Political leader. He was a prominent Republican party leader who served as chairman of the National GOP Committee during the second term of President Dwight Eisenhower. After graduating from Dartmouth College and Yale, he became an attorney in his father's law firm. His involvement with politics began in 1934 when his father was the Republican candidate for Connecticut governor. He was named asssitant state's attorney in Hartford County in 1935 and succeeded his father when he retired as state's attorney in 1942. He was a state representative for three terms, serving as House majority leader in 1939 and speaker of the House in 1941. As speaker, he sought the Republican nomination for governor but the party instead supported James McConaughy. Mr. Alcorn sought the gubernatorial nomination again in 1948 but the party backed James Shannon, the lieutenant governor who had been elevated to governor when McConaughy died. Mr. Alcorn ran as Shannon's lieutenant governor. After they lost, he focused more on activity within the party and less as a candidiate. He is credited with encouraging General Dwight Eisenhower to join the Republican party and run for president. After eight years as a member of the Republican National Committee, Mr. Alcorn was named chairman of the party in 1957. He stepped down in 1959 and became a strategist in Richard Nixon's climb to the White House and became a sought-after GOP political advisor. His last involvement in national politics was in 1968 when he served as a top advisor to Dartmouth classmate and presidential contender Nelson Rockefeller. In 1978 he declined to come out of retirement when courted as a campaign strategist by three Republican contenders for the presidency - George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and John Connally.

Cause of death: Stroke.