Governor of Missouri. Hearnes was born in Moline, Ill. and his family moved to Charleston, Mo. when he was a child. After High School, Hearnes attended the University of Missouri before he was drafted into World War II. In 1946, President Franklin Roosevelt appointed him to the US Military Academy at West Point. He served in the US Army until he was medically discharged in 1949. In 1952 he graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law. He was a member of the Missouri House of Representatives from 1950 to 1961, and during that time proposed a bill allowing the Governor of Missouri to be elected to two consecutive terms. From 1961 to 1965 he served as Missouri Secretary of State and was elected Governor in 1964. He served from 1965 to 1973, becoming the first Governor of Missouri to serve two consecutive terms in office. During his term he improved public education, the state's highways and public safety methods, and passed environmental improvement laws. He was also the founder of the Missouri Division of Highway Safety and proposed a law enforcing mandatory breath tests for drunken drivers. During his term he signed Missouri's first Civil Rights Act and strengthened the Fair Employment Practices Act by increasing the Human Rights Commission from 2 employees to 35 employees. After leaving the Governor's office, he ran for the US Senate in 1976, but lost the Democrat Primary election. However he was nominated by the Missouri Democratic Party Commission to replace Jerry Litton, who had died in a plane crash. He lost to John Danforth. In 1980, he became the first person in Missouri to serve in all three branches of State Government when he served as a Circuit Court Judge. In 2008, he endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democrat Presidential nomination.