Rampton, Calvin Lewellyn

Calvin L. Rampton was born on November 6, 1913 in Bountiful, UT. His father died when he was a teenager, so he helped run the family's automotive sales business 1931. He joined the Utah National Guard and became a first lieutenant. The family sold off the automotive business, which gave him enough money to go to college. He attended the University of Utah 1936, and then George Washington University law. Before he was shipped off to Europe for World War II, he married Lucybeth Cardon on March 10, 1940. After the war he stayed for a time in Paris as part of the US Army Claims Commission. He reached the rank of Major there. Later in the Army Reserves, he would become a Colonel. Back in Utah, he became a lawyer. When it came to politics, Rampton was a staunch democrat. Before the war, he was an administrative assistant (1936-1938) to Robinson, the democratic representative from Utah. He also spent time as the Davis County Attorney 1939-1940, even though he hadn't yet passed the bar. Rampton served as Governor 1957-1977. During his term, he got the University of Utah an updated campus, created campuses for public higher education--through a $67 million bonding program--and started a vast restructuring of the state government. He eliminated the property tax in 1974, though it would be back under someone else's term. Rampton felt the arts were important to a society so he approved building Symphony Hall (now Abravanel Hall) and the Salt Lake Arts Center (now the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art). In order to drum up economic and tourist interest in his state, he convinced businessmen to volunteer to travel and talk up the state across the country. These men were called Rampton's Raiders. When his time in office ended, Rampton went back to his private law practice. He became a partner in the Jones, Waldo, Holbrook & McDonough law firm. He wrote an autobiography named "As I Recall" and published it in 1989. Rampton died in Holladay, UT on September 16, 2007.