William Ruckelshaus
Encyclopedia
William Doyle Ruckelshaus (born July 24, 1932) is an American attorney and, several times, U.S. government official. He served as the first head of the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) in 1970, was subsequently acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
, and then Deputy Attorney General of the United States
. During 1983 through 1985 he returned as EPA Administrator.
, to a distinguished family with a long history of practicing law in Indianapolis and serving in Republican Party politics.
He attended parochial schools until the age of 16, then finished high school in Portsmouth, Rhode Island
, at the Portsmouth Abbey School
. After graduation, he served for two years in the United States Army
, becoming a drill sergeant, and left the service in 1955. Ruckelshaus then graduated with an A.B. (cum laude) from Princeton University
, followed in 1960 by an L.L.B. from Harvard Law School
.
Starting at age 28, he was Deputy Attorney General of Indiana from 1960 through 1965. For two years he was assigned to the Indiana Board of Health. As counsel to the Indiana Stream Pollution Control Board, Ruckelshaus obtained court orders prohibiting industries and municipalities from heavy pollution of the state's water supply. He also helped draft the 1961 Indiana Air Pollution Control Act, the state's first attempt to reduce that problem. He then spent two years as Chief Counsel for the Attorney General's Office.
Ruckelshaus then began a political career. He ran in 1964 as a moderate Republican for an Indiana Congressional seat, losing in the primaries to a candidate from the conservative wing of the party. He then spent a year as Minority Attorney for the Indiana State Senate.
He then won a seat in the Indiana House of Representatives
, benefitting from an up year for Republicans overall. He became Majority Leader of the House in his first term, serving in that capacity from 1967 to 1969.
He won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 1968, but lost the general election 51%-48% to Birch Bayh
.
President Richard Nixon
then appointed him for the years 1969 and 1970 as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division for the U.S. Department of Justice.
’s first Administrator
when the agency was formed on December 4, 1970, by President Richard M. Nixon. Although many people were mentioned as possibilities for this new position, Ruckelshaus got the nod based upon the strong recommendation of the U.S. Attorney General, John Mitchell
.
Ruckelshaus laid the foundation for the EPA by hiring its leaders, defining its mission, deciding priorities, and selecting an organizational structure.
During his early tenure in the EPA, the agency issued a ban on DDT, against the advice of the EPA hearing examiner, Judge Edmund Sweeney.
, there was a major reshuffling of Nixon administration posts, due to the resignations of White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman
and Domestic Affairs Advisor John Ehrlichman
. Ruckelshaus's record of success at EPA and his reputation for integrity led to his being appointed Acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Later in the same year, he was appointed Deputy Attorney General
of the United States Department of Justice. In an event known as the "Saturday Night Massacre
", Ruckelshaus and his boss, Elliot Richardson
, famously resigned their positions within the Justice Department
rather than obey an order from President Richard Nixon
to fire the Watergate
special prosecutor, Archibald Cox
, who was investigating official misconduct on the part of the president and his aides.
and the practice of law,
joining towards the end of 1973 the Washington law firm of Ruckelshaus, Beveridge, Fairbanks, and Diamond. Two years later, he and his wife and five children moved to Seattle, Washington
, where he accepted a position as Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs of the Weyerhaeuser Company.
He also served as a director of American Water Development with, among others, Maurice Strong
, Samuel Belzberg
, Alexander Crutchfield
and Richard Lamm
.
project, President Ronald Reagan
appointed Ruckelshaus to serve as EPA Administrator again. This time it was White House Chief of Staff James Baker
who was Ruckelshaus's champion in asking him to return to the agency. The White House acceded to Ruckhelshaus's request to allow him maximum autonomy in the choice of new appointees.
Ruckelshaus attempted to win back public confidence in the EPA, a challenging task in the face of a skeptical press and a wary Congress, both of whom scrutinized all aspects of the agency's activities and some of whom interpreted a number of its actions in the worst possible light. Nonetheless, Ruckelshaus filled the top-level staffing slots with persons of competence, turned the attention of the staff back to the agency's fundamental mission, and raised the esteem of the agency in the public mind.
On November 28, 1984, Ruckelshaus announced that he would be retiring as EPA head, effective January 5, 1985, around the start of President Reagan's second term. In actuality he stayed on until February 7, 1985.
Of his two tenures at EPA, Ruckelshaus later reflected:
, a Seattle-based law firm.
From 1983-86, he served on the World Commission on Environment and Development set up by the United Nations
.
Around 1988, he became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Browning Ferris Industries of Houston, Texas
.
President Bill Clinton
appointed him as U.S. envoy in the implementation of the Pacific Salmon Treaty; he was that from 1997 to 1998. In 1999, he was appointed by Governor Gary Locke
as Chairman of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board for the State of Washington.
In the early 2000s, Ruckelshaus was appointed by President George W. Bush
to serve on the United States Commission on Ocean Policy
. On September 20, 2004, the Commission submitted its Final Report to the President and Congress, An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century.
Ruckelshaus serves or has served as a director on boards of several corporations, including Cummins Engine Company, Pharmacia Corporation, Solutia, Coinstar
, Nordstrom
, and Weyerhaeuser Company.
He is Chair Emeritus of the University of Wyoming
's Ruckelshaus Institute for Environment and Natural Resources, Chair of the World Resources Institute
, and Chair of the Meridian Institute
. He is a director of the Initiative for Global Developmenthttp://igdleaders.org/sections/whoweare/whoweare_leadershipcouncil.asp.
On April 17, 2008, Ruckelshaus made news again when he announced his endorsement of Democrat Barack Obama
for President of the United States.
On May 7, 2008, Ruckelshaus was appointed to the Washington State Puget Sound Partnership, an agency devoted to cleaning up Puget Sound.
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
(EPA) in 1970, was subsequently acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, and then Deputy Attorney General of the United States
United States Deputy Attorney General
United States Deputy Attorney General is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. In the United States federal government, the Deputy Attorney General oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department of Justice, and may act as Attorney General during the...
. During 1983 through 1985 he returned as EPA Administrator.
Early life, military service and education
Ruckelshaus was born in Indianapolis, IndianaIndianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, to a distinguished family with a long history of practicing law in Indianapolis and serving in Republican Party politics.
He attended parochial schools until the age of 16, then finished high school in Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Portsmouth is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,389 at the 2010 U.S. Census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water. Most of its land area lies on Aquidneck...
, at the Portsmouth Abbey School
Portsmouth Abbey School
Portsmouth Abbey School is a private, coeducational boarding and day school for grades 9 through 12, located in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Founded by the Benedictine monks of Portsmouth Abbey in 1926 as Portsmouth Priory School, the school offered a classical education to boys...
. After graduation, he served for two years in 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...
, becoming a drill sergeant, and left the service in 1955. Ruckelshaus then graduated with an A.B. (cum laude) from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, followed in 1960 by an L.L.B. from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
.
Early legal and political career
After passing the Indiana bar exam, Ruckelshaus joined the family law firm of Ruckelshaus, Bobbitt, and O'Connor.Starting at age 28, he was Deputy Attorney General of Indiana from 1960 through 1965. For two years he was assigned to the Indiana Board of Health. As counsel to the Indiana Stream Pollution Control Board, Ruckelshaus obtained court orders prohibiting industries and municipalities from heavy pollution of the state's water supply. He also helped draft the 1961 Indiana Air Pollution Control Act, the state's first attempt to reduce that problem. He then spent two years as Chief Counsel for the Attorney General's Office.
Ruckelshaus then began a political career. He ran in 1964 as a moderate Republican for an Indiana Congressional seat, losing in the primaries to a candidate from the conservative wing of the party. He then spent a year as Minority Attorney for the Indiana State Senate.
He then won a seat in the Indiana House of Representatives
Indiana House of Representatives
The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House members serve two-year terms without term limits...
, benefitting from an up year for Republicans overall. He became Majority Leader of the House in his first term, serving in that capacity from 1967 to 1969.
He won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 1968, but lost the general election 51%-48% to Birch Bayh
Birch Bayh
Birch Evans Bayh II is a former United States Senator from Indiana, having served from 1963 to 1981. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in the 1976 election, but lost to Jimmy Carter. He is the father of former Indiana Governor and former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh.-Life...
.
President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
then appointed him for the years 1969 and 1970 as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division for the U.S. Department of Justice.
EPA Administrator
Ruckelshaus became the United States Environmental Protection AgencyUnited States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
’s first Administrator
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is the head of the United States federal government's Environmental Protection Agency, and is thus responsible for enforcing the nation's Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, as well as numerous other environmental statutes. The Administrator is...
when the agency was formed on December 4, 1970, by President Richard M. Nixon. Although many people were mentioned as possibilities for this new position, Ruckelshaus got the nod based upon the strong recommendation of the U.S. Attorney General, John Mitchell
John Mitchell
-Politics:*John Mitchell *John Mitchel , Irish nationalist*John N. Mitchell , United States Attorney General and Watergate conspirator*John Mitchell , United States Congressman from Pennsylvania...
.
Ruckelshaus laid the foundation for the EPA by hiring its leaders, defining its mission, deciding priorities, and selecting an organizational structure.
During his early tenure in the EPA, the agency issued a ban on DDT, against the advice of the EPA hearing examiner, Judge Edmund Sweeney.
Saturday Night Massacre
In April 1973 in the growing midst of the Watergate scandalWatergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
, there was a major reshuffling of Nixon administration posts, due to the resignations of White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman
H. R. Haldeman
Harry Robbins "Bob" Haldeman was an American political aide and businessman, best known for his service as White House Chief of Staff to President Richard Nixon and for his role in events leading to the Watergate burglaries and the Watergate scandal – for which he was found guilty of conspiracy...
and Domestic Affairs Advisor John Ehrlichman
John Ehrlichman
John Daniel Ehrlichman was counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon. He was a key figure in events leading to the Watergate first break-in and the ensuing Watergate scandal, for which he was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury...
. Ruckelshaus's record of success at EPA and his reputation for integrity led to his being appointed Acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Later in the same year, he was appointed Deputy Attorney General
United States Deputy Attorney General
United States Deputy Attorney General is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. In the United States federal government, the Deputy Attorney General oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department of Justice, and may act as Attorney General during the...
of the United States Department of Justice. In an event known as the "Saturday Night Massacre
Saturday night massacre
The "Saturday Night Massacre" was the term given by political commentators to U.S. President Richard Nixon's executive dismissal of independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox, and the resignations of Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus on October 20,...
", Ruckelshaus and his boss, Elliot Richardson
Elliot Richardson
Elliot Lee Richardson was an American lawyer and politician who was a member of the cabinet of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. As U.S...
, famously resigned their positions within the Justice Department
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...
rather than obey an order from President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
to fire the Watergate
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
special prosecutor, Archibald Cox
Archibald Cox
Archibald Cox, Jr., was an American lawyer and law professor who served as U.S. Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy. He became known as the first special prosecutor for the Watergate scandal. During his career, he was a pioneering expert on labor law and also an authority on...
, who was investigating official misconduct on the part of the president and his aides.
Private law
After leaving the Justice Department, Ruckelshaus returned to the private sectorand the practice of law,
joining towards the end of 1973 the Washington law firm of Ruckelshaus, Beveridge, Fairbanks, and Diamond. Two years later, he and his wife and five children moved to Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, where he accepted a position as Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs of the Weyerhaeuser Company.
He also served as a director of American Water Development with, among others, Maurice Strong
Maurice Strong
Maurice F. Strong, PC, CC, OM, FRSC is a Canadian entrepreneur and a former under-secretary general of the United Nations. Strong's first name is pronounced "Mor'ris" with the accent on the first syllable....
, Samuel Belzberg
Samuel Belzberg
Samuel Belzberg, OC, OBC is a Canadian business man and philanthropist.Born in Calgary, Alberta, Belzberg was educated at the University of Alberta....
, Alexander Crutchfield
Alexander Crutchfield
-Background:He was born in Tucson Arizona, a fifth generation Arizonan. He earned a BA in African History, Economics and Accounting from Claremont McKenna College as a Distinguished Scholar and recipient of the CMC Student Citizen Award...
and Richard Lamm
Richard Lamm
Richard Douglas "Dick" Lamm is an American politician, Certified Public Accountant, college professor, and lawyer. He served three terms as 38th Governor of Colorado as a Democrat and ran for the Reform Party's nomination for President of the United States in 1996.He is currently the Co-Director...
.
EPA Administrator redux
In 1983, with the EPA in crisis due to mass resignations over the mishandling of the SuperfundSuperfund
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...
project, President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
appointed Ruckelshaus to serve as EPA Administrator again. This time it was White House Chief of Staff James Baker
James Baker
James Addison Baker, III is an American attorney, politician and political advisor.Baker served as the Chief of Staff in President Ronald Reagan's first administration and in the final year of the administration of President George H. W. Bush...
who was Ruckelshaus's champion in asking him to return to the agency. The White House acceded to Ruckhelshaus's request to allow him maximum autonomy in the choice of new appointees.
Ruckelshaus attempted to win back public confidence in the EPA, a challenging task in the face of a skeptical press and a wary Congress, both of whom scrutinized all aspects of the agency's activities and some of whom interpreted a number of its actions in the worst possible light. Nonetheless, Ruckelshaus filled the top-level staffing slots with persons of competence, turned the attention of the staff back to the agency's fundamental mission, and raised the esteem of the agency in the public mind.
On November 28, 1984, Ruckelshaus announced that he would be retiring as EPA head, effective January 5, 1985, around the start of President Reagan's second term. In actuality he stayed on until February 7, 1985.
Of his two tenures at EPA, Ruckelshaus later reflected:
I've had an awful lot of jobs in my lifetime, and in moving from one to another, have had the opportunity to think about what makes them worthwhile. I've concluded there are four important criteria: interest, excitement, challenge, and fulfillment. I've never worked anywhere where I could find all four to quite the same extent as at EPA. I can find interest, challenge, and excitement as [board chair of a company]. I do have an interesting job. But it is tough to find the same degree of fulfillment I found in the government. At EPA, you work for a cause that is beyond self-interest and larger than the goals people normally pursue. You're not there for the money, you're there for something beyond yourself.
Subsequent career
In 1985, Ruckelshaus joined Perkins CoiePerkins Coie
Perkins Coie is an international law firm based in Seattle, Washington. It has been listed on the Fortune Magazine "100 Best Places to Work in America" for the past nine years. It is noted for its intellectual property, Labor and Employment, and Products Liability practice groups, and for its...
, a Seattle-based law firm.
From 1983-86, he served on the World Commission on Environment and Development set up by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
.
Around 1988, he became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Browning Ferris Industries of Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
.
President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
appointed him as U.S. envoy in the implementation of the Pacific Salmon Treaty; he was that from 1997 to 1998. In 1999, he was appointed by Governor Gary Locke
Gary Locke
Gary Locke may refer to:*Gary Locke , Chinese American politician; U.S. Secretary of Commerce and former Governor of Washington*Gary Locke *Gary Locke...
as Chairman of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board for the State of Washington.
In the early 2000s, Ruckelshaus was appointed by President 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....
to serve on the United States Commission on Ocean Policy
United States Commission on Ocean Policy
The United States Commission on Ocean Policy was created by an act of the 106th United States Congress known as the Oceans Act of 2000...
. On September 20, 2004, the Commission submitted its Final Report to the President and Congress, An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century.
Ruckelshaus serves or has served as a director on boards of several corporations, including Cummins Engine Company, Pharmacia Corporation, Solutia, Coinstar
Coinstar
Coinstar, Inc. is an American company.The firm's original focus was the conversion of loose change into paper currency, donations or gift cards via coin counter kiosks...
, Nordstrom
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. is an upscale department store chain in the United States, founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. Initially a shoe retailer, the company today also sells clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations, home furnishings...
, and Weyerhaeuser Company.
He is Chair Emeritus of the University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
's Ruckelshaus Institute for Environment and Natural Resources, Chair of the World Resources Institute
World Resources Institute
The World Resources Institute is an environmental think tank founded in 1982 based in Washington, D.C. in the United States.WRI is an independent, non-partisan and nonprofit organization with a staff of more than 100 scientists, economists, policy experts, business analysts, statistical analysts,...
, and Chair of the Meridian Institute
Meridian Institute
Meridian Institute is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1997 with offices in Dillon, Colorado and Washington, DC. The primary objective of the organization is to help people involved in society's toughest issues solve problems and make informed decisions...
. He is a director of the Initiative for Global Developmenthttp://igdleaders.org/sections/whoweare/whoweare_leadershipcouncil.asp.
On April 17, 2008, Ruckelshaus made news again when he announced his endorsement of Democrat Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
for President of the United States.
On May 7, 2008, Ruckelshaus was appointed to the Washington State Puget Sound Partnership, an agency devoted to cleaning up Puget Sound.