Fred R. Harris
United States Senator
Died when: 94 years 10 days (1128 months)Star Sign: Scorpio
Fred Roy Harris (born November 13, 1930) was an American academic, author, and former politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States Senate from Oklahoma.
Born in Walters, Oklahoma, Harris was elected to the Oklahoma Senate after graduating from the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
He ousted the appointed U.S.Senate incumbent J.Howard Edmondson and won a 1964 special election to succeed Robert S.
Kerr, narrowly defeating football coach Bud Wilkinson.Harris strongly supported the Great Society programs but criticized President Lyndon B.Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War.
He was reelected in 1966 and declined to seek another term in 1972.From 1969 to 1970, Harris served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
In the 1968 presidential election, Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey strongly considered him as his running mate.Harris unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972 and 1976.
After 1976, he became a professor at the University of New Mexico.
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