Ron Nessen obit

Ron Nessen, Ford’s White House Press Secretary, Dies At 90

 He was not on the list.

Nessen 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.

Born in Rockville, Maryland, on May 25, 1934, Nessen 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.

Nessen began his career as a journalist, starting at Maryland's Montgomery County Sentinel before moving onto United Press and NBC News. 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; 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.

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 July 1966. He was with cameraman Peter Boultwood when he was wounded.

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.

On a previous episode, Nessen was portrayed by Buck Henry.

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.

Nessen was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors from 1996 to 2003, and served as Chair in 2003.

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 Newman also ended in divorce.

Nessen died in Bethesda, Maryland, on March 12, 2025, at the age of 90.