Deane Chandler Davis (November 7, 1900December 8, 1990) was an American attorney and insurance executive from Vermont. Long active in Republican politics, he is most notable for his service as the 74th governor of Vermont from 1969 to 1973. Early life Deane Davis was born in East Barre, Vermont, on November 7, 1900, the son of Earle Russell Davis (1867-1945) and Lois Salome Hillery (1870-1952). Earle Davis was an attorney who served as state's attorney for Washington County and county probate judge. The younger Davis attended the schools of Barre, and graduated from Spaulding High School in 1918. As Davis related in a 1978 interview, he intended to begin college after high school, but became ill during that year's influenza pandemic and did not recover until September. In searching for a university in which he could enroll after recovering, Davis sought one that had a World War I-era Student Army Training Corps program that would enable him to pay for his expenses. He discovered that the only place on the east coast that met this requirement was Boston University School of Law, which required two years of liberal arts education. The dean of the law school agreed to enroll Davis provided that he simultaneously complete the liberal arts requirements. He studied at the law school while participating in the SATC program, received his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1922, and became a lawyer in Barre. Career A Republican, Davis served in local offices including member of the city council and city attorney. From 1927 to 1928 he was Washington County State's Attorney. From 1931 to 1936 Davis was a judge of the Vermont Superior Court, having been appointed to fill the vacancy created when Warner A. Graham was appointed to the Vermont Supreme Court. As a leader of the party, Davis also attended numerous state and national conventions as a delegate, including the 1948 Republican National Convention. In the 1930s Davis practiced law in partnership with Stanley C. Wilson, F. Ray Keyser Sr., and J. Ward Carver. Their firm was described as Vermont's "best ever collection of legal talent," in that it included one future Vermont Supreme Court justice (Keyser), one past and one future governor (Wilson and Davis), and one past Vermont Attorney General (Carver). In 1940 Davis left private practice to become general counsel for the National Life Insurance Company. From 1942 to 1943 he was president of