Gordon L. Allott
Gordon Llewellyn Allott | |||
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Former Chair of the Republican Senate Policy Committee From: January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1973 | |||
Predecessor | Bourke B. Hickenlooper | ||
Successor | John Tower | ||
Former U.S. Senator from Colorado From: January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1973 | |||
Predecessor | Edwin C. Johnson | ||
Successor | Floyd Haskell | ||
Former Lieutenant Governor of Colorado From: January 9, 1951 – January 3, 1955 | |||
Governor | Walter Walford Johnson Daniel I. J. Thornton | ||
Predecessor | Charles P. Murphy | ||
Successor | Stephen McNichols | ||
Information | |||
Party | Republican | ||
Spouse(s) | Welda Allott | ||
Military Service | |||
Allegiance | United States | ||
Service/branch | United States Army | ||
Service Years | 1942–1946 | ||
Rank | Major | ||
Unit | United States Army Air Corps | ||
Battles/wars | World War I |
Gordon Llewellyn Allott (January 2, 1907 – January 17, 1989) was a Republican from Colorado who served as one of his state's U.S. Senators from 1955 to 197s. He previously had been the lieutenant governor of the state for two terms.
Contents
Early life and career
Allott was born in Pueblo, Colorado to Leonard and Bertha Allott. He attended local public schools and later the University of Colorado, graduating in 1927 and two years later from its law school. He moved to city of Lamar the year after and practiced law, working as an attorney.
During World War II, Allott served in the Army Air Corps.
U.S. Senate
Allott was elected to the Senate in 1954, narrowly defeating incumbent Democrat Edwin C. "Ed" Johnson in the general election.[1] He was re-elected in 1960[2] and 1966.[3]
He was mostly known for his work in pushing through water projects.[4] Allott sponsored the Colorado River Basin Storage Act of 1968, providing for the construction of five such projects in Colorado and one on Arizona, which aided economic development.
Allott was considered a staunch conservative in the Senate on both domestic and foreign policy, particularly in backing military spending and supporting the Vietnam War.[5] He also strongly supportive of civil rights, voting in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of Civil Rights Act of 1957,[6] 1964,[7] 1968,[8] as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965.[9]
Allott opposed much of the Great Society during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson due to the expense of the programs.[5]
In 1968, President Johnson attempted to appoint his fellow crony Abe Fortas (who was an Associate Justice) to succeed the retiring Earl Warren as Chief Justice. Fortas had previously been instrumental in the Democrat election fraud which stole the 1948 Senate Democrat primary for Johnson over his then-primary opponent Coke Stevenson. Allott helped block the nomination, and Fortas was later forced to resign from the Court due to corruption.[5]
He very narrowly lost re-election in 1972 to Democrat former state representative Floyd K. Haskell.[10] Allott missed around 16% of all roll call votes throughout his Senate tenure.[11] Despite Allott's defeat, Colorado joined forty-eight other states in support of the reelection of President Richard M. Nixon.
1989 death
Allott died in Engelwood, Colorado on January 17, 1989 at the age of eighty-two.[4] He is interred at Fairmount Cemetery, located in Denver.
See also
- Ralph L. Carr, two-term Republican governor of Colorado
- Peter Dominick, U.S. Senator for Colorado
- Eugene Millikin, Republican U.S. senator from Colorado
- George Will, former staffer to Senator Allott
References
- ↑ CO US Senate Race - Nov 02, 1954. Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
- ↑ CO US Senate Race - Nov 08, 1960. Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
- ↑ CO US Senate Race - Nov 08, 1966. Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Gordon Allott, 82; Ex-Senator From Colorado. Associated Press via The New York Times. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Barnes, Bart (January 19, 1989). EX-SENATOR GORDON ALLOTT, COLORADO REPUBLICAN, DIES. The Washington Post. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
- ↑ HR. 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
- ↑ HR. 7152. PASSAGE.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
- ↑ TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION IN SALE OR RENTAL OF HOUSING, AND TO PROHIBIT RACIALLY MOTIVATED INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON EXERCISING HIS CIVIL RIGHTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
- ↑ TO PASS S. 1564, THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
- ↑ CO US Senate Race - Nov 07, 1972. Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
- ↑ Sen. Gordon Allott. GovTrack.us. Retrieved May 26, 2021.