Former Kansas State Representative Bill Reardon is a storyteller, famous in the Democratic caucus for his jokes, stories, and anecdotes, told with great enthusiasm. This 2019 oral history interview covering Bill's 30 years in the Kansas House of Representatives is filled with examples of those stories. Reardon talks about how he was inspired by seeing John F. Kennedy in Kansas City and also by his brother and father, both political figures in Wyandotte County. There is an entertaining description of a hearing he chaired in the Federal and State Affairs committee on the Equal Rights Amendment in 1977. Reardon divides his legislative service into two periods -- the bipartisan problem-solving work of the first 15 years, and a more ideologically driven, partisan era in the last fifteen years. His descriptions of developing and passing the 1992 school finance bill are consistent with other interviews of legislators serving at that time. Reardon also tells stories and makes observations about how leadership worked and finally, about the Governor Sam Brownback years when Bill lobbied for the Kansas City, Kansas school district. He ended the interview with his story about a land turtle which was not transcribed because of its length, but if you see Bill, ask him about the turtle story.
A printable copy of the transcript of the interview can be accessed at https://ksoralhistory.org.
Bill Reardon is a lifelong resident of Kansas City Kansas. After attending Bishop Ward High School, he received a BA from Rockhurst College in 1963. He began teaching government and social studies at Bishop Miege High School and became the girl's assistant basketball coach. He taught there for the next 40 years. While teaching he earned his master's degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Reardon represented his district in Wyandotte County for 30 years, beginning in 1975 and retiring in 2004. In 2005 he started lobbying for the Kansas City, KS school district (USD 500) until his final retirement in 2015. Most of his years in the legislature were spent as a minority party member, except two times when the Democrats were in the majority (1977-78 and 1991-92). Most of his service was on the Education Committee as the ranking minority member. He chaired the Federal and State Affairs Committee as well. He also served in the leadership, as Speaker pro tem and as Assistant Minority Leader.
This interview was conducted by the Kansas Oral History Project, Inc. (KOHP), a non-profit organization (501(c)(3)) that records, transcribes, and makes available to the public, oral histories of various aspects of life in Kansas. KOHP is supported by grants and donations, including grants from Humanities Kansas and Evergy. KOHP does not charge for non-commercial use of the oral histories it collects.
Suggested citation: Reardon, Bill (August 2, 2019) interviewed by Jim McLean. Video file of an oral history interview conducted for the Kansas Oral History Project, Inc. Retrieved from • Interview of Jim Reardon by Jim McLean, Au... .
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