Bob Bartlett
United States Senator from Alaska
Died when: 64 years 235 days (775 months)Star Sign: Taurus
Edward Lewis Bartlett (April 20, 1904 – December 11, 1968), known as Bob Bartlett, was an Alaska politician and a member of the Democratic Party.
A key fighter for Alaska statehood, Bartlett served as the Secretary of Alaska Territory from 1939 to 1945, in Congress from 1945 to 1959 as a Delegate, and from 1959 - his death in 1968 as a U.S. senator.
He was opposed to U.S. involvement in Vietnam, along with his fellow Senator Ernest Gruening, and also worked to warn people about the dangers of radiation.
Many acts bare his name, including a major law known as the Bartlett Act, mandating handicap access in all federally-funded buildings.
Bartlett was born in Fairbanks, Alaska, to Edward C. and Ida Florence (née Doverspike) Bartlett.Bartlett's elder sister, Doris, insisted on calling the young Bartlett 'Bob', which became a name which stuck for life.
After attending the University of Washington from 1922 to 1924, Bartlett graduated from the University of Alaska in 1925.Shortly after his graduation, Bartlett began his career in politics.
He accepted the position of secretary to Delegate Anthony Dimond of Alaska, serving in that role for a year.Three years later he became the chairman of the Unemployment Compensation Commission of Alaska., serving from 1937 to 1939.
Bartlett's father died in 1935, so he returned to Fairbanks to run his family's mining business.However, Bartlett wasn't fond of mining, and looked back to the political arena in 1938.
In 1939, President Franklin D.Roosevelt appointed him Secretary of the Alaska Territory, serving under Governors John Weir Troy & Ernest Gruening.
In 1945, following the retirement of Anthony Dimond, Bartlett was elected as the delegate from Alaska to the 79th and the six succeeding Congresses, with the backing of Dimond.
It was in this role that his greatest work on Alaskan statehood was completed, such as the introduction of the Alaska Statehood Act to the House, where he was key in shepherding its passage.
Bartlett labored constantly for statehood, being a member of the Alaska Statehood Committee.Upon Alaska's admission to the Union in 1959, he became the senior inaugural U.S. senator from Alaska and served until his death in 1968.
Bartlett died in office on December 11, 1968, due to complications from heart surgery.Republican Ted Stevens was appointed by Governor Walter Hickel.
Stevens would serve until 2009, and would serve as Senate President pro tempore from 2003 to 2007.
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