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66 G overnor Hughes took office in 1962 while John F. Kennedy was president. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, which included the famous line, “Ask not what your country can do for you— ask what you can do for your country,”1 had stirred the country. It seemed a time of great potential. On the horizon, however, were signs of the issues that would make the sixties a decade of tumult: civil rights, women’s rights, the sexual revolution. The Vietnam War would tear at the very fabric of the country. The assassinations of President Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Senator Robert Kennedy would devastate the morale of the nation. During the 1960s, the United States Supreme Court under the leadership of Chief Justice Earl Warren was actively expanding constitutional rights. The court had begun applying many of the provisions of the Bill of Rights, originally intended to be only applicable to the federal government, to state governments as well. As a result of these decisions, states would have to deal with issues of reapportionment, the rights of criminal defendants, and issues of religious freedom. While some of these issues were already being considered by state courts under provisions of their own constitutions , states would now be bound to follow United States Supreme Court precedent. Hughes would deal with all of these issues during his tenure as governor, and he would also face a host of other concerns that were more local in nature. When Hughes assumed office, he realized that there were many pressing issues facing New Jersey. He also realized that because of his slim margin of victory in the election, he did not have an overwhelming mandate. Chapter 6 The Early Days as Governor The Early Days as Governor 67 Furthermore, his party did not control the Senate, so Republican cooperation was essential in order for him to succeed. Finally, many of the legislators from his own party were more beholden to county leaders than to the governor. The New Jersey Senate was composed of twenty-one senators, one from each county. The county leaders generally determined who would get the Senate seats, giving them a great deal of control and power. In order to achieve any important legislative breakthroughs, Hughes would have to work with both the Republicans legislators and with both parties’ leaders. His great ability to do this was to be a key to his success. However, some did not view his relationships with county leaders favorably, because he occasionally had to trade patronage for their support, at times even taking their recommendations on gubernatorial appointments. Richard Connors, in his book on Hague, relates that Hughes appointed James A. Tumulty, Jr. as prosecutor of Hudson County. It was quite clear that Tumulty was the choice of John V. Kenny, the Democratic leader of Hudson County. Connors writes, “When being sworn as prosecutor in February, 1963, James A. Tumulty, Jr. made his position quite clear: ‘I’m Kenny . . . Lest there be any misunderstanding, for the record make that John V. Kenny.’”2 Connors goes on to say, however, that during the Hughes administration, Kenny’s power was limited.3 During the entire eight years that Hughes was governor, the state chairman of the Republican Party was Webster Todd. (His daughter, Christine Todd Whitman, would serve as governor of the state between 1994 and 2001.) Hughes developed a good working relationship with Todd. A letter that Hughes wrote to Todd, after a report stated that the governor had made critical remarks about the Republican state chairman, illustrates Hughes’s constant effort to stay on the best of terms with everyone. The letter read, “Under extreme fire in Bergen County on a very hectic afternoon when I was confronted with a very tough statement about the bond issue made by the Republican State Committee, I referred to the decrepit Republican Party. This turned out in the press to be a personal reference by me to you as a ‘decrepit leader.’ I never intended, and am quite sure I did not say such a thing, and for that reason, I take the opportunity to state that I never considered you to be decrepit but, unfortunately, to have too much youthful enthusiasm in your work.”4 And in another letter from Hughes to Todd, Hughes said, “As you know, I have deeply appreciated your personal friendship and that of Eleanor [Todd’s wife] over these years and am looking forward to working with you for the common good...

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