William B. Pine, U.S. Senator

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_B._Pine

William Bliss Pine (December 30, 1877 – August 25, 1942) was a United States Senator from Oklahoma. Born in Illinois, he moved to Kansas and finally Oklahoma, where he became a prominent busineman and oil producer. As a senator, he was economically conservative, but considered progressive in his agricultural positions. With the onset of the Great Depression, he and many other Republican politicians were turned out of office.

Early life and career

Born in Bluffs, Illinois, Pine graduated from a high school in Naples, Illinois in 1896 and taught school for three years while selling harvesters during the summer. He became a traveling salesman with the D. M. Osborne Company, which took him to Neosho County, Kansas, where he got caught up in oil fever.

He moved to Chanute, Kansas and was employed in the oil producing business; he moved to Oklahoma in 1904 and continued in the oil industry. In 1909 he located in Okmulgee, Oklahoma where he eventually became extensively engaged in the production of oil.

Pine married his high school sweetheart, Laura M. Hamilton in 1912.

He became one of the state's leading independent oil producers and a prominent Okmulgee businessman.

Political career

Pine was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate and served from March 4, 1925, to March 4, 1931; he was unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1930, after which he resumed his former business pursuits.

Called a "regular Republican" for his positions on the economy, the senator sided with the "Progressive" part of his party on matters related to agriculture and foreign affairs. He supported protective legislation for the petroleum industry and fought to bring federal road projects to Oklahoma.

The Great Depression virtually destroyed the Republican party in Oklahoma, one of the reasons Pine was not reelected.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1934.

Death

Pine died in Okmulgee in 1942; at the time of his death, he was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate. Interment was in Okmulgee Cemetery.