Former Idaho Governor And U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne Dies At 74
Dirk Kempthorne, the former governor of Idaho and U.S. secretary of the interior, died April 25, 2026, at age 74 in Boise, his family announced. (npr.org)
The family released a statement announcing his death and did not immediately disclose a cause. The statement drew tributes from leaders in Idaho and from national political figures.
He rose from mayor of Boise to two terms as Idaho governor from 1999 to 2006 and then served as U.S. secretary of the interior from 2006 to 2009 in the George W. Bush administration. (npr.org)
He was widely viewed as a Republican who sought to balance conservation with economic and land-use interests, and he remained a visible voice on Western land and resource policy. (npr.org)
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đ Key Facts
- Dirk Kempthorne died Friday evening, April 24, 2026, in Boise, Idaho, at age 74.
- He previously served as Boise mayor, U.S. senator from Idaho, Idaho governor, and U.S. Interior secretary under President George W. Bush.
- Kempthorne had been diagnosed with colon cancer last year, though his family did not state an official cause of death.
- As Interior secretary, he backed listing the polar bear as a threatened species in 2008, a move he was prepared to resign over before Bush supported it.
- In a later role, he helped coordinate the evacuation of nearly 400 U.S. citizens and Afghan allies after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
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