| Len Jordan | |
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United States Senator from Idaho |
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In office August 6, 1962 – January 3, 1973 |
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| Preceded by | Henry Dworshak |
| Succeeded by | Jim McClure |
| 23rd Governor of Idaho | |
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In office January 1, 1951 – January 3, 1955 |
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| Lieutenant | Edson H. Deal |
| Preceded by | C. A. Robins |
| Succeeded by | Robert Smylie |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Leonard Beck Jordan May 15, 1899 Mount Pleasant, Utah |
| Died | June 30, 1983 (aged 84) Boise, Idaho |
| Resting place | Cloverdale Memorial Park Boise, Idaho |
| Nationality | United States |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) |
Grace Edgington Jordan (1892–1985) (m. 1924–1983, his death) |
| Children | 2 sons, 1 daughter |
| Parents | Leonard Eugene Jordan (1874–1948) Irene Beck Jordan (1874–1949) |
| Residence | Boise, (Grangeville in 1950) |
| Alma mater | University of Oregon, 1923 |
| Profession | Agriculture |
| Religion | Methodist |
| Military service | |
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| Years of service | 1917–1919 |
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| Unit | (machine gun company) |
| Battles/wars | World War I (stateside) |
Leonard Beck "Len" Jordan (May 15, 1899 – June 30, 1983) was the 23rd Governor of Idaho and a United States Senator for over ten years.
Born in Mount Pleasant, Utah, Jordan's father was a county judge and his mother was a schoolteacher; the family relocated to northeast Oregon and he was educated in the public schools of Enterprise. From a large family, he worked on a ranch then enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 18 in 1917. After two years in the service, he attended the University of Oregon in Eugene on a football scholarship, and was a 175 lb (79 kg) halfback for the Ducks. Jordan graduated in 1923, and was awarded a key to Phi Beta Kappa. He married classmate Grace Edington on December 30, 1924.
Jordan was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army during World War I, but did not serve overseas. After college, he was a sheep rancher in Hells Canyon in Idaho during the Great Depression at Kirkwood Bar, and then settled in Grangeville in 1940, where he established a farm implement business, a real estate agency, and an automobile dealership.
Jordan was elected to the state senate in 1946, lost his seat in 1948, then successfully ran for governor in 1950.