Source: Politics<\/p>\n
BOISE, Idaho \u2014 Former Idaho Gov. and U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has died at age 74, his family said in a written statement Saturday.<\/p>\n
Kempthorne died Friday evening in Boise, the statement said. No cause was given, but he had been diagnosed with colon cancer last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeyond 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,\u201d his family said. \u201cHe had a rare gift for truly seeing others \u2014 remembering names, stories, and the small details that made each person feel known and valued.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kempthorne, a Republican, was elected mayor of Boise at age 34 and served seven years before winning the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Sen. Steve Symms. Rather than run for reelection in 1998, he entered an open election for governor, trouncing his Democratic opponent by garnering more than two-thirds of the vote.<\/p>\n
President George W. Bush appointed him Interior secretary in 2006, a position he held until the end of Bush\u2019s presidency \u2014 and during which he lived on a houseboat docked in the Potomac River. Kempthorne was responsible for the polar bear being listed as a threatened species in 2008, though environmentalists often found him too accommodating of the oil and gas industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Governor, Dirk left an enduring mark on our state,\u201d Idaho Gov. Brad Little said in a written statement. With the partnership of his wife, Patricia, Kempthorne \u201cchampioned children and families, strengthened public education, and led transformational investments in our transportation system that will benefit Idahoans for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a 2023 question-and-answer session with the George W. Bush Presidential Center, Kempthorne recalled helping evacuate nearly 400 U.S. citizens and Afghan allies from Afghanistan two years earlier, as many were being sought by the Taliban following the U.S. military\u2019s chaotic withdrawal. Kemthorne and others worked frantically for months to raise money and garner the support of diplomatic channels to charter buses and an Airbus A340 to help resettle the evacuees in the U.S. and Canada.<\/p>\n
At one point, with the flight fully booked, the organizers received a list of more people who needed to leave urgently.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat night, at a total loss for answers, alone, I knelt in prayer,\u201d Kempthorne recalled. \u201cI said, \u2018Dear God, we cannot leave these people behind, please give a path forward.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
He said he then had a vision of Mother Mary holding the infant Jesus. It gave him an idea: The babies on the flight didn\u2019t need their own seats, as their parents could hold them. The organizers confirmed that with the airline and were able to add an additional 50 people to the flight, Kempthorne said.<\/p>\n
Kempthorne is survived by his wife, as well as their children Heather and Jeff and their families.<\/p>\n