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- Former Virginia Gov. Linwood Holton, a Republican champion of civil rights, has died at 98.
- Holton, who served from 1970 to 1974, was the first GOP governor elected in the 20th century.
- A 1970 photo of Holton walking one of his daughters to her majority-Black public high school made national news.
Former Virginia Gov. Linwood Holton, a moderate Republican who championed civil rights and broke the stranglehold of segregationist Old South Democratic rule in state politics, died on Thursday morning, according to his family. He was 98.
Holton, a native of Big Stone Gap, a small town in Virginia's coal country, became the Commonwealth's first Republican governor of the 20th century, serving from 1970 to 1974. He was elected on a reform platform that sought to move Virginia forward on race relations, pushing for an end to Massive Resistance, the state's attempt to block integration among its White and Black residents.
In 1970, the image of Holton walking with his daughter, Tayloe, as she started her first day of high school at a predominately-Black high school in Richmond, became one of the defining symbols of the effort to promote court-ordered busing in what was the once the capital of the Confederacy.
"To the world, Gov. Linwood Holton is known as a giant of civil rights and change. When others stood in the doorways of schools to block de-segregation, our Dad walked us – and bused us – to integrated schools to show the rest of the world the way of justice," Holton's four children said in a written statement. "When others balked at tearing down the barriers to employment and opportunities for all Americans, our Dad led the charge in hiring for the Governor's office a staff that represented all Virginians."
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One of Holton's daughters, Anne, is a former Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court judge who is married to Sen. Tim Kaine, himself a former Virginia governor who was the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee and running mate of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In a statement, Kaine lauded Holton's character and lasting legacy across Virginia.
"I mourn the loss of my father-in-law Linwood Holton," the senator said. "He was my friend and public service role model. His courageous efforts to end racial discrimination in Virginia - born out of deep religious conviction about the equality of all God's children - made him a moral pillar for so many."
With his successful 1969 gubernatorial campaign, Holton helped dismantle the segregationist Byrd organization, which was the Democratic political machine that had controlled state politics for decades.
While in office, he was able to push the Democratic-controlled legislature to boost the income tax and gasoline tax, allocating funding for environmental protection and transportation projects in the fast-growing Southern state.
However, in a 1999 article published by the University of Virginia Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, Holton called his efforts to promote civil rights "the greatest source of satisfaction and pride for me."
"It is well-known that in my [gubernatorial] Inaugural address I announced to the world that the 'era of defiance is behind us,'" he said of his push for racial equality. "I asked that we 'make today's Virginia a model of race relations based ... on an aristocracy of ability, regardless of race, color or creed.'"
Holton is survived by his wife of 68 years, Jinks, and their four children and 10 grandchildren.