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<h3 align="center">Jennings Randolph: Aviation�s Centurion for Peace</h3>
<h4 align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">by<br>
Nicholas E. Hollis</span></h4>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2">Jennings Randolph�s love for
aviation, reflected in his impressive legislative record as one of the
industry�s early pioneers, began in his youth when he was nestled in
the encircling hills and dense, forested hollows of central West
Virginia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Privileged as a
child of the founding family of Salem in Harrison County, Randolph
nevertheless learned early the importance of transcending the rough
edges and isolation of the wilderness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>He often climbed the town�s water tower and tried to touch the
sky with a long pole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In
1912, he took a train with his father to Baltimore for the Democratic
National Convention and witnessed the nomination of Woodrow Wilson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>He later became fascinated with the potential of the airplane.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2">As a congressman (WV 2<sup>nd</sup>
District) in the 1930s-40s, Randolph was the foremost advocate among
public officials for programs to advance air travel and airport
development, key prongs in his efforts to build transportation links for
his constituents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>His
interest had an even more practical side because safer airports and
speedier planes translated into greater mobility for him to travel
between Washington and his district on a regular basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>He often flew more than once a day, and the airplane made it
possible for him to make �roll call vote� obligations as a
legislator on Capitol Hill, while meeting with his constituents in the
Mountain State (especially in the eastern panhandle).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2">In 1938, Randolph sponsored the Civil
Aeronautics Act (the �Magna Carta� of modern airlines).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>In subsequent years, he authored legislation leading to the
Federal Airport Act, creation of the Civil Air Patrol, the National Air
and Space Museum, and National Aviation Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>It was Randolph who led the fight for federal air-marking funds
(his amendment providing $100,000 became law), cross-wind landing gear,
experimental airmail pickup service, and other important aviation
measures. In addition, he was the founder and first president of the
Congressional Flying Club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He
also sponsored the act that placed aviation education, including
voluntary flight training, into the curriculum of high schools in the
District of Columbia.</font></p>
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<p style="text-indent: 0.0in" align="left"><font face="Times New Roman"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt">SYNFUELS
IN FLIGHT</span></i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt"> � Rep.
Jennings Randolph (left) stands with Major Arthur C. Hyde of the
Civil Air Patrol following a 175-mile flight from Morgantown, WV
to Washington National Airport.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>The single-engine Stinson was powered by gasoline derived
from coal (November 6, 1943).<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Randolph fought for renewable fuels and warned against
dependence </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt">on foreign
energy throughout his legislative career<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">.</b></span></font></p>
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<p><font face="Arial" size="2">With the storm clouds of World War II
building in the late 1930s, Randolph argued for an aeronautical navy
(aircraft carriers) against the mighty battleship lobby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>His was a lonely stand, proven tragically prescient on December
7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor � and later in 1942 during America�s
decisive victory at Midway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Like
some of his celebrated ancestors, Randolph believed in technology and
�fighting smart� once committed to battle, as an efficient way to
win with fewer casualties.</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">Randolph�s remarkable foresight is evidenced is a
speech he gave in 1939, elements of which are hauntingly applicable
today:</font></p>
<dl>
<dd>
<p style="margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: .6in; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 4 pt"><font face="Arial" size="1"><i>�</i>Ours
is not a war-like nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Our
tradition is a search for peace with our neighbors and for an
opportunity in our own way to work out our national destiny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Our nation was born of a spirit which offered the oppressed
of all the world a haven of refuge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Prejudices and hates of other lands were consumed here in the
great melting pot which has given us our distinctive character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Since 1789, this nation has endured as a monument to peace
and to democracy, and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>teeming
millions of our continent propose to maintain that monument<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>in the centuries to come.</font></dd>
<dd>
<p style="margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: .6in; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt"><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>�Our
first duty, therefore, is to assure that we shall always possess the
means to defend that monument.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>On the sands of Kitty Hawk a new means for that defense was
given birth, but so also was a new means for attacking our
ocean-lapped citadel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>So
with new<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>weapons of
defense we must combat new weapons of attack, the possibilities of
which are as yet quite unplumbed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>We cannot sit by and permit others to explore those
possibilities while our wings grow rusty and our propellers idle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>�We must be alert to take every advantage of the air, to
fill the heavens with pilots and with planes, to provide the
factories and the technicians which we need, to inform our people of
the myriad purposed which aeronautics may serve, to encourage them
to use and to enjoy the benefits of flight. <span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>And with an aeronautical industry thus assured, we may face
the future with confidence.<a href="#1/">/1</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes; font-size: 10.0pt">
</span></font></dd>
</dl>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2">Upon leaving the House of
Representatives in 1947, Randolph became public relations director and
assistant to the president at Capital Airlines (later purchased by
United Airlines).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In 1958,
Randolph was returned to Congress, this time to serve as a member of the
United States Senate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He
continued his work on behalf of aviation by sponsoring the
Airport-Airways Development Act that created the Airport Trust Fund and
was an active proponent in the expansion of the airport aid program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>As author of the Appalachian Regional Development Act, Randolph
made certain that special provisions for the development of rural
airports were included. Near his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">alma
mater,</i> Salem College (WV), Randolph convened an annual Festival of
Flight. Among the participants were luminaries who remembered his
pioneering efforts on behalf of aviation: Jimmy Doolittle, Hap Arnold,
John Glenn, Juan Trippe, C.R. Smith, and Curtis LeMay. Many others were
guest speakers.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2">In 1984, as chairman of the Agri-Energy Roundtable
(AER),
Randolph proposed the creation<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>of a �travel pool� whereby airlines provided delegates
from less developed countries with complimentary or discounted passage
to international conferences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In
the following year, the United Nations accredited AER as a
nongovernmental organization (NGO).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Randolph<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>had blended
his love for aviation with a practical way to further internationalize
the Roundtable, thereby rising above the petty politics and squabbling
of Washington � and resistance from traditional donors � to fashion
AER as unique forum on the world stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0"><font face="Arial" size="2">At the end of his international meetings, he often quoted from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Locksley
Hall,</i> written by<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Alfred,
Lord Tennyson, in 1842:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></p>
<dl>
<dd>
<p style="margin-left: 0.3in; margin-right: .3in" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="1">�For
I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see, <br>
Saw the Vision of
the world, and all the wonder that would be;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> <br>
</span>Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails, <br>
Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> <br>
</span>Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rain�d a
ghastly dew <br>
From the nations� airy navies grappling in the central
blue;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> <br>
</span>Far along the
worldwide whisper of the south-wind rushing warm, <br>
With the standards of
the peoples plunging thro� the thunder storm;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> <br>
</span>Till the war-drum throbb�d no longer, and the battle flags were
furl�d <br>
In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world.�<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></p>
</dd>
</dl>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2">As the centennial year marking Orville and Wilbur Wright�s
first flight at Kitty Hawk approaches (2003), it is timely to recall old
�Jenks� and his pioneering efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>For Jennings Randolph, aviation was about freedom, adventure, and
bringing people and cultures together in the quest<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>for peace and understanding.</font></p>
<hr>
<p><font face="Arial" size="1">Adapted
from remarks by Nicholas E. Hollis at National Air and Space Museum
(July 10, 2002).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Mr. Hollis
is director of the <a href="randolph.htm"> Jennings Randolph Recognition Project
(JRRP)</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></p>
</center>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="1">ADDITIONAL READINGS:</font></p>
<p align="left"><font size="1" face="Arial">Randolph, J. �Building Main Streets for America�s
Aviation,� <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Aviation </i>(January
1945).</font></p>
<p align="left"><font size="1" face="Arial">Ponte, J.
�Aviation�s Legislative Pioneer,� <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Airline
Pilot </i>(December 1978).</font></p>
<p align="left"><font size="1"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> <a name="1/">
</a></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><a name="1/">1/</a>
</span><font face="Arial">
�Aviation and American Welfare,� remarks by Rep. Jennings Randolph
(D-WV),<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>National Aviation
Forum (February 20, 1939), Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font></p>
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