40 Facts About Fife Symington

John Fife Symington III was born on August 12,1945 and is an American businessman and politician who served as the 19th governor of Arizona from 1991 until his resignation in 1997.

Fife Symington remained in Arizona and became a real estate developer, founding his own company, the Symington Company, in 1976.

Fife Symington was elected to the governorship in 1990 over Democratic Phoenix Mayor Terry Goddard, following a close campaign that resulted in a runoff election.

In 1997, Fife Symington was convicted on seven counts of bank fraud, and resigned from office, but the convictions were later overturned.

Fife Symington has been speculated as a possible candidate for another term as Governor of Arizona, as well as considered running for the United States Senate, but has only endorsed candidates since leaving the Governor's office.

Fife Symington is known as a witness to the infamous Phoenix Lights, a mass UFO sighting which occurred in Phoenix, Arizona on March 13,1997.

Fife Symington was born in New York City, New York on August 12,1945.

Fife Symington comes from a wealthy Maryland family; he is the great-grandson of steel magnate Henry Clay Frick.

Fife Symington is a cousin to Stuart Symington, who was US Senator from Missouri from 1953 to 1976.

Fife Symington attended Gilman School in Baltimore, and then went to Harvard University, graduating in 1968 with a degree in Dutch art history.

At 19 years old, Fife Symington rescued an intoxicated 19-year-old Clinton from nearly drowning in a rip tide during a trip to Hyannis Port, Massachusetts near the Kennedy compound.

Fife Symington remained in Arizona and became involved in real estate development, founding his own company, The Symington Company, in 1976.

Fife Symington believed it to be the "best location in town for business," and as of 2007, still had his own office on the fourth floor of the building.

Fife Symington has stated that the approval of the construction of the Esplanade was significant because nothing over four stories had ever been granted along Camelback Road.

The Mercado loan officially went into default in 1992, with Fife Symington filing for bankruptcy protection from creditors in US Bankruptcy Court.

Former US Congressman Sam Steiger, who had previously run for US Senate as the Republican nominee in 1976 and for Governor as the Libertarian nominee in 1982 ran against Fife Symington, but placed a distant fourth behind Mecham and State Senator Fred Koory.

Shortly before the runoff occurred, while in Washington, DC for a fundraiser, Fife Symington was called before the US Senate Judiciary Committee by Democratic Senator Howard Metzenbaum, a move that was seen as politically motivated.

Fife Symington was sworn into office on March 6,1991, becoming Arizona's fourth governor in five years.

Fife Symington established an extensive review of its human resources management, and created the State Long-Term improved Management Project.

In November 1992, Fife Symington ended a six-month standoff with the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation by signing a compact that allowed the tribe to operate 250 video gambling machines.

Fife Symington later signed legislation in 1993 that reversed this decision outlawing gambling and casinos, including for fundraising purposes for churches and charities.

Also in November 1992, Fife Symington was a supporter of a ballot proposal that reinstated Martin Luther King Jr.

Fife Symington ran for reelection to a second term in 1994.

When Fife Symington's group arrived, Fife Symington beat on the park gates in front of the media and demanded that the park be reopened.

In 1996, Fife Symington signed legislation establishing the Arizona Water Bank Authority as a separate agency.

Later that same year, in June 1996, Fife Symington was indicted on 21 federal counts of extortion, making false financial statements, and bank fraud.

Fife Symington was convicted for seven counts of bank fraud on September 4,1997.

Fife Symington was charged with defrauding his lenders as a commercial real estate developer, extorting a pension fund and perjuring himself in a bankruptcy hearing.

Fife Symington was succeeded by then-Secretary of State Jane Dee Hull.

Fife Symington opened the restaurant, called Franco's Italian Caffe, in February 2003 with a business partner, restaurateur Franco Fazzuoli.

Fife Symington had previously interned at a restaurant that Fazzuoli owned while attending culinary school.

In 2007, Fife Symington revealed he was a witness to the Phoenix Lights, the mass UFO sighting that took place on March 13,1997, when he was governor of Arizona, a decade before this admission.

Fife Symington later stated that as a public official he had felt a responsibility to avert public panic and therefore made an attempt to introduce some levity into the situation.

Fife Symington appeared as a witness of the Phoenix Lights in an updated version of the 2002 UFO documentary Out of the Blue by filmmaker James Fox.

In 2017, Fife Symington wrote an editorial piece for CNN, where he further described his experience in witnessing the Phoenix Lights, saying that he observed a delta-shaped craft, which moved silently across the sky over Piestewa Peak.

On February 4,2005, in an interview with The Arizona Republic, Fife Symington expressed interest in running again for governor in 2006 against Democrat Janet Napolitano.

In November 2006, Fife Symington lost a bid to become the Republican Party Chairman of his local legislative district, the district happened to be the home district of Senator John McCain, whose support Fife Symington had received.

In October 2018, it was reported by The Arizona Capitol Times that Fife Symington was contemplating a run for the US Senate in the 2020 special election.

On February 9,2017, an exhibit titled "The Surreal Life of Fife Symington" was opened at the Arizona Capitol Museum, with "personal mementoes and a trove of family history items" that were discovered by Symington, in a trunk belonging to his mother, serving as the centerpiece for the display.

From his first wife Fife Symington has two children and five grandchildren.