Changes

==Political life==

==Political life==

Bellmon served a single term as a state representative fourteen years before his initial election as governor. After his two terms in the U.S. Senate, he returned to the governorship.  In 1960, he was the Oklahoma Republican state party chairman. Two years later, he defeated the Democrat developer W. P. "Bill" Atkinson (1906-1999), who planned Midwest City, Oklahoma, with 392,316 votes (55.3 percent). Governor Bellmon served as the chairman of the Interstate Oil Compact Commission andsat on the executive committee of the [[National Governor's Association]].<ref name="CongBio">[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000351 Henry Bellmon] at the [[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]].</ref> He was unable to run for reelection in 1966 because of term limit, which were abolished that years; at the time, Oklahoma did not allow governors to succeed themselves. Fellow Republican [[Dewey Bartlett]] was elected as Bellmon's successor.

Bellmon served a single term as a state representative fourteen years before his initial election as governor. After his two terms in the U.S. Senate, he returned to the governorship.  In 1960, he was the Oklahoma Republican state party chairman. Two years later, he defeated the Democrat developer W. P. "Bill" Atkinson (1906-1999), who planned Midwest City, Oklahoma, with 392,316 votes (55.3 percent). Governor Bellmon served as the chairman of the Interstate Oil Compact Commission andsat on the executive committee of the National Governor's Association.<ref name="CongBio">[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000351 Henry Bellmon] at the [[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]].</ref> He was unable to run for reelection in 1966 because of term limit, which were abolished that years; at the time, Oklahoma did not allow governors to succeed themselves. Fellow Republican [[Dewey Bartlett]] was elected as Bellmon's successor.

His 1974 contest for a second term in a heavily Democrat year ended in a disputed outcome. On election night, he led former ten-term [[U.S. Representative]] Edmond Augustus "Ed" Edmondson (1919-1990) by only 3,835 votes. Edmondson challenged the result and alleged irregularities in the voting, specifically that Tulsa County did not have levers to allow straight-ticket voting as required under state law. The state Supreme Court ruled that Edmondson could not demonstrate that the irregularities would have made him the winner. Edmondson then appealed to the Senate in January 1975, but the Senate voted, with all the Republicans and nine Democrats in agreemen, to seat Bellmon.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/contested_elections/138Edmondson_Bellmon.htm |title=The Election Case of Edmond A. Edmondson v. Henry L. Bellmon of Oklahoma|date=1976 |publisher=United States Senate |accessdate=July 12, 2021}}</ref>

His 1974 contest for a second term in a heavily Democrat year ended in a disputed outcome. On election night, he led former ten-term [[U.S. Representative]] Edmond Augustus "Ed" Edmondson (1919-1990) by only 3,835 votes. Edmondson challenged the result and alleged irregularities in the voting, specifically that Tulsa County did not have levers to allow straight-ticket voting as required under state law. The state Supreme Court ruled that Edmondson could not demonstrate that the irregularities would have made him the winner. Edmondson then appealed to the Senate in January 1975, but the Senate voted, with all the Republicans and nine Democrats in agreement, to seat Bellmon.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/contested_elections/138Edmondson_Bellmon.htm |title=The Election Case of Edmond A. Edmondson v. Henry L. Bellmon of Oklahoma|date=1976 |publisher=United States Senate |accessdate=July 12, 2021}}</ref>

During his service in the Senate, Bellmon, a [[Moderate Republican]] sometimes took that put him at odds with the still conservative Oklahoma Republican Party. e backed unelected incumbent [[Gerald Ford]] over [[Ronald Reagan]] in the 1976 presidential nomination contest. He voted against the failed constitutional amendment to prohibit busing for racial balance in public schools. He supported the surrender of the [[Panama Canal] through the Torrijos–Carter treaties. During his second term he was the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. He co-founded the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which never produced a balanced budget.<ref name="CongBio"/><ref>Randy Krehbiel, "State mourns GOP giant: Ex-governor, senator dies at 88," ''The Tulsa World,'' September 30, 2009.</ref><ref name=findagrave/>He chose not to run for re-election in 1980<ref name="OklahomanObit"/> and was succeeded by a [[conservative]] Republican, [[Don Nickles]].

During his service in the Senate, Bellmon, a [[Moderate Republican]] sometimes took that put him at odds with the still conservative Oklahoma Republican Party. e backed unelected incumbent [[Gerald Ford]] over [[Ronald Reagan]] in the 1976 presidential nomination contest. He voted against the failed constitutional amendment to prohibit busing for racial balance in public schools. He supported the surrender of the [[Panama Canal] through the Torrijos–Carter treaties. During his second term he was the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. He co-founded the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which never produced a balanced budget.<ref name="CongBio"/><ref>Randy Krehbiel, "State mourns GOP giant: Ex-governor, senator dies at 88," ''The Tulsa World,'' September 30, 2009.</ref><ref name=findagrave/>He chose not to run for re-election in 1980<ref name="OklahomanObit"/> and was succeeded by a [[conservative]] Republican, [[Don Nickles]].