Tom Ridge
Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
National Press Club Luncheon Speaker -- April 29, 2003

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Tom Ridge became the nation's first Homeland Security secretary on Jan. 24, 2003. As the head of the newly created department, Ridge works with various agencies to strengthen the country's borders, provide for intelligence analysis and infrastructure protection and develop comprehensive response and recovery efforts.

Prior to becoming Homeland Security secretary, Ridge was in charge of coordinating a comprehensive national strategy to strengthen protections against terrorist threats or attacks in the United States. President Bush tapped the Pennsylvania governor to head the newly formed Office of Homeland Security in October 2001, following the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Ridge was twice elected governor of Pennsylvania, serving from 1995 to 2001. Tax cuts were the hallmark of Ridge's tenure, and his electricity deregulation plan was deemed a national model for cutting utility rates. He also pushed for reforms in welfare and education, signing into law the Education Empowerment Act to help more than 250,000 children in Pennsylvania's lowest-performing schools. During his tenure, the number of children receiving free or low-cost health care through the state's insurance program increased by 145 percent.

In 1982, Ridge became the first enlisted man who saw active duty in Vietnam to be elected to the U.S. House, where he served six terms. His voting record was mixed. He leaned toward the liberal side of some social issues. He backed more spending for homeless veterans and research on post traumatic stress disorder.

Ridge was born on Aug. 26, 1945, in Pittsburgh's Steel Valley and raised in a working-class family in veterans' public housing in Erie, Pa. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1968, serving as an infantry staff sergeant in Vietnam and earning a Bronze Star. He received his bachelor's degree from Harvard in 1967 and a law degree from Penn State's Dickinson School of Law in 1972. Ridge served as assistant district attorney in Erie County from 1979-81.

Ridge and his wife, Michele, the former executive director of the Erie County Library System, have two children.

Related Links:

• U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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