Last updated on: 10/1/2010 | Author: ProCon.org

Peter "Pete" Barton Wilson, JD Biography

Title:
Former Governor of California
Position:
Not Clearly Pro or Con to the question "Should the Government Allow Immigrants Who Are Here Illegally to Become US Citizens?"
Reasoning:

“187 was a protest, the loudest, clearest taxpayer protest since the Boston Tea Party. 187 was, I think, remarkable. And it was scuttled by the courts… but hell, 187 would pass today, I think perhaps by a greater margin.”

“Working for Arnold, A Conversation with Schwarzenegger Co-chairman Pete Wilson, ” National Review Online, Aug. 19, 2003
Theoretical Expertise Ranking:
    Experts
Individuals with advanced degrees in fields relevant to immigration. Also top-level government officials (such as foreign leaders, US presidents, Founding Fathers, Supreme Court Justices, members of legislative bodies, cabinet members, military leaders, etc.) with positions relevant to immigration.
Involvement and Affiliations:
  • Co-chairman, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gubernatorial campaign, 2003
  • Former Governor of California, 1991 – 1999
  • Ran for President of the United States, 1996
  • U.S. Senator (R-CA), 1983 – 1991
  • City Mayor, San Diego, California, 1971 – 1983
  • California State Assemblyman, 1967 – 1971
  • Private Attorney, 1964 – 1967
  • Staff, Presidential Campaign of Barry Goldwater, 1964
  • Criminal Defense Attorney, 1963 – 1964
  • Staff, Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Richard M. Nixon, 1962 – 1963
  • Officer, Infantry Platoon Commander, U.S. Marines, 1956 – 1959
  • Sponsor of Californian Proposition 187
  • Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sponsored the implementation of President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative
  • Named the Senate’s “Watchdog of the Treasury” for each of his eight years in Washington D.C.
  • Signed into law “Three Strikes,” (25 years to life for repeat felons), and “One Strike,” (25 years to life upon the first conviction of aggravated rape or child molestation.)
  • Resumed the death penalty in California, after 25 years of moratorium.
Education:
  • JD, Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, 1962
  • BA, English, Yale University, 1956
Other:
  • None found