George H. Bender

George Bender

George Harrison Bender (born September 29, 1896 in Cleveland , Ohio , † June 18, 1961 in Chagrin Falls , Ohio) was an American Republican politician from Ohio. From 1938 to 1948 and from 1950 to 1954 he was a member of the United States House of Representatives , and from 1954 to 1957 he was a member of the US Senate .

Childhood and youth

The son of Joseph Bender and Anna Sir, he attended West Commerce High School , where he graduated in 1914. Bender took an early interest in politics. At the age of 15, he collected 10,000 signatures for a petition designed to encourage former President Theodore Roosevelt to run for president again in 1912. He was given the opportunity to personally deliver the petition to Roosevelt.

In 1916 he was a delegate at the convention of the unsuccessful Progressive Party , which preferred to vote to disband than to nominate its own presidential candidate.

Entry into politics

In 1920 Bender married Edna Eckhardt. The marriage resulted in two daughters. In order to secure his family financially, he founded various business companies in addition to his political activities. However, politics took precedence over business interests. In the same year he was elected to the Ohio Senate, of which he was a member until 1930. During this time, Bender had limited influence. So he tried in vain to enforce the introduction of a tenure track for teachers. At first he was a proponent of prohibition , but that changed after the police searched his house on an anonymous tip. In 1938 he was elected to the US House of Representatives after four unsuccessful attempts. In 1948 he lost his seat, but was able to regain it for four more years in 1950.

Congressman

Bender resolutely opposed President Franklin D. Roosevelt's foreign and domestic policies . He formulated his criticism in the polemical book "The Challenge of 1940". The only aspects of Roosevelt's policies that Bender did not blame were New Deal programs, particularly the establishment of the Works Progress Administration , which he accepted as a temporary measure.

With the onset of the Cold War after 1945, Bender opposed the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine . While he did not doubt the need to help the European countries devastated by the war, he did not agree that the US government should play a direct role and steer aid. He argued that involvement in European reconstruction should either come from the United Nations or from non-governmental aid agencies.

His strong party affiliations earned him the job of campaign manager for Robert A. Taft's candidacy for the nomination of presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention in 1948 and 1952.

senator

After Taft died in 1953, Bender won the election for the vacant seat in the US Senate by a narrow margin. A well-known supporter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower , he consistently voted not only for the Republican initiatives, but also for those of the President. His earlier isolationist views weakened considerably. He also advocated more US involvement abroad, which also included aid for countries of the former British Empire .

In the 1956 elections he lost his seat to the popular democrat Frank J. Lausche . After leaving the Senate in 1957, he worked for a year in the Ministry of the Interior . During this time he campaigned for the admission of Alaska as the 49th state.

Teamsters Union

In 1958, Bender was hired by Jimmy Hoffa to chair a commission to investigate racketeering in the Teamsters Union . At the end of the year he was able to inform Hoffa that the union was free from corruption. His colleagues in the Commission did not share this opinion. Bender then continued his investigations, for which he charged the union an extraordinarily high fee.

His political successes were marred by allegations of corruption because of his union ties. Bender was accused of shortening a 1956 investigation after receiving a large campaign donation. In 1958, the allegations were examined by a Senate committee, but not sanctioned.

In 1960 he ran unsuccessfully as a delegate to the Republican National Convention and in 1961 for the post on a Republican district committee. He then took a self-imposed retirement and died a short time later.

Web links

Commons : George H. Bender  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• George H. Bender in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• George H. Bender in the database of Find a Grave (English)