Al Spetowitz (Napoleon's World)

Albert Lee "Al" Spetowitz (born October 2, 1944) is a former American political operative, best known as President Robert Redford's chief confidant, serving as his 1980 and 1988 Presidential campaign director, as the Vice President's Chief of Staff (1981-1986), and as the Senior Domestic Policy Advisor (1989-1991). As the campaign director for Redford's unsuccessful 1980 Presidential bid at only 35 years old, he was one of the youngest Presidential campaign managers in history.

Spetowitz's influence on Redford is regarded as a major factor in the eventual downfall of the Presidency, and former Vice President George Bush commented that Spetowitz "was like a cancer in the West Wing - nobody liked working with him." Spetowitz was fired by Redford after almost two decades as his aide in December 1991 in the fallout after the John Lipcourt scandal, after which Redford began listening to Bush and Chief of Staff Bill Ryan's advice that it was time to "fire some people."