Sidney Wallace Morrison (born May 13, 1933) is an American farmer and politician who served as a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from January 3, 1981 until January 3, 1993. A member of the Republican Party, Morrison had previously serve in both chambers of the

Washington State Legislature The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 Representatives, and the upper Washington State Senat ...

and later served as Secretary of the

Washington State Department of Transportation The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. Establi ...

under Governors

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

Gary Locke Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician and diplomat serving as the interim president of Bellevue College, the largest of the institutions that make up the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system. Locke serv ...

Early life and education

Born in

Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uninco ...

, Morrison attended public schools in

Toppenish, Washington Toppenish () is a city in Yakima County, Washington. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 8,854. It is located within the Yakama Indian Reservation, established in 1855. Toppenish calls itself the city of Murals, as it has more than 75 ...

and was admitted to Yakima Valley College in 1951. In 1954, he graduated from

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

in Pullman with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1954 to 1956.

Career

After his discharge from the Army, Morrison was a partner of the family-owned fruit distribution business. From 1966 to 1974, Morrison was a member of the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

, representing the 15th District. He served the 15th District in the

Washington Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympia. ...

from 1974 until 1980. After his election to the

97th United States Congress The 97th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1981 ...

in 1980, Morrison became a member of the House Energy and Agriculture Committees. He served

Washington's 4th congressional district Washington's 4th congressional district encompasses a large area of central Washington, covering the counties of Douglas, Okanogan, Grant, Yakima, Franklin, Benton, and Adams, and part of Walla Walla County. The district is dominated by the Ya ...

for 6 terms from 1981 to 1993. In 1992 Morrison was a candidate for governor, but he was defeated in the primary by

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Ken Eikenberry Kenneth Otto Eikenberry (born June 29, 1932) is an American lawyer and politician. Eikenberry was Washington (state), Washington's Attorney General from 1981 to 1993. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he succeeded Slade Gorton, w ...

. Eikenberry was subsequently defeated in the general election by Seattle Congressman

. In early 1993, Morrison was appointed by Governor

to serve as the Secretary of the

. Morrison left office in 2001."Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Commission names Sid Morrison Secretary of Transportation on January 27, 1993."
''HistoryLink.org''. Accessed 2006-01-08. Morrison is the chair of the

Mainstream Republicans of Washington Mainstream Republicans of Washington is a political action organization dedicated to promoting moderation in the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party in Washington state by providing financial and other support to centrist Republica ...

, a

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

PAC. In March, 2005, was appointed to the Board of Trustees for

Central Washington University Central Washington University (CWU) is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington. Founded in 1891, the university consists of four divisions: the President's Division, Business and Financial Affairs, Operations, and Academic and Student Life ...

Personal life

As of 2007, Morrison was a resident of

Zillah, Washington Zillah is a city in Yakima County, Washington, United States, with a population of 3,179 as of the 2020 census. History Zillah was founded in 1891 following the completion of the Sunnyside Canal project, an irrigation scheme delivering water fr ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Sidney Wallace 1933 births Living people Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Washington (state) Republican Party Washington (state) state senators Republican Party members of the Washington House of Representatives Politicians from Yakima, Washington People from Yakima County, Washington Military personnel from Washington (state) State cabinet secretaries of Washington (state)