Wally Hickel

Who was Wally Hickel?

Walter Joseph "Wally" Hickel was an American businessman and politician. Starting out in Alaska during territorial days as a construction worker and subsequently a construction company owner/operator, he later became heavily involved with real estate development during Alaska's post-World War II boom period, building residential subdivisions at first, then branching out to building and operating shopping centers and hotels. Thrust into politics during the early 1950s by a power struggle within the territorial Republican Party and the battle to achieve statehood for Alaska, Hickel remained a formidable power in Alaskan politics for nearly a half century.

Hickel served as the second and eighth Governor of Alaska. Defeating incumbent and first governor William A. Egan in 1966, he served as governor until 1969, ending with his resignation upon his confirmation in the position of United States Secretary of the Interior in the cabinet of President Richard Nixon. He later served a full term as governor from 1990 to 1994 under the banner of the Alaskan Independence Party, thus far the party's most significant electoral achievement.