REMEMBERING ROBERT C. ODLE, JR.

Robert C. Odle, Jr., White House staff assistant, presidential campaign aide to President Nixon, and friend of the Nixon Family, died on October 2, 2019. He was 75.

“We are very sad to hear about the loss of our dear friend Rob Odle,” said President and Mrs. Nixon’s daughters Tricia Nixon Cox and Julie Nixon Eisenhower. “Rob was a man of deep faith, a true American patriot, and loyal in his service to our father and his memory. His important impact on the Nixon Library and Foundation will continue to be felt forever.”

Recently retired from a three decade career as a partner attorney at Weil, Gotshal & Manges in Washington, D.C., Robert Odle served as pro-bono general counsel on the Richard Nixon Foundation board of directors.

A Michigan native, Robert Odle graduated from Wayne State College, and went on to Michigan State Law School.

While still a law student, Robert Odle started his career working at Nixon’s campaign offices in New York earning what he would later call “sustenance wages.” His job was to keep records of state delegates elected in primaries or caucuses.

Just after President Nixon’s inauguration in January 1969, he graduated law school and joined the staff of White House director of communications Herb Klein.

In 1972, he was recruited back to campaign politics as director of administration for President Nixon’s re-election committee.

In the second Nixon administration, Robert Odle was deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In 1981, President Reagan appointed him assistant secretary at the Department of Energy.

In addition to the Nixon Foundation, Robert Odle was active in the Roman Catholic diocese of Arlington, VA, the Heritage Foundation, and the Federalist Society, among other organizations.

Robert Odle is survived by his wife, Lydia, and son John Paul.