Lyn Nofziger
Encyclopedia
Franklyn Curran "Lyn" Nofziger (June 8, 1924 – March 27, 2006) was an American
journalist
, political consultant and author
. He served as press secretary in Ronald Reagan
's administration as Governor of California, and as a White House
advisor during the Richard Nixon
administration and again during the Reagan presidency.
, California
. He served in the United States Army
. He earned a B.A.
in journalism from San Jose State College in San Jose
, California, and would work for sixteen years as a reporter, editor and Washington, D.C.
, correspondent for Copley Newspapers and Copley News Service.
In 1966, Nofziger was named press secretary for Reagan's successful gubernatorial campaign
in California, and served two years as Governor Reagan's Director of Communications. After Richard Nixon's election as U.S. President
in 1968, Nofziger served the Nixon White House as deputy assistant to the president for congressional relations and the Republican National Committee
as its deputy chairman for communications. Nofziger worked for Nixon's presidential re-election campaign in 1972 as executive director of the California Committee to Re-Elect the President
.
As Governor Reagan set his sights on the Republican
presidential nomination in 1976, Nofziger served his campaign as press secretary, convention director and director of the California campaign. When Gerald Ford
won the Republican nomination, Nofziger assisted with the Ford-Dole campaign, which lost the election to Democrat
Jimmy Carter
and the Carter-Mondale campaign.
Nofziger went back to work for Governor Reagan as he began laying the groundwork for the 1980 campaign, serving as executive vice-chairman of Citizens for the Republic, a political action committee
founded by Reagan. With the run at the White House in full gear in 1979, Mr. Nofziger served as deputy chairman for finance for the Reagan for President organization. Reagan won the election, defeating Carter's campaign for a second term.
Nofziger never sought to be Press Secretary in the White House, this being in his words "a young man's job". Jim Brady was named Press Secretary. Nofziger was instead named to the post of assistant to the president for political affairs in the White House, and Nofziger was employed there for about a year. Mr. Nofziger was a senior consultant for the 1984 Reagan-Bush Re-Election Campaign and a member of the 1985 Inaugural Committee.
Nofziger also ran political campaigns for Pat Buchanan
and Steve Forbes
.
, a defense contractor
. Under this law, former government officials could not lobby their former office for a period of two years. Nofziger knew this, and for two years, he did not lobby the Office of Political Affairs at the White House. Federal prosecutors claimed the law made it illegal for Nofziger to contact any office at the White House. In spite of the ambiguity, Nofziger was indicted and later convicted of violating the law. Nofziger vigorously fought the indictment and conviction, which was eventually overturned on appeal. The government pressed its case all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which refused to reinstate the conviction. The federal government and the prosecutor, James C. McKay, lost in the end.
. He wrote four Western novels with a hero named Tackett, a drifter who falls into situations that compel him to rescue women in distress. The Tackett series was an homage to Nofziger's friend, Louis L'Amour
, famed author of "The Sacketts" and scores of other Westerns.
were major players in halting the 1970s metrication
effort in the USA, largely by convincing President Ronald Reagan
to shut down the United States Metric Board
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, political consultant and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. He served as press secretary in Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
's administration as Governor of California, and as a White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
advisor during the Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
administration and again during the Reagan presidency.
Biography
Nofziger was born and reared in BakersfieldBakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. He earned a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in journalism from San Jose State College in San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, California, and would work for sixteen years as a reporter, editor and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, correspondent for Copley Newspapers and Copley News Service.
In 1966, Nofziger was named press secretary for Reagan's successful gubernatorial campaign
California gubernatorial election, 1966
The California gubernatorial election, 1966 was held on November 8, 1966. The election was a contest between incumbent Governor Pat Brown, the Democratic candidate, and actor Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate. Reagan mobilized conservative voters and defeated Brown in a...
in California, and served two years as Governor Reagan's Director of Communications. After Richard Nixon's election as U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
in 1968, Nofziger served the Nixon White House as deputy assistant to the president for congressional relations and the Republican National Committee
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
as its deputy chairman for communications. Nofziger worked for Nixon's presidential re-election campaign in 1972 as executive director of the California Committee to Re-Elect the President
Committee to Re-elect the President
The Committee for the Re-Election of the President, abbreviated CRP but often mocked by the acronym CREEP, was a fundraising organization of United States President Richard Nixon's administration...
.
As Governor Reagan set his sights on the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
presidential nomination in 1976, Nofziger served his campaign as press secretary, convention director and director of the California campaign. When Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
won the Republican nomination, Nofziger assisted with the Ford-Dole campaign, which lost the election to Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
and the Carter-Mondale campaign.
Nofziger went back to work for Governor Reagan as he began laying the groundwork for the 1980 campaign, serving as executive vice-chairman of Citizens for the Republic, a political action committee
Political action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
founded by Reagan. With the run at the White House in full gear in 1979, Mr. Nofziger served as deputy chairman for finance for the Reagan for President organization. Reagan won the election, defeating Carter's campaign for a second term.
Nofziger never sought to be Press Secretary in the White House, this being in his words "a young man's job". Jim Brady was named Press Secretary. Nofziger was instead named to the post of assistant to the president for political affairs in the White House, and Nofziger was employed there for about a year. Mr. Nofziger was a senior consultant for the 1984 Reagan-Bush Re-Election Campaign and a member of the 1985 Inaugural Committee.
Nofziger also ran political campaigns for Pat Buchanan
Pat Buchanan
Patrick Joseph "Pat" Buchanan is an American paleoconservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior adviser to American Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, and was an original host on CNN's Crossfire. He sought...
and Steve Forbes
Steve Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson "Steve" Forbes, Jr. is an American editor, publisher, and businessman. He is the editor-in-chief of business magazine Forbes as well as president and chief executive officer of its publisher, Forbes Inc. He was a Republican candidate in the U.S. Presidential primaries in 1996...
.
Wedtech scandal
In 1987, Nofziger was investigated for allegedly violating the Ethics in Government Act when he lobbied in behalf of Wedtech CorporationWedtech scandal
The Wedtech Scandal was the name of an American political scandal that came to light in the late 1980s involving the Wedtech Corporation.The company had been founded in Bronx County, New York by a Puerto Rican immigrant named John Mariotta, and originally manufactured baby carriages...
, a defense contractor
Defense contractor
A defense contractor is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military department of a government. Products typically include military aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and electronic systems...
. Under this law, former government officials could not lobby their former office for a period of two years. Nofziger knew this, and for two years, he did not lobby the Office of Political Affairs at the White House. Federal prosecutors claimed the law made it illegal for Nofziger to contact any office at the White House. In spite of the ambiguity, Nofziger was indicted and later convicted of violating the law. Nofziger vigorously fought the indictment and conviction, which was eventually overturned on appeal. The government pressed its case all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which refused to reinstate the conviction. The federal government and the prosecutor, James C. McKay, lost in the end.
Memoir
Nofziger’s political memoir, titled Nofziger, was published in October 1992 by Regnery PublishingRegnery Publishing
Regnery Publishing in Washington, D.C., is a publisher which specializes in conservative books characterized on their website as "contrary to those of 'mainstream' publishers in New York." Since 1993, Regnery Publishing has been a division of Eagle Publishing, which also owns the weekly magazine...
. He wrote four Western novels with a hero named Tackett, a drifter who falls into situations that compel him to rescue women in distress. The Tackett series was an homage to Nofziger's friend, Louis L'Amour
Louis L'Amour
Louis Dearborn L'Amour was an American author. His books consisted primarily of Western fiction novels , however he also wrote historical fiction , science fiction , nonfiction , as well as poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into movies...
, famed author of "The Sacketts" and scores of other Westerns.
Anti-Metrication
Nofziger and Frank MankiewiczFrank Mankiewicz
Frank Fabian Mankiewicz II is an American journalist.-Biography:He grew up in Beverly Hills, California. His father, screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, co-wrote Citizen Kane, and his uncle, Joseph Mankiewicz, directed such films as All About Eve and Cleopatra.Mankiewicz received a B.A...
were major players in halting the 1970s metrication
Metrication
Metrication refers to the introduction and use of the SI metric system, the international standard for physical measurements. This has involved a long process of independent and systematic conversions of countries from various local systems of weights and measures. Metrication began in France in...
effort in the USA, largely by convincing President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
to shut down the United States Metric Board
United States Metric Board
The United States Metric Board was a United States government agency set up to encourage metrication. It existed from 1975 to 1982, ending when President Ronald Reagan abolished it, largely on the recommendation of Frank Mankiewicz and Lyn Nofziger...
.
Autobiography
- Nofziger; Lyn Nofziger; Regnery Publishing (September 1992); ISBN 0-89526-513-3
Other works
- The Tacketts; Lyn Nofziger; Jameson Books (May 2004); ISBN 0-915463-85-7
- Unbridled Joy: The Verse of Joy Skilmer; Lyn Nofziger; MND Books (April 10, 2000); ISBN 0-940847-13-2