Robert H. Hinckley (June 8, 1891 – 1988) was involved in aviation and politics. He founded the

Hinckley Institute of Politics The Hinckley Institute of Politics is a nonpartisan institute located on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. Its purpose is "to engage students in transformative experiences and provide political thought leadership" through in ...

at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

Early life and education

Hinckley was the son of Edwin S. Hinckley and Adeline Henry. For some of his earliest years Hinckley lived in

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

while his father pursued his education at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. During most of his youth, Hinckley lived in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...

, where his father was a professor at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(BYU). He graduated from Brigham Young High School, the high school affiliate of BYU, in 1910. Hinckley then served a mission for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

in Germany. Hinckley first flew in 1913 with

Melli Beese Amelie Hedwig Boutard-Beese (13 September 1886 – 22 December 1925), also known as Melli Beese, was the first female German pilot, and airplane engineer women in aviation, female aviator. Early life Amelie Hedwig Beese was born in Dresden ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany, about the time of the end of Hinckley's LDS mission. After his mission, Hinckley continued his studies at BYU receiving a bachelor's degree in 1916. In June 1915, Hinckley married Abrelia Clarissa Seely.

Career

After his graduation from BYU in 1916, Hinckley joined the faculty of

North Sanpete High School North Sanpete High School is a public high school serving grades 9 through 12 located in Mount Pleasant, Utah, United States. It is the only high school serving the North Sanpete School District. Communities in the district include Mount Pleasa ...

Mount Pleasant, Utah Mount Pleasant is a city in the U.S. state of Utah. Located in Sanpete County, Mt. Pleasant is known for being home to Wasatch Academy. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 3,260. History In the spring of 1852, Latter-Day Saint c ...

. He also formed the Seely-Hinckley Automobile Company, a car dealership, with some of his in-laws. Hinckley, a lifelong Democrat, entered politics with his election as a member of the Utah State Legislature from

Sanpete County Sanpete County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 28,437. Its county seat is Manti, and its largest city is Ephraim. The county was created in 1850. History The Sanpete Valley m ...

in 1918. He also served as mayor of

beginning in 1923. In 1927, he moved to

Ogden, Utah Ogden ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the United States Census ...

. Here he founded the car dealership Robert H. Hinckley Dodge, Inc. He was also one of the organizers of Utah-Pacific Airways, which, among other things, pioneered air support in fighting forest fires. In 1931, Hinckley was appointed to a government advisory committee on relief. In 1933 he was appointed the director of the Utah Emergency Relief program by governor Henry H. Blood. He later served as director of the Western Region for the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

. In 1938, Hinckley was appointed to the

Civil Aeronautics Authority The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the federal government of the United States, formed in 1940 from a split of the Civil Aeronautics Authority and abolished in 1985, that regulated A ...

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

. The next year he was appointed head of this organization. While there Hinckley oversaw the building of the

Washington National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, from Washington, D.C. The closest airport to the nation's capital, it is one of two airports owned by the federal government and ope ...

and the formation of the

Civilian Pilot Training Program The Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) was a flight training program (1938–1944) sponsored by the United States government with the stated purpose of increasing the number of civilian pilots, though having a clear impact on military prepare ...

. Hinckley also served as the assistant secretary of commerce in the Roosevelt administration. In 1944, Hinckley was appointed as head of contract settlement to bring a fair and reasonable end to war contracts after the war. Subsequently, he worked with

Edward J. Noble Edward John Noble (August 8, 1882 – December 28, 1958) was an American broadcasting and candy industrialist originally from Gouverneur, New York. He co-founded the Life Savers Corporation in 1913. He founded the American Broadcasting Company ...

in founding the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...

. Hinckley served many years on the board of trustees of the University of Utah. It was while there he worked to found the Hinckley Institute of Politics, including getting Noble and his foundation to put up a large part of the money for it. In 1977, ''BYU Press'' published Hinckley's autobiography entitled ''I'd Rather Be Born Lucky Than Rich'' which was co-authored with JoAnn Jacobsen Wells. In 1998 the Hinckley Institute published Bae B. Gardner's biography of Hinckley entitled ''Robert Henry Hinckley: Getting to Know Him''. The Hinckleys had three sons and one daughter. Hinckley's son, Robert H. Hinckley Jr., studied at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service in the United States military during World War II. After he returned to Utah he helped run the family Dodge business and succeeded his father as director of the board for the Hinckley Institute. Their son John Seely Hinckley (1923–1990) also worked in the automobile business. He graduated from the

after having served in the military 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 ...

. John was the president of the National Automobile Dealers Association in 1973. He also served as a member of the Ogden City Council.

Notes

Sources

Hinckley Institute of Politics pagefact sheet on HinckleyUniversity of Utah Library archives bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinckley, Robert H. 1891 births Aviators from Utah Brigham Young University alumni Democratic Party members of the Utah House of Representatives Mayors of places in Utah People from Mount Pleasant, Utah People from Provo, Utah 20th-century American businesspeople Hinckley family University of Utah Works Progress Administration 1988 deaths American Mormon missionaries in Germany 20th-century Mormon missionaries Politicians from Ogden, Utah Latter Day Saints from Michigan Latter Day Saints from Utah Brigham Young High School alumni 20th-century members of the Utah Legislature