After MHS and Kansas State (member of the Class of 31), Fred Seaton began his career in politics and public service when he became secretary to 1936 presidential candidate Alfred M. Landon. In 1937, he moved to Hastings, Nebraska to publish the local newspaper. He was elected to the Nebraska State Legislature from 1945-1949, and then appointed to the United States 
Senate in 1951. He next served in various White House and sub-cabinet posts during President Eisenhower’s administration, including Assistant Secretary of Defense 1953-1955, administrative assistant to
the President, and deputy assistant until May 1956. Seaton organized the Army-McCarthy hearings thatbrought down Sen. Joseph McCarthy. For his service in the Defense Department, he received the Presidential Medal of Honor. In 1956, he was appointed U. S. Secretary of the Interior. As Secretary of the Interior, Seaton advocated long range planning between federal and local governments and private enterprise. He was a strong advocate of conservation, promoting the most comprehensive long range program of park development to that time. Alaska and Hawaii gained statehood during his tenure and he is given most of the credit for bringing them to statehood. Fred Seaton died in 1974.