Stephen McNichols graduated from East Denver High School and Regis College to pursue a law degree from Catholic University in Washington.

McNichols's family life as well as his municipal and judicial aspirations were put on hold, however, when the United States Coast Guard required his services as an officer in the amphibious corps in 1942.

As a senator McNichols soon became recognized as a skilled planner and was respected for his ability to cross party lines to achieve his goals.

As governor McNichols championed an improved system of school financial aid distribution and successfully lobbied for an increased university faculty salary cap.

To pass this tremendous package of legislation McNichols often alienated members of his own Democratic Party, and to pay for it he lobbied for an unpopular tax hike.

McNichols's defeat at the polls continued with an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1968, serving as a Democratic National Committee member, or as the Rocky Mountain Regions U.S. Commerce Director in 1977.