Bob Butterworth

Infobox_Governor
name=Bob Butterworth

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office2= Attorney General of Florida
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term_start2 = 1986
term_end2 = 2002
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birth_date= birth date and age|1942|08|20
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profession= Lawyer
party= Democrat
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Robert A. Butterworth (born August 20, 1942) is an American attorney and politician from the U.S. state of Florida.

Early life and career

Butterworth was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and moved to Florida with his family as a child. He received a degree in business administration from the University of Florida in 1965, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Miami in 1969. He is a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon.

Butterworth was a judge in the county and circuit courts of Broward County from 1974 to 1978, when he was appointed sheriff of Broward County. He was appointed to head up Florida's Department of Motor Vehicles in 1982, and mayor of Sunrise, Florida in 1984.

In 1986, on the eve of his election as attorney general, Butterworth's ex-wife, Saundra, fatally shot their 16-year-old son, Robert A. Butterworth III, and then killed herself on a northeast Miami street. Police said she was mentally ill and had used a gun Butterworth had given her for protection before their divorce in 1976. [http://www.courttv.com/archive/national/decision_2000/111400-butterworth_ap.html]

Butterworth currently has two children, BreAnne and Brandon.

Florida Attorney General

A Democrat, Butterworth served as the 33rd Attorney General of Florida, for four consecutive terms, under three governors: Robert Martinez, Lawton Chiles, and Jeb Bush. He was first elected in 1986 and reelected in 1990, 1994, and 1998. His popularity among voters in the state has led to frequent mention of his name as a potential candidate for Governor of Florida or for the U.S. Senate.

Tobacco lawsuit

One of Butterworth's key activities during his time in office was the initiation and execution of Florida's lawsuit against the tobacco industry, which was one of the early contributions to what eventually became a nationwide effort. As a result of this suit, tobacco companies agreed to pay $11 billion to the state of Florida. Based on his participation in this effort, Butterworth was voted the nation's top state attorney general by attorneys-general from other states.

Involvement in the 2000 election

Butterworth was the Florida chair of Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign and chose to not use his capacities as Attorney-General to influence court decisions on whether all the votes would be counted, so as not to have a conflict of interest. (Butterworth did argue in favor of a statewide recount in the media).

Butterworth's Republican counterpart, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, was the Florida chair of George W. Bush's presidential campaign. She was criticized by Democrats when she chose to certify the heavily-contested ballot count, despite the conflict of interest.

Later activities

Butterworth left office in 2002. He then unsuccessfully ran for Seat 25 in the Florida Senate, in hopes of representing portions of Palm Beach and Broward Counties. However, he was beaten by Republican Jeffrey Atwater.

Butterworth was dean of the College of Law at St. Thomas University. Butterworth has remained active in politics, endorsing Rod Smith for Governor of Florida in 2006.

On December 19, 2006, governor-elect Charlie Crist named Butterworth as the new secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families.

On July 29th, 2008 Secretary Butterworth resigned his post as Secretary of The Department of Children of Families, saying in his resignation letter to Governor Charlie Crist:“It is time to pass the torch to a new secretary,” says the letter, which was delivered to theGovernor Tuesday morning. “It’s not that all the problems are solved. This agency will never beable to say, ‘Mission Accomplished.’ We only look at the accomplishments these past 19 monthsand say, ‘Keep it going.’

External links

* [http://www.state.fl.us/itflorida/bobbutterworth.html Bob Butterworth profiled at ITFlorida.com]