UVA Center for Politics

Center for Politics
2400 Old Ivy Road
P.O. Box 400806
Charlottesville, VA 22904
Tel: 434.243.8468
Fax: 434.243.8467

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About

On July 20 and 21, 2000, the Center for Governmental Studies held the third annual Governors Conference at the Boar's Head Inn in Charlottesville. Following successful conferences on former Governors Mills E. Godwin, Jr. and A. Linwood Holton, Jr., the Center turned its attention to Governor John N. Dalton, bringing in former administrators, top aides, journalists, and key legislators to discuss the Dalton administration and legacy.

As only the third Republican Governor of the Commonwealth in the twentieth century, Governor John Nichols Dalton of Radford helped solidify true two-party politics in Virginia by providing dedicated leadership and strengthening the organization of the Republican Party. As the adopted son of Virginia's original "Mr. Republican," Ted Dalton, John became the Republican standard-bearer through his service as a member of the both the Virginia House of Delegates and the State Senate, followed by election as Lieutenant Governor, and in 1981, Governor. With his commitment to limiting the growth of state government and promoting Virginia's right-to-work laws, Dalton anticipated the Ronald Reagan phenomenon that swept the country in the early 1980's. Dalton, a nonsmoker, died of lung cancer in 1986.

The topics discussed were:

Ted Dalton, John Dalton, and the Rise of the Republican Party
The Campaign of 1977 - Armageddon Revisited
The Dalton Administration
The Political Climate

Panelists included former Governor A. Linwood Holton Jr., former Senators Selwyn Smith and Hunter Andrews, former Delegates Pete Giesen and Ray Ashworth, Dalton administrators Charlie Walker, Dr. Wade Gilley, and Charlie Davis, journalists Margaret Edds and Margie Fisher, and Dalton's youngest daughter, Mary Baril. The conference was highlighted by a Thursday evening Dome Room dinner at the University of Virginia, featuring a stirring keynote address by Dalton's friend and protégé, Senator John Chichester of Stafford County.