Frank Clark

Who was Frank Clark?

Frank Clark was an American politician.

Frank Clark was a lawyer and politician for some 50 years, including his 20 years in the United States Congress, and a well-known racist.

He was born in Eufaula, Alabama, and attended law school in Georgia. He was admitted to the bar there in 1881 and began private practice in Newnan.

He moved in 1884 to Florida, where he spent most of rest of his life as a politician and as a public and private attorney.

One year after moving to Florida, he was elected city attorney of Bartow in Polk County for 1885-86. He returned to practicing private law for three years until winning his first of two two-year terms - ten years apart - in the Florida House of Representatives.

Between the end of his first term in 1891 and his re-election in 1899, Clark worked at his law practice before and after being appointed in 1893 to a four-year term as assistant U.S. attorney for Southern Florida. He then moved to Jacksonville, Florida and resumed his law practice until being re-elected to the state House. In 1900, he was elected chair of the Florida Democratic Party.