Topic: Rock Island Railroad
Interview of Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker, October 17, 2022
Interviewed by Deanell Reece Tacha
Nancy Kassebaum, still lively at age 90, recalled being a young girl in Topeka growing up with a famous father, Alf Landon. She described her motivation for entering a US Senate race in 1978 and turned to friends and the League of Women Voters in Wichita for help with that highly contested primary race. Kassebaum had a "special relationship" with the other Kansas Senator, Bob Dole. Her legislative interests in the U.S. Senate were foreign relations, Africa and apartheid, and a major health care bill she worked with Senator Ted Kennedy. Toward the end of Show Moreher senate career she married Tennessee senator Howard Baker, and went to Japan with him as wife of the Ambassador. After Baker's death she returned to the ranch in Burdick, Kansas where she still follows politics closely. Show Less
Interview of Patrick (Pat) Hubbell, April 9, 2025
Interviewed by Mike Lennen
Long-time lobbyist, Pat Hubbell described in this 2025 oral history interview, how lobbyists work, how they interact with legislators and other advocates, and the importance of this "at the rail" dynamic of the Kansas Legislature. Hubbell's chief clients were railroads but he had others. He worked in the 1970's with Kansas US Senators and Representatives in Washington. particularly while the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (4-R Act) was being worked in Congress. At that time, several railroad companies were going bankrupt, and many believed a loss would have been devastating to Show MoreKansas farmers. Railroads have historically played a key role in transporting Kansas agricultural products. During his interview Hubbell said that the railroads were advocating for fair taxation. They wanted to be treated as a competitor in the transportation sector rather than as a monopoly. “Railroads offer a list of opportunities for people locating businesses in Kansas to have rail service.” Hubbell described his philosophy on lobbying: “we try to find an answer that everybody can agree to. . . Just the fact that you have a lobbyist doesn’t mean you ought to be taking a bill every session to the legislature.”
Highlights -- short excerpts from the interview