Lee E. Emerson

Infobox Governor
name= Lee Earl Emerson


caption=
order=69^th
office= Governor of Vermont
term_start= 1951
term_end= 1955
lieutenant= Joseph B. Johnson
predecessor= Harold J. Arthur
successor= Joseph B. Johnson
birth_date= 1898
birth_place= Hardwick, Vermont
death_date= 1976
death_place= Berlin, Vermont
spouse= Dorcas Ball Emerson
profession= Attorney
party= Republican
religion= American Baptist Churches USA
footnotes=

Lee Earl Emerson (1898-1976) was the sixty-ninth Governor of Vermont. He was born in Hardwick, Vermont, on December 19, 1898, and moved to Barton, Vermont, at the age of 16. He graduated from Barton Academy in 1917, received an A.S. from Syracuse University in 1921 and a L.L.B. from George Washington University Law School in 1926. He practiced law from the town of Barton.

He was elected as a Republican to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1939. He was elected Speaker of the House in 1943. [cite web |title=Vermont Archives|work=Speakers of the House |url=http://vermont-archives.org/govhistory/leg/speakerlist.htm |accessdate=2006-12-25] He was elected to the Vermont Senate in 1943, where he was elected President "Pro Tempore." [cite web |title=Vermont State Legislature|work=Vermont Senate Presidents Pro Tempore |url=http://www.leg.state.vt.us/HouseClerk/History%20of%20Elected%20Officials%20Site/Vermont%20Senate%20Presidents%20Pro%20Tempore.htm |accessdate=2006-12-25] He was Lieutenant Governor of Vermont from 1945 to 1949.

Throughout much of Vermont history lieutenant governors had served two two-year terms, and would then run for governor. However, the powerful Ernest Gibson was governor and was virtually unchallengeable. Therefore Harold J. Arthur, a striving fellow conservative, was prevailed upon to run for lieutenant governor. When Arthur unexpectedly became governor in 1950 after Gibson resigned, he loyally stood aside and let Emerson run for governor.

Emerson was elected and served from 1951 to 1955.

As governor, he recommended that Vermont citizens serving in the Korean conflict be paid a bonus by the state. He supported studies of the feasibility of building a natural gas pipeline for Vermont and of possible racial discrimination in the state. Also during his administration, legislation known as the Forest Act was passed, providing assistance for municipalities to establish forests. [cite web |title=National Governor's Association|work=Vermont Governor Lee E. Emerson |url=http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=7e4136166f008010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD |accessdate=2006-12-26]

After leaving the office of governor, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress.

In 1958, he ran unsuccessfully for the nomination for the US Senate against Winston Prouty and four others in a primary that has been described as a Republican free-for-all. [cite web |title=The World|work=The Rise of the Democratic Party |url=http://www.vt-world.com/Archive/2004/February_18_2004/Features.htm|accessdate=2006-12-26]

He married Dorcas M. Ball on August 4, 1927. They had two children, Nancy and Cynthia. [ [http://vermontgenealogy.wordpress.com/2006/12/23/obituaries-022001/ Burlington Free Press Obituaries 02/2001 « Vermont History and Genealogy ] ]

His religious affiliation was Baptist. He died in Berlin, Vermont, on May 26, 1976. [cite web |title=University of Vermont|work=Lee E. Emerson |url=http://bailey.uvm.edu:6336/dynaweb/findingaids/emerson/@Generic__BookTextView/128;cs=default;ts=default;pt=133 |accessdate=2006-12-25] He is buried in Barton. [cite web |title=RootsWeb|work=Welcome O. Brown Cemetery, Barton, Vt. |url=http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ockham/stories/s332655.htm |accessdate=2006-12-26]

Footnotes

ources

* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/emerson.html The Political Graveyard]