PAUL A. MILTICH PAPERS, (1972) 1973-1977

Paul Miltich became press secretary to House Minority Leader Gerald Ford in 1966 and continued in that role through the remainder of the congressional years and the Ford vice presidency. When Mr. Ford became President in August 1974, he appointed Jerald terHorst as his press secretary and named Miltich as an assistant press secretary (his title also appears as Special Assistant to the President for Public Affairs). Under terHorst’s direction, Miltich was responsible for supervising the correspondence section of the Press Office; producing position papers which were then distributed to newspapers, television and radio stations throughout the country; channeling opinion- editorial (Op-Ed) pieces written by executive departments and agencies to major daily newspapers; supervising the preparation of the White House News Summary; and helping the President prepare for press conferences.

Ron Nessen's assumption of the post of press secretary led to a shift of responsibilities within the Press Office. In November 1974, Gerald Warren became responsible for the coordination of public affairs activities with executive agencies and departments and liaison with the press outside of Washington. Miltich retained responsibility for special writing projects such as speech inserts, the President's Q & A book, and press office public correspondence. He also remained responsible for general supervision of the news summary. Miltich left the White House to join the Postal Rate Commission in March 1975.

The Miltich Papers contain materials from both the vice presidential and presidential time periods. The vice presidential materials concern press interviews, Miltich columns, Ford speeches, and the scheduling of speeches and events. Although the materials from the Ford White House include some folders on various issues and events, most of that is fairly routine in nature. The most significant materials from the White House period are position papers on issues which he produced as well as a fragmentary correspondence file. The bulk of the collection is routine press clippings, wire stories, and press releases.

Related Materials (June 2005)
Additional material on his work as press secretary to Gerald Ford in the congressional and vice presidential periods can be found in the Press Secretary and Speech File of the Ford Congressional papers and in the Miltich files of the Ford Vice Presidential papers. A small collection of Miltich Files from the Press Secretary’s office of the Ford White House documents his activities during the first eight months of the Ford presidency.