Archives West Finding Aid

Democrat Cecil D. Andrus (1931-2017) served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1977 until 1981 during the Carter administration. He was also elected to the Idaho Senate (1960, 1964 and 1968) and as Governor of Idaho (1970, 1974, 1986, and 1990), becoming the longest-serving governor in Idaho’s history.

Andrus is well-known as an avid outdoorsman and for his conservationist and environmental views. During his tenure as Secretary, he played pivotal roles in the passage of the Alaska Lands Act and the National Surface Mining Act of 1977, and for the creation of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area, the Snake River Birds of Prey Area, and the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. As Governor of Idaho, he took a strong stance against development of a molybdenum mine in the White Cloud Mountains; opposed federal efforts to store nuclear waste in Idaho; vetoed a strict anti-abortion bill passed by the Idaho Legislature, despite his personal pro-life beliefs; and sought modification of Federal dams to allow passage by anadromous fish.

In 1995, Andrus founded the Andrus Center for Public Policy at Boise State University, dedicated to independent, non-partisan policy formation on critical issues confronting Idaho, the American West and the United States. He is the author (with Joel Connelly) of Cecil Andrus: Politics Western Style (Seattle: Sasquatch Books, 1998) and is the subject of a recent book, Cecil Andrus: Idaho’s Greatest Governor by Chris Carlson (Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Press, 2011).