Frederick Andrew Seaton (December 11, 1909 – January 16, 1974) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
newspaperman and politician. He represented the U.S. state of
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
U.S. Secretary of the Interior
The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natura ...
Seaton was born in Washington, D.C. on December 11, 1909, the son of Dorothea Elizabeth (''née'' Schmidt) and Fay Noble Seaton. He attended the
Manhattan High School
Manhattan High School is a public high school in Manhattan, Kansas, United States, serving students in grades 9-12. It is part of the Manhattan–Ogden USD 383. For the 2013–2014 school year, Manhattan High had an enrollment of 1,920 students. ...
in
Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city and county seat of Riley County, Kansas, United States, although the city extends into Pottawatomie County. It is located in northeastern Kansas at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. As of the 2020 c ...
. He graduated from
Kansas State University
Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...
in 1931, and married Gladys Hope Dowd (November 5, 1910 – January 5, 1999) in the same year. They had four children: Donald Richard, Alfred Noble, Johanna Christine, and Monica Margaret Seaton. In 1937, Seaton moved to Hastings, Nebraska, where he was for many years the publisher of the ''
Hastings Tribune
The ''Hastings Tribune'' is a newspaper published in Hastings, Nebraska. The newspaper is put out six days a week, excluding Sundays. It serves ten counties in south central Nebraska and north central Kansas.Republican politics. He served in the
unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...
Nebraska Legislature
The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators", the Nebraska Legislature is the sm ...
from 1945 to 1949. He was appointed to the U.S. Senate on December 10, 1951, by Gov.Val Peterson to fill the vacancy created by the death of
Kenneth S. Wherry
Kenneth Spicer Wherry (February 28, 1892November 29, 1951) was an American businessman, attorney, and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Nebraska from 1943 until his death in 1951; he was the minority ...
. A Rockefeller Republican, Seaton was senator for less than a year; he had to vacate the post on November 4, 1952, when
Dwight Griswold
Dwight Palmer Griswold (November 27, 1893April 12, 1954) was an American publisher and politician from the U.S. state of Nebraska. He served as the 25th List of governors of Nebraska, governor of Nebraska from 1941 to 1947, and in the United Sta ...
won the 1952 special election to complete the Senate term. He was the second of six Senators to serve during the fifteenth Senate term for Nebraska's Class 2 seat, from January 3, 1949 to January 3, 1955.
Seaton served in various White House and subcabinet posts in Eisenhower's administration, including
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs
The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, or ASD(LA), is the head of the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, responsible for providing support to the Secretary of Defense (SecDef) in his/her dealings with ...
, before he was appointed as the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. He served in that office from June 8, 1956, until January 20, 1961. During his tenure,
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...
and
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
became the 49th and 50th states admitted to the Union. He was instrumental in the passing of the Alaska Statehood Act, appointing & recommending pro-Alaska politicians to high positions, such as Ted Stevens to Senior Counsel to the Secretary of Interior and Mike Stepovich to Governor of the Territory of Alaska.
He ran for governor of Nebraska in
1962
Events January
* January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
* January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism.
* January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origi ...
, on January 16, 1974, and is interred in Parkview Cemetery in Hastings, Nebraska.
Further reading
*"Seaton, Fred(erick) A(ndrew)" in ''Current Biography 1956.''
*James C. Olson, ''History of Nebraska'', Second Edition. (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1966).