John Hickenlooper Biography Quotes 26 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
John Wright Hickenlooper Jr. was born on February 7, 1952, in Narberth, Pennsylvania, and raised in the Philadelphia suburbs. His father died when he was young, and he grew up in a close-knit household where resilience and thrift were basic lessons. He attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut, earning a bachelor's degree in English and later a master's degree in geology. Blending a love of literature with a scientist's curiosity, he forged a path that would soon take him west.

Geologist Turned Entrepreneur
After graduate school, Hickenlooper moved to Colorado to work as a petroleum geologist. The oil downturn of the mid-1980s cost him his job, a setback that became a pivot point. He and a small group of partners opened Wynkoop Brewing Company in 1988 in Denver's then-neglected Lower Downtown (LoDo). One of the first brewpubs in the Rocky Mountain region, Wynkoop helped anchor the neighborhood's revival and foreshadowed the craft beer boom. Hickenlooper became a civic-minded entrepreneur, working with local business owners, preservationists, and neighborhood advocates to revive historic buildings and attract new foot traffic to the city's core. His success in business, paired with a collaborative temperament, moved him into public service, often in cooperation with former Denver mayors Federico Pena and Wellington Webb, who had championed earlier waves of urban reinvestment.

Mayor of Denver
Running as a nontraditional, business-friendly Democrat, Hickenlooper was elected mayor of Denver in 2003 and won reelection in 2007. He styled himself as a problem solver rather than an ideologue, recruited talent from outside traditional political circles, and cultivated a pragmatic, humorous public persona. He brought Michael Bennet into his administration as chief of staff, a partnership that shaped city budgeting and school reform and later continued when Bennet became a U.S. senator.

As mayor, Hickenlooper helped spur regional cooperation on transportation and growth. He campaigned across the metro area to support FasTracks, a multi-line transit expansion approved by voters in 2004, working with suburban mayors and transit leaders to frame mobility as a shared priority. Denver hosted the 2008 Democratic National Convention during his tenure, a logistical and civic showcase that required close coordination with state leaders such as Governor Bill Ritter and local law enforcement. His administration promoted small-business development, launched bike-sharing and sustainability initiatives, and supported arts and culture as economic drivers. He also adopted a data-informed approach to homelessness and chronic public health challenges, pairing services with accountability and regional partnerships. When he left city hall in 2011, Michael Hancock succeeded him as mayor.

Governor of Colorado
Hickenlooper was elected the 42nd governor of Colorado in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. He entered office as the state was recovering from the Great Recession and emphasized balanced budgets, workforce development, and making government more efficient. His administration confronted profound tests: the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, devastating wildfires in 2012, and catastrophic floods in 2013. He became a consoler-in-chief, spending time with families and first responders, while also pressing for policy responses.

In 2013, he signed universal background checks for gun purchases and limits on high-capacity magazines, measures that drew national attention and political backlash, including recall elections targeting legislative allies such as Senate President John Morse. He expanded Medicaid and implemented the Affordable Care Act in Colorado, arguing that access to care and fiscal prudence could coexist. After voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, he established a regulatory framework for cultivation, sales, and public health, working with lawmakers and local officials to navigate a first-in-the-nation experiment in modern cannabis policy.

Hickenlooper also advanced energy and environmental policy. In 2014, his administration brokered pioneering rules to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas operations, negotiated with environmental advocates and major energy firms to create a model other states would emulate. He emphasized collaboration in economic development, courting technology and outdoor recreation companies while supporting rural economies. He served with lieutenants governor Joe Garcia and later Donna Lynne, and worked with legislative leaders including Speaker Mark Ferrandino to pass budget and education measures. In January 2019, he left office, succeeded by Jared Polis.

From Presidential Bid to the U.S. Senate
Positioning himself as a pragmatic executive, Hickenlooper entered the 2020 presidential race, highlighting a record of bipartisan problem solving on jobs, health care, energy, and public safety. After concluding that his candidacy did not gain sufficient traction, he ended his bid in 2019. He then turned to a challenge closer to home, running for the U.S. Senate. In November 2020 he defeated incumbent Republican Senator Cory Gardner and took office on January 3, 2021.

In the Senate, Hickenlooper has worked closely with fellow Colorado Senator Michael Bennet on issues central to the state: water and drought resilience in the Colorado River Basin, wildfire prevention and recovery, forest health, and infrastructure for growing communities. He has supported major legislation to invest in roads, bridges, broadband, clean energy, and domestic manufacturing, while maintaining the pro-innovation, pro-entrepreneurship outlook that defined his business and mayoral years. He has sought bipartisan coalitions on permitting reform, small-business finance, and mental health access, reflecting a belief that durable solutions come from negotiation and evidence rather than partisan victory laps.

Personal Life and Character
Hickenlooper married journalist and author Helen Thorpe in 2002; they have one son, Teddy. Thorpe served as Colorado's first lady during his first term as governor, continued her writing career, and remained a visible presence at community events. The couple later divorced amicably. In 2016, he married Robin Pringle, a technology and media executive; Robin Pringle Hickenlooper has been an active partner in civic and philanthropic causes. The extended family includes his cousin, the late filmmaker George Hickenlooper, whose work in documentary and narrative film earned national recognition and underscored a creative streak running through the family.

Known for self-deprecating humor and an everyman style, Hickenlooper wrote a memoir, The Opposite of Woe, reflecting on business failures and public successes alike. He often points to his unusual path from geologist to brewer to public official as evidence that government benefits from perspectives honed outside politics. Friends and colleagues describe him as persistent, curious, and allergic to grandstanding, traits that shaped his approach to crises and to the quieter, unglamorous work of management.

Legacy
John Hickenlooper's career traces a distinctive arc through modern Colorado. As an entrepreneur, he helped revive a neighborhood and catalyze a craft industry. As mayor, he built coalitions across city and suburb, laying groundwork for transit and cultural vitality that continue to define metro Denver. As governor, he steered the state through tragedy and natural disasters, expanded health coverage, launched pioneering methane rules, and navigated the complexities of legal cannabis. As a U.S. senator, he has worked with allies and former colleagues such as Michael Bennet and engaged political opponents like Cory Gardner in the arena of ideas, aiming to convert pragmatic executive experience into legislative progress. Threaded through these roles are the people around him who shaped his journey: partners in business, former mayors who mentored and collaborated, lieutenants governor and legislative leaders who translated goals into statutes, and family members who grounded his public life. That network, and his habit of coalition-building, is central to understanding how he has approached service to Colorado and the country.

Our collection contains 26 quotes who is written by John, under the main topics: Justice - Leadership - Work Ethic - Nature - Honesty & Integrity.