Mr Alaska: Bob Bartlett Goes to Washington
Ringkasan
TLDRThe video details the life and political career of Bob Bartlett, a key figure in Alaska's history, known for his role in the state's journey to statehood. It covers his early life in Fairbanks, his work as a journalist, and his rise in politics, culminating in his service as a U.S. Senator. The narrative highlights his dedication to improving the lives of Alaskans, his relationships with influential political figures, and his legislative achievements, including the Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act and the Bartlett Act for accessibility. The video also addresses his health struggles and the lasting impact of his legacy on Alaskan politics.
Takeaways
- π€ Bob Bartlett was a key figure in Alaska's statehood journey.
- π° He started his career as a journalist in Fairbanks.
- ποΈ Served as a territorial delegate before becoming a U.S. Senator.
- π Advocated for the Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act.
- βΏ Introduced the Bartlett Act for wheelchair accessibility.
- π€ Had a strong relationship with President Lyndon Johnson.
- π Played a role in disaster response after the 1964 earthquake.
- π Faced health challenges that impacted his political career.
- π³οΈ Remembered for his dedication to Alaskans and effective legislation.
- π His legacy continues to influence Alaskan politics.
Garis waktu
- 00:00:00 - 00:05:00
The program is supported by New York Life Insurance Company, which has been providing financial strength for 164 years. This includes local agent information available at newyorklife.com. Additional support comes from the University of Alaska, which has 16 campuses across the state.
- 00:05:00 - 00:10:00
Bob Bartlett, a politician from Alaska, speaks as a campaigner rather than a delegate in Congress, indicating progress in his region and expressing excitement about campaigning on television for the first time.
- 00:10:00 - 00:15:00
The news report from December 11, 1968, covers a hijacking controversy and announcements from President-elect Richard Nixon. It also notes the unexpected death of influential lawmaker Bob Bartlett, a key figure in Alaska's transition to statehood and described as a likable politician.
- 00:15:00 - 00:20:00
Bob Bartlett's early life is detailed, highlighting his friendly nature and rapport with people as vital to his political success, contrasting contemporary views of politicians as heroes.
- 00:20:00 - 00:25:00
Bob's personal life is explored, including his relationship with childhood sweetheart Vide Gaustad, who later becomes his wife, emphasizing the influence of mentorship from lawyer Tony Dimond on his career.
- 00:25:00 - 00:30:00
Bob's professional career begins with journalism, where he showcases his writing skills, ultimately leading to an early career in politics under Tony Dimond, who encourages him in his political aspirations.
- 00:30:00 - 00:35:00
Bartlett's work as a personal secretary to Dimond in Washington D.C. reveals early experiences in politics, despite initial doubts about a government career amid rising living costs in the city.
- 00:35:00 - 00:40:00
Bartlett's transition from being a secretary to a government role is marked by personal challenges following his fatherβs death and unsuccessful mining ventures, establishing a narrative of perseverance and growth.
- 00:40:00 - 00:45:00
In 1937, Bartlett is appointed as Secretary of Alaska, a position he finds comfortable due to its few responsibilities, soon entangled in a scandal prompting the arrival of new governor Ernest Gruening, reshaping their ambitious political partnership in Alaska's development.
- 00:45:00 - 00:50:00
The significant impact of World War II is portrayed through political and infrastructural advancements in Alaska, laying the groundwork for statehood; Bartlett rises again as a pivotal player following historical events.
- 00:50:00 - 00:56:43
As political tides shift, Alaska's statehood becomes a pressing issue, illustrating Bartlett's increasing prominence and effectiveness in garnering support amidst personal challenges in health and politics.
Peta Pikiran
Video Tanya Jawab
Who was Bob Bartlett?
Bob Bartlett was a prominent Alaskan politician who served as a territorial delegate and later as a U.S. Senator, playing a key role in Alaska's statehood.
What were Bob Bartlett's major contributions?
He was instrumental in the passage of the Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act and the Bartlett Act, which required federal buildings to be wheelchair accessible.
How did Bob Bartlett influence Alaska's statehood?
Bartlett advocated for statehood and was a key figure in the political efforts that led to Alaska becoming the 49th state in 1959.
What challenges did Bob Bartlett face in his career?
He faced challenges such as being a non-voting delegate in Congress and later health issues that affected his political career.
What was Bob Bartlett's relationship with Lyndon Johnson?
Bartlett had a strong working relationship with President Lyndon Johnson, which helped secure federal assistance for Alaska.
How did Bob Bartlett's personality affect his political career?
His affable nature and ability to connect with people made him well-liked and effective in building relationships in Congress.
What was the significance of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in relation to Bartlett?
Bartlett's colleague, Ernest Gruening, opposed the resolution, highlighting the differing political views between them.
What was the impact of the 1964 Alaska earthquake on Bartlett's career?
Bartlett played a significant role in coordinating federal disaster response efforts after the earthquake.
How did Bob Bartlett's health affect his political career?
His declining health and need for surgery ultimately impacted his ability to campaign and serve effectively.
What legacy did Bob Bartlett leave behind?
Bartlett is remembered for his dedication to Alaskans, his legislative achievements, and his role in Alaska's statehood.
Lihat lebih banyak ringkasan video
Essential Enlightenment: What was the Enlightenment?
Metode Penelitian Kuantitatif | Prof. Dr. Sugiyono, M.Pd #6
Materi Teks Drama
Sermon - Trust in the One, Appointed Shepherd (Ezekiel 34:11-16, 23, 24)
The 5 Compounds that Detoxify & Protect the Brain (neuroprotectants) - Dr. Sherr
4.1 Encapsulation - Teori
- 00:00:00>> female announcer:
- 00:00:01THIS PROGRAM SUPPORTED BY
- 00:00:02NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY.
- 00:00:03FOR 164 YEARS, PROVIDING
- 00:00:05FINANCIAL STRENGTH TO HELP
- 00:00:07TAKE CARE OF LOVED ONES.
- 00:00:08NEW YORK LIFE,
- 00:00:09THE COMPANY YOU KEEP.
- 00:00:11LOCAL AGENT INFORMATION IS
- 00:00:12AVAILABLE AT NEWYORKLIKE.COM.
- 00:00:14ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
- 00:00:16THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA,
- 00:00:18WITH 16 CAMPUSES FROM
- 00:00:20KETCHIKAN TO KOTZEBUE.
- 00:00:21DETAILS AT:
- 00:00:24AND BY:
- 00:00:33>> THIS IS BOB BARTLETT,
- 00:00:35YOUR DELEGATE IN CONGRESS.
- 00:00:37HOWEVER, I'M NOT APPEARING
- 00:00:39BEFORE YOU TODAY
- 00:00:40IN THAT CAPACITY.
- 00:00:42I'M HERE AS A CAMPAIGNER.
- 00:00:44DURING THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS,
- 00:00:47I'VE BEEN ON TV OUT HERE IN
- 00:00:49THE STATES A GOOD MANY TIMES,
- 00:00:51BUT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME
- 00:00:52I'VE EVER MADE A CAMPAIGN FILM
- 00:00:54FOR TV.
- 00:00:56PROGRESS HAS SURELY COME
- 00:00:57UP NORTH.
- 00:01:08>> DAVID CULHANE IN BOSTON AND
- 00:01:10BILL ELDER IN NEW ORLEANS.
- 00:01:13>> GOOD EVENING.
- 00:01:14PRESIDENT-ELECT RICHARD NIXON...
- 00:01:15>> narrator: THE EVENING NEWS
- 00:01:16FOR DECEMBER 11, 1968,
- 00:01:19REPORTED AN AIRLINER EN ROUTE TO
- 00:01:21MIAMI WAS HIJACKED TO CUBA.
- 00:01:23>> IN OFFICIAL CAPACITY...
- 00:01:25>> narrator: PRESIDENT-ELECT
- 00:01:26RICHARD NIXON ANNOUNCED HIS NEW
- 00:01:27CABINET MEMBERS,
- 00:01:29AND IN PARIS, DELEGATIONS FROM
- 00:01:31NORTH VIETNAM AND THE
- 00:01:32UNITED STATES WERE STILL
- 00:01:33DEADLOCKED OVER THE SHAPE
- 00:01:35OF A TABLE FOR PEACE TALKS.
- 00:01:39BUT THERE WAS ANOTHER STORY
- 00:01:41MOST NEWS SERVICES MISSED.
- 00:01:43LATE THAT DAY, ONE OF AMERICA'S
- 00:01:45LEADING LAWMAKERS DIED
- 00:01:47UNEXPECTEDLY.
- 00:01:50HE WAS AN INFLUENTIAL,
- 00:01:51RESPECTED CONGRESSIONAL LEADER
- 00:01:53AND ACKNOWLEDGED AS BEING ONE
- 00:01:55OF THE MOST LIKABLE
- 00:01:56PERSONALITIES ON CAPITOL HILL.
- 00:01:59HE WAS SENATOR EDWARD LEWIS
- 00:02:01BOB BARTLETT OF ALASKA,
- 00:02:04THE ONE PERSON MOST RESPONSIBLE
- 00:02:06FOR ADDING A 49TH STATE TO THE
- 00:02:08AMERICAN UNION.
- 00:02:10TODAY WE RARELY THINK OF
- 00:02:12POLITICIANS AS HEROES, BUT
- 00:02:14BOB BARTLETT WAS THE REAL THING.
- 00:02:22HIS STORY IS A REAL-LIFE
- 00:02:23VERSION OF HOLLYWOOD'S
- 00:02:25MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
- 00:02:27BUT ONE THAT BEGINS IN A GOLD
- 00:02:29MINING TOWN IN FRONTIER ALASKA.
- 00:02:36>> BOB BARTLETT WAS ONE OF THOSE
- 00:02:37GUYS THAT IT WOULD TAKE HIM TWO
- 00:02:38HOURS TO TAKE A 15-MINUTE WALK
- 00:02:41BECAUSE HE TALKED TO EVERYBODY,
- 00:02:43AND I THINK THAT WAS HIS
- 00:02:45SUCCESS.
- 00:02:47>> THIS GUY WHO DIED TOO YOUNG
- 00:02:49AND WHO REALLY LEFT KIND OF AN
- 00:02:52INCREDIBLE HUMAN LEGACY
- 00:02:55THAT'S NOT THE TYPICAL
- 00:02:56POLITICAL STORY.
- 00:03:00>> IF THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT
- 00:03:02BOB COULD DO TO MAKE LIFE BETTER
- 00:03:03FOR ALASKANS, WHETHER IT WAS IN
- 00:03:06WASHINGTON, D.C., WHETHER IT WAS
- 00:03:07SHOVELING SNOW ON A SIDEWALK;
- 00:03:09IT DIDN'T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE
- 00:03:11TO BOB BARTLETT.
- 00:03:13IF HE COULD MAKE LIFE BETTER
- 00:03:14FOR SOMEBODY ELSE, THAT'S WHAT
- 00:03:16HE WAS ABOUT.
- 00:03:20>> HE REPRESENTED OLD ALASKA.
- 00:03:23WHEN WE HAD SO MUCH TO FIGHT
- 00:03:27FOR, WE WERE MORE TOGETHER.
- 00:03:39>> narrator: THE BOB BARTLETT
- 00:03:40STORY BEGINS WITH GOLD.
- 00:03:43IT WAS THE KLONDIKE GOLD RUSH,
- 00:03:45AND BARTLETT'S FATHER WORKED
- 00:03:46IN THE YUKON TERRITORY, HAULING
- 00:03:48FREIGHT WITH HORSES AND MULES.
- 00:03:51HE MARRIED THE CAMP COOK, AND
- 00:03:53TOGETHER, BOB'S PARENTS MOVED
- 00:03:54TO FAIRBANKS, IN THE HEART OF
- 00:03:56ALASKA TERRITORY.
- 00:03:59>> IT WAS NOT A HUGELY
- 00:04:01PROSPEROUS COMMUNITY, BUT IT
- 00:04:03WAS NOT A DESPERATELY POOR
- 00:04:04COMMUNITY.
- 00:04:06YOU KNOW, PEOPLE IN FAIRBANKS
- 00:04:07WERE KIND OF MUDDLING ALONG.
- 00:04:09THERE WAS A GOOD, SOLID BASE
- 00:04:11OF AN ECONOMY, PRIMARILY
- 00:04:14BOTTOM-DOLLAR GOLD MINING.
- 00:04:17>> narrator: BY THE TIME BOB
- 00:04:18BARTLETT WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL,
- 00:04:20THE GOLD RUSH HAD SLOWED,
- 00:04:22AND JOBS WERE SCARCE.
- 00:04:28STILL, BOB MANAGED TO GET HIS
- 00:04:30FOOT IN THE DOOR AT THE TOWN'S
- 00:04:31LEADING PAPER,
- 00:04:33THE FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER.
- 00:04:35HE WAS A SKILLED WRITER AND
- 00:04:36DRAWN TO REPORTING.
- 00:04:38>> HE JUST LOVED THE WRITTEN
- 00:04:39WORD.
- 00:04:41I WOULDN'T SAY IT WAS AN
- 00:04:42OBSESSION, BUT IT WAS A METHOD
- 00:04:45OF EXPRESSION FOR HIM THAT WAS
- 00:04:49VERY SATISFYING.
- 00:04:53HE FELT THAT HE COULD
- 00:04:54COMMUNICATE VERY WELL IN THE
- 00:04:55WRITTEN WORD, AND SO STARTING
- 00:04:57OUT ON THE NEWSPAPER WAS GOOD
- 00:04:58FOR HIM.
- 00:05:03>> narrator: BOB HAD A CHILDHOOD
- 00:05:04SWEETHEART.
- 00:05:05HER NAME WAS VIDE GAUSTAD.
- 00:05:08>> WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL TOGETHER,
- 00:05:10AND SHE HELPED HIM WITH VARIOUS
- 00:05:12LESSONS, AND THEN SHE WAS BOUND
- 00:05:16FOR COLLEGE.
- 00:05:19BUT HE LIKED HER A LOT,
- 00:05:20AND BOB FOLLOWED HER TO
- 00:05:22UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- 00:05:24AND CALIFORNIA, AND VIDE
- 00:05:26FINALLY DECIDED TO SUCCUMB
- 00:05:28TO HIS ENTREATIES AND TO
- 00:05:29MARRY HIM.
- 00:05:32>> narrator: IN THE SUMMER
- 00:05:32OF 1930, BOB AND VIDE WERE
- 00:05:35MARRIED IN VALDEZ.
- 00:05:37ONLY TWO PEOPLE WITNESSED
- 00:05:39THE CEREMONY, THEIR FRIEND
- 00:05:40TONY DIMOND AND HIS WIFE.
- 00:05:45DIMOND WAS A LAWYER FROM
- 00:05:46VALDEZ, AND IN MANY WAYS, HE WAS
- 00:05:48BARTLETT'S POLITICAL MENTOR.
- 00:05:51THEIR PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL
- 00:05:52FRIENDSHIP WAS IMPORTANT IN
- 00:05:54SHAPING BARTLETT'S FUTURE.
- 00:05:59DIMOND WAS ONE OF THE FIRST
- 00:06:01ALASKA POLITICIANS TO USE AIR
- 00:06:02TRAVEL FOR CAMPAIGNING.
- 00:06:04ON ONE TRIP, HE LANDED A SMALL
- 00:06:06FLOATPLANE ON THE RIVER THAT
- 00:06:07RUNS THROUGH THE HEART OF
- 00:06:08FAIRBANKS.
- 00:06:11HE STEPPED FROM THE AIRPLANE
- 00:06:12AND ACCIDENTALLY WALKED
- 00:06:13STRAIGHT INTO THE PLANE'S
- 00:06:15STILL-SPINNING PROPELLER.
- 00:06:19ITS FORCE PITCHED HIM INTO THE
- 00:06:20RIVER, AND AT FIRST, BYSTANDERS
- 00:06:22BELIEVED HE WAS KILLED.
- 00:06:25WHEN RESCUERS EVENTUALLY FOUND
- 00:06:26DIMOND, HE WAS ALIVE WITH ONLY
- 00:06:28AN INJURED ARM.
- 00:06:31BOB BARTLETT THOUGHT THE DRAMA
- 00:06:32OF TONY DIMOND'S BARNSTORMING
- 00:06:34ACCIDENT WOULD APPEAL TO
- 00:06:35READERS IN THE STATES.
- 00:06:37AND SURE ENOUGH, THE NEW YORK
- 00:06:38TIMES BOUGHT HIS STORY AND ALSO
- 00:06:40ASKED FOR A REPORT ON THE
- 00:06:41ALASKA ELECTION CAMPAIGN.
- 00:06:44BARTLETT CALLED ALASKA
- 00:06:46A CROSS SECTION OF AMERICA.
- 00:06:48HE PREDICTED ALASKA AND THE
- 00:06:50WHOLE COUNTRY WOULD VOTE
- 00:06:51DEMOCRAT AND SEND ROOSEVELT
- 00:06:53TO THE WHITE HOUSE.
- 00:06:56BARTLETT'S PREDICTION SEEMED
- 00:06:57FAR-FETCHED, BUT SEVERAL MONTHS
- 00:06:59LATER, HE WAS PROVED CORRECT ON
- 00:07:01ALL COUNTS.
- 00:07:04>> THE DEPRESSION JUST SO
- 00:07:05THOROUGHLY DISCREDITED THE
- 00:07:07REPUBLICAN PARTY IN THE
- 00:07:09UNITED STATES; IT'S REALLY HARD
- 00:07:11TO SORT OF APPRECIATE HOW BAD
- 00:07:13THINGS GOT, ACTUALLY, IN 1932.
- 00:07:16THAT WAS, OF COURSE, THE
- 00:07:17ARRIVAL OF TONY DIMOND AND,
- 00:07:18ULTIMATELY, BOB BARTLETT.
- 00:07:28>> narrator: IT WAS 1933.
- 00:07:30ROOSEVELT'S NEW DEAL WAS ON THE
- 00:07:32HORIZON, AND TONY DIMOND WAS IN
- 00:07:34WASHINGTON AS ALASKA'S
- 00:07:36TERRITORIAL DELEGATE.
- 00:07:40DIMOND CHOSE BOB BARTLETT TO
- 00:07:41JOIN HIM IN D.C. TO SERVE AS HIS
- 00:07:43PERSONAL SECRETARY.
- 00:07:46AND SO WHEN CONGRESS BEGAN ITS
- 00:07:48NEW SESSION, BOB AND VIDE WERE
- 00:07:51ON THEIR WAY TO WASHINGTON.
- 00:08:02WHEN THEY FINALLY ARRIVED AT
- 00:08:03UNION STATION, STILL CLUTCHING
- 00:08:05THEIR SUITCASES, THEY SAW THE
- 00:08:07CAPITOL BUILDING FOR THE FIRST
- 00:08:08TIME.
- 00:08:11YEARS LATER, VIDE SAID SHARING
- 00:08:13THAT MOMENT WAS ONE OF THE MOST
- 00:08:15THRILLING MEMORIES OF HER LIFE.
- 00:08:19UNFORTUNATELY, THE PRACTICAL
- 00:08:21CHALLENGES OF A LIFE IN
- 00:08:23WASHINGTON, D.C., WERE
- 00:08:24LESS ENCHANTING.
- 00:08:25ALTHOUGH WORKING FOR
- 00:08:26TONY DIMOND WAS EXCITING AND
- 00:08:28CHALLENGING, BOB WASN'T SURE
- 00:08:30GOVERNMENT SERVICE WAS A VIABLE
- 00:08:32CAREER.
- 00:08:33HE WAS TAKING HOME ABOUT THE
- 00:08:35SAME SALARY AS HE HAD IN
- 00:08:36FAIRBANKS, BUT HIS LIVING
- 00:08:38EXPENSES HAD TRIPLED SINCE
- 00:08:40MOVING TO WASHINGTON.
- 00:08:45THE BARTLETTS STAYED IN D.C.
- 00:08:47JUST 18 MONTHS BEFORE MOVING
- 00:08:48BACK NORTH WITH THEIR
- 00:08:49BABY GIRL, DORIS ANN.
- 00:08:51BOB HAD LANDED A NEW JOB WITH
- 00:08:54THE FEDERAL HOUSING AUTHORITY
- 00:08:55IN ALASKA.
- 00:08:59BOB WAS WORKING IN JUNEAU
- 00:09:01DURING THE SUMMER OF 1935 WHEN
- 00:09:03HE GOT WORD THAT HIS FATHER HAD
- 00:09:05DIED SUDDENLY WHILE WORKING HIS
- 00:09:07GOLD CLAIMS NORTH OF FAIRBANKS.
- 00:09:12>> SO BOB WENT BACK TO THE MINE
- 00:09:16AND WAS VERY UNSUCCESSFUL.
- 00:09:18HE DID NOT DO WELL.
- 00:09:20I DON'T KNOW WHETHER IT WAS THE
- 00:09:21LACK OF WATER, WHAT IT WAS, BUT
- 00:09:24IN ANY EVENT, IT WAS NOT A VERY
- 00:09:27SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISE.
- 00:09:31>> HE DIDN'T COME OUT DEAD
- 00:09:32BROKE; YOU KNOW, HE JUST CAME
- 00:09:33OUT BROKE.
- 00:09:35[laughs]
- 00:09:36SO HE KNEW THAT GOLD MINING WAS
- 00:09:38A REALLY TOUGH WAY TO MAKE A
- 00:09:40LIVING, AND HE KNEW IT FROM
- 00:09:41AN EARLY, EARLY AGE.
- 00:09:45>> narrator: BY 1937,
- 00:09:47CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATE
- 00:09:48TONY DIMOND WAS AGAIN
- 00:09:50BOB BARTLETT'S ADVOCATE.
- 00:09:52BOTH HE AND TERRITORIAL
- 00:09:53GOVERNOR JOHN TROY RECOMMENDED
- 00:09:55BOB FOR AN ADMINISTRATIVE POST
- 00:09:56WITH THE DEPARTMENT
- 00:09:57OF THE INTERIOR,
- 00:09:58SECRETARY OF ALASKA.
- 00:10:01>> IT WAS THE EQUIVALENT OF
- 00:10:02LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR.
- 00:10:04HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SEAL
- 00:10:07OF ALASKA AND ELECTIONS,
- 00:10:09AND THAT WAS IT.
- 00:10:11IT WAS A POSITION THAT PAID
- 00:10:13FAIRLY WELL, ACCORDING TO THE
- 00:10:15STANDARDS OF THE TIME, AND HAD
- 00:10:17VERY FEW RESPONSIBILITIES, AND
- 00:10:19THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT BOB
- 00:10:21REALLY LIKED.
- 00:10:24HE WASN'T VERY INDUSTRIOUS AT
- 00:10:27THAT POINT.
- 00:10:28IT JUST--IT WAS LIKE A JOB
- 00:10:30MADE FOR HIM.
- 00:10:33>> narrator: NOT LONG AFTER
- 00:10:34BARTLETT BEGAN WORKING AS
- 00:10:35SECRETARY OF ALASKA,
- 00:10:36A CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST SCANDAL
- 00:10:38RESULTED IN BOTH
- 00:10:39ALASKA'S TERRITORIAL GOVERNOR
- 00:10:41JOHN TROY AND HIS
- 00:10:42PERSONAL SECRETARY RESIGNING
- 00:10:44THEIR POSITIONS.
- 00:10:46THE ROOSEVELT ADMINISTRATION
- 00:10:48APPOINTED A NEW
- 00:10:49TERRITORIAL GOVERNOR.
- 00:10:50HE WAS ERNEST GRUENING.
- 00:10:54>> YOU KNOW, THE ARRIVAL OF
- 00:10:55ERNEST GRUENING IN 1939 BROUGHT
- 00:10:58THREE THINGS TOGETHER.
- 00:10:59IT WAS THE RIGHT MAN IN THE
- 00:11:00RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME.
- 00:11:06>> FDR, IN ESSENCE, SAID,
- 00:11:08"YOU KNOW, ERNEST,
- 00:11:09YOU GO AND PULL ALASKA
- 00:11:11INTO THE 20TH CENTURY, AND
- 00:11:12BRING IT INTO THE NEW DEAL."
- 00:11:15AND GRUENING WORKED HARD IN
- 00:11:16DOING JUST THAT, AND HE MADE
- 00:11:19BARTLETT HIS EQUAL IN THAT
- 00:11:23ENDEAVOR.
- 00:11:24>> narrator: THEIR DIVERSE
- 00:11:25BACKGROUNDS AND STYLES MADE
- 00:11:27A DYNAMIC COMBINATION:
- 00:11:29THE OVERBEARING, INTELLECTUAL
- 00:11:30WASHINGTON INSIDER AND THE
- 00:11:32CALM, CAPABLE ALASKAN.
- 00:11:35ERNEST GRUENING IMPRESSED
- 00:11:36BOB BARTLETT, AND BOB WAS
- 00:11:38A USEFUL ALLY FOR GRUENING.
- 00:11:40>> I THINK THERE WAS A MUTUAL
- 00:11:44RESPECT.
- 00:11:45HE WAS STIMULATED BY GRUENING'S
- 00:11:47MIND AND WRITING AND SO FORTH,
- 00:11:51BUT HE DIDN'T HAVE THE KIND OF
- 00:11:53PERSONALITY THAT BOB HAD.
- 00:11:55HE WAS YOUR FRIEND IMMEDIATELY,
- 00:11:56WHEREAS ERNEST GRUENING WANTED
- 00:11:59TO BE, BUT IT WAS NOT HIS
- 00:12:02NATURE TO.
- 00:12:04>> narrator: THEY WERE AN
- 00:12:05IMPOSING TEAM, AND THEIR
- 00:12:07EFFECTIVENESS RAISED THE STATURE
- 00:12:09OF BOTH THEIR POSITIONS.
- 00:12:12>> THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF
- 00:12:14ALASKA WAS MOSTLY JUST A NAME
- 00:12:17BEFORE BOB BARTLETT BECAME IT.
- 00:12:22>> narrator: AND UNTIL
- 00:12:23ERNEST GRUENING, THE JOB OF
- 00:12:24GOVERNOR HAD BEEN RELATIVELY
- 00:12:26INSIGNIFICANT.
- 00:12:28>> YOU KNOW, AS A GOVERNOR,
- 00:12:30GRUENING IS NOT ONLY HEAD
- 00:12:33AND SHOULDERS; HE'S HEAD,
- 00:12:35SHOULDERS, STOMACH, WAIST, AND
- 00:12:36FEET ABOVE EVERY OTHER GOVERNOR
- 00:12:38OF ALASKA IN ALASKAN HISTORY.
- 00:12:41MATTER OF FACT, YOU KNOW,
- 00:12:42GRUENING DID MORE HIMSELF AS
- 00:12:44GOVERNOR AND MADE MORE OF AN
- 00:12:45IMPACT THAN ALL THE OTHER
- 00:12:47GOVERNORS OF ALASKA PROBABLY
- 00:12:49COMBINED IN TERRITORIAL DAYS--
- 00:12:51ALL OF THEM.
- 00:12:53THE REASON GRUENING WAS AN
- 00:12:54INTENSELY POLARIZING FIGURE WAS
- 00:12:56THAT NO GOVERNOR BEFORE HIM AND,
- 00:12:59REALLY, NO ONE AFTER HIM EVER
- 00:13:01MADE AS MUCH USE OF WHAT WAS,
- 00:13:05IN ESSENCE, A PRETTY MEASLY
- 00:13:07ADMINISTRATIVE POST:
- 00:13:09GOVERNOR OF ALASKA...
- 00:13:10UNTIL 1939 AND ERNEST GRUENING
- 00:13:14COMES ALONG, AND THEN EVERYTHING
- 00:13:16CHANGES.
- 00:13:29>> COMPLETED MONTHS AHEAD OF
- 00:13:30SCHEDULE, THE NEW 1,600-MILE
- 00:13:32ALCAN HIGHWAY SEES THE FIRST
- 00:13:34TRUCK CONVOY BEGIN TO ROLL:
- 00:13:36A NEW NORTHWEST PASSAGE LINKING
- 00:13:37THE UNITED STATES WITH ALASKA...
- 00:13:41>> narrator: A ROAD LINKING
- 00:13:41ALASKA TO THE CONTIGUOUS
- 00:13:43UNITED STATES WAS LIKELY
- 00:13:45UNIMAGINABLE TO BOB BARTLETT
- 00:13:47WHEN HE FIRST ARRIVED IN JUNEAU,
- 00:13:49BUT THAT WAS BEFORE NAZI GERMANY
- 00:13:50INVADED POLAND AND WAR BEGAN
- 00:13:52IN EUROPE.
- 00:13:54AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT WAS
- 00:13:55BEFORE THE JAPANESE ATTACKED
- 00:13:57PEARL HARBOR.
- 00:14:01>> I THINK, PSYCHOLOGICALLY, IT
- 00:14:03WAS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT
- 00:14:05THING THAT CAME OUT OF THE WAR,
- 00:14:07WAS THE LAND LINK THAT MADE
- 00:14:10ALASKA CONTIGUOUS, IN A SENSE,
- 00:14:13TO THE REST OF THE
- 00:14:13UNITED STATES.
- 00:14:14>> narrator: ALTHOUGH EUROPE
- 00:14:15SEEMED RELATIVELY FAR AWAY FROM
- 00:14:17ALASKA, JAPAN SEEMED
- 00:14:19UNCOMFORTABLY CLOSE.
- 00:14:22>> IMMEDIATELY WHEN THE WAR
- 00:14:24BROKE OUT, JUNEAU ARMED ITSELF,
- 00:14:28SO TO SPEAK.
- 00:14:29WE FORMED CITIZEN SOLDIERS WHO
- 00:14:32PACED THE STREETS AT NIGHT.
- 00:14:36EVERYBODY HAD A HUNTING RIFLE,
- 00:14:38AND ALL OF US PATROLLED WITH
- 00:14:40IT TO BE SURE THAT WE WERE NOT
- 00:14:44GONNA BE ATTACKED.
- 00:14:46>> narrator: ALASKA'S FEARS WERE
- 00:14:47REALIZED WHEN JAPANESE BOMBERS
- 00:14:49ATTACKED A U.S. NAVAL BASE
- 00:14:51AT ALASKA'S DUTCH HARBOR
- 00:14:52IN JUNE OF 1942.
- 00:14:56THREE DAYS LATER, JAPANESE
- 00:14:58GROUND FORCES SEIZED THE
- 00:14:59ALEUTIAN ISLANDS OF ATTU
- 00:15:01AND KISKA.
- 00:15:10>> MORE GROUND WAS TURNED OVER
- 00:15:12DURING WORLD WAR II BY THE
- 00:15:13MILITARY AND ARMY ENGINEERS AND
- 00:15:16CONTRACTORS WORKING FOR THE
- 00:15:17MILITARY THAN ALL OF THE GOLD
- 00:15:19RUSH PERIOD COMBINED, BY EVERY
- 00:15:21PICK-AND-SHOVEL MINER.
- 00:15:22YOU PUT THEM ALL TOGETHER,
- 00:15:23MORE DIRT GOT MOVED IN THE '40s
- 00:15:25FOR MILITARY DEFENSE PURPOSES,
- 00:15:29AND THAT LAID THE FOUNDATION
- 00:15:30FOR THE STATE OF ALASKA.
- 00:15:32>> narrator: IN 1943,
- 00:15:34TONY DIMOND WROTE TO BARTLETT
- 00:15:36TO SAY HE PLANNED TO RESIGN FROM
- 00:15:37CONGRESS BEFORE THE NEXT
- 00:15:38ELECTION.
- 00:15:40A FEDERAL JUDGESHIP WAS
- 00:15:41AVAILABLE IN ALASKA, AND DIMOND
- 00:15:43WANTED TO COME HOME.
- 00:15:46WHEN NEWS OF DIMOND'S
- 00:15:48RESIGNATION BECAME PUBLIC,
- 00:15:49GRUENING WAS ENTHUSIASTIC.
- 00:15:52HE IMAGINED BARTLETT AS HIS
- 00:15:53PERSONAL LINK TO WASHINGTON AND
- 00:15:55URGED TONY DIMOND TO ENDORSE
- 00:15:57HIM.
- 00:16:00DIMOND PUBLICLY BACKED BARTLETT
- 00:16:02BEFORE BOB HAD EVEN DECIDED
- 00:16:03TO RUN.
- 00:16:04>> BOB WAS HORRIFIED
- 00:16:06ALL OF A SUDDEN TO FIND HIMSELF
- 00:16:08A CANDIDATE, BUT HE WAS IN A
- 00:16:10POSITION WHERE HE COULD NOT SAY
- 00:16:13NO, BECAUSE GRUENING HAD
- 00:16:14NOTIFIED DIMOND THAT BARTLETT
- 00:16:18HAD AGREED TO RUN FOR THE
- 00:16:19DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION.
- 00:16:22>> HE KNEW HE COULD DO THE JOB.
- 00:16:23THERE WAS NO QUESTION
- 00:16:24ABOUT THAT.
- 00:16:26BUT THE CAMPAIGN AND THE IDEA
- 00:16:30OF NOT WINNING WERE SPECTERS
- 00:16:34IN FRONT OF HIM, UP UNTIL THE
- 00:16:36VERY MOMENT THAT HE FINALLY
- 00:16:38FILED.
- 00:16:42>> narrator: ONLY MINUTES BEFORE
- 00:16:43THE 5:00 DEADLINE, BARTLETT
- 00:16:45STEPPED INTO THE RECORDER'S
- 00:16:46OFFICE TO FILE HIS CANDIDACY FOR
- 00:16:49THE OFFICE OF ALASKA TERRITORIAL
- 00:16:50DELEGATE TO CONGRESS.
- 00:16:57ALTHOUGH FACE-TO-FACE, HE WAS
- 00:16:58WARM AND PERSONABLE, BARTLETT
- 00:17:00WAS AWKWARD WITH PUBLIC
- 00:17:01SPEAKING.
- 00:17:03HE WROTE EXCEPTIONAL SPEECHES,
- 00:17:05BUT HE HAD TROUBLE
- 00:17:06READING HIS NOTES, AND YOU
- 00:17:08COULD TELL HE JUST WASN'T
- 00:17:09COMFORTABLE.
- 00:17:11>> WE WOULD HAVE LAUGHING FITS
- 00:17:14AT HIS FIRST SPEECHES, YOU KNOW,
- 00:17:16BECAUSE THEY WERE--THE WORDS
- 00:17:19WERE WONDERFUL, BUT IT'D BE
- 00:17:21SO STILTED.
- 00:17:23IT WAS AGONY FOR HIM.
- 00:17:28>> narrator: BARTLETT'S FIRST
- 00:17:29SPEECH RAISED THE TWO MAJOR
- 00:17:30ISSUES HE INTENDED TO PURSUE IN
- 00:17:32CONGRESS: STATEHOOD FOR ALASKA
- 00:17:35AND ABOLISHING FISH TRAPS.
- 00:17:37BARTLETT RECOGNIZED BOTH WOULD
- 00:17:39HIT HOME WITH MANY ALASKANS.
- 00:17:49THE ELECTION WAS THE FIRST IN A
- 00:17:51SERIES OF LANDSLIDE VICTORIES
- 00:17:53FOR BARTLETT.
- 00:17:54HE BEAT REPUBLICAN JOHN MANDERS
- 00:17:56BY A TWO-TO-ONE MARGIN TO
- 00:17:57BECOME ALASKA'S NEWEST DELEGATE
- 00:17:59TO CONGRESS.
- 00:18:03BOB WAS HEADING BACK
- 00:18:05TO WASHINGTON.
- 00:18:08IN JUST FIVE YEARS, HE'D MOVED
- 00:18:10FROM GOLD MINING NEAR THE ARCTIC
- 00:18:12CIRCLE TO SERVING AS ALASKA'S
- 00:18:14DELEGATE TO THE CONGRESS
- 00:18:15OF THE UNITED STATES.
- 00:18:18[somber brass music]
- 00:18:19βͺ βͺ
- 00:18:24>> EVERYONE I MET SAID THAT BOB
- 00:18:27WAS THE MOST LIKED MEMBER
- 00:18:29OF THE CONGRESS.
- 00:18:33PARTISANSHIP MAY NOT HAVE BEEN
- 00:18:34AS MUCH AN ISSUE BACK THEN.
- 00:18:36SENIORITY WAS.
- 00:18:37AND SINCE BOB HAD NONE, BECAUSE
- 00:18:41TERRITORIAL DELEGATES HAD NONE,
- 00:18:43HE WAS NEITHER ABOVE OR BELOW--
- 00:18:47WELL, HE WAS BELOW EVERYBODY
- 00:18:49ELSE IN THE CONGRESS.
- 00:18:51HE DIDN'T HAVE A VOTE,
- 00:18:53SO HE COULDN'T SPOIL ANYBODY'S
- 00:18:57LEGISLATION.
- 00:18:58EVERYONE REALIZED HE COULDN'T
- 00:18:59BE FOR IT, BECAUSE HE HAD
- 00:19:01NO VOTE.
- 00:19:05HE HAD A VERY PLEASING
- 00:19:06PERSONALITY.
- 00:19:08PEOPLE LIKED HIM.
- 00:19:11"WHY DID SAM RAYBURN
- 00:19:12CHANGE HIS MIND?"
- 00:19:13"ALL I COULD GET WAS,
- 00:19:14HE LIKED BOB."
- 00:19:16"WHAT WAS THE ISSUE WITH
- 00:19:18LYNDON JOHNSON?"
- 00:19:19"HE LIKED BOB."
- 00:19:22>> narrator: ON JANUARY 3, 1945,
- 00:19:25BOB BARTLETT OF ALASKA TOOK HIS
- 00:19:26SEAT AS TERRITORIAL DELEGATE.
- 00:19:29BARTLETT WAS AN OFFICIAL MEMBER
- 00:19:30OF CONGRESS, BUT HIS POSITION
- 00:19:32HAD NO VOTING PRIVILEGES.
- 00:19:35>> YOU HAVE A FELLOW WHO HAS TO
- 00:19:38LEARN THE ART OF ACHIEVING
- 00:19:39SOMETHING WHEN HE CAN'T TRADE
- 00:19:41A VOTE.
- 00:19:42HE CAN'T--THERE'S NO QUID PRO
- 00:19:43QUO POSSIBLE, SO HE HAS TO DO IT
- 00:19:45BY DINT OF RELATIONSHIPS AND
- 00:19:48SUBSTANCE, BECAUSE HE CAN'T
- 00:19:50DO IT--HE'S NOT A HORSE TRADER.
- 00:19:52HE CAN'T BE A HORSE TRADER.
- 00:19:53HE'S GOT NOTHING TO TRADE.
- 00:19:56>> HE HAD A VERY PERCEPTIVE VIEW
- 00:19:59OF WHAT THE INTEREST OF EACH
- 00:20:01MEMBER WAS, AND HE COULD SPIN
- 00:20:06IT TO HIS ADVANTAGE IN TRYING
- 00:20:09TO EXPLAIN THE IMPORTANCE OF
- 00:20:12THAT LEGISLATION TO A MEMBER,
- 00:20:14EVEN IF YOU WERE FROM IOWA.
- 00:20:19>> narrator: ALASKA WAS
- 00:20:20REGULATED BY THE AMENDED ORGANIC
- 00:20:22ACT OF 1912, WHICH LIMITED ALL
- 00:20:25BRANCHES OF TERRITORIAL
- 00:20:26GOVERNMENT.
- 00:20:29>> ALASKA, AS A TERRITORY, WAS
- 00:20:32NEVER GRANTED THE ESSENTIAL
- 00:20:34HOME RULE PRIVILEGES ENJOYED
- 00:20:37BY EVERY OTHER TERRITORY IN THE
- 00:20:39HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.
- 00:20:41THE CONGRESS WOULD NEVER PERMIT
- 00:20:42US TO HAVE OUR OWN COURT SYSTEM.
- 00:20:44THE CONGRESS WOULD NEVER GIVE
- 00:20:46US ANY LAND.
- 00:20:48THE CONGRESS WOULD NEVER EVEN
- 00:20:49PERMIT US TO TAKE CARE OF OUR
- 00:20:51MENTALLY ILL.
- 00:20:53THE CONGRESS GAVE US,
- 00:20:54BACK IN 1912,
- 00:20:56THIS SO-CALLED ORGANIC ACT.
- 00:20:59BUT A READING OF THIS DOCUMENT
- 00:21:02PERSUADES ONE VERY SPEEDILY
- 00:21:04THAT IT'S A LAW, IF YOU PLEASE,
- 00:21:07OF LIMITATIONS RATHER THAN
- 00:21:09GRANTS, BECAUSE IT SAYS NOT
- 00:21:11SO OFTEN, "YOU MAY DO
- 00:21:13SO-AND-SO,"
- 00:21:14BUT "YOU CAN'T DO THIS
- 00:21:15AND THAT."
- 00:21:15>> BARTLETT WAS A OLD-FASHIONED
- 00:21:19LIBERAL DEMOCRAT, AND HE REALLY
- 00:21:22THOUGHT ALASKANS NEEDED TO HAVE
- 00:21:25A VOICE IN CONGRESS.
- 00:21:29THE AMERICAN IDEAL WAS HAVING A
- 00:21:31VOICE IN REPRESENTING YOURSELF,
- 00:21:34AND IT JUST SO HAPPENED TO TURN
- 00:21:37OUT THAT HE WAS ACTUALLY THAT
- 00:21:38VOICE FOR ALASKA, AND HE
- 00:21:40ARTICULATED THAT VISION BETTER
- 00:21:42THAN ANYONE ELSE.
- 00:21:43>> AS A DELEGATE, YOU'VE HAD NO
- 00:21:45VOTE, I THINK.
- 00:21:45IS THAT RIGHT?
- 00:21:46>> NO VOTE AT ALL.
- 00:21:47>> IS THAT VERY HARD, TO SIT
- 00:21:48THERE AND TALK AND LISTEN
- 00:21:50AND NOT VOTE?
- 00:21:51>> IT ISN'T HARD FOR ME
- 00:21:52AS A PERSON.
- 00:21:53IT'S HARD FOR ME, THOUGH,
- 00:21:54WHEN I CONTEMPLATE THAT
- 00:21:54THE PEOPLE I REPRESENT DON'T
- 00:21:55HAVE THE REPRESENTATION THEY'RE
- 00:21:57ENTITLED TO AS AMERICAN
- 00:21:58CITIZENS,
- 00:21:59BECAUSE WE PAY ALL THE
- 00:22:00FEDERAL TAXES THAT OTHER
- 00:22:01AMERICANS DO AND WE'RE BOUND BY
- 00:22:03ALL THE FEDERAL LAWS, AND YET WE
- 00:22:05DON'T HAVE THAT RIGHT TO VOTE.
- 00:22:07>> IT IS A CASE OF TAXATION
- 00:22:08WITHOUT REPRESENTATION, THEN--
- 00:22:09IS IT, THEN?
- 00:22:10>> WELL, PRECISELY.
- 00:22:11THAT'S JUST WHAT IT IS.
- 00:22:14>> narrator: EVERY TERRITORIAL
- 00:22:16DELEGATE, GOVERNOR, AND
- 00:22:17LEGISLATURE HAD FOUGHT FOR MORE
- 00:22:19AUTONOMY FOR ALASKA, AND EVERY
- 00:22:21ATTEMPT HAD FAILED.
- 00:22:26>> ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC
- 00:22:29EPISODES IN ALASKAN POLITICAL
- 00:22:32HISTORY, AND BARTLETT WAS
- 00:22:34THERE, WAS IN EARLY MAY 1954,
- 00:22:37WHEN A GROUP OF ALASKANS FROM
- 00:22:40OPERATION STATEHOOD, A LITTLE
- 00:22:43MORE THAN A DOZEN ALASKANS,
- 00:22:45FILED INTO THE OVAL OFFICE TO
- 00:22:47MAKE THE APPEAL TO EISENHOWER
- 00:22:50DIRECTLY TO SUPPORT ALASKA
- 00:22:51STATEHOOD.
- 00:22:53THE MAN WHO INTRODUCED IT WAS
- 00:22:54WALLY HICKEL, WHO WAS THE G.O.P.
- 00:22:57NATIONAL COMMITTEEMAN FOR
- 00:22:59ALASKA.
- 00:23:00BUT HE, AFTER A FEW
- 00:23:02PLEASANTRIES AND OPENED THE
- 00:23:03MEETING, TURNED IT OVER TO
- 00:23:04ALASKA TERRITORIAL SENATOR
- 00:23:07JOHNNY BUTROVICH, WHO'D GROWN UP
- 00:23:09WITH BARTLETT IN FAIRBANKS.
- 00:23:13AS BARTLETT DESCRIBES THE
- 00:23:14SCENE, THEY WERE IN A
- 00:23:16SEMICIRCLE AROUND THE FRONT OF
- 00:23:17EISENHOWER'S DESK, AND IKE WAS
- 00:23:19LEANING AGAINST THE FRONT OF
- 00:23:21THE DESK.
- 00:23:22AND IT STARTED VERY CORDIALLY,
- 00:23:23BUT BUTROVICH STARTED LAUNCHING
- 00:23:25IN TO WHY ALASKANS SHOULD NOT BE
- 00:23:28DENIED STATEHOOD.
- 00:23:30AND AS BARTLETT AND EVERYONE
- 00:23:32ELSE SAID AT THE TIME,
- 00:23:33EISENHOWER'S FACE GOT RED.
- 00:23:35FIRST IT GOT PINK.
- 00:23:36THEN IT GOT SORT OF DEEP PINK.
- 00:23:38AND THEN IT WAS REALLY,
- 00:23:39REALLY RED.
- 00:23:41AND BY THE TIME HE FINISHED
- 00:23:42TALKING, HE SAID, "I THOUGHT
- 00:23:44EISENHOWER WAS ON THE VERGE OF
- 00:23:45A STROKE AND THAT HE WAS GONNA
- 00:23:47HAVE A FIT OF APOPLEXY."
- 00:23:49HE WAS SO MAD AT BUTROVICH.
- 00:23:51THERE WAS SO MUCH CONFUSION
- 00:23:53AND MYSTERY SURROUNDING WHAT
- 00:23:54IKE'S REALLY TRUE BELIEFS WERE
- 00:23:57THAT THE ALASKANS FELT RELIEVED
- 00:23:59THAT FINALLY SOMEBODY HAD
- 00:24:00TALKED TO WHAT BARTLETT CALLED
- 00:24:02MR. BIG.
- 00:24:03HE SAID BUTROVICH TALKED
- 00:24:04TO MR. BIG.
- 00:24:05HE SAID HE LOOKED THE LEADER OF
- 00:24:06THE FREE WORLD STRAIGHT IN THE
- 00:24:07EYE, AND HE LET HIM HAVE IT.
- 00:24:09>> AND YET IT SEEMS TO ME,
- 00:24:11IF I'M RIGHT, THAT
- 00:24:12PRESIDENT EISENHOWER DIDN'T
- 00:24:13MENTION STATEHOOD FOR ALASKA IN
- 00:24:15HIS ANNUAL MESSAGE THIS YEAR OR
- 00:24:17LAST YEAR TO THE CONGRESS.
- 00:24:17IS THAT RIGHT?
- 00:24:18>> THAT IS TRUE, AND WE REGRET
- 00:24:20IT VERY MUCH.
- 00:24:21WE DON'T KNOW WHY THE
- 00:24:23ADMINISTRATION IS NOT NOW
- 00:24:25ENDORSING STATEHOOD FOR ALASKA.
- 00:24:27THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM CAME
- 00:24:29OUT FOR STATEHOOD FOR BOTH
- 00:24:31ALASKA AND HAWAII.
- 00:24:32PRESIDENT TRUMAN ENDORSED IT
- 00:24:35FOR BOTH TERRITORIES, AND WE
- 00:24:37HOPE THE ADMINISTRATION WILL
- 00:24:38COME AROUND TO THE VIEWPOINT
- 00:24:39THAT WE OUGHT TO HAVE
- 00:24:39STATEHOOD NOW.
- 00:24:41>> narrator: CONGRESS ADJOURNED
- 00:24:43IN SUMMER 1955 WITH ANOTHER OF
- 00:24:45BOB'S STATEHOOD BILLS BURIED IN
- 00:24:47THE HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE.
- 00:24:49THAT WINTER, A CONSTITUTIONAL
- 00:24:51CONVENTION ASSEMBLED IN
- 00:24:52FAIRBANKS, ALASKA.
- 00:24:54ITS DELEGATES WROTE A STATE
- 00:24:56CONSTITUTION AND ADOPTED
- 00:24:57A STRATEGY MODELED ON
- 00:24:59TENNESSEE'S BID FOR STATEHOOD.
- 00:25:01THEY SENT ELECTED
- 00:25:02REPRESENTATIVES TO CONGRESS
- 00:25:04TO REQUEST--OR DEMAND--
- 00:25:06RECOGNITION AS A STATE.
- 00:25:08THE TENNESSEE PLAN DREW
- 00:25:10NATIONAL ATTENTION TO ALASKA'S
- 00:25:11CAMPAIGN FOR STATEHOOD BUT NOT
- 00:25:13THE RESULT ALASKA HAD HOPED.
- 00:25:16STATEHOOD CRITICS CONTINUED
- 00:25:18TO PREVAIL.
- 00:25:19>> IN A CERTAIN WAY, MAYBE,
- 00:25:21THE CRITICS OF STATEHOOD WERE
- 00:25:23THE MOST HELPFUL TO ALASKA
- 00:25:24BECAUSE THEY QUESTIONED
- 00:25:25ALASKA'S ABILITY TO BE
- 00:25:27SELF-SUFFICIENT.
- 00:25:28THE RESULT WAS THE MOST
- 00:25:30GENEROUS PROVISIONS FOR LAND
- 00:25:31AND RESOURCES TO HELP
- 00:25:34THE NEW BABY WALK THAT ANY STATE
- 00:25:36HAD EVER SEEN.
- 00:25:37SO WE MAYBE WANT TO SOMEDAY
- 00:25:39TIP OUR HATS TO THOSE SKEPTICS
- 00:25:42WHO SAID THAT ALASKA COULDN'T
- 00:25:43MAKE IT ON ITS OWN.
- 00:25:45>> narrator: AND INITIALLY,
- 00:25:46THE SKEPTICS WERE NUMEROUS.
- 00:25:49>> MOST PEOPLE WHO COME TO
- 00:25:50CONGRESS WANT TO DO THE RIGHT
- 00:25:52THING.
- 00:25:53THEY HAVE A MR. SMITH GOES TO
- 00:25:55WASHINGTON ETHIC SOMEWHERE
- 00:25:58IN THERE THAT, "WHAT I CAME HERE
- 00:26:00FOR WAS TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY,
- 00:26:03FREEDOM, EQUALITY."
- 00:26:05WHAT I FOUND FROM WHEN I
- 00:26:06TALKED TO CONGRESSMEN WAS THAT
- 00:26:08MANY OF THEM SAID,
- 00:26:09"I INITIALLY KNEW NOTHING ABOUT
- 00:26:12ALASKA, SO I DIDN'T SEE WHY
- 00:26:13I SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN A VOTE
- 00:26:15FOR IT, BUT THEN SOMEONE CAME
- 00:26:18AND HAD A CHAT WITH ME, AND I
- 00:26:20BECAME CONVINCED THAT THIS WAS
- 00:26:22SOMETHING THAT OUGHT
- 00:26:23TO BE HAPPENING."
- 00:26:25>> narrator: THE CHANGES IN
- 00:26:26SENTIMENT WERE GRADUAL, BUT
- 00:26:28SUDDENLY, A MOUNTAIN MOVED.
- 00:26:30THE POWERFUL SPEAKER OF THE
- 00:26:32HOUSE, TEXAN SAM RAYBURN,
- 00:26:34DECIDED TO SUPPORT STATEHOOD
- 00:26:36FOR ALASKA.
- 00:26:37YEARS LATER, WHEN HE WAS ASKED
- 00:26:39WHAT MADE HIM CHANGE HIS MIND,
- 00:26:40SAM RAYBURN WAS BRIEF.
- 00:26:42"TWO WORDS," HE SAID,
- 00:26:44"BOB BARTLETT."
- 00:26:48EVEN PRESIDENT EISENHOWER BEGAN
- 00:26:50TO VOICE GRUDGING SUPPORT FOR
- 00:26:51ALASKA STATEHOOD.
- 00:26:53ONLY CHAIR OF THE HOUSE RULES
- 00:26:55COMMITTEE HOWARD SMITH
- 00:26:57CONTINUED HIS OPPOSITION.
- 00:26:59>> THE ANTI STATEHOODERS,
- 00:27:01LIKE HOWARD SMITH,
- 00:27:02WOULD SAY ANYTHING AND DO
- 00:27:03ANYTHING AND ADOPT VIRTUALLY
- 00:27:05ANY POSITION.
- 00:27:06THEY WANTED TO STOP STATEHOOD,
- 00:27:09PERIOD, FEARFUL THAT ALASKA
- 00:27:11WOULD BREAK THE HOLD
- 00:27:13OF THE SOLID SOUTH
- 00:27:15ON CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION.
- 00:27:17>> narrator: FED UP WITH THE
- 00:27:19DELAYS, ONE CALIFORNIA
- 00:27:20REPRESENTATIVE THREATENED SMITH
- 00:27:22WITH A LITTLE-USED BYPASS
- 00:27:23PROCEDURE THAT ALLOWED EACH
- 00:27:25MEMBER OF THE HOUSE TO HOLD
- 00:27:26THE FLOOR FOR A FULL HOUR.
- 00:27:29>> THIS WAS NOT CURRENTLY IN THE
- 00:27:31PROCEDURAL RULES OF THE HOUSE
- 00:27:33OF REPRESENTATIVES BECAUSE IT
- 00:27:34HAD BEEN OMITTED, 'CAUSE THERE
- 00:27:35WEREN'T GONNA BE ANY MORE
- 00:27:36STATES.
- 00:27:37BUT SOME RESEARCHERS WITH THE
- 00:27:39LIBRARY OF CONGRESS FOUND THAT
- 00:27:42THAT PROCEDURE HAD NEVER BEEN
- 00:27:44ELIMINATED.
- 00:27:46IT JUST WASN'T PRINTED IN THE
- 00:27:48CURRENT PROCEDURES BOOK.
- 00:27:51SO RAYBURN SAID, "OKAY,
- 00:27:54LET'S TRY THIS TECHNIQUE."
- 00:27:57>> narrator: ON THE 21ST OF MAY,
- 00:27:59SPEAKER AFTER SPEAKER
- 00:28:00TOOK TO THE FLOOR FOR AN HOUR
- 00:28:02APIECE TO ADDRESS THE ALASKA
- 00:28:04STATEHOOD BILL.
- 00:28:05FACING THE PROSPECT OF MORE THAN
- 00:28:07400 HOURS OF INDIVIDUAL
- 00:28:09SPEECHES, STATEHOOD OPPONENTS
- 00:28:11BACKED DOWN, ENDING THE DEBATE
- 00:28:13ON MONDAY, MAY 26TH.
- 00:28:18THE STATEHOOD BILL PASSED
- 00:28:20A FULL VOTE OF THE HOUSE
- 00:28:21OF REPRESENTATIVES.
- 00:28:24>> EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT
- 00:28:25SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS VOTE AGAINST
- 00:28:27EVERYTHING HAVING TO DO WITH
- 00:28:30STATEHOOD, THERE ARE NO OTHER
- 00:28:33NORMAL POLITICAL SIGNIFICANT
- 00:28:36FACTORS, LIKE BLUE COLLAR
- 00:28:37VERSUS WHITE COLLAR,
- 00:28:39RURAL VERSUS URBAN.
- 00:28:41THERE ARE NO SIGNIFICANT
- 00:28:42FACTORS EXCEPT FOR ONE, E.L.B.,
- 00:28:46THOSE PEOPLE WHO KNEW
- 00:28:48BOB BARTLETT.
- 00:28:51IT IS JUST ASTOUNDING.
- 00:28:53IT IS THE FONDNESS FOR BOB
- 00:28:55BARTLETT THAT IS THE MOST
- 00:28:57SIGNIFICANT FACTOR IN THE VOTES
- 00:29:01FOR ALASKA STATEHOOD.
- 00:29:04>> narrator: NOW IT WAS ON TO
- 00:29:05THE SENATE, WHERE MAJORITY
- 00:29:06LEADER LYNDON JOHNSON ASSURED
- 00:29:08BARTLETT THAT HE WAS READY TO
- 00:29:09PERMIT AN ALASKA STATEHOOD ACT
- 00:29:12TO REACH THE FLOOR FOR DEBATE
- 00:29:13AND VOTE.
- 00:29:14>> HE COMES OUT WITH A SMILE
- 00:29:15ON HIS FACE AND SAYS,
- 00:29:16"GUESS WHAT. WE'RE GONNA GET
- 00:29:17THIS THING VOTED ON."
- 00:29:21>> narrator: AT 8:02 EASTERN
- 00:29:22STANDARD TIME, THE SENATE ROLL
- 00:29:24CALL VOTE ENDED AND SPONTANEOUS
- 00:29:26APPLAUSE BROKE OUT.
- 00:29:31>> I HAVE A VERY CLEAR MEMORY OF
- 00:29:33JUNE THE 30TH, 1958.
- 00:29:36IMPRESSIONABLE YOUNG GUY IN THE
- 00:29:39GALLERY WHEN THE SENATE VOTES
- 00:29:40FOR STATEHOOD.
- 00:29:42THE ALASKANS IN WASHINGTON
- 00:29:44MOVED FROM THE GALLERY
- 00:29:47TO THE CAPITOL CHAPEL.
- 00:29:50THE MOST MOVING PART ABOUT IT
- 00:29:52WAS THAT NEVA EGAN SANG THE
- 00:29:55ALASKA FLAG SONG TO THIS
- 00:29:57ASSEMBLED GROUP.
- 00:29:58IT WAS A REALLY, REALLY
- 00:30:01IMPRESSIONABLE EVENT FOR ME
- 00:30:03TO BE THERE.
- 00:30:04>> narrator: BOB MISSED
- 00:30:05THAT MOMENT.
- 00:30:07HE'D RACED BACK TO HIS OFFICE
- 00:30:08AFTER THE SUCCESSFUL VOTE.
- 00:30:10ALTHOUGH WIRE SERVICES
- 00:30:11WERE BROADCASTING THE NEWS
- 00:30:13AROUND THE WORLD, BOB HAD
- 00:30:14PROMISED PEOPLE BACK HOME
- 00:30:15HE'D CALL IF THE BILL PASSED.
- 00:30:19HE WAS ON THE PHONE
- 00:30:21MOST OF THE NIGHT.
- 00:30:27[people cheering]
- 00:30:31>> WITH BLAZING HEADLINES,
- 00:30:32ALASKA NEWSPAPERS HERALDED THE
- 00:30:34CLIMAX OF AN AMERICAN DRAMA:
- 00:30:36THE CREATION OF A NEW STATE.
- 00:30:44THE WHITE HOUSE, JANUARY 3,
- 00:30:461959, BIRTHDAY OF THE FIRST NEW
- 00:30:49STATE IN HALF A CENTURY.
- 00:30:52IN AN HISTORIC CEREMONY,
- 00:30:54THE 34TH PRESIDENT OF THE
- 00:30:56UNITED STATES WAS ABOUT TO
- 00:30:57PROCLAIM...
- 00:30:58>> THE ACHIEVEMENT OF ALASKA
- 00:30:59STATEHOOD IN THE 1950s IS A
- 00:31:00GREAT AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY
- 00:31:03IN THE SAME SENSE THAT THE
- 00:31:05ACHIEVEMENT OF EVERY NEW STATE,
- 00:31:07STARTING WITH VERMONT AND
- 00:31:08TENNESSEE BACK IN THE 1700s, IS
- 00:31:12A GREAT AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY,
- 00:31:13BECAUSE THE ADDITION OF EVERY
- 00:31:15NEW STATE REQUIRED AN
- 00:31:17EXAMINATION OF THE FUNDAMENTAL
- 00:31:18PRINCIPLES UPON WHICH THE
- 00:31:20UNITED STATES IS BASED.
- 00:31:22>> narrator: RECORD NUMBERS OF
- 00:31:23ALASKANS CAST BALLOTS IN
- 00:31:25NOVEMBER 1958.
- 00:31:27ALMOST 80% OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS
- 00:31:29TURNED OUT TO ELECT
- 00:31:30REPRESENTATIVES TO CONGRESS.
- 00:31:32THE PEOPLE CHOSE
- 00:31:33FORMER TERRITORIAL GOVERNOR
- 00:31:35ERNEST GRUENING AND TERRITORIAL
- 00:31:37DELEGATE BOB BARTLETT AS THEIR
- 00:31:38SENATORS.
- 00:31:40>> AND WE ALL KNOW THAT YOU AND
- 00:31:41HE WERE ELECTED ON THE 25TH DAY
- 00:31:43OF NOVEMBER, 1958, AS ALASKA'S
- 00:31:46FIRST TWO MEMBERS OF THE SENATE
- 00:31:49OF THE UNITED STATES.
- 00:31:51NOW, YOU ARE THE SENIOR SENATOR.
- 00:31:52ERNEST GRUENING IS THE JUNIOR
- 00:31:55SENATOR.
- 00:31:56YOU ARE SERVING NOT A FULL
- 00:31:57SIX-YEAR TERM BUT A TWO-YEAR
- 00:31:59TERM.
- 00:31:59AND HE IS SERVING NOT A SIX-YEAR
- 00:32:01TERM BUT A FOUR-YEAR TERM.
- 00:32:03NOW, YOU JUST TELL US--BECAUSE
- 00:32:04WE'RE INTERESTED IN HISTORY, AND
- 00:32:06YOU WERE PART OF IT--HOW ALL
- 00:32:08THAT CAME ABOUT.
- 00:32:09>> WELL, I WILL TELL YOU HOW IT
- 00:32:11CAME ABOUT, HARRY, BUT BEFORE
- 00:32:13I DO, LET ME NOTE THAT
- 00:32:16ERNEST GRUENING IS SOME YEARS MY
- 00:32:19SENIOR, BUT WE'VE ARRIVED AT A
- 00:32:21SITUATION NOW WHERE HE CALLS ME
- 00:32:25POP AND I CALL HIM SON BECAUSE
- 00:32:28OF MY SENIORITY IN THE SENATE,
- 00:32:30WHICH WAS ARRIVED AT IN
- 00:32:33A MANNER THAT MIGHT NOT BE
- 00:32:36APPROVED OF BY SOME, BUT
- 00:32:37WE WERE TOLD WHEN WE DID,
- 00:32:39IT WAS ESSENTIAL.
- 00:32:40AND WE WERE INSTRUCTED TO FLIP
- 00:32:41A COIN TO DETERMINE WHICH OF US
- 00:32:44SHOULD BE SENIOR AND WHICH
- 00:32:46JUNIOR.
- 00:32:47AND I WENT UP TO
- 00:32:48ERNEST GRUENING'S OFFICE THIS
- 00:32:49PARTICULAR DAY, AND HERE WERE
- 00:32:51MAYBE 50 NEWSPAPERMEN AND TV
- 00:32:53PEOPLE, AND AN ASSOCIATED PRESS
- 00:32:56NEWSPAPERMAN FLIPPED THE COIN,
- 00:32:59AND I THEREBY BECAME THE SENIOR
- 00:33:02SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF
- 00:33:04ALASKA, AND FOR NO OTHER REASON.
- 00:33:06>> AND THEN TELL US, PLEASE, HOW
- 00:33:07IT WAS DETERMINED THAT YOU
- 00:33:09WOULD SERVE TWO YEARS AND
- 00:33:10ERNEST GRUENING ONLY FOUR YEARS,
- 00:33:13AND THE NORMAL FULL TERM AS A
- 00:33:15MEMBER OF THE UNITED STATES
- 00:33:17SENATE IS SIX YEARS.
- 00:33:18>> MAJORITY LEADER,
- 00:33:19LYNDON JOHNSON, AND THE WHIP,
- 00:33:21MIKE MANSFIELD, INTRODUCED US TO
- 00:33:23THE SENATE AND TO THE GALLERIES.
- 00:33:26AND THEN THE SECRETARY OF THE
- 00:33:27SENATE APPEARED BEFORE US WITH A
- 00:33:29LITTLE BOX, AND IN THAT BOX WERE
- 00:33:31THREE SLIPS OF PAPER:
- 00:33:34ONE FOR A TERM OF TWO YEARS,
- 00:33:36ONE FOR A TERM OF FOUR YEARS,
- 00:33:38AND ONE FOR SIX.
- 00:33:40WELL, I REACHED SURELY AND
- 00:33:41SWIFTLY THERE AND CAME RIGHT
- 00:33:42OUT WITH A TWO-YEAR TERM AND
- 00:33:45THEREBY BECAME THE SENIOR
- 00:33:47JUNIOR SENATOR, FIRST SUCH
- 00:33:50IN THE HISTORY
- 00:33:50OF THE UNITED STATES,
- 00:33:51AND ERNEST GRUENING BECAME THE
- 00:33:52FIRST JUNIOR SENIOR SENATOR.
- 00:33:54[gentle instrumental music]
- 00:33:55βͺ βͺ
- 00:34:14>> NOW, SENATOR, THIS WEEK
- 00:34:15YOU'VE CAST YOUR FIRST VOTES
- 00:34:16EVER FOR THE STATE OF ALASKA.
- 00:34:18HOW DOES IT FEEL?
- 00:34:20>> OH, IT FELT WONDERFUL,
- 00:34:21MR. STRASSER, A LITTLE STRANGE.
- 00:34:23YOU KNOW, I'VE BEEN OVER
- 00:34:24IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
- 00:34:25FOR 14 YEARS AS
- 00:34:27A NONVOTING DELEGATE,
- 00:34:29AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO PAY ANY
- 00:34:30ATTENTION TO THESE BELLS RINGING
- 00:34:32AND THE QUORUM CALLS,
- 00:34:34AND NOW I DO.
- 00:34:35FIRST VOTE I CAST WAS
- 00:34:37A VOTE TO ADJOURN.
- 00:34:49>> narrator: EISENHOWER HAD
- 00:34:50SIGNED THE ALASKA STATEHOOD
- 00:34:51BILL, BUT WITHIN THE YEAR, A NEW
- 00:34:53PRESIDENT WAS AT THE HELM.
- 00:34:55DEFEATING
- 00:34:56VICE PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON,
- 00:34:58SENATOR JOHN F. KENNEDY
- 00:34:59OF MASSACHUSETTS WAS ELECTED
- 00:35:01COMMANDER IN CHIEF.
- 00:35:03HIS VICE PRESIDENT WAS LYNDON
- 00:35:05BAINES JOHNSON OF TEXAS.
- 00:35:09THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS OF
- 00:35:101960 MARKED A POWER SHIFT
- 00:35:13TOWARD THE DEMOCRATS AND, IN THE
- 00:35:15LONG RUN, A TURNING POINT IN THE
- 00:35:17PROSPECTS FOR BOTH THE STATE OF
- 00:35:18ALASKA AND BOB BARTLETT'S
- 00:35:20CAREER IN THE SENATE.
- 00:35:23IN NOVEMBER OF 1963,
- 00:35:26BOB WAS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.,
- 00:35:28DURING THE CLOSING WEEKS
- 00:35:29OF THE 90TH CONGRESS.
- 00:35:31PRESIDENT KENNEDY WAS ON
- 00:35:32A CAMPAIGN SWING THROUGH
- 00:35:34THE AMERICAN WEST.
- 00:35:46AS THE NATION MOURNED
- 00:35:48THE ASSASSINATION OF
- 00:35:49JOHN F. KENNEDY,
- 00:35:50THE GOVERNMENT BEGAN
- 00:35:51ITS TRANSITION TO A NEW
- 00:35:53ADMINISTRATION.
- 00:35:58LYNDON JOHNSON WAS WELL KNOWN
- 00:36:00TO BOB BARTLETT.
- 00:36:01LBJ HAD PLAYED AN INFLUENTIAL
- 00:36:03ROLE IN ALASKA'S SUCCESSFUL BID
- 00:36:05FOR STATEHOOD.
- 00:36:07BARTLETT HAD NO IDEA THAT ONLY
- 00:36:09FOUR MONTHS AFTER THE
- 00:36:10INAUGURATION, HE'D AGAIN BE
- 00:36:12GRATEFUL FOR JOHNSON'S HELP.
- 00:36:18IN WASHINGTON, D.C.,
- 00:36:19IT WAS EARLY MORNING, MARCH
- 00:36:2128TH, WHEN THE PHONES STARTED
- 00:36:23RINGING.
- 00:36:26ALASKANS LIVING IN THE
- 00:36:27CAPITAL CITY WERE STUNNED BY A
- 00:36:28BARRAGE OF CALLS FROM THE NORTH.
- 00:36:34ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL
- 00:36:35EARTHQUAKES IN RECORDED HISTORY
- 00:36:37HAD STRUCK ALASKA.
- 00:36:39IT MEASURED 8.4 ON THE RICHTER
- 00:36:42SCALE AND TRIGGERED A TSUNAMI
- 00:36:44THAT CAUSED DEATH AND
- 00:36:45DEVASTATION AS FAR AWAY AS
- 00:36:47HAWAII AND CALIFORNIA.
- 00:36:52>> I WENT WITH BARTLETT OUT TO
- 00:36:54ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, AND BY
- 00:36:57THEN, ERNEST GRUENING WAS THERE,
- 00:36:59AND THERE WERE REPORTERS FROM
- 00:37:01NEW YORK TIMES AND CBS AND
- 00:37:03THE VARIOUS OTHER NETWORKS.
- 00:37:05AS WE WERE GOING BACK TO THE
- 00:37:07TERMINAL ACROSS THE TARMAC,
- 00:37:09THERE WAS AIR FORCE ONE.
- 00:37:11AND SO MCDERMOTT FROM THE WHITE
- 00:37:14HOUSE CALLED LBJ, AND JOHNSON,
- 00:37:19WHO HAD JUST BEEN FLOWN TO HIS
- 00:37:22RANCH IN TEXAS, SAID, "YES, YOU
- 00:37:23CAN HAVE THE PLANE, SO LONG AS
- 00:37:24YOU HAVE IT BACK IN TIME TO
- 00:37:26PICK ME UP REAL EARLY
- 00:37:27ON MONDAY MORNING."
- 00:37:33>> THE PRESIDENT'S BEEN AWAKENED
- 00:37:35TWICE IN THE NIGHT FOR EARLY
- 00:37:36BULLETINS ON THE EMERGENCY, AND
- 00:37:38AT DAWN, HE'S OFFICIALLY
- 00:37:39DECLARED ALASKA A MAJOR
- 00:37:41DISASTER AREA, LENT HIS
- 00:37:42PERSONAL PLANE TO SENATORS
- 00:37:43GRUENING AND BARTLETT.
- 00:37:45HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE RIVERS,
- 00:37:46ON THE WEST COAST WHEN THE
- 00:37:47DISASTER STRUCK, WILL BE COMING
- 00:37:48IN ON A SEPARATE FLIGHT.
- 00:37:50WITH THE TWO SENATORS,
- 00:37:51EDWARD MCDERMOTT, THE DIRECTOR
- 00:37:52OF THE OFFICE OF EMERGENCY
- 00:37:53PLANNING, RESPONSIBLE FOR
- 00:37:55COORDINATING ALL FEDERAL
- 00:37:56ASSISTANCE IN NATURAL DISASTERS.
- 00:37:58THEIR ASSIGNMENT: TO TOUR THE
- 00:38:01STRICKEN AREAS, MAKE A FIRSTHAND
- 00:38:02SURVEY OF THE DAMAGE,
- 00:38:03THEN FLY DIRECTLY BACK TO
- 00:38:05WASHINGTON TO MAKE A PERSONAL
- 00:38:06REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT.
- 00:38:09>> THE PRESIDENT JUST INSTRUCTED
- 00:38:12ALL AGENCIES TO DO WHAT HAD TO
- 00:38:14BE DONE, AND CONGRESS GAVE THE
- 00:38:17NECESSARY AUTHORITIES WHAT WAS
- 00:38:19NEEDED; THEY APPROPRIATED THE
- 00:38:20MONEY, AND EACH OF THE
- 00:38:22DEPARTMENTS JUST WENT BEYOND
- 00:38:26ANYTHING THEY'D EVER DONE.
- 00:38:29IT WAS LIKE A WARTIME SITUATION.
- 00:38:33IT WAS PHENOMENAL WHAT HAPPENED.
- 00:38:35WE WERE ABLE TO DO IN 60 DAYS
- 00:38:38WHAT IT USUALLY TOOK A YEAR,
- 00:38:40TWO YEARS TO ACCOMPLISH.
- 00:38:43>> narrator: THE SWIFT FEDERAL
- 00:38:44RESPONSE WAS A REMINDER OF HOW
- 00:38:46BOB BARTLETT'S RELATIONSHIP
- 00:38:48WITH LYNDON JOHNSON HELPED
- 00:38:49ALASKA AND HOW HARD BOB WORKED
- 00:38:52FOR HIS CONSTITUENTS.
- 00:38:55>> HE STOPPED AND REALLY JUST
- 00:38:57DEVOTED HIMSELF TO THAT ISSUE
- 00:38:59AND TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING HE
- 00:39:01COULD TO HELP, AND HE DID.
- 00:39:05I MEAN, HE DID AN INCREDIBLE
- 00:39:07JOB.
- 00:39:08I THINK HE REALLY WAS
- 00:39:11THE STANDOUT PERSON.
- 00:39:14AT THE TIME, I WAS JUST AMAZED
- 00:39:16THAT HE SUDDENLY DEVOTED SO
- 00:39:19MUCH ENERGY AND RESOURCES.
- 00:39:23>> HE WAS A MODEL OF HOW TO TEND
- 00:39:26A CONSTITUENCY AND HOW TO MAKE
- 00:39:30SURE THAT YOU DIDN'T GET SO
- 00:39:34CARRIED AWAY BY NATIONAL ISSUES
- 00:39:36AND BY WHATEVER CAUSES YOU'RE
- 00:39:38INVOLVED IN HERE THAT YOU
- 00:39:40FORGET WHO SENT YOU HERE.
- 00:39:41I MEAN, HE KNEW HOW TO PUT
- 00:39:43FIRST THINGS FIRST, IN TERMS OF
- 00:39:45LOOKING OUT FOR HIS HOME STATE
- 00:39:47AND MAKING SURE THAT THE STAFF
- 00:39:50WAS FOCUSED THAT WAY AS WELL.
- 00:39:52>> WE HAD A RULE THAT ANY LETTER
- 00:39:54THAT CAME TO OUR OFFICE HAD TO
- 00:39:57BE ANSWERED WITHIN 24 HOURS,
- 00:39:58EVEN IF IT WAS JUST AN
- 00:39:59ACKNOWLEDGMENT,
- 00:40:00"THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN;
- 00:40:01I WILL TAKE IT UP WITH THE,
- 00:40:02YOU KNOW, PASSPORT DIVISION,"
- 00:40:05OR SOMETHING.
- 00:40:06BUT THE VOTER HAD TO GET AN
- 00:40:08ACKNOWLEDGMENT--
- 00:40:09THE CITIZEN HAD TO GET AN
- 00:40:10ACKNOWLEDGMENT WITHIN 24 HOURS.
- 00:40:12CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT RULE BEING
- 00:40:13IMPOSED ANYMORE?
- 00:40:16THAT WAS A PRINCIPLE OF HIS,
- 00:40:19THAT HE FELT THAT EVERYBODY HAD
- 00:40:21TO GET AN ANSWER WITHIN 24
- 00:40:22HOURS.
- 00:40:25>> HE HAD A MAGIC TOUCH
- 00:40:27WITH PEOPLE.
- 00:40:27I MEAN, HE WOULD REMEMBER
- 00:40:29PEOPLE'S NAMES.
- 00:40:30HE WOULD INQUIRE
- 00:40:32ABOUT THE FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS,
- 00:40:34AND HE WOULD ALWAYS WRITE NOTES.
- 00:40:37"IT WAS SO NICE TO MEET YOU IN
- 00:40:39SOME ROADHOUSE ON THE
- 00:40:40RICHARDSON HIGHWAY, AND THE
- 00:40:43WEATHER WAS MISERABLE, BUT I
- 00:40:44HOPE YOU AND JOHNNY MADE IT
- 00:40:45HOME SAFELY,"
- 00:40:46AND, YOU KNOW,
- 00:40:47"CORDIALLY, BOB BARTLETT."
- 00:40:51>> HIS POPULARITY WAS BASED UPON
- 00:40:53THE LETTERS THAT HE WROTE, THE
- 00:40:56NEWSLETTER THAT HE GOT OUT, THE
- 00:40:58NUMEROUS TIMES THAT HE WOULD
- 00:41:00VISIT THE LITTLE FISHING
- 00:41:02VILLAGES AND TALK TO THEM, THE
- 00:41:05WAY THAT HE WOULD GO OUT OF HIS
- 00:41:08WAY WHEN ANYONE FROM ALASKA
- 00:41:10CAME INTO THE OFFICE.
- 00:41:12IT WAS THEIR DAY.
- 00:41:16>> PEOPLE HAD ENORMOUS AFFECTION
- 00:41:17FOR BOB BARTLETT, AN ENORMOUS
- 00:41:19AFFECTION.
- 00:41:20AND ONE REASON THEY HAD THIS
- 00:41:21ENORMOUS AFFECTION FOR HIM WAS,
- 00:41:23OF COURSE, HIS OWN EMOTIONAL
- 00:41:25MAKEUP AND THE FACT THAT HE HAD
- 00:41:26GREAT EMPATHY, BUT YOU CAN'T
- 00:41:28LOSE SITE OF THE FACT THAT HE
- 00:41:29WAS ALSO A SKILLFUL AND
- 00:41:32CALCULATING POLITICIAN.
- 00:41:35YOU CANNOT BE A MASTER OF THE
- 00:41:37LEGISLATIVE PROCESS UNLESS YOU
- 00:41:39ARE CALCULATING, IN THE SENSE
- 00:41:41THAT YOU'VE CALCULATED THE
- 00:41:42ODDS, YOU'VE CALCULATED THE
- 00:41:44DANGER, YOU'VE CALCULATED YOUR
- 00:41:46POSITION BECAUSE YOU'RE TRYING
- 00:41:48TO GET A PIECE OF LEGISLATION
- 00:41:50PASSED.
- 00:41:51>> narrator: OVER THE YEARS,
- 00:41:53MUCH OF BOB'S LEGISLATIVE WORK
- 00:41:55WAS INNOVATIVE, WITH
- 00:41:56WIDE-RANGING IMPACT.
- 00:41:58HE LED EFFORTS TO PASS THE
- 00:42:00CONSUMER RADIATION SAFETY ACT,
- 00:42:02WHICH SHIELDED PATIENTS FROM
- 00:42:04MEDICAL AND DENTAL X-RAY
- 00:42:05EXPOSURE.
- 00:42:06HE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN
- 00:42:07PROTECTING AMERICAN FISHERIES
- 00:42:09BY EXTENDING TERRITORIAL WATER
- 00:42:11BOUNDARIES FROM 3 TO 12 MILES.
- 00:42:14CLOSER TO HOME, BARTLETT GUIDED
- 00:42:17THE OMNIBUS STATEHOOD ACT, WHICH
- 00:42:19OUTLINED ALL THE PHYSICAL AND
- 00:42:20ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS NEEDED
- 00:42:22TO LAUNCH THE NEW STATE OF
- 00:42:23ALASKA.
- 00:42:25HE ALSO DEVELOPED THE
- 00:42:26GROUNDBREAKING ALASKA MENTAL
- 00:42:28HEALTH ENABLING ACT TO REFORM
- 00:42:30TREATMENT OF PEOPLE COPING WITH
- 00:42:31A RANGE OF MENTAL DISORDERS.
- 00:42:35THE STATE HAD DISTINCTIVE NEEDS,
- 00:42:37AND BOB USED HIS WASHINGTON
- 00:42:39INFLUENCE TO HELP BUILD ITS
- 00:42:40INFRASTRUCTURE.
- 00:42:42>> BARTLETT WAS VERY
- 00:42:43INSTRUMENTAL IN HOUSING.
- 00:42:46AND HE WAS THE PRIME FORCE IN
- 00:42:49PROVIDING FUNDING FOR SOME OF
- 00:42:51THE EARLY ALASKA NATIVE HOUSING
- 00:42:54EFFORTS.
- 00:42:55THEY, WITH THE HELP OF
- 00:42:58SENATOR BARTLETT, BUILT THE
- 00:43:00EARLIEST RURAL HOUSING PROGRAMS
- 00:43:02AND ALSO THE MAJOR HOUSING
- 00:43:04EFFORT THAT WAS DONE IN BETHEL,
- 00:43:06WHERE THEY WERE BUILDING A HOUSE
- 00:43:09A DAY THERE FOR A PERIOD
- 00:43:11OF TIME.
- 00:43:12>> BUT TO ME, OF ALL OF
- 00:43:13BARTLETT'S LEGISLATION, THE ONE
- 00:43:15THAT I FIND MOST REPRESENTATIVE
- 00:43:18OF THE MAN IS THE--ONE OF THE
- 00:43:20BILLS KNOWN AS THE BARTLETT ACT,
- 00:43:22WHICH CLEARLY COMES THROUGH
- 00:43:24THE INSPIRATION OF HIS
- 00:43:25ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT,
- 00:43:27HUGH GALLAGHER, WHO WAS A POLIO
- 00:43:29VICTIM CONFINED TO A WHEELCHAIR.
- 00:43:32HUGH GALLAGHER LIVED IN A WORLD
- 00:43:33WHERE A TWO-INCH CURB COULD
- 00:43:35MEAN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
- 00:43:36GETTING INTO A BUILDING OR NOT.
- 00:43:38AND IT WAS BECAUSE OF THE
- 00:43:39BARTLETT ACT, WHICH REQUIRED NEW
- 00:43:40FEDERAL BUILDINGS TO HAVE THIS
- 00:43:42WHEEL--BE WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE.
- 00:43:44NOW, THIS IS LONG BEFORE THE
- 00:43:45AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT,
- 00:43:47WHICH IS ALMOST THREE DECADES
- 00:43:49LATER.
- 00:43:50>> narrator: THE MOST
- 00:43:52CONTENTIOUS FOREIGN POLICY ISSUE
- 00:43:54OF THE 1960s WAS AMERICA'S
- 00:43:55MILITARY INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAM.
- 00:43:58>> MY FELLOW AMERICANS,
- 00:44:02AS PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER IN
- 00:44:04CHIEF, IT IS MY DUTY TO THE
- 00:44:07AMERICAN PEOPLE TO REPORT THAT
- 00:44:12RENEWED HOSTILE ACTIONS AGAINST
- 00:44:15UNITED STATES SHIPS ON THE HIGH
- 00:44:18SEAS IN THE GULF OF TONKIN HAVE
- 00:44:21TODAY REQUIRED ME TO ORDER
- 00:44:24THE MILITARY FORCES OF THE
- 00:44:26UNITED STATES TO TAKE ACTION
- 00:44:28IN REPLY.
- 00:44:29>> narrator: WHAT BECAME
- 00:44:30KNOWN AS THE GULF OF TONKIN
- 00:44:31RESOLUTION PASSED THE U.S.
- 00:44:33HOUSE UNANIMOUSLY AND PASSED
- 00:44:35THE U.S. SENATE BY A VOTE
- 00:44:37OF 88 TO 2.
- 00:44:38THE TWO "NO" VOTES WERE FROM
- 00:44:40WAYNE MORSE OF OREGON AND
- 00:44:42ERNEST GRUENING OF ALASKA.
- 00:44:45>> NOW, PEOPLE HAVE DISCUSSED
- 00:44:46WHY GRUENING DID THIS, BECAUSE
- 00:44:48IT WAS POLITICAL SUICIDE, AND
- 00:44:50JOHNSON COULDN'T FATHOM IT.
- 00:44:53HIS REACTION AFTER THE TONKIN
- 00:44:55GULF RESOLUTION WAS,
- 00:44:56"WHAT DOES GRUENING WANT?
- 00:44:57I GAVE HIM ALL THAT MONEY
- 00:44:57FOR THE EARTHQUAKE."
- 00:45:01>> FROM LYNDON JOHNSON'S POINT
- 00:45:03OF VIEW, BOB BARTLETT WAS
- 00:45:05HIS KIND OF A LEGISLATOR,
- 00:45:08HIS KIND OF MAN.
- 00:45:10YOU KNOW, YOU CUT A DEAL WITH
- 00:45:11HIM, HE WAS LOYAL, HE STAYED
- 00:45:13WITH YOU, AND HE WALKED
- 00:45:14THE TALK.
- 00:45:16THAT'S NOT ERNEST GRUENING.
- 00:45:18ERNEST GRUENING COULD TALK, AND
- 00:45:19HE MIGHT WALK IN A DIFFERENT
- 00:45:21DIRECTION.
- 00:45:22SO THIS GOES TO THE HEART OF
- 00:45:24THE MATTER OF THE TWO DIFFERENT
- 00:45:26INDIVIDUALS.
- 00:45:30>> ERNEST WAS BOMBASTIC.
- 00:45:32HE WAS OUT FRONT.
- 00:45:34HIS EGO WAS ALWAYS PRESENT.
- 00:45:37BOB WAS ALMOST THE INVISIBLE
- 00:45:40PERSON.
- 00:45:41HE MIGHT BE MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE
- 00:45:45BECAUSE OF THE WAY HE WAS ABLE
- 00:45:46TO WORK WITH OTHER PEOPLE, BUT
- 00:45:50HE WAS NOT NECESSARILY THERE
- 00:45:52WHEN THE CREDIT WAS GIVEN OUT.
- 00:45:57>> HIS OUTWARD APPEARANCE WAS
- 00:45:58ONE OF GREAT AFFABILITY AND
- 00:46:01A KIND OF EASYGOINGNESS AND
- 00:46:03AN ABILITY TO GET ALONG WITH
- 00:46:04ALMOST ANYBODY.
- 00:46:06HE DID NOT HAVE INTELLECTUAL
- 00:46:07PRETENTIONS OR USE LOFTY
- 00:46:10RHETORIC, AND IN SOME WAYS,
- 00:46:12HIS STYLE CONTRASTED VERY
- 00:46:14SHARPLY WITH ERNEST GRUENING.
- 00:46:16>> WHEN GRUENING WALKED INTO A
- 00:46:17ROOM, HE WAS ALWAYS THE SMARTEST
- 00:46:19GUY IN THE ROOM, AND HE POINTED
- 00:46:22OUT AT LEAST THREE TIMES TO
- 00:46:23EVERYBODY IN THE ROOM THAT HE
- 00:46:25WAS THE SMARTEST GUY IN THE
- 00:46:25ROOM.
- 00:46:26NOW, BOB BARTLETT NEVER MADE ANY
- 00:46:28PRETENSE OF BEING THE SMARTEST
- 00:46:29GUY IN THE ROOM, NEVER.
- 00:46:31BUT IN FACT, HE OFTEN WAS.
- 00:46:34>> THAT WAS BOB'S STYLE, NO
- 00:46:36QUESTION ABOUT IT, AND IT PAID
- 00:46:37OFF HANDSOMELY FOR ALASKA.
- 00:46:43>> MY IMPRESSION WAS THAT
- 00:46:44BARTLETT SAW HIMSELF AS SORT OF
- 00:46:46THE WORKHORSE, YOU KNOW, OF THE
- 00:46:48TWO SENATORS, THAT HE TENDED
- 00:46:50TO THE BREAD-AND-BUTTER ISSUES,
- 00:46:54YOU KNOW, OF ALASKANS,
- 00:46:56AND I THINK MANY OF US FROM
- 00:46:58RURAL ALASKA ALSO FELT THAT WAY.
- 00:47:04GRUENING HAD A MIND THAT WAS
- 00:47:05FAR RANGING, AND HIS INTERESTS
- 00:47:07WERE FAR RANGING, AND ALASKA WAS
- 00:47:09SORT OF JUST ONE OF HIS
- 00:47:12INTERESTS, AND MY IMPRESSION WAS
- 00:47:14THAT ALASKA WAS
- 00:47:16SENATOR BARTLETT'S INTEREST.
- 00:47:18>> BOB WAS A REAL ALASKAN.
- 00:47:20HE HAD HIS ROOTS IN ALASKA.
- 00:47:22HE KNEW EVERY PART OF ALASKA.
- 00:47:25HE KNEW PEOPLE ALL OVER.
- 00:47:26HE COMMUNICATED WITH PEOPLE
- 00:47:28ALL OVER.
- 00:47:29HE TOOK THE PULSE OF ALASKA
- 00:47:31ALL THE TIME.
- 00:47:33>> narrator: STILL, BOB SEEMED
- 00:47:35SURPRISED WHEN A BRASH NEWCOMER
- 00:47:37NAMED MIKE GRAVEL CHALLENGED
- 00:47:38ERNEST GRUENING IN THE 1968
- 00:47:41SENATE PRIMARY.
- 00:47:44>> I DON'T THINK THAT EITHER
- 00:47:46BOB OR ERNEST GRUENING REALIZED
- 00:47:50THE DEPTH OF THE SENTIMENT ABOUT
- 00:47:55THE GULF OF TONKIN RESOLUTION.
- 00:47:57IT WAS A HUGE ISSUE UP HERE,
- 00:48:00AND THAT WAS THE BIG THING.
- 00:48:04>> ON AUGUST 27TH, ALASKANS IN
- 00:48:07THE PRIMARY ELECTION CHOSE
- 00:48:09MIKE GRAVEL AS THE DEMOCRATIC
- 00:48:11CANDIDATE FOR THE U.S. SENATE
- 00:48:12OVER ERNEST GRUENING.
- 00:48:15THE VOTERS SPOKE.
- 00:48:18>> narrator: GRUENING
- 00:48:19SUPPORTERS LAUNCHED A WRITE-IN
- 00:48:21CAMPAIGN TO CHALLENGE GRAVEL
- 00:48:23AND REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE
- 00:48:24ELMER RASMUSON IN THE GENERAL
- 00:48:26ELECTION.
- 00:48:27GRUENING FULLY EXPECTED
- 00:48:29BOB'S ENDORSEMENT AND HELP
- 00:48:31WITH THE WRITE-IN EFFORT.
- 00:48:32>> I HAVE PUT PERSONAL
- 00:48:34CONSIDERATIONS ASIDE
- 00:48:36IN THIS DECISION.
- 00:48:38THE TIME COMES WHEN A MAN
- 00:48:39MUST SPEAK OUT.
- 00:48:41I SPEAK OUT NOW.
- 00:48:43I SUPPORT THE DEMOCRATIC
- 00:48:45MAJORITY.
- 00:48:46I SUPPORT MIKE GRAVEL.
- 00:48:50>> HE WAS JUST DEVASTATED
- 00:48:51WHEN BOB ENDORSED MIKE GRAVEL,
- 00:48:55AND HE CAME TO TALK ABOUT IT,
- 00:48:58BECAUSE HE COULDN'T FIGURE
- 00:49:00OUT WHY.
- 00:49:01AND I TOLD HIM THAT I THOUGHT
- 00:49:04HE WAS UNDER MEDICATION AND
- 00:49:06THAT IT WAS NOT THE REAL BOB
- 00:49:08TALKING, 'CAUSE I JUST
- 00:49:09COULDN'T--IT WAS
- 00:49:13HEARTBREAKING TO SEE.
- 00:49:15>> narrator: THE CHANGING
- 00:49:16POLITICAL SCENE WAS
- 00:49:18UNSETTLING, BUT THERE WAS
- 00:49:19A MORE FUNDAMENTAL CONCERN:
- 00:49:21BOB'S HEALTH WAS FAILING.
- 00:49:25>> [sighs]
- 00:49:27WELL, WE KNEW HE WAS SICK.
- 00:49:28I MEAN, WE KNEW HE HAD BEEN
- 00:49:31SICK FOR SOME TIME.
- 00:49:32HE WAS HAVING DIFFICULTY
- 00:49:34WITH HIS HEART.
- 00:49:36THAT WAS JUST A MATTER OF IT
- 00:49:37GETTING MORE AND MORE SERIOUS
- 00:49:39AS IT WENT ALONG.
- 00:49:41>> HE WAS SLOWING DOWN SOME IN
- 00:49:44THE MID-'60s AND HAD HAD SOME
- 00:49:47EPISODES, SOME HOSPITALIZATION,
- 00:49:51AND THERE'S NO QUESTION HIS
- 00:49:52HEART PROBLEMS WERE CLOSING IN
- 00:49:54ON HIM IN THAT PERIOD, BUT HE
- 00:49:56STAYED ACTIVE, AND HE KEPT
- 00:49:58A GOOD SPIRIT.
- 00:50:00>> WELL, HE WASN'T GONNA SLOW
- 00:50:02DOWN JUST BECAUSE HE HAD
- 00:50:03A LITTLE HEART TROUBLE.
- 00:50:08>> narrator: BUT HIS POOR HEALTH
- 00:50:09BECAME OBVIOUS IN CAMPAIGN ADS
- 00:50:11FOR MIKE GRAVEL.
- 00:50:13>> MIKE, YOU...
- 00:50:18POSSESS AN IDEOLOGY.
- 00:50:21YOU HAVE A DEDICATION
- 00:50:22TO YOUR PEOPLE THAT'S PRICELESS.
- 00:50:26RETAIN THAT.
- 00:50:28KEEP ON THE SAME PATH THAT
- 00:50:30YOU'VE MARKED OUT FOR YOURSELF.
- 00:50:31KEEP ON THE SAME TRACK, MIKE.
- 00:50:36>> narrator: BOB NEEDED CORONARY
- 00:50:38BYPASS SURGERY.
- 00:50:39THE CLEVELAND CLINIC HAD
- 00:50:40PERFORMED AMERICA'S FIRST
- 00:50:42BYPASS THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
- 00:50:44>> HE REALLY HAD A HARD TIME,
- 00:50:45AND HE HAD THESE CONSTANT
- 00:50:46ATTACKS, AND THEY WENT
- 00:50:48TO THE CARIBBEAN,
- 00:50:49AND THEY WENT HERE AND THERE,
- 00:50:51AND, YOU KNOW, HE COULDN'T FIND
- 00:50:52ANY REST, AND HE WAS, YOU KNOW,
- 00:50:54REALLY IN BAD SHAPE.
- 00:50:56AND THEN FINALLY THE DECISION,
- 00:50:58YOU KNOW, TO HAVE THAT BYPASS,
- 00:51:01WHICH WAS EXPERIMENTAL,
- 00:51:04IN CLEVELAND.
- 00:51:06AND HE HAS A NOTE TO
- 00:51:07HIS PHYSICIAN.
- 00:51:08YOU KNOW, HE SAYS,
- 00:51:09"DON'T LET YOUR SCALPEL SLIP,
- 00:51:12BECAUSE THE LAW HAS CHANGED,
- 00:51:15AND THE GOVERNOR," OUR
- 00:51:16CURRENT GOVERNOR, HICKEL, "WILL
- 00:51:18APPOINT A REPUBLICAN IN MY
- 00:51:20PLACE."
- 00:51:22>> narrator: AS HE WAS
- 00:51:22RECOVERING FROM THE OPERATION,
- 00:51:24BARTLETT SUFFERED A SERIES
- 00:51:25OF CARDIAC ARRESTS.
- 00:51:27THEN HE SEEMED TO RALLY, AND ON
- 00:51:30DECEMBER 8TH, HIS DOCTORS
- 00:51:31EXPRESSED CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM.
- 00:51:33>> IT WAS GOING REAL WELL
- 00:51:35AT FIRST.
- 00:51:37HE HAD A VERY GOOD VEIN THAT
- 00:51:39THEY'D TAKEN, AND THEY SAID HE
- 00:51:40WAS DOING FINE, BUT HE JUST
- 00:51:43STARTED SLIPPING.
- 00:51:53>> YOU KNOW, YOU GO TO SOME
- 00:51:54FUNERALS, AND THERE'S A SENSE
- 00:51:58THAT PEOPLE ARE THERE OUT OF
- 00:51:59DUTY OR SORT OF SHOW THE FLAG.
- 00:52:02I DON'T THINK THAT WAS TRUE.
- 00:52:04I THINK THIS WAS PEOPLE REALLY
- 00:52:06FEELING A FRIEND WAS LOST.
- 00:52:13BOB BARTLETT WAS
- 00:52:14NOT A GREAT SPEAKER--
- 00:52:15GREAT WRITER
- 00:52:16BUT NOT A GREAT SPEAKER--
- 00:52:17NOT PHOTOGENIC, ENJOYED RETAIL
- 00:52:21POLITICS ONE-ON-ONE, YOU KNOW?
- 00:52:24NOW, IN THE AGE OF MEDIA BLOGS
- 00:52:25AND ALL OF THAT, HE'S CERTAINLY
- 00:52:28NOT A SLICK ARTICLE.
- 00:52:30HE'S ANTI-SLICK.
- 00:52:31SO I DON'T KNOW WHETHER HE
- 00:52:33WOULD BE APPRECIATED IN THE
- 00:52:34SAME WAY, AND I DON'T KNOW
- 00:52:35WHETHER A BOB BARTLETT WOULD
- 00:52:37WANT TO TRY TO WORK IN THE
- 00:52:39PRESENT TECHNOLOGICAL AND
- 00:52:42POLITICAL CLIMATE THAT WE HAVE.
- 00:52:45HERE IS THE PROBLEM
- 00:52:47THAT I WORRY ABOUT.
- 00:52:49CAN THERE BE ANOTHER
- 00:52:50BOB BARTLETT?
- 00:53:20>> ALASKA HAS BEEN MY LIFE.
- 00:53:24ALASKA IS MY DREAM.
- 00:53:31HERE IN THIS NORTHLAND, MY
- 00:53:33PARENTS CAME AND WERE MARRIED.
- 00:53:37HERE I GREW UP AND WAS MARRIED.
- 00:53:42AND IT IS HERE THAT ONE OF MY
- 00:53:44DAUGHTERS AND MY GRANDCHILDREN
- 00:53:48MAKE THEIR HOME.
- 00:53:52YOU HAVE GREATLY HONORED ME
- 00:53:53IN THE PAST.
- 00:53:56I MOST SINCERELY HOPE
- 00:53:58I HAVE BEEN WORTHY.
- 00:54:07Captioning by CaptionMax
- 00:54:08www.captionmax.com
- 00:54:52>> FEELS SORT OF QUEER
- 00:54:55ADDRESSING AN AUDIENCE
- 00:54:56IN ALASKA OVER THIS TV.
- 00:54:58AND IT JUST SHOWS HOW ALASKA
- 00:54:59IS DEVELOPING IN THESE LAST
- 00:55:00FEW YEARS.
- 00:55:02AND I WANT TO SAY THAT THERE'S
- 00:55:04A VERY PRETTY LITTLE BLONDE
- 00:55:05IN ANCHORAGE WITH A DIMPLE
- 00:55:07AND WITH HER NICE SMILE,
- 00:55:10AND HER NAME IS KAY.
- 00:55:12AND IF SHE GETS ANY MORE LOOSE
- 00:55:13TEETH, I JUST HOPE SHE KEEPS
- 00:55:14THEM THERE TILL I CAN COME
- 00:55:15AND PULL THEM OUT.
- 00:55:16I SHOULDN'T DO THAT ON
- 00:55:17A CAMPAIGN, BUT I CAN'T
- 00:55:18RESIST IT.
- 00:55:32>> male announcer: MORE
- 00:55:33INFORMATION ABOUT BOB BARTLETT
- 00:55:34AND HIS ROLE IN ALASKAN HISTORY
- 00:55:36CAN BE FOUND AT:
- 00:55:45>> female announcer: MR. ALASKA
- 00:55:46IS AVAILABLE ON DVD FOR $24.95
- 00:55:49PLUS SHIPPING AND HANDLING.
- 00:55:51A BLU-RAY VERSION IS AVAILABLE
- 00:55:52FOR $34.95.
- 00:55:54TO ORDER YOUR COPY,
- 00:55:55GO ONLINE TO:
- 00:56:01TO ORDER BY MAIL,
- 00:56:02SEND A CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO:
- 00:56:16THIS PROGRAM SUPPORTED BY
- 00:56:17NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY.
- 00:56:19FOR 164 YEARS, PROVIDING
- 00:56:21FINANCIAL STRENGTH TO HELP
- 00:56:23TAKE CARE OF LOVED ONES.
- 00:56:24NEW YORK LIFE,
- 00:56:25THE COMPANY YOU KEEP.
- 00:56:27LOCAL AGENT INFORMATION IS
- 00:56:28AVAILABLE AT NEWYORKLIKE.COM.
- 00:56:30ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
- 00:56:32THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA,
- 00:56:34WITH 16 CAMPUSES FROM
- 00:56:36KETCHIKAN TO KOTZEBUE.
- 00:56:37DETAILS AT:
- 00:56:40AND BY:
- Bob Bartlett
- Alaska
- Statehood
- U.S. Senator
- Legislative Achievements
- Mental Health Act
- Accessibility
- Political Career
- Lyndon Johnson
- Gulf of Tonkin