politician , member of the Utah House of Representatives
Hinckley was the son of Edwin S. Hinckley and his wife, Adeline Henry. For some of his earliest years Hinckley lived in Ann Arbor while his father pursued his education at the University of Michigan. During most of his youth Hinckley lived in Provo, Utah where his father was a professor at Brigham Young University (BYU).
He graduated from Brigham Young High School, the high school affiliate of BYU in 1910.
The Hinckley Institute of Politics was founded by him and still bears his name. Hinckley first flew in 1913 with Melli Beese. This was in Berlin, Germany about the time of the end of Hinckley's LDS mission.
After his mission Hinckley continued his studies at BYU receiving a bachelor's degree in 1916. In June 1915 Hinckley had married Abrelia Clarissa Seely. After his graduation from BYU in 1916 Hinckley joined the faculty of North Sanpete High School located in Mount Pleasant, Utah.
He also formed the Seely-Hinckley Automobile Company, a car dealership, with some of his in-laws. He also served as mayor of Mount Pleasant, Utah beginning in 1923. In 1927 he moved to Ogden, Utah.
Here he founded the car dealership that exists today as Hinckley Dodge, Inc. He was also one of the organizers of Utah-Pacific Airways which among other things pioneered air-support in fighting forest fires. In 1931 Hinckley was appointed to a government advisory committee on relief.
In 1933 he was appointed the director of the Utah Emergency Relief program by governor Henry H. Blood. He later served as director of the Western Region for the Works Progress Administration. In 1938 Hinckley was appointed to the Civil Aeronautics Authority by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The next year he was appointed head of this organization. While there Hinckley oversaw the building of the Washington National Airport and the formation of the Civil Pilot Training Program. In 1944 Hinckley was appointed as head of contract settlement to bring a fair and reasonable end to war contracts when the war ended.
After this position he worked with Edward J. Noble in founding the American Broadcasting Company. Hinckley served many years on the board of trustees of the University of Utah. It was while there he worked to found the Hinckley Institute of Politics, including getting Edward John Noble and his Edward J. Noble Foundation to put up a large part of the money for it.
In 1977 BYU Press published Hinckley's autobiography entitled I'd Rather Be Born Lucky Than Rich which was co-authored with JoAnn Jacobsen Wells. In 1998 the Hinckley Institute published Bae B. Gardner's biography of Hinckley entitled Robert Henry Hinckley: Getting to Know Him. Hinckley's son Hinkcley, Jr., studied at Stanford University and the United States Military Academy.
After he returned to Utah he helped run the family Dodge business and succeeded his father as director of the board for the Hinckley Institute. Their son John Seely Hinckley (1923–1990) also worked in the automobile business. He graduated from the University of Utah after having served in the military during World War II. John S. Hinckley was the president of the National Automobile Dealers Association in 1973.
Hinckley then served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Germany.
Member, State Legislature, 19i9-20. Mayor, Mount Pleasant. Utah, 1924-1925; Regent, University of Utah, since 1929.
President Ogden Rotary Club. Member of Ogden Chamber of Commerce (directory) Clubs: Rotary, Weber.
Married Abrella Seely, June 23, 1915. Children: Robert Henry, Elizabeth, John Seely, Paul Ray.
