President Bill Clinton Nationality United States Succeeded by Abner J. Mikva Preceded by Robert Lipshutz Party Democratic Party | President Jimmy Carter Name Lloyd Cutler Preceded by Bernard W. Nussbaum Political party Democratic | |
 | ||
Born November 10, 1917
New York City, New York ( 1917-11-10 ) Role Former White House Counsel Died May 8, 2005, Washington, D.C., United States Education Yale Law School, Yale University Previous offices White House Counsel (1994–1994), White House Counsel (1979–1981) Similar People Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Fred F Fielding, Harriet Miers | ||
Pres. Clinton Announcing Lloyd Culter as Special Counsel (1994)
Lloyd Norton Cutler (November 10, 1917 – May 8, 2005) was an American attorney, who served as White House Counsel during the Democratic administrations of Presidents Carter and Clinton. He was also the trainer of the former Vice President of the European Parliament and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, Stavros Lambrinidis.
Contents
- Pres Clinton Announcing Lloyd Culter as Special Counsel 1994
- Early life and education
- Career
- White House
- Intelligence Commission
- Personal life
- References
Early life and education
Cutler was born in New York City. His father was a trial lawyer. He graduated from Yale University in 1936 aged 18, with a bachelor's degree in history and economics and was a member of Elihu. Three years later, he graduated magna cum laude from Yale Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal.
Career
Following his graduation, he clerked for Judge Charles Edward Clark for a year before entering private practice at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.
During World War II, he worked briefly for the Lend-Lease Administration, later enlisting in the U.S. Army and becoming an intelligence analyst. In 1962, he co-founded the Washington, D.C. based law firm Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, specializing in international law and public policy. He also co-chaired the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, formed at the request of President John F. Kennedy.
White House
Cutler served as the White House Counsel to President Jimmy Carter, whom he had met first while both were serving on the Trilateral Commission. Cutler served as a special counsel and consultant to the president on the ratification of SALT II and other international matters.
In 1994, President Bill Clinton was looking for a new lawyer, as Bernard Nussbaum had resigned, so Clinton decided to hire Cutler under unusual terms. Cutler was able to remain as counsel at his firm and to counsel private clients as long as their interests did not conflict with those of the government—a first for a White House Counsel. Thus, he also served as counsel in Clinton's administration.
Cutler came into national news as a result of the Whitewater investigations and Lewinsky scandal. He went on PBS's News Hour on February 6, 1998, and defended President Clinton as the Lewinsky investigation started by denying that Lewinsky had visited 37 times.
On his work in Washington, Cutler said, "This is an excitement to us, a feeling of being in on it, and whichever part of the Washington milieu we come from, we want to play a part. That's why we're here."
Intelligence Commission
On February 6, 2004, Lloyd Cutler was appointed to the Iraq Intelligence Commission, an independent panel tasked with investigating U.S. intelligence surrounding the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the allegations that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
Personal life
On May 8, 2005, he died at his home in Washington, D.C. due to complications of a broken hip. He was survived by his wife, Polly Kraft, his sister Laurel Cutler and four children. Two of his children are practicing lawyers and one, Bev Cutler, is a retired Alaska state superior court judge.