Author, Ronald Reagan in Private: A Memoir of My Years in The White House
Mr. James Kuhn develops policy and business initiatives through government relations, lobbying, strategic planning and business development. He utilizes his strong bipartisan, working relationships with the Senate and the House of Representatives to affect key public policy which includes outreach to agencies throughout the federal government.
With 35-plus years of professional experience in leadership positions in both the public and private sectors, and close working relationships with Congress and Administration officials, Mr. Kuhn engages legislators and agency executives on behalf of corporations, national associations and organizations. He has helped with such legislation as the development and passage of The Telecommunications Act of 1996, (the first rewrite of telecommunications law since 1934).
Representing the Washington-based Asia Pacific Policy Center, Mr. Kuhn helped major U.S. corporations successfully engage with the Asia-Pacific region fostering business relationships between senior governmental and business representatives throughout Asia Pacific. Additionally, for a number of years Mr. Kuhn represented the Government of Iceland and the Icelandic Heart Association.
Currently, Mr. Kuhn is engaged with clients in the areas of public works infrastructure, project management and veterans’ issues (Vietnam Veterans of America). Additionally, Mr. Kuhn has worked with Offices of Governors and State Legislatures on legislation at the state level to change state statutes on procurement of major transportation projects along with capital (facilities) projects. For an eight-year period Mr. Kuhn represented the Design-Build industry through his close work with the Design-Build Institute of America.
Formerly, in his capacity as Assistant to The President in the Reagan White House (Second Term), Mr. Kuhn had the honor of being an integral part of President Reagan’s inner circle serving by his side in the Oval Office interfacing with the White House Chief of Staff, the National Security Advisor and other key White House senior staff to ensure the constant, effective flow of information to the President while providing precision and continuity on the President’s daily agenda. In this same capacity, Mr. Kuhn traveled with the President on all domestic and international trips while accompanying the President and Mrs. Reagan on 91 weekend trips to Camp David.
Mr. Kuhn is from the farmlands of northwestern Ohio and is the author of Ronald Reagan in Private: A Memoir of My Years in The White House which was published by Penguin Group USA/Sentinel in 2004.
Author, Lady in Red: An Intimate Portrait of Nancy Reagan (April 2018)
Sheila Tate served for twenty years as president and vice chairman of Powell Tate, the firm she co-founded in 1991 with Jody Powell, Presidential Press Secretary to President Jimmy Carter. She retired in 2012.
Mrs. Tate’s political and government experience ranges from her 1981-85 service as White House Press Secretary to First Lady Nancy Reagan to the 1988-89 Presidential campaign and transition during which she served as press secretary for President-elect George H. W. Bush. She was also communications director for the successful 1996 Republican convention in San Diego.
Most of Mrs. Tate’s business career has been devoted to agency work. She was twice affiliated with Burson-Marsteller, and was also employed twice by Hill.
She served two five-year terms on the Board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), appointed by both Presidents Reagan and Bush. She served as vice chairman from 1990-92 and chairman from 1992-94. She also served nine years on the National Advisory Board of the Salvation Army where she chaired the Community Relations and Development Committee.
Mrs. Tate was a member, an officer and director of the National Press Foundation for 10 years. She also served as chairman of the Civilian Public Affairs Committee for the United States Military Academy. During the George H. W. Bush administration she was a member of the United States Information Agency’s private sector public relations committee.
In 2001, the Washingtonian magazine named her one of the “100 Most Powerful Women in Washington.” In 1999, PRWeek selected her as one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Public Relations” and one of the “100 Most Influential PR People of the 20th Century.”
She was named to the Public Relations Society of America’s National Capitol Hall of Fame in 2015.
Mrs. Tate, a native of Washington, DC, holds a B.A. in journalism from Duquesne University and has done graduate work in mass communications at the University of Denver.
Author, Movie Nights with the Reagans
Mark Weinberg is a former spokesman, advisor and speechwriter to President Ronald Reagan. He served on the 1980 Reagan campaign, all eight years on the Reagan White House staff, and two years thereafter as Director of Public Affairs in the office of former President Ronald Reagan. He currently works as a communications consultant in the private sector. Mr. Weinberg and his wife live in the New York City area with their two children.
Vice President, Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law, Advancing American Freedom
John G. Malcolm oversees Advancing American Freedom’s work to increase understanding of the Constitution and the rule of law as Vice President of the organization’s Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law. Malcolm brings to the challenge a wealth of legal expertise and experience in both the public and private sectors.
Prior to joining Advancing American Freedom in 2025, Malcolm was the Vice President of the Institute for Constitutional Government and the Director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation. Prior to joining Heritage in 2012, Malcolm was general counsel at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, as well as a distinguished practitioner in residence at Pepperdine Law School. From 2004 to 2009, Malcolm was executive vice president and director of worldwide anti-piracy operations for the Motion Picture Association.
Malcolm served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division from 2001 to 2004, where he oversaw sections on computer crime and intellectual property, domestic security, child exploitation and obscenity, and special investigations. Immediately prior to that, he was a founding partner in the Atlanta law firm of Malcolm & Schroeder, LLP.
From 1990 to 1997, Malcolm was an assistant U.S. attorney in Atlanta, assigned to the fraud and public corruption section, and also an associate independent counsel, investigating fraud and abuse in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was honored with the Director’s Award for Superior Performance for his work in connection with the successful prosecution of Walter Leroy Moody Jr., who assassinated an 11th Circuit judge and the head of the Savannah chapter of the NAACP.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and Columbia College, Malcolm began his career as a law clerk to a federal district court judge and a federal appellate court judge, and as an associate at the Atlanta-based law firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan (new Eversheds Sutherland).
Malcolm, who resides in Washington, D.C., serves on the Board of Trustees of the Washington National Opera and is a Senate-confirmed member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation, the largest funder of civil legal aid in the United States.
Senior Counsel, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
William J. Haun is Senior Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and a Nonresident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). At Becket, Will litigates nationwide in defense of religious liberty for all faith traditions, particularly before the U.S. Supreme Court and in other federal and state appellate courts. His litigation includes being a member of the U.S. Supreme Court team that prevailed 9-0 for Catholic Social Services in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, arguing before multiple federal appellate courts, federal district courts, and the Supreme Court of Texas. At AEI, Will writes and researches on constitutionalism and self-government’s prerequisites, especially the role of religion in securing and preserving freedom.
Before joining Becket and AEI, Will practiced appellate and antitrust law at two international law firms—Shearman & Sterling and Hunton & Williams. He also served as a law clerk to Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Judge Claude Hilton of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Will often writes on constitutional law issues, including in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, the Catholic University Law Review, National Affairs, Law & Liberty, National Review Online, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. He also speaks on these topics, including at the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, Princeton University, the University of Virginia School of Law, and the University of Chicago Law School. He received his J.D. from the Catholic University of America, cum laude, where he was a published member of the Law Review. He received his B.A. from American University in political science, cum laude. He lives in Maryland with his wife and children, where they enjoy sailing, cheering on their favorite baseball teams, and discovering the great traditions of their Catholic faith.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
Raymond M. Kethledge is a Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, to which he was appointed on July 8, 2008. He received his BA in history from the University of Michigan in 1989, and his JD from the University of Michigan Law School in 1993. He clerked for Justice Anthony Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court and Judge Ralph B. Guy, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He also worked in the United States Senate and later, with two partners, founded a boutique litigation firm, now known as Bush Seyferth PLLC, in Troy, Michigan. His practice there included a broad mix of trial-court, appellate, and class-action litigation.
Partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Victor Schwartz chairs the firm's Public Policy Practice Group, which focuses on integrating litigation, government affairs and public relations. The group seeks to be the vanguard of developing public policy issues that will help improve our civil justice system. Mr. Schwartz also has an active appellate practice and advises product manufacturers on liability prevention, litigation and public relations issues.
Sought by print and broadcast media, Mr. Schwartz is frequently quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times. He has appeared on Oprah, 60 Minutes and leading news programs. The Legal Times of Washington has named Mr. Schwartz one of Washington’s Top 30 “Visionary” lawyers, and The National Law Journal named Mr. Schwartz one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the United States in March 2013.
Mr. Schwartz is on the Board of Directors of the Searle Civil Justice Institute at George Mason University School of Law. He is a frequent participant in judicial education programs. Mr. Schwartz serves as General Counsel to the American Tort Reform Association.
Prior to entering the full time practice of law, Mr. Schwartz was a professor and dean at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He currently serves on the College’s Board of Visitors. In 2012, the College established the Professor Victor E. Schwartz Chair in Tort Law.
Mr. Schwartz, while at the U.S. Department of Commerce, served as chair of the Federal Inter-Agency Task Force on Product Liability, and the Federal Inter-Agency Council on Insurance. He was the principal author of the Uniform Product Liability Act and the Federal Risk Retention Act. He received the Secretary of Commerce’s Award for Professional Excellence.
Mr. Schwartz is co-author of the most widely used torts casebook in the United States, Prosser, Wade and Schwartz’s Torts (12th ed. 2010). He is author of the leading text Comparative Negligence (5th ed. 2010).
Mr. Schwartz has been an advisor for each of the American Law Institute’s (ALI) Restatement (Third) of Torts projects; Products Liability, Apportionment of Liability, and Liability for Physical Injury and Emotional Harm. He is a life member of the ALI.
Mr. Schwartz’s law review articles have analyzed almost every major subject of modern tort and civil justice public policy issues. His articles are frequently cited by both state and federal courts.
Senior Counsel, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
William J. Haun is Senior Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and a Nonresident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). At Becket, Will litigates nationwide in defense of religious liberty for all faith traditions, particularly before the U.S. Supreme Court and in other federal and state appellate courts. His litigation includes being a member of the U.S. Supreme Court team that prevailed 9-0 for Catholic Social Services in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, arguing before multiple federal appellate courts, federal district courts, and the Supreme Court of Texas. At AEI, Will writes and researches on constitutionalism and self-government’s prerequisites, especially the role of religion in securing and preserving freedom.
Before joining Becket and AEI, Will practiced appellate and antitrust law at two international law firms—Shearman & Sterling and Hunton & Williams. He also served as a law clerk to Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Judge Claude Hilton of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Will often writes on constitutional law issues, including in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, the Catholic University Law Review, National Affairs, Law & Liberty, National Review Online, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. He also speaks on these topics, including at the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, Princeton University, the University of Virginia School of Law, and the University of Chicago Law School. He received his J.D. from the Catholic University of America, cum laude, where he was a published member of the Law Review. He received his B.A. from American University in political science, cum laude. He lives in Maryland with his wife and children, where they enjoy sailing, cheering on their favorite baseball teams, and discovering the great traditions of their Catholic faith.
Partner, Barr & Klein PLLC
Steve Klein, a partner at Barr & Klein PLLC, is an experienced free speech attorney who has successfully fought for the First Amendment rights of his clients against local, state and federal regulators. As a lobbyist, Steve’s advocacy has led to the successful amendment of state laws to respect political engagement and prevented the enactment of laws that burden it. Steve has published articles in several legal journals, and his commentary has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, The Detroit News, and other outlets. Steve earned a bachelors degree in politics at Hillsdale College and a law degree from Ave Maria School of Law, where he served as Managing Editor of the Ave Maria Law Review. He is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Illinois and Michigan.
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