Richard Lamm

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard Lamm
In office 1975 – 1987
Lieutenant(s)	George L. Brown
Preceded by	John David Vanderhoof
Succeeded by	Roy R. Romer

Born	August 12, 1935 Madison, Wisconsin
Political party	Democrat
Profession	Co-Director of the Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver

Richard Douglas "Dick" Lamm (born September 12, 1935 in Madison, Wisconsin) is an American politician and lawyer. He served three terms as Governor of Colorado as a Democrat (1975–1987) and ran for the Reform Party's nomination for President of the United States in 1996.

1 Education
2 Political activities
3 Novelist
4 Activities since leaving political office
5 External links

[edit] Education

Lamm obtained his law degree in 1961 from the University of California, Berkeley. In 1969 Lamm joined the faculty of the University of Denver.

[edit] Political activities

In 1972, as a member of the Colorado General Assembly, Lamm led the movement against Denver's hosting of the 1976 Winter Olympics. Denver had already been awarded the games, but the movement succeeded in cutting off public funding for the games, forcing the city to cancel its hosting. Innsbruck, Austria replaced Denver as the host.

Lamm was elected as Governor of Colorado in 1974. When he left office in 1987, he was the longest serving governor of the state. In 1984, his outspoken statements in support of physician-assisted suicide generated some controversy, specifically over his use of the phrase "we have a duty to die." One of his acts as governor was designating folk music poet John Denver as the Poet Laureate of Colorado.

[edit] Novelist

In 1985, while still in the governor's office, he tried his hand at published fiction as a novelist. The resulting novel, 1988, was a story about a former Democratic governor of Texas running for U.S. President on a populist, third-party ticket, declaring himself a "progressive conservative." The main character bore a number of similarities to Lamm himself, in his stated political positions, his background as a Democratic governor, as well as presaging Lamm's own unsuccessful run for the Reform Party nomination in 1996. Interestingly, though, the main character in 1988 was also portrayed as a pawn of an international conspiracy to capture the White House.

[edit] Activities since leaving political office

After leaving office, Lamm has continued to speak publicly on environmental, immigration reduction, and health care issues. In 1996 he unsuccessfully challenged Ross Perot for the nomination of the Reform Party as U.S. President. In 2004 he unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Board of Directors of the Sierra Club. He serves as the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), and on the Board of Directors of the Diversity Alliance for a Sustainable America (DASA). He is currently the Co-Director of the Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver. He is also a Certified Public Accountant. He authored a book, The Brave New World of Health Care, a criticism of current United States health care policies and proposals for reforming them. (Fulcrum Publishing, ISBN 1-55591-510-8)

In 2005, a 2004 speech of his on the dangers of multiculturalism in the United Stated entitled "I Have a Plan to Destroy America", became famous after being frequently forwarded as an email.

Some statements from his 2006 book "Two Wands, One Nation" generated controversy:

"Let me offer you, metaphorically, two magic wands that have sweeping powers to change society. With one wand you could wipe out all racism and discrimination from the hearts and minds of white America. The other wand you could wave across the ghettos and barrios of America and infuse the inhabitants with Japanese or Jewish values, respect for learning and ambition."

"I suggest that the best wand for society and for those who live in the ghettos and barrios would be the second wand."

In July 2006 Dick Lamm said that many Blacks and Hispanics had formed an underclass whose cultures were "not success-producing" in the midst of a national immigration debate that is especially strong in Colorado.