Rex D. Davis

Rex Darwin Davis
1st Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
In office
1970 - 1978
Preceded by Position established July 1, 1972 (formerly IRS ATF Division)
Succeeded by G.R. Dickerson
Personal details
Born (1924-06-11)June 11, 1924
Skiatook, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died January 7, 2008(2008-01-07) (aged 83)
Suburban Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Resting place Arlington National Cemetery[1]
Nationality American
Spouse(s) Patricia M. Humphreys, August 31, 1946–divorce
Amelia Fry Davis, c:a 1979 until his death
Children daughters from first marriage: Deborah Ruth, Kathleen Marie
Parents Ivan Francis and Ruth (Nabors) Davis
Education University of Oklahoma, law degree 1949
Alma mater

University of Oklahoma, student, 1942–1943, 1946–1949, LL.B., 1949

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, public affairs fellow, 1965–1966
[2][3]

Rex Darwin Davis (1924–2008) was a federal law enforcement officer in the United States, with a long career in the U.S. Treasury Department. He was the first director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, subsequently known as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Personal

Mr. Davis was born June 11, 1924, in Skiatook, Oklahoma. He began his education at the University of Oklahoma in 1942, but interrupted it for World War II military service (1943–1946). After the war, he married (1946) and completed a law degree (1949). Later in his career, he was a visiting student at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School (1965–1966).

He was a bombardier in the U.S. Army Air Forces, 1942–1945, and flew thirty-three combat missions with Eighth Air Force, England. He returned to civilian life a first lieutenant, decorated with the Air Medal and Purple Heart.[2]

He was a strong supporter of the Brady Campaign against gun violence.[1][3] He was a founding member of the National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington.[4]

He died of complications from a colon infection, January 7, 2008, in Bethesda, Maryland.

Awards & memberships

  • William A. Jump Memorial Foundation Meritorious Award for contributions to operating procedures in administering the Alcohol and Tax Division of the Internal Revenue Service.
  • International Platform Association
  • Federal Bar Association
  • Federal Business Association
  • Pi Kappa Alpha
  • Greenhills (Ohio) Golf and Country Club

Career

  • U.S. Treasury Department, criminal investigator (agent), in McAlester, Oklahoma, (1949–1955)
  • part-time law instructor and assistant director at Treasury Law Enforcement School, Washington, D.C., 1953–1961
  • special investigator in Richmond, Virginia, 1955–1958
  • enforcement examiner on national office staff, Washington, D.C., 1958–1962
  • executive assistant to assistant regional commissioner, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division, Internal Revenue Service, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1962–1966
  • assistant regional commissioner 1966–[2]
  • director of the IRS ATF division (1970–1972)
  • director of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (apart from the IRS) (1972–1978)
  • retired from federal service (1978)[3]
  • head of three trade associations in the alcoholic-beverages industry (after 1978)[3]
  • president of the National Association of Beverage Importers
  • president and chief executive of New Europe Wines
  • executive director of the President's Forum of the Beverage Alcohol Industry.[4]

Writings

  • Davis, Rex D. (1964). Federal searches and seizures. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
  • Contributor to Police.

References

  1. 1 2 "Statement of Brady President Paul Helmke on the Passing of Rex D. Davis". Washington, D.C.: Reuters. April 1, 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  2. 1 2 3 Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2009. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale, 2009. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC. Document Number: H1000023753. Fee via Fairfax County Public Library, accessed 2009-05-03.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Rex D. Davis *66". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Princeton University. April 23, 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
  4. 1 2 Holley, Joe (January 11, 2008). "Rex Davis, 83; ATF Ex-Chief, Moonshiners' Foe". Washington Post. p. B07. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
Government offices
Preceded by
Thomas F. Casey		 ATF chief
1970–1978		 Succeeded by
G.R. Dickerson
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