James G. Watt

James G. Watt
1981 portrait
43rd United States Secretary of the Interior
In office January 23, 1981 – November 8, 1983
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Cecil Andrus
Succeeded by	William Clark
Personal details
Born	James Gaius Watt (1938-01-31)January 31, 1938 Lusk, Wyoming, U.S.
Died	May 27, 2023(2023-05-27) (aged 85) Arizona, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Leilani Bomgardner ​ (m. 1957)​
Children	2
Education	University of Wyoming (BS, JD)

James Gaius Watt (January 31, 1938 – May 27, 2023) was an American lawyer, lobbyist, and civil servant who served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior in the Ronald Reagan administration from 1981 to 1983. He was described as "anti-environmentalist" and was one of Ronald Reagan's most controversial cabinet appointments.^[1]

His tenure as Secretary of the Interior was controversial primarily because he was perceived as hostile to environmentalism. Watt opened up nearly all of America's coastal waters to oil and gas drilling, widened access to coal on federal lands, and eased restrictions on strip-mining.^[2] His proposals to sell off federal lands failed due to extensive opposition.^[2] In 1983, he resigned after controversially remarking that a panel reviewing his coal-leasing policies had "every kind of mixture—I have a Black. I have a woman, two Jews and a cripple."^[2]

After resigning from government, Watt became a lobbyist for builders seeking contracts with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).^[2] In 1995, he was indicted on 18 counts of felony perjury and obstruction of justice for making false statements before a federal grand jury investigating influence peddling at HUD. The following year, he was sentenced to five years' probation.