Representative Ogden Rogers Reid

Ogden Rogers Reid (June 24, 1925 – March 2, 2019) was an American politician, diplomat, and newspaper executive who served as United States Ambassador to Israel and as a six-term United States Representative from Westchester County, New York, in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1963 to 1975. Born into a prominent publishing family, he was the grandson of Whitelaw Reid, longtime editor of the New York Tribune and a U.S. diplomat, and the son of Ogden Mills Reid, who headed the New York Herald Tribune. During his youth, Reid lived at Ophir Cottage, the family home in Purchase, New York, which had been built by his grandfather. His upbringing in this environment exposed him early to journalism, public affairs, and international issues that would later shape his own career in diplomacy and politics.

Reid was educated at elite preparatory schools and attended Yale University, where he interrupted his studies to serve in the United States Army during World War II. After the war he returned to Yale and completed his degree, emerging with a background that combined military service, academic training, and exposure to international affairs. Following his father’s death, Reid became involved in the family newspaper business. He rose to leadership in the New York Herald Tribune, serving in senior executive roles and helping to guide the paper during a period of transition in American journalism. His work in publishing, together with his family’s longstanding engagement in public life, positioned him as a figure of national prominence by the late 1950s.

In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Reid as United States Ambassador to Israel, a post he held until 1961. As ambassador, he represented the United States during a critical phase of the Cold War and the early years of U.S.–Israeli relations, working on issues of regional security, refugee questions, and economic and military assistance. His tenure in Tel Aviv coincided with growing American involvement in the Middle East, and he developed a reputation as a capable and engaged diplomat. After returning to the United States, Reid shifted his focus from diplomacy to elective office, drawing on his foreign policy experience and his background in journalism as he prepared to enter Congress.

Reid was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1962 from a district based in Westchester County, New York, and he took his seat in January 1963. He served six consecutive terms, remaining in the House until January 1975. During his years in Congress, he represented the interests of his suburban New York constituents while participating in the broader legislative process at a time of profound national change, including the civil rights movement, the Great Society programs, the Vietnam War, and the Watergate era. Initially elected as a Republican, he later became a member of the Democratic Party, under which he continued his service. As a member of the House of Representatives, Ogden Rogers Reid contributed to the legislative process over his six terms in office, engaging in debates on domestic policy, foreign affairs, and federal support for education and urban development, and he took particular interest in issues related to international relations, reflecting his diplomatic background.

Reid’s congressional service occurred during a significant period in American history, and he was part of the cohort of legislators who grappled with questions of war and peace, social welfare, and the evolving role of the federal government. Representing a district in Westchester County, he worked to balance national priorities with local concerns, including transportation, housing, and environmental protection in the rapidly developing suburbs north of New York City. His shift from the Republican to the Democratic Party underscored the political realignments of the era, especially in the Northeast, as attitudes toward civil rights, the Vietnam War, and social policy reshaped party coalitions.

Outside of his official duties, Reid maintained substantial personal and family interests. He owned Flyway, a 430-acre estate in North Carolina near the Virginia border that was valued at $600,000 in 1974, reflecting both his family’s longstanding landholdings and his own interest in rural property. He was active in New York social and civic circles and was a member of the New York Athletic Club, the River Club, and the Wings Club, associations that connected him to business, social, and aviation communities in and around New York City. These affiliations complemented his public career and kept him engaged with a wide network of professional and social contacts.

Reid married Mary Louise Stewart, with whom he had several children. Their family life reflected both their public prominence and their ties to longstanding American families. Their son Stewart Mills Reid married Vivian Green, daughter of Paul Green, in 1973. Another son, Michael Whitelaw Reid, married Anne Katherine Burrows, daughter of Kenneth G. Burrows, in 1984. A third son, William Rogers Reid, married Elizabeth Garno, daughter of Edmund Forsythe Garno Jr., in 2000. Their daughter Elisabeth Reid, born in 1960, married Richard W. Taylor Jr., son of Richard W. Taylor, in 1981; that marriage later ended in divorce, and in 2020 she remarried Joseph E. Leo of New Canaan, Connecticut, and Hilton Head, South Carolina. Reid also had sons Ogden Reid, born in 1961, and David Whitelaw Reid, born in 1967, continuing the family’s multigenerational tradition of public and professional engagement.

In his later years, Reid remained a respected elder statesman whose career bridged journalism, diplomacy, and elective office. Having served as U.S. Ambassador to Israel and as a six-term Representative from New York, he was remembered for his participation in the democratic process and his representation of Westchester County during a transformative era in American politics. Ogden Rogers Reid died on March 2, 2019, closing a life that linked the world of early twentieth-century newspaper dynasties with the modern era of American diplomacy and congressional service.