Dewey F. Bartlett

This article is about the former Oklahoma governor. For his son, see Dewey F. Bartlett Jr.

Dewey F. Bartlett
19th Governor of Oklahoma
In office January 9, 1967 – January 11, 1971
Lieutenant	George Nigh
Preceded by	Henry Bellmon
Succeeded by	David Hall
United States Senator from Oklahoma
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979
Preceded by	Fred R. Harris
Succeeded by	David Boren
Member of the Oklahoma Senate from the 39th district
In office 1962–1966
Preceded by	Yates A. Land
Succeeded by	Joseph McGraw
Personal details
Born	Dewey Follett Bartlett (1919-03-28)March 28, 1919 Marietta, Ohio, U.S.
Died	March 1, 1979(1979-03-01) (aged 59) Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Cause of death	Lung cancer
Resting place	Calvary Cemetery 36°01′46.3″N 95°56′04.4″W
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Ann Chilton Smith ​ (m. 1945)​
Children	3, including Dewey Jr.
Alma mater	Princeton University
Profession	Oilman
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1942-1946
Rank	Captain
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Air Medal

Dewey Follett Bartlett Sr. (March 28, 1919 – March 1, 1979) was an American politician who served as the 19th governor of Oklahoma from 1967 to 1971, following his fellow Republican, Henry Bellmon. In 1966, he became the first Roman Catholic elected governor of Oklahoma, defeating the Democratic nominee, Preston J. Moore of Oklahoma City. He was defeated for reelection in 1970 by Tulsa attorney David Hall in the closest election in state history. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1972 and served one term. In 1978, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and did not run for reelection that year. He died of complications of lung cancer two months after retiring from the Senate in 1979.

Early life

Dewey Follett Bartlett was born to David A. and Jessie Bartlett in Marietta, Ohio, and attended schools in Marietta and Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Bartlett graduated from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree in geological engineering in 1942 after completing his senior thesis, titled "Water-flooding an oil formation", under the supervision of Glenn L. Jepsen and Kenneth DePencier Watson. Bartlett was the president of his senior class while a student at Princeton.

Following graduation from Princeton, Bartlett enlisted in the Navy; then served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a dive bomber during World War II in the Pacific theatre. After the war, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he held various jobs in farming, ranching, and the oil industry, inheriting ownership of the Tulsa-based Keener Oil and Gas Company from his father, David A. Bartlett.

Political career

Prior to becoming governor, Bartlett served in the Oklahoma Senate from 1962 to 1966.

As governor, he made major changes to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, pushed for school consolidation, and vetoed a school code bill. In 1970, he was the first Oklahoma governor eligible to seek a second term. In the general election, he was challenged by then-Tulsa County Attorney David Hall. In the closest gubernatorial election in state history, Hall unseated Bartlett by a vote of 338,338 to 336,157.

Following his defeat for reelection as governor, he served for one term in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 1979 after winning the seat previously held by Democrat Fred R. Harris. He narrowly defeated U.S. Congressman Ed Edmondson in the 1972 election riding on President Richard Nixon's coattails. During his tenure in Congress, he took a conservative stance on most issues and championed oil and gas interests during the energy crisis of the 1970s. However, he suffered health problems and, rather than face a very difficult reelection against popular Democratic Governor David Boren, decided not to seek reelection. Two months after retiring from the U.S. Senate, he died in Tulsa from complications of lung cancer, and was buried in the city's Calvary Cemetery. In 1990 he was inducted into the Oklahoma CareerTech Hall of Fame and in March, 2006, Congress passed a bill renaming the U.S. Post Office in Tulsa in his honor.

Family

Bartlett married Ann Smith, a native of Seattle, Washington on April 2, 1945 at Mission San Juan Capistrano in San Juan Capistrano, California. They had three children: Dewey F. Bartlett Jr., Michael and Joanie.

His son, Dewey F. Bartlett Jr. served as mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma, from 2009 until losing reelection to G. T. Bynum in 2016, served as a member of the Tulsa City Council from 1990 to 1994, and has inherited the Keener Oil and Gas Company from his father.

Further reading

• Bonner, Jeremy (2007). The road to renewal: Victor Joseph Reed & Oklahoma Catholicism, 1905-1971. CUA Press. ISBN 978-0-8132-1507-5.
• Smith, James (1993). Strategic calling: the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1962-1992. CSIS. ISBN 0-89206-237-1.

External links

• 100 Years of Oklahoma Governors Biography Archived December 29, 2004, at the Wayback Machine
• United States Congress. "Dewey F. Bartlett (id: B000200)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
• "Dewey F. Bartlett". Find a Grave. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
• Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Bartlett, Dewey Archived November 15, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
• Dewey F. Bartlett Collection and Photograph Collection at the Carl Albert Center
• Voices of Oklahoma interview with Ann Bartlett. First person interview conducted on June 5, 2010, with Ann Bartlett, wife of Dewey F. Bartlett.