Celebrate Mo Udall’s Centennial with Important Figures from His Life
Join the Udall Foundation, the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, and a host of public figures and family that knew Mo Udall personally for an online event celebrating the life and legacy of this giant in American politics on Wednesday, December 7, 2022 from 4:00 PM EDT - 5:30 PM EDT.
A dedicated public servant and champion for the environment, Morris King “Mo” Udall served the state of Arizona and the United States as a Congressional Representative for rural and southern Arizona for thirty years.
After his brother, Stewart Udall, was appointed Secretary of the Interior under President John F. Kennedy in 1961, Mo won a special election to fill the newly vacated congressional seat on May 2 of that year and held it until his retirement on May 4, 1991.
Long-Lasting Legacy
Mo Udall’s political legacy included a 28-year stint as chair of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, service as the chairman of the Office of Technology Assessment and the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and writing the Alaska Lands Bill, which doubled the size of the National Park System and tripled the size of the National Wilderness System by permanently preserving more than 100 million acres of scenic wilderness.
Point Udall on Guam, which is considered the westernmost point in the United States, was named for Morris Udall in 1987. He was also awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton in 1996.
The Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy, which gives scholarships to students of environmental policy, was founded in his honor by Congress in 1992. He was also the namesake for the Morris K. Udall Parkinson’s Disease Research Act of 1997 which funded a national network of treatment centers for patients with Parkinson’s Disease – the affliction that claimed Udall’s life the following year – as well as the 1992 establishment of the Udall Foundation, which is the funding organization for the University of Arizona’s Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy.
Celebrating the Life of Morris Udall
By all accounts, Mo was one of the most likable and easy going figures to hold Congressional office. He was widely celebrated for his humor and casual style, including his penchant for wearing colorful western garb and cowboy boots, and was once deemed “too funny to be president” by columnist James J. Kilpatrick – a truism that ultimately became the title of his autobiography.
On Wednesday, December 7, 2022 from 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM EDT, a bevy of public figures who knew and were impacted by Morris Udall’s work and wit will gather in a remote meeting to honor the life and legacy of this giant of American politics near the end of what would have been his 100th year on the planet.
You are invited to join the likes of U.S. Ambassador Cindy McCain, former Arizona senator John Kyl, former Arizona governor and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, several surviving members of the Udall family, and many more online to reflect on the Udall legacy and its lasting impact on the state of Arizona and Beyond.