WVa Icon: Ken Hechler- Statesman, War Hero, Prof, Author, Only Congressman To March w MLK, Selma

WVU Leader Remembers Ken Hechler- Statesman Who Personified Public Service & Integrity.' WVU Today,*12.11.16. Ed.



Statesman. Soldier. Professor. Author. Advocate. Jay Cole, senior advisor to the president at West Virginia University, believes those words personified Ken Hechler, who passed away Saturday. Hechler, a West Virginia icon who has served the state in a variety of ways, was 102 years old. - “Ken Hechler’s career is a long and bright thread woven into the quilts of both West Virginia and American politics,” says Cole.

Hechler earned a doctorate in political science and had already taught at Columbia and Barnard before being drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942. In 1949, Hechler began a 4-year term as research director and speechwriter for President Harry Truman. He also served as research director for Adlai Stevenson’s unsuccessful 1956 run for the presidency. “I found his whole life fascinating but as a Truman Scholar, I particularly enjoyed hearing his stories about working with President Truman,” remembers Cole, who can be reached for additional comment at jay.cole@mail.wvu.edu.

Hechler arrived in the Mountain State in 1957 to teach political science, but, after just one year, began a life of public service and advocacy. West Virginians elected him to the U.S. House of Representatives, beginning an 18-year career as
congressman that included drafting an early civil rights bill, primary sponsorship of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, fighting corruption within the United Mine Workers of America, advocating for better health, safety, and environmental legislation and calling for an end to mountaintop removal mining of coal.

Hechler was also the only congressman to march with Dr. King in Selma, Alabama in 1965. Hechler returned to West Virginia to serve as Secretary of State from 1985 to 2001.. In 2010, Hechler received the WVU Center for Black Culture and Research’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Achievement Award...

https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/stories/2016/12/11/wvu-leader-remembers-ken-hechler-as-statesman-who-personified-public-service-and-integrity
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- Tribute Archive, Obituary. Ken Hechler, Capon Bridge, West Virginia, September 20, 1914 - December 10, 2016. Ed.

Dr. Kenneth (Ken) Hechler, 102, legendary WV statesman, peacefully slipped the bonds of a life well lived and much loved, on Sat., Dec. 10, 2016 surrounded by his much beloved family at his home in Romney, West Virginia. In addition to a generous life of public service, he was a decorated war hero, a prolific writer of several historical books, and a tenacious activist who championed civil rights, miners health & rights, and the environment. At the time of his death, Ken as he preferred to be called was the longest lived former US Congressman in American history. Born Kenneth William Hechler in Roslyn, NY, Sept. 20, 1914, he was the youngest son of Charles H. & Catherine Hauhart Hechler. He had two older brothers, George & Charles, both of whom he survived.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Swarthmore College, and earned his Masters degree & his Ph.D. in history & government from Columbia University. Kens life of service started after graduating, when he entered academia as a teacher & professor on the faculties of Columbia University, Princeton University, and Barnard College. As World War II loomed, Ken held a series of minor appointed positions in the federal civil service until he was drafted into the US Army where he rose to the rank of Major. He was later promoted to Colonel while in the United States Army Reserves. He received 5 Bronze Battle Stars, The American Campaign Medal & a Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service under fire.

During the war, after graduation from Armored Force Officer Candidate School, he was assigned as a combat historian in the European Theater of Operations. Ken was attached to the 9th Armored Division when one of its infantry-tank task forces captured the key Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany. Post War, using his French & German fluency, & his renown as combat historian, Ken interviewed many Nazi defendants prior to the Nuremberg Trials. This influenced books he later wrote, including The Bridge at Remagen that became a major motion picture in 1969. Goering & His Gang was based on interviews he conducted with former Nazi commanders including Goering himself. Post war, Hechler worked for the US govt. & helped organize & summarize the Personal Papers of FDR. He was also a WH Assist. & speechwriter for President Truman, & later a research director for presidential candidate, Adlai Stevenson.

Academia would call him again & he accepted a position at Marshall College (now Marshall Univ.) in Huntington, WV teaching political science. This would completely change the course of his life. - As a very popular professor, Dr. Hechler passionately urged his students to take part in politics by voting, volunteering, activism, & even running for political office. - They turned this philosophy back at him, pressing him to run for office. He came to WV to teach & mentor young minds, but soon found himself running for, & winning, a seat in the US House of Reps. that included Huntington & many unionized mill towns along the Ohio River in 1958. His first political victory was by a slim 3,500 votes, but he proved himself to be a true, honorable representative who was re-elected 8 more terms, serving 18 years. In Congress, Hechler earned a reputation as a liberal Democrat & was the principal architect of the Coal Mine Safety & Health Act of 1969 that for the 1st time put a ceiling on the amount of respirable coal dust allowed in coal mines, & stipulated stringent safety regulations...https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/2491692/Ken-Hechler
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