few months later, the tobacco firm sued Wigand for
“breach of contract” for discussing the terms of his
severance with a colleague. Threatening to withdraw
Wigand’s family medical benefits, the company pres-
sured him to sign a more restrictive confidentiality
agreement.
In early 1994, Wigand served as a consultant to
Columbia Broadcasting System’s (CBS)60 Minutes
analyzing documents about Philip Morris’s “fire-
safe” cigarette program. The relationship that devel-
oped between CBS and Wigand would lead to a 60
Minutessegment in February, 1996, about the to-
bacco industry and its alleged manipulation of nico-
tine levels in cigarettes as well as its research into
nicotine addiction. In 1995, Wigand accepted a posi-
tion at duPont Manual High School in Louisville,
Kentucky, teaching chemistry and Japanese.
Brown and Williamson filed a lawsuit against
Wigand in 1996, and the company attempted a
smear campaign against him with the publication of
a five-hundred-page dossier about his personal life.
The Wall Street Journalreviewed the dossier and re-
futed many of the allegations, listing them as provid-
ing only “scant or contradictory evidence.” In June,
1997, Brown and Williamson’s lawsuit against
Wigand was dismissed as a result of more than $360
billion in settlements between the tobacco industry
and attorneys general in forty states.
In 1999, Hollywood released the motion picture
The Insider, starring Russell Crowe and Al Pacino and
based on Wigand’s exposé of the to-
bacco industry during his appear-
ance on60 Minutes.
Impact Wigand’s courage to blow
the whistle on the tobacco industry
cost him his job and led to death
threats against him and his family. As
a result of his courageous testimony,
he helped the public become keenly
aware of the hazards of smoking and
helped win a historic lawsuit against
the tobacco industry.
Further Reading
Brenner, Marie. “The Man Who
Knew Too Much.” Vanity Fair,
May, 1996, 170-192.
Hwang, Suein L., and Milo Geyelin.
“Getting Personal: Brown and
Williamson Has Five-Hundred-
Page Dossier Attacking Chief Critic.”The Wall
Street Journal, February 1, 1996, p. A1.
Joseph C. SantoraSee also Nicotine patch; Tobacco industry settle-
ment. Wilder, L. Douglas
Identification Governor of Virginia, 1990-1994
Born January 17, 1931; Richmond, Virginia
Wilder, inaugurated in Richmond, Virginia, on Januar y
13, 1990, as the nation’s first elected African American
state governor, was to preside over a controversial adminis-
tration, make abortive bids for the presidency and the U.S.
Senate, and go on to be an enigmatic and often unsettling
factor on the Virginia political scene.
L. Douglas Wilder, who had been born and reared in
Richmond during an era of racial segregation, was
sworn in as Virginia’s governor on the basis of a nar-
row electoral victory on November 7, 1989. Though
much was made of Wilder’s African American heri-
tage, he had in fact run as a moderate Democrat with
a strong anticrime focus. He proceeded to navigate
this course during his administration, often anger-
ing liberal elements within his own party.
Wilder’s gubernatorial term was marked by a
budget shortfall, followed by state employee layoffsThe Nineties in America Wilder, L. Douglas 919
L. Douglas Wilder is sworn in as the governor of Virginia on January 13, 1990, becom-
ing the first elected black governor of the United States.(AP/Wide World Photos)