Edwin Meese

Edwin Meese III (born December 2, 1931) is an American attorney, law professor, and author.

Edwin Meese
Official portrait, c. 1986
75th United States Attorney General
In office February 25, 1985 – August 12, 1988
President	Ronald Reagan
Deputy	Carol E. Dinkins D. Lowell Jensen Arnold Burns Harold G. Christensen
Preceded by	William French Smith
Succeeded by	Dick Thornburgh
Personal details
Born	Edwin Meese III (1931-12-02) December 2, 1931 (age 93) Oakland, California, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Ursula Herrick ​ (m. 1959)​
Children	3
Education	Yale University (BA) University of California, Berkeley (LLB)
Awards	Presidential Medal of Freedom (2019)[1]
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1953–1984
Rank	Colonel
Unit	Field Artillery

Early life

Meese was born on December 2, 1931 in Oakland, California. He studied at Yale University and at the University of California-Berkeley.

Career

He served under Ronald Reagan's administration back when Reagan was Governor (1967–1974), the Reagan Presidential Transition Team (1980), and under Reagan's presidential administration (1981–1985). Meese was the 75th Attorney General of the United States (1985–1988), a position from which he resigned while serving in office under investigation from a special prosecutor.^[2]

Honors

On October 8, 2019, president Donald Trump presented Meese the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.^[3]

Books

• 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