Spencer Abraham

Spencer Abraham

10th United States Secretary of Energy
In office January 20, 2001 – January 31, 2005
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Bill Richardson
Succeeded by	Samuel Bodman
United States Senator from Michigan
In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2001
Preceded by	Donald W. Riegle, Jr.
Succeeded by	Debbie Stabenow
Personal details
Born	June 12, 1952 (1952-06-12) (age 59) East Lansing, Michigan
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Jane Abraham
Alma mater	Harvard University Michigan State University
Religion	Maronite Catholic

Edmund Spencer Abraham (born June 12, 1952) is a former United States Senator from Michigan. He served as the tenth United States Secretary of Energy, serving under President George W. Bush. Abraham is one of the founders of the Federalist Society.

1 Education and family
2 Political career
3 Later career
4 Electoral history
5 Notes
6 External links

Education and family

Abraham was born in East Lansing, Michigan and a graduate of East Lansing High School. Of Lebanese descent, Abraham is married to Jane Abraham (current co-chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party) and has three children: a son and twin girls, Betsy and Julie. He holds a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Harvard University, and is a 1974 Honors College graduate of Michigan State University. In 1978, while at Harvard Law School, Abraham helped found the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy.^[1] It became one of the official journals of the Federalist Society, which was founded in 1982.

Political career

Before his election to the Senate, Abraham was a law professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

Republican Party service

He was elected chairman of the Michigan Republican Party from 1983 to 1990. He was deputy chief of staff for Vice President Dan Quayle from 1990 to 1991. He later served as co-chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) from 1991 to 1993 and ran for chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1993, coming second to Haley Barbour.

United States Senate

Abraham was elected to represent Michigan in the United States Senate in 1994, and he served until 2001 when he was defeated for reelection to the Senate in 2000 for a second term by Debbie Stabenow. He was the only Arab American in that chamber. According to the New York Times, State Republicans attributed his loss to "scathing advertisements by a wide range of special interest groups, including advertisements that criticized Mr. Abraham's support for a relaxation of some immigration restrictions".^[2] During the campaign the Federation for American Immigration Reform ran ads asking: "Why is Senator Spencer Abraham trying to make it easier for terrorists like Osama bin Laden to export their war of terror to any city street in America?"^[3]^[4]^[5] The media denounced these commercials as "vengeful".^[6] Abraham was a consistent advocate of large-scale immigration and worked relentlessly to lessen immigration controls and regulations. In 1997 he received the "Defender of the Melting Pot" award from the National Council of La Raza.^[7]

Committee service and legislation

He served on the Budget, Commerce, Science and Transportation, Judiciary, and Small Business Committees. He also chaired two subcommittees: Manufacturing and Competitiveness, and Immigration. Abraham authored the "H1B Visa in Global and National Commerce Act", establishing a federal framework for on-line contracts and signatures; the "Government Paperwork Elimination Act", and the "Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act", which protects Internet domain names for businesses and persons against copyright and trademark infringements. In 1999, Abraham co-sponsored S.896, a bill to abolish the U.S. Department of Energy, which would have transferred control of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in large part to the Defense Department.^[8]

U.S. Energy Secretary

Abraham was appointed Secretary of Energy by the incoming George W. Bush's administration. On November 15, 2004, Abraham announced that he would resign from this position, effective with the swearing in of his successor Samuel W. Bodman on February 1, 2005.

In 2004, Lebanese Ambassador Farid Abboud awarded Abraham the National Order of the Cedar.^[9]

Hoover Institution

Abraham was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, an influential conservative think tank based at Stanford University from 2005 through 2007. After leaving office, Abraham opened The Abraham Group, a Washington DC based international strategic consulting firm. In 2006, Spencer Abraham has accepted the appointment as Chairman of the Board of Areva Inc., the US subsidiary of the French nuclear energy company.^[10]

Thompson for President

On July 24, 2007, Abraham was announced as an "ambassador to official Washington" in the Fred Thompson presidential campaign.^[11]

Later career

In 2006 Abraham was appointed Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of AREVA Inc., the American arm of the French nuclear company Areva, which is planning to build EPR nuclear power plants in the United States, and is building the mixed oxide fuel (MOX) manufacturing plant at the Savannah River Site to convert legacy weapons-grade plutonium into power station fuel.^[12]^[13]

With William Tucker, Abraham wrote Lights Out!: Ten Myths About (and Real Solutions to) America's Energy Crisis, which was published in July 2010.

Abraham is also the Chairman and CEO of The Abraham Group, a strategic consulting firm providing assistance to clients seeking opportunities in the U.S. and global markets.^[13]

Electoral history

Michigan U.S. Senate Election 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Debbie Stabenow	2,061,952	49.5
	Republican	Spencer Abraham (Incumbent)	1,994,693	47.9

Michigan U.S. Senate Election 1994
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Spencer Abraham	1,577,865	52
	Democratic	Bob Carr	1,298,726	43
	Libertarian	Jon Coon	127,783	4

Notes

^ "Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy". Archived from the original on June 2, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070602081241/http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/About+Us.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
^ The New York Times. November 9, 2000. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/09/politics/09SENA.html?pagewanted=all&ei=5070&en=5289f2405dd5300b&ex=1147320000. Retrieved April 9, 2010.
^ http://www.steinreport.com/gigot_331.htm
^ http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.17625/pub_detail.asp
^ http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer
^ . http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_18_52/ai_66106575/pg_4.
^ http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/krikorian200508190822.asp
^ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:SN00896:@@@L&summ2=m&
^ "Farid Abboud awards Spencer Abraham "The National Order of the Cedar"". http://www.arab-american-affairs.net/archives/spencer-abraham-lebanon.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
^ (French) "Spencer ABRAHAM nommé Président du conseil d’administration d’AREVA Inc.". Framatome ANP. March 1, 2006. http://www.framatome-anp.com/scripts/press/publigen/content/templates/show.asp?P=733&L=FR.
^ The Politico, F. Thompson shakes up pre-launch campaign, by Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen, July 24, 2007.
^ Jo Becker and William J. Broad (April 10, 2011). "New Doubts About Turning Plutonium Into a Fuel". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/us/11mox.html. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Officers - Strong U.S. Leadership". Areva. http://us.areva.com/scripts/home/publigen/content/templates/show.asp?P=476&L=EN. Retrieved April 11, 2011.

External links

Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Voting record maintained by The Washington Post

Party political offices
Preceded by Melvin L. Larson	Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party 1983–1991	Succeeded by David J. Doyle
United States Senate
Preceded by Donald W. Riegle, Jr.	United States Senator (Class 1) from Michigan 1995–2001 Served alongside: Carl Levin	Succeeded by Debbie Stabenow
Political offices
Preceded by Bill Richardson	United States Secretary of Energy Served under: George W. Bush 2001–2005	Succeeded by Samuel W. Bodman

United States Senators from Michigan

Class 1	Lyon • Porter • Cass • Fitzgerald • Cass • Chandler • Christiancy • Chandler • Baldwin • Conger • Stockbridge • Patton • Burrows • Townsend • Ferris • Vandenberg • Moody • Potter • Hart • Riegle • Abraham • Stabenow

Class 2	Norvell • Woodbridge • Felch • Stuart • Bingham • Howard • Ferry • Palmer • McMillan • Alger • Smith • Newberry • Couzens • Brown • Ferguson • McNamara • Griffin • Levin

United States Secretaries of Energy

Schlesinger • Duncan • Edwards • Hodel • Herrington • Watkins • O'Leary • Peña • Richardson • Abraham • Bodman • Chu

Cabinet of President George W. Bush (2001–2009)

Cabinet

Secretary of State	Colin Powell (2001–2005) • Condoleezza Rice (2005–2009)

Secretary of the Treasury	Paul O'Neill (2001–2002) • John W. Snow (2003–2006) • Henry Paulson (2006–2009)

Secretary of Defense	Donald Rumsfeld (2001–2006) • Robert Gates (2006–2009)

Attorney General	John Ashcroft (2001–2005) • Alberto Gonzales (2005–2007) • Michael Mukasey (2007–2009)

Secretary of the Interior	Gale Norton (2001–2006) • Dirk Kempthorne (2006–2009)

Secretary of Agriculture	Ann Veneman (2001–2005) • Mike Johanns (2005–2007) • Ed Schafer (2008–2009)

Secretary of Commerce	Donald Evans (2001–2005) • Carlos Gutierrez (2005–2009)

Secretary of Labor	Elaine Chao (2001–2009)

Secretary of Health and Human Services	Tommy Thompson (2001–2005) • Mike Leavitt (2005–2009)

Secretary of Education	Rod Paige (2001–2005) • Margaret Spellings (2005–2009)

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development	Mel Martinez (2001–2003) • Alphonso Jackson (2003–2008) • Steve Preston (2008–2009)

Secretary of Transportation	Norman Mineta (2001–2006) • Mary Peters (2006–2009)

Secretary of Energy	Spencer Abraham (2001–2005) • Samuel Bodman (2005–2009)

Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Anthony Principi (2001–2005) • Jim Nicholson (2005–2007) • James Peake (2007–2009)

Secretary of Homeland Security	Tom Ridge (2003–2005) • Michael Chertoff (2005–2009)

Cabinet-level

Vice President	Dick Cheney (2001–2009)

White House Chief of Staff	Andrew Card (2001–2006) • Joshua Bolten (2006–2009)

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency	Christine Todd Whitman (2001–2003) • Mike Leavitt (2003–2005) • Stephen L. Johnson (2005–2009)

Director of the Office of Management and Budget	Mitch Daniels (2001–2003) • Joshua Bolten (2003–2006) • Rob Portman (2006–2007) • Jim Nussle (2007–2009)

Director of National Drug Control Policy	John P. Walters (2001–2009)

Trade Representative	Robert Zoellick (2001–2005) • Rob Portman (2005–2006) • Susan Schwab (2006–2009)

Persondata
Name	Abraham, Spencer
Alternative names	Abraham, Spence
Short description	United States Senator & Secretary of Energy
Date of birth	June 12, 1952
Place of birth	East Lansing, Michigan
Date of death
Place of death