John Patrick Schmitz

Background

John Patrick Schmitz was born on April 19, 1955, in Cherry Point, North Carolina, to John George Schmitz and Mary Ethel Suehr Schmitz. Cherry Point is a major United States Marine Corps air station and a community shaped by military aviation and federal service in eastern North Carolina.

Schmitz came from a family active in American public life. His father, John G. Schmitz, was a Republican member of Congress and a prominent conservative political figure. Schmitz's early background therefore connected family life with the political institutions and public debates of the United States.

Education

Schmitz received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University in 1976. Founded in 1789, Georgetown is the oldest Catholic university in the United States and has long combined liberal-arts education with preparation for public service, law, diplomacy, and government.

He continued at the California Institute of Technology, receiving a master's degree in economics in 1978. Caltech's graduate tradition emphasized advanced scientific and analytical study, and its Division of Social Science placed economics within an institution best known for research in science and technology.

Schmitz then studied law at Stanford University, receiving a Juris Doctor degree in 1981. Stanford Law School, established in 1893, is a leading American law school whose program has included constitutional law, public law, legal institutions, and interdisciplinary study.

Career

Schmitz began his legal and public-policy career with work in Washington, including service as a special assistant to William Baxter, the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, in the United States Department of Justice. The Justice Department is the federal executive department responsible for enforcing federal law and representing the United States in legal proceedings; its antitrust division addresses competition and market-structure issues.

From 1983 to 1984, Schmitz clerked for Judge Antonin Scalia at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The court handles many cases involving federal agencies, administrative law, and constitutional questions, making the clerkship part of the professional pathway between legal education and national public service. He subsequently worked as an associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, a Washington law firm known for litigation, regulatory, and international legal practice.

Schmitz served as deputy counsel to Vice President George H. W. Bush during the Reagan administration from 1985 to 1989. His work included participation in the White House Task Force on Regulatory Relief and the White House Working Group on Alternative Fuels, placing him in policy discussions concerning federal regulation, energy, and industrial development.

In 1989, President George H. W. Bush appointed Schmitz deputy counsel to the President. The White House Counsel's Office provides legal advice to the President and the Executive Office of the President on constitutional, statutory, ethics, appointments, and administrative matters. During this period Schmitz also served in international and environmental capacities, including work connected with the United States Regional Environment Center for Central and Eastern Europe, the Forests for the Future Initiative, and the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro.

In 1992 and 1993, Schmitz represented the United States on the Joint United States–Panama Commission on the Environment, established under the Panama Canal Treaty framework. He also participated in a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace study group on American-European Community relations. These activities placed his legal and governmental experience in the context of international environmental cooperation and transatlantic policy.

Schmitz joined Mayer Brown as a partner in Washington in 1993. Mayer Brown is an international law firm whose practice has included corporate law, litigation, finance, and public regulation. His later professional work continued to combine private legal practice with policy, international, and environmental interests.

Achievements

• Served as deputy counsel to Vice President George H. W. Bush and deputy counsel to President George H. W. Bush, holding senior legal positions in two successive Republican administrations.

• Represented the United States in international environmental work, including the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and the Joint United States–Panama Commission on the Environment.

• Participated in the White House Task Force on Regulatory Relief and the White House Working Group on Alternative Fuels during the Reagan administration.

• Received admission to the Pennsylvania bar in 1985.

Religion

Schmitz is Roman Catholic. His religious affiliation belongs to the Christian tradition represented by the Catholic Church, whose institutional life combines sacramental worship, apostolic continuity, canon law, and a worldwide network of dioceses and religious communities.

Politics

Schmitz's public career developed within the Republican Party and the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. His work in the executive branch connected him with a Republican governing tradition that emphasized constitutional government, private enterprise, regulatory reform, national security, and international engagement.

As deputy counsel to Vice President Bush and later deputy counsel to President Bush, Schmitz worked within the legal and policy structure of Republican administrations during the final years of the Cold War and the transition to the post-Cold War period. His later participation in environmental, European, and international initiatives reflected the administration's combination of conservative domestic policy with engagement in global institutions and democratic development.

Membership

Schmitz participated in the Aspen Institute Study Group on Germany beginning in 1986 and joined the American Council on Germany in 1988. The Aspen Institute convenes leaders and experts for discussion of public policy and international affairs, while the American Council on Germany promotes exchange and understanding between the United States and Germany.

He was also associated with the Federalist Society and the Robert Bosch Alumni Association. The Federalist Society is a professional organization devoted to discussion of constitutional law and legal institutions, while the Robert Bosch Alumni Association connects former fellows of the Robert Bosch Foundation's international fellowship programs.

• Participant in the Berlin study group on Germany.

  Aspen Institute Study Group on Germany , United States

  1986 - present

• American Council on Germany , United States

  1988 - present

• Federalist Society , United States

• Robert Bosch Alumni Association , Germany

Interests

• History and travel

• Sport & Clubs

  Bridge

• Music & Bands

  Classical piano

Connections

Schmitz married Joan Elizabeth Manee on January 31, 1981. They have four children: Mary, Anna, John, and Maximilian.

His father was John George Schmitz, a Republican member of Congress, and his mother was Mary Ethel Suehr Schmitz. The family connection placed Schmitz within a broader American political family, while his own career developed through law, executive-branch service, and international policy work.

Father:

John George Schmitz

Republican member of the United States House of Representatives.

Mother:

Mary Ethel Suehr Schmitz

child:

John Schmitz

child:

Anna Schmitz

child:

Mary Schmitz

child:

Maximilian Schmitz

Wife:

Joan Elizabeth Manee

References

• George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, Appendix A—Digest of Other White House Announcements Documents President George H. W. Bush's appointment of John Patrick Schmitz as deputy counsel to the President.
  1989
• California Institute of Technology commencement record, June 1978 Identifies John Patrick Schmitz as a Caltech graduate student in social science and records his Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University in 1976.
  1978
• White House appointment record, Administration of George Bush, 1993 Documents Schmitz's appointment as a United States representative on the Joint Commission on the Environment between the United States and Panama.
  1993