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Frank O'Bannon | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait,c. 1990 | |
| 47thGovernor of Indiana | |
| In office January 13, 1997 – September 13, 2003 | |
| Lieutenant | Joe Kernan |
| Preceded by | Evan Bayh |
| Succeeded by | Joe Kernan |
| 46thLieutenant Governor of Indiana | |
| In office January 9, 1989 – January 13, 1997 | |
| Governor | Evan Bayh |
| Preceded by | John Mutz |
| Succeeded by | Joe Kernan |
| Member of theIndiana Senate | |
| In office November 4, 1970 – December 1, 1988 | |
| Preceded by | Robert O'Bannon[1] |
| Succeeded by | Richard D. Young |
| Constituency | 29th district (1970–1972) 46th district (1972–1982) 47th district (1982–1988) |
| Succeeded by | Leslie Duvall |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Frank Lewis O'Bannon (1930-01-30)January 30, 1930 Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | September 13, 2003(2003-09-13) (aged 73) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Indiana University Bloomington (BA,JD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Air Force |
| Years of service | 1952–1954 |
| Rank | First Lieutenant |
Frank Lewis O'Bannon (January 30, 1930 – September 13, 2003) was an American politician who served as the47th governor of Indiana from 1997 until his death in 2003. He is the most recent American state Governor to have died in office.
O'Bannon was a native ofCorydon, Indiana. He graduated from Corydon High School (now Corydon Central High School) in 1948 and thenIndiana University Bloomington, where he met his wife Judy. In Corydon, he served as a practicing attorney and a newspaper publisher forThe Corydon Democrat before his entrance into the political arena.
Aconservative Democrat, O'Bannon was first elected to theIndiana Senate in 1969.[2] He eventually became one of the body's most prominent members. O'Bannon ran for Governor of Indiana in 1988; however, instead of facing a hotly competitive primary, O'Bannon dropped out of the race and became the running mate ofEvan Bayh. The Bayh/O'Bannon ticket was successful, and O'Bannon served in the role of lieutenant governor for eight years. In this position, he served as President of the State Senate and directed the state's agriculture and commerce programs.
With Bayh ineligible to seek a third consecutive term as governor in 1996, O'Bannon ran for governor that year. He was initially considered a heavy underdog but emerged a narrow victor over Indianapolis MayorStephen Goldsmith. He was re-elected in 2000, defeating CongressmanDavid M. McIntosh. As governor, O'Bannon was known for advocating for education-related issues and helping to create the state's AMBER Alert System. He presided over a period of economic prosperity for the state in the 1990s and served a term as Chairman ofMidwestern Governors Association. O'Bannon died in office in 2003 and was succeeded by Lieutenant GovernorJoe Kernan. He is the most recent governor of any U.S. state to die in office. To date, he is also the most recent Democrat to be elected governor of Indiana.
O'Bannon was a native ofCorydon, Indiana (the firststate capital of Indiana), where his family owned theCorydon Democrat, the town's newspaper. His father, Robert Presley O'Bannon, served in the Indiana House of Representatives and later served in the Indiana Senate. His mother was the former Faith Dropsey. Frank's great-grandfather was named for his uncle, Presley Neville O'Bannon, a First Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps who was the first to raise the US flag on foreign soil in a time of war, on April 27, 1805, during the Tripoli Campaign in the First Barbary War. He attendedIndiana University Bloomington, where he played one season of basketball for the Hoosiers. At Indiana University, he was president of the Zeta chapter of thePhi Gamma Delta fraternity. He earned aBachelor of Arts in government in 1952, and aJuris Doctor in 1957 from theIndiana University School of Law.
He also spent two years in theUnited States Air Force and became a first lieutenant. While at Indiana University, he met his wife,Judith Asmus, on ablind date. They married in 1957, and had three children.[2] Following law school, he opened a law office in Corydon, was chairman of the board of the family newspaper publishing firm (a position he held until the time of his death), and was a member of the board of the Corydon Savings and Loan.
First elected to the state senate in 1969-70[3] to a seat occupied by his father, Robert P. O'Bannon,[4] from 1950 to 1970, Frank O'Bannon was the primary sponsor of legislation reintroducing the death penalty. He rose to the rank of Senate Minority Leader among Democrats during his tenure in the legislative body. He served one two-year stint as chair of the Senate Finance Committee following a short-lived Democratic majority.
On January 13, 1987, O'Bannon announced he would run for governor in1988.[5] He formally launched his campaign in May 1987 from Corydon, Indiana, touting his legislative experience.[6] O'Bannon initially faced off against then-Secretary of StateEvan Bayh andKokomo Mayor Steve Daily. O'Bannon abandoned his own bid for governor in January 1988 and ran for Lieutenant Governor with Bayh.[7] The ticket was victorious in November, and O'Bannon was elected as the46th Lieutenant Governor of Indiana. His candidacy for lieutenant governor matched that of his grandfather, Lew M. O'Bannon, who was the 1924 Democratic nominee for the state's second-highest office. As lieutenant governor, he presided as President of the State Senate, served as the state's Director of Commerce and Commissioner of Agriculture.
In1996, with Evan Bayh ineligible to seek a third consecutive term as governor due to term limits,[8] O'Bannon became the Democratic nominee for governor. He overcame an early deficit in the polls against his Republican opponent,Indianapolis mayorStephen Goldsmith and won in a close race, 52% to 47%. He was re-elected by a larger margin, 57% to 42%, in 2000 against second districtCongressmanDavid M. McIntosh.
During the boom years of the 1990s, when Indiana amassed a record $2 billion surplus, O'Bannon was able to cut taxes by $1.5 billion, hire 500 more police officers in the state and win increased funding for schools and extended health insurance for poor families. He also signed landmark legislation creating theAMBER Alert program in Indiana, as well as legislation requiring drivers to slow or change lanes for emergency vehicles stopped along Hoosier roadways.
In the years of 1998 and 1999 O'Bannon served as the Chairman ofMidwestern Governors Association. In 1999, O'Bannon created the Public Access Counselor Office by executive order after a statewide collaboration of seven newspapers found great obstacles in obtaining government information in Indiana. In 1999, the Indiana General Assembly established it by statute.[9][better source needed]
In2000 he won an easy re-election bid under the theme of Keeping Indiana Moving in the Right Direction. Furthermore, he was seen as a tough candidate to beat owing to his own personal affability. His opponent in the election,2nd District CongressmanDavid McIntosh said: "Everywhere I'd go, people would say that to me: 'How are you going to run against someone who is everyone's grandfather?'"[10] His campaign featured memorable advertisements with O'Bannon reprising his basketball past by shooting a perfect jump shot.
After theSeptember 11 attacks and subsequent market downturn, Indiana lost 120,000 jobs, tax revenues dropped, and O'Bannon had to cut social services and other services in order to spare education. In 2001 he worked with the state legislature to formulate a major restructuring of the state tax system. His opponents blamed him for various problems arising in the second term, including a slow response by his environmental agency to a bigfish kill, and problems at two-state centers for thedevelopmentally disabled.
His record, however, was firmly established as an educational leader for the state. He helped lead development of Indiana's first community college system, pushed for early-childhood learning opportunities, development of alternative high schools, and charter schools. His work as chair of the state's landmark Education Roundtable ensured that Indiana was one of only five states whose schools immediately qualified as meeting all standards set by the federalNo Child Left Behind act upon enactment. In regards to education, O’Bannon placed emphasis on enhancing the state's public schools.[2] He was able to pass increased funding for education .[2] However, the state legislature did not pass O'Bannon's proposal for full-day kindergarten.[2]
O'Bannon attempted to install a stone monument featuring theTen Commandments on the state capitol grounds.[2] However, the courts blocked this effort.[2]
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O'Bannon suffered a massive stroke on September 8, 2003, while he was in Chicago attending the U.S. Midwest–Japan trade conference. He was taken toNorthwestern Memorial Hospital where he remained unconscious, and his condition worsened over the following days. In accordance with hisliving will, his family discontinued further treatment, and he died on September 13, aged 73.[2] O'Bannondonated organs (having signed legislation making organ donation easier in Indiana), including his cornea,[11] which helped an Illinois woman regain her sight. O’Bannon's ashes were scattered in the family plot at Cedar Hill Cemetery in his hometown ofCorydon, Indiana.
O'Bannon was succeeded in office by Lieutenant GovernorJoe E. Kernan of South Bend, who was sworn into office just hours after O'Bannon's death.[12]
O'Bannon is the subject of the 2006 biographyLegacy of a Governor: The Life of Indiana's Frank O'Bannon.[13]
In February 2006, amemorial bust of O'Bannon was placed outside theIndiana Statehouse Senate chambers.[14]
Judy O'Bannon resided in her husband's hometown of Corydon, Indiana, and remained active in Democratic politics and in her husband's newspaper,The Corydon Democrat. She hosted a statewide public television program,Communities Building Community.[15] In November 2013, she married Donald Willsey.[16]
| Indiana Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Robert O'Bannon | Member of theIndiana Senate from the 29th district 1970–1972 | Succeeded by Leslie Duvall |
| Preceded by Constituency established | Member of theIndiana Senate from the 46th district 1972–1982 | Succeeded by Clay Patterson Baird |
| Preceded by Michael Charles Kendall | Member of theIndiana Senate from the 47th district 1982–1988 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Indiana 1989–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Indiana 1997–2003 | |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Ann DeLaney | Democratic nominee forLieutenant Governor of Indiana 1988,1992 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Indiana 1996,2000 | |
| Preceded by | Chair of theDemocratic Governors Association 1998–1999 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
