Goldschmidt, Neil E. (Neil Edward), 1940-

<p>Neil Edward Goldschmidt (born June 16, 1940) is an American businessman and Democratic politician from the state of Oregon who held local, state and federal offices over three decades. After serving as the governor of Oregon, Goldschmidt was once considered the most influential and powerful figure in Oregon's politics. His career and legacy were severely damaged by revelations that he had raped a young teenage girl in 1973, during his first term as mayor of Portland.</p>

<p>Goldschmidt was elected to the Portland City Council in 1970 and then as mayor of Portland in 1972, becoming the youngest mayor of any major American city. He promoted the revitalization of Downtown Portland and was influential on Portland-area transportation policy, particularly with the scrapping of the controversial Mount Hood Freeway and the establishment of the MAX Light Rail system. He was appointed U.S. Secretary of Transportation by President Jimmy Carter in 1979; in that capacity he worked to revive the ailing automobile industry and to deregulate several industries. He served until the end of Carter's presidency in 1981 and then served as a senior executive with Nike for several years.</p>

<p>He was elected the 33rd governor of Oregon in 1986, serving a single term. He faced significant challenges, particularly a rising anti-tax movement (leading to Measure 5 in 1990) and a doubling of the state's prison population. He worked across party lines to reduce regulation and to repair the state's infrastructure. His reforms to the State Accident Insurance Fund (SAIF), a state-chartered worker's compensation insurance company were heralded at the time, but drew strong criticism in later years.</p>

<p>Despite his popularity, Goldschmidt did not seek a second term as governor, becoming an influential and controversial lobbyist. Over the next dozen years or so, he was criticized by editorial boards and Oregonians for several of the causes he supported, including backing the forestry corporation Weyerhaeuser in its hostile takeover of Oregon's Willamette Industries and his advocacy for a private investment firm in its attempt to take over Portland General Electric, a publicly-owned local utility company. In 2003, Governor Ted Kulongoski appointed Goldschmidt to the Oregon Board of Higher Education, a position he resigned after admitting he had a sexual relationship with a minor girl 30 years earlier.</p>

NEIL GOLDSCHMIDT was born in Eugene, Oregon and graduated from the University of Oregon, where he was student body President. He earned a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley’s Boalt School of Law in 1967 and was a legal aid attorney from 1967 until his election to the Portland City Council in 1970. He became the nation’s youngest mayor when he was elected Portland’s chief executive in 1972. His tenure as Mayor led to the city’s revitalization, including new businesses, expansion of existing businesses, establishment of a healthy downtown core, transit investments, and protection of inner-city neighborhoods. He was named Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation in July 1979 in the administration of President Jimmy Carter, becoming known for his initiatives to revive the lagging American automobile industry. Goldschmidt returned to Oregon in 1981 and served as Vice President of International Marketing for NIKE Inc., later becoming President of NIKE Canada. Becoming governor in 1987, he focused on developing an “Oregon Comeback” initiative to revitalize the state’s economy, promote prison construction, reform school funding, and develop a children’s agenda that emphasized community planning and business participation. After leaving office, Goldschmidt started a law and consulting firm in Portland. He later resigned from the state Bar amid allegations of impropriety while serving as Mayor of Portland.