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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder | name=Warren Allen Morton | nationality=American | party=Republican | office=Wyoming State Represe..."
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Warren Allen Morton
| nationality=[[United States|American]]
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
| office=[[Wyoming]] State Representative for Natrona County (Casper)]]
| term_start=January 1, 1967
| term_end=December 31, 1980
|office2=Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives
|term_start2=January 1, 1979
|term_end2=December 31, 1980
|preceded2=Nels J. Smith
|succeeded2=Robert Burnett
|birth_date=March 22, 1924
| birth_place=[[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]]<br> Jefferson County, <br> [[Alabama]], [[United States|USA]]
|death_place=Litchfield Park, Maricopa County, [[Arizona]]
| death_date=February 18, 2002 (aged 77)
| residence=Casper, Wyoming
|spouse=Katharine "Kathy" Hancock Allen Morton<br>
Father-in-law: Robert Gray Allen
|children=Frederick Lee "Ted" Morton<br>
Allen Salisbury Morton<br>
Robert "Bob" Coleman Morton<br>
Warren "Rev" Goddard Morton
|religion=[[Episcopalian]]
|footnotes='''Notes''': <br>
* In 1982, Morton was the third of five consecutive [[Wyoming]] [[Republican Party|Republicans]] to lose [[Governor|gubernatorial]] [[general election]]s to [[Democratic Party|Democrats]] Edgar Herschler and Michael "Mike" Sullivan between 1974 and 1990.<br>
*Morton, an [[Ivy League]]-educated [[oil]]man, served fourteen years in the Wyoming House of Representatives, his last two as the Speaker.}}
'''Warren Allen Morton''' (March 22, 1924 – February 18, 2002) was an [[oil]]man and [[engineer]] from Casper, [[Wyoming]]|Casper]] [[oil]]man and [[engineer]] who served as Speaker of the [[Wyoming House of Representatives]] from 1979 to 1980, prior to mounting a [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Governor|gubernatorial]] campaign in 1982. He served in the Wyoming House from Natrona County from January 1, 1967, to December 31, 1980. Morton was the managing partner of MKM Oil Company in Casper.
==Background==
Morton was born in [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]] in Jefferson County and the largest city in [[Alabama]], to Lindley C. Morton of [[California]] and the former Ruth Goddard,<ref>Google Books [https://books.google.com/books?id=uHqVYTkA08YC&pg=PA201]</ref> a native of [[Connecticut]]. Lindley and Ruth moved to Alabama because of his job with Portland Cement Company. The Mortons returned to California and reared their family of three sons and a daughter. Morton's brothers were Robert Morton and Coleman Morton (1919-2006), both of Pasadena, California; his surviving sister is Sylvia Morton Kingsley of [[San Francisco]].<ref name=statement>Statement of Katharine Allen Morton, September 24, 2008.</ref>
Morton graduated from the Hotchkiss School, a boarding school for boys, since coeducational, located in Lakeville in Litchfield County, [[Connecticut]]. He then attended [[Yale University]] in [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]], from which he graduated in the field of engineering in 1945. Thereafter, from 1945 to 1947, he was an ensign in the [[United States Navy]], having been commissioned through [[Columbia University]] in [[New York City]]. In 1948, he married the former Katharine Hancock "Kathy" Allen (born 1926), the daughter of Robert Gray Allen, a former Democratic [[U.S. representative]] from Greensburg in western [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name=obit>"Warren A. Morton" [[obituary]], ''Casper Star-Tribune,'' February 22, 2002.</ref>
In 1952, Warren and Kathy Morton moved to Casper from [[Long Beach]], [[California]], where Morton had been a petroleum engineer. They had four sons. Frederick Lee "Ted" Morton (born 1949 in [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]]) is a [[political science]] professor on extended leave from the University of Calgary in [[Calgary]], [[Alberta]], [[Canada]], and a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Allen Morton (born 1951) is a mergers and acquisitions specialist in [[San Francisco]]. Robert C. "Bob" Morton (born 1953) is an [attorney]] in [[Salt Lake City, Utah|Salt Lake City]], [[Utah]]. Warren Goddard Morton (born 1957) is a landman for True Oil Company and resides in Casper.<ref name=statement/><ref name=obit/>
==Morton as House Speaker==
The fiscally [[conservative]] Morton was a director of the Wyoming Taxpayers Association, but he an atypical Wyoming Republican. He supported [[abortion]] and [[gun control]] laws, particularly opposed by his state's large community of hunters.<ref name=statement/> As House Speaker, his colleagues considered him strict, smart, and fair. Tom Stroock, a former state senator from Casper and a United States Ambassador to [[Guatemala]], described the former Speaker as "brilliant. . . Warren had an important part to play in the history of Wyoming in the 1970s and 1980s. He was clearly an outstanding Speaker and an excellent legislator," though Stroock said that he did not always agree with Morton's political positions.<ref name=cst>Joan Barron, "Former House Speaker dies at 77: Casper oil man Morton devoted much of life to civic service," ''Casper Star-Tribune,'' February 20, 2002, pp. 1, A14.</ref>
Marlene Simons of Beulah, who was a freshman representative when Morton was Speaker, said that he had been a mentor to beginning legislators, seating them among the more experienced lawmakers. "He ran a tight ship. He was a kind, gentle man, but he was stern."<ref name=cst/>
==Gubernatorial campaign==
Morton easily won the [[Republican Party (United States)|GOP]] [[primary]] to challenge two-term [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[Governor]] Edgar of Kemmerer in Lincoln County. Morton polled 52,536 votes (74.3 percent). Rex G. Welty (1921-1992) of Afton in Lincoln County received 9,106 ballots (12.9), and Earl A. Johnson drew 9,025 (12.8 percent). Nels J. Smith of Sundance in northeastern Wyoming, who had been Morton's predecessor as House Speaker, filed for governor but withdrew before the primary. In a nationally Democratic year, Herschler charged that Morton was a tool of the energy interests.<ref name=fof>''Facts on File Yearbook, 1982'', p. 822.</ref> Morton was active in the Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Association, having been the president of the [[interest group]] from 1963 to 1965.<ref name=obit/> In addition to his own MKM company, Morton was a director of the American Petroleum Institute and was the Wyoming representative on the Interstate Oil Compact Commission from 1962 to 1972.<ref name=cst/>
Morton received 62,128 votes (36.9 percent) to Herschler's 106,427 (63.1 percent). Morton polled only 9,592 more votes in the [[general election]] than he had the primary. Herschler, however, received 62,031 more votes in the final round than he had in the Democratic primary against Pat McGuire. Herschler's plurality over Morton was hence almost numerically the same as Morton's total vote in the general election.<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections,'' 1982 gubernatorial primary and general election returns, pp. 1539, 1608.</ref>
Morton ran nearly twelve percentage points behind [[John C. Ostlund]], a former state senator, who had lost to Herschler in 1978. Of the three Republicans who challenged Herschler, Ostlund had fared best, losing by one percentage point. While Morton lost the governorship, Republican [[U.S. Senator]] [[Malcolm Wallop]] of Sheridan defeated the Democrat former Wyoming state Senator Rodger McDaniel, 57 to 43 percent.<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections,'' 1978 and 1982.</ref> McDaniel had been the Wyoming state coordinator for the unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1980 of Senator [[Edward M. Kennedy]] of [[Massachusetts]].<ref name=fof/>
After his gubernatorial defeat, Morton continued to support Republican candidates in Wyoming, such as U.S. Senators [[Craig L. Thomas|Craig Thomas]], [[Alan K. Simpson]], [[Mike Enzi]], and Malcolm Wallop, as well as his state's GOP organization. In 2000, he also donated to then [[U.S. Representative]] Rick Lazio of [[New York]] in the latter's bid against [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] for the U.S. Senate. In 1979, Morton contributed to the failed presidential bid of former [[Texas]] [[Governor]] [[John Connally]] before switching his support to [[Ronald W. Reagan]].<ref>Newsmeat, List of Campaign Contributions:http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?zip=82601&last=MORTON&first=WARREN</ref>
==Death and legacy==
Morton had struggled for four years with [[Alzheimer's disease]] and then developed [[Parkinson's disease]]. Wife Kathy recalls that Morton "had a very good sense of humor about it [Alzheimer's]. He was very open and honest."<ref name=cst/> Morton died at the family's winter residence in Litchfield Park in Maricopa County near [[Phoenix]], [[Arizona]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~colbaugh/WYINFO/casper02B.html|title=Warren Morton obituary|publisher=''Casper Star-Tribune''|date=February 19 2002}}</ref> He was [[cremation|cremated]]. Memorial services were held at St. Mark's Church in Casper on March 2, 2002.
Morton served on the board of trustees of the two-year Casper College, a community college.<ref>Case law, with trustees of Casper College, including Warren Morton as defendants in a suit: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=10th&navby=case&no=988074</ref> He was involved in numerous community affairs, including the management of a [[Little League]] [[baseball]] team for seven years. He was a director and past president of the Wyoming Heritage Society. He served on the boards of the United Fund, [[Chamber of Commerce]], and St. Mark's [[Episcopal]] Church.<ref name=obit>
Jim Geringe], who served as governor of Wyoming from 1995 to 2003, issued a statement on Morton's death: "I'm deeply saddened at the news of Warren Morton's passing. [First Lady] Sherri and I extend our sympathy and support to Katharine and the rest of the family. Warren set a high standard for public service with his involvement in community activities as Speaker of the House . . . , as a member of several committees and study groups, including the Tax Reform 2000 Commission, the Wyoming Futures Project, and the 1991 commission that studied judicial salaries. Warren served out of commitment and compassion. He was a true Wyoming statesman, businessman, and family man. We will certainly miss Warren."<ref name=cst/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Warren A.}}
[[Category:Wyoming]]
[[Category:Alabama]]
[[Category:California]]
[[Category:Arizona]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Engineers]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:United States Navy]]
[[Category:World War II]]
[[Category:Episcopalians]]
| name=Warren Allen Morton
| nationality=[[United States|American]]
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
| office=[[Wyoming]] State Representative for Natrona County (Casper)]]
| term_start=January 1, 1967
| term_end=December 31, 1980
|office2=Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives
|term_start2=January 1, 1979
|term_end2=December 31, 1980
|preceded2=Nels J. Smith
|succeeded2=Robert Burnett
|birth_date=March 22, 1924
| birth_place=[[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]]<br> Jefferson County, <br> [[Alabama]], [[United States|USA]]
|death_place=Litchfield Park, Maricopa County, [[Arizona]]
| death_date=February 18, 2002 (aged 77)
| residence=Casper, Wyoming
|spouse=Katharine "Kathy" Hancock Allen Morton<br>
Father-in-law: Robert Gray Allen
|children=Frederick Lee "Ted" Morton<br>
Allen Salisbury Morton<br>
Robert "Bob" Coleman Morton<br>
Warren "Rev" Goddard Morton
|religion=[[Episcopalian]]
|footnotes='''Notes''': <br>
* In 1982, Morton was the third of five consecutive [[Wyoming]] [[Republican Party|Republicans]] to lose [[Governor|gubernatorial]] [[general election]]s to [[Democratic Party|Democrats]] Edgar Herschler and Michael "Mike" Sullivan between 1974 and 1990.<br>
*Morton, an [[Ivy League]]-educated [[oil]]man, served fourteen years in the Wyoming House of Representatives, his last two as the Speaker.}}
'''Warren Allen Morton''' (March 22, 1924 – February 18, 2002) was an [[oil]]man and [[engineer]] from Casper, [[Wyoming]]|Casper]] [[oil]]man and [[engineer]] who served as Speaker of the [[Wyoming House of Representatives]] from 1979 to 1980, prior to mounting a [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Governor|gubernatorial]] campaign in 1982. He served in the Wyoming House from Natrona County from January 1, 1967, to December 31, 1980. Morton was the managing partner of MKM Oil Company in Casper.
==Background==
Morton was born in [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]] in Jefferson County and the largest city in [[Alabama]], to Lindley C. Morton of [[California]] and the former Ruth Goddard,<ref>Google Books [https://books.google.com/books?id=uHqVYTkA08YC&pg=PA201]</ref> a native of [[Connecticut]]. Lindley and Ruth moved to Alabama because of his job with Portland Cement Company. The Mortons returned to California and reared their family of three sons and a daughter. Morton's brothers were Robert Morton and Coleman Morton (1919-2006), both of Pasadena, California; his surviving sister is Sylvia Morton Kingsley of [[San Francisco]].<ref name=statement>Statement of Katharine Allen Morton, September 24, 2008.</ref>
Morton graduated from the Hotchkiss School, a boarding school for boys, since coeducational, located in Lakeville in Litchfield County, [[Connecticut]]. He then attended [[Yale University]] in [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]], from which he graduated in the field of engineering in 1945. Thereafter, from 1945 to 1947, he was an ensign in the [[United States Navy]], having been commissioned through [[Columbia University]] in [[New York City]]. In 1948, he married the former Katharine Hancock "Kathy" Allen (born 1926), the daughter of Robert Gray Allen, a former Democratic [[U.S. representative]] from Greensburg in western [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name=obit>"Warren A. Morton" [[obituary]], ''Casper Star-Tribune,'' February 22, 2002.</ref>
In 1952, Warren and Kathy Morton moved to Casper from [[Long Beach]], [[California]], where Morton had been a petroleum engineer. They had four sons. Frederick Lee "Ted" Morton (born 1949 in [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]]) is a [[political science]] professor on extended leave from the University of Calgary in [[Calgary]], [[Alberta]], [[Canada]], and a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Allen Morton (born 1951) is a mergers and acquisitions specialist in [[San Francisco]]. Robert C. "Bob" Morton (born 1953) is an [attorney]] in [[Salt Lake City, Utah|Salt Lake City]], [[Utah]]. Warren Goddard Morton (born 1957) is a landman for True Oil Company and resides in Casper.<ref name=statement/><ref name=obit/>
==Morton as House Speaker==
The fiscally [[conservative]] Morton was a director of the Wyoming Taxpayers Association, but he an atypical Wyoming Republican. He supported [[abortion]] and [[gun control]] laws, particularly opposed by his state's large community of hunters.<ref name=statement/> As House Speaker, his colleagues considered him strict, smart, and fair. Tom Stroock, a former state senator from Casper and a United States Ambassador to [[Guatemala]], described the former Speaker as "brilliant. . . Warren had an important part to play in the history of Wyoming in the 1970s and 1980s. He was clearly an outstanding Speaker and an excellent legislator," though Stroock said that he did not always agree with Morton's political positions.<ref name=cst>Joan Barron, "Former House Speaker dies at 77: Casper oil man Morton devoted much of life to civic service," ''Casper Star-Tribune,'' February 20, 2002, pp. 1, A14.</ref>
Marlene Simons of Beulah, who was a freshman representative when Morton was Speaker, said that he had been a mentor to beginning legislators, seating them among the more experienced lawmakers. "He ran a tight ship. He was a kind, gentle man, but he was stern."<ref name=cst/>
==Gubernatorial campaign==
Morton easily won the [[Republican Party (United States)|GOP]] [[primary]] to challenge two-term [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[Governor]] Edgar of Kemmerer in Lincoln County. Morton polled 52,536 votes (74.3 percent). Rex G. Welty (1921-1992) of Afton in Lincoln County received 9,106 ballots (12.9), and Earl A. Johnson drew 9,025 (12.8 percent). Nels J. Smith of Sundance in northeastern Wyoming, who had been Morton's predecessor as House Speaker, filed for governor but withdrew before the primary. In a nationally Democratic year, Herschler charged that Morton was a tool of the energy interests.<ref name=fof>''Facts on File Yearbook, 1982'', p. 822.</ref> Morton was active in the Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Association, having been the president of the [[interest group]] from 1963 to 1965.<ref name=obit/> In addition to his own MKM company, Morton was a director of the American Petroleum Institute and was the Wyoming representative on the Interstate Oil Compact Commission from 1962 to 1972.<ref name=cst/>
Morton received 62,128 votes (36.9 percent) to Herschler's 106,427 (63.1 percent). Morton polled only 9,592 more votes in the [[general election]] than he had the primary. Herschler, however, received 62,031 more votes in the final round than he had in the Democratic primary against Pat McGuire. Herschler's plurality over Morton was hence almost numerically the same as Morton's total vote in the general election.<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections,'' 1982 gubernatorial primary and general election returns, pp. 1539, 1608.</ref>
Morton ran nearly twelve percentage points behind [[John C. Ostlund]], a former state senator, who had lost to Herschler in 1978. Of the three Republicans who challenged Herschler, Ostlund had fared best, losing by one percentage point. While Morton lost the governorship, Republican [[U.S. Senator]] [[Malcolm Wallop]] of Sheridan defeated the Democrat former Wyoming state Senator Rodger McDaniel, 57 to 43 percent.<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections,'' 1978 and 1982.</ref> McDaniel had been the Wyoming state coordinator for the unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1980 of Senator [[Edward M. Kennedy]] of [[Massachusetts]].<ref name=fof/>
After his gubernatorial defeat, Morton continued to support Republican candidates in Wyoming, such as U.S. Senators [[Craig L. Thomas|Craig Thomas]], [[Alan K. Simpson]], [[Mike Enzi]], and Malcolm Wallop, as well as his state's GOP organization. In 2000, he also donated to then [[U.S. Representative]] Rick Lazio of [[New York]] in the latter's bid against [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] for the U.S. Senate. In 1979, Morton contributed to the failed presidential bid of former [[Texas]] [[Governor]] [[John Connally]] before switching his support to [[Ronald W. Reagan]].<ref>Newsmeat, List of Campaign Contributions:http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?zip=82601&last=MORTON&first=WARREN</ref>
==Death and legacy==
Morton had struggled for four years with [[Alzheimer's disease]] and then developed [[Parkinson's disease]]. Wife Kathy recalls that Morton "had a very good sense of humor about it [Alzheimer's]. He was very open and honest."<ref name=cst/> Morton died at the family's winter residence in Litchfield Park in Maricopa County near [[Phoenix]], [[Arizona]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~colbaugh/WYINFO/casper02B.html|title=Warren Morton obituary|publisher=''Casper Star-Tribune''|date=February 19 2002}}</ref> He was [[cremation|cremated]]. Memorial services were held at St. Mark's Church in Casper on March 2, 2002.
Morton served on the board of trustees of the two-year Casper College, a community college.<ref>Case law, with trustees of Casper College, including Warren Morton as defendants in a suit: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=10th&navby=case&no=988074</ref> He was involved in numerous community affairs, including the management of a [[Little League]] [[baseball]] team for seven years. He was a director and past president of the Wyoming Heritage Society. He served on the boards of the United Fund, [[Chamber of Commerce]], and St. Mark's [[Episcopal]] Church.<ref name=obit>
Jim Geringe], who served as governor of Wyoming from 1995 to 2003, issued a statement on Morton's death: "I'm deeply saddened at the news of Warren Morton's passing. [First Lady] Sherri and I extend our sympathy and support to Katharine and the rest of the family. Warren set a high standard for public service with his involvement in community activities as Speaker of the House . . . , as a member of several committees and study groups, including the Tax Reform 2000 Commission, the Wyoming Futures Project, and the 1991 commission that studied judicial salaries. Warren served out of commitment and compassion. He was a true Wyoming statesman, businessman, and family man. We will certainly miss Warren."<ref name=cst/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Warren A.}}
[[Category:Wyoming]]
[[Category:Alabama]]
[[Category:California]]
[[Category:Arizona]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Engineers]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:United States Navy]]
[[Category:World War II]]
[[Category:Episcopalians]]