My Experiences with Granny D, 100, Who Walked Across the Country for Campaign Finance Reform

During the summer of 2004, I was working for the Kerry/Edwards campaign in New Hampshire. The energy was exceptionally high in New England that summer — it was the experience that really got me hooked on electoral campaigning and political advocacy in general. Many of the people I met along the way that year, I still credit to having a foundational part of my budding love for campaigns.

The beauty of New Hampshire being such a small state — and the first primary state nonetheless — is that there are always a plethora of speeches during the entire campaign cycle. And driving to see them is never that far because of the New England-ness of it all.

One of those particular events was a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate who went by the name of Granny D — otherwise known as Doris Haddock. She was running against incumbent Republican Judd Gregg for the U.S. Senate, and was speaking that day opening for another political surrogate. I really didn’t know anything about her story.

At that time, Granny D was 92. She walked up to the stage, donning her signature straw hat with buttons, and gave one of the most impassioned speeches I had ever seen about the necessity of going back to cleaner politics. She told anecdotes about her journey walking across the country for campaign finance reform.

On January 1, 1999, at the age of 88, Granny D left the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and walked ten miles each day for 14 months, making speeches during her stops. When she arrived in Washington D.C., she was 90 years old and had traveled more than 3200 miles.

This woman in her late 80s and 90s had accomplished what many hope to in a lifetime. Granny D really challenged the societal notion of relaxed, retirement living.

In fact, I’ve always remembered Granny D’s story as inspiration for knowing it’s never too late to get out there and achieve what you set your mind to. I find it poignant that in the years since the Kerry campaign, I’ve stumbled upon Granny D on television two distinct times.

The first was when I was living in Santa Ana, CA and was just deciding whether or not to get back into the election cycle in 2008. I was channel surfing and saw snippets of Granny D in the documentary Run Granny Run, depicting her 2004 Senate campaign. It gave me a renewed sense of hope and inspiration in a moment of uncertainty.

Check out a trailer of the documentary below:

And the second? It was actually last night. Relaxing before turning in for the evening, I saw a special on “90s and Loving It” (a mouthful). The second person I saw when I tuned in was, as you may have guessed, Granny D. This time, she really accentuated her personal take on the secret of living to be 100 years old.

She said, “Most people are told that when you are 65, you’re too damn old to be working. It’s not true. Now is the time to have fun. Now is the time to serve your country.” I sadly learned that Granny D passed away in March 2010, but her life continues to inspire me, and I’m grateful that her wisdom keeps unexpectedly popping up in my life. And, she proves the notion that if you are ever thinking about that second chance, going after what you are really passionate about in this life — now is always the perfect time.

Check out a brief snippet of Granny D’s quote in the PBS documentary below (at 37 seconds):

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