SALT LAKE CITY, March 18 (UPI) -- Richard Wirthlin, a top consultant and pollster for Ronald Reagan in his campaigns and presidency, has died at age 80.
He died Wednesday of kidney failure at his home in Salt Lake City, his family told The New York Times.
Wirthlin, who worked with Reagan from 1968 in the California governorship through the end of his presidency, wrote in his 2004 memoir, "The Greatest Communicator: What Ronald Reagan Taught Me About Politics, Leadership, and Life," that Reagan "wasn't interested in being told what to say -- he intrinsically knew that. He was interested in the most effective way to convey his message."
When Reagan challenged President Gerald Ford in the 1976 Republican primaries, Wirthlin pushed him to make the proposed transfer of the Panama Canal an issue, with some success.
In the 1980 campaign, Wirthlin's strategy, outlined in memos, was: "We must position the governor … so that he is viewed as less dangerous in the foreign affairs area, more competent in the economic area, more compassionate on the domestic issues and less of a conservative zealot."
When Reagan became president, Wirthlin ran "The First 90 Days Project" of policy goals and the strategies to achieve them.
