Ronald Harold Nessen is a notable American government official who held the esteemed position of the thirteenth White House Press Secretary for President Gerald Ford from 1974 to 1977. Following the resignation of Jerald terHorst, who stepped down in the aftermath of President Ford's pardon of former president Richard Nixon, Nessen took on the role.
Prior to joining the Ford administration, Nessen worked as a Washington, D.C. correspondent for NBC News, providing insightful commentary on the day of Ford's succession to the presidency, August 9, 1974. That evening, he appeared on the NBC Nightly News, delivering a report on the appointment of terHorst, the man whom he would ultimately succeed just a month later.
Nessen's remarkable career also includes his work as a war correspondent during the Vietnam War, where he was seriously wounded by grenade fragments while on patrol outside Pleiku in the Central Highlands in July 1966. He was accompanied by cameraman Peter Boultwood at the time of the incident.
In addition to his distinguished government and journalism career, Nessen served as a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors from 1996 to 2003, and held the position of Chair in 2003.
