Henry Louis Bellmon (September 3, 1921 – September 29, 2009) was an American Republican politician from the U.S. State of Oklahoma. A member of the Oklahoma Legislature, he went on to become both the 18th and 23rd governor of Oklahoma, mainly in the 1960s and again in the 1980s, as well as a two-term United States Senator in the 1970s. He was the first Republican to serve as Governor of Oklahoma and, after his direct predecessor George Nigh, only the second governor to be reelected.

A World War II veteran, Bellmon served a single term in the Oklahoma 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.

Early life and career

Bellmon was born in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, and graduated from Billings High School in Billings, Oklahoma. He graduated from Oklahoma A & M (now Oklahoma State University) in 1942 with a bachelor's degree in agriculture. He was a lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps from 1942 to 1946. He was a tank platoon leader in the Pacific Theater of World War II. He took part in four amphibious landings on Pacific islands, including Iwo Jima. For his service, he was awarded the Legion of Merit and a Silver Star. After the war he returned to farming and took up politics.

Bellmon served a single term in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1947 to 1949. In January 1947, he married Shirley Osborn, to whom he remained married until her death in 2000. In 1960 he served as the State Republican Party Chairman.

Governor of Oklahoma

In 1962, beating the studied journalist and well known constructor Bill 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. While governor, he served as the chairman of the Interstate Oil Compact Commission and as a member of the executive committee of the National Governor's Association. He was unable to run for reelection in 1966; at the time, Oklahoma did not allow governors to immediately succeed themselves. Republican Dewey F. Bartlett was elected as his successor.

As governor, Bellmon in 1965 pardoned convicted murderer Ernest Burkhart, known for his role in the Osage Indian murders.

United States Senate

In 1968, he was serving as the national chairman for Richard Nixon's presidential election campaign, but then decided to run for the U.S. Senate, and won, unseating U.S. Senator A.S. Mike Monroney.

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 that Tulsa County did not have levers to allow straight-ticket voting, as required under state law, and that the machines had misleading instructions. The Oklahoma 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.

The Senate investigated the election and the Rules 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.

On August 25, 1975, in his capacity as Senator, Bellmon swore in the newly elected Choctaw Nation principal chief, David Gardner.

In 1976, Bellmon was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

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 supported Gerald Ford over Ronald Reagan in the 1976 presidential election (even though the state delegation was committed to Reagan);

During his second term he was the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. Bellmon also taught at Oklahoma City University, Central State University, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Oklahoma. Shirley Bellmon died in 2000; Bellmon married a longtime friend, Eloise Bollenbach, in 2002.

He was inducted into the Oklahoma CareerTech Hall of Fame posthumously in 2011.

Death

Bellmon died September 29, 2009, in Enid, Oklahoma, at the age of 88 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

See also

  • List of United States senators from Oklahoma
  • Oklahoma Republican Party
  • Politics of Oklahoma

References

  • Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Bellmon, Henry
  • O-State Stories Oral History Interview with Henry Bellmon, Oklahoma Oral History Research Program
  • Voices of Oklahoma interview with Henry Bellmon. First person interview conducted on April 14, 2009, with Henry Bellmon.
  • Remembering Henry Bellmon Collection at Oklahoma State University