Although the Democratic Party was rising in Oregon in the 1950s with the party switch of progressive Republican Wayne Morse and the defeat of Republican Senator Guy Cordon for reelection in 1954 by Democrat Richard Neuberger, the Republicans managed to get a star in their corner: the young Mark Hatfield (1922-2011). He made his way up through the Oregon State Legislature and was a progressive Republican. Hatfield most notably as a state legislator got passed and signed into law legislation barring racial discrimination in public accommodations and was a critic of the methods of Senator Joseph McCarthy. In 1956, he was elected Secretary of State, and this positioned him well for a gubernatorial run.
As a consequence of his maverick tendencies, Hatfield was not popular with the national GOP, which wouldn’t support him in his bid for governor in 1958. However, the motivation to win for the state GOP overrode such issues. What’s more, one of the state’s prominent Democrats made a big mistake. Five days before the election, Senator Wayne Morse accused Hatfield of lying in his testimony in a civil case surrounding his accidentally running over a young girl who had darted across the road as a teenager, a charge regarded as an especially low blow by the voters of Oregon. Arguably because of the national GOP’s lack of support and sympathy votes after Wayne Morse’s attack, that year at 36 years old he defeated incumbent Democrat Robert Holmes, one of the few bright spots in a catastrophic year for the Republican Party. Hatfield, whose pitch for growing the state was “Payrolls and Playgrounds”, proved popular with voters and he convincingly won reelection in 1962 by double digits. This was an impressive accomplishment for an Oregon politician, for he was the first to serve two full terms in the 20th century.
In 1966, Hatfield ran for the Senate to succeed Maurine Neuberger and faced Democrat Robert Duncan. Duncan was supportive of LBJ’s execution of the Vietnam War, and Hatfield was an early opponent of the Vietnam War. He was again helped by Wayne Morse, but this time in the form of an endorsement for his stance, as opposition to the Vietnam War had become his obsession. In 1968, Hatfield backed Nixon for president, seeing him as the best way to exit the Vietnam War quickly at the time and Nixon apparently considered making him his vice presidential nominee. However, this appears per Nixon’s memoirs to not have been a serious consideration; he was considered too liberal by party conservatives. Hatfield would quickly differ with the Nixon Administration on many questions, especially on Vietnam. In 1970, Hatfield sponsored with George McGovern (D-S.D.) the “End the War” Amendment, cutting off funding for the Vietnam War. This amendment was unsuccessful, but he became a popular figure in the peace movement. He also sponsored with Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) in the same year a proposal for an all-volunteer army, which although unsuccessful, would be implemented later by the Nixon Administration.
In 1971, Hatfield was suffering from popularity issues in Oregon because of his perceived lack of attentiveness to the state’s interests, so he hired Gerry Frank as chief of staff, who helped him to right the ship, and instead of serving on the Foreign Relations Committee he accepted a committee assignment on Appropriations, a post that would prove valuable to Oregonians in the future (Lloyd). This course correction worked, and Hatfield beat back Wayne Morse’s attempt to return to the Senate in 1972. Hatfield became a popular and admired figure in Oregon due to his principled stances; he was anti-war, anti-death penalty, and pro-life. He was a strong supporter of civil rights measures across the board. Hatfield was interestingly enough an evangelical whose strong Christian beliefs motivated his political views.
Holding the Purse Strings
The 1980 election produced a Republican majority in the Senate, and this made Hatfield the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee from 1981 to 1987. In this role, he used his position to steer a lot of federal money to Oregon. Although his critics regarded his allocations as “pork”, Hatfield would justify it as Oregon got little money in national defense spending, which is what the Reagan Administration was pushing for. What’s more, he told Senator Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) that Washington used to get all the money when Senator Warren Magnuson (D-Wash.) was chairman, saying to him, “now I’m chairman. And now Oregon is getting all of the money” (Lloyd). Hatfield was also a bit of an awkward chairman for President Reagan as they were at cross-purposes on defense spending, but he wasn’t an obstructionist. Thus, Hatfield wouldn’t attempt to block measures in committee but would argue and vote against them on the floor. Sometimes he would also help Reagan with budget cuts, he backed tax reduction, and supported oil deregulation. Hatfield did clash with the Reagan Administration on efforts to curb busing and in his veto of the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988.
Ethics Issues
Despite his public reputation for integrity, which was such that some detractors sarcastically referred to him as “St. Mark”, in 1984 journalist Jack Anderson revealed that his wife, Antoinette, had gotten $55,000 in real estate and decorating fees from a Greek financier who had recruited Senator Hatfield to support a trans-Africa oil pipeline (Lloyd). However, Hatfield was able to resolve this scandal by donating the money to charity and he was reelected by an overwhelming margin that year. In 1992, he was rebuked by the Senate Ethics Committee for accepting and failing to report gifts to the tune of nearly $43,000 between 1983 and 1988, most from Dr. James B. Holderman, former president of the University of South Carolina (CQ Press). While Hatfield was chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Congress granted $16.3 million to the university. He was also cited for three unspecified travel reimbursements. However, due to finding no evidence of criminal violations or intent from Hatfield, the committee didn’t recommend any formal discipline by the Senate. For context, the Senate Ethics Committee in its ruling had regarded Hatfield’s shortfall as worse than four of five of the “Keating Five” (CQ Press).
The New Republican Majority
After the 1994 midterms, Hatfield was again chairman of the Appropriations Committee, but he was in many ways out of step with the Republican majority’s agenda, and no instance highlighted this more than his vote against the Balanced Budget Amendment, which was decisive in its defeat in the Senate. Adding to the pressure for Hatfield to vote differently, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) was trying to make this a centerpiece of his 1996 presidential campaign.
In 1996, Hatfield decided at 74 years old to retire from politics, not wishing to be a doddering old senator propped up by his aides. Unlike many former legislators who stay in Washington D.C., he would return to Oregon and teach government at the George Fox University as well as at the Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University. I think I can safely say that the Republican Party today has no one serving in the House or Senate who is as liberal as Mark Hatfield was. Although he would be on board with today’s GOP on abortion, there wouldn’t be many other things he would be in accord with them on. His lifetime MC-Index score is a mere 32%. In declining health for years, Hatfield died on August 7, 2011, at 89.
Hatfield is without doubt considered one of the greats of the history of Oregon politics. His obituary in The Oregonian called him “Oregon’s first statesman”, and he is one of numerous historical figures who would have no place in today’s politics.
References
Cloud of Scandal Hovers Over Capitol Hill. CQ Almanac 1992.
Retrieved from
https://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal92-1106962
Lloyd, M. (2011, August 8). Mark O. Hatfield, Oregon’s first statesman, dies at Sunday at 89. The Oregonian.
Retrieved from
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2011/08/mark_o_hatfield_oregons_first.html
Mahoney, B. (2022). Mark O. Hatfield. Oregon Encyclopedia.
Retrieved from
https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/hatfield_mark_o_1922_/