This oral history interview with Ken Rinke was conducted by Betsey Ellsworth from August 10-11, 1995. In this interview, Rinke discusses his family background and early life in St. Paul, Minnesota. He discusses his early interest in politics, including his involvement with the Farm Labor Party. He then talks about coming to Oregon in 1939; working odd jobs, including as a photographer; and then enlisting in the Oregon National Guard as an aerial photographer in 1941. He talks briefly about his service during World War II in Africa, then discusses his return to Oregon and subsequent involvement in the Democratic Party. He discusses recruiting Democratic candidates, alongside Howard Morgan and Monroe Sweetland, to run for state offices, as well as working on Democratic political campaigns, particularly Edith Green’s 1954 campaign against Tom McCall for the U.S. House of Representatives. He closes the interview by talking about Bob Packwood’s 1968 campaign against Wayne Morse for the U.S. Senate.