Ruth Harkin’s book is filled with fascinating stories

So, about that house in the Bahamas.

Every time former Iowa U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin ran for re-election, it was certain to come up. Republicans over the years tried to use Harkin’s house in the Bahamas to undermine his image as a progressive man of the people.

It didn’t work. Harkin was elected to the Senate five times before announcing his retirement ahead of the 2014 election.

The story of the Bahamas house is more interesting as told by Ruth Harkin in her new book, “When My Husband Ran for President … and Other short stories.” The book went on sale this week and Ruth will be telling her stories at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Iowa City Public Library in an event sponsored by Prairie Lights Books.

In late December 1969, Ruth and Tom were studying for law school finals on a gloomy cold day in Maryland. Tom had the bright idea they could study anywhere, why not someplace warm? They could use student passes to buy super cheap airline tickets and take the first plane south.

That plane was headed to Miami. On the way, they realized in their haste they had forgotten something important. “I don’t have any money. Do you?” Tom asked.

Ruth did have a government paycheck and cashed it at the airport. Realizing it would be too expensive to stay in Miami, Tom looked for better options. At the Mackey Airlines counter, he discovered two rental cabins on Man-O-War Cay. It’s a very small island in the Abaco region of the Bahamas.

“The only phone on the island was answered by the owner of the cottages. Both were rented but if we came to Man-O-War on the evening ferry … he promised to meet us and find us a place to stay,” Ruth writes.

Back to the Mackey Airlines counter, they asked when the next flight left for the islands.

“Hear that engine starting up outside? The plane is ready to leave. Are you two coming?”

“Well, sure,” Harkin writes.

Eventually, the Harkins bought some land on the island and built a home. It was wiped out by Hurricane Dorian, so they rebuilt. Their daughters, Jenny and Amy, also fell in love with the island. Then came the grandchildren. Except for the hurricane and pandemic, the Harkins have traveled to Man-O-War every year since 1969.

Family is at the core of the book and many of its stories. Ruth has been writing down these stories for years, some in longhand. Unlike so many of us, she kept them. She somehow found the time between working as the Story County attorney, deputy counsel for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and as a private attorney. President Bill Clinton appointed her as chair and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Ruth also served on the Iowa Board of Regents and on the ConocoPhillips board.

“I wanted to put the stories together,” Ruth told me this past week. “But I really wanted them for my daughters and granddaughters.”

As the title says, Ruth chronicles Tom’s run for the Democratic Presidential Nomination, starting with his announcement at the famous Harkin Steak Fry in September 1991.

She writes about the campaign, but the most interesting are glimpses behind the scenes as the family debates whether he should run.

It was a tough test for a couple that met by chance at a Japanese shrine while Tom was in the military and Ruth was working for the military in Korea.

“No doubt about it we have different points of view. Tom emphasizes the positives, and I draw out the negatives,” Ruth writes. “What’s clear to both of us is that our lives will never be the same if Tom runs. We have heard how a big race likes this can ruin relationships, families, finances and egos. Can we avoid such catastrophes while running for the presidency of the United States?

“I could make it almost impossible to run, and he knows it,” she writes. “I could file for a divorce this afternoon. But I am not going to mention that. In return, he won’t mention that I could be doing something more useful in life then my present legal work, and this campaign is it.”

At one point, Amy makes her feelings known to her mother.

“Amy makes her point to me. ‘You’ll talk him out of this, won’t you mother?’ Well, maybe not. ‘If he does run, he won’t make it make it through the primary, will he?’ I don’t think so. ‘Good.’”

He did run but couldn’t compete with the Clinton juggernaut. Not long after winning contests in Minnesota and Idaho, Harkin left the race.

So, it was back to the Senate, where Tom continued to be an advocate for disabled Americans. He was the driving force behind the Americans with Disabilities Act, his most far-reaching legislative triumph.

“You couldn’t get it passed today,” Ruth tells me. The ADA became law “when it was possible to do good things” in Congress.

That loss of bipartisan cooperation figured into Tom’s decision to retire. And Ruth says he has no regrets, even though his retirement likely played a role in the decline of the Iowa Democratic Party’s fortunes in Iowa.

“I think Tom had a terrific record in Congress. It was time to retire,” Ruth tells me.

And after his retirement, the Harkins could focus on establishing the Harkin Institute at Drake University. He had planned for his institute to be housed at Iowa State University. But politically motivated limits on research led them to Drake.

The institute is continuing research on issues faced by disabled Americans in a state-of-the-art, fully accessible facility. Proceeds from Ruth Harkin’s book will go to the institute.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com