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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release March 9, 1994
             PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES DONALD A. BAER TO HEAD
                 WHITE HOUSE SPEECHWRITING AND RESEARCH

President Clinton today named Donald A. Baer, Assistant Managing Editor of U.S. News & World Report and a reporter and former lawyer, to serve as Deputy Assistant to the President for Speechwriting and Research.

"Don Baer is a writer of depth and talent who understands, both from the experience of his life and from his career as a reporter and editor, the challenges that face Americans all across the country in their daily lives," the President said. "I look forward to Don's able assistance as we work to communicate my Administration's vision of hope and opportunity to the American people."

Baer was promoted to be one of U.S. News & World Report's assistant managing editors in 1991 to take charge of the magazine's "Outlook" section, which covers all aspects of national and international news, and to handle a variety of special projects. He joined U.S. News and World Report in 1987 as an associate editor to cover the Justice Department, the FBI and white collar crime. In 1988, he became one of the magazine's principle political reporters, was named one of the magazine's two White House correspondents and was promoted to senior editor. Since taking over one of the magazine's main editing posts in 1991, he has continued to write about national affairs.

Born September 17, 1954 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Baer attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with a B.A. in 1976. After graduation, Baer worked as a political reporter for the Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report. In 1977 - 78, on a Rotary International Fellowship, he attended the London School of Economics, earning a masters degree in International Relations. In 1978, Baer entered the University of Virginia Law School and earned his J.D. degree in 1981. Baer worked as an associate with the New York law firm of Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler from 1981 - 85. During this time, Baer began writing op-ed pieces for the New York Times. After leaving the firm in 1985, he went to work for The American Lawyer as a reporter, where he worked for a year and a half.

Baer is married to Nancy Bard, a lawyer, and the couple has two children.

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