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First U.S. Ambassador to Vatican Dies

William Wilson, a member of President Reagan's "kitchen cabinet" of advisers, dies at the age of 95.

Wilson was among a group of about a dozen conservative, wealthy Los Angeles businessmen who became confidantes and advisers to Reagan, first as he sought to become governor of California, and later, president. They also helped bankroll his campaigns for office.

Reagan first appointed Wilson as presidential envoy to Rome in 1981, when the United States did not have full diplomatic relations with the Vatican because of an 1867 U.S. law that prohibited establishing such ties to maintain separation of church and state.
Read entire article at AP