Mo Udall — Arizona congressman, environmentalist, and presidential contender

Morris King Udall, known universally as Mo, served Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District from 1961 until 1991 and became one of the most influential legislators of the postwar era on environmental and Native American policy. Born on June 15, 1922, in St. His personal papers alone fill 1,200 linear feet of material held at the University of Arizona Libraries Special Collections. In 1996, President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, calling his work “a gift to all Americans.”

Key facts

Born: 15 June 1922
Birthplace: St. Johns
Died: 12 December 1998
Place of death: Washington, D.C.
Country: United States
Occupation: politician; basketball player; biographer; banker
Employer: University of Arizona
Education: Sturm College of Law; James E. Rogers College of Law; University of Arizona
Awards: Presidential Medal of Freedom

Early Life and Family

Mo Udall grew up in a large Mormon family in St. Johns, Arizona. His father, Levi S. Udall, served as Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, and the family’s engagement with public life ran deep. His mother, Louise “Lee” Udall, published a book called “Me and Mine” about the life of a Hopi Indian woman, a commitment to Native American culture that Mo would later carry into his own legislative work.

After finishing high school, Udall entered the United States Army Air Force as a private in 1942. He was discharged as a captain in 1946, having served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Returning to Arizona, he completed his bachelor’s degree at the University of Arizona, where he was co-captain of the basketball team and president of the Associated Student Government.

Athlete, Lawyer, and Banker

Udall’s path to Congress ran through an unusually varied set of careers. In the 1948–49 National Basketball League season, he played 57 games for the Denver Nuggets, averaging 6.5 points per game. He earned his J.D. from the University of Arizona in 1949 and that same year co-founded the Tucson law firm Udall and Udall with his brother Stewart.

His professional range did not stop with law and sport. Udall was co-founder of the Bank of Tucson and the Catalina Savings and Loan Association, and he served as president of the Tucson YMCA in 1960. From 1952 to 1954, he worked as Pima County Attorney, during which he investigated corruption at Rillito Race Track and successfully prosecuted several public officials involved in the matter.

Entry into Congress

Udall’s route to the House of Representatives was direct and narrow. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Mo’s brother Stewart as Secretary of the Interior. Stewart vacated Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District seat, and Mo won the resulting special election by roughly 2,000 votes. That slim margin opened a tenure that would last thirty years.

He served as Chair of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee from January 3, 1977, to May 4, 1991. From that position, he advanced major environmental legislation and a series of laws protecting Native American rights and cultural resources.

Legislative Record

Udall’s most durable contributions came through specific statutes. He helped create the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and supported the 1974 Campaign Reform Act amendments that imposed contribution limits and established the Federal Election Commission. He also worked on the Postal Reform Act, the Indian Child Welfare Act, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Conservation organizations recognized this record repeatedly. The National Park and Conservation Association gave him an award in 1980, and the National Wildlife Federation named him Conservationist of the Year in 1986. Those honors reflected sustained work on environmental policy over more than two decades, not a single bill.

The 1976 Presidential Campaign

On November 23, 1974, Udall announced his candidacy for the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination, making him the first candidate to declare in that race. He was also the first member of the House of Representatives to seek the presidency in nearly a century, and he built an intensely loyal national following over the course of the campaign.

He did not win the Democratic nomination. Columnist James J. Kilpatrick coined the phrase “too funny to be president” about Udall during the campaign, a line that stuck well enough that Udall later used it as the title of his 1988 book. Published by Henry Holt and Company and co-authored with Bob Neuman and Randy Udall, “Too Funny to Be President” carried a foreword by Erma Bombeck.

Recognition and Later Years

In 1996, President Bill Clinton presented Udall with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Clinton stated at the ceremony: “Morris Udall represents everything a lawmaker should be. His work is a gift to all Americans.” By that point, Parkinson’s disease had been affecting Udall for some years.

Mo Udall died on December 12, 1998, at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C., from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 76. His son Mark was elected to represent Colorado in the 106th Congress, and his nephew Tom Udall, the son of Stewart, was elected to the House as a congressman from New Mexico in 1998.

Legacy and Archives

Congress established the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation in 1992 as an independent executive branch agency, based in Tucson, Arizona. Legislation enacted in 2009 added Stewart Udall’s name to the foundation, renaming it the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation.

Udall’s personal and professional papers, spanning 1920 to 1995 and comprising 1,200 linear feet of material, are held at the University of Arizona Libraries Special Collections as collection MS 325. The collection provides the primary documentary record of his congressional career and his 1976 presidential campaign.

Did you know

Columnist James J. Kilpatrick coined the phrase “too funny to be president” about Udall during the 1976 campaign. Udall later adopted it as the title of his 1988 semi-autobiographical book. (abebooks.com)
Udall was the first member of the House of Representatives to seek the presidency in nearly a century during the 1976 campaign. Despite building an intensely loyal national following, he never won the Democratic nomination. (uapress.arizona.edu)
Udall’s mother, Louise “Lee” Udall, published a book called “Me and Mine” about the life of a Hopi Indian woman. The family’s engagement with Native American culture was one Mo carried directly into his congressional career. (capitolhistory.org)
Before entering Congress, Udall co-founded both the Bank of Tucson and the Catalina Savings and Loan Association, adding banking experience to a career that already included professional basketball and law. (exhibits.lib.arizona.edu)
A 1999 Congressional tribute noted that both the easternmost point of the United States, in the Virgin Islands, and the westernmost point, in Guam, are named Udall Point in Mo Udall’s honor. (govinfo.gov)

Data sources

Data updated: 2026-10-28