A stirring portrait of America's greatest environmentalist.
Stewart Udall: The Politics of Beauty
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Stewart Lee Udall was the most prominent and effective Secretary of the Interior in American history.
Stewart Udall: The Politics of Beauty is a feature documentary that examines the trajectory of Udall’s life from his childhood through his Mormon mission, his World War II service, his student years at the University of Arizona, his time in Congress, and then, most significantly, his years as Secretary of the Interior and beyond.
The film introduces us to the birth pangs of modern environmental politics, to figures like Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, David Brower, and John Saylor. We see how Udall’s ideas evolved, best illustrated in his conversion from a pro-power dam Arizona representative to the Interior Secretary who dealt the death blow to proposed Grand Canyon dams. We examine his long fight to win compensation for Navajo Indians and “downwinders” who got cancer from their exposure to radiation during the Cold War without being warned of the dangers. And we see the relevance of his concerns—he was the first public official to speak out about global warming, for example—to our current day crises.
"It beckons us all to public service, informs us on how we came to benefit from the conservation we so enjoy, and, perhaps above all, teaches us the power of persistence and a smile. Don't miss this masterpiece." Gus Speth, Director, United Nations Development Program, Former Dean, Yale School of Forestry and Environment
"Stewart Udall is a visually stunning journey through US environmental history. The film is a captivating story that intertwines US history, politics, tribal policy, and environmental justice and activism." Yolanda Cieters, Sustainability Manager, Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability, Seattle University
"This film is long overdue, and much needed. It documents the remarkable breadth and depth of Udall's achievements. But the film does more than that. It helps us to appreciate Udall as an essential link between the conservation and environmental movements of the 20th century and the challenges, needs, and opportunities of the 21st." Curt Meine, Senior Fellow, Aldo Leopold Foundation and Center for Humans and Nature, Author, Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work
"Absolutely fantastic! An amazing and insightful offering." Dr. Michael Dorsey, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies, Dartmouth College
"Stewart Udall was a true Renaissance man, an environmentalist in heart and mind, but so much more: outdoorsman, athlete, family man, politician, author, war hero, civil rights activist. A pillar of the Environmental Movement, his legacy includes the Wilderness Act, Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, National Trails System Act, and crown jewel national parks such as Redwood and North Cascades. This is brilliant film in both substance and form, ideal for the classroom." Bob Manning, Professor Emeritus of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Co-author, Walks of a Lifetime in America's National Parks
"Stewart Udall: The Politics of Beauty is a timely contribution to the history of politics in the US. The complexity of conservation in politics was presented in a most enjoyable way. The value of this for humanities discussion is immeasurable." Heather Steinmann, Associate Professor of English, Western New Mexico University
"This film is important, timely, and absolutely stunning. I sincerely hope that the film is viewed by many for a long time to come. I know it will have a very positive impact." Phil Schoenberg, Associate Professor of Philosophy and English, Western New Mexico University
"Magnificent. Very well done, many tears." F. Ross Peterson, Professor Emeritus of History, Utah State University
"The film would be a useful addition to most any park, recreation, or tourism course. It does a wonderful job of weaving together a variety of justice-related themes that are more relevant than ever. The film moves quickly and is beautifully crafted." Dan Dustin, Professor Emeritus of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, University of Utah
"The film, and more importantly, Udall, provide inspiration to anyone that everyone can make a difference, and we all are rewarded when we care for our environment." Justin Harmon, Associate Professor of Community and Therapeutic Recreation, University of North Carolina-Greensboro
"This is a political thriller and a biography about common sense and respect for others, humility, honesty, courage and compromise. It's very compelling, and it tells the remarkable story of someone actually leaving this world better than how they found it. Stewart Udall is a name a lot of people recognize, but not many know - and that's a shame, because Udall probably did more to improve the average American's quality of life than any politician in the history of this country. A lot of people in the USA will enjoy this well-told story about a non-divisive man who always sought effective compromise for the greater good. I also think it's one of those very rare movies that can actually help America heal." Charles Dye, Associate Professor of Cinema, Virginia Technical University
"The writing, visuals, music, and pace all were masterfully done. This film does a magnificent job of capturing Udall and the causes to which he devoted his life." Thomas G. Smith, Professor Emeritus of History, Nichols College, Author, Stewart L. Udall: Steward of the Land
"Students loved the 'independent spirit' of the documentary production and were inspired by the film...It was not only very informative, but it had an emotional depth that touched us all, and gave us a lot to think about. On top of that, the visuals were absolutely stunning. This is a beautiful documentary and I highly recommend it." Helen Haxton-Stephenson, Director, Film Media Arts Program, Yavapai College
"A pragmatic politician with the soul of a poet, Stewart Udall used his years a Secretary of the Interior under presidents Kennedy and Johnson to do more than any previous Interior secretary to promote legislation and policy vital to the protection of America's natural environment. John de Graaf's moving film also reminds Americans in a time of climate change and racial turmoil what Udall understood more than half a century ago: Conservation and civil rights are joined, and the fight for one must be a fight for the other if either is to succeed." Christopher Morris, Professor of History, University of Texas at Arlington, Author, The Big Muddy: An Environmental History of the Mississippi and Its Peoples from Hernando de Soto to Hurricane Katrina
"This is the chronicle of an extraordinary American's life. A true visionary, Stewart Udall employed his formidable political skills as Secretary of the Interior to protect America's remarkable natural heritage. Lesser known is Udall's role, powered by a deep personal commitment to justice, in advancing the cause of racial equality at a critical juncture in our nation's history." Robert B. Keiter, Professor of Law, Director of the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment, University of Utah, Author, To Conserve Unimpaired: The Evolution of the National Park Idea
"Udall's furious commitment to an ethical approach to land-use changed the meaning of the outdoors to all Americans and gave generations the inspiration and capacity to pursue a 'love affair with the wonders of the Earth.' The Politics of Beauty will also surprise viewers with Udall's commitment to issues of race - particularly Native American issues - long before environmental justice was discussed. He was a pioneer in environmental policy and how the government might be used to ensure a more balanced human existence." Brian Black, Professor of History and Environmental Studies, Pennsylvania State University-Altoona
"This moving and insightful film is a window into the emergence of the modern environmental movement. Stuart Udall was one of those people who bridge worlds and envision new ones. As Secretary of the Interior he shifted the department's focus from development to protection of natural resources, and spearheaded much of the great wave of 1960s environmental legislation. Caught between the mindset of capitalist development and that of humans living in balance with nature, he sided ever more strongly with the latter." Stephen Wheeler, Professor of Human Ecology, University of California-Davis, Author, Planning for Sustainability: Towards Livable, Equitable, and Ecological Communities
"Stewart Udall championed racial equity, indigenous self-determinism, and functioning ecosystems not only as a politician but with his pen. He included artists and writers among his closest allies. This film powerfully conveys why art, and critical thought, or beauty, were important to his politics. It makes clear why he is still so admired by humanists, ecologists, and community leaders who refuse to settle for apocalypse and continue to struggle for a flourishing future." Joni Adamson, President's Professor of Environmental Humanities, Director, UNESCO BRIDGES Sustainability Coalition, Arizona State University
"Stewart Udall: The Politics of Beauty is beautiful, sad, joyous, contemplative, radical, thoughtful, challenging, and full of hope! One person can make a difference and Stewart Udall made a difference in so many ways!" Shelton Johnson, Ranger, Yosemite National Park
"This film is beautifully done and parts of it brought tears to my eyes. The piece is filmed so artfully. I hope it gets the wide recognition and high praise that it deserves." Jeff Jones, former Ranger, Lassen National Park
"It's a beautiful and accurate tribute. Bravo! So very well done." Gordon Smith, former US Senator, Oregon
"A remarkable tribute...Udall was an advocate not only for the environment but for social justice and equality. This film illustrates all these points and more. It is a touching and eye-opening chronology of a true American hero, an inspirational, thought-provoking experience." Bob Sampayan, former Mayor of Vallejo, California
"I'm absolutely blown away by this film. Sitting here nearly teary eyed just at the power and beauty of it." Tim Palmer, Author, America's Great Mountain Trails and America's Great River Journeys
"I truly believe that Stewart Udall is an unrecognized American Hero. His example is certainly a lesson for a modern world steeped in division and partisan politics. I was deeply touched by the film and thought it was one of the most beautiful documentaries I have ever seen." Tina Cordova, Co-founder, Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium
"The film is so exciting and truly a remarkable history of Mr. Udall. I knew him as an attorney for Navajo uranium workers. I am fortunate to have worked with him. The film must be presented soon to former Navajo uranium miners and their families." Phil Harrison, Navajo Uranium Radiation Victims Committee
"A gorgeously shot and highly informative movie, a wonderful introduction to a fairly unique and entirely admirable figure from 20th-century American history whose passion for the natural world literally changed the landscape of this country." Russell Arben Fox, Front Porch Republic
Citation
Main credits
De Graaf, John (film director)
De Graaf, John (screenwriter)
De Graaf, John (film producer)
Pollon, Zélie (film producer)
Udall, Kate (narrator)
Other credits
Photographer/editor, Greg Davis; music, Michael Bade.
Distributor subjects
No distributor subjects provided.Keywords
00:00:29.102 --> 00:00:31.685
(Music: “America The Beautiful”)
00:00:40.834 --> 00:00:43.250
- I am confident that
history will write
00:00:43.250 --> 00:00:45.810
that in the 1960s
00:00:45.810 --> 00:00:48.810
we did our part to
maintain our country
00:00:48.810 --> 00:00:50.700
and make it more beautiful.
00:00:50.700 --> 00:00:53.670
- The water we drink,
the food we eat,
00:00:53.670 --> 00:00:58.260
the very air that we breathe
are threatened with pollution.
00:00:58.260 --> 00:01:01.860
- All over the country,
there is an awakening
00:01:01.860 --> 00:01:04.293
for the preservation
of nature's endowments.
00:01:05.160 --> 00:01:07.320
- It was a time when
care for the environment
00:01:07.320 --> 00:01:10.980
came into its own, a time
when we were not yet polarized
00:01:10.980 --> 00:01:14.610
and big ideas could still
win bipartisan support.
00:01:14.610 --> 00:01:17.430
In the halls of
government, Stewart Udall
00:01:17.430 --> 00:01:18.783
was its leading Prophet.
00:01:19.710 --> 00:01:22.950
- Stewart Udall was the
seminal conservation figure
00:01:22.950 --> 00:01:24.660
of the 1960s.
00:01:24.660 --> 00:01:28.590
- He was concerned about the
quality of the environment
00:01:28.590 --> 00:01:30.450
for all the citizens.
00:01:30.450 --> 00:01:34.260
- Stewart Udall served our
country in ways beyond counting.
00:01:34.260 --> 00:01:38.940
- He was Mr. Conservation
for everybody.
00:01:38.940 --> 00:01:42.423
- He was a man ahead of his
time, but his legacy lives on.
00:01:44.118 --> 00:01:47.118
(gentle band music)
00:01:56.430 --> 00:01:58.320
- My father was a visionary.
00:01:58.320 --> 00:02:01.623
He was thinking
way down the road.
00:02:03.150 --> 00:02:06.810
- Stewart Lee Udall served
as Secretary of the Interior,
00:02:06.810 --> 00:02:09.273
under President's
Kennedy and Johnson.
00:02:11.070 --> 00:02:15.120
His political legacy
includes many, if not most,
00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:18.340
of the environmental protections
we now take for granted
00:02:19.830 --> 00:02:23.670
and the broader values he
stood for, world peace,
00:02:23.670 --> 00:02:28.670
racial justice, bipartisan
cooperation, respect for nature,
00:02:29.250 --> 00:02:31.773
seem even more urgent today.
00:02:33.180 --> 00:02:36.390
- More national park units
were created under his watch
00:02:36.390 --> 00:02:39.390
than any other Interior
Secretary in history.
00:02:39.390 --> 00:02:43.470
- He was certainly the first
person in the US government
00:02:43.470 --> 00:02:47.043
that understood environmental
justice issues fully.
00:02:49.860 --> 00:02:53.520
- A surprising background makes
his legacy even more unique.
00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:58.520
- People wonder where his passion
came from, and I really think
00:03:00.330 --> 00:03:03.690
that it came from being
from a pioneer family.
00:03:03.690 --> 00:03:06.930
He was out of doors all
the time, milking the cows,
00:03:06.930 --> 00:03:10.620
plowing the fields, doing
those kinds of things,
00:03:10.620 --> 00:03:13.080
and had this relationship
with the land
00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:14.643
from being very young.
00:03:15.728 --> 00:03:18.395
(relaxed country music)
00:03:21.030 --> 00:03:23.520
- This is St. Johns, Arizona,
00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:24.810
a wind swept hamlet
00:03:24.810 --> 00:03:27.420
on the high Little
Colorado River plateau,
00:03:27.420 --> 00:03:29.640
near the New Mexican border.
00:03:29.640 --> 00:03:32.460
Stewart Udall was
born here in 1920
00:03:32.460 --> 00:03:34.288
and grew up in this modest home.
00:03:34.288 --> 00:03:39.288
His grandfather, David King
Udall, led Mormon pioneers here
00:03:39.720 --> 00:03:41.013
40 years earlier.
00:03:44.970 --> 00:03:47.460
- The Hispanic people were
here and we kind of came in
00:03:47.460 --> 00:03:49.320
and invaded their territory,
00:03:49.320 --> 00:03:53.328
and so they felt that we were
taking their lands at the time
00:03:53.328 --> 00:03:56.730
and I understand that.
00:03:56.730 --> 00:04:01.730
- St. Johns was 60% Mormon,
40% Mexican, we had two Jews,
00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:07.400
but we got along with
the Hispanic kids.
00:04:07.710 --> 00:04:10.923
There was never any fights
or anything like that.
00:04:11.850 --> 00:04:14.970
- St. Johns is so small
that Stewart's brother Mo
00:04:14.970 --> 00:04:17.160
claimed you could put the
entering and leaving signs
00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:19.015
on the same post.
00:04:19.015 --> 00:04:21.840
(jaunty keyboard music)
00:04:21.840 --> 00:04:25.650
- When FDR came along
during the Depression,
00:04:25.650 --> 00:04:29.550
St. Johns adopted him
hook, line and sinker
00:04:29.550 --> 00:04:32.670
'cause they brought
in a lot of projects,
00:04:32.670 --> 00:04:36.330
a lot of jobs, and
made things better.
00:04:36.330 --> 00:04:39.764
We got electricity,
things like that.
00:04:39.764 --> 00:04:42.210
- The Udalls were Republicans,
00:04:42.210 --> 00:04:45.330
but New Deal programs convinced
them that government action
00:04:45.330 --> 00:04:47.190
could improve lives.
00:04:47.190 --> 00:04:48.780
Stewart's father Levi,
00:04:48.780 --> 00:04:52.200
a Mormon farmer and
attorney, became a Democrat.
00:04:52.200 --> 00:04:54.414
Stewart was the third
of six children.
00:04:54.414 --> 00:04:57.870
The Udall boys were
all star athletes, but...
00:04:57.870 --> 00:05:02.870
- Stewart's mother read
poetry to her children.
00:05:03.750 --> 00:05:07.350
It was part of his
life experience.
00:05:07.350 --> 00:05:12.350
He could shoot baskets very
well and he could recite poetry
00:05:13.595 --> 00:05:16.830
just like breathing.
00:05:16.830 --> 00:05:19.770
- Dad was a good farmer.
Morris was a good farmer.
00:05:19.770 --> 00:05:20.940
I was a good farmer.
00:05:20.940 --> 00:05:25.470
Stewart wasn't because he just
didn't have his head into it
00:05:25.470 --> 00:05:28.143
and he couldn't maintain
an interest in it.
00:05:29.700 --> 00:05:31.260
- Yet from an early age,
00:05:31.260 --> 00:05:33.828
Stewart was taken by
the beauty of the land.
00:05:33.828 --> 00:05:38.490
"To a young boy," he wrote, "the
ponderosa pine-clad mountains
00:05:38.490 --> 00:05:42.510
"beyond our green fields beckoned
with ineffable promise.
00:05:42.510 --> 00:05:46.376
"A few trips up there hooked
me on wilderness for life."
00:05:46.376 --> 00:05:48.210
(snake tail rattling)
00:05:48.210 --> 00:05:50.447
- He was always an outdoorsman.
00:05:50.447 --> 00:05:54.570
He was always involved
in hunting, fishing,
00:05:54.570 --> 00:05:56.313
going to visit places.
00:05:59.970 --> 00:06:01.525
- Following junior college,
00:06:01.525 --> 00:06:04.953
Udall served as a Mormon
missionary in New York City.
00:06:06.180 --> 00:06:09.150
- He'd go out and
he'd watch an opera.
00:06:09.150 --> 00:06:13.050
He'd go to the 92nd Street Y
and listen to lectures,
00:06:13.050 --> 00:06:14.940
or he'd go to see
plays and so forth,
00:06:14.940 --> 00:06:18.280
and the whole world
started to open up for him
00:06:19.200 --> 00:06:21.870
in a way that was
just completely new
00:06:21.870 --> 00:06:23.708
and outside his experience.
00:06:23.708 --> 00:06:26.422
(loud explosion)
00:06:26.422 --> 00:06:28.761
- Japanese have attacked
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,
00:06:28.761 --> 00:06:30.420
President Roosevelt
has just announced.
00:06:32.813 --> 00:06:35.910
- Shortly after Pearl
Harbor, Stewart enlisted
00:06:35.910 --> 00:06:39.210
in the Army Air Corps and
flew on 50 bombing missions
00:06:39.210 --> 00:06:40.530
over Europe.
00:06:40.530 --> 00:06:42.843
He was lucky to make
it back home alive.
00:06:45.060 --> 00:06:47.790
- He just was thrilled
to be a survivor
00:06:47.790 --> 00:06:51.300
and was hurt that other people
00:06:51.300 --> 00:06:53.492
may have been killed by
the bombs he dropped.
00:06:53.492 --> 00:06:55.909
(marching band music)
00:06:57.180 --> 00:06:59.520
- After the war, Stew
and his brother Mo
00:06:59.520 --> 00:07:03.180
were star basketball players
for the University of Arizona.
00:07:03.180 --> 00:07:06.060
In 1946, Stew led Arizona
00:07:06.060 --> 00:07:08.880
to its first National
Invitational Tournament
00:07:08.880 --> 00:07:10.533
in Madison Square Garden.
00:07:12.390 --> 00:07:15.150
- The University of
Arizona was segregated,
00:07:15.150 --> 00:07:18.810
African Americans could
not eat in the cafeterias,
00:07:18.810 --> 00:07:23.810
and so Stewart and Mo decided
to try to change that.
00:07:24.867 --> 00:07:28.110
- The Udall brothers protested
by taking a Black friend
00:07:28.110 --> 00:07:30.060
to the cafeteria with them.
00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:33.510
- And they integrated
that cafeteria
00:07:33.510 --> 00:07:38.460
and worked also to integrate
other parts of the campus.
00:07:38.460 --> 00:07:41.070
- In 1948, their father, Levi,
00:07:41.070 --> 00:07:44.550
who became the chief justice
of the Arizona Supreme Court,
00:07:44.550 --> 00:07:47.130
wrote the ruling that
first gave Native Americans
00:07:47.130 --> 00:07:48.680
the right to vote in the state.
00:07:49.560 --> 00:07:54.540
- Stewart and Morris had a
great passion for social justice,
00:07:54.540 --> 00:07:59.010
and even though he was not a
practicing or active member
00:07:59.010 --> 00:08:01.713
of the church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints,
00:08:02.790 --> 00:08:06.420
he did not divorce himself
from its core values,
00:08:06.420 --> 00:08:11.420
which I think magnified and
improved his public service,
00:08:11.460 --> 00:08:14.850
his passion for making
the world a better place,
00:08:14.850 --> 00:08:18.633
for leaving your campsite
better than you found it.
00:08:20.370 --> 00:08:23.640
- At the university,
Stewart met Irma Lee Webb,
00:08:23.640 --> 00:08:25.318
the love of his life.
00:08:25.318 --> 00:08:29.280
He and Lee were inseparable
and soon married.
00:08:29.280 --> 00:08:32.403
She gave birth to four
sons and two daughters.
00:08:33.570 --> 00:08:36.720
- While my mother was
quite intelligent and warm,
00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:40.860
she did have this sort
of flinty, Germanic
00:08:40.860 --> 00:08:42.393
kind of quality to her.
00:08:43.860 --> 00:08:46.050
- After graduation
and the bar exam,
00:08:46.050 --> 00:08:48.813
Stew started practicing
law in Tucson.
00:08:52.680 --> 00:08:57.060
- I remember Stewart telling
me how much he loved hiking
00:08:57.060 --> 00:09:01.200
in the Tucson mountains and
the invigorating sense of
00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:04.020
doing that early in
the morning and then
00:09:04.020 --> 00:09:08.463
going to do his legal work
after a good dawn hike.
00:09:09.300 --> 00:09:12.000
- Both Stew and Mo hoped
to run for Congress,
00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:14.163
but Mo deferred to
his older brother.
00:09:16.530 --> 00:09:20.160
- It was the only time they
really didn't see eye to eye
00:09:20.160 --> 00:09:23.010
on things and almost fought over
00:09:23.010 --> 00:09:25.440
who should run for Congress.
00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:29.790
- Stewart was elected in
1954 on his first try.
00:09:29.790 --> 00:09:32.550
He advocated more
military spending,
00:09:32.550 --> 00:09:35.430
a position he would
later reconsider.
00:09:35.430 --> 00:09:36.600
While in Congress,
00:09:36.600 --> 00:09:39.000
he voted for the
interstate highway system.
00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:40.897
- And near the end of
his life he'd say,
00:09:40.897 --> 00:09:42.960
"You know, that was one of
the worst things we did."
00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:47.760
He kept saying, "This is, the
automobile has become king.
00:09:47.760 --> 00:09:49.230
"It's hurt our ability
00:09:49.230 --> 00:09:52.797
"to really develop
livable communities."
00:09:55.770 --> 00:09:58.020
- The Udalls found a
house in McLean, Virginia,
00:09:58.020 --> 00:09:59.973
just outside Washington DC.
00:10:01.650 --> 00:10:03.900
- I just remember our
parents always encouraging us
00:10:03.900 --> 00:10:06.600
to go outdoors and you know,
00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:09.042
smell the fresh air and take
little walks and observe,
00:10:09.042 --> 00:10:11.790
you know, flowers and
the different seasons
00:10:11.790 --> 00:10:12.963
and times of the year.
00:10:13.860 --> 00:10:15.810
- Their home was
filled with visitors
00:10:15.810 --> 00:10:19.080
from ambassadors and
senators to artists.
00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:22.050
- It was very lively and
there was always a lot of
00:10:22.050 --> 00:10:25.680
classical music going
on and we were exposed
00:10:25.680 --> 00:10:27.483
to just great literature.
00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:31.323
- Stewart cultivated a
friendship with Robert Frost,
00:10:31.323 --> 00:10:34.410
then the official
Poet of Congress.
00:10:34.410 --> 00:10:37.470
- Frost was a poet who
wanted to be a statesman.
00:10:37.470 --> 00:10:39.780
He thought he had all
these great political ideas
00:10:39.780 --> 00:10:41.700
and that people
should listen to him.
00:10:41.700 --> 00:10:44.430
And Stewart was a statesman
who wanted to be a poet,
00:10:44.430 --> 00:10:47.610
and that was kind of what brought
them, you know, together.
00:10:47.610 --> 00:10:50.320
- Our mother had us
all memorize a poem
00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:53.370
and he just got the
biggest kick out of that.
00:10:53.370 --> 00:10:55.620
So that was very special, and
of course I was so young,
00:10:55.620 --> 00:10:58.920
I don't think I realized
what an incredibly,
00:10:58.920 --> 00:11:01.625
dynamic person Robert
Frost was at the time.
00:11:01.625 --> 00:11:04.890
♪ Everyone is voting for Jack ♪
00:11:04.890 --> 00:11:08.400
♪ 'Cause he's got what
all the rest lack ♪
00:11:08.400 --> 00:11:12.420
- Stew was also inspired by a
young and charismatic senator
00:11:12.420 --> 00:11:13.743
from Massachusetts.
00:11:14.954 --> 00:11:17.966
♪ Cause he's got high hopes ♪
00:11:17.966 --> 00:11:21.240
♪ He's got high hopes ♪
00:11:21.240 --> 00:11:24.840
- When John Kennedy ran
for president in 1960,
00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:27.510
Udall convinced Arizona's
convention delegates
00:11:27.510 --> 00:11:31.083
to support him instead of
Texas senator Lyndon Johnson.
00:11:32.490 --> 00:11:37.490
In return, JFK appointed Udall
as Secretary of the Interior.
00:11:37.710 --> 00:11:39.240
After a special election,
00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:41.550
his brother Mo replaced
him in Congress.
00:11:41.550 --> 00:11:43.560
- And right out of the get go,
00:11:43.560 --> 00:11:47.070
you start seeing the
impact that Stewart Udall
00:11:47.070 --> 00:11:48.120
is having on things.
00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:51.060
It's Stewart Udall that tells Kennedy,
00:11:51.061 --> 00:11:55.740
"Have Robert Frost deliver
your poem at the inaugural."
00:11:55.740 --> 00:12:00.180
- At 40, Udall was the youngest
of a reform-minded cabinet
00:12:00.180 --> 00:12:02.280
and director of a vast agency
00:12:02.280 --> 00:12:05.340
with an annual budget of
several hundred million dollars
00:12:05.340 --> 00:12:07.710
and thousands of employees.
00:12:07.710 --> 00:12:10.710
Its departments included
the National Park Service,
00:12:10.710 --> 00:12:14.310
the Bureau of Reclamation,
the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
00:12:14.310 --> 00:12:16.170
the Bureau of Land Management,
00:12:16.170 --> 00:12:18.213
and the Fish and
Wildlife Service.
00:12:20.160 --> 00:12:22.200
Just before the inauguration,
00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:24.750
Stewart had interviewed a
young woman from Seattle
00:12:24.750 --> 00:12:26.010
for a job.
00:12:26.010 --> 00:12:30.630
- And he was on the phone
planning who was gonna ride
00:12:30.630 --> 00:12:34.560
with whom to the inaugural
ball the next night,
00:12:34.560 --> 00:12:37.170
so we barely had a conversation.
00:12:37.170 --> 00:12:41.100
The one real question
that he asked me was,
00:12:41.100 --> 00:12:44.110
and I'll never forget it, he said,
00:12:44.111 --> 00:12:47.820
"Those North Cascades, should
they be a national park?"
00:12:47.820 --> 00:12:50.460
And he had another phone
call and that was it.
00:12:50.460 --> 00:12:52.890
He didn't offer me a job,
00:12:52.890 --> 00:12:57.450
but a few weeks later his
secretary called, "Where are you?
00:12:57.450 --> 00:13:01.320
"The boss is looking for you,
he's having a meeting."
00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:04.087
"Oh, I didn't know
I was to be there."
00:13:04.087 --> 00:13:05.247
"Well, come on."
00:13:07.020 --> 00:13:10.770
- At Interior, Udall
got off to a rocky start
00:13:10.770 --> 00:13:13.080
and his critics smelled blood.
00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:17.790
- Stewart's weaknesses were
over-zealousness, impatience.
00:13:17.790 --> 00:13:21.510
He thought that he could
get things done much quicker
00:13:21.510 --> 00:13:24.930
than, that was
politically realistic.
00:13:24.930 --> 00:13:29.280
- His country style, crew cut
and direct speech drew frowns
00:13:29.280 --> 00:13:31.770
from some cabinet
members, and his zealotry
00:13:31.770 --> 00:13:34.110
sometimes embarrassed Kennedy.
00:13:34.110 --> 00:13:37.140
But he surprised everyone
with a popular campaign
00:13:37.140 --> 00:13:40.770
to bring arts and culture into
Washington's political life,
00:13:40.770 --> 00:13:43.980
something not expected
of a rural westerner.
00:13:43.980 --> 00:13:45.813
- You better get your poetry
books out and dust them off.
00:13:45.813 --> 00:13:48.626
Some of us in the new
administration like poetry.
00:13:48.626 --> 00:13:50.790
(audience laughing)
00:13:50.790 --> 00:13:52.650
- He brought in Carl Sandberg,
00:13:52.650 --> 00:13:57.300
he brought in all kinds of
artists, musicians, poets
00:13:57.300 --> 00:14:01.863
to perform at the White
House and you know,
00:14:02.790 --> 00:14:07.790
helped other cabinet members
support these financially,
00:14:08.730 --> 00:14:11.640
which they sometimes resented.
00:14:11.640 --> 00:14:13.590
You know, they worked
all day and yet
00:14:13.590 --> 00:14:16.590
they were supposed to go to
these cultural events too,
00:14:16.590 --> 00:14:20.490
and not only that, help
sponsor them financially.
00:14:20.490 --> 00:14:24.150
- He was greatly assisted by Lee,
who used empty space
00:14:24.150 --> 00:14:28.050
in the Interior Department to
showcase American Indian arts
00:14:28.050 --> 00:14:30.873
and the work of masters
like Ansel Adams.
00:14:31.830 --> 00:14:35.340
Udall enjoyed leading
hikes along nearby trails
00:14:35.340 --> 00:14:37.170
and watching baseball
with the President
00:14:37.170 --> 00:14:39.330
and other prominent people,
00:14:39.330 --> 00:14:42.240
but while they were engaged
in light conversation,
00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:45.630
the usually serious Stewart
concentrated on the game.
00:14:45.630 --> 00:14:48.450
To his dismay, he
discovered that racism
00:14:48.450 --> 00:14:51.480
was also alive in
the nation's capital.
00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:55.353
Washington DC's football team
refused to hire black players.
00:14:56.190 --> 00:14:58.170
Learning that the team
leased its stadium
00:14:58.170 --> 00:14:59.850
from the Interior Department,
00:14:59.850 --> 00:15:02.317
Udall gave the
owner an ultimatum,
00:15:02.317 --> 00:15:05.633
"Hire black athletes or
find another place to play."
00:15:07.350 --> 00:15:11.017
♪ We shall overcome some day ♪
00:15:16.161 --> 00:15:18.381
- We shall overcome.
00:15:18.381 --> 00:15:20.733
- I have the pleasure
to present to you,
00:15:20.733 --> 00:15:22.520
Dr. Martin Luther King.
00:15:22.520 --> 00:15:25.520
(audience cheering)
00:15:33.729 --> 00:15:36.480
- I didn't realize how
brave Stewart Udall was
00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:38.670
on civil rights issues,
00:15:38.670 --> 00:15:43.050
how firmly he was behind
Martin Luther King Jr
00:15:43.050 --> 00:15:46.590
and the Freedom Rides and
wanted full integration,
00:15:46.590 --> 00:15:49.770
and he had very little
tolerance or ability
00:15:49.770 --> 00:15:53.040
to deal with Democrats
from the south
00:15:53.040 --> 00:15:55.290
that were about Jim Crow.
00:15:55.290 --> 00:15:56.640
- Even more shocking,
00:15:56.640 --> 00:15:59.220
Udall soon realize that
the National Park Service
00:15:59.220 --> 00:16:02.310
employed black rangers
only in the Virgin Islands.
00:16:02.310 --> 00:16:07.310
- He had the courage and had
the vision to recruit young
00:16:07.380 --> 00:16:11.820
African Americans even while
we practiced as a nation
00:16:11.820 --> 00:16:13.080
segregation.
00:16:13.080 --> 00:16:17.430
So he made a decision that
for the summer of '62,
00:16:17.430 --> 00:16:19.770
the National Park
Service would in fact
00:16:19.770 --> 00:16:24.060
have young African
Americans in his workforce,
00:16:24.060 --> 00:16:27.240
and these young people be
recruited from historically
00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:29.340
Black colleges and universities.
00:16:29.340 --> 00:16:31.920
- Bob Stanton, a
student from Texas,
00:16:31.920 --> 00:16:33.810
was one of the
first to be hired.
00:16:33.810 --> 00:16:36.270
- So I was selected for
a seasonal Ranger job
00:16:36.270 --> 00:16:40.760
at Grand Teton National Park
in Wyoming, summer of 1962.
00:16:40.760 --> 00:16:43.860
- By 1966, Stanton
had gotten a call
00:16:43.860 --> 00:16:46.770
to come and work for the
Park Service in Washington DC.
00:16:46.770 --> 00:16:50.340
- And I came on board
as a career employee,
00:16:50.340 --> 00:16:54.577
here in this national
office, in June of 1966,
00:16:55.830 --> 00:16:57.840
and stayed with the
National Park Service
00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:02.190
until I stepped down
on January 19th, 2001,
00:17:02.190 --> 00:17:05.073
as the 15th Director of
the National Park Service.
00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:09.180
- Udall understood
that Native Americans
00:17:09.180 --> 00:17:12.060
were also victims
of discrimination.
00:17:12.060 --> 00:17:14.913
He'd grown up near the
Apache and Navajo nations.
00:17:17.460 --> 00:17:20.400
He knew many tribes viewed
the Bureau of Indian Affairs
00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:23.670
as an occupying force that
controlled their resources,
00:17:23.670 --> 00:17:25.320
forced their children
into schools
00:17:25.320 --> 00:17:27.750
that denied their
languages and culture
00:17:27.750 --> 00:17:30.543
and allowed non-Indians
to usurp their lands.
00:17:32.130 --> 00:17:37.080
- He came into office
with a sense of respect
00:17:37.080 --> 00:17:39.870
and dignity for
the Native people.
00:17:39.870 --> 00:17:43.590
- And he sought greater self
determination for the tribes.
00:17:43.590 --> 00:17:46.020
- And one of the things
that came across clear
00:17:46.020 --> 00:17:50.400
to all of us is, we were having
a relationship with Stewart
00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:54.030
in a way we'd never had a
relationship with a politician
00:17:54.030 --> 00:17:57.750
and really, by and large,
by many non-Indian people.
00:17:57.750 --> 00:18:01.350
- To run the BIA, Udall
chose Robert Bennett,
00:18:01.350 --> 00:18:05.073
the first Indian to lead
the bureau since the 1870s.
00:18:07.950 --> 00:18:12.480
- What we felt across
Indian country was that
00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:14.457
Stewart was there with us
00:18:14.457 --> 00:18:16.920
and we could see
Stewart in our circles.
00:18:16.920 --> 00:18:19.110
We could see Stewart
in our ceremonies.
00:18:19.110 --> 00:18:24.110
Stewart was with us in
heart, mind, and spirit.
00:18:27.150 --> 00:18:31.533
- In Alaska, he stopped a
possible giveaway of Native land.
00:18:36.330 --> 00:18:37.860
- The Alaska Natives
were on the brink
00:18:37.860 --> 00:18:40.863
of losing all of
their land, all of it.
00:18:42.270 --> 00:18:46.680
Stewart single handedly
basically put a freeze
00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:48.930
on the conveyance
to the state land
00:18:48.930 --> 00:18:51.060
until the Native
land was conveyed,
00:18:51.060 --> 00:18:54.510
until Native title
was clear and settled.
00:18:54.510 --> 00:18:56.700
If he had not done that,
00:18:56.700 --> 00:18:59.253
it would be a completely
different Alaska.
00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:04.200
- Not content with
his domestic duties,
00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:07.290
Udall also hoped to
be a peacemaker.
00:19:07.290 --> 00:19:10.710
In 1962, he traveled
to the Soviet Union
00:19:10.710 --> 00:19:15.210
with poet Robert Frost, ostensibly
to study its energy grid,
00:19:15.210 --> 00:19:18.270
but he was also able to talk
about ending the arms race
00:19:18.270 --> 00:19:20.283
with Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
00:19:22.220 --> 00:19:23.902
♪ Come on and take
a walk with me ♪
00:19:23.902 --> 00:19:26.479
♪ through this green
and growing land ♪
00:19:26.479 --> 00:19:29.040
♪ Walk through the meadows and
the mountains and the sand ♪
00:19:29.040 --> 00:19:31.290
- Yet his first
priority was always
00:19:31.290 --> 00:19:34.440
the protection of America's
plundered natural resources
00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:36.907
and its endangered
natural beauty.
00:19:36.907 --> 00:19:40.271
♪ Here's a land full
of power and glory ♪
00:19:40.271 --> 00:19:44.850
♪ Beauty that words
cannot recall ♪
00:19:44.850 --> 00:19:47.433
(gentle piano music)
00:19:49.140 --> 00:19:54.087
- My father and my mother both
felt strongly that the parks,
00:19:55.350 --> 00:19:59.130
the national monuments,
just the great outdoors
00:19:59.130 --> 00:20:03.000
were a wonderful
place to raise kids.
00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:08.000
So we would take Jeep trips
in areas like Southern Utah,
00:20:08.190 --> 00:20:10.890
we'd run rivers
all over the west.
00:20:10.890 --> 00:20:14.253
We just did an awful
lot of outdoor things.
00:20:15.938 --> 00:20:17.130
- This is with the
compliments of,
00:20:17.130 --> 00:20:20.010
- "With the compliments of
the Secretary of Interior."
00:20:20.010 --> 00:20:22.320
Don't you love that insignia?
- It's great, yeah.
00:20:22.320 --> 00:20:24.300
- At Point Reyes
National Seashore,
00:20:24.300 --> 00:20:26.280
just north of San Francisco,
00:20:26.280 --> 00:20:28.080
Dennis Udall and Kenneth Brower
00:20:28.080 --> 00:20:30.090
share memories of their fathers,
00:20:30.090 --> 00:20:33.240
the Interior Secretary
and the Sierra Club leader
00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:35.727
who sometimes sparred
over policies,
00:20:35.727 --> 00:20:38.310
(orchestral music)
00:20:38.310 --> 00:20:43.310
but in 1962, Stewart Udall and
David Brower worked together
00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:45.870
with members of Congress
and local residents
00:20:45.870 --> 00:20:49.287
to save this beautiful stretch
of California coastline.
00:20:49.287 --> 00:20:51.704
(somber string music)
00:20:55.170 --> 00:20:58.560
- The real driver of the Point
Reyes legislation was Udall.
00:20:58.560 --> 00:21:02.670
My father was very much
involved in getting,
00:21:02.670 --> 00:21:04.020
making Point Reyes happen.
00:21:04.020 --> 00:21:05.730
He lobbied on both coasts.
00:21:05.730 --> 00:21:08.010
- Udall feared Brower's
passionate lobbying
00:21:08.010 --> 00:21:11.400
might actually produce a
backlash against the idea.
00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:15.390
- There was a point in the
maneuvering for this legislation
00:21:15.390 --> 00:21:17.970
where he said, "Dave, now
it's time for the Sierra Club
00:21:17.970 --> 00:21:21.570
"and you to be a little quiet
at this political moment
00:21:21.570 --> 00:21:22.410
"and it's gonna happen."
00:21:22.410 --> 00:21:25.890
And my father, for once
in his life, shut up.
00:21:25.890 --> 00:21:27.930
- Both Udall and
Brower were present
00:21:27.930 --> 00:21:31.230
to watch Kennedy sign the
Point Reyes Bill into law.
00:21:31.230 --> 00:21:34.800
- And may I thank all of you
on behalf of my department,
00:21:34.800 --> 00:21:37.110
indeed on behalf of the
people of this country,
00:21:37.110 --> 00:21:41.370
those of you in the Sierra Club
who saw and began the fight
00:21:41.370 --> 00:21:44.170
for Point Reyes
many, many years ago.
00:21:44.170 --> 00:21:45.660
(audience clapping)
00:21:45.660 --> 00:21:47.940
- The most expensive
property in America
00:21:47.940 --> 00:21:49.980
was seashore property,
00:21:49.980 --> 00:21:53.220
and they were able to go in
and stop over-development
00:21:53.220 --> 00:21:55.920
and in some places ban
any commercialization
00:21:55.920 --> 00:22:00.240
in parts of American seashore
to have it as public lands.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:04.770
So out of the gate, Kennedy
and Udall bonded on seashores
00:22:04.770 --> 00:22:09.770
and bonded on a open agenda
to create new national parks.
00:22:10.110 --> 00:22:15.110
- Historically, there has
always been local opposition,
00:22:17.070 --> 00:22:20.070
regional opposition,
state opposition
00:22:20.070 --> 00:22:22.140
to the creation of
new national parks.
00:22:22.140 --> 00:22:25.230
This is because people
saw the federal government
00:22:25.230 --> 00:22:28.950
as an intruder and
they wanted to control
00:22:28.950 --> 00:22:30.900
and do it the way
they wanted to do it,
00:22:30.900 --> 00:22:32.280
but if that had been done,
00:22:32.280 --> 00:22:36.330
you wouldn't have had national
parks or national forest.
00:22:36.330 --> 00:22:41.040
- He converted Kennedy,
I think, to the fact that
00:22:41.040 --> 00:22:44.790
national parks were important,
and he convinced Kennedy
00:22:44.790 --> 00:22:48.120
to hold a White House
conference on conservation,
00:22:48.120 --> 00:22:53.120
and so he won Kennedy
over to conservation as
00:22:56.040 --> 00:23:01.040
a political cause and a kind
of a spiritual cause, I think.
00:23:07.890 --> 00:23:09.999
- Udall was especially proud
00:23:09.999 --> 00:23:12.483
of Utah's Canyonlands
National Park.
00:23:14.250 --> 00:23:16.170
He'd flown over the area earlier
00:23:16.170 --> 00:23:19.230
with Bureau of Reclamation
director Floyd Dominy,
00:23:19.230 --> 00:23:21.780
who wanted to build a dam there.
00:23:21.780 --> 00:23:23.377
- And my father said, you know,
00:23:23.377 --> 00:23:25.290
"I didn't say it at
the time to him,
00:23:25.290 --> 00:23:28.080
"but I looked down in that
beautiful area that I saw
00:23:28.080 --> 00:23:30.810
"and I saw the next
great national park."
00:23:30.810 --> 00:23:33.333
- I say to you, when this area,
00:23:34.620 --> 00:23:36.930
and we may make it into a
national park, and if we do,
00:23:36.930 --> 00:23:38.780
I'd like to leave
it just like it is,
00:23:40.571 --> 00:23:41.782
so that it would remain.
00:23:41.782 --> 00:23:44.782
(audience clapping)
00:23:46.530 --> 00:23:48.870
There are canyons there
today that no white man
00:23:48.870 --> 00:23:52.140
has ever been in in this
wild and rugged country,
00:23:52.140 --> 00:23:54.870
that they want to
shove a road right down
00:23:54.870 --> 00:23:57.330
into the middle of
this wilderness
00:23:57.330 --> 00:24:00.600
and to build works of man.
I don't say they're wrong,
00:24:00.600 --> 00:24:03.630
but I say there's room
for two points of view
00:24:03.630 --> 00:24:06.482
and I say it with all the
sincerity that I can muster.
00:24:06.482 --> 00:24:09.619
(audience clapping)
00:24:09.619 --> 00:24:12.570
(spare piano music)
00:24:12.570 --> 00:24:15.930
- He loved the red rock
country of the arid southwest
00:24:15.930 --> 00:24:18.660
with its deep gorges
carved by sluggish rivers
00:24:18.660 --> 00:24:19.773
through millennia.
00:24:22.031 --> 00:24:24.531
(music continues)
00:24:29.820 --> 00:24:32.370
- His proposal was
a million acres
00:24:32.370 --> 00:24:34.200
and they ended up
getting a third of it,
00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:37.260
but that's another
example of the vision.
00:24:37.260 --> 00:24:40.590
He was gonna go for
everything that was needed,
00:24:40.590 --> 00:24:43.020
but if politically
he couldn't get it
00:24:43.020 --> 00:24:46.530
and the only way to get it
was to do the first third,
00:24:46.530 --> 00:24:47.943
then that's what he did.
00:24:48.990 --> 00:24:52.950
- I took my first backpack
trip in Canyonlands
00:24:52.950 --> 00:24:56.400
literally within months
of it being designated
00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:59.670
as a new national park
that Stewart Udall created.
00:24:59.670 --> 00:25:03.870
It was probably the key
experience of my life
00:25:03.870 --> 00:25:07.293
in wanting to become a natural
historian and scientist.
00:25:08.455 --> 00:25:11.038
(serene instrumental music)
00:25:13.770 --> 00:25:15.150
- Every place you park,
00:25:15.150 --> 00:25:20.150
you can stand at an overlook
of the most beautiful scenery,
00:25:20.760 --> 00:25:23.610
landscape that you've
ever seen in your life,
00:25:23.610 --> 00:25:28.610
and it was really
astounding, breathtaking.
00:25:30.450 --> 00:25:33.300
- Udall eloquently spoke
of nature's beauty,
00:25:33.300 --> 00:25:36.870
but often preferred to express
his ideas through writing.
00:25:36.870 --> 00:25:38.699
He asked his aide Sharon Francis
00:25:38.699 --> 00:25:40.590
and several prominent authors,
00:25:40.590 --> 00:25:42.210
including Wallace Stegner,
00:25:42.210 --> 00:25:45.390
to help him with the
first of his many books.
00:25:45.390 --> 00:25:50.390
- Stewart wanted to explore
the history of conservation
00:25:50.460 --> 00:25:55.460
in America and he wanted
to start with the Indians,
00:25:55.890 --> 00:26:00.890
with the Native Americans
who had such understanding
00:26:01.080 --> 00:26:05.913
of the land and the resources
among which they lived.
00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:11.007
- Udall called his slim
volume "The Quiet Crisis."
00:26:16.770 --> 00:26:20.280
Published in 1963, it was
a warning of what America
00:26:20.280 --> 00:26:23.040
might become if it did not
address the growing issues
00:26:23.040 --> 00:26:25.293
of pollution and
abuse of nature.
00:26:26.208 --> 00:26:30.586
♪ Ah tell me again,
I need to know ♪
00:26:30.586 --> 00:26:33.131
♪ The forest had trees ♪
00:26:33.131 --> 00:26:35.508
♪ The meadows were green ♪
00:26:35.508 --> 00:26:37.856
♪ The oceans were blue ♪
00:26:37.856 --> 00:26:40.758
♪ And birds really flew ♪
00:26:40.758 --> 00:26:43.594
♪ Can you swear that was true? ♪
00:26:43.594 --> 00:26:46.177
(gentle folk music)
00:26:49.470 --> 00:26:53.100
- He changed the
perception of Americans
00:26:53.100 --> 00:26:56.307
about the meaning of the out
of doors and the public lands
00:26:56.307 --> 00:26:57.960
and he brought that
to the department,
00:26:57.960 --> 00:27:02.130
because the Interior
Department had really become
00:27:02.130 --> 00:27:04.500
a development agency.
00:27:04.500 --> 00:27:06.660
There wasn't much of
a conservation ethic.
00:27:06.660 --> 00:27:09.390
Most of what they were
doing was developing,
00:27:09.390 --> 00:27:12.480
leasing for oil and
gas, and particularly
00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:14.100
running the Bureau
of Reclamation,
00:27:14.100 --> 00:27:19.100
which was busy attempting
to develop and dam
00:27:19.140 --> 00:27:20.823
every river in the west.
00:27:22.020 --> 00:27:25.620
- Udall worried about
a philistine class
00:27:25.620 --> 00:27:29.520
that saw only dollar signs when
they looked at a landscape.
00:27:29.520 --> 00:27:32.790
He thought Americans were
all about the profit motive
00:27:32.790 --> 00:27:35.190
of capitalism,
the gross national product,
00:27:35.190 --> 00:27:40.173
and they were willing to destroy
America's natural beauty.
00:27:41.820 --> 00:27:45.330
- Rachel Carson's warnings about
the dangers of insecticides
00:27:45.330 --> 00:27:48.753
and other poisons seemed
particularly urgent to Udall.
00:27:50.820 --> 00:27:55.110
- And he became a good friend
of hers. He was a mentor.
00:27:55.110 --> 00:27:56.970
He introduced her
to the Kennedys.
00:27:56.970 --> 00:27:59.130
He did everything he could
00:27:59.130 --> 00:28:02.733
to try to make sure that
that her message was heard.
00:28:03.750 --> 00:28:07.230
- Another influence was
ecologist Aldo Leopold
00:28:07.230 --> 00:28:10.687
and his popular book,
"A Sand County Almanac."
00:28:10.687 --> 00:28:13.117
"A thing is right,"
Leopold wrote,
00:28:13.117 --> 00:28:16.290
"when it tends to preserve
the integrity, stability,
00:28:16.290 --> 00:28:19.170
"and beauty of the
biotic community.
00:28:19.170 --> 00:28:21.360
"We abuse land because
we regard it
00:28:21.360 --> 00:28:24.030
"as a commodity belonging to us.
00:28:24.030 --> 00:28:27.600
When we see land as a
community to which we belong,
00:28:27.600 --> 00:28:31.140
we may begin to use it
with love and respect."
00:28:31.140 --> 00:28:33.540
- What he loved about
Leopold's writing was,
00:28:33.540 --> 00:28:38.280
was not merely a
utilitarian point of view
00:28:38.280 --> 00:28:40.590
towards nature like
Gifford Pinchot's.
00:28:40.590 --> 00:28:43.590
It was really that
nature was this elegant
00:28:43.590 --> 00:28:46.590
and eloquent teacher and
that we needed to draw
00:28:46.590 --> 00:28:48.630
on the wisdom of nature,
00:28:48.630 --> 00:28:51.990
that nature was a model
for how we should behave
00:28:51.990 --> 00:28:54.410
as one more creature
on this earth.
00:28:54.410 --> 00:28:57.493
(airplane engines whining)
00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:04.530
- I've come on a
journey of four days,
00:29:04.530 --> 00:29:06.330
five days across
the United States.
00:29:06.330 --> 00:29:10.410
- In September, 1963,
Udall convinced Kennedy
00:29:10.410 --> 00:29:13.113
to join him on a national
conservation tour.
00:29:14.037 --> 00:29:16.454
(brass band music)
00:29:22.260 --> 00:29:24.826
- The potential of this
country is unlimited.
00:29:24.826 --> 00:29:27.243
(music continues)
00:29:32.070 --> 00:29:35.100
We will find by
concentrating our energy
00:29:35.100 --> 00:29:37.350
on our national resources,
00:29:37.350 --> 00:29:40.294
we can fulfill our
responsibilities to ourselves
00:29:40.294 --> 00:29:42.033
and those who depend upon us.
00:29:43.470 --> 00:29:46.170
- One of their stops
included the dedication
00:29:46.170 --> 00:29:50.280
of California's Whiskeytown
dam and recreation area.
00:29:50.280 --> 00:29:52.620
- Reclamation was
a big component
00:29:52.620 --> 00:29:57.030
of federal conservation
efforts in the 1960s,
00:29:57.030 --> 00:30:00.240
and Udall pushed for
a lot of these dams
00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:01.980
and dedicated a lot of them.
00:30:01.980 --> 00:30:04.800
Udall was very much an
international ambassador
00:30:04.800 --> 00:30:08.280
for national parks
and dam building
00:30:08.280 --> 00:30:10.350
and conservation in general.
00:30:10.350 --> 00:30:14.370
He was essentially the
Kennedy Administration's
00:30:14.370 --> 00:30:17.430
poster child for these efforts.
00:30:17.430 --> 00:30:20.640
He was young, he was handsome,
he was very physically fit.
00:30:20.640 --> 00:30:23.400
He was the perfect
person to have on camera.
00:30:23.400 --> 00:30:25.350
- During his overseas travels,
00:30:25.350 --> 00:30:28.230
Udall climbed Japan's
graceful Mount Fuji
00:30:28.230 --> 00:30:31.110
and Africa's
massive Kilimanjaro.
00:30:31.110 --> 00:30:34.020
He returned from his
conservation tour with Kennedy
00:30:34.020 --> 00:30:35.967
excited for the future.
00:30:35.967 --> 00:30:36.870
(loud gunshot)
00:30:36.870 --> 00:30:39.600
- There has been a shooting,
Parkland Hospital has been advised
00:30:39.600 --> 00:30:41.577
to stand by for a
severe gunshot wound.
00:30:41.577 --> 00:30:44.190
- But only two months later,
00:30:44.190 --> 00:30:46.496
devastating news
came from Dallas.
00:30:46.496 --> 00:30:49.320
- President Kennedy
has been assassinated.
00:30:49.320 --> 00:30:51.693
It's official now.
The President is dead.
00:30:54.690 --> 00:30:57.750
- My father had
gotten on a plane
00:30:57.750 --> 00:31:00.390
and was headed to
Japan with, I think,
00:31:00.390 --> 00:31:02.490
maybe eight other
cabinet members,
00:31:02.490 --> 00:31:05.613
and they turned the plane
around in midair and came home.
00:31:10.140 --> 00:31:11.890
- He didn't come to Interior,
00:31:12.750 --> 00:31:17.750
and we all kinda went
home and mourned.
00:31:24.300 --> 00:31:27.300
- The Kennedy assassination
for Udall was gut wrenching.
00:31:27.300 --> 00:31:28.600
It hit him in the stomach.
00:31:29.747 --> 00:31:32.080
(bugle playing "Taps")
00:31:40.530 --> 00:31:42.420
- Udall knew that Lyndon Johnson
00:31:42.420 --> 00:31:45.480
had resented his early
support for Kennedy.
00:31:45.480 --> 00:31:49.590
He suspected his career at
Interior might well be over.
00:31:49.590 --> 00:31:52.920
- LBJ, when he had his
first meeting with him,
00:31:52.920 --> 00:31:54.690
gave him a little
bit of a hazing
00:31:54.690 --> 00:31:58.890
in terms of being a Kennedy
man and asked his response,
00:31:58.890 --> 00:32:00.097
and my father said,
00:32:00.097 --> 00:32:01.680
"I think you're gonna
be a good President
00:32:01.680 --> 00:32:03.540
"and I'd like to be
your Secretary."
00:32:03.540 --> 00:32:07.200
- LBJ told Udall to
get back to work.
00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:09.570
Johnson turned out to
be even more receptive
00:32:09.570 --> 00:32:12.183
to Udall's ideas than
Kennedy had been.
00:32:14.700 --> 00:32:18.090
He'd grown up here, on a
ranch near the Pedernales River
00:32:18.090 --> 00:32:22.950
west of Austin, Texas, and had
a deep appreciation for nature.
00:32:22.950 --> 00:32:25.470
And he needed Udall.
00:32:25.470 --> 00:32:28.470
- Johnson had civil
rights on his hands.
00:32:28.470 --> 00:32:31.530
He had the war in
Vietnam on his hands,
00:32:31.530 --> 00:32:33.720
protestors all over the place.
00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:37.740
But when Stewart Udall
appeared before the press
00:32:37.740 --> 00:32:41.280
he was talking about
places of beauty,
00:32:41.280 --> 00:32:46.280
places of spirituality,
good, beautiful things
00:32:46.440 --> 00:32:51.150
that took the public's
mind off the war
00:32:51.150 --> 00:32:53.670
and the civil rights protests.
00:32:53.670 --> 00:32:58.050
- Sensing a potential ally,
Udall persuaded Johnson's wife
00:32:58.050 --> 00:33:01.172
Lady Bird to accompany him
on a tour of the West.
00:33:03.090 --> 00:33:06.210
- Her official escort was
Secretary of the Interior
00:33:06.210 --> 00:33:08.403
Stewart Udall and Mrs. Udall.
00:33:09.986 --> 00:33:12.000
(meditative instrumental music)
00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:14.460
- On the Snake River
in the Grand Tetons,
00:33:14.460 --> 00:33:16.650
he encouraged her to
make a name for herself
00:33:16.650 --> 00:33:18.577
as a conservationist.
00:33:18.577 --> 00:33:20.670
"Stew was an
excellent salesman,"
00:33:20.670 --> 00:33:24.450
she wrote later, "and he
convinced me this was for me."
00:33:24.450 --> 00:33:29.070
- And he really converted
her to an environmentalist
00:33:29.070 --> 00:33:33.420
and really launched her
beautification campaign.
00:33:33.420 --> 00:33:35.460
"Let's beautify American cities,
00:33:35.460 --> 00:33:38.850
"let's beautify the
American countryside.
00:33:38.850 --> 00:33:41.700
"Let's get rid of
billboards and junkyards
00:33:41.700 --> 00:33:44.580
"and all this trash that we see.
00:33:44.580 --> 00:33:47.250
"Let's make America
beautiful again."
00:33:47.250 --> 00:33:52.173
And he also understood that
by recruiting Lady Bird,
00:33:53.250 --> 00:33:57.503
if she was for it, Lyndon
was gonna be for it,
00:33:57.503 --> 00:34:01.500
because he seldom
disagreed with anything
00:34:01.500 --> 00:34:03.603
that Lady Bird wanted.
00:34:04.800 --> 00:34:07.290
- Udall then offered
Lady Bird his trusted aid,
00:34:07.290 --> 00:34:10.593
Sharon Francis, to help with
the beautification campaign.
00:34:12.420 --> 00:34:16.710
A month before the famous
1965 Selma Freedom March,
00:34:16.710 --> 00:34:19.410
he took Francis to a
meeting at the White House.
00:34:19.410 --> 00:34:21.990
- Stewart loaned me to her.
00:34:21.990 --> 00:34:24.300
I happened to be
sitting by the window
00:34:24.300 --> 00:34:27.483
and we could hear
singing outside.
00:34:29.100 --> 00:34:32.550
Mrs. Johnson said,
"What are they doing?"
00:34:32.550 --> 00:34:36.637
And I looked out the
curtain and I said,
00:34:36.637 --> 00:34:41.490
"They're on their knees
in the snow, Mrs. Johnson,
00:34:41.490 --> 00:34:45.807
and they're singing,
'We Shall Overcome.'"
00:34:47.700 --> 00:34:53.700
She and I looked at each other,
tears came down her face.
00:34:58.170 --> 00:35:01.940
- The beautification campaign
started in Washington, DC.
00:35:01.940 --> 00:35:07.940
- What became most
important to Mrs. Johnson
00:35:08.340 --> 00:35:13.340
was the poor parts of the city
00:35:13.740 --> 00:35:17.367
inhabited by African Americans.
00:35:18.209 --> 00:35:22.626
(violin playing
"America the Beautiful")
00:35:45.489 --> 00:35:49.322
(mariachi music and
singing in Spanish)
00:35:52.260 --> 00:35:54.660
- Secretary of the
Interior Stewart Udall
00:35:54.660 --> 00:35:57.420
and National Park Service
Director George Hartzog
00:35:57.420 --> 00:35:59.070
officially welcomed
the First Lady
00:35:59.070 --> 00:36:00.693
to Big Bend National Park.
00:36:03.270 --> 00:36:07.560
- In 1966, Udall traveled
through Texas with Lady Bird
00:36:07.560 --> 00:36:09.570
to celebrate the
50th anniversary
00:36:09.570 --> 00:36:12.033
of the National Park Service.
00:36:12.033 --> 00:36:14.616
(marching band music)
00:36:27.538 --> 00:36:30.810
Meanwhile, with
support from Johnson,
00:36:30.810 --> 00:36:33.603
Udall was pushing other
measures through Congress.
00:36:34.578 --> 00:36:37.995
(pensive blues guitar music)
00:36:52.860 --> 00:36:56.190
These were bipartisan efforts,
and some Republicans
00:36:56.190 --> 00:36:59.193
were more supportive than
Udall's Democratic colleagues.
00:37:07.110 --> 00:37:08.940
- John Saylor was a Republican
00:37:08.940 --> 00:37:10.560
on the House Interior Committee
00:37:10.560 --> 00:37:15.540
who was very pro-environment,
pro-park, pro-wilderness,
00:37:15.540 --> 00:37:18.090
and Stewart could work with him
00:37:18.090 --> 00:37:21.930
and he could counter
balance Wayne Aspinall,
00:37:21.930 --> 00:37:24.330
the Chairman of the
House Interior Committee,
00:37:24.330 --> 00:37:28.830
a Democrat who was very
resource oriented.
00:37:28.830 --> 00:37:31.830
He wanted to develop
just about everything,
00:37:31.830 --> 00:37:34.470
Sailor wanted to
preserve everything,
00:37:34.470 --> 00:37:38.820
and they fought like
crazy between the two,
00:37:38.820 --> 00:37:41.013
but they respected one another.
00:37:42.240 --> 00:37:44.610
- Udall never got all he wanted,
00:37:44.610 --> 00:37:46.260
but he believed that half a loaf
00:37:46.260 --> 00:37:48.195
was better than none at all,
00:37:48.195 --> 00:37:50.880
and he cared at least
as much about a change
00:37:50.880 --> 00:37:54.543
in American values as he did
about specific legislation.
00:38:01.888 --> 00:38:03.750
Udall hoped for a shift
00:38:03.750 --> 00:38:06.930
away from the dominant
American dream of consumerism
00:38:06.930 --> 00:38:11.930
and economic growth toward
frugality and quality of life.
00:38:12.180 --> 00:38:17.180
- He could see ahead that we
were overusing, oversubscribing,
00:38:18.420 --> 00:38:21.990
and wanted to blow
the whistle on the way
00:38:21.990 --> 00:38:26.520
our whole society approached
resource consumption.
00:38:26.520 --> 00:38:28.050
- And he led by example.
00:38:28.050 --> 00:38:32.760
- Stewart Udall lived
in a very simple way.
00:38:32.760 --> 00:38:37.290
He wasn't attracted
to material items.
00:38:37.290 --> 00:38:41.580
He traveled with a briefcase,
and whatever he needed,
00:38:41.580 --> 00:38:44.040
like a change of shirt,
00:38:44.040 --> 00:38:46.530
would go into the
briefcase with his papers,
00:38:46.530 --> 00:38:49.260
but he did not need luggage.
00:38:49.260 --> 00:38:51.480
- He hated materialism.
00:38:51.480 --> 00:38:55.950
He was very
outspoken about greed
00:38:55.950 --> 00:38:58.620
and that you
shouldn't keep trying
00:38:58.620 --> 00:39:01.590
to get more and more and more,
00:39:01.590 --> 00:39:03.240
that that wasn't the
way to happiness,
00:39:03.240 --> 00:39:05.880
and he said that many
times to all of us.
00:39:05.880 --> 00:39:08.820
- He sensed and
even fell at times
00:39:08.820 --> 00:39:10.593
into that temptation of ego,
00:39:11.550 --> 00:39:14.100
you know, that inflation
of self, you know.
00:39:14.100 --> 00:39:15.660
He saw that as a danger,
00:39:15.660 --> 00:39:18.723
and he saw it in the political
realm, you know, around him.
00:39:20.940 --> 00:39:23.670
- Udall was among the
earliest American leaders
00:39:23.670 --> 00:39:27.330
to call attention to the
threat of global warming.
00:39:27.330 --> 00:39:29.190
As Interior Secretary,
00:39:29.190 --> 00:39:31.500
President Johnson called
on him to regulate
00:39:31.500 --> 00:39:33.873
oil and gas production
and exports.
00:39:37.470 --> 00:39:40.890
- And so my father became
a real expert on energy.
00:39:40.890 --> 00:39:42.870
He cared about these issues.
00:39:42.870 --> 00:39:46.470
He really believed that,
that climate change
00:39:46.470 --> 00:39:50.790
was what was going to impact
us in the biggest way.
00:39:50.790 --> 00:39:52.650
- He was also one of
our first leaders
00:39:52.650 --> 00:39:55.683
to challenge the way we
measure progress in America.
00:40:02.340 --> 00:40:08.340
- Beauty was also pleasing
spiritually, emotionally,
00:40:08.910 --> 00:40:11.910
and that is hard to
put a price on it,
00:40:11.910 --> 00:40:15.630
but I think that's what he meant
by the economics of beauty.
00:40:15.630 --> 00:40:19.860
It will pay off in the
long run by making people
00:40:19.860 --> 00:40:25.860
less stressful, less combative,
maybe more bipartisan.
00:40:28.050 --> 00:40:29.670
- Even in Udall's day,
00:40:29.670 --> 00:40:32.520
there were those who argued
that his emphasis on beauty
00:40:32.520 --> 00:40:35.880
was a distraction for
more pressing issues,
00:40:35.880 --> 00:40:39.240
but Johnson believed Udall's
instincts were right.
00:40:39.240 --> 00:40:41.850
- A few years ago, we
were greatly concerned
00:40:41.850 --> 00:40:43.443
about the ugly American.
00:40:45.030 --> 00:40:48.513
Today we must act to
prevent an ugly America.
00:40:50.220 --> 00:40:52.023
While once the battle is lost,
00:40:53.970 --> 00:40:56.853
and once man can no
longer walk with beauty,
00:40:57.780 --> 00:41:01.890
or wonder at nature,
his spirit will wither
00:41:01.890 --> 00:41:04.113
and his sustenance be wasted.
00:41:05.187 --> 00:41:07.604
(gentle instrumental music)
00:41:10.740 --> 00:41:14.640
- Beauty was the main
theme of Udall's politics:
00:41:14.640 --> 00:41:19.640
beauty of the land, art, human
relations, cities, culture,
00:41:19.710 --> 00:41:21.093
even conversation.
00:41:21.960 --> 00:41:25.350
- He infused the
concept of beauty
00:41:25.350 --> 00:41:28.920
with a much more
transcendental meaning
00:41:28.920 --> 00:41:34.585
that related not just
to a particular place,
00:41:34.587 --> 00:41:38.288
but to our relationship
with the landscape
00:41:38.288 --> 00:41:43.961
and the way in which, well,
we really had to move toward
00:41:43.963 --> 00:41:44.823
a new ethic.
00:41:46.860 --> 00:41:49.440
- Perhaps the Navajo term "Hózhó"
00:41:49.440 --> 00:41:51.153
best captures his philosophy.
00:41:52.350 --> 00:41:55.500
- Hózhó is also called
"the beauty way."
00:41:55.500 --> 00:41:58.620
You're creating balance
and a beautiful way
00:41:58.620 --> 00:42:00.333
with everything around you.
00:42:03.840 --> 00:42:08.040
There are friends that also
have that understanding as well,
00:42:08.040 --> 00:42:09.153
like Stewart Udall.
00:42:11.880 --> 00:42:14.310
- The impressionistic
paintings of Shonto Begay
00:42:14.310 --> 00:42:16.020
convey the concept.
00:42:16.020 --> 00:42:18.330
In his work, he
captures the beauty
00:42:18.330 --> 00:42:20.553
of the Navajo's
high desert home.
00:42:23.700 --> 00:42:28.033
- (Shonto speaking in Navajo)
00:42:29.460 --> 00:42:32.560
May I step into the
world where I share
00:42:34.080 --> 00:42:36.693
the beauty of my world,
the beauty of my presence,
00:42:39.000 --> 00:42:40.500
the beauty of everything I do,
00:42:41.987 --> 00:42:45.420
the things I see,
the lives I touch,
00:42:45.420 --> 00:42:49.863
may all of these be
part of the, the beauty.
00:42:51.072 --> 00:42:53.489
(gentle violin music)
00:43:00.600 --> 00:43:05.340
- Stewart had the multilayered,
complex understanding
00:43:05.340 --> 00:43:07.710
of beauty, much in alliance
00:43:07.710 --> 00:43:09.473
with the way Native
people understand beauty
00:43:09.473 --> 00:43:11.457
and the spirituality of it,
00:43:11.457 --> 00:43:13.677
and the source of
life within nature
00:43:13.677 --> 00:43:15.660
and the beauty of nature.
00:43:15.660 --> 00:43:18.240
(water cascading)
00:43:18.240 --> 00:43:20.460
- My grandfather
wanted each person
00:43:20.460 --> 00:43:24.210
to develop a relationship
with the out of doors
00:43:24.210 --> 00:43:26.100
where you don't see
another human being
00:43:26.100 --> 00:43:30.513
and all you can see
and hear is natural.
00:43:32.310 --> 00:43:34.500
The world and Mother
Nature is so much bigger
00:43:34.500 --> 00:43:36.870
than anything than
any of us have built
00:43:36.870 --> 00:43:38.310
and put on top of it,
00:43:38.310 --> 00:43:41.490
and I think that he
wanted each person
00:43:41.490 --> 00:43:44.403
to be able to experience
the liberation of that.
00:43:45.570 --> 00:43:48.720
- Most of Udall's victories
did not come easily.
00:43:48.720 --> 00:43:50.550
During the Kennedy
administration,
00:43:50.550 --> 00:43:54.060
many of his proposals
were blocked by Congress,
00:43:54.060 --> 00:43:57.360
but Kennedy's death and
Johnson's landslide re-election
00:43:57.360 --> 00:44:01.020
in 1964 helped to
unify the country
00:44:01.020 --> 00:44:03.000
and increase the
will to cooperate
00:44:03.000 --> 00:44:05.610
on both sides of
the political aisle.
00:44:05.610 --> 00:44:09.420
Then, Udall's hardest times
as Interior Secretary
00:44:09.420 --> 00:44:12.750
sometimes arose from his
own internal contradictions
00:44:12.750 --> 00:44:14.493
and political calculations.
00:44:16.310 --> 00:44:19.833
♪ Whose river was this? ♪
00:44:19.833 --> 00:44:24.176
♪ You say it ran freely ♪
00:44:24.176 --> 00:44:27.494
♪ Blue was its color ♪
00:44:27.494 --> 00:44:31.740
♪ I've seen blue
in some pictures ♪
00:44:31.740 --> 00:44:34.290
- This is Lake Powell
on the Colorado River,
00:44:34.290 --> 00:44:37.620
the reservoir behind
Glen Canyon Dam.
00:44:37.620 --> 00:44:39.660
It's drying up as a
result of a drought
00:44:39.660 --> 00:44:42.360
caused largely by
climate change.
00:44:42.360 --> 00:44:47.250
When it was built, the dam
destroyed places of great beauty.
00:44:47.250 --> 00:44:49.833
(gentle folk music)
00:44:50.981 --> 00:44:53.820
- It was 188 miles of
beautiful canyons.
00:44:53.820 --> 00:44:55.230
It's now a reservoir.
00:44:55.230 --> 00:44:57.743
It was the most beautiful
canyon system in the world.
00:44:58.745 --> 00:45:00.810
♪ Or was it a blue one ♪
00:45:00.810 --> 00:45:03.160
- The beauty of
these side canyons.
00:45:03.160 --> 00:45:04.593
♪ At night there were breezes ♪
00:45:04.593 --> 00:45:06.753
- They were magical places.
00:45:07.680 --> 00:45:09.990
Every, every turn
had a different feel,
00:45:09.990 --> 00:45:11.490
petroglyphs on the side
00:45:11.490 --> 00:45:13.810
and just this beautiful
sandstone sculpture.
00:45:14.700 --> 00:45:16.197
And my dad, I just
remember watching my dad
00:45:16.197 --> 00:45:17.970
and he started to cry.
00:45:17.970 --> 00:45:20.163
It was just a huge loss.
00:45:23.430 --> 00:45:27.600
- While in Congress, Udall
had voted for the dam.
00:45:27.600 --> 00:45:29.970
As part of the Central
Arizona Project,
00:45:29.970 --> 00:45:32.550
a plan Udall
originally supported,
00:45:32.550 --> 00:45:34.680
Commissioner of
Reclamation Floyd Dominy
00:45:34.680 --> 00:45:38.190
proposed that two more power
dams be built right outside
00:45:38.190 --> 00:45:40.170
Grand Canyon National Park,
00:45:40.170 --> 00:45:42.453
flooding a small part
of the park itself.
00:45:43.290 --> 00:45:45.780
Their purpose was
to produce energy
00:45:45.780 --> 00:45:49.890
to pump Colorado River
water to the Arizona desert.
00:45:49.890 --> 00:45:52.530
- One thing that
Arizonans could agree on,
00:45:52.530 --> 00:45:55.470
whether they're
Democrats or Republicans,
00:45:55.470 --> 00:45:58.260
was they needed more water.
00:45:58.260 --> 00:46:04.260
So as a politician, you could
not be anti-water development.
00:46:04.920 --> 00:46:08.160
- Udall continually felt the
tensions that mark efforts
00:46:08.160 --> 00:46:11.550
to conserve resources
while at the same time
00:46:11.550 --> 00:46:15.363
enabling humans to work and
live in healthy communities.
00:46:16.860 --> 00:46:20.100
- He also recognized
that livability
00:46:20.100 --> 00:46:23.430
must include the ability
of people to make a living,
00:46:23.430 --> 00:46:28.080
and he worked at resolving that
tension to find the balance
00:46:28.080 --> 00:46:31.380
between human needs and
environmental preservation.
00:46:31.380 --> 00:46:35.100
- Initially, Dominy convinced
Udall and President Johnson
00:46:35.100 --> 00:46:36.960
that the dams were needed
00:46:36.960 --> 00:46:40.110
- And of course conservationists,
environmentalists,
00:46:40.110 --> 00:46:42.870
preservationists
were all up in arms,
00:46:42.870 --> 00:46:45.663
especially Dave Brower
of the Sierra Club.
00:46:48.030 --> 00:46:50.403
- There is no
other Grand Canyon.
00:46:51.390 --> 00:46:55.203
Dams or people?
You can help decide.
00:46:57.060 --> 00:47:00.777
This Grand Canyon is
your Grand Canyon.
00:47:00.777 --> 00:47:03.610
(classical music)
00:47:07.950 --> 00:47:10.170
- Brower launched
a massive campaign
00:47:10.170 --> 00:47:12.300
of anti-dam advertising
00:47:12.300 --> 00:47:14.850
and letters to Congress
and the President.
00:47:14.850 --> 00:47:16.620
- What Stew Udall
said afterwards
00:47:16.620 --> 00:47:19.890
is when he saw these
clippings begin to come in,
00:47:19.890 --> 00:47:23.520
these ads, he said, "There's
something new happening here
00:47:23.520 --> 00:47:24.930
"that I've never seen before."
00:47:24.930 --> 00:47:27.120
They were tremendously
effective.
00:47:27.120 --> 00:47:29.313
- Udall found himself in a trap.
00:47:31.050 --> 00:47:34.860
- If he didn't support
the project with dams
00:47:34.860 --> 00:47:37.110
to provide Arizona with water,
00:47:37.110 --> 00:47:39.750
he was done as an
Arizona politician.
00:47:39.750 --> 00:47:44.160
On the other hand, he didn't
want to ruin his reputation
00:47:44.160 --> 00:47:47.700
as being the nation's
number one environmentalist
00:47:47.700 --> 00:47:49.740
by being for the dams.
00:47:49.740 --> 00:47:53.673
So he was caught in between.
What should he do?
00:47:56.790 --> 00:47:59.910
- He decided to let
the river tell him.
00:47:59.910 --> 00:48:02.640
Udall took his family
through the Grand Canyon
00:48:02.640 --> 00:48:05.490
and parts of Glen Canyon that
were slowly being drowned
00:48:05.490 --> 00:48:07.773
by the rising waters
of Lake Powell.
00:48:09.660 --> 00:48:11.277
- He always said to us
00:48:11.277 --> 00:48:13.560
and he was very
clear that he thought
00:48:13.560 --> 00:48:17.280
the Glen Canyon Dam was
one of the great mistakes
00:48:17.280 --> 00:48:19.050
of his career.
00:48:19.050 --> 00:48:21.450
- He told me that they
spent days on the river
00:48:21.450 --> 00:48:24.240
and each day was more
remarkable than the last,
00:48:24.240 --> 00:48:28.200
with these 2000 foot
red walls of the canyon
00:48:28.200 --> 00:48:33.200
and this glassy blue-green
water and the emerald springs
00:48:33.270 --> 00:48:39.270
and willows and cottonwood,
and he realized that not only he
00:48:39.780 --> 00:48:44.780
but almost nobody else would
ever see that place again.
00:48:45.480 --> 00:48:48.510
- The trip convinced Udall
that the Grand Canyon Dam
00:48:48.510 --> 00:48:50.070
should not be built.
00:48:50.070 --> 00:48:52.650
- When my father learned
that Stewart Udall
00:48:52.650 --> 00:48:55.590
had come out against the dams
and effectively stopped them,
00:48:55.590 --> 00:48:56.493
he was delighted.
00:48:56.493 --> 00:49:01.493
This was probably the greatest
triumph of, of his career.
00:49:01.920 --> 00:49:05.820
I think after Stewart realized
his mistake on Glen Canyon,
00:49:05.820 --> 00:49:08.770
I think was clear sailing
between those two men ever after.
00:49:10.560 --> 00:49:11.700
- One of the most
important things
00:49:11.700 --> 00:49:14.820
for any public official
is to be open-minded,
00:49:14.820 --> 00:49:18.570
and Brower helped me see
things in a different light
00:49:18.570 --> 00:49:20.970
and in that sense,
I'm in his debt.
00:49:20.970 --> 00:49:22.020
No question about it.
00:49:22.890 --> 00:49:25.740
There had to be leadership
that was essentially
00:49:25.740 --> 00:49:29.370
very hard-nosed and
very uncompromising
00:49:29.370 --> 00:49:32.400
in order to achieve the
results that were achieved,
00:49:32.400 --> 00:49:34.443
and if Brower hadn't
have done it
00:49:35.910 --> 00:49:39.870
there might have been some
very serious failures.
00:49:39.870 --> 00:49:43.950
- And I believe that he also
harkened back to something
00:49:43.950 --> 00:49:46.950
he would've learned from
the pattern of faith
00:49:46.950 --> 00:49:51.360
of his Udall home, which
is if you make a mistake,
00:49:51.360 --> 00:49:52.800
you can repent.
00:49:52.800 --> 00:49:55.380
If you make a mistake,
you can make it right.
00:49:55.380 --> 00:49:58.440
- Then too, Udall
sensed that his duty
00:49:58.440 --> 00:50:02.403
as Interior Secretary was to
the nation, not just Arizona.
00:50:03.612 --> 00:50:06.180
- And with that came
a responsibility
00:50:06.180 --> 00:50:11.180
to look in a much broader way
at our rivers and our water
00:50:12.390 --> 00:50:16.020
and the way we develop
water in a way that serves
00:50:16.020 --> 00:50:17.193
the entire nation.
00:50:18.330 --> 00:50:20.700
- Afterwards, both Stew
and his brother Mo
00:50:20.700 --> 00:50:24.471
would describe the Central
Arizona Project as a mistake.
00:50:24.471 --> 00:50:28.560
♪ Glory, glory hallelujah ♪
00:50:28.560 --> 00:50:31.650
- During the same period,
Udall broke officially
00:50:31.650 --> 00:50:33.690
with the faith of his fathers,
00:50:33.690 --> 00:50:36.540
with a letter openly
chastising the Mormon church
00:50:36.540 --> 00:50:39.982
for its refusal to allow
Blacks in its priesthood.
00:50:39.982 --> 00:50:43.710
- He laid out in that
letter to the editor
00:50:43.710 --> 00:50:45.870
and the essay he sent with it
00:50:45.870 --> 00:50:47.907
exactly what many
people were thinking,
00:50:47.907 --> 00:50:51.700
and that is we need to focus
on the teachings of Jesus
00:50:52.620 --> 00:50:54.750
and get out in front of this
00:50:54.750 --> 00:50:59.280
instead of trying to defend
something that's a policy
00:50:59.280 --> 00:51:03.090
that just doesn't fit in the way
00:51:03.090 --> 00:51:05.121
that Jesus would do things.
00:51:05.121 --> 00:51:08.037
♪ Oh I march to the battle
of New Orleans ♪
00:51:08.037 --> 00:51:10.533
- But no decision was
more difficult for Udall
00:51:10.533 --> 00:51:12.987
than his response
to the Vietnam War.
00:51:12.987 --> 00:51:14.503
♪ The young lad
started growing ♪
00:51:14.503 --> 00:51:16.214
♪ The young blood
started flowing ♪
00:51:16.214 --> 00:51:19.730
♪ But I aint marching anymore ♪
00:51:19.730 --> 00:51:24.730
- Originally, he supported
Johnson's position in 1965
00:51:25.590 --> 00:51:30.590
to send combat troops to
Vietnam, and for bombing.
00:51:32.190 --> 00:51:36.240
Very shortly after that,
he changed his mind.
00:51:36.240 --> 00:51:41.040
He did an aboutface and
said the human sacrifice,
00:51:41.040 --> 00:51:43.840
the environmental
sacrifice on Vietnam
00:51:44.760 --> 00:51:49.760
was just not worth it
and we should pull out.
00:51:50.400 --> 00:51:55.290
And he wrote entry after
entry in his journals
00:51:55.290 --> 00:52:00.290
about how stupid policymakers
were, why don't they get out.
00:52:02.910 --> 00:52:05.580
- Again, Udall was trapped.
00:52:05.580 --> 00:52:08.220
His brother Mo was one of
the first members of Congress
00:52:08.220 --> 00:52:10.473
to speak publicly
against the war.
00:52:11.967 --> 00:52:13.470
- I think he was very torn.
00:52:13.470 --> 00:52:17.790
"Should I make a one day
statement, get a one day headline,
00:52:17.790 --> 00:52:21.060
"or should I continue doing
the work and try to be
00:52:21.060 --> 00:52:25.410
"a very, very good conservation
Secretary of Interior?"
00:52:25.410 --> 00:52:26.940
- Everybody was so
against the war, you know,
00:52:26.940 --> 00:52:28.827
in our family and all of
our friends and things,
00:52:28.827 --> 00:52:30.153
and I just remember
00:52:31.290 --> 00:52:33.960
there being some very, very
stressful times, you know.
00:52:33.960 --> 00:52:37.140
- And right about the time of
My Lai, this slaughter over
00:52:37.140 --> 00:52:41.583
in Vietnam, my brother decided
to leave and go to Canada.
00:52:48.780 --> 00:52:51.510
- Jack Loeffler was
a family friend.
00:52:51.510 --> 00:52:54.120
He'd met the Udalls in 1967,
00:52:54.120 --> 00:52:56.640
when Lee asked him to work
on a project she developed
00:52:56.640 --> 00:52:59.783
for boarding school children
on the Navajo Nation.
00:52:59.783 --> 00:53:04.140
- I was hired by Lee
to become the curator
00:53:04.140 --> 00:53:07.650
of a traveling exhibition to
try to turn the Navajo kids
00:53:07.650 --> 00:53:09.750
on to their own culture,
00:53:09.750 --> 00:53:14.490
rather than listening to their
history through Anglo eyes
00:53:14.490 --> 00:53:17.130
or non-Indian eyes.
00:53:17.130 --> 00:53:20.580
So there were many times
when I found myself
00:53:20.580 --> 00:53:22.710
back in McLean, Virginia,
00:53:22.710 --> 00:53:26.733
talking with Lee and Stewart
and meeting all of the kids.
00:53:27.630 --> 00:53:30.210
- One day Udall son, Scott,
00:53:30.210 --> 00:53:32.733
paid a surprise visit
to Jack in New Mexico.
00:53:33.630 --> 00:53:36.750
- He said, "I have just
deserted from the Army
00:53:36.750 --> 00:53:39.000
"and you gotta get me
out of the country."
00:53:39.000 --> 00:53:43.380
But in the meantime, the phone
instantly rang, practically,
00:53:43.380 --> 00:53:46.110
and it was Stewart.
"Do you know where Scott is?"
00:53:46.110 --> 00:53:47.970
And I said, "I do, Stewart.
00:53:47.970 --> 00:53:51.510
"He's safe, but I'm not allowed
to tell you where he is."
00:53:51.510 --> 00:53:52.920
And he was sitting
right beside me.
00:53:52.920 --> 00:53:56.070
- And I think this is yet
another example of my father.
00:53:56.070 --> 00:53:57.480
He supported Scott,
00:53:57.480 --> 00:54:00.420
and you can imagine how
hard that would've been
00:54:00.420 --> 00:54:03.750
for someone of his
stature to have a son
00:54:03.750 --> 00:54:05.700
who not just only goes AWOL,
00:54:05.700 --> 00:54:08.613
but deserts and
lives in Canada.
00:54:10.350 --> 00:54:13.650
- Stewart shared his own anti-war
views in cabinet meetings
00:54:13.650 --> 00:54:15.870
and privately with
the President,
00:54:15.870 --> 00:54:18.000
but he knew that if
he spoke publicly
00:54:18.000 --> 00:54:19.740
Johnson would get rid of him.
00:54:19.740 --> 00:54:23.010
He discussed his dilemma
with Nicholas Katzenbach,
00:54:23.010 --> 00:54:26.100
another cabinet member
who shared his views.
00:54:26.100 --> 00:54:27.720
- Katzenbach outlined
for Stewart
00:54:27.720 --> 00:54:30.270
what he wanted accomplish
in civil rights.
00:54:30.270 --> 00:54:31.560
Stewart outlined to Katzenbach
00:54:31.560 --> 00:54:34.830
what he wanted to accomplish
in the environment,
00:54:34.830 --> 00:54:38.580
and they said, "Okay, if we
come out against the war,
00:54:38.580 --> 00:54:41.370
"we don't have a snowball's
chance in hell."
00:54:41.370 --> 00:54:46.353
- He stayed on because he
thought his job was so important
00:54:47.280 --> 00:54:52.280
that it was worth selling
out his civic courage,
00:54:52.380 --> 00:54:55.410
if you will,
for something grander,
00:54:55.410 --> 00:54:57.720
and that was beautifying America.
00:54:57.720 --> 00:55:01.470
And on the whole I
think he probably made
00:55:01.470 --> 00:55:04.470
the right decision,
because certainly Johnson
00:55:04.470 --> 00:55:05.654
would've fired him.
00:55:05.654 --> 00:55:07.214
(rapid gunfire)
00:55:07.214 --> 00:55:09.513
♪ Blow them from the forest ♪
00:55:09.513 --> 00:55:12.514
♪ And burn them from your side ♪
00:55:12.514 --> 00:55:15.133
♪ Tie their hands
behind their backs ♪
00:55:15.133 --> 00:55:18.870
♪ And question
through the night ♪
00:55:18.870 --> 00:55:21.450
- Stewart Udall's
last year at Interior
00:55:21.450 --> 00:55:24.838
was one of the most turbulent
in American history.
00:55:24.838 --> 00:55:29.005
♪ Red blow the
bugles of the dawn ♪
00:55:29.915 --> 00:55:33.240
- 1968 brought
a February shock.
00:55:33.240 --> 00:55:37.053
Vietnamese rebels seized
large sections of the country.
00:55:37.053 --> 00:55:39.927
♪ We're fighting
in a war we lost ♪
00:55:39.927 --> 00:55:42.467
♪ Before the war began ♪
00:55:42.467 --> 00:55:47.467
♪ We're the white boots
marching in a yellow land ♪
00:55:48.450 --> 00:55:50.190
- Two anti-war senators,
00:55:50.190 --> 00:55:52.620
Eugene McCarthy
and Bobby Kennedy,
00:55:52.620 --> 00:55:56.550
challenged President Johnson
for the Democratic nomination,
00:55:56.550 --> 00:55:59.430
and Johnson
delivered a surprise.
00:55:59.430 --> 00:56:04.210
- I shall not seek,
and I will not accept
00:56:05.490 --> 00:56:08.250
the nomination of my
party for another term
00:56:08.250 --> 00:56:09.240
as your President.
00:56:09.240 --> 00:56:13.890
- Johnson's decision left Udall
free to criticize the war.
00:56:13.890 --> 00:56:17.190
He did so in a book, outlining
how we might transform
00:56:17.190 --> 00:56:20.580
our cities, then suffering
from both racial injustice
00:56:20.580 --> 00:56:22.593
and our dependence
on the automobile.
00:56:23.520 --> 00:56:28.140
But almost immediately, two
murders rocked the country.
00:56:28.140 --> 00:56:30.330
Civil rights leader
Martin Luther King
00:56:30.330 --> 00:56:32.730
was assassinated in Memphis.
00:56:32.730 --> 00:56:35.520
Two months later, Udall's
friend and neighbor,
00:56:35.520 --> 00:56:39.003
Bobby Kennedy lay dying
in a Los Angeles hotel.
00:56:40.680 --> 00:56:42.960
- I remember our father
just going into
00:56:42.960 --> 00:56:46.110
kind of a pretty deep depression
for a while after that.
00:56:46.110 --> 00:56:49.980
- Stewart told me that the
killing of Bobby Kennedy
00:56:49.980 --> 00:56:52.560
just devastated him
00:56:52.560 --> 00:56:56.640
and he went hiking on
the C&O Canal by himself
00:56:56.640 --> 00:56:57.981
and contemplated it,
00:56:57.981 --> 00:57:02.981
and he decided, "I'm best
not to quit, to stay focused
00:57:04.050 --> 00:57:08.340
"on getting North Cascades
National Park Redwoods done,
00:57:08.340 --> 00:57:12.717
"that Bobby would've wanted
me to go forward with those."
00:57:12.717 --> 00:57:15.134
(slow music)
00:57:19.530 --> 00:57:21.960
- Three of the men
Udall admired most
00:57:21.960 --> 00:57:24.693
had been assassinated
within five years.
00:57:26.370 --> 00:57:30.780
Depressed and discouraged, he
would have one final hurrah.
00:57:30.780 --> 00:57:34.740
- President Johnson wanted
more conservation initiatives,
00:57:34.740 --> 00:57:36.390
he wanted to do more,
00:57:36.390 --> 00:57:41.390
and so LBJ's Director
of Domestic Affairs
00:57:41.700 --> 00:57:45.300
came to Stewart Udall and said,
"The President wants more.
00:57:45.300 --> 00:57:46.407
"What do you have?"
00:57:48.870 --> 00:57:52.470
- Udall offered an idea that
had been brewing for some time,
00:57:52.470 --> 00:57:55.200
protecting America's
wild rivers from dams
00:57:55.200 --> 00:57:56.580
and other development.
00:57:56.580 --> 00:57:57.840
- The Wild and Scenic Rivers bill
00:57:57.840 --> 00:58:00.690
passed the Senate unanimously
00:58:00.690 --> 00:58:04.743
and it passed the
House 265 to 7.
00:58:09.240 --> 00:58:12.960
- On October 2nd,
Johnson signed four bills
00:58:12.960 --> 00:58:16.530
that had been Udall priorities,
creating Redwoods
00:58:16.530 --> 00:58:19.290
and North Cascades
national parks,
00:58:19.290 --> 00:58:21.780
the National Scenic
Trail System,
00:58:21.780 --> 00:58:24.210
and the Wild and
Scenic Rivers System,
00:58:24.210 --> 00:58:28.320
which now protects 250
rivers from development.
00:58:28.320 --> 00:58:31.640
- Secretary Udall
was in his position
00:58:31.640 --> 00:58:35.190
at a very special time
in American history,
00:58:35.190 --> 00:58:38.700
when we went in a few
years from thinking,
00:58:38.700 --> 00:58:42.270
and from all the water
development people thinking,
00:58:42.270 --> 00:58:46.050
that dams should be built
everywhere, at almost any cost
00:58:46.050 --> 00:58:49.530
to thinking that the best of
our rivers should be protected,
00:58:49.530 --> 00:58:50.913
and it's okay to do that.
00:58:53.190 --> 00:58:56.460
- But finally came
disappointment.
00:58:56.460 --> 00:59:00.120
Johnson refused to set aside
8 million acres in Alaska
00:59:00.120 --> 00:59:03.778
that Udall wanted protected,
and only a month later
00:59:03.778 --> 00:59:05.760
Udall's close friend
Hubert Humphrey
00:59:05.760 --> 00:59:09.210
lost the presidential
election to Richard Nixon.
00:59:09.210 --> 00:59:13.800
- Everyone had to think about
what they might be doing next,
00:59:13.800 --> 00:59:18.800
and Stewart Udall's idea
of what he wanted to do
00:59:19.230 --> 00:59:23.620
was to help communities plan
00:59:25.080 --> 00:59:28.290
the way a community
really ought to be,
00:59:28.290 --> 00:59:33.290
pedestrian centered, not
automobile dominated.
00:59:36.120 --> 00:59:39.427
- Udall expressed doubt about
our belief in what he called
00:59:39.427 --> 00:59:43.767
"the myths of resource abundance
and scientific salvation."
00:59:44.610 --> 00:59:46.980
He saw technology as
a double-edged sword
00:59:46.980 --> 00:59:48.210
that brought conveniences,
00:59:48.210 --> 00:59:51.310
but with them
unintended consequences.
00:59:52.320 --> 00:59:55.387
And he questioned our
spending priorities.
00:59:55.387 --> 00:59:58.140
"If we didn't waste
our resources on war
00:59:58.140 --> 01:00:01.627
"and even efforts like the
conquest of space," he thought,
01:00:01.627 --> 01:00:03.810
"we might instead
conquer poverty
01:00:03.810 --> 01:00:05.517
"and protect our environment."
01:00:08.730 --> 01:00:11.010
He was not alone.
01:00:11.010 --> 01:00:14.250
Barely a year after the end
of his tenure at Interior,
01:00:14.250 --> 01:00:16.590
20 million Americans
filled our streets
01:00:16.590 --> 01:00:18.360
on the first Earth Day,
01:00:18.360 --> 01:00:21.300
demanding action
for the environment.
01:00:21.300 --> 01:00:22.740
They got it.
01:00:22.740 --> 01:00:25.380
Many of Udall's
proposals were eventually
01:00:25.380 --> 01:00:28.920
and ironically signed
into law by Nixon.
01:00:28.920 --> 01:00:31.170
- And I think he
will be remembered
01:00:31.170 --> 01:00:34.800
for giving impetus to something
01:00:34.800 --> 01:00:37.257
that's called "the
environmental movement."
01:00:40.379 --> 01:00:43.530
(gentle acoustic guitar music)
01:00:43.530 --> 01:00:45.840
- The Udalls stayed
in Washington, DC
01:00:45.840 --> 01:00:48.480
until their children
were adults.
01:00:48.480 --> 01:00:52.530
In 1976, Stew campaigned
hard for his brother Mo
01:00:52.530 --> 01:00:55.173
when the latter ran
unsuccessfully for President.
01:00:56.130 --> 01:01:00.060
Two years later, Stew and
Lee moved back to Arizona.
01:01:00.060 --> 01:01:02.823
As an attorney in Phoenix,
he found a new cause.
01:01:05.220 --> 01:01:08.280
(lively trumpet solo)
01:01:08.280 --> 01:01:10.980
- We were called
"The Atomic Band"
01:01:10.980 --> 01:01:12.873
because we played
for atomic bombs.
01:01:14.550 --> 01:01:19.550
- Back in 1957, as a young GI
and accomplished musician,
01:01:19.710 --> 01:01:23.160
Jack Loeffler was playing
"The Stars And Stripes Forever"
01:01:23.160 --> 01:01:26.127
just before dawn in
the Nevada desert.
01:01:26.127 --> 01:01:28.794
(trumpet fades)
(crackling explosion)
01:01:31.260 --> 01:01:35.250
- And all of a sudden the
sky became far brighter
01:01:35.250 --> 01:01:36.363
than the sun.
01:01:38.010 --> 01:01:40.470
You could almost
see through people,
01:01:40.470 --> 01:01:42.330
the light was that bright.
01:01:42.330 --> 01:01:45.240
I was literally
blown away by this.
01:01:45.240 --> 01:01:49.083
You just wonder why
would anybody do this?
01:01:51.840 --> 01:01:53.970
- Some of the
radioactive particles
01:01:53.970 --> 01:01:55.983
spill out near the
explosion site.
01:01:57.870 --> 01:02:02.640
Others may be carried for 10,
50, 100 miles or more.
01:02:02.640 --> 01:02:06.300
- Fall out from multiple
atmospheric nuclear explosions
01:02:06.300 --> 01:02:09.360
fell on unsuspecting Americans.
01:02:09.360 --> 01:02:12.783
Years later, a wave of cancer
swept their communities.
01:02:14.010 --> 01:02:17.580
- I remember there were
government people
01:02:17.580 --> 01:02:21.540
coming out in their
vehicles, informing people
01:02:21.540 --> 01:02:24.630
that there will be something
falling out of the sky
01:02:24.630 --> 01:02:27.677
that is dangerous,
don't touch it, don't go near it,
01:02:27.677 --> 01:02:29.553
and so we had no
idea what it was.
01:02:30.420 --> 01:02:34.500
- Udall took up the cases of
two groups of cancer victims.
01:02:34.500 --> 01:02:37.650
Those who were exposed to
fallout from atomic testing,
01:02:37.650 --> 01:02:41.193
and uranium miners who dug the
material to make the bombs.
01:02:42.900 --> 01:02:46.140
Mary Dixon and many of her
neighbors in Salt Lake City
01:02:46.140 --> 01:02:47.940
were among the victims.
01:02:47.940 --> 01:02:49.710
They were called "downwinders"
01:02:49.710 --> 01:02:52.323
because the winds blew
the fallout their way.
01:02:53.280 --> 01:02:55.680
- Stewart Udall was
someone who early on
01:02:55.680 --> 01:02:57.903
took on the cause
of downwinders.
01:03:00.630 --> 01:03:04.860
- This was something that he
felt really passionate about.
01:03:04.860 --> 01:03:09.570
He thought there had been huge
injustice to the downwinders
01:03:09.570 --> 01:03:12.360
who were sprinkled
with radiation
01:03:12.360 --> 01:03:14.607
and it just really,
really bothered him,
01:03:14.607 --> 01:03:17.370
and the same thing was
true of the uranium miners.
01:03:17.370 --> 01:03:18.510
- They were expendable,
01:03:18.510 --> 01:03:21.180
we were all expendable, and
that's the thing that I think
01:03:21.180 --> 01:03:24.630
kills me the most, is that
our government viewed us all
01:03:24.630 --> 01:03:26.310
as expendable.
01:03:26.310 --> 01:03:29.460
We were sacrificed to
national security.
01:03:29.460 --> 01:03:32.760
- I'm from Laguna Pueblo,
and we were home
01:03:32.760 --> 01:03:35.700
to the largest open pit
uranium mine in the world
01:03:35.700 --> 01:03:37.530
for 30 years,
01:03:37.530 --> 01:03:40.560
and when the company
decided to close up shop
01:03:40.560 --> 01:03:44.250
they just left this
open sore in the ground
01:03:44.250 --> 01:03:47.670
with uranium blowing
around for years until,
01:03:47.670 --> 01:03:49.620
until the US
government stepped in
01:03:49.620 --> 01:03:52.197
and said, "This has
to be reclaimed."
01:03:53.490 --> 01:03:57.480
- As a little child, I
just had a lot of questions
01:03:57.480 --> 01:04:00.960
about why my family
didn't have electricity
01:04:00.960 --> 01:04:03.840
or running water,
yet all around us
01:04:03.840 --> 01:04:06.840
our land was being
taken for mining.
01:04:06.840 --> 01:04:08.400
- Some were coal mines,
01:04:08.400 --> 01:04:11.807
but many produced uranium
and with it, cancer.
01:04:15.501 --> 01:04:17.294
- A lot of my relatives
died of cancer,
01:04:17.294 --> 01:04:21.090
and a lot of them that were
involved with uranium mining,
01:04:21.090 --> 01:04:23.040
and the mines are
still out there.
01:04:23.040 --> 01:04:25.617
There's one up there, there's
a couple more back there,
01:04:25.617 --> 01:04:30.240
and there's some more just
west of us and more south of us
01:04:30.240 --> 01:04:31.803
and north of us as well.
01:04:31.803 --> 01:04:33.630
It's all around us.
01:04:33.630 --> 01:04:36.810
- I first learned
about Stewart Udall
01:04:36.810 --> 01:04:40.980
or the name Udall when
I was a young child
01:04:40.980 --> 01:04:42.810
on the Navajo Nation,
01:04:42.810 --> 01:04:47.610
mainly through my community
and hearing about the elders
01:04:47.610 --> 01:04:52.170
go to these various events
in the state capital
01:04:52.170 --> 01:04:55.053
to advocate for compensation.
01:04:57.180 --> 01:04:59.130
- Udall enlisted his
sons and daughters
01:04:59.130 --> 01:05:00.990
to help out with the cases.
01:05:00.990 --> 01:05:05.310
- My father would call
on everyone to help out.
01:05:05.310 --> 01:05:08.820
He didn't care if I was
off working someplace.
01:05:08.820 --> 01:05:12.750
And he'd say, "Well, at night
you can help out with this."
01:05:12.750 --> 01:05:15.690
We'd work after hours
doing things like that.
01:05:15.690 --> 01:05:18.960
My brothers and sisters were
sent to be researchers
01:05:18.960 --> 01:05:20.940
out on the Navajo Nation.
01:05:20.940 --> 01:05:24.420
- Stewart himself put thousands
of hours into the work.
01:05:24.420 --> 01:05:26.310
Yet court after court refused
01:05:26.310 --> 01:05:29.103
to hold the government
responsible for the cancers.
01:05:31.080 --> 01:05:33.390
- He spent a decade
of his life on it.
01:05:33.390 --> 01:05:34.830
He didn't make a dime.
01:05:34.830 --> 01:05:38.910
- For Udall, it was a long,
dark night of the soul.
01:05:38.910 --> 01:05:40.920
He didn't know what
to tell the people
01:05:40.920 --> 01:05:42.900
who had depended on him.
01:05:42.900 --> 01:05:46.560
Disillusioned, he lost faith
in the American government.
01:05:46.560 --> 01:05:48.090
- But he didn't quit.
01:05:48.090 --> 01:05:51.060
That was another lesson
I learned from my father,
01:05:51.060 --> 01:05:52.560
is perseverance.
01:05:52.560 --> 01:05:56.040
He just really believed if you
thought something was wrong,
01:05:56.040 --> 01:05:57.540
go fight for it.
01:05:57.540 --> 01:06:01.050
And so he turned right around
and went to the Congress
01:06:01.050 --> 01:06:04.380
because those court
cases actually said,
01:06:04.380 --> 01:06:08.010
"There is huge injustice here,
01:06:08.010 --> 01:06:10.770
"this just isn't the
right forum," the courts.
01:06:10.770 --> 01:06:13.020
"Congress should deal with this."
01:06:13.020 --> 01:06:16.650
- Long after many of the miners
and downwinders had died,
01:06:16.650 --> 01:06:20.040
Congress provided a measure
of redress for their families
01:06:20.040 --> 01:06:22.563
and Udall received a small
payment for his work.
01:06:24.720 --> 01:06:26.550
Jack Loeffler was lucky.
01:06:26.550 --> 01:06:29.070
Despite his exposure
to the bomb tests,
01:06:29.070 --> 01:06:31.230
he wasn't one of the victims.
01:06:31.230 --> 01:06:34.053
- Stewart Udall told me
that if I died of cancer,
01:06:35.100 --> 01:06:38.753
Cath, my wife,
would get $75,000.
01:06:41.242 --> 01:06:45.178
- By 1989, weary of traffic
and pollution in Phoenix,
01:06:45.180 --> 01:06:47.550
Stewart was slowing down.
01:06:47.550 --> 01:06:48.383
He and Lee moved
01:06:48.383 --> 01:06:51.360
to Santa Fe to be
close to son Tom,
01:06:51.360 --> 01:06:53.820
daughter Lynn and her children.
01:06:53.820 --> 01:06:55.500
- The only grandchildren
that they had at the time
01:06:55.500 --> 01:06:57.450
were all here, my three kids,
01:06:57.450 --> 01:06:58.890
and I think they
wanted to be here
01:06:58.890 --> 01:07:02.190
watching them grow up and
be a part of their life.
01:07:02.190 --> 01:07:05.250
- Stewart wanted to devote
himself to writing,
01:07:05.250 --> 01:07:07.350
allowing Lee to pursue
her own interest
01:07:07.350 --> 01:07:09.783
in American Indian
art and culture.
01:07:10.650 --> 01:07:14.850
- She was an unbelievable
asset to him,
01:07:14.850 --> 01:07:19.110
and she came out,
really set her own path
01:07:19.110 --> 01:07:24.110
as a leader nationally in
historic Native American culture.
01:07:28.410 --> 01:07:30.840
- At the time,
Stewart grew troubled
01:07:30.840 --> 01:07:32.070
by the polarization
01:07:32.070 --> 01:07:35.040
that had come to dominate
American politics.
01:07:35.040 --> 01:07:37.290
- Democrats and Republicans
used to get together,
01:07:37.290 --> 01:07:38.490
their families
would get together
01:07:38.490 --> 01:07:40.770
and have dinner parties
together, you know?
01:07:40.770 --> 01:07:42.780
But now that none of that
stuff happens anymore.
01:07:42.780 --> 01:07:45.270
It's just slowly
been so divided.
01:07:45.270 --> 01:07:48.600
- Udall remembered fondly his
days in Congress and Interior
01:07:48.600 --> 01:07:51.150
when many of his friends
were Republicans.
01:07:51.150 --> 01:07:53.940
- He couldn't have done
all these national parks
01:07:53.940 --> 01:07:57.120
out in the West without
working with Democrat
01:07:57.120 --> 01:07:58.740
and Republican senators.
01:07:58.740 --> 01:08:01.912
- When I was elected to
the United States Senate,
01:08:01.912 --> 01:08:05.677
Stewart called, he
reached out and he said,
01:08:05.677 --> 01:08:09.180
"In the old days, the
environment wasn't divided
01:08:09.180 --> 01:08:10.890
between Republicans
and Democrats.
01:08:10.890 --> 01:08:12.717
It was a bipartisan issue."
01:08:13.590 --> 01:08:15.420
- One day several years ago,
01:08:15.420 --> 01:08:19.083
the late Senator John McCain
came to St. Johns.
01:08:20.010 --> 01:08:21.600
- He said, "You're a Udall."
01:08:21.600 --> 01:08:22.980
And I said, "Yes, sir."
01:08:22.980 --> 01:08:26.130
He says, "I gotta
tell you something."
01:08:26.130 --> 01:08:29.880
He says, "You know, I worked
with Mo and Stewart Udall."
01:08:29.880 --> 01:08:32.610
And he said, "I never
would've made it without them.
01:08:32.610 --> 01:08:36.120
"They took me under their
wings, and it didn't matter
01:08:36.120 --> 01:08:39.057
"that I was a Republican
and they were Democrats."
01:08:42.270 --> 01:08:44.883
- Soon after Stew and
Lee moved to Santa Fe,
01:08:45.930 --> 01:08:48.363
his brother Mo took
a terrible fall.
01:08:49.500 --> 01:08:52.590
Rendered unable to walk or talk,
01:08:52.590 --> 01:08:55.173
he spent his last seven
years in a hospital room.
01:08:57.213 --> 01:09:01.560
- Whenever he was in
Washington, DC once a week,
01:09:01.560 --> 01:09:04.380
John McCain would go
read to him for an hour
01:09:04.380 --> 01:09:06.240
about some of the
things going on,
01:09:06.240 --> 01:09:09.810
or some things that they
had shared about Arizona,
01:09:09.810 --> 01:09:12.250
and be very serious
reading to him
01:09:13.140 --> 01:09:16.563
in a very expressive voice.
01:09:19.770 --> 01:09:22.500
- After Mo died in 1998,
01:09:22.500 --> 01:09:25.800
a deep sadness and recognition
of life's fleeting nature
01:09:25.800 --> 01:09:28.023
was often part of
Stew's thoughts.
01:09:29.100 --> 01:09:31.700
Still, he worked steadily.
01:09:31.700 --> 01:09:36.450
In all, Udall wrote nine books
and countless articles.
01:09:36.450 --> 01:09:40.470
While in Santa Fe, he grew
more focused on history.
01:09:40.470 --> 01:09:43.170
His book "The Myths of August"
01:09:43.170 --> 01:09:45.870
lamented the secret
change in American policy
01:09:45.870 --> 01:09:48.810
that led to acceptance of
massive bombings of civilians
01:09:48.810 --> 01:09:52.173
in Tokyo, Hiroshima
and Nagasaki.
01:09:56.760 --> 01:10:00.030
Udall also challenged the
popular myth of the West
01:10:00.030 --> 01:10:03.000
as a place of gun
fighters and violence.
01:10:03.000 --> 01:10:06.300
It's real history, he argued,
was made by people
01:10:06.300 --> 01:10:09.510
who built communities
and tilled the soil:
01:10:09.510 --> 01:10:11.940
Pueblo Indians and other tribes,
01:10:11.940 --> 01:10:15.483
Catholic and Protestant
missionaries, Mormon farmers.
01:10:16.320 --> 01:10:19.380
There was a violent
West, he argued,
01:10:19.380 --> 01:10:22.380
but it was primarily characterized
by the Army's slaughter
01:10:22.380 --> 01:10:26.820
of Native Americans, not
shootouts at the O.K. Corral.
01:10:26.820 --> 01:10:29.310
- He thought that
the romanticizing
01:10:29.310 --> 01:10:33.300
and the mythologizing had
really drained the full humanity
01:10:33.300 --> 01:10:36.723
from the settlers, pioneers,
and from Indian people.
01:10:37.920 --> 01:10:40.505
- He was a huge
student of history,
01:10:40.505 --> 01:10:44.040
and he would read as much
history as he possibly could.
01:10:44.040 --> 01:10:47.400
He would chide me because
I love to read fiction,
01:10:47.400 --> 01:10:50.490
and he said, "Why are you
wasting your time on fiction?"
01:10:50.490 --> 01:10:52.839
And I said, "Why are you
wasting your time on history?"
01:10:52.839 --> 01:10:55.339
(Jack laughs)
01:10:58.530 --> 01:11:02.370
- Eventually Stew would try
writing fiction of his own,
01:11:02.370 --> 01:11:06.633
but that was after his wife
Lee died from cancer in 2001.
01:11:08.580 --> 01:11:10.380
- She was the rock of our family.
01:11:10.380 --> 01:11:12.330
She didn't really live
in our dad's shadow.
01:11:12.330 --> 01:11:15.690
You know, she had her own legacy
that she built for herself.
01:11:15.690 --> 01:11:17.943
I think she added a
lot to his career.
01:11:19.050 --> 01:11:24.050
- After Lee passed away, a huge
light went out for Stewart.
01:11:24.330 --> 01:11:28.050
- Living alone, his
eyesight slipping away,
01:11:28.050 --> 01:11:30.570
Udall needed a caretaker.
01:11:30.570 --> 01:11:33.600
His grandson, Bryce, though
still in high school,
01:11:33.600 --> 01:11:35.700
lived with and assisted him.
01:11:35.700 --> 01:11:39.303
- He was very serious, and
every single day there was,
01:11:40.860 --> 01:11:42.540
you know, he'd be
working on something.
01:11:42.540 --> 01:11:44.820
He spent a lot of
time in his study.
01:11:44.820 --> 01:11:48.720
- Even at family gatherings,
Stewart found it hard to relax.
01:11:48.720 --> 01:11:51.900
- My grandfather would be
sitting in his own thoughts,
01:11:51.900 --> 01:11:54.900
not really engaging, and
then he would just sort of
01:11:54.900 --> 01:11:58.350
announce that he had a question,
and the question would be,
01:11:58.350 --> 01:12:01.320
for example, one time,
"Why is Afghanistan
01:12:01.320 --> 01:12:03.327
"a threat to the United States?"
01:12:04.170 --> 01:12:06.330
And then, I mean, who's prepared
to answer that, you know?
01:12:06.330 --> 01:12:09.120
And then we'd be
talking about, you know,
01:12:09.120 --> 01:12:10.623
last Christmas or something.
01:12:12.990 --> 01:12:16.440
- After Lee's death, the
usually stoic Stewart
01:12:16.440 --> 01:12:18.573
grew more open
about his emotions.
01:12:20.790 --> 01:12:22.980
- So he was a really
deeply feeling person,
01:12:22.980 --> 01:12:26.550
but it was hard for
him to be vulnerable.
01:12:26.550 --> 01:12:28.027
I remember once I said,
01:12:28.027 --> 01:12:31.110
"You know, it's a good
thing when you can have
01:12:31.110 --> 01:12:35.790
your own father be one
of your great heroes."
01:12:35.790 --> 01:12:38.790
And I went up and kissed him
on the cheek, and he was crying.
01:12:40.260 --> 01:12:42.120
- In Stewart's final days,
01:12:42.120 --> 01:12:44.493
Jack Loeffler was his
frequent companion.
01:12:47.130 --> 01:12:49.560
- We could sit
outside and face west
01:12:49.560 --> 01:12:51.490
toward the Jemez Mountains,
01:12:52.500 --> 01:12:55.443
and we would drink a glass
of wine and just talk.
01:12:56.460 --> 01:13:00.187
But one day, or one evening,
he looked at me and he said,
01:13:00.187 --> 01:13:05.097
"You know, Jack, we must never
forget the great mystery."
01:13:07.560 --> 01:13:11.880
The phone rang three days,
I think, before he died,
01:13:11.880 --> 01:13:12.847
and his caregiver said,
01:13:12.847 --> 01:13:16.863
"Stewart wants you to
come by if you can."
01:13:17.760 --> 01:13:21.360
And I went up to the house
and there was Stewart in bed
01:13:21.360 --> 01:13:26.360
on his way out, and we
looked at each other,
01:13:26.370 --> 01:13:31.370
and we had talked about
death a lot over many years,
01:13:32.748 --> 01:13:39.748
and he said, "Well, here
it is, I'm about to die."
01:13:41.670 --> 01:13:45.990
- Stewart Udall died
on March 20th, 2010
01:13:45.990 --> 01:13:50.043
at the age of 90, with his
entire family at his bedside.
01:13:50.970 --> 01:13:52.800
A few years earlier,
01:13:52.800 --> 01:13:55.563
he wrote a letter to all
of his grandchildren.
01:13:57.968 --> 01:14:02.220
- "Go, well, do well,
my children.
01:14:02.220 --> 01:14:07.220
"Cherish sunsets, wild
creations and wild places.
01:14:08.610 --> 01:14:12.177
"Have a love affair with the
wonder and beauty of the earth."
01:14:17.820 --> 01:14:20.580
- When John Kennedy asked
Americans to consider
01:14:20.580 --> 01:14:22.320
what they could do
for their country,
01:14:22.320 --> 01:14:24.360
Stewart Udall responded,
01:14:24.360 --> 01:14:27.308
and he never stopped
asking that question.
01:14:27.308 --> 01:14:29.641
(gentle piano music)
01:14:35.880 --> 01:14:37.770
- I think the legacy
of Stewart Udall
01:14:37.770 --> 01:14:40.728
will be that he is
going to be regarded
01:14:40.728 --> 01:14:45.180
as one of the premier
environmentalists
01:14:45.180 --> 01:14:50.070
of the 20th century, ranking with
Rachel Carson, David Brower,
01:14:50.070 --> 01:14:53.253
Theodore Roosevelt
and Franklin Roosevelt.
01:14:54.090 --> 01:14:56.490
- If we didn't have that
one Environmentalist
01:14:56.490 --> 01:15:00.780
named Stewart Udall, things
would've been very different.
01:15:00.780 --> 01:15:04.170
So we need to honor
him in history
01:15:04.170 --> 01:15:07.197
and we're only now still
catching up with some of
01:15:07.197 --> 01:15:10.833
his vision and
wisdom and insight.
01:15:11.972 --> 01:15:14.130
- I've thought for a long time
01:15:14.130 --> 01:15:18.540
that he was the Henry David
Thoreau of this generation.
01:15:18.540 --> 01:15:21.328
- His humanity and
humility, I think
01:15:21.328 --> 01:15:26.328
will be the two characteristics
that will stand his
01:15:27.360 --> 01:15:32.220
legacy well into the
21st, 22nd centuries.
01:15:32.220 --> 01:15:36.150
- I feel like the politics
of beauty is still there
01:15:36.150 --> 01:15:38.550
and it's up to us
to keep it alive.
01:15:38.550 --> 01:15:42.300
We have to make sure that
we are giving children
01:15:42.300 --> 01:15:46.260
opportunities to surround
themselves with that beauty,
01:15:46.260 --> 01:15:50.040
outdoors, so they grow up to
realize that it's up to them
01:15:50.040 --> 01:15:52.143
to protect these spaces.
01:15:54.120 --> 01:15:57.450
- Today we face even
far greater problems
01:15:57.450 --> 01:16:02.450
such as global warming, and
it's very easy to feel despair,
01:16:03.210 --> 01:16:05.730
if not cynicism,
about the problems
01:16:05.730 --> 01:16:07.983
and about everything
we need to do.
01:16:08.910 --> 01:16:13.060
But he was able to do great
things, and in knowing that
01:16:13.950 --> 01:16:18.120
it can give us hope that
we too can make the changes
01:16:18.120 --> 01:16:19.860
that we need to make.
01:16:30.353 --> 01:16:32.770
(gentle instumental music)
01:17:04.641 --> 01:17:07.224
(music continues)
Distributor: Bullfrog Films
Length: 78 minutes
Date: 2022
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Grade: 10-12, College, Adults
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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