Evan Mecham

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Evan Mecham
19th Governor of Arizona
In office January 6, 1987 – April 4, 1988
Preceded by	Bruce Babbitt
Succeeded by	Rose Perica Mofford
Born	12 May 1924 Duchesne, Utah
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Florence Lambert Mecham
Profession	Automotive dealer

Evan Mecham (IPA: [ˈmik.ɑm]; born May 12, 1924) was the 19^th Governor of Arizona. A decorated veteran of World War II, Mecham earned his living as an automotive dealership owner and occasional newspaper publisher. Periodic runs for political office earned him a reputation as a perennial candidate along with the nickname of "Harold Stassen of Arizona" before he became governor.^[1] As governor, Mecham was plagued by controversy and became the first U.S. governor to simultaneously face removal from office through impeachment, a scheduled recall election, and a felony indictment.^[2]

Mecham served one term as a state senator before beginning a string of unsuccessful runs for public office. His victory during the 1986 election began with a surprise win of his party's nomination followed by a split of the opposition party during the general election. While governor, Mecham became known for statements and actions that were widely perceived insensitive to minorities.^[3] Among these actions were the cancellation of the state's Martin Luther King Day, attributing high divorce rates to working women, and his defense of the word "pickaninny." In reaction to these events a boycott of Arizona was organized, damaging the state's tourism industry by the cancellation of multiple conventions. A rift between the governor and fellow Republicans in the Arizona Legislature developed after a series of questionable political appointments prompted accusations of cronyism against the governor.

Having served from January 6, 1987, to April 4, 1988, Mecham was removed from office following conviction in his impeachment trial of charges of the obstruction of justice and the misuse of government funds. A later criminal trial acquitted Mecham of related charges. Following his removal from office, Mecham remained active in politics for nearly a decade. During this time he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention and made his final runs for Governor and to the U.S. Senate.

Contents 1 Personal background and business career 2 Political career 3 Governorship 3.1 Martin Luther King Day 3.2 Relations with legislature 3.3 Other incidents 3.4 Economic impact 4 Efforts to remove him 4.1 Recall drive 4.2 Impeachment and criminal charges 5 After office 6 Notes 7 References 8 Further reading 8.1 Bibliography 9 External links

[edit] Personal background and business career

Evan Mecham was born to Mormon parents in Duchesne County, Utah and raised on his family's farm.^[3] The youngest of five boys, with one younger sister, he graduated as salutatorian from Altamont High School in 1942 and enrolled in Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) on an agricultural scholarship. Mecham left college and joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in January 1943. He was trained as a P-38 Lightning fighter pilot before being transferred to England, where he flew P-51 Mustangs. Mecham was shot down on March 7, 1945 while flying escort on a photo reconnaissance mission and was held as a prisoner of war for 22 days.^[4] Mecham returned to the United States after recovering from injuries sustained in the lead-up to his capture, and received an Air Medal and Purple Heart for his service.^[3] Mecham married Florence Lambert in May 1945 and was discharged in December of the same year.^[5] Together the couple raised seven children: Suzanne, Dennis, Christine, Eric, Teresa, Kyle, and Lance.^[6]

As a result of his Mormon upbringing, Mecham developed and maintained a strong religious faith. He taught Sunday school and served as a lay bishop in the LDS church from 1957 to 1961.^[5] Part of his faith was that God would guide his actions and provide him the strength needed to endure. These beliefs were in part demonstrated during his time as Governor when one staff member reported hearing a conversation in Mecham's office before entering the room to find the Governor alone. Another staff member, Donna Carlson, reported that Mecham believed he had obtained office by divine right and was thus not overly concerned about the feelings of others.^[7]

Mecham enrolled at Arizona State College (now Arizona State University) in 1947 and majored in management and economics. In 1950, He left school 16 credit hours short of a degree to start Mecham Pontiac and Rambler in Ajo.^[8] Mecham relocated to Glendale in 1954 where he acquired and operated a Pontiac dealership until March 1988 when the dealership was sold. During his time as a dealer he appeared regularly in local television commercials and adopted his trademark motto of "If you can't deal with Mecham, you just can't deal." The Glendale dealership also served as a base from which other family-owned business began, including Mecham Racing, Hauahaupan Mining Company, and several auto dealerships in other states.^[6]

In addition to his auto dealership, Mecham owned several short-lived newspapers. One of his papers, the Evening American, was printed as a Phoenix daily with maximum circulation of 27,000 before being changed into other forms such as a weekly journal printed in other parts of the state. In his role as a newspaper publisher trying to break into the Phoenix and Tucson markets, Mecham testified before the U.S. Senate Antitrust and Monopoly subcommittee on 13 July 1967. The testimony was in response to a bill sponsored by U.S. Senator Carl Hayden that provided a partial immunity to the Sherman Antitrust Act allowing an economically healthy newspaper and one that was economically failing to form a joint venture combining advertising, printing, and distribution operations while still maintaining separate reporting and editorial functions. While supporters of the bill claimed it would prevent newspaper failures, Mecham opposed the bill claiming "The major reason that this bill has been presented is because of the power of the press over the decisions of voters at the polls, and the desire of politicians to court the favor of those who control these monopolistic presses." He also added that "the tools of monopoly are in the common advertising and the common circulation department."^[9]

[edit] Political career

Mecham first sought elected office in 1952, while still living in Ajo, with an unsuccessful run for the Arizona House of Representatives. After moving to Glendale, Mecham used the recognition gained from his television appearances to be elected to the Arizona State Senate during the 1960 election.^[6] After one term as a state senator, Mecham made an attempt during the 1962 elections to capture the U.S. Senate seat held by Carl Hayden, running on a platform demanding the United States withdraw from the United Nations and critical of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling limiting school prayer.^[5] The campaign first saw Mecham win a victory over Stephen Shadegg, a former campaign manager for Barry Goldwater, when Goldwater remained neutral during the Republican primaries. Then during the general election Mecham received only tepid support from his party due to the value of Hayden's Senate seniority in passing legislation for the proposed Central Arizona Project.^[6] With the limited support, Mecham was defeated in the general election with just 45% of the vote.^[10]

Following his failed campaign against Hayden, Mecham made an unsuccessful run for state chairman of the Republican party in 1963 and unsuccessful runs for governor of Arizona in 1964, 1974, 1978, and 1982.^[11] Of these four runs, Mecham only gained his party's nomination during the 1978 election.^[12] During this time he developed a political doctrine supporting a Jeffersonian democracy and advocating elimination of income taxes, return of federal lands to state control, removing federal involvement in education, and putting welfare under state control.^[13] In 1982, Mecham wrote his first book, Come Back America, where he discusses his earlier life and political views.^[14]

During his fifth run for governor, Mecham ran as a political outsider using his standard platform advocating political reform and tax relief. The candidate's core support came from fellow members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) and the ultraconservative John Birch Society. A sizable portion of the state's retired population was added to this core support by Mecham's promises of tax cuts. Because of Arizona's substantial transient population—only about half of the registered voters in 1986 were living in the state in 1980—Mecham's record of previous attempts to gain elected office was not widely known by the voters.^[15] The day of the primary election also saw the lowest voter turnout in nearly forty years due to unusual rain, allowing Mecham to overcome a fifteen-point deficit in the polls to win the Republican nomination with 54% of the vote.^[16][17]

The general election of 1986 saw a three-way race for governor. The Democratic Party had selected the state Superintendent of Public Education, Carolyn Warner, as its candidate. Dissatisfaction among the state's business and political leadership with both candidates allowed for Bill Schultz, a real estate developer and Democrat who had withdrawn from the Democratic primary due to a family illness,^[18] to obtain enough petition signatures to run as an independent candidate. During the campaign, the Arizona Automobile Dealers Association's ethics committee placed Mecham's dealership on probation for being chronically tardy in responding to complaints.^[19] The split Democratic focus caused by Schultz's reentry allowed his campaign to survive.^[20] Mecham won the election with a 40% plurality while Warner and Schultz received 34% and 26% respectively.^[21]

[edit] Governorship

Mecham was inaugurated on January 6, 1987. Among his successes were the opening of a trade office in Taiwan that allowed for a US$63 million cotton export contract and the strengthening of the state's drug abuse prevention efforts through legislation that allowed for the governor to appoint pro tem judges to deal with drug-related issues. The governor also spearheaded an effort to raise the speed limit on rural highways from 55 mph (90 km/h) to 65 mph (105 km/h) and supported a legislative bill to help prevent the takeover of Arizona businesses. During Mecham's term of office, a US$157 million budget deficit was eliminated by reductions in state spending.^[22][23]

Despite these accomplishments, Mecham faced difficulties during much of his time in office. Because he had run as a political outsider, other Republicans only had party loyalty as a reason to follow the new governor's lead. This lack of strong loyalty made it easy for the governor's support to fall away when a series of political gaffes later damaged Mecham's popularity.

[edit] Martin Luther King Day

Evan Mecham gained national attention several days after inauguration by fulfilling his campaign promise to cancel a paid MLK Day holiday for state employees. The holiday had been created in May 1986 by executive order from the previous governor, Bruce Babbitt, after the state legislature had voted not to create the holiday. Following the creation of the holiday, the state Attorney General's office had issued an opinion that the paid holiday was illegal and threatened to sue the incoming governor over the cost of the paid holiday because it had not been approved by the legislature. Despite the issues of the legality of how the holiday was created, Mecham replied to comments from civil rights activists and the Black community after the cancellation by saying "King doesn't deserve a holiday." This was followed by him telling a group of leaders from the black community, "You folks don't need another holiday. What you folks need are jobs."^[24][25] Focus on the racial aspects of the cancellation by the press, ignoring the legality of the holiday or other possible justifications, were such that the New York Times reported the possibility of bias against Mecham in news reports concerning the cancellation.^[15]

In reaction to the cancellation, a protest march to the state capital was staged on 19 January 1987, the day the holiday would have occurred. Conventions that had been scheduled to occur in Arizona were canceled, and performer Stevie Wonder announced a boycott of the state. After several months of criticism, Mecham declared a non-paid holiday on the third Sunday in January. Reaction throughout the state to the non-paid holiday was generally poor.^[15]

[edit] Relations with legislature

Despite the fact that both houses of the state legislature were controlled by fellow Republicans, Mecham was on poor terms with state lawmakers during his time in office. An initial point of irritation for the lawmakers was that Mecham made multiple nominations that were considered low quality without prior consultation of legislative leaders. Among the nominations that caused concern was Alberto Rodriguez, the nominee for superintendent of the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control, who was under investigation for murder.^[26] Other questionable nominations included the nominee for director of the Department of Revenue whose company was in arrears by US$25,000 on employment compensation payments,^[18] the head of prison construction appointee who had served prison time for an armed robbery conviction,^[27] and a former Marine, nominated for a post as a state investigator, who had been court-martialled twice.^[23] Other political appointees who caused Mecham's administration embarrassment were an education adviser, James Cooper, who told a legislative committee "If a student wants to say the world is flat, the teacher doesn't have the right to prove otherwise"^[15][28], and Sam Steiger, the Governor's special assistant, who was forced to take leave after being charged with extortion.^[23]

Mecham's legislative initiatives suffered through his poor relations with the legislature. The governor's proposals to cut taxes were foiled when the legislature refused to cut the state's five per cent sales tax by one percentage point.^[22] Much of the opposition to this tax cut was due to the governor having no proposals on what programs were to be affected by the reduction in tax revenues at the time the legislation was introduced, thus preventing individual lawmakers from determining how their constituencies would be impacted by the change.^[29] When Mecham later proposed a US$2.3 billion budget plan which attempted to reduce spending by cutting education funding and freezing state employee salaries, it was increased by US$200 million by the legislature.^[22][28] Mecham further helped sour relations by vetoing a number of bills that had been passed by the legislature. After Senate Majority Leader Bob Usdane saw a bill he had sponsored vetoed, he stated "I'd say that the cooperation was not great...but it's his prerogative". House Majority Leader Jim Ratliff, who had previously been a strong Mecham supporter, responded to one of his bills being vetoed with "My only message to the governor is, if he thinks that people advising him to veto [my bill] can help him run the state of Arizona better than I can, then let them."^[30]

[edit] Other incidents

Besides the uproar caused by the MLK Day cancellation, Mecham committed other political faux pas. Claims of prejudice were leveled against Mecham after he defended the use of the word "pickaninny" to describe black children, cited high divorce rates as being caused by working women, claimed America is a Christian nation to a Jewish audience, and said a group of visiting Japanese businessmen got "round eyes" after being informed of the number of golf courses in Arizona. In response to claims that he was a racist, Mecham said, "I've got black friends. I employ black people. I don't employ them because they are black; I employ them because they are the best people who applied for the cotton-picking job."^[24] These and other statements only served to strengthen the allegations of racism made against the governor following the MLK day cancellation.

Mecham’s relationship with the press was included in his set of issues. Claiming that many of his problems were caused by media enemies he had made during previous runs for political office, the governor stated, "The Phoenix newspaper monopoly has had my political destruction as its goal for many years."^[22][31] The governor also claimed, "Every daily newspaper in the state endorsed a different candidate besides me. It's taking them a little time to get used to the idea that I was the people's choice."^[28] In response to perceived mistreatment by the press, Mecham attempted to ban a journalist from his press conferences. John Kolbe, a political columnist for the Phoenix Gazette and brother of Congressman Jim Kolbe, was declared a "non-person" after a 25 February 1987 column critical of Mecham's performance at the National Governors Association. The Governor then refused to acknowledge the presence of the columnist or answer his questions at a press conference. Mecham left the conference after other reporters repeated Kolbe's questions to the Governor.^[28] Another incident occurred during a televised event in which a reporter questioned the governor's integrity, prompted Mecham to reply, "Don't you ever ask me for a true statement again."^[24]

In September 1987, Mecham received further national attention when Doonesbury began a six strip series of comics lampooning the governor. The first strip depicted Mecham saying, "My! What a cute little pickaninny!" while patting the head of a black child. Other strips satirized Mecham's tolerance of others, political appointments, and the state's loss of tourism business. For a short time, Mecham considered suing the strip's creator, but later said he had decided to leave the dispute "where it belongs—the funny pages."^[15][22]

Throughout his administration, Mecham expressed concerns about possible eavesdropping on his private communications. A senior member of Mecham's staff broke his leg after falling through a false ceiling he had been crawling over, looking for covert listening devices. A private investigator was hired to sweep the governor's offices looking for these devices. The Governor was quoted as saying, "Whenever I'm in my house or my office, I always have a radio on. It keeps the lasers out." After this was reported, a political cartoon in the Arizona Republic depicted the governor leaving his house outfitted for laser tag. Attorney General Bob Corbin, when asked about this by reporters, replied in amusement, "We don't have any ray gun pointed at him."^[24]

[edit] Economic impact

Publicity over Mecham's faux pas led to the state experiencing adverse economic effects. The tourism industry suffered when groups and conventions transferred their meetings out of Arizona. The impact on the state economy was such that in November 1987 a Phoenix-area convention bureau claimed that Mecham's policies on Martin Luther King Day had caused the cancellation of 45 conventions worth over US$25 million.^[23] One of the cancellations was a National Basketball Association convention in Phoenix. In response to the cancellation, Mecham was quoted to say "Well, the N.B.A.. I guess they forget how many white people they get coming to watch them play."^[32]

Public perception of Mecham also slowed down economic development outside the tourism industry. Several corporations looking for locations to build new facilities, including U.S. West and SEMATECH, expressed concern that the governor's statements might indicate problems in the local business climate. As the executive director of the Phoenix Economic Growth Corp., Ioanna T. Morfessis, stated "When companies look at a state's environment they don't want anything that sounds to them like the state isn't working right." As the controversy surrounding the governor built even the business interests within the state abandoned support for the governor. As the chairman of the state chamber of commerce, William L. Raby, observed "We usually back Republicans, but he's a different kind of Republican."^[22]

[edit] Efforts to remove him

While criticism plagued Governor Mecham for the vast majority of his time in office, it was not until he had been in office for six months that his nominal allies began to break ranks with the governor. In July 1987, the same month the recall effort officially began, a group of thirteen rank-and-file Republican members of the state legislature met to discuss the governor's image problems. Eleven members of the group, dubbed the Dirty Dozen by the local press, issued a joint statement critical of many of the governors efforts.^[33] Calls for the governor's resignation followed several months afterwards, with U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater leading the way on 9 October 1987.^[15] As Mecham's problems continued to build other Arizona political leaders, including Congressman Jon Kyl and Senator John McCain, also made appeals for Mecham to step down, but the governor steadfastly refused to leave office.^[34]

[edit] Recall drive

The Mecham Watchdog Committee was organized in January 1987 and changed its name to the Mecham Recall Committee in May 1987. By Arizona law any recall effort had to wait until an official had been in office 180 days before they could circulate petitions. In addition, a number of signatures equal to 25% of votes cast during the official's last election were required to cause a recall election. On 6 July 1987, the first day that signatures could be collected, the recall committee began an effort to collect 350,000 petition signatures, a number significantly higher than the 216,746 signatures required. The recall committee was lead by Ed Buck, a registered Republican and gay businessman living in the Phoenix area. In response to the drive, Mecham claimed the recall supporters were "a band of homosexuals and dissident Democrats". Mecham supporters printed bumper stickers reading "Queer Ed Buck's Recall" after learning of the recall leader's sexual orientation. Mecham also mailed 25,000 letters during September to known conservatives nationwide requesting that they move to Arizona and support him in case a recall election were held.^[15][35]

The recall tended to gather signatures in bursts, with most signatures occurring shortly after some action of the governor that offended a segment of the state's voters. Anger toward the governor grew to the point that, on 15 August 1987, Mecham's appearance on the field of Sun Devil Stadium before an exhibition NFL game resulted in cries of "Recall! Recall!" combined with catcalls. By mid-September, a number of signatures in excess of the minimum required had been collected by recall workers at roadside locations despite the 115°F (46°C) afternoon heat of the Arizona summer.^[36][15] Signature collection continued for the full 120-day period allowed for by state law. On 2 November 1987, the recall committee turned in 32,401 petitions containing 388,988 signatures (more than the 343,913 votes Mecham had received during his election). After the Secretary of State's office received the petitions, Mecham refused to waive verification of the signatures, forcing the petitions to be sent to the counties for verification. On 26 January 1988, Secretary of State Rose Perica Mofford reported to Mecham that 301,032 signatures had been verified—a quantity sufficient to force a recall election.^[37] A recall election was scheduled for 17 May 1988 and former Republican Congressman John Rhodes agreed to run against Mecham.^[38]

[edit] Impeachment and criminal charges

On October 21, 1987 the Arizona Republic ran a story claiming that Mecham had failed to report a US$350,000 loan from local real-estate developer Barry Wolfson to Mecham's election campaign as required by campaign financing laws.^[39] These claims were added to a grand jury investigation into allegations that Mecham had loaned US$80,000 in public funds to help his auto dealership that had been instigated earlier that month by the Attorney General of Arizona.^[40] Upon learning of the alleged Wolfson loan, the Speaker of Arizona's House of Representatives hired a special counsel to investigate the charges.^[41] The basis for the third and final impeachment charge was alleged to have occurred in November 1987; it involved a death threat to a government official by Horace Lee Watkins, a Mecham appointee. When Mecham was informed of the threat, it was reported that he then instructed the head of the Arizona Department of Public Safety not to provide information on the incident to the Attorney General's investigation.^[42]

On January 8, 1988, the grand jury issued indictments against Evan Mecham and Willard Mecham, the Governor's brother and campaign finance manager, charging three counts of perjury, two counts of fraud, and one count of failing to report a campaign contribution. Mecham and his brother faced 22 years of prison if convicted on all charges.^[43][44]

The special counsel appointed by the Speaker of the House delivered his report to the House on January 15, 1988.^[43] Based on this report, the House began hearings into possible impeachment proceedings on January 19, 1988.^[40] The proceedings resulted in the passing of House Resolution 2002 on February 8, 1988 by a vote of 46 to 14.^[45] Upon Mecham's impeachment by the House, his powers as governor were suspended and Secretary of State Mofford, as first in the order of succession, became acting governor.^[45]

The Arizona State Senate convened as a court of impeachment on February 29, 1988.^[46] The charges against Mecham in the impeachment trial were obstruction of justice, filing a false statement, and misuse of government funds. The false filings charge was dropped by the Senate on a vote of 16 to 12.^[47] On 4 April 1988, the Senate convicted Mecham for obstruction of justice by a vote of 21 to 9, and for misusing government funds by a vote of 26 to 4. The senate then voted 17 to 12 to disqualify Mecham from holding state office again, but this was short of the two-thirds majority required for passage.^[48] Upon conviction, Mecham was removed from office and Rose Mofford became Governor of Arizona. The recall election was canceled by the Arizona Supreme Court in a 4 to 1 ruling that the constitutionally mandated order of succession took precedence over the state's recall provisions.^[49]

Mecham's criminal trial started on 2 June 1988, and he was acquitted on all six felony charges on 10 June 1988.^[50]

[edit] After office

Following his removal from office and the acquittal in his criminal trial, Mecham remained active in politics for several years. Mecham served as an at-large delegate to the 1988 Republican National Convention^[51] and in 1990 he made an unsuccessful attempt to retake the Governor's office. In 1992, he made a run for the U.S. Senate as an independent against incumbent John McCain, receiving 145,361 votes (about 10%). In 1995 Mecham became chairman of the Constitutionalist Networking Center, a group attempting to create a grassroots organization called the Constitutionally Unified Republic for Everybody (CURE). CURE's purpose was then to advocate political candidates supporting a strict interpretation of the United States Constitution.^[13] Mecham also spent several years attempting to start a new newspaper, but was unable to secure sufficient financial backing for the attempts to succeed.^[52] In 1999, Mecham wrote his third book, Wrongful Impeachment. Health issues, first reported in 2004, have forced Mecham's withdrawal from the public arena.^[53]

The canceled Martin Luther King Day served as a point of controversy for years following Mecham's removal from office. In 1989, an Arizona law that would have made a MLK holiday by canceling the state's Columbus Day holiday was challenged by two different groups, one opposed to the King holiday due to King's alleged communist ties and the other composed of Italian-Americans opposed to the removal of the Columbus Day holiday, and the new holiday was forced to undergo voter approval.^[54] Neither of the two competing ballot initiatives during the 1990 election — one to remove the Columbus Day holiday to make way for a new MLK day holiday, the other to add an extra paid holiday — managed to obtain a required majority even though 65% of voters supported at least one form of the holiday. In response to the voters' rejection of a King holiday, Arizona tourist officials estimated that concert and convention business worth US$190 million to the state economy were canceled and Super Bowl XXVII, worth an estimated US$150 million to the state, was moved to Pasadena, California. Another ballot initiative in 1992 succeeded in creation of a statewide MLK day holiday.^[55]

Arizona's election laws were additionally affected by Mecham's legacy. In 1988, Arizona voters passed an initiative that amended the state constitution to require a runoff election in cases where no candidate received a majority of the votes during a general election.^[56] The runoff requirement came into play during the 1990 election of Fife Symington,^[57] and the amendment requiring the runoff was later repealed by the voters in 1992.^[58]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Jennings, Marianne M. (1989). “Evan Mecham”, In Myers, John L. (ed.): The Arizona governors, 1912-1990. Phoenix: Heritage Publishers, (pg 168-174). ISBN 0-929690-05-2.
• Johnson, James W. (2002). Arizona Politicians: The Noble and the Notorious, illustrations by David `Fitz' Fitzsimmons, University of Arizona Press. ISBN 0-8165-2204-0.
• Watkins, Ronald J. (1990). High Crimes and Misdemeanors : The Term and Trials of Former Governor Evan Mecham. New York: William Morrow & Co. ISBN 0-688-09051-6.

[edit] Further reading

• (14 September 1987) "‘Doonesbury’ in Arizona". Newsweek 110: 41.
• “Arizona rejects 'Marx Brothers' rule”, The Times, October 22, 1987.
• Peter Goudinoff & Sheila Tobias (26 October 1987). "Arizona Airhead". The New Republic 197: 15–16.
• James N. Baker, Randy Collier (14 March 1988). "Evan Mecham's Phoenix Follies". Newsweek 111: 23.
• Alleen Pace Nilsen (May 1988). "What did Evan Mecham ask the Pope? - the jokes that impeached a governor". Washington Monthly 20: 21.
• Keneth V. Smith (May 1989). "The resurrection of Evan Mecham". National Review 41: 42-43.
• Kiser, Jim. "Mecham lesson: Beware of overconfident politicians", Arizona Daily Star, 24 October 2004.
• Garcia, Joseph. "Let me tell you why I've always been fond of Evan Mecham", Tucson Citizen, 25 October 2004.

[edit] Bibliography

• Evan Mecham (1982). Come Back America. M P Press.
• Evan Mecham (1988). Impeachment: The Arizona Conspiracy. M P Press.
• Evan Mecham (1999). Wrongful Impeachment. Prime News Press. ISBN 1-929360-00-2.

[edit] External links

• Evan Mecham at the Notable Names Database
• Governor Evan Mecham from Arizona History Reference Guides
• The Hayden Versus Mecham US Senate Campaign of 1962 from Arizona Historical Foundation
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday from Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records.

Preceded by: Bruce Babbitt

Governor of Arizona 1987–1988

Succeeded by: Rose Perica Mofford

Governors of Arizona
Hunt • Campbell • Hunt • Campbell • Hunt • Phillips • Hunt • Moeur • Stanford • Jones • Osborn • Garvey • Pyle • McFarland • Fannin • Goddard • Williams • Castro • Bolin • Babbitt • Mecham • Mofford • Symington • Hull • Napolitano

Persondata
NAME	Evan Mecham
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	19th Governor of Arizona
DATE OF BIRTH	12 May 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH	Duchesne, Utah
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH