Entering the dining room of the University Club in Washington, D.C., one evening in November 2019, former Senator Don Riegle (D-Mich.) spotted the author’s wife and the author as they dined with two other couples.
“I just came back from Bay City after Bob Traxler’s funeral,” Riegle said, recalling that the author’s wife had served as a state legislator in the town and former Democratic Representative J. Bob Traxler had preceded her in office. “I’m sure you’ve sent your condolences.”
The former senator introduced himself to the group. To Greek journalist Katerina Sokou, he remarked: “An honor to meet you. You grace us with your beauty.” He then shook hands with her husband Peter Sokou and told him: “You should be proud of Katerina.”
Turning to Michael Smith, former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, Riegle stated: “You have served our country so well.” To Michael’s wife, Deborah Wince Smith—a veteran of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan’s administrations—he added: “And you also have a distinguished career of service.”
As Riegle moved on, Katerina Sokou whispered: “He may be out of office, but he’s never stopped campaigning!”
The news that Riegle died at age 88 evoked this six-year-old encounter with the campaigner par excellence.
In the Flint-based 7th District he represented in the House, it was said that “Don will go to the opening of an envelope.” He was ubiquitous, perpetually active, and possessed a keen sense of what worked with voters.
His political odyssey featured a highly personal scandal on par with those later faced by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.
An instructor in business administration at Michigan State University and other colleges, Riegle left his doctoral studies at Harvard Business School in 1966 to return home and seek the Republican nomination against Democrat Representative John Mackie.
Mackie, a state highway commissioner elected for re-election, seemed certain to win. But he underestimated the hard-charging Riegle, who attended Lions and Kiwanis luncheons, attracted legions of young volunteers, and ran as a liberal Republican supporting civil rights while opposing the Vietnam War.
Riegle upset Mackie to become the youngest Member of Congress—a rising star.
Richard Nixon campaigned for Riegle in 1966, and two years later, the young congressman backed him for president.
However, Riegle grew apart from his president and party over Vietnam. In 1973, he switched parties—becoming the last Member of Congress to change from Republican to Democrat and win reelection.
Three years after that, relatively new Democratic Representative Riegle defeated two strong opponents to become his party’s nominee for Senate, succeeding retiring Democrat Senator Philip Hart.
The Republican nominee was Representative Marvin Esch, a moderate whose Ann Arbor district included the University of Michigan and many auto workers and their families.
Throughout much of the fall campaign, Riegle held a comfortable lead. But a barrage of hard-hitting television commercials from Esch helped close the gap.
The New York Times noted in October that Esch narrowed the poll deficit from 19 points to just 7 points behind by early October.
The ads accused Riegle of writing no laws during his decade in Congress, voting for school busing 18 times, and supporting easier parole for criminals.
On the last Sunday in October, The Detroit News published a story citing covert tape recordings that revealed Riegle had apparently had an affair with an unpaid staffer identified by the pseudonym “Dorothy.”
According to The Detroit News, the recordings were from 1969—during a period when Riegle’s marriage to his first wife was breaking up.
Among the things Riegle told “Dorothy” was that he aspired one day to be president of the United States and later president of a university—according to The Detroit News.
Smelling political blood, Republicans launched an attack. Former Michigan Governor George Romney called Riegle “unstable” and someone “who can’t get along with his own wife.” Many in the GOP felt this was enough to secure victory for Esch.
Yet Riegle, the campaigner par excellence, knew how to handle the scandal. He freely admitted the relationship, calling it “a foolish mistake that has been a source of great regret to me.” Supporters noted the woman was not on his payroll at the time of their liaison.
Foreshadowing former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump when they faced similar charges, Riegle responded strongly. He denounced what he called “personal attacks, malicious distortion, innuendo, and outright slander.”
He branded The Detroit News as Esch’s “willing accomplice” because the newspaper had endorsed the GOP nominee. A week after the story, Riegle launched a prime-time television special focused on the scandal.
Days before the election, Democratic leaders reported rising contributions and volunteers to get out the vote. Many voters expressed anger at The Detroit News—and by extension Esch—for dredging up a seven-year-old affair.
As Republican candidate Gerald Ford carried Michigan’s electoral votes by 51% to 46%, Riegle won the Senate race with 53%.
He coasted through two reelections before retiring in 1992 amid negative publicity surrounding his role in helping controversial financier Charles Keating secure favorable treatment (the “Keating Five”).
Many Michiganders in both parties believe he could have run again. But Riegle is remembered as one who never lost an election because, as more than one observer concluded, he knew how to campaign and never stopped doing it.
