fights, and manafort was the master of this universe. he teamed up with a guy named roger stone who is going to be a recuring character in the manafort story and the story of donald trump. with manafort and stone, he became president of the young republicans, establishing the two as potential king makers. paul manafort came out of the womb as an operator. before his journey to washington, manafort s story began here in new britton, connecticut in 1949. new britton a known as the hardware state, the home of black and decker, very hard scrabble place. still, paul s grandfather, an italian immigrant, thrived here, starting manafort brothers, a demolition company that became a construction power house receiving government contracts