Stanley K. Hathaway

Stanley Knapp Hathaway (July 19, 1924 – October 4, 2005) was an American politician who served as the 27th governor of Wyoming from 1967 to 1975 and as the 40th United States secretary of the interior under President Gerald Ford from June to October 1975.

Early life and military service

Stanley K. Hathaway, or "Stan" as he was known to most of his friends and associates, was born on July 19, 1924, in Osceola, Nebraska, the fifth of six children born to Lily (Koehler) and Robert C. Knapp. Following his mother's death when he was two years old, he was adopted by a cousin, Velma, and her husband Franklin Earl Hathaway. The couple homesteaded and farmed near Huntley, Wyoming. Stan Hathaway received his early education near there in one-room country schools at Table Mountain and at New Fairview, and then attended Huntley High School, where he graduated as class valedictorian in 1941.

After enrolling briefly at the University of Wyoming, Hathaway left school in early 1942 to enlist in the Army Air Corps following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, and was trained as a radio operator and gunner. He was assigned to the Eighth Air Force's 401st Bomb Group, flying B-17 Bombers from England, and took part in 35 combat missions over France and Germany, with his unit often suffering heavy casualties.

On one mission under General Jimmy Doolittle over Leipzig, Germany, Hathaway's plane and crew took heavy enemy fire while making a series of three runs at their target, an oil refinery. After managing to return to base, the crew counted 115 holes in their B-17 from Nazi fighter-plane rounds and anti-aircraft flak. During their entire Leipzig mission under General Doolittle, a total of 56 American planes and more than 500 American troops were lost, and, overall, Hathaway's unit suffered a 50% casualty rate during World War II. Wyoming's economy had been in the doldrums when Hathaway was elected governor, but he set in motion a number of initiatives which turned the economy around and saw it booming by the time he left office.

During his tenure as governor, Hathaway also served as Chairman of the Western Governor's Conference (whose membership at the time included California Governor and future President Ronald Reagan) and as Chairman of the Interstate Oil Compact Commission, the National Governor's Conference Committee on Natural Resources and Environmental Management, and the Federation of Rocky Mountain States. Among his last appointments in office was that of Richard V. Thomas to the Wyoming Supreme Court, a position that Thomas held from December 1974 until February 2001.

After retiring from the governor's office in 1975, Hathaway was nominated as Secretary of the Interior by President Gerald Ford, taking office following lengthy and at times contentious confirmation hearings. During his brief tenure at the Department of the Interior, he was responsible for moving the federal coal leasing program forward. Health issues, however, resulted in his resignation as the Interior Secretary later that year, after which the Hathaways returned to Wyoming. In 2005, the Wyoming Legislature authorized $400 million for a "Hathaway Student Scholarship Endowment Account". Under this program, Wyoming high school graduates who qualify can receive a Hathaway Scholarship for the full cost of tuition and fees at the University of Wyoming, or for attendance at any community college in Wyoming.