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Woodward: Roger Ailes tried to enlist Petraeus as presidential candidate

Bob Woodward reports that in 2011 Fox News president Roger Ailes advised Gen. David Petraues to run for president unless President Obama offered him the top military position as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Had Petraeus run, Woodward writes, Ailes, a former political consultant to Richard M. Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, would have considered resigning as head of Fox to run Petraeus's presidential campaign. Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and CEO of News Corp, which owns Fox News, may have funded the campaign:

The Fox News chairman’s message was delivered to Petraeus by Kathleen T. McFarland, a Fox News national security analyst and former national security and Pentagon aide in three Republican administrations. ... McFarland also said that Ailes... might resign as head of Fox to run a Petraeus presidential campaign. At one point, McFarland and Petraeus spoke about the possibility that Rupert Murdoch, the head of News Corp., which owns Fox News, would “bankroll” the campaign. ... Petraeus demurred, saying he would consider the CIA directorship if Obama offered it, as the president did several weeks later. Petraeus was confirmed and sworn in as director on Sept. 6, 2011. He resigned a year later, on Nov. 9, after the disclosure of an extramarital affair with his biographer. ...

Ailes tells Woodward “it was more of a joke, a wiseass way I have" and suggested he wasn't "a kingmaker."

Read the full story here.