Wally Hickel
This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2018) |
Wally Hickel | |
---|---|
2nd Governor of Alaska | |
In office December 3, 1990 – December 5, 1994 | |
Lieutenant | Jack Coghill |
Preceded by | Steve Cowper |
Succeeded by | Tony Knowles |
In office December 5, 1966 – January 29, 1969 | |
Lieutenant | Keith Harvey Miller |
Preceded by | William A. Egan |
Succeeded by | Keith Harvey Miller |
38th United States Secretary of the Interior | |
In office January 24, 1969 – November 25, 1970 | |
President | Richard Nixon |
Preceded by | Stewart Udall |
Succeeded by | Rogers Morton |
Personal details | |
Born | Walter Joseph Hickel August 18, 1919 Ellinwood, Kansas, U.S. |
Died | May 7, 2010 Anchorage, Alaska, U.S. | (aged 90)
Resting place | Anchorage Memorial Park |
Political party | Republican (before 1990, 1994–2010) Alaska Independence (1990–1994) |
Spouses | |
Children | 6 |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Army |
Unit | United States Army Air Corps |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Walter Joseph Hickel (August 18, 1919 – May 7, 2010) was an American businessman, real estate developer, and politician who served as the second
Hickel served as the
Early life and career
Hickel was born in 1919 in Ellinwood, Kansas, the son of Emma Pauline (Zecha) and Robert Anton Hickel.[2][3] He grew up on his parents' Dust Bowl tenant farm during the Great Depression near Claflin, Kansas. In October 1940 he moved to Alaska and traveled to it aboard the S.S. Yukon with 95 other passengers and went into the local real estate industry.[4] Seven years later in 1947 he had founded a successful construction company.
Hickel joined Democrats in calling for Alaskan statehood during the late 1940s and into the 1950s. In 1958, the Alaska Statehood Act was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.[1]
Political career
This section needs expansion with: (1) His role (along with Jack Coghill and others) in shifting control of Alaska's Republican Party from Juneau to Anchorage during the early 1950s, and his subsequent service as Republican National Committeeman for Alaska; (2) His multiple unsuccessful attempts to regain the governorship in the Republican primary, in particular his loss by 98 votes to Jay Hammond in 1978. You can help by adding to it. (May 2011) |
1950s
By the 1950s, he was the finance chairman of the Republican Party and, in 1952, received the backing of businessmen in Anchorage for the territorial governorship, but Benjamin Heintzleman was appointed instead.[5][6] In 1953, Hickel along with the national committeewoman for Alaska, the vice chairman for the territorial party and his wife went to the Republican Party's western conference in San Francisco and was later elected as head of the Anchorage Republican Club.[7][8] In December 1953, he and eighteen other prominent Republicans from Anchorage sent a letter to Governor Heintzleman requesting the resignation of Robert DeArmond and that he be replaced with somebody from Anchorage, and they later telegrammed Secretary of the Intertior Douglas McKay asking him to build up the party and also asked Heintzleman to reconsider his decision to cancel his meeting with them.[9][10]
First governorship
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Hickel was elected as Alaska's second governor in the 1966 state general elections, defeating his
Like his predecessor Egan, Hickel sought to improve relations with Alaskan Natives in seeking resolutions on Native land claims. A group of Native Americans from Interior Alaska, including Morris Thompson and Don and Jules Wright, played major roles in his 1966 campaign and subsequent governorship.[citation needed]
Interior secretary
Richard Nixon's election as U.S.
Hickel's nomination was met with what he later wrote was a newspaper "smear" campaign of false and "crazy accusations" that he had a corrupt and anti-environmentalist record as governor.[14] Opposition to his nomination was led by influential columnists Drew Pearson and Jack Anderson. Newspapers opposing his nomination included the New York Times[15] and the Los Angeles Times. In the Senate, his confirmation was opposed by, among others, Democratic senators Walter Mondale and George McGovern. Sierra Club director David Brower testified in opposition to Hickel. The Senate nevertheless confirmed his nomination on 23 January 1969.[16]
Upon becoming the federal Secretary of the Interior, Hickel proved to be a strong environmentalist, supporting strong legislation that put liabilities on oil companies operating offshore oil rigs as well as demanding environmental safeguards on Alaska's growing oil industry.[17]
Hickel's centrist voice inside the Nixon Administration eventually led to confrontations with the President. In 1970 following the shooting of college students at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard, Hickel wrote a letter critical of Nixon's Vietnam War policy and urging him to give more respect to the views of young people critical of the war, writing in part, "I believe this administration finds itself today embracing a philosophy which appears to lack appropriate concern for the attitude of a great mass of Americans – our young people." That dissent garnered worldwide media attention, and on November 25, 1970, Hickel was fired over the letter. Days before he lost the office, Hickel had told CBS' 60 Minutes that he would not quit under pressure and that he would go away only "with an arrow in my heart, not a bullet in my back."[17][18] Hickel's undersecretaries, such as Leslie Glasgow, who was in charge of Fish, Wildlife, Parks, and Marine Resources, were also dismissed. After less than two years in Washington, Glasgow returned to Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where he was a professor with expertise in the study of wildlife in the marshes.[19]
Second governorship
A
The Republicans chose as their nominee for lieutenant governor Jack Coghill, a fellow state senator from Nenana. Coghill had held elected office continuously since 1957 with the exception of relinquishing the mayorship of Nenana for approximately two years, when the 1967 flood forced him to move from the city limits temporarily. Coghill had also briefly worked as a special assistant to Hickel during his first governorship.[citation needed]
Sturgulewski, who won the Republican nomination for the second consecutive time against mostly conservative opposition, was criticized by many Republicans for her positions on issues such as
Although he had common ground with the Alaskan Independence Party in fighting restrictions on land use imposed by federal environmentalism, Hickel had been one of the most influential historical proponents of Alaska statehood and never endorsed the AIP's secessionism, prompting some party faithful to petition for his recall. He rejoined the Republican Party in April 1994, near the end of his term.[22]
Hickel wanted to build a water pipeline from Alaska to California in 1991.[23]
Business career
This section needs expansion with: Wally Hickel's business career paragraph doesn't have a specific citation, but the information on his business ventures is widely documented and can be found in many sources.
The paragraph about the Hotel Captain Cook's construction and expansion doesn't have a specific citation, but the information is also widely documented and can be found in many sources. The last paragraph about Hickel's commitment to sustainable development and environmental protection doesn't have a specific citation, but it is also widely documented and can be found in many sources.. You can help by adding to it. (March 2023) |
Wally Hickel was a prominent real estate developer and successful businessman, with a focus on hotels and shopping centers. As chairman of the Hickel Investment Company, he oversaw the construction and operation of numerous properties, including those built to house
In 1964, Hickel decided to build a high-rise luxury hotel in downtown Anchorage following the devastating
Hickel's confidence in the project was not misplaced, as the hotel grew to become a major landmark in Anchorage. A fifteen-story tower was added in 1972, followed by an eighteen-story tower in 1978. Today, the Hotel Captain Cook covers almost an entire city block and includes a connected parking garage covering another half-block.
Overall, Hickel's business career was marked by a commitment to development that balanced economic growth with environmental responsibility. His success as a businessman provided him with the resources and platform to pursue public service and activism, where he continued to advocate for sustainable development and environmental protection.
Later life
In 2006 he supported Sarah Palin in her bid to become governor of Alaska;[24] however, in 2009, he stated that he didn't "give a damn what she does".[25]
In 2008, he called for the resignation of U.S. Senator
Death
Hickel died on May 7, 2010, in Anchorage, Alaska.[27] In keeping with his often-stated wish, he was buried in Anchorage Memorial Park, standing up, facing east towards Washington, D.C.[28][29]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Hickel, Walter J. "Wally" | Alaska History". www.alaskahistory.org. Archived from the original on 2019-06-24. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
- ^ "Hearings, Reports and Prints of the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs". 1969.
- ^ "Hickel, Walter J. "Wally" | Alaska History".
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Governor Walter J. Hickel and the Hickel Highway | American Experience | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
- ^ "From Mr. Alaska to Uncle Ted: How Stevens became Alaska's most influential leader". Anchorage Daily News. 2010-08-10. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
- ^ Walter J. Hickel, Who Owns America?, New York: Paperback Library, 1971, p.13.
- ^ Walter J. Hickel, Who Owns America?, New York: Paperback Library, 1971, p.25, 31.
- ^ New York Times (editorial), "The Hickel nomination" Archived 2018-07-23 at the Wayback Machine, 22 January 1969.
- ^ Walter J. Hickel, Who Owns America?, New York: Paperback Library, 1971, p. 22–41.
- ^ a b "TOPICS OF THE TIMES; Wally Redux". New York Times. 1990-11-08. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
- ^ "Ex-Interior Sec Walter Hickel dies at 90". Washington Post. 2010-05-08. Retrieved 2010-05-08.[dead link]
- ^ "Leslie L. Glasgow". lsuagcdenter.com. Archived from the original on 2015-07-12. Retrieved 2014-10-21.
- ^ "The 1990 Elections: State By State; West". New York Times. 1990-11-07. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
- ^ "AIP website". Archived from the original on 2008-01-16. Retrieved 2006-10-09.
- ^ "Two in the House Advance In Drive for Senator's Seat". New York Times. 1994-08-25. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
- ^ Reinhold, Robert (1991-08-15). "Alaska Offers Californians An Additional Water Spigot". The New York Times. California; Alaska. Archived from the original on 2016-02-06. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
- ^ Support for Sarah Palin Archived 2007-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ""It Came from Wasilla", by Todd S. Purdum (Vanity Fair, August 2009". Vanity Fair. 30 June 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-07-07. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ^ "CBS News story on Hickel". CBS News. Archived from the original on 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
- ^ "Former Alaska Gov. Hickel dead at 90". Alaska Dispatch. May 7, 2010. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012.
- ^ [1] Archived March 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Andrews, Laurel, "Ermalee Hickel, former first lady of Alaska, dies at 92," 15 Sep 2017, Anchorage Daily News,. (Seven years later, his wife was buried beside him, also vertically.)
Bibliography
- Hickel, Walter J. (1971). Who Owns America?. ISBN 013958322X. 328 pp.
- Roberts, Malcolm B., ed. (1990). Going Up In Flames. (Hickel with numerous collaborators including ISBN 0-935094-15-6. 132 pp.
- Roberts, Malcolm B., ed. (1994). The Wit and Wisdom of Wally Hickel. Anchorage: Searchers Press. ISBN 0-9644316-0-2. 239 pp.
- Hickel, Walter J. (2002). Crisis in the Commons: The Alaska Solution. ISBN 1-55815-521-X. 290 pp.
External links
- Alaska's Digital Archives – Passport photo of Walter Hickel, 1961
- Interview with Hickel by Headwaters News
- KTVA: Former Gov. Wally Hickel Dies of Natural Causes at 90
- Appearances on C-SPAN