Frank E. Hook
| Frank Eugene Hook | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Former U.S. Representative from Michigan's 12th Congressional District From: January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947 | |||
| Predecessor | John B. Bennett | ||
| Successor | John B. Bennett | ||
| Former U.S. Representative from Michigan's 12th Congressional District From: January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1943 | |||
| Predecessor | W. Frank James | ||
| Successor | John B. Bennett | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Democrat | ||
| Spouse(s) | Elsie Schneider[1] | ||
| Religion | Lutheran (former Roman Catholic)[2] | ||
Frank Eugene Hook (b. Francis Eugene Hook,[3] May 26, 1893 – June 21, 1982) was a Michigan Democrat who was the only member of his party to represent the Upper Peninsula of the state in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Contents
Political career
U.S. House of Representatives
A liberal and supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt,[4] Hook narrowly won election to the United States House of Representatives in the 1934 midterms, defeating incumbent Republican William F. James in western Upper Peninsula district by fiver percentage points.[5] He established himself as a steadfast ally to Roosevelt's New Deal agenda, supporting the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the National Recovery Act, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Glass-Steagall Act.[6]
Although he made efforts to combat racial discrimination,[7] Hook opposed anti-lynching legislation, voting against the House passage of the Gavagan-Wagner bill in 1937.[8] He stated on the House floor:[9]
| I come from a section of the country that I believe is one of the most law-abiding sections that we have in these United States. We have not had one single solitary lynch-ing in all its history. I believe in law and order, and I should like to have the bill extended so as to give us real protection and real law and order so that we will not be menaced by these sit-C.own strikes that may come into my district. Oh, I have heard you talk here about the men who have been prosecuted in the cities. Let me tell you a story about one of the gangsters from the city of Chicago who is now roaming this country free from any attempt of the officers to apprehend him.
I happened to be in the city of Chicago shortly after Tommy O'Connor, one of the notorious gangsters, was con-demned for murder, and was in the bull pen about to be executed. He was supposed to have escaped. I was taken by the jailer of Cook County jail in Dlinois through the jail and he showed me how Tommy O'Connor escaped. He showed me how he went through a 5-foot wall with a hand-pick; went through a little hole about that size---less than 1 foot in diameter-went down the hall, took the keys away from an omcer, and then out through a window on to a lean-to, from there to a car that was waiting, and was then driven away. I started to laugh. He said, "What are you laughing about?" I said, "I understand Tommy O'Connor has been picked up in Ohio." He said, You don't believe that. You are laughing because of what I have shown you. I don't blame you, because Tommy O'Connor never escaped from this jail. He was chased out of jail. ·He is right in the city of Chicago today because it is the safest place for him. He will never be taken in as long as he stays here in Chicago providing the right bunch remain in office. Tommy O'Connor is still at large today. Can you deny it?" |
He similarly voted against the 1940 Gavagan-Fish anti-lynching bill.[10]
In the 1942 Midterm Elections, Hook was defeated in the general election by Republican John B. Bennett.[11] However, he returned to the House in the following election cycle, defeating Bennett by one percentage point.[12]
Hook feuded with bigoted Mississippi segregationist John E. Rankin, who in 1945 accused the Michigan representative of being a "communist".[13] Rankin physically attacked Hook, who refrained from forcefully retaliating due to his physical strength and personal fear of seriously injuring the Mississippi representative.[14] Hook stated he would resign from Congress if Rankin would as well, viewing an exit from Congress by the racist Mississippi demagogue as preferable to himself remaining in the lower house.[15]
Bennett ran again to challenge Hook in the 1946 midterms, and won by nine percentage points in the general election[16] due to disdain voters in the region had at that point for the labor movement,[17] which the incumbent Democrat representative generally sided with.
1948 Senate run
In the 1948 Senate races coinciding with the presidential election that year, Hook sought to unseat incumbent Republican Homer Ferguson. After narrowly losing by only two points,[18] a petition was submitted to the Senate requesting an investigation of alleged election fraud by Republicans in the state.[19] Hook claimed that the inspection committees in Republican-leaning towns were not bipartisan and that campaign contributions from automobile dealerships violated finance laws.
The final Senate report found some evidence to back up the charges, though concluded that it was not sufficient to change the outcome of the election.[19] It also cleared Ferguson of allegations that he was involved in the election procedures, and the Senate voted in late July 1949 to reject the claim filed by Hook.[20]
References
- ↑ Allen, Mary Louise Hook (2004). Fightin’ Frank: The Biography of Upper Peninsula’s 12th District Democratic Congressman (p. 7). M. L. H. Allen.
- ↑ Fightin’ Frank, pp. 59–60.
- ↑ Fightin’ Frank, p. 1.
- ↑ Fightin’ Frank, p. 18.
- ↑ MI - District 12 Race - Nov 06, 1934. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ Fightin’ Frank, p. 72.
- ↑ Fightin’ Frank, pp. 30–31.
- ↑ TO PASS H. R. 1507, AN ANTI-LYNCHING BILL.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ GPO-CRECB-1937-pt3-v81-20.pdf. Congressional Record. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ TO PASS H.R. 801, A BILL TO MAKE LYNCHING A FEDERAL CRIME.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ MI - District 12 Race - Nov 03, 1942. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ MI - District 12 Race - Nov 07, 1944. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ Rankin and Hook Fight in House After Cries of 'Communist,' 'Liar'; Representative From Michigan Defending CIO-PAC Faces Censure--Mississippian Says He Struck Because of 'Insult'. The New York Times. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ Fightin’ Frank, p. 6.
- ↑ Fightin’ Frank, p. 90.
- ↑ MI - District 12 Race - Nov 05, 1946. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ Frank Hook, 89, Dies; Former Representative. The New York Times. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ MI US Senate Race - Nov 02, 1948. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 The Election Case of Frank E. Hook v. Homer Ferguson of Michigan (1949). United States Senate. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ↑ Glass, Andrew (July 28, 2014). Senate rejects Michigan election fraud claim, July 28, 1949. Politico. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
