|
Faith Ryan Whittlesey (born 1939) is a former Republican politician and White House Senior Staff member notable for her effort to communicate Reagan's entire policy agenda to U.S. opinion leaders and for bringing together for the first time in the Reagan White House evangelical, Catholic, and other conservative Christian groups who opposed legalized abortion. These groups became a significant component of the Reagan coalition as they grew more politically self-conscious in the 1980s.〔FoxNews, "Interview with Faith Whittlesey," June 11, 2004.〕 Whittlesey also organized the White House Central American Outreach Group at the direction of Chief of Staff James Baker to provide information about Reagan's anti-communist policies in the region. Whittlesey served twice for a total of nearly 5 years as U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and also served for 2 years on the Reagan White House Senior Staff as Assistant to the President for Public Liaison. President Judge Stephen J. McEwen, Jr., of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania noted that Whittlesey "reflected a certain elegance and bright image upon the Reagan Administration, both on the international scene as Ambassador to Switzerland and at the White House as the Director of Public Liaison, an office as little known as its impact was powerful."〔Personal communication, Stephen McEwen, Jr. to Faith Whittlesey, January 15, 2009; archived at Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University.〕 Whittlesey, a tenacious fighter on behalf of Reagan's policies, was not, however, a stranger to controversy during her time of involvement in the political arena. ==White House Liaison Office== Whittlesey was named Assistant to the President for Public Liaison in 1983 at the suggestion of Ronald Reagan's Ambassador to Austria and personal assistant Helene A. von Damm〔Von Damm, Helene (1988) ''At Reagan's Side''. New York: Doubleday, p. 248 ISBN 0-385-24445-2〕 and with the urging of White House Chief of Staff James Baker and Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Deaver.〔"Memoirs of Faith Whittlesey," Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University.〕 Her tenure was marked by initiatives to improve the access of conservative Christian believers to the American political process and national policymaking. She was considered their most "aggressive ally" in the White House.〔Martin, William(1996) With God On Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America. New York: Broadway. p. 235 ISBN 0-7679-2257-3〕 She wrote a memo in October 1983〔Faith Whittlesey to James A. Baker III, et al., "The Fundamentalist and Evangelical Groups" and "Tuition Tax Credits, School Prayer, and Pornography", 11 October 1983, Faith Ryan Whittlesey Files, box 7F, Reagan Library〕 that fundamentalist and evangelical groups had done "little organizational work" for "the 1984 election period" and that to maintain Ronald Reagan's "credibility" with those groups, Catholics in particular, "the tuition tax credit bill must come up for Senate floor action this fall". She noted that school prayer was "not unlike the tuition tax credit issue. Politically we win if we get votes on the Senate floor".〔Lichtman, Allan J. (2000) ''White Protestant Nation: The Rise of the American Conservative Movement''. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, p. 376. ISBN 0-87113-984-7〕 In 1985, she sent the anti-abortion film ''The Silent Scream'', which was a documentary of an ultrasound abortion at three months produced in 1984 by anti-abortion activist and former NARAL founder Dr. Bernard Nathanson, to every member of Congress and arranged for a screening at the White House at which Dr. Nathanson presented the film.〔Hudson, Deal W. (2008) ''Onward Christian Soldiers: The Growing Political Power of Catholics and Evangelicals in the United States''. New York: Threshold Editions, p. 236 ISBN 1-4165-2442-8〕 Whittlesey focused on the core Reagan agenda during her White House tenure. She also developed active White House outreach to "Reagan Democrats." She clashed with some other members of the Reagan White House staff whom she regarded as "largely Washington permanent government party functionaries not very committed to advocating the President's policies in a serious or consistent way."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Faith Whittlesey」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|