Robert William Straub (May 6, 1920 – November 27, 2002) was an American politician and businessman from the state of
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
. A native of San Francisco, California, he settled in
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...
, where he entered politics. A
Democratic politician, he served in the
Oregon State Senate
The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the State legislature (United States), statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. Ther ...
, as the
Oregon State Treasurer
The Oregon state treasurer is a constitutional officer within the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon, elected by statewide vote to serve a four-year term. As chief financial officer for the state, the office holder head ...
, and one term as the
31st Governor of Oregon from 1975 to 1979. Like his perennial opponent for governor,
Tom McCall, he was a noted environmentalist.
Early life
Robert William Straub was born on May 6, 1920, in San Francisco.
His parents were Thomas J. and Mary Tulley Straub who were staunch Republicans.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he served in the Army's Quartermaster Corps.
Straub earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
in 1943, and then a
masters of business administration from the school in 1947.
While a student at Dartmouth, he married
Pat Straub (
née
The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Stroud) in 1943, and they had three sons and three daughters.
In 1946, the family moved to
Springfield, Oregon
Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Willamette Valley, Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield, OR MSA, Eugene-Springfield metropolitan statistical area. Separ ...
, when Straub accepted a job at the new
Weyerhaeuser
The Weyerhaeuser Company ( ) is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company has manufactured wood products for over a c ...
facility there.
At Weyerhauser he worked with former classmate and later Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives
Richard Eymann.
Straub also established a construction firm.
He became independently wealthy by investing in the stock market, in real estate development, and trading in timber.
Political career
Straub worked at his construction firm until beginning his political career when he was elected to the
Lane County Board of Commissioners in 1954.
Straub served on the commission from 1955 to 1959.
He represented Lane County in the
Oregon State Senate
The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the State legislature (United States), statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. Ther ...
from 1959 to 1963.
During his time in the senate, Straub established his reputation as an advocate for natural resource management and conservation. He was one of the state's first leaders to voice concern about air and water pollution.
In 1964, Straub was elected to a four-year term as the
Oregon State Treasurer
The Oregon state treasurer is a constitutional officer within the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon, elected by statewide vote to serve a four-year term. As chief financial officer for the state, the office holder head ...
.
Two years later he ran unsuccessfully for the Governor's office, losing to
Tom McCall.
As State Treasurer, Straub worked to create the Local Government Investment Pool and the
Oregon Public Employees Retirement System
The Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) is the retirement and disability fund for public employees in the U.S. state of Oregon established in 1946. Employees of the state, school districts, and local governments are eligible for coverage. ...
(PERS).
He also opposed construction on
U.S. Highway 101 planned for an area south of
Tillamook where the highway was planned to go across the
Nestucca River, up the sandspit past Cape Kiwanda along the ocean front.
He helped lead those opposed to the plan and was able to get the highway built closer to its previous location inland.
Straub served two terms in the office, from 1965 to 1973, and lost a second bid against McCall in 1970.
Governor of Oregon
McCall was prohibited by the state constitution from seeking a third consecutive term in the
1974 election. Straub was finally able to win the state's top job that year, defeating then-State Senator
Victor Atiyeh,
winning the largest margin in an Oregon gubernatorial race since 1950. Straub's tenure as governor saw the state's energy and land use laws strengthened. He also worked to increase property tax relief and to provide utility rate relief for senior citizens. He appointed more women, minorities and disabled people to head state agencies than any previous Oregon governor.
Other accomplishments included reducing the unemployment rate to 5% from 12% and working to end plans for the proposed controversial
Mount Hood Freeway
The Mount Hood Freeway is a partially constructed but never to be completed freeway alignment of U.S. Route 26 and Interstate 80N (now Interstate 84), which would have run through southeast Portland, Oregon
Portland ( ) is the List of ...
.
Straub was defeated in his re-election bid in
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
in a rematch with Atiyeh.
Later years
Following his reelection defeat, Straub owned and operated farms in
Salem,
Springfield,
Curtin Curtin may refer to:
Places
*Curtin, Australian Capital Territory
* Curtin, Oregon, U.S.
*Curtin Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
*Curtin, Nicholas County, West Virginia, U.S.
*Curtin, Webster County, West Virginia, U.S.
* RAAF Base Curt ...
, and
Willamina. In addition, he also operated a ranch in
Wheeler County. Straub considered running against Republican U.S. Senator
Bob Packwood
Robert William Packwood (born September 11, 1932) is an American retired lawyer and politician from Oregon who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1969 to 1995. He resigned from the U.S. Senate under threat of expulsion, in 1995 ...
in the
1986 election, but decided not to enter the race.
In 1987, Nestucca Spit State Park near
Pacific City was renamed
Bob Straub State Park in his honor, and a conference room at Lane County's government offices was named in his honor in 2001.
In 1999, he announced that he was suffering from
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
. He died on November 27, 2002, of complications from the disease in the Gateway Living Center nursing home in Springfield, Oregon at the age of 82.
References
External links
Genealogy of Robert William StraubRobert Straub - (1920-2002)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Straub, Robert W.
1920 births
2002 deaths
Democratic Party governors of Oregon
State treasurers of Oregon
Democratic Party Oregon state senators
United States Army personnel of World War II
Politicians from Springfield, Oregon
Politicians from Eugene, Oregon
Politicians from San Francisco
American environmentalists
Businesspeople from Eugene, Oregon
Businesspeople from San Francisco
Farmers from Oregon
Dartmouth College alumni
Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Oregon
20th-century Oregon politicians
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly