Christopher S. Bond (R)

Overview

At a Glance

• At the time, was the youngest governor in Missouri history
• Expanded Parents as Teachers program statewide (1981)
• Appointed Margaret B. Kelly as State Auditor, making her the first woman to hold statewide office (1984)
• Signed House Bill 578, creating a mandatory reporting law for suspected child abuse (1975)
• Signed circuit-breaker bill providing property relief for low-income seniors
• Established Department of Consumer Affairs
• Established Office of Public Counsel
• Passed mandatory sentencing requirement for crimes committed with a gun
• Reinstated capital punishment
• Signed the Reorganization Act of 1974
• Established a merit system for state hiring
• Led petition drive for a strict campaign contributions law
• Secured passage of a strong open meetings law.

Personal History

Christopher “Kit” Samuel Bond was born on March 6, 1939, in St. Louis as the second son of Arthur Doerr and Elizabeth Green Bond, who were originally from Mexico, Missouri. He is the grandson of A.P. Green, the founder of the A.P. Green fireclay manufacturing company in Mexico. Bond is a sixth-generation resident of Missouri and a lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church.

Bond pursued his higher education at Princeton University, graduating cum laude from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1960. He then earned his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1963, graduating at the top of his class. Following this, he served as a clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Atlanta until June 30, 1964.

In November 1964, Bond began his legal career at Covington and Burling, a law firm in Washington, D.C., where he worked until October 1967. He then returned to Mexico, Missouri, to practice law. That same year, Bond married Carolyn Reid, and they welcomed their son, Samuel Reid Bond, in 1981. The couple divorced in 1995, and Kit Bond remarried Linda Pell in 2002. In 2009, he co-authored a book with Lewis Simons titled "The Next Front: Southeast Asia and the Road to Global Peace with Islam."

Political History

Kit Bond began his political career by running for Congress in 1968, representing Missouri's 9th Congressional District, which covers the rural northeastern part of the state. He secured victory in the Republican primary against Anthony Schroeder. In the November general election, Bond came close to unseating the incumbent Democratic U.S. Representative, Bill Hungate, winning eight of the district's 23 counties.

In January 1969, Bond was appointed as an assistant attorney general under Attorney General John C. Danforth and later served as the chief counsel for the Consumer Protection Division. He resigned from this position in June 1970 to run for state auditor. Elected to the role in 1970 at the age of 31, Bond became the youngest person to hold this office in Missouri's history, winning by over 200,000 votes—the largest margin for any Republican in a statewide election in the state’s history. When he was elected governor in 1972, he became, at the time, the youngest governor in the nation and in Missouri's history at just 33 years old.

During his first term, Bond implemented a merit-based hiring system, initiated a campaign contributions law, and successfully passed a strong open meetings law. His initiatives included the "circuit breaker bill," which provided property tax relief for low-income seniors, increased educational funding, and legislation instituting mandatory sentences for firearm-related crimes. He also reinstated the death penalty for premeditated murder, established the Department of Consumer Affairs, created the Office of Public Counsel to represent consumer rights, and championed a nationally recognized child abuse reporting law. Additionally, Bond's economic development efforts led to the creation of numerous jobs in the state.

After narrowly losing re-election to Democrat Joseph P. Teasdale in 1976, Bond returned to the governorship in 1980. His second term was marked by the statewide expansion of the Parents as Teachers program. Following U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton's decision not to seek re-election, Bond successfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 1986 and was re-elected in 1992, 1998, and 2004. Announcing that he would not pursue a fifth term, Bond completed his fourth full Senate term in January 2011. Since leaving office, he has operated a chestnut orchard in Mexico, Missouri, which also served as a test site for the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry. In 2011, Bond joined the law firm Thompson Coburn in St. Louis and launched his own firm, Kit Bond Strategies, later that same year.

Historical Significance

The Parents as Teachers program began in the 1970s, but it wasn't until 1981 that it received funding for a pilot program during Governor Kit Bond's administration. The program aims to provide parents with essential information, support, and encouragement to promote optimal development for their children during the crucial early years of life. In 1985, Gov. Bond signed legislation mandating the implementation of the program in all Missouri school districts. Since its inception, Parents as Teachers has grown to reach all fifty states and has been adopted in seven other countries.

Gov. Bond’s legislative efforts included establishing mandatory sentencing for gun crimes, enacting laws that require the reporting of child abuse, and reinstating capital punishment in Missouri. Additionally, he made strides as a consumer advocate by founding the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Office of Public Counsel to ensure the fair treatment of the public by insurance and utility companies.