Smoke in Their Eyes: Chronicle of a Friendship

Michael Pertschuk's book is a must-read for anyone who is working to accomplish significant social change in America, particularly on issues where there is a powerful, monied opposition. He gives us critical insights into how a progressive movement can hurt itself by unneccessary personal attacks and ideological rigidity. He also teaches us how a progressive movement can overcome these obstacles and become a powerful unified force for good in our society. Over the years, I have seen the kind of internicine warfare so artfully described by Mr. Pertschuk undermine efforts to reduce gun violence and health care expansion. I hope that his book will help all of learn how to work together to achieve our common goals.

Reviewer: Morton Mintz from Chevy Chase, MD United States. This is a riveting insider's account of an awesome snatching of defeat from the jaws of victory. The anti-tobacco movement had for decades soight legislation that would prevent the premature deaths of millions of Americans. On the brink of success--the McCain bill--the movement blew it. Michael Pertschuk's book--thoroughly researched, eloquently written, and scrupuously fair--tells how and why. It powerfully warns all humanitarian causes seeking legislation in a corrupted Washington: You can't get it all. Understand that the perfect is the enemy of the good. Embrace an imperfect compromise that takes giant strides in the right direction. And beware egomaniacal leaders: they can become best friends of your enemies.

"Lessons in Movement Leadership from the Tobacco Wars," is the telling subtitle to this deeply-searching book that examines the history of the 1997-1998 round-robin negotiations between the US tobacco companies, litigation lawyers, anti-tobacco advocates, the Clinton administration, and Congress. The matter finally came down to two votes against passage of Senator McCain's comprehensive tobacco control bill, which would have provided the greatest concessions to public health ever imagined, or indeed now imaginable. These included federally mandated regulation of tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration, a stiff increase in the price of cigarettes (the most potent measure to reduce the prevalence of smoking), severe strictures on advertising, penalties against the industry if teen-age smoking rates didn't fall, a national program for smokers who want to quit, among other provisions. The eventual settlement between the US Attorneys-General and the industry is a pale reflection of what could have been. All advocacy and citizen movements have their "radical" and "moderate" wings. The rejectionists of the anti-tobacco movement refused to support the McCain bill in the end becauseit provided the tobacco industry with a (large) annual cap on how much they would have to pay out in law suits each year, assuming they lost such suits. There were those movement leaderswho refused any concession that smelled at all of immunity for an industry whose products kill over 400,000 Americans each year, and castigated the moderates for even sitting down with theindustry to discuss a settlement. The failure of the McCain bill was also a set back to the nascent tobacco control movements in other countries, "because we are not able to stop tobacco aggression without success in the United States," as one Polish activist observed.The author, former head of the Federal Trade Commission, founder of the Advocacy Institute, and long-time anti-tobacco activist, richly analyzes what went wrong with a primer on "ThirteenWays to Lead a Movement Backward," whose obvious inverse is how to lead a movement to victory. A successful movement strategically and knowingly blends vision and pragmatism,engages in a "good cop-bad cop" approach to negotiations. The failed movement breaks out into factional war. The anti-tobacco movement yet to recover.The other key lesson, is that all the principals but the rejectionists were willing to reconsider their roles in the debacle, to search deeply into their actions and motives, and to examine how they might have behaved differently. Pertschuk gives his own mea culpa. Even Ralph Nader learned something new. When the next opportunity comes, as it surely will, I would want these reflective persons to be out in front again.

Mike Pertschuk's new book provides tremendously important lessons to all of us working on social justice issues. His story makes you wonder what could have been possible in the tobacco wars if people on the side of the angels worked together, strategized together, honestly communicated with one another, and avoided personal attacks.As one who actively fought with many tobacco prevention activists to kill the settlement and "improve" the McCain bill, even I found value in reading the tale from the perspective of Matt Myers. Mike's book in no way changed my mind about the final outcome (i.e,, I think the settlement deal flopping was a good thing for the movement. And while I feel bad that the McCain bill died, I remain skeptical that the industry would have allowed it to pass even with some liability relief). That said, there are lessons to be learned.Smoke in Their Eyes did make me wonder about what could have been possible had movement leaders developed strong, trusting relationships with each other, and if they communicated actively, openly, and honestly. The lack of communication between both leadership camps was most telling, in my opinion.Besides its critical lessons, SMOKE IN THEIR EYES is a wonderful, gripping, story that makes you feel like you are right in the middle of the biggest national anti-tobacco battle in US history.

As a platoon leader of fearless tobacco control activists on the Northern California front in the national Tobacco Wars, I have valued Mike Pertschuk's advice and writings over the last dozen years as my small band and I steadfastly fought the powerful multi-headed enemy while having minimal loses while slowly gaining ground locally, statewide and finally nationally. It is to bad that over time my and many others efforts have been counteracted not only by the clever tactics of the tobacco industry and its allies and surrogates but also by our supposed comrades in arms within the tobacco control movement itself. In his work and writings at the Advocacy Institute and now with "Smoke in Their Eyes: Lessons in Movement Leadership from the Tobacco Wars", Mike Pertschuk eloquently describes and dissects these industry tactics and internal conflicts within the movement. In turning a spotlight on tobacco industry tactics that helped the industry, let's hope for just the time being, win this phase of the war, Pertschuk's book shows how the tobacco control movement was both massively out-gunned and out-smarted in nearly every national battle. And like many great movements for social and economic justice, in this case for public health, it was unfortunate that self-appointed and overly doctrinaire splinter groups within the movement spun off loudly and arrogantly from the main movement in pursuit of their own agenda, fame and fortune, no matter what damage it did to the movement as a whole and accomplishment of the endgame of defeating Big Tobacco.Pertschuk's book takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster ride, first up and then down again, in chronicling the bright and promising events starting with early tobacco policy successes on the local level, to the brave efforts of now-deceased former Congressman Mike Synar getting the federal law named after him to hopefully financially leverage states to finally enforce their decades-old laws prohibiting tobacco sales to minors, then followed by the bold issuance and courageous defense of the FDA youth tobacco prevention regulations and the stellar work of the Koop-Kessler Advisory Commission on Tobacco Policy and Public Health. But then we were forced to witness, including on national TV, the depressing sight of the McCain tobacco bill being publicly killed in the Senate by the tobacco lobby and its Republican allies, then followed by the double national tragedy of the sellout agreement by the state attorneys general to the tobacco industry while the Supreme Court was overturning all the FDA regulations and ground-breaking Massachusetts outdoor and retail tobacco ad and promotional restrictions. And finally, we have the dismal final results, essentially the failure, of the federal Synar amendment due to overt and clandestine tobacco and retail industry sabotage tactics along with bureaucratic bumbling, incompetence and betrayal by a key federal agency and half-heartedly motivated Clinton administration.Per