“I never saw him as president material,” said Knight Goodman, 92, a longtime political adviser from Middletown. “But he could have been vice president.”
Instead, 14 years later, when Reagan was elected as the 40th president, Lukens was serving on the Ohio State Senate.
Once a rising politician in the Republican party, Lukens’ aspirations were derailed by a string of scandals, including paying for sex with a 16-year-old girl from Columbus, being involved with the now-defunct House bank, which benefited Congress members by offering unlimited penalty-free checking overdrafts, and being accused of taking $15,000 in bribes from two Cincinnati businessmen.
Lukens died Saturday, May 22, in a Dallas nursing home of complications from cancer. He was 79.
His body was cremated and a memorial service will be held at a later date.
Hatfield said she met Lukens in 1966 when he asked her and other Middletown residents to spend two minutes a day talking about Lukens and his political views. That two minutes nearly turned into a full-time job for Hatfield.
She said Lukens’ charisma made him attractive to his constituents.
“People believed in him,” she said through tears.
She said Lukens, a U.S. Air Force veteran, collected thousands of bars of soap for the Vietnamese, assisted in founding Louella Thompson’s “Feed the Hungry” program in Middletown and provided cookies to Middletown firefighters and police officers every Christmas.
“He did a lot of good people don’t know,” she said.
Robert Hill Sr., of Richardson, Texas, formerly of Trenton, moved to Texas in 1989. A few years later, Lukens moved there because he was “totally beaten,” Hill said.
He said Lukens was distraught not from the charges, but because of “a lack of loyalty” from his family and friends.
While in Texas, Lukens taught English as a second language, volunteered for the American Red Cross, sponsored 20 kids in other countries, and was active in his church, Hill said.
“He was an absolute pillar in the community,” Hill said Monday. “We need more guys like that.”
When asked about Lukens’ criminal record, Hill said Lukens “paid his debt fully.”
As executor of Lukens’ estate, Hill said Lukens instructed him to cremate his body, and a few days later, inform his close friends.
That way, he said, Lukens’ personal problems wouldn’t have been “drug through the mud again.”
He called Lukens “a stand-up guy” he’d trust with his money, car, wife and family.
John Moser, of Hamilton, served as the Republican party chairman from 1960-79. He remembers Lukens “more for the positives than the negatives,” he said.
He called Lukens “one hell of a campaigner” who “breathed enthusiasm into the political party.”
Early in Lukens’ political career, Moser said he thought Lukens was a potential Republican nominee for president.
“Whenever he spoke, he was met with enthusiasm,” Moser said. “He instilled what had been absent in the party.”
If not for his personal issues, Moser said Lukens “would have gone far.”
Ann Mort, a local events publicist and former Middletown School Board member, remembered some political advice Lukens gave her many years ago. He told her that if she attended a festival, if she wanted to be remembered, she should spend all of her money at one booth.
“He was right,” Mort said. “They seemed to notice.”
Goodman said Lukens offered him a “good campaign tip.” After speaking to a group, Lukens said he made a point to walk into the kitchen and thank every cook and waiter for their service.
Goodman called Lukens “a very good campaigner.”
“He was very determined to get elected,” he said. “He was always on the go, looking for a vote. He moved fast, worked hard. He was intelligent.”
Lukens was first elected to the House in 1967. He served until 1970, leaving to run for Ohio governor.
In 1968, Reagan campaigned for Lukens during a visit to Middletown, Lebanon and Fairfield.
He made an unsuccessful bid and he was appointed to the Ohio Senate and elected to Congress in 1986-88.
Refusing to resign from his seat, despite the demands of the Republican leadership, Lukens lost the 1990 Republican primary to John A. Boehner, now House Minority Leader.
Lukens resigned from Congress on Oct. 24, 1990.
Cory Fritz, Boehner’s press secretary, said Boehner was “saddened to learn of Mr. Lukens’ passing, and extends his condolences to his family during this difficult time.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.
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