(John) William “Bill” Roberts

Class of 1941: Presidential press staff

(John) William “Bill” Roberts started out as a radio news reporter and rose to become Washington Bureau Chief for Time and on the press staff of President Gerald R. Ford.

He was born March 21, 1919, in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. At Ripon, he majored in economics and speech communication and participated in Phi Kappa Pi (Merriman), Theta Alpha Phi, the golf team, Lambda Delta Alpha and College Days. He also served as a Bible Fellow and Economics Fellow, and took part in Mask and Wig, taking the lead role of the Stage Manager in Thornton Wilder’s 1938 play “Our Town.”

After serving in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1946, he was a radio news reporter for WOC in Davenport, Iowa, from 1946 to 1948 and a radio news reporter and television anchorman at station WMT in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, from 1948 to 1958.

From 1958 to 1972, Roberts served as the Washington bureau chief at Time Inc., and then the Washington bureau chief for McGraw-Hill. He joined the staff of Vice President Ford in 1973. As deputy press secretary, Roberts helped plan media coverage of events involving Ford and planned all media arrangements on vice presidential trips. He prepared press releases, statements, speeches and articles.

When Ford transitioned into the presidency, Roberts became assistant press secretary to the president, serving from 1974 to 1977. According to the Gerald. R. Ford Presidential Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan: “In the Ford White House, Roberts’ main responsibilities were in areas involving the radio and television media and still photographers. He worked with the networks on live coverage setups in the Oval Office, East Room and in Washington, D.C. He escorted photographers for photo sessions, served as press officer for pool trips and White House social events, wrote messages for the President to deliver by film or radio tape, drafted press releases, and suggested possible questions for press briefings and presidential news conferences.

“During the final six months of the administration, Roberts’ duties were expanded to include supervising preparation of responses to press inquiries, press releases and texts of presidential actions, policies and statements. He was responsible for all press coverage arrangements for more than 30 state dinners and formal arrival ceremonies for foreign dignitaries visiting the President, and was the designated press officer for foreign journalists covering the White House.”

For Ripon College, he served with the Alumni Board of Directors, was a Class Agent for more than 30 years and received the Distinguished Alumni Citation in 1976. He praised the values he learned at Ripon. He said the liberal arts and free thinking encouraged at Ripon provided him excellent preparation for his work in journalism.

He retired as an administrative assistant for the U.S. House of Representatives.

He died on May 3, 2000, at age 81.