Licht, Frank, 1916-1987

Frank R. Licht (March 3, 1916 – May 30, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party. he served as the 67th Governor of Rhode Island from 1969 to 1973. He was the state's first Jewish governor.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, he graduated from Brown University and Harvard Law School. In 1942 Licht was admitted to the Rhode Island bar, where he served as a law clerk for Judge John C. Mahoney of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston. He was a partner with the Providence firm of Letts & Quinn from 1943 to 1956. Licht was elected to the Rhode Island Senate in 1949 and served there until 1956. He sat on the Superior Court of Rhode Island from 1956 to 1968. During his time on the Superior Court, Licht was founding member of the Providence Human Rights Commission, was the Chairman of the Chapin Hospital Commission, and was a general lecturer at Bryant College in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

In 1968, Licht announced his intention to run as the Democratic nominee for Governor of Rhode Island. Campaigning on a platform that opposed the imposition of a state income tax, he narrowly defeated incumbent John Chafee with 51 percent of the vote; Licht would be narrowly re-elected with 50 percent of the vote in 1970. As governor, he would reverse campaign promises he made in 1968 and 1970, pushing through Rhode Island's first income tax in order to resolve a worsening fiscal crisis. During his term as governor, Licht approved more business projects than any other governor in Rhode Island's history, and helped create the Rhode Island Department of Social Rehabilitation Services, and the Rhode Island Department of Mental Health, Retardation, and Hospitals. Licht took a strong stand on environmental protection, playing a big role in revitalizing the New England Water Pollution Control Commission. He created an eleven-member Governor's Council on Environmental Quality, expanding regulatory authority against air and water pollution, and providing tax credits to businesses that included pollution-control systems into their operations. Owing to growing unpopularity due to his implementing the statewide sales tax, Licht did not run for a third term in 1972.

After leaving office as governor, Licht returned to practicing law in Rhode Island. He died in Providence in 1987.