Schact and Vita Severn constantly bickered about how The Smiler's campaign should be managed, often trying to make one another look bad in front of the press. Unlike Vita, who believes that Callahan can embody a "third way" between conservatism and liberalism, Schact believes that the "third way" means finding a balance between honesty and outright deception. Spider believes and later proves that Schact is the prime architect of Vita Severn's assassination, and eventually exposes him as a predatory pedophile. Schact later commits suicide after he is exposed and incinerates his home to minimalise any damaging evidence it might yield.