Ben Wattenberg, former Hudson adjunct fellow, close and longtime friend of the Institute, and a leading figure in American intellectual life for more than 50 years, passed away yesterday at 81. Hudson mourns his loss and offers its heartfelt condolences to his family.
Wattenberg helped pioneer the use of sophisticated but accessible statistical analysis in a series of celebrated and influential books like This USA and The Real Majority (both with Richard Scammon), and The Real America and The Birth Dearth. He gave tireless personal service to his nation and its politics as a U.S. Air Force veteran, speechwriter to President Lyndon B. Johnson, campaign adviser to Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and Sen. Henry M. Jackson, founding chairman of the Coalition for a Democratic Majority, and vice chairman of Radio Liberty, Radio Free Europe, and the Board of International Broadcasting. He was also a public-affairs broadcaster and journalist of note himself: the host of Think Tank with Ben Wattenberg for 17 seasons on PBS, and a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist for more than 20 years.
He will be sorely missed.