Rampton, who made his friends promise Utah would not actually win the bid, agreed. He believed that if Utah became the United States' Olympic nominee, it would generate invaluable publicity for the state's uniquely situated ski resorts and eventually create a lucrative tourism industry in the mountains just east of Salt Lake City.

"Cal went along with it, we put together a good bid and presentation, sent a delegation to Rome and the rest is history," Gallivan said in a recent interview. "Park City was a sleepy old mining town, and we were trying to reform it into a ski resort. But it wasn't doing well. After the Olympics bid, the ski industry took off and brought in millions."

Last year, Utah's ski industry generated $800 million from national and international skiers, state officials say. That original bid also set the foundation that eventually landed the 2002 Olympic Winter Games for Salt Lake City.

It wasn't the first time Rampton tried something new to stimulate Utah's economy and enhance its culture. And it wouldn't be the last.

Rampton, who died Sunday at 93, came into the Governor's Office in 1965 with an ambitious agenda which set the state on a new course, the effects of which are still felt more than 40 years later.

At the time, there was no formal economic development program. One of his first appointments was his old friend and political ally, Milt Weilenmann, a restaurateur who had just returned from an assignment as a mission president for the LDS Church.

Once Rampton got the Legislature to create the Office of Industrial Promotion, he named Weilenmann as director.

Weilenmann then led a contingent of Utah business leaders on trips around the country to promote Utah as a place to relocate industry. The so-called "Rampton's Raiders" were so successful that every governor since Rampton has worked hard to put his or her own stamp on economic development as an anchor for the state's financial growth.

Rampton also created the Office of Tourism, putting heavy emphasis on developing the image of Utah as a destination place for tourists rather than a stop-over point on the way to Las Vegas or California. It was the first time a state agency was focused entirely on promoting Utah tourism, which today is a $6 billion industry, the state's fifth largest.

Rampton also took several trips to Southern California to convince filmmakers that Utah was a prime location to make movies. Southern Utah had been the backdrop for westerns long before Rampton took office, but his personal efforts with movie executives led to an expansion of filmmaking in the state, which last year pumped in $146 million.

Rampton's efforts to streamline Utah's organizational structure is another of his important accomplishments.

When he took office, 157 agencies reported to the governor, an unworkable situation that left many of those agencies without meaningful direction.

Rampton persuaded the Legislature to reform government by creating 11 departments - which became his cabinet - with each department head responsible for several agencies.

That reorganization was one of the recommendations made by the Little Hoover Commission, an advisory commission on government reforms that Rampton persuaded the Legislature to approve in his first term. It was a Democratic Legislature then, so it was friendly to the Democratic governor.

But he had to rely on the Legislature again to approve most of the recommendations two years later, when the Republicans had reclaimed the majorities in both houses. Nearly all of them passed.

"Cal Rampton had a quality we haven't seen very often in Utah governors," said former Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilson. "He had a huge vision of this state. He came in when it was way behind in education, way behind in resource development and he often had a Legislature that opposed him. But he had the ability to use his popularity as governor to neutralize his critics. He knew how to make deals with recalcitrant legislators to get them to climb on board and support his agenda."

Another indelible Rampton legacy was the $65 million bond he pushed through his first term to expand and modernize the buildings on the campuses of the state's colleges and universities.

"I saw this huge increase in the student population coming up from the baby-boom generation and nothing had been done on the campuses to accommodate all these students," Rampton.

"Simply put," said retired University of Utah professor Sam Rich, "Rampton is responsible for the University of Utah in its present form."

Rampton also presided over the construction of Interstate 15 through Utah. And he pushed for tax increases to enhance the pay and classroom conditions for public school teachers, who had gone through an acrimonious relationship the previous decade with state and school board leaders.

Rampton's partnership with his wife, Lucybeth, has to be counted among his most endearing legacies. She became as visible on the stump as the governor, a status he encouraged.

Lucybeth Rampton, who died in 2004, used that opportunity to stand up for the rights of women, the mentally ill, disadvantaged children and others who might find themselves in a vulnerable position.

After her husband was out of office, she began speaking publicly about her own battles with depression. That courage brought new attention and understanding to the plight of the mentally ill.