Further Reading
Monahan, Patrick J.Meech Lake: The Inside Stor y.To-
ronto: University of Toronto, 1991.
Waller, Harold M. “How Not to Govern: Canada’s
Meech Lake Mistake.”The New Leader73, no. 9
(July 9, 1990): 8-10.
Scott Wright
See also Aboriginal rights in Canada; Bourassa,
Robert; Canada Act of 1982; Canada and the British
Commonwealth; Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms; Lévesque, René; Minorities in Canada;
Mulroney, Brian; Quebec referendum of 1980; Tru-
deau, Pierre.
Meese, Edwin, III
Identification Attorney general of the United
States from 1985 to 1988
Born December 2, 1931; Oakland, California
Meese served in several capacities as an adviser to President
Ronald Reagan, both before and during Reagan’s pres-
idency, including serving as U.S. attorney general from
Februar y, 1985, to August, 1988.
Edwin Meese III was educated at Yale University and
the University of California Law School. In 1966,
Meese became an adviser to Ronald Reagan’s guber-
natorial campaign, and he later joined the gover-
nor’s staff as legal affairs secretary, eventually rising
to become Governor Reagan’s chief of staff. Meese
also served as chief of staff and senior issues adviser
to Reagan during his 1980 presidential campaign
and headed Reagan’s transition team after the elec-
tion. Meese, along with White House Chief of Staff
James Baker and Deputy Chief of Staff Michael
Deaver, were sometimes called the “White House
Troika,” the innermost circle of Reagan’s advisers.
Meese served in numerous positions under Reagan
before becoming attorney general in February, 1985.
As attorney general, Meese strongly advocated
the doctrine of “original intent” in interpreting the
Constitution. Meese oversaw the review of candi-
dates for federal judicial nominations, and critics
charged that Meese submitted these candidates to
“litmus tests” on certain issues and on the “original
intent” principle. Meese, however, denied these
claims. In 1985, at President Reagan’s direction,
Meese created the Attorney General’s Commission
on Pornography (also known as the Meese Commis-
sion). The commission released a massive report in
July, 1986, stressing the harmful effects of pornogra-
phy and the connections between the pornography
industry and organized crime. The report was widely
criticized as biased and extremist by free-press advo-
cates and those involved in the industry.
In November, 1986, Meese led an in-house inves-
tigation of what eventually became known as the
Iran-Contra affair, the illegal diversion of money
from arms sales to Iran to fund the counterrevolu-
tionary Contras in Nicaragua. Meese concluded that
the diversion of funds was the work of a small num-
ber of people acting without the knowledge or ap-
proval of the president or other high-level officials.
The Iran-Contra affair was the subject of numerous
investigations, including that of the independent
counsel, Lawrence E. Walsh. While Meese was never
prosecuted for involvement in the affair, Walsh’s fi-
nal report charged that Meese had prior knowledge
of some of the illegal acts.
Meese continually faced criticism and charges of
corruption while in office, mostly involving gifts he
received and allegations of influence peddling. De-
spite numerous complaints and investigations, no
charges were ever filed. Nevertheless, Meese tired of
the continual scrutiny and resigned as attorney gen-
eral in August, 1988.The Eighties in America Meese, Edwin, III 633
From left: White House Chief of Staff James Baker, Counselor to the
President Edwin Meese III, and Deputy Chief of Staff Michael
Deaver in December, 1981. The three men were known as Presi-
dent Reagan’s “Troika.”(Courtesy, Ronald Reagan Library)