1997 Freedom Flame/Casey Medal of Honor Award: Edwin Meese III
The Casey Institute of the Center for Security Policy is honored to award one of our own, Edwin Meese III, with the inaugural Medal of Honor in recognition of his outstanding contributions to our Nation in a variety of high-level positions — both past and present. His record of exemplary public service spans more than three decades.
Ed started his tireless service to his country as a Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County, California. In 1967 he began his association and journey with the man who would later become our 40th President, Ronald Reagan — as then-Governor Reagan’s Legal Affairs Secretary and later Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff. From 1977 to 1981, Ed was a professor of Law at the University of San Diego, where he also served as Director of the Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Management.
During the 1980 presidential campaign, Ed served as Chief of Staff and Senior Issues Advisor for the Reagan-Bush Committee. Following Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980, he headed the President-elect’s transition team. After being sworn in, the President again looked to his friend Ed Meese for guidance and sound policy directives. He appointed Ed to the position of Counselor to the President, where he functioned as the President’s chief policy advisor with management responsibility for the administration of the Cabinet, policy development, and planning and evaluation.
From February 1985 to August 1988 Ed proudly served his country as the Seventy-fifth Attorney General of the United States. During his tenure in the Reagan Administration, he was a member of the President’s Cabinet and the National Security Council.
In June 1992, Regnery Gateway Publishers released With Reagan: The Inside Story by Ed Meese. In it, he describes with characteristic eloquence his time with the President and the extraordinary individuals within his inner circle. One such individual given credit for greatly enriching both Ed’s experience and the well being of our Nation is Bill Casey. “First and foremost,” Ed begins his book, “then entire nation owes a debt of gratitude to the late William J. Casey. Without his timely entrance into the leadership of the Reagan campaign, the Reagan presidency might never have become a reality. Later, as Director of Central Intelligence, he was a principal supporter and promulgator of the Reagan Doctrine, which resulted in the liberation of millions of people throughout the world. Bill’s post in the Reagan Cabinet capped a lifetime of public service as a lawyer, businessman, philanthropist, and leader. He was a good friend and a true patriot.”
The Center for Security Policy takes great pleasure in joining with Bill Casey’s family in expressing our gratitude to Edwin Meese by awarding him the first Casey Medal of Honor. [The Medal of Honor award has been renamed the Freedom Flame.]
Mr. Gaffney is the host of Secure Freedom Radio, a nationally-syndicated radio program heard weeknights throughout the country. He is an associate author of highly acclaimed Shariah: The Threat to America and the publisher of over a dozen other books and monographs from the Center for Security Policy Press.
In April 1987, Mr. Gaffney was nominated by President Reagan to become the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, the senior position in the Defense Department with responsibility for policies involving U.S.-USSR relations, nuclear forces, arms control, missile defense policy and U.S.-European defense ties. He acted in that capacity for seven months during which time, he was the Chairman of the prestigious High Level Group, NATO’s senior politico-military committee. He also represented the Secretary of Defense in key U.S.-Soviet negotiations and ministerial meetings.
From August 1983 until November 1987, Mr. Gaffney was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy under Assistant Secretary Richard Perle.
From February 1981 to August 1983, Mr. Gaffney was a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by the late Senator John Tower (R-Texas). And, in the latter 1970’s, Mr. Gaffney served as an aide to the late Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson (D-Washington) in the areas of defense and foreign policy.
Mr. Gaffney holds a Master of Arts degree in International Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Mr. Gaffney’s leadership has been recognized by numerous organizations including: the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award (1987), the U.S. Business and Industry Council’s Defender of the National Interest Award (1994), the Navy League of the United States’ Alfred Thayer Mahan Literary Achievement Award (1999), and the Zionist Organization of America’s “Louis Brandeis Award” (2003), the Western Conservative Summit’s Stephen H. Long Award (2015), the Council for National Policy’s George Washington Military Leadership Award (2016) and the IMPACT Award from Ginni Thomas and United in Purpose (2017).
Mr. Gaffney was born in 1953 and resides in the Washington, D.C. area.
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