Changes

|term_start=January 25, 1962

|term_start=January 25, 1962

|term_end=January 6, 1969

|term_end=January 6, 1969

|preceded=Donald Grant Nutter

|preceded=[[Donald Nutter|Donald Grant Nutter]]

|succeeded=Forrest Howard Anderson

|succeeded=Forrest Howard Anderson

|office2=22nd Lieutenant Governor of Montana

|office2=22nd Lieutenant Governor of Montana

==Career==

==Career==

Babcock served three terms in the Montana House of Representatives prior to his 1960 election as lieutenant governor, when [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] carried Montana against Senator  [[John F. Kennedy]]. He succeeded to the governorship in 1962 upon the death by airplane crash of Governor Donald Grant Nutter (1915-962). During his tenure, he proposed a three-percent sales tax to support the state government. In 1964, Babcock endorsed [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]] for the [[Republican Party|Republican]] presidential nomination, one of only three of the then sixteen Republican governors. Babcock was joined by Governors [[Henry Bellmon]] of [[Oklahoma]] and [[Paul Fannin]] of Arizona. Goldwater was decisively defeated by the Democrat [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] of [[Texas]], who also won Montana's then four [[electoral votes]].<ref>Thomas Payne, "The 1964 Election in Montana," ''The Western Political Quarterly'' Vol. 18, Issu32, June 1965, pp. 491–494.</ref>  

Babcock served three terms in the Montana House of Representatives prior to his 1960 election as lieutenant governor, when [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] carried Montana against Senator  [[John F. Kennedy]]. He succeeded to the governorship in 1962 upon the death by airplane crash of Governor [[Donald Nutter]], who served only one year and three weeks. During his tenure, Babcock proposed a three-percent sales tax to support the state government. In 1964, Babcock endorsed [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]] for the [[Republican Party|Republican]] presidential nomination, one of only three of the then sixteen Republican governors. Babcock was joined by Governors [[Henry Bellmon]] of [[Oklahoma]] and [[Paul Fannin]] of Arizona. Goldwater was decisively defeated by the Democrat [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] of [[Texas]], who also won Montana's then four [[electoral votes]].<ref>Thomas Payne, "The 1964 Election in Montana," ''The Western Political Quarterly'' Vol. 18, Issu32, June 1965, pp. 491–494.</ref>  

Babcock narrowly won a full term in 1964 against the Democrat Roland R. Renne (1905-1989), the former president of Montana State University in Bozeman, then Montana State College. From 1964 to 1965, he a member of the National Governors' Conference Executive Committee, and from 1966 to 1967 he chaired the Western Governors' Conference.

Babcock narrowly won a full term in 1964 against the Democrat Roland R. Renne (1905-1989), the former president of Montana State University in Bozeman, then Montana State College. From 1964 to 1965, he a member of the National Governors' Conference Executive Committee, and from 1966 to 1967 he chaired the Western Governors' Conference.