William J. Baroody Jr.

2nd Assistant to the President for Public Liaison

In office
March 1973 J anuary 1977
President Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Preceded by Charles Colson
Succeeded by Midge Costanza
Personal details
Born November 5, 1937
Manchester, New Hampshire
Died J une 8, 1996 (aged 58)
Alexandria, Virginia
Nationality American
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Mary (divorced)
Children Bill, David, Christopher, Andrew,
Thomas, Philip, Paul, Marybee,
J oEllen
Alma mater Holy Cross College
Occupation Politician
Religion Melkite Greek Catholic Church
Military service
Service/branch United States Navy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from William J . Baroody J r.)
William J. Baroody Jr. (November 5, 1937-J une 8, 1996)
was an American government official best known for running
the White House Office of Public Liaison under President
Gerald Ford and, later, the American Enterprise Institute
(AEI). His leadership of the think tank saw AEI enjoy new
levels of political influence but was cut short by financial
problems.
1 Government career
2 Presidency of AEI
3 Personal
4 References
Baroody joined the staffs of U.S. Representative Melvin
Laird and of the House Appropriations Committee in 1961,
and later served as an aide to Laird at the Pentagon from
1969 to 1973.
In 1973 Baroody moved over to the White House to take over
for the recently resigned Charles Colson.
[1]
He worked hard
to dispel his office's reputation as the "office of dirty tricks"
that had developed under Colson.
[2]
He consolidated the
varied interest group efforts of the Nixon administration into
a single office, which incoming President Gerald R. Ford titled the Office of Public Liaison.
Baroody changed the tactics of the administration from strong-arming legislators to one of persuasion. "Under
Baroodys direction, the office incorporated outreach efforts with consumers and women that had been located
elsewhere in the White House, and the overall staff grew to approximately thirty. At the core of its activities was
an aggressive campaign of regional conferences that enabled the nation's first un elected president to tour the
country in a campaign-like atmosphere and prepare the way for an eventual reelection campaign. In
Washington, D.C., Baroody also coordinated an extensive series of White House briefings for group and
association leaders on a variety of policy topics that brought together group leaders and administration policy-
makers.
[3]
"
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Baroody's father, William J . Baroody Sr., had been president of the influential, right-leaning think tank since
1962. The younger Baroody became executive vice president of the institute in 1977 and president in 1978. The
elder Baroody died in 1980.
William J r.'s tenure at the institute saw increasing growth. With the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan in
1981, many AEI scholars' ideas on deregulation, the Cold War, the culture war, constitutional law, and other
issues achieved currency and a receptive audience. Many AEI scholars left the institute for government service,
including J eane Kirkpatrick, Robert Bork, and J ames C. Miller III. Baroody expanded AEI's activities,
producing more publications and introducing new research areas.
[4][5]
But the Reagan administration saw the
emergence of new think tanks, such as the Heritage Foundation, and competition for funding increased. Insiders
lamented a pursuit of prestige, evidenced by Baroody's hiring of former president Ford as a distinguished
fellow, at the expense of more ideological conservative scholars.
[6]
Some donors were concerned about AEI's
centrist trend and perceived loss of conservative principle.
[6]
With AEI on the verge of bankruptcy in J une 1986, Baroody resigned and was replaced on an interim basis by
respected economist Paul McCracken.
Baroody was born in Manchester, New Hampshire. He was a member of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church,
the Uniat offshoot of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, one of the oldest churches in the world.
He was educated at Holy Cross College, he later served in the U.S. Navy. He was divorced from his wife, Mary,
at the time of his death, and he had nine children and thirteen grandchildren.
[7]
Baroody's brothers include Michael Baroody, a corporate lobbyist, and J oseph Baroody, a former leader of the
National Association of Arab Americans. Baroody died in 1996 in Alexandria, Virginia.
^ files of William J . Baroody, J r. "Gerald R. Ford Library, Public Liaison Office" (http://www.ford.utexas.edu
/LIBRARY/guides/Finding%20Aids/Baroody,%20William%20-%20Files.htm).
1.
^ Karen M. Hult and Charles E. Walcott. (2003) Empowering the White House: Governance under Nixon, Ford and
Carter. Chapter Four. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas ISBN 0-7006-1299-8
2.
^ "White House Transition Project Institutional Memory Series: The White House Office of Public Liaison"
(http://whitehousetransitionproject.org/resources/briefing/WHTP-2009-03-Public%20Liaison.pdf). p. 4. Retrieved
2009-07-25.
3.
^ American Enterprise Institute, "AEI's Diamond J ubilee, 1943-2003," (http://www.aei.org/about
/contentID.20031212154735838/default.asp) Annual Report, 2003.
4.
^ Karlyn Bowman, "American Enterprise Institute," in American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia, ed. Bruce
Frohnen, J eremy Beer, and J effrey O. Nelson (Wilmington, Del.: ISI Books, 2006).
5.
^
a

b
Todd Lencz, "The Baroody Bunch (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_v38/ai_4373932)," National
Review, September 12, 1986.
6.
^ Eric Page, "William J . Baroody J r., 58, A Top Aide to President Ford (http://query.nytimes.com
/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01E4D61639F933A25755C0A960958260)," obituary, New York Times, J une 10, 1996.
7.
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Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by
William J. Baroody Sr.
President of the American Enterprise
Institute
1978-1986
Succeeded by
Paul McCracken
(interim)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_J ._Baroody,_J r.&oldid=613853487"
Categories: American political consultants American Enterprise Institute
American Melkite Greek Catholics American people of Levantine-Greek Orthodox Christian descent
1937 births 1996 deaths New Hampshire Republicans Virginia Republicans
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