Granny D
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Granny D (born January 24, 1910), née Ethel Doris Haddock, is an American politician and liberal political activist from the state of New Hampshire.
From January 1, 1999, to February 29, 2000, Haddock walked across the continental United States, starting in southern California and traveling a southern route to Washington D.C. in support of campaign finance reform. In 2004, she challenged incumbent New Hampshire Republican Senator Judd Gregg as the Democratic nominee, but lost the election. She is noted for her colorful character, intrepid, warm personality, and advanced age. Had she won her 2004 race and completed her term, she would have been the second-oldest senator in U.S. history, behind Strom Thurmond.
Haddock requested an official middle name change to "Granny D." On August 19, 2004, Haddock's request was officially granted by Judge John Maher during a hearing at the Cheshire County Probate Court.
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[edit] Early life
Granny D was born in Laconia, New Hampshire. She attended Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, for three years before marrying James Haddock (nicknamed Jim). Though Granny D never graduated from Emerson, she was awarded an honorary degree in 2000. After marrying, Granny D started a family and worked during the Great Depression and was employed in a shoe factory in Manchester for 20 years.
[edit] Political career
In 1960, Granny D began her political career when she and her husband successfully campaigned against planned hydrogen bomb nuclear testing in Alaska, saving an Inuit fishing village at Point Hope. Granny D and her husband retired to Dublin, New Hampshire, in 1972. There Granny D served on the Planning Board and was active in the community. Her husband later developed Alzheimer's disease, dying after a ten-year struggle.
[edit] Advocacy for campaign finance reform
After the first efforts of Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold to regulate campaign finances through eliminating soft money failed in 1995, Granny D became increasingly interested in campaign finance reform and spearheaded a petition movement. On January 1, 1999, at the age of 88, Granny D left the Rose Bowl parade in Pasadena, California, in an attempt to walk across the United States to raise awareness of and attract support for campaign finance reform.
Granny D walked ten miles each day for 14 months, traversing California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, making many speeches along the way. The trek attracted a great deal of attention in the mass media. When Granny D arrived in Washington, D.C., she was 90 years old and had traveled about 3,200 miles, and was greeted in the capital by a crowd of 2,200 people. Several dozen members of Congress walked the final miles with her during the final day's walk from Arlington National Cemetery to the Capitol on the National Mall.
[edit] Later life
Two books were written by Granny D, both co-authored with Dennis Burke. In 2005, she gave the keynote graduation address at Hampshire College. She was awarded an honorary degree by Franklin Pierce College on October 21, 2002.
Granny D became the Democratic candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in New Hampshire during the 2004 election after her leading opponent in the Democratic primary unexpectedly left the race because of a campaign-finance scandal. She was one of the oldest major-party candidates to ever run for the U.S. Senate and lost to incumbent Republican Judd Gregg, capturing 34 percent of the vote (approximately 222,000) to Gregg's 66 percent (approximately 435,000).
Granny D has one son, James, and a daughter, Elizabeth, who died of Alzheimer's in 2005. She also has eight grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren, some of whom walked with her for portions of her cross-country trek.
She has endorsed Mike Gravel for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election.
She is a signatory to the 9/11 Truth Statement. [1]
