Prev. | Next GEORGE HENRY DERN Sept. 8, 1872 – Aug. 27, 1936
After the Dern family moved to Utah in December 1894, George
seemed to find success at every turn. His father had acquired a
financial stake in a mining company, and George began work there
as a bookkeeper. As a Cabinet member, Dern occasionally rubbed
elbows with the era's cultural icons. Click on these images for
video of him with Babe Ruth and Charles Lindbergh. By age 29, he
was running the place. He became known as an adept manager and
innovator, helping to develop a process for recovering silver
from low-grade ore. Other business interests beckoned, and he
would hold executive positions in the banking and power
industries. In his early 40s, he took the plunge into politics.
He won election to the state Senate in 1914 and 1918 and
displayed a reformist streak, winning enactment of Utah's first
workmen's compensation law, among other things. Then came
successful runs for governor in 1924 and 1928. As the state's
chief executive, he steered Utah