Benjamin K. Focht

Benjamin K. Focht


Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 18th district
In office March 4, 1933 – March 27, 1937
Preceded by	Joseph Franklin Biddle
Succeeded by	Richard M. Simpson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 17th district
In office March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1923
Preceded by	Franklin Lewis Dershem
Succeeded by	Herbert Wesley Cummings
In office March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1913
Preceded by	Thaddeus Maclay Mahon
Succeeded by	Franklin Lewis Dershem

Personal details
Born	(1863-03-12)March 12, 1863 New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania
Died	March 27, 1937(1937-03-27) (aged 74) Washington, D.C.
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Susquehanna University

Benjamin Kurtz Focht (March 12, 1863 – March 27, 1937) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Biography

Benjamin K. Focht was born in New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania. He attended Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State College at State College, Pennsylvania, and Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. He established the Lewisburg Saturday News in 1881, serving as editor and publisher until his death. He was a delegate to the Republican State Convention in 1889. He served as an officer of the Pennsylvania National Guard. He was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1893 to 1897, and a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1901 to 1905. He was water supply commissioner of Pennsylvania from 1912 to 1914.

Focht was elected as a Republican to the Sixtieth, Sixty-first, and Sixty-second Congresses. He was unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1912. He was again elected to the Sixty-fourth and to the three succeeding Congresses. He served as Chairman of the United States House Committee on War Claims during the Sixty-sixth Congress, and the United States House Committee on the District of Columbia during the Sixty-seventh Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1922, 1924, 1926, 1928, and 1930, and also in 1932 for the unexpired term of Edward M. Beers. After his time in Congress he resumed business activities in Lewisburg. He served as deputy secretary of the Commonwealth in 1928 and 1929. Focht was again elected to the Seventy-third, Seventy-fourth, and Seventy-fifth Congresses and served until his death in Washington, D.C..

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Thaddeus M. Mahon	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district 1907–1913	Succeeded by Franklin L. Dershem
Preceded by Franklin L. Dershem	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district 1915–1923	Succeeded by Herbert W. Cummings
Preceded by Joseph F. Biddle	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district 1933–1937	Succeeded by Richard M. Simpson

Chairmen of the United States House Committee on the District of Columbia
Lewis Van Horne Lewis Kent Tucker Herbert Kent Alexander Powers Doddridge Washington Chinn Shepard Bouldin W. Johnson Underwood Campbell Hunter Chapman Inge Brown Ficklin Hamilton Matteson Dodd Goode Carter Conkling Lovejoy Dumont Ingersoll Cook Starkweather Hale Buckner Blackburn Hunton Neal Barbour Hemphill Grout Hemphill Heard Babcock Smith B. Johnson Mapes Zihlman Focht Reed Zihlman Norton Palmisano Randolph McMillan Dirksen McMillan Simpson McMillan Diggs Dellums Stark

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