George Street Boone (April 27, 1918 – November 22, 2004) was an American

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

scholar and former

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 to ...

legislator who served on the 1987

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

Bicentennial Review Commission.

Career in public service

Boone served in the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

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 opposin ...

. A native and resident of

Elkton, Kentucky Elkton is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Todd County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,062 at the 2010 census. History The city was founded by Major John Gray and established by the state assembly in 1820. It is ...

, he was subsequently a member of numerous ethics review boards. As a freshman state legislator of the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form ...

in 1972, he was an influential member of a group referred to as "The Young Turks." The small group of liberal representatives, outraged over

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

's presidency and the stern administration of then-Governor

Wendell Ford Wendell Hampton Ford (September 8, 1924 – January 22, 2015) was an American politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He served for twenty-four years in the U.S. Senate and was the 53rd Governor of Kentucky. He was the first person to be ...

, would gather over martinis in Boone's Frankfort hotel room to discuss the day's legislative sessions. Boone became counsel to the new Legislative Board of Ethics, created by the 1972

Kentucky General Assembly The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in the ...

, initially taking the job without pay. He was also a member of the Legislative Research Commission in the 1970s. He served on two different groups aimed at constitutional revision—the 1987 Commission on Constitutional Review, formed in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, as well as a two-decades-earlier 50-member group which wrote, but failed to have adopted, a proposed new Constitution in 1966. Boone lost his bid for re-election to the

Kentucky Legislature The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in t ...

in 1973 and never served another term. Boone owned and operated a law firm in Elkton, Kentucky. He resided at his family's home "Halcyon," also known as the John Gray House, a transitional Federal and Greek Revival mansion in downtown Elkton. Boone served in many organizations in his community, including the

Milliken Memorial Community House Milliken Memorial Community House, erected in 1928 in Elkton, Kentucky, is the first privately donated community house in America. The mansion pioneered a new architectural program for public use. The house was commissioned by Mary Louise Millik ...

Board of Directors.

Death

After visiting with his wife,

poet laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...

Joy Bale Boone, George Street Boone was injured in an automobile accident which affected his mental capabilities and forced him into a nursing home. He died after a long illness at the age of 86. In his will, he left over a million dollars to the

and the Todd County Public Library.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boone, George Street 1918 births 2004 deaths People from Elkton, Kentucky Democratic Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives American legal writers Writers from Kentucky 20th-century American politicians United States Navy personnel of World War II