Two-terms as a Lieutenant Governor and one as a state senator only begin to define Barbara Snelling’s lifetime of public service in Vermont. The wife of the late Governor Richard Snelling also served in public education in a variety of roles and in the business world, founding a consulting firm for institutional advancement. These and other achievements were recognized this year by the University of Vermont, which awarded an honorary degree to Barbara Snelling.
She recently visited our VPR studios to reflect on her life in Vermont politics and the state’s current cultural and political landscape, and Mitch Wertlieb asked her about the toughest challenges she faced when she was elected Lt. Governor following the death of her husband in 1991: