The Rebel in the Red Jeep: Ken Hechler's Life in West Virginia Politics

There was a lot of information which made it tedious at times. However I like Ms Seaton's writing style. She did a good job with Hechler!s very long career.

I worked for Ken Hechler for a short time during his long service in Congress. Carter Seaton interviewed Ken over many months in his last years, talked to lots of people who knew him, did extensive research. The book is one great story after another, many of them laugh-out-loud quality. Hechler had a wonderful sense of humor, which comes out often in the book, often in issue-related, memorable parodies of familiar songs. Who can forget "Almost level, West Virginia?" There are lots of bits of history, written about a man who knew history and his place in it, because he lived so many years in interesting times. It is by no means a dull listing of the things he did, because he accomplished important things with such flair. Carter Seaton's organization of legislation by topic rather than chronologically is a good choice, so the reader can get the full picture of the need for action, and the result. The book will make you sorry you missed being able to take his classes, or know him, or talk with him. However, you will finish the book feeling as if you knew him. Reading it, I realize again how much we need him now. He put in years and years for West Virginia as our "Servant in Congress," then as Secretary of State. His main issues - coal mining, space exploration, campaign finance, environmental protection, action to end poverty - are still major issues.When Ken Hechler was past 80 years old, he gave a fascinating seminar I attended, on Harry Truman integrating the military services, a couple of hours with no notes. His mind was sharp until the end, just last year at age 102. He had a big 100th birthday party at Marshall University, complete with a birthday cake in the shape of his red jeep. Young people and old friends lined up for hours to thank him for his many services to them as individuals, to the state of West Virginia, and to the United States. He was an unforgettable person. The Rebel in the Red Jeep is well worth reading by anyone with interest in West Virginia, in Congress, in government - and in an interesting human being.

This is a great political biography, and I think more Americans need to know about this man. His long career is admirable as well as all the people he knew. It’s remarkable how he seemed to travel to the most interesting places, and be at the right places at the right time. I wish the author discussed his private life more, but I still though this book was really great.

I recently read The Rebel on the Red Jeep, a scholarly researched and written story of Ken Hechler's life in West Virginia Politics. Heckler served front-and-center in the Truman administration as speechwriter and researcher, as a constituent-first Member of the USA House of Representatives (D-WV4) from 1959 to 1977 and a servant-of-the-people West Virginia Secretary of State from 1985 to 2001; he died in 2016 at the age of 102.What I admire most about Ken Hechler is that he put his constituents above party, resisting mainstream political ideology and battling his party and colleagues, including my father's good friend John Slack (D-WV6) and fighting Big Coal, strip mining and mountain-top removal mining. He was the principal architect of the 1969 Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, and he was arrested for trespassing during a MTRM protest in 2009 at age 94.We could use more Hechler-like Senators and Representatives from both political parties today.Carter Taylor Seaton did a great job with this book, just as she does with all her literary and artistic projects. If you have not purchased and read The Rebel in the Red Jeep, do so now.

Excellent, fascinating read of one of the most well known political crusaders in modern West Virgina history. The book is well organized and easy to read.

I was dreading reading this for my State and Local Gov class but once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. Ken Hechler had an amazing career and the author told the story well.