Veteran journalist Ron Nessen served as White House press secretary during the Gerald Ford administration and is currently Journalist in Residence at The Brookings Institution. Before accepting his position in the White House, Nessen served as a Washington correspondent for NBC News. In fact, on the day of Ford's succession to the Presidency, Nessen reported the story on that evening's NBC Nightly News. He has been the senior vice president of public affairs and communications at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association and served as vice president for news for what was known then as Westwood One Radio.