John Arthur Love (November 29, 1916 – January 21, 2002) was an American attorney and Republican politician who served as the 36th Governor of the State of Colorado from 1963 to 1973.
Love was born on a farm near Gibson City, Illinois, on November 29, 1916.[1] At age five, he moved with his family to Colorado Springs, Colorado. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Denver in 1938 and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Denver School of Law in 1941.
He served as a U.S. Navy pilot in World War II for which he was twice awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, Love started a law practice in Colorado Springs.
Love married Ann Daniels in 1942 and the couple had three children, Dan, Andrew and Rebecca. Rebecca grew up to serve as a justice of the Colorado Supreme Court from 1995 to 2006. Andrew Love served 37 years in the U.S. Air Force and retired in 2004 as a major general.
In 1962, Love defeated incumbent Colorado Governor Stephen McNichols, a Democrat. Love was re-elected governor in 1966 and 1970. In 1967, he signed the first liberalized abortion bill in the United States into law.[2]
In 1973, Love resigned the governorship to become the nation's first Director of the Office of Energy Policy (nicknamed the "Energy Czar") in the administration of U.S. President Richard M. Nixon. Lieutenant Governor John D. Vanderhoof assumed the office of governor upon Love's resignation. After only five months as Energy Czar, Love resigned due to the political turmoil in the final days of the Nixon Administration. Historian Daniel Yergin asserts Love was forced to resign by Nixon in favor of William E. Simon due to the energy crisis created in October 1973 by the Arab oil embargo.[3]
Love died in Aurora, Colorado on January 21, 2002, at the age of 85.
