- [Presenter] This project
is a cooperative production
of the Ken Hechler
Documentary Project, LLC
and Marshall University.
Being presented with
financial assistance
from the West Virginia
Humanities Council,
a state affiliate of
the National Endowment
for the Humanities.
Any views, findings,
conclusions,
or recommendations
expressed in this program
do not necessarily
represent those
of the National Endowment
for the Humanities.
- Many people, both
on the labor side
and in the management side,
have written me with threats
that they would get me
at the next election,
unless I supported
their point of view.
I'm not afraid, you know.
I love to teach,
and I love to write
and there are lots of
things that I could be doing
besides holding public office.
But a public official
must live within himself
and his conscience.
- It's extremely rare to have
one person in public life
who will actually act out
of conviction and courage,
and sometimes go
against his own culture
and go against his own people.
And Ken Hechler has done that
time and time and time again.
Stood up for what he believed
in, stood up for justice.
(folksy music)
- [Narrator] Presented
the Harry S. Truman Award
for Public Service in 2002,
Ken Hechler spend a lifetime
establishing a
formidable reputation
through his efforts on
behalf of ordinary people.
His passionate pursuit
of justice sprang
from his experience
as a political science
professor and combat historian,
as a researcher for
presidents Franklin Roosevelt
and Harry Truman, and
as a US congressman,
and West Virginia
Secretary of State.
The philosophies,
decisions and events
shaping Ken Hechler's life offer
a detailed study in
character in the merits
and challenges of politics
in public service.
- I must say from my
experience, it's the politicians
that have given politics
a bad name by just wanting
to hold office and
wanting to get re-elected,
rather than using
their office as what
Theodore Roosevelt
described as a bully pulpit
to try to make sure that
the principles of justice
get carried forward.
I don't see how we can
effectively teach in our schools
the principles of democracy,
and then turn around,
and practice corruption
at the polls.
- You can probably
consider an eccentricity,
for someone in positions
like he has been
to not to underestimate
his constituents.
I think he has always respected
the ability of his constituents
to think analytically
and he expects them to.
- Building a missile today
or putting a man
in space tomorrow
through one of
these space capsules
isn't nearly as important
as providing the education
which will provide the brains
and the leadership tomorrow.
- [Narrator] Besides securing
passage to Cape Canaveral
for science teachers in
his congressional district,
Ken Hechler determined to
provide West Virginians
memorable and worthwhile
educational opportunities.
- Here in Washington
with me this week
are two of the winners of the
Week in Washington contest.
Diane, what did you
have to do in order
to win this contest?
- Well, I wrote an essay
on why I would like
to work on my
congressman's office.
- [Narrator] Congressman
Hechler established a program
to enable high school
students to spend a week
of their summer vacation
in the nation's capital.
- Senator Symington, do you
feel that biological warfare
will be used if
there is another war?
- He basically
wanted two juniors
from every high school
in the district.
And all their expenses
will be paid up and back
and they would have an
opportunity to interact
with his staff to go
to committee meetings
that he was on,
to attend sessions of
the House and the Senate,
to go to important events.
They all had to write papers
on it and the reports.
They go back to their
school as seniors
to instill in other class what
they saw, what they learned,
what they have a chance to do.
- It was in celebration of the
passing of the Medicare Bill,
I was talking to Senator
Case of New Jersey
and James Roosevelt
when a little man,
a little Italian fellow
with an accordion came up
and started playing
Happy Birthday to me.
And so Mr. Roosevelt and
Senator Case both saying to me,
"And so we ate shrimp cocktail
and drank coke on the rocks
"and hanging out with all
the rich people (laughs)."
(calm music)
- [Narrator] Through the
Week in Washington Program,
Spencer High School
student Barbara Carpenter
entered a world of seemingly
endless possibilities.
- I actually think it
changed my whole life
because it gave me a
look at government,
it gave me an interest
in government.
Mr. Kennedy, do you feel
congressional committee's
rights of investigation
have been abused?
And do you think there's a need
for corrective legislation?
- I think on occasion
that there have been--
- I was this low
income high school kid,
probably not gonna go to
college, and meeting people
and having the opportunity
to be in Ken's office.
If he was called for a
vote, we go on the floor.
It was just such
an exciting week.
- [Narrator] Whether as chief
council or attorney general,
Robert Kennedy and
his brother John,
whether US senator or
president of the United States,
were among the who's
who of Washington
who made time for
Congressman Hechler
and the people of West Virginia.
- This house behind
you is identified
with the great moments
in American history.
And one of the greatest
moments in American history
was the birth of West Virginia
in an entirely different world,
but a world which
still carries with it
the imprint of the struggles
which brought freedom
to West Virginia.
- There was a new
spirit in the 1960s
which was very well symbolized
by President Kennedy's
wonderful phrase
"ask not what your
can could do for you,
"but ask what you can
do for your country".
It inspired a whole
generation of young people
to participate to
correct injustices.
- [Narrator] As the Civil
Rights Movement of the 1960s
took shape in Huntington,
West Virginia,
activist Phil Carter
drew inspiration
from Congressman Ken Hechler.
Carter, a Marshall
University basketball player,
spend a summer on
Hechler's Washington staff,
and came to appreciate
Hechler's resolve
in the face of
daunting opposition.
- Ken Hechler was always
this stately, friendly
smiling, courteous person
who really didn't say that much,
but his presence made
you feel comfortable
to continue on your own.
There was nothing like
the shock of a cattle prod
in your ribs to make
you think twice.
"Do we really wanna go back
there again," on principle.
But his presence
encourage you to do that.
(singing in unison)
- [Narrator]
Following the deaths
of two voters rights advocates
at the hands of police
and townspeople
in Selma, Alabama,
Congressman Hechler joined
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
and hundreds marched into the
state capital in Montgomery
on behalf of racial equality.
- I'll always remember the
statement of Martin Luther King
that injustice anywhere is a
threat to justice everywhere.
And so wherever it occurs,
there's always room
for a crusader or, I prefer
to call, a hell raiser.
- [Narrator] Representative
Hechler distinguished himself
as the only member of
Congress to participate
in the march from Selma.
In November 1968, a
methane gas explosion
claimed 78 lives at
Consolidation Coal
Company's operation
near Farmington, West Virginia.
Congressman Ken Hechler
called for immediate action
to improve mine safety.
- He was very sympathetic
to the miners of coals.
He didn't have to
be forced into this.
- There've been some
5,500 fatal accidents
since President
Truman first signed
the Original Mine
Safety Bill in 1950,
and over one-third of
these have occurred
in the state of West Virginia.
It's high time that the
Congress do something additional
to protect the coal miner
in this most dangerous
and hazardous occupation.
- There was no federal presence
in workplace safety
in the 1960s,
no meaningful presence.
And he was bound and determined
that that was gonna change.
- Today, we mourn our dead.
- [Narrator] United Mine
Workers of America president,
Tony Boyle was slow to join
Hechler in demanding action.
- He didn't say, "We will
find what caused this
"and we will have justice."
He said something
to the effect of,
"Well, it's a tough life."
- This was the spark, I
think, that started the fire
and started the miners
to march, so to speak,
to change, not only the
laws in this nation,
but also to change
the leadership.
- Your great movement
has many heroes.
The greatest heroes are
you, the coal miners.
- [Audience] That's right.
- You've taken the future--
- Insurgency against ineffective
and corrupt authoritarian
structures this patriotic.
- And you proclaim no longer,
"Are we gonna live, and
work, and die like animals."
We're free men!
(cheers and applause)
- [Narrator] Ken Hechler
found a friend and ally
in Joseph "Jock" Yablonski,
the former UMWA official,
hope to upset President
Boyle's 1969 re-election bid.
(audience applause)
- My dad desperately
wanted to show,
after the campaign had started,
that the union had been
unresponsive to the needs
of its members in this
area of coal mine safety.
- Where has the union been
to fight for the protection
of your lives, of your--
- And Ken Hechler saw
someone inside the UMW
who could legitimately speak
to the interest of the miners
in order to propel
Congress to move forward
with this legislation.
They hit it off just superbly.
- [Narrator] Hechler and
Yablonski were undeterred
by the Boyle administration's
reputed intimidation
and violence.
- Neither of them
would back down
when these thugs would
appear at the rallies
and start taking down license
numbers of those who attended,
or taking photographs
of those who attended.
- [Narrator] Later testimony
revealed that a Boyle gunman
had attempted to fire upon
Yablonski and Hechler,
but was deterred by winding
West Virginia roads.
Hechler also met opposition
when he joined a campaign
to address the cause
and debilitating
effects of coal dust
upon miners, a
condition identified
in 1831 as Black Lung.
- Progressive massive fibrosis,
this destruction condition
that occurs in coal workers,
is a peculiar entity.
And most people feel
that it is related
to infection with tuberculosis.
- [Narrator] Despite Dr.
Rowland Burns' friendship
and past financial
support, Hechler dismissed
the doctor's diagnosis
and embraced the
controversial claims
of the physician's committee
for miners health and safety.
- There are voices
crying in the wilderness
preaching the importance
of doing something
to limit the amount of
coal dust in the mines,
and to make sure
that we do something
to prevent pneumoconiosis,
which is an incurable disease.
(indistinct talking)
- [Narrator] Three
unconventional doctors
comprised the committee.
Isadore Buff, Hawey Wells,
and Donald Rasmussen.
- No one had ever studied
symptomatic coal
miners like I did.
So even though they can
then being said I was wrong,
they didn't show any
proof or any studies
that countered what I said.
- [Narrator] Together,
Hechler, Yablonski
and the physician's
committee rallied coal miners
to demand fair treatment.
- The West Virginia compensation
department is a misnomer.
The name's wrong.
It should be called
the Coal Operators
Protective Association.
They never--
- Dr. Buff would
boom forth with,
"You all caught black lung,
you're all gonna die."
Then he'd proceed to do the
white hat, which he'd say,
"This is what the coal operator
say when they talk to you,"
he call them coal operators.
- And he said, the coal
operators talk to the miner,
"Oh, we'll take care of
you, we'll take care of you,
"we love you, and we're not
gonna do anything to hurt you."
And then the coal operators
would go to their boards
and they say, "Well, those
coal miners want more money,
"that's all they want, they're
faking it, they're faking it.
"They're just getting excited
'cause they work underground.
"They're breathing too fast
"because they're
getting too excited."
- Is there anyone
here that feels
that he's affected
by black lung?
(indistinct talking)
- Yes, yes.
- [Narrator] Outraged by
the failure of government
to act in the best interest
of workers and their families,
40,000 miners went on strike.
They were fuelled by
UMWA President Boyle's
withdrawal of support for
black lung legislation.
- Members of Congress felt like,
well here's industry
and union both saying,
"No need to look at
it now, too soon."
But when they saw the
coal miners in the state
missing two and a
half weeks pay over
an issue of lung disease,
they then reintroduced
the health measure
back into the bill.
- It's gonna need
the kind of sentiment
that you've
expressed here today,
and letters to the
secretary of interior--
- [Narrator] Congressman
Hechler, meanwhile,
initiated a public
relations campaign
to draw national attention
to the plight of miners,
especially those killed in
the Farmington explosion.
- Congressman Hechler
got the widows.
He brought them
up to Washington,
he paid their way, he
put them up in a hotel,
he took them around and they
went to committee hearings.
And Hechler, being the
PR guy that they sought,
that the pictures
and the stories
were in the Washington
Post and other papers
and it created sympathy.
- People who were not at
all theretofore interested
in coal mining
suddenly seized on this
as an issue of justice
versus injustice.
- I wonder how many more will
be added to the scorned--
- A lot of us are sons
and daughters of miners,
and we're down here to support
our fathers and our brothers
who are working in the mines,
and just human
beings in general.
- It mobilized the sleeping
giant of public opinion
throughout the nation to
force the Congress to act.
- [Narrator] Congress passed
the Federal Coal Mine
Health and Safety Act
in December 1969.
President Richard Nixon
opposed black lung provisions
and threatened to veto the bill.
After Ken Hechler suggested
publicly that such action
would lead to a
nationwide coal strike,
the president signed
the bill into law.
- Ken shepherd that bill, even
though he was not a member
of the Select,
Labor subcommittee.
But it didn't matter how
unpopular the cause was,
if he believed that
was the right thing
he supported and step
by it without wavering.
- [Narrator] The Coal
Mine Health and Safety Act
initiated a federal effort
to combat black lung.
The new law
strengthen standards,
established permissible
coal dust levels,
and increased federal
enforcement powers.
- It was certainly Ken's idea
that the regulators
could not be trusted
to administer this
act, which is why
when it was original written
there were so many
mandatory safety provisions.
- [Narrator] The law,
dubbed the Coal Act,
also compensated
miners who were totally
and permanently
disabled by black lung.
Jock Yablonski, defeated in
the UMWA presidential race,
called for federal investigation
into possible election fraud.
He also initiated five lawsuits
against the labor union.
Meanwhile, dissent deep within
the United Mine Workers,
began to boil over
into violence.
December 31st, 1969, a day
after the Coal Act became law,
Jock Yablonski, his wife
Margaret, and daughter Charlotte
were found murdered
in their home.
Tony Boyle received
three life sentences
for his role in the killings.
(indistinct talking)
While seeking to protect
the people he represented,
Congressman Ken Hechler labored
to educate young constituents
on the need to protect
the environment.
- It's very, very natural
when you read the Bible
to see that God
created the Earth
for future generations, not
for the present generation
to gobble up and pollute
for their own profit.
- [Narrator] 116 school children
and 28 others perished when
a coal waste dam collapsed
and flooded the community
of Aberfan in South Wales.
The 1966 disaster prompted
Congressman Hechler
to warn off West Virginia's
potential for similar tragedy.
- Ken Hechler, at
the time, said that
it should be carefully
looked at in West Virginia
to see what would
possibly happen here.
And he specifically
talked about Logan County,
the areas of southern
West Virginia
where there is major
mine impoundments,
and nobody paid much attention.
- [Narrator] The 1972
Buffalo Creek disaster
resulted in 125 deaths
and the destruction
of entire communities.
- The US Bureau of Mines
has been scurrying around
trying to find reasons why it
can't assume responsibility
to protect the safety of people
threatened by slag piles,
and impoundment such as broke
at Buffalo Creek last weekend.
- [Narrator] Congressman Hechler
determined to end
strip mining operations
dependent upon such
coal waste impoundments.
- I am an abolitionist.
I don't believe that
it's possible to
regulate strip mining
by the kind of weak and
water down regulations
contained in the present bill.
- We thought
adequate regulation,
which reflects the
will of the people
to ensure that we
all enjoy a modicum
of security and a
safe environment.
It will be doggie-dog, a
devil take the hindmost.
- [Narrator] Norm Williams
joined Ken Hechler's
congressional staff
after publicly denouncing
Gov. Arch Moore in 1971.
As deputy director
of the West Virginia
Department of Natural Resources,
Williams criticized Moore
for failing to enforce
the West Virginia Surface
Mining and Reclamation Act.
Hechler, while unable to
abolish surface mining,
enjoyed a measure of success
on behalf of the environment.
In 1976, Congress passed
his new River Bill
to prevent energy companies
from damming and building
upon the pristine waterway.
- I think it is a tremendous
victory for the people,
in the way that people organized
in both political parties
and throughout the
state of West Virginia
and throughout North Carolina
to save this great
natural resource.
This river which God created
100 million years ago now
will freely flow onward.
(lively music)
Despite the fact we're in
different political parties,
we seem to have voted pretty
much the same at some issues.
- Yes, that's quite
interesting, isn't it?
But I feel today
that you have to be
a problem-solving
politician, that the answer
isn't strictly to go down
the line with a party policy,
but to solve the problems
according to your own judgment
and I think that's why
the people elected me.
- I think that you and I are
gonna get along real well
and I'm glad there is
another Hechler in Congress.
- (laughs) Thank you.
- He was a maverick.
They can accuse him
of a lot of things,
but they can't
accuse him of ever
being beholden to anybody.
- [Narrator] Ken
Hechler's disregard
for political favoritism
frequently alienated members
of his own party.
- I think he took delight
in being a maverick.
- We need constitutional reform,
we need the abolition of
the electoral college,
reform of Congress and
many other measures.
- He wanted to pursue
his own issues,
he wanted to pursue
the things he thought
would serve him well
within the district
and would serve
his district well.
And that sometimes did not
include the party line.
- [Narrator] Congressman
Hechler publicly expressed
his disappointment in 1968
when Democrat J. Rockefeller
defeated the Republican
candidate for West
Virginia's office
of Secretary of State.
- I think all of us are
a little unhappy perhaps
that John Callebs
won't be around,
in some type of a position,
to carry on his fight
for clean elections.
I think we're going to--
- He was not considered
a rank and file Democrat,
he was a maverick,
or a carpetbagger,
or someone who marched
to his own drum,
or someone who, they
couldn't figure him out.
He was unpredictable,
but he was successful.
The issues that he got behind
were popular with people.
- Many states are
scrambling for the funds.
Is West Virginia gonna take
advantage of this opportunity?
- [Narrator] Beginning in 1963,
Congressman Hechler's
ongoing effort to establish
a regional jet port alienated
Democratic Party officials
outside Hechler's
congressional district.
Despite successful referendums
in three of four counties,
the project ultimately
failed to take off.
- People that have
emphasized small obstacles
instead of looking at
the long-range goal
in a constructive
and positive way.
- You just don't hear people
criticize Dr. Hechler,
because he didn't do something.
- As I wrote to the
attorney general,
because you have not placed
the corruptors of
elections on trial,
the Department of
Justice is now on trial.
- He tried to exemplify
through his public service
that it's not just the
rich that are empowered,
but it's all West Virginians.
And his idea of even
the playing field
was to stop corruption
in politics, vote buying,
party machinery and big
time money politics.
The Democrat powers a bay view
that is an attack
on their party.
And that's why they try to
redistrict him out of office.
- Redistricting was necessary.
We've lost a congressional seat.
And so they decided to go
over the southern route
and include Congressman
Kee's district
and put them together.
And Kee was a veteran
congressman, and I have an idea,
a lot of people in the
Democratic Party thought,
"A veteran like Kee is the
best chance of beating Ken."
- [Interviewer] Congressman
Hechler spend a lot of time
on the road down in those
counties campaigning.
Are you, do you
also plan to do that
between now and May 9th?
- Certainly.
- It was an unfair fight.
Ken Hechler, Congressman
Extraordinary, against Jim Kee
who was just a political flunky.
- Well, these
so-called routine votes
that Congressman Kee missed
include three black lung
votes on November 10, 1971,
the equal rights amendment
to the Constitution,
on which he was absent
and I voted yes.
- It was a very
deliberate attempt
for the state legislature to
gerrymander him out of office.
And he won beautifully.
- [Narrator]
Representative Ken Hechler
claimed the 1972
Democratic nomination
with twice as many
votes as Jim Kee.
In the general
election, Hechler faced
Republican Joseph Neal, the
son of his 1958 opponent.
Hechler won by a
margin 10 times greater
than when he defeated Neal's
father 14 years earlier.
- They couldn't beat him.
Logan was added to his district.
And the bosses down in
Logan invite him down
and they had a meeting,
I attended that meeting.
And the county chairman, and
one of the big political leader
says, "We wanna introduce
you to Logan County politics.
"It's 10 to one Democrats, we
don't have enough Republicans,
"even to man the voting houses.
So we control everybody.
And everybody that's on
our slate gets elected
and every politician that
we support helps the cause
by contributing to the kitty.
We expect you to bring your
little black bag down here
and contribute.
And Hechler looked
at them and says,
"My life has been in
political science,
"and I've talked about
democracy and government,
"and the quality of our nation,
"and what it means to be free."
He says, "I'm not gonna
bring a little black bag.
"I'm just gonna go out here
and work like the Dickenson
"and hope the people
will remember me."
He won the primary down there.
Didn't win it big,
but he won the primary
because the people who
would vote for the slate
would say, "I'll vote
for whoever you want,
"but don't tell me to
vote against Ken Hechler.
"He helped me get
my social security,"
or, "He helped with the
hospital problem I had."
(resolute music)
(dominant music)
(lively music)
- [Narrator] In 1976,
Congressman Ken Hechler vied
for the Democratic nomination
in the West Virginia
governor's race.
He faced primary opposition
from Judge Jim Sprouse
and former West
Virginia Secretary of
State Jay Rockefeller,
great-grandson of oil
tycoon John D. Rockefeller.
- The people are going to
come out and demonstrate
that they want the
kind of pressure
in independent leadership,
which will really clean up
politics in West Virginia.
That's why I'm going
to win on May the 11th.
- When Ken decided
to run for governor
and give up his seat in
Congress, I was appalled.
I couldn't believe
that he was giving up
a place where he was
doing so much good.
- I wasn't as much interested
in becoming governor
as I was in getting the
people to understand
that it was wrong
to buy an election.
In 1974, I had participated
in very, very good legislation
to put an absolute limit
on the amount of money
that people could spend.
And then the United States
Supreme Court came along in 1976
to decide that this was a
violation to freedom of speech.
And so I decided to
throw along forward pass
and shine the searchlight on
the shenanigans in politics.
I have thousands of dedicated
volunteers who are interested
in cleaning up politics
in West Virginia.
- Any reasonably
impartial observer
would've advised him against it
and must've advised
him against it.
I don't think he ever had a
realistic chance of winning,
but it apparently was
something he just had to try.
- [Interviewer] It seems
that you are concentrating
on southern West
Virginia in your visits.
Home on the weekends,
things like that.
Isn't it the northern
part of West Virginia
where you're less well-known
and where you ought to be?
- Well number one,
in a four-way race,
if I can simply capture
my congressional district
and the counties that
I once represented
where the state legislature
has gerrymandered me
out of certain counties
like Wood, Jackson,
Lincoln and other counties,
if I can capture that that
will be enough to win.
- I don't think
it was a mistake.
It was consistent
with his behavior.
He was accustomed
to setting the pace.
So that was not a
great leap for him,
from the United States
Congress to governor.
- The 1976 race was a
huge mistake for Ken,
because he was entering
an area and a race
that he was not familiar with.
And he faced an avalanche of
money and he was buried on it.
He wasn't used to
that kind of race.
- I've been here
now almost 13 years,
all of my children
have been born here,
all of my married
life has been here,
my work has been here,
my future's here.
- [Narrator] Jay
Rockefeller became
the Democratic party's
nominee for governor,
receiving 50% of the vote.
- And to vote right in,
you select the office--
- [Narrator] Ken Hechler,
after coming in third
to Rockefeller in the
Democratic primary,
initiated a controversial
write-in campaign
to keep his seat in Congress.
- He forfeited his
chance to be the nominee
for the congressional
seat back in the primary.
He had his chance.
He made his choice
to run for governor.
Now that the horse
is out of the barn
he wants his old seat back.
I would support him
if he was the nominee,
but he's not the nominee.
I'm supporting the nominee.
I think that's what
primaries are for.
- And I think that once all
the votes are in and counted
I will have a substantial win.
Our figures are showing that
we have a commanding lead--
- [Narrator] Democratic party
nominee Nick Joe Rahall,
by a 6% margin, claimed
the congressional seat
occupied by Ken
Hechler for 18 years.
- What he did in Congress
was enormously significant
for the country as a whole.
And as far as I'm concerned,
he should've stayed there.
(laughs)
- Today, I look back
on it as the stupidious
political decision
that I've ever made.
- He probably was
better aligned, in
terms of personality,
to a district, a
constituency in Congress.
Then he would've been as
governor, but I don't know.
He could've fooled us all.
(calm music)
- [Narrator] After
failing to unseat
Congressman Nick
Joe Rahall in 1978,
Ken Hechler ran
successfully for the office
of West Virginia Secretary
of State in 1984.
His new position would provide
Hechler a bully pulpit,
a platform from which to
address and act upon issues
in the public interest.
- When I left Congress
and went back to teaching,
occasionally I would wanna
make a statement to news media
and they said, "If you
wanna make a statement,
"write a letter to the editor."
- Do you solemnly swear
that you will support
the Constitution of
the United States
and the Constitution of
the state of West Virginia,
and that you will faithfully
discharge the duties
of Secretary of State to the
best of your skill and judgment
so help you God?
- I do.
Hurray!
(laughter and applause)
- I think when he became
Secretary of State
that Hechler was able
to use that power,
that was on paper in the
Secretary of State's office
and really apply it
wisely to make it
a real activist piece
of the government.
- I resolved that I would
make it my top priority
to try to enforce
the election laws
and to bring West Virginia into
a cleaner election process.
- [Narrator] Secretary
of State Hechler
brought about the conviction
of a county sheriff
who sold his position
for $100,000.
Hechler persuaded lawmakers to
require political candidates
to publicly disclose
loans and repayment terms.
He also secured a law to
prevent political campaigning
within 300 feet of a
polling places outside door.
- Ken believed that people
have a fair opportunity to
go and vote their own minds
if they didn't have to go
through a tunnel of politicians
and political
workers on their way
to the door of a polling place.
- This is a Democratic/Republic
form of government.
And one of the things that
I always admire about Ken
is Ken encourages people
to participate in it.
He wants people to vote
and he wants people
to run for office.
He wants people to be
involved in civic activities
to make our state, our nation
a better place to live.
- I decided I would demonstrate
that this was truly
the people's office.
We have a responsibility
to the taxpayers
to ensure that any
inquiry that comes
to the Secretary of State,
we shouldn't simply say,
"That's handled by
another department,"
but rather to help
that individual.
- You know, usually
when you go into any
public figure's office
you're in a waiting room
and you have to sit
there and go through two
or three other people.
In here, anyone could
just walk in to his office
almost any day and
turn to the left
and there was Ken Hechler
sitting at his desk.
And he was very approachable.
People could go over and
praise him or criticize him
or ask him for advice
or give him information
or ask him for information.
And he was unusually accessible.
- I wanted to set
the tone in my office
and put out a notice that
any individual or any group
could come in and have a news
conference in that office.
I said, "Even if you just wanna
come in and rest your feet,"
this is your office, this
belongs to the people,
the taxpayers who
are paying for it.
- That was unheard of.
That he didn't have
his own inner sanctum
and decided who he'd see
and who he wouldn't see.
The man made himself
so available to people,
because he identified viscerally
with ordinary people.
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] In 1999,
89-year-old Doris Haddock
of New Hampshire began a 3,200
mile walk across the nation
on behalf of campaign
finance reform.
- She wanted to restore
power to the people
and show that power
that could be exercised
by confronting their
own representatives
to do what was just and correct,
and what the founders
of our nation envisioned
in establishing our republic.
- A poor man today
must sell his soul
in order to run for office.
- [Narrator] Granny D
covered 10 miles a day
over 14 months.
She collected thousands of
signatures from Americans
in support of the elimination
of unregulated soft money
that fuel the
political campaigns of
members of Congress.
On weekends, Doris
Haddock shared the
road with Ken Hechler.
The two covered
530 miles together.
The West Virginia Secretary
of State received criticism
that as a politician, he
overshadowed Granny D's cause.
- It was necessary to
demonstrate to the news media
that she had strong support
from a public official.
- [Narrator] Ken
Hechler bought a camper
for Granny D to use
at the end of her walk each day.
- He was a great help.
I never, never, never would've
made it without Ken Hechler.
- A wonderful companion.
She knew Robert Frost
poetry backward and forward.
And an inexhaustible energy.
- Thinking that when you're
65 years old you are old
is crazy.
That is the time
when you retire,
when you need to get active.
We depend upon
you to get active.
Otherwise, things are
not going to change.
- [Narrator ] Ken Hechler,
as well as working to reform
the election process, actively
supported fair taxation,
environmental protection and
preservation of Blair Mountain,
the site of a historic
battle between coal miners
and state and federal
troops in 1921.
Secretary of State
Hechler, sworn into office
at the age of 70,
remained on the job
three months past
his 86th birthday.
In the 2000 Democratic Primary,
Secretary of State Ken
Hechler vied for the open seat
in West Virginia's second
congressional district.
- If you want a congressman
who has integrity and character
and will be a fighter
for West Virginia,
vote for Ken Hechler.
- [Narrator] Despite
name recognition
and a personal contribution
of $300,000 to his campaign,
Hechler lost the primary.
Atty. Jim Humphreys, who
contributed over $2.5 million
to his own congressional bid,
won the democratic nomination.
Ken Hechler, after 16 years
as West Virginia Secretary
of State, left public office.
(bell chiming)
In 2002, he returned
to Marshall and led
a university honors seminar.
- I like history and
20th century history,
especially when I saw that
there was gonna be a class
solely on President Truman
and that peaked my interest.
And then I saw that
it was gonna be taught
by a person who worked
personally with Truman,
and I knew I had to get in that
class because you don't find
that kind of
opportunity very often.
- To begin with, these
were four-point students
who were either Yeager
scholars or Marshall scholars
and I didn't have
to motivate them,
they were eager to
maintain their average
and they seemed to be very
interested in the subject.
- [Narrator] Hechler
informed students
that they're final exam
would entail a visit
to the Truman Presidential
Library and Museum
Independence, Missouri.
- I think we're waiting on the
video to come up or something
that we were gonna tour the
library by TV or by video.
But when it finally sunk
in that he was serious,
we were just blown away.
- Welcome folks, welcome
to the Truman Library.
I know you're not here
to see Harry Truman.
You're here to see a former
president of the United States
and see how he did his job.
In every job I got, I
give it everything I had.
- They all said that that was
the mother of all field trips.
- [Narrator] Hechler personally
funded the day-long visit,
chartering two jets to
transport his class to Missouri.
- He truthfully thought
that the best way
that we could learn and
really get the experience
and see some of the things
that he'd been telling
us about all semester
was to take us there and
for us to see it firsthand.
And for him to take
that time and money
and give 20 students that
kind of an experience
is just amazing, I
think it was wonderful.
- You, the voter,
can make a difference
'cause you're the boss.
- [Narrator] Hechler, meanwhile,
conducted an ad campaign
to help defeat an effort to
increase weight limits of trucks
used for hauling coal
on public highways.
- And I'll be darn,
we won by one vote.
Largely because of
Hechler's sacrifice
when it came to
putting the money in
and his example of public
interest and inspiring people.
- I am a real fan, as you
can see, of Ken Hechler.
I have my own Ken Hechler
t-shirt, which I have.
This is one of my
prized possessions.
It says "Ken Hechler
for Secretary of State".
I mean, I've just always
been a fan of Ken's.
And no matter how old he
gets, he's still a young guy.
I mean, his mind, he's
still thinking young things,
always has.
- I'm here today to announce
that next Monday, January 12,
I'll be filing as a candidate
for Secretary of State.
- [Narrator] Beyond challengers,
like Republican Betty Ireland,
89-year-old Ken Hechler
found age among his
greatest adversaries
in his 2004 bid to
return to public office.
- There were times when if
I were on one side of him
and another candidate
on another side,
we would have to help
him out of a chair
and help him back in
and that was okay.
I mean, that was okay.
We didn't make a
big deal about it.
But I remember once
we were at a debate
in southern West Virginia
and I move a step
to help him get up out of his
chair to get to the podium
and he turned around and
looked at me and he said,
"You may be seated (laughs)."
- I told her quite bluntly.
I said, "Hey, Betty, you
and I are good friends.
"But I really wish you'd
let me get up alone (laughs)
"instead of your offering,"
because that shines
the searchlight on your
superior physical vigor.
It isn't the years in your life,
it is the life in your
years that counts.
- [Narrator] The former
Secretary of State
faced another
imposing foe as well,
US Congressman Ken Hechler.
- I'd like to see all
congressman retired
at the age of 70.
- [Narrator] Thirty
years after fighting
for age limits in public
office, Hechler found himself
battling cries of hypocrisy.
He argued that his fight
for governmental reform
depended on his return
to public office,
which depended upon his
winning the election,
and that winning
depended upon overcoming
age discrimination.
- I recognized that
age was a handicap,
and somehow I had to demonstrate
that I was a able
person despite my age.
Ponce de León made
a fruitless search
for the fountain of youth.
He really should've come to
teach at Marshall University.
It's good to be here--
- [Narrator] Hechler resolved
to demonstrate his viability
as a candidate through
an extensive and
costly ad campaign.
- It's Ken again for
Secretary of State.
(claps)
- I think some of his
strongest historical supporters
were those you felt
somewhat betrayed by that.
- He's always been a
champion of campaign finance,
getting the money out of
politics and minimizing it.
If something tarnished
his hero image to me,
it was hypocritical
campaign spending.
- [Narrator] Hechler signed
the Code of Fair
Campaign Practices
pledging a civil, if not,
inexpensive campaign.
The former Secretary of State,
when signing the
document he helped craft,
noted his intention to
exceed what he called
"outdated expenditure limits".
- In signing the Code of
Fair Campaign Practices,
I was referring
specifically to the fact
that I would not
engage in a negative
mean-spirited campaign.
- The way he runs political
campaigns is probably
the antithesis of the modern
television ad campaign.
They ranked on a
down home type ads
and never really countered
the ads against him.
- There's a certain
cornball aspect to Ken,
but it's endearing
and it's for real.
And if you're for real,
it forgives a lot of things
as most people aren't.
- I have always felt
that it's necessary
to get the attention and
attract the attention
of otherwise apathetic voters.
And sometimes you have to
attract their attention
by unusual things.
♪ Ken Hechler
served the Congress
♪ Coming and paved the way
♪ For a better West
Virginia and a better USA
- It was a generation
where I think that people
probably thought it was cute,
but that kinda wore
thin towards the end.
And I don't think people
quite identified with it
like it might have
in 1962 or '64.
♪ Freedom isn't free
♪ Freedom isn't free
- And there were
people who would say,
"You know, I really,
really like Ken.
"I remember he
helped my grandfather
"get that sewer line laid."
But in the second breath,
"But we think maybe
it's just past his time.
"We want someone
probably who's new
"and has a little more
modern outlook on things."
And I wanna shake your
hand, Mr. Hechler, because--
- [Narrator] Winning
52% of the vote,
Republican nominee
Betty Ireland claimed
the Secretary of State's
office in November 2004.
Ireland attributed her win
in part to wisely spending
the $150,000 contributed
to her campaign.
- First of all,
we're good friends--
- [Narrator] All together,
Hechler spend just over
a million dollars on his
unsuccessful re-election bid.
- I think I have to recognize
that there certainly
must have been some
people who were turned off
by the amount of money
that I was spending.
- I think he made a
bad tactical decision.
But, yeah, he's
still a champion.
(calm music)
- Where are the hell raisers?
That seems to be such a
passive younger generation.
I don't know why.
Where are the hell raisers?
- You have to have
more people like the--
- [Narrator] For many, Ken
Hechler continues to represent
the consummate public servant,
one in pursuit of justice.
- He's a doer.
He is always trying
to right wrongs.
In every way that he
conducts himself it's,
"Well, let's go get this done."
- We got to remember,
during the time
of the founding
fathers, Paul Revere,
we got to remember Patrick Henry
and those agitators who
helped call attention
and gave their lives, their
fortunes and their sacred honor
in order to achieve the
freedoms which we now enjoy
in the United States of America.
Even Newsweek--
- [Narrator] Speaking
throughout the nation,
Ken Hechler exhibits the
energy and enthusiasm
to finding his lifelong
commitment to public service.
- He always seemed
to be ready to go
wherever the wind took him.
He would talk
about former loves.
But I think it's very possible
he just couldn't find anyone
that would keep up
with him, or was able
to keep up with him
in his lifestyle.
- Ken Hechler is driven.
People sometimes talk about
public service as sacrifice
and I'll get it as
a choice you make.
And if you're in
it, you like it,
you're getting your
rewards from it,
if it wasn't fun you
wouldn't be doing it.
- His life was just
intended for public service.
To him, politics and its
aftermath is a romance,
it's consuming, there's
no time for anybody else.
- The truth of the matter
is if you're in public life
you do neglect your family.
It's almost impossible not to.
Now Ken didn't have
to worry about that,
because his mate
was public service.
He was married to the job.
- Ken didn't go to soccer
games and to ballet practices,
instead he was out being a
champion for common people.
I wonder what kind of
toll it's taken on him.
- One of the greatest
regrets of my life
is that I don't have
dotting grandchildren
that I can see grow and
develop and inspire them
to follow the principles
of truth and justice,
which I've tried
to follow myself.
I wish he hadn't said that.
- I can't think of
anybody in public life
who has so systematically
committed himself
to the service of people.
I think it's on his
mind all the time.
"What can I do to
be more useful?"
- So many young people I find
in the classes that I teach
are getting more and
more self-centered
about their own interest.
And also getting apathetic
about registering and voting.
Since the constitutional
amendment was passed,
lowering the voting
age from 21 to 18,
there's been a constant
decrease in the percentage
of young people who
register and vote.
And in my classes I tell them,
"If you sit on the sidelines,
"you are really casting your
vote for bad elected officials,
"for corrupt elected officials."
And then they all say, "Well,
all politicians are crooked."
- People are saying, "Why
can't we get some good guy
"or good honest man or
woman to run," and so on.
Well I'll tell you why, they
don't want to be exposed
to this vicious attack
syndrome that exist today
that you can't have
a diverse opinion
and if you do you're a
radical no good so and so.
And if you have this other
view you're the enemy.
- Go home, Ken!
Go home, Ken!
- Some former and current
Arch Coal miners say,
"Hechler's anti-mountain
top removal stance
"helped caused them 400 jobs."
- We don't want you no more.
- Were you around
in '69 when I passed
the Federal Coal Mine--
- We're here today.
We need food on the table today.
What you did yesterday
we appreciate.
We want jobs today.
We don't want our
families leaving
and going to the Carolinas.
- One of the things that
is most troubling to me
about where America is
going and is right now
is the enormous power
of the corporations.
The power not only to
manipulate Congress,
but to manipulate the media.
And unless the
citizens themselves
are well-informed and able
to have a direct impact
on the politics of the community
democracy won't work,
it's as simple as that.
- I think we need
more hell raisers.
We need more
non-conformists who can talk
the kind of issues
that are necessary
for people to be attracted.
- Individual greed
has taken so much away
from the people
of West Virginia.
- Go home, Ken!
Go home, Ken!
- And Ken has worked so hard
and he's still working hard.
And he wants to do things
for us, but sometimes
we're just so hard-headed we
only hear what we wanna hear
and we don't get the full story
that Ken's trying to tell us.
And we just lose.
- I'm afraid that we've
lost some of that notion
that those of us who have
had advantages of society
and have had opportunities
that this society has provided,
also have an obligation to
give back to that society.
I'm always struck by the people
that have made
millions of dollars
and yet they resent paying
taxes, or being regulated.
We're losing that notion
that was so important
in the progressive spirit
of the early 20th century.
- We've got to make
justice exciting
for people throughout
the country.
We've got to recapture
the spirit of the 1960s
when the Civil Rights
Movement excited young people.
That's why we need people like
yourselves in this audience
to inspire your fellow
members of the community
to be the kind of
hell raisers necessary
to make sure that we have
real justice in this nation.
(audience applause)
- Ken Hechler went around
southern West Virginia saying,
"I'm Ken Hechler, I'm
your servant in Congress."
I mean how refreshing is that?
I think we could use a few
more servants in Congress.
(audience applause)
- Hechler made political
office palatable (laughs).
He made something good
and something doable.
- On behalf of the faculty
of Marshall University,
I present Ken Hechler
for the honorary degree
Doctor of Humane Letters.
(audience applause)
- He's what you would truly
call a public servant.
That is his life and
I very much appreciate
that he's walked
through my life.
- He walked with giants, a
visionary who helped movers
and shakers shape the political
and social landscape
as we know it today,
a dedicated public servant.
- He is the epitome of a
public servant, no doubt.
He'll be remembered as one
of the hardest working,
more intelligent creative
members of Congress.
He gave it a moral compass.
Every now and then, he
may be hit a bumper too
but it was never
with ulterior motive,
just to allow people to be more
than they think they can be.
- Any time that you see
somebody that's doing
what they say they're gonna do,
they really are putting
somebody else first
and they really are putting
actions to their words
and not just hollow words.
You can't help but become
a little bit better
and stand a little taller.
- You can run in to
hundreds of people,
thousands of people,
I've done that, and say,
"He's the person who got
me interested in politics,"
even if I was to
disagree with him,
he provided that platform.
He made public service to
thousands of West Virginians
something not to be seen
as, "What's in it for me,"
but, "What can I do?
"How can I use this
to help other people?"
(calm music)
- [Presenter] This project
is a cooperative production
of the Ken Hechler
Documentary Project, LLC
and Marshall University.
Being presented with
financial assistance
from the West Virginia
Humanities Council,
a state affiliate of
the National Endowment
for the Humanities.
Any views, findings,
conclusions,
or recommendations
expressed in this program
do not necessarily
represent those
of the National Endowment
for the Humanities.