Vic Atiyeh, the even-tempered, low-key Republican governor who guided Oregon through the deep recession of the early 1980s, died at 8:15 p.m. Sunday of kidney failure. He was 91.

Atiyeh was admitted to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center on Saturday with shortness of breath and possible internal bleeding, according to Denny Miles, a family spokesman who also served as Atiyeh's gubernatorial press secretary.

Gov. John Kitzhaber said in a statement that he was "deeply saddened" by Atiyeh's death, describing the former governor as a "mentor and a friend" who "led Oregon out of the recession of the early 1980s, with a strategy embraced by both parties, and went on to make international trade a cornerstone of Oregon's economy."

The former governor had been in the hospital earlier last week for treatment of an adverse reaction to pain medicine following rib injuries caused by a July 5 fall in his Washington County home. His wife, Dolores, 90, has been in a rehabilitation facility following hip and wrist surgery after a separate fall on July 13. However, along with other family members, she spent several hours at her husband's bedside Sunday.

Atiyeh, governor from 1979 to 1987, became an elder statesman for his party after his governorship. He frequently told Republicans that he looked forward to the day that he would no longer be introduced as the last Republican to serve as governor -- but it didn't happen in his lifetime.

He was the first state leader to court Asian business, earning him the nickname "Trader Vic" and laying the groundwork for a modern Oregon economy that relies heavily on international trade.

Atiyeh often reminded his staff: "It's amazing how much you can get done if you don't care who takes credit for it." Nonetheless, his fellow Republicans and Democrats alike credit him as a man who helped change the face of Oregon.

The nation's first Arab American governor, Atiyeh fought for minority groups, including backing legislation ensuring that racial and religious harassment would be a felony in Oregon.

He was a proponent of land-use planning and worked behind the scenes to win lasting protection for the Columbia River Gorge.

However, Atiyeh's two terms in office will always be colored by the bleak economic times.

Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, served in his first legislative session in 1981 as Atiyeh and lawmakers were grappling with rising unemployment and growing budget shortfalls.

"He became a model for me" of how to get through tough times, said Courtney, adding that Atiyeh's legacy was of "how to make things work when everything is going against you."

"He was the epitome of a public servant and gave so much to so many in Oregon," said House Minority Leader Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, in a statement. "Governor Atiyeh was quick to encourage this generation to work together to solve Oregon's problems."

The Great Recession that hit Oregon in 2008 was not as bad as the financial disaster Oregon faced in the early 1980s. The timber industry, the state's main economic driver, crashed, leaving shuttered mills and empty storefronts around the state. The unemployment rate reached 12.1 percent in December 1982.

Atiyeh was a hands-on manager who dedicated the bulk of his time to the fine print of the state budget.

He favored short sleeves over fancy dress shirts and refused to believe that an Oregon governor needed an official residence, especially one with an upstairs ballroom. He sat down for weekly meetings with the press corps, even if he had nothing specific to announce. He also relished chatting it up with the public during daily half-hour open houses at the Capitol.

Atiyeh would smile when he talked about those meetings: "People would say: 'Are you really the governor?' I'd say: 'Yep.' "

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat who admitted he got off on the wrong political foot with Atiyeh, said he came to be a "great admirer."

The GOP governor was the "quintessential Oregonian. Straightforward. Results-oriented," Wyden said. "No one ever walked away without knowing where he stood."

Rabbi Emanuel Rose, rabbi emeritus at Portland's Congregation Beth Israel, described Atiyeh as a "total gentleman."

"He was a very broad-minded, understanding man because he himself came out of a background that could have been attacked by many people — and was," Rose said. "But he lived above that."

Victor George Atiyeh was born in Portland on Feb. 20, 1923, to Syrian immigrants George and Linda Asly Atiyeh. George had come to the United States near the turn of the century to operate an Oriental carpet business with his older brother Aziz. That business became Atiyeh Brothers.

Vic Atiyeh grew up in a racially and ethnically mixed neighborhood. He attended Holladay Grade School and Washington High School in Portland and then the University of Oregon, where he studied for two years and played guard for the Ducks football team.

In a characteristic assessment, a coach later said Atiyeh's main failing as a ball player was that "he never got mad enough." However, Atiyeh was scouted by several professional football teams and turned down an offer to play for the Green Bay Packers.

Along with his older, twin brothers, Richard and Edward, Atiyeh joined the military during World War II. His brothers went on to fight in the Battle of the Bulge and were taken as prisoners of war. But Vic Atiyeh's childhood broken leg and ankle injuries kept him out of active service.

Atiyeh married his high school sweetheart, Dolores Hewitt, on July 5, 1944. His father died that summer, and Atiyeh dropped out of school to take over the family carpet business.

His political career began in 1958, when Atiyeh was recruited to run for the Oregon House representing Washington County. He went on to serve three terms in the House and was elected to four terms in the Senate, where he served as Senate minority leader.

Atiyeh suffered the only loss of his political career when he first ran for governor in 1974. Though he won the GOP primary against a more favored candidate, Atiyeh was soundly trounced in the general election by Oregon Treasurer Bob Straub.

Atiyeh ran again in 1978 and in a GOP primary upset, he defeated former Gov. Tom McCall, who was trying to stage a comeback after leaving office. Atiyeh went on to beat incumbent Straub in the general election.

Sworn into office on Jan. 8, 1979, the new governor soon faced a nightmare combination of events.

A Mideast oil embargo in 1979 caused an increase in interest rates, which led to a sharp drop in housing starts, which in turn caused a drastic slowdown in the wood products industry. State revenues plummeted.

But, as a result of prosperous times during the late 1970s, the state also had a record $600 million budget windfall. The Legislature passed a tax relief package that included a 30 percent reduction in some property taxes.

Atiyeh would later regret signing it. When state revenues plummeted, government was left with a shortfall approaching $700 million. Atiyeh called special budget-cutting sessions in 1980 and three more special sessions in 1982, including a record 37-day special session.

The first-term Republican governor had to deal with a Democratic-controlled Legislature. But Gary Wilhelms, who was House Republican minority leader at the time, said Atiyeh had the advantage of knowing the Democratic leaders because he'd served with them in the House and Senate.

"They trusted him," Wilhelms said. "He was a man of his word."

Atiyeh led the Legislature through a series of budget cuts that included cutting welfare at a time when families needed it most. At the same time, Atiyeh pushed to create Oregon Food Share, the nation's first statewide food bank.

After they concluded that no more could be cut, Atiyeh and Democratic legislative leaders agreed to an income tax surcharge raising the top rate from 10 percent to 10.9 percent. They also hiked cigarette taxes, curbed business tax deductions and cut a property tax relief program.

They didn't ask voters to approve the higher taxes. They just did it.

"During tough times, you do everything you need to do," Atiyeh said years later. "You don't worry about getting re-elected. You get the job done."

In 1982, Atiyeh ran for re-election against a gregarious young state senator named Ted Kulongoski. Atiyeh may have lacked McCall's charisma, but he did know something about politics.

Atiyeh had a network of thousands of volunteers and supporters. He also ran ads portraying Kulongoski's ideas as dangerous to the state's business climate. He won with 62 percent of the vote.

During his second term, Atiyeh concentrated on diversifying Oregon's economy.

From his experience in the rug business, Atiyeh figured Oregon could be a natural trade partner with Asian markets.

He led trade missions to Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. On his first trip to Japan, in 1979, Atiyeh joked that the people knew what a governor was, "but they didn't know what Oregon was."

He also traveled to California's Silicon Valley to court companies seeking to expand.

Gerry Thompson, Atiyeh's chief of staff and the first woman to hold that position for an Oregon governor, said she and Atiyeh had been negotiating with the Japanese high-tech firm NEC.

"They had made it perfectly clear they didn't like our unitary tax. Period. End of subject," she said.

The next day, Thompson said the governor called her into his office and said: "Gerry, we're going to do it. Let's repeal the unitary tax."

Under the unitary tax, multinational corporations could be taxed on sales outside Oregon. Atiyeh called a one-day special session to repeal it. He had his votes lined up early, despite objections of what it would cost the state at a time of dire recession.

"We never once went into a special session without the governor having it absolutely, totally orchestrated," Thompson said. "We told people we had to do it ... If one company stepped forward and said: 'We have faith in Oregon' that would open the door to so many more."

In 1984, Oregon became the first state to repeal its unitary tax. Asked more than two decades later if it had been difficult to pull off with a Democratic Legislature, Atiyeh answered: "It was surprisingly simple."

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, who cut his political teeth by helping the Republican with press relations during the 1978 gubernatorial campaign, said Atiyeh put Oregon above political ambition.

"He reset the state through changes in tax policy to become a leader in high technology development. He reset the state to become a very active participant in international trade. He helped create a whole new economy," Walden said.

Unfortunately, he added, "it didn't all happen on his watch."

"The ribbon cuttings and the building openings occurred after that. He laid out the markers. He dug the ditches and he poured the foundations for what really developed, especially in the Portland metro area and the high-tech growth that occurred there."

Two stories from Atiyeh's time as governor have remained largely untold.

The first involved Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his 2,000 followers who took over a cattle ranch in Wasco County.

Atiyeh refused to meet with Rajneesh leadership, saying that would legitimize them. Instead, his chief of staff acted as the state's representative. Behind the scenes, Atiyeh guided the state's response, which began to focus on many criminal investigations and concerns.

The commune collapsed in late 1985 after Rajneesh was convicted of immigration fraud and deported. Some of his followers were convicted or accused of various crimes, including plotting to murder state and local officials

Several years later, Atiyeh disclosed to The Dalles newspaper that fear of violence from the cult was so strong that he always carried an unsigned executive order in his pocket declaring a state of emergency in Wasco, Jefferson and Deschutes counties.

In 2011, Atiyeh told a reporter for The Oregonian that he suspected he might have been a target of the group's poisons. The night before the 1985 Legislature convened, Atiyeh said he attended a GOP dinner. "All of a sudden I felt terrible," he said. "Dizzy. Just terrible."

He went home and put on his pajamas but eventually went to the hospital where he was kept overnight.

"They never could say what it was," he said.

The second story involved the creation of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

While the late Sen. Mark Hatfield is widely credited with guiding gorge protections through Congress, Atiyeh said he had a hand in talking President Ronald Reagan out of a veto.

Atiyeh remembered calling White House former chief of staff James Baker: "I said: Have I asked the president for anything?' He said: 'No, you haven't.' I said: 'I want this.' "

Toward the end of his second term, as the state's economy recovered, Atiyeh was sharply criticized for lacking bold initiatives. During the 1986 governor's race, Atiyeh and the government in Salem became the butt of jokes by Democratic candidate Neil Goldschmidt, who campaigned on getting rid of the "Atiyeh deadwood."

In an interview shortly before he left office, Atiyeh said the economy commanded his attention and kept him from other initiatives he might have pursued: "If I had McCall's eight years or the four years of Straub or the four years ahead of Goldschmidt, there's no question I would have been able to accomplish a lot more."

After 20 years in public office, Atiyeh turned to private pursuits, including his international trade consulting business, Atiyeh International. He served on corporate boards and on the boards of the Japan-America Society of Oregon, Boy Scouts of America, the Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation and The Museum at Warm Springs.

He kept an office in downtown Portland, where he continued to go each day well into his 80s.

Politically, Atiyeh enjoyed the role of elder statesman. He served as an adviser to Republican presidential, congressional and gubernatorial campaigns.

In 2005, Atiyeh, then 82, suffered a mild heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery. On the way to the hospital, he stopped to fill his wife's car with fuel.

"It had nothing to do with the price of gas," he insisted. "I just thought, 'Well, Dolores is going to need the car.' "

Survivors include his wife, Dolores, their daughter, Suzanne Atiyeh; son, Tom Atiyeh; and five grandchildren.

In 2005, the Legislature honored the former governor by naming a terminal at the Portland International Airport after him. Asked in a 2011 interview how he wanted Oregonians to remember him, Atiyeh paused for a long time. His dark eyes filled with tears. When he responded, his answer wasn't about what he did, but what he wanted for Oregonians. He referred to his quotation displayed near his statue on the PDX concourse.

It reads: "I treasure this country, and because I treasure it, I worry about it. We need to nurture, protect and respect how important each and every one of us is in a system of government. If we are strong, America is strong. If we are weak, America is weak. Each Oregon citizen is a unique part of a unique country, and we have a double duty to protect what we have here, in Oregon, and in the United States."

-- Michelle Cole, Jeff Mapes

Former staff writers Charles Pope and Foster Church contributed to this report.