Charles L. Heatherly (born June 6, 1942) is an American bureaucrat who was the acting administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) from 1986 to 1987 following the resignation of James C. Sanders.

Early life and education

Heatherly attended the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

, where he became involved in Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign. After graduating, Heatherly became an organizer for the

Intercollegiate Studies Institute The Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes conservative thought on college campuses. It was founded in 1953 by Frank Chodorov with William F. Buckley Jr. as its first president. It sponso ...

. In 1975, Heatherly received a master's degree from Claremont Graduate School and University Center.

Career

The Heritage Foundation

Heatherly joined

The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (or simply Heritage) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973, it took a leading role in the conservative movement in the 1980s during the Presi ...

, where, in 1981, he helped author and edit ''

Mandate for Leadership ''Mandate for Leadership'' is a series of books published by the Heritage Foundation, an American conservative think-tank based in Washington, D.C. They offer specific conservative policy recommendations designed to be implemented by the federal ...

'', which offered policy recommendations to the incoming

Reagan administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following his landslide victory over ...

. Subsequent versions of ''Mandate'' have since been published by the foundation.

Small Business Administration

Heatherly's tenure was characterized by his efforts in attempting to carry out the Reagan Administration's plan to merge the independent SBA into the

U.S. Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econo ...

. The plan was ultimately dropped due to a lack of support from Congress and intense criticism from the small business community. Heatherly conceded that the decision to merge the SBA with the Department of Commerce had "nothing to do with budget savings" and soon shifted his efforts to examining the effectiveness of the SBA's loan guarantee and educational programs.

Criticism

Heatherly's ascension as SBA administrator drew bipartisan ire from Senators

Lowell Weicker Lowell Palmer Weicker Jr. (; May 16, 1931 – June 28, 2023) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the 85th Governor of Connecticut. Weicker unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for presi ...

(R-CT) and

Dale Bumpers Dale Leon Bumpers (August 12, 1925 – January 1, 2016) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 38th Governor of Arkansas (1971–1975) and in the United States Senate (1975–1999). He was a member of the Democratic Party. He w ...

(D-AR), who both took issue with Heatherly's appointment, which was never considered by the Senate Small Business Committee. Senator Weicker sent a letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting that they examine a pamphlet published by the SBA at Heatherly's direction, titled ''The Future of SBA''. While the GAO determined that the pamphlet did not violate the law, the office stated that they had "serious difficulties" with the SBA's distribution of its accompanying "suggested editorials" supporting the Reagan administration's reorganization plan for the SBA. The GAO stated that the suggested editorials were "misleading as to their origin and reasonably constitute 'propaganda...'" Following pressure from small business delegates to the 1986 White House Conference on Small Business, President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

announced that Heatherly would be replaced as the SBA's acting head.

Return to Heritage Foundation

Following his ouster from the SBA, Heatherly returned to the Heritage Foundation as the organization's vice president for academic relations.

Published works

Books

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heatherly, Charles 1942 births Living people Claremont Graduate University alumni Small Business Administration personnel People from Elizabethton, Tennessee The Heritage Foundation people University of Arizona alumni