Edwin Meese

Edwin Meese
75th United States Attorney General
In office
February 25, 1985 – August 12, 1988[1]
PresidentRonald Reagan
Preceded byWilliam French Smith
Succeeded byDick Thornburgh
Counselor to the President
In office
January 20, 1981 – February 25, 1985
PresidentRonald Reagan
Preceded byRobert T. Hartmann
John Otho Marsh Jr. (1977)
Succeeded byClayton Yeutter (1992)
Personal details
Born
Edwin Meese III

(1931-12-02) December 2, 1931 (age 92)
Oakland, California, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Ursula Herrick
(m. 1959)
Children3
EducationYale University (BA)
University of California, Berkeley (LLB)
AwardsPresidential Medal of Freedom (2019)[2]
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1953–1984
RankColonel
UnitField Artillery

Edwin Meese III (born December 2, 1931) is an American attorney, law professor, author and member of the Republican Party who served in Ronald Reagan's gubernatorial administration (1967–1974), the Reagan presidential transition team (1980–81), and the Reagan administration (1981–1985). Following the 1984 presidential election, Reagan considered him for the White House Chief of Staff position, but James Baker was chosen instead.[3] Meese was eventually appointed and confirmed as the 75th United States Attorney General (1985–1988), a position he held until resigning in 1988 amidst the Wedtech scandal.

Meese currently serves as a member of the board of trustees for The Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.[4] He was also a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.[5] He is a member of the national advisory board of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and a member of the board of directors of the Federalist Society.[6] He has served on the board of Cornerstone closed-end funds.

  1. ^ Attorney General Interview Archived May 9, 2021, at the Wayback Machine C-SPAN.
  2. ^ "Remarks by President Trump at Presentation of the Medal of Freedom to Edwin Meese". whitehouse.gov. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2020 – via National Archives.
  3. ^ "James Baker's 7 Rules for Running Washington". Politico. September 28, 2020. Archived from the original on February 6, 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  4. ^ "Heritage Foundation". Archived from the original on April 30, 2009.
  5. ^ "Edwin Meese III". Hoover Institution. Archived from the original on June 7, 2019. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  6. ^ "Federalist Society". fed-soc.org. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2012.