About the Speaker

 

            Edwin Meese III currently holds the Ronald Reagan Chair in Public Policy at The Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based public policy research and education institution. He is also a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, California. In addition, Mr. Meese lectures, writes, and consults throughout the United States on a variety of subjects.

           

            Mr. Meese is the author of “With Reagan: The Inside Story”, which was released by Regenery Gateway Publishers in June 1992.

 

            Mr. Meese served as the 75th Attorney General of the United States from February 1985 to August 1988. Prior to that service, he held the position of Counsellor to the President from 1981 until 1985. In this capacity, he functioned as the President’s chief policy advisor and had management responsibility for the administration of the Cabinet, policy development, and planning and evaluation. During the time that he held both of these positions, Mr. Meese was a member of the President’s Cabinet and the National Security Council.

 

            Mr. Meese headed the President-elect’s transition effort following the November 1980 election. During the Presidential campaign, he served as Chief of Staff and Senior Issues Advisor for the Reagan-Bush Committee.

 

            Formerly, Mr. Meese served as Governor Reagan’s Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff in California from 1969 through 1974, and as Legal Affairs Secretary from 1967 through 1968. Before joining Governor Reagan’s staff in 1967, Mr. Meese served as Deputy District Attorney of Alameda County, California.

 

            From 1977 to 1981, Mr. Meese was a professor of Law at the University of San Diego, where he also was Director of the Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Management.

 

            In addition to his background as a lawyer, educator and public official, Mr. Meese has been a business executive in the aerospace and transportation industry. From January 1975 until May 1976, he served as Vice President for Administration of Rohr Industries, Inc. in Chula Vista, California. He left Rohr to enter private law practice in San Diego County.

 

            Mr. Meese is a graduate of Yale University, Class of 1953, and holds a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a retired Colonel in the United States Army Reserve and is active in numerous civic and educational organizations.

 

            Mr. Meese is married, has two children and resides in McLean, Virginia.