Abraham, Spencer, 1952-

Edward Spencer Abraham (born June 12, 1952) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1995 to 2001 and as the tenth United States Secretary of Energy from 2001 to 2005.

Born in East Lansing, Michigan, he graduated from East Lansing High School before earning a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Abraham served as chairman of the Michigan Republican Party from 1983 to 1990. He was deputy chief of staff for Vice President Dan Quayle from 1990 to 1991. He then served as co-chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) from 1991 to 1993. Before his election to the Senate, Abraham was a law professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

Abraham was elected to represent Michigan in the United States Senate in 1994. While there, he served on the Budget, Commerce, Science and Transportation, Judiciary, and Small Business Committees. He also chaired two subcommittees: Manufacturing and Competitiveness, and Immigration. Abraham authored the H1B Visa in Global and National Commerce Act, establishing a federal framework for online contracts and signatures; the Government Paperwork Elimination Act, and the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, which protects Internet domain names for businesses and persons against copyright and trademark infringements. In 1999, Abraham co-sponsored S.896, a bill to abolish the U.S. Department of Energy, which would have transferred control of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in large part to the Defense Department. He narrowly lost his bid for re-election to Democrat Debbie Stabenow.

In 2001, George W. Bush appointed Abraham Secretary of Energy. Under his leadership the Department of Energy conducted a number of important short and long-term studies of world oil, gas, electricity and other markets. On November 15, 2004, Abraham announced that he would resign from this position, effective with the swearing-in of his successor, Samuel W. Bodman, on February 1, 2005. From 2005 to 2007 Abraham was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, a think tank based at Stanford University. After leaving office, he opened The Abraham Group, a Washington DC-based international strategic consulting firm providing assistance to clients seeking opportunities in the U.S. and globally, of which he is chairman and CEO. In 2010, Abraham wrote Lights Out!: Ten Myths About (and Real Solutions to) America's Energy Crisis with William Tucker.