Bill Simon (politician)
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William Edward Simon Jr. (born June 20, 1951) is an American businessman and politician. In 2002, Simon campaigned unsuccessfully for
Governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...
as a
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
against Democratic incumbent
Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 to 2003. In 2003, only a few months into his second term, Davis was recalled and remov ...
. Billed as a "conservative Republican," the virtually unknown Simon's campaign was significantly boosted by support from better-known Republican officeholders from outside California, including former New York City Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
.


Background

Simon was born in Neptune, New Jersey, the son of Carol (Girard) and William E. Simon Sr., the 63rd Secretary of the Treasury under
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
and
Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
. Simon Sr., also served as director of the Federal Energy Office. Coincidentally, Simon was a childhood friend of former
Democratic party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
chair
Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 200 ...
. Simon earned a BA from
Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...
in 1973, and a JD from
Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
in 1982. At
Boston College Law School Boston College Law School (BC Law) is the law school of Boston College. It is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts, about 1.5 miles from the university's main campus in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. With approximately 800 studen ...
, "Billy" Simon was widely popular and respected. He was a Moot Court Champion and represented the school in national moot court competitions. From 1986 to 1988, Simon served as Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, working under then-U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani. In 1988, Simon co-founded William E. Simon & Sons, a global
merchant bank A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodi ...
, with his father and brother.Move over Gray Davis...
/ref> Simon managed the family business (which has over $3 billion in assets), as the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and as a trustee for
The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presiden ...
. Simon also chairs the William E. Simon Foundation. Simon has contributed some of his personal resources to assist less fortunate youths through educational scholarships and beautification of California schools.


2002 California gubernatorial election


Primary

Simon won the
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
nomination in the primary election of March 2002. Some credit Simon's primary win to incumbent Governor
Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 to 2003. In 2003, only a few months into his second term, Davis was recalled and remov ...
' preemptive campaign against Simon's major primary opponent, former Los Angeles mayor
Richard Riordan Richard Joseph Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is an American investment banker, businessman, lawyer, and former Republican politician who was the 39th Mayor of Los Angeles, from 1993 to 2001. Born in New York City and raised in New Rochelle, New Y ...
, a moderate Republican, whom Davis considered a more formidable opponent. At the beginning of the campaign Riordan had higher name recognition and popularity than any other gubernatorial candidate. In fact Riordan began attacking Davis early on in the primaries, as if he already had the GOP nomination, which is what prompted the counter-attack, according to Garry South, Davis' campaign manager. Simon's come-from-behind win reflected both the GOP's dissatisfaction with Riordan's inability to appeal to the GOP base (he had publicly insulted
George Deukmejian Courken George Deukmejian Jr. (; June 6, 1928 – May 8, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of California from 1983 to 1991. Of Armenian descent, Deukmejian was a member of the Republican Party and he also serve ...
, California's most popular Republican governor since
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
, and it was revealed that he had supported Democratic Senator
Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was ...
with campaign contributions) and support for Simon's straight-conservative image. Both Riordan and Simon are
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
s and
Knights of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...
, with Riordan pro-choice on abortion and Simon pro-life. Simon polled 1,129,973 primary votes (49.4 percent) to Riordan's 715,768 (31.3 percent). Another 387,237 ballots (16.9 percent) were cast for Bill Jones, then the California secretary of state.


General

Davis's campaign advertisements made heavy use of scandals relating to alleged mismanagement of Simon's business and charities, though one of the major court rulings unfavorable to Simon was since overturned. Simon's campaign centered largely on allegations of corruption in the incumbent's administration, and Davis's handling of the 2001 energy crisis. Immediately after the gubernatorial debate against Gray Davis, Simon accused Davis of receiving campaign funds in the Lt. Governor's office, a felony. Simon distributed a photo of Davis being handed a check and insisted that the picture was taken in the Lt. Governor's office in the State capitol. Within an hour of its release the location in the picture was determined to have no resemblance to the Lt. Governor's office, and within a few days the location was identified as Bruce Karatz's home in Southern California. Despite Davis's high disapproval ratings, he managed to defeat Simon by a margin of 47.3% of the vote to Simon's 42.4%.


After gubernatorial campaign

When the
2003 California gubernatorial recall election The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. The recall effort spa ...
became a reality, Simon announced he would once again be a candidate for California Governor but ran for only a short time after he qualified for the ballot before withdrawing from the race August 23, 2003. He said, "There are too many Republicans in this race and the people of our state simply cannot risk a continuation of the Gray Davis legacy." Simon did not endorse any candidates until several weeks later, when he endorsed front-runner
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
. Despite dropping out, his name still appeared in the ballot, and he placed 12th in a field of 135 candidates. Simon spent most of 2004 and 2005 preparing to run for California state treasurer in 2006, and although he was the clear front-runner for the Republican nomination, he dropped out in October 2005 citing the need to devote more time and attention to his family and four children. He is currently married to Cindy Simon, and together they have three children, Willie, Lindsay, and Griffith. They live in
Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the Westside region of Los Angeles, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. Pacific Palisades was formally founded in 1921 by a Methodist organization, and in the years that followed bec ...
, and have a vacation home on
Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
and one in Sun Valley, Idaho. He also has a daughter, Cary, from his first marriage. On February 26, 2007, he was appointed as the Director of Policy for the
Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
presidential
exploratory committee In the election politics of the United States, an exploratory committee is an organization established to help determine whether a potential candidate should run for an elected office. They are most often cited in reference to candidates for pre ...
.Join Rudy
February 26, 2007.
Simon was the most influential member of the Giuliani campaign, and was referred to many times as Giuliani's "Professor."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Bill 1951 births American financial businesspeople Boston College Law School alumni California Republicans Knights of Malta Living people The Heritage Foundation Williams College alumni Candidates in the 2002 United States elections