Frank Aloysius Barrett (November 10, 1892May 30, 1962) was an American

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

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 ...

. He served as a Republican 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 ...

and 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 ...

, and as the 21st Governor of Wyoming.

Biography

Barrett was born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, to a family of eight. His parents were Patrick J. Barrett and Elizabeth A. Curran Barrett. His mother and his paternal grandparents emigrated to the United States from

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

Creighton University Creighton University () is a private research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate ...

, and worked as a postal employee at the same time. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Barrett joined the Balloon Corps of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

for a two-year enlistment. He married Alice Catherine Donoghue on May 21, 1919, and they moved to Lusk,

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. After arriving in Lusk, Barrett put his law degree to good use, acting as county attorney for Niobrara from 1922 until 1934. He served in the

Wyoming Senate The Wyoming Senate is the upper house of the Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming State Legislature. There are 31 Senators in the Senate, representing an equal number of constituencies across Wyoming, each with a population of at least 17,000. The Senat ...

from 1933 until 1935, then served on the

Board of Trustees A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

. He first ran for Federal office in 1936, but lost out to Paul Greever. He stood for Congress again in 1942, and won, serving there until 1950. In 1951, Barrett was sworn in as Governor. He resigned in 1953 after he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1952, when he unseated three-term incumbent Joseph C. O'Mahoney. Barrett voted in favor of the

Civil Rights Act of 1957 The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights law passed by the United States Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The bill was passed by the 85th United States Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. E ...

. He was defeated after only one term by one of O'Mahoney's former aides, Gale McGee.

Family life

On February 17, 1956, his wife Alice died of cancer. They had had four children together, one of whom had died in infancy. On April 4, 1959, he remarried, to Augusta K. Hogan. Barrett completed his term in the Senate in 1958, and narrowly lost his re-election bid. In 1959 he was appointed Chief Counsel of the

Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

and sat on the board of directors of the

Commodity Credit Corporation The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is a wholly owned United States government corporation that was created in 1933 to "stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices" (federally chartered by the CCC Charter Act of 1948 (P.L. 80-806) ...

. His son, James E. Barrett, was a senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit and former judge of the

United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (FISCR) is a U.S. federal court whose sole purpose is to review denials of applications for electronic surveillance warrants (called FISA warrants) by the United States Foreign ...

in Washington, D.C.

Death

Barrett was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

on May 15, 1962, and died just fifteen days later, at the age of 69. He was interred at Lusk Cemetery in Lusk. Barrett was a devout

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, and a member of the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic Church, Catholic Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney, Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. ...

References

External links

*
Wyoming State Archives biography
accessed 2005-11-10.
"Frank Barrett Dies Memorial Day, Last Rites Saturday Morning at 10:00 in High School Auditorium"
''The Lusk Herald'', May 1962. Accessed 2005-11-10.
Congressional biography
Accessed 2005-11-10.

Accessed 2005-11-10.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Frank A. 1892 births 1962 deaths Politicians from Omaha, Nebraska Deaths from leukemia in the United States Republican Party governors of Wyoming Republican Party Wyoming state senators United States Army personnel of World War I American people of Irish descent Catholics from Nebraska Catholics from Wyoming Creighton University alumni Creighton University School of Law alumni Military personnel from Wyoming United States Army soldiers United States Department of Agriculture officials American anti-communists Wyoming lawyers Deaths from cancer in Wyoming Republican Party United States senators from Wyoming Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wyoming People from Lusk, Wyoming 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century United States senators 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Wyoming Legislature