct marketing techniques, he mailed more than two billion letters, making possible conservative think tanks, magazines, newsletters, and dozens of organizations and successful political campaigns. Washington Post political editor David Broder wrote that such tactics “may have tipped the entire political balance ... the story of that development is the story of one man — Richard Viguerie.” He has written for the New York Times, USA Today, and hundreds of other publications.