Editing Bruce Babbitt

{{short description|American lawyer and politician (born 1938)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Bruce Babbitt
| image               = Bruce Babbitt by Gage Skidmore.jpg
| office              = 47th [[United States Secretary of the Interior]]
| president           = [[Bill Clinton]]
| term_start          = January 22, 1993
| term_end            = January 19, 2001
| predecessor         = [[Manuel Lujan Jr.|Manuel Lujan]]
| successor           = [[Gale Norton]]
| order1              = 16th [[List of governors of Arizona|Governor of Arizona]]
| term_start1         = March 4, 1978
| term_end1           = January 5, 1987
| predecessor1        = [[Wesley Bolin]]
| successor1          = [[Evan Mecham]]
| office2             = 19th [[Arizona Attorney General|Attorney General of Arizona]]
| governor2           = [[Raúl Héctor Castro|Raúl Castro]]<br />Wesley Bolin
| term_start2         = January 6, 1975
| term_end2           = March 4, 1978
| predecessor2        = [[N. Warner Lee]]
| successor2          = [[Jack LaSota]]
| birth_name          = Bruce Edward Babbitt
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1938|6|27}}
| birth_place         = [[Flagstaff, Arizona]], U.S.
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Harriet C. Babbitt|Hattie Coons]]|1968}}
| children            = 2
| education           = [[University of Notre Dame]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])<br />[[Newcastle University]] ([[Master of Science|MSc]])<br />[[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|JD]])
| caption             = Babbitt in 2019
}}
'''Bruce Edward Babbitt''' (born June 27, 1938) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 47th [[United States secretary of the interior]] from 1993 to 2001 under President [[Bill Clinton]]. He previously served as the [[List of governors of Arizona|16th governor of Arizona]] from 1978 to 1987 and was a candidate for [[President of the United States]] in the [[1988 Democratic Party presidential primaries|1988 Democratic primaries]].

He won election as [[Arizona attorney general]] after graduating from [[Harvard Law School]]. He became Governor of Arizona after the death of his predecessor, [[Wesley Bolin]]. Babbitt won election to a full term in 1978 and won re-election in 1982. He focused on tax reform, health care, and water management.  He helped found the [[Democratic Leadership Council]] and sought the [[1988 United States presidential election|1988]] Democratic presidential nomination, but dropped out of the race after the first set of primaries.

From 1988 to 1992, Babbitt served as head of the [[League of Conservation Voters]]. Clinton [[Bill Clinton Supreme Court candidates|strongly considered]] nominating Babbitt to the [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] after vacancies arose in 1993 and 1994. After leaving public office in 2001, Babbitt became an attorney with [[Latham & Watkins]].

==Personal life==
Babbitt was born into a prominent Roman Catholic [[Flagstaff, Arizona]] family, the son of Frances B. (Perry) and Paul James Babbitt Sr.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/1e4d965e29a396a494060a114e70604b|title=Candidate's Father Dies in Flagstaff|date=1988-01-25|website=Associated Press News Archive|access-date=2018-04-18}}</ref> His family owned a department store in Flagstaff, a ranch in northern Arizona, and multiple Indian trading posts. He graduated from the [[University of Notre Dame]], attended [[Newcastle University]] in the [[United Kingdom]] on a [[Marshall Scholarship]], and then received his [[Juris Doctor|J.D.]] degree at [[Harvard Law School]].<ref name="nga">[http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=2aa7ae3effb81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD Arizona Governor Bruce Edward Babbitt] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604143538/http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=2aa7ae3effb81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD|date=2011-06-04}}, National Governors Association.</ref>

He married [[Harriet C. Babbitt|Harriet Coons]] (known as Hattie) in 1968. She has worked as an attorney in Arizona and Washington, D.C., and served as [[United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States]] from 1993 to 1997, and as Deputy Administrator of the [[United States Agency for International Development]] from 1997 to 2001 during the Clinton Administration.<ref>[http://www.jsslaw.com/professional_bios/Harriet_C_Babbitt Harriet C. Babbitt-Jennings Strouss Attorneys at Law] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113000043/http://www.jsslaw.com/professional_bios/Harriet_C_Babbitt |date=January 13, 2013}}</ref>

As attorney for the ''[[Scottsdale Daily Progress]]'' newspaper, Babbitt worked with publisher [[Jonathan Marshall (publisher)|Jonathan Marshall]] in crafting legislation that became Arizona's "open meeting law."

==Political career==

===Arizona===
[[File:Billy Davis In Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt Office.jpg|left|thumb|Babbitt signing legislation in the Governor's Office in Phoenix, Arizona.]]
In the state election of November 1974, Babbitt overcame Republican incumbent N. Warner Lee to become [[Attorney General of Arizona]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 6, 1974 |title=Arizona Voting |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7054260/the_gallup_independent/ |newspaper=The Gallup Independent |location=Gallup, NM |agency=AP |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=October 16, 2016 }} {{Open access}}</ref>
[[File:Bruce Babbitt (AZ).png|150px|thumb|right|Babbitt as governor.]]
He succeeded [[Wesley Bolin]] as governor when Bolin died in office on March 4, 1978. Arizona does not have a lieutenant governor; the [[Arizona Secretary of State]], if holding office by election, stands first in line in case the governor vacates his or her post. However, [[Rose Mofford]], then secretary of state, had been appointed to her post and thus was not eligible to become governor according to the Arizona state constitution. Babbitt, as attorney general, was next in the line of succession, and thus served the balance of the term to which [[Raúl Héctor Castro]] had originally been elected in 1974. Babbitt was elected for a full four-year term later in 1978, and again in [[United States gubernatorial elections, 1982|1982]]. He did not run for a third full term in 1986.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bruce Babbitt bio, photos, oral history {{!}} AZ Historymaker |url=https://www.historicalleague.org/historymakers/bruce-babbitt |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313152410/https://www.historicalleague.org/historymakers/bruce-babbitt |archive-date=2023-03-13 |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=www.historicalleague.org}}</ref>

In 1982, Babbitt intervened in negotiations between the Cochise County sheriff and leaders of the Christ Miracle Healing Church and Center over the release of church members whom the church was hiding from facing charges for assault.  The church, which had been implicated in bomb-making, would play a central role in the [[Miracle Valley shootout]] later that year.  In 1983, Babbitt sent the Arizona National Guard to the [[1983 Arizona copper mine strike|strike]] against the [[Phelps Dodge]] mining company in [[Morenci, Arizona]].

With the retirement of Republican [[Barry Goldwater]] from the U.S. Senate in 1986, many in Arizona expected Babbitt to oppose Representative [[John McCain]] for the seat. In a surprise press conference in 1985, Babbitt instead announced he would forgo the Senate race to concentrate on a White House bid in 1988.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-09-05 |title=Arizona Governor Won't Run in '86 - The Washington Post |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/03/19/arizona-governor-wont-run-in-86/2b8d461f-60ad-43d3-95d0-301ce06abc14/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905210854/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/03/19/arizona-governor-wont-run-in-86/2b8d461f-60ad-43d3-95d0-301ce06abc14/ |archive-date=5 September 2023 }}</ref>

===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 accident|Three Mile Island]], a six-month investigation of the March 1979 accident at a commercial nuclear power plant at Middletown, [[Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Walker |first=J. Samuel |year=2006 |title=Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tf0AfoynG-EC&pg=PA281 |publisher=University of California Press |page=281 |isbn=9780520246836 }}</ref> 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 [[United States Democratic Party|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 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 in the [[California gubernatorial election, 1962|1962 election]] 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.<ref>{{cite news|title=Babbitt's Opening Line – Almost|last=Schwartz|first=Maralee|author2=Ifill, Gwen|date=1998-02-21|newspaper=The Washington Post|pages=A12}}</ref>

===Secretary of the Interior 1993–2001===
[[File:Bruce babbitt.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Babbitt as Secretary of the Interior, 1993]]

After leading the [[League of Conservation Voters]], Babbitt served for eight years, 1993–2001, as the [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]] during the [[Presidency of Bill Clinton]].  According to John D. Leshy:
:His most remembered legacies will likely be his advocacy of environmental restoration, his efforts to safeguard and build support for the ESA (the [[Endangered Species Act of 1973]]) and the biodiversity that it helps protect, and the public land conservation measures that flowered on his watch.<ref>John D. Leshy,  "The Babbitt Legacy at the Department of the Interior: A Preliminary View." ''Environmental Law'' 31 (2001): 199–227 [227]</ref>

Babbitt 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 Monument]]s and 14 [[National Conservation Area]]s to be managed by the [[Bureau of Land Management]] in such a way as to keep them "healthy, open, and wild."

A major issue involved low fees charged ranchers who grazed cattle on public lands. The "animal unit month" (AUM) fee was only $1.35 and was far below the 1983 market value. The argument was that the federal government in effect was subsidizing ranchers, with a few major corporations controlling millions of acres of grazing land.  Babbitt tried to rally environmentalists and raise fees, but senators from Western states successfully blocked his proposals.<ref>Richard Lowitt, “Oklahoma's Mike Synar Confronts the Western Grazing Question, 1987–2000,” ''Nevada Historical Society Quarterly'' (2004) 47#2 pp 77–111</ref><ref>Julie Andersen Hill, "Public Lands Council v. Babbitt: Herding Ranchers Off Public Land." ''BYU Law Review'' (2000): 1273+ [https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2006&context=lawreview online].</ref>

In 1993, Babbitt was seriously considered by President Clinton to replace retiring [[United States Supreme Court]] Justice [[Byron White]]. Due to his lead on environmental issues, however, 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]].<ref>Tinsley E. Yarbrough, "Clinton and the courts." in ''The Clinton Presidency'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 1999) pp. 43–59.</ref>

In 1998 Babbitt 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]]. Babbitt was cleared of wrongdoing in the special prosecutor's final report on the investigation the following year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/stories/babbitt101499.htm|title=Babbitt Cleared in Casino Probe|last=Miller|first=Bill|author2=Vise, David A.|date=1999-10-14|newspaper=The Washington Post|pages=A1|access-date=2009-01-23}}</ref>

==Post-political life==
{{BLP sources section|date=November 2017}}
[[File:Bruce Babbitt and Ken Salazar.jpg|right|thumb|Babbitt with then–Secretary of the Interior [[Ken Salazar]] at the department's headquarters in Washington, D.C.]]

Babbitt took a job as chief counsel of the environmental litigation department of [[Latham & Watkins]], an international [[law firm]], after leaving the Department of the Interior. During his time at Latham & Watkins, Babbitt offended many environmentalists by taking on two clients trying to build large developments near the coastline. Babbitt defended both projects, one on [[Hearst Communications|Hearst Corporation]] land in central California and the other on the [[Ahmanson Ranch]] north of Los Angeles.<ref name="NYTHEARST">{{cite news |last=Sterngold |first=James |date=13 March 2002 |title=Former Interior Secretary to Develop Water Projects in the Middle East |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/13/us/former-interior-secretary-to-develop-water-projects-in-the-middle-east.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=26 November 2017}}</ref>

Babbitt has attracted the ire of some environmentalists and Native American groups for his representation of the [[Arizona Snowbowl]] ski resort and its effort to expand the resort and use waste water to make [[artificial snow]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.savethepeaks.org/babbitt.html |title=Can anyone really trust Bruce Babbitt? |access-date=2007-07-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060929110349/http://www.savethepeaks.org/babbitt.html |archive-date=2006-09-29 |publisher=Savethepeaks.org}}</ref>

He serves as [[trustee]] of the [[World Wildlife Fund]] Secretariat Trustees in the U.S., and was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations until 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cfr.org/about/membership/roster.html?letter=B |title=Membership Roster – Council on Foreign Relations |date=6 January 2012 |access-date=15 September 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106033256/http://www.cfr.org/about/membership/roster.html?letter=B |archive-date=6 January 2012 }}</ref> He has also served on the Board of Directors since 2009 for the [[Amazon Conservation Association]], whose mission is to conserve the biological diversity of the Amazon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amazonconservation.org/index.html|title=Amazon Conservation Association|access-date=2018-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306090953/http://www.amazonconservation.org/index.html|archive-date=2012-03-06|url-status=dead}}</ref> Babbitt is also a member of the ReFormers Caucus of [[Issue One]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.issueone.org/reformers/|title=ReFormers Caucus|website=Issue One|language=en|access-date=2018-04-18}}</ref>

==See also==
* {{Portal inline|Biography}}
* [[Bill Clinton Supreme Court candidates]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Babbitt, Bruce, ed. ''Grand Canyon: An Anthology'' (Flagstaff: Northland Press, 1978). 258 pages [https://muse.jhu.edu/article/535989/summary online review]
* Babbitt, Bruce. "Federalism and the Environment: An Intergovernmental Perspective of the Sagebrush Rebellion." ''Environmental Law'' 12.4 (1982): 847–861 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/43265590 online].
* Babbitt, Bruce. "The Public Interest in Western Water" ''Environmental Law''  23 (1993): 933+. [http://nationalaglawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/bibarticles/babbitt_western.pdf online]
* Babbitt, Bruce. "The Endangered Species Act and Takings: A Call for Innovation Within the Terms of the Act." ''Environmental Law'' 24 (1994): 355+.
* Babbitt, Bruce. ''Cities in the wilderness: A new vision of land use in America'' (Island Press, 2007).
* {{Cite book |last=Berman |first=David R. |title= Arizona Politics & Government: The Quest for Autonomy, Democracy, and Development |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-8032-6146-4}}
* Hill, Julie Andersen. "Public Lands Council v. Babbitt: Herding Ranchers Off Public Land." ''BYU Law Review'' (2000): 1273+ [https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2006&context=lawreview online].
* {{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=James W. |title=Arizona Politicians: The Noble and the Notorious |publisher=The University of Arizona Press |location=Tucson |year=2002 |isbn=0-8165-2202-2}}
* Leshy, John D. "The Babbitt Legacy at the Department of the Interior: A Preliminary View." ''Environmental Law'' 31 (2001): 199–227. [http://repository.uchastings.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1381&context=faculty_scholarship online].
* Melling, Tom. "Bruce Babbitt's Use of Governmental Dispute Resolution: A Mid-Term Report Card." ''Land & Water Law Review'' 30 (1995): 57+.
* Rose, Jonathan. "Executive Oversight of Rulemaking in Arizona: The Governor's Regulatory Review Council – The First Three Years." ''Arizona State Law Journal '' (1985): 425+.

==External links==
* [https://www.historicalleague.org/historymakers/bruce-babbitt "Bruce Babbitt," ''Arizona Historymakers: Biography'' (2005)]
* [https://www.historicalleague.org/userfiles/file/Babbit-OH-201881f11127-4382-4eb2-8f25-e57c66eb7034.pdf "Bruce Babbitt Oral History" ''Arizona Historymakers'' (2012)]
* [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/jan-june01/babbitt_01-05.html Exit Interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122075839/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/jan-june01/babbitt_01-05.html |date=22 January 2014 }}
* {{C-SPAN|14}}

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{{USSecInterior}}
{{Governors of Arizona}}
{{Arizona Attorneys General}}
{{Clinton cabinet}}
{{United States presidential election candidates, 1988}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Babbitt, Bruce}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:20th-century Arizona politicians]]
[[Category:Alumni of Newcastle University]]
[[Category:American environmental lawyers]]
[[Category:American people of Welsh descent]]
[[Category:American prosecutors]]
[[Category:Arizona attorneys general]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1988 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Catholics from Arizona]]
[[Category:Clinton administration cabinet members]]
[[Category:Democratic Party governors of Arizona]]
[[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Marshall Scholars]]
[[Category:People associated with Latham & Watkins]]
[[Category:People from Flagstaff, Arizona]]
[[Category:Politicians from Phoenix, Arizona]]
[[Category:United States secretaries of the interior]]
[[Category:University of Notre Dame alumni]]