Ronald Harold Nessen (May 25, 1934 – March 12, 2025) was an American government official and journalist who served as the 15th

White House Press Secretary The White House press secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States federal government, especially with regard to the president, senior aides and ...

for President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

from 1974 to 1977. He replaced Jerald terHorst, 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 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

Early life

Nessen was born in

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, and is part of the Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fourth ...

, on May 25, 1934, the son of Ida Edith (Kaufman) and Frederick Edward Nessen, who owned a variety store. He grew up in the Shepherd Park area of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and was educated at Calvin Coolidge High School before going on to graduate from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

Career

Nessen began his career as a journalist, starting at Maryland's '' Montgomery County Sentinel'' before moving onto

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

and

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

. Serving as a

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

for NBC News during the

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 ...

, he was seriously wounded by

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

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 The word "patrol" is derived from the Frenc ...

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. 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 Tom Llamas'' for its weeknight broadcasts ) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network ...

''; in that piece, Nessen reported on the appointment of Jerald terHorst, the man whom he would succeed one month later, serving until the end of the Ford administration in January 1977. On April 17, 1976, Nessen was the first political figure to host ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

.'' His episode is also known for having

open the show with the "Live from New York, it's Saturday night!" tagline. On a previous episode, Nessen was 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 re ...

. Nessen also served as host of

WTTG WTTG (channel 5) is a television station in Washington, D.C., serving as the market's Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV station WDCA (cha ...

's long-running news program "Panorama" and later headed the news department at the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...

, adding oversight of NBC Radio News under its corporate successor

Westwood One Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...

. 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 Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

Board of Jurors from 1996 to 2003, and served as Chair in 2003."July 1, 1996 – June 30, 1997 ... July 1, 2003 – June 30, 2004 Peabody Board Members"
, ''peabodyawards.com''. Retrieved 2016-01-14.

Personal life and death

Nessen married Sandra Frey in 1954; they had two children, one of whom died at age five, and later divorced. In 1967, he married Young Hi Song, with whom he had a son before divorcing in 1981. A 1988 marriage to fellow journalist Johanna Neuman also ended in divorce. Nessen died in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

, on March 12, 2025, at the age of 90.

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''

References

External links

*
Ron Nessen at the Ford Presidential Library

* ttp://web.archive.org/web/20050408110539/http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-365/epid-111494/ Ron Nessen on Saturday Night Live* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nessen, Ron 1934 births 2025 deaths 20th-century American journalists American University alumni Maryland Republicans NBC News people United Press International people Writers from Washington, D.C. White House press secretaries