Former Journal Reporter Kenneth Bacon Dies of Cancer at 64
Kenneth Bacon, who died Saturday at 64, was president of Refugees International, the Washington, D.C.-based organization that serves as a global advocate for the displaced.
Sporting a trademark bowtie and an easy manner, Mr. Bacon was a familiar figure in Washington as chief Pentagon spokesman during the Clinton administration.
He had previously worked as a reporter and editor for The Wall Street Journal, where his assignments included covering the Pentagon.
"He wasn't about spin," says William J. Perry, who as secretary of defense, appointed Mr. Bacon to the Pentagon spokesman's post in 1994. He had gotten to know Mr. Bacon years before as an undersecretary of defense in the 1970s, when Mr. Bacon sat across from his desk, asking questions.
At Refugees International, Mr. Bacon helped raise the organization's profile as an advocate for refugees in Darfur. In Iraq and Pakistan, he helped bring attention to as many as five million refugees who had abandoned their homes to escape wars and terrorism. Despite suffering late-stage cancer, Mr. Bacon testified as recently as June before a House committee to describe conditions in Pakistan.
"The United States," he told Congress, "needs to be seen as rising above military objectives and showing genuine concern for the fate of civilians."
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Sporting a trademark bowtie and an easy manner, Mr. Bacon was a familiar figure in Washington as chief Pentagon spokesman during the Clinton administration.
He had previously worked as a reporter and editor for The Wall Street Journal, where his assignments included covering the Pentagon.
"He wasn't about spin," says William J. Perry, who as secretary of defense, appointed Mr. Bacon to the Pentagon spokesman's post in 1994. He had gotten to know Mr. Bacon years before as an undersecretary of defense in the 1970s, when Mr. Bacon sat across from his desk, asking questions.
At Refugees International, Mr. Bacon helped raise the organization's profile as an advocate for refugees in Darfur. In Iraq and Pakistan, he helped bring attention to as many as five million refugees who had abandoned their homes to escape wars and terrorism. Despite suffering late-stage cancer, Mr. Bacon testified as recently as June before a House committee to describe conditions in Pakistan.
"The United States," he told Congress, "needs to be seen as rising above military objectives and showing genuine concern for the fate of civilians."