Peter Roussel

With over 40 years of experience in business, government, politics, and media—including two tours of duty in the White House and service as an assistant to Presidents Ford, Reagan and George H.W. Bush—Peter Roussel is now a sought after public relations consultant, author, public speaker, and television and radio commentator.

From 1981-1987, Roussel served in the Reagan Administration as Special Assistant and Deputy Press Secretary. His duties as a spokesman for the President of the United States required briefings of the White House press corps and accompanying President Reagan on domestic and foreign trips, including summit meetings with Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev at Geneva in 1985 and Iceland in 1986. On one of his first days in the Reagan White House he was directed to go to Phoenix, Arizona to handle media relations and serve as press spokesman for the landmark historic appointment of Sandra Day O’Connor as Justice to the Supreme Court.

Roussel’s career in Washington began in 1969 when he was named press secretary to US Congressman George Bush. In 1970, he was campaign press secretary in Mr. Bush’s race for the US Senate. When Congressman Bush was named US Ambassador to the United Nations in 1971, Roussel joined him as his personal press officer, serving during a two-year period of headline-making events, including the admission of the People’s Republic of China. In 1973, Ambassador Bush was appointed Chairman of the Republican National Committee and Roussel returned with him to Washington, continuing to serve as his personal press officer.

In 1974, Roussel assumed his first assignment at the White House as Staff Assistant to President Ford. Two years later he transferred to the President Ford Committee as special assistant to the campaign’s national director, James. A. Baker, III, and subsequently was communications director for Mr. Baker’s 1978 campaign for Attorney General of Texas.
Roussel commentates for the ABC affiliate station in Houston (KTRK-TV), offering analysis on government and political affairs. He also lends his voice for news radio KTRH.

The author of the acclaimed novel, Ruffled Flourishes, Roussel draws on his experiences as a press spokesman at the White House. He has also written articles for The New York Times, The Washington Post and other publications. From 1992-2003 he was Executive Vice President and a managing partner of Neumann Roussel Public Relations, and from 2004-2008 he was a columnist for INTOWN magazine, writing 54 monthly columns and serving as editor for three of those years.

Roussel graduated in 1965 from the University of Houston where he was honored in 1983 as a Distinguished Alumnus. A year later he was selected to receive the first Distinguished Communications Alumnus Award presented by the university. He has served as a visiting lecturer at Texas A&M University, the University of Houston, and Houston Baptist University on the subject of the press and the presidency.