AFFLICTING THE COMFORTABLE: JOURNALISM AND POLITICS IN WEST VIRGINIA

22. Why?

Chapter 22 WHY? WHY DID A MAN with the breeding, education, and leadership abilities of William Wallace Barron allow one of the blackest pages in West Virginia history to be written while he was governor? Barron's father was a Presbyterian minister and college president. His mother, the descendant of an old and affluent Baltimore family, traced her lineage back to Oliver Hazard Perry, one of America's early naval heroes. During Barron's youth, he never lacked the comforts that money and position can provide. The Rrst crack in the golden-boy image appeared when his brief marriage to his childhood sweetheart was qUickly annulled. After graduating from Washington and Lee University and the West Virginia University College of Law, he became mayor of Elkins but reportedly spent more time drinking than looking after the city's affairs. In the practice of law he was more prone to sit and dream than to work, and he only made a living by serving as land commissioner, commissioner of accounts, and commissioner in chancery, the sinecures of his profession. In 1950 Barron was elected to a seat in the House of Delegates. It was the beginning ofa meteoric rise. In 1953 Governor Marland named him chairman of the Liquor Commission. Three years later Barron entered the race for the attorney general's ofRce and won. Four years after that, in 1960, he ran successfully for governor. In ten years he had gone from the House chamber to the governor's ofRce. But further cracks appeared during that period. Two years after appointing Barron chairman of the Liquor Commission, Marland Rred him. His performance as attorney general was much the same as it had been during his WHY? 225 tenure as Elkins's mayor. He was considered long on charm but short on effectiveness and commitment. During the primary race for governor, he allowed himself to be flown around the state by a known gambler and tried to buy one of his opponents, Orel Skeen, out of the race. The general election campaign was even worse. Both Barron and his Republican opponent, Harold E. Neely, appeared so uninformed on the issues that the Gazette refused to endorse either candidate, saying only that, of the two, Barron's past exposure to public office made him, perhaps, the better choice. But after the election, he changed remarkably. Taking the oath of office at midnight on January 8, 1961, with the explanation that he wanted to sign into law a penny increase in the consumers' sales tax to raise money to finance a public works program for the poor, Barron was off and running. When he took the oath again at noon that day during the traditional inaugural ceremony, he launched a remarkable period of public service. As he told listeners in his inaugural address, "There is a need for improvements in state institutions, roads, education, conservation, and a host of other fields of service to our people. These will be provided as speedily as feasible." Pointing to poverty as the state's "overriding problem," Barron immediately initiated a series of meetings with the legislative leadership to explore ways of addressing the ills of unemployment. With the new revenue that rolled in from the tax increases he managed to get through the legislature at the beginning of his administration, Barron was able to maintain sound fiscal balances every year of his term and to significantly reduce unemployment. He was further able to coax out of Washington many millions of dollars in defense contracts. During his term in office, new construction records were set by the Road Commission, strip-mine laws were strengthened, and a retirement system was established for state employees. IN MANY RESPECTS, Barron served his state with a devotion seldom seen in the holders of that office, and he did it with daring and dedication. But after President Kennedy's assassination, Barron seemed to bank the fires of public 226 CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO commitment. He learned of the shooting on his way back from lunch, shortly after it took place. The next day, when I flew to Washington with a contingent of politicians and press to pay our respects, I could see how badly the governor had been shaken by this tragedy. He was heavy-hearted and quiet during the flight. Now and then he would muse aloud on the impact Kennedy's death would have on West Virginia's future...