Frank Wolf | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 10th district |
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In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 2015 |
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Preceded by | Joe Fisher |
Succeeded by | |
Personal details | |
Born |
Frank Rudolph Wolf January 30, 1939 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Carolyn Stover |
Alma mater |
Pennsylvania State University, University Park Georgetown University |
Religion | Presbyterianism |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/branch | United States Army |
Years of service | 1962–1967 |
Frank Rudolph Wolf (born January 30, 1939) is an American Republican former legislator who represented Virginia's 10th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from January 1981 to his retirement in January 2015. He announced in December 2013 that he would not re-run for election in 2014, after he slumped in early polls, and retired at the conclusion of his 17th term in office. At the time of his announcement, he was the state's longest serving congressman, serving for 34 consecutive years.
Born and raised in West Philadelphia, Wolf overcame an early speech impediment which caused him to stutter. Attending Pennsylvania State University, he was a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, received a degree in political science and subsequently earned a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.. He then joined the United States Army as a reservist and became a lawyer for the military.
Wolf entered politics in 1968, at the age of 29, when he became a legislative assistant to Edward Biester, the Republican congressman from Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district. From 1971 to 1975, Wolf served as an assistant to Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton.
During the 1976 presidential election year, Wolf's first campaign for Virginia's 10th congressional district ended with his loss in the Republican primary to Vince Callahan by 45%–42%. Two years later, amidst the 1978 midterm elections, he won the Republican nomination unopposed, but lost the general election to the incumbent Democrat, Joseph L. Fisher, 53%–47%.