Daniel Jackson Evans (born October 16, 1925) is an American politician who served as the
16th governor of Washington from 1965 to 1977, and as
United States senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
representing Washington State from 1983 to 1989.
[Congressional Biography]
accessed online August 13, 2007. As of 2022, Evans is only living former Republican governor of Washington.
Described as a moderate Republican, particularly on social and environmental issues,
Evans supported
Nelson Rockefeller for the Republican nomination for president in 1968 and refused to endorse
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
, despite giving the keynote address at that year's
Republican National Convention.
[McHenry 2007, p. 24–25.] He was considered for the Republican vice presidential nomination that year, as well as in 1976. As of 2022, he is the only living former Republican governor of Washington.
Early life and education
Evans was born in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Washington (where he has lived ),
descended from a family that had first arrived in the
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...
in 1859; his grandfather had served in one of Washington's first state senates. He grew up in the
Laurelhurst neighborhood, and attended
Roosevelt High School.
[McHenry 2007, p. 24.]
As a young man, Evans was an
Eagle Scout,
[McHenry 2007, p.25.] and served as a staff member and Hike Master at
Camp Parsons, a well known Boy Scout camp in Washington State. As an adult, he was awarded the
Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (DESA) is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). It is awarded to an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in his profession and to his community for a period of at least 25 years aft ...
from the
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...
.
After high school, he served in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
1943–1946.
He first entered the
V-12 Navy College Training Program
The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II. Between July 1, 1943, and June 30, 1946, more than 125,000 participants were enrolled in 131 colleg ...
, and was stationed at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...
(UW), but was transferred eight months later to an
ROTC program at
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
. He did not see combat; he was deployed to the
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
shortly after the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, as a commissioned
ensign
An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...
on a succession of
aircraft carriers, before returning to UW in 1946.
Evans graduated from the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...
with degrees in civil engineering (
BS, 1948;
MS, 1949).
The UW later (in 2007) gave him the distinction of Alumnus Summa Laude Dignitatus, the highest distinction the university confers on its graduates.
He returned to the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
(1951–1953)
before working as a
structural engineer (1953–1956); in the latter capacity, he helped draw up the plans for the
Alaskan Way Viaduct
The Alaskan Way Viaduct ("the viaduct" for short) was an elevated freeway in Seattle, Washington, United States, that carried a section of State Route 99 (SR 99). The double-decked freeway ran north–south along the city's waterfront for ...
.
Political career
Having attended
Toastmasters
Toastmasters International (TI) is a US-headquartered nonprofit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of promoting communication, public speaking, and leadership.
History
The organization grew out of a single c ...
to improve his initially abysmal public speaking style,
Evans served in the Washington State House of Representatives from 1957 to 1965 before being elected governor.
Despite being a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
and a self-styled conservative, Evans became known for his administration's
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
policies on
environmental protection
Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair dam ...
(he founded the country's first state-level
Department of Ecology, which became Nixon's blueprint for the federal
EPA) and strong support of the state's higher education system, including founding Washington's system of
community colleges
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...
. In addition, he signed a bill to legalize abortion in the first four months of a pregnancy and fought unsuccessfully for a state
income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
, two additional liberal positions.
Evans served as governor from 1965 until 1977,
the second to be elected to three terms, after
Arthur B. Langlie, in Washington state history. A 1981
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
study named him one of the ten outstanding American governors of the 20th century.
He declined to run for a fourth term in 1976. Current governor
Jay Inslee
Jay Robert Inslee (; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician, lawyer, and economist who has served as the 23rd governor of Washington since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the U.S. House of Represent ...
joined both Langlie and Evans, becoming the third Washington governor to serve three terms with his re-election victory in 2020.
Serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
Ted Bundy
Theodore Robert Bundy (Name change, born Cowell; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier. After more th ...
served as a campaign aide for Evans, and maintained a close relationship with the governor. During the 1972 campaign, Bundy followed Evans's Democratic opponent around the state, tape recording his speeches, and reporting back to Evans personally. A minor scandal later followed when the Democrats found out about Bundy, who had been posing as a college student.
From 1977 to 1983, Evans served as the second president of
The Evergreen State College in
Olympia,
which Evans had created in 1967 by signing a legislative act authorizing the formation of the college. The largest building on the Evergreen campus is named the Daniel J. Evans Library, in his honor. In 1983, Governor
John Spellman
John Dennis Spellman (December 29, 1926 – January 16, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 18th governor of Washington from 1981 to 1985 and as the first King County Executive from 1969 to 1981.
Spellman was elected governor in ...
appointed Evans to the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
, to fill a seat left vacant by the death of long-time senator
Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson. Evans won a
special election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
later that year against
Mike Lowry
Michael Edward Lowry (March 8, 1939 – May 1, 2017) was an American politician who served as the 20th governor of Washington from 1993 to 1997. His political career ended abruptly following a sexual misconduct allegation made against him by h ...
, and filled the remainder of Jackson's unexpired term, retiring from politics after the 1988 elections.
He was unhappy during his term in the Senate, writing in a 1988 column in ''
The New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...
'' that "debate has come to consist of set speeches read before a largely empty chamber" and adding that he felt demoralized by "bickering and protracted paralysis".
Evans voted in favor of
the bill
''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983.
The programme focused o ...
establishing
Martin Luther King, Jr., Day as a
federal holiday
Federal holidays in the United States are the eleven calendar dates that are designated by the U.S. government as holidays. On U.S. federal holidays, non-essential federal government offices are closed and federal government employees are paid ...
, and the
Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (as well as to override
President Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
's veto). Evans voted in favor of
Robert Bork's nomination to the
U.S. Supreme Court.
Later life
After leaving the Senate in 1989, Evans founded his own consulting firm, Daniel J. Evans Associates.
Governor
Mike Lowry
Michael Edward Lowry (March 8, 1939 – May 1, 2017) was an American politician who served as the 20th governor of Washington from 1993 to 1997. His political career ended abruptly following a sexual misconduct allegation made against him by h ...
appointed him to the Board of Regents of the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...
in 1993; Evans served as the board's president from 1996 to 1997,
and in 1999, the
Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs
The Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance is the school of public policy school, public policy of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. The school is named after former Washington State Governor and United States S ...
at the University was named for him. Evans also went on to work in media, doing an editorial weekly on the
KIRO-TV newscasts from the early- to mid-1990s. In 2012, Evans was listed as a director of the Initiative for Global Development. His autobiography was published in 2022.
[
]
Wilderness preservation efforts
Evans was a Boy Scout whose early experiences hiking in the Olympic Mountains
The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus is the highest at ; however, the easte ...
nurtured a life-long love of wilderness. Throughout his career, Evans has proven his dedication to the great outdoors in Washington State through his action.
Evans was a crucial supporter, in 1968, when Congress created the North Cascades National Park. The then-governor persuaded President Gerald Ford to sign 1976 legislation creating the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, when the U.S. Forest Service was urging a veto.[
As a U.S. senator, Evans sponsored the million-acre Washington Park Wilderness Act, and legislation creating the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area.]
In 1989, Evans co-founded the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition, with Mike Lowry.[
In 2017, Olympic Wilderness was renamed to Daniel J. Evans Wilderness, in honor of Evans.][
]
Statewide races in Washington
1983 U.S. Senate election
* Dan Evans - 672,326
* Mike Lowry
Michael Edward Lowry (March 8, 1939 – May 1, 2017) was an American politician who served as the 20th governor of Washington from 1993 to 1997. His political career ended abruptly following a sexual misconduct allegation made against him by h ...
- 540,981
1972 Washington gubernatorial election
The 1972 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Governor of Washington Daniel J. Evans, who was first elected eight years earlier, and then re-elected in 1968, was eligible for re-election, as Washington ...
* Dan Evans - 747,825
* Al Rosellini - 630,613
1968 Washington gubernatorial election
* Dan Evans - 692,378
* John J. O'Connell - 560,262
1964 Washington gubernatorial election
* Dan Evans - 697,256
* Al Rosellini - 548,692
References
;Other sources
*Eric McHenry, "Engineer of Change", ''Columns'' (the University of Washington alumni magazine), June 2007, p. 22–26.
External links
Congressional Biography
The Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Daniel Jackson
1925 births
Living people
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American Congregationalists
American autobiographers
American people of Welsh descent
Republican Party governors of Washington (state)
Republican Party members of the Washington House of Representatives
Military personnel from Seattle
Politicians from Seattle
Presidents of Evergreen State College
Regents of the University of Washington
Republican Party United States senators from Washington (state)
United States Navy officers
United States Navy personnel of World War II
University of Washington alumni
Writers from Seattle