Hazel R. O'Leary

Infobox Officeholder
name =Hazel Reid O'Leary


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order =7th
office =United States Secretary of Energy
term_start =January 22, 1993
term_end =January 20, 1997
deputy =
president =Bill Clinton
predecessor =James D. Watkins
successor =Federico Peña
birth_date = Birth date and age|1937|5|17|mf=y
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Hazel Reid O'Leary (born May 17, 1937) was the seventh United States Secretary of Energy from 1993 to 1997. She was the first woman and first African American to hold the position. She is to date the only woman and only African American to serve as Secretary of Energy.

Born in Newport News, Virginia; daughter of doctors Russell E. and Hazel; sisters: Edna Reid and Marina Morse; brothers: Louis and William Morse; alumna of Huntington High School of Newport News; married John F. O'Leary (former deputy energy secretary; died 1987), April 24, 1980; children: Carl.

O'Leary worked as a prosecutor in New Jersey after graduation from Rutgers School of Law—Newark and was later a partner in the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand. During the Carter Administration, O'Leary was assistant administrator of the Federal Energy Administration, general counsel of the Community Services Administration, and administrator of the Economic Regulatory Administration at the newly-created Department of Energy. In 1981, O'Leary established with her husband the consulting firm of O'Leary & Associates, serving as vice president and general counsel. From 1989 to 1993, she worked as an executive vice president of the Northern States Power Company. O'Leary was nominated to be Secretary of Energy in 1993 by President Bill Clinton. Since 2004, O'Leary has served as President of her undergraduate alma mater, the historically black Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Declassification of human radiation experiments by U.S. government

She won early plaudits for declassifying Cold War-era records showing that the U.S. Government had used American citizens as guinea pigs in human radiation experiments, which was in response to President Clinton's Executive Order 12891 which created the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (ACHRE).

Controversy

During her term as Secretary of Energy, she was often accused of travelling too frequently and spending lavishly on her accommodations. [cite news |first=Pierre |last=Thomas |title=Energy Dept. Travel Examined; GAO Audit Cites Lax Accounting for O'Leary Trips to India, S. Africa |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-769364.html |work=The Washington Post |date=January 4, 1996 |accessdate=2008-02-03 ] [cite news |first=Gary |last=Lee |title=GAO Report Blasts O'Leary On Sloppy Travel Records |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-4324017.html |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=1/5/1996 |accessdate=2008-02-03 ] She apologized to Congressional committees in 1996 for spending which exceeded limits on the funds appropriated for travel and resigned in January 1997.Fact|date=February 2008

Democratic political donor Johnny Chung claimed that O'Leary met with Chinese oil officials after Chung had given $25,000 to O'Leary's favorite charity "Africare". FBI director Louis Freeh urged an independent investigation of the circumstances. Attorney General Janet Reno determined there was "no evidence" of wrongdoing by O'Leary . [cite news |first=David |last=Stout |title=The Attorney General's Decision: The O'Leary Case; Reno Backs Former Energy Secretary's Denials of Wrongdoing |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03EEDE143DF930A35751C1A961958260 |work=New York Times |date=December 3, 1997 |accessdate=2008-02-03 ] [cite news |first=Susan |last=Schmidt |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Reno Clears O'Leary in Charity Donation|url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/stories/cf120397c.htm|page=A33|work=Washington Post |date=1977-12-03 |accessdate=2008-05-15]

References

* Soylent Communications, "Hazel O'Leary" [http://www.nndb.com/people/383/000062197/]
* "Panel Issues Subpoenas In Fund-Raiser Review" NY Times, August 25, 1997 [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04E4D71E3EF936A1575BC0A961958260]
* "CONGRESSIONAL LIGHTENING ROD" PBS, JUNE 13, 1996 [http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/fedagencies/hazel_6-13a.html]
* [http://www.meacfans.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=44;t=000018;p=1 Bio] from Daily Press, STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS, July 14, 2004.