Hazel R. O'Leary
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Hazel Rollins O'Leary (born May 17, 1937) was the seventh United States Secretary of Energy from 1993 to 1997.She was the first and to date only woman to hold the position.
Born in Newport News, Virginia, she is an alumna of the former segregated Huntington High School of Newport News.
O'Leary worked as a prosecutor in New Jersey after graduation from Rutgers University Law School and was later a partner in the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand. During the Jimmy Carter administration, O'Leary was assistant administrator of the Federal Energy Administration, general counsel of the Community Services Administration, and administrator of the Economic Regulatory Administration at the newly-created Department of Energy. In 1981, O'Leary established with her husband the consulting firm of O'Leary & Associates, serving as vice president and general counsel. From 1989 to 1993, she worked as an executive vice president of the Northern States Power Company. O'Leary was nominated to be Secretary of Energy in 1993 by President Bill Clinton. Since 2004, O'Leary has served as President of her undergraduate alma mater, the historically black Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.
[edit] Travel scandal
During her term as Secretary of Energy, she was often accused of travelling too frequently and spending lavishly on her accommodations. She apologized to Congressional committees in 1996 for spending which exceeded limits on the funds appropriated for travel and resigned in January 1997. Some also made the accusation that these trips, which according to a GAO report sometimes paid expenses for businessmen, were used to pay back Democratic Party contributors.
It was later revealed that Chinagate scandal figure Johnny Chung claimed that O'Leary met with Chinese oil officials after Chung had donated $25,000 to O'Leary's favorite charity Africare. Janet Reno refused to authorize an investigation of this charge, however. It was later revealed that FBI director Louis Freeh had advised Reno that the circumstances surrounding the donations were "extraordinarily suspicious".
O'Leary was also in charge of the U.S. nuclear laboratories during the time it was alleged that the People's Republic of China stole a number of advanced nuclear weapon designs from the United States as noted in the Cox Report released by the U.S. Congress in 1999.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Bio from Daily Press, STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS, July 14, 2004.
| Preceded by James D. Watkins |
United States Secretary of Energy 1993–1997 |
Succeeded by Federico Peña |
| United States Secretaries of Energy |  |
|---|---|
| Schlesinger • Duncan • Edwards • Hodel • Herrington • Watkins • O'Leary • Peña • Richardson • Abraham • Bodman |
