Robert W. Larrow
Robert W. Larrow (April 27, 1916 – August 2, 1991)[1] was an American attorney, politician, and judge from Vermont. He served as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court for seven years.[2][3] The Vermont Encyclopedia describes him as "among a small group that led to the revitalization of the Vermont Democratic Party in the 1950s and 1960s, ending the Republican hegemony in Vermont."[2]
Early life and education
[edit]Larrow was born in Vergennes, Vermont, on April 27, 1916.[3] He attended the Vergennes schools and graduated from the College of the Holy Cross and Harvard Law School, receiving his law degree in 1939.[3] He then entered into partnership with Joseph A. McNamara as the firm of McNamara & Larrow.[4]
Legal and political career
[edit]Larrow served as Burlington city attorney for nineteen years, from 1944 to 1963.[2][3] He was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1949, serving until 1951.[2][3]
Larrow unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1952 against incumbent Lee E. Emerson.[2][5] Emerson was broadly unpopular, and had barely beaten back a challenge in the Republican primary from maverick state senator Henry D. Vail.[6] At the time, Larrow was thirty-six years old and known for being "bright and articulate," with "considerable energy and drive despite his Sydney Greenstreet-like girth."[5] With his "diligent work habits and sharp wit, Larrow ran a vigorous campaign": he lost, but received 60,051 votes, some 40 percent of the vote: a record high for a Democratic candidate for governor, and nearly 40,000 more votes than the Democratic candidate had received in 1950.[2][5] Larrow's run was the first time in decades that a Democrat had actively and credibly campaigned for governor, and a sign of the resurgence of the Democratic party in Vermont after decades of Republican dominance.[5][7]
He ran as the Democratic candidate for state attorney general in 1962, on a ticket with Philip H. Hoff; Larrow lost to Charles E. Gibson Jr.,[8] but Hoff won, becoming the first Democratic governor of Vermont in more than a hundred years.[2] The next year, Larrow unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Burlington.[2]
Larrow was chairman of the State Liquor Control Board from 1963 to 1966,[3] and a Superior Court judge from 1966 to 1974[3]
Vermont Supreme Court and later life
[edit]Larrow became an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court in 1974. He was the last state supreme court justice in Vermont to be elected by the Vermont General Assembly; an amendment to the Vermont Constitution gave the power of appointment to the governor.[2][3]
Larrow retired from the state supreme court in 1981, after seven years on the bench, at the age of sixty-five.[2][3][9] Vermont Chief Assistant Attorney General Louis P. Peck was appointed to replace him.[10]
Larrow died on August 2, 1991, at the age of seventy-five, after a long illness.[3] Larrow was buried at New Mount Calvary Cemetery in Burlington.
Notes
[edit]- ↑ For birthdate see The American Bar directory 1937, p. 1478.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Richard T. Cassidy, "Larrow, Robert W." in Vermont Encyclopedia, University of Vermont Press, 2003 (eds. John J. Duffy, Samuel B. Hand & Ralph H. Orth), pp. 183-84.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Obituary: Robert W. Larrow, 75; Was Vt. Supreme Court Justice, Associated Press, August 4, 1991.
- ↑ "About Us: Firm History". mc-fitz.com. Burlington, VT: McCormick, Fitzpatrick, Kasper & Burchard, P.C. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 Samuel B. Hand, Anthony Marro & Stephen C. Terry, Philip Hoff: How Red Turned Blue in the Green Mountain State, University Press of New England, 2011, pp. 5-6.
- ↑ Burton, William J. (December 9, 1952). "Political Horizons". The Bennington Evening Banner. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
- ↑ James M. Jeffords, An Independent Man: Adventures of a Public Servant, Simon & Schuster, 2003, p. 67.
- ↑ "Philip Hoff Elected Vermont Governor". Burlington Free Press. Burlington, VT. November 7, 1962. p. 1.
- ↑ New England Briefs: Vt. Judge Retiring, Boston Glove, August 31, 1981.
- ↑ Associated Press, Tradition Falls as State Official is Named to Vt. High Court, September 10, 1981.
- 1916 births
- 1991 deaths
- College of the Holy Cross alumni
- Harvard Law School alumni
- Democratic Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives
- Politicians from Burlington, Vermont
- People from Vergennes, Vermont
- Vermont lawyers
- Justices of the Vermont Supreme Court
- 20th-century Vermont state court judges
- 20th-century American lawyers
- 20th-century members of the Vermont General Assembly