John William Carlin
Politician, governor. Democrat. Born: August 3, 1940, Salina, Kansas. Served as 40th Governor of Kansas: January 8, 1979, to January 12, 1987.
John Carlin, a Democrat and the state's youngest 20th-century governor, was born in Salina on August 3, 1940. Carlin ran a dairy farm near Smolan when he was elected to the state legislature. He married Ramona Lenore Hawkinson in January 1962. In 1979 he moved to the governor's office after defeating the incumbent, and four years later, Governor Carlin became the first person to win a second four-year term. In May 1981 he married Karen Bigsby Hurley. A constitutional provision, which prohibits three consecutive terms, ruled out the possibility of a third Carlin candidacy in 1986. After nearly a decade in Washington, D.C., where he served as Archivist of the United States, Governor Carlin once again resides in the state of his birth.
Entry: Carlin, John William
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.
