Connecticut Lieutenant Governor. As a First Lieutenant in World War II, Mr. Killian commanded an infantry company and in four years earned four battle stars and a Purple Heart in campaigns on the Pacific Islands of Kwajalein, Palau, Mindinao and Okinawa. After the war he graduated from Union College and the Hartford Law School. Following his admittance into the Connecticut State Bar in 1948 he joined his law school classmate Robert Krechevsky and Samuel Gould to start the Hartford firm of Gould, Killian and Krechevsky (now Gould, Killian and Wynne). Mr. Killian served as the city of Hartford's assistant corporation counsel from 1951-1954. He became chairman of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee in 1963 and is credited with helping to get elected Hartford's first African-American councilman and state Senator. His friendship with John M. Bailey, state Democratic party chairman, resulted in his appointment in 1967 as state attorney general. Governor John N. Dempsey chose Mr. Killian to fill the vacancy left by Harold M. Mulvey. He won election in his own right three years later, one of only two Democrats to survive a Republican sweep of statewide offices including the governorship. In 1974, Mr. Killian was elected lieutenant governor on a ticket headed by Governor Ella T. Grasso. Displeased with the way the governor was handling issues including the state's fiscal crisis as her re-election approached, Mr. Killian waged a bitter primary campaign against Gov. Grasso in 1978. He lost and was replaced on the ticket by William A. O'Neill (who would succeed Grasso as governor in 1980.) Mr. Killian then spent a decade as chairman of the Hartford Civic Center and Coliseum Commission.
Connecticut Lieutenant Governor. As a First Lieutenant in World War II, Mr. Killian commanded an infantry company and in four years earned four battle stars and a Purple Heart in campaigns on the Pacific Islands of Kwajalein, Palau, Mindinao and Okinawa. After the war he graduated from Union College and the Hartford Law School. Following his admittance into the Connecticut State Bar in 1948 he joined his law school classmate Robert Krechevsky and Samuel Gould to start the Hartford firm of Gould, Killian and Krechevsky (now Gould, Killian and Wynne). Mr. Killian served as the city of Hartford's assistant corporation counsel from 1951-1954. He became chairman of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee in 1963 and is credited with helping to get elected Hartford's first African-American councilman and state Senator. His friendship with John M. Bailey, state Democratic party chairman, resulted in his appointment in 1967 as state attorney general. Governor John N. Dempsey chose Mr. Killian to fill the vacancy left by Harold M. Mulvey. He won election in his own right three years later, one of only two Democrats to survive a Republican sweep of statewide offices including the governorship. In 1974, Mr. Killian was elected lieutenant governor on a ticket headed by Governor Ella T. Grasso. Displeased with the way the governor was handling issues including the state's fiscal crisis as her re-election approached, Mr. Killian waged a bitter primary campaign against Gov. Grasso in 1978. He lost and was replaced on the ticket by William A. O'Neill (who would succeed Grasso as governor in 1980.) Mr. Killian then spent a decade as chairman of the Hartford Civic Center and Coliseum Commission.
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
