Sam C. Ford

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title: "Sam C. Ford" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["people-from-albany,-kentucky", "university-of-kansas-alumni", "republican-party-governors-of-montana", "1882-births", "1961-deaths", "justices-of-the-montana-supreme-court", "baptists-from-kentucky", "montana-attorneys-general", "20th-century-american-judges", "20th-century-baptists"] description: "American judge" topic_path: "society/education" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_C._Ford" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American judge ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Sam C. Ford
image name	Sam C. Ford.jpg
order1	12th Governor of Montana
term_start1	January 6, 1941
term_end1	January 3, 1949
lieutenant1	Ernest T. Eaton
predecessor1	Roy E. Ayers
successor1	John W. Bonner
office2	7th Attorney General of Montana
governor2	Sam V. Stewart
term_start2	1917
term_end2	1921
preceded2	Joseph Poindexter
succeeded2	Wellington D. Rankin
birth_name	Samuel Clarance Ford
birth_date
birth_place	Albany, Kentucky
death_date
death_place	Helena, Montana, U.S.
profession	Attorney
party	Republican
relations	Nancy Jackson, granddaughter
::

| name = Sam C. Ford | image name = Sam C. Ford.jpg | order1 = 12th Governor of Montana | term_start1 = January 6, 1941 | term_end1 = January 3, 1949 | lieutenant1 = Ernest T. Eaton | predecessor1 = Roy E. Ayers | successor1 = John W. Bonner | office2 = 7th Attorney General of Montana | governor2 = Sam V. Stewart | term_start2 = 1917 | term_end2 = 1921 | preceded2 = Joseph Poindexter | succeeded2 = Wellington D. Rankin | birth_name = Samuel Clarance Ford | birth_date = | birth_place = Albany, Kentucky | death_date = | death_place = Helena, Montana, U.S. | spouse = | profession = Attorney | religion = | party = Republican | relations = Nancy Jackson, granddaughter

Samuel Clarence Ford (November 7, 1882November 25, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 12th Governor of Montana from 1941 to 1949.

Biography

Ford was born on November 7, 1882, in Albany, Kentucky. His early education was in the public schools of Kansas and he graduated from the University of Kansas with an LL.B. in 1906. He established a legal practice as well as a public service career in Helena, Montana. He married Mary Leslie Shobe in 1910 and they had four children.

Career

Ford was a member of the Republican Party. He served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for Montana from 1908 to 1914 and served as the Attorney General of Montana from 1917 to 1921. He was a Supreme Court Justice on the Montana State Supreme Court from 1929 to 1933.

Ford was elected Governor of Montana on November 5, 1940, narrowly defeating incumbent Governor Roy E. Ayers. In 1944, he was re-elected comfortably over Leif Erickson, the former Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court. Ford ran for re-election in 1948, but was defeated in the general election by former State Attorney General John W. Bonner, and retired from politics. During his tenure as governor, he reduced the state bureaucracy, balanced the budget, launched the Missouri River development project to provide cheap electricity to farmers. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1952.

Death

Ford died in Helena on November 25, 1961, and he is interred at Forestvale Cemetery, Helena, Lewis and Clark County, Montana US.

References

References

1. "Sam C. Ford". National Governors Association.
2. "Sam C. Ford". The Political Graveyard.
3. "Montana Governor Samuel Clarence Ford". National Governors Association.
4. "Sam C. Ford". National Governors Association.

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