Former New Hampshire governor Lane Dwinell '28, an undergraduate at the College, graduate student at the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration and ex-officio Trustee of the College, died Thursday at age 90.
A long-time Lebanon resident, Dwinell died at Kendal retirement home in Hanover. The cause of death was undisclosed.
The only person in New Hampshire history to hold the offices of House speaker, Senate president and governor in three successive terms, Dwinell was a major power in the Republican party and held multiple positions in the presidential campaigns and administrations of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
College President James Freedman referred to Dwinell as "a very gracious man" who was "clearly concerned about the College."
As governor of New Hampshire, Dwinell served as an honorary Trustee of the College. Freedman said Dwinell was active as an emeritus Trustee, attending events and offering suggestions.
In a statement, Governor Jeanne Shaheen called Dwinell "one of our state's most dedicated public citizens."
"We should remember and be grateful for the many years of service Lane Dwinell provided to the state of New Hampshire," she said.
Shaheen ordered all state flags to be flown at half staff until sundown today in Dwinell's honor.
Dwinell was born in Vermont, later lived in California, and finally moved to Lebanon in time for his senior year of high school.
While at Dartmouth, he was president of the College chapter of Theta Delta Chi fraternity and competed as a snowshoer with the College ski team, according to the Valley News.
He graduated from Dartmouth in 1928, and a year later graduated from the Amos Tuck School of Business. He worked briefly for General Motors in New York City after leaving the Tuck School.
In 1936, he returned to work for his father at Carter & Churchill Co., later known as Profile Skiwear, the second-oldest skiwear maker in the nation.
His political career began in 1948, when he was elected a state representative from Lebanon, and made chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
During his second term, he was appointed speaker of the state House. In 1952, he won a state Senate seat, and was elected Senate president.
Just two years later, Dwinell was elected governor, and he earned re-election in 1956.
While serving as governor, Dwinell was credited with tightening accounting procedures and giving raises to state employees. He signed bills to provide state aid for school construction and for the formation of cooperative school districts.
He left state government in 1959, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed him assistant secretary of state for administration. This post, which made Dwinell responsible for overseeing the department's budget, personnel and embassy operations, took him all over the world.
In 1969, President Nixon appointed Dwinell administrator of the Agency for International Development.
Dwinell chaired Nixon's re-election campaign in New Hampshire in 1972. Nixon officially announced his attention to seek a second term in a personal letter to Dwinell, who made it public.
Dwinell also served as the state chairman for Reagan's New Hampshire campaigns in 1980 and 1984.
He attended seven Republican National Conventions from 1952 to 1988, chairing New Hampshire's delegation five times.
Dwinell's wife of 64 years, Elizabeth, died last October. He is survived by nieces and nephews.
This story was compiled with the assistance of Associated Press reports.
