Harold Hughes

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the former mayor of Columbus, Georgia of the same name, see Harold E. Hughes .

Harold Hughes

Harold Everett Hughes (born February 10, 1922 in Ida Grove , Ida County , Iowa , †  October 23, 1996 in Glendale , Arizona ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) and from 1963 to 1969 the 36th  governor of the state of Iowa . Between 1969 and 1975 he represented his state in the US Senate .

Early years

Harold Hughes attended his home public schools and then attended the University of Iowa with the help of a football scholarship . However, he left the university prematurely after a year to get married. During the Second World War he served as a soldier in the US Army in North Africa, Sicily and mainland Italy. He had to face a court martial because he had insulted an officer. The ruling envisaged a dangerous mission in Sicily that would likely have cost him his life. He was spared this fate due to illness, but his substitute was actually killed during this mission.

“Father prayed as if God were actually sitting at our table. And his immediate relationship with the Almighty seemed to carry over to all of us. And I thought of my many uncles and cousins ​​who were Baptist ministers down south in Kentucky, where my mother and father grew up. Mother always hoped that one of her two sons would become a preacher too, but in my opinion our family's preaching dynasty ended in the Kentucky Hills. And back then, at the age of five, I had already decided to become a hunter and trapper. "

- Harold Hughes : Senator Harold E. Hughes

Political rise

After the war, Hughes became a successful trucking company in Iowa. He founded the Iowa Better Trucking Bureau . However, he had a serious drinking problem between 1946 and 1952 that drove him to the point of suicide. Then he managed a successful rehab. Between 1959 and 1962 he was a member of the Iowa Trade Commission.

In 1962, he was elected the new governor of his state against incumbent Norman Erbe . The main point of contention in the election campaign was the question of prohibition or whether Iowa should maintain or change the right to sell alcohol. Back then, beer could only be bought in bars, and wine and other spirits in state shops or private clubs. This practice was often violated and the door was wide open to corruption. Even so, Governor Erbe wanted to stick to it while Hughes sought a fairer system of controlling alcohol sales and consumption.

Governor of Iowa

Harold Hughes took office on January 17, 1963. After he was confirmed in his office in 1964 and 1966, he was able to officiate until January 1, 1969. Shortly after he took office, Iowa passed a new law regulating the use of alcohol. The governor, a former alcohol addict, campaigned for the treatment of alcohol addicts during his tenure. During his tenure, Iowa introduced the principle of state scholarships. Agriculture was given a helping hand with tax breaks. A civil rights commission was also established in Iowa. In the school system, radio and television were now increasingly used for teaching and teaching purposes, and accident compensation and unemployment benefits were increased. The abolition of the death penalty in this state is also noteworthy . During these years, however, there were also race riots and demonstrations against the Vietnam War in Iowa . Governor Hughes was also a member of a number of governorships. On January 1, 1969, he resigned from his office as governor to move to the US Senate.

In the US Senate

Harold Hughes was initially a supporter of President Lyndon B. Johnson . He later turned away from the president because he was unable to support many of the president's political decisions. This also included the Vietnam War. Hughes became a friend of Robert F. Kennedy , who encouraged him to run for the Senate. In the 1968 elections, Hughes was able to win the seat of Republican Senator Bourke B. Hickenlooper . Between January 3, 1969 and January 3, 1975 he represented his state in Congress . In 1971 he was briefly under discussion as his party's presidential candidate. Hughes was not averse to this at first, but soon got out of the primary campaign.

“I had friends and colleagues among the senators who were staunch Christians and yet supported the 'just war' theory. I did not feel angry about this, nor did I judge them for their point of view. I just had to leave them to the hand of God and acknowledge that he really is a sovereign master over all people and knows what he is doing through them in this world. The only thing I could do was follow the beliefs I had come from through him and his word. This became more meaningful to me when, in the disastrous year of 1972, Nixon's election victory was announced. He had obtained a majority in almost all but one of the states, and a poll showed that as many as a third of the regular Democratic voters had voted for him. Didn't people notice that so much that was wrong in America - from the war to the many needy people in our country - had been swept under the carpet by Nixon and his colleagues? "

- Harold Hughes : Senator Harold E. Hughes

Another résumé

After his time in Congress ended, Hughes devoted himself to religious issues and two Washington- based foundations. From 1975 to 1976 he was an advisor to the US Senate and its judicial committee. Hughes continued to campaign against alcohol abuse and for those harmed by alcohol. He died in 1996. He had three children with his wife, Eva Mae Mercer.

Works

with Dick Schneider: Senator Harold E. Hughes. An unusual life. Truck driver and alcoholic, senator and presidential candidate. (Original: The man from Ida Grove. ) Hänssler, Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-7751-0567-0 .

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 2, Meckler Books, Westport, 1978. 4 volumes.

Web links

• Harold Hughes in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Harold Hughes in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Harold Hughes in the National Governors Association (English)
• Missouri Divivion of Alcohol and Drug Abuse (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Harold Hughes / with Dick Schneider: Senator Harold E. Hughes. An unusual life. Truck driver and alcoholic, senator and presidential candidate. (Original: The man from Ida Grove. ) Hänssler, Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-7751-0567-0 , p. 23.
2. ↑ Harold Hughes / with Dick Schneider: Senator Harold E. Hughes. An unusual life. Truck driver and alcoholic, senator and presidential candidate. (Original: The man from Ida Grove. ) Hänssler, Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-7751-0567-0 , p. 386.