An Interview with Hardin C. Cox at his insurance office in Rock Port, Missouri 04 June 2001 interviewed by N. Renae Farris Oral History Program The State Historical Society of Missouri © 2001 Collection C3929 Politics in Missouri a.c. 290, 291 NOTICE 1) This material is protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). It may not be cited without acknowledgment to The Oral History Program of the State Historical Society of Missouri and the Western Historical Manuscript Collection, a Joint Collection of the University of Missouri and the State Historical Society of Missouri. Citations should include: [name of interviewee], [name of the interviewer], [date and place of interview], [audio recording or transcript], and [where it can be found, for example, The Oral History Program of the State Historical Society of Missouri, Politics in Missouri Oral History Project]. 2) Reproductions of this transcript are available for reference use only and cannot be reproduced or published in any form (including digital formats) without written permission from the Western Historical Manuscript Collection. 3) Use of information or quotations from any Politics in Missouri Oral History Project transcript indicates agreement to indemnify and hold harmless the University of Missouri, the State Historical Society of Missouri, their officers, employees, and agents, and the interviewee from and against all claims and actions arising out of the use of this material. For further information, contact: Western Historical Manuscript Collection 23 Ellis Library University of Missouri Columbia, MO 65201-5149 PREFACE Hardin C. Cox was born March 4, 1928 in Rock Port. After entering the University of Missouri-Columbia, his studies were interrupted by his voluntary military service in the Occupation Forces of Japan. Upon his return, Cox completed his education, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in business and public administration. He then was called back into the military, his duty this time being in Korea. Once his service was completed, Cox entered the insurance business that had been established by his grandfather. As a Democrat, Cox was first elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 1964 and served there for five consecutive terms. He won his district‟s vote to become a Missouri State Senator in 1974, and was re-elected in 1978. For his most recent biographic entry, see the Official Manual of the State of Missouri, 1981-1982, page 58. The recording session took place in his Rock Port insurance office. While I was there a steady stream of visitors entered the premises, indicating an active business. Among the topics we discussed were events from his political career in both legislative chambers, memorable representatives and senators, the “unwritten rules” of the legislature, reapportionment, ERA, Daylight Savings Time legislation, and his work on varied committees. The interview was recorded on Sony C60-HFB audio cassettes (normal bias), using a Sony TC-D5 ProII manual recorder and a Shure VP64 omnidirectional microphone attached to a floor stand. Throughout the interview there were background noises that occasionally interfered with sound clarity, but in general the recording is of very good quality. The following transcript represents a rendering of the oral history interview. Stylistic alterations have been made as part of a general transcription policy. The interviewee offered clarifications and suggestions, which the following transcript reflects. Any use of plain brackets [ ] indicates editorial insertions not found on the original audio recordings. Physical gestures, certain vocal inflections such as imitation, and/or pauses are designated by a combination of italics and brackets [ ]. Any use of parentheses ( ) indicates a spoken aside evident from the speaker's intonation, or laughter. Quotation marks [“”] identify speech depicting dialogue, speech patterns, or the initial use of nicknames. Double dashes [--] and ellipses […] are also used as a stylistic method in an attempt to capture nuances of dialogue or speech patterns. Words are italicized when emphasized in speech. Particularly animated speech is identified with bold lettering. Underlining [ __ ]indicates a proper title of a publication. Although substantial care has been taken to render this transcript as accurately as possible, any remaining errors are the responsibility of the editor, N. Renae Farris. [tape meter, 001. Begin side one, tape one. Begin interview] RF: Today is June 4, 2001. I‟m Renae Farris for the State Historical Society. [I‟m] in Rock Port, Missouri speaking with Hardin Cox, who was in the Missouri House of Representatives from 1965 through 1973 and then he was elected to the Missouri Senate in ‟74 and served through 1983. Am I correct? HC: Correct. RF: Okay, could you start out by telling me a little bit about yourself? A little biographical information before we go into politics? HC: I was born here in Rock Port, so I‟m a native. Went to school here and high school. And then from here I went to the University [of Missouri - Columbia]. I played football at the university. Played in the Cotton Bowl when I was a freshman but that was the time when a lot of the boys hadn‟t returned from [military] service yet, and so we got to play as freshmen. Then I went into the service myself. I volunteered and went into service and served in Japan in the Army of Occupation. The war [World War II] was over then. Went back to the university and got my degree. I also went into ROTC [Reserve Officers Training Corps] and got my officers (second lieutenant) commission and was immediately called back into service to go to Korea. I served in Korea [from] Thanksgiving of ‟52 to the end of the war and then returned here. My father and I were in [the insurance] business together until he died, and then I carried on with the business until ‟65, or ‟64 actually. I had run for office the two years before that. And that was my first attempt and I got beat! (Chuckles) RF: The House of Representatives? HC = Hardin C. Cox; RF = Renae Farris 1 HC: [Nodding affirmatively] For the House of Representatives. A fourteen-year incumbent [Fred R. McMahon] beat me, and I did about everything wrong you could do! (Laughs) But I learned from it! So then I ran against the same person, a very nice gentleman and won that next time. Then the next term that was coming up two years later, they had re- apportionment. Instead of serving just one county, they tacked on Holt County and Andrew County, both of which were extremely Republican counties! (Chuckles) Which wasn‟t my choice! But we worked real hard on that campaign [and] won it by thirty-four votes. Somebody kidded about it, called me “landslide”. (Laughs) Then I ran there two more times, and then finally they changed the district to number twelve. Changed the numbers again, reapportioned again. [I] won that for my fifth term in the House. Then I decided I either had to get out or go up or something! So I ran for the twelfth senatorial district which came from here (which is the farthest northwest county in the state) clear to within one county of the Mississippi [River] which was Schuyler County. And it was a huge territory -- fifteen counties. Did win that fairly well. Ran against an incumbent, won that. And served until they had another re-apportionment. Then I got some of Clay County in that new shuffle, and I lost to Congresswoman Pat Danner. She‟d been an AA [administrative assistant] for Congressman Jerry Litton. [The addition of] Clay County, I think that [was a factor in Danner‟s win.] And she was a Catholic, and Nodaway County was pretty Catholic. That was when the abortion issue was strong and the ERA [Equal Rights Amendment] was strong. Evidently that hurt me some. It was a bitter campaign. But that‟s when I returned home to go to work. RF: Did you have any role models growing up? 2 HC = Hardin C. Cox; RF = Renae Farris HC: Well, yes. I was kind of involved in politics. My brother and my dad and my grandfather also had the paper here. So if you‟re involved with the paper, you‟re usually involved in politics. I had met Harry Truman. He was up to our house and visited when he was running for [U.S.] Senate. Bill Hull, who was a Congressman and a close friend of the family‟s, had been in Washington [D.C.]. I forget how many terms he was in D.C., but quite a number. He was a good friend and kind of was an inspiration, I guess you‟d say. [U.S.] Senator [Thomas] Eagleton I served with in Jeff [Jefferson] City when he was Lieutenant Governor and also when he was [a U.S.] senator. [tape meter, 050] [U.S.] Senator Stuart Symington was a very close friend, and came here. In fact, Senator Eagleton and Senator Symington both were the speakers at testimonials I had when I was running for the [Missouri] Senate. So I had the inclination and the people that kind of made me lean that way toward getting into politics. RF: What made you decide to run as a Democrat as opposed to a Republican? HC: Born and raised. When I was younger, there was hardly any ticket splitting in those days. Of course, running for the territory that I ran in most of my time, I was running against the stream because most of my district was a little more Republican. In fact, when I had the twelfth senatorial district, quite a lot Republican. About two-to-one Republican district. I always said either I had to be an awful good liar, or I did a good job.