Reubin (O'Donovan) Askew

US governor, born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. After putting himself through college and law school, he served in the Florida legislature (Democrat, 1959–71), opposing school segregation. As governor of Florida (1971–9), he initiated tax reform, improved the penal system, and established an environmental protection agency. A US representative for international trade negotiations (1979–81), he later returned to his law practice.

A Democrat, Askew served as the 37th governor of the U.S. state of Florida from 1971 to 1979. Prior to becoming governor, Askew served in both the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, and later in the Florida State House and State Senate.

Askew was one of the first Southern governors to openly support desegregation, and was offered but declined a place as Vice President on a ticket with George McGovern.

Askew was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, one of the six children of Leon G. Askew and Alberta Askew. Askew attended Florida State University, at which he was a brother of Delta Tau Delta and Alpha Phi Omega.

In 1956, Askew was elected as Assisant County Solicitor of Escambia County, Florida. In 1958, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives and, in 1962, to the Florida Senate, from 1969 to 1970 he served as President Pro Tempore of the Florida State Senate.

In 1970, Askew was elected governor, and re-elected in 1974 making him the first Florida governor to serve two consecutive four year terms. As governor, Askew was one of the first of the 'New South' governors, at the same time as Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia and later Bill Clinton of Arkansas. in addition he named the first black Justice of the State Supreme Court, the first woman to the State Cabinet as well as the first black to the State Cabinet in a hundred years.

Askew's national stature in the Democratic party grew and, in 1972, he was keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in Miami. In 1979, Askew stepped down as governor to assume the role of United States Trade Representative, serving until the end of the Carter Administration in 1981. Askew was a member of the first class to be inducted into the DeMolay Hall of Fame on November 13, 1986.

In 1994 Former Governor Askew was named to the founding class of the Florida DeMolay Hall of Fame. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy at Florida State University was named for him and offers courses in government at several Florida universities.

In Spring 2003, the Florida State University chapter of Alpha Phi Omega nominated Askew to be that semester's pledge class namesake.