Richard Arkwright Snelling (February 18, 1927 August 13, 1991) was the 76th and 78th Governor of Vermont

Governor of Vermont

The Governor of Vermont is the governor of the U.S. state of Vermont. The governor is elected in even numbered years by direct voting for a term of two years; Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold gubernatorial elections every two years, instead of every four...

 from 1977 to 1985 and from January 10, 1991 until his death from heart failure.

He was the son of Walter O. Snelling

Walter O. Snelling

Walter Otheman Snelling was a chemist and explosives expert who discovered propane and was a pioneer in the development of liquefied petroleum gas. He is often referred to as the founder of the LPG industry....

.

A member of the Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, he served in the Vermont House of Representatives

Vermont House of Representatives

The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members. Vermont legislative districting divides representing districts into 66 single-member districts and 42 two-member...

 for six terms.

He was first elected governor

Governor (United States)

In the United States, the title governor refers to the chief executive of each state or insular territory, not directly subordinate to the federal authorities, but the political and ceremonial head of the state.-Role and powers:...

 in 1976 and was later re-elected to three additional consecutive terms in 1978, 1980, and 1982 but left office in January 1985, choosing not to run in 1984. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 1986 but lost to incumbent Patrick Leahy

Patrick Leahy

Patrick Joseph Leahy is the senior United States Senator from Vermont and member of the Democratic Party. He is the first and only elected Democratic United States Senator in Vermont's history. He is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy is the second most senior U.S. Senator,...

 in a landslide.

In 1990 Snelling was once again elected governor, becoming the first Vermont governor to win five mandates. He died of a heart attack seven months after his final inauguration. Lieutenant Governor Howard Dean

Howard Dean

Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...

, a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, was sworn in as governor.

The Snelling Center for Government at the University of Vermont

University of Vermont

The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...

 was named in his honor.

External links

• Richard A. Snelling at NNDB
  NNDB
  The Notable Names Database , produced by Soylent Communications, the same entity that produces Rotten, Daily Rotten, Dr. Sputnik's Society Pages and Penny Postcards, is an online database of biographical details of over 36,000 people of note...