Frank O'Bannon
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Frank Lewis O'Bannon (January 30, 1930 – September 13, 2003) was an American politician who served as the 47th governor of
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
from 1997 until his death in 2003. As of October 2022, he remains the most recent United States Governor to have died in office. O'Bannon was a native of
Corydon, Indiana Corydon is a town in Harrison Township, Harrison County, Indiana. Located north of the Ohio River in the extreme southern part of the U.S. state of Indiana, it is the seat of government for Harrison County. Corydon was founded in 1808 and served ...
. He graduated from Corydon High School (now Corydon Central High School) in 1948 and then
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...
, where he met his wife Judy. In Corydon, he served as a practicing attorney and a newspaper publisher for ''The Corydon Democrat'' before his entrance into the political arena. A Democrat, O'Bannon was first elected to the
Indiana Senate The Indiana Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-year term ...
in 1969. 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 of
Evan Bayh Birch Evans Bayh III ( ; born December 26, 1955) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011 and the 46th governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997. 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 Mayor
Stephen Goldsmith Stephen "Steve" Goldsmith (born December 12, 1946) is an American politician and writer who was the 46th mayor of Indianapolis. He also served as the deputy mayor of New York City for operations from 2010 to 2011. A member of the Republican P ...
. He was re-elected in 2000, defeating Congressman David 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 of Midwestern Governors Association. O'Bannon died in office in 2003 and was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Joe E. Kernan. He is the most recent governor of any U.S. state to die in office. As of 2022, he is also the most recent Democrat to be elected governor of Indiana.


Background

O'Bannon was a native of
Corydon, Indiana Corydon is a town in Harrison Township, Harrison County, Indiana. Located north of the Ohio River in the extreme southern part of the U.S. state of Indiana, it is the seat of government for Harrison County. Corydon was founded in 1808 and served ...
(the first
state capital Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital cities. National capitals *List of national capitals * List of national capitals by latitude *List of national capitals by population * List of national capitals by area * List of capital c ...
of Indiana), where his family owned the ''Corydon 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 was also the great-grandson of 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 attended
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...
, where he played one season of basketball for the Hoosiers. At IU, he was president of the Zeta Chapter of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He earned a B.A. in government in 1952, and a J.D. in 1957 from the Indiana University School of Law – Bloomington. He also spent two years in the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
. While at IU, he met his wife, Judith Asmus, on a
blind date A blind date is a social engagement between two people who have not met, usually arranged by a mutual acquaintance. Structure A blind date is arranged for by a mutual acquaintance of both participants. The two people who take part in the blind ...
and they married in 1957. 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.


Political career


Indiana Senate

First elected to the state senate in 1969-70 to a seat occupied by his father, Robert P. O'Bannon, 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.


Lieutenant Governor of Indiana

O'Bannon launched his first campaign for governor in May 1987 from Corydon, Indiana and initially faced off against then-Secretary of State
Evan Bayh Birch Evans Bayh III ( ; born December 26, 1955) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011 and the 46th governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997. Bayh ...
and Kokomo Mayor Steve Daily. O'Bannon abandoned his own bid for governor in January 1988 and joined forces with Bayh and won election as the 46th Lieutenant Governor of Indiana in November 1988. 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.


Governor of Indiana

In 1996, with Evan Bayh ineligible to seek a third consecutive term as governor due to term limits, O'Bannon became the Democratic nominee for governor. He overcame an early deficit in the polls against his Republican opponent, Indianapolis mayor
Stephen Goldsmith Stephen "Steve" Goldsmith (born December 12, 1946) is an American politician and writer who was the 46th mayor of Indianapolis. He also served as the deputy mayor of New York City for operations from 2010 to 2011. A member of the Republican P ...
and won in a close race, 52% to 47%. He was re-elected by a larger margin, 57% to 42%, in 2000 against second district Congressman David 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 the
AMBER Alert An Amber Alert (alternatively styled AMBER alert) or a child abduction emergency alert ( SAME code: CAE) is a message distributed by a child abduction alert system to ask the public for help in finding abducted children. The system originated in ...
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 of Midwestern 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. In 2000 he won an easy re-election bid under the theme of Keeping Indiana Moving in the Right Direction. His campaign featured memorable advertisements with O'Bannon reprising his basketball past by shooting a perfect jump shot. After the 9/11 disaster 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 big fish kill, and problems at two-state centers for the
developmentally disabled Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...
. 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 federal
No Child Left Behind The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a U.S. Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; it included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It supported standards-based education ...
act upon enactment. In regards to education, O’Bannon placed emphasis on enhancing the state's public schools. He was able to pass increased funding for education . However, the state legislature did not pass O'Bannon's proposal for full-day kindergarten. O'Bannon attempted to install a stone monument featuring the
Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
on the state capitol grounds. However, the courts blocked this effort.


Death and legacy

O'Bannon suffered a massive stroke on September 8, 2003, while he was in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
attending the U.S. Midwest–Japan trade conference. He was taken to
Northwestern Memorial Hospital Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) is a nationally ranked academic medical center located on Northwestern University’s Chicago campus in Streeterville, Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship campus for Northwestern Medicine and the primary ...
where he remained unconscious. O'Bannon's condition worsened; based on his
living will ''Living Will'' is an American comedy film starring Ryan Dunn, Gerard Haitz and April Scott. Cast *Ryan Dunn - Belcher *Gerard Haitz - Will *April Scott - Krista Production In 2011, the domestic distribution rights to the film were purchased ...
, his family decided to use no further means of support and care. He died on September 13, 2003, aged 73, leaving behind his wife Judy (Asmus), three children (Polly, Jennifer and Jonathan) and five grandchildren. O'Bannon donated organs (having signed legislation making organ donation easier in Indiana), including his cornea which helped an Illinois woman regain her sight. O’Bannon’s ashes were scattered in the O'Bannon family plot at Cedar Hill Cemetery in his hometown of
Corydon, Indiana Corydon is a town in Harrison Township, Harrison County, Indiana. Located north of the Ohio River in the extreme southern part of the U.S. state of Indiana, it is the seat of government for Harrison County. Corydon was founded in 1808 and served ...
. O'Bannon was succeeded in office by Lieutenant Governor Joe E. Kernan of South Bend, who was sworn into office just hours after O'Bannon's death in an emotional ceremony. O'Bannon is the subject of the 2006 biography ''Legacy of a Governor: The Life of Indiana's Frank O'Bannon''. In February 2006, a memorial bust of O'Bannon was placed outside the
Indiana Statehouse The Indiana Statehouse is the state capitol building of the U.S. state of Indiana. It houses the Indiana General Assembly, the office of the Governor of Indiana, the Indiana Supreme Court, and other state officials. The Statehouse is located in ...
Senate chambers. 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.'' In November 2013, she married Donald Willsey.


Political positions

O'Bannon was regarded to be a conservative Democrat.


See also

*
List of governors of Indiana The governor of Indiana is the head of government of the U.S. state of Indiana. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Indiana's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws. While a territory, Indiana had two governors ...


References


External links


O'Bannon Institute for Community Service - Ivy Tech Community College
* , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Obannon, Frank 1930 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians American United Methodists American people of Irish descent Democratic Party governors of Indiana Indiana University Maurer School of Law alumni Lieutenant Governors of Indiana Organ transplant donors People from Corydon, Indiana Military personnel from Indiana Editors of Indiana newspapers Indiana lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century Methodists