William L. Spence
Lewiston Tribune
November 15, 2009

Cecil Andrus, Idaho’s only four-term governor and a former state senator from Lewiston and Orofino, returned “to the scene of the crime” Saturday for the inaugural Cecil D. Andrus Banquet at the Red Lion Hotel.

More than 300 people attended the event, which was sponsored by the Nez Perce County Democrats. Speakers included Congressman Walt Minnick, former Congressman Larry LaRocco and former state senators Mike Mitchell and Marguerite McLaughlin.

Andrus, 78, said the accomplishments made during his tenure – including transportation improvements, economic development, higher funding for public education and, for the first time, state funding for kindergarten – can be attributed to people working for the betterment of their communities without regard for who got credit.

“That’s what we did in Boise,” he said, “We built philosophical coalitions, we worked together and we accomplished quite a bit. IT wasn’t because of my election, but because of the attitude we were able to create, that all those things were accomplished. People wanted good jobs, better educational opportunities for their children and recreational places to enjoy. That’s still what they want today, and the only way to get it is to come out and support good candidates. Tonight, I hope maybe we can rekindle that feeling f camaraderie among working people, Native Americans and people of all parties to work for the common good.

Andrus, described Saturday as being quite competitive, said a former Clearwater County GOP chairman who actually got him started in politics. Democrats had tried to recruit him to run for the state Senate when he lived in Orofino, but he turned them down. The GOP chairman told him later that was a good thing. Andrus said, “Because we’d have beat the hell out of you” in the election. As soon as he heard that, he drove over to the courthouse and filed for office.

“That’s exactly how it got started,” he said.

Andrus later moved to Lewiston and represented this district before being elected governor in 1970. He was re-elected in ’74, and again in ’86 and ’90, after serving four years as Secretary of the Interior during the Carter Administration.

He joked that he was “returning to the scene of the crime” because of the 1986 election. The returns on election night were coming in and he was behind, he said, but the vote from Nez Perce County hadn’t come in, supposedly because of a computer problems. Once they were counted, he won by 3,000 votes. When reporters questioned Mitchell, who was then Andrus’ chief of staff, Andrus said his response was, “There’s nothing wrong with the computers. We just waited to see how many votes he needed.”

Chris Carlson, who served as his press secretary for 10 years, told several stories and Andrus’ hunting and fishing prowess, including the time he “shot Bambi.”

The story foes that then-Gov. Andrus was out hunting spotted a fine deer and took a shot. The deer kept walking. He took another shot, but it kept walking. He took another, and then another. After seven shots, the deer finally dropped.

“Then he walked up and saw he’d hit it with all seven shots,” Carlson said, But he made the mistake of telling an aide the story, who thought it was so funny he immediately told the UPI (United Press) bureau chief. The headline n the Idaho Statesman the next day said, ‘Governor Shoots Bambi Seven Times.’”

Andrus complained the Statesman was “a rag” and said the headline should have ready “Outstanding Marksman Bags Buck.”

Minnick, who has criticized his own party on several occasions since defeating incumbent Republican Bill Sali last year, said Cecil Andrus highlighted how Democrats can get elected in the most Republican state in the nation.
HE noted, for example, that Andrus successfully opposed an open-pit min proposed in the White Cloud Mountains, yet championed environmentally responsible mining and earned the support of the Idaho Mining Association. He recognized the importance of education and “cajoled this tax-adverse state into increasing the sales tax so it could fund kindergarten and properly compensate primary school teachers.” Minnick said, and he helped balance the state budget by recruiting high-tech firms and growing Idaho out of a recession.

“He could be a rebel, a conservative, a cutting-edge liberal, and he was demanding,” Minnick said, “He supported conservation, education, civil liberties, fiscal responsibility and the working man – and in the process he became a living legend and the most beloved public figure in Idaho. SO thank you, Cece, for blazing the path and showing us the way.”

At the end of the evening, Andrus was awarded the first Cecil Andrus Statesmanship Award, which the Nez Perce County Democrats intend henceforth to award annually to the designated statesman of the year.