Frank Welsh Burke (June 1, 1920 – June 28, 2007) was an

American politician The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bi ...

who served as a Democratic member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

from 1959 to 1963 and as Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from 1969 to 1973.

Early life and career

Burke was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

and educated in parochial schools there, graduating from St. Xavier High School. He attended the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

and received a degree from

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...

and a law degree from the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...

. He began practicing law in Louisville in 1948. Burke served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Burke held appointed local offices under mayor

Charles R. Farnsley Charles Rowland Peaslee Farnsley (March 28, 1907 – June 19, 1990), a Democrat, served as mayor of Louisville, Kentucky and as a member of the United States House of Representatives. Life Farnsley was born in Louisville and attended Male Hi ...

including as assistant city attorney of Louisville in 1950 and 1951, director of public safety of Louisville in 1952, and executive assistant to the Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky in 1952 and 1953.

Political career

Burke was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives and served there in 1957 and 1958. In 1958 Burke was elected to the

from Kentucky's 3rd District (Louisville). Burke defeated incumbent Republican John M. Robsion, Jr. for the seat. Burke was re-elected to the House seat in 1960 and served from January 3, 1959 to January 3, 1963. Burke won his re-election race by 221 votes. Burke voted in favor of the

Civil Rights Act of 1960 The Civil Rights Act of 1960 () is a United States federal law that established federal inspection of local voter registration polls and introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed someone's attempt to register to vote. It dealt primarily wi ...

. He was defeated in a close race for re-election in 1962 by

Gene Snyder Marion Eugene Snyder (January 26, 1928 – February 16, 2007) was an American politician elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives from two different districts in his native Kentucky. Background Snyder was born ...

; Snyder won 93,627 votes to Burke's 91,062. In 1969, Republicans had controlled county and city offices in Louisville for eight years. Burke, a Democrat, was elected

Mayor of Louisville The history of Louisville, Kentucky, United States, as a city is considered to have started on February 13, 1828, the date of the first city charter. From the time of its first organization as a village, on February 7, 1781, until its incorporati ...

that year, winning 48,337 votes to

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 ...

John Porter Sawyer's 40,810. Burke served in that office from 1969 to 1973. Burke's priorities included reducing crime; he increased the size of the police force and installed many new street lights and the crime rate in Louisville dropped while Burke was mayor. Burke also increased garbage pickups and the sewers and pushed the construction of the Louisville Belvedere. Burke also instituted a retirement system for city employees. As mayor, he integrated the city's workforce.

Later life

Burke continued to practice law in Kentucky with Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs until 2005. He died in June 2007.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Frank W. 1920 births 2007 deaths Mayors of Louisville, Kentucky St. Xavier High School (Louisville) alumni University of Louisville alumni University of Southern California alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky 20th-century American politicians