Access
Use
Acquisition Information
Preferred Citation
Alternate Forms Available
Index to Major Groups
Biographical Note
Scope and Content of Collection
Arrangement Statement
Related Materials
Title: Edwin Meese papers
Date (inclusive): 1941-1991
Collection Number: 91005
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
772 manuscript boxes, 2 oversize boxes, 1 oversize folder, 1 envelope, 5 sound cassettes, 2 motion picture film reels
(325.0 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Speeches, correspondence, memoranda, reports, schedules, press releases, legal documents, printed matter, photographs, and
sound recordings related to California politics and administration of the California state government during the governorship
of Ronald Reagan; and to American domestic policy, Republican Party politics, and federal administration of justice during
the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Digital copies of select records also available at
https://digitalcollections.hoover.org.
Creator:
Meese, Edwin
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
Box 509 may not be used without permission of the Archivist. The remainder of the collection is open for research; materials
must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection,
they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1991, with increments received in subsequent years.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Edwin Meese papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Alternate Forms Available
Index to Major Groups
-
Gubernatorial Administration of Ronald Reagan File, 1941-1976.
- Contains correspondence, clippings, memoranda, reports, schedules, and court documents related to Meese's role during Ronald
Reagan's terms as governor of California. Boxes 128-554, 772-773, film shelf.
- Agriculture and Services Agency
- Boxes 349-353, 364-367
- Appointments to government positions
- Boxes 481-487
- Budget
- Boxes 312-335
- Business and Transportation Agency
- Boxes 370-378
- California Council on Criminal Justice (CCCJ)
- Boxes 160-170
- Clippings
- Boxes 456-480
- Community and minority relations
- Boxes 191-193
- Conference file
- Boxes 288-300
- Correspondence and memoranda
- Boxes 144-149, 154-155, 501-505, 529
- Department of Corrections
- Boxes 390-395
- Education
- Boxes 193-201, 487-494
- Emergencies and disaster planning
- Boxes 176-190
- Energy
- Boxes 440-446
- Environment
- Boxes 424-439
- Health and Welfare Agency
- Boxes 378-387, 552
- Intelligence
- Boxes 494-497
- Intergovernmental management
- Boxes 206-217, 247-251, 300-311
- Legal affairs, legislation, and crime
- Boxes 217-240, 264-271
- Military
- Boxes 240-247, 259
- Office of Economic Opportunity
- Boxes 395-408
- Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
- Boxes 170-174
- Photographs
- Box 771
- Schedules of Reagan and Meese
- Boxes 255-261, 509-511
- Sound recordings
- Box 773
- Speeches and speaking engagements of Meese
- Boxes 511-515
- Speeches of Ronald Reagan
- Boxes 280-286
- State employees
- Boxes 357-364
- Student radicalism, activism, and unrest
- Boxes 230-236, 488-490
- Tax reform
- Boxes 338-348
- Water
- Boxes 447-449
- Welfare
- Boxes 409-418
-
Presidential Administration of Ronald Reagan File, 1975-1991.
- Contains correspondence, clippings, memoranda, reports, schedules, and court documents related to Meese's role during Ronald
Reagan's presidency, including Meese's service as attorney general from 1985 to 1988. Boxes 554-771, 774.
- Alphabetical file
- Boxes 563-566, 608-627, 644-658, 693-701, 736-769
- Chronological file
- Boxes 627-629
- Clippings on Iran
- Boxes 710-716
- Correspondence
- Boxes 602, 690-692, 708
- Drug prevention
- Boxes 585-596
- Iran-Contra Affair
- Boxes 566-581
- Republican National Committee
- Boxes 686-689
- Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation
- Boxes 729-736
- Schedules of Reagan and Meese
- Boxes 554-556, 559-561, 582-584, 599-600, 603-608
- Speeches and travel file
- Boxes 706-708, 653-658
Biographical Note
1931 December 2 |
Born, Oakland, California |
1954-1955 |
Served in the United States Army |
1953 |
A.B. in public administration, Yale University |
1958 |
Married Ursula Herrick |
|
J.D., University of California, Berkeley |
1959-1967 |
Deputy district attorney, Alameda County, California |
1967-1968 |
Legal affairs secretary (previously called secretary on clemency and extradition) to Governor Reagan |
1969-1974 |
Executive assistant, chief of staff to Governor Reagan, Sacramento, California |
1975-1976 |
Vice president, administration, Rohr Industries, Chula Vista, California |
1976-1980 |
Attorney at law |
1977-1978 |
Director, Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Management, University of California, San Diego |
1977-1981 |
Professor of law, University of California, San Diego |
1980 |
Chief of staff and senior issues advisor, Ronald Reagan Presidential Campaign |
1981-1985 |
Member of the National Security Council |
|
Member of President Reagan's Cabinet |
|
Counselor to President Reagan, Washington, D.C. |
1983 |
Recipient, Distinguished Public Service Award |
1985 February-1988 August |
U.S. attorney general, Washington, D.C. |
1988- |
Ronald Reagan Chair in Public Policy, The Heritage Foundation |
|
Distinguished visiting fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, California |
1992 |
Author,
With Reagan: The Inside Story
|
1996 |
President, Council for National Policy |
1996-2004 |
Member, Board of Visitors, George Mason University |
1997 |
Author,
Making America Safer
|
2001-2013 |
Chairman, Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, Heritage Foundation |
2004 |
Author,
Leadership, Ethics and Policing
|
2006 |
Member, Iraq Study Group |
2008 |
Named honorary Reagan fellow of Eureka College, Illinois |
2012 |
Recipient, Bradley Prize |
Scope and Content of Collection
The Edwin Meese papers document Meese's role in the gubernatorial and presidential administrations of Ronald Reagan. The collection
contains speeches, correspondence, memoranda, reports, schedules, press releases, legal documents, printed matter, photographs,
and sound recordings related to California politics and administration of the California state government during the governorship
of Ronald Reagan; and to American domestic policy, Republican Party politics, and federal administration of justice during
the presidency of Ronald Reagan.
Meese began his work for Ronald Reagan during Reagan's two terms as governor of California. In his book
With Reagan, Meese notes that he was recommended to the governor based on his experience with law enforcement. From 1967 to 1968, Meese
served as legal affairs secretary, tasked with resolving issues of extraditions, prisons, and capital punishment, as well
as acting as a liaison to legal, judicial, and law enforcement departments. From 1969 to 1974, Meese was executive assistant
and chief of staff, directing the governor's executive office and serving on the cabinet. In this role, Meese also had responsibilities
concerning the National Guard, the Office of Emergency Services, and the Office of Criminal Justice Planning. The
Gubernatorial Administration of Ronald Reagan File documents Meese's work during this period through correspondence, clippings, memoranda, reports, schedules, speeches, and
court documents.
During Reagan's campaign for the presidency in 1980, Meese served as chief of staff and senior issues advisor. In order to
devote more time to the campaign, Meese spent less time teaching as a professor of law at UC San Diego and gave up his duties
managing the Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Management. After Reagan was elected, Meese served as a counselor to the
president and as a member of his cabinet.
Boxes 566 to 582 document the Iran-Contra Affair, a scandal involving the sale of arms to Iran in exchange for Iran's help
in releasing American hostages. In November 1986, after news of the scandal became public, Meese announced that some of the
money gained from selling arms to Iran had been used to fund the Contras in Nicaragua. The collection includes clippings,
correspondence, memoranda, testimony of Meese and others, phone logs, and chronologies related to the Iran-Contra Affair.
From February 1985 to August 1988, Edwin Meese held the position of attorney general of the United States. In this role, Meese
influenced policy initiatives concerning drug abuse, civil rights, and criminal procedure, in addition to creating a national
marijuana eradication program. His accomplishments included prevention and control of crime, improvement of the criminal justice
system, protection of civil rights, promotion of economic growth, improvement of the legal system, government financial integrity,
and the preservation of constitutional values. The
Presidential Administration of Ronald Reagan File documents Meese's work during Ronald Reagan's presidency from 1981 to 1988, including his efforts as the 75th attorney general
of the United States.
As required by law, security-classified materials have been removed from the collection until they can be declassified by
government officials.
Arrangement Statement
The collection was acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1991, and this initial accession, boxes 1-127,
was arranged into seven groups: Biographical File, Speeches and Writings, White House Office File, Department of Justice Office
File, Subject and Historical File, Sound Recordings, and Photographs.
The majority of the collection was received as an increment to this original accession. The incremental materials, boxes 128-774,
have not been arranged, and the original order and titles have been retained. The materials are divided into two major groups
based on Meese's service to Ronald Reagan during Reagan's terms as governor of California and president of the United States.
The Index to Major Groups can serve as a guide to the incremental materials in the collection.
Related Materials
Ronald Reagan subject collection, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Citizens for Reagan records, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Governor and the Students videotape series, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Lee Edwards papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Audiotapes
Motion pictures
California -- Politics and government -- 1951-
United States -- Politics and government -- 1981-1989
Justice, Administration of -- United States
United States. Department of Justice
Reagan, Ronald
Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )