Daniel I.J. Thornton

Daniel I.J. Thornton (January 31, 1911, to January 19, 1976) was a United States cattle breeder and Republican politician who served as the 33rd Governor of the State of Colorado from 1951 to 1955.

Daniel Isaac J. Thornton was born in Hall County, Texas, on January 31, 1911. Thornton graduated from Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University) in Lubbock and the University of California at Los Angeles and married Jessie Willock. In 1937, the Thorntons purchased a cattle ranch near Springerfield, Arizona, and in 1941 they moved their cattle operation to a ranch near Gunnison, Colorado. The Thorntons developed the Thornton Triumphant Hereford cattle strain. In 1948, Thornton was elected to the Colorado State Senate.

In 1950, Thornton defeated incumbent Democratic Governor Walter Johnson. Governor Thornton was famous for his Stetson hat, pipe, and cowboy boots. Thornton served as governor for two two-year terms. In 1952 he was one of five people on the short list for the Republican vice presidential nomination. Dwight Eisenhower, like Thornton Texas-born, instead chose Richard Nixon, a freshman U.S. senator from California. (Richard Nixon: The Rise of an American Politician. Roger Morris. Pg. 726)

In 1956 Thornton was under discussion for a cabinet appointment. He was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Colorado that year, but was narrowly defeated by John A. Carroll.^[1]

Dan Thornton died of a heart attack in Carmel, California, on January 19, 1976.

Governor Thornton is the namesake of the City of Thornton outside Denver, Colorado. In 2008, he was listed among the "100 Most Influential People" from Lubbock, as part of the city centennial observation.^[2]

See also

Biography portal

• History of Colorado
• Law and government of Colorado
• List of Governors of Colorado
• State of Colorado
• Thornton, Colorado

References

1. ^ http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=s4laAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eUkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3943,1371834&dq=dan+thornton&hl=en
2. ^ "The city's most influential people, March 9, 2008". lubbockonline.com. http://lubbockonline.com/stories/030908/loc_255257382.shtml. Retrieved September 3, 2011. 

External links

• The Governors of Colorado
  • The Governor Daniel I.J. Thornton Collection at the Colorado State Archives

Further reading

• American Hereford Journal. Kansas City, Mo.: Hereford Publications.
• Daniel I. J. Thornton Manuscript Collection. Colorado Historical Society. Denver, Co.
• Daniel I. J. Thornton Newspaper Clippings Collection. Denver Public Library. Western History Collection. Denver, Co.
• Gunnison County Stockgrowers Since 1894 : Tops in Cattle. Denver, Co.: Colorado Cattlemen's Association, 1967.

Political offices
Preceded by Walter Walford Johnson	Governor of the State of Colorado 1951–1955	Succeeded by Edwin Carl Johnson

Persondata
Name	Thornton, Daniel Isaac J.
Alternative names
Short description	American politician
Date of birth	1911
Place of birth
Date of death	1976
Place of death