Michael Duval; Aide to Nixon and Ford

Michael Duval, 62, White House aide to presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald Ford. A native of San Francisco, Duval earned his undergraduate degree at Georgetown University and law degree from Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. He was a captain in the Marines. He practiced law in San Francisco before joining Nixon’s staff as an advance man in 1970. He helped arrange Nixon’s groundbreaking trip to China in 1972, and worked with economic advisor Alan Greenspan to address the 1973 energy crisis. After Nixon resigned in 1974, Duval stayed on as special counsel to President Ford and in 1975 became executive director of Ford’s Intelligence Coordinating Group. Duval coordinated Ford’s 1976 campaign debates with Jimmy Carter. Duval left government in 1977, and he worked as senior vice president of Mead Corp. in Dayton, Ohio, and then as managing director of First Boston Corp. in New York. In 1990, he formed the Duval Group, investment bankers specializing in international mergers. On Friday in Santa Fe, N.M., after a long illness.