[1] Baroody joined the American Enterprise Association[2] in 1954 as executive vice president.
Upon his retirement as president of the AEI he was succeeded by his son, William J. Baroody Jr., a former aide in the Ford White House.
Born in Manchester, New Hampshire, to Lebanese immigrants of Melkite Greek Catholic descent, Baroody graduated from St. Anselm College in 1936, working odd jobs to help pay his way through school.
He served as principal adviser of Barry Goldwater when the Arizona senator was the 1964 Republican Party presidential candidate.
[1] Baroody was also a friend and confidante to Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and other Republican politicians.