Letter to the Editor: My friend, Jeannie Hegeman

To the Editor:

I met Jeannie Hegeman when I was a young campaign staffer wandering the roads of Waukon. Far from my home in southern California, I was assigned to work in Allamakee County for then-Senator Barack Obama’s underdog campaign in the Iowa Caucus.

With Hillary Clinton expected to dominate the upcoming election, my boss said we had no chance of winning Allamakee and that I should focus instead on simply holding the line. Our campaign diverted many of its valuable resources to other counties where our prospects were stronger. As a result, I spent much of my time commuting alone from our nearest office in Clayton County, spending long hours driving and calling voters from the car.

One afternoon, I drove into Waukon where I first met Jeannie to discuss her support for the campaign. She struck me as a private woman, living alone with her cats and her favorite books. She’d just recovered from an illness and moved around slowly. We met at Gus & Tony’s where I began describing my situation.

“You need to come live with me!” Jeannie interrupted. “Stop driving all the way from Elkader and work right here in Waukon.” I was moved by her generous offer and quickly accepted.

I moved into a small bedroom on the second floor of Jeannie’s home. While I began my work, Jeannie hunkered down in her living room, researching genealogy and reading mystery novels. One day, I brazenly asked if a friend of mine who wanted to help the campaign could move in as well. Jeannie didn’t hesitate at all and said yes.

In the blink of an eye, Jeannie had gone from a life of relative solitude to living with two strangers from California. She had no reservations about making her home our home as well. A smoker, Jeannie moved her cigarettes to the cold basement away from where we sat. And when it was cold, she’d shout out reminding me to wear a jacket as I ran out the front door. While campaign work can be challenging, her generosity went a long way in making us feel cared for so far from home.

With her spare bedrooms filled and her living room converted into an office, some of Jeannie’s friends were understandably worried about these sudden changes in her life. Even Jeannie expressed surprise. “This isn’t like me!” she’d tell friends over the phone. For decades, she had raised nine kids and worked the night-shift as a psychiatric nurse but was now enjoying a calmer life. “I wouldn’t normally have strangers move into my home,” she insisted. “But I just believe in Barack so much. He’s such a good man and our country needs him.”

Jeannie was passionate about making America a better place. By upending her quiet life, she demonstrated a deep patriotism for the country she loved.

As the caucuses approached, Jeannie’s home became a bustling campaign headquarters. With volunteers traipsing through her dining room and out-of-state guests rolling their sleeping bags across the floor, the Hegeman house became the epicenter of political activity in Allamakee County. All the while Jeannie drank from a bottomless cup of coffee, smoked her favorite cigarettes, and doggedly encouraged her neighbors to caucus for Obama.

On January 3, 2008, against all the odds, Barack Obama won the Iowa Caucus. As we all know, this surprise victory launched Obama onto a path that ultimately took him to the White House. In Allamakee, not only did we exceed the campaign’s expectations by actually winning, but we secured the 11th strongest win out of the state’s 99 counties. The results in Allamakee set the county on track to support a Democrat for president later that year - only the second time that had occurred since FDR served in the White House.

Make no mistake, without Jeannie’s support and love, this victory in Allamakee would not have been possible. And on that caucus night, as we gathered in her home to celebrate, Jeannie beamed with pride. Regardless of how anyone might feel about President Obama, we can all recognize that by welcoming strangers into her home and committing her time to support a candidate she believed in, Jeannie demonstrated a love of country that should inspire each of us to be better citizens.

The night after the caucus, a group of us went out to celebrate over dinner. Everyone was happy and filled with hope for the future. Then, a large man walked over and asked how we could support a black man for president, using a racial slur to emphasize his point. We sat there in shock, not quite knowing how to respond to such bigotry in a public setting. But not Jeannie.

Without missing a beat, she responded, “How dare you say something like that to us. You don’t even know Barack Obama, so how can you say that about him? You should be ashamed. Go away!” The man’s face turned red as he sheepishly walked off. Jeannie continued eating her meal, while I sat there admiring this good and decent woman even more. The next day, when my friend and I packed our things to leave Waukon, each of us wiped away tears as we said goodbye to our friend, Jeannie.

After Barack Obama was elected, I moved to Washington, D.C. to work at the White House. While there, I often thought of people like Jeannie who’d helped make Obama’s presidency possible, and she and I stayed in touch. Eventually, she traveled with good friends of ours to visit me in Washington. She had never been to our nation’s capital and was elated by each monument, museum and mention of President Obama.

So, it was a profound honor for me to show Jeannie and the others around the White House and to take them to lunch in the West Wing. Later, when we walked upstairs to see the Oval Office, the Obama family slowly walked by the window - something I’d never seen occur on hundreds of White House tours I had given before. Years after her early efforts helping elect Obama, Jeannie saw the President inside the White House he now called home. She turned to me and smiled, saying it was a moment of providence. “It was meant to happen,” she said, and I think she was right.

I was saddened to learn of Jeannie’s passing earlier this month, but I’ll never forget the kindness and love she first showed me back in 2007. Her support made all the difference for our campaign’s local efforts and forever changed my life. In his victory speech on that cold Iowa night years ago, Barack Obama spoke to the determination of volunteers like Jeannie who’d supported the campaign, saying, “You did this because you believed so deeply in the most American of ideas - that in the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it.”

Jeannie certainly did just that. I will always be moved by her devotion to our country and grateful for her friendship.

James Schuelke
California