William P. Clark, Jr.

Infobox US Cabinet official
name=William P. Clark, Jr.


order=44th
title=United States Deputy Secretary of State
term_start= 1981
term_end=1982
title=United States National Security Advisor
term_start= 1982
term_end=1983
title=Secretary of the Interior
term_start= 1983
term_end=1985
president=Ronald Reagan
birth_date=birth date and age|1931|10|23
birth_place=Oxnard, California
death_date=
death_place=
party=Republican
religion=Roman Catholic
predecessor=James G. Watt
successor=Donald P. Hodel

William Patrick Clark, Jr (born October 23, 1931), American politician, served under President Ronald Reagan as the Deputy Secretary of State from 1981 to 1982, United States National Security Advisor from 1982 to 1983, and the Secretary of the Interior from 1983 until 1985.

Life and career

A devout Catholic, former seminary student, rancher, lawyer, and aide to Reagan in the California gubernatorial years, Clark served as a justice of the California Supreme Court prior to his Washington appointment, and was known to long to return to California. Interestingly, despite his later great personal and professional successes, the "Los Angeles Times" has noted [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-me-bar21feb21,1,7927848,full.story?coll=la-mininav-outdoors] that Clark initially "flunked out of law school" and "had to repeat the bar test," evidently as a result of failing it at first; perseverance definitely paid off in his legal career.

His five children, born to wife Johanna "Joan" Brauner, are Monica, Peter (nicknamed Pete), Nina, Colin Dominick, and Paul. In Washington, people called him "the judge" in deference to his previous court position. He reached the apex of his power when appointed National Security Advisor and temporarily became preeminent among presidential aides. According to Edmund Morris's "Dutch," Clark would walk into Reagan's office unannounced, an unheard-of practice for even the most senior officials. Clark even suggested to the president in light of foreign policy troubles bedeviling the US in the mid-1980s that Reagan consider not running for reelection in 1984. By that time however, George Shultz had surpassed Clark in influence, and Reagan apparently gave Clark's suggestion no thought. Morris writes that Clark resigned in late 1983 when he tired of the "unceasing hostility of [Michael] Deaver, [George] Shultz, and Nancy Reagan." Morris described Clark as "the only man who ever got within a furlong of intimacy" with the notoriously distant Reagan, and his ability to relate to Reagan inspired jealousy, at the same time that Clark's taciturn nature made him unlikely to build allies. Secretary of the Interior James G. Watt had embarrassed the administration by making bigoted remarks to the media, and Clark requested and received an appointment to replace Watt. He returned to California after his stint serving the administration and pursued a variety of law firm and other business interests. He currently lives in the rural community of Shandon, California where he built a small chapel in the hills of his ranch.

Books

His biography, "The Judge: William P. Clark, Ronald Reagan's Top Hand," written by Paul Kengor and Patricia Clark Doerner, was published in 2007 by Ignatius Press.

Website about book: [http://www.ignatius.com/thejudgebook/index.htm]

External links

References

* [http://www.doi.gov/anniversary/secretaries.html#clark Department of the Interior listing]
* [http://www.americanpresident.org/history/ronaldreagan/cabinet/interior/williamclark/h_index.shtml American President - William Patrick Clark]