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Nomination of Helene von Damm To Be United States Ambassador to Austria, and Appointment of John S. Herrington as Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel

February 03, 1983

The President today announced his intention to nominate Helene von Damm as Ambassador to Austria. She will succeed Theodore E. Cummings, deceased.

The President will nominate Mrs. von Damm as Ambassador in late spring. Upon her confirmation, the President intends to appoint John S. Herrington as Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel.

Helene von Damm has been serving as Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel since August 1982. From October 1981 to August 1982, she served as Director of Presidential Personnel with the rank of Deputy Assistant to the President.

Mrs. von Damm has been associated with President Reagan since his first campaign for Governor in California in 1966. She has served him as Personal Secretary during his two terms as Governor, executive assistant during his business years, and as Northeast regional finance director in the 1980 Presidential campaign. After the election, during the transition period, she served as Associate Director of Personnel. For the first 9 months of the administration, Mrs. von Damm was Personal Secretary and Special Assistant to the President.

She presently serves as member at large of the United Service Organization World Board of Governors, a member of the President's Commission on Executive Exchange, the White House Coordinating Council on Women, and the board of directors of the S.O.S. Kinderdorf International's U.S. based affiliate.

Helene von Damm was born in Ulmerfield, Austria, on May 4, 1938, and received her formal education in Austria before immigrating to the United States in 1959. She has received public affairs leadership training by the Coro Foundation in Los Angeles. In 1976 she edited "Sincerely, Ronald Reagan." She is married to Byron Leeds, a businessman, and resides in Washington, D.C., and New Jersey.

Since September 25, 1981, Mr. Herrington has been serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. He has recently tendered his resignation from that post to become a special consultant to the Chief of Staff.

Mr. Herrington was born in Los Angeles, Calif., on May 31, 1939, and graduated from University High School, Los Angeles, in 1957. He is a graduate of Stanford University, where he received his A.B. degree in economics in 1961. At Stanford, he played varsity rugby, soccer, and boxed. Mr. Herrington received his LL.B. and J.D. degrees at the University of California, Hastings College of Law, San Francisco, in 1964. Mr. Herrington has been a practicing attorney in California since 1965, where he had a varied law practice, ranging from criminal prosecution with the Ventura County District Attorney's office to corporate and real estate law. He also expanded his interests into real estate development, ranching, restoration of historic buildings, and other investment undertakings. Mr. Herrington moved to Washington, D.C., in January 1981, to become Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Presidential Personnel.

Mr. Herrington served as a first lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps Reserves. He is a member of the Reserve Forces Policy Board, the Department of the Navy Review and Oversight Council, the President's Military Manpower Task Force Working Group, and the Defense Department Per Diem Committee. He is also a member of the United States Naval Institute, the Navy League, Marine Corps Reserve Officers' Association, and the Naval Enlisted Reserve Association.

Mr. Herrington is married to the former Lois Haight of San Francisco. They have two daughters.

Ronald Reagan, Nomination of Helene von Damm To Be United States Ambassador to Austria, and Appointment of John S. Herrington as Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/262314

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