Word: nessen
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Shortly after Hersh's CIA story, White House Press Secretary Ron Nessen called Clifton Daniel, the Times Washington bureau chief, and told him that invitations were being sent for an "informal" lunch with the President. On Jan. 16, seven top Timesmen were ushered into a small dining room in the East Wing for lamb chops with Ford, Nessen, Chief of Staff Donald Rumsfeld, Economic Adviser Alan Greenspan and Special Consultant Robert Goldwin. The gathering was cordial, though Ford occasionally interjected "Now this is off the record" and "This is not for public." Talk eventually turned to the Rockefeller commission...
Ford's Concern. Afterward, the editors gathered in Daniel's office and agreed that since the lunch was off the record, the Times could not print the President's disclosure. When Daniel tried to get Nessen to relent and put the quote on the record, the press secretary stood firm. A day or two later, Daniel chatted with Reporter Hersh about the CIA's possible role in foreign assassinations, but Daniel says he did not reveal the President's mention of the subject; in any case, Hersh kept busy on the story's domestic...
...assassination trail? Government and corporate officials occasionally try to "lock up" news organizations with strategically placed not-for-publication disclosures. In the President's case, it is unlikely that he spoke out of guile. "I don't know how devious the President is," answers Ron Nessen, "and I'm not going to ask him." Managing Editor Rosenthal sees no skulduggery in the President's remark. Says he: "How did he know that we would respect the off-the-record part...
Ullman's bill never stood a chance in the rambunctious 94th Congress. Bit by bit, all the tough provisions were softened in committee until the final bill resembled what White House Press Secretary Ron Nessen called a "marshmal-low." Liberals objected to the gasoline tax. Representatives from oil states did not like the windfall-profits tax. New Englanders protested the import quotas. Congressmen with ties to the auto companies and the United Auto Workers reduced the tax on big cars. Ullman's bill faced at least 100 amendments. Giving up, the House leadership put off consideration...
...Nessen, LL.D., White House press secretary...