BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has chosen North Dakota Gov.
Doug Burgum to head the Interior Department. Some things to know about the two-term Republican governor of a sparsely populated state: Burgum, 67, grew up in tiny Arthur, North Dakota, population 328. He earned a bachelor's degree from North Dakota State University and his master’s of business administration from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
He went on to become a wealthy software executive. He led Great Plains Software, which Microsoft acquired for $1.1 billion in 2001.
Burgum stayed on as a vice president until 2007. He's also led other companies in real estate development and venture capital. In 2016, Burgum ran for governor, his first campaign for elected office.
He touted a message of “reinventing” government as the state dealt with a massive revenue shortfall. In a major upset, Burgum defeated North Dakota's longtime attorney general in the Republican gubernatorial primary. He handily won his first term in the strong Republican state, which has about 784,000 residents.
He was easily reelected in 2020. Burgum has taken a business-oriented bent as governor of North Dakota, where agriculture and oil are the main industries. He's pushed income tax cuts, reduced regulations, and changes to animal agriculture laws and higher education governance .
Burgum also emphasized a “data-driven” approach to governing, advocated for a Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Libra.
