booth gardner - Washington Secretary of State

Introduction
If you go to see Booth Gardner, never arrive
empty handed. You must stop by Frisko Freeze, a
classic 1950’s drive-in just a few blocks from his
condo in Tacoma. You order him a Doubleburger and
a medium Coke, hold the cheese, lots of mustard
– $5.25 worth of gourmet fast food. If it’s a drizzly
day, noontime customers huddle under the eaves as
they wait, savoring the aromas wafting from inside:
Patties sizzling on an old short-order grill, french
fries burbling in their baskets, mustard and relish
being slathered on buns. One day in the winter of
2009, a writer on an important errand encountered
a burly young man in a Seattle Mariners jacket. They
struck up a conversation about baseball and burgers:
“You know who really likes Frisko Freeze?” the young man said.
“No. Who?”
“The governor.”
“Chris Gregoire?”
“No! Booth Gardner.”
It’s been 17 years since he was Washington’s governor, but everyone still knows his
name. In 1983, however, when he decided to challenge a sitting
governor, he was little known outside Pierce County where he
grew up. His brain trust put “Booth Who?” on a button and it
became the catchiest campaign slogan in state history. He was
handily elected twice and could have had a third term – maybe
more – or a seat in the U.S. Senate. In terms of sheer popularity,
his only rival to date is the late Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson, who
served in Congress for 42 years. From his first campaign, an upset
victory for the State Senate in 1970, to his last, a 2008 landslide that saw Washington
become the second state in the nation to allow “Death With Dignity,” Booth Gardner has
been a relentlessly analyzed collection of contradictions.
Actually, it all began much earlier. Exceptionally bright, Booth was also puckishly
charming and an excellent athlete. He quickly became a big man on campus when he
enrolled at the University of Washington in 1954. Curiously, he didn’t quite fit at the frat
house and soon moved in with his aunt and uncle. His beloved Aunt Lou promptly sent him
to the Parks Department for a part-time job because he was underfoot. First assigned to
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