John Nichols Dalton (July 11, 1931July 30, 1986) was an American politician who served as the 63rd governor of Virginia, from 1978 to 1982. Dalton won the office with 55.9% of the vote, defeating Democrat Henry E. Howell Jr. and Independent Alan R. Ogden. Dalton had previously served as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.

Biography

Born in

Emporia, Virginia Emporia is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, surrounded by Greensville County, United States. Emporia and a predecessor town have been the county seat of Greensville County since 1791. As of the 2020 census, the population ...

, Dalton graduated from the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is ...

, and the

University of Virginia Law School The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

. He served in both houses of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

(

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...

, 1966–1972, Senate of Virginia, 1973). Dalton was the 32nd Lieutenant Governor from 1974 to 1978. As governor, he pursued policies of limited government. He also settled the federal lawsuit on the desegregation of Virginia's institutions of higher education. John Dalton 1976

Dalton was the adopted son of Theodore Roosevelt Dalton, his uncle, who was the Republican candidate for governor in 1953 and 1957. As a young man his next-door neighbor was

Charlotte Giesen Charlotte Milton Caldwell Giesen (January 27, 1907 – January 28, 1995) (nicknamed "Pinkie") was a Virginia politician and news editor. A lifelong resident of Radford, Virginia, she served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1958 to 1961, be ...

, first Republican woman elected to the House of Delegates. Dalton died at 55 of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

. He is buried at Sunrise Burial Park in Radford. His personal papers, including those from his time as governor, are held by the Special Collections Research Center at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...

. His executive papers from his time as governor are held by the

Library of Virginia The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and ...

. Dalton Intermediate School, in Radford, Virginia, is named after the former governor. Dalton Hall, a building at Radford University that houses dining facilities, and the university bookstore is named for Dalton. Dalton's son-in-law, Steve Baril, sought the 2005 Republican nomination for

attorney general of Virginia The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election. There are no ...

References

*
Virginia Governor John Nichols Dalton
National Governors Association

UVa Cooper Center
The Legacy of Governor Dalton
by John Chichester

External links

Finding aid for the John Dalton Papers
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalton, John N. 1931 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians American adoptees College of William & Mary alumni Deaths from cancer in Virginia Deaths from lung cancer Republican Party governors of Virginia Lieutenant Governors of Virginia Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Virginia lawyers Republican Party Virginia state senators People from Emporia, Virginia People from Radford, Virginia