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(Photo: AP)
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President Bush chose Environmental Protection Agency head Michael Leavitt to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services following the resignation of Tommy Thompson.
As HHS secretary, he oversees Medicare and Medicaid, the mammoth government health programs for the elderly, poor and disabled, as well as the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the Indian Health Service. The agency has a budget of more than $500 billion and 67,000 employees.
Leavitt served as Utah's governor for 11 years before President Bush appointed him to lead the EPA in August 2003. Before his election, he was president and chief executive of The Leavitt Group, a regional insurance firm. He also served as chairman of the Southern Utah University Board of Trustees from 1985-89, and was a member of the Utah State Board of Regents, overseeing the state's nine colleges and universities, from 1989-92. He was born on Feb. 11, 1951, in Cedar City, Utah, and received a B.A. in economics and business from Southern Utah University.
Thompson announced his resignation Dec. 3, 2004, using the occasion to issue a warning about the vulnerability of the nation's food supply to terrorist attack. A former governor of Wisconsin, he earned a bachelor's and a law degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison. He served in the Wisconsin National Guard and the Army Reserve. Thompson formerly served in the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1966 and as minority leader and assistant minority leader. He is known for his widespread tax cuts and his elimination of Wisconsin welfare in favor of a work program.
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