American politician
Lyle Boren
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/LyleHBoren.jpg/220px-LyleHBoren.jpg) |
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In office
January 3, 1937 ? January 3, 1947
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Preceded by
| Percy Lee Gassaway
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Succeeded by
| Glen D. Johnson
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Born
| Lyle Hagler Boren
(
1909-05-11
)
May 11, 1909
Waxahachie, Texas
, U.S.
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Died
| July 2, 1992
(1992-07-02)
(aged 83)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
, U.S.
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Political party
| Democratic
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Spouse
| Christine McKown
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Children
| 2, including
David
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Relatives
| Mae Boren Axton
(sister)
James Boren
(nephew)
Hoyt Axton
(nephew)
Dan Boren
(grandson)
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Education
| East Central University
(
BA
)
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater
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Lyle Hagler Boren
(May 11, 1909 ? July 2, 1992) was a
U.S.
Democratic Party
politician and a member of the
United States House of Representatives
from
Oklahoma
, serving from 1937 to 1947 and was defeated for renomination in the
1946 election
.
[1]
He was known for his independence in the party, opposing labor union strikes on defense plants and attempts to expand the federal government.
[2]
Boren attracted national attention for his criticism of
The Grapes of Wrath
.
[3]
He was active in state politics long after leaving Congress and is the father of former U.S. Senator and Oklahoma Governor
David Boren
, and grandfather of former U.S. Congressman
Dan Boren
, who represented
Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district
from 2005 to 2013.
Early life and career
[
edit
]
Boren was born near
Waxahachie, Texas
, the son of Nannie May (nee Weatherall) and Mark Latimer Boren,
[4]
and moved to
Lawton, Oklahoma
in 1917, where he attended public schools.
[1]
He finished high school in
Choctaw, Oklahoma
graduating from Choctaw High School,
[5]
where the activities center used to bear his name until it was renamed in 2021. His sister was the "
Heartbreak Hotel
" songwriter
Mae Axton
. Boren was graduated from
East Central College
at
Ada, Oklahoma
, in 1930. From 1930 to 1935, he was a school teacher in
Wolf, Oklahoma
, and later served as a deputy procurement officer for the
United States Department of the Treasury
.
[1]
Furthermore, he was involved in
agricultural
and
mercantile
business interests. He married the former Christine McKown, an
Oklahoma State University
graduate and public school teacher, in 1936,
[6]
and had two children,
David Boren
and Susan Boren Dorman, and two grandchildren including
Dan Boren
.
[7]
Political career
[
edit
]
Boren was first elected to the
United States Congress
in November 1936 as a Democrat, at the age of 26, and was the youngest person to serve in the House since
Henry Clay
.
[7]
He was continuously re-elected until 1946 when he lost the Democratic primary election to
Glen D. Johnson
. Following his tenure in Congress, he resumed his business pursuits, except, in 1948, when he attempted to re-enter politics by running unsuccessfully for his former U.S. House seat.
Boren was known as an independent, opposing his party on several occasions.
[2]
He worked against the growth of the federal government and excessive federal spending.
[2]
He angered labor unions by backing legislation to ban strikes at defense plants, which did hurt him politically.
[2]
Boren's legislative efforts included cancer research, old-age pensions, the
Civil Aeronautics Board
, newsprint and paper shortages, consumer product labeling, railroad freight rates, and municipal bonds.
[6]
In 1938, Boren told his fellow Congressmen, "The greatest problem in America today is to erase the question in the minds of men, 'What is the government going to do for me?' and replace it with the question, 'What can I do for my country".
[6]
Later life and state politics
[
edit
]
After leaving Congress, Boren resumed many of his former mercantile business and agricultural pursuits. In 1957, he became a lobbyist for the railroad industry.
[6]
He retired in 1969 and continued ranching in Oklahoma. He was also a spokesman and successful fund-raiser for the
Oklahoma Democratic Party
and worked tirelessly to help Democratic candidates win election to public office. Most notably, Boren assisted his son,
David Boren
's campaigns for Governor of Oklahoma in
1974
, and U.S. Senate in
1978
.
Retirement and death
[
edit
]
Boren retired from public life due to failing health after approximately 50 years of service in Congress and later as an advocate for other candidates. He moved to
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
, where he remained until his death on July 2, 1992.
[1]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Biographical Directory of Congress Profile
- ^
a
b
c
d
Burke, Bob, "
Boren, Lyle Hagler (1909-1992)
Archived
2009-01-05 at the
Wayback Machine
,"
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
Archived
2009-04-16 at the
Wayback Machine
(accessed May 18, 2010).
- ^
Shockley, Martin (January 1944). "The Reception of the Grapes of Wrath in Oklahoma".
American Literature
.
15
(4): 357.
doi
:
10.2307/2920761
.
JSTOR
2920761
.
- ^
"1"
. Archived from
the original
on 2015-11-25
. Retrieved
2014-07-23
.
- ^
"Oklahoma Hall of Fame: Boren, Lyle. H"
. Retrieved
July 22,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"
Lyle H. Boren and Christina Boren
,
Genealogytrails.com
(accessed May 19, 2010).
- ^
a
b
"Ex-Rep. Lyle Boren, Senator's Father, 82" (New York Times obituary)
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Lyle Boren
.
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