53 Facts About Ken Salazar

Kenneth Lee Salazar was born on March 2,1955 and is an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who is the United States ambassador to Mexico.

Ken Salazar previously served as the 50th United States Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013.

Previously, Salazar supported the nomination of Gale Norton to Secretary of the Interior, President George W Bush's first appointee who preceded Salazar as Colorado Attorney General.

On January 20,2009, Ken Salazar was confirmed by unanimous consent in the Senate.

On January 16,2013, it was reported that Ken Salazar planned to resign his post as Secretary of the Interior in March 2013, but his resignation was delayed pending Senate confirmation of his successor, Sally Jewell.

Ken Salazar's nomination was confirmed by a voice vote in the United States Senate on August 11,2021.

Ken Salazar was born in Alamosa, Colorado, the son of Emma Montoya and Enrique Salazar.

Ken Salazar grew up near Manassa, in the community of Los Rincones in the San Luis Valley area of south-central Colorado.

Ken Salazar attended St Francis Seminary and Centauri High School in La Jara, graduating in 1973.

Ken Salazar later attended Colorado College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1977, and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981.

Later Ken Salazar was awarded honorary degrees from Colorado College and the University of Denver.

In 1986, Ken Salazar became Chief Legal Counsel to then Colorado Governor Roy Romer.

Ken Salazar created the Youth in Natural Resources program, giving thousands of Colorado's youth an opportunity to work and learn about Colorado's natural resources in public schools.

Ken Salazar was awarded the Conference of Western Attorneys General Profile in Courage award for his work.

In 2004, Ken Salazar declared his candidacy for the US Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell.

Ken Salazar opposed gay adoption for a number of years, although by 2004 he had reversed his position.

Ken Salazar fell behind to candidate Mike Miles early in the state's caucus process.

Ken Salazar was a leading member of a bipartisan group of Senators that developed the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, which would have provided a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and increased funding for border security, though the bill ultimately failed in the Senate.

On May 23,2005, Ken Salazar was among the Gang of 14 moderate senators to forge a compromise on the Democrats' use of the filibuster against judicial appointments, thus blocking the Republican leadership's attempt to implement the so-called "nuclear option".

Ken Salazar has skirmished with Focus on the Family, a Colorado-based conservative Christian group of national stature, over his stance on judicial nominees.

In 2005, Ken Salazar voted against increasing fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks, a vote that the League of Conservation Voters believes is anti-environment.

Ken Salazar's continued support of Lieberman, who successfully ran as an independent against Lamont, has rankled the anti-war wing of the Democratic Party.

In 2006, Ken Salazar voted to end protections that limit offshore oil drilling in Florida's Gulf Coast.

Ken Salazar worked in the Senate to give benefits to Rocky Flats workers who became ill after working at the former nuclear weapons plant in Colorado.

In 2007, Ken Salazar was one of only a handful of Democrats to vote against a bill that would require the United States Army Corps of Engineers to consider global warming when planning water projects.

Ken Salazar supported the Bush administration's release of lands in the Conservation Reserve Program for emergency haying in Colorado's Yuma and Phillips Counties.

Ken Salazar has an 81 percent lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters, including a 100 percent rating for the year 2008.

Ken Salazar resigned his Senate seat on January 20,2009, upon his confirmation by the Senate to become Secretary of the Interior under President Barack Obama.

Ken Salazar accepted Obama's offer to join his cabinet as the Secretary of the Interior.

Ken Salazar was one of two Hispanics serving in Obama's Cabinet, along with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis of California.

Ken Salazar is the second Hispanic Interior Secretary after Manuel Lujan, Jr.

Ken Salazar worked to create new monuments to honor Cesar Chavez, the Buffalo Soldiers, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, Fort Monroe and sacred Native American sites like Chimney Rock in Colorado.

Several prominent environmentalist groups were wary of Ken Salazar, noting his strong ties with the coal and mining industries.

Ken Salazar became the 50th Secretary of the Interior succeeding Dirk Kempthorne, who praised Ken Salazar's appointment.

On January 23,2009, Ken Salazar stated that he was considering reopening the Statue of Liberty's crown to tourists.

On March 6,2009, Ken Salazar agreed to move forward with the Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to remove the Rocky Mountain gray wolf from the Endangered Species List in Montana and Idaho, but not Wyoming.

On May 9,2009, Ken Salazar announced the upholding of a Bush-era policy that prevents the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions via the Endangered Species Act, a policy he pledged to reevaluate when he took office in January.

Ken Salazar contended in the same conference call that the ESA was never intended to be used for the regulation of climate change, while sidestepping questions of how this situation is different from that of the Clean Air Act, which is being used by the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate emissions.

In May 2009, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, and the state's both senators, Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, wrote a letter to President Obama, recommending Ken Salazar be appointed to the Supreme Court following the resignation of David Souter.

Ken Salazar stated on the Today that he was not interested and enjoyed his current job.

Secretary Ken Salazar prioritized the rapid, responsible development of renewable energy on America's public lands, greenlighting the development of over 11,000 megawatts of renewable energy on public lands, including approval of the first-ever solar energy projects on public lands, and creation of the first-ever roadmap for future solar energy development in the West.

Ken Salazar has dealt with criticism after pushing to impose tougher leasing rules and cancel a series of planned drilling operations in Alaska and elsewhere.

Ken Salazar has dealt with criticism over his handling of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, both because of the way his agency handled the permitting process for underwater drilling, and because of the way the aftermath of the spill has been handled by the government.

Ken Salazar implemented a new five-year plan for responsible oil and gas exploration and development in America's offshore waters.

In May 2010 Ken Salazar testified to Congress that he had issued a "hit the pause button" order and that no new permits had been issued since the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

In May 2012, Ken Salazar spoke at the commencement ceremony for the 2012 class at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

In January 2013 Ken Salazar announced that he would be resigning as Secretary of the Interior.

On November 8,2016, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the election for President of the United States, and thus Ken Salazar was not granted the opportunity to head the White House transition team.

On June 15,2021, President Joe Biden nominated Ken Salazar to be the next US Ambassador to Mexico.

Ken Salazar's nomination was then reported favorably by the committee on August 4,2021.

Ken Salazar's nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 11,2021 by voice vote.

Ken Salazar was ceremoniously sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on September 2,2021.

On September 14,2021, Ken Salazar presented his credentials to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.