Jack Robert Gage (January 13, 1899 – March 14, 1970) was an American author, educator, and politician who served as the 25th governor of Wyoming as a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life and education

Jack Robert Gage was born on January 13, 1899, in

McCook, Nebraska McCook is a city in and the county seat of Red Willow County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 7,446 at the 2020 census. History McCook was platted in 1882 when the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad was extended to that poin ...

to Will Vernon and LaVaughn Gage. In 1905, the family moved to Worland, Wyoming where Gage was raised. In 1918, he served in the army during World War I artillery until he was honorably discharged in 1919. In 1924, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

in agriculture. On September 29, 1922, he married Leona Switzer and would later have two sons with her. From 1924 to 1925, he was a vocational agriculture teacher and from 1929 to 1934, he was a geology and biology teacher.

Career

Superintendent of Public Instruction

On June 29, 1934, Gage filed to run for the Democratic nomination for Superintendent of Public Instruction and defeated five other candidates in the August primary. In the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, he easily defeated Katharine A. Morton, the Republican nominee, in a landslide. In 1936, he went to Washington, D.C. to meet with Wyoming's

congressional delegation A parliamentary delegation (or congressional delegation, also CODEL or codel, in the United States) is an official visit abroad by a member or members of a legislature. To schedule a parliamentary delegation, a member must apply to the relevant ...

seeking to have Wyoming's act of admission changed so that 33% of oil royalties could be distributed directly to school districts. In 1937, he and five other state officials had their voices recorded and Gage also wrote an essay that were placed into a time capsule which would be opened in 1987. On March 16, 1938, he announced that he would seek reelection, but was narrowly defeated in the

by Republican Esther Anderson.

Business and education

In 1940, he became a manager for a

KWYO KWYO (1410 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Classic Country music format. Licensed to Sheridan, Wyoming, United States, the station is currently owned by Lovcom, Inc. and features programming from CBS News Radio. All Lovcom stations are ...

radio station in Sheridan, invested into a school supply company, and wrote a Wyoming geography book for fifth to eighth grade students. On May 22, 1941, he was elected to the faculty of the Sheridan High School and on November 5, he assumed the role of Sheridan postmaster which he served as until 1958. In 1954, he was elected as president of the Wyoming chapter of the National Association of Postmasters and served until 1955. In 1956, he was elected as district governor for the Rotary International in Sheridan and was a member of a 37-person delegation that visited

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

and Moscow. In 1957, he was given a bronze medal at a banquet by the

Crusade for Freedom The Crusade for Freedom was an American propaganda campaign operating from 1950–1960. Its public goal was to raise funds for Radio Free Europe; it also served to conceal the CIA's funding of Radio Free Europe and to generate domestic support f ...

association after writing the book "Plan for Peace" and spoke about his experience in the Soviet Union.

Governor

On June 6, 1958, Gage filed to run for the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State and in the general election he narrowly defeated Republican nominee Everett Copenhaver by 1,112 votes. On December 1, 1960, Senator-elect Keith Thomson died causing a vacancy that Governor

John J. Hickey John Joseph Hickey (August 22, 1911 – September 22, 1970), known as Joe or J. J. Hickey, was an American judge and politician who served the 24th governor of Wyoming from 1959 to 1961 and as a United States senator from 1961 to 1962. A member ...

chose to fill himself and on December 22, he resigned from office to accept the appointment. According to provisions of the state constitution Gage succeeded Hickey as governor. Before taking office he had to submit forty appointments for state boards and commissions and after taking office had to submit another thirty and with other transition issues to deal with made him unable to attend John F. Kennedy's presidential inauguration. During his tenure as governor he supported measures to increase the amount of money given to the states from federal oil royalties and opposed most tax increases. In March 1962, William M. Jack, the Democratic nominee for governor in 1954, announced that he would mount a primary challenge against Gage and Gage narrowly defeated him by 4,176 votes and went on to be defeated in the general election by Teton county commissioner

Clifford Hansen Clifford Peter Hansen (October 16, 1912October 20, 2009) was an American politician from the state of Wyoming. A Republican, he served as the 26th governor of Wyoming from 1963 to 1967 and subsequently as a United States senator from 1967 to 1 ...

Later life and death

Following his defeat he vacationed in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

for several months from 1963 to 1964 where he traveled over 9,000 miles and later wrote about it for a magazine. In 1966, he announced that he would run in the Democratic primary for governor, but was defeated in the primary and later that year published "Wyoming Afoot and Horseback". In July 1968, he had his kidney removed and suffered an illness two weeks later. Gage died on March 14, 1970, at his home in Cheyenne after suffering from cancer for several months at age 71.

Electoral history

References

External links

Brief biographical sketch and list of gubernatorial papers at the Wyoming State ArchivesWyoming Statewide Election Guide 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gage, Jack R. 1899 births 1970 deaths 20th-century Wyoming politicians Deaths from cancer in Wyoming Democratic Party governors of Wyoming People from McCook, Nebraska People from Worland, Wyoming Politicians from Cheyenne, Wyoming Secretaries of state of Wyoming United States Army soldiers University of Wyoming alumni Writers from Cheyenne, Wyoming