Cecil H. Underwood

Cecil Harland Underwood ( born November 5, 1922 in Josephs Mills, Tyler County, West Virginia, † November 24, 2008 in Charleston, West Virginia ) was an American politician ( Republican). He was the 25th Governor from 1957 to 1961 and from 1997 to 2001 the 32nd Governor of the state of West Virginia.

Early years and political rise

Cecil Underwood attended the Tyler County High School, the Salem College and West Virginia University. During the Second World War he served in the reserve force of the U.S. Army. Between 1943 and 1950, Underwood was high school teacher. The following six years he was vice-president of Salem College. Underwood's political career began in 1944 when he was elected to the House of Representatives from West Virginia. This mandate he held until 1956. At times he was leader of the republican deputies. In 1956 he was elected governor of West Virginia.

First term as governor

Underwood was the first Republican governor of the state of West Virginia since 1928, when William G. Conley was elected. At the time of taking office, he was the youngest Governor of that State. Curiously, he was in his second term are also the oldest. Underwood began his first four -year term on 14 January 1957. During this time, he promoted the expansion and improvement of the road network. He campaigned for the socially disadvantaged and unemployed and developed a temporary employment program. At that time, the number of unemployed had risen through the introduction of new technologies, especially in the mining industry. He had also revise the laws relating to the mining industry. In addition, during his tenure within his government a department to take care of the mentally handicapped was established. Underwood began the desegregation of the schools in the country continued and supported the civil rights movement. In his first term was 1959, the last execution in West Virginia instead.

Between his two terms as governor

According to the constitution of his State, which forbade two contiguous terms of office of a governor, Underwood had to resign from his post on 16 January 1961. A candidacy for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1960 was as unsuccessful as two attempts at a new governor candidacy in the years 1964 and 1976; in 1968 he lost already in the primaries of his party. In the years following the end of his first term Underwood worked in different areas. Among other things, he was employed by a coal and chemical company and built up his own firm. His name was occasionally associated with a software company in Morgantown. Between 1972 and 1975 he was president of Bethany College.

Second term as governor

In 1996, Cecil Underwood was yet again elected governor of his state. 36 years after the end of his first term, he entered on 13 January 1997 as previously oldest governor of West Virginia his second term on. In the election, he benefited from a split within the Democratic Party. His second term was overshadowed by economic problems and his moderate views were considered by some of his Republican Party Friends skeptical. Underwood was a member of several associations governor, but he was not able to bring a political majority in his country behind him. In 2000, he competed unsuccessfully for reelection (which was now constitutionally possible). He was defeated by Democrat Bob Wise.

Underwood was married to the late 2004 Hovah Hall, the couple had three children.