Ronald Harold Nessen (born May 25, 1934) is an American

government official An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their su ...

who served as the 15th White House Press Secretary for President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

from 1974 to 1977. He replaced

Jerald terHorst Jerald Franklin terHorst (July 11, 1922 – March 31, 2010) was an American journalist who served as the 14th White House Press Secretary during the first month of Gerald Ford's presidency. His resignation in protest of Ford's unconditional ...

, who resigned in the wake of President Ford's pardon of former president

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

. Prior to joining the Ford administration, Nessen served as a Washington, D.C. correspondent for

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's v ...

. On the day of Ford's succession to the presidency, August 9, 1974, he provided commentary. That evening he was on the ''

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...

''; in that piece, Nessen reported on the appointment of Jerald terHorst, the man whom he would succeed one month later. Nessen, who also served NBC News as a war correspondent during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, was seriously wounded by

grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade ge ...

fragments while on

patrol A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as law enforcement officers, military personnel, or security personnel, that are assigned to monitor or secure a specific geographic area. Etymology From French ''patrouiller'', from Old Fren ...

outside

Pleiku Pleiku is a city in central Vietnam, located in the Central Highlands region. It is the capital of the Gia Lai Province. Many years ago, it was inhabited primarily by the Bahnar and Jarai ethnic groups, sometimes known as the Montagnards or De ...

in the Central Highlands in July 1966. He was with cameraman Peter Boultwood when he was wounded."NBC's Ron Nessen wounded while on patrol with Charlie Company of 101st Airborne"
''nbcuniversalarchives.com''. Retrieved 2015-08-06. Nessen was a member of the

Peabody Awards The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

Board of Jurors from 1996 to 2003, and served as Chair in 2003.

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. () *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''

On April 17, 1976, Nessen was the first political figure to host ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

.'' His episode is also known for having

open the show with the "Live from New York, it's Saturday night!" tagline."Saturday Night Live Season 1 Episode 17: Ron Nessen ..."
''tv.com''. Retrieved 2016-01-14. On a previous episode, Ron Nessen had been portrayed by

Buck Henry Buck Henry (born Henry Zuckerman; December 9, 1930 – January 8, 2020) was an American actor, screenwriter, and director. Henry's contributions to film included his work as a co-writer for Mike Nichols's ''The Graduate'' (1967) for which he r ...

References

External links

Ron Nessen at the Ford Presidential Library
* ttp://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-365/epid-111494/ Ron Nessen on Saturday Night Live* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nessen, Ron 1934 births American University alumni Living people NBC News people Writers from Washington, D.C. White House Press Secretaries