14 Facts About Mike O'Callaghan

Donal Neil "Mike" O'Callaghan was an American politician and educator who served as the 23rd Governor of Nevada from 1971 to 1979.

Mike O'Callaghan lied about his age to join the US Marine Corps, at the age of 16 and served from 1946 to 1948.

Mike O'Callaghan attended Boise Junior College and joined the US Air Force in 1950 and served as an intelligence operator in the Aleutian Islands.

Mike O'Callaghan was transferred to the US Army in 1952 to see combat and lost part of his left leg after being hit by a mortar round during a battle in the Korean War.

Mike O'Callaghan was awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star and returned to the United States.

Mike O'Callaghan resumed his college studies at the University of Idaho in Moscow, where he was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and completed his bachelor's and master's degree in education in 1956, then became a high school teacher and boxing coach in Nevada.

Mike O'Callaghan was US Senator Harry Reid's history teacher at Basic High School in Henderson and later promoted Reid's political career.

In 1964, President Lyndon B Johnson appointed O'Callaghan to be the regional director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness.

In 1966, Mike O'Callaghan ran in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, but lost.

Mike O'Callaghan proved to be an extremely popular governor and was re-elected in 1974 by a four-to-one margin, the greatest landslide in a gubernatorial election in state history.

The last Nevada governor before term limits, who was eligible for an elected third term, Mike O'Callaghan chose not to run again in 1978.

Mike O'Callaghan was the publisher of the Henderson Home News and Boulder City News.

Mike O'Callaghan died on March 5,2004, of a heart attack at the age of 74, after collapsing during the morning mass hours at the Saint Viator Catholic Church in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mike O'Callaghan was pronounced dead at the Desert Springs Hospital in Paradise, Nevada.