Robert Stafford
United States Senator from Vermont
In office September 16, 1971 – January 3, 1989 Served alongside: George Aiken, Patrick Leahy
Preceded by	Winston L. Prouty
Succeeded by	Jim Jeffords
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Vermont's At-large district
In office January 3, 1961 – September 16, 1971
Preceded by	William H. Meyer
Succeeded by	Richard W. Mallary
71st Governor of Vermont
In office January 8, 1959 – January 5, 1961
Lieutenant	Robert S. Babcock
Preceded by	Joseph B. Johnson
Succeeded by	F. Ray Keyser, Jr.
65th Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
In office 1957–1959
Governor	Joseph B. Johnson
Preceded by	Consuelo N. Bailey
Succeeded by	Robert S. Babcock
Vermont Attorney General
In office 1955–1957
Governor	Joseph B. Johnson
Preceded by	F. Elliott Barber
Succeeded by	Frederick M. Reed
Personal details
Born	Robert Theodore Stafford (1913-08-08)August 8, 1913 Rutland, Vermont
Died	December 23, 2006(2006-12-23) (aged 93) Rutland, Vermont
Political party	Republican
Profession	Lawyer / Politician

Robert Theodore Stafford (August 8, 1913 – December 23, 2006) was an American politician from Vermont. In his lengthy career, he served as the 71st Governor of Vermont, a United States Representative, and a U.S. Senator. A Republican, Stafford was generally considered a moderate or liberal.

Stafford is best remembered for his staunch environmentalism, his work on higher education, and his support, as an elder statesman, for the 2000 Vermont law legalizing civil unions for gay couples.

Early life[edit]

Stafford was born in Rutland, Vermont to Bert Linus Stafford and Mabel R. (Stratton) Stafford.^[1]

He earned his diploma from Middlebury College in 1935. He briefly attended the University of Michigan Law School, and earned a law degree from the Boston University Law School in 1938.^[2] While attending Middlebury College he joined The Delta Upsilon Fraternity.

Career[edit]

Upon his completion of law school, Stafford immediately entered local politics, serving as Rutland County's prosecuting attorney from 1938 to 1942. In 1942, he commissioned in the Navy as a lieutenant commander, and served in active duty during World War II. He returned to Rutland County to become State's attorney from 1947 to 1951, but returned to the Navy again in 1951, serving in the Korean War from 1951 to 1953.^[3]

Returning home again in 1953, he entered Vermont statewide politics, serving as deputy attorney general for the state from 1953 to 1955, and attorney general from 1955 to 1957. In 1956, he was elected lieutenant governor, and in 1958 was elected governor.

Official Vermont State House portrait

Following this quick rise to the top of Vermont state politics, he was elected to Vermont's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1960, winning five successive elections.^[4]

In September 1971, he resigned his seat in Congress to accept appointment to the Senate to temporarily fill the vacancy caused by the death in office of Winston L. Prouty. Stafford won the special election of January 1972 to serve out the rest of Prouty's term, and won two successive elections, serving in the Senate for slightly over 17 years, until his retirement in 1989. He chaired the Committee on Environment and Public Works from 1981 to 1987.

While in Congress, he helped pass a law, now known as the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, to coordinate federal natural disaster assistance.

Stafford's support of weapons sales to Nicaraguan contras led to the Winooski 44 protest.

Death and legacy[edit]

In 1988, Congress renamed the Federal Guaranteed Student Loan program the Robert T. Stafford Student Loan program, in honor of his work on higher education.^[5]

In 2007, Congress renamed the White Rocks National Recreation Area in the State of Vermont as the "Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area."^[6]

Stafford died in his hometown of Rutland on December 23, 2006 and is interred at Evergreen Cemetery in Rutland.^[7] His wife Helen Stafford died February 27, 2011, at the age of 93.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Robert Stafford

• Robert Stafford at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2008-01-26
• History of the Stafford Federal Student Loan Program
• CNN Obituary for Stafford (inactive)
• Wife of late Vermont US Sen. Stafford dies at 93
• National Governors Association
• Find A Grave
• The Political Graveyard

v t e Governors of Vermont Chittenden Robinson Chittenden Chittenden Brigham Tichenor I. Smith Tichenor Galusha M. Chittenden Galusha Skinner Van Ness Butler Crafts Palmer Jennison Paine Mattocks Slade Eaton Coolidge Williams E. Fairbanks Robinson Royce Fletcher Hall E. Fairbanks Holbrook G. Smith P. Dillingham Page Washburn Hendee Stewart Converse Peck H. Fairbanks R. Proctor Sr. Farnham Barstow Pingree Ormsbee W.P. Dillingham Page Fuller Woodbury Grout E. Smith Stickney McCullough Bell F. Proctor Prouty Mead Fletcher Gates Graham Clement Hartness R. Proctor Jr. Billings Weeks Wilson C. Smith Aiken Wills M. Proctor Gibson Arthur Emerson Johnson Stafford Keyser Hoff Davis Salmon Snelling Kunin Snelling Dean Douglas Shumlin Italics indicate acting governor

v t e United States Senators from Vermont Class 1 M. Robinson Tichenor Chipman Smith J. Robinson Tichenor Seymour Swift Phelps Foot Edmunds Proctor Stewart Page Greene Partridge Austin Flanders Prouty Stafford Jeffords Sanders Class 3 Bradley Paine Bradley Chase Fisk Palmer Chase Prentiss Crafts Upham Phelps Brainerd Collamer Poland Morrill Ross Dillingham Dale Gibson, Sr. Gibson, Jr. Aiken Leahy