About: Tom Lee (New Mexico politician)

Tom K. Lee (February 14, 1920 – June 4, 1986) was an American Navajo politician in the state of New Mexico. Born at China Springs near Gallup in McKinley County, New Mexico, Lee lived in the Twin Lakes, New Mexico area where he owned and operated a trading post. He served with the United States Army in the Pacific Theatre of World War II and was a survivor of the Bataan Death March. The first Native American elected to the New Mexico Senate, Lee served as a Republican in for the district from 1967 to 1978. Initially approached in 1966 to run as a Democrat in the absence of a candidate, Lee opted to run as a Republican instead, and went on to serve three terms in the state senate. He later served on the Navajo Nation Council from 1978 to 1982 and as president of the Twin Lakes Navajo Chapte