Robert Darias Bailey Jr. (October 12, 1912 – September 29, 1994) was

West Virginia Secretary of State The secretary of state of West Virginia is an elected office within the U.S. state of West Virginia state government. The secretary of state is responsible for overseeing the state's election process, including voter registration and election r ...

from 1965 to 1969. He was a graduate of Concord College and

Washington and Lee University School of Law The Washington and Lee University School of Law (W&L Law) is the law school of Washington and Lee University, a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia. It is accredited by the American Bar Association. Facilities are on the histo ...

. Born in Baileysville, he was the son of Robert D. Bailey Sr. and Sue Starkey Bailey. 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 ...

, he served in the U.S. Army in the European Theater. Admitted to the bar in 1934, he inherited his father's

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 ...

practice, including representation of railroads and timber companies in southern West Virginia, based in his home town of Pineville. His own wide-ranging business involvements included the Castle Rock Bank of Pineville, Radio Station WWYO, the ''Independent Herald'' newspaper, and the Pineville Gas Company. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, he was Wyoming County

Prosecuting Attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

for a number of non-consecutive terms between 1943 and 1961. He was appointed West Virginia Secretary of State by Governor Hulett C. Smith on May 17, 1965, and was elected in 1966, serving until January 1969. After Smith's term ended, Bailey returned to private practice in his home town of Pineville. He died on September 29, 1994, in

Princeton, West Virginia Princeton is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 5,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Bluefield micropolitan area. History Early history Princeton was ...

, and was survived by his wife Jean H. Bailey, his son Robert D. Bailey III, and his three grandchildren, Angela Sue Osborn, Robert Darias Bailey IV, and Micah Alexander Bailey. Bailey was an avid fisherman, gardener, and local philanthropist.

References

1912 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century West Virginia politicians Businesspeople from West Virginia Concord University alumni County prosecuting attorneys in West Virginia Military personnel from West Virginia People from Pineville, West Virginia Secretaries of state of West Virginia United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers Washington and Lee University School of Law alumni West Virginia Democrats West Virginia lawyers {{WestVirginia-politician-stub