Rampton was pressed into military service during World War II, which meant he had to leave behind his daughter and wife, who was pregnant with the couple's second child. In the service, Rampton served in the European theater, investigating and processing claims against the U.S. military. Upon his discharge from the service, Rampton resumed family life and his legal career. The Ramptons had four children, Meg, Janet, Anthony and Vince.

But the political bug would not relent. Rampton twice ran for a seat in the Utah State Senate and lost. Meanwhile, he worked in a private law practice and in the Utah Attorney General's Office. One of the more high-profile cases he handled as an assistant attorney general was the removal of dozens of slot machines from Price businesses. The state attorneys made one critical error in the raid: They failed to lock the sheriff's evidence room with their own lock. When they returned to Price a couple of weeks later, every penny had been removed from the machines.

Rampton wasn't initially interested in running for governor. He had his sights set on the U.S. Senate. But at the urging of close friends and political associates, he got into the governor's race. In 1964, he and a fellow Democrat, Sen. Ted Moss, ended up winning their respective races by a slightly bigger margin than President Lyndon Johnson. It was the last time a Democratic presidential candidate carried the Beehive State.

Rampton's administration endured many financial difficulties that resulted in cutting state government and raising taxes. Utah made its first bid for the Olympics during his administration, but Rampton figured losing the bid was a winner for Utah. The bid process gave international exposure to the state's ski industry but none of the debt that burdened Sapporo, Japan, the eventual host. Other difficult issues were the referendum to legalize liquor by the drink and the death sentence of convicted murderer Gary Gilmore. Gilmore did not want a legal review of his case but Rampton stayed the execution until the Board of Pardons could decide whether to commute it. It did not, and Gilmore was executed shortly after Rampton left office.

In a recent interview with the Deseret Morning News, Rampton said one reason he decided against running for a fourth term was financial. "The governorship provided adequate expenses but very little in the way of salary. I spent all I had in savings, and I had to get out and earn some money." The Ramptons also were challenged by Lucybeth Rampton's clinical depression.

When Rampton's third term as Utah's 11th governor ended in January 1977, he returned to the practice of law, maintaining office hours well into his 90s.

Rampton remained active in Democratic Party activities for many decades after his political service ended. Each Friday, a group founded by Rampton, called the "Damned Old Democrats," has met for lunch at the Alta Club to discuss the issues of the day. Recently, as he was undergoing care for an inoperable kidney tumor, Rampton, as part of the business and civic group known as the Oquirrh Alliance, urged caution in the respective campaigns to split the Granite and Jordan school districts.

Rampton, who served his country as an officer and an elected official, wrote in his memoirs of his deep appreciation for those in public service. "I believe that next to ministry, government service, particularly service in elective offices, offers the greatest opportunity for public service available to our people. I tell it to my children and my grandchildren that they owe it to themselves and to their neighbors to be involved in public affairs. Those who disdain such involvement are doing a disservice to our society."

Those words mean a great deal coming from a man who served his country and his state with great distinction.