Dick Herman - Heartlander: An American Journey

To my wife Peg, who taught my family and me love and respect for all.

This is a work of nonfiction, and the events are portrayed to the best of the authors memory.

Published by Emerald Book Company
Austin, TX
www.emeraldbookcompany.com

Copyright 2014 Richard Herman

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the copyright holder.

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Cover design by Greenleaf Book Group LLC
Interior photographs courtesy of the author.
Cover image: Getty Images (US), Inc. (United States) / Fuse

eBook ISBN: 978-1-937110-68-0

eBook Edition

Other Edition(s):
Print ISBN: 978-1-937110-67-3

If you were to end the tale of Dick Herman at his fortieth birthday, a little less than halfway through his life, it would be a tremendous success story, one that represents the eternal optimism, perseverance, and creativity that has made our country a great one. Born in 1920 and raised in small-town Fremont, Nebraska, his life started in the Roaring 20s and continued through the Great Depression, World War II, and Americas postwar economic boom. Neither of his parents had a formal education. But this was a time in our nations history when hard work and common sense paid dividendseven in rural Nebraska.

That, of course, was the American Dream, the dream that his parentsMike and Dutch Hermandearly believed in, strove to achieve, and taught their children, both in words and deeds. Mike Herman worked his tail off driving Nebraskas back roads to supply farmers with kerosene and gasoline. When he wasnt doing that, Mike was a regional salesman for Sinclair products. The jobs kept Mike away from home much of the time, but the rewards were gratifying. The Herman household was able to afford amenities that others couldnta refrigerator, an electric stove, and indoor plumbing. Meanwhile, Dick, the older of two Herman sons who shared a room their entire childhood, was earning his own spending money by selling newspapers on the street corner and doing other odd jobs.

By the time Dick was eight years old, the sun was shining favorably on the Herman family. But then, their household joined millions of others that were jolted on Black Friday in 1929, when the stock market crashed, starting a decade of financial hardship that gripped the United States and the world. A little more than a year later, the unthinkable happened. Dick returned home from school to find neighbors and friends in his front yard discussing a tragic car accident. At the age of thirty-five, Mike Herman was dead, the victim of faulty steering in his old truck.

Dutch and her two sons, Dick and Dale, faced a huge challenge. Cardboard soon filled holes in their shoes. A loud, off-handed comment by a fellow student that Dick was wearing someone elses hand-me-down coat stung sharply. But the three Hermans didnt flinch. Inspired by their mothers determination to keep the family business afloat, ten-year-old Dick began driving the fuel truck to serve their customers. Dale also picked up slack left in the wake of his fathers death. Not only did the family business survive, but it also flourished, allowing Dick to go to the University of Nebraska and then enter the military during World War II, when he helped push the axis troops first out of North Africa and then Italy. After the war, Dick and his brother teamed up to build the family trucking company into a national giant. By the 1960s, each had diversified their own portfolios, entering other businesses that became just as prosperous.

For most people, the success that Dick Herman had gained by 1960 would be satisfying enough. But Dick was a part of what NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw has called The Greatest Generation in his book by the same name. Not only did those who lived through the Great Depression and World War II dedicate themselves to business and community volunteerism, as Brokaw points out, many of them focused on politics, seeing it as a peaceful way to enact change. And so, during the second half of Hermans life, the political chapters in his personal story are as interesting and rewarding as those in the first half.

Thats where I came to know Dick Herman, through Republican politics. The two of us first met when I was delegate chairman for President Gerald Fords 1976 primary campaign against Ronald Reagan. That was the last really closely contested primary election for president, and it wasnt decided until the Republican National Convention. After that, Dick and I worked together continually in subsequent presidential campaigns for Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, and remained close friends.

What I have liked best about Dick has been his sharp, analytical mind, and particularly his keen ability to wade through difficult party decisions and develop winning strategies that can receive broad-gauged support. He believes strongly in the conservative principles that bind Republicanslimited government, lower tax rates, and less federal intervention. In 1964, Dick was a strong supporter of Barry Goldwater, who established his presidential campaign on the principle that Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice, and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. Dick traveled on the candidates campaign plane and personally witnessed much of Goldwaters historic-but-losing campaign against President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Although he has been and remains a dedicated conservative, Dick also realizes that you have to win elections and then govern effectively if you want to transform political ideals into sound public policy. And so, sensible compromise is important to him. President Reagan was the same way, and he often said, Id rather get 80 percent of what I want than go over the cliff with my flag flying. That viewpoint always made sense to me, as well, and so it was rewarding for me to see Dick write about it as he recounts in his book the many political stories that he has witnessed firsthandfrom Barry Goldwater to Richard Nixon to Gerald Ford to Ronald Reagan to George H. W. Bush.

Heartlander: An American Journey is an inspiring account of a life well-lived, of a Midwest gentleman who refused to see personal setbacks as anything but an opportunity to move forward and improve himself. But it is more. It is an insightful account of American politics as seen through the eyes of Dick Herman, a beautiful human being and a charter member of the Greatest Generation.

Whatever America hopes to bring to pass to the world
must first come to pass in the heart of America.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Six months after entering the Army as a newly hatched ROTC lieutenant at Fort Warren, Wyoming, I found myself half a world away, assigned to a desk fronting the entrance to the Anfa Hotel in midtown Casablanca. My assignment: guardian at the gate, the first-line monitor of all who sought to enter the site of the historic meeting between President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and the Free French leaders Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud.