Mike Hayden

Another factor that Hayden acknowledged was that the family roots stretched deeply in the realm of politics as far as 1924 with his grandfather as mayor.

Hayden's experience in the legislature was focused on eventually becoming the Speaker of the House.

During his journey to becoming a speaker, he reluctantly accepted a position on the Ways and Means Committee.

Hayden had wanted to be a part of the Natural Resources Committee but knew that it was beneficial to have a deeper understanding of how government worked.

Several history-making events occurred during this period.

The Watergate Scandal occurred, which caused the only Democratic turnover in the state's history, and kept Hayden on the Ways and Means Committee.

Due to this, Hayden was a high-ranking member of the Republican party.

Secondly, Hayden became friends with a handful of crucial people: Wendell Lady, who soon became speaker, and Bill Bunten, who accepted the vice-chairman position of the Ways and Means Committee instead of the chairman position, so that Hayden could have the chairmanship.

After four years of chairing the Ways and Means committee, Michael Hayden was the "one person left standing" for the position of speaker.

The idea of running for governor was a distant and farfetched thought early on in Hayden's career as a speaker.

During his second term as speaker, Governor Carlin's term was coming to an end and the potential nominee was not up to par.

John Michael Hayden (born March 16, 1944) is a retired American politician and veteran who served as the 41st governor of Kansas, from 1987 to 1991.

He subsequently served as the Secretary of the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Department under Kansas governors Kathleen Sebelius and Mark Parkinson.

Michael Hayden, also known as Mike Hayden, was born in Colby, Kansas, on March 16, 1944.

He grew up in the small western Kansas town of Atwood, in Rawlins County.

He was raised by his father Irven Wesley Hayden, and mother Ruth Kelley Hayden.

Hayden's family ties to agriculture compelled him to pursue a degree in wildlife conservation; he received his bachelor's degree from Kansas State University in 1966

After graduation, he was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and was deployed to Vietnam in 1969 as a second lieutenant.

He returned home in May 1970, and attended Fort Hays State University where he received a master's degree in biology.

The incumbent, Milton Nitsch, focused a lot of his energy on the business world.

It was when Nitsch voted down each bill that focused on improving the environment that Hayden turned to his wife and exclaimed "I think I'll run [for legislature]".

On learning of his intent, opponent Nitsch was bemused and impartial towards the prospect of a "young kid" competing against him for his incumbent position.

Hayden was twenty-eight years old upon his entrance to the Legislative race, and to that point, there had not been a successful campaign that got a person under the age of fifty elected.

Hayden claimed that the primary was hard-fought, but in the end, Hayden won by a mere 250 votes.

Hayden credits a large portion of his success to the results of the previous election in 1970.

During that election, incumbent Nitsch barely scraped by.

Hayden served on the Legislature for the years 1972–1986.

The Republican Party contained seven potential candidates.

Hayden approached the primaries with, in his words, a "very simple strategy".

The plan he devised was to win the hearts of the ninety counties that contained less than ten thousand citizens.

The primary results concluded that Hayden had won eighty-nine of those counties.

In the documentary The Kansas Governor, journalist Lew Ferguson claimed that "People will vote for candidate A or B more than based on political party or issues. They vote on the person they are most comfortable with, like the best, and that projects a personality that is pleasing to them".

While the other candidates were competing for the urban votes, Hayden's team focused on "solidifying the rural votes".

In the general election, Hayden ran against personal friend Lieutenant Governor Thomas Docking.

Docking had had no opposition when it came to the primaries.

He spent no money on advertisements, made no effort to make a lot of appearances, and attempted to save his resources.

Hayden won the election.

On election, Hayden recalls in The Kansas Governor, "It's an overwhelming feeling … a humbling feeling. You've got to be yourself, that's your best tools. There is no one way, everyone brings their own personality and I brought a no-nonsense one".

Hayden focused on three issues during his first term as governor: The Highway Plan, Property Tax Appraisal, and his Tell the Governor sessions.

Kansas has the third-largest highway system in the US.