George M. Stafford

Who was George M. Stafford?

George M. Stafford was a commissioner and for a time chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and also served as a longtime congressional aide and Republican Party official.

Stafford was born in Valley Falls, Kansas, where he was educated. After a brief stint in Kansas state government, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II, where he was wounded and decorated.

After the war, he involved himself in Republican politics in Kansas. He became executive secretary to Governor Frank Carlson, and when the governor became a senator, followed him to Washington. After seventeen years as Carlson's administrative assistant, Stafford was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to the ICC in 1967. President Richard Nixon reappointed him in 1970, and then appointed him chairman later that year. Stafford remained as chairman until 1977, and as commissioner until 1980, when President Jimmy Carter did not reappoint him, and he retired.

Stafford was an opponent of the deregulation proposals of the transportation industries. This advocacy led President Gerald Ford to try to replace him as chairman, and eventually led to the end of his tenure on the I.C.C.