Mark Hatfield

While still teaching, Hatfield served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. He won election to the Oregon Secretary of State's office at the age of 34 and two years later was elected as the 29th Governor of Oregon. He was the youngest person to serve in either of those offices, and served two terms as governor before election to the United States Senate. In the Senate he served for thirty years, the longest tenure of any Senator from Oregon. At the time of his retirement, he was seventh most senior Senator and the second most senior Republican. In 1968, he was considered a candidate to be Richard Nixon's running mate for the Republican Party presidential ticket.


Hatfield served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations on two occasions. With this role, he was able to direct funding to Oregon and research-related projects. Numerous Oregon institutions, buildings and facilities are named in his honor, including the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, the Mark O. Hatfield Library at Willamette University (his alma mater), the Hatfield Government Center light-rail station in Hillsboro, the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government in the College of Urban and Public Affairs at Portland State University, and the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. Outside of Oregon, a research center at the National Institutes of Health was after him for his support of medical research while in the Senate. Hatfield died in Portland on August 7, 2011, after a long illness.

Early life[edit]

Hatfield was born in Dallas, Oregon, on July 12, 1922,^[1] the only son of Dovie E. (Odom) Hatfield, a schoolteacher, and Charles Dolen Hatfield, a blacksmith for the Southern Pacific Railroad.^[2] Hatfield's father was from California and his mother from Tennessee.^[2] When he was five years old, his maternal grandmother took over the household while his mother, Dovie attended Oregon State College and graduated with a teaching degree after four years.^[2] Dovie taught school in Dallas for two years before the family moved to Salem, where she taught junior high school.^[2]


Encouraged by his mother, Hatfield's first experience with politics came at the age of 10, when he campaigned in his neighborhood for President Herbert Hoover's 1932 re-election campaign.^[3] In the late 1930s Hatfield worked as a tour guide at the new Oregon State Capitol Building in Salem, using his key to enter the governor's office, where he sat in the governor's chair.^[3]


On June 10, 1940, the 17-year-old Hatfield, driving his mother's car, struck and killed a pedestrian, Alice Marie Lane, as she crossed the street.^[4] Hatfield was not held criminally liable for the crash, but was found civilly liable to the family.^[5] The case made its way to the Oregon Supreme Court in 1943, with the court affirming the trial court's decision.^[4]


Hatfield graduated from Salem High School in 1940 and then enrolled at Willamette University, also in Salem.^[6] While attending Willamette, Hatfield became a brother of Alpha Phi Omega and Kappa Gamma Rho, which he later helped become a chapter of Beta Theta Pi.^[7] (In 1964, Hatfield was elected to the National position of Third Vice President of Alpha Phi Omega).^[8] In college he also worked part-time for then Oregon Secretary of State Earl Snell, where he learned how to build a political base by sending out messages to potential voters after reading about life changes posted in newspapers, such as deaths and graduations.^[3] He also sketched out a political career path beginning with the state legislature and culminating in a spot in the United States Senate, with a blank for any position beyond the Senate.^[3] Hatfield graduated from Willamette in 1943 with a Bachelor of Arts degree after three years at the school.^[1] While at the school he lost his only election, for student body president.^[9]


Hatfield joined the U.S. Navy after graduation,^[1] taking part in the World War II battles at Iwo Jima and Okinawa as a landing craft officer where he witnessed the carnage of the war.^[3] A lieutenant, he also witnessed the effects of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, as one of the first Americans to see the ruins of the city (later, as Senator, Hatfield opposed arms proliferation and the Vietnam War).^[3][10] After Japan, he served in French Indochina, where he witnessed firsthand the wealth divide between the peasant Vietnamese and the colonial French bourgeoisie.^[3] After his discharge as a Lieutenant (junior grade),^[11] he spent one year at Willamette's law school, but decided politics or teaching better suited him.^[12][13]


Hatfield then enrolled at Stanford University, where he obtained a master's degree in political science in 1948.^[1] He returned to Salem and Willamette after Stanford and began working as an assistant professor in political science.^[3] During his tenure as professor, he built a political base by sending out messages and speaking at any public forum where he could get an invitation.^[3]

After retiring from political office, he returned to Oregon and teaching, joining the faculty of George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon.^[12] In 2006, he was named the Herbert Hoover Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Politics at the school. Additionally, he taught at the Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University, which is named in his honor, and lectured at Willamette University and Lewis & Clark College while living in Portland.^[12]


In July 1999, Hatfield and his wife were passengers on a tour bus when a car collided with the bus.^[77] They received only minor injuries, but the experience led them to advocate for seat belts to be required on buses.^[77]


Numerous buildings, organizations, awards, and outdoor areas have been named in honor of Hatfield. These include:


From February 2000 to May 2008 Hatfield served on the board of directors for Oregon Health & Science University.^[85] His papers and book collection are stored in the Willamette University Archives and Special Collections, inside the Mark O. Hatfield Library.^[86] Senator Hatfield merited his own chapter in Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation.^[87]


In 2014, a 90-minute documentary about Hatfield's life and career called The Gentleman of the Senate: Oregon's Mark Hatfield was released.^[88][89]


Hatfield was admitted to the Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research hospital at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland in November 2010 for observation after his health began to decline.^[90] Mark Hatfield died at a care facility in Portland on August 7, 2011, after several years of illness. A specific cause of death was not immediately given.^[91][92]