Walter Joseph "Wally" Hickel (August 18, 1919 – May 7, 2010) was an industrialist, focused mostly on construction and real estate development, and a politician of the Republican and Alaskan Independence parties from the U.S. state of Alaska. Hickel served as the second and eighth Governor of Alaska. His first term as governor was from 1966 to 1969, and ended with his resignation upon his confirmation in the position of United States Secretary of ...
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Walter Joseph "Wally" Hickel (August 18, 1919 – May 7, 2010) was an industrialist, focused mostly on construction and real estate development, and a politician of the Republican and Alaskan Independence parties from the U.S. state of Alaska. Hickel served as the second and eighth Governor of Alaska. His first term as governor was from 1966 to 1969, and ended with his resignation upon his confirmation in the position of United States Secretary of the Interior in the Cabinet of President Richard Nixon. He later served a complete term as governor from 1990 to 1994.
Born in Ellinwood, Kansas, Hickel relocated to Alaska in 1940, going into the local real estate industry. By 1947, Hickel had formed a successful construction company. While some fellow Republicans in the Alaska Territory opposed statehood, Hickel joined Democrats in calls for joining the Union during the late 1940s and into the 1950s. Using his growing popularity among Alaskan Republicans and growing political clout in...
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