Frank O'Bannon
Encyclopedia
Frank Lewis O'Bannon was an American
politician who was the 47th Governor of Indiana
from 1997 until his death in 2003.
(the first state capital of Indiana), where his family owned the Corydon Democrat, the town's newspaper. He attended Indiana University
, where he played one season of basketball for the Hoosiers (a team also featuring IU's first African-American player, Bill Garrett). At IU, he was president of the Zeta Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta
(FIJI). He earned a B.A. in government in 1952, and a J.D.
in 1957 from the Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington.
He also spent two years in the United States Air Force
. While at IU, he met his wife, Judith Asmus, and they married in 1958. Following law school, he opened a law office in Corydon, was chairman of the board of the family newspaper publishing firm (a position he held until the time of his death), and was a member of the board of the Corydon Savings and Loan.
and Kokomo Mayor Steve Daily. O'Bannon abandoned his own bid for governor in January 1988 and joined forces with Bayh and won election as the 44th Lieutenant Governor of Indiana
in November 1988. His candidacy for lieutenant governor matched that of his grandfather, Lew M. O'Bannon, who was the 1924 Democratic nominee for the state's second highest office. As LG, he presided as President of the State Senate, served as the state's Director of Commerce and Commissioner of Agriculture.
mayor Stephen Goldsmith
and won in a close race, 52% to 47%. He was re-elected by a larger margin, 57% to 42%, in 2000 against second district Congressman David M. McIntosh
.
During the boom years of the 1990s, when Indiana amassed a record $2 billion surplus, O'Bannon was able to cut taxes by $1.5 billion, hire 500 more police officers in the state and win increased funding for schools and extended health insurance for poor families. He also signed landmark legislation creating the AMBER Alert
program in Indiana, as well as legislation requiring drivers to slow or change lanes for emergency vehicles stopped along Hoosier roadways.
In the years of 1998 and 1999 O'Bannon served as the Chairman of Midwestern Governors Association
.
In 2000 he won an easy re-election bid under the theme of Keeping Indiana Moving in the Right Direction. His campaign featured memorable advertisements with O'Bannon reprising his basketball past by shooting a perfect jump shot.
After the 9/11 disaster and subsequent market downturn, Indiana lost 120,000 jobs, tax revenues dropped, and O'Bannon had to cut social services and other services in order to spare education. In 2001 he worked with the state legislature to formulate a major restructuring of the state tax system. His opponents blamed him for various problems arising in the second term, including a slow response by his environmental agency to a big fish kill
, and problems at two state centers for the developmentally disabled.
His record, however, was firmly established as an educational leader for the state. He helped lead development of Indiana's first community college system, pushed for early-childhood learning opportunities, development of alternative high schools, and charter schools. His work as chair of the state's landmark Education Roundtable ensured that Indiana was one of only five states whose schools immediately qualified as meeting all standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind act upon enactment.
where he remained unconscious.
On September 10, 2003, the Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives
, B. Patrick Bauer
(D-South Bend), and the President Pro Tem of the Indiana Senate
, Robert D. Garton (R-Columbus), sent official notice to the Indiana Supreme Court noting that Governor O'Bannon was incapacitated and unable to fulfill the duties of his office. As such, the court approved naming Lieutenant Governor Joe Kernan as Acting Governor.
Days later, O'Bannon's condition worsened and based on his living will
, his family decided to use no further means of support and care. He died on September 13, 2003, aged 73, leaving behind his wife Judy (Asmus), three children (Polly, Jennifer and Jonathan) and five grandchildren. O'Bannon donated organs (after having signed legislation making organ donation easier in Indiana), including his cornea which helped an Illinois woman regain her sight. He was cremated and buried in the O'Bannon family plot at Cedar Hill Cemetery in his hometown of Corydon, Indiana
.
He was succeeded in office by Lieutenant Governor Joe Kernan of South Bend, who was sworn into office just hours after O'Bannon's death in an emotional ceremony.
O'Bannon is the subject of the 2006 biography Legacy of a Governor: The Life of Indiana's Frank O'Bannon. The book, written by former O'Bannon staffer Andrew E. Stoner, contains a foreword by his wife, Judy O'Bannon. The book was published by Rooftop Publishing, Inc. of Bloomington, Indiana.
In February 2006, a memorial bust of O'Bannon was placed outside the Indiana Statehouse Senate chambers.
The Frank O'Bannon Public Service Award is given annually by Ivy Tech Community College. The 2007 winner was former State Senator Wayne Townsend
of Hartford City
, the Democratic candidate for governor in 1984.
In June 2008 a memorial was created in honor of Frank O'Bannon next to the state's original capitol building in his hometown of Corydon. The memorial was built at a cost of $200,000, collected from private donations, and features a life-size statue of O'Bannon sitting on a park bench. Frank O'Bannon Elementary School located in Hammond, Indiana is named after him, as was a section of highway in southern Indiana. The O'Bannon Woods State Park in Harrison County is also named for the O'Bannon family.
Judy O'Bannon resides in her husband's hometown of Corydon, Indiana, and remains active in Corydon Democratic politics and in her husband's newspaper The Corydon Democrat. She endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential race, and often toured with Bill Clinton
throughout the state during the 2008 Democratic primary campaign. During the general election she backed Barack Obama
for President. She was the vice chair for Jim Schellinger
's unsuccessful campaign for governor. She is currently giving her time to many non-profit organizations, as well as hosting a statewide public television program, "Communities Building Community."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician who was the 47th Governor of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
from 1997 until his death in 2003.
Background
O'Bannon was a native of Corydon, IndianaCorydon, Indiana
Corydon is a town in Harrison Township, Harrison County, Indiana, United States, founded in 1808, and is known as Indiana's First State Capital. After Vincennes, Corydon was the second capital of the Indiana Territory from May 1, 1813, until December 11, 1816. After statehood, the town was the...
(the first state capital of Indiana), where his family owned the Corydon Democrat, the town's newspaper. He attended Indiana University
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
, where he played one season of basketball for the Hoosiers (a team also featuring IU's first African-American player, Bill Garrett). At IU, he was president of the Zeta Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta
Phi Gamma Delta
The international fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta is a collegiate social fraternity with 120 chapters and 18 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848, and its headquarters are located in Lexington, Kentucky, USA...
(FIJI). He earned a B.A. in government in 1952, and a J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
in 1957 from the Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington.
He also spent two years in the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
. While at IU, he met his wife, Judith Asmus, and they married in 1958. Following law school, he opened a law office in Corydon, was chairman of the board of the family newspaper publishing firm (a position he held until the time of his death), and was a member of the board of the Corydon Savings and Loan.
Politics before Governor
First elected to the state senate in 1969-70 to a seat occupied by his father, Robert P. O'Bannon from 1950–1970, he was the primary sponsor of legislation reintroducing the death penalty. He rose to the rank of Senate Minority Leader among Democrats during his tenure in the legislative body. He served one two-year stint as chair of the Senate Finance Committee following a short-lived Democratic majority. He launched his first campaign for governor in May 1987 from Corydon, Indiana and initially faced off against then-Secretary of State Evan BayhEvan Bayh
Birch Evans "Evan" Bayh III is a lawyer, advisor and former Democratic politician who served as the junior U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011. He earlier served as the 46th Governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997. Bayh is a current Fox News contributor as of March 14, 2011.Bayh first held...
and Kokomo Mayor Steve Daily. O'Bannon abandoned his own bid for governor in January 1988 and joined forces with Bayh and won election as the 44th Lieutenant Governor of Indiana
Lieutenant Governor of Indiana
The Lieutenant Governor of Indiana is a constitutional office in the US State of Indiana. Republican Becky Skillman, whose term expires in January 2013, is the incumbent...
in November 1988. His candidacy for lieutenant governor matched that of his grandfather, Lew M. O'Bannon, who was the 1924 Democratic nominee for the state's second highest office. As LG, he presided as President of the State Senate, served as the state's Director of Commerce and Commissioner of Agriculture.
Governor
In 1996 O'Bannon was the Democratic nominee for governor. He overcame an early deficit in the polls against his Republican opponent, IndianapolisIndianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
mayor Stephen Goldsmith
Stephen Goldsmith
Stephen "Steve" Goldsmith is the former mayor of Indianapolis and most recently served as the Deputy Mayor of New York City for Operations, stepping down effective August 4, 2011 after a domestic violence arrest. He is also the Daniel Paul Professor of Government at the John F...
and won in a close race, 52% to 47%. He was re-elected by a larger margin, 57% to 42%, in 2000 against second district Congressman David M. McIntosh
David M. McIntosh
David Martin McIntosh is a lawyer who served as a Republican representative from Indiana from January 3, 1995, to January 3, 2001. McIntosh was the Republican candidate for Governor of Indiana in 2000, losing to incumbent Democrat Frank O'Bannon He is currently a candidate in Indiana's 5th...
.
During the boom years of the 1990s, when Indiana amassed a record $2 billion surplus, O'Bannon was able to cut taxes by $1.5 billion, hire 500 more police officers in the state and win increased funding for schools and extended health insurance for poor families. He also signed landmark legislation creating the AMBER Alert
AMBER Alert
An AMBER Alert or a Child Abduction Emergency is a child abduction alert bulletin in several countries throughout the world, issued upon the suspected abduction of a child, since 1996...
program in Indiana, as well as legislation requiring drivers to slow or change lanes for emergency vehicles stopped along Hoosier roadways.
In the years of 1998 and 1999 O'Bannon served as the Chairman of Midwestern Governors Association
Midwestern Governors Association
The Midwestern Governors Association is a 501 nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that brings together the Midwestern governors of states to work cooperatively on public policy issues of significance to the region. The MGA was created in December 1962 in Chicago, when articles of organization were...
.
In 2000 he won an easy re-election bid under the theme of Keeping Indiana Moving in the Right Direction. His campaign featured memorable advertisements with O'Bannon reprising his basketball past by shooting a perfect jump shot.
After the 9/11 disaster and subsequent market downturn, Indiana lost 120,000 jobs, tax revenues dropped, and O'Bannon had to cut social services and other services in order to spare education. In 2001 he worked with the state legislature to formulate a major restructuring of the state tax system. His opponents blamed him for various problems arising in the second term, including a slow response by his environmental agency to a big fish kill
Fish kill
The term fish kill, known also as fish die-off and as fish mortality, is a localized die-off of fish populations which may also be associated with more generalised mortality of aquatic life...
, and problems at two state centers for the developmentally disabled.
His record, however, was firmly established as an educational leader for the state. He helped lead development of Indiana's first community college system, pushed for early-childhood learning opportunities, development of alternative high schools, and charter schools. His work as chair of the state's landmark Education Roundtable ensured that Indiana was one of only five states whose schools immediately qualified as meeting all standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind act upon enactment.
Death and legacy
O'Bannon suffered a massive stroke on September 8, 2003, while he was in Chicago, Illinois attending the U.S. Midwest-Japan trade conference. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial HospitalNorthwestern Memorial Hospital
Northwestern Memorial Hospital is one of the nation's preeminent academic medical centers and is the primary teaching hospital for Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. It is the second tallest hospital in the United States and the fourth tallest hospital in the world...
where he remained unconscious.
On September 10, 2003, the Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives
Indiana House of Representatives
The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House members serve two-year terms without term limits...
, B. Patrick Bauer
B. Patrick Bauer
B. Patrick Bauer is a Democratic member of the Indiana House of Representatives, representing the 6th House District since 1970. His district consists primarily of the city of South Bend in St. Joseph County in northern Indiana....
(D-South Bend), and the President Pro Tem of the Indiana Senate
Indiana Senate
The Indiana Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-year terms without term limits...
, Robert D. Garton (R-Columbus), sent official notice to the Indiana Supreme Court noting that Governor O'Bannon was incapacitated and unable to fulfill the duties of his office. As such, the court approved naming Lieutenant Governor Joe Kernan as Acting Governor.
Days later, O'Bannon's condition worsened and based on his living will
Living will
An advance health care directive, also known as living will, personal directive, advance directive, or advance decision, are instructions given by individuals specifying what actions should be taken for their health in the event that they are no longer able to make decisions due to illness or...
, his family decided to use no further means of support and care. He died on September 13, 2003, aged 73, leaving behind his wife Judy (Asmus), three children (Polly, Jennifer and Jonathan) and five grandchildren. O'Bannon donated organs (after having signed legislation making organ donation easier in Indiana), including his cornea which helped an Illinois woman regain her sight. He was cremated and buried in the O'Bannon family plot at Cedar Hill Cemetery in his hometown of Corydon, Indiana
Corydon, Indiana
Corydon is a town in Harrison Township, Harrison County, Indiana, United States, founded in 1808, and is known as Indiana's First State Capital. After Vincennes, Corydon was the second capital of the Indiana Territory from May 1, 1813, until December 11, 1816. After statehood, the town was the...
.
He was succeeded in office by Lieutenant Governor Joe Kernan of South Bend, who was sworn into office just hours after O'Bannon's death in an emotional ceremony.
O'Bannon is the subject of the 2006 biography Legacy of a Governor: The Life of Indiana's Frank O'Bannon. The book, written by former O'Bannon staffer Andrew E. Stoner, contains a foreword by his wife, Judy O'Bannon. The book was published by Rooftop Publishing, Inc. of Bloomington, Indiana.
In February 2006, a memorial bust of O'Bannon was placed outside the Indiana Statehouse Senate chambers.
The Frank O'Bannon Public Service Award is given annually by Ivy Tech Community College. The 2007 winner was former State Senator Wayne Townsend
Wayne Townsend
W. Wayne Townsend is a Hartford City farmer and Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Indiana who was his party's gubernatorial nominee in 1984. Townsend was defeated by the incumbent Republican Governor Robert D. Orr in a year in which Indiana joined forty-eight other states in reelecting...
of Hartford City
Hartford City, Indiana
Hartford City is a city in the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Blackford County. Located in the northeast central portion of the state, the small farming community experienced a 15-year “boom” beginning in the late 1880s...
, the Democratic candidate for governor in 1984.
In June 2008 a memorial was created in honor of Frank O'Bannon next to the state's original capitol building in his hometown of Corydon. The memorial was built at a cost of $200,000, collected from private donations, and features a life-size statue of O'Bannon sitting on a park bench. Frank O'Bannon Elementary School located in Hammond, Indiana is named after him, as was a section of highway in southern Indiana. The O'Bannon Woods State Park in Harrison County is also named for the O'Bannon family.
Judy O'Bannon resides in her husband's hometown of Corydon, Indiana, and remains active in Corydon Democratic politics and in her husband's newspaper The Corydon Democrat. She endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential race, and often toured with Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
throughout the state during the 2008 Democratic primary campaign. During the general election she backed Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
for President. She was the vice chair for Jim Schellinger
Jim Schellinger
Jim Schellinger is the active President of CSO Architects in Indianapolis, Indiana. On March 19, 2007, he filed his candidacy to run for governor against incumbent Republican Mitch Daniels but lost to fellow Democratic challenger Jill Long Thompson by 13,000 votes - less than 1 percent.- Early...
's unsuccessful campaign for governor. She is currently giving her time to many non-profit organizations, as well as hosting a statewide public television program, "Communities Building Community."
External links
- O'Bannon Institute for Community Service - Ivy Tech Community College
- Frank O'Bannon profile from the State of Indiana
- http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=1441436
- http://edition.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/09/13/obannon/index.html
- Indianapolis Star biography of O'Bannon