W. Smith, via e-mail, asks .... , 'Whatever happened to ...?' Edwin Meese

Edwin Meese III spent eight high-profile years in President Reagan's inner circle of advisers. From 1981 to 1985 he served as counselor to the president, then as attorney general until 1988.

He gained notoriety not for his executive influence, but rather for the controversy that ended his tenure. In 1988, Meese resigned after a 14-month investigation into his questionable "federal actions" culminated in an 800-page report. In it, the independent counsel suggested that Meese had violated both tax and ethics laws. The report included charges that a friendship between Meese and former lawyer E. Robert Wallach resulted in preferential treatment of military contractor Wedtech and support of a proposed Mideast pipeline.

The independent counsel declined to prosecute, though Meese still resigned.

Since then, Meese has pursued his passion for public policy in the private realm as a lecturer, writer, and consultant. He's a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and holds the Ronald Reagan Chair in Public Policy at The Heritage Foundation, a public policy research and education institution in Washington.

Meese published his memoirs, "With Reagan: The Inside Story," in 1992.