John Anderson Jr
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John Anderson Jr. (May 8, 1917 – September 15, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 36th governor of Kansas, from 1961 until 1965. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the 33rd
attorney general of Kansas The attorney general of Kansas is a statewide elected official responsible for providing legal services to the state government of Kansas. Kris Kobach assumed the office on January 9, 2023. Divisions * Administration Division * Civil Division * ...
from 1956 until 1961.


Life and career

Anderson was born near
Olathe, Kansas Olathe ( ) is the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is the List of cities in Kansas#Highest population listing, fourth-most populous city in both the Kansas City metropolitan area and the state of Kansas, with a 2020 Uni ...
, to John and Ora Bookout Anderson. He graduated from Olathe High School in 1935. From there he went on to Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science, and later transferred to the
University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...
. In 1943 he graduated from the University of Kansas, and from the University of Kansas Law School the following year. He did not qualify for military service during World War II for physical reasons. Instead, he spent two years, from 1944 to 1946, on the staff of Federal Judge Walter A. Huxman. Later in 1946, Anderson opened his own law practice in Olathe. Soon after establishing his law practice, Anderson entered politics by running for county attorney of Johnson County as a Republican. Anderson won this election, as well as two following elections and served in this capacity until 1953. Beginning in 1952, Anderson sought to elevate his political career by running for a seat in the Kansas State Senate. Again he was successful, holding his office until March 1, 1956. At that time, he was appointed to fill the unexpired term as
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 ...
. Once in this elective office, Anderson won the two following elections in 1956 and 1958. Anderson was part of "The Young Turks", a reform-minded group of Republicans who backed
Fred Hall Frederick Lee Hall (July 24, 1916 – March 18, 1970) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician who served as the 31st lieutenant governor of Kansas from 1951 to 1955 and 33rd governor of Kansas from 1955 until 1957 and a justice of the Kans ...
as governor, and opposed right-to-work laws like the governor himself. By 1960, Anderson was ready for bigger ambitions and entered the race for the office of governor in the election of that year. He defeated the Democratic incumbent, George Docking, 511,534 to 402,261 (the Prohibition candidate received 8,727). In keeping with his tradition for winning elections in pairs, Anderson also won the 1962 Gubernatorial election. Anderson became the first governor of Kansas to occupy Cedar Crest which had just been renovated at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars. During his time as governor, Anderson increased funding for every grade level in the state's education system, added
Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...
to the Board of Regents system. A state technical institute in Salina was established and a number of vocational technical schools were opened. Under Anderson's watch, the number of public school districts went from a thousand to 303 districts. The state's medical and mental hospital systems were reorganized and expanded, the pardon and parole system were reformed, new highways were built, a public employee retirement fund was established, and a fund was established to receive funds from the federal government in order to fund a program to assist children of low-income families. Because of his efforts to fund and improve education in Kansas, Anderson was nicknamed the "Education Governor". Anderson also sought to advance civil rights in Kansas. In his 1961 inaugural speech, Anderson said: "The forward push of certain minority groups for equal places in our society have been icgreatly dramatized in recent years in the southern states... America is moving forward into an era of greater opportunity for some groups and less privilege for other groups. Kansas will not escape this mighty force." In 1964, Anderson chose not to seek re-election, but instead, went back to his law practice in Olathe. Anderson supported New York governor
Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich "Rocky" Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He was also the 49th governor of New York, serving from 1959 to 197 ...
in the
1964 Republican Party presidential primaries From February 15 to June 19, 1964, voters of the Republican Party elected 1,308 delegates to the 1964 Republican National Convention through a series of delegate selection primaries and caucuses, for the purpose of determining the party's nomin ...
and opposed
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 ...
as the party's presidential nominee. On Goldwater's defeat in 1964, Anderson remarked: "This Goldwater ideology, the thing he called conservatism was beaten. It lost in every state. In the South, prejudice voted, not his philosophy, and in Arizona they voted hometown. These Goldwater people have got to roll over. They’re beaten." He remained active in public service after leaving the governor's office, serving as an attorney for the Board of Healing Arts and the Kansas Turnpike Authority. In addition, he served as the director of the Citizens' Conference on State Legislatures from 1965 to 1972. He was nominated for federal judgeships on a number of occasions, but was never appointed. Again, in 1972 he tried for the Republican Party nomination for governor, but was defeated by Morris Kay. After leaving the Governor's office, Anderson retired to his native Olathe. Anderson died September 15, 2014, at the age of 97.Former Kansas Governor John Anderson, Jr. dies
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Legacy

K-10 in
Johnson County, Kansas Johnson County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Kansas, along the border of the state of Missouri. Its county seat is Olathe, Kansas, Olathe. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 609, ...
, is named in Anderson's honor.


Notes


External links


Publications concerning Kansas Governor Anderson's administration available via the KGI Online Library
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, John Jr. 1917 births 2014 deaths Republican Party governors of Kansas Kansas attorneys general Republican Party Kansas state senators Kansas State University alumni Politicians from Olathe, Kansas University of Kansas School of Law alumni 20th-century members of the Kansas Legislature