William E. Simon
Encyclopedia
William Edward Simon was a businessman, a Secretary of Treasury of the U.S. for three years, and a philanthropist. He became the 63rd Secretary of the Treasury
on May 8, 1974, during the Nixon administration. He was reappointed by President Ford and served until 1977. Outside of government, he was a successful businessman and philanthropist. The William E. Simon Foundation carries on this legacy. He was a strong advocate of laissez-faire capitalism. He wrote, "There is only one social system that reflects the sovereignty of the individual: the free-market, or capitalist, system."
, who shortly afterward appointed him Chairman of the Economic Policy Board and chief spokesman for the administration on economic issues.
On April 8, 1975, President Ford also named him Chairman of the newly created East-West Foreign Trade Board, established under the authority of the Trade Act of 1974
.
At the time of his nomination as Treasury Secretary, Simon was serving as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
, a post he had held from January 22, 1973. As Deputy Secretary, he supervised the Administration's program to restructure and improve U.S. financial institutions. He also served as the first Administrator of the Federal Energy Office.
From December 4, 1973, Simon simultaneously launched and administered the Federal Energy Administration
at the height of the oil embargo. As such he became known as the high-profile "Energy Czar
", and represented a revitalization of the "czar" term
in U.S. politics. He also chaired the President's Oil Policy Committee and was instrumental in revising the mandatory oil import program
in April 1973. Simon was a member of the President's Energy Resources Council and continued to have major responsibility for coordinating both domestic and international energy policy.
In 1977, Simon received the Alexander Hamilton Award, the Treasury Department's highest honor. In 1976, while serving as Secretary of the Treasury, President Anwar Sadat
of Egypt
presented Simon with the Collar of the Republic/Order of the Nile
. Simon's term as Secretary of the Treasury ended on January 20, 1977.
As Treasury Secretary, Simon supported free markets and denounced government policies that either subsidize or penalize businesses. In Simon's own words:
"Throughout the last century the attachment of businessmen to free enterprise has weakened dramatically as they discovered they could demand--and receive--short-range advantages from the state. . . . I watched with incredulity as businessmen ran to the government in every crisis, whining for handouts or protection from the very competition that has made this system so productive."
executive, he was born in Paterson, New Jersey
, on November 27, 1927. He graduated from Newark Academy
and, after service in the U.S. Army
(infantry
), received his B.A. in 1952 from Lafayette College
in Easton
, Pennsylvania
. At Lafayette he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon
fraternity (Rho chapter).
He began his career with Union Securities
in 1952. He served as Vice President of Weeden & Co. before becoming the senior partner in charge of the Government and Municipal Bond departments at Salomon Brothers
, where he was a member of the seven-man Executive Committee of the firm.
Following government service, Simon was a Vice Chairman at Blyth Eastman Dillon for three years, then co-founded with Ray Chambers
, a tax accountant, Wesray Capital Corporation
(Mr. Simon contributing the "WES" and Mr. Chambers contributing the "RAY"), a leveraged buyout (LBO) firm. In 1982, Wesray invested approximately $1 million in equity capital (with Mr. Simon contributing $330,000) and borrowed another $79 million to take private a Cincinnati-based greeting card company, Gibson Greetings, for $80 million. Eighteen months later, the company was taken public again, with a value of $290 million, and Mr. Simon's $330,000 investment was worth $66 million.
In 1984, he launched WSGP International, which concentrated on investments in real estate and financial service organizations in the western United States and on the Pacific Rim. In 1988, together with sons William E. Simon Jr. and J. Peter Simon, he founded William E. Simon & Sons, a global merchant bank
with offices in New Jersey
, Los Angeles
, and Hong Kong
. The firm is now extensively involved in providing venture capital
. In 1990, he partnered with several investors to form Catterton-Simon Partners, a private equity
firm focused on beverages and other consumer products, which today is known as Catterton Partners
.
During his business career, Simon served on the boards of over thirty companies including Xerox
, Citibank
, Halliburton
, Dart & Kraft, and United Technologies. In recognition of his visionary leadership in business, finance and public service, the Graduate School of Management at the University of Rochester
was renamed the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration
in 1986.
for many years. He served as Treasurer from 1977 to 1981 and as President of the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1981 to 1985, which included the 1984 Games in Sarajevo
and Los Angeles
. He chaired the U.S. Olympic Foundation, created with the profits of the Los Angeles
games, from 1985 through 1997, and was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1991. An additional athletics-related honor came on October 11, 1975, when Simon threw out the first pitch of the 1975 World Series
at Boston's
Fenway Park
on behalf of President Ford.
Simon received numerous awards during his career in sports. Among them are the Olympic Torch and the Olympic Order
, the highest honors, respectively, of the United States Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee
. Simon served as an officer or on the board of the Jesse Owens Foundation, the Basketball Hall of Fame
, the National Tennis Foundation and Hall of Fame, the U.S. Amateur Boxing Foundation, the Women's Sports Foundation
, and the World Cup '94 Organizing and Executive Committees.
and an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion to patients, many of whom were destitute and terminally ill or both, at four hospitals, William E. Simon made a personal commitment to serve the sick and poor. He was also a well-known philanthropist, and created hundreds of scholarships for underprivileged students at both the high school and college level. He endowed chairs at numerous institutions, including the William E. Simon Chairs in Political Economy at Lafayette College, his alma mater, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies
a prominent think tank
in Washington, D.C.
.
, he established the William E. Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic.
At the U.S. Air Force Academy
, he established the William E. Simon Center for Strategic Studies, as well as a Simon professorship.
Simon served as President of the John M. Olin Foundation
and as trustee of The John Templeton Foundation
. He has also served on the boards of many of America's premier think tanks, including the Heritage Foundation
and the Hoover Institution
. He was the author of two best-selling books, A Time for Truth in 1978 (ghostwritten by libertarian author Edith Efron
) and A Time for Action in 1980.
Simon was a resident of Harding Township, New Jersey
.
In referring to Simon, The Washington Post
stated in its October 26, 2007 edition:
Simon married former Tonia Donnelly following the death of his first wife, Carol Girard Simon, who died in 1995. William and Carol Simon had seven children and twenty-seven grandchildren.
Simon died at the age of seventy-two of complications of pulmonary fibrosis
on June 3, 2000 in Santa Barbara, California
. One of his sons, Bill Simon, was the Republican nominee for governor of California
in 2002, having been defeated by the Democrat Gray Davis
, who was subsequently recalled
and replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger
. A daughter, Mary Simon, was married to Dana Streep, brother of actress Meryl Streep
.
In 2004, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute
dedicated a $40,000 cash prize in honor of Secretary Simon. Each year since, the William E. Simon Fellowship for Noble Purpose has been awarded to a college senior desiring to live a life dedicated to serving humanity.
Since 2001, the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership
has been awarded to distinguished living donors, including John T. Walton
, John Templeton
, and Phil Anschutz.
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
on May 8, 1974, during the Nixon administration. He was reappointed by President Ford and served until 1977. Outside of government, he was a successful businessman and philanthropist. The William E. Simon Foundation carries on this legacy. He was a strong advocate of laissez-faire capitalism. He wrote, "There is only one social system that reflects the sovereignty of the individual: the free-market, or capitalist, system."
As Treasury Secretary
In August, he was asked to continue to serve at Treasury by President Gerald R. Ford, Jr.Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, who shortly afterward appointed him Chairman of the Economic Policy Board and chief spokesman for the administration on economic issues.
On April 8, 1975, President Ford also named him Chairman of the newly created East-West Foreign Trade Board, established under the authority of the Trade Act of 1974
Trade Act of 1974
The Trade Act of 1974 was passed to help industry in the United States become more competitive or phase workers into other industries or occupations.-Fast track authority:...
.
At the time of his nomination as Treasury Secretary, Simon was serving as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
The Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, in the United States government, advises and assists the Secretary of the Treasury in the supervision and direction of the Department of the Treasury and its activities, and succeeds the Secretary in his absence, sickness, or unavailability...
, a post he had held from January 22, 1973. As Deputy Secretary, he supervised the Administration's program to restructure and improve U.S. financial institutions. He also served as the first Administrator of the Federal Energy Office.
From December 4, 1973, Simon simultaneously launched and administered the Federal Energy Administration
Federal Energy Administration
The Federal Energy Administration was a United States government organization created in 1974 to address the 1970s energy crisis. It was merged in 1977 with the newly-created United States Department of Energy.-History:...
at the height of the oil embargo. As such he became known as the high-profile "Energy Czar
Energy Czar
Energy Czar is a nickname, using the political term "czar", for the person in the Government of the United States given authority over energy policy within the executive branch...
", and represented a revitalization of the "czar" term
Czar (political term)
Czar or tsar is an informal title for certain high-level officials in the United States and United Kingdom. Political czars can run or organize governmental departments, and may devote their expertise to a single area of work...
in U.S. politics. He also chaired the President's Oil Policy Committee and was instrumental in revising the mandatory oil import program
Mandatory Oil Import Quota Program
The Mandatory Oil Import Quota Program was a program of import restrictions on oil into the United States, beginning in 1959. Created under Presidential Proclamation 3279, the scheme was intended to prevent a dependence of the United States on imported petroleum supplies. From 1962, the maximum...
in April 1973. Simon was a member of the President's Energy Resources Council and continued to have major responsibility for coordinating both domestic and international energy policy.
In 1977, Simon received the Alexander Hamilton Award, the Treasury Department's highest honor. In 1976, while serving as Secretary of the Treasury, President Anwar Sadat
Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981...
of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
presented Simon with the Collar of the Republic/Order of the Nile
Order of the Nile
The Order of the Nile is Egypt's highest state honor. The award was instituted in 1915 by Sultan Hussein Kamel to be awarded by Egypt for exceptional services to the nation...
. Simon's term as Secretary of the Treasury ended on January 20, 1977.
As Treasury Secretary, Simon supported free markets and denounced government policies that either subsidize or penalize businesses. In Simon's own words:
"Throughout the last century the attachment of businessmen to free enterprise has weakened dramatically as they discovered they could demand--and receive--short-range advantages from the state. . . . I watched with incredulity as businessmen ran to the government in every crisis, whining for handouts or protection from the very competition that has made this system so productive."
Personal information
The son of an insuranceInsurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
executive, he was born in Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...
, on November 27, 1927. He graduated from Newark Academy
Newark Academy
Newark Academy is a coeducational private day school located in Livingston, New Jersey. With both lower and upper schools, this institution comprises grades six through twelve...
and, after service in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
(infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
), received his B.A. in 1952 from Lafayette College
Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private coeducational liberal arts and engineering college located in Easton, Pennsylvania, USA. The school, founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter,son of General Andrew Porter of Norristown and citizens of Easton, first began holding classes in 1832...
in Easton
Easton, Pennsylvania
Easton is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,800 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Northampton County....
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. At Lafayette he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
fraternity (Rho chapter).
He began his career with Union Securities
Union Securities
Union Securities Corporation was an independent investment banking firm in existence from 1938 through its acquisition in 1956 although the name would survive through 1972. Union Securities was created in 1938 as a spinoff of the investment banking operations of J. & W. Seligman & Co. as a result...
in 1952. He served as Vice President of Weeden & Co. before becoming the senior partner in charge of the Government and Municipal Bond departments at Salomon Brothers
Salomon Brothers
Salomon Brothers was a bulge bracket, Wall Street investment bank. Founded in 1910 by three brothers along with a clerk named Ben Levy, it remained a partnership until the early 1980s, when it was acquired by the commodity trading firm Phibro Corporation and then became Salomon Inc. Eventually...
, where he was a member of the seven-man Executive Committee of the firm.
Following government service, Simon was a Vice Chairman at Blyth Eastman Dillon for three years, then co-founded with Ray Chambers
Ray Chambers
Raymond G. Chambers currently serves as United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria. He was appointed to this position by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in February 2008...
, a tax accountant, Wesray Capital Corporation
Wesray Capital Corporation
Wesray Capital Corporation was an early private equity firm focussing on leveraged buyout investments. The firm was founded by former US Secretary of the Treasury William E...
(Mr. Simon contributing the "WES" and Mr. Chambers contributing the "RAY"), a leveraged buyout (LBO) firm. In 1982, Wesray invested approximately $1 million in equity capital (with Mr. Simon contributing $330,000) and borrowed another $79 million to take private a Cincinnati-based greeting card company, Gibson Greetings, for $80 million. Eighteen months later, the company was taken public again, with a value of $290 million, and Mr. Simon's $330,000 investment was worth $66 million.
In 1984, he launched WSGP International, which concentrated on investments in real estate and financial service organizations in the western United States and on the Pacific Rim. In 1988, together with sons William E. Simon Jr. and J. Peter Simon, he founded William E. Simon & Sons, a global merchant bank
Merchant bank
A merchant bank is a financial institution which provides capital to companies in the form of share ownership instead of loans. A merchant bank also provides advisory on corporate matters to the firms they lend to....
with offices in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. The firm is now extensively involved in providing venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
. In 1990, he partnered with several investors to form Catterton-Simon Partners, a private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
firm focused on beverages and other consumer products, which today is known as Catterton Partners
Catterton Partners
Catterton Partners is a private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and growth capital investments in middle-market companies...
.
During his business career, Simon served on the boards of over thirty companies including Xerox
Xerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
, Citibank
Citibank
Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York...
, Halliburton
Halliburton
Halliburton is the world's second largest oilfield services corporation with operations in more than 70 countries. It has hundreds of subsidiaries, affiliates, branches, brands and divisions worldwide and employs over 50,000 people....
, Dart & Kraft, and United Technologies. In recognition of his visionary leadership in business, finance and public service, the Graduate School of Management at the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
was renamed the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration
William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration
The University of Rochester Simon Graduate School of Business is the business school located on the University's River Campus in Rochester, New York. It was renamed after William E. Simon , the 63rd United States Secretary of the Treasury, in 1986...
in 1986.
U.S. Olympic Committee
Simon was an active member of the United States Olympic CommitteeUnited States Olympic Committee
The United States Olympic Committee is a non-profit organization that serves as the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the United States and coordinates the relationship between the United States Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency and various...
for many years. He served as Treasurer from 1977 to 1981 and as President of the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1981 to 1985, which included the 1984 Games in Sarajevo
1984 Winter Olympics
The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from 8–19 February 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Other candidate cities were Sapporo, Japan; and Gothenburg, Sweden...
and Los Angeles
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
. He chaired the U.S. Olympic Foundation, created with the profits of the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
games, from 1985 through 1997, and was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1991. An additional athletics-related honor came on October 11, 1975, when Simon threw out the first pitch of the 1975 World Series
1975 World Series
The 1975 World Series was played between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds . It has been ranked by ESPN as the second-greatest World Series ever played...
at Boston's
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
Fenway Park
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"...
on behalf of President Ford.
Simon received numerous awards during his career in sports. Among them are the Olympic Torch and the Olympic Order
Olympic Order
The Olympic Order is the highest award of the Olympic Movement, created by the International Olympic Committee in May 1975 as a successor to the Olympic Certificate previously awarded. The Olympic Order originally had three grades , although the bronze grade was retired in 1984...
, the highest honors, respectively, of the United States Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
. Simon served as an officer or on the board of the Jesse Owens Foundation, the Basketball Hall of Fame
Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, honors exceptional basketball players, coaches, referees, executives, and other major contributors to the game of basketball worldwide...
, the National Tennis Foundation and Hall of Fame, the U.S. Amateur Boxing Foundation, the Women's Sports Foundation
Women's Sports Foundation
The Women's Sports Foundation "is an educational nonprofit organization founded in 1974 by tennis legend Billie Jean King." Its stated mission statement is "To advance the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity."...
, and the World Cup '94 Organizing and Executive Committees.
Philanthropist
As a man of faith and an active Knight of Malta, Simon considered the opportunity to serve those less fortunate than he a God-given privilege and, indeed, a responsibility. A volunteer at Covenant HouseCovenant House
Covenant House is the largest privately funded agency in the Americas providing shelter, food, immediate crisis care, and an array of other services to homeless, and runaway youth. In addition to basic needs, Covenant House provides a continuum of care to homeless youth aged 16–21 designed to...
and an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion to patients, many of whom were destitute and terminally ill or both, at four hospitals, William E. Simon made a personal commitment to serve the sick and poor. He was also a well-known philanthropist, and created hundreds of scholarships for underprivileged students at both the high school and college level. He endowed chairs at numerous institutions, including the William E. Simon Chairs in Political Economy at Lafayette College, his alma mater, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Center for Strategic and International Studies is a bipartisan Washington, D.C., foreign policy think tank. The center was founded in 1962 by Admiral Arleigh Burke and Ambassador David Manker Abshire, originally as part of Georgetown University...
a prominent think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
.
Simon's legacy
At the U.S. Military Academy at West PointUnited States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
, he established the William E. Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic.
At the U.S. Air Force Academy
United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...
, he established the William E. Simon Center for Strategic Studies, as well as a Simon professorship.
Simon served as President of the John M. Olin Foundation
John M. Olin Foundation
John M. Olin Foundation was a grant-making foundation established in 1953 by John M. Olin, president of the Olin Industries chemical and munitions manufacturing businesses. Unlike most non-profit foundations, the John M. Olin Foundation was charged to spend all of its assets within a generation of...
and as trustee of The John Templeton Foundation
John Templeton Foundation
"The John Templeton Foundation is a philanthropic organizationthat funds inter-disciplinary research about human purpose and ultimate reality. It is usually referred to simply as the Templeton Foundation...
. He has also served on the boards of many of America's premier think tanks, including the Heritage Foundation
Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. Heritage's stated mission is to "formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong...
and the Hoover Institution
Hoover Institution
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded in 1919 by then future U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, an early alumnus of Stanford....
. He was the author of two best-selling books, A Time for Truth in 1978 (ghostwritten by libertarian author Edith Efron
Edith Efron
Edith Efron was American journalist and author.Graduating from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where she studied under journalist John Chamberlain, her career began as a writer for the New York Times Magazine. In 1947, she married a Haitian businessman, with whom she had a...
) and A Time for Action in 1980.
Simon was a resident of Harding Township, New Jersey
Harding Township, New Jersey
- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 3,180 people, 1,180 households, and 940 families residing in the township. The population density was 155.6 people per square mile . There were 1,243 housing units at an average density of 60.8 per square mile...
.
In referring to Simon, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
stated in its October 26, 2007 edition:
Mr. Simon is commonly acknowledged as a legendary architect of the modern conservative movement. But he was also legendarily mean, "a mean, nasty, tough bond trader who took no BS from anyone," in the words of his old friend Edwin FeulnerEdwin FeulnerEdwin John Feulner Jr. is President of the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, a position he has held since 1977....
, president of the Heritage Foundation. Simon was known to awaken his children on weekend mornings by dousing their heads with buckets of cold water.
Mr. Simon came away from the experience of Watergate with a disgust for the partisan character of the affair. The experience of Nixon impeachment convinced him, that partisanship was necessarily poisonous, but that his opponents were far better at partisanship than his side was."
Simon married former Tonia Donnelly following the death of his first wife, Carol Girard Simon, who died in 1995. William and Carol Simon had seven children and twenty-seven grandchildren.
Simon died at the age of seventy-two of complications of pulmonary fibrosis
Pulmonary fibrosis
Pulmonary fibrosis is the formation or development of excess fibrous connective tissue in the lungs. It is also described as "scarring of the lung".-Symptoms:Symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis are mainly:...
on June 3, 2000 in Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
. One of his sons, Bill Simon, was the Republican nominee for governor of California
Governor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
in 2002, having been defeated by the Democrat Gray Davis
Gray Davis
Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis, Jr. is an American Democratic politician who served as California's 37th Governor from 1999 until being recalled in 2003...
, who was subsequently recalled
Recall election
A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended...
and replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
. A daughter, Mary Simon, was married to Dana Streep, brother of actress Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
.
In 2004, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Inc., or ', is a non-profit educational organization founded in 1953 as the Intercollegiate Society of Individualists...
dedicated a $40,000 cash prize in honor of Secretary Simon. Each year since, the William E. Simon Fellowship for Noble Purpose has been awarded to a college senior desiring to live a life dedicated to serving humanity.
Since 2001, the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership
William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership
The William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership is an annual award given by the William E. Simon Foundation in honor of its founder, former Secretary of the Treasury and financier William E...
has been awarded to distinguished living donors, including John T. Walton
John T. Walton
John Thomas Walton was a decorated United States war veteran and a son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. He was also the chairman of True North Partners, a venture capital firm...
, John Templeton
John Templeton
Sir John Marks Templeton was an American-born British stock investor, businessman and philanthropist.-Biography:...
, and Phil Anschutz.
Further reading
- Asen, Robert, “Ideology, Materiality, and Counterpublicity: William E. Simon and the Rise of a Conservative Counterintelligentsia,” Quarterly Journal of Speech, 95 (Aug. 2009), 263–88.