Joe Biden's visits to Oregon

Joe Biden was elected in November of 2020 as the 46th President of the United States. He won the state of Oregon with 56% of the vote. Biden's history of campaigning in the Beaver state goes back much farther than most might think. Many people can remember him campaigning during the Obama years for Jeff Merkley and John Kitzhaber and most recently for Tina Kotek. What few probably know is that Joe Biden has been visiting Oregon for politics since the late 1970s. 

In this post we will document his various visits to Oregon over the years from his earliest to the most recent. If there are items from any of these events we will be sure to let you know too! Also if there is a visit we have missed, please let us know so we can update.

April 1, 1978

The first known visit was in 1978 to the Democratic Party of Oregon Platform Convention. He was the keynote speaker at the dinner held in Springfield, Oregon. The Rodeway Inn hosted the convention and the 600 some delegates attending from various counties across Oregon. Biden was booked as 'the youngest person ever elected to the US Senate'. The dinner cost Delegates and others $10 to attend. Oregon Democratic Party Chair Jim Klonoski said at the time "[Biden] will be a candidate for the presidency within 20 years". Below is the article from the Albany Democrat-Herald covering his remarks. 

Whoop, Whoop! Remembering Portland's Bud Clark

 

Oregonians of a certain generation know the significance of hearing someone go Whoop, Whoop!. It was the eccentric catchphrase of citizen Mayor Bud Clark. He passed away earlier this month, just a month after his 90th birthday. Portlanders all know the story of Bud Clark. The owner of the Goose Hollow Inn that took on the unlikely task of running against Mayor Frank Ivancie. No one was paying attention when they should have and Clark pulled out a shocking win with 54% of the vote in 1984. 

It shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone that Clark, as a community small business owner had become a community activist. He served on several local boards and helped revitalize the Goose Hollow neighborhood. Fearing that citizens were going to left with the same old leaders that were wasting chances to improve things for the city he made the unlikely decision to enter the race for Portland Mayor. 

Remembering Those We Lost in 2021

Every year we say goodbye to Oregonians that impacted politics in the state of Oregon. Here is a quick review of those that we are aware of that passed on this last year. If there is someone we missed, please let us know in the comments and we will add them. If you have political items for any of the below individuals please share those with us as well. 

Congresswoman Elizabeth Furse

 

Perhaps the most high-profile loss was that of former Congresswoman Elizabeth Furse. Above are several buttons from her various campaigns over the years.

 

Frederick Steiwer Convention Badge 1936

The badge worn by U.S. Senator Frederick Steiwer at the 1936 Republican National Convention has been located and returned to an Oregon collection. The badge is in wonderful condition for being 85 years old. 

Remembering Bob Dole in Oregon

The “Greatest Generation” is described as those Americans that came of age amidst the Great Depression and had their lives altered by World War II. Tom Brokaw popularized the term in his book by the same name. It produced many political leaders across the country. Young men returned home after the war and were recruited to run for office. Many found success and over a hundred of these veterans found their way to service in the U.S. Senate. One of the most prominent of these veterans was Kansas Senator Bob Dole. 

Dole passed away on December 5, 2021, at the age of 98, just two years shy of reaching 100. He had been an influential leader in the Republican party for most of my early life and had run for president three times (1980, 1988, and 1996). I thought it would be good to look back on his campaigns and visits to Oregon through the years. 

The Missing Oregon Portraits

I recently read the article in the Statesman Journal from Claire Withycombe (a descendant of Governor Withycombe) about the Oregon State Capitol Foundation trying to track down the whereabouts and general information about the missing portraits of Oregon's governors. I thought I would do a little sleuthing. I was hoping, perhaps there would be an old blurry photograph of one of the missing paintings hidden in the wayback archives of our local Oregon newspapers. Sadly, no blurry images yet, but lots of interesting bits of information. 

I guess prior to 1896 there was no subject or explanation of who these painted men were until the office of the SOS issued cards with short bio statements about each painting. The Medford Mail Tribune mentions that biographical data will be made on cards. These two images of the article give us exactly what was written on the cards.

 

Write-Ins are Personal: Wayne Morse

 How fascinating that during the month of February we learn the origin of the 'Write-In Wayne Morse The Dark Horse' for President bumper sticker I picked up a few years ago on ebay from a seller in Washington State. If you are patient, with the massive digitizing of older media, you will eventually stumble upon some answers.