Robert Wendell Bailey (born July 30, 1940) is an American politician from

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. He graduated from

Southwest Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second-largest u ...

, where he was a member of

Tau Kappa Epsilon Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, maki ...

fraternity, with a degree in

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

and owned an automobile dealership in Willow Springs. Bailey was named after

Wendell Willkie Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee for president. Willkie appeale ...

, the Republican presidential nominee for the 1940 election. After serving as mayor of his native Willow Springs, Bailey was elected to the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

in 1972 and re-elected in 1974, 1976, and 1978. In 1980, Bailey was elected to 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 ...

, but after the 1980 census Missouri lost one congressional district, and Bailey's 8th District was eliminated. The bulk of his district was merged with the neighboring

4th district Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

of two-term Democrat

Ike Skelton Isaac Newton Skelton IV (December 20, 1931 – October 28, 2013) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for from 1977 to 2011. During his tenure, he served as the chairman of the House Armed Services Committ ...

. Although Bailey lost, he held Skelton to 54 percent of the vote, which was notable considering Skelton retained 60 percent of his former territory. In 1984 Bailey made a comeback and was elected Missouri State Treasurer; he was narrowly re-elected to this office in 1988 over future Missouri Governor

Bob Holden Robert Lee Holden Jr. (born August 24, 1949) is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of Missouri from 2001 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the Missouri state treasurer from 1993 to 2001 an ...

. In 1992 Bailey made an unsuccessful bid for

Governor of Missouri A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, finishing third in the Republican primary behind then-Attorney General

William L. Webster William Lawrence Webster (born September 17, 1953) is an American lawyer, former politician and convicted felon from Missouri. He served in the Missouri House of Representatives and later as the 39th Attorney General of Missouri from 1985 to 199 ...

(who won the nomination) and then-Secretary of State

Roy Blunt Roy Dean Blunt (born January 10, 1950) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Missouri from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he pre ...

. Bailey cast himself as the only pro-choice candidate in the 1992 GOP governor's primary, whereas Webster and Blunt were both clearly

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

. Bailey narrowly lost the Republican primary for a seat in the Missouri Senate in 1996, but in 2000 Bailey captured the Republican nomination for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, although he was defeated by Democrat Joe Maxwell in the general election. In 2006, the ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the '' Belleville News-Democra ...

'' reported that Bailey was working in the

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

office of the

Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and str ...

as a regional advocate representing Missouri and neighboring states Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska.

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Wendell 1940 births Living people People from Willow Springs, Missouri Missouri State University alumni Mayors of places in Missouri Republican Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives State treasurers of Missouri Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Missouri General Assembly