Fred Harris was 33 years old when countless people dismissed him as a has-been.
It was 1964. Harris, a Democratic state senator in Oklahoma, wanted the job coveted by his state’s biggest celebrity. Harris ran for an open U.S. Senate seat against Republican Bud Wilkinson, the man credited with crushing Oklahoma’s Grapes of Wrath image.
Wilkinson had coached the football team at the University of Oklahoma to three national championships. From 1953-57, Wilkinson’s Sooners won 47 consecutive games, still the record for Division I schools.
After excelling against ferocious competition in football, Wilkinson couldn’t imagine losing to Harris. And so Wilkinson did what he lectured his players never to do: He underestimated an opponent.
Harris, a transplanted New Mexican, died last week at 94. The election of ’64 might have been his favorite chapter in a rich, full life.
Harris defeated two former governors in the Democratic primary election for the right to run against Wilkinson. Doubters figured Harris wanted too much too soon. They didn’t see how he could outpoint a legend in the general election.
Fans of Harris knew he had a chance. He was well-prepared, a Phi Beta Kappa scholar who had served in the state Senate since he was 25. But Wilkinson started with an obvious advantage.
Because the coach had brought so much positive attention to Oklahoma, even people who did not care about football were intrigued by him. Telegenic and a polished public speaker, Wilkinson seemed like the ideal candidate. He was not.
“Wilkinson was a strong right-winger, almost a Bircher,†Harris told me in one of our many interviews. “He started giving speeches about why Rome fell, and he said it was because people got hooked on welfare.
“I said I’d done my own research and found that Rome fell because people got too carried away with sports and gladiators in arenas. It was kind of bad history, but no worse than Wilkinson’s.â€
Being on the right side of history became pivotal in their Senate race. Debate was underway on landmark civil rights legislation favored by Democratic President Lyndon Johnson.
Never had Wilkinson fumbled as he did on this issue.
He had seemed enlightened on matters of race during his coaching career. Wilkinson desegregated his Oklahoma team in 1956 by recruiting Prentice Gautt, a Black running back.
Welcoming a Black kid to a football program was, by some standards, a bold step. Coaches at collegiate powerhouses Texas and Alabama stalled until the early 1970s before they signed any Black talent.
As if spiting his own record, Wilkinson invited South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond to campaign for him in the section of Oklahoma known as Little Dixie.
“He brought in the strongest racist in the Senate when the polls showed we were splitting the Black vote 50-50,†Harris said. “By the end, I was getting nine of every 10 of those votes.â€
Harris knew the presidential election was another key to victory in his race. He announced his support for Johnson, and he urged Wilkinson to disclose his own choice for president.
The coach’s natural instinct was to accept any challenge. His strategists didn’t want Wilkinson talking about who should be president. Wilkinson nonetheless committed himself to Republican Barry Goldwater, who was sinking in the polls.
Harris spoke with authority on every issue from taxes to voting rights. This also set him apart from Wilkinson, whose world had been Oklahoma football from 1947 to 1963.
“His understanding of government was really rather shallow,†Harris said.
Election Day brought a landslide and a lesson. Johnson thrashed Goldwater in Oklahoma by 107,000 votes. Harris sweated out a closer race, defeating Wilkinson by 21,000 votes.
Harris’ talents soon became apparent to party elders. He was one of the final two people Democratic presidential nominee Hubert Humphrey considered to be his running mate in 1968. The other was Sen. Edmund Muskie of Maine.
Humphrey evaluated both men, shuttling between their rooms in the same Chicago hotel. Just 37, Harris in this competition found his age was a disadvantage.
“Fred, I’m going to have to go with the older man,†Humphrey said.
“If he’s your choice, I’ll nominate him,†Harris replied. And he did, telling conventioneers Muskie was a strong addition to the ticket.
Harris spent eight years in the U.S. Senate, became national chairman of the Democratic Party and twice ran unsuccessfully for president in the 1970s.
Finished as a candidate, he moved to New Mexico. Harris taught political science at the University of New Mexico, wrote books and for a time led the state Democratic Party.
His students remember Harris as a superb storyteller. Candidates who sought his counsel learned Harris took nothing for granted and neither should they.
As for Wilkinson, he made a Dust Bowl state proud by winning more than 80% of his games at Oklahoma. But he was never in Harris’ league.
Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.
