Nick Begich

Nick Begich
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alaska's At-large district
In office January 3, 1971 – October 16, 1972
Preceded by	Howard Pollock
Succeeded by	Don Young
Member of the Alaska State Senate
In office 1962–1970
Personal details
Born	Nicholas Joseph Begich[1][2] April 6, 1932 Eveleth, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	October 16, 1972 (aged 40) Alaska
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Pegge Begich
Children	Mark, Nichelle, Stephanie, Tom, Paul, and Nick
Alma mater	St. Cloud State University, University of Minnesota, University of Colorado, University of North Dakota

Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Begich, Sr. (April 6, 1932 – October 16, 1972) was a Democratic Party member of the US House of Representatives from Alaska. He is presumed to have died in the crash of a light aircraft in Alaska in 1972; his body was never found.

Early life and education

Begich was born and raised in Eveleth, Minnesota. His father, John Begich (né Begić), was born in Podlapača, Udbina, Croatia,^[3] and his mother, Anna (née Martinich), was also of Croatian descent.^[4] He attended Saint Cloud State University (Bachelor of Arts, 1952) and the University of Minnesota (Master of Arts, 1954) before he pursued his doctorate at the University of Colorado and at the University of North Dakota.

Early career

Begich worked as a guidance counselor in the schools of Anchorage, and he was later Director of Student Personnel for the Anchorage school system before becoming Superintendent of Schools at Fort Richardson.^[5][6] In 1962, Begich was elected to the Alaska Senate, where he served for eight years. Begich also taught political science during parts of this period at the University of Alaska at Anchorage.^[7]

Political career

In 1968, Begich ran for Alaska's only House seat and lost to the incumbent Representative, Republican Howard Pollock.^[8]

In 1970, Begich ran again for the seat and was now successful by defeating the Republican banker Frank Murkowski, who later served as a senator and then as Governor of Alaska. In 1972 for his re-election, Begich was opposed by Republican state senator Don Young.

Posthumously, Begich won the 1972 election, with 56% to Don Young's 44%. However, after Begich was declared dead, a special election was held. Young won the seat and is still in the position, as of 2016.

Disappearance

Begich's memorial at the Congressional Cemetery.

On October 16, 1972, he was one of four men on board a twin engine Cessna 310 along with House Majority Leader Hale Boggs, of Louisiana, when the airplane disappeared during a flight from Anchorage to Juneau. Also on board were Begich's aide, Russell Brown, and the pilot, Don Jonz.^[9] The four were heading to a campaign fundraiser for Begich.

In an enormous search effort, search and rescue aircraft of the United States Coast Guard, United States Navy, and United States Air Force were deployed to look for the four men and the missing Cessna 310. On November 24, 1972, after proceeding for 39 days, the air search was called off. Neither the airplane nor any of its four occupants were ever found. All were declared dead on December 29, 1972. The accident prompted Congress to pass a law mandating emergency locator transmitters (ELTs) in all United States civil aircraft.^[10]

In November 2015, a Seattle Weekly story detailed the work of journalist of Jonathan Walczak, who since 2012 has investigated the plane crash and subsequent events in an effort to determine the fate of the flight that carried Begich and Boggs.^[11]

Electoral history

Alaska's At-large congressional district: Results 1968–1972^[12]

Year		Republican	Votes	Pct		Democrat	Votes	Pct
1968		Howard W. Pollock (inc.)	43,577	54.2%		N. J. Begich	36,785	45.8%
1970		Frank H. Murkowski	35,947	44.9%		N. J. Begich	44,137	55.1%
1972		Don Young	41,750	43.8%		N. J. Begich (inc.)	53,651	56.2%

Personal life

Nick Begich had six children, named Mark, Nichelle, Tom, Stephanie, Paul, and Nick Jr.

His son Mark Begich a member of the Anchorage Borough Assembly, then became Mayor, and was narrowly elected as the junior U.S. Senator from Alaska. The incumbent, Ted Stevens, had been convicted of seven felonies, eight days before the 2008 election, after being caught up in the Alaska political corruption probe. Stevens had been the Republican Party's longest-serving U.S. senator. He too was killed in a small plane crash nearly two years later, though not before the criminal convictions had been overturned. Mark Begich narrowly lost his Senate re-election bid in 2014.

His son Tom won the Democratic primary nomination for a seat on the Alaska state senate, in 2016, and faced no opposition in the general election.

Nick's brother Joseph Begich served 18 years in the Minnesota House of Representatives from their hometown of Eveleth.^[13]

Nick Begich's widow, Pegge Begich, ran for the House of Representatives seat in 1984 and 1986, but she was defeated by the incumbent, Don Young. She later retired and lived in Nevada.^[14]

References

1. Thomas Merton, Thomas Merton in Alaska: Prelude to the Asian Journal; the Conferences, Journals and Letters, 1988, page 64
2. Northwest Digital Archives, Guide to the Nick Begich Papers, 1960-1973: Biographical Note, retrieved June 2, 2014
3. Begich, Tom. (2006-04-30). "Tom Begich: Politics first – Part of growing up in a political family with a man who was a workaholic was I didn't know my father." at the Wayback Machine (archived January 30, 2008) Interviewed by Judy Ferguson. Anchorage Daily News; retrieved on 2007-04-04.
   Tom Begich says of his father, "Until I was nearly 12, I grew up with a man who was a legend, the son of Croatian immigrants, but who disappeared Oct. 16, 1972, into the clouds."
4. Begich family profile, freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com; accessed January 3, 2016.
5. U.S. Government Printing Office, [U.S. Government Printing Office Memorial Services Held in the House of Representatives and Senate of the United States: Together with Tributes Presented in Eulogy of Nick Begich, Late a Representative from Alaska], 1973, page 52
6. National Water Resources Association, Water Life magazine, Volume 35, 1976, page 38
7. Stephen M. Brent, Research Institute of Alaska, Inc., The Alaska Survey and Report, 1970-1971, Volume 2, 1970, page 245
8. Dunham, Mike (January 11, 2011). "Howard Pollock, Alaska's 2nd congressman, dies in California". Alaska Dispatch News. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
9. "Hale Boggs — Missing in Alaska". Famous Missing Aircraft. Check-Six. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
10. Washington State Department of Transportation, Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs), Source: October 2000 Civil Air Patrol News, retrieved June 2, 2014
11. Anderson, Rick (November 3, 2015). "In 1972, Two U.S Representatives Boarded a Plane and Disappeared. What Happened?". Seattle Weekly. Seattle, WA.
12. "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Archived from the original on 2007-12-26. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
13. Minnesota State Legislature, Biography, Joseph R. Begich, retrieved June 2, 2014
14. Anderson, Rick (November 3, 2015). "In 1972, Two U.S Representatives Boarded a Plane and Disappeared. What Happened?". Seattle Weekly. Seattle, WA.

External links

• United States Congress. "Nick Begich (id: B000315)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Nicholas Begich at 100 Years of Alaska's Legislature