William B. Ross

Background

William Ross was born on January 29, 1915, in Spokane, Washington.

Education

William Ross's undergraduate degree was in journalism, which he earned at the University of Southern California in 1937.

Career

During his schooling, William Ross started publishing small newspapers and thus learned about advertising. It inspired him, while still a college senior, to found his first company, W. B. Ross and Associates, an advertising copy firm, in 1938. He ran this company until shaping a partnership with Herbert Baus to form Baus & Ross Co., a public relations firm, in 1948. Ross and Baus made for a creative team that is credited by many with initiating such then-innovative practices as direct mailing and telephone polls for political candidates. In addition to working for such candidates as Nixon and Brown, they campaigned for Barry Goldwater and mayoral candidates in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The firm also formed publicity campaigns for political issues such as bond and land acquisition measures. After Baus retired in 1968, Ross continued to run the company for several years. Ross and Baus's public relations firm was admired for its efficiency and innovation. They boasted a ninety-percent success rate, and together they published a popular book on their methods titled Politics Battle Plan.

Achievements

• William Ross was best known as a public relations advisor, who organized political campaigns for President Richard Milhous Nixon and California Governor Pat Brown. He also was a founder of the W. B. Ross and Associates in 1938 and co-founder of the Baus & Ross Co. in 1948. As a writer, Ross was the author of one book, Politics Battle Plan.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Politics Battle Plan 1968

Connections

colleague:

Edmund Gerald Brown

Pat Brown was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 32nd Governor of California from 1959 to 1967.

colleague:

Herbert M. Baus

Herbert Baus was a political campaign manager who engineered President Richard M. Nixon's victory in California in 1960.

colleague:

Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon was the 37th United States president. He was best remembered as the only president ever to resign from office.