Roger Ailes, Former Owner of Putnam County Courier, Dies At 77

PUTNAM COUNTY, NY — Roger Ailes, the former CEO of Fox News, died Thursday at age 77, his wife Elizabeth Ailes confirmed in a statement. The founder and shaper of Fox News, Ailes was also involved in local media, running the Putnam County Courier and the News and Recorder with his wife. The longtime Putnam County residents sold the papers in 2016.

"I am profoundly sad and heartbroken to report that my husband, Roger Ailes, passed away this morning. Roger was a loving husband to me, to his son Zachary, and a loyal friend to many," Elizabeth Ailes said in a statement first posted on the Drudge report. "He was also a patriot, profoundly grateful to live in a country that gave him so much opportunity to work hard, to rise—and to give back. During a career that stretched over more than five decades, his work in entertainment, in politics, and in news affected the lives of many millions. And so even as we mourn his death, we celebrate his life."

No cause of death was reported, but Ailes lived with hemophilia from a young age.

"In Putnam County, we will remember Roger Ailes as a man of genuine compassion, who cared about the community; especially our seniors, veterans and active military personnel. He and his family donated their resources to many local causes that benefited our residents," said County Executive MaryEllen Odell. "On a national level, Roger reminded me of Winston Churchill. He was a man of courage and wisdom. Winston Churchill once said, 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.' This is how I will always remember Roger Ailes. So many owe him so much. He was a loyal and fierce friend who will be truly missed. I send my thoughts and prayers out to Roger’s wife Elizabeth and son Zachary, both of whom he loved more than everything else."

Along with Rupert Murdoch, Ailes built the Fox News network from the ground up beginning in 1996, shaping its brand and voice while cultivating its top talent.

Outpourings of grief flooded social media soon after the news broke, including from many of his former employees.

"Roger Ailes founded one of the most important and successful media outlets in American history," said Laura Ingraham, a frequent contributor to the network. "I will miss his friendship dearly."

Sean Hannity, one of the highest profile hosts on the show, praised his former boss's work: "Today America lost one of its great patriotic warriors. Roger Ailes. For Decades RA's has impacted American politics and media."

While Ailes has been long revered by Republicans and within conservative media circles, he and the network he founded were deeply controversial. Though Ailes and many of his colleagues saw Fox News as fighting against "liberal bias" in the mainstream media, critics argued that the network failed to live up to its famous "Fair and Balanced" slogan, instead displaying a noticeably conservative approach to news. Its strongest opponents denounced the entire enterprise as conservative propaganda.

The network has also been accused by former and current employees of promoting a "systemic and institutional racial bias" in its ranks, as the Daily Beast detailed.

In his last year of life, Ailes was expelled as the leader of Fox News in the tumult of a sexual harassment scandal.

Also in 2016, Ailes and his wife sold their Putnam County newspapers and, though they reportedly had planned to retire in Putnam, bought a mansion in Florida. Ailes was to have had a new senior center named after him near the couple's compound in Garrison, but opposition to the county's plans led him last year to withdraw his offer to give $500,000 to the center.

Former host on the show "Fox & Friends" Gretchen Carlson left the network and sued both Fox News and Ailes in July 2016. Ailes was soon ousted from the network he had launched two decades before. Others reports of sexual harassment emerged, and keeping Ailes on proved untenable for the Murdoch family. In April, star of the network Bill O'Reilly, who Ailes had helped lift from relative obscurity and made one of the most nationally recognizable faces in news, exited Fox under similar circumstances.

In March of 2013, he was asked in a Vanity Fair interview if he was scared to die. "“Because of my hemophilia, I’ve been prepared to face death all of my life," he said. He continued:

As a boy I spent a lot of time in hospitals. My parents had to leave at the end of visiting hours, and I spent a lot of time just lying there in the dark, thinking about the fact that any accident could be dangerous or even fatal. So I’m ready. Everybody fears the unknown. But I have a strong feeling there’s something bigger than us. I don’t think all this exists because some rocks happened to collide. I’m at peace. When it comes, I’ll be fine, calm. I’ll miss life, though. Especially my family.

Showtime announced in April that it is picking up a miniseries about Ailes' life called, "Secure and Hold: The Last Days of Roger Ailes."

A one-time theater producer, Ailes' primary work was bringing the trappings of media and mass communication to the world of politics. He worked on Richard Nixon's 1968 campaign, helping to transform the rough-around-the-edges candidate, who had famously struggled in front of television cameras in prior campaigns, into a more powerful, authoritative figure the country could vote for. A book about that campaign, "The Selling of the President," though perhaps overhyped, launched Ailes to political consultant stardom; He was seen as a kind of communications wunderkind within the Republican Party, a maestro of the television arts.

His media instincts would help turn Fox News into a ratings juggernaut; the fledgling network quickly came to outpace many of the legacy networks as the world came to embrace the concept of 24-hour cable news and opinion. According to Gabriel Sherman's biography of Ailes, "The Loudest Voice in the Room," the Fox News Channel reflected its founders vision and politics, including his biases. It's ideological slant has often led the network to face a backlash over its coverage. For example, the network faced harsh criticism for its laudatory coverage of the George W. Bush administration and its credulity in the lead up to the Iraq War, as Sherman details.

Chris Wallace, a Fox News host, said the network serves to balance out the biases of the other news channels: "I think we are the counter-weight ... they have a liberal agenda, and we tell the other side of the story." But in official statements, Fox News has denied this, claiming no ideological perspective.

"Those who wish to join us in that celebration are encouraged to consider making a donation to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation," Elizabeth Ailes' statement said. "This terrific organization generously provides scholarships to children who lose a parent serving in the United State Marine Corps or any Federal Law Enforcement Agency."

She continued: "Finally, at this time of sorrow and grief we ask you to respect our privacy."

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images News/Getty Images

By Cody Fenwick