Press Secretary for Wilson Leaves to Join NASA
Bill Livingstone, Gov. Pete Wilson’s press secretary, has quit the governor’s staff to become communications director for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wilson announced Friday.
Livingstone, 40, has been Wilson’s press secretary since the Republican governor took office in January, 1991.
In a statement released by his office, Wilson praised Livingstone for his “curiosity and his capacity for empathy” and said he was grateful for his “performance and friendship.”
Livingstone, a Montana native, worked for Wilson’s Senate office from 1985 until 1990 and agreed to join Wilson’s gubernatorial campaign and then serve as the governor’s spokesman even though he was reluctant to leave Washington, associates have said.
Although he generally enjoyed good rapport with Wilson, Livingstone’s most prominent moment as press secretary came after he and his deputies embarrassed Wilson by saying that three people the governor described in detail during his State of the State speech did not exist but were fictional “composites” drawn from all those Wilson had met as he traveled California.
Wilson later contradicted Livingstone, identified the three people he said he was referring to, and brought them to the Capitol for lunch.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
