Leonard B. Jordan

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Leonard B. Jordan bigraphy, stories - American politician

Leonard B. Jordan : biography

May 15, 1899 – June 30, 1983

Leonard Beck "Len" Jordan (May 15, 1899June 30, 1983) was the 23rd Governor of Idaho and a United States Senator for over ten years.

Career

Jordan was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army during World War I, but did not serve overseas. After college, he was a sheep rancher in Hells Canyon in Idaho during the Great Depression, and then settled in Grangeville, where he established a farm implement business, a real estate agency, and an automobile dealership.

Jordan was elected to the state senate in 1946 and successfully ran for governor in 1950.

Idaho Gubernatorial Elections: Results 1950
Year Democrat Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct
1950 Calvin Wright 97,150 47.4% Len B. Jordan 107,642 52.6%

During his four-year term, slot machines were banned; employment, unemployment, and job training services were merged; and the state highway commission was initiated. Jordan did not run for re-election in 1954 because it was not allowed at the time. Starting with the 1946 election, Idaho changed from two-year to four-year terms for governor, but disallowed self-succession (re-election). Jordan’s successor as governor was the former attorney general, Robert Smylie, who successfully lobbied the 1955 legislature to propose an amendment to the state constitution to allow gubernatorial re-election, which was approved by voters in the 1956 general election. (Smylie was re-elected in 1958 and 1962, and sought a fourth term in 1966, but was defeated in the primary.)

In 1955, Jordan was appointed by President Eisenhower as Chairman of the United States section of the International Joint Commission with Canada to develop the St. Lawrence Seaway.

In August 1962, Jordan was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Governor Smylie, following the death of Henry Dworshak in July. In November, Jordan defeated Democratic Congresswoman Gracie Pfost of Nampa in the special election to complete the remaining four years of the term. Jordan was re-elected in 1966, defeating former Democratic Congressman Ralph Harding of Blackfoot. In the Senate he helped establish the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in 1972. Jordan did not seek re-election in 1972 and was succeeded by Jim McClure, the three-term Republican congressman from the first district.

U.S. Senate elections in Idaho (Class II): Results 1962–1966
Year Democrat Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct
1962 Gracie Pfost 126,398 49.1% Len B. Jordan (inc.^) 131,279 50.9%
1966 Ralph Harding 112,637 44.6% Len B. Jordan (inc.) 139,819 55.4%

Source: ^Jordan was appointed to the vacant seat in August 1962

A state office building in Boise, near the state capitol, was named for him in December 1973.

Death

Jordan died at age 84 in Boise on June 30, 1983, and his wife died two years later. They are interred at Cloverdale Memorial Park in west Boise.

Early years

Born in Mount Pleasant, Utah, Jordan was educated in the public schools of Enterprise, Oregon. He attended the University of Oregon in Eugene on a football scholarship and graduated in 1923, and was awarded a key to Phi Beta Kappa. He married classmate Grace Edington on December 30, 1924.

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