Background
Thornton was born on January 31, 1911 in Hall County, Tex. He was the son of sharecroppers Clay C. Thornton and Ida Fife.
(DANIEL THORNTON Brief typed letter as Governor of Colorad...)
DANIEL THORNTON Brief typed letter as Governor of Colorado Typed Letter signed: "Dan Thornton", as Governor, 1 page, 7¼x7½. Denver, Colorado, 1952 March 7. On official letterhead to Ralph E. Ward, Jr., Melrose Highlands, Massachusetts. In full: "It is indeed a pleasure to send you my autograph. Sincerely". Magazine photo of Thornton affixed in upper right. DANIEL THORNTON (1911-1976), born in a sharecropper's family, became a successful cattle rancher before entering politics. A Republican, he served two terms as Governor of Colorado (1951-1955), known for his efforts to promote tourism and build the State's infrastructure. He served as Chairman of the National Governors' Conference. An early supporter of Dwight Eisenhower's Presidential candidacy, Thornton was - surprisingly - not offered a Cabinet post, although he served on some presidential commissions. Ralph Errington Ward (1926-2009) a fighter pilot and squadron commander in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II. Ward became President and CEO of Cheseborough-Ponds, Inc., transforming the cosmetics firm into a major home product conglomerate. Multiple mailing folds. Toned at lower edge from adhesive show through. Otherwise, fine condition. - Please contact us if you have any questions or require additional information. HFSID 293473
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Thornton was born on January 31, 1911 in Hall County, Tex. He was the son of sharecroppers Clay C. Thornton and Ida Fife.
He worked in the cotton fields while attending Posley Community School at Slaton, Tex. At the age of twelve he became involved with livestock work through the local 4-H Club, and four years later he was elected president of the Texas State 4-H Club.
After graduating from Lubbock High School in 1930, Thornton attended Texas Technological College (now Texas Technological University) in 1930 and 1931, and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1932.
He supported himself by working as a movie extra at the Warner Brothers studios, as a gas station operator, and as a derrick right hand in the oil fields at Wilmington, Calif.
Thornton's father-in-law lent him $37, 000 in 1937 to begin ranching operations in Springerville, Ariz. Thornton established a highly profitable herd of Hereford cattle and soon repaid the loan. In 1941 he shifted his ranching operations to Colorado's "Western slope" and established the 2, 000-acre Thornton Hereford Ranch in Gunnison, Colo. He selectively bred his herd's strains to produce the Thornton Triumphant cattle. The new strain was very profitable: two bulls sold for $50, 000 each in 1945; and in 1947 he sold a herd of 250 head for almost $900, 000, which was the industry's largest single cattle sale up to that time.
Thornton first ran for public office in 1948, as the successful Republican candidate for Colorado's eleventh senatorial district. In 1950 the incumbent Republican governor Ralph Carr died five weeks before the election, and the Republican leaders selected Thornton as Carr's replacement. Most political observers believed Thornton to be merely a sacrificial candidate, but he waged an unexpectedly active campaign and won an upset victory over the Democratic candidate, Walter Johnson. When Thornton was inaugurated on January 9, 1950, he became the youngest governor in the nation at the age of thirty-nine.
Thornton was mentioned as a possible vice-presidential candidate in 1952 (and again in 1956), but the position went to Senator Richard M. Nixon. Thornton chose not to run again for governor in 1954 and also declined the Republican nomination for the United States Senate election in that same year.
After leaving office he served on a fact-finding commission appointed by President Eisenhower to evaluate South Korea's economic and military strength. After two years of ranching, Thornton decided to return to political life. He became director of the farm campaign division of the Republican National Committee and ran for the Senate seat vacated by Millikin. His opponent was John A. Carroll, a "liberal-New Deal" Democrat who had the backing of the state's most important Democratic leader, Governor "Big Ed" Johnson. Thornton's supporters accused Carroll of being a "pinko" during the campaign, but he won nevertheless. Although President Eisenhower carried Colorado by more than 131, 000 votes, Thornton, who was a well-publicized friend of the president's, lost by a margin of nearly 2, 770 votes. The Democratic party took control of both houses of the Colorado legislature. In 1958, Thornton made an unsuccessful attempt in the primary election to win the Republican nomination for Colorado's Second District congressional seat, but lost the primary election to State Representative John G. Mackie.
President Eisenhower subsequently appointed Thornton special ambassador to Paraguay. In 1959, Thornton was the subject of an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into misreporting of financial conditions by the Hamilton Oil and Gas Corporation, which he served as an officer and director. The SEC eventually filed criminal charges against Hamilton's president, former Notre Dame football coach Frank Leahy, but no charges were filed against Thornton.
Thornton eventually phased out his livestock operations and closed down his Gunnison ranch in 1961. He thereafter concentrated on various financial undertakings and served as a director of Financial Industrial Fund, Inc. , Cycle Manufacturing Company, and the National Western Stock Show. Thornton helped establish the Colorado 4-H Foundation, and in 1976 the Colorado 4-H Foundation established a memorial fund in his name.
After retiring from his business operations and directorships in 1974, Thornton moved to Carmel Valley, Calif. , where he died of a heart attack.
(DANIEL THORNTON Brief typed letter as Governor of Colorad...)
Thornton generally promoted conservative fiscal policies, although he increased state advertising expenditures to promote tourism and lobbied for a long-range highway construction plan. He also sponsored the appropriation of $1 million to purchase land in Colorado Springs, which was donated to the United States Air Force in exchange for its selection of Colorado Springs as the site of the United States Air Force Academy.
Thornton strongly supported Dwight D. Eisenhower's effort to obtain the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1952, and clashed with Senator Eugene Millikin, a supporter of conservative contender Robert Taft. Although Millikin led the Colorado delegation at the 1952 Republican convention, Thornton succeeded in persuading fifteen of the state's eighteen delegates to support Eisenhower, who won the presidential nomination on the first ballot.
Thornton represented the combination of conservative businessman and politician who usually became a supporter of the isolationist wing of the Republican party, yet he backed Dwight Eisenhower's presidential campaign and established a personal friendship with the new president. Thornton's relationship with the president, however, was insufficient to win in Colorado after the resurgence of the Democratic party in the late 1950's.
On April 7, 1934, Thornton married Jessie Willock, who had been a fellow student at UCLA.
Thornton's wife died in 1972; he married Geraldine M. McCabe on July 7, 1973. He had no children.