Peter Barton "Pete" Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American politician from California. Wilson, a Republican, served as the thirty-sixth Governor of California (1991–1999), the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that included eight years as a United States Senator (1983–1991), eleven years as Mayor of San Diego (1971–1982) and five years as a California State Assemblyman (1967–1971). On September 27, 2007, Wilson endorsed Rudolph Giuliani for the U.S. President, but Giuliani later dropped out. On February 4, 2008, Wilson endorsed John McCain as a candidate for U.S. President.

Peter Barton Wilson was born August 23, 1933, in Lake Forest, Illinois, a suburb north of Chicago. His parents were James Boone Wilson and Margaret Callaghan Wilson. His father was originally a jewelry salesman who later became a successful advertising executive. The Wilson family moved to St. Louis, Missouri when Pete was in junior high school. There, he attended the St. Louis Country Day School, an exclusive private high school, where he won an award in his senior year for combined scholarship, athletics, and citizenship. In the fall of 1952, Pete Wilson enrolled at the Yale University in Connecticut, where he received a U.S. Navy (Marine Corps) ROTC scholarship, majored in English, and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree.

After graduation from Yale Univ., Wilson served for three years in the Marine Corps as an infantry officer, eventually becoming a platoon commander. Upon completion of his Marine Corps service, Wilson earned a law degree from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.