Michael Thane Franken (born November 8, 1957) is an American retired

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

vice admiral. His final posting was as deputy director of military operations for the

United States Africa Command The United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM, U.S. AFRICOM, and AFRICOM), is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. It is responsible for ...

. Franken was a Democratic candidate in the

2020 United States Senate election in Iowa The 2020 United States Senate election in Iowa was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Iowa, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to t ...

, but lost the June 2 primary to Theresa Greenfield. Franken was the

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

nominee for the

2022 United States Senate election in Iowa The 2022 United States Senate election in Iowa was held on November 8, 2022 to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Iowa. Incumbent Republican Senator Chuck Grassley faced Democratic nominee Michael Franken. Gra ...

, which he lost to Republican incumbent

Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate, and the senior United States senator from Iowa, having held the seat since 1981. In 2022, ...

Early life and education

Franken was born in

Sioux Center, Iowa Sioux Center is a city in Sioux County, Iowa. The population was 8,229 at the time of the 2020 census. Sioux Center is notable for its Dutch heritage, agribusiness, and as the location of Dordt University. Geography Sioux Center is located at ...

. He attended

Morningside College Morningside University is a private university affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Sioux City, Iowa. Founded in 1894 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, Morningside University has 21 buildings on a campus in Sioux City (ar ...

and the Naval Science Institute before graduating on an

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

scholarship from the College of Engineering at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

and entering the

in 1981. He is a graduate of the

Naval Postgraduate School The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a public graduate school operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. It offers master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 70 fields of study to the U.S. Armed Forces, DOD ci ...

's college of physics, the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...

's Seminar XXI, the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with College admission ...

school of executive education, the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...

's legislative affairs curriculum, and

Babson College Babson College is a private business school in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Established in 1919, its central focus is on entrepreneurship education. It was founded by Roger W. Babson as an all-male business institute, but became coeducational ...

's business leadership program. His early operational assignments were in

guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers who have a pri ...

Navy career

Franken was the first commanding officer of . He previously served on the , and . As commodore, he commanded Destroyer Squadron 28 and Task Group 152.0 for the Eisenhower Strike Group. Franken also served as the

's deputy for military operations, the United States Central Command's flag officer responsible for plans and strategy for three years, the chief of staff at U.S. Third Fleet, and as executive assistant to Commander, Fleet Forces Command. From 2011 to 2012, Franken commanded the

Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) is a joint task force of United States Africa Command (AFRICOM). It originated under Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA) as part of the United States response to the ...

(CJTF-HOA) in Djibouti, Africa, responsible for the U.S. military activity throughout East Africa and in the islands of the Indian Ocean. In Washington, D.C., he served a fellowship in congressional affairs for the

Office of the Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

; as the political-military chair in the Chief of Naval Operations' Executive Panel, in Navy's Plans and Strategy Deep Blue staff; in the Assessments Division in support of Navy's representation in the

Joint Requirements Oversight Council Part of the United States Department of Defense acquisition process, the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) reviews programs designated as JROC interest and supports the acquisition review process in accordance with law (). The JROC accompl ...

and in the

Joint Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and th ...

's Joint Operations Division overseeing U.S. Pacific Command operations. He presented the worldwide orders book to Secretary

Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as United States Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and a ...

from 2003 to 2005 and was the first military officer to serve as a legislative fellow for Senator

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

. Starting in January 2015, Franken was the first director of the

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense whose mission is to recover American military personnel listed as prisoners of war (POW) or missing in action (MIA) from designated past conflicts, ...

when it was created through the merger of the

Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (often referred to as JPAC) was a joint task force within the United States Department of Defense (DoD) whose mission was to account for Americans who are listed as Prisoners of War (POW), or Missing in Act ...

, the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, and parts of the Air Force's Life Sciences Lab. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting agency is an 800-person defense agency which oversees the location and retrieval of the remains of American veterans of foreign wars.

U.S. Senate campaigns

2020

On August 26, 2019, Franken announced that he would be running for the Democratic Party nomination for

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and ...

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

for the seat held by

Joni Ernst Joni Kay Ernst (née Culver; born July 1, 1970) is an American former military officer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Iowa since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served in the Iowa State S ...

, a member of the Republican Party. Franken was one of a number of Democrats who competed in the primary election held on June 2. The winner, Theresa Greenfield, lost to incumbent Ernst in the November 3 general election.

2022

On October 14, 2021, Franken confirmed that he would be seeking the Democratic Party nomination for

for the seat held by

, a member of the Republican Party. He defeated former

U.S. Representative 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 c ...

Abby Finkenauer Abby Lea Finkenauer (born December 27, 1988) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Iowa's 1st congressional district from 2019 to 2021. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before being elected to Congress, Fin ...

in the primary election in a major upset.

Personal life

Franken was born the youngest of nine children in rural

Sioux County, Iowa Sioux County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 35,872. Its county seat is Orange City. Its largest city is Sioux Center. History Sioux County was formed on January 15, 1851. It has ...

. His father was a machinist and blacksmith, while his mother was a school teacher. Franken joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 22 at the urging of an older brother. In 1989, he married his wife Jordan. Together, they have two children. Franken lives in downtown

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

References

; Attribution

External links

Franken for Iowa
campaign website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Franken, Michael T. 1957 births Candidates in the 2020 United States Senate elections Candidates in the 2022 United States Senate elections Iowa Democrats Living people Military personnel from Iowa Naval Postgraduate School alumni People from Sioux Center, Iowa United States Navy vice admirals University of Nebraska alumni