A. Linwood Holton, Jr.

Abner Linwood Holton, Jr. (born September 21, 1923) was the first Republican Governor of Virginia since Reconstruction. He was governor from 1970 to 1974. Holton was a member of the mountain-valley Republican Party (GOP) that fought the Byrd Organization and was not in favor of welcoming conservative Democrats into the Virginia Republican Party.

Political Career

Holton was the Republican candidate for governor in 1965 but was defeated by Democrat Mills E. Godwin, Jr.. In 1969 Holton won the gubernatorial election.

In 1970, when forced busing was an issue in Virginia, Holton voluntarily placed his children (including future First Lady of Virginia Anne Holton) in the mostly African-American Richmond public schools garnering much publicity.

As governor he pushed hard to field Republican candidates in all statewide races instead of endorsing conservative alternatives. When segregationist Harry F. Byrd, Jr. broke ranks with the increasingly liberal Virginia Democratic party and ran as an independent for the U.S. Senate in 1970, Linwood insisted on running a Republican candidate rather than endorsing an independent. This eventually led to the nomination of Ray Garland.Frank B. Atkinson, [http://books.google.com/books?id=vHBBBSxSJg0C&pg=PA242&ots=gDGvZGnhKb&sig=kq0JWYnWWJVD6TH2Uy1FE_wYbEU&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result#PPA242,M1 The Dynamic Dominion] , pp. 240-250.] Byrd went on to win the three-way election with an absolute majority. Hinton also encouragd a moderate republican to run in the special election in 1971 to choose a successor for deceased Lieutenant Governor J. Sargeant Reynolds - another election which was won by an independent, this time populist Henry Howell.

The increasingly conservative Republican party turned their back on Holton and supported Mills E. Godwin, Jr. in 1974, the conservative former Democrat who had defeated Holton in the 1965 election. Godwin had turned Republican and supported "massive resistance" to desegregation. [cite web
date=1989-09-25
last=Apple, Jr.
first=R. W.
authorlink=R. W. Apple, Jr.
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE3D6173AF936A1575AC0A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2
title= Though Racial Politics Lurks, It Is Muted in Virginia Contest
publisher=The New York Times
accessdate=2008-02-17] [cite web
date=2008-02-17
last=Rich
first=Frank
authorlink=Frank Rich
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/opinion/17rich.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
title=The Grand Old White Party Confronts Obama
publisher=The New York Times
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accessdate=2008-02-17]

Holton later unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the US Senate in 1978, finishing third in a race against Richard D. Obenshain, John Warner, and Nathan H. Miller. Warner would later become the nominee after Obenshain's death in a plane crash.

After his retirement, Holton had supported moderate Republicans, including John Warner. As the Virginia Republican Party became more conservative, however, he found himself more in line with the state Democratic Party, ultimately endorsing several Democrats for statewide office, including his son-in-law, Governor Tim Kaine. More recently, he endorsed Sen. Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential contest. [cite web
date=2008-09-13
last=Craig
first=Tim
authorlink=Tim Craig
url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2008/09/linwood_holton_to_campaign_for.html
title= Linwood Holton to Campaign for Obama
publisher=The Washington Post
accessdate=2008-09-16]

Personal and family life

Gov. Holton is a 1944 graduate of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. He is a 1949 graduate of Harvard Law School. He currently practices law as a shareholder at McCandlish Holton, P.C.

His daughter, Anne Bright Holton, is married to Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. She is the first First Lady of Virginia to live in Virginia's Executive Mansion both as a child and as a First Lady. (Thomas Jefferson's daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph, known as "Patsy", was married to Virginia Governor Thomas Mann Randolph Jr., but never lived in the Mansion.) His son, Abner Linwood Holton, III, has published two award-winning books, "Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution" (2007), a finalist for the National Book Award, and "Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia" (1999).

In November 2005, he underwent surgery to treat bladder cancer. The University of Virginia Press published his memoirs, entitled "Opportunity Time", in March 2008.

Career highlights

*Born in Big Stone Gap, Virginia.
*Formerly an attorney in Roanoke.
*Increased employment of blacks and women in state government.
*Founded the Virginia Governor's Schools Program in 1973
*Provided the first state funds for community mental health centers, supported environmental efforts.
*Later served as President of the Center for Innovative Technology.
*Linwood Holton Elementary School opened in 1999 in Richmond, Virginia
*Endorsed and campaigning for Senator Barack Obama for President in 2008.

References

* A. Linwood Holton Jr., "Opportunity Time: A Memoir by Governor Linwood Holton". Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8139-2720-6

External links

* [http://www.swvamuseum.org/linwoodholton.html Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park page on Holton]