Ron Nessen

Ronald Harold Nessen (born May 25, 1934) was White House Press Secretary for President Gerald Ford from 1974 to 1977. He replaced Jerald terHorst, who resigned in the wake of President Ford's pardon of former president Richard Nixon.

Prior to joining the Ford administration, Nessen served as a Washington, D.C. correspondent for NBC News. On the day of Ford's succession to the presidency, August 9, 1974, he provided commentary for the inauguration. He also covered the President in a report broadcast that evening on NBC Nightly News. In that piece, Nessen reported on the appointment of terHorst, the man whom he himself would succeed one month later.

Nessen, who also served NBC News as a war correspondent during the Vietnam War, was seriously wounded by grenade fragments while on patrol outside Pleiku in the Central Highlands in April 1967.^[1]

Quotes

"Nobody believes the official spokesman but everybody trusts an unidentified source."

Works

• Nessen, Ron. It Sure Looks Different on the Inside. Playboy Press, 1979. (ISBN 0-87223-500-9)
• Nessen, Ron. The First Lady
• Nessen, Ron. The Hour
• Nessen, Ron and Neuman, Johanna. Death with Honors
• Nessen, Ron and Neuman, Johanna. Press Corpse
• Nessen, Ron and Neuman, Johanna. Knight and Day

Saturday Night Live

Nessen was the first political figure to host Saturday Night Live. His episode is also known for having Gerald Ford open the show with the "Live From New York, It's Saturday Night!" tagline.^[2]

References

1. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=QPY-j2SQYzEC&pg=PA98&lpg=PA98&dq=ron+nessen+wounded&source=bl&ots=tRoVF93y90&sig=pnUbZLgqYLVm1TgVlX0wZkMiRKM&hl=en&ei=YMZNTaqNG4GBlAfqmZHgDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CDAQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=ron%20nessen%20wounded&f=false
2. ^ http://www.tv.com/saturday-night-live/ron-nessen-toni-basil-patti-smith/episode/111494/summary.html?tag=ep_list;ep_title;16

External links

• Ron Nessen at the Ford Presidential Library
• Brookings Institution press release on Nessen's becoming VP of Communications there
• Ron Nessen on Saturday Night Live

Political offices
Preceded by Jerald terHorst	White House Press Secretary 1974 – 1977	Succeeded by Jody Powell

Persondata
Name	Nessen, Ron
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 25, 1934
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Date of death
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