Old Topic: Fife Symington, page 1

From the National Governors Association:
Governor's Information

Arizona Governor J. Fife Symington III

Born: August 12, 1945
Birth State: New York
Party: Republican
Family: Married Ann Olin Pritzlaff; five children
Religion: Episcopalian
School(s): Harvard University
Periods in Office: From: March 6, 1991
To: September 5, 1997

Resigned
State Web Site

War(s) Served: Vietnam War

Honors/Awards: Bronze Star

J. FIFE SYMINGTON III was born in New York City and raised in Maryland. He earned a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from Harvard University in 1968. He joined the U.S. Air Force after graduation and in 1971 was awarded the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War; he retired from the Air Force in 1971 with the rank of captain. He founded the Symington Company, a commercial and industrial development firm, in 1976, where he remained president and CEO until May 1989, when he began his gubernatorial campaign. After a runoff election in 1991, he became the 19th Governor of Arizona. As governor, he presided over tax reductions, income growth and surging capital investments. However, after six years in office, Symington was convicted in September 1997 of criminal charges that he defrauded lenders as a real estate developer in the 1980s. He promptly resigned and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Free, pending appeal, Symington earned a degree in culinary arts and restaurant management. In 1999, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned Symington's conviction. Two years later, he won a pardon from President Bill Clinton. (Interestingly, Symington met Clinton decades before in Hyannis, Massaschusetts. One day, Symington said, Clinton swam too far out and was caught in a riptide. Symington said he swam out to pull Clinton to shore, an act that prompted much needling from Republicans decades later.) Exonerated, Symington founded his own culinary school and now works as a pastry chef at a restaurant in Phoenix.

Sources:

Governors of the American States, Commonwealths and Territories, National Governors' Association, 1996.

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From Wiki:
Second term (1994 - 1997)
The Grand Canyon National Park was shut down for the first time ever in November 1995, because of the federal budget impasse. On November 17, Symington's response came very close to creating a national crisis.[2][3] Symington, citing the dire effects of the park's closure on tourism, stated that the "Grand Canyon must remain open, by force, if necessary." The Pentagon warned the head of the Arizona National Guard against the use of force and raised the possibility that, if necessary, the guard would be federalized and brought under the control of the White House. The governor decided to go ahead and, accompanied by the Speaker of the House, fifty unarmed National Guard troops, twenty-five state Park Department employees, and other people, traveled to canyon. When Symington's group arrived, Symington beat on the park gates in front of the media.[4]
The US Department of Interior later reopened the park under state supervision.[4] A federal agency reimbursed Arizona the $370,020 the state donated to keep the Grand Canyon National Park open during the government shutdowns.[5]
Later, Symington was indicted on charges of extortion, making false financial statements, and of bank fraud. He was convicted of bank fraud in 1997. As Arizona state law does not allow convicted felons to hold office, Symington resigned his office on September 5, 1997.[6]
This conviction, however, was overturned in 1999 by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Six days into jury deliberations, the trial judge had granted the government's motion to dismiss a juror because she was leaning toward acquittal and the other jurors complained that she was keeping them from reaching a unanimous verdict. The appeals court ruled that the dismissal violated Symington's right to a fair trial. He was subsequently pardoned by President Clinton near the end of his presidency in January 2001. The pardon terminated the federal government's seven year battle with the former governor.[7]

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