Politics, like theater, is one of those things where you've got to be wise enough to know when to leave.

S. As candidate and then governor Lamm promised for environmental reasons to "drive a silver stake" through plans to build Interstate 470 a proposed circumferential highway around the southwest part of the Denver Metropolitan Area. Lamm was elected Colorado governor three times.

He served three terms as 38th Governor of Colorado as a Democrat (1975–1987) and ran for the Reform Party's nomination for President of the United States in 1996. He is currently the Co-Director of the Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver.