Merrie Marcia Spaeth (born August 23, 1948) is an American

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

and communications consultant.

Early life and education

Spaeth is the daughter of Dr. Philip G. Spaeth and Marcia Ryan Spaeth. She attended

Germantown Friends School Germantown Friends School (GFS) is a coeducational independent PreK–12 school in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States under the supervision of Germantown Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. In 1970, Spaeth graduated with honors from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

and later earned an MBA from

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and one of ...

, where she graduated ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

''.

Career

At the age of 15 in 1964, Spaeth was cast to play Marian "Gil" Gilbert in ''

The World of Henry Orient ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

''. Between 1970 and 1978, Spaeth wrote for numerous print publications and was a reporter for several local television stations. Additionally, Spaeth was a speechwriter for

William S. Paley William Samuel Paley (September 28, 1901 – October 26, 1990) was an American businessman, primarily involved in the media, and best known as the chief executive who built the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) from a small radio network into o ...

, founder and chairman of

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. In 1978 Spaeth hosted and produced a nightly television show in Columbus, Ohio, for Warner-Amex Cable. In 1979, Spaeth was a producer for ''20/20,'' where she produced segments on

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer and actor. He was born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish Americans, Polish origin and enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, ...

, gifted children and motorcycle gangs. In the early 1980s, Spaeth was accepted to the

White House Fellows The White House Fellows program is a non-partisan fellowship established via Executive Order 11183 by President Lyndon B. Johnson in October 1964. The fellowship is one of the United States' most prestigious programs for leadership and public se ...

program where she was assigned to work under FBI Director William Webster as his special assistant, after which she worked for two years as director of public affairs for the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

. In 1983, she became White House Director of Media Relations in the administration of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

, serving until 1985. After moving to Dallas with her husband, Spaeth founded Spaeth Communications in 1987. Starting in the 1990s, Spaeth currently teaches BLC (business leadership center) seminar classes at the

Cox School of Business The Edwin L. Cox School of Business is an American business school that is part of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. The SMU Cox School of Business is headquartered in four buildings on SMU's 210-acre main campus five miles ...

at SMU.

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

During the 2004 presidential campaign, Spaeth advised the

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, formerly known as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT), was a political group ( 527 group) of United States Swift boat veterans; former prisoners of war of the Vietnam War, formed during the 2004 president ...

, a group that questioned the Democratic presidential candidate

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

’s

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

record. Since the 2004 election, the term "Swift Boating" (or "swiftboating") has become a common expression for a campaign attacking opponents by questioning their credibility and patriotism in a dishonest manner. The term is most often used with the pejorative meaning of a smear campaign. Spaeth has referred to her involvement in this campaign as her “biggest regret.”

Work with Ken Starr

Spaeth was hired as a communications consultant to

Ken Starr Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022) was an American lawyer and judge who as independent counsel authored the Starr Report, which served as the basis of the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He headed an investigation of mem ...

, an attorney who served as

Solicitor General of the United States The solicitor general of the United States (USSG or SG), is the fourth-highest-ranking official within the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and represents the federal government in cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. ...

under

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

and Special prosecutor for the

Whitewater controversy The Whitewater controversy, Whitewater scandal, Whitewatergate, or simply Whitewater, was an American political controversy during the 1990s. It began with an investigation into the real estate investments of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their ...

during the

Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...

. Starr was then serving as President of

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

during the Baylor University sexual assault scandal. As president, Starr had received email messages from a female student who claimed that she had been raped, though he later denied receiving the messages. In a television interview with

KWTX-TV KWTX-TV (channel 10) is a television station in Waco, Texas, United States, serving Central Texas as an affiliate of CBS and Telemundo. It is owned by Gray Media alongside Belton-licensed CW affiliate KNCT (channel 46). The two stations sha ...

, Spaeth was present and periodically stopped the interview to coach Starr on his answers about the controversy.

Publications

Spaeth contributed to the

Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity ttps://dceo.illinois.gov/smallbizassistance/beginhere/businessinformationcenter.html Business Information Center The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) is the code department of the Illinois state government that spons ...

from 2006 to 2010 writing columns on executive communication. Additionally, Spaeth has written for ''HR Executive,

PRWeek ''PRWeek'' is a trade magazine and news website for the public relations and wider communications industry. It is published by Haymarket Media Group. History ''PRWeek'' was originally launched as a private venture in 1984 and was acquired b ...

, Bank Marketing, Public Diplomacy, Modern Healthcare, PRSA Strategist'', and ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

''. She has written three books: ''Marketplace Communication'', ''Words Matter'', and ''You Don’t Say!''

Personal life

Spaeth was previously married to Robert S. Thanhauser Jr. In 1984, she married "Tex" Lezar, who served as a counselor to

William French Smith William French Smith II (August 26, 1917 – October 29, 1990) was an American lawyer and the 74th United States Attorney General. After attaining his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1942, Smith went on to join the law firm of Gibson, Dun ...

and later as

United States Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the adv ...

for the

Office of Legal Policy The Office of Legal Policy (OLP) is a senior management office within the United States Department of Justice, which describes itself as the "focal point for the development and coordination of Departmental policy." In addition to rendering lega ...

. They have three children. Lezar died on January 5, 2004. Spaeth is a Republican.

References

* https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/18/style/merrie-spaeth-is-married-to-tex-lezar.html * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrCZyAsrJNc * http://www.spaethcom.com/article/suddenly-a-star-in-the-house

External links

*Mike Hofman
"In a Former Life: Merrie Spaeth"
''Inc. magazine'', March 2000.
Executive bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spaeth, Merrie 1948 births Living people Columbia Business School alumni Smith College alumni Actresses from Philadelphia American child actresses American film actresses American public relations people Germantown Friends School alumni 20th-century American actresses