Ray Mabus
| Ray Mabus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 75th United States Secretary of the Navy | |
|
Assumed office June 18, 2009 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Deputy |
Robert Work Janine A. Davidson |
| Preceded by | BJ Penn (Acting) |
| United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia | |
|
In office July 5, 1994 – April 25, 1996 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Charles Freeman |
| Succeeded by | Wyche Fowler |
| 59th Governor of Mississippi | |
|
In office January 12, 1988 – January 14, 1992 | |
| Lieutenant | Brad Dye |
| Preceded by | William Allain |
| Succeeded by | Kirk Fordice |
| Auditor of Mississippi | |
|
In office January 10, 1984 – January 12, 1988 | |
| Governor | William Allain |
| Preceded by | Hamp King |
| Succeeded by | Pete Johnson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Raymond Edwin Mabus, Jr. October 11, 1948 Starkville, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Lynne Mabus |
| Alma mater |
University of Mississippi, Oxford Johns Hopkins University Harvard University |
| Religion | Methodism |
| Awards | Surface warfare officer insignia |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
.svg.png){kind=small} United States of America |
| Service/branch |
 United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1970–1972 |
Raymond Edwin "Ray" Mabus, Jr. (born October 11, 1948) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who has served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Navy since 2009. Mabus previously served as the State Auditor of Mississippi from 1984 to 1988, as the 59th Governor of Mississippi from 1988 to 1992 and as the United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994 to 1996.
Early life and education
Mabus was born in Starkville, Mississippi, and is a fourth-generation Mississippian; he grew up in Ackerman, the only child of the owner of the local hardware store. After attending public schools, he graduated summa cum laude from the University of Mississippi, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi, with a B.A. in English and political science. He earned an M.A. in political science from Johns Hopkins University and a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School. He also served two years in the Navy as a surface warfare officer from 1970 to 1972 aboard the cruiser USS Little Rock (CLG-4),[1] and worked as a law clerk in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Political career
Mabus began his professional career working in Washington, D.C., as legal counsel to the United States House Committee on Agriculture. Following the election of Governor William Winter, he returned to Mississippi to work in the governor's office, where the youthful staff—which included Mabus, Dick Molpus, John Henegan and Andy Mullins—earned the nickname "Boys of Spring" from a rival state legislator.[2]
Mississippi State Auditor
In 1983, Mabus was elected state auditor and served from 1984 to 1988, during this time, he participated in a large FBI sting operation which recovered millions in misspent or stolen public funds.[3] By the time it was finished, "Operation Pretense" had ensnared 57 county supervisors in 25 counties, and all but 2 supervisors served time in prison.[4]
Governor of Mississippi
At 39 years of age, he defeated Tupelo businessman Jack Reed in the 1987 gubernatorial election by 53% to 47%, becoming the youngest governor in the United States. He won "on a wave of black votes" (black voters made up about 30 percent of the state's registered voters)[5] and lost the white vote "by about 3 to 2" despite support from what a coalition one Democratic state chairman described as "poor whites" and yuppies.[6] Mabus, who ran on the slogan "Mississippi Will Never Be Last Again",[5] was billed as "the face of the New South", much like his counterpart in Arkansas at the time, Bill Clinton. Mabus was featured in a 1988 New York Times Magazine cover story titled "The Yuppies of Mississippi; How They Took Over the Statehouse".[7]
During his time as governor, he passed B.E.S.T. (Better Education for Success Tomorrow),[8] gave teachers the largest pay raise in the nation;[5] and was named one of Fortune Magazine’s ten "education governors".[9] Mississippi also had record growth in new jobs, investment, tourism and exports.
Because of the gubernatorial succession amendment ratified in 1987, Mabus was eligible to become the first governor to serve two successive terms in more than 100 years, and he ran for reelection in 1991. He was defeated 51% to 48% in the general election by Republican Kirk Fordice, a former Vicksburg construction executive, who portrayed him as "arrogant and out of touch with Mississippi politically", with a New York Times article describing him as a "Porsche politician in a Chevy pickup state".[5]
Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Mabus was appointed by President Bill Clinton to be the United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and served from 1994 to 1996. During his tenure, a 1994 border crisis involving Yemen was defused,[10] a 1994 crisis with Iraq was deterred,[11] he presided over the embassy during the 1995 terrorist attack,[12] child abduction cases were addressed,[13] and contracts worth more than $16 billion were signed between Saudi Arabian and American companies such as Boeing,[14] and AT&T.[15]
Mabus' residence and embassy office in Riyadh were decorated with items of interest from his home state including an Ackerman phone book on his office coffee table and the Mississippi flag next to the American flag.
Secretary of the Navy
On March 27, 2009, Mabus was nominated by President Obama as Secretary of the Department of the Navy.[16] He was sworn in on May 19, 2009,[17] and held a ceremonial swearing in at Washington Navy Yard on June 18, 2009, where he was re-sworn in by the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.[18][19][20]
In April 2010 a furor arose when it was reported that Mabus made the controversial proposal to name a United States Navy warship the USS John P. Murtha (LPD-26) after the late Pennsylvania Democratic congressman, John Murtha. Additional naming controversies occurred due to the naming of auxiliary ship after Cesar Chavez,[21] and a corvette/littoral combat ship after former Arizona Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords following her suffering life-threatening wounds in a 2011 mass shooting in her home district of Tucson, Arizona.[22]
On April 16, 2012, the Navy Secretary returned to Naval tradition of naming certain warships after former U.S. presidents, announcing the next Zumwalt-class destroyer be named the USS Lyndon B. Johnson. Even this action represented somewhat of a change to previous norms, since with the exception of the current attack submarine, USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) and the since decommissioned USS George Washington (SSBN-598) class of Polaris/Poseidon fleet ballistic missile submarines, all recent U.S. warships named for presidents have been aircraft carriers.
Secretary Mabus has a presence on Facebook and frequently comments about his daily activities. He is the first branch secretary to maintain a web presence.
President Obama has asked him to develop a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan as soon as possible. The plan will be designed by states, local communities, Native American tribes, fishermen, businesses, conservationists and other Gulf residents".[23]
On September 16, 2013, gunman Aaron Alexis entered the Washington Navy Yard and killed 13 people and injured 14. Alexis was a 34-year-old military contractor.[24] A Pentagon internal investigation found that the shootings could have been prevented with more careful oversight of security clearances and increased security at the Navy Yard facility.[24] A ceremony was held to mark the one year anniversary of the Navy Yard massacre, honoring those who were killed and injured. Mabus stated, “We know that their lives are defined not by how they died, but by how they lived and what they lived for, and will be remembered for that always.[25]”
On January 1, 2016, Mabus ordered the United States Marine Corps to devise a plan on co-integration of male and female recruits in basic training, giving top brass a two-week planning period, along with requesting a subject matter expert, to report the best method of said plan.[26]
On January 19, Congressman Duncan Hunter called for the Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter, to replace Mabus for giving the Marine Corps a short suspense to incorporate gender-neutrality throughout the Corps with no prior discussion with senior Marine Corps leaders.
Business ventures
In August 2007, he joined the board of EnerSys, the world's largest manufacturer, marketer and distributor of industrial batteries.[27] From 2006 to April 2007, he was Chairman and CEO of Foamex International and helped lead it out of bankruptcy. Less than nine months after his appointment, Foamex emerged from Chapter 11.[28]
Awards, honors, community service
Mabus has been awarded the U.S. Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award, the U.S. Army's Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the Martin Luther King Social Responsibility Award from the King Center in Atlanta, the National Wildlife Federation Conservation Achievement Award, the King Abdul Aziz Award from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Mississippi Association of Educators' Friend of Education Award.
He was included in Glassdoor's 2013 list of "Highest Rated CEOs" at 43rd place with an 82% approval rate.[29]
He is active in many community activities, primarily focusing on education. Following Hurricane Katrina, he founded the Help and Hope Foundation, which works to meet the needs of children affected by the storm.
He was a member of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy[30] and the Council on Foreign Relations, and is the Distinguished Lecturer on the Middle East at the University of Mississippi.
As a photographer, his photographs have raised tens of thousands of dollars for various Mississippi charities.
He has appeared on many television programs as an expert on the Middle East, including 60 Minutes and Nightline.
Personal life
Mabus has three daughters, Elisabeth, Annie, and Kate. Mabus is a fan of the Major League Baseball Boston Red Sox having first followed the team during the 1975 World Series while a student at Harvard Law School.[31]
In 2009, and again in 2014, Mabus made cameo appearances on the TV drama NCIS in the Season 7 episode "Child's Play", and in the Season 12 episode "Semper Fortis", as an NCIS Agent named "Ray".[32] He also made a cameo on NCIS: New Orleans in the episode, "Insane in the Membrane".[33]
In 2012, he appeared in the movie Battleship as the Commanding Officer of USS Ronald Reagan.
Mabus made a cameo appearance as himself in the "It's Not a Rumor" episode of the TV series The Last Ship, issuing orders to the crew of the Nathan James via a recorded message; in the storyline, by the time the ship received the orders, Mabus had succumbed to the "Red Flu" virus.[34]
References
- ↑ USSLittleRock.org
- ↑ Jere Nash; Andy Taggart (2009). Mississippi Politics: The Struggle for Power, 1976–2008. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. p. 144. ISBN 978-1604732665.
- ↑ Gökhan R. Karahan; Laura Razzolini; William F. Shughart II (August 2006). "No Pretense to Honesty: County Government Corruption in Mississippi". Economics of Governance (Springer-Verlag) 7 (3): 211–227. doi:10.1007/s10101-005-0006-4.
- ↑ The Clarion-Ledger, June 17, 2007
- 1 2 3 4 Applebome, Peter (16 September 1991). "Mississippi Governor's Record at Issue". New York Times.
- ↑ E. J. Dionne, Jr. (5 November 1987). "Voting Produces Strong Evidence of Importance of Race in Politics". New York Times.
- ↑ Boyer, Peter J. (28 February 1988). "The Yuppies of Mississippi: How They Took Over the Statehouse". New York Times Magazine.
- ↑ AGENCY GROUP, 05. "Doe Announces More Key Administration Posts". FDCH Regulatory Intelligence Database (n.d.): Regional Business News. Web. 3 Nov. 2011.
- ↑ Fortune Magazine, May 28, 1990
- ↑ Inventory of Conflict & Environment, Saudi-Yemen border dispute
- ↑ Operation Vigilant Warrior
- ↑ OPM-SANG background
- ↑ State Dept. press briefing, August 6, 2002
- ↑ "Saudi Arabian Airlines completes fleet renewal with 23rd Boeing 777", Saudia Online, 12 August 2001.
- ↑ "TEP6 telecommunications project"
- ↑ Emily Wagster Pettus (27 March 2009). "Obama chooses ex-Miss. governor for Navy post". Navy Times.
- ↑ Staff reporter (2009-05-19). "Mabus Sworn in as New Navy Secretary". NNS. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
Ray Mabus, former Mississippi governor and U.S. ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was sworn in May 19 as the 75th secretary of the Navy
(Archived by WebCite at webcitation.org) - ↑ Barfield Berry, Deborah (19 June 2009). "Former Miss. gov. sworn in as new Navy secretary". The Clarion-Ledger.
- ↑ Harrison, Darren (18 June 2009). "Secretary of Navy Committed to Sailors, Families". Official Website of the United States Navy.
- ↑ Ewing, Philip (18 June 2009). "Well sworn, SecNav praises traditions". Navy Times.
- ↑ Gary Robbins; Elizabeth Aguilera (18 May 2011). "Navy secretary names ship after Cesar Chavez". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
Mabus' remarks came amid controversy. On Tuesday, Hunter issued a statement saying, "Naming a ship after César Chávez goes right along with other recent decisions by the Navy that appear to be more about making a political statement than upholding the Navy’s history and tradition."
- ↑ Philip Ewing (15 February 2012). "Navy Plays it Safe With New DDG and LCS Names". Military.com. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
Less than a week after drawing traditionalist ire for naming a Navy warship after former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus returned to standard convention Wednesday in a batch of new names for forthcoming warships.
- ↑ "Remarks by the President to the Nation on the BP Oil Spill", White House Press Office, June 15, 2010
- 1 2 http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/us/dc-navy-yard-gunshots/. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ http://www.dcmilitary.com/article/20140918/NEWS12/140919909/1056/news12&source=RSS. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ Sweeney, Heather. "Marine Corps Ordered to Make Boot Camp Coed, Remove 'Man' from Titles". Military.com. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
- ↑ "EnerSys: Form 8-K". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 2 August 2007.
- ↑ Foamex International website
- ↑ "Glassdoor’s Highest Rated CEOs 2013". Glassdoor. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
- ↑ RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy website
- ↑ Shachtman, Noah (17 July 2012). "How the Navy’s Incompetence Sank the ‘Green Fleet’". Wired.
- ↑ "Ray Mabus to guest star on 'NCIS'". United Press International. November 9, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
- ↑ http://www.tv.com/shows/ncis-new-orleans/insane-in-the-membrane-3252993/
- ↑ "San Diego stars in TNT's 'Last Ship'". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ray Mabus. |
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hamp King |
Auditor of Mississippi 1984–1988 |
Succeeded by Pete Johnson |
| Preceded by William Allain |
Governor of Mississippi 1988–1992 |
Succeeded by Kirk Fordice |
| Preceded by BJ Penn Acting |
United States Secretary of the Navy 2009–present |
Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Dick Molpus |
Democratic nominee for Governor of Mississippi 1987, 1991 |
Succeeded by John Eaves |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by Charles Freeman |
United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia 1994–1996 |
Succeeded by Wyche Fowler |
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