Victor George Atiyeh (; February 20, 1923 – July 20, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 32nd governor of Oregon from 1979 to 1987. He was also the first elected governor of Middle Eastern descent and of Syrian and Lebanese descent in the United States.

Atiyeh was elected in 1978, defeating incumbent Democratic governor Robert W. Straub. He was re-elected against future governor Ted Kulongoski with 61.6% of the vote in 1982, the largest margin in 32 years. During his tenure as governor, he most notably faced the 1980s recession, the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980, and the Rajneesh crisis from 1981-1985.

Early life

Atiyeh's parents, George Atiyeh and Linda Asly, immigrated to the United States from Amar al-Husn, Syria, and Beirut, Lebanon, respectively. Atiyeh's father came through Ellis Island in 1898 to join his brother Aziz's carpet business. Atiyeh's mother's family belonged to the Antiochian Orthodox Church though Atiyeh would join the Episcopal Church later in life.

Atiyeh grew up in Portland, Oregon, attending Holladay Grade School and Washington High School. He spent two years at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where he played guard for the Oregon Ducks football program and became a regional leader in the Boy Scouts of America. When his father died, Atiyeh dropped out of college and took over his family's rug and carpet business, Atiyeh Brothers.

Career

thumb|Governor Atiyeh (2nd from left) meeting with delegation in [[Oregon State Capitol, 1980]]

Atiyeh served as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives for Washington County from 1959 to 1964 and in the Oregon State Senate for the 9th district from 1965 to 1978.

Governor of Oregon

In 1974, Atiyeh ran for governor and lost to Democrat Robert W. Straub. After defeating former governor Tom McCall in the primary, Atiyeh ran against Straub again in the 1978 election, but won this time with 55 percent of the vote. As a result, the international concourse at Portland International Airport is dedicated to him and contains a statue of him.

Atiyeh helped establish a statewide food bank, which was the nation's first.

1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens

One of the most publicized crises of Governor Atiyeh's first term was the historic eruption of Mount St. Helens, a volcano situated about 35 miles north of the Oregon-Washington border. The eruption happened the on the morning of Sunday, May 18th, 1980, and the initial eruption lasted about 9 hours. The eruption was and still is the most destructive volcanic eruption in United States history, killing 57 people and destroying 150 square miles of trees. Volcanic debris and ash was expelled over 15 miles into the air, and although southwesterly winds on the day of the eruption spared Oregon from experiencing the large amounts of ashfall that Washington and Idaho did from the initial eruption, there were heavy concerns about ash impacting water treatment facilities and other agricultural features in Oregon. Over the next few months, ash from subsequent smaller eruptions continued to intermittently impact Oregon, specifically in the Portland-metro area., and continuing to monitor water reservoirs and rainfall for dangerous amounts of acidity caused by the ashfalls in the following months.

The Rajneesh crisis (1981-85)

In 1981, 64,281 acres of land—formerly known as Big Muddy Ranch—was purchased for $5.75 million near Antelope, a small town in Central Oregon (population 40 in 1981). The property became the location of Rajneeshpuram, a religious commune established by the followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, who moved from India. Tensions between local residents of Antelope, the Rajneeshee community, and state officials increased over various issues like land use, incorporation, and political influence. As the conflict escalated, it drew national attention due to multiple criminal activities associated with Rajneeshee community members, including bio-terror attacks, immigration fraud, and internal power struggles within Rajneeshpuram leadership. The situation led to increased involvement from both the state and federal authorities which ultimately culminated in the collapse of Rajneeshpuram and the departure and subsequent arrests of its leadership in the fall of 1985. In August 1981, the Wasco County government granted permission to locate fifty-four mobile homes on the property, which raised concerns among 1000 Friends of Oregon, a group whose purpose was to defend land-use laws in Oregon. By 1982, changes on the ranch began to affect systems within Antelope, to such an extent the many statewide elected officials, including Atiyeh, received letters and phone calls about the Rajneeshees. In the spring of 1982, numerous known residents of the commune arrived in Antelope with "an intent to reside" in the city. Oregon election law dictated that if any person showed an intent to reside in the city, they were then able to vote in city elections. In April 1982, legal efforts to disincorporate Rajneeshpuram were defeated.

Although Atiyeh maintained to never personally or publicly meet with the Rajneeshee leadership, Atiyeh and Ma Anand Sheela did meet once on June 23, 1983 in Portland, Oregon, at the Greater Portland Convention and Visitors Association at Memorial Coliseum. At the event. they briefly shook hands. The following day, the commune's local newspaper, the Rajneesh Times, published on the front page an image of this moment, with the headline, "Governor Finally Accepts Sheela's Invitation to Visit Rajneeshpuram." Atiyeh never did visit the ranch. With the district's restructuring, several local Antelope ranchers were disqualified from their positions on the school board, and these vacant positions were filled by Rajneeshees. With the Rajneeshees in power of the school board, they voted against the redistricting and thus withheld state funds that would have gone towards busing the Antelope locals' children to Maupin and Madras. This raised many concerns over the validity of the Rajneeshee-controlled Antelope school district, with many non-Rajneeshees claiming that since the Rajneeshees were a religious group, this violated the separation of church and state, and they were not entitled to use government funds for the school district. This contributed to more hostility and controversy surrounding the overall Rajneeshee movement and presence in Oregon. Under Atiyeh's administration, the state responded to the conflict primarily through legal means, such as through the courts and the coordination of state and federal authorities. The Rajneeshee-controlled school board ended when Attorney General David Frohnmayer declared the city of Rajneeshpuram illegal and unconstitutional in October 1983, citing its violation of the church and state and its violation of land use laws as the primary reason. Atiyeh also maintained that he would not meet with the Rajneesh leadership, as it would give them legitimacy by feeding into their wishes for publicity. Instead, Atiyeh's administration communicated with the Rajneeshees through Geraldine "Gerry" Thompson, Atiyeh's Chief of Staff. During a discrete meeting between Thompson and certain members of Rajneeshee leadership, including Ma Anand Sheela and Krishna "KD" Deva, Thompson established a "private link" with KD, who then informed Atiyeh's administration of much of what was transpiring at Rajneeshpuram.

In September of 1984, 751 people developed salmonellosis (otherwise known as a salmonella infection) across ten local restaurants in The Dalles, Oregon, due to deliberate contamination of salad bars with the bacteria. Throughout the outbreak, 45 people were hospitalized, but there were no known fatalities. On February 28, 1985, Congressman James H. Weaver gave a speech in the U.S. House of Representatives, in which he formally accused the Rajneeshees of "sprinkling salmonella culture on salad bar ingredients in eight restaurants." Atiyeh later suggested in a 2011 interview with The Oregonian that he may have been poisoned by members of the Rajneesh group on the night before a 1985 legislative session, stating a sudden episode of dizziness and illness. Later that night Atiyeh went to the hospital and was kept overnight, but noted that "they never could say what it was." Public concern intensified following Ma Anand Sheela's inflammatory media appearances and the controversies surrounding the poisoning in the Dalles and the Share-a-Home program. These concerns were shared by the governor's office. In 1985, Governor Atiyeh began carrying an unsigned declaration of martial law wherever he went, in case it became necessary to use it. Governor Atiyeh never had to declare martial law and was praised by many for the way in which he handled the Rajneeshee presence in Oregon.

Volunteer and charitable work

Atiyeh had a long relationship with Forest Grove-based Pacific University, serving as a trustee and trustee emeritus and accepting an honorary doctorate from the university in 1996. He donated a trove of his memorabilia to the university library in 2011.

Later career

thumb|right|Atiyeh in 2012

After leaving office, Atiyeh became an international trade consultant.

Personal life

Atiyeh lived in Portland with his wife, Dolores (née Hewitt), whom he married on July 5, 1944. They had two children, Tom and Suzanne. Dolores Atiyeh died on August 29, 2016, in Portland at the age of 92.

Health and death

On August 31, 2005, Atiyeh underwent quadruple bypass surgery; he drove himself to St. Vincent Medical Center after suffering chest pains. Atiyeh was noted for his fiscal conservatism; his spokesman noted that he had stopped on his way to the hospital to fill his car with gas, having observed the sharply rising prices. In the weeks following the surgery, Atiyeh was readmitted to the hospital for several brief stays after suffering shortness of breath and pain in his arms.

References

  • Records of Governor Victor G. Atiyeh's Administration (January 8, 1979 - January 12, 1987) from the Oregon State Archives
  • Biography on Oregon Historical Society website
  • Victor Atiyeh Collection of personal papers, Pacific University
  • Obituary in The Oregonian

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