Frank Monroe Clark (December 24, 1915 – June 17, 2003) was a Democratic member of 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

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Early life and military service

Frank Clark was born in Bessemer, Pennsylvania. He attended the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics, and enlisted in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

in 1942, serving in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

as a

flight officer The title flight officer was a military rank used by the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, and also an air force rank in several Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, where it was used for female officers and was equiv ...

until discharged in 1945. Clark later became a major in the

Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commis ...

Public service

While still in the service, Clark was appointed as the chief of police of Bessemer, serving in that capacity until November 1954. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to Congress in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

. He was elected as a Democrat in

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

to the

84th United States Congress The 84th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1955 ...

, defeating incumbent Republican Congressman

Louis E. Graham Louis Edward Graham (August 4, 1880 – November 9, 1965) was an American politician who was a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Biography Louis E. Graham was born in ...

, and was re-elected to the nine succeeding Congresses, serving until his resignation on December 31, 1974, following his defeat in the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

election to Republican Gary A. Myers. After his loss to Myers, Clark continued to send massive amounts of mail to his former constituents stating they were from 'your Congressman Frank M. Clark' when he had been out of office for five months. Clark won only 34 of 244 votes for the post of Clerk of the House. He pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion on February 13, 1979. He was unsuccessful in seeking re-election in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, and

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

. He was a delegate to a number of conferences, including: * the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermat ...

Conference 1956–1974 * the

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; , UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing g ...

Conference in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1957 * the Christian Leadership for Peace Conference at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

in 1958 * the International Roads Conference in 1959 and 1962–1968. He died in

New Castle, Pennsylvania New Castle is a city in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Shenango River at the mouth of Neshannock Creek, it is northwest of Pittsburgh near the Pennsylvania–Ohio border, approximately so ...

, on June 17, 2003.Frank Clark, 87 10-term congressman had a heart for helping
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References

External links

Retrieved on 2008-01-24 {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Frank M. 1915 births 2003 deaths American municipal police chiefs American people convicted of tax crimes Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Law enforcement officials from Pennsylvania Military personnel from Pennsylvania Politicians from Lawrence County, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania politicians convicted of crimes Politicians convicted of mail and wire fraud United States Air Force officers United States Air Force reservists United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Early life and military service

Public service

See also

References

External links