Eric Ruff

Eric Ruff is press secretary for the U.S. Department of Defense, a position to which he was appointed in May 2006. 

"Under the direction of the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, Ruff will serve as a principal spokesman and assist in explaining the policies, programs and goals of the administration and the Department of Defense to the media and the public. Ruff was previously a special assistant to the deputy secretary of defense and was serving the department in the public affairs office," a Department of Defense media release stated.

The annoucmnent mentioned that prior to working in the Defense Department, Ruff had worked as as director of communications at the U.S. Department of Interior. It also mentioned that he had worked as communications director for Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and before that as press secretary for Republican Senator John Warner of Virginia. "Ruff has also served in the administration of President George H.W. Bush where he worked in public affairs positions at the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce," it stated. 

However, the Department of Defense biographical note omitted to mention Ruff's role as a PR adviser between working for the Republican Senators and commencing work at the Department of Interior. An earlier biographical note, issued by the Department of Interior in approximately 2001, stated that "before joining Interior, Ruff was providing on-the-ground counsel to executives and media relations staff at the Monsanto Company in St. Louis, Missouri. He developed and carried out an array of strategic and tactical programs in support of the company’s global agricultural biotechnology acceptance campaign." 

"Before working on biotechnology, Ruff served as the senior vice president of communications and technology for the National Restaurant Association, overseeing its efforts to promote the restaurant industry and its views to the public and the news media," the Department of Interior media release stated.

Ruff, who started out as a journalist for the Donrey Media Group and then covered Capitol Hill for Congressional Quarterly."After managing the successful 1986 re-election campaign of Att.Gen. Brian McKay of Nevada, Ruff jointed DRGM, the state’s largest advertising and marketing agency, where he represented Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Nevada in Carson City. He also directed the agency’s highly successful public relations campaign for the Nevada mining industry," his biographical profile states. He then worked for Alaskan Republican Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).

Related SourceWatch resources

 * Pentagon military analyst program

External resources and articles

 * Department of Interior, "Biography for Eric Ruff", undated (approx 2001), accessed May 2006.
 * Department of Defense, "Press Secretary Named", News Release, May 2, 2006.
 * "Ruff Named Press Secretary at Pentagon", Washington Post, May 2, 2006. (This is an Associated Press story).