Brian Schweitzer

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Governor of Montana
Brian Schweitzer (D)

2005  — Current
Preceded by: Judy Martz

Contents


Brian David Schweitzer (born September 4, 1955) is a Democratic politician and the current Governor of Montana, serving since January 2005. He was also the Recruitment Chair for the Democratic Governors Association for 2006-2007.

Education

Schweitzer was born in Havre, Montana. He was the fourth of six children born to a German-Russian father, Adam, and an Irish mother, Kay. Schweitzer earned his Bachelor of Science degree in international agronomy from Colorado State University in 1978 and a Master of Science in soil science from Montana State University in 1980. Upon finishing school, he worked as an irrigation developer on projects in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America, spending much of his time in Saudi Arabia before returning to Montana in 1986 to launch a ranching and irrigation business in Whitefish. Schweitzer married Nancy Hupp in 1981; they began a family after returning to Montana and have three children: Ben, Khai, and Katrina.

Political career

Bill Clinton appointed Schweitzer to the United States Department of Agriculture as a member of the Montana USDA Farm Service Agency committee, where he worked for seven years. While working for the USDA, he was appointed to the Montana Rural Development Board (1996), and the National Drought Task Force (1999).

In 2000, Schweitzer ran for U.S. Senate against the Republican incumbent Conrad Burns. In a close race, Schweitzer lost by the surprisingly small margin of 51 percent to 47 percent. When incumbent Governor Judy Martz announced she would not run for re-election in 2004, Schweitzer announced his candidacy. His running mate was John Bohlinger, a Republican state Senator. He won the general election by a margin of 50 percent to 46 percent over Montana Secretary of State Bob Brown. Both while campaigning and as governor, Schweitzer became known for an easy-going and folksy public persona. The governor's dog, a Border Collie named Jag, regularly accompanies him on work days at the capitol, as well as some other official occasions.

Controversies

Schweitzer campaigning in Billings, Montana

National Guard

In March 2005, Schweitzer sparked controversy by suggesting that Montana's National Guard troops be recalled from service in Iraq to assist firefighting during Montana's wildfire season. He has also gained national attention for his focus on converting Montana's coal reserves into fuel, which he has said is one way to wean America off of foreign oil. Schweitzer has been interviewed by 60 Minutes (first aired on February 26, 2006), [1], and Charlie Rose (March 7, 2007) regarding his work in this field.

Posthumous pardons

On May 3, 2006, Schweitzer granted posthumous pardons to forty persons convicted of sedition during World War I for making comments that were critical of the war. These were the first posthumous pardons in Montana history, but the convictions had become notorious in recent years because Montana's sedition law had been one of the broadest and harshest of its time: one man went to prison for calling food rationing "a joke," while others were targeted because they refused to physically kiss a U.S. flag or to buy Liberty Bonds. At a public ceremony attended by family members of the pardon recipients, Schweitzer said "[i]n times when our country is pushed to our limits, those are the times when it is most important to remember individual rights."[2][3]

Election tampering

In July 2008, Schweitzer gave a speech in Philadephia to the American Association for Justice, formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, during which he said that he tampered with the 2006 U.S. Senate election in Montana to help Democrat Jon Tester win. When the text of his remarks surfaced September 3, 2008 on the internet in a blog called MT Pundit, the state and then national media covered the story. Schweitzer eventually said that the remarks had been meant as a joke.[4][5]

A conservative columnist in Montana, Tamara Hall, asked Mike McGrath, the state's attorney general, to investigate, but McGrath declined. In response, Erik Iverson, the chair of the Montana Republican Party, alleged that McGrath had refused to investigate "without so much as even lifting a finger in an effort to ascertain the facts." The U.S. attorney's office is reviewing Schweitzer's comments to see if a federal investigation is warranted. [6],[7]

Schweitzer's comments about election tampering stem from the close U.S. Senate race in 2006 between Jon Tester and Republican incumbent Conrad Burns. He said that he had used his influence to try and delay the announcement of Butte Silver Bow county's results, used tribal police to intimidate poll watchers off the reservations, and manipulated the Associated Press into declaring Tester the winner.

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ Diesel Power Magazine (December 2006 issue)
  2. ↑ "Montana governor to pardon 78 convicted during WWI", USAToday.com, May 3, 2006
  3. ↑ "Pardons granted 88 Years After Crimes of Sedition", NYTimes.com, May 3, 2006
  4. ↑ The Missoulian, "Schweitzer under fire for remark", September 10, 2008
  5. ↑ MT Pundit, "Schweitzer is powerful...Just ask him, he'll tell ya all about it", September 3, 2008
  6. ↑ Montana's News Station, "MT AG won't investigate Schweitzer comments", September 10, 2008
  7. ↑ Associated Press, "Montana governor's election comments draw fire"
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