William Allen Egan

William Allen "Bill" Egan (born October 8, 1914 in Valdez , Alaska , † May 6, 1984 in Anchorage , Alaska) was an American politician of the Democratic Party and the first governor of the state of Alaska.

Career

Prior to entering politics, William Egan served in the US Army during World War II , worked in a mine, was a pilot and owned the Valdez General Store . Egan was elected to the Alaska Territory House of Representatives in 1941 , where he then served for ten years and whose speaker he was in 1951. He was also elected mayor of Valdez in 1946 . He was also a member of the Territorial Senate of Alaska between 1953 and 1955, and a delegate and presiding director of the Alaska Statehood Constitutional Convention between 1955 and 1956. On June 30, 1958, the US Congress passed the Alaska Statehood Act , which resulted in that Egan ran for election for governor of Alaska and was elected first governor of Alaska. He was re-elected for a second term in 1962, then failed again in 1966, but was elected for a third term in 1970. During his tenure, he worked to harness Alaska's vast natural resources, so that an era of expansion and change began for the state. He ran for office again in 1974, but was narrowly defeated by Jay Hammond . William Allen Egan died on May 6, 1984. He was married to Neva McKittrick, with whom he had one child.

Honors

He received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Alaska Methodist University in 1965 , and from the University of Alaska in 1972 .

Web links

• William Egan in the National Governors Association (English)
• The Political Graveyard (English)
• Sit News, Stories in the News, Ketchikan, Alaska (English)

• William Allen Egan in the database of Find a Grave (English)