Born in
Emporia, Virginia, Dalton graduated from the
College of William and Mary in
Williamsburg, Virginia in 1953, and the
University of Virginia School of Law in 1957 . He served in both houses of the
General Assembly (
Virginia House of Delegates, 1966–1972,
Senate of Virginia, 1973). Dalton was the 32nd
Lieutenant Governor from 1974 to 1978. As governor, he pursued policies of limited government. He also settled the federal lawsuit on the desegregation of Virginia's institutions of higher education. Dalton was the adopted son of
Theodore Roosevelt Dalton, his uncle, who was the Republican candidate for governor in 1953 and 1957. As a young man his next-door neighbor was
Charlotte Giesen, first Republican woman elected to the House of Delegates. Dalton died at 55 of
lung cancer. He is buried at Sunrise Burial Park in Radford. His personal papers, including those from his time as governor, are held by the
Special Collections Research Center at the
College of William & Mary. His executive papers from his time as governor are held by the
Library of Virginia. Dalton Intermediate School, in Radford, Virginia, is named after the former governor. Dalton Hall, a building at
Radford University that houses dining facilities, and the university bookstore is named for Dalton. Dalton's son-in-law,
Steve Baril, sought the 2005 Republican nomination for
attorney general of Virginia. ==References==