Narrator: In 1953, newly elected governor William Marland made a stunning proposal: a stiff new tax on coal. A former miner, Marland said that outside interests had exploited the state for 50 years, leaving behind a scarred landscape yet few tax dollars. "We are paying a fearful price to allow coal to be extracted from the hills of West Virginia," he declared. "It is only right that we should be able to point with pride to better roads and schools as a result of this awful toll."

Richard Grimes: "In West Virginia, the big coal barons had run the state for years, and he came in and right off called for this severance tax on coal and just about blew their mind. I mean, these guys were like, "What?" It's like they felt that they owned the legislature. You know, I mean, they would pay for all this and pay for all that, and how dare this guy come in and do that? It's like striking mom and dad or something."

Narrator: Coal operators lobbied fiercely against the tax, saying it would cripple the state's leading industry, and the state legislature rejected it soundly. Marland's proposals for other taxes were defeated, as well.

Marland was successful in desegregating West Virginia's public schools beginning in 1954, despite the objections of several southern counties.

William Marland: "We took the position that the Supreme Court's ruling was the law of the land, and that as such, we should obey it in both spirit and word. To this end, we have worked, and I am glad to say that those who have studied the segregation and integration program of the public schools of the nation have been loud in their praise of West Virginia's efforts in this field."

Grimes: "Marland did not get most of the things that he asked for. He never did come to peace with the coal operators in the state who never forgave him. The only problem was he had a personal drinking problem, which he later admitted. He started to feel like a failure when, in fact, probably he wasn't. And his drinking problem tended to get worse."

Narrator: Frustrated and weakened by alcoholism, William Marland joined the exodus from West Virginia in 1959. Reporters later found him in Chicago driving a taxi.