| __________________________________________________________________________________________ Sponsored by Friends of Don Siegelman 2007 <feedback>________________________________________________________________________________ __________ |
POLITICAL CAREER 51st Governor of Alabama January, 1999 – January, 2003 Lieutenant Governor 1995 to 1999 State Attorney General 1987 to 1991 Secretary of State 1979 to 1987.
Governor Siegelman's commitment to jobs in Alabama resulted in an explosion of job growth when a dramatic increase in manufacturing plants located in Alabama. Among the many manufacturers that located/expanded in the state while Don was Governor were these five automobile companies :
to Alabama made the state the "Detroit of the South" He implemented the nationally recognized Alabama Reading Initiative. Under Governor Siegelman's governance, the Fordham Foundation recognized Alabama for being among the top five states in the nation with academic and accountability standards.
University of Alabama President of the Student Government Graduated 1968 Georgetown University School of Law Graduated in 1972 Oxford University in Oxford, England Studied Law from 1972 to 1973. Political party - Democratic Profession - Lawyer Born February 24, 1946 (1946-02-24) Mobile, Alabama |
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While Don was Governor of Alabama he was
committed to Jobs and Education.
Auto-Manufacturing
"Eleven years ago, we did not produce a single automobile in this state," the
Governor [Bob Riley] noted, "but this year, we will produce nearly 800,000 of them.
Alabama is the place to be if you want to be efficient and cost-effective. Confederate
[motorcycle manufacturing] could not have made a better choice." What Riley failed
to mention is that one of the key forces behind these manufacturing initiaves was
Don Siegelman. <source>
Under Siegelman's governorship, Alabama expanded industry across the state by
announcing the location of businesses including Hyundai, Honda, Navistar, Fiat and
the expansion of Mercedes in Alabama. The landing and expanding of these plants
made Alabama under Siegelman's Governorship almost as significant to auto
manufacturing in the US as Detroit; thus, the dubbing of Alabama as the "Detroit of
the South". This development translated into a significant percent of Alabama's
gross domestic product. Just in terms of employment, Mercedes alone and its
suppliers get credit for more than 40,000 jobs and combined payrolls of $420 million
a year. Moreover, Mercedes' exports total $1 billion a year, making it the state's
largest exporter.
The spin-off effects of the auto
manufacturing development
under Siegelman were the many
other auto-related manufacturing
plants and support industries that
sprung up in Alabama. For example,
their earlier successes with
manufacturing helped the state land
German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp
AG for a $3.7 billion plant near
Mobile.
Other Economic
Development
Other manufacturing successes
for Siegelman were plants from Boeing rockets and Lockheed Martin Missiles to
Department Store manufacturing. He established a task force charged with
developing the State’s first long-term strategic plan for economic growth.
Tax Reform
Siegelman fought for a rewrite of Alabama's 1901 constitution, which he says
concentrates power in Montgomery and keeps large corporations from paying their
fair share of taxes. The Legislature rejected his call for a constitutional convention,
but Siegelman said the issue wouldn't die. "More Alabamians are aware that the
constitution enshrines a tax structure where the people who make the least pay the
most and the big corporations who make the most pay the least," he said.
<source>
Education + The Lottery
Governor Don Siegelman was noted for his work in improving education, children’s
services, economic development and promoting anti-crime initiatives including drunk
driving and domestic violence prevention.
Governor Siegelman was committed to
changing education in Alabama for the
better. Siegelman’s first act as governor
was to sign an executive order to
eliminate portable classrooms in public
schools and to build safe new
classrooms for school children. He
also signed a bill into law to raise
teacher salaries to the national average
and removed tenure for principals.
He has implemented the nationally recognized Alabama Reading
Initiative in 429 schools and has provided rewards for schools that meet and
exceed Alabama’s standards for education. The Fordham Foundation has
recognized Alabama for being among the top five states in the nation with academic
and accountability standards. Governor Siegelman proved his commitment to
children by appointing the state’s first children’s commissioner and children’s
cabinet. Additionally, the governor created the Office of School Readiness to begin
providing early learning opportunities to four-year olds throughout the state.
Domestic Violence + Substance Abuse
Governor Siegelman believed in making Alabama’s homes, streets and schools
safer, and signed a number of domestic violence bills into law including one making
domestic violence a crime in Alabama. Siegelman has continued to push for tougher
DUI laws including increasing penalties for adults driving drunk with a child in the
car, laws permitting drunken motorists who kill to be treated like murderers and
lowering the level of intoxication to .08 percent..
Tort Reform + Tough Anti-Crime Legislation
Crime legislation was always an important part of Siegelman's campaigns. He
advocated the death penalty for repeat child sex offenders and tougher penalties for
spouse abuse. Siegelman was also instrumental in enacting tort reform, including
caps on punitive damages.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Early life and career
Governor Siegelman was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1946, where he grew up. His
mother worked as a beautician until her late 70s and his father worked in a music
store until he got fired after suffering heart attacks. "I saw him cry because he thought
he was bringing shame to his family," Siegelman said.
Don went to the University of Alabama where Siegelman served as the President of
the Student Government Association. He graduated from the University of Alabama in
1968, and from Georgetown University School of Law in 1972 and studied
International Law at Oxford University in Oxford, England from 1972 to 1973. He
served 18 months in the Air National Guard and worked in the Washington office of
U.S. Rep. Allard Lowenstein, D-N.Y. While in law school at Georgetown, Siegelman
met his expenses by working as an officer in the United States Capitol Police.
Siegelman was elected governor of Alabama in 1998, defeating incumbent
Republican Gov. Fob James 58-42 percent. Prior to becoming Governor in 1999, he
had served as Lieutenant Governor from 1995 to 1999, state Attorney General from
1987 to 1991, and Secretary of State from 1979 to 1987.
He and his wife Lori live in Montgomery with their two children, Dana and Joseph.
Siegelman'ss wife Lori is Jewish, and their children had a bar and bat mitzvah at
Montgomery's Conservative congregation in 2001.
Siegelman's wife, Lori, suffered extensive injuries in a 1984 collision with a drunken
driver while Siegelman was secretary of state. Siegelman subsequently ran for
attorney general, using that office and his subsequent position as lieutenant
governor to push through legislation toughening drunken driving laws. They include
laws permitting drunken motorists who kill to be treated like murderers and lowering
the level of intoxication to .08 percent.
"I was drawn into public service because I believe in the people of this state. All I ever
wanted to do was to work to make this state a better place," he said.
Mr. Siegelman has studied martial arts for decades and holds a black belt in
Kyokushin-style karate.
<Wikipedia>
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*Politically motivated Trumped-Up Prosecution
Siegelman beat Republican Governor and one-time Democrat Fob James in
1998, and as early as several months after his inauguration, partisan post-election
mobilization would result in Federally directed probes into his administration.
A popular Democrat in a red state, Siegelman narrowly lost his job in 2002 when a
couple of thousand votes suspiciously changed overnight. It looked like he would
recapture the governorship in 2004. A judge threw out a case against him for bid
rigging for insufficient evidence.
But as he was getting ready to run in the Democratic primary, another investigation
was opened. [source: Bloomberg]
A couple of years later, the Republicans not only would have both houses of
Congress but they also would assume administrative control over the Department of
Justice and the FBI. When Don ran for re-election in 2002, he was declared the
winner by AP. However, after midnight, Baldwin Co announced a computer glitch that
gave Bob Riley a razor slim victory over Siegelman. Siegelman originally
campaigned for a recount, but decided it would be pointless with the highly partisan
republicans responsible for supporting this action. [Wikipedia]
On July 19 of 2007, 44 US Attorney's petitioned Congress to investigate the political
nature of the prosecution of Don Siegelman. As a result of this petetion Congress
issued a request for documents concerning the Siegelman case to the DOJ; and
when they were not forthcoming a subpoena was issued. The documents have not
yet been produced.
Currently, a congressional investigation to examine the partisan misuse of the
judiciary is underway that puts the Siegelman case at the top of the list.
House Judiciary Hearing on "Allegations of Selective
Prosecution" was held OCT 23 - 07
Among the testimonies in the Oct 23 hearing was a former Republican attorney
general in the first Bush administration and former governor of Pennsylvania,
Richard Thornburgh, who broke the 11th commandment not to speak ill of another
Republican. He has criticized the U.S. attorney for the western district of
Pennsylvania, Mary Beth Buchanan, for only pursuing high-profile Democrats.
Also testifying was former Alabama U.S. Attorney Doug Jones, who once
represented the former governor, who claimed that a renewed investigative probe
came after orders from Washington to undertake a ``top to bottom'' review of the
Siegelman case. The subsequent indictment and trial of Siegelman meant he
couldn't run. Republican Bob Riley sailed to re-election.
Selective Prosecution: Lanny Young, the main witness against Siegelman, also
accused Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions and former Alabama Attorney General
William Pryor Jr. of accepting gifts from him, according to FBI records obtained by
Time magazine. Prosecutors took Young's word on Siegelman but ignored him with
regard to Sessions and Pryor, who are Republicans. Neither was investigated, much
less prosecuted. They denied Young's charges.
The investigation is on-going.
While Don was Governor of Alabama he was
committed to Jobs and Education.
Auto-Manufacturing
"Eleven years ago, we did not produce a single automobile in this state," the
Governor [Bob Riley] noted, "but this year, we will produce nearly 800,000 of them.
Alabama is the place to be if you want to be efficient and cost-effective. Confederate
[motorcycle manufacturing] could not have made a better choice." What Riley failed
to mention is that one of the key forces behind these manufacturing initiaves was
Don Siegelman. <source>
Under Siegelman's governorship, Alabama expanded industry across the state by
announcing the location of businesses including Hyundai, Honda, Navistar, Fiat and
the expansion of Mercedes in Alabama. The landing and expanding of these plants
made Alabama under Siegelman's Governorship almost as significant to auto
manufacturing in the US as Detroit; thus, the dubbing of Alabama as the "Detroit of
the South". This development translated into a significant percent of Alabama's
gross domestic product. Just in terms of employment, Mercedes alone and its
suppliers get credit for more than 40,000 jobs and combined payrolls of $420 million
a year. Moreover, Mercedes' exports total $1 billion a year, making it the state's
largest exporter.
The spin-off effects of the auto
manufacturing development
under Siegelman were the many
other auto-related manufacturing
plants and support industries that
sprung up in Alabama. For example,
their earlier successes with
manufacturing helped the state land
German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp
AG for a $3.7 billion plant near
Mobile.
Other Economic
Development
Other manufacturing successes
for Siegelman were plants from Boeing rockets and Lockheed Martin Missiles to
Department Store manufacturing. He established a task force charged with
developing the State’s first long-term strategic plan for economic growth.
Tax Reform
Siegelman fought for a rewrite of Alabama's 1901 constitution, which he says
concentrates power in Montgomery and keeps large corporations from paying their
fair share of taxes. The Legislature rejected his call for a constitutional convention,
but Siegelman said the issue wouldn't die. "More Alabamians are aware that the
constitution enshrines a tax structure where the people who make the least pay the
most and the big corporations who make the most pay the least," he said.
<source>
Education + The Lottery
Governor Don Siegelman was noted for his work in improving education, children’s
services, economic development and promoting anti-crime initiatives including drunk
driving and domestic violence prevention.
Governor Siegelman was committed to
changing education in Alabama for the
better. Siegelman’s first act as governor
was to sign an executive order to
eliminate portable classrooms in public
schools and to build safe new
classrooms for school children. He
also signed a bill into law to raise
teacher salaries to the national average
and removed tenure for principals.
He has implemented the nationally recognized Alabama Reading
Initiative in 429 schools and has provided rewards for schools that meet and
exceed Alabama’s standards for education. The Fordham Foundation has
recognized Alabama for being among the top five states in the nation with academic
and accountability standards. Governor Siegelman proved his commitment to
children by appointing the state’s first children’s commissioner and children’s
cabinet. Additionally, the governor created the Office of School Readiness to begin
providing early learning opportunities to four-year olds throughout the state.
Domestic Violence + Substance Abuse
Governor Siegelman believed in making Alabama’s homes, streets and schools
safer, and signed a number of domestic violence bills into law including one making
domestic violence a crime in Alabama. Siegelman has continued to push for tougher
DUI laws including increasing penalties for adults driving drunk with a child in the
car, laws permitting drunken motorists who kill to be treated like murderers and
lowering the level of intoxication to .08 percent..
Tort Reform + Tough Anti-Crime Legislation
Crime legislation was always an important part of Siegelman's campaigns. He
advocated the death penalty for repeat child sex offenders and tougher penalties for
spouse abuse. Siegelman was also instrumental in enacting tort reform, including
caps on punitive damages.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Early life and career
Governor Siegelman was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1946, where he grew up. His
mother worked as a beautician until her late 70s and his father worked in a music
store until he got fired after suffering heart attacks. "I saw him cry because he thought
he was bringing shame to his family," Siegelman said.
Don went to the University of Alabama where Siegelman served as the President of
the Student Government Association. He graduated from the University of Alabama in
1968, and from Georgetown University School of Law in 1972 and studied
International Law at Oxford University in Oxford, England from 1972 to 1973. He
served 18 months in the Air National Guard and worked in the Washington office of
U.S. Rep. Allard Lowenstein, D-N.Y. While in law school at Georgetown, Siegelman
met his expenses by working as an officer in the United States Capitol Police.
Siegelman was elected governor of Alabama in 1998, defeating incumbent
Republican Gov. Fob James 58-42 percent. Prior to becoming Governor in 1999, he
had served as Lieutenant Governor from 1995 to 1999, state Attorney General from
1987 to 1991, and Secretary of State from 1979 to 1987.
He and his wife Lori live in Montgomery with their two children, Dana and Joseph.
Siegelman'ss wife Lori is Jewish, and their children had a bar and bat mitzvah at
Montgomery's Conservative congregation in 2001.
Siegelman's wife, Lori, suffered extensive injuries in a 1984 collision with a drunken
driver while Siegelman was secretary of state. Siegelman subsequently ran for
attorney general, using that office and his subsequent position as lieutenant
governor to push through legislation toughening drunken driving laws. They include
laws permitting drunken motorists who kill to be treated like murderers and lowering
the level of intoxication to .08 percent.
"I was drawn into public service because I believe in the people of this state. All I ever
wanted to do was to work to make this state a better place," he said.
Mr. Siegelman has studied martial arts for decades and holds a black belt in
Kyokushin-style karate.
<Wikipedia>
......................................................................................................................................................
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Politically motivated Trumped-Up Prosecution
Siegelman beat Republican Governor and one-time Democrat Fob James in
1998, and as early as several months after his inauguration, partisan post-election
mobilization would result in Federally directed probes into his administration.
A popular Democrat in a red state, Siegelman narrowly lost his job in 2002 when a
couple of thousand votes suspiciously changed overnight. It looked like he would
recapture the governorship in 2004. A judge threw out a case against him for bid
rigging for insufficient evidence.
But as he was getting ready to run in the Democratic primary, another investigation
was opened. [source: Bloomberg]
A couple of years later, the Republicans not only would have both houses of
Congress but they also would assume administrative control over the Department of
Justice and the FBI. When Don ran for re-election in 2002, he was declared the
winner by AP. However, after midnight, Baldwin Co announced a computer glitch that
gave Bob Riley a razor slim victory over Siegelman. Siegelman originally
campaigned for a recount, but decided it would be pointless with the highly partisan
republicans responsible for supporting this action. [Wikipedia]
On July 19 of 2007, 44 US Attorney's petitioned Congress to investigate the political
nature of the prosecution of Don Siegelman. As a result of this petetion Congress
issued a request for documents concerning the Siegelman case to the DOJ; and
when they were not forthcoming a subpoena was issued. The documents have not
yet been produced.
Currently, a congressional investigation to examine the partisan misuse of the
judiciary is underway that puts the Siegelman case at the top of the list.
House Judiciary Hearing on "Allegations of Selective
Prosecution" was held OCT 23 - 07
Among the testimonies in the Oct 23 hearing was a former Republican attorney
general in the first Bush administration and former governor of Pennsylvania,
Richard Thornburgh, who broke the 11th commandment not to speak ill of another
Republican. He has criticized the U.S. attorney for the western district of
Pennsylvania, Mary Beth Buchanan, for only pursuing high-profile Democrats.
Also testifying was former Alabama U.S. Attorney Doug Jones, who once
represented the former governor, who claimed that a renewed investigative probe
came after orders from Washington to undertake a ``top to bottom'' review of the
Siegelman case. The subsequent indictment and trial of Siegelman meant he
couldn't run. Republican Bob Riley sailed to re-election.
Selective Prosecution: Lanny Young, the main witness against Siegelman, also
accused Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions and former Alabama Attorney General
William Pryor Jr. of accepting gifts from him, according to FBI records obtained by
Time magazine. Prosecutors took Young's word on Siegelman but ignored him with
regard to Sessions and Pryor, who are Republicans. Neither was investigated, much
less prosecuted. They denied Young's charges.
The investigation is on-going.
| Don Siegelman Don Siegelman is the only person in the history of Alabama to be elected to serve in all four of the top statewide offices: Secretary of State, Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor and Governor. He served in Alabama politics for 26 years. Until he won his last election, sweeping into the governorship with 57% of the vote, including over 90% of the African-American electorate, Don had never been accused of corrupt or criminal acts. Then he became inundated with them.* |
| photo: Huffington Post Don & Lori Siegelman |
 |  |  |  |  |  |
The $89.7-million incentive package is "a good
deal for Honda, but it's an extraordinary deal for
Alabama," said Gov. Don Siegelman (pictured
above left after the first Odyssey minivan rolled off
the line in Lincoln).
Photo: Thinh Nguyen, Alabama Governor's Office
deal for Honda, but it's an extraordinary deal for
Alabama," said Gov. Don Siegelman (pictured
above left after the first Odyssey minivan rolled off
the line in Lincoln).
Photo: Thinh Nguyen, Alabama Governor's Office
| Photo: AL Governor's website |
 |  |  |  |  |  |
| photo: personal |
| Video Interview of Gov. Don Siegelman by Don Bender. ( 37 minutes) They discuss the Governor's early life, influences and mentors as well as his political career.>>>>> |
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| (photos by WHNT NewsChannel 19's Shane Hays) Don Siegelman and friend Ken "Maze" Marsh, outside the Federal Courthouse in Atlanta Read the letter that Maze wrote to Congressman Hoyer about Gov. Siegelman Letter page one Letter page two |
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| Word .doc Article about Governor Siegelman's accomplishments. <link > |