Edwin Meese III was nominated as Attorney General by President Reagan and the appointment was confirmed on February 23, 1985.
Prior to this appointment, Meese had held the position of Counsellor to the President since January 1980. In this capacity he functioned as the President’s chief policy adviser and had management responsibility for the administration of the Cabinet, policy development, and planning and evaluation.
Meese headed the president-elect’s transition effort following the 1980 election. During the Presidential campaign, he served as chief of staff and senior issues adviser for the Reagan-Bush Committee.
From 1977 to 1981, 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.
From 1969 to 1974, Meese served as Governor Reagan’s Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff in California, and as Legal Affairs Secretary from 1967 to 1968.
Before joining Reagan’s staff in 1967, he served as deputy district attorney of Alameda County, California.
In addition to his background as a lawyer, educator and public official, Meese has been a business executive in the aerospace and transportation industry. From 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 practice in San Diego County.
Meese is a graduate of Yale University and holds a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a retired colonel in the United States Army Reserve.
Mr. and Mrs. Meese have two children and live in McLean, Virginia.
