The Making of the President: John Hickelooper
John Hickenlooper is another of the now 20 declared candidates who are seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for President. In the most recent polling data published by Real Clear Politics, he's in 12th place, with aggregate polling numbers of less than 1%. Hickenlooper is a businessman who served as the 42nd Governor of Colorado from 2011 to 2019.
His full name John Wright Hickenlooper Jr. and he was born in Narberth, Pennsylvania on February 7, 1952. His paternal great-grandfather Andrew Hickenlooper was a Union general, and his paternal grandfather, Smith Hickenlooper, was a United States federal judge. He attended Wesleyan University, where he received a B.A. in English in 1974, and a master's degree in geology in 1980. Hickenlooper worked as a geologist in Colorado for Buckhorn Petroleum, but was laid off in 1986 when Buckhorn was sold. He and five business partners opened the Wynkoop Brewing Company brewpub in October 1988, one of the first brewpubs in the United States. Hickenlooper sold his stake in the Wynkoop in 2007 to a group of managers and employees for an estimated $7 million.
Hickenlooper was elected as the 43rd mayor of Denver in 2003. TIME Magazine named him one of America’s five best big-city mayors in 2005 in an article that praised him for his non-partisan manner and for eliminating a $70 million budget deficit in his first term. In May 2007, Hickenlooper won re-election as mayor with 88% of the vote. He was supported by many of Denver's top Republican business leaders.
On January 11, 2011, Hickenlooper was sworn in as the 42nd governor of Colorado. He was the second Denver mayor ever elected to the position of Colorado Governor and was elected in a year in which Republicans won Governor's chairs formerly held by Democrats. He enjoyed a good record as Governor. During his tenure, the state went from 40th in job creation to 4th. His achievements include Medicaid expansion, infrastructure growth, reductions in state regulations and a balanced budget. He was considered to be a pro-business democrat and also a strong supporter of the oil and gas industry.
On August 25, 2017, it was reported that Republican Governor of Ohio John Kasich was considering the possibility of a 2020 unity ticket to run against Donald Trump with Kasich at the top and Hickenlooper as vice president. Constitutionally limited to two consecutive terms, Hickenlooper was ineligible to run for governor in 2018.
One of the issues of concern to Hickenlooper is homelessness. Since 2003, Hickenlooper has campaigned for increasing services to the homeless and as Denver Mayor, he announced a "10 Year Plan to End Homelessness" at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C. Cities across the country including Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and Atlanta made similar plans. Hickenlooper's Denver Commission on Homelessness included members from public agencies, non-profits, businesses, and the faith community.
In 2000, Colorado voters passed Initiative 20, which legalized marijuana for medical use. In 2006, Denver became one of the first major U.S. cities to legalize the medical use of and decriminalize possession (of less than one ounce) of cannabis by those over age 18. Hickenlooper opposed the cannabis rescheduling initiative, but acknowledged the shift in voter's attitudes. In 2012, Amendment 64 was added to the Colorado constitution allowing possession of up to one ounce of cannabis for those over 21 for recreational use. Though Hickenlooper had been publicly against this policy as well, he said he would enforce the will of the people. On January 23, 2015, he said that "This was a bad idea".
On March 20, 2013, Hickenlooper signed bills which created a limit of 15 rounds in magazines that could be bought, sold or transferred within the state. The legislation requires background checks for any firearm transfer within the state, and taxes firearm transfers to recover costs of the background checks. Hickenlooper is a member of the gun control group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Boston mayor Thomas Menino.
On May 22, 2013, Hickenlooper granted an indefinite stay of execution to Nathan Dunlap, who was facing execution for the 1993 murder of four employees at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant. The decision came after victims' families asked Hickenlooper to allow the execution of Dunlap to proceed as scheduled. He said: "It is a legitimate question whether we as a state should be taking lives." In Hickenlooper’s 2016 memoir, he stated his personal opposition to the death penalty, citing research showing bias against minorities and people with mental illnesses.
In 2011, Hickenlooper signed a bill which had passed through the Republican-held state house to create Colorado’s health care exchange. In 2013, Hickenlooper signed SB13-200 to expand Medicaid as a part of the Affordable Care Act. After these changes, Colorado’s insured rate rose to 93.5 percent. He is opposed to Medicare for All, citing research that more than 100 million Americans are satisfied with their current, employer-provided insurance plan, and said that it would "make no sense" to force them into a new program that costs trillions to implement."
In May 2014, Hickenlooper signed legislation to provide better disaster relief to Coloradans after record-setting floods and wildfires had ravaged the state and destroyed homes, schools, roads, and watersheds. The bills distributed $5 million in grants to remove flood debris from watersheds, earmarked construction funding for flood-damaged schools and budgeted $17 million in grants for repairs to damaged wastewater and drinking water systems. One of the bills called for the state to pay the property taxes of people who lost homes in Colorado floods or wildfires, which accounted for about 2500 destroyed or damaged homes.
As Governon, Hickenlooper’s administration created rules preventing 95% of volatile organic compounds and methane from leaking from hydraulic fracturing wells. After President Donald Trump announced that the United States would be leaving the Paris Climate Accord, Hickenlooper joined more than a dozen other states in sticking with the greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. Hickenlooper is a supporter of the oil and gas industry and unlike many Democrats, Hickenlooper supports hydraulic fracking. As a geologist he believes fracking is a beneficial practice with minimal environmental harm. He once drank a glass of fracking fluid produced by oilfield services giant Halliburton to demonstrate the safety of the process.Hickenlooper describes himself as “a fiscal conservative”.
On March 4, 2019, Hickenlooper announced his campaign to seek the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 2020. A video entitled "Stand Tall" was released to announce the campaign and outline his reasons for running. In making his announcement, he said ""I'm running for president because we're facing a crisis that threatens everything we stand for. As a skinny kid with coke bottle glasses and a funny last name, I've stood up to my fair share of bullies. I'm running for president because we need dreamers in Washington but we also need to get things done. I've proven again and again I can bring people together to produce the progressive change Washington has failed to deliver."
His full name John Wright Hickenlooper Jr. and he was born in Narberth, Pennsylvania on February 7, 1952. His paternal great-grandfather Andrew Hickenlooper was a Union general, and his paternal grandfather, Smith Hickenlooper, was a United States federal judge. He attended Wesleyan University, where he received a B.A. in English in 1974, and a master's degree in geology in 1980. Hickenlooper worked as a geologist in Colorado for Buckhorn Petroleum, but was laid off in 1986 when Buckhorn was sold. He and five business partners opened the Wynkoop Brewing Company brewpub in October 1988, one of the first brewpubs in the United States. Hickenlooper sold his stake in the Wynkoop in 2007 to a group of managers and employees for an estimated $7 million.
Hickenlooper was elected as the 43rd mayor of Denver in 2003. TIME Magazine named him one of America’s five best big-city mayors in 2005 in an article that praised him for his non-partisan manner and for eliminating a $70 million budget deficit in his first term. In May 2007, Hickenlooper won re-election as mayor with 88% of the vote. He was supported by many of Denver's top Republican business leaders.
On January 11, 2011, Hickenlooper was sworn in as the 42nd governor of Colorado. He was the second Denver mayor ever elected to the position of Colorado Governor and was elected in a year in which Republicans won Governor's chairs formerly held by Democrats. He enjoyed a good record as Governor. During his tenure, the state went from 40th in job creation to 4th. His achievements include Medicaid expansion, infrastructure growth, reductions in state regulations and a balanced budget. He was considered to be a pro-business democrat and also a strong supporter of the oil and gas industry.
On August 25, 2017, it was reported that Republican Governor of Ohio John Kasich was considering the possibility of a 2020 unity ticket to run against Donald Trump with Kasich at the top and Hickenlooper as vice president. Constitutionally limited to two consecutive terms, Hickenlooper was ineligible to run for governor in 2018.
One of the issues of concern to Hickenlooper is homelessness. Since 2003, Hickenlooper has campaigned for increasing services to the homeless and as Denver Mayor, he announced a "10 Year Plan to End Homelessness" at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C. Cities across the country including Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and Atlanta made similar plans. Hickenlooper's Denver Commission on Homelessness included members from public agencies, non-profits, businesses, and the faith community.
In 2000, Colorado voters passed Initiative 20, which legalized marijuana for medical use. In 2006, Denver became one of the first major U.S. cities to legalize the medical use of and decriminalize possession (of less than one ounce) of cannabis by those over age 18. Hickenlooper opposed the cannabis rescheduling initiative, but acknowledged the shift in voter's attitudes. In 2012, Amendment 64 was added to the Colorado constitution allowing possession of up to one ounce of cannabis for those over 21 for recreational use. Though Hickenlooper had been publicly against this policy as well, he said he would enforce the will of the people. On January 23, 2015, he said that "This was a bad idea".
On March 20, 2013, Hickenlooper signed bills which created a limit of 15 rounds in magazines that could be bought, sold or transferred within the state. The legislation requires background checks for any firearm transfer within the state, and taxes firearm transfers to recover costs of the background checks. Hickenlooper is a member of the gun control group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Boston mayor Thomas Menino.
On May 22, 2013, Hickenlooper granted an indefinite stay of execution to Nathan Dunlap, who was facing execution for the 1993 murder of four employees at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant. The decision came after victims' families asked Hickenlooper to allow the execution of Dunlap to proceed as scheduled. He said: "It is a legitimate question whether we as a state should be taking lives." In Hickenlooper’s 2016 memoir, he stated his personal opposition to the death penalty, citing research showing bias against minorities and people with mental illnesses.
In 2011, Hickenlooper signed a bill which had passed through the Republican-held state house to create Colorado’s health care exchange. In 2013, Hickenlooper signed SB13-200 to expand Medicaid as a part of the Affordable Care Act. After these changes, Colorado’s insured rate rose to 93.5 percent. He is opposed to Medicare for All, citing research that more than 100 million Americans are satisfied with their current, employer-provided insurance plan, and said that it would "make no sense" to force them into a new program that costs trillions to implement."
In May 2014, Hickenlooper signed legislation to provide better disaster relief to Coloradans after record-setting floods and wildfires had ravaged the state and destroyed homes, schools, roads, and watersheds. The bills distributed $5 million in grants to remove flood debris from watersheds, earmarked construction funding for flood-damaged schools and budgeted $17 million in grants for repairs to damaged wastewater and drinking water systems. One of the bills called for the state to pay the property taxes of people who lost homes in Colorado floods or wildfires, which accounted for about 2500 destroyed or damaged homes.
As Governon, Hickenlooper’s administration created rules preventing 95% of volatile organic compounds and methane from leaking from hydraulic fracturing wells. After President Donald Trump announced that the United States would be leaving the Paris Climate Accord, Hickenlooper joined more than a dozen other states in sticking with the greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. Hickenlooper is a supporter of the oil and gas industry and unlike many Democrats, Hickenlooper supports hydraulic fracking. As a geologist he believes fracking is a beneficial practice with minimal environmental harm. He once drank a glass of fracking fluid produced by oilfield services giant Halliburton to demonstrate the safety of the process.Hickenlooper describes himself as “a fiscal conservative”.
On March 4, 2019, Hickenlooper announced his campaign to seek the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 2020. A video entitled "Stand Tall" was released to announce the campaign and outline his reasons for running. In making his announcement, he said ""I'm running for president because we're facing a crisis that threatens everything we stand for. As a skinny kid with coke bottle glasses and a funny last name, I've stood up to my fair share of bullies. I'm running for president because we need dreamers in Washington but we also need to get things done. I've proven again and again I can bring people together to produce the progressive change Washington has failed to deliver."