Ambassador Tom Korologos, Deputy Assistant for Legislation for President Nixon (1971-74), passed away on July 26, 2024 at the age of 91.
A second generation Greek American, Tom Korologos was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1933. He was a U.S. Air Force officer from 1956 to 1957 and earned his B.A. degree at the University of Utah and in 1958 an M.S. degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where he received a Grantland Rice Fellowship and a Pulitzer Fellowship.
Ambassador Korologos started his political career in 1962, working for US Senator Wallace Bennett of Utah. He became a Senate liaison for President Nixon in 1971 and continued that role for one year in the Ford administration. His long career of government service included work with Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. From 2004-2007, Korologos served as the 29th US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium in Brussels.
Ambassador Korologos participated in a Nixon Legacy Forum in 2018 on the topic Bridging the Branches: How President Nixon Worked With a Democratic Congress, which can be viewed here: https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2018/04/bridging-branches-president-nixon-worked-democratic-congress/
Ambassador Korologos was preceded in death by his wife Joy G. Korologos in 1997. They had three children. He remarried Ann McLaughlin Korologos, Secretary of Labor under President Reagan, in 2000. Secretary Korologos owned an art gallery in Basalt, Colorado, where the two contributed to the local art scene and enjoyed the mountain landscapes until she passed away in January 2023.
As an avid photographer, many of Ambassador Korologos’ works are at the Ann Korologos Gallery including this photograph, “Home Alone at Sopris.” More of his photography can be viewed here: https://korologosgallery.com/shop/tom-korologos
As a regular attendee of the Nixon Foundation’s White House staff annual reunions, Ambassador Korologos was a featured speaker for political updates. His fellow Nixon administration alumni remember him for his intelligence, political savvy and great sense of humor.
Tributes to Ambassador Korologos
Journalist, Congressional staffer, senior Presidential aide, businessman, photographer, Ambassador and ultimate Washington insider who guided hundreds of prominent individuals — including Vice Presidents, Supreme Court Justices and Cabinet members — through Senate confirmation hearings, Tom Korologos was liked and respected by people on all sides of the political spectrum.
We had a friendship that began in the Nixon years. We were thrilled when Tom and Ann McLaughlin were married and grieved with him when Ann passed last year. Tom and Ann were wonderful and caring. They represented the very best of the quality people whom President Nixon brought into government. Tom mentored us and taught us not just the basic elements of how the Congress functioned but the complex nuances of how to get things done. He was both very principled and very practical and consistently demonstrated how those two things could work together for a good result. Tom was funny as heck and made life in this town so much better. He treated everyone with respect and affection; you did not have to be a big shot to get his attention. Tom loved Ann deeply. We miss Ann and will miss Tom. May their memories be a blessing.
– Bobbie & Bill Kilberg
(Bobbie Kilberg was White House Fellow on the staff of President Nixon’s Domestic Policy Council and Bill Kilberg was Solicitor for the U.S. Department of Labor, 1973-77)
Tom was a loyal Nixon patriot of the first order, intelligent, compassionate, and witty, who had a strong influence on government at all levels. Many Senators, Cabinet Members, and Supreme Court Justices depended on Tom for counsel or to guide them through confirmation, and his friends held him high among the best. He will be missed but never forgotten.
– Bill Timmons, Assistant for Legislative Affairs for President Nixon
Tom was a true Master of Senate Relations. He understood the nature of that institution and how relationships made it work. We worked with a Senate of only about 35 Republicans and Tom was very good at working both sides of the aisle to find 51 votes for or against. Many of his successes were by ensuring what did not pass as by what did. He receives full credit for keeping the Senate from interfering with President Nixon’s efforts to extricate our nation from Vietnam. He became known over the years as the “101 Senator” and was a legend beyond words to describe.
– Wally Johnson, Special Assistant to President Nixon
I can’t imagine a Nixon reunion without Korologos bellowing our names across the room. The loveable curmudgeon squeezed more votes out of the Senate than Sun-Maid got out of its oranges. He was an anchor on one of the most amazing Congressional relations team of any presidency.
– Ken Khachigian, Deputy Special Assistant to the President