Timothy Milford Babcock (October 27, 1919 – April 7, 2015) was an American politician, the 16th Governor of the state of

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, from 1962 to 1969.

Early life

Babcock was born in

Littlefork, Minnesota Littlefork is a city in Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 553 at the 2020 census. U.S. Highway 71 and state highways 65 and 217 are three of the main routes in Littlefork. The town was formerly on the Norther ...

, the son of Olive (Rinehart) and Erwin Babcock. He later moved to

Glendive, Montana Glendive is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Montana, United States, and home to Dawson Community College. Glendive was established by the Northern Pacific Railway during the building of the railroad line. The town of Glendive is ...

and graduated from Dawson County High School in 1939. He married Betty Lee on September 21, 1941, and they had two children. After graduating from Dawson County High School in 1939, he worked at a

Douglas Aircraft The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace and defense company based in Southern California. Founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr., it merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas, where it operated as a di ...

factory in California. In 1944, he enlisted in the US Army as an infantryman, and served with the

394th Infantry Regiment The 394th Infantry Regiment was established on 23 July 1918 as the 394th Infantry and assigned to the 99th Division as a member of the National Army. It was demobilized on 30 November 1918, but was later reconstituted on 21 June 1921 as a memb ...

99th Infantry Division The 99th Infantry Division briefly existed, but never deployed, in the closing days of World War I, was reconstituted as a reserve unit in 1921, was ordered into active military service in 1942, and deployed overseas in 1944. The 99th landed at ...

in the

European Theater The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main Theater (warfare), theatres of combat during World War II, taking place from September 1939 to May 1945. The Allies of World War II, Allied powers (including the United Kingdom, the ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He fought at

Elsenborn Ridge The Battle of Elsenborn Ridge refers to the northernmost German attacks during the Battle of the Bulge. The area from Elsenborn Ridge itself to Monschau was the only sector of the American front line attacked during the Battle of the Bulge in w ...

, part of

the Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during the Second World War, taking place from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 19 ...

. He later took part in the capture of the Remagen Bridge, where he was awarded a

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

for valor.

Career

Babcock served three terms in the

Montana Legislature The Montana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to t ...

prior to being elected lieutenant governor in 1960. He became governor in 1962 upon the death of Governor Donald Nutter. During his tenure, he proposed a three-percent sales tax to support the state government, and moderated the budget signed by Governor Nutter. In 1964, Babcock endorsed

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 ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

for the Republican presidential nomination. Democrat

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, however, was an easy winner that year of Montana's then four

electoral votes An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliamenta ...

. He ran for re-election in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

against

Roland Renne Roland R. Renne (December 12, 1905 – August 30, 1989) was an American agricultural economics professor who served as President of Montana State College from 1943 to 1964. Renne was also active in Washington, D.C., and United States overseas ag ...

, the former President of

Montana State College Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...

and the Democratic nominee. Following a close campaign, Babcock was narrowly re-elected over Renne. From 1964 to 1965, he was a member of the National Governors' Conference Executive Committee, and he chaired the Western Governors' Conference from 1966 to 1967. In

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, he ran against incumbent United States Senator

Lee Metcalf Lee Warren Metcalf (January 28, 1911 – January 12, 1978) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Representative (1953–1961) and a U.S. Senator (1961–1978) from Montana. He was the ...

, and despite the fact that Democrats nationwide lost three Senate seats that year, Metcalf not only defeated Babcock, but increased his margin of victory from

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

. When Babcock ran for re-election in

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, he faced a stiff challenge in the Republican primary from Ted James, who had served with Babcock as his

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 ...

since 1965. Babcock ended up defeating James, and advanced to the general election, where he faced Forrest H. Anderson, the

State Attorney General The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the District of Columbia, federal district, or of any of the Territories of the United States, territories is the chief legal advisor to the State governments of the United States, sta ...

, whom he lost to by a solid margin. Following his defeat, he was appointed by then-President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

to the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere. In 1969, Babcock, who was a close friend of Nixon, was hired by

Armand Hammer Armand Hammer (May 21, 1898 – December 10, 1990) was an American businessman and philanthropist. The son of a Russian Empire-born communist activist, Hammer trained as a physician before beginning his career in trade with the newly estab ...

Occidental Petroleum Occidental Petroleum Corporation (often abbreviated Oxy in reference to its ticker symbol and logo) is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States and the Middle East as well as petrochemical manufacturing in the ...

as a vice president and as Hammer's lobbyist with access not only to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

but also to Babcock's friend President Nixon. He was a delegate to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

eleven times and served on the National Republican Committee in 1997 and 2000. In 1978, Babcock and his wife wrote a book: ''Challenges: Above & Beyond.''

Illegal financial support of Nixon's Watergate fund

In September 1972,

made three illegal contributions totaling $54,000 to

's Watergate fund through friends of Babcock, who had been a vice president of Hammer's

, after which both Babcock and Hammer pleaded guilty to charges involving illegal contributions. In August 1989,

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

ed Hammer for the illegal contributions to aid Nixon's re-election in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

Personal life and death

Babcock purchased the Hauser Mansion in Helena in 1969. Built for Governor

Samuel Thomas Hauser Samuel Thomas Hauser (January 10, 1833 – November 10, 1914) was an American industrialist and banker who was active in the development of Montana Territory. He made his first fortune in silver mines and railroads, but he lost everything in the ...

, it is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. On April 7, 2015, Babcock died in

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer * Saint Helena (disambiguation), this includes places Places Greece * Helena ...

, Montana, aged 95.

References

External links

National Governors AssociationMontana Historical Society
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Babcock, Tim 1919 births 2015 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II American Presbyterians Republican Party governors of Montana Lieutenant governors of Montana Republican Party members of the Montana House of Representatives People from Koochiching County, Minnesota United States Army soldiers Military personnel from Minnesota Writers from Minnesota Writers from Montana People from Glendive, Montana New Right (United States) 20th-century members of the Montana Legislature