An Alaska Anthology: Interpreting the Past

Governor Ernest Gruening's Struggle for Territorial Status: Personal or Political? / Claus-M. Naske

Governor Ernest Gruening's Struggle for Territorial Status Personal or Political? CLAUS-M. NASKE Professor C1aus-M. Naske, senior member of the History Department at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, has written a number of important studies furthering the understanding ofAlaska history. His Interpretive History of Alaskan Statehood, published in 1973, was republished in a revised edition in 1985 as A History of Alaska Statehood (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America). His biography of Delegate Bob Bartlett, Edward Lewis "Bob" Bartlett of Alaska: A Life in Politics, was published in 1980 (Fairbanks: University ofAlaska Press). His popular text, Alaska: A History of the 49th State, written with Herman Slotnick and originally published in 1979, was published in a revised edition in 1987 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press). He has published numerous articles on Alaska history. In the article reprinted here, Naske finds that Ernest Gruening was very concerned about demonstrating his administrative abilities when he first came to Alaska Territory as Governor in 1939. Gruening, who died in 1974, had been a journalist before he was appointed by Franklin Roosevelt as head of the new Division of Territories and Island Possessions in 1934. By 1939, it was clear to Roosevelt and other national leaders that the drive for Alaska statehood was not far off, and the President wanted a strong figure who could help lead the territory toward full self-government. Governor Gruening would serve with distinction during the war and through the turbulent postwar period of unprecedented population growth, stepping down in 1953. In 1958 he was elected one of the first U.S. Senators from Alaska and served until 1968. This article appeared originally in Journal ofthe West 20 Qanuary 1981): 32-40; it is reprinted here by permission. 287 288 CLAUS-M. NASKE In May of 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt by executive order created a new agency in the Department of the Interior, the Division of Territories and Island Possessions. This agency would supervise federal relations with outlying and dependent areas and also assist them in every possible way to compensate for their lack of voting representation in Congress. Mter the agency was created, the President appointed Ernest Gruening to be the director. Gruening brought an impressive background to his new job. Graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1912, instead of practicing medicine, he pursued a career in journalism. Mter various newspaper jobs, he became editor and managing editor of The Nation. In his capacity as newspaperman, Gruening became acquainted with various New Deal personalities, including President Roosevelt. He caught the President's eye and in 1933 was appointed to serve as an adviser to the United States delegation at the Seventh Inter-American Conference at Montevideo. There he had a hand in fashioning the New Deal's policy toward Latin America.! In his new position, Gruening quickly came into conflict not only with his superior, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes, but also with Rexford Guy Tugwell, who in 1934 had gone to Puerto Rico on orders from the President and formed a committee of local leaders, which became known as the President's Policy Committee on Puerto Rico. Tugwell was involved in setting up Puerto Rico development programs. Gruening was doing the same thing in his agency.2 At that point the President, disliking conflict, apparently decided to kick Gruening upstairs and make him governor of Alaska. It was not surprising that Gruening, with his background and ambition , came to Alaska determined to make something out of the territory, to demonstrate to the President his capabilities. Arriving in Alaska early in December of 1939, he took the oath of office in]uneau, the territory's capital, on 5 December. Almost immediately he discovered that the governor "has really very little power: that he may be able, if he handles himself correctly, to exercise a good deal of influence and leadership which apparently has been lacking." Gruening then and there determined to supply that leadership. There was no question at all that a man of his talents, ability, determination, drive, and ego would throw himself into his work-and lead Alaska superbly. It was equally clear that, in the process, he would disrupt established relationships, generating both intense dislike and admiration.3 Governor Gruening's Struggle for Territorial Status 289 Gruening also very soon discovered a number of Alaskan realities with which he had to deal. The first, and perhaps the...