This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognizing you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Please see our privacy policy for more information.
Vermont
Gov. Lee Emerson
- January 4, 1951 - January 6, 1955
- Republican
- October 19, 1898
- May 21, 1976
- Vermont
- Syracuse University, George Washington University Law School
- Married Dorcas Ball; two children
About
LEE EMERSON was born in Hardwick, Vermont. He graduated from Syracuse University in 1921 and from the George Washington University Law School in Washington, DC in 1926, after which he opened a law office in Barton, Vermont. He was a member of the state House of Representatives from 1939 to 1941, serving as Speaker in 1941. He went on to become a state senator in 1943 and was Lieutenant Governor from 1945 to 1947. Elected governor three years later, he recommended that Vermont citizens serving in the Korean conflict be paid a bonus. He supported studies of the feasibility of building a natural gas pipeline for Vermont and of possible racial discrimination in the state. Also during his administration, legislation known as the Forest Act was passed, providing assistance for municipalities to establish forests. After leaving office, Emerson returned to his law practice in Barton. He went on to make unsuccessful bids for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
Source
Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 4. Westport, CT: Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.
Who's Who in America, Vol. X. New Providence, NJ: Marquis' Who's Who.
Vermont Primary and General Election Results