George Harvey Hancock (January 2, 1900 – January 8, 1996), known as Harvey Hancock, was an

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

executive and a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

who served as the Northern California

campaign manager {{Political campaigning A campaign manager, campaign chairman, or campaign director is a paid or volunteer individual whose role is to coordinate a political campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote ( ...

for

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

's successful 1950

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

race and then the 1952

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

won by

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

and Nixon.''Los Angeles Times'', January 12, 1996. Obituaries
"Harvey Hancock; Nixon Campaign Manager"
Retrieved on July 15, 2009.

Life and career

Hancock was born in Mendon,

Cache County, Utah Cache County ( ) is a county located in the Wasatch Front region of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 133,154. Its county seat and largest city is Logan. Cache County is included in Logan metropolitan area. History ...

on January 2, 1900, to Joseph William Hancock and Agnes Richards. Hancock enlisted in the infantry in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1925, he graduated from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, where he had been a member of the fraternity

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...

, editor of the ''Utah Humbug'' (a small campus publication), and the varsity

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

captain. Hancock worked as a newspaper reporter in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, and then as editor, for ''

The Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History ...

''. After ten years of news, Hancock changed careers from journalism to the airline industry by taking a management position with

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

and

Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

. In his promotional role with the Pan American, Hancock became acquainted with influential people all over

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He attracted attention from

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

stalwarts and was asked in 1949 to help manage Nixon's senatorial campaign, and came on board as "the pro" behind John Walton Dinkelspiel.Earl Warren Oral History Project. 1975
Amelia Fry interviews John Dinkelspiel, Frank Jorgensen and Roy Day.
Retrieved on July 15, 2009. Hancock and Dinkelspiel ran the northern half of

, while Bernard Brennan and

Murray Chotiner Murray M Chotiner (October 4, 1909 – January 30, 1974) was an American political strategist, attorney, government official, and close associate and friend of President Richard Nixon during much of the 37th President's political career. He ...

covered the south. Hancock estimated that his half of the campaign would cost $34,050, but it ended some $10,000 beyond that. Hancock set up Nixon-for-Senator committees in counties and large cities. Hancock helped Nixon get large campaign contributions from influential people such as George Toland Cameron, publisher of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'', and escorted Nixon to some of his public appearances. Hancock arranged for radio spots, billboard coverage and newspaper articles, in concert with Chotiner's efforts, but with a degree of independence. When Chotiner produced the infamous "pink sheet", which implied that

Helen Gahagan Douglas Helen Gahagan Douglas (born Helen Mary Gahagan; November 25, 1900 – June 28, 1980) was an American actress and politician. Her career included success on Broadway, as a touring opera singer, and in Hollywood films. Her portrayal of the villain ...

had

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

sympathies, Hancock refused to distribute it in

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

.Fry, Dinkelspiel interview, p. 534.
Retrieved on July 23, 2009. Nixon won the race in 1950, and Hancock was picked to manage the 1952 presidential campaign for Eisenhower and Nixon, covering the same territory. Eisenhower and Nixon won the race. In the 1970s, Hancock lived in

Carmel-by-the-Sea Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and ric ...

. Hancock died on January 8, 1996, in

Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock, Harvey 1900 births 1996 deaths People from Mendon, Utah Businesspeople from Salt Lake City People from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California American male journalists American business executives American campaign managers University of Utah alumni United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of World War I California Republicans Utah Republicans 20th-century American non-fiction writers Journalists from California 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American journalists