The year 2018 saw the last of the "Watergate Babies" leave the U.S. House of Representatives, bidding farewell to Capitol Hill after six terms in office-the coda for a singular career in politics and a man who was a liberal lion in a district colored conservative red.
Rep. Rick Nolan, D-Crosby, announced his retirement Feb. 10, 2018,-at the age of 74, he had spent six years in office between 2012 and 2018, as well as a first foray into Congress between 1975-1981.
To the annals of American politics, Nolan's 32-year gap between stints stands as a record. To his constituents-and, particularly, those in the Brainerd lakes area where he originated-his public stature and old-school charisma as one of Minnesota's finest "retail politicians" may seem more poignant upon his exit from public service.
Nolan's final years in office were marked by razor-thin victories over Republican Stewart Mills III in 2014 and 2016-seemingly following a trend, hanging on for dear life as one of the last Democrats in rural America.
Nolan was a congressman who advocated for single-payer universal health care since the 1970s. And while he broke with more progressive-leaning liberals in the Twin Cities during his final months after a troubled DFL convention, this was a man who backed Bernie Sanders in 2016 while his rural Democratic colleagues endorsed Third Way acolyte Hillary Clinton. For all his pro-mining stances and outspoken love of hunting, Nolan was just as likely-if not more-to rail about wealth inequality, increasing the minimum wage and wars for profit.
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And rail Nolan did, up to the very end, in the heart of Trump county and a district that voted for the 45th president by more than 15 percentage points.
As it turned out, Nolan's final months in office were hardly a lame-duck send off and-perhaps, in keeping with his surprising turnaround when he opted not to seek a fourth term after earlier promising to do so-he embarked on a governor-lieutenant governor bid with state Attorney General Lori Swanson.
It wasn't meant to be. Despite polling well early, a pair of scandals-one involving Nolan's handling of sexual misconduct by a staffer, the other involving practices by Swanson as attorney general-derailed the campaign and the Swanson-Nolan ticket fell to future Gov. Tim Walz in the primaries. His seat in the 8th Congressional District ultimately went to Republican candidate Pete Stauber.
Maybe retirement for the 75-year-old means quieter evenings and more time watching his grandchildren at sporting events. But, then maybe not-staffers of the man often spoke of his energy and drive.
It carried him from a Brainerd High School student, to a English/social studies teacher in Royalton, to a staffer for then-Sen. Walter Mondale, to state representative, then as a U.S. Representative in eras as different as Gerald Ford and Donald Trump are different, with a career as a private businessman sandwiched in between.
"It's never the destination, it's the journey," Nolan reflected during an interview with the Dispatch in the hours after his retirement announcement. "I've failed in everything I've ever done-including my first congressional race. I guess that's what they teach you in Brainerd, that failures aren't failures, but lessons on the path to success."
