| Edwin C. Johnson
served Colorado as State Representative, State Senator, three-time
Governor and three-term U.S. Senator. He was born January 1, 1884
in Scandia, Kansas, but spent most of his youth in Nebraska. He
attended Lincoln High School where he had William Jennings Bryan
as a substitute teacher. After he graduated in 1903, Johnson became
a train dispatcher in Fairmont, Nebraska.
In 1909 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was
advised to go to Colorado. He and his wife of two years, the former
Fern Claire Armitage, moved to Colorado, first to Fountain and then
to a homestead near Craig. He ranched, managed a farmers’
cooperative milling elevator, and taught school before being elected
to the Colorado legislature in 1922. He moved on to the Colorado
Senate for the 1931-1932 session, and was elected Governor of Colorado
as a Democrat for the first time in 1933. Faced with the problems
of the Great Depression, he initiated his own recovery program on
tax reduction, highway and construction projects, balanced budget
legislation, and civil service reform. Despite the success of his
program, Johnson created controversy in 1936 when he called out
the National Guard to prevent Mexican farm workers from entering
Colorado. Bowing to the pressure of federal and state officials,
he reversed his stance.
After two terms as Governor, he was elected to the
U.S. Senate, taking office in 1937. He continued to be known as
an isolationist, opposing America’s involvement in foreign
wars. On the other hand, he was a strong supporter of people in
the military, and, as Vice-Chair of the Military Affairs Committee,
was instrumental in the creation of the G.I. Bill of Rights, Lowry
Air Force Base, and the Air Force Academy. Once the United States
entered World War II, Johnson was fully behind the war effort.
After the War, Johnson was instrumental in creating
the interstate highway system in Colorado, especially I-70. He supported
atomic energy and its effect on Colorado uranium mining, and he
was very interested in both reclamation projects and oil shale development.
He served as president of the Western Baseball League, and was instrumental
in the construction of Mile High Stadium in Denver. He was inducted
into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1968. He died on May 30,
1970 of a heart related illness.
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