Barney Frank

Barney Frank
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 4th district
In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Robert Drinan
Succeeded by	Joe Kennedy III
Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee
In office January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Spencer Bachus
Succeeded by	Maxine Waters
In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2007
Preceded by	John LaFalce
Succeeded by	Spencer Bachus
Chair of the House Financial Services Committee
In office January 4, 2007 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Mike Oxley
Succeeded by	Spencer Bachus
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by	Eliot Wadsworth
Succeeded by	Thomas Vallely
Constituency	5th Suffolk (1973–1979) 8th Suffolk (1979–1981)
Personal details
Born	Barnett Frank (1940-03-31) March 31, 1940 (age 84) Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Jim Ready ​ (m. 2012)​
Education	Harvard University (BA, JD)
Barney Frank's voice Frank, as chair of the House Financial Services Committee, on the need for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 Recorded September 29, 2008

Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a former American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democrat, Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee from 2007 to 2011 and was a leading co-sponsor of the 2010 Dodd–Frank Act. Frank, a resident of Newton, Massachusetts, was considered the most prominent gay politician in the United States during his time in Congress.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Born and raised in Bayonne, New Jersey, Frank graduated from Bayonne High School, Harvard College and Harvard Law School.^[6] He worked as a political aide before winning election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1972. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1980 with 52 percent of the vote. He was re-elected every term thereafter by wide margins. In 1987, he publicly came out as gay, becoming the first member of Congress to do so voluntarily. From 2003 until his retirement, Frank was the leading Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, and he served as committee chairman when his party held a House majority from 2007 to 2011. In July 2012, he married his long-time partner, James Ready, becoming the first member of Congress to marry someone of the same sex while in office.^[7][8] Frank did not seek re-election in 2012, and was succeeded by fellow Democrat Joe Kennedy III.^[9] Frank's autobiography, A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage, was published in 2015.^[10][11]

Prior to his time in the House of Representatives, Frank served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1973 to 1981.^{[12][13][14][15]}