Stewart Lee Udall (January 31, 1920 – March 20, 2010) was an American politician and later, a federal government official. After serving three terms as a

congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

from

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, he served as

Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also *Interior ministry An ...

from 1961 to 1969, under presidents John F. Kennedy and

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

Early life and career

Stewart Udall was born on January 31, 1920, in

Saint Johns, Arizona Saint Johns ( nv, , )Wilson, A. ''Navajo Place Names'' Audio Forum 1995 is the county seat of Apache County, Arizona, United States. It is located along U.S. Route 180, mostly west of where that highway intersects with U.S. Route 191. As of th ...

, to Louisa Lee Udall (1893–1974) and

Levi Stewart Udall Levi Stewart Udall (January 20, 1891 – May 30, 1960) was an American lawyer who served as chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. He was a member of the Udall political family. Born and raised in Arizona, he was the son of David King Uda ...

(1891–1960). He had five siblings: Inez, Elma, Morris (Mo), Eloise, and David Burr. As a young boy Stewart worked on the family farm in St. Johns. He was remembered by his mother as a child with tremendous energy and an unquenchable curiosity. Udall attended the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first ...

for two years until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He served four years in the Air Force as an enlisted gunner on a

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models ...

, flying fifty missions over Western Europe from Italy with the 736th Bomb Squadron, 454th Bomb Group, for which he received the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters. He returned to the

in 1946, where he attended law school and played guard on a championship basketball team. In 1947, Udall, along with his brother Mo, helped integrate the University of Arizona cafeteria. Mo and Stewart were respected student athletes and Mo was student body president. On their way to lunch at the Student Union one day, they saw a group of black students eating lunch outside the building. Black students were allowed to buy food in the cafeteria, but had to eat outside. When Mo and Stewart invited Morgan Maxwell Jr., a black freshman, to share their table in the cafeteria, it helped to calm some long-simmering racial issues surrounding segregation at the university. Udall received his law degree and was admitted to the Arizona bar in 1948. He began his law practice in Tucson shortly thereafter. Udall became increasingly active in public service, being elected to the School Board of Amphitheater Public Schools (District 10) in Tucson in June 1951. As a school board member, he participated in desegregating the Amphitheater School District before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

. Udall was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's Second District in 1954. He served with distinction in the House for three terms on the Interior and Education and Labor committees.

Secretary of the Interior

Udall served as

from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and

. Under his leadership, the Interior Department aggressively promoted an expansion of federal public lands and assisted with the enactment of major environmental legislation. Among his many accomplishments, Udall oversaw the addition of four national parks, six national monuments, eight national seashores and lakeshores, nine national recreation areas, twenty national historic sites, and fifty-six national wildlife refuges, including

Canyonlands National Park Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their ...

in Utah,

North Cascades National Park North Cascades National Park is an American national park in the state of Washington. At more than , it is the largest of the three National Park Service units that comprise the North Cascades National Park Complex. North Cascades National Par ...

in Washington,

Redwood National Park The Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) are a complex of one national park and three state parks, cooperatively managed, located in the United States along the coast of northern California. Comprising Redwood National Park (established 1968 ...

in California, the

Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is located in Morris County, New Jersey. Established in 1960, it now is among what has grown to be more than 550 refuges in the United States National Wildlife Refuge System. The initial portion of t ...

in New Jersey, and the

Appalachian National Scenic Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian ...

stretching from Georgia to Maine. Udall played a key role in the enactment of environmental laws such as the Clear Air, Water Quality and Clean Water Restoration Acts and Amendments, the

Wilderness Act of 1964 The Wilderness Act of 1964 () was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. The result of a lon ...

, the

Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966 The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA or "The Act"; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of ec ...

, the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965, the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965, the National Trail System Act of 1968, and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968. Weeks after becoming the Secretary of Interior in 1961, Udall told

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

owner,

George Preston Marshall George Preston Marshall (October 11, 1896 – August 9, 1969) was an American businessman best known for founding the Washington Commanders, an American football franchise belonging to the National Football League (NFL). He founded the team as ...

, that he had to integrate the football team as every other franchise in the NFL already had, as a condition of use of the newly built and federally owned

District of Columbia Stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the U.S. Capitol building, near the ...

. Marshall integrated the team in 1962. On July 27, 1962, Udall sent a letter to the United States Geological Survey's board chairman to discuss policy on the use of ethnic slurs on the organization's topographical maps product. This led to a wider codified policy by the USGS against use of any ethnic slur in any map name. During Udall's tenure as Secretary of the Interior, in September 1962, he was summoned unexpectedly into a meeting with Soviet Premier

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

while on a tour of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. It was during this meeting that Khrushchev famously hinted at his secret deployment of nuclear missiles to Cuba by telling Udall: "It's been a long time since you could spank us like a little boy. Now we can swat your ass." This was a prelude to the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

. Udall supported a plan created by the US Army Corps of Engineers to construct the Tocks Island Dam for the purpose of creating a reservoir for the benefit of the New York City water supply. After forcing homeowners out of their homes through buyouts and condemnation, the plan was abandoned. The homes that had not been bulldozed were simply left to deteriorate. Throughout the process, the federal government acted with impunity and a callous disregard for those who were displaced. With the election of President Reagan, the Tocks Island Dam project was shelved. Udall also helped spark a cultural renaissance in America by setting in motion initiatives that led to the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts (originally known as the Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts and simply known as Wolf Trap) is a performing arts center located on of national park land in unincorporated Fairfax Count ...

, the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, and the revived

Ford's Theatre Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in August 1863. The theater is infamous for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater bo ...

. Upon Udall's recommendation President Kennedy asked former U.S. Poet Laureate

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American collo ...

to read an original poem at his inauguration, establishing a tradition for that occasion. Stewart Udall 1964

A pioneer of the environmental movement, Udall warned of a conservation crisis in the 1960s with his best-selling book on environmental attitudes in the United States, ''The Quiet Crisis'' (1963). In the book, he wrote about the dangers of pollution, overuse of natural resources, and dwindling open spaces. Along with

Rachel Carson Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist whose influential book '' Silent Spring'' (1962) and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental ...

's ''Silent Spring'', The Quiet Crisis is credited with creating a consciousness in the country that led to the environmental movement. Udall was a staunch supporter of Rachel Carson and her work. Stewart Udall once stated, "Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact, plans to protect Man." Udall also had the foresight, when he was Secretary of the Interior, to spearhead the use of NASA satellites to produce images of Earth from space for scientific research, leading to development of the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) center at the U.S. Geological Survey. Over the course of more than forty years, that program mapped the Earth from space, showing the physical changes to the planet. In 1967, the

National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

awarded Udall its highest honor, the Audubon medal.

Energy policy

During the energy crisis in the 1970s, Udall advocated the use of

solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essen ...

as one remedy to the crisis. In October 1972, Udall published a seminal article in ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', entitled "The Last Traffic Jam". The article contains arguments for the proposition that "less is more" and foresaw problems with U.S. transportation and

energy policy Energy policy is the manner in which a given entity (often governmental) has decided to address issues of energy development including energy conversion, distribution and use as well as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to contr ...

and competition with emerging markets for scarce resources. In 1974, Udall, along with Charles Conconi and David Osterhout, wrote ''The Energy Balloon'', discussing the energy policies of the United States.

Later years

After leaving government service in 1969, Udall taught for a year at the School of Forestry at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

as a visiting professor of environmental humanism. He later devoted his time to writing books and articles about environmental issues and to practicing law. In 1971, he published ''America's Natural Treasures: National Nature Monuments and Seashores'', which is about America's national parks, monuments, and reserves. In 1979, he left Washington to return to the West. In 1980, Udall was elected to the Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board and commissioned as a member of the Morrison Institute. Udall was presented with the Ansel Adams Award in 1986, the Wilderness Society's highest conservation award. He also was awarded the United Nations Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement. Udall received the Common Cause Public Service Achievement Award for his lifelong protection of the environment and defense of American citizens who were victims of nuclear weapons testing. In 1987, he published ''To the Inland Empire: Coronado and our Spanish Legacy'', which retraces the trails of Spanish explorer

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name '' Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father o ...

as he searched for the "golden cities" of Cibola in what now is Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Udall published ''The Quiet Crisis and the Next Generation'' in 1988, a revised edition with nine new chapters of ''The Quiet Crisis'' (1963). "The Quiet Crisis" introduced the

Myth of Superabundance The myth of superabundance is the belief that Earth has more than sufficient natural resources to satisfy humanity's needs, and that no matter how much of these resources humanity uses, the planet will continuously replenish the supply. Although t ...

. In 1990, he co-authored ''Beyond the Mythic West'', which examines effects of change upon the inhabitants and lands of the western United States. In 1998, he published ''The Myths of August: A Personal Exploration of Our Tragic Cold War Affairs with the Atom.'' One of Udall's last essays was his
Letter to My Grandchildren
, written with his wife, Ermalee, which asked for their grandchildren's assistance in advocating for protection of the Earth. This letter resulted in Udall being contacted by the VillageTown Stewards who asked that they videotape the thoughts in that letter, since it was more likely that the generation of his grandchildren watch internet videos than read letters. Udall agreed, and the video may be seen on-line at,
Stewart Udall on History: the greatest mistake
'. This video was then transcribed and adapted to a chapter of a book,
Life Liberty Happiness
'. Udall also agreed to serve as Chairman Emeritus of the VillageTown Stewards. The video was filmed coincidentally on the Summer solstice of 2009 and Udall died nine months later on the Spring equinox. His public memorial was held on the Summer solstice of 2010. It is believed this video was the last recording of Udall's views. In November 2009, Congress enacted legislation to honor Stewart Udall by renaming the Morris K. Udall Foundation as the

Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation The Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation is an Executive Branch office of the United States Government. The Foundation was established by the Congress in 1992 to honor Morris Udall's thirty years of service in the House of Representati ...

, in recognition of the historic Interior Secretary's contributions. The Udall Foundation, an independent federal agency, was created initially to honor the legacy of the late Morris Udall, who represented Southern Arizona in the U.S. House of Representatives for thirty years. Stewart Udall, who also represented Southern Arizona in Congress from 1955 to 1961, is Morris Udall's older brother. The two worked together on many environmental and Native American initiatives while Stewart Udall was Secretary of the Interior and Morris Udall a member of Congress. Congress recognized that the Udall legacy really was a shared legacy, rooted in the work of the Udall brothers, which dominated environmental reform for three decades.

Death and legacy

At the age of 90, Stewart L. Udall died peacefully at his home in the foothills of

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label= Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. The name “S ...

, in the early hours of the Spring Equinox, March 20, 2010. After his death, President Obama noted on March 20, 2010, "For the better part of three decades, Stewart Udall served this nation honorably. Whether in the skies above Italy in

, in Congress, or as Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall left an indelible mark on this nation and inspired countless Americans who will continue his fight for clean air, clean water, and to maintain our many natural treasures." On June 8, 2010, President Barack Obama signed legislation to designate the United States Department of the Interior Building as the "Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building." Point Udall, on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, was named for him in 1968, honoring Udall's work to support the economy of the island group. The westernmost spot, Point Udall, Guam, is named for his brother Mo. This means that "America's day ... begin(s) and end(s) at a Point Udall."

Awards and decorations

During his USAAF service, Udall earned the following decorations: In 1967, Udall received the National Audubon Society's highest honor, the Audubon Medal.

Personal life

Stewart Udall was married to Ermalee Webb (died 2001) with whom he had two daughters, (Lori and Lynn) and four sons, (Denis, Jay, Scott, and Tom). He was the brother of U.S. Representative and 1976 presidential candidate,

Mo Udall Morris King "Mo" Udall (June 15, 1922 – December 12, 1998) was an American attorney and Democratic politician who served as a U.S. representative from Arizona from May 2, 1961, to May 4, 1991. He was a leading contender for the 1976 Democ ...

; he served as Mo's campaign manager during the Democratic

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

, which Mo lost to

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

. Stewart Udall's son

Tom Udall Thomas Stewart Udall ( ; born May 18, 1948) is an American diplomat, lawyer and politician serving as the United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator fro ...

and nephew

Mark Udall Mark Emery Udall ( ; born July 18, 1950) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Colorado from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, repre ...

(Mo's son), both former members of the U.S. House of Representatives, were elected to the United States Senate from New Mexico and Colorado, respectively, in 2008. Mark lost his seat in 2014, and Tom retired at the end of his second term in 2021. Udall was interviewed for two

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV and/or th ...

documentaries for PBS: ''

The West West is a cardinal direction or compass point. West or The West may also refer to: Geography and locations Global context * The Western world * Western culture and Western civilization in general * The Western Bloc, countries allied with NATO ...

'', which features his ancestor John D. Lee's role in the

Mountain Meadows massacre The Mountain Meadows Massacre (September 7–11, 1857) was a series of attacks during the Utah War that resulted in the mass murder of at least 120 members of the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train. The massacre occurred in the southern U ...

of 1857, and '' The National Parks: America's Best Idea'', in his capacity as a former Secretary of the Interior, who oversaw the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

. Udall was the last surviving original member of Kennedy's cabinet. Udall's death left W. Willard Wirtz as the last surviving member of John F. Kennedy's cabinet. Wirtz died on April 24, 2010.

Bibliography

Books written by Udall

* ''The Quiet Crisis'', 1963 * ''1976: Agenda for Tomorrow'', 1968 * ''America's Natural Treasures: National Nature Monuments and Seashores'', 1971 * ''To the Inland Empire: Coronado and our Spanish Legacy'', 1987 * ''The Quiet Crisis and the Next Generation'', 1988 (Revised edition with nine new chapters of The Quiet Crisis (1963)) * ''In Coronado's Footsteps'', 1991 * ''The Myths of August: A Personal Exploration of Our tragic Cold War Affair with the Atom'', 1994 * ''Majestic Journey'', 1995, (Reissued To the Inland Empire under new title) * ''The Forgotten Founders: Rethinking The History Of The Old West'', 2002

Books co-authored by Udall

* ''Night Comes to the Cumberlands'', 1963, Harry M. Caudill, Stewart L. Udall (Foreword) * ''A Heritage Restored: America's Wildlife Refuges'', 1969, Murphy Robert William, Stewart L. Udall (Foreword) * ''The Energy Balloon'', 1974, with Charles Conconi and David Osterhout * ''Beyond the Mythic West'', 1988, with Patricia Nelson Limerick, Charles F. Wilkinson * ''Arizona, Wild & Free'', 1993, with nephew Randy Udall for the Arizona Game and Fish Department * ''National Parks of America'', 1993, David Muench with contributors James R. Udall and Stewart L. Udall * ''The Wilderness from Chamberlain Farm: A Story Of Hope For The American Wild'', 2001, Dean B. Bennett, Stewart L. Udall (Foreword) * ''Death, Daring, & Disaster – Search and Rescue in the National Parks'', 2005, Charles R. "Butch" Farabee Jr., Stewart L. Udall (Foreword) * ''The Navajo People and Uranium Mining'', 2007, with editors Doug Brugge, Timothy Benally, and Esther Yazzie-Lewis, Stewart L. Udall (Foreword) * ''Life Liberty Happiness – A journey from Blandville to a VillageTown'', 2010, Claude Lewenz, and Michael Henderson, Stewart L. Udall (co-authors)

Books about Udall

* ''Legacies of Camelot: Stewart and Lee Udall, American Culture, and the Arts'', 2008, by L. Boyd Finch * ''Showdown: JFK and the Integration of the Washington Redskins'', 2011, by Thomas G. Smith * ''Stewart L. Udall: Steward of the Land'', 2017, by Thomas G. Smith

References

External links

*
Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation

* ttp://www.ajelp.com/udall-tribute/ ''Stewart Udall: Renaissance Man'' by Terry Bracy & Ellen Wheelerin th
Arizona Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

48 minute video of Stewart Udall speaking at his kitchen table 9 months before his death

Oral History Interviews with Stewart Udall, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library
* PBS' American Experience episod
Earthdays
where Stewart Udall is one of the main presenters. {{DEFAULTSORT:Udall, Stewart 1920 births 2010 deaths American Latter Day Saints United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II American non-fiction writers Arizona lawyers Arizona Wildcats men's basketball players Basketball players from Arizona Kennedy administration cabinet members Lyndon B. Johnson administration cabinet members People from St. Johns, Arizona Politicians from Tucson, Arizona Military personnel from Arizona Udall family United States Secretaries of the Interior University of Arizona alumni United States Army Air Forces non-commissioned officers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona 20th-century American politicians Lawyers from Tucson, Arizona American men's basketball players James E. Rogers College of Law alumni

Early life and career

Secretary of the Interior

Energy policy

Later years

Death and legacy

Awards and decorations

Personal life

Bibliography

Books written by Udall

Books co-authored by Udall

Books about Udall

See also

References

Further reading

External links