{{Short description|American politician (1863–1937)}} {{Multiple issues| {{No footnotes|date=April 2009}} {{One source|date=July 2025}} }} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Benjamin K. Focht | image = BenjaminKFocht.jpg | caption = Focht, 1921–1922 | state = [[Pennsylvania]] | constituency = [[Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district|18th district]] | term_start = March 4, 1933 | term_end = March 27, 1937 | preceded = [[Joseph Franklin Biddle]] | succeeded = [[Richard M. Simpson]] | constituency2 = [[Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district|17th district]] | term_start2 = March 4, 1915 | term_end2 = March 3, 1923 | preceded2 = [[Franklin Lewis Dershem]] | succeeded2 = [[Herbert Wesley Cummings]] | constituency3 = [[Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district|17th district]] | term_start3 = March 4, 1907 | term_end3 = March 3, 1913 | preceded3 = [[Thaddeus Maclay Mahon]] | succeeded3 = Franklin Lewis Dershem | office4 = Member of the [[Pennsylvania House of Representatives]] | term_start4 = 1893 | term_end4 = 1897 | office5 = Member of the [[Pennsylvania Senate]] | term_start5 = 1901 | term_end5 = 1905 | birth_date = {{birth date|1863|03|12}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1937|03|27|1863|03|12}} | birth_place = [[New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania]] | death_place = [[Washington, D.C.]] | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | alma_mater = [[Susquehanna University]] }}
'''Benjamin Kurtz Focht''' (March 12, 1863 – March 27, 1937) was a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] member of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] from [[Pennsylvania]].
==Biography== Benjamin K. Focht was born in [[New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania]]. He attended [[Bucknell University]] in [[Lewisburg, Pennsylvania]], [[Pennsylvania State College]] at [[State College, Pennsylvania]], and [[Susquehanna University]] in [[Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania]]. He established the ''Lewisburg Saturday News'' in 1881, serving as editor and publisher until his death. He was a delegate to the Republican State Convention in 1889. He served as an officer of the [[Pennsylvania National Guard]]. He was a member of the [[Pennsylvania House of Representatives]] from 1893 to 1897, and a member of the [[Pennsylvania State Senate]] from 1901 to 1905. He was water supply commissioner of Pennsylvania from 1912 to 1914.
Focht was elected as a Republican to the [[60th United States Congress|Sixtieth]], [[61st United States Congress|Sixty-first]], and [[62nd United States Congress|Sixty-second]] Congresses. He was unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1912. He was again elected to the [[64th United States Congress|Sixty-fourth]] and to the three succeeding Congresses. He served as Chairman of the [[United States House Committee on War Claims]] during the [[66th United States Congress|Sixty-sixth]] Congress, and the [[United States House Committee on the District of Columbia]] during the [[67th United States Congress|Sixty-seventh]] Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1922, 1924, 1926, 1928, and 1930, and also in 1932 for the unexpired term of [[Edward M. Beers]]. After his time in Congress he resumed business activities in Lewisburg. He served as deputy secretary of the Commonwealth in 1928 and 1929. Focht was again elected to the [[73rd United States Congress|Seventy-third]], [[74th United States Congress|Seventy-fourth]], and [[75th United States Congress|Seventy-fifth]] Congresses and served until his death in [[Washington, D.C.]]
==See also== * [[List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1900–1949)]]
==Sources== {{CongBio|F000230}} *[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/flynt-fogg.html The Political Graveyard]
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Pennsylvania | district=17 | before=[[Thaddeus M. Mahon]] | after=[[Franklin L. Dershem]] | years=1907–1913 }} {{US House succession box | state=Pennsylvania | district=17 | before=[[Franklin L. Dershem]] | after=[[Herbert W. Cummings]] | years=1915–1923 }} {{US House succession box | state=Pennsylvania | district=18 | before=[[Joseph F. Biddle]] | after=[[Richard M. Simpson]] | years=1933–1937 }} {{s-end}} {{US House District of Columbia chairs}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Focht, Benjamin K.}} [[Category:Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators]] [[Category:Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives]] [[Category:American newspaper editors]] [[Category:Bucknell University alumni]] [[Category:Pennsylvania State University alumni]] [[Category:1863 births]] [[Category:1937 deaths]] [[Category:American newspaper publishers (people)]] [[Category:Susquehanna University alumni]] [[Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Pennsylvania]] [[Category:People from Perry County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Journalists from Pennsylvania]] [[Category:20th-century United States representatives]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly]] [[Category:20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly]]