Edwin Meese
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Meese, Edwin, 3d, 1931–, American public official, b. Oakland, Calif. As a deputy district attorney of Alameda co., he was a tough prosecutor with little toleration for radical protest. As a result, Gov. Ronald Reagan appointed him secretary of legal affairs. Meese served as counselor to President Reagan (1981–85) before becoming Attorney General (1985–88). As Attorney General he strongly criticized liberal Supreme Court rulings for straying from the “original intent” of the founders. Questions concerning his finances and his handling of the Iran-contra affair led to his resignation in 1988. He later was (2006) a member of the Iraq Study Group.
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Edwin Meese III served as U.S. attorney general from 1985 to 1988. A close and trusted advisor to President Ronald Reagan, Meese sought to advance the president's conservative agenda. His tenure, however, was clouded by allegations of ethical violations that eventually led to his resignation.
Meese was born on December 2, 1931, in Oakland. He graduated from Yale University in 1953 and received his law degree from the University of California Law School in 1958. From 1958 to 1967, Meese worked as a deputy district attorney for Alameda County, California.
From 1967 to 1969 Meese served then California governor Ronald Reagan as secretary of legal affairs. In 1969 Meese became executive assistant to the governor, and the following year he was made chief of staff. After Reagan left office, Meese worked in business and law, becoming the director of the Center for Criminal Justice and professor of law at the University of California at San Diego in 1977.
When President Reagan took office in 1981, he appointed Meese as counselor to the president. In this role Meese became an important advisor on domestic policy. Meese and Reagan shared a common agenda on legal topics. They sought to make abortion illegal and to restrict criminal rights, affirmative action, and judicial activism. Meese helped reshape the federal judiciary by advising the president on the appointments for more than half the federal judgeships.
In 1984 Reagan nominated Meese to be U.S. attorney general. Meese encountered fierce opposition from Senate Democrats, who questioned his commitment to civil rights and his personal ethics. Meese admitted he had paid no interest over 20 months on a $60,000 unsecured loan from a trust headed by John McKean, a California accountant he barely knew. McKean was later appointed, with the help of Meese, to the U.S. Postal Service board of governors, a part-time position that paid $10,000 a year. This apparent deal and other charges concerning Meese's personal finances contributed to a thirteen-month delay in his confirmation. The Senate eventually confirmed Meese, who became attorney general in March 1985.
As attorney general, Meese served as Chairman of the Domestic Policy Council and the National Drug Policy Board and was a member of the NationalSecurity Council. Meese sought to establish tough policies against pornography. He appointed a Commission on Pornography, which issued a controversial two-volume report in 1986 that stated that there was a causal link between violent pornography and aggressive behavior toward women. The report also claimed that nonviolent sexually explicit material contributed to sexual violence, a conclusion challenged by many social scientists. The report broke new ground in its exploration of the problem of child pornography.
In 1987 Meese came under scrutiny for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal, which involved a 1985 arms-for-hostages deal with Iran. The key issue in this scandal, which involved presidential aides Oliver L. North and John M. Poindexter, and other administration officials, was whether President Reagan was aware of these activities in 1985. Meese announced on November 24, 1986, that the president had not known about the deal.
A congressional Iran-Contra committee issued its report in November 1987, in which it stated that Meese had failed to give the president sound legal advice and that he had abetted the Reagan administration's alleged disdain for the law. The report suggested that Meese had not fully investigated the scandal and that he might have participated in a cover-up. In addition, the committee determined that he had failed to take appropriate steps to prevent North and Poindexter from destroying critical evidence. Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh, who investigated Iran-Contra, issued a report in 1993 that stated Meese had made a false statement in 1986 when he said that Reagan did not know about the 1985 deal. Walsh did not seek a criminal charge against Meese because he did not have a key piece of evidence, the notes of former defense secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, until 1991.
While Iran-Contra plagued Meese, a more serious problem arose, known as the Wedtech scandal. The scandal began in February 1987 and grew to involve other highly placed members of the Reagan administration, as well as government officials in New York, where the Wedtech Corporation was located. The Wedtech Corporation sought Defense Department contracts in the early 1980s. It hired E. Robert Wallach, Meese's former law school classmate and personal attorney, to lobby the government on its behalf. In 1982 Meese helped Wedtech, at Wallach's urging, to get a special hearing on a $32 million Army engine contract, which the Army considered Wedtech unqualified to perform. Soon after the meeting, the contract was awarded to Wedtech, and one of Meese's top deputies went to work for the corporation. A federal criminal investigation unraveled a string of illegal conduct that led to the conviction of Wallach and other public officials.
Independent Counsel James C. McKay investigated the Wedtech contract and other allegations of misconduct by Meese. In July 1988 he issued his report, which did not call for the filing of any criminal charges against Meese for his actions in Wedtech or his failure to file an income tax return on capital gains. McKay did conclude, however, that Meese may have been "insensitive to the appearance of impropriety."
Following the filing of McKay's 830-page report, Meese announced his resignation, effective at the end of August 1988. Meese claimed that the report vindicated his actions.
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Quotes:
"You don't have many suspects who are innocent of a crime. That's contradictory. If a person is innocent of a crime, then he is not a suspect."
| Wikipedia: Edwin Meese |
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Edwin Meese III
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| In office February 25, 1985 – July 5, 1988 |
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| Preceded by | William French Smith |
| Succeeded by | Dick Thornburgh |
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| Born | December 2, 1931 Oakland, California |
| Political party | Republican |
| Alma mater | Yale University University of California-Berkeley |
| Religion | Lutheran |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Rank | Colonel |
Edwin "Ed" Meese III (born December 2, 1931 in Oakland, California) is an attorney, law professor, and author who served in official capacities within the Ronald Reagan Gubernatorial Administration (1967-1974), the Reagan Presidential Transition Team (1980), and the Reagan White House (1981-1985), eventually rising to hold the position of the seventy-fifth Attorney General of the United States (1985-1988). He currently holds fellowships and chairmanships with several public policy councils and think tanks, including the Constitution Project and the Heritage Foundation.[1]
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Early life and education
Meese is the eldest of four sons born to Edwin Jr. and Leone Meese. His father was an Oakland city government official, president of the Zion Lutheran Church, and served 24 years in the non-partisan office of Treasurer of Alameda County.
At age 10, Meese published along with his brothers a mimeographed neighborhood newspaper, the Weekly Herald, and used the proceeds to buy a War Bond. The young Meese also rode a bicycle on a paper route and worked in a drugstore. At Oakland High School, Meese led his high school debate team to statewide championships and was recognized as valedictorian, class of 1946. Two weeks prior to graduation, he was accepted to Yale University and granted a scholarship. Meese served as president of the Yale Political Union, chairman of the old Conservative Party, and chairman of the Yale Debating Association. Meese made the dean's list, and graduated with a bachelor of arts of political science in 1953.[2]
Military service
Meese became a member of ROTC upon enrollment at Yale, and upon graduation he obtained a commission in the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant. He spent 24 months at Fort Sill near Lawton, Oklahoma. Meese earned experience in logistics, conducting installation and operations of the 240 mm howitzer M1. Meese completed active duty in 1956 and continued in the United States Army Reserve, specializing in military intelligence. Meese retired from the Army Reserve as a Colonel in 1984.[2]
Early career
Meese returned to California, obtaining a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a state Moot Court champion. He graduated in 1958 and accepted a position with the district attorney's office of Alameda County as a law clerk at $281 per month. While there, he worked under D. Lowell Jensen, the district attorney who was engaged in developing a case-management software program known as Dalite.[3] Meese prosecuted felony cases while maintaining a private practice on nights and weekends, focusing on civil law. During this service, he first drew the attention of Republican State Senator Donald Grunsky, who would later recommend him to governor Ronald Reagan.
In 1959 he married high school sweetheart Ursula Herrick, daughter of Oakland's postmaster.[2]
California governor's office
Meese joined Ronald Reagan's staff in 1967. He served as legal affairs secretary from 1967–1968 and as executive assistant and chief of staff to Governor Reagan from 1969 through 1974.
As Reagan's chief of staff, Meese was instrumental in the decision to crack down on student protesters at People's Park in Berkeley, California, on May 15, 1969. Meese was widely criticized for escalating official response to the People's Park protest, during which law enforcement officers killed one protestor and seriously injured hundreds of others, many of whom were bystanders. Meese advised Reagan to declare a state of emergency in Berkeley, contrary to the recommendation of the Berkeley City Council, which led to a two-week occupation of the city by National Guard troops.
Industry and academia
From January 1975 to May 1976, he was vice president for administration of Rohr Industries in Chula Vista, California. He left Rohr to enter private law practice in San Diego County, California. He served as a professor of law at the University of San Diego from 1977 to 1981, while also serving as director of the Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Management.
Reagan presidency
Meese headed Reagan's transition effort following the 1980 election. During the presidential campaign, he served as chief of staff and senior issues adviser for the Reagan–Bush committee. After Reagan's election, he became Counselor to the President, and a member of both the President's Cabinet and the National Security Council from 1981 to 1985.
U.S. Attorney General
Meese became Attorney General in February 1985, holding this office until August, 1988. It was during this tenure that D. Lowell Jensen, Meese's former superior at the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, served as his Assistant Attorney General and thus the second-ranking official in the Justice Department.[3] Steven R. Valentine, currently of K&L Gates, served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General. [4]
Iran-Contra
Meese's tenure was highly controversial. His involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair as a "counselor" and "friend" to the President, not as the nation's chief law enforcement officer, attracted the most criticism. Chapter 31 of the official Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters reveals his direct involvement:
| “ | Meese knew that the 1985 HAWK transaction, in which the National Security Council staff and the Central Intelligence Agency were directly involved without a presidential covert-action Finding authorizing their involvement, raised serious legal questions. The President was potentially exposed to charges of illegal conduct if he was knowledgeable of the shipment and had not reported it to Congress, under the requirements of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and in the absence of a Finding.... When Meese got answers in his inquiry that did not support his defense of the President, he apparently ignored them, as he did with Secretary of State George P. Shultz's revelation on November 22 that the President had told him that he had known of the HAWK shipment in advance.[5] | ” |
Supreme Court views
Meese also became the subject of controversy when he gave a speech calling for a "jurisprudence of original intent" in 1985 and criticizing the Supreme Court for straying from the original intention of the U.S. Constitution. Meese's speech was publicly rebuked by sitting Supreme Court Justices William J. Brennan and John Paul Stevens in speeches later that year, in a dispute that foreshadowed the contentious Robert Bork hearings of 1987.
It has also been alleged[who?] that Meese subjected nominees for federal judgeships to a "litmus test" to gauge their fidelity to Reagan Administration judicial policy, including whether the nominee believed that Roe v. Wade had been correctly decided.[citation needed] Meese has repeatedly denied this allegation.
Meese Report
On May 21, 1984, Reagan announced his intention to appoint the Attorney General to study the effect of pornography on society.[6] The Attorney General's Commission on Pornography, often called the Meese Commission, convened in the spring of 1985 and published its findings in July 1986. The Meese Report advised that pornography was in varying degrees harmful.[7]
Post-Attorney General public service
In May 2006 Meese was named a member of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group by group co-chairmen James Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton, commissioned to assess and report on the contemporary status of the Iraq War. Meese co-authored the group's final December 2006 report. [8]
Fellowships
Meese has been named a Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, an influential conservative think tank. Additionally, he has been awarded the foundation's Luce Award.[9]
Meese serves as an Adjunct Fellow at the Discovery Institute, a conservative Christian think tank that is most widely known for its work promoting Intelligent design and inspiring the Intelligent Design movement.
Meese is Chairman of the Board of Advisors of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, the public interest law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute.
Meese serves on the Board of Directors of the Junior State of America, a nationally-recognized non-partisan youth organization that aims to help high school students acquire policy knowledge and oratorical skills to prepare them for leadership later in life.
Meese served on the Executive Committee (1994) and as president (1996) of the Council for National Policy (CNP), a forum that was formed in 1981 by Tim LaHaye as a networking tool for leading US conservative political leaders, financiers and religious right activist leaders.
Meese served as co-chairman of the Constitution Project's bipartisan Sentencing Committee.[10]
Ed Meese is also on the Board of Directors for the Capital Research Center, a conservative think tank devoted to the research of non-profit groups.
Writings
- Judicial Tyranny: The New Kings of America? - contributing author (Amerisearch, 2005) ISBN 0-9753455-6-7
- The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, ISBN 1-59698-001-X
- With Reagan, 1992, Regnery Gateway, 0-89526-522-2
See also
References
- ^ Heritage Foundation
- ^ a b c Edwards, Lee. To Preserve and Protect, The Heritage Foundation, 2005, ISBN 0-89195-116-4.
- ^ a b Fricker, Richard L. (1993). "The INSLAW Octopus". Wired magazine. ppg.1-8. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.01/inslaw.html?topic=&topic_set=. Retrieved on 2008-08-28.
- ^ K&L Gates: Professionals: Steven R. Valentine: Professional Background Steven Valentine
- ^ http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_31.htm
- ^ Remarks on Signing the Child Protection Act of 1984, The American Presidency Project.
- ^ Meese v. Playboy, National Review, September 26, 1986.
- ^ Larson, Ian and Sucher, Lauren (2006-05-31). "Edwin Meese Replaces Rudolph Giuliani on Iraq Study Group". United States Institute for Peace. 1. http://www.usip.org/isg/news_releases/meese.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-01.
- ^ Heritage Foundation
- ^ http://www.constitutionproject.org/sentencing/members.cfm?categoryId=7
External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Edwin Meese |
- Edwin Meese profile, NNDB
- Attorney General's Commission on Pornography
- Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters - U.S. Court of Appeals
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| Preceded by William F. Smith |
United States Attorney General Served Under: Ronald Reagan 1985–1988 |
Succeeded by Richard L. Thornburgh |
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