Richard Bryan

Richard Hudson Bryan (born July 16, 1937) is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States Senator from Nevada from 1989 to 2001. A Democrat, Bryan served as the 25th Governor of Nevada from 1983 to 1989, and before that served as the state's attorney general and a member of the State Senate.

Richard Bryan
United States Senator
from Nevada
In office
January 3, 1989  January 3, 2001
Preceded byChic Hecht
Succeeded byJohn Ensign
Chair of the Senate Ethics Committee
In office
January 3, 1993  January 3, 1995
Preceded byTerry Sanford
Succeeded byMitch McConnell
25th Governor of Nevada
In office
January 3, 1983  January 3, 1989
LieutenantBob Cashell
Bob Miller
Preceded byRobert List
Succeeded byBob Miller
27th Attorney General of Nevada
In office
January 1, 1979  January 3, 1983
GovernorRobert List
Preceded byRobert List
Succeeded byBrian McKay
Personal details
Born
Richard Hudson Bryan

(1937-07-16) July 16, 1937
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyDemocratic (1971–present)
Spouse(s)
Bonnie Fairchild
(m. 1962; died 2016)
Children3
EducationUniversity of Nevada, Reno (BA)
University of California, Hastings (JD)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1959–1960

Early life

Bryan was born in Washington, D.C., and graduated from the University of Nevada at Reno in 1959 where he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega and the president of ASUN.[1] He earned his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law. In 1963 he was admitted to the Nevada Bar. He was Clark County's first public defender.[2]

Political career

Bryan served as a member of the Nevada Senate from 1972 to 1978. In 1979, Bryan became the Nevada Attorney General, and served in the position until 1983. Bryan was the Governor of Nevada from 1983 to 1989.

Bryan successfully ran for the U.S. Senate, serving from 1989 to 2001. During his tenure in the Senate, Bryan served on the Finance, Banking, Intelligence and Commerce Committees. He opted not to run for re-election in 2000.[3]

Bryan was an opponent of Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), stating: "As of today millions have been spent and we have yet to bag a single little green fellow. Not a single Martian has said take me to your leader, and not a single flying saucer has applied for FAA approval." He introduced an amendment to the 1994 budget that secured the cancellation of the High Resolution Microwave Survey and terminated NASA's SETI efforts less than one year after their launch.[4][5] NASA criticized Bryan for his opposition to the SETI program.[6]

Bryan also focused on preventing Yucca Mountain from being used as a nuclear waste long-term storage site. Though the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository would be built during Bryan's time in the Senate, his opposition, along with delayed any actual storage from occurring. This opposition would continue after Bryan had retired before plans for storage were discontinued by President Barack Obama.[3]

References

  1. "Famous ATOs". Alpha Tau Omega. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  2. "After A Life Time Of Service, Richard Bryan Honored By Las Vegas, ACLU". Nevada Public Radio. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  3. Bryan Not to Seek Re-election Washington Post, 19/02/99, Retrieved 12/04/18
  4. Alexander, Amir. "A History of SETI - Explore the Cosmos". The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society. Archived from the original on September 9, 2009. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  5. H. Paul Shuch, ed. (2011). Searching for extraterrestrial intelligence: SETI past, present, and future. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 978-3-642-13195-0.
  6. Garber, Stephen. "Searching for Good Science: The Cancellation of NASA's SETI Program" (PDF). Nasa History Office. Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Robert E. Rose
Democratic nominee for Governor of Nevada
1982, 1986
Succeeded by
Bob Miller
Preceded by
Howard Cannon
Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Nevada
(Class 1)

1988, 1994
Succeeded by
Edward M. Bernstein
Legal offices
Preceded by
Robert List
Attorney General of Nevada
January 1, 1979 – January 3, 1983
Succeeded by
Brian McKay
Political offices
Preceded by
Robert List
Governor of Nevada
January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1989
Succeeded by
Bob Miller
Preceded by
Terry Sanford
Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee
January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995
Succeeded by
Mitch McConnell
U.S. Senate
Preceded by
Chic Hecht
U.S. senator (Class 1) from Nevada
January 3, 1989 – January 3, 2001
Served alongside: Harry Reid
Succeeded by
John Ensign
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