William D. Ruckelshaus, the first head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has endorsed Barack Obama for president.
"Senator Obama's ability to attract not only Democrats, but also Republicans and Independents, makes him uniquely qualified to build the broad coalitions needed to address our nation’s challenges," said Ruckelshaus in a statement.
Ruckelshaus's choice of words speaks to his own place in American political history.
Ruckelshaus, a Republican from Indiana, served in the Nixon administration. Normally the endorsement of someone who served the only president to resign his office would not be something to trumpet. But Ruckelshaus's tenure under Nixon was honorable. As EPA head, he shaped the agency's attempts to centralize environmental regulation that for years had been spread out throughout the executive branch. It was a challenging assignment --especially figuring out how to ensure compliance from industrial polluters -- but one that won him respect from Democrats and Republicans alike. An aide to putative Democratic nominee Ed Muskie said in January 1972, "Ruckelshaus would be the first holdover of a Muskie Administration."
That did not happen. Instead, Nixon was re-elected after his henchmen broke into DNC offices at the Watergate. After a couple of years at the EPA, Ruckelshaus moved on to Justice, where he soon found himself in a tough position due to his boss's activities.
Ruckelshaus was serving as deputy attorney general in 1973 when he made history as part of the infamous Saturday Night Massacre. He and his boss, Attorney General Elliot Richardson, were fired [by acting AG Robert Bork] after they refused Nixon’s order to dismiss the independent counsel investigating the Watergate break-ins.
The former Nixon FBI director and secretary of the Environmental Protection Agency hopes to help Obama defeat Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton in the May 6 primary in Ruckelshaus’ homestate of Indiana. The state has been a longtime Republican stronghold in presidential politics.
As with Lincoln Chafee, Ruckelshaus's endorsement is an indication that Obama is the choice of that dying breed, the moderate Republican. CNN's story on the endorsement concludes with a wry nod to Nixon.
The Obama campaign said it was embracing the endorsement because of Ruckelshaus’ "understanding of the importance of transparency," which he gained during the tumultuous years of the Nixon administration, said Obama spokesman Kevin Griffis. Ruckelshaus remains a known and respected name in Indiana, which may draw independent voters to Obama, Griffis said.
Ruckelshaus is not part of the slow procession of superdelegates moving to Obama, but his endorsement is an indication that Obama's appeal continues to extend beyond the recent boundaries of the Democratic party.