Clay T. Whitehead

Clay T. Whitehead at the Office of Telecommunications Policy in Washington, D.C. (early 1970s)

Clay T. "Tom" Whitehead (November 13, 1938 – July 23, 2008 ^[1]) was a United States government official who served as director of the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy from 1970 to 1974, during the Nixon administration. He pioneered a policy of competition in the telecommunications industries, which later was reflected in legislation and regulations in the United States and around the world.^[1][2][3][4]

Early life

Whitehead was born in Neodesha, Kansas, the eldest of four children of Clay B. and Helen Hinton Whitehead.^[1]

As a young boy, be was interested in telecommunications, spending hours on his ham radio talking to amateur radio operators around the world.^[1] He enjoyed photography with his self-made darkroom and built his own celestial telescope for studying the heavens.

He graduated from Cherokee County High School in Columbus, Cherokee County, Kansas 1957.

He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning his undergraduate and master's degrees in electrical engineering, in 1960 and 1961 respectively, and a Ph.D. in management in 1967.^[1]

Before joining the Nixon campaign in 1968 as an expert on budget policies, Whitehead was a RAND Corporation economist and defense analyst.^[1]

The White House Years

Between 1969 and 1970, Whitehead served as Special Assistant to President Richard Nixon. In this capacity, he crafted the “Open Skies” domestic satellite policy that allowed any qualified private company to launch communications satellites, thereby rejecting the monopoly model for the technology.^[4][5][6][7]

The policy enabled cable television networks including C-SPAN, CNN, and HBO to prosper and created a ripple effect that ultimately led to sweeping and lasting changes in the telecommunications landscape.^[1][2][3]

In 1970, Whitehead led the effort to create the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy (OTP), which he announced at a White House Press conference on January 23, 1970. Having tried to recruit heads for the new office, and finding none that fit the description he had in mind, he took the job himself and was confirmed by the U. S. Senate in 1970. Brian Lamb was an assistant. He resigned in 1974.^[1][2]

One of OTP’s accomplishments included ending the regulatory freeze on the infant cable industry, which then permitted it to compete with television broadcasting and, eventually, the established telephone industry.^[1]

Whitehead’s policies also impacted broadcasting directly. “He was credited with formulating policies that gave more autonomy to local stations in the public broadcasting system, which was seen by some PBS executives as an attack on the service in large part because of Dr. Whitehead's early reputation for antagonizing the press.” ^[2]

In a noted 1972 speech, Whitehead used the terms "elitist gossip" and "ideological plugola" to echo the Nixon administration's claims of liberal bias in network news.^[1] Walter Cronkite claims in his memoir that Whitehead suggested to affiliate stations that they need not carry network news reports such as Cronkite's, and instead could rely on wire dispatches.^[8]

In the spring of 1974, Whitehead secretly organized and led the effort, including Jonathan Moore, assistant to Attorney General Elliott Richardson; Brian Lamb, a journalist; and Laurence Lynn, Jr., Assistant Secretary for Policy, Health Education and Welfare, to plan Vice President Ford's transition to the Presidency.^[1][9][10]

Post-government Appointments

After leaving government, Dr. Whitehead was a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University and MIT.^[11]

Whitehead joined Hughes Aircraft and started the Hughes Communications subsidiary that launched the Galaxy satellite system, one of the first geostationary satellites.^[1][7][12] The Galaxy business became the model for satellite television distribution and broadcasting around the world.^[11]

Whitehead left Hughes in 1983 and founded Société Européenne des Satellites (SES S.A.), the first private satellite business in Europe, which was based in Luxembourg.^[1][2][7] SES replaced government-run television and grew tremendously to become one of the continent’s most profitable satellite systems.^[2]

In 2005, Whitehead was a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Communications Policy at George Mason University School of Law in Virginia.^[13]

During this time, he was also president of Clay Whitehead Associates, an international business development company working primarily in the telecom and television industries.^[11]

Honors

In 2005, Whitehead was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Society of Satellite Professionals International.^[11]

In February 2009, The Commonwealth of Virginia passed a house and senate resolution, mourning Whitehead's death and celebrating his life achievements.^[14]

Death

Dr. Whitehead died of prostate cancer in Washington D.C. on July 23, 2008. He was 69 and lived in McLean, Virginia. In 1973, he had married Margaret Mahon. He was survived by his wife, a son, Clay, a daughter, Abigail Craine, and three sisters, Susan and Nancy Whitehead, and Helen Elizabeth (Betsy) Conerly.^[1] In 2013 his papers were donated to the library of Congress.^[15]

References