Frank Grant Sawyer (December 14,1918 –February 19,1996) was an American politician. He was the 21st Governor of Nevada from 1959 to 1967. He was a member of the Democratic Party. [1]
Sawyer was born on December 14,1918,in Twin Falls,Idaho. He was the son of two osteopaths,Harry William and Bula Belle Cameron Sawyer. Sawyer's father was also a state legislator in Nevada. [2]
Sawyer served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He married Bette Norene Hoge on August 1,1946. [3]
Sawyer attended Linfield College for two years and later enrolled at the University of Nevada,Reno,where he graduated in 1941. While a student at Nevada,Sawyer was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. [4] Sawyer then went to The George Washington University Law School but left to enlist in the army at the beginning of World War II. After his military service he enrolled at Georgetown University,where he received a law degree in 1946. [5]
He served as District Attorney for Elko County,Nevada from 1950 to 1958. Sawyer served as the Governor of Nevada from 1959 to 1967. He was defeated in his attempt at a third term by Paul Laxalt.
Governor Sawyer worked to push through civil rights policies and legislation,a difficult process in a state that had been accused of being "the Mississippi of the West." [6]
He was responsible for the development of the modern casino regulatory system with the passage of the Gaming Control Act of 1959 and the formation of the Nevada Gaming Commission. Sawyer swam against the tide of history when he unsuccessfully fought to prevent corporate ownership over Nevada casinos.
Sawyer was the first western governor to endorse the fledgling presidential campaign of Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy in 1960.
Commentators have reflected on Sawyer's career as follows:Grant Sawyer served two turbulent terms as Nevada's governor from 1959 to 1967. Sawyer was an advocate of progressive change. By the late fifties he had come so far from his start in the conservative political machine of Senator Patrick McCarran that many powerful Nevadans considered his policies on education,the environment,and civil rights to be dangerously radical. When he demanded meaningful regulatory control over casino gaming and took decisive action to purge the industry of its mob connections,the establishment's resistance stiffened. Eventually,Sawyer's positions brought him into open conflict with special interests and led to a collision with the justice department of the federal government,but he never backed down.
In 1967,Sawyer co-founded Lionel Sawyer &Collins. For many years,this was the largest private law firm in Nevada. The firm ceased operations on December 31,2014,with nineteen of its lawyers joining Fennemore Craig. [7]
Sawyer died on February 19,1996,in Las Vegas,Nevada of complications of a debilitating stroke suffered in 1993,at the age of 77. [8] His wife Bette,a native of Baker City,Oregon,died on September 11,2002,at the age of 79. They are both interred at the Palm Memorial Park in Las Vegas,Nevada.
The following facilities are named for the former governor:
Paul Dominique Laxalt was an American attorney and politician who served as the 22nd governor of Nevada from 1967 to 1971 and a United States senator from Nevada from 1974 until 1987. A member of the Republican Party,he was one of Ronald Reagan's closest friends in politics. After Reagan was elected president in 1980,many in the national press referred to Laxalt as "the first friend". He was the older brother of writer Robert Laxalt and grandfather of Adam Laxalt,who served as the 33rd attorney general of Nevada from 2015 to 2019.
Brian Edward Sandoval is an American attorney and politician who served as the 29th Governor of Nevada from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party,he has served as the 17th president of the University of Nevada,Reno since 2020.
The New Frontier was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise,Nevada. The property began as a casino and dance club known as Pair O' Dice,opened in 1931. It was sold in 1941,and incorporated into the Hotel Last Frontier,which began construction at the end of the year. The Hotel Last Frontier opened on October 30,1942,as the second resort on the Las Vegas Strip. The western-themed property included 105 rooms,as well as the Little Church of the West. The resort was devised by R.E. Griffith and designed by his nephew,William J. Moore. Following Griffith's death in 1943,Moore took over ownership and added a western village in 1948. The village consisted of authentic Old West buildings from a collector,and would also feature the newly built Silver Slipper casino,added in 1950.
The Castaways was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise,Nevada. It began in the 1930s,as a small motel called Mountain View. It became the San Souci in 1939,and underwent several ownership changes in its early years. A hotel addition opened on August 21,1955,when the property became the Sans Souci Hotel. A casino,showroom,and restaurant were eventually opened on October 23,1957. These facilities closed less than a year later,due to financial problems,although the hotel continued operations. Following a bankruptcy reorganization,the shuttered facilities reopened in May 1960. However,the property soon closed due to further financial difficulties.
Edward Parry Thomas was an American banker who helped finance the development of the casino industry of Las Vegas,Nevada. Along with his business partner,Jerome D. Mack,he is credited with building Las Vegas into what it is today.
Robert Alan Cashell was an American businessman and politician. He served as the mayor of Reno,Nevada from 2002 to 2014. He served as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Nevada from 1983 to 1987 and on the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents from 1979 to 1982. He served as a board member for Station Casinos from June 17,2011 until his death on February 11,2020. Cashell was a moderate member of the Republican Party and was a former member of the Democratic Party.
The El Rancho Hotel and Casino was a hotel and casino that operated on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester,Nevada. It originally opened on September 2,1948,as the Navajo-themed Thunderbird. At the time,it was owned by building developer Marion Hicks and Lieutenant Governor of Nevada Clifford A. Jones. A sister property,the Algiers Hotel,was opened south of the Thuderbird in 1953. During the mid-1950s,the state carried out an investigation to determine whether underworld Mafia figures held hidden interests in the resort. Hicks and Jones ultimately prevailed and kept their gaming licenses. Hicks died in 1961,and his position as managing director was taken over by Joe Wells,another partner in the resort. Wells added a horse racing track known as Thunderbird Downs,located behind the resort. The Thunderbird also hosted numerous entertainers and shows,including Flower Drum Song and South Pacific.
Fennemore Craig,P.C. is a Mountain West regional law firm that offers clients legal services in both litigation and commercial transactions.
The Gaming Hall of Fame was established in 1989 to recognize individuals who have played a significant role in the gaming-entertainment industry.
Frederick Harvey Whittemore is an American lawyer and businessman in the Reno,Nevada area. As an influential lobbyist for the gambling,alcohol and tobacco industries,and for his own ventures,Whittemore was called "one of Nevada's most powerful men." In 2012,Whittemore came under grand jury investigation,initiated by the Federal Election Commission,to determine whether he should be indicted for breaking federal campaign contribution laws. He was charged with four felonies with convictions on three of the counts,and sentenced September 2013 to two years in prison. He was also given a $100,000 fine,along with two years supervision after his incarceration and 100 hours community service.
Myram Borders is an American journalist,a former United Press International reporter,and the wire service's Las Vegas bureau manager from 1965 to 1990. Upon retirement,she was appointed Nevada commissioner of consumer affairs and,after two years,in 1992 was named chief of the Las Vegas News Bureau,a post she held for a decade.
Gordon R. Thompson was a justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada from 1961 to 1980.
Jerome D. Mack was an American banker,real estate investor,political fundraiser and philanthropist in Las Vegas,Nevada. He was the founder and president of the Bank of Las Vegas and,later,the Valley Bank. He was the president of the Riviera casino as well as director of the Four Queens and Dunes casinos. He was a major fundraiser for the Nevada Democratic Party and active in Jewish philanthropy both in Las Vegas and Israel. He was one of the founders of the University of Nevada,Las Vegas (UNLV).
Charles E. Springer was a justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada from 1981 to 1997. a two-time candidate for Governor of Nevada,Springer also served as the state's attorney general. Since 2007,Springer has worked at the law firm Kermitt Waters.
John Code Mowbray was a Nevada attorney and judge who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada from 1967 to 1993.
Miles Nelson Pike was a justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada from 1959 to 1961.
Christopher Lee Schaller was an American journalist,columnist,editor,humorist,speechwriter,and political strategist.
Harry William Sawyer was an American physician and politician.
Sandra Douglass Morgan is an American attorney and executive. She is currently the president of the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). Prior to her tenure with the Raiders,she served on the Nevada State Athletic Commission and was the chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board among other roles.