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Stephen McNichols

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Stephen McNichols
Chair of the National Governors Association
In office
June 26, 1960 – June 25, 1961
Preceded byJ. Caleb Boggs
Succeeded byWesley Powell
35th Governor of Colorado
In office
January 8, 1957 – January 8, 1963
LieutenantFrank L. Hays
Robert Lee Knous
Preceded byEdwin C. Johnson
Succeeded byJohn Arthur Love
34th Lieutenant Governor of Colorado
In office
January 11, 1955 – January 8, 1957
GovernorEdwin C. Johnson
Preceded byGordon L. Allott
Succeeded byFrank L. Hays
Personal details
Born
Stephen Lucid Robert McNichols

(1914-03-07)March 7, 1914
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
DiedNovember 25, 1997(1997-11-25) (aged 83)
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Resting placeMount Olivet Cemetery
Wheat Ridge, Colorado
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMajory Hart
Children5
EducationRegis University (BA)
Catholic University (LLB)
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Coast Guard
Battles/warsWorld War II

Stephen Lucid Robert McNichols (March 7, 1914 – November 25, 1997) was an American politician who served as the 35th Governor of Colorado from 1957 to 1963.

Family roots and early life

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McNichols's father, William H. McNichols, Denver's well-respected auditor for over thirty years, was influential in steering his two sons Bill and Stephen toward their success in state politics. Stephen McNichols graduated from East Denver High School and Regis College to pursue a law degree from Catholic University in Washington. After graduating in 1939, he joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a field officer in Baltimore and Boston. After a year of service, McNichols returned home to assist the Denver District Attorney, John A. Carroll. He later became an assistant in the U.S. Attorney General's antitrust division in Denver.

Marriage and service in World War II

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In 1942, McNichols married Marjory Hart. The couple had five children, Stephen, Robert, William,[a] Mary and Marjory. McNichols's family life as well as his municipal and judicial aspirations were put on hold, however, when the United States Coast Guard required his services as an officer in the amphibious corps in 1942. He distinguished himself in the service earning the Purple Heart, Bronze and Gold Stars and was promoted to lieutenant commander.

Service in the Colorado State Senate

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Less than ten years after receiving his law degree McNichols opened his own law firm McNichols, Dunn & Nevans and was elected to the state senate. As a senator McNichols soon became recognized as a skilled planner and was respected for his ability to cross party lines to achieve his goals. During his two terms he was instrumental in developing a plan for long-range highway development, a school district reorganization proposal, and a scheme to centralize public utility management.

Lieutenant Governor of Colorado

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McNichols's abilities to plan and pass legislation were rewarded in 1954 when he was elected as Edwin Johnson's lieutenant governor. When Governor Johnson was ill, which was much of the time during this administration, McNichols learned under this period the daily responsibilities of the governorship.

Governor of Colorado

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McNichols took over the responsibilities of governor when Edwin Johnson became ill and was unable to complete his term. It was this experience that helped McNichols to be elected Colorado's governor in 1956. The term was 2 years and McNichols was re-elected in 1958 and again in 1960.

Controversial activism and far-reaching plans distinguished McNichols's administration. As governor McNichols championed an improved system of school financial aid distribution and successfully lobbied for an increased university faculty salary cap. McNichols also advocated institutional reform for the State Hospital in Pueblo and State Penitentiary in Cañon City, both organizations fraught with corruption and aging structures. McNichols pushed public works projects securing federal funding for his long-range highway development program and seeing that the Fryingpan–Arkansas water development project was begun. He was also instrumental in the development of the Colorado State Archives and the governorship grew from a two to a four-year term during his administration.

To pass this tremendous package of legislation McNichols often alienated members of his own Democratic Party, and to pay for it he lobbied for an unpopular tax hike. Furthermore, McNichols's Fryingpan–Arkansas water diversion project caused friction between the Western Slope and Front Range regions. Another source of contention was McNichols's acceptance of the Executive Residence from the Boettcher Foundation. Many legislators disagreed with this decision and believed that it showed McNichols to be arrogant and power-hungry. Ironically, the same package of legislation that got him elected to the governorship in 1956 brought him defeat in his 1962 reelection campaign.

Later life and death

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McNichols's defeat at the polls continued with an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1968, serving as a Democratic National Committee member, or as the Rocky Mountain Regions U.S. Commerce Director in 1977.

His public service came to an end on November 25, 1997, when he died due to heart failure.[2] Governor Roy Romer said of McNichols, "I served in the state legislature during his tenure as governor and remember well his character, unique style and commitment to Colorado...He was one of our best governors, in an important time in our history."[3]

Notes

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  1. ^ William went on to become a Jesuit priest, artist, and poet who ministered to those with AIDS.[1]

References

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  1. ^ Mike O’Loughlin (December 20, 2019). "Meet the gay priest who served AIDS patients with Mass, prayers and art". Plague: Untold Stories of AIDS & the Catholic Church (Podcast). America. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  2. ^ Hector Gutierrez, "Steve McNichols Dies at 83: Governor from 1957 to 1963 succumbs to heart attack at hospital," Rocky Mountain News, 26 November 1997, p. 8A.
  3. ^ Fred Brown, "Ex-governor McNichols dies at 83," Denver Post, 26 November 1997, p. B1.
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Political offices
Preceded by Lieutenant Governor of Colorado
1955–1957
Succeeded by
Preceded by Governor of Colorado
1957–1963
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the National Governors Association
1960–1961
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Colorado
1956, 1958, 1962
Succeeded by
Preceded by Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Colorado
(Class 3)

1968
Succeeded by