Prescott Bush

**Prescott Sheldon Bush** (May 15th, 1895 – October 8th, 1972) was an American politician & businessman who served as a **U.S. Senator from Connecticut** from **November 5th, 1946** to **October 8th, 1972.** He served as Senate Republican Leader from July 31st 1953 to January 3rd 1967, when his leadership was successfully challenged by Everett Dirksen. He served in the Majority from July 31st 1953 - January 3rd 1959, and in the minority from January 3rd 1959 to January 3rd 1967.

### Offices Held

U.S. Senator from Connecticut (1950-1972)Senate Majority Leader (1953-1959)

Senate Minority Leader (1959-1963)

## Biographical information

### Date of death

08/10/1972

He was the patriarch of the Bush Dynasty, a dynasty which dominated U.S. politics & business for decades to come.

## Early life

Prescott Bush was born in Columbus, Ohio, to parents Samuel P. Bush & Flora S. Bush.

According to Skull and Bones lore, Prescott Bush was among a group of Bonesmen who dug up and removed the skull of Geronimo from his grave at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 1918. According to historian David L. Miller, the Bonesmen probably dug up somebody at Fort Sill, but not Geronimo.

Prescott Bush was a cheerleader, played varsity golf and baseball, and was president of the Yale Glee Club.

## Business career

After his discharge in 1919, Prescott Bush went to work for the Simmons Hardware Company in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Bush family moved to Columbus, Ohio, in 1923, where Prescott briefly worked for the Hupp Products Company. In November 1923, he became president of sales for Stedman Products in South Braintree, Massachusetts. During this time, he lived in a Victorian house at 173 Adams Street in Milton, Massachusetts, where his son, George H. W. Bush, was born.

In 1924, Bush became vice-president of the investment bank A. Harriman & Co. where his father-in-law, George Herbert Walker was president. Bush's Yale classmates and fellow Bonesmen E. Roland Harriman and Knight Woolley also worked with the company.

In 1925, he joined the United States Rubber Company of New York City as manager of the foreign division, and moved to Greenwich, Connecticut.

In 1931, he became a partner of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., which was created through the 1931 amalgamation of A. Harriman & Co with Brown Bros. & Co., (a merchant bank founded in Philadelphia in 1818) and with Harriman Brothers & Co. (established in New York City in 1927).

He was an avid golfer, and in 1935 was named head of the USGA.

From 1944–1956, Prescott Bush was a member of the Yale Corporation, the principal governing body of Yale University. He was on the board of directors of CBS, having been introduced to chairman William S. Paley around 1932 by his close friend and colleague W. Averell Harriman, who became a major Democratic Party power broker.

### Union Banking Corporation

Bush was a founder and one of seven directors (including W. Averell Harriman) of the Union Banking Corporation (holding a single share out of 4,000 as a director), an investment bank that operated as a clearing house for many assets and enterprises held by German steel magnate Fritz Thyssen, an early supporter and financier of the Nazi Party. In July 1942, the bank was suspected of holding gold on behalf of Nazi leaders. A subsequent government investigation disproved those allegations but confirmed the Thyssens' control, and in October 1942 the United States seized the bank under the Trading with the Enemy Act and held the assets for the duration of World War II. Journalist Duncan Campbell pointed out documents showing that Prescott Bush was a director and shareholder of a number of companies involved with Thyssen. Bush was the director of the Union Banking Corporation that "represented Thyssen's US interests", continuing to work for the bank after America's entry into World War II.

Historian Herbert Parmet agrees with the assessment that Bush was not a Nazi sympathizer.

## Tenure as U.S. Senator

### Political starts

Prescott Bush was politically active on social issues. He was involved with the American Birth Control League as early as 1942, and served as the treasurer of the first nationwide campaign of Planned Parenthood in 1947. He was also an early supporter of the United Negro College Fund, serving as chairman of the Connecticut branch in 1951.

From 1947–1950, he served as Connecticut Republican finance chairman, and was the Republican candidate for the United States Senate in 1946. A columnist in Boston said that Bush "is coming on to be known as President Truman's Harry Hopkins. Nobody knows Mr. Bush and he hasn't a Chinaman's chance." (Harry Hopkins had been one of Franklin D. Roosevelt's closest advisors.)

### Winning the election & tenure

Despite this, Bush won the 1946 election, and was sworn in on January 3, 1947. His high connections due to his time as a businessman made him very powerful, and he was soon picked as Senate Majority Whip to Robert Taft in 1953, with the backing of Senators such as Alamkan M. Countryball Sr & George Aiken. However, Taft died in office on July 31st, 1953, and Bush was named Acting Majority Leader. Again, with the backing of major National Conservatives, he was elected to be the Majority Leader. While serving, he prioritized a moderate approach to politics, being a close friend of New York Nelson Rockefeller. Both Bush & Rockefeller were major parts of the Eastern Establishment, which kept a large moderate presence in the National Conservative party. Bush was criticized by the more conservative members of his party, and as the Eastern Establishment hit it's peak in the early 1950s, a decline slowly crept in, threatening Bush's position as Majority Leader.

Nevertheless, Bush remained popular, especially in his home state, and, with the support of powerful North-Eastern moderate, Bush grew to be one of the most powerful U.S. Senators in history by the mid-1950s. He was drafted for the 1960 National Conservative nomination for President, but he issued a Shermanesque statement, bringing himself out of the race. Bush had wanted to be President, and had cursed himself for not entering politics earlier. Despite this, he refused to run in 1960 on the grounds that he was too old to serve, aged 65.

He backed the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960 & 1964, which he was instrumental in passing.

### Leadership challenges

In 1962, following the National Conservative's massive losses in the 1958 & 1960 Senate elections, Bush was challenged by Nebraska Senator Roman Hruska, a noted conservative. Bush came out on top, but this lead to a crack in the "invincible" Connecticuter's position as Leader, something which made the Eastern Establishment worry. Following another embarassment in 1964, and then the subsequent rise of conservatism in the party with members like Barry Goldwater becoming major figures, Bush was challenged yet again in 1966, by conservative senator from Illinois, Everett Dirksen. Bush was yet again supported by his original supporters, such as Alamkan & Aiken, but was defeated for re-election as Senate Minority Leader by Dirksen.

### Post-leadership

Despite Bush's defeat, he remained a major legislator, instrumental to the Civil Rights Act of 1968's passage amongst National Conservatives. Following Dirksen's death in 1969, Bush considered an attempt to run for the role once more, but decided against it, thinking it "impossible to beat Scott". Bush became more quiet for the turn of the 1970's, and remained mostly silent until his death in 1972.

## Death

He died in office on October 8th, 1972 at age 77 at Memorial Hospital in New York City, after fighting cancer., and was interred at Putnam Cemetery in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was succeeded in his office by his eldest son, Prescott Bush Jr., who was appointed on October 17th of that year, and served until January 3rd, 1989.

## Bush dynasty

Prescott Bush was the patriarch of the Bush political family, which had a number of successful politicians:

### Children

Prescott Bush Jr. (1922-2010), U.S. Senator from Connecticut 1972-1989

George H.W. Bush (1924-2018), U.S. Senator from Texas 1965-2001

Prescott Bush Jr. (1922-2011)George H.W. Bush (1924-2018)
### Grandchildren

George W. Bush (1946-), Governor of Texas 1995-2003, U.S. Senator from New York 2071-2072, Senate Majority Leader 2071-2072, President 2093-2101

Jeb Bush (1953-2044), Governor of Florida 1999-2007

George W. Bush (1946-)Jeb Bush (1953-2044)