Clifford P. Hansen dies at 97; former Wyoming governor, two-term U.S. senator
Clifford P. Hansen, a cattle rancher who became Wyoming's governor and then served two terms as a U.S. senator, has died. He was 97.
Hansen died at his home Tuesday after receiving hospital treatment for a broken pelvis.
A Republican, he served as governor from 1963 to 1967, when he went to Washington after defeating Teno Roncalio, Wyoming's only congressman and a Democrat, in a bid for the Senate.
Hansen sat on the Senate Finance and Veterans Affairs committees and was a ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee.
A cattleman whose livestock grazed in Grand Teton National Park and in surrounding national forest land, he opposed raising public-lands grazing fees and supported establishing reservoir projects in his home state.
Hansen was reelected to the Senate in 1972 and resigned Dec. 31, 1978.
In 1980, President Reagan floated Hansen's name as a top choice for Interior secretary. He declined, however, reportedly because of conflict-of-interest problems over his federal cattle-grazing permit. The job went to James Watt, then-president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, a conservative nonprofit group based in Denver.
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Hansen died at his home Tuesday after receiving hospital treatment for a broken pelvis.
A Republican, he served as governor from 1963 to 1967, when he went to Washington after defeating Teno Roncalio, Wyoming's only congressman and a Democrat, in a bid for the Senate.
Hansen sat on the Senate Finance and Veterans Affairs committees and was a ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee.
A cattleman whose livestock grazed in Grand Teton National Park and in surrounding national forest land, he opposed raising public-lands grazing fees and supported establishing reservoir projects in his home state.
Hansen was reelected to the Senate in 1972 and resigned Dec. 31, 1978.
In 1980, President Reagan floated Hansen's name as a top choice for Interior secretary. He declined, however, reportedly because of conflict-of-interest problems over his federal cattle-grazing permit. The job went to James Watt, then-president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, a conservative nonprofit group based in Denver.