Carla Anderson Hills

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Carla Anderson Hills (born January 3, 1934) is an American lawyer and public figure. She served as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Gerald Ford administration, and as U.S. Trade Representative.

She was the third woman to serve as a Cabinet officer in a U.S. Presidential Administration.

Born in Los Angeles, she received her B.A. degree from Stanford University, after studying at Oxford University. She earned her LL.B. degree from Yale University Law School in 1958. Born Carla Anderson, she married Roderick M. Hills the same year.

Mrs. Hills was admitted to the California Bar in 1959, and served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles from 1959 to 1961. From 1962 to 1974, she was a partner at Munger, Tolles, Hills, and Rickershauser of Los Angeles. In 1972, she was an adjunct professor at UCLA.

An authority on federal practice and anti-trust law, Mrs. Hills wrote of Federal Civil Practice and Antitrust Advisor. She is a former president of the National Association of Women Lawyers.

She was an United States Assistant Attorney General heading the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice before being named HUD Secretary. She was first offered an appointment as assistant U.S. Attorney General by Elliot L. Richardson in 1973, but he resigned shortly thereafter during the Watergate scandal. The offer was renewed by his successor, William B. Saxbe, in 1974.

Hills' lack of relevant experience was somewhat controversial during the appointment hearings for her nomination to head the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

From 1978 through 1989 she was again a practicing attorney, and was chairman of the Urban Institute from 1983 through 1988. Hills served as U.S. Trade Representative from 1989 to 1993 under President George Herbert Walker Bush. An advocate of free trade, she was the primary U.S. negotiator of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Since 1993 she has worked as a consultant and public speaker through Hills & Company International Consultants, which gives advice on investment, trade and risk issues abroad.

She was one of the founders of the Forum for International Policy.

She and her husband have four children: Laura, Ricky, Megan, and Alison.

Preceded by: James T. Lynn	U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 1975–1977	Succeeded by: Patricia R. Harris
Preceded by: Clayton K. Yeutter	United States Trade Representative 1989 – 1993	Succeeded by: Mickey Kantor

United States Trade Representative
Herter | Roth | Gilbert | Eberle | Dent | Strauss | Askew | Brock | Yeutter | Hills | Kantor | Barshefsky | Zoellick | Allgeier | Portman

United States Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development
Weaver | Romney | Lynn | Hills | Harris | Landrieu | Pierce | Kemp | Cisneros | Cuomo | Martinez | Jackson