Malcolm Richard Wilkey

Malcolm Richard Wilkey (December 6, 1918 – August 15, 2009) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and United States Ambassador to Uruguay.

Malcolm Wilkey
United States Ambassador to Uruguay
In office
November 28, 1985 – May 10, 1990
PresidentRonald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Preceded byThomas Aranda
Succeeded byRichard C. Brown
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
In office
December 6, 1984 – November 8, 1985
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
In office
February 25, 1970 – December 6, 1984
Appointed byRichard Nixon
Preceded byWarren E. Burger
Succeeded byStephen F. Williams
United States Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division
In office
1959–1961
PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded byMalcom Anderson
Succeeded byHerbert Miller
United States Assistant Attorney General for Legal Counsel
In office
1958–1959
PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded byW. Wilson White
Succeeded byRobert Kramer
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas
In office
1954–1958
Appointed byDwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded byBrian Odem
Succeeded byWilliam Butler
Personal details
Born
Malcolm Richard Wilkey

(1918-12-06)December 6, 1918
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedAugust 15, 2009(2009-08-15) (aged 90)
Santiago, Chile
Political partyRepublican
EducationHarvard University (BA, LLB)

Early life and education

Wilkey was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and raised in Madisonville, Kentucky.[1] He received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Harvard University in 1940, and served in the United States Army during World War II in George S. Patton's Third Army from 1941 to 1945 (he left active duty as a Major and served in the United States Army Reserve until 1953, when he left as a Lieutenant Colonel). After the war he enrolled in law school and received a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1948.[2]

Career

Early career
Wilkey's official portrait at the Department of Justice
Wilkey with President Ronald Reagan in 1986

Wilkey was in private practice in Houston, Texas, from 1948 to 1954, also teaching at the University of Houston Law Center from 1949 to 1954. Wilkey entered public service in Texas as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas (1954–1958). In 1958 he moved to Washington, D.C., to serve as the United States Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel at the United States Department of Justice (1958–1959), and Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division (1959–1961). He returned to private practice in Texas (1961–1963), before moving on to become the General counsel and secretary of Kennecott Copper Corporation (1963–1970), during which he was also a member of the Advisory Panel on International Law for the legal adviser at the United States Department of State (1969–1973).

Federal judicial service

Wilkey was nominated by President Richard Nixon on February 16, 1970, for the seat vacated by Judge Warren E. Burger on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 24, 1970, and received his commission the following day.[2] He assumed senior status on December 6, 1984, and his judicial service ended November 8, 1985, when he retired and went to Cambridge University as a visiting fellow of Wolfson College.[3]

Political appointments

In 1989 he was chairman of the President's Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform and worked alongside his Vice Chairman Griffin Bell, who was the United States Attorney General under President Jimmy Carter.[4]

President Ronald Reagan appointed him United States Ambassador to Uruguay in 1985, and President George H. W. Bush continued him in that post[3] until his retirement in 1990.[5]

In 1992 United States Attorney General William P. Barr appointed him to determine whether federal criminal violations had taken place in the House banking scandal.[4]

Personal life

Wilkey married Chilean-born Emma A. Secul Depolo in 1959. He and his wife moved to Santiago, Chile, in 1990. Wilkey died from complications of prostate cancer at his home in Santiago on August 15, 2009.[1][6]

References
  1. Schudel, Matt (September 7, 2009). "Malcolm R. Wilkey, 90 - Judge Steered House Check Scandal Probe". Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
  2. Malcolm Richard Wilkey at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  3. "George Bush: Continuation of Malcolm Richard Wilkey as Ambassador to Uruguay". May 5, 1989. Retrieved 2009-09-08. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California (hosted), Gerhard Peters (database)
  4. Roberts, Robert North; Marion T. Doss Jr (September 1997). From Watergate to Whitewater: The Public Integrity War. Westport, CT: Praeger. pp. 133, 142–143. ISBN 0-275-95597-4. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
  5. "George Bush: Nomination of Richard C. Brown To Be United States Ambassador to Uruguay". June 13, 1990. Retrieved 2009-09-08. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California (hosted), Gerhard Peters (database)
  6. Martin, Douglas (September 18, 2009). "Malcolm Wilkey, 90, Noted Judge, Dies". The New York Times. p. A16.

Writings

Further reading
  • Cain, George H. (Fall 1999). "Malcolm R. Wilkey: Many Robes, Many Hats: A Career Sketch of a Lawyer, Judge and Diplomat". Experience. Vol. 10. pp. 18–47.
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