According to a statement from the LBJ Presidential Library, Hardesty suffered congestive heart failure when he died Monday.
A native of St. Louis, Mo., Hardesty attended George Washington University and became a reporter for the Army Times. He wrote speeches for Democrats in the 1964 election and the Johnson Administration hired him afterward. When Johnson returned to Austin, Hardesty helped Johnson write his memoir.
President Gerald Ford named Hardesty to the Postal Service Board of Governors.
In 1981, he became president of what is now Texas State University. When Texas Gov. Bill Clements fired him for philosophical reasons, a court declared the move illegal and the regents named him president emeritus.
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