BILL LAWRENCE was one of the most independent and highly respected members of the national political press corps, always tough-minded in his search for the facts.
His death was most untimely and tragic, but it came on an assignment symbolic of his long career in the snows of New Hampshire covering the start of yet another national political campaign. He will be greatly missed by all who have followed his reports over the years.
Note: Mr. Lawrence, 56, died of a heart attack in Bedford, N.H., on March 2, 1972.
He was a reporter for the New York Times for 20 years before joining the American Broadcasting Company in 1961 as White House correspondent. He was national affairs editor for ABC News from 1968 until his death.
The statement was released at Key Biscayne, Fla.
Richard Nixon, Statement About the Death of William H. Lawrence Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/255151