In this diary I wrote last December, I advocated that one metric for sifting through the very large list of Democratic candidates for President was to examine their backgrounds, looking at “broad life experience” for attributes that would contribute to (or detract from) the candidate’s ability to govern as POTUS—or ability to connect to voters on the campaign trail. So, as they’ve announced, I’ve writing a series of diaries, profiling the candidates, not as to “electability” nor on their platform policies (other diaries can focus on these topics) but looking for abilities or experiences that the candidate brings to the campaign and, perhaps, the office.
This latest diary in the series looks at the life experience of Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) who seems to be the first candidate deliberately running as a centrist or moderate, although Rep. Delaney (D-MD-06) is more moderate than most other announced candidates and Sen. Klobuchar and Gov. Inslee are sometimes called “moderates” because they have pragmatic, “get things done” attitudes and Rep. Gabbard (D-HI-02) and Sen. Gillibrand (D-NY) have pasts that are far more conservative than their current platform and policies.
The previous 12 diaries in this series have profiled Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Fmr. HUD Secretary Julian Castro, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI-02), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA), Rep. John K. Delaney (D-MD-06), Entrepreneur Andrew Yang (D), Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-South Bend, IN), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) whom several polls show has quickly become the front runner, although much of that could be simply name recognition at this point. The upcoming DNC debates could change everything as the public gets to hear the platforms of the candidates.
Early Life and Education:
John Wright Hickenlooper, Jr. (b. 07 February 1952-) was born in Narbeth, PA (a middle-class area of the suburban Maine Line of PA) to Anne Doughten Morris Hickenlooper and John Wright Hickenlooper. His father died before Hickenlooper was 10—and that was the second husband his mother had to bury before his time. His mother, Anne married a third time and, as Anne Kennedy, died in 2003. Not surprisingly, Hickenlooper was extremely close to his mother. He describes his childhood as “good in some ways, but sad in others.”
After public grade school and middle school, Hickenlooper was enrolled in The Haverford School, a private, non-sectarian prep school for boys (K-12) founded in 1884—originally as a Quaker school related to the once-Quaker, now-non-sectarian Haverford College, Haverford, PA. Hickenlooper has said of his time there, “At Haverford you were responsible for your own situation; that formed the foundation for how I conducted myself in college and throughout life.” He graduated in 1970.
Hickenlooper did well enough at The Haverford School that he was able to enroll in Wesleyan University, Middleton, CT. There are several institutions of higher education in the United States with the term “Wesleyan” in their names, so, to clarify, this Wesleyan University is a private, comprehensive research university. It was founded in 1831 by Methodists, but has been non-sectarian since 1937. Founded as an all-male institution, women were allowed in some programs from 1872 to 1912 when the door was firmly closed to women. Wesleyan again became co-ed in 1968. In the 1960s, Wesleyan began actively recruiting students of color. The university has an excellent academic profile, and is considered a highly selective institution. However, it is not one of the “go to” universities that have educated most presidents and presidential hopefuls and I find that to be a good thing.
Hickenlooper initially wanted to be a writer and earned his B.A. in English from Wesleyan in 1974. By his senior year, he recognized that he would probably never be a good enough writer to make a good living at it and became interested in geology. He earned an M.A. in geology (also from Wesleyan University) in 1980. With a B. A. in English, Hickenlooper has the communication skills a good politician needs. It’s also refreshing to see a successful politician and presidential candidate who has an advanced degree in science. We desperately need political leaders who not only believe in science, but understand the scientific method and who can evaluate scientific reports and make policy based on scientific input.
Pre-political Career:
Unless one wants to teach, most of the careers for geologists are in the oil industry. So, Hickenlooper worked as a geologist for Buckhorn Petroleum in Colorado in the early to mid-1980s. But the oil industry was declining in CO by the mid-1980s and Hickenlooper realized it was not coming back. To be perfectly honest, this aspect of Hickenlooper’s background gives me pause. The oil companies are second only to the coal companies as major obstacles to fighting climate change.
With partners, in 1988, Hickenlooper founded the Wynkoop Brewing Company, a brewpub in Denver, CO. This was well before the micro-brew revival that, beginning in the late 1990s, has so revitalized craft beer brewing in the United States. Hickenlooper was ahead of the trend and his brewpub made him moderately wealthy. However, it also was a factor in the revitalization of the area of Denver in which it is located.
Mayor of Denver, CO, 2004-2011:
Denver’s mayoral elections are non-partisan. In 2003, while Colorado, including Denver, was just beginning to move away from Republican dominance, Hickenlooper decided to run for mayor of Denver. He won and was elected the 43rd mayor of Denver. He immediately had to handle a budget crisis and change the career personnel system. Hickenlooper was so successful that in 2005, he was named by Time as one of the top 5 big city mayors in the nation.
Hickenlooper won reelection in 2007 with a whopping 88% of the vote.
Governor of Colorado, 2011-2018:
Hickenlooper was considered a prime Democratic candidate for CO Gov. in 2006, but he declined to run, instead backing Bill Ritter who was elected. In 2008, he did express interest in the Senate seat being vacated by then-Sen. Ken Salazar (D) when the latter was picked to be Secretary of the Interior for by Pres. Obama, but Hickenlooper was passed over for Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet, who was elected in his own right in 2010 and re-elected in 2016.
Hickenlooper ran for Colorado Gov. in 2010, a terrible year for Democrats, but was elected with 51% of the vote despite the GOP headwinds. In 2014, another Republican year, Hickenlooper was re-elected with 49% of the vote.
Despite the narrowness of his victories in a swing state in years that were not good for Democrats, Hickenlooper has been a popular and successful two-term Governor.
Despite initial reservations, he signed legal cannabis into law and has since become far more positive about that legalization (despite cringing at all the “Colorado high” jokes) as fears of negative consequences have proved unfounded and CO has been able to use the cannabis tax revenue in very positive ways.
Hickenlooper has also expanded Medicaid and created a successful medical insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act, saving rural hospitals and reducing the uninsured to less than 5% of CO residents. His successful experience with the ACA has made him lukewarm about Medicare for All and bullish on getting to universal coverage in other ways.
In a state with a hunting a gun culture, he has managed to get several gun control measures passed and signed into law—although it has cost a few state legislators their jobs in recall elections.
Despite his background as a geologist for an oil company, as Gov. Hickenlooper has a pretty good environmental record, including creating the first methane-capture regulations for the gas and oil industries in the entire nation, rules which became models for other states, Canada, and the U.S. federal government. When the Trump admin. withdrew the USA from the Paris Climate Accords, Hickenlooper joined with other governors in keeping CO in the Accord guidelines. Although he has not made fighting climate change the central focus of his presidential campaign, as has WA Gov. Jay Inslee (D), Hickenlooper has been fairly enthusiastic about the Green New Deal, though wanting more details.
Personal Life:
Hickenlooper is now in his second marriage. He was married to the writer and freelance journalist, Helen Thorpe from 2002 to 2015 and has one son, Teddy, by her. Teddy is now 17.
In 2015, Hickenlooper married Robin Pringle, then 37, in a small, private ceremony at Denver’s St. Andrews Episcopal Church.
Hickenlooper was raised Episcopalian, although his mother appears to have decided that God does not exist after losing 2 husbands in 10 years. Hickenlooper is fairly private about his own religious convictions, but during his marriage to his first wife, they were known to attend meetings of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and he had remarked to reporters that they “tried to live by Quaker values.” Hickenlooper could well have first encountered Quakers during his time at The Haverford School. (For their part, since the only previous Quaker presidents have been Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon, doubtless the Friends would welcome a chance at improving the record!)
In 2016, Hickenlooper finally put his English degree to use, writing (along with Maximillian Potter) his memoir, The Opposite of Woe: My Life in Beer and Politics.
Conclusion:
I am not very bullish on Gov. Hickenlooper’s chances in the Democratic primaries, though he might make a good VP running mate. To be honest, I wish he had decided, instead, to run against Cory Gardner (R-CO) for U. S. Senate in 2020.
However, the USA elects far more governors to the White House than it does Senators. Hickenlooper has shown himself to be a successful Chief Executive. He is pragmatic and has shown an ability to get things done as well as evolving positively on cannabis legalization and the abolition of the death penalty. He has also shown an ability to win close elections in years when the Democrats faced significant headwinds.