John O "Jack" Koehler was a German-born American journalist and executive for the Associated Press, who briefly served as the White House Communications Director in 1987 during the Reagan administration.
14 Facts About Jack Koehler
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Jack Koehler soon found a position as a German language interpreter for the United States Army when he was a teenager.
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Jack Koehler moved to Canada after World War II and then immigrated to the United States in 1954.
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Jack Koehler enlisted in the US Army, where he worked in intelligence.
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Jack Koehler legally changed his name to John Koehler after moving to the United States.
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Jack Koehler took a position with the Associated Press as a foreign correspondent in Berlin and Bonn, West Germany.
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Jack Koehler then became the Associated Press' bureau chief in Newark, New Jersey.
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Jack Koehler rose to become the assistant general manager and managing director of AP's world services, a position he held until his retirement in 1985.
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Jack Koehler traveled to Pakistan and France to focus on helping rebels get their messages out to journalists and foreign governments.
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In 1987, Jack Koehler, who was friends with Ronald Reagan, became the White House Communications Director.
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However, Jack Koehler resigned after just one week in the White House after it became public that he had been a member of the Deutsches Jungvolk, a Nazi government youth division, when he was ten years old.
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Jack Koehler insisted that his membership in the Jungvolk was not the reason for his resignation, dismissing the Jungvolk as "the Boy Scouts run by the Nazi party".
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Jack Koehler died from pancreatic cancer at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, on September 28,2012, at the age of 82.
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Jack Koehler was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.