March 2018 Annual Dinner

The Friends of Ronald Reagan gathered for their Annual Dinner on March 8, 2018. Former Attorney General, Edwin Meese was interviewed by Hugh Hewitt.

Edwin Meese III

Edwin Meese III served as President Ronald Reagan’s Attorney General from 1985 through 1988. In this post, Mr. Meese directed the Justice Department and led international efforts to combat terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime. Prior to his cabinet post, Mr. Meese was counsellor to the president from 1981 through 1985 — the senior job on the White House staff — and functioned as Reagan's chief policy adviser. As both attorney general and counsellor to Reagan, Mr. Meese was a member of the Cabinet and the National Security Council. His service to Reagan started in 1966, when then Governor Ronald Reagan appointed Ed to act as special counsel, legal affairs secretary, executive assistant and as Reagan’s chief of staff.  He served Reagan for both gubernatorial terms from 1966 to 1974.

A prominent conservative leader, thinker and elder statesman, Attorney General Meese has remained focused on continuing and extending President Reagan’s legacy of conservative principles. After Pres. Reagan left office, Mr. Meese joined the Heritage Foundation as its first Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow— the only policy chair in the country to be officially named for the 40th president. There he continues to work, focusing on matters of religious liberty, the Supreme Court, and national security. He also is a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Mr. Meese was born in Oakland, California, graduated from Yale University in 1953, and received his law degree from the University of California-Berkeley, Boalt Hall. A retired colonel in the Army Reserve, Meese remains active in numerous civic and educational organizations. Most importantly, he is married to his beloved wife, Ursula, and together they have two adult sons and many grandchildren.