Frederick B. Dent

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Frederick B. Dent

Frederick Baily Dent (born August 17, 1922 in Cape May , New Jersey - † December 10, 2019 in Spartanburg , South Carolina ) was an American businessman and politician ( Republican Party ) who under the presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford the Held office of the US Secretary of Commerce .

Early life and military career

New Jersey-born Dent was a young boy when his parents moved him to Greenwich , Connecticut . There the father ran the family's textile trading company , Joshua L. Baily & Company , which was founded in 1876 by Frederick Dent's grandfather.

After attending school in Concord , Dent began studying at Yale University , where he received his bachelor's degree in 1943 . At Yale he was already a member of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps with a view to a possible combat mission in World War II ; only a short time after graduation he then entered active service in the Navy .

He took advantage of a short shore leave in San Diego in March 1944 to marry his childhood sweetheart Mildred Harrison. After his return his ship went to combat in the Pacific theater of war. He took part in the Battle of Okinawa in April 1945 ; after the Japanese surrender, he was transferred to a patrol boat that drove through the Panama Canal to Florida .

Entrepreneurs and politicians

After his time in the military, Dent worked as a sales representative in his father's company. In 1947 he was sent to Spartanburg , South Carolina for further training in the textile industry , where he settled permanently. There he became president of Mayfair Mills , a subsidiary of the family firm Baily , in 1958 . Dent also made a name for himself as a businessman in the political arena. Among other things, he became a member of the Business Council , an advisory body made up of high-ranking representatives from the US economy. He also served as President of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute .

On February 2, 1973, President Nixon appointed him Secretary of Commerce to his cabinet . Even after the resignation of Nixon kept Dent this post under his successor Gerald Ford initially, before the on March 26, 1975 sales representatives of the United States (Trade Representative) has been appointed. He stayed that way until the new President Jimmy Carter took office in January 1977.

After the end of his short political career, Frederick Dent moved with his family back to Spartanburg, where he again took care of the business of Mayfair Mills as President . In 1988 he joined this job to his son, Rick, but was even Chairman (Chairman) of the company. Dent was inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame in 1994 for services to the state's economy .

literature

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Individual proof

  1. ↑ Robert D. McFadden: Frederick B. Dent, Commerce Secretary Under Nixon, Dies at 97. In: The New York Times , December 16, 2019 (English). Retrieved December 17, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Dent, Frederick B.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dent, Frederick Baily (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician and businessman
DATE OF BIRTH 17th August 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Cape May , New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH December 10, 2019
Place of death Spartanburg , South Carolina