John Burley Swainson was born on July 31, 1925, and died on May 13, 1994. He was a Canadian-American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd governor of Michigan from 1961 to 1963.

Early life and education

Swainson was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. At the age of two, he moved with his family to Port Huron, Michigan.

His father, John A. C. Swainson, from Port Huron, was a Democratic presidential elector for Michigan in 1964. He also served as an alternate delegate for Michigan at the 1972 Democratic National Convention.

Swainson was the captain of his high school football team. He also earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

During World War II, Swainson served in the United States Army with C Company, 378th Infantry Regiment of the 95th Infantry Division. On November 15, 1944, near Metz, Alsace-Lorraine, he lost both legs in an amputation after a landmine exploded. He received France's Croix de Guerre medal, the Presidential Unit Citation with two battle stars, and the Purple Heart before his twentieth birthday. After months of recovery and training at Percy Jones Army Hospital in Battle Creek, Swainson learned to walk upright without assistance.

Swainson earned a B.A. from Olivet College, where he met and married his wife, Alice Nielson. She accompanied him to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received a J.D. degree in 1951. While studying there, he was chosen as student president of the law school.

Political career

Swainson was elected to the Michigan State Senate from the 18th District in 1954 and was reelected in 1956. In 1958, when Philip Hart was elected to the United States Senate, Swainson became lieutenant governor of Michigan under Governor G. Mennen Williams. When Williams announced he would not seek re-election in 1960, Swainson decided to run for governor. He did so even though important members of the Democratic Party, including Williams, encouraged him not to run to honor James M. Hare, the three-term Michigan Secretary of State. Swainson won the primary against the party’s favorite candidate, largely because of strong support from labor unions.

On November 8, 1960, Swainson narrowly defeated Republican Paul D. Bagwell, a professor at Michigan State University, in the 1960 Michigan gubernatorial election. Swainson won by a margin of 1.28%. At 35 years old, he became the youngest governor of Michigan in the 20th century. He was also the state’s second governor born outside the United States.

Swainson’s lieutenant governor was T. John Lesinski. His opponent in the Democratic primary, Hare, continued to serve as Michigan Secretary of State until 1971.

During his two years in office, a tax was added for using telegraphs, telephones, and leased wires. Court procedures and medical care for the elderly were improved. Legislative pensions were not taxed at the local or state level. Taxes on liquor, beer, and cigarettes were increased to fund education programs.

When the Bluewater International Bridge, which connects Port Huron, Michigan, and Sarnia, Ontario, was fully paid off, Swainson used an executive order to cancel the $0.25 toll that had been collected. He calmly canceled his father’s job as a toll collector, which his father, John A. C. Swainson, had held since 1957.

Swainson appointed the first African American to serve on the Michigan Supreme Court.

In 1962, Swainson was defeated by Republican George W. Romney, the chairman of the American Motors Corporation, who had never held elected office before. Romney’s victory was partly due to his ability to attract independent voters and the growing influence of suburban Detroit voters, who were more likely to support Republicans than voters in the city. This was the only time in U.S. history that a governor born in Canada was replaced by one born in Mexico.

Later years

On June 23, 1963, Swainson walked with Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Detroit mayor Jerome Cavanagh, and about 125,000 people on a "Walk for Freedom" march down Detroit's Woodward Avenue. The same year, he was also a member of the Democratic National Committee from Michigan.

He served as a judge in the 3rd Circuit of the Michigan Circuit Court from 1965 to 1971 and as a justice on the Michigan Supreme Court from 1971 to 1975. In 1975, he was accused of taking a $20,000 bribe from a criminal who wanted the Supreme Court to review his case. He was found not guilty but was later convicted of perjury related to his testimony given to the grand jury. Because of this, he resigned from the Supreme Court, was sent to a minimum-security facility for 60 days, and lost his law license for three years.

The criminal charges stopped him from running to replace retiring senator Phil Hart. Some people say he was a victim of an over

Death and legacy

At the age of 68, Swainson died from a heart attack in Manchester, Michigan, and he is buried there at Oak Grove Cemetery. His wife, Alice, died on September 5, 2004, in Manchester at the age of 77.

During his life, he was a member of the American Legion, AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Elks, Lions International, Delta Theta Phi, and Boy Scouts of America. In the Boy Scouts, Swainson was an active leader of the local Order of the Arrow lodge and served as secretary.

The Michigan Historical Commission created the Governor John B. Swainson Award in 1996 to honor him for his love of history and for being one of the few public officials to have worked in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of state government. The commission gives the award to state, county, or municipal employees who have helped preserve Michigan history, even if such work is not their main job. Swainson’s last public position was president of the Michigan Historical Commission, a role he held as an appointee of Governor James Blanchard.

His papers, totaling 75.1 feet, are collected at the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan. These include many documents related to research, public policy, and programs about polio and the Salk vaccine.

Swainson was honored with an official portrait painted by Dorthea R. Stockbridge. The portrait was dedicated during a Special Session of the Michigan Supreme Court. It is displayed on the fourth floor of the Michigan Hall of Justice.

Another portrait of Swainson hangs in the Michigan State Capitol on the second floor in the "Hall of Governors." This portrait is notable for appearing unfinished. It is considered one of the most unusual portraits, and it is said to be a sign that Swainson’s political career was not yet over. The Republican legislature even approved plans for a more traditional replacement portrait, but this has not yet been completed.

At the dedication of his judicial portrait, Swainson stated that he left the final judgment of his public career to history.