Lujan Shuns Confrontation--and Limelight

Whenever the job of Interior secretary came vacant during the Reagan years, the one name that appeared consistently on the short list of possible appointees was that of Rep. Manuel Lujan Jr. (R-N. M.).

But, until Thursday, when Lujan finally was chosen for the position by President-elect George Bush, the low-key Latino lawmaker has never expressed any real interest in the job that former Interior Secretary James G. Watt transformed into one of the most controversial posts in the Cabinet.

Even when the Bush staff first approached him about it three weeks ago, Lujan, 60, who had just retired after serving 20 years in Congress, told transition personnel director Chase Untermeyer that he would rather return to his home state of New Mexico. It was not until he was pressed personally by Bush that Lujan agreed to serve.

Despite his reluctance, Lujan is clearly an ideal choice for the job if Bush hopes to develop a natural resources policy with broader public support than the policy of the Reagan Administration. His selection won praise from conservatives, such as Sen. James A. McClure (R-Ida.), and liberals, such as Rep. Leon E. Panetta (D-Monterey).

According to those who have worked with Lujan on the House Interior Committee and other congressional panels, he has a reputation as an independent-minded Republican, a politician who prefers compromise more than confrontation and someone who shuns the limelight. On the chief Interior issues, he treads a course between the two extremes--development and conservation.

“In short,” Panetta said, “Manuel Lujan is no James Watt and he is no Donald Hodel.”

In fact, it was his aversion to the political contentiousness caused by Watt’s tenure at Interior that caused Lujan to resign four years ago as ranking Republican of the House Interior Committee and turn his attention instead to the Science and Technology Committee. But the switch in assignments only threw Lujan into more controversy--this time caused by the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in January, 1986.

Lujan was always a loyal supporter of the space program, but he showed his independence in the wake of the Challenger disaster. He not only criticized NASA for covering up the problems that led to the accident but chastised his own committee for failing to do an adequate job of oversight.

As Interior secretary and one of two Latinos in the Bush Cabinet, Lujan is expected to continue to follow a more moderate course than his three predecessors in the Reagan Administration.

Nevertheless, Lujan’s nomination was a disappointment to some environmental groups, which had been hoping for someone more favorable to their views. In the 100th Congress, according to the League of Conservation Voters, he cast his lot with environmentalists on only 16% of the votes.