Jim Ellis left an extraordinary legacy of civic achievement when he died in 2019 at age 98. Perhaps best remembered for his successful efforts to clean up Lake Washington, Ellis also was instrumental in efforts to finance King County mass transit, parks, pools, and other public facilities through "Forward Thrust" bonds in the 1960s; to preserve farmlands in the 1970s; to build and later expand the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in the 1980s, and to establish the Mountains to Sound Greenway in the 1990s. In this excerpt from his memoirs, Ellis writes about former Washington State Attorney General and U.S. Senator Slade Gorton (1928-2020). Ellis and Gorton were friends from their Metro campaign days and had been Young Republicans together. They worked together as leaders in Forward Thrust and the Committee of 200 work. Ellis wrote of Gorton, "I knew Slade to be brilliant and honest."
Slade and Sally Jean Gorton
Thomas Slade Gorton Jr. was born in Chicago on January 8, 1928. His mother was Ruth Israel, and his father, Thomas Slade Gorton, was a direct descendant of the famous Gorton New England fish-merchant family. All were members of the Episcopal Church. Young Slade attended public schools in Evanston, Illinois, and graduated in 1950 from Dartmouth College Magma Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He then attended Columbia University Law School, graduating in 1953. He served in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1946 and in the U.S. Air Force from 1953 to 1956, followed by 25 years in the Air Force Reserve, retiring with the rank of Colonel.
Slade practiced law in Seattle from 1956 to 1968. He was an active civic leader in Seattle, belonging to the Municipal League and campaigning for Metro in 1957 and 1958. Slade has often been described as brilliant by those who knew him.
Sally Jean Clark was born and raised in Selah and worked part-time for the Selah Valley Optimist during high school. Sally then attended Yakima Valley College before entering the University of Washington, where she graduated and met Slade. On June 28, 1958, Slade married Sally and they raised one son and two daughters.
Slade and Sally settled in North Seattle because Slade decided to run for one of the two open legislative seats in the 46th district. He was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives in 1958 and every two years after for 10 years. He became the Republican majority leader in 1967 and then ran for and was elected Attorney General of the State of Washington in 1968. He served with distinction in that office until 1981 and was considered by many to be the best Attorney General in the United States. Slade became nationally known because, unlike most other State Attorneys General, he personally argued the 14 Washington state cases which came before the United States Supreme Court on his watch. Chief Justice Warren Burger once said that Slade Gorton, "makes the best arguments before the Supreme Court of any attorney general in America.”
