Rufus C. Holman

Rufus C. Holman in his Senate office (1940)

Rufus Cecil Holman (born October 14, 1877 in Portland , Oregon , †  November 27, 1959 ) was an American politician ( Republican Party ) who represented the state of Oregon in the US Senate .

Rufus Holman attended the public schools in his hometown and then from 1896 first began a professional career as a teacher. From 1898 he worked in numerous other areas, including as a farmer and as the helmsman of a steamship. Finally, in 1910, as a businessman in Portland, he started manufacturing cardboard and the cold storage industry.

In 1914, Holman's first candidacy for public office was successful when he was elected to the Board of Commissioners of Multnomah County . There he remained after re-election until 1922. In 1931 he was appointed by Governor Julius Meier as State Treasurer in the state government of Oregon. He succeeded the late Thomas B. Kay . He held this post from May 1, 1931 to December 27, 1938; it was confirmed twice by the voters.

Holman, who is considered conservative, campaigned for environmental protection long before it became a publicly recognized issue. In 1937 he demonstrated the pollution of the Willamette River by holding a cage of salmon briefly in the water of the river, then pulling it out again and showing the shocked onlookers the fish that were then dying.

In 1938 Holman was elected to the US Senate, which he served from January 3, 1939 to January 3, 1945. In Washington, DC he was one of the critics of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's foreign policy . Although he supported the efforts in World War II , he still had a basic isolationist attitude. He was an opponent of the trade unions and advocated the internment of Japanese Americans during the war. At the Republican Primary in 1944 he was defeated by his progressive competitor Wayne Morse , who later also won the election and then replaced Holman in Congress in January 1945 .

After his time in the Senate, Rufus Holman never tried again for public office. He went back to running his business, the Portland Paper Box Company , and lived on his farm near Molalla . Holman died in Portland in November 1959 and was buried there in River View Cemetery .

Web links

• Rufus C. Holman in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Rufus C. Holman in the database of Find a Grave (English)