Michael Leavitt tapped for HHS Cabinet post
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Michael O. Leavitt, former governor of Utah and current director of the Environmental Protection Agency, has been tapped by President George W. Bush to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
"I've come to know Mike as a fine executive and as a man of great compassion," President Bush said during a formal announcement of the nomination Dec. 13 in the White House. "He is an ideal choice to lead one of the largest departments of the U.S. government."
If confirmed by the Senate — as is expected — Brother Leavitt will direct a massive bureaucracy with a $548 billion budget with nearly 67,000 employees.
Brother Leavitt was governor of Utah for 11 years before resigning to accept the post with the EPA, one year before completing his third term. He had followed his father, Dixie, into private business and into the public arena. Before running for his first term as governor in 1992, he administered his family's Leavitt Group insurance firms.
His nomination to the Cabinet comes at a crucial time in the health care industry's struggle to manage health care with health care costs. Since his announcement, several health care officials in Utah said they believe Brother Leavitt's experience in leading a state which consistently finishes at or near the top on most quality of health measurements will greatly benefit the country.
Brother Leavitt, who was reared in Cedar City, Utah, joins five other Utahns and members of the Church to serve in presidential Cabinets, including: George H. Dern, secretary of War under Franklin D. Roosevelt; President Ezra Taft Benson, secretary of Agriculture under Dwight D. Eisenhower; David Kennedy, secretary of Treasury under Richard M. Nixon; and Terrel H. Bell, Secretary of Education under Ronald Reagan.
