The Hon. William Wilson
Profile -- (from the Fall 1999 Newsletter)
[interview below]
It all started at a dinner party at some mutual friends'
home back in about 1960. William and Betty Wilson met an actor
and his wife and the four of them hit it off. Little could
the Wilsons have expected that twenty-some years later that
actor would be elected President of the United States and
that Wilson would become the first U.S. Ambassador to the
Holy See in 117 years.
William A. Wilson was born November 3, 1914, in Los Angeles.
His father was an engineer in the oil-tool business and his
mother a Canadian. He took a mechanical engineering degree
from Stanford University and became a registered mechanical
and metallurgical engineer in Los Angeles. During World War
II, he served as a captain in the Army Ordnance Corps.
He joined Web Wilson Oil Tools, Inc. in 1938, became chairman
in 1955, and served there until 1961 when the company was
sold to Joy Manufacturing Co. He then became involved in private
investments, primarily in real estate in Southern California
and in cattle in both the United States and Mexico.
But it was his and Betty's friendship with Ron and Nancy
Reagan over the years that was to mark his future. In 1964,
at the Republican National Convention, Reagan gave such a
stirring nominating speech for Barry Goldwater that several
of Reagan's inner circle of friends, including Wilson, thought
that Reagan should run for Governor. These friends, who eventually
prevailed on him to run, became known as Reagan's "Kitchen
Cabinet," and they would continue to consult with him
throughout his political career.
Reagan went on to become a two-term Governor for California,
and in 1980, seized the Presidency. Wilson was with him all
the way. While Governor, Reagan appointed Wilson a member
of the Board of Regents of the University of California, where
he praised him as "a man of outstanding integrity and
ability who throughout his career has demonstrated that he
is vitally concerned with the problems of our society."
After Reagan's election, Wilson and the other dozen or so
members of the Kitchen Cabinet assisted Reagan in overseeing
some 4,000 personnel selections for the next Administration.
Wilson had no intention of government service himself and
was planning to return to his many business interests. But
Reagan drew Wilson into public service by asking him to serve
as his personal representative to the Vatican.
Since 1867, Congress had barred any Federal funds from being
used to maintain a diplomatic mission to the Vatican. Franklin
Roosevelt liked the idea of having his own personal envoy
to the Vatican and started a practice which only a few of
his successors observed. Thus in 1981, Wilson began serving
as Reagan's personal representative to the Vatican. Congress
later repealed the 1867 law, and on January 10, 1984, Wilson
was given full Ambassadorial status. Many leading Protestant
groups had opposed his appointment on grounds that it intruded
on Church and State separation, even though 106 other nations
had formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
Wilson served until August, 1986, having spent five years
advising, escorting, and entertaining, at the highest levels
of the Church and American government. On his retirement,
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls declared the "great
personal esteem" the Holy See had for Wilson. Pope John
Paul II presented Wilson with the Pope Pius IX medal, a distinction
reserved for special envoys.
Wilson returned to Los Angeles and resumed his business interests,
serving as chief executive of various companies. His board
memberships have included Jorgensen Steel Co., Pennzoil, Disease
Detection International, and St. John's Hospital, and he has
served as Financial Consultant for Shearson Lehman Hutton.
He is semi-retired, serving as Chairman of his own investment
firm, San Vicente Investments, Inc., and he advises various
smaller start-up companies. He was a member of the Reagans'
personal trust from 1972-84.
Betty, his wife of 58 years, died in 1996. They had two daughters,
who have produced six grandchildren.
Among his many honors and distinctions, Wilson is a Knight
of Malta. He received the Brotherhood Award from the National
Conference of Christians and Jews, the Gold Medal from the
Red Cross of Italy, and the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Award
from the Navy League. He has also been granted honorary degrees
from Assumption College, Barry University, and Pepperdine
University.
In 1988, he joined the Board of Governors of Thomas Aquinas
College; he chairs its Finance Committee. Two years ago, he
escorted College President Tom Dillon and his wife, Terri,
on a trip to meet the Holy Father, Cardinal Ratzinger, and
others in the Vatican.
-- Qtrly Newsletter, Fall 1999
Interview with William Wilson:
Q. Would you have ever guessed where the Reagans would
end up?
No. Even his famous Goldwater speech had come as a surprise
to me. We had gotten along well because of our love for horses.
I knew he was of strong character and high ideals, but I didn't
anticipate his political future. But after that speech, a
little group formed around him and urged him to run for governor,
which he did. During his second term he appeared at the '76
Republican Convention as a "favorite son candidate,"
and we thought, "Gee, he has a shot at the Presidency."
By 1980, there was so much enthusiasm going for him around
the country that, in spite of what the papers were saying,
we knew he was going to win.
Q. At what point did you consider working for his Administration
and entering political life?
I never did. After I served on the transition team in 1980-81,
I planned to go back to L.A. I really didn't want any government
post and I didn't seek one either. Shortly after I returned
home, Ron called one night and asked me if I would consider
being ambassador to Mexico. I told him I didn't think it would
be a good idea because of my business interests there over
the years. He agreed and we hung up.
About an hour later, he called back and said, "How'd
you like to be my personal representative to the Vatican?"
He told me the history behind it and said that, while I could
have an office and a place to stay through the State Department,
I would have to cover all my travel and other expenses. I
put my hand over the phone and asked Betty what she thought.
She lighted up and said, "Let's go!" So we did.
Q. What was your initial reaction to being there?
I had an audience with Pope Pius XII after World War II,
but that was such a different experience than representing
the U.S. President to the Vatican. I thought, "What am
I doing here?" At first, I had to remember that I was
only a personal representative, and not an Ambassador, and
so I insisted that we spend less than half of our time in
Rome so it didn't look like we were trying to be what we weren't.
There is no end to parties, receptions, cocktails, and dinners
there. You immediately start getting invitations from all
of the other ambassadors to the Vatican. It gets to be a rather
complex problem determining who to invite or whose party you
need to attend. Our 4th of July reception would have 400 people
in attendance and take up virtually all of our annual entertainment
budget.
Also, when you invite people from the Vatican, you always
get bachelors so you have to be attentive to that. And seating
protocol is a big concern. You have to know which Archbishop
or Cardinal outranks another one. When you invite a Cardinal,
you always invite his secretary. Then if you invite other
Ambassadors and their wives you have to figure out how to
seat them along with clergy. The Romans also have two kinds
of titles that have been handed down through generations,
one kind from King Victor Emmanual, and the other from the
Vatican. That means you sometimes have to figure out how to
rank, say, a prince from Italian lineage with a prince of
Church lineage.
Q. Much has been written about Reagan's collaboration
with the Pope in working to tear down the Iron Curtain. What
is your assessment?
A lot of it has been exaggerated. Carl Bernstein and Marco
Politi's book [The Pontiff] is overstated. Several years before
it came out, Bernstein called me from New York, and wanted
to talk about an article he was preparing for Time. He was
working up a theory that there was a secret pact between Reagan
and the Pope to bring down communism. I told him there was
no such pact. I sat there during all the meetings between
the Holy Father and the President or [CIA Chief] Bill Casey,
[Defense Secretary] Cap Weinberger, or [Secretary of State]
George Schultz, and I know there wasn't anything like a pact
between them. Bernstein wrote the article anyway, and L'Osservatory
Romano vehemently denied it. Bernstein left Time shortly thereafter
and started work on his book.
Q. How did serving as envoy effect your spiritual life?
It enhanced it a great deal. We had so many occasions to
attend Mass with the Pope. It is always an amazing and emotional
experience to be in his presence. Having the chance to count
so many wonderful clerics - from the highest to the lowest
ranks - as personal friends also enhanced my appreciation
for the Church and our faith. You could see the effect on
others too. There was a Japanese ambassador who came to Rome
as a Shinto, but left as a Catholic.
Q. Did you ever face any tensions in representing American
interests to the Vatican?
Yes, a few times. It was always difficult when I would have
to escort some rep from the State Department who wanted to
justify to the head of the Congregation for the Family about
U.S. family planning policies. You're not going to get a warm
welcome, as you might imagine. Also, we were having our problems
in Central America at that time, and it was difficult to explain
our policies there to the Secretary of State, knowing that
the Church was concerned about the efforts of so many religious
there. But we certainly agreed on more things than we disagreed
on.
Also, I remember having to hand-deliver a message to Cardinal
Cassaroli, the Secretary of State, telling him that the Congress
had just passed a resolution criticizing the Vatican for not
having formal diplomatic relations with Israel. I didn't think
it was right for us to be telling the Vatican what it should
do with respect to its own foreign policy decisions, and I
felt very awkward about having to deliver that message.
Q. How did you come to be involved with the College?
[Fellow Board member] Rosemary Donohue put me onto the College.
I was attracted by the curriculum and could see it was educating
students, while maintaining a religious atmosphere. I am very
pleased to be involved and do whatever I can to help.
-- Qtrly Newsletter, Fall 1999
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