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Wesley Bolin

Range of Years Served: 
1949-1977
Party: 
Democrat
Served as Secretary of State: 1949 – Oct. 20, 1977 Born: July 1, 1909, Butler, Missouri Died: March 4, 1978, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Ariz. Bolin was elected to the office in the Nov. 2, 1948, General Election and continued to be re-elected for 13 consecutive terms, a total of 29 years. He was the first secretary of state to serve four-year term from 1971 to 1975. Bolin succeeded from the office of Arizona Secretary of State to the governorship on Oct. 20, 1977, due to the resignation of Gov. Raul Hector Castro who had been appointed U. S. Ambassador to Argentina by President Carter.

Biography

Name:  Harvey Wesley Bolin

Name as Secretary of State:  Wesley Bolin

Notes: Wesley Bolin succeeded to the governorship from the office of Arizona Secretary of State on Oct. 20, 1977 due to the resignation of Gov. Raul Hector Castro who had been appointed U. S. Ambassador to Argentina.  Gov. Wesley Bolin died March 4, 1978.

Education:  Isaac Grammar School; Phoenix Union High School; Phoenix College

Occupations:  Newspaper carrier; dry cleaner; elected Constable of West Phoenix Precinct, 1938; appointed Justice of the Peace, 1943–1948

Memberships: National Association of Secretaries of State (executive board 1953–1977); Arizona Code Commission chairman, 1956; Roosevelt Rough Riders (a riding group)

Notable: “That to memorialize the leadership and friendship of Governor Bolin to residents of and visitors to this state and to perpetuate his memory, the area located east of the State Capitol Building, generally bounded by Fifteenth and Seventeenth Avenues and Adams and Jefferson Streets in Phoenix, be designated the ‘Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza’.”  (Memorial)

Memorial/Resolution: 33rd Legislature, 2nd Regular Session, 1978, Governor Wesley Bolin, House Joint Resolution No. 2003, March 8, 1978, filed in the Office of the Secretary of State, March 9, 1978.

Sources:  DOB:  SSDI; POB and Occupations:  "Wesley Bolin Becomes Arizona Governor Thursday."  Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff, Arizona), Oct. 18, 1977, p. 3; Education:  Arizona State Capitol Museum Interpreter's Manual; misc. notes compiled on SOS succession to Governorship.