Ken Salazar returns to Colorado with image intact and many options

When Ken Salazar, the former Colorado attorney general, went to Washington as a U.S. senator, he was perceived as a consensus-builder and a centrist, a bolo-tie, cowboy-hat traditionalist steeped in religious and rural values whose populist message appealed to voters throughout the state. Eight years later, the last four as secretary of the Interior, he leaves the Beltway to return home situated to do virtually anything he wants. A longtime public servant, Salazar, 57, says it's time to make money and focus on his family. His wife struggles with health issues, and she and Salazar are the legal guardians of an autistic granddaughter. While law firms are expected to throw their doors open for him, Salazar has also committed to help President Barack Obama push immigration reform. Running for governor may be in his future, but his political plans now are on hold...more