Information AboutWilliam F. Weld |
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William Floyd Weld (born July 31 , 1945 , in Smithtown, New York ) was the Republican Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997 , resigning to pursue the Ambassador ship to Mexico . In August 2005 , Weld announced his candidacy for Governor of New York in the 2006 Elections . Weld's involvement in a scandal that resulted in the collapse of Decker College has observers suggesting that his bid for the governorship of New York is in jeopardy. {Link without Title} WELD FAMILY The Weld family is a Boston Brahmin family with roots in Massachusetts dating back the 17th century. Edmund Weld was among the earliest students (Class of 1650) at Harvard College . He would be followed by eighteen more Welds at Harvard, where two buildings are named for the family. General Stephen Minot Weld Jr. fought with distinction in many major battles of the Civil War . William Weld has a sense of humor about his background; when Massachusetts Senate president Billy Bulger publicly teased him about his ancestors' having come over on the Mayflower , Weld rose on the dais with a correction: "Actually, they weren't on the Mayflower. They sent the servants over first to get the cottage ready." {Link without Title} EDUCATION Weld was educated at from Harvard College in 1966 , studied Economics at University College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and graduated Cum Laude from Harvard Law School in 1970 . EARLY CAREER Weld began his legal career as a counsel with the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate impeachment inquiry. He served for five years as United States Attorney in Massachusetts. In the early 1980s, Weld engaged in a highly publicized investigation into the administration of Kevin White , then mayor of Boston . POLITICAL CAREER Weld's record as U.S. Attorney General In 1981, William Weld was recommended to President Reagan by Rudolph W. Giuliani, then Associate U.S. Attorney General, for appointment as the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts. During Weld’s tenure, the Attorney General’s office prosecuted some of New England’s largest banks in cases involving money laundering and other white-collar crimes. In 1985, the Boston Globe said Weld “has been by far the most visible figure in the prosecution of financial institutions.”
President Reagan Promotes Weld to Justice Department In 1986, President Reagan promoted Weld to head of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department in Washington, where Weld oversaw 700 employees. Weld was responsible for supervising all federal prosecutions, including those investigated by the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as the work of the 93 U.S. Attorneys (who by then included Rudy Giuliani in Manhattan). During this time, Weld worked on some of the Reagan administration’s most significant prosecutions and investigations, including the capture of Panama’s Manuel Noriega on drug trafficking charges. Weld worked at the Justice Department with current FBI director Robert Mueller. As a result of their friendship, Mueller agreed to recuse himself from the FBI multi-count fraud investigation into Weld's management of Decker College, a vocational school in Kentucky that went bankrupt and left thousands without degrees and jobs as a result of mismanagement and several charges of fraud. Weld's Record as Governor of Massachusetts William Weld became the first Republican Governor of Massachusetts since Francis W. Sargent left office in 1975. He was elected during a tumultuous time, when the state’s bond rating was near junk status, unemployment was nearly 10%, and the state had continuously borrowed money to close huge operating deficits. - Weld was well-known in Massachusetts for being in favor of gay marriage and even officiating at his friend's gay marriage, a position he changed when he decided to run for governor of New York and needed conservative support. + - Weld was also known during his tenure as governor for his cozy relationship with the Bulger Brothers (http://news.bostonherald.com/politics/view.bg?articleid=129056). As Governor, Weld made light of Whitey Bulger’s 18 counts of murder by publicly joking about them and singing an anthem to him. He also declared himself Billy Bulger's campaign manager, and arranged a plum job for him after he had been accused of not cooperating with Whitey's investigation, secretly corresponding with his brother, and urging him not to surrender. Weld's flip attitude toward the Bulgers angered many Massachusetts residents. + - In 1997, Democratic President Bill Clinton nominated Weld to be Ambassador to Mexico . Weld resigned to devote himself full time to the nominating process, beginning his reputation as someone who is easily bored (he had run and lost for John Kerry's senate seat one year earlier in another attempt to leave the governor's post). + - Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms vowed to block Weld's nomination by refusing to hold hearings to discuss it. The key issue was the conservative senator's contempt for Weld's support of Medicinal Marijuana . Helms stated that this stance made Weld "soft on drugs," and therefore unsuitable as ambassador to Mexico, seen as a key ally in the War On Drugs . Weld took his case to the media before ultimately conceding defeat five months later. He soon moved away from Massachusetts and began living and working in New York City . + - Weld has now agreed to take the Libertarian line in his run for New York governor, significant since the party is also in favor of legalizing drugs and prostitution. LATER CAREER Until recently, Weld ran the Manhattan office of Chicago based international law firm McDermott Will & Emery. Weld has also flirted with the arts. He writes thriller novels for the mass market, and has done a little acting. Into 2005 Weld served as CEO of the recently bankrupt , invested in the for-profit college as part of its strategy to make money by building up low-profile schools and then selling them at a profit. The plan became troubled when it became apparent that recruiters were using unethical practices to sign up a steady stream of new students. Much of the class time took place on-line, and some students assert that "there wasn't much learning going on."[http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0551,robbins,71150,5.html Some speculate that Weld's role in investing in and running the institution, which was raided in October 2005 by 40 federal agents conducting a fraud investigation, as well as his $700,000 annual salary for his efforts as Decker's CEO, may well doom his bid for the governorship or any future office. Weld was also being urged to run for Hillary Clinton 's Senate seat in New York in 2006 , but polls showed that in a hypothetical matchup, Clinton would easily defeat him 63–26%. CANDIDACY FOR GOVERNOR On April 24 , 2005 , it was reported that he was in talks with the New York Republicans to run for Governor Of New York In 2006 , against likely Democrat nominee Eliot Spitzer . Incumbent GOP Governor George Pataki announced on July 27 that he would not seek a fourth term. On August 19 2005 , Weld officially announced his candidacy for Governor of New York. Despite having served as Governor Of Massachusetts , Weld has lived in New York since 2000 and grew up on Long Island . If elected, he would become the second person after Sam Houston to serve as Governor of two different U.S. states. Weld has embarrassed supporters by failing to build any support in New York, receiving negative poll ratings from every demographic in the state, Republicans, Democrats, downstate, upstate, suburban, rural, and urban voters. He even would lose a Republican primary to GOP rival John Faso were the primary held today. Most attribute Weld's difficulties to the Decker College scandal and Weld's flip-flops on issues like gay marriage, abortion, eminent domain, and spending. Weld also mistakenly confused the village of Fishkill, calling it a "dump in Staten Island." CONNECTIONS Weld's first wife, Susan Roosevelt Weld , formerly a professor at Harvard specialising in ancient Chinese civilization and law, and then General Counsel to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, is a great granddaughter of Theodore Roosevelt . His second and present wife, the writer and novelist Leslie Marshall, is a former daughter-in-law of Ben Bradlee of the Washington Post . George Herbert Walker, Jr., uncle of President George H. W. Bush , in the 1970s sold his brokerage company G.H. Walker & Co. to White, Weld & Co. and became a director of the latter company before its merger with Merrill Lynch in 1978 . Weld is now said to be heir to the White, Weld fortune. Weld was a principal at Leeds Weld & Co. , which describes itself as the United States's largest private equity fund focused on investing in the education and training industry. Its board of advisors is chaired by Rudolph W. Giuliani . After an ethics and financial scandal at Decker College , a school in which the partnership was heavily invested and Weld served as CEO, the company changed its name to Leeds Equity Partners and Weld is no longer listed as a partner. QUOTES
BOOKS Weld has written three books for the mass market: # ''Stillwater'' ISBN 0156027232 # ''Mackerel By Moonlight'' ISBN 0671038745 # ''Big Ugly'' ISBN 0743410378 ELECTORAL HISTORY
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