His Honor, Jock McKernan

VITA

Although Maine Governor John R. Mckernan Jr. '70 holds what may be the highest political office among Dartmouth alumni, he admits that his decision to attend Dartmouth had little to do with desire to take on the world. As a sheltered young man from northern Maine, he made a tour of the dorms and gym at Yale—and of the busy highway and railroad tracks between them—and quickly chose Dartmouth instead.

His decision wasn't unprecedented in the family: his father and two uncles had attended the school (and a younger brother, Robert '74, was to follow). But the choice was pivotal. McKernan credits events at Dartmouth during the turbulent late '60s with having helped shape his decision to enter public service. He recalls that, during the height of student unrest, "What really struck me was seeing those students being carried out of Parkhurst Hall by the New Hampshire State Police. It made me realize there had to be a better way to change society. If enough people worked within the system, I felt that changes would take place. It was at that point that I started to think about how I could be a part of the system." He continues to believe that the experiences of the late '60s were unique. "Our age group seems to be a little different in that people who came after us never had a comparable type of crisis in their lives that they had to reflect upon," he maintains.

Remarkably, McKernan chose to carry on his social activism as a Republican within a heavily Democratic state. Today, despite solid Democratic majorities in both bodies in the Maine legislature, he has succeeded in getting 80 percent of his agenda passed into law. The Democratic speaker of the House describes last year's session as being as productive as any during his 23 years in the legislature. The Maine press terms relationships be-tween the two branches of government as "harmonious" since McKernan assumed office. And the governor has received wide praise for selecting a solidly bipartisan cabinet.

The governorship is the latest in an unbroken series of political successes. Following graduation from Dartmouth, McKernan joined the Army National Guard and then earned a degree from the University of Maine Law School in 1974. By this time he had already been elected to a seat in the Maine House of Representatives. After four years as a state legislator, he practiced law for several years in Portland. He won a seat in the U.S. House in 1982 and got re-elected two years later. In January 1987 he assumed office as Maine's first Republican governor in 20 years, and was at 38 the youngest governor in the nation.

Before George Bush vowed to be the "education president," McKernan took steps to become an education governor. One program especially dear to his heart is the development of report cards on the school systems that compare factors ranging from test score results and dropout rates to student-teacher ratios. "Part of the problem is that if you have lived in a community ever since your child started school," he explains, "how would you know whether your school system was good or not compared to a school system 20 miles away?"

To supplement a statewide program in job training, McKernan has developed a welfare-reform package that provides transitional funds for child and medical care during the first year to year and a half following job training, so that young parents can find it economically feasible to become independent of government checks.

He is especially proud of his administration's innovative approaches to the development of accessible and affordable child care. He points to a landmark program in which the private and public sectors have formed a partnership to run a service out of the University of South Maine. "We're working with local Chambers of Commerce and other business associations now to try and do the same thing," says McKernan. The approach is suited to Maine, a state characterized by many small employers, few of whom would have the resources on their own to provide child care.

McKernan clearly relishes his role as Maine's head of state. "At this point in our national history with a $150 billion deficit, the exciting decisions that affect people in this country on the domestic side of the agenda are going to happen at the state level," he says. "As governor you're in a position to identify a problem, propose a solution, and make it happen."

By contrast he describes his years as a United States congressman with some frustration. "Frankly, in Congress you spend a lot of time talking about issues that you never solve. Especially as a Republican, especially as a progressive Republican, you're a minority in a minority. "He points out that years of debate in Washington haven't resulted in any substantive solutions to acid rain. As governor, however, he has been able to direct and implement an environmental agenda. In little over a year McKernan secured passage of a bill that made Maine the first state to ban the use of Styrofoam containers.

He sees the turmoil at Dartmouth with the eyes of a veteran of the '60s. "It is important to try to help students get through that process of free expression, while at the same time not having to tolerate assaults on the institution," he says. He believes that the overall atmosphere of the College has been improved in recent years by coeducation. He recalls one incident that shows how little Dartmouth students of 20 years ago were prepared for the coeducational experience: on the first night of Coeducation Week, the Village Store sold more kegs of beer than had been sold on any night on any previous weekend in history.

Just the same, McKernan voices certain concerns regarding today's generation of college students. He frets that public service doesn't seem to be attracting the best and the brightest these days. "It's important to get good people who have a lot to offer and who have different perspectives to be involved in the process," he asserts. "I'm not sure that I have seen a lot of that kind of desire coming out of the students who are in college now or have just gotten out of it, and that needs to change. Those of us who have made that choice need to become visible on campuses so we can start to make that kind of shift back."

Classmate Tom Avery, the 1970 secretary, met up with "Jock" McKernan in the governor's office last fall.

"What really struck me was seeingthose students being carried out ofParkhurst Hall by the New HampshireState Police. It made me realize there had tobe a better way to change society ... How Icould be a part of the system."