Topic: Taxes
Interviews of Mark Parkinson, December 14, 2010 and March 27, 2021
Interviewed by Bob Beatty and Amber Dickinson
These transcripts are from oral history interviews of former Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson conducted in 2010 and 2021 by Washburn University faculty members Dr. Bob Beatty and Dr. Amber Dickinson. The interviews explored Parkinson’s unconventional political path from Republican member of the Kansas House in 1991, to State Republican Party Chair in 1999, to the Democratic nomination to the office of Lieutenant Governor in 2006 and onto the office of Governor in 2009. He discussed the leadership and business-minded philosophy he employed as governor to guide the state through an economic recession. During the interviews Parkinson also highlighted Show Morepolicy achievements in renewable energy, public health, and transportation. He also reflected on the power of ideas, the role of luck and tenacity in a public career, and the complexities of governing during a period of partisan polarization.
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Interviews of former Kansas governors conducted by Dr. Bob Beatty of Washburn University during the early decades of the 21st Century for the Kansas Governors Recorded History and Documentary Project provide a view of the lives, political philosophies, and governing styles of governors who led Kansas from the late 20th to the early 21st Century. Beatty generously granted the Kansas Oral History Project (KOHP) permission to house the transcripts of these interviews conducted with former governors John Anderson, William Avery, John Carlin, Bill Graves, Mike Hayden, Mark Parkinson, and Kathleen Sebelius. These interviews are a significant addition to the Kansas Governors collection, and the KOHP Board is grateful to Dr. Beatty for making the transcripts available for posting here. The article also linked below and downloadable, “ 'You Can Get a Hell of a Lot Done as a Governor': A Conversation with Former Governor Mark Parkinson," edited by Grant Armstrong, Bob Beatty, and Amber Dickinson, is excerpted from the 2010 and 2021 interviews. The article was published in the Spring 2022 issue of Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains and is reprinted here with permission. The questions were removed and footnotes added during preparation of the transcripts for publication as a journal article. The Kansas Oral History Project is grateful to the Kansas Historical Foundation for allowing us to post the article as part of the collection of interviews of Kansas Governors. Show Less