
Robert Earl Riley (18 February 1890-17 August 1965) was the Republican Mayor of Portland, Oregon from January 1941 to December 1948, succeeding Joseph K. Carson and preceding Dorothy McCullough Lee.
Biography[]
Robert Earl Riley was born in Portland, Oregon in 1890, and he served in the US Army and as a machine shop superintendent before being appointed to Portland's civil service commission in 1928. He also served on the city council from 1930 to 1940 and as Mayor of Portland from 1941 to 1948, and he toured war-torn European cities during World War II to boost the morale of American troops, purporting to be the "typical American mayor". However, his popularity was damaged by charges of negligence in dealing with the city's criminal underworld, and he lost re-election in 1947 and died in 1965.