Michael Deaver, top Reagan adviser, dies at 69

Michael K. Deaver, a close adviser to Ronald Reagan who directed the president's picturesque and symbolic public appearances, died yesterday. He was 69.

Mr. Deaver, who had pancreatic cancer, died at his home in Bethesda, according to a statement from the Deaver family issued by Edelman, the public relations firm where he served as vice chairman.

As Mr. Reagan's chief choreographer for public events, Mr. Deaver protected the commander in chief's image and enhanced it with a flair for choosing just the right settings, poses and camera angles.

"I've always said the only thing I did is light him well," Mr. Deaver told the Los Angeles Times in 2001. "My job was filling up the space around the head. I didn't make Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan made me."

Mr. Deaver's own image suffered a setback in 1987. He was convicted on three of five counts of perjury, stemming from statements to a congressional subcommittee and a federal grand jury investigation of his lobbying activities with administration officials. He was sentenced to three years' probation and fined $100,000 as well as ordered to perform 1,500 hours of public service.

Mr. Deaver's family said yesterday that he fought his cancer "with the courage, grace and good spirit that he carried throughout his life."

Former first lady Nancy Reagan said Mr. Deaver "was the closest of friends to both Ronnie and me in many ways, and he was like a son to Ronnie."

Mr. Meese, in a telephone interview with the Associated Press from his Virginia home, said Mr. Deaver "had great imagination, great innovation."

"Public relations was his obvious forte, and he did a very good job of it throughout his life," Mr. Meese said. "Mike had an amazing way to understand how people would respond, and he had a great way of helping Ronald Reagan get his message across to the public."

Mr. Deaver's greatest skill "was in arranging what were known as good visuals — televised events or scenes that would leave a powerful symbolic image in people's minds," Mrs. Reagan recalled in her memoir, "My Turn."

One example was Mr. Reagan's visit to the beaches of Normandy, in France, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Europe during World War II. Mr. Deaver arranged for Mr. Reagan to appear on a cliff overlooking the English Channel and address D-Day veterans, which yielded dramatic video and still images of the president.

Mr. Deaver was born April 11, 1938, in Bakersfield, Calif. He played piano in bars while studying political science at San Jose State College, where received his bachelor's degree in 1960.

He worked for IBM and served in the Air Force. Later, it was Mr. Deaver's interest in politics that led him to the Santa Clara County Republican Party.

Mr. Deaver's work on behalf of the Reagans began when he joined the gubernatorial staff in Sacramento, Calif., after Mr. Reagan's election in 1966.

When Mr. Deaver left the White House in 1985, he formed his own consulting firm. In 1992, he joined the public relations firm Edelman. He wrote four books touching on his White House years and his relationship with the Reagans.

Survivors include his wife, Carolyn, and two children, Amanda Deaver of Washington and Blair Deaver of Bend, Ore.