George Dewey Clyde was an American educator, irrigation engineer, and governor of Utah.
Background
George Dewey Clyde was born on July 21, 1898 in Springville, Utah, United States. He was the son of Hyrum Smith Clyde and Elenore Jane Johnson Clyde. His parents, pioneer settlers in Utah, were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Clyde's father, a farmer on one of the area's first reclamation projects, helped foster his son's early interest in irrigation and agriculture.
Education
Clyde graduated as valedictorian from Springville High School in 1917. He served briefly in the U. S. Army but saw no war action. In 1921 he received his B. S. in agricultural engineering from Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) and again was valedictorian of his class. In 1923 he received an M. S. in civil engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, where he was a Thompson Scholar.
Career
Upon returning to Utah, Clyde established a practice as a consulting engineer in irrigation and joined the faculty at Utah State Agricultural College in Logan. In 1928 he was promoted from assistant professor of irrigation and water supply to associate professor. He became professor of irrigation engineering in 1930. Before resigning in 1945, Clyde served ten years (1935 - 1945) at Utah State Agricultural College as dean of the School of Engineering and Technology, and six years (1939 - 1945) as director of the school's engineering experiment station. After his resignation Clyde became chief of the division of irrigation engineering and water conservation research in the Soil Conservation Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The public interest focused on Clyde when Governor J. Bracken Lee named him director of the Utah Water and Power Board, a nonpartisan position (1953). As a result of this appointment, Clyde emerged as a regional leader and spokesman in the successful battle for authorization of the Upper Colorado River Basin Storage Project. His dedication to resource development played a large part in his decision to seek political office. Ironically, incumbent Governor Lee lost the Republican nomination to Clyde in the gubernatorial primary in September 1956. Clyde was one of the three candidates opposing Lee. Newsweek (September 14, 1956) pronounced that Lee had been "undeniably a good administrator, " but a "critic of the Eisenhower Administration's foreign policy. " Among Clyde's supporters was Utah's U. S. senator Arthur V. Watkins, a fellow champion of water reclamation. In the November election, Clyde ran against Democratic nominee Lorenzo C. Romney, and Lee ran as an independent. Clyde defeated Romney by 127, 654 votes to 110, 511, with Lee finishing third. Inheriting a general fund surplus of about $9 million, Clyde spoke of need for this surplus to be spent on education, public works and highways, and salary increases. Following his inauguration on January 7, 1957, he submitted to the legislature recommendations for greater aid to school districts. With a comfortable Republican majority in both houses of the legislature, he asked to create an office of legislative auditor, and coordinating committees on higher education and highway safety, and demanded that the legislature reorganize the Finance Department. Clyde was reelected in 1960, defeating William A. Barlocker, the mayor of St. George, Utah. His second term is perhaps best remembered for a feud with public school teachers over Utah's education program. The dispute came to a head in a statewide teachers' strike, culminating in a two-day "recess" in May 1964. Clyde refused to give more money to schools, claiming the state could not afford more funding. He came under strong criticism from many fellow Republicans for his stand against the teachers. In 1965, Clyde stepped down from the governorship and returned to engineering, working as a consultant with the firm of Clyde, Criddle, and Woodward. He retired in 1970. Clyde never fully recovered from a severe stroke suffered in 1971. He died in Salt Lake City. Clyde's legacy lies in his campaign for the Upper Colorado River Storage Project. This legislation, enacted by the U. S. Congress in March 1956, was designed to provide water for an area covering 100, 000 square miles. Clyde believed that water was the most valuable fuel in the West, bringing power to the region. Well-versed in natural resource education, he spoke as an agent of natural resource reclamation. The Upper Colorado River Storage Project embodied his concern for the West, the environment, and conservation. Clyde's rise to the governorship was unique in Utah politics. Unlike his predecessors, he had little experience in partisan politics. He was brought to politics through the attention he gained as an advocate of water development in the West, particularly Utah and the surrounding region.