Leonard Beck Jordan (May 15, 1899 – June 30, 1983) was an American politician who served as the 23rd governor of Idaho and a United States Senator for over ten years.[1]
Early life and education
Born in Mount Pleasant, Utah, Jordan's father was a county judge and his mother was a schoolteacher; the family relocated to northeast Oregon and he was educated in the public schools of Enterprise, the seat of Wallowa County.
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 at Kirkwood Bar,[5][6] and then settled in Grangeville in 1940, where he established a farm implement business, a real estate agency, and an automobile dealership.[2]
Jordan was elected to the Idaho Senate in 1946 but lost his seat in 1948.
Governor (1951–1955)
Jordan successfully ran for governor in 1950.[2][7][8]
During his four-year term, slot machines were banned; employment, unemployment, and job training services were merged; and the state highway commission was initiated.[9] 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.[10][11] (Smylie was re-elected in 1958 and 1962, and sought a fourth term in 1966, but was defeated in the primary.)
In August 1962, Jordan was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Governor Smylie, following the death of Henry Dworshak in July.[12][13] In November, Jordan defeated Democratic congresswoman Gracie Pfost of Nampa in the special election to complete the remaining four years of the term.[14][15]
Election of 1966
Jordan was elected to a full term in 1966, defeating former Democratic congressman Ralph R. Harding of Blackfoot.[16]
In August 1971, Jordan announced that he would not seek re-election in 1972,[22] and was succeeded by Jim McClure, the three-term Republican congressman from the first district. At age 73, Jordan was the first from Idaho to voluntarily retire from the U.S. Senate.[23]
Source:[24]^ Jordan was appointed to the vacant seat in August 1962
Legacy and death
A state office building in Boise, near the state capitol, was named for him in December 1973.[25][26][27] Jordan died at age 84 in Boise on June 30, 1983,[23][28] and his wife died two years later. They are interred at Cloverdale Memorial Park in west Boise.
