- Frank Eugene Hook
Frank Eugene Hook (
May 26 ,1893 -June 21 ,1982 ) was a politician from theU.S. state ofMichigan .Hook was born in
L'Anse, Michigan and graduated from L'Anse High School in 1912. He attended the College of Law of theUniversity of Detroit and graduated from the law department ofValparaiso University in 1918. He served in theUnited States Army Infantry duringWorld War I from July 1918 until February 1919.After the war, he was employed in lumber woods and as an iron ore miner and also as a law clerk at
Wakefield, Michigan , 1919-1924. He was a member of the board of supervisors of Gogebic County, 1921-1923. He was admitted to the bar in 1924 and commenced practice in Wakefield. He was admitted to practice before theUnited States Supreme Court in 1936. He served as city commissioner of Wakefield, 1921-1923 and as municipal judge of Wakefield in 1924 and 1925.Hook moved to Ironwood in 1925 and continued the practice of law. He was president of WJMS Radio Station in Ironwood, 1930-1933 and was a delegate to
Democratic National Convention s in 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948.In 1934, Hook was the Democratic Party candidate from
Michigan's 12th congressional district for theU.S. House of Representatives . Hook defeated incumbent RepublicanW. Frank James in the general election to be elected to the 74th Congress and to the three succeeding Congresses, serving fromJanuary 3 ,1935 toJanuary 3 ,1943 . In 1942, Hook lost in the general election to RepublicanJohn B. Bennett (having previously defeated him in 1938 and 1940). In 1944, Hook defeated Bennett to reclaim the seat in the 79th Congress, serving fromJanuary 3 ,1945 toJanuary 3 ,1947 . He lost the seat again to Bennett in 1946. In 1948, he made an unsuccessful bid to be elected theUnited States Senate , losing to RepublicanHomer Ferguson .Hook served under Presidents
Franklin Delano Roosevelt andHarry S. Truman . He voted to declare war uponJapan , when Congress was convened upon theattack on Pearl Harbor . Hook was instrumental in the establishment of Social Security and theminimum wage — part of Roosevelt'sNew Deal . He also proposed a bill to establish theIsle Royale National Park , located inLake Superior and had the honor of dedicating it in August 1946.In 1940, Hook alleged in Congress that Martin Dies had ties to
William Dudley Pelley , the leader of a fascist organization, theSilver Legion of America . However, unbeknownst to him, the documents Hook used to make his case turned out to be forgeries. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,883947,00.html]He was a member of the President’s Fair Employment Practices Committee in 1943 and 1944 and was appointed a member of Motor Carrier Claims Commission
October 1 ,1949 , serving until his resignationAugust 22 ,1950 . He made several unsuccessful attempts to reclaim a seat in the U.S. House from the 12th district, losing in 1954 to Bennett in the general election, losing in 1956 and 1958 to Joseph S. Mack in the Democratic primary elections. In 1966, he lost to incumbentRaymond F. Clevenger in the Democratic primary for the 11th district.He resumed the practice of law in Detroit and in 1953 moved to Ironwood where he reestablished his law practice. He was admitted to the Wisconsin bar in 1962 and was a resident of
Edina, Minnesota , at the time of his death. He is interred inFort Snelling National Cemetery inMinneapolis, Minnesota .References
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/holten-hook.html#R9M0J0XH1 The Political Graveyard]
*"Fightin' Frank, The Biography of Upper Peninsula's 12th District Democratic Congressman" by Mary Louise Hook AllenExternal links
* [http://trumanlibrary.org/publicpapers/viewpapers.php?pid=1798 President Truman stumps for Hook]
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