Michael Clemente, Fox News pioneer who served as deputy chief to Roger Ailes, has died at the age of 70. 

Clemente died in his home in Garrison, New York, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

Clemente joined Fox as a senior VP in 2009 and was promoted to executive VP in 2012, managing daily news operations and political programming. This included managing the presidential primary debates during the 2012 and 2016 election cycles. He oversaw the 2015 Republican primary debate, which at the time was the most watched primary debate in U.S. history. 

He also produced a Fox News' interview with Syrian President Bashar al-Asssad in 2013, during which the president said he'd relinquish Syria's chemical weapons stockpile. 

Following Ailes' resignation in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment by a former anchor, Clemente left Fox in 2016. 

Prior to that, Clemente worked at ABC, rising from a production assistant to the level of executive producer of "This Week" and co-producer of "20/20" with Barbara Walters.