Governor Bruce Edward Babbitt

BRUCE EDWARD BABBITT was born in Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1938. He received his undergraduate degree at the University of Notre Dame, received his master’s degree from University of Newcastle, and earned a law degree from Harvard University. After graduation, the Babbitt served as a Justice Department lawyer in Washington, D.C. He returned to Arizona in 1967 and joined a Phoenix law firm. He was elected attorney general in 1974. In 1978, he became governor when Govenor Wesley Bolin died. Governor Babbitt was elected to a full four-year term in 1978 and then relected in 1982. In 1988, the Democratic Party nominated him to an unsuccessful run for the Presidency. He has been active in many ecological organizations, receiving several awards from national environmental groups. In 1993, President Clinton appointed him as U.S. Secretary of the Interior, a post he held for eight years.