Edwin Meese

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Edwin Meese

Edwin Meese III (born December 2, 1931 in Oakland , California ) is an American politician ( Republican Party ). He was the 75th United States Attorney General under Ronald Reagan from 1985 to 1988 .

career

In 1953, Meese graduated from Yale University's undergraduate program . He successfully attended the Law School of the University of California, Berkeley . Initially, he was an Assistant District Attorney in Alameda County , where he cracked down on anti- Vietnam War demonstrators. In 1967 he joined Governor Reagan's office. There he was advisor for legal affairs from 1967 to 1968, then chief of staff to the governor until 1974.

In this position, Meese was instrumental in the decision to put down the student protests in People's Park in Berkeley on May 15, 1969. Police killed one demonstrator and more than a hundred others were injured, some seriously. Meese was subsequently charged with contributing to the escalation of the situation. Contrary to the recommendation of the city council, he advised Reagan to declare a state of emergency on Berkeley , which led to a two-week occupation of the city by the National Guard .

After the end of Reagan's tenure as governor, Meese worked from January 1975 to May 1976 as the executive vice president of Rohr Industries in Chula Vista, California. He then moved to San Diego County to open a private law firm. From 1977 to 1981 he was Professor of Law at the Catholic University of San Diego (USD), where he also served as Director of the Center for Criminal Law Policy and Management.

Justice Minister and Iran-Contra affair

Reagan's "Troika," left to right: White House Chief of Staff James Baker , Advisor to the President Edwin Meese, and Vice Chief of Staff Michael Deaver (December 2, 1981)

During the 1980 presidential campaign, Meese was chief of staff and first advisor to Reagan and his candidate for vice president, George Bush . After the election, he was a leader in the reform of President Reagan. He became his legal advisor, was a member of the cabinet, and served on the National Security Council from 1981 to 1985 .

From February 1985 to August 1988, Meese was US Attorney General . His administration was very controversial. 1985 made a speech a sensation in which he is a " jurisprudence of original motives" ( jurisprudence of original intent ) called and the Supreme Court criticized the of his view of the original ideas Constitution departed.

In July 1986 the final report of the so-called Meese Commission was published, a commission of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography to investigate pornography in the USA . The report dealt with it very critically and was itself heavily criticized in public. Commission officials contacted chain stores later in the year and managed to have magazines like Playboy and Penthouse disappear from the shelves. This campaign was initially carried out throughout the USA, but ultimately ended with a court decision with reference to the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (freedom of speech, freedom of the press).

In particular, Meese's role in the Iran-Contra affair , where he acted more as an adviser and friend to the president than as the country's highest judicial officer, met with criticism. In the official final report of the Congressional Committee of Inquiry into the Iran-Contra Affair, Chapter 31 states about his direct involvement: “Meese knew that the HAWK transaction in 1985, in which the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency , carried out without a permit for secret operations raised serious legal issues for the Presidents who were directly involved. This created the possibility that the president could face charges of illegal activity if he was aware of the deportation and did not report it to Congress, as would have been required under the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and in the absence of authorization. [...] When Meese received replies during his investigation that did not support his defense of the President, he appeared to have ignored them, as in the case of Secretary of State George Shultz on November 22, who testified that the President had told him To have known in advance about the HAWK delivery. "

Meese was also repeatedly accused of behaving in an ethically questionable manner. He has been investigated twice by the Office of Independent Counsel . While none of these investigations resulted in a grand jury indictment , its critics maintained their allegations of corruption.

Today Meese is among other things a member of the Heritage Foundation , an influential conservative think tank .

On October 8, 2019, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald J. Trump .

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Final reports of the committee of inquiry into the Iran-Contra affair ( Chapter 31: Edwin Meese III ), November 1986
  2. ^ Trump awards Medal of Freedom to Ed Meese. In: CBSNews.com. October 8, 2019, accessed November 18, 2019 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Meese, Edwin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Meese, Edwin III
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician (Republican Party)
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Oakland , California