Project 49: Hickel vs. Nixon, 15,000 letters of support and dissent

by Jamie Gonzales  |   

Project 49 is a monthly series from the University of Alaska Anchorage, highlighting characters and events from Alaska's rich history that have been preserved in our archives.

Nixon and Hickel

President Richard Nixon and Secretary of the Interior Walter Hickel. Walter J. Hickel papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Many Alaskans think of him as Governor Hickel-Alaska's second and eighth governor-or simply "Wally," but Walter J. Hickel was a household name across America in May 1970 on the heels of President Richard Nixon's authorization of the Cambodian Campaign, an extension of the Vietnam War. A U.S. Secretary of the Interior, the opinionated Hickel had fallen out of step with the other cabinet yes-men flanking the president. As a result, the door to the Oval Office was closed to him. So he (metaphorically) slid a letter under the door, revealing his support for young antiwar protestors on college campuses across the country.

Dear Mr. President,

I believe this Administration finds itself, today, embracing a philosophy which appears to lack appropriate concern for the attitude of a great mass of Americans-our young people...

Today, our young people, or at least a vast majority of them, believe they have no opportunity to communicate with Government, regardless of the Administration, other than through violent confrontation. But I am convinced we-and they-have the capacity, if we will but have the willingness, to learn from history...

About 200 years ago there was emerging a great nation in the British Empire, and it found itself with a colony in violent protest by its youth-men such as Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Madison and Monroe, to name a few. Their protests fell on deaf ears, and finally led to war. The outcome is history. My point is, if we read history, it clearly shows that youth in its protest must be heard...

Faithfully yours,

Walter J. Hickel

Hickel

Walter Hickel at his desk. Walter J. Hickel papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

The letter, dated May 6, was written two days after the Kent State massacre that killed four student protestors and wounded nine other bystanders and protestors on the Kent State University campus in Ohio. A copy of the letter also "happened" to the hit newspapers across the U.S. on the day the president received it. It hit a nerve with Americans and rankled the Nixon administration.

"Nixon was not happy," said Jay Sylvestre, the archivist charged with organizing and describing the 375-box Hickel collection in the UAA/APU Consortium Library's Archives and Special Collections. "Over the course of the next three or four months, Hickel got about 15,000 letters from American citizens, either supporting him and his letter or condemning him as a dirty communist. But he kept all of them."

Yvonne Lindblom, Hickel's personal secretary from 1965-2008, had a hand in keeping careful record of the letters, postcards and telegrams, which are sorted into alphabetical folders, "Nixon Letter Against 'A', Nixon letter Pro 'A'," and so on. The collection is now in the archives.

'Fickle Hickel'

Concerned citizens shared their opinions via postcard, letter and telegram. These four writers were unabashed Nixon/Agnew fans with no love lost on "Fickle Hickel." Walter J. Hickel papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

"Some of them are fantastic with personal stories," said Sylvestre. "Some are bizarre manifestos from people who think he's part of some government conspiracy."

In November 1970, six months after the famous letter was written, Nixon fired Hickel. The day before his firing, Hickel had told CBS's Mike Wallace of Face the Nation, "If I go away, I'm going away with an arrow in my heart, not a bullet in my back."

A 1970 political cartoon-Hickel kept any featuring him on file, said Sylvestre-depicts a surprised Hickel with an arrow in his heart.

Thank you telegram

A telegram thanking Hickel for his letter to Nixon. Walter J. Hickel papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Hickel's decision to write the fateful letter may have had something to do with his own houseful of young men, six sons aged 8-28. America's youth was at his dinner table, probably just as full of opinions as their father.

Lindblom, who recently shared her remembrances of Hickel, wrote, "I remember early on in my employment, he told me, 'Whenever any of my sons comes to see me, let him in, no matter who I am meeting with.' I knew he meant it, and I never forgot it."

The former Golden Gloves boxer had fought for his convictions during his two years in the national political arena, helping to shape national environmental policy, championing conservation and Earth Day and generally confusing all the folks who had initially been opposed to his seat in the cabinet.

Wally and Ermalee

Ermalee Hickel, by Wally's side on a campaign float, supported her husband through multiple campaigns and together they raised six sons. Walter J. Hickel papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

"His confirmation was hotly contested. The hearing took five full days. Following that, there were four days of Senate debates," said Sylvestre.

Just six days into his term as Secretary of the Interior, his response to an oil spill off the shores of Santa Barbara, Calif.-the largest the U.S. had experienced until ExxonValdez and, most recently, Deepwater Horizon-helped galvanize support for Hickel from his former opponents. They had worried his ties to an oil-producing state biased him in favor of Big Oil. In fact, Hickel set the wheels in motion and helped to establish the Environmental Protection Agency. He also garnered celebrity support for the Department of the Interior's Johnny Horizon campaign.

Letters from Ansel Adams and Charles Lindbergh

"There's a letter from Ansel Adams suggesting that Wally run for president," said Sylvestre, ticking off some celebrity-studded collection highlights (pictures with Arnold Schwarzenegger, correspondence between Hickel and Burl Ives, letters from astronauts James Lovell and Neil Armstrong, and the list goes on).

In 1974, the 72-year-old Adams, an environmentalist and photographer, spoke for some of the Hickel converts in this letter:

Ansel Adams' letter to Hickel

Letter from Ansel Adams to Hickel. Walter J. Hickel papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

The book Adams refers to in his letter is Hickel's Who Owns America?

The book makes another appearance in an article remembering Hickel in the wake of his death at age 90 on May 7, 2010. Juneau Empire journalist Becky Bohrer wrote, "Ethan Berkowitz, a former state legislator and Democrat running for governor, recounted how, when he was being sworn in as a young assistant district attorney, a copy of the Bible couldn't be found - so a copy of Hickel's 1971 book, Who Owns America, was used instead."

Lindbergh's letter to Hickel

Letter from Charles Lindbergh to Walter Hickel. Walter J. Hickel papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Hickel bonded with another American legend, aviator Charles Lindbergh, over a different piece of Alaska literature, Robert Service's poem, "The Shooting of Dan McGrew."

In 1968, Lindbergh made his way to Alaska to deliver his first public speech in 27 years. His audience? The Alaska Legislature. It was not Lucky Lindy's first trip to The Last Frontier. He was hosted by Wally and Ermalee Hickel and, like a proper guest, wrote a lovely thank-you letter.

Dear Mr. Hickel:

I have just written to the Governor of my appreciation of his hospitality and kindness during my visit to Alaska-also my apology for my lateness in writing, together with a few excuses! My appreciation, of course, goes equally to you. It was wonderful of you to take me into your home the way you did, and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed my days and evenings there.

I can't say that you have "a fireside far from the cares that are" there in the Governor's Mansion at Juneau. Political life, even in Alaska, makes that impossible. But you manage to give the impression of having one, and this is really great accomplishment-possibly greater than that of being Governor! And certainly of vital importance to the office.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the Robert Service portion of the evening, and admired your most tactful participation in it.

Most of all, I like the way you took me in as a member of your family-the freedom to come and go, and move about without formality, and even a key to the front door.

Again, my many thanks, and my best wishes,

Charles A. Lindbergh

Hickel would return as master of the hearth at the governor's mansion in Juneau one more time from 1990-1994, his last stint in public office.

Jay Sylvestre

Jay Sylvestre, Hickel archivist, UAA/APU Consortium Library Archives and Special Collections. Philip Hall/University of Alaska Anchorage.

"I don't think he ever stopped being a public servant," said Sylvestre. "He was always advocating for something or giving speeches-he was a prolific speaker-doing a lot at The Northern Forum. He was constantly pushing for development in Alaska. He had big dreams."

Sylvestre began work on the Hickel collection in December 2013. A gift from the Hickel family helped to create the two-year Hickel archivist position in the library.

"It's a big project," he admitted. When he's through, the collection will likely be organized into less than 300 boxes with a comprehensive folder-level finding aid for researchers.

There's a white board in his office that helps keep him on track with to-do lists and in the corner he's reserved a space for "scavenger hunt" items. In true Captain Ahab form, Sylvestre is currently on a quest for Wally's whales.

Hickel

Wally doing some reading. Walter J. Hickel papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Hickel was responsible for placing all eight species of great whales on the Endangered Species List and Sylvestre is searching for the paper trail.

The transcript of a speech Hickel delivered at University of California Irvine in 1976 gives us some perspective on his ideas about great whales: "It would be a crime beyond belief that in the same decade that we walked on the moon we also destroyed the largest animal god ever put on earth."

You too can go whale hunting in the Hickel collection-like all collections in the Consortium Library Archives and Special Collections, it is accessible to the public.

Written by Jamie Gonzales, UAA Office of University Advancement.

 

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