Malcolm Wallop (February 27, 1933 – September 14, 2011) was an American rancher and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Wyoming for three terms from 1977 to 1995, after three terms in the Wyoming Legislature.

Early years

Wallop was born at Doctors Hospital in Manhattan, New York City, on February 27, 1933. He was the second son of Jean Moore Wallop and the Hon. Oliver Malcolm Wallop. His paternal grandfather, Wyoming cattle rancher Oliver Henry Wallop, immigrated to the United States from England in the late 19th century and inherited the Earldom of Portsmouth.

While in the Senate, Wallop served on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Select Committee on Intelligence. From 1981 to 1983, he served as chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics.

In 1982, Wallop was re-elected by a 14-point margin over Democrat Rodger McDaniel, a Wyoming state legislator. In his second term, Wallop supported the 1983 Strategic Defense Initiative,

In 1988, Wallop won his final term by just 1,322 votes over his opponent, Democratic state senator John Vinich. Wallop's last term was characterized largely by his participation in the foreign policy and trade debates of the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was a member of the Helsinki Commission and traveled extensively in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union as an arms control negotiator. Wallop was also a strong advocate of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and U.S. participation in the World Trade Organization.

From 1990 to 1994, he was the ranking Republican member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and in 1992, was a key force behind passage of the far-reaching Energy Policy Act.

In 1994, Wallop opted out of a race for a fourth term. He was succeeded by Republican Craig Thomas. Upon his retirement from the Senate, The Economist wrote of Wallop: "Although his detractors have steadily grown in number, even Democrats grudgingly admitted to liking his candor and his willingness to be stupendously politically incorrect."

In 1996, Wallop served as General Chairman and Executive Director of the Steve Forbes presidential campaign, which succeeded in winning primary victories in Delaware and Arizona.

  • The University of Wyoming houses Wallop's papers in its American Heritage Center. He married Vail Stebbins in 1956. They had three sons and one daughter before divorcing in 1965. He married Judith Warren in 1967; divorced in 1981. Next, he married French Carter Gamble Goodwyn in 1984; they divorced in 2001. Finally, he married Isabel Brooke Thomasson Ferguson in 2005.

His sister, Jean, married Henry Herbert, 7th Earl of Carnarvon in 1956. Lord Carnarvon was a childhood friend of Queen Elizabeth II and was in 1969 appointed her horse racing manager. Queen Elizabeth II was a house guest of Wallop at Canyon Ranch in Big Horn, Wyoming, in 1984 during the Queen's visit to the United States with Lord and Lady Carnarvon (née Jean Wallop, the Senator's sister).

Wallop's nephew is George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon, whose family seat in England, Highclere Castle, has achieved prominence as a filming location for the ITV television series Downton Abbey.

Wallop died at his home near Big Horn on September 14, 2011, at the age of 78.

References

  • Frontiers of Freedom Institute
  • Voting record maintained by the Washington Post
  • Audio of Malcolm Wallop's Memorial Service
  • Malcolm Wallop papers at the American Heritage Center

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