Frank Welsh Burke (June 1, 1920 – June 29, 2007) was an American politician who served as a Democratic 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 ...

from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

from 1959 to 1963 and as mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, from 1969 to 1973.

Early life and career

Burke was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

and educated in parochial schools there, graduating from St. Xavier High School. He attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

and received a degree from

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

and a law degree from the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

. He began practicing law in Louisville in 1948. Burke served in 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 ...

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 ...

. Burke held appointed local offices under mayor Charles R. Farnsley including as assistant city attorney of Louisville in 1950 and 1951, director of public safety of Louisville in 1952, and executive assistant to the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, in 1952 and 1953.

Political career

Burke was elected to the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

and served there in 1957 and 1958. In 1958 Burke was elected to the

from Kentucky's 3rd District (Louisville). Burke defeated incumbent Republican John M. Robsion, Jr. for the seat. Burke was re-elected to the House seat in 1960 and served from January 3, 1959, to January 3, 1963. Burke won his re-election race by 221 votes. Burke voted in favor of the

Civil Rights Act of 1960 The Civil Rights Act of 1960 () is a United States federal law that established federal inspection of local voter registration polls and introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed someone's attempt to register to vote. It dealt primarily wi ...

. He was defeated in a close race for re-election in 1962 by Gene Snyder; Snyder won 93,627 votes to Burke's 91,062. In 1969, Republicans had controlled county and city offices in Louisville for eight years. Burke, a Democrat, was elected mayor of Louisville that year, winning 48,337 votes to Republican John Porter Sawyer's 40,810. Burke served in that office from 1969 to 1973. Burke's priorities included reducing crime; he increased the size of the police force and installed many new street lights and the crime rate in Louisville dropped while Burke was mayor. Burke also increased garbage pickups and the sewers and pushed the construction of the Louisville Belvedere. Burke also instituted a retirement system for city employees. As mayor, he integrated the city's workforce.

Later life

Burke continued to practice law in Kentucky with Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs until 2005. He died in June 2007.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Frank W. 1920 births 2007 deaths Mayors of Louisville, Kentucky St. Xavier High School (Louisville) alumni University of Louisville alumni University of Southern California alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky 20th-century mayors of places in Kentucky 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly