Clifford Hansen
Encyclopedia
Clifford Peter Hansen was a Republican
politician
from the American
state of Wyoming
. He served as both the 26th Governor (1963–1967) and U.S. senator (1967–1978). Earlier, he was the president of the board of trustees of his beloved alma mater, the University of Wyoming
at Laramie
in Albany County, the state's only four-year institution of higher learning. He was also a county commissioner in Jackson
, the seat of Teton County
in far northwestern Wyoming. Before his death on October 20, 2009, he was the oldest living former U.S. Senator as well as the third oldest living former U.S. Governor.
: Peter, of Danish extraction, came from Soda Springs
, and Sylvia, of English descent, was born in Blackfoot
. Peter Hansen, who had some college training, was a "practical" engineer who did surveying and ditch work on ranch lands.
Clifford Hansen grew up in Jackson, a resort community west of Grand Teton National Park
. There he attended public schools. As a child, he overcame a serious speech impediment which baffled his teachers, some of whom first thought that he was "uneducable". His problem was not inability to learn but a severe stutter which was corrected by his attendance at a special school. Having overcome the speech impediment, Hansen forever stressed the value of an education, once having advised a grandson, "It's the one thing no one can take away from you."
In the Menor's Cabin, a small museum
near the south entrance to Grand Teton National Park and adjacent to the Chapel of the Transfiguration
, is a picture of young Cliff Hansen and his mother, Sylvia, which was taken in the early 1920s. The photograph
is posted under the cattle
exhibit and is meant to demonstrate the hardiness of early Wyoming pioneers.
Peter "Pete" Simpson, a UW political science
professor and the 1986 Republican gubernatorial nominee, described the importance of the Tetons to the Hansen family: "That country is special. It provides solace and power all at the same time. . . . There's a specific nurturing quality in it, and it has nurtured a specific breed of people -- strong, independent, clear-thinking, forthright, trustworthy, authentic Western-types. No-nonsense, good-humored, exuberant, full of warmth, larger than life. Close enough to creation to be at ease with all mankind, and thereby able to serve them better."
Hansen obtained his bachelor's degree in animal science
from UW in 1934. While at the university he was in the Epsilon Delta Chapter of Sigma Nu
fraternity. He was a UW trustee from 1946 to 1966 and was the trustee board president from 1955 until 1962, when he resigned to run for governor. From 1943-1951, he was a Teton county commissioner. He opposed enlarging park lands in Wyoming at the expense of ranchers, who would lose revenue from hunting and guiding if private holdings came under government ownership. As owner of the Spring Gulch Ranch, Hansen was active in several agricultural and ranching groups, having served from 1953-1955 as president of the influential interest group
, the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association. He was also a member of the American National Cattlemen's Association. Ironically, Hansen never tasted beef until he was a student at UW. "Beef is what we produced. We ate deer and elk," he later recalled.
Jack R. Gage
, who had served fewer than two years. First, Hansen won the GOP
primary over two opponents with 57 percent of the ballots. Gage defeated William Jack to secure the Democratic nomination, 55.5-44.5 percent. In the general election
, Hansen polled 64,970 votes (54.5 percent) to Gage's 54,298 (45.5 percent).
Hansen's governorship was characterized by efforts to expand highways and reservoirs throughout Wyoming. Several newspaper
s in the American West referred to him as Wyoming's "cowboy governor". Hansen's obituary
contends that he "brought both the down-to-earth pragmatism of a lifelong cattle rancher and the affability of a small-town politician to Cheyenne and then to Washington, and he was on friendly and familiar terms throughout his career, not only with those on both sides of the political aisle, but also with elevator attendants, cafeteria workers, and staff members throughout the Capitol who called him friend."
As his gubernatorial term wound down, Hansen decided to run for the U.S. Senate seat which was being vacated by the retiring Republican Milward L. Simpson
of Cody
in Park County who was also a former Wyoming governor. Hansen said that he believed he could assist the state more from Washington, D.C.
, than in the state capital in Cheyenne
(Laramie County
). He won that election with just under 52 percent of the vote. In a fairly Republican year nationally, he defeated popular Representative at-large Teno Roncalio
, a Democrat of Italian
extraction. Hansen received 63,548 votes (51.8 percent) to Roncalio's 59,141 (48.2 percent).
. Hansen's 1972 raw vote was the first to surpass 100,000 in Wyoming history. Since that time, as of 2002, at least five other winning Senate candidates in the state have received even more than 100,000 votes. Hansen's Senate reelection marked the last time that his name appeared on a ballot. On the same day, Richard M. Nixon defeated Democratic U.S. Senator George S. McGovern of South Dakota
to attain his second term in the White House
.
Senator Hansen was known for social and fiscal conservatism. He was one of the eight senators who in 1972 voted against sending the proposed Equal Rights Amendment
to the states for their consideration. He opposed the Nixon administration's deployment of the anti-ballistic missile
, a position which put him at odds with then Defense Secretary
Melvin R. Laird
.Pete Williams, a Wyoming native and a former Hansen Senate staffer recalled Hansen's "warm Western smile and utter lack of pretense . . . a favorite of his Senate colleagues and congressional employees alike. If the cafeteria workers found out you worked for Cliff Hansen, you got special treatment."
In 1976, Hansen supported the renomination and reelection of President Gerald R. Ford, Jr.
, who won Wyoming's three electoral votes. His backing of Ford was consistent with the stand of his Republican Senate colleagues that year; only two, Paul Laxalt
of Nevada
and Jesse Helms
of North Carolina
, endorsed Ford's rival for the nomination, Ronald W. Reagan of California
. Hansen retired from the Senate in 1978, when he declined to run for a third term. He moved back to Jackson and chaired several financial and civic associations. He supported the Republican presidential nominees in all elections thereafter.
In the Senate, Hansen sat beside his friend, Barry M. Goldwater, the Arizona
Republican who lost the 1964 presidential election to Lyndon B. Johnson
of Texas
. He had been among those Republican senators who urged Goldwater to meet with President Nixon to inform him that there were far insufficient votes in the Senate to avoid conviction of a pending impeachment. In a 2006 interview, Hansen fondly recalled one of Goldwater's jokes: Goldwater goes into a California country club that excludes Jews
. The man in charge tells him that he is sorry but Jews cannot play in the club. Goldwater says, "I'm only half Jewish. Can I still play nine holes?"
Hansen served on the Senate Finance Committee under chairman Russell B. Long
(1918–2003) of Louisiana
, son of the legendary Huey Pierce Long, Jr.
Hansen, thereafter as ranking member of the committee, said that Long was a "fair" chairman and one of "my dearest friends." He said that Long listened to the problems of Wyoming farmers and ranchers though he represented a state more than 1200 miles (1,931.2 km) to the south. Hansen teamed with Long to make sure that the mineral oil fees on federal lands in Wyoming would go to the state government in Cheyenne, rather than to the U.S. treasury.
Hansen said one of his most important achievements in the Senate was the passage of amendments to the Surface Mining Act which prevent mining companies from confiscating the wealth from private lands by means of following an oil bed onto adjacent properties. Farmers and ranchers as a whole in Wyoming, he said, do not object to mining but want compensation if minerals are found on their lands. Hansen said that the amendments have proved important over time because of the large coal
industry now rooted in his state.
Another Hansen accomplishments was the spearheading of national legislation that increased the share of mineral royalties collected on federal lands within the western states from 37.5 to 50 percent. This adjustment brought an additional $2.8 billion to Wyoming over the years, according to calculations requested by Governor Dave Freudenthal
from the state Department of Revenue.
In the first decade of his Senate service, Hansen's Wyoming colleague was Democrat Gale W. McGee
, a former UW history professor who was first elected in the national Democratic sweep of 1958. McGee often cancelled out Hansen's more conservative votes. In 1976, however, McGee was upset by the Republican nominee Malcolm Wallop
, a New York City
-born rancher and businessman from Sheridan
, who in the following two years as Hansen's colleague voted mostly in line with Hansen, who then became Wyoming's senior senator.
Hansen resigned his Senate seat on December 31, 1978, three days before the expiration of his term to give a slight seniority edge to his moderate Republican successor Alan Kooi Simpson
of Cody, brother of Peter Simpson and son of conservative Milward Simpson, Hansen's U.S. Senate predecessor. Alan Simpson would later become the Senate Republican whip. At the Hansen funeral, Alan Simpson paid tribute, accordingly: "I owe him much. All of Wyoming and the nation owe him much. . . . He was a dear and special man who gave much and asked very little, and fought on always with integrity, courage, and an uncommon degree of common sense. God bless his soul."
The Hansens were the parents of a son, Peter Arthur Hansen (born 1936). Their only daughter, Mary Hansen Mead (1935–1996), was the unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1990 against popular Democratic Governor Michael J. Sullivan of Douglas
in Converse County. Sullivan defeated Mrs. Mead, 104,638 votes (65.4 percent) to her 55,471 ballots (34.6 percent). In the general election, Mrs. Mead polled only 4,311 more votes than she had in her closed primary. Hence, she was unable to reach beyond her base of support within the GOP
.
Thereafter, Mrs. Mead, considered an expert horsewoman
, was killed in an accident while working cattle on leased land in Grand Teton National Park on June 21, 1996. She was thrown by her horse, which then collapsed upon her, her father explained. Mary Mead was married to Peter Mead, who coincidentally partly bears the same name as her father and grandfather. (Peter Mead is not related to the American boxer Pete Mead
(1924–2007), a native of Arkansas
.) She lived on the Mead Ranch, officially the 'Lower Bar BC', which prior to its sale for more than $100 million was one of the largest pastoral private pieces in Teton County. The Hansens and Meads were particularly known for conservation
and stewardship activities on their properties. In December 2001, the ranch had surrendered its 2000 acres (8.1 km²) lease in Grand Teton Park in 2001, which had become unproductive economically.
Bradford Scott "Brad" Mead (born July 24, 1957) is one of the two sons of Mary and Peter Mead. There is also a daughter, Muffy Mead-Ferro, an author in Salt Lake City
, Utah
. Brad Mead and his wife, Katherine L. "Kate" Mead (also born 1957), are attorneys in Jackson. Kate Mead, a Vermont
native who came to Wyoming on a skiing
scholarship, was the Republican nominee in 2006 for the District 16 seat in the Wyoming House of Representatives
but was handily defeated by the incumbent Democrat Pete Jorgenson. Both Brad Mead and grandfather Cliff Hansen have recorded interviews to be used as a part of the new Jackson Hole Historical Society Museum, which will be unveiled within the next few years in downtown Jackson.
Another Hansen grandson, Matthew H. "Matt" Mead
(born March 1, 1962), served as United States Attorney
in Cheyenne from 2001–2007, an appointee of U.S. President George W. Bush
. In 2007, he resigned as U.S. attorney to seek the seat of the late U.S. Senator Craig Thomas, but the Republican State Central Committee bypassed Mead on the third and final ballot. He came within fourteen votes of being one of the three nominees from which Governor Freudenthal, a Democrat, would under state law make the final selection to fill the Thomas vacancy until the 2008 general election. In 2010
, Mead was elected Governor of Wyoming.
Upon the death of former Republican Senator Hiram L. Fong of Hawaii
in August 2004, Hansen had become the oldest living person to have served in the United States Senate.
Hansen's official gubernatorial portrait
was prepared by Michele Rushworth, who sought to capture the former governor's soul.
Hansen lay in state in a casket draped with the Wyoming flag at the state capitol in Cheyenne. State funeral services were held on October 24 at the Cheyenne Civic Center, with many Wyoming dignitaries in attendance. Pallbearers and honor guard were provided by the Wyoming Air National Guard, Wyoming Army National Guard, and the Wyoming Highway Patrol. At the funeral, Governor Freudenthal eulogized Hansen: "I think that without a doubt we can see Cliff Hansen was beloved and always will be. . . . And more than any stone monument, we will carry him with us throughout our lives because he is woven into who we are and through the fabric of this wonderful state."
A memorial service was held at St. John's Episcopal Church in Jackson at 2 p.m. on October 27. Hansen's cremated
remains were deposited at the church in a crypt, which contains the ashes of daughter Mary Mead. Upon her death, Mrs. Hansen's remains will be deposited there as well.
Hansen's obituary indicates that he entered the political arena because he "cared about Wyoming, and with an understanding that his job was to advance the welfare of the people he served in the state he so loved, and not to advance his own career. No one could have been more deeply attached to the land; he grew up more outdoors than in, and gave endless attention and energy to the stewardship . . . [of] all the land in Wyoming.
"And no one could have been more deeply attached to the people of Wyoming. Cliff genuinely liked other people. He was interested in their backgrounds, their work, their families, and their opinions. Those thousands of different people he met from all over Wyoming, Washington D.C., and beyond, knew when he looked them in the eye that there was nothing practiced nor obligatory about his interest in what they had to say."
Mrs. Hansen recalled her husband's faith in the American people: "Everybody is important, and his actions both inside and outside politics bore that out."
In 1995, Hansen was inducted, along with the Texas artist and illustrator Thomas C. Lea, III
, into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City
, Oklahoma
, as a "Great Westerner."
In 2005, a bronze calf sculptured by artist Jerry Palen was erected in Hansen's honor at the Wyoming state capital by the Stockgrowers Association. At the dedication, Ron Micheli
, a former state representative, a rancher from Fort Bridger
, and a candidate for governor in the 2010 Republican primary, called Hansen, accordingly, "The footsteps he has left in the state surpass anything we can ever keep up with."
Pete Williams recalled his former boss as follows: "He was an honest man, of rock solid integrity, who loved his wife, his children, and his state. And when his service to his nation was over, he went back to Wyoming, where he died, not far from the log house where he was born."
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
from the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
state of Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. He served as both the 26th Governor (1963–1967) and U.S. senator (1967–1978). Earlier, he was the president of the board of trustees of his beloved alma mater, the University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
at Laramie
Laramie, Wyoming
Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 30,816 at the . Located on the Laramie River in southeastern Wyoming, the city is west of Cheyenne, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287....
in Albany County, the state's only four-year institution of higher learning. He was also a county commissioner in Jackson
Jackson, Wyoming
Jackson is a town located in the Jackson Hole valley of Teton County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 8,647 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Teton County....
, the seat of Teton County
Teton County, Wyoming
Teton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of 2010, the population was 21,294. Its county seat is Jackson. Teton County contains the affluent Jackson Hole skiing area...
in far northwestern Wyoming. Before his death on October 20, 2009, he was the oldest living former U.S. Senator as well as the third oldest living former U.S. Governor.
Early years and education
Hansen was born in Zenith (now Teton County but then Lincoln County), a settlement so small that it is no longer listed on Wyoming road maps, to Peter Christofferson Hansen and Sylvia Irene (née Wood). The senior Hansens were ranchers originally from IdahoIdaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
: Peter, of Danish extraction, came from Soda Springs
Soda Springs, Idaho
Soda Springs is a city in Caribou County, Idaho, United States. The population was 3,381 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Caribou County....
, and Sylvia, of English descent, was born in Blackfoot
Blackfoot, Idaho
Blackfoot is a city in Bingham County, Idaho, United States. The population was 10,419 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Bingham County. Blackfoot is self-designated the "Potato Capital of the World", because it claims to have the largest potato industry in the world...
. Peter Hansen, who had some college training, was a "practical" engineer who did surveying and ditch work on ranch lands.
Clifford Hansen grew up in Jackson, a resort community west of Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park is a United States National Park located in northwestern Wyoming, U.S. The Park consists of approximately and includes the major peaks of the long Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Only south of Yellowstone...
. There he attended public schools. As a child, he overcame a serious speech impediment which baffled his teachers, some of whom first thought that he was "uneducable". His problem was not inability to learn but a severe stutter which was corrected by his attendance at a special school. Having overcome the speech impediment, Hansen forever stressed the value of an education, once having advised a grandson, "It's the one thing no one can take away from you."
In the Menor's Cabin, a small museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
near the south entrance to Grand Teton National Park and adjacent to the Chapel of the Transfiguration
Chapel of the Transfiguration
The Chapel of the Transfiguration is a small log chapel in Grand Teton National Park, in the community of Moose. The chapel was sited and built to frame a view of the Cathedral Group of peaks in a large window behind the altar. The chapel, which was built in 1925, is owned and operated by St...
, is a picture of young Cliff Hansen and his mother, Sylvia, which was taken in the early 1920s. The photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
is posted under the cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
exhibit and is meant to demonstrate the hardiness of early Wyoming pioneers.
Peter "Pete" Simpson, a UW political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
professor and the 1986 Republican gubernatorial nominee, described the importance of the Tetons to the Hansen family: "That country is special. It provides solace and power all at the same time. . . . There's a specific nurturing quality in it, and it has nurtured a specific breed of people -- strong, independent, clear-thinking, forthright, trustworthy, authentic Western-types. No-nonsense, good-humored, exuberant, full of warmth, larger than life. Close enough to creation to be at ease with all mankind, and thereby able to serve them better."
Hansen obtained his bachelor's degree in animal science
Animal science
Animal Science is described as "studying the biology of animals that are under the control of mankind". Historically, the animals studied were farm animals, including livestock and horses, but courses available now look at a far broader area to include companion animals, for example dogs, cats and...
from UW in 1934. While at the university he was in the Epsilon Delta Chapter of Sigma Nu
Sigma Nu
Sigma Nu is an undergraduate, college fraternity with chapters in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Sigma Nu was founded in 1869 by three cadets at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia...
fraternity. He was a UW trustee from 1946 to 1966 and was the trustee board president from 1955 until 1962, when he resigned to run for governor. From 1943-1951, he was a Teton county commissioner. He opposed enlarging park lands in Wyoming at the expense of ranchers, who would lose revenue from hunting and guiding if private holdings came under government ownership. As owner of the Spring Gulch Ranch, Hansen was active in several agricultural and ranching groups, having served from 1953-1955 as president of the influential interest group
Advocacy group
Advocacy groups use various forms of advocacy to influence public opinion and/or policy; they have played and continue to play an important part in the development of political and social systems...
, the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association. He was also a member of the American National Cattlemen's Association. Ironically, Hansen never tasted beef until he was a student at UW. "Beef is what we produced. We ate deer and elk," he later recalled.
The governorship
Hansen won the governorship in the 1962 mid-term elections by 10,000 votes. He unseated the DemocratDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Jack R. Gage
Jack R. Gage
Jack R. Gage was an American politician who served as the 25th Governor of Wyoming from January 2, 1961, to January 7, 1963....
, who had served fewer than two years. First, Hansen won the GOP
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
primary over two opponents with 57 percent of the ballots. Gage defeated William Jack to secure the Democratic nomination, 55.5-44.5 percent. In the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
, Hansen polled 64,970 votes (54.5 percent) to Gage's 54,298 (45.5 percent).
Hansen's governorship was characterized by efforts to expand highways and reservoirs throughout Wyoming. Several newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s in the American West referred to him as Wyoming's "cowboy governor". Hansen's obituary
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
contends that he "brought both the down-to-earth pragmatism of a lifelong cattle rancher and the affability of a small-town politician to Cheyenne and then to Washington, and he was on friendly and familiar terms throughout his career, not only with those on both sides of the political aisle, but also with elevator attendants, cafeteria workers, and staff members throughout the Capitol who called him friend."
As his gubernatorial term wound down, Hansen decided to run for the U.S. Senate seat which was being vacated by the retiring Republican Milward L. Simpson
Milward L. Simpson
Milward Lee Simpson was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator and as the 23rd Governor of Wyoming.-Life and career:...
of Cody
Cody, Wyoming
Cody is a city in Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after William Frederick Cody, primarily known as Buffalo Bill, from William Cody's part in the creation of the original town. The population was 9,520 at the 2010 census...
in Park County who was also a former Wyoming governor. Hansen said that he believed he could assist the state more from Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, than in the state capital in Cheyenne
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...
(Laramie County
Laramie County, Wyoming
Laramie County is the most populous of the 23 counties of the U.S. state of Wyoming. The county is located in the southeastern corner of the state. The county's population was 91,738 at the 2010 census. The county seat is Cheyenne, the state capital...
). He won that election with just under 52 percent of the vote. In a fairly Republican year nationally, he defeated popular Representative at-large Teno Roncalio
Teno Roncalio
Teno Roncalio was a Democratic politician from Wyoming who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1965 to 1967 and again from 1971 until 1978.- Early life and education :...
, a Democrat of Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
extraction. Hansen received 63,548 votes (51.8 percent) to Roncalio's 59,141 (48.2 percent).
Hansen's Senate years, 1967-1978
In 1972, Hansen was reelected to the Senate over Democrat Mike Vinich: 101,314 votes (71.3 percent) to 40,753 (28.7 percent). Twenty-six years later, Vinich's son, John P. Vinich, was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for governor against Republican Governor James "Jim" GeringerJim Geringer
James Edward "Jim" Geringer was the 30th Governor of Wyoming.-Early life and education:Geringer was raised on a farm in Wheatland, Wyoming. He attended Kansas State University and was a member of Triangle Fraternity, earning a degree in mechanical engineering. He served for ten years in the...
. Hansen's 1972 raw vote was the first to surpass 100,000 in Wyoming history. Since that time, as of 2002, at least five other winning Senate candidates in the state have received even more than 100,000 votes. Hansen's Senate reelection marked the last time that his name appeared on a ballot. On the same day, Richard M. Nixon defeated Democratic U.S. Senator George S. McGovern of South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
to attain his second term in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
.
Senator Hansen was known for social and fiscal conservatism. He was one of the eight senators who in 1972 voted against sending the proposed Equal Rights Amendment
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...
to the states for their consideration. He opposed the Nixon administration's deployment of the anti-ballistic missile
Anti-ballistic missile
An anti-ballistic missile is a missile designed to counter ballistic missiles .A ballistic missile is used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory. The term "anti-ballistic missile" describes any antimissile system designed to counter...
, a position which put him at odds with then Defense Secretary
United States Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
Melvin R. Laird
Melvin R. Laird
Melvin Robert Laird is an American politician and writer. Laird was a Republican congressman who also served as Richard Nixon's Secretary of Defense from 1969 to 1973. Laird urged Nixon to maintain a policy of withdrawing US soldiers from Vietnam...
.Pete Williams, a Wyoming native and a former Hansen Senate staffer recalled Hansen's "warm Western smile and utter lack of pretense . . . a favorite of his Senate colleagues and congressional employees alike. If the cafeteria workers found out you worked for Cliff Hansen, you got special treatment."
In 1976, Hansen supported the renomination and reelection of President Gerald R. Ford, Jr.
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, who won Wyoming's three electoral votes. His backing of Ford was consistent with the stand of his Republican Senate colleagues that year; only two, Paul Laxalt
Paul Laxalt
Paul Dominique Laxalt of Nevada was a former Republican District Attorney, Lieutenant Governor, Governor and U.S. Senator. In the media, the words "son of a Basque sheepherder" often accompanied his name. He was one of Ronald Reagan's closest friends in politics...
of Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
and Jesse Helms
Jesse Helms
Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr. was a five-term Republican United States Senator from North Carolina who served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001...
of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, endorsed Ford's rival for the nomination, Ronald W. Reagan of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Hansen retired from the Senate in 1978, when he declined to run for a third term. He moved back to Jackson and chaired several financial and civic associations. He supported the Republican presidential nominees in all elections thereafter.
In the Senate, Hansen sat beside his friend, Barry M. Goldwater, the Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
Republican who lost the 1964 presidential election to Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. He had been among those Republican senators who urged Goldwater to meet with President Nixon to inform him that there were far insufficient votes in the Senate to avoid conviction of a pending impeachment. In a 2006 interview, Hansen fondly recalled one of Goldwater's jokes: Goldwater goes into a California country club that excludes Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
. The man in charge tells him that he is sorry but Jews cannot play in the club. Goldwater says, "I'm only half Jewish. Can I still play nine holes?"
Hansen served on the Senate Finance Committee under chairman Russell B. Long
Russell B. Long
Russell Billiu Long was an American Democratic politician and United States Senator from Louisiana from 1948 until 1987.-Early life:...
(1918–2003) of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, son of the legendary Huey Pierce Long, Jr.
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
Hansen, thereafter as ranking member of the committee, said that Long was a "fair" chairman and one of "my dearest friends." He said that Long listened to the problems of Wyoming farmers and ranchers though he represented a state more than 1200 miles (1,931.2 km) to the south. Hansen teamed with Long to make sure that the mineral oil fees on federal lands in Wyoming would go to the state government in Cheyenne, rather than to the U.S. treasury.
Hansen said one of his most important achievements in the Senate was the passage of amendments to the Surface Mining Act which prevent mining companies from confiscating the wealth from private lands by means of following an oil bed onto adjacent properties. Farmers and ranchers as a whole in Wyoming, he said, do not object to mining but want compensation if minerals are found on their lands. Hansen said that the amendments have proved important over time because of the large coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
industry now rooted in his state.
Another Hansen accomplishments was the spearheading of national legislation that increased the share of mineral royalties collected on federal lands within the western states from 37.5 to 50 percent. This adjustment brought an additional $2.8 billion to Wyoming over the years, according to calculations requested by Governor Dave Freudenthal
Dave Freudenthal
David Duane "Dave" Freudenthal , is an American politician who served as the 31st Governor of Wyoming. A Democrat, he was reelected to his second term on November 7, 2006, and announced on March 4, 2010, that he would not attempt to seek a third term as Governor.-Education and early...
from the state Department of Revenue.
In the first decade of his Senate service, Hansen's Wyoming colleague was Democrat Gale W. McGee
Gale W. McGee
Gale William McGee was a United States Senator of the Democratic Party, and United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States...
, a former UW history professor who was first elected in the national Democratic sweep of 1958. McGee often cancelled out Hansen's more conservative votes. In 1976, however, McGee was upset by the Republican nominee Malcolm Wallop
Malcolm Wallop
Malcolm Wallop was a Republican politician and former three-term United States Senator from Wyoming.-Early years:...
, a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-born rancher and businessman from Sheridan
Sheridan, Wyoming
Sheridan is a city in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The 2010 census put the population at 17,444 and a Micropolitan Statistical Area of 29,116...
, who in the following two years as Hansen's colleague voted mostly in line with Hansen, who then became Wyoming's senior senator.
Hansen resigned his Senate seat on December 31, 1978, three days before the expiration of his term to give a slight seniority edge to his moderate Republican successor Alan Kooi Simpson
Alan K. Simpson
Alan Kooi Simpson is an American politician who served from 1979 to 1997 as a United States Senator from Wyoming as a member of the Republican Party. His father, Milward L. Simpson, was also a member of the U.S...
of Cody, brother of Peter Simpson and son of conservative Milward Simpson, Hansen's U.S. Senate predecessor. Alan Simpson would later become the Senate Republican whip. At the Hansen funeral, Alan Simpson paid tribute, accordingly: "I owe him much. All of Wyoming and the nation owe him much. . . . He was a dear and special man who gave much and asked very little, and fought on always with integrity, courage, and an uncommon degree of common sense. God bless his soul."
The Hansen family
In 1934, Hansen married the former Martha Close (born June 5, 1914) of Sheridan. At the end of each workday, Hansen would call Martha from his Senate office to inform her that he was on his way to their Washington apartment. He totally avoided the Capitol Hill cocktail circuit.The Hansens were the parents of a son, Peter Arthur Hansen (born 1936). Their only daughter, Mary Hansen Mead (1935–1996), was the unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1990 against popular Democratic Governor Michael J. Sullivan of Douglas
Douglas, Wyoming
Douglas is a city in Converse County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 5,288 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Converse County...
in Converse County. Sullivan defeated Mrs. Mead, 104,638 votes (65.4 percent) to her 55,471 ballots (34.6 percent). In the general election, Mrs. Mead polled only 4,311 more votes than she had in her closed primary. Hence, she was unable to reach beyond her base of support within the GOP
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
.
Thereafter, Mrs. Mead, considered an expert horsewoman
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
, was killed in an accident while working cattle on leased land in Grand Teton National Park on June 21, 1996. She was thrown by her horse, which then collapsed upon her, her father explained. Mary Mead was married to Peter Mead, who coincidentally partly bears the same name as her father and grandfather. (Peter Mead is not related to the American boxer Pete Mead
Pete Mead
Felix G. "Pete" Mead was an American middleweight boxer who fought in the ring from 1942 to 1951. He was defeated in his last fight by Rocky Graziano of New York City. In 1989, Mead wrote his autobiography, Blood, Sweat and Cheers, a collector's item that can sell for as much as $135...
(1924–2007), a native of Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
.) She lived on the Mead Ranch, officially the 'Lower Bar BC', which prior to its sale for more than $100 million was one of the largest pastoral private pieces in Teton County. The Hansens and Meads were particularly known for conservation
Habitat conservation
Habitat conservation is a land management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore, habitat areas for wild plants and animals, especially conservation reliant species, and prevent their extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range...
and stewardship activities on their properties. In December 2001, the ranch had surrendered its 2000 acres (8.1 km²) lease in Grand Teton Park in 2001, which had become unproductive economically.
Bradford Scott "Brad" Mead (born July 24, 1957) is one of the two sons of Mary and Peter Mead. There is also a daughter, Muffy Mead-Ferro, an author in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. Brad Mead and his wife, Katherine L. "Kate" Mead (also born 1957), are attorneys in Jackson. Kate Mead, a Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
native who came to Wyoming on a skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
scholarship, was the Republican nominee in 2006 for the District 16 seat in the Wyoming House of Representatives
Wyoming House of Representatives
The Wyoming House of Representatives is the lower house of the Wyoming State Legislature. There are 60 Representatives in the House, representing an equal amount of single-member constituent districts across the state, each with a population of at least 9,000. The House convenes at the Wyoming...
but was handily defeated by the incumbent Democrat Pete Jorgenson. Both Brad Mead and grandfather Cliff Hansen have recorded interviews to be used as a part of the new Jackson Hole Historical Society Museum, which will be unveiled within the next few years in downtown Jackson.
Another Hansen grandson, Matthew H. "Matt" Mead
Matt Mead
Matthew Hansen "Matt" Mead , is the 32nd and current Governor of Wyoming.-Early Life:Mead is the son of Peter Mead and Mary Hansen Mead , the GOP gubernatorial nominee in 1990, and the grandson of the late Governor and U.S. Senator Clifford P. Hansen...
(born March 1, 1962), served as United States Attorney
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
in Cheyenne from 2001–2007, an appointee of U.S. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. In 2007, he resigned as U.S. attorney to seek the seat of the late U.S. Senator Craig Thomas, but the Republican State Central Committee bypassed Mead on the third and final ballot. He came within fourteen votes of being one of the three nominees from which Governor Freudenthal, a Democrat, would under state law make the final selection to fill the Thomas vacancy until the 2008 general election. In 2010
Wyoming gubernatorial election, 2010
The 2010 Wyoming gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010 to elect the Governor of Wyoming, who will serve a four-year term to begin in January 2011...
, Mead was elected Governor of Wyoming.
Upon the death of former Republican Senator Hiram L. Fong of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
in August 2004, Hansen had become the oldest living person to have served in the United States Senate.
Hansen's official gubernatorial portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
was prepared by Michele Rushworth, who sought to capture the former governor's soul.
Death and legacy
In 2006, Hansen said in an interview that he and his wife were in "pretty good health" considering their ages, though he had vision difficulties; so they had retained a driver. By mid-October 2009, Hansen fell severely ill because of complications from a broken pelvis. After a short time in the hospital, he returned home to be with Martha, his wife of more than seventy-five years, whom he had met at UW in Laramie. Theirs was the longest active marriage of a present or former U.S. senator. Hansen's prognosis was poor, and he died on October 20, four days after his 97th birthday. In addition to his wife and son, Hansen was also survived by a brother, Robert Hansen, and a sister, Ordeen Hansen, five grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.Hansen lay in state in a casket draped with the Wyoming flag at the state capitol in Cheyenne. State funeral services were held on October 24 at the Cheyenne Civic Center, with many Wyoming dignitaries in attendance. Pallbearers and honor guard were provided by the Wyoming Air National Guard, Wyoming Army National Guard, and the Wyoming Highway Patrol. At the funeral, Governor Freudenthal eulogized Hansen: "I think that without a doubt we can see Cliff Hansen was beloved and always will be. . . . And more than any stone monument, we will carry him with us throughout our lives because he is woven into who we are and through the fabric of this wonderful state."
A memorial service was held at St. John's Episcopal Church in Jackson at 2 p.m. on October 27. Hansen's cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
remains were deposited at the church in a crypt, which contains the ashes of daughter Mary Mead. Upon her death, Mrs. Hansen's remains will be deposited there as well.
Hansen's obituary indicates that he entered the political arena because he "cared about Wyoming, and with an understanding that his job was to advance the welfare of the people he served in the state he so loved, and not to advance his own career. No one could have been more deeply attached to the land; he grew up more outdoors than in, and gave endless attention and energy to the stewardship . . . [of] all the land in Wyoming.
"And no one could have been more deeply attached to the people of Wyoming. Cliff genuinely liked other people. He was interested in their backgrounds, their work, their families, and their opinions. Those thousands of different people he met from all over Wyoming, Washington D.C., and beyond, knew when he looked them in the eye that there was nothing practiced nor obligatory about his interest in what they had to say."
Mrs. Hansen recalled her husband's faith in the American people: "Everybody is important, and his actions both inside and outside politics bore that out."
In 1995, Hansen was inducted, along with the Texas artist and illustrator Thomas C. Lea, III
Thomas C. Lea, III
Thomas Calloway "Tom" Lea, III was a noted American muralist, illustrator, artist, war correspondent, novelist, and historian....
, into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, as a "Great Westerner."
In 2005, a bronze calf sculptured by artist Jerry Palen was erected in Hansen's honor at the Wyoming state capital by the Stockgrowers Association. At the dedication, Ron Micheli
Ron Micheli
Joseph Ronald Micheli, known as Ron Micheli , is a former director of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture who also served from 1977-1992 in the Wyoming House of Representatives. He ran a strong third-place finish as a candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2010. His primary...
, a former state representative, a rancher from Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger, Wyoming
Fort Bridger is a census-designated place in Uinta County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 400 at the 2000 census. The town takes its name from the eponymous Fort Bridger established in 1842.-Geography:...
, and a candidate for governor in the 2010 Republican primary, called Hansen, accordingly, "The footsteps he has left in the state surpass anything we can ever keep up with."
Pete Williams recalled his former boss as follows: "He was an honest man, of rock solid integrity, who loved his wife, his children, and his state. And when his service to his nation was over, he went back to Wyoming, where he died, not far from the log house where he was born."