Bill Brockett speaking at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California
Presidential Advisor, Author, and Guest Speaker Bill Brockett
Bill Brockett, a former member of the White House Communications Agency (WHCA) and personal advisor to President Ford, is an internationally acclaimed author and available for guest speaking engagements, book signings, and multimedia presentations around the country.
Mr. Brockett recently completed a 9-year book-writing project, with his memoir, Follow The Yellow Line, being published in the fall of 2025. The work is receiving rave reviews from readers around the world, including former White House staff members, and even Pavel Palazhchenko, Soviet interpreter for Mikhail Gorbachev.
Mr. Brockett was drafted into the Army at the height of the Vietnam War in 1970. Through a series of incredible events, he was first assigned to a HAWK surface-to-air missile battalion in Germany and then to the White House just one month and nine days before Richard Nixon resigned the presidency.
Mr. Brockett is believed to be the only person, living or dead, to have been personally present at all four major events at the White House on August 8th and 9th of 1974—in the Oval Office for President Nixon’s resignation speech, in the East Room for the President’s farewell address to the White House staff, on the South Lawn for the helicopter departure of the Nixon’s, and back in the East Room for the swearing in ceremony of President Ford.
In October of 1975, Mr. Brockett took on the volunteer job of training the new president’s Golden Retriever named “Liberty”. Shortly after, at the president’s request, he became Mr. Ford’s youngest personal advisor at the age of twenty-four.
In September of 1975, after taking the president’s dog to Oregon to be bred the previous July, Mr. Brockett lived in the White House residence with the Ford family for over four weeks to assist in the birth and raising of Liberty’s nine puppies. During this time, two assassination attempts were made on the president.
As a former Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army and a 100% disabled veteran, Mr. Brockett brings a unique perspective on both the Nixon/Ford transition and the inner workings of the Ford administration, as well as life in the White House Residence. He is a recipient of the National Defense Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Presidential Service Badge.
Mr. Brockett can be reached at: bill.brockett1968@gmail.com. Copies of his book can be ordered on this website (click “Order” in the main navigation), with both unsigned and signed editions available.