Beshears mark Father’s Day as first father-son duo to be governors of Kentucky
Former Gov. Steve Beshear bounded off the bus in front of the Palace Theatre in the Western Kentucky community of Greenville. It was the final day of a hard-fought campaign last November in Kentucky’s race for governor,
The former Democratic governor was greeted with applause and cheers. The crowd of about 75 appreciated his eight years in the state’s seat of political power from 2007 to 2015. The swell of enthusiasm also got a boost because he was a “local boy,” a native of Dawson Springs, about 35 miles west.
But the star on the bus was the governor’s son, Andy. He was the state’s attorney general carrying the Democratic banner in the governor’s race to try to keep Republican incumbent Matt Bevin from serving four more years.
“Andy’s going to be our next governor,” the beaming father said during the hoopla for his son. “I know it.”
A little over a month later, Kentucky’s 61st governor watched his son in Frankfort sworn into office as Kentucky’s 63rd governor.
This Father’s Day in Kentucky will mark the first for a father-and-son duo to be governor of Kentucky.
The Beshears also hold the rarefied distinction of only the fourth father and son who have been governors of a state “in the modern era.” Kristofer Shields with the Eagleton Center on the American Governor at Rutgers University-New Brunswick in New Jersey defines the modern era as the second half of the 20th century and the 21st century.
Close relationship between father and son
Both say they are close, filled with mutual respect for each other.
And both say each is his own man.
“We talk about everything, bounce ideas off each other. I try to give him advice,” said the father. “But he’s the one in the driver’s seat. He knows the decisions he makes are his.”
“No rivalry at all between us. None. I listen to him. Always have, but especially now,” said the son. “He had this job for eight years. I’m working on six months. I want to hear what he has to say and then make my own decisions. He’s always been there for me 100 percent.”
Steve Beshear, 75, has been by his son’s side at the major points in his life.
The father was there in the delivery room at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Lexington on Nov. 29, 1977, when former First Lady Jane Beshear delivered their second son, Andrew Graham Beshear.
The dad also had been in the delivery room at the hospital on April 20, 1974, when their first son, Jeffrey Scott Beshear, was born. Jeff is now a veterinarian in the Charlottesville, Va., area, interested in sports horse medicine. He, his wife Emily and son, Nicholas, own and operate a full-service boarding and training facility.
The father said both his sons were precocious, outgoing and enjoyed life.
The Beshear boys did “step over the line” a few times, said the father without offering to reveal specific infractions. “Of course, like any children, they would push us to our limits as children do. “
A father’s worry for his son after ‘hanging’ incident
The father said he believes Kentuckians are seeing his son in his brief time in office confront “the two major issues of our lifetimes” — the deadly coronavirus pandemic and the anguish of racial injustice.
“When Andy was sworn in last December, he set out a very aggressive agenda from the beginning,” said the father.
In his first week, noted Steve Beshear, his son fulfilled campaign pledges to restore voting rights to more than 140,000 nonviolent offenders who completed their sentences, revamped the state Board of Education and stopped Bevin’s attempts to make work requirements a condition for Medicaid health coverage.
“Then he proposed an aggressive state budget to the legislature and then, bam, the virus and quickly on its heels, horrible incidents and cries of racial injustice.”
When Gov. Beshear declared a state of emergency in March because of COVID-19, “he knew from the beginning that he was dealing with life and death,” said the father.
“There was no road map for him to follow. He threw politics out the window. He relied on the health experts and followed them. He made the tough decisions for the overall good of Kentuckians even though he knew he would be criticized by some whatever he did.”
The elder Beshear said he was “very much disturbed” when he learned on Sunday, May 24, that a group of protesters holding a rally outside of the Governor’s Mansion near the Capitol in Frankfort hung an effigy of his son on a tree.
A rally was held on the Capitol grounds that day to support gun rights but it also included protests against Beshear’s restrictions on business and public activities prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
“I heard about the hanging that afternoon,” said the senior Beshear. “Of course, I was worried about my son’s safety but also was upset with the efforts to intimidate and bully this governor, especially at his and his family’s, my grandchildren’s, residence.
“To walk on their front porch and look in the windows of their home was totally uncalled for. These folks don’t know Andy Beshear very well. He is strong. He won’t be bullied. This type of behavior strengthens his resolve to help and protect Kentuckians.”
As the deadly coronavirus raged across the state this year, Gov. Beshear faced another crisis.
Breonna Taylor, a Black woman, was fatally shot by Louisville police. There were other killings across the nation at the hands of police. Protesters in many Kentucky cities and across the nation hit the streets.
Gov. Beshear spelled out initiatives to try to help — expanding health care coverage to every Black Kentuckian, improving training for police officers and increasing the number of Black teachers.
He recently said he was committed to getting every Kentuckian signed up for health coverage, announcing that he was trying to bring back his father’s state-based health care exchange known as KYnect. Bevin dismantled it in 2017. During the program’s four years in Steve Beshear’s administration, the percentage of uninsured in Kentucky dropped from about 14 percent to about 5 percent.
“I believe we are in a sea change as it relates to race relations in Kentucky,” said the elder Beshear. “We’re going to see many changes. I think my son is looking at this as what is the right thing to do and he’s trying to do that. It is time.”
Father considers political future for son
Asked what he foresees for his son in politics, the elder Beshear said, “I don’t know where Andy’s political future will go or whether he will have one. The potential certainly is there.
“But to be honest with you, I think that consideration is the furthest thing from his mind right now.”
Andy Beshear’s current term as governor runs through Dec. 12, 2023. He can seek re-election for another four years after that. At 42, he is a young governor and says he is putting politics aside for the time being to deal with the major issues of the day.
The father and son hope to spend some time together this Father’s Day weekend. Both said they would do so while social distancing, a message the current governor preaches daily.
“We normally spend Father’s Day together,” said Gov. Beshear. “I know my kids, his grandchildren, want to see him.”
It’s been a big week for Gov. Steve Beshear’s grandchildren and Gov. Andy Beshear’s and First Lady Britainy Beshear’s children. Will turned 11 on Monday and Lila turned 10 on Thursday.
“While my dad has been a great father,” said Gov. Beshear, “he’s just as good a grandfather. He plays with them, throwing ball, wrestling. We’re all close. We’re fortunate.”
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 5:55 PM.
