Preceded by Louis E. Graham Succeeded by Gary A. Myers | Political party Democratic Name Frank Clark | |
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Born December 24, 1915
Bessemer, Pennsylvania ( 1915-12-24 ) Died June 17, 2003(2003-06-17) (aged 87) | ||
Frank Monroe Clark (December 24, 1915 – June 17, 2003) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
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Early life & military service
Frank Clark was born in Bessemer, Pennsylvania. He attended the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics, and enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in 1942, serving in Europe as a flight officer until discharged in 1945. Clark later became a major in the Air Force Reserve.
Public service
While still in the service, Clark was appointed as the chief of police of Bessemer, serving in that capacity until November 1954.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to Congress in 1952. He was elected as a Democrat in 1954 to the 84th United States Congress, defeating incumbent Republican Congressman Louis E. Graham, and was re-elected to the nine succeeding Congresses, serving until his resignation on December 31, 1974 following his defeat in the 1974 election to Republican Gary A. Myers.
After his loss to Myers, Clark continued to send massive amounts of mail to his former constituents stating they were from 'your Congressman Frank M. Clark' when he had been out of office for five months. Clark was held in so low regard by Congressional colleagues that he won only 34 of 244 votes for the post of Clerk of the House.
He pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion on February 13, 1979. He was unsuccessful seeking re-election in 1976, 1978, and 1990.
He was a delegate to a number of conferences, including:
He died in New Castle, Pennsylvania on June 17, 2003.