Ann Chilton Bartlett Burke (November 9, 1920 – January 26, 2013) was an American

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 ...

political campaign staff Political campaign staff are the group of people who formulate and implement the strategy of a political campaign. Campaign staffs are generally composed both of unpaid volunteers and paid employees of either the campaign itself or a related po ...

er, and former

First Lady of Oklahoma First Lady or First Gentleman of Oklahoma is the title held by the spouse of the sitting governor of Oklahoma. The first lady or first gentleman serves as the official host of the Oklahoma Governor's Mansion. As of 2019, there have been 26 first ...

. Bartlett served as the First Lady of

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

during the administration of her husband,

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Dewey F. Bartlett from 1967 to 1971. Ann Bartlett then became actively involved in state and national campaigns for Republican presidential candidates during the 1970s and 1980s.

Early life

Ann Bartlett was born Ann Smith on November 9, 1920, in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

to parents, Edgar and Joan Smith. Smith was raised in Seattle and attended both

Seattle University Seattle University (Seattle U or SU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and grad ...

and the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. Smith met her future husband, Dewey Bartlett, originally of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, while visiting Doheny Park, California, to care for her grandmother. They both attended the same Marine officers' USO party on

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located next to the community of El Toro and was then adjacent to the city of Irvine. Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the home of Marine Corps Av ...

. The couple were engaged just three weeks and three days later. Bartlett left for eighteen months soon after to serve as a Marine Corp

Douglas SBD Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main Carrier-based aircraft, ...

dive bomber pilot in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The couple married at a ceremony in San Juan Capistrano, California, on April 2, 1945.

First Lady

In the mid-1940s, Bartlett moved with her husband to

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

, where Dewey Bartlett took a position with his father's company, Keener Oil Co., operated by his brother, Dave Bartlett. Ann Bartlett worked as a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American English, American and Canadian English, Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational ...

during this era, but also took on roles as a family and campaign adviser as her husband entered

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

. Bartlett was elected as Oklahoma's second Republican governor and took office in 1967. She took on some of the traditional positions as

. She promoted literacy and the arts. In 1970, she became the chairwoman of the Oklahoma's National Library Week Committee, advocating on behalf of state libraries. She served as First Lady until January 1971. Bartlett was elected to the

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

in 1972, serving one term until 1979. Bartlett left the Senate in January 1979 and died from cancer March 1, 1979.

Political campaigns and philanthropy

Bartlett established her own active political career following her husband's death. Her political resume extended to state and national Republican

presidential campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...

s. She served as the chairwoman of the Oklahoma state

of Senator

Howard Baker Howard Henry Baker Jr. (November 15, 1925 June 26, 2014) was an American politician, diplomat and photographer who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1967 to 1985. During his tenure, he rose to the rank of Senate Minority Le ...

in 1980. Bartlett later served as the head of Seniors for Reagan, a national arm of the campaign of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

's presidential campaign which focused on senior voters. She also supported numerous Tulsa-based nonprofits and other groups, including the

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...

and the Family and Children's Services.

Death

Ann Bartlett died on January 26, 2013, at the age of 92. She was survived by her three children,

Dewey F. Bartlett Jr. Dewey Follett Bartlett Jr. (born March 16, 1947) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 39th List of mayors of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma. An oil industry executive and political figure in Tulsa, Bartlett was t ...

, Joan C. Atkinson, and Michael H. Bartlett. She was predeceased by her first husband, former Senator Bartlett, and her second husband,

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

John Garrett Burke (died 1989). Her funeral was held at Christ the King Roman Catholic Church in Tulsa.

References

External links

Voices of Oklahoma interview with Ann Bartlett.
First person interview conducted on June 5, 2010, with Ann Bartlett. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartlett, Ann 1920 births 2013 deaths First ladies and gentlemen of Oklahoma Women in Oklahoma politics American campaign managers Oklahoma Republicans Seattle University alumni Housewives University of Washington alumni Politicians from Seattle Politicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma Catholic politicians from Washington (state) Catholic politicians from Oklahoma 21st-century American women