Faith Whittlesey, who was the highest-ranking woman on the Reagan White House staff during her time there and who helped lay the foundation for the religious right’s enduring allegiance to the Republican Party, died on Monday at her home in Washington. The cause was liver cancer, her son William Whittleseysaid. As a guardian of the conservative flame, Mrs. Whittlesey sometimes vexed her more pragmatic and less ideological administration colleagues as she aggressively helped cobble together what became known as the Reagan coalition. Between two separate terms as ambassador to Switzerland, she was director of the president’s Office of Public Liaison from 1983 to 1985 and the only woman among the most senior White House staff members. Within the administration she echoed their concerns about a cultural and moral decline in the nation.

Source: New York Times May 24, 2018 23:03 UTC