Alan Wheat

Alan Dupree Wheat (born October 16, 1951) is a politician from the state of Missouri.

Wheat was born in San Antonio, Texas and graduated from Grinnell College in 1972. He served in the Missouri General Assembly from 1977 to 1982. When Congressman Richard Bolling chose to retire in 1983 at the end of his term, Wheat won the primary and general elections to succeed him. Wheat was the youngest member of the United States House of Representatives ever to be appointed to the Rules Committee. Wheat was also the first African-American to represent a district with a white majority. Wheat served until 1995, when he chose to seek an open seat in the United States Senate. Wheat was defeated in a landslide by John Ashcroft.