Thomas Joseph Ridge (born August 26, 1946) is a former Governor of Pennsylvania and the current United States Secretary of Homeland Security, the first person to hold that post. On November 30, 2004, he announced his resignation from the position, effective February 1, 2005.
Born in Munhall, Pennsylvania, in Pittsburgh's Steel Valley, the son of a travelling salesman and Navy veteran, he was the oldest of three children. Ridge was raised in a working class family in veterans' public housing in Erie, Pennsylvania from 1948. He was educated a local Catholic schools and did well both academically and in sports. He earned a scholarship to Harvard College, paying his way through with construction work and graduating with honors in 1967.
After his first year at the Dickinson School of Law, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served as an infantry staff sergeant in Vietnam, earning the Bronze Star for Valor, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and the Combat Infantry Badge. A ruptured appendix cut short his tour and he returned home in 1970; a childhood ear infection was also aggravated by his service and Ridge has needed a hearing aid in his left ear since then. After returning to Pennsylvania, he earned his law degree at Dickinson, graduating in 1972, and entered private practice. He became Assistant District Attorney in Erie County, Pennsylvania in 1980 and prosecuted 86 cases in two years. In 1982 he ran for Congress for Pennsylvania, won and has (as of 2004) never lost an election for political office. Ridge was notable as the first enlisted Vietnam combat veteran elected to the U.S. House.
In 1994, Ridge ran for governor of Pennsylvania, winning the election as a Republican. He was reelected in 1998, serving until his resignation to become Secretary of Homeland Security in 2001. As governor, he promoted "law-and-order" policies, supporting a three-strikes law and a faster death penalty process. He signed more than two hundred execution warrants, five times the number signed over a 25-year period by the two previous governors. On social issues, he opposed gay marriage, and, despite being a Roman Catholic, supported abortion rights.
Following the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush created the Office of Homeland Security within the executive branch, and named Ridge to head it. In January 2003, the Homeland Security Office became a Cabinet department, and Ridge assumed the post of Homeland Security Secretary. Organizing and operating the office, which combined 22 federal agencies and employed 180,000 people, proved to be a significant bureaucratic challenge. On November 30, 2004, he announced his resignation to White House staffers, citing a desire to devote more time to his family, saying, "After more than 22 consecutive years of public service, it is time to give personal and family matters a higher priority." [1]
He has also indicated that, with one daughter in college and another entering shortly, he was seeking a higher paying position in the private sector, and that the job had indeed worn him down somewhat, leaving him with little or no desire to serve another term.
Ridge and his wife, Michele, the former executive director of the Erie County Library system, have two adopted children, Lesley Hannah and Tommy Ridge]], and have been married since 1979.
External Links
- BBC profile of Tom Ridge
- Homeland Security Cultural Bureau biography of Tom Ridge.
- Jeffrey St. Clair and Alexander Cockburn, Tom Ridge in Vietnam. Tarnished Star, CounterPunch, October 1, 2001.
- Security Chief Ridge: 'The Task is Enormous', NPR.org, October 8, 2001.
- Angus Love, Who Is Tom Ridge?, Guerrilla News, October 18, 2001.
- John W. Dean, Tom Ridge's Non-Testimonial Appearance Before Congress: Another Nixon-style Move By The Bush Administration, FindLaw's Legal Commentary, April 12, 2002.
- Newsmaker: Tom Ridge, Online NewsHour, May 9, 2002.
- Person of the Week: Tom Ridge. Now for the hard part: After a week in which the Senate gave him a cabinet-level position, the Homeland Security chief is preparing to take on the toughest job in Washington, Time.com, November 22, 2002.
- Ridge's journey to the national stage, The Rising Son; updated January 21, 2003. Locally produced biography of Tom Ridge.
- Environmental record
| Preceded by: New Position |
Secretary of Homeland Security | To be succeeded by: ''Bernard Kerik'' |
A trotter named Tom Ridge set a mile record on 2004 September 4 at the DuQuoin State Fair, winning a $530,000 purse.[2][3]