Faith Whittlesey

Faith Ryan Whittlesey is a former Republican politician and White House Senior Staff member notable for her effort to communicate Reagans entire policy agenda to U.S. opinion leaders and for bringing together for the first time in the Reagan White House evangelical, Catholic, and other conservative Christian groups who opposed legalized abortion and were concerned about moral and cultural decline and the breakup of the family. These groups became a significant component of the Reagan coalition as they grew more politically selfconscious in the 1980s. Whittlesey also organized the White House Central American Outreach Group at the direction of Chief of Staff James Baker to provide information about Reagans anticommunist policies in the region. Whittlesey served twice for a total of nearlyyears as U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and also served foryears on the Reagan White House Senior Staff as Assistant to the President for Public Liaison.

Whittlesey was born Faith Ryan in 1939 in Jersey City, New Jersey to Martin Roy Ryan of Maybrook, New York, and Amy Jerusha of Popes Mills, New York. She grew up in Williamsville, New York, and graduated with honors from Williamsville Central High School in 1956. Her photo appears on the Wall of Honor celebrating famous graduates of what is now called Williamsville South High School. In 1955 she was selected to participate in the American Field Service program to Flensburg, Germany. In 1958 she participated in the Experiment in International Living program to Austria. She earned a fulltuition scholarship to attend Wells College in Aurora, New York, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and cum laude in 1960 with a BA in history. She also earned a fulltuition scholarship to the law school at the University of Pennsylvania and a Ford Foundation grant to attend a program at The Hague Academy of International Law in The Netherlands. Whittlesey is also an accomplished classical pianist and fo

Source: Wikipedia