Babbitt, Bruce E.

Bruce E. Babbitt was born in 1938 and was raised in Flagstaff where his family lived and worked as ranchers and traders. As a student, he attended the Notre Dame University and the University of New Castle where he pursued an education in geology and geophysics. Later he shifted his attention to law and politics and attended Harvard Law School.

Babbitt enjoyed an active political career both at the state and national levels. From 1975 to 1978 Babbitt served as Arizona’s Attorney General. From 1978 to 1987 he served as Governor of Arizona. In 1988 he staged a failed bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President. During the Carter administration, Babbitt served on the President’s Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island. In 1993 he was appointed the United States Secretary of the Interior by Bill Clinton, where he served until 2001.

Throughout his career Babbitt was an active environmentalist. In fact, it is believed that he was passed over as a candidate for the United States Supreme Court because of his environmental leanings. For a number of years he led the League of Conservation Voters. As Secretary of the Interior, he created the National League of Landscape Conservation and in 1996 he campaigned to maintain the Environmental Species Act of 1973. After his political retirement Babbitt took up working in environmental litigation for an international law firm and continued to advocate preservation of ecosystems and landscapes.

From the guide to the Bruce Babbitt collection, 1960, (The Museum of Northern Arizona)

Bruce Babbitt, Democratic governor of the state of Arizona from 1978 to 1987, is descended from a prominent pioneer family of Northern Arizona. The five Babbitt brothers, ancestors of Bruce Babbitt, came to the Flagstaff area from Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1886. They became active in the community and soon began to prosper and take an active interest in politics and the arts, especially in Northern Arizona, where many of the Babbitt descendents still live.

Born in Los Angeles on June 27, 1938, to Paul and Frances Perry Babbitt, Bruce came to Flagstaff with his family in 1945. While living in Los Angeles, Bruce Babbitt was among the brightest students in the area. His star continued to shine throughout his school career. He held a straight A average and became president and valedictorian of his senior class. After graduating from Flagstaff High School in 1956, he went East to college. Babbitt received a B.A. in geology from Notre Dame University, a M.S. in geophysics from the University of Newcastle in England, and a law degree from Harvard Law School.

As a student his experiences were varied. For two summers during law school, in 1963 and 1964, he worked as a volunteer in Latin America. The next year Babbitt went to Selma, Alabama to take part in the civil rights demonstrations. After graduating from law school, he worked in several community action programs. These included establishing programs for migrant workers in the Rio Grande Valley, problem solving for school desegregation issues, and creating legal services for Native Americans.

Babbitt returned to Arizona in 1967, where he practiced law for seven years. He married Hattie Coons, also an attorney, in August, 1969. The couple have two sons, Christopher and T.J., both Arizona natives.

In 1974 the voters of Arizona elected Bruce Babbitt to the post of Attorney General. He successfully prosecuted land fraud, public corruption cases, and created a statewide grand jury system. When Governor Wesley Bolin died suddenly in March of 1978, Bruce Babbitt took the governor's chair through constitutional succession. The citizens of Arizona elected Babbitt to his first full term late in 1978. They re-elected him in 1982 with 63 percent of the vote. Babbitt served as governor until 1987, when he decided to become a candidate for Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1988.

As Arizona's youngest governor, he effectively led one of this nation's fastest growing states. He helped create the Ground Water Management Law and took a leading role in children's issues, services for the elderly, education reform, and health care. "The Almanac of American Politics" described him as being the "brainiest and most original" of governors. Babbitt is also an ardent outdoor man, determined to conserve America's natural resources.

Although he failed in his attempt for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination, the political field has not eluded him. President Bill Clinton chose Babbitt as his Secretary of the Interior shortly after Clinton's inauguration in January, 1993.

From the guide to the Bruce Babbitt Collection, 1974-1990., (Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives Department.)