Manuel Lujan Jr. Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth and Family

Lujan died of heart failure on April 25, 2019 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

After leaving office, Lujan worked as a lobbyist and a public speaker. In 2004, he launched the Hispanic Alliance for Progress Institute, a conservative think-tank focusing on economic and “family values” issues from a Hispanic perspective.

In the waning months of his term, Lujan was frequently named as a likely candidate for Governor of New Mexico in 1994. He moved quickly to squelch the rumors, saying he was “through running.”

After leaving the Interior Department at the expiration of Bush’s term, Lujan characterized his job as one of constant tensions. “No one is satisfied. If you do something that’s pro-development, you get the environmental groups against you, and if you do something that’s pro-environmental you get the industry groups after you,” Lujan said in a May 9, 1993 Associated Press report. “What I tried to do—and I think I was successful in doing—was to bring a balance between the use of resources on public lands and environmental concerns.”

Although Lujan gained more respect throughout his term, he remained a lightning rod for environmentalists. In a 1990 interview, Lujan described the Endangered Species Act as “too tough,” and said it may not be necessary to “save every subspecies.” The Bush administration distanced itself from Lujan’s position at time when newspapers had just begun to write about the Interior Secretary’s rebound from earlier public relations woes.

As the administration point man on offshore drilling, he opposed Democratic efforts to halt the practice after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in April 1989.

When the Bush transition team approached Lujan about the job in late 1988, he declined to accept it – but changed his mind only after a personal appeal from the president-elect. After the tenure of James Watt and Donald Hodel, Lujan was widely regarded as a moderate at the time of his unanimous confirmation in February 1989. His nomination faced little opposition, although some environmental groups criticized his congressional voting record (the League of Conservation Voters gave Lujan a 23 percent career rating).

Beginning with Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in 1981, Lujan was often mentioned as a potential nominee for Interior Secretary. Along with Dick Cheney, he was one of the top contenders to replace James G. Watt following his resignation, although the position eventually went to William Clark.

The 1980s brought new challenges and new prominence for Lujan. He nearly lost his seat in 1980 to an unexpectedly strong challenge from Democrat Bill Richardson. In the reapportionment that followed, Lujan’s district was significantly altered after New Mexico picked up a third district. The old 1st was a largely rural district that included the northeastern portion of the state, including most of Albuquerque. The new 1st was a much more compact and urban district that included three-fourths of Albuquerque.

In addition to his congressional duties, Lujan represented New Mexico as a delegate to every Republican National Convention from 1972 to 2004. In 1980, he was a featured speaker at the convention on the night delegates met to nominate a vice presidential candidate.

Throughout the 1970s, Lujan sailed to reelection and built a reputation as a low-key, personable backbencher. His legislative interests were largely in line with the western U.S. states priorities of the time, including Indian affairs, nuclear power expansion, and the opening of federal lands to commerce and recreation. In 1978, Lujan was the first Hispanic Republican to join the recently formed Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Lujan also followed his father into politics, launching his first campaign with a failed bid for the New Mexico State Senate in 1964. Three years later, he helped to found the Republican National Hispanic Assembly. Lujan’s failed 1964 bid for political office was the last electoral defeat for him; after defeating incumbent Rep. Thomas G. Morris in 1968, he served in Congress for the next two decades.

Lujan was born in San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, into the family of Manuel A. Lujan Sr. and Lorenzita (Romero) Lujan. His father served as mayor of Santa Fe and was an unsuccessful candidate for governor and Congress. Lujan attended Catholic schools in Santa Fe. He attended Saint Mary’s College of California in 1946, and graduated from the St. Michael’s College in Santa Fe in 1950.

Lujan’s brother Edward (b. 1931) served as the New Mexico Republican Party chairman for many years and was a major influence to the development of the National Hispanic Cultural Center. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who served three terms in Congress representing New Mexico’s 1st District, elected state’s governor in November 2018 is not related.

Manuel Archibald Lujan Jr. (May 12, 1928 – April 25, 2019) was an American politician from New Mexico who served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from 1969 to 1989 and as the United States Secretary of the Interior from 1989 to 1993. He was a colleague of George H. W. Bush in the House from 1969 to 1971. In 1989, President Bush named Lujan to his Cabinet.

After college, Lujan went to work for the family insurance company, the Manuel Lujan Agencies, which his father had opened in 1925. The Albuquerque-based company remains a leading risk management and insurance firm; in 2002, it was ranked as the most profitable of New Mexico’s Hispanic-owned businesses.