Donald William Samuelson (July 27, 1913 – January 20, 2000) was a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 politician from the US state of Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

. He served as the 25th Governor of Idaho from 1967 to 1971.

Samuelson was born in Woodhull, Illinois

Woodhull, Illinois

Woodhull is a village in Henry County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the village had a population of 811, up from 809 at the 2000 census. AlWood Middle-High School is located in Woodhull, with students coming from nearby Alpha after the merger in the early 1950's, and also with students coming...

, and settled in Sandpoint, Idaho

Sandpoint, Idaho

Sandpoint is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Bonner County, Idaho, United States. Its population was 7,365 at the 2010 census.Sandpoint's major economic contributors include forest products and light manufacturing, tourism and recreation and government services...

 after first coming there during World War II to serve as a weapons instructor and gunsmith

Gunsmith

A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds firearms. This occupation is different from an armorer. The armorer primarily maintains weapons and limited repairs involving parts replacement and possibly work involving accurization...

 at the Farragut Naval Training Station. He was elected to the Idaho Legislature in 1960 and re-elected in 1962 and 1964. A conservative, Samuelson upset moderate incumbent Robert E. Smylie

Robert E. Smylie

Robert Eben Smylie was a politician and attorney from Idaho. He served as the 24th Governor of Idaho from 1955 to 1967. He was a member of the Idaho Republican Party....

 in the 1966 Republican gubernatorial primary

Primary election

A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....

. He then went on to defeat Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Cecil D. Andrus

Cecil D. Andrus

Cecil Dale Andrus was an American politician who served as Governor of Idaho from 1971 to 1977, and again from 1987 to 1995; and in Washington as United States Secretary of the Interior from 1977 to 1981, during the Carter administration...

 in the general election.

During the 1970 gubernatorial campaign Samuelson came out in support of developing molybdenum

Molybdenum

Molybdenum , is a Group 6 chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42. The name is from Neo-Latin Molybdaenum, from Ancient Greek , meaning lead, itself proposed as a loanword from Anatolian Luvian and Lydian languages, since its ores were confused with lead ores...

 mining in central Idaho's White Cloud Mountains

White Cloud Mountains

The White Cloud Mountains are part of the Rocky Mountainsof the western United States,located in central Idaho, southeast of Stanley in Custer County. The range is located within the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and the area that is the proposed "White Cloud - Boulder Wilderness Area." The...

. Samuelson was defeated for re-election by Andrus – a staunch opponent of the mining development – and returned to private life. Samuelson died in 2000 at age 86.