A. S. Mike Monroney

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credited to the United States Senate Historical Office
credited to the United States Senate Historical Office

Almer Stillwell Mike Monroney (March 2, 1902 - February 13, 1980) was a Democratic Party politician from Oklahoma.

He also represented Oklahoma's 5th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives from 1939 until 1951.

He then represented Oklahoma in the United States Senate from 1951 until 1969.

Monroney graduated from the University of Oklahoma (Norman) in 1924, then served as a reporter for the Oklahoma News from 1924 to 1928. In 1938 he ran for Congress as a Democrat and was elected, then reelected in the five next elections, up to 1951.

As a Representative, he co-authored the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. As a Senator, he sponsored the Automobile Information Disclosure Act of 1958. The law required that all new automobiles carry a sticker on a window containing important information about the vehicle. That sticker is commonly known as a "Monroney sticker". After the war there were many more Americans that wanted cars than there were cars and he saw that there needed a consumer protection for the returning veterans to "get mobile" and the country to get on with it.

The Senator wrote and sponsored the legislation that created the Federal Aviation Administration after losing several friends in airplane crashes in the 1940s to create stronger safety guidelines. All private planes in the United States are registered at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City. Air Traffic Controllers are also trained there. As a result of his contribution to aviation he was "Mr. Aviation" in the Senate and won the Wright Brothers Award the highest aviation award granted.

He was voted by the Senate Pages as "the nicest Senator" and was known for being a statesman. He lost his Senatorial bid in 1968 after 30 years serving Oklahoma.

Senator Monroney was considered as a running mate for Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson in 1952, but was rejected for his lack of national recognition. [1] He was married to Mary Ellen Mellon of the Mellon banking family and had one son, Michael Monroney, four grandchildren, Erin, Alice, Michael and Susanna Monroney Quinn, and three great-grandchildren, Megan and Mitchell Monroney and adorable Jocelyn Luddy (daughter of Susanna Monroney Quinn and step-daughter of former White House Counsel, Jack Quinn).

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Preceded by
Gomer Griffith Smith
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oklahoma's 5th congressional district

1939–1951
Succeeded by
John Jarman
Preceded by
Elmer Thomas
United States Senator (Class 3) from Oklahoma
1951-1969
Served alongside: Robert S. Kerr, J. Howard Edmondson, Fred R. Harris
Succeeded by
Henry Bellmon