Calvin Rampton left a notable historical legacy as Utah's only three-term governor, and just maybe the most popular governor in Utah's history. For a Democrat in a Republican state, that is amazing.
He was down to earth, approachable and spoke engagingly with a broad Utah accent. He obviously enjoyed being governor. When I was researching a political biography of another Utah governor, J. Bracken Lee, who remains Utah's most colorful politician, I had occasion to interview Cal Rampton. He seemed pale by comparison to the flamboyant Lee, partly because he was a more easygoing personality.Nevertheless, he spoke with clarity, and he was generous with his time. He also had the unmistakable bearing of a governor, a man who seemed completely at peace with himself. Much more mellow than Lee.
He recalled with relish his interactions with Lee, especially a feisty confrontation in a courtroom in Price when Rampton was an assistant attorney general and Lee was mayor. A major disagreement over slot machines and Utah's liquor laws almost brought Rampton and Lee to blows. Yet Lee's ability to "forget quickly" allowed them to have a productive relationship afterward.
Not an angry man, Rampton tells his story effectively, in a reasoned, gentle manner, in a handsome new book published by the University of Utah Press, called simply, "As I Recall." After reading it I realized that Rampton was a more powerful politician than he seemed, a kingmaker of sorts. He also has some terrific anecdotes about everyone under the sun.
I identified with Rampton the student because he drove a 1928 Chevrolet to the University of Utah, a car identical to the one I drove to high school. Rampton got into trouble on campus because he used to honk his horn to attract the other students who rode home to Bountiful with him.
One day U. President George Thomas asked to see young Cal in his Park Building office. Looking over his reading glasses, Thomas asked if he was the "young man with the horn." Rampton replied that he was. President Thomas said, "It will not be honked on this campus again." It wasn't. And that was the way university presidents solved problems in those days.
Rampton the politician interacted with many famous people. Averell Harriman, for instance, statesman and presidential candidate, visited the Ramptons in 1951. Harriman, whose hearing problem was not as serious as some believed, was scheduled to ride in a parade in Vernal. One fellow asked if they should put him in a carriage or on a horse. The other said, "No, he'd fall off a horse."
At that point, Harriman looked at them with an icy stare and asked, "How many 10-goal polo men do you have in Vernal?" What these people failed to realize was that Harriman was an accomplished horseman who had been a member of the U.S. Olympic Polo team.
Another incident concerned President Lyndon Johnson, who called Rampton shortly after he had taken office as governor. Rampton was excited to hear that the president was on the phone and thought he was calling to congratulate him on his election. Instead, an agitated Johnson said, "Cal, I understand that Bob McNamara is snowbound at a place called Alta, Utah." The governor said he had read that in the paper. Using an expletive, Johnson barked, "Get him out of there!" and slammed down the phone. Rampton found a privately owned helicopter to spirit the Secretary of Defense out of snowy seclusion.
My favorite incident involved an Indian named Frank Takes Gun, who approached Rampton prior to his senatorial campaign in 1962 and volunteered to campaign for him among the Utes in return for $l,000. After some discussion, Rampton gave him $250. Not more than 50 Utes even voted. Later, Rampton found that the same con artist had approached others. When he asked Lee about him, Brack "almost choked on his coffee," because he had given the Indian $2,000.
With the exception of Vernon Romney, whom he detested, Rampton is notably restrained in his evaluations of fellow politicians, local and national. But he was not impressed with Ronald Reagan, who often made "mundane and innocuous statements." Rampton thought he was "not the caliber of man you would expect to be governor of a large state, let alone president of the country."
Whether you agree with him or not, Rampton writes with charm. He tells an important story without egocentricity. Great holiday reading.