King, David S. (David Sjodahl), 1917-2009

Law clerk; attorney; teacher; Congressman who served as member of the Space Committee (Committee on Science and Astronautics), the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, and the Government Operations Committee; Ambassador to Madagascar; Ambassador to Mauritius; political speaker; LDS Church leader and mission president.

From the description of David S. King papers. 1937-1985. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79363521

From the guide to the David S. King papers, circa 1937-1985, (L. Tom Perry Special Collections)

David S. King (1917- ) was a Utah lawyer and politician.

From the description of Oral history interview with David S. King, 1977 January 28. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 365128440

Rosalie Lehner King (born 1926) is the wife of David S. King, and served as the matron of the Washington Temple.

Rosalie L. King was born August 25, 1926, to Virginia West Lehner and Chester Hart Lehner. In 1947, she graduated with a degree in nursing from the University of Utah. She then met and married David S. King. They had eight children. Throughout her married life, she and David served the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a number of capacities. She accompained her husband when he served as mission president in the Haiti Port-au-Prince Mission, and she later served as the matron of the Washington Temple. Rosalie's husband, David S. King, was a United States Congressman and ambassador for most of their married life.

David S. King (1917-2009) was a lawyer and politician in Utah. He served in the United States Congress representing Utah.

David Sjodahl King was born on June 20, 1917 to William Henry King and Vera Bergita Sjodahl in Salt Lake City, Utah. He grew up and was educated in Washington, D.C., and Paris, France. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Utah in 1937. After receiving his bachelor's he served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1937 to 1939. After returning from his mission, he then attended Georgetown University where he received a law degree. King married Rosalie Lehner and they are the parents of eight children.

He became a member of the bar association in both Utah and the District of Columbia. He taught commercial law at Stevens Heneger Business College from 1946 to 1958. He served as a representative to the U.S. Congress from 1959 to 1963. He was appointed as the United States Ambassador to Madagascar and Mauritius in 1967, and served until 1969. For the rest of his career King practiced law in Washington, D.C. He also served as an alternate director at the World Bank.

He retired in 1986 and spent more time serving in his church. He served as a mission president in Haiti from 1986 to 1989, the president of the Washington Temple from 1990 to 1993, and beginning in 2005 served as a patriarch for his stake. King passed away in 2009.

From the guide to the David S. and Rosalie Lehner King papers, 1990-1995, (L. Tom Perry Special Collections)

William Henry King (1863-1949) was a lawyer, judge, and politician. He served as a United States senator for the state of Utah.

William Henry King was born June 3, 1863 in Fillmore, Utah. He attended Brigham Young University and the University of Utah. He served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1880-1883 in Great Britain. He then returned home and was elected to various positions in Fillmore and Millard County. He graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor Law Department, was admitted to the bar in 1890, and began practicing law in Utah.

He served as the president of the Territorial Council in 1891, and then became an associate justice of the Utah Supreme Court from 1894-1896. He was then elected to Congress when Utah was admitted as a state and served until 1899. In 1916 he was elected as a senator to the United States Senate and served there until 1941. He then practiced law in Washington, D.C., until 1947 when he returned to Utah. He died November 27, 1949.

David S. King (1917-2009) was a lawyer and politician in Utah. He served in the United States Congress representing Utah.

David Sjodahl King was born on June 20, 1917 to William Henry King and Vera Bergita Sjodahl in Salt Lake City, Utah. He grew up and was educated in Washington, D.C., and Paris, France. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Utah in 1937. After receiving his bachelor’s he served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1937 to 1939. After returning from his mission, he then attended Georgetown University where he received a law degree. King married Roaslie Lehner and they are the parents of eight children.

He became a member of the bar association in both Utah and the District of Columbia. He taught commercial law at Stevens Heneger Business College from 1946 to 1958. He served as a representative to the US Congress from 1959 to 1963. He was appointed as the United States Ambassador to Madagascar and Mauritius in 1967 and served until 1969. For the rest of his career King practiced law in Washington, D.C. He also served as an alternate director at the World Bank.

He retired in 1986 and spent more time serving in his church. He served as a mission president in Haiti from 1986 to 1989, the president of the Washington, D.C., Temple from 1990-1993, and beginning in 2005 served as a patriarch for his stake. King passed away in 2009.

From the guide to the William Henry and David S. King papers, circa 1908-1988, 1880-1882, (L. Tom Perry Special Collections)

David Sjodahl King, a Utah Democrat and attorney, was a Representative from Utah's 2nd Congressional district to the United States House of Representatives. From 1959 to 1966 he served three terms in Congress, his third term coming after an unsuccessful bid for a Senate seat in 1962. As a member of the 86th, 87th, and 89th Congresses, Representative King worked in the administrations of three different United States Presidents, and was a part of the nation's governing body during times of such political and social activity in this country as the civil rights movement and the United States' intervention into Vietnam.

Congressman King was born June 20, 1917 in Salt Lake City, Utah. In that same year his father, William H. King, was elected as United States Senator from Utah, a seat which he held for the next twenty four years. As the son of a United States Senator, King spent his childhood in Washington, D. C. but returned to Utah to attend college at the University of Utah. He served as president of his senior class, graduated with a B. A. in Economics, and was accepted as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa scholastic honor society. Following two years of missionary work for his church, King returned to Washington to attend law school at Georgetown University. After graduating with honors in 1942, he spent one year as a law clerk for Justice Harold M. Stephens at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Upon returning to Utah in 1943, King spent two years as a counsel to the Utah State Tax Commission; in 1945 he established a private law practice in Salt Lake City.

As a resident of Utah, Congressman King was an active participant in the local, civic and business community. He taught commercial law at Stevens Henager College for two years; he was a member of the Board of Directors for the Salt Lake Junior Chamber of Commerce; he served as vice-president and director of a finance company; with a fluent knowledge of the French language, he broadcast numerous programs in French over the Voice of America.

In 1958 King was elected to the United States House of Representatives having defeated Republican William Dawson. He served for two consecutive terms until 1962, at which time he chose not to run for re-election, but to bid for Wallace F. Bennett's Senate seat. King lost that election but was nevertheless elected to a third term in the House in 1964.

During all three of his terms, the congressman served on the Committee of Interior and Insular Affairs. Consequently much of his interest and work centered upon matters that directly affected Utah. Projects such as reclamation, desalinization of water, and national parks and monuments received much of his energy and attention. He also served on the Committee on Government Operations for his third term. His work in these areas enabled him to help secure contracts for Thiokol, Hercules, and Sperry Rand corporations, promote helium development in Utah, and play a significant role in congressional investigations into the Vietnam conflict in 1966. In addition the congressman served as a member of the Government Operation Subcommittees on Foreign Operations and Government Information, Government Activities, and Natural Resources and Power; and as a member of the Interior Subcommittees on Mines and Mining, Public Lands, and National Parks and Recreation.

In 1967 Representative King left Congress and was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson as a United States Ambassador to Mauritius and the Malagasy Republic. He remained in this post for two and a half years at which time he returned to Washington, D. C. to practice law.

From the guide to the David S. King papers, 1959-1966, (J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah)