In addition to being a student in Davenport College, Edwin Meese III was a political science major and held top leadership positions in the Yale Political Union, the Yale Debating Association, and the Conservative Party. Meese went to the University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law and took a leave to serve in the Army. He retired as a colonel in United States Army Reserve. He both practiced as an attorney at his solo law practice and became a law professor at the University of San Diego. During the Reagan administration, Meese held a variety of positions, including chairing the Domestic Policy Council. Meese was appointed to become the 75th Attorney General in 1985.