Robert William Davis (July 31, 1932 – October 16, 2009) 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 ...

from the state of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. He represented the state's 11th congressional district, which at that time included the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula b ...

and a large portion of

Northern Michigan Northern Michigan (also known as Northern Lower Michigan and colloquially within Michigan as "Up North") is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. The region, which is distinct from the more northerly Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsul ...

, in 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 1979 until 1993.

Early life

Davis was born in

Marquette, Michigan Marquette ( ) is the county seat of Marquette County, Michigan, Marquette County and the largest city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. Located on the shores of Lake Superior, Marquette is a major port known primarily for shippin ...

. His family moved to St. Ignace soon after his birth, where he attended public schools. He graduated from LaSalle High School in 1950. He attended

Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designa ...

Hillsdale College Hillsdale College is a Private university, private, Conservatism in the United States, conservative, Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1844 by members of the Free Will Baptists. Women were admi ...

, and the College of Mortuary Sciences at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

. Before entering politics, Davis served as Funeral Director at the Davis Funeral Home in St. Ignace.

Political career

In 1966, Davis was elected as a Republican to the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 ...

from the state's 106th District and was reelected in 1968. In 1970, Davis was elected to the

Michigan State Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Constitution of Michigan, Mi ...

from the 37th district and was reelected in 1974. He served as the Majority Whip, 1970–1974, and as Senate Republican Leader, 1974–1978. In 1978, Davis was elected to the

96th United States Congress The 96th 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, 1979 ...

and was subsequently re-elected to the six succeeding Congresses. Davis did not seek re-election in 1992. In Congress, Davis helped establish the

Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve is a United States National Marine Sanctuary on Lake Huron's Thunder Bay, within the northeastern region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It protects an estimated 116 historically si ...

and the

Keweenaw National Historical Park Keweenaw National Historical Park is a unit of the U.S. National Park Service. Established in 1992, the park celebrates the life and history of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a federal-local ...

. In early 1992, Davis was implicated in the

House banking scandal The House banking scandal broke in early 1992, when it was revealed that the US House of Representatives allowed its members to overdraw their House checking accounts without the risk of being penalized by the House bank, which was actually a cle ...

or congressional check-kiting scandal. The Congress ran its own bank and allowed members who wished to do so to frequently write overdrawn or insufficient fund checks to their account. Davis was one of the most notorious of these, writing many overdrawn checks. There was no illegality, though, since the bank allowed members overdraft protection. For the elections of 1992, after redistricting due to the 1990 census, most of what had been 11th congressional district became

Michigan's 1st congressional district Michigan's 1st congressional district is a United States congressional district that fully contains the 15 counties of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and 20 counties of Northern Michigan in the Lower Peninsula. The district is currently represen ...

, while the 11th district was apportioned to represent a part of the

Metro Detroit Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the Southeast Michigan, surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the officia ...

area. In 1992,

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 ...

Bart Stupak Bartholomew Thomas Stupak (; born February 29, 1952) is an American politician and lobbyist. A member of the Democratic Party, Stupak served as the U.S. representative from from 1993 to 2011. Stupak chose not to seek re-election in 2010. He de ...

was elected from 1st district, succeeding Davis as the U.S. representative for the U.P. and Northern Michigan. Stupak, coincidentally, defeated

Philip Ruppe Philip Edward Ruppe (born September 29, 1926) is an American retired politician from Michigan who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for six terms from 1967 to 1979 before running, unsuccessfully for the United Stat ...

, the man Davis replaced as congressman in 1978. Davis lived in

Gaylord, Michigan Gaylord ( ') is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Otsego County, Michigan, Otsego County, and the only city within the county. Gaylord had a population of 4,286 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, an incre ...

Post-Congressional career and life

He became a lobbyist for

K&L Gates K&L Gates LLP is an American multinational corporation law firm based in the United States, with international offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, the firm was formed in 2007 by the ...

. He was active in the Bush campaign, having served on the Michigan Bush Committee, and was a friend and former colleague of Vice President

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...

. According to the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' of May 31, 1989, Davis revealed that he hired a woman with whom he lived for his committee staff, but he said he had not violated House rules. He acknowledged recommending that Brook Ball, 27, 29 years his junior, be hired for the House Merchant Marine staff. However, in 1987 Davis was still married to his third wife, DC-based network radio and TV news anchor/journalist Marty Davis, whom he married in 1976. The couple reconciled five months after their 1989 divorce until 1992. He married Ball in 1992, who survives him, as do his four children. Davis died at a hospice in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

at age 77 of heart and kidney failure. Robert is interred at Protestant Cemetery, Mackinac Island, Michigan, USA.

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Robert W. 1932 births 2009 deaths Deaths from kidney disease American funeral directors Hillsdale College alumni Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Republican Party Michigan state senators Northern Michigan University alumni People from Marquette, Michigan Wayne State University alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan People from St. Ignace, Michigan People from Gaylord, Michigan 20th-century members of the Michigan Legislature 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives