Stewart Lee Udall (January 31, 1920 – March 20, 2010)[1][2] was an American politician and later, a federal government official who belonged to the Democratic Party.

He returned to the University of Arizona in 1946, where he attended law school and played guard on a championship basketball team.

When Mo and Stewart invited Morgan Maxwell Jr., a black freshman, to share their table in the cafeteria, it helped to calm some long-simmering issues surrounding racial segregation at the university.

[7] Under his leadership, the Interior Department aggressively promoted an expansion of federal public lands and assisted with the enactment of major environmental legislation.

In 1961, weeks after becoming the Secretary of Interior Udall told Washington Redskins owner, George Preston Marshall, that he had to integrate the football team as every other franchise in the NFL already had, as a condition of use[8] of the newly built and federally owned District of Columbia Stadium.

On July 27, 1962, Udall sent a letter to the United States Geological Survey's board chairman to discuss policy on the use of ethnic slurs on the organization's topographical maps product.

It was during this meeting that Khrushchev famously hinted at his secret deployment of nuclear missiles to Cuba by telling Udall: "It's been a long time since you could spank us like a little boy.

Poet Laureate Robert Frost to read an original poem at his inauguration, establishing a tradition for that occasion.

Along with Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, The Quiet Crisis is credited with creating a consciousness in the country that led to the environmental movement.

The article contains arguments for the proposition that "less is more" and foresaw problems with U.S. transportation and energy policy and competition with emerging markets for scarce resources.

After leaving government service in 1969, Udall taught for a year at the School of Forestry at Yale University as a visiting professor of environmental humanism.

In 1980, Udall was elected to the Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board and commissioned as a member of the Morrison Institute.

[4] Udall received the Common Cause Public Service Achievement Award for his lifelong protection of the environment and defense of American citizens who were victims of nuclear weapons testing.

[4] In 1990, he co-authored Beyond the Mythic West, which examines effects of change upon the inhabitants and lands of the western United States.

In the early hours of the Spring Equinox, March 20, 2010, Udall died peacefully at his home in the foothills of Santa Fe, New Mexico, age 90.

[23] After his death, President Obama noted on March 20, 2010, "For the better part of three decades, Stewart Udall served this nation honorably.

Whether in the skies above Italy in World War II, in Congress, or as Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall left an indelible mark on this nation and inspired countless Americans who will continue his fight for clean air, clean water, and to maintain our many natural treasures.

[29] Stewart Udall was married to Ermalee Webb (died 2001) with whom he had two daughters, (Lori and Lynn) and four sons, (Denis, Jay, Scott, and Tom).

[34] Udall was interviewed for two Ken Burns documentaries for PBS: The West, which features his ancestor John D. Lee's role in the Mountain Meadows massacre of 1857, and The National Parks: America's Best Idea, in his capacity as a former Secretary of the Interior, who oversaw the National Park Service.