Jody Powell

Jody Powell Jody Powell, of Cambridge, MD, White House press secretary and top advisor to President Jimmy Carter and the Chairman, co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer of the Powell Tate public relations firm, died September 14 at his Eastern Shore home. He was 65. While a graduate student in political science, Powell became the volunteer driver for gubernatorial candidate Jimmy Carter. When Carter became the governor of Georgia in 1970, Powell was appointed Press Secretary, a position he held through the end of Carter's term as President of the United States in 1981. From 1982 to 1987, he wrote a twice-weekly column syndicated by the Los Angeles Times and was an on-air ABC News analyst. Powell's book about the press/presidency relationship, The Other Side of the Story, was published in 1984 by William Morrow & Company. In 1985 and 1986 he held the Speaker Thomas P. "TIP" O'Neill Jr. Professorial Chair in American Politics in Boston College. From 1987 until 1991, he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Powell Adams & Reinhart, formerly Ogilvy & Mather Public Affairs. In 1991, he teamed with Sheila Tate, former press secretary to First Lady Nancy Reagan, to found Powell Tate public relations firm, with a public affairs network now extending to major political centers in North America, Europe, and Asia. Jody, whose mother taught American History and Government, loved history and was a passionate advocate for historic preservation. He was a Board Member of The Civil War Preservation Trust and lent his expertise and leadership to countless battlefield preservation struggles. His was the voice of Gen. Stonewall Jackson in Ken Burns' acclaimed public television series The Civil War. In his book, Jody described President Carter's taking Egypt's Anwar Sadat and Israel's Menachem Begin to Gettysburg during the peace talks at Camp David. Jody wrote that the Civil War taught us many things, including tales of valor, defeat, and humiliation. But he said that it also taught the possibility of reconciliation. He said the War spoke to the hope that the death and destruction might give rise to a determination to avoid the useless sacrifice that the continuation of conflict would ensure. After the Iranian hostage rescue attempt in 1980, Jody helped establish a fund to provide college educations for the children surviving the men killed or incapacitated at Desert One. This outreach grew and is now The Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Jody served on the Board of Advisors and as a major fundraiser for assistance to family members of severely wounded Special Operations personnel. A lifelong sportsman and conservationist, Jody served on the Board of Visitors of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. He had restored wetlands on his Eastern Shore farm, Cherry Point, and had planted long leaf pine on the old crop fields of his family farm in Vienna, Georgia. His ashes will be scattered on the land of these farms. Jody is survived by his wife, Nan Jared Powell, of Cambridge, MD; daughter Emily Boddy and son-in-law Mark Boddy and their children, Sarah, Rachel and David, all of Richmond, VA; mother June Powell of Magnolia Manor, Americus, GA; sister Susan Glenn and brother-in-law Kirk Glenn of Hilton Head, SC. A private funeral service was held in Cambridge on Sept. 17. A memorial service will be held at the Second Baptist Church in Richmond, VA on October 3. Donations in his memory may be made to the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT), 1156 15th Street, NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20005 or to The Special Operations Warriors Foundation (SOWF), P.O. Box 13483, Tampa, FL 33681-3483. The main site for Powell Tate has established a tribute page for Jody with memories, statements and great stories submitted by friends and colleagues. The site is www.powelltate.com/jody-powell/.