Robert Countryball

**Robert Brown-Countryball** (26th March 1894 - 24th September 2009) was an American politician who served as the **U.S. Secretary of the Treasury** from **January 22nd 1969** to **January 20th 1977**. He was also **Governor of Alaska** from **December 1st, 1946** to **June 3rd, 1953,** as well as a **U.S. Senator from Alaska** from **June 3rd, 1953** to **November 2nd, 1954,** & from **January 3rd, 1957 to January 3rd, 1963**. He was **Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives** from 1927-1946.

## Robert B. Countryball (R-AK)

"Robert B. Countryball, Secretary of the Treasury, Former U.S. Senator (R-AK), pictured in 1969"

### Offices Held

U.S. Senator from Alaska (1953-1954, 1957-1963)
Governor of Alaska (1946-1953)

## Physical description

### Gender

Male

His U.S. Senate Historical Rank is **1547**.

## Early & personal life

Robert was born in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1894, to his 77-year old father, Wojciech Countryball, and an unknown mother. This made him the younger half-brother of the 53-year-old Alamkan M. Countryball Sr, who was, at the time, the senior U.S. Senator for Alaska. As such, Robert grew up in a world of politics, and, in 1916, joined the National Conservatives, the party of which Alamkan was the U.S. Senate dean of.

### Early political career

Robert, using money from his very wealthy father & powerful brother, graduated with a master's degree in political science, and was encouraged to run for the Alaska House, winning a seat in 1922. Robert was elected party leader, and became Speaker of the House in 1927, once his party gained the majority. He was a very powerful speaker, managing to keep his party in control for over 2 decades, even following his resignation in 1946 to run for Governor.

## Governor of Alaska (1946-1953)

### 1946 gubernatorial election

Robert had expressed a wish to run for Governor for a while, but staved off of doing so due to the blue nature of Alaska & the larger U.S. during the 1930's. However, in 1946, signs of a huge red wave started to show up, orchestrated by officials such as Thomas Dewey, Robert Taft, and his elder brother. With the endorsement of his brother, Robert crushed primary opposition from Frank Heintzleman & Walter Hickel, although he picked the former as his running mate. Robert faced former U.S. Senator Ernest Gruening, and his running mate, Ralph Rivers, since the incumbent Dimond-Bartlett ticket refused to run for a 2nd term. The race was close for most of the polls, but Robert won by a hefty margin by the time the election came. This was due to Gruening's support for the Rampart Dam, which was extremely unpopular with Alaska Natives, who were usually a very strong Liberal Democrat voting bloc. The flood in of votes from natives for Robert helped him win with a 12 point margin, winning 55.9% of the vote, compared to Gruening's 43.5% of the vote.

### First term (1946-1950)

Robert was sworn in on December 1st, 1946, with his elder brother, father, & numerous Alaska National Conservatives watching. He immediately cancelled all plans for the Rampart Dam, and travelled to Juneau to begin serving. Despite this, Robert had a lot on his hands, facing native claims issues and a small, undeveloped state. Robert relied a lot on his older brother for advice, something which helped him out in the end, as his brother had been in the Senate for nearly 80 years by the time Robert had been sworn in. Robert was present at Alamkan's 80 year Senate anniversary in 1947, giving a speech which became known as "Rob's Proclamation" by the Alaskan people. Following the speech, his already-high approval ratings rose to 92%, which is still the record for the most popular Governor in U.S. History. However, a part of this high approval was Robert's views, who were much more progressive than his segregationist brother. This lead to some disagreements between the two, but their bond never broke, working together as a duo.

### 1950 gubernatorial election

Robert found himself a VERY popular incumbent, seeking re-election against the Bartlett-Egan ticket.