Harold Hughes; Former Iowa Governor, U.S. Senator

Harold Hughes, 74, a truck driver who beat alcoholism to become a three-term governor of Iowa and a U.S. senator. A Democrat in a traditionally Republican state, Hughes retired from the Senate in 1974 after a single term. He devoted himself to lay religious work and opened the Harold Hughes Center for alcoholism treatment. Hughes fought in North Africa during World War II, and afterward became a truck driver who struggled with alcohol. He overcame the disease and was elected to the Iowa Commerce Commission in 1958. In 1962, Hughes became governor and was reelected twice before moving to the U.S. Senate. There, he was responsible for landmark legislation involving alcoholism and drug abuse, including the Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Act of 1970. Hughes found himself in the news this year when he was ordered to pay $14,850 in back child support to his former wife, Eva. The couple divorced in 1987, and Hughes married his former secretary, Julie Holm. On Thursday in Glendale, Ariz.