Cutler served as the White House Counsel to President Jimmy Carter, whom he had met first while both were serving on the Trilateral Commission. Cutler served as a special counsel and consultant to the president on the ratification of SALT II and other international matters.[5][6]
In 1994, President Bill Clinton was looking for a new lawyer, as Bernard Nussbaum had resigned, so Clinton decided to hire Cutler under unusual terms. Cutler was able to remain as counsel at his firm and to counsel private clients as long as their interests did not conflict with those of the government—a first for a White House Counsel. Thus, he also served as counsel in Clinton's administration.[7]
Cutler came into national news as a result of the Whitewater investigations and Lewinsky scandal. He went on PBS's News Hour on February 6, 1998, and defended President Clinton as the Lewinsky investigation started by denying that Lewinsky had visited 37 times.
On his work in Washington, Cutler said, "This is an excitement to us, a feeling of being in on it, and whichever part of the Washington milieu we come from, we want to play a part. That's why we're here."[8]
Cutler was married to Louise M. Howe until her death in 1989.[1] Cutler married Polly Kraft in 1990,[2] widow of Joseph Kraft, who was a columnist.[2]
On May 8, 2005, he died at his home in Washington, D.C., due to complications of a broken hip. He was survived by his wife, Polly Kraft, and four children. Two of his children are practicing lawyers and one, Beverly Cutler, is a retired Alaska state superior court judge.[10] He lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland.[11]
