Keith Bulen

Lawrence Keith Bulen (December 31, 1925 – January 4, 1999) was an Indiana politician.

Bulen began his primary education in the depths of the Great Depression and graduated from Pendleton High School in 1944 at the height of World War II. He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and launched a lengthy service to his nation. Keith studied government and earned his Bachelors Degree in 1949 and Juris Doctor in 1952, both from Indiana University.

Bulen – widely known as "L. Keith Bulen" – had a rocky start in Indianapolis politics. As a deputy prosecutor under Marion County Prosecutor "Honest John" Tinder (1955-1963), he was fired after being accused of fixing a case implicating Indianapolis racketeer Tuffy Mitchell.

Bulen was later elected to the Indiana State House of Representatives in 1960 and was re-elected in 1962 from the westside of Indianapolis. The 1964 Presidential Campaign, with its heavy Republican losses, became a rallying point for dissenting Republicans in central Indiana. Bulen and three others helped to overthrow the Republican establishment in Marion County. He proposed a new way of doing things – including the realization that politics was a profession - such that he became the first paid Chairman of Marion County Republican Central Committee in 1966, where he remained until 1970. In this role he helped give birth to consolidated metropolitan government, known as "Unigov", in Indianapolis. He helped cultivate Mayor Richard Lugar's career and served as his mayoral campaign chairman in 1967 and 1971, and later campaign chairman for his 1974 Senatorial campaign. His effectiveness and success as a campaign organizer garnered widespread acclaim. He served as the Indiana Coordinator for Richard Nixon's presidential campaigns in 1968 and as Nixon prepared to become President, Bulen was considered the leading prospect to head a reorganized Republican National Committee: "Bulen is highly regarded in the National Committee, a strong and thorough organizer; he has proven himself tough enough to move a lot of people around and break some china, yet maintains a strong respect, even among those whom he has offended. He has been through a similar exercise to that we are facing in his own state of Indiana, and is therefore aware of some of the problems that might not be apparent to others. Most important, he could be counted upon to be totally loyal," wrote John Sears.

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