John Nichols Dalton (July 11, 1931July 30, 1986) was an American politician who served as the 63rd governor of Virginia, from 1978 to 1982. Dalton won the office with 55.9% of the vote, defeating Democrat Henry E. Howell Jr. and Independent Alan R. Ogden. Dalton had previously served as

Lieutenant Governor of Virginia The lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The lieutenant governor is elected every four years along with the governor and attorney general. The office is currently held ...

Biography

Born in

Emporia, Virginia Emporia is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, surrounded by Greensville County, United States. Emporia and a predecessor town have been the county seat of Greensville County since 1791. As of the 2020 census, the population ...

, Dalton graduated from the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest instit ...

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It had a population of 15,425 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern par ...

, and the

University of Virginia Law School The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 as part of his "academical village", and now ...

. He served in both houses of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

(

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

, 1966–1972,

Senate of Virginia The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Vir ...

, 1973). Dalton was the 32nd

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

from 1974 to 1978. As governor, he pursued policies of limited government. He also settled the federal lawsuit on the desegregation of Virginia's institutions of higher education. John Dalton 1976

Dalton was the adopted son of Theodore Roosevelt Dalton, his uncle, who was the Republican candidate for governor in 1953 and 1957. As a young man his next-door neighbor was Charlotte Giesen, first Republican woman elected to the House of Delegates. Dalton died at 55 of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. He is buried at Sunrise Burial Park in Radford. His personal papers, including those from his time as governor, are held by the Special Collections Research Center at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

. His executive papers from his time as governor are held by the

Library of Virginia The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library is located at 800 East Broad Street, tw ...

. Dalton Intermediate School, in Radford, Virginia, is named after the former governor. Dalton Hall, a building at

Radford University Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia, United States. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate ...

that houses dining facilities, and the university bookstore is named for Dalton. Dalton's son-in-law, Steve Baril, sought the 2005 Republican nomination for

attorney general of Virginia The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an Executive (government), executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a United State ...

References

*
Virginia Governor John Nichols Dalton
National Governors Association

, UVa Cooper Center
The Legacy of Governor Dalton
by John Chichester

External links

Finding aid for the John Dalton Papers
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalton, John N. 1931 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American adoptees College of William & Mary alumni Deaths from lung cancer in Virginia Republican Party governors of Virginia Lieutenant governors of Virginia Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Virginia lawyers Republican Party Virginia state senators People from Emporia, Virginia People from Radford, Virginia 20th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly