Philip H. Hoff

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Philip Henderson Hoff (June 29, 1924 – April 26, 2018) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Vermont. He was most notable for his service as the 73rd governor of Vermont from 1963 to 1969, the state's first Democratic governor since 1853.

Life and career

Hoff was born in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, the son of Agnes (Henderson) and Olaf Hoff, Jr.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His father worked in the insurance industry and served two terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Hoff was a star high school football player, scoring the winning touchdown in Turners Falls High School's 1942 annual game against rival Greenfield High School.<ref name=grit>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hoff attended Williams College, where he studied English, but postponed graduation for two years in order to serve in World War II.<ref name=grit/> He enisted in December 1942 and saw combat action during World War II aboard the submarine, USS Sea Dog, which took part in combat patrols throughout the Pacific Ocean theater.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He attained the rank of Seaman First Class with the rating of quartermaster (the Navy's term for a navigator), and was discharged in 1946.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He met his wife, Joan Brower, during his naval service and they married in 1948.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After graduating from Williams College in 1948, he attended Cornell Law School, where he joined the Phi Delta Phi fraternity and graduated in 1951.<ref name=grit/> The Hoffs were the parents of four daughters―Susan, Dagny, Andrea, and Gretchen.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Hoffs moved to Burlington, Vermont, in 1951,<ref name=grit/> where Hoff began a law practice. He also became involved in local politics as a Democrat, and was a founder of the activist group Vermont Democratic Volunteers.<ref name=obit/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In addition to serving as a justice of the peace,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> he was also chairman of the city zoning board.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hoff was also an officer of the Chittenden County Bar Association<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a member of the Burlington-Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce board of directors.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Career

File:Philip H. Hoff for Vermont Governor poster 1962.jpg

Poster from Hoff's 1962 campaign. Note misspelling of first name.

Hoff was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1960, and served one term, 1961 to 1963.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As a legislator, Hoff was a member of the "Young Turks," a bipartisan alliance of progressive and reform minded representatives and senators that included Republicans Franklin S. Billings Jr. and Ernest W. Gibson III.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Philip h hoff 20041012.jpg

Hoff in 2004

In 1962, Hoff was elected Vermont's first Democratic governor since the Vermont General Assembly selected John S. Robinson after no candidate obtained a popular vote majority in 1853.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Hoff waged an energetic campaign against incumbent Republican F. Ray Keyser Jr., and capitalized on local factors including a split between Vermont's conservative and progressive Republicans (the Proctor Wing and the Aiken-Gibson Wing).Template:Sfn Rather than support the conservative Keyser, many of Vermont's liberal Republicans opted to support Hoff on a third party line, which contributed to his narrow margin of victory.Template:Sfn Hoff was also aided by national factors, including the popularity of incumbent Democratic President John F. Kennedy, to whom Hoff was often compared.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hoff won reelection in 1964 and 1966. During his governorship, he pioneered unprecedented environmental, development, and social welfare programs, including the creation of the Governor's Commission on the Status of Women.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Concerned about racial justice, he joined with New York Mayor John Lindsay to co-found the Vermont-New York Youth Project, which brought minority students from the city together with Vermont students to work on joint summer projects at several Vermont colleges.<ref name=hopes/> According to the Boston Globe, the program, which temporarily doubled Vermont's black population, "uncovered some latent bigotry that had not been visible before."<ref name=hopes>Template:Cite news</ref> The poll tax was eliminated during his tenure as governor, and the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, Legal Aid and Vermont Public Television were established.<ref>Democratic groundbreaker, former Governor Phil Hoff dies, VTDigger.org, Kevin O'Connor, April 27, 2018. Retrieved April 27, 2018.</ref>

Hoff was the first Democratic Governor in the nation to split with President Lyndon Johnson over the Vietnam War and later campaigned across the country to promote Robert F. Kennedy's effort to obtain the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination.<ref name=obit/> After Kennedy's assassination, Hoff endorsed Eugene McCarthy.<ref name=obit/> Democrats who opposed Johnson came close to nominating Hoff as a candidate for Vice President at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, but after some initial enthusiasm, Hoff declined to put his name forward.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hoff's endorsement of Kennedy and later McCarthy upset conservative Democrats and Hoff was also criticized for increases in state spending which some claimed led to hefty deficits.<ref name=ABC>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1970, Hoff challenged incumbent U.S. Senator Winston L. Prouty, but Prouty easily won reelection.<ref name=ABC/> During the campaign, Hoff announced that he had battled alcoholism in the past.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Had he won, Hoff would have been the first Democratic senator in Vermont history.<ref name=ABC/>

In the 1980s he returned to elective politics, serving three terms in the Vermont State Senate (1983-1989).<ref name=ABC/> He also served in various advisory and honorary positions and as President of the Board of Trustees at Vermont Law School as well as continuing his work as a lawyer in private practice.<ref name=obit/> In 1989, he co-founded the law firm of Hoff, Curtis.<ref name=ABC/>

Death

Hoff died at an assisted living facility in Shelburne, Vermont, on April 26, 2018, at age 93.<ref name=obit>Template:Cite news</ref>

Legacy

Hoff was the subject of a biography, 2011's Philip Hoff: How Red Turned Blue in the Green Mountain State by Samuel B. Hand, Anthony Marro, and Stephen C. Terry.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 2012, Castleton State College named its newest residence hall after Hoff, the first building to be named in his honor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Further reading

• The Vermont Encyclopedia, J. Duffy, S. Hand, R Orth, Editors (University Press of New England, Lebanon, N.H. 2003)

External links

• Template:Cite web