Governor of Arizona
A conservative Republican, Fannin was elected Governor of Arizona in 1958, defeating Attorney General Robert Morrison by nearly 30,000 votes. He was sworn into office on January 5, 1959. He was re-elected in 1960 and again in 1962.
During his tenure, Fannin increased funding for the public school system by raising sales taxes, equalized property taxes, established the first medical school in the state, and created the Arizona-Mexico Commission to promote tourism and trade across the border. He also served as chairman of the Western Governors Association, as well as a member of the Executive Committee of Council of State Governors and of the National Civil Defense Advisory Council.
Read more about this topic: Paul Fannin
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“Three years ago, also, when the Sims tragedy was acted, I said to myself, There is such an officer, if not such a man, as the Governor of Massachusetts,—what has he been about the last fortnight? Has he had as much as he could do to keep on the fence during this moral earthquake?... He could at least have resigned himself into fame.”
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