Bruce E. Babbit
(1978-1986)
Bruce Babbit was only 39 when, as Arizona Attorney General, he became governor on March 4, 1978, a few hours after the sudden death of Governor Wesley Bolin. Governor Raul Castro had left the governorship to become the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina in 1978, which resulted in Wesley Bolin's assention to the office. This is the reason why the Arizona Attorney General became governor instead of the Secretary of State. Don Harris of the Arizona Republic described Babbit's accomplishments as governor. He gave his accomplishments as follows: that he he created a vastly different, much stronger (governor's) office, expectations of Arizonans are that they will have a governor who governs, Arizona's groundwater supply is protected by the landmark 1980 Act, remedying county governments still operating under nineteenth century rules and procedures, using the veto a record 114 times, forcing lawmakers to deal with issue, the states' answer to Medicaid, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, and mending the rift between Labor and the Democratic party after the Phelps-Dodge strikes in Clifton-Morenci. In a word, he professionalized Arizona's state government.
Babbit, a member of a pioneer northern Arizona family, was born June 27, 1938, in Los Angeles California. He attended Flagstaff schools , and then entered Notre Dame University where he majored in geology and was elected student body president. Appointed a Marshall Scholar to the University of Newcastle, England, he earned a master's degree in geophysics. By that time, Babbit had developed a keen interest in law, and he took his J.D. degree at Harvard University's Law School in 1965.
After brief service as special assistant to the director of VISTA in Washington D.C., he returned to Arizona and joined the law firm of Brown and Bain in Phoenix. He was chosen by the Junior Chamber of Commerce as one of Arizona's three "Outstanding Young Men" in 1974. A Democrat, Babbit ran successfully for the office of attorney General in 1974 and earned a national reputation in that office as a legal scholar and writer. Babbit is a soft spoken man of professorial mien, supports his political positions with a carefully reasoned approach. But he can battle political opponents with vigor, as evidenced by his record number of vetoes of legislation passed by Arizona's Republican-dominated legislature. Appointed by President Carter to investigate the Three-Mile Island nuclear power plant accident, and was also consulted on national problems by President Carter. Also an author of unusual talent, both on legal and general topics, he is best known for two books: the Southwest Canvasses of Louis Atkin and The Grand Canyon: an Anthology.
Appointed Secretary of the Interior by President
Bill Clinton in 1993, he has continued to protect the environment, even
in his home state of Arizona. See his record there http://www.doi.gov/bab_bio.html
Books/Manuscripts
Arizona Republic, December 28, 1988
Newsclippings Governor Babbitt, Administration
CE EPH GS-104
History of Land Fraud in Arizona, September 21, 1977
CO OH BAB,BRU
Governor's Task Force on Historic Preservation, 1981
FE EPH FA-15
Keeping People From Being Killed. Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt, Public
Safety, and the Phelps Dodge Copper Strike, 1983 - 1984.
MM CHSM-472
