Don Samuelson
| Don Samuelson | |
|---|---|
| 25th Governor of Idaho | |
|
In office January 2, 1967 – January 4, 1971 |
|
| Lieutenant | Jack Murphy |
| Preceded by | Robert Smylie |
| Succeeded by | Cecil Andrus |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Donald William Samuelson July 27, 1913 Woodhull, Illinois |
| Died | January 20, 2000 (aged 86) Seattle, Washington |
| Resting place | Pinecrest Memorial Park Sandpoint, Idaho |
| Nationality | United States |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Ruby A. Samuelson (1913–2002) (m. 1936–2000, his death) |
| Children | 1 son, 1 daughter |
| Residence | Sandpoint |
| Alma mater | Knox College (attended) |
| Profession | Sporting goods |
| Religion | Methodist |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch | U.S. Navy |
| Years of service | 1944–1946 |
| Unit |
Farragut NTS, Idaho; weapons instructor |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Donald William Samuelson (July 27, 1913 – January 20, 2000) was a Republican politician from Idaho. He was the 25th Governor of Idaho, serving a single term from 1967 to 1971.
Born in Woodhull, Illinois, Samuelson grew up on a farm and attended Knox College. He and his wife, Ruby A. Samuelson, were married in 1936 and had two children.
Samuelson served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a weapons instructor and gunsmith at the Farragut Naval Training Station, a major inland training facility at Lake Pend Oreille in northern Idaho.
After the war, Samuelson stayed in the area; he brought his family out from Illinois and opened a sporting goods store in nearby Sandpoint. He also had an interest in a business that sold and leased mining and logging equipment.
A conservative, Samuelson was encouraged to run for the state in 1960 by Governor Robert Smylie. Samuelson won and was re-elected in 1962 and 1964. After the Democratic landslide of 1964, he decided to run for governor in 1966, which was still held by three-term incumbent Smylie, a moderate Republican from Boise and former state attorney general. In a heated race that drew national attention to the Republican gubernatorial primary, Samuelson won handily, 61 to 39%.
Following their wins in the early August primary, Samuelson and attorney Charles Herndon of Salmon were slated to face each other in the November general election. In mid-September, while flying from Pocatello to Coeur d'Alene, Herndon and two others were killed in a plane crash in the central Idaho mountains, northwest of Stanley. The pilot of the twin-engine Piper PA-23 was the only survivor. Occurring only seven weeks before the election, the Democrats nominated the runner-up in the primary, state senator Cecil Andrus of Orofino, whom Samuelson defeated by over 10,000 votes. During the 1970 gubernatorial campaign, Samuelson supported molybdenum mining in central Idaho's White Cloud Mountains, and was defeated for re-election by Andrus – a staunch opponent of the mining development – and returned to private life.
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