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BACKGROUND Symington comes from a distinguished Maryland family; he is a great-grandson of steel magnate Henry Clay Frick and his father was U.S. ambassador to Trinidad And Tobago 1969-1971. His cousin, Stuart Symington , was a U.S. Senator from Missouri and father of James Wadsworth Symington , a U.S. Representative from that state. He is married to the former, Ann Olin Pritzlaff, an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church and an heiress of the Olin Family . They have five children and four grandchildren. He graduated from Harvard University in 1968 with a degree in Dutch Art History . He served in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War , stationed at Luke Air Force Base in Maricopa County, Arizona . He remained in Arizona and became involved in real estate development, founding his own company, the Symington Company, in 1976 . GOVERNORSHIP Symington ran for governor of Arizona in 1990 , taking 44% of the vote in the Republican primary in a field of four candidates. He won the governorship in a run-off election held February 26 , 1991 . Arizona had adopted Runoff Voting in general elections after the controversial Evan Mecham had been elected governor in 1986 with only 43% of the vote, but returned to Plurality Voting in 1992 . During this time, Symington was the subject of an investigation over his involvement with Southwest Savings and Loan, a failed Phoenix thrift, but he was later cleared, and won reelection in 1994 . Later, he was indicted on charges of extortion and making false financial statements, and of bank fraud. He was convicted of bank fraud in 1997 . The Arizona state constitution does not allow convicted felons to hold office, so Symington was forced to resign. This conviction, however, was overturned in 1999 by the Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals . Six days into jury deliberations, the trial judge had granted the government's motion to dismiss a juror because she was leaning toward acquittal and the other jurors complained that she was keeping them from reaching a unanimous verdict. The appeals court ruled that the dismissal violated Symington's right to a fair trial. He was subsequently pardoned by President Clinton , a move that terminated the federal government's seven year battle with the former governor. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS After leaving office, Symington undertook some culinary pursuits. After graduating from the Scottsdale Culinary Institute/Cordon Bleu, he helped found the Arizona Culinary Institute, a professional cooking school that teaches the classic French method. Symington is a founding partner of The Symington Group, a venture capital and strategic business/political consulting firm. Symington also serves the chairman of Hummingbird Defense Systems , Inc., which is involved in Airport Security around the world. On February 4 , 2005 , in an interview with the '' Arizona Republic '', Symington expressed interest in running for governor in 2006 against Democrat Janet Napolitano , setting the state political landscape abuzz. However, three months later, on May 5, he withrew his name from consideration, saying that he wanted to focus his energy on The Symington Group. In an interview with KPHO-TV in Phoenix, Symington said, "I've been thinking about it, doing a lot of soul searching, talking to a lot of friends. But for me, I've done that. ...I don't want to run for governor again."
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