James G Watt, Interior Secretary Under Reagan, Dies at 85 nytimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nytimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Reagan administration's sharp-tongued, pro-development interior secretary was beloved by conservatives but ran afoul of environmentalists. Watt even managed to offend Beach Boys fans.
James Watt, a conservative hardliner and foe to environmental activists who served as the Reagan administration's first interior secretary, has died. He was 85.
In an administration divided between so-called pragmatists and hard-liners, few stood as far to the right as Watt, who once labeled the environmental movement as "preservation vs. people."