Ben Reifel

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Dr. Benjamin "Ben" Reifel (September 19, 1906 - January 2, 1990), a Lakota Sioux and a Republican United States Congressman from the First District of South Dakota; born on the Rosebud Indian Reservation near Parmelee, Todd County, South Dakota. Served in World War II in Europe, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Employed by the Department of the Interior since 1933, resigning as Aberdeen, South Dakota area administrator of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in March 1960. Received his PhD in public administration from Harvard University in 1952. Elected to the Eighty-seventh Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1961-January 3, 1971); was not a candidate for re-election in 1970 to the Ninety-second Congress.

[edit] External links

• Ben Reifel at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• NY Times Obituary
• South Dakota State University Archives

Preceded by George S. McGovern

United States Representative for the 1st Congressional District of South Dakota 1961–1971

Succeeded by Frank E. Denholm