C. Boyden Gray

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = C. Boyden Gray

| image = C. Boyden Gray.jpg

| caption = Official portrait, 2006

| office = United States Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy

| president = George W. Bush

| term_start = March 31, 2008

| term_end = January 20, 2009

| predecessor = Position established

| successor = Richard Morningstar

| office1 = United States Special Envoy for European Affairs

| president1 = George W. Bush

| term_start1 = January 11, 2008

| term_end1 = January 20, 2009

| predecessor1 = Position established

| successor1 = Position abolished

| ambassador_from2 = United States

| country2 = the European Union

| president2 = George W. Bush

| term_start2 = January 20, 2006

| term_end2 = December 31, 2007

| predecessor2 = Rockwell A. Schnabel

| successor2 = Kristen Silverberg

| office3 = White House Counsel

| president3 = George H. W. Bush

| term_start3 = January 20, 1989

| term_end3 = January 20, 1993

| predecessor3 = Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr.

| successor3 = Bernard Nussbaum

| birth_name = Clayland Boyden Gray

| birth_date = {{birth date|1943|2|6}}

| birth_place = Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|5|21|1943|2|6}}

| death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.

| party = Republican

| spouse = {{marriage|Carol Taylor|1984|1998|reason=div.}}

| children = 1

| father = Gordon Gray

| relatives = {{Plain list|

Burton C. Gray (brother)
Bowman Gray Sr. (grandfather)
James A. Gray Jr. (grand-uncle)

}}

| education = {{Plain list|

}}

Clayland Boyden Gray (February 6, 1943 – May 21, 2023) was an American lawyer and diplomat who served as White House Counsel from 1989 to 1993 and as U.S. Ambassador to the European Union from 2006 to 2007.[http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=BIC1&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&source=&sortBy=&displayGroups=&search_within_results=&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CK1601042793&userGroupName=fairfax_main&jsid=a21af6a8f842b7a4b8d095a9a1353126 "C(layland) Boyden Gray"]. Almanac of Famous People. Gale, 2011. Gale Biography In Context. Web. October 16, 2012. Document URL Gale Document Number: GALE|K1601042793.{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/16/style/carol-taylor-has-nuptials.html |access-date= April 12, 2016 |title=Carol Taylor has nuptials |page=A94 |date= December 16, 1984}}{{cite news |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-aug-02-op-9368-story.html |access-date= October 16, 2012 |first= Sara |last=Fritz |title=C. Boyden Gray On Clinton's Conduct as President and Starr's as Independent Counsel |date=August 2, 1998}} He was a founding partner of the Washington, D.C.–based law firm Boyden Gray & Associates LLP.

Early life and education

Gray was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on February 6, 1943. His father, Gordon Gray, was a lawyer who served as U.S. National Security Advisor under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Gray's grandfather, Bowman Gray Sr., was the president of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.{{cite news|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/05/21/c-boyden-gray-white-house-counsel-president-ghw-bush-dies-80/|title = C. Boyden Gray, White House counsel to President G.H.W. Bush, dies at 80|newspaper = The Washington Post|date = May 21, 2023|accessdate = May 21, 2023|last = Lazo|first = Luz|url-access = limited}}

Gray 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.{{cite news |last=McCombs |first=Phil |date=March 31, 1989 |title=THE DISTANT DRUM OF C. BOYDEN GRAY |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/03/31/the-distant-drum-of-c-boyden-gray/2076c120-ca1f-4753-bc50-7eb8d322cb3b/?noredirect=on |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=October 3, 2018 }} 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 served as editor-in-chief of the North Carolina Law Review and graduated with high honors in 1968.

Career

File:George H. W. Bush and C. Boyden Gray.jpg in 1989]]

After graduation, Gray clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren.{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/21/obituaries/c-boyden-gray-dead.html|title = C. Boyden Gray, Lawyer for the Republican Establishment, Dies at 80|newspaper = The New York Times|date = May 21, 2023|accessdate = May 21, 2023|last = Traub|first = Alex|url-access = limited}} In 1968, he joined the firm of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering (now Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr), and became a partner in 1976. Once a Democrat, Gray switched to the Republican Party by the end of the 1970s, due to his opposition to Jimmy Carter's presidency.

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. In 1993, Bush awarded him the Presidential Citizens Medal.

Gray 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thepresidency.org/c-boyden-gray|title=C. Boyden Gray|website=Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress}}

Gray served on the Bush-Cheney Transition Department of Justice Advisory Committee. In 2002, he founded the Committee for Justice, a Washington, DC–based nonprofit dedicated to screening judicial and US Justice Department nominees.{{cite web|url=https://www.committeeforjustice.org/about|title=The Committee for Justice – Official Site|website=The Committee for Justice - Official Site|access-date=May 9, 2017}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/23/AR2005052301640.html|title=A Moving Force In Fight for Bush's Judicial Nominees|last=Birnbaum|first=Jeffrey H.|date=May 24, 2005|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=May 9, 2017|language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}

In January 2006, President George W. Bush gave him a recess appointment as United States Ambassador to the European Union.[https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060117-4.html Personnel Announcement] – President George W. Bush, January 19, 2006; [http://www.wilmerhale.com/about/news/newsDetail.aspx?news=601 WilmerHale announcement] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060317122840/http://www.wilmerhale.com/about/news/newsDetail.aspx?news=601 |date=March 17, 2006 }} 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 United States' ambassador to the EU in July 2005,[https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/07/20050725-6.html "Personnel Announcement"], President George W. Bush, July 25, 2008. the potential nomination deeply perturbed open source advocates, who viewed his ties to Microsoft with suspicion.[http://management.silicon.com/government/0,39024677,39151152,00.htm "Bush's man in Europe slammed as Microsoft ally"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050811005538/http://management.silicon.com/government/0,39024677,39151152,00.htm |date=August 11, 2005 }}, Silicon.com, August 5, 2005.

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.{{Cite web|url=http://useu.usmission.gov/About_The_Ambassador/default.asp|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230090642/http://useu.usmission.gov/About_The_Ambassador/default.asp|url-status=dead|title=About the US Special Envoy for European Affairs|archivedate=December 30, 2006}} He was a fundraiser for Donald Trump, the last Republican president of his lifetime, and was part of a legal team Trump formed after the 2020 United States presidential election.

Gray was a member of the board of directors at the Atlantic Council, The European Institute, FreedomWorks, and America Abroad Media.{{cite web |url=http://americaabroadmedia.org/user/47/James_K._Glassman |title=James K. Glassman | AMERICA ABROAD MEDIA |access-date=June 16, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716203739/http://americaabroadmedia.org/user/47/James_K._Glassman |archive-date=July 16, 2014 }} In addition, Gray was also 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.{{cite news| title=About FreedomWorks: Board of Directors|newspaper=FreedomWorks|access-date=December 26, 2012|url=http://www.freedomworks.org/about/board-of-directors}}{{cite web|title=C. Boyden Gray |url=http://www.mediatransparency.org/personprofile.php?personID=98| publisher=Media Transparency|year=2005|access-date=May 11, 2008 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011001543/http://www.mediatransparency.org/personprofile.php?personID=98 |archive-date=October 11, 2007}}

Personal life and death

Gray married Carol Taylor in 1984; they had a daughter and later divorced. He died from heart failure at his home in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2023, at the age of 80.

References

External links

{{cite web|url=http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/60348.htm |title=United States Department of State: Biography of C. Boyden Gray |access-date=December 15, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109011719/http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/60348.htm |archive-date=January 9, 2008 }}
[https://www.desmogblog.com/c-boyden-gray Desmog Blog Biography of C. Boyden Gray]
{{C-SPAN|5989}}
[http://useu.usmission.gov/About_The_Ambassador/Gray/Gray.asp Special Envoy and Ambassador C. Boyden Gray ]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}