Profiles in Achievement

The Gifts, Quirks, and Foibles of Ohio's Best Politicians

William Hershey

• Publisher: The University of Akron Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781629221373
• eBook ISBN:
  9781629221397
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Journalism
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This collection of profiles highlights the careers of Ohio political trailblazers and high achievers covering nearly a century – from Republican Ray Bliss' humble start as an errand boy in Akron's 1931 mayoral race to Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and Republican Gov. Mike DeWine today. Bliss worked quietly behind the scenes as party chairman to elect mayors, governors and presidents. Democrat Howard Metzenbaum earned a reputation as a high-profile political battler in the U.S. Senate. His fellow Democrat John Glenn, already a world hero as the first American to orbit the earth, preferred a nose-to-the-grindstone approach in four U.S. Senate terms. Democrats Eddie Davis from Akron and Louis Stokes from Cleveland made history – Davis as Akron's first black city councilman and Stokes as Ohio's first black U.S. House member. Summit County's Maureen was a history-maker too. In 2010 she became the first woman elected chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. Akron Democrat John Seiberling, the grandson of Goodyear founder F.A. Seiberling, was a cerebral U.S. House member who could relate to rubber workers and match up intellectually with expert witnesses. Republican Jim Rhodes, a coal miner's son from southern Ohio, captured the governor's office four times with his unique earthiness. Their styles and beliefs differed but all had the discipline, patience and courage to take on challenges with no guarantees of success. They also had resilience, the ability to rebound from defeat, none more than DeWine and Brown who have become Ohio's political long-distance runners.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction: Profiles in Achievement
• Ray Bliss: The Party’s Not Over
• Eddie Davis: Still Eddie After All These Years
• John Galbreath: Down on the Farm with John Galbreath
• Johnny Apple: The Life and Times of Akron’s Apple
• Jim Williams: “Rare Jurist” Will Be Missed
• Maureen O’Connor: The Most Powerful Woman in Summit County
• Mary Taylor: Legislator Eyes Race for Auditor
• Barbara Sykes: Rep. Sykes to Run for Ohio Auditor
• Roy Ray: It’s Half a Year of Sweet Music for Akron Mayor
• Tom Sawyer: Coming Home to Capitol Hill
• Don Plusquellic: A Kid from Kenmore
• George Voinovich: A Voice of Tranquility on Road to “Normalcy”
• Jim Rhodes: Is This Really the End of His Era?
• Dick Celeste: See Dick Still Run
• Nancy Hollister: Hollister Takes Office
• Betty Montgomery: To the Moon with Montgomery?
• Jo Ann Davidson: The Whole Package
• Vern Riffe: “Boss” Riffe Runs a Tight House
• Bill Batchelder: Bill Batchelder in the House
• Sterling Tucker: Righting Civil Wrongs
• Thaddeus Garrett: Garrett Faces a Tough Job
• Ralph Regula: Pickups, Pragmatism and Polish
• John Seiberling: From Lawmaker to Peacemaker
• Louis Stokes: A King of the Hill
• John Glenn: Crying Out A Message of Doom
• Howard Metzenbaum: Going Out in Metzenbaum Style
• Mike DeWine: When a Family Man Heads for the Hill
• Sherrod Brown: Brown Takes on the Role as Challenger
• Contributors
• Index