Carla Anderson Hills
| Carla Anderson Hills | |
|---|---|
| 180px | |
| Carla Anderson Hills in San Antonio, Texas (1992) | |
| 5th Chairwoman of the Council on Foreign Relations Serving alongside: Robert E. Rubin | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2007 | |
| President | Richard N. Haass |
| Preceded by | Peter George Peterson |
| 5th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | |
| In office March 10, 1975 – January 20, 1977 | |
| President | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | James Thomas Lynn |
| Succeeded by | Patricia Roberts Harris |
| 10th United States Trade Representative | |
| In office 1989–1993 | |
| President | George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Clayton Keith Yeutter |
| Succeeded by | Mickey Kantor |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 3, 1934 Los Angeles, California |
| Spouse(s) | Roderick M. Hills |
| Children | 4 |
| Residence | Washington DC |
| Alma mater | Oxford University Stanford University Yale Law School |
| Profession | law |
Carla Anderson Hills (born January 3, 1934) is an American lawyer and public figure. She served as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Gerald Ford administration, and as U.S. Trade Representative. She was the first woman to serve as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the third woman to serve as a Cabinet officer in a U.S. Presidential Administration.[1]
Contents
Early life
Born Carla Anderson in Los Angeles, she received her B.A. degree from Stanford University, after studying at Oxford University. She earned her LL.B. degree from Yale University Law School in 1958 and married Roderick M. Hills the same year.[2]
Career
Mrs. Hills was admitted to the California Bar in 1959, and served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles from 1959 to 1961. From 1962 to 1974, she was a partner at Munger, Tolles, Hills, and Rickershauser of Los Angeles. In 1972, she was an adjunct professor at UCLA.[3] An authority on federal practice and anti-trust law, Mrs. Hills wrote of Federal Civil Practice and Antitrust Advisor.[4] She is a former president of the National Association of Women Lawyers.
She was an United States Assistant Attorney General heading the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice before being named HUD Secretary. She was first offered an appointment as assistant U.S. Attorney General by Elliot L. Richardson in 1973, but he resigned shortly thereafter during the Watergate scandal. The offer was renewed by his successor, William B. Saxbe, in 1974.
Hills' lack of relevant experience was somewhat controversial during the appointment hearings for her nomination to head the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. From 1978 through 1989 she was again a practicing attorney, and was chairman of the Urban Institute from 1983 through 1988.
U.S. Trade Rep. - NAFTA & GATT Negotiator
Hills served as U.S. Trade Representative (1989–1993) under President George H. W. Bush. She was under pressure to implement the 1988 Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act to go after countries trading unfairly with the U.S. using the Act's new Section 301, which the New York Times called her "crowbar". 301 enabled the U.S. to impose tariffs as high as 100%. She initially went after Japan, Brazil and India, though the Bush administration later decided Japan had changed its ways.[1]
An advocate of free trade, she was the primary U.S. negotiator of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In 2000, Mrs. Hills was awarded The Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle (La Orden Mexicana del Aguila Azteca) which is the highest honor conveyed to non-citizens by the Mexican government.[5] In fact, the first time Mexican-Americans were honored with this award was November 12, 1990, one of whom was the union leader, Cesar Chavez[6]
President George H.W. Bush's administration's real priority was to hammer out the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in the Uruguay Round. Hills was known as a strong negotiator and was appreciated. "Delegations from 97 countries [sought] ways to notch down everyone's tariffs and remove other obstacles to trade." "The 97 signatories to GATT account for two-thirds of the $3 trillion in merchandise traded each year. Since the original agreement in 1947, GATT has been altered six times..." but, "after the last GATT revision - the Tokyo Round, which started in 1976 - many American industries were outclassed by others".[1]
Since 1993 she has worked as a consultant and public speaker through Hills & Company International Consultants, which gives advice on investment, trade and risk issues abroad. She was one of the founders of the Forum for International Policy where she's a trustee.[7] Carla stepped down from Time Warner, Inc. with Ted Turner in 2006.[8] She now serves on international advisory boards for American International Group, the Coca-Cola Company, Gilead Sciences, Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase and Rolls Royce as well as the board of the U.S.-China Business Council.[9][10]
In 2008, Yale University granted her an honorary degree and she has received several others.[11]
North American Community
In 2005, Carla Hills participated in The Task Force on the Future of North America which produced a controversial report called, Building a North American Community sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations. The general sense was to strengthen trading relationships between the U.S., Canada and Mexico by making trade more efficient, planning for North American infrastructure, fast tracking borders and even some language integration. For example, it was recommended to “assist elementary and secondary schools in teaching about North America.” (page 29) “Develop teacher exchange and training programs for elementary and secondary school teachers. This would assist in removing language barriers and give some students a greater sense of a North American identity. Greater efforts should also be made to recruit Mexican language teachers to teach Spanish in the United States and Canada.”[12]
Affiliations
- Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations[13]
- Chair, National Committee on United States-China Relations[14]
- Executive Committee member, Trilateral Commission
- Executive Committee member, Institute for International Economics (IIE), now the Peterson Institute
- Director, ChevronTexaco, since 1993.
- Director, American International Group, Inc.
- Director, Lucent Technologies
- Director, AOL Time Warner, Inc.
- Co-Chair, Inter-American Dialogue [15]
- Trustee, Forum for International Policy[7]
- US Board Member, International Crisis Group.
- Advisory Board Member, Partnership for a Secure America
- Counselor and Trustee, Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Advisory Board Member, The National Bureau of Asian Research
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Script error
- ↑ "Carla Anderson Hills". http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404702991.html. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ↑ "International Crisis Group - Carla A. Hills". http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4235. Retrieved 2009-02-07.[dead link]
- ↑ Script error
- ↑ "Hills Program on Governance, Roderick M. & Carla A. Hills". http://www.csis.org/component/option,com_csis_progj/task,view/id,990/. Retrieved 2009-02-07.[dead link]
- ↑ Script error
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "The Forum for International Policy, trustees". http://www.ffip.com/trustees.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-07.[dead link]
- ↑ "Ted Turner and Carla A. Hills to Step Down from Time Warner's Board of Directors". February 24, 2006. http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1167201,00.html. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ↑ "Carla A. Hills Profile - Forbes.com". http://people.forbes.com/profile/carla-a-hills/36981. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ↑ http://www.uschina.org/
- ↑ Yale University gives ex-Beatle honorary doctorate in music RepublicanAmerican, 2008-05-26, retrieved 2008-05-26
- ↑ Script error
- ↑ Board of Directors, Council on Foreign Relations, retrieved 2008-05-26
- ↑ [1], National Committee on United States-China Relations, retrieved 2008-07-04
- ↑ Inter-American Dialogue BoD, dead as of 2008-05-26 archive.org, version of 2007-05-06 retrieved 2008-05-26
External links
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James T. Lynn |
U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 1975–1977 |
Succeeded by Patricia R. Harris |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by Clayton K. Yeutter |
United States Trade Representative 1989–1993 |
Succeeded by Mickey Kantor |
