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William Wilson, a member of President Ronald Reagan’s “kitchen cabinet” who was appointed the first U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, has died. He was 95.
Wilson died early Saturday in Carmel Valley, Calif., where he had a home, his daughter Marcia Wilson Hobbs said. He had cancer.
“I am deeply saddened at the death of Bill Wilson,” former first lady Nancy Reagan said in a statement Saturday. “He was a dear friend for many years and a close adviser to my husband.”
The businessman met Reagan and his wife at a dinner party in the early 1960s, when the future politician was first and foremost an actor. Wilson was a member of the inner circle of wealthy advisers who persuaded Reagan to run for California governor in 1966 then helped guide his political campaigns.
Wilson made his name as a manufacturer of oil-drilling equipment, a cattle rancher, a real estate developer and as a savvy investor. Along with William French Smith and Justin Dart, Wilson oversaw the trust put into place to manage Reagan’s financial affairs once he took public office to avoid conflicts of interest.
In 1981, soon after he was sworn in as president, Reagan named Wilson, a Catholic convert and regular churchgoer, as his personal envoy to the Vatican. The United States had not had formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See since 1867, when Congress repealed funds, citing a need to separate church and state.
Based on his admiration for Pope John Paul II and their shared commitment to eradicating communism in Eastern Europe, Reagan aimed to restore the United States’ diplomatic ties. In 1984 the U.S. re-established official relations, joining 107 other nations that recognized the Vatican as a sovereign body and the pope as an international statesman. Every president since Reagan has appointed an ambassador to the Vatican.
Wilson is survived two daughters, six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
