Former Senator and Governor of Wyoming
Milward Simpson
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In office
November 6, 1962 ? January 3, 1967
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Preceded by
| John J. Hickey
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Succeeded by
| Clifford Hansen
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In office
January 3, 1955 ? January 5, 1959
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Preceded by
| Clifford Joy Rogers
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Succeeded by
| John J. Hickey
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In office
1926?1927
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Born
| Milward Lee Simpson
(
1897-11-12
)
November 12, 1897
Jackson, Wyoming
, U.S.
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Died
| June 11, 1993
(1993-06-11)
(aged 95)
Cody, Wyoming
, U.S.
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Political party
| Republican
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Spouse
| Lorna Kooi Simpson
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Children
| Pete Simpson
Alan K. Simpson
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Alma mater
| University of Wyoming
Harvard Law School
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Profession
| Attorney; businessman
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Branch/service
| United States Army
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Battles/wars
| World War I
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Milward Lee Simpson
(November 12, 1897 – June 11, 1993) was an American politician who served as a
U.S. Senator
and as the
23rd Governor of Wyoming
, the first born in the state. In 1985, he was inducted into the
Hall of Great Westerners
of the
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
.
Life and career
[
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]
Simpson was born in
Jackson, Teton County, Wyoming
, the son of Margaret Louise Burnett (
maiden
; 1874?1974) and W.L. "Billy" Simpson (
ne
William Lee Simpson; 1868?1940).
He attended public schools in
Meeteetse
and
Cody
. He graduated from
Cody High School
in 1916.
In June 1917, at age 19, Simpson graduated from the
Tome School for Boys
in
Port Deposit, Maryland
.
As one of fifteen graduates, he was awarded Best All-Round Athlete for his outstanding performance on the school's football, basketball, and baseball teams.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
, who at the time was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, was the Commencement Speaker.
During
World War I
, Simpson served as a
second lieutenant
in the infantry,
United States Army
.
Higher education
[
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]
After the war, he attended the
University of Wyoming
, and in 1921, earned an
AB
degree.
While a student at UW, he was both an athlete and a member of the university's
debate
team. Simpson was in the same class as
W. Edwards Deming
(1900?1993),
credited for, among other things, launching the
Total Quality Management
movement. He was also in the same fraternity,
Alpha Tau Omega
, as
Glenn Parker
(1898?1989),
whom he appointed to the
Wyoming Supreme Court
when he became Governor in 1955.
From 1921 to 1923 and from 1924 to 1925, he attended
Harvard Law School
, but did not graduate.
Career
[
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]
In 1924, while studying at Harvard, Simpson took over his father's law practice.
He was admitted to the Wyoming Bar Association in 1926
and practiced law in Cody until 1955 when he became governor of Wyoming.
Wyoming government and U.S. government
[
edit
]
Simpson served as a Republican member of the
Wyoming House of Representatives
for one two-year term, from 1926 to 1927. He was a member of the board of trustees of the University of Wyoming in 1939 and president of the board from 1943 to 1954. He was a member of the National Association of Governing Boards of State Universities and Allied Institutions and served as president of the body from 1952 to 1953.
Milward Simpson ran for the U.S. Senate against
Joseph C. O'Mahoney
in 1940, but was defeated 58.7% to 41.3%. Simpson was narrowly elected governor in November 1954. He defeated the
Democrat
William Jack, 56,275 (50.5 percent) to 55,163 (49.5 percent). Simpson was unseated after a single term in 1958, a heavily Democratic year nationally, after a single term in office by
John J. Hickey
of
Rawlins
in
Carbon County
, 55,070 (48.9 percent) to 52,488 (46.6 percent). He resumed his law practice in 1959.
Simpson won a
special election
on November 6, 1962, to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Republican Senator-elect
Edwin Keith Thomson
in the term ending January 3, 1967;
he was not a candidate for Senate reelection in 1966 but was succeeded by outgoing Governor
Clifford Hansen
of
Jackson
. Simpson lived in Cody until his death in 1993 at the age of 95.
Voting record and policies
[
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]
As governor, Simpson advocated for, and signed into law the Wyoming Civil Rights Act of 1957, a measure aimed at abolishing racial segregation in the state.
However, as a U.S. Senator, Simpson was one of six Republicans ? the others being
Barry Goldwater
of
Arizona
,
Norris Cotton
of
New Hampshire
,
Bourke B. Hickenlooper
of
Iowa
,
Edwin Mechem
of
New Mexico
, and
John Tower
of
Texas
? who voted against the
Civil Rights Act of 1964
.
Simpson voted in favor of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965
.
Sports
[
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]
Simpson played football, basketball, and baseball for the University of Wyoming in 1917, 1919?1920, and 1920?1921.
He has been chronicled as the first to simultaneously serve as captain of three intercollegiate sports at the University.
In 1996, Simpson was inducted into the University of Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame.
Around 1921 and 1924, Simpson played semi-professional baseball in
Red Lodge, Montana
, and Cody.
One of his teammates was the subsequent
Lieutenant Governor
and Education Superintendent
Bill Dodd
of
Louisiana
. They became close friends.
Sports Illustrated
ranks Simpson, as a multisport star, Wyoming's 28th Greatest Sports Figure of the 20th Century.
Family
[
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]
Simpson ? on June 29, 1929, in
Sheridan
? married Lorna Helen Kooi (1900?1995). They had two sons, both of whom have the middle name "Kooi." The younger son,
Alan K. Simpson
, served in the Wyoming House from
Park County
from 1965 to 1977 and in the United States Senate as a Republican from 1979 to 1997. Alan Simpson was the
Senate Republican Whip
during the early 1990s. An older son,
Peter K. Simpson
, is a retired historian and administrator at the University of Wyoming, who served in the state House from 1981 to 1984 from
Sheridan County
, where he was then residing while serving as an administrator at
Sheridan College
. Milward Simpson's grandson (by way of
Alan Simpson
),
Colin M. Simpson
, is a former member of the Wyoming House from Cody, who lost a Republican primary for governor in 2010 to
Matt Mead
of Jackson, a grandson of Clifford Hansen.
Bibliography
[
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]
Notes
[
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]
References
[
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]
- 1774?1989: Via HathiTrust
. Senate document; no. 100-34. U.S. G.p.o. 1989. p. 1815.
- 1774?2005: Pdf via GPO website
(PDF)
. p. 1915.
- 1774?2005: Via Google Books (limited preview)
. p. 1915.
- Crass, Scott M. (2015; revised September 20, 2017).
Statesmen and Mischief Makers: Officeholders and Their Contributions to History from Kennedy to Reagan.
Chapter 10: "Sons Bennett, Simpson and Dodd Followed 60s Era Senators to Chamber"
. Vol. 2.
Xlibris
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
ISBN
978-1-5035-8762-5
,
1-5035-8762-2
;
OCLC
1280797180 (all editions)
.
- Via Google (limited Preview)
.
- Transcript, from the Vertical Files of the Paw Paw Museum
.
Port Deposit, Maryland
. Archived from
the original
on November 1, 2004 – via
Wayback Machine
.
- Book reviewed:
-
- Via Internet Archive
. Wyoming State Historical Society. 2001.
- Re-Print via
Wyoming Almanac
blog
. April 2, 2021.
- Browse digitized papers
.
- Simpson, Milward (1880).
The Palm.
"Simpson, Congress Pep Master ? On Himself"
(autobiography).
50
(1): 476?477.
Alpha Tau Omega
(ΑΤΩ or ATO) (publisher) – via
Internet Archive
(
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library
).
- Sobel, Robert (1931?1999)
; Raimo, John, eds. (1978).
Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789?1978
→ "Simpson, Milward L. (1955?1959)"
. Vol. 4: "Rhode Island?Wyoming".
Westport, Connecticut
: Meckler Books. p. 1781.
ISBN
9780930466008
– via
Internet Archive
(
Kahle/Austin Foundation
).
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: editors list (
link
)
LCCN
77-10435
;
ISBN
0-9304-6600-4
;
OCLC
3204818 (all editions)
.
- Sports Illustrated
(January 3, 2000).
"The Master List" (cover story). "The 50 Greatest Sports Figures of the Century From Each of the 50 States." → "Wyoming"
"
(ranked 28 for Wyoming: "Milward Simpson Governor was multisport star"). Vol. 91, no. 25. pp. 72?91.
ISSN
0038-822X
,
ISSN
2169-1649
(publication);
OCLC
1766364 (all editions)
,
317648400
(publication);
EBSCO
host
2615560
(article);
ProQuest
213301648
,
ProQuest
213309354
(article) (Research Library database).
- The Sun
(June 12, 1917).
"Tome Graduates 15 ? Eight States and One Foreign Country Represented in Class ? F.D. Roosevelt Speaks"
. Vol. 161, no. 23. Baltimore. p. 3 – via
Newspapers.com
.
- "Juniors" → "Milward Simpson"
. University of Wyoming. 1920.
- "Juniors" → "Edward Deming"
. University of Wyoming. 1920.
- "Alpha Tau Omega"
→ "Glenn Parker"
. University of Wyoming. 1920.
- "Seniors" → "Milward Simpson"
. University of Wyoming. 1921.
- "Seniors" → "Edward Deming"
. University of Wyoming. 1921.
- "Juniors" → "S. Glenn Parker"
. University of Wyoming. 1921.
General references
[
edit
]
- Congressional Record.
"Proceedings and Debates of the 89th Congress." 2nd Session → Tributes to Milward L. Simpson of Wyoming
. Vol. 112. Part 21. October 20, 1966, to October 22, 1966. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1966.
Via
Internet Archive
(
Kahle/Austin Foundation
)
OCLC
1268148100
.
- Sen. Jacob Javits
(October 20, 1966).
"Tributes to Leverett Saltonstall and Milward Simpson"
. Superintendent of Government Documents. pp. 27894?27895.
- Sen. Everett Dirksen
(October 20, 1966).
"Senator Milward L. Simpson"
. Superintendent of Government Documents. p. 27895.
- Sen. Ralph Yarborough
(October 20, 1966).
"Milward Simpson, Senator, Governor, Educator, Rancher, Westerner, American"
. Superintendent of Government Documents. pp. 27895?27896.
- Sen. Thomas J. Dodd
(October 20, 1966).
"Tribute to Senators Donald Russell and Milward Simpson"
. Superintendent of Government Documents. pp. 28013?28014.
- Sen. Paul Fannin
(October 20, 1966).
"Legislative Achievements of Senator Simpson"
. Superintendent of Government Documents. pp. 28432?28433.
- Sen. Daniel Inouye
(October 20, 1966).
"Senator Milward L. Simpson"
. Superintendent of Government Documents. p. 28436.
- Sen. James B. Pearson
(October 20, 1966).
"Retirement of Senator Leverett Saltonstall and Senator Milward Simpson"
. Superintendent of Government Documents. p. 29005.
- Sen. Henry M. Jackson
(October 20, 1966).
"Honorable Milward L. Simpson, of Wyoming"
. Superintendent of Government Documents. p. 29063.
- Sen. William Proxmire (1905?2005)
(October 20, 1966).
"Senator Milward Simpson, of Wyoming"
. Superintendent of Government Documents. p. 29111.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- Chapter 29: "Governors of the States" → "Wyoming"
. 2001. p. 1413.
- Chapter 30: "Gubernatorial General Election Returns" → "Wyoming"
. 2001. p. 1476.
External links
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International
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National
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People
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Other
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