Mr Alaska: Bob Bartlett Goes to Washington

00:56:43
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-u1dozUM8Q

Resumo

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.

Conclusões

  • 🎤 Bob Bartlett was a key figure in Alaska's statehood journey.
  • 📰 He started his career as a journalist in Fairbanks.
  • 🏛️ Served as a territorial delegate before becoming a U.S. Senator.
  • 📜 Advocated for the Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act.
  • ♿ Introduced the Bartlett Act for wheelchair accessibility.
  • 🤝 Had a strong relationship with President Lyndon Johnson.
  • 🌊 Played a role in disaster response after the 1964 earthquake.
  • 💔 Faced health challenges that impacted his political career.
  • 🗳️ Remembered for his dedication to Alaskans and effective legislation.
  • 📚 His legacy continues to influence Alaskan politics.

Linha do tempo

  • 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 father’s 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.

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Vídeo de perguntas e respostas

  • 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.

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