Clyde Haberman

Roger E Ailes, who shaped the images that helped elect three Republican presidents and then became a dominant, often-intimidating force in American conservative politics at the helm of Fox News until he was forced out in a sexual predation scandal, died on May 18. He was 77. No cause of death or other details were given in an announcement by Ailes’s wife, Elizabeth. Ailes was a hemophiliac long plagued by obesity and arthritis.

Leaked information — its uses and abuses — lies at the heart of the current episode of Retro Report, a series of essays and video documentaries that study major news stories of the past and how they influence events today. Presidents themselves have long encouraged seepage when it suits their purposes, as the New York Times columnist James Reston observed decades ago. “The ship of state,” he said, “is the only known vessel that leaks from the top.” It is when unauthorized disclosures put them on the spot that leaders start wailing.