- Spencer Abraham
Infobox US Cabinet official
name=Spencer Abraham
order=10th
title=United States Secretary of Energy
term_start=January 20 ,2001
term_end=February 1 ,2005
president=George W. Bush
predecessor=Bill Richardson
successor=Samuel Bodman
order2=United States Senator
title2=
fromMichigan
term_start2=January 4 ,1995
term_end2=January 3 ,2001
alongside2=Carl Levin
predecessor2=Donald W. Riegle, Jr.
successor2=Debbie Stabenow
party=Republican
birth_date=birth date and age|1952|06|12
birth_place=East Lansing, Michigan
spouse=Jane Abraham
dead=alive
date of death=
place of death=Edward Spencer Abraham (born
June 12 ,1952 inEast Lansing, Michigan ) is a former United States Senator fromMichigan . He served as the tenthUnited States Secretary of Energy , serving under PresidentGeorge W. Bush . Abraham is one of the founders of theFederalist Society .Education and family
Of Lebanese descent, Spencer Abraham is married to Jane (current co-chairwoman of the
Michigan Republican Party ) and has three children: a son and twin girls. He holds aJuris Doctor (J.D.) degree fromHarvard University , and is a 1974 Honors College graduate ofMichigan State University and is a native ofEast Lansing, Michigan . While at Harvard Law School, Abraham founded the official journal of theFederalist Society , the "Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy ". [cite web
title = Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy
url =http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/About%20Us.htm
accessdate = 2007-08-13 ]Political career and background
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 PresidentDan Quayle from 1990 to 1991. He later served as co-chairman of theNational Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) from 1991 to 1993.United States Senate
Abraham was elected to represent
Michigan in theUnited States Senate in 1994, and he served until 2001 when he was defeated for reelection to the Senate in 2000 for a second term byDebbie Stabenow .He was the onlyArab American in that chamber. According to theNew York Times , State Republicans attributed the loss (defeat byDebbie Stabenow ) to "often 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" [http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/09/politics/09SENA.html?pagewanted=all&ei=5070&en=5289f2405dd5300b&ex=1147320000] . During the campaign theFederation 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?" [http://www.steinreport.com/gigot_331.htm] [http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.17625/pub_detail.asp] [http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer] . The media denounced these commercials as "vengeful" [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_18_52/ai_66106575/pg_4] . 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 [http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/krikorian200508190822.asp] .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, Sen. Abraham co-sponsored S.896, A bill to abolish the Department of Energy, which would have transferred control of The Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the Defense Department.
U.S. Energy Secretary
Abraham was appointed Secretary of Energy by the incoming Bush administration, a post he maintained for the first Bush term. On
November 15 ,2004 , Abraham announced that he would resign from the position of Secretary of Energy, which took effect with the swearing in of his successorSamuel W. Bodman onFebruary 1 ,2005 .On
February 14 ,2005 The "Toronto Star " reported that Abraham was on a short list of candidates for American ambassador to Canada to replacePaul Cellucci .In July 2005, Abraham's wife, Jane, announced that after some consideration she would not be a candidate for the
U.S. Senate to challengeDebbie Stabenow . Michigan Republicans had attempted to recruit Mrs. Abraham to run against the first-term Stabenow, who had defeated her husband in 2000.Honors
Hon. Spencer Abraham, U.S. Secretary of Energy, received [cite web
title = Farid Abboud awards Spencer Abraham "The National Order of the Cedar"
url =http://www.arab-american-affairs.net/archives/spencer-abraham-lebanon.htm
accessdate = 2007-09-25 ] "The National Order of the Cedar”" from Lebanese AmbassadorFarid Abboud Hoover Institution
Abraham is now a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the
Hoover Institution , an influential conservative think tank based atStanford University . After leaving office, Abraham opened [http://www.abrahamgroupllc.com 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. [ fr icon cite news | title=Spencer ABRAHAM nommé Président du conseil d’administration d’AREVA Inc.
publisher=Framatome ANP | date=March 1 ,2006 | url=http://www.framatome-anp.com/scripts/press/publigen/content/templates/show.asp?P=733&L=FR ]Thompson for President
On
July 24 ,2007 , Abraham was announced as an "ambassador to official Washington" in theFred Thompson presidential campaign. [http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0707/5101.html The Politico, "F. Thompson shakes up pre-launch campaign", by Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen,July 24 ,2007 ] .]Electoral history
Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate =Debbie Stabenow
votes = 2,061,952
percentage = 49.5
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (US)
candidate =Spencer Abraham (Incumbent)
votes = 1,994,693
percentage = 47.9
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (US)
candidate =Spencer Abraham
votes = 1,577,865
percentage = 52
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Bob Carr
votes = 1,298,726
percentage = 43
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Libertarian Party (US)
candidate =Jon Coon
votes = 127,783
percentage = 4
change =Notes
External links
* [http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/abraham-bio.html Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham]
* [http://www.opensecrets.org/bush/cabinet/cabinet.abraham.asp Presidential Profile: George W. Bush's Cabinet]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 =
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