Robert Stafford

Robert Theodore Stafford (August 8, 1913 – December 23, 2006) was an American politician from Vermont. In his lengthy political career, he served as the 71st governor of Vermont, a United States representative, and a U.S. Senator. A Republican, Stafford was generally considered a liberal, or "Rockefeller Republican". Stafford is best remembered for his staunch environmentalism, his work on higher education, and his support, as an elder statesman, for the 2000 Vermont law legalizing civil unions for gay couples. Early life Stafford was born in Rutland, Vermont, to Bert Linus Stafford and Mabel R. (Stratton) Stafford. Bert Stafford was a 1901 graduate of Middlebury College who practiced law in Rutland, and was President of the Rutland County National Bank. He served as Rutland County's State's Attorney, and was mayor from 1915 to 1917, President of the Vermont Bar Association in 1930, and Chairman of the Vermont Board of Education. Stafford attended the schools of Rutland and was a 1931 graduate of Rutland High School. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Middlebury College in 1935. While there, he joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity. He briefly attended the University of Michigan Law School before earning his LL.B. from the Boston University School of Law in 1938.