Jay Hammond Jay Sterner Hammond ( July 21 , 1922 – August 2 , 2005 ) was an American politician of the Republican Party , who served as the fourth Governor of Alaska from 1974 to 1982 . Early life . Jay Sterner Hammond was born in Troy , New York in 1922 . Hammond studied petroleum engineering at Penn State University , where he was a member of Triangle Fraternity . He later served as a Marine Corps fighter pilot in World War II with the Black Sheep Squadron , and in China , until 1946 . That year , Hammond moved to Alaska where he worked as a bush pilot and earned a degree in biological sciences at the University of Alaska . Alaska Legislature . Hammond served as a state representative from 1959 to 1965 and as a state senator from 1967 to 1973 . Hammond served in the 1st Alaska State Legislature as an independent , joining thirty - four Democrats and five Republicans in the forty - member House . At the time , Hammond believed that a Republican could not be elected in that particular time and place , but that he could not envision running as a Democrat on account of his upbringing and background . He did serve as a Republican in subsequent legislatures , however . He was Senate President in his final two years in the legislature . Mayor . Hammond was the mayor of the Bristol Bay Borough from 1972 to 1974 . He also served as the borough ' s manager during his time away from the legislature in the 1960s . Governor of Alaska . Hammond was elected governor in 1974 in a close result over incumbent William A . Egan . The race was complicated by two major factors , amongst others . One was a reversal of roles of sorts , where Hammond and his running mate Lowell Thomas , Jr . were identified as conservationists , confusing and splitting the traditional party base . The other was the appearance , for the first time , of a substantial third - party candidate , Fairbanks miner and real estate developer Joe Vogler . Vogler ' s open contempt for the environmental movement created a further voter rift which no doubt helped Hammond . As governor during the biggest economic boom in Alaska ' s history , the construction of the Trans - Alaska Pipeline System , Hammond oversaw the creation of the Alaska Permanent Fund . The concept of the Permanent Fund , originally championed in 1969 by then - governor Keith Miller and " Anchorage Times " publisher and editor Robert Atwood on the eve of the Prudhoe Bay oil lease sale , lay dormant for years as a result of the legislature spending the proceeds of the lease sale and construction delays associated with the pipeline . During his first term as governor , Hammond , along with a young state representative from Kenai named Hugh Malone , conceived a program to invest oil royalties to cover future state budget shortfalls as well as create a long - term savings account . Alaska voters approved a constitutional amendment establishing the Permanent Fund in 1976 , one of the rare exceptions to the constitutional intent of not dedicating funds for a specific purpose . Since the early 1980s , the Permanent Fund has paid annual dividends to Alaska residents , under a program in which credit has been variously given to , or taken by , Hammond , Malone , Libertarian state representative Dick Randolph and numerous other Alaskan politicians of the day . At around the same time , Alaska eliminated its state income tax . Hammond is often erroneously credited for this ; in fact , he was actually staunchly opposed to the idea . The elimination of the income tax was actually championed by Randolph , who persuaded his fellow legislators to pass the bill after mounting an initiative to force a public vote should the legislature not act . A 1980 episode of the public television program " Alaska Review " ( currently held in the collections of the Alaska Film Archives ) prominently featured an edited " debate " between Hammond and Randolph on the subject , centered on the fact that Alaska faced a one - billion - dollar budget surplus that year . As governor , Hammond advocated for fiscal responsibility , and introduced an amendment to the Alaska Constitution limiting state spending . This was mocked by one legislator as " Spendy Limitation , " with an accompanying elegant and obfuscatory statement mimicking Hammond ' s unique way with the English language . He advocated for another constitutional amendment providing for governors to serve a single 6 year term without possibility of further service . He felt it would allow governors a free hand in accomplishing their goals . He also championed a program which opened large amounts of state - owned lands near Delta Junction for agricultural use . While greater aspects of the program have been variously condemned as a " boondoggle " over the years , Delta Junction has managed to emerge as one of the larger agricultural producing communities in Alaska . He also vigorously fought with the legislature over power struggles between the two branches of government , culminating with four proposed constitutional amendments on the 1980 ballot , all of which failed by large margins . Later life . After his tenure as governor , Hammond continued to be active in public life . He advocated for environmentally and fiscally responsible government , and individual civic responsibility . Hammond has written articles for newspapers in Alaska , and appeared in public service announcements on television . He hosted a television series called " Jay Hammond ' s Alaska " from 1985 to 1992 . Hammond survived a rafting accident on August 6 , 1988 while shooting an episode of the series on the Tana River in Wrangell - St . Elias National Park . Killed in the accident were Larry Holmstrom , the show ' s executive producer , Holmstrom ' s daughter Maria , and cameraman Ronald Eagle . Three others on the raft besides Hammond also survived , including one who also fell into the water of the Class IV river . Hammond wrote three autobiographies , " Tales of Alaska ' s Bush Rat Governor : The Extraordinary Autobiography of Jay Hammond , Wilderness Guide and Reluctant Politician " , " Chips from the Chopping Block : More Tales from Alaska ' s Bush Rat Governor " and " Diapering The Devil : How Alaska Helped Staunch Befouling by Mismanaged Oil Wealth ; a Lesson for Other Rich Nations " . The latter book , published in 2011 , was co - edited by Hammond ' s granddaughter Lauren Stanford . Hammond also wrote the preface to " Brother Asaiah , As Remembered by Martha Ellen Anderson and Friends " , a memoir of the life of Homer businessman and peace activist Brother Asaiah Bates , which was published in 2006 following the deaths of both Bates and Hammond . Hammond ' s last major public appearances were in early 2004 , centered around the Conference of Alaskans convened by governor Frank Murkowski . Murkowski , recalling the spirit of the constitutional convention , assembled fifty - five delegates from across Alaska to meet at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to tackle specific questions regarding Alaska ' s fiscal future . Apart from launching the political career of Mark Neuman , who proclaimed himself to be one of the few ordinary people amongst the delegates and who was elected to the state house later that year , little was accomplished by the conference in the end . Hammond spent much of the conference holding court outside of the Wood Center ballroom where sessions were held , espousing his own solutions , which included doubling the amount of the Permanent Fund dividend and restoring the state income tax , the latter of which was strongly opposed by Murkowski . The delegates responded to Hammond by endorsing an income tax proposal , which delegate Clark Gruening described as a " declaration of independence " from Murkowski . Several weeks after the conference , Hammond spoke before Commonwealth North , proclaiming that he would spend $ 50 , 000 of his own money if necessary to campaign for his dividend and income tax plan . Death . Hammond lived at his homestead in Port Alsworth , Alaska , on Lake Clark , until his death at age 83 on August 2 , 2005 . According to his wife , Bella , he died peacefully in his sleep .