We are saddened to report that our former colleague C. Boyden Gray died over the weekend at age 80. Boyden had a long, varied and distinguished legal career and was one of the nation’s leading conservative legal thinkers. He worked very closely with Lloyd Cutler on a range of issues. While they did not always agree, they both cared deeply about the nation, and both saw the value in looking at issues of policy from different points of view.

Boyden served in the White House Counsel’s office for twelve years, first as counsel to Vice President George H.W. Bush from 1981 to 1989 and then as Counsel to Bush as President from 1989 to 1993. He was one of President Bush’s most trusted legal advisors. Among his many accomplishments was helping to secure the appointments and confirmation of Mr. Bush’s Supreme Court nominees Clarence Thomas and David Souter.

More than a decade after Boyden served President George H.W. Bush, President George W. Bush appointed Boyden Ambassador to the European Union where he served from 2006 to 2007.

Boyden’s legal career started at Wilmer Cutler & Pickering in 1969. He joined the firm after his clerkship for Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. He became a partner in 1976 and left the firm in 1981 to begin his work with Vice President Bush. Boyden rejoined the firm after his service as White House Counsel and left WilmerHale in 2006 when he was appointed Ambassador to the European Union.

Boyden founded the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School and served as an adjunct professor at the New York University Law School. He also served on the boards of many legal organizations, including The Federalist Society.

Boyden graduated from Harvard University and the University of North Carolina Law School. He served in the US Marine Corps Reserves.