Raymond Kissam Price Jr. (May 6, 1930 – February 13, 2019) was an American writer who was the chief speechwriter for U.S. President Richard Nixon, working on both inaugural addresses, his resignation speech, and Gerald Ford's pardon speech.[1] During Nixon's presidential campaign of 1968, the candidate made use of the contrasting style of two speechwriters (the other being Pat Buchanan) with Price becoming known to colleagues as Mr Outside because his work was aimed at broadening Nixon's appeal.[2]

A native of New York City, Price graduated from Yale University in 1951. There, he was a member of the Conservative Party of the Yale Political Union and also belonged to Skull and Bones.[3]: 173 

Price wrote a retrospective on the presidency titled With Nixon[4] and assisted Nixon in the writing of several books. John Dean mentioned Price as one person suspected (falsely) of having been Deep Throat. For 19 years, Price was a member of the Economic Club of New York.[5]

Career

Price began his journalism career at Collier's magazine in New York City, where he served as assistant to the editor from 1955 to 1957.

He then worked briefly as a reporter for Life magazine in 1957 before joining the New York Herald Tribune, also in New York City, where he was a member of the editorial staff from 1957 to 1964 and subsequently served as editor of the editorial page from 1964 to 1966.

Price became assistant to Richard M. Nixon in 1967, serving in that capacity through 1969, then as special assistant from 1969 to 1973, and as special consultant in 1973–1974 and again in 1980. He served as chief speechwriter for President Nixon throughout this period.

Following his White House service, Price was a Fellow at the John F. Kennedy Institute of Politics at Harvard University in 1977, and a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute that same year.

In 1978, he served as Nixon Professor at Whittier College in Whittier, California.

Other memberships

References

  1. ↑ Martin, Douglas (February 14, 2019). "Raymond K. Price Jr., a Key Nixon Speechwriter, Is Dead at 88". The New York Times. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  2. ↑ Schell, Jonathan (June 2, 1975). "The Time of Illusion". The New Yorker. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  3. ↑ Robbins, Alexandra (2002). Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-72091-7.
  4. ↑ New York : Viking Press, 1977. ISBN 0-670-77672-6
  5. ↑ Shapiro, Gary (2007-06-07). "A Century Of Serious Conversation". The New York Sun. Retrieved 2008-11-23.

Further reading

  • The New York Times Book Review, November 20, 1977;
  • Newsweek, November 28, 1977;
  • New York Review of Books, April 6, 1978.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Price_(speechwriter)