Daniel J. Evans

Daniel J. Evans
United States Senator from Washington
In office September 1, 1983 – January 3, 1989
Preceded by	Henry M. Jackson
Succeeded by	Slade Gorton
16th Governor of Washington
In office January 11, 1965 – January 12, 1977
Lieutenant	John Cherberg
Preceded by	Albert Rosellini
Succeeded by	Dixy Lee Ray
Member of the Washington House of Representatives from the 43rd district
In office 1957–1965
Preceded by	R. Mort Frayn
Succeeded by	Newman H. Clark
Personal details
Born	October 16, 1925 (1925-10-16) (age 86) Seattle, Washington United States
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Religion	Congregationalist

Daniel Jackson Evans (born October 16, 1925) served three terms as the 16th Governor of the state of Washington from 1965 to 1977, and represented the state in the United States Senate from 1983 to 1989.^[1]

Evans was seriously considered for the Republican vice presidential nomination on the ticket with Gerald Ford in 1976 (but lost out to Bob Dole); Richard Nixon in 1968 had also hinted at a possible Evans nomination for the vice presidency. At the 1968 Republican National Convention (where he gave the keynote address) Evans refused to endorse Nixon for the presidential nomination, remaining a supporter of the doomed candidacy of Nelson Rockefeller.^[2]

Early life

Evans was born in Seattle, Washington (where he lives as of 2007^[update]),^[1] descended from a family that had first arrived in the Washington Territory in 1859; his grandfather had served in one of Washington's first state senates. He grew up in the Laurelhurst neighborhood and attended Roosevelt High School.^[3]

As a young man, Evans was an Eagle Scout,^[4] and served as a staff member and Hike Master at Camp Parsons, a well known Boy Scout camp in Washington State. As an adult, he was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.

After high school, he served in the United States Navy 1943–1946.^[1] He first entered the V-12 Navy College Training Program and was stationed at the University of Washington (UW), but was transferred eight months later to an ROTC program at University of California, Berkeley. He did not see combat; he was deployed to the Pacific shortly after the end of World War II as a commissioned ensign on a succession of aircraft carriers, before returning to UW in 1946.^[3]

Evans graduated from the UW with degrees in civil engineering (BS, 1948, MS, 1949);^[1][3] the UW later (in 2007) gave him the distinction of Alumnus Summa Laude Dignitatus, the highest distinction the university confers on its graduates.^[3] He returned to the United States Navy 1951–1953^[1] before working as a structural engineer^[1][3] (1953–1956); in the latter capacity, he helped draw up the plans for the Alaskan Way Viaduct.^[3]

Political career

Having attended Toastmasters to improve his initially abysmal public speaking style,^[2] Evans served in the Washington State House of Representatives from 1956 to 1965 before being elected governor.^[1]

Despite being a Republican and a self-styled conservative, Evans became known for his administration's liberal policies on environmental protection (he founded the country's first state-level Department of Ecology, which became Nixon's blueprint for the federal EPA) and strong support of the state's higher education system, including founding Washington's system of community colleges. He fought unsuccessfully for a state income tax.^[4]

Evans served as governor from 1965 through 1977,^[1] still the only governor to serve three consecutive terms in Washington state history. A 1981 University of Michigan study named him one of the ten outstanding American governors of the 20th century.^[4] He declined to run for a fourth term.^{[citation needed]}

Serial killer Ted Bundy served as a campaign aide for Evans and maintained a close relationship with the Governor. During the 1972 campaign, Bundy followed Evans' Democratic opponent around the state, tape recording his speeches and reported back to Evans personally. A minor scandal later followed when the Democrats found out about Bundy, who had been posing as a college student.^{[citation needed]}

From 1977 to 1983 Evans served as the second president of The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington,^[1] which Evans had created in 1967 by signing a legislative act authorizing the formation of the college. The largest building on the Evergreen campus is named the Daniel J. Evans Library in his honor.[[1]] In 1983, Governor John Spellman appointed Evans to the United States Senate to fill a seat left vacant by the death of longtime senator Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson. Evans won a special election later that year against Mike Lowry and filled the remainder of Jackson's unexpired term, retiring from politics after the 1988 elections.^[1] He was not happy as a U.S. Senator; he wrote an April 1988 piece in The New York Times Magazine, "Why I'm Quitting the Senate", in which he complained of "bickering and protracted paralysis".^[4]

Later life

After leaving the Senate in 1989, Evans founded his own consulting firm, Daniel J. Evans Associates.^[1] Governor Mike Lowry appointed him to the Board of Regents of the University of Washington in 1993; Evans served as the board's president from 1996 to 1997,^[1] and in 1999 the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University was named for him. Evans also went on to work in media doing an editorial weekly on the KIRO-TV newscasts from the early to mid 1990s. Late in 1969 Evans also said the quote pain is weakness leaving the body at a seminar in Kentucky. Evans is a director of the Initiative for Global Development^[5].

Elections

The following are the vote tallies from Evans' statewide elections:^{[citation needed]}

YEAR	OFFICE	CANDIDATE	PARTY	Seattle	Rest of King County	King total	State
1983	US Senate	Daniel J Evans	R	83901	160244	244145	672326
1983	US Senate	Mike Lowry	D	101415	90849	192264	540981
1972	Governor	Daniel J Evans	R	140769	151757	292526	747825
1972	Governor	Al Rosellini	D	103559	100543	204102	630613
1972	Governor	Victor Gould	Tax	9890	17990	27880	86843
1972	Governor	Henry Killman	SL	1361	775	2136	4552
1972	Governor	Robin David	SW	779	497	1276	2709
1968	Governor	Daniel Evans	R	139827	132087	271914	692378
1968	Governor	John O'Connell	D	97781	81426	179207	560262
1968	Governor	Ken Chriswell	C	2333	2889	5222	11602
1968	Governor	Henry Killman	SW	176	198	374	1113
1964	Governor	Daniel J Evans	R	140043	114587	254630	697256
1964	Governor	Albert D Rosellini	D	116745	73639	190384	548692
1964	Governor	Henry Killman	SL	1441	888	2329	4326

The following are the results of his State Legislative races for the office of 43rd District representative:^{[citation needed]}

YEAR	CANDIDATE	PARTY	VOTES
1962	Daniel J Evans	R	10710
1962	William E Young	R	10295
1962	Roy Jacobs	D	3728
1962	Larry R Ourada	D	3719
1960	Walter B Williams	R	12847
1960	Daniel J Evans	R	12309
1960	Arthur J Sweeney	D	5510
1960	Barry J Reischling	D	4993
1958	Daniel J Evans	R	9332
1958	Zeke Clark	R	9054
1958	John Spiller	D	5069
1956	Daniel J Evans	R	13049
1956	Zeke Clark	R	11739
1956	John Spiller	D	6588
1956	Roy Jacobs	D	4997

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} Congressional Biography, accessed online 13 August 2007.
2. ^ ^{a b} McHenry 2007, p. 24–25.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} McHenry 2007, p. 24.
4. ^ ^{a b c d} McHenry 2007, p.25.
5. ^ http://igdleaders.org/sections/whoweare/whoweare_leadershipcouncil.asp

References

• Eric McHenry, "Engineer of Change", Columns (the University of Washington alumni magazine), June 2007, p. 22–26.

External links

• Congressional Biography
• The Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs

Political offices
Preceded by Albert Rosellini	Governors of Washington 1965–1977	Succeeded by Dixy Lee Ray
United States Senate
Preceded by Scoop Jackson	United States Senator (Class 1) from Washington 1983–1989 Served alongside: Slade Gorton, Brock Adams	Succeeded by Slade Gorton

Persondata
Name	Evans, Daniel Jackson
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 16, 1925
Place of birth	Seattle, Washington
Date of death
Place of death