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C. Boyden Gray

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Boyden Gray
United States Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy
In office
March 31, 2008 – January 20, 2009
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byRichard Morningstar
United States Special Envoy for European Affairs
In office
January 11, 2008 – January 20, 2009
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPosition abolished
United States Ambassador to the European Union
In office
January 17, 2006 – December 31, 2007
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byRockwell A. Schnabel
Succeeded byKristen Silverberg
White House Counsel
In office
January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993
PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush
Preceded byArthur B. Culvahouse Jr.
Succeeded byBernard Nussbaum
Personal details
Born
Clayland Boyden Gray

(1943-02-06) February 6, 1943 (age 81)
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Carol Taylor
​
​
(m. 1984; div. 1998)​
Children1 daughter
EducationHarvard University (BA)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (JD)
[1][2][3]

Clayland Boyden Gray (born February 6, 1943) is an attorney in private practice, formerly with Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, then Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. He is now a founding partner of the DC-based law firm, Boyden Gray & Associates LLP.[4] He is also a former American diplomat and public servant.

Early life and education

Gray is the son of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's national security adviser Gordon Gray and grandson of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company president Bowman Gray Sr..

He attended Fay School and St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1964, where he wrote for The Harvard Crimson.[5] He also served as a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps Reserve from 1965 to 1970.

Gray then attended the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he graduated with high honors in 1968 and served as Editor-in-chief of the North Carolina Law Review.

Career

Gray with President George H. W. Bush in 1989

After graduation, Gray clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. In 1968 he joined the firm of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, and became a partner in 1976. Gray took a leave of absence from the firm in 1981 to serve as legal counsel for Vice President George H. W. Bush. He also served as Counsel to the Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief, chaired by Vice President Bush. Gray later served as Director of the Office of Transition Counsel for the Bush transition team, and as Counsel to President Bush from 1989 to 1993. During this time, Gray became one of the main architects of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments that suggested market solutions for environmental problems.

He returned to Wilmer Cutler & Pickering in 1993, where his practice focused on a range of regulatory matters with an emphasis on environmental issues, including those relating to biotechnology, trade, clean air, and the management of risk. He also served as Chairman of the section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice of the American Bar Association. Gray also served as co-chairman with former Majority Leader Dick Armey of FreedomWorks.

In October 2001, rumors indicated that Gray was considering running for an open US Senate seat in his native North Carolina, but he passed on the race.[citation needed] Former US Secretary of Labor Elizabeth Dole was elected in November 2002 to replace Jesse Helms, who chose to retire, rather than seek a sixth term.

Gray served on the Bush-Cheney Transition Department of Justice Advisory Committee, and as White House Counsel to US President George H. W. Bush. In 2002, he founded the Committee for Justice, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit dedicated to screening judicial and US Justice Department nominees.[6][7]

In January 2006, President George W. Bush gave him a recess appointment as United States Ambassador to the European Union.[8] He took a leave of absence from the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr to accept that position. When Gray emerged as Bush's preferred candidate for the post of the US's ambassador to the EU in July 2005,[9] the potential nomination deeply perturbed open source advocates, who viewed his ties to Microsoft with suspicion.[10]

Gray's last government position was as Special Envoy for European Affairs and Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy at the Mission of the United States to the European Union, having been nominated by United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on January 11, 2008. On March 31, the White House announced his appointment to the additional post of Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy.[11] President H. W. Bush in 1993 awarded him the Presidential Citizens Medal.[12]

He is a member of the board of directors at the Atlantic Council, The European Institute, FreedomWorks and America Abroad Media.[13] In addition, Gray is or was a member of the Federalist Society, Harvard University's Committee on University Development, the Board of Trustees of the Washington Scholarship Fund, St. Mark's School, and National Cathedral School.[4][14]

References

  1. ^ "C(layland) Boyden Gray." Almanac of Famous People. Gale, 2011. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 16 Oct. 2012. Document URL Gale Document Number: GALE|K1601042793
  2. ^ "Carol Taylor has nuptials". The New York Times. December 16, 1984. p. A94. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  3. ^ Fritz, Sara (August 2, 1998). "C. Boyden Gray On Clinton's Conduct as President and Starr's as Independent Counsel". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-10-16.
  4. ^ a b "About FreedomWorks: Board of Directors". FreedomWorks. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
  5. ^ McCombs, Phil (March 31, 1989). "THE DISTANT DRUM OF C. BOYDEN GRAY". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  6. ^ "The Committee for Justice - Official Site". The Committee for Justice - Official Site. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
  7. ^ Birnbaum, Jeffrey H. (2005-05-24). "A Moving Force In Fight for Bush's Judicial Nominees". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
  8. ^ Personnel Announcement – President George W. Bush, 2006-01-19; WilmerHale announcement Archived 2006-03-17 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Personnel Announcement", President George W. Bush, 2008-07-25.
  10. ^ "Bush's man in Europe slammed as Microsoft ally" Archived 2005-08-11 at the Wayback Machine, Silicon.com, 2005-08-05. [dead link‍]
  11. ^ About the US Special Envoy for European Affairs Archived 2006-12-30 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Awards and Honors.com
  13. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-07-16. Retrieved 2014-06-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. ^ "C. Boyden Gray". Media Transparency. 2005. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
Legal offices
Preceded by White House Counsel
1989–1993 		Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to the European Union
2006–2007 		Succeeded by
New office United States Special Envoy for Special Envoy for European Affairs
2008–2009 		Position abolished
United States Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy
2008–2009 		Succeeded by
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