United States Secretary of the Interior appointed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961

United States Congressman from Arizona

Card signature as Secretary of the Interior

World War II Air Force hero

(1920-2010) Born in St. Johns, Arizona, Udall attended the University of Arizona for two years until World War II. He then served four years in the U.S. Air Force as an enlisted gunner on a B-24 Liberator, flying fifty missions over Western Europe from Italy with the 736th Bomb Squadron, 454th Bomb Group, for which he was awarded the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters. He returned to the University of Arizona in 1946, where he attended law school and played guard on their 1946 championship basketball team. He was admitted to the Arizona bar in 1948, and began a law practice in Tucson. A Democrat, he was a United States Congressman from Arizona, 1955-1961, and served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior, under Presidents' John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson (1961-1969). Among his many accomplishments, Udall oversaw the addition of four national parks, six national monuments, eight national seashores and lake shores, nine national recreation areas, twenty national historic sites, and fifty-six national wildlife refuges. In September 1962, Udall was summoned unexpectedly into a meeting with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev while on a tour of the Soviet Union. It was during this meeting that Khrushchev famously hinted at his secret deployment of nuclear missiles to Cuba by telling Udall: "It's been a long time since you could spank us like a little boy. Now we can swat your ass." This was a prelude to the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1967, the National Audubon Society awarded Udall its highest honor, the Audubon medal. He died on March 20, 2010 at his homer in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The United States Department of the Interior Building is named the "Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building" in his honor.

Card Signature With Title: 4 1/2 x 2 1/2, thick card with imprint, Autograph of, then signed in ink, "Stewart L. Udall," above his printed titled, The Secretary of the Interior. Choice condition vintage 1960's autograph. Extremely desirable President John F. Kennedy cabinet member who was involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis!