Alan K. Simpson - After Congressional Service

After Congressional Service

Alan Simpson teaches periodically at his alma mater – the University of Wyoming at Laramie – with his brother Pete. He has completed serving as chairman of the UW capital "Campaign for Distinction", which raised $204 million. That success was celebrated by the gala event, "An Extraordinary Evening", featuring former President George H.W. Bush (who had reportedly considered Simpson for the vice presidency in 1988) and Vice President Dick Cheney – another UW alumnus – and his wife Lynne V. Cheney.

Simpson serves on the Commission for Continuity in Government. He also serves as co-chairman of Americans for Campaign Reform with former Senate colleagues Bill Bradley of New Jersey, Warren Rudman of New Hampshire and Bob Kerrey of Nebraska; is active with the National Commission on Writing; is on the Advisory Board of Common Good (a legal reform coalition); is a former member of the American Battle Monuments Commission, and was a member of the Iraq Study Group.

Simpson's father, Milward Simpson, also served in the Senate and voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Alan Simpson has been an outspoken advocate for access to abortion stating that the matter should not be a political issue in a party that believes in "government out of our lives" and "the right to be left alone" and "the precious right of privacy". He supports gay and lesbian rights, and equality regardless of race, color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation. In an article in The Washington Post, Simpson wrote an article criticizing the since ended "Don't ask, don't tell" policy stating "'Gay' is an artificial category that says little about a person. Our differences and prejudices pale next to our historic challenge."

In 2001, Simpson became Honorary Chairman of the Republican Unity Coalition (RUC), a gay/straight alliance within the epublican Party. In this capacity, Simpson personally recruited former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford, Jr., to serve on the RUC advisory board.

In 2002, Simpson was involved in the Republican gubernatorial primary on behalf of former Democrat Eli Bebout of Riverton. Simpson criticized Bebout's principal challengers Raymond Breedlove Hunkins of Wheatland, and Bill Sniffen of Lander in Fremont County. Bebout defeated the two but then lost the general election to the Democratic nominee Dave Freudenthal, a former United States Attorney appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Simpson is an honorary board member of the humanitarian organization Wings of Hope.

In 2006, Simpson was one of ten member (five Democratic and five Republican) contributors to the Iraq Study Group Report.

Simpson was appointed in 2010 to co-chair President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform with co-chair Erskine Bowles.

In 2012, he was included in the 50 Most Influential list of Bloomberg Markets magazine.