Cecil Andrus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 26th and 28thGovernor of Idaho | |
| In office January 5, 1987 – January 2, 1995 | |
| Lieutenant | Butch Otter |
| Preceded by | John V. Evans |
| Succeeded by | Phil Batt |
| In office January 4, 1971 – January 23, 1977 | |
| Lieutenant | Jack M. Murphy John V. Evans |
| Preceded by | Don Samuelson |
| Succeeded by | John V. Evans |
| 42ndUnited States Secretary of the Interior | |
| In office January 23, 1977 – January 20, 1981 | |
| President | Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Thomas S. Kleppe |
| Succeeded by | James G. Watt |
| Chair of theNational Governors Association | |
| In office July 4, 1976 – January 23, 1977 | |
| Preceded by | Robert D. Ray |
| Succeeded by | Reubin Askew |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Cecil Dale Andrus (1931-08-25)August 25, 1931 Hood River, Oregon, U.S. |
| Died | August 24, 2017(2017-08-24) (aged 85) Boise, Idaho, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Oregon State University |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Official website |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1951–1955 |
| Rank | Petty officer (second class) |
| Unit | United States Navy Reserve |
| Battles/wars | Korean War Cold War |
Cecil Dale Andrus (August 25, 1931 – August 24, 2017) was an American politician who served as 26th and 28thgovernor of Idaho, for a total of fourteen years.[1][2][3] A Democrat, he also served asU.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1977 to 1981 during theCarter Administration. Andrus lost his first gubernatorial election in1966 but won four (in1970,1974,1986, and1990) becoming the second Governor of Idaho to serve non-consecutive terms (the first wasRepublicanC. A. Bottolfsen), and his fourteen years as governor is the most in state history.
In public life, Andrus was noted for his strongconservationist and environmental views and accomplishments,[4] and an Idaho wildlife preserve established in 1993 inWashington County is named theCecil D. Andrus Wildlife Management Area in his honor.[5][6] In 2018, theCecil D. Andrus–White Clouds Wilderness was renamed after him.[7] A political liberal, he protected the environment by minimizing the control of business interests held over the public domain and by concentrating decision-making in the hands of experts in the Interior Department. He argued that environmentalism can and must coexist with positive economic development.[8]
Born inHood River, Oregon on August 25, 1931,[9] Andrus was the middle of three children of Hal Stephen and Dorothy May (Johnson) Andrus, with older brother Steve and younger sister Margaret. They later lived nearJunction City, on a farm without electricity. DuringWorld War II, the family moved toEugene in early 1942, when "Cece" was 11, where Hal (1906–2004)[10] and his brother Bud opened a machine shop to refurbish sawmill equipment.[11] Andrus graduated fromEugene High School in 1948 at age 16 and attendedOregon State College inCorvallis, where he majored in engineering in his freshman year.[12]
At age 17, he got a good summer job with the local utility in 1949, and late in August, he eloped toReno with Carol Mae May (born December 26, 1932), his high school sweetheart.[11] Andrus had just turned 18, and she was 16 months younger. The Andruses enjoyed a happy, affectionate marriage, and he always referred to her as "his first wife" or "his bride".[13] He decided to keep working and not return to college.[4][14] Following the outbreak of theKorean War, he enlisted in theU.S. Naval Reserves in February 1951, and served as an electronics technician aboard patrol aircraft until 1955.
After his discharge from theNavy, Andrus moved toOrofino in northern Idaho, where he worked in the timber industry in a variety of jobs at a sawmill his father co-owned.[12] After the sawmill closed,[15] Andrus switched to the insurance industry in 1963,[12] and moved his family down theClearwater River toLewiston in 1966.[16][17]
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In 1960, at age 28, and concerned over the localRepublicanstate senator's stance against needededucation improvements in Idaho schools, particularly in rural areas of the state, Andrus filed as a Democrat to run against him and won, and was re-elected in 1962 and 1964 fromOrofino (andClearwater County).[citation needed]
Andrus first ran for governor in1966 but was narrowly defeated in the Democratic primary by Charles Herndon, an attorney fromSalmon.[18]
Seven weeks before the November election, Herndon and two others died in a twin-engine private plane crash in the mountains six miles (10 km) northwest ofStanley,[19] while en route fromTwin Falls toCoeur d'Alene in mid-September.[20][21] Andrus was appointed the nominee to take Herndon's place on the ballot. He lost the general election to RepublicanDon Samuelson ofSandpoint by more than 11,000 votes,[22] earning Andrus the unlikely distinction of losing both the primary and general election races for the same office in the same year. He returned to thestate senate two years later, easily unseating the Republican incumbent in the1968 election,[23] and representedLewiston.[16] Herndon's widow, Lucille, was elected to several local political offices afterhis death.[24]
Undaunted by his earlier setback, Andrus defeated Samuelson by over 10,000 votes in a gubernatorial election rematch in1970.[25] This was attributed in large part to Andrus's public opposition to proposals for development ofmolybdenum mining in central Idaho'sWhite Cloud Mountains, which Samuelson supported.[26][27]
During his first term as governor, Andrus played a key role in winning support by the U.S. Congress for federal designation of theSawtooth Wilderness Area in the State of Idaho.[4] Andrus was easily re-elected in1974 with over 70% of the vote, defeating Republican Lieutenant GovernorJack M. Murphy ofShoshone by a record margin.[28]
In 1974,Time magazine named Governor Andrus one of the "200 Faces for the Future".[29]
In January 1977, Andrus left his post as governor to serve asSecretary of the Interior for newly inaugurated PresidentJimmy Carter,[17][30] whom he had known since both were freshman governors in 1971. Andrus became the first Idahoan to serve in apresidential cabinet. He was succeeded in Idaho by Lieutenant GovernorJohn V. Evans, a Democrat who served nearly a decade, winning elections in1978 and1982.[31][32]
Andrus also took a leadership role in securing Congressional passage of theRedwood National Park Expansion Act in 1978.[citation needed] which added 48,000 acres (75 sq mi; 190 km2) to Redwood National Park in California, in a major expansion to preserve remnants of the giant redwood forests there.[33]
In 1979, when President Carter asked for the resignations of his entire Cabinet during an administration retreat atCamp David, the resignation of Andrus was not accepted.
Andrus wrote in his memoir about such a need for compromise relative to his successful, last-ditch efforts in securing passage of theAlaska Lands Act during the last month of the Carter Administration in December 1980, followingRonald Reagan's election in November: "The environmental groups were initially hostile. I actually had to listen to the idiotic argument (from the Wilderness Society and Sierra Club's paid Washington lobbyists) that they could get a better Alaska package out of Reagan andWatt."[citation needed]
"Cooler heads quickly prevailed", Andrus continues, "It proved the old adage that there's nothing like a hanging in the morning to focus the mind. Even though we were creating tomorrow's controversies, a 103-million acre [preservation] plan ... was a lot better than nothing."[34]
After several years in private life following his return to Idaho in 1981,[35][36] Andrus surprised many by seeking and recapturing the Idaho governorship in1986, when he defeated Republican Lieutenant GovernorDavid Leroy in a close open seat election.[37] The incumbent since succeeding Andrus in 1977, Evans had chosen to run for theU.S. Senate,[38] but lost.
During this second stint as governor, Andrus vigorously opposed federal efforts to store nuclear waste in Idaho. He also brokered a path-breaking agreement among land use and conservation interests to control water pollution from nonpoint sources to protect riparian and fish habitat in Idaho's rivers and streams.[citation needed]
In September 1989, Andrus closed off the Idaho border tonuclear waste shipments from the federal government'sRocky Flats site nearDenver. He initially agreed to open a temporary dump nearIdaho Falls to store waste until the federal government agreed to open a site nearCarlsbad, New Mexico. When the federal government failed to open the Carlsbad site, Andrus refused to accept shipments ofplutonium from Rocky Flats.Secretary of EnergyJames D. Watkins did not challenge Andrus's authority to close the border.[citation needed]
In 1990, Andrus drew attention when he vetoed a bill, passed by the legislature, which "would have madeabortion illegal except in cases ofnon-statutory rape reported within seven days,incest if the victim was under 18, severefetal deformity or where thepregnancy posed a threat to the mother's life."[39] Andrus was easilyre-elected later that year against conservative Republican state senatorRoger Fairchild ofFruitland,[40] and won every county exceptLemhi andJefferson.[citation needed]
In his fourth and final term as governor, Andrus was again in the national spotlight due to theEndangered Species Act listing of severalSnake Riversalmon species. These anadromous fish species spawn in their natal streams in Idaho and migrate seaward at a young age. Governor Andrus called attention to the downstream federal dams operated by theArmy Corps of Engineers as the major culprit. His successful lawsuit against the federal government led to incremental changes in operations of the dams, and to continuing efforts for major conservationist modifications to the dams that are ongoing today.[citation needed]
On April 3, 1990, he signedHouse Bill 817 into law, creating two new types offelony crimes, defined new criminal investigation areas, provided the basis for openingritual child abuse cases based upon probable cause, and provided a framework for extensive ritual child abuse investigation training throughout Idaho.[41]
Despite remaining personally popular, Andrus did not seek a fifth term in1994. At his death in 2017, he was the eleventh longest-serving governor inU.S. history.[42] Andrus was succeeded byPhil Batt ofWilder, the first Republican to win a gubernatorial election in Idaho since 1966; he served a single term and did not seek a second in1998.[43] Andrus's re-election in1990 was the sixth straight gubernatorial win by Democrats in Idaho (Evans in1978,1982), but is the most recent; Republicans have since won eight consecutive, through 2022.
| Year | Democrat | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Cecil Andrus | 93,744 | 37.1% | Don Samuelson | 104,586 | 41.4% | Perry Swisher | Independent | 30,913 | 12.2% | Phillip Jungert | Independent | 23,139 | 9.2% | ||||
| 1970 | Cecil Andrus | 128,004 | 52.2% | Don Samuelson (inc.) | 117,108 | 47.8% | ||||||||||||
| 1974 | Cecil Andrus (inc.) | 184,142 | 70.9% | Jack Murphy | 68,731 | 26.5% | Nolan Victor | American | 6,759 | 2.6% | ||||||||
| 1986 | Cecil Andrus | 193,429 | 49.9% | David Leroy | 189,794 | 49.0% | James A. Miller | Independent | 4,203 | 1.1% | ||||||||
| 1990 | Cecil Andrus (inc.) | 217,801 | 68.1% | Roger Fairchild | 101,885 | 31.9% |
A wildlife preservation area in Idaho established in 1993, eighteen miles (30 km) fromCambridge inWashington County, is named theCecil D. Andrus Wildlife Management Area in his honor.[5]
In 1995, Andrus founded theAndrus Center for Public Policy atBoise State University, and in 1998, published his memoir,Politics Western Style.[11]
An elementary school opened in 1997 in west Boise by theWest Ada School District was named the Cecil D. Andrus Elementary School in his honor.[44]
Andrus remained active in theIdaho Democratic Party in the early 21st Century and continued to campaign on behalf of other Democrats. In 2006, Andrus served as campaign treasurer for Idaho Democratic gubernatorial nomineeJerry Brady.[45] In February 2008, Andrus endorsed and campaigned actively on behalf ofIllinoisSenatorBarack Obama in Boise.[46]
At what was described as the "second biggest political rally in Idaho history", byThe New York Times, Andrus introduced Obama and recalled hearingJohn F. Kennedy speak years earlier: "I'm older now, some would suggest in the twilight of a mediocre political career", Andrus said, "[but] I, like you, can still be inspired. I can still hope."[47]
In the closing page of his memoir, Andrus quotes the poetRobert Frost: "We should not have to care so much, you and I."[48] "But we do care", Andrus continues, "and we should. We care about the future ... I remain hopeful that I will be able to pass on to my grandchildren all the pleasures of life in an unspoiled West. Perhaps hope should be replaced by a stronger word. It is a matter of obligation."[48]
A 2011 book on Andrus and his career in public service described him as "Idaho's greatest governor".[4]
Andrus died on August 24, 2017, in Boise, just one day before his 86th birthday, of complications fromlung cancer.[42][49]
Media related toCecil Andrus at Wikimedia Commons
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles Herndon | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Idaho 1966,1970,1974 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Idaho 1986,1990 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Idaho 1971–1977 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theNational Governors Association 1976–1977 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of the Interior 1977–1981 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Idaho 1987–1995 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
