Gordon Stanley Clinton (April 13, 1920 – November 19, 2011) was the 44th mayor of

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 ...

. After defeating incumbent Mayor Allen Pomeroy in a close election in 1956, Clinton served two terms, from 1956 to 1964. Upon taking office, Clinton established the Metropolitan Problems Advisory Committee, headed by local community leader John Ellis, to suggest approaches to dealing with chronic local and regional problems. During his administration, Clinton tackled issues as divergent as regional governance, international trade, and discrimination in housing. He was a Republican. Clinton actively supported development of enabling legislation used by the

Washington State Legislature The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the State of Washington. It is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 representatives, and the upper Washington State Senate, w ...

to allow creation of regional governments, leading to the formation of the

Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle King County Metro, officially the King County Metro Transit Department and often shortened to Metro, is the public transit authority of King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle. It is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in t ...

(Metro) in 1958. Clinton also established Seattle's first sister city relationship (with

Kobe, Japan Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

) in 1956, supported the development of the current

Seattle Center The Seattle Center is an entertainment, education, tourism and performing arts center located in the Lower Queen Anne, Seattle, Lower Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. Constructed for the Century 21 Exposition, 1962 W ...

site for the

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

in 1962, and attempted to fight illegal gambling in Seattle. In 1963, Clinton created the 12-member Seattle Human Rights Commission to promote equality and understanding among Seattle residents.

References

External links

Gordon S. Clinton
at historylink.org
Guide to the Mayor Gordon Stanley Clinton Photographs 1959

Guide to the Mayor Gordon Clinton Election Scrapbooks 1956–1960

1920 births 2011 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Washington (state) Mayors of Seattle Methodists from Washington (state) Washington (state) Republicans {{Washington-mayor-stub