Changes

|term_end=January 14, 1991

|term_end=January 14, 1991

|lieutenant_governor=Robert S. Kerr, III

|lieutenant_governor=Robert S. Kerr, III

|preceded=George Nigh

|preceded=George Patterson Nigh

|succeeded=David Walters

|succeeded=David Walters

|term_start2=January 14, 1963

|term_start2=January 14, 1963

|preceded2=Leo Winters

|preceded2=Leo Winters

|succeeded2=[[Dewey Bartlett]]

|succeeded2=[[Dewey Bartlett]]

|office3= [[United States Senator]]<br> for Oklahoma

|office3=[[United States Senator]]<br> for Oklahoma

|term_start3= January 3, 1969

|term_start3= January 3, 1969

|term_end3= January 3, 1981

|term_end3= January 3, 1981

|death_date=September 29, 2009 (aged 88)

|death_date=September 29, 2009 (aged 88)

|death_place=Enid, Garfield County, Oklahoma

|death_place=Enid, Garfield County, Oklahoma

|resting_place=Billings Union Cemetery in Billings in Noble County, Oklahoma

|resting_place=Billings Union Cemetery in Billings in<br> Noble County, Oklahoma

|nationality=[[United States|American]]

|nationality=[[United States|American]]

|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]

|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]

==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">{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000351|title=Henry Bellmon|publisher=''The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''|accessdate=July 13, 2021}}.</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">{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000351|title=Henry Bellmon|publisher=''The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''|accessdate=July 13, 2021}}.</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 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>

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 Senate tenure, Bellmon, a [[Moderate Republican]], sometimes took that put him at odds with the still conservative Oklahoma Republican Party. e backed unelected incumbent [[Gerald Ford|Gerald R. Ford, Jr.]], 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]].

Along with fellow Governors [[Tim Babcock]] of [[Montana]] and [[Paul Fannin]] of [[Arizona]], Bellmon, then believed to be a [[conservative]], endorsed [[Barry Goldwater]] of Arizona for his party's 1964 presidential nomination. Thirteen other GOP governors, led by [[George Romney]] of [[Michigan]] declined to do so.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/06/08/archives/gop-governors-foresee-victory-for-goldwater-most-expect-nomination.html|title=G.O.P. GOVERNORS FORESEE VICTORY FOR GOLDWATER; Most Expect Nomination on First Ballot—Moderates Seek Platform Accord; ROMNEY WARNS PARTY; Says Choice of the Senator Would Bring ‘Destruction’ — [[William Scranton|Scranton]]|publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''|date=June 8, 1964|accessdate=July 15, 2021}}</ref> During his Senate tenure, Bellmon emerged particularly in the second term as a [[Moderate Republican]], sometimes took positions that put him at odds with the still conservative Oklahoma Republican Party. Bellmon backed the unelected incumbent [[Gerald Ford|Gerald R. Ford, Jr.]], over [[Ronald Reagan]] in the 1976 presidential nomination contest in [[Kansas City]], [[Missouri]]. 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 and was succeeded by a [[conservative]] Republican, [[Don Nickles]].

In 1976, Bellmon was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fam at the state capital of [[Oklahoma

In 1976, Bellmon was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame at the state capital of [[Oklahoma City]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oklahomaheritage.com/HallofFame/ByName/tabid/89/Default.aspx|title=Henry Bellmon induction|publisher=oklahomaheritage.com|accessdate=July 13, 2021}}</ref>

City]].<ref>[http://www.oklahomaheritage.com/HallofFame/ByName/tabid/89/Default.aspx]</ref>

 

In 1982, former Senator Bellmon was appointed the interim director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services by Democratic Governor George Nigh, his predecessor in office for Bellmon's second term as governor.<ref name="OklahomanObit"/>

In 1982, Bellmon was appointed the interim director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services by Democratic Governor George Patterson Nigh (born 1927), his predecessor in office for Bellmon's second term.<ref>"Former Oklahoma Gov. Henry Bellmon dies," ''The Oklahoman,'' September 29, 2009.</ref>

==Later years==

==Later years==

[[Category:Former Governors]]

[[Category:Former Governors]]

[[Category:Republican Governors]]

[[Category:Republican Governors]]

[[Category:United States Senators]]

[[Category:Oklahoma Governors]]

[[Category:Former United States Senators]]

[[Category:State Representatives]]

[[Category:State Representatives]]

[[Category:Republicans]]

[[Category:Republicans]]