Fred R. Harris
Fred Roy Harris ( born November 13, 1930 in Walters, Cotton County, Oklahoma) is an American politician who represented his home state Oklahoma in the United States Senate.
Life
Career
Fred Roy Harris was born one of three children of Fred Byron and his wife Alene person Harris on a small farm in Walters, a small town of 2600 inhabitants in southwestern Oklahoma. As a boy, Harris had with his two sisters on the family farm and graduated at the same time cooperate Walters High School. In order to finance the studies at the University of Oklahoma, he worked as a janitor and as an assistant in a print shop. In 1952 he completed his studies in history and political science. Thereafter, Harris began a study of law, which he completed in 1954 with honors. After he was taken in the same year in the Bar Association of the State of Oklahoma, Harris started working as an attorney in Lawton (Oklahoma). In 1956 he founded with colleagues the law firm Harris, Newcombe, Redman, and Doolin, which was to develop over the next eight years, the largest law firm in southwestern Oklahoma.
Political career
In 1954, Harris was a candidate for the Democratic Party for a seat in the House of Representatives from Oklahoma, but lost the election by 35 votes. Two years later, Harris had more success, was elected as the 26 -year-old in 1956 in the Senate of Oklahoma. Harris was regarded as a meticulous working and dedicated senator who was represented in all the important committees of the Parliament of Oklahoma. In 1962, he announced to want to run for the office of Governor of Oklahoma, however, peaked in the internal party primaries only fifth.
Of 1964 after the death of Robert S. Kerr the by-election to his seat in the Senate of the United States instead. With the support of the Kerr family as well as the election campaign the help of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded Harris not only to win the internal party preselection against J. Howard Edmondson, the former governor of Oklahoma, but he was also in the election on November 3, 1964 against Bud Wilkinson, the candidate of the Republicans successfully with 51.17 percentage points to voter approval.
Fred Harris was during his time in the Senate as a single-minded politician who was represented in three important Senate committees and nine subcommittees. He sat down especially for the creation of jobs, a, became involved in social issues and made himself strong for science and research. In 1965 he was elected by the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce among the top ten outstanding young men in America, the Outstanding Young Men of America. 1966 Harris was also confirmed by absolute majority vote in his office.
His friends included Robert F. Kennedy and Walter Mondale. 1968 Harris was one of the last two candidates, the U.S. presidential candidate Hubert H. Humphrey had made for the office of Vice President of the United States in the eye, but Humphrey decided in the last moment and took a different Edmund Muskie with his ticket. As compensation but also for his involvement in the Senate Harris was a year later, 1969, as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC ) is selected.
1968 Harris was appointed by President Johnson as Chairman of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, a Commission that it had set itself the goal to prevent race riots in several U.S. cities. His policy, who spoke out for the rights of African Americans, was the first reason why the popularity ratings of Harris in Oklahoma declined. Another damper for the image of the politician was the criticism of Harris in the Vietnam War. Since exit polls predicted a failure of Harris at the next Senate election, renounced Harris, 1971 on the re-election. He also retired in 1970 back from the chairmanship of the DNC.
In 1971, he announced his candidacy for the office of President of the United States, but he could hardly encash campaign contributions, so that he had to quit the company failed after a few weeks. In the coming years he taught at the American University, before he again proposed in 1976 to run for the highest office in the state. Although Harris was not set up as a candidate of the Democrats nor the general election had been won, he could achieve remarkable results in the primaries in some states. So he reached in Iowa with 10 percentage points votes by Jimmy Carter the second highest votes yield. Other double-digit percentage points, he was able to record in New Hampshire and Vermont. Seen nationwide Harris came to 1.52 percentage points, and so took the 10th place of the Democratic presidential candidate.
Late Life and Private
Fred Roy Harris now lives in the small town of Corrales, New Mexico, where he teaches political science at the University of New Mexico. He was married to LaDonna Harris, one of the members of the Comanche tribe people, with whom he has three daughters together.