Gale Norton
Encyclopedia
Gale Ann Norton served as the 48th United States Secretary of the Interior
from 2001 to 2006 under President
George W. Bush
. She was the first woman to hold the position.
and raised in Wichita and Thornton, Colorado
, and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Denver
in 1975 and earned her Juris Doctor
degree with honors from that university's College of Law
in 1978. She divorced her first husband, Harold Everett Reed, when he was publicly reported as gay by the Denver local gay newspaper, OutFront. She is currently married to John Hughes. In the late 1970s, she was a member of the Libertarian Party and was nearly selected as its national director in 1980. Norton was influenced by the works of novelist Ayn Rand
, and has been associated with a number of groups in the "wise use
" or "free-market environmentalist" movement, such as the Property and Environmental Research Center http://www.perc.org, of which she is a fellow. She also worked as Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and, from 1979 to 1983, as a Senior Attorney for the Mountain States Legal Foundation
.
as Associate Solicitor of the United States Department of the Interior
, overseeing endangered species and public lands legal issues for the National Park Service
and the Fish and Wildlife Service.
She vehemently defended Colorado's Amendment 2 in 1992, an amendment to the Colorado state constitution that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action from recognizing homosexual citizens as a Protected class, all the way to the US Supreme Court, where it was struck down as unconstitutional in Romer v. Evans
.
In 1996, she was a candidate for the Republican
nomination for the U.S. Senate
, but was defeated by then-Congressman Wayne Allard
. Before being named Interior Secretary in 2001, Norton was senior counsel at Brownstein, Hyatt & Farber, P.C., a Denver-based law firm. The firm was listed with the U.S. Congress as a lobbyist for NL Industries, formerly known as National Lead Company.
In 2004, Norton was mentioned as a possible candidate for the U.S. Senate
in her home state of Colorado, after the incumbent, Ben Nighthorse Campbell
, decided to retire. However, she ultimately decided against it, and the seat was won by Democrat Ken Salazar
.
. Norton was succeeded by Idaho
Governor Dirk Kempthorne
. At the time of her resignation, Norton was considered "the Bush administration's leading advocate for expanding oil and gas drilling and other industrial interests in the West." After Norton's resignation, she joined Royal Dutch Shell
Oil company as a legal adviser in their oil-shale division.
On September 17, 2009 the United States Department of Justice
opened an investigation into whether Norton's employment at Royal Dutch Shell violated a law that bars federal employees from discussing employment with a company if they are involved in decisions that could benefit that company. The investigation focused on a 2006 decision by Norton's agency to award oil shale leases to Royal Dutch Shell, an agreement potentially worth billions of dollars. In 2010, the Justice Department closed the criminal probe, declining to press charges. In a statement, Norton called the investigation a waste of money. Kris Kolesnik, an associate inspector general with the Interior Department defended the Justice Department's actions, however, saying "we appropriately and thoroughly investigated serious allegations."
During Norton's tenure, the Interior Department Inspector General also investigated Julie A. MacDonald, Norton's deputy assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks. The investigation found that MacDonald had "injected herself personally and profoundly in a number of Endangered Species Act decisions." MacDonald resigned in 2007.
(CREA), an advocacy group founded by Norton and Grover Norquist
in the 1990s, accepted $225,000 in donations from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff
.
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
from 2001 to 2006 under President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. She was the first woman to hold the position.
Early life and career
Norton was born in Wichita, KansasWichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
and raised in Wichita and Thornton, Colorado
Thornton, Colorado
The city of Thornton is a Home Rule Municipality in Adams and Weld counties in the U.S. state of Colorado and a suburb of the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. Thornton is northeast of the state's capital, Denver. The United States Census Bureau that the city population...
, and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Denver
University of Denver
The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings....
in 1975 and earned her Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree with honors from that university's College of Law
Sturm College of Law
The University of Denver Sturm College of Law is one of two law schools in the state of Colorado, and the only law school in the Denver metro area. Founded in 1892, the Sturm College of Law is one of the first in America's Mountain West...
in 1978. She divorced her first husband, Harold Everett Reed, when he was publicly reported as gay by the Denver local gay newspaper, OutFront. She is currently married to John Hughes. In the late 1970s, she was a member of the Libertarian Party and was nearly selected as its national director in 1980. Norton was influenced by the works of novelist Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
, and has been associated with a number of groups in the "wise use
Wise use
The wise use movement in the United States is a loose-knit coalition of groups promoting the expansion of private property rights and reduction of government regulation of publicly held property. This includes advocacy of expanded use by commercial and public interests, seeking increased access to...
" or "free-market environmentalist" movement, such as the Property and Environmental Research Center http://www.perc.org, of which she is a fellow. She also worked as Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and, from 1979 to 1983, as a Senior Attorney for the Mountain States Legal Foundation
Mountain States Legal Foundation
Mountain States Legal Foundation is a nonprofit, public-interest law firm dedicated to individual liberty, the right to own and use property, limited and ethical government, and economic freedom...
.
Political career
From 1991 to 1999, Norton served as Attorney General of Colorado. Prior to her election as Colorado Attorney General, Norton served in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
as Associate Solicitor of the United States Department of the Interior
United States Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...
, overseeing endangered species and public lands legal issues for the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
and the Fish and Wildlife Service.
She vehemently defended Colorado's Amendment 2 in 1992, an amendment to the Colorado state constitution that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action from recognizing homosexual citizens as a Protected class, all the way to the US Supreme Court, where it was struck down as unconstitutional in Romer v. Evans
Romer v. Evans
Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 , is a landmark United States Supreme Court case dealing with civil rights and state laws. It was the first Supreme Court case to deal with LGBT rights since Bowers v...
.
In 1996, she was a candidate for the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
nomination for the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, but was defeated by then-Congressman Wayne Allard
Wayne Allard
Alan Wayne Allard is a member of the Republican Party, and was a United States Senator from Colorado. He did not seek re-election in 2008.-Early life:...
. Before being named Interior Secretary in 2001, Norton was senior counsel at Brownstein, Hyatt & Farber, P.C., a Denver-based law firm. The firm was listed with the U.S. Congress as a lobbyist for NL Industries, formerly known as National Lead Company.
In 2004, Norton was mentioned as a possible candidate for the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in her home state of Colorado, after the incumbent, Ben Nighthorse Campbell
Ben Nighthorse Campbell
Benjamin Nighthorse Campbell is an American politician. He was a U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1993 until 2005 and was during his tenure the only American Indian serving in the U.S. Congress. Campbell was a three term U.S. Representative from 1987 to 1993, when he was sworn into office as a...
, decided to retire. However, she ultimately decided against it, and the seat was won by Democrat Ken Salazar
Ken Salazar
Kenneth Lee "Ken" Salazar is the current United States Secretary of the Interior, in the administration of President Barack Obama. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a United States Senator from Colorado from 2005 to 2009. He and Mel Martinez were the first Hispanic U.S...
.
Ethics investigations
Norton resigned as Secretary of the Interior in March 2006, after the Interior Department's inspector general initiated an investigation into potential links between Norton's former deputy, J. Steven Griles and convicted felon Jack AbramoffJack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff is an American former lobbyist and businessman. Convicted in 2006 of mail fraud and conspiracy, he was at the heart of an extensive corruption investigation that led to the conviction of White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine...
. Norton was succeeded by Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
Governor Dirk Kempthorne
Dirk Kempthorne
Dirk Arthur Kempthorne , was the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, who served under President George W. Bush from 2006 to 2009. A Republican, Kempthorne previously served as the 30th Governor and as a U.S. Senator from Idaho...
. At the time of her resignation, Norton was considered "the Bush administration's leading advocate for expanding oil and gas drilling and other industrial interests in the West." After Norton's resignation, she joined Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
Oil company as a legal adviser in their oil-shale division.
On September 17, 2009 the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
opened an investigation into whether Norton's employment at Royal Dutch Shell violated a law that bars federal employees from discussing employment with a company if they are involved in decisions that could benefit that company. The investigation focused on a 2006 decision by Norton's agency to award oil shale leases to Royal Dutch Shell, an agreement potentially worth billions of dollars. In 2010, the Justice Department closed the criminal probe, declining to press charges. In a statement, Norton called the investigation a waste of money. Kris Kolesnik, an associate inspector general with the Interior Department defended the Justice Department's actions, however, saying "we appropriately and thoroughly investigated serious allegations."
During Norton's tenure, the Interior Department Inspector General also investigated Julie A. MacDonald, Norton's deputy assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks. The investigation found that MacDonald had "injected herself personally and profoundly in a number of Endangered Species Act decisions." MacDonald resigned in 2007.
Jack Abramoff controversy
The Council of Republicans for Environmental AdvocacyCouncil of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy
Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy is a Republican environmental organization founded in 1998 by Gale Norton, who in 2001 became George W. Bush's U.S. Secretary of the Interior...
(CREA), an advocacy group founded by Norton and Grover Norquist
Grover Norquist
Grover Glenn Norquist is an American lobbyist, conservative activist, and founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform...
in the 1990s, accepted $225,000 in donations from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff is an American former lobbyist and businessman. Convicted in 2006 of mail fraud and conspiracy, he was at the heart of an extensive corruption investigation that led to the conviction of White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine...
.
Electoral history
- 1996 United States Senate Republican Primary (Colorado)
- Wayne AllardWayne AllardAlan Wayne Allard is a member of the Republican Party, and was a United States Senator from Colorado. He did not seek re-election in 2008.-Early life:...
(R), 57% - Gale Norton (R), 43%
- Wayne Allard
External links
- Official White House biography of Gale A. Norton, 2001-2006
- University of Denver profile of Gale A. Norton
- Collection of Gale Norton quotes
- A memo written by Gale Norton in 1987 on 'endangered' Humans
- Remarks by Gale Norton at the opening of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site
- Gale Norton joining Royal Dutch Shell
- Sourcewatch profile