Edwin C. Johnson

Edwin Carl Johnson (January 1, 1884 – May 30, 1970) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as both governor of and U.S. senator from the state of Colorado.

Early life Johnson was born in Scandia in Republic County in northern Kansas. As a child, he moved with his family to Elsie, Perkins County, Nebraska and then to Lincoln, Nebraska. Johnson attended Lincoln High School under the tutelage of William Jennings Bryan, who was serving as a substitute teacher. After graduation in 1903, Johnson pursued his dream of becoming a railroad man, and after numerous positions became a train dispatcher/telegrapher at Fairmont in Fillmore County in southeastern Nebraska. In 1909, Johnson contracted tuberculosis and was advised to relocate to Colorado, where the climate was believed helpful in his medical situation. After recovering from the disease he settled together with his wife near Craig, Colorado.

Career Johnson (seated) questions Alabama attorney J. Haden Alldredge on the latter's qualifications for the Interstate Commerce Commission, March 8, 1939 Beginning in 1923, Johnson served in the Colorado House of Representatives for four terms. He was lieutenant governor from 1931 to 1933. He represented Colorado for three terms in the United States Senate from 1937 until 1955, during which time from 1937 to 1940 he was an intraparty critic of the New Deal policies of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1946 Johnson was Chairman of the Senate Committee examining the progress of demobilization from WWII. In response to widespread protests by G.I.'s, he stated that with the exception of troops in Germany and Japan, troops such as in India, Burma, Java and the Philippine Island should be brought home at once. Johnson served as the 26th and 34th governor of Colorado from January 10, 1933 until January 1, 1937 and from January 11, 1955 until January 8, 1957. He opposed FDR’s New Deal policies.

Bergman returned to Hollywood in the 1956 blockbuster film Anastasia. In 1972, Senator Charles H. Percy of Illinois entered an apology into the Congressional Record for Johnson’s attack, which had been made on Bergman twenty-two years earlier.

Atomic bombs Johnson is also known for the alternative he presented to mankind in November 1945: "God Almighty in His infinite wisdom [has] dropped the atomic bomb in our lap." Now for the first time the United States, "with vision and guts and plenty of atomic bombs," could "compel mankind to adopt the policy of lasting peace … or be burned to a crisp."

On a November 1st, 1949, broadcast of the television talk show Court of Current Issues, Johnson made the first public reference to the debate over whether the United States should develop a "superbomb", that is, a thermonuclear weapon.

Zionism Johnson was a Zionist who supported the establishment of Israel.

Sport affiliations Johnson was also the President of the Western League, a Class A baseball league, from 1947 to 1955. He was instrumental in the construction of Bears Stadium / Mile High Stadium, and was inducted in 1968 into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.

Death and legacy He died at Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver and is interred at the Fairmount Mausoleum at Fairmount Cemetery in Denver. The eastbound bore of the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel is named for Johnson.