Ed Rollins
| Ed Rollins | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Edward Rollins March 19, 1943 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Alma mater | California State University, Chico |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Shari Lois Scharfer |
Edward Rollins (born March 19, 1943) is a Republican campaign consultant and advisor who has worked on several high-profile political campaigns in the United States. In 1983-84, he was National Campaign Director for the Reagan-Bush '84 campaign, winning 49 of 50 states. In December 2007, he was named the national campaign chairman for the Mike Huckabee campaign for President. Rollins is currently the Co-Chairman of the pro–Donald Trump Great America PAC.
Rollins was born in Boston, Massachusetts, into an Irish Catholic blue-collar household. At the time, his father was stationed with the U.S. Army in the Aleutians. After the war, his parents returned with him to Vallejo, California, where his father (previously stationed there) found work as an electrician at the city's Mare Island Navy Yard, primarily building submarines.
Rollins grew up in the Federal Terrace housing project, attending St. Vincent Ferrer Grammar and High School. For a year, at age 14, he attended St. Joseph's, a junior seminary in Mountain View, before returning to Vallejo.
He also fought as a boxer from ages 13 to 23, winning several West Coast amateur titles while an undergraduate. "My dreams of being an Olympic boxer were snuffed out in 1967, when I lost my last fight by a TKO," he wrote in his 1996 autobiography. Rollins recalls his record as 164 victories and just 2 defeats -- "the wins are all a blur ... but I remember every detail -- every punch, every pain, every mistake -- of my two losses." His last bout was with '61 and '64 National AAU Champion (and 1964 Olympian) Bob Christopherson; Rollins recalled later that he was leading on points, when he threw out his back in the 3rd round, and the referee stopped the fight.
Rollins also played football as a fullback, but suffered a serious back injury his senior year (requiring six surgeries over the next 35 years). Graduating from high school in 1961, he tried to enlist in the Marines, but failed the physical. Shortly thereafter, Rollins spent most of a year in the hospital dealing with his back problems. Once healthy, in 1962, he began undergraduate studies at Vallejo Junior College, eventually earned his Associates' degree and transferred to San Jose State University in 1965. Unable to pass the physical exam required for a sports scholarship because of his continuing back problems, after one semester Rollins transferred to California State University, Chico, where he was hired as boxing coach. There he earned his BA in Political Science with a second major in Physical Education in 1968.
...
Wikipedia