Ross, Thomas J. “Tommy”

Thomas J. (“T.J.” or “Tommy”) Ross was one of the rare third-generation practitioners working in the 20th century. He was a partner in a New York City agency named Lee & Ross, with Ivy Lee. The firm began in 1904 as Parker and Lee, founded by George Parker. Lee started his career by joining Parker. Ross continued a practice that was decades old. Tommy Ross, as he was known to his friends, was one of the original members of the Wise Men, a professional association of senior practitioner counselors in New York City, started by John W. Hill in 1938.

Typical of many public relations pioneers, Ross began his career in newspapers. Ross joined the Ivy Lee firm in 1919 and almost immediately became one of the most important forces in the destiny of that firm. The importance of the assignments increased as he demonstrated how well he could add value to the interests of clients and to the agency's success. He became a partner in 1933. Ross had demonstrated his ability to work with difficult projects for major corporate clients in service to Walter Chrysler of Chrysler Corporation and the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Ross acquired part of his counseling style and client list from Lee. Like Lee, he was an excellent listener and earned the reputation of always answering clients' questions clearly and frankly. From Lee, he made client connections with major companies, such as the tobacco industry. Both would work for publicity, but they knew that it must be grounded in sound business policy. Counseling before action was wiser than trying to answer for mistakes in judgment.

Like Lee, Ross worked quietly on behalf of clients. Reporters knew who his clients were and whence news releases came for those clients. In that regard, the agency did not act in secrecy. But they wanted clients to get the credit for effective public relations, not the agency. Client satisfaction and return business was the goal, not glory for the agency. In that regard, Ross viewed public relations as a staff function, not one that would presume to manage the company. Public relations was intended to inform and guide management in making decisions and responding to difficult or strained relationships.

Ross was part of the counseling team that took primary interest in the American Tobacco [Page 757]Corporation account, starting in 1927. Like other industrial enterprises, the tobacco industry was having a hard time accommodating to the changing public policy environment of business. This industry is legendary in the 20th century for its clashes with antitrust lawyers and public health critics.

Lee and George Washington Hill of American Tobacco were good friends. As Lee was becoming more interested in the philanthropy of his most affluent clients, Ross became the leading counselor in the firm on clients' business relationship problems. This was especially the case in working for the American Tobacco, Chrysler, and Pennsylvania Railroad accounts.

George Washington Hill was flamboyant. He would go to any length to gain publicity for himself and his company, which relied heavily on the profits from Lucky Strike cigarettes. Hill retained Lee and Ross as well as Edward Bernays on this account, believing if they were the best and he hired them both, they could not be working for the competition. This account began with the primary focus on selling cigarettes, but by the early 1950s it had the added burden of responding to growing criticism from the health care industry.

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