Former Sen. Wallop dies in Wyoming home

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Former three-term Sen. Malcolm Wallop, who became a leading conservative voice during the Reagan era in fighting for space defense and a tough anti-communist policy in Central America, died Wednesday. He was 78.

Family friend and Cody Enterprise Publisher Bruce McCormack said Wallop has been ill for the last couple of years. He died at his home near the small community of Big Horn in northern Wyoming.

Wallop, a Republican, served in the Senate from 1977 to 1995 and had an unusual resume for a Western politician. He was part of the third generation of a Wyoming pioneer family, he graduated from Yale University, and his grandfather served in the British House of Lords.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Sen. Al Simpson served with him as part of Wyoming’s congressional delegation for 10 years.

“Malcolm was sort of the spark plug, he was the senior guy, and Al and I were delighted to work with him,” Cheney said in a telephone interview from Florida.