John Spellman

John Dennis Spellman ( born December 29, 1926 in Seattle, Washington) is an American politician. He worked from 1981 to 1985 the 18th Governor of the state of Washington.

Early years and political rise

John Spellman attended after elementary school, the Seattle University and then studied at Georgetown University law. During the Second World War he was a soldier in the U.S. Navy. Prior to his career in public service, he spent 13 years working as a lawyer in Seattle.

Spellman's political career began in King County. He was from 1967 to 1969 Clerk and 1969-1981 District ( King County Executive). During this time he was deputy chairman of the national union of all counties. In 1980 he was elected as a candidate of the Republican Party as the new governor of Washington, where he prevailed with 57:43 percent of the vote to Democrat Jim McDermott.

Governor of Washington

John Spellman took office on 14 January 1981. In his four-year tenure, the country was hit by an economic crisis. Spellman responded by spending cuts and a tax increase. Within a year, he managed to eliminate the budget deficit of about $ 1.1 billion and to turn into a surplus of about 97 million. Other problems during his tenure were the elimination of the consequences of the volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, and a strike of ferrymen. The prisons of the country were hopelessly overcrowded. Therefore, under Governor Spellman a detention center was purchased by the federal government. John Spellman continued also decided to protect the environment and preventing environmentally harmful industrial projects such as the construction of an oil pipeline under the Puget Sound. On the other hand, he promoted foreign trade and tourism. Since it was him but not ultimately succeeded in bringing the economic problems under control, he could not prevail in the elections of 1984.

Another Journey

After the end of his term of office on January 16, 1985 Spellman was a partner in a large law firm in Seattle. In 1990, he competed unsuccessfully for a job as a judge at the Washington Supreme Court After that, he was a professor of administrative law at Seattle University. Up to the present in 2008, he remained the last Republican governor of Washington. John Spellman is married to Lois Murphy, with whom he has six children.