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Military Service: Army

War(s) Served:  World War II

WILLIAM ALLEN EGAN, Alaska's first governor, was born on October 8, 1914, in Valdez, Alaska. He earned an honorary LL.D. from the Alaska Methodist University in 1965, and the University of Alaska in 1972. Before entering politics, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II, worked in a mine, was a pilot, and owned the Valdez General Store. Egan was elected to the Alaska Territorial House in 1941, served for ten years, and was speaker in 1951. He was mayor of Valdez in 1946, a member of the Alaska Territorial Senate form 1953 to 1955, and a delegate and presiding officer to the Alaska Statehood Constitutional Convention from 1955 to 1956. On June 30, 1958, Congress approved the Alaska Statehood Act, and consequently, Egan ran and was elected the state's first governor. He was reelected to a second term in 1962, ran unsuccessfully in 1966, and was reelected to a third term in 1970. During his administrations, he worked to harness Alaska's immense natural resources, and started the state on an era of expansion and transition. He ran for reelection in 1974, and was barely defeated by Jay S. Hammond. William Allen Egan died on May 6, 1984.

Sources:

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 1, Westport, Conn.; Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.

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