Tom Ridge
Encyclopedia
Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge (born August 26, 1945) is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives
(1983–1995), the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania (1995–2001), Assistant to the President
for Homeland Security
(2001–2003), and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security
(2003–2005). Since re-entering the private sector, Ridge has served on the boards of The Home Depot
, The Hershey Company
and Exelon Corporation and as a senior advisor to Deloitte & Touche, and TechRadium. Ridge is also the founder and CEO of Ridge Global, LLC, a Washington, D.C. based security consulting firm. Ridge spent time campaigning with Senator John McCain
during his 2008 bid for the presidency and was believed by some to have been in the short list of potential running mates.
, Pennsylvania
, in Pittsburgh
's Steel Valley
, the oldest of three children. His parents were Laura (née Sudimack) and Thomas Regis Ridge, who was a traveling salesman and Navy
veteran
. Ridge's maternal grandparents were Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants from the former Czechoslovakia
(now Slovakia
), and his paternal great-grandparents emigrated from Great Britain
. Ridge was raised in veterans' public housing in Erie, Pennsylvania
. He was educated at St. Andrews Elementary School and Cathedral Preparatory School
and did well both academically and in sports. He earned a scholarship
to Harvard College
, where he paid his way through with construction work, played intramural
baseball and football, and graduated with honors in 1967.
After his first year at the Dickinson School of Law
, he was drafted into the United States Army
, where he served as an infantry staff sergeant in the 23rd Infantry Division during the Vietnam War
. He earned the Bronze Star
, National Defense Service Medal
, Vietnam Service Medal
, Vietnam Campaign Medal
, Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm
, and the Combat Infantryman Badge
. Later, he was offered a commission as an officer but turned it down when he learned that it would require an extra year of service.
A ruptured appendix
cut short his tour and he returned home in 1970; service also aggravated a childhood ear infection. Since then Ridge has had a hearing aid
in his left ear.
After returning to Pennsylvania
, he completed his Juris Doctor
(J.D.) degree at the Dickinson School of Law, graduating in 1972, and entered private practice.
in 1980 and prosecuted 86 cases in two years. In 1982 he successfully ran for a seat in Congress from northwestern Pennsylvania
, and was re-elected six times. Ridge was notable as the first enlisted Vietnam
combat veteran elected to the U.S. House. , Ridge has never lost an election for public office.
In 1994
, despite being little-known outside of northwest Pennsylvania, Ridge ran for Governor. He won the election as a pro-choice
Republican
. He was reelected in 1998
with 57 percent of the vote in a four-way race. His share of the vote in that election was the highest for a Republican governor in Pennsylvania (where Democrats outnumber Republicans by almost 500,000) in more than half a century. Ridge served as Governor until his resignation to become the Director of Homeland Security in 2001.
As governor, he promoted "law and order
" policies, supporting a three-strikes law and a faster death penalty
process. A death penalty supporter, Ridge signed more than 224 execution warrants – five times the number signed over a 25-year period by the two previous governors – but only three voluntary executions were carried out. On social issues, he opposed gay marriage, and, in spite of being a Roman Catholic, is pro-choice
on abortion
issues.
The Governor nominated Dr. Peter J. Jannetta to be his secretary of health. Dr. Jannetta was known to the governor to have testified perjuriously in Court, the Pennsylvania Superior Court stating, "We have little difficulty in concluding that Dr. Jannetta's testimony at deposition was different than, or inconsistent with, the testimony at trial." However, it is worth noting that Dr. Jannetta was never convicted of perjury. Levy v Jannetta, CCP Allegheny County, GD 81-7689; appeal -J. A370017/92 Levy v Jannetta et al., No. 00150 Pittsburgh, 1992. settled, 1995."
Dr. Jannetta served as Governor Ridge's health secretary for 6 months.
Over Ridge's tenure, the Commonwealth's budget grew by two to three percent per fiscal year and combined tax reductions totaled over $2 billion. Ridge created and grew a "Rainy Day" Fund balance to over $1 billion to be utilized during an economic downturn or recession.
Ridge pushed for legislation permitting competition among electric utilities and enhanced federal and state support for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). He also separated the Commonwealth's environmental regulatory and conservation programs into two new agencies; the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Ridge proposed the creation of public charter schools in Pennsylvania and in establishing alternate schools for disruptive students. He launched new academic standards that established academic expectations for what students were expected to know in different grades. Ridge also proposed a school choice demonstration program.
Ridge oversaw a number of e-government projects including renewing drivers' licenses and vehicle registrations to viewing historical documents and library catalogs. The Commonwealth's portal won several national awards. One of the nation's first electronic grant systems was put into place at the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Ridge also created the Link-to-Learn initiative to increase the effective use of technology in public schools and universities.
In 2001, he was named runner up "Politician of the Year" by PoliticsPA
. In a 2002 PoliticsPA
Feature story
designating politicians with yearbook superlatives
, he was named the "Most Popular."
, a close friend from their simultaneous tenures as governors, during the 2000 presidential campaign. In return, Bush named Ridge to his short list for possible running mates, along with New York Governor George Pataki
, Michigan Governor John Engler
, Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating
, former Missouri Senator John Danforth
, and former American Red Cross
President Elizabeth Dole
.
However, Bush selected the man who was in charge of leading his search for the vice presidential nominee, former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney
, to be his running mate.
Ridge was also reportedly Colin Powell
's choice to be Secretary of Defense in Bush's new cabinet. With his reputation as a former Congressman and a strong administrator as governor, in addition to his friendship with Bush and Powell, he was seen as a frontrunner for the post. But he lost this presumptive appointment after much decrying by conservatives over his lack of defense experience, particularly by Republican primary candidate Gary Bauer
, who decried Ridge as a "peacenik-type of congressman during the Reagan years" and Robert Novak
who wrote of Ridge's lack of defense experience and his opposition to the Strategic Defense Initiative
. There was also rumored to be a lot of animosity regarding the nomination between Powell and Dick Cheney regarding Ridge. With all of this Ridge promptly took his name out of the running and Donald Rumsfeld
was eventually named as defense secretary.
Following the September 11, 2001, suicide attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush
created the Office of Homeland Security within the White House, and named Ridge to head it. The charge to the nation's new director of homeland security was to develop and coordinate a comprehensive national strategy to strengthen the United States against terrorist threats or attacks. In the words of President George W. Bush, he had the strength, experience, personal commitment and authority to accomplish this critical mission. Ridge formally resigned as Pennsylvania's governor on October 5, 2001.
In January 2003 and after the passage of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the Office of Homeland Security split into a Cabinet
-level Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the White House Homeland Security Advisory Council
. Ridge left the White House and became the first Secretary of Homeland Security
. The Department's Mission "is to (A) prevent terrorist attacks within the United States; (B) reduce the vulnerability of the United States to terrorism; and (C) minimize the damage, and assist in the recovery, from terrorist attacks that do occur within the United States" (From H.R. 5005-8 the Homeland Security Act of 2002). The newly created Department was the most comprehensive reorganization of the Federal government since the National Security Act of 1947
. The Department of Homeland Security consolidates 22 agencies and 180,000 employees, unifying once-fragmented Federal functions in a single agency dedicated to protecting America from terrorism. Ridge worked with the employees from combined agencies to strengthen borders, provide for intelligence analysis and infrastructure protection, improve the use of science and technology to counter weapons of mass destruction, and to create a comprehensive response and recovery division.
In January 2004, Ridge was named among others in a lawsuit filed by a Syrian-born Canadian Maher Arar
who said he was tortured in Syria after being deported by American authorities.
On November 30, 2004, Ridge submitted his resignation to the President, saying, "After more than 22 consecutive years of public service, it is time to give personal and family matters a higher priority." In his book The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege...and How We Can Be Safe Again, Ridge says his resignation was due to an effort by senior Bush administration officials to raise the nation's terror alert level in the days before the 2004 presidential vote.
Ridge served on a state-appointed incident review panel which investigated the Virginia Tech massacre
of April 2007.
In July 2010, companies seeking to use hydraulic fracturing
to extract natural gas
from the Marcellus Shale formation
engaged Ridge and his company at $75,000 a month to help them gain support.
, the primary technology provider for the wireless cargo-monitoring network for the United States Department of Defense.
In 2010, it was reported that Ridge had appeared on MSNBC
Hardball With Chris Matthews
promoting nuclear energy
as part of a "green agenda [to] ... create jobs, create exports," without any revelation by him or the cable channel of his Exelon position. In the report, his cumulative Exelon-derived compensation was put at $530,659; and it was said that, as of March 2009, he held an estimated $248,299 in Exelon stock, according to SEC filings. Exelon was described as "the nation's largest nuclear power company."
USA LLP.
's Executive Board. The Hershey Trust, the primary shareholder of Hershey, asked for a change in board composition after several years of poor stock performance. The board named Ridge to the board for his knowledge of economics.
system, IRIS (Immediate Response Information System), to a wide range of users
including municipalities, public schools and universities, utilities, and military programs.
, announced Ridge would serve on its Advisory Board along with former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson
.
of Arizona, and was considered by some as a possible running mate for McCain.
against the newly turned Democrat Arlen Specter
, who stated he would seek re-election in 2010
in the Democratic primary. Already seeking the Republican nomination was former Representative
Pat Toomey
, who narrowly lost to Specter in the Republican primary in 2004. Some Republicans thought Ridge would have a better chance against Specter than would Toomey. A Quinnipiac University
poll conducted between April 30, 2009 and May 3, 2009 placed Ridge within three points of Specter in a hypothetical matchup between the two men. Some Toomey supporters criticized the idea of a Ridge candidacy because, although Ridge was still registered to vote in Pennsylvania, he was actually living in Chevy Chase, Maryland
.
On May 7, 2009, Ridge announced that he would not be a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010.
Ridge wrote in his memoir that then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
and then-Attorney General John Ashcroft
pressured him to raise the terror alert level
, running up to the 2004 elections, because of a pre-election message critical of President Bush from Osama Bin Laden.
He now does after-dinner speeches around the world. In July 2010, a controversy surrounded Ridge's warning that countries would face the wrath of al-Qaeda
and countries such as Ireland could be at risk of "terrorist" attacks.
Library System. They have been married since 1979 and have two children: Lesley and Tommy.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
(1983–1995), the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania (1995–2001), Assistant to the 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....
for Homeland Security
Homeland security
Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...
(2001–2003), and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security
United States Secretary of Homeland Security
The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the body concerned with protecting the American homeland and the safety of American citizens. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. The position was created by the...
(2003–2005). Since re-entering the private sector, Ridge has served on the boards of The Home Depot
The Home Depot
The Home Depot is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services.The Home Depot operates 2,248 big-box format stores across the United States , Canada , Mexico and China, with a 12-store chain...
, The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company, known until April 2005 as the Hershey Foods Corporation and commonly called Hershey's, is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America. Its headquarters are in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hershey's Chocolate World. It was founded by Milton S...
and Exelon Corporation and as a senior advisor to Deloitte & Touche, and TechRadium. Ridge is also the founder and CEO of Ridge Global, LLC, a Washington, D.C. based security consulting firm. Ridge spent time campaigning with Senator John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
during his 2008 bid for the presidency and was believed by some to have been in the short list of potential running mates.
Early life
Ridge was born in MunhallMunhall, Pennsylvania
Munhall is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on the west bank of the Monongahela River, south of the confluence of the Monongahela and the Allegheny rivers where the Ohio River begins. It abuts the borough of Homestead. A large part of the Homestead Works of the Carnegie Steel Company...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
's Steel Valley
Steel Valley (Pittsburgh)
The Steel Valley is the area of post-industrial and industrial concentration along the upper Ohio River valley as well as the Monongahela River all the way to the West Virginia border. It has also has included most of the Allegheny River, Beaver River and Youghiogheny River valleys...
, the oldest of three children. His parents were Laura (née Sudimack) and Thomas Regis Ridge, who was a traveling salesman and Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
. Ridge's maternal grandparents were Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants from the former Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
(now Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
), and his paternal great-grandparents emigrated from Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. Ridge was raised in veterans' public housing in Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
. He was educated at St. Andrews Elementary School and Cathedral Preparatory School
Cathedral Preparatory School
Cathedral Preparatory School is an all-male college prep school in Erie, Pennsylvania run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie and was established in 1921 by Archbishop John Mark Gannon. The school boasts a 97%-100% college acceptance rate among graduating classes...
and did well both academically and in sports. He earned a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
, where he paid his way through with construction work, played intramural
Intramural sports
Intramural sports or intramurals are recreational sports organized within a set geographic area. The term derives from the Latin words intra muros meaning "within walls", and was used to indicate sports matches and contests that took place among teams from "within the walls" of an ancient city...
baseball and football, and graduated with honors in 1967.
After his first year at the Dickinson School of Law
Dickinson School of Law
Penn State University Dickinson School of Law is the law school of The Pennsylvania State University...
, he was drafted into the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, where he served as an infantry staff sergeant in the 23rd Infantry Division during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. He earned the Bronze Star
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
, National Defense Service Medal
National Defense Service Medal
The National Defense Service Medal is a military service medal of the United States military originally commissioned by President Dwight D. Eisenhower...
, Vietnam Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
The Vietnam Service Medal is a military award which was created in 1965 by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The distinctive design was the creation of sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones, a former employee of the Army Institute of Heraldry. The medal is issued to recognize military service during...
, Vietnam Campaign Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal
The Vietnam Campaign Medal is a military recognition awarded by the Republic of Vietnam, , to any member of the United States, Australian, New Zealand and allied military forces serving six months or more in support of Republic of Vietnam military operations.Established in 1966, the decoration is...
, Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm
Vietnam Gallantry Cross
The Vietnam Gallantry Cross was a military decoration of South Vietnam which wasestablished in August 1950. Also known as the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, the Gallantry Cross was awarded to any military personnel who have accomplished deeds of valor or displayed heroic conduct while fighting an...
, and the Combat Infantryman Badge
Combat Infantryman Badge
The Combat Infantryman Badge is the U.S. Army combat service recognition decoration awarded to soldiers—enlisted men and officers holding colonel rank or below, who personally fought in active ground combat while an assigned member of either an infantry or a Special Forces unit, of brigade size...
. Later, he was offered a commission as an officer but turned it down when he learned that it would require an extra year of service.
A ruptured appendix
Vermiform appendix
The appendix is a blind-ended tube connected to the cecum , from which it develops embryologically. The cecum is a pouchlike structure of the colon...
cut short his tour and he returned home in 1970; service also aggravated a childhood ear infection. Since then Ridge has had a hearing aid
Hearing aid
A hearing aid is an electroacoustic device which typically fits in or behind the wearer's ear, and is designed to amplify and modulate sound for the wearer. Earlier devices, known as "ear trumpets" or "ear horns", were passive funnel-like amplification cones designed to gather sound energy and...
in his left ear.
After returning to Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, he completed his 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...
(J.D.) degree at the Dickinson School of Law, graduating in 1972, and entered private practice.
Public service in Pennsylvania
He became Assistant District Attorney in Erie County, PennsylvaniaErie County, Pennsylvania
Erie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 280,566. Its county seat is the City of Erie.- Geography :...
in 1980 and prosecuted 86 cases in two years. In 1982 he successfully ran for a seat in Congress from northwestern Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's 21st congressional district
Pennsylvania's twenty-first congressional district was a congressional district in northwestern Pennsylvania. It was created following the 1830 Census and was disbanded after the 2000 Census removed two representatives from Pennsylvania....
, and was re-elected six times. Ridge was notable as the first enlisted Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
combat veteran elected to the U.S. House. , Ridge has never lost an election for public office.
In 1994
Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1994
The Pennsylvania Gubernatorial election of 1994 was held on November 8, 1994. Incumbent Democratic Governor Bob Casey, Sr. was barred from seeking a third term by the state constitution. The Republican Party nominated Congressman Tom Ridge, while the Democrats nominated Mark Singel, Casey's...
, despite being little-known outside of northwest Pennsylvania, Ridge ran for Governor. He won the election as a pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
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...
. He was reelected in 1998
Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1998
The Pennsylvania Gubernatorial election of 1998 was held on November 3, 1998. It was between incumbent Republican Tom Ridge and Democrat Ivan Itkin. Ridge, a popular moderate, won with 57% of the votes cast. During this election cycle, Democrats struggled with fundraising issues and had difficulty...
with 57 percent of the vote in a four-way race. His share of the vote in that election was the highest for a Republican governor in Pennsylvania (where Democrats outnumber Republicans by almost 500,000) in more than half a century. Ridge served as Governor until his resignation to become the Director of Homeland Security in 2001.
As governor, he promoted "law and order
Law and order (politics)
In politics, law and order refers to demands for a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violent and property crime, through harsher criminal penalties...
" policies, supporting a three-strikes law and a faster death penalty
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
process. A death penalty supporter, Ridge signed more than 224 execution warrants – five times the number signed over a 25-year period by the two previous governors – but only three voluntary executions were carried out. On social issues, he opposed gay marriage, and, in spite of being a Roman Catholic, is pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
on abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
issues.
The Governor nominated Dr. Peter J. Jannetta to be his secretary of health. Dr. Jannetta was known to the governor to have testified perjuriously in Court, the Pennsylvania Superior Court stating, "We have little difficulty in concluding that Dr. Jannetta's testimony at deposition was different than, or inconsistent with, the testimony at trial." However, it is worth noting that Dr. Jannetta was never convicted of perjury. Levy v Jannetta, CCP Allegheny County, GD 81-7689; appeal -J. A370017/92 Levy v Jannetta et al., No. 00150 Pittsburgh, 1992. settled, 1995."
Dr. Jannetta served as Governor Ridge's health secretary for 6 months.
Over Ridge's tenure, the Commonwealth's budget grew by two to three percent per fiscal year and combined tax reductions totaled over $2 billion. Ridge created and grew a "Rainy Day" Fund balance to over $1 billion to be utilized during an economic downturn or recession.
Ridge pushed for legislation permitting competition among electric utilities and enhanced federal and state support for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). He also separated the Commonwealth's environmental regulatory and conservation programs into two new agencies; the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Ridge proposed the creation of public charter schools in Pennsylvania and in establishing alternate schools for disruptive students. He launched new academic standards that established academic expectations for what students were expected to know in different grades. Ridge also proposed a school choice demonstration program.
Ridge oversaw a number of e-government projects including renewing drivers' licenses and vehicle registrations to viewing historical documents and library catalogs. The Commonwealth's portal won several national awards. One of the nation's first electronic grant systems was put into place at the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Ridge also created the Link-to-Learn initiative to increase the effective use of technology in public schools and universities.
In 2001, he was named runner up "Politician of the Year" by PoliticsPA
PoliticsPA
- Content :The website focuses on news aggregation, linking to major political news making headlines across the state. The editors write occasional features, like the weekly "Up & Down" scorecard and one-off lists like "Harrisburg's Smartest Staffer" and "Best Dressed Lobbyist" lists...
. In a 2002 PoliticsPA
PoliticsPA
- Content :The website focuses on news aggregation, linking to major political news making headlines across the state. The editors write occasional features, like the weekly "Up & Down" scorecard and one-off lists like "Harrisburg's Smartest Staffer" and "Best Dressed Lobbyist" lists...
Feature story
Feature story
- Published Features & news :While the distinction between published features and news is often clear, when approached conceptually there are few hard boundaries between the two. It is quite possible to write a feature in the style of a news story, for instance...
designating politicians with yearbook superlatives
Yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...
, he was named the "Most Popular."
2000 Presidential election
Ridge served as a close advisor to GOP presidential nominee George W. BushGeorge 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....
, a close friend from their simultaneous tenures as governors, during the 2000 presidential campaign. In return, Bush named Ridge to his short list for possible running mates, along with New York Governor George Pataki
George Pataki
George Elmer Pataki is an American politician who was the 53rd Governor of New York. A member of the Republican Party, Pataki served three consecutive four-year terms from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 2006.- Early life :...
, Michigan Governor John Engler
John Engler
John Mathias Engler is an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. He served as the 46th Governor of Michigan from 1991 to 2003....
, Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating
Frank Keating
Francis Anthony "Frank" Keating is an American politician from Oklahoma. Keating served as the 25th Governor of Oklahoma. His first term began in 1995 and ended in 1999...
, former Missouri Senator John Danforth
John Danforth
John Claggett "Jack" Danforth is a former United States Ambassador to the United Nations and former Republican United States Senator from Missouri. He is an ordained Episcopal priest. Danforth is married to Sally D. Danforth and has five adult children.-Education and early career:Danforth was born...
, and former American Red Cross
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...
President Elizabeth Dole
Elizabeth Dole
Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford "Liddy" Dole is an American politician who served in both the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush presidential administrations, as well as a United States Senator....
.
However, Bush selected the man who was in charge of leading his search for the vice presidential nominee, former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
, to be his running mate.
Ridge was also reportedly Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
's choice to be Secretary of Defense in Bush's new cabinet. With his reputation as a former Congressman and a strong administrator as governor, in addition to his friendship with Bush and Powell, he was seen as a frontrunner for the post. But he lost this presumptive appointment after much decrying by conservatives over his lack of defense experience, particularly by Republican primary candidate Gary Bauer
Gary Bauer
Gary Lee Bauer is an American politician notable for his ties to several evangelical Christian groups and campaigns.-Biography:...
, who decried Ridge as a "peacenik-type of congressman during the Reagan years" and Robert Novak
Robert Novak
Robert David Sanders "Bob" Novak was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving for the U.S. Army in the Korean War, he became a reporter for the Associated Press and then for...
who wrote of Ridge's lack of defense experience and his opposition to the Strategic Defense Initiative
Strategic Defense Initiative
The Strategic Defense Initiative was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic...
. There was also rumored to be a lot of animosity regarding the nomination between Powell and Dick Cheney regarding Ridge. With all of this Ridge promptly took his name out of the running and Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
was eventually named as defense secretary.
Homeland Security Advisor and Secretary
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....
created the Office of Homeland Security within the White House, and named Ridge to head it. The charge to the nation's new director of homeland security was to develop and coordinate a comprehensive national strategy to strengthen the United States against terrorist threats or attacks. In the words of President George W. Bush, he had the strength, experience, personal commitment and authority to accomplish this critical mission. Ridge formally resigned as Pennsylvania's governor on October 5, 2001.
In January 2003 and after the passage of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the Office of Homeland Security split into a Cabinet
United States Cabinet
The Cabinet of the United States is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States, which are generally the heads of the federal executive departments...
-level Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the White House Homeland Security Advisory Council
Homeland Security Advisory Council
The Homeland Security Advisory Council is part of the Executive Office of the President. It was created by an Executive Order on March 19, 2002.-Council Members:* William H. Webster , Partner, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, LLP...
. Ridge left the White House and became the first Secretary of Homeland Security
United States Secretary of Homeland Security
The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the body concerned with protecting the American homeland and the safety of American citizens. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. The position was created by the...
. The Department's Mission "is to (A) prevent terrorist attacks within the United States; (B) reduce the vulnerability of the United States to terrorism; and (C) minimize the damage, and assist in the recovery, from terrorist attacks that do occur within the United States" (From H.R. 5005-8 the Homeland Security Act of 2002). The newly created Department was the most comprehensive reorganization of the Federal government since the National Security Act of 1947
National Security Act of 1947
The National Security Act of 1947 was signed by United States President Harry S. Truman on July 26, 1947, and realigned and reorganized the U.S. Armed Forces, foreign policy, and Intelligence Community apparatus in the aftermath of World War II...
. The Department of Homeland Security consolidates 22 agencies and 180,000 employees, unifying once-fragmented Federal functions in a single agency dedicated to protecting America from terrorism. Ridge worked with the employees from combined agencies to strengthen borders, provide for intelligence analysis and infrastructure protection, improve the use of science and technology to counter weapons of mass destruction, and to create a comprehensive response and recovery division.
In January 2004, Ridge was named among others in a lawsuit filed by a Syrian-born Canadian Maher Arar
Maher Arar
Maher Arar is a telecommunications engineer with dual Syrian and Canadian citizenship who resides in Canada. Arar's story is frequently referred to as "extraordinary rendition" but the U.S. government insisted it was a case of deportation.Arar was detained during a layover at John F...
who said he was tortured in Syria after being deported by American authorities.
On November 30, 2004, Ridge submitted his resignation to the President, saying, "After more than 22 consecutive years of public service, it is time to give personal and family matters a higher priority." In his book The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege...and How We Can Be Safe Again, Ridge says his resignation was due to an effort by senior Bush administration officials to raise the nation's terror alert level in the days before the 2004 presidential vote.
Work in the private sector
Ridge is the founder and CEO of Ridge Global, an advisory firm in Washington, D.C.Ridge served on a state-appointed incident review panel which investigated the Virginia Tech massacre
Virginia Tech massacre
The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting that took place on April 16, 2007, on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. In two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, the perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people...
of April 2007.
In July 2010, companies seeking to use hydraulic fracturing
Hydraulic fracturing
Considerable controversy surrounds the current implementation of hydraulic fracturing technology in the United States. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of utilizing pressurized water, or some other liquid, to fracture rock layers and release petroleum, natural gas, or other...
to extract natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
from the Marcellus Shale formation
Marcellus Formation
The Marcellus Formation is a unit of marine sedimentary rock found in eastern North America...
engaged Ridge and his company at $75,000 a month to help them gain support.
Home Depot
In February 2005, Tom Ridge was named to the board of Home Depot. Ridge's compensation was expected to be about $100,000 per annum for this position. Since April 2005, Ridge has also served on the board of Savi TechnologySavi Technology
Savi Technology is a US-based company that provides real-time RFID solutions for managing and securing global supply chain assets. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, Savi has offices in Mountain View, CA, Lexington, KY, Singapore, London, UK, and Melbourne, Australia...
, the primary technology provider for the wireless cargo-monitoring network for the United States Department of Defense.
Exelon Corporation
In April, 2005, Ridge's appointment to the board of the Illinois/Pennsylvania/New Jersey electric utility was announced, with starting director compensation of $35,000 annual retainer plus a $1,500 meeting fee or per diem fee. Directors were also granted $60,000 in deferred stock units each year at that time.In 2010, it was reported that Ridge had appeared on MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
Hardball With Chris Matthews
Chris Matthews
Christopher John "Chris" Matthews is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC...
promoting nuclear energy
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
as part of a "green agenda [to] ... create jobs, create exports," without any revelation by him or the cable channel of his Exelon position. In the report, his cumulative Exelon-derived compensation was put at $530,659; and it was said that, as of March 2009, he held an estimated $248,299 in Exelon stock, according to SEC filings. Exelon was described as "the nation's largest nuclear power company."
Deloitte LLP
In November 2006, Tom Ridge was announced as a Senior Advisor for Deloitte & ToucheDeloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited , commonly referred to as Deloitte, is one of the Big Four accountancy firms along with PricewaterhouseCoopers , Ernst & Young, and KPMG....
USA LLP.
The Hershey Company
In November 2007, Ridge was named to serve on The Hershey CompanyThe Hershey Company
The Hershey Company, known until April 2005 as the Hershey Foods Corporation and commonly called Hershey's, is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America. Its headquarters are in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hershey's Chocolate World. It was founded by Milton S...
's Executive Board. The Hershey Trust, the primary shareholder of Hershey, asked for a change in board composition after several years of poor stock performance. The board named Ridge to the board for his knowledge of economics.
TechRadium Inc
Announced in January 2008, Tom Ridge will serve as a senior advisor to TechRadium, Inc., a Texas-based security technology company that provides its patented alert and notificationsystem, IRIS (Immediate Response Information System), to a wide range of users
including municipalities, public schools and universities, utilities, and military programs.
PURE Bioscience
In September 2009, PURE Bioscience, creator of a patented antimicrobialAntimicrobial
An anti-microbial is a substance that kills or inhibits the growth of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, or protozoans. Antimicrobial drugs either kill microbes or prevent the growth of microbes...
, announced Ridge would serve on its Advisory Board along with former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson
Tommy Thompson
Thomas George "Tommy" Thompson , a United States Republican politician, was the 42nd Governor of Wisconsin, after which he served as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Thompson was a candidate for the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, but dropped out early after a poor performance in polls...
.
2008 Presidential election
Tom Ridge served as a senior aide to Republican Presidential candidate Senator John McCainJohn McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
of Arizona, and was considered by some as a possible running mate for McCain.
Possible 2010 Senate candidacy
According to Fox News, many Republicans hoped Ridge would run for the United States SenateUnited 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...
against the newly turned Democrat Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...
, who stated he would seek re-election in 2010
United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 2010
The 2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania took place on November 2, 2010, during the 2010 midterm elections. Incumbent Republican-turned-Democrat U.S. Senator Arlen Specter ran for re-election to a sixth term, but lost in the Democratic primary to Joe Sestak. Republican nominee Pat...
in the Democratic primary. Already seeking the Republican nomination was former Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Pat Toomey
Pat Toomey
Patrick Joseph "Pat" Toomey, Sr. is the junior United States Senator for Pennsylvania and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, Toomey served as a U.S. Representative for three terms, but did not seek a fourth in compliance with a pledge he had made while running for office in 1998...
, who narrowly lost to Specter in the Republican primary in 2004. Some Republicans thought Ridge would have a better chance against Specter than would Toomey. A Quinnipiac University
Quinnipiac University
Quinnipiac University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational university located in Hamden, Connecticut, United States at the foot of Sleeping Giant State Park...
poll conducted between April 30, 2009 and May 3, 2009 placed Ridge within three points of Specter in a hypothetical matchup between the two men. Some Toomey supporters criticized the idea of a Ridge candidacy because, although Ridge was still registered to vote in Pennsylvania, he was actually living in Chevy Chase, Maryland
Chevy Chase, Maryland
Chevy Chase is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland. In addition, a number of villages in the same area of Montgomery County include "Chevy Chase" in their names...
.
On May 7, 2009, Ridge announced that he would not be a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010.
Memoirs
Tom Ridge's book The Test of Our Times was published in September 2009. Written with Larry Bloom, it concerns Ridge's time as the head of the Department of Homeland Security. He explains the challenges and decision making processes of the newly formed department, and gives his own views as to the future of the security of the United States of America. The book further discussesRidge wrote in his memoir that then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
and then-Attorney General John Ashcroft
John Ashcroft
John David Ashcroft is a United States politician who served as the 79th United States Attorney General, from 2001 until 2005, appointed by President George W. Bush. Ashcroft previously served as the 50th Governor of Missouri and a U.S...
pressured him to raise the terror alert level
Homeland Security Advisory System
In the United States, the Homeland Security Advisory System was a color-coded terrorism threat advisory scale. The different levels trigger specific actions by federal agencies and state and local governments, and they affect the level of security at some airports and other public facilities. It...
, running up to the 2004 elections, because of a pre-election message critical of President Bush from Osama Bin Laden.
He now does after-dinner speeches around the world. In July 2010, a controversy surrounded Ridge's warning that countries would face the wrath of al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
and countries such as Ireland could be at risk of "terrorist" attacks.
Recognition
- Presented with the Woodrow Wilson Award by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for ScholarsWoodrow Wilson International Center for ScholarsThe Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars , located in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential Memorial that was established as part of the Smithsonian Institution by an act of Congress in 1968...
. - Erie International AirportErie International AirportErie International Airport / Tom Ridge Field is a public airport serving northwestern Pennsylvania and is located five miles southwest of the central business district of Erie, a city in Erie County. It features commercial service by regional airlines, connecting passengers to hubs in the...
was co-named Tom Ridge Field in honor of Ridge. - The Tom Ridge Environmental CenterTom Ridge Environmental CenterThe Tom Ridge Environmental Center is a center on the grounds of Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania. Named after former Pennsylvania Governor and former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, it opened on 26 May 2006...
at Presque Isle State ParkPresque Isle State ParkPresque Isle State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on an arching sandy peninsula that juts into Lake Erie, west of the city of Erie, in Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The peninsula sweeps northeastward, surrounding Presque Isle Bay along the park's...
in Erie, PennsylvaniaErie, PennsylvaniaErie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
is named after the former governor. Ridge was instrumental in securing funds for the center. - His picture hangs in the moot courtMoot courtA moot court is an extracurricular activity at many law schools in which participants take part in simulated court proceedings, usually to include drafting briefs and participating in oral argument. The term derives from Anglo Saxon times, when a moot was a gathering of prominent men in a...
room at the Penn State Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle, PennsylvaniaCarlisle, PennsylvaniaCarlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name is traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough...
. - Presque Isle DownsPresque Isle DownsPresque Isle Downs and Casino is a casino and horse racing track complex located south of Erie, Pennsylvania. The owner, MTR Gaming Group, broke ground in October 2005 for its new facility, which opened on February 28, 2007. It contains 2,000 slot machines. The oval track opened on September 2,...
in Erie, PennsylvaniaErie, PennsylvaniaErie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
runs the $100,000 Tom Ridge Stakes every meet.
Personal life
Tom's wife, Michele Ridge, is the former executive director of the Erie CountyErie County, Pennsylvania
Erie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 280,566. Its county seat is the City of Erie.- Geography :...
Library System. They have been married since 1979 and have two children: Lesley and Tommy.