Victor G. Atiyeh
Encyclopedia
Victor George Atiyeh is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician, elected the 32nd Governor of Oregon
Governor of Oregon
The Governor of Oregon is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. territorial governments....

 in 1978. A member of the Republican Party, Atiyeh was the first elected governor of Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 descent in the United States, serving eight years from 1979 through 1987. He won re-election running against future governor Ted Kulongoski
Ted Kulongoski
Theodore R. "Ted" Kulongoski is an American politician, who served as the 36th Governor of Oregon. A Democrat, he has served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, as the state Insurance Commissioner, the Attorney General, and an Associate Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court.-Early...

 with 61.6 percent of the vote, the largest margin in 32 years. As of 2011, Atiyeh is the last Republican to serve as Governor of Oregon.

Early life

As a young man, Atiyeh worked in the rug and carpet business, Atiyeh Brothers, established by his father, an immigrant from Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

, at the turn of the 20th century.

Career

Atiyeh served as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives
Oregon House of Representatives
The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 57,000. The House meets at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem....

 from 1959 to 1964 and in the Oregon State Senate
Oregon State Senate
The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the state-wide legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the State Senate, representing 30 districts across the state,...

 from 1965 to 1978.

When state residents began losing food stamp benefits in 1979, Atiyeh was instrumental in establishing Oregon Food Share, the nation's first statewide food bank.

Later life

Since leaving office, Atiyeh has been an international trade consultant. On August 31, 2005, he underwent quadruple bypass surgery; he drove himself to St. Vincent Medical Center after suffering chest pains. Atiyeh was noted for being a fiscal conservative; his spokesman told reporters that he had stopped on his way to the hospital to fill his car with gas, having taken note of the sharply rising prices. In the weeks following the surgery, Atiyeh was readmitted to the hospital for several brief stays after suffering shortness of breath and pain in his arms.
In 2006, Atiyeh co-chaired the "Yes on 49" campaign, supporting Ballot Measure 49, along with Democratic former governor Barbara Roberts
Barbara Roberts
Barbara Kay Roberts is an American politician from the state of Oregon. A native of the state, she served as the 34th Governor of Oregon from 1991 to 1995. She is the first and, to date, only woman to be elected to that office. A Democrat, Roberts was also the first woman to serve as majority...

, former and future governor John Kitzhaber
John Kitzhaber
John Albert Kitzhaber is the 37th Governor of Oregon. He served as the 35th Governor of Oregon from 1995 to 2003 and became the first person to be elected to the office three times when he was re-elected to a non-consecutive third term in 2010...

, and then-governor Ted Kulongoski
Ted Kulongoski
Theodore R. "Ted" Kulongoski is an American politician, who served as the 36th Governor of Oregon. A Democrat, he has served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, as the state Insurance Commissioner, the Attorney General, and an Associate Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court.-Early...

. He solicited a $100,000 donation to the campaign from Phil Knight
Phil Knight
Philip Hampson "Phil" Knight is an American business magnate. He is the co-founder and Chairman of Nike, Inc. He resigned as the company's chief executive officer in 2004, while retaining the position of chairman of the board...

, CEO of Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

.

Personal life

He currently lives in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

 with his wife Dolores. Together, Victor and Dolores have two children, Tom and Suzanne, and five grandchildren: Megan, Sonia, Cody, Jimmy, and Becky.

External links

  • Oregon State Archives file on Atiyeh (January 8, 1979 - January 12, 1987)
  • Biographical Note from Oregon State Archives
    Oregon State Archives
    The Archives Division of the Office of the Secretary of State of Oregon, or Oregon State Archives, is an agency of the Office of the Oregon Secretary of State charged with preserving and providing access to government records. It also publishes the Oregon Blue Book and Oregon Administrative Rules...

  • University of Oregon Awards
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