Secretaries of the Interior Series

Click on the links for a short biography

Among the most exciting activities of the Center in the past years were the visits to the University of Colorado at Boulder campus by nearly all of the living Secretaries of Interior. The visiting Secretaries spent time with students, professors, and administrators and also submitted to careful questioning about their time in office. Co-sponsored by the Nature Conservancy, these interviews constitute a unique historical archive, illuminating especially the relationship between the federal government and the American West. It is now the task of the Center to make available these records to scholars and the interested public.

Stewart Lee Udall

Visited September 24, 2002. Served as Secretary for eight years (1961-1969) under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

Walter J. Hickel

Visited October 15, 2003. Served for two years (1969-1970) under President Nixon.

John C. Whitaker

Visited November 19, 2003. Served on the Nixon White House staff from 1969 to 1972 coordinating environment and natural resources policy, and from 1973 to 1975 as Under Secretary of the Interior.

James Watt

Visited February 11, 2004. Served as Secretary for three years (1981-1983) under President Regan.

Manuel Lujan

Visited March 17, 2004. Served as Secretary for four years (1989-1993) under President George H. W. Bush.

Bruce Babbitt

Visited April 20, 2004. Served as Secretary for eight years (1993-2000) under President Clinton.

Gale Norton

Visited November 23, 2004. Served as Secretary for five years (2001-2006) under President George W. Bush.

Don Hodel

Visited January 19, 2006. Served as Under Secretary then Secretary of the Interior (1985-1989) under President Ronald Reagan.

Stewart Lee Udall and James G. Watt

On April 20, 2006, Stewart Udall and James Watt came together for a historic event to speak on their roles in shaping the West.