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George Docking

George DockingPolitician, Governor. Democrat. Born: February 23, 1904, Clay Center, Kansas. Died: January 20, 1964, Kansas City, Kansas. Served as 35th Governor of Kansas: January 14, 1957, to January 9, 1961.

George Docking was born in Clay Center on February 23, 1904, in Clay Center to William and Almeda Donley Docking. He was raised in Lawrence. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1925. He married Mary Virginia Blackwell in Wichita on January 24, 1925; they had two children.

Elected the 35th governor of Kansas in 1956, Docking was only the sixth Democrat to serve in the state's highest office. When he was reelected in 1958, he became the first Democrat ever elected to a second term. Two years later he failed in an effort to win an unprecedented third term, a feat accomplished by his son 10 years later. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy appointed Docking director of the Export-Import Bank in Washington, D. C. The 59-year-old former Kansas governor still held that position when he died at Bethany Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas, on January 20, 1964.

Entry: Docking, George

Author: Kansas Historical Society

Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.

Date Created: June 2011

Date Modified: February 2017

The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.