Political Career
In 1947, Governor Kim Sigler appointed Milliken to the Michigan Waterways Commission. In 1960, Milliken was elected as a state senator from the 27th District, serving from 1961 to 1964. He was the 52nd Lieutenant Governor of Michigan from 1965 to 1969, and became governor after George W. Romney resigned from office to serve in President Richard Nixon's cabinet. He was subsequently elected to full four-year terms in 1970, 1974, and 1978. He was considered to be a moderate Republican governor in the Nelson A. Rockefeller mold. In June 1982, the governor led the formation of the Council of Great Lakes Governors.
Milliken was governor for 14 years and is the longest-serving governor in state history. With governors limited to two elected terms in office since 1992, it is unlikely that any will serve longer than Milliken. John Engler had served for 12 years as governor from 1991 to 2003, making him the second Republican to serve three four-year terms alongside Milliken. In December 1982, Milliken appointed Dorothy Comstock Riley to the Michigan Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Blair Moody. Riley had run for election to the Supreme Court in the 1982 general election and had been defeated.
Milliken was leaving office in less than a month and newly-elected Democratic Governor James Blanchard argued he should have made the appointment to replace Moody rather than Milliken. In 1983, the other Supreme Court Justices voted 4-2 to remove Riley from the court. Riley was elected to the Court in 1985.
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