Keogh, James 1916-2006

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born October 29, 1916, in NE; died of respiratory failure, May 10, 2006, in Greenwich, CT. Editor, speech writer, and author. Keogh was a former senior editor for Time magazine and speech writer for President Richard M. Nixon. He earned a Ph.B. at Creighton University in 1938 and that year was hired as a reporter for the Omaha World-Herald. After working as city editor there from 1948 to 1951, Keogh joined the Time magazine staff, working his way up to senior editor in 1956 and executive editor in 1968. Having first met Richard Nixon in 1956 while working on an article, he found the future president interesting and likeable. He worked on Nixon's campaign in 1968, and when Nixon asked him to be his special assistant in 1969, Keogh readily accepted. As chief speech writer, he was supervisor of such up-and-coming writers as William Safire and Patrick J. Buchanan. Keogh left his post in 1970 to become a freelancer, but was named director of the U.S. Information Agency in 1973. It was in this position that he had the challenging job of explaining to the public the Watergate scandal that led to Nixon's resignation in 1974. His final career position was as executive director of the Business Roundtable from 1977 to 1986. Keogh was the author of two books about Nixon, This Is Nixon (1956) and President Nixon and the Press (1972). He also wrote and edited several other publications, including One of a Kind (1995) and Living by Our Wicks (1999).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, May 15, 2006, p. B11.

New York Times, May 14, 2006, p. A25.

Washington Post, May 15, 2006, p. B7.