Background
Born in Oak Park, Illinois, Conlan is the son of Hall of Fame baseball umpire Jocko Conlan.
United States representative politician
Born in Oak Park, Illinois, Conlan is the son of Hall of Fame baseball umpire Jocko Conlan.
He attended Illinois public schools and received a Bachelor of Surgery from Northwestern University. He later graduated from Harvard Law School, received a Fulbright Scholarhship to study at the University of Cologne, and studied at The Hague Academy of International Law.
He served as a State Senator from 1965 to 1972 and as a United States Representative from Arizona from 1973 to 1977. Conlan was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1954 and commenced practice in Chicago. He then served as a captain in the United States. Army from 1956 to 1961.
Conlan has also taught geo-politics and American foreign policy at Arizona State University and the University of Maryland.
In Congress, he was known as a strong and articulate conservative. In 1976, he ran for the United States Senate to succeed retiring Republican Senator Paul Fannin.
He was opposed in the Republican primary by fellow United States. Representative Sam Steiger which Conlan narrowly lost.