Changes

==Background==

==Background==

Hansen was born in Zenith in Lincoln County (now Teton County), a settlement so small that it is no longer listed on Wyoming road maps. He was the son of Peter Christofferson Hansen (1867-1952) and the former Sylvia Irene Wood (1885-1976). The senior Hansens were ranchers; Peter, of Danish extraction, came from Soda Springs, [[Idaho]], and Sylvia, of English descent, was born in Blackfoot, Idaho. Peter Hansen, who had some college training, was a "practical" engineer in that he did surveying and ditch work on ranch lands. In the Menors Cabin, a small [[museum]] near the south entrance to [[Grand Teton National Park]] and adjacent to the Chapel of the Transfiguration, is a picture of young Cliff Hansen and his mother, which was taken in the early 1920s. The [[photograph]] is posted under the [[cattle]] exhibit and is meant to demonstrate the hardiness of early Wyoming pioneers.<ref>Menors Cabin exhibit, [[Grand Teton National Park]], Jackson, Wyoming.</ref>

Hansen was born in Zenith in Lincoln County (now Teton County), a settlement so small that it is no longer listed on Wyoming road maps. He was the son of Peter Christofferson Hansen (1867–1952) and the former Sylvia Irene Wood (1885–1976). The senior Hansens were ranchers; Peter, of Danish extraction, came from Soda Springs, [[Idaho]], and Sylvia, of English descent, was born in Blackfoot, Idaho. Peter Hansen, who had some college training, was a "practical" engineer in that he did surveying and ditch work on ranch lands. In the Menors Cabin, a small [[museum]] near the south entrance to [[Grand Teton National Park]] and adjacent to the Chapel of the Transfiguration, is a picture of young Cliff Hansen and his mother, which was taken in the early 1920s. The [[photograph]] is posted under the [[cattle]] exhibit and is meant to demonstrate the hardiness of early Wyoming pioneers.<ref>Menors Cabin exhibit, [[Grand Teton National Park]], Jackson, Wyoming.</ref>

Hansen was reared in Jackson Hole, located in a high-mountain valley that includes Grand Teton]]. There he attended public school, during which time he overcame a serious speech impediment which baffled his teachers. His problem was not inability to learn but a severe stutter which was corrected by his attendance at a special school. Having overcome the speech impediment, Hansen forever stressed the value of an education, once having advised a grandson, "It's the one thing no one can take away from you."<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2009/10/24/obituaries/01obit_10-24-09.txt|title=Obituary of Clifford P. Hansen|publisher=''Wyoming Tribune-Eagle''|accessdate=October 24, 2009}}</ref>

Hansen was reared in Jackson Hole, located in a high-mountain valley that includes Grand Teton]]. There he attended public school, during which time he overcame a serious speech impediment which baffled his teachers. His problem was not inability to learn but a severe stutter which was corrected by his attendance at a special school. Having overcome the speech impediment, Hansen forever stressed the value of an education, once having advised a grandson, "It's the one thing no one can take away from you."<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2009/10/24/obituaries/01obit_10-24-09.txt|title=Obituary of Clifford P. Hansen|publisher=''Wyoming Tribune-Eagle''|accessdate=October 24, 2009}}</ref>

==Political life==

==Political life==

Hansen won the governorship in the 1962 mid-term elections by 1ten thousand votes. He unseated the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Jack Robert Gage (1899-1970), who had served fewer than two years. First, Hansen won the [[Republican Party|GOP]] primary with 57 percent of the vote against two opponents, attorney and former state Representative Charles Monroe Crowell (1910-1991) of Casper<ref>Charles Monroe Crowell (1910-1991) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed July 24, 2021.</ref> and Robert E. Cheever (1905-1982),<ref>Robert E Cheever (1905-1982) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed July 24, 2021.</ref> a former mayor of the capital city of [[Cheyenne]]. Jack Gage defeated William Jack to secure the Democratic nomination, 55.5-44.5 percent. In the [[general election]], Hansen polled 64,970 votes (54.5 percent); Gage,s 54,298 (45.5 percent).<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections, Wyoming governorship, 1966.</ref>

Hansen won the governorship in the 1962 mid-term elections by 1ten thousand votes. He unseated the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Jack Robert Gage (1899–1970), who had served fewer than two years. First, Hansen won the [[Republican Party|GOP]] primary with 57 percent of the vote against two opponents, attorney and former state Representative Charles Monroe Crowell (1910–1991) of Casper<ref>Charles Monroe Crowell (1910-1991) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed July 24, 2021.</ref> and Robert E. Cheever (1905–1982),<ref>Robert E Cheever (1905-1982) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed July 24, 2021.</ref> a former mayor of the capital city of [[Cheyenne]]. Jack Gage defeated William Jack to secure the Democratic nomination, 55.5–44.5 percent. In the [[general election]], Hansen polled 64,970 votes (54.5 percent); Gage,s 54,298 (45.5 percent).<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections, Wyoming governorship, 1966.</ref>

Several western [[newspaper]]s called Hansen the "cowboy governor. Hansen's obituary contends that he "brought both the down-to-earth pragmatism of a lifelong cattle rancher and the affability of a small-town politician to Cheyenne and then to Washington, and he was on friendly and familiar terms throughout his career, not only with those on both sides of the political aisle, but also with elevator attendants, cafeteria workers, and staff members throughout the Capitol who called him friend."<ref name=obit/>

Several western [[newspaper]]s called Hansen the "cowboy governor. Hansen's obituary contends that he "brought both the down-to-earth pragmatism of a lifelong cattle rancher and the affability of a small-town politician to Cheyenne and then to Washington, and he was on friendly and familiar terms throughout his career, not only with those on both sides of the political aisle, but also with elevator attendants, cafeteria workers, and staff members throughout the Capitol who called him friend."<ref name=obit/>

Governor Hansen worked to bolster programs to combat [[alcoholism]] and mental illness.<ref>{{cite web|author=Douglas Martin|title=Clifford Hansen, Former Wyoming Governor and U.S. Senator, Is Dead at 97|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/us/politics/22hansen.html|access-date=13 October 2014|publisher=''[[The New York Times''|date=October 21, 200|accessdate=July 23, 2021}}</ref>

Governor Hansen worked to bolster programs to combat [[alcoholism]] and mental illness.<ref>{{cite web|author=Douglas Martin|title=Clifford Hansen, Former Wyoming Governor and U.S. Senator, Is Dead at 97|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/us/politics/22hansen.html|access-date=13 October 2014|publisher=''[[The New York Times''|date=October 21, 200|accessdate=July 23, 2021}}</ref>

After a single term as governor, Hansen ran for the U.S. Senate seat which was being vacated by the retiring Republican [[Milward  Simpson]]. He won that election with just under 52 percent of the vote. In a fairly Republican year nationally, he defeated popular Representative at-large Teno Roncalio (1916-2003), a Democrat of [[Italy|Italian]] extraction. Hansen received 63,548 votes (51.8 percent); Roncalio, 59,141 (48.2 percent).<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections,'' U.S. Senator from Wyoming, 1966.</ref>

After a single term as governor, Hansen ran for the U.S. Senate seat which was being vacated by the retiring Republican [[Milward  Simpson]]. He won that election with just under 52 percent of the vote. In a fairly Republican year nationally, he defeated popular Representative at-large Teno Roncalio (1916–2003), a Democrat of [[Italy|Italian]] extraction. Hansen received 63,548 votes (51.8 percent); Roncalio, 59,141 (48.2 percent).<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections,'' U.S. Senator from Wyoming, 1966.</ref>

In 1972, Hansen was reelected to the Senate over Democrat Mike M. Vinich (1924-2015) of Hudson in Fremont County<ref>Mike M. Vinich (1924-2015) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed July 24, 2021.</ref> 101,314 votes (71.3 percent) to 40,753 (28.7 percent).<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections'', U.S. Senator from Wyoming, 1972</ref> Senator Hansen was known for social and fiscal conservatism. He voted against sending to the states the proposed [[Equal Rights Amendment]], which would have codified federal power over the states. He opposed the [[Richard M. Nixon]] administration's deployment of the [[anti-ballistic missile]], a position which put him at odds with then [[United States Secretary of Defense|Defense Secretary]] [[Melvin R. Laird]] of [[Wisconsin]].<ref name="williams">Pete Williams, "Remembering Clifford Hansen," firstread.msnbc.msn.com, October 21, 2009; no longer on-line.</ref>

In 1972, Hansen was reelected to the Senate over Democrat Mike M. Vinich (1924–2015) of Hudson in Fremont County<ref>Mike M. Vinich (1924-2015) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed July 24, 2021.</ref> 101,314 votes (71.3 percent) to 40,753 (28.7 percent).<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections'', U.S. Senator from Wyoming, 1972</ref> Senator Hansen was known for social and fiscal conservatism. He voted against sending to the states the proposed [[Equal Rights Amendment]], which would have codified federal power over the states. He opposed the [[Richard M. Nixon]] administration's deployment of the [[anti-ballistic missile]], a position which put him at odds with then [[United States Secretary of Defense|Defense Secretary]] [[Melvin R. Laird]] of [[Wisconsin]].<ref name="williams">Pete Williams, "Remembering Clifford Hansen," firstread.msnbc.msn.com, October 21, 2009; no longer online.</ref>

Hansen voted in 1967 to confirm the [[African-American]] [[liberal]] [[Thurgood Marshall], the plaintiff's attorney in the 1954 ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' school desegregation case, to the [[United States Supreme Court]] and the next year voted for the open-housing Civil Rights Act of 1968.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/90-1967/s176|title=CONFIRMATION OF NOMINATION OF THURGOOD MARSHALL, THE FIRST NEGRO APPOINTED TO THE SUPREME COURT.|publisher=GovTrack.us}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/90-1968/s346|title=TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION IN SALE OR RENTAL OF HOUSING, AND TO PROHIBIT RACIALLY MOTIVATED INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON EXERCISING HIS CIVIL RIGHTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES|publisher=GovTrack.us|accessdate=July 23, 2021}}</ref>

Hansen voted in 1967 to confirm the [[African-American]] [[liberal]] [[Thurgood Marshall], the plaintiff's attorney in the 1954 ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' school desegregation case, to the [[United States Supreme Court]] and the next year voted for the open-housing Civil Rights Act of 1968.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/90-1967/s176|title=CONFIRMATION OF NOMINATION OF THURGOOD MARSHALL, THE FIRST NEGRO APPOINTED TO THE SUPREME COURT.|publisher=GovTrack.us}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/90-1968/s346|title=TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION IN SALE OR RENTAL OF HOUSING, AND TO PROHIBIT RACIALLY MOTIVATED INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON EXERCISING HIS CIVIL RIGHTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES|publisher=GovTrack.us|accessdate=July 23, 2021}}</ref>

==The Hansen family==

==The Hansen family==

 

In 1934, Hansen married the former Martha Close (1914–2011), originally from Sheridan, Wyoming. The two met in Laramie at the University of Wyoming. The Hansens were the parents of Peter Arthur Hansen and Mary Elisabeth Hansen Mead Steinhour (1935–1996), the unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1990.<ref>Mary Hansen Mead Steinhour (1935-1996) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed July 23, 2021.</ref>

In 1934, Hansen married the former Martha Close (1914-2011), originally from Sheridan, Wyoming. The two met in Laramie at the University of Wyoming. The Hansens were the parents of Peter Arthur Hansen and Mary Elisabeth Hansen Mead Steinhour (1935-1996), the unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1990.<ref>Mary Hansen Mead Steinhour (1935-1996) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed July 23, 2021.</ref>

Hansen's grandson, [[Matt Mead|Matthew H. "Matt" Mead]], who was born eight months before his grandfather ran for governor. Matt Mead was the United States Attorney in the capital city of [[Cheyenne]] from 2001 to 2007, an appointee of then U.S. President [[George W. Bush]]. In 2007, Mead resigned as the U.S. Attorney to seek the seat of the late U.S. Senator [[Craig Thomas]]. However, the Wyoming Republican State Central Committee bypassed Mead on the third and final ballot. He came within fourteen votes of being one of the three nominees from which Democratic Governor [[David D. Freudenthal]] would make the final selection of [[John Barrasso]] to fill the Thomas vacancy until the 2008 general election. Barrasso served the unexpired term and then was elected to full terms in 2012 and 2018. In 2010, Mead was elected as the 32nd governor and was elected to a second term in 2014.

Hansen's grandson, [[Matt Mead|Matthew H. "Matt" Mead]], who was born eight months before his grandfather ran for governor. Matt Mead was the United States Attorney in the capital city of [[Cheyenne]] from 2001 to 2007, an appointee of then U.S. President [[George W. Bush]]. In 2007, Mead resigned as the U.S. Attorney to seek the seat of the late U.S. Senator [[Craig Thomas]]. However, the Wyoming Republican State Central Committee bypassed Mead on the third and final ballot. He came within fourteen votes of being one of the three nominees from which Democratic Governor [[David D. Freudenthal]] would make the final selection of [[John Barrasso]] to fill the Thomas vacancy until the 2008 general election. Barrasso served the unexpired term and then was elected to full terms in 2012 and 2018. In 2010, Mead was elected as the 32nd governor and was elected to a second term in 2014.

Pete Williams of [[NBC]] News, who formerly worked in Hansen's Senate office, recalled him, accordingly: "He was an honest man, of rock solid integrity, who loved his wife, his children, and his state. And when his service to his nation was over, he went back to Wyoming, where he died, not far from the log house where he was born."<ref name=williams/>

Pete Williams of [[NBC]] News, who formerly worked in Hansen's Senate office, recalled him, accordingly: "He was an honest man, of rock solid integrity, who loved his wife, his children, and his state. And when his service to his nation was over, he went back to Wyoming, where he died, not far from the log house where he was born."<ref name=williams/>

In 1995, Hansen was inducted, along with the Texas artist and illustrator Thomas C. Lea, III (1907-20o1) into the Hall of Great Westerners of the [[National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum]] in [[Oklahoma City]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Hall of Great Westerners |url=https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/hall-of-great-westerners/ |website=National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum |accessdate=July 24, 2021}}</ref>

In 1995, Hansen was inducted, along with the Texas artist and illustrator Thomas C. Lea, III (1907–2001) into the Hall of Great Westerners of the [[National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum]] in [[Oklahoma City]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Hall of Great Westerners |url=https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/hall-of-great-westerners/ |website=National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum |accessdate=July 24, 2021}}</ref>

Hansen sat beside his friend, [[Barry Goldwater]], the [[Arizona]] Republican who lost the 1964 presidential election to [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] of [[Texas]]. He had been among those Republican senators who urged Goldwater to meet with President Nixon to inform him that there were far insufficient votes in the Senate to avoid conviction of a pending [[impeachment]]. Hansen though  had politically benefited from Nixon leading the Republican Party to victory in 1972 over Senator [[George McGovern]] of [[South Dakota]].<ref name=williams/>In a 2006 interview, Hansen fondly recalled one of Goldwater's jokes:  Goldwater goes into a California country club that excludes [[Jews]]. The man in charge tells him that he is sorry but Jews cannot play in the club. Goldwater says, "I'm only half Jewish. Can I still play nine holes?"

Hansen sat beside his friend, [[Barry Goldwater]], the [[Arizona]] Republican who lost the 1964 presidential election to [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] of [[Texas]]. He had been among those Republican senators who urged Goldwater to meet with President Nixon to inform him that there were far insufficient votes in the Senate to avoid conviction of a pending [[impeachment]]. Hansen though  had politically benefited from Nixon leading the Republican Party to victory in 1972 over Senator [[George McGovern]] of [[South Dakota]].<ref name=williams/>In a 2006 interview, Hansen fondly recalled one of Goldwater's jokes:  Goldwater goes into a California country club that excludes [[Jews]]. The man in charge tells him that he is sorry but Jews cannot play in the club. Goldwater says, "I'm only half Jewish. Can I still play nine holes?"