Despite being elected three times as secretary of state by wide margins in the 1910s, Osborn had little political success for the next two decades. He lost two primaries for governor in
1924 and 1938, and a Senate primary against
Henry F. Ashurst in 1934. Despite a narrow primary win in 1940, his elections as a gubernatorial nominee never went below 60% of the vote. His governing style was no-nonsense. The best example occurred at the very beginning of his governorship: Upon taking office, Osborn had the state's top officials turn in a signed, but undated, resignation letter. If an official became an embarrassment to the state, Osborn would date the letter, and announce the official had resigned. During his fourth term, Osborn suffered from
Lou Gehrig's Disease and was hardly able to communicate with his staff. He eventually died in office in 1948 and was succeeded by
Dan Garvey. Osborn was buried in Phoenix's
Greenwood/Memory Lawn Mortuary & Cemetery. A pro-labor Democrat, Osborn presided over a number of progressive reforms in areas such as workman’s compensation and social welfare during his time as governor. Despite numerous conceptions, Osborn Road in
Phoenix was not named after Osborn. It was first named as such in 1900, after Governor Osborn's grandfather John Preston Osborn, when Governor Osborn was 16. John Preston and the Governor's father Neri Osborn both served in the territorial legislature. ==References==