Bush Donor Profile
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Colin Riley McMillan

Occupation: Ex-Chair & CEO
Employer: Permian Exploration Corp.
Home: Roswell, NM
The first President Bush appointed the late Colin McMillan, a former Marine, as an assistant secretary under then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney during the first Gulf War. After he co-chaired the second President Bush’s New Mexico campaign, that Bush appointed him chair of the federal student loan agency Sallie Mae, which discovered in 2002 that it had miscalculated loan payments for 800,000 students. Bush next nominated McMillan as Navy Secretary in May 2003 but McMillan committed suicide in July of that year after facing a recurrence of cancer. McMillan ran the Permian Exploration oil company and chaired Roswell’s First Federal Savings Bank. His 55,000-acre Three Rivers Cattle Co. ranch ranked him as New Mexico’s 23rd largest landowner. Despite his wealth, McMillan applied for federal aid to exterminate coyotes, mountain lions and black bears (a threatened species) on his ranch land. He served 11 years in his state legislature, including a stint as Minority Whip. McMillan made a failed bid for the U.S. Senate in 1994.
Membership
2000 cycle; Minor League Pioneer
2000 cycle; Major League Pioneer
2004 cycle; Major League Pioneer
2004 cycle; Ranger


Of Special Interest
Bush Appointee
Corporate or Campaign Scandal
Corporate Welfare Recipient/Dispenser
Lobbyist
White House Sleepover Guest

  Profile last updated Dec 12, 2003