John Arthur Love, Governor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Arthur_Love

John Arthur Love (November 29, 1916 – January 21, 2002) was a United States attorney and Republican politician who served as the 36th Governor of the State of Colorado from 1963 to 1973.

John Arthur Love was born on a farm near Gibson City, Illinois, on November 29, 1916. At age five, John Love moved with his family to Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Love received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Denver in 1938 and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Denver School of Law in 1941. John Love married Ann Daniels in 1942 and the couple had three children, Dan, Andrew and Rebecca. Rebecca grew up to serve as a justice of the Colorado Supreme Court from 1995 to 2006.

Love served as a U.S. Navy pilot in World War II for which he was twice awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Love started a law practice in Colorado Springs after the war.

In 1962, Love defeated incumbent Colorado Governor Stephen L.R. McNichols.

In 1973, John Love resigned the governorship to become the nation's first Director of the Office of Energy Policy (nicknamed the "Energy Czar") in the administration of U.S. President Richard M. Nixon. Lieutenant Governor John David Vanderhoof assumed the office of Governor upon Governor Love's resignation. Love resigned as Director after five months due to the political tumoil in the final days of the Nixon Administration. Love died in Colorado on January 21, 2002, at the age of 85.