Governor Underwood Campaign Button
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Title
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Governor Underwood Campaign Button
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Description
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Campaign Button for Governor Underwood's 2000 campaign for re-election.
The Democrats nominated nine-term Congressman Bob Wise of Kanawha County.
In 2000, For the first time since 1916, West Virginia gave support for the Republican candidate for president and the Democratic candidate for governor. President George W. Bush defeated Al Gore 52 percent to 46 percent in West Virginia, but Wise defeated Underwood 50 to 47 percent for the office of governor.
Governor Cecil Underwood was West Virginia's 25th and 32nd governor. He served as the state's youngest and oldest chief executive. He was born in Joseph Mills in Tyler County. He was the youngest of 5. He helped on the farm and studied vocational agriculture in high school. In 1943, he graduated from Salem College with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He then served in the Army Reserve, but due to his fast pulse he never went into active duty. In 1949, he won the election for House of Delegates for Tyler County. He spent 12 years in the house, and became House minority leader in 1949. In 1948, he married Hovah Hall of Grantsville, and in 1952, he obtained his Master's in Political Science from West Virginia University.
In 1956, at age 33, he announced his candidacy for governor. He narrowly defeated Charleston Mayor John T. Copenhaver for the Republican nomination. He went on the win the majority of votes in the general election by 63,681 votes over Robert H. Mollohan, despite a 259,000 Democratic voter registration edge. At his inauguration, he promised to hire qualified personnel, keep taxes to a minimum, reform state purchasing, improve roads, strengthen education, attract new industry, and otherwise advance the state up the ladder.
He was barred from a second consecutive term by the state constitution, so he ran for U.S. Senate in 1960. He lost to Democratic opponent Jennings Randolph by 88,240 votes. He then accepted a position with Iron Creek Coal Company. In January of 1964, he ran governor and lost to Hulet Smith by 77,464 votes. Smith was helped by the landslide victory of Democrat Lyndon Johnson for president. In 1967, Underwood lost to Republican candidate Arch Moore for the nomination for governor. In 1972, he became the president of Bethany College, but in 1975 he resigned in the face of discontent by some members of the faculty.
In 1976, he won the Republican nomination for governor, but lost in the general election to Jay Rockefeller by 242,236 votes.
He remained in the private sector, including holding the position of President of Princess Coal in Huntington until 1996 when he ran for governor, and beat Charlotte Pritt of Kanawha County with 52 percent of the vote. This made Underwood West Virginia's 32nd governor, and the oldest to ever hold the position. In his inaugural address, he emphasized the importance of advanced technology, and improvements in education and healthcare "as the industrial age gives way to the information age." During his term he managed to achieve a lot, even with Democrats controlling both Houses. He is credited with a $565 million reduction of the worker's comp fund deficit, an aggressive road construction program, a high-tech partnership with Verizon telephone company, $1 billion of new sewer and water projects, expansion of children's programs, and assistance to help senior citizens afford prescription drugs.
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Date
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2000
2818_underwood_2000.jpg