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Colorado
Gov. Richard D. Lamm
- January 14, 1975 - January 13, 1987
- Democratic
- August 3, 1935
- Wisconsin
- University of Wisconsin, University of California
- Married Dorothy Vennard; two children
- Army
About
RICHARD D. LAMM was born in Madison, Wisconsin. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1957 and a law degree from the University of California in 1961. He served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army and later worked as an accountant and tax clerk with the California Franchise Tax Board. Lamm become a certified public accountant, an attorney with the Colorado Antidiscrimination Commission, and an attorney in private practice. From 1969 to 1974, Lamm was associate professor of law at the University of Denver. He was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from 1966 to 1974 and served as assistant minority leader from 1971 to 1974. As a freshman legislator, he drafted and succeeded in passing the nation’s first liberalized abortion law. He was an early leader of the environmental movement. Reacting to the high cost of campaigning, he walked the state in his campaign for governor, and he was elected in 1974, and reelected in 1979 and 1983. He is the longest-serving governor in Colorado’s history. While Governor, he authored or co-authored five books. Governor Lamm chaired the Western Governors’ Association. He is currently director of the Center for Public Policy and Contemporary Issues at the University of Denver.