Nomination of Abraham D. Sofaer To Be Legal Adviser of the Department of State
April 24, 1985
The President today announced his intention to nominate Abraham D. Sofaer to be Legal Adviser of the Department of State. He would succeed Davis Rowland Robinson.
Judge Sofaer is currently United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Previously, he was professor of law, Columbia University (1969 - 1979); hearing officer, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (1975 - 1976); Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York (1967 - 1969); and law clerk to the Honorable William J. Brennan, Jr., United States Supreme Court (1966 - 1967).
Judge Sofaer graduated from Yeshiva College (B.A., 1962) and New York University School of Law (LL.B., 1965). He is married, has four children, and resides in New York City. He was born May 6, 1938, in Bombay, India.
Designation of Roger B. Porter as Executive Secretary of the Economic Policy Council
April 24, 1985
The President today announced he was designating Roger B. Porter to be Executive Secretary of the Economic Policy Council.
Mr. Porter is Deputy Assistant to the President for Policy Development and Director of the White House Office of Policy Development. He served as Executive Secretary of the Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs from 1981 to 1985. He was on the faculty of the School of Government at Harvard University from 1977 to 1981. He is the author of several books and articles, including ``Presidential Decision Making.''
Mr. Porter was a White House fellow from 1974 to 1975. He was appointed Special Assistant to the President and served as Executive Secretary of the President's Economic Policy Board from 1974 to 1977. He was assistant dean and tutor in politics at Queen's College, Oxford University, from 1971 to 1972. He served as associate director of the Utah Local Government Modernization Study in 1972 and has been actively involved in State constitutional revision efforts. He was selected as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men in America for 1981 by the United States Jaycees.
A native of Utah, Mr. Porter received his B.A. degree from Brigham Young University in 1969 and was selected as a Rhodes scholar and as a Woodrow Wilson fellow, receiving his bachelor of philosophy degree from Oxford University in 1971. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University in 1978.
He is married to the former Ann Robinson, has three children, and resides in McLean, VA. He was born on June 19, 1946.
Appointment of Haley Barbour as Special Assistant to the President for Political Affairs
April 24, 1985
The President today announced the appointment of Haley Barbour to be Special Assistant to the President for Political Affairs.
He has been a partner in the law firm of Henry, Barbour & DeCell and is also a director of the Deposit Guaranty Corp. He is on the board of the Deposit Guaranty National Bank. From 1973 to 1976, he served as the executive director of the Mississippi Republican Party and of the Southern Association of Republican State Chairmen. He was the Republican nominee in the 1982 Mississippi Senate race against Senator John Stennis.
He graduated from the University of Mississippi (J.D., 1973). He is married, has two children, and resides in Crystal City, VA. He was born October 22, 1947, in Yazoo City, MS.