Robert Frederick Bennett

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Robert Frederick Bennett (born May 23, 1927 in Kansas City , Missouri , † October 9, 2000 in Kansas City , Kansas ) was an American politician and from 1975 to 1979 the 39th  governor of the state of Kansas.

Early years and political advancement

Robert Bennett studied at the University of Kansas until 1950 . In 1952 he took his legal exam and then worked repeatedly as a lawyer. His studies were interrupted by World War II and the Korean War . In both wars, Bennett fought in the U.S. Marine Corps. In Korea he was wounded and received the Purple Heart . Between 1955 and 1957 he served on the Prairie Village Parish Council ; from 1957 to 1965 he was mayor of this municipality. He spent the next nine years until 1974 in the Kansas Senate . Since 1973 he was president of this body. In 1974 he was elected as the Republican Party candidate for the new governor of Kansas.

Kansas Governor

Bennett's four-year tenure began on January 13, 1975 and ended on January 8, 1979. During this time, he reformed the style of government in Kansas by emphasizing the responsibility of individual ministers to the governor and thereby strengthening the governor's position. Bennett was a very good speaker who drafted his own speeches and did not need a speech writer. He has served on several governorships, the National Committee against Child Abuse, the American Bar Association, the American Judicature Society, the Freemasons, and the Optimsts Club. Governor Bennett failed his attempt in 1978 to be re-elected.

Another résumé

At the end of his term he was back to the law. After contracting lung cancer, he succumbed to the disease in October 2000. Robert Bennett was married to Olivia Fisher, with whom he had four children.

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