1. Harold Everett Hughes was an American politician who served as the 36th Governor of Iowa from 1963 until 1969, and a United States senator from Iowa from 1969 until 1975.
38 Facts About Harold Hughes
1. 2.
Harold Hughes began his political career as a Republican but changed his affiliation to the Democratic Party in 1962.
3.
Harold Hughes served in the US Army, fighting in the North African campaign, and was court-martialed for assaulting an officer.
4.
The trial resulted in Harold Hughes' being sent to fight in Sicily in 1943.
5.
Harold Hughes became ill and another soldier took his place on a landing craft at Anzio.
6.
Harold Hughes became a manager of a local trucking business, and then began organizing independent truckers.
7.
Harold Hughes started the Iowa Better Trucking Bureau and was eventually elected to the State Commerce Commission board, which he served from 1958 to 1962, including a term as its chairman.
8.
Harold Hughes described in his book how he climbed into a bathtub with a shotgun, ready to pull the trigger, when he cried out to God for help.
9.
Harold Hughes had a spiritual experience that changed the course of his life.
10.
Harold Hughes began to pray and study the Bible diligently, and even considered a career in the ministry.
11.
Harold Hughes embraced the Alcoholics Anonymous program of recovery and started an AA group in Ida Grove, Iowa, in 1955.
12.
Harold Hughes grew up as a Republican in a heavily Republican area, but was persuaded to switch parties.
13.
Harold Hughes then ran for Governor of Iowa on the Democratic ticket in 1960 but lost the Democratic primary too Edward McManus by 28,448 votes [1].
14.
Harold Hughes ran again and defeated incumbent Republican Norman Erbe by 41,944 votes in 1962.
15.
Harold Hughes established a treatment program in the state and was an effective spokesman for a more enlightened view of the role of alcohol in society.
16.
Harold Hughes implemented an educational radio television system and helped improved workmen's and unemployment compensation laws.
17.
Harold Hughes sanctioned additional state funding for school aid, and authorized a consumer safeguard bill, Harold Hughes helped eliminate the death penalty.
18.
In 1966, Iowa, like other states, experienced Democratic losses, Harold Hughes, however was reelected by 99,741 votes.
19.
Harold Hughes resigned on January 1,1969, just two days before being sworn in as US Senator.
20.
Harold Hughes was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Robert D Fulton.
21.
At the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Harold Hughes was giving a nominating speech for anti-war candidate Eugene McCarthy when violent demonstrations erupted on the streets of Chicago.
22.
Harold Hughes won but by only 6,415 votes, and took his seat on January 3rd 1969.
23.
Harold Hughes talked about the need for treatment of drug addiction.
24.
In early 1970, Harold Hughes began to get press recognition as a "dark horse candidate" for the 1972 presidential election.
25.
Harold Hughes seemed to observers to be an almost reluctant candidate, though, and a bit too much of a "mystic" for the Washington press corps.
26.
Harold Hughes hated being trotted out to cajole financiers wanting to look him over before opening the checkbook.
27.
Harold Hughes's staff had to prod him to call party chairmen.
28.
Harold Hughes preferred a session with the kids at the local treatment centers.
29.
On September 5,1973, Harold Hughes announced that, after a long period of soul-searching, he would retire from the Senate when his term was completed.
30.
Harold Hughes had been active in prayer groups while serving in the Senate, and the last few chapters of his autobiography gave this aspect of his life special prominence.
31.
Harold Hughes partnered with former Nixon Aide Charles Colson in his religious work, and even portrayed himself in the 1978 motion picture, Born Again, starring Dean Jones as Colson.
32.
Harold Hughes remained a strong advocate for services to chemically dependent people.
33.
For some years during the 1970s, Harold Hughes served as the president of the Fellowship Foundation.
34.
Harold Hughes hosted prayer meetings for The Family at his Cedar Point Farms facility, even hosting President Jimmy Carter there in 1978.
35.
Harold Hughes moved to a retirement community in Glendale, Arizona, where he died.
36.
Harold Hughes's remains were returned to Iowa and buried in the Ida Grove cemetery in Ida Grove, Iowa.
37.
Harold Hughes moved to Arizona and lived in a single-family home with his second wife, while his first wife lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Iowa.
38.
Ultimately, Harold Hughes was ordered to pay back over $10,000 to his former wife, which she successfully collected from his estate.