William P. Clark, Jr.

William P. Clark, Jr.
44th United States Secretary of the Interior
In office November 18, 1983 – February 7, 1985
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	James G. Watt
Succeeded by	Donald P. Hodel
12th United States National Security Advisor
In office January 4, 1982 – October 17, 1983
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Richard V. Allen
Succeeded by	Robert McFarlane
6th United States Deputy Secretary of State
In office February 25, 1981 – February 9, 1982
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Warren Christopher
Succeeded by	Walter John Stoessel, Jr.
Personal details
Born	October 23, 1931 (1931-10-23) Oxnard, California
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Johanna Brauner
Children	Monica Clark Peter Clark Nina Clark Colin Dominick Clark Paul Clark
Religion	Roman Catholic

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 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. Clark attended Stanford University and Loyola Law School. He served in the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps.

Clark was a judge for the Superior Court of California from 1969 to 1971 and an associate justice on the California State Supreme Court from 1973 to 1981.

His five children, born to wife Johanna "Joan" Brauner (died April 2009), are Monica, Peter (nicknamed Pete), Nina, Colin, 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.

A longtime rancher friend of Reagan, 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.

On September 21, 1983 Secretary of the Interior James G. Watt embarrassed the administration by yet again making bigoted remarks to the media, causing him to resign on November 8, and Clark requested and received an appointment to replace Watt, disgusting environmentalists.

He returned to California after his stint serving the administration and pursued a variety of law firm and other business interests.

His wife, Joan, died in April 2009.

In July 2011, Clark became a member of the United States Energy Security Council, which seeks to diminish oil's monopoly over the US transportation sector and is sponsored by the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS).

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.

References

• Department of the Interior listing
• American President - William Patrick Clark

Legal offices
Preceded by Raymond E. Peters	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California 1973–1981	Succeeded by Allen Broussard
Preceded by Richard V. Allen	United States National Security Advisor 1982–1983	Succeeded by Robert McFarlane
Political offices
Preceded by Warren Christopher	United States Deputy Secretary of State 1981–1982	Succeeded by Walter J. Stoessel, Jr.
Preceded by James G. Watt	United States Secretary of the Interior Served under: Ronald Reagan 1983–1985	Succeeded by Donald P. Hodel