Thomas Barrett Leary (July 15, 1931 – May 21, 2021)[1] was an American attorney who served as a member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from November 17, 1999[2] until his resignation from the body December 31, 2005.
[4] As a member of the FTC, Leary notably voted in favor of the merger of BP and ARCO following assurances from company executives it would not work to keep gas prices artificially high.
Upon his resignation, he was praised by FTC Chair Deborah Platt Majoras as a "gentle giant in the antitrust world" who conducted himself with the "utmost grace and collegiality".
In 2013, Leary wrote an op-ed for USA Today, where he praised the FTC's decision to close its antitrust investigation into search engine company Google.
People may have different views on the facts of individual cases for a variety of reasons, but there is a broad mainstream consensus on the basic approach to antitrust issues.