Nixon Legacy Forum on the Office of Telecommunications Policy

This 40th Nixon Legacy Forum will explore the little-known and less-appreciated White House Office of Telecommunications Policy, created by Reorganization Plan Number One in 1970, in eliminating regulation and introducing market-based opportunities to the American telecommunications industry in the 1970s—paving the way for satellite and cable television.

Christopher DeMuth, Moderator. Staff Assistant to the President, (1969-1970). Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under President Reagan (1981-1984). President of the American Enterprise Institute (1986-2008). Currently Distinguished Fellow in American Thought at the Heritage Foundation.

Henry Goldberg, Successor to Antonin Scalia as General Counsel of OTP. Founder and Senior Partner at Goldberg, Godless, Wiener and Wright. Widely regarded for many decades as the dean of telecom lawyers in Washington.

Thomas Hazlett, Formerly with AEI and the George Mason University Law School (now the Antonin Scalia Law School). Hugh H. Macauley Professor of Economics and Director, Information Economy Project, Clemson University. Former telecommunications columnist for The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times..

Geoff Shepard, Domestic Council Associate Director, 1970-1975. Director, Richard Nixon Foundation.

Margaret Whitehead, Ph.D., spouse of Clay T. Whitehead, Director, Office of Telecommunications Policy, 1970-1974.

Photo: The Swearing-in of Clay T. Whitehead as Director of the Office of Telecommunications Policy, Oval Office, the White House, September 25, 1970.