David Hall (October 20, 1930 – May 6, 2016) was an American Democratic politician. He served as the 20th

governor of Oklahoma The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma Executive (government), executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The gove ...

from January 11, 1971, to January 13, 1975. Prior to winning election as governor, Hall served as county attorney for

Tulsa County Tulsa County is located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 669,279, making it the second-most populous county in Oklahoma, behind only Oklahoma County. Its county seat and largest city is Tulsa, the secon ...

and as a law professor at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

. After leaving office, Hall was convicted of

bribery Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...

and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

. He became the first Oklahoma governor to be convicted of criminal acts committed during his tenure. He served 19 months of a three-year sentence at the

federal prison A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for convicts who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), inmates considered dangerous (Brazil), or those s ...

Safford, Arizona Safford (Western Apache: Ichʼįʼ Nahiłtį́į́) is a city in Graham County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the population of the city is 10,129. The city is the county seat of Graham County. Safford is the principal ...

Early life

David Hall was born in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, and was the son of William Arthur "Red" Hall and Aubrey Nell French. Hall attended Classen High School in Oklahoma City, where he played on the 1948 Class A high school basketball State Championship team. He graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

in 1952; he was a member of

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Fiji, is a social fraternity with more than 144 active chapters and 10 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848. Along with Phi Kappa Psi, Phi ...

fraternity. Hall was a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps in college and after graduating he joined the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. He completed his initial training at

Lackland Air Force Base Lackland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located in Bexar County, Texas. The base is under the jurisdiction of the 802d Mission Support Group, Air Education and Training Command (AETC) and an enclave of the city of Sa ...

, then was assigned as a flight navigation instructor at San Marcos Air Force Base in Texas. Hall served until 1954, when he transferred to the

Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a MAJCOM, major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of ...

, in which he served until 1956. He attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

for a year, then transferred to the

University of Tulsa College of Law The University of Tulsa College of Law is the law school of the private University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For 2021, ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked the University of Tulsa College of Law at No. 111 among all law schools in the United S ...

, from which he graduated in 1959. From 1959 to 1962, he served as assistant county attorney for

Tulsa County, Oklahoma Tulsa County is located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 669,279, making it the second-most populous county in Oklahoma, behind only Oklahoma County. Its county seat and largest city is Tulsa, the second- ...

, and as county attorney from February 10, 1962 to January 2, 1967. From 1968 to 1971, he served as a law professor at the University of Tulsa.

Governor of Oklahoma

In the 1966 election, Hall finished a close third in the Democratic primary for governor. Four years later, he defeated incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Governor

Dewey F. Bartlett Dewey Follett Bartlett Sr. (March 28, 1919 – March 1, 1979) was an American politician who served as the 19th governor of Oklahoma from 1967 to 1971, following his fellow Republican, Henry Bellmon. In 1966, he became the first Roman Ca ...

in the closest gubernatorial election in state history, and took office only after a recount confirmed his victory. As governor, he championed education and transportation issues. His administration issued a landmark public policy analysis book of Oklahoma's education system entitled "Measuring up and Moving On." Hall and his appointees to the state highway commission and turnpike authority were committed to expanding the state's roads. During his term as governor, the state drastically expanded the vocational technical (later renamed career-tech) system of facilities offering low or no cost training certificates for residents. As governor, he signed into law the Oklahoma Income Tax Act, which enacted Oklahoma's

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

code. Hall's administration and policy initiatives were opposed and attacked on a regular basis by the state's largest newspaper, the ''

Daily Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th larges ...

'', and its powerful publisher, billionaire

Edward Gaylord Edward Lewis Gaylord (May 28, 1919April 27, 2003) was an American billionaire businessman, media mogul and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Gaylord Entertainment Company that included ''The Oklahoman'' newspaper, Oklahoma Publishing Co ...

. Gaylord had supported Hall's opponent, former Governor

Unsuccessful re-election bid

Hall was unsuccessful in his quest for re-election in the 1974 election. He obtained only 27 percent of the vote, a third-place finish in the Democratic primary. He trailed U.S. Congressman

Clem McSpadden Clem Rogers McSpadden (November 9, 1925 – July 7, 2008) was an American rodeo announcer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representati ...

and State Representative and

Oklahoma Baptist University Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) is a private Baptist university in Shawnee, Oklahoma. It was established in 1910 under the original name of The Baptist University of Oklahoma. OBU is owned and was founded by the Baptist General Convention of ...

professor

David Boren David Lyle Boren (born April 21, 1941) is a retired American lawyer and politician from the state of Oklahoma. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as 21st governor of Oklahoma from 1975 to 1979 and three terms in the United States Senate ...

, who eventually won the nomination (in a runoff) and the general election over Republican

Jim Inhofe James Mountain Inhofe ( ; born November 17, 1934) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Oklahoma, a seat he was first elected to in 1994. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the U.S. Senate Commit ...

Charges and retirement

Three days after leaving office in January 1975, Hall was indicted on federal

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and of ...

and

charges, in a conspiracy involving Hall and Oklahoma Secretary of State John Rogers willfully steering State of Oklahoma employee retiree funds to investment funds controlled by

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, businessman W. W. "Doc" Taylor. At Hall's trial, Rogers testified that he became an informant after Hall offered him a bribe. Hall was convicted of

and extortion, and became the first Oklahoma Governor to be convicted of criminal acts committed during his tenure. After exhausting all appeals, he served 19 months of a three-year sentence at the

in Safford, Arizona. (

John Ehrlichman John Daniel Ehrlichman (; March 20, 1925 – February 14, 1999) was an American political aide who served as the White House Counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon. Ehrlichman was an important ...

, of Watergate fame, was also housed at the same time at Safford.) Upon his release from prison in 1978, he was

disbarred Disbarment, also known as striking off, is the removal of a lawyer from a bar association or the practice of law, thus revoking their law license or admission to practice law. Disbarment is usually a punishment for unethical or criminal conduct ...

by the

Oklahoma Bar Association The Oklahoma Bar Association (OBA) is the integrated (mandatory) bar association of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. History The Oklahoma Territory Bar Association and the Indian Territory Bar Association merged in 1904 to form the Oklahoma Bar A ...

, which effectively prevented him from practicing law in Oklahoma. Leaving the public spotlight, he moved to

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

, where he worked in real estate and other ventures.

Return to Oklahoma

On February 13, 2007, Hall made his first appearance in the state of

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

since he left office over thirty years before. He appeared at the Oklahoma History Center to help launch a new exhibit that features all of the Governors of the State of Oklahoma. Hall remarked that it was "like coming back to heaven." He authored a memoir, 2012's ''Twisted Justice: A Memoir of Conspiracies and Personal Politics'' which features his recollections of his time in office, and his reflections on his prison sentence and subsequent career.Chris Casteel, News OK
Former Oklahoma Gov. David Hall's Book Tells His Side of the Bribery Story
February 3, 2012

Death

Hall died at a

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

area hospital on May 6, 2016, at the age of 85 years old. He had earlier been implanted with a

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eith ...

and had expected to be discharged, but then developed a blood clot that ultimately went to his brain and caused a fatal

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

.Rick Green
"Former Oklahoma Gov. David Hall dies after stroke"
''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th larges ...

'', May 6, 2016.

References

External links

Voices of Oklahoma interview with David Hall
- first-person interview conducted on February 13, 2012
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Hall, David
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, David 1930 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American legal scholars American Presbyterians Classen School of Advanced Studies alumni Democratic Party governors of Oklahoma Disbarred American lawyers District attorneys in Oklahoma Oklahoma lawyers Oklahoma politicians convicted of crimes Politicians from Oklahoma City Politicians from San Diego Lawyers from San Diego Military personnel from California Military personnel from Oklahoma Politicians convicted of extortion under color of official right Politicians convicted under the Travel Act United States Air Force officers University of Oklahoma alumni University of Tulsa College of Law alumni University of Tulsa College of Law faculty Writers from Oklahoma City