You are currently viewing Ron Nessen, Ford’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 90

He pledged a new era of openness in the wake of the Watergate scandal, but his relationship with the press corps proved rocky.

Ron Nessen, who as President Gerald R. Ford’s press secretary from 1974 to 1977 pledged a new era of openness after the Watergate scandal but had an often rocky relationship with the White House press corps, died on Wednesday in Bethesda, Md. He was 90.

His death was confirmed by his son, Edward.

A former wire service and NBC News correspondent, Mr. Nessen joined the White House at an extraordinary time: President Richard M. Nixon, facing impeachment for Watergate crimes, had quit; Vice President Ford had replaced and pardoned him; and a nation and its press, fed up with lies and deception, looked upon the new president and his spokesman with varying degrees of suspicion.

It hardly helped that Mr. Ford’s first choice as press secretary, J.F. terHorst, had resigned

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