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OPINIONS
Editorial: Underwood was true statesman who served W.Va. well
Gov. Cecil Underwood is shown with the state portrait from his first term which ended in 1960 as he prepares to leave office in Charleston on Jan. 3, 2001. Gov. Underwood, who had the distinction of being both West VirginiaÕs youngest and oldest governor, died Monday in Charleston.
Purchase this photoHe was handsome, witty and always well-dressed. He appeared in Huntington often, especially if there was a groundbreaking for a new factory, road or other project linked to jobs and the economy. He was a Huntington resident who had been elected governor, and the city was always glad to see him return.
Cecil Underwood died Monday, ending a long life of public service. He was a native of Tyler County. He had been a schoolteacher and a member of the House of Delegates before he was elected governor in 1956. He was the youngest person to hold that post.
The state constitution didn't allow Underwood to run for a second term, so he ran against Sen. Jennings Randolph in 1960. Randolph was as much of an institution then as Sen. Robert C. Byrd is now. Underwood lost, so he turned to the private and academic sectors. From time to time, he would run for office again, usually for governor, and lose.
In 1996, he won. Helped by the fact that the Democratic Party had nominated probably the most polarizing candidate in a generation -- meaning a good number of conservative and pro-business Democrats turned their back on the party's candidate and actively supported him -- Underwood returned to the governor's mansion, this time as the oldest person elected governor in West Virginia.
Underwood is remembered for many things. Among them, his administrations were free of the scandals that rocked the office before and after his terms. Underwood managed to avoid the problems that brought down several governors.
He ran for re-election in 2000, but this time, his Democratic opponent was a popular politician backed by a united Democratic Party. Underwood lost and never ran for public office again. His wife, Hovah, died in 2004. Underwood's health had deteriorated in the past year, preventing him from being a visible, active force in state politics.
When Underwood died, West Virginia lost an elder statesman who represented the state well. He was a visionary who saw the need for change. In his second administration, he embraced the need for the state to invest in technology so it would not be left behind.
He also formed a task force that drafted a plan to overhaul West Virginia's flawed, archaic and noncompetitive tax code. Had he been elected to another term in 2000, he might have been able to get parts of his task force's recommendations enacted into law.
Underwood will be remembered as a governor who gave his life to public service. He came from a time that produced many of the giants of West Virginia politics. He shared the stage with Randolph, Byrd, Ken Hechler, Arch Moore, Jay Rockefeller and others.
In each of his two terms, Underwood was a figure of integrity and calm in a state that needed it. He was the governor West Virginia needed. In politics and in governing, you can't ask for much more than what Underwood gave.
