The U.S. Census Bureau has always been a home to veterans of the 

United States armed forces. The first superintendent of the census, 

William Augustus Weaver, appointed in 1840, received wounds as a 

combat veteran in the War of 1812. Francis Amasa Walker, the 

highly influential superintendent of the 1880 Census was a veteran 

of the Civil War and former prisoner of war. In 1890, census 

legislation made it clear that honorably discharged veterans of the 

armed services would receive preference for employment as 

enumerators—a practice that continues to this day and one that has 

been further strengthened and expanded through civil service 

reforms. In 2015, for instance, the U.S. Department of Commerce, to 

which the Census Bureau belongs, employed 5,684 veterans (12 percent of workers at the 

Department of Commerce). The Census Bureau is proud to utilize the proven discipline and 

motivation of this unique and patriotic workforce.

Although he served as a nine-term U.S. congressman (1959–1977) and West Virginia’s 26th

secretary of state (1985–2001), Kenneth (Ken) W. Hechler served his country as a veteran and 

public servant for most of his professional career. Born on September 20, 1914, on Long Island, 

New York, to parents Charles H. and Catherine Hauhart Hechler, Ken grew up as the youngest son in 

a family of five people. After graduating second in a high school class of 30 students, Ken attended 

Swarthmore College and earned his B.A. in political science. In 1935, Hechler attended Columbia 

University, earning his M.A. (1936) in American history and a Ph. D. in political science (1940). As a

graduate student, Hechler worked on his dissertation and taught classes at Barnard College and 

Columbia University. In the summer of 1940, Hechler began his career in public service when he 

accepted a temporary position with the Census Bureau. Given 

his academic credentials, Hechler worked as a section chief in 

the Population Division. As section chief, he reviewed the 

enumerators' reports, clarified the contents of the reports, and 

organized the reports before sending them forward for

processing. According to Edwin Goldfield, a Census Bureau 

alumnus, Hechler used his temporary job to pay his 

Washington, DC, living expenses and to conduct research at the 

nearby Library of Congress on his days off.

After working for the Census Bureau in the summer of 1940, 

Hechler returned to Columbia University to continue teaching and, a few months later, began 

working with Judge Samuel Rosenman on editing The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. 

Roosevelt. While he had created a comfortable life for himself in New York, Hechler’s desire to be 

close to the center of historical events drove him to return to Washington. Between the fall of 

1941 and the spring of 1942, Hechler worked for the Office for Emergency Management before 

accepting a position with the Bureau of the Budget. During his first stint with the Bureau of the 

Budget, Hechler worked as an administrative analyst on the Committee of Records for War

Administration. In this role, he captured and recorded some of the key experiences of government 

officials in the defense agencies during the early years of the Second World War.

Kenneth W. Hechler

U.S. CensusBureauSection Chief, Combat Historian, Congressman

Congressman Kenneth W. Hechler, 

1973.

Congressional Pocket Directory, 1973.

Ken Hechler's 1940 Census Record.
Hechler continued working for the Bureau of the Budget until he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 

July of 1942. Entering the Army as a private in the Infantry, Hechler completed basic training at 

Camp Croft in Spartanburg, SC, before applying to Officer Candidate School. To his surprise, 

Hechler's commanding officer sent him and his colleagues to the Armored Force Tank School at Fort 

Knox, KY. Thirteen weeks later, the Army commissioned Hechler as a second lieutenant and 

assigned him to be a combat historian under Major Kent Roberts Greenfield.

Hechler began his career as a combat historian late in 

1943. During this period, he visited numerous military 

bases across the United States, encouraging various corps 

and armies to create a tiny staff that would produce 

reports about what kinds of training the troops got, 

mistakes in training, and what lessons the military derived 

from those experiences. While Hechler later 

acknowledged the importance of encouraging different 

parts of the military to produce detailed reports, he still 

expressed an interest in going to the frontlines of the war.

In January 1944, Hechler arrived in the United Kingdom 

and received more training before landing in Normandy, France, a few weeks after D-Day (June 6, 

1944). After arriving in France, Hechler and his colleagues began conducting after-action interviews

with famous generals such as George Patton and Omar Bradley, lower-ranking officers, and groups 

of soldiers. From these interviews, Hechler produced reports that supplemented the official afteraction reports and provided future military leaders and historians with a detail-rich permeant 

record of the Allies’ campaign to liberate Europe. 

Shortly after World War II ended, Hechler utilized his academic training and oral interview skills to 

serve on the Shuster Commission. Created by either the U.S. State or War Department, Hechler 

and four other subject experts interviewed captured Nazi leaders such as Goering, Jodl, von 

Ribbentrop, and Kesselring about various elements of the Nazi’s regime and military before the 

Allies tried them for crimes against humanity in Nuremberg. These interviews allowed U.S. officials 

to gain crucial and unfiltered economic, diplomatic, political, and military insights about the inner 

workings of Hitler’s regime and military before the various participants created a more sanitized 

version of events.

Hechler completed his assignment with the Shuster 

Commission and returned to working for the Army’s Historical 

Section, which had moved from Paris to St. Germain-en-Laye. 

Although he assisted the team with organizing the various 

documents and battlefield reports from the European Theater

and even interviewed German generals to gather their

perspectives, an anxious Hechler returned to the United States 

in the spring of 1946 and resumed his work with the Bureau of 

the Budget. In the following decades, his career continued in 

academia and public service, where he achieved immense 

success.

By the time he passed away at the age of 102, on December 10, 

2016, Hechler had taught at Princeton University in New Jersey, 

Marshall University, and the University of Charleston in West Virginia. He served as a special advisor 

to President Harry Truman, championed miners’ rights, and environmental policies both inside and 

outside of Congress, just to name a few of his accomplishments. In addition to his public and 

professional accomplishments, Hechler also married Carol Kitzmiller, a fellow activist, on August 12, 

2013. Finally, after passing away at the age of 102, along with Carol, Hechler’s stepson, Josh 

Kitzmiller, and numerous surviving relativities and friends, the Census Bureau, and a grateful nation 

continue to strive toward honoring Hechler’s incredible legacy of public service.

HB-22-0004

As a combat historian, Hechler witnessed and wrote 

about battles such as the breakout from Saint Lo, the 

battle of the Bulge, and the American’s capture and 

defense of the Ludendorff Bridge (pictured above) 

during the battle of Remagen.

Image Courtesy of the National Archives. 

Congressman Ken Hechler (West Virginia) visited the 

Census Bureau on June 7, 1963, to see a display 

honoring West Virginia's Centennial. Phyllis 

Strathman (EOD), who hailed from Huntington, WV,

presented the display to Congressman Hechler.

Census Bulletin (Census Bureau Publication) July 5, 1963.