John McCain – like every presidential nominee – will make the final choice of his running mate. But before he gets to that stage, former Reagan counsel Arthur Culvahouse was tasked by McCain to help him vet potential vice presidential candidates.
Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) told The Hill three weeks ago that Culvahouse will be helping McCain develop the list.
Since then, neither McCain nor Culvahouse has commented. Messages left by HUMAN EVENTS with McCain’s press office were not returned yesterday.
As recently as last Friday, word spread in the blogosphere that Culvahouse was spotted in Juneau, Alaska, to purportedly meet with Governor Sarah Palin, who has been repeatedly mentioned as someone on McCain’s short list.
So who is Arthur Culvahouse, and what qualifies him to lead the search for McCain’s better political half?
Culvahouse, 59, brings an extensive legal background to his new task. He earned his J.D. in 1973 from New York University School of Law, where he was a Root-Tilden Scholar and Editor-in-Chief of the Annual Survey of American Law.
Tennessee native Culvahouse is now chair of O’Melveny & Myers LLP, an international law firm of more than 1,000 lawyers with offices in cities throughout the world, including Washington, D.C. Culvahouse practiced law with O’Melveny & Myers from 1976 to 1984 and returned in 1989. Its partners have been involved in both Democratic and Republican politics. For instance, Warren Chrisopher, Bill Clinton’s first-term secretary of state, is a senior partner in the firm. Christopher headed the 2000 Florida recount effort for Al Gore.
Before joining the high-powered law firm, Culvahouse was a protégé of former Senate majority leader Howard H. Baker, Jr. of Tennessee,. He served as Baker’s chief legislative assistant and counsel from June 1973 to November 1976. Culvahouse shares his Baker connection with Alexander, whom he has known for decades.
Soon after Baker became Reagan’s chief of staff in 1987, Culvahouse became White House counsel, serving in his signature role until January 1989. During that time he advised the president on such matters as the Iran-Contra investigations, the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and the Supreme Court nominations of Robert Bork and Anthony Kennedy.
On leaving office, Reagan awarded Culvahouse a Presidential Citizens’ Medal, an award established in 1969 to “recognize citizens who performed exemplary deeds of service for the country or their fellow citizens.”
Over the last three decades, Culvahouse has become a prominent Washington insider. Active in GOP circles, he has consistently given thousands of dollars to Republican candidates. He donated $3,000 to George W. Bush’s campaign and also contributed to the re-election campaigns of Senators Arlen Specter and George Allen.
Since December 2006, Culvahouse has donated $2,300 to McCain’s campaign, as well as $5,000 to Straight Talk America, the senator’s political action committee.
Although he is not currently a registered lobbyist, Culvahouse has lobbied in the past for Lockheed Martin and Fannie Mae.
Since his presidential appointment, Culvahouse has worn a variety of hats. From 1990 through 1992, he served as a member of the Federal Advisory Committee on Nuclear Failsafe and Risk Reduction, appointed by then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney to evaluate and recommend improvements in the United States’ Nuclear Command and Control System. In December 1992, Cheney awarded Culvahouse the Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.
Culvahouse also served on numerous boards and commissions, including the Supreme Court Fellows Commission (2002-2005), the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Naval Academy (1989-1991), and the Counterintelligence Advisory Panel to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (1989-1990). Currently Culvahouse is on the board of the Brookings Institution and a member of President Bush’s Intelligence Advisory Board.
In 2000 he preferred Bush to McCain, but Culvahouse has been a dynamic McCain supporter this election cycle.
Although he has never run for elective office and seems more comfortable behind the scenes, maybe when all is said and done Culvahouse can add second-in-command to his CV. For the time being, though, he’ll continue to play a crucial role in Sen. McCain’s vice presidential selection process.
