Henry Bellmon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 18th and 23rd Governor of Oklahoma | |
| In office January 12, 1987 – January 14, 1991 | |
| Lieutenant | Robert S. Kerr III |
| Preceded by | George Nigh |
| Succeeded by | David Walters |
| In office January 14, 1963 – January 9, 1967 | |
| Lieutenant | Leo Winters |
| Preceded by | George Nigh |
| Succeeded by | Dewey F. Bartlett |
| United States Senator fromOklahoma | |
| In office January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1981 | |
| Preceded by | Mike Monroney |
| Succeeded by | Don Nickles |
| Member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives fromNoble County | |
| In office January 7, 1947 – January 4, 1949 | |
| Preceded by | Robert R. McCubbins |
| Succeeded by | F. C. Seids |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Henry Louis Bellmon (1921-09-03)September 3, 1921 Tonkawa, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | September 29, 2009(2009-09-29) (aged 88) Enid, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Resting place | Billings Union Cemetery,Noble County, Oklahoma 36°30′20.2″N97°24′59″W / 36.505611°N 97.41639°W /36.505611; -97.41639 (Henry Bellmon Burial Site) |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Alma mater | Oklahoma A & M |
| Occupation |
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| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1942–1946 |
| Rank | First lieutenant |
| Battles/wars | World War II Pacific theater Battle of Iwo Jima |
| Awards | Silver Star Legion of Merit |
Henry Louis Bellmon (September 3, 1921 – September 29, 2009) was an AmericanRepublican politician from theU.S. State ofOklahoma. A member of theOklahoma Legislature, he went on to become both the 18th and 23rdgovernor of Oklahoma, mainly in the 1960s and again in the 1980s, as well as a two-termUnited States Senator in the 1970s. He was the first Republican to serve as Governor of Oklahoma and, after his direct predecessorGeorge Nigh, only the second governor to be reelected.
A World War II veteran, Bellmon served a single term in theOklahoma House of Representatives, before running for governor. After serving in the U.S. Senate, he returned to serve again as governor and was responsible for passing a large education reform package. He died in 2009 after a long struggle with Parkinson's disease.
Bellmon was born inTonkawa, Oklahoma, and graduated from Billings High School inBillings, Oklahoma. He graduated from Oklahoma A & M (nowOklahoma State University) in 1942 with abachelor's degree inagriculture. He was alieutenant in theUnited States Marine Corps from 1942 to 1946. He was a tank platoon leader in thePacific Theater ofWorld War II. He took part in fouramphibious landings onPacificislands, includingIwo Jima.[1] For his service, he was awarded theLegion of Merit and aSilver Star.[2] After the war he returned tofarming and took uppolitics.
Bellmon served a single term in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1947 to 1949. In January 1947, he marriedShirley Osborn, to whom he remained married until her death in 2000. In 1960 he served as theState Republican Party Chairman.
In 1962, beating the studied journalist and well known constructorBill Atkinson with 392,316 votes (55.3%), Bellmon became Oklahoma's first Republican governor since statehood in 1907. His inauguration took place on January 14, 1963.[3] While governor, he served as the chairman of the Interstate Oil Compact Commission and as a member of the executive committee of theNational Governor's Association.[4] He was unable to run for reelection in 1966; at the time, Oklahoma did not allow governors to immediately succeed themselves. RepublicanDewey F. Bartlett was elected as his successor.As governor, Bellmon in 1965 pardoned convicted murdererErnest Burkhart, known for his role in theOsage Indian murders.[5]
In 1968, he was serving as the national chairman forRichard Nixon's presidential election campaign, but then decided to run for theU.S. Senate, and won, unseating U.S. SenatorA.S. Mike Monroney.[6]
His 1974 contest was far closer and ultimately was resolved by the Senate. On election night, He led Rep.Ed Edmondson by only 3,835 votes. Edmondson challenged the result alleging irregularities in the voting, specifically thatTulsa County did not have levers to allowstraight-ticket voting, as required under state law, and that the machines had misleading instructions. TheOklahoma Supreme Court ruled that there were problems, but Edmondson could not demonstrate that they would have changed the result. Edmondson then appealed to the Senate in January 1975, asking it to take up the challenge. Although the Senate voted to seat Bellmon, this was done without prejudice to the challenge.[7]
The Senate investigated the election and theRules and Administration Committee voted along party lines on a report that it could not identify who won the election. The full Senate would have to decide how to proceed. Both candidates made their cases on the floor and nine Democrats voted along with all the Republicans to end the challenge and seat Bellmon.[7] Although the Democratic Party had a 62–38 majority, seven Democrats were not in Washington and did not vote.[8]
On August 25, 1975, in his capacity as Senator, Bellmon swore in the newly electedChoctaw Nation principal chief, David Gardner.[9]
In 1976, Bellmon was inducted into theOklahoma Hall of Fame.[10]
He did not run for a third term in 1980. During his service in the Senate, he sometimes took moderate positions that put him at odds with the largely conservative Oklahoma Republican Party: he supportedGerald Ford overRonald Reagan in the1976 presidential election (even though the state delegation was committed to Reagan);[6] he opposed a constitutional amendment to prohibitforced busing for the purpose of racially desegregating public schools; and he supported thePanama Canal treaty.[11]
During his second term he was the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee.[1] He was a co-founder and co-chairman of theCommittee for a Responsible Federal Budget.[4] He chose not to run for re-election[6] and was succeeded byDon Nickles a much more conservative Republican in 1980.
Bellmon was appointed the interim director of theOklahoma Department of Human Services by Governor George Nigh, aDemocrat, in 1982.[6]
As the tenures of Bellmon and his party colleague Bartlett had been followed by four terms of Democratic rule, Oklahoma Republican leaders asked him in 1986, if he would consider running for governor again. Bellmon agreed to run, and he narrowly won the election in November with 431,762 votes (47.5%) overDavid Walters (405,295; 44.5%). He served from January 12, 1987, to January 14, 1991. During his second tenure as governor he chaired the Southern States Energy Board.
During his second term, Bellmon worked with Democrats in the Oklahoma legislature to pass an educational reform package, House Bill 1017, over the opposition of most Republicans. Though the state constitution had been amended in 1966 to allow governors to succeed themselves, Bellmon chose not to seek reelection in 1990. He would have been eligible for a third term, since 8-year lifetime term limits were not enacted until 2010. The Republican candidate to replace him, Bill Price, promised to repeal HB 1017. However, Price was defeated by David Walters,[11] whom Bellmon had defeated four years earlier.
Bellmon is notable for overseeing as governor both Oklahoma's final pre-Furman execution, whenJames French waselectrocuted in 1966, and its first post-Furman, whenCharles Coleman was put to death bylethal injection in 1990.[citation needed]
Bellmon returned to his agriculture business interests.[12] Bellmon also taught atOklahoma City University,Central State University, Oklahoma State University, and theUniversity of Oklahoma.Shirley Bellmon died in 2000; Bellmon married a longtime friend, Eloise Bollenbach, in 2002.[6] A March 1, 2009, profile inThe Oklahoman reported that he was living with Eloise inKingfisher, Oklahoma; the article also reported that, despite suffering fromParkinson's disease and a heart ailment, Bellmon was still operating his family farm in Billings.[13]
He was inducted into theOklahoma CareerTech Hall of Fame posthumously in 2011.
Bellmon died September 29, 2009, inEnid, Oklahoma, at the age of 88 after a long battle withParkinson's disease.[2]He is buried at the Union Cemetery inBillings, Oklahoma.
In 2009 Tulsa Southside Rotary Club and Sustainable Tulsa received permission from Bellmon's daughters to name the Henry Bellmon Sustainability Awards after him.[14]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee for Governor of Oklahoma 1962 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by B. Hayden Crawford | Republican nominee forUnited States Senator fromOklahoma (Class 3) 1968,1974 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Republican nominee for Governor of Oklahoma 1986 | Succeeded by Bill Price |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by George Patterson Nigh | Governor of Oklahoma January 14, 1963 – January 9, 1967 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Oklahoma January 12, 1987 – January 14, 1991 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 3) from Oklahoma 1969 – 1981 Served alongside:Fred R. Harris,Dewey F. Bartlett,David L. Boren | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theSenate Budget Committee 1975–1981 | Succeeded by |
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