Fife Symington

Symington was born in New York City, New York on August 12, 1945. Symington comes from a wealthy Maryland family; he is the great-grandson of steel magnate Henry Clay Frick. Symington was born to Martha Howard (née Frick), and J. Fife Symington Jr. who served as United States Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago from 1969 to 1971 under President Richard Nixon. He is also a cousin to Stuart Symington, who was U.S. Senator from Missouri from 1953 to 1976. While studying at Harvard, Symington discovered the works of Nobel Prize winner Friedrich Hayek, an economist, social theorist and political philosopher who promoted limited government and free markets. Symington believed it to be the "best location in town for business," and as of 2007, still had his own office on the fourth floor of the building. The financing of the project would later play a part in an investigation in his involvement with Southwest Savings and Loan, which provided the funds with Symington on its board of directors. The Esplanade took two decades to finish construction, with construction beginning in 1983, and completing in 2003. The Mercado was a concept that originated from Phoenix City Hall, which granted the first ever federal Urban Development Action Grant in Phoenix for the complex, and also owned the land that the Mercado was built upon. Additionally, in an attempt to finance the construction of the Mercado, Symington repeatedly filed false financial statements, according to a jury in the case that later led to his resignation as governor, to receive a $10 million loan for the project from a group of Arizona pension funds. It was also alleged that Symington threatened to end the lease granted to Arizona State University, the largest tenant at the Mercado at the time, several times between July and October 1991, unless he was released from the $10 million loan. The Mercado loan officially went into default in 1992, with Symington filing for bankruptcy protection from creditors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. ==Governor of Arizona==

1990 gubernatorial campaign In April 1989, Symington announced his bid for Governor of Arizona in the 1990 election, promising to run the state like a business. Former U.S. Congressman Sam Steiger, who had previously run for U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 1976 and for Governor as the Libertarian nominee in 1982 also ran against Symington, but placed a distant fourth behind Mecham and State Senator Fred Koory. Despite being portrayed as a liberal by his primary opponents, Symington received nearly 44% of the vote in the primary. and had endorsed Symington's campaign. Symington's father was also personal friends with Goldwater. Goddard is also the son of former Arizona Governor Samuel Pearson Goddard Jr. In response, Symington charged that Goddard had violated the state's campaign finance law by "accepting a law-firm salary while campaigning, without spending the stipulated hours on legal work." Prior to the election, Arizona had adopted runoff voting in general elections if no candidate received more than 50% of the vote. This came after the controversial Evan Mecham had been elected governor in 1986 with only 40% of the vote. After the extended campaign, Arizona returned to plurality voting for all subsequent gubernatorial elections, making the 1990 gubernatorial election the only statewide runoff election in Arizona's history. First term (1991–1995) at a fundraiser at the Madison Hotel in Phoenix in February 1991. Symington was sworn into office on March 6, 1991, becoming Arizona's fourth governor in five years. Symington also established an extensive review of its human resources management, and created the State Long-Term improved Management Project (known as Project SLIM). The goal of the project was to reduce the size of the state government and decrease spending. Recommendations that were made as a result of the project included methods for improving the hiring process, improving training, providing alternative processes for employee appeals, reducing overall employment, and upgrading the classification, pay, and benefits system, among other suggestions. Symington's accounting firm had won the consulting contract for Project SLIM, which later led to an investigation, and resulted in a $3.3 million settlement due to inquiries into the bidding by other state and federal investigative agencies. Governor Symington, and other former directors of Southwest Savings and Loan, were also the subject of an investigation over their involvement in the failure of the Phoenix-based thrift, with the case later being settled for $12 million. In November 1992, Symington ended a six-month standoff with the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation by signing a compact that allowed the tribe to operate 250 video gambling machines. Prior to this, the tribe was acting in defiance of federal agents who had seized their gambling machines the year before the agreement. The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation settled for a quarter of the machines that had been seized, and also agreed to allow state supervision of the gambling operation. In return, the state conceded to allowing the operation of a 24-hour bingo hall and casino by the tribe. Former Arizona Attorney General Jack LaSota criticized the decision at the time, due to Arizona's state laws against gambling. Symington later signed legislation in 1993 that reversed this decision, however, outlawing gambling and casinos, including for fundraising purposes for churches and charities. Also in November 1992, Symington was a supporter of a ballot proposal that reinstated Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday in Arizona. The day had been removed as a federal holiday several years prior, under the administration of Governor Evan Mecham, who disagreed with its manner of implementation. Symington boasted that Arizona had become "the only state in the union to put it to the people," and felt the vote in approval of the holiday made "a wonderful statement about Arizona." One of the major achievements enacted by Symington as Governor came at the end of his first term. It included sweeping education reform legislation, which led to the establishment of charter schools in Arizona. The goal behind establishing charter schools was to improve student achievement and provide additional academic choices, with the first charters opening the following year in 1995. 1994 gubernatorial campaign Symington ran for reelection to a second term in 1994. In the Republican primary, Symington was challenged by Barbara Barrett, wife of business executive Craig Barrett. In regard to his primary campaign message, Symington stated "I vowed to get state spending under control, reduce taxes and do my best to promote economic development and restore strength to the economy. I think I am in a strong position because I accomplished my goals." Barrett had spent more than $1 million of her own money in the attempt to defeat Symington, who she stated she did not dislike personally, but simply felt that she could do a better job as governor. Political analysts stated that Barrett had failed to distinguish herself from the incumbent governor, and ran a flawed campaign. Symington also declared his upset victory a "miracle" and a "revolution," saying the people "want their country back and they want their taxes lowered. Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan started all this and God bless them." To finance the construction of a shopping center and office complex in downtown Phoenix, known as the Mercado, Symington had been lent $10 million from six union pension funds. Citing the dire effects of the park's closure on tourism, Symington stated that the "Grand Canyon must remain open, by force, if necessary." The Pentagon warned the head of the Arizona National Guard against the use of force and raised the possibility that, if necessary, the guard would be federalized and brought under the control of the White House. The governor decided to go ahead and, accompanied by the Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, fifty unarmed National Guard troops, twenty-five state Park Department employees, and other officials, traveled to the canyon. When Symington's group arrived, Symington beat on the park gates in front of the media and demanded that the park be reopened. The Department of Interior later reopened the park under state supervision. A federal agency reimbursed Arizona the $370,020 the state donated to keep the Grand Canyon National Park open during the shutdown. The government shut down again in mid-December of that year, but the state and the federal government were able to come to an agreement to keep the park partially open, with the state of Arizona paying $17,625 in advance of each day's operation, which was also later reimbursed by the federal government. Prior to his resignation, there had been a high-profile recall effort led by former Arizona Secretary of State Richard D. Mahoney. This conviction, however, was overturned in 1999 by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Six days into jury deliberations, the trial judge had granted the government's motion to dismiss a juror because the other jurors complained she was refusing to deliberate with them, a serious breach of the juror's oath. A three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled 2–1 that there was a "reasonable possibility" that the juror had actually been removed because she was leaning toward acquittal, and the rest of the jury was frustrated at the prospect of a hung jury (in federal cases, verdicts must be unanimous). The appeals court held that the juror's dismissal violated Symington's right to a fair trial, since he was entitled to that juror's vote. Before the government could retry him, Symington was pardoned in January 2001 by President Bill Clinton, terminating the federal government's seven-year battle with the former governor. ==Post-governorship==

Arizona Culinary Institute While free on appeal, and before receiving a presidential pardon, Symington had attempted to reinvent himself as a private citizen and decided to enroll himself in culinary school. During his enrollment at the school, Symington had packed a bag of his belongings in case he had to report to Nellis Federal Prison in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 24 hours notice, but this was made moot following his pardon from President Clinton. The vision of the school was to create a small class environment with hands on training, with a specific focus on the traditional French methods of cooking. Symington had previously interned at a restaurant that Fazzuoli owned while attending culinary school. The recipe for "The Governor" included "a layer of dense, flourless chocolate cake made with Callebaut dark chocolate from Belgium," and "topped with chocolate mousse, then with another Callebaut chocolate cake with another layer of mousse." In an interview with The Daily Courier, Symington stated, "I'm a pilot and I know just about every machine that flies. It was bigger than anything that I've ever seen. It remains a great mystery. Other people saw it, responsible people. I don't know why people would ridicule it." He continued, "It was enormous and inexplicable. Who knows where it came from? A lot of people saw it, and I saw it too. It was dramatic. And it couldn't have been flares because it was too symmetrical. It had a geometric outline, a constant shape." As Governor during the Phoenix Lights, Symington stated he would investigate the event, but went on to hold a press conference where he had his chief of staff dress up in an alien costume. He later stated that as a public official he had felt a responsibility to avert public panic and therefore made an attempt to introduce some levity into the situation. On November 9, 2007, he appeared with a panel of guests discussing their UFO experiences on Larry King Live. A few days later, on November 12, Symington acted as moderator for a UFO press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Other speakers included U.S. and foreign military witnesses and public officials involved in some major UFO cases, such as the 1980 Rendlesham Forest incident, 1990 Belgium UFO incident, and 1976 Tehran UFO incident, and heads of some official foreign government UFO investigations, such as Nick Pope in the United Kingdom and Claude Poher of France. They said the phenomenon was quite real, should be taken seriously, and urged the U.S. government to reopen its public UFO investigations. Symington also appeared as a witness of the Phoenix Lights in an updated version of the 2002 UFO documentary Out of the Blue by filmmaker James Fox. Prior to the documentary, Fox helped organize the witness panels for both Larry King Live, and the subsequent National Press Club event. In 2017, Symington also wrote an editorial piece for CNN, where he further described his experience in witnessing the Phoenix Lights, saying that he observed a delta-shaped craft, which moved silently across the sky over Piestewa Peak (formerly known as Squaw Peak). He further described it as "dramatically large" with a "very distinctive leading edge with some enormous lights." However, three months later, on May 5, he withdrew his name from consideration, saying that he wanted to focus his energy on The Symington Group instead. In November 2006, Symington lost a bid to become the Republican Party Chairman of his local legislative district, the district also happened to be the home district of Senator John McCain, whose support Symington had received. This was the first electoral defeat of Symington's career. In April 2007, Symington was named chairman of the board of trustees of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Following Janet Napolitano's resignation as Governor of Arizona in 2009, due to her appointment as Secretary of Homeland Security, Symington was once more considered as a potential candidate to run in the 2010 gubernatorial election, but he again refused to run, announcing the decision in October 2009 following disappointing hypothetical poll numbers. Symington instead endorsed former Arizona Republican Party chairman John Munger, against incumbent governor Jan Brewer, but Munger eventually dropped out of the race when he was unable to compete with his fellow candidates' sizable fundraising and public funding of their campaigns. Despite Symington's refusal to run again for public office, he has remained involved in state politics, endorsing candidates from both major parties, including Doug Ducey for governor, John McCain for U.S. Senate, and Democrats Ruben Gallego for U.S. Congress and Felecia Rotellini for Arizona Attorney General, among others. Following the announcement by U.S. Senator Jeff Flake that he would not be seeking reelection to a second term, in October 2017, Symington became the treasurer of board of regents member Jay Heiler's U.S. Senate exploratory committee, alongside former governor Jan Brewer as chairman. Heiler was Symington's Chief of Staff during his two terms as governor. In January 2018, Heiler ultimately decided against running for U.S. Senate, instead supporting U.S. Congresswoman Martha McSally. In October 2018, it was reported by The Arizona Capitol Times that Symington was contemplating a run for the U.S. Senate in the 2020 special election. The seat was vacated following the death of U.S. Senator John McCain, with former U.S. Senator Jon Kyl being appointed by Governor Doug Ducey to temporarily fill the seat. Upon appointment, Kyl stated that he would only serve in the Senate until the end of 2018 and in 2018 Governor Ducey appointed former Representative Martha McSally to the Senate seat. Symington stated that he would enjoy running against the potential Democratic candidate former attorney general of Arizona, Grant Woods, saying "I can't think of a better candidate to campaign against. We would have a lot of fun dishing it out," while also questioning Woods' party affiliation. Later life and legacy In an op-ed published by The Arizona Republic in 2012, Symington took time to reflect on his time as Governor of Arizona, and spoke positively about his experiences, despite the federal government's prosecution that led to his resignation. Symington wrote, "Even as we were charging ahead to reform public policy in the brief time given any governor, I was visited by a ruthless pursuit from the world's most inexhaustible adversary. Let it be recorded that few have fought the federal government and prevailed, but by grace and the love of family and friends, we did." In analyzing his performance as governor, Symington also stated in the retrospective, "Arizona's government operated comparatively well, without excess partisan rancor and without so many of the Republican peacocks and Democrat bantam roosters we see running around the political barnyard today." There were 305 boxes total, which was estimated to take at least 500-man-hours to process, and consisted of policy papers, records from his federal trial, photos from White House visits, and a humorous photo of Symington in a Phoenix Suns gorilla costume. Political campaign materials, Symington's Bronze Star from his service in the military, a cast bronze relief of Symington's grandfather Henry Clay Frick, and yearbooks were also included. Secretary of State Michele Reagan officiated the opening ceremony. Jack August was one of the organizers of the exhibit, but died only a few weeks before its opening. == Personal life ==

From his first wife Symington has two children and five grandchildren. His second wife was Ann Olin Pritzlaff, an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church. They have three children and eight grandchildren. He is currently married for the third time. == Electoral history ==