Stewart Udall Biography Quotes 5 Report mistakes

Early Life and Family
Stewart Lee Udall was born on January 31, 1920, in St. Johns, Arizona, into a family that would become one of the most influential political dynasties in the American West. His father, Levi S. Udall, served on the Arizona Supreme Court and later became its chief justice, and his mother, Louise Lee Udall, encouraged public service and learning. The household valued civic duty, debate, and faith, shaping Stewart and his younger brother, Morris K. Udall, known to the country as Mo Udall, who would later become a towering figure in the U.S. House of Representatives. The brothers forged a lifelong partnership grounded in public-spirited idealism. Stewart later married Ermalee Webb, and they raised a family that continued the tradition of service; his son Tom Udall served in both the U.S. House and Senate. The extended Udall family ultimately included nephew Mark Udall, a future U.S. Senator from Colorado.

War Service and Education
Udall left college to serve his country during World War II, flying combat missions in the U.S. Army Air Forces over Europe. After the war he returned to the University of Arizona, completed his studies, earned a law degree, and was admitted to the bar. He and Mo Udall practiced law together in Arizona, an experience that exposed Stewart to the needs of ranchers, tribal communities, small businesses, and fast-growing Western cities. Those years formed his view that the law should marry fairness with practicality and that natural resources must be managed for both people and posterity.

Congressional Career
Udall was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1954 from Arizona, beginning service in 1955. On the House Interior Committee he developed expertise on public lands, water, and power, often working with influential Western Democrats and Republicans. He cultivated relationships with key figures such as Chairman Wayne Aspinall and Senator Clinton P. Anderson, navigating fierce debates over reclamation, dams, and parks. Udall argued for a broader conception of prosperity that included landscapes, wildlife, and open space. His work and plainspoken style attracted the attention of national leaders, including John F. Kennedy, whose 1960 campaign he supported.

Secretary of the Interior
In 1961 President John F. Kennedy appointed Udall Secretary of the Interior; he continued in the post under President Lyndon B. Johnson. Udall became one of the most consequential Interior secretaries in U.S. history. He pressed to expand and modernize the National Park Service, working closely with NPS Directors Conrad Wirth and George B. Hartzog Jr. With the support of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and allies in Congress, his department helped advance the Wilderness Act (1964), the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act (1965), the Endangered Species Preservation Act (1966), the National Historic Preservation Act (1966), the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (1968), and the National Trails System Act (1968). These measures reshaped how the nation conserved wildlands, rivers, historic sites, and recreation spaces.

During his tenure, a generation of new parks and seashores took shape, including Canyonlands National Park, North Cascades National Park, Redwood National Park, and national seashores at Cape Cod, Padre Island, Fire Island, Assateague Island, and Point Reyes. He worked with First Lady Lady Bird Johnson on the campaign for scenic and urban beautification, linking conservation to everyday quality of life. Udall also supported early clean air and water initiatives that complemented Interior's mission.

Udall used the department's authority to promote civil rights, insisting that federal lands, facilities, and concessions be open to all. He pushed the National Park Service to end remaining segregation practices and to ensure that visitors of every race and background could access parks in the South and across the country.

Conservation Strategy and Controversy
A pragmatist with a preservationist bent, Udall often faced difficult trade-offs. He argued that America could meet energy and water needs while keeping sacred places intact. He opposed proposals to build dams that would have flooded stretches of the Grand Canyon, aligning with conservation advocates such as David Brower of the Sierra Club, and he worked with Congress on alternatives for Western water development. Udall believed durable conservation required alliances: with local communities, with states, and with scientists and writers who could articulate an ethic of stewardship. His own book, The Quiet Crisis (1963), framed conservation as a central moral task of modern America, and he publicly defended scientists like Rachel Carson when environmental warnings were dismissed or attacked.

Work with Native Nations
Udall expanded Interior's attention to Native American affairs, encouraging investment in education, health, and infrastructure and advocating respect for tribal self-determination. After leaving office he would build on this commitment as a lawyer, representing Native American clients and uranium miners who suffered from Cold War-era exposure. His advocacy contributed to momentum for federal compensation for downwind communities and miners, culminating in legislation such as the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act years later.

Later Career and Writing
Leaving government in 1969, Udall practiced law in Washington, D.C., focusing on environmental, public lands, and Native American issues. He remained a prolific voice, updating The Quiet Crisis and publishing The Myths of August in the 1990s, an unsparing exploration of the human costs of the atomic age. He mentored younger conservationists and worked with members of Congress from both parties, including family members Tom Udall and Mark Udall, who carried forward much of his environmental and public lands agenda.

Character and Leadership
Udall's leadership style combined Western candor with patience for the long legislative grind. He prized coalition-building, counting on partners in the White House, on Capitol Hill, and in civil society. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson valued his strategic sense and public appeal, while Lady Bird Johnson found in him a tireless ally for beautification and urban parks. Within the department, he empowered creative administrators like George B. Hartzog Jr. to pursue an ambitious, inclusive vision for the park system.

Final Years and Legacy
Stewart Udall died on March 20, 2010, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In recognition of his service, the Interior Department headquarters in Washington was named the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building, a tribute advanced by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and welcomed by President Barack Obama. His legacy endures in law, in the landscapes he helped protect, and in a family that continued to intertwine public service with environmental stewardship. From Arizona's high desert to the redwood forests and Atlantic beaches, Udall's imprint can be traced across the map of American conservation and in the institutions that guard it for future generations.

Our collection contains 5 quotes who is written by Stewart, under the main topics: Ethics & Morality - Nature - Native American Sayings.