Manuel Lujan, Jr.
Manuel Lujan, Jr. ( born May 12, 1928 in San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico ) is a retired American politician. He was from 1989 to 1993 Minister of the Interior of the United States. Between 1969 and 1989 he represented the first electoral district of the state of New Mexico in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Early years
Manuel Lujan was born on a small farm near an Indian settlement in Santa Fe County. His father was mayor of Santa Fe. Until 1946 Manuel attended St. Michael's High School in Santa Fe and then the St. Mary's College in San Francisco. Most recently he attended until 1950, the College of Santa Fe. In the same year he joined the Reserve of the National Guard. After leaving school he worked in the family's own insurance company.
Political rise
Lujan was a member of the Republican Party and in 1964 competed unsuccessfully for a seat in the Senate of New Mexico. Between 1972 and 2004 he participated in a total of eight Republican National Conventions in part as a delegate and was meanwhile deputy party chief in New Mexico. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1968, where he replaced Thomas G. Morris on January 3, 1969. After he was re-elected in the next 20 years in each case, he could implement his mandate in Congress until January 3, 1989. In 1988, he decided not to run again.
Minister of the Interior of the United States
After the accession of President George Bush Lujan was appointed as the new Minister of the Interior of the United States in his cabinet. Already under President Ronald Reagan, he had been for this office in the conversation. As Minister of the Interior Lujan superseded in February 1989 Donald P. Hodel. Lujan remained during the entire term of President Bush on this post. He came for a time because of his support of oil drilling off the California coast under criticism from environmentalists.
Further CV
In 1994, Lujan has been implicated as a possible candidate for the gubernatorial election in New Mexico this week. But he refused such a candidacy. He now lives in Albuquerque. His niece Michelle Lujan Grisham 's Since 2013 members of Congress for the first electoral district of the State of New Mexico.