Joseph Eugene Kernan III (April 8, 1946 – July 29, 2020) was an American businessman and Democratic politician who served as the 48th governor of Indiana from 2003 to 2005. He previously served as the 47th lieutenant governor of Indiana from 1997 to 2003 under Frank O'Bannon and assumed the governorship after O'Bannon's death. Kernan had also served nearly a year as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.
After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, Kernan joined the Navy in 1969. A naval aviator, he was shot down in North Vietnam and taken prisoner in 1972. After his release, Kernan continued on active duty through 1974. A member of the Democratic Party, Kernan served as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and then as the 47th lieutenant governor of Indiana from 1997 to 2003. He became governor on September 13, 2003, upon the death of Governor Frank O'Bannon. He lost an election to serve a full term as governor to former Office of Management and Budget director Mitch Daniels on November 2, 2004. Kernan returned to South Bend and retired from politics. As of , he is the most recent governor of Indiana from the Democratic Party.
Early life and education Joe Eugene Kernan III was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 8, 1946. He was the eldest of nine children.
Kernan's father, Joseph E. Kernan Jr. (1923–2008), was a naval aviator during World War II and would go on to have a career in government service. His mother, Marian Powers Kernan (1922–1998), held a variety of jobs, including a tenure C&P Telephone, where she worked her way up to a communications representative. As a communications representative she handled The Pentagon's account, and held security clearance.
Kernan's father was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee in 1963 for the 4th district seat on the South Bend Common Council, and in 1964 ran unsuccessfully for St. Joseph County commissioner.
Kernan's family moved to South Bend when he was ten years of age. Kernan graduated from St. Joseph High School in South Bend in 1964.
He graduated in 1968 with a degree in government from the University of Notre Dame. Kernan played on the university's baseball team, serving as a walk-on on the freshman team, and playing for the varsity team his sophomore and junior years in 1967 and 1968. He was initially an infielder, later switching to catcher in his junior year.
Military service Kernan joined the United States Navy in 1969, and served as a Naval Flight Officer aboard the carrier . After he completed Naval Flight Officer training, reconnaissance training, & RA-5C Vigilante Replacement Air Group training, he served with RVAH-7 at Naval Air Station Albany, Georgia, until deploying to Southeast Asia aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, where he served (flying 26 missions over Laos and North Vietnam) from February 1972 until a two-seat fighter plane he was serving as a weapons officer on was shot down by enemy forces while on a reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam, during which he and the plane's pilot had been assessing bomb damage. He was detained as a prisoner of war on May 7, 1972. He was held as a prisoner of war for 11 months, being released in 1973.
For part of his time as a prisoner of war, Kernan was imprisoned at Hỏa Lò Prison; however, he spent most of his sentence at a nearby prison dubbed "The Zoo". Kernan was repatriated on March 27, 1973, and continued on active duty with the Navy until December 1974. Kernan received the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Purple Hearts and the Navy Commendation Medal. After leaving active duty, Kernan would continue as an aviator, obtaining a private pilot's license in 1984.
Early career Kernan served as a business manager and executive at several companies. In 1975, after having completed his Naval service, Kernan worked for Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, supervising the manufacturing of Camay, Safeguard, and Zest products. He then returned to South Bend, where he worked for South Bend Community Schools and later for the Schwarz Paper Company.
Kernan began his career in government by working for a month in the office of South Bend controller Peter Mullen for a month in 1976 on a special project related to license research.
South Bend Controller Kernan served South Bend controller from 1980 to 1984. He was appointed to the position by mayor Roger Parent quickly after Parent took office on January 1, 1980. Kernan had been recommended to Parent by Peter Mullen, who held the position before Kernan.
As controller, Kernan served as an ex officio member of the Board of Public Works, and the water and sewage boards. He was also tasked with overseeing the drafting of the city's $40 million annual budget. While in this office, cuts were made in regards to the number of the police and firemen, which he later stated were necessary due to the budget squeeze caused by a state tax freeze and cuts in federal aid. When Kernan left the post, Mayor Parent praised Kernan's work on the budget, claiming that Kernan took the job at the city's worst financial time and that, "just putting a budget together and making it work is an accomplishment, and Joe did a good job". As controller, he negotiated contracts for city employees. This included contracts for the police and fire department workforces, as well as contracts with Teamsters.
Kernan left the office on February 17, 1984, in order to enter the private sector for employment, announcing on his last day in office that he would be working as a vice president for the McWilliams Corporation. He was succeeded in office by Michael Vance. Following his tenure as South Bend Controller, Kernan held his jobs as vice president and treasurer of MacWilliams Corp until he ran for mayor in 1987.
South Bend mayoralty
Kernan was elected to serve as mayor of South Bend as the Democratic Party nominee in the 1987 election, and was reelected as the Democratic nominee in the 1991 and 1995 mayoral elections. In 1995, he won 82% of the vote, a record for South Bend mayoral elections. He was the first mayor of the city to win a third term since 1905. Kernan was the longest-serving mayor of South Bend, until his tenure was surpassed in length by that of his immediate successor Steve Luecke.
Kernan was regarded to be a popular mayor. In November 1996, Nancy Armour of The Associated Press wrote that Kernan was, "well-liked by Democrats and Republicans alike. He's friendly and warm, quick to greet residents by name and ask how they are doing. He's accessible too." In 1989, Kernan considered, but ruled out, running against Republican Dan Coats for the United States Senate in the 1990 special election for the seat that had been vacated by Dan Quayle upon becoming vice president. While Kernan was considered a strong prospective candidate among the possible Democratic contenders, commentator James Grass observed prior to Kernan making his decision not to run that, "to run a successful campaign," a Democratic nominee would likely need, "statewide name recognition, a good reputation, and the ability to raise lots of money. All the Democrats still considering a candidacy lack at least one of these qualifications."
As mayor, Kernan worked on long-term job creation efforts, made efforts to improve public safety, and strengthened the finances of the city.
Development
At the time he was mayor, Kernan was praised for his ability to attract economic development to the community. Among the major developments he was able to garner South Bend was the securing of the city as the location for the College Football Hall of Fame. Kernan had been instrumental in getting South Bend selected over 89 other cities as the site for the College Football Hall of Fame. Kernan originally pledged that city funds would not go towards the project, and that it would be funded by corporate donations. However, after the city was only able to raise under $2 million in corporate donations, the city issued municipal bonds to pay for the construction.
Among the developments of which Kernan was particularly supportive was the Blackthorn development, a multimillion-dollar golf course and office park development. In 1992, he had touted the concept that became Blackthorn as a "pump for future development." In 1995, Kernan took interest in a proposal to build an arena in South Bend for a new minor league ice hockey team. However, this proposal ultimately failed to materialize.
Some of the developments that were initially regarded as successes for South Bend when Kernan was mayor ultimately fell short in the long run. For instance, the College Football Hall of Fame never met its initial attendance projections. By the late-90s, it already had begun to be criticized as a failure, due to a lack of corporate sponsorship and poor turnout even during special events. The Hall of Fame would ultimately leave South Bend for the city of Atlanta in the 2010s. The Blackthorn, particularly its golf course component, fell short of expectations as well. However, Kernan, as late as 2015, defended the Blackthorn development, having regarded it, personally, to have been a success.
Job creation and retention In November 1996, Nancy Armour of The Associated Press wrote that Kernan,
Kernan worked on long-term job creation efforts as mayor. Kernan came to office shortly after a number of companies had left the city or closed, such as South Bend Toy in 1985 and Wheelbrater-Frye. Kernan took credit for stopping companies like Allied Products' South Bend Stamping from leaving the city. He also took credit for attracting other jobs to the city, arguing that as mayor he had been able to create or retain 4,000 manufacturing jobs. Another example that illustrates Kernan's work in this area was his successful work in 1993 to keep the Hoosier Lottery's 15-employee regional headquarters in South Bend. After they began looking for a new location, eying sites outside of South Bend, Kernan worked directly with them to find a new location for their offices within the city.
Infrastructure
Among the infrastructure projects that took place during Kernan's tenure as mayor was the shifting of South Bend's South Shore Line station from a facility shared with Amtrak to a new location at the city's airport, which opened in 1992. In 1993, Kernan testified before congress that this move had been partially responsible for a 73% increase in ridership from South Bend, attributing this to the fact that the previous location of the station was in an area, "isolated and very difficult and perceived to be unsafe" Plans to move the South Shore Line station to the airport, creating an air, bus, and rail intermodal terminal, had dated back to the 1970s.Multiple sources:
Kernan and others local officials secured funding for a new intermodal transit center in Downtown South Bend, which was intended to feature both a new station for Amtrak and a new local bus transit hub for South Bend Transpo.Multiple sources: Efforts planning this station date back to 1992. It ultimately opened in 1998, after Kernan's mayoralty had ended, as the South Street Station, but only as a bus center without an Amtrak component.
Other matters As mayor, Kernan worked to create a better working relationship between the South Bend city government and the nearby University of Notre Dame.
In 1988, taking advantage of a decline in interest rates, Kernan refinanced Coveleski Stadium through the newly created South Bend Redevelopment Authority.
1996 election as lieutenant governor