Former Idaho Governor and US Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne has died at the age of 74, his family said in a written statement on Saturday.
Kempthorne died Friday evening in Boise, the release said. No reason given. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer last year.
“Beyond his public service, he was a devoted husband, father and grandfather whose greatest joy came from time spent with family and the people he met along the way,” his family said. “He truly had a rare gift for seeing others—remembering names, stories, and small details that made each person feel familiar and valued.”
Kempthorne, a moderate Republican, was elected mayor of Boise in 1985 at the age of 34, and was credited with revitalizing downtown by securing a deal to build a convention center and promote other development. He served seven years before winning the US Senate seat vacated by Sen. Steve Sims in 1992.
During his time in Washington, he wrote legislation — signed by Democratic President Bill Clinton — to end unnecessary federal mandates on state and local governments.
Instead of running for re-election in 1998, he entered an open election for governor, defeating his Democratic opponent by receiving more than two-thirds of the vote.
President George W. Bush appointed him Secretary of the Interior in 2006, a position he held until the end of Bush’s presidency — and during which he lived on a houseboat docked on the Potomac River.
“Dirk was one of the best public servants I’ve ever known because he was one of the best people,” former President George W. Bush said in a written statement Saturday. “He was thoughtful, smart and capable. Dirk loved our land and water, and as Secretary of the Interior, he was an effective steward of our natural resources.”
He protected the polar bear
Environmentalists often considered Kempthorne too good for the industry, citing his efforts to push oil and gas development out of the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. More than 100 conservation groups opposed his nomination as Secretary of the Interior, as a senator he voted to eliminate federal money for the recovery of endangered wolves, open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, and sell federal public lands.
Yet in 2008, he pressured other White House advisers to push for polar bears to be listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act due to loss of sea ice in the Arctic. He was ready to resign when Bush decided to back him.
“As governor, Dirk left a lasting impression on our state,” Idaho Gov. Brad Little said in a written statement. In partnership with his wife, Patricia, Kempthorne “championed children and families, strengthened public education, and led transformative investments in our transportation system that will benefit Idahoans for generations.”
After leaving the federal government, he became the chief executive officer of the trade association of life insurance companies.
In a 2023 question-and-answer session with the George W. Bush Presidential Center, Kempthorne recalled helping to evacuate nearly 400 U.S. citizens and Afghan allies from Afghanistan two years ago, many of whom were wanted by the Taliban after the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces. Kemthorne and others worked for months to raise money and garner support through diplomatic channels to help restore the buses and Airbus A340s to the US and Canada.
He helped Afghan refugees
At one point, after the flight was fully booked, the organizers received a list of more people who had to leave immediately.
“That night, at a complete loss for answers, alone, I knelt in prayer,” Kempthorne recalled. “I said, ‘Dear God, we can’t leave these people behind, please give us a way forward.’ “
He then said he had a vision of Mother Mary holding the baby Jesus. This gave him an idea: Children don’t need their own seats on flights, because their parents can hold them. Organizers confirmed that the airline was able to add 50 more people to and from the flight, Kempthorne said.
Kempthorne was born in San Diego and grew up in Spokane, Washington. His father was a regional representative for Maytag, an appliance company. His mother, a homemaker, once served as secretary of the legislature in his home state of Nebraska.
Kempthorne transferred to the University of Idaho before attending San Bernardino Valley College in California, where he served as student body president and met his future wife, Patricia. After graduation he served as executive assistant to the director of the Idaho Department of Lands before joining the Idaho Home Builders Association as executive vice president.
Kempthorne is survived by his wife, as well as their children Heather and Jeff and their families.
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Johnson reported from Seattle.
