Richard Arkwright Snelling (February 18, 1927 – August 13, 1991) was an American businessman, politician, and the 76th and 78th governor of Vermont from 1977 to 1985 and from January 10, 1991, until his death.

He graduated from Harvard University in 1948 and embarked on a business career, working for companies in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.

In 1986, Snelling was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for the United States Senate and was defeated by incumbent Democrat Patrick Leahy.

Snelling's family was prominent in Vermont politics; his wife Barbara served as lieutenant governor and a member of the state senate.

[1] He was educated in Allentown public schools and graduated from Allentown High School in 1944, completing the requirements six months ahead of his classmates as part of an accelerated program for young men intending to enter the military during World War II.

[3] He served at the end of World War II and in the post-war occupation of Germany, and carried out assignments as an investigator and information bulletin editor.

[7][8] For several years after moving to Vermont, Snelling was active in the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary where he served as an officer.

[9] After graduating from college, Snelling was employed at Joseph Breck & Sons, a Boston wholesaler of kitchen and garden supplies.

He then moved to Philadelphia, where he led a venture to take over the bankrupt Henry A. Dreer, Inc., a retail and wholesale distributor of plants and seeds.

In 1953, Snelling moved to Vermont to take the position of assistant to the president of Colonial Motors, a Burlington car dealership.

[1] During his governorship, Snelling worked to protect the environment by opposing a plan to allow uranium mining in Vermont and barring the sale of phosphate detergents, arguing that they pollute water by increasing algae growth.

[11] In 1990, Snelling ran again for governor, intending to use his business acumen and previous gubernatorial service to address state fiscal problems caused by the post-Reagan economic recession.

[1] He won a fifth two-year term, and devoted most of his effort to balancing the state budget and restoring its financial health.

[1] As recounted by Ralph G. Wright, the Democrat then serving as Speaker of the House, at the beginning of his term, Snelling took the unprecedented step of visiting the speaker's office unannounced to ask for a meeting with Wright so they could craft budget cuts and tax increases to address the budget deficit.