Donald Hodel | |
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| 45thUnited States Secretary of the Interior | |
| In office February 8, 1985 – January 20, 1989 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | William Clark |
| Succeeded by | Manuel Lujan Jr. |
| 4thUnited States Secretary of Energy | |
| In office November 5, 1982 – February 7, 1985 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | James B. Edwards |
| Succeeded by | John S. Herrington |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Donald Paul Hodel (1935-05-23)May 23, 1935 (age 90) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) University of Oregon (LLB) |
Donald Paul Hodel (born May 23, 1935) is an American former politician who served as the fourthUnited States secretary of energy from 1982 to 1985 and as the 45thUnited States secretary of the interior from 1985 to 1989. He was known during his tenure as Secretary of the Interior for his controversial "Hodel Policy," which stated that disused dirt roads and footpaths could be consideredright-of-ways underRS 2477.
The Washington Post reported that rather than reduce the production of CFCs to prevent ozone layer destruction, Hodel suggested people should wear hats and use sunscreen. David Prosperi, a spokesman for Hodel, later said that the suggestion was only "one of several options presented to the President".[1]
Hodel was born inPortland, Oregon, the son of Philip E. Hodel and Theresia R. Brodt Hodel. He attendedHarvard University. In 1957 he married Barbara Beecher Stockman, who was born inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attendedWellesley College. She married Hodel during her senior year.
They moved to Oregon after graduation and Hodel earned hisJ.D. at theUniversity of Oregon.[2][3] While living in Oregon, the Hodels had two sons, and Barbara became a full-time mother.
After their elder son's suicide, the Hodels became evangelical Christians. They became active in church and other Christian ministries and began speaking at evangelical meetings and prayer breakfasts. The Hodels have appeared onThe 700 Club withPat Robertson,The Hour of Power withRobert Schuller and onFocus on the Family broadcasts withJames Dobson, encouraging families that have also lost loved ones to suicide.
From 1972 to 1977, Hodel was at theBonneville Power Administration as deputy administrator from 1969 to 1972 and administration from 1972 to 1977. After leaving it, he said that the Pacific Northwest would eventually need all the power that would be produced by the nuclear power plants proposed by theWashington Public Power Supply System.[4]
Hodel served asUnited States Secretary of Energy from 1982 to 1985 andSecretary of the Interior from 1985 to 1989 underPresidentRonald Reagan. He had been Undersecretary of the Interior underJames Watt from 1981 to 1985.[5]
Critics disrupted his efforts to impose a new management policy on a large amount offederal land and blocked his efforts to create vast newwilderness areas. In spite of the criticisms, theReagan administration added over two million acres (8,000 km²) to the national wilderness system. The Hodel policy was continued underManuel Lujan Jr. in theGeorge H. W. Bush administration. It was rescinded in 1997 by SecretaryBruce Babbitt.
In an article, Hodel wrote, "Throughout President Reagan's eight years, his secretaries of the Interior pursued these objectives within the framework of his and their conviction that America could have both an improving environment and an adequate energy supply. We did not and do not have to choose between them, as some have contended."[citation needed]
While secretary, Hodel proposed to undertake a study on the removal of theO'Shaughnessy Dam inYosemite National Park, and the restoration ofHetch Hetchy Valley, a smaller but inundated version ofYosemite Valley.Dianne Feinstein, formermayor ofSan Francisco, which owns the dam, opposed the study and had it quashed.[citation needed]
In March 1984, theNavajo Nation requested that Secretary of the Interior William Clark make a reasonable adjustment of the coal lease royalty rate paid by Peabody Coal, nowPeabody Energy. In July 1985, the newly appointed Hodel secretly metex parte with Peabody's representative, "a former aide and friend of Secretary Hodel". After briefly reviewing the proposals' merits, Hodel approved lease amendments with royalty rates well below the rate that had previously been determined appropriate by the agencies responsible for monitoring the federal government's relations with Native Americans. In 2007, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined that those actions breached the government's duty of trust to the Nation and established a "cognizable money-mandating claim" against the government under the Indian Tucker Act.[6]
Hodel moved toColorado, where he engaged in the energy consulting business and served on various charitable and corporate boards of directors. He is the author ofCrisis in the Oil Patch (Regnery, 1995).
From June 1997 to February 1999, Hodel served as president of theChristian Coalition, a nonprofitconservative political group founded by religious broadcasterPat Robertson.
From May 2003 to March 2005, Hodel served as president and CEO ofFocus on the Family, a nonprofitevangelicalChristian organization.[7] He said his job was to manage the transition from the founder,James Dobson, to his successor. Several years before being named president, Hodel had served on its board, and he remained on the board until October 2005.
Hodel was also chairman of the company FreeEats.com, aka ccAdvertising, which has disseminated automated, interactive voice response (IVR) phone calls for conservative causes, theEconomic Freedom Fund.[8]
As Secretary of the Interior, in 1985 Hodel ordered the acquisition of a ranch in southern Arizona that became theBuenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. Encompassing approximately 118,000 acres (480 km2) of savanna grassland in theAltar Valley, the refuge was created for themasked bobwhite quail. This refuge contains the United States' only population of the masked bobwhite quail.[9][10]
As of 2023[update], Hodel serves as chairman emeritus at Summit Power Group, Inc.,[11] a Seattle-based developer of wind, solar andgas-fired power plants. In 1989, he was the founder and managing director of Summit's predecessor company.[citation needed]
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | United States Secretary of Energy 1982–1985 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of the Interior 1985–1989 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Cabinet Member | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Cabinet Member | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Cabinet Member |
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