Booth Gardner was the 19th governor of the U.S state of Washington between 1985 and 1993. He also served as the ambassador of the GATT. He was a Democrat. Before serving as governor, Gardner served in the Washington State Senate and was Pierce County Executive. His service was notable for advancing standards-based education and environmental protection.

While governor, Gardner signed into law a health care program that provided state medical insurance for the working poor. He helped develop land-use and growth-management policies that made Washington an early environmental leader, he steered hundreds of millions of dollars of increased spending toward state universities, increased standardized testing in public education, and improved legal protections for gay people.