Dan Evans was a three-term governor of Washington state in the 1960s and ‘70s who went on to serve as a U.S. senator in the ‘80s.
- Died: September 20, 2024 (Who else died on September 20?)
- Details of death: Died at the age of 98.
- We invite you to share condolences for Dan Evans in our Guest Book.
Dan Evans’s legacy
Evans studied engineering at the University of Washington, though his education was interrupted by World War II. He served in the U.S. Navy, but he wasn’t deployed until shortly after the war. He returned home to complete his degree, then was recalled to the Navy in the early 1950s, serving in the Korean War. Evans later shared that while he served in Korea, he wrote a letter to his father, expressing his frustration with the war and saying he would run for political office if he were back home. The young Evans forgot about that promise, but after he became governor years later, his father showed him the letter that had presaged his career.
Evans began that career in 1957, elected as a Republican to the Washington State House of Representatives. In 1963, he began running for governor and was successfully elected a year later to the first of three terms; he was the first of only two three-term governors of Washington. Among Evans’ most notable legacies as governor was his work toward environmental conservation. He created his state’s Department of Ecology in 1970, the first of its kind in the nation, which inspired President Richard M. Nixon to create the Environmental Protection Agency. Evans is also remembered in Washington for his work to create the state’s community college system and his embrace of Vietnamese refugees after the 1975 fall of Saigon. During his time as governor, he was considered as a vice-presidential candidate by both Nixon and President Gerald Ford.
After the end of his third term as governor in 1977, Evans served as president of Evergreen State College for several years. He returned to politics in 1983, appointed by then-Governor John Spellman to fill the Senate seat of Senator Henry M. Jackson after his death. He won a special election for the seat later that year, and he served a single term before leaving politics. Later, Evans sat on the Board of Regents of the University of Washington. For the last year of his life, he was the oldest living former U.S. senator.
Tributes to Dan Evans
Full obituary: The New York Times
