After the war, his parents returned with him to Vallejo, California, where his father worked as an electrician at the city's Mare Island Navy Yard, primarily building submarines.

Once healthy, in 1962, he began undergraduate studies at Vallejo Junior College, eventually earned his associate degree, and transferred to San Jose State University in 1965.

Unable to pass the physical exam required for a sports scholarship because of his continuing back problems, after one semester Rollins transferred to California State University, Chico, where he was hired as boxing coach.

After the 1968 election and the GOP gaining a majority in the California Assembly, he was hired by Republican Assemblyman Ray E. Johnson as his chief of staff, despite his prior service under the Democrats.

[9] Rollins moved to Washington in 1973, to serve as principal assistant to Bob Monagan overseeing congressional relations at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

[citation needed] After the landslide GOP victory in November 1980, Rollins was hired to serve as deputy assistant to the president for political affairs under Nofziger.

A week before the 1982 election, on October 25, Rollins suffered two strokes, the result of a deteriorating neck artery that had been injured during his final boxing match in 1967.

He recovered and returned to his White House job in December 1982, holding the position until resigning in October 1983 to lead Reagan's re-election campaign.

Rollins was personally selected for the job by White House Chief of Staff James A. Baker III, who had served as Gerald Ford's manager in 1976.

After the election, Rollins agreed in January 1985 to return to the White House Office of Political Affairs, under new Chief of Staff Donald Regan.

However, Rollins grew disenchanted after Reagan passed him over for the post of Secretary of Labor following the resignation of Raymond Donovan, and with the abrasive chief's staff and style.

In June 1992, Rollins agreed to serve as co-manager (with Carter Democrat Hamilton Jordan) of Ross Perot's 1992 presidential campaign.

After public outcry and calls for an investigation, Rollins partially retracted some of these claims telling People magazine (March 31, 1997, Vol.

"[14] Rollins managed the campaign of George Nethercutt, who defeated Tom Foley in Washington State's eastern congressional district in November 1994.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the two had a falling-out, with Rollins not attending a staff meeting in Tampa and quitting a few days later after he questioned the viability of her campaign.

[20] As of May 2016, Rollins joined the pro–Donald Trump Great America PAC and currently serves as chairman,[21][22] along with founder Eric Beach and treasurer Dan Backer.

[27] In November 2021, Rollins and entrepreneur Harrison Rogers launched Restore Our Freedom PAC, which plans to spend $10 million in support of Republicans ahead of the 2022 and 2024 elections.