Lou Cannon

Louis Simeon Cannon (June 3, 1933 – December 19, 2025) was an American journalist, non-fiction author, and biographer who was state bureau chief for the San Jose Mercury News in the late 1960s, and later senior White House correspondent of The Washington Post during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. He was a prolific biographer of Ronald Reagan, having written five books about him. Cannon was a columnist and editorial advisor to State Net Capitol Journal, a weekly publication focused on state legislation and politics.

Background Louis Simeon Cannon was born on June 3, 1933, in Manhattan, New York, and was raised in Fallon, Nevada, and Reno, Nevada. He was educated at the University of Nevada, Reno, before transferring to San Francisco State College.

Personal life and death Cannon married Virginia Oprian in 1953, with whom he had four children, including Carl M. Cannon, before divorcing in 1983. Two years later, he married Mary Shinkwin.

Cannon died from a stroke at a hospice facility in Santa Barbara, California, on December 19, 2025, at the age of 92.

Publications

Ronnie and Jesse: A Political Odyssey (New York: Doubleday, 1969) The McCloskey Challenge (1972) Reporting: An Inside View (1977) Reagan (1982) President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime (1991) Official Negligence: How Rodney King and the Riots Changed Los Angeles and the LAPD (1998) Ronald Reagan: The Presidential Portfolio: History as Told through the Collection of the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum (2001) Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power (2003)