Bud Hockenberg
7/2/2025
In our mind, Harlan “Bud” Hockenberg epitomizes “the good lawyer.” His 70-plus years of service to the Des Moines legal community has featured public service (he even created a “public service boot camp” to encourage younger people), bi-partisan politics and multi denominational religious communities.
During a period when no one seems willing to cross aisles, in politics or faith, we asked him to lunch in hope of gleaning some optimism. He asked to meet at the Coppola Hockenberg Law Firm where he prefers ordering delivery (from places like Noah’s Ark and Latin King) to going out on a workday. We talked about antisemitism, agriculture and politicians just hours before Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear and military structures.
This is Hockenberg’s fourth law firm and third in which he is a named partner. That’s unusual. Most lawyers I know work toward the singular goal of getting their name on one door.
“Life is replete with surprises; you need to be flexible.”
Hockenberg was part of the Iowa delegation that met USSR Premier Nikita Khrushchev on his historic visit to Iowa in 1959.
“I represented Bookey Packing then. Khrushchev wanted to find a model for agricultural success. He didn’t find one that worked for Russia.”
Heraclitus warned that “if you do not expect the unexpected, you will not find it.” The 1950s was the last time American cattle inventories were as low as they are today. Yet, we have twice as many humans to feed in America now.
“Yes, 160 million then, 321 million now. There are many reasons for that. Dietary fads keep changing. People quit eating things when they hear they are bad for your health. Science is just an educated guess.”
Larry McMurtry wrote that medicine is the softest science, and nutrition is the melted margarine of medical science. In the opposite corner, there are religious food laws that have not changed in 2,500 years.
“Kosher laws were implemented to protect the safety of diets. Halal laws emulated kosher laws a millennium later for the same reason.”
They are one of few things that Jews and Muslims believe in common. In 2001, Caribou Coffee was sold to an investment bank in Bahrain. Their new board was contributing money to Hamas and Hezbollah. When asked about terrorist connections, their CLO said, “It isn’t murder if you are only killing Jews.” That was utterly shocking at the time and repelled Jewish customers, particularly in Chicago. Such words are now freely hurled about on American college campuses. What has happened since then?
“The charters of both Palestine Liberation Front and Hamas openly call for the murder of Jews. I recommend reading ‘The American Cultural Revolution’ by Christopher Rufo. He traces the indoctrination of such antisemitism to the end of WW II and the creation of Israel. Plans were based on a food analogy — plant a seed, nurture it and you will reap a harvest.
“Originally it was Saudi Arabia and Qatar which donated large sums to American universities to gain some control over the hiring of trustees, professors and the curriculum. The idea was to indoctrinate American students first in colleges then K-12. Antisemitism was part of that indoctrination. Today’s riots on campuses are led by anarchists like Antifa who are fully indoctrinated.”
Israel’s survival is a kind of miracle considering the intensity of the hatred.
“There was a lobby in the U.S. opposed to Israel from the beginning. George Marshall was a great general who became a powerful Secretary of State and Defense. He was against Israel’s existence. I think he was worried about Arab oil. We were more dependent on it then. Marshall threatened to run against Truman if he recognized Israel. Fortunately, Truman had the courage to resist his pressure. Truman was influenced by his old Jewish partner in his furniture store.”
That’s a good example of expecting the unexpected.
“Truman was a complete historical accident. He broke with the powerful Tom Pendergast machine and still won election to the U.S. Senate, against three primary challengers. FDR wanted to get rid of Henry Wallace, so he plucked Truman out of obscurity to be vice president. Then FDR died, and Truman was president. Then he was reelected against the odds.”
Did Marshall run against him?
“No. Marshall was too smart.”
People say that history is written by the victors.
“No, it’s written by the survivors. Going back to ancient Egypt, there are statues that depict Pharaohs as victorious in battles they actually lost.”
While antisemitism among Americans has been growing for 70 years, Israel’s actual foes have dwindled. How did that happen?
“Winning — wars and minds. The 1948 War was miraculous. Israel was alone fighting seven nations. A lot of American and Canadian Jews volunteered to help them. But the Arab countries began to see economic opportunities in Israel’s existence. Israel from its beginning has been focused on technologies. They have no oil, so they must innovate to survive. Egypt and Jordan were the first to see Israel as an asset to Mideast prosperity.”
Israel is usually a top-three nation in securing patents, along with Japan and the U.S.
“Out of necessity. Israelis invented the drone and built the Iron Dome. Go talk to scientists in Iowa State’s Department of Agriculture. They have all been to Israel — to learn on the cutting edge. Daniel Hillel won the World Food Prize for inventing better ways to irrigate crops in arid climates. Arab countries saw that as a good thing. One at a time, they saw Israel as a good neighbor. Oct. 9 (2023) was Hamas’ attempt to stop Saudi Arabia from joining the Abraham Accord.”
One of Hockenberg’s creations was the group “Iowans for Israel.” Was that inspired by his synagogue?
“No, that was just two lawyers, myself and Ed Skinner. I’m Jewish; Ed was Lutheran. But we exchanged ideas a lot, and one day he told me that he learned to love Israel on his mother’s lap. We thought it was important that the group be multi-denominational.”
What other politicians have impressed Hockenberg?
“Bob Ray was a pragmatic futurist. He had visions and schedules to implement them. That’s how he got marvelous things done. He welcomed Asian refugees to Iowa after several larger states had refused. He even got the Air Force to change policies about them by refusing to let them land here.
“I admire Charles Grassley’s candor and transparency. He doesn’t visit all 99 counties each year as a stunt. He considers it a learning experience.
“I think Robert Kennedy Jr. is the first politician with the courage to actually examine the U.S. food supply chain.”
We have written about U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brook Rollins and how weak and nontransparent she seems compared to other cabinet members. Could President Trump be using her as a token while he wants to abolish the department?
“Not abolish it. He wants to decentralize it. Get it out of D.C. and into the fields where agriculture’s innovations happen. Where things actually grow.” n
