24 Facts About Henry Bellmon

Henry Louis Bellmon was an American Republican politician from the US State of Oklahoma.

Henry Bellmon was the first Republican to serve as Governor of Oklahoma and, after his direct predecessor George Nigh, only the second governor to be reelected.

Henry Bellmon died in 2009 after a long struggle with Parkinson's disease.

Henry Bellmon was born in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, and graduated from Billings High School in Billings, Oklahoma.

Henry Bellmon was a lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps from 1942 to 1946.

Henry Bellmon was a tank platoon leader in the Pacific Theater of World War II.

Henry Bellmon took part in four amphibious landings on Pacific islands, including Iwo Jima.

Henry Bellmon served a single term in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1947 to 1949.

In 1962, beating the studied journalist and well known constructor Bill Atkinson with 392,316 votes, Henry Bellmon became Oklahoma's first Republican governor since statehood in 1907.

Henry Bellmon was unable to run for reelection in 1966; at the time, Oklahoma did not allow governors to immediately succeed themselves.

In 1976, Henry Bellmon was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

Henry Bellmon did not run for a third term in 1980.

Henry Bellmon was a co-founder and co-chairman of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Henry Bellmon chose not to run for re-election and was succeeded by Don Nickles a much more conservative Republican in 1980.

Henry Bellmon was appointed the interim director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services by Governor George Nigh, a Democrat, in 1982.

Henry Bellmon served from January 12,1987, to January 14,1991.

Henry Bellmon would have been eligible for a third term, since 8-year lifetime term limits were not enacted until 2010.

However, Price was defeated by David Walters, whom Henry Bellmon had defeated four years earlier.

Henry Bellmon is notable for overseeing as governor both Oklahoma's final pre-Furman execution, when James French was electrocuted in 1966, and its first post-Furman, when Charles Coleman was put to death by lethal injection in 1990.

Henry Bellmon taught at Oklahoma City University, Central State University, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Oklahoma.

Shirley Henry Bellmon died in 2000; Henry Bellmon married a longtime friend, Eloise Bollenbach, in 2002.

Henry Bellmon was inducted into the Oklahoma CareerTech Hall of Fame posthumously in 2011.

Henry Bellmon died September 29,2009, in Enid, Oklahoma, at the age of 88 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

Henry Bellmon is buried at the Union Cemetery in Billings, Oklahoma.