Michael T. Franken


Michael Thane Franken  is an American politician and retired United States Navy Vice Admiral. His final posting was as Deputy Director of Military Operations for the United States Africa Command. In 2020, Franken ran in an attempt to be the Democratic nominee in that year's Senate election in Iowa, but lost the June 2 primary to Theresa Greenfield.

Career

Franken attended Morningside College and graduated on an ROTC scholarship from the College of Engineering at the University of Nebraska before entering the United States Navy in 1981. His early operational assignments were in guided missile destroyers.
Franken was the first commanding officer of USS Winston S. Churchill and served on the USS King, USS Dahlgren and USS Barry. As commodore, he commanded Destroyer Squadron 28 and Task Group 152.0 for the Eisenhower Strike Group. Franken also served as the U.S. Africa Command's deputy for military operations.
In Washington, D.C., he served a fellowship in congressional affairs for the Office of the Secretary of the Navy; as the political-military chair in the Chief of Naval Operations’ Executive Panel in Information, Plans and Strategy's Deep Blue staff; in the Assessments Division in support of Navy's representation in the Joint Requirements Oversight Council and in the Joint Staff's Joint Operations Division. He presented the worldwide orders book to Secretary Donald Rumsfeld from 2003 to 2005 and was the first military officer to serve as a legislative fellow for the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
Starting in January 2015, Franken was the first director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency when it was created through the merger of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, and parts of the Air Force's Life Sciences Lab. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting agency is an 800-person defense agency which oversees the location and retrieval of the remains of American veterans of foreign wars.

2020 U.S. Senate election in Iowa

On August 26, 2019, Franken announced that he would be running for the Democratic Party nomination for United States Senate in Iowa for the seat held by Joni Ernst, a member of the Republican Party.
Franken was one of a number of Democrats who competed in the primary election held on June 2. The winner, Theresa Greenfield, will face incumbent Ernst, who is unopposed for the Republican nomination, as well as independent candidate Suzanne Herzog in the November 3 general election.

Personal life

Franken was born the youngest of nine children in rural Sioux County Iowa. His father was a machinist and blacksmith. He joined the Navy at age 22 at the urging of an older brother.
In 1989, Franken married his wife, Jordan. Together they have two children. Franken lives in downtown Sioux City, Iowa.