WALLISON, Peter J. 1941-

PERSONAL:

Born June 6, 1941, in New York, NY. Education: Harvard College, B.A., 1963; Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1966.

ADDRESSES:

Office—American Enterprise Institute, 1150 Seventeenth St. NW, Washington, DC 20036; fax: 202-862-4875. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Attorney and author. Admitted to the Bar of the State of New York, 1967; Rogers and Wells, New York, NY, associate, 1966-72, partner, 1977-81; special assistant and counsel to Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1972-76; U.S. Treasury Dept., Washington, DC, general counsel, 1981-85; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, partner, 1980s; counsel to President Ronald Reagan, 1986-87; American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy, Washington, DC, resident fellow and codirector of program on financial market deregulation. Member of Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee and Council on Foreign Relations.

WRITINGS:

(With John D. Hawke, Jr.) The State Banking Revolution and the Federal Response: New Frontiers of Financial Service Expansion, Law and Business/Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (Clifton, NJ), 1984.

State Banking Regulation and Deregulation, Law and Business/Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (New York, NY), 1985.

Back from the Brink: A Practical Plan for Privatizing Deposit Insurance and Strengthening Our Banks and Thrifts, AEI Press (Washington, DC), 1990.

(With Bert Ely) Nationalizing Mortgage Risk: The Growth of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, AEI Press (Washington, DC), 2000.

(With Robert E. Litan) The GAAP Gap, AEI Press (Washington, DC), 2000.

(Editor) Optional Federal Chartering and Regulation of Insurance Companies, AEI Press (Washington, DC), 2000.

(Editor) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Public Purposes and Private Interests, Volume 1: Government Subsidy and Conflicting Missions, Volume 2: Prospects for Controlling Growth and Expansion, AEI Press (Washington, DC), 2000.

(Editor) Serving Two Masters, Yet out of Control: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, AEI Press (Washington, DC), 2001.

Ronald Reagan: The Power of Conviction and the Success of His Presidency, Westview Press (Cambridge, MA), 2003.

Contributor to periodicals, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Washington Post.

SIDELIGHTS:

Peter J. Wallison is an attorney and an expert in banking law and finance. He served for several years as general counsel to the U.S. Treasury Department during the Reagan administration, where he contributed to proposals to deregulate the financial services industry. In addition to his government service, Wallison practiced law in Washington, D.C., and New York City, and became a resident fellow and codirector of the financial deregulation project with the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy (AEI).

Through AEI Press, Wallison has edited and authored a number of volumes that put forth AEI's recommendations for reform of the insurance industry, financial reporting, deposit insurance, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored corporations that hold the greatest portion of American mortgage debt.

Wallison served as counsel to President Ronald Reagan for approximately one year, and he kept a daily diary during this period. Consequently, his Ronald Reagan: The Power of Conviction and the Success of His Presidency reveals personal observations that are unavailable elsewhere. Wallison notes the late president's managerial style and how he concentrated on his main objectives while relegating all other decisions to staff.

In reviewing the book in the Wall Street Journal, Mary Anastasia O'Grady wrote that "Wallison's Reagan is an inspiring leader, a caring boss, and an intelligent man with a single-minded focus on a few ideas.… Yet if focusing on priorities—and delegating the rest—made him a winner, it also left him vulnerable. As Mr. Reagan's lawyer during the Iran-Contra scandal, Mr. Wallison is uniquely qualified to show just how."

Wallison details how Reagan's national security advisor, Bud McFarlane, visited the president in the hospital while Reagan was recuperating from colon cancer surgery and proposed that arms be sent to Iran to improve relations. He notes that Reagan was involved only peripherally as decisions were made. A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented that Wallison's recollection of the Iran-Contra affair "is detailed and honest. Despite the personal nature of his book, Wallison's portrayal of Reagan is balanced and clear."

"Wallison's description of Reagan—not oracular, but symbolic … fits to a tee," wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor, "and by stressing this aspect, he has added to the picture of the Gipper's presidential tenure."

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan was so pleased with Wallison's biography of her husband that she invited him to lecture at the Reagan Library in California. Womens' Wear Daily reviewer Aileen Mahle called Ronald Reagan "a fascinating look at a charismatic president."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Banker, August 14, 1992, Claudia Cummins, "Former Reagan Official Still Fighting for Banks," p. 2.

Banker Monthly, September, 1990, Andrew Gray, review of Back from the Brink: A Practical Plan for Privatizing Deposit Insurance and Strengthening Our Banks and Thrifts, p. 87.

Journal of Economic Literature, June, 1991, review of Back from the Brink, p. 688.

Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 2002, review of Ronald Reagan: The Power of Conviction and the Success of His Presidency, p. 1604.

Publishers Weekly, November 18, 2002, review of Ronald Reagan, p. 50.

Wall Street Journal, December 24, 2002, Mary Anastasia O'Grady, review of Ronald Reagan.

Womens' Wear Daily, February 19, 2003, Aileen Mehle, review of Ronald Reagan, p. 6.