Richard Mahoney (Arizona politician)

Richard Mahoney (left), Jamil Mahuad (center), Sonia Roca (right)

Richard D. Mahoney was the Democratic Secretary of State of Arizona from 1991 until 1995.

Mahoney, the son of William P. Mahoney, a Phoenix lawyer and United States Ambassador to Ghana, was born in 1952. Mahoney was educated at Brophy College Preparatory, Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University and Arizona State University.

Mahoney has lectured as a visiting professor at Templeton College (Oxford University), The JFK School of Government (Harvard University), the Beijing Institute of Foreign Trade, and the Universidad Del Pacifico - Ecuador (Quito, Campus). He was also professor emeritus at The American Graduate School of International Management.

Mahoney is the author of three books, two on the John F. Kennedy administration: JFK: Ordeal in Africa (1983) and Sons and Brothers, The days of Jack and Bobby Kennedy (1999) and Getting Away with Murder on the War in Afghanistan, as well as numerous articles and monographs on presidential history, foreign policy, international trade, and political risk. He has also published a volume of poetry in Spanish entitled Pétalos (1995). His latest book is Getting Away With Murder (2004).

In addition to his academic work, Mahoney formed a foundation, Nuestra Familia, in 1998 that started social entrepreneurship projects (the creation of small profit centers that fund social justice and human development) in two Latin American countries.

A member of the Democratic Party, Mahoney was elected Secretary of State of Arizona in 1990 and ran for the United States Senate in 1994 and governor in 2002. He also served as chief speechwriter in the presidential campaigns of Senators Gary Hart and Paul Simon.

Mahoney now serves as head of the Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies at Juniata College.

References

Arizona Secretaries of State timeline

Preceded by James Shumway

Arizona Secretary of State 1991–1995

Succeeded by Jane Dee Hull