Alan Dupree Wheat (born October 16, 1951) is an American economist, lobbyist, and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served six terms in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

from 1983 to 1995.

Early life

His father was James Wheat, an officer and civil engineer in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

. His mother Emogene (Jean) Wheat was a teacher. Since his father served in the USAF, he grew up in air bases and went to schools in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

, and

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

in Spain. In 1968, he graduated from

Airline High School Airline High School is a High school, secondary school located in Bossier City, Louisiana, Bossier City, Louisiana, United States. In addition to sections of Bossier City, the school's attendance boundary includes a portion of the Red Chute, Lou ...

Bossier City Bossier City ( ) is a city in Bossier Parish in the northwestern region of the state of Louisiana in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area. In 2020, it had a total ...

, Louisiana. Wheat was hired by the

Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the secretary of housing and u ...

as an economist in 1972 after passing his B.A. in economics at

Grinnell College Grinnell College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalis ...

, in Iowa. Between 1973 and 1975 he joined the Mid–America Regional Council in Kansas City for the same role. In 1975 he then became an aide to Mike White a Jackson County, Missouri, executive.

Missouri legislature

In 1976, he won the election at age 25 to the

Missouri general assembly The Missouri General Assembly is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Missouri Senate, Senate and a 163-member Missouri House of Represen ...

, at the age of 25 and stayed there until 1982.

Campaign for Congress

When Congressman

Richard Bolling Richard Walker Bolling (May 17, 1916 – April 21, 1991) was a prominent American Democratic Congressman from Kansas City, Missouri, and Missouri's 5th congressional district from 1949 to 1983. He retired after serving for four years as the cha ...

retired at the 1982 House of Representatives election, Wheat won the Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

by only 1,004 votes (11%). He went on to win the general election to succeed Bolling by beating Republican John Sharp with 58% of the votes.

House career and Senate campaign

Wheat was the youngest member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

ever to be appointed to the Rules Committee, and was also the first African-American to represent a district with a non-liberal white majority. He was also a member of the United States House Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families.Children, youth, and families: Beginning the assessment. Hearing before the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families; House of Representatives, Ninety-Eighth Congress, First Session
''United States House of Representatives'', Washington, DC, 28 April 1984, Original document retrieved 19 January 2014 from ERIC at Ed.gov: Institution of Education Sciences. In 1992, Wheat drew four opponents in the Democratic primary election. He was perceived to be vulnerable due to the

House banking scandal The House banking scandal broke in early 1992, when it was revealed that the US House of Representatives allowed its members to overdraw their House checking accounts without the risk of being penalized by the House bank, which was actually a cle ...

and his having been one of the House members who had made overdrafts. Wheat survived the primary and defeated Republican Edward “Gomer” Moody, who was a well-known Missouri businessman. Wheat won the general election, which also included two third-party candidates, with 59% of the vote. After

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

John Danforth John Claggett Danforth (born September 5, 1936) is an American politician, attorney, diplomat, and Episcopal priest who served as the Attorney General of Missouri from 1969 to 1976 and as a United States Senator from 1976 to 1995. A member of the ...

said he would not run for re-election in the 1994 election, Wheat chose to leave the House and instead run for Danforth's seat. The Senate race was closely watched nationally because Wheat was perceived as a candidate who could win crossover votes, as the House district he represented was 70 percent white. Wheat lost the general election to former governor

John Ashcroft John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American lawyer, Lobbying, lobbyist, and former politician who served as the 79th United States attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. A Republican Party (United States), R ...

. Karen McCarthy was elected to succeed him in the House.

Post-congressional career

After his Senate race, Wheat was chosen as vice president of Public Policy and Government Relations at

CARE Care may refer to: Organizations and projects * CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation * CARE (England) West Midlands, Central Accident Resuscitation Emergency team, a team of doctors & ...

. He served as deputy campaign manager and director of constituent outreach of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

's re-election campaign in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. In 1997, Wheat formed the

lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...

group Wheat Government Relations. Wheat joined the national law firm and lobbying practice

Polsinelli Polsinelli is an American law firm headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. History Polsinelli is an Am Law 100 firm with more than 1,000 attorneys in 22 offices nationwide. The firm's attorneys focus on health care, finance, real estate, tech ...

in 2013, as the firm's Public Policy practice chair. In 2021, Wheat helped foun
Wheat Shroyer Government Relations
a public service-oriented lobbying firm, where he currently serves as Chairman. Wheat currently serves on the board of directors at CARE.

Personal life

Wheat has three children.

References

External links

Official Site: Wheat Government RelationsU.S. Senate Office of Public Records: Lobbyist RegistrationCenter for Public Integrity: LobbyWatch, Wheat Government Relations
* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wheat, Alan 1951 births African-American members of the United States House of Representatives African-American state legislators in Missouri Airline High School alumni American lobbyists Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri Grinnell College alumni Living people Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Politicians from San Antonio Politicians from Kansas City, Missouri 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American politicians Members of Congress who became lobbyists 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Missouri General Assembly