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Bruce Babbitt
Bruce Babbitt
Bruce Babbitt
Bruce Edward Babbitt (born June 27, 1938), a Democrat, served as United States Secretary of the Interior and as Governor of Arizona.
Biography
Born in Los Angeles, California, Babbitt graduated from the University of Notre Dame, and attended Newcastle University in England on a Marshall Scholarship, and then received his law degree at Harvard Law School. He married attorney Harriet Coons (known as Hattie) in 1968. Mr. and Mrs. Babbitt have two sons, Christopher and T.J. Babbitt’s brother, Paul Babbitt, was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States House of Representatives in 2004.
Political career
47th United States Secretary of the Interior In office January 22, 1993 – January 2, 2001 President Preceded by Succeeded by Bill Clinton Manuel Lujan Jr. Gale Norton
Arizona
Babbitt was elected Attorney General of Arizona, but succeeded Wesley Bolin as governor when Bolin died in office on March 4, 1978. Babbitt was elected for a full 4 year term later that year, and again in 1982. In all, Babbitt served as governor of Arizona from 1978 to 1987.
16th Governor of Arizona In office March 4, 1978 – January 6, 1987 Preceded by Succeeded by Born Political party Spouse Children Alma mater Wesley Bolin Evan Mecham June 27, 1938 (1938-06-27) Los Angeles, California Democratic Harriet Coons Christopher Babbitt T.J. Babbitt University of Notre Dame Newcastle University Harvard Law School Roman Catholic
National work
In 1979, Babbitt was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to serve as a Commissioner on the President’s Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island, a six month investigation of the March, 1979 accident at a commercial nuclear power plant at Middletown, Pennsylvania. Babbitt spoke at the 1980 Democratic National Convention, which nominated incumbent Jimmy Carter as the Democratic candidate for President. A founding member of the Democratic Leadership Council and the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association in 1985, Babbitt sought the Democratic Party’s 1988 nomination for President of the United States. Among his proposals was a national sales tax to remedy the then-record budget
Religion
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deficits piled up during the several past administrations. He enjoyed positive press attention (called a "boomlet" in USA Today), but after finishing out of the top tier of candidates in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire Primary, he dropped out of the race. In an intentional reference to Richard Nixon (who said after losing the California governorship that the press "won’t have [me] to kick around anymore"), Babbitt joked in his last campaign press conference that the media "won’t have Bruce Babbitt to puff up anymore." The Washington Post reported that Babbitt dropped this line from the prepared text of his withdrawal speech. [1]
Bruce Babbitt
Post-political life
After leaving the Department of Interior, Babbitt took a job as chief counsel of the environmental litigation department of Latham & Watkins, a large international law firm. Babbitt wrote a book in 2005 entitled Cities in the Wilderness: A New Vision of Land Use in America, where he proposes, among other things, to amend the Endangered Species Act so that it is used to identify, conserve and protect landscapes, watersheds and ecosystems whether or not an endangered species happens to be there. Making a parallel with preventive medicine, he thinks it should promote the protection of open space and ecosystems before the downward spiral to extinction begins. Babbitt has attracted the ire of some environmentalists and Native American groups for, among other things, his representation of Arizona Snowbowl ski resort and its effort to expand the resort and use wastewater to make artificial snow[3]. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the World Wildlife Fund in the U.S.
Clinton Administration
After leading the League of Conservation Voters, Babbitt served for eight years, 1993-2001, as the United States Secretary of the Interior during Bill Clinton’s administration. As Secretary of the Interior, Babbitt actively worked to protect scenic and historic areas of America’s federal public lands. In 2000, Babbitt created the National Landscape Conservation System, a collection of 15 U.S. National Monuments and 14 National Conservation Areas to be managed by the Bureau of Land Management in such a way as to keep them "healthy, open, and wild." [1] In 1993, Babbitt was very seriously considered by President Clinton to replace retiring United States Supreme Court Justice Byron White. However, due to his lead in environmental issues, Clinton nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg instead. Clinton again considered Babbitt for the high court in 1994 when Harry Blackmun announced his retirement. Babbitt was passed over again, this time in favor of Stephen Breyer, due to Breyer’s immense support in the U.S. Senate, primarily because he was close to Sen. Ted Kennedy. In 1998 he was the subject of a federal grand jury investigation into whether he had lied to Congress about having denied an Indian casino license in Wisconsin in return for political donations. The controversy has been called Wampumgate. The following year, Babbitt was cleared of wrongdoing in the special prosecutor’s final report on the investigation.[2]
See also
• Bill Clinton Supreme Court candidates
External links
• Exit Interview
References
[1] Schwartz, Maralee; Ifill, Gwen (2-21-1998). "Babbitt’s Opening Line-Almost". The Washington Post. pp. A12. [2] Miller, Bill; Vise, David A. (10-14-1999). "Babbitt Cleared in Casino Probe". The Washington Post. A1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/ politics/special/campfin/stories/ babbitt101499.htm. Retrieved on 01-23-2009. [3] "Can anyone really trust Bruce Babbitt?". http://www.savethepeaks.org/ babbitt.html. Retrieved on 01-23-2009.
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Political offices Preceded by Wesley Bolin Preceded by Manuel Lujan, Jr. Governor of Arizona 1978 – 1987 United States Secretary of the Interior 1993 – 2001
Bruce Babbitt
Succeeded by Evan Mecham Succeeded by Gale Norton
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Babbitt" Categories: 1938 births, Living people, People from Arizona, University of Notre Dame alumni, Alumni of Newcastle University, Harvard Law School alumni, Prosecutors, Governors of Arizona, Arizona Attorneys General, United States presidential candidates, 1988, United States Secretaries of the Interior, Clinton Administration cabinet members, Clinton administration controversies, Marshall Scholars, American Roman Catholics This page was last modified on 8 May 2009, at 12:39 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
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