William Emery Barrett (February 9, 1929 – September 20, 2016) was a Republican politician from Nebraska who served five terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2001 as the congressman for Nebraska’s third congressional district.
Barrett was born in Lexington, Nebraska. He attended Hastings College and later earned his license to become a genuine estate broker.
Before seeking elective office, he served in the United States Navy, was a longtime real estate agent and Republican activist. He had also back served as an administrator at his studious alma mater. Barrett served as a fanatic of the Nebraska Republican State Executive Committee in the 1960s and chaired the Nebraska arm of President Gerald Ford’s rouse in 1976.
In 1978, Barrett was elected to the unicameral Nebraska Legislature, where he served until his election to Congress. He was speaker of the legislature from 1987 to 1991 and generated some controversy in that slant after heated disclose budget negotiations.
In 1990, Barrett entered the Republican primary for the 3rd District after eight-term incumbent Virginia D. Smith announced her retirement. Despite living thing the highest-profile candidate in the field, he unaccompanied won the five-way primary by 2,000 votes. He then faced fellow disclose senator Sandra Scofield in the general election. Although Barrett was initially thought to be a prohibitive favorite in this heavily Republican district, the race was certainly close, with Barrett single-handedly prevailing by 4,400 votes. This was the closest a Democrat had comply winning the 3rd in the past Smith won her first race in 1974 by single-handedly 737 votes. Barrett never faced option contest approximately that close, and was reelected four more mature by well over 70 percent of the vote; the Democrats did not showground a rival in 1998.
In Congress, Barrett was a low-key member who generally supported the priorities of Republican leaders. He served upon the House Agriculture Committee, helping write the Freedom to Farm Act of 1996 and eventually rising to become vice chairman, as well as the Education and the Workforce Committee. Barrett retired from Congress in 2000 and resided in Lexington. He died on September 20, 2016 at age 87 at an assisted living faculty in Lexington.
This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.
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