SEATTLE—Dan Evans, a preferred three-term Republican governor of Washington state who went on to serve within the U.S. Senate earlier than leaving in frustration as a result of he felt the chamber was too rancorous and tedious, has died. He was 98.
Evans died Friday, in keeping with the College of Washington, the place he had served as a regent and the place the Daniel J. Evans Faculty of Public Coverage and Governance bears his title.
“Dad lived an exceptionally full life,” his sons—Dan Jr., Mark and Bruce Evans—mentioned in a written assertion quoted by The Seattle Occasions. “Whether or not serving in public workplace, working to enhance greater schooling, mentoring aspiring public servants … he simply saved signing up for stuff proper till the top. He touched a number of lives. And he did this with out sacrificing household.”
Evans was a dominant power in Washington politics for many years and, till present Gov. Jay Inslee, he was the one individual to be elected governor thrice.
Born in 1925 in Seattle, Evans was a civil engineer earlier than coming into politics. He was elected to the state Legislature in 1956 and received the governorship in 1964, beating incumbent two-term Democrat Albert D. Rosellini and prevailing in a nasty yr for his fellow Republicans, one which noticed President Lyndon Johnson soundly defeat the GOP’s Barry Goldwater.
Often known as a reasonable to liberal Republican, the avid outdoorsman helped add new recreation and park areas within the state and supported clear air and water laws. He created the nation’s first state Division of Ecology, which President Richard Nixon used as a mannequin for the Environmental Safety Company.
Evans additionally unsuccessfully pushed to create a state earnings tax. He opted to not run for a fourth time period.
After leaving the governor’s mansion in 1977, Evans stayed in Olympia, serving as president of The Evergreen State Faculty. Evans had helped create the state faculty when he signed an act authorizing the liberal arts school, and as governor he additionally backed founding the state’s group school system.
He constructed a nationwide profile throughout his time main the state and was the keynote speaker on the 1968 Nationwide Republican Conference. He was talked about as a attainable operating mate for President Gerald Ford in 1976. By no means a fan of Ronald Reagan, Evans supported Ford in 1976 and initially backed George H.W. Bush in 1980.
As a preferred Republican in a predominantly Democratic state, it appeared that Evans can be a shoe-in had he determined to run for the U.S. Senate. He often spurned such discuss, saying in 1972 that “I don’t like Washington, D.C., very nicely … and I couldn’t stand to be within the Senate.”
Nonetheless, in 1983 Democratic Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson died in workplace, and Evans accepted an appointment to serve out his time period. Evans opted to not stand for election in 1988, citing the “tediousness of getting choices made.” On the time he mentioned he was trying ahead to returning residence to benefit from the outside.
In later years Evans served as a regent on the College of Washington, his alma mater. He additionally served on many nonprofit and company boards.