Tom Steed
Tom Steed
“Tom realized the three fundamental corner posts were agriculture, energy, and defense. Our six congressmen how have covered, effectively, the authorization and appropriation committees of those three areas in our State’s economy. That’s a legacy that will last long beyond Tom Steed.”
Biography
Congressman Tom Steed was born in Texas and raised on an Oklahoma farm. He began his newspaper career with the Ada Evening News and was a reporter for other papers including The Daily Oklahoman, McAlester News-Capital, and the Bartlesville Examine-Enterprise. He then became the administrative assistant to three Oklahoma congressmen (1934-1938) and was the managing editor of the Shawnee News and Star until he began his service in the U. S. Army in 1942. In 1944, he served in the Office of War Information in the China-India-Burma Theater as a Captain. After the War, he returned to Shawnee and was elected to his first term in the House of Representatives in 1948.
Fun fact
Tom Steed was a long-time champion of the Library of Congress and is credited with making it “a truly international library of learning.”
Oklahoma connections
Steed came with his parents to Konowa, Oklahoma.