John Hickenlooper Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Childhood and Early Life

American politician John Wright Hickenlooper Jr. was born on the 7 February 1952 in Pennsylvania to John Wright Hickenlooper and Anne Morris. His father died when he was young, and he was brought up by his mother. He is the grandson of Federal Judge Smith Hickenlooper and the great-grandson of Andrew Hickenlooper, who was a Civil War general.

Education

John Hickenlooper graduated from The Haverford School (1970) and then enrolled at Wesleyan University. After obtaining a BA in English (1974), Hickenlooper did an MA in geology (1980).

Rise to Fame

As a geologist, Hickenlooper relocated to Colorado where worked for Buckhorn Petroleum. After being laid off from the oil industry, he remained in Colorado. And in 1988, he started the Wynkoop Brewing Company with three friends. The four friends operated the first craft Brewery on Skid Row in Denver, located in the old J.S. Brown Mercantile building. The Wynkoop is still in operation and helped revitalise the LoDo area and intercity area.

Mayor of Denver

John Hickenlooper became Mayor of Denver in 2003. When he first came into office, the city had a budget crisis, and that was one of the first tasks he had to address. In May 2007, he was re-elected as Mayor, winning 88% of the vote. During his time as mayor, he led to the campaign to pass FasTracks, a regional transportation initiative. He was involved in convincing 34 metro mayors to adopt the .04% sales tax increase unanimously. Hickenlooper recruited talented business managers to his cabinet, and he also streamlined the workforce by 7%. Hickenlooper resigned as Mayor of Denver on the 11 January 2011.

Governor of Colorado

In January 2010, after Governor Bill Ritter said that he would not be seeking reelection, Hickenlooper decided to run for the Democratic nomination. In the general election, he won by 51% of the vote and was inaugurated as governor of Colorado in January 2011. He ran for a second term in 2014, winning 49% of the vote to his opponent, Bob Beauprez’s 46%.

Awards and Achievements

Time magazine listed John Hickenlooper as one of the top five big-city mayors in the United States (2005).

Personal Life

Hickenlooper’s first wife was the writer Helen Thorpe (m.2002-div.2012). They share one child, a son Teddy. His second wife is Robin Pringle, whom he married on the 16 January 2017. Hickenlooper published a memoir, The Opposite of Woe: My Life in Beer and Politics.