Frank Powell Sanders (July 13, 1919 – August 18, 1997) was United StatesAssistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller) 1971–72 andUnder Secretary of the Navy 1972–73.

He was born inTarboro, North Carolina, on July 13, 1919. DuringWorld War II, he joined theUnited States Army as aprivate in 1941. He ultimately attained the rank ofcaptain and was awarded aBronze Star and theEuropean Theater Ribbon for his military service. Sanders left the U.S. Army in 1945, but remained a member of theUnited States Army Reserve, ultimately attaining the rank oflieutenant colonel in the Reserves.

Colonel Sanders received aGED diploma and then attended theUniversity of Maryland, ultimately receiving anM.A. ingovernment andpolitics. He then attended theGeorgetown University Law Center, from which he received a law degree.

In the late 1940s, Colonel Sanders was the administrative assistant ofRep.John H. Kerr (D -NC). Sanders then took a job with the staff of theUnited States House Committee on Appropriations, a position he would hold for 19 years.

President of the United StatesRichard Nixon nominated Sanders asAssistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller) in 1969, and Sanders served in this position to May 5, 1972. The next year, Nixon nominated Colonel Sanders asUnder Secretary of the Navy and Colonel Sanders held this office from May 5, 1972, to June 29, 1973.

Colonel Sanders retired from federal service in 1973, moving toBethesda, Maryland, and joining theLogistics Management Institute, a non-profit consulting organization focused on conducting studies for theUnited States Department of Defense. He later became head of theWashington, D. C. office of theSignal Companies, Inc., aCalifornia-basedconglomerate engaged mainly inautomotive andaerospace engineering andenergy development (includingoil andgas). Finally, in the mid-1970s, Colonel Sanders joined theBurma Oil and Gas Co. as a vice president, a post he held until his retirement in the mid-1980s.

Colonel Sanders died of aheart attack on August 18, 1997, at his home inPotomac. He was 78 years old.

• 1919 births
• 1997 deaths
• United States Under Secretaries of the Navy
• United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy
• United States Army personnel of World War II
• United States Army colonels
• United States Army reservists