Thomas Slade Gorton III (January 8, 1928 – August 19, 2020) was an American lawyer and politician from Washington. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a member of the United States Senate from 1981 to 1987, and again from 1989 to 2001. He held both of the state's U.S. Senate seats in his career and was narrowly defeated for reelection twice, first in 1986 by Brock Adams and again in 2000 by Maria Cantwell following a recount, becoming the last Republican senator to date for each seat.

Early life and education

Gorton was born in Chicago, on January 8, 1928, and raised in the suburb of Evanston, Illinois, the son of Ruth (Israel) and Thomas Slade Gorton, Jr., descendant of one of the founders of the companies that would become Gorton's of Gloucester, and himself the founder that year of Slade Gorton & Co., another fish supplier. His younger brother is Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He attended and graduated from Dartmouth College and subsequently from Columbia Law School. Gorton served in the United States Army from 1945 to 1946 and the United States Air Force from 1953 until 1956. He continued to serve in the Air Force Reserve Command until 1980 when he retired as a colonel.

Years later, he approached Nintendo President Minoru Arakawa and Chairman Howard Lincoln in his search to find a buyer for the Mariners. Arakawa's father-in-law, Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi, agreed to buy a majority stake in the team, preventing a potential move to Tampa. Gorton later helped broker a deal between King County officials and Mariners ownership on what is now called T-Mobile Park.

U.S. Senate campaigns

thumb|right|230px|Gorton with President [[Ronald Reagan at the White House]]

1980

In 1980, Gorton defeated longtime incumbent U.S. Senator and state legend Warren Magnuson by a 54% to 46% margin.

1986

Gorton was narrowly defeated by former U.S. Representative and United States Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams. His reelection strategy centered on running up high vote totals in areas outside of left-leaning King County (home to Seattle).

1994

In 1994, Gorton repeated the process, defeating then-King County Councilman Ron Sims by 56% to 44%.

Twice during his tenure in the Senate, Gorton sat at the Candy Desk.

Later career

Slade Gorton was recruited to the "Project Review Committee" for Sound Transit to help steer the agency through political troubles in 2000–2001. He had been a strong supporter of the light rail effort during his time in the Senate.

In 2002, Gorton became a member of the 9/11 Commission, which issued its final report, the 9/11 Commission Report, in 2004.

Gorton was an advisory board member for the Partnership for a Secure America, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy. Gorton also served as a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Gorton served on the board of trustees of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, which is a museum dedicated to the Constitution of the United States.

Gorton represented Seattle in a lawsuit against Clay Bennett to prevent the Seattle SuperSonics relocation basketball franchise, in accordance to a contract that would keep the team in Climate Pledge Arena until 2010. The city settled with Bennett, allowing him to move the team to Oklahoma City for $45 million with the possibility for another $30 million.

In 2010, the National Bureau of Asian Research founded the Slade Gorton International Policy Center. The Gorton Center is a policy research center, with three focus areas: policy research, fellowship and internship programs, and the Gorton History Program (archives). In 2013 the Gorton Center was the secretariat for the ‘Commission on The Theft of American Intellectual Property’, in which Gorton was a commissioner. Gorton was also a counselor at the National Bureau of Asian Research.

In 2012, Gorton was appointed to the board of directors of Clearwire, a wireless data services provider.

Gorton was a member of the board of the Discovery Institute, notable for its advocacy of the pseudoscience of intelligent design.

Gorton was also of counsel at K&L Gates LLP.

Gorton opposed the candidacy of Donald Trump for President of the United States in 2016, instead writing in Independent candidate Evan McMullin. He praised the first impeachment of Trump, urging other Republicans to join him.

Personal life and death

He married the former Sally Jean Clark on June 28, 1958. They had three children, Sarah Nortz, Thomas Gorton, and Rebecca Dannaker, as well as seven grandchildren. Sally Gorton died on July 20, 2013, one day before her 81st birthday.

Gorton died after a brief illness with complications of Parkinson's disease on August 19, 2020 at the home of his daughter, Sarah Nortz in Clyde Hill, Washington, age 92.

References

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Further reading

  • Hughes, John C., Slade Gorton: A Half Century in Politics (2011) (authorized biography)
  • Congressional Bio
  • Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP ("K&L Gates") Lawyer Bio
  • The Next Ten Years of Post-9/11 Security Efforts, Q&A with Slade Gorton (September 2011)

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