Spencer Abraham

Edward Spencer Abraham (born June 12, 1952) is an American attorney, author and politician who was a United States Senator from Michigan from 1995 to 2001 and the tenth United States Secretary of Energy, serving under President George W. Bush, from 2001 to 2005. Abraham, a Republican, is one of the founders of the Federalist Society and a co-founder of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. As of January 2021, Abraham is the last Republican to serve as a U.S. Senator from Michigan.

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 Riegle
Succeeded by	Debbie Stabenow
Chair of the Michigan Republican Party
In office 1983–1991
Preceded by	Melvin L. Larsen
Succeeded by	David J. Doyle
Personal details
Born	Edward Spencer Abraham June 12, 1952 East Lansing, Michigan, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Jane Abraham
Education	Michigan State University (BA) Harvard University (JD)
Awards	Lebanese National Order of the Cedar (Commander Class)

Education and family

Abraham was born in East Lansing, Michigan, the son of Juliette Elizabeth (Sear), a member of the Michigan Republican State Central Committee, and Eddie Joseph Abraham.[1] He is 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 chair of the Susan B. Anthony List. They have three children. 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 and Public Policy.[2] 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 after being defeated for reelection in 2000 by Debbie Stabenow. He was the only Arab American in the 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".[3] 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?"[4][5][6] The media denounced these commercials as "vengeful".[7] In 1996, when President Bill Clinton endorsed Representative Barbara Jordan's proposed cuts to legal immigration, Abraham played a leading role in blocking the cuts.[8] Another factor in his defeat was his vote to convict Clinton in his 1999 impeachment trial.[9] The next year he received the "Defender of the Melting Pot" award from the National Council of La Raza for his efforts on immigration.[10]

Committee service and legislation

Abraham 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 online 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.[11]

U.S. Energy Secretary

Abraham working as the Secretary of Energy near Yucca Mountain

In 2001 George W. Bush appointed Abraham Secretary of Energy. 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.[12]

Hoover Institution

From 2005 to 2007 Abraham was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, a think tank based at Stanford University. After leaving office, he opened The Abraham Group, a Washington DC-based international strategic consulting firm providing assistance to clients seeking opportunities in the U.S. and globally, of which he is chairman and CEO.[13][14]

Thompson for President

On July 24, 2007, Abraham was announced as an "ambassador to official Washington" in Fred Thompson's presidential campaign.[15]

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.[16][13]

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

In 2016, Abraham was elected to the board of trustees of the California Institute of Technology.[17]

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

See also

• List of Arab and Middle-Eastern Americans in the United States Congress

References

1. http://politicalgraveyard.com/group/eastern-orthodox.html
2. "Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy". Archived from the original on 2005-12-20. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
3. "THE 2000 ELECTIONS: MICHIGAN; Congresswoman Unseats a Senator". The New York Times. November 9, 2000. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-06-17. Retrieved 2006-08-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-08-09. Retrieved 2006-08-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 2016-05-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. "Article". Archived from the original on 2008-11-18.
8. Pear, Robert (June 8, 1995). "Clinton Embraces a Proposal To Cut Immigration by a Third". The New York Times.
9. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/gop012999.htm
10. Krikorian, Mark (August 19, 2005). "Liberal Two-Step Dems pay lip service only on border control". National Review.
11. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:SN00896:@@@L&summ2=m&
12. "Farid Abboud awards Spencer Abraham "The National Order of the Cedar"". Archived from the original on 2007-07-28. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
13. "Officers – Strong U.S. Leadership". Areva. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
14. "Spencer ABRAHAM nommé Président du conseil d'administration d'AREVA Inc" (in French). Framatome ANP. March 1, 2006.
15. The Politico, F. Thompson shakes up pre-launch campaign, by Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen, July 24, 2007.
16. Jo Becker and William J. Broad (April 10, 2011). "New Doubts About Turning Plutonium Into a Fuel". New York Times. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
17. "Caltech Elects Three New Members to Board of Trustees". California Institute of Technology. Retrieved October 27, 2017.

External links

• Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
• Presidential Profile: George W. Bush's Cabinet

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN