Ray Mabus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ray Mabus
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Official portrait, 2014
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| 75th United States Secretary of the Navy | |
| In office May 19, 2009 – January 20, 2017 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
| Deputy | Robert O. Work Janine A. Davidson |
| Preceded by | Donald C. Winter |
| Succeeded by | Richard V. Spencer |
| United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia | |
| In office July 5, 1994 – April 25, 1996 |
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| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | John Frank Bookout Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Wyche Fowler |
| 60th Governor of Mississippi | |
| In office January 12, 1988 – January 14, 1992 |
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| Lieutenant | Brad Dye |
| Preceded by | William Allain |
| Succeeded by | Kirk Fordice |
| 37th Auditor of Mississippi | |
| In office January 5, 1984 – January 7, 1988 |
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| Governor | William Allain |
| Preceded by | Hamp King |
| Succeeded by | Pete Johnson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Raymond Edwin Mabus Jr.
October 11, 1948 Ackerman, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses |
Julie Hines
(m. 1987; div. 2000)Lynne Horecky
(m. 2007) |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Brandon Presley (cousin-in-law) |
| Education | University of Mississippi (BA) Johns Hopkins University (MA) Harvard University (JD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1970–1972 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant (junior grade) |
Raymond Edwin Mabus Jr. (born October 11, 1948) is an American politician and lawyer. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2017. Before that, Mabus was the State auditor of Mississippi from 1984 to 1988. He also served as the 60th governor of Mississippi from 1988 to 1992. Later, he was the United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994 to 1996.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Ray Mabus was born on October 11, 1948, in Ackerman, Mississippi, in Choctaw County, Mississippi. He was the only child of a successful farmer. In 1966, he graduated from Ackerman High School as the top student in his class, known as the valedictorian.
He went on to graduate with high honors, summa cum laude, from the University of Mississippi. There, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and political science. He then received a Master of Arts degree in political science from Johns Hopkins University. Later, he earned a law degree, Juris Doctor, with high honors, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School.
Before law school, Mabus served two years in the United States Navy from 1970 to 1972. He was a Surface Warfare Officer, working on the cruiser USS Little Rock (CLG-4). He reached the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade). After his Navy service, he worked as a law clerk for a federal court. He also served as a legal advisor for a committee in the United States House of Representatives.
Early Political Career
Mabus started his political journey by volunteering for William F. Winter's campaign for governor in 1967. When Winter became governor in 1979, Mabus returned to Mississippi. In 1980, he became the governor's legal advisor.
While working for Governor Winter, Mabus helped pass a major law to improve public education in Mississippi. He and other young aides gave talks across the state to get people to support the new education bill. Some people who didn't like the bill called Mabus and the other young advisors the "Boys of Spring." But Mabus and his friends were proud of this nickname. He left this job in 1983.
Mississippi State Auditor
Becoming State Auditor
In 1982, Mabus was working for Governor Winter. He asked for the latest audit reports for Hinds County government. An audit is like a check-up on how money is being spent. He was surprised to learn that the last audit was from 1977, five years earlier.
Mabus then looked into the job of State Auditor of Mississippi. He found that this office had the power to investigate almost all government agencies in the state. He realized it was a powerful position to fight against corruption without needing to change laws. He decided to run for State Auditor in the 1983 elections.
During the election, Mabus said that the Department of Audit was very behind on its work. He won the election. After he won, a report confirmed that the department was indeed very behind on hundreds of audits.
Work as State Auditor
Mabus became State Auditor on January 5, 1984. He found the department was very disorganized. Many audits were years behind, and records were messy. Mabus got the state legislature to let his department hire private accounting firms to help catch up. Because of this, the department finished all the overdue audits in just two years.
His office also started using modern accounting rules for financial reports. They also created one big financial report for the whole state government, which was a first for Mississippi. This made it easier to see how the state's money was being spent.
Mabus also found that many county governments were not keeping good financial records. He made new rules requiring counties to keep their records up-to-date. He also made it more expensive for the state to do their audits if their records were bad. He created a special team to investigate problems.
He warned county leaders that he would strictly enforce financial laws. To help them, he created a team to give legal and accounting advice. He also met with leaders from all 82 counties to explain the laws and his expectations. He even set up a special phone line for people to report problems.
His office audited all 82 counties during his time as auditor. This helped some counties improve their financial standing. It also led to $1.7 million in misused money being returned to the state. His actions made many county leaders unhappy.
Mabus also worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on a big investigation into corruption in county governments. This investigation was called "Operation Pretense." It led to many public officials being charged. Mabus asked the state legislature to make changes to how counties were run to prevent future problems. He was replaced as State Auditor by Pete Johnson on January 7, 1988.
Governor of Mississippi
1987 Election for Governor
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Ray Mabus started planning to run for governor in 1985. He officially announced his campaign in 1987. The current governor, William Allain, was not running again. In the Democratic primary election, Mabus faced seven other candidates. Mabus won the primary with 37 percent of the vote. In a second round of voting, called a runoff, Mabus won with 65 percent of the vote. This was the biggest win in a runoff election in Mississippi's history.
In the main election, Mabus ran against Jack Reed, a Republican businessman. Mabus used the slogan "Mississippi will never be last again." He promised to raise teacher salaries in the state. Mabus spent a lot of money on his campaign, more than any other candidate for governor in Mississippi before him. He won the election with 53.4 percent of the vote. He had strong support from Black voters and people in cities. Mabus became the 60th Governor of Mississippi on January 12, 1988. At 39 years old, he was the youngest governor in the country.
Working as Governor
Mabus brought many new people into his government. He appointed the first Black members to the State Tax Commission. He also appointed the first woman to lead the Department of Public Safety.
Changes for Counties
Early in his term, Mabus wanted to change how counties were run. He proposed a law that would require counties to switch to a "unit system." This system would mean counties would hire professional administrators to handle money and buying. This was meant to make government more efficient and reduce problems.
The state legislature discussed his ideas. After some back and forth, they passed a law that let counties decide how to run their government. In November, 46 out of 82 counties voted to adopt the unit system. Mabus signed this bill into law.
State Money and Budget
In 1988, Mabus made changes to how the state managed its money. He created a new Department of Finance and Administration. This department took over the job of making budget recommendations and adjusting state spending. He also wanted to use special bonds to pay for big projects. This would free up regular state money for other services.
Improving Education (B.E.S.T.)
Mabus focused on improving public education in 1990. His plan was called "Better Education for Success Tomorrow," or B.E.S.T. It included new programs to help adults learn to read and write. It also aimed to help high school students stay in school. The plan suggested creating health clinics in schools. It also wanted to reward good schools and help those that were struggling.
Mabus did not want to raise sales or income taxes to pay for his plan. He suggested creating a state lottery instead. However, the state constitution did not allow lotteries. The legislature passed most of the B.E.S.T. plan, but they couldn't agree on how to pay for it. Mabus kept trying to get funding for B.E.S.T. but was not successful.
Despite the funding challenges, Mabus gave teachers the biggest pay raise in the nation. Fortune Magazine even named him one of the ten "best education governors."
1991 Election for Governor
Mabus was the first Mississippi governor in the 20th century to run for reelection. In the 1991 Democratic primary, he faced Wayne Dowdy. Dowdy criticized Mabus, calling him "the ruler." Mabus won the primary election.
In the general election, Mabus ran against Kirk Fordice, a Republican. Fordice focused on criticizing Mabus's performance. He called Mabus a "liberal" and said he spent too much money. Mabus continued to support public education. He also criticized Fordice.
Mabus spent more money on his campaign than Fordice. However, on November 5, Fordice won the election. He became the first Republican governor of Mississippi since 1874. Some people thought Mabus lost because voters saw him as arrogant. Mabus was succeeded by Fordice on January 14, 1992.
Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
After being governor, President Bill Clinton appointed Mabus to be the United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. An ambassador is a country's official representative in another country. He started this job on July 1, 1994, and served until 1996. During his time there, he worked for his family's lumber business after returning to Mississippi. The Saudi Arabian government honored him with the Order of King Abdulaziz before he left.
Later, in 2000, Mabus took a leadership role at a company called Foamex International. He was the company's CEO during a time when it was reorganizing its finances. He left that job in 2007 to spend more time in Mississippi.
In 2008, Mabus supported Barack Obama for president. After Obama was elected, he nominated Mabus to be the United States Secretary of the Navy. This is a very important job, leading the entire U.S. Navy. Mabus was sworn into office on May 19, 2009. He served until January 20, 2017.
The Great Green Fleet
Soon after becoming Secretary, Mabus announced a big goal: he wanted half of the Navy's energy to come from non-oil sources by 2020. He started the "Great Green Fleet" plan. This meant some Navy ships would be partly powered by alternative energy, not just fossil fuels. Mabus believed this would make the Navy less dependent on foreign oil.
The Navy tried using biofuels, which are fuels made from plants or animals. At first, these fuels were very expensive. However, by 2016, the Navy found a beef-fat fuel blend that cost less. Later, a Navy destroyer successfully used a biofuel blend that was even cheaper.
Helping the Gulf Coast
In 2010, President Obama asked Mabus to create a long-term plan to help the Gulf Coast. This was after a major oil spill, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, caused a lot of damage. Mabus created a recovery plan that received support from both political parties. Based on his ideas, Congress passed a law called the RESTORE Act. This law provided over $5 billion to help clean up and restore the coast.
Mabus worked to make the Navy more efficient. He highlighted that a lot of money was being spent on administrative tasks, not just on active troops. He believed these "overhead" costs needed to be cut.
During his time, Mabus oversaw the building of 86 new ships for the Navy. He wanted to build even more ships to keep the Navy strong.
Mabus focused on making the Navy more diverse. He wanted to create a force that included people from all backgrounds. The "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prevented gay service members from serving openly, ended in 2011 during his tenure.
He started new Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) programs at universities. He also made changes to how officers were promoted, allowing them to be considered equally regardless of their specific job. Mabus also arranged for women to join the submarine fleet in 2011. He pushed for unisex uniforms in the Navy and the United States Marine Corps. In 2015, he expanded maternity leave for Navy personnel to 18 weeks.
In late 2015, the Marine Corps released a study about women's performance. Mabus disagreed with some of the study's conclusions. He believed that women should not be excluded from any roles in the Marine Corps. He ordered the Marine Corps to make all job titles gender neutral.
Leaving Office
Ray Mabus stepped down as Secretary of the Navy on January 20, 2017, when President Donald Trump took office. He was one of the few national security officials who served for President Obama's entire time in office. He was also the longest-serving Secretary of the Navy since Josephus Daniels, who served from 1913 to 1921. Mabus said that leading the Department of the Navy was the greatest honor of his life.
Awards and Honors
Ray Mabus has received several important awards for his public service. These include:
- The U.S. Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award.
- The U.S. Army's Distinguished Civilian Service Award.
- The Martin Luther King Jr. Social Responsibility Award.
- The National Wildlife Federation Conservation Achievement Award.
- The Order of King Abdulaziz from Saudi Arabia.
- The Mississippi Association of Educators' Friend of Education Award.
In 2013, he was listed among the "Highest Rated CEOs" by Glassdoor. In 2017, the Mississippi Center for Justice gave him their Champion of Justice award. In 2019, his hometown of Ackerman put up historic markers honoring him and another former governor.
Mabus is also involved in many community activities, especially those focused on education. After Hurricane Katrina, he started the Help and Hope Foundation to assist children affected by the storm.
Personal Life
Mabus married Julie Hines in 1987. They had two daughters together. They later divorced in 2000. In 2007, he married Lynne Horecky.
Mabus is a big fan of the Boston Red Sox baseball team. He started following them when he was a student at Harvard Law School. During his time as Navy Secretary, he threw the first pitch at all 30 Major League Baseball parks in the United States. He is believed to be the only person ever to do this.
Acting Roles
Ray Mabus has made a few special appearances on TV and in movies.
- In 2009 and 2014, he appeared on the TV show NCIS as an NCIS Agent named "Ray."
- In 2012, he was in the movie Battleship as the commanding officer of the USS Ronald Reagan.
- He also appeared as himself in an episode of the TV series The Last Ship. In the story, he gave orders to the ship's crew through a recorded message.
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