She led four trade groups during her career, was a former aide to Reagan and Bush

(Story updated Dec. 19.)

Veteran association CEO Juanita Duggan, whose long advocacy career included CEO roles at four trade groups, has died.

The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, of which Duggan was CEO from 1998-2006, said she died Dec. 13 at home in the Washington, D.C., area.

The association called Duggan "a passionate policy advocate for family-owned wine and spirits" and "a skilled communicator, energetic leader and policy expert."

Duggan's most recent association CEO post was at the National Federation of Independent Business, which she led from 2016 to 2020.

"All of us at NFIB were sad to hear the news of former President Juanita Duggan's passing," NFIB President Brad Close said in a Dec. 16 statement.

"Juanita's tireless and passionate leadership was instrumental in Congress passing the largest small business tax cut in history and winning significant relief for small businesses across the country. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, and colleagues. She was an unforgettable leader and the small business community is better off, today, because of her efforts."

Former WSWA CEO Craig Wolf credited Duggan's mentorship for enabling him to succeed her.

"Juanita was a force of nature. So strong and confident—beautiful and funny—and dangerously smart," Wolf said in a statement. "Juanita gave me my start in the association world as WSWA's General Counsel. ... When I asked her if she would support my joining the Army in the wake of 9/11, she never hesitated.

"And when I came back from Basic Training as a 1st Lieutenant, she started calling me 'Lieutenant Dan' in that great southern tinged accent. ... (WSWA is) an organization she had by force of her tremendous will, intellect, and personality transformed into a Washington powerhouse," Wolf said.

More information on Duggan's passing was not available.

Former President Donald Trump recognized Duggan for her help in getting his signature tax cuts enacted in 2017.

Duggan launched her own advocacy consulting firm, Clarifyd, after leaving NFIB.

Her first association CEO role was at WSWA. She went on to run the American Forest & Paper Association from 2006-07 and later the American Apparel & Footwear Association from 2014-16 before going to NFIB.

According to LinkedIn and her biography on the Clarifyd site, she headed the domestic policy council in the Reagan administration at the age of 28, taking the post in 1987. She later was director of cabinet affairs for President George Herbert Walker Bush. Before working in the executive branch, she was a Senate committee staffer.