FAILOR, Edward Sr.

FAILOR, Edward Sr. (Marion, IA, Oct. 22, 1927--West Des Moines, Oct. 22, 2018) The son of Ernie and Harriet Failor, Ed loved competing in sports throughout high school and college, particularly basketball, football, and track. After graduating from Marion High School, Ed served in the United States Air Force for two years. (1)

He graduated with a double major in English and Chemistry from the UNIVERSITY OF DUBUQUE, where he also played football and basketball and then attended the University of Iowa Law School. After passing the Iowa Bar Exam, Ed worked at a law firm in Dubuque, and began dating Maurene Julius, his church’s Director of Music and fellow University of Dubuque graduate. They were married on August 4, 1956 at WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. One of his greatest joys was serving as co-chairman of the building committee for the new Westminster Presbyterian Church. Soon after, Ed was elected to serve as Dubuque Municipal Court Judge. (2) In 1956 he was also a member of a statewide committee of the Junior Chamber of Commerce which supported reapportionment of the Iowa Legislature. (3) In 1966 Failor led a meeting of motorcycle enthusiasts interested in changing the local view of those using that mode of transportation. The seven-member committee would meet with members of the Dubuque court system and police department to plan a MOTORCYCLE RODEO. (4)

Ed’s professional career included a wide variety of leadership positions: campaign manager for the United States Senate race in 1968 of David Stanley; Communications Director for a political consulting firm in Chicago, Illinois; Director of U.S. Bureau of Mines in Washington D.C.; Campaign Advisor on the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP) in Washington D.C.; and Director of SESA in Suitland, Maryland. (5) His involvement in CREEP led him to be mentioned as an "attacker" during the Watergate hearings in 1973. In this role, he was charged with monitoring Democratic speeches and developing responses to be delivered by Republicans. Failor repeated his denials of Watergate involvement and stated that he had joined the committee after the "bugging" incident and was not involved in subsequent events. (6) His appointment to the Bureau of Mines as a "super enforcer" was not without protest. A number of congressmen and the United Mine Workers of America criticized the appointment of a person without mining experience. Fred Schwengel (R-IA), whose re-election had been challenged by David Stanley's primary campaign managed by Failor, was also opposed. The Bureau of Mines spokesmen, however, stated Failor would have forty staff members with experience and his role would be one of "administrative delegation." (7)

In 1968 Ed finished his legal career back in Iowa as the Executive Director of Iowans for Tax Relief, a group for which David Stanley was president. He lived and worked in Muscatine and spent legislative sessions at the Capitol building in Des Moines. (8) The group sought a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget or a constitutional convention to do the same. (9)

He and Maurene loved spending time exercising and practicing track and field events for his Senior Olympics competitions in Iowa and around the country. He loved winning gold medals in the Iowa Senior Olympics and was the first inductee into that organization’s Hall of Fame. (10)

As an interesting sidenote, his daughter, Barbara, married James Comey, destined to become the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (11)

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Source:

1. Obituary. Online: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/west-des-moines-ia/edward-failor-8035301

2. Ibid.

3. Local JCs Spearhead Reapportionment Move," Telegraph-Herald, February 9, 1956, p. 10

4. Davis, Mary Rae, "City Motorcycle Rodeo Planned," Telegraph-Herald, April 15, 1966, p. 4

5. Obituary

6. "Failor Denies Involvement," The Telegraph-Herald, May 18 1973, p. 1

7. "Failor Gets Mine Post," Telegraph-Herald, April 8, 1971, p. 1

8. Obituary

9. Kelly, Steve, "Carr Questions Failor's Motivation in Joining Iowa for Tax Relief," Telegraph Herald, January 30, 1979, p. !

10. Obituary

11. Dr. Darryl Mozena and obituary