Pete Wilson

Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American Republican politician from California.

Related Topics:
August 23 - 1933 - American - Republican - Politician - California

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Pete Wilson served as the thirty-sixth governor of California (1991-1999), the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that included eight years as a United States Senator (1983-1991), eleven years as mayor of San Diego (1971-1983), and five years as a California state assemblyman (1967-1971).

Related Topics:
Governor of California - United States Senator - Mayor of San Diego

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As mayor of San Diego, Wilson led the transformation of that city from a quiet navy town to an international trade hub, amending the city charter to make public safety the first and foremost responsibility of city government and leading a successful effort to manage San Diego's dynamic growth and to revitalize the city's downtown area. He substantially cut the property-tax rate and imposed a limit on the growth of the city budget that became a model for California's subsequently adopted Proposition 4.

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As a United States senator, Wilson was a leading voice for a stronger defense and U.S. foreign policy. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he called for early implementation of President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, a national ballistic missile defense system.

Related Topics:
Senate Armed Services Committee - Reagan - Strategic Defense Initiative

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Wilson also cosponsored the federal Intergovernmental Regulatory Relief Act requiring the federal government to reimburse states for the cost of new federal mandates. And his fiscal conservatism in the Senate earned him "Watchdog of the Treasury" honors for each of his eight years in the nation's capital.

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Wilson's eight years as governor saw California emerge from the depths of depression to a resounding economic recovery. Inheriting the state's worst economy since the Great Depression, Wilson insisted on strict budget discipline and rehabilitation of the state's then hostile environment for investment and job creation. Among the many pro-business accomplishments of his administration, he provided for market-based unsubsidized health coverage for employees of small businesses, and obtained anti-fraud meansures that drove down workers' compensation premiums by 40 percent.

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Governor Wilson enacted historic education reforms that have been called California's "education renaissance" -- reforms based on results, accountability, and fiscally sound investments.

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Wilson demanded and got rigorous curricular standards, implemented class-size reduction, and ended social promotion, replacing it with early, effective remedial education. He also began new programs of individualized testing of all students, teacher-competency and training, a lengthier instructional year, and a return to phonics and early mastery of early reading, writing, and mathematical skills.

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He left office with a public approval rating identical to that received by Ronald Reagan at the conclusion of his service as governor.

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Born on August 23, 1933, in Lake Forest, Illinois, and raised in Missouri, Wilson attended Yale University (B.A. 1955) and proceeded to serve three years as a United States Marine Corps infantry officer. Upon completion of his military obligation, Wilson earned a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Related Topics:
August 23 - 1933 - Lake Forest, Illinois - Missouri - Yale University - 1955 - United States Marine Corps - University of California, Berkeley

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After leaving office, Governor Wilson spent two years as a managing director of Pacific Capital Group, a merchant bank based in Los Angeles, California. He serves as a director of the Irvine Company, U.S. Telepacific Corporation, Inc., National Information Consortium Inc., and IDT Entertainment. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of Thomas Weisel Partners, a San Francisco merchant bank. He also served as chairman of the Japan Task Force of the Pacific Council on International Policy, which produced an analysis of Japanese economic and national security prospects over the next decade entitled ?Can Japan Come Back?? Wilson is currently a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and is on the governing boards of the National D-Day Museum, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, the Richard M. Nixon Library and Birthplace Foundation, the Donald Bren Foundation, and is the founding director of the California Mentor Foundation.

Related Topics:
Pacific Capital Group - Los Angeles, California - IDT Entertainment - San Francisco - Japan - Hoover Institution - Richard M. Nixon

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Most recently, he was co-chair of the campaign of Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace Gray Davis as governor of California.

Related Topics:
Arnold Schwarzenegger - Gray Davis

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