Herbert Baus; Campaign Advisor, Author

Herbert M. Baus, the political campaign manager who engineered President Richard M. Nixon’s victory in California in 1960 but years later publicly advised him to resign, has died. He was 85.

Baus, who also molded his lifelong pleasures into books on crossword puzzles, wine and restaurants, died of Parkinson’s disease May 6 in his Palm Springs home.

With William B. Ross, Baus formed the Los Angeles-based political campaign firm Baus & Ross shortly after World War II. The partnership, which claimed that it won 90% of its more than 100 campaigns during Baus’ tenure, was an early user of such nowcommonplace techniques as polling and direct mail.

Baus worked for several ballot initiatives, including measures favoring expansion of Los Angeles International Airport in the late 1950s and establishment of daylight saving time in California. In addition to Nixon, Baus’ candidates included Los Angeles Mayor Norris Poulson, Los Angeles County Sheriff Peter J. Pitchess and California Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown Sr.

Although Baus formally retired from his firm in 1968, he continued as an occasional consultant and never hesitated to offer his political analysis in speeches or written commentary.

He had been a major supporter and campaigner for Nixon in U.S. Senate, vice presidential and presidential races, but in February 1974, Baus bluntly told the Watergate-beleaguered president: “The time has come for you to bow out.”

Months before Nixon finally made the decision to step down, Baus delivered his public memo in the form of a Times op-ed piece, stating: “The paramount issue has become whether the country will be ripped apart by your impeachment for a colony of crimes that have become linked to your office--or whether you will go away, quietly. Given the sorry circumstances, my advice--and I speak as an old ally--is that you should resign, for the good of yourself, your party and your country.”

Baus’ varied pursuits yielded an eclectic collection of books: “Politics Battle Plan,” written with Ross; “Wine Your Way to Health” in 1973; several editions of “Best Restaurants of Orange County,” from his newspaper columns in the 1980s; and two tomes to aid fellow crossword puzzle fans--the Expert’s Crossword Puzzle Dictionary in 1973 and the 1,693-page Master Crossword Puzzle Dictionary in 1981.

“Going from political campaigns to this dictionary was a very different kind of pressure,” Baus told The Times in 1981. “A political campaign is really military combat without bullets. A dictionary is much quieter, far more detailed but in its way also very demanding.”

The dictionary project took 15 years, and Baus had to enlist faculty wives and students at Pomona College to amass its more than 1 million answers and 250,000 clues.

“I thought if it was worth doing it was worth overdoing,” he said when the dictionary was finally published.

During his years as a restaurant critic, Baus served as president of the Southern California Restaurant Writers Assn.

Born in Indianapolis, Baus moved to Inglewood as a child and later attended UCLA. He worked briefly as a newspaper reporter and then served as publicity director for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. During World War II, he handled public relations for the Army Air Force in Washington and New York City.

He then worked as secretary and general manager of the Los Angeles Downtown Business Men’s Assn., shortly before starting his political campaign firm.

Baus is survived by his wife, Helene, who has asked that any memorial contributions be made to the City of Hope in Duarte.

Memorial services are pending.