One of the giants of the Reagan administration has passed away. Judge William P. Clark, dubbed the "top hand" by his biographer Paul Kengor, succumbed to Parkinson's Disease at the age of 81. Judge Clark became one of the most significant aides in the political rise and the governorship and presidency of Ronald Reagan. His hometown (San Luis Obispo) newspaper's obituary summarized his long history: Clark, a fourth-generation Californian, signed on as Reagan's Ventura County campaign manager when the actor ran for governor in 1966, and went on to be a charter member of the governor's staff, serving first as Reagan's Cabinet secretary and later as his executive secretary. It was during this time that Clark originated the "mini memo," usually a one-page document that distilled complex issues for Reagan's digestion. By 1969, Clark was appointed by Reagan to San Luis Obispo County Superior Court - a move denounced and censured by the SLO County Bar Association as political...(Read Full Post)