William Booth Gardner (August 21, 1936 – March 15, 2013) was an American politician who served as the 19th governor of Washington from 1985 to 1993. He also served as the ambassador of the

GATT The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its pre ...

. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, Gardner previously served as a member of the

Washington State Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olymp ...

, representing the 26th district from 1971 to 1973 and served as the

Pierce County Executive The Pierce County Executive is the head of the executive branch of Pierce County, Washington. The position is subject to four-year terms (with a term limit of 2) and is a partisan office. History County voters approved the adoption of a hom ...

prior to his tenure as governor. His service was notable for advancing standards-based education and environmental protection.

Early life, education, and early career

Gardner was 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, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

on August 21, 1936. He attended Clover Park Junior High in

Lakewood, Washington Lakewood is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 63,612 at the 2020 census. History Lakewood was officially incorporated on February 28, 1996. Historical names include Tacoma/Lakewood Center and Lakes Distri ...

before graduating from Lakeside School in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. His parents divorced when he was very young; through his mother's remarriage he became an heir to the

Weyerhaeuser Weyerhaeuser () is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company also manufactures wood products. It operates as a real e ...

fortune. His mother and his sister, his only sibling, died in a plane crash when he was 14. Gardner was a graduate of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

and

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

. His stepfather was

Norton Clapp Matthew Norton Clapp (April 15, 1906 – April 22, 1995) was a successful businessman, and eventually served as chairman of the Weyerhaeuser Corporation. He was active in civic service and a philanthropist. Early life and career Clapp was born ...

, one of the original owners of the

Seattle Space Needle The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States. Considered to be an icon of the city, it has been designated a Seattle landmark. Located in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood, it was built in the Seattle Center ...

. Booth co-owned the

Tacoma Tides The Tacoma Tides was an American soccer club based in Tacoma, Washington that was a member of the American Soccer League. It began play in 1976, but the league folded the following year. It was owned by businessman and future governor Booth Gard ...

, who played for one year in the American Soccer League in 1976. He was also a part-time soccer coach for various teams, including the Tacoma Cozars. In 1978, he co-owned the

Colorado Caribous The Caribous of Colorado were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) during the 1978 season. The team was based in Denver, Colorado and played their home games at Mile High Stadium. After the season ...

franchise in the NASL with

Jim Guercio James William Guercio (born July 18, 1945) is an American music producer, musician, songwriter, and director. He is well known for his work as the producer of Chicago's early albums as well as early recordings of The Buckinghams and Blood, Sweat ...

Governor of Washington (1985–1993)

In the 1984 Democratic primary for Washington state governor, Gardner defeated

Jim McDermott James Adelbert McDermott (born December 28, 1936) is an American politician and psychiatrist who was the U.S. representative for from 1989 to 2017. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The 7th District includes most of Seattle, Vashon Is ...

. In the general election he unseated Republican incumbent,

John Spellman John Dennis Spellman (December 29, 1926 – January 16, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 18th governor of Washington from 1981 to 1985 and as the first King County Executive from 1969 to 1981. Spellman was elected governor in ...

. Gardner was easily elected to a second term in 1988 over state representative

Bob Williams Robert, Rob, Robbie, Bob or Bobby Williams may refer to: Entertainment Film * Robert Williams (actor, born 1894) (1894–1931), American stage and film actor * Robert B. Williams (actor) (1904–1978), American film actor * R. J. Williams (born ...

. He chose not to seek a third term. While governor, Gardner signed into law a health care program that provided state medical insurance for the

working poor The working poor are working people whose incomes fall below a given poverty line due to low-income jobs and low familial household income. These are people who spend at least 27 weeks in a year working or looking for employment, but remain und ...

. He helped develop land-use and growth-management policies that made Washington an early environmental leader, steered hundreds of millions of dollars of increased spending toward state universities, increased standardized testing in public education, and improved legal protections for gay people. On March 21, 1992, Gardner signed a measure that outlawed selling "obscene" music to minors in the state of Washington. The law went into effect on June 11 of that year, and make record store retailers and their employees criminally liable for selling such music to anyone under the age of 18.

Later years

In 1994, one year after his retirement, Gardner was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. In 2006, he announced his support for

assisted suicide Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...

. In 2008, he filed and successfully spearheaded the campaign for

Initiative 1000 Initiative 1000 (I-1000) of 2008 established the U.S. state of Washington's Death with Dignity Act ( RCW 70.245), which legalizes medical aid in dying with certain restrictions. Passage of this initiative made Washington the second U.S. state to ...

, Washington's Death With Dignity Act, which was closely modeled on Oregon's assisted dying law; he remained involved in implementing the Act. Gardner said that he supported going even further than the current Washington and Oregon laws, to eventually permit lethal prescriptions for people whose suffering is unbearable without the requirement that the sufferer have a terminal condition. In 2009, ''

The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner ''The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner'' is a 2009 documentary film directed by Daniel Junge and produced by Just Media for HBO Films. The film follows the "last campaign" of Booth Gardner, the Governor of Washington from 1985 to 1993, to ...

'', a short documentary film, was produced by Just Media and

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

, chronicling the Initiative 1000 campaign. The film was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

for Best Documentary Short. Gardner supported eliminating Washington's WASL test, a standardized test that was required to graduate high school. It was replaced in 2009 by the MSP for grades three through eight and the HSPE for grades eight through twelve. Gardner died at his home in

on March 15, 2013, of

. He was 76.

References

External links

Gardner, William Booth
at HistoryLink

at the

National Governors Association The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 states, territories and commonwealths. Members come to the association from across the politi ...

IMDB Entry for "The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner"
* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Booth 1936 births 2013 deaths American soccer chairmen and investors Businesspeople from Tacoma, Washington Deaths from Parkinson's disease Neurological disease deaths in Washington (state) Democratic Party governors of Washington (state) Euthanasia in the United States Harvard Business School alumni Lakeside School alumni North American Soccer League (1968–1984) executives Politicians from Tacoma, Washington University of Washington alumni Democratic Party Washington (state) state senators