Walter Walford Johnson

Walter Walford Johnson (April 16, 1904 – March 23, 1987) was a United States businessman and Democratic politician who served as the 32nd Governor of the State of Colorado from 1950 to 1951.

Walter Walford Johnson was born in Pueblo, Colorado on April 16, 1904. He married Neva Morrow in 1922. The couple had two children, Winnifred and Walford. Johnson developed real estate and insurance businesses in Pueblo.

In 1940, Johnson was elected to the Colorado State Senate. In 1948, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Colorado. In April 1950, Colorado Governor William Lee Knous resigned to become a federal district judge in Denver. Johnson succeeded Knous as governor and completed the remaining nine months of Knous' term. Johnson ran unsuccessfully against Republican Dan Thornton for a full gubernatorial term in 1950.

In 1970, Johnson retired to Tempe, Arizona. He died there after a brief illness on March 23, 1987, at the age of eighty two and is buried at Pueblo.

See also

• History of Colorado
• Law and government of Colorado
• List of Governors of Colorado
• State of Colorado

Further reading

• Abbott, Carl; Leonard, Stephen; and McComb, David. Colorado. Colorado Associated University Press, Boulder Colorado, 1982.
• Athearn, Robert G. The Coloradans. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1976.
• Newspaper Files of Walter W. Johnson. Denver Public Library Western History Collection.
• Ubbelohde, Carl, Benson, Maxine, and Smith, Duane. Colorado History. Boulder, CO., Pruett Publishing Co., 1972.
• Obituary, Rocky Mountain News, March 25, 1987, p. 147 and biographical article, June 25, 1955, p. 28.

External links

• The Governors of Colorado
  • The Governor Walter W. Johnson Collection at the Colorado State Archives