Here’s a
Letter Signed by the 1960’s Kansas Statesman
JOHN ANDERSON, JR.
(1917 - 2014)
·
36th GOVERNOR OF KANSAS 1961-1965,
A PROPONENT OF CIVIL RIGHTS,
·
33rd KANSAS ATTORNEY
GENERAL 1956-1961, and
·
REPUBLICAN PARTY MEMBER OF THE KANSAS
STATE SENATE 1953-1956.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE
HONORABLE JOHN ANDERSON
John Anderson Jr. (May 8, 1917 – September 15, 2014) was an American politician
who served as the 36th governor of
Kansas, from 1961 until 1965. A member of the Republican Party,
he previously was the 33rd attorney general of Kansas from
1956 until 1961.
Life and career
Anderson was born
near Olathe, Kansas,
to John and Ora Bookout Anderson. He graduated from Olathe High School in
1935. From there he went on to Kansas State College of
Agriculture and Applied Science, and later transferred to the University of Kansas.
In 1943 he graduated from the University of Kansas, and from the University of Kansas Law
School the following year. He did not qualify for military
service during World War II for physical reasons. Instead, he spent two years,
from 1944 to 1946, on the staff of Federal Judge Walter A. Huxman. Later in 1946, Anderson
opened his own law practice in Olathe.
Soon after
establishing his law practice, Anderson entered politics by running for county
attorney of Johnson County as
a Republican. Anderson won this election, as well as two following elections
and served in this capacity until 1953.
Beginning in 1952,
Anderson sought to elevate his political career by running for a seat in
the Kansas State Senate.
Again he was successful, holding his office until March 1, 1956. At that time,
he was appointed to fill the unexpired term as attorney general.
Once in this elective office, Anderson won the two following elections in 1956
and 1958. Anderson was part of "The Young Turks", a reform-minded
group of Republicans who backed Fred Hall as governor, and opposed right-to-work laws like the governor
himself.
By 1960, Anderson
was ready for bigger ambitions and entered the race for the office of governor
in the election of that year. He defeated the Democratic incumbent, George Docking, 511,534 to 402,261 (the Prohibition candidate received 8,727). In
keeping with his tradition for winning elections in pairs, Anderson also won
the 1962 Gubernatorial election. Anderson became the first governor of Kansas
to occupy Cedar Crest,
which had just been renovated at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars.
During his time as
governor, Anderson increased funding for every grade level in the state's
education system, and added Wichita State University to
the Board of Regents system. A state technical institute in Salina was established and a number of
vocational technical schools were opened. Under Anderson's watch, the number of
public school districts went from a thousand to 303 districts. The state's
medical and mental hospital systems were reorganized and expanded, the pardon
and parole system were reformed, new highways were built, a public employee
retirement fund was established, and a program was set up to use federal funds
to assist children of low-income families. Because of his efforts to fund and
improve education in Kansas, Anderson was nicknamed the "Education
Governor."
Anderson also sought
to advance civil rights in Kansas. In his 1961 inaugural speech, Anderson said:
"The forward push of certain minority groups for equal places in our
society have been [sic] greatly dramatized in recent years in the southern states...
America is moving forward into an era of greater opportunity for some groups
and less privilege for other groups. Kansas will not escape this mighty
force."
In 1964, Anderson
chose not to seek re-election, but instead, went back to his law practice in
Olathe. Anderson supported New York governor Nelson Rockefeller in
the 1964 Republican Party presidential primaries and
opposed Barry Goldwater as
the party's presidential nominee. On Goldwater's defeat in 1964, Anderson
remarked: "This Goldwater ideology, the thing he called conservatism was
beaten. It lost in every state. In the South, prejudice voted, not his
philosophy, and in Arizona they voted hometown. These Goldwater people have got
to roll over. They’re beaten."
He remained active
in public service after leaving the governor's office, serving as an attorney
for the Board of Healing Arts and the Kansas Turnpike Authority.
In addition, he served as the director of the Citizens' Conference on State
Legislatures from 1965 to 1972. He was nominated for federal judgeships on a
number of occasions, but was never appointed. Again, in 1972 he tried for the
Republican Party nomination for governor, but was defeated by Morris Kay.
After leaving the
Governor's office, Anderson retired to his native Olathe.
Anderson died
September 15, 2014, at the age of 97.
Legacy
Highway K-10 in Johnson County, Kansas,
is named in Anderson's honor.
— Anderson on his governing
philosophy
When you get a problem that might seem to be political, many times
[it] is not as much political as just a genuine problem of something needing to
be done and needing the money to do it. That’s not Republican or Democrat,
that’s just a problem for the people... The poor, the rich, the humble, the
proud, the strong, the weak, the fortunate and the unfortunate must be the
beneficiaries in the years to come of a government progressively administered
in the interests of all the people.”
The document
measures 5” x 3” and is in excellent condition.
I am a proud member of
the Universal Autograph Collectors Club (UACC), The Ephemera Society of
America, the Manuscript Society and the American Political Items Collectors
(APIC) (member name: John Lissandrello). I subscribe to each organizations'
code of ethics and authenticity is guaranteed. ~Providing quality service and
historical memorabilia online for over 25 years.~
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