Ronald Zeigler

Ronald L. Ziegler served as White House press secretary for President Richard Nixon from 1969-74, a position in which he was the president’s chief spokesman and directed a staff responsible for press corps logistics and communications policy. He supervised the presidential transition in 1974 and set up President Gerald Ford’s White House and Nixon’s office in San Clemente.

Ziegler assumed his present position of president of the National Association of Truck Stop Operators in 1980, a crucial time in the organization’s history. To date, its membership has markedly increased, services have been improved and a pride in the industry has become a cornerstone of the association.

Before becoming the White House press secretary, Ziegler was active in California politics, serving as press secretary to the California Republican legislative caucus in 1961 and in Nixon’s 1962 California gubernatorial campaign. From 1962-68, he was an executive with the international advertising firm of J. Walter Thompson Co., one of the world’s largest marketing and advertising organizations.

After leaving the White House, Ziegler joined the international engineering firm Syske and Hennessy as senior vice president and managing director of international services. In this capacity he was responsible for international business development, sat on the firm’s management committee and traveled frequently to Europe and the Middle East. He also established the company’s Washington public affairs office.

Ziegler, a 1961 graduate of the University of Southern California, lives in Alexandria, Va., with his wife, Nancy, and their two daughters, Cindy and Laurie.