Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge resigned as leader of the government department created to protect the nation from terrorists after the Sept. 11 attacks.

``I think we've accomplished a great deal in a short period of time,'' Ridge told reporters at the department's headquarters in Washington. He said he will stay on until a successor is confirmed by the Senate.

President George W. Bush picked Ridge to be the nation's first secretary of Homeland Security. He oversaw the integration of 20 federal agencies including 180,000 employees, set up the five-color terror alert system and initiated the practice of fingerprinting foreign visitors to the U.S. No terrorist attacks have occurred during the time he led the department.

Ridge, 59, said that after 22 years in public service he wanted to spend more time with his family. The Associated Press reported July 30 that he told colleagues he was tired and needed to earn more money for his two children's college educations. His salary is $175,000.

``There are a lot of things out there on a personal level I'd like to have more time to do,'' Ridge said today.

Possible Successors

White House domestic security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend is a top candidate to replace Ridge, AP said. Other possible successors include former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik, former U.S. Representative Asa Hutchinson, a top deputy to Ridge who's in charge of border and transportation security, former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Joe Albaugh, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Mike Leavitt, formerly governor of Utah, AP said.

New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and California Congressman Christopher Cox, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, also are in consideration, said James Carafano, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a research institute in Washington.

Ridge is the seventh member of Bush's 15-member Cabinet to resign since the president won re-election Nov. 2, including Secretary of State Colin Powell and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

Bush also is refashioning his economic team with the departure, announced Nov. 26, of National Economic Council Chairman Stephen Friedman, as well as Commerce Secretary Don Evans. Council of Economic Advisers Chairman N. Gregory Mankiw also plans to leave, the Washington Post reported, citing an unidentified official. Treasury Secretary John Snow may only stay until the middle of next year, administration officials said earlier this month.

Nine Days After

Ridge was governor of Pennsylvania in 2001 when Bush picked him to lead the newly created Office of Homeland Security nine days after the terrorist attacks that killed almost 2,973 people in Washington, New York and Pennsylvania.

In November 2002 Congress approved legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security, combining 180,000 federal workers from 20 agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard and Transportation Security Administration.

Bush nominated Ridge to head the new Cabinet department, the nation's 15th; he was approved by the Senate on a 94-0 vote on Jan. 22, 2003.

``We are taking every measure to protect the American people against a serious and ongoing threat,'' Bush said when Ridge assumed the job. ``The Department of Homeland Security will lead a comprehensive and unified effort to defend this nation.''

`Extraordinary Mission'

At his swearing-in, Ridge called his job ``an extraordinary mission,'' akin to building the transcontinental railroad or landing a man on the moon. With a staff of 100, he became chairman of a Homeland Security Council, which coordinates the work of more than three dozen federal security agencies.

Ridge in October 2001 called for the public to remain calm when letters containing the toxin anthrax were delivered to media outlets in Florida and New York and to congressional offices in Washington. Five people died from anthrax exposure and a suspect was never identified.

The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, led Ridge to warn that terrorist attacks could come in retaliation.

He unveiled the nation's color-coded threat advisory system in 2002 with five levels of alert from low to severe. The threat level was set at yellow, or ``elevated,'' until Sept. 10, 2002, when it was raised to orange, or ``high,'' ahead of the one-year anniversary of the 2001 attacks. The alert level was lowered back to yellow on Sept. 24.

Changing Colors

Ridge raised, and then lowered, the national terror threat level four more times: in February 2003 because of concerns about terrorist attacks, March 2003 ahead of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, May 2003 after terrorist bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco, and December 2003 because of worries about possible airline hijackings during the holidays. In each case, the threat level was lowered within four weeks.

Ridge issued the first localized warning in August, elevating the threat level to orange in Washington, New York and Newark, New Jersey, because of worries that terrorists had planned attacks on buildings in those cities. The financial services industries in those cities remained on orange alert until the warning was lowered Nov. 10.

Congressional Democrats, including Barney Frank of Massachusetts, criticized the warning system and said Ridge has not done enough during his tenure.

Pros and Cons

Frank, a member of the House of Representatives' Homeland Security Committee, believes airline cargo hasn't been secured, emergency responders aren't getting enough money and the government's no-fly list has been poorly managed.

``I don't think he's done very well,'' he said. ``Nobody the Bush administration picks is going to make me happy.''

Congressional Republicans, including Senator Susan Collins of Maine, praised Ridge for his hard work.

``I think he's done an extraordinarily good job,'' Collins said before the resignation was announced. ``He managed the very difficult task of putting together a brand new department.''

The new secretary would have to be approved by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which Collins chairs, before being confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate. Collins said Nov. 18 that she hasn't given any thought to Ridge's possible successor.

Ridge said today that the department has surmounted considerable challenges in its short tenure and that much work needs to be done.

``I don't think, in a department where we've had to move so quickly and change so rapidly, the notion that there might be some people out there that are still a little uncomfortable with it is not surprising to me,'' Ridge said.

Line of Succession

The Secretary of Homeland Security is 18th in the line of succession to the presidency. Legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives to move the position to eighth, after the attorney general.

Ridge was born in Pittsburgh and graduated from Harvard University in 1967. He was drafted by the U.S. Army and earned the Bronze Star for Valor while serving in Vietnam. After returning to the U.S., he earned a law degree from the Dickinson School of Law.

He was elected in 1982 to the House, serving five terms. He was governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 until 2001. He and his wife, Michele, have two children.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 30, 2004 16:28 EST