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ANCA-WR TO BESTOW LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD TO KEN KHACHIGIAN
AZG DAILY
23-09-2011
The Armenian National Committee of America ~V Western Region has
announced that Ken Khachigian will receive the Lifetime Achievement
Award at the 2011 ANCA-WR Annual Banquet for his decades of work as
an American campaign strategist, political speechwriter and attorney.
Ronald Reagan became the first sitting U.S. president to properly
characterize the Armenian Genocide while Khachigian was his
speechwriter.
Khachigian is best remembered for his tenure as speechwriter in the
Nixon and Reagan administrations. He has served as an advisor in nine
presidential campaigns. In addition to his work on the Nixon, Reagan,
and Bush-Quayle campaigns, he most recently served as a senior advisor
to the presidential campaigns of Bob Dole in 1996; John McCain in 2000;
and Fred Thompson in 2008.
In 1970, after graduating from law school, he climbed the White
House ranks during his tenure in the Nixon administration, going from
staff assistant to Deputy Special Assistant to the President within
six years. In 1974, after the Nixon administration had collapsed
in the Watergate scandal, he joined President Nixon at his private
California residence to help compose his memoirs and to conduct
research for Nixon~Rs interview with David Frost. It was a landmark
event that became the subject of the 2008 film ~QFrost/Nixon,~R in
which Khachigian was portrayed by actor Gabriel Jarret.
Following his work in the Nixon administration, Khachigian joined
Ronald Reagan~Rs 1980 presidential campaign. By 1981, he was named
chief speechwriter and special consultant to the President. Within
the first 100 days, Khachigian wrote Reagan~Rs inaugural address,
his three main economic speeches, and the welcoming address to the
hostages held during the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran.
Although he resigned after six months to return to the private
sector, he would continue to write many of the major political and
policy speeches throughout the President~Rs two terms, including the
1984 nomination acceptance speech, the 1985 remarks at the former
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, and the 1988 Republican
National Convention farewell address.
It was during the speech at Bergen-Belsen that Reagan famously
declared, "~E we can and must pledge: Never again," and the address
is widely regarded as the greatest throughout his career. Khachigian
also penned the 1981 "Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust"
Proclamation in which Reagan recognized and properly characterized
the Armenian Genocide.
Khachigian has been active in California elections since the early
1980s, and is known among politicos and pundits as "the lion of
California GOP politics." Prominent political commentator Bob Novak has
written that Khachigian is "perhaps the state~Rs premier Republican
strategist and wordsmith." He is widely quoted in state and national
publications, has appeared on prominent cable and network television
programs and frequently lectures before businesses and associations
on government affairs and politics.
"With this award, we are recognizing Ken Khachigian for his invaluable
contribution to Hai Tahd and American politics throughout the last 40
years," said ANCA-WR Chairman Andrew Kzirian. "Among his many other
achievements, Khachigian proved that the pen is mightier than the
sword, succeeding in bringing the history of the Armenian people and
most importantly the truth of the Armenian Genocide to the mainstream
public consciousness."
During the 1982 and 1986 California gubernatorial campaigns,
Khachigian was senior advisor and principal strategist for Governor
George Deukmejian. He also served as campaign chairman, campaign
manager and senior consultant to Dan Lungren for his two victories as
Attorney General. Khachigian counseled Pete Wilson in his winning U.S.
Senate and gubernatorial campaigns; in 1998, he guided the successful
statewide retention election of California Supreme Court Justice
Ming Chin.
Khachigian completed his undergraduate education at the University of
California, Santa Barbara in political science in 1966, and received
his Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 1969. He is currently
a senior partner in the Orange County, California law office of
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, and a member of the Government
Relations and Natural Resources departments. His practice includes a
range of high-level environmental and government relations matters,
particularly where legal, government and public issues intersect.
Currently, he serves on the boards of the California Council for
Environmental and Economic Balance; the California Chamber of
Commerce; the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace Foundation; the
UCSB Foundation; and Campaigns & Elections Magazine.
He and his wife, Meredith Khachigian, serve on the board of directors
of the Armenian Eye Care Project, which has helped thousands of
Armenians restore and maintain their vision through prevention
and early intervention programs. They have two daughters: Merissa
Khachigian, who serves as the Director of State Government Affairs
at Oracle; and Kristy Khachigian, who is the Director of Executive
Education at TechAmerica.
The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the
largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy
organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination
with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the
Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country,
the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community
on a broad range of issues.
From: A. Papazian
AZG DAILY
23-09-2011
The Armenian National Committee of America ~V Western Region has
announced that Ken Khachigian will receive the Lifetime Achievement
Award at the 2011 ANCA-WR Annual Banquet for his decades of work as
an American campaign strategist, political speechwriter and attorney.
Ronald Reagan became the first sitting U.S. president to properly
characterize the Armenian Genocide while Khachigian was his
speechwriter.
Khachigian is best remembered for his tenure as speechwriter in the
Nixon and Reagan administrations. He has served as an advisor in nine
presidential campaigns. In addition to his work on the Nixon, Reagan,
and Bush-Quayle campaigns, he most recently served as a senior advisor
to the presidential campaigns of Bob Dole in 1996; John McCain in 2000;
and Fred Thompson in 2008.
In 1970, after graduating from law school, he climbed the White
House ranks during his tenure in the Nixon administration, going from
staff assistant to Deputy Special Assistant to the President within
six years. In 1974, after the Nixon administration had collapsed
in the Watergate scandal, he joined President Nixon at his private
California residence to help compose his memoirs and to conduct
research for Nixon~Rs interview with David Frost. It was a landmark
event that became the subject of the 2008 film ~QFrost/Nixon,~R in
which Khachigian was portrayed by actor Gabriel Jarret.
Following his work in the Nixon administration, Khachigian joined
Ronald Reagan~Rs 1980 presidential campaign. By 1981, he was named
chief speechwriter and special consultant to the President. Within
the first 100 days, Khachigian wrote Reagan~Rs inaugural address,
his three main economic speeches, and the welcoming address to the
hostages held during the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran.
Although he resigned after six months to return to the private
sector, he would continue to write many of the major political and
policy speeches throughout the President~Rs two terms, including the
1984 nomination acceptance speech, the 1985 remarks at the former
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, and the 1988 Republican
National Convention farewell address.
It was during the speech at Bergen-Belsen that Reagan famously
declared, "~E we can and must pledge: Never again," and the address
is widely regarded as the greatest throughout his career. Khachigian
also penned the 1981 "Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust"
Proclamation in which Reagan recognized and properly characterized
the Armenian Genocide.
Khachigian has been active in California elections since the early
1980s, and is known among politicos and pundits as "the lion of
California GOP politics." Prominent political commentator Bob Novak has
written that Khachigian is "perhaps the state~Rs premier Republican
strategist and wordsmith." He is widely quoted in state and national
publications, has appeared on prominent cable and network television
programs and frequently lectures before businesses and associations
on government affairs and politics.
"With this award, we are recognizing Ken Khachigian for his invaluable
contribution to Hai Tahd and American politics throughout the last 40
years," said ANCA-WR Chairman Andrew Kzirian. "Among his many other
achievements, Khachigian proved that the pen is mightier than the
sword, succeeding in bringing the history of the Armenian people and
most importantly the truth of the Armenian Genocide to the mainstream
public consciousness."
During the 1982 and 1986 California gubernatorial campaigns,
Khachigian was senior advisor and principal strategist for Governor
George Deukmejian. He also served as campaign chairman, campaign
manager and senior consultant to Dan Lungren for his two victories as
Attorney General. Khachigian counseled Pete Wilson in his winning U.S.
Senate and gubernatorial campaigns; in 1998, he guided the successful
statewide retention election of California Supreme Court Justice
Ming Chin.
Khachigian completed his undergraduate education at the University of
California, Santa Barbara in political science in 1966, and received
his Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 1969. He is currently
a senior partner in the Orange County, California law office of
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, and a member of the Government
Relations and Natural Resources departments. His practice includes a
range of high-level environmental and government relations matters,
particularly where legal, government and public issues intersect.
Currently, he serves on the boards of the California Council for
Environmental and Economic Balance; the California Chamber of
Commerce; the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace Foundation; the
UCSB Foundation; and Campaigns & Elections Magazine.
He and his wife, Meredith Khachigian, serve on the board of directors
of the Armenian Eye Care Project, which has helped thousands of
Armenians restore and maintain their vision through prevention
and early intervention programs. They have two daughters: Merissa
Khachigian, who serves as the Director of State Government Affairs
at Oracle; and Kristy Khachigian, who is the Director of Executive
Education at TechAmerica.
The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the
largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy
organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination
with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the
Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country,
the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community
on a broad range of issues.
From: A. Papazian