Kenneth William Hechler (September 20, 1914 – December 10, 2016) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented West Virginia's 4th congressional district in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from 1959 to 1977 and was

West Virginia Secretary of State The secretary of state of West Virginia is an elected office within the U.S. state of West Virginia state government. The secretary of state is responsible for overseeing the state's election process, including voter registration and election r ...

from 1985 to 2001.

Biography

Early life and military service

Of German-American descent, Hechler was born in

Roslyn, New York Roslyn ( ) is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is the Greater Roslyn area's anchor community. The population was 2,988 at the time of the 2020 census. ...

, on September 20, 1914, to Charles Henry and Catherine Elizabeth (Hauhart) Hechler. He held a BA from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

, and an MA and PhD from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in history and government. Hechler served on the faculty of Columbia University,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, and

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

in the years leading up to World War II. Hechler held a series of minor appointed positions in the federal civil service until he was drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

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 ...

in July, 1942. After graduation from Armored Force Officer Candidate School, he was assigned as a combat historian in the

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater (warfare), theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It command ...

. Hechler helped chronicle the

liberation of France The liberation of France () in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany in ...

, the 1944

Normandy invasion Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 ( D-Day) with the ...

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

, and entrance into Nazi Germany. He was attached to the 9th Armored Division when an armored and infantry task force, part of Combat Command B, unexpectedly captured the

Ludendorff Bridge The Ludendorff Bridge, also known as the Bridge at Remagen, was a bridge across the river Rhine in Germany which was captured by United States Army forces in early March 1945 during the Battle of Remagen, in the closing weeks of World War I ...

spanning the

Rhine River The Rhine ( ) is one of the major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Swiss-Austrian border. From Lake Cons ...

during the

Battle of Remagen The Battle of Remagen was an 18-day battle during the Allied invasion of Germany in World War II. It lasted from the 7th to the 25th of March 1945 when American forces unexpectedly captured the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine intact. They wer ...

. He interviewed both U.S. and German soldiers involved at the time. He was awarded a Bronze Star and 5 battle stars. He returned after the war twice to interview Germans who took part in the battle. He found Captain Willi Bratge, whom a German military court had sentenced to death ''in absentia'' because he had been captured, and spent a week with him in the Remagen area learning about details of the battle. In 1957 he published the book ''

The Bridge at Remagen ''The Bridge at Remagen'' is a 1969 DeLuxe Color war film in Panavision starring George Segal, Ben Gazzara, and Robert Vaughn. The film, which was directed by John Guillermin, was shot in Czechoslovakia. It is based on the nonfiction book ...

: The Amazing Story of March 7, 1945'', which was adapted into a film in 1969. After the war ended, he was assigned to interview many of the defendants prior to the

Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

, including

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

. (Hechler recorded him making a delusional offer to join the American side and "knock hell out of the Russians.")

Entry into politics

Next Hechler was a

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

assistant to

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

from 1949 to 1953 and Research Director for Adlai Stevenson's 1956 Presidential campaign. From 1953 to 1957 he was associate director of the American Political Science Association in Washington, DC. Hechler then was appointed to the faculty at

Marshall University Marshall University is a public university, public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the Uni ...

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell County, West Virginia, Cabell and Wayne County, West Virginia, Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The County seat, seat of Cabell County, the city is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, O ...

. He ran for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from West Virginia's Fourth Congressional District, which then included Huntington and many unionized mill towns along the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

north of that industrial city, in 1958. He won a narrow victory by 3,500 votes. He never faced another general election contest anywhere near that close. In Congress, he earned a reputation as a liberal Democrat and in 1965, he was the only member of Congress to join

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

on the

Selma to Montgomery marches The Selma to Montgomery marches were three Demonstration (protest), protest marches, held in 1965, along the highway from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery. The marches were organized by Nonviolence, nonvi ...

. Hechler voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1960,

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, and

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, and the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights move ...

. In 1971, Hechler was the sole member in the state's congressional delegation to vote for the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. He was the principal architect of the

Coal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1969 The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, U.S. Public Law 91-173, generally referred to as the Coal Act, was passed by the 91st United States Congressional session and enacted into law by the Presidency of Richard Nixon, 37th President ...

, which for the first time put a ceiling on the amount of respirable

coal dust Coal dust is a fine-powdered form of coal which is created by the crushing, grinding, or pulverizer, pulverization of coal rock. Because of the brittle nature of coal, coal dust can be created by mining, transporting, or mechanically handling it. ...

allowed in

coal mines Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

, and stipulated stringent safety regulations. Though an opponent of the state Democratic machine, he faced little opposition in Democratic primaries and was reelected eight times.

Election of 1972

In 1972, Hechler faced a strong primary challenge for the first time since his initial run for the seat. Following the

1970 United States census The 1970 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 203,392,031, an increase of 13.4 percent over the 179,323,175 persons enumerated during the 1960 census. This was t ...

, West Virginia's declining population cost it a congressional district. The state legislature merged Hechler's district with most of the old 5th District, comprising several coal-mining counties around Bluefield and Beckley. The 5th had been represented by Democrat

James Kee James Kee (April 15, 1917 – March 11, 1989) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served in the United States House of Representatives for West Virginia's 5th congressional district ...

of Bluefield since 1965, and had been in the hands of the Kee family without interruption since 1933. While the new district retained Hechler's district number–the 4th–it was geographically and demographically more Kee's district. Kee retained 65 percent of his former territory. Hechler had been a longtime opponent of the state Democratic machine, and the legislature responded by attempting to draw his seat out from under him. However, Hechler made the most of his union ties and routed Kee in the Democratic primary by almost 26 points. He easily won reelection in November, and was unopposed for reelection in 1974.

Running for Governor

In 1976, he entered a multi-candidate primary for

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, but lost that statewide race by a large margin. He then attempted a

write-in A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

campaign in his old district against the Democratic nominee,

Nick Rahall Nicholas Joseph Rahall II ( ; born May 20, 1949) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 2015. He is the longest-serving member ever of the United States ...

. Rahall was a follower and former staffer for

Robert Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A Democratic Pa ...

. He lost to Rahall in a close election, taking 36 percent of the vote and pushing the Republican candidate into third place, and lost again to Rahall in the Democratic primary of 1978. Following these unsuccessful political bids, Hechler resumed his teaching career at Marshall University, the

University of Charleston The University of Charleston (UC) is a private university with its main campus in Charleston, West Virginia. It also has a location in Beckley, West Virginia, known as UC-Beckley. History The school was founded in 1888 as the Barboursville Semin ...

and

West Virginia State University West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia, United States. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Color ...

Later career

In 1984 Hechler ran for

and won. He was re-elected in 1988, 1992, and 1996. In 1990, he again ran, in the middle of his Secretarial term, for his old Congressional seat, but was defeated by Rahall in the primary. His term as Secretary of State is most known for his successful prosecution of Johnie Owens, who sold his position as Sheriff of Mingo County for $100,000 and was sentenced to fourteen years in federal prison. He also persuaded the West Virginia State Legislature to require that candidates publicly register loans, with specific terms of repayment. There was a growing rift between him and union leaders over his support of tough environmental laws, thought by union leaders to be at the cost of jobs. As secretary of state, in 1985 he moved his legal residence to Charleston. Charleston is located in the 2nd District, which was vacated in 2000 by nine-term Democrat

Bob Wise Robert Ellsworth Wise Jr. (born January 6, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 33rd governor of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, Wise also served in the United States House of Representatives fro ...

, who was running for governor. Hechler lost a three-way Democratic primary bid for that seat. In 2000, at the age of 85, he walked 530 miles in joining Doris "Granny D" Haddock in her cross country walk on behalf of campaign finance reform, shortly before the passage of the McCain–Feingold Act. In 2004 he ran yet again for his old post as secretary of state. This time, he won the Democratic primary by a plurality, but lost the general election to Republican Betty Ireland.

After the 2004 election

Beginning in 2004, Hechler campaigned against

mountaintop removal mining Mountaintop removal mining (MTR), also known as mountaintop mining (MTM), is a form of surface mining at the summit or summit ridge of a mountain. Coal seams are extracted from a mountain by removing the land, or overburden, above the seams. Thi ...

. On June 23, 2009, Hechler, then aged 94, participated in a protest near

sites in the West Virginia coalfields in the Coal River valley along with others. He was one of 29 protesters arrested for trespass. On July 21, 2010, Hechler filed to run in the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

to succeed the late Senator

, running in the primary against Gov.

Joe Manchin Joseph Manchin III ( ; born August 24, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia from 2010 to 2025. He was West Virginia's only congressional Democrat until he registered as ...

. Hechler indicated that his primary goal in entering the race was to draw attention to what he viewed as the devastating impact of

in West Virginia. Hechler lost to Manchin, with less than 20% of the vote. He then endorsed Jesse Johnson of the

Mountain Party The Mountain Party, also known as the West Virginia Green Party and the West Virginia Workers’ Party, is a political party in West Virginia affiliated with the Green Party of the United States. It is a progressive and environmentalist party ...

for the Senate seat in the general election. One of his last public political endorsements was of

Charlotte Pritt Charlotte Jean Pritt (born January 2, 1949) is an American educator, businesswoman, and politician in the U.S. state of West Virginia. From 1984 to 1988, she served in the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing Kanawha County. From 1988 t ...

for

Governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

in 2016. Pritt, whom Hechler often publicly referred to as one of his protege's, was running this time as the nominee of the

. Hechler had supported Pritt in her two other bids for Governor as a Democrat in 1992 and 1996 (when she was the nominee.) Pritt later gave one of the eulogies at his Memorial Service after his death. On August 12, 2013, Hechler, at the age of 98, married his long-time companion, Carol Kitzmiller, in Winchester, Virginia. On September 20, 2014, he turned 100. "The secret of longevity is to exercise," Hechler said. "I always exercised on the tennis court until I had to give that up, but I've got a new hip." In July 2016, Hechler was placed into hospice care in

Romney, West Virginia Romney is a town in Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 1,722 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Winchester, VA–WV MSA, Winchester, Virginia metropolitan area. T ...

, after suffering from a recurring lung infection. Hechler died on December 10, 2016, at his home in Romney from a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

at the age of 102.

Works

*Ken Hechler, ''The Enemy Side of the Hill: The 1945 Background on the Interrogation of German Commanders as Seen Subjectively by Major Kenneth W. Hechler'', U.S. Dept. of the Army (1949) *Ken Hechler, ''The Bridge at Remagen'', Ballantine, First edition (January 1, 1957) **''The Bridge at Remagen (Presidio War Classic; World War II''), Presidio Press (July 26, 2005), **''The Bridge at Remagen: The Amazing Story of March 7, 1945 - The Day the Rhine River was Crossed'', Pictorial Histories Pub, Rev Sub edition (December 30, 1993), *Ken Hechler, ''Endless Space Frontier: A History of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, 1959-1978 (Aas History Series)'', Univelt (February 1982), *Ken Hechler, ''Working With Truman'', Putnam Adult; First Edition (November 19, 1982), **Ken Hechler, ''Working With Truman: A Personal Memoir of the White House Years (Give 'em Hell Harry Series)'', University of Missouri Press (March 1996), *Ken Hechler, ''Holding the line the 51st Engineer Combat Battalion and the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944-January 1945 (SuDoc D 103.43/4:4)'', Office of History, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (1988) **Ken Hechler, ''Holding the Line'', University Press of the Pacific (January 30, 2005), *Ken Hechler, ''River-Horse: The Logbook of a Boat Across America'', Penguin Books (1991) *Ken Hechler, ''Hero of the Rhine: The Karl Timmermann Story'', Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, (January 1, 2004), *Ken Hechler, ''Super Marine!: The Sgt. Orland D. "Buddy" Jones Story'', Pictorial Histories Publishing Company (January 2007),

References

External links

Ken Hechler
official website *

West Virginia & Regional History Center The West Virginia & Regional History Center (WVRHC), is the largest archival collection housing documents and manuscripts involving West Virginia and the surrounding central Appalachian region. Because of name changes over the years, it is someti ...

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

Ken Hechler, Interview TranscriptKen Hechler for West Virginia
official campaign site *
Oral History Interview with Ken Hechler
Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, November 29, 1985, by Niel M. Johnson *https://web.archive.org/web/20130501092505/http://www.news-leader.com/article/20130429/NEWS01/304290038/Ken-Hechler-99th-birthday-Marshfield-Cherry-Blossom-festival * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hechler, Ken 1914 births 2016 deaths Activists from West Virginia American men centenarians American male non-fiction writers United States Army personnel of World War II Anti-mining activists Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni American historians of World War II Marshall University faculty Military personnel from New York (state) People from Romney, West Virginia People from Roslyn, New York American people of German descent Politicians from Charleston, West Virginia Politicians from Huntington, West Virginia Secretaries of state of West Virginia Swarthmore College alumni Left-wing populism in the United States Truman administration personnel United States Army historians United States Army officers Writers from New York (state) Writers from West Virginia Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia Historians from New York (state) 20th-century West Virginia politicians 21st-century West Virginia politicians 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives