From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Frank W. Boykin
Frank W. Boykin
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives Succeeded by
John McDuffie from Alabama’s 1st congressional district Vacant
1935-1963
Frank William Boykin, Sr. (February 21, 1885, in Bladon Boykin was convicted of bribery[3], but pardoned by
Springs, Alabama – March 12, 1969, in Washington, President Johnson in 1964, at the request of departing At-
D.C.[1]) served as a Democratic Congressman in Alabama’s torney General Robert F. Kennedy.[4]
1st congressional district from 1935-1963. Boykin was married to Ocllo Gunn Boykin for almost
Boykin had little formal education, but became a suc- 56 years, even though he frequently cheated on her--
cessful businessman with interests in lumber and tur- something about which he openly bragged in the House
pentine. During World War I, he was an executive with cloakroom. According to one of his sons, Ocllo knew all
several shipbuilding companies. He was one of the more along about her husband’s numerous affairs.[5]
prominent defendants in Mobile’s whiskey trials of 1924 Boykin died in Washington, D.C. but is interred in
and 1925.[2] Pine Crest Cemetery, Mobile, Alabama.[1]
In 1935, he was elected to Congress from the Mobile-
based 1st District following John McDuffie’s appointment
to a federal judgeship. He hadn’t voted in any election
References
himself since the 1920s, and had to pay 14 years’ worth of [1] ^ "Frank William Boykin". InfoPlease.com.
back poll taxes to cast a vote for himself.[2] He won the http://www.infoplease.com/biography/us/
seat in his own right in 1936 and was reelected 12 more congress/boykin-frank-william.html. Retrieved
times. He was chairman of the House Patents Commit- 2007-04-15.
tee from 1943 to 1947. He ran in a special election for the [2] ^ Everything’s made for love: series written in 2001
United States Senate in 1946, but finished a distant third. by Mobile Register (now the Press-Register)
Boykin was considered a mediocre congressman. [3] "Congressional Biography". bioguide.congress.gov.
Although his seniority allowed him to steer millions of http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/
federal dollars to his district, he was known for missing biodisplay.pl?index=B000725. Retrieved
roll call votes more often than any other member of the 2010-08-23.
state’s congressional delegation.[2] [4] "Teflon tycoon". al.com. http://www.al.com/
Although Boykin was an ardent supporter of racial specialreport/mobileregister/boykin_08.html.
segregation (as were most Alabama politicians of the Retrieved 2010-08-23.
time), he had a reputation for helping black constituents [5] Hodges, Sam (2001-12-16). "Frank and Ocllo: A
even if they couldn’t vote. He had a particularly warm 55-year adventure". Mobile Register.
relationship with Alex Herman, the father of Bill Clin- http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/
ton’s Secretary of Labor, Alexis Herman. For example, index.ssf?/specialreport/mobileregister/
he encouraged Herman to deliver black votes in the Mo- boykin_20.html. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
bile area to Senator Lister Hill during Hill’s contentious • Frank W. Boykin at the Biographical Directory of the
1962 election. It is believed that Hill’s 6,000-vote margin United States Congress
of victory in that election was due mostly to heavy black Persondata
turnout in Mobile. Name Boykin, Frank W.
He lost his seat when Alabama’s congressional dele-
gation was cut from nine to eight members after the 1960 Alternative names
United States Census. The state legislature couldn’t agree Short description
on which district to eliminate, so all nine incumbents ran Date of birth 1885-02-21
against each other in an unusual statewide election. The
Place of birth
last-place finisher would be dropped, while the eight sur-
vivors would become at-large congressmen. Boykin fin- Date of death 1969-03-12
ished last, trailing the eighth-place finisher, Kenneth A. Place of death
Roberts of the 4th District, by 100,000 votes. He even lost
Mobile, which came as a particular embarrassment.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Frank W. Boykin
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frank_W._Boykin&oldid=439674686"
Categories:
• 1885 births
• 1969 deaths
• Members of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama
• Recipients of American presidential pardons
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