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An Oral History Interview with RON KIND Interviewer: .Anita Hecht, Life

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An Oral History Interview with RON KIND Interviewer: .Anita Hecht, Life WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY An Oral History Interview with RON KIND Interviewer: .Anita Hecht, Life History Services Recording Date: March 27, 2009 Place: La Crosse, Wisconsin. Length: 1.0 hour Ronald James Kind was raised in La Crosse, Wisconsin, the middle child of Greta and Elroy Kind. .After graduating from high school in 1981, Kind attended Harvard University and studied economics and history. During his junior year, he served as an intern for Sen. William Proxmire. Kind researched the Iran-Contra affair as well as other issues related to the Reagan administration's support for counterinsurgency movements in Central .America. Kind also wrote daily speeches on the genocide convention and nuclear disarmament and researched Golden Fleece awards. Following the internship, Kind graduated with honors from Harvard and then earned his M.S. degree in international economics from the London School of Economics in 1986. He earned his J.D. degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1990. In 1995, Kind consulted the retired Sen. Proxmire about his desire to run for Congress in Wisconsin's Third District. Sen. Proxmire encouraged him to do so and made a campaign ad on his behalf. In 1996, Kind won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. .After arriving in Washington, Kind visited the retired Senator weekly at the Library of Congress, when Proxmire gave him much advice on current issues and how succeed in Washington. PROJECT NAME: PROXMIRE ORAL HISTORY PROJECT Verbatim Interview Transcript NARRATOR: RON KIND INTERVIEWER: Anita Hecht INTERVIEW DATE: March 27,2009 INTERVIEW LOCATION: La Crosse, WI INTERVIEW LENGTH: Approximate 1 Hour KEY: RK Ron Kind BP Bill Proxmire SUBJECT INDEX HOUR1 Hour 1/00:00 RK Family History/Educational Background Knowledge of BP Hour 1/10:10 Internship with BP/Duties Office Debates Genocide Treaty Golden Fleece Awards Hour 1/19:45 Golden Fleece Awards (cont) BP's Staff/Office Dynamics Hour 1/30:10 BP's Connection with Constituents Regrets about S&L Crisis BP's Debating Skills Isolation in Senate Importance of Physical Fitness Hour 1/40:30 BPs Views on Social Issues RK's Post-Internship Life/Congressional Campaign Hour 1/50:20 Onset of BP's Alzheimer's Post-Senate Relationship with BP Importance of BP on Wisconsin Democratic Party BP's Legacy Ron Kind Interview Transcript Proxmire Oral History Project HOUR1 Hour 1/00:00 RK Family History/Educational Background, Knowledge of BP The date is March 27* in the year 2009. My name is Anita Hecht, and I have the great pleasure and honor of interviewing Ron Kind in his office here in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on behalf of the William Proxmire Oral History Project of the Wisconsin Historical Society. So thankyoufor agreeing to participate, Ron. Oh, it's my pleasure and honor. Well, I'd like to begin by asking a bit about you and your background. When and where were you born, first of all? I was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, back in 1963, on the north side of town; the son of Elroy Kind and Greta Kind and one of five siblings. One of five siblings. And you grew up here in the town of La Crosse? That's right. Tell me a little bit about your family history. I know you know quite a bit. Maybe you can sketch a bit of it out. Ron Kind Interview Transcript 3 Proxmire Oral History Project Well, you know, on my mom's side, we're fifth generation western Wisconsin. We date our ancestors back to the Mayflower, coming over and getting into the Cape Cod/Boston area. And then eventually they moved to western Wisconsin. They were farmers, down in Crawford County outside of Prairie du Chien. And eventually my grandfather, my mom's father, moved up to La Crosse, where he went into auto repair business. And that's how Dad found Mom, when he was working with the La Crosse telephone company. But his family emanates from eastern Wisconsin, the New Holstein/Kiel area. A few of his brothers were dairy farmers; a couple still are. So my summers as a kid were spent on the family dairy farms in eastern Wisconsin helping out with the chores. And so my dad's family came over from Germany shortly before the First World War, and that's when they settled. Where did your mom's family come from originally? From Great Britain. From Great Britain, okay. So your parents worked here in town? Yep. Tell me a little bit about their education, their political leanings. Ron Kind Interview Transcript 4 Proxmire Oral History Project Well, both graduated from high school, didn't go onto college. Dad worked as a telephone repairman for the La Crosse Telephone Company for thirty-six years. He was a steward of the IBEW [International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers] Union there. And Mom worked at the La Crosse School District in the personnel office until us kids started arriving. Then she was home for awhile with the kids, but eventually went back to the school district and with the personnel office. Politically, Ma definitely leans towards the Democratic side and Dad definitely leans to the Republican side. I keep kidding him that he's even further right than Rush Limbaugh on most issues. So those make for some very interesting conversations. We definitely had a divided political party in the family growing up. And where did you fall as a young man? You know, I had an open mind and I was always very inquisitive, but my political formulation occurred in high school when I became obsessed with all the books being written about Watergate. It was shortly after the Watergate period, late '70s, when I was in high school. And for some reason, I became fascinated with it. But the more I read about Watergate and the abuse of power at the highest offices of our land, the more angry I became. And I think that kind of steered me towards the Democratic field. But, you know, I was always apolitical as a kid growing up. And as a middle child in the family, I was the one trying to broker compromises and find solutions to things. That's interesting. Ron Kind Interview Transcript 5 Proxmire Oral History Project Instead of getting drawn into the polarized disputes sometimes. Tell me a little bit about your education. Well, public schools in La Crosse, elementary through high school, a graduate of Logan High School in '81. And then I obtained an academic scholarship to attend Harvard University, where I went for four years; played quarterback for the football team for a few of those years. But without the academic scholarship and work study program, there's no way the family could have afforded it. Did you have your eye on Harvard already, or how did that come about? Well, I was looking, in high school, starting to think about academic opportunities following graduation. My heart was really set on the academies and trying to obtain an appointment to one of the academies. And my first preference was the Air Force Academy; went through the whole process. In fact, Prox gave me a nomination to the Academy. But then during my health care screening, they found out I was red/green colorblind, so I wouldn't be able to fly their jets, and that was a big disappointment. But at the time, too, there were a lot of schools looking at me athletically because of football. And I was offered a few scholarships in the Big Ten and some other schools, but Harvard was able to come through with that academic scholarship. They didn't give athletic scholarships in the Ivy League; still don't. And the numbers were able to work well; that with student loans, work study program. And so I went to Harvard. I still think I hold the undergraduate career at Harvard for the most toilets cleaned in a four year career. And it was Ron Kind interview Transcript 6 Proxmire Oral History Project because it was the best paying job. I mean, cleaning student dorm rooms. And the reason it was the best paying is because it was probably the most disgusting job, too. So that's what I did all four years when I was going to school there. On a work study program? On a work study program. But I loved the atmosphere and the challenge that Harvard brought - small town, Midwestern kid going out east and being exposed to a whole, new world. You said that you got a nomination from Proxmire. You had heard of him, obviously, by then? I had, yeah. Tell me what you knew of him before you had any contact with him? My first conscious memory of Bill Proxmire was going to a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game, County Stadium. And that was the extent of our family vacation every year. During summer break, Dad would take us out east and visit with the family and the farms. And then our big day trip was going down to Milwaukee to go to the Milwaukee Zoo and then catch a Brewers baseball game. And walking into the stadium, there was Bill Proxmire, as he was known to do, out front shaking hands with everyone. "Hi. I'm Bill Proxmire, your United States Senator." And that was the first time as a little kid that I got to meet Senator Proxmire, shake his hand, and Ron Kind Interview Transcript 7 Proxmire Oral History Project ask Mom and Dad, "Who's this guy and what's he all about?" (laughter) But I was fascinated with that encounter.
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