Albert Dean Rosellini (January 21, 1910 – October 10, 2011) was an American politician who served as the 15th governor of Washington from 1957 to 1965 and was both the first

Italian-American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

and

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

governor elected west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. During a political career that spanned 40 years, Rosellini was an activist leader who worked to reform the state's prisons and mental health facilities, expand the state highway system, create the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

medical Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

and

dental schools A dental school (school of dental medicine, school of dentistry, dental college) is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches dental medicine to prospective dentists and potentially other dental auxiliarie ...

, and build the second floating bridge across

Lake Washington Lake Washington () is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest lake in King County, Washington, King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington (state), Was ...

. Rosellini holds the record as the longest-lived U.S. state governor in American history, having reached the age of .

Early life and education

Born in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

, Rosellini was the only son of Italian immigrants, Annunziata (Pagni) and Giovanni Rosellini, a saloon operator. He worked his way through college and

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

at the

, where he was a member of

Tau Kappa Epsilon Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, maki ...

fraternity, graduating in 1933 with his classmate Hugh J. Rosellini (no relation), a childhood friend and later state Supreme Court justice.

Career

Washington Senate

At the age of 29, Rosellini was elected to the

state senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

as its youngest member, representing the 33rd district in south Seattle, the home of many Italian immigrants. A

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

Democrat, Rosellini served from 1939 to 1957, and rose to the rank of majority leader. He was elected governor in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

By 108,732 votes.

Governorship

Washington SR-520 bridge under construction - 1962

As governor, Rosellini coupled personal charm with decades of political know-how, developing a reputation for decisiveness and ability to move ahead on long-stalled projects. Don Hannula, longtime political columnist for ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

'', wrote in 1996, "He was not a man of empty rhetoric. He got things done. His legacy is everywhere." In his 1997 biography, ''Rosellini, Immigrant's Son and Progressive Governor'', author Payton Smith wrote: "He was attracted to issues where progress could be made and measured . . . Budget reform, economic development, transportation, higher education and institutions were the core matters to which he devoted his talent and governmental know-how." Rosellini was narrowly re-elected in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

, beating Republican

Lloyd J. Andrews Lloyd Joel Andrews Sr. (August 26, 1920 – October 7, 2014) was an American educator, businessman, and politician. Born in Dutton, Montana, Andrews moved with his parents to a farm in Green Bluff, Washington. He graduated from Mead High School ...

by 17,865 votes. In order to promote economic development, Rosellini established a state department of commerce and championed the

Seattle World's Fair The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) was a world's fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962, in Seattle, Washington, United States.floating bridge in the world, the original

Evergreen Point Floating Bridge The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, also known as the 520 Bridge and officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge, is a floating bridge that carries Washington State Route 520 across Lake Washington from Seattle to its eastern suburbs ...

, which opened in 1963 and carried State Route 520 over

from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

. It was renamed for Rosellini in 1988. After 53 years of service, it was replaced by a new floating bridge at the same site in 2016, which also bears his name. In addition, he was a tireless supporter of higher education, strengthening the state university system and developing a system of junior colleges. During his time in office, Rosellini also reformed the state budget process and balanced the budget.

1964 gubernatorial election

Rosellini was defeated in his bid for a third term in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

by Republican

Daniel J. Evans Daniel Jackson Evans (October 16, 1925 – September 20, 2024) was an American politician from the state of Washington. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives from 1957 to 1965, gov ...

, a

state legislator A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

and

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

. Rosellini entered the primary unopposed by his ostensive rivals for the Democratic nomination, Lieutenant Governor

John Cherberg John Andrew Cherberg (October 17, 1910 – April 8, 1992) was an American politician, football coach, teacher and television executive. He served as the 13th lieutenant governor of Washington from 1957 to 1989, a longer tenure than any other li ...

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

John J. O'Connell, but did encounter opposition from several unknown candidates who collectively garnered close to 50,000 votes. The general election campaign was marked by bruising attacks on the candidate's integrity from both the Republican and Democratic camps. Governor Rosellini attempted to portray Evans as a supporter of

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...

and his record as antithetical to the interests of labor, welfare, and education. Evans in turn charged Rosellini with financial impropriety and cronyism, alleging that the Governor solicited campaign funds from businesses under contract with the state government. Only one televised debate was agreed between the two candidates. The coattails of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

did not extend to this race, as the 39-year-old Evans won by 148,564 votes.

1972 attempted comeback

Rosellini made a comeback bid eight years later in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

; he captured the Democratic nomination, but was again defeated by Evans. Starting with a lead in the polls, Rosellini saw his support fall when he disparagingly referred to Governor Evans as "Danny Boy" and being accused of intervening on behalf of his friend Frank Colacurcio to obtain a club license in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

while in office. A minority of Evans' supporters also began to sport bumper stickers on the back of their cars stating "We Don't Need A Godfather," described by his daughter Lynn Rosellini as extremely hurtful to her father given his pride over his Italian ancestry. (The popular

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning film ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...

'' was released earlier that year.) Rosellini would later state his belief that the attack contributed to his loss, saying "That mafia crap really hurt, overnight I dropped 12 percent in the ratings. I don't think people believe it so much as it scared the hell out of them."

Consultant and elder statesman

After leaving office in 1965, Rosellini returned to the practice of law, and also became a political consultant, specializing in matters of the liquor and entertainment industries. Over the years, Rossellini served as an elder statesman of the state Democratic Party, mentoring political figures including Washington governors

Christine Gregoire Christine Gregoire (; née O'Grady; born March 24, 1947) is an American attorney and politician who served as the List of governors of Washington, 22nd governor of Washington, from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), D ...

and

Gary Locke Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician, attorney, and former diplomat from the State of Washington. Locke served as the 21st governor of Washington from 1997 to 2005, where he was the first Chinese-American governor ...

. In 2003, Rosellini was back in the news briefly when he was reported to have delivered campaign contributions to

Seattle City Council The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-larg ...

members on behalf of strip-club owners, one of whom was a convicted racketeer. Rosellini was never charged in the scandal that became known as "Strippergate." Until his death, Rosellini attended fundraisers for candidates and helped raise money for charities, particularly the Washington State Olympics Committee, which he chaired for many years. Danny Westneat, columnist for ''

'', wrote in 2005, "His record makes most governors after him look like

slacker A slacker is someone who habitually work aversion, avoids work or lacks work ethic. Origin According to different sources, the term "slacker" dates back to about 1790 or 1898. "Slacker" gained some recognition during the UK, British Gezira Sche ...

s."

Personal life

Rosellini and his wife Ethel (1912–2002), whom he married in 1937, had five children. Ethel died in 2002, after 64 years of marriage. Albert and Ethel had a close, affectionate, and happy marriage, and the two were known for their devotion to each other. Rosellini was a practicing Catholic.

Later life and death

Rosellini celebrated his 100th birthday in January 2010, becoming one of the few

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

governors ever to reach the

age of 100 A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

. He died of complications related to

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in Seattle on October 10, 2011, at the age of 101. Rosellini's funeral was at St. James Cathedral in Seattle, and he was buried at Calvary Cemetery, alongside his wife.

References

External links

''Seattle Times'' obituary
* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosellini, Albert 1910 births 2011 deaths American men centenarians American people of Italian descent Deaths from pneumonia in Washington (state) Democratic Party governors of Washington (state) Politicians from Tacoma, Washington Candidates in the 1960 United States presidential election University of Washington School of Law alumni Democratic Party Washington (state) state senators Catholics from Washington (state) Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Seattle) 20th-century members of the Washington State Legislature