Dan K. Moore

Daniel Killian Moore (April 2, 1906 – September 7, 1986) was the 66th Governor of the state of North Carolina from 1965 to 1969.

Dan K. Moore
66th Governor of North Carolina
In office January 8, 1965 – January 3, 1969
Lieutenant	Robert W. Scott
Preceded by	Terry Sanford
Succeeded by	Robert W. Scott
Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from Jackson County
In office 1941–1943
Preceded by	Daniel Dean Tompkins
Succeeded by	Daniel Dean Tompkins
Personal details
Born	Daniel Killian Moore April 2, 1906 Asheville, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	September 7, 1986 (aged 80) Durham, North Carolina, U.S.
Resting place	Oakwood Cemetery Raleigh, North Carolina
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Jeanelle Coulter
Children	2
Alma mater	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Profession	Lawyer, politician
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1943-1945
Battles/wars	World War II

Life and career

Born in Asheville, North Carolina, Moore earned undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity and was selected to Phi Beta Kappa.[1][2] He practiced law in Sylva, North Carolina and served a term in the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1941 before entering the U.S. Army in World War II. After the war, Moore served as a North Carolina Superior Court judge from 1948 to 1958. Subsequently, Moore served as counsel for the Champion Papers company in Canton, North Carolina, while also serving on the state Board of Water Resources. He left Champion to run for Governor in 1964. He was seen as the moderate in the Democratic primary, between the conservative I. Beverly Lake, Sr. and the more progressive L. Richardson Preyer. Moore won a primary runoff with Preyer.

After serving one term as governor (North Carolina governors were not then eligible to be re-elected), Moore's successor, Governor Robert W. Scott, appointed him to the North Carolina Supreme Court, the first governor of North Carolina to be so honored. He served on the Court from November 20, 1969 until December 31, 1978. As a judge and justice, he was noted for the breadth of his legal experience, common sense, and compassion.

At the 1968 Democratic National Convention Moore received 17½ votes for president on the first ballot, finishing fifth behind Vice President Hubert Humphrey (1,760½), Sen. Eugene McCarthy (601), Sen. George McGovern (146½), and Rev. Channing E. Phillips (67½). Moore received 12 of North Carolina's 59 votes, 3 from Virginia, 2 from Georgia and ½ vote from Alabama.

He is buried in historic Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina.

On April 1, 2017, a North Carolina historical marker was dedicated at Mark Watson Park, in Sylva, North Carolina, in recognition of Moore's significant impact on the state's judicial system. The marker was unveiled by his children, Edith Moore Hamilton and Daniel Killian Moore, Jr.[3]

Representative David McKee Hall was a nephew of Governor Moore.[4] Portraits of the two men hang today in the Jackson County Library in Sylva.[5]

References

1. https://archive.org/details/northcarolinaman1941nort/page/418/mode/2up
2. https://www.carolana.com/NC/Governors/dkmoore.html
3. "Dan K. Moore Dedication". Archived from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
4. Lynn Hotaling (2008). Sylva. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 98–. ISBN 978-0-7385-5411-2.
5. "Portraits of high office-holders unveiled". The Sylva Herald. Retrieved 9 September 2015.

External links

• Civil Rights Greensboro: Daniel Killian Moore
• State biography
• North Carolina Award citation