37 Facts About Tom Ridge

1. Tom Ridge had just started his law studies when he was drafted to Vietnam in 1970.

2. In each episode Tom Ridge sets the families a series of challenges designed to make them think about food in a new way.

3. Tom Ridge went on to inform viewers that he instead set about making sure that Sundays were designated for family meals.

4. In 2000, she and brother David Tom Ridge became the first brother and sister to be nominated in the same year.

5. Tom Ridge said his brother will be in attendance at Thursday's event.

6. Tom Ridge was the first secretary of the Department of Homeland Security under President George W Bush.

7. Tom Ridge will make the announcement 5 pm at the Brewerie at Union Station, he said in an interview with the Erie Times-News.

8. Tom Ridge was hospitalized in critical condition in Texas after a cardiac event November 16, 2017.

9. Tom Ridge wrote in his memoir that then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and then-Attorney General John Ashcroft pressured him to raise the terror alert level, running up to the 2004 elections, because of a pre-election message critical of President Bush from Osama Bin Laden.

10. Tom Ridge explains the challenges and decision making processes of the newly formed department, and gives his own views as to the future of the security of the United States of America.

11. In 2016, Tom Ridge endorsed Jeb Bush and subsequently John Kasich after Bush's withdrawal from the 2016 Republican presidential primaries.

12. Tom Ridge headed the organization with former Senator Joe Lieberman, and the Study Panel assembled in Washington DC for four meetings concerning current biodefense programs.

13. In 2015, Tom Ridge served as co-chair of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense, a commission that recommended changes to US policy regarding biodefense.

14. Tom Ridge spoke at a conference in support of the removal of the People's Mujahedin of Iran from the United States State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

15. Tom Ridge originally endorsed former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman for president, in September 2011.

16. On May 7, 2009, Tom Ridge announced that he would not be a candidate for the US Senate in 2010.

17. In 2010, it was reported that Tom Ridge had appeared on MSNBC Hardball With Chris Matthews promoting nuclear energy as part of a "green agenda [to].

18. In February 2005, Tom Ridge was named to the board of Home Depot.

19. On November 30, 2004, Tom Ridge submitted his resignation to the President, saying, "After more than 22 consecutive years of public service, it is time to give personal and family matters a higher priority.

20. Tom Ridge left the White House and became the first Secretary of Homeland Security.

21. Tom Ridge formally resigned as Pennsylvania's governor on October 5, 2001.

22. Tom Ridge created the Link-to-Learn initiative to increase the effective use of technology in public schools and universities.

23. Tom Ridge proposed the creation of public charter schools in Pennsylvania and in establishing alternate schools for disruptive students.

24. Tom Ridge separated the Commonwealth's environmental regulatory and conservation programs into two new agencies; the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

25. Tom Ridge pushed for legislation permitting competition among electric utilities and enhanced federal and state support for the Children's Health Insurance Program.

26. Tom Ridge created and grew a "Rainy Day" Fund balance to over $1 billion to be utilized during an economic downturn or recession.

27. Tom Ridge served as governor until his resignation to become the Director of Homeland Security in 2001.

28. Tom Ridge was notable as the first enlisted Vietnam combat veteran elected to the US House.

29. Tom Ridge became assistant district attorney in Erie County, Pennsylvania in 1980 and prosecuted 86 cases in two years.

30. In November 1969, Tom Ridge arrived as a sergeant in South Vietnam where he would serve for six months as a staff sergeant with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, 11th Infantry Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division during the Vietnam War.

31. Tom Ridge earned a scholarship to Harvard College, where he paid his way through with construction work, played intramural baseball and football, and graduated with honors in 1967.

32. Tom Ridge was educated at St Andrews Elementary School and Cathedral Preparatory School and did well both academically and in sports.

33. Tom Ridge was raised in veterans' public housing in Erie, Pennsylvania.

34. Tom Ridge was born in Munhall, Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh's Steel Valley, the eldest of three children.

35. Tom Ridge spent time campaigning with Senator John McCain during his 2008 bid for the presidency and was believed by some to have been on the short list of potential running mates.

36. Tom Ridge won the election, and was reelected in 1998 with the most votes for a Republican governor in Pennsylvania in more than half a century.

37. Tom Ridge was born in Munhall, Pennsylvania and raised in veterans' public housing in Erie, Pennsylvania.