WASHINGTON -- Mark Udall went to his father's hospital bedside three weeks ago to tell the retired 30-year congressman known for his wit and devotion to the environment that he also would soon be serving in the House.
Former Rep. Morris K. Udall, D-Ariz., "couldn't speak and was semi-comitose," said his son, elected from Colorado last month, the same day his cousin, Tom Udall, won a House seat in New Mexico. "But I think he really did know about the elections. He showed a lot more interest.""Mo" Udall, who died here Saturday at 76 after a long struggle with Parkinson's disease, always had shown his passionate interest in politics, but he also made politics more interesting.
Udall, who wryly lamented he was too funny to be president, remained one of the most consistent voices of liberalism in the House, whatever the political winds sweeping the country.
"Mo Udall was a leader whose uncommon wisdom, wit and dedication won the love of his colleagues and the respect of all Americans," President Clinton said in a statement Sunday. Clinton awarded Udall the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996.
During the 1970s, Udall failed in two attempts to win election as House speaker, and he lost to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 Democratic presidential primaries.
His self-deprecating wit and easy manner made him a frequent and popular master of ceremonies at Washington events.
In one story Udall often told, he walked into a New Hampshire barbershop, introduced himself and said he had just announced his candidacy for president. The barber replied: "We were just laughing about it this morning."
David Broder, a longtime political reporter for The Washington Post and Udall's friend, once said, "Mo Udall wanted to run for president in the worst way, and he did."
Udall titled his 1988 book, "Too Funny to be President."
Udall had been particularly effective as chairman of the House Interior Committee, a position he held from 1976 until he left Congress. He shepherded passage of a measure to designate 8 million acres of federal lands as wilderness in 1984; a ban on development on millions of acres in Alaska in 1980; strip-mining control legislation in 1977; and a nuclear waste management policy in 1982.
He also was a leader in civil service reforms and worked to change campaign finance laws.
Udall was born June 15, 1922, in St. Johns, Ariz., one of six children in a pioneer Mormon family. His father, Levi Udall, was chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, and his mother, Louise, was active in civic affairs.