Reagan kitchen cabinet

The "Kitchen Cabinet" of Ronald Reagan consists of many prominent conservative businessmen who served as unofficial advisers parallel to the United States cabinet. Many of these individuals advised Reagan throughout his political career. These various actors were so influential in Reagan's decision making that in 1981, they helped pick Reagan's original Presidential cabinet. Listed below are the names and brief profiles of the members of Reagan's Kitchen Cabinet.

Thomas Roe
Thomas A. Roe was a businessman and industrialist from Greenville, South Carolina. He was chairman of the board of Builder Marts of America, Inc., which has since become Guardian Building Products. He was also the founding chairman of the State Policy Network (SPN) and founder of early SPN member state think tank the South Carolina Policy Council. He died in 2000, but his Roe Foundation "continues to provide financial support to free-market policy groups across the country."

Joseph Coors
Joseph Coors, former President of the Coors brewing company, is the founder of the Council for National Policy (CNP, the far right's answer to the Council on Foreign Relations). He put up the initial $250,000 in seed money to start the Heritage Foundation in 1973. Since then, he has funded Paul Weyrich's Free Congress Foundation, the Hoover Institution, and Accuracy in Media.

Edwin Meese III
Prior to serving as Attorney General under Reagan from 1985 to 1988, Edwin Meese III, a wealthy California attorney, was a prominent adviser in the administration and worked under Governor Reagan in California. He was also on the CNP Executive Committee in 1994 and CNP President in 1996. He has been "distinguished fellow and holder of the Ronald Reagan Chair in Public Policy" for the Heritage Foundation. In early 2013, he held fellowships and chairmanships with several public policy councils and think tanks, including the Constitution Project, and say on the board of directors of The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies.

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