Frank O'Bannon

Frank O'Bannon

Frank Lewis O'Bannon (born January 30, 1930 in Louisville , Kentucky , †  September 13, 2003 in Chicago , Illinois ) was an American politician and between 1997 and 2003 the 47th governor of the state of Indiana .

Early years and political advancement

O'Bannon was born in Kentucky but grew up in Corydon, Indiana. There he attended elementary school. Until 1952 he studied at Indiana University . He then served in the US Air Force for two years . After his time in the Air Force, he returned to the university, where he passed his law exam in 1957. He started practicing after he was admitted to the bar. He was also the publisher of several weeklies in Harrison County and Crawford County . His family had been in the publishing business since 1907, and O'Bannon was following a family tradition in doing this.

O'Bannon was a member of the Democratic Party and was elected to the Indiana Senate in 1970 . Between 1979 and 1988 he was chairman of the Democratic group in this body. In 1988 he was elected lieutenant governor of his state and in 1992 he was elected to this office. With that he was the representative of the governor Evan Bayh for eight years . In addition to serving as lieutenant governor, he was also Indiana Secretary of Commerce and Agriculture. In 1996 he was elected governor himself as a candidate of his party.

Indiana Governor

O'Bannon's grave in Corydon, Indiana

O'Bannon took up his new position on January 13, 1997. In 2000 he was approved by Indian voters. As governor, he worked to further improve the school system and improve health care for children. In this area he was at the top of all states. He was the first Indian governor to use the Internet and e-mail long before it became the norm. At the beginning of his tenure, the governor benefited from the positive economic development of the 1990s. He was able to lower taxes and still hire 500 new police officers, for example. The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 also led to economic problems in Indiana. The economy went into crisis and 120,000 jobs were lost in Indiana. That reduced the tax revenue considerably. As the problems grew, so did the opposition to the governor.

On September 8, 2003, while attending a trade show in Chicago, O'Bannon suffered a stroke, which resulted in his death five days later. His lieutenant governor Joe Kernan had to end his term. Frank O'Bannon was married to Judy Asmus, with whom he had three children.

Web links

• Frank O'Bannon in the National Governors Association (English)
• Indiana Historical Bureau
• Frank O'Bannon in the database of Find a Grave (English)