Bob Mollohan

Who was Bob Mollohan?

Robert "Bob" Homer Mollohan was a former member of the United States House of Representatives. A Democrat from West Virginia, Mollohan was succeeded in Congress by his son, Alan.

Mollohan was born in Grantsville, West Virginia. He attended Glenville State College, graduating with an accounting degree. After finishing his education, Mollohan was hired by the city of Parkersburg, West Virginia as a tax collector. In 1935, he was promoted to the rank of chief of the miscellaneous tax division. In 1939, the city reassigned Mollohan's duties, making him the local director of the Works Progress Administration. In 1940, he briefly worked for the Census Bureau.

For eight years, beginning in 1941, Mollohan was director of the West Virginia Industrial School for Boys at Pruntytown. He left this position in 1949 to become a clerk for the U.S. Senate. He made a name for himself in Washington, and he rode the momentum to an election victory that earned him a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from the 1st District of West Virginia in 1953. After just two terms in Congress, however, Mollohan decided to run for Governor of West Virginia. He lost the election to Cecil Underwood. In 1958, Mollohan decided to run for his old seat, now held by future Governor Arch Moore, Jr., a Republican, but Mollohan was defeated. He temporarily retired from politics and set up an insurance agency.