In 1950, while teaching
political science and serving as dean of students at his undergraduate alma mater, Senator Hatfield began his political career in the
Oregon Legislative Assembly. He would teach early-morning classes and then walk across the street to the Capitol to legislate. After two terms in the
Oregon House of Representatives and two years in the
Oregon State Senate, he became the youngest
secretary of state in Oregon history in 1956 at age 34. Two years later, he was elected
Governor of Oregon, and became the state's first two-term governor in the 20th century when he was re-elected in 1962. Hatfield was a popular and progressive Governor, who supported Oregon's traditional industries of timber and agriculture, but realized that in the postwar era, expansion of industry and funding for transportation and education needed to be priorities.
Hatfield's victory in a Democratic year made him something of a national figure. He gave the keynote speech at the 1964
Republican National Convention in
San Francisco that nominated
Barry Goldwater. Hatfield denounced the extreme conservatism that Goldwater and his supporters were associated with. In 1968, Hatfield was on
Richard Nixon's short list for
vice president, and received the strong backing of his friend, the Rev.
Billy Graham. Hatfield was considered too liberal by many southern conservatives, and the more centrist
Maryland Governor
Spiro Agnew was chosen by Nixon. Hatfield would later find himself at odds with Nixon and Agnew over Vietnam and other issues.
In 1966, Hatfield won a seat in the
U.S. Senate, a position he retained for five terms. Although Hatfield was generally popular, he only narrowly defeated hawkish Congressman
Robert Duncan in 1966, and had a surprisingly tough final race against businessman
Harry Lonsdale in 1990.
As a senator, Hatfield took positions that made him hard to classify politically. In the Summer of 1969, he had told
Murray Rothbard that he had "committed himself to the cause of libertarianism," but as Rothbard had said, "obviously his voting record is not particularly libertarian—it's very good on foreign policy and the draft, but it's not too great on other things," adding that "in the abstract, at least, he is very favorable to libertarianism." Hatfield was strongly pro-life on the issues of
abortion and the
death penalty. Although a prominent evangelical Christian, he opposed government-sponsored school prayer and supported civil rights for minorities and gays. In 1970, with Senator
George McGovern (D-South Dakota), he cosponsored the
McGovern-Hatfield Amendment, which called for a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from
Vietnam. In the 1980s, Hatfield cosponsored
nuclear freeze legislation with Senator
Edward M. Kennedy, and in 1990 he voted against the
Gulf War. Hatfield frequently broke with his party on issues of national defense and foreign policy, such as military spending and the ban on travel to
Cuba, while frequently siding with them on environmental and conservation issues. He was the lone Republican to vote against the
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act and the failed
Balanced Budget Amendment.
Hatfield enjoyed warm relations with members of both parties and was sometimes referred to as "Saint Mark". However, in 1984, columnist
Jack Anderson revealed that Mrs. Hatfield, a realtor, had been paid $50,000 in dubious fees by arms dealer
Basil Tsakos. Tsakos had been lobbying Senator Hatfield, then Appropriations Chairman, for funding for a $6 billion trans-African pipeline. The Hatfields apologized and returned the money. In 1991, it was revealed that Hatfield had failed to report a number of expensive gifts. Again, he apologized.
Senator Hatfield retired in 1996 after more than 46 years of political service, having never lost an election.
After retiring, he joined the faculty of
George Fox University. As of 2006, he is
Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Politics. He teaches at the Hatfield School of Government at
Portland State University.
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