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Editor’s Note: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has had quite a ride during her first few weeks of national attention – getting on the cover of major newsmagazines, scoring high TV ratings for her convention speech and her first network interview, and receiving credit for breathing new life into John McCain’s presidential campaign.

But Palin remains an enigma to many, leading historian Lisa Pease to look back at Palin's early days as mayor of Wasilla, a town of about 6,000 people:

We've seen the speeches, the rumors, and the spin. But who is Sarah Palin, really? The Bible says, in essence, by their acts you shall know them. So it's fitting we turn our glance to Palin's first executive role as mayor of the tiny hamlet of Wasilla, Alaska.

Only 10 days after she had been elected mayor, Palin seized the reins in the most brutal of ways: she asked all of the city's top officials to resign as a "loyalty test."

''Wasilla is moving forward in a positive direction,'' Palin explained. ''This is the time for the department heads to let me know if they plan to move forward or if it's time for a change.'' [Anchorage Daily News, Oct. 26, 1996]

She also quickly instituted what a local paper characterized as a "gag order" that required all city department heads to get the mayor's approval before talking to the press. Palin explained she only wanted department heads to hold off talking until they better understood the goals of her new administration.

After less than four months in office, Palin summarily fired the city's police chief and library director. Neither had received any warning.

Mary Ellen Emmons, the library director, who had served the community in that position for over seven years, believed the firings were politically motivated. Both Emmons and Irl Stambaugh, the city's police chief, had supported Palin's opponent in the mayoral race, long-time mayor John Stein.

“I've been in law enforcement for 26 years and I take pride in what I've gained,” Stambaugh told the Anchorage Daily News [Jan. 31, 1997]. “I would never do anything to undermine the city or the police department.”

Palin, when questioned by the Anchorage paper, said she hadn't actually fired them. Stambaugh then read to her over the phone the letter he had received from her office, which said, “Although I appreciate your service as police chief, I've decided it's time for a change. I do not feel I have your full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla. Therefore I intend to terminate your employment.”

“If that's not a letter of termination, I don't know what is,” Stambaugh said.

Palin ultimately decided to keep the librarian, but fired the man with 26 years of law enforcement experience. And whether she kept the librarian in part due to the public's growing outrage at her actions, prompting talk of a recall petition, is not known.

Stambaugh fought back, and slapped a lawsuit on the city. While most officials serve at the pleasure of the mayor, he had negotiated a contract that ensured he could not be fired without “cause.”

Palin said she fired him because she didn't feel he was loyal to her. Stambaugh's suit alleged he was fired because he advocated closing bars early to combat alcohol-related traffic accidents, for supporting a concealed-gun law that the NRA supported, and for being a large male (over six feet tall) that Palin, so he had been told, found intimidating. (Stambaugh ultimately lost his suit.)

In late 2000, the residents of Alaska faced a state-wide initiative to cap property taxes.

While Palin's name was listed on the initiative's Web site as being in support of the cap, when questioned shortly before the vote, Palin, perhaps responding to growing citizen concerns about the measure, said she'd seen more problems in it recently, especially for rural cities and boroughs who might rely upon such taxes, and refused to be a spokesperson for the measure.

While claiming she was glad the measure was on the ballot, Palin was coy about how she'd eventually vote. When pressed for her answer by a reporter, Palin replied, after giving several evasive statements, "I'm so sorry I'm such a weasel."

Lisa Pease is a historian who has studied the Kennedy assassinations and other enduring political mysteries.

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