Booth Gardner
| Booth Gardner | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 19th Governor of Washington | |
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In office January 16, 1985 – January 13, 1993 |
|
| Lieutenant |
John Cherberg Joel Pritchard |
| Preceded by | John Spellman |
| Succeeded by | Mike Lowry |
| Chairperson of the National Governors Association | |
|
In office July 31, 1990 – August 20, 1991 |
|
| Preceded by | Terry Branstad |
| Succeeded by | John Ashcroft |
| 1st Executive of Pierce County | |
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In office May 1, 1981 – December 31, 1984 |
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| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Joe Stortini |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 21, 1936 Tacoma, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | March 15, 2013 (aged 76) Tacoma, Washington, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Jean Gardner (Divorced) Cynthia Gardner (Divorced) |
| Alma mater |
University of Washington, Seattle Harvard University |
Booth Gardner (August 21, 1936 – March 15, 2013) was the 19th governor of the U.S state of Washington between 1985 and 1993. He also served as the ambassador of the GATT. He was a Democrat. Before serving as governor, Gardner served in the Washington State Senate and was Pierce County Executive. His service was notable for advancing standards-based education and environmental protection.
Gardner’s parents divorced when he was very young. Through his mother's remarriage, he became an heir to the Weyerhaeuser fortune. His mother and his sister, his only sibling, died in a plane crash when he was 14.
Gardner was a graduate of the University of Washington and Harvard Business School. His stepfather was Norton Clapp, one of the original owners of the Seattle Space Needle. In 1976, he owned the Tacoma Tides in its one year in the American Soccer League. In 1978 he co-owned the Colorado Caribous franchise in the NASL with Jim Guercio.
In the 1984 Democratic primary for Washington state governor, Gardner defeated Jim McDermott. In the general election he unseated Republican incumbent, John Spellman. Gardner was easily elected to a second term in 1988. He chose not to seek a third term.
While governor, Gardner signed into law a health care program that provided state medical insurance for the working poor. He helped develop land-use and growth-management policies that made Washington an early environmental leader, steered hundreds of millions of dollars of increased spending toward state universities, increased standardized testing in public education, and improved legal protections for gay people.
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