LibGuides: Primary Sources on Congressional and Political Affairs: Morris K. Udall

Morris K. Udall

Morris "Mo" King Udall of Tucson, Arizona was born in St. Johns, Arizona on June 15, 1922. He is the grandson of David King Udall, a noted Mormon pioneer and church leader, the son of Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Levi S. Udall and Louise Lee Udall and brother of former Congressman and Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Lee Udall. He attended public schools in St. Johns, Arizona and was awarded a J.D. degree from the University of Arizona in 1949 where he served as President of the Associated Student Government and co-captain of the basketball team.

He entered the United States Army-Air Force as a private in 1942 and was discharged as a captain in 1946, having served in the Pacific Theatre. Mo played professional basketball for one season (1948-1949) with the Denver Nuggets and is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. He started a law firm with his brother, Stewart in Tucson, Arizona in 1949 and served as Pima County Attorney from 1952-1954. He served as Vice-President of the Arizona Bar Association in 1961, was a co-founder of the Bank of Tucson and the Catalina Savings and Loan ssociation, and served as president of the Tucson YMCA in 1960.

When his brother, Stewart resigned from the House of Representatives (District 2, Arizona) to serve as Secretary of the Interior in the Kennedy Administration, Morris K. Udall was elected to his seat in the 87th Congress (1961-1962). He served in each succeeding Congress until his resignation on May 4, 1991. Morris K. Udall served as chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs from 1977 to 1991. He also was the ranking member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was a candidate in the Democratic primaries for President in the 1976 national campaign. He was the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in New York in 1980. In 1992, a special tribute was paid to Morris K. Udall by the Democratic Party at their national convention.

Guide to the Morris K. Udall Papers (MS 325)
Composed of Morris K. Udall's professional and public papers that document his thirty years as a Representative from Arizona's 2nd Congressional District, his tenure as Chairman of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, and his campaign for the 1976 Democratic Presidential nomination.

Personal files includes biographical materials; appointment books, daily schedules and guest books; personal correspondence; campaign files which document his campaigns for local Arizona government offices, Congress, Congressional leadership posts as Speaker of the House and House Majority Leader, and his bid for the 1976 Democratic Presidential nominations; invitations and publications.

Legislative files include correspondence; bill files; legislative assistant files; committee files; voting and attendance records; staff project files; the Central Arizona Project; the Public Land Law Review Commission; the Office of Technology Assessment; Congressional Record Inserts and the Democratic Study Group. Of note are the materials pertaining to the Central Arizona Project, Alaska Lands Act, Strip Mining Act, Arizona Wilderness Act, and other legislation relating to wilderness and related environmental issues.

Administrative files include correspondence, subject files and staff files that relate to routine Congressional office matters, requests and correspondence relating to particular constituent problems or issues. Media files include correspondence; press releases and statements; mailings, newsletters and robos; clippings; questionnaires and Freshman Seminar.

Supplemental files include memorabilia and pre- Congressional activities as a lawyer and his political activity in Pima County, Arizona. Additions include additions to the collection of materials gathered from 2011-2018. Items are arranged into series by item types, then by content and chronology.
Morris K. Udall Oral History Project (MS 396)
The Morris K. Udall Oral History Project is generously funded by the Morris K. Udall Foundation and administered by the University of Arizona Library Special Collections. Its goal is to collect, preserve, and make available an archive of spoken recollections that illuminate the lives and careers of Congressman Udall and the Udall family. The interviews are not intended to be memorials to Congressman Udall or to the Udall family, but rather to advance an understanding of the major issues, events, and personalities of their times.

Those interviewed include former Presidents, former and current Congressmen and Senators, journalists and intellectuals, key staff members and campaign aides, family members and friends. Topics covered include early Arizona history, Congressional history, Alaska wilderness preservation, the Central Arizona Project, bipartisanship in a less polarized time, life on the presidential campaign trail, the beginning of the end of the Vietnam War, the beginnings of the Democratic Study Group, and the role of poker-playing in congressional politics.

Although several themes emerge from these interviews, a few stand out for their consistency. Among them was Mo Udall's leadership style, a style that emphasized respect for one's opponent and an understanding that "one can disagree without being disagreeable." Another was his use of self-deprecating humor to break the ice, defuse tension or frustration, to encourage consensus, or simply to make someone feel more comfortable.
Morris K. Udall -Central Arizona Project (MS 325)
The West is defined by water, its uses and its disposition. All Arizona members of Congress were dedicated to securing a water allocation for their home state. The correspondence, reports, memos, and telegrams in these files represent significant solutions to long-standing challenges to use of Colorado River water. The development of the Central Arizona Project would eventually supply the growing cities of Phoenix and Tucson with water supply. The economic and financial impacts on rural and city dwellers and the rights of Native Americans are evidenced here, as well as the problems of water utilization in an arid area.

Too Funny to Be President by Morris K. Udall
ISBN: 0816521751

Publication Date: 2001-02-01

"With a bumper crop of presidential candidates surfacing, I have concluded that a plague of presidentialitis has swept the nation. Speaking from experience, I must remind all these worthy contenders that once this dreaded disease-- whose symptoms include delusions of grandeur and an urge to make repeated visits to Iowa-- gets into a man's bloodstream, it can only be cured by embalming fluid." --Mo Udall

Morris "Mo" Udall, Arizona's Democratic congressman for thirty years, was as well known for his sense of humor as for his dedication to environmental causes. And it was during his 1976 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, when he claims he drew more laughter than votes, that James K. Kilpatrick pronounced him "too funny to be president.

"Udall kept four black notebooks of jokes that he had collected throughout his public life. Some he heard in the courtroom or on the floor of the House; others he found in old speeches and newspaper articles; still others he swiped on the rubber-chicken circuit. This book, a memoir of Udall's career, collects many of those jokes to create a citizen's guide to the lighter side of politics." After due deliberation and two stiff drinks," Udall writes, "I decided to go ahead and write this book because I'm convinced that humor is as necessary to the health of our political discourse as it is in our private lives." Too Funny To Be President is a testament to the Udall spirit--and an example to all who would win the public's heart.

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