younger manafort appeared to be playing by the rules. at the 1976 republican national convention, manafort, just two years after receiving his law degree from georgetown, helped president ford win a bruising primary battle with former california governor ronald reagan. the inner workings of the convention, he understood, gathering delegates and getting their equipme their commitments and predict political drama in advance. he was so good, he was called the count. there will be no more betrayal of allies and friends of the united states government. as the reagan revolution began in 1980, manafort and his pal, roger stone, became integral parts of the campaign with stone organizing for the giver in the northeast. paul manafort coordinated the southern plank, achieving the
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