Robert William Straub (May 6, 1920 – November 27, 2002) was an American politician and businessman from the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. A native of San Francisco, California, he settled in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

, where he entered politics. A Democratic politician, he served in the

Oregon State Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the state Sena ...

, as the

Oregon State Treasurer The Oregon State Treasurer is a constitutional officer within the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon, elected by statewide vote to serve a four-year term. As chief financial officer for the state, the office holder heads ...

, and one term as the 31st

Governor of Oregon The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...

from 1975 to 1979. Like his perennial opponent for governor,

Tom McCall Thomas Lawson McCall (March 22, 1913 January 8, 1983) was an American statesman, politician and journalist in the state of Oregon. A Republican, he was the state's thirtieth governor from 1967 to 1975. A native of Massachusetts, McCall grew up th ...

, he was a noted environmentalist.

Early life

Robert William Straub was born on May 6, 1920, in San Francisco. His parents were Thomas J. and Mary Tulley Straub who were staunch Republicans. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served in the Army's Quartermaster Corps. Straub earned a bachelor of arts degree from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1943, and then a masters of business administration from the school in 1947. While a student at Dartmouth, he married Pat Straub (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Stroud) in 1943, and they had three sons and three daughters. In 1946, the family moved to

Springfield, Oregon Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Separated from Eugene to the west, mainly by Interstate 5, Springfield ...

, when Straub accepted a job at the new

Weyerhaeuser Weyerhaeuser () is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company also manufactures wood products. It operates as a real e ...

facility there. At Weyerhauser he worked with former classmate and later Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives

Richard Eymann Richard Oswald Eymann (February 3, 1919 – September 26, 2005) was an American businessman and politician in the state of Oregon. A native of Alberta, Canada, he served as an airman during World War II and then graduated from Dartmouth Colle ...

. Straub also established a construction firm. He became independently wealthy by investing in the stock market, in real estate development, and trading in timber.

Political career

Straub worked at his construction firm until beginning his political career when he was elected to the Lane County Board of Commissioners in 1954. Straub served on the commission from 1955 to 1959. He represented Lane County in the

from 1959 to 1963. During his time in the senate, Straub established his reputation as an advocate for natural resource management and conservation. He was one of the state's first leaders to voice concern about air and water pollution. In 1964, Straub was elected to a four-year term as the

. Two years later he ran unsuccessfully for the Governor's Office, losing to

. As State Treasurer, Straub worked to create the Local Government Investment Pool and the

Oregon Public Employees Retirement System The Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) is the retirement and disability fund for public employees in the U.S. state of Oregon established in 1946. Employees of the state, school districts, and local governments are eligible for coverage. ...

(PERS). He also opposed construction on

U.S. Highway 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...

planned for an area south of

Tillamook Tillamook may refer to: Places: * Tillamook County, Oregon, United States * Tillamook, Oregon, a city, the seat of Tillamook County * Tillamook River, United States * Tillamook Bay, a bay in the northwestern part of Oregon * Tillamook Head, a natu ...

where the highway was planned to go across the

Nestucca River The Nestucca River flows for about through forests near the Pacific coast of northwest Oregon in the United States. It drains a timber-producing area of the Northern Oregon Coast Range west of Portland. Rising in the mountains of western Yamhi ...

, up the sandspit past Cape Kiwanda along the ocean front. He helped lead those opposed to the plan and was able to get the highway built closer to its previous location inland. Straub served two terms in the office, from 1965 to 1973, and lost a second bid against McCall in 1970.

Governor of Oregon

McCall was prohibited by the state constitution from seeking a third consecutive term in the 1974 election. Straub was finally able to win the state's top job that year, defeating then-State Senator Victor G. Atiyeh, winning the largest margin in an Oregon gubernatorial race since 1950. Straub's tenure as governor saw the state's energy and land use laws strengthened. He also worked to increase property tax relief and to provide utility rate relief for senior citizens. He appointed more women, minorities and disabled people to head state agencies than any previous Oregon governor. Other accomplishments included reducing the unemployment rate to 5% from 12% and working to end plans for the proposed

Mount Hood Freeway The Mount Hood Freeway is a partially constructed but never to be completed freeway alignment of U.S. Route 26 and Interstate 80N (now Interstate 84), which would have run through southeast Portland, Oregon. Related projects would have continu ...

. Straub was defeated in his re-election bid in 1978 in a rematch with Atiyeh.

Later years

Following his reelection defeat, Straub owned and operated farms in Salem,

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

, Curtin, and Willamina. In addition, he also operated a ranch in

Wheeler County Wheeler County is the name of several counties in the United States: * Wheeler County, Georgia * Wheeler County, Nebraska * Wheeler County, Oregon * Wheeler County, Texas Wheeler County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of t ...

. Straub considered running against

Bob Packwood Robert William Packwood (born September 11, 1932) is an American retired lawyer and politician from Oregon and a member of the Republican Party. He resigned from the United States Senate, under threat of expulsion, in 1995 after allegations of s ...

in 1986 for Packwood's U.S. Senate seat, but decided not to challenge the Republican. In 1987, Nestucca Spit State Park near Pacific City was renamed Bob Straub State Park in his honor, and a conference room at Lane County's government offices was named in his honor in 2001. In 1999, he announced that he was suffering from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. He died on November 27, 2002 of complications from the disease in the Gateway Living Center nursing home in Springfield, Oregon at the age of 82.

References

External links

Genealogy of Robert William Straub

Robert Straub - (1920-2002)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Straub, Robert W. 1920 births 2002 deaths Democratic Party governors of Oregon State treasurers of Oregon Democratic Party Oregon state senators United States Army personnel of World War II People from Springfield, Oregon Politicians from Eugene, Oregon Politicians from San Francisco Dartmouth College alumni Neurological disease deaths in Oregon Deaths from Alzheimer's disease 20th-century American politicians American environmentalists Businesspeople from Eugene, Oregon Businesspeople from San Francisco 20th-century American businesspeople