1961 in the United States

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* 1960
* 1959
* 1958
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
 Decades: | *
 See also: | * History of the United States (1945–1964)
* Timeline of United States history (1950–1969)
* List of years in the United States

Events from the year **1961 in the United States**.

## Incumbents

### Federal government

* President: Dwight D. Eisenhower (R-Kansas/Pennsylvania) (until January 20), John F. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) (starting January 20)
* Vice President: Richard Nixon (R-California) (until January 20), Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Texas) (starting January 20)
* Chief Justice: Earl Warren (California)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Sam Rayburn (D-Texas) (until November 16), *vacant* (starting November 16)
* Senate Majority Leader: Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Texas) (until January 3), Mike Mansfield (D-Montana) (starting January 3)
* Congress: 86th (until January 3), 87th (starting January 3)

* Governor of Alabama: John M. Patterson (Democratic)
* Governor of Alaska: William A. Egan (Democratic)
* Governor of Arizona: Paul Fannin (Republican)
* Governor of Arkansas: Orval Faubus (Democratic)
* Governor of California: Pat Brown (Democratic)
* Governor of Colorado: Stephen L. R. McNichols (Democratic)
* Governor of Connecticut: Abraham A. Ribicoff (Democratic) (until January 21), John N. Dempsey (Democratic) (starting January 21)
* Governor of Delaware: David P. Buckson (Republican) (until January 17), Elbert N. Carvel (Democratic) (starting January 17)
* Governor of Florida: LeRoy Collins (Democratic) (until January 3), C. Farris Bryant (Democratic) (starting January 3)
* Governor of Georgia: Ernest Vandiver (Democratic)
* Governor of Hawaii: William F. Quinn (Republican)
* Governor of Idaho: Robert E. Smylie (Republican)
* Governor of Illinois: William G. Stratton (Republican) (until January 9), Otto Kerner, Jr. (Democratic) (starting January 9)
* Governor of Indiana: Harold W. Handley (Republican) (until January 9), Matthew E. Welsh (Democratic) (starting January 9)
* Governor of Iowa: Herschel C. Loveless (Democratic) (until January 12), Norman A. Erbe (Republican) (starting January 12)
* Governor of Kansas: George Docking (Democratic) (until January 9), John Anderson, Jr. (Republican) (starting January 9)
* Governor of Kentucky: Bert T. Combs (Democratic)
* Governor of Louisiana: Jimmie H. Davis (Democratic)
* Governor of Maine: John H. Reed (Republican)
* Governor of Maryland: J. Millard Tawes (Democratic)
* Governor of Massachusetts: Foster Furcolo (Democratic) (until January 5), John A. Volpe (Republican) (starting January 5)
* Governor of Michigan: G. Mennen Williams (Democratic) (until January 1), John Swainson (Democratic) (starting January 1)
* Governor of Minnesota: Orville L. Freeman (Democratic) (until January 2), Elmer L. Andersen (Republican) (starting January 2)
* Governor of Mississippi: Ross R. Barnett (Democratic)
* Governor of Missouri: James T. Blair, Jr. (Democratic) (until January 9), John M. Dalton (Democratic) (starting January 9)
* Governor of Montana: J. Hugo Aronson (Republican) (until January 2), Donald Grant Nutter (Republican) (starting January 2)
* Governor of Nebraska: Dwight W. Burney (Republican) (until January 5), Frank B. Morrison (Democratic) (starting January 5)
* Governor of Nevada: Grant Sawyer (Democratic)
* Governor of New Hampshire: Wesley Powell (Republican)
* Governor of New Jersey: Robert B. Meyner (Democratic)
* Governor of New Mexico: John Burroughs (Democratic) (until January 1), Edwin L. Mechem (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Governor of New York: Nelson Rockefeller (Republican)
* Governor of North Carolina: Luther H. Hodges (Democratic) (until January 5), Terry Sanford (Democratic) (starting January 5)
* Governor of North Dakota: John E. Davis (Republican) (until January 4), William L. Guy (Democratic) (starting January 4)
* Governor of Ohio: Michael DiSalle (Democratic)
* Governor of Oklahoma: J. Howard Edmondson (Democratic)
* Governor of Oregon: Mark Hatfield (Republican)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: David L. Lawrence (Democratic)
* Governor of Rhode Island: Christopher Del Sesto (Republican) (until January 3), John A. Notte, Jr. (Democratic) (starting January 3)
* Governor of South Carolina: Ernest Hollings (Democratic)
* Governor of South Dakota: Ralph Herseth (Democratic) (until January 3), Archie M. Gubbrud (Republican) (starting January 3)
* Governor of Tennessee: Buford Ellington (Democratic)
* Governor of Texas: Price Daniel (Democratic)
* Governor of Utah: George Dewey Clyde (Republican)
* Governor of Vermont: Robert T. Stafford (Republican) (until January 5), F. Ray Keyser, Jr. (Republican) (starting January 5)
* Governor of Virginia: J. Lindsay Almond (Democratic)
* Governor of Washington: Albert D. Rosellini (Democratic)
* Governor of West Virginia: Cecil H. Underwood (Republican) (until January 16), William Wallace Barron (Democratic) (starting January 16)
* Governor of Wisconsin: Gaylord A. Nelson (Democratic)
* Governor of Wyoming: John J. Hickey (Democratic) (until January 2), Jack R. Gage (Democratic) (starting January 2)

Lieutenant governors

* Lieutenant Governor of Alabama: Albert B. Boutwell (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Alaska: Hugh Wade (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas: Nathan Green Gordon (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of California: Glenn Malcolm Anderson (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: Robert Lee Knous (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: John N. Dempsey (Democratic) (until January 21), Anthony J. Armentano (Democratic) (starting January 21)
* Lieutenant Governor of Delaware: vacant (until January 17), Eugene Lammot (Democratic) (starting January 17)
* Lieutenant Governor of Georgia: Garland T. Byrd (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii: James Kealoha (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Idaho: W. E. Drevlow (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: John William Chapman (Republican) (until January 9), Samuel H. Shapiro (Democratic) (starting January 9)
* Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: Crawford F. Parker (Republican) (until January 9), Richard O. Ristine (Republican) (starting January 9)
* Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: Edward J. McManus (Democratic) (until January 12), W. L. Mooty (Democratic) (starting January 12)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: Joseph W. Henkle, Sr. (Democratic) (until January 9), Harold H. Chase (Republican) (starting January 9)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: Wilson W. Wyatt (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: C. C. Aycock (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: vacant (until January 5), Edward F. McLaughlin, Jr. (Democratic) (starting January 5)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: John B. Swainson (Democratic) (until January 1), T. John Lesinski (Democratic) (starting January 1)
* Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: Karl Rolvaag (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: Paul B. Johnson, Jr. (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: vacant (until January 9), Hilary A. Bush (Democratic) (starting January 9)
* Lieutenant Governor of Montana: Paul Cannon (Democratic) (until January 2), Tim M. Babcock (Republican) (starting January 2)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska: Dwight W. Burney (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: Rex Bell (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico: Ed V. Mead (Democratic) (until January 1), Tom Bolack (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: Malcolm Wilson (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina:
	+ until January 5: Luther E. Barnhardt (Democratic)
	+ January 5-August 19: Harvey Cloyd Philpott (Democratic)
	+ starting August 19: vacant
* Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota: Clarence P. Dahl (Republican) (until January 4), Orville W. Hagen (Republican) (starting January 4)
* Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: John W. Donahey (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma: George Nigh (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: John Morgan Davis (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: John A. Notte, Jr. (Democratic) (until January 3), Edward P. Gallogly (Democratic) (starting January 3)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: Burnet R. Maybank, Jr. (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota: John F. Lindley (Democratic) (until January 3), Joseph H. Bottum (Republican) (starting January 3)
* Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: William D. Baird (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Texas: Ben Ramsey (Democratic) (until September 18), vacant (starting September 18)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Robert S. Babcock (Republican) (until January 5), Ralph A. Foote (Republican) (starting January 5)
* Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: Allie Edward Stokes Stephens (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Washington: John Cherberg (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: Philleo Nash (Democratic) (until January 2), Warren P. Knowles (Republican) (starting January 2)

## Sport

* April 16 - Chicago Black Hawks win their third (and last until 2010) Stanley Cup by defeating the Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 2; the deciding game is played at Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

## Deaths

 File:ErnestHemingway.jpg
 File:Edith Wilson cropped 2.jpg
* January 9 – Emily Greene Balch, writer, pacifist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 (born 1867)
* January 19 – Nathaniel Baldwin, inventor and Mormon fundamentalist (born 1878)
* January 29 – John F. O'Ryan, soldier, lawyer and politician (born 1874)
* February 3 – Anna May Wong, film actress (born 1905)
* May 8 – Raymond DeWalt, inventor and businessman (born 1885)
* May 13 – Gary Cooper, American actor (*High Noon*) (born 1901)
* May 16 – George A. Malcolm, jurist and educator (born 1881)
* May 19 – Grace George, actress (born 1879)
* June 1 – Melvin Jones, founder of Lions Clubs International (born 1879)
* June 2 – George S. Kaufman, playwright (born 1889)
* June 17 – Jeff Chandler, actor (born 1918)
* June 24 – William J. Connors, politician (born 1891)
* July 2 – Ernest Hemingway, fiction writer, journalist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for *The Old Man and the Sea* (born 1899)
* July 4 – Franklyn Farnum, actor (born 1878)
* July 6 – Woodall Rodgers, lawyer and politician, Mayor of Dallas (born 1890)
* September 3 – Fay-Cooper Cole, anthropologist (born 1881)
* September 10 – Leo Carrillo, actor (born 1880)
* September 11 – George Irving, actor (born 1874)
* September 23 – John Eldredge, actor (born 1904)
* September 25 – Frank Fay, actor (born 1897)
* October 1 – Donald Cook, actor (born 1901)
* October 11 – Lucy Tayiah Eads, Kaw tribal chief (born 1888)
* October 31 – Jim Aiken, football and basketball player and coach (born 1899)
* December 25 – Otto Loewi, pharmacologist (born 1873 in Germany)
* December 28 – Edith Wilson, First Lady of the United States (born 1872)

## See also

* List of American films of 1961
* Timeline of United States history (1950–1969)

## External links

* Media related to 1961 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons