[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 38 (Thursday, March 30, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E466]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO LYN NOFZIGER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 30, 2006

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, as a grassroots volunteer 
in the Reagan for President campaign of 1976, I saw firsthand the 
historic efforts of Lyn Nofziger who died Monday in Falls Church, 
Virginia.
  Mr. Nofziger was crucial for the success of the Reagan Revolution 
which revitalized the American spirit by building an economy of hope 
through reducing taxes, by enhancing our military for victory in the 
Cold War, and by growing the Republican Party to today's status of 
majority in the state legislatures, state governorships, the U.S. 
House, the U.S. Senate, and the Presidency.
  His contributions for America were highlighted on March 29, 2006 in 
The Washington Times:

       Few people played as a critical a behind-the-scenes role in 
     the rise of Ronald Reagan and the modern American 
     conservative movement as Lyn Nofziger, who died Monday at his 
     home in Falls Church at 81. An Army ranger who lost fingers 
     to shrapnel during the D-Day landing, Mr. Nofziger left a 
     successful career in political reporting to become a top 
     Reagan adviser.
       As spokesman for Mr. Reagan's 1966 campaign for California 
     governor, he was a trusted aide in 1968 when the California 
     governor tried to wrest the Republican presidential 
     nomination away from Richard Nixon. During the spring of 
     1968, Mr. Nofziger recounted many years later, Mr. Reagan 
     visited Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond, who told the then-
     governor: ``You'll be president some day, young man, but not 
     this year.''
       Perhaps the most serious political challenge Mr. Nofziger 
     would face during his many years as a senior Reagan aide came 
     in March 1976, during the primaries. President Ford had swept 
     all of the early primaries, and prominent Republicans were 
     pressuring Mr. Reagan to drop out and endorse Mr. Ford. Mr. 
     Nofziger, a stalwart conservative, would have none of it. As 
     political consultant Craig Shirley told Ralph Hallow of The 
     Washington Times: Mr. Nofziger ``was the steel in Reagan's 
     back that kept him going in 1976 when everyone else wanted 
     him to drop out of the nomination race before the North 
     Carolina primary.''
       After Mr. Reagan's election, Mr. Nofziger served slightly 
     over a year as White House political director, before leaving 
     the White House in 1982. He became a lobbyist, but instead of 
     the conventional K Street uniform, he was usually seen with 
     his shirt collar unbuttoned and tie loosened, chomping on a 
     cigar and drinking a concoction of whiskey mixed with milk. 
     The editor of this page, who was a young White House aide 
     during the 1980s, recalls meeting Mr. Nofziger, who had left 
     the government, for lunch. Mr. Nofziger grabbed his White 
     House badge and twirled it, telling him that the same people 
     who wouldn't return his calls before he joined the White 
     House wouldn't return them after he left.
       In his final years, Mr. Nofziger established his own blog, 
     wrote poetry and became prolific as a book critic for this 
     newspaper. In one case, Mr. Nofziger wrote a scathing review 
     of a professor's book. The writer complained and Mr. Nofziger 
     responded that he would have written a nicer review if the 
     book hadn't been so bad. But Mr. Nofziger subsequently ended 
     up befriending the professor and they established a friendly 
     e-mail relationship.
       Lyn Nofziger--journalist, gruff, cigar-chomping pol, 
     trusted aide, and warm, kindhearted man--will be missed.

                          ____________________