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LEGAL NEWSLINE

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Ten with famous fathers

Surely, fathers around the country received a countless number of ties, new fishing rods and electronic gadgets they will never figure out how to use this past Sunday on Father's Day. Legal Newsline looks at 10 state attorneys general whose fathers had already given them a very special gift -- a famous last name. California Attorney General Jerry Brown's father Pat was California's 32nd governor, serving from 1959-1967. Jerry, the third of four children, became the state's governor in 1975 and is currently seeking election to the post against Republican challenger Meg Whitman. Hubert H. Humphrey III, better known as "Skip," was Minnesota's attorney general from 1983-1999. His father was a U.S. senator from the state and also served as Lyndon Johnson's vice president from 1965-69. Several structures are named after him, including the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, a sports stadium in Minneapolis. Humphrey III's mother Muriel was also a U.S. Senator. Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden's father is also a vice president, current VP Joe Biden. Joe was a U.S. Senator from Delaware before he and President Barack Obama were elected in 2008. Beau declined to run for the Senate seat vacated by his father, opting to keep his current job. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's father Mario was New York's governor from 1983-1994 and its lieutenant governor for three years before that. Andrew seems destined to follow his father as governor, currently holding a commanding lead, according to polls, for this year's election. Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma's attorney general since 1995, is a part of a very political family. His uncle Howard was the state's governor from 1959-63, his brother James is a justice on the state Supreme Court and his father Ed served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 20 years. Drew is currently running for governor. Kansas Attorney General Steve Six took office in 2008. When he was sworn in as the state's 43rd attorney general, it was his father -- former state Supreme Court Justice Fred Six -- who did the honors. Steve has also worked as a judge, sitting on the bench at the state's Seventh Judicial District. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's father Michael has been in the state House of Representatives since 1971. He's been the Speaker of the House since 1983, excluding a two-year period from 1995-1997. Lisa was born five years before Michael was first elected to the House and assumed office in 2003. Former Missouri Attorney General William L. Webster's father was also a longtime state lawmaker. Richard Webster was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 1948, serving as speaker in 1954. In 1962, he moved on to the state Senate, where he remained until his death in 1990. William was the state's attorney general from 1985-1993. Jim Jeffords of Vermont was the state's attorney general from 1969-73, later becoming a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. His father Olin was a chief justice on the Vermont Supreme Court. In Jim's book "An Independent Man," he says he still owns his father's home even though he does not live there. "I can't bring myself to sell the family home; I doubt I ever will. We rent it out, of course, because being a politician is not the lucrative occupation some folks think it is," he wrote. Former Missouri Attorney General John Danforth's family made its name outside of politics. Pet food company Ralston Purina was founded by his grandfather William, who also designed the company's checkerboard logo. John's dad Donald served as the company's chief executive while John found his way in politics. John was AG from 1969-1976, then became a U.S. Senator for nearly 20 years and the United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2004-2005.

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