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=
from Michigan
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 in East Lansing, Michigan) 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.

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 a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Harvard University, and is a 1974 Honors College graduate of Michigan State University and is a native of East Lansing, Michigan. While at Harvard Law School, Abraham founded the official journal of the Federalist 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 President Dan Quayle from 1990 to 1991. He later served as co-chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) from 1991 to 1993.

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 the loss (defeat by Debbie 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 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?" [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 successor Samuel W. Bodman on February 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 replace Paul 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 challenge Debbie 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 Ambassador Farid Abboud

Hoover Institution

Abraham is now a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, an influential conservative think tank based at Stanford 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 the Fred 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 =