Thomas S. Kleppe
Thomas savig Kleppe ( born July 1, 1919 in Kintyre, Emmons County, North Dakota; † March 2, 2007 in Bethesda, Maryland ) was an American politician ( Republican) of the cabinet of U.S. President Gerald Ford and Secretary of the Interior belonged.
Life
Kleppe was born into a family that had settled on the basis of the Homestead Act as settlers in North Dakota. He made his 1936 graduation from the High School of Valley City and attended from the following year, the teacher's college this city. From 1942 he served as a Warrant Officer in the U.S. Army during World War II.
After his retirement from the army in 1946, he took over the same year the post of president of Gold Seal Company, a company that manufactured floor wax and was during his term of office lasting until 1964, from a small company into the market leader in this sector.
Policy
During this time, Kleppe was also politically active for the first time when he held the post of mayor of Bismarck between 1950 and 1954. In 1964 he was set up by the Republicans as a candidate for election to the U.S. Senate; However, with 42 percent of the vote, he defeated the Democratic incumbent Quentin N. Burdick clearly. Two years later he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he remained for a re-election until 1970. This year, he opted not to run again; Instead, he entered for re-election to a Senate seat, but was defeated again Quentin Burdick, where he came only on 37 percent of the vote this time.
From 1971 to 1975 Kleppe served as head of the Small Business Administration, a U.S. Government assumed authority, whose purpose was to support small business enterprises. On October 17, 1975 President Ford appointed him eventually in the wake of the Stanley K. Hathaway resigned as interior minister in his cabinet. When Ford had to resign in early 1977 after his election defeat by Jimmy Carter in the presidential office, thus ending also Kleppes political career.
As a result, he was a member of the teaching staff nor the University of Wyoming. In early 2007 Thomas Kleppe died from the effects of Alzheimer 's disease.