Robert D. Bailey

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Robert D. Bailey, Jr. (October 12, 1912 - 2001) was West Virginia Secretary of State from 1965 to 1969. He was a graduate of what is now known as Concord University and Washington and Lee University Law School.

Born in Baileysville, he was the son of Robert D. Bailey, Sr. and Sue Starkey Bailey. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army in the European Theater. Admitted to the bar in 1934, he inherited his father's law practice, including representation of railroads and timber companies in southern West Virginia, based in his home town of Pineville. His own wide-ranging business involvements included the Castle Rock Bank of Pineville, Radio Station WWYO, the Independent Herald newspaper, and the Pineville Gas Company.

A Democrat, he was Wyoming County Prosecuting Attorney in 1949-61. He was appointed West Virginia Secretary of State by Governor Hulett C. Smith on May 17, 1965, and was elected in 1966, serving until January, 1969.

Following his term, he grew disenchanted with the liberal direction of the Democratic Party under his successor, Jay Rockefeller, and resumed his private life, never again seeking political office.

He died in 2001.