Milward L. Simpson

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Milward Lee Simpson (November 12, 1897 – June 10, 1993) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator and as governor of Wyoming.

Simpson was born in Jackson, Teton County, Wyoming. He attended the public schools of Wood River, Meeteetse, and Cody; and graduated from the University of Wyoming in Laramie (Albany County) in 1921. He then attended Harvard University Law School from 1921 to 1925. During World War I, Simpson served as a second lieutenant in the infantry, United States Army. Simpson was admitted to the bar in 1926 and practiced law in Cody until 1955.

Simpson served as a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives 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 1943-1954. He was a member of the National Association of Governing Boards of State Universities and Allied Institutions in 1950 and served as president of the body fromn 1952-1953.

Milward Simpson was narrowly elected governor of Wyoming in November 1954. He defeated the Democrat William Jack, 56,275 (50.5 percent) to 55,163 (49.5 percent). Simpson was unseated in 1958, a heavily Democratic year nationally, after a single term in office by John J. Hickey of Rawlins (Carbon County), 55,070 (48.9 percent) to 52,488 (46.6 percent). He resumed his law practice in 1959.

Simpson later 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 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 Peter Hansen of Jackson. Simpson lived in Cody until his death in 1993 at age 95.

Simpson, along with Barry Goldwater of Arizona and John Tower of Texas was one of six Republican senators who voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. [1]

His son, Alan Kooi Simpson, also served in the United States Senate as a moderate Republican. Alan Simpson was the Senate GOP whip during the early 1990s. [2]

As a young man, Milward Simpson played professional baseball in Cody. One of his teammates was the future Louisiana lieutenant governor and education superintendent William J. "Bill" Dodd (1909-1991). They became close friends.

[edit] Bibliography

U.S. Congress. Tributes to Milward L. Simpson of Wyoming. 89th Cong., 2nd sess., 1966. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1966.

Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections, Wyoming Governor's elections, 1954 and 1958

William J. "Bill" Dodd, Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana (Baton Rouge, Claitor's, 1991)

This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

Governors of Wyoming
Warren • Barber • Osborne • W. Richards • D. Richards • Chatterton • Brooks • J. Carey • Kendrick • Houx • R. Carey • W. Ross • Lucas • N. Ross • Emerson • Clark • Miller • Smith • Hunt • Crane • Barrett • Rogers • Simpson • Hickey • Gage • Hansen • Hathaway • Herschler • Sullivan • Geringer • Freudenthal