Former Alaska Gov. Wally Hickel dies

One of the most unusual governors in modern American history - Alaska's Walter Hickel - died yesterday at the age of 90.

Hickel - a Republican through most of his career - resigned during his first term to become Nixon's Secretary of the Interior. However, when Hickel dared to criticize the Nixon administration's outrageous treatment of student antiwar activists, Nixon fired him.

Years later, in 1990, Hickel won a second term as governor as the candidate of the Alaska Independence Party. Most of the AIP supported Alaska seceding from the United States because they deemed the federal government not right-wing enough. (They truly believed the federal government in the '90s was leftist - despite all the proof to the contrary.) However, Hickel reportedly did not support the AIP's secessionism. This led other AIP members to back a recall election against Hickel.

Although Hickel later endorsed Sarah Palin for governor, Palin's right-wing extremism and partisanship later proved to be too much for Hickel. Last year, Hickel said that he "doesn't give a damn" what Palin does from now on. Hickel had also called for the resignation of GOP Sen. Ted Stevens following Stevens's indictment.