Editing Ron Nessen

{{Short description|American government official (1934–2025)|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name        = Ron Nessen
|image       = Ron Nessen at Peabody Awards luncheon in 2004.jpg
|caption     = Nessen in 2004
|office      = 15th [[White House Press Secretary]]
|president   = [[Gerald Ford]]
|term_start  = September 9, 1974
|term_end    = January 20, 1977
|predecessor = [[Jerald terHorst]]
|successor   = [[Jody Powell]]
|birth_name  = Ronald Harold Nessen
|birth_date  = {{Birth date|1934|5|25}}
|birth_place = [[Rockville, Maryland]], U.S.
|death_date  = {{Death date and age|2025|3|12|1934|5|25}}
|death_place = [[Bethesda, Maryland]], U.S.
|spouse      = {{ubl|{{marriage|Sandra Frey|1954|end = divorced}}|{{marriage|Young Hi Song|1967|1981|end = divorced}}|{{marriage|Johanna Newman|1988|end = divorced}}}}
|children    = 3
|party       = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|education   = {{plainlist|
* [[Shepherd University]]
* [[American University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
}}
}}

'''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]] 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]].

==Early life==
Nessen was born in [[Rockville, Maryland]], on May 25, 1934, the son of Ida Edith (Kaufman) and Frederick Edward Nessen, who owned a variety store.<ref name = McFadden>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/us/politics/ron-nessen-dead.html|title = Ron Nessen, Ford's White House Press Secretary, Dies at 90|last = McFadden|first = Robert D.|date = March 13, 2025|accessdate = March 13, 2025|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|url-access = limited}}</ref><ref>https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/sites/default/files/pdf_documents/library/document/0204/1512034.pdf</ref> He grew up in the [[Shepherd Park]] area of [[Washington, D.C.]], and was educated at [[Calvin Coolidge High School]] before going on to graduate from [[American University]].<ref name = McFadden/>

==Career==
[[File:Ron Nessen 1975 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Nessen in 1975]]
Nessen began his career as a journalist, starting at Maryland's ''[[Montgomery County Sentinel]]'' before moving onto [[United Press International|United Press]] and [[NBC News]].<ref name = McFadden/> 
Serving as a [[war correspondent]] for NBC News during the [[Vietnam War]], he was seriously wounded by [[grenade]] fragments while on [[Patrolling|patrol]] outside [[Pleiku]] in the [[Central Highlands (Vietnam)|Central Highlands]] in July 1966. He was with cameraman Peter Boultwood when he was wounded.<ref>Steinman, Ron, [https://books.google.com/books?id=QPY-j2SQYzEC&dq=ron+nessen+wounded&pg=PA98 ''Inside Television's First War: A Saigon Journal''] (University of Missouri Press, 2002), via ''books.google.com''. Retrieved 2016-01-14.</ref><ref name=NBCUniv>[http://www.nbcuniversalarchives.com/nbcuni/clip/5112492075_s01.do "NBC's Ron Nessen wounded while on patrol with Charlie Company of 101st Airborne"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322131523/http://www.nbcuniversalarchives.com/nbcuni/clip/5112492075_s01.do |date=2016-03-22 }}, ''nbcuniversalarchives.com''. Retrieved 2015-08-06.</ref>
On the day of Ford's succession to the presidency, August 9, 1974, he provided commentary.{{cn|date=March 2025}} That evening he was on the ''[[NBC Nightly News]]''; 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.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

{{expand section| his work in the Ford administration|date=March 2025}}

On April 17, 1976, 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.<ref>[http://www.tv.com/shows/saturday-night-live/ron-nessen-toni-basil-patti-smith-111494/ "Saturday Night Live Season 1 Episode 17: Ron Nessen ..."], ''tv.com''. Retrieved 2016-01-14.</ref><ref name=NBCUniv/>
On a previous episode, Nessen was portrayed by [[Buck Henry]].{{cn|date=March 2025}}

Nessen also served as host of [[WTTG]]'s long-running news program "Panorama" and later headed the news department at the [[Mutual Broadcasting System]], adding oversight of NBC Radio News under its corporate successor [[Westwood One]].{{cn|date=March 2025}}

Nessen was a member of the [[Peabody Award|Peabody Awards]] [[The George Foster Peabody Awards Board of Jurors|Board of Jurors]] from 1996 to 2003, and served as Chair in 2003.<ref>[http://www.peabodyawards.com/stories/story/george-foster-peabody-awards-board-members "July 1, 1996 – June 30, 1997 ... July 1, 2003 – June 30, 2004 Peabody Board Members"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518091724/http://www.peabodyawards.com/stories/story/george-foster-peabody-awards-board-members |date=May 18, 2015 }}, ''peabodyawards.com''. Retrieved 2016-01-14.</ref>

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

Nessen died in [[Bethesda, Maryland]], on March 12, 2025, at the age of 90.<ref name = McFadden/>

==Works==
{{Lacking ISBN|date=March 2025}}
*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''

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{IMDb name| 1484182}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110514064419/http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/guides/Finding%20Aids/Nessen,%20Ron%20-%20Files.htm Ron Nessen at the Ford Presidential Library]
* [http://www.brookings.edu/comm/news/19990508nessen.htm Brookings Institution press release on Nessen's becoming VP of Communications there]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050408110539/http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-365/epid-111494/ Ron Nessen on Saturday Night Live]
* {{C-SPAN|4001}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Jerald terHorst]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[White House Press Secretary]]|years=1974–1977}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jody Powell]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{WHPS}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nessen, Ron}}
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:2025 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American journalists]]
[[Category:American University alumni]]
[[Category: Maryland Republicans]]
[[Category:NBC News people]]
[[Category:United Press International people]]
[[Category:Writers from Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:White House press secretaries]]