Oral History Program Merrill Jenkins Interviewed by Patricia Buchanan 14 July 1980 i Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Merrill Jenkins Interviewed by Patricia Buchanan 14 July 1980 Copyright © 2014 by Weber State University, Stewart Library ii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. Archival copies are placed in University Archives. The Stewart Library also houses the original recording so researchers can gain a sense of the interviewee's voice and intonations. Project Description The Weber State College/University Student Projects have been created by students working with several different professors on the Weber State campus. The topics are varied and based on the student's interest or task for a specific assignment. These oral history assignments were created to help Weber State students learn the value and importance of recording public history and to benefit the expansion of the Weber State oral history collections. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to the Stewart Library of Weber State University. No part of the manuscript may be published without the written permission of the University Librarian. Requests for permission to publish should be addressed to the Administration Office, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, 84408. The request should include identification of the specific item and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Jenkins, Merrill, an oral history by Patricia Buchanan, 14 July 1980, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. iii Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with former Senator Merrill Jenkins. The interview was conducted on July 14, 1980, by Patricia Buchanan in the First Security Bank Building. Former Senator Jenkins discusses his career in politics as well as the history of the Democratic Party in Utah. PB: This is an interview with former Senator Merrill Jenkins. Mr. Jenkins can you tell me something about growing up in Weber County and how you became involved in politics? MJ: I was born in Plain City, Utah right where I live at the present time; having lived on the old farm where I was raised, although I’ve worked at First Security Bank for, now, almost 21 years. I was raised there, and through my needs I suppose, I became very interested in the Civic Affairs early in life mainly because of my mother and brother. They were very active in politics. So, I guess I kind of headed in a philosophy my mother always had to which said, “Do a little something extra for your community and state where you live.” She having been an immigrant from England, was very appreciative for what America had to offer in the country in which we live. Early in life I served a mission for the L.D.S. church in Hawaii where I was at the time when they bombed Pearl Harbor. After my mission, I came home and was home about 6 months and was inducted into the service, and went into the Armored Division. Serving in Texas, and then going overseas and spending 6 or 8 months there going into the Armored Columns from Bastogne to where we met the Russians outside Leipzig in Czechoslovakia. During that length of time I had great appreciation for what America has to offer and the freedoms we enjoyed here, even though it can become very expensive. Shortly after that I ran for the Plain City town board where I lived and served 1 four years. Later I became Bishop there. I was Lions Club President and Young Democrat President of Weber County, and Young Democrats Secretary for the State of Utah. I was very active. After my four years as Plain City board member I ran for the Utah House of Representatives in 1958 where I served in Utah legislature for 18 years. About three of them in the House of Representatives and the other 15 years in the State Senate. During that time I held various positions from the majority leader, majority whip, I should say, to the minority leader, a member of the appropriations committee for many years, and other prestigious jobs in the legislature. Most of that time I served under our own governor Calvin Rampton, which I was proud to serve under. After I served about three years in the House, I was appointed to the Senate by Governor Clyde and then served 15 years there. I was very proud during my term in the legislature of having either sponsored or co-sponsored practically every bill that had to do with Weber State College two or three years before it became a four year college and up until four years ago. PB: Can you tell me about some of the major legislations and bills that you sponsored when you were in the Legislature and Senate? MJ: One of the things I was real concerned about during my first time there was that there were just plainly too many committees of the legislature that were appointed by the Governor. As a result, most of our findings and investigations by the legislature were on issues that he espoused to and was not as bipartisan as it should be. We just wavered back and forth with these administrations. So it was during my time that I cosponsored with Hughes, the Republican side, a bill which would make our legislative council more responsive to legislation. I think it was that time that we changed the legislative council 2 and broke it down to what we now have as a budget-audit committee, which reviewed the budget and was strictly bipartisan and the same number from each side, regardless of what that makeup of the legislature was. I had the opportunity of serving on that in the senate with Senator Mattis myself, and Senator Brockbanker and one of the Senators from Utah County as well, or Wally Gardner. We had court in the senate and we had a court in the House, the same way which made it even. At that time we would review the budget between sessions so we had bipartisan approach what we needed in the state. That was one of the best changes I think we ever had. I did also sponsor the annual sessions which changed the legislature not to have regular sessions. I was a very strong advocate of the budget sessions which we have today. I did have an opportunity arrive on a project that we were studying on. I was one of the legislators chosen for the State of Utah that got to visit several State Capitols. We visited California and Arizona and Texas, on in Florida and one in North Carolina. Of all the State Legislatures that I visited, I came back extremely proud of ours, even though we didn’t have the staff and the salaries that many of them had. I still think we had a very effective legislature, considering the time that was spent there. My views are and I still hold to them, that we really meet long enough. I’m not an advocate of the full time legislature. I did sponsor the bill that created that 2/3 of anything that was brought up the budget sessions should be 2/3 of the majority. I’ve been a little disappointed that most anything brought up very easily gets 2/3 of the majority. I felt it should really be restricted to the budget itself. I do think we save money, whether the public may generally think so or not, but my experience there has convinced me that it would save money at the annual sessions. Too many of the departments felt that they had to spend 3 all of what they got, and figured it was two to two and a half years ahead, but they didn’t have much chance of proving their worth or even getting what they needed if they spent all of what they had before. So, I think the approach is well taken. I also had had some misgivings about it since, because they didn’t put the restrictions on it that should be, I felt the old Coordinating Council. I didn’t like it particularly for the simple reason the director of that Coordinating Council was appointed by the Governor and again it was strictly a tool of the administration, which I thought in higher education that we should have something a little more permanent. Many times I think we have granted too much power to the Board of Regents. This is my fight in recent years. They should put more power back into the Institution Council which we have already at all of our educational institutions. I think the Board of Regents has quite a lot of power. The Board should have a few more checks and balances. That is something that will have to come to with the legislature. The regents certainly do control all of our money. I think the most frustrations of all my time there is really how much power there is in Salt Lake and the outlying counties are very often short changed. PB: Mr. Jenkins, could you maybe tell me something about how you feel that politics in the conventions have changed through the years since you have been actively involved? MJ: Well, I guess I’m a poor one to ask because I’m one of the few that really got the 70%. I think that really the only thing that I have against that is, especially where our democratic party is concerned, is that some of tour organized groups, if there’s any we have too much power over the legislator himself. We elect a person to do the best he feels he should at the time. If we don’t satisfy them we have a tendency to take it out on them. I’ve always been kind of a {unreadable text}… the ticket regardless of the 4 convention. That he ought to be able to put his record before the public and see how they feel about it. I think the one big thing that I notice so much in serving that long is the change that took place. In 1958, when I went there, it seemed like there were only three or four lobbyists and that was about it. One for the education association, and one for labor, and one for maybe business and a few others. As it later developed in years you could scarcely get to your seat if you were late because there were so many. It made it very difficult. I didn’t want to leave anybody with the idea I was sorry that they were persistent, because I think Utah has a good legislature. I think by far the best. Inasmuch as we are talking about the history of the Democratic Party and you mentioned in our previous discussion before this interview about several of the oldtimers you see, I will have to tell you about a little get together that became very prominent in Weber County. We used to have a Democratic gather once a year up at Bob Hinkley’s ranch. They invited about everybody there that had anything to do with politics and I remember Judge Ritter used to be there, and several of the people from Salt Lake. Scott Matheson’s dad, and several others, and they would sit down, and really, the used to say that is where the politics, especially from Weber County, would be decided. {Unreadable text}... I was there on the {unreadable text}... I would like to say this though, in our interview, which you might want to consider some time just for your notes. I suppose a funny thing happened about the four year colleges. We all like to take credit for some of those things. Some say I was there for that vote the year Weber College got its four year status. I don’t think that anybody should take too much credit except President Miller himself. Prior to that election, prior to that vote, which made Weber College a four year college, I understand President Miller went to every 5 legislator in the State and I heard Legislators repeat to me that President Miller was such a sincere guy that he clearly convinced them for the good of education and for the good of the country and of the state to have Weber College. It was his ambition to make it, in many respects, a very {unreadable text} and effective college and a college with a distinctive {unreadable text}… That year it was pretty well all cut and dry. Even though we all say we fought for a four year college for Weber College, that’s true, but I think in all fairness to anyone that {unreadable text}… that we all played a part. I think one of the most interesting things I should say at that session in particular, is that President Tracy was there the day they passed that bill. They asked President Tracy to get up and say a few words. He’d fought, he’d always fought, to keep Weber College from being taken over by the church years ago. Not that he was against the church, because he was a very active member as you recall, but he thought it had a position as a State college. Which, it was later proved to be very true. With tears in his eyes, running down both sides of his face, he just choked all of us up to watch president Tracy say that was his life’s ambition, of maintaining the college. He stood before the legislature that day and so from there on Weber was a four year college. {Unreadable text}… say I was involved. I was on the budget committee and higher education for many, many years, and made Weber’s appropriation. I was proud that we got as many bills as we did. I was also there, and was {unreadable text}… disagreed with. Many of them wanted it down across the road {unreadable text}… I could go into some length on that vote that day. Senator Hughes {unreadable text}… I felt very proud of those accomplishments, I’ll say that about them. My effort was in education I suppose, and on the Weber College basis in particular because, like I said, I’ve had four children graduate from there. Three are 6 going there at the present time and I have two others who have finished. One has two years left and the other has three. I hope to make all my children graduates of Weber State College. PB: I think that’s really nice. You were saying earlier that you were really active in kind of getting Gunn Mckay on his way in Politics. MJ: Yes, yes we were very close friends and always have been. As I said, Gunn MacKay’s first exposure to politics was when I was appointed to Senate. Gunn Mckay was appointed to House to take my place. He served one term and then he was defeated in the republican {unreadable text}… I think it was ’67 because Governor Rampton was elected in ’65 and it was two years later that we got the landslide. Then he was defeated and went to Governor Rampton’s Administrative Assistant, which he did very well. It was later that we talked him into running for the Congress. I served with one of those that was out on the forefront {unreadable text}… election for the first time. It was very rewarding to see Congressman Mckay do as well as he has. I think any loyal supporter would like to see the candidate do well out there after they’re elected {unreadable text}… as long as he’s good for it. I think that he’s really done a good job. Like I said before, when I talked to you about little things happening along the way about the election, some people wouldn’t {unreadable text}… but the history at least, has proved itself. I’ve been active and very selective during that year. He’s been a good Congressman. PB: Tell me about the time when you became active in the Young Democrats. MJ: Well, I first became active in the Young Democrats when we first reformed it after a number of years of somewhat {unreadable text}… in the election of Senator Moss for 7 the first time. I went to Salt Lake and I think we only had about 5 or 6 there at the time. Allen Howell was elected President of the Democrats, and I was elected Secretary. During that time we held the Young Democrats first convention. They held it in Ogden at the Copper Cottage. One of the interesting things at that time; one of the key note speakers at our Young Democrats, was Barry Mckay. He was Gunn’s brother and I think later that he was the one appointed to the Judgeship. He was a federal judge. Also, the person that we brought in from the outside to speak at that convention was, I think he was in the senate in California at the time, but at the present time he’s in the Congress. He was Burton, one of the leading congressmen back there. He ran against Mr. Wright this last time for leadership for the House of Representatives. I keep thinking Richard Burton, but that isn’t right. I forget his name, but anyway, very active in the Congress now. He’s been there from California for a number of years. He always comes back to that. He’s got a lot of state pride. He was a great {unreadable text}… Young Democrats and the convention. So the club has been active ever since then, mostly. It’s a real surprise and I think one of the things that’s been rewarding to me is to see how well the young people who started out in the Young Democrats have done. One of the young fellows who came up as a delegate that year was a man named Albert from Carbon County. I think he later went to Guam as an attorney representing our government there. I understand that he has later but pretty near everyone that attended that convention has ended up in some prestigious spot in the government. It has been convincing to me that if you are going to succeed in politics you have got to be active in ongoing {unreadable text}… Well, I was going to tell you, when you asked about my history of politics… I‘ve always kind of considered it was a series of fights. I was 8 probably a little too conservative for some ways, and for some elements of my party, even since my first election, in which I was running against Lynn Baker, who’s now the Treasurer and who I happened to beat at that time. I think I’ve always had to run against some party official; someone quite high up in the part. Then after I was appointed to the senate it seemed like it was about a six year period there that I had {unreadable text}… Even at that, for the simple reason that the following year that I was appointed one year I had to run for two years for the unexpired term of Senator Brown who had moved from his position. Then the next year I ran which I won and run for a four year term and then {unreadable text}… cut it off. Everyone had to run again. So then, we drew straws to see who would run for the two year term and who would run for the four year term. I drew the two year term again. Right shortly after that they wrote an article about me in the Tribune. 9