William Safire,born December 17, 1929, was one of the most influential political columnists in the United States into the 1990s. A former public relations executive and President Richard Nixon speechwriter, Safire contributed a conservative perspective to the "New York Times".
In 1965 Safire volunteered as an unpaid speechwriter for Nixon and was assigned to help Patrick Buchanan with Nixon's syndicated newspaper column. In 1968 he wrote the victory speech following Nixon's election and in 1969, after selling his company for a reported $335,000 cash, he joined the White House staff.
Safire also wrote on linguistic issues in The New York Times Magazine. Among the many books he wrote are the novels Full Disclosure (1977) and Sleeper Spy (1995).
William Safire married in 1962 the former Helene Belmar Julius, a model, pianist and jewelry designer. The couple had two children, Mark and Annabel.
Posted September 27th, 2009 by Cheryl Phillips
