The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) was deeply saddened by the death of Harold Everett Hughes, former Iowa Governor and U.S. Senator. He was the force behind the passage of landmark legislation, the Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-616), which established NIAAA. A recovering alcoholic with more than 40 years of sobriety, Governor Hughes, who died on October 23, 1996, at his retirement home in Glendale, Arizona, was a highly visible and much-loved and -respected force in the alcoholism and drug abuse fields for close to half a century.

Born in Ida Grove, Iowa, into a poor farming family, Governor Hughes returned from service in World War II "a drinking but functioning alcoholic." A truck driver at the time, he continued to drink, trying to quit but succumbing to relapse, time and again. After contemplating suicide in 1952, he experienced, in his own words, a "deep spiritual experience" that led to his eventual recovery from alcoholism. He went on to win three terms as Governor of Iowa, followed by election to the U.S. Senate, where he served from 1968 to 1974. After retiring from the Senate, Governor Hughes continued to work on behalf of alcoholics and other addicted persons, founding four Harold Hughes Recovery Centers for alcoholism treatment, among his other accomplishments. Noted for his eloquent and forceful oratorical style, Governor Hughes lectured nationally on alcohol and other drug abuse issues, particularly on the need to develop a lay constituency for problems of addiction, and eventually founded the Society of Americans for Recovery.

Often referred to as the "father" of NIAAA, Governor Hughes shunned the title; instead, he deferred to the many people who had been instrumental in the passage of Public Law 91-616 as the "fathers" of NIAAA. In a 1988 article in Alcohol Health & Research World, Governor Hughes wrote:

Thinking about all those fellow "fathers" who laid the groundwork for the creation of NIAAA takes me back to the day of my arrival in Washington in 1969. I had been elected to the U.S. Senate only 17 years after admitting that I was an alcoholic and reaching out for help. As my plane landed, I thought of the hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children who had never found help, many of whom lived as derelicts or had died tragically. I asked myself if one of the reasons I had been brought to Washington as U.S. Senator was to represent those still suffering from addiction to alcohol and other drugs.

And represent them he did. As a result of his own recovery, Governor Hughes understood that many alcoholics were hidden within society, and he knew that they could be helped. More important, Governor Hughes strongly believed that alcoholics and drug addicts should be helped. Thus began his quest in 1969 to focus national attention on alcohol abuse and alcoholism. His three terms as Governor of Iowa gave him the political wherewithal to work within the U.S. Senate to gain sponsors and support for creating a national alcoholism institute. In addition, Governor Hughes' associations with researchers, clinicians, and recovered alcoholics in prominent national positions helped him to convene an extraordinary coalition of individuals to request that the Congress take action. His political acumen and his personal tenacity in achieving and maintaining recovery helped him to convince a reluctant public, who largely viewed alcoholism as a sin or sign of moral weakness, that the actions of Congress were sound. Governor Hughes' efforts resulted not only in the passage of Public Law 91-616, but also, 4 years later, in the creation of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the former Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration.

Today's alcohol research programs, which provide hope for people at risk for and affected by alcohol-related problems, were born of Governor Hughes' vision for the future. According to an article written about him in the May 1990 issue of Sober Times, Governor Hughes' motto was "All things are possible." As his achievements attest, this was a motto of deed as well as of thought. Many alcoholics have recovered, and many more have a chance for recovery, because one man believed that "all things are possible."